The Mastering of Mexico/Chapter 12
CHAPTER XII
How, in setting up an altar, we found a secret treasure; and why we visited Montezuma and took him to our quarters as prisoner; how he spent his time; and how we built two sloops and sailed them on the lake; adding the story of a hawk.
Now that our captain and Fray Bartolome de Olmedo knew that Montezuma was not willing we should set a cross on the chief temple, or build a chapel there, we asked the house-stewards for masons to build us a church in our quarters. The stewards referred our request to Montezuma, who generously ordered that we be given what we wished. Our church was soon done, a cross set up, and mass said every day as long as the wine lasted. Then we went there every day and prayed in front of the altar and images, not only because we were obliged by our faith to follow this holy habit, but also that Montezuma and his caciques might notice our devotion and see us on our knees before the cross, particularly when we said the Ave Maria.
Wherever we went it was our custom carefully to examine everything. So it happened that as we were searching for a best place to set up our altar, one of our men who was a carpenter, noticed traces, all neatly plastered over, of a doorway in the wall of one of our apartments. Report that the treasure of Montezuma's father was secreted somewhere in our quarters had reached us, and our carpenter conjectured that this doorway might be the very opening to the treasury. He told two of our chief officers, relatives of mine, and these officers carried the conjecture to Cortes. The door was thereupon secretly opened, and Cortes with several officers went in. They found such vast quantities of jewels, thick and thin plates of gold, chalchihuites and other riches heaped together that they were quite speechless at the sight. News of the treasure now spread to all of our men, and very secretly we all went in to view it. I was still a young man and had never seen vast riches, but I felt sure there could not be another such mass in all the world. However, all our officers agreed that we should leave it untouched, and that the doorway should be walled up as before, and we should not speak of it lest Montezuma learn of our discovery.
All of us, officers and soldiers, were men of energy and experience, who believed that our master, Jesus Christ, aided us with his divine hand, and we now deputed four officers and twelve of our most trusted and faithful soldiers, of whom I was one, to represent to Cortes how we were cooped up in this strong city. as if in a trap or cage. We begged him to remember the causeways and bridges, how people of the towns we had passed through had cautioned us that Montezuma was acting as his god Huitzilopochtli had advised—that he allow us to enter the city and then fall on and slay us; we begged him not to trust to the kindness and good will of Montezuma, for the hearts of men, and of Indians in particular, are inconstant; all this friendship might end in a moment, at a whim of Montezuma, for he had merely to attack us with the sword, or cut off our food and water, or draw up the bridges, and we should be helpless; considering the troops of warriors Montezuma had always about him, how should we be able to defend ourselves?—since all the houses stood In the water, how could we count on the aid of our friends, the Tlaxcalans?—taking a broad view, we had no other way to safeguard our lives but to seize Montezuma, and that without further delay; all the gold he had given us, all we had seen in the secret treasury, all the food set before us could not conceal facts from us; such thoughts as these harassed us day and night and were always In our minds; and If among us there were those heedless of the trap we were in, they were senseless, their eyes dazzled by gold and incapable of seeing the death that stood before them.
When Cortes heard our plea he said, "Do not imagine, gentlemen, that I sleep in peace, or that what you state has not caused me the anxiety you express. But let us weigh well first. Are we strong enough in numbers to seize this great monarch in the midst of his guards and other warriors? By what bold deed can we so do this that he will not call on his warriors to attack us at once? "
Four of our officers said that the only way was to entice Montezuma out of his palace into our quarters, and then tell him he must remain a prisoner and if he offered any resistence or cried out, he must die. If our captain did not himself wish any hand in such a business, the officers said that they themselves would carry it out, for between the two dangers in which we stood it was better for us to take the monarch prisoner then to wait till he made war on us—for if he attacked us, what escape should we have? Moreover, some of us soldiers told Cortes that the house-steward who supplied us food had taken on haughty airs and did not supply us so well as at first. Lastly, our allies, the Tlaxcalans, had secretly said to our interpreter, Aguilar, that the Mexicans these last two days had not seemed kindly disposed toward us.
One whole hour we spent deliberating whether or not we should take Montezuma prisoner, and how the deed was to be done. At last we came to full conclusion, and Cortes gave his consent. All that following night we spent in prayer, asking the Almighty's support in our holy cause.
