The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo Vol 1 Part 28

CHAPTER CIV.

_How Cortes desired the powerful Motecusuma to order all the caziques of the empire to bring in the tribute of gold due to our emperor._

As Diego de Ordas and the other officers whom Cortes had sent out for the discovery of gold mines had all returned with samples of that metal, and brought the most satisfactory accounts concerning the wealth of the country, our general, after long deliberation with his officers and several of the soldiers, resolved that Motecusuma should now be desired to send round to all his caziques, and to every township of his empire, and require them to bring in tribute to our emperor, and that he himself, as the most wealthy of his va.s.sals, should pay the same from his own private treasures.

In answer to this request, Motecusuma said that he would forward the necessary orders for this purpose to every township; but he was compelled to inform us that many of them would be unable to fulfil those commands, who could merely contribute some trifling trinkets in gold which they had inherited from their forefathers.

Motecusuma then sent several of his princ.i.p.al officers to the districts where there were gold mines, desiring the inhabitants of such places to forward him the usual weight and number of gold bars they were accustomed to pay as tribute, and forwarded them two bars as a sample.

He despatched similar orders to the province which stood under his relative, who behaved so refractory. This prince, however, sent him word that he would neither send any gold nor pay any attention to Motecusuma's commands, and that he had as much right to the throne of Mexico as he who thus dared to demand tribute of him.

The monarch was so incensed at this answer that he instantly despatched some of his most active officers, with his seal, to seize the rebel and bring him to Mexico. These officers were more successful than the former had been, and brought in the rebel prince prisoner. When he was led into the presence of Motecusuma, he not only evinced no fear, but was impudent to a degree, and expressed himself so disrespectfully that his conduct could only be accounted for by madness, as he, it was said, was subject to fits of insanity. Cortes, who received information that Motecusuma had given orders for his execution, begged the latter he might be sent to him, that he might take him into his own custody. The former complied with this request, and when the prince was brought into our general's presence, he spoke very kindly to him, and begged of him not to act the madman with his monarch, and a.s.sured him he would obtain his liberty again. But Motecusuma was of a very different opinion, and desired he might be heavily chained, as the other princes had been.

After the lapse of twenty days, all the officers whom Motecusuma had sent out into the provinces to collect the tribute, had returned to Mexico. He then sent for Cortes, his officers, and several of us who had been accustomed to stand sentinel in his apartment, and spoke to us as follows: "Malinche, and you other officers and soldiers, I consider myself greatly indebted to your emperor for his having thought it worth his while to send from such distant countries to make inquiries after me; but what more deeply occupies my thoughts is the tradition of our ancestors, which has been fully confirmed by the oracles of our G.o.ds, that, namely, the dominion of these countries was destined to devolve upon him. Receive, therefore, this gold for him; I have no more at present, as the notice to collect it was too short. With regard to myself, I have destined the whole of my father's treasure for him as my share of the tribute, which lies secreted in your quarters. I am well aware that you have inspected it, but closed up the opening as before.

When, however, you transmit this treasure to your emperor, you must say in your letter, this is sent you by your faithful va.s.sal Motecusuma. To this I will also add a few chalchihuis, of such enormous value that I would not consent to give them to any one save to such a powerful emperor as yours: each of these stones are worth two loads of gold. I further think of sending him three crossbows, with the small b.a.l.l.s, and bag which contains them, all richly ornamented with jewels, which will certainly please him much. I should like to give him all I possess; now I have very little left, as I have from time to time given you the greater portion of my gold and jewels."

Cortes and all of us were astonished at this generosity and great goodness of the monarch, and we took off our caps very respectfully, and thanked him. Cortes, at the same time, a.s.sured him he would send our majesty an accurate description of all these splendid presents.

Motecusuma did not delay one instant to fulfil his promise, for that very same hour his house-stewards arrived to hand us over all the treasures contained in the secret chamber. There was such a vast heap of it that we were occupied three days in taking all out of the different corners of this secret room, and in looking them over; we were even obliged to send for Motecusuma's goldsmiths from Escapuzalco to a.s.sist us. The reader may form some notion of this treasure when I tell him that, when all the articles were set apart in three heaps and weighed, the gold alone, not counting the silver and other precious things, was found to be worth above 600,000 pesos: in this are not included the gold plates, bars, and the gold dust contributed by the other provinces. All this treasure we ordered the goldsmiths of Escapuzalco to smelt into bars measuring three inches square.

