The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2)

CHAPTER LXXVIII

How Cortes gained some information respecting Mexico from Xicotencatl and Maxixcatzin.

Cortes one day took the caziques aside, and put several questions to them respecting the situation and affairs of Mexico. Xicotencatl, as the more intelligent and distinguished personage, answered his queries, and Maxixcatzin, who was likewise a man of high rank, assisted him from time to time.

"Motecusuma," said Xicotencatl, "had such a vast army, that when he intended to conquer any large township, or of falling into any province, he invariably ordered 100,000 warriors into the field. They, the Tlascallans, had often experienced this in the many wars which they had waged with the Mexicans for upwards of 100 years."

When Cortes here interrupted them with the question: "How they had managed to escape from being in the end subdued by such a vast army?" They replied, "That they had, indeed, often been worsted by the Mexicans, and lost many of their men, who were either killed in battle, or taken prisoners and sacrificed to the idols; but that they likewise had slain numbers of the enemy and taken many of them prisoners. Neither did the Mexicans ever approach so unobserved, but that they received some previous notice of their movements. In these cases they made every effort that lay in their power; could always depend on the assistance of the Huexotzincans; and, according to circumstances, either assailed the enemy or pursued a system of defence. Besides this, another circumstance was greatly in their favour, namely, that the Mexicans were excessively hated in all the provinces and among all the tribes which Motecusuma had subdued and plundered, and that the warriors who were forced to serve in his army fought with reluctance and with little courage. In this way, then, they defended their country as well as they could. The greatest overthrow they ever experienced was from the Cholullans, whose town lay about a day's march from Tlascalla. The inhabitants there were a most deceitful set. In that town it was that Motecusuma usually assembled his troops, whence they generally commenced their march during night-time."

Maxixcatzin here observed, "That Motecusuma had strong garrisons in every town, besides the warriors who marched out from the metropolis to the field of battle. Every province was compelled to pay him tribute, consisting in gold, silver, feathers, precious stones, cotton stuffs, as well as Indians of both sexes: some of whom he took into his service, and some were sacrificed. He was altogether such a powerful and wealthy monarch, that he accomplished and obtained everything he desired. His palaces were filled with riches and chalchihuis stones, on which he seized wherever he came. In short, all the wealth of the country was in his possession."

They then gave such an account of the magnificence and splendour of his court, that if I here felt inclined to repeat what they told us, I should never finish; also of the number of his wives; some of whom he now and then gave in marriage to his relations; the great strength of his metropolis, how it lay in the midst of a lake, and the great depth of the latter. Several causeways, they added, led to this city, which were intersected in various places, over which wooden bridges were built, under which canoes could pass; but, if they were removed, the space between every two sections became an island, and all entrance to the town was completely cut off. Nearly the whole of the houses of the city were built in the water, and it was only possible to get from one building to another by means of drawbridges or canoes. Balconies were attached to each house, which were provided with a kind of breastwork, so that the inhabitants were able to defend themselves from the tops of the houses. Yet the whole town was well supplied with sweet water from the spring of Chapultepec, which lay about two miles from the town, whence the water was partly conveyed to the houses by means of pipes, partly in boats through the canals, and then retailed to the inhabitants.

With respect to the weapons employed by this nation, they consisted in two-edged lances, which they threw by means of a thong, and would penetrate through any cuirass. They were likewise excellent shots with the bow and arrow, and carried pikes with blades made of flint, which were of very skilful workmanship and as sharp as razors. Besides these, they carried shields, and wore cotton cuirasses. They likewise employed a great number of slingers, who were provided with round stones, long pikes, and sharp swords, which are used with both hands.

To explain all this they brought forth large pieces of nequen, on which were depicted their battles and their art of warfare. When Cortes and we others considered we had gained sufficient information of these things, the discourse turned on subjects of greater importance. Our friends told us how and whence they came into this country, and how they had settled themselves there; how it came that, notwithstanding their vicinity to the Mexicans, they resembled each other so little, and lived in perpetual warfare with each other. The tradition was also handed down from their forefathers, that in ancient times there lived here a race of men and women who were of immense stature with heavy bones, and were a very bad and evil-disposed people, whom they had for the greater part exterminated by continual war, and the few that were left gradually died away.

