The Mastering of Mexico/Chapter 8
CHAPTER VIII
How, having settled to go to Mexico, we destroyed all our ships and marched across the mountains; and how after fierce battles we came to peace with the people of Tlaxcala.
A conspiracy set on foot by the Velasquez faction—a plan to seize a ship and sail away to Cuba—Cortes had now to quell. When he had accomplished this, he ran aground all the ships in order to leave no source of trouble and possibility of further mutiny when we were inland; we who were his friends counselling him not to leave a single ship as source of trouble in port. He then set out for Cempoala, ordering all the soldiers to meet there and receive commands for our march to Mexico. He summoned also the caciques of the mountain tribes in revolt against Montezuma and told them they must ally themselves with us and assist the Spaniards who remained behind in building the church, fortress and houses of Vera Cruz. They readily promised to do what might be asked, and we fitted ourselves for the march.
The best road for us to take, our friends of Cempoala agreed, was through the province of Tlaxcala, 
for the Tlaxcalans were their allies and deadly enemies of the Mexicans. Forty Cempoalan warriors had made ready to accompany us—and indeed proved of the greatest service to us on the journey—and the chiefs sent with us as well two hundred porters to convey our cannon. We poor soldiers had no need of help for our baggage, for at that time we had none other than our weapons, with which we marched and slept. We had not even covering for our feet except hempen shoes. But we were always ready for battle.
We broke up quarters at Cempoala about the middle of August, 1519, and set out, keeping strictest order, with scouts and our most active men always in advance. The first day we marched to a town called Jalapa, and from there to Socochima, a place strongly defended by a dangerous approach and having many trained grape vines. In each of the towns our interpreters. Donna Marina and Aguilar, told about our holy religion and how we were subjects of the emperor Don Carlos, who had sent us to put an end to kidnapping and human sacrifices. The people, friends with the Cempoalans and paying no tribute to Montezuma, we found well inclined to us, and they brought us food. In every township we set up a cross and explained its meaning to the people, and what veneration was its due.
Continuing from Socochima we passed a high mountain through a pass and reached Texutla, where again the folk were friendly to us because they refused to pay tribute to Montezuma. After we left this township we finished the ascent of the mountain and came to a wild and rugged region where we had excessive cold, and the very first night rain and hail. Our provisions were all gone and the wind came across the snow hills and chilled us till we shook with cold. No one can wonder we suffered, for we had come suddenly from the climate of Cuba, and the hot coast of Vera Cruz, and in a frost-bound country had nothing with which to cover ourselves. In another pass which we entered we found groups of houses and large temples with huge piles of firewood near for use in the idol-worship. Still there was nothing to eat, and the weather was bitterly cold. Our march now lay across the land belonging to the town of Xocotlan.[1] We sent on two Cempoalans to tell the cacique of our coming and gain a favorable reception, but even then we marched in close order and always guardful. The town was subject to Montezuma and everything looked different. Still, we were as much pleased with it as with a Spanish town—its gleaming whitewashed balconies, the dwellings of its caciques, and its lofty temples wholly built of stone and whitened. The chief cacique came to meet us, since our messengers had made known our approach, and he led us to lodgings. He also gave us food; but with bad grace.
As soon as we had eaten, Cortes, through our interpreters, asked the cacique all manner of questions about their monarch Montezuma, and we learned much of his strength in warriors stationed in his conquered provinces, and of other armies posted on frontiers. The cacique told also of the strong city of Mexico, how it lay in the midst of waters and one could only pass from house to house by means of bridges or canoes; how all houses had flat roofs and could be turned into fortresses; how the city was entered by three causeways, each with four or five openings spanned by as many bridges, and when any one of these bridges was raised it was impossible to enter the city. Then the cacique told of the stores of silver and gold, the precious stones and great riches of Montezuma.
