The general, annoyed by his position, sent a detachment to seek a

passage lower down, by which the troops might be landed on the other

side. But, although the banks of the ravine became less formidable as

they descended, they found no means of crossing the river, till a path

unexpectedly presented itself, on which, probably, no one before had

ever been daring enough to venture.

From the cliffs on the opposite sides of the barranca, two huge trees

shot up to an enormous height, and, inclining towards each other,

interlaced their boughs so as to form a sort of natural bridge. Across

this avenue, in mid-air, a Tlascalan conceived it would not be difficult

to pass to the opposite bank. The bold mountaineer succeeded in the

attempt, and was soon followed by several others of his countrymen,

trained to feats of agility and strength among their native hills. The

Spaniards imitated their example. It was a perilous effort for an armed

man to make his way over this aerial causeway, swayed to and fro by the

wind, where the brain might become giddy, and where a single false

movement of hand or foot would plunge him in the abyss below. Three of

the soldiers lost their hold and fell. The rest, consisting of some

twenty or thirty Spaniards and a considerable number of Tlascalans,

alighted in safety on the other bank.[371] There hastily forming, they

marched with all speed on the city. The enemy, engaged in their contest

with the Castilians on the opposite brink of the ravine, were taken by

surprise,--which, indeed, could scarcely have been exceeded if they had

seen their foe drop from the clouds on the field of battle.

They made a brave resistance, however, when fortunately the Spaniards

succeeded in repairing one of the dilapidated bridges in such a manner

as to enable both cavalry and foot to cross the river, though with much

delay. The horse, under Olid and Andres de Tápia, instantly rode up to

the succor of their countrymen. They were soon followed by Cortés at the

head of the remaining battalions, and the enemy, driven from one point

to another, were compelled to evacuate the city and to take refuge among

the mountains. The buildings in one quarter of the town were speedily

wrapped in flames. The place was abandoned to pillage, and, as it was

one of the most opulent marts in the country, it amply compensated the

victors for the toil and danger they had encountered. The trembling

caciques, returning soon after to the city, appeared before Cortés, and

deprecating his resentment by charging the blame, as usual, on the

Mexicans, threw themselves on his mercy. Satisfied with their

submission, he allowed no further violence to the inhabitants.[372]

Having thus accomplished the great object of his expedition across the

mountains, the Spanish commander turned his face northwards, to recross

the formidable barrier which divided him from the Valley. The ascent,

steep and laborious, was rendered still more difficult by fragments of

rock and loose stones, which encumbered the passes. The mountain sides

and summits were shaggy with thick forests of pine and stunted oak,

which threw a melancholy gloom over the region, still further heightened

at the present day by its being a favorite haunt of banditti.

The weather was sultry, and, as the stony soil was nearly destitute of

water, the troops suffered severely from thirst. Several of them,

indeed, fainted on the road, and a few of the Indian allies perished

from exhaustion.[373] The line of march must have taken the army across

the eastern shoulder of the mountain, called the _Cruz del Marques_, or

Cross of the Marquess, from a huge stone cross erected there to indicate

the boundary of the territories granted by the Crown to Cortés, as

Marquis of the Valley. Much, indeed, of the route lately traversed by

the troops lay across the princely domain subsequently assigned to the

Conqueror.[374]

The Spaniards were greeted from these heights with a different view from

any which they had before had of the Mexican Valley, made more

attractive in their eyes, doubtless, by contrast with the savage scenery

in which they had lately been involved. It was its most pleasant and

populous quarter; for nowhere did its cities and villages cluster

together in such numbers as round the lake of sweet water. From whatever

quarter seen, however, the enchanting region presented the same aspect

of natural beauty and cultivation, with its flourishing villas, and its

fair lake in the centre, whose dark and polished surface glistened like

a mirror, deep set in the huge frame-work of porphyry in which nature

had enclosed it.

The point of attack selected by the general was Xochimilco, or “the

field of flowers,” as its name implies, from the floating gardens which

rode at anchor, as it were, on the neighboring waters.[375] It was one

of the most potent and wealthy cities in the Valley, and a stanch vassal

of the Aztec crown. It stood, like the capital itself, partly in the

water, and was approached in that quarter by causeways of no great

length. The town was composed of houses like those of most other places

of like magnitude in the country, mostly of cottages or huts made of

clay and the light bamboo, mingled with aspiring _teocallis_, and

edifices of stone, belonging to the more opulent classes.

As the Spaniards advanced, they were met by skirmishing parties of the

enemy, who, after dismissing a light volley of arrows, rapidly retreated

before them. As they took the direction of Xochimilco, Cortés inferred

that they were prepared to resist him in considerable force. It exceeded

his expectations.

On traversing the principal causeway, he found it occupied at the

farther extremity by a numerous body of warriors, who, stationed on the

opposite side of a bridge, which had been broken, were prepared to

dispute his passage. They had constructed a temporary barrier of

palisades, which screened them from the fire of the musketry. But the

water in its neighborhood was very shallow, and the cavaliers and

infantry, plunging into it, soon made their way, swimming or wading, as

they could, in the face of a storm of missiles, to the landing near the

town. Here they closed with the enemy, and hand to hand, after a sharp

struggle, drove them back on the city; a few, however, taking the

direction of the open country, were followed up by the cavalry. The

great mass, hotly pursued by the infantry, were driven through street

and lane, without much further resistance. Cortés, with a few followers,

disengaging himself from the tumult, remained near the entrance of the

city. He had not been there long when he was assailed by a fresh body of

Indians, who suddenly poured into the place from a neighboring dike.

The general, with his usual fearlessness, threw himself into the midst,

in hopes to check their advance. But his own followers were too few to

support him, and he was overwhelmed by the crowd of combatants. His

horse lost his footing and fell; and Cortés, who received a severe blow

on the head before he could rise, was seized and dragged off in triumph

by the Indians. At this critical moment, a Tlascalan, who perceived the

general’s extremity, sprang, like one of the wild ocelots of his own

forests, into the midst of the assailants, and endeavored to tear him

from their grasp. Two of the general’s servants also speedily came to

the rescue, and Cortés, with their aid and that of the brave Tlascalan,

succeeded in regaining his feet and shaking off his enemies. To vault

into the saddle and brandish his good lance was but the work of a

moment. Others of his men quickly came up, and the clash of arms

reaching the ears of the Spaniards, who had gone in pursuit, they

returned, and, after a desperate conflict, forced the enemy from the

city. Their retreat, however, was intercepted by the cavalry, returning

from the country, and, thus hemmed in between the opposite columns, they

were cut to pieces, or saved themselves only by plunging into the

lake.[376]

This was the greatest personal danger which Cortés had yet encountered.

His life was in the power of the barbarians, and, had it not been for

their eagerness to take him prisoner, he must undoubtedly have lost it.

To the same cause may be frequently attributed the preservation of the

Spaniards in these engagements. The next day he sought, it is said, for

the Tlascalan who came so boldly to his rescue, and, as he could learn

nothing of him, he gave the credit of his preservation to his patron,

St. Peter.[377] He may well be excused for presuming the interposition

of his good Genius to shield him from the awful doom of the captive,--a

doom not likely to be mitigated in his case. That heart must have been a

bold one, indeed, which, from any motive, could voluntarily encounter

such a peril! Yet his followers did as much, and that, too, for a much

inferior reward.

The period which we are reviewing was still the age of chivalry,--that

stirring and adventurous age, of which we can form little conception in

the present day of sober, practical reality. The Spaniard, with his nice

point of honor, high romance, and proud, vainglorious vaunt, was the

true representative of that age. The Europeans generally had not yet

learned to accommodate themselves to a life of literary toil, or to the

drudgery of trade or the patient tillage of the soil. They left these

to the hooded inmate of the cloister, the humble burgher, and the

miserable serf. Arms was the only profession worthy of gentle

blood,--the only career which the high-mettled cavalier could tread with

honor. The New World, with its strange and mysterious perils, afforded a

noble theatre for the exercise of his calling; and the Spaniard entered

on it with all the enthusiasm of a paladin of romance.

Other nations entered on it also, but with different motives. The French

sent forth their missionaries to take up their dwelling among the

heathen, who, in the good work of winning souls to Paradise, were

content to wear--nay, sometimes seemed to court--the crown of martyrdom.

The Dutch, too, had their mission, but it was one of worldly lucre, and

they found a recompense for toil and suffering in their gainful traffic

with the natives. While our own Puritan fathers, with the true

Anglo-Saxon spirit, left their pleasant homes across the waters, and

pitched their tents in the howling wilderness, that they might enjoy the

sweets of civil and religious freedom. But the Spaniard came over to the

New World in the true spirit of a knight-errant, courting adventure,

however perilous, wooing danger, as it would seem, for its own sake.

With sword and lance, he was ever ready to do battle for the Faith; and,

as he raised his old war-cry of “St. Jago,” he fancied himself fighting

under the banner of the military apostle, and felt his single arm a

match for more than a hundred infidels! It was the expiring age of

chivalry; and Spain, romantic Spain was the land where its light

lingered longest above the horizon.

It was not yet dusk when Cortés and his followers re-entered the city;

and the general’s first act was to ascend a neighboring _teocalli_ and

reconnoitre the surrounding country. He there beheld a sight which might

have troubled a bolder spirit than his. The surface of the salt lake was

darkened with canoes, and the causeway, for many a mile, with Indian

squadrons, apparently on their march toward the Christian camp. In fact,

no sooner had Guatemozin been apprised of the arrival of the white men

at Xochimilco than he mustered his levies in great force to relieve the

city. They were now on their march, and, as the capital was but four

leagues distant, would arrive soon after nightfall.[378]

Cortés made active preparations for the defence of his quarters. He

stationed a corps of pikemen along the landing where the Aztecs would be

likely to disembark. He doubled the sentinels, and, with his principal

officers, made the rounds repeatedly in the course of the night. In

addition to other causes for watchfulness, the bolts of the crossbowmen

were nearly exhausted, and the archers were busily employed in preparing

and adjusting shafts to the copper heads, of which great store had been

provided for the army. There was little sleep in the camp that

night.[379]

It passed away, however, without molestation from the enemy. Though not

stormy, it was exceedingly dark. But, although the Spaniards on duty

could see nothing, they distinctly heard the sound of many oars in the

water, at no great distance from the shore. Yet those on board the

canoes made no attempt to land, distrusting, or advised, it may be, of

the preparations made for their reception. With early dawn they were

under arms, and, without waiting for the movement of the Spaniards,

poured into the city and attacked them in their own quarters.

The Spaniards, who were gathered in the area round one of the

_teocallis_, were taken at disadvantage in the town, where the narrow

lanes and streets, many of them covered with a smooth and slippery

cement, offered obvious impediments to the manœuvres of cavalry. But

Cortés hastily formed his musketeers and crossbowmen, and poured such a

lively, well-directed fire into the enemy’s ranks as threw him into

disorder and compelled him to recoil. The infantry, with their long

pikes, followed up the blow; and the horse, charging at full speed as

the retreating Aztecs emerged from the city, drove them several miles

along the main land.

At some distance, however, they were met by a strong reinforcement of

their countrymen, and, rallying, the tide of battle turned, and the

cavaliers, swept along by it, gave the rein to their steeds and rode

back at full gallop towards the town. They had not proceeded very far,

when they came upon the main body of the army, advancing rapidly to

their support. Thus strengthened, they once more returned to the charge,

and the rival hosts met together in full career, with the shock of an

earthquake. For a time, victory seemed to hang in the balance, as the

mighty press reeled to and fro under the opposite impulse, and a

confused shout rose up towards heaven, in which the war-whoop of the

savage was mingled with the battle-cry of the Christian,--a still

stranger sound on these sequestered shores. But, in the end, Castilian

valor, or rather Castilian arms and discipline, proved triumphant. The

enemy faltered, gave way, and, recoiling step by step, the retreat soon

terminated in a rout, and the Spaniards, following up the flying foe,

drove them from the field with such dreadful slaughter that they made no

further attempt to renew the battle.

