He knew of but one sure way to accomplish his purpose, and that was to send the government actual proofs of the treasure he would secure for it. To make these convincing he determined to send all the gifts which had been received from Montezuma, and that all concerned, officers, soldiers, and sailors, should contribute their share. It was a hard demand, but Cortes ventured it and carried his point. With these gifts Cortes sent a letter to the Emperor in which he gave a detailed account of all that had occurred—his various discoveries, his battles and dealings with the natives, their conversion to Christianity, his own dangers and hardships, and much information about the countries he had visited. He described his difficulties with the governor of Cuba, what had been done with regard to settlements, and besought the Emperor to confirm all that had been accomplished as well as his own authority. In the meantime he was thoroughly certain that with the help of his brave companions he could place the great Indian Empire in possession of the Castilian crown.
The officials of Villa Rica also wrote a letter similar to that of Cortes, and closed it with an emphatic statement of the maladministration of Velasquez, his venality, extortions, schemings for his own profit, and disregard for the advantage of his sovereign. With these two letters a third was sent in the name of the citizen soldiery of Villa Rica, expressing their loyalty to their sovereign and praying him to confirm the appointment of Cortes as their leader. The richly laden vessel, in charge of noblemen upon whom Cortes could depend, left Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz July 26, 1519, and, in pursuance of exact orders, anchored for a short time on the north coast of Cuba, but fortunately escaped the pursuers sent out by Velasquez.
Cortes now prepared to march. His army consisted of five hundred infantry, fifteen cavalrymen, and six field-pieces. The others, about fifty men, mostly invalids, besides two horses, remained as part of the garrison at Vera Cruz. Including his auxiliaries, Cortes had only thirteen hundred men and one thousand so-called _tamanes_, that is, porters, who had to carry the necessary baggage and subsistence. In that country, where there were no horses or pack animals of any kind, a class of men, named as above, carried things from one place to another. For the security of those he left behind Cortes took fifty of the leading Indians of the country with him, whom he kept as hostages, though they were not aware of it.