Part 30

After the disembarkation at San Juan de Ulua the adventurers did not pass their time in idle dreams; they found abundance of occupation in collecting gold and precious stones, giving the natives in return objects of small value. Fresh embassies presented themselves to Cortez, not only with the usual presents, but giving useful information. Among them was a representative of Ixtlilxochitl, the lord of Texcoco, who spoke of the tyranny of Montezuma, who had killed his brother. He welcomed the Spaniards as allies who would help him to avenge the murder. Cortez saw in this an opportunity to encourage dissension among the natives, by taking advantage of which he could make himself master of both factions, and so control the country. He desired to found a settlement at the place at which they had first touched land. There was a division among his followers on this point; some of them regarding his purpose of making himself the captain general of the new colony as an act of disloyalty to Velasquez, the governor of Cuba. He met the situation by putting the most obstinate of his opponents in chains, and finally all the members of the expedition were won over by the generous promises he made, although there was complaint at his proposal to take for himself one-fifth of all the gold that might be gathered from the natives.

The colony Cortez succeeded in establishing received the name of Vera Cruz, because they had reached the spot on Holy Saturday; the words Villa Rica were added to mark the fertility of the surrounding country. Visits were made to neighboring pueblos with profitable results. At Cempoala twenty of the leading men, accompanied by their chief, presented themselves; there were the usual valuable offerings, and Cortez took care to promise his aid in defending and helping his new acquaintances. The chief complained of the oppression of Montezuma, explaining that his people had only lately been conquered and had been deprived of much treasure. They were obliged to carry out his orders, he said, because the Aztec was the lord of great cities, lands, vassals, and armies of warriors. Before leaving the pueblo, Cortez spoke of his philanthropic mission as the representative of the Emperor Charles V, promising that after he had returned to his fleet he would see that their grievances were remedied.

The impression made by the benevolent stranger was so great that at Cempoala 400 natives were offered by the chief of the pueblo as pack-carriers--men of great endurance, the chronicler says, who could carry fifty pounds weight five leagues. This was a great relief to the Spaniards, who had hitherto been obliged to transport the valuables they collected from the villages through which they passed on their own shoulders in small sacks. Other pueblos were treated to the same successful diplomacy.

The more Cortez heard of the country, the more he was convinced that the real objective of the expedition must be Montezuma and his capital. The presents received by the adventurers and the tales they heard showed that their journey must, if their hopes were to be realized, have its termination in Mexico. When the second installment of presents came from the Aztec capital, the astute commander remarked to some of his men nearby, in admiration of the valuable articles so freely placed in his hands, that the Aztec overlord must be great and rich. “If God wills,” he said, “some day we shall have to go and see him.” This pious aspiration fell on no unwilling ears, and the opportune moment came sooner than even the most sanguine adventurer could have hoped, for Cortez soon succeeded in forming an alliance with thirty pueblos, contiguous to his own settlement, all of them ready to follow him as their leader in an expedition which was to free them from the burdensome yoke of Aztec despotism. The fighting force now available must have been considerable, for we know that one pueblo, Quiahuistlan, half a league distant from Vera Cruz, offered to supply 5000 men.

In the meantime, a ship had arrived from Cuba with seventy Europeans and nine horses. The expedition had now been three months in Mexico, and the demand to push on to Montezuma’s city was general. Cortez sent home an account of his experiences, in which he drew up a formal accusation against the Cuban governor, Velasquez, fortifying his own claims by a rich present in excess of the value of the royal fifth, the statutory portion. “It is the first we have sent,” the commander said to his comrades in excusing and explaining a generosity that had to be collected from their hoards. This act of loyalty was an additional stimulus to the adventurers, who saw in their march to the interior an easy method of recuperating their losses. When the commissioners were about to leave for Spain, some of Cortez’ men proposed to accompany them. Cortez arrested them immediately. Two were put to death; one, a pilot, was deprived of his feet, and the common seamen received each two hundred lashes. Father Diaz would have been punished, too, had not Cortez respected his habit. One of the victims who was executed was Pedro Excudero, who had made charges against Cortez in Cuba before the expedition sailed.

To prevent the recurrence of such attempts at desertion and also to add to his men the crews of the vessels, Cortez resolved to destroy the fleet in the harbor, with the exception of one small boat which was to carry the commissioners back to Spain. The proposal was arranged not to come from the commander himself, because, if he had taken the initiative, he might have been obliged to pay off the seamen out of his own pocket. So, as Herrera, one of the adventurers, says, “if anyone asked him to pay the money, he could retort that the advice was ours, and that we were all involved in settling up the accounts.”

