Sandoval Was Much Hurt At This Treatment, Yet
Went Back To Chalco With All Possible Expedition; But Found The Business
Over before his arrival, as the inhabitants of that province, having
summoned their neighbours to their aid, had already repelled
The Mexican
invasion, and Sandoval had only to return to head-quarters with the
prisoners.
At this period a proclamation was issued, by which all the soldiers were
ordered to bring in the Indian prisoners to be branded, and to pay for
them the royal dues. I have already mentioned the treatment we formerly
met with at Tepeaca on a similar occasion, but we were worse used now at
Tezcuco if possible. In the first place a fifth was taken away for the
king; then another fifth for Cortes; and, what was still worse, most of
the good female slaves were abstracted during the night. We had been
promised that all the slaves should be rated according to their value; but
the officers of the crown valued them as they thought proper, and at a
most exorbitant rate. In consequence of this, the poor soldiers for the
future passed their slaves as servants, denying that they were prisoners
of war, to avoid the heavy duty; and such as were in favour with Cortes,
often got their slaves marked privately, paying him the composition. Many
of the slaves who happened to fall to bad masters, or such as had a bad
reputation, used to run away; but their owners always remained debtors for
their estimated value in the royal books, so that many were more in debt
on this account than all the value of their share in the prize gold could
pay for. About this time likewise, a ship arrived at Villa Rica from Spain
with arms and gunpowder, in which came Julian de Alderete, who was sent
out as royal treasurer. In the same vessel came the elder Orduna, who
brought out five daughters after the conquest, all of whom were honourably
married. Fra Melgarejo de Urrea, also, a Franciscan friar, came in this
vessel, bringing a number of papal bulls, to quiet our consciences from
any guilt we might have incurred during our warfare: He made a fortune of
these in a few months, and returned to Spain. Several other persons came
by this vessel, among whom were, Antonio Caravajal, who still lives in
Mexico, though now very old; Geronimo Ruyz de la Mora; one Briones who was
hanged about four years afterwards for sedition at Guatimala; and Alonzo
Diaz, who now resides in Valladolid. We learned by this ship, with
infinite satisfaction, that the bishop of Burgos had been deprived of all
power over the affairs of the West Indies, as his majesty had been much
displeased with his conduct in regard to our expedition, after having
received a true account of our eminent services.
Scarcely were we apprised of the success of the inhabitants of Chalco and
their confederates, when a new urgent message arrived from Chalco for
assistance against a fresh invasion of the Mexicans. The brigantines
intended for securing the command of the lake were now ready to launch,
and we were all anxious to commence the siege of Mexico, yet Cortes was
sensible of the importance of Chalco to the success of our ultimate
operations, and determined to march in person to its support. Leaving the
command in Tezcuco to Sandoval, Cortes marched for Chalco on Friday the
5th of April 1521, at the head of 300 infantry, including twenty
crossbow-men, and fifteen musketeers, with thirty cavalry, and a large
body of the auxiliaries of Tezcuco and Tlascala, meaning to clear the
district of Chalco and the environs of the lake from the Mexicans. In this
expedition, our general was accompanied by the treasurer Alderete,
Melgarejo the Franciscan friar, with the captains Alvarado de Oli, and
Tapia, and I also was on this expedition. We halted during the first night
at Tlalmanalco, and reached Chalco next day, when Cortes convened all the
chiefs of that state, to whom he communicated his intention of proceeding
very soon to attack Mexico, in which they engaged to give him all the
assistance in their power. We continued our march next day to Chimalhuecan
or Chimalacoan, a town in the province of Chalco, where above twenty
thousand warriors had assembled to join us, belonging to our allies of
Chalco, Guaxocingo, Tlascala, Tezcuco, and other places, being the largest
body of our allies that I had hitherto seen together. These were attracted
by the hope of plunder, and by a voracious appetite for human flesh, just
as the vultures and other birds of prey follow our armies in Italy, in
order to feast on dead bodies after a battle.
At this place we were informed that the Mexican forces, and their allies
or subjects in that neighbourhood, were in the field to oppose us. Cortes
therefore issued orders to the army to be always ready for action at a
moments warning, and we proceeded on our march next morning early, after
hearing mass, our route lying between two ridges of rocks, the summits of
which were fortified and filled with large bodies of the enemy[9], who
endeavoured by outcries and reproaches to incite us to attack them. But we
pursued our march to Guaztepeque or Huaxtepec, a large town on the
southern declivity of the mountains, which we found abandoned. Beyond this
place we came to a plain in which water was very scarce, on one side of
which was a lofty rock having a fortress on the summit which was filled
with troops, who saluted us on our approach with showers of arrows and
stones, by which three of our soldiers were wounded at the first discharge.
Cortes ordered us to halt, and sent a party of cavalry to reconnoitre the
rock, who reported on their return that the side where we then were seemed
the most accessible. We were then ordered to the attack, Corral preceding
us with the colours, and Cortes remained on the plain with our cavalry to
protect the rear.
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