We Remonstrated With Cortes For Allowing So Many Persons To
Quit The Army, Considering How Weak We Were Already, On
Which he observed,
that he did it partly to get rid of their importunities, and partly
because they were unfit
For war, and it was better to have a few good
soldiers than many bad ones. Alvarado was sent to see these men safely
shipped off, and he sent at this time Diego de Ordas and Alonzo de Mendoza
to Spain, with instructions of which we were ignorant, except that they
were meant to counteract the malice of the bishop of Burgos, who had
declared us all traitors. De Ordas executed his commission to good purpose,
and got the order of St Jago for himself, and the volcano of Popocatepetl
added to his arms. Cortes sent also Alonzo de Avila, contador of New Spain,
and Francisco Alvarez, to Hispaniola, to make a report to the court of
royal audience, and the brothers of the order of Jeronymites, of all that
had taken place, particularly in regard to Narvaez, and supplicating them
to represent our faithful services to the emperor, and to support our
interests against the enmity and misrepresentations of Velasquez and the
bishop of Burgos. He sent likewise De Solis to Jamaica to purchase horses.
It may be asked how Cortes was able to send agents to Spain, Hispaniola,
and Jamaica, without money. But, although many of our soldiers were slain
in our flight from Mexico, and much treasure lost in the ditches and
canals of Mexico, yet a considerable quantity of gold was saved, as the
eighty loaded Tlascalans were among the first who passed the bridge, and
afterwards delivered all their gold to Cortes[3]. But we poor soldiers had
enough ado to preserve our lives, all badly wounded, and did not trouble
ourselves to inquire what became of the gold, or how much was brought off.
It was even rumoured among us, that the share belonging to the garrison of
Villa Rica, the carriers of which had been robbed and murdered, went after
all to Spain, Jamaica, and other places; but as Cortes lined the pockets
of our captains with plenty of gold, all inquiry on this head was stopped.
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