_How Pedro de Alvarado was ordered to make an excursion into the
interior of the country, in order to procure maise and other
provisions; and what further happened._
It was now resolved that Pedro de Alvarado should make an excursion into
the interior to explore the country, gain further knowledge of some
townships which we knew by name, and procure maise and other provisions,
of which we were in the greatest want. For this purpose 100 men were
selected, among whom were fifteen crossbow-men and six musketeers; above
half, moreover, were adherents of Velasquez: the rest of us, on whom
Cortes could fully depend, remained with him, in order that no
conspiracy might be set on foot against him.
Alvarado, during this expedition, visited some small townships which
were subject to a greater one, called, in the Aculhua language,
_Costatlan_.[17*] This language is that of Mexico and Motecusuma; and
when we speak of persons of Aculhua, we must always understand subjects
of his empire. Alvarado nowhere met with any inhabitants, but found
sufficient proofs in the temples that boys and full-grown people had
very recently been sacrificed; for the altars and walls were covered
with drops of fresh blood. The flint knives with which the unfortunate
victim's breast is cut open to tear the heart away, and the large stones
on which they are sacrificed, still lay in their proper places. Most of
the bodies thus seen by our men were without arms or legs, which,
according to the accounts of the Indians, had been devoured. Our men
were perfectly horror-struck at such barbarities: however, I will not
waste another word on the subject, for we found the same thing over
again in every district we visited in this country. Alvarado found these
districts well stocked with provisions, but so completely deserted by
the inhabitants that he could only find two Indians to assist the men in
carrying maise: every soldier, therefore, was compelled to take a load
of greens and fowls, and in this way the detachment returned to our camp
with a good supply of provisions, and without having encountered any
disaster. This was all the damage our men did, although they had so many
opportunities of doing more, Cortes having most strictly forbidden any
wanton outrage, that there might not be a repetition of what happened on
the island of Cozumel.
We were overjoyed with the provisions; for when man can satisfy his
appetite, he forgets half his sufferings. Gomara mentions another
expedition in this place, which, he says, Cortes himself undertook, with
400 men, to explore the interior of the country: but here again he must
have been misinformed; for there was no other made than the one I have
just mentioned. In the meantime Cortes was not inactive, but did all in
his power to gain the adherents of Diego Velasquez: one was presented
with some of the gold we had made,--for with gold mountains are removed;
another was silenced by considerable promises. He likewise set the whole
of them at liberty, excepting Juan Velasquez de Leon and Diego de Ordas,
who were lying bound in chains on board a vessel: however, both these
were also shortly after released, and they became true friends to him,
of which they subsequently gave sufficient proofs. Gold, indeed, was
not spared on this occasion, for they were only to be tamed by that
means. As soon as greater union was thus restored, it was resolved that
we should march for the township Quiahuitzlan, which I have above
mentioned. Our vessels were also at the same time to set sail and run
into the harbour, lying about four miles from the latter place.
Our march lay along the coast, and on our route we killed a large fish
which had been thrown on shore; we then came to a pretty deep river, on
whose banks the town of Vera Cruz at present lies: this we crossed by
means of some old canoes we found here, and by ferryboats; I, however,
swam across. On the opposite bank of the river lay several small
townships, subject to one more extensive called Sempoalla. This was the
home of the five Indians who came to Cortes in the character of
ambassadors, and who were called by us _Lopelucios_. We found the
idol-temples stained with spots of blood, the apparatus for perfuming
and sacrificing, a quantity of parrot feathers, and several packages of
paper stitched one over the other, resembling our Spanish linen. We
nowhere met any Indians; for as they had never before seen people like
unto us, nor any horses, they had all run away from fear, so that we
were forced to go hungry to bed. The next day we marched inland in an
easterly direction: of course we had not the least knowledge of the road
we were taking, and we turned at a venture into a beautiful meadow,
where we found wild deer grazing. Pedro de Alvarado chased one of these
on his brown mare, and managed to wound it with his lance; but the
animal escaped over some heights.
In the meantime twelve Indians made their appearance, inhabitants of the
district, where we were encamped for the night, bringing with them some
fowls and maise-bread, which, they told Cortes, by means of our
interpreter, had been sent us by their cazique, who had likewise desired
we should visit his township, which lay at a distance of one sun, say a
day's march, from our present station. Cortes returned them sincere
thanks for their great kindness, and we marched on until we came to a
small township, where a short time previous several human beings had
been sacrificed. As the kind reader would be disgusted with hearing of
the numbers of male and female Indians we found butchered along every
road and in every village we passed through, I will be silent on that
head, and merely add that a supper was provided for us in the small
village where we had arrived. Here we also learnt that the road to
Quiahuitzlan, which latter lay on a hill, passed through Sempoalla,
where we next arrive.
[17*] Costatlan, Bernal Diaz also adds here, "Y este nombre de Culua es
en aquella tierra, como si dixessen los Romanos hallados." As this
passage is rather obscure, we thought it best to insert it here. The
literal translation is: "And this appellation of Culua, in this country,
means as much as when one would say, 'the merry Romans.'" In the 31st
chapter he makes a similar remark. (p. 102.)