Chapter IV (2)

[74] The account given in the text of the destruction of the fleet is not that of Bernal Diaz, who states it to have been accomplished not only with the knowledge, but entire approbation of the army, though at the suggestion of Cortés. (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 58.) This version is sanctioned by Dr. Robertson (History of America, vol. ii. pp. 253, 254.) One should be very slow to depart from the honest record of the old soldier, especially when confirmed by the discriminating judgment of the Historian of America. But Cortés expressly declares in his letter to the emperor that he ordered the vessels to be sunk, without the knowledge of his men, from the apprehension that, if the means of escape were open, the timid and disaffected might at some future time avail themselves of them. (Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 41.) The cavaliers Montejo and Puertocarrero, on their visit to Spain, stated, in their depositions, that the general destroyed the fleet on information received from the pilots. (Declaraciones, MSS.) Narvaez in his accusation of Cortés, and Las Casas, speak of the act in terms of unqualified reprobation, charging him, moreover, with bribing the pilots to bore holes in the bottoms of the ships in order to disable them. (Demanda de Narvaez, MS.--Hist. de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 122.) The same account of the transaction, though with a very different commentary as to its merits, is repeated by Oviedo (Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 2), Gomara (Crónica, cap. 42), and Peter Martyr (De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 1), all of whom had access to the best sources of information. The affair, so remarkable as the act of one individual, becomes absolutely incredible when considered as the result of so many independent wills. It is not improbable that Bernal Diaz, from his known devotion to the cause, may have been one of the few to whom Cortés confided his purpose. The veteran, in writing his narrative, many years after, may have mistaken a part for the whole, and in his zeal to secure to the army a full share of the glory of the expedition, too exclusively appropriated by the general (a great object, as he tells us, of his history), may have distributed among his comrades the credit of an exploit which, in this instance, at least, properly belonged to their commander. Whatever be the cause of the discrepancy, his solitary testimony can hardly be sustained against the weight of contemporary evidence from such competent sources.{*}

{*} [Prescott’s account of the circumstances attending the destruction of the fleet has been contested at great length by Señor Ramirez, who insists on accepting the statements of Bernal Diaz without qualification and ascribing to the army an equal share with the general in the merit of the act. He remarks with truth that the language of Cortés--“Tuve manera, como so color que los dichos navíos no estaban para navegar, los eché á la costa”--contains no _express declaration_, as stated by Prescott, that the order for the fleet to be sunk was given without the knowledge of the army, but would, at the most, lead to an inference to that effect. “Nor can even this,” he adds, “be admitted, since, in order to persuade the soldiers that the ships were unfit for sailing, he must have had an understanding with the mariners who were to make the statement, and with his friends who were to confirm it.” This is, however, very inefficient reasoning. It is not pretended that Cortés had no confidants and agents in the transaction. The question of real importance is, Was the resolution taken, as Bernal Diaz asserts, _openly and by the advice_ of the whole army,--“claramente, por consejo de todos los demas soldados”?--or was it formed by Cortés, and were measures taken for giving effect to it, without any communication with the mass of his followers? The newly discovered relation of Tápia is cited by Señor Ramirez as “in perfect accordance with the testimony of Diaz and destructive of every supposition of mystery and secrecy.” Yet Tápia says, with Herrera, that Cortés caused holes to be bored in the ships and their unserviceable condition to be reported to him, and thereupon gave orders for their destruction; no mention being made of the concurrence of the soldiers at any stage of the proceedings.--K.]

[75] “Cabra coja no tenga siesta.”

[76] Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 1.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 42-45.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 59, 60.

[77] Gomara, Crónica, cap. 44.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 61.--The number of the Indian auxiliaries stated in the text is much larger than that allowed by either Cortés or Diaz. But both these actors in the drama show too obvious a desire to magnify their own prowess, by exaggerating the numbers of their foes and diminishing their own, to be entitled to much confidence in their estimates.

[78] “No teniamos otro socorro, ni ayuda sino el de Dios; porque ya no teniamos nauíos para ir á Cuba, salvo nuestro buen pelear y coraçones fuertes.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 59.

[79] “Y todos á vna le respondímos, que hariamos lo que ordenasse, que echada estaua la suerte de la buena ó mala ventura.” Loc. cit.

[80] Jalap, _Convolvulus jalapa_. The _x_ and _j_ are convertible consonants in the Castilian.{**}

{**} [Jalapa means “Spring in the Sand.”--M.]

[81] The heights of Xalapa are crowned with a convent dedicated to St. Francis, erected in later days by Cortés, showing, in its solidity, like others of the period built under the same auspices, says an agreeable traveller, a military as well as religious design. Tudor’s Travels in North America (London, 1834), vol. ii. p. 186.

