Page:Vol 2 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/364

Rh It was in December 1529 that Nuño de Guzman left the capital as one flying from retribution. He appeared in Michoacan at the head of a well-equipped army, accompanied by the king, who now served in the additional capacity of hostage. The return of the monarch was sufficient in itself to give rise to demonstrations of joy, notably at Tzintzuntzan, although the festivities were soon marred by bitter grief. Immediately after his arrival the president required the king to furnish the Spaniards with from six to ten thousand servants for the march northward, and a few days later, under pretext that Tangaxoan did not supply the necessary provisions, Guzman placed him in irons and confined him in a room near his own. Gold and silver were also demanded, but the amount given was far from satisfying Guzman's greed, and Tangaxoan was repeatedly tortured in the effort to ascertain from him the hiding-place of his store of precious metals, small amounts of which were still brought in from time to time in the vain hope of obtaining the royal captive's release.

As soon as the requisite number of natives had been furnished they were distributed among the Spaniards, and the march of the army continued, the lord of each town or village being carried along in chains as a guaranty of submission on the part of his subjects, after the manner of Tangaxoan, Don Pedro the governor, and Don Alonso, the king's son-in-law. From Tzintzuntzan they went to Puruándiro, fording the river Tololotlan, or Lerma, February 2, 1530, at or near Conguripo. From the day, they named the river Nuestra Señora de la Purificacion del Buen Paso,