The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2): Written by Himself Containing a True and Full Account of the Discovery and Conquest of Mexico and New Spain.

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THE MEMOIRS OF THE CONQUISTADOR BERNAL DIAZ DEL CASTILLO

WRITTEN BY HIMSELF

CONTAINING A TRUE AND FULL ACCOUNT OF THE DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST OF MEXICO AND NEW SPAIN

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL SPANISH BY JOHN INGRAM LOCKHART, F.R.A.S. AUTHOR OF "ATTICA AND ATHENS"

IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. I

LONDON J. HATCHARD AND SON, 187, PICCADILLY MDCCCXLIV.

C. AND J. ADLARD, PRINTERS, BATHOLOMEW CLOSE.

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

The History of the Conquest of New Spain is a subject in which great interest is felt at the present day, and the English public will hail these memoirs, which contain the only true and complete account of that important transaction.

The author of this original and charming production, to which he justly gives the title of 'The True History of the Conquest of New Spain,' was himself one of the Conquistadores; one who not only witnessed the transactions which he relates, but who also performed a glorious part in them; a soldier who, for impartiality and veracity, perhaps never had his equal. His account is acknowledged to be the only one on which we can place reliance, and it has been the magazine from which the most eloquent of the Spanish writers on the same subject, as well as those of other countries, have borrowed their best materials. Some historians have even transcribed whole pages, but have not had sufficient honesty to acknowledge it.

The author, while living, was never rewarded for the great services he had rendered his country, and it is remarkable that, after his death, his very memoirs were pillaged by court historians, to raise a literary monument to themselves.

Most of the other writers on the conquest, particularly the Spanish, have filled their works with exaggerations, to create astonishment and false interest; pages are filled with so termed philosophical remarks, which but ill supply the place of the intelligent reader's own reflections. Bernal Diaz differs widely from those writers, for he only states what he knows to be true. The British public, fond above all others of original productions, will peruse with interest and delight a work which has so long been the secret fountain from which all other accounts of the conquest, with the exception of those which are least faithful, have taken life.

In respect of its originality, it may vie with any work of modern times, not excepting 'Don Quixote.' The author seems to have been born to show forth truth in all its beauty, and he raises it to a divinity in his mind. Can anything be more expressive of an honest conscience than what he says in his own preface: "You have only to read my history, and you see it is true."

The reader may form a general idea of this work from the following critique, which Dr. Robertson, the historian, passes upon it: "Bernal Diaz's account bears all the marks of authenticity, and is accompanied with such pleasant naivete, with such interesting details, with such amusing vanity, and yet so pardonable in an old soldier, who had been, as he boasts, in a hundred and nineteen battles, as renders his book one of the most singular that is to be found in any language."

One circumstance, and that very justly, he is most anxious to impress on your mind, namely, that all the merit of the conquest is not due to Cortes alone; for which reason he generally uses the expression "Cortes and all of us."

This is an allowable feeling in our old soldier, and it must be remembered that the greater part of the men who joined Cortes were of good families, who, as usual on such expeditions, equipped themselves at their own expense, and went out as adventurers of their own free choice.

With respect to our author's style of writing, it is chiefly characterized by plainness and simplicity, and yet there are numerous passages which are written with great force and eloquence, and which, as the Spanish editor says, "could not have been more forcibly expressed, nor with greater elegance." Some readers may at first feel inclined to censure our author for going into minute particulars in describing the fitting out of the expedition under Cortes; for instance, his describing the qualities and colours of the horses; but all this, it will be seen, was of the utmost importance to his history, and of the horses he was bound to take special notice, for they performed a conspicuous part in the conquest. The honest old soldier even devotes a couple of his last chapters to the whole of his companions in arms, in which he mentions them all by name, describes their persons, their bravery, and the manner in which they died.

To conclude these few remarks on this work, I must observe, that it not only surpasses Cortes' despatches in completeness, but also in truth and naivete. He represents the whole to you with a simplicity truly sublime; at times he astonishes with a power of expressing his sentiments peculiar to himself, and with a pathos that goes to the very heart.

Bernal Diaz was of a respectable family, and born in Medina del Campo, a small town in the province of Leon. He was what in Spain is termed an hidalgo--though by this little more was signified than a descent from Christian forefathers, without any mixture of Jewish or Moorish blood. With respect to the precise year of his birth he has left us in the dark, but, according to his own account, he first left Castile, for the New World, in the year 1514; and as, on his first arrival in Mexico, in the year 1519, he still calls himself a young man, we may safely conclude that he was born between 1495 and 1500. In the year 1568 he completed his work, at which time there were only six of the Conquistadores alive, and he must then have been about seventy years of age, but there is every reason for supposing that he reached the advanced age of eighty-six. Endowed with singular nobleness of mind, he had the happiness to enjoy an unblemished reputation.

The excellent Torquemada, in speaking of him in his voluminous work entitled 'Monarchia Indiana,' says, "I saw and knew this same Bernal Diaz in the city of Guatimala; he was then a very aged man, and one who bore the best of reputations." Quoting him in another passage, he has, "Thus says Bernal Diaz del Castillo, a soldier on whose authority and honesty we can place reliance." He was a man devoted to his religion, and it must be particularly borne in mind that the Catholic faith was never stronger than at that time; yet we find him the least superstitious of all the Spanish historians on the Conquest, and, in the 34th Chapter, he has shown a mind superior to the times in which he lived.

If we contemplate the period in which the conquest of New Spain took place, we can easily imagine that Cortes considered it imperative on him to plant his religion among the Indians by the power of the sword, if he could not by kind remonstrances; and we are often reminded of Joshua in the Old Testament. The Spaniards themselves certainly entertained that idea; for in the edition of Cortes' despatches published at Mexico in 1770, his sword is termed, "Gladius Domini et Gideonis:" yet the Spaniards were not the cruel monsters they have generally been described during those times. As far as the conquest of New Spain is concerned, they were more humane than otherwise; and if at times they used severity, we find that it was caused by the horrible and revolting abominations which were practised by the natives. We can scarcely imagine kinder-hearted beings than the first priests and monks who went out to New Spain; they were men who spent their lives under every species of hardship to promote the happiness of the Indians. Who can picture to his mind a more amiable and noble disposition than that of father Olmedo? He was one of the finest characters, Dr. Robertson says, that ever went out as priest with an invading army!

We may have become exceedingly partial to a work which has now been constantly before our eyes for the last two years, yet we can scarcely imagine that any one could take up a volume, whether a novel or a history, which he would peruse with more delight than these memoirs.

With regard to the translation, which is from the old edition printed at Madrid in 1632, we have acted up to the author's desire, and have neither added nor taken anything away, and have attempted to follow the original as closely as possible. To the original there is not a single note, and particular care has been taken not to overburden the translation with them. In the spelling of the names of the Indian chiefs, the townships, and of the provinces, we have mostly followed Torquemada, who is considered more correct on this point, for he lived fifty years in New Spain, was perfect master of the Mexican language, and made the history of that country his peculiar study.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

I, Bernal Diaz del Castillo, regidor of the town of Santiago, in Guatimala, author of this very true and faithful history, have now finished it, in order that it may be published to the world. It treats of the discovery and total conquest of New Spain; and how the great city of Mexico and several other towns were taken, up to the time when peace was concluded with the whole country; also of the founding of many Spanish cities and towns, by which we, as we were in duty bound, extended the dominion of our sovereign.

In this history will be found many curious facts worthy of notice. It likewise points out the errors and blunders contained in a work written by Francisco de Gomara, who not only commits many errors himself in what he writes about New Spain, but he has also been the means of leading those two famous historians astray who followed his account, namely, Dr. Illescas and the bishop Paulo Jovio. What I have written in this book I declare and affirm to be strictly true. I myself was present at every battle and hostile encounter. Indeed, these are not old tales or romances of the seventh century; for, if I may so say, it happened but yesterday what is contained in my history. I relate how, where, and in what manner these things took place; as an accredited eyewitness of this I may mention our very spirited and valorous captain Don Hernando Cortes, marquis del Valle Oaxaca, who wrote an account of these occurrences from Mexico to his imperial majesty Don Carlos the Fifth, of glorious memory; and likewise the corresponding account of the viceroy Don Antonio de Mendoza. But, besides this, you have only to read my history and you see it is true.

I have now completed it this 26th day of February, 1568, from my day-book and memory, in this very loyal city of Guatimala, the seat of the royal court of audience. I also think of mentioning some other circumstances which are for the most part unknown to the public. I must beg of the printers not to take away from, nor add one single syllable to, the following narrative, etc.

CONTENTS

OF

THE FIRST VOLUME.

PAGE

CHAP. I. The time of my departure from Castile, and what farther happened to me 1

CHAP. II. Of the discovery of Yucatan, and the battle we fought there with the natives 3

CHAP. III. Discovery of the coast of Campeachy 6

CHAP. IV. How we landed in a bay close to some maise plantations, near the harbour of Potonchan, and of the attack that was made upon us there 9

CHAP. V. We resolve to return to Cuba. The extreme thirst we suffered, and all the fatigues we underwent until our arrival in the port of Havannah 12

CHAP. VI. How twenty of us went on shore in the bay of Florida with the pilot Alaminos in search of water; the hostilities which the natives of this country commenced with us; and of all that further befel us on our passage to the Havannah 13

CHAP. VII. The fatigues I had to undergo until my arrival in the town of Trinidad 17

CHAP. VIII. How Diego Velasquez, governor of Cuba, sent out another armament to the country we had discovered 19

CHAP. IX. How we landed at Champoton 23

CHAP. X. We continued our course and ran into Terminos bay, as we named it 24

CHAP. XI. How we came into the Tabasco river, which we termed the Grijalva, and what happened to us there 25

CHAP. XII. We come in sight of the town of Aguajaluco, and give it the name of La Rambla 28

CHAP. XIII. How we arrive on the Bandera stream and gain 1500 pesos 29

CHAP. XIV. How we come into the harbour of San Juan de Ulua 32

CHAP. XV. Diego Velasquez sends out a small vessel in quest of us 33

CHAP. XVI. What befel us on our coasting voyage along the Tusta and Tuspa mountains 34

CHAP. XVII. Diego Velasquez despatches one of his officials to Spain 38

CHAP. XVIII. Of some errors in the work of Francisco Lopez de Gomara 39

CHAP. XIX. How another armament was fitted out for a voyage to the newly discovered countries; the command of which was given to Hernando Cortes, afterwards Marquis of the Vale of Oaxaca; also of the secret cabals which were formed to deprive him of it 42

CHAP. XX. Of the designs and plans of Hernando Cortes after he had obtained the appointment of captain 45

CHAP. XXI. Cortes' occupations at Trinidad, and of the cavaliers and warriors who there joined our expedition, and other matters 47

CHAP. XXII. How the governor, Diego Velasquez, sends two of his officials in all haste to Trinidad, with full power and authority to deprive Cortes of his appointment of captain, and bring the squadron away, &c. 49

CHAP. XXIII. Cortes embarks with all his cavaliers and soldiers in order to sail along the south side of the island to the Havannah, and sends off one of the vessels to go around the north coast for the same port 51

CHAP. XXIV. Diego Velasquez sends one of his officials, named Gaspar Garnica, with full authority to take Cortes prisoner, whatever might be the consequence; and what further happened 54

CHAP. XXV. Cortes sets sail with the whole squadron for the island of Cozumel, and what further took place 56

CHAP. XXVI. Cortes reviews his troops, and what further happened 57

CHAP. XXVII. Cortes receives information that two Spaniards are in the power of the Indians at the promontory of Cotoche: the steps he took upon this news 58

CHAP. XXVIII. The manner in which Cortes divides the squadron. The officers whom he appointed to the command of the several vessels. His instructions to the pilots; the signals which were to be made with lanterns at night, &c. 62

CHAP. XXIX. How the Spaniard Geronimo de Aguilar, who was in the power of the Indians, came to us when he learnt that we had again returned to the island of Cozumel, and what further happened 63

CHAP. XXX. How we re-embark and sail for the river Grijalva, and what happened to us on our voyage there 66

CHAP. XXXI. How we arrive in the river Grijalva, called in the Indian language the Tabasco; the battle we fought there; and what further took place 68

CHAP. XXXII. How Cortes despatches two of our principal officers, each with one hundred men, to explore the interior of the country, and what further took place 71

CHAP. XXXIII. Cortes issues orders that we should hold ourselves in readiness to march against the Indians on the following day; he also commands the horses to be brought on shore. How the battle terminates we fought with them 73

CHAP. XXXIV. How we are attacked by all the caziques of Tabasco, and the whole armed force of this province, and what further took place 74

CHAP. XXXV. How Cortes assembles all the caziques of this province, and what further happened 77

CHAP. XXXVI. How all the caziques and calachonis of the river Grijalva arrive with presents, and what happened after this 80

CHAP. XXXVII. How Dona Marina herself was a caziquess, and the daughter of distinguished personages; also a ruler over a people and several towns; and how she came to Tabasco 84

CHAP. XXXVIII. How we arrive with our vessels in San Juan de Ulua, and what we did there 86

CHAP. XXXIX. How Teuthlille makes his report to Motecusuma, and gives him our presents; as also what further took place in our camp 90

CHAP. XL. How Cortes goes in search of another harbour and a good spot to found a colony, and what further happened 92

CHAP. XLI. What happened on account of our bartering for gold, and of other things which took place in our camp 94

CHAP. XLII. How we elected Hernando Cortes captain-general and chief justice until we should receive the emperor's commands on this head; and what further happened 97

CHAP. XLIII. How the partisans of Diego Velasquez would not acknowledge the power we had conferred upon Cortes, and what further took place 100

CHAP. XLIV. How Pedro de Alvarado was ordered to make an excursion into the interior of the country, in order to procure maise and other provisions; and what further happened 101

CHAP. XLV. How we marched into Sempoalla, which at that period was a very considerable township, and what we did there 104

CHAP. XLVI. How we march into Quiahuitzlan, which was a town with fortifications, and were most friendly received 106

CHAP. XLVII. How Cortes ordered the five Mexican tax-gatherers to be imprisoned, and no further obedience to be paid Motecusuma, nor tribute to be exacted; and of the rebellion which was now excited against this monarch 109

CHAP. XLVIII. How we resolved to found Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, and construct a fortress on the low meadows, in the neighbourhood of some salt springs and the harbour, where our vessels were anchored; and what further happened 111

CHAP. XLIX. How the fat cazique and other chief men of the country come and complain to Cortes that a garrison of Mexicans had been thrown into the strong fortress of Tzinpantzinco, committing great depredations; and what further took place 114

CHAP. L. How some of Diego Velasquez's adherents refused to take any further part in our proceedings, and declared their determination to return to Cuba, seeing that Cortes was earnestly bent upon founding a colony, and had already commenced to pacify the inhabitants 115

CHAP. LI. What happened to us at Tzinpantzinco, and how, on our return to Sempoalla, we destroyed all the idols; likewise of other matters 117

CHAP. LII. How Cortes erects an altar, and places thereon the image of the blessed Virgin with a cross; after which mass was said, and the eight Indian females were baptized 121

CHAP. LIII. How we arrived in our town of Vera Cruz, and what happened there 123

CHAP. LIV. Concerning the account of our adventures, with the letter, which we sent his majesty the emperor, through Puertocarrero and Montejo, the letter being attested by some officers and soldiers 125

CHAP. LV. How Diego Velasquez is informed by his agents that we had sent messengers with letters and presents to our king, and what further took place 127

CHAP. LVI. How our agents passed through the Bahama channel with the most favorable wind, and arrived in Castile after a short passage; and of our success at court 129

CHAP. LVII. What took place in our camp after the departure of our agents to his majesty with the gold and the letters; and the instance of severity which Cortes was compelled to give 132

CHAP. LVIII. How we came to the resolution of marching to Mexico, and of destroying all our vessels, which was done with the sanction and by the advice of all Cortes' true adherents 133

CHAP. LIX. Of the speech which Cortes made to us after our vessels were destroyed, and how we prepared for our march to Mexico 135

CHAP. LX. How Cortes arrived with us at the spot where the vessel lay at anchor, and captured six soldiers and sailors of the said vessel who had stepped on shore; also what further took place 136

CHAP. LXI. How we set out on our march to the city of Mexico, and, upon the advice of the caziques, take our road over Tlascalla. What took place here, and of the battles we fought 138

CHAP. LXII. How we commenced our march upon Tlascalla, and sent messengers before us, to obtain the sanction of the inhabitants to pass through their country; how they took our messengers prisoners; and what further happened 143

CHAP. LXIII. Of the terrible battles we fought with the Tlascallans, and what further happened 146

CHAP. LXIV. How we quartered ourselves in the township of Tehuacacinco, and what we did there 149

CHAP. LXV. Of the great battle we fought with the Tlascallans, and what further took place 150

CHAP. LXVI. How we sent a message next day to the caziques of Tlascalla to bring about peace between us, and the determination they came to upon this 153

CHAP. LXVII. How we again sent messengers to the caziques of Tlascalla in order to induce them to make peace, and the resolution they came to upon this 157

CHAP. LXVIII. How we came to the determination of marching to a township in the neighbourhood of our camp, and what happened upon this 158

CHAP. LXIX. How we found, on our return to our encampment, that new intrigues had been set on foot; and the answer Cortes gave to certain representations which were made to him 160

CHAP. LXX. How the captain Xicotencatl assembled 20,000 chosen warriors to make an attack upon us in our camp, and what happened upon this 165

CHAP. LXXI. How four chief personages arrived in our camp to negotiate terms of peace with us, and what further happened 167

CHAP. LXXII. How ambassadors arrive in our camp from Motecusuma, and of the presents they brought with them 170

CHAP. LXXIII. How the captain-general Xicotencatl arrives in our camp to negotiate terms of peace; the speech he made, and what further happened 171

CHAP. LXXIV. How the old caziques of Tlascalla arrived in our camp and invited Cortes and all of us to visit their city, and what further happened 175

CHAP. LXXV. How we marched into the city of Tlascalla, and were received by the old caziques; of the present they made us, and how they brought us their daughters and nieces; and what further happened 176

CHAP. LXXVI. How mass was said in the presence of a great number of caziques, and of the present the latter brought us 178

CHAP. LXXVII. How the caziques presented their daughters to Cortes and all of us, and what further happened 180

CHAP. LXXVIII. How Cortes gained some information respecting Mexico from Xicotencatl and Maxixcatzin 183

CHAP. LXXIX. How our captain Hernando Cortes and all our officers and soldiers determine to march to Mexico 187

CHAP. LXXX. How the great Motecusuma despatched four ambassadors to us, all men in high authority, with presents in gold and cotton stuffs, and what they said to our captains 190

CHAP. LXXXI. How the inhabitants of Cholulla despatched four Indians to us, all men of no distinction, to apologise for not having visited us in Tlascalla, and what further happened 192

CHAP. LXXXII. How we arrived in the town of Cholulla, and the brilliant reception we met with 193

CHAP. LXXXIII. How the inhabitants of Cholulla concerted a plan, at the instigation of Motecusuma, to murder us all, and what further happened 195

CHAP. LXXXIV. The negotiations we set on foot with the great Motecusuma, and the ambassadors we sent him 208

CHAP. LXXXV. How the powerful Motecusuma sends a valuable present in gold to us, and the message which accompanied it, and how we all agree to commence our march upon Mexico; and what further happened 210

CHAP. LXXXVI. How we set out on our march to Mexico; what happened to us on our route; and the message Motecusuma sent us 212

CHAP. LXXXVII. How the powerful Motecusuma again sends ambassadors to us with a present of gold and cotton stuffs: that monarch's message to Cortes, and the answer he returns 216

CHAP. LXXXVIII. The magnificent and pompous reception which the powerful Motecusuma gave to Cortes and all of us, on our entrance into the great city of Mexico 220

CHAP. LXXXIX. How Motecusuma, accompanied by several caziques, pays us a visit in our quarters, and of the discourse that passed between him and our general 223

CHAP. XC. How our general, the day following, paid a visit to Motecusuma, and of the discourse that passed between them 225

CHAP. XCI. Of Motecusuma's person, disposition, habits, and of his great power 228

CHAP. XCII. Our general takes a walk through Mexico, and views the Tlatelulco, (the great square,) and the chief temple of Huitzilopochtli 235

CHAP. XCIII. How we erect a chapel and altar in our quarters with a cross on the outside; discover the treasure of Motecusuma's father; and determine to seize the monarch's person and imprison him in our quarters 244

CHAP. XCIV. Of the battle which the Mexican generals fought with Escalante and the Totonaque tribes 247

CHAP. XCV. Of the imprisonment of Motecusuma, and what further happened 249

CHAP. XCVI. How our general appoints Alonso Grado lieutenant of Vera Cruz, and Sandoval alguacil-major of the same place 255

CHAP. XCVII. How we entertained and amused Motecusuma during his confinement, and granted him permission to visit his temple 258

CHAP. XCVIII. How Cortes orders two large brigantines to be built for the navigation of the lake of Mexico; Motecusuma begs permission to visit his temples to offer up his prayers there; and what Cortes said to him when he granted this permission 261

CHAP. XCIX. How our two brigantines are launched, and Motecusuma, expressing a wish to go a hunting, sails in one of these vessels to a river where he usually went for that purpose 263

CHAP. C. How the nephews of Motecusuma assembled the principal personages of the empire, and formed a conspiracy to rescue the monarch from confinement, and beat us out of the city 265

CHAP. CI. How the powerful Motecusuma, with several caziques and chief personages of the country, declare themselves vassals of our emperor; and of other occurrences which happened then 271

CHAP. CII. How Cortes sends out some of our men to explore the gold mines and those rivers which wash down gold; also the harbours from the Panuco to the Tabasco, but particularly the river Guacasualco 273

CHAP. CIII. How the officers whom Cortes had despatched to the gold mines and the river Guacasualco returned to Mexico 274

CHAP. CIV. How Cortes desired the powerful Motecusuma to order all the caziques of the empire to bring in the tribute of gold due to our emperor 277

CHAP. CV. How all the gold presented by Motecusuma, and collected from the different townships, was divided; and what happened to one of our soldiers on the occasion 280

CHAP. CVI. Of the high words which arose between Velasquez de Leon and our treasurer Gonzalo Mexia on account of the gold which was missing from the heap, and how Cortes put an end to that dispute 282

CHAP. CVII. How Motecusuma offers one of his daughters in marriage to Cortes, who accepts her, and pays her the attention due to her high station 284

CHAP. CVIII. How the powerful Motecusuma acquaints Cortes that it is requisite for his safety to quit Mexico, with the whole of his men, as all the caziques and papas were upon the point of rising up in arms to destroy us all, in compliance with the advice given them by their gods: the steps which Cortes took upon this news 286

CHAP. CIX. How the governor of Cuba, Velasquez, in all haste fits out an armament against us, the command of which he gives to Pamfilo de Narvaez, who was accompanied by the licentiate Lucas Vazquez de Aillon, auditor of the royal court of audience at St. Domingo 289

CHAP. CX. How Narvaez arrives with the whole of his flotilla in the harbour of San Juan de Ulua, and what happened upon this 290

CHAP. CXI. How Pamfilo Narvaez despatches five persons to Sandoval, the commandant of Vera Cruz, with summons to surrender up the town to him 293

CHAP. CXII. How Cortes, after he had gained every information respecting the armament, wrote to Narvaez, and several of his acquaintances who had come with him, and particularly to Andreas du Duero, private secretary to Velasquez; and of other events 296

CHAP. CXIII. The high words which arose between the auditor Vazquez de Aillon and Narvaez, who orders him to be seized and sent back prisoner to Spain 298

CHAP. CXIV. Narvaez marches, with the whole of his troops, to Sempoalla; his proceedings there; and how we in Mexico determine to march against him 300

CHAP. CXV. How the powerful Motecusuma inquires of Cortes whether it was really his intention to march out against Narvaez, though the latter's troops were double the number of ours 302

CHAP. CXVI. How we determined once more to despatch father Olmedo to Narvaez's head-quarters, and what we commissioned him to say 306

CHAP. CXVII. How father Olmedo arrived in Narvaez's head-quarters at Sempoalla, and what he did there 308

CHAP. CXVIII. How Cortes reviews the whole of his troops, and we are supplied with two hundred and fifty very long new lances, by the Tchinantecs 310

CHAP. CXIX. How Duero, with the soldier Usagre and two of his Indian servants from Cuba, arrived in our camp; who this Duero was, and the reason of his visit, &c. 311

CHAP. CXX. How Juan Velasquez arrives in Narvaez's head-quarters, and what took place there 314

CHAP. CXXI. What took place in Narvaez's quarters after the return to our camp of the ambassadors we had sent there 318

CHAP. CXXII. The order of our march against Narvaez; the speech Cortes made to us; and our reply to it 320

CHAP. CXXIII. How the 2000 Indians of Chinantla, whom Cortes had demanded of the caziques there, arrived at Sempoalla after Narvaez's defeat 329

CHAP. CXXIV. How Cortes despatches Francisco de Lugo, with two men who had formerly been ship-builders, to the harbour where Narvaez's flotilla lay, to bring all the captains and pilots of the vessels to Sempoalla 329

CHAP. CXXV. How we all, including Narvaez's troops, hasten to Mexico by forced marches 333

CHAP. CXXVI. How the Mexicans made war upon us, and the battles we fought with them 337

CHAP. CXXVII. Cortes determines to announce Motecusuma's death to the Mexican generals and chiefs who are at war with us 345

CHAP. CXXVIII. How we come to the determination of leaving Mexico secretly at night; and what further happened 347

CHAP. CXXIX. How we quartered ourselves in the metropolis of Tlascalla, and what we did there 359

CHAP. CXXX. How we marched into the province of Tepeaca, what we did there, and of other things which happened 365

CHAP. CXXXI. How a vessel, which had been sent by Diego Velasquez from Cuba, arrived at Vera Cruz, commanded by the captain Pedro Barba, and the manner in which Caballero captured her 369

CHAP. CXXXII. How the inhabitants of Quauhquechola called upon Cortes, and begged of him to drive out the Mexican troops from their town, as they were plundered and ill-used by them 370

CHAP. CXXXIII. How one of the vessels which Francisco de Garay had fitted out for the object of forming settlements on the river Panuco, put in at Vera Cruz, and what further happened 373

CHAP. CXXXIV. How Cortes despatches Sandoval with 200 men, among which were twenty horse and twelve crossbow-men, to punish the tribes of Xalatzinco and Zacatemi, for having put some Spaniards to death, and to demand restitution of the gold they had robbed us of; and also further to explore the country 375

CHAP. CXXXV. How all the slaves we had taken in Tepeaca, Quauhquechola, Tecalco, and Castilblanco, were brought together in our head-quarters, and branded with an iron, in his majesty's name 379

CHAP. CXXXVI. How the chief officers and principal personages of Narvaez's troops request leave to return to Cuba, which Cortes grants, and they accordingly leave; also how our general sends ambassadors to Spain, St. Domingo, and Jamaica 381

NOTES 387

[Transcriber's Notes: The errata below have been corrected in the text. Footnote 24 has also been moved to its correct position in the text.]

ERRATA.

P. 17, _l._ 3, _for_ Fronseca, _read_ Fonseca. 17, 24, _for_ dubbloons, _read_ doubloons. 20, 18, _for_ Chaopa, _read_ Chiapa. 20, 26, _for_ Mautanzas, _read_ Matanza. 31, 8, _for_ this, _read_ their. 31, 28, _for_ surrounded, _read_ surmounted. 51, 17, _for_ his, _read_ its P. 53, _l._ 19, _read_ whom the king Quauhtemoctzin took. 126, 2, _for_ which, _read_ whom. 230, 22, _for_ were, _read_ was. 355, 9, _for_ when, _read_ where. 365, 33, _for_ were the townships, _read_ was the township.

CONQUEST

OF

MEXICO AND NEW SPAIN.

CHAPTER I.

_The time of my departure from Castile, and what further happened to me._

In the year 1514 I departed from Castile in the suite of Pedro Arias de Avila, who had just then been appointed governor of Terra Firma. At sea we had sometimes bad and sometimes good weather, until we arrived at Nombre Dios, where the plague was raging: of this we lost many of our men, and most of us got terrible sores on our legs, and were otherwise ill. Soon after our arrival, dissensions arose between the governor and a certain wealthy cavalier, named Vasco Nunez de Balboa, who had brought this province to subjection, and was married to one of the daughters of Avila. As, however, suspicion had been excited against him, owing to a plan he had formed of making a voyage to the South Sea at his own expense, for which he required a considerable body of troops, his own father-in-law deposed him and afterwards sentenced him to decapitation.

While we were spectators of all this, and saw, moreover, how other soldiers rebelled against their superior officers, we learnt that the island of Cuba had just been conquered, and that a nobleman of Quellar, named Diego Velasquez, was appointed governor there. Upon this news some of us met together, cavaliers and soldiers, all persons of quality who had come with Pedro Arias de Avila, and asked his permission to proceed to the island of Cuba: this he readily granted, not having sufficient employment for so great a number of men as he had brought with him from Spain. Neither was there any further conquest to be made in these parts; all was in profound peace, so thoroughly had his son-in-law Balboa subdued the country, besides which it was but small in extent and thinly populated. As soon, therefore, as we had obtained leave, we embarked in a good vessel and took our departure. Our voyage was most prosperous, so that we speedily arrived at Cuba. The first thing we did was to pay our respects to the governor, who received us with great kindness, and made us a promise of the first Indians that might be discharged. Three years, however, passed away since our first arrival in Terra Firma and stay at Cuba, still living in the expectation of the Indians which had been promised us, but in vain. During the whole of this time we had accomplished nothing worthy of notice: we therefore, the 110 who had come from Terra Firma, with some others of Cuba, who were also without any Indians, met together to concert measures with a rich cavalier named Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, who, besides being a person of wealth, possessed great numbers of Indians on the island. This gentleman we chose for our captain; he was to lead us out on voyages for the discovery of new countries, where we might find sufficient employment.

We purchased three vessels, two of which were of considerable burden; the third was given us by the governor, Diego Velasquez, on condition namely, that we should first invade the Guanajas islands, which lie between Cuba and the Honduras, and bring him thence three cargoes of Indians, whom he wanted for slaves; this he would consider as payment for the vessel. We were, however, fully aware that it was an act of injustice which Diego Velasquez thus required at our hands, and gave him for answer: that neither God nor the king had commanded us to turn a free people into slaves. When he learnt our determination, he confessed that our project for the discovery of new countries was more praiseworthy, and he furnished us with provisions for our voyage.

We had now three vessels and a sufficient supply of cassave bread, as it is there made from the juca root. We also purchased some pigs, which cost us three pesos a piece; for at that time there were neither cows nor sheep on the island of Cuba: to this I must also add a scanty supply of other provisions; while every soldier took with him some glass beads for barter. We had three pilots; of whom the principal one, who had the chief command of our vessels, was called Anton de Alaminos, a native of Palos; the two others were, Camacho de Triana, and Juan Alvarez el Manquillo of Huelva. In the same way we hired sailors, and furnished ourselves with ropes, anchors, water-casks, and other necessaries for our voyage, all at our own expense and personal risk.

After we had met together, in all 110, we departed for a harbour on the north coast of Cuba, called by the natives Ajaruco. The distance from this place to the town of San Christoval, then recently built, was twenty-four miles; for the Havannah had then only been two years in our possession. In order that our squadron might not want for anything really useful, we engaged a priest at the town of San Christoval. His name was Alonso Gonzalez, and by fair words and promises we persuaded him to join us. We also appointed, in the name of his majesty, a treasurer, called Beruardino Miguez, a native of Saint Domingo de la Calzada. This was done in order that if it pleased God we should discover any new countries, where either gold, silver, or pearls were to be found, there might be amongst us a qualified person to take charge of the fifths for the Emperor.[1] After everything had been thus properly ordered and we had heard mass said, we commended ourselves to God, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the virgin Mary his blessed mother, and set out on our voyage, as I shall further relate.

[1] During the first conquests of the Spaniards in New Spain, one half of the profits arising from the gold mines was paid to the crown; but the ill effects of this exorbitant demand soon began to show themselves, and it was reduced to one third, and then to a fifth, called the real quinto, which continued for a length of time, until it was further reduced. I must take this opportunity of observing, that the Spanish "peso" is equal to about 4s. 6d. of our money. (p. 3.)

CHAPTER II.

_Of the Discovery of Yucatan, and the battle we fought there with the Natives._

We sailed in the year 1517 from the harbour of Jaruco and left the Havannah. This harbour lies on the north coast of Cuba, and is so called by the natives. After twelve days' sail we had passed the coast of Saint Antonius, which in Cuba is called the country of the Guanatavies, a wild tribe of Indians. We now made for the wide ocean, steering continually towards the west, totally ignorant of the shoals and currents or of the winds which predominate in this latitude. Certainly most hazardous on our part, and indeed we were very soon visited by a terrible storm, which continued two days and two nights, in which the whole of us had nigh perished.

After the storm had abated and we had changed our course, we came in sight of land on the twenty-first day after our departure from Cuba, which filled every heart with joy and thanks towards God. This country had never been discovered before, nor had any one ever heard of it. From our ships we could perceive a considerable sized town, which lay about six miles from the sea shore. On account of its magnitude, and because it was larger than any town in Cuba, we gave it the name of _Grand Cairo_.

We resolved that our smallest vessel should near the shore as much as possible, to learn the nature of the spot and look out for a good anchorage. One morning, the 5th of March, we perceived five large canoes full of men coming towards us as swift as their paddles and sails could bring them from the town just mentioned. These canoes were hollowed out of the trunks of large trees, after the manner of our kneading troughs. Many of them were big enough to hold from forty to fifty Indians.

As these Indians approached us in their canoes, we made signs of peace and friendship, beckoning at the same time to them with our hands and cloaks to come up to us that we might speak with them; for at that time there was nobody amongst us who understood the language of Yucatan or Mexico. They now came along side of us without evincing the least fear, and more than thirty of them climbed on board of our principal ship. We gave them bacon and cassave bread to eat, and presented each with a necklace of green glass beads. After they had for some time minutely examined the ship, the chief, who was a cazique, gave us to understand, by signs, that he wished to get down again into his canoe and return home, but that he would come the next day with many more canoes in order to take us on shore. These Indians wore a kind of cloak made of cotton, and a small sort of apron which hung from their hips half-way down to the knee, which they termed a maltates. We found them more intelligent than the Indians of Cuba, where only the women wear a similar species of apron made of cotton, which hangs down over their thighs, and is called by them a nagua.

But to continue my narrative. Very early the morning following, our cazique again called upon us: this time he brought with him twelve large canoes and a number of rowers. He made known to our captain, by signs, that we were good friends and might come to his town: he would give us plenty to eat with everything we wanted, and could go on shore in his twelve canoes. I shall never forget how he said, in his language, _con escotoch_, _con escotoch_, which means, come with me to my houses yonder. We therefore called the spot Punta de Cotoche, under which name it stands on the sea charts.

In consideration of all these friendly invitations from the cazique to accompany him to his village, our captain held a short consultation with us, when we came to the resolution to lower our boats, take the smallest of our vessels with us, and so proceed together with the twelve canoes all at once on shore, as the coast was crowded with Indians from the above-mentioned village. This was accordingly done, and we all arrived there at the same time. The cazique seeing us now landed, but that we made no signs of going to his village, again gave our captain to understand, by signs, that we should follow him to his habitation, making at the same time so many demonstrations of friendship, that a second consultation was held as to whether we should accompany him or not. This was carried in the affirmative, but we took every precaution to be upon our guard, marching in close order with our arms ready for action. We took fifteen crossbows with a like number of matchlocks, and followed the cazique, who was accompanied by a great number of Indians.

As we were thus marching along, and had arrived in the vicinity of several rocky mountains, the cazique all at once raised his voice, calling aloud to his warriors, who it seemed were lying wait in ambush, to fall upon us and destroy us all. The cazique had no sooner given the signal, than out rushed with terrible fury great numbers of armed warriors, greeting us with such a shower of arrows, that fifteen of our men were immediately wounded. These Indians were clad in a kind of cuirass made of cotton, and armed with lances, shields, bows, and slings; with each a tuft of feathers stuck on his head. As soon as they had let fly their arrows, they rushed forward and attacked us man to man, setting furiously to with their lances, which they held in both hands. When, however, they began to feel the sharp edge of our swords, and saw what destruction our crossbows and matchlocks made among them, they speedily began to give way. Fifteen of their number lay dead on the field.

At some distance from the spot where they had so furiously attacked us was a small place in which stood three houses built of stone and lime. These were temples in which were found many idols made of clay which were of a pretty good size; some had the countenances of devils, others those of females: some again had even more horrible shapes, and appeared to represent Indians committing horrible offences. In these temples we also found small wooden boxes containing other of their gods with hellish faces, several small shells, some ornaments, three crowns, and other trinkets, some in the shape of fish, others in the shape of ducks, all worked out of an inferior kind of gold. Seeing all this, the gold, and the good architectural style of the temples, we felt overjoyed at the discovery of this country; for Peru was not discovered till sixteen years after. While we were fighting with the Indians, the priest Gonzalez ordered the gold and small idols to be removed to our ships by two Indians whom we had brought with us from Cuba. During the skirmish we took two of the natives prisoners, who subsequently allowed themselves to be baptised and became Christians. One was named Melchior and the other Julian; both were tattooed about the eyes. The combat with the natives now being at an end, we resolved to re-embark, and prosecute our voyage of discovery further along the coast towards the west. Having dressed the wounds of our men we again set sail.

CHAPTER III.

_Discovery of the Coast of Campeachy._

Continuing the course we had previously determined upon, more westward along the coast, we discovered many promontories, bays, reefs, and shallows. We all considered this country to be an island, because our pilot, Anton de Alaminos, persisted in it. During daytime we proceeded with all caution, but lay to at nights. After sailing in this way for fourteen days, we perceived another village which appeared to us of considerable magnitude. Here was a bay with an inner harbour, and it appeared to us that there might also be some river or small stream where we could take in fresh water, which latter had become very scarce, as our supply in the casks, which were none of the best, was fast diminishing; for, as the expedition was fitted out solely by persons in poor circumstances, we had not been able to purchase good ones. It happened to be Sunday Lazari when we landed, and we therefore named this place in honour of this day, although we were well aware that the Indians called it the land of _Campeachy_.

In order that the whole of us might land at the same time, we determined to go on shore in our smallest vessel and three boats, all of us well armed, to be ready in case we should meet with a similar rencontre as at the cape of Cotoche. The sea in these bays and roads is very shallow, so that our vessels were forced to anchor at more than three miles distance from the shore. Thus precautious we landed near the village, but were still a good way from the place were we intended to fill our casks. From this spot the natives also had their water; for we now found that there was no rivulet in the neighbourhood.

When we had brought our casks on shore, filled them with water, and were about to embark again, about fifty Indians from the village came up to us. They all wore stately mantels made of cotton, appeared friendly disposed, and to be caziques. They asked us, by signs, what our business was there? We told them to take in water, and that we were about to re-embark. They further pointed with their hands to the rising of the sun, and asked us whether we came from that quarter, at the same time pronouncing the word _Castilan_, _Castilan_; but at that moment we did not pay any particular attention to the word Castilan. In the course of this interview, however, they gave us to understand that we might go with them to their village.

We held a consultation amongst ourselves as to whether we should accept the invitation, and at length unanimously agreed to follow them, but to use the utmost circumspection. They took us to some large edifices, which were strongly put together, of stone and lime, and had otherwise a good appearance. These were temples, the walls of which were covered with figures representing snakes and all manner of gods. Round about a species of altar we perceived several fresh spots of blood. On some of the idols there were figures like crosses, with other paintings representing groups of Indians. All this astonished us greatly as we had neither seen nor heard, of such things before. It appeared to us that the inhabitants had just been sacrificing some Indians to their gods, to obtain from them the power to overcome us.

There were great numbers of Indians with their wives who received us with pleasing smiles, and otherwise made every show of friendship; but their numbers gradually increasing we began to entertain fears that it would end in the same hostile manner as at Cape Cotoche. While we were thus looking on, a number of Indians approached us clad in tattered cloaks, each carrying a bundle of dried reeds, which they arranged in order on the ground. Among them we also perceived two troops of men armed with bows, lances, shields, slings, and stones, having their cotton cuirasses on. At the head of these, and at some distance from us stood the chiefs. At this moment ten Indians came running out of another temple, all dressed in long white robes, while the thick hair of their heads was so entangled and clotted with blood that it would have been an impossibility to have combed or put it in order without cutting it off. These personages were priests, and in New Spain are commonly termed _Papas_.[2] I repeat it, that in New Spain they are termed papas, and I will therefore in future call them by that name. These papas brought with them a kind of incense, which looked like resin, and is termed by them copal. They had pans made of clay filled with glowing embers, and with these they perfumed us. They also gave us to understand, by signs, that we should leave their country before the bundles of reeds, which had been brought and were going to be set fire to, should be consumed, otherwise they would attack and kill us every man.

Upon this they ordered the bundles to be lighted, and as soon as they began to burn, all were silent, nor did they utter another syllable. Those, on the contrary, who had ranged themselves in order of battle, began to play on their pipes, blow their twisted shells, and beat their drums. When we saw what their real intentions were, and how confident they appeared, it of course reminded us that our wounds which we had received at Cape Cotoche were not yet healed; that two of our men had died of the consequences, whom we had been obliged to throw overboard. As the number of Indians continued to increase, we became alarmed, and resolved to retreat to the shore in the best order we could. In this way we marched along the coast until we arrived at that spot where our boats and the small vessels lay with the water-casks. Not far distant from this place stood a rock in the midst of the sea; for, on account of the vast numbers of Indians, we durst not venture to re-embark where we had at first landed, as they would no doubt have fallen upon us while we were getting into our boats.

After we had thus managed to get our water safe on board and re-embark at the small harbour which the bay here forms, we continued our course for six days and six nights without interruption, the weather being very fine. But now the wind suddenly veered round to the north and brought stormy weather, as is always the case with a north wind on this coast. The storm lasted twenty-four hours, and indeed we had nearly all of us met with a watery grave, so boisterous was the sea. In order to save ourselves from total destruction we cast anchor near the shore. The safety of our ship now depended upon two ropes, and had they given way we should have been cast on shore. Oh, in what a perilous situation we were then placed! had we been torn away from our anchors we must have been wrecked off the coast! But it was the will of Providence that our old ropes and cables should preserve us. When the storm had abated we continued our course along the coast and kept in as much as possible, that we might take in water when required. For, as I have before stated, our casks were old and leaky; nor was the best economy used with the water, for we thought by going on shore we should be certain either to meet with some spring or obtain it by digging wells. Thus coasting along we espied a village from our ships, and about three miles further on there was a kind of inner harbour, at the head of which it appeared to us there might be some river or brook; we therefore resolved to land here.

The water, as I have above mentioned, being uncommonly shallow along this coast, we were compelled to anchor our two larger vessels at about three miles distance from the shore, fearing they might otherwise run aground. We then proceeded with our smallest vessel and all our boats in order to land at the above-mentioned inner harbour. We were, however, quite upon our guard, and carried along with us, besides the water-casks, our arms, crossbows, and muskets.

It was about midday when we landed. The distance from here to the village, which was called Potonchan, might be three miles. Here we found some wells, maise plantations, and stone buildings. Our water-casks were soon filled, but we could not succeed to get them into our boats on account of an attack made upon us by great numbers of the inhabitants. I will, however, break off here and relate the battle we fought, in the next chapter.

[2] Bernal Diaz is thus particular in laying stress on this remarkable circumstance, because the pope of Rome, in Spanish, is termed papa. (p. 7.)

CHAPTER IV.

_How we landed in a bay close to some maise plantations, near the harbour of Potonchan, and of the attack that was made upon us there._

While we were busy taking in water, near the above-mentioned houses and maise plantations, great numbers of Indians were making towards us from the village of Potonchan, as it is termed by the natives. They had all their cotton cuirasses on, which reached to their knees, and were armed with bows, lances, shields, and swords. The latter were shaped like our broadswords, and are wielded with both hands. They also had slings and stones, their bunches of feathers on, and their whole bodies painted with white, brown, and black colours. They approached us in profound silence, as if they came with the most peaceable intentions, and inquired of us by signs if we came from the rising of the sun, thereby pronouncing the very same words which the inhabitants of St. Lazaro had used: namely, _Castilan, Castilan_. We told them, likewise by signs, that we indeed came from the rising of the sun. We certainly did not understand what they meant; nevertheless it was something for us to reflect on, while it at the same time gave rise to a variety of conjectures, since the natives of St. Lazaro had used the identical words.

It was about the hour of Ave Maria, when the Indians approached us in this manner. A few country houses were scattered round about the neighbourhood. We took the precaution to post watches in different quarters, and upon the whole kept a sharp look out, as the manner in which the natives were assembling seemed to forebode very little good. When we had closed our ranks and taken every necessary precaution, our ears were assailed by the cries and yells of large bodies of Indians who were advancing from different quarters. As they were all armed for battle we could no longer doubt that some evil design was lurking behind; we therefore held a consultation with our captain as to the course we should adopt. Many were of opinion that the best we could do would be to re-embark ourselves in all haste; but, as is always the case in critical moments, one advised this and another that, and so this proposal was overruled as unadvisable, for the vast numbers of Indians would certainly fall upon us while we were getting into our boats and we should all stand in danger of being killed. Others again, among which number I also was, were of opinion that the enemy should be attacked that very night; for, according to the old saying, he who strikes the first blow remains master of the field; but we might make up our minds that each of us singly would have to encounter thirty Indians at least.

Day now began to dawn, and we emboldened each other to meet the coming severe conflict by putting our trust in God and commending our cause to him, while every one was determined to defend himself to the utmost. As soon as daylight had fully broken forth, we perceived more troops of armed natives moving towards the coast with flying colours. They had on their feather-knots, and were provided with drums, bows, lances, shields, and joined themselves to the others who had arrived in the night. They divided themselves into different bodies, surrounded us on all sides, and commenced pouring forth such showers of arrows, lances, and stones, that more than eighty of our men were wounded at the first onset. They next rushed furiously forward and attacked us man to man: some with their lances, others with their swords and arrows, and all this with such terrible fury that we were compelled also to show them earnest. We dealt many a good thrust and blow amongst them, keeping up at the same time an incessant fire with our muskets and crossbows; for while some loaded others fired. At last, by dint of heavy blows and thrusts we forced them to give way; but they did not retreat further than was necessary, in order that they might still continue to hem us in in all safety; constantly crying out in their language, _Al calachoni, al calachoni_; which signifies, kill the chief! And sure enough our captain was wounded in no less than twelve different places by their arrows. I myself had three; one of which was in my left side and very dangerous, the arrow having pierced to the very bone. Others of our men were wounded by the enemy's lances, and two were carried off alive; of whom, one was called Alonzo Bote, the other was an old Portuguese.

