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…
As this district was very thickly populated, and there was anothertownship not very far off,
we determined to march thither; but the inhabitants, on our approach, fled precipitately.
Here we halted for ashort time to dress Rangel's wounds and those of three other soldiers.
The next township we came to was likewise deserted by its inhabitants; but in this
neighbourhood the enemy had thrown up a very formidableentrenchment, with a palisade
of uncommon strength, suppliedwith loop-holes. Here we had scarcely rested a quarter of
an hourwhen the enemy came suddenly pouring forth into the town from allsides, and fell
upon us with so much intrepidity that they killed one ofour men and two horses, and it was
with the utmost difficulty we couldsucceed in driving them back again.
Our friend Rangel suffered greatly from the wounds he had receivedon his head; besides
which he was tormented by the moschitoes anda large species of bat which bite people and
suck their blood, so that he could get no rest day or night; and as it rained without
intermission, he, with several of the men who had recently arrived from Spain, grew
heartily sick of this mode of warfare; these soldiers broughtforcibly to his mind the bad
state of his health, the little advantagewe had gained by the three several battles we had
fought with the enemy, and how we had lost eleven horses and two men, besides that
numbers were wounded, and that it would be impossible to accomplishanything more in a
country so full of swamps and morasses. All thisRangel listened to with secret delight, for
to turn back was the verything he so ardently desired himself; however, in order to save
appearances, and that it might seem as if his determination of marching back to
Guacasualco was upon the advice and at the request of thetroops themselves, he called a
council of war, for which he selectedthose only whom he well knew would be of the same
opinion withhimself. I, with twenty of the men, just at that moment returnedfrom a short
excursion to some cacao plantations in the neighbourhoodto try if we could not capture a
few of the natives, and we had the good luck to bring in three females and two men
prisoners. When I arrived in Rangel's quarters, he took me aside; he spoke a good deal
about the terrible wounds on his head, and assured me that the greaterpart of the troops had
advised him to relinquish the expedition andreturn to Cortes in Mexico.
[Pg 217]
I declared myself against this step without any hesitation; and, aswe had known each other
for four years, even before we left Cuba, I said boldly to him, "How, Señor; you have
advanced up to Cimatan,and now wish to return? What will Cortes think of this, and what
willyour enemies say? How they will always throw in your teeth that youwere neither able
to gain any advantage over the Zapotecs nor to subdue the inhabitants of this province,
although you had among your troopssome of the most experienced of the Conquistadores,
of those whosettled in Guacasualco! Here not your honour alone is at stake butours also;
wherefore I, with a number of my companions, have determined further to explore these
swamps and mountains, and to force ourway into Cimatan, the principal township of the
province. My horseyou may give to some other soldier who is expert in handling the lance,
it is of no use to me in this country, for, on account of the bad state of the ground, the
cavalry are always obliged to remain behind the restof the troops."
As Rangel was a great talker, and a man who soon fell into a passion,he jumped up from
his seat, immediately ordered all the troops toassemble around him, and cried out to them,
"The die is cast! by heavens! (for he could scarcely say two words together without
swearing.)We must march forward! I am now convinced of the policyof so doing, since
Bernal Diaz del Castillo has explained to me whatour duty is. He is perfectly right in what
he says."
[Pg 218]
Many of the men were certainly anything but pleased with this second determination of
Rangel; on the other hand, however, several were delighted,and thus we marched forward
again. I, at the head of themusketeers and crossbow-men, marched in advance with every
militaryprecaution, the cavalry following at some distance. The first town wecame to was
quite deserted by the inhabitants; we therefore continued ourmarch towards Cimatan itself.
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