Chapter 1

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[274] It was dated, “De la Villa Segura de la Frontera de esta Nueva-España, á treinta de Octubre de mil quinientos veinte años.” But, in consequence of the loss of the ship intended to bear it, the letter was not sent till the spring of the following year; leaving the nation still in ignorance of the fate of the gallant adventurers in Mexico, and the magnitude of their discoveries.

[275] The state of feeling occasioned by these discoveries may be seen in the correspondence of Peter Martyr, then residing at the court of Castile. See, in particular, his epistle, dated March, 1521, to his noble pupil, the Marquis de Mondejar, in which he dwells with unbounded satisfaction on all the rich stores of science which the expedition of Cortés had thrown open to the world. Opus Epistolarum, ep. 771.

[276] This memorial is in that part of my collection made by the former President of the Spanish Academy, Vargas Ponçe. It is signed by four hundred and forty-four names; and it is remarkable that this roll, which includes every other familiar name in the army, should not contain that of Bernal Diaz del Castillo. It can only be accounted for by his illness; as he tells us he was confined to his bed by a fever about this time. Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 134.

[277] Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 179.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 18.--Alonso de Avila went as the bearer of despatches to St. Domingo. Bernal Diaz, who is not averse, now and then, to a fling at his commander, says that Cortés was willing to get rid of this gallant cavalier, because he was too independent and plain-spoken. Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 136.

[278] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 136.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 19.

[279] Ibid., ubi supra.--“Híçolo,” says Herrera, “i armóle caballero, al vso de Castilla; i porque lo fuese de Jesu-Christo, le hiço, bautiçar, i se llamó D. Lorenço Maxiscatzin.”

[280] For an account of the manner in which this article was procured by Montaño and his doughty companions, see vol. ii., p. 227.

[281] “Ansí se hiciéron trece bergantines en el barrio de Atempa, junto á una hermita que se llama San Buenaventura, los quales hizo y otro Martin Lopez uno de los primeros conquistadores, y le ayudó Neguez Gomez.” Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[282] Solís dismisses this prince with the remark “that he reigned but a few days; long enough, however, for his indolence and apathy to efface the memory of his name among the people.” (Conquista, lib. 4, cap. 16.) Whence the historiographer of the Indies borrowed the coloring for this portrait I cannot conjecture; certainly not from the ancient authorities, which uniformly delineate the character and conduct of the Aztec sovereign in the light represented in the text. Cortés, who ought to know, describes him “as held to be very wise and valiant.” Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 166.--See, also, Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 29,--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 19,--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 88,--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 16,--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 118.

[283] The reader of Spanish will see that in the version in the text I have condensed the original, which abounds in the tautology and repetitions characteristic of the compositions of a rude people. “Señor nuestro, ya V. M. sabe como es muerto nuestro N.: ya lo habeis puesto debajo de vuestros pies: ya está en su recogimiento, y es ido por el camino que todos hemos de ir y á la casa donde hemos de morar, casa de perpetuas tinieblas, donde ni hay ventana, ni luz alguna: ya está en el reposo donde nadie le desasosegará.... Todos estos señores y reyes rigiéron, gobernáron, y gozáron del señorío y dignidad real, y del trono y sitial del imperio, los cuales ordenáron y concertáron las cosas de vuestro reino, que sois el universal señor y emperador, por cuyo albedrio y motivo se rige todo el universo, y que no teneis necesidad de consejo de ningun otro. Ya estos dichos dejáron la carga intolerable del gobierno que tragéron sobre sus hombros, y lo dejáron á su succesor N., el cual por algunos pocos dias tuvo en pie su señorío y reino, y ahora ya se ha ido en pos de ellos al otro mundo, porque vos le mandásteis que fuese y le llamásteis, y por haberle descargado de tan gran carga, y quitado tan gran trabajo, y haberle puesto en paz y en reposo, está muy obligado á daros gracias. Algunos pocos dias le lográmos, y ahora para siempre se ausentó de nosotros para nunca mas volver al mundo.... ¿Quien ordenará y dispondrá las cosas necesarias al bien del pueblo, señorío y reino? ¿Quien elegirá á los jueces

## particulares, que tengan carga de la gente baja por los barrios? ¿Quien

mandará tocar el atambor y pífano para juntar gente para la guerra? ¿Y quien reunirá y acaudillará á los soldados viejos, y hombres diestros en la pelea? Señor nuestro y amparador nuestro! tenga por bien V. M. de elegir, y señalar alguna persona suficiente para que tenga vuestro trono, y lleve á cuestas la carga pesada del régimen de la república, regocige y regale á los populares, bien así como la madre regala á su hijo, poniéndole en su regazo.... O señor nuestro humanísimo! dad lumbre y resplandor de vuestra mano á esto reino!... Hágase como V. M. fuere servido en todo, y por todo.” Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, lib. 6, cap. 5.

[284] The Spaniards appear to have changed the _Qua_, beginning Aztec names, into _Gua_, in the same manner as, in the mother country, they changed the _Wad_ at the beginning of Arabic names into _Guad_. (See Condé, El Nubiense, Descripcion de España, notas, passim.) The Aztec _tzin_ was added to the names of sovereigns and great lords, as a mark of reverence. Thus, Cuitlahua was called Cuitlahuatzin. This termination, usually dropped by the Spaniards, has been retained from accident, or perhaps for the sake of euphony, in Guatemozin’s name.

[285] “Mancebo de hasta veynte y cinco años, bien gentil hombre para ser Indio, y muy esforçado, y se hizo temer de tal manera, que todos los suyos temblauan dél; y estaua casado con vna hija de Monteçuma, bien hermosa muger para ser India.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 130.

[286] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 19.

[287] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 134.

