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Montezuma Edition
THE WORKS OF WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT
TWENTY-TWO VOLUMES
VOL. II
_The Montezuma Edition of William H. Prescott’s Works is limited to one
thousand copies, of which this is_
No. 345
[Illustration: _Copyright 1904, by J.B. Lippincott Company_ _Goupil &
Cº., Paris_]
[Illustration: THE MEETING OF CORTÉS AND MONTEZUMA
Page 254]
_Montezuma Edition_
HISTORY OF THE
Conquest of Mexico
BY
WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT
EDITED BY
WILFRED HAROLD MUNRO
PROFESSOR OF EUROPEAN HISTORY IN BROWN UNIVERSITY
AND COMPRISING THE NOTES OF THE EDITION BY
JOHN FOSTER KIRK
“Victrices aquilas alium laturus in orbem”
LUCAN, Pharsalia, lib. v., v. 238
VOL. II
PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
Copyright, 1843, by WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT
Copyright, 1871, by WILLIAM G. PRESCOTT
Copyright, 1873, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.
Copyright, 1904, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
Electrotyped and Printed by
J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, U.S.A.
CONTENTS OF VOL. II
BOOK II
DISCOVERY OF MEXICO
(CONTINUED)
CHAPTER VI
ACCOUNT OF MONTEZUMA--STATE OF HIS EMPIRE--STRANGE
PROGNOSTICS--EMBASSY AND PRESENTS--SPANISH ENCAMPMENT
PAGE
Montezuma then upon the Throne 3
Inaugural Address 4
The Wars of Montezuma 5
His civil Policy 6
Oppression of his Subjects 7
Foes of his Empire 8
Superstition of Montezuma 9
Mysterious Prophecy 10
Portentous Omens 11
Dismay of the Emperor 12
Embassy and presents to the Spaniards 14
Life in the Spanish Camp 15
Rich Present from Montezuma 16
Large gold Wheels 17
Message from Montezuma 18
Effects of the Treasure on the Spaniards 20
Return of the Aztec Envoys 21
Prohibition of Montezuma 22
Preaching of Father Olmedo 23
Desertion of the Natives 23
CHAPTER VII
TROUBLES IN THE CAMP--PLAN OF A COLONY--MANAGEMENT OF
CORTÉS--MARCH TO CEMPOALLA--PROCEEDINGS WITH THE NATIVES--FOUNDATION
OF VERA CRUZ
Discontent of the Soldiery 24
Envoys from the Totonacs 25
Dissensions in the Aztec Empire 26
Proceedings in the Camp 26
Cortés prepares to return to Cuba 27
Army remonstrate 28
Cortés yields 29
Foundation of Villa Rica 30
Resignation and Reappointment of Cortés 31
Divisions in the Camp 32
General Reconciliation 33
March to Cempoalla 34
Picturesque Scenery 35
Remains of Victims 35
Terrestrial Paradise 36
Love of Flowers by the Natives 37
Their splendid Edifices 38
Hospitable Entertainment at Cempoalla 39
Conference with the Cacique 40
Proposals of Alliance 41
Advance of the Spaniards 43
Arrival of Aztec Nobles 44
Artful Policy of Cortés 45
Allegiance of the Natives 46
City of Villa Rica built 47
Infatuation of the Indians 48
CHAPTER VIII
ANOTHER AZTEC EMBASSY--DESTRUCTION OF THE IDOLS--DESPATCHES
SENT TO SPAIN--CONSPIRACY IN THE CAMP--THE FLEET SUNK
Embassy from Montezuma 49
Its Results 50
Severe Discipline in the Army 51
Gratitude of the Cempoallan Cacique 52
Attempt at Conversion 53
Sensation among the Natives 54
The Idols burned 55
Consecration of the Sanctuary 56
News from Cuba 57
Presents for Charles the Fifth 58
First Letter of Cortés 59
Despatches to Spain 61
Agents for the Mission 62
Departure of the Ship 63
It touches at Cuba 64
Rage of Velasquez 64
Ship arrives in Spain 65
Conspiracy in the Camp 66
Destruction of the Fleet 67
Oration of Cortés 69
Enthusiasm of the Army 70
Notice of Las Casas 72
His Life and Character 73
Criticism on his Works 79
BOOK III
MARCH TO MEXICO
CHAPTER I
PROCEEDINGS AT CEMPOALLA--THE SPANIARDS CLIMB THE TABLELAND--PICTURESQUE
SCENERY--TRANSACTIONS WITH THE NATIVES--EMBASSY TO TLASCALA
Squadron off the Coast 83
Stratagem of Cortés 85
Arrangement at Villa Rica 86
Spaniards begin their March 87
Climb the Cordilleras 88
Wild Mountain Scenery 89
Immense Heaps of human Skulls 93
Transactions with the Natives 94
Accounts of Montezuma’s Power 95
Moderation of Father Olmedo 97
Indian Dwellings 99
Cortés determines his Route 100
Embassy to Tlascala 101
Remarkable Fortification 102
Arrival in Tlascala 103
CHAPTER II
REPUBLIC OF TLASCALA--ITS INSTITUTIONS--EARLY HISTORY--DISCUSSIONS
IN THE SENATE--DESPERATE BATTLES
The Tlascalans 104
Their Migrations 105
Their Government 106
Public Games 107
Order of Knighthood 108
Internal Resources 108
Their Civilization 109
Struggles with the Aztecs 110
Means of Defence 111
Sufferings of the Tlascalans 112
Their hardy Character 113
Debates in the Senate 114
Spaniards advance 115
Desperate Onslaught 116
Retreat of the Indians 117
Bivouac of the Spaniards 118
The Army resumes its March 119
Immense Host of Barbarians 120
Bloody Conflict in the Pass 121
Enemy give Ground 122
Spaniards clear the Pass 123
Cessation of Hostilities 124
Results of the Conflict 125
Troops encamp for the Night 126
CHAPTER III
DECISIVE VICTORY--INDIAN COUNCIL--NIGHT ATTACK--NEGOTIATIONS
WITH THE ENEMY--TLASCALAN HERO
Envoys to Tlascala 127
Foraging Party 128
Bold Defiance by the Tlascalans 129
Preparations for Battle 130
Appearance of the Tlascalans 131
Showy Costume of the Warriors 132
Their Weapons 134
Desperate Engagement 136
The Combat thickens 137
Divisions among the Enemy 138
Decisive Victory 139
Triumph of Science over Numbers 140
Dread of the Cavalry 140
Indian Council 142
Night Attack 143
Spaniards victorious 144
Embassy to Tlascala 145
Peace with the Enemy 145
Patriotic Spirit of their Chief 146
CHAPTER IV
DISCONTENT IN THE ARMY--TLASCALAN SPIES--PEACE WITH THE
REPUBLIC--EMBASSY FROM MONTEZUMA
Spaniards scour the Country 147
Success of the Foray 148
Discontent in the Camp 149
Representations of the Malecontents 150
Reply of Cortés 151
Difficulties of the Enterprise 153
Mutilation of the Spies 154
Interview with the Tlascalan Chief 156
Peace with the Republic 158
Embassy from Montezuma 159
Declines to receive the Spaniards 160
They advance towards the City 161
CHAPTER V
SPANIARDS ENTER TLASCALA--DESCRIPTION OF THE CAPITAL--ATTEMPTED
CONVERSION--AZTEC EMBASSY--INVITED TO CHOLULA
Spaniards enter Tlascala 164
Rejoicings on their Arrival 165
Description of Tlascala 166
Its Houses and Streets 166
Its Fairs and Police 167
Divisions of the City 167
Wild Scenery round Tlascala 168
Character of the Tlascalans 169
Vigilance of Cortés 169
Attempted Conversion 170
Resistance of the Natives 170
Zeal of Cortés 171
Prudence of the Friar 171
Character of Olmedo 172
Mass celebrated in Tlascala 173
The Indian Maidens 174
Aztec Embassy 175
Power of Montezuma 176
Embassy from Ixtlilxochitl 177
Deputies from Cholula 178
Invitation to Cholula 178
Prepare to leave Tlascala 179
CHAPTER VI
CITY OF CHOLULA--GREAT TEMPLE--MARCH TO CHOLULA--RECEPTION
OF THE SPANIARDS--CONSPIRACY DETECTED
City of Cholula 180
Its History 181
Religious Traditions 182
Its ancient Pyramid 183
Temple of Quetzalcoatl 184
Holy City 185
Magnificent Scenery 187
Spaniards leave Tlascala 188
Indian Volunteers 189
Army enters Cholula 190
Brilliant Reception 191
Envoys from Montezuma 192
Suspicions of Conspiracy 193
Fidelity of Marina 194
Alarming Situation of Cortés 195
Intrigues with the Priests 196
Interview with the Caciques 197
Night-watch of the Spaniards 198
CHAPTER VII
TERRIBLE MASSACRE--TRANQUILLITY RESTORED--REFLECTIONS ON
THE MASSACRE--FURTHER PROCEEDINGS--ENVOYS FROM MONTEZUMA
Preparations for a secret Assault 200
Natives collect in the Square 200
The Signal given 201
Terrible Massacre 202
Onset of the Tlascalans 203
Defence of the Pyramid 204
Division of the Spoil 205
Restoration of Order 206
Reflections on the Massacre 207
Right of Conquest 208
Missionary Spirit 209
Policy of Cortés 211
His perilous Situation 212
Cruelty to be charged on him 212
Terror of “the White Gods” 215
The Cross raised in Cholula 217
Victims liberated from the Cages 217
Christian Temple reared on the Pyramid 217
Embassy from Montezuma 218
Departure of the Cempoallans 219
CHAPTER VIII
MARCH RESUMED--ASCENT OF THE GREAT VOLCANO--VALLEY OF
MEXICO--IMPRESSION ON THE SPANIARDS--CONDUCT OF MONTEZUMA--THEY
DESCEND INTO THE VALLEY
Spaniards leave Cholula 221
Signs of Treachery 222
The Army reaches the Mountains 223
Wild Traditions 223
The great Volcano 224
Spaniards ascend its Sides 225
Perils of the Enterprise 226
Subsequent Ascent 227
Descent into the Crater 228
The Troops suffer from the Tempest 229
First View of the Valley 230
Its Magnificence and Beauty 230
Impression on the Spaniards 232
Disaffection of the Natives to Montezuma 233
Embassy from the Emperor 234
His gloomy Apprehensions 234
Silence of the Oracles 235
Spaniards advance 236
Death of the Spies 237
Arrival of the Tezcucan Lord 238
Floating Gardens 240
Crowds assembled on the Roads 241
Army reaches Iztapalapan 242
Its celebrated Gardens 243
Striking View of Mexico 245
CHAPTER IX
ENVIRONS OF MEXICO--INTERVIEW WITH MONTEZUMA--ENTRANCE
INTO THE CAPITAL--HOSPITABLE RECEPTION--VISIT TO THE
EMPEROR
Preparations to enter the Capital 246
Army enters on the great Causeway 247
Beautiful Environs 248
Brilliant Procession of Chiefs 249
Splendid Retinue of Montezuma 250
Dress of the Emperor 252
His Person 252
His Reception of Cortés 253
Spaniards enter the Capital 254
Feelings of the Aztecs 256
Hospitable Reception 258
The Spanish Quarters 259
Precaution of the General 259
Visited by the Emperor 260
His rich Presents 261
Superstitious Terrors 262
Royal Palace 263
Description of its Interior 264
Cortés visits Montezuma 265
Attempts to convert the Monarch 265
Entire Failure 266
His religious Views 267
Montezuma’s Eloquence 268
His courteous Bearing 269
Reflections of Cortés 270
Notice of Herrera 272
Criticism on his History 274
Life of Toribio 274
Peter Martyr 277
His Works 278
BOOK IV
RESIDENCE IN MEXICO
CHAPTER I
TEZCUCAN LAKE--DESCRIPTION OF THE CAPITAL--PALACES AND
MUSEUMS--ROYAL HOUSEHOLD--MONTEZUMA’S WAY OF LIFE
Lake of Tezcuco 281
Its Diminution 282
Floating Islands 283
The ancient Dikes 284
Houses of ancient Mexico 285
Its Streets 286
Its Population 288
Its Aqueducts and Fountains 292
The imperial Palace 293
Adjoining Edifices 294
Magnificent Aviary 294
Extensive Menagerie 295
Collection of Dwarfs 296
Gardens 297
Royal Hill of Chapoltepec 298
Wives of Montezuma 299
His Meals 300
Luxurious Dessert 303
Custom of Smoking 304
Ceremonies at Court 305
Economy of the Palace 306
Oriental Civilization 308
Reserve of Montezuma 309
Symptoms of Decline of Power 309
CHAPTER II
MARKET OF MEXICO--GREAT TEMPLE--INTERIOR SANCTUARIES--SPANISH
QUARTERS
Mexican Costume 311
Great Market of Mexico 312
Quarter of the Goldsmiths 313
Booths of the Armorers 314
Provisions for the Capital 315
Throngs in the Market 317
Aztec Money 318
The great Temple 319
Its Structure 320
Dimensions 321
Instruments of Worship 322
Grand View from the Temple 323
Shrines of the Idols 325
Imprudence of Cortés 327
Interior Sanctuaries 328
Mound of Skulls 329
Aztec Seminaries 330
Impression on the Spaniards 332
Hidden Treasures 333
Mass performed in Mexico 334
CHAPTER III
ANXIETY OF CORTÉS--SEIZURE OF MONTEZUMA--HIS TREATMENT
BY THE SPANIARDS--EXECUTION OF HIS OFFICERS--MONTEZUMA
IN IRONS--REFLECTIONS
Anxiety of Cortés 335
Council of War 336
Opinions of the Officers 337
Bold Project of Cortés 337
Plausible Pretext 338
Interview with Montezuma 341
Accusation of Montezuma 342
His Seizure 345
He is carried to the Spanish Quarters 346
Tumult among the Aztecs 346
Montezuma’s Treatment 347
Vigilant Patrol 348
Trial of the Aztec Chiefs 350
Montezuma in Irons 351
Chiefs burnt at the Stake 351
Emperor allowed to return 352
Declines this Permission 353
Reflections on these Proceedings 354
Views of the Conquerors 356
CHAPTER IV
MONTEZUMA’S DEPORTMENT--HIS LIFE IN THE SPANISH QUARTERS--MEDITATED
INSURRECTION--LORD OF TEZCUCO SEIZED--FURTHER MEASURES OF CORTES
Troubles at Vera Cruz 358
Vessels built on the Lake 359
Montezuma’s Life in the Spanish Quarters 360
His Munificence 361
Sensitive to Insult 362
The Emperor’s Favorites 363
Spaniards attempt his Conversion 364
Brigantines on the Lake 365
The Royal Chase 365
Lord of Tezcuco 366
Meditated Insurrection 368
Policy of Cortés 369
Tezcucan Lord in Chains 370
Further Measures of Cortés 371
Surveys the Coast 372
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
THE MEETING OF CORTÉS AND MONTEZUMA _Frontispiece_
From a painting especially made for this edition by L. Kowalsky.
CORTÉS RECEIVING THE EMBASSY OF MONTEZUMA 14
After the painting in the National Museum at Mexico.
CORTÉS SINKING HIS SHIPS 70
After the painting by F. Sans.
AUDIENCE OF CORTÉS WITH MONTEZUMA 260
After the painting in the National Museum at Mexico.
MAP OF THE VALLEY OF MEXICO AT THE PERIOD OF THE CONQUEST 281
MONTEZUMA 304
After the portrait published by Fray Prudentio Sandoval in
his “History of Charles V.,” edition of 1614.
