All The Proceedings Of Our
Agents In Spain Were Regularly Conveyed To Us The Conquerors; But It
Seemed To Me That They Agented Solely For Cortes And Themselves, As We Who
Had Raised Cortes To His Greatness, Were Continually Encountering Dangers
And Hardships, Without Any Reward.
May God protect us, and inspire our
great emperor to cause his just intentions towards us to be carried into
effect.
To us, the ancient, wise, and brave conquerors of Mexico, it
appeared that Cortes ought to have duly considered his true friends, who
had supported him from the first through all his difficulties and dangers,
and ought to have rewarded us according to our respective merits, and his
majesties orders, by giving us good and profitable situations, instead of
leaving us poor and miserable. By his majesties orders, and by his duty,
Cortes was bound to have given to us and our children all the good offices
in the kingdom of New Spain; but be thought only of himself and his
favourites. In our opinion, who were the conquerors, the whole country
ought to have been divided into five equal parts, allotting one to the
crown, another for the holy church, and the remaining three parts to
Cortes and the rest of us, who were the true original conquerors, giving
each a share in perpetuity in proportion to our rank and merits,
considering that we had not only served his majesty in gratuity, but
without his knowledge, and, almost against his will. This arrangement
would have placed us at our ease; instead of which, many of us are
wandering about, almost without a morsel to eat, and God only knows what
may become of our children.
To the veedor Pedro Alonzo Chirinos, Gonzalo Salazar the factor, Rodrigo
Albornos the contador, and many others who came now from Spain, and to the
dependents of great men, who flattered him and told him fine tales, Cortes
refused nothing; but he treated us the true conquerors like vassals,
forgetting us entirely in the distribution of property, yet never failing
to call upon us when he wanted our assistance, as if we had been fit only
for expeditions and battles. I do not blame him for being generous, as
there was enough for all; but he ought in the first place to have
considered those who had served his majesty in the conquest of this noble
kingdom, and to whose blood and valour he was indebted for his own
elevation. Long afterwards, when Luis Ponce de Leon came out to supersede
Cortes, we the veteran conquerors represented to our general that he ought
to give us that property which he had been ordered by his majesty to
resign. He expressed his sorrow for having so long neglected us, and
promised even with an oath, that he would provide for us all, if he
returned to his government, thinking to satisfy us with smooth words and
empty promises.
[1] This probably alludes to _lawyers_, as on a former occasion, Diaz
mentions a request from the Spaniards that none of that fraternity
might be sent over to New Spain, probably to avoid the introduction of
litigious law suits. - E.
SECTION XIX.
_Of an Expedition against the Zapotecas, and various other Occurrences_.
Intelligence was brought to Mexico that the Zapotecas were in rebellion,
on which Rodrigo Rangel, whom I have several times mentioned already,
solicited Cortes to be appointed to the command of an expedition for their
reduction, that he too might have an opportunity of acquiring fame,
proposing likewise to take Pedro de Ircio along with him as his lieutenant
and adviser. Cortes knew well that Rangel was very unfit for any service
of danger or difficulty, being a miserably diseased object, the effect of
his sins, and put him off therefore by various excuses; but as he was a
very slanderous fellow, whom he wished to get rid of, he at length agreed
to his proposal, and at the same time wrote for ten or twelve veterans,
then residing in Coatzacualco, of whom I was one, desiring us to accompany
Rangel on this expedition. The country of the Zapotecas is composed of
high and rugged mountains, always enveloped in clouds and mists, with such
narrow and bad roads as to be unfit for cavalry, so steep that they must
be climbed up like ladders, each successive soldier of the file having his
head at the heels of the man immediately before him. The natives of these
mountains are light and active, and have a way of whistling and shouting,
so as to make the hills resound again, insomuch that it is hardly possible
to know on which side they are coming to attack. Against such enemies in
so strong a country, and with such a leader, it was impossible for us to
effect any thing. We advanced, however, under heavy rain, to a scattered
village, part of the houses being situated on a rocky ridge, and the rest
in a valley, and well it was for us that the Indians made no stand, as
poor Rangel whined and moaned the whole way, complaining of pains in his
limbs, and the severity of the weather. It was at last agreed, as he grew
every day worse and worse, that we could be of no use here, and were
exposing ourselves needlessly to danger, to abandon this fruitless
expedition, and return to our homes. Pedro de Ircio was among the first
who advised this, and soon set the example, by retiring to his own town of
Villa Rica; but Rangel chose rather to go along with us to Coatzacualco,
to our great dissatisfaction, as he expected benefit from that warm
climate to relieve him of his pains.
We were hardly returned to Coatzacualco, when Rangel took it into his head
to go upon an expedition against the Indians of Cimatan and Tatupan, who
continued in rebellion, confiding in the impracticability of their country,
among large rivers and trembling marshes; being also very formidable
warriors, who used very long bows of great strength.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 102 of 216
Words from 103563 to 104574
of 221091
