Work overview

Text 73 of 137

CHAPTER LXXII.

The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2) Written by Himself Containing a True and Full Account of the Discovery and Conquest of Mexico and New Spain.

Bernal Díaz del Castillo · 2010

Contents

Text 73 of 137

  1. 01Front matter
  2. 02CHAPTER I.
  3. 03CHAPTER II.
  4. 04CHAPTER III.
  5. 05CHAPTER IV.
  6. 06CHAPTER V.
  7. 07CHAPTER VI.
  8. 08CHAPTER VII.
  9. 09CHAPTER VIII.
  10. 10CHAPTER IX.
  11. 11CHAPTER X.
  12. 12CHAPTER XI.
  13. 13CHAPTER XII.
  14. 14CHAPTER XIII.
  15. 15CHAPTER XIV.
  16. 16CHAPTER XV.
  17. 17CHAPTER XVI.
  18. 18CHAPTER XVII.
  19. 19CHAPTER XVIII.
  20. 20CHAPTER XIX.
  21. 21CHAPTER XX.
  22. 22CHAPTER XXI.
  23. 23CHAPTER XXII.
  24. 24CHAPTER XXIII.
  25. 25CHAPTER XXIV.
  26. 26CHAPTER XXV.
  27. 27CHAPTER XXVI.
  28. 28CHAPTER XXVII.
  29. 29CHAPTER XXVIII.
  30. 30CHAPTER XXIX.
  31. 31CHAPTER XXX.
  32. 32CHAPTER XXXI.
  33. 33CHAPTER XXXII.
  34. 34CHAPTER XXXIII.
  35. 35CHAPTER XXXIV.
  36. 36CHAPTER XXXV.
  37. 37CHAPTER XXXVI.
  38. 38CHAPTER XXXVII.
  39. 39CHAPTER XXXVIII.
  40. 40CHAPTER XXXIX.
  41. 41CHAPTER XL.
  42. 42CHAPTER XLI.
  43. 43CHAPTER XLII.
  44. 44CHAPTER XLIII.
  45. 45CHAPTER XLIV.
  46. 46CHAPTER XLV.
  47. 47CHAPTER XLVI.
  48. 48CHAPTER XLVII.
  49. 49CHAPTER XLVIII.
  50. 50CHAPTER XLIX.
  51. 51CHAPTER L.
  52. 52CHAPTER LI.
  53. 53CHAPTER LII.
  54. 54CHAPTER LIII.
  55. 55CHAPTER LIV.
  56. 56CHAPTER LV.
  57. 57CHAPTER LVI.
  58. 58CHAPTER LVII.
  59. 59CHAPTER LVIII.
  60. 60CHAPTER LIX.
  61. 61CHAPTER LX.
  62. 62CHAPTER LXI.
  63. 63CHAPTER LXII.
  64. 64CHAPTER LXIII.
  65. 65CHAPTER LXIV.
  66. 66CHAPTER LXV.
  67. 67CHAPTER LXVI.
  68. 68CHAPTER LXVII.
  69. 69CHAPTER LXVIII.
  70. 70CHAPTER LXIX.
  71. 71CHAPTER LXX.
  72. 72CHAPTER LXXI.
  73. 73CHAPTER LXXII.
  74. 74CHAPTER LXXIII.
  75. 75CHAPTER LXXIV.
  76. 76CHAPTER LXXV.
  77. 77CHAPTER LXXVI.
  78. 78CHAPTER LXXVII.
  79. 79CHAPTER LXXVIII.
  80. 80CHAPTER LXXIX.
  81. 81CHAPTER LXXX.
  82. 82CHAPTER LXXXI.
  83. 83CHAPTER LXXXII.
  84. 84CHAPTER LXXXIII.
  85. 85CHAPTER LXXXIV.
  86. 86CHAPTER LXXXV.
  87. 87CHAPTER LXXXVI.
  88. 88CHAPTER LXXXVII.
  89. 89CHAPTER LXXXVIII.
  90. 90CHAPTER LXXXIX.
  91. 91CHAPTER XC.
  92. 92CHAPTER XCI.
  93. 93CHAPTER XCII.
  94. 94CHAPTER XCIII.
  95. 95CHAPTER XCIV.
  96. 96CHAPTER XCV.
  97. 97CHAPTER XCVI.
  98. 98CHAPTER XCVII.
  99. 99CHAPTER XCVIII.
  100. 100CHAPTER XCIX.
  101. 101CHAPTER C.
  102. 102CHAPTER CI.
  103. 103CHAPTER CII.
  104. 104CHAPTER CIII.
  105. 105CHAPTER CIV.
  106. 106CHAPTER CV.
  107. 107CHAPTER CVI.
  108. 108CHAPTER CVII.
  109. 109CHAPTER CVIII.
  110. 110CHAPTER CIX.
  111. 111CHAPTER CX.
  112. 112CHAPTER CXI.
  113. 113CHAPTER CXII.
  114. 114CHAPTER CXIII.
  115. 115CHAPTER CXIV.
  116. 116CHAPTER CXV.
  117. 117CHAPTER CXVI.
  118. 118CHAPTER CXVII.
  119. 119CHAPTER CXVIII.
  120. 120CHAPTER CXIX.
  121. 121CHAPTER CXX.
  122. 122CHAPTER CXXI.
  123. 123CHAPTER CXXII.
  124. 124CHAPTER CXXIII.
  125. 125CHAPTER CXXIV.
  126. 126CHAPTER CXXV.
  127. 127CHAPTER CXXVI.
  128. 128CHAPTER CXXVII.
  129. 129CHAPTER CXXVIII.
  130. 130CHAPTER CXXIX.
  131. 131CHAPTER CXXX.
  132. 132CHAPTER CXXXI.
  133. 133CHAPTER CXXXII.
  134. 134CHAPTER CXXXIII.
  135. 135CHAPTER CXXXIV.
  136. 136CHAPTER CXXXV.
  137. 137CHAPTER CXXXVI.
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Work overview

