He Also Enlarged
Upon The Power And Dignity Of Our Great Emperor, To Whose Government He
Required Their Submission.
He was followed by the reverend fathers, who
exhorted them to become proselytes to the holy catholic religion, the
principles of which they explained.
After all this, the people readily
agreed to obey our general, and to become vassals to Don Carlos; and
Cortes enjoined them to provide the settlement with provisions, especially
fish, which are caught in great abundance in the sea about the islands of
_Guanojes_[4]; he likewise ordered them to send a number of labourers to
clear the woods in front of the town of Truxillo, so as to open a view of
the sea. Cortes likewise ordered a number of sows with young to be turned
loose in these islands, by which, in a few years, they were amply stocked.
The natives cleared the woods between Truxillo and the sea in two days,
and built fifteen houses for the colonists, one of which for Cortes, was
sufficiently commodious. Cortes became feared and renowned over all the
districts, as far as _Olancho_, where rich mines have been since
discovered; the natives giving him the name of _Captain Hue-hue de Marina_,
or the old captain of Donna Marina. He reduced the whole country to
submission, excepting two or three districts in the mountains, against
which he sent a party of soldiers under Captain Saavedra, who brought most
of them under subjection, one tribe only named the _Acaltecans_ holding
out.
As a great many of the people along with Cortes became sick through the
unhealthiness of the climate, he sent them by a vessel to Hispaniola or
Cuba for the recovery of their healths. By this opportunity, he sent
letters to the royal audience of St Domingo and the reverend brothers of
the order of St Jerome, giving an account of all the events that had
recently happened, and in particular of his having left the government of
Mexico in the hands of deputies, while he proceded to reduce de Oli who
had rebelled. He apprised them of his future intentions, and requested a
reinforcement of soldiers, to enable him to reduce the country where he
now was to subjection; and that they might attach the greater credit to
his report of its value, he sent a valuable present of gold, taken in
reality from his own side-board, but which he endeavoured to make them
believe was the produce of this new settlement. He entrusted the
management of this business to a relation of his own, named Avalos, whom
he directed to take up in his way twenty-five soldiers who, he was
informed, had been left in the island of Cozumel to kidnap Indians to be
sent for slaves to the West Indian islands. This vessel was wrecked about
seventy leagues from the Havanna, on which occasion Avalos and many of the
passengers perished. Those who escaped, among whom was the licentiate
Pedro Lopez, brought the first intelligence to the islands of the
existence of Cortes and his army; as it had been universally believed in
Cuba and Hispaniola that we had all perished. As soon as it was known
where Cortes was, two old ships were sent over to Truxillo with horses and
colts, and one pipe of wine; all the rest of their cargoes consisting of
shirts, caps, and useless trumpery of various kinds. Some of the Indian
inhabitants of the Guanajas islands, which are about eight leagues from
Truxillo, came at this time to Cortes, complaining that the Spaniards had
been accustomed to carry away the natives and their _macegualos_ or slaves,
and that a vessel was now there which was supposed to have come for that
purpose. Cortes immediately sent over one of his vessels to the islands;
but the ship against which the natives complained made sail immediately on
seeing her, and escaped. It was afterwards known, that this vessel was
commanded by the bachelor Moreno, who had been sent on business by the
royal audience of St Domingo to Nombre de Dios.
While Sandoval remained at Naco, the chiefs of two neighbouring districts,
named Quecuspan and Tanchinalchapa, complained to him of a party of
Spaniards, at the distance of a days march from Naco, who robbed their
people and made slaves of them. Sandoval set out against these people
immediately with a party of seventy men, and on coming to the place these
Spaniards were exceedingly surprised at seeing us and took to their arms;
but we soon seized their captain and several others, and made them all
prisoners without any bloodshed. Sandoval reprehended them severely for
their misconduct, and ordered all the Indians whom they had made prisoners
to be immediately released. One Pedro de Garro was the commander of these
men, among whom were several gentlemen, and in comparison of us dirty and
worn down wretches, they were all mounted and attended like lords. They
were all marched to our head-quarters as prisoners; but in a day or two
they became quite reconciled to their lot. The occasion of their coming
into the country was as follows: Pedro Arias de Avila, the governor of
Tierra Firma, had sent a captain named Francisco Hernandez to reduce the
provinces of Nicaragua and New Leon, and to establish a colony in that
place, which he accomplished. After the atrocious murder of Balboa, who
had married Donna Isabella the daughter of Aries, Moreno had been sent
over by the court of royal audience, and persuaded Hernandez, who was now
comfortably settled, to throw off his dependence upon Pedro Aries, and to
establish a distinct government immediately under the royal authority.
Hernandez had done so, and had sent this party under de Garro on purpose
to open a communication from Nicaragua with the north coast, by which to
receive supplies from old Spain. When all this was explained to Sandoval,
he sent Captain Luis Marin to communicate the intelligence to Cortes, in
expectation that he would support the views of Hernandez.
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