The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo Vol 2 Part 14

CHAPTER CLXIII.

_How the licentiate Zuazo set sail for New Spain in a small vessel, accompanied by two monks of the order of Charity; and their remarkable adventures on this voyage._

I mentioned in a former chapter that the licentiate Zuazo promised Garay, during the few days he stayed at Cuba, that he would repair in person to Mexico, and try to settle the differences between him and Cortes. He had first wished to render an account to the royal court of audience at St. Domingo of his administration of justice in the island of Cuba, after which he really set sail for New Spain. On this voyage he took along with him two monks of the order of Charity, one of whom was named Juan Varillas, and the other Gonzalo Pondevedra. The former was a native of Salamanca, and a most intimate friend of father Olmedo, to visit whom he had purposely asked permission of his superiors, and had been staying some time at Cuba with father Gonzalo to await a favorable opportunity of crossing over to New Spain. As he was a relation of Zuazo, he begged he would allow father Gonzalo and himself to accompany him on this occasion. This Zuazo readily granted, and they both accordingly embarked with him in a small vessel. They had scarcely doubled the cape of Sant Anton, (which is also called the land of Gamatabeis, a wild tribe of Indians whom the Spaniards have not yet subdued,) when, either through ignorance of the pilot or owing to heavy currents, they were driven out of their right course, and were wrecked off the Viboras isles, which lie between the shallows near the so termed Alacranes sands. When large vessels get aground here, they are inevitably lost; whereas the smallness of Zuazo's vessel was the very means of his preservation. Yet, in order to lighten the vessel, they were obliged to throw a great part of the cargo overboard, which, as it princ.i.p.ally consisted of smoked meat, soon brought great numbers of sharks about the vessel. One of the sailors, who had ventured with some others into the shallow water, was seized and devoured by one of these monsters; the rest would, no doubt, have shared a similar fate if they had not immediately hastened on board again. It was, therefore, with great difficulty and much risk the whole of the crew at length managed to get on to the island; but as they had thrown all their provisions and their water-casks overboard, they had at first nothing to eat or drink; at length, indeed, they managed to fish up a few pieces of their smoked meat from the sea. They would even have been without fire had it not been for two Cuba Indians, who, by rubbing two pieces of dry wood together, soon kindled a flame. After searching about for some time, they likewise had the good fortune to meet with fresh water; and as the island was small and very sandy, numbers of turtles came to lay their eggs in the sand. These creatures, which they found would lay one hundred eggs each, the two Indians of Cuba easily captured by turning them on their backs, so that they were unable to move. With these eggs, the flesh of the turtle, and of seals which came on land during the night, thirteen people nourished themselves for many days.

Among the hands on board this small vessel there happened to be two carpenters of Ribera, who had fortunately rescued their tools; it was therefore determined that they should construct a boat from the timber of the vessel. When they had finished and completely rigged this boat, a supply of turtles and smoked seals' flesh, with some water, was put on board, besides a sea-chart and a compa.s.s. With this frail bark, three Spanish sailors, and one of the Cuba Indians, boldly put out to sea in quest of some harbour of New Spain, whence they might send a vessel to the rescue of those left on the island. After encountering various kinds of weather, they at length arrived safe in the river Bandera, where at that time goods were landed from Spain. The three Spaniards immediately repaired to Medellin, where a certain Simon de Cuenca was Cortes'

commandant, to whom they related their unfortunate s.h.i.+pwreck off the Viboras isles. Cuenca, on hearing this, fitted out a small vessel, which he despatched thither with a letter to Zuazo, in which he told him how pleased Cortes would be to hear of his arrival in New Spain. Cortes, to whom Cuenca had sent information of this circ.u.mstance, highly commended the conduct he had pursued, and desired him, as soon as Zuazo and his companions should arrive, to provide them with every necessary, and with horses for their journey to Mexico.

This vessel had very favorable weather, and soon reached the little island. The joy of Zuazo and his companions can easily be imagined; but they had, in this interval, to their great sorrow, lost their friend father Gonzalo, who gradually sunk under hards.h.i.+ps to which he was unaccustomed. They commended his departed soul to G.o.d, embarked on board the vessel which had come to their deliverance, and, in a short time, reached the coast of New Spain, from whence they arrived in Medellin, where they met with a very kind reception. From this place they hastened to Mexico, where Cortes gave them one of his own palaces to live in, and shortly after appointed Zuazo his alcalde major.

