Page:The Conquest of Mexico Volume 2.djvu/462

 Page 341 (1).—Diaz, who was present, attests the truth of this account by the most solemn adjuration. "And all this which I have said I know very certainly, and I swear it. Amen."— Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 37.

Page 341 (2).—Life in Mexico, Let. 8. The fair author does not pretend to have been favoured with a sight of the apparition.

Page 342 (1).—Villagutierre says, that the Itzaes, by which name the inhabitants of these islands were called, did not destroy their idols while the Spaniards remained there. (Historia de la Conquista de la Provincia de el Itza [Madrid, 1701], pp. 49, 50.) The historian is wrong, since Cortés expressly asserts that the images were broken and burnt in his presence.—Carta Quinta, MS.

Page 342 (2).—The fact is recorded by Villagutierre, Conquista de el Itza, pp. 100-102, and Cojullado, Hist. de Yucathan, lib. 1, cap. 16.

Page 343 (1).—"If any unhappy wretch had become giddy in this transit," says Cortés, "he must inevitably have been precipitated into the gulf and perished. There were upwards of twenty of these frightful passes."—Carta Quinta, MS.

Page 346 (1).—Carta Quinta de Cortés, MS.—Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 185.— Relacion del Tesorero Strada, MS., Mexico, 1526.

Page 347 (1).—Carta Quinta de Cortés, MS.

Page 347 (2).—Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 184 et. seq.—Carta Quinta de Cortés, MS.

Page 348 (1).—Carta Quinta de Cortés, MS.—Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 189, 190.—Carta de Cortés al Emperador, MS., Mexico, Sept. 11, 1526.

Page 348 (2).—Carta de Ocaño, MS., Agosto 31, 1526.—Carta Quinta de Cortés, MS.

Page 348 (3).—"What Cortés suffered," says Dr. Robertson, "on this march, a distance, according to Gomara, of 3000 miles"—(the distance must be greatly exaggerated)—"from famine, from the hostility of the natives, from the climate, and from hardships of every species, has nothing in history parallel to it, but what occurs in the adventures of the other discoverers and conquerors of the New World. Cortés was employed in this dreadful service above two years; and, though it was not distinguished by any splendid event, he exhibited, during the course of it, greater personal courage, more fortitude of mind, more perseverance and patience, than in any other period or scene in his life." (Hist. of America, note 96.) The historian's remarks are just; as the passages, which I have borrowed from the extraordinary record of the Conqueror, may show. Those who are desirous of seeing something of the narrative told in his own way, will find a few pages of it translated in the Appendix, Part 11. No. 4.

Page 349 (1).—Memorial de Luis Cardenas, MS.—Carta de Diego de Ocaña, MS.—Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. 3, lib. 8, cap. 14, 15.

Page 349 (2).—Carta del Emperador, MS., Toledo, Nov. 4, 1525.

Page 350 (1).—Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 192.—Carta de Cortés al Emp., MS., Mexico, Set. 11, 1526.

Page 350 (2).—Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 194.—Carta de Cortés al Emp., MS., Set. 11, 1526.

Page 352 (1).—Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 194.—Carta de Ocaña, MS., Agosto 31, 1526.