The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 2 (of 2)

Sandoval now despatched a few horse in advance, to see whether the Mexicans, in case he should attack the town itself, could march to its assistance, and halted, with the rest of his troops, in the plain. As the caziques of Chalco and the other Indian allies showed no desire to come to an engagement with the enemy, Sandoval determined to put them to the proof, and cried out to them: "Well, why do you stand looking idly on there? Why don't you advance to the attack? Are we not come here to protect you?" But they replied, they durst not attack this strong place, and considered that the teules had come to do the hardest part of the work for them.

Sandoval was soon convinced that there was not much dependence to be placed in these Indians, and he therefore stormed the fortified heights with the whole of his Spanish troops. Although numbers of his men were wounded, and he himself severely so on the head, he continued to push forward, and forced his way into the town, where considerable havoc was made among the enemy's ranks, which was increased by the Chalcans and Tlascallans, who now joined in the conflict with great intrepidity. Our troops, indeed, gladly left the last part of the work to them, as soon as the enemy was put to flight, for they felt compassion for the inhabitants, and satisfied themselves by capturing some few pretty females and other objects of value. The Spaniards even checked our allies in their horrid cruelties, and rescued many a man and woman from their grasp who otherwise would have been sacrificed to the idols.

The Mexicans had fled to some steep rocks beyond the town; and, as numbers of them were wounded, they washed off the blood from their bodies in a small brook, so that the very water was tinctured by it, though for no longer a space of time than would take to repeat an Ave Maria. Yet Gomara relates that the water was so completely mixed with blood that our men would not quench their thirst at it.10 But it was not necessary for them to go to this brook for that purpose, as in the town itself there were numbers of wells full of the purest water. After this engagement, Sandoval marched back to Tezcuco, taking with him great numbers of prisoners, among whom were many beautiful Indian females.

When Quauhtemoctzin received intelligence of this defeat of his troops, he was excessively grieved; and the more so as the people of Chalco were his subjects, and had now, for the third time, taken up arms against him. He was, however, determined to be revenged; and while Sandoval was marching back to Tezcuco, he assembled an army of upwards of 20,000 men, and despatched these in 2000 canoes to Chalco. Here they arrived so suddenly, that Sandoval had scarcely entered Tezcuco, and had but just seen Cortes, when messengers arrived in canoes from Chalco to solicit his immediate return. Cortes, who was speaking with Sandoval when this message arrived, was so enraged that he would not hear his report to the end; accused him of having neglected his duty, and commanded him to return immediately to Chalco with those of his men who were not wounded. Sandoval's feelings were greatly hurt at Cortes' reproaches; but what grieved him more than all was, that he would not even listen to him. He, however, instantly returned to Chalco, which he and his men reached excessively fatigued by the weight of their arms and the great distance they had marched. The Chalcans, in the meantime, had begged assistance from their neighbours the Huexotzincans and Tlascallans on the first information they received that the Mexicans intended to invade their territory again; and these two powers had made such haste that they arrived that very night, with an army of above 20,000 men. This inspired the Chalcans with fresh courage; they attacked the Mexicans in the open field, fought with uncommon bravery, and of the enemy's chief officers alone they killed and captured as many as fifteen, without mentioning the numbers they made prisoners. This defeat was most humbling to the Mexicans, and they were much more ashamed of it than if they had suffered it from us.

When Sandoval arrived in Chalco, he found the enemy was already vanquished; and, as there was no fear of the Mexicans returning, he marched back to Tezcuco, taking the prisoners along with him, and now Cortes appeared highly delighted. Sandoval, however, had not forgotten the harsh treatment he had so recently suffered from him, and peremptorily refused, in his anger, to call upon him, although Cortes had sent an invitation to him, and assured him that he had now been informed of the true state of the case, and was convinced that no blame could be attached to him. They subsequently became reconciled, and Cortes strove, by every means in his power, to regain Sandoval's friendship.

CHAPTER CXLIII

How we marked our slaves at Tezcuco with a red-hot iron, and received intelligence that a vessel had run into Vera Cruz.