Perceiving how closely we were hemmed in on all sides by the enemy, who not only kept constantly pouring in fresh troops but were copiously supplied on the field of battle with meat, drink, and quantities of arrows, we soon concluded that all our courageous fighting would not advance us a step. The whole of us were wounded, many shot through the neck, and more than fifty of our men were killed. In this critical situation we determined to cut our way manfully through the enemy's ranks and make for the boats, which fortunately lay on the coast near at hand. We therefore firmly closed our ranks and broke through the enemy. At that moment you should have heard the whizzing of their arrows, the horrible yell they set up, and how the Indians provoked each other to the combat, at the same time making desperate thrusts with their lances. But a still more serious misfortune awaited us; for as we made a simultaneous rush to our boats, they soon sunk or capsized, so that we were forced to cling to them as well as we could; and in this manner by swimming we strove to make the best of our way to the small vessel, which was now in all haste coming up to our assistance. Many of our men were even wounded while climbing into the vessel, but more particularly those who clung to its side; for the Indians pursued us in their canoes and attacked us without intermission. With the greatest exertions and help of God we thus got out of the hands of this people.

After we had gained our vessels we found that fifty-seven of our men were missing, besides the two whom the Indians had carried off alive, and five whom we had thrown overboard, who had died in consequence of their wounds and extreme thirst. The battle lasted a little longer than half an hour. The spot where it took place was certainly called Potonchan. Our seamen, however, gave it the name of Bahea de mala Pelea, (the bay of the disastrous engagement,) as it stands on the maps. As soon as we found ourselves in safety we returned thanks to Almighty God for the preservation of our lives. Our wounded, however, had still great sufferings to undergo, as we had nothing but salt water to wash their wounds with, which caused them to swell very much. Some of our men swore most bitterly against our chief pilot Alaminos, and the conduct he had pursued; he having steadfastly maintained that this was an island and not a continent. I must, however, break off here, and relate what further happened to us, in the next chapter.

CHAPTER V.

_We resolve to return to Cuba. The extreme thirst we suffered, and all the fatigues we underwent until our arrival in the port of Havannah._

After we had got into our vessels, as above related, and returned thanks to God for our preservation, we commenced dressing our wounds. None of us had escaped without two, three, or four wounds. Our captain had as many as twelve, and there was only one single soldier who came off whole. We therefore determined to return to Cuba; but as most of the sailors who had accompanied us on shore were also wounded, we had not sufficient hands to work the sails, we were therefore forced to set fire to our smallest vessel and leave it to the mercy of the waves, after taking out all the ropes, sails, and anchors, and distributing the sailors, who were not wounded equally among the two other vessels. We had, however, to struggle with another far greater evil. This was our great want of fresh water; for although we had filled our barrels and casks near Potonchan, we did not succeed to bring them off, owing to the furious attack of the natives and the hurry we were in to get on board: thus we had been compelled to leave them behind and return without a single drop of water. We suffered most intensely from thirst, and the only way we could in some measure refresh our parched tongues was to hold the edges of our axes between our lips. Oh, what a fearful undertaking it is to venture out on the discovery of new countries, and place one's life in danger, as we were obliged to do! Those alone can form any idea of it who have gone through the hard school of experience.

We now kept as close into the shore as possible, to look out for some stream or creek where we might meet with fresh water. After thus continuing our course for three days we espied an inlet or mouth of some river as we thought, and sent a few hands on shore in the hopes of meeting with water. These were fifteen sailors who had remained on board during the battle at Potonchan, and three soldiers who had been only slightly wounded. They carried along with them pickaxes and three small casks. But the water in the inlet was salt, and wherever they dug wells it was equally bad. They nevertheless filled the casks with it, but it was so bitter and salty as to be unfit for use. Two soldiers who drank of it became ill of the consequences. The water here swarmed with lizards; we therefore gave this place the name of Lizard Bay, under which name it stands on the sea charts.

But, to continue my history, I must not forget to mention that while our boats were on shore in search of water, there suddenly arose such a violent tempest from the north-east, that our ships were nigh being cast on shore. For, as we were forced to lay to, the wind blowing hard from the north and north-east, our position was extremely dangerous, from a scarcity of ropes.

When the men who had gone on shore with our boats perceived the danger we were in, they hastened to our assistance, and cast out additional anchors and cables. In this way we lay for two days and two nights. After the expiration of that time we again heaved our anchors and steered in the direction of Cuba. Our pilot Alaminos here held a consultation with the two others, when they concluded that the best plan would be to get, if possible, into the latitude of Florida, which, according to their charts and furthest measurement, could not be more than 210 miles distant; for they assured us if we could get into the latitude of Florida, we should have a better and speedier sail to the Havannah. It turned out exactly as they had said; for Alaminos had been in these parts before, having accompanied Juan de Leon when he discovered Florida, about ten or twelve years previously. After four days' sail we crossed this gulf and came in sight of Florida.

CHAPTER VI.

_How twenty of us went on shore in the bay of Florida with the pilot Alaminos in search of water; the hostilities which the natives of this country commenced with us; and of all that further befel us on our passage to the Havannah._

As soon as we had arrived off the coast of Florida we determined that twenty of our men, who had almost recovered from their wounds, should go on shore. Among the number was myself and the pilot, Alaminos. We each took a mattock and a small cask, being, moreover, well armed with crossbows and muskets. Our captain, who was dangerously wounded and very much weakened by the extreme thirst he suffered, begged of us, in the name of God, to bring him some sweet water, as he was almost dying of thirst. Indeed, the water, as I have before said, which we then had was quite salty and not drinkable. We landed in a creek, and our pilot again recognized this coast, which he had visited ten or twelve years previously with Ponce de Leon, when he discovered these countries. They had here fought a battle with the natives, and lost many of their men.

We therefore took every precaution lest the natives should also fall upon us unawares. We posted two sentinels at a spot where the stream had a considerable breadth. We then dug deep wells where we thought fresh water was likely to be found. The sea was just ebbing, and it pleased God that we should find sweet water there.

With joyful hearts we then took our fill of the refreshing beverage, and washed the bandages of our wounded. A good hour's time was spent in this, and as we were on the point of re-embarking with the casks of water, quite overjoyed at our success, one of the men whom we had placed sentinel on the coast came running towards us in all haste, crying aloud, "To arms! to arms! numbers of Indians are approaching, both by land and sea." And indeed the Indians came up to us almost at the same time with the sentinel.

They had immense sized bows with sharp arrows, lances, and spears--among these some were shaped like swords--while their large powerful bodies were covered with skins of wild beasts. They made straightways to us, let fly their arrows, and wounded six of our men at the first onset. I was also slightly wounded in my right arm. We, however, received our enemies with such well-directed blows and musket-shots that they very soon quitted us who had been digging the wells, and turned towards the creek to assist their companions who in their canoes were attacking those left behind in the boat. The latter had been forced to fight man to man, and had already lost the boat, which the Indians were towing off behind their canoes. Four of the sailors had been wounded, and the pilot, Alaminos, himself severely so in the throat. We, however, courageously faced our enemy, went up to our middles in the water, and soon compelled them, by dint of our swords, to jump out of the boat again. Twenty-two of the enemy lay dead on the shore; three others, who were slightly wounded, we took on board with us, but they died soon after.

After this skirmish was ended, we questioned the soldier who had stood sentinel as to what had become of his companion, Berrio. He related that his comrade had left him with an axe in his hand, in order to go and cut down a palm-tree, and that this was near the inlet where the Indians first made their appearance. He had also heard him cry out in Spanish, upon which he himself had immediately hastened to give us the information. His companion, no doubt, had been murdered by the Indians. Singular that this man should have lost his life here, he being the only one who escaped without a wound at the battle of Potonchan. We made every search for him, and followed the track of the Indians who had just attacked us; this indeed led us to a palm-tree which had been recently cut, around which were numerous foot-marks. We could, however, discover no marks of blood; and concluded, therefore, that the Indians had carried off the man alive. After we had fruitlessly searched for him in every quarter for upwards of an hour, and repeatedly called out aloud to him, without receiving any answer, we returned to our boat, and brought the water on board. The joy of our men was as great as if we had brought them new life; and one of the soldiers, from excessive thirst, leaped from the vessel into the boat, seized one of the small casks, and poured such an abundance of water into his body, that he instantaneously swelled out and expired.

Having brought the water on board our vessels, hauled in our boats, we hoisted our sails and stood direct for the Havannah. The day and following night the weather was most beautiful as we passed the Martyr Islands and sand-banks of the same name. We had only four fathoms water, where the sea was deepest; our principal ship consequently struck against the rocks and became very leaky, so that all hands were engaged at the pumps, without then being able to get the water under, while we every moment feared the vessel would go down. I never shall forget the answer which some sailors from the Levant, who were among the crew, made when we cried out to them: "Come on, my boys, help us to pump out the water, or we shall all be lost! you see how our wounds and hard labour have debilitated us." "That's your own look out," said they; "we get no pay, suffer both from hunger and thirst, and have, in the bargain, to share your fatigues and wounds." Nothing now remained but to drive them to the pumps by main force; and in this way we had alternately to work the sails and the pumps, however distasteful to us, until the Lord Jesus brought us into the port of Carena, where now the town of Havannah stands, the latter being previously called Puerto de Carenas, and not the Havannah.

As soon as we had set foot on shore we returned thanks to the Almighty for our safe return, and got the water out of our principal ship, in which a Portuguese diver, who happened to be on board another vessel, greatly assisted us. We also immediately wrote to the governor, Diego Velasquez, giving him an account of the countries we discovered with large townships and houses built of stone, whose inhabitants were clad in cotton, and wore maltates; likewise of the gold and the regular maise-plantations of the country. Our captain journeyed overland to Santispiritus, where he had his Indian commendary: he died, however, ten days after his arrival there, from his wounds. The rest of our men became dispersed through the island, and three more of our men died of their wounds at the Havannah.

Our vessels were taken to Santiago de Cuba, where the governor resided. Here the two Indians were brought on shore whom we had taken with us from the Punta de Cotoche, as above related, called Melchorillo and Julianillo. When, however, we brought forth the box with the crowns, the golden ducks, the fish, and the idols, more noise was made about them than they really merited, so that they became the common topics of conversation throughout the islands of St. Domingo and Cuba; indeed the fame thereof even reached Spain. There it was said that none of the countries which had hitherto been discovered were as rich as this, and in none had there been found houses built of stone. The earthen gods, it was said, were the remains of the ancient heathen times; others again went so far as to affirm that they were descendants of the Jews whom Titus and Vespasian had driven from Jerusalem, who had been shipwrecked off this coast. Peru, indeed, was not then known, and in so far the countries we had discovered were justly considered of the greatest importance. Diego Velasquez closely questioned the two Indians as to whether there were any gold mines in their country. They answered in the affirmative; and when they were shown some of the gold-dust found in the island of Cuba, they said there was abundance of it in their country. In this they told an untruth, as it is very well known there are neither goldmines on the Punta de Cotoche nor even in whole Yucatan. They were likewise shown the beds in which the seeds of that plant are sown from whose root the cassave bread is made, and in Cuba called yuca: they assured us that the same plant grew in their country, and was called by them tale. As the cassave-root at Cuba is called yuca, and the ground in which it is planted by the Indians tale, so from these two words arose the name of the country, Yucatan; for the Spaniards who were standing around the governor at the time he was speaking to the two Indians said, "You see, sir, they call their country Yucatan." And from this circumstance the country retained the name of Yucatan, although the natives call it otherwise.

In this beautiful voyage of discovery we had spent our all, and returned to Cuba covered with wounds, and as poor as beggars; yet we had reason to congratulate ourselves that it had not been equally disastrous to us all as to many of our companions who had lost their lives. Our captain, as I have already mentioned, died soon after his return; and all of us suffered for a considerable time after from our wounds. Our whole loss amounted to seventy men, which was all we had gained by this voyage of discovery.

Concerning all this the governor Diego Velasquez wrote to those gentlemen in Spain who at that time managed the affairs of India, and boasted of the discoveries _he_ had made, and of the vast expense it had put _him_ to. This actually obtained credit, and the bishop of Burgos, Don Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca, who also bore the title of archbishop of Rosano, and was president of Indian affairs, wrote in that strain to his majesty, in Flanders, vastly extolling the merit of Diego Velasquez, at the same time not as much as even mentioning the names of any of us who had really discovered the country.

I will, however, break off here, and relate in the following chapter what further fatigues I and three more of my companions in arms had to undergo.

CHAPTER VII.

_The fatigues I had to undergo, until my arrival in the town of Trinidad._

I have already above related that I with some other soldiers who had not quite recovered from our wounds remained behind in the Havannah. As soon as the latter began to heal a little we three made up our minds to go in company with a certain Pedro d'Avila, an inhabitant of the Havannah, to the town of Trinidad. This man was going to make a voyage in a canoe along the south coast, and had taken a lading of cotton shirts, which he intended to dispose of in Trinidad. As I have above stated, these canoes are hollowed out of the trunks of trees, after the manner of our bakers' troughs: in this country they are used for coasting; and we had to pay Pedro d'Avila ten doubloons for the voyage.

As we were coasting along, sometimes rowing, sometimes sailing, we arrived after the eleventh day in sight of an Indian village, subject to the Spaniards, and called Cannareon; there arose at night-time such a terrible gale of wind, that, although we rowed with all our strength, we could not keep the sea any longer. Notwithstanding every exertion of Pedro d'Avila, of some Indians from the Havannah, and several other good rowers we had with us, nothing at last remained but to run the canoe aground between the steep rocks. The canoe was dashed to pieces, the whole lading of Pedro d'Avila went to the bottom, and we made the best of our way on shore, naked as the day we were born, our bodies cut and bruised all over by clambering over the rocks, for we had stripped ourselves of our clothes in order to be the better able to swim, and also, if possible, to save the canoe. As we had only escaped with our lives among these rocks, none other choice was left us than to continue our road over them to Trinidad, which lay along the coast through a barren country full of rugged rocks, where our feet soon became blistered and wounded; as to think of getting anything to eat was quite out of the question; while we had continually to struggle with a terrific gale of wind and the sea breaking over the rocks. Although we had not neglected to cover our bodies as much as possible with leaves and herbs, we nevertheless got sore boils between our legs, which bled very much. At last we could proceed no further; for the sharp stones had covered our feet with wounds: we managed, however, with considerable trouble to reach a more elevated spot. None of us having his sword left, we contrived by means of sharp stones to loosen the bark of some trees and bind it as well as we could under the soles of our feet, with the tendrils of climbers, which grew among the wood. And in this way, after suffering great fatigues we reached a sandy district on the coast, whence in a couple of days we arrived in the Indian village Yeguarama, at that time the property of Bartholomeus de las Casas,[3] who was a priest. I knew him afterwards when he belonged to the order of the Dominicans, and became bishop of Chiopia. Here the Indians gave us to eat, and on the following day we arrived at another village, called Chipiona, which was the joint property of Alonso de Avila, and of Sandoval, but this was not the captain of the same name who gained such vast renown in New Spain. From this place we at last came to Trinidad, where I had an acquaintance, by name Antonio de Medina, who provided me with a suit of clothes as they were worn in that town; my comrades were similarly provided by other of the inhabitants. Quite worn out by fatigue and miserably poor, I set off for Santiago de Cuba, where the governor Diego Velasquez resided. He was just then busily engaged fitting out another squadron, and was highly delighted at seeing me again when I called upon him, for we were related to each other: and as one word led to another, he asked me if my wounds were sufficiently healed to make another trip to Yucatan? I could not help smiling at this and said, who gave the country that name? for the natives do not call it so. "So Melchior, whom you brought with you, calls it," resumed he. "Call it rather, (said I,) the land where they killed one half of our men and wounded the other." "Well, (said he,) if you have undergone many fatigues, you have only shared the same fate with all others who have ventured out on the discovery of new countries. But, on the other hand, you will not fail to be highly honoured and rewarded by his majesty the king, to whom I will transmit a faithful account of all this. Therefore, my friend, you may in all safety join yourself to the squadron I am now fitting out, and I will take care that you shall have an honorable post." What further happened I will next relate.

[3] This is the celebrated Las Casas, the protector of the rights of the Indians. (p. 18.)

CHAPTER VIII.

_How Diego Velasquez, governor of Cuba, sent out another armament to the country we had discovered._

It was in the year of our Lord 1518, after Diego Velasquez had learnt the good account we gave of the newly-discovered country, called Yucatan, that he determined to send thither another expedition. For this purpose he selected four vessels, among which were the two in which we warriors had accompanied Cordoba on our recent voyage to Yucatan, purchased at our own expense. At the time this squadron was fitting out there were staying at Santiago de Cuba, Juan de Grijalva, Pedro de Alvarado, Francisco de Montejo, and Alonso de Avila; who had commendaries of Indians in these islands, and had come to transact business with the governor. As these were all men of courage and energy, Velasquez soon made arrangements with them to take part in this expedition, on the following terms: that Juan de Grijalva, who was related to him, should have the chief command of the whole expedition as captain-general, while Pedro de Alvarado, Francisco de Montejo, and Alonso de Avila, should be appointed to the command of the three other ships. They had also to furnish the vessels with provisions of cassave bread and pickled meat; Diego Velasquez had, on the other hand, to procure the four vessels, furnish the necessary crossbows, muskets, goods for barter, and other matters of less importance. Our account that the houses in the newly-discovered country were built of stone and lime, had spread a vast idea of its riches, added to which the Indian Melchorejo had given to understand by signs that it abounded in gold mines. All this created a great desire among the inhabitants and soldiers throughout the island, who possessed no commendaries of Indians, to go in quest of such a rich country; consequently, in a very short time, we mustered 220. Each person, moreover, furnished himself with additional provisions, arms, and other matters which might be useful.

Thus I again took my departure for that country, under the same commanders I subsequently once more visited it. The instructions which our commanders received from Diego Velasquez, were to this effect, that they should barter for as much gold and silver as they could get, and if they deemed it advisable settle colonies, but left this entirely to their own judgment. A person of the name of Penolosa accompanied us in the capacity of comptroller; for priest we had a certain Juan Diaz. We had also the same three pilots who accompanied us on our former voyage; and a fourth, whose name I do not remember. Each had charge of one of the vessels; but the first in command, as chief pilot, was Anton de Alaminos.

But before I proceed with my narrative, I must here remark, that it is not for want of deference on my part, that I barely give the names of the noblemen who were our commanding officers, without adding their titles and describing their several escutcheons, but shall simply call them thus, Pedro de Alvarado, Francisco de Montejo, and Alonso de Avila. I therefore now take this opportunity of saying, that Pedro de Alvarado was a bold cavalier, who, subsequent to the conquest of New Spain, became governor and chief justice of the provinces of Guatimala, Honduras, and Chaopo, and comptoir of Santiago. In like manner Francisco de Montejo, a man of great courage, subsequently was governor and chief justice of Yucatan. I shall merely call them by their proper names, up to that time when his majesty conferred on them honorary titles and sovereign authority.

But to return to my subject, our four vessels lay in the harbour of Matanza on the north coast, not far from the old Havannah, which at that time was not built where it now stands. In this harbour, or at least in its neighbourhood, most of the inhabitants had their stores of cassave bread and pickled meat. Here consequently our vessels were provided with everything they further required. This place moreover had been appointed the rendezvous for all the officers and men.

But, before I continue my narrative, I will explain how this harbour obtained the name of Matanza,[4] though it may seem rather out of place here; yet, as so many persons have asked me how it originated, there is some excuse.

Some time ago, when Cuba was not quite subdued, it happened that a vessel, bound from the island of St. Domingo to the Luccas, during a heavy storm, was wrecked off the coast. This took place near the river and harbour of Matanza; there were thirty Spaniards and two Spanish ladies on board. In order to convey them across the river, numbers of Indians had collected together from the Havannah and other districts. They appeared most friendly inclined, and offered to carry the shipwrecked across in their canoes and take them to their habitations, where they would give them to eat. The Spaniards accepted this offer; when the Indians, however, had arrived in the midst of the stream, they upset their canoes and drowned them all, save three of the men and one of the females. The men were allotted to the other Indians, but the female, a very beautiful woman, was given to the most powerful of the caziques, the person who had concocted this piece of treachery. From this circumstance it was that the harbour got the name of Matanza.

I was personally acquainted with the female whose misfortune I have just related. After the total conquest of Cuba, she left the cazique in whose power she then was, and married a citizen of Trinidad, by name Pedro Sanchez Farsan.

I was also acquainted with the three Spaniards whose lives had been spared. One was Gonzalo Mexia, an old man, and native of Xeres; the other, Juan de Santiste-ban, from Madrigal; and the third was Cascorro, a sailor and fisherman, of Huelva. The cazique in whose power he was, had given him his daughter in marriage, and bored holes through his ears and nose, after the Indian fashion.

Having thus detained the reader for a while with these old stories, it is time I return to the thread of my narrative.

On the 5th of April, 1518, all of us having met together, the officers and soldiers, the pilots made acquainted with the signals, and the hour of departure fixed, we attended mass with fervent devotion, and weighed anchor. After ten days' sail, we passed the cape of Guaniguanico, called by the sailors San Anton. Eight days after, we came in sight of the island of Cozumel; it happened to be the feast of the Holy Cross. This time our ships were carried further off by the currents than the time before under Cordoba; the consequence was that we now landed on the south coast of the island. We here espied a village, and found a good anchorage near it, perfectly free from all rocks. Our commander-in-chief, therefore, went on shore here with a good body of soldiers. The inhabitants, who had never witnessed such a sight before, immediately took to flight when they saw our vessels approaching, so that not a single one of them had remained in the village. At length we discovered two Indians among the recently cut maise plants, who had not been able to get off quick enough. We brought them into the presence of our captain, who spoke to them with the help of Julianillo and Melchorejo, whom we had captured at the Punta de Cotoche, and who understood their language. The distance between their countries was only four hours' sail, which accounts for the inhabitants of Cozumel speaking the same language. Our commander was very kind to them, gave each some green glass beads, and sent them away to bring the Calachoni of the district, (so the caziques are termed here;) they, however, never returned. While we were still waiting for them, an Indian woman came towards us, comely in appearance, and who spoke the language of Jamaica. She told us that the Indians had fled, out of fear, to the mountains. As I myself and many others among us understood her language, which is the same as that of the island of Cuba, we were quite astonished at the circumstance, and inquired of her how she had got here.

She told us that, two years ago, she had left Jamaica with ten Indians, in a large canoe, in order to go fishing among the islands in this neighbourhood, but had been driven on shore by the currents, when the inhabitants killed her husband with most of her companions, and sacrificed them to their gods.

It struck our commander, as soon as he had learnt this, that the woman might be employed as a negotiator. He therefore desired her to go and fetch the inhabitants and cazique of the district, and gave her two days to return in. We durst not send Melchorejo and Julianillo with her, lest they should run away and return to their own country.

The day following, the Indian woman returned, but informed us that, notwithstanding all her representations, she could neither persuade the Indians nor their wives to accompany her. We called this place Santa Cruz, because we had discovered it four or five days before the feast of the Holy Cross. In this neighbourhood there was plenty of honey, manioc, patates, and large herds of musk swine, which have their navels on their backs.[5] This island contains three poor villages, of which the one I am now speaking of is the largest; the two smaller ones were both situated on a promontory at about six miles distance from each other. Our commander Grijalva, perceiving that it was mere loss of time to make any further stay here, gave orders for re-embarking. The Indian woman of Jamaica went along with us, and we continued our voyage.

[4] Puerto de Matanza, the harbour of the massacre. (p. 20.)

[5] The sus tajassu, pecary, or Mexican musk hog; but what our old soldier, with other writers, mistook for a navel, is an open gland on the lower part of the back, which discharges a fetid ichorous liquor. (p. 22.)

CHAPTER IX.

_How we landed at Champoton._

From this point we sailed in the same direction we had taken under Cordoba, and arrived after eight days' sail off the coast of Champoton, the place where the Indians had so ill used us, as has been related in the proper place. The sea being very shallow in these parts we dropt our anchor at about three miles distance from the shore, and immediately landed in all our boats with half of our men, as near to the village as possible. The inhabitants and other Indians in the neighbourhood gathered themselves together as they had the time before, when they killed fifty-six of our men and wounded all the rest of us. From their bearing and proud demeanour we could easily perceive that they had not forgotten their victory. They were all well armed according to their fashion, with bows, lances, shields, and broadswords, which they wield with both hands. Added to all this they had slings, cotton cuirasses, drums and trumpets, while most of them had their faces painted black and white. They had arranged themselves along the sea shore in order to fall upon us as soon as we landed. But, as our previous loss had taught us prudence, we took with us this time some falconets, and otherwise well armed ourselves with crossbows and matchlocks.

When we were near enough they let fly such a shower of arrows and lances that the half of our men were speedily wounded. As soon, however, as we got on shore, we quickly gave them an evil return with our matchlocks and sabres. Nothing daunted by this they each selected their man, whom they particularly aimed at with their arrows, but we had taken the precaution to put on cotton cuirasses. They continued to combat with us for some time, until the arrival of another of our long boats, when we drove them back to the wells near the village. In this conflict we lost Juan de Quitera and many other soldiers. Our commander, Juan de Grijalva, got three arrow wounds and lost two of his teeth, and above sixty of our men were wounded. Immediately upon our putting the enemy to flight, we entered the village, dressed our wounds, and buried the dead. Not a single person had remained behind in the village, and even those whom we had driven back to the wells had merely staid there a sufficient time to carry off their property. In this skirmish we made three prisoners, one of whom was a person of rank. Our commander set them at liberty, desiring them to go and call the cazique of the district. He also presented them with green glass beads and small bells to distribute among the inhabitants, in order to gain their friendship. We treated the three prisoners upon the whole with every kindness, and gave them glass corals to encourage them and gain their good faith. They left us indeed, but took good care not to return; we thought it possible, however, that Julianillo and Melchorejo had misrepresented our commission to them. We staid four days in this place, and I shall never forget it on account of the immense sized locusts which we saw here. It was a stony spot on which the battle took place, and these creatures, while it lasted, kept continually flying in our faces; and as at the same moment we were greeted by a shower of arrows from the enemy, we also mistook these locusts for arrows. But, as soon as we had discovered our mistake, we deceived ourselves in another more direful way, for we now mistook arrows for locusts, and discontinued to shield ourselves against them. In this way we mistook locusts and arrows to our great sorrow, were severely wounded in consequence, and otherwise found ourselves in a very awkward predicament.

CHAPTER X.

_We continued our course and ran into Terminos bay, as we named it._

On our further voyage we came to an opening on the coast, which to us appeared to be the mouth of some broad and large river. It was, however, not a river as we had supposed, but a good harbour, which reached so far inland, and had such a considerable breadth, that it appeared like a sea; and our pilot Anton de Alaminos confidently asserted that this was an island whose two promontories reached nigh to the continent. We, therefore, termed this opening the Boca de Terminos, under which name it may be found on the sea charts. Our commander and the other officers went on shore here with the greater part of our men, among which number I also was. We remained three whole days in this place in order thoroughly to explore the opening and sail through it in all directions. We discovered, however, that it was no island, but a deep indented bay, formed by the continent, affording us a most commodious harbour. As we also found temples here built of stone and lime, full of idols made of wood or clay, with other figures, sometimes representing women, sometimes serpents, also horns of various kinds of wild animals, we concluded that an Indian village must be near at hand: we considered, moreover, that this would be a most excellent spot to found a colony. We had, however, deceived ourselves in one thing, the district being quite uninhabited. The temples most probably belonged to merchants and hunters, who on their journies most likely ran into this harbour and there made their sacrifices. Fallow deer and rabbits abounded in this neighbourhood, and with one greyhound only we killed ten of the former and great numbers of the latter. Our dog took such a liking to this spot that it ran away while we were busy reimbarking, nor did we see it again until we visited this place subsequently with Cortes, when it appeared in excellent condition, quite plump and sleeky.

Having thoroughly explored Terminos harbour, and sounded it throughout, we pursued our course along the coast to the river Tabasco, which at present, after the name of its discoverer, is called the river Grijalva.

CHAPTER XI.

_How we came into the Tabasco river, which we termed the Grijalva, and what happened to us there._

As we thus by day sailed along the coast of the continent, for at night we lay to on account of the shallows and rocks, we perceived on the third morning a very broad mouth of some river. We approached the shore as near as possible, thinking we should find a good harbour here. As we came closer to the mouth we saw that the waves broke over its shallows: we consequently lowered our boats to make soundings, and found that our two larger vessels could not come in here. It was therefore immediately resolved that they should anchor further out at sea, but that the two remaining vessels which did not draw so much water, with all our boats well manned, should proceed up the river. We could perceive in the canoes along the shore numbers of Indians with bows and arrows, and in other respects armed exactly like those of Champoton. We concluded from their numbers that a village could not be far off; we also found as we proceeded further up the river along the banks, basket kiddles put out, from two of which we took the fish and placed them in a boat a-stern of our principal ship.

This river was previously called after the cazique of the district, the Tabasco; as we, however, discovered it during this expedition, we gave it the name of the Grijalva river, in honour of our chief commander, under which name it stands on the sea charts.

We might still have been about two miles from the village when we distinctly heard the crackling noise of the felling of trees; for the Indians were constructing barricades and making other preparations of war against us, of the issue of which they entertained no doubts, as they had been duly advertised of the occurrence at Potonchan. As soon as we learnt this, we disembarked our men on a projecting point of land, about two miles from the village, where some palm trees were growing. As soon as they perceived this, about fifty canoes with Indians completely armed after their fashion made towards us, while many other canoes, manned in the same way, lay dispersed about the haven, at a greater distance, not daring to approach us so near as the first.

Seeing how ready they were for action, we were just upon the point of firing off our great guns, and giving them a volley of musket-shots, when it entered our minds, through a merciful Providence, that we ought first to try if we could not gain their friendship. We therefore by means of Julianillo and Melchorejo, (who were natives of the Punta de Cotoche, and certainly understood the language spoken here,) told the chiefs they had nothing to fear from us: we were desirous of discoursing with them and had things to disclose, which, as soon as they had learnt, would make our arrival pleasing to them: they should come to us and we would gladly give them of the things we had brought.

Upon this invitation four of the canoes approached us, containing thirty Indians, or thereabouts. We showed them necklaces of blue glass beads, small mirrors, and green imitation corals. At the sight of the latter they appeared quite delighted; for they thought them to be chalchihuis stones, which are highly esteemed in their country.

Our captain then told them, by means of our interpreters, that we came from a distant country, and were the subjects of a great emperor, whose name was Don Carlos, who had numerous sovereigns and caziques among his vassals: they should likewise acknowledge this emperor as their lord and master, for then it would go well with them;--he further desired them to give us fowls in exchange for our glass beads.

Two of the Indians, one of whom was the chief and the other a papa--this is a kind of priest, who performs the ceremonies in presence of their idols--answered and said, "they would bring the provisions we required and commence a trade of barter with us.--For the rest they had already a master, and could not help feeling astonished that we, who had but just arrived and knew nothing of them, should that instant wish to impose a master on them. We had better consider a bit before we commenced war with them, as we had with those at Potonchan. That already all the warriors of the country had been ordered out against us, and two armies, each composed of 8000 men were ready for action. They certainly had learnt that a few days ago we had killed and wounded 200 men; but they were more powerful than the inhabitants of that country, which was the reason why they first wished to know what our intentions were. Our declaration would be communicated to the caziques of the numerous districts, who had united themselves for war or for peace."

Upon this they embraced our commander, in token of peace, who presented them with necklaces of glass beads, and desired them to return as quickly as possible with an answer; adding that if they did not return we would enter their town by main force, though we had no evil intentions whatever.

These delegates communicated with the caziques and papas--the latter having also a voice in their councils,--and they declared that our offer of peace was acceptable to them. Provisions were ordered to be sent us, and all present agreed that they themselves with the neighbouring tribes should each contribute their quota in order to make us a present in gold to insure our good friendship, and obviate a recurrence of what had taken place at Potonchan. From what I subsequently learnt and witnessed I found that it was customary with the inhabitants of these countries to make each other presents whenever they were in treaty about peace.

All I have been relating took place on the promontory where the palm trees stood. About thirty Indians soon arrived, laden with broiled fish, fowls, fruit, and maise-bread. They also brought pans filled with red-hot embers, on which they strewed incense, and perfumed us all. After this ceremony was ended they spread some mats on the ground, over which they laid a piece of cotton cloth; on this they put some trifling ornaments in gold in the shape of ducks and lizards, with three necklaces made of gold, which had been melted into the shape of round balls. All these things, however, were of an inferior kind of gold, not worth 200 pesos. They next presented us with some mantles and waistcoats, as they themselves wore, and begged of us to accept them in good kind; saying they had no more gold to give us, but that further on towards the setting of the sun there was a country where it was found in great abundance; hereby often repeating the word Culba, Culba, and Mexico, Mexico. We however did not understand what they meant. Although the presents they had brought us were of little value, we nevertheless rejoiced exceedingly on account of the certainty we had gained that there was gold in this country. Having handed over the presents to us with due formality they told us we might now continue our voyage. Our captain thanked them; presenting each at the same time with some green beads. We now determined to re-embark, for the vessels were in great danger on account of the north wind, which in our present situation was quite contrary. We had, moreover, to go in quest of the country, which, according to the assurances of the Indians, abounded in gold.

CHAPTER XII.

_We come in sight of the town of Aguajaluco, and give it the name of La Rambla._

Having again re-embarked we continued our course along the coast, and perceived on the second day a town close to the sea shore, called Aguajaluco. We could discern numbers of Indians hurrying to and fro with huge shields made out of large tortoise-shells, which glittered so beautifully in the sun, that some of our men believed they were made of an inferior species of gold. The inhabitants appeared to be walking up and down the shore in great consternation, which induced us to call the village La Rambla, under which name it stands on the sea charts.

As we proceeded further along the coast we came to a bay, into which the river Tonola empties itself: it was this same river we entered on our subsequent voyage. We gave it the name of Sant Antonio, which it still retains on the maps. We next passed the mouth of the great river Guacasualco, and would gladly have run into the bay which it forms if contrary winds had not prevented us. We now came in sight of the great Snow Mountains--Sierras Nevadas. These are covered the whole year round with snow. There were also other mountains, nearer the coast, to which we gave the name of _Holy Martin_, because a soldier of the name of San Martino, a native of the Havannah, first descried them. One of the commanders, Pedro de Alvarado, whose vessel was the fastest sailer of the whole, being a great way ahead of the others, ran his ship up a river called by the natives Papalohuna: this we termed the Alvarado, after the name of the discoverer. Some Indian fishermen of the village Tlacotalpa gave him fish: we could perceive this, though at a great distance from him. Alvarado was followed by two more of our ships; we were therefore obliged to wait until they returned. This digression without the general's leave occasioned ill blood; and Grijalva forbade Alvarado in future to sail in advance of the squadron, fearing he might meet with some accident or other before the rest could possibly come up to his assistance. From this time the four vessels kept close together. We soon after arrived at the mouth of another river, which we termed the Bandera's Stream, (Flag Stream,) from the circumstance that the banks of the river were crowded with Indians bearing small flags of white cloth attached to their lances. They called out and invited us to come on shore: but I will relate in the next chapter what further took place here.

CHAPTER XIII.

_How we arrive on the Bandera's Stream, and gain 1500 pesos._

By this time the existence of the great city of Mexico must be known throughout the major part of the Spanish provinces and the greater part of Christendom: how, like Venice, it was built in the water; and of the mighty monarch who resided there, king of many provinces and lord of all these countries, which in extent were more than quadruple that of Spain. The name of this monarch was Motecusuma: his power was so great that he would gladly have extended it to places where it was impossible, and he wished to know things which he never could learn. He had, however, heard of our first visit under the command of Cordoba, and of our battle at Cotoche and Champoton, also of the second engagement we had had at the last-mentioned spot. He was moreover aware that we had been but a handful of men in comparison with the multitude of the inhabitants; and lastly, it had been made known to him that we gladly exchanged our goods for gold. All this information had, from time to time, been sent him by means of painted figures or signs, drawn, as is the custom with this people, on a thick kind of cloth manufactured from the maguey,[6] very much resembling our linen. Being also informed that we were continuing our course along the coast, he issued orders to the governors of the several districts that at every place where we landed they should exchange their gold for our glass beads, but particularly for the green ones, which so much resembled their chalchihuis stones; and further he commanded them to gain every information with respect to our intentions. What made him dwell more particularly upon the latter was the ancient tradition in the country, which spoke of a people that would come from the rising of the sun who would at some future period get the dominion of the country.

For whatever purpose it may have been I will leave, but certain it is that the powerful Motecusuma had ordered sentinels to be posted along the banks of the river above mentioned. These sentinels had all small flags attached to the points of their lances, and called out aloud, inviting us to come to them. While we were contemplating from our vessels this, to us, so novel a sight, our commander-in-chief with the other officers and soldiers came to the determination to inquire their meaning. We therefore lowered two of our boats and manned them with twenty soldiers, well armed with crossbows and muskets. The command of this was given to Francisco de Montejo. I was likewise among the number. Our instructions were to send immediate information to the commander-in-chief if anything of a hostile nature should take place and in general to let him know how matters stood. It pleased God that the weather should be calm, which is seldom the case on these coasts. We all got safe on shore, and were met by three caziques, one of whom was a governor under Motecusuma. These were attended by great numbers of Indians, carrying fowls, maise-bread, pines, sapotas, and other provisions; they spread some mats in the shade of the trees, on which they invited us to sit down. All this was done by signs, as Julianillo did not understand their language. Next they brought pans made of clay, filled with glowing embers, on which they strewed a species of resin, smelling very much like our incense, with which they perfumed us.

Francisco de Montejo sent information of all this to our commander-in-chief, who immediately resolved to run the whole squadron into the bay, and proceed on shore with all our men.

When the caziques and the governor saw our general on shore, who, they had been given to understand, was our chief officer, they paid him in their way the greatest possible respect, and perfumed him most vehemently. We thanked them kindly, and in return made many protestations of friendship, also presenting each with white and green glass beads, desiring them at the same time to bring us gold in exchange for our commodities. Motecusuma's governor strongly advised the Indians to comply with our request; the consequence of which was that the inhabitants of the surrounding districts soon brought us every trinket they possessed in the shape of gold, and commenced a trade of barter with us. During the six days we stayed in this spot we obtained upwards of 1500 pesos' worth of gold trinkets, of various workmanship, but of inferior quality. The historians Francisco Lopez de Gomara and Gonzalo Hernandez de Oviedo have also mentioned this circumstance in their works. They err, however, when they say it took place in the Tabasco or Grijalva river; for it is a well-authenticated fact that there is no gold found in the provinces which border on the river Grijalva, and, upon the whole, very few ornaments of gold. I will not, however, detain my reader with their account, but rather inform him that we took possession of this country for his imperial majesty the Emperor, in the name of Diego Velasquez, the governor of Cuba. This being done, our general told the Indians that he was now desirous of re-embarking, and presented them with some Spanish shirts. We took one of the Indians with us, who subsequently learnt our language and was converted to Christianity, when he took the name of Francisco. I met with him afterwards at Santa Fe, where he had settled himself after the conquest of Mexico. Our commander, finding that the inhabitants brought no more gold, and considering that we had already been here six days, and that our present anchorage was rather dangerous on account of the contrary winds, gave orders for re-embarking. Pursuing our voyage, we came to an island which was quite covered with white sand, lying above nine miles from the main land. We gave it the name of Isla Blanca, as it stands on the sea charts. Not far from this lay another island, nearly five miles from the main land, which offered us a very commodious landing-place.

Our general, therefore, ordered the boats to be lowered, and landed, with the greater portion of our men, in order to explore the island. We found two houses, which were strongly built of stone and lime; both were ascended by a flight of steps, and surmounted by a species of altar, on which stood several abominable idols, to whom, the previous evening, five Indians had been sacrificed. Their dead bodies still lay there, ripped open, with the arms and legs chopped off, while everything near was besmeared with blood. We contemplated this sight in utter astonishment, and gave this island the name of Isla de Sacrificios. Quitting this place, we landed on the neighbouring continent, where we constructed ourselves huts on one of the large downs, with some sails and the branches of trees. Numbers of Indians soon made their appearance, bringing with them small pieces of gold for barter, in the same way as at the Bandera stream, according to the commands of Motecusuma, as we subsequently learnt. The inhabitants, however, approached us in great fear, and what they brought with them was a mere trifle. Our captain, therefore, soon weighed anchor again. The next place we landed at was in view of another island, which lay about two miles from the continent. This at present is considered the best harbour of the country. What happened to us in this place I will relate in the next chapter.

[6] The author sometimes also calls this nequen, of which the garments of the poorer classes were manufactured. The maguey is the well-known agava Americana, the sap of which formed the national drink of the Indians, and the Mexicans were accustomed to write most of their hieroglyphics on the cloth manufactured from the leaves. (p. 29.)

CHAPTER XIV.

_How we came into the harbour of San Juan de Culua._

Having disembarked on a part of the coast where it was very sandy, we were annoyed by such multitudes of muschetoes that we were forced to construct ourselves huts on the great downs and in the tops of trees: this, being done, we carefully examined the harbour in our boats, and were fully satisfied that it contained a good anchorage, it being moreover sheltered against the north wind by the island, to which our general now proceeded with thirty men all well armed. Here we found a temple on which stood the great and abominable-looking god Tetzcatlipuca, surrounded by four Indians, dressed in wide black cloaks, and with flying hair, in the same way as our canons or Dominicans wear it. These were priests, who had that very day sacrificed two boys, whose bodies they had ripped up, and then offered their bleeding hearts to the horrible idol. They were going to perfume us in the same way they had done their gods; and though it smelt like our incense, we would not suffer them, so shocked were we at the sight of the two boys whom they had recently murdered, and disgusted with their abominations. Our captain questioned the Indian Francisco whom we had brought with us from the Bandera stream as to what was meant by all this, for he seemed rather an intelligent person; having, at that time, as I have already stated, no interpreter, our captain put these questions to him by means of signs. Francisco returned for answer that this sacrifice had been ordered by the people of Culua; but, as it was difficult for him to pronounce this latter word, he kept continually saying _Olua_, _Olua_. From the circumstance of our commander himself being present, and that his Christian name was Juan, and it happening to be the feast of St. John, we gave this small island the name of San Juan de Ulua. This harbour was ever after much frequented. Great numbers of ships have been refitted there, and all merchandise for Mexico and New Spain are here shipped or unladen. During the time we were encamped on these downs, numbers of Indians from the surrounding districts, brought us their gold trinkets in exchange for our goods; but there was so little of it, and that so very inferior in quality, that we scarcely troubled ourselves about it. We remained, nevertheless, seven days in the huts we had constructed, though we were constantly annoyed by swarms of muschetoes, which rendered our stay most uncomfortable. As we had now been so long at sea, and had fully convinced ourselves that it was no island, but a continent, we had discovered, containing considerable towns; as our cassave-bread was become quite mouldy and unfit for eating; considering, moreover, that our numbers were too small to think of making any settlement here, particularly as we had lost ten of our men in consequence of their wounds, besides having four others dangerously ill,--we determined to forward Diego Velasquez an account of the state of affairs, and desire him to send us succours; indeed Grijalva had a great mind to have founded a colony even with the few men we had to spare. Our captain had throughout shown a magnanimous spirit, and proved himself a brave soldier, let the historian Gomara say anything to the contrary he likes. Pedro de Alvarado was selected to go on this mission to Cuba, with the ship San Sebastian, which had become rather leaky: this vessel could be refitted there, and return with succours and provisions. He also took with him all the gold we had bartered for, the cotton stuffs presented us by the Indians, and our sick. Our principal officers, moreover, each sent Diego Velasquez a written account, according to their several views, of all we had seen. We will now leave Pedro de Alvarado to his own good fortune on his voyage to Cuba, and relate what happened to the vessel which Diego Velasquez sent in quest of us.

CHAPTER XV.

_Diego Velasquez sends out a small vessel in quest of us._

From the very moment in which Juan de Grijalva had quitted Cuba for the wide ocean, Diego Velasquez became downcast and thoughtful; he was constantly harassed by the idea that some misfortune would befall us. In the height of his impatience he at last sent out a small vessel, with seven men, in quest of us. The command of this was given to a certain Christobal de Oli, a man of great courage and energy. His instructions were to follow the same course in which Cordoba had sailed, until he should have met with us. It appears, however, that Christobal de Oli, while riding at anchor near the coast, was overtaken by a violent storm, and found himself compelled, in order to save his vessel from being cast ashore, to cut the cables; at least he had no anchor left on his return to Santiago de Cuba, nor had he been able to bring the governor any information respecting us.

Diego Velasquez now despaired more than ever. The arrival of Pedro de Alvarado with the gold and other things, fortunately set his anxiety at rest, who, moreover, detailed to him the discoveries we had made. His joy was excessive when he saw the gold, and how it was worked into various shapes; from which very circumstance it appeared to him and others who happened to be present on business, of much greater value than it really was; nor were his majesty's officials, who had to take the fifth part, less astonished at the riches of the countries we had discovered. Pedro de Alvarado, who knew how to humour Diego Velasquez, afterwards related that the governor had continually embraced him,--that festivities and tournaments were celebrated for eight successive days. If the fame of the riches of these countries had been rumoured abroad before, it was now, on account of the gold we had sent, the more so; it soon spread through all the islands, and the whole of Spain.

I shall have occasion to speak of this hereafter, and will also leave Diego Velasquez to his festivities, and return to our vessels at San Juan de Ulua.

CHAPTER XVI.

_What befell us on our coasting voyage along the Tusta and Tuspa mountains._

After Pedro de Alvarado had set sail for Cuba, our general and other officers held a consultation with the pilots, when it was determined that we should continue our course along the coast, and push our discoveries as far as possible. As we sailed along, we first came in view of the Tusta, and, two days after, of the more elevated mountains of Tuspa, both of which take their names from two towns lying close to the foot of these mountains. On the whole, we saw numbers of towns lying from six to nine miles inland, now the province of Panuco. At last we arrived at a large stream, to which we gave the name of Canoe river, and dropped anchor at its mouth.

While our vessels were lying at anchor here, and our men had become less careful than usual, sixteen large canoes full of Indians, all equipped for battle, with bows, arrows, and lances, came down the stream and made straight for our smallest vessel, commanded by Alonso de Avila, which lay nearest the shore. They greeted our men with a shower of arrows, wounding two of the soldiers, and then lay hold of the vessel as if they meant to carry her off, after they had cut one of the cables. We now hastened to the assistance of Alonso, who was still bravely repelling his assailants, and had capsized three of their canoes. We were well armed with crossbows and muskets, and very soon wounded at least above a third of our enemies, who speedily retreated to where they had come from, not exactly in the best of spirits. Upon this we weighed anchor and continued our course along the coast until we arrived at a wide projecting cape, which, on account of the strong currents, we found so difficult to double that we considered our further course now impeded. The chief pilot, Alaminos, here told our commander that it was no longer advisable to sail on at a venture, for which he gave us many plausible reasons. This matter being duly considered in council, it was unanimously agreed that we should return to Cuba.

To this step we were, moreover, induced by the approach of winter, scarcity of provisions, and the bad condition of one of our vessels which had become very leaky. To this may also be added the disagreement between our commanders; for Juan de Grijalva persisted in his opinion that they should make an attempt to leave a colony behind, while Francisco de Montejo and Alonso de Avila, on the contrary, maintained that any such attempt would be fruitless, considering the multitude of warriors which inhabited these countries: to all this may be added that our men were heartily sick of the sea. We therefore turned our vessels about, hoisted all the sails, and arrived in a few days, being greatly assisted by the currents, in the wide waters of the Guacasualco river. We could not make any stay here on account of the boisterous state of the weather, and therefore continued our course along the coast until we arrived at the mouth of the river Tonala, to which we gave the name of St. Antonio. We ran up this river and careened the leaky vessel, which had struck there several times against the rocks.

