_The terrible thirst we suffered on our further march; our dangerous
position at Xochimilco, and the many battles we fought there with
the Mexicans, until our return to Tezcuco._
From Cuernavaca we marched towards Xochimilco, a large town lying about
eleven miles from Mexico,[17] and of which the greater part was built in
the water. On our march we adopted our usual military precautions, and
arrived at a forest of pine trees, without being able to obtain a single
drop of water all the way. Our arms were very heavy, and the day, which
had been exceedingly hot, was now far spent, and we were almost parched
with thirst, yet we had still several miles to go, nor did we know for
certain whether we should find the wells, which, it was said, lay
further on.
By this time the whole of our troops were almost exhausted with fatigue,
and our Tlascallan friends lost all courage after one of their
countrymen and an old Spaniard died of thirst. Cortes, observing the
great distress we were in, ordered us to halt under the shade of the
pine trees, and despatched six of our horse in advance, along the road
leading to Xochimilco, in search of some town or village where it was
said we should find the wells, as our general proposed to encamp near
them for the night.
This small body of cavalry, among which were Oli, Valdenebro, Truxillo,
and other brave men, had scarcely left, when I slipt away without being
observed by Cortes and the others, taking with me three of my Tlascallan
naborias, who were active young fellows, and I followed the three
above-mentioned cavalry officers until I was observed, and they halted
to wait my coming up. They advised me to return immediately, that I
might not fall into the hands of the Mexicans. I was not, however, to be
deterred by this; and Oli, with whom I stood on a very friendly footing,
at length gave me permission to accompany them, but to hold my hands
ready for battle and my legs for flight. I would at that moment have
risked my life to obtain a drink of water, so painful was my thirst.
We may have advanced about a couple of miles in a straight line when we
came up to a number of country houses which lay scattered among the
hills, and were subject to Xochimilco. Our officers entered these
dwellings without delay, in search of water, which they found, to their
inexpressible joy. One of my Tlascallans, who had followed them,
instantly returned to me with a large earthen jug full of water, with
which I and my servants quenched our thirst. I now again returned to the
wood where Cortes had halted with our troops, and it was high time I
did, as the inhabitants were beginning to assemble, and they followed us
with hootings and yells. I had ordered the jug to be replenished with
water, and gave it to one of my Tlascallans to carry. On my return, I
met Cortes, who had again put his troops in motion. I informed him that
we had found water in a small village not far off, and that I had
brought him a jug full. My Tlascallans had taken the precaution to cover
up the jug carefully, that no one might take it from them, for thirst
knows no law. Cortes and the other officers by whom he was surrounded
were highly delighted, and drank their fill; we then continued our
march, and reached the small village before sunset. There was still some
water left in the houses, but not sufficient for the whole of our
troops, so that several of the men, in order at least to moisten their
mouths, chewed a kind of thistle, the sharp prickles of which wounded
their tongues and lips. The small detachment of horse now also returned,
and informed our general that they had found the wells where we were to
encamp for the night, but these were still a good way off, and the whole
neighbourhood was beating to arms.
We encamped near the wells for the night, ordered the pickets and
outposts as usual, and otherwise took every precaution. I myself formed
one of the night watch, and, if I still remember rightly, it blew a
strong gale of wind, and some rain was falling.
The next morning very early we marched towards Xochimilco, and arrived
in front of that town about eight in the morning. Here an immense body
of the enemy stood ready to oppose us, part of whom were stationed in
the open fields, and the rest in front of a bridge which had been
destroyed, and near which large entrenchments had been thrown up. At the
end of their pikes they had fastened the swords we had lost on our
unfortunate retreat from Mexico, and many of the chiefs were armed with
our own broadswords, which had been beautifully polished. The whole of
the Mexicans appeared to be well-armed, and the entire plain was filled
with warriors.
