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

9

Jardines, or the Caribbee islands, lying along the south coast of Cuba, better known as the Windward and Leeward islands. (p. 51.)

10

Palos, a small town of Spain, lying on the river Tinto. This port produced the best Spanish sailors during the early voyages of discovery, and here also the expedition under Columbus was fitted out. (p. 60.)

11

Ala lala. What a striking similarity there is between this cry and the Turkish Alla il Allah, of which, as Byron says, in one of his notes to the 'Bride of Abydos,' the Turks are very profuse in battle! (p. 75.)

12

This passage is very important, as it shows to what degree of civilization the inhabitants of this district had arrived, and that they were at least skilful in the working of gold. The Spanish words are: "Quatro diademas, unas lagartijas, y dos como perillos, y orejeras, y cinco anades, y dos figuras de caras de Indios, y dos Suelas de Oro, como de sus Cotoras."

The Caras de Indios (faces of Indians) were most probably shaped like masks, for similar ones, made of clay, are found to this day in the vale of Mexico. "Suelas de Oro, como de sus Cotoras," we have ventured to translate "Sandals with golden soles," particularly as Bernal Diaz, in a subsequent chapter, expressly remarks that Motecusuma wore a kind of half-boot with soles of gold. (p. 80.)

13

The bombax ceiba of Linnæus, and one of the tallest trees growing in America. The fruit produces a very fine cotton, resembling silk, used for stuffing bolsters and chair seats. (p. 82.)

14

Cata Francia, Montesinos, &c. This is the first strophe of an old Spanish romance, in which Montesinos the father desires his son to revenge him of his mortal enemy Tomillas:

"Montesinos cast a glance

On your lands, the soil of France;

See how the Duro's sportive motion

Carries its waters to the ocean!" (p. 83.)>

15

On this woman the captain Cadahalso, in his 'Cartas Marruecas,' passes the following encomium: "Primera muger, que no ha prejudicado en uno exercito;" i.e. "The first woman who ever accompanied an army without being a prejudice to it." (p. 85.)

16

These remarkable presents have all been enumerated by Torquemada, (Monarchia Indiana, i, iv, c. 17;) and we cannot do better than give his minute description of them here: "The ambassador of Motecusuma ordered mats to be spread on the ground before Cortes, and over them some cotton cloths, on which he arranged the presents, consisting of large quantities of cotton shirts and other cotton stuffs, beautifully manufactured, and interwoven with feathers of the most splendid colours; bucklers made of the purest white staffs, decorated with feathers, gold, silver, and pearls, surpassing everything in beauty and skilfulness of workmanship that was ever seen. There was also a helmet, tastefully carved out of wood, filled with grains of gold; a casque, made of thin plates of gold, decorated with tassels and stones, resembling the smaragdus; numerous large bunches of feathers of diversified colours, fastened in silver and gold; fans for keeping off flies, made of the rarest feathers; a thousand lockets of gold and silver, of the most curious and beautiful workmanship; bracelets and military decorations of gold and silver, splendidly embossed with green and bright yellow feathers; leather made of deer skin, curried and coloured in the best possible manner; shoes and sandals of the same leather, sewn with thin gold wire, and the soles made of splendid white and blue stone. There were other kinds of shoes, most tastefully manufactured of cotton; mirrors of marcasite, globular shaped, of the size of a fist, and most ingeniously set in gold, the small frame itself being very valuable, and worthy of the acceptance of any crowned head; coverings and curtains to beds, manufactured of various coloured cotton, more glossy and of finer texture than silk; a number of other gold and silver trinkets; a necklace of gold, decorated with upwards of a hundred emeralds, rubies, and various other ornaments of gold; a second necklace, consisting of numbers of large pearls and emeralds, all of the most exquisite workmanship; numerous other gold trinkets in the shape of frogs and animals; jewels in the form of medals, the shrines being even more valuable than the precious stones they contained; a quantity of large and small grains of gold. The most valuable of these presents, however, were two round plates, one of gold, on which was a sun with rays and the zodiac; this weighed above one hundred marks: the other was of silver, which in a similar manner represented the moon, weighing above fifty marks: both were massive, and of the thickness of the Spanish coin of four silver reals, and as large as a waggon wheel. Those who saw these splendid presents said that, without considering the beautiful workmanship, the value of the gold and silver alone amounted to 25,000 castellanos de oro; so that the whole together may well be estimated at 50,000 ducats." (p. 91.)