[288] One may call to mind the beautiful invocation which Racine has put into the mouth of Joad:

“Venez, cher rejeton d’une vaillante race, Remplir vos défenseurs d’une nouvelle audace; Venez du diadéme à leurs yeux vous couvrir, Et périssez du moins en roí, s’il faut périr.” ATHALIE, acte 4, scene 5.

[289] Rel. Tercera de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 183.--Most, if not all, of the authorities--a thing worthy of note--concur in this estimate of the Spanish forces.

[290] “Y como sin causa ninguna todos los Naturales de Colúa, que son los de la gran Ciudad de Temixtitan, y los de todas las otras Provincias á ellas sujetas, no solamente se habian _rebelado_ contra Vuestra Magestad.” Ibid., ubi supra.

[291] Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 184.--“Porque demas del premio, que les davia en el cielo, se les seguirian en esto mundo grandíssima honra, riquezas inestimables.” Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chichimeca, MS., cap. 91.

[292] “Cosa muy de ver,” says Father Sahagun, without hazarding any precise number, “en la cantidad y en los aparejos que llevaban.” Hist. de Nueva-España, lib. 12, cap. 30, MS.

[293] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 20.

[294] Ibid., ubi supra.

[295] Herrera, Hist. general, loc. cit.

[296] “Que su principal motivo é intencion sea apartar y desarraigar de las dichas idolatrías á todos los naturales destas partes y reducillos ó á lo menos desear su salvacion y que sean reducidos al conocimiento de Dios y de su Santa Fe católica: porque si con otra intencion se hiciese la dicha guerra seria injusta y todo lo que en ella se oviese Onoloxio é obligado á restitucion.” Ordenanzas militares, MS.

[297] “E desde ahora protesto en nombre de S. M. que mi principal intencion é motivo es facer esta guerra é las otras que ficiese por traer y reducir á los dichos naturales al dicho conocimiento de nuestra Santa Fe é creencia; y despues por los sozjugar é supeditar debajo del yugo é dominio imperial é real de su Sacra Magestad, á quien juridicamente el Señorío de todas estas partes.” Ordenanzas militares, MS.

[298] “Ce n’est qu’en Espagne et en Italie,” says the penetrating historian of the Italian Republics, “qu’on rencontre cette habitude vicieuse, absolument inconnue aux peuples protestants, et qu’il ne faut point confondre avec les grossiers juremens que le peuple en tout pays mêle à ses discours. Dans tous les accès de colère des peuples du Midi, ils s’attaquent aux objets de leur culte, ils les menacent, et ils accablent de paroles outrageantes la Divinité elle-même, le Rédempteur ou ses saints.” Sismondi, Républiques Italiennes, cap. 126.

[299] Lucio Marineo, who witnessed all the dire effects of this national propensity at the Castilian court, where he was residing at this time, breaks out into the following animated apostrophe against it: “The gambler is he who wishes and conspires the death of his parents, he who swears falsely by God and by the life of his king and lord, he who kills his own soul and casts it into hell. What will not the gambler do, when he is not ashamed to lose his money, his time, his sleep, his reputation, his honor, and even life itself? So that, considering how great a number of men are incessantly engaged in play, the opinion seems to me well founded of those who say that _hell is filled with gamblers_.” Cosas memorables de Espagña (ed. Sevilla, 1539), fol. 165.

[300] These regulations are reported with much uniformity by Herrera, Solís, Clavigero, and others, but with such palpable inaccuracy that it is clear they never could have seen the original instrument. The copy in my possession was taken from the Muñoz collection. As the document, though curious and highly interesting, has never been published, I have given it entire in the Appendix, No. 13.

[301] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 20.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 127. The former historian states the number of Indian allies who followed Cortés, at eighty thousand; the latter at ten thousand! _¿Quien sabe?_

[302] This mountain, which, with its neighbor Popocatepetl, forms the great barrier--the _Herculis columnæ_--of the Mexican Valley, has been fancifully likened, from its long dorsal swell, to the back of a dromedary. (Tudor’s Tour in North America, Let. 22.) It rises far above the limits of perpetual snow in the tropics, and its huge crest and sides, enveloped in its silver drapery, form one of the most striking objects in the magnificent _coup-d’œil_ presented to the inhabitants of the capital.

[303] “Y prometímos todos de nunca de ella salir, sin Victoria, ó dejar allí las vidas. Y con esta determinacion ibamos todos tan alegres, como si fueramos á cosa de mucho placer.” Rel. Terc., ap. Lorenzana, p. 188.

[304] “Y yo torné á rogar, y encomendar mucho á los Españoles, que hiciessen, como siempre habian hecho, y como se esperaba de sus Personas; y que nadie no se desmandasse, y que fuessen con mucho concierto, y órden por su Camino.” Ibid., ubi supra.

[305] “E como la Gente de pie venia algo cansada, y se hacia tarde, dormímos en una Poblacion, que se dice Coatepeque.... E yo con diez de Caballo comenzé la Vela, y Ronda de la prima, y hice, que toda la Gente estubiesse muy apercibida.” Rel. Terc., ap. Lorenzana, pp. 188, 189.

[306] For the preceding pages, giving the account of the march, besides the letter of Cortés, so often quoted, see Gomara, Crónica, cap. 121,--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 18,--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 137,--Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.,--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 20,--Ixtlilxochitl, Relacion de la venida de los Españoles y Principio de la Ley Evangélica (México, 1829), p. 9.

[307] See _ante_, p. 210.--The skins of those immolated on the sacrificial stone were a common offering in the Indian temples, and the mad priests celebrated many of their festivals by publicly dancing with their own persons enveloped in these disgusting spoils of their victims. See Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, passim.

[308] Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 187.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 19.

[309] Tezcuco, a Chichimec name, according to Ixtlilxochitl, signifying “place of detention or rest,” because the various tribes from the North halted there on their entrance into Anahuac. Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 10.

