How a certain Christobal de Tapia arrived in Vera Cruz, with the appointment of governor of New Spain.
How a certain Christobal de Tapia arrived in Vera Cruz, with the appointment of governor of New Spain.
After Cortes had despatched these several detachments to bring the provinces into complete subjection, and leave settlements in them, a certain Christobal de Tapia, who had been veedor at St. Domingo, arrived at Vera Cruz, with the appointment of governor of New Spain, which had been procured him by Fonseca, bishop of Burgos. He likewise brought with him several letters from the bishop for Cortes, and many others of the conquistadores, as also for the officers of Narvaez's corps, by which they were desired to support Tapia in the government. Besides this appointment, which was drawn up in due form by thebishop, Tapia had several other blank papers with him, which were merely signed, so that he was at liberty to fill them up as he might think proper, by which means he would obtain unlimited power in New Spain. He was ordered to make us vast promises if we assisted him in his government, but to threaten us with severe punishment if we refused to obey him.
As soon as Tapia arrived at Vera Cruz, he showed his appointment to Gonzalo de Alvarado, who was then commandant of that place, as Rodrigo Rangel, who had previously filled that office, had recently been deprived of it by Cortes, but for what reason I cannot say.
Alvarado perused these papers with the most respectful veneration, as containing the commands of his emperor and master; but as to acting up to their contents, he told Tapia he must previously consult with the alcaldes and regidors of the town, to take the matter into mature consideration, and investigate as to how he had obtained the appointment, as he (Tapia) could not expect that they should exactly place implicit belief in what he said, and they should also like to convince themselves whether his imperial majesty was really cognizant of the drawing up of this appointment.
As Tapia was by no means satisfied with this answer, they advised him to repair to Mexico, where he would find Cortes, with all his officers and troops, who would, no doubt, on perusing his papers, pay him the respect which was due to his appointment.
Upon this Tapia wrote to Cortes, and acquainted him in what capacity he had come to New Spain. Now as Cortes was remarkable for his great tact, he answered this man in much more courteous terms than the former had used in his letter to him, saying the most obliging and pleasant things; at the same time he despatched several of our principal officers to visit Tapia at Vera Cruz. These were Alvarado, Sandoval, Diego de Soto, Andreas de Tapia, and a certain Valdenebro, to all of whom Cortes sent couriers with orders for their immediate return from the provinces, and to repair to Vera Cruz. He likewise requested father Melgarejo to hasten thither, in order to be present at the meeting; but Tapia had already started for Mexico, to wait upon Cortes himself, and was met on his road by our officers, who paid him the greatest respect, and proposed that he should turn off with them to Sempoalla. When arrived there they requested him to produce his papers, that they might convince themselves whether or not he was really sent by his imperial majesty, and whether his appointment bore the royal signature. If he could convince them of this, continued our officers, they would immediately promise obedience to him, in the name of Cortes and the whole of New Spain.
Tapia then produced his papers, and all the officers acknowledged, with respectful veneration, that, to all appearances, his appointment came direct from his majesty; but that it was impossible the emperor could be cognizant of all the particulars, nor of how matters stood in general, and they were determined to petition his majesty against his appointment. They assured him he was not fit for the important office of governor of New Spain; that the bishop of Burgos, the avowed enemy of the Conquistadores, the faithful servants of his majesty, had procured this appointment without first acquainting his majesty with the real state of affairs, merely to favour the governor of Cuba, and him (Tapia), to whom he had promised one of his own nieces in marriage, a certain Doña Fonseca.
When Tapia found that all his eloquence, papers, letters, promises, and threats availed him nothing, he fell ill from downright vexation. Our officers then wrote Cortes word of everything that had transpired, and advised him to forward a few bars of gold, with some jewels, to sooth Tapia in his excessive disappointment; all of which our general sent without delay, and our officers purchased some negroes and three horses from Tapia, who then returned to St. Domingo. Neither did he meet with the best of receptions there, as the royal court of audience and the Hieronymite brotherhood had been exceedingly vexed with him for having persisted in going to New Spain, though they had so strongly advised him not to do so, as the time was badly chosen, and his arrival there would create disputes, and only tend to interrupt the progress of the conquest of New Spain. But Tapia had placed all his reliance on the protection of the bishop of Burgos, wherefore they had not dared to detain him by force in St. Domingo, particularly as his appointment had been made out by the president of the council of the Indies, and as the emperor himself still continued in Flanders.
I will now return to Cortes' plan of forming settlements. Alvarado, as I have mentioned above, was sent for this purpose to a province abounding in gold, called Tuztepec, which must not be confounded with Tutepec, whither Sandoval was despatched for the same end. Sandoval was also to make a settlement on the river Panuco, as Cortes had received intelligence that a certain Francisco de Garay had fitted out an extensive armament for the same object, in which Cortes wished to anticipate him.
About this time our general again sent Rodrigo Rangel to Vera Cruz as commandant of that place, and ordered Gonzalo de Alvarado to conduct Narvaez to Cojohuacan, where Cortes still occupied the same palace, until the one should be finished which was building for him in Mexico. Cortes' motive for ordering Narvaez to be brought to Mexicowas, because he had been informed that, in a conversation he had had with Christobal de Tapia, he thus addressed him: "Señor, you are come here with the same lawful authority as I came before you, but it will avail you no more than it did me, who arrived, moreover, in this country with so large a body of troops. I advise you to be upon your guard, lest they put you to death. You have no time to lose; for the wheel of fortune still turns in favour of Cortes and his men. Strive to get as much gold out of them as you can, and with that journey to his majesty in Spain, and relate to him how matters stand here; and if you can rely upon the bishop Fonseca's protection, so much the better for your cause. This is the best advice I can give you."
Narvaez, on his journey to Mexico, was greatly surprised at the large towns he passed through; but when he came to Tezcuco, then to Cojohuacan, and saw the lake, with the numerous other large towns, and Mexico itself, he was perfectly astonished.
