Bernal Diaz del Castillo
The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2)
When the caziques, papas, and the other principal personages heard this, all of which Doña Marina most intelligibly interpreted to them, they confessed that what Cortes had said was perfectly correct, but added, that they were not the guilty persons, everything having been done at the instigation of Motecusuma's ambassadors, in accordance with his commands. To which Cortes answered, "That the Spanish laws did not allow such treachery to pass by unpunished, and that they would be punished for it with the loss of their lives." At this moment he ordered a cannon to be fired, which was the signal for us to fall upon them.
A great number of these people were put to the sword, and some were burnt alive, to prove the deceitfulness of their false gods. Before a couple of hours had elapsed our friends of Tlascalla came storming out of their camp into the town, and fought courageously with the troops of Cholulla in the streets, who strove to drive them back. They then dispersed themselves about the town for the sake of plunder, and taking prisoners; nor were we able to prevent them. The following day more troops arrived from Tlascalla, who committed worse depredations, so deeply rooted was their hatred against Cholulla. At length our compassion was aroused, and we ordered the Tlascallans to stay all further hostilities, and Cortes commanded all the chiefs into his presence, when he addressed them at some length, and requested them to return to their camp, which they accordingly complied with, the Sempoallans alone remaining within the town.36
While all this was going on, several caziques and papas arrived from other quarters of the town, who were said to have taken no part in this treacherous movement; which may, indeed, have been the case, as in this large town every quarter had its own regiment and peculiar regulations. These people begged Cortes and all of us to pardon them, as the real traitors had now received their deserved punishment. In this prayer they were joined by our friends, the two papas, who had first discovered the plot to us, and the old wife of the Indian chief, who was to have been Doña Marina's mother-in-law.
Cortes at first appeared very little disposed to listen to their prayers; but at length he sent for the two ambassadors of Motecusuma, whom we had kept in close confinement. He began by telling them, that though the whole town, with all its inhabitants, had merited total destruction, he would, nevertheless, substitute mercy for justice in consideration of their monarch Motecusuma, whose subjects they were; but he expected they would in future show a better disposition towards us, and give us no further cause to renew such a scene as had just taken place, otherwise they would undoubtedly forfeit their lives. He next sent for the caziques of the Tlascallan camp, and ordered them to liberate the prisoners they had taken, as they had now sufficiently revenged themselves. It was with difficulty we could persuade the Tlascallans to comply with this, for they maintained that the Cholullans had deserved a good deal more at their hands for the many times they had suffered from them; however, as it was Cortes' wish, they liberated a great number of their captives; but carried off a great deal of booty, consisting in gold, cloaks, cotton, salt, and other matters.
Cortes then brought about a reconciliation between these two tribes, and as far as I know, the good understanding which grew up between them was never after disturbed. He then desired the caziques and papas to order all the inhabitants into the town again, and to open the tiangues37 or markets, at the same time assuring them that no further harm should befall them. The chiefs accordingly promised that all the inhabitants should return to the town within the space of five days, as most of them had fled to the woods; and added, that they feared Cortes would elect a cazique to whom they might be averse in the room of him who had been killed in the recent attack. Our general, however, merely inquired who the rightful successor was according to their laws; and on being informed the late cazique's brother, he appointed him governor.
As soon as the town was again filled with people, and the markets frequented as usual, Cortes assembled the papas, chiefs, and the principal inhabitants, and explained to them the nature of our holy religion, and showed them the necessity of abolishing their idolatry and human sacrifices, and their other abominations. He likewise showed them the delusion they lived under with respect to their idols, which were nothing but evil spirits from whom they could expect nothing but falsehood. They should remember how these had lately promised them the victory over us, and how all their promises had terminated. They should, therefore, pull down and destroy those lying and deceitful idols, or leave that work to us, if they declined doing it themselves. At present he desired they would clear and fresh plaster one of their temples, that we might fit it up for a chapel and erect a cross there. These words seemed to cheer them up a little, and they gave a solemn promise to destroy their idols, but continually postponed the fulfilment whenever we put them in mind of it. On this matter father Olmedo set Cortes' mind at ease, by assuring him it would be of little use if even the Indians did abolish their idols, unless they had previously received some notion of our religion and faith. We ought first to see what impression our march into Mexico would make upon them. Time alone could be our surest guide as to our further proceedings. For the present we had done sufficient by admonishing them to piety, and by erecting a cross there.