The conflict for the possession of the bridges lasted about half an
hour, yet, with all our firing and hard fighting, we were not able to
force them. Our situation became truly perilous, for large bodies now
fell upon our rear, so that the only choice we had left was to cross the
water at all hazards. In this we fortunately succeeded, partly swimming,
and partly wading through. Several of our men, while thus crossing over,
drank so much water that their stomachs swelled out to an enormous size.
In crossing this water, we lost two men, and had several wounded;
nevertheless, we succeeded, by dint of our swords, to drive the enemy
before us along a causeway which led to the main land. Cortes, who was
advancing with the cavalry from another quarter, fell in with a body of
more than 10,000 Mexicans, who were coming to the assistance of the
town. The Mexicans, on this occasion, received the charge of the cavalry
with fixed lances, and wounded four of our horses. Cortes himself had
got into the midst of the enemy, and rode a dark brown horse, which we
commonly termed the _flatnose_. Whether this animal, which was otherwise
an excellent horse, had become too fat, or was over-fatigued, I cannot
say; but, to be short, it fell down with its rider, and numbers of
Mexicans instantly laid hold of our general, tore him away from the
saddle, and were already carrying him off. When some of the Tlascallans
and the brave Christobal de Olea saw this, they immediately flew to his
assistance, and, by dint of heavy blows and good thrusts, they cut their
way through to our general, and assisted him into his saddle again.
Cortes fortunately escaped with only a wound on the head, but Olea had
received three very severe wounds.[17] Those of us who stood nearest now
also hastened to the assistance of Cortes; for, as every street was
crowded with the enemy, we were obliged to attack them in separate
bodies and from different points, so that, for some time, we had totally
lost sight of him; but we concluded, from the terrific yells of the
Mexicans, that there must be a severe struggle between them and the
cavalry. We therefore cut our way through the enemy, at the risk of our
lives, to the spot where Cortes, surrounded by only ten of the cavalry,
was bravely repelling the desperate attacks of the enemy. The Mexicans
had taken up a position behind a deep canal, which had been strengthened
by a palisade; they thus had the advantage ground: but we soon put them
to flight.
As Olea, who had saved our general's life, was severely wounded, and had
lost much blood, and the streets were still crowded by the enemy, we
advised Cortes to march back to some entrenchments, under cover of which
his own and Olea's wounds could be dressed. This retrograde movement was
not accomplished without considerable difficulty and danger; for the
Mexicans now imagined we were going to retreat altogether, and fell upon
us with redoubled fury.
In the midst of this second conflict, Alvarado Tapia and Oli, with the
main body of the cavalry, made their appearance, who had been attacking
the enemy at other points. The blood was trickling down Oli's face, nor
had any one of them escaped without a wound. They said they had been
attacked by terrific bodies of the enemy, in the open fields, and had
not been able to drive them back. The reason of their having been
separated from the rest of the cavalry was, because Cortes, after he had
passed across the water, ordered the horse to divide into two bodies,
and attack the enemy at different points.
While we were busily engaged dressing the wounds of our men, all at once
there arose from out of the streets and adjoining fields terrific yells,
with the wild war music of the enemy; the courtyard in which we had
stationed ourselves was suddenly filled with Mexicans, and, in a very
few moments, many more of our men were wounded. But the enemy drew very
little advantage from this bold enterprise; for we set upon them so
vigorously in return, that great numbers of them soon lay stretched on
the ground. Our cavalry also galloped in among them, and slew a great
many more. On our side, we had only one man killed and two horses
wounded.
We drove the enemy completely out of the open square, and took
possession of another more spacious, in which stood several large
temples, where we could rest ourselves in greater safety. Several of our
men mounted to the top of these temples, from whence they could see the
great city of Mexico and the extensive lake which it commanded; but at
the same time they espied more than 2000 canoes, all filled with
warriors, making straightway to us as fast as their paddles could bring
them.
These troops were commanded by Quauhtemoctzin to attack us immediately,
and to leave us no peace night or day. He had likewise despatched
another 10,000 men by land, to fall upon us from another quarter: and
another 10,000 men stood ready to march hither to relieve the first,
that not a single man of us might escape alive from Xochimilco. All this
we learnt the day following from the five Mexican chiefs whom we took
prisoners. But the Lord Jesus had disposed otherwise for us.
