The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2)

They gave us many similar precautions, and our captain assured them how grateful he was for it, and otherwise showed them every possible kindness, made them and the other caziques various presents, and divided among them a great portion of the fine stuffs which had been presented to him by Motecusuma. Cortes at the same time remarked to the caziques, that it would be the best possible thing if peace and friendship could be brought about between themselves and the Mexicans, that they might no longer continue in the disagreeable necessity of making shift with other things for want of cotton, salt, and other wares.

To this Xicotencatl immediately replied, "That with the Mexicans a treaty of peace was a mere formality: enmity, nevertheless, always clung fast to their hearts. It was the characteristic of this people to plot the foulest treacheries under the semblance of profound peace. No reliance could be placed on their promises, their words were empty sounds, and he could not remind and beg of us too often to be upon our guard against the snares of this vile people."31

Next came into consideration the route we should take in our march to Mexico. Motecusuma's ambassadors, who still remained with us, and wished to act as our guides, maintained that the best and most level road lay through the town of Cholulla, whose inhabitants, as subjects of Motecusuma, would be ready to lend any assistance.

We were also unanimously of opinion that this was the road we ought to take; but the caziques of Tlascalla, on the contrary, were quite downcast, when they learnt our determination, and maintained that we ought to march over Huexotzinco, whose inhabitants were their relatives and friends, and that we ought not to take our road through Cholulla, where Motecusuma was accustomed to form his vile stratagems. Their arguments, however, were of no avail: Cortes adhered to his resolution of marching over that town. His reason for taking that road was because this town, according to general report, was thickly populated, had many beautiful towers, and large cues and temples, and lay in a beautiful valley, surrounded by extensive townships well stocked with provisions. Indeed, at that time even, Cholulla, when viewed at a distance, had the appearance of our great city of Valladolid of Old Castile. At Cholulla, moreover, we should have our friends of Tlascalla in the immediate neighbourhood; we could not, therefore, select a more proper spot to form our plans of reaching the city of Mexico without coming into contact with the great body of its troops. For in all truth, if God had not mercifully assisted us with his heavenly arm, and lent us strength in the moment of need, it would not have been possible for us to have achieved what we did!

After a long deliberation thus, the route over Cholulla was fixed upon, and Cortes sent to acquaint the inhabitants with our intentions, more particularly as, notwithstanding they dwelt so near, they had despatched no ambassadors to us, nor shown any of those attentions which were due to us who came in the name of our great monarch, who, he added, had the good of the people of Cholulla at heart. He at the same time desired that all the caziques and papas of the town should repair to our quarters, and swear allegiance to our sovereign and master, otherwise he should look upon them as our enemies.

While Cortes was despatching this message, and making other arrangements, it was announced to him that four ambassadors had arrived with presents in gold from the powerful Motecusuma, who, indeed, never despatched any messengers from his court if not provided with presents by him. He would have considered it an insult offered to us if he had not done so. I will relate in the following chapter what message these ambassadors brought.

CHAPTER LXXX

How the great Motecusuma despatched four ambassadors to us, all men in high authority, with presents in gold and cotton stuffs, and what they said to our captains.

When Cortes admitted the four ambassadors into his presence they paid him and we other warriors, who stood around his person, the most profound respect, and placed before him the presents, consisting of valuable gold trinkets of various workmanship, worth about 10,000 pesos; and in ten packages of cotton stuffs, most beautifully interwoven with feathers: all of which our general received with a friendly smile. They then said that their monarch could not help feeling astonished that we had made such a long stay among a poor and uncivilized people, who were even not fit for slaves, but at the same time so viciously disposed, so treacherous and thievish, that some day or night when we least expected it they would murder us merely for the sake of plunder. Motecusuma begged of us rather to visit his town, where, at least, we might enjoy the good things it offered, though even these should be below our deserts, and not equal to what he could wish. We should be regularly supplied with the necessary provisions, though these had all to be brought into their city from other parts.

