_How ambassadors arrive in Tezcuco from three neighbouring
townships, to sue for peace, and to beg forgiveness for the murder
of several Spaniards who had fallen into their hands; and how
Sandoval marched to Chalco and Tlalmanalco, to assist the
inhabitants there against the Mexicans._
The second day after our return to Tezcuco, three of the neighbouring
townships sent to Cortes, to sue for peace, and beg forgiveness, for
having put some Spaniards to death; they strove to exonerate themselves
from all guilt, by stating that they had been compelled to march against
us by command of Cuitlahuatzin, who had ascended the Mexican throne
after Motecusuma's death; they had merely done, they said, what they
could not avoid, and had sent the Spaniards they had captured, with
their horses, and everything else belonging to them, to Mexico. These
townships, which thus came to sue for peace, were Tepetezcuco and
Otumpan; the name of the third I have forgotten. This was the same
Otumpan where the memorable battle took place which we fought against
the flower of the Mexican army.
The inhabitants of these townships were terrified when they heard of our
march against Iztapalapan, and concluded they might now also expect a
visit from us; and though they would have been pleased to hear that we
had perished in the water, or had been worsted in the last battle, yet
they considered it more advisable, by seeking peace of us, to avert the
castigation they feared.
Cortes, seeing he could not do better under the present circumstances,
granted them a pardon for the past, but made them give a solemn promise
to remain faithful to our emperor in future, to obey us in everything,
and never again to enter into an alliance with Mexico; to all of which
they faithfully adhered. After this, ambassadors arrived from another
township, which lay in the midst of the lake, and was called Mizquic,
though we called it Little Venice. The inhabitants of this place had
never been upon intimate terms of friendship with the Mexicans, and now
utterly detested them. An alliance with these people, from their
situation in the midst of the lake, was of the utmost importance to us,
and we also flattered ourselves we should, through them, gain the
friendship of the other townships which lay on the lake. These
ambassadors accordingly were most courteously received by our general,
and he dismissed them with the most flattering assurances of our
friendship and protection.
During this interview Cortes received information that a large body of
Mexican troops were marching against the four townships which had been
the first to solicit our friendship. The inhabitants there durst not
venture of themselves to bid any defiance to the enemy, but intended to
fly to the mountains, or seek refuge with us in Tezcuco. They begged so
hard for assistance, that Cortes at length complied with their request,
and marched thither with twenty horse, two hundred foot, thirteen
crossbow-men, and ten musketeers, accompanied by Alvarado and Oli. These
towns lay about nine miles from Tezcuco, and were threatened with total
destruction by the Mexicans for having concluded peace with us. In
particular they were afraid of losing the crops of maise in front of the
lake, which were now ready for harvesting, and from which the
inhabitants of Tezcuco and the four townships had thought to supply us.
The Mexicans declared they were coming to cut this maise, as it was
their property, and those townships had always till then cultivated
those lands for the papas of Mexico; and indeed many lives had already
been lost in disputes respecting these fields.
Cortes, being now well acquainted with the true state of the case, sent
word to the inhabitants of those places that they had nothing to fear,
but to remain quietly at home, and send him word when they were desirous
of harvesting their maise crops. He would then despatch an officer, with
several horse, to protect the reapers. With this they were perfectly
satisfied, and we returned to Tezcuco.
When we found that our stock of maise was nearly all gone, we sent
notice of it to those townships, and they immediately commenced reaping
their crops; and we marched thither to protect them, with ten horse, one
hundred foot, and a few musketeers and crossbow-men, besides the
Tlascallan troops, and we took up our position on the maise plantations.
I myself was twice present on these expeditions. On one occasion we had
a very sharp skirmish with the Mexicans, a large body of whom had
arrived in upwards of 1000 canoes, and secreting themselves among the
maise plantations, had commenced carrying off our allies. We instantly
fell upon them, and though they fought courageously, yet we compelled
them to take to their canoes again. In this skirmish we had one man
killed and twelve wounded, of the Tlascallans from fifteen to twenty
were killed, and five were carried off alive.
The day following this skirmish we learnt that the townships Chalco and
Tlalmanalco, with their dependent villages, were desirous of making
peace with us, but were prevented from doing so by the Mexican garrisons
stationed there. They complained bitterly of the treatment which they
suffered from them; their wives were dragged away, and if handsome were
often violated in the presence of their parents and husbands.