Besides all this, Motecusuma brought another present, consisting in gold and jewels of enormous value. There were also chalchihuis stones of extreme beauty and size, which were considered of immense value among the caziques of the country. Further, there were three crossbows, with their cases set in jewels and pearls, besides a number of pictures made of feathers and small pearls, all of great value: indeed, it would be no easy task to describe all these splendid things one by one.

Upon this Cortes ordered an iron stamp to be made, about the size of a Spanish real, bearing the arms of Spain, with which the royal treasurers were to mark all the gold, with the exception of that set in jewels, which we were loth to pull to pieces. As we possessed neither scales nor weights, we cast the latter in iron, from twenty-five pounds to half a pound weight, and to four ounces; for we cared very little to weigh to a nicety of half an ounce or so. When the gold, without including the silver and jewels, was weighed, we found, as I have before stated, that it amounted to 600,000 pesos, though many of our men valued it at much more.

Nothing now remained but to deduct the emperor's fifths therefrom, and divide the remainder among the officers and soldiers, including those left behind at Vera Cruz. Cortes, however, was of opinion that the division should be postponed until our stock should be further increased, but most of our officers and soldiers desired that it might take place forthwith, for they a.s.serted that above one third had already disappeared since the three heaps had been first collected together.

They greatly suspected that Cortes and his princ.i.p.al officers had secretly taken away the greater part. The weighing of the gold, consequently, was commenced immediately, that the division might take place on the following day. In what way this was done, and how most of it fell into the hands of Cortes and others, I will relate in the following chapter.

CHAPTER CV.

_How all the gold presented by Motecusuma, and collected from the different townships, was divided; and what happened to one of our soldiers on the occasion._

First of all, one fifth of the treasure was set apart for the crown, and a second for Cortes, as had been promised him when we elected him captain-general and chief justice. After this had been deducted, Cortes brought in the expenses of fitting out the armament at Cuba; then the sum due to Velasquez for the vessels we had destroyed, and, lastly, the travelling expenses of our agents whom we sent to Spain. Next were deducted the several shares due to the garrison at Vera Cruz, which consisted of seventy men; then the value of the two horses which had been killed, one in the engagement with the Tlascallans, the other at Almeria.

Not until all this had been deducted were the rest of our men allowed to take their shares. Double shares were also set apart for the two priests, the officers, and the cavalry, likewise for the musketeers and crossbow-men. After these and other nibblings, there remained, for the greater part of our men, who could only claim one share, such a mere trifle, that many of them would not even accept of it, which Cortes then took himself. At that time, indeed, we thought it best to say nothing about this unjust division; for what would it have availed us had we demanded justice? Besides which, Cortes had secretly bribed some with presents and large promises, and many of the most noisy he presented with a hundred pesos to stop their mouths.

The portion belonging to the garrison at Vera Cruz was forwarded to Tlascalla for safe keeping. Most of our officers employed Motecusuma's goldsmiths of Escapuzalco to make them heavy chains of the gold; and Cortes, among other things, ordered a grand dinner service. Several of our soldiers, who had learnt how to fill their pockets, had other things made; and it was not long before a number of the stamped bars and trinkets came into circulation; for gambling was now commenced to a great extent, after a certain Pedro Valenciano had managed to manufacture playing cards from parchment, which were as well painted and as beautiful to the eye as those manufactured in Spain.

I will, however, show what impression this unfair division of the gold made upon our men. Among our troops there was a man named Cardenas, a sailor by profession, who had left behind him in Spain a wife and children in great want, and had the ill-luck, with many of us, to continue in poverty.

When this man beheld the great heap of gold piled up in bars, plates, besides the gold dust, and found his share of the spoil was a mere hundred pesos, he became excessively low-spirited. One of his friends, who had observed this, asked him the cause of his grief and heavy sighs?

He answered, "Why, how the devil can I do otherwise, when I see the gold which we have so hardly earned find its way into Cortes' pockets, with his fifths, monies laid out for horses, vessels, and other such like vile trickeries, while my wife and children are perishing at home for want of food? I could even have sent them a little help when our agents went to Spain, for there was sufficient gold at that time to have divided it among us." "What gold are you speaking of?" inquired his friend. "Why," answered Cardenas, "of that which our agents took with them to Spain. If Cortes had granted me my share of that, my wife and children would not have wanted: but he employed every species of artifice to persuade us to send the whole treasure as a present to the emperor, with the exception, however, of above 6000 pesos to Martin Cortes, his father: I will not even mention the gold which he has secretly stowed away. We others who have fought about courageously night and day at Tabasco, Tlascalla, Zinpantzinco, and Cholulla; we who at present live in continual fear, with almost certain death before our eyes as soon as the inhabitants of this great city get it into their heads to rise up against us,--we all remain, as before, poverty-stricken, and all our remonstrances are in vain! Cortes, on the contrary, acts as if he were the emperor himself, and runs away with a fifth of our hard earnings!"

