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Workshops: BIS 2020 International


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Business Information Systems: 22nd International


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Witold Abramowicz
Gary Klein (Eds.)

Business
Information Systems
LNBIP 394

Workshops
BIS 2020 International Workshops
Colorado Springs, CO, USA, June 8–10, 2020
Revised Selected Papers

123
Lecture Notes
in Business Information Processing 394

Series Editors
Wil van der Aalst
RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
John Mylopoulos
University of Trento, Trento, Italy
Michael Rosemann
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Michael J. Shaw
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
Clemens Szyperski
Microsoft Research, Redmond, WA, USA
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/7911
Witold Abramowicz Gary Klein (Eds.)

Business
Information Systems
Workshops
BIS 2020 International Workshops
Colorado Springs, CO, USA, June 8–10, 2020
Revised Selected Papers

123
Editors
Witold Abramowicz Gary Klein
Poznań University of Economics University of Colorado
and Business Colorado Springs, CO, USA
Poznan, Poland

ISSN 1865-1348 ISSN 1865-1356 (electronic)


Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing
ISBN 978-3-030-61145-3 ISBN 978-3-030-61146-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61146-0

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020


This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the
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Preface

The Business Information Systems (BIS) workshops give researchers the possibility to
share preliminary ideas, first experimental results, and to discuss research hypotheses.
It is our great pleasure to contribute to the international discourse on the broader
research area of BIS, by enabling the organization of specialized workshops on
emerging research themes in parallel to BIS conference sessions. Discussions held
during presentations allow for improving the paper and preparing it for publication.
From our experience, workshops are also a perfect instrument to create a community
around very specific research topics, thus offering the opportunity to promote it. Due to
the global travel restrictions, BIS 2020 was held as a virtual conference. In order to
allow participants from all around the world to participate in the sessions, we decided
to organize recording sessions for workshops prior to the conference. At the time of the
actual conference, all presentations were available online. However, live workshop
sessions gathered a wide and very active audience. The discussion of presented
scholarly work was constructive and provided authors with new perspectives and
directions for further research. Based on the feedback received, authors had the
opportunity to edit the workshops articles into the current publications. This year, five
workshops were organized inconjunction with BIS: BITA (11th edition), BSCT (3rd
edition), DigEx (2nd edition), iCRM (5th edition), and QOD (3rd edition). A total of 26
articles were accepted for publication and are included in this volume. We sincerely
thank everyone who contributed to the success of the BIS workshops. Most of all, we
wish to thank the workshops’ chairs, Program Committees, authors, and invited
speakers. We acknowledge the contribution of workshops’ participants who provided
comments and insightful suggestions for the advancement of presented work.

June 2020 Witold Abramowicz


Gary Klein
Contents

BITA

Data Quality Assessment – A Use Case from the Maritime Domain . . . . . . . 5


Milena Stróżyna, Dominik Filipiak, and Krzysztof Węcel

Digitalization of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: An Analysis


of the State of Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Katharina Klohs and Kurt Sandkuhl

Incremental Modeling Method of Supply Chain for Decision-Making


Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Szczepan Górtowski and Elżbieta Lewańska

Impact of New Mobility Services on Enterprise Architectures:


Case Study and Problem Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Mark-Oliver Würtz and Kurt Sandkuhl

BSCT

Crowdfunding with Periodic Milestone Payments Using a Smart Contract


to Implement Fair E-Voting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Anwar Alruwaili and Dov Kruger

SharedWealth: Disincentivizing Mining Pools Through Burning


and Minting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Thomas H. Austin, Paul Merrill, and Justin Rietz

Modeling Smart Contracts with Probabilistic Logic Programming . . . . . . . . . 86


Damiano Azzolini, Fabrizio Riguzzi, and Evelina Lamma

Vulnerabilities and Excess Gas Consumption Analysis


Within Ethereum-Based Smart Contracts for Electricity Market. . . . . . . . . . . 99
Paulius Danielius, Piotr Stolarski, and Saulius Masteika

Central Banks Digital Currency: Issuing and Integration Scenarios


in the Monetary and Payment System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Dmitry Kochergin and Victor Dostov

A Blacklisting Smart Contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120


Byron Kruger and Wai Sze Leung
viii Contents

Analysing and Predicting the Adoption of Anonymous Transactions


in Cryptocurrencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Radosław Michalski

Volatility and Value at Risk of Crypto Versus Fiat Currencies . . . . . . . . . . . 145


Viviane Naimy, Johnny El Chidiac, and Rim El Khoury

How Much Identity Management with Blockchain Would Have Saved Us?
A Longitudinal Study of Identity Theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Razieh Nokhbeh Zaeem and K. Suzanne Barber

DigEx

Benefits of the Technology 4.0 Used in the Supply Chain - Bibliometric


Analysis and Aspects Deferring Digitization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Anna Maryniak and Yuliia Bulhakova

How Do Movie Preferences Correlate with e-Commerce Purchases?


An Empirical Study on Amazon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Marcin Szmydt

ICRM

Financial Institutions and Use of Social Media: Analysis of the Largest


Banks in the U.S. and Europe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Thaís Helen Sena, Cristiana Fernandes De Muylder,
and Emilio José Monteiro Arruda Filho

Outsourcing of Social CRM Services in German SMEs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215


Julio Viana, Maarten van der Zandt, Olaf Reinhold, and Rainer Alt

Customer-Focused Churn Prevention with Social CRM at Orange Polska


SA (Research in Progress) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Ewelina Szczekocka

Social CRM: A Literature Review Based on Keywords Network Analysis . . . 237


Fábio M. F. Lobato, Jorge L. F. Silva Junior, Antônio Jacob Jr.,
and Diego Lisboa Cardoso

Social CRM Tools: A Systematic Mapping Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250


Jorge L. F. Silva Junior, Julio Viana, Olaf Reinhold,
Antônio F. L. Jacob Jr., Rainer Alt, and Fábio M. F. Lobato
Contents ix

QOD

Analyzing OpenStreetMap Contributions at Scale: Introducing


OSM-Interactions Tilesets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Jennings Anderson

Enhancing the Interactive Visualisation of a Data Preparation Tool from


in-Memory Fitting to Big Data Sets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Gorka Epelde, Roberto Álvarez, Andoni Beristain, Mónica Arrúe,
Itsasne Arangoa, and Debbie Rankin

Materia: A Data Quality Control Embedded Domain Specific Language


in Python . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Connor Scully-Allison

Models for Arabic Document Quality Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297


Adnan Yahya, Afnan Ahmad, Alaa Assaf, Rawan Khater, and Ali Salhi

Open Data Quality Dimensions and Metrics: State of the Art


and Applied Use Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Soumaya Ben Hassine and Delphine Clément

Synthesizing Quality Open Data Assets from Private Health Research


Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Andrew Yale, Saloni Dash, Karan Bhanot, Isabelle Guyon,
John S. Erickson, and Kristin P. Bennett

Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337


BITA
BITA 2020 Workshop Chairs’ Message

Preface
A contemporary challenge for enterprises is to keep up with the pace of changing
business demands imposed on them in different ways. Today, there is an obvious
demand for continuous improvement and alignment in enterprises, but unfortunately
many organizations don’t have the proper instruments (methods, tools, patterns, best
practices, etc.) to achieve this. Enterprise modeling, enterprise architecture, and busi-
ness process management are three areas belonging to traditions where the mission is to
improve business practice and business and IT alignment (BITA). BITA is manifested
through the transition of taking an enterprise from one state (AS-IS) into another
improved state (TO-BE), i.e., a transformation of the enterprise and it’s supporting IT
into something that is regarded as better. Recent development within digitalization,
digital transformation, and artificial intelligence (AI) has brought new dimensions to
BITA, where BITA becomes an important part of smart business ecosystems. A con-
tinuous challenge with BITA is to move beyond a narrow focus on one tradition or
technology. There is a need to be able to deal with multi-dimensions of the enterprise in
order to create alignment. Examples of such dimensions are organizational structures,
strategies, architectures, business models, work practices, processes, and IS/IT struc-
tures. IT governance is also a dimension that traditionally has had a strong impact on
BITA. There are ordinarily three governance mechanisms that an enterprise needs to
have in place: 1) decision-making structures, 2) alignment process, and 3) formal
communications.
This workshop aimed to bring together people who have an interest in BITA. We
invited researchers and practitioners from both industry and academia to submit
original results of their completed or ongoing projects. We encouraged a broad
understanding of possible approaches and solutions for BITA. Specific focus was on
practices of business and IT alignment, i.e., we encouraged the submission of case
studies and experience papers.
The workshop received 10 submissions, and the Program Committee selected 4
submissions for presentation at the workshop. We thank all members of the Program
Committee, authors, and local organizers for their efforts and support.

August 2020 Ulf Seigerroth


Kurt Sandkuhl
Organization

Chairs

Ulf Seigerroth (Chair) Jönköping University, Sweden


Kurt Sandkuhl (Co-chair) Rostock University, Germany

Program Committee

Dominik Bork University of Vienna, Austria


Michael Fellmann University of Rostock, Germany
Hans-Georg Fill University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Jānis Grabis Riga Technical University, Latvia
Stijn Hoppenbrouwers HAN University of Applied Sciences,
The Netherlands
Björn Johansson Lund University, Sweden
Christina Keller Jönköping University, Sweden
Marite Kirikova Riga Technical University, Latvia
Birger Lantow University of Rostock, Germany
Michael Leyer University of Rostock, Germany
Geert Poels Ghent University, Belgium
Nikolay Shilov SPIIRAS, Russia
Alexander Smirnov SPIIRAS, Russia
Monique Snoeck Catholic University Leuven, Belgium
Janis Stirna Stockholm University, Sweden
Data Quality Assessment – A Use Case
from the Maritime Domain

Milena Stróżyna(B) , Dominik Filipiak , and Krzysztof Wecel




Poznań University of Economics and Business, al. Niepodleglości 10,


61-875 Poznań, Poland
milena.strozyna@ue.poznan.pl

Abstract. Maritime transport plays nowadays a key role in the global


economy. In this context, assurance of safety and security at sea is of
prime importance. To this end, in the maritime domain there exists num-
ber of information systems that improve safety, identify hazardous areas
and suspicious ships. These systems generate large amounts of data that
are characterised with a different, often not sufficient, quality. Assur-
ance of maritime data quality is an important aspect that determines
if the data can be used to take informed decision. This paper presents
the quantitative assessment of maritime data quality, investigates if the
real data meets data quality standards and detects what are the most
common quality issues. The presented analysis is conducted on one of
the most popular maritime data source – Automatic Identification Sys-
tem (AIS). The paper shows also a potential stemming from utilization
of Big Data technologies in a process of data quality assessment.