[310] “La qual es tan grande, que aunque fueramos doblados los Españoles, nos pudieramos aposentar bien á placer en ella.” Rel. Terc., ap. Lorenzana, p. 191.

[311] “De tal manera que se quemáron todos los Archivos Reales de toda la Nueva-España, que fué una de las mayores pérdidas que tuvo esta tierra, porque con esto toda la memoria de sus antiguayas y otras cosas que eran como Escrituras y recuerdos pereciéron desde este tiempo. La obra de las Casas era la mejor y la mas artificiosa que hubo en esta tierra.” Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 91.

[312] The historian Ixtlilxochitl pays the following high tribute to the character of his royal kinsman, whose name was Tecocol. Strange that this name is not to be found--with the exception of Sahagun’s work--in any contemporary record! “Fué el primero que lo fué en Tezcoco, con harta pena de los Españoles, porque fué nobilísimo y los quiso mucho. Fué D. Fernando Tecocoltzin muy gentil hombre, alto de cuerpo y muy blanco, tanto cuanto podia ser cualquier Español por muy blanco que fuese, y que mostraba su persona y término descender, y ser del linage que era. Supo la lengua Castellana, y así casi las mas noches despues de haber cenado, trataban él y Cortés de todo lo que se debia hacer acerca de las guerras.” Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los Españoles, pp. 12, 13.

[313] The accession of Tecocol, as, indeed, his existence, passes unnoticed by some historians, and by others is mentioned in so equivocal a manner--his Indian name being omitted--that it is very doubtful if any other is intended than his younger brother Ixtlilxochitl. The Tezcucan chronicler bearing this last melodious name{*} has alone given the particulars of his history. I have followed him, as, from his personal connections, having had access to the best sources of information; though, it must be confessed, he is far too ready to take things on trust, to be always the best authority.

{*} [This name--“which,” says Mr. Tylor, “sticks in the throats of readers of Prescott”--signifies “vanilla-face,” being compounded of _ixtli_, face, and _tlilxochitl_, vanilla, the latter being itself a compound of _tlilli_, black, and _xochitl_, flower.--Buschmann, Uber die Aztekischen Ortsnamen, S. 681.--K.]

[314] “Él respondió, que era por demas ir contra lo determinado por el Dios Criador de todas las cosas, pues no sin misterio y secreto juicio suyo le daba tal Hijo al tiempo y quando se acercaban las profecías de sus Antepasados, que havíase venir nuevas Gentes á poseer la Tierra, como eran los Hijos de Quetzalcoatl que aguardaban su venida de la parte oriental.” Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 69.

[315] “Con que el Rey no supo con que ocacion poderle castigar, porque lo pareciéron sus razones tan vivas y fundadas que su parte no habia hecho cosa indebida ni vileza para poder ser castigado, mas tan solo una ferocidad de ánimo; pronóstico de lo mucho que habia de venir á saber por las Armas, y así el Rey dijo, que se fuese á la mano.” Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 69.

[316] Ibid., ubi supra.--Among other anecdotes recorded of the young prince’s early development is one of his having, when only three years old, pitched his nurse into a well, as she was drawing water, to punish her for certain improprieties of conduct of which he had been witness. But I spare the reader the recital of these astonishing proofs of precocity, as it is very probable his appetite for the marvellous may not keep pace with that of the chronicler of Tezcuco.

[317] _Ante_, vol. ii., p. 8.

[318] “Así mismo hizo juntar todos los bastimentos que fuéron necesarios para sustentar el Exército y Guarniciones de Gente que andaban en favor de Cortés, y así hizo traer á la Ciudad de Tezcuco el Maiz que habia en las Troxes y Graneros de las Provincias sugetas al Reyno de Tezcuco.” Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 91.

[319] “No era de espantar que tuviese este recelo, porque sus Enemigos, y los de esta Ciudad eran todos Deudos y Parientes mas cercanos, mas despues el tiempo lo desengañó, y vido la gran lealtad de Ixtlilxochitl, y de todos.” Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 92.

[320] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 137.

[321] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 91.

[322] “Los principales, que habian sido en hacerme la Guerra pasada, eran ya muertos; y que lo pasado fuesse pasado, y que no quisiessen dar causa á que destruyesse sus Tierras, y Ciudades, porque me pesaba mucho de ello.” Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 193.

[323] “Muriéron de ellos mas de seis mil ánimas, entre Hombres, y Mugeres, y Niños; porque los Indios nuestros Amigos, vista la Victoria, que Dios nos daba, no entendian en otra cosa, sino en matar á diestro y á siniestro.” Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 195.

[324] “Estándolas quemando, pareció que Nuestro Señor me inspiró, y trujo á la memoria la Calzada, ó Presa, que habia visto rota en el Camino, y representóseme el gran daño, que era.” Rel. Terc. de Cortés, loc. cit.

[325] “Y certifico á Vuestra Magestad, que si aquella noche no pasaramos el Agua, ó aguardaramos tres horas mas, que ninguno de nosotros escapara, porque quedabamos cercados de Agua, sin tener paso por parte ninguna.” Ibid., ubi supra.

[326] The general’s own Letter to the emperor is so full and precise that it is the very best authority for this event. The story is told also by Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 138.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 18,--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 92,--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 2, et auct. aliis.

[327] Lorenzana, p. 199, nota.

[328] “Porque ciertamente sus antepassados les auian dicho, que auian de señorear aquellas tierras hombres que vernian con barbas de hazia donde sale el Sol, y que por las cosas que han visto, eramos nosotros.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 139.

[329] Ibid., ubi supra.--Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 200.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 122.--Venida de los Españoles, p. 15.

