The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2)

CHAPTER XXXI

How we arrive in the river Grijalva, called in the Indian language the Tabasco; the battle we fought there; and what further took place.

On the 12th of March, 1519, we arrived with our whole squadron in the mouth of the Tabasco. As we had experienced, under the expedition with Grijalva, that no vessels of any considerable burden could enter the mouth of the river, our larger ones anchored out at sea, while the smaller ones only, followed by our boats, carrying the whole of our men, sailed up the river, in order to disembark at the promontory where the palm trees grew, about four miles from the town of Tabasco; the same spot where Grijalva had landed.

We perceived numbers of Indians, all under arms, lurking between the almond trees along the shore. This circumstance greatly astonished those among us who were here before with Grijalva. Besides this, more than 12,000 men, all armed after their fashion, had assembled at the town itself in order to attack us. This town was very powerful at that time, many others being subject to it. These warlike preparations were occasioned by the following circumstances: The inhabitants of Potonchan, of Lazaro, and other neighbouring tribes, had accused the Tabascans of cowardice, for having given Grijalva their gold trinkets mentioned above: they reproached them the more because their population was more extensive, and their warriors much more numerous than those of the tribes just mentioned, who had courageously attacked and killed fifty-six of our men. It was owing to these reproaches that they now likewise took up arms against us. Cortes observing these preparations, desired our interpreter Aguilar, who perfectly understood the language of Tabasco, to ask some Indians who were passing by in a large canoe, what the meaning was of all this noise? we had not come to do them any harm; on the contrary, we were disposed to treat them as our brethren, and share our victuals with them: they should be careful how they went to war with us, for they would certainly have to repent it. This and many other things were told them by Aguilar, to incline them to peace, but the more he said the more insolent they became, threatening to destroy us all should we dare to set foot on their territory or in their town, which they had fortified by means of heavy trees felled for the purpose, and a strong stone wall. Aguilar, however, made another attempt to bring about peace, and obtain us permission to take in fresh water, barter for provisions, and incline them to listen to the disclosures we came to make in the name of our God. They, however, persisted we should not pass beyond the palm trees; if we did, they would kill us all.

When Cortes found that all attempts to make peace were fruitless, he ordered the small vessels and boats to prepare for battle. Three pieces of cannon were put on board of each of the former, the crossbow-men and musketeers being equally distributed among them. We remembered, during the expedition under Grijalva, that a narrow road ran from the palm trees along some quagmires and wells to the town. Cortes here posted three sentinels to watch whether the Indians went home at night, if so, to send him immediate notice. Information was soon brought in the affirmative. The rest of the day was now spent in reconnoitring the territory, and fitting out the vessels. The next morning early, after we had attended mass and well armed ourselves, Cortes despatched Alonso de Avila with one hundred men, among whom were ten crossbow-men, along the narrow road above mentioned, leading to the town, which, as soon as he should hear the firing of cannon, he was to attack on one side, while we did the same from the other; Cortes himself, with the rest of our officers and men, moving up the river in the small vessels and our boats.

When the Indians, who were standing under arms along the coast between the palm trees, saw us approaching, they leaped into their canoes and stationed themselves where we were going to land, in order to prevent us. The shore was covered with warriors armed with all kinds of weapons, while a terrible noise assailed our ears from their twisted shells, drums, and fifes. Cortes ordered us to halt for a few moments and not to fire as yet. As he was very particular in doing everything in proper form, he desired the royal secretary, who was with us, and Diego de Godoy, once more to request the inhabitants to allow us to come peaceably on shore to take in fresh water. Aguilar acted as interpreter. They were also to give them some notion, if possible, of the Lord God, and his imperial majesty, and explain to them, that if they attacked us, and we in defending ourselves killed any of their men, the guilt would be upon their heads, not ours. The Indians, however, continued their defiances, threatening to destroy us all if we came on shore. Indeed the battle now soon began, for immediately after they commenced pouring forth showers of arrows, the drummers to give signals for the other troops to fall upon us in a body, and in an instant they rushed bravely forward. They completely surrounded us with their canoes, and shot off their arrows so quickly, that many of us were soon wounded, we being moreover compelled for a length of time to fight up to our waists, and sometimes even higher in the water. The place where we were attempting to land was disadvantageous in another way, for the ground was composed of mud and clay, in which it was impossible to move very fast, particularly as at the same time we had to defend ourselves against the enemy's arrows and the thrusts of their lances. Cortes himself, while fighting in this way was obliged to leave one of his shoes sticking in the mud in order to get on firm land. We had all, indeed, hard work to do before we could gain the dry ground; but having once obtained this we fell so furiously upon our enemies, under the cry of our patron St. Jacob! that they began to retreat, but immediately again drew themselves up in order of battle behind the wood and the trees they had cut down. Here they made an obstinate resistance, until we likewise drove them from this place, having forced some passages leading to the town, which latter we entered fighting our way in. The battle now continued in the streets, until our progress was impeded by another barricade of fallen trees, defended by a fresh set of men. Here the conflict was continued with renewed obstinacy, the Indians incessantly crying out: ala lala, al calachoni, al calachoni! meaning in their language, kill the commander-in-chief. While we were thus busily engaged, Alonso de Avila appeared with his men, who had marched along from the palm-trees. He had been detained by the morass and pools of water which lay in his road. This delay now proved an advantage to us, as we had also lost time in striving to make peace with the enemy by means of our two parliamentaries, and the difficulty we had had to fight our way on shore. With our united troops we now beat the Indians from this strong post; though, like brave warriors, they set vigorously upon us with their arrows and lances, which latter had been hardened in the fire; nor did they turn their backs, until we had forced our way into a large courtyard, adjoining which were several spacious apartments and halls. Here also stood three temples, but the Indians had carried off all the religious implements with them.

