_How Quauhtemoctzin was taken prisoner._
Cortes finding the catapult of no manner of use, and that the Mexicans
still refused to sue for peace, ordered Sandoval to penetrate with our
twelve brigantines into that quarter of the city where Quauhtemoctzin
had retreated with the flower of his army and the principal personages
of Mexico. He at the same time gave orders to the men not to kill nor
wound any Mexican, if it were at all possible to avoid it, and that they
should not be the first to attack, but to level the houses to the
ground, and destroy the numerous breastworks that had been constructed
on the lake.
Cortes then mounted to the summit of the chief temple on the Tlatelulco,
in order from thence to view Sandoval's manoeuvres, and was accompanied
by Alvarado, Luis Marin, Lugo, and other soldiers.
When Sandoval appeared with the brigantines in the quarter where
Quauhtemoctzin's palace stood, the latter soon saw it would be
impossible to hold out much longer, and he began to think of making his
escape, lest he should be put to death, or taken prisoner. He had for
some time past ordered that fifty large pirogues should always be ready
at hand, with which, when the danger was at its height, he intended to
escape to a part of the lake, which was thickly covered with reeds, and
from there to reach the mainland, and seek refuge in some township which
was friendly with the Mexicans. The same course he had also advised his
chief officers and grandees to adopt. Accordingly, as soon as the
principal inhabitants found Sandoval was penetrating into their very
houses with his troops, they began to carry off all the property they
could take with them in their canoes, and took to flight; so that the
lake was instantly covered with numbers of canoes. When Sandoval was
informed that Quauhtemoctzin, with the chief personages of Mexico, had
likewise fled, he immediately staid the work of destruction in which his
men were occupied, and ordered the brigantines to the pursuit of the
canoes, and particularly to look out for the pirogue which conveyed the
monarch himself. If they succeeded in taking him alive, they were not to
ill-use him, but to show him every courtesy, and to secure his person in
the most respectful manner possible.
Garcia Holguin, who was an intimate friend of Sandoval, commanded the
swiftest brigantine, and had the best rowers. Sandoval, therefore,
selected Holguin's vessel, and pointed out to him the direction in which
Quauhtemoctzin and his grandees were said to have steered with the large
pirogues. Holguin now flew in pursuit, and it pleased God that he should
overtake the canoes, and the fleet of large pirogues which conveyed
Quauhtemoctzin and the grandees of Mexico. He soon recognized the one in
which Quauhtemoctzin was himself, by the beautifully carved work with
which it was ornamented, by the tent, and other decorations. Holguin now
made a sign for the pirogues to stop, and as they did not instantly
comply, he ordered his men to level their crossbows and muskets at them.
When Quauhtemoctzin observed this, he began to fear, and he cried out,
"Forbid your men to shoot at me. I am the king of Mexico, and of this
country. I only beg of you not to touch my wife, my children, these
females, or anything else I have with me here, but take me alone to
Malinche."
Holguin was greatly rejoiced when he heard these words, and on coming up
to the pirogue he embraced the monarch, and assisted him most
courteously into his brigantine, with his wife and twenty of his
grandees. Soft mats and cloaks were then spread out on the poop of the
vessel for seats, and what food there was on board set before them. The
canoes in which the baggage was laden were not touched, but ordered to
follow the brigantine.
Sandoval had stationed himself at a spot whence he could watch the
movements of the other brigantines, and give signals to them. When he
was informed that Garcia Holguin had taken Quauhtemoctzin prisoner, and
that he was already on his way with the monarch to Cortes, he ordered
his men to pull with all their might to overtake Holguin, and cried out
to him, when he was come near enough, to deliver up his prisoner to him.
This Holguin refused to comply with, saying that _he_, and not Sandoval,
had taken the monarch prisoner; to which the latter replied, that that
had nothing to do with it, as he was commander-in-chief of the
brigantines, and he (Holguin) stood under his commands, and had acted
upon his orders; that he had purposely selected him for this purpose,
because he was his particular friend, and his brigantine the fastest
sailer.
