[Sidenote: 1520.]
One day the idea struck me that by following down the river of that
village I might perhaps come to the other large river that empties
itself in the sweet gulfs, where I had left my brigantine, as well
as my boats and canoes. I consulted the matter with some of the
prisoners of that village, and they all seemed to agree in saying
that the two rivers communicated; but as they did not understand us
well, and they spoke a language totally different from those we had
hitherto met, no great reliance could be placed in their information.
Through signs, however, and aided by a few words in that language
which I understood, I begged that two of them should accompany ten
of my Spaniards, and show them the meeting of the two rivers. This
they promised to do, adding that the place was near at hand, and that
they would be back on the next day. And so it was, for God permitted
that after marching two leagues through very fine orchards, full of
cacao and other fruit trees, they should guide my men to the banks of
that large river, which they said communicated with the gulf, where
my shipping was. They even went so far as to say that the river’s
name was Apolochic, and that they had often navigated it. On their
return, the next day, I asked them how many days it would take a
canoe to go down the river to the gulfs, and having answered me that
five days were sufficient to accomplish the journey, I determined
upon sending thither two Spaniards, accompanied by one of the guides,
who offered to take them by crossroads known to him to the very spot
on the gulf where my ships were. I gave my men instructions to have
the brigantine, boats, and canoes taken to the mouth of that large
river, and that, leaving the vessel behind, they should try with one
of the canoes and a boat to ascend the river to the spot where the
other one joined it. This being done, and the men despatched on their
errand, I ordered four rafts to be constructed with pieces of timber
and very large bamboos, capable of supporting forty faneagues or
bushels of dried maize, and ten men each, without counting a quantity
of beans, peppers, and cacao, which each Spaniard afterwards threw
into it for his own private supply. The rafts being made, after eight
days’ hard work, and the provisions placed on them, the Spaniards I
had sent to the brigantine came to me and said that, after ascending
the river during six consecutive days, they had found it impossible
for the boat to go on, and had left it behind with ten Spaniards to
guard it; that, prosecuting their journey with the canoe, they had
arrived at a place, about one league down the river, where, worn out
by fatigue, and unable to use their oars, they had left it hidden
among the bushes; that on their way up the river they had met
Indians, and fought occasionally with them, and although they were
then few in number, they had reason to fear that they would come
back in force, and wait for their return. I immediately sent people
to look out for the canoe, and bring it alongside of the rafts; and
having placed on these all the provisions we had collected, chose
among my people those who were most capable of directing those rafts,
and avoiding by means of great poles the many floating timbers and
gigantic trees with which the bed of the river was covered, and
which rendered the navigation extremely dangerous. The remainder
of my people, under a captain appointed for the purpose, I sent to
the gulf by the same route which we had followed in coming up to
Chacujal, with instructions that if they arrived before me they
were to wait at the place of our landing until I should come for
them, and that if, on the contrary, I was before them on the spot,
I would not move until they came. As to myself, I embarked in the
canoe with only two cross-bow men, the only ones disposable in all my
suite. Though the journey I was about to undertake was exceedingly
dangerous, owing to the impetuosity and strength of the current, as
well as the almost certainty that the Indians would wait for us on
our passage, I nevertheless preferred this route by water to the
other by water, because our stock of provisions went this way, and
I could thus watch better over it. And so, trusting myself in the
hands of God, our Saviour, I began descending the river with such
rapidity, owing to the strength and violence of the current, that
in less than three hours’ navigation we came to the spot where the
boat had been left. Here we attempted to lighten the rafts by putting
part of their cargo in the boat, but it was found impracticable, for
no human effort could stop the rafts, driven on as they were by a
rapid current. I then embarked in the boat, and gave orders that the
canoe, well fitted with good oars, should go in front of the rafts,
in order to see whether any Indians lay in ambush, or whether we came
to any dangerous pass in the river; I myself remaining behind with
the boat ready to give assistance to the rafts, as it was clear to me
that, in case of need, I might more easily help from the rear than
if placed in the van. In this order we went down that river, until
about sunset, when one of the rafts struck violently against a piece
of timber that held fast to the bottom. So strong was the shock, that
the raft was almost entirely submerged, and although the violence of
the waters at that spot made it float again, half its cargo was lost.
Three hours later in the night, I heard in front of us the shouting
of some Indians, but not choosing to leave the rafts behind, I did
not go forward to ascertain what it might be. The shouting, however,
ceased, and we heard no more of it for some time. A little later in
the night I again heard the shouts, at what seemed to me a shorter
distance; but I could not ascertain the fact, for the canoe went, as
I have said, in front, and then three of the rafts, and I followed
in the rear with the fourth, which, owing to the accident sustained,
could not go so fast.
In this manner we proceeded for some length of time, until we came
to a turning of the river, where the current was so strong that,
notwithstanding all our efforts, rafts and boat were cast on shore.
