being to attract attention to himself and to his representation, he recognized that the presents were inadequate, and bestirred his ingenuity to discover a means to enhance their value. Finally he hit upon the idea of forming the silver into a cannon of about twenty-three hundred weight, costing nearly thirty thousand pesos de oro.[1] It was engraved with several artistic designs "to be worthy of appearing before so high and excellent a prince."[2]
The chief ligure was a phœnix in relief, with the inscription:
Sprung from out fire, a peerless thing
Type of the services I bring
To thee, unrivalled mighty king.
Cortés also sent twenty-five thousand Castellanos in gold, and over fifteen hundred marcos in silver, to his father, with instructions to buy arms, dresses, plants, and other effects for the colony. In charge of the presents was Diego de Soto, accompanied by Diego de Ocampo and Francisco de Montejo, procuradores for Cortés and New Spain.[4]
Orders had been issued from Spain to send only a limited amount of treasure in one vessel, so that the loss might not be great in case of capture; but Cortés
- ↑ Twenty-four quintals and 2 arrobas of silver were used, some lost in the double smelting, the metal costing 24,500 pesos de oro, at 5 pesos de oro for the marco, of which 2 went to the pound. Engraving and smelting cost 3,000. Cortés, Cartas, 317. ' Por este precio se ve que la plata . . . estaba mezclada con cosa de una tercera parte de cobre,' observes Alaman, Disert., i. 194. Oviedo, iii. 468, who saw it at the palace in Spain, calls it 'media culebrina de metal rico de oro é plata.' A list of the other presents is given in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xii. 339-52.
- ↑ It was among the last specimens of native art, for about this time workers in precious metals were forbidden to exercise their calling in New Spain. This order was affirmed in a special decree of the 9th of November 1526, wherein the penalty of death was applied to its infringement. Puga, Cedulario, 16, 20. Proclaimed at Mexico on the 31st of July 1527. Libro de Cabildo, MS. Mexican writers lament this as one of the greatest blows at native culture.
- ↑
Aquesta nacio sin par,
yo, en seruir os sin segundo:
Tos, sin ygual en el mundo.None ever made a silver gun, save Cortés, I trow, observes Gomara, and many sought in vain to form a similar verse. Hist. Mex., 241. Bernal Diaz begins the first line, Estaaue.
- ↑ Herrera states that a son of Montezuma accompanied them, and was placed with the Dominicans at Talavera. dec. iii. lib. vii, cap. i.