The victors were now undisputed masters of the city. It was a wealthy

place, well stored with Indian fabrics, cotton, gold, feather-work, and

other articles of luxury and use, affording a rich booty to the

soldiers. While engaged in the work of plunder, a party of the enemy,

landing from their canoes, fell on some of the stragglers, laden with

merchandise, and made four of them prisoners. It created a greater

sensation among the troops than if ten times that number had fallen on

the field. Indeed, it was rare that a Spaniard allowed himself to be

taken alive. In the present instance the unfortunate men were taken by

surprise. They were hurried to the capital, and soon after sacrificed;

when their arms and legs were cut off, by the command of the ferocious

young chief of the Aztecs, and sent round to the different cities, with

the assurance that this should be the fate of the enemies of

Mexico![380]

From the prisoners taken in the late engagement, Cortés learned that the

forces already sent by Guatemozin formed but a small part of his levies;

that his policy was to send detachment after detachment, until the

Spaniards, however victorious they might come off from the contest with

each individually, would, in the end, succumb from mere exhaustion, and

thus be vanquished, as it were, by their own victories.

The soldiers having now sacked the city, Cortés did not care to await

further assaults from the enemy in his present quarters. On the fourth

morning after his arrival, he mustered his forces on a neighboring

plain. They came, many of them reeling under the weight of their

plunder. The general saw this with uneasiness. They were to march, he

said, through a populous country, all in arms to dispute their passage.

To secure their safety, they should move as light and unencumbered as

possible. The sight of so much spoil would sharpen the appetite of

their enemies, and draw them on, like a flock of famished eagles after

their prey. But his eloquence was lost on his men, who plainly told him

they had a right to the fruit of their victories, and that what they had

won with their swords they knew well enough how to defend with them.

Seeing them thus bent on their purpose, the general did not care to balk

their inclinations. He ordered the baggage to the centre, and placed a

few of the cavalry over it; dividing the remainder between the front and

rear, in which latter post, as that most exposed to attack, he also

stationed his arquebusiers and crossbowmen. Thus prepared, he resumed

his march, but first set fire to the combustible buildings of

Xochimilco, in retaliation for the resistance he had met there.[381] The

light of the burning city streamed high into the air, sending its

ominous glare far and wide across the waters, and telling the

inhabitants on their margin that the fatal strangers so long predicted

by their oracles had descended like a consuming flame upon their

borders.[382]

Small bodies of the enemy were seen occasionally at a distance, but they

did not venture to attack the army on its march, which, before noon,

brought them to Cojohuacan, a large town about two leagues distant from

Xochimilco. One could scarcely travel that distance in this populous

quarter of the Valley without meeting with a place of considerable size,

oftentimes the capital of what had formerly been an independent state.

The inhabitants, members of different tribes, and speaking dialects

somewhat different, belonged to the same great family of nations, who

had come from the real or imaginary region of Aztlan, in the far

Northwest. Gathered round the shores of their Alpine sea, these petty

communities continued, after their incorporation with the Aztec

monarchy, to maintain a spirit of rivalry in their intercourse with one

another, which--as with the cities on the Mediterranean in the feudal

ages--quickened their mental energies, and raised the Mexican Valley

higher in the scale of civilization than most other quarters of Anahuac.

The town at which the army had now arrived was deserted by its

inhabitants; and Cortés halted two days there to restore his troops and

give the needful attention to the wounded.[383] He made use of the time

to reconnoitre the neighboring ground, and, taking with him a strong

detachment, descended on the causeway which led from Cojohuacan to the

great avenue of Iztapalapan.[384] At the point of intersection, called

Xoloc, he found a strong barrier, or fortification, behind which a

Mexican force was intrenched. Their archery did some mischief to the

Spaniards as they came within bowshot. But the latter, marching

intrepidly forward in face of the arrowy shower, stormed the works, and,

after an obstinate struggle, drove the enemy from their position.[385]

Cortés then advanced some way on the great causeway of Iztapalapan; but

he beheld the farther extremity darkened by a numerous array of

warriors, and, as he did not care to engage in unnecessary hostilities,

especially as his ammunition was nearly exhausted, he fell back and

retreated to his own quarters.

The following day, the army continued its march, taking the road to

Tacuba, but a few miles distant. On the way it experienced much

annoyance from straggling parties of the enemy, who, furious at the

sight of the booty which the invaders were bearing away, made repeated

attacks on their flanks and rear. Cortés retaliated, as on the former

expedition, by one of their own stratagems, but with less success than

before; for, pursuing the retreating enemy too hotly, he fell with his

cavalry into an ambuscade which they had prepared for him in their turn.

He was not yet a match for their wily tactics. The Spanish cavaliers

were enveloped in a moment by their subtle foe, and separated from the

rest of the army. But, spurring on their good steeds, and charging in a

solid column together, they succeeded in breaking through the Indian

array, and in making their escape, except two individuals, who fell into

the enemy’s hands. They were the general’s own servants, who had

followed him faithfully through the whole campaign, and he was deeply

affected by their loss,--rendered the more distressing by the

consideration of the dismal fate that awaited them. When the little band

rejoined the army, which had halted, in some anxiety at their absence,

under the walls of Tacuba, the soldiers were astonished at the dejected

mien of their commander, which too visibly betrayed his emotion.[386]

The sun was still high in the heavens when they entered the ancient

capital of the Tepanecs. The first care of Cortés was to ascend the

principal _teocalli_ and survey the surrounding country. It was an

admirable point of view, commanding the capital, which lay but little

more than a league distant, and its immediate environs. Cortés was

accompanied by Alderete, the treasurer, and some other cavaliers, who

had lately joined his banner. The spectacle was still new to them; and,

as they gazed on the stately city, with its broad lake covered with

boats and barges hurrying to and fro, some laden with merchandise, or

fruits and vegetables, for the markets of Tenochtitlan, others crowded

with warriors, they could not withhold their admiration at the life and

activity of the scene, declaring that nothing but the hand of Providence

could have led their countrymen safe through the heart of this powerful

empire.[387]

In the midst of the admiring circle, the brow of Cortés alone was

observed to be overcast, and a sigh, which now and then stole audibly

from his bosom, showed the gloomy working of his thoughts.[388] “Take

comfort,” said one of the cavaliers, approaching his commander, and

wishing to console him, in his rough way, for his recent loss; “you must

not lay these things so much to heart; it is, after all, but the fortune

of war.” The general’s answer showed the nature of his meditations. “You

are my witness,” said he, “how often I have endeavored to persuade

yonder capital peacefully to submit. It fills me with grief when I think

of the toil and the dangers my brave followers have yet to encounter

before we can call it ours. But the time is come when we must put our

hands to the work.”[389]

There can be no doubt that Cortés, with every other man in his army,

felt he was engaged on a holy crusade, and that, independently of

personal considerations, he could not serve Heaven better than by

planting the Cross on the blood-stained towers of the heathen

metropolis. But it was natural that he should feel some compunction as

he gazed on the goodly scene, and thought of the coming tempest, and how

soon the opening blossoms of civilization which there met his eye must

wither under the rude breath of War. It was a striking spectacle, that

of the great Conqueror thus brooding in silence over the desolation he

was about to bring on the land! It seems to have made a deep impression

on his soldiers, little accustomed to such proofs of his sensibility;

and it forms the burden of some of those _romances_, or national

ballads, with which the Castilian minstrel, in the olden time, delighted

to commemorate the favorite heroes of his country, and which, coming

mid-way between oral tradition and chronicle, have been found as

imperishable a record as chronicle itself.[390]

Tacuba was the point which Cortés had reached on his former expedition

round the northern side of the Valley. He had now, therefore, made the

entire circuit of the great lake; had reconnoitred the several

approaches to the capital, and inspected with his own eyes the

dispositions made on the opposite quarters for its defence. He had no

occasion to prolong his stay in Tacuba, the vicinity of which to Mexico

must soon bring on him its whole warlike population.

Early on the following morning he resumed his march, taking the route

pursued in the former expedition north of the small lakes. He met with

less annoyance from the enemy than on the preceding days; a circumstance

owing in some degree, perhaps, to the state of the weather, which was

exceedingly tempestuous. The soldiers, with their garments heavy with

moisture, ploughed their way with difficulty through miry roads flooded

by the torrents. On one occasion, as their military chronicler informs

us, the officers neglected to go the rounds of the camp at night, and

the sentinels to mount guard, trusting to the violence of the storm for

their protection. Yet the fate of Narvaez might have taught them not to

put their faith in the elements.

At Acolman, in the Acolhuan territory, they were met by Sandoval, with

the friendly cacique of Tezcuco, and several cavaliers, among whom were

some recently arrived from the Islands. They cordially greeted their

countrymen, and communicated the tidings that the canal was completed,

and that the brigantines, rigged and equipped, were ready to be launched

on the bosom of the lake. There seemed to be no reason, therefore, for

longer postponing operations against Mexico.--With this welcome

intelligence, Cortés and his victorious legions made their entry for the

last time into the Acolhuan capital, having consumed just three weeks in

completing the circuit of the Valley.

CHAPTER IV

CONSPIRACY IN THE ARMY--BRIGANTINES LAUNCHED--MUSTER OF

FORCES--EXECUTION OF XICOTENCATL--MARCH OF THE ARMY--BEGINNING OF

THE SIEGE

1521

At the very time when Cortés was occupied with reconnoitring the Valley,

preparatory to his siege of the capital, a busy faction in Castile was

laboring to subvert his authority and defeat his plans of conquest

altogether. The fame of his brilliant exploits had spread not only

through the Isles, but to Spain and many parts of Europe, where a

general admiration was felt for the invincible energy of the man who

with his single arm, as it were, could so long maintain a contest with

the powerful Indian empire. The absence of the Spanish monarch from his

dominions, and the troubles of the country, can alone explain the supine

indifference shown by the government to the prosecution of this great

enterprise. To the same causes it may be ascribed that no action was had

in regard to the suits of Velasquez and Narvaez, backed as they were by

so potent an advocate as Bishop Fonseca, president of the Council of the

Indies. The reins of government had fallen into

[Illustration: ADRIAN OF UTRECHT (POPE ADRIAN VI.)

_Goupil & Cº. Paris_]

the hands of Adrian of Utrecht, Charles’s preceptor, and afterwards

Pope,--a man of learning, and not without sagacity, but slow and timid

in his policy, and altogether incapable of that decisive action which

suited the bold genius of his predecessor, Cardinal Ximenes.

In the spring of 1521, however, a number of ordinances passed the

Council of the Indies, which threatened an important innovation in the

affairs of New Spain. It was decreed that the Royal Audience of

Hispaniola should abandon the proceedings already instituted against

Narvaez for his treatment of the commissioner Ayllon; that that

unfortunate commander should be released from his confinement at Vera

Cruz; and that an arbitrator should be sent to Mexico with authority to

investigate the affairs and conduct of Cortés, and to render ample

justice to the governor of Cuba. There were not wanting persons at court

who looked with dissatisfaction on these proceedings, as an unworthy

requital of the services of Cortés, and who thought the present moment,

at any rate, not the most suitable for taking measures which might

discourage the general and perhaps render him desperate. But the

arrogant temper of the bishop of Burgos overruled all objections; and

the ordinances, having been approved by the Regency, were signed by that

body, April 11, 1521. A person named Tápia, one of the functionaries of

the Audience at St. Domingo, was selected as the new commissioner to be

despatched to Vera Cruz. Fortunately, circumstances occurred which

postponed the execution of the design for the present, and permitted

Cortés to go forward unmolested in his career of conquest.[391]

But, while thus allowed to remain, for the present at least, in

possession of authority, he was assailed by a danger nearer home, which

menaced not only his authority, but his life. This was a conspiracy in

the army, of a more dark and dangerous character than any hitherto

formed there. It was set on foot by a common soldier, named Antonio

Villafaña, a native of Old Castile, of whom nothing is known but his

share in this transaction. He was one of the troop of Narvaez,--that

leaven of disaffection, which had remained with the army, swelling with

discontent on every light occasion, and ready at all times to rise into

mutiny. They had voluntarily continued in the service after the

secession of their comrades at Tlascala; but it was from the same

mercenary hopes with which they had originally embarked in the

expedition,--and in these they were destined still to be disappointed.

They had little of the true spirit of adventure which distinguished the

old companions of Cortés; and they found the barren laurels of victory

but a sorry recompense for all their toils and sufferings.

With these men were joined others, who had causes of personal disgust

with the general; and others, again, who looked with distrust on the

result of the war. The gloomy fate of their countrymen who had fallen

into the enemy’s hands filled them with dismay. They felt themselves the

victims of a chimerical spirit in their leader, who, with such

inadequate means, was urging to extremity so ferocious and formidable a

foe; and they shrank with something like apprehension from thus pursuing

the enemy into his own haunts, where he would gather tenfold energy from

despair.