What I have here related of Zuazo's voyage to New Spain I have copied word for word from a letter which Cortes wrote to us the town council of Guacasualco about it, which exactly corresponds with what the sailors related themselves. The reader may, therefore, rely upon this as being a true narrative.

CHAPTER CLXIV.

_How Cortes despatched Alvarado to subdue the province of Guatimala, and to found a colony there._

Cortes strove to emulate Alexander the Macedonian in all things; his thoughts were always busied with some grand scheme, and his love of dominion knew no bounds: when, therefore, with the a.s.sistance of his excellent officers and brave soldiers, he had rebuilt and repeopled the great city of Mexico, and had founded the towns of Guaxaca, Zacatula, Colima, Vera Cruz, Panuco, and Guacasualco, he also determined to subdue the thickly-populated province of Guatimala, the inhabitants of which were very warlike. Cortes knew that there were gold mines in this country, and had several times invited the inhabitants to submit, but received no answer in return; he therefore resolved to despatch Alvarado thither to subdue the country and to found colonies in it. For this important campaign he selected above 300 foot, of which 120 were musketeers and crossbow-men, 153 horse, and four field-pieces, with an abundant supply of powder. The chief artilleryman was Usagre, and above 300 auxiliary troops, composed of Tlascallans, Cholullans, and Mexicans were joined to these forces. Father Olmedo, who was a most intimate friend of Alvarado, also begged Cortes that he might join him in this campaign, in order to preach the gospel to the inhabitants; but our general, who always wished to have father Olmedo near his person, refused his request, and appointed another excellent priest to this expedition who had come to New Spain with Garay, and who gladly undertook the office of missionary. Father Olmedo, however, left Cortes no peace until he had obtained his consent, though this was given with great reluctance, as the father was of valuable a.s.sistance to him, and a man whom he consulted in all matters of importance.

The instructions which Alvarado received were, above all, to strive by every means to gain the inhabitants by kindness and friends.h.i.+p; besides which, father Olmedo was supplied with the necessary interpreters, through whom he was to make every exertion to induce the inhabitants to abolish their human sacrifices and other abominations, and to lead them into the bosom of our holy Christian church. As soon as these troops were in marching order, Alvarado took leave of Cortes, and left Mexico on the 13th of December of the year 1523. He took his route over some mountains in the province of Guantepec, and quelled an insurrection there which had broken out among the inhabitants of the country. From this place he marched to the large towns.h.i.+p of Tecuantepec, which is inhabited by a tribe of the Tzapotecs, where he met with the kindest reception, and was even presented with some gold. The province of Soconusco, which he next came to, he also found in perfect peace. This country was at that time thickly populated, and contained about 15,000 inhabitants, who all quietly submitted, and brought Alvarado a present in gold; but as soon as he left this province, everything began to wear a warlike appearance, and, on his next day's march, when he arrived in the neighbourhood of the Zapot.i.tlan towns.h.i.+ps, he came up to a bridge which lay across a small river, near to which there was a dangerous pa.s.s, and large bodies of the enemy were drawn up in order of battle, to prevent Alvarado from crossing over. Here Alvarado encountered a severe engagement, and lost one horse, and had many of his men wounded, of whom one died shortly after. It was not only the warriors of Zapot.i.tlan which opposed Alvarado, but they were joined by so vast a body of the inhabitants from the surrounding country, that, though the Spaniards continually mowed down the enemy's ranks, they were obliged to renew the attack three several times; and it was only after a good deal of hard fighting that our troops at last gained a complete victory over them, and they then submitted as va.s.sals to our emperor. The next towns.h.i.+p Alvarado came to was Quetzaltenanco, which had a considerable population, and likewise bid an obstinate resistance to the Spaniards, of whom a great number were wounded. The inhabitants of this place had been joined by their neighbours of Utatlan, the chief of a series of towns.h.i.+ps round about Quetzaltenanco: nevertheless, Alvarado put them to flight, and strewed the field of battle with dead and wounded.