17

Chalchihuitls; Bernal Diaz calls these Chalchuites. This stone is of a light green colour, at first held in great estimation by the Spaniards, but Torquemada, a contemporary of our author, remarks, (Monarchia, Ind. i, p. 462,) it is a stone on which the Indians set a high value, but not so the Spaniards. He calls it a kind of smaragdus, "the polishing of which the Indians say was taught them by the god Quetzalcohuatl." Bustamente (Historia de la Conquista de Mexico escrita, por Fr. Bernardino Sahagun, Mexico, 1829,) calls it, "Piedra jaspe, mui verde, o sea esmeralda ordinaria," i.e. "A jasper of a very green colour, or a common smaragdus."

This stone represented among the Mexicans everything that was excellent in its kind, for which reason they put such a stone in the mouth of the distinguished chiefs who died. (p. 93.)

18

Costatlan, Bernal Diaz also adds here, "Y este nombre de Culua es en aquella tierra, como si dixessen los Romanos hallados." As this passage is rather obscure, we thought it best to insert it here. The literal translation is: "And this appellation of Culua, in this country, means as much as when one would say, 'the merry Romans.'" In the 31st chapter he makes a similar remark. (p. 102.)

19

Most probably Cortes' despatches of the 16th of July, 1519, which were lost. (p. 125.)

20

Torquemada (Mon., Ind. i, iv, c. 25) gives some additional circumstances respecting this conspiracy; among other things he says, that the pilot Cermeno was so remarkably nimble, that if two of the tallest men held up a lance as high as they could horizontally, he would bound over it with ease by means of another lance. Also that his sense of smelling was so acute that he could scent the land at a distance of sixty miles when at sea; but adds, "aunque no olio esta muerte;" yet he could not smell the nature of his death. (p. 133.)

21

It may appear astonishing to some that grape trees should have been found here, as it is well known that this tree was introduced from Europe into the West Indies; yet it is certainly true that the Spaniards found the wild vine growing in the New World. Oviedo, in his valuable work entitled 'Historia general y natural de las Indias,' says, "These wild vines bear good black grapes, and I have often eaten them myself. I say good, for considering the wild state in which they grow, they are really good. These grapes are found throughout the whole of the West Indies, and I do believe that all other vines have originated from these wild trees." (p. 133.)

22

Of the township of Xocotlan, Torquemada gives some further account, from which we learn more of the condition of the country at the time of the conquest. Olintecl, he says, was lord of 20,000 subjects, and he had thirty wives, who were attended upon by one hundred female servants. The township contained thirteen temples, full of various shaped idols made of stone, to whom were sacrificed men, women, children, pigeons, and quails. Here the Mexican monarch had a garrison of 5000 men, and couriers were stationed at particular distances from each other all the way from the town to the city of Mexico. These nimble pedestrians were always in pairs, that all news might be conveyed to the metropolis with the utmost speed. (p. 142.)

23

Of this fortification Torquemada gives a different account. He says it was a wall of twenty feet in thickness, that it could be defended from the top; had only one entrance, defended by other works within, and was built by a cazique of the country, whom he calls Yztacmixtitlan, to protect the boundaries of his country against the incursions of the Tlascallans. (p. 145.)

24

Agava Americana. (p. 145.)

25

(This note refers to the last sentence of the chapter.) To this custom of the Tlascallans of carrying off their killed and wounded from the field of battle, the historian de Solis partially attributes Cortes' great success in these battles; for as a great number of the enemy were constantly occupied in this work, they naturally offered a less formidable front, and considerable openings were made in their ranks. (p. 147.)