Keywords: Data quality · Quality assessment · AIS · Maritime


awareness

1 Introduction

Nowadays, maritime transport plays a key role in logistics. Around 80% of the
global trade volume (70% by value) is carried out by sea [10]. In this context,
assurance of safety and security at sea is of prime importance. Therefore, various
surveillance systems in the maritime domain were developed and deployed to
improve safety, as well as identify hazardous areas and suspicious ships. These
systems provide not only the information necessary to take informed decisions
by maritime actors, but they also generate large amounts of various data that
then needs to be processed, stored, and analysed. In addition to an increased
quantity of data, its quality is the most important aspect that determines the
potential use. Low-quality data may lead to wrong decision, causing financial
losses and posing danger to people and the environment [6].
One of the most commonly used systems in the maritime domain is Auto-
matic Identification System (AIS) – for location and identification of nearby
vessels in real time (a tracking system). It has been created as a tool for the
c Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Abramowicz and G. Klein (Eds.): BIS 2020 Workshops, LNBIP 394, pp. 5–20, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61146-0_1
6 M. Stróżyna et al.

collision avoidance at sea. AIS is based on automatic exchange of data about


a ship and its position with other nearby vessels and AIS base stations. Since
2008, AIS signals from ships can also be received by satellites. Thanks to this,
the system has a global coverage and creates the possibility to track ships on
a worldwide scale. Currently, AIS is mandatory for all vessels above 300 GRT
(Gross Register Tonnage).
AIS is very often used in maritime surveillance due to its high update fre-
quency. Depending on the ship speed over ground, the dynamic data should
be sent every 2 to 10 s, while the static data every 6 min. Compared to other
maritime systems, AIS provides a significant amount of data about the move-
ment of vessels. The exchanged information includes static data (identification
numbers MMSI - Maritime Mobile Service Identity and IMO - International Mar-
itime Organization, type, name, callsign, dimensions), dynamic data (location,
course, speed, navigational status, heading, draught), and voyage data (desti-
nation port, estimated time of arrival). One of the main issue with AIS is the
fact that, although it is required to be used by all vessels above 300 GT, the
actual use of AIS is at crew’s discretion. The ship’s captain may decide if an AIS
transponder is switched on or off and is responsible for providing and updating
some of the actual data being sent by AIS. Therefore, some AIS messages are
falsified, sometimes the signal is spoofed, and in some cases errors are committed
during the typing [4]. All these issues negatively influence the data quality.
Data quality covers a broad range of concepts and has multiple dimensions
[5]. It is often defined as fitness for use with respect to a particular application
[6]. In case of AIS data, the quality assessment can bring information on the
reliability and integrity. Thanks to that, users responsible for surveillance of
maritime traffic or crew of other ships may take more informed decisions. The
knowledge of the quality of information provided by ships is of prime importance
in the situation awareness in the maritime domain [8]. Iphar et al. [4] noticed
that although most of the AIS users do not falsify their data, a certain amount of
AIS messages is false and vessels emit or receive messages that are not true. This,
in turn, may lead to lack of trust in the AIS system or wrong decisions of various
maritime actors. Therefore, the maritime society emphasizes the importance of
the assessment of the quality of the AIS data.
The aim of this article is to conduct the quantitative assessment of AIS data
quality – to investigate which data quality standards are met and detect what are
the most common quality issues. This research is also about assessing the scale of
the phenomenon that ships do not provide data of a proper quality. The research
is conducted on a large amount of data, covering all AIS data generated over a
period of one year, and using the state-of-the-art data processing technology –
Apache Spark that allows to conduct the quality analysis fast and in real-time.
This is a novelty in comparison to other research that so far were conducted on a
relatively small samples of data and used traditional technologies, what resulted
in a longer processing time.
The rest of the paper is organized as follow. Section 2 presents related research
in the area of AIS data quality. Then, in Sect. 3 our approach to data quality
Data Quality Assessment – A Use Case from the Maritime Domain 7

assessment is presented, followed by the obtained results (Sect. 4). The paper
ends with a discussion of the results and summary of the study.

2 Related Work

Due to its basic characteristics, AIS system is vulnerable to various quality


problems. These problems may results firstly from the improper installation of
AIS device. The static information, which is entered manually, are not controlled
by any authority and thus may be not true. The dynamic information in turn,
depends on a proper communication between AIS device and other sensors on
board (e.g. GPS antenna). Other problems may arise due to human errors and
behaviour of ship’s crew. Since AIS is a self-reporting system, some actors may
intentionally provide erroneous data in order to hide their activities or may spoof
the AIS signal to mislead other actors [4]. Yet another group of quality issues
is related to the AIS system itself, namely a limited coverage of AIS system in
some areas due to a low reception of satellite AIS in a high vessel density areas,
such as the German Bight or English Channel. Moreover, also AIS reception on
open sea (outside the terrestrial coverage) is limited due to access gaps, i.e. time
periods, when a ship is not in view of any AIS satellite and consequently no
vessel position can be acquired. Such gaps can last even a couple of hours.
The existing studies show that the quality issue in AIS data is a common
problem in all three mentioned aspects. The analysis conducted by [3] indicated
that most often errors concerning the unique identification number (MMSI),
defined vessel type (undeclared or default type), ship’s name and call sign (no
name provided, abbreviations), navigational status (incorrect status), incorrect
vessel length, reported draught (non-availability, draught greater then length,
inaccurate value), destination and ETA (vague or incorrect entries). Iphar et al
[4] paid attention to intentional falsification of AIS signal, identity theft (duplica-
tion of MMSI number) and destination masking. They also indicated the problem
of switching off the AIS transponder in order to hide some activities.
The quality analysis conducted by [9] focused on completeness and res-
olution of AIS data. They focused on four aspects: position precision, time
interval between two consecutive AIS messages, data completeness and erro-
neous/corrupted entries. Their results indicated that ships position are rarely
invalid but errors in heading and status are quite often. Speed and course over
ground data are also sometimes wrong. With regard to completeness of dynamic
information, most data contain the necessary kinematic information (i.e. posi-
tion, time, speed, and course) but the rest of dynamic information is very often
missing. They also identified three types of errors: 1) infeasibly large speed val-
ues; 2) duplicated AIS messages; 3) missing AIS messages due to errors in data
broadcasting. Another problem is AIS spoofing, where three types are usually
indicated [1]: falsification of closest point of approach alert, imitation of a fake
ship which follows a given path, and simulation of search and rescue alert.
8 M. Stróżyna et al.

3 Methodology
Our approach to evaluate the AIS data quality is essentially based on statisti-
cal analysis of data and assessment of its reliability based on a set of quality
attributes. To this end, a sample of real AIS data was retrieved and analysed.
The analysed quality attributes included [7]:
– completeness – extent to which data is complete and sufficient for the task at
hand,
– free-of-error – extent to which data is correct and reliable,
– ease of manipulation – extent to which data is easy to manipulate,
– timeliness – extent to which data is sufficiently up-to-date for the task at
hand,
– reliability – extent to which data is regarded as true and credible.
In order to assess the quality of available AIS data with regard to the above
attributes, an analysis of AIS data from two data sources was conducted:
– AIS data received in January-December 2015 from Orbcomm satellites (for
the whole globe). The analysed dataset contained 1,390,219,742 messages
from 425,166 unique MMSI transponders and the analysis was focused on
vessel type, draught, dimensions, and destination.
– AIS data set covering weeks 33–35 of 2018 from the whole globe. The analysed
dataset contained 65,896,367 messages. It was used to analyse the following
AIS attributes: navigational status, speed over ground, course over ground,
true heading, IMO number, call sign, and name.
The aim of these analyses was to assess data quality and thus discover the
quality problems that are observed in AIS system. In order to process such a vast
dataset, we used Apache Spark, a popular big data processing engine, which can
take advantage of in-memory computation. For visualisations, we used R with
ggplot library.

4 Data Quality Assessment – Use Case


In this section the results of analysis are presented, aiming at checking the qual-
ity of data provided in AIS with regard to different static and dynamic AIS
parameters.

4.1 Static AIS Parameters


Among the static AIS parameters, vessel identification data (IMO number, call
sign, and name), vessel dimensions, and vessel type were analysed.
Vessel Identification. There are several ways of identifying ships: MMSI, IMO,
call sign, and name, whereas the last is not unique. The results of the analysis is
presented in Table 1. It can be seen that ship identification number (IMO) has a
Data Quality Assessment – A Use Case from the Maritime Domain 9

Table 1. IMOs Table 2. Call signs Table 3. Vessel types

IMO Count Call sign Count Type Number of Number Number


0 36745367 700 36122 AIS of vessels of
messages vessels
1 50994 300 27028
[%] [%]
303174162 16301 0 22471
Anti-pollution 0.16 615 0.14
100000000 12717 200 22128 equipment
1048576 12222 600 19345 Cargo 36.83 141, 580 33.30
999999999 11074 701 18125 Diving ops 0.16 417 0.10
9999999 7183 301 13773 Dredging or 1.66 2, 383 0.56
101 5688 ------- 12245 underwater op
123456789 5574 NONE 10561 Fishing 6.58 79, 783 18.77
356515840 5429 601 9905 High speed 1.15 2503 0.59
111111111 5345 0000000 9561 craft (HSC)
2 5320 201 8920 Law 0.76 2, 029 0.48
enforce-ment
1234567 4087 305 8491
Medical 0.02 179 0.04
987654321 3951 ---- 7283 transport
113 3732 WCZ5857 7223 Military ops 0.37 1, 456 0.34
108 3702 CH.16 6855 Non- 0.02 132 0.03
30 3467 210 6777 combatant
1000000000 3313 617 6689 ship
9371531 3188 6666 6350 Not available 7.59 98, 101 23.07
8888888 3044 (default)
303 6029
103 2876 Other type 6.43 13, 817 3.25
702 5866
118 2850 Passenger 7.16 10, 743 2.53
703 5768
4063232 2831 Pilot Vessel 1.07 1, 709 0.40
226 5615
116 2791 Pleasure Craft 2.25 5, 564 1.31
302 5573
32 2735 Port Tender 0.23 881 0.21
603 5546
139 2735 Reserved 0.27 2, 948 0.69
307 4790
200000000 2619 Sailing 0.70 3, 490 0.82
TEST 4779
11 2602 Search and 0.86 2, 322 0.55
Rescue Vessel
888888888 2596
Spare – Local 0.06 343 0.08
11111111 2579
Vessel
Tanker 13.99 24, 389 5.74
Towing 2.33 5, 229 1.23
Tug 7.97 11, 663 2.74
Undefined or 0.94 10, 588 2.49
empty
Wing in 0.41 2, 302 0.54
ground (WIG)

lot of incorrect values. According to analysed data, there are 47,791 unique IMO
numbers, out of which only 45,598 values are 7-digit numbers (as the standard
requires). The rest – almost 2200 identifiers – are definitely incorrect. More-
over, the value zero is suspiciously frequent. Regarding the call sign, there were
103,268 unique values. Call signs are missing in 9,463,167 (14.4%) messages. The
most popular call signs are presented in Table 2. Normally, call signs for larger
vessels should consist of the national prefix plus three letters. Among the most
popular ones, there is none that meets this requirement. Instead, there are val-
ues obviously wrong which include e.g. dashes, NONE, CH.16. The last row is
10 M. Stróżyna et al.