In order to give us a notion of the huge frame of this people, they dragged forth a bone, or rather a thigh bone, of one of those giants, which was very strong, and measured the length of a man of good stature. This bone was still entire from the knee to the hip joint. I measured it by my own person, and found it to be of my own length, although I am a man of considerable height. They showed us many similar pieces of bones, but they were all worm-eaten and decayed; we, however, did not doubt for an instant, that this country was once inhabited by giants. Cortes observed, that we ought to forward these bones to his majesty in Spain by the very first opportunity.

The caziques also mentioned another tradition which had come down from their forefathers. A certain god, to whom they paid great honours, had informed them that there would one time come from the rising of the sun, out of distant countries, a people who would subject and rule over them. If we were that people they should feel delighted, for we were courageous and good-hearted. This old prophecy was also brought up when we were negotiating terms of peace with them, and they had chiefly offered us their daughters in order to bring about a relationship between us and themselves, and to obtain assistance against the Mexicans; this they had communicated to their idols.

We were all greatly astonished at this account, and inquired of each other in amazement, whether all they told us could be true. Cortes said to them, "That we came, indeed, from the rising of the sun. The emperor, our master, had purposely sent us, that we might become their brothers, as he had had some previous knowledge respecting their country. May God in his mercy grant," continued Cortes, "that we may be the means of saving you from eternal perdition!" To which we all added, "Amen!"

The good reader will now, no doubt, have heard sufficient of our discourses with the people of Tlascalla. And I myself shall be glad to cut them short here, as I have many other things to relate besides these.

Among others, in particular, the burning mountain of Huexotzinco, which, at the time we were in Tlascalla, happened to be emitting more flames than usual, and Cortes and all of us, to whom a volcano was something new, regarded it in astonishment. Diego de Ordas, one of our chief officers, entertained the bold idea to inspect this wonder more minutely, and begged leave of our general to ascend the mountain, who granted this request.

Ordas took two of our men with him, and desired some of the chief personages of Huexotzinco to accompany him. They certainly did not refuse, but tried to deter him by assuring him, that when he should have ascended the Popocatepetl, for so they termed this volcano, half way, he would not be able to advance further on account of the trembling of the earth, and the flames, stones and ashes which were emitted from the crater. They themselves never durst venture higher than to where some temples were built to the teules of Popocatepetl. And indeed they left Ordas when he arrived at that spot. The latter, however, boldly continued to ascend with our two soldiers until he had reached the summit.

While they were still ascending, the volcano began to emit huge flames of fire, half burnt and perforated stones, with a quantity of ashes; and the whole mountain shook under their feet to the very foundation. They then halted for an hour, until they found that the smoke and fire gradually began to diminish and less ashes to fall; they then continued to ascend until they reached the crater, which was perfectly round and about a mile in diameter. From this elevation they could plainly discern the great city of Mexico, with the whole of its lake, and the surrounding townships; for this mountain only lies about forty-eight miles from Mexico.

After Ordas had well viewed everything and sufficiently enjoyed and wondered at the sight of Mexico and its suburbs, he again returned with the two soldiers and the Indians of Huexotzinco to Tlascalla. The inhabitants there considered this undertaking to be extremely venturesome, and even we ourselves who had never seen a burning mountain before, were perfectly astonished at the account which Ordas gave Cortes of his hazardous enterprise. Indeed at that time it might well be termed hazardous! Subsequently, to be sure, several other Spaniards and Franciscan monks ascended to the mouth of this volcano, but Ordas was nevertheless the first who had ventured. When, therefore, he afterwards again returned to Spain, he begged permission of his majesty to bear a volcano in his coat of arms. These arms are at present borne by his nephew of the same name, living at Puebla. As long as we remained in this country we never again saw the mountain throw out so much fire, or heard of its making such a heavy rumbling noise, as on this occasion, and not until the year 1539 did it burst out again.

Enough, however, of this mountain; we now pretty well know what it is. Subsequently we saw many other volcanoes, as those of Nicaragua and Guatimala; after which that of Huexotzinco is scarcely worth noticing. I have still to mention that in Tlascalla we found houses built of wood, in the shape of cages, in which numbers of Indians, of both sexes, were confined, and fattened for their sacrifices and feasts. We never hesitated a single moment to break them down and liberate the prisoners. These unfortunate beings, however, never durst leave our side, and this was the only means of saving them from being butchered. From this moment Cortes gave orders to break open these cages wherever we came, for we found them in every township. We all showed our horror of these atrocities, and earnestly reproved the caziques for it, who then promised no longer to kill and devour human beings. I say they promised, but that was all, and if we were but an instant out of sight the same barbarities were committed. It is now, however, high time to think of our march to Mexico.