26

This is a very remarkable observation of Bernal Diaz, for the ostrich with outspread wings is also found on the ancient Persian monuments; and this bird, it is well known, is not common to the New World. If we add to this circumstance the repeated questions which were put to the Spaniards by the inhabitants of New Spain, as to whether they came from the region where the sun rises, there is reason for supposing that the tradition which came down to them from their forefathers was not altogether vague; namely, that a people would come from the east and take possession of their country. (p. 150.)

27

During this war the Tlascallans frequently sent provisions to Cortes' troops. This they did partly out of pride, that it might not be said they conquered the Spaniards by famine; partly that the latter might not become meagre in body, but that their flesh might taste savoury when they sacrificed them to their gods, so sure were these brave warriors of victory! (p. 165.)

28

This name Oviedo gives to the fruit of a tree, which he calls macanna, growing in Cuba. (Hippomane Mancinella of Linn.) From the same fruit, according to this historian, the inhabitants prepare the deadly poison in which they dip the points of their arrows. (p. 170.)

29

These figs, Bernal Diaz calls Tuna, which is the Cactus Tuna of Linnæus. (p. 173.)

30

For Marina, as appears from several passages in Torquemada and other writers, was called by the inhabitants Malintziu. (p. 176.)

31

In all the conferences which Cortes had with the Tlascallan chiefs, they showed an excessive hatred to the Mexicans, from which the Spaniards derived great advantages: Gomara, however, would make it appear that the Mexicans could at any time have given the Tlascallans a total overthrow if they had felt so inclined, but that they considered it better policy to attack them from time to time, when they wanted victims for their sacrifices; and then also the younger warriors of Mexico could have frequent opportunities of learning the art of war near to the metropolis, without marching to the distant boundaries of the empire for that purpose. This supposition of Gomara, however, is not founded on anything like fact. (p. 188.)

32

The name which the Mexicans gave to Alvarado was Tonatiuh, the sun. It may naturally be supposed that when the Spaniards first arrived in New Spain, they did not catch the true sound of names. Torquemada, who spent nearly the whole of his life in New Spain, is considered the most correct in this respect. (p. 191.)

33

Bernal Diaz writes, incorrectly, Macegales. By this word the Mexicans denoted the country people, who formed the great mass of the population, who also tilled the ground, and paid to the landowners a third part of the produce. Landed proprietors in Greece, at the present day, are not so generous, for they take two thirds of the produce and allow the tenant only one. (p. 192.)

34

A small kind of cloak, a part of the old Moorish dress, still worn in Spain during festivals. (p. 194.)

35

A temple where human beings were sacrificed to idols. (p. 197.)

Respecting this massacre, Torquemada gives the following remarkable account: The Cholullans, he says, expected that their god Quetzalcohuatl would come to their assistance with some miracle. They believed that at any time, by removing part of the white plaster from the temple, a strong flood of water would instantly burst out, and they were therefore very particular in repairing any little damage that might happen in this way to the temple, by means of chalk mixed with the blood of children two and three years of age, killed for the purpose. It was on this temple that the Cholullans defended themselves with the greatest obstinacy; but the victory soon declaring in favour of the Spaniards, the inhabitants began to loosen the plaster off the outside, firmly believing that a deluge of water would instantly burst forth, and drown the assailants; when finding themselves disappointed in their expectations, they complained bitterly to their god for not rendering them any assistance; refused, however, to capitulate; and numbers flung themselves headlong from the top of the temple, to seek death that way. (p. 204.)

36

Cortes, in his despatches to the emperor, mentions that three thousand Cholullans were killed on this occasion; but Torquemada gives double the number, which is nearer the truth, particularly as Gomara agrees with him.

37

Torquemada sometimes writes this word Tianquitz, sometimes Tiangues, but we find it also written Tianquiztli. By the terminating syllable most likely some particular market is meant; for it is peculiar to the Mexican language to modify the meaning of words in that manner. (p. 205.)

