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 they approached the dwelling of the factor, they found himquite on his guard, for he
had been secretly informed by the accountantAlbornoz of what was going to happen. The
park of artillery, under the command of Don Luis de Guzman, a nephew of the duke of
MedinaSidonia, was ready loaded, and the factor's body-guard, commanded bythe captain
Artiaga, Gines Nortes, and Pedro Gonsalez, stood ready drawn out to defend any attack
upon the palace. But Jorge de Alvaradoand the confederates were not to be daunted by this,
and forced theirway into the palace, from different sides, some even clambered to thetop of
the roof and forced an entrance that way. The cannons werecertainly fired off against them,
but the captain of the artillery, Guzman, fired in one direction and the artillerymen in
another; Artiaga, captain of the guards, concealed himself, and Gines Nortes took to his
heels.At last the factor had no one about his person but Pedro Sabiote, and four of his
servants. Finding his men had thus deserted him, he seized a match in order to fire the
cannon himself; but the confederatesrushed so suddenly upon him that he was obliged to
surrender himselfprisoner. For the moment a strong guard was put over him, until acage
was constructed of heavy beams, in which he was then securelyfastened.
Thus ended the power of this man, and couriers were despatched inall haste to every town
in New Spain, to spread the news. This changewas hailed by some, but others again, on
whom the factor had bestowed commendaries, seemed anything but pleased; and when
intelligenceof the factor's overthrow reached the camps at Coatlan andOaxaca, the veedor
was so excessively alarmed at the bad news thathe fell ill, conferred the chief command of
the troops on Monjaraz,who was suffering dreadfully from disease of the groins, and he
actuallysought refuge in the Franciscan cloister at Tezcuco. By this time,however, the new
governors had despatched a number of Alguacils in search of him; when, therefore, they
learnt whither he had flown, they entered the cloister without any ceremony, and carried
him off prisoner to Mexico, where he was locked up in a similar cage to that which the
factor inhabited.
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Upon this, couriers were sent to Guatimala, to inform Alvarado ofthe fall of the factor and
veedor. As the province he was then staying in was not very distant from Truxillo, the
confederates also conveyedto him their letters to Cortes, containing an account as to how
thewhole affair had been managed, and that it was necessary for him torepair to Mexico in
all haste. With these letters Alvarado was requestedto set off in person for Truxillo, and
when there he was to urge Cortesto leave without any further delay. The first thing which
Estradadid was to restore Juana de Mansilla to honour, whom, it will beremembered, the
factor had whipped for a witch through the streets of Mexico. The following was the
method which Estrada adopted to honour this injured woman; the whole of the cavaliers
were ordered tomount their horses, he himself placing Juana Mansilla on his saddlebehind
him, and in this way, at the head of the cavalcade, he paradedevery street of the city. "This
woman," he said, "had behaved likethe Roman matrons of old, wherefore the insult which
had been offered to her person by the factor, should now be made to exalt her in the
estimation of all honest men." And, indeed, she could not betoo highly honoured for the
praiseworthy conduct she had pursued,and ever after she was addressed as Doña Juana de
Mansilla. Thefactor could not induce her to form a second marriage, and, notwithstanding
all his persecution, she had steadfastly maintained that herhusband and all of us were still
alive.
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CHAPTER CLXXXIX.
How the treasurer, with several other cavaliers, requested the Franciscan
monks to despatch father Diego de Altamirano, a relation of Cortes, to
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