particularly interesting – “TEST”. Name of the vessel, similarly to call sign, is


not unique value. We identified 152,473 various names. The name is more often
provided than call sign – almost 4 million messages did not contain a vessel
name, which represents 6.1% of all messages.
Vessel Type. The next analysed attribute is type of a ship. There are several
classes agreed to be used in AIS messages (two-digit value). Nevertheless, in the

Table 4. Default vessel dimensions

Type Vessels Vessels Vessels Vessels


with with with with
default A default B default C default D
[%] [%] [%] [%]
Anti-pollution 10.79 10.92 11.52 12.73
equipment
Cargo 2.32 2.78 2.67 2.30
Diving ops 7.40 3.03 7.71 3.61
Dredging or 3.67 4.28 4.65 4.74
underwater ops
Fishing 9.04 9.27 9.80 9.71
High speed craft (HSC) 5.83 5.66 6.19 6.09
Law enforcement 5.45 5.81 5.68 5.89
Medical transport 10.35 10.17 10.30 10.15
Military ops 16.77 14.83 16.87 15.23
Non-combatant ship 21.41 13.71 21.38 22.00
Not available (default) 22.06 24.35 23.73 23.91
Other type 6.77 7.98 7.44 6.96
Passenger 5.46 6.42 6.33 5.19
Pilot Vessel 9.13 9.10 9.43 9.37
Pleasure Craft 7.18 8.44 7.57 8.18
Port Tender 8.60 7.86 7.82 7.80
Reserved 4.71 4.71 5.37 5.54
Sailing 7.44 13.54 9.85 8.12
Search and Rescue 7.91 7.75 7.73 7.85
Vessel
Spare – Local Vessel 11.52 11.57 11.54 11.54
Tanker 2.50 3.99 3.00 2.59
Towing 10.88 10.96 11.36 11.07
Tug 6.18 5.60 6.32 5.56
Undefined or empty 18.37 20.31 19.59 20.66
Wing in ground (WIG) 11.10 15.00 14.07 13.85
Data Quality Assessment – A Use Case from the Maritime Domain 11

(a) Distribution of vessel length - all types (b) Distribution of vessel width - all types

(c) Distribution of vessel length - tankers (d) Distribution of vessel width - tankers

(e) Distribution of vessel length - cargo (f) Distribution of vessel width - cargo

Fig. 1. Distributions of vessels length and width

sample data we identified 211 different values for type of ship. There were no
missing rows – even if there is no IMO or call sign, the type of ship is always filled
in. Apart from the types agreed for the AIS standard, there are also unknown
three-digit types.
Moreover, almost one fourth of ships (23.07%) provide a default value of ship
type, making it is impossible to specify what kind of ship it is. The overall vessel
types distribution, calculated for all vessels that sent AIS in 2015, is presented in
Table 3. If we analyse the number of vessels, cargo vessels dominate the ranking
(33.83% vessels), followed by fishing vessels (18.77%) and tankers (5.74%).
Vessel Dimensions. Vessel dimensions (length and width) are another static
parameters that should be provided in AIS. There are four vessel dimensions
12 M. Stróżyna et al.

Fig. 2. Frequency of messages visualised on the map of the whole world – logarithmic
scale

available in AIS data: to bow (A), to stern (B), to port (C), and to stardom (D).
The default value for all of them is 0. Vessel length can be calculated as A + B,
whereas vessel as C +D. The conducted analysis showed that only 70% of vessels
provided their dimensions. For the rest, the values are missing. The default value
is 0, which means it has not been set by the operator. Counter-intuitively, some
operators set only some of these values, leaving the rest as default, what is
shown in Table 4. It might be observed that tankers and cargo vessels provide
the most reliable results. Further on, distribution of vessel dimensions has been
calculated. Figure 1 presents the results for all vessels types as well as tankers
and cargo vessels.

4.2 Dynamic AIS Parameters

Among the dynamic AIS parameters, vessel draught, navigational status, speed
over ground (SOG), course over ground (COG), destination, and location were
analysed.
Location. Ship location is an information that should be reported regularly
in AIS. In our study, vessels’ locations were analysed based on geographical
coordinates. Basically, as expected, the coverage of the analysed data is world-
wide (see Fig. 2 that presents vessel traffic in weeks 33–35 of 2018). Data covers
almost every point on the globe; however such distribution might be suspicious
as not every point on the earth is reachable by vessels, especially terrains close
to the North or the South Pole. This might results from phenomenon called AIS
spoofing or a wrong configuration of GPS device on board [4].
Vessel Draught. Information about a current draught should be regularly
updated by a captain. However, due to the fact that this information is often
entered manually (set up statically) it is of low quality. This was confirmed
Data Quality Assessment – A Use Case from the Maritime Domain 13

Table 5. Draught statistics for different vessel types

Type Draught in Draught in Total distinct Days to


metres metres (std. values of draught change
(mean) dev.) draught (mean) (mean)
Anti-pollution 3.46 3.99 1.62 45.91
equipment
Cargo 7.09 3.98 6.38 13.29
Diving ops 4.28 3.70 2.33 56.53
Dredging or 4.21 3.91 3.12 47.28
underwater ops
Fishing 0.90 2.43 1.13 57.88
High speed craft 3.49 4.61 1.93 69.56
(HSC)
Law enforcement 2.56 3.62 1.81 56.69
Medical transport 8.05 7.32 1.33 36.56
Military ops 4.09 4.38 1.84 52.11
Non-combatant ship 6.70 7.04 1.77 37.03
Not available 1.25 3.07 1.28 24.58
(default)
Other type 4.92 4.08 3.48 34.45
Passenger 4.52 4.13 2.82 33.24
Pilot Vessel 3.34 4.42 2.10 30.34
Pleasure Craft 2.41 3.13 1.83 64.03
Port Tender 4.03 4.60 1.80 29.55
Reserved 1.93 3.03 1.49 47.30
Sailing 2.44 2.98 1.47 58.15
Search and Rescue 3.06 3.49 1.71 56.46
Vessel
Spare – Local Vessel 6.12 5.99 1.85 45.08
Tanker 7.84 3.84 13.05 14.06
Towing 3.94 3.85 1.83 53.70
Tug 5.01 3.50 3.40 32.93
Undefined or empty 5.76 6.98 1.79 28.66
Wing in ground 4.22 5.08 1.87 32.71
(WIG)

by our analysis. The vast majority of vessels (79.13%) have reported only one
draught value in 2015, what can be interpreted that this value has not been
updated. The rest of vessels (20.87%) updated this value more or less regularly.
The average value of draught for these vessels is 14.68 m (with a standard devi-
ation equals to 15.87 m) – see Table 4 for different vessel types. A quick glance
at the results reveals that an average reported draught can vary significantly
between different vessel types. Minimum and maximum values were omitted in
the table, since virtually for all types they range between 0 and 25.5 m.
Table 5 highlights also some basic statistics about a total number of updates
of a draught value, with regard to vessel types. There was a significant difference
across vessels’ types. Tankers reported around 13 draught values in 2015 on the
14 M. Stróżyna et al.

(a) Distribution of vessel draught - all types (b) Distribution of vessel draught - cargo

(c) Distribution of vessel draught - passenger (d) Distribution of vessel draught - tankers

Fig. 3. Distributions of vessels draught

average, cargo vessels – 6. It means that for these two types the draught value
is updated more often, whereas for fishing vessels update of a draught value is
much rarer. This means that a typical cargo vessel or tanker update this value
accordingly once in 13 or 14 days, which is the best result in comparison to
other types, while High speed craft (HSC) and pleasure crafts update it only
once every 69 and 64 days accordingly. However, for the latter vessel types this
might result from the fact that their draught actually does not change.
Figure 3 presents distribution of draught values for all vessel types as well as
for tankers, cargo, and passenger vessels. These distributions give first informa-
tion about minimum and maximum draught values reported for a given type.
Secondly, they might be used to define a minimum value of draught that a ship
should declare in AIS to assess whether the draught is reliable information or
not (a limit value).
Navigational Status. The next analysed attribute was navigational status of a
ship. As can be seen in Fig. 4, its distribution seems reliable and there is no issue
with this attribute in the analysed data. The vast majority of ships travel with
status ‘under way using engine’ (status 0). Other popular statuses are: ‘moored’
(5), ‘at anchor’ (1), ‘engaged in fishing’ (7). However, there are some vessels that
sent ‘default’ status (15).
Data Quality Assessment – A Use Case from the Maritime Domain 15

Fig. 4. Navigational status

(a) Speed over ground (logarithmic scale) (b) Course over ground (log scale)

Fig. 5. Distributions of SOG and COG

SOG and COG. The next analysed dynamic attribute was speed over ground
(SOG). Its logarithmic distribution is presented in Fig. 5a. We can observe several
values that probably are used as a default for missing values (peaks in the chart).
For course over ground (COG), several outliers were identified as can be seen
in Fig. 5b, also presented on logarithmic scale. Moreover, 0 and 360 were the
most common values, 10x more frequent than any other value (please note the
log scale). This may mean that default values have not been replaced. There are
also values greater than 360.
Destination. Similarly to draught value, destination should be set up manually
and updated regularly by a captain. An initial statistical analysis was conducted
to verify whether the provided values of destinations are valid. To explore the
declared destinations, firstly the data was cleansed by removing a special char-
acter “@” and trimming it (removing leading and trailing spaces). The most
popular destinations are presented in Table 6. Notice that a more sophisticated
method is needed to obtain more robust results. For instance, “ANTWERP”
and “ANTWERPEN” means the same port. The analysis concerned values of a
destination and how often this parameter was updated. Unfortunately, the com-
pleteness and hence the quality of this variable is not satisfactory. Even such
16 M. Stróżyna et al.