These men would have willingly abandoned the enterprise and returned to

Cuba; but how could they do it? Cortés had control over the whole route

from the city to the sea-coast; and not a vessel could leave its port

without his warrant. Even if he were put out of the way, there were

others, his principal officers, ready to step into his place and avenge

the death of their commander. It was necessary to embrace these, also,

in the scheme of destruction; and it was proposed, therefore, together

with Cortés, to assassinate Sandoval, Olid, Alvarado, and two or three

others most devoted to his interests. The conspirators would then raise

the cry of liberty, and doubted not that they should be joined by the

greater part of the army, or enough, at least, to enable them to work

their own pleasure. They proposed to offer the command, on Cortés’

death, to Francisco Verdugo, a brother-in-law of Velasquez. He was an

honorable cavalier, and not privy to their design. But they had little

doubt that he would acquiesce in the command thus in a manner forced

upon him, and this would secure them the protection of the governor of

Cuba, who, indeed, from his own hatred of Cortés, would be disposed to

look with a lenient eye on their proceedings.

The conspirators even went so far as to appoint the subordinate

officers, an _alguacil mayor_ in place of Sandoval, a

quartermaster-general to succeed Olid, and some others.[392] The time

fixed for the execution of the plot was soon after the return of Cortés

from his expedition. A parcel, pretended to have come by a fresh arrival

from Castile, was to be presented to him while at table, and, when he

was engaged in breaking open the letters, the conspirators were to fall

on him and his officers and despatch them with their poniards. Such was

the iniquitous scheme devised for the destruction of Cortés and the

expedition. But a conspiracy, to be successful, especially when numbers

are concerned, should allow but little time to elapse between its

conception and its execution.

On the day previous to that appointed for the perpetration of the deed,

one of the party, feeling a natural compunction at the commission of the

crime, went to the general’s quarters and solicited a private interview

with him. He threw himself at his commander’s feet, and revealed all the

particulars relating to the conspiracy, adding that in Villafaña’s

possession a paper would be found, containing the names of his

accomplices. Cortés, thunderstruck at the disclosure, lost not a moment

in profiting by it. He sent for Alvarado, Sandoval, and one or two other

officers marked out by the conspirator, and, after communicating the

affair to them, went at once with them to Villafaña’s quarters,

attended by four alguacils.

They found him in conference with three or four friends, who were

instantly taken from the apartment and placed in custody. Villafaña,

confounded at this sudden apparition of his commander, had barely time

to snatch a paper, containing the signatures of the confederates, from

his bosom, and attempt to swallow it. But Cortés arrested his arm, and

seized the paper. As he glanced his eye rapidly over the fatal list, he

was much moved at finding there the names of more than one who had some

claim to consideration in the army. He tore the scroll in pieces, and

ordered Villafaña to be taken into custody. He was immediately tried by

a military court hastily got together, at which the general himself

presided. There seems to have been no doubt of the man’s guilt. He was

condemned to death, and, after allowing him time for confession and

absolution, the sentence was executed by hanging him from the window of

his own quarters.[393]

Those ignorant of the affair were astonished at the spectacle; and the

remaining conspirators were filled with consternation when they saw that

their plot was detected, and anticipated a similar fate for themselves.

But they were mistaken. Cortés pursued the matter no further. A little

reflection convinced him that to do so would involve him in the most

disagreeable, and even dangerous, perplexities. And, however much the

parties implicated in so foul a deed might deserve death, he could ill

afford the loss even of the guilty, with his present limited numbers. He

resolved, therefore, to content himself with the punishment of the

ringleader.

He called his troops together, and briefly explained to them the nature

of the crime for which Villafaña had suffered. He had made no

confession, he said, and the guilty secret had perished with him. He

then expressed his sorrow that any should have been found in their ranks

capable of so base an act, and stated his own unconsciousness of having

wronged any individual among them; but, if he had done so, he invited

them frankly to declare it, as he was most anxious to afford them all

the redress in his power.[394] But there was no one of his audience,

whatever might be his grievances, who cared to enter his complaint at

such a moment; least of all were the conspirators willing to do so, for

they were too happy at having, as they fancied, escaped detection, to

stand forward now in the ranks of the malecontents. The affair passed

off, therefore, without further consequences.

The conduct of Cortés in this delicate conjuncture shows great coolness,

and knowledge of human nature. Had he suffered his detection, or even

his suspicion, of the guilty parties to take air, it would have placed

him in hostile relations with them for the rest of his life. It was a

disclosure of this kind, in the early part of Louis the Eleventh’s

reign, to which many of the troubles of his later years were

attributed.[395] The mask once torn away, there is no longer occasion to

consult even appearances. The door seems to be closed against reform.

The alienation, which might have been changed by circumstances or

conciliated by kindness, settles into a deep and deadly rancor. And

Cortés would have been surrounded by enemies in his own camp more

implacable than those in the camp of the Aztecs.

As it was, the guilty soldiers had suffered too serious apprehensions to

place their lives hastily in a similar jeopardy. They strove, on the

contrary, by demonstrations of loyalty, and the assiduous discharge of

their duties, to turn away suspicion from themselves. Cortes, on his

part, was careful to preserve his natural demeanor, equally removed from

distrust and--what was perhaps more difficult--that studied courtesy

which intimates, quite as plainly, suspicion of the party who is the

object of it. To do this required no little address. Yet he did not

forget the past. He had, it is true, destroyed the scroll containing the

list of the conspirators. But the man that has once learned the names of

those who have conspired against his life has no need of a written

record to keep them fresh in his memory. Cortés kept his eye on all

their movements, and took care to place them in no situation,

afterwards, where they could do him injury.[396]

This attempt on the life of their commander excited a strong sensation

in the army, with whom his many dazzling qualities and brilliant

military talents had made him a general favorite. They were anxious to

testify their reprobation of so foul a deed, coming from their own body,

and they felt the necessity of taking some effectual measures for

watching over the safety of one with whom their own destinies, as well

as the fate of the enterprise, were so intimately connected. It was

arranged, therefore, that he should be provided with a guard of

soldiers, who were placed under the direction of a trusty cavalier named

Antonio de Quiñones. They constituted the general’s body-guard during

the rest of the campaign, watching over him day and night, and

protecting him from domestic treason no less than from the sword of the

enemy.

As was stated at the close of the last chapter, the Spaniards, on their

return to quarters, found the construction of the brigantines completed,

and that they were fully rigged, equipped, and ready for service. The

canal, also, after having occupied eight thousand men for nearly two

months, was finished.

It was a work of great labor; for it extended half a league in length,

was twelve feet wide, and as many deep. The sides were strengthened by

palisades of wood, or solid masonry. At intervals, dams and locks were

constructed, and part of the opening was through the hard rock. By this

avenue the brigantines might now be safely introduced on the lake.[397]

Cortés was resolved that so auspicious an event should be celebrated

with due solemnity. On the 28th of April, the troops were drawn up under

arms, and the whole population of Tezcuco assembled to witness the

ceremony. Mass was performed, and every man in the army, together with

the general, confessed and received the sacrament. Prayers were offered

up by Father Olmedo, and a benediction invoked on the little navy, the

first--worthy of the name--ever launched on American waters.[398] The

signal was given by the firing of a cannon, when the vessels, dropping

down the canal, one after another, reached the lake in good order; and,

as they emerged on its ample bosom, with music sounding, and the royal

ensign of Castile proudly floating from their masts, a shout of

admiration arose from the countless multitudes of spectators, which

mingled with the roar of artillery and musketry from the vessels and the

shore![399] It was a novel spectacle to the simple natives; and they

gazed with wonder on the gallant ships, which, fluttering like sea-birds

on their snowy pinions, bounded lightly over the waters, as if rejoicing

in their element. It touched the stern hearts of the Conquerors with a

glow of rapture, and, as they felt that Heaven had blessed their

undertaking, they broke forth, by general accord, into the noble anthem

of the _Te Deum_. But there was no one of that vast multitude for whom

the sight had deeper interest than their commander. For he looked on it

as the work, in a manner, of his own hands; and his bosom swelled with

exultation, as he felt he was now possessed of a power strong enough to

command the lake, and to shake the haughty towers of Tenochtitlan.[400]

The general’s next step was to muster his forces in the great square of

the capital. He found they amounted to eighty-seven horse, and eight

hundred and eighteen foot, of which one hundred and eighteen were

arquebusiers and crossbowmen. He had three large field-pieces of iron,

and fifteen lighter guns or falconets of brass.[401] The heavier cannon

had been transported from Vera Cruz to Tezcuco, a little while before,

by the faithful Tlascalans. He was well supplied with shot and balls,

with about ten hundred-weight of powder, and fifty thousand

copper-headed arrows, made after a pattern furnished by him to the

natives.[402] The number and appointments of the army much exceeded what

they had been at any time since the flight from Mexico, and showed the

good effects of the late arrivals from the Islands. Indeed, taking the

fleet into the account, Cortés had never before been in so good a

condition for carrying on his operations. Three hundred of the men were

sent to man the vessels, thirteen, or rather twelve, in number, one of

the smallest having been found, on trial, too dull a sailer to be of

service. Half of the crews were required to navigate the ships. There

was some difficulty in finding hands for this, as the men were averse to

the employment. Cortés selected those who came from Palos, Moguer, and

other maritime towns, and, notwithstanding their frequent claims of

exemption, as hidalgos, from this menial occupation, he pressed them

into the service.[403] Each vessel mounted a piece of heavy ordnance,

and was placed under an officer of respectability, to whom Cortés gave a

general code of instructions for the government of the little navy, of

which he proposed to take the command in person.

He had already sent to his Indian confederates, announcing his purpose

of immediately laying siege to Mexico, and called on them to furnish

their promised levies within the space of ten days at furthest. The

Tlascalans he ordered to join him in Tezcuco; the others were to

assemble at Chalco, a more convenient place of rendezvous for the

operations in the southern quarter of the Valley. The Tlascalans arrived

within the time prescribed, led by the younger Xicotencatl, supported by

Chichemecatl, the same doughty warrior who had convoyed the brigantines

to Tezcuco. They came fifty thousand strong, according to Cortés,[404]

making a brilliant show with their military finery, and marching proudly

forward under the great national banner, emblazoned with a spread eagle,

the arms of the republic.[405] With as blithe and manly a step as if

they were going to the battle-ground, they defiled through the gates of

the capital, making its walls ring with the friendly shouts of “Castile

and Tlascala.”

The observations which Cortes had made in his late tour of

reconnoissance had determined him to begin the siege by distributing his

forces into three separate camps, which he proposed to establish at the

extremities of the principal causeways. By this arrangement the troops

would be enabled to move in concert on the capital, and be in the best

position to intercept its supplies from the surrounding country. The

first of these points was Tacuba, commanding the fatal causeway of the

_noche triste_. This was assigned to Pedro de Alvarado, with a force

consisting, according to Cortés’ own statement, of thirty horse, one

hundred and sixty-eight Spanish infantry, and five-and-twenty thousand

Tlascalans. Cristóval de Olid had command of the second army, of much

the same magnitude, which was to take up its position at Cojohuacan, the

city, it will be remembered, overlooking the short causeway connected

with that of Iztapalapan. Gonzalo de Sandoval had charge of the third

division, of equal strength with each of the two preceding, but which

was to draw its Indian levies from the forces assembled at Chalco. This

officer was to march on Iztapalapan and complete the destruction of that

city, begun by Cortés soon after his entrance into the Valley. It was

too formidable a post to remain in the rear of the army. The general

intended to support the attack with his brigantines, after which the

subsequent movements of Sandoval would be determined by

circumstances.[406]

Having announced his intended dispositions to his officers, the Spanish

commander called his troops together, and made one of those brief and

stirring harangues with which he was wont on great occasions to kindle

the hearts of his soldiery. “I have taken the last step,” he said; “I

have brought you to the goal for which you have so long panted. A few

days will place you before the gates of Mexico,--the capital from which

you were driven with so much ignominy. But we now go forward under the

smiles of Providence. Does any one doubt it? Let him but compare our

present condition with that in which we found ourselves not twelve

months since, when, broken and dispirited, we sought shelter within the

walls of Tlascala; nay, with that in which we were but a few months

since, when we took up our quarters in Tezcuco.[407] Since that time our

strength has been nearly doubled. We are fighting the battles of the

Faith, fighting for our honor, for riches, for revenge. I have brought

you face to face with your foe. It is for you to do the rest.”[408]

The address of the bold chief was answered by the thundering

acclamations of his followers, who declared that every man would do his

duty under such a leader; and they only asked to be led against the

enemy.[409] Cortés then caused the regulations for the army, published

at Tlascala, to be read again to the troops, with the assurance that

they should be enforced to the letter.

