La Zembrana Also With Her Family Came Along
With Her, And Donna Elvira Lopez _The Tall_, Who Married Juan De Palma,
Who Was Afterwards Hanged.
We all went to pay our respects to the ladies,
the roads being almost impassable owing to constant heavy rain.
Having
escorted Donna Catalina and the rest to our town of Coatzacualco, or
Espiritu Santo, intelligence was sent to Cortes of their arrival, and they
set out soon afterwards for Mexico. Cortes was sorry for their coming, but
he received them with great pomp, and we heard about three months
afterwards that Donna Catalina had died of an asthma.
Villafuerte had been sent to Zacatula, and Juan Alvarez Chico to Colima,
two provinces on the south sea to the west of Mexico, but were
unsuccessful; on which Cortes sent Christoval de Oli to reduce these
provinces to submission. The natives attacked him on his march, killing
two of his soldiers; yet he reached the station of Villafuerte, who was
afraid to stir out, and had four even of his soldiers killed by the enemy
in the town where he resided. I do not know what became of Captain Juan
Alvarez, but I believe he lost his life about this time in some action
with the natives. De Oli reduced both provinces to submission and returned
to Mexico, where he was hardly arrived when intelligence was brought that
they had again rebelled; on which Cortes sent Sandoval with a small party
of veterans to take the charge of them. He punished the ringleaders of the
rebellion, and regulated them in so effectual a manner, that they
continued ever afterwards submissive.
On the departure of Sandoval with the ladies, several of the districts
subjected to Coatzacualco rebelled, killing the soldiers who were
appointed to collect the tribute; among which were the Tzapotecas of
Xaltepec, Cimatan and Copilco, the first being difficult of access on
account of its rugged mountains, and the two others because of lakes and
marshes, so that they were not reduced to subjection without great
difficulty. While Captain Luis Marin was engaged in reducing these
districts, Juan Buono arrived at our settlement in a small vessel. He
immediately called us all together, and endeavoured to persuade us to
submit to Christoval de Tapia as governor of New Spain, being ignorant of
the return of that person to Hispaniola. Buono had a number of unaddressed
letters from the bishop of Burgos, making large offers to such as would
further his views of superseding Cortes, and which Buono had a
discretionary power of directing to any persons that he supposed might
support the cause in which he was engaged, and which he accordingly
transmitted to those who held offices in the settlement. Among the rest, I
was offered the appointment of regidor. When Buono learnt that Tapia had
left the country, he seemed much disappointed. We referred him to Cortes
at Mexico, to which place he went. I know not what passed between him and
Cortes, but I believe the general sent him back to Spain with some money
in his pocket.
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