Cortes had given orders that he should be treated with the utmost respect, and, immediately on his arrival, was to be brought into his presence. Narvaez, on coming up to our general, fell down on one knee to kiss his hand. Cortes, however, would not consent to this, but, raising him up, embraced him affectionately, and desired him to take a seat next to his person; when Narvaez thus addressed him: "General! I am now convinced, from what I have seen of this vast country and its numerous towns, that of all the deeds of arms which you have accomplished in New Spain with your troops, the least victory has been that which you gained over me and my troops; and had these even been much more numerous I am sure we should have been defeated. You cannot be too highly honoured and rewarded for having subjected so vast a territory, with so many large cities, to the sceptre of our emperor. I am convinced that the most famous generals of our time will agree with me, that what you have accomplished surpasses everything that the greatest and most renowned captains have ever done before you, in the same degree as the city of Mexico surpasses every other town of the world in strength of position. Indeed, you and your brave soldiers have merited the greatest rewards from his majesty."
To these and other flattering speeches, Cortes answered, "What we have done was certainly not of ourselves alone, but through the great mercy of the Almighty, who protected us, and the good fortune which always attends the troops of our great emperor."
Cortes now also began to make the necessary regulations for the rebuilding of the great and celebrated city of Mexico; he marked outthe ground for the churches, monasteries, private dwellings, public squares, and assigned a particular quarter of the town for the Mexican population. This city was rebuilt with so much splendour, that, in the opinion of those who have travelled through the greater part of Christendom, Mexico, after its restoration, was a larger and a more populous city than any they had seen, and the architectural style of the houses more magnificent.
While Cortes was busily engaged with these matters, he received intelligence that the province of Panuco had revolted, and the whole of its numerous and warlike population had risen up in arms. Many of the Spanish settlers had been murdered by the inhabitants, and the few who had escaped begged for immediate assistance.
As soon as our general heard this bad news, he determined to march thither in person, as all our chief officers were absent, with their respective detachments, in the provinces. He therefore collected all the cavalry, crossbow-men, musketeers, and other troops he could; and it fortunately happened that considerable recruits arrived in Mexico about this time from those who came in the suite of Tapia, and of the troops of Vazquez de Aillon, whose expedition to Florida terminated so miserably; besides that, numbers had arrived from the Caribbee and other islands.
Cortes left a strong garrison in Mexico, under the command of Diego Soto, and set out on his march with no more than 250 Spanish troops, including the musketeers, crossbow-men, and 130 horse; but to this small body he added 10,000 Mexican auxiliaries.
Before Cortes left, Christobal de Oli returned from the province of Mechoacan, which he had completely subdued, and was accompanied by many caziques, as also by the son of Consi, the great cazique of the province. He likewise brought with him a large quantity of gold, but of very inferior quality, being considerably mixed with copper and silver.
This expedition to the province of Panuco cost our general a large sum of money, which he subsequently requested the emperor to reimburse him; but the board of finance refused this, and told him he ought to bear all the expenses himself, as he had subdued that province to suit his own private views, and to anticipate Garay, who was fitting out an extensive armament in Jamaica for the same purpose.
Cortes found the whole province of Panuco in a terrible state of rebellion. He several times offered the inhabitants peace, but to no purpose, and the consequence was a series of battles, of which ten were very severe, three Spaniards and four horses being killed, besides onehundred of the Mexican auxiliaries. In these battles the enemy had brought 60,000 men into the field; yet Cortes defeated them with considerable loss, and they never after felt any inclination to fight against him.
Cortes, finding that the district he was in contained abundance of provisions, staid eight days in a township near the field of battle, and, ardently desirous of restoring peace to the country, he sent father Olmedo and ten distinguished caziques he had taken prisoners in the last battles, with Doña Marina and Aguilar, to the enemy. Father Olmedo then addressed the several chiefs in a suitable speech, and asked them, among other things, how they could have entertained a hope of maintaining their independence, as they well knew that the city of Mexico, which had been defended by so many brave warriors, was obliged to surrender to our emperor. They ought, therefore, to sue for peace, and he promised them that Cortes would pardon their past behaviour. By these and other representations which the excellent father made to them, mixed up with a few threats, they were brought to their senses, and began to reflect on the large body of men they had lost, and the number of towns which had been sacked and burnt to the ground; so that, at length, they agreed to send a message of peace to Cortes, with a few ornaments of gold. Our general received the ambassadors very kindly, and assured them of his future friendship.
From this place Cortes marched, with half of his troops, to the river Chila, which lay at about twenty miles from the sea shore, and requested the tribes inhabiting the country on the opposite side to send him messengers of peace. But as their bellies were still full of the flesh of the many Spaniards they had killed belonging to the several expeditions which had been sent thither during the two last years by Garay, to form settlements, they imagined they would be able to overthrow Cortes with the same ease. They likewise placed great dependence in the inaccessibility of the places they inhabited, which lay between large lakes, rivers, and morasses; they therefore not only refused to return an answer, but murdered the ambassadors whom Cortes had sent to them. He, however, still remained quiet for a few days, to see whether they would not alter their minds; but, finding they persisted in their hostile feeling towards him, he ordered all the canoes which lay in the river to be seized; and with these, and some boats he ordered to be constructed from the wrecks of the old vessels belonging to Garay's expedition, he crossed the river with one hundred and fifty men, among which there were fifty horse, the rest being, for the greater part, crossbow-men and musketeers. The enemy, who had posted strong detachments at different points along the banks of the river, allowed our troops to cross unmolested, but were ready to receive them on the opposite side.
If these Guastecs had come with great numbers into the field on previous occasions, they came this time with more, and fell upon our men like so many furious lions. In this encounter they killed two soldiers and wounded above thirty others; three horses were likewise killed and fifteen wounded. Our Mexican auxiliaries also suffered a considerable loss; but Cortes gave the enemy so rough a reception that they soon took to flight, leaving behind them great numbers of killed and wounded.
