The Only One Who Remained With Cortes, Was Suchel,
Otherwise Called Don Carlos, Brother To Our Ally The Prince Of Tezcuco,
With About Forty Followers.
The chief of Huexotzinco remained in the camp
of Sandoval with about fifty of his warriors; and the brave Chichimecatl,
with the two sons of Don Lorenzo de Vargas of Tlascala, and about eighty
Tlascalans, continued with us in the quarters of Alvarado.
When they were
asked the reason of the desertion of their countrymen, they said, that the
Mexican gods had predicted our destruction, and the younger Xicotencatl
had foretold from the first we should all be put to death; they saw that
many of us were killed and all wounded, and they had already had above
twelve hundred of their own number slain; And, considering us all devoted
to inevitable ruin, they had fled to avoid sharing our fate. Though Cortes
secretly thought there was too much reason in what they alleged, he yet
assumed a cheerful appearance of perfect security as to the ultimate
result of the enterprize, and used his utmost endeavours to reassure our
remaining friends, turning the hopes and predictions of the Mexicans and
the promises of their false gods into ridicule, and had the good fortune
to persuade our few remaining friends to abide with us. The Indian Don
Carlos, or Suchel of Tezcuco, who was a brave warrior and a wise man,
strongly represented to our general that he had hitherto acted on a most
erroneous plan, especially considering the relative situations of us and
the enemy.
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