[82] Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 1.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 40.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 44.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.--“Every hundred yards of our route,” says the traveller last quoted, speaking of this very region, “was marked by the melancholy erection of a wooden cross, denoting, according to the custom of the country, the commission of some horrible murder on the spot where it was planted.” (Travels in North America, vol. ii. p. 188.)--[Señor Alaman stoutly defends his countrymen from this gross exaggeration, as he pronounces it, of Mr. Tudor. For although it is unhappily true, he says, that travellers were formerly liable to be attacked in going from the city of Mexico to Vera Cruz, and that the _diligence_ which passes over this road is still frequently stopped, yet it is very seldom that personal violence is offered. “Foreign tourists are prone to believe all the stories of atrocities that are related to them, and generally, at inns, fall into the society of persons who take delight in furnishing a large supply of such materials. The crosses that are to be met with in the country are not so numerous as is pretended; nor are all of them memorials of assassinations committed in the places where they have been erected. Many are merely objects of devotion, and others indicate the spot where two roads diverge from each other. We must, nevertheless, confess that this matter is one that demands all the attention of the government; while the candid foreigner will doubtless admit that it is not easy to exercise police supervision over roads on which the central points of population lie far apart, as in countries like ours, instead of being so near that a watch can be maintained from them over the intermediate spaces, as is the case in most countries of Europe and in a great part of the United States.” Conquista de Méjico (trad. de Vega), tom. i. p. 251.]

[83] _El Paso del Obispo._ Cortés named it _Puerto del Nombre de Dios_. Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. ii.

[84] The Aztec name is Nauhcampatepetl, from _nauhcampa_, “anything square,” and _tepetl_, “a mountain.”--Humboldt, who waded through forests and snows to its summit, ascertained its height to be 4089 metres, = 13,414 feet, above the sea. See his Vues des Cordillères, p. 234, and Essai politique, vol. i. p. 266.

[85] The same mentioned in Cortés’ Letter as the _Puerto de la Leña_. Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. iii.

[86] Now known by the euphonious Indian name of Tlatlanquitepec. (Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. iv.) It is the _Cocotlan_ of Bernal Diaz. (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 61.) The old Conquerors made sorry work with the Aztec names, both of places and persons, for which they must be allowed to have had ample excuse.

[87] “Puestos tantos rimeros de calaueras de muertos, que se podian bien contar, segun el concierto con que estauan puestas, que me parece que eran mas de cien mil, y digo otra vez sobre cien mil.” Ibid., ubi supra.

[88] “El qual casi admirado de lo que le preguntaba, me respondió, diciendo; ¿que quién no era vasallo de Muctezuma? queriendo decir, que allí era Señor del Mundo.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 47.

[89] “Tiene mas de 30 Príncipes á sí subjectos, que cada uno dellos tiene cient mill hombres é mas de pelea.” (Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 1.) This marvellous tale is gravely repeated by more than one Spanish writer, in their accounts of the Aztec monarchy, not as the assertion of this chief, but as a veritable piece of statistics. See, among others, Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 12.--Solís, Conquista, lib. 3, cap. 16.

[90] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 61.--There is a slight ground-swell of glorification in the Captain’s narrative, which may provoke a smile,--not a sneer, for it is mingled with too much real courage and simplicity of character.

[91] For the preceding pages, besides authorities cited in course, see Peter Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 1,--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 44.--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 26.

[92] The general clearly belonged to the church militant, mentioned by Butler:

“Such as do build their faith upon
The holy text of pike and gun,
And prove their doctrines orthodox
By apostolic blows and knocks.”

[93] “Arbol grande, dicho _ahuehuete_.” (Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. iii.) The _cupressus disticha_ of Linnæus. See Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 54, note.

[94] It is the same taste which has made the Castiles, the table-land of the Peninsula, so naked of wood. Prudential reasons, as well as taste, however, seem to have operated in New Spain. A friend of mine on a visit to a noble _hacienda_, but uncommonly barren of trees, was informed by the proprietor that they were cut down to prevent the lazy Indians on the plantation from wasting their time by loitering in their shade!

[95] It confirms the observations of M. de Humboldt. “Sans doute lors de la première arrivée des Espagnols, toute cette côte, depuis la rivière de Papaloapan (Alvarado) jusqu’à Huaxtecapan, était plus habitée et mieux cultivée qu’elle ne l’est aujourd’hui. Cependant à mesure que les conquérans montèrent au plateau, ils trouvèrent les villages plus rapprochés les uns des autres, les champs divisés en portions plus petites, le peuple plus policé.” Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 202.

[96] The correct Indian name of the town, _Yxtacamaxtitlan_, _Yztacmastitan_ of Cortés, will hardly be recognized in the _Xalacingo_ of Diaz. The town was removed, in 1601, from the top of the hill to the plain. On the original site are still visible remains of carved stones of large dimensions, attesting the elegance of the ancient fortress or palace of the cacique. Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. v.

[97] “Estas cosas y otras de gran persuasion contenia la carta, pero como no sabian leer no pudieron entender lo que contenia.” Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[98] For an account of the diplomatic usages of the people of Anahuac, see _ante_, p. 57.

[99] “Mira, señores compañeros, ya veis que somos pocos, hemos de estar siempre tan apercebidos, y aparejados, como si aora viessemos venir los contrarios á pelear, y no solamente vellos venir, sino hazer cuenta que estamos ya en la batalla con ellos.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 62.

[100] According to the writer last cited, the stones were held by a cement so hard that the men could scarcely break it with their pikes. (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 62.) But the contrary statement, in the general’s letter, is confirmed by the present appearance of the wall. Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. vii.

[101] Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. vii.--The attempts of the Archbishop to identify the route of Cortés have been very successful. It is a pity that his map illustrating the itinerary should be so worthless.

[102] Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 44, 45.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 3.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 2.--Peter Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 1.

[103] The Indian chronicler, Camargo, considers his nation a branch of the Chichimec. (Hist. de Tlascala, MS.) So, also, Torquemada. (Monarch. Ind., lib. 3, cap. 9.) Clavigero, who has carefully investigated the antiquities of Anahuac, calls it one of the seven Nahuatlac tribes. (Stor. del Messico, tom. i. p. 153, nota.) The fact is not of great moment, since they were all cognate races, speaking the same tongue, and, probably, migrated from their country in the far North at nearly the same time.