BOOK II
DISCOVERY OF MEXICO
(CONTINUED)
CONQUEST OF MEXICO
CHAPTER VI
ACCOUNT OF MONTEZUMA--STATE OF HIS EMPIRE--STRANGE
PROGNOSTICS--EMBASSY AND PRESENTS--SPANISH ENCAMPMENT
1519
We must now take leave of the Spanish camp in the _tierra caliente_, and
transport ourselves to the distant capital of Mexico, where no little
sensation was excited by the arrival of the wonderful strangers on the
coast. The Aztec throne was filled at that time by Montezuma the Second,
nephew of the last, and grandson of a preceding monarch. He had been
elected to the regal dignity{*} in 1502, in preference to his brothers,
for his superior qualifications both as a soldier and a priest,--a
combination of offices sometimes found in the Mexican candidates, as it
was more frequently in the Egyptian. In early youth he had taken an
active part in the wars of the empire, though of late he had devoted
himself more exclusively to the services of the temple; and he was
scrupulous in his attentions to all the burdensome ceremonial of the
Aztec worship. He maintained a grave and reserved demeanor, speaking
little and with prudent deliberation. His deportment was well calculated
to inspire ideas of superior sanctity.[1]
{*} [“Chief of men.”--M.]
When his election was announced to him, he was found sweeping down the
stairs in the great temple of the national war-god. He received the
messengers with a becoming humility, professing his unfitness for so
responsible a station. The address delivered as usual on the occasion
was made by his relative Nezahualpilli, the wise king of Tezcuco.[2] It
has, fortunately, been preserved, and presents a favorable specimen of
Indian eloquence. Towards the conclusion, the orator exclaims, “Who can
doubt that the Aztec empire has reached the zenith of its greatness,
since the Almighty has placed over it one whose very presence fills
every beholder with reverence? Rejoice, happy people, that you have now
a sovereign who will be to you a steady column of support; a father in
distress, a more than brother in tenderness and sympathy; one whose
aspiring soul will disdain all the profligate pleasures of the senses
and the wasting indulgence of sloth. And thou, illustrious youth, doubt
not that the Creator, who has laid on thee so weighty a charge, will
also give strength to sustain it; that He, who has been so liberal in
times past, will shower yet more abundant blessings on thy head, and
keep thee firm in thy royal seat through many long and glorious years.”
These golden prognostics, which melted the royal auditor into tears,
were not destined to be realized.[3]
Montezuma displayed all the energy and enterprise in the commencement of
his reign which had been anticipated from him. His first expedition
against a rebel province in the neighborhood was crowned with success,
and he led back in triumph a throng of captives for the bloody sacrifice
that was to grace his coronation. This was celebrated with uncommon
pomp. Games and religious ceremonies continued for several days, and
among the spectators who flocked from distant quarters were some noble
Tlascalans, the hereditary enemies of Mexico. They were in disguise,
hoping thus to elude detection. They were recognized, however, and
reported to the monarch. But he only availed himself of the information
to provide them with honorable entertainment and a good place for
witnessing the games. This was a magnanimous act, considering the
long-cherished hostility between the nations.
In his first years, Montezuma was constantly engaged in war, and
frequently led his armies in person. The Aztec banners were seen in the
farthest provinces on the Gulf of Mexico, and the distant regions of
Nicaragua and Honduras. The expeditions were generally successful; and
the limits of the empire were more widely extended than at any preceding
period.
Meanwhile the monarch was not inattentive to the interior concerns of
the kingdom. He made some important changes in the courts of justice,
and carefully watched over the execution of the laws, which he enforced
with stern severity. He was in the habit of patrolling the streets of
his capital in disguise, to make himself personally acquainted with the
abuses in it. And with more questionable policy, it is said, he would
sometimes try the integrity of his judges by tempting them with large
bribes to swerve from their duty, and then call the delinquent to strict
account for yielding to the temptation.
He liberally recompensed all who served him. He showed a similar
munificent spirit in his public works, constructing and embellishing the
temples, bringing water into the capital by a new channel, and
establishing a hospital, or retreat for invalid soldiers, in the city of
Colhuacan.[4]
These acts, so worthy of a great prince, were counterbalanced by others
of an opposite complexion. The humility, displayed so ostentatiously
before his elevation, gave way to an intolerable arrogance. In his
pleasure-houses, domestic establishment, and way of living, he assumed a
pomp unknown to his predecessors. He secluded himself from public
observation, or, when he went abroad, exacted the most slavish homage;
while in the palace he would be served only, even in the most menial
offices, by persons of rank. He, further, dismissed several plebeians,
chiefly poor soldiers of merit, from the places they had occupied near
the person of his predecessor, considering their attendance a dishonor
to royalty. It was in vain that his oldest and sagest counsellors
remonstrated on a conduct so impolitic.
While he thus disgusted his subjects by his haughty deportment, he
alienated their affections by the imposition of grievous taxes. These
were demanded by the lavish expenditure of his court. They fell with
peculiar heaviness on the conquered cities. This oppression led to
frequent insurrection and resistance; and the latter years of his reign
present a scene of unintermitting hostility, in which the forces of one
half of the empire were employed in suppressing the commotions of the
other. Unfortunately, there was no principle of amalgamation by which
the new acquisitions could be incorporated into the ancient monarchy as
parts of one whole.{*} Their interests, as well as sympathies, were
different. Thus the more widely the Aztec empire was extended, the
weaker it became; resembling some vast and ill-proportioned edifice,
whose disjointed materials, having no principle of cohesion, and
tottering under their own weight, seem ready to fall before the first
blast of the tempest.
{*} [They were held as subject pueblos. See note, p. 23, vol. i.--M.]
In 1516 died the Tezcucan king, Nezahualpilli; in whom Montezuma lost
his most sagacious counsellor. The succession was contested by his two
sons, Cacama and Ixtlilxochitl. The former was supported by Montezuma.
The latter, the younger of the princes, a bold, aspiring youth,
appealing to the patriotic sentiment of his nation, would have persuaded
them that his brother was too much in the Mexican interests to be true
to his own country. A civil war ensued, and ended by a compromise, by
which one half of the kingdom, with the capital, remained to Cacama, and
the northern portion to his ambitious rival. Ixtlilxochitl became from
that time the mortal foe of Montezuma.[5]
A more formidable enemy still was the little republic of Tlascala,{*}
lying midway between the Mexican Valley and the coast. It had maintained
its independence for more than two centuries against the allied forces
of the empire. Its resources were unimpaired, its civilization scarcely
below that of its great rival states, and for courage and military
prowess it had established a name inferior to none other of the nations
of Anahuac.
{*} [Tlascala was not a republic but a pueblo. It was divided into four
phratries. Clavigero says (Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. i. p. 155) that
it was divided into four parts, each division having its lord.--M.]
Such was the condition of the Aztec monarchy on the arrival of
Cortés;--the people disgusted with the arrogance of the sovereign; the
provinces and distant cities outraged by fiscal exactions; while potent
enemies in the neighborhood lay watching the hour when they might assail
their formidable rival with advantage. Still the kingdom was strong in
its internal resources, in the will of its monarch, in the long habitual
deference to his authority,--in short, in the terror of his name, and in
the valor and discipline of his armies, grown gray in active service,
and well drilled in all the tactics of Indian warfare. The time had now
come when these imperfect tactics and rude weapons of the barbarian were
to be brought into collision with the science and enginery of the most
civilized nations of the globe.
During the latter years of his reign, Montezuma had rarely taken part in
his military expeditions, which he left to his captains, occupying
himself chiefly with his sacerdotal functions. Under no prince had the
priesthood enjoyed greater consideration and immunities. The religious
festivals and rites were celebrated with unprecedented pomp. The oracles
were consulted on the most trivial occasions; and the sanguinary deities
were propitiated by hecatombs of victims dragged in triumph to the
capital from the conquered or rebellious provinces. The religion, or, to
speak correctly, the superstition of Montezuma proved a principal cause
of his calamities.
In a preceding chapter I have noticed the popular traditions respecting
Quetzalcoatl, that deity with a fair complexion and flowing beard, so
unlike the Indian physiognomy, who, after fulfilling his mission of
benevolence among the Aztecs, embarked on the Atlantic Sea for the
mysterious shores of Tlapallan.[6] He promised, on his departure, to
return at some future day with his posterity, and resume the possession
of his empire. That day was looked forward to with hope or with
apprehension, according to the interest of the believer, but with
general confidence, throughout the wide borders of Anahuac. Even after
the Conquest it still lingered among the Indian races, by whom it was as
fondly cherished as the advent of their king Sebastian continued to be
by the Portuguese, or that of the Messiah by the Jews.[7]
A general feeling seems to have prevailed in the time of Montezuma that
the period for the return of the deity and the full accomplishment of
his promise was near at hand. This conviction is said to have gained
ground from various preternatural occurrences, reported with more or
less detail by all the most ancient historians.[8] In 1510 the great
lake of Tezcuco, without the occurrence of a tempest, or earthquake, or
any other visible cause, became violently agitated, overflowed its
banks, and, pouring into the streets of Mexico, swept off many of the
buildings by the fury of the waters. In 1511 one of the turrets of the
great temple took fire, equally without any apparent cause, and
continued to burn in defiance of all attempts to extinguish it. In the
following years, three comets were seen; and not long before the coming
of the Spaniards a strange light broke forth in the east. It spread
broad at its base on the horizon, and rising in a pyramidal form tapered
off as it approached the zenith. It resembled a vast sheet or flood of
fire, emitting sparkles, or, as an old writer expresses it, “seemed
thickly powdered with stars.”[9] At the same time, low voices were heard
in the air, and doleful wailings, as if to announce some strange,
mysterious calamity! The Aztec monarch, terrified at the apparitions in
the heavens, took counsel of Nezahualpilli, who was a great proficient
in the subtle science of astrology. But the royal sage cast a deeper
cloud over his spirit by reading in these prodigies the speedy downfall
of the empire.[10]
Such are the strange stories reported by the chroniclers, in which it is
not impossible to detect the glimmerings of truth.[11] Nearly thirty
years had elapsed since the discovery of the Islands by Columbus, and
more than twenty since his visit to the American continent. Rumors, more
or less distinct, of this wonderful appearance of the white men, bearing
in their hands the thunder and the lightning, so like in many respects
to the traditions of Quetzalcoatl, would naturally spread far and wide
among the Indian nations. Such rumors, doubtless, long before the
landing of the Spaniards in Mexico, found their way up the grand
plateau, filling the minds of men with anticipations of the near coming
of the period when the great deity was to return and receive his own
again.
In the excited state of their imaginations, prodigies became a familiar
occurrence. Or rather, events not very uncommon in themselves, seen
through the discolored medium of fear, were easily magnified into
prodigies; and the accidental swell of the lake, the appearance of a
comet, and the conflagration of a building were all interpreted as the
special annunciations of Heaven.[12] Thus it happens in those great
political convulsions which shake the foundations of society,--the
mighty events that cast their shadows before them in their coming. Then
it is that the atmosphere is agitated with the low, prophetic murmurs
with which Nature, in the moral as in the physical world, announces the
march of the hurricane:
“When from the shores
And forest-rustling mountains comes a voice,
That, solemn sounding, bids the world prepare!”
When tidings were brought to the capital of the landing of Grijalva on
the coast, in the preceding year, the heart of Montezuma was filled with
dismay. He felt as if the destinies which had so long brooded over the
royal line of Mexico were to be accomplished, and the sceptre was to
pass away from his house forever. Though somewhat relieved by the
departure of the Spaniards, he caused sentinels to be stationed on the
heights; and, when the Europeans returned under Cortés, he doubtless
received the earliest notice of the unwelcome event. It was by his
orders, however, that the provincial governor had prepared so hospitable
a reception for them. The hieroglyphical report of these strange
visitors, now forwarded to the capital, revived all his apprehensions.
He called, without delay, a meeting of his principal counsellors,
including the kings of Tezcuco and Tlacopan, and laid the matter before
them.[13]
There seems to have been much division of opinion in that body. Some
were for resisting the strangers at once, whether by fraud or by open
force. Others contended that, if they were supernatural beings, fraud
and force would be alike useless. If they were, as they pretended,
ambassadors from a foreign prince, such a policy would be cowardly and
unjust. That they were not of the family of Quetzalcoatl was argued from
the fact that they had shown themselves hostile to his religion; for
tidings of the proceedings of the Spaniards in Tabasco, it seems, had
already reached the capital. Among those in favor of giving them a
friendly and honorable reception was the Tezcucan king, Cacama.
But Montezuma, taking counsel of his own ill-defined apprehensions,
preferred a half-way course,--as usual, the most impolitic. He resolved
to send an embassy, with such a magnificent present to the strangers as
should impress them with high ideas of his grandeur and resources; while
at the same time he would forbid their approach to the capital. This was
to reveal at once both his wealth and his weakness.[14]
While the Aztec court was thus agitated by the arrival of the Spaniards,
they were passing their time in the _tierra caliente_, not a little
annoyed by the excessive heats and suffocating atmosphere of the sandy
waste on which they were encamped. They experienced every alleviation
that could be derived from the attentions of the friendly natives.
These, by the governor’s command, had constructed more than a thousand
huts or booths of branches and matting, which they occupied in the
[Illustration: CORTÉS RECEIVING THE EMBASSY OF MONTEZUMA]
[Illustration]
neighborhood of the camp. Here they prepared various articles of food
for the table of Cortés and his officers, without any recompense; while
the common soldiers easily obtained a supply for themselves, in exchange
for such trifles as they brought with them for barter. Thus the camp was
liberally provided with meat and fish dressed in many savory ways, with
cakes of corn, bananas, pine-apples, and divers luscious vegetables of
the tropics, hitherto unknown to the Spaniards. The soldiers contrived,
moreover, to obtain many little bits of gold, of no great value, indeed,
from the natives; a traffic very displeasing to the partisans of
Velasquez, who considered it an invasion of his rights. Cortés, however,
did not think it prudent, in this matter, to balk the inclinations of
his followers.[15]
At the expiration of seven, or eight days at most, the Mexican embassy
presented itself before the camp. It may seem an incredibly short space
of time, considering the distance of the capital was nearly seventy
leagues. But it may be remembered that tidings were carried there by
means of posts, as already noticed, in the brief space of
four-and-twenty hours;[16] and four or five days would suffice for the
descent of the envoys to the coast, accustomed as the Mexicans were to
long and rapid travelling. At all events, no writer states the period
occupied by the Indian emissaries on this occasion as longer than that
mentioned.
The embassy, consisting of two Aztec nobles, was accompanied by the
governor, Teuhtlile, and by a hundred slaves, bearing the princely gifts
of Montezuma. One of the envoys had been selected on account of the
great resemblance which, as appeared from the painting representing the
camp, he bore to the Spanish commander. And it is a proof of the
fidelity of the painting, that the soldiers recognized the resemblance,
and always distinguished the chief by the name of the “Mexican Cortés.”
On entering the general’s pavilion, the ambassadors saluted him and his
officers with the usual signs of reverence to persons of great
consideration, touching the ground with their hands and then carrying
them to their heads, while the air was filled with clouds of incense,
which rose up from the censers borne by their attendants. Some
delicately wrought mats of the country (_petates_) were then unrolled,
and on them the slaves displayed the various articles they had brought.
They were of the most miscellaneous kind: shields, helmets, cuirasses,
embossed with plates and ornaments of pure gold; collars and bracelets
of the same metal, sandals, fans, _panaches_ and crests of variegated
feathers, intermingled with gold and silver thread, and sprinkled with
pearls and precious stones; imitations of birds and animals in wrought
and cast gold and silver, of exquisite workmanship; curtains, coverlets,
and robes of cotton, fine as silk, of rich and various dyes, interwoven
with feather-work that rivalled the delicacy of painting.[17] There
were more than thirty loads of cotton cloth in addition. Among the
articles was the Spanish helmet sent to the capital, and now returned
filled to the brim with grains of gold. But the things which excited the
most admiration were two circular plates of gold and silver, “as large
as carriage-wheels.” One, representing the sun, was richly carved with
plants and animals,--no doubt, denoting the Aztec century. It was thirty
palms in circumference, and was valued at twenty thousand _pesos de
oro_. The silver wheel, of the same size, weighed fifty marks.[18]
The Spaniards could not conceal their rapture at the exhibition of
treasures which so far surpassed all the dreams in which they had
indulged. For, rich as were the materials, they were exceeded--according
to the testimony of those who saw these articles afterwards in Seville,
where they could coolly examine them--by the beauty and richness of the
workmanship.[19]
When Cortés and his officers had completed their survey, the ambassadors
courteously delivered the message of Montezuma. “It gave their master
great pleasure,” they said, “to hold this communication with so powerful
a monarch as the King of Spain, for whom he felt the most profound
respect. He regretted much that he could not enjoy a personal interview
with the Spaniards, but the distance of his capital was too great; since
the journey was beset with difficulties, and with too many dangers from
formidable enemies, to make it possible. All that could be done,
therefore, was for the strangers to return to their own land, with the
proofs thus afforded them of his friendly disposition.”
