Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History

Book

Open Original Text

s any reason of
complaint. This was especially intended for Narvaez's men, who were not
so accustomed to subordination as we were. For the rest, continued
Cortes, he hoped to God we should find the Tlascallans as faithful and
true to us as before. If, however, they should have turned against us,
we were not therefore to lose courage, but to trust in our strong arm,
which had the power to overcome any foe.

We now continued our march with every military precaution, and arrived
at a fountain on the slope of a hill, near to which were standing the
walls and inclosures of ancient temples. These the Tlascallans said
formed the boundaries between their territory and the Mexican empire.
Here therefore we felt in greater safety, washed ourselves, and ate some
little food. After we had sufficiently rested from our fatigues, we
again marched forward, and arrived at a township called Gualiopar,[96]
situated in the Tlascallan territory, where the inhabitants allowed us
to quarter, and furnished us with food; but we were obliged to give them
small pieces of gold or chalchihuis in exchange. In this spot we
remained a whole day, to dress our wounds and those of our horses.

When the news of our arrival was received in the metropolis of
Tlascalla, Maxixcatzin, the old Xicotencatl, and Chichimeclatecl,
accompanied by the principal inhabitants of that town, and those of
Huexotzinco, immediately set out to welcome us. They gave us the most
hearty reception, and several of the chiefs wept aloud. "Alas! Malinche,
Malinche," cried they, "how deeply we take your misfortune to heart, and
lament the death of so many of your brothers, and of our countrymen, who
have perished with them! How oft have we not warned you not to trust to
the Mexicans, and told you they would certainly, one time or other, fall
suddenly upon you; but you would not believe us. However, what has
happened cannot be recalled; the only thing you must think of at present
is, to cure your wounds and strengthen yourselves with good food. Do,
therefore, just as if you were at home in your own country. Rest
yourselves a little and then proceed to our town, where we will find you
quarters. For the rest, Malinche, you may look upon it as no small piece
of heroism that you fought your way out of that strong city after the
bridges had been destroyed; and if we previously looked upon you as men
of extraordinary courage, we do so now in a much wider sense. We are
well aware that numbers of men and women of this country have to mourn
the loss of their sons, their husbands and their brothers, but let not
this be matter of too much grief to you. You have likewise great reason
to be thankful to your gods who have conducted you here in safety, and
who gave you power to gain the victory over that vast army, which we
were well aware had been lying four days in wait for you at Otumpan. It
was our intention to have come to your assistance with 30,000 men, but
we were unable to collect such a body of troops in sufficient time."

Cortes, with the whole of the officers and soldiers embraced these
excellent men in the most affectionate manner, and we made them a
present in gold and jewels, to which every man among us was glad to
contribute his mite. They were also extremely rejoiced to find that Doña
Marina and Doña Luisa had escaped the carnage; but their joy soon turned
into lamentations when they discovered what numbers of their countrymen
were missing; and Maxixcatzin evinced excessive grief at the loss of
Doña Elvira his daughter, and of Leon, to whom he had presented her.

We now, in company of all the caziques marched into the metropolis of
Tlascalla. Cortes was quartered in the house of Maxixcatzin, and
Alvarado in that of Xicotencatl. We dressed our wounds with great care,
and patiently awaited their cure; four of our men, however, soon after
died, and many others suffered for a length of time before they were
completely restored.

[87] The daily allowance of a soldier during this time was only fifty
grains of maise! (p. 347.)

[88] According to other accounts, it certainly appears that Alvarado
made this astonishing leap. (Monarchia In., iv, c. 71.) We find that
Alvarado was distinguished from his brother by the surname of _Alvarado
of the leap_. Humboldt, in his interesting work on New Spain, has
thought it worth his while to rescue the honour of this brave officer
with regard to this leap. Even to the present day there is a small
bridge near Bonavista, called Salto de Alvarado. (p. 352.)

[89] According to other accounts Cortes put great faith in the secret
art of this man. It was upon Botello's advice that he also attacked
Narvaez in the night time. He had likewise advised the retreat from
Mexico in the night time, although he knew, he said, that neither
himself, his brother, nor several others of his company would escape
alive. (p. 353.)

[90] During this retreat three of Motecusuma's sons lost their lives;
but there were two other sons of this monarch who survived the fall of
their house and became the founders of the distinguished grandee
families of Spain, the earls of Montezuma and Tula; one was called Cano
and the other Andrada Montezuma. (p. 353.)

[91] One circumstance Bernal Diaz has omitted to mention. After the
enemy had taken possession of the bridges there were one hundred
Spaniards, who, seeing no further chance of making good their retreat,
fortified themselves on a teocalli or temple. Here these brave men
maintained their position against the whole armed force of the town for
three days, but hunger at length compelled them to surrender, and the
whole of them were sacrificed to the idols. (p. 353.)

[92] The hunger which the Spaniards suffered during these days must have
been excessive; for Torquemada states it as a fact, that one of the
soldiers had cut out the liver from the body of another and devoured it;
for which Cortes was nearly going to hang the man. (p. 354.)

[93] Torquemada says, "That the Spaniards stood like a small island in
the midst of the ocean, against which the rolling billows beat on every
side." When Cortes decided the fate of the day by his courageous attack
upon the Mexican commander, the battle had lasted five hours. (p. 354.)

[94] The Mexican general's name was Cihuacatzin; he was the
Matlaxopilli, commander-in-chief, and carried the imperial standard,
called Tlahuizmatlaxopilli, being a golden net ten palms in length. (p.
355.)

[95] Bernal Diaz errs here with respect to dates, for the disastrous
retreat from Mexico, according to Cortes' despatches and other accounts,
took place on the 1st of July, and thus la noche triste (the night of
sorrows) was on the night between the 1st and 2d of July, and the battle
of Otumpan took place on the 7th. There must either have been some
mistake in the original manuscript or in the printing, for the years are
also dated erroneously. (p. 356.)

[96] This is certainly a corrupted name, for it is dissimilar in sound
to all others, and terminates different

Previous Next