Cortes and all of us marvelled at hearing how great a lord Montezuma was, but the more the cacique told of the fortress and bridges the more earnestly we longed to try our strength against them. Of such stuff are Spanish soldiers made. Facts later proved Mexico strongly fortified, stronger, indeed, than this cacique told us—you had to see it yourself to form an idea of it, a description can not tell its strength. Our informant added that Montezuma was so powerful he put anything he chose under his power, and he feared he would not be pleased when he heard we had entered and lodged in this township without his permission.
To all this Cortes answered by our interpreters, "You must understand that we have come here from distant lands at the order of our king, Don Carlos, who has many great and powerful princes as his subjects, and he sent us to command your great Montezuma not to kindnap or sacrifice Indians, nor to seize any more lands, but to obey the comands of our king and master. And I declare to you, and the other caciques who are with you, that you must stop human sacrifices, no longer eat the flesh of your relations, and cease all unnatural offences and abominations, for such is the will of the Lord God in whom we believe, whom we adore and from whom come life and death."
One spot in this town I shall never forget. Near a temple I saw piles of human skulls in so regular an order that one could count them. I estimated them at more than one hundred thousand—I repeat, more than one hundred thousand. In another corner of the plaza there were dead men's thigh bones, more than you could count. Besides these, human heads were hanging from beams, and three papas stood guard of these bones and heads. Horrible sights such as this we saw in every town as we got further into the country. Next morning we set out for Tlaxcala, our scouts marching always in advance, our muskets loaded, the matches lighted, our horsemen in close order, in short, ready for action at a moment's notice. Day and night we were on guard. At the small town of Xalacingo we heard that the whole of Tlaxcala was up in arms—thinking that like the Mexicans we came to plunder. We at once despatched two chiefs of Cempoala to say we hoped they would receive us as friends, for we had come as such. We sent also a fluffy, red Flemish hat and a letter. We knew they could not read the letter, but we thought that when they saw the paper unlike their own they would understand it bore a message. The Tlaxcalans, however, seized and threw into prison our messengers and we waited in vain for their return.
Commending ourselves to God, on the third day we set out for Tlaxcala, and then met our two men, who had got out of their prison by the aid of friends. They were stricken with terror at what they had seen and heard. "Now we are going to kill those you call teules," the Tlaxcalans had said to them. "You shall see whether they are as valiant as you say. And we shall eat their flesh, and your flesh, too."[2] Say what our delegates might in contradiction to this, the Tlaxcalans would not accept the truth.
When Cortes and we others heard these haughty words, and how all Tlaxcala was preparing for war, we did not think It a light matter. Nevertheless we one and all cried, "Since it can not be otherwise, forward!—for good luck!" and unfurling our banner we marched on.
Our only discourse now was how we should attack the enemy. You, the reader, may ask why all these preparations with the foe not yet in sight? I answer by repeating Cortes' own words, "Comrades, you know how few we are in numbers and how it behooves us to be on our guard and each moment ready for the enemy, not only as if we saw them approaching, but as if battle had begun. It sometimes happens that they seize the lances with their hands. For such daring we must be prepared. As to the rest, you do not need my advice, for I have found that you do much better than I am able to tell you."
Heartened by discourse such as this, we marched about eight miles when we came to a fort strongly built of stone, lime and other cement, an . entrenchment so constructed as to make it difficult to capture. We halted to inspect the work and Cortes asked the villagers for what purpose it stood there. They answered that because the great Montezuma was continually warring against the Tlaxcalans, they had built the fort to protect their territory. We rested here, at this entrance to a hostile country, till Cortes cried, "Let us follow our standard bearing the sign of the cross, gentlemen. Through that we shall conquer." To which we one and all returned, "Forward! whatever may happen. In God is our strength! "
Continuing our march cautiously, we had not gone far before our scouts saw about thirty Indian spies, who carried lances, shields, and broad swords edged with flint and sharper than ours of steel, and wore feathers in their hair. Cortes ordered some of our horsemen to try and capture one without wounding him. When the thirty found our horsemen coming towards them and beckoning to them with their hands, they began to retreat slowly and so to mass themselves that our men could not capture one. They also struck at our horses and wounded them, and by this action so heated the blood of our men that they killed five of the thirty. Upon this a swarm of more than three thousand warriors rushed furiously from ambush, pouring a shower of arrows and fire-hardened darts upon our horsemen. Our cannon, which we now fired, forced them to give ground, and they, keeping their ranks, retreated. Four of our men were wounded and seventeen of the foe lay dead. When we had gone into night quarters near a brook we found that they had abandoned their homes at war summons and had carried away the dogs which they breed for food. But in the night the animals escaped and came back to their familiar homes and we caught many. They made a rather good supper.
