In the prosecution of his purpose, our historian, the worthy Don
Cristobal Ixtlilxochitl, though ever adhering to his 'neglected
cavaliers' with a generous constancy, is sometimes seduced into the
description of events and scenes of a more general character, not very
necessarily connected with his main object, and which those very authors
whom he censures, have made the themes of much prolix writing. The
difficulties that beset an historian are ever very great; nor is the
least of them found in the necessity of determinating how much, or _how
little_, he is called upon to record; for though it seems but reasonable
he should take it for granted that his readers are entirely unacquainted
with the matters he is narrating, and therefore that he should say all
that can be said, this is a point in which all readers will not entirely
agree with him. Those who have acquired a smattering of his subject,
will be offended, if he presume to reinstruct them. For our own part,
not recognizing the right of the ignorant to be gratified at the expense
of the more learned, we have studied as much as is possible, so to
curtail the exuberances of our original as to present his readers
chiefly with what they cannot know; for which reason, it will be found,
we have eschewed many of the memorable incidents of this famous
campaign, in which none of the neglected conquerors bore a considerable
part; as well as all those minute descriptions which retard the progress
of the history. We therefore despatch in a word the glories of the
morning that dawned over Tlascala, the gathering together of the
Spaniards, who, upon review, were found to muster full thirteen hundred
men, and their savage allies, two thousand in number, commanded, as had
been anticipated, by Talmeccahua of the tribe Tizatlan.
Amid the roar of trumpets and drums, and the shouts of a vast people,
the glittering and feathered army departed from Tlascala, and pursuing
its way through those rich savannas covered with the smiling corn and
the juicy aloe, which had gained for this valley its name of the Land of
Bread, proceeded onwards towards the holy city, Cholula.
What rocky plains were crossed and what rough sierras surmounted, it
needs not to detail: before night-fall, the whole army moved over the
meadows that environ Cholula; and there, where now the traveller sees
naught but a few wretched natives squatting among their earthen cabins,
the adventurers beheld a city of great size, with more than four hundred
lofty white towers shining over its spacious dwellings. The magnificent
mountains that surrounded it--the sublime Popocatepetl, still breathing
forth its lurid vapours,--the forbidding Iztaccihuatl, or the White
Woman, looking like the shattered ruins of some fallen planet, vainly
concealing their deformities under a vestment of snow,--the sharp and
serrated Malinche,--and last (and seen with not the less interest that
it intercepted the view towards home,)--the kingly Orizaba, looking
peaceful and grand in the east,--made up such a wall of beauty and
splendour as does not often confine the valleys of men. But there is one
mountain in that singular scene, which human beings will regard with
even more interest than those peaks which soar so many weary fathoms
above it: the stupendous Teocalli--the _Monte hecho a manos_, (for it
was piled up by the hands of human beings,)--reared its huge bulk over
the plain; and, while looking on the stately cypresses that shadowed its
gloomy summit, men dreamed, as they dream yet, of the nations who raised
so astonishing an evidence of their power, without leaving any
revealment of their fate. Whence came they? whither went they? From the
shadows--back to the shadows.--The farce of ambition, the tragedy of
war, so many thousand times repeated in the three great theatres that
divided the old world, were performed with the same ceremonies of guilt
and misery, with the same glory and the same shame, in a fourth, of
which knowledge had not dreamed. The same superstitions which heaped up
the pyramids and the Parthenon, were at work on the Teocallis of
America; and the same pride which built a Babylon to defy the assaults
of time, gave to his mouldering grasp the tombs and the palaces of
Palenque. The people of Tenochtitlan and Cholula worshipped their
ancient gods among the ruined altars of an older superstition.
Great crowds issued from this city--the Mecca of Anahuac--to witness
the approach of the Spaniards; but although they bore the same features,
and the same decorations, though perhaps of a better material, with the
Tlascalans, it was observed by Don Amador, that they displayed none of
the joy and triumph, with which his countrymen had been ushered into
Tlascala. In place of these, their countenances expressed a dull
curiosity; and though they kissed the earth and flung the incense, as
usual, in their manner of salutation, they seemed impelled to these
ceremonies more by fear than affection. He remarked also with some
surprise, that when they came to extend their compliments to the
allies,--the Tlascalans, from their chief down to the meanest warrior,
requited them only with frowns. All these peculiarities were explained
to him by De Morla:
"In ancient days," said the cavalier, "the Cholulans were a nation of
republicans, like the Tlascalans, and united with them in a fraternal
league against their common enemies, the Mexicans. In course of time,
however, the people of the holy city were gained over by the bribes or
promises of the foe; and entering into a secret treaty, they obeyed its
provisions so well, as to throw off the mask on the occasion of a great
battle, wherein they perfidiously turned against their friends, and,
aided by the Mexicans, defeated them with great slaughter. From that
day, they have remained the true vassals of Mexico; and, from that day,
the Tlascalans have not ceased to regard them with the most deadly and
unrelenting hatred."
"The hatred is just; and I marvel they do not fall upon these base
knaves forthwith!" said Amador.