These expressions of friendship were merely sent by Motecusuma in order to entice us from Tlascalla, being aware that we stood in close friendship with its inhabitants, and that the caziques to strengthen the union had given their daughters to Malinche and his officers. For he would easily conjecture that nothing good could ensue to the Mexicans from our alliance with them, and this was the reason why he baited us with gold and other presents that we might enter into his territory, or that we should, at least, quit the country of the Tlascallans.

The Tlascallans were personally acquainted with these ambassadors, and they told our captain that all of them were great personages and landed proprietors, who had subjects of their own. These ambassadors Motecusuma employed on the most important matters only. Cortes returned them many thanks, in the most flattering manner, for their civilities and the expressions of friendship they made in the name of their monarch, and he desired them to say that in a short time he would pay his respects to him. He then invited them to pass some time amongst us.

About this time Cortes also sent two of our chief officers in advance to communicate with Motecusuma and view the great city of Mexico, and inspect its strong fortifications and other works of defence. These officers were Alvarado and Vazquez de Tapia. They set out on their march, and the four ambassadors who had brought the last present remained with us as hostages. Our two officers were accompanied by the other messengers who had previously arrived. At that time I was suffering from a severe wound, accompanied by fever, and could procure no medicine to relieve my sufferings, so that I cannot now recall to my memory how far these two officers proceeded on their journey: this, however, I have not forgotten, that as soon as it was known that Cortes had sent these cavaliers at a venture to Mexico, it met with universal disapprobation, and we desired that they might be recalled from their journey, as nothing could ensue from this but a mere view of that city; and a despatch was accordingly sent after them, with orders for their immediate return to our camp. They were not long returning, as Tapia had been attacked by fever on the road. When the ambassadors who accompanied them related this to Motecusuma, he was very curious to know something about the features and the height of these two teules, who had been on their way to Mexico, and whether they were officers. These ambassadors, it appears, informed him, that Alvarado was a man whose countenance was particularly graceful and noble, shone like the sun, and that he was an officer. They had indeed taken a faithful likeness of him, and gave him the name of Tonatio,32 which he retained ever after among them, and signifies the Sun, son of the Sun. Of Tapia, that he was a man of a very stately deportment, powerful, and likewise a chief officer. Motecusuma was sorely grieved to hear of their return; his ambassadors, however, had correctly delineated their physiognomies and stature: for Alvarado was in every sense beautifully proportioned in body, noble in his gait, had very pleasing features, and an amiable manner of expressing himself, so that there always appeared a smile on his countenance; in the same way Tapia, notwithstanding a certain expression of bodily strength which he had about him, had great nobleness in his carriage.

For the rest, we were not a little delighted when they reappeared in our quarters; nor did we make a secret of our opinion, that their mission had not exactly been the most prudent of Cortes' resolves. But I will say nothing further of this matter, as it has little to do with my history.

CHAPTER LXXXI

How the inhabitants of Cholulla despatched four Indians to us, all men of no distinction, to apologise for not having visited us in Tlascalla, and what further happened.

I mentioned in the preceding chapter that our captain had sent a message to Cholulla, inviting the inhabitants of that town to visit us in Tlascalla. When the caziques there received this message, they merely thought proper to send us four Indians of mean rank, and apologised for not appearing themselves, on account of indisposition. These messengers neither brought any provisions nor anything else with them, but in a few dry words offered the excuse just mentioned.

The caziques of Tlascalla who were present when these messengers arrived, were struck with their appearance, and remarked to Cortes that this message was a real insult to him and all of us, since these messengers were Macehuales,33 and people of mean condition.

This circumstance induced Cortes to despatch four Indians of Sempoalla to Cholulla, telling them to acquaint the inhabitants there that he should expect an embassy from them within the space of three days, consisting of men of rank and authority. The distance between them and him was merely twenty miles, and if no one appeared within the stated time, he should consider the town of Cholulla in rebellion against us. If, however, the embassy he required did make its appearance, it was his intention to reveal matters of importance to them, for the salvation of their souls, and salutary to their whole existence; he would then also look upon them as friends and brothers, in the same way as he considered their neighbours the Tlascallans. If, however, our proposals met with their entire disapprobation, and if they did not consider our friendship worthy of acceptance, we should be far from troubling them with our presence.