Table 6. Most popular destinations in AIS data

Destination Number of AIS msg Number of AIS msg [%]


(empty) 275, 338, 472 20.32
ROTTERDAM 20, 000, 984 1.48
AMSTERDAM 10, 167, 975 0.75
ANTWERPEN 6, 694, 372 0.49
SINGAPORE 6, 578, 468 0.49
HAMBURG 6, 182, 447 0.46
ANTWERP 5, 335, 668 0.39
SHANGHAI 4, 510, 860 0.33
NOVOROSSIYSK 4, 046, 389 0.30
TIAN JIN 3, 921, 142 0.29
TIANJIN 3, 610, 640 0.27
CONSTANTA 3, 410, 220 0.25
SHANG HAI 3, 374, 164 0.25
BREMERHAVEN 3, 286, 316 0.24
HARLINGEN 3, 222, 434 0.24

initial analysis shows that an empty destination has been found in 275,338,472
messages, which is over 20% of messages, whereas 0 was set in 1,796,596 mes-
sages. Interestingly, ‘HOME’ was declared in 1,815,822 messages.
To explain variability in updating a destination value by a captain, we fol-
lowed a similar approach as in the case of draught values – we calculated a mean
number of unique destinations and total number of destination provided by each
ship type as well as average time between destination update in days. The results
are presented in Table 7. The obtained mean values show that in case of popular
vessel types such as cargo or tankers, these vessels travel on the average to a
relatively small number of unique ports (between 3 and 4). In case of passen-
ger vessels and HSC these values are slightly higher. Moreover, destination is
updated relatively often (several times a day).

4.3 Comparison of AIS with the Lloyd’s Ship Catalog


In the last step of analysis of AIS data quality, ship dimensions provided by a
ship were compared with data in an official vessel registry – the Lloyd’s database
(IHS)1 . This comparative analysis concerned vessels travelling in three maritime
areas: the German Bight, the Baltic Sea, and the North Sea. The aim of this
analysis was to assess if values of dimensions provided by vessels in AIS are reli-
able. In case of the vessels traveling in the German Bight (1,142 vessels in total),
the comparison of the overall length and width of vessels provided in AIS with
1
The database provided by “IHS Markit” https://ihsmarkit.com/products/maritime-
ships-register.html (accessed in October 2018).
Data Quality Assessment – A Use Case from the Maritime Domain 17

information from IHS fairplay database revealed no significant differences with


regard to the mean (see Table 8). However, a relatively high standard deviation
in case of length may suggest that there are vessels that do not provide correct
values in AIS. The difference was calculated as:

Difference = valueIHS − valueAIS .

Thus, it might be concluded that data sent by vessels in AIS (where it was
provided) does not differ significantly from the data in the official register of
ships.

5 Discussion and Summary


The aim of this study was to assess the quality of data provided by vessels in
AIS system. The conducted quality assessment concerned both the static and
dynamic attributes of AIS messages. The obtained results show that actually
for each analysed attribute some problems can be noted, what in turn nega-
tively influences the quality analyses conducted on AIS data. These problems
are observed both for the static AIS parameters (vessel identification, vessel type,
dimensions) and dynamic attributes (location, draught, destination).
The most common quality issues with AIS data revealed in this study are
(Sect. 4):
– Duplicated identification numbers (MMSI). Usually, one can find a number
of vessels with the same MMSI number and different types declared. For
instance, for MMSI 123456789 there were 22 types assigned, while a vessel
with MMSI 2443870000 declared 5 different types during 2015.
– No change of the default values in AIS transponder. This concerns for example
value of draught, dimensions, navigational status.
– No update or a relatively rare update of dynamic values during the ship
operation (e.g. draught, destination).
– Empty field or providing a wrong value (not meeting the standard require-
ments) in case of destination or vessel identification attributes.
– Location spoofing or wrong configuration of GPS device, resulting in incorrect
positions of ships.
Summarising, there are two main sources of problems with AIS quality: wrong
(purposeful or not) configuration of AIS transponder (not changing the default
values while installing the transponder on board) or lack of updates of dynamic
AIS attributes by a ship captain (intentional or not). Such a situation may result
also from a cooperative nature of AIS system – although ships are required to
use AIS there is no means to actually control if ships provide correct values.
This hampers the situation awareness of various maritime actors and negatively
influences the analysis of the situation of decision-makers. The results of this
study may thus help maritime actors in anomaly detection and identification
of potentially dangerous ships that do not provide correct information while
reporting its current status and position.
18 M. Stróżyna et al.

Table 7. Basic statistics about declared destinations for vessel types

Type Unique Total number of Time between


destinations destinations destination
(mean) (mean) change in days
(mean)
Anti-pollution 4.04 60.18 0.55
equip
Cargo 3.62 160.16 0.21
Diving ops 5.37 148.56 0.24
Dredging or 5.55 179.71 0.09
underwater
Fishing 3.56 29.92 0.25
High speed craft 6.14 230.97 0.16
Law enforcement 5.03 108.19 0.14
Medical transport 4.37 65.89 0.19
Military ops 5.91 76.65 0.25
Non-combatant 8.69 126.62 0.22
ship
Not available 3.84 33.59 0.23
(default)
Other type 4.78 129.09 0.23
Passenger 7.28 263.63 0.09
Pilot Vessel 4.97 121.01 0.08
Pleasure Craft 4.27 118.42 0.19
Port Tender 8.54 145.79 0.15
Reserved 3.53 59.24 0.63
Sailing 3.10 59.40 0.35
SAR Vessel 3.84 76.74 0.29
Spare – Local 6.71 83.99 0.29
Vessel
Tanker 3.31 234.40 0.25
Towing 4.18 85.69 0.23
Tug 5.12 183.64 0.13
Undefined or 5.33 57.49 0.57
empty
Wing in ground 4.15 56.12 0.36

Table 8. Observed differences in vessels’ length and width for the German Bight

Parameter Mean Median Std. Dev.


Difference in length [m] −0.175 0 31.868
Difference in width [m] 0.257 0 2.708
Data Quality Assessment – A Use Case from the Maritime Domain 19

Table 9. The differences between the ship’s length in the AIS and in the Lloyd’s
database for the whole analysed area

Percentage deviation Length Width


vessels [%] vessels [%]
Up to 3% 38917 86.70% 18595 73.80%
From 3% to 5% 1324 3.00% 2602 10.30%
From 5% to 10% 1981 4.40% 2182 8.70%
From 10% to 20% 1270 2.80% 1003 4.00%
From 20% to 30% 365 0.80% 273 1.10%
From 30% to 40% 206 0.50% 139 0.60%
From 40% to 50% 152 0.30% 83 0.30%
From 50% to 60% 133 0.30% 46 0.20%
From 60% to 70% 98 0.20% 28 0.10%
From 70% to 80% 79 0.20% 25 0.10%
From 80% to 90% 46 0.10% 22 0.10%
From 90% do 100% 36 0.10% 23 0.10%
More than 100% 258 0.60% 178 0.70%
Total 44 865 25 199

Data quality issues on the low level can be linked to real-world application
cases of AIS. Businesses that base on reliability of AIS messages need to be able
to understand basic caveats of this IT system. Particularly sensitive to errors
are applications that aggregate data to identify meaningful patterns. One of the
examples is reconstruction of maritime traffic networks [2]. For this task only
correct data should be used. Once traffic networks are identified we can more
precisely identify risks and more reliably predict time of arrival at destination
port (ETA).

References
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PublicationChapters/rmt2017%7B%5C %7Den.pdf
Digitalization of Small and Medium-Sized
Enterprises: An Analysis of the State of Research

Katharina Klohs(B) and Kurt Sandkuhl

University of Rostock, Albert-einstein-str. 22, 18059 Rostock, Germany


{katharina.klohs,kurt.sandkuhl}@uni-rostock.de

Abstract. This paper gives an overview of the existing research topics in the field
of SME digitalization. Digitalization commonly causes severe changes in both,
organizational structures, business models and the IT landscape of an enterprise,
i.e., there is a need for business and IT-alignment. By means of a literature analysis
and a subsequent systematic mapping study the paper examines on which areas
current research work in the field is focused and where potential research gaps
exist. The literature analysis has its focus on already existing literature analyses
in order to get a comprehensive overview. All identified papers are subsequently
classified and visually represented in a diagram. The classification is done in
two dimensions. Dimension 1 shows to which step of the digital transformation
process the papers refer, dimension 2 refers to the success factors of the digital
transformation. The result shows that the focus of recent research mainly was
on the analysis of the current situation in companies and that the other steps
of the digital transformation are largely ignored. The paper also concludes that
there is no step-by-step guide for SMEs that shows how to go through the digital
transformation.