It was arranged that the Indian forces should precede the Spanish by a

day’s march, and should halt for their confederates on the borders of

the Tezcucan territory. A circumstance occurred soon after their

departure which gave bad augury for the future. A quarrel had arisen in

the camp at Tezcuco between a Spanish soldier and a Tlascalan chief, in

which the latter was badly hurt. He was sent back to Tlascala, and the

matter was hushed up, that it might not reach the ears of the general,

who, it was known, would not pass it over lightly. Xicotencatl was a

near relative of the injured party, and on the first day’s halt he took

the opportunity to leave the army, with a number of his followers, and

set off for Tlascala. Other causes are assigned for his desertion.[410]

It is certain that from the first he had looked on the expedition with

an evil eye, and had predicted that no good would come of it. He came

into it with reluctance, as, indeed, he detested the Spaniards in his

heart.

His partner in the command instantly sent information of the affair to

the Spanish general, still encamped at Tezcuco. Cortés, who saw at once

the mischievous consequences of this defection at such a time, detached

a party of Tlascalans and Tezcucan Indians after the fugitive, with

instructions to prevail on him, if possible, to return to his duty. They

overtook him on the road, and remonstrated with him on his conduct,

contrasting it with that of his countrymen generally, and of his own

father in particular, the steady friend of the white men. “So much the

worse,” replied the chieftain: “if they had taken my counsel, they would

never have become the dupes of the perfidious strangers.”[411] Finding

their remonstrances received only with anger or contemptuous taunts, the

emissaries returned without accomplishing their object.

Cortés did not hesitate on the course he was to pursue. “Xicotencatl,”

he said, “had always been the enemy of the Spaniards, first in the

field, and since in the council-chamber; openly, or in secret, still the

same,--their implacable enemy. There was no use in parleying with the

false-hearted Indian.” He instantly despatched a small body of horse

with an alguacil to arrest the chief wherever he might be found, even

though it were in the streets of Tlascala, and to bring him back to

Tezcuco. At the same time, he sent information of Xicotencatl’s

proceedings to the Tlascalan senate, adding that desertion among the

Spaniards was punished with death.

The emissaries of Cortés punctually fulfilled his orders. They arrested

the fugitive chief,--whether in Tlascala or in its neighborhood is

uncertain,--and brought him a prisoner to Tezcuco, where a high gallows,

erected in the great square, was prepared for his reception. He was

instantly led to the place of execution; his sentence and the cause for

which he suffered were publicly proclaimed, and the unfortunate cacique

expiated his offence by the vile death of a malefactor. His ample

property, consisting of lands, slaves, and some gold, was all

confiscated to the Castilian crown.[412]

Thus perished Xicotencatl, in the flower of his age,--as dauntless a

warrior as ever led an Indian army to battle. He was the first chief

who successfully resisted the arms of the invaders; and, had the natives

of Anahuac, generally, been animated with a spirit like his, Cortés

would probably never have set foot in the capital of Montezuma. He was

gifted with a clearer insight into the future than his countrymen; for

he saw that the European was an enemy far more to be dreaded than the

Aztec. Yet, when he consented to fight under the banner of the white

men, he had no right to desert it, and he incurred the penalty

prescribed by the code of savage as well as of civilized nations. It is

said, indeed, that the Tlascalan senate aided in apprehending him,

having previously answered Cortés that his crime was punishable with

death by their own laws.[413] It was a bold act, however, thus to

execute him in the midst of his people. For he was a powerful chief,

heir to one of the four seigniories of the republic. His chivalrous

qualities made him popular, especially with the younger part of his

countrymen; and his garments were torn into shreds at his death and

distributed as sacred relics among them. Still, no resistance was

offered to the execution of the sentence, and no commotion followed it.

He was the only Tlascalan who ever swerved from his loyalty to the

Spaniards.

According to the plan of operations settled by Cortés, Sandoval, with

his division, was to take a southern direction, while Alvarado and Olid

would make the northern circuit of the lakes. These two cavaliers,

after getting possession of Tacuba, were to advance to Chapoltepec and

demolish the great aqueduct there, which supplied Mexico with water. On

the tenth of May they commenced their march; but at Acolman, where they

halted for the night, a dispute arose between the soldiers of the two

divisions, respecting their quarters. From words they came to blows, and

a defiance was even exchanged between the leaders, who entered into the

angry feelings of their followers.[414] Intelligence of this was soon

communicated to Cortés, who sent at once to the fiery chiefs, imploring

them, by their regard for him and the common cause, to lay aside their

differences, which must end in their own ruin and that of the

expedition. His remonstrance prevailed, at least, so far as to establish

a show of reconciliation between the parties. But Olid was not a man to

forget, or easily to forgive; and Alvarado, though frank and liberal,

had an impatient temper much more easily excited than appeased. They

were never afterwards friends.[415]

The Spaniards met with no opposition on their march. The principal towns

were all abandoned by the inhabitants, who had gone to strengthen the

garrison of Mexico, or taken refuge with their families among the

mountains. Tacuba was in like manner deserted, and the troops once more

established themselves in their old quarters in the lordly city of the

Tepanecs.[416]

Their first undertaking was to cut off the pipes that conducted the

water from the royal streams of Chapoltepec to feed the numerous tanks

and fountains which sparkled in the court-yards of the capital. The

aqueduct, partly constructed of brickwork and partly of stone and

mortar, was raised on a strong though narrow dike, which transported it

across an arm of the lake; and the whole work was one of the most

pleasing monuments of Mexican civilization. The Indians, well aware of

its importance, had stationed a large body of troops for its protection.

A battle followed, in which both sides suffered considerably, but the

Spaniards were victorious. A part of the aqueduct was demolished, and

during the siege no water found its way again to the capital through

this channel.

On the following day the combined forces descended on the fatal

causeway, to make themselves masters, if possible, of the nearest

bridge. They found the dike covered with a swarm of warriors, as

numerous as on the night of their disaster, while the surface of the

lake was dark with the multitude of canoes. The intrepid Christians

strove to advance under a perfect hurricane of missiles from the water

and the land, but they made slow progress. Barricades thrown across the

causeway embarrassed the cavalry and rendered it nearly useless. The

sides of the Indian boats were fortified with bulwarks, which shielded

the crews from the arquebuses and cross-bows; and, when the warriors on

the dike were hard pushed by the pikemen, they threw themselves

fearlessly into the water, as if it were their native element, and,

reappearing along the sides of the dike, shot off their arrows and

javelins with fatal execution. After a long and obstinate struggle, the

Christians were compelled to fall back on their own quarters with

disgrace, and--including the allies--with nearly as much damage as they

had inflicted on the enemy. Olid, disgusted with the result of the

engagement, inveighed against his companion as having involved them in

it by his wanton temerity, and drew off his forces the next morning to

his own station at Cojohuacan.

The camps, separated by only two leagues, maintained an easy

communication with each other. They found abundant employment in

foraging the neighboring country for provisions, and in repelling the

active sallies of the enemy; on whom they took their revenge by cutting

off his supplies. But their own position was precarious, and they looked

with impatience for the arrival of the brigantines under Cortés. It was

in the latter part of May that Olid took up his quarters at Cojohuacan;

and from that time may be dated the commencement of the siege of

Mexico.[417]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] “Y mucho os ruego, pues á todos os es notorio todo esto, que assí

como hasta aquí á mí me habeis tenido, y obedecido por Señor vuestro,

de aquí adelante tengais, y obedescais á este Gran Rey, pues él es

vuestro natural Señor, y en su lugar tengais á este su Capitan: y todos

los Tributos, y Servicios, que fasta aquí á mí me haciades, los haced,

y dad á él, porque yo assimismo tengo de contribuir, y servir con todo

lo que me mandaré.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 97.

[2] “Lo qual todo les dijo llorando, con las mayores lágrimas, y

suspiros, que un hombre podia manifestar; é assimismo todos aquellos

Señores, que le estaban oiendo, lloraban tanto, que en gran rato no le

pudiéron responder.” Ibid., loc. cit.

[3] Solís regards this ceremony as supplying what was before

defective in the title of the Spaniards to the country. The remarks

are curious, even from a professed casuist: “Y siendo una como

insinuacion misteriosa del título que se debió despues al derecho

de las armas, sobre justa provocacion, como lo verémos en su lugar:

circunstancia particular, que concurrió en la conquista de Méjico para

mayor justificacion de aquel dominio, sobre las demas consideraciones

generales que no solo hiciéron lícita la guerra en otras partes, sino

legítima y razonable siempre que se puso en términos de medio necesario

para la introduccion del Evangelio.” Conquista, lib. 4, cap. 3.

[4] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 101.--Solís,

Conquista, loc. cit.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 9, cap.

4.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 87.--Oviedo considers the

grief of Montezuma as sufficient proof that his homage, far from being

voluntary, was extorted by necessity. The historian appears to have

seen the drift of events more clearly than some of the actors in them.

“Y en la verdad si como Cortés lo dice, ó escrivió, passó en efecto,

mui gran cosa me parece la conciencia y liberalidad de Montezuma en

esta su restitucion é obediencia al Rey de Castilla, por la simple

ó cautelosa informacion de Cortés, que le podia hacer para ello;

Mas aquellas lágrimas con que dice, que Montezuma hizo su oracion,

é amonestamiento, despojándose de su señorío, é las de aquellos con

que les respondiéron aceptando lo que les mandaba, y exortaba, y á mi

parecer su llanto queria decir, ó enseñar otra cosa de lo que él, y

ellos dixéron; porque las obediencias que se suelen dar á los Príncipes

con riza, é con cámaras; é diversidad de Música, é leticia, enseñales

de placer, se suele hacer; é no con lucto ni lágrimas, é sollozos, ni

estando preso quien obedece; porque como dice Marco Varron: Lo que por

fuerza se da no es servicio sino robo.” Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib.

33, cap. 9.

[5] Gomara, Crónica, cap. 92.--Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. ii.

p. 256.

[6] “Pareceria que ellos comenzaban á servir, y Vuestra Alteza tendria

mas concepto de las voluntades, que á su servicio mostraban.” Rel. Seg.

de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 98.

[7] Peter Martyr, distrusting some extravagance in this statement of

Cortés, found it fully confirmed by the testimony of others. “Referunt

non credenda. Credenda tamen, quando vir talis ad Cæsarem et nostri

collegii Indici senatores audeat exscribere. Addes insuper se multa

prætermittere, ne tanta recensendo sit molestus. _Idem affirmant qui ad

nos inde regrediuntur._” De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3.

[8] “Las quales, demas de su valor, eran tales, y tan maravillosas, que

consideradas por su novedad, y estrañeza, no tenian precio, ni es de

creer, que alguno de todos los Príncipes del Mundo de quien se tiene

noticia, las pudiesse tener tales, y de tal calidad.” Rel. Seg. de

Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 99.--See, also, Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind.,

MS., lib. 33, cap. 9.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 104.

[9] “Dezilde en vuestros anales y cartas: Esto os embia vuestro buen

vassallo Monteçuma.” Bernal Diaz, ubi supra.

[10]

“Fluctibus auri

Expleri calor ille nequit.”

CLAUDIAN, In Ruf., lib. 1.

[11] “Y quando aquello le oyó Cortés, y todos nosotros, estuvímos

espantados de la gran bondad, y liberalidad del gran Monteçuma, y con

mucho acato le quitámos todos las gorras de armas, y le dixímos, que se

lo teniamos en merced, y con palabras de mucho amor,” etc. Bernal Diaz,

ubi supra.

[12] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 99.--This estimate of

the royal fifth is confirmed (with the exception of the four hundred

ounces) by the affidavits of a number of witnesses cited on behalf of

Cortés to show the amount of the treasure. Among these witnesses we

find some of the most respectable names in the army, as Olid, Ordaz,

Avila, the priests Olmedo and Diaz,--the last, it may be added, not too

friendly to the general. The instrument, which is without date, is in

the collection of Vargas Ponçe. Probanza fecha á pedimento de Juan de

Lexalde, MS.

[13] “Eran tres montones _de oro_, y pesado huvo en ellos sobre _seis

cientos mil pesos_, como adelante diré, sin la plata, é otras muchas

riquezas.” Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 104.