As soon as intelligence was received of the approach of this vast fleet
of canoes, we were doubly vigilant, and strong detachments were placed
at all the places and canals where we thought the enemy would disembark.
Our horses stood ready saddled, and every officer, including Cortes
himself, made the rounds during the whole of the night, and kept a sharp
look-out on the causeway and towards the mainland. I myself was posted
with ten men near a stone wall. We were furnished with stones,
crossbows, muskets, and long lances, and were to prevent the enemy from
landing in this quarter. Similar small detachments were stationed at the
other canals.
I and my comrades thus keeping a sharp look-out, we heard all at once
the noise of several canoes, which were advancing directly towards us;
but we gave the enemy so rough a reception with our slings and lances,
that they durst not venture to land; and while one of our men had
hastened to inform Cortes of what was going forward in this quarter, a
second and still more numerous squadron of canoes arrived, and attacked
us most vigorously with lances, stones, and arrows, wounding two of our
men; but we defended ourselves with no less vigour: and, as it was an
uncommon dark night, these canoes again joined the great body of the
fleet, which had repaired to some other small harbour or deeper canal,
where the whole of them disembarked. These troops, who, it seemed, were
not very willing to fight at night-time, joined those which
Quauhtemoctzin had sent by land, and both together formed an army of
above 15,000 men.
I must here mention a circumstance, which, however, I hope the reader
will not construe into vanity on my part.
When one of the men belonging to my small detachment brought Cortes
intelligence that a number of Mexican canoes had approached the spot
where we were stationed, he, with ten of the cavalry, was just coming
towards us. As they approached us with the utmost silence, I and Gonzalo
Sanchez cried out to them, "Who goes there? How? can't you open your
mouths?" and then slung three or four stones at them. But Cortes, who
immediately recognized us by our voices, remarked to Alderete, father
Melgarejo, and our quartermaster Christobal de Oli, who accompanied him,
"I am in no fear with regard to this quarter; for here are posted two
men who came with me when I first arrived in this country, and to whom I
would intrust a more important command than this!" He then came up and
spoke to us himself, and observed that our position was one of great
danger, and that, in case of need, we were instantly to send for
assistance. Our general had scarcely left us when we heard him driving a
soldier back to his post, which he had deserted. It was one of those who
came with Narvaez.
There is likewise another circumstance which I must not forget to
mention. In the battle of the previous day, our musketeers had spent all
their powder, and the crossbow-men their arrows; Cortes, therefore,
during the night-time, ordered us to collect all the arrows we could
find, and to furnish them with fresh feathers and points, of which we
had always a good stock by us. With this work our crossbow-men were
occupied the whole of the night, and Pedro Barba, captain of that
company, never left them for a moment; Cortes himself looking in from
time to time to see how they were getting on.
When daylight appeared, our camp was assailed by the whole of the
Mexican troops from different points at once; but as we were never
unprepared for an attack, our cavalry rushed out towards the land side,
and we others, with the Tlascallans, towards the lake, and fell so
vigorously on the Mexicans that we soon killed three of their chiefs,
and numbers of their troops died of their wounds the day following. The
Tlascallans behaved with uncommon bravery, and took five Mexican chiefs
whom they brought in prisoners, from whom we learnt the exact number of
troops which Quauhtemoctzin had ordered against us.
On our side we had only one killed, but a great number of wounded.
This battle, however, had not yet terminated; for our cavalry, in
pursuing the enemy, came up with the 10,000 warriors whom Quauhtemoctzin
had despatched to the assistance of the others. Several of the officers
who commanded these troops wore our Spanish swords, of which they were
not a little vain; and they said it was by our own swords we were to be
vanquished.