As Sandoval had brought a great many slaves with him, and there were besides numbers we had taken on previous occasions, Cortes resolved they should be marked with a red-hot iron. It was, therefore, announced that each person was to bring his slaves to a certain house for that purpose. Our men accordingly came with their slaves, and imagined they would merely have to pay the fifth of their value to the emperor, and that then they would be entirely their own without any further deduction.

If, however, Cortes and others had acted meanly towards us in Tepeaca, the meanness they now displayed was still greater. First, the emperor's fifths were deducted; then a second fifth was set apart for Cortes, and other portions for our officers; and, during the night preceding the last division, all the finest females had disappeared. Cortes had faithfully promised the men that all the slaves should be sold by public auction, but this was not done, for the officers of the crown acted in this matter just as they pleased. This was a good hint for us in future; so that afterwards, when we had captured any beautiful Indian females, we concealed them, and gave out that they had escaped, as soon as it came to marking day; or if any one of us stood in favor with Cortes, he got them secretly marked during the night-time, and paid a fifth of their value to him. In a short time we possessed great numbers of such slaves; and if we were questioned about them, we merely said they were Naborias11 of the neighbouring tribes near Tlascalla, who had come to sue for peace. I must also observe that two months had scarcely elapsed 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, and most of us were struck on the head by the pieces of stone which were split off the rock by the tumbling masses.

At that time I was still an active young fellow, so that I kept up close with the ensign Corral, and we reached some hollows in the rock, along which we continued to advance for some time, but at the imminent risk of our lives, until Corral could proceed no further, and held himself fast by one of the thick trees with prickly thorns which grew in these hollows; his head was wounded all over, his face covered with blood, and his colours torn into rags. Here he turned round to me, and said, "Alas! Señor Bernal Diaz, it is impossible to advance further this way; for even if the tumbling masses of rock do not crush us, we shall scarcely be able to hold fast by our hands under these projecting masses." As we were thus clinging to the rock by our hands, I espied Pedro Barba, who commanded the crossbow-men, with two soldiers, likewise clambering up to this projection, and I cried out to him, "Captain, don't give yourself any further trouble; there is neither place here to put your hand or foot, unless you wish to roll headlong down the mountain." To this he answered, in the fulness of his courage, or because he thought he was bound to speak as an officer in high command, "Here we have to do with deeds, not words." I was obliged to swallow this reproach, and replied, "Well, we shall see how well you will manage to get up here!" The words were scarcely out of my mouth when other large pieces of the rock came rolling down from the heights above, by which Pedro Barba was wounded, and one of his men crushed to death. This seemed to deter Barba, and he would not move a step further up.

The ensign Corral now called out to the soldiers to apprize Cortes that it was impossible to ascend further, and that the descent was equally dangerous. This information was conveyed from one man to the other until it reached Cortes, who had even lost three men in the plain below, and several others were severely wounded, by the lumps of rock which came tumbling down. He had, however, not been able to see the perilous situation we were in, from the winding of the rock, but had fully expected to find that the greater part of us were either killed or dreadfully wounded. He now immediately signified, by loud cries and a few musket shots, that we should descend. This we accordingly did with the utmost precaution, each one striving to assist his neighbour down the steep rocks, until we all safely arrived in the plain beneath; our heads were covered with wounds and blood, and the colours of our ensigns were torn to rags. When Cortes saw the terrible condition we were in, and was informed that we had lost eight men, he offered up thanks to the Almighty that the rest of us had escaped so well.

Among other things that came to be spoken about were the few words which passed between Pedro Barba and myself; indeed the latter mentioned it himself; and the ensign Corral gave such a description of the terrible masses of rock which came rolling down, that every one was astonished at our escape, and the account of the great dangers we had had to brave was noised about through the whole of our camp.

In the meantime a large body of Mexicans were lying in wait for us in a spot where we could neither see nor imagine them to be. They had been stationed there in case the other troops on the rock just mentioned should require assistance; but when they were informed that our attempts to storm this fortified rock had failed, both these bodies determined to fall upon us from various points at once.