While we were busily engaged at this work, numbers of Indians came up to us from the harbour of Tonala, which lay about four miles from this place, bringing with them maise-bread, fish, and fruits, which they readily gave us. Our commander was particularly kind to them, and presented each with white and green glass beads, giving them at the same time to understand by signs that they should bring us gold in exchange for our goods. They soon complied with our wishes, but their gold was of a very inferior quality, for which they received imitation corals. As soon as the inhabitants of Guacasualco and the neighbouring districts had learnt that we offered our goods for barter, they brought us all their golden ornaments, and took in exchange green glass beads, on which they set a high value. Besides ornaments of gold, every Indian had with him a copper axe, which was very highly polished, with the handle curiously carved, as if to serve equally for an ornament as for the field of battle. At first we thought that these axes were made of an inferior kind of gold; we therefore commenced taking them in exchange, and, in the space of two days, had collected more than 600, with which we were no less rejoiced as long as we were ignorant of their real value, than the Indians with our glass beads. One of our sailors, who had by stealth bought seven of these axes and was secretly congratulating himself on this piece of good fortune, was betrayed to our commander-in-chief, who, ordering the man in his presence, commanded him to deliver up his treasure. Still of opinion that these axes were of gold, the poor fellow, though forced, reluctantly parted with them. This brings to my mind what befell one of our men, named Bartolome Prado: this fellow had managed to get inside of a temple, called by the Indians a cue,[7] which stood upon an elevated spot, and had found in it numerous idols, and some copal, which is the incense of the Indians; also knives made of hard flint, with which they cut their meat offerings, and otherwise make use of in their sacrifices. Besides these things, he found two small wooden boxes, filled with golden trinkets which are worn about the head and neck; also small idols, and other ornaments somewhat resembling our pearls. The idols he brought to his commander, but took care to keep the gold himself. It seems, however, that some one had been watching him all the time, who reported what he had seen to our captain. We all felt concerned at this, and spoke a good word for him, as he was a kind-hearted being: we begged hard of our commander that he might be allowed to retain his treasure, minus the fifth part claimed for the emperor, which being granted, the man had nigh upon eighty pesos left for himself. In this place I must also acquaint my readers how I sowed some orange seeds close to one of these temples. On account of the numbers of muschetoes which swarm along this river, I had, being tired, laid myself down to rest on the summit of a high temple: in gratitude for the quiet slumber I enjoyed there, I sowed, at the foot of this building, eight orange seeds which I had brought with me from Cuba. These seeds grew very fast, and when grown to small plants, were most probably watered and preserved from the ants by the papas, as soon as they perceived the new plant. I have merely related this in order to acquaint my reader that these were the first orange seeds that were planted in New Spain. Subsequent to the conquest of Mexico and friendly subjection of the Indian tribes on the Guacasualco, this province, being excellently situated, was considered of greater importance than any other, no less on account of its mines than for its beautiful harbour. The country, moreover, abounded in gold, and contained fine pastures for sheep, which was the reason why the most illustrious of the conquistadores[8] of Mexico settled themselves there; among which number was myself,--and I did not forget to look for my orange trees, which, indeed, I transplanted, and they afterwards flourished uncommonly.

I am well aware that it will be said, such old tales as these are quite out of character here; I will not, therefore, say another syllable on the subject, but merely acquaint the reader that the inhabitants of these districts were all very much pleased with us, and embraced us at our departure. We set sail for Cuba, and arrived there in the space of forty days, during which time the weather was sometimes favorable and sometimes boisterous. We were most friendly received by the governor Diego Velasquez, who was highly delighted with the additional gold we brought him. Altogether it was well worth 4000 pesos; so that with the 16,000 brought over by Alvarado, the whole amounted to 20,000 pesos. Some make this sum greater, some less; but one thing is certain, the crown officials only took the fifths of the last-mentioned sum. When they were about to take this also of the Indian axes, which we had mistaken for gold, they grew excessively angry on finding them to be merely of a fine species of copper; nor did this circumstance fail to produce the usual laughter at the expense of our trade of barter. Diego Velasquez, however, appeared perfectly satisfied, though not so with his relative Grijalva. This was wrong on his part, for it originated solely in the misrepresentations of Alonso de Avila, a man of a bad disposition, who did all he could, backed by Montejo, to lower Grijalva in his eyes. All this--rumour spread--was done in order to fit out another armament, and select a new commander.

[7] According to Humboldt, the word cue was imported by the Spanish into New Spain from Cuba. The great temple of Mexico was called by the Indians teocalli; a word which Torquemada (Monarchia Indiana) thus explains: "Que es come decir, templo, u casas de Dios;" i.e. "As much as to say, a temple, or house of God." (p. 36.)

[8] So those Spaniards, who made the first conquests in New Spain, termed themselves, by way of preference, which name they ever after retained as an honorary title. Even to this day in Spain it is considered very distinguishing to be descended from one of the Conquistadores, and some of the first families there date all their greatness from one of these bold adventurers. (p. 37.)

CHAPTER XVII.

_Diego Velasquez despatches one of his officials to Spain._

My readers may perhaps think, that what I am now about to relate does not exactly belong to this history; but in the course of it they will readily perceive that I have been obliged to notice many circumstances before I could introduce them to the captain, Hernando Cortes. They ought also to bear in mind, that it often happens that two or three things take place at the same moment; in which case there only remains for the historian to treat of one circumstance after the other, and begin with that which lies nearest at hand. In this place the following comes first under our consideration.

After the arrival of Pedro de Alvarado with the gold which we had made in the newly-discovered country, Diego Velasquez began to fear that some one at court, who might have received private information of all this, would anticipate him, in forwarding his imperial majesty the first news of our important discovery, and so rob him of the reward. He, therefore, despatched one of his chaplains, named Benito Martinez, a thorough man of business, to Spain, with letters and a few of the valuable things, to Don Juan Rodriguez Fonseca, bishop of Burgos, and archbishop of Rosano. He wrote at the same time to the licentiate Louis Zapata, and the secretary Lope Conchillos, who at that time had the conduct of all Indian affairs under the archbishop.

Diego Velasquez was quite devoted to these gentlemen, and had presented them with considerable Indian villages in Cuba, with the inhabitants of which they worked their gold mines. But he took particular care to provide well for the archbishop, troubling himself very little about his majesty, who was at that time in Flanders.

He sent moreover to these, his patrons, a great portion of the gold trinkets which Alvarado had brought with him; for everything that was determined in the imperial council of India depended upon these gentlemen. Diego Velasquez therefore sought, by means of his chaplain, to obtain unlimited permission to fit out armaments at any time he might think proper to make voyages of discovery, and to found colonies in the new countries as well as in those that might subsequently be discovered: in the accounts he transmitted to Spain, he spoke of the many thousands of gold-pesos which he had already spent in like undertakings; thereby giving such a favorable direction to the negotiations of his chaplain, Benito Martinez, that his expectations were more than fulfilled, who even obtained for him the additional title of Adelantado of Cuba. This latter appointment, however, did not arrive until the new expedition under Cortes had left. I will not make any further remarks on these matters at present, but rather say a few words respecting Francisco Lopez de Gomara's History of the Conquest of New Spain and Mexico. His history fell into my hands while I was writing my own, and I soon foresaw that I should have to contradict him in many instances. My intention is to give a faithful account, and that in due order, of every circumstance; this will greatly differ from his narrative, which is quite at variance with truth.

CHAPTER XVIII.

_Of some errors in the work of Francisco Lopez de Gomara._

While busily engaged writing this narrative, the eloquent History of the Conquest of Mexico and New Spain, by Gomara, fell into my hands; and when I perceived the elegance of his style, and considered the rudeness of my own, I laid down my pen, ashamed at the very thoughts of its being read by men of distinction. With my spirits thus damped, I once more undertook to go through his history; it was then I, for the first time, discovered how mistaken this author was with respect to the occurrences which had really taken place in New Spain. He is equally bad whenever he writes about the magnitude of the towns and number of the inhabitants; in which, whenever it suits him, he does not, for instance, hesitate a moment to put 8000 for eight. In the same way he mentions the extensive buildings we were stated to have commenced, though, in fact, we were only 400 in number when we first went out to war, and had sufficient work to defend ourselves and prevent the victory from going over to our enemies. Though the Indians may have been timid, we were, nevertheless, guiltless of such wholesale slaughter and other barbarities as Gomara would lay to our doors. On the contrary, such was our situation, and I hereby seal my words with an oath when I state, that we daily offered up our prayers to God and the Holy Virgin to preserve us from destruction.

Alaric was certainly a most courageous monarch, and Attila a soldier whose excessive pride would not allow him to shrink back from anything; yet they never slaughtered such multitudes of human beings on the Catalonian plains as we do in the book of Gomara!

In the same way he mentions what numbers of towns and temples we either burnt or destroyed. I am speaking of the Indian temples, called by the inhabitants cues. This latter circumstance would certainly be most pleasing to his readers; but he never gave it a thought, when he was writing, that the conquistadores themselves, and those better informed, would detect his errors and falsehoods. Even in his other works, whenever he speaks about New Spain, he immediately commits blunders. In one place he praises a commander far above his merits, for which very reason he in another most unjustly diminishes that of a second. In another place again, he gives many a one a command who was not even in the army during the conquest: he gives, for instance, the chief command at the battle fought near the town afterwards called Almeria, to Pedro d'Irico, when, in fact, it was Juan de Escalante who commanded on that occasion, and was killed with seven of his men. Again he says, that Juan Velasquez de Leon founded the colony of Guacasualco, although it was Gonzalo de Sandoval, of Avila. There is as much truth in his account when he says that Cortes ordered the Indian Quezal Popoca, one of Motecusuma's chiefs, to be burnt, together with the village in which it was stated he had hid himself. Equal reliance may be placed in his description of our entry into the town and fortress of Anga Panga, where everything happened exactly contrary to what he has stated. In his narrative of our proceedings on the downs, when we had appointed Cortes captain-general and chief justice, he has allowed himself to be deceived by false information, while he has totally misrepresented our taking of the town Chamula, in the province of Chiapa. A still greater blunder he commits when he states that Cortes issued his orders secretly for the destruction of the eleven vessels which had brought us to New Spain, for it is perfectly well known that the ships were run on shore by our unanimous consent, and in presence of us all, in order that the sailors might also be armed and accompany us on our march.

In like manner he lowers the merits of Juan de Grijalva, although he had proved himself such a worthy officer; while he passes by Hernandez de Cordoba in silence, though he was the first who discovered Yucatan: of Francisco de Garay he says, that he had accompanied us on the previous expedition under Grijalva, though he first visited New Spain during this last expedition. In the account he gives of the arrival of Narvaez, and the victory we gained over him, he is certainly more faithful, and has been well informed of all the circumstances; but, with respect to the battles with the Tlascallans, up to the time when peace was concluded with them, he has again diverged from the truth. Concerning the battle we fought in the city of Mexico itself, in which we were worsted and beaten back with the loss of 860 of our troops, of whom a great portion was sacrificed to the idols,--I repeat, where above 860 of our men were killed, for out of 1300 soldiers who had marched into the town to the relief of Pedro de Alvarado, which made out the united forces of Narvaez and Cortes, only 440 escaped, and even these were all wounded,--of this great and important deed of arms he speaks as if it were a mere nothing. He says as little of the subsequent conquest we made of the great city of Mexico, or the manner in which we accomplished it, and omits to mention the number of our killed and wounded; as if this undertaking had merely been a jolly marriage-procession. But why should I continue to enumerate all these particularities one by one, it is a mere waste of ink and paper! I can only say that it is a great pity if Gomara pursues the same course in all his works; for in the beautiful style in which he writes, he ought to make truth perceptible, and distinguish himself therein. But enough of Gomara; I have sufficiently proved, to the sorrow of his readers, how far he has gone beside the truth. I will now return to my history, and strive to act up to the advice of wise men, who say that honesty and truth are the true ornaments to history. Indeed, my rude style of writing would be insupportable without truth, and therefore I was determined to put my trust in it, and continue my narrative in the way I had begun, that it might go to the press, and publish to the world the conquest of New Spain, as it really took place. In this way his imperial majesty will also learn the great services which we, the true conquistadores, have rendered to the crown; how small our numbers were when we first arrived in this country, under the command of our highly-favoured and faithful captain, Hernando Cortes; what dangers we had to brave; and, lastly, how we conquered this kingdom, which forms a great part of the New World, and for which reason his majesty, our most christian king and master, has so often ordered that we should be rewarded. However, I will not say anything further on this head, though much might be said. In resuming my pen I will, like a careful pilot who throws out the lead when he is in danger of shallows, search after truth, where the historian Gomara flies away from it. I will not, however, detain my readers by entering into minute particulars, but always keep the whole in view, in order that the costs of gathering the leasings may not amount to more than the value of the full vintage. If other historians should further swell out my narrative, and bestow on Cortes, our commander, and on the brave conquistadores in this great and holy expedition, their just measure of praise, I can at least say that I have witnessed for the truth. These, indeed, are not stories about strange countries, or dreams, or contradictory statements; everything I relate, if I may so say, happened but yesterday, and the whole of New Spain can test these representations, and judge how far those are correct who have written on the same subject. I will relate that of which I myself was an eyewitness, facts which I know to be true, and will pay no attention to the contradictory statements of those who merely write from hearsay, for truth is a sacred thing. I will therefore say no more on this head, though I could, if I liked, say a good deal; and merely add, that there are good grounds for believing that when Gomara was writing his history, he had been deceived by false information: with him, every circumstance is made to turn to the glory and honour of Cortes, while no mention is made of the other brave officers and soldiers; but, the partiality of this author is sufficiently seen from the circumstance of his having dedicated his work to the present Marquis del Valle, son of Cortes, and not to his majesty the king. But, alas! these untruths and errors are not peculiar to Francisco Lopez de Gomara, but have also been the means of leading many other writers and historians who had followed his work into like error, as for instance, Doctor Illescas and Paulo Jovio, who have exactly copied Gomara's account, without adding or taking away a single word. For all their blunders they are indebted to Gomara.

CHAPTER XIX.

_How another armament was fitted out for a voyage to the newly discovered countries. The command of which was given to Hernando Cortes, afterwards Marquis of the Vale of Oaxaca; also of the secret cabals which were formed to deprive him of it._

Immediately after the return of Juan de Grijalva from our last voyage of discovery, in the year 1518, Diego Velasquez issued orders for the fitting-out of a more considerable armament than the foregoing. For this purpose he had ten vessels lying in the harbour of Santiago de Cuba, at his disposal. Among these were the four vessels in which we had just returned with Grijalva, which had been immediately refitted and careened. The six others had been collected from the different ports of the island. The vessels were provided with sufficient provisions, consisting in cassave-bread, tobacco, and smoked bacon, to last us on our voyage to the Havannah, where they were to be fully equipped, for at that time there was neither beef nor mutton to be had in Cuba. In the meantime, however, Diego Velasquez could not make up his mind to whom he should intrust the command. Some cavaliers certainly mentioned Vasco Porcallo, a captain of great renown, and related to the earl of Feria, who, it was said, would shortly arrive to take the command. This man, however, did not suit Diego Velasquez; he feared his daring spirit, and was apprehensive that once having the armament under his command he would declare himself independent of him. Others again spoke of Augustin Bermudez, Antonio Velasquez Borrego, and Bernardino Velasquez, who were all three relatives of Velasquez. We soldiers, however, would not hear of any other than Juan de Grijalva, who, besides being a brave officer, bore an unblemished character; a man moreover who fully understood the art of commanding. While such like rumours were afloat, the affair was secretly settled, by two confidants of Diego Velasquez, Andreas de Duero, secretary to the governor, and Almador de Lares, the royal treasurer, with Hernando Cortes. Cortes was a cavalier of rank, a native of Medellin, and son of Martin Cortes de Monroy, and of Catalina Pizarro Altamirano, both descendants of two ancient noble families of Estremadura, though then in rather straitened circumstances. Cortes had an Indian commendary in Cuba, and had been recently married to Dona Catalina Suarez Pacheco, daughter of the late Diego Suarez Pacheco of Avila, and of Maria de Mercaida of Biscay; and sister to Juan Suarez Pacheco, who, subsequent to the conquest of New Spain, took up his abode in Mexico, where he had a commendary. This marriage proved very expensive to Cortes, and had even occasioned his imprisonment. Diego Velasquez favoured the family of Cortes's wife, who had been averse to the match: but I must leave this for others to expatiate upon, and rather confine myself to the principal subject in this place, which is, to acquaint my reader that the above-mentioned confidants of Diego Velasquez did all in their power to obtain the appointment of commander-in-chief for Cortes; who, on the other hand, had promised to share equally with them all the profits arising from the gold, silver, and jewels, which pending this expedition should fall to his share, which might turn out very considerable, since the real design of Diego Velasquez, in fitting-out this expedition, was not to make settlements, but that a trade of barter should be carried on with the natives. Duero and the royal treasurer, therefore, employed all their cunning with the governor. They took every opportunity of placing Cortes in the most favorable light--extolling his great courage, in a word, declared him to be the most proper person whom he could intrust with the command. In him he might place implicit confidence, the more so since he himself had been present as a witness at Cortes's marriage, and given the bride away, and was thus spiritually related to him. Their endeavours were indeed crowned with success, by Diego Velasquez conferring the appointment of captain-general of the expedition on that gentleman. The secretary Duero did not fail on this occasion, as the saying is, to write out the commission with the best of ink, to word it agreeably to Cortes's wishes, and finish it in all haste. When the appointment became known to the public, some approved of it and others not.

On the Sunday following, as Diego Velasquez was on his way to church, accompanied by the principal personages in the town, as was due to him in his capacity of governor, it happened that he did Cortes the honour of placing him on his right side; on the road they were met by a jester, nick-named the fool Servantes: this fellow kept in front of the governor, cutting all manner of ridiculous figures and playing all sorts of pranks. "Well-a-day, friend Diego, (commenced this jack-pudding,) what manner of a captain-general have you appointed? He of Medellin and Estremadura! A captain who wants to try his fortune in no small way. I am afraid he will cut his sticks with your whole squadron; for he is a terrible fellow when he once begins, this you may read in his countenance." As he was chattering on in this strain for some time and growing more severe in his observations, Andreas de Duero, who was walking by the side of Cortes, hit him a good blow on the head, crying out at the same time, "begone you drunken fool! I am sure these scandalous pleasantries never emanated in your brain." The buffoon, however, took no notice of this, but commenced a-new. "Long live my friend Diego and the bold captain Cortes! Upon my life, master Diego, I must really go myself with Cortes to those rich countries, in order that you may not repent of the bargain you have made!" Nobody doubted for a moment that it was Velasquez, the governor's relative, who had feed the jester with a few pesos to utter these complaints, all emanating from a bad feeling. Everything this fool had predicted, however, took place to the very letter, and only proves that fools often speak the truth. It is nevertheless certain that the appointment of Hernando Cortes was pleasing in the eyes of God, a blessing to our holy religion, and of the first importance to his majesty, as will be clearly proved in the sequel.

CHAPTER XX.

_Of the designs and plans of Hernando Cortes after he had obtained the appointment of captain._

After Hernando Cortes had thus been appointed captain, he immediately set about to collect all manner of arms and ammunition, consisting of matchlocks, crossbows, powder, and the like; in the same way he took care to provide a large stock of goods for barter, and other necessaries requisite for our expedition. He was now also most particular in adorning his outward person, more than ordinarily: he stuck a bunch of feathers in his cap, to which he fastened a golden medal, which gave him a very stately appearance. Notwithstanding all this he was at that time greatly pinched for money to purchase the things he required, being, in addition, head and ears in debt: for, though his commendary was a lucrative one, and his gold mines very productive, he required it all for his own person and the dress of his young wife. For the rest his countenance was most winning, his conversation agreeable, while he was beloved by every one. He had been twice Alcalde of Santiago de Boroco, where he resided, which is esteemed a great honour in these parts. When, therefore, his friends among the merchants, Jaime Tria and a certain Pedro de Xeres, heard of his appointment, they lent him 4000 gold pesos and other merchandise, upon the income arising from his commendary. With this money he bought a state robe with golden trains, ensigns bearing the arms of our sovereign the king, on each side of which was the figure of a cross, beneath this a Latin inscription, the meaning of which was: "Brothers, let us in true faith follow the cross, and the victory is ours!" He then made known by sound of drum and trumpet, in the name of his majesty and Diego Velasquez the governor, that all those who felt inclined to accompany him to the conquest and colonization of the newly-discovered countries, should have a share in the gold, silver, and jewels they might gain; also that, when any one settled himself there, he should be presented with an Indian commendary, the distribution of which his majesty had confided to Diego Velasquez.

Although this proclamation was made previous to the return of the chaplain Benito Martinez, whom Diego had despatched to Spain to procure for him such authority and other powers, yet it made a deep impression among the inhabitants of the island. Cortes, also, at the same time wrote to all his friends, inviting them to join the expedition. Many there were who sold all they were possessed of, to buy themselves arms and a horse; others purchased stores of cassave-bread and salted bacon to provision the ships, and otherwise equipped themselves as well as they could. Our numbers had increased to 300 soldiers when we left Santiago de Cuba: we were even joined by some of the principal personages of Diego Velasquez's household; among the number was Diego de Ordas, his steward. To this he had certainly been advised by his master, to see that nothing was done opposed to his interests, as he did not altogether trust Cortes. There was also Francisco de Morla, Escobar, Herredia, Juan Ruano, Pedro Escudero, and Martin Ramos de Pares of Biscay, with many other friends and acquaintances of Velasquez. Myself I speak of last. Though I have merely enumerated these warriors as they came to my memory; without wishing, however, to give one any preference above the other. I intend hereafter to give the names of them all in the proper place.

While Cortes was thus making every exertion to expedite the equipment of the vessels, the malice and envy of the relatives of Velasquez was not silent, who felt themselves most grievously neglected that the command should have been intrusted to Cortes. Velasquez had only shortly beforehand shown his hatred to Cortes on account of his marriage, and even persecuted him; they were therefore the more spiteful, and in every way strove to lower him in the eyes of the governor, hoping thereby to deprive him of the command. Cortes, who was fully acquainted with this, took care to be always at Velasquez's side. He took every opportunity of showing his attachment to him, and spoke of nothing but of the glory of this undertaking, and of the vast riches it could not fail, in a short time, to bring his patron Velasquez. Even Andreas de Duero urged Cortes by all means to hasten the embarkation, as the relatives of Velasquez had already succeeded in altering his sentiments with regard to Cortes. The latter therefore desired his wife to send him on board the provisions and other presents which women under such circumstances are accustomed to give their husbands. He made known to the masters and pilots of the different vessels the day and hour of departure, and ordered all the men to be on board by a certain day.

Everything being now ready for his departure, and all the men on board, Cortes called upon the governor to take leave of him, and was accompanied on this occasion by his best friends and companions in arms, Andreas de Duero, the royal treasurer, Almador de Lares, and the principal inhabitants of the town. Velasquez and Cortes vowed eternal friendship, and did not part until they had several times embraced each other.

The next morning early we attended mass, after which we marched to our vessels accompanied by the governor and a number of cavaliers in honorable escort.

The weather being very fine, we arrived, after a few days' sail, safely in the harbour of Trinidad, and landed there.

From what has already been said, and will further be seen in the following chapter, the reader may easily imagine the various difficulties Cortes had to struggle with; though, when my narrative is confronted with that of Gomara, it will be found how greatly they differ. Gomara, for instance, will have that Andreas de Duero was a merchant, though, as private secretary to the governor, he had considerable weight in the island; and of Diego de Ordas, he says, that he accompanied the expedition under Grijalva, though he never went out until this time with Cortes. But I will leave Gomara and his miserable history, and relate our doings in the town of Trinidad.

CHAPTER XXI.

_Cortes's occupations at Trinidad, and of the cavaliers and warriors who there joined our expedition, and other matters._

On the first notice of our arrival at Trinidad, the inhabitants came out to welcome us and our commander Cortes. Among the great body of cavaliers in this place, every one strove hardest to have Cortes for his guest. Cortes immediately planted his standard in front of his dwelling, and made the public acquainted with the particulars of the expedition in the same way as he had done at Santiago, and further collected whatever he could in the shape of firearms with other necessaries. Here we were also joined by the Alvarados, namely, Pedro, who has often been mentioned in this history, his brothers Gonzalo, Jorge, Gomez, and his natural brother the elder Juan Alvarado. Further we were here joined by Alonso de Avila of Avila, who had a command in the last expedition, under Grijalva; Juan de Escalante, Pedro Sanchez Farsan of Sevilla; Gonzalo Mexia, subsequently treasurer at Mexico; Vaena, Juanes de Fuentarabia, and Christobal de Oli, who had a command at the taking of Mexico, and in all the battles fought in New Spain. Further, Ortiz, the musician, and Gaspar Sanchez, nephew to the treasurer of Cuba; Diego de Pinedo, Alonzo Rodriguez, who possessed some lucrative gold mines, and Bartolome Garcia. To which may be added many other cavaliers whose names at present I cannot remember, all personages of influence and respectability. From this place Cortes also wrote letters to Santispiritus, fifty-four miles from Trinidad, and made our expedition known to the public there. He knew so well how to mix up his sentences with inviting expressions and great promises, that many of the first personages of that town were thereby induced to join us. These were Hernando Puertocarrero, cousin to the earl of Medellin, and Gonzalo de Sandoval, who had been eight months alguacil-major and governor, and was afterwards a commander in New Spain; also Juan Velasquez de Leon, a relation of Diego Velasquez; Rodrigo Rangel, Gonzalo Lopez de Ximena, with his brother Juan Lopez, and Juan Sedeno. This latter gentleman was an inhabitant of Santispiritus, and had joined Cortes because of the two other Sedenos who were among us. These gentlemen, who were all men of consequence, had arrived at the same time in Trinidad, when Cortes, accompanied by the whole of us, went out to meet them. Cannons were fired, and other rejoicings took place on this occasion, while professions of esteem and friendship were past from one party to the other. All these men possessed land in the neighbourhood of this town, where they ordered cassave-bread to be made, and bacon to be cured, and otherwise collected all the provisions they possibly could for our vessels. Here also we hired soldiers, and purchased some horses, which latter, at that time, were very scarce, and only to be had at exorbitant prices. Alonso Hernandez de Puertocarrero, whom I had previously known, had not sufficient money to purchase himself a horse; Cortes, therefore, bought one for him, and paid for it with the golden borders of the velvet robe he had procured at Santiago. About this time there also arrived in the port of Trinidad a vessel belonging to a certain Juan Sedeno, of the Havannah, laden with cassave-bread and salted meat, which was destined for the mines of Santiago. This Sedeno, who had called upon our commander to pay his respects, was soon persuaded, by the eloquence and address of Cortes, to sell him his ship with the lading and all, and himself to join the expedition. We had now eleven ships in all, and everything, thanks to Providence, was going on well, when letters arrived from Diego Velasquez with peremptory orders that Cortes was to be deprived of the command. But I will detail this matter in the following chapter.

CHAPTER XXII.

_How the governor Diego Velasquez sends two of his officials in all haste to Trinidad, with full power and authority to deprive Cortes of his appointment of captain, and bring the squadron away, &c._

I must now carry my narrative back a few days, in order to relate what happened at Santiago de Cuba after our departure. We had scarcely set sail when Diego Velasquez's friends left him not a moment's peace, harassing him until they had totally revolutionised his sentiments with regard to Cortes. They now plainly told him that he might consider Cortes as lost to his interests from his having so secretly sneaked away from the harbour. Neither had he made any secret of his determination to have the chief command of the armament, whether Diego might wish it or not; for which reason he had embarked his men at night-time, that if any attempt were made to deprive him of the squadron, he would resist it by main force. He, the governor, had been deceived by his private secretary Duero, and De Lares the royal treasurer, who had both made some previous agreement with Cortes to procure him the command. But in particular the relatives of Velasquez were constantly urging him to cancel the recent appointment of Cortes, in which they were backed by a certain old man, named Juan Millan, commonly termed the astrologer, who was considered by many not to be exactly in his proper senses. This old man repeatedly told the governor that Cortes would now revenge himself for his having, some time ago, thrown him into prison: "Sly and artful as he is, he will be the means of ruining you, if you are not upon your guard."

These hints were not thrown away upon Velasquez; they brought about a revolution in his mind, which ended in his despatching two trustworthy persons out of his establishment, with private instructions to his brother-in-law Francisco de Verdugo, then alcalde major of Trinidad, by which he was peremptorily commanded, under all circumstances, to deprive Cortes of the squadron, whose appointment of captain had been withdrawn, and given to Vasco Porcallo. At the same time he wrote letters to Diego de Ordas, Francisco de Morla, and to his relations and friends, desiring them, at all events, to leave the squadron.

As soon as Cortes got information of this, he had a secret interview with Ordas and all those officers and inhabitants of Trinidad, who, he thought, might feel inclined to obey the orders of Velasquez. To these he spoke so feelingly, and in such kind terms, accompanied by such great promises, that they were all soon gained over to his side. Diego de Ordas even undertook to advise the alcalde major Francisco de Verdugo not to put these commands immediately into execution, and to keep them secret; telling him, at the same time, he had seen nothing in Cortes which gave the slightest reasons for suspecting him of anything wrong; on the contrary, he had, on every occasion, given proofs of his adherence to the governor. He assured him, moreover, that it would be an impossibility to deprive Cortes of the command of the squadron, in which he had so many friends among the cavaliers, and Diego Velasquez so many enemies, who would not easily forgive him that he had neglected to bestow on them more profitable commendaries. Besides the number of friends Cortes had among the officers, he could rely upon most of the soldiers, and thus it would be useless to attempt anything against him. The whole town would become mixed up in the quarrel, which would be plundered by our men, and even worse consequences might follow. By these arguments, Ordas prevented all violent measures; and one of the above-mentioned officials, whom Diego had sent with despatches to his nephew, named Pedro Laso, even joined our expedition. The other, Cortes sent back with a letter to the governor, in which he made use of every kind sentiment, and expressed his utter astonishment at the resolution he had taken, particularly as he had no other design than to serve God, his majesty the king, and the governor. He earnestly advised him not to listen any further to his cousin Velasquez, nor to allow the kind feeling he entertained for him to be poisoned by such an old fool as Juan Millan. Cortes, at the same time, wrote to his other friends, and in particular to his two confederates, the private secretary and royal treasurer.

The next step he took was to command his men to put their arms into good repair. Every smith in the town was set to work to fix points to our lances, and the gunners were ordered to search every magazine for arrows. He at last even persuaded the very smiths to join the armament.

We remained altogether twelve days at Trinidad, and thence sailed for the Havannah. From the foregoing statement, the reader will readily perceive how differently all this has been related by Gomara, who even makes Velasquez confer the chief command on Ordas; the latter, he says, invited Cortes to dine with him on board his vessel, had him seized while at dinner, and taken off prisoner to Santiago. I could cite many similar errors from Gomara's history, and thereby convince the reader that it is better to believe an eyewitness than an author who writes about things he never saw. However, enough of Gomara; let us return to our subject.

CHAPTER XXIII.

_Cortes embarks with all his cavaliers and soldiers in order to sail along the south side of the island to the Havannah, and sends off one of the vessels to go around the north coast for the same port._

Cortes, finding that he had nothing further to do at Trinidad, acquainted his officers and men with the hour of departure, leaving it to each one's choice either to proceed to the Havannah by sea, or march thither overland, under the command of Pedro de Alvarado, who would be joined by some men from one of the colonies, on his road. Alvarado was a kind-hearted man, who knew best how to deal with soldiers; wherefore I myself, with fifty other military men, gladly joined him; our numbers were, moreover, increased by all our horse. Cortes also sent a vessel, under the command of Juan de Escalante, which was to shape its course around the north coast to the Havannah. Cortes then embarked, and proceeded, with the whole squadron, for the same port. The transport ships must, however, have missed the vessel of our commander-in-chief in the night, as they all arrived safe at the Havannah without it. The troops under Pedro de Alvarado also arrived in good time, and the vessel under the command of Escalante, which had sailed around the north coast.

Cortes alone remained behind; nor could any one account for his delay, or what could possibly have detained him. Five days passed away without our obtaining the least tidings of him, and we already began to fear that he had been shipwrecked off the Jardines,[9] which lie from thirty to thirty-six miles from the Havannah, near the Pinos isles, where the sea is very shallow: we therefore determined to send out our three smaller vessels in quest of her; but what with the fitting-out of these vessels, added to the manifold opinions and advices, two more days elapsed, and Cortes still remained behind. All manner of artifices were now had recourse to, as to whom the command should be given, until some certainty was gained respecting the fate of Cortes, in which Diego de Ordas, in his capacity of steward over the household of Velasquez, and secret observer of our movements, was most active.

The following misfortune had befallen Cortes. When his vessel, which was of considerable tonnage, had arrived off the Pinos isles on the shallows of the Jardines, there was not sufficient depth of water to carry her, and she consequently got aground. The ship had now to be unladen, which was an easy matter, on account of the nearness of the shore. As soon as she was set afloat again and brought into deeper water she was reloaded and pursued her voyage to the Havannah. The joy among the officers and soldiers was very great as soon as she became visible in the horizon, to those excepted who had prized themselves with the command, to whose machinations, however, there was now an end. We accompanied Cortes to the house of Pedro Barba, Velasquez's lieutenant at Trinidad, where quarters had been got ready for his reception. He immediately hoisted his standard in front of his dwelling, and by public proclamation invited the inhabitants to join the expedition.

It was here that Francisco de Montejo first joined us, of whom I shall often have to speak in the course of this history: subsequent to the conquest of Mexico he became adelantado and governor of Yucatan and the Honduras. Here we were also joined by Diego de Soto of Toro, namely, who afterwards was Cortes's steward in Mexico; further, Angula and Garci Caro, Sebastian Rodriguez, Pacheco, Gutierras, Royas (this is not he commonly called the wealthy); also by a young fellow of the name of Santaclara; the two brothers, Martinez del Frexenal and Juan de Najara--not the deaf one of the tennis-court at Mexico: all of whom were men of rank and quality. There were also other soldiers who joined us, whose names I have forgotten.

When Cortes, therefore, beheld all these cavaliers together, his heart leaped with joy, and he sent off another ship for a further supply of provisions to the promontory of Guaniguanico, where Velasquez had landed property. Here was a village where cassave-bread was made, and quantities of swine's flesh cured. He gave the command of this vessel to Diego de Ordas, who, as Velasquez's steward, ordered matters on his master's property as he liked. Cortes wished to keep him out of the way, having learnt that Ordas had not spoken in very favorable terms of him during the dispute as to whom the command should be given, when he was detained off the Pinos isles. Ordas's instructions were to remain in the harbour of Guaniguanico, after he had taken in his lading, until the arrival there of the vessel which was to sail around the north coast, with which he was then to proceed to the island of Cozumel, provided he received no further instructions by Indian canoes.

Francisco de Montejo and other cavaliers of the Havannah likewise furnished quantities of cassave-bread and cured bacon; there being no other kind of provisions to be had. In the meantime Cortes ordered all our heavy guns, consisting in ten copper cannons and a few falconets, to be brought on shore and given in charge of an artilleryman, named Mesa, a certain Arbenga who traded to the Levant, and Juan Catalan, to prove them, and otherwise put them into good repair; also to furnish for each the right-sized balls and proper quantity of powder. He also gave them an assistant, named Bartolome de Usagre, and furnished them with vinegar and wine to polish the copper pieces. In the same way all our crossbows were inspected, and their strength ascertained by shooting at the target. Cotton being very plentiful here we constructed ourselves cuirasses with it, which form the most efficient protection against Indian arrows, pikes, and slings. Here it was also that Cortes put his establishment on a much superior footing, and had himself served as a person of the first quality. He took for his butler a certain Guzman, who was subsequently killed by the Indians; he must not, however, be confounded with Christobal de Guzman, who afterwards became his steward, and was the man whom took the king Quauhtemoctzin prisoner, during the battle in the suburbs of Mexico. Rodrigo Rangel he appointed his chamberlain, and Juan de Caceres his house-steward, who after the conquest of Mexico was considered a man of great wealth. Having ordered all these things, he commanded us to hold ourselves in readiness for embarking, and to distribute the horses among the vessels, for which the necessary quantity of maise and hay had been provided.

For memory's sake I will here likewise describe the horses and mares which we took with us on our expedition. Cortes had a dark chesnut stallion, which died afterwards at St. Juan de Ulua. Pedro de Alvarado and Hernando Lopez d'Avila had jointly an excellent brown mare, which had been broken-in for the field of battle as well as for tournaments. After our arrival in New Spain, Alvarado bought Lopez's share, or perhaps took forcible possession of it. Alonso Hernandez Puertocarrero had a grey-coloured mare, which Cortes had purchased for him with the golden borders of his state-robe, it was capitally trained for the field of battle. Juan Velasquez de Leon's mare was of the same colour, a noble and powerful animal, full of fire and eager for battle: we commonly termed it the "short tail."

Christobal de Oli had a dark brown fine-spirited horse. Francisco de Montejo and Alonso de Avila had between them a sorel-coloured horse, but of little use in battle. Francisco de Morla had likewise a dark chesnut stallion, one full of fire and wonderfully swift. The light-coloured horse of Juan de Escalante was not worth much. The grey-coloured mare of Diego de Ordas, which would never foal, was neither very swift. Gonzalo Dominiguez had a small dark-brown nag, a very swift and noble animal. Also the brown-coloured horse of Pedro Gonzalez de Truxillo was a swift animal. Moron, who was a native of Vaimo, had a small horse which was pretty well trained. Vaena, of Trinidad, had a darkish-coloured horse, though a bad leaper. The light-coloured chesnut galloway of De Lares was, on the other hand, a splendid animal and a capital runner.

Ortiz, the musician, and a certain Bartolome Garcia, who had applied himself to the art of mining, had between them a very good dark-coloured horse, which they named the Arriero (mule-driver,) and was one of the best animals of the whole corps. Juan Sedeno, of the Havannah, had a fine chesnut mare, which foaled on board. This Sedeno was considered to be the most wealthy man amongst us; for he had a ship of his own, a horse, a few negroes to attend upon him, and his own lading of cassave and cured bacon. Just about this time horses and negroes were only to be purchased for very high prices, which accounts for the small number of the former we had with us on this expedition.

However, I will stop here, and relate in the next chapter what happened as we were just about to embark.

[9] Jardines, or the Caribbee islands, lying along the south coast of Cuba, better known as the Windward and Leeward islands. (p. 51.)

CHAPTER XXIV.

_Diego Velasquez sends one of his officials, named Gaspar Garnica, with full authority to take Cortes prisoner, whatever might be the consequence; and what further happened._

In order that my history may be perfectly intelligible to my readers, I must sometimes recur to prior events. In this place I have to return to Diego Velasquez, who, when he learnt that his brother-in-law, Francisco Verdugo, sub-governor of Trinidad, had not only confirmed Cortes in his appointment over the squadron, but even, conjointly with Diego de Ordas, lent him every possible assistance, fell into such a rage that he roared like a wild beast. He accused his private secretary Andreas de Duero, and the royal treasurer Almador de Lares, of a conspiracy to cheat him, adding, that Cortes had run off with the whole squadron. Nor did Velasquez stop here, but despatched one of his officials with imperative commands to Pedro Barba, sub-governor of the Havannah, at the same time writing to all his relatives in that town, to De Ordas and to Juan Velasquez de Leon, who were his special confidants, requiring them to swear, by the friendship they bore him, not, under any pretence whatsoever, to allow the squadron to depart, but to send Cortes prisoner to Santiago. As soon as Garnica, the bearer of these despatches, arrived, it was immediately guessed for what purpose he came. Cortes was even apprized of it by means of the very bearer himself: for one of the brethren of Charity, who was much in company with Velasquez, and greatly in favour with him, had forwarded by this same Garnica a letter to a brother of the same order, named Bartolome de Olmedo, who had joined our expedition. By means of this letter, Cortes was apprized of the whole posture of affairs by those interested with him, Andreas de Duero and the royal treasurer. Ordas, as we have above seen, having been sent off in quest of provisions, Cortes had now only to fear opposition from Juan Velasquez de Leon; but even him he had half gained over to his side, not being on the best of terms with his relative the governor, who had only presented him with a very poor commendary. Thus it was that the design of Velasquez was frustrated by those very persons to whom he had written. Indeed, from that very moment, these personages only united themselves the closer to Cortes, particularly the sub-governor Pedro Barba, the Alvarados, Puertocarrero, Montejo, Christobal de Oli, Juan de Escalante, Andreas de Monjaraz, and his brother Gregorio, who, with all of us, were ready to stake our lives for Cortes. Had the orders of Velasquez been kept secret in Trinidad, they were now the more so in this place; and Pedro de Barba despatched Garnica to Diego Velasquez with the information that he durst not venture to take Cortes into custody, as he was too powerful and too much beloved by the soldiers; fearing, if he should make the attempt, that the town would be plundered, and the whole of the inhabitants forcibly dragged away. For the rest, he could assure Diego Velasquez that Cortes was quite devoted to him, and did nothing that could be said to militate against his interests. Cortes himself also wrote a letter couched in those smooth terms he so very well knew how to employ, assuring Velasquez of the unabated friendship he entertained for him, and that he was going to set sail the very next day.

CHAPTER XXV.

_Cortes sets sail with the whole squadron for the island of Cozumel, and what further took place._

Cortes deferred the review of his troops until we should have arrived at the island of Cozumel, and gave orders for the embarking of our horses. Pedro de Alvarado, in the San Sebastian, which was a very fast sailer, was ordered to shape his course along the north coast, and his pilot received strict orders to steer direct for the cape of St. Antonio, where all the other vessels would meet and set sail for Cozumel: like instructions were forwarded to Diego de Ordas. Mass having been said, the nine remaining vessels set sail, in a southerly direction, on the 10th of February, 1519. There were sixty soldiers on board the San Sebastian, under Alvarado, among which number I was myself. Camacho, our pilot, took no notice of the orders he had received from Cortes, but shaped his course direct for Cozumel, so that we arrived two days earlier there than the rest. We landed our men in the same harbour I before mentioned in our expedition under Grijalva. Cortes had been detained on his passage by the breaking of the rudder of Francisco de Morla's vessel, which had to be replaced from what they had at hand.

Our vessel, as I have stated above, arrived two days earlier at Cozumel than the rest, and the whole of the men proceeded on shore. We did not meet with a single Indian in the village of Cozumel, as all the inhabitants had fled away. Alvarado, therefore, ordered us to another village at about four miles distance from the latter. Here the inhabitants had likewise fled to the woods, without, however, being able to carry off all their property, so that we found numbers of fowls and other things; of the former, Alvarado would not permit us to take more than forty. Out of a temple near at hand we took several cotton mats, and a few small boxes containing a species of diadem, small idols, corals, with all manner of trinkets made of an inferior sort of gold. We also took two Indians and a female prisoners, after which we returned to the village near which we had landed.

In the meantime Cortes had arrived with the remaining vessels. He had scarcely stepped on shore when he ordered our pilot Camacho to be put in irons, for having followed a contrary course to what he had been ordered. But his displeasure was still greater when he learnt that the village was quite deserted, and that Alvarado had taken away, besides the fowls, the religious implements and other matters, though of little value, being half copper. Having shown no lenity to Camacho, he now also gave Alvarado an earnest reproof, telling him that it was not the way to gain the love of the inhabitants by beginning to rob them of their property. He then ordered the two Indians and the female whom we had taken prisoners to be brought into his presence, and put several questions to them. Melchorillo, whom we had captured at the promontory of Cotoche, (Julianillo had since died,) and taken with us, perfectly understood the language of this country, and interpreted on the occasion. Cortes sent the three Indians to the cazique and the inhabitants, desiring them to state that they had nothing to fear from us, and to return to their village. He also restored to them the religious implements, with the golden trinkets, and gave them glass beads in exchange for the fowls, which we had eaten: besides this, he presented each of them with a Spanish shirt. They faithfully executed Cortes's commission; for the very next day the cazique returned with the whole of the inhabitants, and so confidently did they converse with us as if they had known us all their lives: indeed, Cortes had given peremptory orders that they should in no wise be molested. It was here also that Cortes began strict discipline, and set to work with unremitting assiduity, to which Providence lent his blessing; for everything in which he concerned himself went well, particularly with regard to making peace with the tribes or inhabitants of these countries. This the reader will find fully confirmed in the course of my history.

CHAPTER XXVI.

_Cortes reviews his troops, and what further happened._

On the third day after our arrival at Cozumel, Cortes reviewed the whole of his troops. Without counting the pilots and marines, our number amounted to 508 men. There were 109 sailors, and sixteen horses, which were trained equally for tournaments or for war. Our squadron consisted of eleven vessels of different tonnage; among these, one was a kind of brigantine, the property of a certain Gines Nortes. The number of crossbow men was thirty-three, and of musketeers thirteen: add to this our heavy guns and four falconets, a great quantity of powder and balls. As to the precise number of crossbow men I cannot exactly swear, though it matters not whether there were a few more or less.

After this review, Cortes ordered the artillerymen Mesa, Bartolome de Usagre, Arbenga, and a certain Catalonier whose name I forget, to keep all our firearms bright and in good order, to see that each cannon had its right-sized ball, to prepare the cartridges, and distribute the powder properly. The chief care of our gun department he confided to a certain Francisco de Oroze, who had proved himself a brave soldier in the Italian wars. Juan Benitez and Pedro de Guzman had to inspect the crossbows, and see that they were supplied with two or three nuts and as many cords. They had also to superintend the exercise of shooting at the target, and the breaking-in of our horses, particularly to accustom them to the noise of our firearms. I have now said sufficient of our armament: indeed, Cortes was most particular with the merest trifles in these matters.

CHAPTER XXVII.

_Cortes receives information that two Spaniards are in the power of the Indians at the promontory of Cotoche: the steps he took upon this news._

As Cortes paid attention to every circumstance, he ordered myself and Martin Camos of Biscay into his presence, and asked us what our opinion was of the word _Castilan_, _Castilan_, which the Indians of Campeachy had so often repeated when we landed there, under the command of Hernandez de Cordoba.

We again informed him of every circumstance that had there taken place. He said, he had often turned this matter over in his mind, and could not help thinking but that the inhabitants must have some Spaniards among them, and he thought it would not be amiss to question the caziques of Cozumel upon this head. This Cortes accordingly did, and desired Melchorejo, who by this time had gained some little knowledge of the Spanish, and perfectly understood the language of Cozumel, to question the chiefs about it. Their several accounts perfectly corresponded; and they satisfactorily proved that there were several Spaniards in the country, whom they had seen themselves; that they served the caziques, who lived two days' march inland, as slaves, and that it was only a few days ago some Indian merchants had spoken with them.