Respecting the town of Cholulla, I have further to remark; that it lay in a valley, and was surrounded by the townships Tepeaca, Tlascalla, Chalco, Tecamachalco, Huexotzinco, and so many others that I am unable to enumerate them all. The country furnished quantities of maise and various leguminous plants, and particularly maguey, from the sap of which the inhabitants make their wine.38 In the town itself various kinds of earthenware pots are made, embellished with black and white colours, which are burnt in; with these it supplies Mexico and the neighbouring provinces. In this respect Cholulla is equally celebrated in this country, as the towns Talavera and Valencia are in Spain. At that time Cholulla had above a hundred very high towers, the whole of which were cues or temples, on which the human sacrifices were made and their idols stood. The principal cu here was even higher than that of Mexico, though the latter was, indeed, magnificent and very high.39 It is said to have contained one hundred courts, and an idol of enormous dimensions, (the name of which I have forgotten,) which stood in great repute, and people came from various parts to sacrifice human beings to it and bring offerings for the dead.40 I well remember when we first entered this town, and looking up to the elevated white temples, how the whole place put us completely in mind of Valladolid.
I must now say a few words respecting the troops which Motecusuma had despatched here. These lay in ambush in the immediate vicinity of the town, and had planted stakes in the ground, and dug deep holes to render our cavalry incapable of acting. But when they were informed of what had taken place there, they immediately returned to Mexico to bring the intelligence to Motecusuma. However rapidly their departure may have been, we, nevertheless, were immediately apprized of it by the two distinguished personages who were with us. Motecusuma was excessively vexed and grieved at the news, and instantly ordered a number of Indians to be sacrificed to his warrior god Huitzilopochtli, that he might reveal to him whether he should obstruct our march to Mexico, or allow us peaceable entrance into his metropolis. Two whole days did he spend with his papas in devotional exercises, and in sacrificing human beings to his idols, and at length was advised by them to send us ambassadors to apologise for the occurrence at Cholulla. He was further to allow us to march into Mexico, under every show of friendship; but when we had entered the town to deny us provisions and water, break down the bridges, shut us in, and put us all to the sword. If they attacked us in a body, and from all sides at once, not one of us could escape. Not till then were the great sacrifices to be instituted, as well in honour of the warrior-god Huitzilopochtli, who had given the oracle, as in that of the god of hell, Tetzcatlipuca. Our legs, thighs, and arms were to be eaten at their feast, and our entrails, with the remaining part of our bodies, were to be thrown to the serpents and tigers, which they kept confined in wooden cages, as will be mentioned in the proper place.
It may well be imagined that the chastisement we gave the inhabitants of Cholulla spread like wildfire through the whole of New Spain. If, previously, the battles of Potonchan, Tabasco, Cingapacinga, and Tlascalla, had spread the fame of our invincible courage, and obtained for us the name of teules or gods of a fearful nature, we were now looked upon as divinities of a superior order, from whom nothing could be kept a secret, and the greatest veneration was consequently paid to us.
The kind reader has now, no doubt, heard enough of this occurrence at Cholulla, and I myself would gladly break off here, but must add a word or two about the wooden cages we saw in this town. These were constructed of heavy timber, and filled with grown-up men and little boys, who were fattening there for the sacrifices and feasts. These diabolical cages Cortes ordered to be pulled down, and sent the prisoners each to their several homes. He likewise made the chiefs and papas promise him, under severe threats, never again to fasten up human beings in that way, and totally to abstain from eating human flesh. But what was the use of promises which they never intended to keep?
These are, among others, those abominable monstrosities which the bishop of Chiapa, Las Casas, can find no end in enumerating. But he is wrong when he asserts that we gave the Cholullans the above-mentioned chastisement without any provocation, and merely for pastime. I can, however, produce as witnesses to the contrary the pious Franciscan friars who were the first monks our emperor despatched thither after the conquest of New Spain. These venerable men were purposely sent to Cholulla to make the minutest investigation into this affair. They gained all their information from the elders and papas of the town itself, and they were fully convinced that everything had really taken place as I have related above: and, indeed, if we had not made an example here, we should have lived in constant alarm, as we were completely surrounded by Mexican and Cholullan troops, who were everywhere lying in ambush. If we had been destroyed at that time, New Spain would certainly not have been so speedily conquered; a second armament would not so easily have found its way there; and if it had, there would have been hard work with the Indians who defended the coasts; and they would have continued in their idolatrous worship. I have myself heard the very pious Franciscan brother Toribio Motelmea41 say that it would certainly have been better if we could have avoided spilling so much blood, and the Indians had not given us the cause to do so; but it had this good effect, that all the inhabitants of New Spain became convinced that their idols were nothing but deceitful demons, and they experienced how much happier they were when they discontinued to worship them or sacrifice to them; and it is a fact, that the inhabitants of Cholulla, from that moment, cared very little about their idols: they took down the large one from the principal cu, and either hid it somewhere or destroyed it altogether: we, at least, never saw that one again, and they placed another there in its stead.42
CHAPTER LXXXIV
The negotiations we set on foot with the great Motecusuma, and the ambassadors we sent him.