[330] “Y certifico á Vuestra Magestad, allende de nuestro trabajo y necesidad, la mayor fatiga, que tenia, era no poder ayudar, y socorrer á los Indios nuestros Amigos, que por ser Vasallos de Vuestra Magestad, eran molestados y trabajados de los de Culúa.” Rel. Terc., ap. Lorenzana, p. 204.

[331] Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 204, 205.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 19.

[332] Oviedo, in his admiration of his hero, breaks out into the following panegyric on his policy, prudence, and military science, which, as he truly predicts, must make his name immortal. It is a fair specimen of the manner of the sagacious old chronicler. “Sin dubda alguna la habilidad y esfuerzo, é prudencia de Hernando Cortés mui dignas son que entre los cavalleros, é gente militar en nuestros tiempos se tengan en mucha estimacion, y en los venideros nunca se desacuerden. Por causa suya me acuerdo muchas veces de aquellas cosas que se escriven del capitan Viriato nuestro Español y Estremeño; y por Hernando Cortés me ocurren al sentido las muchas fatigas de aquel espejo de caballería Julio César dictador, como parece por sus comentarios, é por Suetonio é Plutarco é otros autores que en conformidad escriviéron los grandes hechos suyos. Pero los de Hernando Cortés en un Mundo nuevo, é tan apartadas provincias de Europa, é con tantos trabajos é necesidades é pocas fuerzas, é con gente tan innumerable, é tan bárbara é bellicosa, é apacentada en carne humana, é aun habida por excelente é sabroso manjar entre sus adversarios; é faltándole á él ó á sus mílites el pan é vino é los otros mantenimientos todos de España, y en tan diferenciadas regiones é aires é tan desviado é léjos de socorro é de su príncipe, cosas son de admiracion.” Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 20.

[333] Among other chiefs, to whom Guatemozin applied for assistance in the perilous state of his affairs, was Tangapan, lord of Michoacán, an independent and powerful state in the West, which had never been subdued by the Mexican army. The accounts which the Aztec emperor gave him, through his ambassadors, of the white men, were so alarming, according to Ixtlilxochitl, who tells the story, that the king’s sister voluntarily starved herself to death, from her apprehensions of the coming of the terrible strangers. Her body was deposited, as usual, in the vaults reserved for the royal household, until preparations could be made for its being burnt. On the fourth day, the attendants who had charge of it were astounded by seeing the corpse exhibit signs of returning life. The restored princess, recovering her speech, requested her brother’s presence. On his coming, she implored him not to think of hurting a hair of the heads of the mysterious visitors. She had been permitted, she said, to see the fate of the departed in the next world. The souls of all her ancestors she had beheld tossing about in unquenchable fire; while those who embraced the faith of the strangers were in glory. As a proof of the truth of her assertion, she added that her brother would see, on a great festival near at hand, a young warrior, armed with a torch brighter than the sun, in one hand, and a flaming sword, like that worn by the white men, in the other, passing from east to west over the city. Whether the monarch waited for the vision, or ever beheld it, is not told us by the historian. But, relying perhaps on the miracle of her resurrection as quite a sufficient voucher, he disbanded a very powerful force which he had assembled on the plains of Avalos for the support of his brother of Mexico. This narrative, with abundance of supernumerary incidents, not necessary to repeat, was commemorated in the Michoacán picture-records, and reported to the historian of Tezcuco himself by the grandson of Tangapan. (See Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 91.) Whoever reported it to him, it is not difficult to trace the same pious fingers in it which made so many wholesome legends for the good of the Church on the Old Continent, and which now found, in the credulity of the New, a rich harvest for the same godly work.

[334] “Aquí estuvo preso el sin ventura de Juā luste cō otros muchos que traia en mi compañía.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 140.

[335] Ibid., ubi supra.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 19.--Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 206.

[336] “Y despues de hechos por orden de Cortés, y probados en el rio que llaman de Tlaxcalla Zahuapan, que se atajó para probarlos los bergantines, y los tornáron á desbaratar por llevarlos á cuestas sobre hombros de los de Tlaxcalla á la ciudad de Tetzcuco, donde se echáron en la laguna, y se armáron de artillería y municion.” Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[337] Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 207.--Bernal Diaz says sixteen thousand. (Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.) There is a wonderful agreement between the several Castilian writers as to the number of forces, the order of march, and the events that occurred on it.

[338] “Estendíase tanto la Gente, que dende que los primeros comenzáron á entrar, hasta que los postreros hobiéron acabado, se pasáron mas de seis horas; sin quebrar el hilo de la Gente.” Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 208.

[339] “Dando vozes y silvos y diziendo: Viua, viua el Emperador, nuestro Señor, y Castilla, Castilla, y Tlascala, Tlascala.” (Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 140.) For the particulars of Sandoval’s expedition, see, also, Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 19.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 124,--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 84,--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 92,--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 2.

[340] “Que era cosa maravillosa de ver, y assí me parece que es de oir, llevar trece Fustas diez y ocho leguas por Tierra.” (Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 207.) “En rem Romano populo,” exclaims Martyr, “quando illustrius res illorum vigebant, non facilem!” De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 8.

[341] Two memorable examples of a similar transportation of vessels across the land are recorded, the one in ancient, the other in modern history; and both, singularly enough, at the same place, Tarentum, in Italy. The first occurred at the siege of that city by Hannibal (see Polybius, lib. 8); the latter some seventeen centuries later, by the Great Captain, Gonsalvo de Cordova. But the distance they were transported was inconsiderable. A more analogous example is that of Balboa, the bold discoverer of the Pacific. He made arrangements to have four brigantines transported a distance of twenty-two leagues across the Isthmus of Darien, a stupendous labor, and not entirely successful, as only two reached their point of destination. (See Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 2, cap. 11.) This took place in 1516, in the neighborhood, as it were, of Cortés, and may have suggested to his enterprising spirit the first idea of his own more successful, as well as more extensive, undertaking.