Some time before this, hearing no longer those alarming shouts,
confidence had returned to my people, and I myself, taking off my
helmet--for I was ill with fever at the time--had laid my head on my
hand to see if I could rest. It was soon, however, ascertained that
the shouting we had heard in the distance came from that particular
spot, for the Indians, who knew the river well, as inhabiting its
banks, and being almost born on it, had followed us for some time
along the shore, knowing very well that we should be cast by the
current on the very spot where they were waiting in ambush for
us. No sooner, therefore, did the canoe and rafts reach the place
where the Indians lay concealed than we were assailed by a volley
of arrows from the shore that wounded almost every man on board;
though, knowing that most of us remained still behind, the attack
of the Indians was by no means so strong or furious as the one
they afterwards made on us. Thus assailed, the people in the canoe
attempted to come back and give me notice of the danger, but they
never succeeded in porting the helm, owing to the strength of the
current. When, however, it came to our turn to strike the land, the
Indians gave a most terrific shout, and assailed us with such a
volley of arrows and stones that not one man on board escaped without
a wound. I, myself, was struck by a stone on the head, the only part
of my body that was unarmed, having taken off my steel cap some time
before. God, however, permitted that at the spot where this happened
the banks of the river should be high and the waters deep. To this
circumstance we owed our salvation; for the night being dark, some of
the Indians who attempted to leap upon the rafts and boat fell into
the water, and I believe that a good number of them were drowned in
this way. The current itself soon extricated us from the danger, so
that a few minutes after this we scarcely heard their shouts.
The rest of the night passed without encounter of any sort, though
from time to time we still heard in the distance, or from the sides
of the river, the Indian war-cries.
The shores, I observed, were covered with villages and plantations,
and there were, besides, many fine orchards with cacao and other
fruit trees.
At dawn of day we were five leagues from the mouth of that river that
empties itself into the gulf, and where the brigantine was waiting
for us, and about the hour of noon we arrived on the spot, so that in
four-and-twenty hours we ran no less than twenty long leagues down
that river.
Having given orders that the provisions on the rafts should be
transferred immediately to the brigantine, I was informed, to my
great disappointment, that most of the maize was wet, and that if
I could not have it dried I ran a risk of losing the whole stock,
whereby all the trouble we had in procuring it would have proved in
vain. I immediately caused the dry maize to be put aside and stored
in the brigantine, and as to that which had been spoilt by water,
I had it thrown into the two boats and in two canoes, and sent it
in haste to the village for the purpose of drying; the shores of
that gulf being so swampy and low that there was no spot, however
small, where the operation could be effectually carried on. My men,
therefore, went away with the boats and canoes, but I gave them
orders to send the same back to me, the brigantine and one remaining
canoe being sufficient to convey all my people. Soon after their
departure I set sail in the brigantine, and steered towards the
place where it was agreed that I should wait for the people coming
from Chacujal by land. I waited for them three days, at the end of
which they all arrived in good spirits, and with no other loss but
that of a Spaniard, who having eaten of some herbs he saw in the
fields died almost immediately after. They also brought with them an
Indian, whom they had surprised and taken prisoner near the place
where I left them. This Indian was dressed differently and spoke a
language unknown in these parts. I had already begun to interrogate
him by signs, when a man was found among the prisoners who said he
understood a little of his dialect. In this manner we learned that he
was a native of Teculutlan. No sooner did I hear that name pronounced
than I recollected having heard it repeated on other occasions, and
when I returned to the village I consulted certain memoranda of mine,
where I actually found that name written as being that of a place
across the country, between which and the Spanish establishments in
the South Sea, governed by Pedro de Alvarado, one of my captains,
there was only a distance of seventy-eight leagues. The above
memoranda further stated that the village of Teculutlan had been
visited by Spaniards, and as the Indian bore also testimony to the
fact, I was very much pleased at receiving such intelligence.
My people being all congregated together, and the boats not having
yet returned, we consumed all the dry grain we had in store, and
embarked on board the brigantine, though, the vessel being so very
small, we had the greatest difficulty to move. It was my idea to
cross the gulf to that village where we had landed at first, because
I recollected that the maize plantations were very fine and in full
grain, though not sufficiently ripe for our cutting. Five-and-twenty
days had elapsed since that time, and it was to be hoped that a
good deal of it was dry enough for us to keep; and it so happened;
for being one morning in the middle of the gulf we saw the boats
and canoes coming towards us, and, having sailed altogether in that
direction, recognized the place where the village was. Immediately
after landing, all my people, Spaniards as well as Indians, besides
forty native prisoners, went straight forward to the village,
where they found several maize plantations in the finest possible
condition. The natives, if there were any at the place, not having
shown themselves or made any opposition, my men reaped as much of
that maize as they could, every man of us, Christian or Indian,
making that day three journeys, fortunately very short, from the
village to the ship, loaded with as much grain as he could carry. The
brigantine being filled as well as the boats, I went to the village
myself, leaving there all my people engaged in that most providential
harvest; I afterwards sent to them the two boats, and one more
belonging to a vessel from New Spain, and that had been lost in those
waters, and four canoes. In these vessels all my people embarked,
after having, as I said before, brought sufficient provision to last
us all for many a day. It was, indeed, a most providential supply,
and one that compensated us for all our past troubles; for had we not
found it at that moment we should all have perished through hunger.
“How much of the Cortes wonders do you believe, Uncle Fritz?”
This was Horace Feltham’s question.
Uncle Fritz said that there were two sets of opinions about it. For
himself, when Cortes squarely said that a thing was thus and so, he
took it as probably true, with due allowance for a man’s praise of his
own achievements, and for Spanish and travellers’ exaggeration.
But a great deal of what you find in the received accounts of the
conquest must be set down as belonging to the same school of romance as
in the same days wrote tales of chivalry or lives of saints. Especially
where men do not tell what they saw themselves must you be careful when
you are dealing with these Spanish authorities.