The next morning two Tlaxcalans secretly got into our quarters and brought from Vera Cruz a letter announcing that Juan de Escalante, whom, we said some chapters back, [1] we had left behind as governor of Vera Cruz, six other Spaniards, and all the Totonacs in his company had met death in a battle with Mexican warriors. So also a horse. The story went that Mexican caciques had demanded tribute; our allies, the Totonacs, had refused to pay it; Escalante had commanded the Mexicans to leave the Totonacs in peace; to which the Mexicans had sent a contemptuous answer. Engagements followed, and in our defeat our allies turned against us and refused to bring food or serve the garrison. Faith that we Spaniards were teules had vanished. Both Totonacs and Mexicans threatened our little settlement, and instead of veneration now expressed contempt.
Only God could know what sorrow this news gave us. It was the first defeat we had suffered in New Spain. Any hearty reader of this narrative sees how rapidly our fortune was changing from good to bad. We had entered this great city with a splendid and triumphant reception, we had been in possession of rich presents which Montezuma every day gave both our captain and ourselves; we had seen the treasure house filled with gold; we had known the people believed us teules who could not fail of victory in battle. Now their delusion had fled; they would look upon us as like other men, liable to defeat, and we should soon see their insolence toward us growing. Now more than ever it behooved us to get possession of Montezuma's person.
We made final arrangements after our night of prayer that our bold attempt might redound to the glory of God. When Cortes sent to tell Montezuma that we were about to pay him a visit, the monarch more or less understood that our captain was coming because of the battle that had taken place on the coast, and he had misgivings, yet he sent word that Cortes should come and would be welcome. Our captain took with him five officers, Alvarado, Sandoval, Lugo, Leon and Avila, and also me and our interpreters, Donna Marina and Aguilar. We all went completely armed, and our whole troop stayed behind ready for march and horses saddled.
Cortes made his usual felicitations when he entered the monarch's apartments and then said through his interpreters, "I am greatly astonished that so valiant a ruler as you, who publishes himself our friend, should command your warriors near the coast to take up arms against my Spaniards, and should dare to demand from towns under the protection of my king. Indian men and women for sacrifice! Nor is this all. They have killed one of my brothers [Cortes prudently did not wish to speak of Escalante and six soldiers who died as soon as they got back to the coast encampment, for Montezuma did not then know of this] and a horse. How differently we for our part have done! As your friend I told my officers to do all they could to meet your wishes. You have ordered the very opposite. A little time ago you sent many warriors to Cholula to destroy us. From the friendship I bore you I did not then tell you I knew the fact. But now again your warriors audaciously plot to kill us. For this treachery I will not make war on you, nor destroy this city. But that we may keep peace between us, you must quietly come to our quarters and stay with us there. You shall be well served, as well as if you were in your own palace. If you now make any alarm, or cry out, these officers of mine here will kill you at once, for that purpose only I brought them with me."
At these words a sudden terror struck Montezuma and he was for a time speechless. At length, however, he answered that he had never ordered his people to take up arms against us, and he would at once send for his chief warriors and find out the truth. Saying this he loosened the seal of Huitzilopochtli which he wore round his wrist and only took from his arm when he issued orders of importance that were to be at once executed. As to our presumption in proposing to take him away from his house, he said he was astounded, that he was not one from whom we should make such a demand and he was not minded to go.
Cortes in return gave very good arguments for our having come to our conclusions, but Montezuma brought even stronger showing why he should not leave his house. In this way above half an hour went by, when Juan Velasquez de Leon, whose voice was uncommonly loud and harsh, spoke out to Cortes and in what he said expressed the feelings of the other officers impatiently sitting by, "What's the use of making so many words? He must either go quietly with us, or we cut him down on the spot. Tell him once more that if he cries out we shall kill him. On this depend our lives."
When Montezuma saw the black looks of our officers, and heard Leon's rough voice, he asked Donna Marina what the man who spoke so loud said. Marina, who, as I have before remarked, was very clever and knew well how to give a good answer, replied, "Great ruler, what I counsel is that you go at once to their quarters and build up no further difficulties. I know they will pay you every respect belonging to a great cacique. If you remain here they will cut you down."
Thereupon Montezuma turned to Cortes. " Malinche," he said, "I have a son and two daughters. Take them as hostages. Do not put such a disgrace upon me as to demand my person. What will my caciques say if they see me led off prisoner?" But Cortes answered that the monarch's own person was the only guarantee of our safety, and there was no other way of easing our minds. Finally, at the end of much more discussion, the ruler determined to go quietly with us, and as soon as he had declared his purpose, our captain and officers showed him every civility, begging him to pardon their insistence and to tell his guards and warriors that he had advised with Huitzilopochtli and his attendant papas and finally had of his own free will taken up residence in our quarters. His splendid litter which he used when he left his palace with all his suite was then brought, and he went with us to our quarters. There we placed guards over him.