About this time our carpenters in Tlascalla had proceeded so far with
the building of the brigantines, that the timber was ready to be put
together; we were therefore very awkwardly situated, from being so
closely bound to Tezcuco, where we had no time to make any arrangements
for transporting the brigantines hither; for now the inhabitants of this
township, then those of Mizquic, or Little Venice, then again others
which stood in alliance with us, came to beg assistance against the
Mexicans; besides this, many of our Tlascallan friends longed to return
home with their booty, consisting in gold, salt, and other matters, but
durst not venture, on account of the insecurity of the road, as the
Mexican troops were spread in all directions.
Under these circumstances, Cortes deemed that the inhabitants of
Tlalmanalco and Chalco, before all others, required our more immediate
assistance, that they might be enabled to form an alliance with us. The
other townships might defend themselves as well as they could for the
present, as it would not do to leave Tezcuco without any troops; indeed
the utmost vigilance was necessary in that town. Lugo and Sandoval
therefore received instructions to march out, with fifteen horse, two
hundred foot, a few crossbow-men and musketeers, besides our friends of
Tlascalla. They were to dislodge the Mexican troops from Chalco and
Tlalmanalco, and clear the road leading to Tlascalla and Vera Cruz,
along which the enemy had stationed small detachments.
Information of all this was previously conveyed to the inhabitants of
Chalco by some trustworthy men of Tezcuco, that they might fall upon the
Mexicans at the same moment with our troops. Nothing could have been
more agreeable to the wishes of the inhabitants of Chalco, and they
accordingly held themselves in readiness to rise up against the enemy at
the proper time.
Sandoval composed his rearguard of five horse, an equal number of
crossbow-men, and the greater part of the Tlascallans, who had all their
booty with them. As the Mexicans had everywhere sent out scouts and
spies to watch our movements, our present march to Chalco was no secret
to them. They had therefore collected a strong body of their troops, and
fell upon our rearguard, which was chiefly composed of Tlascallans. It
may easily be supposed that our five horse and few crossbow-men could
not stand long against these overpowering numbers; two were very soon
killed, and the rest wounded. Sandoval had indeed hastened to their
assistance with the first alarm, had succeeded in driving back the
Mexicans, and killing seven of their men; yet they managed to gain their
canoes, and retreat to a place of safety, which was the more easy for
them to do, as the whole of the population of this district was subject
to the Mexicans.
Sandoval was uncommonly vexed when he found the five horses and their
riders covered with wounds, two crossbow-men killed, and the rest all
wounded. He severely reproached them for not having defended themselves
better, and for the little protection they had proved to our Tlascallan
friends. He could easily see, he added, that they had but recently
arrived from Spain, and knew very little about fighting.
His first care now was to provide for the safety of the Tlascallans and
their baggage, and to despatch the letters Cortes had given him to Vera
Cruz. In these letters our general had given the commandant of that town
an account of all our conquests, and of his determination to besiege
Mexico, and blockade it on all sides; the letter closed by desiring him
to observe the utmost vigilance, and with orders to send all those of
his men who were sufficiently strong for service to Tlascalla, where
they were to remain until the road should be cleared of the enemy.
After Sandoval had despatched his messengers with these letters, and
conducted our Tlascallan friends to where they were out of the enemy's
reach, he marched back to Chalco, which was not very far distant. On
this march he was particularly on his guard, since he was well aware
that Mexican troops were lurking about in all directions, and lay
concealed in every house. He had indeed not advanced far along a level
tract of country, covered with maguey and maise plantations, before he
was vigorously attacked. The enemy, on this occasion, carried, besides
their usual weapons, long pikes, which were especially intended against
the charge of our horse upon their line. Sandoval, however, twice broke
through their dense ranks, and, with the Spanish troops and small body
of allies we had still left, he drove the enemy completely out of the
field. Five Spaniards, six horses, and many of our allies, were wounded.
This time the enemy received a severe retribution for the fresh attack
they made upon our troops; and, among the eight prisoners which were
made, three were Mexicans of distinction.
When the inhabitants of Chalco, which lay at a small distance from the
field of battle, found Sandoval was approaching their town, they came
out to welcome him, and expressed their great joy at the victory he had
gained.
The next day Sandoval informed the inhabitants that he was obliged to
leave again for Tezcuco. They told him they were desirous of
accompanying him there, to pay their respects to Malinche, and to
present to him the two sons of their late cazique, who had died a few
days previously of the smallpox. On his death-bed, they said, he
expressed a wish to the chiefs of the country that his sons might be
introduced to Cortes to be installed by him as caziques of Chalco. The
dying man had likewise recommended them to subject themselves to the
great monarch of the teules, as it had been prophesied by their
forefathers that, at some period or other, there would arrive from the
rising of the sun a people with beards, for whom the dominion of these
countries was predestined, and there was not the least doubt that that
prophecy was fulfilled in our persons.