Next morning, after we had commended ourselves to God in prayer, we set out with each company marching in close order, our horsemen particularly guardful that the foe should not break our ranks and divide our company. And as we marched two armies of warriors, about six thousand men, came up with terrific din of trumpets, drums and yells, flying arrows at us, hurling their darts, and conducting themselves with every show of valor. Cortes now ordered us to halt and he sent forward three prisoners of the day before to say that we came to them as brothers and wished them to stay hostilities. When our three go-betweens began to speak the Indians attacked us the more furiously, so that we could not stand idly waiting. "Santiago!" cried Cortes. "On to them!" and in an instant our firearms answered so sharply that numbers were killed and wounded. They now retired to some ravines where forty thousand warriors, all wearing his red and white colors, lay in ambush with their general in chief, Xicotenga. The ground of the ravine was uneven and our horsemen were useless in the passage of it, while the enemy plied us with arrows, lances and stones; but when we had gained level ground we paid them back richly. We dared not break our ranks, for the instant any soldier left the formation he was set upon and wounded. Then, too, we had to keep close together in order not to be cut off. We could do little contending with twenty different divisions and completely surrounded. And then the Indians kept constantly trying to blind us by throwing handfuls of sand in our faces. It was pretty hot work.
But shoulder to shoulder we pushed forward and saved ourselves from defeat. One of their objects was to capture one of our horses, and in this they did not fail, for as Pedro de Moron on his well trained mare was charging with three other horsemen, the Indians wrenched the lance out of his hand and gave his mare such a terrific cut with a broadsword that she fell dead. We saved Moron, whom they were dragging away half killed, but the mare we had to let go, cutting her girths in order to save the saddle. They carried her off and afterwards cut her in pieces to show in the towns of Tlaxcala, and we learned that they offered to their idols her shoes, along with the red Flemish hat and the letter we had sent.
We had fought for a good hour. Every man had done his duty. On this second day of September, 1519, we had been in greater jeopardy than ever before, and now as our enemy retreated we could hardly stand from over-fatigue. We gave hearty thanks to God who had delivered us from such peril, and fell back to some temples, which were strong and lofty. Posting patrols and scouts, we dressed the wounds of our men and horses, made a good supper off dogs and poultry and lay down to rest and sleep until morning. We never could discover how many Tlaxcalans we had slain and wounded, for it is their custom to carry any Indian off the field as soon as he is hurt or dead.
The next we made a day of rest, laying in a stock of arrows and repairing our crossbows. Cortes said it would do no harm if our horsemen should gallop up and down the country a little, otherwise the Tlaxcalans might think we had had enough of fighting. Of the Indians we had captured, two we set at liberty to tell the chief of the Tlaxcalans that we merely wished to take the road through their country to Mexico, there to speak with Montezuma. The two went to Xicotenga's camp, and punctually returned with the message that we might go to the town where his father lived, where they would make peace after they had satiated themselves on our flesh and had honored their gods with our hearts and blood. Tired out with battles, we did not relish this haughty answer.
Cortes now made the most careful enquiries about the forces of Xicotenga, and we learned that he had many more troops than when he attacked us before—five chiefs, each commanding ten thousand men. They had brought out their banner and standard—a large white bird like an ostrich, with wings outspread as if on point of flight. Besides this, each cacique had his own particular colors and Insignia, just as do our dukes and earls In Spain. We were human beings and feared death, and when we heard these facts, and learned from other Indian captives that they were true, we spent the whole of the night in repenting our sins and in offering fervent prayers that the Almighty would save us from defeat.