CHAPTER LXXIX

How our captain Hernando Cortes and all our officers and soldiers determine to march to Mexico.

We had now been seventeen days in Tlascalla, and had heard so much during that time respecting the immense treasures of Motecusuma, and the splendour of his metropolis, that Cortes resolved to hold a consultation concerning our march to Mexico, with all those officers and soldiers amongst us whom he presumed were inclined to advance further on. In this council of war it was agreed that we should commence our march thither without delay; various opinions, however, were expressed on the occasion in our camp. Many maintained that it would be acting over-rashly to venture with a mere handful of men into a strongly fortified city, whose monarch had such vast numbers of warriors at his command. But Cortes declared that all arguing on this point was useless; we could not alter the resolution we had come to, and we had on every occasion expressed our desire to pay our respects personally to Motecusuma. When those who were averse to this step saw his determination, and that the majority of us warriors were devoted with our very hearts to him, crying out, "Forward, now or never!" they ceased to make any further opposition. Those who opposed us were those again who had possessions in the island of Cuba; we other poor soldiers were ready to sacrifice our very existence in battle, and to undergo all manner of fatigues for God and our sovereign. When Xicotencatl and Maxixcatzin were convinced that it was our determination to march to Mexico, they grew anxious on our account. They urgently dissuaded Cortes from it, and warned him not to put the slightest trust in Motecusuma, nor altogether in any of the Mexicans, – to put no faith in his show of veneration, his courteous and humble talk. All their professions of friendship, said they, and even their very presents had treachery at the bottom; for what they give at one moment they take away at another. They advised us to be upon our guard night and day; for they were perfectly assured that the Mexicans would fall upon us when we were least prepared to defend ourselves. Neither were we to spare life to any of them, if it should come to a battle; – to the young man that he might not again take up arms against us, to the old man that he might not do us injury by his counsel.

They gave us many similar precautions, and our captain assured them how grateful he was for it, and otherwise showed them every possible kindness, made them and the other caziques various presents, and divided among them a great portion of the fine stuffs which had been presented to him by Motecusuma. Cortes at the same time remarked to the caziques, that it would be the best possible thing if peace and friendship could be brought about between themselves and the Mexicans, that they might no longer continue in the disagreeable necessity of making shift with other things for want of cotton, salt, and other wares.

To this Xicotencatl immediately replied, "That with the Mexicans a treaty of peace was a mere formality: enmity, nevertheless, always clung fast to their hearts. It was the characteristic of this people to plot the foulest treacheries under the semblance of profound peace. No reliance could be placed on their promises, their words were empty sounds, and he could not remind and beg of us too often to be upon our guard against the snares of this vile people."³¹

Next came into consideration the route we should take in our march to Mexico. Motecusuma's ambassadors, who still remained with us, and wished to act as our guides, maintained that the best and most level road lay through the town of Cholulla, whose inhabitants, as subjects of Motecusuma, would be ready to lend any assistance.

We were also unanimously of opinion that this was the road we ought to take; but the caziques of Tlascalla, on the contrary, were quite downcast, when they learnt our determination, and maintained that we ought to march over Huexotzinco, whose inhabitants were their relatives and friends, and that we ought not to take our road through Cholulla, where Motecusuma was accustomed to form his vile stratagems. Their arguments, however, were of no avail: Cortes adhered to his resolution of marching over that town. His reason for taking that road was because this town, according to general report, was thickly populated, had many beautiful towers, and large cues and temples, and lay in a beautiful valley, surrounded by extensive townships well stocked with provisions. Indeed, at that time even, Cholulla, when viewed at a distance, had the appearance of our great city of Valladolid of Old Castile. At Cholulla, moreover, we should have our friends of Tlascalla in the immediate neighbourhood; we could not, therefore, select a more proper spot to form our plans of reaching the city of Mexico without coming into contact with the great body of its troops. For in all truth, if God had not mercifully assisted us with his heavenly arm, and lent us strength in the moment of need, it would not have been possible for us to have achieved what we did!

