_Of a very extensive armament which was fitted out by Alvarado in
the year 1537._
Here I must not pass by in silence the vast armament which Alvarado
fitted out in the year 1537, in the harbour of Acaxatla, lying on the
coast of the South Sea, in the province of Guatimala, of which he was
then governor.
This expedition was fitted out according to an agreement he had entered
into with the crown during his stay in Spain, by which he bound himself
down to fit out a certain number of vessels at his own expense, for the
express purpose of discovering some western passage to China, the
Moluccas, or to other of the Spice islands. In consideration of which he
was promised a certain portion of the lands he should discover, or of
the annual rents that should arise from them; however, as I never saw
this agreement myself, I am unable to give any further particulars about
it.
Alvarado, who had always proved himself a most faithful servant to his
majesty, both during the conquest of New Spain and in the campaigns of
Peru, and, with his four brothers, had taken every opportunity to
promote the interests of the crown, was desirous on this occasion to
surpass every armament which Cortes had fitted out before him. He
therefore equipped thirteen vessels of considerable burden, all well
provided with ammunition, provisions, and water, and care was taken to
select the best sailors and the most experienced pilots. As the harbour
where he built these vessels lay above 800 miles from Vera Cruz, all the
ironwork and the greater part of the building materials had to be
transported thither from the latter port by land; and all this proved so
expensive to him, that he might have built eighty vessels of the same
size at Seville for an equal sum of money. He not only spent in fitting
out this armament all the riches he had brought with him from Peru, and
all the gold he could collect from his mines in Guatimala and other
possessions, but he borrowed large sums of money, besides that he
purchased quantities of goods on credit. To all of which was added the
large sums of money he had to pay the captains of the vessels, the
officers, and the troops, which amounted to 650 men; further, the
purchase of horses, the best of which cost him 300 pesos a piece, and
the inferior ones from 150 to 200 pesos; and lastly, the cost of a
considerable store of ammunition and powder. In short, the sums of money
he laid out were beyond conception. By this expedition he not only
thought to render his majesty distinguished services, but he also hoped
to reach China, the Moluccas, or the Spice islands, by a western
passage, and either to make conquests there, or at least to open a trade
between these countries and the province of which he was governor; he
was therefore determined to stake both his life and the whole of his
property in the enterprise.
The armament being at length fully equipped, Alvarado took the chief
command himself, as captain-general, and ordered the imperial flags to
be hoisted. The number of troops he had on board amounted to 650 men,
including 200 horse, and after attending mass he set sail in the year
1538, but I forget in which month. He first of all shaped his course for
the harbour de la Purificacion, in the province of Xalisco, where he
took a further supply of water and provisions on board, besides a few
additional troops.
When the viceroy received intelligence that so vast an armament had been
fitted out at such a distance from Vera Cruz and Mexico, he was filled
with utter astonishment. He consulted the most experienced pilots and
cosmographers, and learnt from them, but particularly from his relative
Villalobos, who was a very skilful geographer and navigator, that it was
every way possible to reach China by sailing due west from the new
world. This created a great desire in him to share the expenses of the
expedition with Alvarado; for which purpose he first made the latter a
proposal by letter, and then despatched to him his major-domo Agostino
Guerrero and Don Luis de Castilla, to settle the terms of an agreement.
In consequence of this proposal an interview took place between the
viceroy and Alvarado in the township of Chiribitio, lying in the
province of Mechoacan, a commendary belonging to Juan de Alvarado. Here
both these distinguished personages inspected the armament, and then
travelled in company to Mexico, in order to select an officer as
captain-general of the whole expedition. Alvarado was desirous of
appointing his relative Juan de Alvarado, of Guatimala, who, however,
must not be confounded with the person of the same name just mentioned;
but the viceroy's choice fell upon his relative Villalobos. Alvarado
himself had been obliged to relinquish all thoughts of taking the chief
command himself, as the affairs of his own province required his
immediate presence there; nevertheless, he was desirous of being present
at the departure of the armament, for which purpose he journeyed
overland to the harbour of Natividad, where all the vessels lay in
readiness, and only awaited his commands for setting sail.
