_How we arrive on the Bandera's Stream, and gain 1500 pesos._
By this time the existence of the great city of Mexico must be known
throughout the major part of the Spanish provinces and the greater part
of Christendom: how, like Venice, it was built in the water; and of the
mighty monarch who resided there, king of many provinces and lord of all
these countries, which in extent were more than quadruple that of Spain.
The name of this monarch was Motecusuma: his power was so great that he
would gladly have extended it to places where it was impossible, and he
wished to know things which he never could learn. He had, however, heard
of our first visit under the command of Cordoba, and of our battle at
Cotoche and Champoton, also of the second engagement we had had at the
last-mentioned spot. He was moreover aware that we had been but a
handful of men in comparison with the multitude of the inhabitants; and
lastly, it had been made known to him that we gladly exchanged our goods
for gold. All this information had, from time to time, been sent him by
means of painted figures or signs, drawn, as is the custom with this
people, on a thick kind of cloth manufactured from the maguey,[6] very
much resembling our linen. Being also informed that we were continuing
our course along the coast, he issued orders to the governors of the
several districts that at every place where we landed they should
exchange their gold for our glass beads, but particularly for the green
ones, which so much resembled their chalchihuis stones; and further he
commanded them to gain every information with respect to our intentions.
What made him dwell more particularly upon the latter was the ancient
tradition in the country, which spoke of a people that would come from
the rising of the sun who would at some future period get the dominion
of the country.
For whatever purpose it may have been I will leave, but certain it is
that the powerful Motecusuma had ordered sentinels to be posted along
the banks of the river above mentioned. These sentinels had all small
flags attached to the points of their lances, and called out aloud,
inviting us to come to them. While we were contemplating from our
vessels this, to us, so novel a sight, our commander-in-chief with the
other officers and soldiers came to the determination to inquire their
meaning. We therefore lowered two of our boats and manned them with
twenty soldiers, well armed with crossbows and muskets. The command of
this was given to Francisco de Montejo. I was likewise among the number.
Our instructions were to send immediate information to the
commander-in-chief if anything of a hostile nature should take place and
in general to let him know how matters stood. It pleased God that the
weather should be calm, which is seldom the case on these coasts. We all
got safe on shore, and were met by three caziques, one of whom was a
governor under Motecusuma. These were attended by great numbers of
Indians, carrying fowls, maise-bread, pines, sapotas, and other
provisions; they spread some mats in the shade of the trees, on which
they invited us to sit down. All this was done by signs, as Julianillo
did not understand their language. Next they brought pans made of clay,
filled with glowing embers, on which they strewed a species of resin,
smelling very much like our incense, with which they perfumed us.
Francisco de Montejo sent information of all this to our
commander-in-chief, who immediately resolved to run the whole squadron
into the bay, and proceed on shore with all our men.
When the caziques and the governor saw our general on shore, who, they
had been given to understand, was our chief officer, they paid him in
their way the greatest possible respect, and perfumed him most
vehemently. We thanked them kindly, and in return made many
protestations of friendship, also presenting each with white and green
glass beads, desiring them at the same time to bring us gold in exchange
for our commodities. Motecusuma's governor strongly advised the Indians
to comply with our request; the consequence of which was that the
inhabitants of the surrounding districts soon brought us every trinket
they possessed in the shape of gold, and commenced a trade of barter
with us. During the six days we stayed in this spot we obtained upwards
of 1500 pesos' worth of gold trinkets, of various workmanship, but of
inferior quality. The historians Francisco Lopez de Gomara and Gonzalo
Hernandez de Oviedo have also mentioned this circumstance in their
works. They err, however, when they say it took place in the Tabasco or
Grijalva river; for it is a well-authenticated fact that there is no
gold found in the provinces which border on the river Grijalva, and,
upon the whole, very few ornaments of gold. I will not, however, detain
my reader with their account, but rather inform him that we took
possession of this country for his imperial majesty the Emperor, in the
name of Diego Velasquez, the governor of Cuba. This being done, our
general told the Indians that he was now desirous of re-embarking, and
presented them with some Spanish shirts. We took one of the Indians with
us, who subsequently learnt our language and was converted to
Christianity, when he took the name of Francisco. I met with him
afterwards at Santa Fe, where he had settled himself after the conquest
of Mexico. Our commander, finding that the inhabitants brought no more
gold, and considering that we had already been here six days, and that
our present anchorage was rather dangerous on account of the contrary
winds, gave orders for re-embarking. Pursuing our voyage, we came to an
island which was quite covered with white sand, lying above nine miles
from the main land. We gave it the name of Isla Blanca, as it stands on
the sea charts. Not far from this lay another island, nearly five miles
from the main land, which offered us a very commodious landing-place.
Our general, therefore, ordered the boats to be lowered, and landed,
with the greater portion of our men, in order to explore the island. We
found two houses, which were strongly built of stone and lime; both were
ascended by a flight of steps, and surmounted by a species of altar, on
which stood several abominable idols, to whom, the previous evening,
five Indians had been sacrificed. Their dead bodies still lay there,
ripped open, with the arms and legs chopped off, while everything near
was besmeared with blood. We contemplated this sight in utter
astonishment, and gave this island the name of Isla de Sacrificios.
Quitting this place, we landed on the neighbouring continent, where we
constructed ourselves huts on one of the large downs, with some sails
and the branches of trees. Numbers of Indians soon made their
appearance, bringing with them small pieces of gold for barter, in the
same way as at the Bandera stream, according to the commands of
Motecusuma, as we subsequently learnt. The inhabitants, however,
approached us in great fear, and what they brought with them was a mere
trifle. Our captain, therefore, soon weighed anchor again. The next
place we landed at was in view of another island, which lay about two
miles from the continent. This at present is considered the best harbour
of the country. What happened to us in this place I will relate in the
next chapter.
[6] The author sometimes also calls this nequen, of which the garments
of the poorer classes were manufactured. The maguey is the well-known
agava Americana, the sap of which formed the national drink of the
Indians, and the Mexicans were accustomed to write most of their
hieroglyphics on the cloth manufactured from the leaves. (p. 29.)