[14] The quantity of silver taken from the American mines has exceeded

that of gold in the ratio of forty-six to one. (Humboldt, Essai

politique, tom. iii. p. 401.) The value of the latter metal, says

Clemencin, which on the discovery of the New World was only eleven

times greater than that of the former, has now come to be sixteen

times. (Memorias de la Real Acad. de Hist. tom. vi. Ilust. 20.) This

does not vary materially from Smith’s estimate made after the middle of

the last century. (Wealth of Nations, book 1, chap. 11.) The difference

would have been much more considerable, but for the greater demand for

silver for objects of ornament and use.

[15] Dr. Robertson, preferring the authority, it seems, of Diaz, speaks

of the value of the treasure as 600,000 _pesos_. (History of America,

vol. ii. pp. 296, 298.) The value of the _peso_ is an ounce of silver,

or dollar, which, making allowance for the depreciation of silver,

represented, in the time of Cortés, nearly four times its value at the

present day. But that of the _peso de oro_ was nearly three times that

sum, or eleven dollars sixty-seven cents. (See _ante_, Book II. chap.

6, note 18.) Robertson makes his own estimate, so much reduced below

that of his original, an argument for doubting the existence, in any

great quantity, of either gold or silver in the country. In accounting

for the scarcity of the former metal in this argument, he falls into an

error in stating that gold was not one of the standards by which the

value of other commodities in Mexico was estimated. Comp. _ante_, vol.

i. p. 161.

[16] Many of them, indeed, could boast little or nothing in their

coffers. Maximilian of Germany, and the more prudent Ferdinand of

Spain, left scarcely enough to defray their funeral expenses. Even as

late as the beginning of the next century we find Henry IV. of France

embracing his minister, Sully, with rapture when he informed him that,

by dint of great economy, he had 36,000,000 livres--about 1,500,000

pounds sterling--in his treasury. See Mémoires du Duc de Sully, tom.

iii. liv. 27.

[17] “Por ser tan poco, muchos soldados huuo que no lo quisiéron

recebir.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 105.

[18] “Palabras muy melifluas; ... razones mui bien dichas, que las

sabia bien proponer.” Bernal Diaz, ubi supra.

[19] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 105, 106.--Gomara,

Crónica, cap. 93.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 8, cap. 5.

[20] “Ex jureconsulto Cortesius theologus effectus,” says Martyr, in

his pithy manner. De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 4.

[21] According to Ixtlilxochitl, Montezuma got as far on the road to

conversion as the _Credo_ and the _Ave Maria_, both of which he could

repeat, but his baptism was postponed, and he died before receiving

it. That he ever consented to receive it is highly improbable. I quote

the historian’s words, in which he further notices the general’s

unsuccessful labors among the Indians: “Cortés comenzó á-dar órden de

la conversion de los Naturales, deciéndoles, que pues eran vasallos

del Rey de España que se tornasen Cristianos como él lo era, y así se

comenzáron á Bautizar algunos aunque fuéron muy pocos, y Motecuhzoma

aunque pidió el Bautismo, y sabia algunas de las oraciones como eran el

Ave María, y el Credo, se dilató por la Pasqua siguiente, que era la de

Resurreccion, y fué tan desdichado que nunca alcanzó tanto bien, y los

Nuestros con la dilacion y aprieto en que se viéron, se descuidáron, de

que pesó á todos mucho muriese sin Bautismo.” Hist. Chich., MS., cap.

87.

[22] “O Malinche, y como nos quereis echar á perder á toda esta

ciudad, porque estarán mui enojados nuestros Dioses contra nosotros,

y aun vuestras vidas no sé en que pararán.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la

Conquista, cap. 107.

[23] This transaction is told with more discrepancy than usual by the

different writers. Cortés assures the emperor that he occupied the

temple, and turned out the false gods by force, in spite of the menaces

of the Mexicans. (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 106.) The improbability

of this Quixotic feat startles Oviedo, who nevertheless reports it.

(Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 10.) It looks, indeed, very much

as if the general was somewhat too eager to set off his militant zeal

to advantage in the eyes of his master. The statements of Diaz, and of

other chroniclers, conformably to that in the text, seem far the most

probable. Comp. Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra,--Herrera, Hist.

general, dec. 2, lib. 8, cap. 6,--Argensola, Anales, lib. 1, cap. 88.{*}

{*} [According to Andrés de Tapia, an eyewitness whose account was not

accessible to Prescott, Cortés did use violence in occupying the temple

and turning out the false gods. Two chapels, those of Huitzilopochtli

and Tezcatlipopoca, were set apart for the use of the Christians. The

fact that the image of the first god was found in this chapel during

the later siege is easily accounted for. It had been restored to its

old position when the invaders were forced to leave the city.--M.]

[24] “Para mí yo tengo por marabilla, é grande, la mucha paciencia de

Montezuma, y de los Indios principales, que assí viéron tratar sus

Templos, é Idolos: Mas su disimulacion adelante se mostró ser otra cosa

viendo, que vna Gente Extrangera, é de tan poco número, les prendió

su Señor é porque formas los hacia tributarios, é se castigaban é

quemaban los principales, é se aniquilaban y disipaban sus templos,

é hasta en aquellos y sus antecesores estaban. Recia cosa me parece

soportarla con tanta quietud; pero adelante, como lo dirá la Historia,

mostró el tiempo lo que en el pecho estaba oculto en todos los Indios

generalmente.” Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 10.

[25] According to Herrera, it was the Devil himself who communicated

this to Montezuma, and he reports the substance of the dialogue between

the parties. (Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 9, cap. 6.) Indeed, the

apparition of Satan in his own bodily presence, on this occasion,

is stoutly maintained by most historians of the time. Oviedo, a

man of enlarged ideas on most subjects, speaks with a little more

qualification on this: “Porque la Misa y Evangelio, que predicaban y

decian los christianos, le [al Diablo] daban gran tormento; y débese

pensar, si verdad es, que esas gentes tienen tanta conversacion y

comunicacion con nuestro adversario, _como se tiene por cierto en estas

Indias_, que no le podia á nuestro enemigo placer con los misterios y

sacramentos de la sagrada religion christiana.” Hist. de las Ind., MS.,

lib. 33, cap. 47.

[26] “E Cortés proveió de maestros é personas que entendiesen en la

labor de los Navíos, é dixo despues á los Españoles desta manera:

Señores y hermanos, este Señor Montezuma quiere que nos vamos de la

tierra, y conviene que se hagan Navíos. Id con estos Indios é córtese

la madera; é entretanto Dios nos proveherá de gente é socorro; por

tanto, poned tal dilacion que parezca que haceis algo y se haga con

ella lo quo nos conviene; é siempre me escrivid é avisad que tales

estáis en la Montaña, é que no sientan los Indios nuestra disimulacion.

E así se puso por obra.” (Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap.

47.) So, also, Gomara. (Crónica, cap. 95.) Diaz denies any such secret

orders, alleging that Martin Lopez, the principal builder, assured him

they made all the expedition possible in getting three ships on the

stocks. Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 108.

[27] “I may say without vaunting,” observes our stout-hearted old

chronicler, Bernal Diaz, “that I was so accustomed to this way of

life, that since the conquest of the country I have never been able

to lie down undressed, or in a bed; yet I sleep as sound as if I were

on the softest down. Even when I make the rounds of my _encomienda_,

I never take a bed with me, unless, indeed, I go in the company of

other cavaliers, who might impute this to parsimony. But even then

I throw myself on it with my clothes on. Another thing I must add,

that I cannot sleep long in the night without getting up to look at

the heavens and the stars, and stay awhile in the open air, and this

without a bonnet or covering of any sort on my head. And, thanks to

God, I have received no harm from it. I mention these things, that

the world may understand of what stuff we, the true Conquerors, were

made, and how well drilled we were to arms and watching.” Hist. de la

Conquista, cap. 108.

[28] In the collection of MSS. made by Don Vargas Ponce, former

President of the Academy of History, is a Memorial of this same Benito

Martin to the emperor, setting forth the services of Velasquez and

the ingratitude and revolt of Cortés and his followers. The paper is

without date; written after the arrival of the envoys, probably at the

close of 1519 or the beginning of the following year.

[29] Sandoval, indeed, gives a singular reason,--that of being near the

coast, so as to enable Chièvres and the other Flemish blood-suckers to

escape suddenly, if need were, with their ill-gotten treasures, from

the country. Hist. de Cárlos Quinto, tom. i. p. 203, ed. Pamplona, 1634.

[30] See the letter of Peter Martyr to his noble friend and pupil, the

Marquis de Mondejar, written two months after the arrival of the vessel

from Vera Cruz. Opus Epist., ep. 650.

[31] Zuñiga, Anales eclesiásticos y seculares de Sevilla (Madrid,

1677), fol. 414.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 5, cap. 14; lib.

9, cap. 17, et alibi.

[32] Velasquez, it appears, had sent home an account of the doings of

Cortés and of the vessel which touched with the treasures at Cuba, as

early as October, 1519. Carta de Velasquez al Lic. Figueroa, MS., Nov.

17, 1519.

[33] “With loud music from clarions and flutes, and with great

demonstration of joy, they weighed anchor and unfurled their sails

to the wind, leaving unhappy Spain oppressed with sorrows and

misfortunes.” Sandoval, Hist. de Cárlos Quinto, tom. i. p. 219.

[34] The instrument was dated at Barcelona, Nov. 13, 1518. Cortés left

St. Jago the 18th of the same month. Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2,

lib. 3, cap. 11.

[35] Gomara (Crónica, cap. 96) and Robertson (History of America,

vol. ii. p. 304, 466) consider that the new dignity of _adelantado_

stimulated the governor to this enterprise. By a letter of his own

writing in the Muñoz collection, it appears he had begun operations

some months previous to his receiving notice of his appointment. Carta

de Velasquez al Señor de Xêvres, Isla Fernandina, MS., Octubre 12, 1519.

[36] Carta de Velasquez al Lic. Figueroa, MS., Nov. 17, 1519.

[37] The person of Narvaez is thus whimsically described by Diaz: “He

was tall, stout-limbed, with a large head and red beard, an agreeable

presence, a voice deep and sonorous, as if it rose from a cavern. He

was a good horseman and valiant.” Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 205.

[38] The danger of such a result is particularly urged in a memorandum

of the licentiate Ayllon. Carta al Emperador Guaniguanico, Marzo 4,

1520, MS.

[39] Processo y Pesquiza hecha por la Real Audiencia de la Española,

Santo Domingo, Diciembre 24, 1519, MS.

[40] Parecer del Lic. Ayllon al Adelantado Diego Velasquez, Isla

Fernandina, 1520, MS.

[41] Relacion del Lic. Ayllon, Santo Domingo, 30 de Agosto, 1520,

MS.--Processo y Pesquiza por la Real Audiencia, MS.--According to Diaz,

the ordnance amounted to twenty cannon. Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 109.

[42] The great fleet under Ovando, 1501, in which Cortés had intended

to embark for the New World. Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 1, lib. 4,

cap. 11.

[43] “De allí seguímos el viage por toda la costa de la Isla de

Yucatan.” Relacion del Lic. Ayllon, MS.

[44] “La cual tierra sabe é ha visto este testigo, que el dicho

Hernando Cortés tiene pacífica, é le sirven é obedecen todos los

Indios; é que cree este testigo que lo hacen por cabsa que el dicho

Hernando Cortés tiene preso á un Cacique que dicen Montesuma, que es

Señor de lo mas de la tierra, á lo que este testigo alcanza, al cual

los Indios obedecen, é facen lo que les manda, é los Cristianos andan

por toda esta tierra seguros, é un solo Cristiano la ha atravesado

toda sin temor.” Processo y Pesquiza hecha por la Real Audiencia de la

Española, MS.

[45] Relacion del Lic. Ayllon, MS.--Demanda de Zavallos en nombre de

Narvaez, MS.

[46] This report is to be found among the MSS. of Vargas Ponçe, in the

archives of the Royal Academy of History. It embraces a hundred and

ten folio pages, and is entitled “El Processo y Pesquiza hecha por la

Real Audiencia de la Española é tierra nuevamente descubierta. Para el

Consejo de su Majestad.”

[47] “E iban espantados de que veian tātas ciudades y pueblos grandes,

que les traian de comer, y vnos los dexavan, y otros los tomavan, y

andar por su camino. Dizē que iban pensando si era en cantamiento,

ó sueño.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 111.--Demanda de

Zavallos, MS.

[48] “Ya auia tres dias que lo sabia el Monteçuma, y Cortés no sabia

cosa ninguna.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 110.

[49] Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.--Rel. Seg. de

Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 117-120.