Just as he was about to issue these commands, he received a letter from
Christobal de Onate, whom, as I have above stated, Vasquez Coronado,
during his absence in Cibola, had appointed governor of Xalisco. In this
letter Onate stated that he was threatened on all sides by large bodies
of Indians, who had, in particular, taken up a strong position on the
mountains of Chochitlan, and had killed a considerable number of his
troops; and that, if he did not receive immediate assistance, he must be
cut off, with the whole of his men. In short, Onate drew so dreadful a
picture of the posture of affairs, that the whole of New Spain itself
seemed to be threatened with destruction, if the Indians could march
down victorious from their strong position on the heights. Alvarado, on
receiving this intelligence, hastened with a large body of troops to
Onate's assistance, whom he indeed found in so perilous a position, that
if this timely help had not come, the Indians would very shortly have
mastered his small body of troops. After Alvarado's arrival the enemy
did not repeat their attacks so often, yet they fought with great
courage each time the combat was renewed. It was in one of these
engagements between the rocky mountains that a horse stumbled, and
rolled headlong down a steep declivity. Alvarado, who happened to be
ascending the same height, was unable to get out of the way of the
rolling horse, which carried him down, and lay upon him, when both
reached the bottom, so that his body was bruised all over, and he found
himself very ill. However, the bruises he had received were not
considered dangerous, and he was conveyed in a sedan to the neighbouring
town de la Purificacion for medical aid, but on his way thither he had
frequent swoons, and scarcely a few days elapsed before he rendered up
his spirit to God, after he had partaken of the holy communion, and made
his confession. Some persons even maintained that he left a will, but
nothing was ever seen of it.
This excellent cavalier would, no doubt, have survived, if he had not
been carried to the town in the weak state he was in, but had been
promptly attended by a surgeon on the spot where the accident took
place. However, it was thus ordained by the Lord, whose will be praised,
and may God have mercy on his soul. Alvarado was buried with every
possible splendour in the town where he breathed his last. Subsequently,
I heard that Juan de Alvarado carried his earthly remains to Chiribitio,
where they were again entombed with the greatest funeral pomp, many alms
were distributed, and several masses were ordered for the repose of his
soul.
When intelligence of Alvarado's death reached the fleet and the
head-quarters of Cochitlan, there being no one there to take the chief
command, a number of the troops dispersed with the money they had
received in advance. The consternation which this sad news created in
Mexico was very great, particularly as the viceroy, after Alvarado's
decease, was desired to send immediate assistance to Xalisco; but as he
was unable to leave himself just then, he despatched the licentiate
Maldonado thither with as large a body of men as could be assembled in
the hurry of the moment; though subsequently he marched in person
against the Indians, and completely subdued them, after protracted and
fatiguing campaigns.
When the news of Alvarado's death reached Guatimala, the grief of his
family knew no bounds; and his wife, Dona Beatriz de la Cueva, with
whom he had lived on the most affectionate terms, cried incessantly, and
she and all the ladies of her household cut off their hair. His death
was also a severe blow to his lovely daughter, his sons, and his
son-in-law Don Francisco de la Cueva, on whom Alvarado had conferred the
government of Guatimala during his absence. Every one of the
Conquistadores of this province deeply lamented his death, and put on
mourning for him. The bishop Don Francisco Marroquin was likewise deeply
affected at the sad news, and performed a solemn mass for the dead,
assisted by the whole body of the clergy, and ordered daily prayers to
be offered up for the repose of his soul. Alvarado's major-domo, to show
his excessive grief, had even plastered all the walls of his house with
a species of black bitumen, which stuck so fast, that it could never
after be taken off again.
