He
Is Said To Have Been Perfectly Acquainted With The State Of Affairs In New
Spain; And, On His Arrival
At Villa Rica, he immediately disembarked his
soldiers, and went to Segura de la Frontera by slow marches, where he
And
his men were received with the utmost kindness by Cortes, and every
possible care was bestowed for his and their recovery; but he and several
of his soldiers soon died. By reason of their swollen bodies and
discoloured countenances, we used to call these men _the green paunches_.
That I may not interrupt the thread of my narrative, I shall mention in
this place, that all the rest of this armament which was destined for
Panuco, arrived at our port of Villa Rica at different and irregular
periods, Garray continually sending us reinforcements, which he meant for
Panuco, as he believed his intended colony at that place was going on
successfully. The first of these reinforcements after Camargo consisted of
fifty soldiers with seven horses, under the command of Michael Diaz de Auz.
These men were all plump and jolly, and we gave them the nickname of the
_Sir-loins_. Shortly after him another vessel brought forty soldiers with
ten horses, and a good supply of crossbows and other arms. These were
commanded by an officer named Ramirez, and as all his soldiers wore very
thick and clumsy cotton armour, quite impenetrable by arrows, we called
them the _Pack-horses_.
Being thus unexpectedly reinforced by upwards of an hundred and fifty men,
and twenty horses, Cortes determined to chastise the Indians of Xalatcingo,
Cacatame, and other towns near the road to Villa Rica, who had been
concerned in the murder of those Spaniards who had been sent from Villa
Rica for the treasure. For this purpose he sent a detachment of two
hundred veterans, among whom were twenty horsemen, and twelve armed with
crossbows, under the command of Sandoval, who had likewise along with him
a strong detachment of Tlascalans. Being informed that the Indians of that
district were in arms, and reinforced by Mexican troops, Sandoval sent a
message, offering pardon for the murder of the Spaniards, if they would
submit to our government, and return the treasure. Their answer was, that
they would eat him and all his men, as they had done the others. Sandoval,
therefore, immediately marched into their country, and attacked them in
two places at once, and though both the natives and the Mexicans defended
themselves with great bravery, they were soon defeated with considerable
loss. On going into some of their temples after the victory, our people
found Spanish cloths, arms, saddles, and bridles, hung up as offerings to
their gods. The inhabitants of this district submitted themselves to his
majesties government, but were unable to return the treasure, as it had
been sent to Mexico. Sandoval remained three days in this district
receiving the submission of the inhabitants, whom he referred to Cortes
for their pardon, and then returned to head-quarters, carrying a number of
women and boys along with him, who were all branded as slaves.
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