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…
In order that we might not dispute his word, Rangel produced hisinstructions from Cortes,
in which he was also commanded to marchagainst the rebellious provinces of Cimatan and
Talatupan; he, therefore, in his capacity of commander-in-chief, summoned all the
inhabitants of Guacasualco to join him in the expedition, and we stood in such awe of
Cortes' mandates that we durst not offer the slightestopposition to Rangel's authority; and
above one hundred of us, withall our horses, about twenty-six musketeers and crossbowmen,
marched out with him. We passed through Tonala Ayagualulco, Copilco, Zacualco,
crossed several rivers in canoes; and then marched throughTeutitan and the townships of
Chontalpa, until within twenty miles of Cimatan. Thus far the whole country was in
profound peace; but alittle further on we found the whole armed force of the country drawn
up against us, strongly posted between the swamps and dangerouspasses, having fortified
their position by ramparts and a palisade, fromwhich they flew their arrows at us through
loop-holes. When we hadarrived near enough, the enemy showered their arrows so quickly
uponus, that six of our horses were killed and eight men wounded. Rangelhimself, who
was seated on horseback, received a slight wound in the arm. We, the veteran
Conquistadores, had often told him what bold,crafty, and expert warriors he would have to
encounter here, and nowhe began to believe so himself; and as he was a man who talked a
gooddeal, he said if he had followed our advice this would not have happenedto him; and,
for the future, he desired we would take upon ourselvesthe command of the troops during
this campaign.
After the wounds of our men and those of our horses had beendressed, Rangel desired me
to reconnoitre the enemy's position, andtake with me two of our most active musketeers,
and a remarkablyfierce dog which he possessed; he himself, as he had been advised,would
follow me at some distance behind with the cavalry and the restof our troops. When I, with
my two companions, approached near to Cimatan, we came up to other fortifications
equally as strong as theformer, from out of which we were greeted with a cloud of arrows
anddarts. The poor dog lay instantly dead at our feet, and I myselfshould have shared a
similar fate if my jacket had not been verythickly quilted with cotton, for I was wounded in
no less than sevenplaces by the enemy's arrows, one of which struck my leg; nor didmy
two companions fare better. I now called out to some of ourIndian troops, who were close
behind us, to hasten back and call thewhole of the foot to our assistance, but to desire the
cavalry not toadvance, as they would not be able to manœuvre here, and would onlyexpose
their horses to the enemy's unerring arrows.
[Pg 215]
With the musketeers, crossbow-men, and the remaining foot, we nowmarched forward in a
body to the attack, and very soon beat the enemy out of their entrenchments, who then
retreated precipitately to theswamps, where it was impossible to follow them without great
risk, forthe ground was of so spongy a nature that the moment we set foot onit we sank
down, and it was with great difficulty a person was got outagain.
[Pg 216]
By this time Rangel had come up with the horse, and we quarteredourselves in a number of
houses which stood together, and were quitedeserted by the inhabitants; here we remained
quiet for the remaining part of the day and dressed our wounds. The next morning we
marcheddirect for Cimatan itself, and our route lay through extensive openplains, in which
there were many dangerous bogs. In one of thesethe enemy lay in wait for us, and certainly
they had calculated well intaking up their position here, for they easily foresaw, when the
cavalry,in the heat of the battle, spread themselves in the open plain, theycould not fail to
get into the swampy ground, where they would be unable to move. We had many times
cautioned Rangel about this,but he refused to listen to our advice; and, indeed, he was the
first toget fixed in the bogs, where he lost his horse, and would himself undoubtedlyhave
been killed if several of us had not hastened to his assistance, for several Indians had
already laid hold of him to carryhim off and sacrifice him to their idols. He thus narrowly
escapedwith his life, though his head, which, besides, was covered with sores,had been
shockingly beat about by the enemy.
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