Page:The Conquest of Mexico Volume 2.djvu/450



Page 227 (1).—Oviedo expands what he nevertheless calls the "short and pithy speech" of Cortés, into treble the length of it, as found in the general's own pages; in which he is imitated by most of the other chroniclers.—Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 22.

Page 227 (2).—.According to Diaz, the desire to possess himself of the lands of his comrade Chichemecatl, who remained with the army (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 150); according to Herrera, it was an amour that carried him home. (Hist. General, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 17.) Both and all agree on the chief's aversion to the Spaniards, and to the war.

Page 228 (1).—So says Herrera, who had the Memorial of Ojeda in his possession, one of the Spaniards employed to apprehend the chieftain. (Hist. General, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 17, and Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 90.) Bernal Diaz, on the other hand, says, that the Tlascalan chief was taken and executed on the road. (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 150.) But the latter chronicler was probably absent at the time with Alvarado's division, in which he served. Soils, however, prefers his testimony, on the ground that Cortés would not have hazarded the execution of Xicotencatl before the eyes of his own troops. (Conquista, lib. 5, cap. 19.) But the Tlascalans were already well on their way towards Tacuba. A very few only could have remained in Tezcuco, which was occupied by the citizens and the Castilian army,-—neither of them very likely to interfere in the prisoner's behalf. His execution there would be an easier matter than in the territory of Tlascala, which he had probably reached before his apprehension.

Page 228 (2).—Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 17.—Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 90.

Page 229 (1).—The Tepanec capital, shorn of its ancient splendours, is now only interesting from its historic associations. "These plains of Tacuba," says the spirited author of Life in Mexico, "once the theatre of fierce and bloody conflicts, and where, during the siege of Mexico, Alvarado 'of the leap' fixed his camp, now present a very tranquil scene. Tacuba itself is now a small village of mud huts, with some fine old trees, a few very old ruined houses, a ruined church, and some traces of a building, which assured us had been the palace of their last monarch; whilst others declare it to have been the site of the Spanish encampment."—Vol. i. Let. 13.

Page 230 (1).—Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 237-239.—Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 94.—Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 22.—Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 50.—Gomara, Crónica, cap. 130. Clavigero settles this date at the day of Corpus Christi, May 30th. (Clavigero, Stor. del. Messico, tom. iii. p. 196.) But the Spaniards left Tezcuco, May 10th, according to Cortés: and three weeks could not have intervened between their departure and their occupation of Cojohuacan. Clavigero disposes of this difficulty, it is true, by dating the beginning of their march on the 20th, instead of the 10th of May; following the chronology of Herrera, instead of that of Cortés. Surely, the general is the better authority of the two.

Page 231 (1).—"It was a beautiful victory," exclaims the Conqueror. "And we broke in upon them in such a manner that not one of them escaped except the women and children; in that skirmish twenty-five of my Spaniards were wounded. But it was a fine victory."—Rel. Terc. ap. Lorenzana, p. 241

Page 232 (1).—About five hundred boats, according to the general's own estimate (Ibid., loc. cit.); but more than four thousand, according to Bernal Diaz (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 150); who, however, was not present.

Page 233 (1).—Rel. Terc. ap. Lorenzana, p. 243.—Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS, lib. 33, cap. 48.—Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 32. I may be excused for again