Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 2.djvu/185

 leagues towards the north and border on the province of Panuco. The country is an extremely strong one, and the people are well versed in the exercise of arms on account of the adversaries who surround them on all sides. They, seeing what had been done to these people of Panuco, and how nothing hindered Your Majesty's progress sent their messengers to me and offered themselves as your subjects and vassals. I received them in the royal name of Your Majesty, and as such they always considered themselves until the coming of Cristobal de Tapia, who caused such disturbances and scandals amongst these other peoples that they, too, not only renounced their obedience, but even did much harm to the neighbourhood where there are vassals of Your Catholic Majesty, burning many towns and killing many people. I had no people to spare at that moment, as they were scattered in so many other places, but, seeing that to leave this unnoticed was very mischievous, and fearing that the people who bordered on those provinces might join them for fear of reprisals if they did not, and also because I was not myself entirely satisfied as to their loyalty, I sent a captain with thirty horsemen, one hundred foot soldiers, crossbowmen, musketeers, and many Indian allies. Several encounters took place in which they killed some of our friendlies and two Spaniards; but our Lord was pleased that they should proffer peace of their own free will; the chiefs were brought to me, and, as they had come without being captured, I pardoned them. Afterwards, when I went to the province of Panuco, the natives spread the report that I was gone to Castile, which news caused much apprehension; and one of the two provinces — Tututepeque — again rebelled, and its chief descended with many people and burned more than twenty towns of our friendlies, and killed and captured numbers of them. Finding myself on the march from the province of Panuco, I returned and subdued