Cortes quartered his troops for the night in a township which was quite deserted by its inhabitants, but where he found abundance of provisions. The following morning, as his men were looking about the place, they came to a temple, inside of which they found suspended various articles of Spanish dress, the scalps and the tanned skins of the faces of several Spaniards, with the beards attached to them. These were the remains of the soldiers of Garay's expedition to the river Panuco. In many of these skins our men recognized former acquaintances, and some even their intimate friends. It was indeed a melancholy sight to them, and they took down those miserable remains to give them Christian burial.
From this place Cortes marched to another township, and observed every military precaution, the men being each moment prepared for an attack, as he well knew that the tribes of this province were very warlike. His spies soon came in with the intelligence that large bodies of the enemy lay in ambush to fall suddenly on our men while they should be dispersed among the houses.
Our troops being thus apprized of the enemy's intentions, the latter were unable to do them much injury; yet they bravely attacked our troops, and fought with great intrepidity for about half an hour, when our cavalry and musketeers succeeded in putting them to flight. In this engagement Cortes had two horses killed, besides seven others wounded, and fifteen of the men so severely that three died shortly after. These Indians have the peculiar custom, when they are compelled to retreat, to face about three several times to renew the attack, a mode of warfare which has seldom been found among these tribes. After this battle, the enemy retreated to a river which was of considerable depth, and very rapid. Our cavalry and light-armed foot pursued them most vigorously, and wounded great numbers.
The day following, Cortes marched further up the country, andpassed through several townships, but every one was deserted by its inhabitants. In these towns they found, in subterranean vaults, a great number of large earthen jars filled with the wine of the country.[31]Our general, after marching in this way for another five days, and nowhere meeting with any of the inhabitants, returned to the river Chila.
Cortes now again invited the inhabitants on the opposite side of the river to send ambassadors to conclude peace with him, and this time he was more successful; for, as they had lost a great number of men, and feared another incursion into their country, they sent word that they would despatch messengers of peace to us after the lapse of four days, which time they required to collect some gold for a present. Cortes therefore patiently awaited the time specified; but, as no one came, he then determined to attack a large township which lay on the banks of a lake, surrounded by rivers and morasses. This place he was resolved to attack from the lake side, to do which he had to cross the latter; and this he accomplished by means of canoes fastened two and two together. On these a part of our troops, with a great number of Mexicans, embarked in a dark rainy night, passed unobserved across the lake, and fell into the town before the inhabitants were in the least aware of it. The town was completely destroyed, and most of the inhabitants killed, our Mexican auxiliaries carrying off a rich booty.
As soon as the inhabitants of the surrounding neighbourhood received information of this, they no longer hesitated as to what they should do; and, in the space of five days, messengers of peace came pouring in from all sides; the most distant mountain tribes, whose territory our troops had not yet visited, alone refusing to send any ambassadors.
Cortes then laid the foundation of a town, about four miles from the river Chila, and left there one hundred and fifty Spaniards, among whom were twenty-seven horse, thirty-six musketeers and crossbow-men. The whole of the townships which had sued for peace he divided among these troops as commendaries. Of this town, which received the name of Santisteban del Puerto, he appointed Pedro Vallejo commandant.
Cortes was just on the point of leaving this new town, and of marching back to Mexico, when he received certain information that three townships, which had previously stood at the head of the rebellion in this province, had again conspired to revolt. The inhabitants of these three townships had put a great number of Spaniards to death after they had sued for peace and had declared themselves vassals of our emperor, and now were using every means to persuade the population of thesurrounding neighbourhood to join them in an attack upon our new settlement, and kill every Spaniard left behind when Cortes should have departed with the remaining troops for Mexico. Cortes having convinced himself of the truth of this report, burnt the three towns to the ground, but they were subsequently rebuilt by these same tribes.
About this time the following misfortune happened. Cortes, previous to leaving Mexico, had sent orders to Vera Cruz for a quantity of wine, preserved fruits, and biscuits, besides a number of horse shoes, all of which was to be forwarded to the province of Panuco. A vessel without delay was despatched with these things from Vera Cruz, which arrived safe off the coast of Panuco, where, unfortunately, it was overtaken by a terrific storm from the south, and went to the bottom of the sea: only three of the crew were saved, who clung to some loose pieces of wood and were driven to a small island about sixteen miles from the mainland, which was covered in places with white sand.
Every night great numbers of seals came on shore to sleep on the sand, and these were the means of keeping the three men alive, who killed them and roasted their flesh at a fire which they kindled after the Indian manner, by rubbing two pieces of wood vehemently together. By digging a well towards the middle of the island they procured themselves fresh water, and at last even found a species of fig, so that they could not at least die of hunger; and in this way they continued to live for the space of two months, when they were rescued in the following manner.
Cortes having waited a length of time in vain at Santisteban del Puerto for this vessel, wrote to his major-domo at Mexico to know the reason why the things he sent for had not arrived. When his major-domo received this letter he soon guessed that some accident must have happened to the vessel, and instantly sent out another in search of her. It pleased God in his great mercy that the vessel should approach the small island where the three Spaniards had been cast on shore, who had had the good sense to keep a large fire burning night and day.
The reader can easily picture to himself the great joy of these men when this vessel arrived off the island: they immediately embarked in her, and sailed for Vera Cruz. One of these men, whose name was Celiano, subsequently lived in Mexico.
Cortes was on his way to Mexico when he received information that several tribes which inhabited the wildest part of the mountains had risen up in arms, and were committing every kind of depredation against those of their neighbours who had entered into an alliance with us. He therefore determined to put an end to these hostilities before hereturned to the metropolis; but these ferocious tribes being apprized of his approach, lay wait for him in a dangerous mountain pass, attacked his baggage, killed many of the Indian porters, and plundered them of all they carried. Our cavalry, which now came up to the assistance of those who had charge of the baggage, lost two horses from the rugged state of the road. These Indians, however, had to pay dearly for all this when our troops reached their towns, for the Mexican warriors showed very little mercy, and killed and took numbers of them prisoners. The cazique and his chief officer were hung, and the baggage of which they had plundered our troops was retaken.
