CORTES AND THE CONQUEST
Landing of Cortes--Orizaba peak--The dawn of conquest--Discovery of
Yucatan--Velasquez and Grijalva--Life and character of Cortes--Cortes
selected to head the expedition--Departure from Cuba--Arrival at
Yucatan--The coast of Vera Cruz--Marina--Vera Cruz established--Aztec
surprise at guns and horses--Montezuma--Dazzling Aztec gifts--Messages
to Montezuma--Hostility of the Aztecs--Key to the situation--The
Cempoallas--Father Olmedo--Religion and hypocrisy of the Christians--
March to Cempoalla--Montezuma's tax-collectors--Duplicity of Cortes--
Vacillation of Montezuma--Destruction of Totonac idols--Cortes
despatches presents to the King of Spain--Cortes destroys his ships--
March towards the Aztec capital--Scenery upon line of march--The
fortress of Tlascala--Brusque variations of climate--The Tlascalans--
Severe fighting--Capitulation of Tlascala--Faithful allies--Messengers
from Montezuma--March to Cholula--Massacre of Cholula--The snow-capped
volcanoes--First sight of Tenochtitlan.
"Brightly my star, new hope supplying,
Leads on the hour shall all, all repay!"
Such, indeed, might have been the sentiment which inspired the breasts
of Hernando Cortes and his Spaniards on that memorable Good Friday,
April 21, 1519, as they first set foot upon the Mexican mainland, upon
those sandy shores which in the act they christened Vera Cruz.
Before them, far away beyond the sandy desert and the tree-crowned
slopes, stretched a high cordillera, a curtain drawn between them and
the unknown world of the interior. What lay there? Matters of grave
interest and preoccupation! For beyond that far, blue maritime defence
of Anahuac--they had that moment learned it--there dwelt a mighty
potentate and people, steeped with savage soldier-craft, rendered more
terrible by the barbaric civilisation which it upheld. Here were no
gentle savages such as they had hunted in the forests of Cuba and
Hispaniola; and the mail-clad, helmeted Spaniards listened at first
with mixed feelings to the accounts of the friendly Indians who greeted
them at the shore, feelings in which the spirit of conquest rose high
and dominant.
The ten caravels of Cortes are swinging at anchor in the bay, whose
white-capped waters they have just passed. The Spaniards have
reconnoitred the beach, and their eyes have followed the rising
landscape to where, beyond the forest-clad mountains, and emerging from
the clouds which girt them, a single gleaming, snowy point appeared,
piercing the blue heavens like the gnomon of a mighty dial. It was
Citlaltepetl, the "mountain of the star," the natives told them. It was
the lofty Orizaba, the sunlight on its perpetual snow-cap bringing it
to deceptive nearness.
Halting thus upon this sunny shore, who were these Spaniards, and what
was their mission and character? Let us briefly sketch them. Those were
stirring times in "ocean chivalry." The dream of Columbus had been
accomplished for twenty-five years; Balboa had crossed the isthmus a
few years since and Panama was known. The islands of Cuba and Santa
Domingo had been settled and made starting-points for further
discoveries, and two years before--in 1517--a Cuban _hidalgo_,
Hernandez de Cordova, blown by a fierce gale, with his three ships, far
from his objective point of the Bahamas, landed on an unknown land
where the Indians said "_Tectecan_"--"I do not understand you." What
was this land? It was the peninsula now called
Yucatan--"_tectecan_"--part of the Mexico of to-day. And on Cordova's
return to Cuba, the governor of that island, Don Diego de Velasquez,
bestirred himself right actively, impelled by certain longings for
conquest he had long nourished, and by the adventures, and curious
things of laboured gold brought back by Cordova. Fitting out four
vessels, Velasquez put them under the command of his nephew, Juan de
Grijalva, and quickly sent them forth to win him riches and fame in
those unknown lands--May, 1518. Grijalva duly touched and coasted upon
the islands and shores of Yucatan, and his name remains to-day in the
great Grijalva river. Thence he followed the horseshoe curve of the
Gulf of Mexico, and arrived and landed at San Juan de Ulua, the same
point where we left Cortes and his Spaniards halting. To Grijalva is
due the prestige of first landing on the shores of Mexico, and of
having intercourse with its people of the Aztecs. But, Grijalva
tarrying long, Don Diego de Velasquez had despatched another
expedition, commanding his nephew to return, which the latter did and
was received coldly by the jealous and ungenerous Governor, as he is
painted by his historians. Still bent on greater conquest, Velasquez
cast about for men, money, and ships, and his eye fell on the capable
Hernando Cortes, the young Spaniard who, born in Estremadura in 1485,
had set out, impatient of the old world, to seek his fortunes in the
new: and had amassed--"God knows by what methods," as one of his
chroniclers says--a small fortune under the Governor's rule. Here was
the man, and, incidentally, here was part of the money! For Cortes was
popular and daring, and notwithstanding the several occasions on which
he had come into collision with the Governor and the law, Velasquez
held him in certain favour.