Our few horse durst not encounter so large a body of the enemy, and
therefore drew off to one side, until they should be joined by Cortes
with the rest of the troops. When our general was informed of their
critical position, he instantly sallied out, with the rest of our
cavalry, who had remained in the courtyard on account of their wounds,
and all our foot, with the Tlascallan troops. A most terrible and
obstinate conflict now ensued; but at length, by dint of heavy blows and
thrusts, we repulsed the enemy, with considerable loss. On this occasion
eight distinguished Mexicans fell into our hands, from whom we learnt
that Quauhtemoctzin had despatched against us another considerable fleet
of canoes, and other large bodies of his troops by land. These troops he
had sent off with the perfect assurance that, coming suddenly upon us,
they would complete the victory, after we had been fatigued by such
constant fighting, and weakened by loss of men and the number of our
wounded.
When we heard this we were doubly on our guard, and our general
determined to abandon the town on the following morning, and not wait
for any further attacks. We therefore made the best use of our time to
dress our wounds and repair our weapons.
During this interval, it appears that some prisoners of Xochimilco
pointed out to the Tlascallans several houses belonging to rich
individuals, in which were hidden many valuable things, such as
manufactured cotton interwoven with feathers, women's shifts, gold, and
other matters. These houses stood in the lake, but it was possible to
reach them by a causeway, and by passing over two or three bridges which
lay across the deep canals. The Tlascallans communicated this to several
of our men, who instantly repaired to these houses, which they found
quite unprotected, and, as they had been told, filled with various
articles of value. They stowed away as much as they possibly could, and
returned with a rich booty to our head-quarters. When others of our men
saw these rich spoils, they likewise paid a visit to these dwellings,
and were busily engaged in emptying some wooden cases, which were full
of different things, when a large fleet of Mexican canoes arrived with a
numerous body of troops, and suddenly fell upon the plunderers, of whom
they wounded the greater part, and carried off four alive to Mexico. It
was indeed a wonder that the rest escaped. Two of the four Spaniards
were Juan de Lara and Alonso Hernandez; the two others belonged to the
company which stood under the command of Andreas de Monjaraz, but I have
forgotten their names.
These unfortunate men were brought into the presence of Quauhtemoctzin,
who questioned them about the smallness of our army, the number of our
wounded, and the object of our present expedition: and when he thought
he had gained sufficient information, he ordered their arms and legs to
be chopped off, and to be sent to those towns which had concluded peace
with Cortes, accompanied by the message that he hoped to kill us all
before we could escape to Tezcuco, and with our hearts and our blood he
would make a savoury offering to his idols.
Quauhtemoctzin then despatched a large fleet of canoes filled with
troops, and a considerable army by land, to Xochimilco, with strict
commands not to allow one of us to escape alive out of that town.
Not to fatigue the reader with a description of the many battles we
fought with the Mexicans during these four days, I will confine myself
by stating that, with break of day, so vast a number of Mexicans rushed
all at once upon us from the inlets of the lakes, from the streets, and
from the mainland, that it was with the utmost exertions only we were
able to cut our way through them to a large square which lay at a short
distance from the town, and where the inhabitants usually held their
markets. There we halted for a few minutes, with the whole of our
baggage, to arrange the order of our march.
Previous to quitting this place, Cortes addressed a few words to us, in
which he reminded us of our perilous position, having still to pass by
several dangerous points, where the whole armed force of Mexico was
lying in wait for us. It would, therefore, be desirable, he said, to
leave behind as much of our baggage as we could possibly spare, for it
would only encumber our movements in battle.
To this we one and all replied, that we were men who had the power to
defend our baggage, ourselves, and his person, if God lent us his
protection; and that we considered it but a small sacrifice which he
required us to make. When he saw in what an excellent disposition we
were, he commended us all to God, and arranged the order of march. The
wounded and our baggage were placed in the centre, one half of the
cavalry formed the vanguard, and the other half the rearguard; and the
crossbow-men and Tlascallans were distributed in a similar manner: for
we purposely collected our chief strength around the baggage, as the
Mexicans invariably made their first attack upon this. Our musketeers
were of no use to us, as all their powder was consumed.
