arrived with the gold and good tidings from the armada, which gave the governor unbounded joy. Grijalva had yet to learn, however, how Alvarado, not forgetting the censure bestowed on him for disobedience, had not failed to color the conduct of his commander to suit his own ends. Grijalva's repeated refusals to colonize were paraded as the gross mistakes of a stubborn and spiritless man; the coolness and bravery displayed at Champoton were made to appear as reckless imprudence; and as the governor thought of the danger to which his adventure had there been subjected, he became alarmed. "Had I lost all," he muttered, "it would have been a just penalty for sending such a fool." And now both Dávila and Montejo poured fresh poison into the ear of the governor respecting his nephew, in revenge for similar fancied injuries; so that when Grijalva reported himself to Velazquez at Santiago, he was told to go his way, since the governor had no further use for him.
Indeed, this line of action had been for some time determined on. Immediately upon the arrival of Alvarado, a new expedition had been planned, in which Grijalva was not to participate. The latter was hurt, almost to death. He had conferred a great benefit on this Tiberius of an uncle; but as affection is heightened by the conferring of benefits, so it is often lessened by the acceptance of them. Not long after, Juan de Salcedo was sent to Santo Domingo for permission to colonize New Spain, and Benito Martin, chaplain and man of business, was despatched to Spain[1] with a full account of the dis-
- ↑ It was in May, 1519, according to Oviedo, that Benito Martin — some call him Martinez — sailed for Spain, Grijalva having arrived at Santiago late in the October previous. By reference to a Velazquez memorial, in iv. 233-4, Col. Doc. Inéd., we find that before this, upon the strength of Cordoba's dis-
Laguna de Términos, and finding no traces of Grijalva, and having lost his anchors, he returned to Matanzas eight days before Grijalva; but in this statement he is sustained neither by his contemporaries nor by his own collateral statements. Velazquez' instructions to Cortés are dated the 23d of October, at which time neither Olid nor Grijalva had returned, since Cortés is told to search for them; both arrived, however, before he sailed.
