In these despatches Cortes preferred other much heavier charges against Diego Velasquez, not only with regard to having bribed Oli to revolt, but on account of the many conspiracies which he had caused to be formed against his life during the expeditions to the rebellious provinces, and, upon the whole, for having attempted to disturb the peace of the country, which had obliged him to punish the more guilty ones with the utmost rigour of the law. He then went on to say that he would have been able to forward his majesty a much larger sum on this occasion than 30,000 pesos, if the revolutionary spirit which his enemies strove to increase on all sides had not thrown obstacles in his way, and thereby impeded his operations. Our general concluded by assuring his majesty he would take every opportunity of sending as much gold as he possibly could to Spain.
Cortes at the same time wrote to Diego de Ordas, to his father, and to his relative, the licentiate Francisco Nuñez, who was reporter to the royal council, giving them a full account of the conduct of Rodrigo de Albornoz; how this man secretly calumniated him in Mexico, because he had omitted to give him as great a number of Indians as he had required, and had refused to give him the daughter of the king of Tezcuco in marriage, for whom he had contracted a better match with a gentleman of quality; besides which he had been informed that this Albornoz had been secretary to the bishop of Burgos in Flanders, and that he was a perfect creature of this prelate. He constantly kept up a secret correspondence with some one or other, even by means of figures, and Cortes thought it most likely that he had on this occasion secretly written to his patron the bishop, and slandered him in every possible manner; he therefore cautioned his friends to be upon their guard, and narrowly to watch his interests, for Cortes thought the bishop was at that time still president of the council of the Indies.
In consequence of these apprehensions, Cortes sent duplicate copies of all his despatches, so that if one set were seized at Seville by the bishop's functionaries, the other might arrive safe in the proper hands.