so far distant, attended with so many difficulties, without those veterans who were inured to the hardships of a military life. But he could assure him that the troops which had been left behind were on their way to Mexico, and that the whole of them were men whom he would particularly recommend to his consideration, and who deserved to have the most lucrative commendaries bestowed upon them."
The licentiate then continued in a more earnest tone of voice, and asked Cortes: "How, without his majesty's permission, he had dared to set out on so tedious an expedition, by which he knew he must absent himself for so long a time from the seat of his government, and which had, as he knew, almost proved the destruction of the city of Mexico?"
To this Cortes answered: "That as his majesty's captain-general he had been bound to pursue such a course, for, if he had not taken some active step, the example of revolt set by Oli would have been followed by other officers. Besides which, he had previously announced his intention to his majesty of marching thither."