The life of Cortes up to that point--let us touch upon it before
accompanying him, and know what manner of man he was--had been urged
principally by selfish adventure and amorous intrigues. He had arrived
in Hispaniola in 1504, and upon being offered a grant of land and
_repartimiento_ of Indians replied that "he had left Spain in search of
gold--not to become a land-tilling peasant." In 1511, under Velasquez,
who had been appointed to the conquest of Cuba, Cortes found outlet for
his adventurous spirit, and in the Indian warfare of the island gave
promise of the valour and activity which underlay a jocular and
seemingly trivial character. At the same time he became accustomed to
the barbarous methods of conquest and cruelty displayed by the
Spaniards in those regions, and to the abuse of power and arbitrary
jealousies and exactions displayed both to natives and colonials by the
petty Imperial authorities. Cortes had soon fallen foul of Velasquez.
On two occasions he had been thrown into prison by the Governor's
orders, but had escaped, partly by his own activity, and partly--it is
held--by connivance of his gaolers. Associated with these episodes was
a beautiful Spanish girl, Catalina Juarez, whom he had refused to marry
in spite of the representations of her family, due to his relations
with her: Velasquez also being interested in the family, in the person
of Catalina's sister. However, after a time, Cortes married and lived
happily with her upon his estate. Land and Indians were granted him,
and he acquired some wealth from agriculture and mining, maintaining
good relations with the Governor, Velasquez.
Now it was that Pedro de Alvarado, the future conqueror of Guatemala,
who had accompanied Grijalva to Mexico, returned, and now it was that
Velasquez cast about for men, money and ships, to push the conquest of
Mexico. Choice fell upon Cortes. The long-nourished hopes of the young
Spaniard--he was thirty-four or five--were fulfilled. He realised all
his resources to subscribe towards the expense, covering indeed the
major portion of the cost of ships and stores. The little port of
Santiago de Cuba echoed with the bustle of preparation. The vessels,
most of which were simply open brigantines, the largest not more than
one hundred tons, were rapidly fitted out. Hundreds of men flocked
instantly to his leadership. Away to the West their thoughts and
enthusiasm carried one and all; gold, adventure, fame--who would not
go!
The light and easy character of Cortes changed under the grave import
and responsibility of this great mission, in which he seemed to
recognise some fulfilment by Providence of his lifelong hopes. Here he
was, a relatively humble subject of Spain, of relatively obscure
parentage, although conscious of that powerful instinct of being a
_caballero_--a gentleman--singled out for this great enterprise! There
was but one fear--that its command should be snatched from him at the
last moment! And, indeed, this was averted by a mere hair's breadth,
say the chroniclers. For the jealous Velasquez, influenced by other
jealous advisers, and fearing that the independent spirit of Cortes
would arrogate to himself the glory and profit of the enterprise, once
away from his influence, resolved at the last moment to quit him of his
command and substitute another. Cortes heard of it. Apprehension lent
him a superhuman energy. Once away from Cuba's shores--ah! then he
could parley with its Governor. He visited his trusty officers.
Butchers, bakers, ammunition-makers were bribed and hurried, the stores
were rushed on board, commander and crew embarked at midnight, and when
morning dawned the good people of Santiago de Cuba awoke to see the
white sails of the squadron rising to meet the breeze, whilst the
rattle of the cables of the up-getting moorings fell upon their ears.
Down rushed Velasquez from his bed, and galloped to the wharf. "Stop
them! Stop them!" But it was too late--who could stop them?
Before his sails filled to the breeze Cortes approached the shore in an
armed boat. "Farewell! good Governor," was the burden of his words.
"Time is short, and what is to be done 'twere well it were done
quickly!" And so he sailed away towards the West, into a sunset-land of
conquest-dreams, and left Velasquez fuming on the quay.[13]
[Footnote 13: This story of the departure of Cortes is doubted by some
writers, but it appeals to the mind of the adventurous traveller in
those regions, even to-day, with too strong a ring of probability to be
ignored.]
