the country ahead, our active foot soldiers close behind to clear the road and help in case of an ambush. On our several days' march we passed through a number of towns and villages, from which the caciques and papas brought us food and small presents of gold and stuffs; and, moreover, quite secretly to the Mexican ambassadors, complained bitterly of Montezuma and his tax collectors, how they robbed them of all they possessed and reduced their wives and daughters, if they were handsome, to base servitude; enslaving the men also to carry timber, stones and maize by water and land, and plant the monarch's cornfield, and finally forcing them to give up their own lands to support the temples of the gods.
As we marched onward still other Mexican chiefs bearing a present of gold and cloth appeared before Cortes and addressed him as their forerunners had done. "Malinche," they said, "our lord, the great Montezuma, sends you this present and expresses his sorrow for the many hardships you have suffered in your exhausting journey to see him. He has already sent you quantities of silver and gold and chalchihuites as tribute to your sovereign, and presents to you and the teules with you. But now he begs you not to advance further, but to return whence you have come. Gold, silver and rich stones he promises to send you to your port on the coast, but he altogether forbids you to enter Mexico. You can
