benevolent but peremptory commands that he should go away immediately. Having sent off the messenger, poor Montezuma retreated to the depths of his palace and refused to be comforted, foreseeing that the great empire of Anahuac was about to fall.
Meanwhile the Spanish camp was feasting and reposing in huts of cane, with fresh provisions, in great joy after the weariness of their voyage. They accepted with enthusiasm the presents of the emperor, but the treasures which were sent had an entirely different effect from that hoped for by Montezuma; they only inflamed the desire of the Spaniard to have all within his grasp, of which this was but a specimen.
It was now that the great mistake in policy was apparent, by which the Aztec chieftain had for years been making enemies all over the country, invading surrounding states, and carrying off prisoners for a horrible death by sacrifice. These welcomed the strangers, and encouraged their presence, thinking they might be valuable allies against the oppressive power of the tyrant. They made a dreadful mistake of course, for Cortés ruined all the native populations of Mexico, while he grasped at the wealth of Montezuma; but the extent of his daring and powers were little imagined at his first coming.
Cortés made himself captain-general of his forces, and established the site of Vera Cruz, the rich city of the True Cross. While reposing here, he was delighted to receive an invitation from the cacique of Cempoallan, "a very fat man, and an enemy of Montezuma," says the chronicle, to enter his domains as a friend, and visit his capital city.