Next morning, September 5th, 1519, we equipped ourselves for battle, and we had not gone quarter of a mile when we saw the fields covered with warriors bearing on their heads huge feather crests, waving their colors and making terrific noises with' horns and trumpets. The pen that would seek to describe what we here saw would find a difficult task. It was a battle of as fearful and doubtful event as well could be—a plain six miles in breadth swarming with warriors, and in the midst four hundred men, the greater part wounded and knocked up with fatigue;—four hundred men, I say, knowing their foe had marched out to battle with the determination to leave none alive save those they would sacrifice to their idols.
What a shower of arrows and stones they poured upon us! The ground was literally covered with javelins, double-edged and sharp enough to pierce any armor. They fought like very furies, but we used our heavy guns, muskets and crossbows with such effect, and our cavalry in particular bore themselves so valiantly, that they, next the Almighty, were our bulwark. The enemy were themselves so many and so closely crowded, and also part of their forces so divided by quarrels, that at last they lost courage and retreated. Our horsemen followed them but a short distance, for from fatigue they could not sit upon their horses.
When at last we found ourselves free from attack we gave fervent thanks to God. We had lost one soldier killed, but sixty were wounded, as well as all the horses. They gave me two wounds, one on the head with a stone, and one by an arrow piercing my ankle, but neither disabled me for duty and fighting till the end.
Oh! the distress we suffered! We had neither oil nor salt for our wounds. And we had no clothes to shelter us from the sharp winds that blew from the snow mountains and shook us with cold. Lances, crossbows and muskets make poor coverlets. But we slept that night, and more soundly than on the night before, for we had regulated our outposts and patrols.
In the last battle we had taken three Indian caciques. These Cortes sent to the chieftains of Tlaxcala, begging them to make peace and permit our march through their country to Mexico, as we had already asked; that if they would not now come to terms, we would fight till we had slain them all—which would grieve us, for we were well disposed and would gladly believe them brothers.
Our delegates came betimes to the capital of Tlaxcala and gave their message to the caciques, whom they found in council with the elders and papas. Defeat and the death of friends had made them sorrowful, and they were unwilling to listen to our messengers until they had summoned their soothsayers, priests and fortune-tellers and bidden them find from their sorceries and magic spells just what sort of people we were, and if fighting us day and night they could overcome us; and also to tell them what we ate and if we were really teules, that is, gods, as the Cempoalans said.
Upon this the papas and wizards got together in great numbers and began their enchantments, and finally by their arts discovered that we were humans made of flesh and blood, that, as they did, we ate dogs, fowls, bread and fruit, if we could get them, but we did not devour the flesh of those we had slain. The worst things these priests and wizards said of us was that we were very valiant during the day, but became helpless as soon as the sun went down.
This last finding furnished a capital hint to the caciques; and Xicotenga did not fail to draw out ten thousand of his bravest troops and fall upon us by night. They implicitly believed they should capture and sacrifice us to their gods. But silently as they approached, and furiously as they charged, they found us on guard, and we gave them so rough a reception with our muskets and cut them so vigorously with our swords, that they soon turned their backs, our cavalry pursuing by the bright light of the moon.
It was on the following morning that we saw our true condition. Not one among us who had not one, two or three wounds, and all were weakened by fatigue and hardship. Fifty-five of us had died in battle or from disease and the great cold, and Cortes and the Padre de Olmedo were suffering from fever. Naturally we began to think what would be the final outcome of our undertaking. If the Tlaxcalans, whom we thought peacefully minded toward us, could reduce us to such straits, what would become of us when we met the great armies of against Montezuma? Plainly among us there were plenty of valiant gentlemen and soldiers who brought wisdom to our councils, whom Cortes always consulted—in fact, he did nothing without first consulting us.
