dozen horses, was placed under command of Diego de Figueroa, a friend of Estrada. On reaching the border he summoned Alonso de Herrera, the captain in charge, to place himself under his command, giving orders in such a tone as to offend the fiery Herrera, and soon a quarrel arose wherein Figueroa and several others were wounded. Neither commander nor men were accustomed to Indian warfare, and the toil of mountain marches was by no means to their taste. Finding that the graves of chiefs contained large treasures, they directed their attention rather to ghoulish raids, varied by occasional descents upon settlements for the purpose of extorting contributions. After accumulating about a hundred thousand pesos de oro, Figueroa, with a few friends, abandoned the district, now more disturbed than ever, and hastened to Mexico to prepare for the voyage home. They had hardly left Vera Cruz before a gale wrecked their vessel, and buried fifteen of them, together with the yield of their desecrations.
The northern expedition, similar in strength and quality of men, had a more soldierly captain, Barrios by name, who had seen service in Italy, and bore a reputation for bravery. He had little experience in native warfare, however, and one night the warriors surprised his camp, slew the leader and a number of his followers, and pursued the rest till they gained refuge in a friendly town. "Thus served these doughty captains from Europe," exclaims Bernal Diaz, "leaving us conquerors to remedy their failures.[1] Cortés had evidently nothing to do with the appointments for the Zapotec campaign, since his selection of officers was usually admirable, and the result better where he attended to the management. He was fully occupied.
Not content to explore the vast regions adjoining their new conquest, and there unfold the wealth which at a later period poured forth in streams to enrich the
- ↑ Hist. Verdad., 222. San Alfonso was founded by the later expedition. The victorious tribe is called the Tiltepec.