In this way we began to move forward; but as soon as the Mexicans found
we were leaving the square, they concluded it was from fear, as was
indeed the case; they sallied out upon us, wounded two of our men, and
attacked our centre with great intrepidity to make themselves master of
our baggage; but they were unable to make any impression on the close
order of our ranks.
During the whole of our march to Cojohuacan, which lay about eight miles
from Xochimilco, we had continual skirmishes with the Mexicans, who took
every favorable opportunity of annoying us with lances, stones and
arrows, and then suddenly retreated beyond the canals, where we could
not follow them. In this manner we reached Cojohuacan, at ten o'clock in
the morning, and found the town quite deserted by its inhabitants.
I must here observe that there are a number of towns lying round about
Mexico, all at about eight miles distance from each other. Of these,
Xochimilco, Cojohuacan, Iztapalapan, Chohuilobusco, Quauhnahuac,
Mizquic, and three or four other towns, are half-built in the lake
itself, and none of these towns lie at a greater distance from each
other than from six to eight miles, which accounts for the Mexicans
being able to assemble so vast a body of troops against us in
Xochimilco.
When we arrived in this deserted town, we dressed our wounds, furnished
ourselves with arrows, and rested for the remaining part of the day; and
indeed we required some repose, for we knew we should have to fight many
more battles before we reached Tezcuco.
The next morning very early we again continued our march, and took the
road towards Tlacupa, which lay about eight miles further on. Large
bodies of the enemy fell upon us at three different places along our
route, but we each time repulsed them, and pursued them to their canoes
in the inlets and canals.
On one occasion during this march, Cortes left the main body with ten of
the cavalry, among which were four of his grooms, to lay an ambuscade
for the Mexicans, who every now and then came suddenly upon us from the
inlets of the lake. Cortes attacked and routed a body of Mexicans, who,
after a short stand, fled with precipitation, and were pursued by our
general; in doing which he fell himself into a more terrible ambush,
from which the enemy suddenly burst upon him, and wounded two of his
men; and he, with all those who accompanied him, would undoubtedly have
been killed or taken prisoners if he had not instantly retreated. The
enemy, however, succeeded in capturing two of his grooms, who were
brought before Quauhtemoctzin, and afterwards sacrificed to his gods.
The main body of our army had, in the meantime, arrived with flying
colours in Tlacupa, while only Cortes, with the ten horse, remained
behind, and we began to fear that some misfortune had befallen him;
wherefore Alvarado, Oli, and Tapia immediately turned back with a strong
body of horse in the direction we had seen him take. They soon came up
with the two grooms who had escaped from the enemy, and who related how
they had been indebted for their lives to a precipitate retreat; and
that Cortes was following behind, as he was obliged to ride at a gentle
pace, his horse having been wounded. It was not long before our general
came up, to the great joy of all; but he appeared excessively grieved
at the loss of his two grooms, almost to shedding tears.
Just as Cortes entered Tlacupa, it began to rain very fast; for which
reason we rested here for a couple of hours in a large square of the
town. Our general, with several other officers, the treasurer Alderete,
(who fell ill here,) father Melgarejo, and several soldiers, including
myself, ascended to the top of the great temple of this town, from which
we beheld the neighbouring city of Mexico, with the numerous other towns
which stood in the lake. When father Melgarejo and Alderete beheld all
this splendour at once, they could scarcely find words to express their
astonishment; but when they contemplated the great city of Mexico more
minutely, and saw the numerous canoes hurrying up and down this immense
lake laden with merchandize or provisions for the city, or occupied in
fishing, they were actually terrified, and exclaimed to each other that
our arrival in New Spain could not be by the power of man alone, and
that it was through the great mercy of Providence that our lives were
still preserved. They had once before remarked, said they, that no
monarch had ever been rendered such signal services by his subjects as
we had rendered to our emperor; but now they were more convinced than
ever, and would duly inform his majesty of what they had seen.
