before some of our female slaves knew of every soldier in the troop whether he behaved well to his Naborias or not; whenever, therefore, these females were put up to auction, and they found they had been bought by a man who bore a bad name in this way, they disappeared, and were nowhere to be found. If they did not recapture them it was all the same; they were still debited to the buyer in the royal accounts. Our soldiers fared no better in the division of gold; for if any of them went to demand their share, so many items were balanced against them that they really considered themselves fortunate if they had not to pay something into the bargain.
About this time a vessel arrived in Vera Cruz, from Spain, with the following passengers: Julian de Alderete, a native of Tordesillas, who had been appointed royal treasurer; further, the elder Orduña, from the same place, who lived for some time in Puebla. After the conquest of Mexico he brought over five or six daughters from Spain, all of whom he married well. A Dominican friar, named Pedro Melgarejo de Urrea, from Seville, who brought with him a papal bull,12 by which we obtained absolution for all the sins we may have been guilty of during these wars. By means of this bull, Urrea amassed a large fortune in the space of a few months, with which he returned to Spain, whither he was accompanied by Geronimo Lopez, as a commissary of his holiness. This same Lopez subsequently became the royal secretary in Mexico.
Among the numerous other passengers, I can still remember the following names: Antonio de Caravajal, who commanded one of our brigantines, and is still living at Mexico, far advanced in years; Geronimo Ruiz de la Mota, of Burgos, who likewise commanded a brigantine, and, after the conquest of Mexico, married a daughter of Orduña. There was also a certain Briones, of Salamanca, who was hung four years ago for exciting a revolt among the troops in the province of Guatimala; and, lastly, there was Alonso Diaz de la Reguera, who lived for some time in Guatimala, and is now residing at Valladolid.
This vessel had likewise a large store of arms, powder, and other matters on board;13 wherefore her arrival was hailed by us all. If I remember rightly, we also heard on this occasion that the bishop of Burgos stood no longer at the head of affairs, and that he had altogether fallen into his majesty's disgrace ever since his majesty had been convinced, by the reports of our agents, of the great and wonderful services we had rendered the crown, and which the bishop above mentioned, in his official reports, to favour Diego Velasquez, had placed in the opposite light.
In the meantime our brigantines were fast approaching towards completion, and we were all awaiting the moment with impatience when we should be able to lay close siege to Mexico. We had just begun our preparations when messengers arrived from Chalco with the information that the Mexicans were again marching against that town, and they therefore begged we would come immediately to their assistance. Cortes promised them he would himself march with his troops to their relief, and not rest until he had completely driven the enemy from their territory. He therefore immediately issued orders that three hundred foot, thirty horse, the greater part of our musketeers and crossbow-men, with the troops of Tezcuco and Tlascalla, should hold themselves in readiness to march out. Of our principal officers, Alvarado, Tapia, and Oli accompanied him on this occasion. The royal treasurer Julian de Alderete, and father Pedro Melgarejo, both of whom had just arrived from Spain, also joined him. I myself accompanied Cortes in this expedition, at his own particular desire.
CHAPTER CXLIV
How Cortes made a hostile excursion to all the cities and larger townships which lay round about the lake, and what happened on that occasion.
Cortes now marched out with a considerable body of troops to fulfil the promise he had made to the inhabitants of Chalco, in order at once to put an end to the attacks which the Mexicans almost weekly made upon this town. Sandoval was left behind with a strong detachment of foot and horse for the protection of Tezcuco and our brigantines.
We set out on our march very early on the morning of the 5th of April, 1521, after we had attended mass, and took up our quarters the first night in Tlalmanalco, where we were kindly entertained by the inhabitants. The next day we reached Chalco, which lies in the immediate vicinity of the former place; and Cortes instantly sent for all the caziques of the province, whom he then addressed at some length by means of our interpreters, informing them that his present expedition was directed against the townships which lay on the borders of the lake, in order to force them into obedience, and also to explore the territory, and form his plans for blockading the city of Mexico. Our thirteen brigantines, he told them, would shortly be launched, and he requested them to assemble all their warriors by the next day, that they might join our troops in this expedition. Upon which the caziques one and all declared their willingness to comply with his desires.
The following morning we continued our march, and arrived as far as the township of Chimalhuacan, which was subject to Chalco. Here we were joined by upwards of 20,000 of our allies, who had assembled from Chalco, Tezcuco, Huexotzinco, Tlascalla, and other townships. This was a larger body of Indians than had ever, up to this time, joined our troops in New Spain. All these warriors had been induced to join us in the hopes of making a rich booty; but the expectation of plentiful repasts off human flesh, which never failed after an engagement, was no less an incitement; and I cannot better compare these many thousands of Indians than to the large flocks of vultures, ravens, and other birds of prey which, in the Italian wars, follow the armies, to satiate themselves on the dead bodies which have fallen in battle.
This ferocious appetite of our Indian allies was but too soon to be glutted; for we received information that large bodies of Mexican troops, with their allies from the surrounding neighbourhood, stood ready prepared to attack us in an adjoining valley. At this intelligence, Cortes issued orders that we should equip ourselves for battle early the following morning. We accordingly left Chimalhuacan next day very early, after we had attended mass.
Our march lay through some steep rocks, and we soon arrived between two small mountains whose tops had been fortified. Hither a vast number of Indians, with their wives, had fled, who yelled excessively, and threw out all manner of abusive language towards us. We, however, took no notice of them, but marched on quietly to an extensive township called Yauhtepec, which was quite deserted by its inhabitants. We made no stay in this place, but marched on until we arrived in a plain where there were several small wells, but little water. On one side of the plain was a high rocky mountain, with a fortification which was most difficult of approach. When we had arrived in the vicinity of this rock, we found that it was crowded with Indians, who jeered at us and greeted us with a shower of arrows, lances, and stones, by which three of our men were wounded. Here Cortes ordered us to halt, and said, "It appears that the Mexicans have everywhere taken up some stronghold, and mock at us, because they imagine we cannot get at them." He then despatched a few of the horse and crossbow-men to reconnoitre a part of the rock, in order to discover some more favorable point to attack the enemy. They, however, returned with the answer that the rock was only accessible at the spot where we had halted, and that, on all other sides, it rose up perpendicularly. Cortes then commanded us to ascend and storm the enemy's fortresses. The first ensign Christobal del Corral and the other ensigns were to lead the way, and all the remaining foot to follow them. Cortes, with the cavalry, stationed himself in the plain beneath, to cover our rear, and protect the baggage against other bodies of Mexicans. As soon as we commenced this laborious ascent, the Indians began rolling down large stones and huge lumps of rock upon us, and it was terrible to behold how these heavy masses rebounded as they thundered down the rugged steeps. It was a miracle that we were not all crushed to pieces; and certainly Cortes had, in this instance, not acted as a prudent general when he ordered this perilous attack. At my very feet a soldier named Martinez, a native of Valencia, and who had been butler to a gentleman of distinction in Castile, was completely smashed by a piece of rock, and died without a single groan or sigh. Two other soldiers, one of whom was named Gaspar Sanchez, a nephew of the treasurer of Cuba, and the other, Bravo, met with a similar death from the rolling masses of stone. We, nevertheless, continued the ascent with great intrepidity: but scarcely a few moments had elapsed before another brave soldier, named Alonso Rodriguez, with two of his companions, were crushed to death,
Our old soldier has, "Unas bulas de señor S. Pedro," a bull of St. Peter. (p. 32.)
There were four vessels which arrived on this occasion, carrying 200 Spaniards and 80 horses. (p. 33.)
