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…
When we saw what terrific bodies of the enemy attacked us from all sides, and the
astonishing bravery with which they fought, we began to consider ourselves in a very
critical position, and we begged offather Juan to commend us in prayer to the protection of
the Almighty.We then once more fell vigorously upon the enemy and put them toflight.
Numbers concealed themselves in the fissures of the rocks,others threw themselves into the
river and sought to escape by swimming, of which art these Indians are likewise perfect
masters. Wenow halted for a short time while father Juan sang a salve, in whichthose who
had a good voice joined in chorus. This melody was indeed pleasing to the ear, and we
thanked the Almighty the more ferventlyfor this victory, when we considered our great loss
in killed andwounded. We then marched to a small township at no great distancefrom the
town, near the river side. Here the cherry-trees were hangingfull of ripe fruit, for it was
then lent, which is the season whencherries come to perfection in this country, and they
were of a mostdelicious flavour; we spent the whole day here in order to bury ourdead in
places where they would not easily be discovered by the inhabitants. Several of our men
were wounded, and ten of the horses very severely so; we therefore resolved to pass the
night in thistownship.
The hour of midnight was already past, when ten distinguishedIndians arrived in our camp
from the townships in the neighbourhoodof Chiapa. They had crossed the deep and broad
river with fivecanoes in the utmost silence, in order to elude the vigilance of theChiapanec
troops, and as they came creeping along the bank in a verysuspicious manner they were
seized by our outposts and brought in prisoners, which was the very thing they desired.
When brought intothe presence of our captain they addressed him as follows: "We arenot,
sir, Chiapanecs, but natives of the province of Xaltepec. The base Chiapanecs once
commenced a destructive war with us and putgreat numbers of our countrymen to death,
and after plundering us of all we possessed they carried off the greater part of the
inhabitantswith our wives into slavery, to till their grounds. It is now twelveyears that we
have toiled for them in base servitude. We are compelledto labour in the plantations of our
oppressors, are obliged tofish for them and to do all manner of hard work; but this is not
all, for whenever it suits them they forcibly carry off our wives and daughters. We now
come to offer you a sufficient number of canoesto pass the river, which we will despatch
hither this very night. We will also point out to you the safest ford, for we assure you,
withoutour assistance, you will have great difficulty and run great risk incrossing over. In
reward for this good office, we beg of you when you shall have vanquished these
Chiapanecs, to rescue us out of theirpower and allow us to return to our homes. And in
order that you may place perfect reliance in what we have stated, we have brought as a
present for you three ornaments of gold in the shape of diadems,which we have left behind
in the canoes, besides some fowls andcherries."
[Pg 184]
They then begged permission of our captain to return to their canoes,in order to fetch these
presents, telling him what great precaution they were obliged to use not to fall into the
hands of the enemy, who hadposted watches everywhere along the river.
Our captain joyfully accepted of their kind offer, and not only promisedto grant them their
wish of returning to their own country, but to give them a share of the booty we should
make in Chiapa. On further questioning them respecting the last battle, they informed us
thatthe enemy had above 120 dead and wounded, but they were determinedto attack us the
next day again with their united forces; besides that, they would bring into the field the
inhabitants of the townships whichthey, the ambassadors, now represented, but assured our
captain theyhad secretly agreed among themselves to run over to him as soon as theaction
commenced. The enemy intended, they further said, to fall uponus while we were crossing
the river, should we make this dangerousattempt.
Two of these Indians remained with us, while the others returned to their townships, in
order to make the necessary arrangements fordespatching twenty canoes to us by break of
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