Page:Vol 1 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/210

90 there were horsemen indeed, more real to the Spaniards, but none the less spectral to the Indians. They had been detained by the marshes intervening; and now, with swords and helmets glittering, they rose in the enemy's rear, and midst clang of arms and shouts of Santiago y San Pedro, they threw themselves with terrible effect upon him. What could the Indians do? Those that were not trampled or cut to death turned and fled, and the Spaniards possessed the field. "And this was the first preaching of the gospel in New Spain, by Cortés," remarks the caustic Las Casas.

The Spaniards drew up at a grove to return thanks for this great victory. A large number of the enemy were slain. Sixty of their own number were wounded, and two lay dead; eight horses had been scratched, and their wounds were cauterized and anointed with the fat of dead Indians.Two Spaniards fell, and over 800 Indians lay dead, so said their countrymen. ''Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad''., 22-3. Over 70 Spaniards were wounded, and more than 300 Indians were slain in the pursuit alone. Over 100 men fell sick from heat and bad water, but all recovered. ''Gomara, Hist. Mex''., 33. Herrera, dec. ii. lib. iv. cap. xi., allows no killed among the Spaniards, while over 1000 Indians are laid low. Torquemada, i, 375. Three Spaniards are killed and 60 wounded. Vetancvrt, Teatro Mex., pt. iii. 113. The Ayuntamiento of Vera Cruz, in its letter to the Emperor, 10 July, 1519, for obvious reasons lowers the figures to twenty wounded Spaniards, of whom none died, and to 220 dead Indians, out of 40,000 engaged. Cortés, Cartas, 17. Finally comes Las Casas with the other extreme of 30,000 souls, said to have been cruelly slaughtered in this first great battle of Cortés. ''Hist. Ind''., iv. 477. Quite a list of misdeeds are here raked up, or invented rather, against the Spaniards in the West-Indische Spieghel, Amsterdam, 1624, a curious little quarto, designed for Dutch traders in America, and dedicated to their West Îndia Company. The author is called Athanasium Inga. 'Peruaen, uyt Cusco gheboren, die dit alles, soo door onder vindinghe als door transpositie en oversettinghe sijnder Voor-Ouderen, hier te Lande ons overghedraghen heeft, says Wachter, in the preface. The volume opens with a lengthy description of the Antilles, but the remaining text is wholly devoted to the Spanish colonies on the main, mingled without order, and interspersed with special chapters on navigation and coast routes for the benefit of traders. Beside the usual description of physical and political geography, with particular reference to natural resources and aboriginal customs, several voyages are described, mainly to point out sailing directions and the progress of discovery, while the conquest period is told with some minuteness, but garbled with the idea of exposing the avarice and cruelty of the hated Spaniards. This is also the object of nearly all the neatly engraved copper-plates.The map extends Hudson Bay very close to the Pacific coast, where a faintly outlined strait is visible some distance above California Island. The part relating to Mexico, including On returning to camp two