Cortés, though much chagrined at this decided refusal of Montezuma to
admit his visit, concealed his mortification as he best might, and
politely expressed his sense of the emperor’s munificence. “It made him
only the more desirous,” he said, “to have a personal interview with
him. He should feel it, indeed, impossible to present himself again
before his own sovereign, without having accomplished this great object
of his voyage; and one who had sailed over two thousand leagues of ocean
held lightly the perils and fatigues of so short a journey by land.” He
once more requested them to become the bearers of his message to their
master, together with a slight additional token of his respect.
This consisted of a few fine Holland shirts, a Florentine goblet, gilt
and somewhat curiously enamelled, with some toys of little value,--a
sorry return for the solid magnificence of the royal present. The
ambassadors may have thought as much. At least, they showed no alacrity
in charging themselves either with the present or the message, and, on
quitting the Castilian quarters, repeated their assurance that the
general’s application would be unavailing.[20]
The splendid treasure, which now lay dazzling the eyes of the Spaniards,
raised in their bosom very different emotions, according to the
difference of their characters. Some it stimulated with the ardent
desire to strike at once into the interior and possess themselves of a
country which teemed with such boundless stores of wealth. Others looked
on it as the evidence of a power altogether too formidable to be
encountered with their present insignificant force. They thought,
therefore, it would be most prudent to return and report their
proceedings to the governor of Cuba, where preparations could be made
commensurate with so vast an undertaking. There can be little doubt as
to the impression made on the bold spirit of Cortés, on which
difficulties ever operated as incentives, rather than discouragements,
to enterprise. But he prudently said nothing,--at least in
public,--preferring that so important a movement should flow from the
determination of his whole army, rather than from his own individual
impulse.
Meanwhile the soldiers suffered greatly from the inconveniences of their
position amidst burning sands and the pestilent effluvia of the
neighboring marshes, while the venomous insects of these hot regions
left them no repose, day or night. Thirty of their number had already
sickened and died; a loss that could ill be afforded by the little band.
To add to their troubles, the coldness of the Mexican chiefs had
extended to their followers; and the supplies for the camp were not only
much diminished, but the prices set on them were exorbitant. The
position was equally unfavorable for the shipping, which lay in an open
roadstead, exposed to the fury of the first _norte_ which should sweep
the Mexican Gulf.
The general was induced by these circumstances to despatch two vessels,
under Francisco de Montejo, with the experienced Alaminos for his pilot,
to explore the coast in a northerly direction, and see if a safer port
and more commodious quarters for the army could not be found there.
After the lapse of ten days the Mexican envoys returned. They entered
the Spanish quarters with the same formality as on the former visit,
bearing with them an additional present of rich stuffs and metallic
ornaments, which, though inferior in value to those before brought, were
estimated at three thousand ounces of gold. Besides these, there were
four precious stones, of a considerable size, resembling emeralds,
called by the natives _chalchuites_, each of which, as they assured the
Spaniards, was worth more than a load of gold, and was designed as a
mark of particular respect for the Spanish monarch.[21] Unfortunately,
they were not worth as many loads of earth in Europe.
Montezuma’s answer was in substance the same as before. It contained a
positive prohibition for the strangers to advance nearer to the capital,
and expressed his confidence that, now they had obtained what they had
most desired, they would return to their own country without unnecessary
delay. Cortés received this unpalatable response courteously, though
somewhat coldly, and, turning to his officers, exclaimed, “This is a
rich and powerful prince indeed; yet it shall go hard but we will one
day pay him a visit in his capital!”
While they were conversing, the bell struck for vespers. At the sound,
the soldiers, throwing themselves on their knees, offered up their
orisons before the large wooden cross planted in the sands. As the Aztec
chiefs gazed with curious surprise, Cortés thought it a favorable
occasion to impress them with what he conceived to be a principal object
of his visit to the country. Father Olmedo accordingly expounded, as
briefly and clearly as he could, the great doctrines of Christianity,
touching on the atonement, the passion, and the resurrection, and
concluding with assuring his astonished audience that it was their
intention to extirpate the idolatrous practices of the nation and to
substitute the pure worship of the true God. He then put into their
hands a little image of the Virgin with the infant Redeemer, requesting
them to place it in their temples instead of their sanguinary deities.
How far the Aztec lords comprehended the mysteries of the faith, as
conveyed through the double version of Aguilar and Marina, or how well
they perceived the subtle distinctions between their own images and
those of the Roman Church, we are not informed. There is reason to fear,
however, that the seed fell on barren ground; for, when the homily of
the good father ended, they withdrew with an air of dubious reserve very
different from their friendly manners at the first interview. The same
night every hut was deserted by the natives, and the Spaniards saw
themselves suddenly cut off from supplies in the midst of a desolate
wilderness. The movement had so suspicious an appearance that Cortés
apprehended an attack would be made on his quarters, and took
precautions accordingly. But none was meditated.
The army was at length cheered by the return of Montejo from his
exploring expedition, after an absence of twelve days. He had run down
the Gulf as far as Panuco, where he experienced such heavy gales, in
attempting to double that headland, that he was driven back, and had
nearly foundered. In the whole course of the voyage he had found only
one place tolerably sheltered from the north winds. Fortunately, the
adjacent country, well watered by fresh, running streams, afforded a
favorable position for the camp; and thither, after some deliberation,
it was determined to repair.[22]
CHAPTER VII
TROUBLES IN THE CAMP--PLAN OF A COLONY--MANAGEMENT OF CORTÉS--MARCH
TO CEMPOALLA--PROCEEDINGS WITH THE NATIVES--FOUNDATION OF VERA CRUZ
1519
There is no situation which tries so severely the patience and
discipline of the soldier as a life of idleness in camp, where his
thoughts, instead of being bent on enterprise and action, are fastened
on himself and the inevitable privations and dangers of his condition.
This was particularly the case in the present instance, where, in
addition to the evils of a scanty subsistence, the troops suffered from
excessive heat, swarms of venomous insects, and the other annoyances of
a sultry climate. They were, moreover, far from possessing the character
of regular forces, trained to subordination under a commander whom they
had long been taught to reverence and obey. They were soldiers of
fortune, embarked with him in an adventure in which all seemed to have
an equal stake, and they regarded their captain--the captain of a
day--as little more than an equal.
There was a growing discontent among the men at their longer residence
in this strange land. They were still more dissatisfied on learning the
general’s intention to remove to the neighborhood of the port discovered
by Montejo. “It was time to return,” they said, “and report what had
been done to the governor of Cuba, and not linger on these barren shores
until they had brought the whole Mexican empire on their heads!” Cortés
evaded their importunities as well as he could, assuring them there was
no cause for despondency. “Everything so far had gone on prosperously,
and, when they had taken up a more favorable position, there was no
reason to doubt they might still continue the same profitable
intercourse with the natives.”
While this was passing, five Indians made their appearance in the camp
one morning, and were brought to the general’s tent. Their dress and
whole appearance were different from those of the Mexicans. They wore
rings of gold, and gems of bright blue stone in their ears and nostrils,
while a gold leaf delicately wrought was attached to the under lip.
Marina was unable to comprehend their language; but, on her addressing
them in Aztec, two of them, it was found, could converse in that tongue.
They said they were natives of Cempoalla, the chief town of the
Totonacs, a powerful nation who had come upon the great plateau many
centuries back, and, descending its eastern slope, settled along the
sierras and broad plains which skirt the Mexican Gulf towards the north.
Their country was one of the recent conquests of the Aztecs, and they
experienced such vexatious oppressions from their conquerors as made
them very impatient of the yoke. They informed Cortés of these and other
particulars. The fame of the Spaniards had reached their master, who
sent these messengers to request the presence of the wonderful strangers
in his capital.
This communication was eagerly listened to by the general, who, it will
be remembered, was possessed of none of those facts, laid before the
reader, respecting the internal condition of the kingdom, which he had
no reason to suppose other than strong and united. An important truth
now flashed on his mind, as his quick eye descried in this spirit of
discontent a potent lever, by the aid of which he might hope to overturn
this barbaric empire. He received the mission of the Totonacs most
graciously, and, after informing himself, as far as possible, of their
dispositions and resources, dismissed them with presents, promising soon
to pay a visit to their lord.[23]
Meanwhile, his personal friends, among whom may be particularly
mentioned Alonso Hernandez Puertocarrero, Cristóbal de Olid, Alonso de
Avila, Pedro de Alvarado and his brothers, were very busy in persuading
the troops to take such measures as should enable Cortés to go forward
in those ambitious plans for which he had no warrant from the powers of
Velasquez. “To return now,” they said, “was to abandon the enterprise on
the threshold, which, under such a leader, must conduct to glory and
incalculable riches. To return to Cuba would be to surrender to the
greedy governor the little gains they had already got. The only way was
to persuade the general to establish a permanent colony in the country,
the government of which would take the conduct of matters into its own
hands and provide for the interests of its members. It was true, Cortés
had no such authority from Velasquez. But the interests of the
sovereigns, which were paramount to every other, imperatively demanded
it.”
These conferences could not be conducted so secretly, though held by
night, as not to reach the ears of the friends of Velasquez.[24] They
remonstrated against the proceedings, as insidious and disloyal. They
accused the general of instigating them, and, calling on him to take
measures without delay for the return of the troops to Cuba, announced
their own intention to depart, with such followers as still remained
true to the governor.
Cortés, instead of taking umbrage at this high-handed proceeding, or
even answering in the same haughty tone, mildly replied “that nothing
was further from his desire than to exceed his instructions. He, indeed,
preferred to remain in the country, and continue his profitable
intercourse with the natives. But, since the army thought otherwise, he
should defer to their opinion, and give orders to return, as they
desired.” On the following morning, proclamation was made for the troops
to hold themselves in readiness to embark at once on board the fleet,
which was to sail for Cuba.[25]
Great was the sensation caused by their general’s order. Even many of
those before clamorous for it, with the usual caprice of men whose
wishes are too easily gratified, now regretted it. The partisans of
Cortés were loud in their remonstrances. “They were betrayed by the
general,” they cried, and, thronging round his tent, called on him to
countermand his orders. “We came here,” said they, “expecting to form a
settlement, if the state of the country authorized it. Now it seems you
have no warrant from the governor to make one. But there are interests,
higher than those of Velasquez, which demand it. These territories are
not his property, but were discovered for the sovereigns;[26] and it is
necessary to plant a colony to watch over their interests, instead of
wasting time in idle barter, or, still worse, of returning, in the
present state of affairs, to Cuba. If you refuse,” they concluded, “we
shall protest against your conduct as disloyal to their Highnesses.”
Cortés received this remonstrance with the embarrassed air of one by
whom it was altogether unexpected. He modestly requested time for
deliberation, and promised to give his answer on the following day. At
the time appointed, he called the troops together, and made them a brief
address. “There was no one,” he said, “if he knew his own heart, more
deeply devoted than himself to the welfare of his sovereigns and the
glory of the Spanish name. He had not only expended his all, but
incurred heavy debts, to meet the charges of this expedition, and had
hoped to reimburse himself by continuing his traffic with the Mexicans.
But, if the soldiers thought a different course advisable, he was ready
to postpone his own advantage to the good of the state.”[27] He
concluded by declaring his willingness to take measures for settling a
colony _in the name of the Spanish sovereigns_, and to nominate a
magistracy to preside over it.[28]
For the _alcaldes_ he selected Puertocarrero and Montejo, the former
cavalier his fast friend, and the latter the friend of Velasquez, and
chosen for that very reason; a stroke of policy which perfectly
succeeded. The _regidores_, _alguacil_, treasurer, and other
functionaries were then appointed, all of them his personal friends and
adherents. They were regularly sworn into office, and the new city
received the title of _Villa Rica de Vera Cruz_, “The Rich Town of the
True Cross;” a name which was considered as happily intimating that
union of spiritual and temporal interests to which the arms of the
Spanish adventurers in the New World were to be devoted.[29] Thus, by a
single stroke of the pen, as it were, the camp was transformed into a
civil community, and the whole frame-work and even title of the city
were arranged, before the site of it had been settled.
The new municipality were not slow in coming together; when Cortés
presented himself, cap in hand, before that august body, and, laying the
powers of Velasquez on the table, respectfully tendered the resignation
of his office of Captain-General, “which, indeed,” he said, “had
necessarily expired, since the authority of the governor was now
superseded by that of the magistracy of Villa Rica de Vera Cruz.” He
then, with a profound obeisance, left the apartment.[30]
The council, after a decent time spent in deliberation, again requested
his presence. “There was no one,” they said, “who, on mature reflection,
appeared to them so well qualified to take charge of the interests of
the community, both in peace and in war, as himself; and they
unanimously named him, in behalf of their Catholic Highnesses,
Captain-General and Chief Justice of the colony.” He was further
empowered to draw, on his own account, one-fifth of the gold and silver
which might hereafter be obtained by commerce or conquest from the
natives.[31] Thus clothed with supreme civil and military jurisdiction,
Cortés was not backward in asserting his authority. He found speedy
occasion for it.
The transactions above described had succeeded each other so rapidly
that the governor’s party seemed to be taken by surprise, and had formed
no plan of opposition. When the last measure was carried, however, they
broke forth into the most indignant and opprobrious invectives,
denouncing the whole as a systematic conspiracy against Velasquez.
These accusations led to recrimination from the soldiers of the other
side, until from words they nearly proceeded to blows. Some of the
principal cavaliers, among them Velasquez de Leon, a kinsman of the
governor, Escobar, his page, and Diego de Ordaz, were so active in
instigating these turbulent movements that Cortés took the bold measure
of putting them all in irons and sending them on board the vessels. He
then dispersed the common file by detaching many of them with a strong
party under Alvarado to forage the neighboring country and bring home
provisions for the destitute camp.
During their absence, every argument that cupidity or ambition could
suggest was used to win the refractory to his views. Promises, and even
gold, it is said, were liberally lavished; till, by degrees, their
understandings were opened to a clearer view of the merits of the case.
And when the foraging party reappeared with abundance of poultry and
vegetables, and the cravings of the stomach--that great laboratory of
disaffection, whether in camp or capital--were appeased, good humor
returned with good cheer, and the rival factions embraced one another as
companions in arms, pledged to a common cause. Even the high-mettled
hidalgos on board the vessels did not long withstand the general tide of
reconciliation, but one by one gave in their adhesion to the new
government. What is more remarkable is that this forced conversion was
not a hollow one, but from this time forward several of these very
cavaliers became the most steady and devoted partisans of Cortés.[32]
Such was the address of this extraordinary man, and such the ascendency
which in a few months he had acquired over these wild and turbulent
spirits! By this ingenious transformation of a military into a civil
community, he had secured a new and effectual basis for future
operations. He might now go forward without fear of check or control
from a superior,--at least from any other superior than the crown, under
which alone he held his commission. In accomplishing this, instead of
incurring the charge of usurpation or of transcending his legitimate
powers, he had transferred the responsibility, in a great measure, to
those who had imposed on him the necessity of action. By this step,
moreover, he had linked the fortunes of his followers indissolubly with
his own. They had taken their chance with him, and, whether for weal or
for woe, must abide the consequences. He was no longer limited to the
narrow concerns of a sordid traffic, but, sure of their co-operation,
might now boldly meditate, and gradually disclose, those lofty schemes
which he had formed in his own bosom for the conquest of an empire.[33]
Harmony being thus restored, Cortés sent his heavy guns on board the
fleet, and ordered it to coast along the shore to the north as far as
Chiahuitztla,{*} the town near which the destined port of the new city
was situated; proposing, himself, at the head of his troops, to visit
Cempoalla, on the march. The road lay for some miles across the dreary
plains in the neighborhood of the modern Vera Cruz. In this sandy waste
no signs of vegetation met their eyes, which, however, were occasionally
refreshed by glimpses of the blue Atlantic, and by the distant view of
the magnificent Orizaba, towering, with his spotless diadem of snow, far
above his colossal brethren of the Andes.[34] As they advanced, the
country gradually assumed a greener and richer aspect. They crossed a
river, probably a tributary of the _Rio de la Antigua_, with difficulty,
on rafts, and on some broken canoes that were lying on the banks. They
now came in view of very different scenery,--wide-rolling plains covered
with a rich carpet of verdure and overshadowed by groves of cocoas and
feathery palms, among whose tall, slender stems were seen deer, and
various wild animals with which the Spaniards were unacquainted. Some of
the horsemen gave chase to the deer, and wounded, but did not succeed in
killing them. They saw, also, pheasants and other birds; among them the
wild turkey, the pride of the American forest, which the Spaniards
described as a species of peacock.[35]
{*} [According to Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., 289, Quiahuiztlan,
_i.e._, Rainy Place.--M.]
