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 politic to form an alliance with
the Mexicans; and allowed himself many other impudent expressions, which
so enraged the old chiefs that Maxixcatzin, Chichimeclatecl, and the
elder Xicotencatl, notwithstanding his blindness, rose up from their
seats, then fell upon the young man, and pushed him down the steps of
the building, under the most abusive language. He would certainly have
been killed on the spot, if respect for his aged father had not withheld
them. In the meantime they imprisoned all those who had sided with him.
To punish Xicotencatl himself, this was not exactly the time, and Cortes
refused in any way to meddle in the matter. I have mentioned this
circumstance to convince the reader how loyal and honest the Tlascallans
were towards us, and how much we were indebted to them, particularly to
the elder Xicotencatl, who, it is even said, had given orders for his
son to be put to death, as soon as he had been informed of all his
intrigues and treacherous designs.[98]

We had now rested twenty-two days, and had patiently awaited the cure of
our wounds; and Cortes now determined upon making an incursion into the
neighbouring province of Tepeaca, where several of Narvaez's men and
some of ours had been killed on their march to Mexico. He accordingly
told our officers what his plan was; but when Narvaez's men heard of a
new campaign, they became quite low-spirited. The latter were not
accustomed to war, and had had a sufficient taste of it in our overthrow
at Mexico, the carnage at the bridges, and in the battle of Otumpan; and
were very clamorous in their requests to our general to return to their
commendaries and their gold mines in Cuba. They peremptorily refused to
obey him any longer, and declared they would take no further part in his
conquests; and Duero, who, from the very beginning, had been in secret
understanding with Cortes, protested most loudly against this
contemplated invasion of Tepeaca. They cursed the gold Cortes had given
them, which had all been lost again in their flight from Mexico, and
assured him they were glad enough to have escaped with their lives from
that terrific battle. They were unanimously determined to return to
Cuba, and said they were not desirous of suffering any further losses
than they already had in this expedition.

Cortes, however, did not so soon give up all hopes of persuading them to
join him in this campaign. He spoke to them in a very quiet and kind
manner, and made many very excellent remarks, but all to no purpose; and
when they found that Cortes persevered in his determination, they
desired one of the royal secretaries to draw up a formal protest, in
which they gave a circumstantial account of our present position, how we
were in want of horses, muskets, crossbows, and even cords for the
latter; in short, of everything necessary to carry on a war. They
further went on to say, that the whole of us were covered with wounds,
and that only 440 men remained of the united troops of Narvaez and
Cortes; the Mexicans occupied every pass and every mountain, and the
vessels would rot away with the worm if they lay any longer in the
harbour; and so on.

After they had presented this protest in form to our general, he
altogether objected to it, and we others of his old troops begged of him
most earnestly not to allow any of Narvaez's men to return to Cuba, as
it would every way prove injurious to the cause of God and the interest
of our emperor.

When they found that all the steps they had taken were fruitless, and
that we maintained they were imperatively called upon to remain, both
for the service of God and of our emperor, they at last consented to
stay, and declared their willingness to join us in the contemplated
campaign; but Cortes was obliged to promise that he would allow them to
depart for Cuba as soon as ever circumstances would permit. This,
however, did not put an end to their murmurs. We heard nothing but
complaints against Cortes and his conquests,--how dearly they had paid
for all this, left comfortable homes, and peace and security, to serve
in a country where they lived in constant danger of losing their lives.
They likewise considered it would be unpardonable in us to commence a
second war with the Mexicans, with whom we should never be able to cope
in the open field for any length of time, after what we had seen of
their vast power both in Mexico and at Otumpan. Cortes, they continued,
would not relinquish his purpose as long as his ambition to command was
satisfied, and we others merely stuck to him because we had nothing to
lose but our lives. Many similar reproaches did they throw out against
Cortes, who, under the present circumstances, thought it was best to
leave them unnoticed; and he was glad, a few months after, to send them
home, as will be related in the proper place.

Here again I am bound to notice a number of errors in Gomara's history;
in order, however, not to go too much into detail, I will confine myself
to the following remarks.

Respecting the above-mentioned protest against the projected campaign of
Tepeaca, Gomara does not exactly state with which party it originated,
whether from Cortes' old troops or those of Narvaez. Everything he
relates concerning this matter merely goes to raise Cortes to the skies
and to cast the rest of us in the shade. We, the true Conquistadores, on
reading his work, soon discovered that Gomara had been bribed by
presents to relate the circumstances in that way. Were we not the very
men who supported Cortes in all the battles, and in every other matter?
and yet Gomara has the impudence to consider this as nothing, and
affirms that we protested against the further conquest of New Spain.
Gomara likewise commits a terrible blunder when he makes Cortes say, in
answer to this protest, in order to inspire us with courage, that he
would recall Leon and Ordas, of whom one, he says, was engaged forming a
settlement with 300 men in Panuco, and that the other, with a like
detachment, had been sent for a similar purpose to the river
Guacasualco. Every word of this is false; for, when we marched to
Alvarado's assistance in Mexico, those projected settlements were
relinquished, as I have above mentioned, and both these officers went
along with us to Mexico. Leon even met with his death at one of the
bridges, as we saw, and Ordas was severely wounded in three several
places. What a great pity it is that Gomara does not write with equal
veracity as he does beauty!

I was likewise amazed to read what he says of the battle of Otumpan. He
boldly asserts that we should have been defeated if Cortes had not been
present, for he alone decided the fate of the day by his attack upon the
Mexican commander-in-chief, who carried the royal standard. I should
indeed be loth to do Cortes an injustice, and, as an excellent and brave
general, I have the highest esteem for him; but certainly we have, above
all, to thank the Almighty, who mercifully protected us in all the
dangers we encounte

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