whole trust in Cortes, as our general. It was not until we found that Montejo, by applying personally to his majesty in Spain, procured for himself the appointment of governor and chief justice of Yucatan, besides other rewards; and that Ordas, in a similar manner, obtained honours and lucrative commendaries for himself; and that Alvarado, after throwing himself at his majesty's feet, obtained the appointment of governor and chief justice of Guatimala and Chiapa, besides a gift of extensive lands; and that, lastly, Cortes was created a marquis, with the appointment of captain-general of New Spain and of the South Sea: it was not, I say, until we were taught experience by these facts, that we, the large body of the Conquistadores, likewise despatched agents to Spain, to obtain for us in perpetuity the commendaries that should become vacant. Our claims were then gone into, and pronounced to be just, and his majesty instructed the royal auditors, whom he despatched to Mexico, to consider the whole of the Indians of New Spain as if they had not yet been distributed, and they were to deprive all those of their possessions whom Cortes had so richly remunerated; that the most lucrative commendaries were to be distributed among the veteran Conquistadores, and all the remainder to be retained in the patronage of the crown. But all this ended in smoke, as the very men whom his majesty intrusted to carry out his commands either died too soon, or were averse to the distribution of the commendaries in perpetuity; for they readily perceived how soon their power and influence in the country would be at an end if they carried out this measure. I must, however, do Nuño de Guzman and the other auditors the justice to say, that whenever there were any commendaries vacant, they always first remembered the Conquistadores, though their conduct was rather harsh towards the Indian population. However, these auditors were very soon deprived of all power, by the disputes in which they became involved with Cortes, and the abuse they made in the marking of slaves.
In the following chapter I will give some further account of the question respecting a distribution of the Indians in perpetuity.