After Having Read It, However, I Found
It Full Of Misrepresentations Of The Events, Having Exaggerated The Number
Of Natives Which We Killed In The Different Battles, In A Manner So
Extraordinary As To Be Altogether Unworthy Of Credit.
Our force seldom
much exceeded four hundred men, and even if we had found the multitudes he
speaks of bound hand and foot, we had not been able to put so many to
death.
In fact we were often greatly at a loss to protect ourselves, and
were daily reduced to pray to God for deliverance from the many perils
which environed us on every side. Alaric and Atilla, those great
conquerors, did not slay such numbers of their enemies as Gomara pretends
we did in New Spain. He alleges that we burned many cities and temples,
forgetting that any of us, the true conquerors, were still alive to
contradict his assertions. He often magnifies the merit of one officer at
the expence of another, and even speaks of the exploits of some captains
who were not engaged in the expedition. He pretends that Cortes gave
secret orders for the destruction of our ships; whereas this was done by
the common consent of us all, that we might add the seamen to our small
military force. He most unjustly depreciates the character of Juan de
Grijalva, who was a very valiant commander. He omits the discovery of
Yucutan by Hernandez de Cordova. He erroneously supposes Garay to have
been actually in the expedition which he fitted out.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 682 of 789
Words from 189814 to 190069
of 219607