Cortez knew that he would meet with no mercy at Velasquez’ hands; his only chance, therefore, was to remain in Mexico, and that the destruction of the fleet rendered certain. The daring plan was carried out secretly at night by the master of one of the ships, an intimate friend of the commander. The crews had been removed beforehand, and the explanation made by Cortez’ envoy in Spain, Montejo, was that the ships were old and on the point of foundering before they were scuttled. This plausible statement was not more convincing than the rest of the envoy’s argument, and the Royal Senate of the Indies condemned Cortez’ conduct as “contrary to righteousness and justice.” He had acted also contrary to the commands of the governor of Cuba, who, in the meantime, as the case was being discussed by the home authorities, asked that capital sentence be passed. Cortez’ view finally prevailed because of the fortunate outcome of his march, and in 1522 Velasquez was directed not to send to New Spain any people or armed forces.

After scuttling the ships Cortez returned to Cempoala to arrange for the expedition. The chieftains of the pueblo advised that the route by the way of Tlaxcala should be taken because the people of that place were their friends and mortal enemies of the Aztecs. A start was made on the 16th of August with 400 Spaniards, 15 horses, and 5 pieces of artillery. In all the chronicles of the expedition there is a discreet reserve as to the number of Indian allies. It seems to have been a fixed policy to obscure this point. But the native contingent must have been very large, for at each pueblo where the expedition sojourned one hears of the acquisition of native warriors; at Ixtacamaxtitlan, a small place, the chief gave 300 soldiers.

On reaching Tecoac in Tlaxcala the invaders found that the attitude of the people was distinctly hostile; in a preliminary skirmish thirty warriors preferred to die rather than yield. The inhabitants of the pueblo were then cut to pieces, as they refused to retire or surrender. This was on the last day of August; the next day there was a hot battle, in which the Spaniards seem to have been saved by their native allies from destruction. Diaz del Castillo says that Cortez thanked them profusely, and adds that the Spaniards were panic-stricken by the wild shouts of their opponents. There was soon after another battle, where the escape of the Spaniards was due to the existence of dissensions in the Indian camp; the people of the pueblo refused to stand by one another. Much damage was done in the second ranks of their warriors by the fire of the artillery, but fifty of the Spaniards were wounded, and one was killed, together with all the horses. Cortez estimated his enemies at 149,000, plainly an impossible figure.

Marauding expeditions were made against the defenseless pueblos, whose fighting men were with the Tlaxcalan army. Women and children were put to the edge of the sword without mercy, and the dwellings were burnt to the ground. Fifty emissaries appeared on the 7th of September to ask for peace, bringing with them presents of food and plumage ornaments. Some were suspected of treachery, and all fifty, by Cortez’ orders, had their hands cut off. The same day the Spanish camp was attacked by 10,000 men, warriors of the greatest valor, but even this danger was repelled because the plan was known beforehand. The situation of the Spaniards was almost desperate, for they had lost a hundred and fifty of their number, and the survivors were worn out by anxiety and by the constant physical fatigue. There was depression in the camp, some proposing return to Vera Cruz, where the natives were friendly and where help could be had from Cuba. But the commander’s spirit did not falter. He sent three of his leading captives to Tlaxcala to ask for a peaceful passage through their country to Mexico. After deliberation the proposal was granted, although there was opposition, especially on the part of the young chief Xicotencatl, who declared that in another night attack he could take the camp and slay all the Spaniards. The peace party carried the day, and Cortez entered the pueblo on the 23d of September, receiving a royal welcome from the inhabitants, who gave him valuable assistance and an enduring loyalty.

After a month’s stay Cortez set out again with 5000 of these new allies, “men much experienced in warfare,” as he himself allows. In the neighborhood of Cholula he sent the inhabitants word, on receiving their envoys, that they must become vassals of the Spanish crown, saying if no reply were received within three days, he would attack and destroy them. This menace had its effect, and great hospitality was shown to the Spaniards and their allies. The streets and roofs were crowded with people as the army entered the town, and they were lodged in several large halls. The drain on the stores of the natives was so great that on the third day they brought only water, rushes, and wood. The scantiness of these offerings was to Cortez a demonstration that the townspeople were disaffected and were plotting against their guests. He issued an order therefore that all the chief men of the place should assemble in the court of the temple of Quetzalcohuatl. Suspecting no harm, they obeyed. To strike terror into the natives, Cortez planned to murder the principal men and the priests; but there were a great many other warriors of the pueblo in the inclosure so crowded together they could not move. At the entrance were stationed the Spaniards, who, at a given signal, rushed on the unarmed mass. Some were mowed down; some burnt themselves alive, while others cast themselves down from the temple pyramid, the raised platform on which the altar was placed. In two hours, according to Cortez, 3000 met their death. The massacre was continued in the streets for five hours; none were spared until the pueblo was deserted. The carnage continued the next day, gladly shared in by the Tlaxcalans, who had come in to take their part of the pillage. It was the commander’s intention to demolish the place altogether, and the cruel work took two days more.

