The character of Cortes seems to have undergone some change with
change of circumstances; or to speak more correctly, the new scenes in
which he was placed called forth qualities which before lay dormant in
his bosom. There are some hardy natures that require the heats of
excited action to unfold their energies; like the plants, which,
closed to the mild influence of a temperate latitude, come to their
full growth, and give forth their fruits, only in the burning
atmosphere of the tropics.
Before the preparations were fully completed at the Havana, the
commander of the place, Don Pedro Barba, received despatches from
Velasquez ordering him to apprehend Cortes, and to prevent the
departure of his vessels; while another epistle from the same source
was delivered to Cortes himself, requesting him to postpone his voyage
till the governor could communicate with him, as he proposed, in
person. "Never," exclaims Las Casas, "did I see so little knowledge of
affairs shown, as in this letter of Diego Velasquez,- that he should
have imagined that a man, who had so recently put such an affront on
him, would defer his departure at his bidding!" It was, indeed, hoping
to stay the flight of the arrow by a word, after it had left the bow.
The captain-general, however, during his short stay had entirely
conciliated the good will of Barba. And, if that officer had had the
inclination, he knew he had not the power, to enforce his
principal's orders, in the face of a resolute soldiery, incensed at
this ungenerous persecution of their commander, and "all of whom," in
the words of the honest chronicler, Bernal Diaz, who bore part in
the expedition, "officers and privates, would have cheerfully laid
down their lives for him.
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