[50] “Our commander said so many kind things to them,” says Diaz, “and

_anointed their fingers_ so plentifully with gold, that, though they

came like roaring lions, they went home perfectly tame!” Hist. de la

Conquista, cap. 111.

[51] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 112.

[52] Ibid., cap. 111.--Oviedo says that Montezuma called a council

of his nobles, in which it was decided to let the troops of Narvaez

into the capital, and then to crush them at one blow, with those

of Cortés! (Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33. cap. 47.) Considering

the awe in which the latter alone were held by the Mexicans, a more

improbable tale could not be devised. But nothing is too improbable for

history,--though, according to Boileau’s Maxim, it may be for fiction.

[53] In the Mexican edition of the letters of Cortés, it is called

five hundred men. (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 122.) But this was

more than his whole Spanish force. In Ramusio’s version of the same

letter, printed as early as 1565, the number is stated as in the text.

(Navigationi et Viaggi, fol. 244.) In an instrument without date,

containing the affidavits of certain witnesses as to the management of

the royal fifth by Cortés, it is said there were one hundred and fifty

soldiers left in the capital under Alvarado. (Probanza fecha en la

nueva España del mar océano á pedimento de Juan Ochoa de Lexalde, en

nombre de Hernando Cortés, MS.) The account in the Mexican edition is

unquestionably an error.

[54] Carta de la Villa de Vera Cruz á el Emperador, MS. This

letter without date was probably written in 1520.--See, also, for

the preceding pages, Probanza fecha á pedimento de Juan Ochoa,

MS.,--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 9, cap. 1, 21; lib. 10, cap.

1,--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 119, 120,--Bernal Diaz,

Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 112-115,--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS.,

lib. 33, cap. 47.

[55] So says Oviedo,--and with truth: “Si aquel capitan Juan Velasquez

de Leon no estubiera mal con su pariente Diego Velasquez, é se pasara

con los 150 Hombres, que havia llevado á Guaçacalco, á la parte de

Pánfilo de Narvaez su cuñado, acabado oviera Cortés su oficio.” Hist.

de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 12.

[56] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 123, 124.--Bernal Diaz,

Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 115-117.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS.,

lib. 33, cap. 12.

[57] But, although irresistible against cavalry, the long pike of the

German proved no match for the short sword and buckler of the Spaniard,

in the great battle of Ravenna, fought a few years before this, 1512.

Machiavelli makes some excellent reflections on the comparative merit

of these arms. Arte della Guerra, lib. 2, ap. Opere, tom. iv. p. 67.

[58] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 118.--“Tambien quiero

dezir la gran necessidad que teniamos de armas, que por vn peto, ó

capacete, ó casco, ó babera de hierro, dieramos aquella noche quāto nos

pidiera por ello, y todo quāto auiamos ganado.” Cap. 122.

[59] “Yo les respondí, que no via provision de Vuestra Alteza, por

donde le debiesse entregar la Tierra; é que si alguna trahia, que

la presentasse ante mí, y ante el Cabildo de la Vera Cruz, segun

órden, y costumbre de España, y que yo estaba presto de la obedecer,

y cumplir; y que hasta tanto, por ningun interese, ni partido haria

lo que él decia; ántes yo, y los que conmigo estaban, moririamos en

defensa de la Tierra, pues la habiamos ganado, y tenido por Vuestra

Magestad pacífica, y segura, y por no ser Traydores y desleales á

nuestro Rey.... Considerando, que morir en servicio de mi Rey, y por

defender, y amparar sus Tierras, y no las dejar usurpar, á mí, y á los

de mi Compañía se nos seguia farta gloria.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap.

Lorenzana, pp. 125-127.

[60] Such are the natural reflections of Oviedo, speculating on the

matter some years later. “E tambien que me parece donaire, ó no

bastante la escusa que Cortés da para fundar é justificar su negocio,

ques es decir, que el Narvaez presentase las provisiones que llevaba de

S. M. Como si el dicho Cortés oviera ido á aquella tierra por mandado

de S. M. ó con mas, ni tanta autoridad como llebaba Narvaez; pues que

es claro é notorio, que el Adelantado Diego Velasquez, que embió á

Cortés, era parte, segun derecho, para le embiar á remover, y el Cortés

obligado á le obedecer. No quiero decir mas en esto por no ser odioso á

ninguna de las partes.” Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 12.

[61] More than one example of this _ruse_ is mentioned by Mariana in

Spanish history, though the precise passages have escaped my memory.

[62] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 119.

[63] “E assimismo mandaba, y mandé por el dicho Mandamiento á todas

las Personas, que con el dicho Narvaez estaban, que no tubiessen,

ni obedeciessen al dicho Narvaez por tal Capitan, ni Justicia;

ántes, dentro de cierto término, que en el dicho Mandamiento señalé,

pareciessen ante mí, para que yo les dijesse, lo que debian hacer

en servicio de Vuestra Alteza: con protestacion, que lo contrario

haciendo, procederia contra ellos, como contra Traydores, y aleves, y

malos Vasallos, que se rebelaban contra su Rey, y quieren usurpar sus

Tierras, y Señoríos.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 127.

[64] “Y aun llouia de rato en rato, y entonces salia la Luna, que

quādo allí llegámos hazia muy escuro, y llouia, y tambien la escuridad

ayudó.” Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 122.

[65] The attorney of Narvaez, in his complaint before the crown,

expatiates on the diabolical enormity of these instructions. “El dho

Fernando Corttés como traidor aleboso, sin apercibir al dho mi partte,

con un diabólico pensamᵗᵒ é infernal osadía, en contemtto é menosprecio

de V. M. ó de sus provisiones R.ˢ, no mirando ni asattando la lealtad

qᵉ debia á V. M., el dho Corttés dió un Mandamientto al dho Gonzalo

de Sandobal para que prendiese al dho Pánfilo de Narvaez, é si se

defendiese qᵉ lo mattase.” Demanda de Zavallos en nombre de Narvaez, MS.

[66] Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib 33, cap. 12, 47.--Bernal Diaz,

Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 122.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib.

10, cap. 1.

[67] “Que hazeis, que estais mui descuidado? pensais que Malinche, y

los Teules que trae cōsigo, que son assí como vosotros? Pues yo os

digo, que quādo no os cataredes, será aquí, y os matará.” Bernal Diaz,

Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 121.

[68] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 128.--Oviedo, Hist. de las

Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10,

cap. 2, 3.

[69] “Ya que se acercaban al Aposento de Narvaez, Cortés, que andaba

reconociendo, i ordenando á todas partes, dixo á la Tropa de Sandoval:

Señores, arrímaos á las dos aceras de la Calle, para que las balas del

Artillería pasen por medio, sin hacer daño.” Herrera, Hist. general,

dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 3.

[70] Demanda de Zavallos en nombre de Narvaez, MS.--Oviedo, Hist. de

las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.

[71] “Como hazia tan escuro auia muchos cocayos (ansí los llaman en

Cuba) que relumbrauan de noche, é los de Narvaez creyéron que era

muchas de las escopetas.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 122.

[72] Narvaez, or rather his attorney, swells the amount of slain on

his own side much higher. But it was his cue to magnify the mischief

sustained by his employer. The collation of this account with those of

Cortés and his followers affords the best means of approximation to the

truth. “E allí le mattáron quince hombres qᵉ muriéron de las feridas

qᵉ les diéron é les quemáron seis hombres del dho Incendio qᵉ despues

pareciéron las cabezas de ellos quemadas, é pusiéron á sacomano todo

quantto ttenian los que benian con el dho mi partte como si fueran

Moros y al dho mi partte robáron é saqueáron todos sus vienes, oro, é

Platta é Joyas.” Demanda de Zavallos en nombre de Narvaez, MS.

[73] “Entre ellos venia Andres de Duero, y Agustin Bermudez, y muchos

amigos de nuestro Capitā, y assí como veniā, ivan á besar las manos á

Cortés, [~q] estaua sentado en vna silla de caderas, con vna ropa larga

de color como narājada, cō sus armas debaxo, acōpañado de nosotros.

Pues ver la gracia con que les hablaua, y abraçaua, y las palabras de

tātos cumplimiētos que les dezia, era cosa de ver que alegre estaua: y

tenia mucha razon de verse en aquel pūto tan señor, y pujāte: y assí

como le besauā la mano, se fuérō cada vno á su posada.” Bernal Diaz,

Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 122.

[74] Ibid., loc. cit.--“Dixose que como Narvaez vido á Cortés estando

así preso le dixo: Señor Cortés, tened en mucho la ventura que habeis

tenido, é lo mucho que habeis hecho en tener mi persona, ó en tomar mi

persona. E que Cortés le respondió, é dixo: Lo menos que yo he hecho en

esta tierra donde estais, es haberos prendido: é luego le hizo poner á

buen recaudo é le tubo mucho tiempo preso.” Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind.,

MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.

[75] Oviedo says that military men discussed whether Velasquez de Leon

should have obeyed the commands of Cortés rather than those of his

kinsman, the governor of Cuba. They decided in favor of the former,

on the ground of his holding his commission immediately from him.

“Visto he platicar sobre esto á caballeros é personas militares sobre

si este Juan Velasquez de Leon hizo lo que debia, en acudir ó no á

Diego Velasquez, ó al Pánfilo en su nombre; E combienen los veteranos

mílites, é á mi parecer determinan bien la question, en que si Juan

Velasquez tubo conducta de capitan para que con aquella Gente que él le

dió ó toviese en aquella tierra como capitan particular le acudiese á

él ó á quien le mandase. Juan Velasquez faltó á lo que era obligado en

no pasar á Pánfilo de Narvaez siendo requerido de Diego Velasquez, mas

si le hizo capitan Hernando Cortés, é le dió él la Gente, á él havia de

acudir, como acudió, excepto si viera carta, á mandamiento expreso del

Rey en contrario.” Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 12.

[76] This ascendency the thoughtful Oviedo refers to his dazzling and

liberal manners, so strongly contrasted with those of the governor of

Cuba. “En lo demas valerosa persona ha seido, é para mucho; y este

deseo de mandar juntamente con que fué mui bien partido é gratificador

de los que le viniéron, fué mucha causa juntamente con ser mal quisto

Diego Velasquez, para que Cortés se saliese con lo que emprendió, é se

quedase en el oficio, é governacion.” Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33,

cap. 12.

[77] It was in a conversation with Oviedo himself, at Toledo, in 1525,

in which Narvaez descanted with much bitterness, as was natural, on

his rival’s conduct. The gossip, which has never appeared in print,

may have some interest for the Spanish reader. “Que el año de 1525,

estando Cesar en la cibdad de Toledo, ví allí al dicho Narvaez, é

publicamente decia, que Cortés era vn traidor: E que dándole S. M.

licencia se lo haria conocer de su persona á la suya, é que era hombre

sin verdad, é otras muchas é feas palabras llamándole alevoso é tirano,

é ingrato á su Señor, é á quien le havia embiado á la Nueva España,

que era el Adelantado Diego Velasquez á su propia costa, é se le havia

alzado con la tierra, é con la Gente é Hacienda, é otras muchas cosas

que mal sonaban. Y en la manera de su prision la contaba mui al reves

de lo que está dicho. Lo que yo noto de esto es, que con todo lo que

oí á Narvaez, (como yo se lo dixe) no puedo hallarle desculpa para

su descuido, porque ninguna necesidad tenia de andar con Cortés en

pláticas, sino estar en vela mejor que la que hizo. E á esto decia él

que le havian vendido aquellos de quien se fiaba, que Cortés le havia

sobornado.” Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 12.

[78] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 6.--Oviedo, Hist. de

las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista,

cap. 123.

[79] Diaz, who had often listened to it, thus notices his eloquence:

“Comenzó vn parlamento por tan lindo estilo, y plática, tābiē dichas

cierto otras palabras mas sabrosas, y llenas de ofertas, [~q] yo aquí

no sabré escriuir.” Ibid., cap. 122.

[80] Captain Diaz had secured for his share of the spoil of the

Philistines, as he tells us, a very good horse with all his

accoutrements, a brace of swords, three daggers, and a buckler,--a very

beautiful outfit for the campaign. The general’s orders were, naturally

enough, not at all to his taste. Ibid., cap. 124.

[81] Narvaez alleges that Cortés plundered him of property to the value

of 100,000 castellanos of gold! (Demanda de Zavallos en nombre de

Narvaez, MS.) If so, the pillage of the leader may have supplied the

means of liberality to the privates.

