CHAPTER XLIV.

CHAPTER XLIV.

_How Pedro de Alvarado was ordered to make an excursion into the
interior of the country, in order to procure maise and other
provisions; and what further happened._

It was now resolved that Pedro de Alvarado should make an excursion into the interior to explore the country, gain further knowledge of some townships which we knew by name, and procure maise and other provisions, of which we were in the greatest want. For this purpose 100 men were selected, among whom were fifteen crossbow-men and six musketeers; above half, moreover, were adherents of Velasquez: the rest of us, on whom Cortes could fully depend, remained with him, in order that no conspiracy might be set on foot against him.

Alvarado, during this expedition, visited some small townships which were subject to a greater one, called, in the Aculhua language, Costatlan.[17*] This language is that of Mexico and Motecusuma; and when we speak of persons of Aculhua, we must always understand subjects of his empire. Alvarado nowhere met with any inhabitants, but found sufficient proofs in the temples that boys and full-grown people had very recently been sacrificed; for the altars and walls were covered with drops of fresh blood. The flint knives with which the unfortunate victim's breast is cut open to tear the heart away, and the large stones on which they are sacrificed, still lay in their proper places. Most of the bodies thus seen by our men were without arms or legs, which, according to the accounts of the Indians, had been devoured. Our men were perfectly horror-struck at such barbarities: however, I will not waste another word on the subject, for we found the same thing over again in every district we visited in this country. Alvarado found these districts well stocked with provisions, but so completely deserted by the inhabitants that he could only find two Indians to assist the men in carrying maise: every soldier, therefore, was compelled to take a load of greens and fowls, and in this way the detachment returned to our camp with a good supply of provisions, and without having encountered any disaster. This was all the damage our men did, although they had so many opportunities of doing more, Cortes having most strictly forbidden any wanton outrage, that there might not be a repetition of what happened on the island of Cozumel.

We were overjoyed with the provisions; for when man can satisfy his appetite, he forgets half his sufferings. Gomara mentions another expedition in this place, which, he says, Cortes himself undertook, with 400 men, to explore the interior of the country: but here again he must have been misinformed; for there was no other made than the one I have just mentioned. In the meantime Cortes was not inactive, but did all in his power to gain the adherents of Diego Velasquez: one was presented with some of the gold we had made,--for with gold mountains are removed; another was silenced by considerable promises. He likewise set the whole of them at liberty, excepting Juan Velasquez de Leon and Diego de Ordas, who were lying bound in chains on board a vessel: however, both these were also shortly after released, and they became true friends to him, of which they subsequently gave sufficient proofs. Gold, indeed, was not spared on this occasion, for they were only to be tamed by that means. As soon as greater union was thus restored, it was resolved that we should march for the township Quiahuitzlan, which I have above mentioned. Our vessels were also at the same time to set sail and run into the harbour, lying about four miles from the latter place.

Our march lay along the coast, and on our route we killed a large fish which had been thrown on shore; we then came to a pretty deep river, on whose banks the town of Vera Cruz at present lies: this we crossed by means of some old canoes we found here, and by ferryboats; I, however, swam across. On the opposite bank of the river lay several small townships, subject to one more extensive called Sempoalla. This was the home of the five Indians who came to Cortes in the character of ambassadors, and who were called by us Lopelucios. We found the idol-temples stained with spots of blood, the apparatus for perfuming and sacrificing, a quantity of parrot feathers, and several packages of paper stitched one over the other, resembling our Spanish linen. We nowhere met any Indians; for as they had never before seen people like unto us, nor any horses, they had all run away from fear, so that we were forced to go hungry to bed. The next day we marched inland in an easterly direction: of course we had not the least knowledge of the road we were taking, and we turned at a venture into a beautiful meadow, where we found wild deer grazing. Pedro de Alvarado chased one of these on his brown mare, and managed to wound it with his lance; but the animal escaped over some heights.

In the meantime twelve Indians made their appearance, inhabitants of the district, where we were encamped for the night, bringing with them some fowls and maise-bread, which, they told Cortes, by means of our interpreter, had been sent us by their cazique, who had likewise desired we should visit his township, which lay at a distance of one sun, say a day's march, from our present station. Cortes returned them sincere thanks for their great kindness, and we marched on until we came to a small township, where a short time previous several human beings had been sacrificed. As the kind reader would be disgusted with hearing of the numbers of male and female Indians we found butchered along every road and in every village we passed through, I will be silent on that head, and merely add that a supper was provided for us in the small village where we had arrived. Here we also learnt that the road to Quiahuitzlan, which latter lay on a hill, passed through Sempoalla, where we next arrive.

[17*] 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.)