The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo Vol 1 Part 19

CHAPTER Lx.x.xII.

_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 amba.s.sadors 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 Dona 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.[33] 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 Dona 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 Dona 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 princ.i.p.al 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 wors.h.i.+p 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 ma.s.s 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.

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

CHAPTER Lx.x.xIII.

_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 amba.s.sadors, 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, hara.s.s 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 amba.s.sadors 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 a.s.sured us that there was no more maise left in Cholulla. That very day even other amba.s.sadors 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 amba.s.sadors 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 gla.s.s 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 princ.i.p.al 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 cu[34] adjoining our quarters, where several other papas had a.s.sembled 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 princ.i.p.al 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 embarra.s.sed 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 G.o.d 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."

On learning this piece of news, Cortes desired these men to return to their quarters and tell their chiefs to hold themselves in readiness to fall into the town at a moment's notice. Then, turning to the cazique, papas, and chiefs of Cholulla, he told them to allay their fears; to remain true to the promise they had made with respect to our monarch, otherwise he should find himself obliged to punish them severely: he had already acquainted them that, on the following morning, he intended to take his departure for Mexico, and he should require 2000 of their warriors to join his army, a like number having been furnished by the Tlascallans.

The chiefs, in reply, a.s.sured Cortes of their willingness to comply with his wishes; they would find him the number of warriors and porters he required; they then took their leave to make the necessary preparations, and appeared perfectly confident, for they thought we should not be able to stand against their warriors and the army of Motecusuma, which lay in ambush in the defiles, and that they should be able either to kill us or take us prisoners, as we should be unable to use our horses on account of the deep holes. They likewise ordered their men to block up all the outlets of the town, and so inclose us in the narrow streets, as we intended leaving next morning. Every one was to be particularly on his guard, and to perform his part at the right time. They would also send 2000 men in advance, and as we did not dream of what was going to take place, they would make easy work with us, take us prisoners without danger, and carry us off bound to Mexico. There was no doubt as to their success, for they had sacrificed to their G.o.d of war, and obtained a promise of victory from him.

While they were thus making sure of victory, Cortes made every effort to discover their plans, and commissioned Dona Marina to present the two papas, he had first spoken to, with additional chalchihuis stones, and acquaint them that Malinche was very desirous of having a second interview with them. Dona Marina was quite an adept in such matters, and succeeded by means of the presents, to induce them to accompany her into our general's quarters, who then desired them to disclose everything faithfully to him, which, as priests and men of rank, who would disgrace themselves by telling lies, they were doubly bound to do. He also a.s.sured them that the trust they reposed in him should not be betrayed, particularly as we were going to leave next day; and in order to give more weight to his words, he made them considerable promises. The papas then confessed that their sovereign Motecusuma could come to no resolution with himself as to whether he ought to allow us to march towards his metropolis, and that he changed his mind several times in one day. At one time he sent orders, that when we should arrive in Cholulla, we were to be treated in the most respectful manner, and they were to accompany us to his city; at another time he sent word that our march to Mexico was contrary to his wishes; and now his G.o.ds, Tetzcatlipuca and Huitzilopochtli, in whom he reposed all confidence, had advised him to kill us, or have us taken prisoners in Cholulla. The day before he had sent 20,000 warriors to this place, of whom one half was already secreted in the town, the other among the mountain defiles in the neighbourhood. These troops had been informed of our intended departure, and of the mode in which the attack was to be made upon us, as also of the 2000 men of Cholulla who were to accompany us, and how twenty of our men were to be sacrificed to the idols of Cholulla.

After Cortes had elicited all this from them, he presented both the papas with several of the most beautiful cloaks, enjoining them to betray nothing of what had pa.s.sed between him and themselves, if they did they should certainly forfeit their lives on his return from Mexico.