[342] “Y ellos me dijéron, que trahian deseo de se ver con los de Culúa, y que viesse lo que mandaba, que ellos, y aquella Gente venian con deseos, y voluntad de se vengar, ó morir con nosotros: y yo les di las gracias, y les dije, que reposassen, y que presto les daria las manos llenas.” Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 208.

[343] “De lejos comenzáron á gritar, como lo suelen hacer en la Guerra, que cierto es cosa espantosa oillos.” Rel. Terc., ap. Lorenzana, p. 209.

[344] Ibid., loc. cit.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 141.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 20.--Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los Españoles, pp. 13, 14.--Idem, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 92.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 125.

[345] These towns rejoiced in the melodious names of Tenajocoan, Quauhtitlan, and Azcapozalco. I have constantly endeavored to spare the reader, in the text, any unnecessary accumulation of Mexican names, which, as he is aware by this time, have not even brevity to recommend them. [Alaman, with some justice, remarks that these names appear unmelodious to an English writer who does not know how to pronounce them, for the same reason as English names would appear unmelodious to a Mexican. Conquista de Méjico (trad. de Vega), tom. ii. p. 115.]

[346] [The Hill of Los Remedios. Conquista de Méjico (trad. de Vega), tom. ii. p. 116.]

[347] They burned this place, according to Cortés, in retaliation of the injuries inflicted by the inhabitants on their countrymen in the retreat: “Y en amaneciendo los Indios nuestros Amigos comenzáron á saquear, y quemar toda la Ciudad, salvo el Aposento donde estabamos, y pusiéron tanta diligencia, que aun de él se quemó un Quarto; y esto se hizo, porque quando salímos la otra vez desbaratados de Temixtitan, pasando por esta Ciudad, los Naturales de ella juntamente con los de Temixtitan nos hiciéron muy cruel Guerra, y nos matáron muchos Españoles.” Rel. Terc., ap. Lorenzana, p. 210.

[348] “Luego mandó, que todos se retraxessen; y con el mejor concierto que pudo, y no bueltas las espaldas, sino los rostros á los contrarios, pie contra pie, como quien haze represas.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 141.

[349] “Desta manera se escapó Cortés aquella vez del poder de México, y quando se vió en tierra firme, dió muchas gracias á Dios.” Ibid., ubi supra.

[350] “Pensais, que hay agora otro Muteczuma, para que haga todo, lo que quisieredes?” Rel. Terc, de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 211.

[351] “Y peleaban los unos con los otros muy hermosamente.” Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ubi supra.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 20.

[352] “Y comenzamos á lanzear en ellos, y duró el alcanze cerca de dos leguas todas llanas, como la palma, que fué muy hermosa cosa.” Rel. Terc., ap. Lorenzana, p. 212.

[353] For the particulars of this expedition of Cortés, see, besides his own Commentaries so often quoted, Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 20,--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 85,--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 125,--Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los Españoles, pp. 13, 14,--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 141.

[354] Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 214, 215.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 146.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 142.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 21.

[355] “Which gardens,” says Cortés, who afterwards passed a day there, “are the largest, freshest, and most beautiful that were ever seen. They have a circuit of two leagues, and through the middle flows a very pleasant stream of water. At distances of two bow-shots are buildings surrounded by grounds planted with fruit-trees of various kinds, with many shrubs and odorous flowers. Truly the whole place is wonderful for its pleasantness and its extent.” (Rel. Terc., ap. Lorenzana, pp. 221, 222.) Bernal Diaz is not less emphatic in his admiration. Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 142.

[356] The distinguished naturalist Hernandez has frequent occasion to notice this garden, which furnished him with many specimens for his great work. It had the good fortune to be preserved after the Conquest, when particular attention was given to its medicinal plants, for the use of a great hospital established in the neighborhood. See Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. ii. p. 153.

[357] “E como esto vió el dicho Alguacil Mayor, y los Españoles, determináron de morir, ó subilles por fuerza á lo alto del Pueblo, y con el apellido de _Señor Santiago_, comenzáron á subir.” Rel. Terc., ap. Lorenzana, p. 214.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 21.

[358] So says the _Conquistador_. (Rel. Terc., ap. Lorenzana, p. 215.) Diaz, who will allow no one to hyperbolize but himself, says, “For as long as one might take to say an Ave Maria!” (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 142.) Neither was present.

[359] The gallant Captain Diaz, who affects a sobriety in his own estimates, which often leads him to disparage those of the chaplain Gomara, says that the force consisted of 20,000 warriors in 2000 canoes. Hist. de la Conquista, loc. cit.

[360] “El Cortés no le quiso escuchar á Sandoual de enojo, creyendo que por su culpa, ó descuido, recibía mala obra nuestros amigos los de Chalco; y luego sin mas dilacion, ni le oyr, le mandó bolver.” Ibid., ubi supra.

[361] Besides the authorities already quoted for Sandoval’s expedition, see Gomara, Crónica, cap. 126,--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 92,--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 86.

[362] “Ixtlilxochitl procuraba siempre traer á la devocion y amistad de los Cristianos no tan solamente á los de el Reyno de Tezcuco sino aun los de las Provincias remotas, rogándoles que todos se procurasen dar de paz al Capitan Cortés, y que aunque de las guerras pasadas algunos tuviesen culpa, era tan afable y deseaba tanto la paz que luego al punto los reciviria en su amistad.” Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 92.

[363] Cortés speaks of these vessels as coming at the same time, but does not intimate from what quarter. (Rel. Terc., ap. Lorenzana, p. 216.) Bernal Diaz, who notices only one, says it came from Castile. (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 143.) But the old soldier wrote long after the events he commemorates, and may have confused the true order of things. It seems hardly probable that so important a reinforcement should have arrived from Castile, considering that Cortés had yet received none of the royal patronage, or even sanction, which would stimulate adventurers in the mother country to enlist under his standard.

