CHAPTER IV.
Arrival of the Armament commanded by H. Cortes, at St.
Yuan de
Ulua. Transactions and Occurrences there.
ON Holy
Thursday of the year 1519, we arrived at the
On Good
Friday we disembarked the cavalry, infantry, and artillery, on the sand hills
of which that coast is composed and having posted our artillery, and raised an
altar, we constructed temporary barracks. On the ensuing day we were visited by
many of the natives, who brought hatchets wherewith they proceeded to work in
making the huts, that of Cortes especially, more convenient; they also brought
mantles to guard us from the sun, and a present of gold, fowls, bread, and
plumbs. Those who brought them informed Cortes, that on the next day the
governor of the province intended to wait upon him.
At the
appointed time, on the day of the feast of the resurrection, a nobleman named Tendile who was the governor spoken of, accompanied by Pitalpitoque afterwards called Ovandillo,
and attended by a great train of followers bearing various articles of
provision, with much respect and ceremony, advanced, and made three reverences
to Cortes and the soldiers who were about him. Cortes went to meet and bid the
two chiefs welcome: he then caused mass to be said, after which the tables were
placed, and he together with certain of his captains and the two Mexican lords,
sat down to dinner. Their repast ended, and having withdrawn together he
informed them, that he was the vassal of the greatest prince in the world, who
had sent us thither, to wait upon the king of those countries, whose fame had
reached him, in order to contract a treaty of peace and amity, and to tell many
things to him of the greatest import to be known. To this Tendile
somewhat haughtily replied, saying, “How is this? You are but just arrived, and
you talk of seeing our monarch: receive this present which he sends you, and it
is time enough to think of other things afterwards.” He then took out of a
chest many pieces of gold well wrought, which he presented to Cortes, together
with ten loads of fine mantles of white cotton adorned with plumage; and many
other things, which, it being so long ago, I do not recollect. After these followed an abundant supply of provisions, such as
fowls, fruit, and roasted fish. Cortes in return presented them with
artificial diamonds, and requested that they would encourage the natives to
come and barter with us, which they promised to do. We afterwards learned that
these noble Mexicans were the governors of the provinces named Cotastlan, Tustepeque, Guazpaltepeque, Tlatalteclo, and
other districts which had been lately reduced to subjection under their
monarch. Cortes then produced as a present for the great Montezuma, an
arm-chair elegantly carved and painted, some artificial jewels called margajitas envelloped in perfumed
cotton, a string of artificial diamonds, and a crimson cap with a gold medal
whereon was represented St. George killing the dragon. These he desired Tendile to present to his master in the name of our
sovereign, and to signify to him al the fame time, his request to know when he
might he permitted to wait
wait upon him. To this the Mexican nobleman replied, that his
monarch would be happy to hold an intercourse with our emperor, and that the
application should be immediately made, and an answer transmitted.
With this
embassy some of the abler painters of
Tendile who was the most acute of the two in appearance,
remarked at this time a partly gilt helmet with one of our soldiers, and observed
that it resembled one which had belonged to their ancestors, and which was
placed on the head of their god Huitzilopochtli; he therefore expressed a with
to carry it to Montezuma. Cortes immediately presented it to him, saying at the
same time, that in order to ascertain what resemblance existed between the gold
of the two countries, it would not be amiss to return it filled with grains of
that metal, as a fit present for our Emperor. Tendile
now took his leave, alluring Cortes that he would speedily return with the
answer to his request. The intelligence of what had passed, together with our
presents, was rapidly conveyed to Montezuma by this officer, who was as eminent
for his swiftness of foot, as for his rank. That Monarch was most particularly
struck with the sight of the helmet; and it impressed strongly on his mind the
idea, that we were the men destined by heaven to rule those countries.
The other
lord, Pitalpitoque, established his residence in a
temporary building, at a little distance from our camp, his people supplying
the table of Cortes with provisions, and the soldiers subsisting by barter.
Thus six or seven days passed, at the expiration of which time, we one morning
perceived Tendile approaching, followed by upwards of
a hundred men bearing presents. With him came also a great Mexican lord, who in
countenance, feature, and person, strongly resembled Cortes; and the reason of
his being joined in the embassy was, that when the paintings were exhibited at
the court, every one was immediately struck with the resemblance which the portrait
of Cortes bore to this lord, who was named Quintalbor.
The likeness was so strong, that whilst he remained among us in camp, we in
speaking of them used to say, this, and the other Cortes.
On the arrival
of the ambassadors in the pretence of Cortes, they touched the ground with
their hands and kilted them, and with their vessels of incense fumigated him
and the rest. After some conversation, mats and mantles being spread out, the
presents were displayed upon them. The first was a plate of gold of the size of
the wheel of a carriage, representing the sun, admirably wrought, and said to
be worth upwards of twenty thousand crowns; a larger one, equally wrought, of
silver, representing the moon; the helmet already mentioned filled with gold in
its native state to the amount of three thousand crowns, but the information we
hereby obtained of the value of the mines we estimated at more than thirty
thousand; thirty pieces of wrought gold representing ducks, very well executed,
others in the forms of deer, dogs, lions, tygers, and
apes; twelve arrows; a bow with the cord; two rods like those borne by officers
of justice, five palms long; ten collars, and many other ornaments, all of fine
gold, and cast, or moulded work. After these were
produced plumes of feathers represented in gold, others of silver, together
with fans of the same materials, beautiful penaches
of green feathers, thirty loads of the finest cotton cloth, with many other
things which I cannot now recollect.
