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…
Alvarado, who did not for an instant imagine they had any treacherousdesigns, received the
caziques very kindly, granted them the peace they sued for, and accepted of their polite
invitation. The next morningearly he drew out all his troops, and marched to Utatlan; but as
soonas the Spaniards arrived in this town they were struck with the warlikeaspect which
everything wore. There were only two gates by whichthe town could be entered, one of
which was approached by a flight oftwenty-five steps, and the other by a causeway, which
was intersected in several places. There was also a large building, which was strongly
fortified; the houses of the town stood very close together, and thestreets were uncommonly
narrow. There was neither a woman nor achild to be seen anywhere, for these had all been
concealed in the hollowsadjoining the town, and it was very late before the troops could
obtain any provisions, which even then were bad. The caziques had likewise assumed a
different tone to that of the previous day, and Alvaradowas secretly informed by some of
the inhabitants of Quetzaltenancothat the caziques of Utatlan intended to fall suddenly on
his troops in the night, and massacre them all; for which purpose they had concealed a
number of their warriors in the adjoining hollows, who wereto rush forth from their hidingplace
the instant they observed thesmoke rising from the houses of the town which would
be set on fire, andto fall upon the Spaniards, who would be half suffocated by the smoke
and flames, while the inhabitants attacked them from another quarter.
The instant Alvarado was apprized of the imminent danger which threatened him, he
assembled the officers, with the whole of the men,and informed them of what he had heard,
adding, that their safetynow depended upon their leaving the town as quickly as possible,
and ingaining some level spot between the hollows, as it was then too late toreach the open
field. He then made the necessary arrangements for the troops to abandon the place, and
called upon the principal personagesof the town, as if he were quite unconscious of their
designs;but in the course of the conversation he remarked, as if by chance, thathis horses
were accustomed to go to grass for a certain time each day,for which reason he would be
obliged to quit the town again, wherealtogether the houses were too much crowded, and the
streets toonarrow for him. This came like a thunderclap upon the caziques, norcould they
hide their inward grief and vexation when they saw theSpaniards marching out again.
[Pg 169]
As soon as Alvarado was outside the town he threw off the mask,ordered the chief cazique
to be seized, and he was tried in due form bya court-martial, which sentenced him to be
burnt at the stake. Before this sentence was put into execution father Olmedo begged
permissionof Alvarado to make an attempt to convert this Indian to Christianity,for which
purpose he requested that his execution might be postponedfor one day; but of this one day
came a second day, at the end ofwhich it pleased the Lord Jesus to incline the cazique's
heart to Christianity, and he allowed himself to be baptized by the father, who then
prevailed upon Alvarado to commute his sentence into that of hanging. The son of this
unfortunate man was then raised to the caziquedom. But matters did not end here, for
Alvarado was nowattacked by the Indians, who lay concealed in the hollows, but he soon
put them to flight.
[Pg 170]
There was another large township in this province, called Guatimala, the inhabitants of
which had been duly apprized of all the battleswhich Alvarado had fought since his arrival
in the country, and howhe had each time come off victorious. They also knew that he was
staying at Utatlan, and that he made frequent incursions into the surroundingtownships, and
compelled them to submit to his arms. Asthe inhabitants of Guatimala were at enmity with
the Utatlans, theydespatched ambassadors to Alvarado with a present of gold, and declared
themselves vassals of our emperor; adding, that they were readyto assist the Spaniards in
carrying on the war in that province.Alvarado received these ambassadors in the kindest
manner possible,thanked them for their present, and he told them, in order to provewhether
they were in earnest in soliciting his friendship and in their offers of assistance, that he
would demand of them 2000 of their troopsto join his army. He was totally unacquainted,
he continued, withthe country, which was besides so full of hollows and narrow passes,that
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