After a long deliberation thus, the route over Cholulla was fixed upon, and Cortes sent to acquaint the inhabitants with our intentions, more particularly as, notwithstanding they dwelt so near, they had despatched no ambassadors to us, nor shown any of those attentions which were due to us who came in the name of our great monarch, who, he added, had the good of the people of Cholulla at heart. He at the same time desired that all the caziques and papas of the town should repair to our quarters, and swear allegiance to our sovereign and master, otherwise he should look upon them as our enemies.

While Cortes was despatching this message, and making other arrangements, it was announced to him that four ambassadors had arrived with presents in gold from the powerful Motecusuma, who, indeed, never despatched any messengers from his court if not provided with presents by him. He would have considered it an insult offered to us if he had not done so. I will relate in the following chapter what message these ambassadors brought.

CHAPTER LXXX

How the great Motecusuma despatched four ambassadors to us, all men in high authority, with presents in gold and cotton stuffs, and what they said to our captains.

When Cortes admitted the four ambassadors into his presence they paid him and we other warriors, who stood around his person, the most profound respect, and placed before him the presents, consisting of valuable gold trinkets of various workmanship, worth about 10,000 pesos; and in ten packages of cotton stuffs, most beautifully interwoven with feathers: all of which our general received with a friendly smile. They then said that their monarch could not help feeling astonished that we had made such a long stay among a poor and uncivilized people, who were even not fit for slaves, but at the same time so viciously disposed, so treacherous and thievish, that some day or night when we least expected it they would murder us merely for the sake of plunder. Motecusuma begged of us rather to visit his town, where, at least, we might enjoy the good things it offered, though even these should be below our deserts, and not equal to what he could wish. We should be regularly supplied with the necessary provisions, though these had all to be brought into their city from other parts.

These expressions of friendship were merely sent by Motecusuma in order to entice us from Tlascalla, being aware that we stood in close friendship with its inhabitants, and that the caziques to strengthen the union had given their daughters to Malinche and his officers. For he would easily conjecture that nothing good could ensue to the Mexicans from our alliance with them, and this was the reason why he baited us with gold and other presents that we might enter into his territory, or that we should, at least, quit the country of the Tlascallans.

The Tlascallans were personally acquainted with these ambassadors, and they told our captain that all of them were great personages and landed proprietors, who had subjects of their own. These ambassadors Motecusuma employed on the most important matters only. Cortes returned them many thanks, in the most flattering manner, for their civilities and the expressions of friendship they made in the name of their monarch, and he desired them to say that in a short time he would pay his respects to him. He then invited them to pass some time amongst us.

About this time Cortes also sent two of our chief officers in advance to communicate with Motecusuma and view the great city of Mexico, and inspect its strong fortifications and other works of defence. These officers were Alvarado and Vazquez de Tapia. They set out on their march, and the four ambassadors who had brought the last present remained with us as hostages. Our two officers were accompanied by the other messengers who had previously arrived. At that time I was suffering from a severe wound, accompanied by fever, and could procure no medicine to relieve my sufferings, so that I cannot now recall to my memory how far these two officers proceeded on their journey: this, however, I have not forgotten, that as soon as it was known that Cortes had sent these cavaliers at a venture to Mexico, it met with universal disapprobation, and we desired that they might be recalled from their journey, as nothing could ensue from this but a mere view of that city; and a despatch was accordingly sent after them, with orders for their immediate return to our camp. They were not long returning, as Tapia had been attacked by fever on the road. When the ambassadors who accompanied them related this to Motecusuma, he was very curious to know something about the features and the height of these two teules, who had been on their way to Mexico, and whether they were officers. These ambassadors, it appears, informed him, that Alvarado was a man whose countenance was particularly graceful and noble, shone like the sun, and that he was an officer. They had indeed taken a faithful likeness of him, and gave him the name of Tonatio,³² which he retained ever after among them, and signifies the Sun, son of the Sun. Of Tapia, that he was a man of a very stately deportment, powerful, and likewise a chief officer. Motecusuma was sorely grieved to hear of their return; his ambassadors, however, had correctly delineated their physiognomies and stature: for Alvarado was in every sense beautifully proportioned in body, noble in his gait, had very pleasing features, and an amiable manner of expressing himself, so that there always appeared a smile on his countenance; in the same way Tapia, notwithstanding a certain expression of bodily strength which he had about him, had great nobleness in his carriage.

For the rest, we were not a little delighted when they reappeared in our quarters; nor did we make a secret of our opinion, that their mission had not exactly been the most prudent of Cortes' resolves. But I will say nothing further of this matter, as it has little to do with my history.