On their route they passed through some deserted villages, in which were
Indian temples, where they found censers, and other sacred utensils, and
manuscripts of the _agave_ fibre, containing the picture-writing, in
which, probably, their religious ceremonies were recorded. They now
beheld, also, the hideous spectacle, with which they became afterwards
familiar, of the mutilated corpses of victims who had been sacrificed to
the accursed deities of the land. The Spaniards turned with loathing and
indignation from a display of butchery which formed so dismal a
contrast to the fair scenes of nature by which they were surrounded.
They held their course along the banks of the river, towards its source,
when they were met by twelve Indians, sent by the cacique of Cempoalla
to show them the way to his residence. At night they bivouacked in an
open meadow, where they were well supplied with provisions by their new
friends. They left the stream on the following morning, and, striking
northerly across the country, came upon a wide expanse of luxuriant
plains and woodland, glowing in all the splendor of tropical vegetation.
The branches of the stately trees were gayly festooned with clustering
vines of the dark-purple grape, variegated convolvuli, and other
flowering parasites of the most brilliant dyes. The undergrowth of
prickly aloe, matted with wild rose and honeysuckle, made in many places
an almost impervious thicket. Amid this wilderness of sweet-smelling
buds and blossoms fluttered numerous birds of the parrot tribe, and
clouds of butterflies, whose gaudy colors, nowhere so gorgeous as in the
_tierra caliente_, rivalled those of the vegetable creation; while birds
of exquisite song, the scarlet cardinal, and the marvellous
mocking-bird, that comprehends in his own notes the whole music of a
forest, filled the air with delicious melody. The hearts of the stern
Conquerors were not very sensible to the beauties of nature. But the
magical charms of the scenery drew forth unbounded expressions of
delight, and as they wandered through this “terrestrial paradise,” as
they called it, they fondly compared it to the fairest regions of their
own sunny land.[36]
As they approached the Indian city, they saw abundant signs of
cultivation, in the trim gardens and orchards that lined both sides of
the road. They were now met by parties of the natives, of either sex,
who increased in numbers with every step of their progress. The women,
as well as men, mingled fearlessly among the soldiers, bearing bunches
and wreaths of flowers, with which they decorated the neck of the
general’s charger, and hung a chaplet of roses about his helmet. Flowers
were the delight of this people. They bestowed much care in their
cultivation, in which they were well seconded by a climate of alternate
heat and moisture, stimulating the soil to the spontaneous production of
every form of vegetable life. The same refined taste, as we shall see,
prevailed among the warlike Aztecs, and has survived the degradation of
the nation in their descendants of the present day.[37]
Many of the women appeared, from their richer dress and numerous
attendants, to be persons of rank. They were clad in robes of fine
cotton, curiously colored, which reached from the neck--in the inferior
orders, from the waist--to the ankles. The men wore a sort of mantle of
the same material, _á la Morisca_, in the Moorish fashion, over their
shoulders, and belts or sashes about the loins. Both sexes had jewels
and ornaments of gold round their necks, while their ears and nostrils
were perforated with rings of the same metal.
Just before reaching the town, some horsemen who had ridden in advance
returned with the amazing intelligence “that they had been near enough
to look within the gates, and found the houses all plated with burnished
silver!” On entering the place, the silver was found to be nothing more
than a brilliant coating of stucco, with which the principal buildings
were covered; a circumstance which produced much merriment among the
soldiers at the expense of their credulous comrades. Such ready
credulity is a proof of the exalted state of their imaginations, which
were prepared to see gold and silver in every object around them.[38]
The edifices of the better kind were of stone and lime, or bricks dried
in the sun; the poorer were of clay and earth. All were thatched with
palm-leaves, which, though a flimsy roof, apparently, for such
structures, were so nicely interwoven as to form a very effectual
protection against the weather.
The city was said to contain from twenty to thirty thousand inhabitants.
This is the most moderate computation, and not improbable.[39] Slowly
and silently the little army paced the narrow and now crowded streets of
Cempoalla, inspiring the natives with no greater wonder than they
themselves experienced at the display of a policy and refinement so far
superior to anything they had witnessed in the New World.[40] The
cacique came out in front of his residence to receive them. He was a
tall and very corpulent man, and advanced leaning on two of his
attendants. He received Cortés and his followers with great courtesy,
and, after a brief interchange of civilities, assigned the army its
quarters in a neighboring temple, into the spacious court-yard of which
a number of apartments opened, affording excellent accommodation for
the soldiery.
Here the Spaniards were well supplied with provisions, meat cooked after
the fashion of the country, and maize made into bread-cakes. The general
received, also, a present of considerable value from the cacique,
consisting of ornaments of gold and fine cottons. Notwithstanding these
friendly demonstrations, Cortés did not relax his habitual vigilance,
nor neglect any of the precautions of a good soldier. On his route,
indeed, he had always marched in order of battle, well prepared against
surprise. In his present quarters, he stationed his sentinels with like
care, posted his small artillery so as to command the entrance, and
forbade any soldier to leave the camp without orders, under pain of
death.[41]
The following morning, Cortés, accompanied by fifty of his men, paid a
visit to the lord of Cempoalla in his own residence. It was a building
of stone and lime, standing on a steep terrace of earth, and was reached
by a flight of stone steps. It may have borne resemblance in its
structure to some of the ancient buildings found in Central America.
Cortés, leaving his soldiers in the courtyard, entered the mansion with
one of his officers, and his fair interpreter, Doña Marina.[42] A long
conference ensued, from which the Spanish general gathered much light
respecting the state of the country. He first announced to the chief
that he was the subject of a great monarch who dwelt beyond the waters;
that he had come to the Aztec shores to abolish the inhuman worship
which prevailed there, and to introduce the knowledge of the true God.
The cacique replied that their gods, who sent them the sunshine and the
rain, were good enough for them; that he was the tributary of a powerful
monarch also, whose capital stood on a lake far off among the
mountains,--a stern prince, merciless in his exactions, and, in case of
resistance, or any offence, sure to wreak his vengeance by carrying off
their young men and maidens to be sacrificed to his deities. Cortés
assured him that he would never consent to such enormities; he had been
sent by his sovereign to redress abuses and to punish the oppressor;[43]
and, if the Totonacs would be true to him, he would enable them to throw
off the detested yoke of the Aztecs.
The cacique added that the Totonac territory contained about thirty
towns and villages, which could muster a hundred thousand warriors,--a
number much exaggerated.[44] There were other provinces of the empire,
he said, where the Aztec rule was equally odious; and between him and
the capital lay the warlike republic of Tlascala, which had always
maintained its independence of Mexico. The fame of the Spaniards had
gone before them, and he was well acquainted with their terrible
victory at Tabasco. But still he looked with doubt and alarm to a
rupture with “the great Montezuma,” as he always styled him; whose
armies, on the least provocation, would pour down from the mountain
regions of the West, and, rushing over the plains like a whirlwind,
sweep off the wretched people to slavery and sacrifice!
Cortés endeavored to reassure him, by declaring that a single Spaniard
was stronger than a host of Aztecs. At the same time, it was desirable
to know what nations would co-operate with him, not so much on his
account as theirs, that he might distinguish friend from foe and know
whom he was to spare in this war of extermination. Having raised the
confidence of the admiring chief by this comfortable and politic vaunt,
he took an affectionate leave, with the assurance that he would shortly
return and concert measures for their future operations, when he had
visited his ships in the adjoining port and secured a permanent
settlement there.[45]
The intelligence gained by Cortés gave great satisfaction to his mind.
It confirmed his former views, and showed, indeed, the interior of the
monarchy to be in a state far more distracted than he had supposed. If
he had before scarcely shrunk from attacking the Aztec empire, in the
true spirit of a knight-errant, with his single arm, as it were, what
had he now to fear, when one half of the nation could be thus
marshalled against the other? In the excitement of the moment, his
sanguine spirit kindled with an enthusiasm which overleaped every
obstacle. He communicated his own feelings to the officers about him,
and, before a blow was struck, they already felt as if the banners of
Spain were waving in triumph from the towers of Montezuma! But many a
bloody field was to be fought, many a peril and privation to be
encountered, before that consummation could be attained.
Taking leave of the hospitable Indian, on the following day the
Spaniards took the road to Chiahuitztla,[46] about four leagues distant,
near which was the port discovered by Montejo, where their ships were
now riding at anchor. They were provided by the cacique with four
hundred Indian porters, _tamanes_, as they were called, to transport the
baggage. These men easily carried fifty pounds’ weight five or six
leagues in a day. They were in use all over the Mexican empire, and the
Spaniards found them of great service, henceforth, in relieving the
troops from this part of their duty. They passed through a country of
the same rich, voluptuous character as that which they had lately
traversed, and arrived early next morning at the Indian town, perched
like a fortress on a bold, rocky eminence that commanded the Gulf. Most
of the inhabitants had fled, but fifteen of the principal men remained,
who received them in a friendly manner, offering the usual compliments
of flowers and incense. The people of the place, losing their fears,
gradually returned. While conversing with the chiefs, the Spaniards were
joined by the worthy cacique of Cempoalla, borne by his men on a litter.
He eagerly took part in their deliberations. The intelligence gained
here by Cortés confirmed the accounts already gathered of the feelings
and resources of the Totonac nation.
In the midst of their conference, they were interrupted by a movement
among the people, and soon afterwards five men entered the great square
or market-place, where they were standing. By their lofty port, their
peculiar and much richer dress, they seemed not to be of the same race
as these Indians. Their dark, glossy hair was tied in a knot on the top
of the head. They had bunches of flowers in their hands, and were
followed by several attendants, some bearing wands with cords, others
fans, with which they brushed away the flies and insects from their
lordly masters. As these persons passed through the place, they cast a
haughty look on the Spaniards, scarcely deigning to return their
salutations. They were immediately joined, in great confusion, by the
Totonac chiefs, who seemed anxious to conciliate them by every kind of
attention.
The general, much astonished, inquired of Marina what it meant. She
informed him they were Aztec nobles, empowered to receive the tribute
for Montezuma. Soon after, the chiefs returned with dismay painted on
their faces. They confirmed Marina’s statement, adding that the Aztecs
greatly resented the entertainment afforded the Spaniards without the
Emperor’s permission, and demanded in expiation twenty young men and
women for sacrifice to the gods. Cortés showed the strongest indignation
at this insolence. He required the Totonacs not only to refuse the
demand, but to arrest the persons of the collectors and throw them into
prison. The chiefs hesitated, but he insisted on it so peremptorily that
they at length complied, and the Aztecs were seized, bound hand and
foot, and placed under a guard.
In the night, the Spanish general procured the escape of two of them,
and had them brought secretly before him. He expressed his regret at the
indignity they had experienced from the Totonacs; told them he would
provide means for their flight, and to-morrow would endeavor to obtain
the release of their companions. He desired them to report this to their
master, with assurances of the great regard the Spaniards entertained
for him, notwithstanding his ungenerous behavior in leaving them to
perish from want on his barren shores. He then sent the Mexican nobles
down to the port, whence they were carried to another part of the coast
by water, for fear of the violence of the Totonacs. These were greatly
incensed at the escape of the prisoners, and would have sacrificed the
remainder at once, but for the Spanish commander, who evinced the utmost
horror at the proposal, and ordered them to be sent for safe custody on
board the fleet. Soon after, they were permitted to join their
companions. This artful proceeding, so characteristic of the policy of
Cortés, had, as we shall see hereafter, all the effect intended on
Montezuma. It cannot be commended, certainly, as in the true spirit of
chivalry. Yet it has not wanted its panegyrist among the national
historians![47]
By order of Cortés, messengers were despatched to the Totonac towns to
report what had been done, calling on them to refuse the payment of
further tribute to Montezuma. But there was no need of messengers. The
affrighted attendants of the Aztec lords had fled in every direction,
bearing the tidings, which spread like wildfire through the country, of
the daring insult offered to the majesty of Mexico. The astonished
Indians, cheered with the sweet hope of regaining their ancient liberty,
came in numbers to Chiahuitztla, to see and confer with the formidable
strangers. The more timid, dismayed at the thought of encountering the
power of Montezuma, recommended an embassy to avert his displeasure by
timely concessions. But the dexterous management of Cortés had committed
them too far to allow any reasonable expectation of indulgence from this
quarter. After some hesitation, therefore, it was determined to embrace
the protection of the Spaniards, and to make one bold effort for the
recovery of freedom. Oaths of allegiance were taken by the chiefs to the
Spanish sovereigns, and duly recorded by Godoy, the royal notary.
Cortés, satisfied with the important acquisition of so many vassals to
the crown, set out soon after for the destined port, having first
promised to revisit Cempoalla, where his business was but partially
accomplished.[48]
The spot selected for the new city was only half a league distant, in a
wide and fruitful plain, affording a tolerable haven for the shipping.
Cortés was not long in determining the circuit of the walls, and the
sites of the fort, granary, townhouse, temple, and other public
buildings. The friendly Indians eagerly assisted, by bringing materials,
stone, lime, wood, and bricks dried in the sun. Every man put his hand
to the work. The general labored with the meanest of the soldiers,
stimulating their exertions by his example as well as voice. In a few
weeks the task was accomplished, and a town rose up, which, if not quite
worthy of the aspiring name it bore, answered most of the purposes for
which it was intended. It served as a good _point d’appui_ for future
operations; a place of retreat for the disabled, as well as for the army
in case of reverses; a magazine for stores, and for such articles as
might be received from or sent to the mother-country; a port for the
shipping; a position of sufficient strength to over-awe the adjacent
country.[49]
It was the first colony--the fruitful parent of so many others--in New
Spain. It was hailed with satisfaction by the simple natives, who hoped
to repose in safety under its protecting shadow. Alas! they could not
read the future, or they would have found no cause to rejoice in this
harbinger of a revolution more tremendous than any predicted by their
bards and prophets. It was not the good Quetzalcoatl who had returned to
claim his own again, bringing peace, freedom, and civilization in his
train. Their fetters, indeed, would be broken, and their wrongs be amply
avenged on the proud head of the Aztec. But it was to be by that strong
arm which should bow down equally the oppressor and the oppressed. The
light of civilization would be poured on their land. But it would be the
light of a consuming fire, before which their barbaric glory, their
institutions, their very existence and name as a nation, would wither
and become extinct! Their doom was sealed when the white man had set his
foot on their soil.