We all felt overjoyed at this news. Cortes told these chiefs that he would send the Spaniards letters, which they call amales in their language, in which he would desire them to come to us. The cazique and other Indians who undertook to forward these letters were most kindly treated by Cortes, who gave them all kinds of presents, and promised them more on their return. Upon which the cazique remarked to Cortes, that it would be necessary to send a ransom to the chiefs whom the Spaniards served as slaves before they would let them go. Various kinds of glass beads were therefore given to the messengers for this purpose, and Cortes sent two of the smaller vessels, armed with twenty crossbow men and a few musketeers, under command of Diego de Ordas, to the coast of Cotoche, with orders to remain there for eight successive days with the larger of the two vessels, and to send him information from time to time by the other vessel, while the messengers brought letters to and fro; for the distance to the promontory of Cotoche from this place was only nine miles, the whole appearing, moreover, to form but one country. The following were the contents of the letter which Cortes wrote to the Spaniards:

"Dear Sirs and Brothers,--Here, on the island of Cozumel, I received information that you are detained prisoners by a cazique. I beg of you to come here to me on the island of Cozumel. To this end I have sent out an armed ship, and ransom-money, should it be required by the Indians. I have ordered the vessel to remain stationary off the promontory of Cotoche for eight days, to wait for you. Come as speedily as possible; you may depend upon being honorably treated by me. I am here with eleven vessels armed with 500 soldiers, and intend, with the aid of the Almighty and your assistance, to proceed to a place called Tabasco, or Potonchon; etc."

With this letter the two Indian merchants embarked on board our vessel, which passed this narrow gulf in three hours, when the messengers with the ransom-money were put on shore.

After the lapse of a couple of days they actually handed over the letter to one of the Spaniards in question, who, as we afterwards learnt, was called Geronimo de Aguilar, and I shall therefore in future distinguish him by that name. When he had read the letter and received the ransom-money we had forwarded, he was exceedingly rejoiced, and took the latter to the cazique his master to beg for his liberation. The moment he had obtained this he went in quest of his comrade, Gonzalo Guerrero, and made him acquainted with all the circumstances; when Guerrero made the following reply:

"Brother Aguilar,--I have united myself here to one of the females of this country, by whom I have three children; and am, during wartime, as good as cazique or chief. Go! and may God be with you: for myself, I could not appear again among my countrymen. My face has already been disfigured, according to the Indian custom, and my ears have been pierced: what would my countrymen say if they saw me in this attire? Only look at my three children, what lovely little creatures they are; pray give me some of your glass beads for them, which I shall say my brethren sent them from my country."

Gonzalo's Indian wife followed in the same strain, and was quite displeased with Aguilar's errand. "Only look at that slave there, (said she,) he is come here to take away my husband from me! Mind your own affairs, and do not trouble yourself about us."

Aguilar, however, afterwards made another attempt to induce Gonzalo to leave, telling him to consider that he was a Christian, and that he ought not to risk the salvation of his soul for the sake of an Indian woman. Moreover, he might take her and the children with him if he could not make up his mind to separate himself from them. Aguilar, however, might say what he liked, it was all to no purpose; he could not persuade Gonzalo to accompany his heretofore companion in good and ill fortune. This Guerrero was most probably a sailor, and a native of Palos.[10] He remained among the Indians, while Geronimo de Aguilar alone took his departure with the Indian messengers, and marched towards the coast where our ship was to have waited for them: but she had left; for De Ordas, after staying there the eight days, and another in addition, finding that no one appeared, again set sail for Cozumel. Aguilar was quite downcast when he found the ship was gone, and he again returned to his Indian master.

Ordas, however, did not meet with the best of reception when he returned without the ransom-money or any information respecting the Spaniards, and even without the Indian messengers. Cortes said to him, with great vehemence, he expected he would have fulfilled his commission better than to return without the Spaniards, and even without bringing him any information respecting them, although well aware they were staying in that country. Cortes had, moreover, just that moment been greatly put out by another circumstance. A soldier, called Berrio, had accused some sailors of Gibraleon of having stolen from him a couple of sides of bacon, which they would not return. They positively denied that they had committed the robbery, and even took an oath to that effect; however, after a good search, the bacon was found among their clothes. There were seven sailors who had been concerned in the robbery, and Cortes, notwithstanding their officers interceded in their behalf, ordered them to be severely whipped.

The island of Cozumel, it seems, was a place to which the Indians made pilgrimages; for the neighbouring tribes of the promontory of Cotoche and other districts of Yucatan, came thither in great numbers to sacrifice to some abominable idols, which stood in a temple there. One morning we perceived that the place where these horrible images stood was crowded with Indians and their wives. They burnt a species of resin, which very much resembled our incense, and as such a sight was so novel to us we paid particular attention to all that went forward. Upon this an old man, who had on a wide cloak and was a priest, mounted to the very top of the temple, and began preaching something to the Indians. We were all very curious to know what the purport of this sermon was, and Cortes desired Melchorejo to interpret it to him. Finding that all he had been saying tended to ungodliness, Cortes ordered the caziques, with the principal men among them and the priest, into his presence, giving them to understand, as well as he could by means of our interpreter, that if they were desirous of becoming our brethren they must give up sacrificing to these idols, which were no gods but evil beings, by which they were led into error and their souls sent to hell. He then presented them with the image of the Virgin Mary and a cross, which he desired them to put up instead. These would prove a blessing to them at all times, make their seeds grow and preserve their souls from eternal perdition. This and many other things respecting our holy religion, Cortes explained to them in a very excellent manner. The caziques and priests answered, that their forefathers had prayed to their idols before them, because they were good gods, and that they were determined to follow their example. Adding, that we should experience what power they possessed; as soon as we had left them, we should certainly all of us go to the bottom of the sea.

Cortes, however, took very little heed of their threats, but commanded the idols to be pulled down, and broken to pieces; which was accordingly done without any further ceremony. He then ordered a quantity of lime to be collected, which is here in abundance, and with the assistance of the Indian masons a very pretty altar was constructed, on which we placed the image of the holy Virgin. At the same time two of our carpenters, Alonso Yanez and Alvaro Lopez made a cross of new wood which lay at hand, this was set up in a kind of chapel, which we built behind the altar. After all this was completed, father Juan Diaz said mass in front of the new altar, the caziques and priests looking on with the greatest attention.

Before I close this chapter, I have to remark that the caziques on the island of Cozumel, like those on the land of Potonchan, are likewise termed Calachionies.

[10] Palos, a small town of Spain, lying on the river Tinto. This port produced the best Spanish sailors during the early voyages of discovery, and here also the expedition under Columbus was fitted out. (p. 60.)

CHAPTER XXVIII.

_The manner in which Cortes divides the squadron. The officers whom he appointed to the command of the several vessels. His instructions to the pilots; the signals which were to be made with lanterns at night, &c._

The following were the officers which commanded the several vessels.

Cortes himself commanded, in the principal vessel, over the whole squadron. To the San Sebastian, which was a very capital sailer, he appointed Alvarado and his brother. The other vessels were severally commanded by Alonso Hernandez Puertocarrero, Francisco de Montejo, Christobal de Oli, Diego de Ordas, Juan Velasquez de Leon, Juan de Escalante, Francisco de Morla, and Escobar the page. The smallest vessel, a kind of brigantine, was commanded by its owner, Gines Nortes.

Every vessel had its own pilot, who received his instructions, and also the signals with the lanterns from Alaminos.

As soon as Cortes had ordered these matters he took leave of the caziques and priests, commended them most emphatically to the image of the holy Virgin and to the cross, desiring them to pray before it, not to damage either but continually to decorate them with green boughs. He assured them that thereby they would derive great benefit. They promised to comply with all his wishes, presented him with four more fowls and two jars of honey, and then took leave of us under the most friendly embraces. It was some day in the month of March, in the year 1519, when we again set sail; we were pursuing our course with the most favorable of winds, when on the very first day at ten o'clock in the morning, signals of distress were made on board one of our vessels, both by flags and the firing of guns. As soon as Cortes saw and heard this, he looked over the poop of his vessel, and found that the ship commanded by Juan de Escalante was making straight again for the island of Cozumel. What is the matter there? What does all this mean? cried out Cortes to the vessel nearest him. A soldier, named Zaragoza replied, that the vessel of Juan de Escalante, laden with cassave-bread, was sinking fast. God forbid! cried Cortes, that any misfortune should befall us here, and desired our chief pilot, Alaminos, to make signals for all the vessels to return to the island Cozumel. So we again put into the harbour we had just left: we unloaded the cassave-bread; and found, to our great joy, that the image of the holy Virgin and cross were in the best condition, and that incense had been placed before them. It was not long before the caziques and priests again made their appearance, and asked what had caused us to return so speedily. Cortes told them that one of our vessels was leaky and had to be repaired, begging of them to assist us with their canoes in unloading our cassave-bread. This they most readily complied with, and it took us four more days to repair the vessel.

CHAPTER XXIX.

_How the Spaniard Geronimo de Aguilar, who was in the power of the Indians, came to us when he learnt that we had again returned to the island of Cozumel, and what further happened._

When the Spaniard, who was in the power of the Indians got certain information that we had again returned to the island Cozumel, he rejoiced exceedingly and thanked God with all his heart.

He immediately hired a canoe, with six capital rowers, for himself and the Indians who had brought him the glass beads. The former being richly remunerated with these, so valuable in their estimation: they performed their work so well, that the channel between the island and mainland, a distance of about twelve miles, was soon crossed. After they had arrived off the island and stepped on shore, some soldiers who were returning from the chase of musk swine, informed Cortes that a large canoe had just arrived from the promontory of Cotoche. Cortes immediately despatched Andreas de Tapia with a few men to learn what news they had brought. As Tapia with his men approached the shore, the Indians, who had arrived with Geronimo, evinced great fear and ran back to their canoe in order to put off to sea again. Aguilar, however, told him in their language they need have no fear; for we were their brothers. Andreas de Tapia, who took Aguilar also for an Indian, for he had every appearance of one, sent to inform Cortes that the seven Indians who had arrived were inhabitants of Cozumel. It was not until they had come up to them and heard the Spaniard pronounce the words--God, holy Virgin, Sevilla, in broken Spanish, and ran up to Tapia to embrace him, that they recognized this strange-looking fellow. One of Tapia's men immediately ran off to inform Cortes that a Spaniard had arrived in the canoe, for which news he expected a handsome reward.

We all greatly rejoiced at this information, and it was not long before Tapia himself arrived with the strange-looking Spaniard. As they passed by us many of our men still kept inquiring of Tapia which among them was the Spaniard? although he was walking at his very side, so much did his countenance resemble that of an Indian. His complexion was naturally of a brownish cast, added to which his hair had been shorn like that of an Indian slave: he carried a paddle across his shoulder, had one of his legs covered with an old tattered stocking; the other, which was not much better, being tied around his waist. An old ragged cloak hung over his shoulders, his maltatas was in a much worse condition. His prayerbook, which was very much torn, he had folded in the corner of his cloak.

When Cortes beheld the man in this attire, he, as all the rest of us had done, asked Tapia where the Spaniard was? When Geronimo heard this, he cowered down after the Indian fashion, and said: "I am he." Upon this Cortes gave him a shirt, a coat, a pair of trousers, a cap and shoes, from our stores. He then desired him to give us an account of the adventures of his life, and explain how he had got into this country.

He said, though still in broken Spanish, that his name was Geronimo d'Aguilar, and was a native of Ecija. About eight years ago he had been shipwrecked with fifteen men and two women, on a voyage between Darien and the island of St. Domingo, which they had undertaken on account of a lawsuit between a certain Enciso and a certain Valdivia. They had 10,000 pesos on board, and papers relating to the lawsuit. The ship struck against a rock, and they had not been able to get her off again. The whole of the crew then got into the boat, in the hopes of making the island of Cuba or Jamaica, but were driven on shore by the strong currents, where the Calachionies had taken them prisoners and distributed them among themselves. The most of his unfortunate companions had been sacrificed to their gods, and some had died of grief, of which also both the women pined away; being soon worn out by the hard labour of grinding, to which they had been forced by the Indians. He himself had also been doomed as a sacrifice to their idols, but made his escape during the night, and fled to the cazique, with whom he had last been staying, whose name, however, I cannot now remember. Of all his companions, he himself and a certain Gonzalo Guerrero, were only living. He had tried his best to induce him to leave, but in vain.

When Cortes heard this, he returned thanks to the Almighty, and told the Spaniard that he hoped, with the blessing of God, he would never find reason to regret the determination he had taken. He then put some questions to him about the country and its inhabitants. Aguilar said he was not able to give him much information about either, as he had been treated like a slave, having been merely employed to fetch wood, water, and to work in the maise-plantations. It was only upon one occasion he was sent on some business to a distance of about twelve miles from his village, but, owing to a heavy burden he had to carry and the weak state of his body, he had not even been able to reach that distance; for the rest, he had been given to understand that the country was very thickly populated. With regard to his companion Alonso Guerrero, he had married an Indian woman, and was become the father of three children. He had in every respect adopted the Indian customs,--his cheeks were tattooed, his ears pierced, and his lips turned down. He was a sailor by profession, native of Palos, and was considered by the Indians to be a man of great strength. It might have been about a year ago that a squadron, consisting of three vessels, had touched at the promontory of Cotoche, (probably the expedition under Hernandez de Cordoba,) when Guerrero advised the inhabitants to commence hostilities, who, in common with the caziques of a large district, commanded on that occasion. Cortes here remarked, that he very much wished to get the man into his power, for his staying among the Indians would do us no good.

The caziques of Cozumel showed Aguilar every possible friendship when they heard him speak in their language. Aguilar advised them always to do honour to the image of the holy Virgin and cross we had set up, as they would prove a blessing to them. It was also upon his advice they begged of Cortes to give them letters of recommendation to other Spaniards who might run into this harbour, in order that they might not be molested by them. Cortes readily complied with this request; and, after mutual protestations of friendship had passed between us, we weighed anchor, and set sail for the river Grijalva.

For the rest, I can assure the reader that what I have related of Aguilar is all the man told us himself, although the historian Gomara gives a very different account; which, however, should not excite our surprise, as he merely thereby intended to divert his readers with some strange story.

CHAPTER XXX.

_How we re-embark and sail for the river Grijalva, and what happened to us on our voyage there._

On the 4th of March, 1519, the day after we had had the good fortune to obtain such an excellent and trustworthy interpreter, Cortes gave orders for re-embarking. This took place in the same way as before, and similar instructions were issued with regard to the night signals with the lanterns. For some time we had the most favorable weather imaginable; when, towards evening, it suddenly changed, the wind blowing most violently against us, so that all our vessels were in danger of being cast on shore. Towards midnight, it pleased God the wind should abate, and, when daylight broke forth, our vessels again joined each other; one only was missing, that namely of Velasquez de Leon, which occasioned a good deal of anxiety, for we concluded she had been wrecked off some of the shallows. We did not discover her loss until midday; and as night was now fast approaching, and the vessel still nowhere to be seen, Cortes told our principal pilot Alaminos that we ought not to continue our course without gaining some certain knowledge as to her fate: signals were, therefore, made for all the vessels to drop anchor, to give the missing ship time to come up with us, on the supposition it had been driven into some harbour and there retained by contrary winds. Alaminos, still finding she did not make her appearance, said to Cortes, "You may be sure, sir, that she has run into some harbour or inlet along this coast, where she is now wind-bound; for her pilot Manquillo has twice before visited these seas, once with Hernandez de Cordoba, the second time under Grijalva, and is acquainted with this bay." Upon this it was resolved that the whole squadron should return to the bay which Alaminos was speaking of, in search of the vessel: to our great joy we indeed found her riding there at anchor, and we all remained here for one day. During this time, Alaminos, with one of our principal officers named Francisco de Lugo, went on shore in two boats; they found the country inhabited, and saw several regular maise-plantations: they likewise met with places where salt was manufactured, and saw four cues, or large temples, with numerous figures, mostly in the shape of women, and of considerable height; whence this promontory was called _la punta de las Mujeres_, (the promontory of women.) Aguilar observed that this was the spot where he was once a slave among the Indians; here his master had found him sunk beneath the weight of the heavy burden which he had forced him to carry: neither was the township far off where Alonso Guerrero had settled himself. Every inhabitant possessed gold, but in small quantities; he would show us the way, if we were desirous of going there. To which Cortes said, laughingly, he had not gone out for the sake of such trifles, but to serve God and his king. In the meantime he despatched Escobar, one of our commanders, with a fast-sailing vessel of small tonnage, to the Terminos bay, there to examine the country and search for a secure spot to found a colony; also to inform us whether game really was so abundant there as had been represented. All this was done according to the advice of our chief pilot, to save the trouble of running in there with the whole fleet on our passing by. Escobar, when he had explored the harbour, was merely to leave some sign on both sides of the entrance, either by felling trees or by leaving something in writing, from which we should know that he had entered safely, or that, having fully explored the harbour, he was tacking about until we fell in with him again.

With these instructions Escobar set sail, and ran into Terminos bay, where he executed the commands he had received: he likewise found the greyhound which had run away from us when we landed there with Grijalva. It was quite glossy and fat, and immediately knew the ship again as it entered the bay, wagging its tail, and jumping up against our men as it followed them on board. Escobar now quitted the bay, and intended laying-to until the rest of our vessels should come up, but was driven a considerable way out to sea by a strong south wind. We must now return to our squadron, which we left at the punta de las Mujeres. Having left this spot next morning with a stiffish breeze blowing from the land, we arrived at the entrance of Terminos bay, without, however, seeing anything of Escobar. Cortes ordered a boat to be lowered, armed with ten crossbow-men, to run into the bay, or search whether Escobar had left any sign or written paper as desired. Some trees were found cut down, and near them a small paper, on which was written, that both the bay and country round about were charming, that the spot abounded with game, and that they had found the dog. Our principal pilot here remarked to Cortes that it would be most advisable for us to continue our course, for the south wind had no doubt obliged Escobar to hold out to sea, though he could not be far off, as he must have sailed in a slanting direction. Cortes, however, still apprehended some accident must have befallen him: nevertheless, he ordered the sails to be set, and we very soon came up with Escobar, who related all he had seen, and explained what had prevented him from waiting for us. In this way we arrived in the waters off Potonchan, and Cortes ordered Alaminos to run into the inlet where Cordoba and Grijalva had met with such disastrous treatment. Alaminos, however, declared that it was a dangerous station for the vessels, as the waters were very shallow off the coast, and we should be forced to anchor six miles from the land. Cortes's intention was to punish the inhabitants severely, and many of us who had been present at those engagements begged of him to run in that we might revenge ourselves upon them. But Alaminos and the other pilots said we should lose more than three days by running in, and, if the weather became unfavorable, we might be detained there above eight: the wind, moreover, being now most favorable to reach the Tabasco river, which was our chief object, and where we might arrive in a couple of days. We accordingly put out to sea, and reached the Tabasco after three days' sail.

CHAPTER XXXI.

_How we arrive in the river Grijalva, called in the Indian language the Tabasco; the battle we fought there; and what further took place._

On the 12th of March, 1519, we arrived with our whole squadron in the mouth of the Tabasco. As we had experienced, under the expedition with Grijalva, that no vessels of any considerable burden could enter the mouth of the river, our larger ones anchored out at sea, while the smaller ones only, followed by our boats, carrying the whole of our men, sailed up the river, in order to disembark at the promontory where the palm trees grew, about four miles from the town of Tabasco; the same spot where Grijalva had landed.

We perceived numbers of Indians, all under arms, lurking between the almond trees along the shore. This circumstance greatly astonished those among us who were here before with Grijalva. Besides this, more than 12,000 men, all armed after their fashion, had assembled at the town itself in order to attack us. This town was very powerful at that time, many others being subject to it. These warlike preparations were occasioned by the following circumstances: The inhabitants of Potonchan, of Lazaro, and other neighbouring tribes, had accused the Tabascans of cowardice, for having given Grijalva their gold trinkets mentioned above: they reproached them the more because their population was more extensive, and their warriors much more numerous than those of the tribes just mentioned, who had courageously attacked and killed fifty-six of our men. It was owing to these reproaches that they now likewise took up arms against us. Cortes observing these preparations, desired our interpreter Aguilar, who perfectly understood the language of Tabasco, to ask some Indians who were passing by in a large canoe, what the meaning was of all this noise? we had not come to do them any harm; on the contrary, we were disposed to treat them as our brethren, and share our victuals with them: they should be careful how they went to war with us, for they would certainly have to repent it. This and many other things were told them by Aguilar, to incline them to peace, but the more he said the more insolent they became, threatening to destroy us all should we dare to set foot on their territory or in their town, which they had fortified by means of heavy trees felled for the purpose, and a strong stone wall. Aguilar, however, made another attempt to bring about peace, and obtain us permission to take in fresh water, barter for provisions, and incline them to listen to the disclosures we came to make in the name of our God. They, however, persisted we should not pass beyond the palm trees; if we did, they would kill us all.

When Cortes found that all attempts to make peace were fruitless, he ordered the small vessels and boats to prepare for battle. Three pieces of cannon were put on board of each of the former, the crossbow-men and musketeers being equally distributed among them. We remembered, during the expedition under Grijalva, that a narrow road ran from the palm trees along some quagmires and wells to the town. Cortes here posted three sentinels to watch whether the Indians went home at night, if so, to send him immediate notice. Information was soon brought in the affirmative. The rest of the day was now spent in reconnoitring the territory, and fitting out the vessels. The next morning early, after we had attended mass and well armed ourselves, Cortes despatched Alonso de Avila with one hundred men, among whom were ten crossbow-men, along the narrow road above mentioned, leading to the town, which, as soon as he should hear the firing of cannon, he was to attack on one side, while we did the same from the other; Cortes himself, with the rest of our officers and men, moving up the river in the small vessels and our boats.

When the Indians, who were standing under arms along the coast between the palm trees, saw us approaching, they leaped into their canoes and stationed themselves where we were going to land, in order to prevent us. The shore was covered with warriors armed with all kinds of weapons, while a terrible noise assailed our ears from their twisted shells, drums, and fifes. Cortes ordered us to halt for a few moments and not to fire as yet. As he was very particular in doing everything in proper form, he desired the royal secretary, who was with us, and Diego de Godoy, once more to request the inhabitants to allow us to come peaceably on shore to take in fresh water. Aguilar acted as interpreter. They were also to give them some notion, if possible, of the Lord God, and his imperial majesty, and explain to them, that if they attacked us, and we in defending ourselves killed any of their men, the guilt would be upon their heads, not ours. The Indians, however, continued their defiances, threatening to destroy us all if we came on shore. Indeed the battle now soon began, for immediately after they commenced pouring forth showers of arrows, the drummers to give signals for the other troops to fall upon us in a body, and in an instant they rushed bravely forward. They completely surrounded us with their canoes, and shot off their arrows so quickly, that many of us were soon wounded, we being moreover compelled for a length of time to fight up to our waists, and sometimes even higher in the water. The place where we were attempting to land was disadvantageous in another way, for the ground was composed of mud and clay, in which it was impossible to move very fast, particularly as at the same time we had to defend ourselves against the enemy's arrows and the thrusts of their lances. Cortes himself, while fighting in this way was obliged to leave one of his shoes sticking in the mud in order to get on firm land. We had all, indeed, hard work to do before we could gain the dry ground; but having once obtained this we fell so furiously upon our enemies, under the cry of our patron St. Jacob! that they began to retreat, but immediately again drew themselves up in order of battle behind the wood and the trees they had cut down. Here they made an obstinate resistance, until we likewise drove them from this place, having forced some passages leading to the town, which latter we entered fighting our way in. The battle now continued in the streets, until our progress was impeded by another barricade of fallen trees, defended by a fresh set of men. Here the conflict was continued with renewed obstinacy, the Indians incessantly crying out: _ala lala, al calachoni, al calachoni!_ meaning in their language, kill the commander-in-chief. While we were thus busily engaged, Alonso de Avila appeared with his men, who had marched along from the palm-trees. He had been detained by the morass and pools of water which lay in his road. This delay now proved an advantage to us, as we had also lost time in striving to make peace with the enemy by means of our two parliamentaries, and the difficulty we had had to fight our way on shore. With our united troops we now beat the Indians from this strong post; though, like brave warriors, they set vigorously upon us with their arrows and lances, which latter had been hardened in the fire; nor did they turn their backs, until we had forced our way into a large courtyard, adjoining which were several spacious apartments and halls. Here also stood three temples, but the Indians had carried off all the religious implements with them.

The enemy being now put to flight, Cortes ordered his men to halt, that we might take formal possession of the country, in the name of his majesty. He performed this ceremony by drawing his sword, and giving therewith two deep cuts into a large ceiba tree, which stood in the courtyard, crying out at the same time, that he would defend the possession of this country with sword and shield against any one who should dare dispute it. The whole of us who were present gave our assent to these proceedings, swearing we would support him in its defence; all of which was formally registered by the royal treasurer. The adherents of Diego Velasquez alone were not pleased because the name of the latter had not at all been mentioned therein.

In this engagement fourteen of our men were wounded, I myself was of the number, being wounded by an arrow in the thigh, though not severely. The Indians lost, altogether, eighteen men. We passed the night in this spot, having taken the precaution to post sentinels in different places, so necessary did we deem it to be upon our guard here.

CHAPTER XXXII.

_How Cortes despatches two of our principal officers, each with one hundred men, to explore the interior of the country, and what further took place._

The next day Cortes despatched Alvarado with one hundred men, among whom were fifteen crossbow-men and musketeers, to march six miles inland, in order to explore the country. He was to take along with him Melchorejo, of the punta de Cotoche, but he could nowhere be found. He had most probably gone off in a canoe the night before with the inhabitants of Tabasco. We conjectured this at least, because the day previous he had left all his Spanish clothes behind him hanging in a tree. Cortes was greatly vexed at his escape, as he might betray many things to the inhabitants that would do us no good.

I will, however, leave the fugitive to his own fate, and continue my narrative.

Cortes also sent out a second of our chief officers, named Francisco de Lugo, with another hundred men; among whom were twelve crossbow-men and musketeers, with similar instructions as to Alvarado, but to take another direction and return to head-quarters towards evening.

Francisco de Lugo may have reached the distance of about four miles when he fell in with vast numbers of Indians, commanded by their several chiefs. They were armed as usual, immediately advanced towards our men, whom they surrounded on all sides, and began pouring forth a shower of arrows. The Indians, indeed, were in too great numbers for our small detachment. They first threw in their lances and the stones from their slings, then fell upon our men with sharp swords, which they wield with both hands. Though De Lugo and his men defended themselves bravely, they were unable to drive back such overwhelming numbers. They therefore began to retreat in the best order possible to our head-quarters, having first despatched an Indian of Cuba, who was a swift runner, to inform Cortes of their situation and beg of him to send a reinforcement. During all this time De Lugo and his troops, particularly the crossbow-men and musketeers bravely withstood the whole body of the enemy.

In the meantime Alvarado had marched about four miles in the direction he was commanded to take, when he came to an inlet which he was unable to pass. Here the good Lord fortunately gave him the thought to return in a direction which led to the spot where De Lugo was fighting with the Indians. The firing of the muskets, the noise of the drums and trumpets, with the yelling of the Indians, soon convinced Alvarado that the latter had again commenced hostilities; he therefore marched in a direct line to the place whence the noise came, and found De Lugo in the heat of an engagement with the enemy, of whom five were already killed. Both detachments now fell with their united forces upon the Indians, who were speedily dispersed, yet they were unable to put them totally to the rout; on the contrary, they would certainly have followed us to our head-quarters, if Cortes had not come up with the rest of our troops, when, after some sharp firing and heavy blows, they were obliged to fall back. Cortes, on receiving information of De Lugo's dangerous position, had immediately repaired to his assistance with the whole of his men, and came up with the two commanders at about two miles from our head-quarters. In this engagement we did not escape without some loss, for two of De Lugo's detachment were killed and eight wounded; Alvarado had only three of the latter. Having arrived at our head-quarters, we dressed the wounds of our men, buried the dead, and posted sentinels in proper places, that we might not be fallen upon unawares. In this battle, the enemy lost fifteen men killed, and three were taken prisoners, of whom one appeared to be a chief. Our interpreter Aguilar asked them what madness could have induced them to attack us? One of the Indians returned for answer, that Melchorejo, whom we brought with us from the punta de Cotoche, had come over to their camp the night previous, advising them to fall upon us, and continue to do so night and day, for, in the end, they would, no doubt, be able to conquer our small numbers: so that Cortes's apprehensions with respect to the flight of this fellow were verified.

We now despatched one of our prisoners to the caziques with green glass beads, and offers of peace: this personage, however, never returned to bring any answer. We also learnt from our two other prisoners, who were closely questioned by Aguilar, that the day previous all the caziques of the neighbouring districts had been under arms to fall upon us, and that the next day they would return to storm our head-quarters. All this was likewise done by the advice of Melchorejo.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

_Cortes issues orders that we should hold ourselves in readiness to march against the Indians on the following day; he also commands the horses to be brought on shore. How the battle terminates we fought with them._

Cortes being now certain that the Indians would renew the attack, immediately ordered all our horses to be brought on shore, and every one, our wounded not excepted, to hold himself in readiness. When our horses, which had been such a length of time at sea, now stepped on firm ground again, they appeared very awkward and full of fear; however, the day following, they had regained their usual liveliness and agility. There were also six or seven of our men, all young and otherwise strong fellows, who were attacked with such severe pains in the groins that they could not walk without support. No one could guess the cause of this; it was only said they had lived too freely at Cuba, and that the pain was occasioned by the heat, and the weight of their arms; Cortes, therefore, ordered them again on board. The cavaliers, who were to fight on horseback, were commanded to hang bells around their horses' necks, and Cortes impressed on their minds not to rush at the Indians with their lances before they had been dispersed, and then even to aim at their faces only. The following men were selected to fight on horseback: Christobal de Oli, Pedro de Alvarado, Alonso Hernandez Puertocarrero, and Juan de Escalante. Francisco de Montejo and Alonso de Avila were to use the horses of Ortiz the musician, and of a certain Bartolome Garcia, though neither were worth much. Further, there were Velasquez de Leon, Francisco de Morla, and one of the Lares, (for there was another excellent horseman among us of that name,) and Gonzalo Dominiguez, both superior horsemen; lastly, there were Moron de Bayamo and Pedro de Truxillo. Then comes Cortes, who placed himself at their head. Mesa had charge of the artillery, while the rest of our men were commanded by Diego de Ordas, who, though he knew nothing of the cavalry service, excelled as a crossbow-man and musketeer. The morning following, which was the day of annunciation to the holy Virgin, we attended mass very early, and arranged ourselves under our ensign Antonio de Villareal. We now put ourselves in motion, and marched towards some extensive bean fields, where Francisco de Lugo and Pedro de Alvarado had fought the previous battle. There was a village in this neighbourhood called Cintla, belonging to the Tabascans, which lay about four miles from our head-quarters. Cortes, on account of the bogs which our horse could not pass, was obliged to take a circuitous route. Our other troops, however, under Diego de Ordas, came up with the Indians near Cintla, where they had arranged themselves on the plain: if they felt equal ardour for the combat as we did, they could now satisfy themselves,--for this was a battle in every sense of the word which we here fought, fearful in the extreme, as will be seen.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

_How we are attacked by all the caziques of Tabasco, and the whole armed force of this province, and what further took place._

The Indians were already moving forward in search of us, when we came up with them: every one had a large bunch of feathers on his head, a cotton cuirass on, and their faces were daubed with white, black, and red colours. Besides having drums and trumpets, they were armed with huge bows and arrows, shields, lances, and large broadswords; they had also bodies of slingers, and others armed with poles hardened in the fire. The Indians were in such vast numbers that they completely filled the bean fields, and immediately fell upon us on all sides at once, like furious dogs. Their attack was so impetuous, so numerous were the arrows, stones, and lances with which they greeted us, that above seventy of our men were wounded in no time, and one named Saldana, was struck by an arrow in the ear, and instantly dropt down dead. With like fury they rushed at us with their pikes, at the same time pouring forth showers of arrows, and continually wounding our men. However, we fully repaid them with our crossbows, muskets, and heavy cannon, cutting right and left among them with our swords. By this means we forced them to give ground a little, but only that they might shower forth their arrows at a greater distance, where they thought themselves more secure from our arms. Even then our artilleryman Mesa made terrible havoc among them, standing as they did crowded together and within reach of the cannon, so that he could fire among them to his heart's content. Notwithstanding the destruction we made among their ranks, we could not put them to flight. I now remarked to our commander Diego de Ordas that we should rush forward upon the Indians and close with them. My motive for advising this was, because I saw that they merely retreated from fear of our swords, but still continued to annoy us at a distance with arrows, lances, and large stones. De Ordas, however, considered this not expedient, as the enemy's numbers were so vast that every single man of us would have had to encounter 300 of the enemy at once.

My advice, however, was at length followed up, and we fell so heavily upon them that they retreated as far as the wells. All this time Cortes still remained behind with the cavalry, though we so greatly longed for that reinforcement: we began to fear that some misfortune might also have befallen him. I shall never forget the piping and yelling which the Indians set up at every shot we fired, and how they sought to hide their loss from us by tossing up earth and straw into the air, making a terrible noise with their drums and trumpets, and their war-whoop _Ala lala_.[11]

In one of these moments Cortes came galloping up with the horse. Our enemies being still busily engaged with us, did not immediately observe this, so that our cavalry easily dashed in among them from behind. The nature of the ground was quite favorable for its manoeuvres; and as it consisted of strong active fellows, most of the horses being, moreover, powerful and fiery animals, our small body of cavalry in every way made the best use of their weapons. When we, who were already hotly engaged with the enemy, espied our cavalry, we fought with renewed energy, while the latter, by attacking them in the rear at the same time, now obliged them to face about. The Indians, who had never seen any horses before, could not think otherwise than that horse and rider were one body. Quite astounded at this to them so novel a sight, they quitted the plain and retreated to a rising ground.

Cortes now related why he had not come sooner. First, he had been delayed by the morass; then again he was obliged to fight his way through other bodies of the enemy whom he had met, in which five men and eight horses were wounded.

Having somewhat rested from our fatigue under the trees which stood on the field of battle, we praised God and the holy Virgin, and thanked them with uplifted hands for the complete victory they had granted us: and, as it was the feast of the annunciation to the holy Virgin, the town which was subsequently built here in memory of this great victory, was named Santa Maria de la Vitoria. This was the first battle we fought under Cortes in New Spain.

After this pious solemnity we bandaged the wounds of our men with linen, which was all we had for that purpose. Those of our horses we dressed with melted fat, which we cut from the dead bodies of the Indians. We likewise took this opportunity of counting the number of killed left by the enemy on the field of battle. We found above eight hundred, numbers still showing signs of life. Our swords had done the most carnage among them, though many were killed by our cannon. Wherever the cavalry made its appearance the enemy had most work to do. The fighting lasted about an hour; and our enemies maintained their ground so well, that they did not quit the field of battle until our horse broke in among them. There were two caziques among the five prisoners we made.

As we were quite fatigued and hungry we returned to our quarters, buried the two soldiers, one of whom had been shot in the neck and the other in the ear, posted strong watches, then ate our supper and retired to rest.

Francisco Lopez de Gomara, in his account of this battle, says, that previous to the arrival of Cortes with the cavalry, the holy apostle St. Jacob or St. Peter in person had galloped up on a gray-coloured horse to our assistance. I can only say, that for the exertion of our arms and this victory, we stand indebted to our Lord Jesus Christ; and that in this battle every individual man among us was set upon by such numbers of the enemy, that if each of them had merely thrown a handful of earth upon us we should have been buried beneath it. Certain it is, therefore, that God showed his mercy to us here, and it may, indeed, have been one of the two glorious apostles St. Jacob or St. Peter who thus came to our assistance. Perhaps on account of my sins I was not considered worthy of the good fortune to behold them; for I could only see Francisco de Morla on his brown horse galloping up with Cortes, and even at this very moment, while I am writing this, I can fancy I see all passing before my eyes just as I have related it; although I, an unworthy sinner, was not considered worthy of beholding one of the glorious apostles face to face: yet again I never heard any of the four hundred soldiers, nor ever Cortes himself, nor any of the many cavaliers, mention this wonder, or confirm its truth. We should certainly have built a church, and have called the town _Santiago_, or _San Pedro de la Vitoria_, and not _Santa Maria de la Vitoria_. If, therefore, what Gomara relates is true, then we must indeed have been bad Christians not to have paid greater respect to the assistance which God sent us in the person of his holy apostles, and for having omitted to thank him daily for it in his own church. Nevertheless, I should feel delighted if this historian has spoken the truth, although I must confess that I never heard this wonder mentioned before reading his book, nor have I ever heard any of the conquistadores speak of it who were present at the battle.

[11] Ala lala. What a striking similarity there is between this cry and the Turkish Alla il Allah, of which, as Byron says, in one of his notes to the 'Bride of Abydos,' the Turks are very profuse in battle! (p. 75.)

CHAPTER XXXV.

_How Cortes assembles all the caziques of this province, and what further happened._

I have above related that in this battle we took five prisoners, among whom were two chiefs. Aguilar, who understood their language, often discoursed with them, and from some remarks which they made, concluded that we might employ them as delegates to their countrymen. Having communicated his thoughts to Cortes, he proposed they should be set at liberty, and despatched with a message to the caziques and other inhabitants of the district. To this Cortes assented, ordering both the prisoners to be presented with blue glass beads, while Aguilar told them many things which he knew would please the inhabitants and prove advantageous to us. He assured them, that after this battle, which had been entirely of their own seeking, they had nothing further to fear from us, and commissioned them now to assemble all the caziques of the district, for we were very desirous of communicating with them. Everything Aguilar said was done with the view of inclining the Indians to make peace with us. The prisoners most willingly complied with our wishes, which they communicated to the caziques and principal personages among the inhabitants, telling them how we longed to become their friends. This message was in so far successful, that they resolved to send us fifteen of their Indian slaves with fowls, baked fish, and maise-bread. These slaves had their faces blackened, and were completely covered with ragged cloaks. When these personages appeared in the presence of Cortes he received them very friendly: Aguilar, on the contrary, asked them in an angry tone, why they had come with such painted faces--appearing rather to seek war than peace? If they were desirous of making peace, continued he, persons of rank should be deputed to us, not slaves. This they were to communicate to those who had sent them. We, however, treated these black faces very kindly, presenting them moreover with blue beads in token of peace, and in order to gain the good wishes of the inhabitants. And sure enough the very next day above thirty of the principal Indians, well dressed, appeared in our quarters, bringing with them, fowls, fruits, and maise-bread, and begged permission of Cortes to burn and bury the bodies of their fallen countrymen, in order that they might not create a pestilence in the air, or become a prey to the lions and tigers. This being granted, they brought along with them a great number of Indians to burn the bodies, and bury them according to their custom. Cortes himself went to watch their proceedings, when they assured him they had lost above 800 killed, without counting the wounded; adding, that at present they durst not enter into any treaty with us, as the day following all the chiefs and principal personages of the district would assemble to take our offers of peace into consideration.

Cortes, who profited by every circumstance, said smilingly to us: "It appears to me, gentlemen, that the Indians stand in great awe of our horses, and imagine that these and our guns alone fight the battle. A thought has just struck me which will further confirm them in this notion. You must bring here the mare of Juan Sedeno which foaled on board a short time ago, and fasten her here where I am now standing. Then bring also the stallion of the musician Ortiz, which is a very fiery animal, and will quickly scent the mare. As soon as you find this to be the case, lead both the horses to separate places, that the caziques may neither see the horses, nor hear them neigh, until I shall be in conversation with them." All this was accordingly done. He likewise ordered our largest cannon to be heavily loaded with gunpowder and ball.

A little after midday, forty caziques arrived in great state and richly clothed according to their fashion. They saluted Cortes and all of us, perfumed us with their incense, begged forgiveness for what had happened, and promised to be friendly for the future. Cortes answered by our interpreter Aguilar, reminding them, with a very serious look, how often he had wished them to make peace with us, and how, owing to their obstinacy, we were almost upon the point of destroying them with the whole of the inhabitants of this district. We were vassals of the mighty king and lord the emperor Charles, he further added, who had sent us to this country with orders to favour and assist those who should submit to his imperial sway, which we would assuredly do if they were amicably inclined towards us. If, however, they were not so, the _tepustles_ (so the Indians called our cannon) would be fired off, which were already embittered against them in some measure on account of the attack they had made upon us. Cortes, at this moment, gave the signal for firing our largest cannon. The report was like a sudden clap of thunder, the ball whizzing along the hills, which could be distinctly heard as it was midday and not a breath of air stirring. The caziques who had never seen this before appeared in dismay, and believed all Cortes had said; who, however, desired Aguilar to comfort and assure them he had given orders that no harm should be done them. At this moment the stallion was brought and fastened at a short distance from the spot where Cortes and the caziques were holding the conference: as the mare was likewise near at hand, the stallion immediately began to neigh, stamp the ground and rear itself, while its eyes were continually fixed on the Indians who stood in front of Cortes's tent, as the mare was placed behind it. The caziques, however, thought the animal was making all these movements against them and appeared greatly agitated. When Cortes found what effect this scene had made upon the Indians, he rose from his seat, and walking to the horse, took hold of the bridle, and desired his servant to lead it away. Aguilar, however, was to make the Indians believe that he had ordered the horse not to do them any injury.

While all this was going on above thirty Indian porters (whom they term tamemes) arrived with fowls, baked fish, and various fruits: these porters, on account of their loads, had perhaps not been able to follow the caziques fast enough. A lively discourse was now kept up between Cortes and the caziques, who in the end left us perfectly contented, with the assurance that the following day they would return with a present.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

_How all the caziques and calachonis of the river Grijalva arrive with presents, and what happened after this._

On the following morning, it was one of the last days in March, 1519, a number of caziques, with the principal personages of the Tabasco district and surrounding neighbourhood arrived. They paid us profound reverence, and brought a present, consisting in four diadems, some lizards, ear-rings, four ducks, figures like dogs, others with Indian faces, two sandals with golden soles, and various other trifling trinkets of gold,[12] whose value I have forgotten. There were also cloaks as the Indians wear them, which are very commodious. The present altogether was of little value, (most likely the province altogether possessed few riches,) and was certainly not to be compared to the twenty females with which they presented us, among whom one was a very fine woman, who subsequently became a convert to Christianity, and was named Dona Marina. Cortes was vastly pleased with this present, and held, by means of Aguilar, a long discourse with the caziques, telling them among other things, that their present was very acceptable; but he had something further to beg, namely, that they should again return to their dwellings with their wives and children. He should not consider the peace really concluded unless within the space of two days all the inhabitants had returned to the village. The caziques upon this issued the necessary orders, and in a couple of days all the families had returned. They showed the same readiness to comply with Cortes's wishes when he desired them to do away with their idols and human sacrifices. He likewise, as well as he could, gave them some idea of our holy Christian faith, and how we only adored one God. We also showed them a very pious figure, representing the mother of God holding her blessed Son in her arms, and explained to them how we paid reverence to this figure, and by it to the mother of God who was in heaven. Hereupon the caziques answered, that they were much pleased with this great _Tecleciguata_, and that they should much like to keep it in their village. In their language, _Tecleciguata_ means a woman of distinction. Cortes promised them they should have it, and for this purpose ordered a pretty altar to be built. In the same way our carpenters, Alonso Yanez and Alvaro Lopez, were desired to construct a very high cross.

Cortes also further asked the caziques, why they had thus for the third time commenced war with us, though we had always sought to be at peace with them? They answered, that they were sorry enough for it, and we had forgiven them; for the rest it was at the instigation of their brother, the cazique of Champoton, who had previously accused them of cowardice for not having attacked us when we arrived off the coast with four ships under another commander, meaning most probably Grijalva. The same advice was also given them by our Indian interpreter, who had run away from us in the night-time, telling them not to leave us any peace day or night, as we were but few in number. Cortes desired that he should be delivered up to us, but they declared they did not know what had become of him, as on the unfortunate termination of the battle he had immediately took to flight. This, however, was an untruth, as we were well aware how dearly the poor devil had paid for his advice, as shortly after the battle he was seized and sacrificed to their gods.

On being questioned as to where they got their gold and the trinkets, they answered from the country towards the setting of the sun, and pronounced the words _Culhua_ and _Mexico_. As at that time we did not comprehend the meaning of these words, we paid little attention to them. We, however, questioned our other interpreter Francisco, who remained with us from our former expedition under Grijalva, but he knew very little of the Tabasco language, being only acquainted with the Culhuan, that is to say the Mexican. He told Cortes, partly by signs, that _Culhua_ lay at a great distance before us, at the same time continually mentioning the word Mexico, Mexico. We were then still ignorant what he wished to convey to us.

The day following the cross and altar were erected, and the figure of the holy Virgin being placed thereon: we all fell down upon our knees before it, while father Bartolome de Olmedo read mass. The caziques and chief Indians were present. On this occasion also the village of Tabasco was in all solemnity named Santa Maria de la Vitoria; and father Olmedo, with the assistance of Aguilar, said many excellent things to the twenty females who were presented to us, concerning our holy religion; that they should abandon their belief in idols, and no longer bring them sacrifices, for they were not gods but evil spirits; they had up to this moment lived in gross error, and should now adore Christ, our Lord. After this address the women were baptized, and she of whom I have already spoken was named Dona Marina. This was a lady of distinction, the daughter of a powerful cazique and a princess who had subjects of her own, which, indeed, you might see from her appearance. The circumstances which occasioned her being brought into our power I will relate hereafter. The names of the other Indian females who were baptized I cannot now bring to mind; but these were the first who were converted to Christianity in New Spain, and were distributed among Cortes's chief officers. Dona Marina, who was the prettiest, the most active and lively of the number, was given to Puertocarrero, who was a stout cavalier and cousin to the earl of Medellin. When he subsequently left for Spain, Cortes took Marina unto himself, and had a son by her, who was named Don Martin Cortes, and became Comptoir of Santiago.

We remained five days in this spot, partly to cure our wounds, partly for the sake of those who suffered from pain in the groins, but who soon recovered here. Cortes employed these days in useful conversation with the caziques, and talked to them about the emperor, our master, of his numerous lordly vassals, and the advantage they would gain by having subjected themselves to him; as, for the future, in all their difficulties they would only have to apply to him, and wherever he might be he would come to their assistance.

The caziques thanked him for this offer; they solemnly declared themselves to be vassals of our great emperor, and these were the first among the inhabitants of New Spain who subjected themselves to his majesty. As the day following was Palm Sunday, Cortes desired them to come early in the morning to pray before the holy mother of God and the cross. He also sent for six Indian carpenters to assist ours in making a cross on a high ceiba tree,[13] near the village of Cintla, where the Lord had granted us the great victory. This cross was made in a manner so as to be very durable, for the bark of the tree, which always grows to again, was so cut as to form that figure. Lastly, Cortes desired the Indians to bring out all their canoes in order to assist us in re-embarking, for we were desirous of setting sail on that holy day, as, according to our pilots, our present station was not secure from the north winds.

Early the next morning the caziques and the principal personages, all with their wives and children, made their appearance in the courtyard, where we had erected the altar and cross, and collected the palm branches for our procession. Upon this Cortes, with the officers and all our men, rose and made a solemn procession. Both our priests, the father Bartolome de Olmedo, belonging to the order of the charitable brethren, and Juan Dias, were dressed in their full canonicals, and read mass. We prayed before the cross and kissed it, the caziques and Indians all the while looking on. After the ceremony was finished the principal Indians brought ten fowls, baked fish, and all kinds of greens, which we enjoyed very much. We now took our leave, and Cortes repeatedly recommended them to take care of the image of the holy Virgin and the cross, and to hold the chapel in due reverence, in order that salvation and blessings might come upon them.