We had now lain a fortnight in Cholulla, and any further stay there would have been waste of time. All the inhabitants had returned to their dwellings, and the markets were again filled with goods and merchants; peace had been concluded between them and their neighbours the Tlascallans; a cross erected, and much of our holy faith explained to the inhabitants. Besides this, we discovered that Motecusuma had sent spies into our quarters to gain intelligence as to our future plans, and whether we really intended marching to his metropolis. His two ambassadors, who were still with us, also forwarded him due information, from time to time, of all that was going on.
Our captain now called a council of war of those officers and soldiers in whom he could place implicit confidence, and of whose wisdom and courage he entertained the highest respect. In this council it was resolved we should despatch a most friendly and flattering message to Motecusuma, as near as possible to the following effect: "We had now, in compliance with the commands of our sovereign, journeyed over many seas, and through far distant countries, solely for the object of paying our personal respects to him, the monarch of Mexico, and of disclosing things to him which would prove of the greatest advantage to him. We chose the road over Cholulla because his ambassadors had proposed that route, and had assured us that the inhabitants were his subjects. We met with the best of receptions, and were well treated during the first two days of our stay there, when we discovered that a vile conspiracy had been set on foot to destroy us all; which, however, could not prove otherwise than a failure, as we were endowed with the faculty of knowing things beforehand, and it was utterly impossible to do anything without our knowledge: we had, therefore, punished a number of those who had concocted that treacherous movement, but we had, at the same time, abstained from punishing all those who had taken part in it, in consideration that the Cholullans were his subjects, and from the deep veneration we entertained for his person, and the great friendship we bore him. It was, however, to be regretted that the caziques and papas should have unanimously declared that all had been done at his commands, and planned by his own ambassadors. Of this, however, we had not believed a single word, as it seemed impossible to us that so great a monarch, who always styled himself our friend, could have consented thereto. On the contrary, we expected from him that, in case his gods had whispered to him to treat us hostilely, he would have attacked us in the open field, although it was all the same to us whether we were to fight about in a town or in the open field, or during night or daytime, as we easily overthrew those who ventured to attack us. As we were fully convinced of his friendship, and were very desirous to make his personal acquaintance, and to discourse with him, we intended marching to Mexico to lay our monarch's commission before him."
When Motecusuma received this message, and found that we in no way considered him implicated in the occurrence which had taken place at Cholulla, he again, as we were told, began to fast with his papas, and to sacrifice to his gods, of whom he wished to know whether he was to admit us into his metropolis or not. They pronounced in the affirmative, as, when we were once there, he would be able to slay us at his pleasure. His chief officers and papas were of the same opinion, and thought that, if he did not admit us into the city, we might commence hostilities against his subjects, and call in the assistance of the Tlascallans, the Totonaque, and other tribes who were at enmity with the Mexicans, and in alliance with us. To obviate all this, the surest way would be to follow the wise counsel which Huitzilopochtli had given.
The day had now arrived which had been fixed for our departure, and, just as we were about to break up our quarters, other ambassadors arrived, with presents from Motecusuma.
CHAPTER LXXXV
How the powerful Motecusuma sends a valuable present in gold to us, and the message which accompanied it, and how we all agree to commence our march upon Mexico; and what further happened.
When Motecusuma was made acquainted with what we said concerning our friendship towards him, and the confident manner in which we had expressed ourselves, he again felt embarrassed, and was amazed at the idea that nothing could be concealed from us, and that he might attack us whenever he liked, within the city walls or in the open field, by day or by night, it was all the same to us. He thought of our war with the Tlascallans, of the battles we had fought at Potonchon, Tabasco, Cingapacinga, and Cholulla, and grew quite perplexed and dispirited. He several times altered his resolutions, until at last he determined upon sending us six of his principal courtiers with a present in gold and trinkets of various workmanship, worth altogether above 2000 pesos, besides several packages of cotton stuffs most beautifully manufactured.