The messengers through whom Montezuma summoned the warriors by the seal of Huitzilopochtli, brought the warring caciques from the coast as prisoners. What the monarch said to them when they stood before him I do not know, but in the end he sent them to Cortes for judgment. Then these unfortunate men confessed that Montezuma had commanded them to levy tribute by force of arms, and if any teules should protect those rebelling against the levy, to put them also to the sword. Cortes sent word to the monarch that what the men said involved him also. Thereupon Montezuma fell to excusing himself; upon which our captain said that for himself he believed the warriors' confession, and that, according to the laws of our country, the ruler himself deserved punishment; yet our captain's love for him was so great that, even if he were guilty, he, Cortes, would himself pay the penalty rather than that Montezuma should suffer.
Cortes now sentenced the warriors to be burned in front of the ruler's palace, and that there might be no outbreak while the sentence was carried out, Cortes ordered Montezuma to be put in chains. Grief overcame the monarch when this was done, and he moaned, but in the end, after the execution was over, Cortes with five of his officers went to his apartment where our captain himself took off the fetters, and spoke with such affection, saying that although Montezuma was already lord of many countries he would make him master of many more, and if he now wished to go to his palace he would give him leave, that even while Cortes was speaking tears welled in the monarch's eyes and rolled down his cheeks. He answered with courtesy, knowing all he heard was mere words, that he thanked Cortes for his kindness and for the present he preferred to stay where he was.
In this way I have told how the great Montezuma was imprisoned. In our quarters his household still surrounded him and he bathed daily as was his wont in his own palace. He himself showed not the least anger at his confinement. Twenty of his chief counsellors always stayed with him. He collected tribute, settled disputes, and attended to affairs of state as before. The visiting caciques waited on him and, no matter how great the cacique, paid him the same veneration as before, taking off their fine garments, putting on those of hennequen and coming barefoot before him. Nor did they enter at the chief gate, but by a side door and approaching with their customary three prostrations and down-cast eyes and their "Lord, my Lord, my great Lord," by means of pictures drawn and painted on hennequen cloths they told him of their suit or other difficulty about which they wished to consult him, with thin sticks pointing to the different objects drawn to explain the nature of the suit and what they wanted. Two elders who were distinguished caciques stood on these occasions near Montezuma and when they had understood the pleas, they told Montezuma the arguments and the monarch in a few words pronounced his judgment. With three deep bows, and without uttering a syllable or turning their backs, the parties to the suit then retired, and once out of the presence of Montezuma put on their rich garments and went strolling through Mexico. When Mexican chiefs and his nephews called upon Montezuma they asked the reasons for his Imprisonment, and if they should make war and free him. If he were once, they said, outside our quarters, the people would rise up in arms. But he answered that he did not wish sedition In the city, and if he did not join them they would want to put a new ruler in his place; and he silenced them by saying he was doing himself the pleasure of staying a few days with us, and when he wished to complain he would tell them; and that they must not stir up the people or make any trouble, for this visit of his was with the consent of the god Huitzilopochtli whom certain papas had consulted.
All the entertainment we could think of Cortes and every one of us brought forward, and on the whole Montezuma became fairly content with the attention we showed him and he continually felt greater delight in our company. Whenever any of us were with him we doffed our helmets and bore ourselves with most marked civility, and he treated us with greatest politeness. Our captain was a man who thought carefully in all things, as I have said, and now he strove that the monarch might not feel his imprisonment too deeply. Therefore every morning, after we had said our prayers, Cortes accompanied by four officers went to ask how he was, and what he would like, until the monarch one day declared that his confinement did not weary him because our gods had given us power to take him prisoner and Huitzilopochtli had agreed to it.
Sometimes Montezuma and Cortes played at a game the Mexicans call totoloc. It is played with smooth small balls, which here were made of gold, pitched at certain slabs. Five throws made up the game and gold and silver trinkets were the stakes. I still remember that once Pedro de Alvarado was scoring for Cortes, and one of his nephews, a noted cacique, for the monarch, and Alvarado always marked one more point than Cortes had gained. Upon this Montezuma observed, courteously and laughingly, that he was not exactly pleased with the way Tonatio (so they called Alvarado) kept the count, because he made so much ixoxol in his score—which in their speech means that he cheated, in that he always marked one score too many.
In those days I was quite a young fellow and whenever I was sentinel in his apartment I behaved with such respect that he inquired who I was and sent me offer of a present. I thanked him for his kindness and hoped God would bless him. When the interpreter gave my answer, Montezuma said, "Bernal Diaz seems to me to have the feelings of a well-bred man," and to his gift he added three plates of gold and two packages of cotton stuffs.