[104] The descendants of these petty nobles attached as great value to their pedigrees as any Biscayan or Asturian in Old Spain. Long after the Conquest, they refused, however needy, to dishonor their birth by resorting to mechanical or other plebeian occupations, _oficios viles y bajos_. “Los descendientes de estos son estimados por hombres calificados, que aunque sean pobrísimos no usan oficios mecánicos ni tratos bajos ni viles, ni jamas se permiten cargar ni cabar con coas y azadones, diciendo que son hijos Idalgos en que no han de aplicarse á estas cosas soeces y bajas, sino servir en guerras y fronteras, como Idalgos, y morir como hombres peleando.” Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[105] “Cualquier Tecuhtli que formaba un Tecalli, que es casa de Mayorazgo, todas aquellas tierras que le caian en suerte de repartimiento, con montes, fuentes, rios, ó lagunas tomase para la casa principal la mayor y mejor suerte ó pagos de tierra, y luego las demas que quedaban se partian por sus soldados amigos y parientes, igualmente, y todos estos están obligados á reconocer la casa mayor y acudir á ella, á alzarla y repararla, y á ser continuos en reconocer á ella de aves, caza, flores, y ramos para el sustento de la casa del Mayorazgo, y el que lo es está obligado á sustentarlos y á regalarlos como amigos de aquella casa y parientes de ella.” Ibid., MS.

[106] Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[107] “Los grandes recibimientos que hacian á los capitanes que venian y alcanzaban victoria en las guerras, las fiestas y solenidades con que se solenizaban á manera de triunfo, que los metian en andas en su puebla, trayendo consigo á los vencidos; y por eternizar sus hazañas se las cantaban publicamente, y ansí quedaban memoradas y con estatuas que les ponian en los templos.” Ibid., MS.

[108] For the whole ceremony of inauguration,--though, as it seems, having especial reference to the merchant-knights,--see Appendix, No. 9, where the original is given from Camargo.

[109] “Ha bel paese,” says the Anonymous Conqueror, speaking of Tlascala at the time of the invasion, “di pianure et motagne, et è provincia popolosa et vi si raccoglie molto pane.” Rel. d’un gentil’ huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. p. 308.

[110] A full account of the manners, customs, and domestic policy of Tlascala is given by the national historian, throwing much light on the other states of Anahuac, whose social institutions seem to have been all cast in the same mould.

[111] Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 2, cap. 70.

[112] Camargo (Hist. de Tlascala, MS.) notices the extent of Montezuma’s conquests,--a debatable ground for the historian.

[113] Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 3, cap. 16.--Solís says, “The Tlascalan territory was fifty leagues in circumference, ten long, from east to west, and four broad, from north to south.” (Conquista de Méjico, lib. 3, cap. 3.) It must have made a curious figure in geometry!

[114] Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[115] “Los Señores Mejicanos y Tezcucanos en tiempo que ponian treguas por algunas temporadas embiaban á los Señores de Tlaxcalla grandes presentes y dádivas de oro, ropa, y cacao, y sal, y de todas las cosas de que carecian, sin que la gente plebeya lo entendiese, y se saludaban secretamente, guardándose el decoro que se debian; mas con todos estos trabajos la órden de su república jamas se dejaba de gobernar con la rectitud de sus costumbres guardando inviolablemente el culto de sus Dioses.” Ibid., MS.

[116] The Tlascalan chronicler discerns in this deep-rooted hatred of Mexico the hand of Providence, who wrought out of it an important means for subverting the Aztec empire. Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[117] “Si bien os acordais, como tenemos de nuestra antigüedad como han de venir gentes á la parte donde sale el sol, y que han de emparentar con nosotros, y que hemos de ser todos unos; y que han de ser blancos y barbudos.” Ibid., MS.

[118] To the ripe age of one hundred and forty! if we may credit Camargo. Solís, who confounds this veteran with his son, has put a flourishing harangue in the mouth of the latter, which would be a rare gem of Indian eloquence,--were it not Castilian. Conquista, lib. 2, cap. 16.

[119] Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 3.--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 27.--There is sufficient contradiction, as well as obscurity, in the proceedings reported of the council, which it is not easy to reconcile altogether with subsequent events.

[120] “---- Dolus an virtus, quis in hoste requirat?”

[121] “I les matáron dos caballos, de dos cuchilladas, i segun algunos, que lo viéron, cortáron á cercen de un golpe cada pescueço, con riendas, i todas.” Gomara, Crónica, cap. 45.{*}

{*} [The Mexican sword was a horrible affair. On two sides of a stick three feet and a half long and four inches wide were fastened a number of obsidian razors about three inches long and one or two inches wide. These razors were the thickness of a sword blade. They were at first wonderfully sharp,--so sharp that once a horse was beheaded at one stroke,--but soon lost their edge. The sword was tied to the arm by a string that it should not be lost in battle.--M.]

[122] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 50.--Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 62.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 45.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 3, 41.--Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 10.

[123] “Que quando rompiessemos por los esquadrones, que lleuassen las lanças por las caras, y no parassen á dar lançadas, porque no les echassen mano dellas.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 62.

[124] “Entonces dixo Cortés, ‘Santiago, y á ellos.’” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 63.