CHAPTER VIII
ANOTHER AZTEC EMBASSY--DESTRUCTION OF THE IDOLS--DESPATCHES SENT TO
SPAIN--CONSPIRACY IN THE CAMP--THE FLEET SUNK
1519
While the Spaniards were occupied with their new settlement, they were
surprised by the presence of an embassy from Mexico. The account of the
imprisonment of the royal collectors had spread rapidly through the
country. When it reached the capital, all were filled with amazement at
the unprecedented daring of the strangers. In Montezuma every other
feeling, even that of fear, was swallowed up in indignation; and he
showed his wonted energy in the vigorous preparations which he instantly
made to punish his rebellious vassals and to avenge the insult offered
to the majesty of the empire. But when the Aztec officers liberated by
Cortés reached the capital and reported the courteous treatment they had
received from the Spanish commander, Montezuma’s anger was mitigated,
and his superstitious fears, getting the ascendency again, induced him
to resume his former timid and conciliatory policy. He accordingly sent
an embassy, consisting of two youths, his nephews, and four of the
ancient nobles of his court, to the Spanish quarters. He provided them,
in his usual munificent spirit, with a princely donation of gold, rich
cotton stuffs, and beautiful mantles of the _plumaje_, or feather
embroidery. The envoys, on coming before Cortés, presented him with the
articles, at the same time offering the acknowledgments of their master
for the courtesy he had shown in liberating his captive nobles. He was
surprised and afflicted, however, that the Spaniards should have
countenanced his faithless vassals in their rebellion. He had no doubt
they were the strangers whose arrival had been so long announced by the
oracles, and of the same lineage with himself.[50] From deference to
them he would spare the Totonacs, while they were present. But the time
for vengeance would come.
Cortés entertained the Indian chieftains with frank hospitality. At the
same time, he took care to make such a display of his resources as,
while it amused their minds, should leave a deep impression of his
power. He then, after a few trifling gifts, dismissed them with a
conciliatory message to their master, and the assurance that he should
soon pay his respects to him in his capital, where all misunderstanding
between them would be readily adjusted.
The Totonac allies could scarcely credit their senses, when they
gathered the nature of this interview. Notwithstanding the presence of
the Spaniards, they had looked with apprehension to the consequences of
their rash act; and their feelings of admiration were heightened into
awe for the strangers who, at this distance, could exercise so
mysterious an influence over the terrible Montezuma.[51]
Not long after, the Spaniards received an application from the cacique
of Cempoalla to aid him in a dispute in which he was engaged with a
neighboring city. Cortés marched with a part of his forces to his
support. On the route, one Morla, a common soldier, robbed a native of a
couple of fowls. Cortés, indignant at this violation of his orders
before his face, and aware of the importance of maintaining a reputation
for good faith with his allies, commanded the man to be hung up, at
once, by the roadside, in face of the whole army. Fortunately for the
poor wretch, Pedro de Alvarado, the future conqueror of Quiché, was
present, and ventured to cut down the body while there was yet life in
it. He, probably, thought enough had been done for example, and the loss
of a single life, unnecessarily, was more than the little band could
afford. The anecdote is characteristic, as showing the strict discipline
maintained by Cortés over his men, and the freedom assumed by his
captains, who regarded him on terms nearly of equality,--as a
fellow-adventurer with themselves. This feeling of companionship led to
a spirit of insubordination among them, which made his own post as
commander the more delicate and difficult.
On reaching the hostile city, but a few leagues from the coast, they
were received in an amicable manner; and Cortés, who was accompanied by
his allies, had the satisfaction of reconciling these different branches
of the Totonac family with each other, without bloodshed. He then
returned to Cempoalla, where he was welcomed with joy by the people, who
were now impressed with as favorable an opinion of his moderation and
justice as they had before been of his valor. In token of his gratitude,
the Indian cacique delivered to the general eight Indian maidens, richly
dressed, wearing collars and ornaments of gold, with a number of female
slaves to wait on them. They were daughters of the principal chiefs, and
the cacique requested that the Spanish captains might take them as their
wives. Cortés received the damsels courteously, but told the cacique
they must first be baptized, as the sons of the Church could have no
commerce with idolaters.[52] He then declared that it was a great object
of his mission to wean the natives from their heathenish abominations,
and besought the Totonac lord to allow his idols to be cast down, and
the symbols of the true faith to be erected in their place.
To this the other answered, as before, that his gods were good enough
for him; nor could all the persuasion of the general, nor the preaching
of Father Olmedo, induce him to acquiesce. Mingled with his polytheism,
he had conceptions of a Supreme and Infinite Being, Creator of the
Universe, and his darkened understanding could not comprehend how such a
Being could condescend to take the form of humanity, with its
infirmities and ills, and wander about on earth, the voluntary victim of
persecution from the hands of those whom his breath had called into
existence.[53] He plainly told the Spaniards that he would resist any
violence offered to his gods, who would, indeed, avenge the act
themselves, by the instant destruction of their enemies.
But the zeal of the Christians had mounted too high to be cooled by
remonstrance or menace. During their residence in the land, they had
witnessed more than once the barbarous rites of the natives, their cruel
sacrifices of human victims, and their disgusting cannibal repasts.[54]
Their souls sickened at these abominations, and they agreed with one
voice to stand by their general, when he told them that “Heaven would
never smile on their enterprise if they countenanced such atrocities,
and that, for his own part, he was resolved the Indian idols should be
demolished that very hour, if it cost him his life.” To postpone the
work of conversion was a sin. In the enthusiasm of the moment, the
dictates of policy and ordinary prudence were alike unheeded.
Scarcely waiting for his commands, the Spaniards moved towards one of
the principal _teocallis_, or temples, which rose high on a pyramidal
foundation, with a steep ascent of stone steps in the middle. The
cacique, divining their purpose, instantly called his men to arms. The
Indian warriors gathered from all quarters, with shrill cries and
clashing of weapons; while the priests, in their dark cotton robes, with
dishevelled tresses, matted with blood, flowing wildly over their
shoulders, rushed frantic among the natives, calling on them to protect
their gods from violation! All was now confusion, tumult, and warlike
menace, where so lately had been peace and the sweet brotherhood of
nations.
Cortés took his usual prompt and decided measures. He caused the cacique
and some of the principal inhabitants and priests to be arrested by his
soldiers. He then commanded them to quiet the people, for, if an arrow
was shot against a Spaniard, it should cost every one of them his life.
Marina, at the same time, represented the madness of resistance, and
reminded the cacique that if he now alienated the affections of the
Spaniards he would be left without a protector against the terrible
vengeance of Montezuma. These temporal considerations seem to have had
more weight with the Totonac chieftain than those of a more spiritual
nature. He covered his face with his hands, exclaiming that the gods
would avenge their own wrongs.
The Christians were not slow in availing themselves of his tacit
acquiescence. Fifty soldiers, at a signal from their general, sprang up
the great stairway of the temple, entered the building on the summit,
the walls of which were black with human gore, tore the huge wooden
idols from their foundations, and dragged them to the edge of the
terrace. Their fantastic forms and features, conveying a symbolic
meaning, which was lost on the Spaniards, seemed in their eyes only the
hideous lineaments of Satan. With great alacrity they rolled the
colossal monsters down the steps of the pyramid, amidst the triumphant
shouts of their own companions, and the groans and lamentations of the
natives. They then consummated the whole by burning them in the presence
of the assembled multitude.
The same effect followed as in Cozumel. The Totonacs, finding their
deities incapable of preventing or even punishing this profanation of
their shrines, conceived a mean opinion of their power, compared with
that of the mysterious and formidable strangers. The floor and walls of
the _teocalli_ were then cleansed, by command of Cortés, from their foul
impurities; a fresh coating of stucco was laid on them by the Indian
masons; and an altar was raised, surmounted by a lofty cross, and hung
with garlands of roses. A procession was next formed, in which some of
the principal Totonac priests, exchanging their dark mantles for robes
of white, carried lighted candles in their hands; while an image of the
Virgin, half smothered under the weight of flowers, was borne aloft,
and, as the procession climbed the steps of the temple, was deposited
above the altar. Mass was performed by Father Olmedo, and the impressive
character of the ceremony and the passionate eloquence of the good
priest touched the feelings of the motley audience, until Indians as
well as Spaniards, if we may trust the chronicler, were melted into
tears and audible sobs. The Protestant missionary seeks to enlighten the
understanding of his convert by the pale light of reason. But the bolder
Catholic, kindling the spirit by the splendor of the spectacle and by
the glowing portrait of an agonized Redeemer, sweeps along his hearers
in a tempest of passion, that drowns everything like reflection. He has
secured his convert, however, by the hold on his affections,--an easier
and more powerful hold, with the untutored savage, than reason.
An old soldier named Juan de Torres, disabled by bodily infirmity,
consented to remain and watch over the sanctuary and instruct the
natives in its services. Cortés then, embracing his Totonac allies, now
brothers in religion as in arms, set out once more for the Villa Rica,
where he had some arrangements to complete previous to his departure for
the capital.[55]
He was surprised to find that a Spanish vessel had arrived there in his
absence, having on board twelve soldiers and two horses. It was under
the command of a captain named Saucedo, a cavalier of the ocean, who had
followed in the track of Cortés in quest of adventure. Though a small,
they afforded a very seasonable body of recruits for the little army. By
these men, the Spaniards were informed that Velasquez, the governor of
Cuba, had lately received a warrant from the Spanish government to
establish a colony in the newly-discovered countries.
Cortés now resolved to put a plan in execution which he had been some
time meditating. He knew that all the late acts of the colony, as well
as his own authority, would fall to the ground without the royal
sanction. He knew, too, that the interest of Velasquez, which was great
at court, would, so soon as he was acquainted with his secession, be
wholly employed to circumvent and crush him. He resolved to anticipate
his movements, and to send a vessel to Spain with despatches addressed
to the emperor himself, announcing the nature and extent of his
discoveries, and to obtain, if possible, the confirmation of his
proceedings. In order to conciliate his master’s good will, he further
proposed to send him such a present as should suggest lofty ideas of the
importance of his own services to the crown. To effect this, the royal
fifth he considered inadequate. He conferred with his officers, and
persuaded them to relinquish their share of the treasure. At his
instance, they made a similar application to the soldiers; representing
that it was the earnest wish of the general, who set the example by
resigning his own fifth, equal to the share of the crown. It was but
little that each man was asked to surrender, but the whole would make a
present worthy of the monarch for whom it was intended. By this
sacrifice they might hope to secure his indulgence for the past and his
favor for the future; a temporary sacrifice, that would be well repaid
by the security of the rich possessions which awaited them in Mexico. A
paper was then circulated among the soldiers, which all who were
disposed to relinquish their shares were requested to sign. Those who
declined should have their claims respected, and receive the amount due
to them. No one refused to sign; thus furnishing another example of the
extraordinary power obtained by Cortés over these rapacious spirits,
who, at his call, surrendered up the very treasures which had been the
great object of their hazardous enterprise![56]
He accompanied this present with a letter to the emperor, in which he
gave a full account of all that had befallen him since his departure
from Cuba; of his various discoveries, battles, and traffic with the
natives; their conversion to Christianity; his strange perils and
sufferings; many particulars respecting the lands he had visited, and
such as he could collect in regard to the great Mexican monarchy and its
sovereign. He stated his difficulties with the governor of Cuba, the
proceedings of the army in reference to colonization, and besought the
emperor to confirm their acts, as well as his own authority, expressing
his entire confidence that he should be able, with the aid of his brave
followers, to place the Castilian crown in possession of this great
Indian empire.[57]
This was the celebrated _First Letter_, as it is called, of Cortés,
which has hitherto eluded every search that has been made for it in the
libraries of Europe.[58] Its existence is fully established by
references to it, both in his own subsequent letters, and in the
writings of contemporaries.[59] Its general purport is given by his
chaplain Gomara. The importance of the document has doubtless been much
overrated; and, should it ever come to light, it will probably be found
to add little of interest to the matter contained in the letter from
Vera Cruz, which has formed the basis of the preceding portion of our
narrative. Cortés had no sources of information beyond those open to the
authors of the latter document. He was even less full and frank in his
communications, if it be true that he suppressed all notice of the
discoveries of his two immediate predecessors.[60]
The magistrates of the Villa Rica, in their epistle, went over the same
ground with Cortés; concluding with an emphatic representation of the
misconduct of Velasquez, whose venality, extortion, and selfish devotion
to his personal interests, to the exclusion of those of his sovereigns
as well as of his own followers, they placed in a most clear and
unenviable light.[61] They implored the government not to sanction his
interference with the new colony, which would be fatal to its welfare,
but to commit the undertaking to Hernando Cortés, as the man most
capable, by his experience and conduct, of bringing it to a glorious
termination.[62]
With this letter went also another in the name of the citizen-soldiers
of Villa Rica, tendering their dutiful submission to the sovereigns, and
requesting the confirmation of their proceedings, above all, that of
Cortés as their general.
The selection of the agents for the mission was a delicate matter, as on
the result might depend the future fortunes of the colony and its
commander. Cortés intrusted the affair to two cavaliers on whom he could
rely; Francisco de Montejo, the ancient partisan of Velasquez, and
Alonso Hernandez de Puertocarrero. The latter officer was a near
kinsman of the count of Medellin, and it was hoped his high connections
might secure a favorable influence at court.
Together with the treasure, which seemed to verify the assertion that
“the land teemed with gold as abundantly as that whence Solomon drew the
same precious metal for his temple,”[63] several Indian manuscripts were
sent. Some were of cotton, others of the Mexican _agave_. Their
unintelligible characters, says a chronicler, excited little interest in
the Conquerors. As evidence of intellectual culture, however, they
formed higher objects of interest to a philosophic mind than those
costly fabrics which attested only the mechanical ingenuity of the
nation.[64] Four Indian slaves were added as specimens of the natives.
They had been rescued from the cages in which they were confined for
sacrifice. One of the best vessels of the fleet was selected for the
voyage, manned by fifteen seamen, and placed under the direction of the
pilot Alaminos. He was directed to hold his course through the Bahama
channel, north of Cuba, or Fernandina, as it was then called, and on no
account to touch at that island, or any other in the Indian Ocean. With
these instructions, the good ship took its departure on the 26th of
July, freighted with the treasures and the good wishes of the community
of the Villa Rica de Vera Cruz.
After a quick run the emissaries made the island of Cuba, and, in direct
disregard of orders, anchored before Marien, on the northern side of the
island. This was done to accommodate Montejo, who wished to visit a
plantation owned by him in the neighborhood. While off the port, a
sailor got on shore, and, crossing the island to St. Jago, the capital,
spread everywhere tidings of the expedition, until they reached the ears
of Velasquez. It was the first intelligence which had been received of
the armament since its departure; and, as the governor listened to the
recital, it would not be easy to paint the mingled emotions of
curiosity, astonishment, and wrath which agitated his bosom. In the
first sally of passion, he poured a storm of invective on the heads of
his secretary and treasurer, the friends of Cortés, who had recommended
him as the leader of the expedition. After somewhat relieving himself in
this way, he despatched two fast-sailing vessels to Marien with orders
to seize the rebel ship, and, in case of her departure, to follow and
overtake her.
But before the ships could reach that port the bird had flown, and was
far on her way across the broad Atlantic. Stung with mortification at
this fresh disappointment, Velasquez wrote letters of indignant
complaint to the government at home, and to the Hieronymite fathers in
Hispaniola, demanding redress. He obtained little satisfaction from the
latter. He resolved, however, to take the matter into his own hands, and
set about making formidable preparations for another squadron, which
should be more than a match for that under his rebellious officer. He
was indefatigable in his exertions, visiting every part of the island,
and straining all his resources to effect his purpose. The preparations
were on a scale that necessarily consumed many months.
Meanwhile the little vessel was speeding her prosperous way across the
waters, and, after touching at one of the Azores, came safely into the
harbor of St. Lucar, in the month of October. However long it may appear
in the more perfect nautical science of our day, it was reckoned a fair
voyage for that. Of what befell the commissioners on their arrival,
their reception at court, and the sensation caused by their
intelligence, I defer the account to a future chapter.[65]
Shortly after the departure of the commissioners, an affair occurred of
a most unpleasant nature. A number of persons, with the priest Juan Diaz
at their head, ill-affected, from some cause or other, towards the
administration of Cortés, or not relishing the hazardous expedition
before them, laid a plan to seize one of the vessels, make the best of
their way to Cuba, and report to the governor the fate of the armament.