When the inhabitants of Cholulla were made acquainted with this friendly declaration, they sent word that the reason why they could not come to Tlascalla was, because they were at enmity with the inhabitants, and were well aware how they and their ruler Motecusuma had been slandered by them: we had merely to quit the town of Tlascalla and the boundaries of that province, and if then they did not do their duty towards us, we might look upon them in the light we had threatened, and treat them accordingly.

Our captain considered this excuse perfectly reasonable, and we therefore resolved upon marching to Cholulla. When the caziques of Tlascalla saw that our determination was fixed, they thus addressed Cortes: "Then you rather put your trust in what the Mexicans say, than in us who are your friends? We have often impressed on your mind how particularly you should be upon your guard with the people of Cholulla, and against the power of Mexico in general; however, in order that you may have assistance in case of need, we have armed 10,000 of our warriors to accompany you."

Cortes expressed his thanks to these excellent men for their good wishes, and deliberated with us as to the policy of entering with such a large army into a country whose friendship we were desirous of gaining. After mature consideration, we came to the conclusion that 2000 men would be a sufficient number to join us, and Cortes accordingly begged our friends for so many, and the rest were thus forced to remain at home.

CHAPTER LXXXII

How we arrived in the town of Cholulla, and the brilliant reception we met with.

Early one morning we broke up our quarters, and left for the town of Cholulla. We marched onward in the best order possible; for, as I have before remarked, we were always doubly on our guard wherever we suspected hostilities. The first day's march brought us to a river which flows about four miles this side of Cholulla, and we took up our night's quarters at a spot where now a stone bridge is built across the river. Here, huts and messrooms had been erected for our accommodation.

This same night ambassadors arrived from the caziques of Cholulla, all personages of the first rank, to bid us welcome in their territory. They brought us provisions, consisting of fowls and maise-bread, and announced to us that all the caziques and papas would call to give us a friendly reception, and begged we would excuse them for not having come out immediately. Cortes returned them thanks through Doña Marina and Aguilar for the provisions and their kind intentions; we then laid ourselves down to rest, after we had posted the necessary sentinels and ordered the patrols.

With break of day we put ourselves in motion, and marched direct for the town, within a short distance of which we were met by the caziques, papas, and numbers of other Indians who had come out to welcome us. Most of them were clad in a species of cotton cloak, similar in shape to our marlotas.34 These cloaks are also worn by the Capotecas Indians. They all appeared friendly, and well-disposed towards us. The papas carried along with them earthern censors, with which they perfumed our officers and those soldiers who stood nearest.

When the papas and other chief Indians saw the Tlascallans who had accompanied us, they begged of Doña Marina to remind Cortes that it was not proper for their enemies to enter into the town with weapons in their hands. Cortes then ordered the officers and the whole of us to halt, and spoke to us as follows: "I am of opinion, gentlemen, that, previous to our entering into Cholulla, we should, by kind words, elicit from these papas and caziques what their real intentions are. They seem hurt that these our friends the Tlascallans should have accompanied us, and are, indeed, perfectly right in what they say; wherefore it is my intention to acquaint them, in a mild manner, with our reasons for visiting their city. You know already, from the Tlascallans, that these people are treacherous by nature; it is, therefore, most prudent we should first desire them to take an oath of allegiance to our sovereign."

He then desired Doña Marina to call the caziques and papas around him where he sat on horseback, all of us being close at his side. Three of the principal caziques and two papas immediately appeared in Cortes' presence, and addressed him thus: "Malinche, you must not harbour any suspicion against us for not having come to Tlascalla to pay our respects to you there, and because we did not send you any provisions. We were not wanting in good wishes towards you, but Maxixcatzin, Xicotencatl, and the whole of Tlascalla are at enmity with us. They have too grossly slandered us and our great monarch, and now they no longer abide by words, but have the audacity to be upon the point of entering, all armed, into our city, under your protection. We earnestly beg you will tell them to return to their own country, or at least command them to remain outside in the fields, and not to march into our city in such a manner. The rest of you are at liberty to enter at any time, and are perfectly welcome."