[125] “Una gentil contienda,” says Gomara of this skirmish. Crónica, cap. 46.

[126] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 51. According to Gomara (Crónica, cap. 46), the enemy mustered 80,000. So, also, Ixtlilxochitl. (Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.) Bernal Diaz says, more than 40,000. (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 63.) But Herrera (Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 5) and Torquemada (Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 20) reduce them to 30,000. One might as easily reckon the leaves in a forest, as the numbers of a confused throng of barbarians. As this was only one of several armies kept on foot by the Tlascalans, the smallest amount is, probably, too large. The whole population of the state, according to Clavigero, who would not be likely to underrate it, did not exceed half a million at the time of the invasion. Stor. del Messico, tom. i. p. 156.

[127] “La divisa y armas de la casa y cabecera de Titcala es una garga blanca sobre un peñasco.” (Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.) “El capitan general,” says Bernal Diaz, “que se dezia Xicotenga, y con sus diuisas de blanco y colorado, porque aquella diuisa y librea era de aquel Xicotenga.” Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 63.

[128] “Llaman Teponaztle ques de un trozo de madero concavado y de una pieza rollizo y, como decimos, hueco por de dentro, que suena algunas veces mas de media legua y con el atambor hace estraña y suave consonancia.” (Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.) Clavigero, who gives a drawing of this same drum, says it is still used by the Indians, and may be heard two or three miles. Stor. del Messico, tom. ii. p. 179.

[129] “Una illis fuit spes salutis, desperâsse de salute.” (P. Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 1, cap. 1.) It is said with the classic energy of Tacitus.

[130] “Respondióle Marina, que no tuviese miedo, porque el Dios de los Christianos, que es muy poderoso, i los queria mucho, los sacaria de peligro.” Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 5.

[131] Ibid., ubi supra.

[132] Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 3, 45.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 51.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 63.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 40.

[133] Viaje de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. ix.

[134] According to Cortés, not a Spaniard fell--though many were wounded--in this action so fatal to the infidel! Diaz allows one. In the famous battle of Navas de Tolosa, between the Spaniards and Arabs, in 1212, equally matched in military science at that time, there were left 200,000 of the latter on the field; and, to balance this bloody roll, only five-and-twenty Christians! See the estimate in Alfonso IX.’s veracious letter, ap. Mariana (Hist. de España, lib. 2, cap. 24). The official returns of the old Castilian crusaders, whether in the Old World or the New, are scarcely more trustworthy than a French _imperial_ bulletin in our day.

[135] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 52.--Oviedo, who made free use of the manuscripts of Cortés, writes thirty-nine houses. (Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 3.) This may perhaps be explained by the sign for a thousand, in Spanish notation, bearing great resemblance to the figure 9. Martyr, who had access, also, to the Conqueror’s manuscript, confirms the larger and, _a priori_, less probable number.

[136] “Que fuessemos á su pueblo adonde está su padre, q allá harian las pazes cō hartarse de nuestras carnes, y honrar sus dioses con nuestros coraçones, y sangre, é que para otro dia de mañana veriamos su respuesta.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 64.

[137] More than one writer repeats a story of the Tlascalan general’s sending a good supply of provisions, at this time, to the famished army of the Spaniards; to put them in stomach, it may be, for the fight. (Gomara, Crónica, cap. 46.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.) This ultra-chivalrous display from the barbarian is not very probable, and Cortés’ own account of his successful foray may much better explain the abundance which reigned in his camp.

[138] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 52.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 46, 47.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 3.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 64.

[139] Through the magnifying lens of Cortés, there appeared to be 150,000 men (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 52); a number usually preferred by succeeding writers.

[140]

“Not half so gorgeous, for their May-day mirth
All wreathed and ribanded, our youths and maids,
As these stern _Tlascalans_ in war attire!
The golden glitterance, and the feather-mail
More gay than glittering gold; and round the helm
A coronal of high upstanding plumes,
Green as the spring grass in a sunny shower;
Or scarlet bright, as in the wintry wood
The clustered holly; or of purple tint;
Whereto shall that be likened? to what gem
Indiademed, what flower, what insect’s wing?
With war-songs and wild music they came on;
We, the while kneeling, raised with one accord
The hymn of supplication.”
SOUTHEY’S Madoc, Part 1, canto 7.

[141] The standards of the Mexicans were carried in the centre, those of the Tlascalans in the rear of the array. (Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, vol. ii. p. 145.) According to the Anonymous Conqueror, the banner-staff was attached to the back of the ensign, so that it was impossible to be torn away. “Ha ogni copagnia il suo Alfiere con la sua insegna inhastata, et in tal modo ligata sopra le spalle, che non gli da alcun disturbo di poter combattere ne far ció che vuole, et la porta cosi ligata bene al corpo, che se no fanno del suo corpo pezzi, non se gli puo sligare, ne torgliela mai.” Rel. d’un gentil’ huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 305.

[142] Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 6.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 46.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 64.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 45.--The last two authors speak of the device of “a white bird like an ostrich,” as that of the republic. They have evidently confounded it with that of the Indian general. Camargo, who has given the heraldic emblems of the four great families of Tlascala, notices the white heron as that of Xicotencatl.