A fresh start was made on November 1st. The pueblos subsequently visited by the expedition were terrorized by the massacre at Cholula, and there was no stint of offerings. Cortez, too, being now in a better temper because of the jewels, gold, and precious stones so easily collected, did not forget to explain that he had come to save the new vassals of the Spanish Crown from robbery and oppression. In each pueblo he won the inhabitants over by his dexterous diplomacy and pleasing manners, and they readily became his allies. No opposition was encountered during the rest of the journey to Mexico. Meanwhile the news of the massacre at Cholula had completely unnerved Montezuma; “he humbled himself like a reed”; there was no thought of resistance. He sent one of his chief men to impersonate him, as he was afraid to meet Cortez himself. The deceit was soon discovered by the Indian allies, and the substitute for royalty returned in confusion, leaving rich presents behind. Montezuma consulted his magical experts again, but the auspices and enchantments were no more favorable than before. He now saw only death for all his people and for himself; with a fixed fatalism he was convinced there was no escape. Tradition told him that the people from the land of the rising sun were invincible.

It was the eighth day of November when the Spaniards reached the capital of the Aztecs. The army must have been imposing in its size, and perhaps Montezuma’s religious scruples may have been reinforced by others of a different character when he saw the number of his enemies and revolted subjects who followed Cortez. Father Sahagun, a most reliable authority, who visited Mexico in 1529, says that “hardly had the rear guard moved from Ixtapalapan when the vanguard was already entering Mexico.” The welcome was in harmony with the respect caused by the size of the expedition and by the superstitious fears of the Aztec overlord. A thousand of the principal men came out to greet Cortez a half-league from the town. A quarter of a league from the palace Montezuma presented himself with ceremonious pomp, accompanied by the lords of the greater pueblos. He was supported by Cacomer, king of Texcoco, and Cuitlahuatzin, king of Ixtapalapan, each holding him by an arm on either side. All three were dressed alike, except that Montezuma was shod. When Cortez dismounted to embrace him the two accompanying lords forcibly prevented him from touching their master. Flowers were offered according to the Aztec custom; likewise gold and precious stones.

After reassuring the Aztec ruler of his amicable intentions, Cortez went with his suite to lodgings assigned in the treasury of one of the temples, a residence selected because of their character as divine beings. Montezuma spoke to Cortez of the prophecy of the return of Quetzalcohuatl, expressed his willingness to become the vassal of the great lord of the land of the rising sun; and repelled the charges made against him by the people of Tlaxcala and Cempoala. He made, too, a special point of denying the stories of having houses with golden walls and of being served with gold furnishings and vessels. “The houses,” he said, “which you see are stone and chalk and earth; it is true that I have some things of gold left me by my ancestors; all that I have do you take whenever you want it.” The offer was made effective immediately. Cortez had received already many different jewels, much gold and silver and feathers, and five or six thousand pieces of cotton goods, very rich and in divers manners woven and worked. After the interview rich presents of gold were made to the commander, as well as to the captains and to each of the soldiers.

The Spaniards kept watchful guard in spite of the sumptuous welcome; the soldiers were restless and desired to sack the town. Their attitude did not escape the attention of the natives, who began to suspect their motives in remaining in the city. Food commenced to give out, and the horses suffered and also the dogs. In a short time the men did not scruple to sack some of the dwellings near Montezuma’s palace; they showed also little respect for the native women, many of whom had shut themselves up in terror at threatened maltreatment.

It was a well-known and settled policy on the part of the Spaniards in their conquests in the Antilles to seize the native chiefs in order to reduce the members of the tribe to submission. This is made clear in a letter from several Dominican friars, written home as early as 1516, when the practice is noticed. In mentioning it, they explain that the Indians are a people who love their lords much and are very loyal to them. This strategy was now employed with complete success by Cortez. He determined to force Montezuma to take up his residence in the Spanish quarters by use of fair words, then to threaten him immediately with death if he tried to escape from captivity. As an excuse for putting this daring program into execution, Cortez, who entered the palace accompanied by his captains, after the usual friendly welcome, charged Montezuma with responsibility for the death of two Spaniards at Nautlan. Cuauhpopoca, the local chief, it seems, had caused them to be executed because of their offenses and excesses. Some time passed in discussing the charge which the Aztec monarch, of course, denied. Cortez’ comrades wished to hasten proceedings by killing the Aztec at once. Finally Montezuma, completely terrorized, agreed to accompany Cortez, and also followed his direction that he should tell his people that the step was taken voluntarily at the advice of his priests.