But the jealous Governor's resources were not quite exhausted. He
despatched swift messengers to other Cuban ports where the expedition
must touch for further supplies, ill-provisioned as it was by the hasty
departure, with orders for the authorities at these points to detain
Cortes at all hazards. It was useless. Far from detention, he received
supplies and reinforcements. A number of well-known _hidalgos_ joined
him, among them Pedro de Alvarado, Cristoval de Olid, Velasquez de
Leon, Gonzalo de Sandoval, Hernandez Puertocarrero, Alonzo de Avila,
and others who took a valiant part afterwards in the conquest. At his
last port of departure Cortes wrote a letter to Velasquez, of a
conciliatory nature: reviewed his forces, which amounted to nearly nine
hundred Spaniards and two hundred Indians, with ten heavy guns, several
falconets, ample ammunition, and sixteen horses, in eleven vessels.
Having addressed the forces in words of enthusiasm, dangling before
them the glories of conquest, specially pointing out to them that they
were carrying the Cross to set before savages, Cortes invoked the
patronage of St. Peter, and the squadron set sail for the shores of
Yucatan.
How they arrived at the island of Cozumel, fought with the Indians of
the mainland, tumbled the gross idols of the savages from their
pyramid-temple, and set up an altar to the Virgin; and how they
recovered an unfortunate Spaniard who had sojourned eight years, after
shipwreck, with the natives of Yucatan; how Alvarado antagonised the
natives and Cortes pacified them; and how they sailed thence to the
real shores of Mexico, where we left them halting, are fascinating
matters of their voyage which we must thus lightly pass over.
[Illustration: PREHISTORIC MEXICO: RUINS OF "THE PALACE" AT
CHICHEN-YTZA, IN YUCATAN.]
Behold a level, sun-beat, wind-swept plain, the drifting sand blown
into _medanos_, or sand-hills, by the hurricanes of the gulf, the
perennial _norte_. Here are the _Conquistadores_ grouped, Cortes and
his associates. Among them is the figure of a woman, and her name is
worthy to rank in the first verse and chapter of our story. It is
Marina, the beautiful Indian girl who had been given to the Spaniards,
among other female slaves, at Tabasco, in Yucatan, and who, Cortes had
learned, spoke the language of the Mexicans, in addition to her native
Yucatec. So Marina was the interpreter through whose medium
understanding was had with the natives. This was in conjunction with
the Spaniard Aguilar--the rescued castaway, who spoke the language of
Marina. But this was only at first, for as Cortes loved her and she
loved him, she soon acquired the Castilian of the _Conquistador_ as his
mistress.
Thus was parley opened with the natives and their caciques, and
knowledge gained of Montezuma, the great Emperor of the Aztecs, and of
the power and circumstances of their empire, whose rule extended to the
coast whereon they stood. Cortes and his captains made presents to the
caciques, and received such in return, and it was decided to establish
the colony of Villa Rica de Vera Cruz. A pretty piece of
juggling--singular yet not unjustifiable--took place in the
inauguration of this, Cortes establishing his captains as its
municipality, resigning the commission he had received from the
Governor of Cuba into the hands of the body he had called into being
himself, and then accepting from it a commission as captain-general,
all taking title as officials of the Crown of Spain! This proceeding,
solemnly carried out on the edge of the wilderness, and in sound of the
roaring waters of the Gulf, is not without a _Gilbertian_ spice.
Rude habitations had been built, guns mounted, and supplies secured
from the Indian population which flocked around the Spaniards. And
suddenly a new sensation was sprung upon these simple people. The
horses were brought on shore, and the cavalry manoeuvred upon the
beach; cannons were fired and trumpets sounded, the shot from the guns,
purposely directed against the trees, smashing them to splinters.
Filled with awe the Aztec chief of the place--the friendly cacique
Teuhtile--bade his picture-writers depict it all; and upon the native
paper these terrible gachupines[14] and their great "water-houses," and
thundering engines, and singular musical instruments, were drawn in
lifelike form by these native "newspaper artists," to be despatched
by the native postmen over the rocky fastnesses of the Cordilleras to
the great Montezuma. Then Cortes announced his mission. He was the
ambassador of a mighty Emperor from beyond the seas, come to greet the
Emperor of the Aztecs and to carry a present from his monarch, the
mightiest in the world. When could he be admitted before Montezuma? The
awe in which this potentate was held by his vassals was shown in
Teuhtile's reply: "Was it possible that a monarch, the equal of the
Aztec king, existed elsewhere? How could the white men ask, at such
short notice, to be admitted to the semi-sacred presence?" But he
brought forward presents of beautiful feather-work and ornaments of
gold for the Spaniards; and Cortes, not to be outdone, produced a
richly-carved chair and other things admired by the simple natives,
including articles of cut glass, which were held to be gems of great
price, as of course the Aztecs had no knowledge of glass. All these
matters were carried out with due ceremony, messengers with the
presents were sent to Montezuma, and the Spaniards, pending the return
of the emissaries of Teuhtile with their greeting, devoted themselves
to the perfecting of their dwellings.
