On the 18th of November, 1518, he made sail for the port of Macaca, about fifteen leagues distant, and thence he proceeded to Trinidad, on the southern coast of Cuba. Here he obtained stores from the royal farms, whilst he recruited his forces from all classes, but especially from the returned troops and sailors of Grijalva's expedition. Pedro de Alvarado and his brothers; Cristoval de Olid, Alonzo de Avila, Juan Velasquez de Leon, Hernandez de Puerto Carrero, and Gonzalo de Sandoval, united their fortunes to his, and thus identified themselves forever with the conquest of Mexico. He added considerably to his stock by the seizure of several vessels and cargoes; and prudently got rid of Diego de Ordaz, whom he regarded as a spy of the estranged Velasquez. At Trinidad, Cortéz was overtaken by orders for detention from his former friend and patron. These commands, however, were not enforced by the cautious official who received them; and Cortéz, forthwith, despatched Alvarado, by land, to Havana, whilst he prepared to follow with his fleet around the coast and western part of the island. At Havana he again added to his forces,--prepared arms and quilted armor as a defence against the Indian arrows,--and distributed his men into eleven companies under the command of experienced officers. But, before all his arrangements were completed, the commander of the place, Don Pedro Barba, was ordered, by express from Velasquez, to _arrest_ Cortéz, whilst the Captain General of the Armada himself received a hypocritical letter from the same personage, "requesting him to delay his voyage till the governor could communicate with him in person!" Barba, however, knew that the attempt to seize the leader of such an enterprise and of such a band, would be vain;--whilst Cortéz, in reply to Velasquez, "implored his Excellency to rely on his boundless devotion to the interests of his Governor, but assured him, nevertheless, that he and his fleet, by divine permission, would sail on the following day!" Accordingly, on the 18th of February, 1519, the little squadron weighed anchor, with one hundred and ten mariners, sixteen horses, five hundred and fifty-three soldiers, including thirty-two crossbowmen and thirteen arquebusiers, besides two hundred Indians of the island and a few native women, for menial offices. The ordnance consisted of ten heavy guns, four lighter pieces or falconets, together with a good supply of ammunition.