We all embarked in the evening, and on Monday morning we set sail with a good wind. We always kept close to the shore, and steered in the direction of San Juan de Ulua. As we coasted along, the weather being most favorable, we who had been here with Grijalva, and were well acquainted with these parts, pointed out to Cortes La Rambla, which the Indians call Aguajaluco; further on, the coast of Tonala or San Antonio, the great river Guacasualco, the elevated snow mountains (sierras nevadas), and those of San Martin. We also showed him the split rock forming two points, which stretch out into the sea, and somewhat resemble the figure of a chair. We then showed him the river Alvarado; further on the river Banderas, where we made the 16000 pesos; the Isla Blanca and Isla Verde, also the Isla di Sacrificios, where, under Grijalva, we found the idols with the Indians who had been recently sacrificed.

In this way we pretty quickly arrived at San Juan de Ulua, which we reached on Holy Thursday about noon. I shall never forget how Alonso Hernandez Puertocarrero just about this time remarked to Cortes: "Methinks we are now certainly arrived in that country, of which those gentlemen who have been here twice before, sung:[14]

'Cata Francia, montesinos! Cata Paris, la Ciudad, Cata las aguas de Duero, Do van a dar en la mar!'

"I tell you, only look at this rich country, and keep strict command over us." Cortes, who well knew what he meant, said in return: "If God will only grant us that good fortune in arms which he gave to Roland, the Paladin, then with your assistance and that of the other gentlemen cavaliers, we shall succeed in everything else." This happened just at the moment when Cortes was entering the river Alvarado, which circumstance is also mentioned by Gomara.

[12] This passage is very important, as it shows to what degree of civilization the inhabitants of this district had arrived, and that they were at least skilful in the working of gold. The Spanish words are: "Quatro diademas, unas lagartijas, y dos como perillos, y orejeras, y cinco anades, y dos figuras de caras de Indios, y dos Suelas de Oro, como de sus Cotoras."

The Caras de Indios (faces of Indians) were most probably shaped like masks, for similar ones, made of clay, are found to this day in the vale of Mexico. "Suelas de Oro, como de sus Cotoras," we have ventured to translate "Sandals with golden soles," particularly as Bernal Diaz, in a subsequent chapter, expressly remarks that Motecusuma wore a kind of half-boot with soles of gold. (p. 80.)

[13] The bombax ceiba of Linnaeus, and one of the tallest trees growing in America. The fruit produces a very fine cotton, resembling silk, used for stuffing bolsters and chair seats. (p. 82.)

[14] Cata Francia, Montesinos, &c. This is the first strophe of an old Spanish romance, in which Montesinos the father desires his son to revenge him of his mortal enemy Tomillas:

"Montesinos cast a glance On your lands, the soil of France; See how the Duro's sportive motion Carries its waters to the ocean!" (p. 83.)

CHAPTER XXXVII.

_How Dona Marina herself was a caziquess, and the daughter of distinguished personages; also a ruler over a people and several towns, and how she came to Tabasco._

Previous to going into any details here respecting the powerful Motecusuma, his immense kingdom of Mexico, and its inhabitants, I must relate what I know of Dona Marina. She was born a ruler over a people and country,--for her parents had the dominion of a township called Painala, to which several other townships were subject, lying about twenty-four miles from the town of Guacasualco. Her father died when she was very young, and her mother married another young cazique. By him she had a son, of whom it appears they were both very fond, and to whom, after their death, they designed to leave their territories. In order, however, that the daughter of the first marriage might not stand in his way, she was conveyed secretly during night-time to an Indian family in Xicalango, they spreading the rumour she had died, which gained further belief from the circumstance that a daughter of one of her female slaves happened to die at the time. The Indians of Xicalango did not keep the young girl themselves, but gave her to the inhabitants of Tabasco, by whom she was presented to Cortes. I knew her mother and half-brother myself, the latter having already reached manhood, and governed the township jointly with his mother. When they were subsequently both converted to Christianity, the latter was named Martha and her son Lazaro. I was well acquainted with the whole of this circumstance; for in the year 1523, when Mexico and several other provinces had been subdued, and Christobal de Oli had rebelled in the Higueras, Cortes came to Guacasualco, and on that occasion visited Marina's birth-place. Most of the inhabitants of Guacasualco accompanied Cortes on this expedition; I myself was also among the number. As Dona Marina, in all the wars of New Spain, Tlascalla, and at the siege of Mexico, had rendered the greatest services in capacity of an interpretress, Cortes carried her everywhere with him. During this journey it also was that he married her to a cavalier of the township of Orizava, named Juan Xaramillo. Among others, there was present as a witness a certain Aranda of Tabasco, through whom this circumstance became immediately known. These are the true particulars of the whole case, not, however, as related by Gomara. For the rest, Marina had the most extensive influence in New Spain, and did with the Indians what she pleased.

While Cortes was staying in Guacasualco, he ordered all the caziques of the province to assemble, and advised them to adopt our holy religion. On this occasion the mother and brother of Dona Marina also made their appearance with the other caziques. They recognized each other immediately; the former, however, appeared to be in the greatest anxiety, thinking that they had merely been called there to be killed. Dona Marina, however, desired them to dry away their tears, and comforted them by saying they were unconscious of what they were doing when they had sent her away to the inhabitants of Xicalango, and that she freely forgave the past. By this means God certainly directed everything for her best, turned her away from the errors of heathenism, and converted her to Christianity.

Thus destined, she likewise bore a son unto her master Cortes, and then married a cavalier named Juan Xaramillo. All this I consider of much greater importance than if she had been presented with the sole dominion of the whole of New Spain. She likewise gave presents to her relatives on their return home. What I have related is the strict truth, and can swear to it. Gomara's account respecting this is wholly erroneous, and he adds many other circumstances which I shall leave without comment. This, however, is certain, that the whole affair reminds one of the history of Joseph and his brethren in Egypt, when they came into his power. After this diversion into matters which subsequently took place, I must relate how we first managed to understand Dona Marina. She was conversant with the language of Guacasualco, which is the Mexican, and with that of Tabasco. Aguilar, however, merely understood the latter, which is spoken throughout the whole of Yucatan. Dona Marina had, therefore, first to make herself understood to Aguilar, who then translated what she said into Spanish. This woman was a valuable instrument to us in the conquest of New Spain. It was, through her only, under the protection of the Almighty, that many things[15] were accomplished by us: without her we never should have understood the Mexican language, and, upon the whole, have been unable to surmount many difficulties.

Let this suffice respecting Dona Marina; I will now relate how we arrived in San Juan de Ulua.

[15] On this woman the captain Cadahalso, in his 'Cartas Marruecas,' passes the following encomium: "Primera muger, que no ha prejudicado en uno exercito;" i.e. "The first woman who ever accompanied an army without being a prejudice to it." (p. 85.)

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

_How we arrive with our vessels in San Juan de Ulua, and what we did there._

On Holy Thursday, in the year of our Lord 1519, we arrived with our whole squadron in the harbour of San Juan de Ulua. As Alaminos well remembered this spot from the expedition under Grijalva, he brought our ships to anchor in a place where they were sheltered from the north wind. We had scarcely lain here half an hour when we espied two large canoes, which are called here pirogues, filled with a number of Indians, making straight for Cortes's vessel, which, from the large flag hanging from the mast-head, they recognized as our commander's ship. They climbed on board without any ceremony, and inquired for the _Tlatoan_, which, in their language, means master. Dona Marina understood their question, and pointed to Cortes; they, therefore, turned to him, paying him great reverence after the Indian fashion, and bid him welcome. Their master, they said, who was a servant of the great Motecusuma, had sent them in order to ascertain who we were and what we came to seek in his country. We had only to inform them of what we wanted for our ships, and they would see that it was provided.

Cortes thanked them for their kindness, through Aguilar and Dona Marina, presented them with some blue glass beads, and ordered some meat and drink to be placed before them. After they had taken some refreshment, he told them we were merely come here to make their acquaintance, and open a trade with them: we had not the remotest intention of doing them an injury, nor need they apprehend anything from our arrival. The ambassadors now returned, well contented, to their homes. The following morning, Good Friday, we disembarked our horses and cannon near some sand-hills which here run along the whole coast. Our artilleryman Mesa placed the cannon on a very advantageous spot, and we erected an altar where mass was immediately performed: for Cortes and the other chief officers huts were constructed of green boughs; the rest of us likewise constructed huts, and slept three together: the horses also were well provided for. The whole of Good Friday was spent in this work; and on the Saturday many Indians arrived, who had been sent by a man of distinction, named Quitlalpitoc, governor under Motecusuma: this personage was afterwards christened Ovandillo. They had axes with them, and cut off an additional quantity of branches to make a better finish to Cortes's hut, which they then overhung with large pieces of cloth, to keep out the heat, which was already very great. They also brought along with them fowls, maise-bread, and plums, which were then nice and ripe; also, if I rightly recollect, they had with them some gold trinkets. All these things they handed over to Cortes, adding, that the governor himself would come the next day and bring with him a further supply of provisions. Cortes joyfully accepted of these presents, and ordered various kinds of toys we had brought for barter to be given them, with which they were uncommonly delighted. On Easter day, the governor indeed appeared in person, as had been assured us. His name was _Teuthlille_, and he was one of the farmer generals of the Mexican empire. He was accompanied by another person of distinction, called Quitlalpitoc. We subsequently learnt that both these personages were appointed governors over the provinces Cotastlan, Tustepec, Guazpaltepec, and Tlatateteclo, and other townships recently subdued. They were followed by a great number of Indians, carrying the presents, consisting of fowls and greens. Teuthlille having ordered the others to stand back a little, walked up to Cortes, and made him three most reverential bows, after the Indian fashion, which he repeated on turning to us who stood nearest. Cortes bid both welcome, then embraced them, and desired them to wait a little, as he would afterwards give them a more circumstantial answer. In the meantime he ordered the altar to be fitted up as prettily as possible. Francisco Bartolome and father Juan Diaz performed mass. Both the governors and the principal personages of their suite were present during the ceremony, after which Cortes sat down to dinner with them.

After the table had been cleared, Cortes, with the assistance of Aguilar and Dona Marina, entered into conversation with the Mexican officials and the caziques, telling them we were Christians, and subjects of the greatest monarch of the world, whose name was emperor Charles, and that he had many great personages among his vassals and servants. We had come by his command to their country, of which and its powerful monarch who now reigned over it, his majesty had heard long ago. As far as regarded himself, he was desirous of becoming his friend, and had to disclose many things to him, in the name of his emperor, which he would listen to with delight. In order that a good understanding might be established between him and his subjects, they should acquaint him with the place where their monarch resided, that he might pay his respects to him, and make the necessary disclosures. To which Teuthlille answered in a rather imperious tone, "Since you are but just arrived, it would be more fitting that you, previous to your desiring an interview with my monarch, should accept this present, which we have brought you in his name, and disclose your wishes to me." He then brought forth, out of a species of box, a quantity of gold trinkets, of beautiful and skilful workmanship, besides more than twenty packages of stuffs very prettily worked of white cotton and feathers. These they presented to Cortes, with various other costly things, which, owing to the number of years which have since elapsed, I cannot now remember, besides provisions, consisting in quantities of fowls, fruits, and dried fish. Cortes accepted all this with a joyful countenance, presenting these gentlemen in return with glass beads resembling brilliants, and other things we brought from Spain. He begged of them to desire the inhabitants of the different districts to commence trading with us, as we possessed various articles which we were desirous of exchanging for gold; this they promised to do.

Cortes then ordered an arm-chair to be brought, beautifully painted and adorned with inlaid work, some pieces of precious stones, wrapt in cotton cloth, perfumed with musk, a necklace of imitation pearls, a scarlet cap, with a medal, on which was represented the holy St. George on horseback, with lance in hand, killing the dragon. Cortes addressed Teuthlille, and said, that he presented this chair to his monarch Motecusuma, that he might sit in it when he should pay him a visit, and the string of pearls to wind around his head on the same occasion; all of which were presents from the emperor our master, who had sent these things to his monarch in token of friendship and as a proof of the esteem in which he held him: he ought now to inform us where and when he could personally wait upon him. Teuthlille accepted the presents, and said, in return, that his master Motecusuma, as he was also a great monarch, would on his side be equally delighted to learn something about our great emperor: he would hasten to lay the presents before him, and return with his answer.

Teuthlille had with him very clever painters, for there were such in Mexico, and he ordered them to sketch the likeness and whole person of Cortes, with the dress he wore; also all the other chief officers, the soldiers, our vessels, horses, Dona Marina, and Aguilar; even our two dogs, the cannon, the balls; in short, everything they could fix their eyes on belonging to us: these paintings they took along with them to show to their monarch. In order, however, to convey to him a still greater idea of our power, Cortes ordered our cannon to be heavily laden with powder, so as to produce a very loud report, commanding also Alvarado and the other cavaliers to mount their horses, to hang bells around the necks of the latter, and to gallop up in full speed in presence of Motecusuma's ambassadors. Cortes also mounted his horse, and said to the others, "It would be capital if we could gallop across these sand-hills at full speed; but, as we should so easily stick in the sand, it will be better for us to ride two and two along the sea-shore at low water." He then gave the command of the horse to Alvarado, whose brown mare was a spirited animal, and very swift. All this was done in presence of the Mexican ambassadors; but, that they might likewise see the cannon fired, Cortes, under the pretence of having something further to communicate, took them and several other principal personages to a spot where they might have a good view of it. The weather was perfectly calm; and when the cannon was fired, the stone balls flew with a tremendous crash along the sand-hills, re-echoing for a length of time. The Indians were terribly startled, and ordered their painters to represent this likewise, to them so novel a sight, that they might show it to Motecusuma.

One of our men had on a casque, which was partly gilt; Teuthlille, who was much more enlightened than any of his companions, remarked, when his eye fell upon it, that it bore a great resemblance to a helmet which belonged to their most ancient forefathers, and now adorned the head of their warrior-god Huitzilopochtli. Motecusuma, he further added, would certainly be uncommonly pleased if he could likewise see this casque. Cortes, on hearing this, ordered the casque to be presented to him, thereby expressing the wish, that he should like to satisfy himself that the gold of this country was similar to what we find in our rivers. If they would send him the casque full of gold dust, he would send it to our great emperor. Upon this Teuthlille took leave of Cortes and all of us, promising to return speedily, while Cortes, under the most tender of embraces, made him every profession of friendship.

After this personage had taken his departure, we learnt that he was not merely a distinguished statesman, but also the most nimble pedestrian at Motecusuma's court. He did, indeed, use the utmost expedition to bring his monarch information, and hand over to him the paintings and presents. The great Motecusuma was vastly astonished at everything he heard and saw, and yet he was pleased. But, when at last he espied the casque, and compared it with that of the idol Huitzilopochtli, he no longer doubted for an instant that we belonged to that people, whom his forefathers had prophesied would, one time or other, come and subdue the country.

Concerning these things Gomara has adduced much of which he had been ill informed; I will not, however, detain myself by contradicting him, but continue my narrative.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

_How Teuthlille makes his report to Motecusuma, and gives him our presents; as also what further took place in our camp._

After the departure of Teuthlille with the presents which Cortes sent to his monarch, Motecusuma; the other governor, Quitlalpitoc, remained behind in our camp. He took up his quarters in a kind of hut, at a distance from ours, and ordered Indians to bake maise-bread, procure the fowls, fruits, and fish, which the province had to furnish, for the table of Cortes and his officers. We other soldiers, if we wished to get our bellies full were compelled to catch shell and other fish ourselves. In the meantime numbers of Indians arrived from the above-mentioned provinces, over which the two officials sent by Motecusuma were governors, bringing with them some gold trinkets of small value, and fowls, which they gave us in exchange for our goods, consisting in glass pearls and such like; with which we were all provided, having experienced the value of these during the expedition under Grijalva.

Six or seven days may have thus been spent, when Teuthlille returned in the morning with more than a hundred Indian porters, all heavily laden, accompanied by a great Mexican cazique, who both in countenance, stature, and deportment, greatly resembled Cortes, and on that account only had been selected by his monarch to accompany the deputation; for, as was related, when Teuthlille brought forth the picture representing Cortes, all the grandees who were present with their monarch Motecusuma, immediately observed that he resembled a person of distinction named Quintalbor. This was the same person who now accompanied Teuthlille, we therefore called one the Cortes of this place, and the other the Cortes of that place. We must now, however, learn what the ambassadors did when they came into the presence of Cortes. First of all they touched the ground at his feet with the hand, they then perfumed him and all the Spaniards who were present, with pans made of clay. Cortes gave them a most cordial reception, and desired them to sit down at his side. The cazique Quintalbor was commissioned to discuss matters jointly with Teuthlille. Both, therefore, told Cortes he was most welcome in their country; and after a good deal of talking on both sides, they produced the presents and spread them out on a mat, over which they had first thrown some cotton cloths. The first was a round plate, about the size of a waggon wheel, representing the sun, the whole of the finest gold, and of the most beautiful workmanship; a most extraordinary work of art, which, according to the account of those who weighed it, was worth above 20,000 gold pesos. The second was a round plate, even larger than the former, of massive silver, representing the moon, with rays and other figures on it, being of great value. The third was the casque, completely filled with pure grains of gold, as they are found in the mines, worth about 3000 pesos, which was more to us than if it had been ten times the value, as we now knew for certain there were rich gold mines in the country. Among other things there were also thirty golden ducks, exactly resembling the living bird, and of splendid workmanship; further figures resembling lions, tigers, dogs and apes; likewise ten chains with lockets, all of gold, and of the most costly workmanship; a bow with the string and twelve arrows, and two staffs five palms in length, like those used by the justices, all cast of the purest gold; further, they brought small cases containing the most beautiful green feathers, blended with gold and silver, and fans similarly worked; every species of game likewise cast in gold. In short such a number of objects, which from the many years since elapsed I cannot now altogether remember.[16] There were alone above thirty packages of cotton stuffs, variously manufactured and interworked with variegated feathers. When the great cazique Quintalbor and Teuthlille handed over these presents to Cortes, they begged of him to accept of them in the same friendly disposition with which their monarch sent them, and to distribute them among his Teules. Upon this they began to unfold what their monarch had in particular commissioned them to say, which was as follows: "He, Motecusuma, was delighted with the arrival of such courageous men in his states, as we, according to the accounts he had received and judging from the occurrence at Tabasco, certainly must be. He wished very much to see our great emperor, who was such a powerful monarch, of whom, although residing at such a vast distance, he had already gained some knowledge, and he would send him a present of some valuable stones. He was likewise ready to furnish us with everything we might require during our stay. But as for Cortes calling upon him, we had better give up all thoughts of that, as it was not necessary, and would be accompanied with great difficulties."

Cortes thanked them most sincerely for their kindness, gave to each a couple of shirts made of holland, blue beads, and other trifles, begging of them to return to their great monarch Motecusuma, and tell him that our emperor and master would take it very unkind, after we had come from such distant countries and crossed such vast seas, merely with the intention of paying our respects to Motecusuma, if we returned without fulfilling this object. He wished, therefore, to proceed to his residence and himself to receive his commands. The ambassadors answered, that they would mention all this to their monarch, but that any waiting upon him would be superfluous. Cortes upon this gave them out of our poverty a cup, of Florentine workmanship, gilt and surrounded with a quantity of relieved foliage, besides those shirts made of holland, and other things; all these were to be presented to Motecusuma, and he desired them to take his answer to him. Both the delegates then departed, while Quitlalpitoc remained alone behind in our camp, commissioned, it appeared, by the two other officials of Motecusuma, to provide provisions for us out of the neighbouring districts.

[16] These remarkable presents have all been enumerated by Torquemada, (Monarchia Indiana, i, iv, c. 17;) and we cannot do better than give his minute description of them here: "The ambassador of Motecusuma ordered mats to be spread on the ground before Cortes, and over them some cotton cloths, on which he arranged the presents, consisting of large quantities of cotton shirts and other cotton stuffs, beautifully manufactured, and interwoven with feathers of the most splendid colours; bucklers made of the purest white staffs, decorated with feathers, gold, silver, and pearls, surpassing everything in beauty and skilfulness of workmanship that was ever seen. There was also a helmet, tastefully carved out of wood, filled with grains of gold; a casque, made of thin plates of gold, decorated with tassels and stones, resembling the smaragdus; numerous large bunches of feathers of diversified colours, fastened in silver and gold; fans for keeping off flies, made of the rarest feathers; a thousand lockets of gold and silver, of the most curious and beautiful workmanship; bracelets and military decorations of gold and silver, splendidly embossed with green and bright yellow feathers; leather made of deer skin, curried and coloured in the best possible manner; shoes and sandals of the same leather, sewn with thin gold wire, and the soles made of splendid white and blue stone. There were other kinds of shoes, most tastefully manufactured of cotton; mirrors of marcasite, globular shaped, of the size of a fist, and most ingeniously set in gold, the small frame itself being very valuable, and worthy of the acceptance of any crowned head; coverings and curtains to beds, manufactured of various coloured cotton, more glossy and of finer texture than silk; a number of other gold and silver trinkets; a necklace of gold, decorated with upwards of a hundred emeralds, rubies, and various other ornaments of gold; a second necklace, consisting of numbers of large pearls and emeralds, all of the most exquisite workmanship; numerous other gold trinkets in the shape of frogs and animals; jewels in the form of medals, the shrines being even more valuable than the precious stones they contained; a quantity of large and small grains of gold. The most valuable of these presents, however, were two round plates, one of gold, on which was a sun with rays and the zodiac; this weighed above one hundred marks: the other was of silver, which in a similar manner represented the moon, weighing above fifty marks: both were massive, and of the thickness of the Spanish coin of four silver reals, and as large as a waggon wheel. Those who saw these splendid presents said that, without considering the beautiful workmanship, the value of the gold and silver alone amounted to 25,000 castellanos de oro; so that the whole together may well be estimated at 50,000 ducats." (p. 91.)

CHAPTER XL.

_How Cortes goes in search of another harbour and a good spot to found a colony, and what further happened._

After the Mexican ambassadors had again taken their departure, Cortes ordered two vessels to sail further on and explore the coast. The command of these was given to Francisco de Montejo, with orders to follow the same course taken by Grijalva. He was to sail on for the space of ten days, and search for a good harbour and convenient spot to form a settlement; for in the sandy region we were now staying it was impossible to live, on account of the gnats; the inhabited districts, moreover, being too far distant. Alaminos and el Manquillo who were already acquainted with these waters, piloted the vessels. Montejo departed and arrived in the waters of Rio Grande, near Panuco, as far as we had gone with Grijalva, but on account of the heavy currents there he could proceed no further; he, therefore, returned to San Juan de Ulua, bringing us no other news than that they had seen at a distance of about thirty-six miles further on a town, which to all appearance was fortified. This place was called Quiahuitzlan, having a harbour, which, according to the opinion of Alaminos, was secure from the north wind. Ten or twelve days were spent by Montejo in this expedition out and home. Quitlalpitoc, who had remained to furnish us with provisions, soon ceased to do so altogether, which, of course, created a great scarcity of food: our cassave-bread had likewise become quite mouldy and swarmed with worms, so that we had nothing to eat if we did not procure ourselves shellfish. In the commencement the Indians had certainly brought us gold and fowls for our goods, but now they no longer came in such great numbers as at first, and those who did come appeared quite shy and reserved. We, therefore, anxiously awaited the return of the two ambassadors from Mexico.

After some days had elapsed Teuthlille indeed returned with a great number of Indians. They observed the same courteous behaviour as on the previous occasion, perfuming Cortes and all of us, and then brought forth their presents, consisting in ten packages of mantles, richly worked in feathers; further, four _chalchihuitls_, a species of green stone of uncommon value, which are held in higher estimation with them than the smaragdus[17] with us; lastly, there were also all kinds of gold trinkets, which I heard valued at 3000 pesos. The great cazique Quintalbor had fallen ill on the journey, and consequently remained behind. Teuthlille and Quitlalpitoc, therefore, alone fulfilled Motecusuma's commission, and assured us that he had most graciously accepted of our present. Regarding the four chalchihuitls they observed, that those were intended as a present to our emperor, as each of them was worth, more than a load of gold. For the rest it was unnecessary to send any more messengers to Mexico, neither was there any further mention to be made of a personal interview between their monarch and Cortes.

Although, it was very unpleasant to the latter that his visit to Motecusuma should thus be declined in dry words, yet he thanked them most kindly; and added to some of us who were present: "Really this Motecusuma must be a great and rich gentleman; nevertheless, if God be willing, we shall one day visit him in his palace!" "We only wish, (returned we soldiers,) that we were once nicely engaged with him."

All this took place just about the hour of Ave Maria; the bell, therefore, announced that we should assemble ourselves around the cross, which we had erected on an elevated sand-hill. While we were all on our knees before it, and repeating the Ave Maria, Teuthlille and Quitlalpitoc inquired why we thus humbled ourselves so greatly before that pole.

Cortes immediately turned to Bartolome de Olmedo, and remarked to him: "This is a good opportunity, father, to give these people some notion of our holy religion through our interpreters." This father Olmedo accordingly did in a manner which would have done honour to the greatest of theologians. He first of all explained that we were Christians, and then expatiated on the whole substance of our belief; he then proved that their idols were useless things, evil spirits, which fled away from the presence of the cross. On such a cross, he continued, the Lord of heaven and earth suffered death, we believed in him only, and prayed to him as the only true God, Jesus Christ, who suffered death for the salvation of the human race; who rose again on the third day, and ascended into heaven, that he would again appear to hold judgment over the living and the dead. Upon this followed everything that was edifying, which the Indians comprehended well, and which they assured us they would relate to their monarch.

Cortes then explained to them, that among the many reasons which had induced our great emperor to send us here, one was that they should abandon for ever the religion of their cursed idols, abolish human sacrifices, and abstain from kidnapping. He, therefore, must beg of them to erect crosses like this in their towns and on their temples, and also the figure of the holy Virgin, with her most excellent Son, then God would bestow great blessings on them. In short, there were many expressions replete with excellent feeling, which I am unable wholly to report, and therefore will rather leave in my pen.

Our men now commenced to barter with the Indians, who had arrived with Teuthlille for what they had brought, and obtained various kinds of things, all of inferior gold, which we gave to our sailors for catching us fish; this was the only means we had of stilling our hunger. Cortes was well aware of this, and secretly enjoyed the idea; however, the creatures of Diego Velasquez drew his attention to it, and thought he ought not to permit such a species of traffic. We shall further see what happened on this account.

[17] Chalchihuitls; Bernal Diaz calls these Chalchuites. This stone is of a light green colour, at first held in great estimation by the Spaniards, but Torquemada, a contemporary of our author, remarks, (Monarchia, Ind. i, p. 462,) it is a stone on which the Indians set a high value, but not so the Spaniards. He calls it a kind of smaragdus, "the polishing of which the Indians say was taught them by the god Quetzalcohuatl." Bustamente (Historia de la Conquista de Mexico escrita, por Fr. Bernardino Sahagun, Mexico, 1829,) calls it, "Piedra jaspe, mui verde, o sea esmeralda ordinaria," i.e. "A jasper of a very green colour, or a common smaragdus."

This stone represented among the Mexicans everything that was excellent in its kind, for which reason they put such a stone in the mouth of the distinguished chiefs who died. (p. 93.)

CHAPTER XLI.

_What happened on account of our bartering for gold, and of other things which took place in our camp._

This bartering for gold being continued with the Indians, the adherents of Diego Velasquez remonstrated with Cortes, and asked him how he could suffer such a thing? Diego Velasquez, they added, had not sent him hither, that the soldiers should put most of the gold in their pockets. It ought to be made known, that henceforth no one but Cortes himself should barter for gold, and that every one should render an account of the gold in his possession, in order that the emperor's fifths might be deducted therefrom. It was, moreover, necessary to appoint a treasurer. Cortes confessed they were in the right, and allowed them to choose a treasurer themselves. But, not until their choice had fallen on one Gonzalo Mexia, did he show what his real intentions were; then he said to them with a heavy frown on his brow: "Only consider, gentlemen, how hard our comrades have to fare, since provisions totally fail! In order that they might not hunger, I have up to this moment overlooked this system of bartering, and indeed it produces but a mere trifle. I hope, with the assistance of God, that our affairs will take a better turn by and bye. Everything has its two sides to be looked at, and as we have now, in compliance with your wishes, ordered that no more bartering for gold shall be allowed in future, we have to see whence we are henceforth to obtain provisions."

Gomara is in the wrong, when he relates, that Cortes issued that order, on this occasion, to make Motecusuma believe we cared little about gold. This monarch knew very well how the matter stood on this point, from the time of our arrival under Grijalva in the Bandera stream; he might also easily guess what we were after, when we begged of him to send us the casque full of golden grains, and our daily bartering for that metal. The Mexicans, indeed, are not the kind of folks to be thus imposed upon.

However this may be, one fine morning the Indians, who had resided near us in the huts and were accustomed to furnish us with provisions and bring gold for barter, had all secretly left with Quitlalpitoc. This, we subsequently learnt, was done by the commands of Motecusuma, who had forbidden all intercourse with Cortes, which he had been induced to do from his attachment to his idol-gods. These were named _Tetzcatlipuca_ and _Huitzilopochtli_, the former being the god of hell and the latter the god of war, to whom Motecusuma daily sacrificed some young children, that they might disclose to him what he should do with us. His intention was to take us prisoners if we would not re-embark, and employ some to educate children, while others were to be sacrificed. For his idol-gods, as we afterwards discovered, advised him not to listen to Cortes, and to take no notice of what we had sent him word concerning the cross and the figure of the blessed Virgin. This was also the reason why his men had gone away so secretly.

Affairs having assumed such a posture, we now daily expected that hostilities would break out, and were particularly on our guard. It was during one of these days that I was standing sentinel on the sand-hills with another soldier, when we espied five Indians approaching along the shore. Not to alarm our camp with such a trifle we allowed them to come up. They all appeared very good humoured, made their obeisance to us after their fashion, and begged of us, by signs, to conduct them to our camp. Upon which I said to my companion, I will take them there, while you remain where you are, for at that time my legs were not so infirm as they are now, in my old age. When I presented them to Cortes, they paid him the profoundest respect, and continually repeated the word, _Lopelucio_, _Lopelucio_, which in the Totonaque language means Lord, great God. In dress and language this people differed entirely from the Mexicans, whom Motecusuma had sent to our camp. They had large holes bored in their under-lips, in which they wore pieces of blue speckled stone, or thin plates of gold; the holes in their ears were still larger in size, and adorned with similar ornaments. Neither Aguilar nor Dona Marina understood their language; but the latter inquired of them whether there was any _Naeyavatos_, or interpreter, among them? Upon which two of them answered that they understood the Mexican language, and now the discourse immediately commenced. They bid us welcome, and stated that their ruler had sent them hither to inquire who we were, and that he would be delighted to be of any use to such powerful men as we were. They would have waited upon us earlier if they had not shunned the people of Culhua, namely, the Mexicans (meaning as much as villains,) who had been with us. Most probably these people had heard of our battles at Tabasco and Potonchan; they at least knew that the Mexicans had secretly departed from us three days ago. Cortes learnt from them many things which were of the greatest importance to him, particularly respecting the enemies and opponents of Motecusuma: Cortes, therefore, was most friendly to these people, gave them various kinds of presents, and desired them to return to their ruler and acquaint him that he would visit him shortly in person. From this moment we called these Indians by no other name than Lopelucios. However, it was impossible for us to remain on these sand-hills, on account of the long-legged and small gnats, which they call chechenes, and are the worst of all: we could get no sleep for them. Moreover, we had no kind of provisions left; our cassave-bread was quite mouldy and uneatable, on account of the worms, with which it swarmed: it was, therefore, no wonder that several of our men, who had Indian possessions in the island of Cuba, should wish to return home, which was in particular the case with all the friends and creatures of Velasquez. Cortes, observing this disposition, gave orders for our departure to Quiahuitzlan, which had been seen by Montejo and Alaminos, and where the vessels would be secure from the north winds, being sheltered by the rock above mentioned.

While preparations were making for our departure, the whole of Diego Velasquez's adherents united to remonstrate with Cortes. They asked him how he was to commence the march without provisions; it was, indeed, quite impossible to proceed further on by sea. Already thirty-five of our men had died either of the wounds they received at Tabasco, of sickness, or of hunger. The country we were now in was extensive, the population numerous, and the inhabitants would, no doubt, attack us in a few days. It was, therefore, most advisable to return to Cuba, and render an account to Diego Velasquez of the gold we had bartered for, of which we possessed a good deal: to this might be added the presents sent by Motecusuma, the golden sun, silver moon, the casque full of gold dust, and all the other precious things, which I have above mentioned. To which Cortes answered, "that he did not consider it advisable to return without having even seen the country. Up to this moment we had no reason to complain of ill luck; on the contrary, God had everywhere lent us his support. If we had lost any of our men, such things were to be expected in warlike undertakings. We should first explore the country more thoroughly; and with regard to provisions, there was sufficient maise in the country, with which we must make a shift for the present."

By these arguments Cortes succeeded in quieting the partisans of Diego Velasquez; yet it was of short duration, for they held secret meetings, and commenced setting all manner of intrigues on foot to bring about our return to Cuba: how far they succeeded we shall presently see.

CHAPTER XLII.

_How we elected Hernando Cortes captain-general and chief justice until we should receive the emperor's commands on this head; and what further happened._

I have already remarked how the relatives and friends of Diego Velasquez united to stop our further progress, and bring about our return to Cuba. Cortes, on his part, however, was no less active, and managed with his friends to get himself appointed our captain-general. In this the following personages acted the chief part: Alonso Hernandez Puertocarrero, Pedro de Alvarado, with his four brothers Jorge, Gonzalo, Gomez, and Juan; further, Christobal de Oli, Alonso de Avila, Juan de Escalante, Francisco de Lugo, myself, and many other cavaliers and officers.

Francisco de Montejo soon perceived what our intentions were, and kept a sharp look-out upon everything that was going on. I was drawn into this affair in the following manner: at midnight, Puertocarrero, Escalante, and De Lugo, to whom I stood somewhat related, both of us, moreover, being born at the same place, called upon me in my quarters, and said, "Bernal Diaz del Castillo, take your arms and follow us: we are to accompany Cortes, who is going to make the rounds." When we had arrived at some distance from my hut, they again commenced, "We have something to tell you, sir, but you must keep it a secret, for it is of great importance, and those of Diego Velasquez's partisans who mess with you must know nothing about it. We are of opinion that Cortes does not act rightly towards us. At Cuba he made known that he was going out to found a colony, and now we hear that he was not empowered to do so, but was merely sent out to barter for gold, and then to return to Cuba with all we should make. If this takes place, we are altogether ruined men, and Diego Velasquez will himself comfortably pocket the gold, and keep it, as he has on previous occasions. Do but reflect, sir, that this is the third expedition of the kind which you have accompanied, that you have spent your whole in them, and undergone so many fatigues, risked your life, and suffered from wounds, all for nothing. This we cannot allow. We cavaliers are sufficient in number, your friends one and all, and we must insist that Cortes founds a colony here, in the name of his majesty; we must also find means to acquaint our sovereign immediately with this. Promise that you also will be one of us. We have united to elect Cortes our captain-general. It would, indeed, be rendering God and our king a great service."

To all this I answered that I considered it equally inadvisable to return to Cuba, and that I was quite ready to give my consent towards electing Cortes captain-general and chief justice, until his imperial majesty should have communicated his wishes to us on that point. As this plan went round from one to another, the partisans of Diego Velasquez, who were much more numerous than we, soon got wind of it, and boldly asked Cortes what intrigues had been set on foot to form a colony here? and why he should shirk from rendering the account which was due to him by whom he had been appointed head of the expedition? Diego Velasquez would certainly be ill pleased with such proceedings: we could not do otherwise than re-embark: all his intrigues with the men were useless: to found a colony, we were in want both of provisions, men, and everything else to ensure success. Cortes, without showing the least irritability, answered, that he was quite of their opinion, and had not the remotest intention to act contrary to the instructions and wishes of Diego Velasquez, and immediately issued orders that every one who had come with him should repair on board by the next day.

As soon as we others, who had confederated, heard this, we declared to Cortes that he was doing wrong in thus wishing to deceive us. At Cuba he had publicly announced that he was going out to found a colony, and now it appeared it was merely for the sake of trafficking. We begged of him, for the sake of God and our king, not to break his word, but to found a colony, as was required of us, to promote the interests of his majesty and the service of God. It would be impossible for us to return here at any future time, as the inhabitants would certainly not permit us to land: but, if a colony was once founded, soldiers from every island in these parts would come flocking hither in order to assist us. Diego Velasquez had deceived us when he falsely announced that he was empowered by his majesty to found colonies: we were, therefore, determined to found one, and left it to the choice of the others if they wished to return to Cuba. Cortes at first refused to comply, and only submitted after much begging and entreating; as the saying goes,

What you desire Is my wish.

He, however, made the condition that we should nominate him chief justice and captain-general, and, what was worse, that a fifth part of the gold should fall to his share which remained after deducting the fifths for his majesty: concerning all which and everything else, the royal secretary Godoy was to draw up a formal deed. Upon this we resolved that a town should be built, and called _Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz_, as we arrived off this coast on Holy Thursday, and stepped on land on Good Friday. The addition of Villa Rica (rich town) was owing to what Puertocarrero had some time previous said to Cortes, "He might look upon these rich countries,--he would know how to govern them;" meaning to say thereby, that he wished Cortes to be appointed captain-general.

After the ceremony of laying the first stone of the town was ended, we nominated the alcaldes and regidors. The chief alcaldes were Alonso Puertocarrero and Francisco de Montejo: Cortes purposely appointed the latter because he was not on the best terms with him. To give all the names of the regidors would be superfluous, and it must suffice to mention their names as they appear in the course of this narrative. We also erected a pillory inside the town, and a gallows outside. Pedro de Alvarado was appointed city-major; Christobal de Oli, colonel; Juan de Escalante, alguacil-major; treasurer, Gonzalo Mexi Mexia; book-keeper, Alonso de Avila; standard-bearer, a certain Corrar, as Villareal, who first filled this post, had got into disgrace with Cortes about an Indian female of Cuba, and was obliged to relinquish it. Achoa of Biscay and Alonso Romero were nominated alguacils of the camp.

The reader will wonder that I have not yet mentioned the name of one of our principal men, Gonzalo de Sandoval, though he was such a renowned officer, being second to Cortes only, and particularly distinguished by our emperor himself. There is no other reason than that Sandoval was still very young, and that we did not make so much of him and other brave officers then as we did subsequently, when we saw all his real qualities developed in a manner that drew forth unbounded praise from Cortes and every soldier: indeed he was considered equal to Cortes himself.--Gomara has likewise related a good deal respecting these matters, of which he has been ill informed. I could not leave this unnoticed, however beautiful his style of writing may be, in which his strength really lies.

CHAPTER XLIII.

_How the partisans of Diego Velasquez would not acknowledge the power we had conferred upon Cortes, and what further took place._

The partisans of Diego Velasquez, finding we had elected Cortes captain-general, and appointed the other officers just mentioned, were terribly annoyed and vexed. They armed themselves in small troops, and threw out the most insolent language against Cortes and those among us who had chosen him captain-general. All this they considered should not have been done without the consent of the whole of the officers and soldiers. Diego Velasquez had merely empowered Cortes to barter with the natives. In short, their dissatisfaction rose to such a pitch, that our party was afraid matters would be carried much farther, and end in hostilities. Cortes now secretly desired Juan de Escalante to intimate that we should demand the instructions to be produced which he had received from Velasquez. This was accordingly done, and Cortes pulled them out from under his waistcoat, handing them over to the royal secretary to be read aloud. And sure enough the words were, _After you have bartered for as many precious things as possible, you shall return home._ This document was signed by Velasquez, and countersigned by his private secretary Andreas de Duero. Upon this we desired of Cortes that these instructions should be entered into the appointment we had given him, and announced by a public crier, as had been done at Cuba, in order that his majesty might convince himself of the true state of things, and that everything was done to further his sovereign interest only. This step was most agreeable to our purpose, as the bishop of Burgos, Don Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca, was wrongly informed respecting these proceedings, and only laboured to ruin us, as we subsequently learnt. The partisans of Diego Velasquez, however, were not to be silenced by this; and as the election had been made without their knowledge, they considered it illegal, and maintained that they were not called upon to obey his commands, but were determined to return to Cuba. Cortes answered, that he would not compel them to remain, but would discharge any one who might wish it, even if he himself should, in the end, remain alone behind. By this some were silenced. Juan Velasquez de Leon, (who was closely related to Velasquez,) Diego de Ordas, Escobar, (whom we commonly termed the page,) Pedro de Escudero, and others of Velasquez's party, still continued refractory, and things at last came to such a pass, that, in the end, they formally refused to obey Cortes. In such a state of affairs it was necessary to adopt some stronger measure, which was carried into execution with our consent. We seized the persons of the above-mentioned refractory officers, bound them in chains, and kept watch over them as if they had been prisoners.

Respecting these circumstances Gomara has again been misinformed, and not a word is to be credited of anything he says on the subject.

CHAPTER XLIV.

_How Pedro de Alvarado was ordered to make an excursion into the interior of the country, in order to procure maise and other provisions; and what further happened._

It was now resolved that Pedro de Alvarado should make an excursion into the interior to explore the country, gain further knowledge of some townships which we knew by name, and procure maise and other provisions, of which we were in the greatest want. For this purpose 100 men were selected, among whom were fifteen crossbow-men and six musketeers; above half, moreover, were adherents of Velasquez: the rest of us, on whom Cortes could fully depend, remained with him, in order that no conspiracy might be set on foot against him.

Alvarado, during this expedition, visited some small townships which were subject to a greater one, called, in the Aculhua language, _Costatlan_.[17*] This language is that of Mexico and Motecusuma; and when we speak of persons of Aculhua, we must always understand subjects of his empire. Alvarado nowhere met with any inhabitants, but found sufficient proofs in the temples that boys and full-grown people had very recently been sacrificed; for the altars and walls were covered with drops of fresh blood. The flint knives with which the unfortunate victim's breast is cut open to tear the heart away, and the large stones on which they are sacrificed, still lay in their proper places. Most of the bodies thus seen by our men were without arms or legs, which, according to the accounts of the Indians, had been devoured. Our men were perfectly horror-struck at such barbarities: however, I will not waste another word on the subject, for we found the same thing over again in every district we visited in this country. Alvarado found these districts well stocked with provisions, but so completely deserted by the inhabitants that he could only find two Indians to assist the men in carrying maise: every soldier, therefore, was compelled to take a load of greens and fowls, and in this way the detachment returned to our camp with a good supply of provisions, and without having encountered any disaster. This was all the damage our men did, although they had so many opportunities of doing more, Cortes having most strictly forbidden any wanton outrage, that there might not be a repetition of what happened on the island of Cozumel.

We were overjoyed with the provisions; for when man can satisfy his appetite, he forgets half his sufferings. Gomara mentions another expedition in this place, which, he says, Cortes himself undertook, with 400 men, to explore the interior of the country: but here again he must have been misinformed; for there was no other made than the one I have just mentioned. In the meantime Cortes was not inactive, but did all in his power to gain the adherents of Diego Velasquez: one was presented with some of the gold we had made,--for with gold mountains are removed; another was silenced by considerable promises. He likewise set the whole of them at liberty, excepting Juan Velasquez de Leon and Diego de Ordas, who were lying bound in chains on board a vessel: however, both these were also shortly after released, and they became true friends to him, of which they subsequently gave sufficient proofs. Gold, indeed, was not spared on this occasion, for they were only to be tamed by that means. As soon as greater union was thus restored, it was resolved that we should march for the township Quiahuitzlan, which I have above mentioned. Our vessels were also at the same time to set sail and run into the harbour, lying about four miles from the latter place.

Our march lay along the coast, and on our route we killed a large fish which had been thrown on shore; we then came to a pretty deep river, on whose banks the town of Vera Cruz at present lies: this we crossed by means of some old canoes we found here, and by ferryboats; I, however, swam across. On the opposite bank of the river lay several small townships, subject to one more extensive called Sempoalla. This was the home of the five Indians who came to Cortes in the character of ambassadors, and who were called by us _Lopelucios_. We found the idol-temples stained with spots of blood, the apparatus for perfuming and sacrificing, a quantity of parrot feathers, and several packages of paper stitched one over the other, resembling our Spanish linen. We nowhere met any Indians; for as they had never before seen people like unto us, nor any horses, they had all run away from fear, so that we were forced to go hungry to bed. The next day we marched inland in an easterly direction: of course we had not the least knowledge of the road we were taking, and we turned at a venture into a beautiful meadow, where we found wild deer grazing. Pedro de Alvarado chased one of these on his brown mare, and managed to wound it with his lance; but the animal escaped over some heights.

In the meantime twelve Indians made their appearance, inhabitants of the district, where we were encamped for the night, bringing with them some fowls and maise-bread, which, they told Cortes, by means of our interpreter, had been sent us by their cazique, who had likewise desired we should visit his township, which lay at a distance of one sun, say a day's march, from our present station. Cortes returned them sincere thanks for their great kindness, and we marched on until we came to a small township, where a short time previous several human beings had been sacrificed. As the kind reader would be disgusted with hearing of the numbers of male and female Indians we found butchered along every road and in every village we passed through, I will be silent on that head, and merely add that a supper was provided for us in the small village where we had arrived. Here we also learnt that the road to Quiahuitzlan, which latter lay on a hill, passed through Sempoalla, where we next arrive.

[17*] Costatlan, Bernal Diaz also adds here, "Y este nombre de Culua es en aquella tierra, como si dixessen los Romanos hallados." As this passage is rather obscure, we thought it best to insert it here. The literal translation is: "And this appellation of Culua, in this country, means as much as when one would say, 'the merry Romans.'" In the 31st chapter he makes a similar remark. (p. 102.)

CHAPTER XLV.

_How we marched into Sempoalla, which at that period was a very considerable township, and what we did there._

After we had slept in the village, where the twelve Indians had quartered us, and accurately ascertained the road we were to take to Quiahuitzlan, we left very early in the morning for that place. Cortes sent six of the Indians before us to acquaint the caziques of Sempoalla that we were approaching, and to beg permission to visit them. The six other Indians remained behind as our guides. The whole of us marched forward in the best order, while our cannon and other arms were ready for use at a moment's notice; besides this sharp-shooters were always in advance, all strong active fellows, whom as well as the horse no one could elude.

We were not further than three miles from Sempoalla, when we were met by twenty Indians who came to welcome us in the name of their cazique. These carried in their hands pine-apples, most deliciously scented, and of a deep red colour, which they presented to Cortes and the others who sat on horseback, adding that their ruler awaited us in his quarters, for on account of his corpulency he had been prevented from coming out to meet us himself. Cortes thanked them kindly for their attentions, and we marched forward. As we passed along the houses of the town we were greatly surprised, for a town of such magnitude we had not yet met with. And when we saw that all around had the appearance of a luxurious garden, and that the streets were filled with people of both sexes, we returned most fervent thanks to God for having allowed us to discover such a country. The vanguard of our horse was naturally very much in advance, and had arrived in the great square and up to the dwellings where our quarters were prepared. As the walls a few days previous had been newly plastered with lime, (which these Indians prepare uncommonly well,) and the sun was shining full upon them at the time, one of our horse soldiers came galloping up to Cortes at full speed to inform him that the walls here were built of silver. Aguilar and Dona Marina immediately saw that this was lime fresh laid on; which of course created abundance of laughter. We never omitted on subsequent occasions to remind the man of it, joking him that everything white appeared to him like silver.

