In the brave days of old.”
“Mui digno es Cortés que se compare este fecho suyo desta jornada al de
Oracio Cocles, que se tocó de suso, porque con su esfuerzo é lanza sola
dió tanto lugar, que los caballos pudieran pasar, é hizo desembarazar
la puente é pasó, á pesar de los Enemigos, aunque con harto trabajo.”
Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13.
[143] It was a fair leap, for a knight and horse in armor. But the
general’s own assertion to the emperor (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana,
p. 142) is fully confirmed by Oviedo, who tells us he had it from
several who were present: “Y segun lo que yo he entendido de algunos
que presentes se halláron, demas de la resistencia de aquellos havia
de la vna parte á la otra casi vn estado de saltar con el caballo sin
le faltar muchas pedradas de diversas partes, é manos, é por ir el,
é su caballo bien armados no los hiriéron; pero no dexó de quedar
atormentado de los golpes que le diéron.” Hist. de las Ind., MS., ubi
supra.
[144] Truly, “dignus vindice nodus”! The intervention of the celestial
chivalry on these occasions is testified in the most unqualified
manner by many respectable authorities. It is edifying to observe the
combat going on in Oviedo’s mind between the dictates of strong sense
and superior learning, and those of the superstition of the age. It
was an unequal combat, with odds sorely against the former, in the
sixteenth century. I quote the passage as characteristic of the times.
“Afirman que se vido el Apóstol Santiago á caballo peleando sobre vn
caballo blanco en favor de los Christianos; é decian los Indios que el
caballo con los pies y manos é con la boca mataba muchos dellos, de
forma, que en poco discurso de tiempo no pareció Indio, é reposáron los
Christianos lo restante de aquel dia. Ya sé que los incrédulos ó poco
devotos dirán, que mi ocupacion en esto destos miraglos, pues no los
ví, es superflua, ó perder tiempo novelando, y yo hablo, que esto é mas
se puede creer, pues que los gentiles é sin fé, Idólatras escriben, que
ovo grandes misterios é miraglos en sus tiempos, é aquellos sabemos que
eran causados é fechos por el Diablo, pues mas fácil cosa es á Dios é á
la inmaculata Virgen Nuestra Señora é al glorioso Apóstol Santiago, é
á los santos é amigos de Jesu Christo hacer esos miraglos, que de suso
estan dichos, é otros maiores.” Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap.
47.
[145] “Multi restiterunt lapidibus et iaculis confossi, fuit et
Cortesius grauiter percussus, pauci evaserunt incolumes, et hi adeò
languidi, vt neque lacertos erigere quirent. Postquam vero se in arcem
receperunt, non commode satis conditas dapes, quibus reficerentur,
inuenerunt, nec forte asperi maiicii panis bucellas, aut aquam
potabilem, de vino aut carníbus sublata erat cura.” (Martyr, De Orbe
Novo, dec. 5, cap. 6.) See also, for the hard fighting described in the
last pages, Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13,--Rel.
Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 140-142,--Carta del Exército,
MS.,--Gonzalo de las Casas, Defensa, MS., Parte 1, cap. 26,--Herrera,
Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 9, 10,--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 107.
[146] The sentiment is expressed with singular energy in the verses of
Voltaire:
“Mais renoncer aux dieux que l’on croit dans son cœur,
C’est le crime d’un lâche, et non pas une erreur;
C’est trahir à la fois, sous un masque hypocrite,
Et le dieu qu’on préfère, et le dieu que l’on quitte;
C’est mentir au Ciel même, à l’univers, à soi.”
ALZIRE, acte 5, sc. 5.
[147] Camargo, the Tlascalan convert, says he was told by several
of the Conquerors that Montezuma was baptized at his own desire in
his last moments, and that Cortés and Alvarado stood sponsors on the
occasion. “Muchos afirman de los conquistadores que yo conocí, que
estando en el artículo de la muerte, pidió agua de batismo é que
fué batizado y murió Cristiano, aunque en esto hay grandes dudas
y diferentes paresceres; mas como digo que de personas fidedignas
conquistadores de los primeros desta tierra de quien fuímos informados,
supímos que murió batizado y Cristiano, é que fuéron sus padrinos del
batismo Fernando Cortés y Don Pedro de Alvarado.” (Hist. de Tlascala,
MS.) According to Gomara, the Mexican monarch desired to be baptized
before the arrival of Narvaez. The ceremony was deferred till Easter,
that it might be performed with greater effect. But in the hurry and
bustle of the subsequent scenes it was forgotten, and he died without
the stain of infidelity having been washed away from him. (Crónica,
cap. 107.) Torquemada, not often a Pyrrhonist where the honor of the
faith is concerned, rejects these tales as irreconcilable with the
subsequent silence of Cortés himself, as well as of Alvarado, who
would have been loud to proclaim an event so long in vain desired by
them. (Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 70.) The criticism of the father is
strongly supported by the fact that neither of the preceding accounts
is corroborated by writers of any weight, while they are contradicted
by several, by popular tradition, and, it may be added, by one another.
[148] “Respondió, Que por la media hora que le quedaba de vida, no se
queria apartar de la religion de sus Padres.” (Herrera, Hist. general,
dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 10.) “Ya he dicho,” says Diaz, “la tristeza
que todos nosotros huvímos por ello, y aun al Frayle de la Merced,
que siempre estaua con él, y no le pudo atraer á que se bolviesse
Christiano.” Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 127.
[149] _Aunque no le pesaba dello_; literally, “although he did not
repent of it.” But this would be rather too much for human nature to
assert; and it is probable the language of the Indian prince underwent
some little change as it was sifted through the interpretation of
Marina. The Spanish reader will find the original conversation, as
reported by Cortés himself, in the remarkable document in the Appendix,
No. 12. The general adds that he faithfully complied with Montezuma’s
request, receiving his daughters, after the Conquest, into his own
family, where, _agreeably to their royal father’s desire, they were
baptized_, and instructed in the doctrines and usages of the Christian
faith. They were afterwards married to Castilian hidalgos, and handsome
dowries were assigned them by the government. See note 36 of this
chapter.
[150] I adopt Clavigero’s chronology, which cannot be far from truth.
(Stor. del Messico, tom. iii. p. 131.) And yet there are reasons for
supposing he must have died at least a day sooner.
[151] “De suerte que le tiráron una pedrada con una honda y le diéron
en la cabeza, de que vino á morir el desdichado Rey, habiendo gobernado
este nuevo Mundo con la mayor prudencia y gobierno que se puede
imaginar, siendo el mas tenido y reverenciado y adorado Señor que en el
mundo ha habido, y en su linaje, como es cosa pública y notoria en toda
la maquina deste Nuevo Mundo, donde con la muerte de tan gran Señor
se acabáron los Reyes Culhuaques Mejicanos, y todo su poder y mando,
estando en la mayor felicidad de su monarquía; y ansí no hay de que
fiar en las cosas desta vida sino en solo Dios.” Hist. de Tlascala, MS.
[152] “Y Cortés lloró por él, y todos nuestros Capitanes, y soldados:
é hombres huvo entre nosotros de los que le conociamos, y tratauamos,
que tan llorado fué, como si fuera nuestro padre, y no nos hemos de
maravillar dello, viendo que tan bueno era.” Hist. de la Conquista,
cap. 126.
[153] “He loved the Christians,” says Herrera, “as well as could be
judged from appearances.” (Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 10.)
“They say,” remarks the general’s chaplain, “that Montezuma, though
often urged to it, never consented to the death of a Spaniard, nor to
the injury of Cortés, whom he loved exceedingly. But there are those
who dispute this.” (Gomara, Crónica, cap. 107.) Don Thoan Cano assured
Oviedo that during all the troubles of the Spaniards with the Mexicans,
both in the absence of Cortés and after his return, the emperor did his
best to supply the camp with provisions. (See Appendix, No. 11.) And,
finally, Cortés himself, in an instrument already referred to, dated
six years after Montezuma’s death, bears emphatic testimony to the good
will he had shown the Spaniards, and particularly acquits him of any
share in the late rising, which, says the Conqueror, “I had trusted to
suppress through his assistance.” (See Appendix, No. 12.)--The Spanish
historians, in general,--notwithstanding an occasional intimation of a
doubt as to his good faith towards their countrymen,--make honorable
mention of the many excellent qualities of the Indian prince. Solís,
however, the most eminent of all, dismisses the account of his death
with the remark that “his last hours were spent in breathing vengeance
and maledictions against his people; until he surrendered up to
Satan--with whom he had frequent communication in his lifetime--the
eternal possession of his soul!” (Conquista de México, lib. 4, cap.
15.) Fortunately, the historiographer of the Indians could know as
little of Montezuma’s fate in the next world as he appears to have
known of it in this. Was it bigotry, or a desire to set his own hero’s
character in a brighter light, which led him thus unworthily to darken
that of his Indian rival?
[154] “Dicen que venció nueve Batallas, i otros nueve Campos, en
desafío vno á vno.” Gomara, Crónica, cap. 107.
[155] One other only of his predecessors, Tizoc, is shown by the
Aztec paintings to have belonged to this knightly order, according to
Clavigero. Stor. del Messico, tom. ii. p. 140.
[156] “Era mas cauteloso, y ardidoso, que valeroso. En las Armas, y
modo de su govierno, fué muy justiciero; en las cosas tocantes á ser
estimado y tenido en su Dignidad y Majestad Real de condicion muy
severo, aunque cuerdo y gracioso.” Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS.,
cap. 88.
[157] The whole address is given by Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4,
cap. 68.
[158]
“Τέχνη δ’ ἀνάγκης ἀσθενεστέρα μακρῷ.
Τίς οὖν ἀνάγκης ἐστὶν οἰακοστρόφος;
Μοῖραι τρίμορφοι μνήμονές τ’ Ἐρινύες.
Τούτων ἄρα Ζεύς ἐστιν ἀσθενέστερος;
Οὔκουν ἂν ἐκφύγοι γε τὴν πεπρωμένην.”
ÆSCHYL., Prometh., v. 522-526.
[159] Señor de Calderon, the late Spanish minister at Mexico, informs
me that he has more than once passed by an Indian dwelling where the
Indians in his suite made a reverence, saying it was occupied by a
descendant of Montezuma.
[160] This son, baptized by the name of Pedro, was descended from one
of the royal concubines. Montezuma had two lawful wives. By the first
of these, named Teçalco, he had a son, who perished in the flight from
Mexico; and a daughter named Tecuichpo, who embraced Christianity and
received the name of Isabella. She was married, when very young, to her
cousin Guatemozin, and lived long enough after his death to give her
hand to four Castilians, all of honorable family. From two of these,
Don Thoan Cano and Don Juan Andrada, descended the illustrious families
of the Cano and Andrada Montezuma. From the last came the counts of
Miravalle noticed by Humboldt (Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 73, note).
See Alaman, Disertaciones históricas, tom. ii. p. 325.--Montezuma, by
his second wife, the princess Acatlan, left two daughters, named, after
their conversion, Maria and Leonor. The former died without issue. Doña
Leonor married a Spanish cavalier, Cristóval de Valderrama, from whom
descended the family of the Sotelos de Montezuma.--The royal genealogy
is minutely exhibited in a Memorial setting forth the claims of
Montezuma’s grandsons to certain property in right of their respective
mothers. The document, which is without date, is among the MSS. of
Muñoz.
[161] It is interesting to know that a descendant of the Aztec emperor,
Don José Sarmiento Valladares, count of Montezuma, ruled as viceroy,
from 1697 to 1701, over the dominions of his barbaric ancestors.
(Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 93, note.){*} Solís speaks
of this noble house, grandees of Spain, who intermingled their blood
with that of the Guzmans and the Mendozas. Clavigero has traced their
descent from the emperor’s son Iohualicahua, or Dom Pedro Montezuma (as
he was called after his baptism), down to the close of the eighteenth
century. (See Solís, Conquista, lib. 4, 15.--Clavigero, Stor. del
Messico, tom. i. p. 302, tom. iii. p. 132.) The title of count was
bestowed on the head of the family by Philip the Second, in 1556.