From this place his route lay through a dangerous and very narrow mountain defile, about six miles in length. The troops therefore marched forward with every military precaution, and began to ascend the acclivity. When they had arrived at the most elevated point of the pa.s.s, they found a fat old Indian female and a dog, which had been sacrificed to their G.o.ds; a certain sign of war. This indeed was soon verified; for they had not marched far before they came up with immense bodies of the enemy, who were lying in wait for them, so that Alvarado stood in great danger of being hemmed in on all sides. At this spot the pa.s.s was so narrow, and the ground so thickly strewed with stones, that the horse were scarcely able to render any a.s.sistance; but the crossbow-men, musketeers, and the rest of the foot, armed with bucklers and swords, closed the more bravely with the enemy, who retreated fighting, down the narrow pa.s.s to some deep hollows, where other bodies stood drawn up in order of battle. From this place the enemy, by a preconcerted plan, fell back, as Alvarado advanced, to another position, where they had posted above 6000 of their men. These were the warriors of Utatlan and their subjects, who had made sure they would easily be able to cut off Alvarado, with the whole of his men; but our troops fought with such determination and courage, that they put the enemy to flight, having only three of their men and two horses wounded. The enemy, however, rallied again, were joined by other large bodies, and renewed the attack with great intrepidity. The most desperate part of the action took place near a fountain, where a strong body of the enemy rushed forth from an ambush; so that the Spaniards were compelled to fight foot to foot with the Indians, who had in particular singled out the cavalry, and each horse was attacked by three of the enemy, while several others at the same time strove to pull them to the ground, by hanging to their tails.

Here the Spaniards were placed in the utmost danger, for the enemy's numbers were overwhelming; but father Olmedo encouraged the men, reminding them that they were fighting with the intention of serving the Almighty, and to promote His holy religion; that the Lord would a.s.sist them, and that they must either conquer or die in this battle!

Notwithstanding this, and the utmost endeavours of the Spaniards, the victory remained dubious for a length of time, until at last the enemy began to give way. Now the cavalry were able to gain the open field, and they dispersed the Indians on every side with considerable slaughter, so that they were unable to show themselves for the next three days. During this time Alvarado encamped on the field of battle, and sent out small detachments to forage. He then marched, with the whole of his troops, to the towns.h.i.+p of Quetzaltenanco, where he learnt that two caziques of Utatlan were killed in the recent battles. In this place he allowed his men to halt for some time, to dress their wounds, but soon received intelligence that the surrounding tribes again contemplated an attack upon him, for which purpose they had a.s.sembled an army of two Xiquipiles, there being 8000 warriors to one Xiquipil. With this formidable body of 16,000 men the enemy were determined to conquer or die. On receiving this information Alvarado drew out his troops on the open plain in order of battle; nor was it long before the enemy came pouring forth with great force, and strove to surround him on all sides; but as the cavalry were unrestricted in their movements on this level plain, they made heavy charges on the enemy's line, who were soon put to a disorderly flight. Several of Alvarado's men were wounded, but some of the most distinguished chiefs had fallen in the battle; so that from this moment the Indians really began to fear the Spaniards, and the whole province came to the determination of suing for peace, and they sent amba.s.sadors to Alvarado with a small present in gold. But all this was mere stratagem on the enemy's part, whose object was to entice the Spaniards, under the a.s.sumed cloak of peace, to the strongly situated town of Utatlan, which was surrounded by deep hollows, and there to put them to death, when they least suspected any treachery.

As I have just stated, a great number of distinguished personages arrived in Alvarado's camp to sue for peace; they handed over their miserable present, were remarkably courteous in their behaviour, and begged of Alvarado to pardon their late hostilities, and to acknowledge them as va.s.sals of our great emperor. This humble language they accompanied by an invitation for him and his troops to return with them to the town of Utatlan, which they said was very large, and they would provide them excellent quarters, with every possible comfort.

Alvarado, who did not for an instant imagine they had any treacherous designs, received the caziques very kindly, granted them the peace they sued for, and accepted of their polite invitation. The next morning early he drew out all his troops, and marched to Utatlan; but as soon as the Spaniards arrived in this town they were struck with the warlike aspect which everything wore. There were only two gates by which the town could be entered, one of which was approached by a flight of twenty-five steps, and the other by a causeway, which was intersected in several places. There was also a large building, which was strongly fortified; the houses of the town stood very close together, and the streets were uncommonly narrow. There was neither a woman nor a child to be seen anywhere, for these had all been concealed in the hollows adjoining the town, and it was very late before the troops could obtain any provisions, which even then were bad. The caziques had likewise a.s.sumed a different tone to that of the previous day, and Alvarado was secretly informed by some of the inhabitants of Quetzaltenanco that the caziques of Utatlan intended to fall suddenly on his troops in the night, and ma.s.sacre them all; for which purpose they had concealed a number of their warriors in the adjoining hollows, who were to rush forth from their hiding-place the instant they observed the smoke rising from the houses of the town which would be set on fire, and to fall upon the Spaniards, who would be half suffocated by the smoke and flames, while the inhabitants attacked them from another quarter.