That very night our general called a council of war, consisting of the most sensible and experienced soldiers of our small army, to deliberate what our next step should be. Opinion, as generally happens under such circ.u.mstances, was much divided. Some proposed that we should change our route altogether and take the road over Huexotzinco. Others were of opinion that we should preserve peace at any sacrifice and return to Tlascalla. We others, however, maintained, that if we left the contemplated treachery of the Cholullans unpunished, the Mexicans would play us worse tricks in other places, and as we had once gained a footing in this vast territory, it would be better for hostilities to break out here, where, besides that, provisions were plentiful, we could do more execution than in the open field; and immediately to acquaint the Tlascallans with our determination, that they might join us in the combat.

This plan, in the end, received unanimous consent, and the following morning was fixed on for the day of our departure. We therefore fastened up our knapsacks, which indeed was no great trouble, as we had very little baggage with us. Our attack upon the Indians was to be made in the s.p.a.cious square adjoining our quarters, which was surrounded by high walls, here we should be able to pay them out according to their deserts. As to the amba.s.sadors of Motecusuma, we merely told them, that some villains of Cholulla had formed a conspiracy against us, and had attempted to lay it all to the door of their sovereign Motecusuma and his amba.s.sadors; but that we could not for a moment give credence to this, though for the present we must beg of them not again to leave our general's head-quarters, and to break off all further intercourse with the inhabitants of the town, in order to erase from our minds all suspicion of an understanding between the latter and themselves; they could also act as our guides on our march to Mexico.

The amba.s.sadors a.s.sured us that neither their sovereign Motecusuma, nor they, were aware of anything we had mentioned to them. We, however, placed a guard over their persons, fearing they might depart without our knowledge, and relate to Motecusuma how we had discovered the conspiracy.

During the whole of this night we were particularly on our guard and all under arms, the horses were ready saddled and bridled, strong watches were posted in various places, and one patrol followed the other, as we were sure we should be attacked that night by the united forces of Mexico and Cholulla. Of this we obtained further certainty from an old Indian female, the wife of a cazique, who taking compa.s.sion on the youth and good looks of Dona Marina, knowing at the same time that she possessed many fine things, had induced her to follow her home to save her from the impending carnage; for, according to her account, we were all to be killed that night or the day following. This woman a.s.sured her that Motecusuma had issued the most peremptory orders to this effect, and had therefore sent an army of Mexicans, who were to join the Cholullans and spare none of us alive, excepting those they could make prisoners, who were to be sent bound to Mexico. On hearing this, the old woman added, she was induced from a compa.s.sionate feeling to disclose it to her. She advised her to pack up her goods in all haste and come and live in her house. She should have her second son for husband, the brother of the young man then present.

Dona Marina, who was altogether very shrewd, thus answered the old woman: "I am thankful indeed, good mother, for your kind warning; I would go with you this instant if I could find any one to carry away my mantles and gold trinkets, for I have a pretty good quant.i.ty of both.

Wherefore I beg of you, good mother, wait a few moments here with your son, and we will leave together during the night; for these teules have their ears and eyes everywhere."

The old woman placed perfect confidence in what she had said, and continued chatting with her for some time. Dona Marina then put several other questions to her, as to the manner in which we were to be killed?

How and when the plan had been formed? The answers which the old woman returned perfectly agreed with the account of the two papas. Marina then questioned her as to how she had come to the knowledge of that, which the Cholullans had thought to keep so secret? "I know all this from my husband," returned she, "who is the chief of one of the quarters of this town, and who has already joined the men under his command, to make the necessary preparations, and join the troops of Mexico in the mountain defiles. Both armies will meet and cut down all the teules. All this I have known three days ago, for my husband has been presented with a golden drum, and the three other chiefs with splendid cloaks and gold trinkets, with orders to take all the teules prisoners and send them to Mexico."

Dona Marina artfully concealed the real impression all this made upon her mind, and said to the old woman: "How delighted am I to learn that your son, to whom you intend to marry me, is a man of high rank! We have now been discoursing about matters which were intended to be kept a secret. I will now go and pack up my things; in the meantime you wait for me here, for I cannot carry all my goods alone; you, your son, my future brother, must a.s.sist me to decamp."