Several cavaliers waited upon the disconsolate widow to condole with
her, and begged of her to moderate her grief, and humbly to resign
herself to the will of God. This, as a good Christian, she promised to
do; but as women are unable to moderate their grief for the loss of
those they have loved, she said she was tired of life, and longed to
quit this vale of sorrows. I have merely mentioned this circumstance
because Gomara, in his Chronicles, puts the following blasphemous words
into her mouth: "That the Lord Jesus could not have visited her with a
severer calamity;" and he maintains that it was owing to her having
given utterance to this that the town of Guatimala was shortly after
visited by so direful a calamity; for the volcano, which lies about two
miles from the town, during a violent storm, suddenly vomited huge
masses of stone and clouds of ashes, succeeded by a deluge of water,
from the bursting of the crater, by which a great part of the town where
the widow of Alvarado resided was totally destroyed, and she herself,
with several of her ladies, drowned. However, this lady certainly gave
utterance to nothing more than what I have mentioned above, and what
Gomara states is an invention of his own: and if it pleased the Lord
Jesus to call her away from this earth, it is not for mortal man to
scrutinise the mysterious decrees of heaven.
With respect to this dreadful tempest and earthquake, I will give the
particulars in another place. I cannot help mentioning with regret,
that, notwithstanding the many important services which Alvarado and his
five brothers, as also the other Alvarados, had rendered to the crown,
the sons and daughters of the first-mentioned retained none of the
townships comprehended in his commendary, and that the fact of his
having subdued the whole province was never even taken into
consideration, and it was no longer borne in mind that he accompanied
the expedition under Grijalva, and was present in all the campaigns of
Cortes. The manner in which he himself, his wife, his children, and his
brothers lost their lives, is altogether remarkable. Alvarado himself,
as we have seen, met with his death in the expedition against Cochitlan;
his brother Jorge, who fought in some of the campaigns of Mexico and
those of Guatimala, died in Madrid in the year 1540, whither he had gone
to solicit his majesty for some remuneration for the services he had
rendered the crown; Gomez was killed in Peru; Gonzalo died in Guaxaca or
Mexico; and Juan, who was a natural brother, ended his life at Cuba,
whither he had journeyed to look over some property he possessed in this
island. The eldest of Alvarado's sons, named Don Pedro, repaired, with
his uncle Juan the younger, to Spain, to represent to his majesty the
many valuable services his father had rendered to the crown; but neither
of them were ever after heard of, and they must either have been lost at
sea or taken prisoners by the Moors. His second son, Don Diego, finding
that all his father's property was gone, returned to Peru, where he lost
his life in battle. With respect to Alvarado's widow, I have above
stated how she perished, with several of the ladies of her household,
during a fearful tempest. And thus, unfortunately, did Alvarado die, at
a distance from his wife and daughters, whom he loved with so much
affection; and the wife without her husband, for whom she cherished the
dearest remembrance! One of the sons, in his journey to Spain, was never
heard of again, and the second was killed in Peru. May they become
glorified with the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
A short time ago two tombs were constructed near the altar of the
principal church of Guatimala, in one of which the remains of Alvarado
are to be deposited, which were taken to Chiribitio; and in the other
Don Francisco de la Cueva and his wife, Dona Leonora, Alvarado's
daughter, have expressed a wish to be buried, when it shall please the
Almighty to call them from this earthly life.
In order to return to the armament which Alvarado had fitted out, I must
not omit to mention that the viceroy a year after ordered the best of
the vessels to be selected, and these he sent out to sea, under the
command of his relative Villalobos, with instructions to sail in a
westerly direction, in search of China; but as I never heard how this
expedition terminated, I will say nothing further about it; though one
thing is certain, the heirs of Alvarado never derived any advantages
from it, and the whole of the vast sums which Alvarado had expended in
fitting out this armament were for ever lost to the family.
We must now see what Cortes is doing in Spain.