[143] “Portano in testa,” says the Anonymous Conqueror, “per difesa una cosa come teste di serpeti, ò di tigri, ò di leoni, ò di lupi, che ha le mascelle, et è la testa dell’ huomo messa nella testa di qsto animale come se lo volesse diuorare: sono di legno, et sopra vi é la pena, et di piastra d’oro et di pietre preciose copte, che è cosa marauigliosa da vedere.” Rel. d’un gentil’ huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 305.

[144] “I saw one day an Indian make a thrust at the horse of a cavalier with whom he was fighting, which pierced its breast, and penetrated so deep that it immediately fell dead; and the same day I saw another Indian cut the neck of a horse, which fell dead at his feet.” Rel. d’un gentil’ huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 305.

[145] Particular notices of the military dress and appointments of the American tribes on the plateau may be found in Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.,--Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. ii. p. 101, et seq.,--Acosta, lib. 6, cap. 26,--Rel. d’un gentil’ huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 305, et auct. al.

[146] “Que granizo de piedra de los honderos! Pues flechas todo el suelo hecho parva de varas todas de á dos gajos, que passan qualquiera arma, y las entrañas adonde no ay defensa.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 65.

[147] So says Bernal Diaz; who at the same time, by the epithets _los muertos_, _los cuerpos_, plainly contradicts his previous boast that only one Christian fell in the fight. (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 65.) Cortés has not the grace to acknowledge that one.

[148] Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 3.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 52.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 6.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 46.--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 32.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 65, 66.--The warm, chivalrous glow of feeling which colors the rude composition of the last chronicler makes him a better painter than his more correct and classical rivals. And, if there is somewhat too much of the self-complacent tone of the _quorum pars magna fui_ in his writing, it may be pardoned in the hero of more than a hundred battles and almost as many wounds.

[149] The Anonymous Conqueror bears emphatic testimony to the valor of the Indians, specifying instances in which he had seen a single warrior defend himself for a long time against two, three, and even four Spaniards! “Sono fra loro di valētissimi huomini et che ossano morir ostinatissimamēte. Et io ho veduto un d’ essi difendersi valetemente da duoi caualli leggieri, et un altro da tre, et quattro.” Rel. d’un gentil’ huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 305.

[150] The appalling effect of the cavalry on the natives reminds one of the confusion into which the Roman legions were thrown by the strange appearance of the elephants in their first engagements with Pyrrhus, as told by Plutarch in his life of that prince.

[151] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 53, 54.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 3.--P. Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 2, cap. 2.--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 32.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 8.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 66.

[152] “Though she heard them every day talk of killing us and eating our flesh, though she had seen us surrounded in past battles, and knew that we were now all of us wounded and suffering, yet we never saw any weakness in her, but a courage far beyond that of woman.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 66.

[153] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 67.--Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.

[154] The effect of the medicine--though rather a severe dose, according to the precise Diaz--was suspended during the general’s active exertions. Gomara, however, does not consider this a miracle. (Crónica, cap. 49.) Father Sandoval does. (Hist. de Cárlos Quinto, tom. i. p. 127.) Solís, after a conscientious inquiry into this perplexing matter, decides--strange as it may seem--against the father! Conquista, lib. 2, cap. 20.

[155] “Dios es sobre natura.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 54.

[156] Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 64.--Not so Cortés, who says, boldly, “I burned more than ten towns.” (Ibid., p. 52.) His reverend commentator specifies the localities of the Indian towns destroyed by him in his forays. Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, pp. ix-xi.

[157] [Lorenzana speaks of two standards as borne by Cortés in the Conquest, one having the image of the Virgin emblazoned on it, the other that of the Cross. It may be the latter which is still preserved in the Museum of Artillery at Madrid. (Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 52, nota.) In a letter written to me from that capital, a few years since, by my friend Mr. George Summer, he remarks, “In Madrid, in the Museum of Artillery, is a small mahogany box, about a foot square, locked and sealed, which contains, as the inscription above it states, the _pendon_ which Hernan Cortés carried to the conquest of Mexico. On applying to the Brigadier Leon de Palacio, the director of the museum, he was so kind as not only to order this to be opened, but to come himself with me to examine it. The standard is probably the same which Lorenzana, in 1770, speaks of as being then in the Secretario de Gobierno. It is of red Damascus silk, and has marks of the painting once upon it, but is now completely in rags.”]

[158] “E como trayamos la Bandera de la Cruz, y puñabamos por nuestra Fe, y por servicio de Vuestra Sacra Magestad, en su muy Real ventura nos dió Dios tanta victoria, que les matámos mucha gente, sin que los nuestros recibiessen daño.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 52.

[159] “It was a notable thing,” exclaims Herrera, “to see with what humility and devotion all returned praising God, who gave them victories so miraculous, by which it was clearly apparent that they were favored with the divine assistance.”

[160] “Porque entrar en México, teníamoslo por cosa de risa, á causa de sus grandes fuerças.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 66.

[161] Diaz indignantly disclaims the idea of mutiny, which Gomara attached to this proceeding. “What they said to him was by way of counsel, and because they believed it were well said, and not with any other intent, since they followed him ever, bravely and loyally; nor is it strange that in an army some good soldiers should offer counsel to their captain, especially when such hardships have been endured as were by us.” Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 71.

[162] This conference is reported, with some variety, indeed, by nearly every historian. (Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 55.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 3.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 51, 52,--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 80.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 9.--P. Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 2.) I have abridged the account given by Bernal Diaz, one of the audience, though not one of the parties to the dialogue,--for that reason the better authority.

