The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo Vol. 2

1/25/22, 8:50 PM The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo written by himself, containing a true an…
now disembarked the whole of his men andhorses, and gave the command of the fleet to an
officer named Grijalva,whom he ordered to sail as close as possible to the shore, while he
marched with his troops along the coast. The first two days he passedover a desolate and
boggy country; he then crossed a river, whichtook its source in the mountains, lying about
twenty miles inland, andarrived in a township which was quite deserted by its inhabitants,
butwhere he found abundance of maise and fowls, besides the deliciousfruit of the guayaba
tree. The soldiers likewise brought in a few ofthe inhabitants prisoners, who understood the
Mexican language; and Garay, after making them handsome presents, sent them to the
neighbouringtownships to incline the inhabitants peaceably towards him.He then marched
round a large morass, and visited several townships,everywhere meeting with the kindest
reception from the inhabitants,who brought him quantities of fowls, and a species of geese
which theycatch among the swamps. Many of his men had by this time becomewearied of
marching up and down the country; and having got it into their heads that the officers
withheld from them some kinds of theprovisions which the inhabitants brought in, a part of
the troops rebelled, and plundered these townships for three days successively. On the
fourth day, the whole of the troops again marched forward, withsome Indian guides, and
arrived at a very broad river, which they had no other means of crossing but by canoes
which were furnished them by the friendly townships just mentioned. The horses were
obliged toswim across, each rider in a canoe leading his horse by the bridle;but as there
were a considerable number of horses, it was a very tedious business, and five were
unfortunately drowned. At length the wholeof the troops had passed across, but they had to
encounter anotherformidable morass, through which they found their way after undergoing
many fatigues, and so reached the province of Panuco. Here Garayexpected to have found
provisions in abundance; but the whole of the townships had scarcely any food left for
themselves, while the inhabitants were still in a very excited state, owing to the recent
incursion which Cortes had made into this neighbourhood; and wherever there were any
provisions left, the Indians took care to hide them as soon asthey received information of
the approach of so large a body of troopsand horses; indeed they even totally deserted their
towns, so that in thevery place where Garay had thought to rest and refresh his troops, he
only encountered greater difficulties and fatigues. In the deserted houses his men found
nothing but mice, moschitoes, and lice, which made an unmerciful attack upon the new
comers. To all this miserywas added, that the fleet, which should have sailed close into the
shore,and on board of which there was abundance of food, had not arrivedin the harbour,
nor had any tidings of it been received. The informationwith respect to the non-arrival of
the vessels was given them by aSpaniard, who, on account of some misdemeanour or other,
had beenobliged to quit the town of Santisteban del Puerto. This man likewiseinformed
Garay's men that there was a town not far off, and alsothat the Mexican territory was not
very distant, which, he added, wasamazingly fertile, and inhabited by wealthy personages.
This accountgreatly excited the men, so that they began to stroll about the countryin small
bodies, plundered every place they came to, and took the roadleading to Mexico.
Garay, who was well acquainted with the turbulent spirit of his troops, and fearing he
should not be able to keep them much longertogether, despatched Diego de Ocampo, one of
his chief officers, witha letter to Pedro Vallejo, who was at that time Cortes' commandant of
Santisteban, to learn which way he was inclined. In this letter Garayinformed Vallejo that
he had been appointed by his majesty governorof these provinces; that he had disembarked
his troops in the riverPalmas; and that at last, after undergoing excessive fatigues, he had
reached the land of his destination.
Vallejo gave Ocampo and those who accompanied him a very honorable reception,
answered in the most polite terms, and assured himCortes would be delighted to have for
neighbour so distinguished agovernor; but he told him that he had expended a large sum of
money in subjecting this province, of which he also had been appointed governor by his
majesty. Garay, however, was at liberty, continued Vallejo, tomarch his troops into the town
of Santisteban whenever he thoughtproper, and he would render him every service in his
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