38

Termed by the inhabitants Pulque. (p. 205.)

39

An interesting account of this remarkable building, of which considerable remains are still to be seen, is given by Humboldt, in the 'Atlas Pittoresque.' (p. 206.)

40

It was the god Quetzalcoatl, of whom also an account will be found in the above-mentioned work of Humboldt. (p. 206.)

41

The name is correctly written Motolinia. This was the excellent brother Toribio Benavente, who so greatly exerted himself in converting the Indians to Christianity. He adopted the name of Motolinia on his arrival in New Spain, and the word means, O! the poor man! which the Indians exclaimed when they first beheld the meanness of his attire. (p. 207.)

Miro Nero de Tarpeya,

A Roma como se ardia,

Gritos dan Niños y' viejos,

Y el de nada se dolia.

A translation of these lines will be found in a subsequent note. (p. 208.)

42

Respecting the castigation of the inhabitants of Cholulla, Las Casas, (Brevissima Relacion de la destrucyon de las Indias) asserts, though merely from hearsay, that Cortes, while cutting down the Indians, repeated this verse:

43

It was here probably that Cortes was nigh being shot by one of his own sentinels. Late at night he visited the outposts himself, and one of the sentinels was just upon the point of firing at him, when Cortes fortunately made himself known. (p. 214.)

44

Clavigero says, that a Mexican load was equal in weight to fifty Spanish pounds, or eight hundred ounces, and values the gold which Motecusuma offered to Cortes on this occasion at above three millions of ducats! (p. 216.)

45

Torquemada (Monarch. Ind. lib. iv) gives many reasons why Motecusuma was so undecided as to whether he should allow the Spaniards to enter his metropolis. (p. 216.)

46

Other writers say, that several of the Spaniards could not be persuaded for a length of time that it was not the monarch himself. (p. 218.)

47

Bernal Diaz says, "Tres piedras que se llaman margaritas." Margarita is Spanish for a pearl; yet it is evident our old soldier is not speaking of pearls here, and most likely what he calls stones were nothing more than coloured Venetian glass, which was formerly held in great estimation; for in the next chapter he further describes these stones by "piedras de vidrio," stones of glass. (p. 218.)

48

Cortes, in his despatches, gives even a more glowing description of this charming spot; a strong proof that Bernal Diaz has not said too much of it. (p. 219.)

49

Of this building Torquemada says, it contained apartments in which one hundred and fifty Spaniards slept, each in a separate bed; and that, notwithstanding the magnitude of the building, every place was kept remarkably clean; the floors were covered with mats, and the walls were hung with tapestry of cotton decorated with feathers, and in every room there was a fire, which threw out a delightful perfume. (p. 222.)

50

The real name was Tenuchtitlan, and it was not known by any other name when Cortes first visited the country; for Mexico was a more modern name for this city. (p. 223.)

51

Cortes, in his despatches to the emperor, says that the monarch spoke as follows to him: "We have long known, from the historical books of our forefathers, that neither I, nor the inhabitants of this country, originally belonged to it, but that our forefathers came from distant countries. We also know that the tribe we belong to was brought hither by a monarch to whom it was subject; but this king returned to his own country, nor did he return to visit his people till several years had elapsed, after they had married the daughters of the land, and got large families by them. The monarch came with the view of leading them back to their old country again; however, they not only refused to accompany them, but would no longer acknowledge him as their king. We have always firmly believed that descendants of this monarch would one time or other make their appearance among us, and obtain the dominion of the country. As you, according to your assurances, come from the rising of the sun, we doubt not, after what you have told us of your great monarch, who sent you here, that he is our rightful sovereign; and we have the more reason to believe this, since you tell us that he had some previous knowledge of us." (p. 224.)

52

Torquemada relates that the monarch had made minute inquiries of the interpreters respecting the rank of each Spaniard, and that the value of the presents he intended to give them was to be according to their respective ranks. (p. 228.)