After the execution of these men, Cortes commanded the Mexicans to stay hostilities, and he summoned the chiefs and papas of the province to send him ambassadors, who now arrived without delay, and acknowledged themselves subjects of our emperor. Cortes then appointed the brother of him who had been executed, cazique of the place; and, after thus restoring peace to the province, he continued his march to Mexico.
I must here observe that there is not a more wicked, a more uncivilized, or a more filthy people in the whole of New Spain than the inhabitants of the province of Panuco; and in no part were human sacrifices found to be so frequent or so barbarous. The inhabitants were excessive drunkards, and guilty of every kind of abomination: however, they met with due punishment; for, after our troops had visited their country a few times with fire and sword, they received, in the person of Nuño de Guzman, who became governor there, a much severer scourge. He sold almost the whole of them for slaves to the different islands, as we shall see in the proper place.
How Cortes and the officers of the crown forward to Spain the wardrobe of Motecusuma, and the emperor's share of the booty; and what further happened.
How Cortes and the officers of the crown forward to Spain the wardrobe of Motecusuma, and the emperor's share of the booty; and what further happened.
After this campaign in the province of Panuco, Cortes was busily occupied with the rebuilding of the city of Mexico.
Alonso de Avila, who had been despatched to the island of St. Domingo to communicate there in Cortes' name with the royal court of audience and the Hieronymite brotherhood, had by this time returned to Mexico, and had obtained for Cortes the necessary powers from theabove courts to subdue the whole of New Spain, turn the inhabitants into slaves, mark them with a red-hot iron, and distribute the Indians into commendaries in the same manner as was customary at Hispaniola, Cuba, and Jamaica. This power granted to Cortes was to remain in force until the emperor's pleasure was known on this head. The Hieronymite brotherhood duly apprized his majesty of all this, and despatched a vessel for that purpose to Spain; and though the young emperor was at that time still in Flanders, their despatches arrived safely in his hands. As the Hieronymite brotherhood were well aware of the bad feeling which the bishop of Burgos always had evinced towards us, they purposely omitted to acquaint him with the nature of these despatches; and, upon the whole, they never communicated with him excepting on matters of trifling import.
Alonso de Avila, as I have before remarked, was a man who feared no one, and had formerly held some office immediately under the bishop of Burgos, so that it was fortunate he happened to be absent upon the mission just mentioned, in St. Domingo, when Christobal de Tapia arrived at Vera Cruz with the appointment of governor of New Spain, as the latter had brought letters from the bishop to him, and on such an occasion the determined character of Avila might have greatly injured our general's cause.
Cortes, who was thoroughly acquainted with this man's disposition, always strove to keep him at a distance from his person; and now again, upon the advice of father Olmedo, he presented him with the lucrative township of Quauhtitlan, which would give him constant occupation; and Cortes added to this a considerable sum of money, by which he gained him so completely over to his side, that he soon after intrusted him with a most important mission, by despatching him and Quiñones, the captain of the guards, to Spain, as his own procuradores, and those of New Spain in general; and provided them with two vessels which were to carry over to the emperor 88,000 pesos, in gold bars, and the wardrobe of Motecusuma, which had hitherto been in the possession of Quauhtemoctzin. The latter was a valuable present, and well worthy of our great emperor's acceptance, as it contained jewels of the most precious kind, pearls of the size of hazel nuts, and various other precious stones, which I should not like to enumerate singly, even if my memory would allow me. At the same time were sent the bones of the giants which we found in the temple of Cojohuacan, similar to those bones which were previously given to us by the Tlascallans, and which we had sent to Spain on a former occasion.
Three tigers, and several other curiosities, which I have now forgotten by name, were likewise shipped on board these two vessels.
The chief magistrates of Mexico, on this occasion, wrote a letter to the emperor, and we, the conquistadores, with father Olmedo and the royal treasurer, drew up an humble address to our monarch, in which we first of all mentioned with praise the many important and faithful services which Cortes and all of us had rendered to his imperial majesty; we gave him a full account of the siege of the city of Mexico and the discovery of the southern ocean, and added we were convinced these countries would prove a source of great wealth to Spain. We then requested his majesty to send to New Spain a bishop and monks of different religious orders, but all to be pious and well-informed men, that they might assist us in extending the holy catholic faith in these countries. We likewise humbly petitioned his majesty to appoint Cortes viceroy of New Spain, as he had proved himself so meritorious and faithful an officer to the Spanish crown. In the same way we begged the favour for ourselves, that all appointments made by the crown in this country might exclusively be given to us the conquistadores or to our sons. Further, we requested his majesty not to send any lawyers into the country, as those persons, with all their learning, would merely breed lawsuits, discord, and confusion throughout the whole country. We then mentioned how Christobal de Tapia had been sent as viceroy to New Spain by the appointment of the bishop of Burgos, assuring his majesty that Tapia was not fit to fill such an important situation, and that if he had been allowed to enter upon the viceroyalty of New Spain, that country would undoubtedly have been lost again to the Spanish crown. We were compelled to clear up all these circumstances to his majesty, as we feared the bishop of Burgos had not only omitted to lay before his majesty our previous despatches, but had also misrepresented things to him, in order to favour his friends Velasquez and Tapia, to the latter of whom he had promised the hand of his niece Doña Petronella de Fonseca. Tapia had certainly produced papers relative to his appointment, of the genuineness of which there could really be no doubt, and we had indeed perused them with deep veneration, and we would immediately have obeyed the instructions they contained if we had considered Tapia a proper person to fill the important office of governor; but as he was neither a soldier nor a man of sufficient mind and determination of character, nor possessed of talents requisite for a viceroy, we found ourselves necessitated to inform his majesty of the whole state of affairs, which was the real object of this present humble address ofhis majesty's faithful and obedient servants. We then prayed his majesty to decide in these matters, and particularly requested that he would not allow the bishop of Burgos in any way to interfere in matters which concerned Cortes and ourselves, as otherwise all further conquests we contemplated in New Spain would be interrupted; nor should we even be able to maintain peace in the provinces that were subdued. As a proof of the bishop's enmity towards us, we mentioned that he had forbidden the two harbour masters of Seville, Pedro de Isasaga and Juan Lopez de Recalte, to allow any arms or soldiers which were destined for Cortes or our army in general, to leave that place. We then gave his majesty an account of the recent campaign of Panuco, how the inhabitants had been obliged to sue for peace, and had declared themselves vassals of his majesty; what terrible battles they had fought with Cortes, and how they had killed all the officers and soldiers which Garay had sent thither from time to time. This campaign, we went on to say, cost Cortes above 60,000 pesos, which he had paid out of his own private purse, the reimbursement of which he had in vain solicited from the royal treasurers; that Garay was fitting out a new armament in Jamaica destined for the province of Panuco, but it was advisable that his majesty should issue orders for him to postpone that expedition until we should have completely subdued the country, that he might not again sacrifice the lives of his men to no purpose, and create an insurrection in the country, which would be sure to ensue if he arrived there beforehand, as the Indians, and particularly the Mexicans, would immediately conclude that there was no unanimity in the operations of the Spanish generals; conspiracies would be formed, and the whole country would rise up into open rebellion.