All these being laid before Cortes, the ambassadors made a speech,
wherein they told him that with the same good will that their monarch sent the
present, it was hoped he would receive it, and divide it as he thought best
among the Teules with him. They also
communicated to him a message from the great Montezuma to this effect; “That he
rejoiced in the arrival of such brave men in his country as the accounts he had
received proved us to be; that he much wished to see our great emperor, and to
communicate by a reciprocation of presents with him; and that he was ready to
render us any services; but that as to visits to his court, they were attended
with many difficulties, and he did not wish for them.” Cortes received this
message with apparent good humour, and presented each
of the ambassadors with holland shirts and other
articles of small value, but replied by observing, that after having crossed
such a vast space of sea, he could not return without executing the mission
which he had been sent upon, which was, to see and speak to the Emperor
Montezuma in person, such being the orders of our great monarch, which he was
compelled and determined to obey. The ambassadors replied that they would
convey his message, but gave no hopes of a favorable answer. Out of our poor
means Cortes contrived to send by them a second present; it consisted of a
glass cup of Venetian manufacture, curiously gilt and wrought with figures, three
holland shirts, and some other articles. With these
the two ambassadors returned to
Cortes seeing
that these uninhabited sand banks infested by mosquitos
were disadvantageous for a settlement, ordered Francisco de Montejo,
with two small ships, to proceed along the coast for the space of ten days sail,
in search of a port in a better situation. Montejo
advanced as far as the great
It was
afterwards called Puerto del Nombre
Feo from its resemblance to one of that name in Old
Spain. In this expedition Montejo employed ten or
twelve days, during which time the Mexican lord who was intrusted
with the care of our provisions, relaxed so much, that we began to experience
great distress; our bread grew rotten, and unless we were successful in fishing
we might starve, for the few Indians who occasionally brought fowls valued them
much higher than they had done at first.
After
waiting for some time very impatiently, the Mexican ambassador Tendile returned, with a present of ten loads of the finest
mantles of cotton and feathers. Montezuma also sent four jewels called calchihuis, resembling emeralds, most highly valued by the
Mexicans; and various articles of gold, to the amount of three thousand crowns.
The two noblemen, Tendile and Pitalpitoque,
for the third who resembled Cortes had fallen ill on the road, informed our
general that the great Montezuma had received his present with much
satisfaction, but that as to the interview, he could not permit any more to be
said on the subject. That these rich jewels each of which exceeded in value a
load of gold were intended for our emperor, and that
herewith all farther intercourse with
The
Mexican noblemen being very inquisitive to know the meaning of this, Cortes
hinted to the Rev. Father Bartholome the propriety of
a sermon, such as should convey to them the truths of our holy faith. Fra. Bartholome accordingly preached, like an excellent
theologian which he was, explaining the mysteries of the cross, at the sight of
which the evil beings they worshipped as gods fled away. These subjects and
much more he dilated upon, and it was perfectly ex-
plained to, and understood by the Mexicans,
who promised that they would relate all they had seen and heard to their
sovereign. He also declared to them, that amongst the principal objects of our
mission thither, were, those of putting a stop to human sacrifices, injustices,
and idolatrous worship; and then, presenting them with an image of our Holy
Virgin with her son in her arms, he desired them to take it with them, to
venerate it, and to plant crosses similar to that before them in their temples.
A number
of articles of gold were now brought in order to barter by the natives, and
with this we paid for the provisions, principally fish, which we could procure;
this was our only present resource against absolute want; we were mostly
provided with those toys which were in request among the Indians, and with them
we procured the gold, which as soon as obtained was paid to our fishermen, who
were chiefly the mariners of the fleet. Cortes well knew
of this private trade, nor did it afford him dissatisfaction, as he considered
it a furtherance of his views, though he concealed his mind upon the subject.
The partizans of Velasquez however began now to grow jealous at
this practice, and demanded Cortes to make such regulations as should bring all
the gold which had been, or was in future to be purchased, into one common
stock, under the care of a treasurer. To this Cortes consented, and named for
the purpose one Gonzalo Mexia. He then turned to
those who had made the application and with an angry countenance said, “Look
you gentlemen! Our companions suffer under want; I therefore thought it prudent
to connive at what was doing; all they obtained amounts to a mere trifle, with
the blessing of God we have great and splendid prospects before us; it is now
proclaimed, as you have desired; see if the soldiers will in future be able to
procure food.” It is upon this transaction that Gomara
relates, that it was done as a piece of art by Cortes, to induce Montezuma to
think that gold was no object with the Spaniards; but the application for
the
casque to be returned filled with gold, and other previous
circumstances must have fully convinced him to the contrary.