While Sandoval and Holguin were thus disputing, another brigantine
hastened off to Cortes, (who was still standing on the summit of the
temple, watching Sandoval's movements), in order to obtain the reward
for bringing the first news of the monarch's capture. They at the same
time informed him of the dispute between Sandoval and Holguin as to whom
the honour was due of taking him prisoner.
On this news our general instantly despatched Luis Marin and Lugo to
settle the dispute, by telling Sandoval and Holguin that they were
jointly to bring in the monarch, his wife and family, captives, when he
himself would decide whose prisoner the monarch was, and to whom the
honour was due.
Our general in the meantime ordered some elevated seats to be erected,
and covered with soft cushions and mantles, and a good repast to be
prepared. Holguin and Sandoval soon after arrived with the monarch, and
conducted him into the presence of Cortes, who received him with the
utmost respect, and embraced him affectionately, at the same time
expressing the kindest feelings towards him and his officers.
Quauhtemoctzin then said to Cortes, "Malinche! I have done what I was
bound to do in the defence of my metropolis, and of my subjects. My
resources have now become entirely exhausted. I have succumbed to
superior power, and stand a prisoner before you. Now draw the dagger
which hangs at your belt, and plunge it into my bosom."
These words the monarch uttered under a flood of tears, and with heavy
sighs, while several of his officers broke out into loud lamentations.
Cortes assured him, by means of our interpreters, in the most kind
manner, that he esteemed him the more for his bravery, his powerful and
courageous defence of his city, and that, far from making him any
reproaches on that head, it redounded more to his honour than to his
shame. He certainly could have wished that he had accepted his offers of
peace, to save the city from destruction, and the lives of so many of
his subjects that had been sacrificed in battle; as, however, it had
been impossible to avoid all this, and it could not now be remedied, he
ought no longer to grieve, but compose his mind, and strive to raise the
desponding spirits of his officers; assuring him he should remain, as
heretofore, lord of Mexico, and of the other provinces attached to it.
Quauhtemoctzin and his officers thanked Cortes for this promise; upon
which the latter inquired after his wife and the other women, who, he
had been given to understand, had likewise accompanied him in the
brigantine. Quauhtemoctzin said that he had himself begged of Sandoval
and Holguin to leave them behind in the canoes until Malinche's
pleasure should be known. Our general then sent for them, and regaled
them with the best of everything he had at hand. As it was now getting
late, and beginning to rain, he commissioned Sandoval to convey the
monarch, with his family and suite, to Cojohuacan; Alvarado and Oli at
the same time being ordered off to their respective stations, and Cortes
himself returned to his head-quarters at Tepeaquilla.
Quauhtemoctzin was taken prisoner on St. Hippolytus' day, the 13th
August, 1521, about the hour of vespers. Praise and glory be to our Lord
Jesus Christ, and to his blessed mother, the Virgin Mary. Amen.
During the night of this day it thundered and lightened without
intermission, and about midnight with terrific vehemence.
Subsequent to Quauhtemoctzin's capture we soldiers had become so very
deaf that we could scarcely hear anything, and we felt a similar
sensation to what a person experiences when standing in a belfry and all
the bells are ringing at once, and then cease all of a sudden. The
reader will certainly not think this an ill-timed comparison if he only
considers how our ears were constantly assailed during the ninety-three
days which the siege of Mexico lasted, both night and day, with all
manner of noises. In one quarter rose the deafening yells, piping, and
war-whoop of the enemy; here some were calling out to the canoes to
attack the brigantines, the bridges, and the causeways; there the
Mexicans drove their troops together with loud yells to cut through the
dykes, deepen the openings, drive in palisades, throw up entrenchments,
while others cried out for more lances and arrows; in another place the
Mexicans shouted to the women to bring more stones for the slings;
between all which was heard the dismal din of the hellish music of
drums, shell trumpets, and particularly the horrible and mournful sound
of the huge drum of Huitzilopochtli; and this infernal instrument, whose
melancholy tone pierced to the very soul, never ceased a moment. Day and
night did all this din and noise continue without intermission; no one
could hear what another said; and so my comparison of the belfry is the
most suitable I can imagine.