The chief of Nautlan, his son, and fifteen of the principal men of the pueblo were summoned to the capital by Montezuma. Cortez ordered them to be burnt; at the same time directions were given that all the arms in the city should be collected. Fifteen cartloads in all were to be burnt with the prisoners. Before the execution they confessed that they had acted by order of Montezuma. Cortez put his prisoner in chains, and this outrage was allowed to pass unavenged, for the Aztec lords feared that their ruler would be slain. The timorous monarch told his subjects that what he was enduring in the Spanish quarters had divine sanction. Having the king in his possession, Cortez made detailed inquiry as to the location of gold and silver mines. Much gold was collected, and, whenever there was resistance to the orders from the capital, the chiefs who refused to give up their possessions were treated as rebels to their overlord, and either killed on the spot or imprisoned after being summoned to the capital by orders issued through Montezuma.

Cortez was delighted at the willing compliance of the king in playing the rôle of a puppet in his hands, and he wondered because “great lord as he was, that being a prisoner as he was, he was so much obeyed.” On his own initiative, Montezuma addressed his chieftains, telling them that the Spaniards were sent by Quetzalcohuatl, and begging them to be obedient to Cortez in every respect, urging them to accept their position of vassalage to Spain. This was the signal for another great collecting expedition among the Aztec feudatories, the chief contributor being Montezuma himself. The chronicler’s powers of description are exhausted in enumerating the wealth that poured into the hands of the eager adventurers. There was no scruple in taking what was left after the regular tribute of vassalage had been paid.

The commander, however, was very unwilling to proceed to the distribution, and when he could resist his soldiers’ demands no longer, it was found that the greater part of the three and a half million dollars’ worth of metal had been retained by the leader and the captains. He met their complaints by telling them that they all would be very prosperous and rich, because they would be the masters of rich cities and mines. As a more practical argument, he went among the soldiers giving them secretly gold ornaments, and making individual promises of reward.

Meanwhile the rapacity of the adventurers and their open display of their wealth did not bring so much odium upon them as their forcible efforts to convert the natives. A Christian chapel was placed in the chief temple, an action which seems to have contributed to destroy the illusion among the people that there existed some relation between the newcomers and their god Quetzalcohuatl. The undisguised enmity soon came to a head in plans for a revolt that included a general massacre of the Europeans. When information of the plot was conveyed to Montezuma, who seemed worried at the fate of his strange guests and advised their leaving the city, Cortez spoke of the destruction of his ships and told the king that, when ships were prepared, the latter must go with them to see their emperor. Workmen were sent to Villa Rica to prepare the vessels, but it was probably with no serious intent beyond the purpose of deceiving the prisoners.

This was the state of affairs after five months’ residence in Mexico, when news came that Spanish ships were off the coast, 16 vessels, large and small, 1400 soldiers, 80 horses, and 20 pieces of artillery. When the envoys landed, they summoned the captain of Vera Cruz to accept as superior officer Narvaez, who had been sent by Velasquez to take possession of the country. The four Spanish envoys were hurried off as prisoners under an escort of natives who, by forced marches night and day, reached Mexico in four days. Cortez, with characteristic diplomacy, excused the rude behavior of his lieutenant. Indeed, adequate reparation was made, not only by smooth speeches, of which Cortez was past-master, but by the more telling arguments of gold strips and ornaments. They, in turn, told all they knew of the expedition of Narvaez, and regained the coast, won over by the munificence and the amicable manners of the commander.

No time was lost in heading off Narvaez’ expedition from entrance into the interior. Cortez took most of his men and probably a large force of the native allies sufficient to block Narvaez’ march to the capital. Only 130 Spaniards were left in Mexico under the command of Alvarado. While Narvaez was sojourning at Cempoala despoiling the neighborhood of the few valuables that remained there after Cortez’ march, one of the ecclesiastics from Cortez’ army was sent to visit the rival camp. He showed much dexterity in winning over important men-at-arms, especially those of the artillery, by a judicious distribution of gifts, though outwardly he made loud profession of devotion to Narvaez. The work of this skilled emissary was made the easier because Narvaez kept all the spoil he collected for himself; the contrast was not left unnoticed by the men whom the commander had won.

When the work of undermining Narvaez’ men had been completed, the Friar Olmedo found it easy to break off negotiations and return to his own camp. There was now little difficulty in settling the affairs between the two captains without bloodshed; Narvaez’ men were ready to abandon him. Cortez, as he explains in a letter to Charles V, after drawing near to Cempoala with his army, entered Narvaez’ camp with a few followers by night and, before he was observed, took his rival prisoner. There was only a little fighting; two were killed by artillery fire in preventing those who wished to rescue Narvaez from entering a tower where he had his quarters. This strategy seemed to Cortez the best way “to avoid a scandal,” but less satisfactory to his men was the division of booty found in the camp. Cortez gave it all to Narvaez’ men. “They were many and we were few,” Diaz del Castillo regretfully explains; “Cortez feared that they might kill him and his small band of men-at-arms.”