It was conducted with so much secrecy that the party had got their
provisions, water, and everything necessary for the voyage, on board,
without detection; when the conspiracy was betrayed, on the very night
they were to sail, by one of their own number, who repented the part he
had taken in it. The general caused the persons implicated to be
instantly apprehended. An examination was instituted. The guilt of the
parties was placed beyond a doubt. Sentence of death was passed on two
of the ringleaders; another, the pilot, was condemned to lose his feet,
and several others to be whipped. The priest, probably the most guilty
of the whole, claiming the usual benefit of clergy, was permitted to
escape. One of those condemned to the gallows was named Escudero, the
very alguacil who, the reader may remember, so stealthily apprehended
Cortés before the sanctuary in Cuba.[66] The general, on signing the
death-warrants, was heard to exclaim, “Would that I had never learned to
write!” It was not the first time, it was remarked, that the exclamation
had been uttered in similar circumstances.[67]
The arrangements being now finally settled at the Villa Rica, Cortés
sent forward Alvarado, with a large part of the army, to Cempoalla,
where he soon after joined them with the remainder. The late affair of
the conspiracy seems to have made a deep impression on his mind. It
showed him that there were timid spirits in the camp on whom he could
not rely, and who, he feared, might spread the seeds of disaffection
among their companions. Even the more resolute, on any occasion of
disgust or disappointment hereafter, might falter in purpose, and,
getting possession of the vessels, abandon the enterprise. This was
already too vast, and the odds were too formidable, to authorize
expectation of success with diminution of numbers. Experience showed
that this was always to be apprehended while means of escape were at
hand.[68] The best chance for success was to cut off these means. He
came to the daring resolution to destroy the fleet, without the
knowledge of his army.
When arrived at Cempoalla, he communicated his design to a few of his
devoted adherents, who entered warmly into his views. Through them he
readily persuaded the pilots, by means of those golden arguments which
weigh more than any other with ordinary minds, to make such a report of
the condition of the fleet as suited his purpose. The ships, they said,
were grievously racked by the heavy gales they had encountered, and,
what was worse, the worms had eaten into their sides and bottoms until
most of them were not seaworthy, and some, indeed, could scarcely now be
kept afloat.
Cortés received the communication with surprise; “for he could well
dissemble,” observes Las Casas, with his usual friendly comment, “when
it suited his interests.” “If it be so,” he exclaimed, “we must make the
best of it! Heaven’s will be done!”[69] He then ordered five of the
worst conditioned to be dismantled, their cordage, sails, iron, and
whatever was movable, to be brought on shore, and the ships to be sunk.
A survey was made of the others, and, on a similar report, four more
were condemned in the same manner. Only one small vessel remained!
When the intelligence reached the troops in Cempoalla, it caused the
deepest consternation. They saw themselves cut off by a single blow from
friends, family, country! The stoutest hearts quailed before the
prospect of being thus abandoned on a hostile shore, a handful of men
arrayed against a formidable empire. When the news arrived of the
destruction of the five vessels first condemned, they had acquiesced in
it as a necessary measure, knowing the mischievous activity of the
insects in these tropical seas. But, when this was followed by the loss
of the remaining four, suspicions of the truth flashed on their minds.
They felt they were betrayed. Murmurs, at first deep, swelled louder and
louder, menacing open mutiny. “Their general,” they said, “had led them
like cattle to be butchered in the shambles!”[70] The affair wore a
most alarming aspect. In no situation was Cortés ever exposed to greater
danger from his soldiers.[71]
His presence of mind did not desert him at this crisis. He called his
men together, and, employing the tones of persuasion rather than
authority, assured them that a survey of the ships showed they were not
fit for service. If he had ordered them to be destroyed, they should
consider, also, that his was the greatest sacrifice, for they were his
property,--all, indeed, he possessed in the world. The troops, on the
other hand, would derive one great advantage from it, by the addition of
a hundred able-bodied recruits, before required to man the vessels. But,
even if the fleet had been saved, it could have been of little service
in their present expedition; since they would not need it if they
succeeded, while they would be too far in the interior to profit by it
if they failed. He besought them to turn their thoughts in another
direction. To be thus calculating chances and means of escape was
unworthy of brave souls. They had set their hands to the work; to look
back, as they advanced, would be their ruin. They had only to resume
their former confidence in themselves and their general, and success was
certain. “As for me,” he concluded, “I have chosen my part. I will
remain here, while there is one to bear me company. If there be any so
craven as to shrink from sharing the dangers of our glorious enterprise,
let them go home, in God’s name. There is still one vessel left. Let
them take that and return to Cuba. They can tell there how they deserted
their commander and their comrades, and patiently wait till we return
loaded with the spoils of the Aztecs.”[72]
The politic orator had touched the right chord in the bosoms of the
soldiers. As he spoke, their resentment gradually died away. The faded
visions of future riches and glory, rekindled by his eloquence, again
floated before their imaginations. The first shock over, they felt
ashamed of their temporary distrust. The enthusiasm for their leader
revived, for they felt that under his banner only they could hope for
victory; and, as he concluded, they testified the revulsion of their
feelings by making the air ring with their shouts, “To Mexico! to
Mexico!”
The destruction of his fleet by Cortés is, perhaps, the most remarkable
passage in the life of this remarkable man. History, indeed, affords
examples of a similar expedient in emergencies somewhat similar; but
none where the chances of success were so precarious and defeat would be
so disastrous.[73] Had he failed, it might well seem
[Illustration: Goupil & Cº. Paris
CORTÉS SINKING HIS SHIPS]
[Illustration: Goupil & Cº. Paris]
an act of madness. Yet it was the fruit of deliberate calculation. He
had set fortune, fame, life itself, all upon the cast, and must abide
the issue. There was no alternative in his mind but to succeed or
perish. The measure he adopted greatly increased the chance of success.
But to carry it into execution, in the face of an incensed and desperate
soldiery, was an act of resolution that has few parallels in
history.[74]
Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, Bishop of Chiapa, whose “History of
the Indies” forms an important authority for the preceding pages,
was one of the most remarkable men of the sixteenth century. He was
born at Seville in 1474. His father accompanied Columbus, as a
common soldier, in his first voyage to the New World; and he
acquired wealth enough by his vocation to place his son at the
University of Salamanca. During his residence there, he was
attended by an Indian page, whom his father had brought with him
from Hispaniola. Thus the uncompromising advocate for freedom
began his career as the owner of a slave himself. But he did not
long remain so, for his slave was one of those subsequently
liberated by the generous commands of Isabella.
In 1498 he completed his studies in law and divinity, took his
degree of licentiate, and in 1502 accompanied Oviedo, in the most
brilliant armada which had been equipped for the Western World.
Eight years after, he was admitted to priest’s orders in St.
Domingo, an event somewhat memorable, since he was the first person
consecrated in that holy office in the colonies. On the occupation
of Cuba by the Spaniards, Las Casas passed over to that island,
where he obtained a curacy in a small settlement. He soon, however,
made himself known to the governor, Velasquez, by the fidelity with
which he discharged his duties, and especially by the influence
which his mild and benevolent teaching obtained for him over the
Indians. Through his intimacy with the governor, Las Casas had the
means of ameliorating the condition of the conquered race, and from
this time he may be said to have consecrated all his energies to
this one great object. At this period, the scheme of
_repartimientos_, introduced soon after the discoveries of
Columbus, was in full operation, and the aboriginal population of
the islands was rapidly melting away under a system of oppression
which has been seldom paralleled in the annals of mankind. Las
Casas, outraged at the daily exhibition of crime and misery,
returned to Spain to obtain some redress from government. Ferdinand
died soon after his arrival. Charles was absent, but the reins were
held by Cardinal Ximenes, who listened to the complaints of the
benevolent missionary, and, with his characteristic vigor,
instituted a commission of three Hieronymite friars, with full
authority, as already noticed in the text, to reform abuses. Las
Casas was honored, for his exertions, with the title of
“Protector-General of the Indians.”
The new commissioners behaved with great discretion. But their
office was one of consummate difficulty, as it required time to
introduce important changes in established institutions. The ardent
and impetuous temper of Las Casas, disdaining every consideration
of prudence, overleaped till these obstacles, and chafed under what
he considered the lukewarm and temporizing policy of the
commissioners. As he was at no pains to conceal his disgust, the
parties soon came to a misunderstanding with each other; and Las
Casas again returned to the mother-country, to stimulate the
government, if possible, to more effectual measures for the
protection of the natives.
He found the country under the administration of the Flemings, who
discovered from the first a wholesome abhorrence of the abuses
practised in the colonies, and who, in short, seemed inclined to
tolerate no peculation or extortion but their own. They acquiesced,
without much difficulty, in the recommendations of Las Casas, who
proposed to relieve the natives by sending out Castilian laborers
and by importing negro slaves into the islands. This last
proposition has brought heavy obloquy on the head of its author,
who has been freely accused of having thus introduced negro slavery
into the New World. Others, with equal groundlessness, have
attempted to vindicate his memory from the reproach of having
recommended the measure at all. Unfortunately for the latter
assertion, Las Casas, in his “History of the Indies,” confesses,
with deep regret and humiliation, his advice on this occasion,
founded on the most erroneous views, as he frankly states; since,
to use his own words, “the same law applies equally to the negro as
to the Indian.” But, so far from having introduced slavery by this
measure into the islands, the importation of blacks there dates
from the beginning of the century. It was recommended by some of
the wisest and most benevolent persons in the colony, as the means
of diminishing the amount of human suffering; since the African was
more fitted by his constitution to endure the climate and the
severe toil imposed on the slave, than the feeble and effeminate
islander. It was a suggestion of humanity, however mistaken, and,
considering the circumstances under which it occurred, and the age,
it may well be forgiven in Las Casas, especially taking into view
that, as he became more enlightened himself, he was so ready to
testify his regret at having unadvisedly countenanced the measure.
The experiment recommended by Las Casas was made, but, through the
apathy of Fonseca, president of the Indian Council, not
heartily,--and it failed. The good missionary now proposed another
and much bolder scheme. He requested that a large tract of country
in Tierra Firme, in the neighborhood of the famous pearl-fisheries,
might be ceded to him for the purpose of planting a colony there,
and of converting the natives to Christianity. He required that
none of the authorities of the islands, and no military force,
especially, should be allowed to interfere with his movements. He
pledged himself by peaceful means alone to accomplish all that had
been done by violence in other quarters. He asked only that a
certain number of laborers should attend him, invited by a bounty
from government, and that he might further be accompanied by fifty
Dominicans, who were to be distinguished like himself by a peculiar
dress, that should lead the natives to suppose them a different
race of men from the Spaniards. This proposition was denounced as
chimerical and fantastic by some, whose own opportunities of
observation entitled their judgment to respect. These men declared
the Indian, from his nature, incapable of civilization. The
question was one of such moment that Charles the Fifth ordered the
discussion to be conducted before him. The opponent of Las Casas
was first heard, when the good missionary, in answer, warmed by the
noble cause he was to maintain, and nothing daunted by the august
presence in which he stood, delivered himself with a fervent
eloquence that went directly to the hearts of his auditors. “The
Christian religion,” he concluded, “is equal in its operation, and
is accommodated to every nation on the globe. It robs no one of his
freedom, violates none of his inherent rights, on the ground that
he is a slave by nature, as pretended; and it well becomes your
Majesty to banish so monstrous an oppression from your kingdom in
the beginning of your reign, that the Almighty may make it long and
glorious.”
In the end Las Casas prevailed. He was furnished with the men and
means for establishing his colony, and in 1520 embarked for
America. But the result was a lamentable failure. The country
assigned to him lay in the neighborhood of a Spanish settlement,
which had already committed some acts of violence on the natives.
To quell the latter, now thrown into commotion, an armed force was
sent by the young “Admiral” from Hispaniola. The very people, among
whom Las Casas was to appear as the messenger of peace, were thus
involved in deadly strife with his countrymen. The enemy had been
before him in his own harvest. While waiting for the close of these
turbulent scenes, the laborers, whom he had taken out with him,
dispersed, in despair of effecting their object. And after an
attempt to pursue, with his faithful Dominican brethren, the work
of colonization further, other untoward circumstances compelled
them to abandon the project altogether. Its unfortunate author,
overwhelmed with chagrin, took refuge in the Dominican monastery in
the island of Hispaniola. The failure of the enterprise should, no
doubt, be partly ascribed to circumstances beyond the control of
its projector. Yet it is impossible not to recognize in the whole
scheme, and in the conduct of it, the hand of one much more
familiar with books than men, who, in the seclusion of the
cloister, had meditated and matured his benevolent plans, without
fully estimating the obstacles that lay in their way, and who
counted too confidently on meeting the same generous enthusiasm in
others which glowed in his own bosom.
He found, in his disgrace, the greatest consolation and sympathy
from the brethren of St. Dominic, who stood forth as the avowed
champions of the Indians on all occasions, and showed themselves as
devoted to the cause of freedom in the New World as they had been
hostile to it in the Old. Las Casas soon became a member of their
order, and, in his monastic retirement, applied himself for many
years to the performance of his spiritual duties, and the
composition of various works, all directed, more or less, to
vindicate the rights of the Indians. Here, too, he commenced his
great work the “Historia general de las Indias,” which he pursued,
at intervals of leisure, from 1527 till a few years before his
death. His time, however, was not wholly absorbed by these labors;
and he found means to engage in several laborious missions. He
preached the gospel among the natives of Nicaragua and Guatemala,
and succeeded in converting and reducing to obedience some wild
tribes in the latter province, who had defied the arms of his
countrymen. In all these pious labors he was sustained by his
Dominican brethren. At length, in 1539, he crossed the waters
again, to seek further assistance and recruits among the members of
his order.
A great change had taken place in the board that now presided over
the colonial department. The cold and narrow-minded Fonseca, who,
during his long administration, had, it may be truly said, shown
himself the enemy of every great name and good measure connected
with the Indians, had died. His place, as president of the Indian
Council, was filled by Loaysa, Charles’s confessor. This
functionary, general of the Dominicans, gave ready audience to Las
Casas, and showed a good will to his proposed plans of reform.
Charles, too, now grown older, seemed to feel more deeply the
responsibility of his station, and the necessity of redressing the
wrongs, too long tolerated, of his American subjects. The state of
the colonies became a common topic of discussion, not only in the
council, but in the court; and the representations of Las Casas
made an impression that manifested itself in the change of
sentiment more clearly every day. He promoted this by the
publication of some of his writings at this time, and especially of
his “Brevísima Relacion,” or Short Account of the Destruction of
the Indies, in which he sets before the reader the manifold
atrocities committed by his countrymen in different parts of the
New World in the prosecution of their conquests. It is a tale of
woe. Every line of the work may be said to be written in blood.
However good the motives of its author, we may regret that the book
was ever written. He would have been certainly right not to spare
his countrymen; to exhibit their misdeeds in their true colors, and
by this appalling picture--for such it would have been--to have
recalled the nation, and those who governed it, to a proper sense
of the iniquitous career it was pursuing on the other side of the
water. But, to produce a more striking effect, he has lent a
willing ear to every tale of violence and rapine, and magnified the
amount to a degree which borders on the ridiculous. The wild
extravagance of his numerical estimates is of itself sufficient to
shake confidence in the accuracy of his statements generally. Yet
the naked truth was too startling in itself to demand the aid of
exaggeration. The book found great favor with foreigners; was
rapidly translated into various languages, and ornamented with
characteristic designs, which seemed to put into action all the
recorded atrocities of the text. It excited somewhat different
feelings in his own countrymen, particularly the people of the
colonies, who considered themselves the subjects of a gross,
however undesigned, misrepresentation; and in his future
intercourse with them it contributed, no doubt, to diminish his
influence and consequent usefulness, by the spirit of alienation,
and even resentment, which it engendered.