But after a few days, and after the Tlaxcalans had intrigued and made other attacks, the Almighty inclined the hearts of the caciques to make peace with us. Men of theirs of good understanding finally met in one of the chief towns, and when they sat in council an elder of the first rank addressed them, as we afterwards learned, to the following effect: "Brothers and friends, you know how often these teules, who are now in our country and ready to fight, have asked us for peace, saying they have come as brothers to aid us. You know the number of prisoners they have taken and never harmed, but set free. You know how three times we attacked them and failed to conquer. Again they ask us to make peace; and the Cempoalans who are with them assure us that they are enemies of Montezuma and his Mexicans. You well know that the Mexicans have every year for more than one hundred years made war on us, and have completely shut us in our territory so that we dare not go beyond to fetch salt for our food or cotton for our clothes. If any of our people venture beyond our limits, they rarely return alive. The perfidious Mexicans and their allies kill them or make them slaves. Our wizards and papas have told us what they think of these teules; that they are very valiant we know. Let us seek friendship with them. Whether they be men or teules, let us welcome them. Let us send chiefs to their camp with food for them to eat, and offer them peace so that they may aid us against our enemies."
All the caciques hearing this speech approved it, and at once notified their general to stay hostilities. Xicotenga, however, would not listen. He became very angry and cried out he was not for peace, that already he had killed many of the teules and one of their horses, and he would fall on us the next night and kill us all. But the advice of the wise elders finally prevailed, and after some delay ambassadors, clothed in cloaks half red and half white, came to our camp to negotiate peace.
When they reached the quarters of Cortes they incensed him by burning copal before him and paid him other forms of respect, and they said they wished to be admitted to our friendship and do homage to our king; that they had taken up arms against us because they then believed we had been sent by the treachery of Montezuma, but they now were convinced that in alliance with us they might live in security and peace. Cortes with every friendly expression seated them by his side and told them we should in the future look upon them as vassals of our emperor and as our friends, and that we would visit their city at once if it were not for some business we were carrying through with Montezuma.
Ambassadors from Mexico were present during the whole of this interview and heard all the promises made, and when the Tlaxcalans had withdrawn they half laughingly remarked to Cortes that he should not trust such assurances; they were nothing but treacherous tricks, for the Tlaxcalans merely intended, failing to conquer us in open combat, to get us into their town and kill us. Cortes told the ambassadors that he was not troubling himself about the Tlaxcalan intentions; and when the Mexicans found him thus determined they begged him to wait six days in our camp that they might send messengers to Montezuma. Faithful to their word, within six days six Mexican chief men arrived from the great city with a rich present of gold trinkets wrought in various shapes and two hundred pieces of cotton cloth interwoven with feathers. When they offered these to Cortes they told him Montezuma was delighted to hear of our success, but he prayed him most earnestly not to go with the people of Tlaxcala to their town, and on the whole not to trust them, for they were merely wishing to rob us of our gold and cloth and were themselves so poor they did not have a single decent cotton cloak.
At this very moment delegates arrived from Tlaxcala saying all the old caciques of the town were coming to conduct us to their quarters, for finding we did not come, they determined to seek after us, and so they had set out, some in litters, some on foot. When they had come before Cortes and had done their ceremonies of respect, our captain said he thanked them for the food they had continually been sending and for other deeds, and the sole reason he had not visited their city was that he had not any one to move the tepuzques, as they termed our cannon. "Was it nothing but that!" they cried. "And you could not tell us!" and in less than half an hour five hundred porters were on the spot and early next day we were marching towards their town.
- ↑ In Aztec names x represents the English sound sh.
- ↑ "Terrible as such rites may seem to us, it may be taken as certain that they were regarded almost with equanimity by the Mexicans. Death by sacrifice was considered the normal death of a fighting man, and ensured entrance to the paradise of the Sun. Instances occur where men have deliberately demanded death on the sacrificial stone. . . . The very cannibalism which, to a limited extent, formed the occasional sequel to human sacrifice, becomes divested of much of its horror when it is remembered that the rite was, in essentials, an act of communion with the deity, with whom the victim was identified." "Mexican Archæology," by Thomas A. Joyce.