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…
After the lapse of four days, during which time our general and hismen had rested from
their fatigues, the chiefs of several townships inthe northern districts of the country arrived
in Tezcuco, with a presentof gold and cotton stuffs, and desired to be admitted as vassals of
ouremperor. These townships were Tucapan, Maxcaltzinco, Naultzan, andmany others of
less note.
When the chiefs of these townships were brought into Cortes' presencethey paid him the
profoundest veneration, and handed over thepresents to him; then informed him that they
were desirous of beingon terms of friendship with us, and of becoming subjects of the king
ofSpain. They likewise said, that these townships had assisted theSpaniards in the battle of
Almeria, where the Mexican commanderQuauhpopoca, on whom we had taken so direful a
revenge, had putseveral teules to death.
Cortes, who had always thought to the contrary, was highly delightedon hearing this; he
showed these ambassadors every kindness, and graciously accepted of their present. No
inquiries were made as towhat the conduct of these townships had latterly been; but Cortes,
without any hesitation, acknowledged them vassals of our emperor, and then dismissed
them with flattering assurances of his friendship.
About this time messengers also arrived from other townships whichwere in alliance with
us, to beg our general's assistance against theMexicans, who had fallen hostilely into their
country with a large body of troops, and had carried off numbers of them prisoners, and
scalped many others. Similar bad tidings were likewise received from Chalco and
Tlalmanalco, the inhabitants of which towns stated that their destructionwas inevitable if
they did not receive immediate assistance, asthe enemy was rapidly advancing against them
in great numbers. They, however, did not merely give a verbal description of the danger
theywere in, but likewise brought forth a large piece of nequen cloth, onwhich they had
depicted the different squadrons of the enemy's troopswhich were marching against them.
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Cortes was greatly perplexed to know what he should do, and scarcelyknew what answer to
give, nor how he should be able to send assistanceto both places at once; many of our men
were wounded, andalmost worn out with fatigue; four had died of their wounds, and eight
others of pleurisy, and of bleeding profusely from the nose and mouth,occasioned by the
weight of our arms, which we durst never lay aside, and by the forced marches and the
quantity of dust which got downour throats.
Our general, however, informed the ambassadors of the first-mentionedtownships that he
would soon repair to their assistance; but desired them in the meantime to apply to their
neighbours for help, andwith their united forces to oppose the advancing foe. It was their
timidity, he said, which inspired the Mexicans with courage; for thelatter had not so many
troops at their command as formerly, from thevast increase of their opponents on all sides.
By these representations Cortes succeeded in allaying their fearsand arousing their courage,
but they requested some authority fromhim in writing to show to their neighbours, in which
he should commandthem to repair to their assistance.
To explain their motive for desiring this, I must remark, thatthough the Indians at that time
could neither read nor understand ourwriting, yet they looked upon any written document
as signifying a more particular and peremptory command. They were therefore highly
delighted when Cortes gave them the required letter, and they showed it to their friends,
who then instantly marched out their troopsto join them, and with their united forces they
now boldly advanced against the Mexicans, and fought with pretty good success in the
battle which followed.
We must now return to Chalco, respecting the safety of which Cortes was particularly
solicitous; for it was of the greatest importance to him that this province should be kept
clear of the enemy. Our lineof communication with Vera Cruz and Tlascalla ran through
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