In 1765, under Charles the Third, the count of Montezuma was made a
grandee of Spain, and he was in receipt of a yearly pension of 40,000
_pesos_. (Alaman, Disertaciones históricas, tom. i. p. 159.) The last
of the line, of whom I have been able to obtain any intelligence, died
not long since in this country. He was very wealthy, having large
estates in Spain,--but was not, as it appears, very wise. When seventy
years old or more, he passed over to Mexico, in the vain hope that the
nation, in deference to his descent, might place him on the throne
of his Indian ancestors, so recently occupied by the presumptuous
Iturbide. But the modern Mexicans, with all their detestation of the
old Spaniards, showed no respect for the royal blood of the Aztecs. The
unfortunate nobleman retired to New Orleans, where he soon after put
an end to his existence by blowing out his brains,--not for ambition,
however, if report be true, but disappointed love!
{*} [Señor Alaman, in a note on this passage, says it was not the
viceroy, but his wife, Doña María Gerónima Montezuma, who was a
descendant of the Aztec emperor. She was third countess of Montezuma in
her own right, her husband’s title being duke of Atlixco.--K.]
[162] Gomara, Crónica, cap. 107.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib.
10, cap. 10.
[163] Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 7.
[164] Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.--The astrologer
predicted that Cortés would be reduced to the greatest extremity of
distress, and afterwards come to great honor and fortune. (Bernal
Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 128.) He showed himself as cunning
in his art as the West Indian sibyl who foretold the destiny of the
unfortunate Josephine.
[165] “Pues al astrólogo Botello, no le aprouechó su astrología, que
tambien allí murió.” Bernal Diaz, ubi supra.
[166] The disposition of the treasure has been stated with some
discrepancy, though all agree as to its ultimate fate. The general
himself did not escape the imputation of negligence, and even
peculation, most unfounded, from his enemies. The account in the text
is substantiated by the evidence, under oath, of the most respectable
names in the expedition, as given in the instrument already more than
once referred to. “Hizo sacar el oro é joyas de sus Altezas é le dió
é entregó á los otros oficiales Alcaldes é Regidores, é les dixo á la
rason que así se lo entregó, que todos viesen el mejor modo é manera
que habia para lo poder salvar, que él allí estaba para por su parte
hacer lo que fuese posible é poner su persona á qualquier trance é
riesgo que sobre lo salvar le viniese.... El qual les dió para ello una
muy buena yegua, é quatro ó cinco Españoles de mucha confianza, á quien
se encargó la dha yegua cargado con el otro oro.” Probanza á pedimento
de Juan de Lexalde.
[167] “Desde aquí se lo doi, como se ha de quedar aquí perdido entre
estos perros.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 128.--Oviedo,
Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.
[168] Captain Diaz tells us that he contented himself with four
_chalchivitl_,--the green stone so much prized by the natives,--which
he cunningly picked out of the royal coffers before Cortés’ majordomo
had time to secure them. The prize proved of great service, by
supplying him the means of obtaining food and medicine when in great
extremity, afterwards, from the people of the country. Ibid., loc. cit.
[169] Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., ubi supra.
[170] Gomara, Crónica, cap. 109.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana,
p. 143.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13, 47.
[171] There is some difficulty in adjusting the precise date of their
departure, as, indeed, of most events in the Conquest; attention to
chronology being deemed somewhat superfluous by the old chroniclers.
Ixtlilxochitl, Gomara, and others fix the date at July 10th. But this
is wholly contrary to the letter of Cortés, which states that the army
reached Tlascala on the eighth of July, not the tenth, as Clavigero
misquotes him (Stor. del Messico, tom. iii. pp. 135, 136, nota); and
from the general’s accurate account of their progress each day, it
appears that they left the capital on the last night of June, or rather
the morning of July 1st. It was the night, he also adds, following the
affair of the bridges in the city. Comp. Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, pp.
142-149.
[172] [This second breach, says Ramirez, “the scene of the rout and
slaughter of the Spaniards, was in front of _San Hipolito_, where
a chapel was built, to commemorate the event, and dedicated to the
_Martyrs_,--though assuredly none of those who had fallen there had any
claim to the crown of martyrdom.” Notas y Esclarecimientos, p. 104.]
[173] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 143.--Camargo, Hist. de
Tlascala, MS.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 128.--Oviedo,
Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13, 47.--Sahagun, Hist. de
Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 24.--Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5,
cap. 6.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 4.--Probanza en
la Villa Segura, MS.
[174] “Pues la grita, y lloros, y lástimas [~q] deziā demādando
socorro: Ayudadme, [~q] me ahogo, otros: Socorredme, [~q] me matā,
otros demādando ayuda á N. Señora Santa María, y á Señor Santiago.”
Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 128.
[175] “In this combat Maria de Estrada, oblivious of her sex, showed
herself most valorous, and armed with sword and shield did marvellous
deeds, rushing into the midst of the enemy with a courage and spirit
equal to that of the bravest of men.... This lady became the wife of
Pedro Sanchez Farfan, and the village of Tetela was granted to them _en
encomienda_.” Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 72.
[176] Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la
Conquista, cap. 128.--“Por la gran priesa que daban de ambas partes de
el camino, comenzáron á caer en aquel foso, y cayéron juntos, que de
Españoles, que de Indios y de caballos, y de cargas, el foso se hinchó
hasta arriba, cayendo los unos sobre los otros, y los otros sobre los
otros, de manera que todos los del bagage quedáron allí ahogados, y
los de la retaguardia pasáron sobre los muertos.” Sahagun, Hist. de
Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 24.
[177] “E los que habian ido con Narvaez arrojáronse en la sala, é
cargáronse de aquel oro é plata quanto pudiéron; pero los menos lo
gozáron, porque la carga no los dexaba pelear, é los Indios los tomaban
vivos cargados; é á otros llevaban arrastrando, é á otros mataban allí;
E así no se salvaron sino los desocupados é que iban en la delantera.”
Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.
[178] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 11.--Oviedo,
Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la
Conquista, cap. 128.
[179] “Luego encontráron con Pedro de Alvarado bien herido con vna
lança en la mano á pie, que la yegua alaçana ya se la auian muerto.”
Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 128.
[180] “Y los amigos vista tan gran hazaña quedáron maravillados, y
al instante que esto viéron se arrojáron por el suelo postrados por
tierra en señal de hecho tan heroico, espantable y raro, que ellos no
habian visto hacer á ningun hombre, y ansi adoráron al Sol, comiendo
puñados de tierra, arrancando yervas del campo, diciendo á grandes
voces, verdaderamente que este hombre es _hijo del Sol_.” (Camargo,
Hist. de Tlascala, MS.) This writer consulted the process instituted by
Alvarado’s heirs, in which they set forth the merits of their ancestor,
as attested by the most valorous captains of the Tlascalan nation,
present at the Conquest. It _may be_ that the famous leap was among
these “merits” of which the historian speaks. M. de Humboldt, citing
Camargo, so considers it. (Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 75.) This
would do more than anything else to establish the fact. But Camargo’s
language does not seem to me necessarily to warrant the inference.
[181] “Se llama aora la puente del salto de Alvarado: y platicauamos
muchos soldados sobre ello, y no hallavamos razon, ni soltura de vn
hombre que tal saltasse.” Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 128.
[182] Gomara, Crónica, cap. 109.--Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, ubi
supra.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.--Which last
author, however, frankly says that many who had seen the place declared
that it seemed to them impossible. “Fué tan estremado de grande el
salto, que á muchos hombres que han visto aquello, he oido decir que
parece cosa imposible haberlo podido saltar ninguno hombre humano. En
fin él lo saltó é ganó por ello la vida, é perdiéronla muchos que atras
quedaban.”
[183] The spot is pointed out to every traveller. It is where a ditch,
of no great width, is traversed by a small bridge not far from the
western extremity of the Alameda. A house, lately erected there, may
somewhat interfere with the meditations of the antiquary. (Alaman,
Disertaciones históricas, tom. i. p. 202.) As the place received
its name in Alvarado’s time, the story could scarcely have been
discountenanced by him. But, since the length of the leap, strange to
say, is nowhere given, the reader can have no means of passing his
own judgment on its probability. [Unfortunately for the lovers of the
marvellous, another version is now given of the account of Alvarado’s
escape, which deprives him of the glory claimed for him by this
astounding feat. In the process against him, which was not brought to
light till several years after the present work was published, one of
the charges was that he fled from the field, leaving his soldiers to
their fate, and escaping by means of a beam which had survived the
demolition of the bridge and still stretched across the chasm from
one side to the other. The chief, in his reply, said that, far from
deserting his men, they deserted him, and that he did not fly till he
was wounded and his horse killed under him, when he escaped across the
breach, was taken up behind a mounted cavalier on the other side, and
carried out of the fray. That he should not have alluded to the account
given of the manner of his escape, so much less glorious than that
usually claimed for him, may lead us to infer that it was too true to
be disputed. Such is the judgment of Señor Ramirez, who, in his account
of the affair, tells us that, far from being an object of admiration,
Alvarado’s escape was, in his own time, deemed rather worthy of
punishment, as an act of desertion which cost the lives of many brave
followers whom he left behind him. (See the Proceso de Alvarado, pp.
53, 68, with the caustic remarks of Ramirez, pp. xiv., 288, et seq.)
It is natural that a descendant of the conquered race should hold in
peculiar detestation the most cruel persecutor of the Aztecs.]
[184] “Fué Dios servido de que los Mejicanos se ocupasen en recojer los
despojos de los muertos, y las riquezas de oro y piedras que llevaba
el bagage, y de sacar los muertos de aquel acequia, y á los caballos
y otros bestias. Y por esto no siguiéron el alcanze, y los Españoles
pudiéron ir poco á poco por su camino sin tener mucha molestia de
enemigos.” Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 25.
[185] Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.--Ixtlilxochitl,
Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 89.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 109.
[186] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 12.
[187] “Tacuba,” says that interesting traveller, Latrobe, “lies near
the foot of the hills, and is at the present day chiefly noted for the
large and noble church which was erected there by Cortés. And hard
by you trace the lines of a Spanish encampment. I do not hazard the
opinion, but it might appear by the coincidence, that this was the
very position chosen by Cortés for his intrenchment, after the retreat
just mentioned, and before he commenced his painful route towards
Otumba.” (Rambler in Mexico, Letter 5.) It is evident, from our text,
that Cortés could have thrown up no intrenchment here, at least on his
retreat from the capital.
[188] Lorenzana, Viage, p. xiii.
[189] Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 24.--Bernal
Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 128.--Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala,
MS.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 89.
[190] The table below may give the reader some idea of the
discrepancies in numerical estimates, even among eye-witnesses, and
writers who, having access to the actors, are nearly of equal authority:
Killed and Missing.
Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 145, 150 Spaniards, 2000 Indians
Cano, ap. Oviedo, lib. 33, cap. 54, 1170 “ 8000 “
Probanza, etc., 200 “ 2000 “
Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., lib. 33, cap. 13, 150 “ 2000 “
Camargo, 450 “ 4000 “
Gomara, cap. 109, 450 “ 4000 “
Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., cap. 88, 450 “ 4000 “
Sahagun, lib. 12, cap. 24, 300 “ 2000 “
Herrera, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 12, 150 “ 4000 “
Bernal Diaz does not take the trouble to agree with himself. After
stating that the rear, on which the loss fell heaviest, consisted
of 120 men, he adds, in the same paragraph, that 150 of these were
slain, which number swells to 200 in a few lines further! Falstaff’s
men in buckram! See Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 128.--Cano’s estimate
embraces, it is true, those--but their number was comparatively
small--who perished subsequently on the march. The same authority
states that 270 of the garrison, ignorant of the proposed departure
of their countrymen, were perfidiously left in the palace of
Axayacatl, where they surrendered on terms, but were subsequently all
sacrificed by the Aztecs! (See Appendix, No. 11.) The improbability
of this monstrous story, by which the army with all its equipage
could leave the citadel without the knowledge of so many of their
comrades,--and this be permitted, too, at a juncture which made
every man’s co-operation so important,--is too obvious to require
refutation. Herrera records, what is much more probable, that Cortés
gave particular orders to the captain, Ojeda, to see that none of the
sleeping or wounded should, in the hurry of the moment, be overlooked
in their quarters. Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 11.