These and many other things we wrote to his majesty, nor was Cortes' pen idle on this occasion, for he also sent the emperor an account of every circumstance in a private despatch, which contained twenty pages, and I know their contents pretty well, as I read them all through with great attention. Among other things, he solicited his majesty's permission to proceed to Cuba in order to take the viceroy Diego Velasquez prisoner, and send him to Spain, there to stand his trial for having sent persons to murder him, Cortes, and for having upon the whole endeavoured to confuse the affairs of New Spain.
With these despatches, the money, and other valuable matters, Quiñones and Avila set sail from Vera Cruz on the 20th of December, 1522, and safely passed through the straits of Bahama. On their voyage two of the three tigers broke lose and made their escape, afterwounding several of the crew; it was then determined that the third should be killed, which was in fact the most ferocious of the three. Without any further accident they arrived off the island of Tercera, where they dropped anchor. During their stay on this island, Quiñones, who had a vast idea of his courage and was of a very amorous disposition, got into a quarrel about some female, and received such a terrible blow on the head that he died a few days after of the consequences, so that Avila had to transact all our business himself.
The two vessels then continued their voyage, but had not advanced far beyond the island of Tercera when they fell in with the redoubted French corsair Jean Florin, who attacked and took both vessels, carrying Avila with the crews to France.
About this same time Jean Florin captured another vessel, bound from St. Domingo, having on board above 20,000 pesos, besides a quantity of pearls, sugar, and a great number of cow hides. With these valuable prizes the corsair returned to France a wealthy man, and made the king and the lord high admiral of France splendid presents out of the things he had captured; and the whole of France was amazed at the treasures we thus forwarded to our emperor. This very circumstance even created a great desire in the mind of the French king to take possession of part of the Caribbee islands; and it was upon this occasion he exclaimed that our emperor could carry on the war with him solely with the riches he drew from the West Indies! And yet at that time the Spaniards had not subdued or even discovered Peru. The king of France on this occasion also sent word to our great emperor, that as he and the king of Portugal had divided the world between themselves, without offering him any part of it, he should like them to show him our father Adam's will, that he might convince himself whether he had really constituted them the sole heirs to these countries. As long as they refused to comply with this, he would consider himself justified to possess himself of everything he could on the high seas: and indeed it was not long before he again sent out Jean Florin with a small fleet, who took considerable prizes at sea, between Spain and the Canaries; but as he was returning home with them to France he fell in with three or four Biscay men of war, who attacked him with such determination, that after a severe engagement he was obliged to surrender, with the whole of his vessels, and he, with his captains, was brought in a prisoner to Seville. These prisoners were then immediately sent to the emperor, who, however, on the first intelligence of their capture, ordered them to be tried, when they were found guilty, and the whole of them were hung in the harbour of Pico.
Such was the miserable end of Jean Florin, who carried off to France all the gold we had intended for our emperor! As for Avila, he was detained a close prisoner in one of the French fortresses, as the king of France expected a large ransom for a man who had been commissioned to convey so vast a treasure from the new world to Spain; but Avila by some means or other succeeded in bribing the commandant of the fortress, and secretly sent intelligence to Spain of the object of his mission; he even managed to forward Cortes' despatches, with all his papers and our letters, either into the hands of the licentiate Nuñez, who was a cousin of Cortes, and reporter of the royal council of Madrid, or into those of Cortes' father or of Diego de Ordas. These papers were instantly despatched to his majesty in Flanders, without their being at all noticed to the bishop of Burgos, who had not been able to hide his pleasure when he heard that all the gold, with our despatches, had fallen into the hands of the French corsair.
From this moment we had nothing further to fear from the bishop, for his majesty now received full particulars of all the circumstances; and though he felt grieved at the loss of so much gold, yet he was in one sense pleased it had fallen into the hands of the French king, for it would convince that monarch we should never let our emperor want for money to wage war with him. He also sent peremptory orders to the bishop of Burgos to aid Cortes in every way with regard to the affairs of New Spain; adding, that he was shortly coming to Spain himself, in order to investigate the dispute between Cortes and the governor of Cuba. When news of the capture of Avila, with the loss of the whole treasure we sent by him, reached New Spain, we all felt exceedingly grieved; but Cortes immediately collected all the gold and silver he could, which had recently been brought in from the province of Mechoacan, and of this he ordered a cannon to be cast, which he intended as a present to the emperor, and gave to it the name of phœnix.
The government of the township of Quauhtitlan was also carried on in the name of Avila until the arrival, three years after, of his brother Gil Gonsalez in New Spain, who was deputed by Avila to take the sole government of his Indian property, as he himself was determined never again to cross the sea, though he had obtained the appointment of treasurer of Yucatan.