The instant Alvarado was apprized of the imminent danger which threatened him, he a.s.sembled the officers, with the whole of the men, and informed them of what he had heard, adding, that their safety now depended upon their leaving the town as quickly as possible, and in gaining some level spot between the hollows, as it was then too late to reach the open field. He then made the necessary arrangements for the troops to abandon the place, and called upon the princ.i.p.al personages of the town, as if he were quite unconscious of their designs; but in the course of the conversation he remarked, as if by chance, that his horses were accustomed to go to gra.s.s for a certain time each day, for which reason he would be obliged to quit the town again, where altogether the houses were too much crowded, and the streets too narrow for him. This came like a thunderclap upon the caziques, nor could they hide their inward grief and vexation when they saw the Spaniards marching out again.

As soon as Alvarado was outside the town he threw off the mask, ordered the chief cazique to be seized, and he was tried in due form by a court-martial, which sentenced him to be burnt at the stake. Before this sentence was put into execution father Olmedo begged permission of Alvarado to make an attempt to convert this Indian to Christianity, for which purpose he requested that his execution might be postponed for one day; but of this one day came a second day, at the end of which it pleased the Lord Jesus to incline the cazique's heart to Christianity, and he allowed himself to be baptized by the father, who then prevailed upon Alvarado to commute his sentence into that of hanging. The son of this unfortunate man was then raised to the caziquedom. But matters did not end here, for Alvarado was now attacked by the Indians, who lay concealed in the hollows, but he soon put them to flight.

There was another large towns.h.i.+p in this province, called Guatimala, the inhabitants of which had been duly apprized of all the battles which Alvarado had fought since his arrival in the country, and how he had each time come off victorious. They also knew that he was staying at Utatlan, and that he made frequent incursions into the surrounding towns.h.i.+ps, and compelled them to submit to his arms. As the inhabitants of Guatimala were at enmity with the Utatlans, they despatched amba.s.sadors to Alvarado with a present of gold, and declared themselves va.s.sals of our emperor; adding, that they were ready to a.s.sist the Spaniards in carrying on the war in that province. Alvarado received these amba.s.sadors in the kindest manner possible, thanked them for their present, and he told them, in order to prove whether they were in earnest in soliciting his friends.h.i.+p and in their offers of a.s.sistance, that he would demand of them 2000 of their troops to join his army. He was totally unacquainted, he continued, with the country, which was besides so full of hollows and narrow pa.s.ses, that he should be glad of this reinforcement to clear the roads which had been barricaded by trees, and to transport his baggage. The inhabitants of Guatimala soon showed they were friendly disposed, and it was not long before the required troops, with their generals, arrived in the Spanish camp.

Alvarado staid about eight days in the province of Utatlan, during which time he made repeated incursions into the different towns.h.i.+ps, and as several of these again revolted after submitting to the Spanish crown, great numbers of the male and female inhabitants were carried off as slaves and marked with the red-hot iron. Of these slaves a fifth were set apart for his majesty, and the remainder were immediately divided among the troops.

Upon this Alvarado marched to Guatimala, where the inhabitants gave him a kind and hospitable reception. Here the men enjoyed some rest, and they congratulated each other on the success that had attended their arms, and now they thought with pleasure on the fatigues they had undergone. Among other things, Alvarado declared to father Olmedo and his officers, that he had not been in any battle where he considered himself in greater danger than in the one they had recently fought with the tribes of Utatlan, who had combined excessive ferocity with uncommon bravery, and he considered that his men had done wonders on that occasion. "It was the arm of G.o.d," remarked father Olmedo, "that was with us, and that He may not desert us in future, let us appoint a day of thanksgiving to the Almighty and the blessed Virgin, and celebrate high ma.s.s, and I will preach a sermon to these Indians." Alvarado and the other officers immediately fell in with this idea, and after an altar had been erected the whole of the men made the communion, and high ma.s.s was performed with every solemnity. A great number of Indians were present on the occasion, to whom father Olmedo preached so many excellent things, and gave so many convincing proofs of the truth of our holy religion, that above thirty of them became converts to Christianity. In the course of the two following days they were baptized, and several others expressed a similar wish, when they found that the Spaniards made more of the converts than of the others. Upon the whole, there was nothing but rejoicing and happiness between the troops of Alvarado and the inhabitants of this place.