[191] “Pues de los de Narvaez, todos los mas en las puentes quedáron,
cargados de oro.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 128.
[192] According to Diaz, part of the gold intrusted to the _Tlascalan_
convoy was preserved. (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 136.) From the
document already cited,--Probanza de Villa Segura, MS.,--it appears
that it was a Castilian guard who had charge of it.
[193] Gomara, Crónica, cap. 109.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib.
33, cap. 13.--Probanza en la Villa Segura, MS.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de
la Conquista, cap. 128.
[194] Lorenzana, Viage, p. xiii.
[195] The last instance, I believe, of the direct interposition of the
Virgin in behalf of the metropolis was in 1833, when she was brought
into the city to avert the cholera. She refused to pass the night in
town, however, but was found the next morning in her own sanctuary
at Los Remedios, showing, by the mud with which she was plentifully
bespattered, that she must have performed the distance--several
leagues--through the miry ways on foot! See Latrobe, Rambler in Mexico,
Letter 5.
[196] The epithet by which, according to Diaz, the Castilians were
constantly addressed by the natives, and which--whether correctly
or not--he interprets into _gods_, or _divine beings_. (See Hist.
de la Conquista, cap. 48, et alibi.) One of the stanzas of Ercilla
intimates the existence of a similar delusion among the South American
Indians,--and a similar cure of it:
“Por dioses, como dixe, eran tenidos
de los Indios los nuestros; pero oliéron
que de muger y hombre eran nacidos,
y todas sus flaquezas entendiéron:
viéndolos á miserias sometidos,
el error ignorante conociéron,
ardiendo en viva rabia avergonzados
por verse de mortales conquistados.”
LA ARAUCANA, Parte 1, Canto 2.
[197] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 147.--Hunger furnished
them a sauce, says Oviedo, which made their horse-flesh as relishing
as the far-famed sausages of Naples, the delicate kid of Avila, or
the savory veal of Saragossa! “Con la carne del caballo tubiéron
buen pasto, é se consoláron ó mitigáron en parte su hambre, é se lo
comiéron sin dexar cuero, ni otra cosa dél sino los huesos, é las vñas,
y el pelo; é aun las tripas no les pareció de menos buen gusto que
las sobreasados de Nápoles, ó los gentiles cabritos de Abila, ó las
sabrosas Terneras de Zaragosa, segun la estrema necesidad que llevaban;
por que despues que de la gran cibdad de Temixtitan havian salido,
ninguna otra cosa comiéron sino mahiz tostado, é cocido, é yervas del
campo, y desto no tanto quanto quisieran ó ovieran menester.” Hist. de
las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13.
[198] Herrera mentions one soldier who had succeeded in carrying off
his gold to the value of 3000 _castellanos_ across the causeway, and
afterwards flung it away by the advice of Cortés. “The devil take your
gold,” said the commander bluntly to him, “if it is to cost you your
life.” Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 11.
[199] Gomara, Crónica, cap. 110.
[200] The meaning of the word _Tlascala_, and so called from the
abundance of maize raised in the country. Boturini, Idea, p. 78.
[201] “Empero la Nacion nuestra Española sufre mas hambre que otra
ninguna, i estos de Cortés mas que todos.” Gomara, Crónica, cap. 110.
[202] For the foregoing pages, see Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala,
MS.,--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 128,--Oviedo,
Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13,--Gomara, Crónica, ubi
supra,--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 89,--Martyr, De Orbe
Novo, dec. 5, cap. 6,--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 147,
148,--Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 25, 26.
[203] “Su nombre, que quiere decir _habitacion de los Dioses_, y que
ya por estos tiempos era ciudad tan famosa, que no solo competia,
pero excedia con muchas ventajas á la corte de Tollan.” Veytia, Hist.
antig., tom. i. cap. 27.
[204] The pyramid of Mycerinos is 280 feet only at the base, and 162
feet in height. The great pyramid of Cheops is 728 feet at the base,
and 448 feet high. See Denon, Egypt Illustrated (London, 1825), p. 9.
[205] “It requires a particular position,” says Mr. Tudor, “united
with some little faith, to discover the pyramidal form at all.” (Tour
in North America, vol. ii. p. 277.) Yet Mr. Bullock says, “The general
figure of the square is as perfect as the great pyramid of Egypt.” (Six
Months in Mexico, vol. ii. chap. 26.) Eye-witnesses both! The historian
must often content himself with repeating, in the words of the old
French lay,--
“_Si com je l’ai trové escrite_,
Vos conterai la vérité.”
[206] This is M. de Humboldt’s opinion. (See his Essai politique, tom.
ii. pp. 66-70.) He has also discussed these interesting monuments in
his Vues des Cordillères, p. 25, et seq.
[207] Latrobe gives the description of this cavity, into which he and
his fellow travellers penetrated. Rambler in Mexico, Letter 7.
[208]
“Et tot templa deûm Romæ, quot in urbe sepulcra
Heroum numerare licet: quos fabula manes
Nobilitat, noster populus veneratus adorat.”
PRUDENTIUS, Contra Sym., lib. 1.
[209] The dimensions are given by Bullock (Six Months in Mexico, vol.
ii. chap. 26), who has sometimes seen what has eluded the optics of
other travellers.
[210] Such is the account given by the cavalier Boturini. Idea, pp. 42,
43.
[211] “Both Ixtlilxochitl and Boturini, who visited these monuments,
one early in the seventeenth, the other in the first part of the
eighteenth century, testify to their having seen the remains of this
statue. They had entirely disappeared by 1757, when Veytia examined the
pyramid. Hist. antig., tom. i. cap. 26.
[212]
“Agricola, incurvo terram molitus aratro,
Exesa inveniet scabra rubigine pila,” etc.
GEORG., lib. i.
[213] “Y como iban vestidos de blanco, parecia el campo nevado.”
Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 13.
[214] “Vistosa confusion,” says Solís, “de armas y penachos, en que
tenian su hermosura los horrores.” (Conquista, lib. 4, cap. 20.) His
painting shows the hand of a great artist,--which he certainly was. But
he should not have put fire-arms into the hands of his countrymen on
this occasion.
[215] “Y cierto creímos ser aquel el último de nuestros dias.” Rel.
Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 148.
[216] Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind.,
MS., lib. 33, cap. 14.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap.
128.--Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 27.--Cortés
might have addressed his troops, as Napoleon did his in the famous
battle with the Mamelukes: “From yonder pyramids forty centuries look
down upon you.” But the situation of the Spaniards was altogether too
serious for theatrical display.
[217] It is Sahagun’s simile: “Estaban los Españoles como una Isleta
en el mar, combatida de las olas por todas partes.” (Hist. de
Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 27.) The venerable missionary gathered
the particulars of the action, as he informs us, from several who were
present in it.
[218] The epic bard Ercilla’s spirited portrait of the young warrior
Tucapél may be applied without violence to Sandoval, as described by
the Castilian chroniclers:
“Cubierto Tucapél de fina malla
saltó como un ligero y suelto pardo
en medio de la tímida canalla,
haciendo plaza el bárbaro gallardo:
con silvos grita en desigual batalla:
con piedra, palo, flecha, lanza y dardo
le persigue la gente de manera
como si fuera toro, ó brava fiera.”
LA ARAUCANA, Parte 1, canto 8.
[219] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 13.--“Este caballo
harriero,” says Camargo, “le sirvió en la conquista de Méjico, y en la
última guerra que se dió se le matáron.” Hist. de Tlascala, MS.
[220] The brave cavalier was afterwards permitted by the emperor
Charles V. to assume this trophy on his own escutcheon, in
commemoration of his exploit. Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap.
128.
[221] The historians all concur in celebrating this glorious
achievement of Cortés; who, concludes Gomara, “by his single arm saved
the whole army from destruction.” See Crónica, cap. 110.--Also Sahagun,
Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 27.--Camargo, Hist. de
Tlascala, MS.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 128.--Oviedo,
Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec.
2, lib. 10, cap. 13.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 89.--The
brief and extremely modest notice of the affair in the general’s own
letter forms a beautiful contrast to the style of panegyric by others:
“In this arduous contest we consumed a great part of the day, until it
pleased God that a person was slain in their ranks of such consequence
that his death put an end to the battle.” Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p.
148.
[222] “Pues á nosotros,” says the doughty Captain Diaz, “no nos
dolian las heridas, ni teniamos hambre, ni sed, sino que parecia que
no auiamos auido, ni passado ningun mal trabajo. Seguímos la vitoria
matando, é hiriendo. Pues nuestros amigos los de Tlascala estavan
hechos vnos leones, y con sus espadas, y montantes, y otras armas
que allí apañáron, hazíanlo muy biē y esforçadamente.” Hist. de la
Conquista, loc. cit.
[223] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.
[224] The belligerent apostle St. James, riding, as usual, his
milk-white courser, came to the rescue on this occasion; an event
commemorated by the dedication of a hermitage to him, in the
neighborhood. (Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala.) Diaz, a skeptic on former
occasions, admits his indubitable appearance on this. (Hist. de la
Conquista, ubi supra.) According to the Tezcucan chronicler, he was
supported by the Virgin and St. Peter. (Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 89.)
Voltaire sensibly remarks, “Ceux qui ont fait les relations de ces
étranges événemens les ont voulu relever par des miracles, qui ne
servent en effet qu’à les rabaisser. Le vrai miracle fut la conduite de
Cortés.” Voltaire, Essai sur les Mœurs, chap. 147.
[225] See Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.--Herrera,
Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 13.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 110.
[226] Is it not the same fountain of which Toribio makes honorable
mention in his topographical account of the country? “Nace en Tlaxcala
una fuente grande á la parte del Norte, cinco leguas de la principal
ciudad; nace en un pueblo que se llama Azumba, que en su lengua quiere
decir _cabeza_, y así es, porque esta fuente es cabeza y principio del
mayor rio de los que entran en la mar del Sur, el cual entra en la mar
por Zacatula.” Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 16.
[227] “El qual pensamiento, y sospecha nos puso en tanta afliccion,
quanta trahiamos viniendo peleando con los de Culúa.” Rel. Seg. de
Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 149.
[228] “Y mas dixo, que tenia esperança en Dios que los hallariamos
buenos, y leales: é que si otra cosa fuesse, lo que Dios no permita,
que nos han de tornar á andar los puños con coraçones fuertes, y braços
vigorosos, y que para esso fuessemos muy apercibidos.” Bernal Diaz,
Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 128.
[229] Called Gualipan by Cortés. (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 149.)
An Aztec would have found it hard to trace the route of his enemies by
their itineraries.
[230] Ibid., ubi supra.--Thoan Cano, however, one of the army, denies
this, and asserts that the natives received them like their children,
and would take no recompense. (See Appendix, No. 11.)
[231] “Y que tubiesse por cierto, que me serian muy ciertos, y
verdaderos Amigos, hasta la muerte.” Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 150.
[232] Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la
Conquista, ubi supra.--“Sobreviniéron las mugeres Tlascaltecas, y todas
puestas de luto y llorando á donde estaban los Españoles, las unas
preguntaban por sus maridos, las otras por sus hijos y hermanos, las
otras por sus parientes que habian ido con los Españoles, y quedaban
todos allá muertos: no es menos, sino que de esto llanto causó gran
sentimiento en el corazon del Capitan, y de todos los Españoles, y él
procuró lo mejor que pudo consolarles por medio de sus Intérpretes.”
Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 28.