[Footnote 14: The Aztec word for centaurs, which was applied to the
horsemen.]
Little more than a week elapsed. In that time the swift native carriers
had traversed and re-traversed the steep and rugged road from the coast
to the valley of Anahuac, a distance of about two hundred miles each
way. The substance of their message from Montezuma was "Come not
hither; the road is long and dangerous; return to your country with our
greetings to your great King." A magnificent present accompanied this
somewhat chilling reply--articles of gold and silver, beautifully
wrought, among them a huge gold plate, and one of silver, circular in
form and "as large as carriage-wheels," twenty-eight spans in
circumference, representing respectively the images of the sun and the
moon and engraved with figures of animals, doubtless indicative of some
chronological symbol--the value of the gold wheel was afterwards
estimated at more than 50,000 pounds sterling--other articles of
clothing and armour, including a number of beautiful golden shields
inlaid and decorated, necklaces of rubies and pearls, and a quantity of
the intricate and beautiful feather-work.
What was the result of all this, upon the Spaniards--this wealth of
treasure and this unencouraging greeting? "Go back again," was the
substance of Cortes's reply to the ambassadors of Montezuma; "tell your
monarch the mountain road and its dangers do not appal us--we who have
sailed two thousand leagues of troubled ocean to arrive here--and we
cannot return to our great sovereign without having personally greeted
yours." Again the Spaniards waited the messengers' return, weary of the
wind- and sand-swept plains of Vera Cruz; assailed by the _calenturas_
ever encountered upon the American coasts, the bilious malarial
disorders which Nature has made the scourge of the tropics, and which
the science of modern man has only just begun to investigate. Again the
messengers--within ten days--returned. Stripped of its diplomatic
covering of ceremony and further presents, the Aztec Emperor's reply
may be condensed as "Get thee hence!" And, as if to bear out some royal
mandate, the natives disappeared from the vicinity, the supplies were
cut off, leaving the Spaniards halting upon this debatable ground, in
chagrin and indecision.
But not for long. The stern design of the Spaniards had been forced,
and was growing. "I vowed to your Royal Highness that I would have
Montezuma prisoner, or dead, or subject to your Majesty," wrote Cortes
to Carlos V. of Spain, from Vera Cruz; and "Think you we were such
Spaniards as to lie there idly?" wrote Bernal Diaz, the soldier-penman,
afterwards. Yet there was some disaffection in the camp, a portion of
the men, wearied of inaction and fearful of dangers, desiring to return
to Cuba. Here Cortes's diplomacy came to the rescue. "On board, all of
you!" he exclaimed. "Back to Cuba and its Governor, and see what
happens!" The threat and sneer had the effect he expected. Scarcely a
man would return, but on the contrary they clamoured for the
establishment of a colony and for a march on Montezuma and his capital,
whilst the few who remained disaffected were clapped in irons, among
them the _hidalgo_ Velasquez, a relative of the Governor of Cuba.
And now it was that the key to the situation was put into the hands of
Cortes. An embassy from a semi-civilised, powerful nation to the north,
upon the gulf-shores--the Totonacs, of Cempoalla, as they announced
themselves--suddenly arrived in the colony of the Christians. They
brought an invitation from their chief for the Spaniards to visit him,
with the information--and here was the circumstance which should make
conquest possible--that the Totonacs were weary of the Aztec yoke, and
yearned for independence. "Ha!" thought Cortes and his _hidalgo_
associates, "they are delivered into our hands! They are divided, and
so they will fall." Father Olmedo, the wise and pious confessor of the
forces, to whose prudence the security of the Spaniards owed much, and
who was the representative of the great Church which became so potent
in those lands, blessed his comrades' conclaves, and celebrated solemn
Masses. Indeed, every move of the Spaniards was accomplished under such
auspices, and was always referred by Cortes to the influence of the
desire to carry the Cross of Christ and all it embodied, to those
heathen peoples; and in a spirited address to the soldiers he declared
that "without this motive their expedition was but one of oppression
and robbery." The true proportions of piety and hypocrisy contained in
these expressions and acts must be left to the knowledge of human
nature of the reader. Suffice to say that the Spaniards did, to a large
extent, look upon themselves as Crusaders, and that a militant
religious fervour animated them, in conjunction with a spirit of
avarice and cruelty.