When these messengers were introduced into Cortes' presence, they touched the ground with their hands, and kissed it, and thus addressed our general, with signs of the deepest veneration: "Malinche! our ruler and monarch, the mighty Motecusuma, sends you this present, and begs you will accept of it with the same kind feeling he bears you and your brothers: he at the same time desires us to express his regret for the late occurrence at Cholulla, and to assure you it would be pleasing to him if you would castigate that evil-minded and lying people more severely, since they had wished to heap the infamy of their vile proceedings upon him and his ambassadors. We might (they continued) rest assured of his friendship, and repair to his metropolis as soon as we should think proper. Being as we were men of vast courage, and the ambassadors of so great a monarch, he would receive us with due honours, and only regretted that, owing to the situation of his metropolis in the midst of a lake, he should not be able to furnish our table with the victuals he otherwise could wish. The greatest respect would everywhere be paid us, and he had also sent orders to the different townships we should pass through to furnish us with everything we required." Besides these, there were many other civilities they mentioned in their monarch's name.
Cortes, to whom our interpreters had explained this message, accepted the present with every appearance of delight. He embraced the ambassadors, and presented them with various articles of cut glass. Every officer and soldier amongst us congratulated himself upon this favorable turn which affairs had taken, and at the monarch's invitation to visit Mexico, – for our desire to see that city daily grew upon us, particularly upon those who had no possessions in Cuba, and had accompanied the previous expeditions under Cordoba and Grijalva.
Cortes returned the ambassadors a kind answer to all they had said, and arranged that three of them should remain with us to show us the road, while the others were despatched to Mexico, to acquaint their monarch that we had already set out on our march thither.
When the two old caziques of Tlascalla found that Cortes was earnestly bent on marching to Mexico, they appeared excessively grieved, and reminded Cortes how frequently they had warned him, and could not do so too often, to dissuade him from marching into a town of such vast extent and power, and which possessed various means of carrying on a murderous war. The Mexicans would certainly, one day or other, fall upon us unawares, and it would be a wonder if we escaped alive out of their hands. To convince us how well they were inclined towards us, they would, however, gladly furnish us with 10,000 of their warriors, under the command of their most able generals, with a sufficient supply of provisions.
Cortes thanked them for their kind offers, and explained to them that it would not be proper to enter Mexico at the head of so large an army, particularly as the hatred between themselves and the Mexicans was so excessive. One thousand men was all he required to transport our cannon and baggage, and clear the road before us.
These 1000 men were immediately upon the spot, all strong and fine young fellows, and we were just upon the point of commencing our march when the caziques and chiefs of Sempoalla, who had remained with us all this time, and rendered us such valuable services, called upon Cortes and hoped he would return with them to Sempoalla. They were determined, they said, not to march over Cholulla to Mexico, as they were quite convinced it would be ours and their destruction; theirs, because they were the most distinguished personages of Sempoalla, who had not only been the chief means of inducing their countrymen to refuse all further obedience and to pay tribute to Motecusuma, but also of seizing his tax-gatherers.
Cortes, in answer to this, desired them to allay their fears; he was sure no harm would befall them, for, if they marched along in our company, who would dare to molest either? He therefore begged of them to alter their determination, and remain with us, and promised them all manner of riches. But all his entreaties, added to Marina's friendly advice, were fruitless, and they refused to accompany us: upon which Cortes cried out, "God forbid that we should force these people, who have rendered us such valuable services, to go with us against their inclination!" He then ordered several packages of the very finest cotton stuffs to be divided among them, and likewise sent the fat cazique two packages for himself and his nephew Cuesco, who was also a powerful cazique. He wrote, at the same time, to his lieutenant Juan de Escalante, who was alguacil-major of Vera Cruz, mentioning all that had befallen us, and that we were on our march to Mexico. He particularly cautioned him to keep a sharp look out upon the inhabitants of the country, desired him by all means to hasten the completion of the fortress, and to take the inhabitants there under his protection against the Mexicans, and also not to suffer our men to molest them in any way. This letter was given in charge of the Sempoallans, and we then commenced our march forward with every military precaution.