[233] “Yo assimismo quedé manco de dos dedos de la mano izquierda”--is
Cortés’ own expression in his letter to the emperor. (Rel. Seg., ap.
Lorenzana, p. 152.) Don Thoan Cano, however, whose sympathies--from
his Indian alliance, perhaps--seem to have been quite as much with the
Aztecs as with his own countrymen, assured Oviedo, who was lamenting
the general’s loss, that he might spare his regrets, since Cortés had
as many fingers on his hand at that hour as when he came from Castile.
(See Appendix, No. 11.) May not the word _manco_, in his letter, be
rendered by “maimed”?
[234] “Hiriéron á Cortés con Honda tan mal, que se le pasmó la Cabeça,
ó porque no le curáron bien, sacándole Cascos, ó por el demasiado
trabajo que pasó.” Gomara, Crónica cap. 110.
[235] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 13.--Bernal Diaz
Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.
[236] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 150.--Oviedo, Hist. de las
Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 15.--Herrera gives the following inscription,
cut on the bark of a tree by some of these unfortunate Spaniards: “By
this road passed Juan Juste and his wretched companions, who were so
much pinched by hunger that they were obliged to give a solid bar of
gold, weighing eight hundred ducats, for a few cakes of maize bread.”
Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 13.
[237] One is reminded of the similar remonstrance made by Alexander’s
soldiers to him on reaching the Hystaspis,--but attended with more
success; as, indeed, was reasonable. For Alexander continued to advance
from the ambition of indefinite conquest; while Cortés was only bent on
carrying out his original enterprise. What was madness in the one was
heroism in the other.
[238] “Acordándome, que siempre á los osados ayuda la fortuna, y que
eramos Christianos y confiando en la grandíssima Bondad, y Misericordia
de Dios, que no permitiria, que del todo pereciessemos, y se perdiesse
tanta, y tan noble Tierra.” Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 152.
[239] This reply, exclaims Oviedo, showed a man of unconquerable
spirit and high destinies: “Paréceme que la respuesta que á esto les
dió Hernando Cortés, é lo que hizo en ello, fué vna cosa de ánimo
invencible, é de varon de mucha suerte é valor.” Hist. de las Ind.,
MS., lib. 33, cap. 15.
[240] “E no me hable ninguno en otra cosa; y él que desta opinion
no estubiere váyase en buen hora, que mas holgaré de quedar con los
pocos y osados, que en compañía de muchos, ni de ninguno cobarde, ni
desacordado de su propia honra.” Hist. de las Ind., MS., loc. cit.
[241] Oviedo has expanded the harangue of Cortés into several pages,
in the course of which the orator quotes Xenophon, and borrows largely
from the old Jewish history, a style of eloquence savoring much more of
the closet than the camp. Cortés was no pedant, and his soldiers were
no scholars.
[242] For the account of this turbulent transaction, see Bernal Diaz,
Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 129,--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana,
p. 152,--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 15,--Gomara,
Crónica, cap. 112, 113,--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10,
cap. 14.--Diaz is exceedingly wroth with the chaplain Gomara for not
discriminating between the old soldiers and the levies of Narvaez, whom
he involves equally in the sin of rebellion. The captain’s own version
seems a fair one, and I have followed it, therefore, in the text.
[243] Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 15.--Herrera, Hist.
general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 14.--Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España,
MS., lib. 12, cap. 29.
[244] Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.--Rel. Seg. de
Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 166.--Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS.,
lib. 12, cap. 27, 29.--Or, rather, it was “at the instigation of the
great Devil, the captain of all the devils, called Satan, who regulated
every thing in New Spain by his free will and pleasure, before the
coming of the Spaniards,” according to Father Sahagun, who begins his
chapter with this eloquent exordium.
[245] Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 88.--Sahagun, Hist. de
Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 29.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2,
lib. 10, cap. 19.
[246] The proceedings in the Tlascalan senate are reported in more or
less detail, but substantially alike, by Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala,
MS.,--Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 29,--Herrera,
Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 12, cap. 14.--See, also, Bernal Diaz, Hist.
de la Conquista, cap. 129,--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 111.
[247] The Indian name of the capital,--the same as that of the
province,--_Tepejacac_, was corrupted by the Spaniards into _Tepeaca_.
It must be admitted to have gained by the corruption.
[248] “Y como aquello vió Cortés, comunicólo con todos nuestros
Capitanes, y soldados: y fué acordado, que se hiziesse vn auto por
ante Escriuano, que diesse fe de todo lo passado, y que se diessen por
esclauos.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 130.
[249] The chroniclers estimate his army at 50,000 warriors; one-half,
according to Toribio, of the disposable military force of the republic.
“De la cual (Tlascala), como ya tengo dicho, solian salir cien mil
hombres de pelea.” Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 16.
[250] “That night,” says the credulous Herrera, speaking of the carouse
that followed one of their victories, “the Indian allies had a grand
supper of legs and arms; for, besides an incredible number of roasts
on wooden spits, they had fifty thousand pots of stewed human flesh”!
(Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 15.) Such a banquet would not
have smelt savory in the nostrils of Cortés.
[251] “Y allí hiziéron hazer el hierro con que se auian de herrar
los que se tomauan por esclauos, que era una G., que quiere decir
_guerra_.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 130.
[252] Solís, Conquista, lib. 5, cap. 3.
[253] Called by the Spaniards _Huacachula_, and spelt with every
conceivable diversity by the old writers, who may be excused for
stumbling over such a confusion of consonants.
[254] “Y toda la Ciudad está cercada de muy fuerte Muro de cal y
canto, tan alto, como quatro estados por de fuera de la Ciudad: é
por de dentro está casi igual con el suelo. Y por toda la Muralla va
su petril, tan alto, como medio estado, para pelear, tiene quatro
entradas, tan anchas, como uno puede entrar á Caballo.” Rel. Seg., p.
162.
[255] This cavalier’s name is usually spelt Olid by the chroniclers. In
a copy of his own signature I find it written Oli.
[256] “I should have been very glad to have taken some alive,” says
Cortés, “who could have informed me of what was going on in the great
city, and who had been lord there since the death of Montezuma. But I
succeeded in saving only one; and he was more dead than alive.” Rel.
Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 159.
[257] “Y á ver que cosa era aquella, los quales eran mas de treinta mil
Hombres, y la mas lúcida Gente, que hemos visto, porque trahian muchas
Joyas de Oro, y Plata, y Plumajes.” Ibid., p. 160.
[258] “Alcanzando muchos por una Cuesta arriba muy agra; y tal, que
quando acabámos de encumbrar la Sierra, ni los Enemigos, ni nosotros
podiamos ir atras, ni adelante: é assí caiéron muchos de ellos muertos,
y ahogados de la calor, sin herida ninguna.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap.
Lorenzana, p. 160.
[259] “Porque demas de la Gente de Guerra, tenian mucho aparato de
Servidores, y fornecimiento para su Real.” Ibid., p. 160.
[260] The story of the capture of this strong post is told very
differently by Captain Diaz. According to him, Olid, when he had
fallen back on Cholula, in consequence of the refusal of his men to
advance under the strong suspicion which they entertained of some
foul practice from their allies, received such a stinging rebuke
from Cortés that he compelled his troops to resume their march, and,
attacking the enemy “with the fury of a tiger,” totally routed them.
(Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 132.) But this version of the affair is
not endorsed, so far as I am aware, by any contemporary. Cortés is
so compendious in his report that it is often necessary to supply
the omissions with the details of other writers. But, where he is
positive in his statements,--unless there be some reason to suspect a
bias,--his practice of writing on the spot, and the peculiar facilities
for information afforded by his position, make him decidedly the best
authority.
[261] Cortés, with an eye less sensible to the picturesque than his
great predecessor in the track of discovery, Columbus, was full as
quick in detecting the capabilities of the soil. “Tiene un Valle
redondo muy fertil de Frutas, y Algodon, que en ninguna parte de los
Puertos arriba se hace por la gran frialdad; y allí es Tierra caliente,
y caúsalo, que está muy abrigada de Sierras; todo este Valle se riega
por muy buenas Azequias, que tienen muy bien sacadas, y concertadas.”
Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 164, 165.
[262] So numerous, according to Cortés, that they covered hill and
dale, as far as the eye could reach, mustering more than a hundred and
twenty thousand strong! (Ibid., p. 162.) When the Conquerors attempt
anything like a precise numeration, it will be as safe to substitute “a
multitude,” “a great force,” etc., trusting the amount to the reader’s
own imagination.
[263] For the hostilities with the Indian tribes, noticed in the
preceding pages, see, in addition to the Letter of Cortés, so often
cited, Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 15,--Herrera,
Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 15, 16,--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist.
Chich., MS., cap. 90,--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 130,
132, 134,--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 114-117,--P. Martyr, De Orbe Novo,
dec. 5, cap. 6,--Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.
[264] “La primera fué de viruela, y comenzó de esta manera. Siendo
Capitan y Governador Hernando Cortés al tiempo que el Capitan Pánfilo
de Narvaez desembarcó en esta tierra, en uno de sus navíos vino un
negro herido de viruelas, la cual enfermedad nunca en esta tierra se
habia visto, y esta sazon estaba esta nueva España en estremo muy llena
de gente.” Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 1, cap. 1.
[265] “Morian como chinches á montones.” (Toribio, Hist. de los Indios,
ubi supra.) “So great was the number of those who died of this disease
that there was no possibility of burying them, and in Mexico the dead
were thrown into the canals, then filled with water, until the air
was poisoned with the stench of putrid bodies.” Sahagun, Hist. de
Nueva-España, lib. 8, cap. 1.
[266] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 136.
[267] Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec.
2, lib. 10, cap. 19.--Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12,
cap. 39.
[268] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 131.
[269] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 131, 133, 136.--Herrera,
Hist. general, ubi supra.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 154,
167.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 16.
[270] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 156.
[271] Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. iii. p. 153.
[272] “E creo, como ya á Vuestra Magestad he dicho, que en muy breve
tomará al estado, en que antes yo la tenia, é se restaurarán las
pérdidas pasadas.” Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 167.
[273] “Me pareció, que el mas conveniente nombre para esta dicha
Tierra, era llamarse _la Nueva España del Mar Océano_: y assí en nombre
de Vuestra Magestad se le puso aqueste nombre; humildemente suplico á
Vuestra Alteza lo tenga por bien, y mande, que se nombre assí.” (Ibid.,
p. 169.) The name of “New Spain,” without other addition, had been
before given by Grijalva to Yucatan. _Ante_, Book 2, Chapter 1.
[274] It was dated, “De la Villa Segura de la Frontera de esta
Nueva-España, á treinta de Octubre de mil quinientos veinte años.” But,
in consequence of the loss of the ship intended to bear it, the letter
was not sent till the spring of the following year; leaving the nation
still in ignorance of the fate of the gallant adventurers in Mexico,
and the magnitude of their discoveries.
[275] The state of feeling occasioned by these discoveries may be seen
in the correspondence of Peter Martyr, then residing at the court of
Castile. See, in particular, his epistle, dated March, 1521, to his
noble pupil, the Marquis de Mondejar, in which he dwells with unbounded
satisfaction on all the rich stores of science which the expedition of
Cortés had thrown open to the world. Opus Epistolarum, ep. 771.
[276] This memorial is in that part of my collection made by the
former President of the Spanish Academy, Vargas Ponçe. It is signed
by four hundred and forty-four names; and it is remarkable that this
roll, which includes every other familiar name in the army, should not
contain that of Bernal Diaz del Castillo. It can only be accounted for
by his illness; as he tells us he was confined to his bed by a fever
about this time. Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 134.
[277] Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 179.--Herrera, Hist.
general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 18.--Alonso de Avila went as the bearer
of despatches to St. Domingo. Bernal Diaz, who is not averse, now and
then, to a fling at his commander, says that Cortés was willing to
get rid of this gallant cavalier, because he was too independent and
plain-spoken. Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 136.
[278] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 136.--Herrera, Hist.
general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 19.