When we arrived at our quarters the fat cazique came out in the courtyard to receive us. The man was, indeed, excessively corpulent, wherefore I shall always distinguish him thereby. He paid Cortes the greatest respect, and perfumed him according to the custom of the country, who then embraced him in return. After these welcomes we were shown into our quarters, which were very comfortable, and so spacious that there was sufficient room for us all. Food was next set before us, among which there was maise-bread and several basketsful of plums, of which there were great quantities, these being just then in season. As we were greatly famished, and had not for a length of time seen such quantities of provisions at once, some of us called the place Villariciosa (luxurious town), and others Sevilla. Cortes gave strict orders that the inhabitants should not be molested in the slightest degree, and also that none of us should leave our quarters.

It being announced to the fat cazique that we had finished dining, he sent word to Cortes that he was desirous of paying him a visit, and immediately after he arrived with a considerable number of distinguished personages, who wore heavy golden ornaments and richly-worked mantles. Cortes rose to meet them at the entrance of our quarters, and received them most kindly. After the first compliments were passed the fat cazique handed a present to him which he had brought, consisting in golden trinkets and cotton stuffs, but of little value. The cazique constantly repeated: "Lopelucio, Lopelucio, accept this in favorable kind; if we had more to give we should have brought it."

Cortes desired Dona Marina and Aguilar to acquaint him how grateful he was for so much kindness, and he had merely to inform him in what way he in return could be of service to him and his people. We were the vassals of the great emperor Charles, who had dominion over many kingdoms and countries, and who had sent us out to redress wrongs wherever we came, punish the bad, and make known his commands that human sacrifices should no longer be continued. To all this was added a good deal about our holy religion.

After the fat cazique heard this he sighed deeply, and complained most bitterly about Motecusuma and his governors. It was not long ago that he had been subdued by the former, and robbed of all his golden trinkets. His sway was so excessively oppressive, that he durst not move without his orders; yet no one had sufficient courage to oppose him, as he possessed such vast towns and countries, such numbers of subjects and extensive armies. Cortes answered that he would relieve him of the oppression under which he groaned, but for the present moment he could not occupy himself with such matters. He had first of all to pay a visit to his _acales_, (so ships are termed in their language,) and prepare our quarters in Quiahuitzlan, where they would further talk the matter over. The fat cazique said he was perfectly satisfied with this, and the next morning we left Sempoalla. Four hundred Indian porters, who, in this district, are termed tamenes, were sent to accompany us. Each of these porters is capable of carrying a weight of fifty pounds to a distance of twenty miles. We were all highly delighted that each of us had a man a piece to carry our baggage; for previously every one had to carry his own knapsack, the five or six Cuba Indians we had with us being of little use. Dona Marina and Aguilar said that according to the custom of this country the caziques were bound in times of peace to lend their porters to any one who required them. From this moment we always demanded them wherever we came. After the first day's march we staid the night at a small township not far from Quiahuitzlan. It was wholly uninhabited, and the people of Sempoalla furnished us with food for supper. Gomara allows Cortes to pass several days at Sempoalla, and then form the confederacy and rebellion against Motecusuma. This, together with the account he gives of the number of Cuba Indians we were said to have brought with us, is wholly false; for, as I have stated, we left Sempoalla immediately on the following morning after our arrival. Where and what caused the different tribes to revolt I will afterwards relate. For the present we shall make our entry into Quiahuitzlan.

CHAPTER XLVI.

_How we march into Quiahuitzlan, which was a town with fortifications, and were most friendly received._

The next morning about ten o'clock we arrived in the principal township Quiahuitzlan, which is built on the steep declivity of a rock, and would certainly be difficult to take if defended. We put no trust in the peace which reigned through the country, and marched in the best order with the greatest precaution. Our troops were preceded by the cannon, that it might be ready at hand if required. Here it was that Alonso de Avila, a severe and haughty man, ran a soldier named Alonso of Villanueva, who had only one arm, through the empty sleeve of his coat, with the point of his lance, because he marched out of the ranks. From that moment we termed the man the one-armed of Villanueva. However, I shall likewise be accused of marching out of the ranks, if I relate such trifles: I cannot deny it, and will, therefore, immediately fall in again. We arrived in the midst of the town without meeting any one, and were not a little surprised at this circumstance, as the inhabitants had left that very morning, when they found we were approaching their dwellings. On the most elevated point of the fortress there was an open space in front of the cues and large houses of their idols; and here we first met with fifteen well-dressed Indians, who were carrying perfuming pans. With these they went up to Cortes, perfumed him and all who were near at the time, bid us welcome, and most humbly begged forgiveness for not having come out to meet us, and confessed that fear of ourselves and horses had prevented them, and that they had first wished to know who we were. We had now only to make ourselves comfortable, they added, and that very evening they would see that all the inhabitants returned to their houses.

Cortes thanked them most kindly for their good reception, and told them many things about our holy religion and our great monarch, as was customary with us wherever we came. He also presented them with a few green glass beads and other trifles we had brought from Spain; they supplying us with fowls and maise-bread in return.

While the first welcomings were going on it was announced to Cortes that the fat cazique of Sempoalla was approaching in a sedan, supported by numbers of distinguished Indians. Immediately upon his arrival he renewed his complaints against Motecusuma, in which he was joined by the cazique of this township and the other chief personages. He related so much of the cruelties and oppression they had to suffer, and thereby sobbed and sighed so bitterly that we could not help being affected. At the time when they were subdued, they had already been greatly ill used; Motecusuma then demanded annually a great number of their sons and daughters, a portion of whom were sacrificed to the idols, and the rest were employed in his household and for tilling his grounds. His tax-gatherers took their wives and daughters without any ceremony if they were handsome, merely to satisfy their lusts. The Totonaques, whose territory consisted of upwards of thirty townships, suffered like violence.

Cortes consoled them as well as he could by means of our interpreters. He promised and assured them that he would put an end to such oppression and ill usage. It was particularly for this object that his majesty had sent us to their country; they should, therefore, keep up their spirits, and they would soon see what he was about to do for their good. This in some measure seemed to comfort them; though Cortes was unable wholly to allay the fear in which they stood of the great Motecusuma.

We soon had proof of this on the very spot; for, during our discourse with these caziques, some Indians belonging to the district announced that just then five Mexican tax-gatherers had arrived. At this information the caziques turned quite pale with fear; they left Cortes and hastened to receive the unexpected guests, for whom an apartment was immediately cleared and dinner set on table. Cacao in great quantities was in particular served up to them, which is the principal beverage of the Indians. As the house of the cazique was in the neighbourhood, the Mexicans passed by our quarters; but behaved with such reserve and so haughtily, that they neither addressed Cortes nor any of us. They wore richly-worked mantles and maltatas similarly manufactured, which were then still in fashion among them. The hair of their head was combed out quite glossy and tied up in a knot in which were stuck some sweet scented roses. Every one carried a stick with a hook, and had an Indian slave with a fan to keep off the flies. They were accompanied by a great number of distinguished personages from the country of the Totonaques, who remained around them until they arrived in their quarters and had sat down to dinner. After this was finished they sent for the fat cazique and the other chiefs of the townships, and scolded them under severe threats for having received us. They had no business with us, added they; this was by no means the wish of their master Motecusuma, without whose command and permission they ought not to have provided us with quarters, nor given us any golden trinkets. They would have to pay dearly for all this; at present, however, they must find twenty Indians and an equal number of females, in order that by sacrificing them they might appease the gods for the evil service which had thus been rendered.

Cortes, who observed how restless every one appeared, desired Dona Marina and Aguilar to explain the reason of all this, and who the strange Indians were. Marina knew all that had passed, and told him accordingly; upon which he sent for the fat cazique, with the chiefs of the townships, and questioned them himself as to who the strangers were whom they treated so ceremoniously? They answered, that these were tax-gatherers of the great Motecusuma, who had remonstrated with them for having received us without his previous permission, and now required twenty persons, of both sexes, for a sacrifice to the god of war, in order that he should grant them the victory over us. They had likewise been assured, that Motecusuma would take us prisoners and turn us into slaves.

Upon this Cortes consoled and bid them take courage, assuring them he would punish the Mexicans for it, as both he himself and his troops were willing, and had the power to do so.

CHAPTER XLVII.

_How Cortes ordered the five Mexican tax-gatherers to be imprisoned, and no further obedience to be paid Motecusuma, nor tribute to be exacted; and of the rebellion which was now excited against this monarch._

Cortes further said to the caziques, they were aware he had already assured them that the emperor, our master, had specifically commissioned him to punish all those who did evil, and in particular, no longer to suffer kidnapping nor human sacrifices.

As the Mexican tax-gatherers now required human beings of them for those sacrifices, he would take and keep them prisoners until Motecusuma should learn the reason why he had done so, and was made acquainted with the other violent measures they were accustomed to commit against them, their wives and daughters.

The caziques were excessively alarmed that Cortes should require this at their hands, and durst not venture to lay hands on the tax-gatherers of the mighty Motecusuma. But Cortes exhorted them for such a length of time that they at last took courage, seized their persons, and fastened them, in their fashion, to long poles, by collars, which went round the neck, so that they could not even move themselves. One of them, who made resistance, was whipped into the bargain.

Upon this Cortes commanded the caziques no longer to obey the mandates of Motecusuma, nor to pay him tribute, and to make these his wishes known to all those tribes with whom they were allied and friendly, adding that they should inform him, whether there were tax-gatherers in other districts, that he might also send to take them prisoners.

The rumour of all this quickly spread through the whole country, as the fat cazique despatched messengers to that end, while the chiefs, who had accompanied the Mexican tax-gatherers, hastened back to their townships to relate the wonderful news. When the Indians learnt this astounding, and to them so important an occurrence, they said to one another, that, such great things could not have been done by men, but only by _teules_, which sometimes mean gods, sometimes demons, here in the former sense; which was the reason they termed us teules, from that moment; and I beg the reader to observe, that whenever in future I speak of teules in affairs relating to us, that we are meant thereby.

All the caziques were of opinion that we should sacrifice the prisoners, that they might not return to Mexico and relate what had befallen them. Cortes, however, strictly forbade this, and placed a strong watch over them. About midnight he ordered the sentinels into his presence, and said to them: "Pay particular attention to what I say. Take two of the most active of the prisoners, now in our hands, and bring them into my quarters. This must be done with great circumspection, so that the Indians of this township may know nothing of it."

When the two men were brought before Cortes, he did as if he was unconscious they were Mexicans, and questioned them, by means of interpreters, as to whence they came, and why they had been taken prisoners? To which they answered, "that the caziques of Sempoalla, and of this township, had seized upon their persons in secret understanding with us." Cortes, however, positively assured them, that he was totally ignorant of the whole matter, and was very sorry it should have happened. He immediately ordered food to be given them, and otherwise to be kindly treated, and commissioned them to acquaint their monarch, Motecusuma, that we were all his sincerest friends and most devoted servants. That they might not suffer any further ill treatment, he added, they should be set at liberty and he would severely reprimand the caziques, by whom they had been imprisoned. He was ready to render them any service in his power, and he would likewise release their three companions; they themselves, however, had better get out of sight as quickly as possible, that they might not be retaken by the inhabitants and killed. Both the prisoners said, they should be very thankful for their liberty, but were afraid of falling again into their enemies' hands, as they were compelled to pass through their country. Cortes therefore ordered six sailors to take the Mexicans in a boat to a certain point on the coast, twelve miles distant, where they would be out of the Sempoallan territory. All this was dexterously managed, and when daylight appeared the caziques and other chiefs were not a little surprised to find only three prisoners remaining. These they insisted should be sacrificed, but Cortes feigned to be highly incensed at the escape of the two, and said he was determined to guard the others himself. To this end he ordered chains to be brought from our vessels, with which the prisoners were bound, and in that way taken on board, where their chains were taken off again. They received the kindest treatment, and were assured they would be sent back to Mexico in a very short time.

The caziques of Sempoalla, Quiahuitzlan, and those from the country of the Totonaques, now assembled and explained the position in which they were placed at present, as no doubt Motecusuma, upon the first intelligence of the imprisonment of his tax-gatherers, would put his army in motion and fall upon them, the consequence of which would be their total extirpation.

But Cortes assured them, with the most pleasing smile on his countenance, that he and his brothers who were with him would be their protection, and he who should dare to molest them, should forfeit his life. Upon this the caziques, one and all, promised to unite their whole armed force to ours against Motecusuma and his allies. On this occasion Diego de Godoy drew up a formal deed of their subjection to the sceptre of his majesty the emperor, and notice was sent of this to the different townships of the province. As there was no further talk of tribute, and tax-gatherers no longer made their appearance, these people were almost out of their senses for excessive joy in having shaken off the Mexican yoke.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

How we resolved to found Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz and construct a fortress on the low meadows, in the neighbourhood of some salt springs and the harbour, where our vessels were anchored; and what further happened.

After we had thus formed an alliance with the thirty townships of the Totonaque mountains, which had revolted from Motecusuma and submitted of their own free will to the sceptre of our sovereign, we immediately hastened to profit by the circumstance and found Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. The spot we made choice of lay at about two miles distance from the fortress of Quiahuitzlan, in the valley beneath. We first of all marked out the ground for the church, the market, the magazines and other public buildings belonging to a town. We then set off part of the ground to form a fortress, and nothing could exceed the assiduity with which the walls of the foundation were carried up, the woodwork completed, the turrets and loopholes constructed with the parapets. Cortes himself put the first hand to it, carried a basket filled with stones and earth on his shoulders, and worked at the foundations. The caziques and all of us followed his example, and every part of the work was carried on with like vigour. Some were mixing mortar, fetching water, burning chalk, baking bricks and tiles, others prepared the food and cut wood. The smiths hammered hard at the nails and other ironwork. In short, from the highest to the lowest showed the greatest activity, while the Indians lent us such efficacious aid, that in a short time the church and other buildings were quite finished, and the fortress nearly so.

In the meantime Motecusuma received the intelligence at Mexico, that his tax-gatherers had been imprisoned by our allies; that the latter had renounced obedience to him, and that all the Totonaque townships had revolted. He was excessively enraged against Cortes and the whole of us, and ordered one of his powerful chiefs to make war upon the tribes which had revolted, and extirpate them to a man. Against us he would march in person at the head of an immense army, commanded by many generals. While preparations for this purpose were being made, the two prisoners whom Cortes had liberated arrived in Mexico. When Motecusuma learnt that Cortes had restored them to liberty, and himself sent them to Mexico with the commission to offer his services to their monarch, the Almighty softened down the hardness of his heart, and he resolved to make inquiries as to what our intentions were. To this end he despatched two of his young nephews, accompanied by four aged men, who were caziques of distinction, to our quarters, sending with them a present consisting in gold and cotton stuffs. These men were commissioned to thank Cortes for the liberation of his two tax-gatherers, but at the same time to make heavy complaints respecting these tribes who had presumed to revolt from him, merely because we had taken them under our protection, and now refused all further obedience and to pay tribute. At present he was merely withheld from putting his threat into execution of exterminating them totally, out of consideration for us, since we inhabited their dwellings; for, in our persons he recognized that people whose arrival in this country had been foretold by his ancestors, and who were of the same lineage with himself. However, they would not long rejoice in their treachery, and he should know how to deal with them at some future period.

Cortes received these messengers very kindly and accepted their present, which was worth above 2000 pesos. He assured them that he as well as all the rest of us were friendly disposed, and ready to serve Motecusuma, and that it was in this spirit we had taken the three other tax-gatherers under our protection, who were now immediately brought forth from our vessels, clothed and delivered up to the ambassadors. Neither did Cortes on his part suppress the complaints he had to make against Motecusuma, for he told them, that Quitlalpitoc, his governor, had passed a night in our quarters, and had been uncourteous enough not to call upon him. He was, certainly, convinced that such behaviour had not been commanded by Motecusuma, but had emanated from the natural ill-breeding of the man. Honorable treatment, however, had so much worth in our estimation, that for this reason only had we paid a visit to the townships where we now were. Motecusuma, therefore, ought to pardon the people for our sakes. But as to their complaints respecting the refusal to pay tribute, it was to be imagined that they could not serve two masters at once, as they had, during our stay here, sworn allegiance to our emperor. For the rest, he and his companions would shortly wait upon Motecusuma himself, when these matters could be altogether amicably adjusted.

After this and other declarations, Cortes presented both these distinguished young personages and their four venerable companions, who were men of the first consequence, with blue and green coloured beads, paying them the greatest possible respect.

As the meadows in this neighbourhood were well adapted for cavalry exercise, Cortes desired Alvarado, who had an excellent brown mare, and our other good riders, to go through the different manoeuvres, by which we quite won the hearts of these messengers, who returned highly satisfied to Mexico. About this time Cortes lost his horse; for which reason Ortiz, the musician, and Bartolome Garcia, the mountaineer, gave up their dark brown horse to him, which was one of the best among the whole troop.

For the rest, our allies in the mountains and the inhabitants of Sempoalla had stood in no little awe of Motecusuma, as they believed nothing less than that he would instantly invade their country with a great army to extirpate them. But, when they found that even several of his relatives arrived, bringing presents, and that they comported themselves so submissively to Cortes, they began more and more to fear us, and the caziques said to one another, these must necessarily be teules, as even Motecusuma himself stood in awe of us and sent us presents. If they had previously formed a great idea of our power, it was now vastly augmented by this unexpected circumstance.

CHAPTER XLIX.

_How the fat cazique and other chief men of the country come and complain to Cortes, that a garrison of Mexicans had been thrown into the strong fortress of Tzinpantzinco, committing great depredations; and what further took place._

After the Mexican messengers had taken their leave, the fat cazique with several other distinguished personages from among our allies called upon Cortes, and begged of him to repair to a township called Tzinpantzinco, two days' journey, or about from thirty-two to thirty-six miles from Sempoalla; as a number of Mexican warriors had assembled there, destroying their fields and plantations, falling upon their subjects, and doing all manner of mischief. Cortes manifested great sympathy for them, but scarcely knew what answer he should give, as he had promised them every assistance. He, therefore, desired them to retire, until he should have considered the matter a little.

After he had bethought himself for a short time, he turned smilingly round to us who were standing near him and said: "Methinks, gentlemen, we already pass here for great heroes; indeed, after what has happened with the tax-gatherers these people must look upon us as gods, or a species of beings like their idols. Now, I am of opinion it is best to strengthen them in this notion; and that they may think that one single man of us is sufficient to dislodge the Mexicans from the fortress of Tzinpantzinco, we will send thither old Heredia of Biscay. The malignancy of his features, his huge beard, his half-mangled countenance, his squinting eyes and lame leg, constitute him the most fitting person for this object, besides which he is a musketeer."

Cortes then sent for the man and said to him: "You must go with the caziques to the river which flows about a mile from this spot. When you have arrived there do as if you were thirsty, and wished to wash your hands; then fire off your musket. This shall be a signal for me to send some one after you, who will, in my name, desire you to return. All this is done in order that the Indians may suppose us to be deities, and as you have not one of the most pleasing countenances, I trust they will take you by preference to be some idol."

Heredia, who had served many years in Italia, perfectly well knew how to perform his part, and gladly undertook this matter. Cortes now ordered the fat cazique, and the other chief Indians who were expecting succours from us, into his presence again, saying to them: "I send this my brother with you to drive the Mexicans out of the fortress, and to bring those whom he does not kill prisoners to me."

When the caziques heard this they stood in utter amazement, not knowing whether Cortes was in earnest; but finding he did not change countenance, they began to convince themselves that this was really his intention, and marched away in company of Heredia. When he had arrived between the mountains he loaded his musket and shot it off in the air, that it might be heard by every Indian in the district. The caziques themselves sent notice to the different townships, that they had a teule with them, and were marching to Tzinpantzinco in order to kill the Mexicans there.

I have mentioned this laughable circumstance, that the reader may see what artifices Cortes employed to throw dust into the eyes of the Indians. Of course, when Heredia arrived at the river he was recalled; the caziques returning with him, to whom Cortes said, he had formed a different plan. His friendship for them was so great, that he would accompany them himself with some of his brothers, in order to take a survey of the country and the fortress. They had only to furnish four hundred porters to convey the cannon, and to return to us next morning early. All this was accordingly done, and as soon as daylight had broken forth, we moved forward, four hundred in number, with fourteen horse and a sufficient number of matchlocks and arquebuses.

On this occasion some of Diego Velasquez's adherents again began to murmur, declaring that Cortes might proceed further with those who wished to follow him; but as for themselves they were determined to return to Cuba.

How this matter terminated we shall see in the following chapter.

CHAPTER L.

_How some of Diego Velasquez's adherents refused to take any further part in our proceedings, and declared their determination to return to Cuba, seeing that Cortes was earnestly bent upon founding a colony, and had already commenced to pacify the inhabitants._

Next morning when our petty officers went round to our different quarters and called upon the men to march out with their arms and horses, the partisans of Velasquez insolently answered, that they would take no further part in any expedition, but wished to return home to their possessions in Cuba. They had already lost enough, by allowing themselves to be led away by Cortes to join him in the first instance; they now, however, would desire him to fulfil the promise, which he had made in the camp on the downs, namely, to grant those their discharge who wished to return to Cuba, and provide them a vessel and the necessary provisions.

Seven men now declared they were positively determined to return home; Cortes, therefore, desired they should be brought before him, and asked them, "Why they wished to play him such a vile trick?" They answered in rather an angry tone, "That they could not help feeling astonished, he should think of founding a colony with a handful of men in a country full of towns possessing many thousands of inhabitants. They were suffering from indisposition, quite tired of roving about, and desired to return to their settlements in Cuba; he ought, therefore, to grant them their discharge according to promise."

To this Cortes answered, in the mildest manner possible, that he had made such promise indeed; but, that they would be acting in a manner forgetful of their duty to desert the standard of their captain at a time when he was meditating an expedition: at the same time he commanded them to embark themselves immediately, and provided them with a vessel, cassave-bread, a bottle of oil, a quantity of vegetables, and such things as ships generally take on distant voyages. One of these men, a certain Moron of Delbayamo, had a well-trained horse, and exchanged it most profitably with Juan Ruano for some valuable property the latter had at Cuba.

When these men were about to set sail, the rest of our troops, headed by the alcaldes and regidors of the town of Vera Cruz, repaired to Cortes and begged of him to issue an order that no one should leave the country, an order which both the service of God and his majesty required, declaring that they considered every one merited death who could think of such a thing, surrounded as we were by such numerous enemies, nor could we look upon them in any other light than men who wished to desert their commander and his standard in the midst of battle and in the moment of the greatest danger. Cortes, nevertheless, did as if he was desirous of discharging the malcontents, but soon after countermanded this order. All they got for their pains was contempt and disgrace, while Moron in the bargain was done out of his horse, which Juan Ruano had no wish to return him. Upon this Cortes gave orders for our march, and we arrived without any accident in Tzinpantzinco.

CHAPTER LI.

_What happened to us at Tzinpantzinco, and how, on our return to Sempoalla, we destroyed all the idols; likewise of other matters._

The first day we marched twenty miles, and arrived at Sempoalla, where we passed the night: here 2000 Indian warriors, divided into four troops, stood ready to join us. The second day, towards nightfall, we arrived at the plantations in front of Tzinpantzinco, and took the road leading into that fortress, which wound up between large and steep rocks. The inhabitants were most likely apprized of our approach; for immediately eight Indians of distinction and several papas came out to us, making signs of peace, and asked Cortes, with tears in their eyes, why we were going to kill them, as they had done nothing against us? We bore the character of doing good only wherever we might come, and of putting a stop to the oppression of nations, and for that reason had even imprisoned the tax-gatherers of Motecusuma: between the warriors of Sempoalla, who accompanied us, and themselves there existed an inimical feeling, already of ancient date, respecting a dispute of territory and boundaries, and these people had no other object in view than to plunder and destroy them, under our protection: there was, indeed, generally speaking, a Mexican garrison in their township, which, however, had returned home, upon the news that we had imprisoned the tax-gatherers; they, therefore, begged of us not to proceed any further, and to be merciful towards them.

When these representations were made known to Cortes through our interpreters, he immediately ordered Alvarado and Christobal de Oli, with us who were nearest to him, to march off to the Sempoallans and command them not to advance any further. Though we used the utmost expedition to fulfil these orders, yet we already found them plundering the plantations. This made Cortes excessively angry; he ordered the chiefs of the Sempoallans into his presence, and severely remonstrated with them for such behaviour: he commanded them, with heavy threats, to bring him all the plunder, and not to set a foot into the town. They had trumped up a false story to us, he told them, merely to be enabled, under our protection, to plunder their neighbours and then to sacrifice them, whereby they had deserved death. Our emperor had not sent us to this country to commit such crimes, and they had better mind not again to fall into such guilt, as none of them would escape alive if it happened again.

After this earnest reproof, the caziques and chiefs of Sempoalla brought the prisoners and the turkey-fowls they had captured: the first, Cortes ordered to be set at liberty, and the latter were restored to their owners; upon which he commanded the Sempoallans, in a very angry tone, to return to their camp and there remain for the night.

The caziques and papas of Tzinpantzinco, with other inhabitants of the surrounding neighbourhood, having witnessed this act of justice, and seeing altogether how friendly Cortes was disposed, and the good deeds which he manifested, were the more susceptible of the things he told them about our holy religion,--respecting the abolishment of their human sacrifices and kidnapping, the discontinuation of other abominations and obscenities, with other matters salutary to their well being. They appeared so well inclined that they assembled the inhabitants of the surrounding districts, and formally declared themselves vassals of the emperor, our master. On this occasion, likewise, numerous complaints were made against Motecusuma, which all terminated with instances of his oppression similar to what we had heard from the Sempoallans and Quiahuitzlans.

The next morning very early Cortes sent for the chiefs and caziques of the Sempoallans. In fear and anxiety had they passed the while, in consequence of his anger for having attempted to deceive us with a pack of lies. He brought about a reconciliation and good understanding between them and the inhabitants of Tzinpantzinco, which was never afterwards interrupted. Upon this we again put ourselves in motion, and marched back to Sempoalla, but took a different route over two townships friendly with the Tzinpantzincans, where we rested ourselves, as we were greatly fatigued, and the sun was excessively hot. In one of these townships, a certain Mora, of Ciudad-Rodrigo, took some fowls out of an Indian hut, which so greatly incensed Cortes that he ordered a rope to be tied around the fellow's neck, and would have had him hung up if Alvarado, who was standing next to Cortes, had not cut the rope in two with his sword, and thus released the poor devil, who had the fear of death before his eyes.

I have merely mentioned this trait to convince the curious reader how exemplary Cortes acted, and of the necessity of being strict under similar circumstances. Mora subsequently lost his life in a battle we fought on a mountain in the province of Guatimala. After we had left these two townships in peace, we found the fat cazique with the chiefs of Sempoalla in some huts which they had constructed for us, where they were waiting our arrival with various kinds of provisions which they had brought with them. Although Indians, they readily perceived what a good and holy thing is justice, and that Cortes' declaration of our having come into these countries to put an end to all oppression, perfectly agreed with his conduct on our entry into Tzinpantzinco; they, therefore, became the more united to us. We passed the night in these huts, and returned next morning, in company of our Indian friends, to Sempoalla. Indeed, the only wish of the Sempoallans was now, that we should never leave their country again, fearing Motecusuma would send an army about their ears; they, therefore, proposed to Cortes, since such a close and friendly alliance now subsisted between us, and we could look upon each other as brothers, that we should choose wives from among their daughters and relatives, that our posterity might descend from one and the same stock. In order that this more intimate connexion might be brought about, they immediately made a good beginning by presenting us with eight females, all daughters of caziques: one of these, the niece of the fat cazique, was given to Cortes, and Puertocarrero was presented with the daughter of another powerful cazique, whom they called Cuesco. All these young women were finely dressed out after the fashion of the country: they wore beautiful shifts, had golden chains about their necks, golden rings in their ears, and had other Indian females to wait upon them.

When the fat cazique presented these, he said to Cortes, "_Tecle_, (which signifies sir, in their language,) these seven women are intended for your chief officers, and this my niece, who herself holds dominion over a country and a people, I have destined for you." Cortes joyfully accepted of the young women, and returned thanks to the chiefs, remarking, at the same time, that he should gladly recognize in these women, the bonds of brotherly union between us. But now they should likewise renounce their idols, and no longer bring them human sacrifices. It grieved him sorely whenever he reflected on the monstrous heresy in which they lived; henceforth he would neither see nor hear of these abominations, of human sacrifices and unnatural offences: then only could a permanent and brotherly union subsist between us. Above all things the women must be converted to Christianity, before we could think of taking them. Further, all unnatural crimes must be put a stop to, and young men must cease to go about in female garments, to make a livelihood by such cursed lewdness. Indeed, hardly a day passed by that these people did not sacrifice from three to four, and even five Indians, tearing the hearts out of their bodies, to present them to the idols and smear the blood on the walls of the temple. The arms and legs of these unfortunate beings were then cut off and devoured, just in the same way we should fetch meat from a butcher's shop and eat it: indeed I even believe that human flesh is exposed for sale cut up, in their _tiangues_, or markets.

"All these atrocities," added Cortes, "must cease from this moment; then only could our union be sincere, and should we be able to make them lords over additional countries." To this the caziques, the papas, and all the other personages answered, "That it would be impossible to abolish their idols and the human sacrifices: for everything that was good they received from these idols; they made their seeds grow and granted them all necessaries; but with regard to the unnatural crimes, they would strive in future to put an end to them."

This unsatisfactory answer made a most disagreeable impression on Cortes and all of us; for, indeed, we could no longer bear to look upon their barbarities and the dissolute life which they led. Cortes spoke a long time to us upon the subject; he brought many holy and useful lessons to our mind, and observed "That we could do nothing which would be more beneficial to this people, and more to the glory of God, than to abolish this idolatry with its human sacrifices. It was certainly to be expected that the inhabitants would rise up in arms, if we proceeded to destroy their idols: we should, however, make the attempt, if even it were to cost us our lives."

Upon this we all arrayed ourselves as if we were preparing for battle, and Cortes acquainted the caziques that we were now going out to destroy their idols. When the fat cazique heard this he ordered the other chiefs to call out the warriors in their defence, and when we were about to mount up a high temple where the sacrifices were made,--I forget now how many steps led to the top,--he and the other chiefs became outrageously furious. They went menacing up to Cortes, and asked him, "Why he was going to destroy their gods? such an insult they would not suffer; it would be their and our destruction."

Cortes now also lost patience, and answered, "He had already told them several times they should not sacrifice to these monsters, who were nothing more than deceivers and liars. There was now, therefore, no alternative left him than to lay violent hands on them himself, and hurl them from their bases. He must look upon them as his worst enemies, and not as friends, since they would put no faith in his advice. He was well aware what design their chiefs and armed warriors had in hand; his forbearance was at last exhausted, and any opposition would cost them their lives."

These threats were most intelligibly interpreted to the Indians by Dona Marina, who also put them in mind of Motecusuma's army, which every moment might fall upon them. They, therefore, turned the question another way, and declared, "That they were not worthy of laying hands on their gods. If we durst venture to do so, they supposed we must, for we could not resist the temptation; but they would never give their consent."

They had scarcely done speaking when more than fifty of us began to mount the steps of the temple. We tore down the idols from their pediments, broke them to pieces, and flung them piecemeal down the steps. Some of these idols were shaped like furious dragons, and were about the size of young calves; others with half the human form; some again were shaped like large dogs, but all were horrible to look at.

When the caziques and papas thus beheld these monsters lying crumbled on the ground, they set up a miserable howl, covered their faces, and begged forgiveness of the idols in the Totonaque language, as they were unable to protect them against the teules, nor durst they attack us for fear of Motecusuma. It did not, however, end here, for their armed warriors who had now come up began to fly their arrows at us. Finding matters had taken such a turn, we seized the fat cazique, six papas, and several of the chief personages; and Cortes declared to them, that if the attack was not instantly staid they should all forfeit their lives. Upon this the fat cazique commanded his men to desist, and when quiet was somewhat restored they began to negotiate about terms of peace, which was concluded as shall shortly be related.

In this place I have only further to add, that our march to Tzinpantzinco was the first expedition Cortes made towards the interior of New Spain, and that it turned out greatly to our advantage. The historian Gomara here again tells his fables of the many thousands of human beings we destroyed at Tzinpantzinco; the curious reader, however, may sufficiently convince himself from my account what little faith is to be placed in his history, however beautiful the style may be in which it is written.

CHAPTER LII.

_How Cortes erects an altar, and places thereon the image of the blessed Virgin with a cross; after which mass was said, and the eight Indian females baptized._

After peace had been restored between us, the caziques, papas, and other chiefs, Cortes ordered the fragments of the idols we had destroyed to be carried away and burnt. These orders were executed by six papas who came forth from a particular house, into which they carried the broken pieces and burnt them. The dress of these priests consisted in a long black cloak, white cassock, without sleeves, which hung down to the feet, and in a species of hood, which some wore greater, some less in size. Their dress was completely clogged together with blood, with which they were besmeared from head to foot, and impeded in their walk: they likewise smelt most offensively of sulphur and putrid flesh. We subsequently learnt that these papas were sons of distinguished personages. They were forbidden to marry, but were wholly given to unnatural offences, and fasted on certain days. Generally speaking, I never saw them eat anything else than the seeds of the cotton tree; they may, however, have partaken of other food for all I know.

When the idols were burnt, Cortes said everything that was edifying to the Indians by means of our interpreters. "Now," he said, "we could look upon them as our true brothers, and lend them every powerful assistance against Motecusuma and the Mexicans, he having already acquainted the former that he was no longer to make war upon them, nor to exact tribute. Instead of their idols, he would give them our own blessed Virgin and Sainte, the mother of Jesus Christ, in whom we believed, and to whom we prayed, that she might intercede and protect them in heaven."

The Indians listened with great good nature to this and many other things, which Cortes explained to them, concerning our holy religion. Every mason in the town was now set to work to bring chalk, which was in great abundance here, to clean away the blood from the walls of the cues, and plaster them well over. The day following this work was finished and an altar erected, which was covered with cotton cloth. The Indians were likewise ordered to bring a quantity of their splendid and sweet-scented roses with small branches of trees. Of these a garland was plaited, which was constantly to be renewed, that the place might remain pure and undefiled. Four papas were selected by Cortes to take charge of this; but their hair was previously shorn off, which they wore, as I have before remarked, very long and bristly; their dirty cloaks were taken off, and white ones put on, which, with the other part of their dress, they were in future to keep perfectly clean. In order, however, that they might have some one to look over them in their new occupation, Cortes nominated Juan de Torres, an old lame invalid of Cordova, to dwell near the altar, in the capacity of anchorite. The carpenters likewise made a cross which we erected on an elevated base, well plastered over with lime.

The next morning early father Olmedo said mass. A regulation was also made that in future the copal of this country should be used instead of our usual incense, and the inhabitants were taught to make wax candles from the wax of the country; of which, up to this moment, they had made no manner of use: these candles were always to be kept burning on the altar. The principal caziques of the district and village attended mass. But the chief ornaments there were the eight Indian females, who in the meantime had remained with their parents and relatives. These were now baptized after an edifying discourse had preceded the ceremony. The niece of the fat cazique, a very ugly woman, was named Dona Catalina, and presented to Cortes, who accepted her with every appearance of delight. The daughter of Cuesco, on the other hand, was most beautiful for an Indian female, and received the name of Dona Francisca, and fell to the lot of Puertocarrero. The six remaining young women, whose names I have totally forgotten, were given to some other of our soldiers.

The mass and baptismal ceremony being concluded, the caziques and principal personages took their leave, and from this moment the best feeling subsisted between us, for they were highly delighted that Cortes had accepted their daughter. We, therefore, returned to our new town Vera Cruz amidst the most joyous professions of friendship, and we shall soon see what happened there.

The good reader, however, may feel assured that nothing of any consequence further took place at Sempoalla than what I have related, and that herein Gomara and the other historians have completely erred.

CHAPTER LIII.

_How we arrived in our town of Vera Cruz, and what happened there._

We arrived at Vera Cruz, in company of the most distinguished personages of Sempoalla, on the same day that a ship had run in there from Cuba. The captain's name was Francisco de Saucedo, but we always called him the gallant, from his extravagance in beautifying his outward person, being altogether a perfect fop. He was said to have been at one time butler to the admiral of Castile, and was born at Medina de Rioseco. Along with him were ten soldiers, and a certain Luis Marin, a most distinguished officer, who afterwards became one of our chief commanders in the Mexican campaigns. Both the former had horses, one a stallion, and the other a mare. These men brought us intelligence that Diego Velasquez had obtained authority from Spain to trade and found colonies wherever he liked, and was appointed adelantado of Cuba. All this pleased his adherents excessively, in particular the latter preferment.

The building of the fortress having solely occupied us for a length of time, and now in such a forward state that we could lay the woodwork, we began to grow tired of doing nothing. Almost the whole of us, therefore, addressed Cortes in a body: representing to him, that we had now been three months in this country, and high time we should just convince ourselves how much truth there was in the boasted power of Motecusuma, of which so much had been said: we would gladly risk our lives in it, and therefore begged he would make preparations for this expedition. But, previous to commencing our march, we ought first to give some proof of our most humble submission to his majesty our emperor, by forwarding him a complete account of everything that had befallen us since our departure from Cuba. We also proposed that all the gold we had bartered for, and the presents sent by Motecusuma, should be forwarded to his majesty.

In answer to which Cortes said, that our ideas accorded exactly with his own, and that he had already spoken to the same effect to several of the cavaliers. There was merely one circumstance which caused him to hesitate, namely, that if each person took the portion of gold which fell to his share, too little would remain to be worthy of his majesty's acceptance. For this reason he commissioned Diego de Ordas and Francisco de Montejo, who were thorough men of business to see what they could make out of those men whom they might expect would demand their share. This was accordingly done, and they represented to every one that we were desirous of sending his majesty the emperor a present in gold, which, considering it was the first, ought indeed to be something valuable. In order, however, to make this possible, nothing remained but that each one should give up his share of the gold which had been made up to this moment. A great number of officers and soldiers had already signed their hands to that effect; yet every one was at liberty to act herein as he thought proper. Here was the paper, which every one who chose could put his hand to.

Every one, without exception, signed his name to the document, and agents were chosen to be despatched to Spain. These were Alonso Puertocarrero and Francisco de Montejo, to whom Cortes himself had already given above two thousand pesos. The best vessel of our squadron, furnished with the necessary provisions and manned with fifteen sailors, was selected to convey them. The charge of the vessel was given to two pilots, one of whom was Anton de Alaminos, from his being so well acquainted with the passage through the Bahama channel, and the first who had ventured that road. Upon this all of us, in common, drew up an account of our adventures expressly for his majesty, relating everything that had happened to us, and Cortes himself, as he assured us, likewise wrote a very circumstantial narrative, which, however, was not given us to read.[18] The account was signed by all the authorities of the new town and ten soldiers, of which I myself was one. But there was likewise another account drawn up by all the officers and soldiers, the contents of which will be fully explained in the following chapter.

[18] Most probably Cortes' despatches of the 16th of July, 1519, which were lost. (p. 125.)

CHAPTER LIV.

_Concerning the account of our adventures, with the letter, which we sent his majesty the emperor, through Puertocarrero and Montejo, the letter being attested by some officers and soldiers._

This account very properly opened with those distinguished marks of respect which were due to our great emperor and master. Then followed a complete account of our expedition, from the day of our departure from Cuba up to our arrival on the coast of Mexico, and the day the account was drawn up. We did not omit to state that we had merely been induced to join the expedition from a promise that we were going to found a colony, and how Diego Velasquez had given Cortes secret instructions merely to confine himself to the trade of barter. That Cortes, conformably to this, had indeed wished to return to Cuba with the gold we had made; that, however, we had compelled him to remain here and found a colony, for which purpose we had elected him captain-general and chief justice, until we should receive his most gracious majesty's pleasure on this head. We had, moreover, promised him a fifth part of all the gold that should remain after deducting the fifths for his majesty. We then mentioned the name of Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, as the first discoverer of this country; the expedition which followed upon that under Juan de Grijalva; of our landing on the island of Cozumel, and of our fortunate discovery of Geronimo de Aguilar, and other things. We described our negotiations with the great Motecusuma, mentioning his power and riches, of which the things he had given us to present to his majesty, consisting in the sun of gold and moon of silver, and the casque of gold dust, as it is found in the mines, as also the other articles of solid and manufactured gold, were small proofs.

After this we spoke about the extent of the country, its population, the arts, customs, and religion of the inhabitants, of whom we sent four as a sample, whom we had liberated from a wooden cage at Sempoalla, where they were being fattened for a sacrificial feast. We then mentioned something about ourselves; how we were in all 450 armed men in the midst of so many warlike tribes; how our expedition had merely for its object to serve God and his majesty; and, in the position we were now placed, how much depended upon a man being at our head who was acquainted with the country, and in whom we could repose all trust. We most humbly begged of his majesty not to confer the command of this country upon any one of his officers; from its extent and vast riches, it was worthy of being ruled by a royal prince or some other great personage. We all feared that the archbishop Don Rodriguez de Fonseca, whom his majesty had intrusted with the government of Indian affairs, had destined the command to one of his own creatures, namely, a certain Diego Velasquez, who was then viceroy of Cuba; this favour, however, was entirely owing to the presents which the bishop received from Velasquez, consisting in the most valuable townships of his imperial domains wherever any gold was to be found. As his majesty's most humble and faithful servants, we could not neglect to bring this under his imperial notice, and we had resolved to wait until our agents had thrown themselves at his majesty's feet to hand over our letters, and his majesty should have acquainted them with his imperial wishes, which we, whatever they might be, would honour in the very dust. If the archbishop Fonseca in the meantime sent any one to take the command, we should not obey him until we had informed his majesty of it, wherever he might be. We begged of his majesty, for the present, to confer the command on Cortes. This prayer we accompanied by such high-flown praise of Cortes,--how faithful and devoted he was to his majesty; that we elevated him to the very skies. This closed the letter, which was drawn up with great discernment, and divided into chapters. This letter was signed by all the officers and soldiers who belonged to Cortes' party. We also took the precaution of keeping other copies.

After the letter was quite finished, Cortes desired to read it, and when he found how faithfully the account was drawn up, and himself so highly praised, he was vastly pleased, returned us hearty thanks, and promised us golden mountains. He, however, observed, that it would be better to make no allusion to the fifth part of the gold which we had promised him; also to suppress the names of the first discoverers of the country. Indeed, we subsequently learnt that Cortes, in his account, never mentioned a word either about Cordoba, or of Grijalva, but reserved all the honour and merit to himself.

Nevertheless the men were not wanting among us who answered the objections made by Cortes, saying it was our bounden duty to narrate every circumstance to his majesty as it had really taken place.

Our agents took charge of the letters, and were bound down by a promise not to touch at the Havannah under any pretence whatever, nor run into the harbour of El Marien, where Francisco de Montejo had possessions. This was done that Velasquez might receive no intelligence of our doings. They certainly promised, but neglected to observe these orders, as will be seen.

Everything being now ready for their departure, father Olmedo said mass, and we commended them to the guidance and protection of the Holy Ghost. On the 26th of July, 1519, they set sail from San Juan de Ulua, and arrived pretty soon at the Havannah. Here Francisco de Montejo left our chief pilot Alaminos no peace, persuading him to sail along the coast in the direction of his settlement, where he pretended he would take in a fresh supply of cassave-bread and bacon. Puertocarrero was greatly displeased with this conduct; however, the landing was effected. The night following a sailor swam secretly on shore, and forwarded Diego Velasquez letters from his adherents, giving him an account of all that had passed. We afterwards learnt that Montejo himself had sent this man, who, besides this, spread the news everywhere along the route he journeyed. We shall now see what steps Velasquez took upon this.

CHAPTER LV.

_How Diego Velasquez is informed by his agents that we had sent messengers with letters and presents to our king, and what further took place._

Diego Velasquez received intelligence of everything we had done, partly by the letters which had been secretly conveyed to him, and were said to be of Montejo's own writing, and partly from the sailor, who swam on shore for that purpose. When he heard of the valuable present which we sent to his majesty, and of the agents we had selected for the purpose, he grew excessively angry, and threw out the most heavy curses against Cortes, against his own private secretary Duero, and the treasurer Almador de Lares. He then immediately ordered two small but very swift sailing vessels to be fitted out, and furnished with as great a number of men and firearms as could be got together at the moment. These vessels were given in command of two officers named Gabriel de Rojas and Guzman, who were ordered to repair to the Havannah, and to capture the vessel which conveyed our agents and the gold.

Both vessels arrived, after two days' sail, in the Bahama roads, and made every inquiry of the fishermen and coasters whether they had seen a ship of considerable tonnage pass that way. All the accounts they received went to show that she must have left the roads, as the wind had constantly been favorable: they, therefore, tacked up and down a considerable time, but, discovering no trace of her, they returned to Santiago.

If the first accounts had made Diego Velasquez dispirited, he was now the more so when he found the ship had escaped. His friends now advised him to send some one to Spain to lay his complaints before the president of Indian affairs, with whom he stood in great favour. Velasquez also laid a formal accusation against Cortes and all of us, in the royal court of audience at Santo Domingo, and also before the Hieronymite brethren, who were viceroys of that island. These brothers were then three in number, father Luis de Figueroa, father Alonso de Santo Domingo, and father Bernardino de Mancanedo: they lived together in the cloister of Mejorada, eight miles from Medina del Campo. The answer they gave Diego Velasquez was not very consoling; for, when they found, from our papers, what great things we had done, they declared that no reproach could be made either to Cortes or his troops: we had merely addressed the emperor our master, and sent him a present of such considerable value as had not been seen in Spain for a length of time, (this they might say in all justice, for Peru was then still unknown;) on the contrary, we had merited a most noble remuneration at his majesty's hands.

Besides coming to this decision, the Hieronymite brothers commissioned the licentiate Zuazo, who was either purposely sent to Cuba for this purpose, or at least had arrived there only a few months previous, to examine into this affair of Velasquez on the spot itself. The turn which this matter had taken completely prostrated his spirits for many days together. At last he again aroused himself, and gave orders to fit out every ship in the island, and to enlist officers and men: his intention was to send out such a powerful fleet as would soon overcome Cortes and the whole of us: indeed he spared no trouble; he travelled himself from place to place, and from one settlement to another, and where he could not call in person, he at least sent letters, and invited all his friends to join the armament. In this way he succeeded, after the space of eleven or twelve months, to fit out a fleet of eighteen sail, carrying 1300 soldiers and sailors: for, as the affair was carried on with great party spirit, his relations and every distinguished person of Cuba, as well as every one who had a commendary, considered themselves bound to take part in the undertaking. The command of this fleet was given to a cavalier named Pamfilo de Narvaez, a man of high stature and great bodily strength, with a voice amazingly powerful, and an imperious look in his countenance: he was a native of Valladolid, very wealthy, and had married a widow at Cuba named Maria de Valenzuela, who possessed several lucrative Indian townships.

