Our Catholic Heritage in Texas
who could be generous with his rivals when they were no longer dangerous, acceded to the request. Neither Narvaez nor Garay represented a danger to his interests any more. He had been confirmed in his position as Governor of Mexico. He could afford, therefore, to be magnanimous. When Narvaez took leave of him, Cortes presented him with two thousand -pesos in gold and bade him Godspeed. 61 It is significant that soon after his return to Cuba he began actively to solicit a grant to colonize the Rio de las Palmas. No doubt during his interviews with Garay he had learned much about the country in the vicinity of the Rio Grande. After the death of his friend, he must have conceived the idea of carrying out the pro- posed settlement of this region. Death of Gara')', On Christmas eve, Garay accompanied Cortes to midnight Mass. As soon as the services were completed, they breakfasted together for the last time. Shortly afterwards Garay complained of severe pain in the chest. His illness became rapidly serious in spite of the usual remedies of bleeding and purging which were diligently applied to him. Three days later, he appointed Cortes executor of his last will, received the last sacraments and died. "Thus came to his end the A delantado Francisco de Garay, poor, disillusioned, and in some one else's home, in the land of his rival, when he could have died rich, happy, at home, by the side of his wife and children, had he been satisfied." 69 There were those who said he had been poisoned. But two doctors who attended him in his last illness officially declared he had died of dolor de costado (pneumonia) . It is interesting to note, however, the reason which his magnanimous rival gives for his death. In his fourth letter to the king, he declares that when news was received in Mexico of a new rebellion in the Panuco region, caused by the depredations committed by the deserters of his army, Garay became so despondent that he took sick and died of a broken heart. 70 Oviedo, in commenting on this statement, sagely observes that more men have died of pleasure than of a broken heart, but he reflects that there have been evident cases in history of men who have died both of too much sorrow and of too much joy. 11 61 D iaz del Castillo, op. cit., 185-187. 69 G6mara, op. cit., II, 160. 7 °Cortes, Cuarta Carta de Relacion, October 15, 1524, in Barcia, Historiadores Primitivos, I, 129-165. 71 0viedo, Bistoria, III, 455.
I
I
\ l I
Powered by FlippingBook