[279] Ibid., ubi supra.--“Híçolo,” says Herrera, “i armóle caballero,
al vso de Castilla; i porque lo fuese de Jesu-Christo, le hiço,
bautiçar, i se llamó D. Lorenço Maxiscatzin.”
[280] For an account of the manner in which this article was procured
by Montaño and his doughty companions, see vol. ii., p. 227.
[281] “Ansí se hiciéron trece bergantines en el barrio de Atempa, junto
á una hermita que se llama San Buenaventura, los quales hizo y otro
Martin Lopez uno de los primeros conquistadores, y le ayudó Neguez
Gomez.” Hist. de Tlascala, MS.
[282] Solís dismisses this prince with the remark “that he reigned
but a few days; long enough, however, for his indolence and apathy
to efface the memory of his name among the people.” (Conquista, lib.
4, cap. 16.) Whence the historiographer of the Indies borrowed the
coloring for this portrait I cannot conjecture; certainly not from
the ancient authorities, which uniformly delineate the character
and conduct of the Aztec sovereign in the light represented in the
text. Cortés, who ought to know, describes him “as held to be very
wise and valiant.” Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 166.--See, also,
Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 29,--Herrera, Hist.
general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 19,--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS.,
cap. 88,--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 16,--Gomara,
Crónica, cap. 118.
[283] The reader of Spanish will see that in the version in the text
I have condensed the original, which abounds in the tautology and
repetitions characteristic of the compositions of a rude people. “Señor
nuestro, ya V. M. sabe como es muerto nuestro N.: ya lo habeis puesto
debajo de vuestros pies: ya está en su recogimiento, y es ido por el
camino que todos hemos de ir y á la casa donde hemos de morar, casa
de perpetuas tinieblas, donde ni hay ventana, ni luz alguna: ya está
en el reposo donde nadie le desasosegará.... Todos estos señores y
reyes rigiéron, gobernáron, y gozáron del señorío y dignidad real, y
del trono y sitial del imperio, los cuales ordenáron y concertáron
las cosas de vuestro reino, que sois el universal señor y emperador,
por cuyo albedrio y motivo se rige todo el universo, y que no teneis
necesidad de consejo de ningun otro. Ya estos dichos dejáron la carga
intolerable del gobierno que tragéron sobre sus hombros, y lo dejáron á
su succesor N., el cual por algunos pocos dias tuvo en pie su señorío
y reino, y ahora ya se ha ido en pos de ellos al otro mundo, porque
vos le mandásteis que fuese y le llamásteis, y por haberle descargado
de tan gran carga, y quitado tan gran trabajo, y haberle puesto en paz
y en reposo, está muy obligado á daros gracias. Algunos pocos dias le
lográmos, y ahora para siempre se ausentó de nosotros para nunca mas
volver al mundo.... ¿Quien ordenará y dispondrá las cosas necesarias
al bien del pueblo, señorío y reino? ¿Quien elegirá á los jueces
particulares, que tengan carga de la gente baja por los barrios? ¿Quien
mandará tocar el atambor y pífano para juntar gente para la guerra? ¿Y
quien reunirá y acaudillará á los soldados viejos, y hombres diestros
en la pelea? Señor nuestro y amparador nuestro! tenga por bien V. M.
de elegir, y señalar alguna persona suficiente para que tenga vuestro
trono, y lleve á cuestas la carga pesada del régimen de la república,
regocige y regale á los populares, bien así como la madre regala á
su hijo, poniéndole en su regazo.... O señor nuestro humanísimo! dad
lumbre y resplandor de vuestra mano á esto reino!... Hágase como V. M.
fuere servido en todo, y por todo.” Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España,
lib. 6, cap. 5.
[284] The Spaniards appear to have changed the _Qua_, beginning Aztec
names, into _Gua_, in the same manner as, in the mother country, they
changed the _Wad_ at the beginning of Arabic names into _Guad_. (See
Condé, El Nubiense, Descripcion de España, notas, passim.) The Aztec
_tzin_ was added to the names of sovereigns and great lords, as a
mark of reverence. Thus, Cuitlahua was called Cuitlahuatzin. This
termination, usually dropped by the Spaniards, has been retained from
accident, or perhaps for the sake of euphony, in Guatemozin’s name.
[285] “Mancebo de hasta veynte y cinco años, bien gentil hombre para
ser Indio, y muy esforçado, y se hizo temer de tal manera, que todos
los suyos temblauan dél; y estaua casado con vna hija de Monteçuma,
bien hermosa muger para ser India.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista,
cap. 130.
[286] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 19.
[287] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 134.
[288] One may call to mind the beautiful invocation which Racine has
put into the mouth of Joad:
“Venez, cher rejeton d’une vaillante race,
Remplir vos défenseurs d’une nouvelle audace;
Venez du diadéme à leurs yeux vous couvrir,
Et périssez du moins en roí, s’il faut périr.”
ATHALIE, acte 4, scene 5.
[289] Rel. Tercera de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 183.--Most, if not all,
of the authorities--a thing worthy of note--concur in this estimate of
the Spanish forces.
[290] “Y como sin causa ninguna todos los Naturales de Colúa, que
son los de la gran Ciudad de Temixtitan, y los de todas las otras
Provincias á ellas sujetas, no solamente se habian _rebelado_ contra
Vuestra Magestad.” Ibid., ubi supra.
[291] Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 184.--“Porque demas del
premio, que les davia en el cielo, se les seguirian en esto mundo
grandíssima honra, riquezas inestimables.” Ixtlilxochitl, Hist.
Chichimeca, MS., cap. 91.
[292] “Cosa muy de ver,” says Father Sahagun, without hazarding any
precise number, “en la cantidad y en los aparejos que llevaban.” Hist.
de Nueva-España, lib. 12, cap. 30, MS.
[293] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 20.
[294] Ibid., ubi supra.
[295] Herrera, Hist. general, loc. cit.
[296] “Que su principal motivo é intencion sea apartar y desarraigar de
las dichas idolatrías á todos los naturales destas partes y reducillos
ó á lo menos desear su salvacion y que sean reducidos al conocimiento
de Dios y de su Santa Fe católica: porque si con otra intencion se
hiciese la dicha guerra seria injusta y todo lo que en ella se oviese
Onoloxio é obligado á restitucion.” Ordenanzas militares, MS.
[297] “E desde ahora protesto en nombre de S. M. que mi principal
intencion é motivo es facer esta guerra é las otras que ficiese por
traer y reducir á los dichos naturales al dicho conocimiento de nuestra
Santa Fe é creencia; y despues por los sozjugar é supeditar debajo
del yugo é dominio imperial é real de su Sacra Magestad, á quien
juridicamente el Señorío de todas estas partes.” Ordenanzas militares,
MS.
[298] “Ce n’est qu’en Espagne et en Italie,” says the penetrating
historian of the Italian Republics, “qu’on rencontre cette habitude
vicieuse, absolument inconnue aux peuples protestants, et qu’il ne faut
point confondre avec les grossiers juremens que le peuple en tout pays
mêle à ses discours. Dans tous les accès de colère des peuples du Midi,
ils s’attaquent aux objets de leur culte, ils les menacent, et ils
accablent de paroles outrageantes la Divinité elle-même, le Rédempteur
ou ses saints.” Sismondi, Républiques Italiennes, cap. 126.
[299] Lucio Marineo, who witnessed all the dire effects of this
national propensity at the Castilian court, where he was residing at
this time, breaks out into the following animated apostrophe against
it: “The gambler is he who wishes and conspires the death of his
parents, he who swears falsely by God and by the life of his king and
lord, he who kills his own soul and casts it into hell. What will not
the gambler do, when he is not ashamed to lose his money, his time,
his sleep, his reputation, his honor, and even life itself? So that,
considering how great a number of men are incessantly engaged in play,
the opinion seems to me well founded of those who say that _hell is
filled with gamblers_.” Cosas memorables de Espagña (ed. Sevilla,
1539), fol. 165.
[300] These regulations are reported with much uniformity by Herrera,
Solís, Clavigero, and others, but with such palpable inaccuracy that it
is clear they never could have seen the original instrument. The copy
in my possession was taken from the Muñoz collection. As the document,
though curious and highly interesting, has never been published, I have
given it entire in the Appendix, No. 13.
[301] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 20.--Bernal Diaz,
Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 127. The former historian states the number
of Indian allies who followed Cortés, at eighty thousand; the latter at
ten thousand! _¿Quien sabe?_
[302] This mountain, which, with its neighbor Popocatepetl, forms the
great barrier--the _Herculis columnæ_--of the Mexican Valley, has
been fancifully likened, from its long dorsal swell, to the back of a
dromedary. (Tudor’s Tour in North America, Let. 22.) It rises far above
the limits of perpetual snow in the tropics, and its huge crest and
sides, enveloped in its silver drapery, form one of the most striking
objects in the magnificent _coup-d’œil_ presented to the inhabitants of
the capital.
[303] “Y prometímos todos de nunca de ella salir, sin Victoria, ó dejar
allí las vidas. Y con esta determinacion ibamos todos tan alegres, como
si fueramos á cosa de mucho placer.” Rel. Terc., ap. Lorenzana, p. 188.
[304] “Y yo torné á rogar, y encomendar mucho á los Españoles, que
hiciessen, como siempre habian hecho, y como se esperaba de sus
Personas; y que nadie no se desmandasse, y que fuessen con mucho
concierto, y órden por su Camino.” Ibid., ubi supra.
[305] “E como la Gente de pie venia algo cansada, y se hacia tarde,
dormímos en una Poblacion, que se dice Coatepeque.... E yo con diez de
Caballo comenzé la Vela, y Ronda de la prima, y hice, que toda la Gente
estubiesse muy apercibida.” Rel. Terc., ap. Lorenzana, pp. 188, 189.
[306] For the preceding pages, giving the account of the march,
besides the letter of Cortés, so often quoted, see Gomara, Crónica,
cap. 121,--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 18,--Bernal
Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 137,--Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala,
MS.,--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 20,--Ixtlilxochitl,
Relacion de la venida de los Españoles y Principio de la Ley Evangélica
(México, 1829), p. 9.
[307] See _ante_, p. 210.--The skins of those immolated on the
sacrificial stone were a common offering in the Indian temples, and
the mad priests celebrated many of their festivals by publicly dancing
with their own persons enveloped in these disgusting spoils of their
victims. See Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, passim.
[308] Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 187.--Oviedo, Hist. de
las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 19.
[309] Tezcuco, a Chichimec name, according to Ixtlilxochitl, signifying
“place of detention or rest,” because the various tribes from the North
halted there on their entrance into Anahuac. Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 10.
[310] “La qual es tan grande, que aunque fueramos doblados los
Españoles, nos pudieramos aposentar bien á placer en ella.” Rel. Terc.,
ap. Lorenzana, p. 191.
[311] “De tal manera que se quemáron todos los Archivos Reales de toda
la Nueva-España, que fué una de las mayores pérdidas que tuvo esta
tierra, porque con esto toda la memoria de sus antiguayas y otras cosas
que eran como Escrituras y recuerdos pereciéron desde este tiempo. La
obra de las Casas era la mejor y la mas artificiosa que hubo en esta
tierra.” Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 91.
[312] The historian Ixtlilxochitl pays the following high tribute to
the character of his royal kinsman, whose name was Tecocol. Strange
that this name is not to be found--with the exception of Sahagun’s
work--in any contemporary record! “Fué el primero que lo fué en
Tezcoco, con harta pena de los Españoles, porque fué nobilísimo y los
quiso mucho. Fué D. Fernando Tecocoltzin muy gentil hombre, alto de
cuerpo y muy blanco, tanto cuanto podia ser cualquier Español por muy
blanco que fuese, y que mostraba su persona y término descender, y
ser del linage que era. Supo la lengua Castellana, y así casi las mas
noches despues de haber cenado, trataban él y Cortés de todo lo que
se debia hacer acerca de las guerras.” Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los
Españoles, pp. 12, 13.