I must now relate that the caziques of Guatimala drew Alvarado's attention to some towns.h.i.+ps which lay at no great distance in front of a lake. The inhabitants of these places were at enmity with Guatimala, and their stronghold was a rock of great height, which they had further strengthened by various outworks. Of these towns.h.i.+ps, Atatlan was the princ.i.p.al one, and it was very evident the inhabitants bore the Spaniards very little good will, since, notwithstanding their near vicinity, they had not thought proper to send them any messengers of peace. Alvarado, therefore, sent them a most polite invitation to come and make a friendly alliance with him; but all the answer they returned was to ill-use the messengers. This invitation Alvarado renewed three several times, and as they still refused to despatch any amba.s.sadors to him, he determined to march thither in person, with 140 foot, 40 horse, and 2000 auxiliaries of Guatimala. When he had approached within a short distance of the towns.h.i.+p he again sent a friendly message to the inhabitants, who replied by a flight of arrows; upon which he advanced up to the water's edge. At this moment a vast body of Indians fell suddenly upon him, under the sound of their wild music, the whole of them accoutred in their full war costume, with lances of uncommon length. This was a very severe conflict which lasted for some time, and a good number of the Spaniards were wounded; but the Indians at last fled precipitately and strove to regain the fortified rock, but Alvarado followed so close at their heels that he carried the rock before they could rally themselves, and he would have slaughtered a great number of them if they had not leaped into the water and made for a small island on the lake. He then permitted his troops to plunder the houses which lay on the banks, and encamped on a plain which was covered with maise plantations. The day following he marched to Atatlan, which he found quite deserted by its inhabitants; from this place he sent out small detachments to forage the country, and particularly the cacao-plantations, which abounded in this neighbourhood. One of these detachments succeeded in capturing two chiefs of the towns.h.i.+p, whom Alvarado despatched with some others that had been taken prisoners on the previous day, to the caziques, desiring them to come and sue for peace; if they complied, he would liberate all the prisoners he had taken, and they themselves should receive the most honorable treatment; but if they still obstinately refused to submit, he would punish them as he had the inhabitants of Quetzaltenanco and Utatlan, by cutting down all their cacao trees, and otherwise damaging their property in every possible manner. These threats had the desired effect, they sent messengers with a present in gold, and submitted as va.s.sals to our emperor; when Alvarado again returned to Guatimala.

Father Olmedo, in the meantime, was doing all in his power to convert the Indians to Christianity; he ordered an altar with a cross to be erected, in front of which he regularly performed ma.s.s, and the inhabitants, on these occasions, imitated the Spaniards in all their religious ceremonies. Father Olmedo also placed on the altar an image of the Virgin Mary, which had been presented to him by Garay in his dying moments. This image was of such extreme beauty that the Indians became quite enamoured of it, and father Olmedo explained what was meant by such an image, and how Christians prayed before it.

Nothing now happened for several days worthy of mention, excepting that by degrees every towns.h.i.+p of the surrounding neighbourhood sent amba.s.sadors to Alvarado, and declared themselves va.s.sals of our emperor; even the Pipiles, a tribe inhabiting the sea-coast along the southern ocean. As most of the amba.s.sadors complained that the inhabitants of a towns.h.i.+p, named Izcuintepec, who were a very ill-disposed people, would not allow them to pa.s.s through their territory; besides that they committed all manner of depredations on their neighbours; Alvarado determined that they also should sue for peace and submit to his power.

But as they showed no inclination to do either, and sent an insolent answer to his message, he marched out one morning with the greatest part of his troops, accompanied by a strong body of auxiliaries, and fell suddenly upon this towns.h.i.+p before the inhabitants in the least suspected his approach. But it would have been better if Alvarado had never visited this ill-fated town, for he treated the inhabitants in a manner that was neither conformable with justice nor with the wishes of our emperor.

