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…
unjustly beheaded, after giving him his daughter in marriage. This Moreno hinted to
Hernandez, that it would not amount to treachery if he strove to gain for himself the
governmentof the countries he should subdue, which would be the more easilyobtained,
since Pedro Arias had acted so wickedly against Balboa, whohad had the best claim to be
appointed adelantado of these countries,and indeed the first of the two who memorialised
his majesty to thateffect. Francisco Hernandez lent a willing ear to this advice, andbegan
by despatching his chief officer Pedro de Garro to the northernprovinces, in search of some
harbour where he might found a colony, and send his majesty thence an account of the
countries he hadsubdued and colonized; and he doubted not but that his endeavourswould
be crowned with success, since the provinces of which he shouldpetition to be the governor
lay so far distant from Terra Firma.
Respecting these matters, Sandoval and Garro had several secret conferences with each
other, which terminated in the former writing onthe subject to Cortes, at Truxillo, to induce
him to confer on Hernandezthe government of Nicaragua. For this purpose he despatched
five ofour men, and an equal number of Garro's troops, along the coast, toTruxillo, in order
to convey his letters to Cortes. These men took with them twenty of Garro's Indians, in
order to assist them in crossing therivers. Their march, however, was attended with very
little success, for they could neither pass the river Pichin nor the river Balama, both of
which were greatly swollen, so that they returned to Naco, after a fortnight's absence.
Sandoval was excessively annoyed at this circumstance,and spoke in very severe terms to
the person who had the commandof this small detachment. He then ordered captain Luis
Marin,with ten of us, and five of Garro's men, immediately to set out forTruxillo, and to
march thither in a direct line through the country. Iwas likewise desired to accompany Luis
Marin, and we all set out onfoot. We passed through a number of hostile townships, though,
if I were to relate all the battles we fought with the natives; the difficulties we had to
encounter on this journey; the rivers and estuaries wehad to cross, sometimes by means of
swimming, sometimes in canoes; the hunger we sustained for several days, I should not
finish so easily.There were days in which we crossed, either in canoes or by swimming,
three rapid streams. On approaching nearer to the coast, we had to pass arms of the sea
which abounded with alligators, and when we arrivedat the river Xaqua, which lay forty
miles from Triunfo de laCruz, it took us two whole days before we reached the opposite
shore, in canoes. Here we saw the remains of seven horses which had belonged to Oli's
troops. At length we arrived in Triunfo de la Cruz,where we found nothing but the wood of
some vessels which had been wrecked. We then marched on for another four days, and
cameto the township of Guemara, where the inhabitants rose up in armsagainst us. These
Indians were armed with long heavy lances,which they use in the same way we do ours,
covering their bodiesat the same time with a shield, which is fastened to the left arm. They
came out against us in a large body, and we were obliged to fightfoot to foot with them;
though, after a short conflict, we cut our waythrough their crowded ranks, with only two of
our men wounded. Their reason for attacking us was, because they thought we did not
belong to Cortes' troops, but to a body of adventurers, who had on a former occasion
committed depredations among them.
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Two days' further march brought us into the neighbourhood ofTruxillo. It was about the
hour of vespers, and we speedily came insight of five persons, who were strolling along the
shore on horseback,one of whom was our general himself, who soon recognized us at a
distance, gave spur to his horse, and galloped up to us. He instantlydismounted, embraced
us, with the tears flowing from hiseyes, and cried out: "O, my companions and brothers,
how I havelonged to see you, and to receive some intelligence of you!"
Cortes looked exceedingly ill, and we felt sorely grieved to see him thus. He had been
suffering from a violent fever, which had nearlyproved fatal to him, and he felt the more
downcast, as he had not receivedany intelligence whatsoever as to how matters stood in
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