[313] The accession of Tecocol, as, indeed, his existence, passes
unnoticed by some historians, and by others is mentioned in so
equivocal a manner--his Indian name being omitted--that it is
very doubtful if any other is intended than his younger brother
Ixtlilxochitl. The Tezcucan chronicler bearing this last melodious
name{*} has alone given the particulars of his history. I have followed
him, as, from his personal connections, having had access to the best
sources of information; though, it must be confessed, he is far too
ready to take things on trust, to be always the best authority.
{*} [This name--“which,” says Mr. Tylor, “sticks in the throats of
readers of Prescott”--signifies “vanilla-face,” being compounded of
_ixtli_, face, and _tlilxochitl_, vanilla, the latter being itself a
compound of _tlilli_, black, and _xochitl_, flower.--Buschmann, Uber
die Aztekischen Ortsnamen, S. 681.--K.]
[314] “Él respondió, que era por demas ir contra lo determinado por el
Dios Criador de todas las cosas, pues no sin misterio y secreto juicio
suyo le daba tal Hijo al tiempo y quando se acercaban las profecías de
sus Antepasados, que havíase venir nuevas Gentes á poseer la Tierra,
como eran los Hijos de Quetzalcoatl que aguardaban su venida de la
parte oriental.” Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 69.
[315] “Con que el Rey no supo con que ocacion poderle castigar, porque
lo pareciéron sus razones tan vivas y fundadas que su parte no habia
hecho cosa indebida ni vileza para poder ser castigado, mas tan solo
una ferocidad de ánimo; pronóstico de lo mucho que habia de venir
á saber por las Armas, y así el Rey dijo, que se fuese á la mano.”
Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 69.
[316] Ibid., ubi supra.--Among other anecdotes recorded of the young
prince’s early development is one of his having, when only three years
old, pitched his nurse into a well, as she was drawing water, to punish
her for certain improprieties of conduct of which he had been witness.
But I spare the reader the recital of these astonishing proofs of
precocity, as it is very probable his appetite for the marvellous may
not keep pace with that of the chronicler of Tezcuco.
[317] _Ante_, vol. ii., p. 8.
[318] “Así mismo hizo juntar todos los bastimentos que fuéron
necesarios para sustentar el Exército y Guarniciones de Gente que
andaban en favor de Cortés, y así hizo traer á la Ciudad de Tezcuco el
Maiz que habia en las Troxes y Graneros de las Provincias sugetas al
Reyno de Tezcuco.” Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 91.
[319] “No era de espantar que tuviese este recelo, porque sus Enemigos,
y los de esta Ciudad eran todos Deudos y Parientes mas cercanos,
mas despues el tiempo lo desengañó, y vido la gran lealtad de
Ixtlilxochitl, y de todos.” Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 92.
[320] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 137.
[321] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.--Ixtlilxochitl,
Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 91.
[322] “Los principales, que habian sido en hacerme la Guerra pasada,
eran ya muertos; y que lo pasado fuesse pasado, y que no quisiessen dar
causa á que destruyesse sus Tierras, y Ciudades, porque me pesaba mucho
de ello.” Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 193.
[323] “Muriéron de ellos mas de seis mil ánimas, entre Hombres, y
Mugeres, y Niños; porque los Indios nuestros Amigos, vista la Victoria,
que Dios nos daba, no entendian en otra cosa, sino en matar á diestro y
á siniestro.” Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 195.
[324] “Estándolas quemando, pareció que Nuestro Señor me inspiró, y
trujo á la memoria la Calzada, ó Presa, que habia visto rota en el
Camino, y representóseme el gran daño, que era.” Rel. Terc. de Cortés,
loc. cit.
[325] “Y certifico á Vuestra Magestad, que si aquella noche no
pasaramos el Agua, ó aguardaramos tres horas mas, que ninguno de
nosotros escapara, porque quedabamos cercados de Agua, sin tener paso
por parte ninguna.” Ibid., ubi supra.
[326] The general’s own Letter to the emperor is so full and precise
that it is the very best authority for this event. The story is told
also by Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 138.--Oviedo, Hist.
de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 18,--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS.,
cap. 92,--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 2, et auct.
aliis.
[327] Lorenzana, p. 199, nota.
[328] “Porque ciertamente sus antepassados les auian dicho, que auian
de señorear aquellas tierras hombres que vernian con barbas de hazia
donde sale el Sol, y que por las cosas que han visto, eramos nosotros.”
Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 139.
[329] Ibid., ubi supra.--Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p.
200.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 122.--Venida de los Españoles, p. 15.
[330] “Y certifico á Vuestra Magestad, allende de nuestro trabajo y
necesidad, la mayor fatiga, que tenia, era no poder ayudar, y socorrer
á los Indios nuestros Amigos, que por ser Vasallos de Vuestra Magestad,
eran molestados y trabajados de los de Culúa.” Rel. Terc., ap.
Lorenzana, p. 204.
[331] Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 204, 205.--Oviedo, Hist.
de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 19.
[332] Oviedo, in his admiration of his hero, breaks out into the
following panegyric on his policy, prudence, and military science,
which, as he truly predicts, must make his name immortal. It is
a fair specimen of the manner of the sagacious old chronicler.
“Sin dubda alguna la habilidad y esfuerzo, é prudencia de Hernando
Cortés mui dignas son que entre los cavalleros, é gente militar en
nuestros tiempos se tengan en mucha estimacion, y en los venideros
nunca se desacuerden. Por causa suya me acuerdo muchas veces de
aquellas cosas que se escriven del capitan Viriato nuestro Español
y Estremeño; y por Hernando Cortés me ocurren al sentido las muchas
fatigas de aquel espejo de caballería Julio César dictador, como
parece por sus comentarios, é por Suetonio é Plutarco é otros autores
que en conformidad escriviéron los grandes hechos suyos. Pero los
de Hernando Cortés en un Mundo nuevo, é tan apartadas provincias de
Europa, é con tantos trabajos é necesidades é pocas fuerzas, é con
gente tan innumerable, é tan bárbara é bellicosa, é apacentada en
carne humana, é aun habida por excelente é sabroso manjar entre sus
adversarios; é faltándole á él ó á sus mílites el pan é vino é los
otros mantenimientos todos de España, y en tan diferenciadas regiones é
aires é tan desviado é léjos de socorro é de su príncipe, cosas son de
admiracion.” Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 20.
[333] Among other chiefs, to whom Guatemozin applied for assistance in
the perilous state of his affairs, was Tangapan, lord of Michoacán,
an independent and powerful state in the West, which had never been
subdued by the Mexican army. The accounts which the Aztec emperor gave
him, through his ambassadors, of the white men, were so alarming,
according to Ixtlilxochitl, who tells the story, that the king’s sister
voluntarily starved herself to death, from her apprehensions of the
coming of the terrible strangers. Her body was deposited, as usual,
in the vaults reserved for the royal household, until preparations
could be made for its being burnt. On the fourth day, the attendants
who had charge of it were astounded by seeing the corpse exhibit signs
of returning life. The restored princess, recovering her speech,
requested her brother’s presence. On his coming, she implored him not
to think of hurting a hair of the heads of the mysterious visitors.
She had been permitted, she said, to see the fate of the departed in
the next world. The souls of all her ancestors she had beheld tossing
about in unquenchable fire; while those who embraced the faith of the
strangers were in glory. As a proof of the truth of her assertion, she
added that her brother would see, on a great festival near at hand, a
young warrior, armed with a torch brighter than the sun, in one hand,
and a flaming sword, like that worn by the white men, in the other,
passing from east to west over the city. Whether the monarch waited
for the vision, or ever beheld it, is not told us by the historian.
But, relying perhaps on the miracle of her resurrection as quite a
sufficient voucher, he disbanded a very powerful force which he had
assembled on the plains of Avalos for the support of his brother of
Mexico. This narrative, with abundance of supernumerary incidents, not
necessary to repeat, was commemorated in the Michoacán picture-records,
and reported to the historian of Tezcuco himself by the grandson of
Tangapan. (See Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 91.) Whoever
reported it to him, it is not difficult to trace the same pious fingers
in it which made so many wholesome legends for the good of the Church
on the Old Continent, and which now found, in the credulity of the New,
a rich harvest for the same godly work.
[334] “Aquí estuvo preso el sin ventura de Juā luste cō otros muchos
que traia en mi compañía.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 140.
[335] Ibid., ubi supra.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap.
19.--Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 206.
[336] “Y despues de hechos por orden de Cortés, y probados en el rio
que llaman de Tlaxcalla Zahuapan, que se atajó para probarlos los
bergantines, y los tornáron á desbaratar por llevarlos á cuestas sobre
hombros de los de Tlaxcalla á la ciudad de Tetzcuco, donde se echáron
en la laguna, y se armáron de artillería y municion.” Camargo, Hist. de
Tlascala, MS.
[337] Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 207.--Bernal Diaz says
sixteen thousand. (Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.) There is a
wonderful agreement between the several Castilian writers as to the
number of forces, the order of march, and the events that occurred on
it.
[338] “Estendíase tanto la Gente, que dende que los primeros comenzáron
á entrar, hasta que los postreros hobiéron acabado, se pasáron mas de
seis horas; sin quebrar el hilo de la Gente.” Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap.
Lorenzana, p. 208.
[339] “Dando vozes y silvos y diziendo: Viua, viua el Emperador,
nuestro Señor, y Castilla, Castilla, y Tlascala, Tlascala.” (Bernal
Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 140.) For the particulars of
Sandoval’s expedition, see, also, Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib.
33, cap. 19.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 124,--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind.,
lib. 4, cap. 84,--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 92,--Herrera,
Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 2.
[340] “Que era cosa maravillosa de ver, y assí me parece que es de
oir, llevar trece Fustas diez y ocho leguas por Tierra.” (Rel. Terc.
de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 207.) “En rem Romano populo,” exclaims
Martyr, “quando illustrius res illorum vigebant, non facilem!” De Orbe
Novo, dec. 5, cap. 8.
[341] Two memorable examples of a similar transportation of vessels
across the land are recorded, the one in ancient, the other in modern
history; and both, singularly enough, at the same place, Tarentum,
in Italy. The first occurred at the siege of that city by Hannibal
(see Polybius, lib. 8); the latter some seventeen centuries later, by
the Great Captain, Gonsalvo de Cordova. But the distance they were
transported was inconsiderable. A more analogous example is that of
Balboa, the bold discoverer of the Pacific. He made arrangements to
have four brigantines transported a distance of twenty-two leagues
across the Isthmus of Darien, a stupendous labor, and not entirely
successful, as only two reached their point of destination. (See
Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 2, cap. 11.) This took place
in 1516, in the neighborhood, as it were, of Cortés, and may have
suggested to his enterprising spirit the first idea of his own more
successful, as well as more extensive, undertaking.
[342] “Y ellos me dijéron, que trahian deseo de se ver con los de
Culúa, y que viesse lo que mandaba, que ellos, y aquella Gente venian
con deseos, y voluntad de se vengar, ó morir con nosotros: y yo les di
las gracias, y les dije, que reposassen, y que presto les daria las
manos llenas.” Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 208.
[343] “De lejos comenzáron á gritar, como lo suelen hacer en la Guerra,
que cierto es cosa espantosa oillos.” Rel. Terc., ap. Lorenzana, p. 209.
[344] Ibid., loc. cit.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap.
141.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 20.--Ixtlilxochitl,
Venida de los Españoles, pp. 13, 14.--Idem, Hist. Chich., MS., cap.
92.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 125.
[345] These towns rejoiced in the melodious names of Tenajocoan,
Quauhtitlan, and Azcapozalco. I have constantly endeavored to spare the
reader, in the text, any unnecessary accumulation of Mexican names,
which, as he is aware by this time, have not even brevity to recommend
them. [Alaman, with some justice, remarks that these names appear
unmelodious to an English writer who does not know how to pronounce
them, for the same reason as English names would appear unmelodious to
a Mexican. Conquista de Méjico (trad. de Vega), tom. ii. p. 115.]