And so they marched on Cempoalla, along the sandy shores of the gulf,
passing through villages, with temples devoted to the abominable
sacrificial rites which they had seen in Yucatan. Thence they
encountered the fringe of the tropical forests, and at length entered
the strange town of Cempoalla, with its numerous inhabitants, and
streets, and houses, and excellent surrounding cultivation. Here they
remained some days, the Spaniards delighted with the fertile region and
the hospitable natives. The great Cacique had received them in his
residence--a building of stone upon a pyramid, after the fashion of the
structures of that country, and, the fair Marina interpreting, Cortes
stated his mission--"to redress abuses and punish oppressors, and to
establish the true faith." The substance of the chief's reply was that,
though weary of the oppressive yoke of the Aztecs: Montezuma was a
terrible monarch, who could pour down his warriors upon them. But
Cortes gathered encouragement from his attitude, and in the meantime a
juncture had been effected with the ships upon the coast a few leagues
distant, at a port discovered by Montejo. Further deliberations took
place during the ensuing days, when a momentous event occurred in the
arrival of special emissaries from Montezuma to the Cacique, setting
forth the anger of the Emperor, and demanding instant reparation and
tribute for the disloyalty of the Totonacs in having entertained the
invaders. The fearful and hesitating Totonacs--it was but
natural--would have appeased their anger; but under the instigation of
Cortes these Aztec tax-collectors were seized and imprisoned.
Characteristic of the Spaniard of those days was the act of
double-dealing then performed by Cortes. He secretly released the
prisoners at night, soothed their feelings, sent them on board a ship,
and bid them report his goodwill to Montezuma!
The Totonacs were now too deeply compromised to do aught but become the
sworn allies of the Spaniards. The cherished dream of the return of
Quetzalcoatl had not been fulfilled, but here were these valiant
strangers, who had defied the omnipotent Montezuma! The Spaniards then
established a colony upon the coast near at hand, aided by the natives,
and a town soon arose which was a centre of operations and general
point of distribution for the subsequent operations. Engaged upon the
work was Cortes, when new emissaries arrived from the outraged
Montezuma. The Totonacs were only to be spared out of deference for the
white men who had liberated the tax-collectors! Montezuma was debating
much within himself and with his advisers at this time. "Surely these
terrible white strangers, who had come out of the East, were the
long-expected Quetzalcoatl and his people? It was necessary to placate
or temporise with them, for what destiny had written concerning the
passing of his empire must come to pass." So had pondered the great
Aztec chief, and it was this fear of destiny which had dictated his
attitude, vacillating as it was, towards the strangers. But the
emissaries returned to the lord of Anahuac with the same message as
before--that the white men would visit him in person.
Presents of wives--the soft, pretty Indian damsels, daughters of the
principal chiefs--were made to Cortes and his officers by the Cacique,
in gratitude for assistance against a neighbouring tribe, which the
Spaniards rendered. They must, however, be baptized first, said Cortes,
and the opportunity was taken to enforce the Christian religion upon
their allies. Protests and menace followed, but the idols of Cempoalla
were torn from their pyramid sanctuaries and hurled to the ground; the
foul sacrificial altars cleansed; the image of the Virgin installed
there; and a solemn Mass celebrated by Father Olmedo.
Other stirring events crowded rapidly on. A swift ship was despatched
to Spain with the wheel of gold; the beautiful feather-work, and the
other rare presents of the Aztecs, all given over by the Spaniards as a
royal gift to the young Spanish king; together with a voluminous
epistle. This was sent with the design of forestalling the machinations
of Velasquez; and though the vessel touched at Cuba, it escaped
detention, and safely arrived in Spain. But meantime disaffection arose
in the new colony, and a conspiracy was formed to seize a vessel and
escape to Cuba, by some of the Spaniards who were discontented and
fearful of the future. The plot was discovered and the authors seized
and executed, and a dramatic sequel to this conspiracy came about.
Cortes and some of his advisers resolved to prevent the recurrence of
any further danger of this nature; to put it out of the power of any to
desert; to place the knowledge of the inevitable before his troops,
that the conquest must be undertaken or death found in the attempt. He
sank his ships! Yes; the brigantines which had borne them thither, and
were their only means of retreat from those savage shores, were
dismantled and destroyed.
And now the Spaniards resolutely turn their faces to the mountains.
Threats and entreaties are stilled; the colony is established, the base
secured, the ships are sunk, save that single white-winged caravel far
over the waters of the gulf, prow to the shores of Spain. The Mass is
said, the books are closed. "Forward! my comrades," said Cortes;
"before us lies a mountain road; and adventure, gold, and glory!"