Father Melgarejo then consoled our general for the loss of his two
grooms, which so greatly afflicted him. While we soldiers were thus
gazing upon the city of Mexico, we again by degrees recognized those
spots which had become so memorable to us, and we pointed out to each
other the great temple of Huitzilopochtli, the Tlatelulco, and the
causeways, with the bridges over which we made our disastrous retreat.
At this moment Cortes sighed more deeply than he had previously done for
the loss of his two grooms, whom the enemy had carried off alive. And it
was from this day our men began to sing the romance, which commences--
"En Tacuba esta Cortes
Con su esquadron esforsado,
Triste estava y mui penoso
Triste y con gran cuidado,
La una mano en la mexilla
Y la otra en el costado," etc.
As our general was thus standing in deep contemplation, the bachelor
Alonso Perez, who was appointed fiscal after the conquest of New Spain,
and lived in Mexico, stepped up to him and said, "General, you should
not thus give way to grief; it is ever so during war time, and men will
certainly never have occasion to sing of you as they did of Nero,--
'Mira Nero de Tarpeya[18]
A Roma como se ardia,
Gritos dan ninos y viejos,
Y el de nada se dolia.'"
To which Cortes replied, "How often have I not offered peace to that
city! But it is not that circumstance alone which causes my grief; I am
likewise thinking of the dreadful scenes we have to go through before we
can subdue this place; though, with the assistance of God, we shall
accomplish this also."
I must now, however, quit these discourses and romances; indeed the time
was ill suited for such things. Our officers now deliberated whether or
not we should march a short distance along the causeway, which lay near
to Tlacupa; but as we had no powder left, and only a few arrows, besides
that most of our men were wounded, and as a similar attempt which Cortes
had made a month earlier on this same causeway had ended so
disastrously, it was resolved we should continue our march, lest the
Mexicans should fall upon us this very day, or during the night. From
the near vicinity of the metropolis it was easy for Quauhtemoctzin to
send a body of troops against us at any moment. We therefore broke up
our quarters here, and marched straight forward to Escapuzalco, which we
found entirely deserted by its inhabitants. From this place we came to
Tenayucan, or the town of Serpents, as we called it; (the reader will
remember what I related in a former chapter respecting the origin of
this name.) The inhabitants of this place had likewise fled. We next
came to Quauhtitlan, and the rain came down in torrents during the whole
of the day, so that we could scarcely drag one foot after the other,
from the weight of our arms and of our clothes, which were completely
drenched with water.
It was perfectly dark when we entered this township, which was also
deserted by its inhabitants. The rain came down in torrents during the
whole night, which created a great deal of mire and dirt. The
inhabitants and Mexicans, who had fled to places where we could not get
at them, kept hooting at us from the evening until next morning, without
intermission. Owing to the extreme darkness of the night, and the heavy
rain which was falling, we neither posted sentinels nor made any rounds;
there was nothing but disorder to be seen in our camp, and no one
remained at his post. I can speak from experience, for the first watch
had been assigned to me; but no officer came to make the rounds, or see
that all was right.
The next day we marched to a large township, whose name I have
forgotten. The streets were covered with mud, and not an inhabitant was
to be seen. On the following morning we arrived at Aculman, which is
subject to Tezcuco; and the inhabitants of this place being apprized of
our approach, came out to meet us. They were accompanied by several
Spaniards, who had arrived from Spain during our absence. Besides these,
Sandoval, with the troops under his command, and Don Fernando, king of
Tezcuco, had likewise come out to welcome us. Every one was overjoyed at
our return, but particularly the inhabitants of the surrounding
neighbourhood, who brought us quantities of provisions.
Sandoval returned this same day to Tezcuco, fearing the enemy might make
an attack on this town in the night time. The following morning Cortes
also left, for this place, where we arrived quite fatigued, and covered
with wounds; besides that, we had to mourn the loss of many of our brave
companions in arms, whom the Mexicans had carried off alive, and
sacrificed to their idols. I must now inform the reader what a perilous
posture affairs had assumed at Tezcuco.