[163] Diaz says only seventeen lost their hands, the rest their thumbs. (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 70.) Cortés does not flinch from confessing, the hands of the whole fifty: “I ordered that all the fifty should have their hands cut off; and I sent them to tell their lord that let him come when he would, by night or day, they should see who we were.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 53.

[164] “De que los Tlascaltecas se admiráron, entendiendo que Cortés les entendia sus pensamientos.” Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.

[165] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 56, 57.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 3.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 53.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 71, et seq.--Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 11.

[166] “Cortés recibió con alegría aquel presente, y dixo que se lo tenia en merced, y que él lo pagaria al señor Monteçuma en buenas obras.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 73.

[167] He dwells on it in his letter to the emperor. “Seeing the discord and division between them, I felt not a little pleasure, for it appeared to me to suit well with my design, and that through this means I might the more easily subjugate them. Moreover I remembered a text of the Evangelist, which says, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation.’ I treated therefore with both parties, and thanked each in secret for the intelligence it had given me, professing to regard it with greater friendship than the other.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 61.

[168] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 10.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 4.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 54.--Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 2.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 72-74.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.

[169] “Á distancia de un quarto de legua caminando á esta dicha ciudad se encuentra una barranca honda, que tiene para pasar _un Puente de cal y canto de bóveda_, y es tradicion en el pueblo de San Salvador, que se hizo en aquellos dias, que estubo allí Cortés para que pasase.” (Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. xi.) If the antiquity of this _arched_ stone bridge could be established, it would settle a point much mooted in respect to Indian architecture. But the construction of _so_ solid a work in _so_ short a time is a fact requiring a better voucher than the villagers of San Salvador.

[170] Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. iii. p. 53.--“Recibimiento el mas solene y famoso que en el mundo se ha visto,” exclaims the enthusiastic historian of the republic. He adds that “more than a hundred thousand men flocked out to receive the Spaniards; a thing that appears impossible,” _que parece cosa imposible_! It does indeed. Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[171] Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 11.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 59.--Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 54.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 11.

[172] “La qual ciudad es tan grande, y de tanta admiracion, que aunque mucho de lo, que de ella podria decir, dexe, lo poco que diré creo es casi increible, porque es muy mayor que Granada, y muy mas fuerte, y de tan buenos Edificios, y de muy murcha mas gente, que Granada tenia al tiempo que se ganó.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 58.

[173] “En las Ruinas, que aun hoy se vén en Tlaxcala, se conoce, que no es ponderacion.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, p. 58. Nota del editor, Lorenzana.

[174] “Nullum est fictile vas apud nos, quod arte superet ab illis vasa formata.” Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 2.

[175] Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 59.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 4.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.--The last historian enumerates such a number of contemporary Indian authorities for his narrative as of itself argues no inconsiderable degree of civilization in the people.

[176] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 12.--The population of a place which Cortés could compare with Granada had dwindled by the beginning of the present century to 3400 inhabitants, of whom less than a thousand were of the Indian stock. See Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 158.

[177] Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 11.--Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 54, 55.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 13.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 75.

[178] Camargo notices this elastic property in the religions of Anahuac: “Este modo de hablar y decir que les querrá dar otro Dios, es saber que cuando estas gentes tenian noticia de algun Dios de buenas propiedades y costumbres, que le rescibiesen admitiéndole por tal, porque otras gentes advenedizas trujéron muchos ídolos que tubiéron por Dioses, y á este fin y propósito decian, que Cortés les traia otro Dios.” Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[179] Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 84.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 56.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 76, 77.--This is not the account of Camargo. According to him, Cortés gained his point: the nobles led the way by embracing Christianity, and the idols were broken. (Hist. de Tlascala, MS.) But Camargo was himself a Christianized Indian, who lived in the next generation after the Conquest, and may very likely have felt as much desire to relieve his nation from the reproach of infidelity as a modern Spaniard would to scour out the stain--_mala raza y mancha_--of Jewish or Moorish lineage from his escutcheon.

[180] The miracle is reported by Herrera (Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 15), and _believed_ by Solís. Conquista de Méjico, lib. 3, cap. 5.

[181] To avoid the perplexity of selection, it was common for the missionary to give the same names to all the Indians baptized on the same day. Thus, one day was set apart for the Johns, another for the Peters, and so on; an ingenious arrangement, much more for the convenience of the clergy than of the converts. See Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[182] Ibid., MS.--Bernal Diaz. Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 74, 77.--According to Camargo, the Tlascalans gave the Spanish commander three hundred damsels to wait on Marina; and the kind treatment and instruction they received led some of the chiefs to surrender their own daughters, “con propósito de que _si acaso_ algunas se empreñasen quedase entre ellos generacion de hombres tan valientes y temidos.”

[183] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 80.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 60.--Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 2.--Cortés notices only one Aztec mission, while Diaz speaks of three. The former, from brevity, falls so much short of the whole truth, and the latter, from forgetfulness perhaps, goes so much beyond it, that it is not always easy to decide between them. Diaz did not compile his narrative till some fifty years after the Conquest; a lapse of time which may excuse many errors, but must considerably impair our confidence in the minute accuracy of his details. A more intimate acquaintance with his chronicle does not strengthen this confidence.

[184] _Ante_, p. 306.