[364] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 143.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 21.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 6.

[365] “Viniéron tantos, que en todas las entradas que yo auia ido, despues que en la Nueua España entré, nunca ví tanta gente de guerra de nuestros amigos, como aora fuéron en nuestra compañía.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 144.

[366] “Todos descalabrados, y corriendo sangre, y las vanderas rotas, y ocho muertos.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.

[367] For the assault on the rocks,--the topography of which it is impossible to verify from the narratives of the Conquerors,--see Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 144,--Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 218-221,--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 127,--Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los Españolés, pp. 16, 17,--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 21.

[368] Cortés, according to Bernal Diaz, ordered the troops who took possession of the second fortress “not to meddle with a grain of maize belonging to the besieged.” Diaz, giving this a very liberal interpretation, proceeded forthwith to load his Indian _tamanes_ with everything but maize, as fair booty. He was interrupted in his labors, however, by the captain of the detachment, who gave a more narrow construction to his general’s orders, much to the dissatisfaction of the latter, if we may trust the doughty chronicler. Ibid., ubi supra.

[369] “Adonde estaua la huerta que he dicho, que es la mejor que auia visto en toda mi vida, y ansí lo torno á dezir, que Cortés, y el Tesorero Alderete, desque entonces la viéron, y passeáron algo de ella, se admiráron, y dixéron, que mejor cosa de huerta no auian visto en Castilla.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 144.

[370] This barbarous Indian name is tortured into all possible variations by the old chroniclers. The town soon received from the Spaniards the name which it now bears, of Cuernavaca, and by which it is indicated on modern maps. “Prevalse poi quello di _Cuernabaca_, col quale è presentemente conosciuta dagli Spagnuoli.” Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. iii. p. 185, nota.

[371] The stout-hearted Diaz was one of those who performed this dangerous feat, though his head swam so, as he tells us, that he scarcely knew how he got on. “Porque de mí digo, que verdaderamete quando passaua, q lo ví mui peligroso, é malo de passar, y se me desvanecia la cabeça, y todavía passé yo, y otros veinte, ó treinta soldados, y muchos Tlascaltecas.” Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.

[372] For the preceding account of the capture of Cuernavaca, see Bernal Diaz, ubi supra,--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 21,--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 93,--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 8,--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 87,--Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 223, 224.

[373] “Una Tierra de Pinales, despoblada, y sin ninguna agua, la qual y un Puerto pasámos con grandíssimo trabajo, y sin beber: tanto, que muchos de los Indios que iban con nosotros pereciéron de sed.” Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 224.

[374] The city of Cuernavaca was comprehended in the patrimony of the dukes of Monteleone, descendants and heirs of the _Conquistador_.--The Spaniards, in their line of march towards the north, did not deviate far, probably, from the great road which now leads from Mexico to Acapulco, still exhibiting in this upper portion of it the same characteristic features as at the period of the Conquest.

[375] Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. iii. p. 187, nota.

[376] “Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 226.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 8.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 21.--This is the general’s own account of the matter. Diaz, however, says that he was indebted for his rescue to a Castilian, named Olea, supported by some Tlascalans, and that his preserver received three severe wounds himself on the occasion. (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 145.) This was an affair, however, in which Cortés ought to be better informed than any one else, and one, moreover, not likely to slip his memory. The old soldier has probably confounded it with another and similar adventure of his commander.

[377] “Otro Dia buscó Cortés al Indio, que le socorrió, i muerto, ni vivo no pareció; i Cortés, por la devocion de San Pedro, juzgo que él le avia aiudado.” Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 8.

[378] “Por el Agua á una muy grande flota de Canoas, que creo, que pasaban de dos mil; y en ellas venian mas de doce mil Hombres de Guerra; é por la Tierra llegó tanta multitud de Gente, que todos los Campos cubrian.” Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 227.

[379] “Y acordóse que huviesse mui buena vela en todo nuestro Real, repartida á los puertos, é azequias por donde auian de venir á desembarcar, y los de acauallo mui á punto toda la noche ensillados y enfrenados, aguardando en la calçada, y tierra firme, y todos los Capitanes, y Cortés con ellos, haziendo vela y ronda toda la noche.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 145.

[380] Diaz, who had an easy faith, states, as a fact, that the limbs of the unfortunate men were cut off _before_ their sacrifice: “Manda cortar pies y braços á los tristes nuestros compañeros, y las embia por muchos pueblos nuestros amigos de los [~q] nos auian venido de paz, y les embia á dezir, que antes que bolvamos á Tezcuco, piensa no quedará ninguno de nosotros á vida, y con los coraçones y sangre hizo sacrificio á sus ídolos.” (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 145.)--This is not very probable. The Aztecs did not, like our North American Indians, torture their enemies from mere cruelty, but in conformity to the prescribed regulations of their ritual. The captive was a religious victim.

[381] “Y al cabo dejándola toda quemada y asolada nos partímos; y cierto era mucho para ver, porque tenia muchas Casas, y Torres de sus Ídolos de cal y canto.” Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 228.

[382] For other particulars of the actions at Xochimilco, see Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 23, cap. 21,--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 8, 11,--Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los Españoles, p. 18,--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 87, 88,--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 145.--The Conqueror’s own account of these engagements has not his usual perspicuity, perhaps from its brevity. A more than ordinary confusion, indeed, prevails in the different reports of them, even those proceeding from contemporaries, making it extremely difficult to collect a probable narrative from authorities not only contradicting one another, but themselves. It is rare, at any time, that two accounts of a battle coincide in all respects; the range of observation for each individual is necessarily so limited and different, and it is so difficult to make a cool observation at all, in the hurry and heat of conflict. Any one who has conversed with the survivors will readily comprehend this, and be apt to conclude that, wherever he may look for truth, it will hardly be on the battle-ground.