The old woman swallowed all this, and stationed herself at some particular spot with her son. In the meantime Dona Marina related to our general the whole of the discourse she had had with the old woman.

Cortes immediately ordered the latter into his presence, and put further questions to her respecting the plans of the treacherous Cholullans.

Everything she related corresponded with the account of the two papas; Cortes then ordered her to be detained in close custody that she might not return and disclose anything to her companions.

When morning arrived it was quite amusing to behold the air of contempt and the confidence which was depicted in the countenances of the caziques, the papas, and of the Indians in general. They appeared as if they had already caught us in a snare. They sent a larger body of their troops than we had demanded of them; yet there was sufficient room to hold all these besides our own men in the square adjoining our quarters, which may be seen to this hour as a memento of that b.l.o.o.d.y day. Though it was very early when the troops of Cholulla arrived in our quarters, yet they found us quite ready for the day's work.

The largest gate of this inclosed square was occupied by that portion of our troops who were armed with swords and s.h.i.+elds, who were ordered not to allow egress to any Indian who bore arms. Our general had mounted his horse, surrounded by several of us as a guard to his person, and when he saw how early all the caziques, papas, and warriors had a.s.sembled in the morning, he cried out in a loud voice: "How impatient these treacherous people are to get us among the defiles and satiate themselves with our flesh: but the Almighty will order things differently from what they expect!"

He then inquired for the two papas who had disclosed the plot to him; and was informed that they were waiting outside with other caziques, and wished to be admitted; upon which Cortes sent our interpreter, Aguilar, to desire them to return home, as he had no occasion for them at that moment. This was done that no harm might befall them when we should fall upon the Indians, and as a recompense for the services they had rendered us.

Our general, seated on horseback, with Dona Marina at his side, then severely upbraided the caziques and papas. "Why had they," said he to them, "wished to murder us all the preceding night, though we had not done them the smallest injury? Had we said or done anything to justify this treacherous movement? Had he done anything more than exhorted them, as he had all the different tribes through whose territories he had pa.s.sed, to abolish their human sacrifices and abstain from eating human flesh, to commit no unnatural crimes, and to lead a better life than they had hitherto? He had, further, merely spoken to them about our holy religion, and certainly thereby done them no violence. For what purpose had they collected all those long poles with the nooses and ropes in the house adjoining the large cue? Why had they during the last three days barricaded the streets, intersected the latter by deep holes, and fortified the tops of their houses with breastworks? Why had they sent away from the town their wives, children, and all their goods? All this sufficiently proved their treacherous designs, which were no longer to be concealed; they had even refused to provide us food, and in mockery had sent us merely wood and water, as if to make us believe they had no maise left. He was perfectly aware that large troops of warriors had secreted themselves in the defiles near the town, laying in wait for us when we should be on our road to Mexico. During the past night they had been joined by several other troops. In reward for our having looked upon them as brothers, and announced what our G.o.d and our sovereign had commissioned us to reveal to them, they wished to murder us, and eat our flesh, for which purpose they had already prepared the dishes, the salt, the pepper, and the tomates. If they intended to kill us, why did they not attack us boldly in the open field as beseemed brave warriors, as their neighbours the Tlascallans had done? He was fully acquainted with all their designs, how they had promised to sacrifice twenty of us to their G.o.d of war; and that they had sacrificed seven Indians three nights ago to him, that he might grant them victory over us. But all his promises were full of lies and deceit. Their G.o.ds had no power whatever over us, and their evil deeds, with all their treachery, would recoil upon themselves."

When the caziques, papas, and the other princ.i.p.al personages heard this, all of which Dona 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 amba.s.sadors, in accordance with his commands. To which Cortes answered, "That the Spanish laws did not allow such treachery to pa.s.s 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 G.o.ds. 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 compa.s.sion 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.[35]

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 Dona Marina's mother-in-law.