[185] “Si no viniessen, iria sobre ellos, y los destruíria, y procederia contra ellos como contra personas rebeldes; diciéndoles, como todas estas Partes, y otras muy mayores Tierras, y Señoríos eran de Vuestra Alteza.” (Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 63.) “Rebellion” was a very convenient term, fastened in like manner by the countrymen of Cortés on the Moors for defending the possessions which they had held for eight centuries in the Peninsula. It justified very rigorous reprisals. (See the History of Ferdinand and Isabella, Part I., chap. 13, et alibi.)

[186] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 62, 63.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 4.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 84.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 58.--Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 2.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 18.--Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 11.

[187] Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 67.--According to Las Casas, the place contained 30,000 _vecinos_, or about 150,000 inhabitants. (Brevissima Relatione della Distruttione dell’ Indie Occidentale (Venetia, 1643)). This latter, being the smaller estimate, is _a priori_ the more credible; especially--a rare occurrence--when in the pages of the good Bishop of Chiapa.

[188] Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. iii. p. 159.

[189] Veytia carries back the foundation of the city to the Ulmecs, a people who preceded the Toltecs. (Hist. antig., tom. i. cap. 13, 20.) As the latter, after occupying the land several centuries, have left not a single written record, probably, of their existence, it will be hard to disprove the licentiate’s assertion,--still harder to prove it.

[190] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 2.{*}

{*} [“We find that, according to tradition, the territory of Cholula was, up to the year 1519, necessarily occupied by at least three different stocks. The modes of burial, so far as ascertained, reveal an equal number of distinct customs. The architecture, so far as it is possible to investigate it, shows at least two separate types.... Finally we may ask if the facts, that the adobe bricks of the great mound contain pottery and obsidian, and that skulls have been found beneath its projecting western apron, do not hint at a still older population, with perhaps a different style of architecture.” Bandelier, Archæological Tour, p. 261.--M.]

[191] Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 58.--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 3, cap. 19.

[192] Veytia, Hist. antig., tom. i. cap. 15, et seq.--Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, lib. 1, cap. 5; lib. 3.

[193] Later divines have found in these teachings of the Toltec god, or high-priest, the germs of some of the great mysteries of the Christian faith, as those of the Incarnation, and the Trinity, for example.

[194] Such, on the whole, seems to be the judgment of M. de Humboldt, who has examined this interesting monument with his usual care. (Vues des Cordillères, p. 27, et seq.--Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 150, et seq.) The opinion derives strong confirmation from the fact that a road, cut some years since across the tumulus, laid open a large section of it, in which the alternate layers of brick and clay are distinctly visible. (Ibid., loc. cit.) The present appearance of this monument, covered over with the verdure and vegetable mould of centuries, excuses the scepticism of the more superficial traveller.

[195] Several of the pyramids of Egypt, and the ruins of Babylon, are, as is well known, of brick. An inscription on one of the former, indeed, celebrates this material as superior to stone. (Herodotus, Euterpe, sec. 136.)--Humboldt furnishes an apt illustration of the size of the Mexican _teocalli_, by comparing it to a mass of bricks covering a square four times as large as the Place Vendôme, and of twice the height of the Louvre. Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 152.

[196] A minute account of the costume and insignia of Quetzalcoatl is given by Father Sahagun, who saw the Aztec gods before the arm of the Christian convert had tumbled them from “their pride of place.” See Hist. de Nueva-España, lib. 1, cap. 3.

[197] They came from the distance of two hundred leagues, says Torquemada. Monarch. Ind., lib. 3, cap. 19.

[198] “Hay mucha gente pobre, y que piden entre los Ricos por las Calles, y por las Casas, y Mercados, como hacen los Pobres en España, y en otras partes que hay _Gente de razon_.” Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, pp. 67, 68.

[199] Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 3, cap. 19.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 61.--Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[200] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 2.--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., ubi supra.

[201] “E certifico á Vuestra Alteza, que yo conté desde una Mezquita quatrocientas, y tantas Torres en la dicha Ciudad, y todas son de Mezquitas.” Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 67.

[202] The city of Puebla de los Angeles was founded by the Spaniards soon after the Conquest, on the site of an insignificant village in the territory of Cholula, a few miles to the east of that capital. It is, perhaps, the most considerable city in New Spain, after Mexico itself, which it rivals in beauty. It seems to have inherited the religious preëminence of the ancient Cholula, being distinguished, like her, for the number and splendor of its churches, the multitude of its clergy, and the magnificence of its ceremonies and festivals. These are fully displayed in the pages of travellers who have passed through the place on the usual route from Vera Cruz to the capital. (See, in particular, Bullock’s Mexico, vol. i. chap. 6.) The environs of Cholula, still irrigated as in the days of the Aztecs, are equally remarkable for the fruitfulness of the soil. The best wheat-lands, according to a very respectable authority, yield in the proportion of eighty for one. Ward’s Mexico, vol. ii. p. 270.--See, also, Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 158; tom. iv. p. 330.

[203] According to Cortés, a hundred thousand men offered their services on this occasion! “And although I forbade it, and requested that they would not go, since there was no necessity for it, yet I was followed by as many as a hundred thousand men well fitted for war, who came with me to the distance of nearly two leagues from the city, and then through my pressing importunities were induced to return, with the exception of five or six thousand, who continued in my company.” (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 64.) This, which must have been nearly the whole fighting force of the republic, does not startle Oviedo (Hist. de las Ind., MS., cap. 4) nor Gomara, Crónica, cap. 58.

[204] The words of the _Conquistador_ are yet stronger. “There is not a _hand’s-breadth_ of land that is not cultivated.” Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 67.