I will now add a few words about Quauhtemoctzin's outward appearance.
This monarch was between twenty-three and twenty-four years of age, and
could in all truth be termed a handsome man, both as regards his
countenance and his figure. His face was rather of an elongated form,
with a cheerful look; his eye had great expression, both when he assumed
an air of majesty or when he looked pleasantly around him; the colour of
his face inclined more to white than to the copper-brown tint of the
Indians in general. His wife was a niece of his uncle Motecusuma; she
was a young and very beautiful woman.
With regard to the dispute between Sandoval and Holguin as to which
could claim the honour of Quauhtemoctzin's capture, Cortes settled it
for the present by observing, that a similar dispute once happened among
the Romans between Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sylla, when the latter
took king Jugurtha prisoner, who had fled for safety to the house of his
father-in-law Bocchus. "When Sylla," said Cortes, "made his triumphal
entry into Rome, he led Jugurtha by a chain, among his trophies of
victory. This Marius considered Sylla had no right to do without asking
his permission, he (Marius) being commander-in-chief, and Sylla having
merely acted upon his orders; but as Sylla belonged to the order of the
patricians, these declared in his favour, they being opposed to Marius,
as a stranger of Arpinum, and a man who had risen from the lowest ranks,
though he had been seven times consul. From this circumstance arose
those civil wars between Marius and Sylla; but the question as to whom
the honour of Jugurtha's capture was due was never decided."
After relating this circumstance, Cortes added, that he would lay the
matter before the emperor for his imperial decision as to who could
claim some memento of the monarch's capture in his armorial bearings.
They would therefore have to await a decision on this point from Spain.
This, indeed, arrived after the lapse of two years, by which Cortes was
permitted to place a series of kings in his escutcheon; as, for
instance, Motecusuma and Quauhtemoctzin, kings of Mexico, Cacamatzin of
Tezcuco, the kings of Iztapalapan, Cojohuacan, and Tlacupa, and another
powerful king, who was a relative of Motecusuma, and lord of
Matlaltzinco and of other provinces, and was said to have the best claim
to the throne of Mexico. I must now say something of the dead bodies and
skulls which we saw in that quarter of the town where Quauhtemoctzin had
retreated. It is a real fact, and I can take my oath on it, that the
houses and the canals were completely filled with them, a sight which I
am unable to describe; and we were scarcely able to move along the
streets, and through the courtyards of the Tlatelulco, on account of the
number of dead bodies. I have certainly read of the destruction of
Jerusalem, but should not like to decide whether the carnage was equally
great there as it was here; but this I know, that most of the troops, as
well of the town itself as those from the townships and provinces which
stood under the dominion of Mexico, were most of them slain; that bodies
lay strewed everywhere, and the stench was intolerable; which was the
reason why, after the capture of Quauhtemoctzin, the three divisions
drew off to their former stations. Cortes himself became indisposed that
day, from the horrible stench.
Our troops in the brigantines had now a great advantage over us in
making booty, for they were able to get at all the houses that lay in
the lake, in which the Mexicans had concealed all their wealth; and also
to those places in the lake which were thickly grown with reeds, and
whither those Mexicans, whose houses were pulled down during the siege,
fled with all their property; besides which, they had had frequent
opportunities, while foraging in the country, to plunder several
distinguished Mexicans, who had fled to seek refuge among the Otomies.
We other soldiers, who fought away on the causeways and mainland,
derived no such benefits; all we got were severe wounds from arrows,
stones, and lances. Whenever we did penetrate into the houses, the
inmates had already escaped with their valuables; for we were unable to
get at the houses without first filling up a canal, or throwing a bridge
across, which took up a considerable time: and this was my reason for
observing in a former chapter, that the troops whom Cortes selected for
the service of the brigantines fared better than those who were
stationed on the mainland. There was not the slightest doubt about this;
for when Cortes asked Quauhtemoctzin after Motecusuma's treasure, he and
his generals declared that the greater part of it had been carried off
by the crews of the brigantines.