[82] Demanda de Zavallos en nombre de Narvaez, MS.--Bernal Diaz, Hist.

de la Conquista, cap. 124.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33,

cap. 47.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 130.--Camargo, Hist.

de Tlascala, MS.--The visit of Narvaez left melancholy traces among the

natives, that made it long remembered. A negro in his suite brought

with him the smallpox. The disease spread rapidly in that quarter of

the country, and great numbers of the Indian population soon fell

victims to it. Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 6.

[83] “Se perdia la mejor, y mas Noble Ciudad de todo lo nuevamente

descubierto del Mundo; y ella perdida, se perdia todo lo que estaba

ganado, por ser la Cabeza de todo, y á quien todos obedecian.” Rel.

Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 131.

[84] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 131.--Oviedo, Hist. de las

Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13, 14.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista,

cap. 124, 125.--Peter Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 5.--Camargo,

Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[85] Gomara, Crónica, cap. 103.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib.

10, cap. 7.--Bernal Diaz raises the amount to 1300 foot and 96 horse.

(Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 125.) Cortes diminishes it to less than

half that number. (Rel. Seg., ubi supra.) The estimate cited in the

text from the two preceding authorities corresponds nearly enough with

that already given from official documents of the forces of Cortés and

Narvaez before the junction.

[86] “Las sierras altas de Tetzcuco á que le mostrasen desde la mas

alta cumbre de aquellas montañas y sierras de Tetzcuco, que son las

sierras de Tlallocan altísimas y humbrosas, en las cuales he estado y

visto, y puedo decir que son bastante para descubrir el un emisferio

y otro, porque son los mayores puertos y mas altos de esta Nueva

España, de árboles y montes de grandísima altura, de cedras, cipreses y

pinares.” Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[87] The historian partly explains the reason: “En la misma Ciudad de

Tezcuco habia algunos apasionados de los deudos y amigos de los que

matáron Pedro de Alvarado y sus compañeros en México.” Ixtlilxochitl,

Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 88.

[88] “En todo el camino nunca me salió á recibir ninguna Persona de el

dicho Muteczuma, como ántes lo solian facer; y toda la Tierra estaba

alborotada, y casi despoblada: de que concebí mala sospecha, creyendo

que los Españoles que en la dicha Ciudad habian quedado, eran muertos.”

Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 132.

[89] “Y como asomó á la vista de la Ciudad de México, parecióle que

estaba toda yerma, y que no parecia persona por todos los caminos, ni

casas, ni plazas, ni nadie le salió á recibir, ni de los suyos, ni de

los enemigos; y fué esto señal de indignación y enemistad por lo que

habia pasado.” Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 19.

[90] “Pontes ligneos qui tractim lapideos intersecant, sublatos, ac

vias aggeribus munitas reperit.” P. Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap.

5.

[91] Probanza á pedimento de Juan de Lexalde, MS.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés,

ap. Lorenzana, p. 133.--“Esto causó gran admiracion en todos los que

venian, pero no dejáron de marchar, hasta entrar donde estaban los

Españoles acorralados. Venian todos muy cansados y muy fatigados y

con mucho deseo de llegar á donde estaban sus hermanos; los de dentro

cuando los viéron, recibiéron singular consolacion y esfuerzo y

recibiéronlos con la artillería que tenian, saludándolos, y dándolos el

parabien de su venida.” Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12,

cap. 22.

[92] “E así los Indios, todos Señores, mas de 600 desnudos é con muchas

joyas de oro é hermosos penachos, é muchas piedras preciosas, é como

mas aderezados é gentiles hombres se pudiéron é supiéron aderezar, é

sin arma alguna defensiva ni ofensiva bailaban é cantaban é hacian

su areito é fiesta segun su costumbre.” (Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind.,

MS., lib. 33, cap. 54.) Some writers carry the number as high as

eight hundred or even one thousand. Las Casas, with a more modest

exaggeration than usual, swells it only to two thousand. Brevíssima

Relatione, p. 48.

[93] “Sin duelo ni piedad Christiana los acuchilló, i mató.” Gomara,

Crónica, cap. 104.

[94] “Fué tan grande el derramamiento de Sangre, que corrian arroyos de

ella por el Patio, como agua cuando mucho llueve.” Sahagun, Hist. de

Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 20.

[95] [In the process instituted against Alvarado this massacre forms

one of the most important charges. He is there accused of having killed

four hundred of the principal nobles and a great number of the common

people, of whom more than three thousand, it is stated, were assembled

to celebrate the festival in honor of their war-god. “Ynbio al patyo

donde todos baylaban y syn cabsa ni razon alguna dieron sobrellos y

mataron todos los mas de los señores que estavan presos con el dicho

Motenzuma y mataron cuatro cientos señores e prencipales que con el

estavan e mataron mucho numero de yndios que estavan baylando en mas

cantydad de tres mill personas.” (Procesos de Residencia, instruidos

contra Pedro de Alvarado y Nuño de Guzman, p. 53.) The public are under

great obligations to the licentiate Don Ignacio Rayon for bringing into

light this important document, which for more than three centuries had

lain hid in the General Archives of Mexico. We have hardly less reason

to thank him for placing the manuscript in the hands of so competent

a scholar as Don José Fernando Ramirez, to enrich it with the stores

of his critical erudition. The publication of the process did not take

place till some years after that of my own history of the Conquest

of Mexico. But, as it contains a minute specification of the various

charges against Alvarado, and his own defence, it furnishes me with the

means of correcting any errors into which I have fallen in reference to

that commander, while it corroborates, I may add, the general tenor of

the statements I have derived from contemporary chroniclers.]

[96] “Y de aquí á que se acabe el mundo, ó ellos del todo se acaben,

no dexarán de lamentar, y cantar en sus areytos, y bayles, como en

romances, que acá dezimos, aquella calamidad, y perdida de la sucession

de toda su nobleza, de que se preciauan de tantos años atras.” Las

Casas, Brevíssima Relatione, p. 49.

[97] See Alvarado’s reply to queries of Cortés, as reported by Diaz

(Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 125), with some additional particulars in

Torquemada (Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 66), Solís (Conquista, lib. 4,

cap. 12), and Herrera (Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 8) who all

seem content to endorse Alvarado’s version of the matter. I find no

other authority, of any weight, in the same charitable vein.

[98] Oviedo mentions a conversation which he had some years after

this tragedy with a noble Spaniard, Don Thoan Cano, who came over in

the train of Narvaez and was present at all the subsequent operations

of the army. He married a daughter of Montezuma, and settled in

Mexico after the Conquest. Oviedo describes him as a man of sense and

integrity. In answer to the historian’s queries respecting the cause

of the rising, he said that Alvarado had wantonly perpetrated the

massacre from pure avarice; and the Aztecs, enraged at such unprovoked

and unmerited cruelty, rose, as they well might, to avenge it. (Hist.

de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 54.) See the original dialogue in

Appendix, Part 2, No. 11.

[99] “Verdaderamente dió en ellos por metelles temor.” Hist. de la

Conquista, cap. 125.

[100] Such, indeed, is the statement of Ixtlilxochitl, derived, as

he says, from the native Tezcucan annalists. According to them, the

Tlascalans, urged by their hatred of the Aztecs and their thirst for

plunder, persuaded Alvarado, nothing loth, that the nobles meditated

a rising on the occasion of these festivities. The testimony is

important, and I give it in the author’s words: “Fué que ciertos

Tlascaltecas (segun las Historias de Tescuco que son las que Io sigo y

la carta que otras veces he referido) por embidia lo uno acordándose

que en semejante fiesta los Mexicanos solian sacrificar gran suma de

cautivos de los de la Nacion Tlascalteca, y lo otro que era la mejor

ocasion que ellos podian tener para poder hinchir las manos de despojos

y hartar su codicia, y vengarse de sus Enemigos (porque hasta entonces

no habian tenido lugar, ni Cortés se les diera, ni admitiera sus

dichos, porque siempre hacia las cosas con mucho acuerdo) fuéron con

esta invencion al capitan Pedro de Albarado, que estaba en lugar de

Cortés, el qual no fué menester mucho para darles crédito porque tan

buenos filos, y pensamientos tenia como ellos, y mas viendo que allí en

aquella fiesta habian acudido todos los Señores y Cabezas del Imperio y

que muertos no tenian mucho trabajo en sojuzgarles.” Hist. Chich., MS.,

cap. 88.

[101] Alvarado intimates, in the defence of his conduct which forms

part of the process, one source of the rumors respecting the rising of

the Aztecs, by saying that the existence of such a scheme was matter

of public notoriety among the Tlascalans. He adds that he obtained

more precise intelligence from two or three Indians, one a Tezcucan,

another a slave whom he had rescued from the sacrifice to which he

had been doomed by the Aztecs; that these latter, under cover of the

festivities, had planned an insurrection against the Spaniards, in

which he and his countrymen were all to be exterminated. At the same

time they determined to tear down the image of the Virgin which had

been raised in the temple, and in its place to substitute that of

their war-god, Huitzilopochtli. Montezuma was accused of being privy

to this conspiracy. Thus instructed, Alvarado, as he asserts, got his

men in readiness to resist the enemy, who, after a short encounter,

was repulsed with slaughter, while one Spaniard was slain, and he

himself, with several others, severely wounded (Proceso, pp. 66, 67).

But although a long array of witnesses, most of them probably his

ancient friends and comrades, are introduced to endorse his statement,

one who reflects on the submissive spirit hitherto shown, not only by

Montezuma, but his subjects, in their dealings with the Spaniards,

and contrasts it with the fierce and unscrupulous temper displayed

by Alvarado, will have little doubt on whose head the guilt of the

massacre must rest; and as little seems to have been felt by most of

the writers of the time who have spoken of the affair.

[102] Martyr well recapitulates these grievances, showing that they

seemed such in the eyes of the Spaniards themselves,--of those, at

least, whose judgment was not warped by a share in the transactions.

“Emori statuerunt malle, quam diutius ferre tales hospites qui

regem suum sub tutoris vitæ specie detineant, civitatem occupent,

antiquos hostes Tascaltecanos et alios præterea in contumeliam ante

illorum oculos ipsorum impensa conseruent; ... qui demum simulachra

deorum confregerint, et ritus veteres ac ceremonias antiquas illis

abstulerint.” De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 5.

[103] Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS.,

lib. 33, cap. 13, 47.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 105.

[104] He left in garrison, on his departure from Mexico, 140 Spaniards

and about 6500 Tlascalans, including a few Cempoallan warriors.

Supposing five hundred of these--a liberal allowance--to have perished

in battle and otherwise, it would still leave a number which, with the

reinforcement now brought, would raise the amount to that stated in the

text.

[105] “Seeing how all went contrary to his expectations and that we

still received no supplies, he grew extremely sad, and showed himself

in his bearing towards the Spaniards fretful and haughty.” Bernal Diaz,

Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 126.

[106] The scene is reported by Diaz, who was present. (Hist. de la

Conquista, cap. 126.) See, also, the Chronicle of Gomara, the chaplain

of Cortés. (Cap. 106.) It is further confirmed by Don Thoan Cano, an

eye-witness, in his conversation with Oviedo. See Appendix, Part 2, No.

11.

[107] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 8.

[108] “El qual Mensajero bolvió dende á media hora todo descalabrado,

y herido, dando voces, que todos los Indios de la Ciudad venian de

Guerra y que tenian todas las Puentes alzadas; é junto tras él da sobre

nosotros tanta multitud de Gente por todas partes que ni las calles ni

Azoteas se parecian con Gente; la qual venia con los mayores alaridos,

y grita mas espantable, que en el Mundo se puede pensar.” Rel. Seg. de

Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 134.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib.

33, cap. 13.

[109] “Eran tantas las Piedras, que nos echaban con Hondas dentro

en la Fortaleza, que no parecia sino que el Cielo las llovia; é las

Flechas, y Tiraderas eran tantas, que todas las paredes y Patios

estaban llenos, que casi no podiamos andar con ellas.” (Rel. Seg. de

Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 134.) No wonder that they should have found

some difficulty in wading through the arrows, if Herrera’s account be

correct, that _forty cart-loads_ of them were gathered up and burnt by

the besieged every day! Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 9.

[110] “Luego sin tardanza se juntáron los Mexicanos, en gran copia,

puestos á punto de Guerra, que no parecia, sino que habian salido

debajo de tierra todos juntos, y comenzáron luego á dar grita y pelear,

y los Españoles les comenzáron á responder de dentro con toda la

artillería que de nuebo habian traido, y con toda la gente que de nuevo

habia venido, y los Españoles hiciéron gran destrozo en los Indios,

con la artillería, arcabuzes, y ballestas y todo el otro artificio de

pelear.” (Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 22.) The

good father waxes eloquent in his description of the battle-scene.