53

This was something like our chocolate, and prepared in the same way, but with this difference, that it was mixed with the boiled dough of maise, and was drunk cold. (p. 230.)

54

Respecting the custom of smoking among the Mexicans, Humboldt gives the following, in his work on New Spain: "The Mexicans called tobacco yetl, which they not only considered a remedy against toothach, cold in the head, and bowel complaints, but they likewise used it as a luxury, by smoking and snuffing it. At Motecusuma's court it was used as a narcotic, not only after dinner, but also after breakfast, to produce a comfortable nap, as is still the custom in many districts of America. The leaves were rolled together like cigars, and then stuck in tubes made of silver, wood, or of shell." (p. 231.)

55

The revenue of Motecusuma we know consisted of the natural products of the country, and what was produced by the industry of his subjects. Respecting the payment of tribute, we find the following story in Torquemada: "During the abode of Motecusuma among the Spaniards, in the palace of his father, Alonso de Ojeda one day espied in a certain apartment of the building a number of small bags tied up. He imagined at first that they were filled with gold dust, but on opening one of them, what was his astonishment to find it quite full of lice? Ojeda, greatly surprised at the discovery he had made, immediately communicated what he had seen to Cortes, who then asked Marina and Aguilar for some explanation. They informed him that the Mexicans had such a sense of their duty to pay tribute to their monarch, that the poorest and meanest of the inhabitants, if they possessed nothing better to present to their king, daily cleaned their persons, and saved all the lice they caught, and that when they had a good store of these, they laid them in bags at the feet of their monarch. Torquemada further remarks, that his reader might think these bags were filled with small worms (gasanillos), and not with lice; but appeals to Alonso de Ojeda, and another of Cortes' soldiers, named Alonso de Mata, who were eyewitnesses of the fact."

This story, no doubt, is founded on something like truth, and most probably these bags were filled with the coccus cacti, the famous cochineal insect, then unknown to the Spaniards, who might easily have mistaken them in a dried state for lice. (p. 231.)

56

This weapon, called by the Mexicans maquahuitl, was much dreaded by the Spaniards; and the historian Acosta relates that the Mexicans would cut off the head of a horse with it at one blow. (p. 231.)

57

Alonso Berruguete, a Spanish artist, who rose to great eminence in painting, architecture, and sculpture. He received great protection from Charles the Fifth, who employed him in considerable works in the Alhambra of Granada and elsewhere. (p. 233.)

58

Bernal Diaz, unfortunately, gives no description of Motecusuma's palace; we will therefore give Torquemada's account of this remarkable building. He himself, however, never saw it, but chiefly gained his information from the Mexicans themselves, who may have exaggerated a little: Motecusuma's palace had twenty doors, which either opened into the large square or into the principal streets of the city; it had three large courts, and in one of them was a tank, supplied with water by the aqueduct of Chapultepec. The palace contained a number of halls, and a hundred rooms twenty-five feet long and as many broad, each provided with a bath. Everything was built of stone and lime. The walls were covered with beautiful stones, marble, jasper, porphyry, and a block stone, which is so highly polished that you might use it for a looking-glass; besides these, there was a white stone, almost transparent. All the woodwork was made of white cedar, palm, cypress, pine, and other fine woods, adorned with beautiful carved-work. In one of the apartments, which was one hundred and fifty feet long and fifty broad, was Motecusuma's chapel, which was covered with plates of gold and silver almost the thickness of a finger, besides that it was decorated with innumerable emeralds, rubies, topaz, and other precious stones. (p. 235.)

59

This slimy substance the Mexicans called tecuitlatl, or excrement of stone. It was made into various shapes, and dried in the sun. (p. 237.)

60

According to Torquemada, this word expressed the number 8000 of anything, whether of cacao beans, troops, or other matters. (p. 237.)

61

Cacao nuts should be cacao beans; they were used by the Mexicans as small coin, and even to this day, according to Humboldt, they form the smallest coin among the inhabitants of New Spain. (p. 238.)