Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 1.djvu/216

196 that great lord Montezuma, and from certain interpreters from that country whom he had about him.

I took these men, and an Indian whom they had brought in their ships from the said river, and sent  Negotiations with the Cacique of Panuco them, with other messengers of the said Montezuma, to the lord of that river, called Panuco, to win him to Your Sacred Majesty's service. With them, he sent me back a chief who, it was said, was chief of a town, who brought me on behalf of his lord certain stuffs, and stones, and feathers, telling me that he and all his people would be very happy to become vassals of Your Majesty, and my friends. I in turn presented them with some things from Spain, which so satisfied him, that, when some other ships of the said Francisco de Garay arrived (of which I will make relation to Your Highness hereafter), the said Panuco sent me word that those ships were in another river, some five or six days' journey from that place, asking that I should tell him whether those who had come in them belonged to me, so that he might give them whatever they needed, and that he already had sent some women and chickens and other provisions. I marched, Very Powerful Lord, three days through the country and lordship of Cempoal, where I was well received, and entertained by the natives, and, on the fourth day, I arrived in the province called Sienchimalen, where there is a very strong town ably fortified. It is situated on the side of a steep mountain slope, and is approached by a single pass of steps, by which it is impossible to enter except on foot, and even thus with great difficulty, if the natives wished to defend it.

In the plains, there are many hamlets and villages, with five, three, and two hundred families, which will furnish altogether some five or six thousand warriors; and they are subject to the rule of Montezuma. Here, they