The traveller of to-day, as he traverses by rail the desert coast zone
of the Mexican littoral, and ascends the steep slopes of the eastern
Cordillera of the Sierra Madre, to gain access to the Great Plateau or
Valley of Mexico beyond it, reposing amid the cushions of his Pullman
car, will neither endure the fatigue which the _Conquistadores_
suffered nor be assailed, night and day, with the menace of savage foes
on every hand. But the grand and varied setting still remains: the
strange and beautiful fairyland of Nature's rapid transformation
scenes, the changing landscape and successive climates of this
remarkable region. The sandy wastes give place to tropical forests and
fertile valleys, with their bright accompaniment of profuse flower- and
bird-life. These, in turn, disappear from the changing panorama, and
the traveller reaches the appalling escarpments of the Mexican Andes,
looking down from time to time from dizzy ridges, where the ascending
steel lines of the railroad spiral has brought him, to where distant
fertile vales lie in the glimmering haze, thousands of feet below. And
then the scene changes, and the dark rocky ribs and bleak plateau show
that the summit is reached, ten thousand feet above the level of the
ocean's ebb and flow.
[Illustration: THE LAND OF THE CONQUEST: STATE OF VERA CRUZ; VIEW ON
THE MEXICAN RAILWAY; THE TOWN OF MALTRATA IS SEEN THOUSANDS OF FEET
BELOW.]
But what we shall have accomplished in a day the weary _Conquistadores_
have spent many marches in overcoming. Cortes and his men are halting
at the end of a broad valley. What is the cause of the delay? An
extraordinary fortification confronts them; a wall, twice as high as a
man, made of stone blocks, and of enormous thickness, absolutely closes
the passage of the valley, and extends for several miles on either hand
to where it abuts upon the rocky ramparts of the Sierra itself. Was
this some enchanted castle raised up by magician hand? Certainly not;
it was the outer defence of the land of the Tlascalans; the bulwark of
the brave and independent mountain republic, which had ever defied the
power of the Aztecs.
To reach this point the Spaniards had toiled on day after day, sleeping
at night upon their arms. From the tropical lands and climate of the
_tierra caliente_ they had reached the frowning fastnesses of the great
mountains and lofty peaks, which overhang the crest of the eastern
slope of the tableland of Mexico. The rainy season was upon them, and
the trails were wet and heavy, and the atmosphere and humour of the
tropic lands had been debilitating, as indeed they are to the European
of today. The brusque change of climate from heat to cold tried them
sorely, although the latter was the more invigorating. Day by day a
huge coffin-shaped mountain had overhung the horizon--the Cofre de
Perote, an extinct volcano, in whose vicinity the desolating action of
old lava-flows startles the traveller's eye. As they reached the summit
of the range--the crests of the Eastern Sierra Madre--the rain and snow
and bitter winds, the functions of Nature which she ever lets loose
upon the head of the traveller who defies her in such inclement
regions, assailed the Spaniards, and some of the unfortunate Indians,
natives of the tropic lands of the coast, succumbed to the cold. On, on
they toiled up this untrodden way--untrodden, that is, by the foot of
civilised man before that day, and at length, having crossed the
summit, the _divortia aquarum_ of the continent, they began the descent
towards the mild climate of the Valley of Mexico.
Upon the confines of this valley was a town surrounded by extensive
cultivated fields of _maiz_. Stone buildings, numerous _teocallis_, and
a large population attested the importance of the place; and when the
Spaniards asked if it was tributary to Montezuma the chief replied with
another question, asking with surprise if there existed any other lord
worthy of tribute. Another chief and tribe some miles beyond, gave a
good reception to the Spaniards, and there they gladly halted for some
days. The house of the chief was upon a hill, "protected by a better
fort than can be found in half Spain," wrote Cortes to his Emperor at
Castile. Here it was that the Spaniards received news of the existence
of the people of Cholula and Tlascala, who inhabited the regions of
their intended line of march. "Go by the road of the Tlascalans," the
friendly chief advised; "the Cholulans are a treacherous people."
Cortes despatched messengers to the chief of Tlascala, but no reply was
received, and after waiting some days the Spaniards continued their
march, to where we left them halting before the stone wall across the
valley.
And then began the most stirring events of their march. The Tlascalans
were a people who had developed a remarkable civilisation and social
and military organisation, akin to that of the Aztecs. On the arrival
of the messengers of Cortes much dissension had prevailed in their
councils, some of the chiefs--the community was ruled by a council of
four--maintaining that this was an opportunity for vengeance against
their hereditary enemies, the hated Aztecs and their prince, Montezuma.
