Cortes Agreed To This, Giving His Daughter A Liberal Fortune, And Agreed That Garay Should Establish A Colony On The River Palmas, In Which He Engaged To Give Him Every Assistance In His Power.

Garay now interceded with Cortes to allow Narvaez to return to Cuba, for which favour Narvaez was extremely thankful, and took leave of Cortes with many professions of gratitude.

Soon afterwards, Garay was seized with a pleurisy, of which he died in four days, leaving Cortes and Father Olmedo his executors. As his armament was left without a head, a competition arose among his officers for the vacant command; but young Garay was ultimately made general. This gave great offence to the soldiers, in consequence of which they dispersed about the country in small bodies of fifteen or twenty men, pillaging the natives as if they had been among Moors. This enraged the Indians, who laid a plot to cut off the Spaniards, which they executed so effectually that in a very short time they sacrificed and eat above five hundred of the soldiers of Garay, in some of the towns upwards of a hundred of them being destroyed at one time. In other places they fell upon the stragglers, whom they massacred almost without resistance; and, encouraged by this success, they even rose against the settlement of Estevan in such numbers, that they could hardly be resisted by Vallejo and seven or eight of the veterans of Cortes, who induced many of Garays soldiers to abide by them in the open field, where three battles were fought, in one of which Vallejo was slain, and a great number of Spaniards wounded.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 341 of 796
Words from 94024 to 94299 of 221091