[205] “All the inhabitants of rank wear, besides their other clothing, _albornoces_, differing from those of Africa inasmuch as they have pockets, but very similar in form, in material, and in the bordering.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 67.

[206] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 67.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 84.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 4.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 82.--The Spaniards compared Cholula to the beautiful Valladolid, according to Herrera, whose description of the entry is very animated: “Saliéronle otro dia á recibir mas de diez mil ciudadanos en diversas tropas, con rosas, flores, pan, aves, i frutas, i mucha música. Llegaba vn esquadron á dar la bien llegada á Hernando Cortés, i con buena órden se iba apartando, dando lugar á que otro llegase.... En llegando á la ciudad, que pareció mucho á los Castellanos, en el asiento, i perspectiva, á Valladolid, salió la demas gente, quedando mui espantada de ver las figuras, talles, i armas de los Castellanos. Saliéron los sacerdotes con vestiduras blancas, como sobrepellices, i algunas cerradas por delante, los braços defuera, con fluecos de algodon en las orillas. Unos llevaban figuras de ídolos en las manos, otros sahumerios; otros tocaban cornetas, atabalejos, i diversas músicas, i todos iban cantando, i llegaban á encensar á los Castellanos. Con esta pompa entráron en Chulula.” Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 1.

[207] Cortés, indeed, noticed these same alarming appearances on his entering the city, thus suggesting the idea of a premeditated treachery. “On the road we noticed many indications such as the natives of this province had told us of; for we found the royal road barred up and another opened, and some holes dug,--though not many,--and some of the streets of the city barricadoed, and many stones upon the roofs; which put us more upon our guard and caused us to exercise great caution.” Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 64.

[208] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 83.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 59.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 65.--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 39.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 83, cap. 4.--Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 2.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 1.--Argensola, Anales, lib. 1, cap. 85.

[209] “Las horas de la noche las regulaban por las estrellas, y tocaban los ministros del templo que estaban destinados para este fin, ciertos instrumentos como vocinas, con que hacian conocer al pueblo el tiempo.” Gama, Descripcion, Parte 1, p. 14.

[210] “Usáron los de Tlaxcalla de un aviso muy bueno y les dió Hernando Cortés porque fueran conocidos y no morir entre los enemigos por yerro, porque sus armas y divisas eran casi de una manera; ... y ansí se pusiéron en las cabezas unas guirnaldas de esparto á manera de torzales, y con esto eran conocidos los de nuestra parcialidad que no fué pequeño aviso.” Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[211] Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 4, 45.--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 40.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 84.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 60.

[212] “They killed nearly six thousand persons, but touched neither women nor children, for so it had been ordered.” Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 2.

[213] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 83.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., ubi supra.

[214] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 83.--The descendants of the principal Cholulan cacique are living at this day in Puebla, according to Bustamante. See Gomara, Crónica, trad. de Chimalpain (México, 1820), tom. i. p. 98, nota.

[215] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 66.--Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 84.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 4, 45.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 83.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 60.--Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 11.--Las Casas, in his printed treatise on the Destruction of the Indies, garnishes his account of these transactions with some additional and rather startling particulars. According to him, Cortés caused a hundred or more of the caciques to be impaled or roasted at the stake! He adds the report that, while the massacre in the court-yard was going on, the Spanish general repeated a scrap of an old _romance_, describing Nero as rejoicing over the burning ruins of Rome:

“Mira Nero de Tarpeya,
A Roma como se ardia.
Gritos dan ninos y viejos,
Y él de nada se dolia.”
(Brevísima Relacion, p. 46.)

This is the first instance, I suspect, on record of any person being ambitious of finding a parallel for himself in that emperor! Bernal Diaz, who had seen “the interminable narrative,” as he calls it, of Las Casas, treats it with great contempt. His own version--one of those chiefly followed in the text--was corroborated by the report of the missionaries, who after the Conquest, visited Cholula, and investigated the affair with the aid of the priests and several old survivors who had witnessed it. It is confirmed in its substantial details by the other contemporary accounts. The excellent Bishop of Chiapa wrote with the avowed object of moving the sympathies of his countrymen in behalf of the oppressed natives; a generous object, certainly, but one that has too often warped his judgment from the strict line of historic impartiality. He was not an eye-witness of the transactions in New Spain, and was much too willing to receive whatever would make for his case, and to “over-red,” if I may so say, his argument with such details of blood and slaughter as, from their very extravagance, carry their own refutation with them.

[216] For an illustration of the above remark the reader is referred to the closing pages of chap. 7, Part II., of the “History of Ferdinand and Isabella,” where I have taken some pains to show how deep-settled were these convictions in Spain at the period with which we are now occupied. The world has gained little in liberality since the age of Dante, who could coolly dispose of the great and good of antiquity in one of the circles of Hell because--no fault of theirs, certainly--they had come into the world too soon. The memorable verses, like many others of the immortal bard, are a proof at once of the strength and weakness of the human understanding. They may be cited as a fair exponent of the popular feeling at the beginning of the sixteenth century:

“Ch’ ei non peccaro, e, s’egli hanno mercedi,
Non basta, perchè _non ebber battesmo_,
Ch’ è parte della fede che tu credi.
E, se furon dinanzi al Cristianesmo,
Non adorar debitamente Dio;
E di questi cotai son io medesmo
Per tai difetti, e non per altro rio,
Semo perduti, e sol di tanto offesi
Che sanza speme vivemo in disio.”
INFERNO, canto 4.