Page:The Conquest of Mexico Volume 2.djvu/461

 Page 332 (1).—Carta Quinta de Cortés, MS.

Page 333 (1).—Carta de Albornos, MS., Mexico, Dec. 15, 1525.—Carta Quinta de Cortés MS.—The authorities do not precisely agree as to the numbers, which were changing, probably, with every step of their march across the tableland.

Page 333 (2).—Among these was Captain Diaz, who, however, left the pleasant farm, which he occupied in the province of Coatzacualco, with a very ill grace, to accompany the expedition. "But Cortés commanded it, and we dared not say No," says the veteran.—Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 175.

Page 333 (3).—This celebrated Letter, which has never been published, is usually designated as the Carta Quinta, or " Fifth Letter," of Cortés. It is nearly as long as the longest of the printed letters of the Conqueror; is written in the same clear, simple, business-like manner; and is as full of interest as any of the preceding. It gives a minute account of the expedition to Honduras, together with events that occurred in the year following. It bears no date, but was probably written in that year from Mexico. The original manuscript is in the Imperial Library at Vienna, which, as the German sceptre was swayed at that time by the same hand which held the Castilian, contains many documents of value for the illustration of Spanish history.

Page 334 (1).—I have examined some of the most ancient maps of the country, by Spanish, French, and Dutch cosmographers, in order to determine the route of Cortés. An inestimable collection of these maps, made by the learned German, Ebeling, is to be found in the library of Harvard University. I can detect on them only four or five of the places indicated by the general. They are the places mentioned in the text, and, though few, may serve to show the general direction of the march of the army.

Page 336 (1).—Carta Quinta de Cortés, MS.

Page 337 (1).—Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 177.

Page 337 (2).—According to Diaz, both Guatemozin and the prince of Tacuba had embraced the religion of their conquerors, and were confessed by a Franciscan friar before their execution. We are further assured by the same authority, that "they were, for Indians, very good Christians, and believed well and truly." (Ibid., loc. cit.) One is reminded of the last hours of Caupolican, converted to Christianity by the same men who tied him to the stake. See the scene, painted in the frightful colouring of a master hand, in the Araucana, Canto 34.

Page 337 (3).—Guatemozin's beautiful wife, the princess Tecuichpo, the daughter of Montezuma, lived long enough after his death to give her hand to three Castilians, all of noble descent. (See ante, p. 289, note3.) She is described as having been as well instructed in the Catholic faith as any woman in Castile, as most gracious and winning in her deportment, and as having contributed greatly, by her example, and the deference with which she inspired the Aztecs, to the tranquillity of the conquered country.—This pleasing portrait, it may be well enough to mention, is by the hand of her husband, Don Thoan Cano.

Page 339 (1).—The Indian chroniclers regard the pretended conspiracy of Guatemozin as an invention of Cortés. The informer himself, when afterwards put to the torture by the cacique of Tezcuco, declared that he had made no revelation of this nature to the Spanish commander. IxtlilxochitI vouches for the truth of this story. (Venida de los Esp., pp. 83-93.) But who will vouch for IxtlilxochitI.'

Page 340 (1).—Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 178.