[346] [The Hill of Los Remedios. Conquista de Méjico (trad. de Vega),
tom. ii. p. 116.]
[347] They burned this place, according to Cortés, in retaliation of
the injuries inflicted by the inhabitants on their countrymen in the
retreat: “Y en amaneciendo los Indios nuestros Amigos comenzáron á
saquear, y quemar toda la Ciudad, salvo el Aposento donde estabamos,
y pusiéron tanta diligencia, que aun de él se quemó un Quarto; y esto
se hizo, porque quando salímos la otra vez desbaratados de Temixtitan,
pasando por esta Ciudad, los Naturales de ella juntamente con los
de Temixtitan nos hiciéron muy cruel Guerra, y nos matáron muchos
Españoles.” Rel. Terc., ap. Lorenzana, p. 210.
[348] “Luego mandó, que todos se retraxessen; y con el mejor concierto
que pudo, y no bueltas las espaldas, sino los rostros á los contrarios,
pie contra pie, como quien haze represas.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la
Conquista, cap. 141.
[349] “Desta manera se escapó Cortés aquella vez del poder de México, y
quando se vió en tierra firme, dió muchas gracias á Dios.” Ibid., ubi
supra.
[350] “Pensais, que hay agora otro Muteczuma, para que haga todo, lo
que quisieredes?” Rel. Terc, de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 211.
[351] “Y peleaban los unos con los otros muy hermosamente.” Rel. Terc.
de Cortés, ubi supra.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 20.
[352] “Y comenzamos á lanzear en ellos, y duró el alcanze cerca de dos
leguas todas llanas, como la palma, que fué muy hermosa cosa.” Rel.
Terc., ap. Lorenzana, p. 212.
[353] For the particulars of this expedition of Cortés, see, besides
his own Commentaries so often quoted, Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS.,
lib. 33, cap. 20,--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 85,--Gomara,
Crónica, cap. 125,--Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los Españoles, pp. 13,
14,--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 141.
[354] Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 214, 215.--Gomara,
Crónica, cap. 146.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap.
142.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 21.
[355] “Which gardens,” says Cortés, who afterwards passed a day there,
“are the largest, freshest, and most beautiful that were ever seen.
They have a circuit of two leagues, and through the middle flows a very
pleasant stream of water. At distances of two bow-shots are buildings
surrounded by grounds planted with fruit-trees of various kinds, with
many shrubs and odorous flowers. Truly the whole place is wonderful for
its pleasantness and its extent.” (Rel. Terc., ap. Lorenzana, pp. 221,
222.) Bernal Diaz is not less emphatic in his admiration. Hist. de la
Conquista, cap. 142.
[356] The distinguished naturalist Hernandez has frequent occasion to
notice this garden, which furnished him with many specimens for his
great work. It had the good fortune to be preserved after the Conquest,
when particular attention was given to its medicinal plants, for the
use of a great hospital established in the neighborhood. See Clavigero,
Stor. del Messico, tom. ii. p. 153.
[357] “E como esto vió el dicho Alguacil Mayor, y los Españoles,
determináron de morir, ó subilles por fuerza á lo alto del Pueblo, y
con el apellido de _Señor Santiago_, comenzáron á subir.” Rel. Terc.,
ap. Lorenzana, p. 214.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap.
21.
[358] So says the _Conquistador_. (Rel. Terc., ap. Lorenzana, p. 215.)
Diaz, who will allow no one to hyperbolize but himself, says, “For as
long as one might take to say an Ave Maria!” (Hist. de la Conquista,
cap. 142.) Neither was present.
[359] The gallant Captain Diaz, who affects a sobriety in his own
estimates, which often leads him to disparage those of the chaplain
Gomara, says that the force consisted of 20,000 warriors in 2000
canoes. Hist. de la Conquista, loc. cit.
[360] “El Cortés no le quiso escuchar á Sandoual de enojo, creyendo
que por su culpa, ó descuido, recibía mala obra nuestros amigos los de
Chalco; y luego sin mas dilacion, ni le oyr, le mandó bolver.” Ibid.,
ubi supra.
[361] Besides the authorities already quoted for Sandoval’s expedition,
see Gomara, Crónica, cap. 126,--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap.
92,--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 86.
[362] “Ixtlilxochitl procuraba siempre traer á la devocion y amistad de
los Cristianos no tan solamente á los de el Reyno de Tezcuco sino aun
los de las Provincias remotas, rogándoles que todos se procurasen dar
de paz al Capitan Cortés, y que aunque de las guerras pasadas algunos
tuviesen culpa, era tan afable y deseaba tanto la paz que luego al
punto los reciviria en su amistad.” Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS.,
cap. 92.
[363] Cortés speaks of these vessels as coming at the same time, but
does not intimate from what quarter. (Rel. Terc., ap. Lorenzana, p.
216.) Bernal Diaz, who notices only one, says it came from Castile.
(Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 143.) But the old soldier wrote long after
the events he commemorates, and may have confused the true order of
things. It seems hardly probable that so important a reinforcement
should have arrived from Castile, considering that Cortés had yet
received none of the royal patronage, or even sanction, which would
stimulate adventurers in the mother country to enlist under his
standard.
[364] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 143.--Oviedo, Hist. de
las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 21.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib.
1, cap. 6.
[365] “Viniéron tantos, que en todas las entradas que yo auia ido,
despues que en la Nueua España entré, nunca ví tanta gente de guerra de
nuestros amigos, como aora fuéron en nuestra compañía.” Bernal Diaz,
Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 144.
[366] “Todos descalabrados, y corriendo sangre, y las vanderas rotas, y
ocho muertos.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.
[367] For the assault on the rocks,--the topography of which it is
impossible to verify from the narratives of the Conquerors,--see Bernal
Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 144,--Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap.
Lorenzana, pp. 218-221,--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 127,--Ixtlilxochitl,
Venida de los Españolés, pp. 16, 17,--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS.,
lib. 33, cap. 21.
[368] Cortés, according to Bernal Diaz, ordered the troops who took
possession of the second fortress “not to meddle with a grain of
maize belonging to the besieged.” Diaz, giving this a very liberal
interpretation, proceeded forthwith to load his Indian _tamanes_ with
everything but maize, as fair booty. He was interrupted in his labors,
however, by the captain of the detachment, who gave a more narrow
construction to his general’s orders, much to the dissatisfaction of
the latter, if we may trust the doughty chronicler. Ibid., ubi supra.
[369] “Adonde estaua la huerta que he dicho, que es la mejor que auia
visto en toda mi vida, y ansí lo torno á dezir, que Cortés, y el
Tesorero Alderete, desque entonces la viéron, y passeáron algo de ella,
se admiráron, y dixéron, que mejor cosa de huerta no auian visto en
Castilla.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 144.
[370] This barbarous Indian name is tortured into all possible
variations by the old chroniclers. The town soon received from the
Spaniards the name which it now bears, of Cuernavaca, and by which it
is indicated on modern maps. “Prevalse poi quello di _Cuernabaca_, col
quale è presentemente conosciuta dagli Spagnuoli.” Clavigero, Stor. del
Messico, tom. iii. p. 185, nota.
[371] The stout-hearted Diaz was one of those who performed this
dangerous feat, though his head swam so, as he tells us, that he
scarcely knew how he got on. “Porque de mí digo, que verdaderamete
quando passaua, q lo ví mui peligroso, é malo de passar, y se me
desvanecia la cabeça, y todavía passé yo, y otros veinte, ó treinta
soldados, y muchos Tlascaltecas.” Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.
[372] For the preceding account of the capture of Cuernavaca, see
Bernal Diaz, ubi supra,--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33,
cap. 21,--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 93,--Herrera, Hist.
general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 8,--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4,
cap. 87,--Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 223, 224.
[373] “Una Tierra de Pinales, despoblada, y sin ninguna agua, la qual
y un Puerto pasámos con grandíssimo trabajo, y sin beber: tanto, que
muchos de los Indios que iban con nosotros pereciéron de sed.” Rel.
Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 224.
[374] The city of Cuernavaca was comprehended in the patrimony of the
dukes of Monteleone, descendants and heirs of the _Conquistador_.--The
Spaniards, in their line of march towards the north, did not deviate
far, probably, from the great road which now leads from Mexico to
Acapulco, still exhibiting in this upper portion of it the same
characteristic features as at the period of the Conquest.
[375] Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. iii. p. 187, nota.
[376] “Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 226.--Herrera, Hist.
general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 8.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib.
33, cap. 21.--This is the general’s own account of the matter. Diaz,
however, says that he was indebted for his rescue to a Castilian, named
Olea, supported by some Tlascalans, and that his preserver received
three severe wounds himself on the occasion. (Hist. de la Conquista,
cap. 145.) This was an affair, however, in which Cortés ought to be
better informed than any one else, and one, moreover, not likely to
slip his memory. The old soldier has probably confounded it with
another and similar adventure of his commander.
[377] “Otro Dia buscó Cortés al Indio, que le socorrió, i muerto, ni
vivo no pareció; i Cortés, por la devocion de San Pedro, juzgo que él
le avia aiudado.” Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 8.
[378] “Por el Agua á una muy grande flota de Canoas, que creo, que
pasaban de dos mil; y en ellas venian mas de doce mil Hombres de
Guerra; é por la Tierra llegó tanta multitud de Gente, que todos los
Campos cubrian.” Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 227.
[379] “Y acordóse que huviesse mui buena vela en todo nuestro Real,
repartida á los puertos, é azequias por donde auian de venir á
desembarcar, y los de acauallo mui á punto toda la noche ensillados
y enfrenados, aguardando en la calçada, y tierra firme, y todos los
Capitanes, y Cortés con ellos, haziendo vela y ronda toda la noche.”
Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 145.
[380] Diaz, who had an easy faith, states, as a fact, that the limbs
of the unfortunate men were cut off _before_ their sacrifice: “Manda
cortar pies y braços á los tristes nuestros compañeros, y las embia
por muchos pueblos nuestros amigos de los [~q] nos auian venido de
paz, y les embia á dezir, que antes que bolvamos á Tezcuco, piensa no
quedará ninguno de nosotros á vida, y con los coraçones y sangre hizo
sacrificio á sus ídolos.” (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 145.)--This is
not very probable. The Aztecs did not, like our North American Indians,
torture their enemies from mere cruelty, but in conformity to the
prescribed regulations of their ritual. The captive was a religious
victim.
[381] “Y al cabo dejándola toda quemada y asolada nos partímos; y
cierto era mucho para ver, porque tenia muchas Casas, y Torres de sus
Ídolos de cal y canto.” Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 228.
[382] For other particulars of the actions at Xochimilco, see Oviedo,
Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 23, cap. 21,--Herrera, Hist. general,
dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 8, 11,--Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los Españoles,
p. 18,--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 87, 88,--Bernal Diaz,
Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 145.--The Conqueror’s own account of these
engagements has not his usual perspicuity, perhaps from its brevity.
A more than ordinary confusion, indeed, prevails in the different
reports of them, even those proceeding from contemporaries, making it
extremely difficult to collect a probable narrative from authorities
not only contradicting one another, but themselves. It is rare, at
any time, that two accounts of a battle coincide in all respects; the
range of observation for each individual is necessarily so limited and
different, and it is so difficult to make a cool observation at all,
in the hurry and heat of conflict. Any one who has conversed with the
survivors will readily comprehend this, and be apt to conclude that,
wherever he may look for truth, it will hardly be on the battle-ground.
[383] This place, recommended by the exceeding beauty of its situation,
became, after the Conquest, a favorite residence of Cortés, who founded
a nunnery in it, and commanded in his will that his bones should be
removed thither from any part of the world in which he might die: “Que
mis huesos--los lleven á la mi Villa de Coyoacan, y allí les den tierra
en el Monesterio de Monjas, que mando hacer y edificar en la dicha mi
Villa.” Testamento de Hernan Cortés, MS.
