_Sandoval commences to subdue the province of Naco, and the
opposition he meets with from the natives._
Immediately upon our arrival at Naco we took possession of the
storehouses, and then dispersed ourselves among the maise plantations,
where we captured three of the chiefs of this township. Sandoval behaved
in the kindest manner to these men, presented them with some Spanish
toys, and begged of them to go and call the principal caziques, with
whom he was anxious to live on friendly terms. These personages
faithfully fulfilled their commission, and returned with two of the
caziques, though they had not been able to persuade the inhabitants to
return to their dwellings, who contented themselves by forwarding us
from time to time a small supply of provisions. In this way matters
continued for several days, and neither party thought of commencing
hostilities.
The reader will remember that Cortes had written to Sandoval for ten of
the veterans of Guacasualco, all of whom he had mentioned by name, and
mine was put at the head of this list; but as I was very unwell at the
time, I desired Sandoval to excuse me from leaving him on the present
occasion, and to acquaint our general that I should not be able to
accompany him, owing to the bad state of my health; which was really the
fact. Sandoval accordingly allowed me to stay behind, and he despatched
eight soldiers to Cortes, men who would face any danger; but on this
occasion they showed so much reluctance to march out that they cursed
Cortes' proposed expedition in the strongest terms: and certainly they
were in some manner justified, for it was impossible to say whether the
country whither they were going to march was friendly disposed or not.
Before these eight soldiers departed, Sandoval requested the caziques to
despatch five distinguished personages to accompany them to Puerto de
Caballos, declaring to the caziques at the same time that, if these
Spaniards received the slightest annoyance on their journey, he would
burn down their townships, and fall upon the inhabitants. He then
ordered them to provide our men with the best of provisions on their
route.
Cortes was just about embarking for Truxillo when the eight Spaniards
marched into Puerto de Caballos. He was greatly rejoiced at their
arrival, for he knew what excellent soldiers they were, and soon after
set sail with his troops, leaving Diego de Godoy as commander-in-chief
of the new colony, consisting of forty persons belonging to Buena Vista,
and of the passengers lately arrived from Cuba. Godoy had scarcely
sufficient patience to wait until Cortes' vessel was out of sight before
he marched out with those who were in tolerable good health to visit the
neighbouring townships, two of which he obliged to submit to his arms;
but as the Indians soon found that his men were in bad health, and daily
dying away, they troubled themselves very little about him, and withheld
their supplies of provisions. As the Spaniards themselves durst no
longer leave the town in search of these, a real famine existed among
them, which, in a short time, carried off half of the inhabitants, three
of whom deserted the spot altogether and fled to Naco.
Here affairs likewise began to assume a different aspect; for when
Sandoval found that the Indians obstinately refused to return to the
township, he determined to adopt some stronger measures, and to compel
them to reoccupy their dwellings. We therefore marched out and visited
Girimonga, Aculaco, and three other townships, which all lay in the
neighbourhood of Naco, and they submitted to the Spanish crown without
offering any resistance. We were equally successful in Quizmitan and
with the tribes which inhabited the mountains, who even came out to meet
us in order to declare themselves vassals of our emperor. In this way we
lived on terms of friendship with the inhabitants of the whole
surrounding country; and as we demanded nothing of them, but only
accepted of what they gave us of their own free choice, the inhabitants
of Naco at length also reposed more confidence in us, and returned to
their homes. In this peaceable condition the whole country continued
until Cortes founded the town called Puerto de Caballos.
We must now see how matters stood in Truxillo.