"It is the command of Don Hernan, that Tlascala shall now preserve her
wrath for Tenochtitlan; and such is his influence, that, though he
cannot allay the heart-burnings, yet can he, with a word, restrain the
hands of his allies. Concerning the gloomy indifference of these
people," continued De Morla, "as now manifested, it needs only to inform
you how we discovered, or, rather, (for I will not afflict you with the
details,) how we punished a similar treachery, wherein they meditated
our own destruction, more than half a year ago, when we entered their
town, on our march to Mexico. Having discovered their plot to destroy
us, we met them with a perfidious craft which might have been rendered
excusable by their own, had we, like them, been demi-barbarians; but
which, as we are really civilized and Christian men, I cannot help
esteeming both dishonest and atrocious. We assembled their nobles and
priests in the court of the building we occupied; and having closed the
gates, and charged them once or twice with their guilt, we fell upon
them; and some of them having escaped and roused the citizens, we
carried the war into the streets, and up to the temples: and so well did
we prosper that day, and the day that followed, (for we fought them
during two entire days,) that, with the assistance of our Tlascalans, of
whom we had an army with us, we slaughtered full six thousand of them,
and that without losing the life of a single Spaniard."
"Dios mio!" cried Don Amador, "we had not so many killed in all the
siege of Rhodes! Six thousand men! I am not certain that even treachery
could excuse the destruction of so many lives."
"It was a bloody and most awful spectacle," said De Morla, with feeling.
"We drove the naked wretches (I say naked, senor, for we gave them no
time to arm;) to the pyramids, especially to that which holds the altar
of their chief god,--the god of the air; and here, senor, it was
melancholy, to see the miserable desperation with which they died; for,
having, at first, refused them quarter, they declined to receive it,
when pity moved us afterwards to grant it. About the court of this
pyramid there were many wooden buildings, as well as tabernacles of the
like material among the towers, on the top. These we fired; and thus
attacked them with arms and flames. What ruin the fire failed to inflict
on the temple, they accomplished with their own hands; for, senor,
having a superstitious belief, that, the moment a sacrilegious hand
should tear away the foundations of their great temple, floods should
burst out from the earth to whelm the impious violator, they began to
raze it with their own hands; willing, in their madness, to perish by
the wrath of their god, so that their enemies should perish with them. I
cannot express to you the horrible howls, with which they beheld the
fragments fall from the walls of the pyramid, without calling up the
watery earthquake; then, indeed, with these howls, they ran to the
summit, and crazily pitched themselves into the burning towers, or flung
themselves from the dizzy top,--as if, in their despair, thinking that
even their gods had deserted them!"
"It was an awful chastisement, and, I fear me, more awful than just,"
said Amador. "After this, it is not wonderful the men of Cholula should
not receive us with joy."
Many evidences of the horrors of that dreadful day were yet revealed, as
Don Amador entered into the city. The marks of fire were left on various
houses of stone, and, here and there, were vacuities, covered with
blackened wrecks, where, doubtless, had stood more humble and
combustible fabrics.
The countenance of Cortes was observed to be darkened by a frown, as he
rode through this well-remembered scene of his cruelty; but perhaps he
thought less of remorse and penitence, than of the spirit of hatred and
desperation evinced by his victims,--as if, in truth, the late
occurrences at Mexico had persuaded him, that a similar spirit was
waking and awaiting him there.--It was in his angry moment, and just as
he halted at the portals of a large court-yard, wherein stood the palace
he had chosen for his quarters, that two Indians, of an appearance
superior to any Don Amador had yet seen, and followed by a train of
attendants bearing heavy burthens, suddenly passed from the crowd of
Cholulans, and approached the general.
"Senor," said De Morla, in a low voice, to his friend, "observe these
new ambassadors;--they are of the noblest blood of the city; the
elder,--he that hath the gold grains hanging to his nostrils, in token
that he belongs to the order of _Teuctli_, or Princes by Merit, is one
of the lords of the Four Quarters of Mexico--the quarter Tlatelolco,
wherein is our garrison. His name, Itzquauhtzin, will be, to you,
unpronounceable. The youth that bears himself so loftily, is no less
than a nephew of the king himself; and the scarlet fillet around his
hair, denotes that he has arrived at the dignity of what we should call
a chief commander,--a military rank that not even the king can claim,
without having performed great actions in the field. 'Tis a sore day for
Montezuma, when he sends us such princely ambassadors.--I will press
forward, and do the office of interpreter; for destiny, love, and my
mother wit, together, have given me more of the Mexican jargon, than any
of my companions."
As the ambassadors approached, Don Amador had leisure to observe them.