As the atmosphere of the town had become perfectly pestiferous, from the
decomposed bodies, Quauhtemoctzin requested Cortes to allow the whole of
the inhabitants, with the remaining part of his troops, to leave the
city. This our general readily granted, and the causeways were crowded
for three days and nights with men, women, and children, on their way to
the mainland. These poor beings were quite emaciated, and had a
death-like appearance; their bodies covered with filth, and they spread
around them so abominable a stench, that we grew miserable at the very
sight.
As soon as all the inhabitants had left the city, Cortes sent some
persons there to see how things looked in general. The houses were found
crammed with dead bodies, and among them several poor people were found
still alive, though too weak to stand, and lying in their own filth,
like those hogs which are fed upon nothing but grass. Every spot of
earth in the town looked as if it had been ploughed up, for the famished
inhabitants had dug up every root out of the ground, and had even peeled
the bark from the trees, to still their hunger; neither did we find any
fresh water, for that in the wells was of a salty flavour; and yet
during this horrible famine the Mexicans had not eaten the flesh of
their countrymen, though they so greedily devoured that of the
Tlascallans and Spaniards.[28] Certainly no people ever suffered so much
in this world from hunger, thirst, and the horrors of war, as the
inhabitants of this great city.
After we had thus subdued the great, the populous, and the celebrated
city of Mexico, a solemn service was performed, to offer up our thanks
to the Almighty. After this Cortes ordered a banquet to be prepared in
Cojohuacan, to celebrate the conquest with a joyous feast, at which the
wine which had come with a vessel recently run into Vera Cruz, and the
hog's meat from Cuba, were not spared.
To this banquet all the officers and soldiers were invited; but when the
guests arrived there was scarcely sufficient room at the table for one
third of them, which occasioned a good deal of ill-will, and it would
have been better if Cortes had never given the banquet at all; for many
curious things happened on this occasion, and Noah's tree gave rise to
many foolish pranks. There were some folks who, when they had eaten and
drank too much, instead of leaving the table, sicked all over it; others
declared that they possessed gold enough to buy themselves horses with
saddles of gold; and the crossbow-men swore they would for the future
not shoot another arrow unless its point was made of pure gold; some
kept stumbling about, and many rolled headlong down the steps.
After the banquet we had a ball, in which the ladies joined who had
accompanied our army; and nothing could be more ridiculous than to see
the leaps which their gallants took who were accoutred in full armour.
The ladies who danced were only few in number, and I will not mention
their names, nor should I like to repeat the satires which appeared at
their expense on the following day; but I must not forget to mention
that father Olmedo expressed his disapprobation aloud at the scandalous
conduct of the men during this banquet and dance, and observed to
Sandoval, that this was not the way to return thanks to God, or to
obtain his assistance for the future!
Sandoval mentioned this to Cortes, who, as he was always discreet in
what he did, instantly sent for this pious man, and said to him:
"Excellent father! it is impossible to restrain the soldiers when they
are enjoying themselves after their manner. I certainly should have done
better if I had withheld this inducement from them. It is, however, in
the power of your reverence to put a stop to all this, by ordering a
solemn procession to the church, where, in a sermon, you can give us a
severe reprimand from the pulpit. Then you will also have a good
opportunity of commanding the men not to rob the Indians of their
daughters, or of anything else, and in future to discontinue their
frequent disputes among each other, and to comport themselves as good
Catholic Christians, that the Lord may prosper their lives."
This proposal was highly approved of by father Olmedo, and he thanked
Cortes for it; though the idea had, in fact, originated with Alvarado. A
procession was therefore instantly ordered, which we joined with flying
colours and a few crosses, the image of the Virgin Mary being carried in
front, and we sang supplicatory hymns as we moved along.