[111] The enemy presented so easy a mark, says Gomara, that the gunners

loaded and fired with hardly the trouble of pointing their pieces. “Tan

recio, que los artilleros sin asestar jugaban con los tiros.” Crónica,

cap. 106.

[112] “Hondas, que eran la mas fuerte arma de pelea que los Mejicanos

tenian.” Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[113] “En la Fortaleza daban tan recio combate, que por muchas partes

nos pusiéron fuego, y por la una se quemó mucha parte de ella, sin

la poder remediar, hasta que la atajámos, cortando las paredes, y

derrocando un pedazo que mató el fuego. E si no fuera por la mucha

Guarda, que allí puse de Escopeteros, y Ballesteros, y otros tiros de

pólvora, nos entraran á escala vista, sin los poder resistir.” Rel.

Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 134.

[114] Ibid., ubi supra.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 106.--Oviedo, Hist. de

las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13.--Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS.,

lib. 12, cap. 22.--Gonzalo de las Casas, Defensa, MS., Parte 1, cap.

26.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 126.

[115] Carta del Exército, MS.

[116] “Están todas en el agua, y de casa á casa vna puente leuadiza,

passalla á nado, era cosa muy peligrosa; porque desde las açuteas

tirauan tanta piedra, y cantos, que era cosa perdida ponernos en ello.

Y demas desto, en algunas casas que les poniamos fuego, tardaua vna

casa en se quemar vn dia entero, y no se podia pegar fuego de vna casa

á otra; lo vno, por estar apartadas la vna de otra el agua en medio; y

lo otro, por ser de açuteas.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap.

126.

[117] “The Mexicans fought with such ferocity,” says Diaz, “that, if

we had had the assistance on that day of ten thousand Hectors, and

as many Orlandos, we should have made no impression on them. There

were several of our troops,” he adds, “who had served in the Italian

wars, but neither there nor in the battles with the Turk had they

ever seen anything like the desperation shown by these Indians.”

Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 126. See, also, for the last pages, Rel.

Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 135,--Ixtlilxochitl, Relaciones,

MS.,--Probanza á pedimento de Juan de Lexalde, MS.,--Oviedo, Hist. de

las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13,--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 196.

[118] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 9.--Torquemada,

Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 69.

[119] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 126.--Oviedo, Hist. de

las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 107.

[120] Cortés sent Marina to ascertain from Montezuma the name of the

gallant chief, who could be easily seen from the walls animating and

directing his countrymen. The emperor informed him that it was his

brother Cuitlahua, the presumptive heir to his crown, and the same

chief whom the Spanish commander had released a few days previous.

Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 10.

[121] “¿Que quiere de mí ya Malinche, que yo no deseo viuir ni oille?

pues en tal estado por su causa mi ventura me ha traido.” Bernal Diaz,

Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 126.

[122] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.--Ixtlilxochitl,

Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 88.

[123] Acosta reports a tradition that Guatemozin, Montezuma’s nephew,

who himself afterwards succeeded to the throne, was the man that shot

the first arrow. Lib. 7, cap. 26.

[124] I have reported this tragical event, and the circumstances

attending it, as they are given, in more or less detail, but

substantially in the same way, by the most accredited writers of

that and the following age,--several of them eye-witnesses. (See

Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 126.--Oviedo, Hist. de las

Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana,

p. 136.--Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist.

Chich., MS., cap. 88.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10,

cap. 10.--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 70.--Acosta, ubi

supra.--Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 5.) It is also confirmed

by Cortés in the instrument granting to Montezuma’s favorite daughter

certain estates by way of dowry. (See Appendix, No. 12.) Don Thoan

Cano, indeed, who married this princess, assured Oviedo that the

Mexicans respected the person of the monarch so long as they saw him,

and were not aware, when they discharged their missiles, that he

was present, being hid from sight by the shields of the Spaniards.

(See Appendix, No. 11.) This improbable statement is repeated by

the Chaplain Gomara. (Crónica, cap. 107.) It is rejected by Oviedo,

however, who says that Alvarado, himself present at the scene, in a

conversation with him afterwards, explicitly confirmed the narrative

given in the text. (Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.) The

Mexicans gave a very different account of the transaction. According

to them, Montezuma, together with the lords of Tezcuco and Tlatelolco,

then detained as prisoners in the fortress by the Spaniards, were all

strangled by means of the _garrote_, and their dead bodies thrown over

the walls to their countrymen. I quote the original of Father Sahagun,

who gathered the story from the Aztecs themselves:

“De esta manera se determináron los Españoles á morir ó vencer

varonilmente; y así habláron á todos los amigos Indios, y todos ellos

estuviéron firmes en esta determinacion: y lo primero que hiciéron fué

que diéron garrote á todos los Señores que tenian presos, y los echáron

muertos fuera del fuerte: y antes que esto hiciesen les dijéron muchas

cosas, y les hiciéron saber su determinación, y que de ellos habia

de comenzar esta obra, y luego todos los demas habian de ser muertos

á sus manos, dijéronles, no es posible que vuestros Idolos os libren

de nuestras manos. Y desque les hubiéron dado garrote, y viéron que

estaban muertos, mandáronlos echar por las azoteas, fuera de la casa,

en un lugar que se llama Tortuga de Piedra, porque allí estaba una

piedra labrada á manera de Tortuga. Y desque supiéron y viéron los de á

fuera, que aquellos Señores tan principales habian sido muertos por las

manos de los Españoles, luego tomáron los cuerpos, y les hiciéron sus

exequias, al modo de su Idolatría, y quemáron sus cuerpos, y tomáron

sus cenizas, y las pusiéron en lugares apropiadas á sus dignidades y

valor.” Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 23.

It is hardly necessary to comment on the absurdity of this monstrous

imputation, which, however, has found favor with some later writers.

Independently of all other considerations, the Spaniards would have

been slow to compass the Indian monarch’s death, since, as the Tezcucan

Ixtlilxochitl truly observes, it was the most fatal blow which could

befall them, by dissolving the last tie which held them to the

Mexicans. Hist. Chich., MS., ubi supra.

[125] “Salí fuera de la Fortaleza, aunque manco de la mano izquierda de

una herida que el primer dia me habian dado: y liada la rodela en el

brazo fu ẏ á la Torre con algunos Españoles, que me siguiéron.” Rel.

Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 138.

[126] See vol. ii. pp. 320-323.--I have ventured to repeat the

description of the temple here, as it is important that the reader, who

may perhaps not turn to the preceding pages, should have a distinct

image of it in his own mind before beginning the account of the combat.

[127] Many of the Aztecs, according to Sahagun, seeing the fate of such

of their comrades as fell into the hands of the Spaniards on the narrow

terraces below, voluntarily threw themselves headlong from the lofty

summit and were dashed in pieces on the pavement. “Y los de arriba

viendo á los de abajo muertos, y á los de arriba que los iban matando

los que habian subido, comenzáron á arrojarse del cu abajo, desde lo

alto, los cuales todos morian despeñados, quebrados brazos y piernas, y

hechos pedazos, porque el cu era muy alto; y otros los mesmos Españoles

los arrojaban de lo alto del cu, y así todos cuantos allá habian

subido de los Mexicanos, muriéron mala muerte.” Sahagun, Hist. de

Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 22.

[128] Among others, see Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap.

9,--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 69,--and Solís, very

circumstantially, as usual, Conquista, lib. 4, cap. 16.--The first of

these authors had access to some contemporary sources, the chronicle

of the old soldier, Ojeda, for example, not now to be met with. It is

strange that so valiant an exploit should not have been communicated by

Cortés himself, who cannot be accused of diffidence in such matters.

[129] Captain Diaz, a little loth sometimes, is emphatic in his

encomiums on the valor shown by his commander on this occasion. “Here

Cortés showed himself a very man, such as he always was. Oh, what a

fighting, what a strenuous battle, did we have! It was a memorable

thing to see us flowing with blood and full of wounds, and more than

forty soldiers slain.” (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 126.) The pens of

the old chroniclers keep pace with their swords in the display of this

brilliant exploit:--“colla penna e colla spada,” equally fortunate.

See Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 138.--Gomara, Crónica, cap.

106.--Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 22.--Herrera,

Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 9.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind.,

MS., lib. 33, cap. 13.--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 69.

[130] Archbishop Lorenzana is of opinion that this image of the Virgin

is the same now seen in the church of _Nuestra Señora de los Remedios_!

(Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 138, nota.) In what way the

Virgin survived the sack of the city and was brought to light again,

he does not inform us. But the more difficult to explain, the more

undoubted the miracle.

[131] No achievement in the war struck more awe into the Mexicans than

this storming of the great temple, in which the white men seemed to bid

defiance equally to the powers of God and man. Hieroglyphical paintings

minutely commemorating it were to be frequently found among the natives

after the Conquest. The sensitive Captain Diaz intimates that those

which he saw made full as much account of the wounds and losses of the

Christians as the facts would warrant. (Hist. de la Conquista, ubi

supra.) It was the only way in which the conquered could take their

revenge.

[132] “Sequenti nocte, nostri erumpentes in vna viarum arci vicina,

domos combussêre tercentum: in altera plerasque e quibus arci molestia

fiebat. Ita nunc trucidando, nunc diruendo, et interdum vulnera

recipiendo, in pontibus et in viis, diebus noctibusque multis laboratum

est utrinque.” (Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 6.) In the number

of actions and their general result, namely, the victories, barren

victories, of the Christians, all writers are agreed. But as to time,

place, circumstance, or order, no two hold together. How shall the

historian of the present day make a harmonious tissue out of these

motley and many-colored threads?

[133] It is the name by which she is still celebrated in the popular

minstrelsy of Mexico. Was the famous Tlascalan mountain, _sierra de_

_Malinche_,--anciently “Mattalcueye,”--named in compliment to the

Indian damsel? At all events, it was an honor well merited from her

adopted countrymen.

[134] According to Cortés, they boasted, in somewhat loftier strain,

they could spare twenty-five thousand for one: “á morir veinte y

cinco mil de ellos, y uno de los nuestros.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap.

Lorenzana, p. 139.

[135] “Que todas las calzadas de las entradas de la ciudad eran

deshechas, como de hecho passaba.” Ibid., loc. cit.--Oviedo, Hist. de

las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13.

[136] “Pues tambien quiero dezir las maldiciones que los de Narvaez

echauan á Cortés, y las palabras que dezian, que renegauan dél, y de la

tierra, y aun de Diego Velasquez, que acá les embió, que bien pacíficos

estauan en sus casas en la Isla de Cuba, y estavan embelesados, y sin

sentido.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.

[137] Notwithstanding this, in the petition or letter from Vera Cruz,

addressed by the army to the Emperor Charles V., after the Conquest,

the importunity of the soldiers is expressly stated as the principal

motive that finally induced their general to abandon the city. Carta

del Exército, MS.

[138] “The scarcity was such that the ration of the Indians was a small

cake, and that of the Spaniards fifty grains of maize.” Herrera, Hist.

general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 9.

[139] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 135.--Gomara, Crónica,

cap. 106.--Dr. Bird, in his picturesque romance of “Calavar,” has made

good use of these _mantas_, better, indeed, than can be permitted to

the historian. He claims the privilege of the romancer; though it must

be owned he does not abuse this privilege, for he has studied with

great care the costume, manners, and military usages of the natives.

He has done for them what Cooper has done for the wild tribes of the

North,--touched their rude features with the bright coloring of a

poetic fancy. He has been equally fortunate in his delineation of the

picturesque scenery of the land. If he has been less so in attempting

to revive the antique dialogue of the Spanish cavalier, we must not

be surprised. Nothing is more difficult than the skilful execution of

a modern antique. It requires all the genius and learning of Scott to

execute it so that the connoisseur shall not detect the counterfeit.

[140] Carta del Exército, MS.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p.

140.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 109.

[141] Clavigero is mistaken in calling this the street of Iztapalapan.

(Stor. del Messico, tom. iii. p. 120.) It was not the street by which

the Spaniards entered, but by which they finally left the city, and

is correctly indicated by Lorenzana as that of Tlacopan,--or, rather,

Tacuba, into which the Spaniards corrupted the name. See vol. ii. p.

322, note.

[142] It is Oviedo who finds a parallel for his hero in the Roman

warrior; the same, to quote the spirit-stirring legend of Macaulay,