Today | News | Books | Recipes Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History Bookpolitic to form an alliance with the Mexicans; and allowed himself many other impudent expressions, which so enraged the old chiefs that Maxixcatzin, Chichimeclatecl, and the elder Xicotencatl, notwithstanding his blindness, rose up from their seats, then fell upon the young man, and pushed him down the steps of the building, under the most abusive language. He would certainly have been killed on the spot, if respect for his aged father had not withheld them. In the meantime they imprisoned all those who had sided with him. To punish Xicotencatl himself, this was not exactly the time, and Cortes refused in any way to meddle in the matter. I have mentioned this circumstance to convince the reader how loyal and honest the Tlascallans were towards us, and how much we were indebted to them, particularly to the elder Xicotencatl, who, it is even said, had given orders for his son to be put to death, as soon as he had been informed of all his intrigues and treacherous designs.[98] We had now rested twenty-two days, and had patiently awaited the cure of our wounds; and Cortes now determined upon making an incursion into the neighbouring province of Tepeaca, where several of Narvaez's men and some of ours had been killed on their march to Mexico. He accordingly told our officers what his plan was; but when Narvaez's men heard of a new campaign, they became quite low-spirited. The latter were not accustomed to war, and had had a sufficient taste of it in our overthrow at Mexico, the carnage at the bridges, and in the battle of Otumpan; and were very clamorous in their requests to our general to return to their commendaries and their gold mines in Cuba. They peremptorily refused to obey him any longer, and declared they would take no further part in his conquests; and Duero, who, from the very beginning, had been in secret understanding with Cortes, protested most loudly against this contemplated invasion of Tepeaca. They cursed the gold Cortes had given them, which had all been lost again in their flight from Mexico, and assured him they were glad enough to have escaped with their lives from that terrific battle. They were unanimously determined to return to Cuba, and said they were not desirous of suffering any further losses than they already had in this expedition. Cortes, however, did not so soon give up all hopes of persuading them to join him in this campaign. He spoke to them in a very quiet and kind manner, and made many very excellent remarks, but all to no purpose; and when they found that Cortes persevered in his determination, they desired one of the royal secretaries to draw up a formal protest, in which they gave a circumstantial account of our present position, how we were in want of horses, muskets, crossbows, and even cords for the latter; in short, of everything necessary to carry on a war. They further went on to say, that the whole of us were covered with wounds, and that only 440 men remained of the united troops of Narvaez and Cortes; the Mexicans occupied every pass and every mountain, and the vessels would rot away with the worm if they lay any longer in the harbour; and so on. After they had presented this protest in form to our general, he altogether objected to it, and we others of his old troops begged of him most earnestly not to allow any of Narvaez's men to return to Cuba, as it would every way prove injurious to the cause of God and the interest of our emperor. When they found that all the steps they had taken were fruitless, and that we maintained they were imperatively called upon to remain, both for the service of God and of our emperor, they at last consented to stay, and declared their willingness to join us in the contemplated campaign; but Cortes was obliged to promise that he would allow them to depart for Cuba as soon as ever circumstances would permit. This, however, did not put an end to their murmurs. We heard nothing but complaints against Cortes and his conquests,--how dearly they had paid for all this, left comfortable homes, and peace and security, to serve in a country where they lived in constant danger of losing their lives. They likewise considered it would be unpardonable in us to commence a second war with the Mexicans, with whom we should never be able to cope in the open field for any length of time, after what we had seen of their vast power both in Mexico and at Otumpan. Cortes, they continued, would not relinquish his purpose as long as his ambition to command was satisfied, and we others merely stuck to him because we had nothing to lose but our lives. Many similar reproaches did they throw out against Cortes, who, under the present circumstances, thought it was best to leave them unnoticed; and he was glad, a few months after, to send them home, as will be related in the proper place. Here again I am bound to notice a number of errors in Gomara's history; in order, however, not to go too much into detail, I will confine myself to the following remarks. Respecting the above-mentioned protest against the projected campaign of Tepeaca, Gomara does not exactly state with which party it originated, whether from Cortes' old troops or those of Narvaez. Everything he relates concerning this matter merely goes to raise Cortes to the skies and to cast the rest of us in the shade. We, the true Conquistadores, on reading his work, soon discovered that Gomara had been bribed by presents to relate the circumstances in that way. Were we not the very men who supported Cortes in all the battles, and in every other matter? and yet Gomara has the impudence to consider this as nothing, and affirms that we protested against the further conquest of New Spain. Gomara likewise commits a terrible blunder when he makes Cortes say, in answer to this protest, in order to inspire us with courage, that he would recall Leon and Ordas, of whom one, he says, was engaged forming a settlement with 300 men in Panuco, and that the other, with a like detachment, had been sent for a similar purpose to the river Guacasualco. Every word of this is false; for, when we marched to Alvarado's assistance in Mexico, those projected settlements were relinquished, as I have above mentioned, and both these officers went along with us to Mexico. Leon even met with his death at one of the bridges, as we saw, and Ordas was severely wounded in three several places. What a great pity it is that Gomara does not write with equal veracity as he does beauty! I was likewise amazed to read what he says of the battle of Otumpan. He boldly asserts that we should have been defeated if Cortes had not been present, for he alone decided the fate of the day by his attack upon the Mexican commander-in-chief, who carried the royal standard. I should indeed be loth to do Cortes an injustice, and, as an excellent and brave general, I have the highest esteem for him; but certainly we have, above all, to thank the Almighty, who mercifully protected us in all the dangers we encounte |