The day following father Olmedo preached a sermon, and many soldiers,
with Cortes and Alvarado, made the communion, and we again offered up
our thanks to the Almighty for the victory.
There are several circumstances relating to this memorable siege which I
have omitted to mention, which, though they may appear out of place
here, I should feel loth to pass by in silence.
Above all things I have to notice the great courage which our friends
Chichimeclatecl and the two younger Xicotencatls displayed in our
battles with the Mexicans, and altogether what efficient services they
rendered us. The same I must say of Don Carlos, brother of the king of
Tezcuco, who proved himself a man of extraordinary bravery and valour.
There was also another chief, from one of the towns lying in the lake,
but whose name I have forgotten, who showed astonishing feats of
heroism; and many other chiefs among our allies signalised themselves in
this siege; for which reason Cortes addressed them at considerable
length in an eloquent speech, bestowing the highest praises on them,
with thanks for their powerful assistance, and dismissed them with the
promise that he would shortly present them with extensive territories,
and numerous vassals, so as to make them all great caziques. As they had
made a rich booty of cotton stuffs, gold, and other valuable matters,
they returned highly delighted to their several homes; neither did they
forget to carry away with them large quantities of the flesh of the
Mexicans they had slain, which they had salted down and smoked, for
their relations and friends, to regale them with it at their feasts.[29]
It is now a long time since we fought these terrible battles, which
continued without intermission day and night, and I cannot be too
thankful to the Almighty for my preservation; and now I must relate
something extraordinary which befel myself.
The reader will remember above that I stated how we could see the
Mexicans sacrificing our unfortunate countrymen; how they ripped open
their breasts, tore out their palpitating hearts, and offered them to
their abominable idols. This sight made a horrible impression on my
mind, yet no one must imagine that I was wanting either in courage or
determination; on the contrary, I fearlessly exposed myself in every
engagement to the greatest dangers, for I felt that I had courage. It
was my ambition at that time to pass for a good soldier, and I certainly
bore the reputation of being one; and what any of our men ventured, I
ventured also, as every one who was present can testify; yet I must
confess that I felt terribly agitated in spirit when I each day saw some
of my companions being put to death in the dreadful manner above
mentioned, and I was seized with terror at the thought that I might have
to share a similar fate! Indeed the Mexicans had on two different
occasions laid hold of me, and it was only through the great mercy of
God that I escaped from their grasp.
I could no longer divest myself of the thoughts of ending my life in
this shocking manner, and each time, before we made an attack upon the
enemy, a cold shudder ran through my body, and I felt oppressed by
excessive melancholy. It was then I fell upon my knees, and commended
myself to the protection of God and the blessed Virgin; and from my
prayers I rushed straightway into the battle, and all fear instantly
vanished. This feeling appeared the more unaccountable to me, since I
had encountered so many perils at sea, fought so many sanguinary battles
in the open field, been present on so many dangerous marches through
forests and mountains, stormed and defended so many towns; for there
were very few great battles fought by our troops in New Spain in which I
was not present. In these perils of various natures I never felt the
fear I did subsequent to that time when the Mexicans captured sixty-two
of our men, and we were compelled to see them thus slaughtered one by
one, without being able to render them assistance. I leave those
cavaliers to judge who are acquainted with war, and know from experience
what dangers a man is exposed to in battle, whether it was want of
courage which raised this feeling in me. Certain it is that I each day
pictured to myself the whole extent of the danger into which I was
obliged to plunge myself; nevertheless, I fought with my accustomed
bravery, and all sensation of fear fled from me as soon as I espied the
enemy.
Lastly, I must acquaint the reader that the Mexicans never killed our
men in battle if they could possibly avoid it, but merely wounded them,
so far as to render them incapable of defending themselves, in order
that they might take as many of them alive as possible, to have the
satisfaction of sacrificing them to their warrior-god Huitzilopochtli,
after they had amused themselves by making them dance before him,
adorned with feathers.