Keywords: Digitalization · Digital transformation · SME · Literature analysis ·


Systematic mapping

1 Introduction
More than 99% of all companies in Europe [11] are small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs). Research in digital transformation indicates that SMEs consider digitalization
and digital transformation as major challenges, in particular due to the effects on both,
business and IT. In order to remain competitive and open up new fields of business, the use
of digital technologies is often unavoidable. Digital transformation often causes severe
changes in business models, forms of organization and work, products and processes
[9]. This transformation requires both the use of innovative technologies, such as those
emerging in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), and the management and social
shaping of organizational change processes [8]. In this context, the present article aims
to determine the current state of research on this topic. For this purpose three research
questions were formulated.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020


W. Abramowicz and G. Klein (Eds.): BIS 2020 Workshops, LNBIP 394, pp. 21–33, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61146-0_2
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and the promise of rich spoils induced him to follow the preceding
party, in contradistinction to which his stout and lusty recruits were
dubbed the ‘strong-backs.’[965] Hearing that two other vessels had
been fitted out to follow the Pánuco expeditions, and were probably
now cruising along the coast, Cortés ordered a crew to be sent in
pursuit, with the sole desire, as he expressed it, to save them from
the fate which had so nearly overtaken Camargo. One was never
heard of, and the other, the largest, entered the port before the
searching vessel had left, it seems, bringing about one hundred and
twenty men and sixteen horses. Camargo was induced to
remonstrate with the captain against proceeding to Pánuco, since
the result could only be disastrous, the native lord having, beside,
tendered allegiance to Cortés in Montezuma’s time.[966] But the
captain would not listen to him. To the joy of Cortés, however, a
storm arose, which obliged this captain to slip his anchor and put to
sea; obliged him to take refuge in San Juan de Ulua harbor, where
he found his vessel so unsafe as to require her to be stranded,
whereupon the forces and armaments were landed.[967] Cortés at
once sent a sympathizing message, offering the captain every
assistance, but never for a moment intending to give him any. He
even tendered other vessels for his voyage—so he tells the emperor.
[968]But there is no doubt that the tender was illusive, and that he
did all in his power, with bribery, promises, and even force, to secure
the men and armament, and at the same time to weaken his rivals
by their loss. According to some accounts he caused their vessels to
be sunk to prevent departure,[969] an act which Oviedo declares a
fair war measure, particularly on the part of Cortés, who greatly
needed reinforcements. Men destined for so comparatively
unattractive a region as Pánuco must have been pleased by the
prospect of ready spoils and Mexican treasures soon to fall into their
hands under so able and successful a leader as Cortés. They were
therefore readily induced to join him, the captains alone, as in the
last instance, interposing objections for a while. These several
accessions amounted, according to the testimony of Cortés, to about
two hundred men and some twenty horses,[970] together with a large
quantity of small-arms, artillery, and ammunition. Thus again and
again was the shrewd and lucky Cortés aided by the very means
which his great enemies and rivals had sent to be used against him;
aided to reap the advantages they had planned and plotted to
secure. And all the while he was pitting the antagonisms of native
foes one against another, employing them also to assist him in
securing the grand prize. Greatness is but another name for good
fortune. Circumstances certainly did as much for Cortés in promoting
success as Spanish arms and superior civilization.
Civilization! What fools we are, pluming ourselves in its radiance,
the radiance of ghastly electrical lights, adopted instead of the
glorious sun of nature. For is not the unartificial nature, and nature
God, while artifice is rather of the devil? And yet we persist in
glorifying artifice and calling it deity. The human sacrifice of the
Aztecs was a horrible rite, but in the hands of the Spaniards is not
Christianity a bloody mistress? And does not European civilization
constantly demand the sacrifice of millions of lives, if not for the
propitiation of gods, then to avenge an insult, to preserve the
integrity of a nation, or to gratify the spleen of rulers? At hand even
now, coming to the assistance of the magnificent Cortés,
civilization’s pride and pet for the moment, is another ally of
civilization, more terrible than horses, blood-hounds, gunpowder, or
steel. At the time of Narvaez’ departure for Cuba, small-pox was
raging there so severely that it offered a reason for preventing the
governor from leaving with the expedition. A pioneer vessel of the
fleet sowed the malady at Cozumel, whence it entered the continent.
Before it spread far in this direction Cempoala was infected by a
negro slave of Narvaez.[971] The Spaniards knew little about its
treatment, and that little they sought to impart, not for their own
safety, since those that were left of them were considered almost
proof against the malady, but for the sake of the allies. Their advice
did not avail much, however, for the natives were too devoted to their
panacea, the hot and cold bath, which only intensified the evil. The
terrible force of the first attacks of epidemics and endemics is well
known, and it has been advocated with apparent truth that the
diseases of a strong people fall with particular force on weaker
races. After desolating the coast region for some time, the small-pox
crossed the plateau border during the summer, and in
September[972] it broke out round the lakes, on its way to the
western sea, smiting high and low, rich and poor. For sixty days,
according to native records, the hueyzahuatl, or great pest, raged
here with such virulence as to fix itself a central point in their
chronology. In most districts, says Motolinia, over half the population
died, leaving towns almost deserted, and in others the mortality was
appalling. Those who recovered presented an appearance that
made their neighbors flee from them, until they became accustomed
to the sight. Learning how contagious was the disease, and terrified
by the number of deaths, the inhabitants left the bodies to putrefy,
thus aiding to extend the pest. In some cases the authorities ordered
the houses to be pulled down over the dead, so as to check the
contagion. Not the least of the evil was a famine, which resulted from
a lack of harvesters.[973]
Among the first victims at the capital were King Totoquihuatzin,
of Tlacopan, and Cuitlahuatzin, the successor of Montezuma. The
latter had ruled barely three months,[974] but sufficiently long to
prove himself a most able leader of his people in their struggle for
liberty, for he was brave, full of devices, and energetic, yet prudent; a
man who, not content with securing the expulsion of invaders, had
sought to strengthen his position with alliances and by attracting the
subject provinces through gifts, remissions, and promises. If he did
not succeed so well as he had hoped, the fault must be ascribed to
the reputation of the previous government and to dereliction of duty
among his officers.
As a monarch he would not have fallen far short of the native
ideal, for as a general he had distinguished himself; and, the brother
of Montezuma, he had in his court imbibed the dignity and majestic
manner born of constant adulation from subservient nobles and
plebeians. Crafty and unscrupulous, he appears not to have
hesitated at crime and breach of faith to secure his aims for personal
and state advancement. The flourishing condition of his own
province indicated a not unwise administrator; and the beauty of
Iztapalapan, its magnificent palaces, and exquisite gardens filled
with choice plants from different regions, pointed to a ruler of
cultivated taste.
There is no doubt that Mexico lost in him one of the most
promising of sovereigns, and perhaps the only leader capable of
giving her a longer lease of freedom in face of the irresistible
onslaught of foreigners.[975] Thus bravely worked the small-pox for
Cortés and the superior civilization.
The strongest candidate for the Mexican throne was now the
high-priest Quauhtemotzin,[976] a young man of about twenty-
three[977] years, rather handsome, of fairer complexion than the
average of his race, grave and dignified, as befitted a prince, and
‘quite a gentleman for an Indian.’ He is said to have been the son of
Montezuma’s sister by Itzquauhtzin, lord of Tlatelulco, the twin town
or suburb of Mexico, who had been fellow-prisoner of the late
emperor, and sharer in his fate.[978] The brothers and descendants
of Montezuma had been pretty well removed by death, or through
the machinations of Cuitlahuatzin; but if nearer legitimate claimants
existed, Quauhtemotzin had eclipsed them all in experience,
influence, and fame, as a brave and able leader. As the chief
companion of his predecessor, and one who even before the
appearance of the latter had led the uprising against the Spaniards,
he had become identified as a true patriot, keeping himself at the
head of the dominant party which began and continued the struggle
for freedom. In order further to secure his influence he had taken to
wife the only legitimate daughter of Montezuma, Princess Tecuichpo,
or Isabel; and although the marriage was merely nominal, she being
but a child, yet the alliance served the intended aim.[979] The
Tepanecs at the same time elected as successor to their king, his
son Tetlepanquetzaltzin,[980] whose coronation took place at the
same time as that of Quauhtemotzin, hallowed by the blood of
captive enemies, including no doubt some Spaniards. Cohuanacoch
had meanwhile been chosen at Tezcuco in lieu of the disowned
protégé whom Cortés had foisted upon them. By this trio were taken
up the plans of Cuitlahuatzin for the deliverance of the country from
her invaders, and especially were their efforts directed toward
securing the loyalty of provinces and allies which had been stirred by
the alarming progress of Spanish arms in Tepeaca.
A loss to the Spaniards through the epidemic, which outweighed
many a gain, was the death of Maxixcatzin, to whose devoted
friendship they chiefly owed their escape from the recent crises;[981]
for he it was who took the lead in offering the Tlascaltec alliance and
in overthrowing the inimical plans of the younger Xicotencatl in favor
of the Aztecs. When the sad news came, Cortés felt as if he had lost
a father, says Bernal Diaz, and mourning robes were donned by
quite a number of the captains and men. In this they felt the more
justified, since the chief, on finding himself stricken by the dread
disease, had expressed a wish to become a Christian, and with the
name of Lorenzo had received baptism at the hands of Olmedo, who
joyfully hastened to Tlascala to perform so welcome a service for the
Spaniards’ champion. He died exhorting his family and friends to
obey Cortés and his brethren, the destined rulers of the land, and to
accept their god, who had given victory over the idols.[982] It was
fortunate that he did not die before Spanish prestige had been
reëstablished by the Tepeaca campaign; for his friendship sufficed to
confirm the allies in their adhesion, to gain for the Spaniards further
coöperation, and to obtain for them a firm footing in the country.
The allied forces had become so numerous by the time Itzucan
fell that they were absolutely unmanageable, and on returning from
this place to Tepeaca Cortés dismissed them with friendly words to
their homes, retaining only the tried Tlascaltecs, who had become
efficient in the European style of warfare under the Spanish
discipline and tactics.[983]
Before the Quauhquechollan expedition summoned him away,
Cortés had begun a report to the emperor on the condition of affairs.
On returning, he completed this his second and perhaps most
interesting letter, dated at Segura de la Frontera, or Tepeaca,
October 30, 1520, wherein are related the occurrences since the
despatch of the first letter in the middle of July, a year before. “I write
your Majesty,” it states, “although poorly told, the truth of all that has
happened in these parts, and that which your Majesty has most need
of knowing. With the aid of God the conquest is progressing in this
new country, which from its similarity to Spain, in fertility, extent,
temperature, and many other things, I have called La Nueva España
del Mar Océano.” Then he proceeds to humbly beg his majesty to
confirm this name. In a brief supplementary letter he asks the
emperor to send a person of confidence to investigate and prove the
truth of his statements.[984]
The council also wrote a letter to the emperor, speaking
hopefully of the conquest, which already “extended, over one
hundred and fifty leagues of the coast, from Rio Grande de Tabasco
to Rio de Pánuco,”[985] while the remainder of the interior was on the
sure way to reduction, under the able leadership of Cortés, whose
