Aguilar
Informed The General That He Had Been Once Sent To This Place With Some
Goods, The Place Where He Resided Being Only About Four Leagues Distant,
And That The Residence Of Guerrero Was Not Far Off.
He added that this
country produced a small quantity of gold, and that he was willing to
serve as
A guide if our general thought proper to send a party on shore.
But Cortes said that his object was not in search of trifles, but to serve
God and the king in an effectual manner. Our general here ordered Escobar
to examine the Boca de Terminos, and, as the fleet was at this time
separated, to leave beacons or directions on the coast for the direction
of the other ships, or to cruize off that inlet till the missing ships
should arrive; for he was led to believe this a favourable place for the
settlement of a colony, from the description of the harbour, and the
abundance of game which was reported to be in its neighbourhood. On
Escobar landing at this place, he found the greyhound left by Grijalva on
the shore, which was accordingly taken on board; but when the rest of the
fleet arrived, as Escobars ship had been forced out to sea by a strong
gale from the south, she was not to be found. We found, however, a letter
on shore, in which Escobar gave a minute account of the state of this
harbour, representing the country in a favourable point of view; and we
had the good fortune to rejoin his ship next day. We were now off the
point of Pontonchan, the natives of which place Cortes and many of us
were much inclined to punish for their conduct in the two former
expeditions. But this was strongly objected to by the pilots, because the
coast was extremely shallow, insomuch that our vessels could not come
nearer the land than two leagues, on which account we continued our voyage
to the river of Grijalva, or Tabasco[6], where we arrived on the 13th of
March 1519. Being aware that the mouth of this river was too shallow for
ships of large burthen, those of light draught were selected, in which,
and the boats, our troops proceeded towards the shore, and were landed at
Point Palmares, about half a league from the Indian town of Tabasco.
The sides of this river were covered with mangrove trees, among which were
many canoes filled with armed Indians, above 12,000 warriors being
assembled in the town of Tabasco, which at that time enjoyed an extensive
dominion over the neighbouring country. We who had been formerly received
at this place in a friendly manner, were astonished at the present
appearance of hostilities; but we learned afterwards, that the
neighbouring nations of Pontonchan and Lazarus, as we called it, had
reproached the timidity of the Tabascans for receiving us amicably,
instead of falling upon us as they had done, and they had resolved,
therefore, to take the present opportunity of regaining their character.
On perceiving these demonstrations of hostility, Cortes desired Aguilar to
inquire the reason from some native chiefs who were passing near us in a
canoe, and to inform them that they would have sore cause to repent any
hostilities they might attempt against us. In reply, they threatened to
put us all to death if we dared to come near their town, which was
fortified with parapets and palisades. Aguilar then desired an interview
between their chiefs and our general, saying that he had matters of high
importance, and of a holy nature to inform them of, and requested
permission to supply our fleet with wood and water: But they only repeated
their former threats. Seeing no other alternative but retreat or war,
Cortes ordered three guns to be placed in each vessel, and divided the
musketeers and cross-bows among them. We who had been here before
recollected a narrow path which led from the point of Palmares, through
some marshes and across several brooks to the town of Tabasco, of which we
informed Cortes; who accordingly detached early next morning 100 soldiers
under Alonzo de Avila, with orders to march into the rear of the town by
that path; and, as soon as he heard the discharge of artillery, he was to
attack the town on that side, while the main body did the same on the
other side. Cortes then proceeded up the river with the vessels, intending
to disembark as near as possible to the town; and as soon as the enemy saw
us approaching, they sallied out in their canoes from among the mangroves,
and a vast multitude collected against us at the place where we meant to
land, making a prodigious noise of trumpets, horns, and drums. Before
commencing the attack, Cortes ordered Diego de Godoy, a royal notary, to
make a formal demand of liberty to supply ourselves with wood and water,
and to listen to what we had to communicate in the service of GOD and our
king, protesting that in case of violence, they should be held responsible
for all the mischief that might follow. But, after all this was explained
to them, they remained inflexibly determined to oppose us. They made the
signal with their drums to commence a general attack, and immediately
assailed us with a flight of arrows. They then closed round us in their
canoes, fighting with lances and bows and arrows, and we had great
difficulty to force our way to the shore, fighting up to our middles in
the water, and struggling to extricate ourselves from deep mud, in which
Cortes lost one of his buskins, and had to land barefooted. As soon as we
got on dry ground, Cortes placed himself at our head, calling out St
Jago, and we fell upon the enemy with great violence, whom we forced to
retreat within some circular entrenchments which they had constructed of
large timber.
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