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…
well chosen, and his manner of arguing was remarkablyconvincing. When he rose in the
morning he prayed from his breviary,and he attended mass every day with fervent devotion.
For histutelar saint he had chosen the blessed Virgin Mary, whom, indeed,every faithful
Christian ought to look up to as his protectress and holyguardian. He also held in particular
veneration St. Peter, St. Jacob,and St. John the Baptist, and was liberal in bestowing alms.
His oathwas, Upon my conscience! And whenever he was annoyed with anyof us soldiers
who were upon more intimate terms with him, he usedto say, May the plague take you!
When he was in a passion, a vein in his forehead and neck distended considerably; and
when excessivelyannoyed with any one, he flung down his cloak: yet he never madeuse of
any low or unbecoming expression to his officers or soldiers.He bore everything with great
patience, and though sometimes thesoldiers were very inconsiderate in their behaviour, yet
Cortes neverforgot himself in wrathful expressions towards them, and all he saidwas, Hold
your tongue! or, In the name of God, be gone, and for thefuture be more guarded in your
language, for you might have to paydearly in repeating such conduct. If he had once made
up his mindto anything, he was not to be dissuaded from it, particularly in mattersrelating
to war; and we might argue with him as we liked on the inconsideratenessof any command
he might issue, it was all to no purpose,—wewere obliged to act up to it, whatever the cost
might be.This was frequently the case on our expeditions to the large townshipswhich lay
on the lake of Mexico, and in our attacks upon those mountainswhich are now known by
the name of the Marquis mountains.On the latter occasion it was in vain for us to represent
to him that itwould be impossible to storm the rocky heights against the huge massesof
stone which were rolled down upon us; that all our courage andexperience would be of no
avail, and that we should all run the riskof being crushed to pieces. Our words were spoken
to the wind; wewere ordered to ascend and peril our lives in the attempt to scale therugged
heights. The consequence was, a complete failure; ten or twelve men were killed on the
spot, and the whole of us covered withwounds. On our expedition to the Honduras, after
Christobal de Olihad rebelled, I repeatedly proposed to him that we should march overthe
mountains; but he obstinately maintained that the route along thecoast was preferable, nor
would he ever believe when I told him thatthe country through which I proposed to march
was everywhere inhabited:yet those who are at all acquainted with these parts know that
there is a straight road leading from Guacasualco over Chiapa and Guatimala to Naco,
where Oli had fixed his head-quarters. But thenI must also say that Cortes was always the
first to put his hand to anylaborious work we had to do. This he fully showed when we
constructedthe fortifications of Vera Cruz, for he himself was the firstto take spade in hand
and dig out the earth for laying the foundations.In every battle that was fought I always
found him in the midst of the ranks. As early as in the battle of Tabasco, where he
courageously headed the cavalry, he showed what kind of officer he was; the excellent
example which he set during the construction of the fortress of Vera Cruz I have just
mentioned. Then we must remember what greatdetermination he showed when his brave
officers and soldiers counselledhim to run the thirteen vessels on shore; and not, as Gomara
wouldhave it, without consulting us. In the three battles which we foughtwith the warriors
of Tlascalla he proved himself the most courageousof commanders. And then how daring it
was to march into the city of Mexico with only 400 men, and to seize a monarch like
Motecusuma in his own palace, surrounded by so many thousands of his warriors! It is
certainly true he had good officers and soldiers to counsel him, yetit was an astonishingly
bold step on his part when he ordered Motecusuma's generals, who had killed Juan de
Escalante with seven of hismen, to be burned at the stake in front of the monarch's own
palace.And then what a remarkably bold and hazardous undertaking it wasfirst of all to
lead Narvaez and his 1300 well-armed troops by the nosewith a few small presents, and
afterwards, with only 266 men, merelyarmed with pikes and swords, to attack, completely
overthrow them,and take the commander himself prisoner! He displayed wonderfulfeats of
courage in our attack upon the great temple of Huitzilopochtli,before our disastrous flight
from the city, though certainly neither hiscourage nor ours, as it unfortunately turned out,
was of any avail.Shortly upon this, at the memorable battle of Otumpan, where theflower
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