What I have related of this campaign in the province of Guatimala is more minutely described in a memorial written by Gonzalo de Alvarado, a brother of Pedro, and an inhabitant of Guatimala; by perusing which the reader may gain further particulars, and will be enabled to correct any errors I may have committed. I consider myself bound to make this observation, as I was not present in this campaign, for I did not arrive in Guatimala until the year 1524, when the inhabitants had again revolted, just as we were about returning to Mexico from our expedition to the Higueras and Honduras, under the captain Luis Marin. On that occasion we had several engagements with the enemy, who had everywhere dug deep holes and barricaded the narrow pa.s.ses along the line of our march. We were detained two whole days in the towns.h.i.+p of Juanagazapa, or Petapa, the neighbourhood of which was full of deep hollows, and we had several battles with the enemy, who strove to prevent our march through a very dangerous mountain pa.s.s. Here I was slightly wounded by an arrow, and it cost us much hard fighting before we could force this pa.s.sage. I could say a good deal of the battle we fought on this spot, and it is with difficulty I restrain myself at present, in order to relate all the circ.u.mstances more fully in the proper place. It was about this time also that a rumour was spread of Cortes' death. With respect to the inhabitants of Guatimala, I have merely further to remark that they were not a very warlike people, nor did they ever bid any stout resistance unless they were strongly posted in the hollows of the mountains, and then even their arrows did us very little harm.

CHAPTER CLXV.

_How Cortes despatches an armament, under Christobal de Oli, to the Higueras and Honduras, to subject these provinces; and what further took place during this expedition._

Cortes was informed that the provinces of Higueras[33] and Honduras were uncommonly rich, and possessed lucrative gold and silver mines; in which belief he had been further strengthened by the a.s.sertions of several sailors who had visited these parts, and affirmed that they had witnessed with their own eyes that the Indians there fastened pieces of gold to their fis.h.i.+ng nets instead of lead, in order to sink them; besides which, these sailors were of opinion there must be somewhere in that lat.i.tude a narrow arm of the sea, which ran into the southern ocean, and this was another reason why Cortes was desirous of exploring those parts, particularly as he had received instructions from his majesty to use his utmost endeavours to discover some such pa.s.sage to the southern ocean, in order to promote the trade with the spice islands by a shorter route. Cortes therefore determined to fit out an expedition for this purpose, the command of which he gave to Oli, his quartermaster-general. He was induced for various reasons to intrust this man with so important a command; first of all, Oli was entirely indebted to him for his successful career in life; secondly, he was a married man; and lastly, he possessed considerable property in the neighbourhood of Mexico; so that Cortes considered he could every way place implicit reliance on his fidelity and obedience. As the route overland to these provinces would have been too tedious, expensive, and difficult, Cortes determined for an expedition thither by sea, and fitted out five vessels and one brigantine, with three hundred and seventy men, among whom there were one hundred musketeers and crossbow-men, with twenty-two horse. In this corps there were also five of the veteran Conquistadores, all men who had distinguished themselves on every occasion. They had already settled themselves quietly down in New Spain, and were in every respect ent.i.tled to enjoy the sweets of repose; but Cortes was not the man to whom you could say, "I am now tired, general, of military life, allow me therefore to spend the remainder of my days in peace and quiet;" but he commanded you to go, and if you would not, he forced you. Among other officers who accompanied Oli was Briones of Salamanca, the same who commanded one of the brigantines during the siege of Mexico, and who had formerly served in the campaigns of Italy. This man was of a most irascible disposition, and he hated Cortes from the bottom of his soul; but he was not the only one, for several others took part in this expedition who were equally ill inclined towards our general, who had made himself a great many enemies among the troops, by neglecting to bestow upon them a fair proportion of the Indians and of the gold.

Oli's instructions were to set sail from Vera Cruz, and shape his course for the Havannah, where he would find Alonso de Conteras, one of Cortes'

veterans, whom the latter had despatched thither, in advance, with 6000 pesos, to purchase horses, ca.s.save bread, and salted meat, for the armament, all of which Oli was to take on board, and then sail straight for the Higueras, to which place he would then have an easy voyage.

Cortes' further instructions were, that he should make every possible effort to gain the Indians by kindness, and to build a town in some advantageous spot, near some harbour, from whence he could by degrees subject the whole country, and induce the inhabitants to bring in their gold and silver; but he was, above all things, to search for the pa.s.sage to the southern ocean, and should he arrive there, to explore the harbours on that coast, if he found any.