For the present, however, we will leave this expedition to itself, and turn to our agents, who had most favorable weather for their voyage, and arrived safe at the place of destination, as we shall see in the following chapter. The good reader will do me the justice to consider, with respect to the irregular mode of narrating which I appear to pursue, that I am bound to mention the occurrences in this my history in the order they follow each other.

CHAPTER LVI.

_How our agents passed through the Bahama channel with the most favorable wind, and arrived in Castile after a short passage; and of our success at court._

Our agents had a most favorable voyage to the Havannah, and thence through the Bahama roads: their further course was equally prosperous, and they very soon arrived at the Tercera isles, and from there to Sevilla, where they hired a carriage and posted to the imperial court residence, at that time in Valladolid. Here the archbishop Fonseca governed at will, he being, moreover, president of Indian affairs, and the emperor then still very young, and residing in Flanders.

Our agents waited upon the archbishop, in the full expectation of being well received with thanks. They handed over to him the letters with the details of our adventures, also the presents, with the valuable things, and begged of him to forward all this to his majesty by a courier, whom they would accompany themselves. However, instead of meeting with a kind reception, they were very coolly received, and dismissed with a few dry and harsh words. They begged of him to mention the great services which Cortes and his men had rendered his majesty, and repeatedly urged him to send the letters and presents to the emperor, that he might learn everything as it had really taken place. He, however, answered in a very haughty tone, desiring them not to give themselves any further trouble: he would fully inform his majesty of what had taken place; not, however, according to their story, but conformably to truth; that, namely, we had rebelled against Velasquez. This was followed by many other sharp rebukes.

About this time also, Benito Martin, chaplain to Velasquez, arrived in Valladolid, preferring heavy accusations against Cortes and all of us, which set the archbishop more and more against us. Francisco de Montejo had not the courage to step forward and defend our cause; but Puertocarrero, as cousin to the earl of Medellin, durst presume the more: he therefore took up the question, and most urgently begged of the archbishop to give them a quiet hearing, and not to answer them so harshly. They demanded nothing further of him than to forward the presents to his majesty; they had a right to ask this, for we were servants of the crown, and merited a remuneration, but not the remarks he had allowed himself to make.

These words so greatly incensed the archbishop, that he ordered Puertocarrero to be thrown into prison, on account of some previous affair which had come to his ears; he having, namely, three years ago, carried off a married woman, named Maria Rodriguez, of Medellin, and taken her to India. Such was the first reception which our presents and services met with in Spain, and nothing remained for our agents but to hold their tongues for the present, and wait until a more favorable time and opportunity should present itself. The archbishop now forwarded his account to the emperor, who was then in Flanders, in which he extolled the merits of his creature Velasquez to the very skies, saying everything that was bad of Cortes and all of us; nor did he mention one single word about our letters.

Upon this Puertocarrero, Montejo, Martin Cortes, the father of our general, the licentiate Nunez, who was reporter to the royal council, and a near relation to Cortes, determined to despatch a courier of their own to the emperor in Flanders. They fortunately possessed duplicates of all our despatches and letters, as also a list of all the presents we had destined for his majesty.

With these papers they likewise sent a separate letter to the emperor with complaints against the archbishop and the whole of his doings with Diego Velasquez. In this resolution they were backed by other cavaliers who were at variance with the archbishop, who, upon the whole, had many enemies on account of his haughty behaviour and the abuse he made of the important offices he filled. And as the great services we had rendered to God and his majesty, in whom we had alone reposed our trust, were looked upon in a favorable light, it also happened that his majesty made the strictest inquiries into the whole affair. His majesty was so highly pleased with what we had done, that the dukes, marquisses, earls, and other cavaliers, for days together spoke of nothing but Cortes, our courageous behaviour, our conquests, and of the riches we had sent over. It was owing to this as well as to the unfaithful and distorted account which the archbishop had drawn up respecting these matters, and particularly because he had not sent all the presents, but kept the major part to himself, that he fell from that moment into his majesty's displeasure. In the meantime the archbishop's agents in Flanders had sent him information of all that had passed, which vexed him in no small degree, and if previously he had blackened Cortes and all of us to his majesty, he now boldly accused us of high treason. But the Lord very soon bridled his rage; for two years after he received his dismissal, and then in his turn experienced the curse of malice and contempt. We, on the contrary, were looked upon as loyal men who had rendered services to the crown, as shall be mentioned in the proper place. For the present the emperor informed our agents, that he would himself shortly visit Spain to investigate the matter more closely and reward us. Our agents, therefore, awaited his majesty's arrival in Spain.

Before I proceed any further with my narrative, I must answer one question, which several cavaliers have very justly put to me; namely, how it was possible for me to relate these things, as I was not present myself, but making the campaign in New Spain, when our agents were despatched with the letters and presents, and met with this ill treatment from the archbishop of Rosano? To which my answer is, that our agents forwarded to us, the true conquistadores, verbatim all that had passed between them and the latter, as also the favorable decision which the emperor came to in our behalf; of which Cortes sent copies to all the towns where we happened to be stationed, to show us how favorably everything had terminated, and what a great enemy we had in the archbishop. After this digression we will return to our quarters in New Spain, and see what happened there in the meantime.

CHAPTER LVII.

_What took place in our camp after the departure of our agents to his majesty with the gold and the letters; and the instance of severity which Cortes was compelled to give._

The suspicions of Velasquez's adherents were again aroused at the departure of our agents, and the following occurrence took place a few days after. A conspiracy was set on foot by Pedro Escudero, Juan Cormeno, Gonzalo de Umbria, a pilot, the priest Juan Diaz, Bernardino de Coria, (who afterwards became a citizen of Chiapa, and was father of a certain Centeno,) and some seamen of Gibraleon. All these were excessively embittered against Cortes; some because he had refused to grant them the promised discharge to return to Cuba; others because they had lost their share of the gold by the present which had been sent to the emperor; and the seamen because they could not forget the lashes which he had given them on the island of Cozumel for stealing the flitches of bacon. They had determined to seize upon one of our small vessels, to sail to Cuba, and acquaint the viceroy Diego Velasquez that he had merely to send to the Havannah and the possessions of Montejo in order to capture our agents with all the riches. We concluded from this that the conspirators had been counselled by persons of authority among our officers, since they knew that Montejo, notwithstanding the strict injunctions which he had received to the contrary, had landed at his commendary. The affair was already so far advanced that the conspirators had sent on board the necessary provisions of cassave-bread, oil, dried fish, water, and such like, and were about to set sail, when one of them, Bernardino de Coria, began to repent, called upon Cortes at midnight, and discovered the whole plot to him.

Cortes first of all made an accurate inquiry into the names and number of the conspirators, as also into the reasons and the way they intended carrying out the plot; he then ordered the sails, the compass, and the rudder to be taken from the vessel which was to have conveyed them. Upon which he closely examined the conspirators, when they immediately made a full confession, and mentioned the names of others who were implicated. These names were for the present very prudently suppressed, and proceedings were merely taken against those who stood most prominent in the affair. A council of war having been held with all the usual formalities, Pedro Escudero and Juan Cormeno[19] were sentenced to be hung; the pilot Gonzalo de Umbria to have his feet cut off, and the sailors to receive two hundred lashes each. If father Juan had not been a priest he would likewise have shared a similar fate; as it was he merely suffered for a time the dread of suspense which indeed must have been terrible enough. I shall never forget how Cortes cried out, with a sigh, and deeply affected, at the moment he signed the death-warrants: "What a fortunate thing if I were unable to write; then should I neither be able to sign a death-warrant!" This same exclamation likewise frequently falls from judges who have to decide over life and death; in which expression, however, they merely repeat the words of the barbarous emperor Nero, when in the commencement of his reign he showed so goodly a disposition.

The sentences being executed, Cortes immediately set out for Sempoalla, having previously ordered that 200 men, with all our horse, should follow him. The distance to this place was a good twenty miles. Pedro de Alvarado was absent during this time, having three days beforehand been sent with 200 men into the mountains in search of provisions, which were extremely scarce. Orders were, therefore, left behind for him to march to Sempoalla on his return, where arrangements would be made for our further route to Mexico. Alvarado, consequently, was not present when the executions took place.

[19] Torquemada (Mon., Ind. i, iv, c. 25) gives some additional circumstances respecting this conspiracy; among other things he says, that the pilot Cermeno was so remarkably nimble, that if two of the tallest men held up a lance as high as they could horizontally, he would bound over it with ease by means of another lance. Also that his sense of smelling was so acute that he could scent the land at a distance of sixty miles when at sea; but adds, "aunque no olio esta muerte;" yet he could not smell the nature of his death. (p. 133.)

CHAPTER LVIII.

_How we came to the resolution of marching to Mexico, and of destroying all our vessels, which was done with the sanction and by the advice of all Cortes' true adherents._

While preparations were going on at Sempoalla for our march into the interior numerous consultations were held with Cortes respecting everything connected with it, we, his trustworthy adherents, proposed that all the vessels should be run on shore, in order at once to cut off all possibility of further mutiny, when we should have advanced far into the interior of the country. In which case, likewise, the pilots and sailors would be of greater use to us than by idling their time away in the harbour. I am well aware that the idea of destroying our vessels originated with Cortes himself, and that he merely shoved it on our shoulders for this reason, that if payment for the vessels should be demanded of him, he could throw the blame on us, and say that all was done at our own request; so that we both individually and collectively should have to assist in repaying the damages. This resolution was immediately adopted, and Cortes ordered the alguacil-major, Juan de Escalante, a young man of very great courage, and who was a close adherer to him, utterly hating Diego Velasquez because he had neglected to give him any considerable commendary in Cuba, to take all the anchors, ropes, sails, in short everything that might be of use to us out of the vessels, and run the latter all on shore, with the exception of the boats. The pilots, the old ships' masters, and those seamen who were unable to make the campaign with us, were to remain behind in the town, and employ themselves in catching fish with our two drag-nets in the harbour, where the former were in great abundance.

Juan de Escalante punctually obeyed these orders, and arrived in Sempoalla with an additional company formed of the sailors, of whom several became very excellent soldiers. The next thing Cortes did was to call all the caziques of the mountain tribes together, who had revolted from Motecusuma, and formed an alliance with us. He gave them to understand that they were to assist in the building of the church, the fortresses, and houses of our new town. "This man," continued he, taking Juan de Escalante by the hand, "is my brother; him you must obey in everything; and to him you must apply if you require assistance against the Mexicans. He will himself at all times march out in your defence." The caziques in reply, said, "They were ready to obey him in everything," and perfumed Juan de Escalante after their fashion, which I can still well remember he unwillingly submitted to. For the rest he was a man you could trust in all matters, and who fully possessed the confidence of Cortes; for which reason the latter intrusted him with the command of the town and harbour, as one in whom he could place implicit reliance, in case, during his absence, Diego Velasquez should set anything on foot against him.

Gomara here relates, that Cortes ordered the vessels to be sunk, and that he did not disclose his intentions to us of visiting the great Motecusuma himself at Mexico. But we Spaniards are, indeed, not the people who require so much pressing to move forward, or who desire to sit quietly down in a place where neither advantage nor military honour is to be gained. Gomara also says, that Pedro de Irico was the person left behind in command of Vera Cruz. This, however, is quite erroneous, for it was Juan de Escalante who was appointed commander and alguacil-major of New Spain. Pedro de Irico, indeed, would scarcely have been intrusted with the command of a company, much less, therefore, with such an important post. Nothing should be given to a man that does not belong to him, and nothing should be taken from him to which he is entitled.

CHAPTER LIX.

_Of the speech which Cortes made to us after our vessels were destroyed, and how we prepared for our march to Mexico._

After the vessels had been run ashore before our eyes, and we the officers and soldiers were one morning after mass all standing around Cortes, the discourse turned upon various military topics, when he begged our attention for a few minutes, as he had some proposal to make to us. He then addressed us at great length, as near as possible, to the following effect. We already knew of the campaign which was in contemplation. It was of such a nature, that the aid of Jesus Christ, our Lord, only could bring us forth victorious from all the battles and engagements which awaited us; but, notwithstanding all the trust we reposed in God, we should not ourselves be wanting in courage and activity; should we be worsted, which Almighty God forbid, considering our small numbers we could expect no other assistance than from above, and that of our own arms, as we had no longer any vessels to return to Cuba. Cortes then adduced many beautiful comparisons from history, and mentioned several heroic deeds of the Romans. We answered him, one and all, that we would implicitly follow his orders, as the die had been cast, and we, with Caesar, when he had passed the Rubicon, had now no choice left; besides which, everything we did was for the glory of God and his majesty the emperor.

After this speech, whose penetrating eloquence and charming powers I am unable to repeat, Cortes ordered the fat cazique into his presence, and reminded him of the care and reverence which was due from him to the church and the cross. For himself he was now about leaving for Mexico; he added, to oblige Motecusuma, for the future to abolish all robbery and the human sacrifices. He also told him he should require two hundred porters to transport our cannon, and fifty of his best warriors to accompany us.

When we were about to put ourselves in motion a soldier arrived from Vera Cruz, whom Cortes had despatched there to fetch more men. He brought a letter from Juan de Escalante, announcing that a vessel had been seen off the coast, to which he had made various signals by means of smoke and other things; had hung out white flags and rode up and down the coast on horseback dressed in scarlet, to attract the attention of those on board. He did not doubt for an instant but all this had been observed by the men on-board, yet they made no signs of running into the harbour. He had made inquiries along the coast as to where the vessel had put in, and found she was lying at anchor in the mouth of a small river, at the distance of about nine miles; he therefore awaited Cortes' orders as to what further steps he was to take. As soon as Cortes had read the letter he gave the command of all the troops, then at Sempoalla, to Alvarado conjointly with Gonzalo de Sandoval. This was the first time Sandoval had been put in command, for those military qualities, by which he so greatly distinguished himself all the rest of his life, now began to develop themselves. Properly speaking, the command ought to have devolved upon Alonso de Avila, which therefore created ill blood between him and Sandoval. Upon this Cortes mounted horse, selected four of our cavalry, and fifty of the most nimble-footed men amongst us, and marched to Vera Cruz, where we arrived that very night.

CHAPTER LX.

_How Cortes arrived with us at the spot where the vessel lay at anchor, and captured six soldiers and sailors of the said vessel, who had stepped on shore; also what further took place._

As soon as we had arrived at Vera Cruz, Juan de Escalante came up to Cortes and told him, it would be best to make off for the strange vessel that very night, otherwise she might heave anchor and steer for the wide ocean. Cortes himself might take his rest and allow him to manage the affair with twenty men.

To this Cortes answered, he could not rest as long as there was any thing to be done, and he was determined to go in person with the men he had brought along with him. We accordingly set off on our march along the coast, without even tasting a morsel of food before we left. On our road we soon captured four Spaniards, who had been ordered to take possession of the country in the name of Francisco de Garay, viceroy of Jamaica. They had been sent on shore by an officer named Alonso Alvarez de Pinedo, who a few days previous had left a settlement on the banks of the Panuco. One of the four Spaniards, named Guillan de la Loa, had drawn up a formal deed of having taken possession of the country, which was signed by the three others.

After the prisoners had made this disclosure to Cortes, he inquired of them under what pretence Garay had sent them out to take possession of the country? To which they gave the following answer. In the year 1518, when the fame of our having discovered this country, under Cordoba and Grijalva, and of the twenty thousand pesos which it produced Diego Velasquez, had spread through the whole of the West Indies, Anton de Alaminos and another pilot who had made the voyage of discovery with us, persuaded Garay to petition his majesty, that the discovery of all the countries which might lie to the north of the river St. Peter and Paul might be granted to him. Trusting to the patrons he had at the court of Madrid, he despatched his house-steward, Torrolva, to Spain, who managed to obtain for him the appointment of adelantado, and vice-regent of all countries north of the river just mentioned. Garay, in consequence of this appointment, fitted out three vessels with two hundred and seventy men, besides horses and the necessary provisions. The command of these he intrusted to an officer named Alonso Alvarez Pinedo, who at present was lying at a distance of about 280 miles from this place, in the river Panuco, where he intended to found a colony. For the rest, added the prisoners, they had merely obeyed the commands of that officer, and were therefore not answerable for anything they had done. Cortes was very much pleased with these fellows, on account of the disclosure they had made; he tried to gain them over to his interest, and inquired of them, if it were possible to capture the vessel? Guillan de la Loa, the most distinguished of the prisoners, thought it might be done, and he, with his comrades, would hail the ship's shallop on shore. This they accordingly tried, but, notwithstanding all their shouting and signals, no one moved from the vessel. No doubt we must have been observed by them, for the captain knew all about us, and he had particularly cautioned his men to be upon their guard, not to fall into the hands of Cortes. We had now, therefore, no other course left than to try to entice the shallop on shore by some other stratagem. For this purpose Cortes desired the prisoners to take off their clothes, and four of our men to put them on, who were to remain behind. The rest of us marched back along the road we had come, and halted behind a mountain, as soon as we were out of sight of the vessel. Here we remained until midnight, when all was dark around; we then, without the least noise, put ourselves in motion, and made for the landing-place, in the neighbourhood of which we concealed ourselves, so as to be invisible to any one excepting our four disguised soldiers.

As soon as daylight had broken forth, the latter made signals to the vessel with their cloaks and hats; upon which the shallop put off with six sailors, two of whom had water-bottles in their hands, and immediately stepped on shore. We watched until the four others should have done the same. Our four disguised men were in the meantime washing their hands, and doing everything else to hide their faces. Those in the shallop cried out, "What the deuce are you about there? why don't you come on board?" One of our men then answered, "Come on shore for a few minutes, and see what the place is like!" They found, however, the voice to be that of a stranger, and put off with the shallop to the vessel again, notwithstanding all the signals our men were making. We others were very desirous of sending a few musket-shots after them, but Cortes would not permit us, saying, we ought to allow them to go off quietly, and he would communicate with their commander himself. All the prisoners we made, therefore, were the four above-mentioned, and the two who had stepped out of the shallop, and we returned to Vera Cruz without having tasted a morsel of food. Such are the true particulars of the whole matter, and not as Gomara relates, who even makes Garay himself present on this occasion, though he did not visit these parts in person until some time after, having sent the three officers with the vessels before him. I shall speak more particularly of this in the proper place.

CHAPTER LXI.

_How we set out on our march to the city of Mexico, and, upon the advice of the caziques, take our road over Tlascalla. What took place here, and of the battles we fought._

After we had got all in readiness for our march to Mexico, we held a consultation as to the route we should take. The chiefs of Sempoalla preferred the road through the province of Tlascalla, as the inhabitants were friendly with them and deadly enemies of the Mexicans. They had likewise equipped forty of their best warriors to accompany us, who, indeed, proved of the greatest utility to us on this journey. They also gave us 200 porters to convey our cannon; for, at that time, we poor soldiers had no other baggage than our weapons, with which in hand we stood, walked, and slept: we had not even any other covering to our feet than light shoes, but we were always ready for battle. It was about the middle of the month of August, 1519, that we broke up our quarters at Sempoalla. During our march we observed the strictest order, while our sharp-shooters and a great number of our most active men were always in advance. On the first day we arrived in the township of Xalapa, and from there to Socochina, which is very strongly situated, the access to it being very dangerous, and surrounded by numerous trained vine trees.[20] Dona Marina and Aguilar told the inhabitants a good deal about our holy religion, and how we were subjects of the emperor Don Carlos the Fifth, who sent us out to bring them back from kidnapping and sacrificing human beings. As they were in friendship with the Sempoallans, and paid no tribute to Motecusuma, we found them very well inclined towards us, and we received hospitable treatment. We erected a cross in every township, and explained its signification to the inhabitants, and what great veneration was due to it. From Socochina we marched over a high mountain, through a pass, to Texutla: here, likewise, the inhabitants were friendly to us, because they refused to pay any further tribute to Motecusuma. It was from this township that we first arrived into a rugged and wild mountain district; the population ceased, and, in the very first night, we had excessive cold, with hail showers; add to which, our provisions were totally gone, and the wind so keen which blew across the snow mountains, that we shook again with the frost: indeed, no one can wonder at this, for we had come so suddenly from the hot climate of Cuba, the town of Vera Cruz, and the neighbouring coast, into a cold country. Whatever calamity might befall us, we had only our weapons for protection, and were, moreover, totally unaccustomed to the cold. From this place we arrived at another mountain pass, where we found some houses and huge temples for human sacrifices; near these, heaps of wood were piled up for the use of the idol-worship. Neither did we here again meet with any food, the weather continuing bitterly cold.

Our route now lay across the territory of the township Xocotlan. We sent before us two Indians of Sempoalla to the cazique, to acquaint him of our approach, and beg of him to give us an hospitable reception. As the inhabitants of this district were subject to Motecusuma, everything wore a different aspect, and we marched forward with the utmost precaution and in close array. For the rest, we were as much pleased with this spot as with many a Spanish town, on account of the numerous and beautifully whitewashed balconies, the dwellings of the caziques, and the elevated temples wholly built of stone and lime. We, therefore, called it Castilblanco, which name it still retains; for a Portuguese soldier, who was among our troops, assured us, the place was very like the town of Casteloblanco in Portugal. The cazique, on receiving information of our arrival, came out to meet us with the principal inhabitants. His name was Olintecle, and he led us into his habitation, where he gave us but little to eat, and that with bad will.

After the repast, Cortes, by means of our interpreters, put all manner of questions to the cazique respecting the affairs of his monarch. Motecusuma, and we learnt a good deal about the great armies which were stationed in the conquered provinces, besides those on the boundaries themselves, and the provinces which bordered on them. He spoke of the great and strong city of Mexico, how it lay in the midst of the waters, and that it was only by means of bridges and canoes that a person could go from one house to another: every house was provided with a balcony at the top, and was so completely isolated by means of moats, that they might separately be considered as so many castles, and, as such, capable of defence. The town was approached by three roads, each of which was cut through in four or five several places, to admit the water; across these sections, wooden bridges were built: it was merely requisite to break down these bridges, and all access to Mexico was cut off. Lastly, the cazique also mentioned the great quantity of silver and gold, the numerous precious stones and great riches of Motecusuma; in fact, there was no end to the praises he bestowed upon his monarch.

Cortes and all of us were vastly astonished at everything the man related of Motecusuma's power and greatness. However, instead of being thereby disheartened, we only the more earnestly desired to try our fortune against the fortresses and bridges, for such is the very spirit of a Spanish soldier; while the impossibility of which Olintecle spoke seemed to us a mere nothing. Mexico was, indeed, strongly fortified, and even more so than mentioned by the cazique: a person ought to have seen it himself to form an idea of it,--a description can convey none. For the rest, added the cazique, Motecusuma is accustomed to obedience from every one, and he feared Motecusuma's resentment when he should learn that we had entered the township without his permission, and had been provided with provisions.

Upon which Cortes, by means of our interpreters, spoke to him as follows: "I give you to understand that we have come here from very distant countries, by command of our emperor and master Don Carlos, who has among his numerous vassals many powerful princes, to acquaint your great Motecusuma that he shall no longer permit kidnapping and human sacrifices, nor conquer any more territories, and that he must obey the commands of the emperor our master. In the same way I also declare to you Olintecle, and the other caziques now present that you must relinquish those human sacrifices, no longer eat human flesh, and abstain from committing unnatural offences and other abominations customary with you; for such are the commandments of the God in whom we believe, and whom we adore, from whom come life and death, and who will once receive us into his heaven."

As the Indians made no answer to all this and many other things he said of our holy religion, Cortes turned to us, and said, "I think, gentlemen, we can do nothing further here than erect a cross:" to which father Olmedo answered, "I think, sir, that even this would be doing too much at present, for these people, as subjects of Motecusuma, are neither afraid nor shy of us, and would undoubtedly destroy the cross. What we have disclosed to them concerning our religion is sufficient until the time they shall be susceptible of understanding more of it."

In compliance with this advice, no cross was erected here.

On this expedition we had a large dog with us, the property of Francisco de Lugo. As the animal did nothing but bark the whole night, the caziques asked our friends of Sempoalla whether it was a lion or a tiger which we employed for the purpose of tearing the Indians to pieces? The Sempoallans answered that we indeed let it loose upon those who attacked us. They gave similar answers to questions concerning our cannon, telling them we loaded these with stones, and killed every one therewith at whom we shot: that our horses were as nimble as deer; that they galloped against whomsoever we desired. "Certainly these must be teules!" said Olintecle and the other chiefs. "That they are indeed as you see them now before you, (continued the Sempoallans,) therefore take great care not to arouse their displeasure. Whatever you may do, they are sure to know: they penetrate your very thoughts, and have even imprisoned the tax-gatherers of your great Motecusuma, and commanded the inhabitants of the mountains and us of Sempoalla not to pay any more tribute. They have likewise torn down our teules from the temples, and placed theirs there instead. The tribes of the Tabasco and Tzinpantzinco were conquered by them; and, however powerful Motecusuma may be, he nevertheless sent them presents. Now they have visited you, and you have given them nothing; therefore you cannot too speedily correct the mistake you have made."

From this it may be seen that our confederates perfectly understood how to boast of us: nor was it long before the caziques brought us four chains, three neck ornaments, and a few lizards, all of gold, though of an inferior quality; besides this there was a package of cotton cloths, and four women to bake our bread. Cortes thanked them very kindly for these presents, and offered to render them services in return.

One certain spot in this township I never shall forget, situated near the temple. Here a vast number of human skulls were piled up in the best order imaginable,--there must have been more than 100,000; I repeat, more than 100,000. In like manner you saw the remaining human bones piled up in order in another corner of the square; these it would have been impossible to count. Besides these, there were human heads hanging suspended from beams on both sides. Three papas stood sentinel on this place of skulls, for which purpose, it was told us, they were particularly appointed.[21]

Similar horrible sights we saw towards the interior of the country in every township, and even in Tlascalla.

Cortes inquired of the cazique Olintecle, which was the best and most easy road to Mexico. "That one," answered the cazique, "over Cholulla, which is a very large town." Our friends of Sempoalla, however, advised us not to take that road, as the inhabitants of Cholulla were a treacherous people, and Motecusuma had always a strong garrison in that town. We had better choose the road over Tlascalla was their opinion; for there the inhabitants were their friends, and sworn enemies to the Mexicans. This advice was followed by Cortes, and the Almighty blessed his choice. Before our departure we required an additional twenty of their best warriors to join our ranks, which were accordingly granted us by the cazique.

The next morning we commenced our march to Tlascalla, and first arrived in the small township of Xacatcinco. From this place we sent before us to the Tlascallans two of the principal men of Sempoalla, who well knew how to blazon forth our praise, and were upon intimate terms of friendship with the latter. We gave them a letter to these, although we knew they could not read it, and a Flanders hat surmounted by a coloured feather, as they were worn at that time. I will relate in the following chapter what further took place.

[20] It may appear astonishing to some that grape trees should have been found here, as it is well known that this tree was introduced from Europe into the West Indies; yet it is certainly true that the Spaniards found the wild vine growing in the New World. Oviedo, in his valuable work entitled 'Historia general y natural de las Indias,' says, "These wild vines bear good black grapes, and I have often eaten them myself. I say good, for considering the wild state in which they grow, they are really good. These grapes are found throughout the whole of the West Indies, and I do believe that all other vines have originated from these wild trees." (p. 133.)

[21] Of the township of Xocotlan, Torquemada gives some further account, from which we learn more of the condition of the country at the time of the conquest. Olintecl, he says, was lord of 20,000 subjects, and he had thirty wives, who were attended upon by one hundred female servants. The township contained thirteen temples, full of various shaped idols made of stone, to whom were sacrificed men, women, children, pigeons, and quails. Here the Mexican monarch had a garrison of 5000 men, and couriers were stationed at particular distances from each other all the way from the town to the city of Mexico. These nimble pedestrians were always in pairs, that all news might be conveyed to the metropolis with the utmost speed. (p. 142.)

CHAPTER LXII.

_How we commenced our march upon Tlascalla, and sent messengers before us, to obtain the sanction of the inhabitants to pass through their country; how they took our messengers prisoners, and what further happened._

On our march from Castilblanco we were, if possible, doubly precautious. Our sharp-shooters were always in advance, the cavalry kept surrounding our troops, our muskets were loaded, the matches lighted, and, in short, we were ready for action at a moment's notice.

We first arrived in the small township of Xacatcinco, where the inhabitants presented us with a golden chain for the neck, some packages of cotton stuffs, and two Indian females. As above remarked, we despatched two distinguished personages of Sempoalla to Tlascalla, who were to announce our approach, and say we came as friends, and hoped they would receive us as such. We found it the more necessary to send this message, as we learnt in Xacatcinco, that the whole of Tlascalla was up in arms against us. They were already informed of our having left that place, and concluded from the number of warriors we had with us out of Sempoalla and Xocotlan, tributary to Motecusuma, that we came with hostile intentions. They had quite concluded we were going to act like the Mexicans, who always, under some fraudulent pretence or other, marched into their country when intent upon plunder.

When, therefore, the messengers arrived with our letter and the Flanders hat, and were about to deliver our commission, they were even refused a hearing, and immediately thrown into prison. We awaited their return for two days, during which time Cortes explained to the inhabitants as usual, the nature of our holy religion, who our emperor was, the sinfulness of human sacrifices, and the other abominations they practised. He also demanded twenty of their warriors to accompany us.

These they readily furnished us, and after we had commended ourselves to the protection of the Almighty, we broke up our quarters on the third day and marched for Tlascalla. On our route we were met by our two messengers, who had been secretly released by their friends. All Tlascalla was making warlike preparations against us. They appeared quite downcast, and durst scarcely inform us of what they had seen and heard. Having at last taken courage, they related how they had been immediately seized and thrown into prison, and what terrible threats had been thrown out against us and themselves. "Now we will rise up," it had been told them, "and destroy those whom yon term teules. We shall soon see whether they are so courageous as you have mentioned. We will devour both you and them together, for you are come under fraudulent pretences, and at the instigation and in the spirit of the traitor Motecusuma."

The messengers might say what they liked in contradiction to this it was all to no purpose. When Cortes and we others heard this lofty language, and how they awaited us completely equipped for war, we did not think altogether so light of the matter; nevertheless, we one and all cried out, "Well, then, since it cannot be otherwise, forward! for good or ill luck." We commended ourselves to the protection of God, and unfurled our standard, which was borne by the ensign Corral. The inhabitants of the small township, where we passed the night, informed us, that the Tlascallans would march against us to prevent our entering into their country. Of this opinion were also our friends of Sempoalla.

As we were marching along, our only discourse was how we should attack the enemy. Our cavalry was to gallop up three abreast, with lances fixed, and run the Indians full in the face. At the same time they were to be particularly upon their guard that the enemy did not lay hold of the lances with their hands; should such, however, be the case, the rider was to keep the tighter hold of his lance, give his horse the spur, and either by a sudden jerk wrest it out of the enemy's grasp, or drag him along with it.

The reader will perhaps ask, why we took these precautions though we had not yet come in sight of the foe? I can answer this with Cortes' own words, who spoke to us as follows: "You are aware, gentlemen, of the smallness of our numbers, we must, therefore, be the more upon our guard, and fancy the enemy will each moment fall upon us. Nor is this sufficient, we must imagine ourselves already fighting, as if the battle was begun. Every soldier is fond of catching hold of the enemy's lance with his hand, but considering the smallness of our numbers, we must now particularly guard ourselves against it. For the rest, you are not in need of my advice, for I have always found that you do things much better than I am able to instruct you."

Under similar discourses we had already advanced about eight miles, when we came up to an enormous entrenchment, built so strongly of stone, lime, and a kind of hard bitumen, that it would only have been possible to break it down by means of pickaxes, and if defended would have with difficulty been taken. We halted on purpose to inspect this fortification, and Cortes inquired of the Xocotlans, for what purpose it stood there. They told him that it was built by the Tlascallans, on whose territory we were now entering, against the great Motecusuma, with whom they were continually at war, to protect them against his hostile incursions.[22]

After we had examined this structure for some time, and each expressed his opinion upon it, Cortes cried out, "Let us follow our standard, gentlemen! It bears the figure of the holy cross, and in that sign we shall conquer." To which we unanimously added: "Forward! whatever may happen; for God is our only strength."

We now continued our march onwards in the cautious manner above mentioned, and had not proceeded far when our vanguard observed at no very great distance about thirty Indians, who had been sent out to reconnoitre; this was immediately communicated to us. They had broad swords, which are used with both hands, the edges of which are made of hard flint, and are sharper than our steel swords. They were also armed with shields, lances, and had feathers stuck in their hair. Cortes ordered some of our cavalry to go in among them, and try, if possible, to capture one, but not to inflict any wounds. These were followed at a distance by five others, to assist them should they fall into an ambush; the rest of our army marched direct for the narrow pass, but with the utmost circumspection, as our friends had assured us that we should undoubtedly meet with a large body of the enemy in some hiding place or other. When the thirty Indians above mentioned found our cavalry approaching them, and saw how they beckoned to them with their hands, they began to retreat slowly, and arranged themselves again in order, whenever our men attempted to take any of them prisoners. They defended themselves right valiantly with their swords and lances, wounding several of our horses. The blood of our men now also began to boil, who, in return, killed five of the Indians. At that moment a swarm of more than 3000 Tlascallans rushed furiously from an ambush, pouring forth a shower of arrows upon our cavalry, who now immediately closed their ranks. At the same time we fired among them with our cannon, and so at last we obliged the enemy to give ground, though they fought bravely and with a good deal of manoeuvring. On our side we had four wounded, of whom one died a few days after, if I still remember rightly. Seventeen of the enemy lay dead, and the number of their wounded was very considerable. As it was growing very late they continued to retreat, and we to follow them.

As soon as we had passed over the mountain we came into a plain, and found numerous plantations of maise and maguey,[23] from which the inhabitants make their wine. We took up our night's quarters near a brook, and for want of oil we dressed the wounds of our men with the fat of a corpulent Indian who had been killed. We made our supper off young dogs, which we found here in great numbers; for, although the inhabitants had left all their plantations and taken the dogs with them, these animals during the night time had come back to their old places again; and we were thus able to catch a good many, and so procured ourselves some very delicious joints. The whole of this night we kept a most vigilant look-out. We placed outposts in all quarters; our horses stood ready saddled and bridled, and the rounds were regularly made. I will, however, break off here, and relate our further battles in the next chapter.

[22] Of this fortification Torquemada gives a different account. He says it was a wall of twenty feet in thickness, that it could be defended from the top; had only one entrance, defended by other works within, and was built by a cazique of the country, whom he calls Yztacmixtitlan, to protect the boundaries of his country against the incursions of the Tlascallans. (p. 145.)

[23] Agava Americana. (p. 145.)

CHAPTER LXIII.

_Of the terrible battles we fought with the Tlascallans, and what further happened._

The next morning, after we had commended ourselves to God in prayer, we broke up our quarters. Each company marched in close order, and our cavalry were to be particularly upon their guard; were either to advance suddenly, or fall back upon us, according as circumstances might be, and at all events to watch that our ranks were nowhere broken, and that no one strayed from his own company.

After we had marched onwards for some time we came up with two large bodies of the enemy, amounting to about 6000 men. They set up a most terrific noise with their drums and trumpets, and yelled awfully. They then let fly their arrows, threw their lances at us, and upon the whole were most daringly valiant. Cortes now ordered us to halt, and despatched three Indians, whom we had made prisoners the day before, to the enemy, requesting them to stay hostilities, as we were very desirous of looking upon them as brothers and friends. At the same time he ordered one of our warriors, Diego de Godoy, who was the royal secretary, to pay particular attention to everything that should take place, in order that if any reproach were made us for having destroyed any of the Indians, he might give evidence, and be able to prove that we on our side had shown every disposition for peace.

The prisoners went off with this message to the enemy, but not the slightest notice was taken of it; on the contrary, they attacked us so furiously that we could no longer look idly on. "Forward! St. Jacob is with us! On to the enemy!" cried Cortes; and in an instant we greeted the Indians so sharply with our firearms, that numbers were immediately killed and wounded; among the former three chiefs. After this first volley they fell back to about the distance of a musket-shot, where they took up their position. Here an army of above 40,000 warriors, commanded by their general-in-chief Xicotencatl, lay in ambush. Their standards bore his colours, white and variegated. As the ground here was full of deep cavities our cavalry were completely useless, until by using the greatest precaution they managed to pass over these. This was not done without considerable risk, for the enemy plied their bows and lances with great dexterity, having, moreover, the advantage of the higher ground. The stones from their slings were no less annoying; but all this only lasted until we had gained the level ground. For now we richly rewarded them for their pains, and killed great numbers. Yet we durst not venture to open our ranks; for the instant any one stepped out to assist any other soldier or officer he was that moment dangerously wounded. We were, therefore, obliged to keep our ranks firmly closed, and by degrees had to contend with more than twenty different divisions, which was, indeed, pretty hot work. Besides all this the Indians kept continually throwing sand in our faces to blind us. Here, indeed, the great mercy of God alone could save us. The chief object of the enemy was to capture one of our horses, in which they did not altogether fail; for, as Pedro de Moron on his well-trained mare, attended by three others of our cavalry, was attempting to break through the enemy's ranks, the Indians wrenched the lance out of his hand, and fell furiously upon him with their broad swords, wounding him severely. They gave his mare such a terrific cut with the same weapon in the neck, that the animal instantly fell down dead. If Moron's three companions had not immediately hastened to his assistance, he would have shared his horse's fate; for this gave our whole company time to come up.

I must again repeat, that the worst was, we had to keep ourselves so close together in order not to run the danger of being cut off, which of course greatly encumbered our movements. Nevertheless, we were obliged to open our ranks to rescue the mare and Moron whom they were already dragging off half dead. The mare we were obliged to relinquish, though we managed to cut the girth asunder in order at least to save the saddle. In this battle we had nine wounded. As for the enemy I believe on this occasion we killed four of their chiefs. We pushed forward shoulder to shoulder, and made considerable havoc with our swords. The enemy retreated, carrying off the dead mare, which was subsequently cut into pieces to be sent into every township of Tlascalla. As we afterwards learnt, the horse's shoes, the Flanders hat, and the letter we sent them, were brought as an offering to their idols. The mare belonged to Juan Sedeno, who, on the previous day, was wounded in three several places, and had, therefore, lent her to Moron. This Moron was a capital horse soldier, and died a few days after; at least, I do not remember to have seen him again after this battle.

We had fought for a good hour, and our firearms must have done considerable destruction among the enemy who stood so crowded together. Every man among us did his duty, and we fought away like brave warriors, for in all truth we were placed in greater jeopardy this time than we had ever been before. Numbers of the Indians lay dead on the field of battle; among whom were eight of the principal chiefs, all sons of old caziques, who dwelt together in the chief town of the country. At last our enemies retreated in good order, which we were glad enough to see, for we could scarcely stand any longer from over-fatigue, nor durst we think of following the enemy. Add to which, the ground was greatly to our disadvantage, partly on account of the number of straggling houses, partly on account of a species of pits in which many of the inhabitants dwelt. This battle was fought on the first two days of September, 1519, near the village of Tehuacacinco, and we returned fervent thanks to God for having rescued us from such great peril and for the victory we had gained.

After the battle, we fell back to some temples, which were very high, and large enough to serve us for castles. We dressed the wounds of our men with the fat of Indians, as we had done on previous occasions. Five of our horses were wounded, and fifteen men, of whom one subsequently died. Upon this we took our suppers, and made a good meal off the number of dogs and fowls which we found in the dwellings. Before, however, we lay down to rest, we posted our sentinels, and continually patrolled during the night: not before all these things were properly ordered did we lie down, and slept till morning.

For the rest, we made fifteen prisoners, among whom were two of the most distinguished personages; but we could never discover how many we killed or wounded, as it was customary with the Tlascallans immediately to carry off the wounded and dead from the field of battle.[24]

[24] (This note refers to the last sentence of the chapter.) To this custom of the Tlascallans of carrying off their killed and wounded from the field of battle, the historian de Solis partially attributes Cortes' great success in these battles; for as a great number of the enemy were constantly occupied in this work, they naturally offered a less formidable front, and considerable openings were made in their ranks. (p. 147.)

CHAPTER LXIV.

_How we quartered ourselves in the township of Tehuacacinco, and what we did there._

As the battles we fought had greatly fatigued us, besides that several of our men and horses were wounded, we made a day of rest, repaired our crossbows, and supplied ourselves with arrows. The next morning Cortes said to us, "It would be no harm if our horse were to gallop up and down the country a little; the Tlascallans might otherwise think we had had enough of it in the last battle: we must show them that we are constantly at their heels." And indeed it was better that we began ourselves than wait until we should be attacked, that the enemy might not suppose we had been too greatly weakened, and had lost our courage. Besides this, the country round about was quite level, and thickly populated. We therefore ordered out seven horse, some crossbow-men, and several musketeers, in all 200 men, without including our confederates. Every possible precaution had been previously made to secure our camp. On our march through the townships we captured twenty Indians of both sexes, but in no way molested them. Our allies, however, who were barbarous characters, could not refrain from setting fire to many houses where they had found quantities of fowls and young dogs. After we had again returned to our quarters, Cortes ordered the fetters to be taken off the prisoners, and food to be given them. Dona Marina and Aguilar then addressed them very affectionately, and gave to each some glass beads, adding, at the same time, that in future they should not be so foolish, but make peace with us, as we were very desirous of looking upon them as brothers, and would protect them as such.

We also set the first two Indians at liberty whom we had captured, and gave them a letter with the commission to tell the chief of the provinces that we were not come in any way to injure the Tlascallans, but merely wished to take the road through their country to Mexico, there to have an interview with Motecusuma.

Both these delegates punctually followed our orders, and arrived at the head-quarters of Xicotencatl, which lay, if I remember rightly, about six miles from our camp, in the township of Tehuacinpacingo. Having, in the absence of the father, fulfilled our commission to the younger Xicotencatl, he told them, we had only to come to his father's township, there they would make peace, after they had satiated themselves with the flesh of our bodies, and had honoured their gods with the sacrifice of our blood and hearts. The next morning we should behold his answer with our own eyes.

As the last battles were still fresh in our memories, we did not exactly relish the haughty answer with which our delegates returned. Cortes, nevertheless, received them most kindly, perceiving, from their return, that they no longer stood in awe of us; and with the view that they should once more be despatched as messengers of peace, he gave them some additional strings of beads. For the rest he made the most minute inquiries respecting the commander Xicotencatl, and the number of his troops, and found that the latter were much more numerous than in the last battle: he had now five chiefs under him, each of whom commanded 10,000 men. These troops were enumerated in the following manner: First of all came the 10,000 men of Xicotencatl's division; next a similar number under another powerful cazique called Maxixcatzin; then a like number under the distinguished cazique Chichimeclatecl; 10,000 under the cazique of Topoyanco, named Tecapaneca; and an equal number under the cazique Quaxobcin;--altogether thus 50,000 men. Each troop had its standard and arms, the latter being a large white bird, with outspread wings, as if preparing to fly, and resembled an ostrich.[25] Besides this, every chief had his particular insignia of war and colours, in the same way as our Spanish dukes and earls. At first we did not believe anything of all this, but found afterwards that it was perfectly true; and since we were human beings, and feared death, we all confessed to father Olmedo and the priest Juan Diaz, which occupied them the whole of the night: neither did we fail to offer up fervent prayers to the Almighty to grant us victory. Under such like occupations the following day broke forth on which we were to fight the battle, of which I shall speak in the next chapter.

[25] This is a very remarkable observation of Bernal Diaz, for the ostrich with outspread wings is also found on the ancient Persian monuments; and this bird, it is well known, is not common to the New World. If we add to this circumstance the repeated questions which were put to the Spaniards by the inhabitants of New Spain, as to whether they came from the region where the sun rises, there is reason for supposing that the tradition which came down to them from their forefathers was not altogether vague; namely, that a people would come from the east and take possession of their country. (p. 150.)

CHAPTER LXV.

_Of the great battle we fought with the Tlascallans, and what further took place._

It was the following morning, on the 5th of September, 1519, that we equipped ourselves for battle. Our horse were first arranged in order, then the foot soldiers, and even our wounded were forced to go along with us, if only to swell out our numbers, and do what lay in their power. The crossbow-men received orders that some were merely to load, while others fired, and this always in platoons. The musketeers received similar orders, and the remaining portion of our men, who were armed with swords and shields, were principally to strike at the enemy in the region of the belly, in order to stop them from venturing so near to us as they had the time before. Every one was also particularly cautioned not to leave the ranks. It was also the particular duty of our cavalry not to leave each other in the lurch, always to attack in full gallop, and only aim at the face and eyes. The ensign Corral received a guard of four men, and in this way we sallied forth from our camp, with our standard flying.

We had scarcely proceeded a quarter of a mile when we found the fields covered with warriors; they had large feather-knots on their heads, waved their colours, and made a terrific noise with their horns and trumpets: indeed, the pen that would wish to describe everything we saw here, would not find it such an easy task! this was indeed a battle of as fearful and dubious an issue as well could be. In an instant we were surrounded on all sides by such vast numbers of Indians, that the plain, here six miles in breadth, seemed as if it contained but one vast body of the enemy, in the midst of which stood our small army of 400 men, the greater part wounded and knocked up with fatigue. We were also aware that the enemy had marched out to battle with the determination to spare none of us, excepting those who were to be sacrificed to their idols. When, therefore, the attack commenced, a real shower of arrows and stones was poured upon us; the whole ground was immediately covered with heaps of lances, whose points were provided with two edges, so very sharp that they pierced through every species of cuirass, and were particularly dangerous to the lower part of the body, which was in no way protected. They fell upon us like the very furies themselves, with the most horrible yells; we employed, however, our heavy guns, muskets, and crossbows, with so much effect, and received those who pressed eagerly upon us with such well-directed blows and thrusts, that considerable destruction was made among their ranks, nor did they allow us to approach so near to them as in the previous battle: our cavalry, in particular, showed great skill and bravery, so that they, next to the Almighty, were the principal means of saving us.

Indeed our line was already half broken; all the commands of Cortes and our other officers to restore order and form again were fruitless, the Indians continually rushing upon us in such vast crowds that we could only make place with sword in hand to save our line from being broken. Our only safety was owing to the great number of the enemy itself; for they stood so closely crowded that each shot we fired must have done great execution among them. They left themselves altogether no room to manoeuvre in, while many of the chiefs, with their men, were not even able to mix at all in the engagement. Besides this, disagreements and inimical feelings had arisen out of the previous battle between the commander-in-chief Xicotencatl and another chief, the son of Chichimeclatecl. Xicotencatl had accused the latter of not having done his duty, who, in reply, said, he had discharged it better than he; so that in this battle neither lent the other any assistance, and Chichimeclatecl had even commanded Huexotzinco not to take any part in the combat. To all this must be added, that the enemy had been taught in the former battle to fear our horse, cannon, swords, and crossbows, not to forget the courage we displayed. It must likewise be borne in mind that a merciful God had lent us extraordinary powers during the engagement. As Xicotencatl met with no obedience from two of his principal officers,--we, on the contrary, fighting on the more bravely, and killing great numbers of their men, who, as well as the wounded, were immediately hurried from the field of battle, so that we never came to see any of their killed,--the Indians at length grew exasperated against those two chiefs who had thus left them in the lurch, and now fought with less vigour. It is, however, probable that one of their chief commanders had fallen, for they retreated in good order: our cavalry, indeed, pursued them a short distance in full gallop, but were soon compelled to return, from fatigue.

