By Right of Conquest

Contents


Preface.
Chapter 1: A Startling Proposal.
Chapter 2: Bound To Unknown Parts.
Chapter 3: The Voyage.
Chapter 4: Among The Islands.
Chapter 5: Shipwrecked.
Chapter 6: Anahuac.
Chapter 7: A Wonderful Country.
Chapter 8: At Tezcuco.
Chapter 9: Life In A Palace.
Chapter 10: News From The Coast.
Chapter 11: Cortez.
Chapter 12: The Fugitives.
Chapter 13: The Massacre Of Cholula.
Chapter 14: In Mexico.
Chapter 15: Again At Tezcuco.
Chapter 16: A Treasure Room.
Chapter 17: The Insurrection.
Chapter 18: The Rising In Mexico.
Chapter 19: The Passage Of The Causeway.
Chapter 20: At Tlascala.
Chapter 21: A Victim For The Gods.
Chapter 22: Home.



Preface.


The conquest of Mexico, an extensive empire with a numerous and
warlike population, by a mere handful of Spaniards, is one of the
romances of history. Indeed, a writer of fiction would scarcely
have dared to invent so improbable a story. Even the bravery of the
Spaniards, and the advantage of superior arms would not have
sufficed to give them the victory, had it not been that Mexico was
ripe for disruption. The Aztecs, instead of conciliating by wise
and gentle government the peoples they had conquered, treated them
with such despotic harshness that they were ready to ally
themselves with the invaders, and to join with them heartily
against the central power; so that instead of battling against an
empire single-handed, the Spaniards had really only to war with a
great city, and were assisted by a vast army of auxiliaries.

Fortunately, the details of the extraordinary expedition of Cortez
were fully related by contemporary writers, several of whom were
eyewitnesses of the scenes they described. It was not necessary for
me, however, to revert to these; as Prescott, in his admirable work
on the conquest of Mexico, has given a summary of them; and has
drawn a most vivid picture of the events of the campaign. The book
far surpasses in interest any volume of fiction, and I should
strongly recommend my readers to take the first opportunity that
occurs of perusing the whole story, of which I have only been able
to touch upon the principal events.

While history is silent as to the voyage of the Swan, it is
recorded by the Spaniards that an English ship did, in 1517 or
1518, appear off the port of San Domingo, and was fired at by them,
and chased from the islands; but it was not until some twenty or
thirty years later that the English buccaneers openly sailed to
challenge the supremacy of the Spaniards among the Western Islands,
and to dispute their pretensions to exclude all other flags but
their own from those waters. It may, however, be well believed that
the ship spoken of was not the only English craft that entered the
Spanish main; and that the adventurous traders of the West country,
more than once, dispatched ships to carry on an illicit trade
there. Such enterprises would necessarily be conducted with great
secrecy, until the relations between Spain and England changed, and
religious differences broke up the alliance that existed between
them during the early days of Henry the 8th.

G. A. Henty.



Chapter 1: A Startling Proposal.


On March 3rd, 1516, the trading vessel the Swan dropped anchor at
Plymouth. She would in our days be considered a tiny craft indeed,
but she was then looked upon as a large vessel, and one of which
her owner, Master Diggory Beggs, had good reason to be proud. She
was only of some eighty tons burden, but there were few ships that
sailed out from Plymouth of much larger size; and Plymouth was even
then rising into importance as a seaport, having flourished
mightily since the downfall of its once successful rival--Fowey.
Large ships were not needed in those days, for the only cargoes
sent across the sea were costly and precious goods, which occupied
but small space. The cloths of the Flemings, the silks and satins
of Italy, the produce of the East, which passed first through the
hands of the Venetian and Genoese merchants, and the wines of
France and Spain were the chief articles of commerce. Thus the
freight for a vessel of eighty tons was a heavy venture, and none
but merchants of wealth and position would think of employing
larger ships. In this respect the Spaniards and the Italian
Republics were far ahead of us, and the commerce of England was a
small thing, indeed, in comparison with that of Flanders.