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generations of Mexicans would consider her
a legendary traitor to the nation.
Finding little gold, the Spanish expedition
sailed northward. On Good Friday 1519, the
ships dropped anchor off an island that Gri-
jalva earlier named San Juan de Ulúa, in the
harbor of the present-day city of Veracruz.
Cortés was immediately approached by
ambassadors of Aztec emperor Moctezuma
(Montezuma) II.
MOCTEZUMA’S DILEMMA
Aztec royalty had been informed of Spanish
activities along the coast, ever since Fran-
cisco Hernándezde Córdoba’s expedition
two years earlier. First reports described
strangers who descended from “great floating
towers.” Such news created confusion in
Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital. The Aztec
had already been unnerved by a series of dis-
turbing omens and prophecies, including
one that foretold the destruction of their
empire by foreigners.
Equally unsettling were descriptions of
horses and firearms, neither of which the
Aztec had ever seen. “Their deer carry them
on their backs wherever they wish to go,”
Moctezuma’s ambassadors told their emperor,
according to Fray Sahagún’s informants.
“Those deer, our lord, are as tall as the roof of
a house.” Of the Spanish cannon, the ambas-
sadors reported, “a thing like a ball of stone
comes out of its entrails; it comes out shooting
sparks and raining fire. The smoke that comes
out with it has a pestilent odor, like that of rot-
ten mud. This odor penetrates even to the
brain and causes the greatest discomfort. If
the cannon is aimed against a mountain, the
mountain splits and cracks open.”
With a huge army at his command,
Moctezuma could have destroyed the strangers
at any moment if he wished. Yet to the Aztec,
the Spanish arrival resembled the story of
Quetzalcoatl, the most revered Aztec god. Reli-
gious prophecies promised that someday
Quetzalcoatl, described as a light-skinned,
bearded deity who departed Mexico by sea,
would return. The approach of the Spaniards
plunged Moctezuma into doubt and a visible
depression. Unsure whether he should kill the
strangers or welcome them, the emperor
decided to stall the Spanish rather than attack
them. His ambassadors returned to Cortés with
elaborate gifts of gold and silver, declaring that
Moctezuma felt it was unnecessary to meet
with the Spaniards as they desired.JOURNEY TO
TENOCHTITLÁN
Moctezuma’s refusal to receive him forced the
ambitious Cortés to make a crucial decision.
Technically, he was still under the command
of Velásquez, whose commission authorized
Cortés only to explore and trade with any
American Indians he might encounter. Cortés
had no legal standing to conquer or settle any
land, negotiate with Aztec royalty, or even
present himself as a representative of Charles
V. Now convinced there were riches in the
Mexican interior, however, Cortés’s supporters
encouraged a rumor that Velásquez had
betrayed the Spanish king. The expedition
elected Cortés as its new commander. Aban-
doning his ties to Velásquez, Cortés moved to
legitimize his command by establishing a
town he named Villa Rica de Vera Cruz (the
present-day city of Veracruz) and shipping the
gold presented by Moctezuma’s ambassadors
directly to Spain, with an optimistic report to
the king. To prevent defections by Velásquez
supporters, Cortés scuttled his remaining
ships and marched inland, ignoring
Moctezuma’s refusal to meet him.
Cortés shrewdly realized that the towns
through which he passed were unhappy(^56) B Discovery of the Americas, 1492–1800
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