nothing," his comrade returned. "You know everything goes whither Cortes and his officers choose to carry it, even the food. They nearly eat themselves up, while we fare badly. But it is no use to complain. Get rid of such thoughts and pray God we do not lose our lives in this city."
Here the men had done talking, but what they said, and the like said by others, came to the ears of Cortes.[1] Thereupon he addressed us in a honied speech, telling us he did not want the fifth, but only the share promised him when we chose him our captain general; that the gold we had so far collected was a trifle to that which was to come from great cities and rich mines scattered through the land, enough to enrich every man of us. He used other arguments in phrases he knew so well how to form. But finding they had no effect, he secretly silenced some of the soldiers with gold, and others by great promises. He also ordered that the food furnished by Montezuma's stewards should be more justly di-
- ↑ The historian, Antonio de Solis, says that Bernal Diaz discusses the distribution of the Montezuma treasure very indecently, and wastes too much paper in enlarging upon the hardships the poor soldiers underwent in the distribution.
If Diaz could have read the criticism, he might answer Solis as he answered the licentiates who, on reading his manuscript, told him it would have been well if he had not praised himself and his comrades so liberally—"If we did not speak well of ourselves, who would? Who else witnessed our exploits and battles—unless, indeed, the clouds in the sky and the birds flying over our heads."