But all this is rather foreign to my narrative, and I will rather relate what happened to Sandoval and the other officers whom Cortes sent out to form settlements in the provinces. But so many circumstances happened in the meantime, that I was obliged to break the thread of my history, and they were certainly too important to withhold from thecurious reader. There was the arrival of Christobal de Tapia in Vera Cruz, which obliged Cortes to recall Sandoval and Alvarado from their expeditions into the provinces, in order that they might assist him with their excellent support and counsel in a matter of so much importance. Then there was the insurrection in the province of Panuco, and the mission to our emperor; and so it happened that my narrative became rather confused.
How Sandoval arrives in the town of Tustepec, what he did there; his march to the river Guacasualco, and what further happened.
How Sandoval arrives in the town of Tustepec, what he did there; his march to the river Guacasualco, and what further happened.
As soon as Sandoval arrived in the township of Tustepec, messengers of peace came to him from every part of the province, and there were only a few Mexican chiefs who durst not make their appearance, on account of the sixty Spaniards, with their wives, (all of Narvaez's corps,) who had been massacred in this place. It was two months after this tragical affair that I arrived at Tustepec with Sandoval, and I took up my quarters in a kind of tower, which had been a temple. In this same tower my unfortunate countrymen had sought refuge when they were attacked by the inhabitants, and had defended themselves until hunger, thirst, and wounds put an end to their existence. I selected this tower, which was very high, to rid myself of the moschitoes, which swarmed in this neighbourhood, and plagued us all day long; besides which, I was here in the immediate vicinity of Sandoval's quarters, which rendered mine doubly convenient to me.
Sandoval was very desirous of getting the above-mentioned chiefs into his power, and at length succeeded in capturing the principal one, who was tried, and sentenced to the stake. Several other Mexicans were brought in at the same time with this chief, but though they had equally deserved death, they were allowed to go at large, and thus one had to suffer for all. Sandoval then sent to the townships of the province of the Tzapotecs, which lay about forty miles further on, desiring them to despatch messengers of peace to him; but they refusing to do so, he ordered off the captain Briones (who had commanded one of the brigantines, and had, as he himself assured us, signalized himself in the Italian wars,) against them, with one hundred men, among whom there were thirty crossbow-men and musketeers, besides one hundred auxiliaries of the allied provinces. The Tzapotecs were duly apprized ofBriones's approach, and lay in ambush for him, from which they fell suddenly upon him, and wounded more than a third part of his men, of whom one died soon after. The Tzapotecs inhabit the most rugged and inaccessible mountain districts, where no cavalry can approach, and even the foot soldiers could with difficulty move along narrow paths, one behind the other; besides which, these mountains are enveloped in everlasting mists, and the dew is always falling, which renders the ground so slippery that it is dangerous to move along. The lances of this people were also very formidable, and much longer than ours, and provided with a species of blade made of flint, which is much sharper than a Spanish sword. They also had light shields, which covered the whole body, and they use the bow, the pike, and the sling. When these wild people, who are excessively nimble, bounded from one rock to another, where our men could not get at them, they communicated with each other by means of piping and shouting, and the noise rolled and resounded through the mountains for a length of time, until lost in distant echoes.
The captain Briones then returned with a great number of his men wounded, he himself having been struck by an arrow. The township where he met with this defeat was called Tiltepec, and the inhabitants subsequently submitted of their own accord, when the district was given as a commendary to a soldier, named Ojeda, the one-eyed, who at present lives in the town of San Ildefonso.
When Briones called upon Sandoval to give him an account of his expedition, and said a great deal about the courage of the Tzapotecs, Sandoval reminded him of the many bloody engagements he had spoken of in his Italian campaigns, and added, "It appears, nevertheless, captain, that you experienced hotter work on this occasion than in any of your previous battles?"
Briones, who appeared greatly annoyed, swore that he would at any time rather stand over against heavy cannon and a large army, would even rather fight against the Turks and Saracens, than against the Tzapotecs; and adduced good reasons for saying so.
To this Sandoval immediately answered, "Then I must say I am sorry I gave you that command; but after the many things you have told us of your Italian campaigns, I could not help thinking but this expedition would be a mere frolic to you. In what light will these Tzapotecs look upon us henceforth? At present they will certainly entertain a different notion of our bravery to what they did previously!"
After this unfortunate expedition, Sandoval sent word to the inhabitants of the province of Xaltepec that they should despatch ambassadors to us, and declare themselves vassals of our emperor. This tribealso belongs to the Tzapotecs, and their country is bounded by that of the Minxes, another very courageous and warlike tribe, with whom the Xaltepecs happened to be at war just then. Twenty of the caziques and principal personages soon made their appearance, bringing with them a present of gold dust in ten small tubes, besides various pretty ornaments. These chiefs were clad in very large cotton cloaks, which hung down to their feet, and were embroidered after the manner of the Moorish mantle. They presented themselves to Sandoval with a most respectful demeanour, who received them most courteously, and gave them some glass beads. This kind reception emboldened them to beg of him that some of his teules might accompany them home, in order to assist their country in a war against the Minxes; but as Sandoval at that moment could not well spare any of his men, as a great part of Briones' detachment was wounded, and many suffering with fever, of which four men had recently died, he put off these chiefs with many flattering assurances, and promised them he would request Malinche, who was at Mexico, to send a strong body of teules to their assistance; in the meantime he would send eight of his companions with them to explore the dangerous passes and that part of the country from which they intended to fall upon the Minxes. But Sandoval's real motive in sending these ten soldiers with them was, that they might visit those districts, and particularly the mines whence the Xaltepecs obtained their gold. Three of the caziques Sandoval desired should remain with him, and the rest left in our company. It happened that there were three soldiers of the name of Castillo in Sandoval's troops, who all accompanied the caziques on this occasion. One was Alonso de Castillo, surnamed theDiscreet, because he always gave a ready and suitable answer to any question that was put to him; the second was myself, whom the soldiers surnamed theGallant, for at that time I prided myself very much on my courteous behaviour: the third Castillo had a very meditative countenance, and always took a long time to consider before he replied; but when he did it was sure to be something very ridiculous, and he was surnamed theDeliberate. But enough of this. We arrived in the province, and began diligently to explore the mines, accompanied by a great number of Indians, who washed the gold dust for us in a kind of trough, from the sand of three different rivers. In this way we obtained four tubes full of gold dust, each about the thickness of the middle finger. Sandoval was highly delighted when we brought him these, and concluded that the country must contain rich gold mines. He then divided the townships of the province among those of his men whom he intended leaving behind; for himself he took thetownships of Guazpaltepec, which at that time was by far the best property in this province, and lay in the neighbourhood of the mines, from which Sandoval collected above 15,000 pesos' worth of gold, and he was quite surprised at his own good fortune. The chief command of the province he gave to Luis Marin, and presented him with lands equal to an earldom; in the course of time, however, these possessions turned out less valuable than was at first expected. Sandoval also offered me some very good and valuable townships in this province, and I wish to heavens I had accepted of them. These places were called Maltlatan, Ozotekipa, and Orizaba, where the viceroy at present has a mill. I refused these possessions, because I considered that I was in honour bound not to leave Sandoval, who was my particular friend. He was well aware of my reasons, and in the subsequent campaigns I made with him he strove in every way to further my views.