[383] This place, recommended by the exceeding beauty of its situation, became, after the Conquest, a favorite residence of Cortés, who founded a nunnery in it, and commanded in his will that his bones should be removed thither from any part of the world in which he might die: “Que mis huesos--los lleven á la mi Villa de Coyoacan, y allí les den tierra en el Monesterio de Monjas, que mando hacer y edificar en la dicha mi Villa.” Testamento de Hernan Cortés, MS.

[384] This, says Archbishop Lorenzana, was the modern _calzada de la Piedad_. (Rel. Terc. de Cortés, p. 229, nota.) But it is not easy to reconcile this with the elaborate chart which M. de Humboldt has given of the Valley. A short arm, which reached from this city in the days of the Aztecs, touched obliquely the great southern avenue by which the Spaniards first entered the capital. As the waters which once entirely surrounded Mexico have shrunk into their narrow basin, the face of the country has undergone a great change, and, though the foundations of the principal causeways are still maintained, it is not always easy to discern vestiges of the ancient avenues.{*}

{*} La calzada de Iztapalapan,” says Alaman, who has made a minute study of the topography, “es la de San Antonio Abad, que conduce á San Augustin de las Cuevas ó Tlalpam.”--K.]

[385] “We came to a wall which they had built across the causeway, and the foot-soldiers began to attack it; and though it was very thick and stoutly defended, and ten Spaniards were wounded, at length they gained it, killing many of the enemy, although the musketeers were without powder and the bowmen without arrows.” Rel. Terc., ubi supra.

[386] “Y estando en esto viene Cortés, con el qual nos alegrámos, puesto que él venia muy triste y como lloroso.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 145.

[387] “Pues quando viéron la gran ciudad de México, y la laguna, y tanta multitud de canoas que vnas ivan cargadas con bastimentos, y otras ivan á pescar, y otras valdías, mucho mas se espantáron, porque no las auian visto, hasta en aquella saçon: y dixéron, que nuestra venida en esta Nueua España, que no eran cosas de hombres humanos, sino que la gran misericordia de Dios era quiē nos sostenia.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 145.

[388] “En este instante suspiró Cortés cō vna muy grā tristeza, mui mayor [~q] la [~q] de antes traia.” Ibid., loc. cit.

[389] “Y Cortés le dixo, que ya veia quantas vezes auia embiado á México á rogalles con la paz, y que la tristeza no la tenia por sola vna cosa, sino en pensar en los grandes trabajos en que nos auiamos de ver, hasta tornar á señorear; y que con la ayuda de Dios presto lo porniamos por la obra.” Ibid., ubi supra.

[390] Diaz gives the opening _redondillas_ of the _romance_, which I have not been able to find in any of the printed collections:

“En Tacuba está Cortés, cō su esquadron esforçado, triste estaua, y muy penoso, triste, y con gran cuidado, la vna mano en la mexilla, y la otra en el costado,” etc.

It may be thus done into pretty literal doggerel:

In Tacuba stood Cortés, With many a care opprest, Thoughts of the past came o’er him, And he bowed his haughty crest. One hand upon his cheek he laid, The other on his breast, While his valiant squadrons round him, etc.

[391] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 15.--Relacion de Alonso de Verzara, Escrivano Público de Vera Cruz, MS., dec. 21.

[392] “Haziā Alguazil mayor é Alférez, y Alcaldes, y Regidores, y Contador, y Tesorero, y Ueedor, y otras cosas deste arte, y aun repartido entre ellos nuestros bienes, y cauallos.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 146.

[393] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 146.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 48.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 1.

[394] Herrera, Hist. general, ubi supra.

[395] So says M. de Barante in his picturesque _rifacimento_ of the ancient chronicles: “Les procès du connétable et de monsieur de Némours, bien d’autres révélations, avaient fait éclater leur mauvais vouloir, ou du moins leur peu de fidélité pour le roi; ils ne pouvaient donc douter qu’il désirât ou complotât leur ruine.” Histoire des Ducs de Bourgogne (Paris, 1838), tom. xi. p. 169.

[396] “Y desde allí adelante, aunque mostraua gran voluntad á las personas que eran en la cōjuraciō, siempre se rezelaua dellos.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 146.

[397] Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los Españoles, p. 19.--Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 234.--“Obra grandíssima,” exclaims the Conqueror, “y mucho para ver.”--“Fuéron en guarde de estos bergantines,” adds Camargo, “mas de diez mil hombres de guerra con los maestros dellas, hasta que los armáron y echáron en el agua y laguna de Méjico, que fué obra de mucho efecto para tomarse Méjico.” Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[398] The brigantines were still to be seen, preserved, as precious memorials, long after the conquest, in the dock-yards of Mexico. Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 1, cap. 1.

[399] “Dada la señal, soltó la Presa, fuéron saliendo los Vergantines, sin tocar vno á otro, i apartándose por la Laguna, desplegáron las Vanderas, tocó la Música, disparáron su Artillería, respondió la del Exército, así de Castellanos, como de Indios.” Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 6.

[400] Ibid., ubi supra.--Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 234.--Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los Españoles, p. 19.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 48.--The last-mentioned chronicler indulges in no slight swell of exultation at this achievement of his hero, which in his opinion throws into shade the boasted exploits of the great Sesostris. “Otras muchas é notables cosas, cuenta este actor que he dicho de aqueste Rey Sesori, en que no me quiero detener, ni las tengo en tanto como esta tranchea, ó canja que es dicho, y los Vergantines de que tratamos, los quales diéron ocasion á que se oviesen mayores Thesoros é Provincias, é Reynos, que no tuvo Sesori, para la corona Real de Castilla por la industria de Hernando Cortés.” Ibid., lib. 33, cap. 22.

