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…
CHAPTER CXLVII.
How Cortes issues orders to the inhabitants of all the townships in the
neighbourhood of Tezcuco which were allied with us, to furnish us with
arrows and copper points for the same, and what further took place at our
head-quarters.
Our brigantines were now so far advanced towards completion, thatthey had merely to be
rigged. For each brigantine a number of spare oars had been made in case of need. The
canal in which these vessels were to be launched, and through which they were to be
conveyedinto the lake, was now also sufficiently deep and wide to swimthese vessels. [20]
Cortes now, therefore, began to make active preparationsfor the siege of Mexico. He issued
orders to all the townships whichlay in the vicinity of Tezcuco, and were in alliance with
us, for eachof them to furnish him with 8000 copper points for our arrows, to bemade after
the model of our Spanish ones, of which some were sentthem for that purpose. They were
also to furnish an equal numberof arrows, which were to be made from a wood particularly
adaptedfor that use, and they received some of our Spanish arrows to workby. He allowed
them eight days for the making and delivery ofthese; and indeed both the arrows and the
copper points arrived atTezcuco in the time specified. Our stock of these now consisted of
50,000 pieces, and the arrow points made by these people were evenbetter than those we
brought from Spain.
[Pg 56]
Cortes then ordered Pedro Barba, who commanded the crossbow-mento divide the arrows
and copper points among his men, and see that every man fixed the points neatly to the
arrows, and attached thefeathers with strong glue. Every crossbow-man was also to furnish
himself with two closely twisted cords for his bow; further to provide himself with a
number of spare nuts for the bows, that if one shouldcrack or fly off he might have another
in readiness. The crossbow-menwere also to exercise themselves in shooting at heaps of
earth toascertain the strength of their bows. Care was therefore taken thatthey should not
want for Valencian strings to twist the cords of,for the vessel of Juan Burgos, which had
recently arrived fromSpain, had fortunately brought a good supply of these as well asof
bows, powder, muskets and other arms, besides a quantity of horseshoes.In the same way
our cavalry were ordered to equip themselves,have their horses fresh shod, and to exercise
them daily in all mannerof cavalry evolutions.
Cortes then sent word to the elder Xicotencatl, his two sons, and to Chichimeclatecl,
informing them that we should leave Tezcuco after thefeast of Corpus Christi, and begin
the siege of Mexico. He thereforerequested them to send him 20,000 warriors from their
country, fromHuexotzinco, and from Cholulla, who were now all in friendly alliancewith
each other. But it was unnecessary to inform the Tlascallans ofour intentions, for they were
always duly apprized beforehand bythose of their countrymen who accompanied us in our
expeditions and returned home with the booty they had made. The inhabitants of
Tlalmanalco and Chalco were also requested to hold themselves inreadiness to march out at
a moment's notice. These and all our other allies were informed of the day when we
proposed to commence operations against Mexico. From all sides we received the most
friendlyassurances of assistance, and that Cortes' orders would be punctuallyobeyed.
[Pg 57]
CHAPTER CXLVIII.
How Cortes reviews the whole of his troops at Tezcuco; and of his further
dispositions for conducting the siege of Mexico.
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