One
morning at this time, we were disagreeably surprised by perceiving that all our
Mexican neighbours had quitted us without taking
leave. This we afterwards learned was done by the order of Montezuma, who was
determined to permit no more conferences. It seems this monarch was greatly bigotted to the worship of his idols, to which he every day
sacrificed boys, in order to obtain directions how to act. Their commands were, that he should hold no farther intercourse with us,
and they forbid the reception of the crucifix in
One day
while I and another soldier were centinels upon the
sands at some distance from our post, we remarked the approach of five natives,
whom, in order not to create an unnecessary alarm in the camp, was suffered to
come up close to us. These men saluted us in a friendly manner, and by signs
desired to be brought to our camp. I therefore left any comrade at the out-post, and attended them thither, for I then had the
full use of my limbs, far otherwise than at present that I am worn down and
old. When I had brought them to Cortes they saluted him with great reverence,
addressing him with the title of Lopelucio, or lord,
which is the signification of the word in the Totonaquean
language. These Indians were very different in their appearance from the
Mexicans, and they wore in their ears large rings of stone painted blue, and very fine leaves of gold in their lips. As their
language was unintelligible to our interpreters, Donna Marina asked in the
Mexican if any of their could speak in that dialect; to which two of them
answered in the affirmative, and immediately proceeded to say, that their lord
had sent them to congratulate us on our arrival; that he would be proud to
serve such brave men as he had heard we were, and would have waited upon us
before, but from dread of the people of Culchua, who
were with us. In the course of conversation Cortes was pleased to find
that Montezuma had enemies in the country; he dismissed these
men with presents, and desired them to assure their chief, that he would
shortly pay him an amicable visit. These people were ever after named the Lopelucios.
The sands
we had remained on during this time, were infested by the small mosquito, which
is much the most troublesome of all, and tinder whose attacks it is impossible
to sleep; our bread was rotten, and we had hardly any thing else to eat. The
faction of Velasquez, and those who had good plantations in
Cortes
had now obtained from Puertocarrero, Alvarado and his
four brothers, De Oli, De Avila, Escalante, De Lugo,
and myself, together with other officers and cavaliers,
promises of our support in appointing him to an independent command, and this
was suspected by Montejo, who closely watched all our
motions. One night very late, Puertocarrero,
Escalante, and De Lugo who was a distant relation of mine came to my hut, and
said to me, “Senior del Castillo get your arms and join us to attend Cortes who
is going his rounds.” I accordingly did so, and as soon as we had quitted the
hut, they told that they wanted some conversation with me, which it was not
proper for my comrades, who were of the faction of Velasquez, to hear. One
of
them then
addressed me as follows; “Senior del Castillo it is now the third time that you
have visited this country to your cost and loss; Cortes has deceived us; he
said in Cuba that he had powers to establish a colony, whereas they went no
farther as at present appears than to traffic, and now we are to return to
We then
insisted on Cortes accepting the command of us who were determined to try our
fortunes in this new country, for the service of God and his Majesty: he for
some time refused, but at length acceded, for as the proverb says, “You ask me
that, to which I have already got my own consent,” and thus he was appointed
our captain general, and supreme magistrate. The worst part of the business
was, the power which we gave him, to draw for himself, one fifth of all the
gold after
that of his Majesty was deducted. However with all these
authorities and privileges he was formally invested, before a royal notary,
Diego de Godoy. It was now determined to proceed immediately to the foundation
of a settlement and town, which we named De la Vera Cruz, because we arrived
here on Holy Thursday, and disembarked on Good Friday, and we called it Villa
Rica, from the words of a cavalier, who said, “Behold the rich lands.” We also
appointed civil magistrates, the two first alcaldes
being A. H. Puertocarrero, the cavalier I have just
alluded to, and Francisco de Montejo; the latter was
no friend to Cortes, and it was for that reason he, was from policy appointed
to this situation. A gallows was erected in the square of the town, and another
at some distance out of it. Pedro de Alvarado was appointed captain of the
expeditions, Christoval de Oli
maestre de campo, Juan de Escalante Maguazil mayor, Gonzalo Mexia
treasurer, Alonzo de Avila contador, and one Corral
standard bearer, for Villaroel who had held that
situation was displaced, on account of some umbrage Cortes had taken against
him about an Indian woman of
The steps
which we had taken enraged the faction of Velasquez beyond all measure; they were
almost ready to break out into ads of violence, and uttered the most mutinous
expressions. Juan de Escalante now, having previously concerted the measure
with Cortes, demanded in the name of us all, a sight of the instructions given
by Velasquez. The tenor of them was as follows; “As soon as you shall have
procured the utmost quantity of gold that is to be had, return.” We requested
this instrument, in order that the whole of the proceedings should be laid
before his Majesty; a necessary precaution as afterwards appeared, from the
steps which were taken against us by the Bishop of Burgos and Archbishop of Rossano, Don Juan Rodriguez
de Fonseca, for so he was named, who wished, throughout, to destroy us
all.
The
adherents of Velasquez now declared, that they would not remain under the
command of Cortes, but, would return to the