"Let us ally ourselves with these terrible strangers," they urged, "and
march against the Mexicans." For the doings of the Spaniards had echoed
through the land already, with a tale of smitten tribes and broken
idols. But the wily old Xicotencatl thought otherwise. "What do we know
of their purpose?" was his counsel; so it was agreed that the army of
the Tlascalans and Otomies, who were in force near the frontier, under
the command of the fiery young warrior--son of old Xicotencatl, and
bearing the same name--should attack them. "If we fail," the old
barbarian urged, "we will disavow the act of our general; if we win--"!
The stone fortification at the valley's end had been undefended, and
with Cortes at their head the Spaniards entered Tlascalan territory.
Skirmishing was followed by a pitched battle between the Christians and
the Tlascalans, in which the firearms and lances of the Spaniards
wrought terrible havoc on their antagonists. Astounded at the sight of
the horses--those extraordinary beings, whether of animal or demoniacal
origin they knew not--and appalled by the thundering of the guns, which
seemed to have some superhuman source, the Tlascalans at first fell
back. But they overcame their fears, fell savagely upon the invaders,
and were with difficulty repulsed, having managed to kill two of the
horses. Greatly to Cortes's regret was this, for the noble animals were
few, and--more serious still--their death removed that
semi-superstitious dread regarding them, which the natives held.
However, the Spaniards afterwards buried them from sight.
Night fell, a season when the Indians fought not, but on the morrow the
messengers which had been sent to the Tlascalans arrived--having
escaped--with the news that the enemy was approaching in great force.
So indeed it befel, and upon the plain in front of the Spaniards
appeared a mighty host, varyingly estimated between thirty and a
hundred thousand warriors. The Spaniards with their allies
numbered--fearful odds!--about three thousand. "The God of the
Christians will bear us through," said the brave and beautiful Marina.
A frightful battle now ensued, the issue of which hung in the scale for
hours. Charging, volleying, borne this way and that by the flood of the
enemy's numbers, the gallant band of the Spaniards snatched victory
from almost certain defeat, their superior weapons and cavalry,
together with the bad tactics of the Indians, who knew not how to
employ their unwieldy army to best advantage, at length decided the day
for the Christians, who inflicted terrible punishment upon their foes.
The Tlascalans' policy now showed signs of weakening, but further
assaults were necessary, and some treachery, under the guise of
friendship, having been discovered on the part of the fifty Tlascalan
envoys to the Spanish camp, Cortes barbarously cut off the hands of
these and sent them back to tell the tale.
The upshot of these engagements was that the Tlascalans capitulated,
apologised for their conduct, invited the strangers to take possession
of their capital, and assured them that they would now be allies, not
enemies, of the white men, who were undoubtedly the representatives of
the great and long-expected Quetzalcoatl. The joy in the Spanish camp
at this turn of affairs knew no bounds; well did the Spaniards know
that the continued opposition of the Indians would have been their
ruin, whilst in their alliance was salvation and the key to the
Conquest.
Behold the war-worn and hungry Spaniards, lean and tattered from
marching and privations in the inclement uplands, now installed in
comfort in the centre of the powerful Tlascalan capital. Forth had come
to greet them young Xicotencatl, who, to do him justice, took upon
himself the responsibility of the war; and as the Spaniards entered the
capital the streets were lined with men, women, and children, and
decorated with garlands of flowers as for a triumphal procession. The
old chief who had urged for opposition now changed his tactics, and as
Cortes entered he embraced him, passing his hand over the face of the
Spaniard to see what manner of man he was, for the aged Tlascalan was
blind, having reached, it has been said--probably with exaggeration--a
hundred and forty years of age! "The city is much larger than Granada,"
wrote Cortes to Carlos V., with a description of its markets, shops,
houses, and intelligent and industrious population.
Six weeks the Spaniards sojourned there, recuperating their energies,
living on the best the plentiful land afforded--Tlascala signified in
the Indian tongue "the land of bread"--taking wives from among the
maidens of the chiefs' daughters, and endeavouring, first with the
foolish haste of Cortes and then with the slow prudence of Father
Olmedo, to instil some tenets of the Christian religion into their
hosts. But religious fervour had to give way to material necessities,
and the Tlascalan idols remained unsmitten, although their human
sacrifices were somewhat stayed.