Las Casas’ honest intentions, his enlightened views and long
experience, gained him deserved credit at home. This was visible in
the important regulations made at this time for the better
government of the colonies, and particularly in respect to the
aborigines. A code of laws, _Las Nuevas Leyes_, was passed, having
for their avowed object the enfranchisement of this unfortunate
race; and in the wisdom and humanity of its provisions it is easy
to recognize the hand of the Protector of the Indians. The history
of Spanish colonial legislation is the history of the impotent
struggles of the government in behalf of the natives, against the
avarice and cruelty of its subjects. It proves that an empire
powerful at home--and Spain then was so--may be so widely extended
that its authority shall scarcely be felt in its extremities.
The government testified their sense of the signal services of Las
Casas by promoting him to the bishopric of Cuzco, one of the
richest sees in the colonies. But the disinterested soul of the
missionary did not covet riches or preferment. He rejected the
proffered dignity without hesitation. Yet he could not refuse the
bishopric of Chiapa, a country which, from the poverty and
ignorance of its inhabitants, offered a good field for his
spiritual labors. In 1544, though at the advanced age of seventy,
he took upon himself these new duties, and embarked, for the fifth
and last time, for the shores of America. His fame had preceded
him. The colonists looked on his coming with apprehension,
regarding him as the real author of the new code, which struck at
their ancient immunities, and which he would be likely to enforce
to the letter. Everywhere he was received with coldness. In some
places his person was menaced with violence. But the venerable
presence of the prelate, his earnest expostulations, which flowed
so obviously from conviction, and his generous self-devotion, so
regardless of personal considerations, preserved him from this
outrage. Yet he showed no disposition to conciliate his opponents
by what he deemed an unworthy concession; and he even stretched the
arm of authority so far as to refuse the sacraments to any who
still held an Indian in bondage. This high-handed measure not only
outraged the planters, but incurred the disapprobation of his own
brethren in the Church. Three years were spent in disagreeable
altercation without coming to any decision. The Spaniards, to
borrow their accustomed phraseology on these occasions, “obeying
the law, but not fulfilling it,” applied to the court for further
instructions; and the bishop, no longer supported by his own
brethren, thwarted by the colonial magistrates, and outraged by the
people, relinquished a post where his presence could be no longer
useful, and returned to spend the remainder of his days in
tranquillity at home.
Yet, though withdrawn to his Dominican convent, he did not pass his
hours in slothful seclusion. He again appeared as the champion of
Indian freedom in the famous controversy with Sepulveda, one of the
most acute scholars of the time, and far surpassing Las Casas in
elegance and correctness of composition. But the Bishop of Chiapa
was his superior in argument, at least in this discussion, where he
had right and reason on his side. In his “Thirty Propositions,” as
they are called, in which he sums up the several points of his
case, he maintains that the circumstance of infidelity in religion
cannot deprive a nation of its political rights; that the Holy
See, in its grant of the New World to the Catholic sovereigns,
designed only to confer the right of converting its inhabitants to
Christianity, and of thus winning a peaceful authority over them,
and that no authority could be valid which rested on other
foundations. This was striking at the root of the colonial empire
as assumed by Castile. But the disinterested views of Las Casas,
the respect entertained for his principles, and the general
conviction, it may be, of the force of his arguments, prevented the
court from taking umbrage at their import, or from pressing them to
their legitimate conclusion. While the writings of his adversary
were interdicted from publication, he had the satisfaction to see
his own printed and circulated in every quarter.
From this period his time was distributed among his religious
duties, his studies, and the composition of his works, especially
his History. His constitution, naturally excellent, had been
strengthened by a life of temperance and toil; and he retained his
faculties unimpaired to the last. He died after a short illness,
July, 1566, at the great age of ninety-two, in his monastery of
Atocha, at Madrid.
The character of Las Casas may be inferred from his career. He was
one of those to whose gifted minds are revealed those glorious
moral truths which, like the lights of heaven, are fixed and the
same forever, but which, though now familiar, were hidden from all
but a few penetrating intellects by the general darkness of the
time in which he lived. He was a reformer, and had the virtues and
errors of a reformer. He was inspired by one great and glorious
idea. This was the key to all his thoughts, to all that he said and
wrote, to every act of his long life. It was this which urged him
to lift the voice of rebuke in the presence of princes, to brave
the menaces of an infuriated populace, to cross seas, to traverse
mountains and deserts, to incur the alienation of friends, the
hostility of enemies, to endure obloquy, insult, and persecution.
It was this, too, which made him reckless of obstacles, led him to
count too confidently on the co-operation of others, animated his
discussion, sharpened his invective, too often steeped his pen in
the gall of personal vituperation, led him into gross exaggeration
and over-coloring in his statements and a blind credulity of evil
that rendered him unsafe as a counsellor and unsuccessful in the
practical concerns of life. His views were pure and elevated. But
his manner of enforcing them was not always so commendable. This
may be gathered not only from the testimony of the colonists
generally, who, as parties interested, may be supposed to have been
prejudiced, but from that of the members of his own profession,
persons high in office, and of integrity beyond suspicion, not to
add that of missionaries engaged in the same good work with
himself. These, in their letters and reported conversations,
charged the Bishop of Chiapa with an arrogant, uncharitable temper,
which deluded his judgment, and vented itself in unwarrantable
crimination against such as resisted his projects or differed from
him in opinion. Las Casas, in short, was a man. But, if he had the
errors of humanity, he had virtues that rarely belong to it. The
best commentary on his character is the estimation which he
obtained in the court of his sovereign. A liberal pension was
settled on him after his last return from America, which he chiefly
expended on charitable objects. No measure of importance relating
to the Indians was taken without his advice. He lived to see the
fruits of his efforts in the positive amelioration of their
condition, and in the popular admission of those great truths which
it had been the object of his life to unfold. And who shall say how
much of the successful efforts and arguments since made in behalf
of persecuted humanity may be traced to the example and the
writings of this illustrious philanthropist?
His compositions were numerous, most of them of no great length.
Some were printed in his time; others have since appeared,
especially in the French translation of Llorente. His great work,
which occupied him at intervals for more than thirty years, the
_Historia general de las Indias_, still remains in manuscript. It
is in three volumes, divided into as many parts, and embraces the
colonial history from the discovery of the country by Columbus to
the year 1520. The style of the work, like that of all his
writings, is awkward, disjointed, and excessively diffuse,
abounding in repetitions, irrelevant digressions, and pedantic
citations. But it is sprinkled over with passages of a different
kind; and, when he is roused by the desire to exhibit some gross
wrong to the natives, his simple language kindles into eloquence,
and he expounds those great and immutable principles of natural
justice which in his own day were so little understood. His defect
as a historian is that he wrote history, like everything else,
under the influence of one dominant idea. He is always pleading the
cause of the persecuted native. This gives a coloring to events
which passed under his own eyes, and filled him with a too easy
confidence in those which he gathered from the reports of others.
Much of the preceding portion of our narrative which relates to
affairs in Cuba must have come under his personal observation. But
he seems incapable of shaking off his early deference to Velasquez,
who, as we have noticed, treated him, while a poor curate in the
island, with peculiar confidence. For Cortés, on the other hand, he
appears to have felt a profound contempt. He witnessed the
commencement of his career, when he was standing, cap in hand, as
it were, at the proud governor’s door, thankful even for a smile of
recognition. Las Casas remembered all this, and, when he saw the
Conqueror of Mexico rise into a glory and renown that threw his
former patron into the shade,--and most unfairly, as Las Casas
deemed, at the expense of that patron,--the good bishop could not
withhold his indignation, nor speak of him otherwise than with a
sneer, as a mere upstart adventurer.
It is the existence of defects like these, and the fear of the
misconception likely to be produced by them, that have so long
prevented the publication of his history. At his death, he left it
to the convent of San Gregorio, at Valladolid, with directions that
it should not be printed for forty years, nor be seen during that
time by any layman or member of the fraternity. Herrera, however,
was permitted to consult it, and he liberally transferred its
contents to his own volumes, which appeared in 1601. The royal
Academy of History revised the first volume of Las Casas some years
since, with a view to the publication of the whole work. But the
indiscreet and imaginative style of the composition, according to
Navarrete, and the consideration that its most important facts were
already known through other channels, induced that body to abandon
the design. With deference to their judgment, this seems to me a
mistake. Las Casas, with every deduction, is one of the great
writers of the nation; great from the important truths which he
discerned when none else could see them, and from the courage with
which he proclaimed them to the world. They are scattered over his
History as well as his other writings. They are not, however, the
passages transcribed by Herrera. In the statement of fact, too,
however partial and prejudiced, no one will impeach his integrity;
and, as an enlightened contemporary, his evidence is of undeniable
value. It is due to the memory of Las Casas that, if his work be
given to the public at all, it should not be through the garbled
extracts of one who was no fair interpreter of his opinions. Las
Casas does not speak for himself in the courtly pages of Herrera.
Yet the History should not be published without a suitable
commentary to enlighten the student and guard him against any undue
prejudices in the writer. We may hope that the entire manuscript
will one day be given to the world under the auspices of that
distinguished body which has already done so much in this way for
the illustration of the national annals.{*}
{*}: [The Historia de las Indias was published in five volumes, in
1875-76, by the Royal Academy of History in Madrid. Prescott’s
manuscript copy of the work was probably burned in Boston in
1872.--M.]
The life of Las Casas has been several times written. The two
memoirs most worthy of notice are that by Llorente, late Secretary
of the Inquisition, prefixed to his French translation of the
bishop’s controversial writings, and that by Quintana, in the third
volume of his “Españoles célebres,” where it presents a truly noble
specimen of biographical composition, enriched by a literary
criticism as acute as it is candid. I have gone to the greater
length in this notice, from the interesting character of the man,
and the little that is known of him to the English reader. I have
also transferred a passage from his work in the original to the
Appendix, that the Spanish scholar may form an idea of his style of
composition. He ceases to be an authority for us henceforth, as his
account of the expedition of Cortés terminates with the destruction
of the navy.
BOOK III
MARCH TO MEXICO
CHAPTER I
PROCEEDINGS AT CEMPOALLA--THE SPANIARDS CLIMB THE
TABLE-LAND--PICTURESQUE SCENERY--TRANSACTIONS WITH THE
NATIVES--EMBASSY TO TLASCALA
1519
While at Cempoalla, Cortés received a message from Escalante, his
commander at Villa Rica, informing him there were four strange ships
hovering off the coast, and that they took no notice of his repeated
signals. This intelligence greatly alarmed the general, who feared they
might be a squadron sent by the governor of Cuba to interfere with his
movements. In much haste, he set out at the head of a few horsemen, and,
ordering a party of light infantry to follow, posted back to Villa Rica.
The rest of the army he left in charge of Alvarado and of Gonzalo de
Sandoval, a young officer who had begun to give evidence of the uncommon
qualities which have secured to him so distinguished a rank among the
conquerors of Mexico.
Escalante would have persuaded the general, on his reaching the town, to
take some rest, and allow him to go in search of the strangers. But
Cortés replied with the homely proverb, “A wounded hare takes no
nap,”[75] and, without stopping to refresh himself or his men, pushed on
three or four leagues to the north, where he understood the ships were
at anchor. On the way, he fell in with three Spaniards, just landed from
them. To his eager inquiries whence they came, they replied that they
belonged to a squadron fitted out by Francisco de Garay, governor of
Jamaica. This person, the year previous, had visited the Florida coast,
and obtained from Spain--where he had some interest at court--authority
over the countries he might discover in that vicinity. The three men,
consisting of a notary and two witnesses, had been sent on shore to warn
their countrymen under Cortés to desist from what was considered an
encroachment on the territories of Garay. Probably neither the governor
of Jamaica nor his officers had any precise notion of the geography and
limits of these territories.
Cortés saw at once there was nothing to apprehend from this quarter. He
would have been glad, however, if he could by any means have induced the
crews of the ships to join his expedition. He found no difficulty in
persuading the notary and his companions. But when he came in sight of
the vessels, the people on board, distrusting the good terms on which
their comrades appeared to be with the Spaniards, refused to send their
boat ashore. In this dilemma, Cortés had recourse to a stratagem.
He ordered three of his own men to exchange dresses with the new-comers.
He then drew off his little band in sight of the vessels, affecting to
return to the city. In the night, however, he came back to the same
place, and lay in ambush, directing the disguised Spaniards, when the
morning broke, and they could be discerned, to make signals to those on
board. The artifice succeeded. A boat put off, filled with armed men,
and three or four leaped on shore. But they soon detected the deceit,
and Cortés, springing from his ambush, made them prisoners. Their
comrades in the boat, alarmed, pushed off, at once, for the vessels,
which soon got under way, leaving those on shore to their fate. Thus
ended the affair. Cortés returned to Cempoalla, with the addition of
half a dozen able-bodied recruits, and, what was of more importance,
relieved in his own mind from the apprehension of interference with his
operations.[76]
He now made arrangements for his speedy departure from the Totonac
capital. The forces reserved for the expedition amounted to about four
hundred foot and fifteen horse, with seven pieces of artillery. He
obtained, also, from the cacique of Cempoalla, thirteen hundred
warriors, and a thousand _tamanes_, or porters, to drag the guns and
transport the baggage. He took forty more of their principal men as
hostages, as well as to guide him on the way and serve him by their
counsels among the strange tribes he was to visit. They were, in fact,
of essential service to him throughout the march.[77]
The remainder of his Spanish force he left in garrison at Villa Rica de
Vera Cruz, the command of which he had intrusted to the alguacil, Juan
de Escalante, an officer devoted to his interests. The selection was
judicious. It was important to place there a man who would resist any
hostile interference from his European rivals, on the one hand, and
maintain the present friendly relations with the natives, on the other.
Cortés recommended the Totonac chiefs to apply to this officer in case
of any difficulty, assuring them that so long as they remained faithful
to their new sovereign and religion they should find a sure protection
in the Spaniards.
Before marching, the general spoke a few words of encouragement to his
own men. He told them they were now to embark in earnest on an
enterprise which had been the great object of their desires, and that
the blessed Saviour would carry them victorious through every battle
with their enemies. “Indeed,” he added, “this assurance must be our
stay, for every other refuge is now cut off but that afforded by the
providence of God and your own stout hearts.”[78] He ended by comparing
their achievements to those of the ancient Romans, “in phrases of
honeyed eloquence far beyond anything I can repeat,” says the brave and
simple-hearted chronicler who heard them. Cortés was, indeed, master of
that eloquence which went to the soldiers’ hearts. For their sympathies
were his, and he shared in that romantic spirit of adventure which
belonged to them. “We are ready to obey you,” they cried as with one
voice. “Our fortunes, for better or worse, are cast with yours.”[79]
Taking leave, therefore, of their hospitable Indian friends, the little
army, buoyant with high hopes and lofty plans of conquest, set forward
on their march to Mexico.
It was the sixteenth of August, 1519. During the first day, their road
lay through the _tierra caliente_, the beautiful land where they had
been so long lingering; the land of the vanilla, cochineal, cacao (not
till later days of the orange and the sugar-cane), products which,
indigenous to Mexico, have now become the luxuries of Europe; the land
where the fruits and the flowers chase one another in unbroken circle
through the year; where the gales are loaded with perfumes till the
sense aches at their sweetness, and the groves are filled with
many-colored birds, and insects whose enamelled wings glisten like
diamonds in the bright sun of the tropics. Such are the magical
splendors of this paradise of the senses. Yet Nature, who generally
works in a spirit of compensation, has provided one here; since the same
burning sun which quickens into life these glories of the vegetable and
animal kingdoms calls forth the pestilent _malaria_, with its train of
bilious disorders, unknown to the cold skies of the North. The season in
which the Spaniards were there, the rainy months of summer, was
precisely that in which the _vómito_ rages with greatest fury; when the
European stranger hardly ventures to set his foot on shore, still less
to linger there a day. We find no mention made of it in the records of
the Conquerors, nor any notice, indeed, of an uncommon mortality. The
fact doubtless corroborates the theory of those who postpone the
appearance of the yellow fever till long after the occupation of the
country by the whites. It proves, at least, that, if existing before, it
must have been in a very much mitigated form.