As soon as our captain was informed of this their reasonable request he sent for Alvarado and Oli, and commissioned them to beg of the Tlascallans to erect themselves huts and barracks outside the town, and not to follow us there except those of them who transported our heavy guns, and our friends of Sempoalla. These officers were, at the same time, to inform them what had occasioned these orders, and the great fear in which all the caziques and papas stood of them; that they should be duly informed of the day when we commenced our march through Cholulla to Mexico; lastly, they were desired not to grieve on account of this change.

When the inhabitants of Cholulla perceived the arrangements which Cortes had made respecting the Tlascallans, they appeared more easy; upon which Cortes acquainted them that our sovereign and master, whose subjects we were, was a powerful monarch, who had under his command many great kings and caziques. We were sent by him into this country to acquaint them, in his name, that, in future, they were no longer to worship idols, make human sacrifices, eat human flesh, and were to abstain from committing unnatural crimes, and all other abominations. We had come to their town because the road to Mexico lay through it, whither we were going to hold a conference with the great Motecusuma; and we were also desirous of considering them as brothers. Cortes further said that other great caziques had already sworn obedience and submission to our sovereign, and he hoped they would follow their example.

In answer to this, they said that we really demanded too much; we had scarcely seen them before we required of them to abolish their teules, which they could not think of complying with; but as regarded doing homage to our sovereign, in so far they would yield to our wishes. They accordingly made a verbal promise of allegiance, but not with the usual formalities, in presence of a royal notary; upon this we made our entry into the city of Cholulla. The tops of the houses and streets were everywhere crowded with people to gaze upon us. And who can wonder? They had never before seen men like ourselves, nor any horses! Through this mass of people we were conducted to our quarters, consisting of several large apartments, in which all of us, with our friends of Sempoalla and the Tlascallans who transported our baggage, found plenty of room, and we were immediately supplied with abundance of good victuals.

CHAPTER LXXXIII

How the inhabitants of Cholulla concerted a plan, at the instigation of Motecusuma, to murder us all, and what further happened.

The splendid reception we met with at Cholulla was certainly well meant and honest on the part of the inhabitants, yet a most rapid change took place. Motecusuma, namely, through his ambassadors, had concocted a plan with the inhabitants to murder us all. The latter were ordered to arm themselves in all secrecy, and act in concert with 20,000 of his troops, who were already on their road, and would enter Cholulla by stealth, when they were to fall upon us unawares in a body, harass us day and night, take as many of us prisoners as they could, and send us bound to Mexico. These orders were accompanied with great promises and presents of jewels, and other precious things, – among them a golden drum. The papas also received instructions to sacrifice twenty of us to their idols.

All this was nicely planned, and ready to burst forth. Motecusuma's troops lay for a part hid among the woods, about two miles from Cholulla; another portion had been secretly admitted into the dwellings of the Cholullans. All were well armed, and the balconies of the houses had been strengthened by breastworks, the streets barricaded by heaps of earth, and intersected by deep holes, so as to render our horse useless. Some houses had even been filled with neck-straps, ropes made of twisted hides, and long poles, to which we were to be bound and transported to Mexico. But the Almighty had willed this otherwise, and all their designs were frustrated, as the kind reader will shortly see.