valor and energy they praised.
They prayed that he, the beloved of all the troops, might be
confirmed in the office of captain-general, as the only man whose
genius and experience could be relied on to carry out and maintain
the conquest. The natives being docile and ready to receive
conversion, friars should be sent to secure this harvest for the
church, and also to administer to the spiritual wants of the
Spaniards. Colonists were needed; also horses, and other live-stock
—the latter to be paid for at a future time—in order to secure the
country and develop its wealth.
With these letters went one from the army, which, recounting but
briefly the leading incidents of the campaigns, had for its main object
to decry Narvaez and Velazquez as the sole cause of all the
disasters that had occurred in the country, and to praise Cortés as a
noble, loyal, and able man, by whom alone the conquest could be
achieved.[986] These and other letters were intrusted to Alonso de
Mendoza, a townsman of Cortés, together with thirty thousand
pesos, in fifths and presents, and a number of commissions from
different members of the expedition. A well appointed vessel was
assigned for the voyage, and three other vessels were despatched
for Española, there to enlist recruits and to buy horses, arms and
ammunition, cattle, clothing, and other requirements, and four strong
vessels to maintain traffic with the Antilles. Letters were sent to
Licenciado Rodrigo de Figueroa and other royal officers on the
Island, inclosing duplicates of those forwarded to Spain; and a
number of specimens of the jewels, manufactures, and natural
resources of the country, were transmitted as presents and as
samples to allure recruits. The letters and the ample funds for the
enlistment and purchases were intrusted to Contador Ávila and
another officer,[987] with instructions to use every effort to confirm the
audiencia officials in their good opinion of Cortés, so that they might
plead his cause in Spain. The ill-treatment of Aillon by Velazquez
and Narvaez had already impelled them to do this, as we have seen.
Their advice was to be asked regarding the enslavement of rebels
and other measures, and their authority and aid sought for obtaining
men and stores.[988] Another vessel was sent under Solis[989] to
Jamaica to buy horses and war material. Bernal Diaz does not fail to
point out the evidence in the large remittance for Spain and the
Antilles of treasures secretly taken from Mexico by Cortés and his
clique, and accuses him of having appropriated also the share for
Villa Rica, claimed to have been captured by the Indians during its
transmission from Tlascala.[990]
No sooner were these preparations announced than Duero and
a number of others of the Narvaez party claimed a fulfilment of the
promise regarding their departure. The success of the Spanish arms
and the allurement of spoils had reconciled most of the lately
disaffected, so that those who now demanded to return were only a
few of the more wealthy. The services of these could be readily
dispensed with, now that such large reinforcements had been
received, and the display of their accumulations at home might
inspire fresh recruits. Therefore Cortés gave his consent, with
abundant promises that as soon as the conquest was fully
accomplished, gold and other rewards would flow on those who
supported his cause either in the Islands or in Spain. Leaders like
Duero and Bermudez were the chief recipients of such offers; and
offers alone they remained in most instances, for Cortés was not the
man to reward desertion. Duero and others evidently expected
nothing more, since they were soon after found arrayed on the side
of Velazquez. When some among the Cortés party raised objections
to this diminution of the force, they were quieted with the declaration
that the army was better rid of unwilling and inefficient soldiers,
whose presence served only to discourage others.[991]
The vessel for Spain and two of those for the Islands were
wrecked on the coast; and one consequence was that Mendoza’s
departure was delayed till the 5th of March. He took with him a
supplementary letter for the emperor, relating the progress so far
made for the recovery of Mexico. By this time Ordaz was, according
to Bernal Diaz, commissioned to join him and plead the cause of
Cortés before the emperor, and at the same time to receive the
reward for his many achievements, one of which was the ascent of
the volcano. Several of the Narvaez party appear to have left by the
same vessel.[992]
In course of the late campaign the advantages of the town of
Tepeaca for permanent occupation had become apparent, chiefly as
a point of observation for watching over the new conquest. It was
well situated for protecting the road to Villa Rica,[993] and for
communicating with Cholula and Tlascala, each capital eight or nine
leagues distant, and it lay in the midst of a fertile maize country,
which offered ample subsistence for a garrison. Although the
punishment at first inflicted, by sacking and enslaving, had been
severe, yet the treatment of the inhabitants became afterward so
considerate that they themselves prayed for a continuance of
Spanish protection.[994] Every circumstance, therefore, demanding a
settlement, it was decided in council to found a villa in this same
town, with the appropriate name of Segura de la Frontera, intended,
as it was, to secure the frontier against the Mexicans. Pedro de Ircio
was made alcalde, with Francisco de Orozco and others as
regidores.[995]
The campaign being practically concluded, a division was
ordered to be made of the spoils not hitherto distributed, including
slaves, which had now become a prominent feature thereof, and
were intended for personal and plantation service, as already
practised in the Antilles. The pretence was to enslave only the
inhabitants of districts concerned in the murder of Spaniards, but the
distinction was not very strictly observed, and rebellious tribes and
those addicted to cannibalism and other vicious practices were
included.[996] The Spaniards, as a rule, kept only the women and the
children, the men being transferred to the allies for their share,
“because they were difficult to watch,” says Bernal Diaz, “and
because their services were not needed while we had the
Tlascaltecs with us.”[997]
The soldiers were ordered to bring in all their captives, which
from the first had been branded for recognition with a ‘G,’ signifying
guerra, war.[998] When the day for distribution came, it was found
that the leaders and favored men had already secured their share by
appropriating the prettiest and choicest slaves. They had probably
been priced by the officials, and the leaders, being entitled to larger
shares, had secured the best articles. At this there was a
considerable uproar, increased by the outcry against the fifth set
apart for Cortés, after deducting the royal fifth.[999] How the matter
was settled is not clear, except that the general had recourse to the
soothing eloquence he knew so well how to apply, promising that for
the future he would conform to the general desire, which appeared to
be in favor of offering the slaves at auction, so as to arrive at their
proper value, and to give all members of the expedition an equal
chance in securing the more desirable.[1000]
One of the last expeditions fitted out at Segura was for the
reduction of the northern route to Villa Rica, by which the Spaniards
had first entered the plateau, and for the punishment of those
concerned in the murder of Alcántara and other Spaniards.[1001] It
set out in the beginning of December, under Sandoval, with two
hundred infantry, twenty horses, and the usual complement of allies,
and entered Xocotlan valley, which readily submitted, with the
exception of the main town, named Castilblanco during the first entry
into the country. The cacique, who had then already shown himself
unfriendly, rejected every proposition, with the threat that he would
make a feast on the commander and his followers, as he had on the
former party. There being no alternative, the cavalry charged the
large force which had taken up position near a ravine, on the
outskirts of the city, with a view to defend the entrance. Under cover
of the musketeers and archers, who from one side of the ravine did
considerable harm to the enemy, the charge succeeded, though four
riders and nine horses were wounded, one of the latter dying. The
enemy thrown into disorder fled to join the remaining garrison, which
occupied the temples on the plaza. With the aid of the infantry and
allies the stronghold speedily fell, and a number of prisoners were
secured.[1002]
Proceeding northward along the mountain border of the plateau
Sandoval added a considerable extent of country to his conquest,
meeting serious opposition only at Jalancingo, where the Aztec
garrison, ever since the beginning of the Tepeaca campaign, had
been employed in fortifying the place, and either considered
themselves secure or feared that a surrender would procure no
better terms, for them, at least. They were disconcerted by being
attacked on different sides, under native guidance, and after a brief
resistance took to flight, during which a number of them were
captured, the Spaniards losing three horses, and having eight men
severely injured, Sandoval receiving an arrow wound. In a temple
were found relics of slaughtered Spaniards, in the shape of dresses,
arms, and saddles.[1003] A few days later the expedition set out to
rejoin the army, with a large amount of spoils and a train of captives.
The chiefs were pardoned by Cortés, with politic regard for the
future, and enjoined to furnish their quota of supplies at Segura.[1004]
The head-quarters had meanwhile been removed to Tlascala,
preparatory to a march on Mexico, and Segura was now in charge of
the alcalde, Pedro de Ircio, lately lieutenant of Sandoval at Villa Rica,
assisted by the regidor, Francisco de Orozco, and sixty men,
including the invalids and the disabled.[1005] Cortés had left it in the
middle of December,[1006] taking with the cavalry the route through
Cholula,[1007] to settle the question of succession to a number of
cacique offices vacated during the epidemic. These appeals were
made to him not only as the representative of the Spanish monarch
to whom the people had sworn obedience, but as an
acknowledgment of his influence over the native mind. His treatment
of the conquered and his equitable decisions of disputes had made
him the umpire and king-maker whom not only allies, but half-
reconciled tribes were willing to heed, in private and public affairs.
Having made the appointments, and formed favorable arrangements
for himself, he rejoined the army. The march to Tlascala was one
befitting the return of conquering heroes. Triumphal arches covered
the roads, and processions came to chant the praises of the victors,
and recount the successes achieved by the Tlascaltec allies, as
shown by spoils and banners from different provinces and cities, and
by long files of captives. On nearing the republican capital the whole
population came forth to join in the ovation, and at the plaza an
orator stepped forward to greet Cortés in a glowing panegyric,
wherein he reviewed his progress as conqueror and avenger. In
reply Cortés alluded feelingly to the brotherhood between the two
races, now cemented by blood and victories, and to the common
loss sustained in the death of the wise and noble Maxixcatzin. These
words, added to the evidence of sorrow in the mourning array of their
dress and arms, left a most favorable impression on the minds of the
brave allies.
He was again called as representative of his king to appoint as
successor to Maxixcatzin his eldest legitimate son, a boy of twelve
years, against whom a claimant had arisen.[1008] This done, Cortés
dubbed him a knight, according to Castilian usage, in recognition of
the services of his father, causing him also to be baptized, with the
name of Juan, Maxixcatzin becoming the family name.[1009] Taking
advantage of the occasion and of his own popularity, the general
sought to inspire a more general feeling in favor of his religion, but
the effort met with little encouragement, and he wisely refrained from
pressing so dangerous a subject. According to Bernal Diaz, the elder
Xicotencatl was among the limited number of saved souls, and
received the name of Vicente.[1010] The native records, as given by
Camargo and Torquemada, and adopted by most writers, assume
that the four chiefs were all baptized at this time, if not earlier; but
they are neither clear nor consistent, and are evidently impelled by a
desire to redeem the native leaders from the charge of idolatry.
Cortés, Herrera, Diaz, and other chroniclers would not have failed to
record so large and prominent a conquest for the church, particularly
since the two latter do mention the exceptional converts.[1011] Cortés
also refers to a conversion in the person of Tecocoltzin, a younger
brother of King Cacama, and the future head of Tezcuco, who is
named Fernando; but he does so in a manner which indicates that
the conversion was exceptional.[1012] His baptism took place
probably on the same day as that of young Maxixcatzin and old
Xicotencatl, the occasion being celebrated with banquets and
dances, with illumination, sports, and exchange of presents, the
Spaniards adding horse-races and other interesting proceedings for
the gratification of the natives.