After some leagues of travel over roads made nearly impassable by the
summer rains, the troops began the gradual ascent--more gradual on the
eastern than the western declivities of the Cordilleras--which leads up
to the table-land of Mexico. At the close of the second day they reached
Xalapa, a place still retaining the same Aztec name that it has
communicated to the drug raised in its environs, the medicinal virtues
of which are now known throughout the world.[80] This town stands
midway up the long ascent, at an elevation where the vapors from the
ocean, touching in their westerly progress, maintain a rich verdure
throughout the year. Though somewhat infected by these marine fogs, the
air is usually bland and salubrious. The wealthy resident of the lower
regions retires here for safety in the heats of summer, and the
traveller hails its groves of oak with delight, as announcing that he is
above the deadly influence of the _vómito_.[81] From this delicious
spot, the Spaniards enjoyed one of the grandest prospects in nature.
Before them was the steep ascent--much steeper after this point--which
they were to climb. On the right rose the Sierra Madre, girt with its
dark belt of pines, and its long lines of shadowy hills stretching away
in the distance. To the south, in brilliant contrast, stood the mighty
Orizaba, with his white robe of snow descending far down his sides,
towering in solitary grandeur, the giant spectre of the Andes. Behind
them, they beheld, unrolled at their feet, the magnificent _tierra
caliente_, with its gay confusion of meadows, streams, and flowering
forests, sprinkled over with shining Indian villages, while a faint line
of light on the edge of the horizon told them that there was the ocean,
beyond which were the kindred and country they were many of them never
more to see.
Still winding their way upward, amidst scenery as different as was the
temperature from that of the regions below, the army passed through
settlements containing some hundreds of inhabitants each, and on the
fourth day reached a “strong town,” as Cortés terms it, standing on a
rocky eminence, supposed to be that now known by the Mexican name of
Naulinco. Here they were hospitably entertained by the inhabitants, who
were friends of the Totonacs. Cortés endeavored, through Father Olmedo,
to impart to them some knowledge of Christian truths, which were kindly
received, and the Spaniards were allowed to erect a cross in the place,
for the future adoration of the natives. Indeed, the route of the army
might be tracked by these emblems of man’s salvation, raised wherever a
willing population of Indians invited it, suggesting a very different
idea from what the same memorials intimate to the traveller in these
mountain solitudes in our day.[82]
The troops now entered a rugged defile, the Bishop’s Pass,[83] as it is
called, capable of easy defence against an army. Very soon they
experienced a most unwelcome change of climate. Cold winds from the
mountains, mingled with rain, and, as they rose still higher, with
driving sleet and hail, drenched their garments, and seemed to penetrate
to their very bones. The Spaniards, indeed, partially covered by their
armor and thick jackets of quilted cotton, were better able to resist
the weather, though their long residence in the sultry regions of the
valley made them still keenly sensible to the annoyance. But the poor
Indians, natives of the _tierra caliente_, with little protection in the
way of covering, sank under the rude assault of the elements, and
several of them perished on the road.
The aspect of the country was as wild and dreary as the climate. Their
route wound along the spur of the huge Cofre de Perote, which borrows
its name, both in Mexican and Castilian, from the coffer-like rock on
its summit.[84] It is one of the great volcanoes of New Spain. It
exhibits now, indeed, no vestige of a crater on its top, but abundant
traces of volcanic action at its base, where acres of lava, blackened
scoriæ, and cinders proclaim the convulsions of nature, while numerous
shrubs and mouldering trunks of enormous trees, among the crevices,
attest the antiquity of these events. Working their toilsome way across
this scene of desolation, the path often led them along the borders of
precipices, down whose sheer depths of two or three thousand feet the
shrinking eye might behold another climate, and see all the glowing
vegetation of the tropics choking up the bottom of the ravines.
After three days of this fatiguing travel, the wayworn army emerged
through another defile, the _Sierra del Agua_.[85] They soon came upon
an open reach of country, with a genial climate, such as belongs to the
temperate latitudes of southern Europe. They had reached the level of
more than seven thousand feet above the ocean, where the great sheet of
table-land spreads out for hundreds of miles along the crests of the
Cordilleras. The country showed signs of careful cultivation, but the
products were, for the most part, not familiar to the eyes of the
Spaniards. Fields and hedges of the various tribes of the cactus, the
towering organum, and plantations of aloes with rich yellow clusters of
flowers on their tall stems, affording drink and clothing to the Aztec,
were everywhere seen. The plants of the torrid and temperate zones had
disappeared, one after another, with the ascent into these elevated
regions. The glossy and dark-leaved banana, the chief, as it is the
cheapest, aliment of the countries below, had long since faded from the
landscape. The hardy maize, however, still shone with its golden harvest
in all the pride of cultivation, the great staple of the higher equally
with the lower terraces of the plateau.
Suddenly the troops came upon what seemed the environs of a populous
city, which, as they entered it, appeared to surpass even that of
Cempoalla in the size and solidity of its structures.[86] These were of
stone and lime, many of them spacious and tolerably high. There were
thirteen _teocallis_ in the place; and in the suburbs they had seen a
receptacle, in which, according to Bernal Diaz, were stored a hundred
thousand skulls of human victims, all piled and ranged in order! He
reports the number as one he had ascertained by counting them
himself.[87] Whatever faith we may attach to the precise accuracy of his
figures, the result is almost equally startling. The Spaniards were
destined to become familiar with this appalling spectacle as they
approached nearer to the Aztec capital.
The lord of the town ruled over twenty thousand vassals. He was
tributary to Montezuma, and a strong Mexican garrison was quartered in
the place. He had probably been advised of the approach of the
Spaniards, and doubted how far it would be welcome to his sovereign. At
all events, he gave them a cold reception, the more unpalatable after
the extraordinary sufferings of the last few days. To the inquiry of
Cortés, whether he were subject to Montezuma, he answered, with real or
affected surprise, “Who is there that is not a vassal of Montezuma?”[88]
The general told him, with some emphasis, that _he_ was not. He then
explained whence and why he came, assuring him that he served a monarch
who had princes for his vassals as powerful as the Aztec monarch
himself.
The cacique, in turn, fell nothing short of the Spaniard in the pompous
display of the grandeur and resources of the Indian emperor. He told his
guest that Montezuma could muster thirty great vassals, each master of a
hundred thousand men![89] His revenues were immense, as every subject,
however poor, paid something. They were all expended on his magnificent
state and in support of his armies. These were continually in the
field, while garrisons were maintained in most of the large cities of
the empire. More than twenty thousand victims, the fruit of his wars,
were annually sacrificed on the altars of his gods! His capital, the
cacique said, stood in a lake, in the centre of a spacious valley. The
lake was commanded by the emperor’s vessels, and the approach to the
city was by means of causeways, several miles long, connected in parts
by wooden bridges, which, when raised, cut off all communication with
the country. Some other things he added, in answer to queries of his
guest, in which, as the reader may imagine, the crafty or credulous
cacique varnished over the truth with a lively coloring of romance.
Whether romance, or reality, the Spaniards could not determine. The
particulars they gleaned were not of a kind to tranquillize their minds,
and might well have made bolder hearts than theirs pause, ere they
advanced. But far from it. “The words which we heard,” says the stout
old cavalier so often quoted, “however they may have filled us with
wonder, made us--such is the temper of the Spaniard--only the more
earnest to prove the adventure, desperate as it might appear.”[90]
In a further conversation Cortés inquired of the chief whether his
country abounded in gold, and intimated a desire to take home some, as
specimens, to his sovereign. But the Indian lord declined to give him
any, saying it might displease Montezuma. “Should he command it,” he
added, “my gold, my person, and all I possess, shall be at your
disposal.” The general did not press the matter further.
The curiosity of the natives was naturally excited by the strange
dresses, weapons, horses, and dogs of the Spaniards. Marina, in
satisfying their inquiries, took occasion to magnify the prowess of her
adopted countrymen, expatiating on their exploits and victories, and
stating the extraordinary marks of respect they had received from
Montezuma. This intelligence seems to have had its effect; for soon
after the cacique gave the general some curious trinkets of gold, of no
great value, indeed, but as a testimony of his good will. He sent him,
also, some female slaves to prepare bread for the troops, and supplied
the means of refreshment and repose, more important to them, in the
present juncture, than all the gold of Mexico.[91]
The Spanish general, as usual, did not neglect the occasion to inculcate
the great truths of revelation on his host, and to display the atrocity
of the Indian superstitions. The cacique listened with civil but cold
indifference. Cortés, finding him unmoved, turned briskly round to his
soldiers, exclaiming that now was the time to plant the Cross! They
eagerly seconded his pious purpose, and the same scenes might have been
enacted as at Cempoalla, with perhaps very different results, had not
Father Olmedo, with better judgment, interposed. He represented that to
introduce the Cross among the natives, in their present state of
ignorance and incredulity, would be to expose the sacred symbol to
desecration so soon as the backs of the Spaniards were turned. The only
way was to wait patiently the season when more leisure should be
afforded to instil into their minds a knowledge of the truth. The sober
reasoning of the good father prevailed over the passions of the martial
enthusiasts.
It was fortunate for Cortés that Olmedo was not one of those frantic
friars who would have fanned his fiery temper on such occasions into a
blaze. It might have had a most disastrous influence on his fortunes;
for he held all temporal consequences light in comparison with the great
work of conversion, to effect which the unscrupulous mind of the
soldier, trained to the stern discipline of the camp, would have
employed force whenever fair means were ineffectual.[92] But Olmedo
belonged to that class of benevolent missionaries--of whom the Roman
Catholic church, to its credit, has furnished many examples--who rely on
spiritual weapons for the great work, inculcating those doctrines of
love and mercy which can best touch the sensibilities and win the
affections of their rude audience. These, indeed, are the true weapons
of the Church, the weapons employed in the primitive ages, by which it
has spread its peaceful banners over the farthest regions of the globe.
Such were not the means used by the conquerors of America, who, rather
adopting the policy of the victorious Moslems in their early career,
carried with them the sword in one hand and the Bible in the other. They
imposed obedience in matters of faith, no less than of government, on
the vanquished, little heeding whether the conversion were genuine, so
that it conformed to the outward observances of the Church. Yet the
seeds thus recklessly scattered must have perished but for the
missionaries of their own nation, who, in later times, worked over the
same ground, living among the Indians as brethren, and, by long and
patient culture, enabling the germs of truth to take root and fructify
in their hearts.
The Spanish commander remained in the city four or five days, to recruit
his fatigued and famished forces; and the modern Indians still point
out, or did, at the close of the last century, a venerable
cypress, under the branches of which was tied the horse of the
_Conquistador_,--the Conqueror, as Cortés was styled, _par
excellence_.[93] Their route now opened on a broad and verdant valley,
watered by a noble stream,--a circumstance of not too frequent
occurrence on the parched table-land of New Spain. The soil was well
protected by woods,--a thing still rarer at the present day; since the
invaders, soon after the Conquest, swept away the magnificent growth of
timber, rivalling that of our Southern and Western States in variety and
beauty, which covered the plateau under the Aztecs.[94]{*}
{*} [The amount of timber in Mexico at the time of the Conquest has been
greatly overestimated. Humboldt complains of the Spaniards for cutting
down trees. Yet Bernal Diaz says (cap. ccix.): “y han plantado sus
tierras y heredades de todos los árboles y frutas que hemos traido de
España, y venden el fruto que procede dello: y han puesto tantos
árboles, que porque los duraznos no son buenos para la salud y los
platanales les hacen mucha sombra, han cortado y cortan muchos, y lo
ponen de membrilleros y manzanas, y perales, que los tienen en mas
estima.”--M.]
All along the river, on both sides of it, an unbroken line of Indian
dwellings, “so near as almost to touch one another,” extended for three
or four leagues; arguing a population much denser than at present.[95]
On a rough and rising ground stood a town that might contain five or six
thousand inhabitants, commanded by a fortress, which, with its walls and
trenches, seemed to the Spaniards quite “on a level with similar works
in Europe.” Here the troops again halted, and met with friendly
treatment.[96]
Cortés now determined his future line of march. At the last place he had
been counselled by the natives to take the route of the ancient city of
Cholula, the inhabitants of which, subjects of Montezuma, were a mild
race, devoted to mechanical and other peaceful arts, and would be likely
to entertain him kindly. Their Cempoallan allies, however, advised the
Spaniards not to trust the Cholulans, “a false and perfidious people,”
but to take the road to Tlascala, that valiant little republic which had
so long maintained its independence against the arms of Mexico. The
people were frank as they were fearless, and fair in their dealings.
They had always been on terms of amity with the Totonacs, which afforded
a strong guarantee for their amicable disposition on the present
occasion.
The arguments of his Indian allies prevailed with the Spanish commander,
who resolved to propitiate the good will of the Tlascalans by an
embassy. He selected four of the principal Cempoallans for this, and
sent by them a martial gift,--a cap of crimson cloth, together with a
sword and a cross-bow, weapons which, it was observed, excited general
admiration among the natives. He added a letter, in which he asked
permission to pass through their country. He expressed his admiration
of the valor of the Tlascalans, and of their long resistance to the
Aztecs, whose proud empire he designed to humble.[97] It was not to be
expected that this epistle, indited in good Castilian, would be very
intelligible to the Tlascalans. But Cortés communicated its import to
the ambassadors. Its mysterious characters might impress the natives
with an idea of superior intelligence, and the letter serve instead of
those hieroglyphical missives which formed the usual credentials of an
Indian ambassador.[98]
The Spaniards remained three days in this hospitable place, after the
departure of the envoys, when they resumed their progress. Although in a
friendly country, they marched always as if in a land of enemies, the
horse and light troops in the van, with the heavy-armed and baggage in
the rear, all in battle-array. They were never without their armor,
waking or sleeping, lying down with their weapons by their sides. This
unintermitting and restless vigilance was, perhaps, more oppressive to
the spirits than even bodily fatigue. But they were confident in their
superiority in a fair field, and felt that the most serious danger they
had to fear from Indian warfare was surprise. “We are few against many,
brave companions,” Cortés would say to them; “be prepared, then, not as
if you were going to battle, but as if actually in the midst of
it!”[99]
The road taken by the Spaniards was the same which at present leads to
Tlascala; not that, however, usually followed in passing from Vera Cruz
to the capital, which makes a circuit considerably to the south, towards
Puebla, in the neighborhood of the ancient Cholula. They more than once
forded the stream that rolls through this beautiful plain, lingering
several days on the way, in hopes of receiving an answer from the Indian
republic. The unexpected delay of the messengers could not be explained,
and occasioned some uneasiness.
As they advanced into a country of rougher and bolder features, their
progress was suddenly arrested by a remarkable fortification. It was a
stone wall nine feet in height, and twenty in thickness, with a parapet,
a foot and a half broad, raised on the summit for the protection of
those who defended it. It had only one opening, in the centre, made by
two semicircular lines of wall overlapping each other for the space of
forty paces, and affording a passage-way between, ten paces wide, so
contrived, therefore, as to be perfectly commanded by the inner wall.
This fortification, which extended more than two leagues, rested at
either end on the bold natural buttresses formed by the sierra. The work
was built of immense blocks of stones nicely laid together without
cement;[100] and the remains still existing, among which are rocks of
the whole breadth of the rampart, fully attest its solidity and
size.[101]
This singular structure marked the limits of Tlascala, and was intended,
as the natives told the Spaniards, as a barrier against the Mexican
invasions. The army paused, filled with amazement at the contemplation
of this Cyclopean monument, which naturally suggested reflections on the
strength and resources of the people who had raised it. It caused them,
too, some painful solicitude as to the probable result of their mission
to Tlascala, and their own consequent reception there. But they were too
sanguine to allow such uncomfortable surmises long to dwell in their
minds. Cortés put himself at the head of his cavalry, and, calling out,
“Forward, soldiers, the Holy Cross is our banner, and under that we
shall conquer,” led his little army through the undefended passage, and
in a few moments they trod the soil of the free republic of
Tlascala.[102]