In this province Sandoval laid the foundation of a town, which, by the desire of Cortes, he named Medellin, after the latter's native place, in Estremadura. There was a bay in this province, into which the Chalchocucea river[32]empties itself, or, as we termed it, the Banderas stream, where we made the 16,000 pesos during the expedition under Grijalva; at first all communication with Spain was from this harbour, until Vera Cruz became the chief port.
We now marched towards the river Guacasualco, and we may have been about 240 miles from the last-mentioned town, when we arrived on the confines of the province of Citla, the climate of which is the most bracing of all, the country itself abounding in provisions, and more thickly populated than any we had visited. It was of this province I remarked that it was forty-eight miles long, as many in breadth, with a vast population.
When we arrived at the river Guacasualco we sent for the caziques of the different townships; but as three days passed by without any one making his appearance, or our receiving any answer, we concluded the inhabitants were preparing to attack us. At first, indeed, they had resolved to oppose our crossing the river, but they soon came to a more reasonable determination, and arrived in our camp on the fifth day with a supply of provisions, and a few ornaments of very pure gold. They immediately offered to furnish us with a sufficient number of large canoes, if we felt any inclination to cross the river. Sandoval thanked them for their kind offer, but previously held a consultation with us as to whether it was advisable for all the troops to cross over at once; and we resolved that four men should first pass over, to see how matters stood in the township opposite, which lay close to the river side, andto get the chief cazique, whose name was Tochel, into their power. Four of our men accordingly went across the river, and after looking well about them, they brought us word that everything wore the most peaceable aspect, and were accompanied by the son of Tochel, who came with another small present of gold. Sandoval was vastly pleased with this news, and desired the caziques to furnish him with 100 canoes, which were fastened two and two together, to convey the horses across the river. It happened to be the day of Pentecost when we crossed over, and for this reason we called the township, which lay on this river, Villa de Espiritu Santo; also because it was the anniversary of the day on which we defeated Narvaez under the cry of Espiritu Santo.
As this province submitted to our arms without offering any resistance, the flower of the troops which went out with Sandoval on this occasion, settled down here; as for instance, besides Sandoval himself, Luis Marin, Diego de Godoy, Francisco de Medina, Francisco Marmolejo, Francisco de Lugo, Juan Lopez de Aguirre, Hernando de Montes de Oca, Juan de Salamanca, Diego de Azamar, Mexia Rapapelo, Alonso de Grado, the licentiate Ledesma, Luis de Bustamente, Pedro Castellar, the captain Briones, a certain Mantilla, myself and several other cavaliers and men of distinction, all of whom I am unable to mention by name; but the reader may have some idea of our numbers, when I inform him that on days of parade, or whenever an alarm was sounded, we could always muster in the great square above eighty men on horseback; and it must be remembered that eighty horse at that time was more than five hundred at the present day; for horses were very scarce then in New Spain, excessively dear, and often not to be had at any price.
The following are the provinces which Sandoval divided into commendaries on this occasion, after they had been fully explored by our troops,—Guacasualco, Guazpaltepec, Tepeca, Chinanta, and the Tzapotecas; along the banks of the river there were: Copilco, Cimatan, Tabasco, the mountains of Cachula, the country of the Zoqueschas and of the Quilenes; the districts of Tacheapa, Cinacatan and Papanachasta. All these districts were divided among the inhabitants of the new town, and as far as regards myself I should have been perfectly contented if I could have kept what I obtained on this occasion; but the country was of itself not very productive, and then we were led into ruinous lawsuits with three towns, which had by degrees sprung up in these parts; for instance, the town of Vera Cruz laid claim to Guazpaltepec, Chinanta, and Tepeca; Tabasco to the province of theQuilenes and Zogues; and, lastly, the town of Santo Ildefonso to the province of the Tzapotecs. If we had been allowed to retain our original boundaries we should have been rich men, but when his majesty issued an order that the boundaries of every Indian township and of all the Spanish towns should be accurately defined, our possessions became so terribly curtailed on every side, that at last we had nothing but a blank remaining, which is the reason why Guacasualco, which was at first the most beautiful and most thriving settlement of all, and where the most noble of the conquistadores of all New Spain had settled, fell to nothing again, and is at present a mere village, with a scanty population. While Sandoval was busily occupied with the founding of this town and in subduing other provinces, intelligence arrived that a vessel had run into the river Aguayalco, which forms a very bad harbour, and lies about sixty miles from Guacasualco. The passengers on board this vessel were Donna Catalina, the wife of Cortes; her brother Juan Juarez, who subsequently settled in Mexico; the lady Gambrana, with her sons; Villegas, with his daughters; and even their grandmother, besides several other married ladies. If I am not mistaken there was also Elvira Lopez, the tall, the wife of Juan Palma, who came with us to New Spain, but was subsequently condemned to the gallows; after which his widow married a certain Argueta. Of the number of gentlemen who came on this occasion, I remember a certain Antonio Diosdato, who settled in Guatimala.