In this strain the poor fellow continued his complaints, and was of opinion that we should not have allowed Cortes to deduct a fifth for himself; and that we required no other sovereign than our own emperor.

"And are you really," returned the other, "going to embitter your happiness with such thoughts? All this will avail you nothing. You know we fare equally bad with respect to provisions, for Cortes and his officers nearly eat up all themselves; but it is of no use for us to complain, therefore drive away, all such melancholy thoughts from your mind, and pray to the Almighty that we may not meet with our total destruction in this city."

Cortes was duly apprized of all this and similar complaints; and as the discontent among the men respecting the unfair division of the gold became pretty general, he ordered the whole of us into his presence, and addressed us in a speech abounding with the sweetest sentences imaginable. He was indebted, he said, for all he had to us; that he had not required the fifth part, but the share which was promised him when we elected him captain-general, and he was quite ready to bestow something on those who stood in need. The gold we had collected up to this moment, he continued, was a trifle to that which was to come. We ought to remember what great cities were dispersed through the country, and the rich mines which were in our possession; these certainly would enrich every man in his army. In this way he continued for some time, and spoke feelingly to the heart! but, finding all this had no effect, he employed other means. Many he secretly silenced with gold, and others by great promises, and the provisions sent us by Motecusuma's orders were from this moment justly divided, so that every man among us had an equal share of food with himself. He likewise took Cardenas aside, and quieted him with a present of 300 pesos, and the promise that he would allow him to return home to his family with the first vessel that left for Spain. This Cardenas I shall have occasion to mention on some future occasion, for he did Cortes considerable injury in Spain during the subsequent complaints which were laid before the emperor against him.

CHAPTER CVI.

_Of the high words which arose between Velasquez de Leon and our treasurer Gonzalo Mexia on account of the gold which was missing from the heap, and how Cortes put an end to that dispute._

Since gold, generally speaking, is the great desire of man, and that the more he possesses of it the more avaricious he grows, it also happened here that many pieces of gold were missing from the heaps, which I have mentioned above; and as one of our officers named Leon had ordered Motecusuma's goldsmiths to make him heavy gold chains and other ornaments, the royal treasurer Gonzalo Mexia suspected something wrong, and secretly observed to him that the emperor's fifths had not been deducted from several of the bars he had sent to be smelted. Leon, who stood in high favour with Cortes, answered, that it was not his intention to return anything. The gold he possessed he had not taken himself, but had received all from Cortes before it had ever been smelted.

The royal treasurer, however, was not to be silenced by this, but affirmed, that, besides the gold Cortes had secretly taken away, and of which he had deprived his companions in arms, there was a good deal elsewhere from which the royal fifths had not been deducted, and that, in his capacity of royal treasurer, he could not suffer the emperor's interest to be thus prejudiced.

This, consequently, led to high words between both parties, so that they drew swords, and would certainly have killed each other if we had not instantly parted them; for both were high-spirited men and excellent swordsmen, and each had already wounded his antagonist.

As soon as Cortes was informed of this affair, he ordered both to be arrested and heavily chained. As, however, he always had been heart in hand with Leon, many were of opinion that all this was a mere blind to make us believe that he preferred justice to friendship; besides which it was whispered that he secretly visited him during his arrest, and a.s.sured him that he should not be confined beyond a couple of days, when he and Mexia would again be set at liberty. But all this did not go to quiet our suspicions, and now Mexia, in his turn, was reproached for not having fulfilled the duties of royal treasurer, and he was compelled by the soldiers to inquire of Cortes what had become of the missing gold?

I will, however, cut this matter short here, and return to Leon, who was confined in a room not far from the apartments occupied by Motecusuma.

When Leon, therefore, who was a tall powerful man, paced up and down his room, his heavy chains dragged along the floor, so that the monarch could plainly hear the jingling noise, and he inquired of Orteguilla who the prisoner was? His page then told him that it was Leon, who had previously been captain of the guard, an appointment now filled by Oli, and told him that the reason of his confinement was on account of some gold that was missing.