Both were of good stature and countenance; their loins were girt with
tunics of white cotton cloth, studded and bordered with bunches of
feathers, and hanging as low as the knee; and over the shoulders of both
were hung large mantles of many brilliant colours, curiously interwoven,
their ends so knotted together in front, as to fall down in graceful
folds, half concealing the swarthy chest. Their sandals were secured
with scarlet thongs, crossed and gartered to the calf. Their raven
locks, which were of great length, were knotted together, in a most
fantastic manner, with ribands, from the points of which, on the head of
the elder, depended many little ornaments, that seemed jewels of gold
and precious stones; while from the fillets, that braided the hair of
the younger, besides an abundance of the same ornaments, there were many
tufts of crimson cotton-down, swinging to and fro in the wind. In
addition to these badges of military distinction, (for every tuft, thus
worn, was the reward and evidence of some valiant exploit,) this young
prince--he seemed not above twenty-five years old--wore, as had been
noticed by De Morla, the red fillet of the House of Darts,--an order,
not so much of nobility as of knighthood, entitling its possessor to the
command of an army. His bearing was, indeed, lofty, but not disdainful;
and though, when making his obeisance, he neither stooped so low, nor
kissed his hand with so much humility, as his companion, this seemed to
proceed more from a consciousness of his own rank, than from any
disrespect to the Christian leader.
"What will these dogs with me now?" cried Cortes, at whose feet, (for he
had dismounted,) the attendants had thrown their burthens, and were
proceeding to display their contents. "Doth Montezuma think to appease
me for the blood of my brothers? and pay for Spanish lives with robes of
cotton and trinkets of gold?--What say the hounds?"
"They say," responded De Morla to his angry general, "that the king
welcomes you back again to his dominions, to give him reparation for the
slaughter of his people."
"Hah!" exclaimed the leader, fiercely. "Doth he beard me with complaint,
when I look for penitence and supplication?"
"In token of his love, and of his assured persuasion that you now return
to punish the murderers of his subjects, and then to withdraw your
followers from his city for ever," said De Morla, giving his attention
less to Cortes than to the lord of Tlatelolco, "he sends you these
garments, to protect the bodies of your new friends from the snows of
Ithualco, as well as----"
"The slave!" cried Don Hernan, spurning the pack that lay at his foot,
and scattering its gaudy textures over the earth: "If he give me no mail
to protect my friends from the knives of his assassins, I will trample
even upon his false heart, as I do upon his worthless tribute!"
"Shall I translate your excellency's answer word for word?" said De
Morla, tranquilly. "If it be left to myself, I should much prefer
veiling it in such palatable language, as my limited knowledge will
afford."
But the scowling general had already turned away, as if to humble the
ambassadors with the strongest evidence of contempt, and to prove the
extremity of his displeasure; and it needed no interpretation of words
to convince the noble savages of the futileness of their ministry. The
lord of Tlatelolco bowed again to the earth, and again kissed his hand,
as if in humble resignation, while the retreating figure of Don Hernan
vanished under the low door of his dwelling; but the younger envoy,
instead of imitating him, drew himself proudly up, and looked after the
general with a composure, that changed, as Don Amador thought, to a
smile. But if such a mark of satisfaction--for it bore more the
character of elation than contempt,--did illuminate the bronzed visage
of the prince, it remained not there for an instant. He cast a quiet and
grave eye upon the curious cavaliers who surrounded him, and then
beckoning his attendants from their packs, he strode, with his
companion, composedly away.
"In my mind," said the neophyte, following him with his eye, and rather
soliloquizing than addressing himself to any of the neighbouring
cavaliers, "there was more of dignity and contempt in the smile of that
heathen prince, than in all the rage of my friend Don Hernan."
"Truly, he is a very proper-looking and well-demeanoured knave," said
the voice of Duero. "But the general has some deep policy at the bottom
of all this anger."
"By my faith, I think so, now for the first time!" exclaimed the
neophyte; "for, although unable to see the drift of such a stratagem, I
cannot believe that the senor Cortes would adopt a course, that seems to
savour so much of injustice, without a very discreet and politic
object."
Here the discourse of the cavaliers was cut short by the sudden
appearance of Fabueno the secretary.
"What wilt thou, Lorenzo?" said his patron. "Has Lazaro again refused to
tilt with thee? I very much commend the zeal with which thou pursuest
thine exercises; but thou shouldst remember, that Lazaro may, sometimes,
be weary after a day's march."
"Senor, 'tis not _that_," said the secretary. "But just now, as Baltasar
told me, he saw the page Jacinto very rudely haled away by one of
Cortes's grooms; and I thought your favour might be glad to know, for
the boy seemed frighted."
"I will straightway see that no wrong be done him, even by the general,"
said Amador, quickly, moving toward the door into which he had seen
Cortes enter. "I marvel very much that my good knight did not protect
him."
"Senor," said Fabueno, "the knight is in greater disorder to-day than
yesterday. He took no note of anybody, when we came to this palace; but
instantly concealed himself in some distant chamber, where, a soldier
told me, he was scourging himself."
"Thou shouldst not talk, with the soldiers, of Calavar," said Amador,
with a sigh. "Get thee to Marco. If my kinsman need me, I will presently
be with him."
Thus saying, he discharged the secretary at the door; and those servants
who guarded it, not presuming to deny admittance to a man of such rank,
he was immediately ushered into the presence of Cortes.