FOOTNOTES
[959] ‘Con este ... vino vn Francisco Lopez, vezino, y Regidor que fue de
Guatimala.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 113. Vetancurt assumes that Pedro del
Castillo—Diaz calls him ‘el Almirante Pedro Cauallero’—secured Barba and his
vessel. Teatro Mex., pt. iii. 148; Cortés, Residencia, ii. 165.
[960] ‘El capitã Diego de Camargo,’ says Herrera; but Bernal Diaz explains that
this man stepped into the captaincy on the murder of ‘fulano Alvarez Pinedo,’ at
Pánuco. ‘Dixeron, que el Capitan Camargo auia sido Fraile Dominico, e que auia
hecho profession.’ Hist. Verdad., 114.

[961] Seven leagues up, says Herrera.

[962] ‘Muerto diez y siete ó diez y ocho cristianos, y herido otros muchos.
Asimismo ... muerto siete caballos.’ Cortés, Cartas, 144. Bernal Diaz assumes
that the whole attacking force was killed and some vessels destroyed. ‘Dexaron
vna carauela,’ says Herrera.

[963] Herrera states that hunger caused the land expedition to abandon the
vessels some twenty leagues above Almería. The people from the wrecked
caravel were taken on board the last vessel. dec. ii. lib. x. cap. xviii. Cortés leaves
the impression that both vessels arrived at Villa Rica, perhaps because the one
was wrecked so near it. ‘Vn nauio ... y traia sobre sesenta soldados.’ Bernal Diaz,
Hist. Verdad., 114. This may include the land party, but not the sailors.

[964] ‘Con hasta treinta hombres de mar y tierra.’ Cortés, Cartas, 154. ‘Sus
soldados, que eran mas de cincuenta, y mas siete cauallos,’ says Bernal Diaz,
Hist. Verdad., 114; and, since Cortés would be less apt to indicate large
accessions, he may be correct.

[965] ‘Este fue el mejor socorro.... Diaz de Auz sirvió muy bien a su Magestad en
todo lo que se ofreciò en las guerras, ... traxo pleyto despues, sobre el pleyto de
la mitad de Mestitan, ... conque le den la parte de lo que rentare el pueblo mas de
dos mil y quinientos pesos.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 114-15. He was excluded
from the town itself, owing to cruel treatment of Indians.

[966] ‘El señor de aquel rio y tierra, que se dice Pánuco, se habia dado por vasallo
de V. M., en cuyo reconocimiento me habia enviado á la ciudad de Tenuxtitan, con
sus mensajeros, ciertas cosas.’ Cortés, Cartas, 144-5. But this is probably a mere
assertion, since the Spanish expeditions had never been higher than Almería, and
the cacique could have had no inducement for submitting.

[967] Bernal Diaz refers to the last accession from Garay’s expeditions as 40
soldiers and 10 horses, under an old man named Ramirez. Protected by heavy
cotton armor they were nicknamed the ‘albardillas.’ Hist. Verdad., 115.

[968] ‘Si todos ó algunos dellos se quisiesen volver en los navíos que allí estaban,
que les diese licencia.’ Cortés, Cartas, 163.
[969] Oviedo, iii. 335; and so Herrera also intimates in reference to Camargo’s
only remaining vessel, ‘la qual se anegò tãbien dẽtro de 10. dias en el puerto.’
dec. ii. lib. x. cap. xviii.

[970] The last two vessels bring 150 men and 16 horses, probably over 20, to
which must be added Camargo’s force, amounting no doubt to 50 effective men,
for Bernal Diaz admits 60 soldiers, not counting sailors; and Herrera intimates that
over 100 men must have reached Villa Rica of the total force on board Camargo’s
three vessels. Bernal Diaz’ estimates for the five vessels which he enumerates
exceed 170 soldiers and 20 horses; on fol. 115 he contradicts several points,
including the total, to which the sailors may be added, while a small reduction is to
be made for deaths among Camargo’s men. Vetancurt follows Bernal Diaz, and so
does Prescott, who assumes that full 150 men and 20 horses must have been
obtained. Mex., ii. 438. Robertson raises this nearer to the truth by saying 180
men, Hist. Am., ii. 104, as does Brasseur de Bourbourg, who nevertheless, on an
earlier page, adds Sahagun’s fanciful reinforcement of 300 men. Hist. Nat. Civ., iv.
371, 387. While the Spaniards were curing themselves, ‘llegó á Tlaxcala un
Francisco Hernandez, español, con 300 soldados castellanos y con muchos
caballos y armas.’ Sahagun, Hist. Conq., i. 37. The later edition does not give the
number. Gomara merely states that numerous small parties came over from the
Antilles, attracted by Cortés’ fame, through Aillon’s reports, he seems to say. Many
of them were murdered on the way, but sufficient numbers reached him to restore
the army and encourage the prosecution of the conquest. Hist. Mex., 173.

[971] Said to have been named Francisco Eguia. Sahagun, Hist. Conq., i. 39, 66,
and Chimalpain, Hist. Conq., i. 278. Herrera writes that many assumed the malady
to have been one of the periodical scourges that used to fall on the country. ‘Y el
no auer tocado a los Castellanos, parece que trae aparencia de razon.’ dec. ii. lib.
x. cap. iv. But it appears to have been wholly a new disease to the natives.

[972] ‘En el mes que llamaban Tepeilhuitl que es al fin de setiembre,’ as Sahagun
assumes. Hist. Conq., i. 39.

[973] Motolinia, Hist. Ind., in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., i. 14-15; Sahagun, Hist.
Conq., i. 39, 66; Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., 514; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 101; Id.
(Paris ed. 1837), iv. 460 (a chapter omitted in the original); Gomara, Hist. Mex.,
148; Chimalpain, Hist. Conq., i. 279; Torquemada, i. 489; Tezcoco en los ultimos
tiempos, 273.

[974] ‘Vivió despues de su elecçion solos sessenta dias.’ Cano, in Oviedo, iii. 549.
The election having taken place twenty days after Montezuma’s death, according
to Ixtlilxochitl, who assumes that he ruled only 40 or 47 days. Hist. Chich., 304; Id.,
Relaciones, 413. Others extend the rule to 80 days, both as leader and king,
perhaps, which would agree with Cano’s version.
[975] Such characteristics may be seen in Spanish as well as native records; yet
Solis writes, ‘su tibieza y falta de aplicacion dexáse poco menos que borrada
entre los suyos la memoria de su nombre.’ Hist. Mex., 372. Sufficient proof of his
energy is found in the siege resulting in the expulsion from Mexico.

[976] The native authorities incline to Quauhtemoc, but the Spanish generally add
the ‘tzin,’ the ‘c’ being elided, and the ‘Q’ changed to ‘G,’ making the name
Guatemotzin. ‘Quauhtemoc, que significa Aguila que baja.’ Vetancvrt, Teatro Mex.,
pt. iii. 51.

[977] Bernal Diaz describes him about a year later as 23 or 24 years old, while on
another occasion he alludes to him as 25. Hist. Verdad., 112, 155. Ixtlilxochitl
makes him 18. Hist. Chich., 304.

[978] ‘Por muerte de su Padre gobernaba el Tlatelulco.’ Duran, Hist. Ind., MS., ii.
479. ‘Sobrino de Monteçuma, que era papa ó saçerdote mayor entre los indios.’
Cano, in Oviedo, iii. 549; Peter Martyr, dec. v. cap. vi. ‘Cuauhtemotctzin hijo del
rey Ahuitzotzin y de la heredera de el Tlatelulco.’ Ixtlilxochitl, Relaciones, 413.
This incorrect view is adopted by Brasseur de Bourbourg and many others.

[979] ‘Moglie già del suo Zio Cuitlahuatzin,’ is the supposition of Clavigero, Storia
Mess., iii. 160. ‘Se hizo temer de tal manera, que todos los suyos temblauan dél.’
Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 112. For fanciful portraits of these last two emperors,
see Frost’s Pict. Hist. Mex., 104, 114.

[980] Ixtlilxochitl, loc. cit.; Torquemada, i. 570.

[981] ‘Al que solo fue causa q̄ los Christianos se conseruassen en aquella tierra.’
Herrera, dec. ii. lib. x. cap. xix.

[982] Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 118; Herrera, ubi sup.

[983] During the absence of the troops, says Herrera, a part of the Tepeacans had
formed a plot to surprise them when divided; but some women informed Marina in
time to prevent trouble. Cortés inflicted on them severe chastisement. dec. ii. lib. x.
cap. xvi. xviii.