As soon as we had got rid of this vast crowd, we returned most fervent thanks to the Almighty. We had, however, only lost one man, but, on the other hand, sixty of us were wounded, with all our horses. I myself carried off two wounds, one of which was on my head from the stone of a sling, and the other by an arrow piercing my ankle; but neither of them were so bad as to compel me to leave the battle, or disable me from doing duty. This, however, was the same case with the majority of my comrades; for, if a wound was not dangerous, they still continued to perform duty, as the number of those who came off whole would have been too small to make head against the enemy. We now returned to our quarters, overjoyed at our victory, and offered up fervent thanks to God. We buried our dead in one of the subterranean dwellings, that the Indians might not discover us to be mortal as well as themselves, but still continue to fancy us gods: we, therefore, heaped up a quantity of earth over the spot, that even the stench of the decomposing body might not betray the dead. The fat of the Indians, as before, served us to dress our wounds. Oh, the distress we suffered here! We had neither oil for our wounds nor salt to our food. To all this was added the misfortune of having nothing to shelter us from the keen wind, which blew across the Sierra Nevada, and made us shake again with cold. We, nevertheless, kept up our spirits, and this night we slept more soundly than on the previous one, as we had better regulated our outposts and the patrols.

CHAPTER LXVI.

_How we sent a message next day to the caziques of Tlascalla to bring about peace between us, and the determination they came to upon this._

In the last battle we had taken three distinguished personages prisoners. These Cortes sent with the two others whom we had previously taken, and once before despatched with a message to the caziques of Tlascalla, desiring them in our name to make peace with us, and allow us to march through their country to Mexico, as we had before requested of them. If they still refused, we would exterminate them all. It would, however, grieve us if they drove us to such extremities, as we were well inclined, and would gladly look upon them as brothers; nor should we have done thus much if they themselves had not driven us to it. Besides this, Cortes said many other kind things to gain their friendship.

The delegates arrived betimes in the chief town of Tlascalla, and delivered their message in a full assembly of the caziques, whom they found conversing with several old men and papas. Every one still appeared very downcast on account of the unfavorable issue of the battle, the loss of their chiefs, their sons and relations who had fallen; and at first would not even listen to our messengers. At last they came to the resolution to consult all the astrologers, papas, and fortune-tellers, a species of conjurors whom they call _Tacalnaguas_. These being assembled, they were desired to discover by their witchcraft and enchantments, what sort of people we were, and whether it was possible to overcome us if they continued to harass us night and day. They were also to give a decisive answer as to whether we were really teules, that is to say evil spirits, as the inhabitants of Sempoalla had assured them; and lastly, what nourishment we took. All this they were most minutely to investigate.

The soothsayers, conjurors, and papas, who were in great numbers, immediately began their exorcisms and enchantments, after their fashion; and they pretended to have discovered, by means of their art, that we were human beings made of flesh and bone; that we ate dogs, fowls, bread and fruits, as they did, if we could get them; and that we did not devour the Indians, and much less the hearts of those we had slain. Our friends of Sempoalla, namely, had told them all manner of foolish things about us; not only that we were teules, but that we devoured the hearts of the Indians; that the flashes of our bombards, shot off like lightning; that our dog was a tiger or a lion, and that we let loose our horses upon the Indians when we wished to kill them. But the worst thing these soothsayers and papas affirmed was, its being impossible to conquer us excepting during the night-time, for we were helpless as soon as the sun, from which we received all our strength, had gone down.

This affirmation seemed a capital hint to the caziques, they therefore sent orders to their captain-general, Xicotencatl, to fall upon us as soon as possible with a large force during night-time. This, Xicotencatl did not fail to do. He drew out ten thousand of his bravest troops, marched towards our quarters, and fell upon us from three several points at once, with the utmost fury. They made this attack with perfect assurance, believing they had merely to show themselves and they should be able to capture us immediately, and sacrifice us to their idols. But the Almighty had ordered things differently. For, however silently they approached, they found us perfectly upon our guard, as the outposts and patrols had come running in at the first noise they heard and given the alarm. As, moreover, we were accustomed to sleep in our clothes with our weapons in our hands, the horses always ready bridled and saddled, and our cannon loaded, we gave the enemy such a rough reception with our muskets and crossbows, and cut among them so vigorously with our swords, that they soon had enough of it and turned their backs. The country before us was quite level, and the moon shone bright, so that our cavalry were able to follow the flying enemy to a considerable distance. Next morning we found about twenty of them dead and wounded, so that their loss must have been considerable, and they experienced, no doubt, that this fighting at night-time was not exactly so pleasant. It is also said they were so exasperated against the soothsayers and papas, that two of them were butchered for a sacrifice. In this night's combat we lost one of our friends of Sempoalla, and two of our men besides a horse were wounded. The number of prisoners we made were four. The kind reader may well conceive that we were not a little overjoyed that this affair terminated so fortunately. We fervently thanked God for the assistance he had lent us, buried our friend of Sempoalla, dressed our wounds, and lay ourselves down to rest for the remaining part of the night; but not without previously taking every precaution to secure our camp as usual. It was only the following morning we were able to discover our true condition. There was not one among us who had not, up to this moment, received one, two, or three wounds, and all were more or less weakened by fatigues and hardships. Xicotencatl continued to hover around us, and we had already lost fifty-five of our men, some of whom were killed on the field of battle, others had died of disease and from excessive cold. Twelve of our men were knocked up with fatigue, and even our commander-in-chief himself and father Olmedo were suffering from fever. But no one can wonder at this; for among all the hardships we had to undergo, we never durst for one moment leave our heavy weapons out of our hands; to all these discomforts was added the severity of the weather, and particularly our great want of salt, which we could find no means of obtaining. It was also natural that we should begin to think what would be the final issue of this campaign, and if we once got out of the present snare where we were next to bend our steps; for the idea of penetrating into Mexico appeared to us perfectly laughable, when we considered the great power of that state. If even we succeeded in making the same good terms with the people of Tlascalla as we had done with the Sempoallans, what would become of us if we ever came to an engagement with the great armies of Motecusuma? We were totally ignorant as to how matters stood in our fortress at Vera Cruz, and our men there knew as little what had become of us. Certainly there were among us plenty of valiant cavaliers and soldiers of great courage in battle, who showed no less wisdom in our councils, nor did Cortes ever speak or do anything without previously consulting them. With the historian Gomara it is always thus: Cortes did this, Cortes did that, Cortes was there, Cortes left there; just as if all this had been a mere nothing. If even, as Gomara affirms, Cortes had had an iron frame, he could not possibly have been everywhere, and have done everything himself. What good is it to make use of such expressions? He could only say, that Cortes was an excellent captain, as indeed he was, and this would have been enough! I was forced to make this remark, for besides the protection which the Almighty lent us in all our undertakings, his blessing was upon the arm of us soldiers and the advice we gave Cortes, and it was only in this way all things could have terminated so well.

I will not, however, detain the reader with this preamble of great deeds, for it has little to do with the principal object of this history. I am more pleased to relate, that we unanimously swore to protect his person, and begged of him, that as God had rescued us out of such extreme danger and spared our lives, to set our prisoners at liberty and send them again to the caziques, and desire of them to conclude peace with us, adding, that we should pardon what had taken place, as also the death of the horse.

Neither must I omit to mention the fine manly spirit which Dona Marina, though one of the daughters of the country, showed upon every occasion. We heard nothing the whole day long but of being butchered and devoured by the inhabitants; she had with her own eyes beheld how we had been completely surrounded by our enemies in the recent battles; how we were all wounded and suffering from disease; yet she never appeared disheartened; but, on the contrary, displayed a courage much beyond that of her sex. When the prisoners were about departing, again to make offers of peace to the enemy, she and Aguilar gave them every instruction as to what they were to say; that peace was to be concluded within the space of two days, otherwise we would march forward, lay waste the whole country, force our way into their towns, and put every living being to the sword. I must, however, again return to Gomara, who never mentions a single word about our killed and wounded, or the hardships we underwent; as if everything of itself turned to our advantage. Indeed, those who furnished him with the account must have been badly informed themselves. Did it never once occur to him, that his work would be highly interesting to all of us conquistadores, and that we would not repress the truth when we had read it?

But to return to my narrative, our delegates went straightway to the chief town of Tlascalla, where the elder Xicotencatl abode. If I still remember rightly, we sent a letter with them, although we knew the Indians could not understand it; there was likewise an arrow with the letter. They found the two chief caziques in council with the other principal personages. I will give their answer in the following chapter.

CHAPTER LXVII.

_How we again sent messengers to the caziques of Tlascalla in order to induce them to make peace, and the resolution they came to upon this._

The two chief caziques to whom our messengers addressed themselves were Maxixcatzin and the elder Xicotencatl, father of the captain-general of the same name, who was commonly termed the younger. They fulfilled their commission, and the caziques remained for a time silent and undecided, when the Almighty inclined their hearts to conclude a peace with us. They called a meeting of all the caziques and chief personages who had weight in the townships, as also of their friends from the province of Huexotzinco. All having met in the township of Maxixcatzin and the elder Xicotencatl, which held the first rank, the latter who were men of good understanding addressed the meeting to the following effect. Though we may not, perhaps, give the exact words, yet, from what we afterwards learnt, it was to this effect: "Brothers and friends! You yourselves know how often these teules, who are now in our country, ready to fight at a moment's notice, have offered us peace, and assured us that they have come as friends to our assistance. Nor can you have yet forgotten the numbers of prisoners they have taken, though they never do them any harm, but always restore them to liberty. Thrice have we attacked them with the whole of our forces, both by day and by night, but we have not been able to conquer them. On the contrary, they have killed many of our subjects, numbers of our sons, relations, and chiefs in these battles. They now again request us to come to terms of peace, and those of Sempoalla who are encamped with them, assure us they are enemies to Motecusuma and the Mexicans, and have commanded them and the tribes of the Totonaque mountains not to pay any more tribute to him. We all very well know that the Mexicans for a space of more than one hundred years have annually made incursions into our country. Indeed, they have completely shut us up within our own territory. We cannot get beyond to fetch salt for our victuals, nor cotton for our clothing. If any one of us ever ventures beyond the mountains, he very seldom returns home alive. The treacherous Mexicans and their allies kill all our people that fall into their hands, or at least make slaves of them. Our tacalnaguas, soothsayers, and papas have told us their opinion of these teules; that they are very powerful and courageous we have experienced ourselves. We feel, therefore, inclined to make peace with them. Whether they are men or teules, in both cases an alliance with them will be useful to us. Let us, therefore, despatch four of our chiefs to their camp with good provisions, and show them love and an inclination to make peace, that they may assist and protect us against our enemies. We will invite them into our country, and present them with females from among our countrywomen, that we may become one people with them; for, according to the assurance of the messengers whom they have sent to offer us peace, they have women with them." The caziques upon hearing this proposition all declared they were agreeable to it, and resolved that a treaty for peace should be set on foot, and the captain-general Xicotencatl and the other commanders should be ordered to stay all hostilities; for which end they instantly despatched messengers. The younger Xicotencatl, however, would by no means listen to these orders, but evinced excessive grief and used harsh language. "As affairs stood there was no need of sueing for peace," he said. "Many of the teules were already killed, besides one of their horses; he would fall upon us the night following and destroy us all."

When the elder Xicotencatl, Maxixcatzin, and the other caziques received this answer, they were so exasperated, that they immediately sent orders round to all the officers and the whole army not to obey Xicotencatl in anything which related to an attack upon us, and altogether to stay all hostilities against us. Neither would Xicotencatl submit to these orders, so that it was found necessary to send the four old men, who were appointed to make a treaty of peace between us, the Tlascallans and inhabitants of Huexotzinco, to these refractory fellows in order to bring them to reason. These four men, however, stood in such awe of the young hothead that they neglected to fulfil their commission.

As two or three different occurrences took place at the same time, I must relate what comes first in order, and give an account of our excursion to another township which lay in the neighbourhood.

CHAPTER LXVIII.

_How we came to the determination of marching to a township in the neighbourhood of our camp, and what happened upon this._

After two days had passed by without our doing anything worthy of notice, we proposed to Cortes that we should make an excursion to a township situated about four miles from our encampment, to the inhabitants of which we had fruitlessly made overtures of peace. We determined upon taking them by surprise during night-time; not with the intention of injuring, killing, wounding, or taking the inhabitants prisoners, but merely to procure provisions, frighten them a little, and make new offers of peace according as circumstances might be. This township was called Zumpanzingo, and was the chief of many smaller ones. The district Tecodcungapacingo, where we had taken up our quarters, stood likewise under it; the whole country round about moreover being covered with straggling houses and villages. Cortes fell in with this proposal, and we accordingly commenced our march shortly before daybreak with all our men who were best able to bear the fatigue, six of our cavalry, ten crossbow-men, and eight musketeers. The command was taken by Cortes himself, although he was suffering from the tertian ague. For the rest all necessary precautions were taken for our camp.

We had marched to a distance of about six miles before daylight appeared, and the wind which blew across the snow mountains was so keen, that we shook again with cold. Our horses likewise felt the frost very sensibly. Two of them indeed got the gripes and trembled like aspen leaves, at which we were greatly concerned, for we thought they would have died. Cortes therefore ordered them back to our camp. We arrived in front of Zumpanzingo before sunrise. The inhabitants, having observed our approach, had fled from their dwellings. Their minds full of the most horrible ideas they had formed of us, they kept crying out to one another to beware of the teules. They kill all, it was said, and spare neither young nor old. Finding how greatly they feared us, we halted in a courtyard until daylight had fully broken forth, that we might not injure any of the people in the dark. On the summit of the highest temples in the township we observed some papas and other old men of distinction, who, when they found we remained quiet without doing the least harm, took courage and came down to Cortes. They commenced by making excuses for not having sent us provisions, or any one with offers of peace, though we had demanded both of them. They assured us that no one was to blame for all this but the commander Xicotencatl, who had forbidden them, and was at that moment stationed in the immediate neighbourhood. They could not help feeling afraid of this man, as he had all their warriors as well as all those out of the land of Tlascalla under his banners. Cortes answered them by means of our interpreters, Dona Marina and Aguilar, whom we carried along with us wherever we went. They were told to allay their fears, and desire the caziques of the chief township to come and make peace with us, as war would only bring misfortune down upon them.

This was the message which the papas were to deliver; for we had not yet received any answer from the other ambassadors whom we had sent to the chiefs of Tlascalla, neither had their four distinguished personages yet arrived. Previous to their departure the papas, however, brought us more than forty fowls and turkeys, besides two women to bake our bread. Cortes thanked them very kindly for this present, and demanded twenty Indians to carry them to our camp. These immediately came forward without evincing any signs of fear, carried the provisions and remained with us until evening. After presenting them with a few trifles they returned highly delighted to their homes. As we did no one any injury, the inhabitants greatly extolled our kind behaviour; the papas and chief personages also informing the captain-general, Xicotencatl, that they had given us provisions and two females; which grieved him sorely. The same information was sent to the elder caziques, who were delighted when they learnt how we could have destroyed them all during the night, but that instead of doing any harm we had only made offers of peace. They, therefore, ordered provisions to be sent us daily, with everything else we might require. The orders to the four principal personages who were commissioned to make terms of peace with us were also renewed; they now no longer delayed, but repaired to our quarters and brought us provisions and other presents. We then returned to our camp, much pleased with the victuals and the Indian females.

CHAPTER LXIX.

_How we found on our return to our encampment that new intrigues had been set on foot; and the answer Cortes gave to certain representations which were made to him._

On returning to our head-quarters from Zumpanzingo with a good supply of provisions, and delighted with the peace we had concluded with the inhabitants, we met with nothing but complaints and discontent. We heard of nothing else than the imminent dangers we were daily exposed to in this campaign; nor did our arrival mend matters. Foremost among the discontented were those again who possessed settlements and Indian commendaries at Cuba, nor did they confine themselves to murmuring in secret, but seven of them, whose names, for honour's sake, I will refrain from mentioning, confederated together, and repaired to the quarters of Cortes. One of them was chosen spokesman. He was a man eloquent in address, and perfect master of the subject he was about to speak on.

He began in the kindly tone of giving advice, and desired Cortes to consider our wounds, how disabled and knocked up we were by the excessive hardships we had to undergo day and night, by constant battling, patrolling the country, standing at the outposts, and reconnoitring about. They had calculated, he said, that we had already lost fifty-five of our men since our departure from Cuba. Neither did we know how matters stood with our garrison at Vera Cruz. Though the Almighty had everywhere granted us victory, it was merely out of the abundance of his mercy towards us. It was not right to calculate too long upon his mercy and forbearance, for that would be tempting him. The pitcher goes to the well until it is broken, and one morning or other we should undoubtedly be sacrificed to the idols. God in his mercy might certainly avert this; but then also it was necessary we should return to Vera Cruz and there remain quiet, where we should be surrounded by our friends and allies, the tribes of the Totonaque mountains, until we had fitted out a vessel and sent to Diego Velasquez and to the islands for a fresh supply of men and other necessaries. What a good thing if our vessels had been preserved, or at least a couple, in case of accident. But, alas! he had followed the advice of men who did not consider the instability of fortune, and who had totally destroyed the last means of escape.

"May God forbid," said they, "that you and those whose advice it was, may not yet have to rue it. The measure of our miseries is already full; our condition begins to be insupportable, and the life we lead is worse than that of beasts of burden. When these have gone their day's journey, their load is taken off, food is given them, and they are allowed to take rest; we, on the contrary, are always under arms, nor do we ever take our clothes off. He might compare the histories of the Romans, of Alexander the Great, and of the most celebrated generals," continued they, "and he would find that none of them ever destroyed a fleet, when similarly situated as we were, a mere handful of men amidst numerous and warlike tribes. He would have to answer for his own death and the destruction of us all. He should at least attempt to save ours and his own life, and march back to Vera Cruz, while we were still at peace with the country. They would gladly have mentioned all this earlier to him; but the vast numbers of the enemy by which we had been daily surrounded had given them no opportunity; this, however, was now at last presented them by the quiet demeanour of the foe. For the rest, the enemy would certainly return, the three days which Xicotencatl had allowed to pass by was merely in expectation of a fresh supply of men. We could not think of coming to another trial of strength as we had done up to this moment."

These and other representations they made to Cortes, and held up their heads pretty high the whole time. As, however, all was said under the guise of giving good advice, Cortes answered them very mildly, as nearly as possible in these words: "Much of what you have been representing to me has not escaped my own notice; but, what I have seen above all things, and of which I have gained the most convincing proofs, is this, that the whole world could not produce Spaniards who are so brave, and fight so courageously, and who could bear hardships as well as we do. Indeed, we should have been inevitably lost if we had not continually held our weapons in our hands, kept patrolling and watching day and night, and boldly encountered all weathers. We are indebted to our safety by having manfully borne these and other greater hardships. The Almighty certainly lent us his aid, yet I cannot imagine to myself a greater piece of heroism, when I bring back to my recollection the vast crowds of the enemy, how they locked us in on all sides with their troops, and fell upon us with their broad swords, particularly in that battle where they killed one of our horses. At that critical moment I learnt more of your noble character than on any former occasion. And since the Almighty rescued us out of that battle I have gained the hope that our future endeavours will be crowned with success. I can call you to witness, that I was never found for an instant to lack courage in any of the dangers I have shared with you; nor have you, I must add, ever proved unworthy of the trust I reposed in you."

It was perfectly true what Cortes said of himself, for he was always found foremost in battle.

"Neither must you forget, gentlemen," continued he, "that up to this moment the Almighty has lent us his protection, and we may confidently hope he will not desert us in future, for, from our first arrival in this country we have announced his holy religion to the different tribes according to the best of our abilities and destroyed the idols. We may also, in trusting to God and our mediator the holy apostle Peter, consider the war in this province at an end, since Xicotencatl and the other chiefs no longer show themselves, because they fear us on account of the destruction we made among their troops in the late battles, or it may be they are unable to rally their men again. The inhabitants of Zumpanzingo willingly furnish us with provisions, while the surrounding tribes continue peaceably in their villages. With regard to our vessels, it was, indeed, requisite they should be destroyed, and if I did not consult all of you on the occasion I had sufficient reason for pursuing that course after the occurrence on the downs, which, however, I will not enter into here. The course you advised me to adopt on the former occasion, and your present discontent, both emanate from the same bad feeling; but you should remember that there are several cavaliers among our troops who are not of the same opinion with yourselves, who request and counsel that we should continue as heretofore to repose our trust in God alone, and faithfully fulfil our duties in his holy service. You are, however, perfectly justified in saying that the most renowned generals of Rome even cannot boast of such military exploits as we can. Future historians will also have to relate, if God be willing, greater things of us than of them. We shall continually be reaping harvests of glory, because strict justice and christian feeling are everywhere our guides, and also because our endeavours are exerted in the service of God and of our emperor. You cannot, gentlemen, have weighed the matter well if you suppose we could save ourselves by a retreat: for the instant these people were to observe this, and though we should depart from them in profound peace, the very stones of the ground would be raised up against us. And in the same way the Indians now stare at us as if we were beings of a superior order, or rather gods, as they term us, they would then consider us cowards and poltroons. We might, you say, settle ourselves quietly down among our allies, the tribes of the Totonaque mountains! To which my answer is, that even they would rise up against us immediately they perceive we are turning back without marching on to Mexico; for if we leave them, and they refuse to pay tribute to Motecusuma as heretofore, he will send his armies against them not merely to subdue, but to compel them to declare war with us; and if they are not desirous of being annihilated, what other course could they pursue? In this way, where we had thought to have friends, we should be preparing ourselves enemies. What reflections would the powerful Motecusuma make, and what judgment would he pass upon our previous speeches and the messages we sent him if we were to turn back? He would think we had been jesting with him. Thus you see, gentlemen, it looks bad one way and worse another. The most prudent step we can take for the present is to maintain our ground here in this thickly populated valley where we can obtain provisions in abundance. To-day we have fowls, to-morrow dogs, and thus, thank God, we shall always have plenty of food. Salt and warmer clothing are really at present the only great privations we suffer. You further state, that we have lost fifty-five men since our departure from Cuba from famine, cold, fatigue, disease, and from wounds: that our numbers are very small, and all of us more or less suffering from ill health. But, on the other hand, you must remember that God has given us the power of numbers, and that war is ever accompanied by loss of men and horses. To-day we have provisions, the next day none. And you must also bear in mind that we are not come into this country to seek repose, but to fight valiantly about whenever it may be necessary. I, therefore, beg of you, gentlemen, who are cavaliers, and who have up to this moment behaved so courageously, and whom despondency so ill suits, to drive from your minds all remembrance of Cuba and everything you have left behind there. Show yourselves brave soldiers as you have hitherto, for next to God, who is our strength, all depends upon the valour of our arms."

With this answer the deputies repaired to their partisans, who all declared they could not contradict anything our general had stated, and remarked that we had certainly departed from Vera Cruz with the full intention of marching to Mexico; but that at present we were better informed as to the strength of that city and its numerous troops. The Tlascallans themselves never mentioned the Mexican name but with terror. We said the Sempoallans were at peace with us, but we had as few certain proofs of that as of the state of affairs in Mexico. Up to this moment we had altogether suffered so much that if we were once again so furiously attacked as we had been in the late battles, we should be unable to stand against them. Suppose even they were to remain quiet for the present, our march to Mexico would, nevertheless, be a monstrous undertaking; and they were surprised at the man who could desire it and issue commands to that effect. To all this Cortes replied rather angrily: "Even then it is better to die like a brave warrior, as the poets say, than to live a coward!" We others who closely adhered to our general, and had consented to the destruction of our vessels, and appointed him captain-general, agreed with all he had said, and desired him in a loud voice not to trouble himself any further about their talk and complaints, but to order everything, with the aid of God, as circumstances might require, and to rely on our faithful assistance.

Herewith an end was put to all their cabals. They certainly continued their murmurings against Cortes, and cursed us who adhered to him, and the Sempoallans for having proposed this route; making altogether use of language which little beseemed them; but for the time being they remained quiet, and obeyed our general even to a wink.

In the meantime the elders of Tlascalla again sent peremptory orders to Xicotencatl not to attack us, but to send us provisions and repair to our camp in person to conclude a treaty of peace with us. This was the desire of all the caziques and principal personages of Huexotzinco and Tlascalla. A message was at the same time forwarded to each of his officers, commanding them not to obey him in anything which had not reference to a conclusion of peace. These orders were despatched no less than three successive times to Xicotencatl, information having been received that he was not only determined to lend a deaf ear to these injunctions, but to fall upon us the very next night, for which purpose he had assembled 20,000 warriors. Thus ever presumptuous and haughty, he now again refused to listen to their commands, and we shall see in the following chapter how this terminated.

CHAPTER LXX.

_How the captain Xicotencatl assembled 20,000 chosen warriors to make an attack upon us in our camp, and what happened upon this._

The caziques, Maxixcatzin and the elder Xicotencatl, with all the chief personages of the principal town of Tlascalla, had now for the fourth time issued orders to their captain-general not to approach our camp, and commanded the other officers not to accompany him unless he called upon us to make peace. Xicotencatl lay in our immediate neighbourhood, and was terribly exasperated at this; yet he determined to send us forty Indians with provisions, consisting in fowls, bread, and fruits.[26] This present was also accompanied by four disgusting old Indian females and a quantity of copal and parrot feathers.

We, of course, concluded that these people came with peaceable intentions. They perfumed Cortes when they were brought into his presence, and thus addressed him, without observing the courtesies customary among them: "These presents are sent you by the general Xicotencatl, that you may eat, in case you are teules, as the people of Sempoalla have assured us. If you require a sacrifice with them, kill these four women, and devour their flesh and their hearts. As we do not know what your wish is on this head we have not sacrificed them for you. But if you are human beings, be contented with the fruit and the fowls; and if you are kind-hearted teules, take the copal and the parrot feathers as an offering."

Cortes answered, by means of our interpreters, that he was desirous of making peace, not war, which he had already made known to them. He was come into their country to beg of them, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of our great emperor Don Carlos, to abstain from human sacrifices. We were all human beings made of flesh and bone like themselves, and not teules, but Christians. We killed no one, excepting when we were attacked, then, indeed, we destroyed our enemies, whether it happened to be day or night. He was very thankful for the provisions, but now they should likewise have the good sense to send us messengers of peace.

We readily perceived that these people whom Xicotencatl had despatched to us were spies, who came to gain the necessary information respecting the accesses to our camp, and the number of our troops, of the horses and the cannon, and everything else. They remained with us the whole day and following night. From time to time some returned to Xicotencatl, and others again arrived in their stead. All this greatly surprised our friends of Sempoalla, as it was not customary with them to stay night and day in an enemy's camp without some particular design. This accordingly aroused their suspicions, which were further confirmed by some hints which fell from two old men of Zumpanzingo that Xicotencatl stood ready with a large army to fall upon us unawares. At first they had laughed at the idea, thinking it a mere piece of bragging, and had, therefore, not mentioned it to Cortes. Dona Marina, to whom they had made this known, immediately brought the intelligence to our general, who, to fathom this matter more deeply, ordered two of the Tlascallans, who appeared to be honest fellows, to be seized, when they confessed that Xicotencatl had sent them as spies into our camp. These men were then liberated, and several others seized, who all gave the same answer, adding, that their commander Xicotencatl was merely waiting their information to fall upon us the following night with the whole of his troops.

After Cortes had convinced himself of the true state of affairs, he commanded us to be upon our guard, and to hold ourselves ready for action; he also imprisoned seventeen other of the spies, some of whom he ordered to have their thumbs cut off, others the whole hand, and to be sent back in that condition to Xicotencatl, with the information, "That this was his mode of punishing such messengers. He might now come whenever he liked in the night or by daytime, we would wait for him here two whole days: if we had not been peaceably inclined, we should ourselves have attacked and annihilated both his army and himself long before this: it was now, however, high time he should desist from his folly, and send us a sincere token of peace."

The unfortunate beings who had thus been dismembered, arrived in Xicotencatl's head-quarters just as he was on the point of marching off with his whole army to fall upon us in the dark. When he saw his spies before him in that condition, and learnt why they had been so treated, his pride and conceit fell at once. To this was added, that a certain chief, with whom he had quarrelled on account of the late battles, had left the camp with the men under his command.

[26] During this war the Tlascallans frequently sent provisions to Cortes' troops. This they did partly out of pride, that it might not be said they conquered the Spaniards by famine; partly that the latter might not become meagre in body, but that their flesh might taste savoury when they sacrificed them to their gods, so sure were these brave warriors of victory! (p. 165.)

CHAPTER LXXI.

_How four chief personages arrived in our camp to negotiate terms of peace with us, and what further happened._

We now despaired of concluding the peace we so greatly desired, and therefore began to prepare for battle. We cleaned and sharpened our weapons, provided ourselves with arrows, and were making other preparations for an engagement, when one of our outposts came suddenly running up with the tidings that a number of Indians of both sexes were advancing along the principal road of Tlascalla, straightway to our quarters, laden with packages. One of our horse had rode up to watch their movements more closely, and now also came galloping up with the news that the procession was fast approaching our camp, and merely halted from time to time to take a little rest.

Cortes and all of us were highly delighted with this piece of news, for we hoped they were coming with tidings of peace, which, indeed, was really the case. He issued orders that no alarm should be sounded, and for all of us to remain quiet in our huts as if we were unconscious of their approach. When the Indians had arrived at our camp, four principal personages stepped forth from among the porters, who had been commissioned by the elder caziques to conclude a treaty of peace with us. They made the sign of peace, which consisted in bending the head forwards; they then walked straightway to the hut which Cortes inhabited. They first touched the ground with their hands, and then kissed it, bowed themselves three times, and perfumed with copal. They then began as follows: "All the caziques of Tlascalla, with their subjects, allies, friends, and confederates, make peace and friendship with Cortes and his brothers, the teules. They beg forgiveness for having commenced hostilities, instead of uniting in friendship with them, which had merely been done under the impression that we were friends of Motecusuma and the Mexicans, who had been their most deadly enemies from time immemorial; and what had strengthened them in this suspicion was, our being accompanied by such numbers of the tribes who were tributary to that monarch, who was accustomed to fall into their country under various pretences, and carry off their wives and children. They had this time again feared some foul stratagem was on hand, and therefore had put no faith in our ambassadors. They had not commenced the attack in the first instance when we marched into their country, neither was it done at their instigation or command, but assured us it was the Chontal-Otomies, a rude and wild mountain tribe, who imagined they would have been easily able to overcome our small numbers, carry us off prisoners, and send our hearts to the Tlascallan chiefs, in order to gain their good wishes. They now came to beg forgiveness, and would daily bring us a sufficient supply of provisions. They hoped we would accept of these they now brought with the same kind feeling in which they were offered. In the space of two days the chief commander Xicotencatl, with the other caziques, would call himself, and further prove how fervently the whole of Tlascalla desired to make peace and friendship with us."

After the chiefs had done speaking, they again bowed themselves, touched the ground with their hands, and kissed it. Cortes, with great dignity and earnestness depicted in his countenance, returned them the following answer through our interpreters: "He had certainly great cause to refuse them a hearing, or to make any compact of friendship with them; for, upon our first entering into their country, he had offered them peace, and announced that he intended to assist them against their enemies the Mexicans; yet they would not believe him, and had even been upon the point of killing our ambassadors, and had made three murderous attacks upon us; and, by way of a finish, had also sent spies into our camp. In the battle we had fought with them, we could have killed many more of the troops; and we even grieved for those whose lives had thus been sacrificed, but we had been driven to it. He had resolved to carry the war into the very town where the old caziques dwelt; but as they now came to sue for peace, he was willing to receive them kindly in the name of our emperor, and was also pleased to accept of the provisions which they had brought. They should now tell their chiefs to repair hither in person, or send him some better warranty of peace. If they refused to come, he would put his army in motion, and attack them at their very doors. They were, moreover, to approach our camp during daytime only, for if they came at night, we would put them all to the sword without mercy."

After Cortes had given them this answer, he presented the messengers with blue beads for the caziques, in token of peace. They then took leave, and turned off to some Indian dwellings which lay in the neighbourhood, leaving there the Indian females whom they had brought along with them to prepare the bread, fowls, and a dinner for us; besides this there were twenty Indians who furnished the wood and water for cooking; and indeed they prepared us a most delicious meal. Being now convinced that they earnestly desired peace, we returned hearty thanks to God, who had thus ordered things: indeed it was high time, for we were all in a terrible state of exhaustion, and were sick of a war to which there seemed no end, as the good reader may well imagine.

With respect to these proceedings, Gomara has again mixed up many untruths. One time he makes Cortes mount up to the top of a mountain, and thence look over the township of Zumpanzingo, and yet it lay quite close to our camp, and he must have been blind indeed who could not see it straight before him. He also relates that the soldiers said things which I will not repeat here, though he would make one believe he had all from good authority. There is not the slightest foundation for all his assertions. There never was a commander in this world who was so strictly obeyed as Cortes, nor will it ever again fall to the lot of any man to be so. No such thought ever entered the minds of our men, excepting on the occasion which I have related above. Even the representations which were made to Cortes, mentioned in the preceding chapter, were all given in the tone of advice. Those who made them did so with a good intention, and imagined they were in the right, and though they differed with him in opinion, they paid him strict obedience. Is it, then, any wonder that a general should listen to good advice from intelligent soldiers, particularly when his troops are so awkwardly situated as ours were? I am only sorry when I reflect that all Gomara's untruths will be credited, because his style of writing is so eloquent.

CHAPTER LXXII.

_How ambassadors arrive in our camp from Motecusuma, and of the presents they brought with them._

After the Almighty, in his great mercy, had granted us the victory in the battles against the Tlascallans, our fame was spread to every district, and even reached the ears of the mighty Motecusuma, in the great city of Mexico. If we had been previously looked upon as teules, or a species of gods, their idea of our bravery now became the more exalted, and terror seized the whole country when we had broken the great power of the Tlascallans with such a handful of men, and compelled them to sue for peace.

And so it also happened that the powerful king of Mexico, Motecusuma, either in the great goodness of his heart, or because he began to fear our approach to his metropolis, despatched five men of distinction to our camp in the land of Tlascalla to welcome us on our arrival, and to assure us of the excessive delight he felt at the great victories which we had gained over such numerous armies. This message was accompanied by a valuable present in gold trinkets of various workmanship, worth about 1000 pesos, and of packages of cotton stuffs as much as twenty men could carry. He likewise wished us to know that it was his desire to become a vassal of our emperor, and the great pleasure he felt to find that we were so near his metropolis, that he was every way well disposed towards Cortes and all the teules his brothers: he likewise wished to know from us what annual tribute in gold, silver, jewels, and cotton stuffs he was to forward to our great emperor, which would save us the trouble of coming to Mexico: he should, indeed, be pleased to see us, but our march there would be a terrible one, through a sterile and rocky country, and the fatigues which we should have to undergo grieved him the more when he considered the impossibility to remove those difficulties out of our way.

To this Cortes answered, that he was very thankful for such kind feeling, as also for the presents, and the offer to pay tribute, but he must beg of the ambassadors not to leave again before we had reached the metropolis of Tlascalla, when he would deliver to them his answers for their monarch.

The real fact was, he did not feel well enough just then, as the day previous he had taken a purgative of manzanilla,[27] which latter is found on the island of Cuba, and is very wholesome when its use is rightly understood.

[27] This name Oviedo gives to the fruit of a tree, which he calls macanna, growing in Cuba. (Hippomane Mancinella of Linn.) From the same fruit, according to this historian, the inhabitants prepare the deadly poison in which they dip the points of their arrows. (p. 170.)

CHAPTER LXXIII.

_How the captain-general Xicotencatl arrives in our camp to negotiate terms of peace; the speech he made, and what further happened._

Cortes was still discoursing with the ambassadors of Motecusuma, and about to dismiss them, to retire to rest, for the fit of ague was again coming upon him, when it was announced that the general Xicotencatl was approaching, with several caziques. They were clothed in cloaks, white and parti-coloured, that is, one half of the cloak was white and the other coloured, for these were their national colours in time of peace. The number of distinguished personages who accompanied Xicotencatl amounted altogether to about fifty. When they had arrived in Cortes' quarters, they paid him the most profound reverence, after their fashion, and burnt a quantity of copal before him. Cortes received them most friendly, and desired them to take place near him; upon which Xicotencatl said, "He came, in the name of his father, of Maxixcatzin, and of all the caziques of the republic of Tlascalla, to beg of us to admit them to our friendship: he, at the same time, in their name, came to do homage, and promise obedience to our emperor and master, and to beg forgiveness for having taken up arms against us. They had done this because they were ignorant as to who we were: indeed, they believed we had been sent by their enemy Motecusuma, who had often before used fraud and treachery to enter their country for the sake of plunder, and they now thought he contemplated another attack upon them: they, therefore, considered themselves bound to advance boldly into the field to protect their persons and their country. They were, however, very poor, and possessed neither gold, silver, jewels, nor cotton stuffs: they were in want of salt to savour their victuals, as Motecusuma would not allow them to stir out of their country to procure it. Their forefathers had certainly possessed some gold and precious stones, but this had from time to time been delivered up to Motecusuma, to prevent their total destruction. All this had happened a long time ago, and now they had nothing left wherewith to make us a present. It was not their fault, but their poverty, yet they were well disposed."

After this preamble Xicotencatl brought various other accusations against Motecusuma and his allies. "The latter," he said, "were all hostile to their country, and left them no peace. They had certainly, up to this moment, defended themselves bravely at all times, but found that all their endeavours were fruitless against us, although they had renewed the conflict three several times; we were invincible. Hard experience at length taught them who we were, and they now desired to become our friends, and the vassals of the great emperor Don Carlos; for, they were convinced, that in alliance with us, they would be able to live in security and peace with their wives and children, and not be each moment exposed to the incursions of the treacherous Mexicans."

Xicotencatl made various other offers of his services in the name of his country. This Xicotencatl was a tall man, broad shouldered, and well built, with a large fresh coloured face, full of scars, as if pitted with the smallpox. He may have been about thirty-five years of age, and was earnest and dignified in his deportment. Cortes thanked him most sincerely, saying, "he would acknowledge them as vassals of our emperor, and would, for the future, look upon them as our friends."

Upon this Xicotencatl begged he would repair to the metropolis of his country, where all the caziques, elders, and papas were expecting us with impatience. Cortes answered, that he would comply with his request as soon as possible; for the present he had still some business to transact with the ambassadors of Motecusuma, and as soon as he had finished this he would visit them. He then continued to address them in a harsher tone of voice, and mentioned the repeated attacks they had made upon us. He would certainly bear them no malice, and freely forgave all the past, but they must sacredly observe the peace which he had granted them, and show no inconstancy in their conduct. If they did he would assuredly destroy their town and put all the inhabitants to the sword, and no longer listen to them, but carry on a war of extirpation to the very last. Xicotencatl, and all the distinguished personages who were with him, assured Cortes they would faithfully abide by their promise, and that they were ready to offer themselves as hostages in proof of their sincerity. Upon this followed various other discourses between Cortes, Xicotencatl, and the principal men of his suite. We presented them with blue beads for themselves, the elder Xicotencatl and most of the other caziques, with the assurance that we intended soon to visit their metropolis, which we desired they would announce to their countrymen.

The Mexican ambassadors were present during the whole of this interview, and heard the friendly offers which the Tlascallans made us of their services; and were not at all pleased with the peace we had concluded, and easily foresaw it would prove disadvantageous for their country. When, therefore, Xicotencatl had taken his leave, they remarked rather smilingly to Cortes, that he should not repose any trust in their assurances of friendship and kind offers. All this was sheer deceit, and nothing but treachery was hidden in their sentiments. They merely wished thereby to entice us into their town, when they could fall upon us unawares and destroy us all. We should remember how often they had attacked us with their whole army, but finding open force of no avail, they now, after so many of their numbers had been killed and wounded, would try their chance with fine words and a pretended show of peace.

To this Cortes answered with an air of determination, that he no way troubled himself about their intentions. If their suspicions proved true he would put the Tlascallans all to death. They might attack him by night or day, in the open field or in the town, it was all the same to him, and to convince himself as to how matters really stood he was determined to visit their metropolis. When the Mexican ambassadors found him thus determined, they begged of him to remain for at least another six days in his present quarters, that they might first send messengers to communicate with Motecusuma, and would return again with his answer in the time specified.

To this Cortes consented, partly on account of his ague, partly because he thought the warnings the Mexicans had given him might not be altogether so unfounded as he imagined. In that time he could also gain more certain proofs of the real intentions of the Tlascallans.

As everything now wore a peaceable aspect, and the whole country from the town of Vera Cruz up to our present quarters, was inhabited by friendly tribes and our allies, Cortes ventured to forward a letter to Juan de Escalante, who had remained behind there in garrison. He desired him to complete the buildings, and then gave him an account of the great victories we had gained since our arrival in Tlascalla, and how we had compelled the inhabitants to sue for peace. He also desired him to make a day of thanksgiving, and in every way to favour our allies of the Totonaque mountains. Lastly, he requested him to send two bottles of wine which he had buried in a certain corner of his quarters there, and some holy wafers, as we had none left. Escalante sent a speedy answer with the things Cortes required. It may easily be imagined how joyously this news was received at Vera Cruz, without my spending many words upon it.

During these days we erected a majestic cross in our quarters, and Cortes had one of the temples in our neighbourhood cleansed and fresh plastered by the inhabitants of Zumpanzingo, and some other Indians. But, to return to our new friends, the caziques of Tlascalla; the postponement of our visit greatly distressed them, yet they continued to send us fowls and figs,[28] which were now just in season, and a daily supply of provisions. This they did with the best of good will, nor would they ever take anything in return; on the contrary, they daily more earnestly begged of Cortes not to delay his visit any longer. Our general, however, was desirous of waiting the six days for the return of the Mexican ambassadors, and he each time put off the Tlascallans with some friendly excuse.

The Mexicans faithfully kept their word, and at the expiration of the above-mentioned time six distinguished personages arrived from Mexico with a rich present from Motecusuma, in value above 3000 pesos, consisting in gold trinkets of various workmanship, two hundred pieces of cotton stuffs, interwoven with feathers and other productions of Mexican art.

When they handed over these presents to Cortes they informed him that Motecusuma was greatly delighted at the successful state of our affairs. For the rest he requested us most urgently not to bring any Tlascallans into his dominions, for whatever purpose it might be, and upon the whole not to trust them. They were merely watching to rob us of our gold and other valuables, as they were quite poverty-struck themselves, and possessed no fine cotton cloaks. This evil design they cherished the more fervently, as they knew that we were on friendly terms with them, and had received presents in gold and cotton stuffs. Cortes accepted these presents with every appearance of delight, and thanked them, with the assurance that he would render Motecusuma good services in return. If he should discover that the Tlascallans really bore treachery at heart they would have to pay very dearly for it. He, however, trusted that such thoughts were remote from their minds, and he would now repair thither in person to see how much truth there was in their statement.

In the midst of this discourse several messengers arrived from Tlascalla, bringing Cortes information that all the old caziques of the country were on their road to pay us a visit, and conduct us into their city. On learning this, Cortes requested the Mexican ambassadors to stay with us three days before they departed again to their monarch with his answer; for that, at present, he was about to grant terms of peace to the Tlascallan chiefs.

[28] These figs, Bernal Diaz calls Tuna, which is the Cactus Tuna of Linnaeus. (p. 173.)

CHAPTER LXXIV.

_How the old caziques of Tlascalla arrived in our camp and invited Cortes, and all of us to visit their city, and what further happened._

The old caziques of Tlascalla finding that we did not arrive in their city, determined to call upon us themselves, and set out, some on foot and some in sedans and a species of hand-barrow. Besides those I mentioned above, (Maxixcatzin and the blind Xicotencatl, the elder,) there were Guaxolacima, Chichimeclatecl, and Tecapaneca of Topoyanco. Their suite was composed of several distinguished personages. When they arrived in presence of Cortes they paid him the profoundest respect, making him and us who stood around three deep bows. They likewise perfumed with copal, touched the ground with their hands, and kissed it.

The elder Xicotencatl then addressed Cortes as follows:

"Malinche! Malinche! often have we begged of you to forgive the hostile attacks we made upon you. We have already explained to you that we imagined you were in league with Motecusuma. Indeed, if we had known before what we now do, instead of refusing you admission, we would not only have marched out to meet you by the shortest route with a quantity of provisions, but have come to the very coast where your vessels lie, in order to conduct you hither. But, as you have now pardoned all this, I am come with all the caziques to beg of you to accompany us immediately to our city, and to construct in good part the reception which we intend to give you there according to the best of our abilities. Stay all other business for the present, Malinche, we beg of you, and go with us now. We greatly deplore that the Mexicans should have attempted to poison your mind with all manner of falsehoods respecting us, and that this should alone have withheld you from paying us a visit. We are quite accustomed to their slanders. You must not believe them, no, nor even listen to them, for all their actions and words are full of deceit."

To which Cortes said, with serenity depicted on his countenance, "He knew years ago that we should one time visit this country. They were a brave people, and he was astonished they should have treated us as enemies. With regard to the Mexicans who were now present, they were merely waiting his commands to return to their monarch Motecusuma. He joyously accepted of their invitation to visit their city, and thanked them for the provisions they had sent, and also for all their other kind offers; they might depend upon our services in return. The reason why he had not visited them before this was solely owing to our want of men to transport the tepuzques," so they termed our cannon. When they heard this, they appeared exceedingly pleased, and immediately cried out, "How! was it nothing but this, and you would not tell us?" And, sure enough, scarcely half an hour elapsed before there were 500 porters on the spot, so that next morning early we were enabled to set out for the metropolis of Tlascalla. We marched forward as usual, with the heavy guns, the horse, the crossbow-men, and musketeers, in close order. Cortes had also requested the Mexican ambassadors to accompany us, in order that they might convince themselves that the people of Tlascalla were sincere. To allay their apprehensions, he assured them they should live in his own quarters, and not be molested.

Before, however, I proceed with my narrative, I must explain how it happened that Cortes was termed Malinche by all the tribes through whose territories we had passed. I myself in future will call him by that name, excepting there where it would be improper. This name was given to him because our interpretress Dona Marina was always about his person, particularly when ambassadors arrived, and in our negotiations with the several caziques, as on those occasions she interpreted for both parties. They therefore called him the captain of Marina, and contracted that appellation in the word Malinche.[29] This name was likewise given to Juan Perez de Artenga of Puebla, because he always accompanied Dona Marina, and to Geronimo de Aguilar for a similar reason. The former of these two even retained the name of Juan Perez Malinche. Our entry into the metropolis of Tlascalla took place twenty-four days after we had crossed the confines of the country, the 23d day of September, in the year of our Lord 1519.

[29] For Marina, as appears from several passages in Torquemada and other writers, was called by the inhabitants Malintziu. (p. 176.)

CHAPTER LXXV.

_How we marched into the city of Tlascalla, and were received by the old caziques; of the present they made us, and how they brought us their daughters and nieces; and what further happened._

When the caziques found that our baggage was moving forward, they hastened before us to make the necessary preparations for our