To this armament were also appointed two priests, one of whom understood the Mexican language, and they were particularly desired to preach the gospel among the Indians, and by kindly remonstrances, joined to convincing arguments, induce them to abolish their human sacrifices, with other abominations practised among them. Every place the troops visited they were to look out for those diabolical cages in which the Indians shut up those they intended as victims for their sacrifices; these they were ordered to release, and the cages were to be destroyed.

The priests were also to erect crosses in every towns.h.i.+p, and they were provided with a number of images of the Virgin Mary to present to the inhabitants.

After Cortes had strongly impressed all this on Oli's mind, he bid him and all his troops an affectionate farewell. When Oli arrived in Vera Cruz he found everything in readiness, so that he was enabled to embark immediately with his troops, and set sail; but I have forgotten both the year and the day of the month when he left.[34] However, he had a very favorable pa.s.sage to the Havannah, where he found the horses, with the provisions and other necessaries, in readiness. Here he was also joined by five of the veteran Conquistadores, who had been banished from New Spain by Diego de Ocampo, in the height of his wrath, during the investigation into the affairs of Panuco, after Garay's troops had occasioned an insurrection in that province. These men were the first who whispered the idea into Oli's ear of revolting against Cortes, and Briones had frequently spoken to him to the same effect; but Diego Velasquez, governor of Cuba, and the mortal enemy of Cortes, urged him in the strongest terms to refuse all further obedience to our general.

He even visited Oli on board the vessels, and they came to a secret agreement between themselves jointly to subdue the Higueras and Honduras in his majesty's name. Oli was to take upon himself the active part, and Velasquez, on his side, was to procure him every necessary, and to support him with his money. His majesty was to be duly apprized of all this, and to be pet.i.tioned to confer upon them the government of all their conquests.

With respect to Christobal de Oli, I must observe that he was a man of uncommon bravery, and excelled both as a cavalry and foot soldier; but he certainly did not possess sufficient talent for a commander-in-chief, but was second to no man under command. About this time he may have been in his forty-sixth year, and was either a native of Baeza or of Lunares.

His outward appearance was extremely handsome; high of stature, carrying with it the very expression of muscular power; his limbs were beautifully proportioned, and his shoulders broad, while a ruddy hue, most pleasing to the eye, was constantly upon his cheek. There was only one fault to be found with his features, which was a deep cut in his under lip. In language he was rather imperious and coa.r.s.e, but in other respects very agreeable in conversation; he had, upon the whole, many good qualities, particularly a n.o.ble frankness of disposition, which gained him the confidence of every person. As long as he staid in Mexico he was quite devoted to Cortes, but subsequently his ambitious desire for command, and not to be commanded, with the bad advice of evil-minded persons, completely blinded him. It must also be remembered that in his early youth he had served under Velasquez, and he could not forget the bread which, as a boy, he had eaten in his house. In this way it happened that he quite forgot he was vastly more indebted to Cortes than to Diego Velasquez.

After he had thus come to a secret understanding with the governor of Cuba, he was visited by many of the inhabitants of this place, who all strongly advised him to throw off the yoke of Cortes, thereby strengthening him in his evil designs. The armament being now fully equipped, he set sail from the Havannah, and arrived on the 3d of May, after a very prosperous voyage, about sixty miles on the other side of Puerto Caballo, and disembarked his men in a small bay, where he immediately began to lay the foundations of a town, to which he gave the name of Triunfo de la Cruz, and, according to the instructions he had received from Cortes, he selected the alcaldes and regidors from among the veteran Conquistadores above mentioned. He likewise took possession of the country for his majesty in the name of Cortes, and otherwise punctually obeyed the orders he had received, that the latter's friends might not discover what his real intentions were, until a good opportunity should offer itself of gaining them over to his side. I have likewise been a.s.sured that, if he found these provinces did not produce much gold or silver, he was determined to return to Mexico, and a.s.sure Cortes that his only reason for making that secret agreement with Velasquez was to procure troops and provisions at the latter's expense; the best proof of which would be his having taken possession of the country in Cortes' name.

Let us in the meantime allow Oli to build his new town, for it was not till eight months after that Cortes received intelligence of his revolt, when I will return to this subject. I must now relate what took place in Guacasualco, and how I, with the captain Luis Marin, was despatched to subdue the province of Chiapa.

CHAPTER CLXVI.