[384] This, says Archbishop Lorenzana, was the modern _calzada de la
Piedad_. (Rel. Terc. de Cortés, p. 229, nota.) But it is not easy to
reconcile this with the elaborate chart which M. de Humboldt has given
of the Valley. A short arm, which reached from this city in the days of
the Aztecs, touched obliquely the great southern avenue by which the
Spaniards first entered the capital. As the waters which once entirely
surrounded Mexico have shrunk into their narrow basin, the face of the
country has undergone a great change, and, though the foundations of
the principal causeways are still maintained, it is not always easy to
discern vestiges of the ancient avenues.{*}
{*} La calzada de Iztapalapan,” says Alaman, who has made a minute
study of the topography, “es la de San Antonio Abad, que conduce á San
Augustin de las Cuevas ó Tlalpam.”--K.]
[385] “We came to a wall which they had built across the causeway, and
the foot-soldiers began to attack it; and though it was very thick and
stoutly defended, and ten Spaniards were wounded, at length they gained
it, killing many of the enemy, although the musketeers were without
powder and the bowmen without arrows.” Rel. Terc., ubi supra.
[386] “Y estando en esto viene Cortés, con el qual nos alegrámos,
puesto que él venia muy triste y como lloroso.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de
la Conquista, cap. 145.
[387] “Pues quando viéron la gran ciudad de México, y la laguna, y
tanta multitud de canoas que vnas ivan cargadas con bastimentos, y
otras ivan á pescar, y otras valdías, mucho mas se espantáron, porque
no las auian visto, hasta en aquella saçon: y dixéron, que nuestra
venida en esta Nueua España, que no eran cosas de hombres humanos, sino
que la gran misericordia de Dios era quiē nos sostenia.” Bernal Diaz,
Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 145.
[388] “En este instante suspiró Cortés cō vna muy grā tristeza, mui
mayor [~q] la [~q] de antes traia.” Ibid., loc. cit.
[389] “Y Cortés le dixo, que ya veia quantas vezes auia embiado á
México á rogalles con la paz, y que la tristeza no la tenia por sola
vna cosa, sino en pensar en los grandes trabajos en que nos auiamos
de ver, hasta tornar á señorear; y que con la ayuda de Dios presto lo
porniamos por la obra.” Ibid., ubi supra.
[390] Diaz gives the opening _redondillas_ of the _romance_, which I
have not been able to find in any of the printed collections:
“En Tacuba está Cortés,
cō su esquadron esforçado,
triste estaua, y muy penoso,
triste, y con gran cuidado,
la vna mano en la mexilla,
y la otra en el costado,” etc.
It may be thus done into pretty literal doggerel:
In Tacuba stood Cortés,
With many a care opprest,
Thoughts of the past came o’er him,
And he bowed his haughty crest.
One hand upon his cheek he laid,
The other on his breast,
While his valiant squadrons round him, etc.
[391] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 15.--Relacion de
Alonso de Verzara, Escrivano Público de Vera Cruz, MS., dec. 21.
[392] “Haziā Alguazil mayor é Alférez, y Alcaldes, y Regidores, y
Contador, y Tesorero, y Ueedor, y otras cosas deste arte, y aun
repartido entre ellos nuestros bienes, y cauallos.” Bernal Diaz, Hist.
de la Conquista, cap. 146.
[393] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 146.--Oviedo, Hist. de
las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 48.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib.
1, cap. 1.
[394] Herrera, Hist. general, ubi supra.
[395] So says M. de Barante in his picturesque _rifacimento_ of the
ancient chronicles: “Les procès du connétable et de monsieur de
Némours, bien d’autres révélations, avaient fait éclater leur mauvais
vouloir, ou du moins leur peu de fidélité pour le roi; ils ne pouvaient
donc douter qu’il désirât ou complotât leur ruine.” Histoire des Ducs
de Bourgogne (Paris, 1838), tom. xi. p. 169.
[396] “Y desde allí adelante, aunque mostraua gran voluntad á las
personas que eran en la cōjuraciō, siempre se rezelaua dellos.” Bernal
Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 146.
[397] Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los Españoles, p. 19.--Rel. Terc.
de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 234.--“Obra grandíssima,” exclaims
the Conqueror, “y mucho para ver.”--“Fuéron en guarde de estos
bergantines,” adds Camargo, “mas de diez mil hombres de guerra con los
maestros dellas, hasta que los armáron y echáron en el agua y laguna
de Méjico, que fué obra de mucho efecto para tomarse Méjico.” Hist. de
Tlascala, MS.
[398] The brigantines were still to be seen, preserved, as precious
memorials, long after the conquest, in the dock-yards of Mexico.
Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 1, cap. 1.
[399] “Dada la señal, soltó la Presa, fuéron saliendo los Vergantines,
sin tocar vno á otro, i apartándose por la Laguna, desplegáron las
Vanderas, tocó la Música, disparáron su Artillería, respondió la del
Exército, así de Castellanos, como de Indios.” Herrera, Hist. general,
dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 6.
[400] Ibid., ubi supra.--Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p.
234.--Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los Españoles, p. 19.--Oviedo, Hist.
de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 48.--The last-mentioned chronicler
indulges in no slight swell of exultation at this achievement of his
hero, which in his opinion throws into shade the boasted exploits of
the great Sesostris. “Otras muchas é notables cosas, cuenta este actor
que he dicho de aqueste Rey Sesori, en que no me quiero detener, ni
las tengo en tanto como esta tranchea, ó canja que es dicho, y los
Vergantines de que tratamos, los quales diéron ocasion á que se oviesen
mayores Thesoros é Provincias, é Reynos, que no tuvo Sesori, para la
corona Real de Castilla por la industria de Hernando Cortés.” Ibid.,
lib. 33, cap. 22.
[401] Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 234.
[402] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 147.
[403] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.--_Hidalguía_,
besides its legal privileges, brought with it some fanciful ones to its
possessor; if, indeed, it be considered a privilege to have excluded
him from many a humble, but honest, calling, by which the poor man
might have gained his bread. (For an amusing account of these, see
Doblado’s Letters from Spain, let. 2.) In no country has the _poor
gentleman_ afforded so rich a theme for the satirist, as the writings
of Le Sage, Cervantes, and Lope de Vega abundantly show.
[404] “Y los Capitanes de Tascaltecal con toda su gente, muy lúcida,
y bien armada, ... y segun la cuenta, que los Capitanes nos diéron,
pasaban de cinquenta mil Hombres de Guerra.” (Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap.
Lorenzana, p. 236.) “I toda la Gente,” adds Herrera, “tardó tres Dias
en entrar, segun en sus Memoriales dice Alonso de Ojeda, ni con ser
Tezcuco tan gran Ciudad, cabian en ella.” Hist. general, dec. 3, lib.
1, cap. 13.
[405] “Y sus vaderas tēdidas, y el aue blāca [~q] tienen por armas,
[~q] parece águila, con sus alas tendidas.” (Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la
Conquista, cap. 149.) A spread eagle of gold, Clavigero considers as
the arms of the republic. (Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. ii. p.
145.) But, as Bernal Diaz speaks of it as “white,” it may have been the
white heron, which belonged to the house of Xicotencatl.
[406] The precise amount of each division, as given by Cortés, was,--in
that of Alvarado, 30 horse, 168 Castilian infantry, and 25,000
Tlascalans; in that of Olid, 33 horse, 178 infantry, 20,000 Tlascalans;
and in Sandoval’s, 24 horse, 167 infantry, 30,000 Indians. (Rel. Terc.,
ap. Lorenzana, p. 236.) Diaz reduces the number of native troops to
one-third. Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 150.
[407] “Que se alegrassen, y esforzassen mucho, pues que veian, que
nuestro Señor nos encaminaba para haber victoria de nuestros Enemigos:
porque bien sabian, que quando habiamos entrado en Tesaico, no habiamos
trahido mas de quarenta de Caballo, y que Dios nos habia socorrido
mejor, que lo habiamos pensado.” Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana,
p. 235.
[408] Oviedo expands what he nevertheless calls the “brebe é
substancial oracion” of Cortés into treble the length of it as found in
the general’s own pages; in which he is imitated by most of the other
chroniclers. Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 22.
[409] “Y con estas últimas palabras cesó; y todos respondiéron sin
discrepancia, é á una voce dicentes: Sirvanse Dios y el Emperador
nuestro Señor de tan buen capitan, y de nosotros, que así lo harémos
todos como quien somos, y como se debe esperar de buenos Españoles, y
con tanta voluntad, y deseo, dicho que parecia que cada hora les era
perder vn año de tiempo por estar ya á las manos con los Enemigos.”
Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., ubi supra.
[410] According to Diaz, the desire to possess himself of the lands
of his comrade Chichemecatl, who remained with the army (Hist. de
la Conquista, cap. 150); according to Herrera, it was an amour that
carried him home. (Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 17.) Both and
all agree on the chief’s aversion to the Spaniards and to the war.
[411] “Y la respuesta que le embió á dezir fué, que si el viejo de su
padre, y Masse Escaci le huvieran creido, que no se huvieran señoreado
tanto dellos, que les haze hazer todo lo que quiere: _y por no gastar
mas palabras, dixo, que no queria venir_.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la
Conquista, cap. 150.
[412] So says Herrera, who had in his possession the memorial of Ojeda,
one of the Spaniards employed to apprehend the chieftain. (Hist.
general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 17, and Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib.
4, cap. 90.) Bernal Diaz, on the other hand, says that the Tlascalan
chief was taken and executed on the road. (Hist. de la Conquista,
cap. 150.) But the latter chronicler was probably absent at the time
with Alvarado’s division, in which he served. Solís, however, prefers
his testimony, on the ground that Cortés would not have hazarded the
execution of Xicotencatl before the eyes of his own troops. (Conquista,
lib. 5, cap. 19.) But the Tlascalans were already well on their way
towards Tacuba. A very few only could have remained in Tezcuco, which
was occupied by the citizens and the Castilian army,--neither of them
very likely to interfere in the prisoner’s behalf. His execution there
would be an easier matter than in the territory of Tlascala, which he
had probably reached before his apprehension.
[413] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 17.--Torquemada,
Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 90.
[414] “Y sobre ello ya auiamos echado mano á las armas los de nuestra
Capitanía contra los de Christóual de Oli, y aun los Capitanes
desafiados.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 150.{*}
{*} [As they were approaching the town, Olid sent a squad of soldiers
ahead to secure quarters. When Alvarado entered he found every house in
the place already decorated with the green branch upon its roof, which
indicated that it was already occupied. According to Bancroft, Alvarado
and Olid began their march on the 22d of May. He insists that Prescott
was misled by an error in Cortés, Cartas, 208.--M.]
[415] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 150.--Rel. Terc. de
Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 237.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 130.--Oviedo,
Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 22.
[416] The Tepanec capital, shorn of its ancient splendors, is now only
interesting from its historic associations. “These plains of Tacuba,”
says the spirited author of “Life in Mexico,” “once the theatre of
fierce and bloody conflicts, and where, during the siege of Mexico,
Alvarado ‘of the leap’ fixed his camp, now present a very tranquil
scene. Tacuba itself is now a small village of mud huts, with some fine
old trees, a very few old ruined houses, a ruined church, and some
traces of a building, which ---- assured us had been the palace of
their last monarch; whilst others declare it to have been the site of
the Spanish encampment.” Vol. i. let. 13.
[417] Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 237-239.--Ixtlilxochitl,
Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 94.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib.
33, cap. 22.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 50.--Gomara,
Crónica, cap. 130.--Clavigero settles this date at the day of Corpus
Christi, May 30th. (Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. iii. p. 196.)
But the Spaniards left Tezcuco May 10th, according to Cortés; and three
weeks could not have intervened between their departure and their
occupation of Cojohuacan. Clavigero disposes of this difficulty, it is
true, by dating the beginning of their march on the 20th instead of the
10th of May; following the chronology of Herrera, instead of that of
Cortés. Surely the general is the better authority of the two.