For the present we were lodged in good quarters, and received a regular and plentiful supply of provisions during the first days; and though all seemed in profound peace, we did not relax in our excellent custom of keeping a sharp look-out: and, indeed, a visible change was taking place, for, on the third day, provisions were no longer brought us, nor did any cazique or papa make his appearance among us: if any Indian did approach our quarters from curiosity, he merely came with derisive smiles, as if to convey that something unexpected was going to befall us. Cortes, perceiving this, desired the ambassadors of Motecusuma, who still remained with us, to order the caziques to send us provisions as usual. Some wood and water was now indeed brought us, but the old man who came with it assured us that there was no more maise left in Cholulla. That very day even other ambassadors had arrived from Motecusuma, who joined those staying with us, and delivered their monarch's message to Cortes without any show of courtesy, and in an impudent tone of voice, saying that their monarch desired we should not come to his city, as he could not provide for our sustenance there. To this they required an immediate answer, they being in a hurry to return with our reply to Mexico. As soon as Cortes saw what a sad turn affairs had taken, he spoke with much reserve, and answered the ambassadors in the most courteous manner possible, telling them how greatly he was astonished that so powerful a monarch as Motecusuma should so often change his mind: in the meantime he begged of them to postpone their return until the following day, when he would be able to say in how far we could comply with their monarch's wishes.

If my memory is correct, he likewise presented them with a few strings of glass pearls. It is, however, certain that they promised to remain until the morrow.

As soon as this conference had ended, Cortes called us all together, and told us to be particularly upon our guard, as the inhabitants, no doubt, had some evil design in hand. He then sent for the principal cazique, whose name has slipped my memory, and desired him, if he could not come in person, to send some one else; but received an answer that he was indisposed, and that neither he nor any other of the chiefs could come.

Cortes, perceiving this unfavorable aspect of affairs, ordered two papas to be brought into his presence from a large cu35 adjoining our quarters, where several other papas had assembled together. This was accordingly done with every mark of respect due to their persons.

Cortes commenced by presenting each with a chalchihuis, a stone which they prize as much as we do a smaragdus. He then, in a most affectionate manner, inquired of them what had caused the fear which had seized the caziques, the other chiefs, and the papas, and why they no longer called upon us, though we had sent them invitations? One of these papas appeared to hold a superior rank, as of a bishop, above the others; all the cues of the town stood under him, and the inhabitants paid him the profoundest veneration. This personage stated, in reply to Cortes, that the papas did not entertain any fear for us: if the cazique and other chief personages would not make their appearance, he was very willing to call upon them, and he doubted not for an instant but that they would immediately repair to our quarters.

Cortes desired him accordingly to go and call them; in the meantime he would detain the other papa. It was not long before this chief priest reappeared in our quarters, bringing along with him the caziques and the other principal personages of the district. Cortes inquired of them what cause they had had to fear us, and why they no longer sent us anything to eat? adding, that if our stay in their town was burdensome to them, we would leave the very next morning for Mexico, to pay our respects to their monarch Motecusuma: they had merely to furnish us with a requisite number of their porters to convey our baggage and the tepuzques, (that is, our cannon,) and to send us provisions.

The cazique was so embarrassed at what Cortes had said, that he scarcely durst open his mouth; but at length promised us the provisions we required, although he had been, he added, commanded by Motecusuma, his sovereign, to withhold them, and not to allow us to proceed any further on our march.

During this conference, three of our Sempoallan friends entered, and secretly acquainted Cortes that they had found deep holes in the streets adjoining our quarters, which were thinly covered over with sticks and earth, so as to be imperceptible to the eye, unless by close inspection; they had the curiosity to remove the earth from off one of these holes, and found, sticking up at the bottom, numbers of short stakes sharply pointed, and no doubt placed there to wound our horse when they fell into the holes: heaps of stones had been gathered on the tops of the houses, and the latter strengthened by breastworks made of burnt bricks. Every preparation had been made for an attack, and another street was strongly barricaded by large wooden beams. At this same moment eight Tlascallans also arrived from their quarters outside the town, and said to Cortes, "Are you ignorant, Malinche, of the treacherous designs which are going on in this town? We have been given to understand that the Cholullans last night sacrificed seven persons to their god of war, among them five children, in order to obtain from him a promise of victory over you. And we also know that all their goods, wives, and children have been sent out of the town."