_How we who were left behind in Guacasualco were constantly occupied in tranquillising the rebellious provinces; how Luis Marin, by command of Cortes, marches into Chiapa, to subject that province; myself and father Juan de las Varillas being particularly desired by Cortes to join him in this campaign._

A considerable number of us veteran Conquistadores and persons of quality had settled ourselves in the province of Guacasualco, and the lands which had been divided among us were of very considerable extent, lying dispersed among the provinces of Guacasualco, Citla, Tabasco, Cimatan, and Chontalpa, stretching across the mountains of Cachulazoque and Guilenes as far as Cinacatan; including also Chamula, the town of Chiapa, Papanaustla, and Pinula, in the neighbourhood of Mexico; further, the provinces of Chaltepec, Guazcatepec, Chinanta, and Tepeaca, besides several towns.h.i.+ps. But in the beginning most of the provinces we had subdued in New Spain each time rebelled when the different proprietors came to demand their tribute, and they were frequently put to death by the inhabitants; which was also the case in Guacasualco, where the whole of the towns.h.i.+ps had from time to time rebelled against us; so that we were constantly obliged to march in small detachments from one district to another, in order again to bring the inhabitants to obedience.

Among others, the inhabitants of Cimatan likewise revolted, and peremptorily refused to obey our mandates; and our captain Luis Marin, not wis.h.i.+ng to send any strong detachment of his troops thither at first, despatched myself, Rodrigo de Enao, Francisco Martin, Francisco Ximenes, with four Indians of Guacasualco, to the rebels, in order to try if we could not induce them by kind remonstrances to return to their duty.

In this province the generality of towns.h.i.+ps lie between marshes and deep rivers; when, therefore, we had arrived within eight miles of the place of our destination, we despatched a messenger to the inhabitants to inform them of our arrival; but instead of returning any answer, three separate bodies of their warriors, armed with bows and lances, marched out against us, and attacked us so vigorously, that two of our companions were instantly killed. I myself was dangerously wounded by an arrow in the throat, from which the blood flowed so fast that my life was in the utmost danger. Next Francisco Martin was wounded, who stood close to me; and we, in our turn, certainly wounded several of the enemy; but at length we were compelled to seek our safety in flight, and try if we could not take possession of some canoes which lay near at hand, in a river called the Macapa. While my comrades were striving to accomplish this, I was obliged, though heavily wounded, to remain alone behind; and in order not to be killed outright, I summoned what little recollection I had, and hid myself between the bushes. Here I was again enabled to take courage, and I swore to the blessed Virgin that these dogs should not, at least, get me into their power this time! I then collected all my strength, leaped forth from among the bushes, fell vigorously upon the Indians, and I succeeded, by dint of heavy blows and thrusts, to cut my way through them; so that I was enabled, though wounded afresh, to reach the spot where Francisco Martin, with four trustworthy Indians, was waiting with the canoes. Even then we must all of us have undoubtedly been cut to pieces, if these faithful men had not defended our baggage to the last, thereby drawing off the enemy's attention from us; and while they were busily engaged in plundering our trunks we found time to set the canoes afloat, and to push off from the sh.o.r.e. Thus, through the great mercy of G.o.d, we made our escape by means of these canoes, and pa.s.sed across this deep and broad river, which abounded with alligators; but in order to elude the pursuit of these Cimatecs, we were obliged to conceal ourselves for the s.p.a.ce of eight days among the mountains. In the meantime the news of our disaster had reached Guacasualco, and the four Indians, who had also been fortunate enough to save themselves by flight, confidently a.s.serted, as we were so long in returning, that we must have been killed. Luis Marin, who likewise gave us up for lost, had already, as was customary at that time, divided our Indian commendaries among the other Conquistadores, and had written to Cortes for fresh indentures to convey the property; besides that, he had sold off all our moveable goods by public auction.

However, after the s.p.a.ce of twenty-three days, we again, to the surprise of all, made our reappearance in Guacasualco, where our friends were indeed delighted to see us, but those who had obtained our possessions drew very long faces.

Luis Marin was at length fully convinced that he should never be able to put down the rebellion in the provinces, unless he was allowed a stronger body of troops, for now he was sacrificing the lives of the few men he had to no purpose. He resolved therefore to repair in person to Mexico, and beg Cortes for a further reinforcement, and other necessaries, to carry on a war. He particularly cautioned the Spaniards to remain quiet during his absence, and ordered that they should not move to a greater distance than twenty miles from the town, unless to procure themselves provisions.