On the first intelligence of their arrival, Sandoval left with most of the officers and several of the soldiers to pay his respects to these ladies, and to those by whom they were accompanied. I still remember how heavily it rained at the time, and the difficulty we experienced in crossing the rivers, which had all overflowed their banks; heavy gales were blowing from the north, and indeed it was from distress of weather that the vessel had put into that harbour. Donna Catalina and all the passengers were highly delighted at our arrival, and they immediately accompanied us back to Guacasualco, from whence Sandoval despatched a courier to Mexico to inform Cortes of the arrival of his wife; who, with the other ladies, soon after left for the same place, accompanied by Sandoval, Briones, Lugo, and other cavaliers.
It is said that Cortes was greatly vexed when he received intelligence of their arrival, though he did not show it, and even issued the necessary orders to give his wife a splendid reception. On the whole of her road to Mexico, as may be imagined, the greatest honours were paid to her, and when she arrived in the city itself all manner offestivities and tournaments took place to welcome her arrival. But the joy of this excellent lady was of short duration, for scarcely three months had elapsed when we received intelligence of her death, from a violent asthma.
I must now relate what befel Villafuerta, who was sent out to colonize Zacatula, and Juan Alvarez Chico, who marched to Colima for a like purpose. Both of them had encountered the most obstinate resistance from the inhabitants, the whole of whom rose up in arms against them and killed several of their men. Cortes was excessively annoyed at the unfortunate termination of these expeditions; but as Oli happened to return about the same time from Mechoacan with a great quantity of gold, after having restored perfect tranquillity to that district, he looked upon him as the most likely man to subdue the provinces of Zacatula and Colima. He therefore despatched him thither as commander-in-chief with fifteen horse and thirty musketeers and crossbow-men.
When Oli had arrived within a short distance of Zacatula, a large body of the enemy suddenly fell upon his troops in a narrow pass, with great dexterity; killed two of his men and wounded several others; he nevertheless drove them back, and safely reached the town built by Villafuerta, which with the whole settlement he found in a miserable condition. No one durst stir out of the town to visit the townships which had been bestowed upon him as a commendary; for the inhabitants had already put four Spaniards to death who had attempted to collect their rents.
In all the provinces where Spanish settlements are formed, the chief colonists are presented with commendaries, and it is when these persons travel to the different townships to demand their tribute, that the inhabitants generally rise up in arms and murder every Spaniard they can seize. Christobal de Oli, therefore, had to fight many a severe battle before he could put down the insurrection, and he lost many of his men. What became of Juan Alvarez Chico, who had been sent to form settlements in Colima, I cannot exactly remember, though I think he was killed in one of the battles he fought with the natives.
After Oli, as he thought, had restored peace to the province, he returned to Mexico, he having a short time previously married a beautiful Portuguese lady, named Filipa de Araujo; but he had scarcely set foot in Mexico when he received intelligence that the two provinces, Zacatula and Colima had again risen up in arms. This happened just about the time when Sandoval reached Mexico with Cortes' wife, and our general thought it best to despatch Sandoval to these rebelliousprovinces, though he could only furnish him with a few horse, and fifteen crossbow-men and musketeers; but every one of these men were of the original conquistadores, who made very short work with the rebels, punished two of the caziques of Colima, and completely quelled the rebellion, nor did the inhabitants ever after break out into hostilities. Sandoval was equally successful in Zacatula, so that he soon returned to Mexico.
We who were stationed at Guacasualco, had in the meantime also our work to do, for scarcely had Sandoval departed when most of the provinces in which our commendaries lay again revolted, and it was with great difficulty we at length succeeded in tranquillising the inhabitants. The first district which had rebelled was that part of Xaltepec lying among rugged and almost inaccessible mountains, inhabited by a tribe of the Tzapotecs; this example was followed by Cimatan and Copilco, which are situated between large rivers and morasses; and, within forty-eight miles of Guacasualco, a Spaniard had been murdered on his own property.
While the whole of us regidors, with the captain Luis Marin, and one of the alcaldes of the town were making arrangements for an expedition against the rebellious provinces, we were informed that a small vessel had run into the harbour, having on board Juan Bono de Quexo. This man said he came with authority from our emperor, we therefore determined to call upon him without delay to inquire the nature of his business.
This Bono had first arrived in New Spain with Narvaez, and thus he was well known to us all. After he had given each of us a hearty embrace, he desired us to call a council of the chief authorities of the town, that he might notify to them certain powers with which he was invested by his majesty, and lay before them the instructions he had received from the bishop of Burgos, from whom he brought letters for all of us. He was provided with a number of blank papers, with only the bishop's signature attached to them, which Juan Bono now filled up with the names of the regidors, accompanied by all manner of fine promises, according to the instructions he had received from the bishop; these appointments were to be presented to the proper persons mentioned therein, if we gave up possession of the country to Cristobal de Tapia. This Bono was not at all aware that Tapia had returned to St. Domingo; and the bishop had so little suspected that we should not have acknowledged the authority of Tapia, that he sent Bono after him with this commission. Among others, my name was also put down in one of these appointments, as regidor.
Bono did not disclose any part of his commission, or produce any of his papers, until we were all duly assembled in council; but as soon as he mentioned the nature of his business, we stopped any discussion on the matter, by telling him that Tapia himself had long ago left New Spain again, and we advised him to repair to Mexico, and lay his commission before Cortes.
When Bono, to his great surprise, found that Tapia had left the country, he became quite downcast, set sail the very next day for Vera Cruz, from whence he journeyed overland to Mexico. What passed between him and Cortes I do not know, but I understood that the latter supplied him with a certain sum of money to defray the expenses of his voyage back to Spain.
I could say a good deal of the numerous battles we fought, and of the great fatigues we underwent during our stay at Guacasualco, in putting down the frequent insurrections in the provinces; but it is high time I should relate something about the expedition of Alvarado to the province of Tutepec.