[984] The reports and other papers by Cortés, written during a period of nearly
three decades in connection with New Spain, are both numerous and lengthy, but
only the five letters relating to the actual conquest of Mexico and Central America
have achieved bibliographic celebrity, under the title of Cortés’ Letters or
Relations. Although the first letter has been lost, and the companion letter long
missing, yet an allusion to the expedition against Mexico appeared as early as
1520 in Ein auszug ettlicher sendbrieff dem aller durchleüchtigisten
grossmechtigistẽ Fürsten ... von wegen einer new gefundẽ Inseln. Nürmberg
durch Fryderichen Peypus am. 17. tag Marcij MDXX., wherein the voyages of
Córdoba and Grijalva are also described. Harrisse, Bib. Am. Vet., 179, assumes
that the information is taken from Peter Martyr’s Decades. A later brief reference
to the city of Mexico itself is given in Translationuss hispanischer sprach zü
Frantzösisch gemacht so durch dẽ Vice Rey in Neapole fraw Margareten
Hertzogiñ iñ Burgundi zü geschrieben, published in 1522. On folio A. iii. is written:
Not far from the same island they have conquered a city called Tenustitan,
wherein 60,000 hearths have been counted, within a good wall. The letter of the
ayuntamiento was first published in Col. Doc. Inéd., i., 1842.
By the time of the receipt in Spain of Cortés’ second letter, of October 30,
1520, the general and his conquest had become so famous that his
communications were not likely to be lost sight of. The incidents treated of were
besides highly enticing, particularly the victories in Tlascala, the entry into
Montezuma’s wonderful island city, the disastrous expulsion, and the renewal of
the campaign, and Cromberger had it printed in 1522 under the title of Carta de
relaciõ ẽbiada a su. S. majestad del ẽpador nt̃o señor por el capitã general dela
nueua spaña: llamado fernãdo cortes, etc. Seuilla: por Jacobo crõberger aleman.
A viii. dias de Nouiẽbre. Año de M. d. y xxij. ‘Fué las Primicias de el Arte de la
Imprenta en Sevilla, y acaso de toda España,’ observes Lorenzana, in Cortes,
Hist. N. España, 171, but this is a great mistake, for printing had been done
already for several decades in Spain. An Italian abstract of the letter appeared
immediately after, as Noue de le Isole & Terra ferma Nouamente trouate In India
per el Capitaneo de larmata de la Cesarea Maiestate. Mediolani decimosexto
calẽ. Decembris M.D.XXII. A reprint of the Seville text was issued at Saragossa in
January, 1523. A later abridged account of the conquest is given in Ein schöne
Newe zeytung so Kayserlich Mayestet auss India yetz newlich zükommen seind,
ascribed to Sigmund Grimm of Augsburg, about 1522. Bibliotheca Grenvilliana
and Harrisse. Ternaux-Compans wrongly supposes the narrative to extend only to
1519, instead of 1522, and assumes the imprint to be Augsburg, 1520. Bibl.
Amér., 5. Perhaps 1523 is the more correct date, which may also be ascribed to
Tres sacree Imperiale et catholique mageste ... eust nouuelles des marches ysles
et terre ferme occeanes. Colophon, fol. 16. Depuis sont venues a sa mageste
nouuelles de certaīes ysles trouuez par les espagnolz plaines despecerie et
beaucoup de mines dor, lesquelles nouuelles il receupt en ceste ville de vailladolid
le primier doctobre xv. cent. xxij. This is a book noticed by no bibliographer except
Sabin, who believes that it contains only the second letter, although the holder
supposes the third letter to be also used. In 1524 appeared the first Latin version
of the second letter, by Savorgnanus, Praeclara Ferdinãdi Cortesii de Noua maris
Oceani Hyspania Narratio, Norimberga. M.D.XXIIII., which contains a copy of the
now lost map of the Gulf of Mexico, and also a plan of Mexico City. In the same
year two Italian translations of this version, by Liburnius, La Preclara Narratione,
were printed at Venice, one by Lexona, the other by Sabio, yet both at the
instance of Pederzani. The plan and map are often missing. Antonio, Bib. Hisp.
Nova, iii. 375, mentions only Lexona’s issue. A translation from Flavigny appeared
in the Portfolio, Philadelphia, 1817. The originals of the second and other letters
were, in the early part of the eighteenth century, ‘en la Libreria de Don Miguel
Nuñez de Rojas, del Consejo Real de las Ordenes,’ says Pinelo, Epitome, ii. 597.
Much of the vagueness which involves the narrative of events previous to the flight
from Mexico may be due to the loss of diary and documents during that episode.
The loss was convenient to Cortés, since it afforded an excuse for glossing over
many irregularities and misfortunes.
The third letter, dated Coyuhuacan, May 15, 1522, and relating the siege and
fall of Mexico, was first published at Seville, on Cromberger’s press, March 30,
1523, as Carta tercera de relaciõ: embiada por Fernãdo cortes capitan y justicia
mayor del yucatan llamado la nueua espana del mar oceano. It received a
reproduction in Latin by the same hand and at the same time as the second letter.
Both were reprinted, together with some missionary letters and Peter Martyr’s De
Insulis, in De Insvlis nuper Inventis Ferdinandi Cortesii. Coloniæ, M.D.XXXII. The
title-page displays a portrait of Charles V., and is bordered with his arms. Martyr’s
part, which tells rather briefly of Cortés, found frequent reprint, while the second
and third letters were republished, with other matter, in the Spanish Thesoro de
virtudes, 1543; in the German Ferdinandi Cortesii. Von dem Newen Hispanien.
Augspurg, 1550, wherein they are called first and second narratives, and divided
into chapters, with considerable liberty; in the Latin Novus Orbis of 1555 and 1616;
and in the Flemish Nieuwe Weerelt of 1563; while a French abridgment appeared
at Paris in 1532. The secret epistle accompanying the third letter was first printed
in Col. Doc. Inéd., i., and afterward by Kingsborough and Gayangos.
The fourth letter, on the progress of conquest after the fall of Mexico, dated at
Temixtitan (Mexico), October 15, 1524, was issued at Toledo, 1525, as La quarta
relacion, together with Alvarado’s and Godoy’s reports to Cortés. A second edition
followed at Valencia the year after. The secret letter accompanying it was not
published till 1865, when Icazbalceta, the well known Mexican collector,
reproduced it in separate black-letter form, and in his Col. Doc., i. 470-83.
The substance of the above three relations has been given in a vast number
of collections and histories, while in only a limited number have they been
reproduced in a full or abridged form, the first reproduction being in the third
volume of Ramusio Viaggi, of 1556, 1565, and 1606, which contains several other
pieces on the conquest, all supplied with appropriate headings and marginals.
Barcia next published them direct from the manuscript, in the Historiadores
Primitivos, i. This collection bears the imprint Madrid, 1749, but the letters had
already been printed in 1731, as Pinelo affirms, Epitome, ii. 597. Barcia died a few
years before his set was issued. From this source Archbishop Lorenzana took the
version published by him under the title of Historia de Nueva-España, Mexico,
1770, which is not free from omissions and faults, though provided with valuable
notes on localities and customs, and supplemented with illustrated pieces on
routes and native institutions, a map of New Spain by Alzate, an article on the
Gobierno Politico by Vetancurt, a copy of a native tribute-roll from picture records,
not very accurately explained, and the first map of Lower California and adjoining
coast, by Castillo, in 1541. This version of the letters was reproduced in New York,
1828, with a not wholly successful attempt by Del Mar to introduce modern
spelling. The work is also marked by a number of omissions and blunders, and the
introductory biographic sketch by Robert Sands adds little to its value. An
abridgment from Lorenzana appeared as Correspondance de Fernand Cortés, par
le Vicomte de Flavigny, Paris, 1778, which obtained three reprints during the
following year at different places. A great many liberties are taken with facts, as
may be imagined; and the letters are, beside, misnamed first, second, and third.
From the same source, or perhaps from Flavigny, of whom they savor, are Briefe
des Ferdinand Cortes, Heidelberg, 1779, with several reproductions, and with
notes; and the corrected Brieven van Ferdinand Cortes, Amsterdam, 1780-1. The
first edition in English, from Lorenzana, was issued by Folsom, as Despatches of
Hernando Cortes, New York, 1843, also with notes.
The fifth letter of the conqueror, on the famous expedition to Honduras, dated
at Temixtitan, September 3, 1526, lay hidden in the Vienna Imperial Library till
Robertson’s search for the first letter brought it to light. Hist. Am., i. xi. He made
use of it, but the first complete copy was not published till of late, in Col. Doc.
Inéd., iv. 8-167, reprinted at New York, 1848, and, in translation, in the Hakluyt
Society collection, London, 1868. It bore no date, but the copy found at Madrid has
that of September 3, 1526, and the companion letter printed in Col. Doc. Inéd., i.
14-23, that of September 11th. This, as well as the preceding letters, was issued
by Vedia, in Ribadeneyra’s Biblioteca de Autores Españoles, xxii.; the first three
letters being taken from Barcia, and the fifth from its MS. The letter of the
ayuntamiento is given and a bibliographic notice of little value. A very similar
collection is to be found in the Biblioteca Historica de la Iberia, i. But the most
complete reproduction of the principal writings by Cortés, and connected with him,
is in the Cartas y Relaciones de Hernan Cortés, Paris, 1866, by Gayangos, which
contains 26 pieces, beside the relations, chiefly letters and memorials to the
sovereign, a third of which are here printed for the first time. Although a few of
Lorenzana’s blunders find correction, others are committed, and the notes of the
archbishop are adopted without credit, and without the necessary amendment of
date, etc., which often makes them absurd. The earliest combined production of
Cortés’ relations, and many of his other writings, may be credited to Peter Martyr,
who in his Decades gave the substance of all that they relate, although he also
mingled other versions. Oviedo, in the third volume of his Hist. Gen., gives two
versions of the conquest, the first, p. 258 et seq., almost a reproduction of Cortés’
letters, and the other, p. 506 et seq., from different sources.
Beside the relations, there are a number of miscellaneous letters, petitions,
orders, instructions, and regulations, by Cortés, largely published in Navarrete,
Col. de Viages; Col. Doc. Inéd.; Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc.; Icazbalceta,
Col. Doc.; Kingsborough’s Mex. Antiq.; Alaman, Disert., and as appendices to
histories of Mexico. A special collection is the Escritos Sueltos de Hernan Cortés,
Mex., 1871, forming vol. xii. of the Bib. Hist. de la Iberia, which presents 43
miscellaneous documents from various printed sources, instructions, memorials,
and brief letters, nearly all of which are filled with complaints against ruling men in
Mexico.
Cortés’ letters have not inaptly been compared by Prescott to the
Commentaries of Cæsar, for both men were military commanders of the highest
order, who spoke and wrote like soldiers; but their relative positions with regard to
the superior authorities of their states were different, and so were their race
feelings, and their times, and these features are stamped upon their writings.
Cortés was not the powerful consul, the commander of legions, but the leader of a
horde of adventurers, and an aspirant for favor, who made his narrative an
advocate. The simplicity and energy of the style lend an air of truth to the
statements, and Helps, among others, is so impressed thereby as to declare that
Cortés ‘would as soon have thought of committing a small theft as of uttering a
falsehood in a despatch addressed to his sovereign.’ Cortés, ii. 211. But it requires
little study of the reports to discover that they are full of calculated misstatements,
both direct and negative, made whenever he considered it best for his interest to
conceal disagreeable and discreditable facts, or to magnify the danger and the
deed. They are also stamped with the religious zeal and superstition of the age,
the naïve expressions of reliance on God being even more frequent than the
measured declarations of devotedness to the king; while in between are calmly
related the most cold-blooded outrages on behalf of both. There is no apparent
effort to attract attention to himself; there is even at times displayed a modesty
most refreshing in the narrative of his own achievements, by which writers have as
a rule been quite entranced; but this savors of calculation, for the general tone is
in support of the ego, and this often to the exclusion of deserving officers. Indeed,
generous allusions to the character or deeds of others are not frequent, or they
are merged in the non-committing term of ‘one of my captains.’ Pedro de Alvarado
complains of this in one of his Relaciones, in Barcia, Hist. Prim., i. 165-6. In truth,
the calculating egotism of the diplomate mingles freely with the frankness of the
soldier. Cortés, however, is ever mindful of his character as an hidalgo, for he
never stoops to meanness, and even in speaking of his enemies he does not
resort to the invectives or sharp insinuations which they so freely scatter. His style
bears evidence of training in rhetoric and Latin, yet the parade of the latter is not
so frequent as might be expected from the half-bred student and zealot. Equally

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