Expecting By This Time That
Sandoval Might Have Arrived At Naco, Which Is Not Far Distant From Puerto
Cavallos, Cortes
Sent a letter for him to that place, requiring a
reinforcement of ten of the veteran soldiers of Coatzacualco, as
He
intended to proceed for the bay of Honduras; but this letter reached us in
our last-mentioned quarters as we had not yet reached Naco. Leaving Cortes
for the present, I shall only say that he was so tormented by the
mosquitoes, which prevented him from procuring rest either by night or day,
that he had almost lost his life or his senses.
On receiving this last letter from the general, Sandoval pressed on for
Naco, but was obliged to halt at a place called _Cuyocan_, in order to
collect the stragglers who had gone in quest of provisions. We were also
impeded by a river, and the natives on every side were hostile. Our line
of march was now extremely long, by the great number of invalids,
especially of the Mexicans, who were unable to keep up with the main body;
on which account Sandoval left me at this place, with the command of eight
men at the ferry, to protect and bring up the stragglers. One night the
natives attacked my post, setting fire to the house in which we were
lodged, and endeavoured to carry away our canoe; but, with the assistance
of some of our Mexicans who had come up, we beat them off; and, having
collected all the invalids who had loitered behind, we crossed the river
next day, and set but to rejoin Sandoval. A Genoese, who had been sometime
ill, sunk at length through weakness, occasioned by poverty of diet, and
died on the road, and I was obliged to leave his body behind. When I made
my report to Sandoval, he was ill pleased at me for not having brought on
the dead body; but I told him we had already two invalids on every horse,
and one of my companions said rather haughtily, that we had enough of
difficulty to bring on ourselves, without carrying dead men. Sandoval
immediately ordered me and that soldier, whose name was Villanueva, to go
back and bury the Genoese, which we did accordingly, and placed a cross
over his grave. We found a purse in his pocket, containing some dice, and
a memorandum of his family and effects in Teneriffe. God rest his soul!
_Amen_. In about two days we arrived at Naco, passing a town named
_Quinistlan_, and a place where mines have been since discovered. We found
Naco to be a very good town, but it was abandoned by its inhabitants, yet
we procured plenty of provisions and salt, of which we were in very great
need. We took up our quarters in some large quadrangular buildings, where
De Oli was executed, and established ourselves there as if we had been to
have remained permanently. There is the finest water at this place that is
to be found in all New Spain; as likewise a species of tree which is most
admirable for the _siesta_; as, however great may be the heat of the sun,
there is always a most delightful and refreshing coolness under its shade,
and it seems to give out a delicate kind of dew, which is good for the
head. Naco is admirably situated, in a fertile neighbourhood, which
produces different kinds of _sapotes_ in great abundance, and it was then
very populous. Sandoval obtained possession of three chiefs of the
district, whom he treated kindly, by which means the people of the
district remained in peace, but all his endeavours to induce the
inhabitants to return to the town were ineffectual. It was now necessary
to send the reinforcement of ten Coatzacualco veterans which Cortes had
required. At that time I was ill, and besides Sandoval wished to retain me
along with him: Eight valiant soldiers were sent off, however, who
heartily cursed Cortes and his expedition at every step of their march;
for which indeed they had good reason, as they were entirely ignorant of
the state of the country through which they had to go. Sandoval took the
precaution of sending five principal people of the natives along with them,
making known at the same time that he would punish the country most
severely if any injury was done them on their journey. They arrived in
safety at Natividad, where Cortes then was; who immediately embarked for
Truxillo, leaving Godoy in the command of the settlement at Puerto de
Cavallos, with forty Spaniards, who were all that remained of the settlers
who had accompanied de Avila, and of those who had come recently from Cuba.
Godoy maintained himself for some time; but his men were continually
dropping off by disease, and the Indians began at last to despise and
neglect him, refusing to supply the settlement with provisions, so that in
a short time he lost above half his number by sickness and famine, and
three of his men deserted to join Sandoval. By various expeditions and
judicious measures, Sandoval reduced all the country round Naco to peace
and submission, namely the districts of Cirimongo, Acalao, Quinistlan, and
four others, of which I forget the names, and even extended his authority
over the natives as far as Puerto Cavallos, where Godoy commanded.
After six days sail, Cortes arrived at the port of Truxillo, where he
found a colony which had been established by Francisco de las Casas, among
whom were many of the mutineers who had served under De Oli, and who had
been banished from Panuco. Conscious of their guilt, all these men waited
on Cortes, and supplicated for pardon, which he granted them, even
confirming all who had been appointed to offices in the colony; but he
placed his relation Saavedra as commandant of the colony and surrounding
province. Cortes summoned all the chiefs and priests of the Indians, to
whom he made a long harangue, giving them to understand that he had come
among them to induce them to abandon the cruel and abominable practices of
their false religion, and to embrace the only true faith.
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