[401] Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 234.

[402] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 147.

[403] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.--_Hidalguía_, besides its legal privileges, brought with it some fanciful ones to its possessor; if, indeed, it be considered a privilege to have excluded him from many a humble, but honest, calling, by which the poor man might have gained his bread. (For an amusing account of these, see Doblado’s Letters from Spain, let. 2.) In no country has the _poor gentleman_ afforded so rich a theme for the satirist, as the writings of Le Sage, Cervantes, and Lope de Vega abundantly show.

[404] “Y los Capitanes de Tascaltecal con toda su gente, muy lúcida, y bien armada, ... y segun la cuenta, que los Capitanes nos diéron, pasaban de cinquenta mil Hombres de Guerra.” (Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 236.) “I toda la Gente,” adds Herrera, “tardó tres Dias en entrar, segun en sus Memoriales dice Alonso de Ojeda, ni con ser Tezcuco tan gran Ciudad, cabian en ella.” Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 13.

[405] “Y sus vaderas tēdidas, y el aue blāca [~q] tienen por armas, [~q] parece águila, con sus alas tendidas.” (Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 149.) A spread eagle of gold, Clavigero considers as the arms of the republic. (Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. ii. p. 145.) But, as Bernal Diaz speaks of it as “white,” it may have been the white heron, which belonged to the house of Xicotencatl.

[406] The precise amount of each division, as given by Cortés, was,--in that of Alvarado, 30 horse, 168 Castilian infantry, and 25,000 Tlascalans; in that of Olid, 33 horse, 178 infantry, 20,000 Tlascalans; and in Sandoval’s, 24 horse, 167 infantry, 30,000 Indians. (Rel. Terc., ap. Lorenzana, p. 236.) Diaz reduces the number of native troops to one-third. Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 150.

[407] “Que se alegrassen, y esforzassen mucho, pues que veian, que nuestro Señor nos encaminaba para haber victoria de nuestros Enemigos: porque bien sabian, que quando habiamos entrado en Tesaico, no habiamos trahido mas de quarenta de Caballo, y que Dios nos habia socorrido mejor, que lo habiamos pensado.” Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 235.

[408] Oviedo expands what he nevertheless calls the “brebe é substancial oracion” of Cortés into treble the length of it as found in the general’s own pages; in which he is imitated by most of the other chroniclers. Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 22.

[409] “Y con estas últimas palabras cesó; y todos respondiéron sin discrepancia, é á una voce dicentes: Sirvanse Dios y el Emperador nuestro Señor de tan buen capitan, y de nosotros, que así lo harémos todos como quien somos, y como se debe esperar de buenos Españoles, y con tanta voluntad, y deseo, dicho que parecia que cada hora les era perder vn año de tiempo por estar ya á las manos con los Enemigos.” Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., ubi supra.

[410] According to Diaz, the desire to possess himself of the lands of his comrade Chichemecatl, who remained with the army (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 150); according to Herrera, it was an amour that carried him home. (Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 17.) Both and all agree on the chief’s aversion to the Spaniards and to the war.

[411] “Y la respuesta que le embió á dezir fué, que si el viejo de su padre, y Masse Escaci le huvieran creido, que no se huvieran señoreado tanto dellos, que les haze hazer todo lo que quiere: _y por no gastar mas palabras, dixo, que no queria venir_.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 150.

[412] So says Herrera, who had in his possession the memorial of Ojeda, one of the Spaniards employed to apprehend the chieftain. (Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 17, and Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 90.) Bernal Diaz, on the other hand, says that the Tlascalan chief was taken and executed on the road. (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 150.) But the latter chronicler was probably absent at the time with Alvarado’s division, in which he served. Solís, however, prefers his testimony, on the ground that Cortés would not have hazarded the execution of Xicotencatl before the eyes of his own troops. (Conquista, lib. 5, cap. 19.) But the Tlascalans were already well on their way towards Tacuba. A very few only could have remained in Tezcuco, which was occupied by the citizens and the Castilian army,--neither of them very likely to interfere in the prisoner’s behalf. His execution there would be an easier matter than in the territory of Tlascala, which he had probably reached before his apprehension.

[413] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 17.--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 90.

[414] “Y sobre ello ya auiamos echado mano á las armas los de nuestra Capitanía contra los de Christóual de Oli, y aun los Capitanes desafiados.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 150.{*}

{*} [As they were approaching the town, Olid sent a squad of soldiers ahead to secure quarters. When Alvarado entered he found every house in the place already decorated with the green branch upon its roof, which indicated that it was already occupied. According to Bancroft, Alvarado and Olid began their march on the 22d of May. He insists that Prescott was misled by an error in Cortés, Cartas, 208.--M.]

[415] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 150.--Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 237.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 130.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 22.

[416] The Tepanec capital, shorn of its ancient splendors, is now only interesting from its historic associations. “These plains of Tacuba,” says the spirited author of “Life in Mexico,” “once the theatre of fierce and bloody conflicts, and where, during the siege of Mexico, Alvarado ‘of the leap’ fixed his camp, now present a very tranquil scene. Tacuba itself is now a small village of mud huts, with some fine old trees, a very few old ruined houses, a ruined church, and some traces of a building, which ---- assured us had been the palace of their last monarch; whilst others declare it to have been the site of the Spanish encampment.” Vol. i. let. 13.

[417] Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 237-239.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 94.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 22.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 50.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 130.--Clavigero settles this date at the day of Corpus Christi, May 30th. (Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. iii. p. 196.) But the Spaniards left Tezcuco May 10th, according to Cortés; and three weeks could not have intervened between their departure and their occupation of Cojohuacan. Clavigero disposes of this difficulty, it is true, by dating the beginning of their march on the 20th instead of the 10th of May; following the chronology of Herrera, instead of that of Cortés. Surely the general is the better authority of the two.