Text 73 of 137

CHAPTER LXXII.

Bernal Díaz del Castillo · about 2 minutes

Original source ↗

CHAPTER LXXII.

_How ambassadors arrive in our camp from Motecusuma, and of the
presents they brought with them._

After the Almighty, in his great mercy, had granted us the victory in the battles against the Tlascallans, our fame was spread to every district, and even reached the ears of the mighty Motecusuma, in the great city of Mexico. If we had been previously looked upon as teules, or a species of gods, their idea of our bravery now became the more exalted, and terror seized the whole country when we had broken the great power of the Tlascallans with such a handful of men, and compelled them to sue for peace.

And so it also happened that the powerful king of Mexico, Motecusuma, either in the great goodness of his heart, or because he began to fear our approach to his metropolis, despatched five men of distinction to our camp in the land of Tlascalla to welcome us on our arrival, and to assure us of the excessive delight he felt at the great victories which we had gained over such numerous armies. This message was accompanied by a valuable present in gold trinkets of various workmanship, worth about 1000 pesos, and of packages of cotton stuffs as much as twenty men could carry. He likewise wished us to know that it was his desire to become a vassal of our emperor, and the great pleasure he felt to find that we were so near his metropolis, that he was every way well disposed towards Cortes and all the teules his brothers: he likewise wished to know from us what annual tribute in gold, silver, jewels, and cotton stuffs he was to forward to our great emperor, which would save us the trouble of coming to Mexico: he should, indeed, be pleased to see us, but our march there would be a terrible one, through a sterile and rocky country, and the fatigues which we should have to undergo grieved him the more when he considered the impossibility to remove those difficulties out of our way.

To this Cortes answered, that he was very thankful for such kind feeling, as also for the presents, and the offer to pay tribute, but he must beg of the ambassadors not to leave again before we had reached the metropolis of Tlascalla, when he would deliver to them his answers for their monarch.

The real fact was, he did not feel well enough just then, as the day previous he had taken a purgative of manzanilla,[27] which latter is found on the island of Cuba, and is very wholesome when its use is rightly understood.

[27] This name Oviedo gives to the fruit of a tree, which he calls macanna, growing in Cuba. (Hippomane Mancinella of Linn.) From the same fruit, according to this historian, the inhabitants prepare the deadly poison in which they dip the points of their arrows. (p. 170.)