Rested and mended, the Spaniards now set impatient gaze upon the oak-
and fir-clad mountain slopes which bounded the valley. Above them
loomed upward the great Malinche, snow-capped queen of the Tlascalan
mountain fastnesses; and still the friendly Tlascalans, stern foes but
noble allies, loaded them with every favour and bid them tarry. When,
however, they would stay no longer they raised a great body of warriors
to accompany them, warning Cortez against the wiles of Montezuma.
"Beware of his presents and his promises; he is false and seeks your
destruction," they urged, and their implacable hatred of the Aztecs
showed itself in their words and mien.
Contrary to the advice of their new allies, the Spaniards decided to
journey on to Mexico through Cholula, the land of the great pyramid.
Embassies had arrived, both from Montezuma and from the Cholulans, the
latter inviting the Spaniards to go that way; and the great Aztec
monarch, swayed now by the shadow of oncoming destiny, offering the
Spaniards a welcome to his capital. "Trust not the Tlascalans, those
barbarous foes," was the burden of his message, "but come through
friendly Cholula"--words which the Tlascalans heard with sneers and
counter-advice. The purpose of the Tlascalans was not a disinterested
one. An attack upon Montezuma was their desire, and preliminary to this
they hoped to embroil the Spaniards with the perfidious Cholulans.
Another embassy--and this was an important event--had waited upon
Cortes. It was from the Ixtlilxochitl, one of the rival claimants for
the throne of Texcoco, which, it will be remembered, was a powerful and
advanced community in confederation with the Aztecs; and Cortes was not
slow to fan the flame of disaffection which this indicated, by an
encouraging message to the young prince.
[Illustration: THE LAND OF THE CONQUEST: A VALLEY IN THE STATE OF VERA
CRUZ, ON THE LINE OF THE MEXICAN RAILWAY.]
A farewell was taken of the staunch Tlascalans, the invariable Mass was
celebrated by Father Olmedo, and, accompanied by a large body of
Tlascalan warriors, the Spaniards set out for Cholula. What befel in
this beautiful and populous place--which, Bernal Diaz wrote, reminded
him, from its numerous towers, of Valladolid--was of terrible and
ruthless import. Cholula, with its great _teocalli_, was the Mecca of
Anahuac, and was veritably a land flowing with milk and honey.
Well-built houses, numerous _teocallis_, or pyramidal temples,
well-dressed people with embroidered cloaks, and numbers of
censer-swinging priests formed the _ensemble_ which greeted the
Spaniards' eyes, whilst the intense cultivation of the ground and the
fields of _maguey_, _maiz_, and other products, irrigated by canals
from the mountain streams, formed the environment of this advanced
community. "Not a palm's-breadth of land that is not cultivated," wrote
Cortes in his despatches to Castile, "and the city, as we approached,
was more beautiful than the cities of Spain." Beautiful and gay
doubtless Cholula was when the Spaniards entered; drenched with the
blood of its inhabitants and devastated by fire it lay before they left
it! There had been signs of treachery, even on the road thither, work
of the Cholulans; but, lodged in the city, the Spaniards discovered,
through the agency of the intelligent Marina, a plot to annihilate them
later. Taking the Cholulans unawares as they crowded the streets
with--at the moment--harmless curiosity, the Spaniards, with cannon,
musket, and sabre, mowed down the unfortunate and unprotected natives
in one bloody massacre, aided by the ferocious Tlascalans, who fell
upon the Cholulans from the rear. The appalling and unnecessary
slaughter at Cholula has called down upon the heads of Cortes and the
Spaniards the execration of historians. Some have endeavoured to excuse
or palliate it, but it remains as one of the indelible stains of the
Spanish _Conquistadores_ upon the history they were making. Having
accomplished this "punitive" act, an image of the Virgin was set up on
the summit of the great pyramidal temple, and some order restored.
"They are now your Highness's faithful vassals," wrote Cortes to the
king of Spain!
After this the way seemed clear. Far on the horizon loomed the white,
snow-capped cones of Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl, beautiful and pure
above the deserts, the canyons, and the forests beneath them--the
gateway to Mexico. From the foremost, above its snow-cap, there belched
forth a great column of smoke, for at that period Popocatepetl was an
active volcano. Onwards the Spaniards pressed with buoyant hearts and
eager feet, and when they stood upon the summit of the range their eyes
beheld the beautiful valley of Mexico, the haven for which they had
long toiled and fought, stretched below. There, shimmering in distance,
lay the strange, unknown city of the Aztecs, like a gem upon the
borders of its lakes: its towers and buildings gleaming white in the
brilliant sun of the tropic upland beneath the azure firmament and
brought to deceptive nearness by the clear atmosphere of that high
environment. There at last was their longed-for goal, the mysterious
Tenochtitlan.