Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 2.djvu/211

 and he believed, according to certain indications, that these men had been massacred. I had waited six or seven days for any other news when a messenger arrived from the lieutenant in a town, called Tenertequipa, which is subject to this city and is on the boundaries of that province; by his letter he made known to me that, while he was in Tacetuco with fifteen horsemen and forty foot soldiers expecting some people to join him preparatory to crossing the river to pacify certain towns, his quarters had been surrounded just before dawn, one night, by a great number of people who set fire to them. Though he and his men had mounted very quickly they had been taken off their guard for they had believed in the friendship of those people; and he thinks all were killed but himself and two other horsemen who had escaped; his own horse had been killed and one of his men had to take him up behind him. Two leagues from there, they met the alcalde of that town who came to their assistance with some people, but they did not tarry long and left the province as quickly as possible. He had, however, no news, either of those who had stayed in the town, or of the men of Francisco de Garay, but he believed there was not one left alive.

As I have told Your Majesty, after the adelantado had proclaimed to the natives throughout the province that I was no longer to have anything to do with them, since he was the Governor whom they must obey, and that by uniting with him they would expel all my Spaniards, the town had revolted, and the natives refused afterwards to serve the Spaniards, even killing some whom they met alone on the roads. The lieutenant believed that what had been done was by concerted action of all the Indians and, as they had attacked him and his people, that they must have done the same to the inhabitants of the town, as well as to those who were