Sandoval returned to Tezcuco, taking along with him the two princes,
several distinguished personages of Chalco and the eight Mexican
prisoners. Cortes was highly delighted on seeing him again, and after
Sandoval had related all that had taken place, he retired to his own
quarters to receive the caziques of Chalco. He paid them every respect,
and, according to their request, acknowledged them as vassals of our
emperor, and then installed the two sons of the late cazique into their
government. After the caziques had fulfilled their commission, they
handed over their presents, which may have been worth about 200 pesos.
With the assistance of Dona Marina and Aguilar, Cortes had perfectly
comprehended what these caziques had said. He showed them every possible
kindness, and gave the government of Chalco to the elder prince, with
several towns which were subject to it, and to the younger the township
of Tlalmanalco, Chimalhuacan, Ayotzinco, and of other small towns, so
that the elder came in for a little more than half of his father's
dominions.
After Cortes had instilled many useful things into the hearts of these
men and the young caziques, he dismissed them; and they offered, in
return, to render us every service that lay in their power, assuring
him, at the same time, that they had been peaceably inclined from the
beginning, and that they had been prevented sooner taking the oath of
allegiance to our emperor from fear of the Mexican garrison. They
likewise informed Cortes that, previous to our retreat from Mexico, they
had concealed from the Mexicans two Spaniards who had been sent by him
to demand of them tribute in maise, and had conveyed them safely during
night-time to our friends of Huexotzinco, thereby saving their lives.
This we knew to be perfectly true, for we had been duly informed of it
by one of those two Spaniards who had escaped to Tlascalla.
Cortes returned these excellent men many hearty thanks for their kind
feeling, and invited them to stay a couple of days longer with us, lest
they should fall into the hands of the Mexicans, as he intended to
despatch one of his officers to Tlascalla to fetch the woodwork of which
our brigantines were to be made, they should then be safely conducted to
their homes.
After this interview with the caziques, Cortes determined to send the
eight Mexicans whom Sandoval had taken prisoners, to Mexico, and
commissioned them to make the following disclosures, in his name, to the
new monarch Quauhtemoctzin: "He, Cortes, was very anxious to preserve
the monarch of Mexico and his great city from destruction, and hoped,
therefore, he would send messengers of peace to us, in which case every
injury we had received at the hands of the Mexicans would be forgiven
them and altogether forgotten, nor should we demand restitution of the
things they had taken from us. It was an easy matter to make war, but it
always terminated in the destruction of those who first began it. We
were by no means ignorant of the vast preparations which were going on
for the defence of Mexico; it would all, however, prove useless, and the
only consequences would be the destruction of his metropolis, and of
all its inhabitants. He should bear in mind the amazing power of our
Lord God, who lent us his aid on all occasions, and remember also that
all the surrounding townships had declared in our favour. For the rest,
there was nothing the Tlascallans so greatly desired as a war with the
Mexicans, to revenge the death of their fellow-countrymen. We hoped,
therefore, he would send messengers to sue for peace, which we would
conclude with him on the most honorable terms."
With this message, to which Dona Marina and Aguilar joined some good
counsel, the eight prisoners repaired to Mexico. Quauhtemoctzin,
however, would not even deign an answer to our proposals of peace, but
continued his warlike preparations for the defence of his metropolis,
and sent orders to all his troops in the provinces to hold themselves in
readiness to march out at a moment's notice, and that every Spaniard who
was captured should be brought alive to Mexico, there to be sacrificed
to his gods. In order to gain the good wishes of his people, he exempted
many from paying tribute, and made a vast many promises.
About this time, the Quauhtitlans again arrived in our quarters, whom,
as we saw above, the Mexicans had ill-used for having formed an alliance
with us. The dispute, they said, respecting the maise plantations, which
had been formerly cultivated for the use of the priests of Mexico, was
renewed by the Mexicans, who each week returned to fall upon the
reapers, many of whom they had carried off prisoners to Mexico. Cortes,
therefore, determined to put an end to these depredations, and marched
thither in person at the head of a hundred foot, twenty horse, twelve
crossbow-men and musketeers. In order to make sure of success, spies
were posted at proper places, who were to bring immediate notice of the
enemy's approach. Thus prepared, we espied early one Wednesday morning a
strong body of Mexicans advancing towards us; and when they had come
near enough, we sallied out upon them, and drove them back to their
canoes; four of them were killed, and three taken prisoners.
After this skirmish, Cortes returned to Tezcuco, and the enemy ever
after left those townships in peace. I must now relate what happened to
Sandoval on his march to Tlascalla, whither he had been despatched to
fetch the materials for building our brigantines.