When Cortes received notice of their approach, he ordered the horse and the whole of our troops to march against them. The ground we occupied was quite level, and fertile meadows stretched along between the hills. The enemy now retreated before us, and we pursued them until they took up a strong position on another rock, without our being able to do them much harm, as they continually fled to places where we could not possibly get at them.

We therefore returned to our former position, in front of the first rock we had attempted to ascend; but as not a single drop of water had passed our lips the whole day, and as our horses were equally parched with thirst, and the few wells here contained nothing but muddy water, for the best were in the enemy's possession, we broke up our encampment, and formed another, about six miles further on, at the foot of a mountain, as before; but here also we found but little water.

Near this rocky mountain there stood several black mulberry trees and about ten or twelve houses, and we had scarcely rested a few minutes when the wild war-whoop of the Indians resounded from the mountain top, and we were immediately greeted with a shower of arrows and lances, while large masses of the rock came rolling down, as before. Here the enemy were in greater numbers than on the former occasion, and their position much stronger, as we soon discovered. All the firing of our musketeers and crossbow-men was to no purpose, for the enemy was beyond their reach, and too well protected by their entrenchments. An attempt to ascend the rock was attended with no better success; twice had we essayed this from the houses just mentioned, and some few of us had reached a good way up; but we found it even more terrific than the former rock; so that we did not exactly gain much honour in this affair, and were forced to cede the victory to the Mexicans and their allies.

We encamped for the night beneath the mulberry trees, but were almost dying with thirst. The following morning our crossbow-men and musketeers were ordered to take up their position on a very steep rock, which lay near to us, and to direct their fire at the enemy in their entrenchments on the rock opposite.

Francisco Verdugo and Julian de Alderete, who were excellent crossbow-men, joined this small detachment, which was placed under the command of Pedro Barba. While these were on their way thither, the rest of our troops once more attempted the ascent of the mountain from the above-mentioned houses; but the enemy continually rolled down numbers of large and small stones, that a great number of our men were soon wounded; and even if we had not met with this opposition, our toil would have been fruitless, for the rock was so steep that we could scarcely move or hold fast by our hands. While we were thus fatiguing ourselves to no purpose, the detachment of musketeers and crossbow-men had arrived at their place of destination, but they were only able to kill and wound a very few of the enemy.

The combat had lasted in this way for above half an hour, when matters took a sudden change, and peace was concluded with the enemy, through the interposition of a merciful Providence. This sudden change was owing to the circumstance of a number of women, children, and poor people, who had been carried to a level space on the top of the rock for safety, having no water to quench their burning thirst. In order that we, who were beneath, might know what they desired, the women waved their cloaks, and made signs with their hands, to indicate they were willing to bake bread for us; while the Indian troops discontinued to throw their lances, arrows, and stones, upon us.

When Cortes learnt what they desired, he ordered all hostilities to be stayed, and gave the Indians to understand by signs that they should send down to us five of their most distinguished men, to conclude peace with us. It was not long before these made their appearance, and with profound respect begged forgiveness for the past, and assured our general that it was fear for us only which had induced them to take up this strong position on the mountain. Cortes answered them rather harshly, that they had all deserved death, for having commenced hostilities with us; but as they now came of their own accord to sue for peace, he would substitute mercy for justice; but told them they must go to the opposite rock, and call the chiefs of the other troops, that they might likewise come and sue for peace; and inform them, that if they refused we would continue to surround them until they died of thirst, as we were well aware that they could get no water, there being very little to be had in any part of this neighbourhood.

While these personages were on their way to the other rock, Cortes entered into conversation with father Melgarejo, and the royal treasurer, Alderete, and described to them the battles we had fought previous to their arrival in New Spain; the great power of the Mexicans, and the large cities we had seen up to the present moment in this country; when they assured our general, that if the bishop of Burgos had informed the emperor as faithfully of the truth as he was studious of falsehood in his account, the emperor would certainly by this time have nobly rewarded him and his troops. No monarch, they said, had ever been rendered the vast services he had received at our hands, who had thus, without his knowledge, subjected so many large cities to him.