CHAPTER I. STATE OF MEXICO AFTER THE CONQUEST-THANKS- NOTHING not habi can well convey a surer intimation B. XII. of the sad state of Mexico, on the day of Ch. 1. its conquest, than the fact that both the victors Mexico and the vanquished began to leave the city. table. Cortes and his soldiers returned to their camp, while, for three days and nights, the causeways were crowded by the departing Mexicans-yellow, flaccid, filthy, miserable beings, "whom it was grief to behold.”* When the city was deserted, Cortes sent persons in to view it. They found the houses full of dead bodies. The few wretched creatures who still here and there appeared, were those who, from extreme poverty, sickness, or indifference to life, were unwilling or unable to crawl out. In a great town there are tan flacos, y suzios, é amarillos, * "Digo que en tres dias con sus noches iban todas tres calçadas llenas de Indios é Indias, y muchachos llenos de bote en bote, que nunca dexavan de salir, y Ch. I. State of the B. XII. always some abject persons to whom long despair and utter hardness of life make any lair seem welcome. The surface of the ground had been ploughed up, in order to get at the roots of the herbage. The bark of the trees had been eaten off; and not a drop of fresh water was to be found. city. Mexico was taken on the 13th of August, 1521. For three days afterwards Cortes remained in his camp, and he then proceeded to the neighbouring city of Cuyoacan. His first care for the The aque city of Mexico was to give orders that the aquerepaired. duct should be repaired. His first act on behalf of his own troops was to offer a thanksgiving for Thanks- the victory. After the thanksgiving, Cortes held the victory. a great banquet in Cuyoacan. At this feast, duct to be giving for sion and a sermon. which was followed by a dance, the soldiers, naturally excited by their long abstinence from anything like amusement, indulged in such freaks and excesses that Father Olmedo was greatly scandalized. Cortes being informed of this by Sandoval, suggested to the good monk that he should A proces appoint a solemn procession, after which mass should be celebrated, and the Father might give the army a sermon, telling them "that they should not despoil the Indians of their goods or their daughters, nor quarrel amongst themselves, but conduct themselves like Catholic Christians, that so God might continue to favour them." This was accordingly done with all fitting solemnity. The allies are dismissed. The next thing was to dismiss the Indian allies, who were favoured with many gracious words and promises; and were enriched with B. XII. cotton, gold, and various spoil-amongst which Ch. 1. were portions of the bodies of their enemies salted. They then departed joyfully to their own country. Mexicans The allies being dismissed, the Mexicans were ordered to make clean the streets of Mexico, and The to return to the city in two months' time. A allowed to quarter of the town was appointed for their par- their city. ticular habitation, divided from that of the Spaniards by one of the great water-streets. return to of the The next question concerned the spoil of Mexico. The conquerors were entirely disap- Smallness pointed by the smallness of the booty. Murmurs booty. arose amongst the soldiery, and the meaner spirits began to suspect that their General concealed the spoil for his own benefit. Cortes, with a weakness that was unusual in him, consented, at the instance of the King's Treasurer, that Quauhtemotzin and his cousin, the King of Tlacuba, should be submitted to the torture, in The Kings order that they might be induced to discover and where they had hid their treasures. During the Tacuba cruel process, the King of Tlacuba, suffering the torture. agonies from the torture, looked beseechingly to his lord paramount to give him licence to tell what he knew, whereupon the gallant young King, himself in torment, treated his fellow sufferer with contempt, uttering these remarkable words, "Y aun llevaron hartas cargas de tasajos cecinados de Indios Mexicanos, que repartieron entre sus parientes y amigos, y como cosas de sus enemigos la comie- of Mexico exposed to 6 Personal Appearance of Cortes. B. XII. —“ Am I in any delight, or bath?" (Estoi yo Ch. I. en algun deleite, ó baño?) It appears, however, that one or the other of the Kings confessed, that ten days before the capture of the city, the King of Mexico had ordered the pieces of artillery which he had taken from the Spaniards to be thrown into the lake, together with whatever gold, silver, precious stones, and jewels remained to him. It is remarkable that Cortes makes no mention of this torture of the captive Kings in his letter to the Emperor. Afterwards, when the transaction was made a matter of formal accuof Cortes. sation against him, he defended himself by declaring that "he had done it at the request of Julian de Alderete, the King's Treasurer, and in order that the truth might appear, for all men said that he (Cortes) possessed the whole of the riches of Montezuma, and that he did not like to have Quauhtemotzin tortured, for fear the fact should come out against himself of having kept back the spoil.”* The excuse It may not be out of place to remind the reader what kind of man Cortes was at the time of the conquest of Mexico. One who knew him well, and whose descriptions of men are often as minute as if he was noting animals for sale, thus of Cortes. depicts Cortes. "He was of good make and Personal appearance "Mas él se defendia con riqueza de Motecçuma, í no queque se hiço á pedimento de Julian ria atormentalle porque no se de Alderete, Tesorero del Rei, í supiese."-GOMARA, Crónica de porque pareciese la verdad; cá la Nueva-España, cap. 145. decian todos que tenia él toda la BARCIA, Historiadores, tom. 2. stature; well-proportioned and stalwart. The B. XII. colour of his face inclined to pallor,* and his Ch. 1. countenance was not very joyful. If his face had been longer, it would have been handsomer. His eyes, when he looked at you, had an amiable expression, otherwise, a haughty one. His beard was dark and thin, and so was his hair. His chest was deep, and his shoulders finely formed. He was slender, with very little stomach; somewhat bow-legged, with well-turned thighs and ankles. He was a good horseman, and dexterous in the use of all arms, as well on foot as on horseback; and, above all, he had heart and soul, which are what is most to the purpose."+ The same author dwells on the wonderful patience of Cortes. When very angry, there was a vein which swelled in his forehead, and another in his throat; but, however enraged, his words were always mild and decorous. He might indulge with his friends in such an expression as "Plague upon you" (mal pese á vos); but to the common soldiers, even when they said the rudest things to him, he merely replied, "Be silent, or go in God's name, and from henceforward have * Lit. "ash-coloured," the cinereus color of the Romans. "Fue de buena estatura y cuerpo, y bien proporcionado, y membrudo, y la color de la cara tirava algo a cenicienta, é no mui alegre y si tuviera el rostro mas largo, mejor le pareciera; los ojos en el mirar amorosos, y por otra graves: las barbas tenia algo prietas, y pocas y ralas, y el cabello que en aquel tiempo se usava, era de la misma manera Patience of Cortes. |