When Cortes that day, as usual, paid his visit to the monarch, and the first compliments had pa.s.sed between them, the latter inquired of our general how it came that such a distinguished officer as Leon should have been thrown into chains? To which Cortes answered, jokingly, that all was not as it should be with him, he having threatened, because he had not received sufficient gold, to travel around to the different towns, and demand gold of the caziques. Fearing, therefore, he might put his threats into execution, and kill one or other chief, he had thrown him into prison. Motecusuma, on hearing this, begged Cortes to set him at liberty again, and promised he would soon drive such thoughts from his mind by presenting him with gold from his own private treasure.

Cortes feigned great unwillingness to grant the monarch's request, but at length a.s.sured him he would comply merely on account of the affection he bore him, Motecusuma. Leon was, consequently, released, and Cortes brought about a reconciliation between him and Mexia; then despatched him with some of Motecusuma's princ.i.p.al officers to raise gold at Cholulla, from which place he did not return till the end of six days, and now he had more gold than ever. Mexia, however, never forgot this affair, and a coolness ever after existed between him and our general.

I have related this story, though foreign to my narrative, to show the reader what artful devices Cortes was accustomed to set on foot, and what a show he made of justice to make us fear him.

CHAPTER CVII.

_How Motecusuma offers one of his daughters in marriage to Cortes, who accepts her, and pays her the attentions due to her high station._

I have often related how we strove, in every possible manner, to amuse Motecusuma in his confinement, and daily visited him in his apartments.

It was on one of these occasions that the monarch said to our general, "Malinche! in order to prove the great affection I have for you, I must acquaint you that it is my intention to give you one of my prettiest daughters in marriage."

Cortes took his cap off, and thanked him for the honour he was going to confer upon him, and said he was already married, and that the religion and laws of our country would not allow a man to have more than one wife; but that he would accept her and treat her with the respect due to her high rank, and it was requisite she should become converted to Christianity, as the daughters of many of his grandees had been.

Motecusuma readily agreed to this, as he did in everything else we desired, save the sacrificing of human beings, which nothing could induce him to abolish; day after day were those abominations committed: Cortes remonstrated with him in every possible way, but with so little effect, that at last he deemed it proper to take some decided step in the matter. But the great difficulty was to adopt a measure by which neither the inhabitants nor the priesthood would be induced to rise up in arms. We, however, came to the determination, in a meeting called for the purpose, to throw down the idols from the top of Huitzilopochtli's temple; and should the Mexicans rise up in arms for their defence, then to content ourselves by demanding permission to build an altar on one side of the platform, and erect thereon the image of the holy Virgin with the cross.

Thus determined, Cortes, accompanied by seven officers and soldiers, repaired to Motecusuma, and spoke to him as follows: "Great monarch, I have already so many times begged of you to abolish those false idols by whom you are so terribly deluded, and no longer to sacrifice human beings to them; and yet these abominations are continued daily: I have, therefore, come to you now, with these officers, to beg permission of you to take away these idols from the temple, and place in their stead the holy Virgin and the cross. The whole of my men feel determined to pull down your idols, even should you be averse to it; and you may well suppose that one or other of your papas will become the victim."

When Motecusuma heard this, and saw how determined our officers were, he said to Cortes, "Alas, Malinche! why is it you wish to compel me to bring down total destruction on this town? Our G.o.ds are already angry with us, and who can tell what revenge they contemplate against you? I will, however, a.s.semble all the papas, to know their opinion."

Cortes made a sign with his hand for the other officers to retire, and begged of Motecusuma to grant him and father Olmedo a private audience.

Cortes then told the monarch he only knew one way of saving the town from open rebellion, and the idols from destruction, namely, by our being allowed to erect an altar, with the cross and Virgin Mary, on the top of the great temple. He would then pledge himself to silence the murmurs of his men, and the Mexicans themselves would soon be convinced how greatly such a change would benefit their souls, what great blessings would be showered down upon them, and how abundant their harvests would be.

To this Motecusuma likewise answered, with a deep sigh, and a countenance full of sorrow, that he would discuss the matter with his papas. At length, after a good deal of arguing between the papas and himself, we were allowed to erect an altar, with the cross and holy Virgin, on the top of the temple, opposite the cursed idol Huitzilopochtli. We returned heartfelt thanks to the Almighty, and father Olmedo, a.s.sisted by the priest Juan Diaz, and many of our soldiers, celebrated high ma.s.s.[74]