Of a morning it was his habit to say his prayers the first thing and make sacrifice to his gods. He then took his breakfast, which was a light meal, for he ate only chili peppers and no meat. After this he gave audience for an hour to those caciques who, as I have told, came from a distance to lay disputes before him and have his judgment. The rest of the day he spent in amusement, particularly with his wives. So Montezuma passed his time with us, now and then laughing, now and then reflecting on his imprisonment.
After the execution of the Mexican warriors and Montezuma had worn our fetters, our captain determined to despatch a man of good presence, who was also an excellent musician, Alonzo de Grado, to Vera Cruz with the powers of lieutenant. Grado was one of those who had always opposed our going on to Mexico, and who fomented dissatisfaction during our stay in Tlaxcala and insisted on our return to the coast. If he had been as good a soldier as he was a man of good address, his conduct of affairs would have been different. Even Cortes, In giving him the appointment said rather jokingly, "Alonzo de Grado, you now are having fulfilled your wish of going to Vera Cruz. There you will labor at building the fortress. But keep out of warlike expeditions, and don't get killed as Juan de Escalante did." In saying this Cortes winked his eye at us soldiers who were standing round, as much as to say that we knew Grado would not go on such an expedition unless dragged there by the hair of his head. Cortes particularly desired him to watch most zealously over Interests of the settlers at Vera Cruz, and not allow any ill-treatment of the Indians. But heeding in no way this excellent advice, Grado troubled himself little about completing the fortress, and spent all his time in feasting and gambling. Cortes, therefore, sent Gonzalo de Sandoval, who had been chief constable since the death of Escalante, to despatch Grado to Mexico under a guard of Indians; and to forward also the two blacksmiths of the town with all their bellows, tools and much Iron from the ships we had destroyed—such as two heavy iron chains, and also sails, pitch, and a mariner's compass, in short everything needed to build two sloops with which we might sail the lake of Mexico.
When the material for the sloops had come, Cortes at once told Montezuma that he wished to build two small pleasure yachts, and asked leave to send carpenters to cut oak timber growing about sixteen miles away. Many Indian carpenters helped, and soon the boats were done and their masts and rigging set, even to an awning to keep off the heat of the sun. Both turned out to be uncommonly fast sailers, for Martin Lopez, our carpenter who modeled them, was a master in his craft as well as a good soldier. When Montezuma heard the yachts were launched, he sent word to Cortes that he wanted to go hunting on an island where he had a game preserve. In that place no one but Montezuma, not even a cacique, dared hunt. Cortes answered that there were no objections to the monarch's going, but if his warriors and priests formed any plan of seizing him, his life would be in danger, and that he should go in our yachts or sloops, which were swifter and safer than canoes. This offer vastly pleased Montezuma and he went on board with a large suite, Cortes ordering four officers and two hundred of our troops to accompany him and watch narrowly the person of the monarch. That day there was a stiff breeze blowing and we were able to work the sails so well that the boats went flying across the lake. Royal huntsmen followed in canoes which, notwithstanding numbers of rowers, could not keep up with us but fell far behind. This greatly amused Montezuma and he said it showed great skill, our combining of the power of sails and oars. At the island Montezuma made vast slaughter of deer, hares and rabbits and returned quite contented. As we neared the city our officers ordered the cannon fired, and this gave the monarch new pleasure. Indeed we found him so open and frank that we had genuine pleasure in treating him with the respect in which he was held by his own people. If I were to tell the veneration and service paid him by all the caciques of the country, I should find no end. Not a thing he wished that was not brought, even if it were on the wing. For instance, one day when some of us were with him a hawk swooped down through an open hall upon a quail; for the Indian steward who had charge of cleaning our rooms kept some quail and pigeons. When the hawk seized and carried off its quarry, one of our men cried, "What a fine hawk! and how well he flew! "We all united in saying how capital it was, and that the country abounded in birds for hawking. Montezuma observing our lively talk asked what we were saying; and when the interpreter explained that If we had such a bird we would teach it to fly from the hand and attack any bird of any size and kill It, the monarch said, "Then I will have this very hawk caught, and we shall see If you can teach It and hunt with it." Upon this we all doffed our caps and thanked him for his kindness. He at once summoned his bird-catchers and told them to bring that hawk. Before the hour of the Ave Maria they actually brought the very bird. So It was, even now, In his confinement, his subjects stood In such awe of him that if he expressed wish for them, they brought him birds that flew In the skies above.
- ↑ Pages 83 and 84.