The enemy being now put to flight, Cortes ordered his men to halt, that we might take formal possession of the country, in the name of his majesty. He performed this ceremony by drawing his sword, and giving therewith two deep cuts into a large ceiba tree, which stood in the courtyard, crying out at the same time, that he would defend the possession of this country with sword and shield against any one who should dare dispute it. The whole of us who were present gave our assent to these proceedings, swearing we would support him in its defence; all of which was formally registered by the royal treasurer. The adherents of Diego Velasquez alone were not pleased because the name of the latter had not at all been mentioned therein.

In this engagement fourteen of our men were wounded, I myself was of the number, being wounded by an arrow in the thigh, though not severely. The Indians lost, altogether, eighteen men. We passed the night in this spot, having taken the precaution to post sentinels in different places, so necessary did we deem it to be upon our guard here.

CHAPTER XXXII

How Cortes despatches two of our principal officers, each with one hundred men, to explore the interior of the country, and what further took place.

The next day Cortes despatched Alvarado with one hundred men, among whom were fifteen crossbow-men and musketeers, to march six miles inland, in order to explore the country. He was to take along with him Melchorejo, of the punta de Cotoche, but he could nowhere be found. He had most probably gone off in a canoe the night before with the inhabitants of Tabasco. We conjectured this at least, because the day previous he had left all his Spanish clothes behind him hanging in a tree. Cortes was greatly vexed at his escape, as he might betray many things to the inhabitants that would do us no good.

I will, however, leave the fugitive to his own fate, and continue my narrative.

Cortes also sent out a second of our chief officers, named Francisco de Lugo, with another hundred men; among whom were twelve crossbow-men and musketeers, with similar instructions as to Alvarado, but to take another direction and return to head-quarters towards evening.

Francisco de Lugo may have reached the distance of about four miles when he fell in with vast numbers of Indians, commanded by their several chiefs. They were armed as usual, immediately advanced towards our men, whom they surrounded on all sides, and began pouring forth a shower of arrows. The Indians, indeed, were in too great numbers for our small detachment. They first threw in their lances and the stones from their slings, then fell upon our men with sharp swords, which they wield with both hands. Though De Lugo and his men defended themselves bravely, they were unable to drive back such overwhelming numbers. They therefore began to retreat in the best order possible to our head-quarters, having first despatched an Indian of Cuba, who was a swift runner, to inform Cortes of their situation and beg of him to send a reinforcement. During all this time De Lugo and his troops, particularly the crossbow-men and musketeers bravely withstood the whole body of the enemy.

In the meantime Alvarado had marched about four miles in the direction he was commanded to take, when he came to an inlet which he was unable to pass. Here the good Lord fortunately gave him the thought to return in a direction which led to the spot where De Lugo was fighting with the Indians. The firing of the muskets, the noise of the drums and trumpets, with the yelling of the Indians, soon convinced Alvarado that the latter had again commenced hostilities; he therefore marched in a direct line to the place whence the noise came, and found De Lugo in the heat of an engagement with the enemy, of whom five were already killed. Both detachments now fell with their united forces upon the Indians, who were speedily dispersed, yet they were unable to put them totally to the rout; on the contrary, they would certainly have followed us to our head-quarters, if Cortes had not come up with the rest of our troops, when, after some sharp firing and heavy blows, they were obliged to fall back. Cortes, on receiving information of De Lugo's dangerous position, had immediately repaired to his assistance with the whole of his men, and came up with the two commanders at about two miles from our head-quarters. In this engagement we did not escape without some loss, for two of De Lugo's detachment were killed and eight wounded; Alvarado had only three of the latter. Having arrived at our head-quarters, we dressed the wounds of our men, buried the dead, and posted sentinels in proper places, that we might not be fallen upon unawares. In this battle, the enemy lost fifteen men killed, and three were taken prisoners, of whom one appeared to be a chief. Our interpreter Aguilar asked them what madness could have induced them to attack us? One of the Indians returned for answer, that Melchorejo, whom we brought with us from the punta de Cotoche, had come over to their camp the night previous, advising them to fall upon us, and continue to do so night and day, for, in the end, they would, no doubt, be able to conquer our small numbers: so that Cortes's apprehensions with respect to the flight of this fellow were verified.

We now despatched one of our prisoners to the caziques with green glass beads, and offers of peace: this personage, however, never returned to bring any answer. We also learnt from our two other prisoners, who were closely questioned by Aguilar, that the day previous all the caziques of the neighbouring districts had been under arms to fall upon us, and that the next day they would return to storm our head-quarters. All this was likewise done by the advice of Melchorejo.

CHAPTER XXXIII

Cortes issues orders that we should hold ourselves in readiness to march against the Indians on the following day; he also commands the horses to be brought on shore. How the battle terminates we fought with them.

Cortes being now certain that the Indians would renew the attack, immediately ordered all our horses to be brought on shore, and every one, our wounded not excepted, to hold himself in readiness. When our horses, which had been such a length of time at sea, now stepped on firm ground again, they appeared very awkward and full of fear; however, the day following, they had regained their usual liveliness and agility. There were also six or seven of our men, all young and otherwise strong fellows, who were attacked with such severe pains in the groins that they could not walk without support. No one could guess the cause of this; it was only said they had lived too freely at Cuba, and that the pain was occasioned by the heat, and the weight of their arms; Cortes, therefore, ordered them again on board. The cavaliers, who were to fight on horseback, were commanded to hang bells around their horses' necks, and Cortes impressed on their minds not to rush at the Indians with their lances before they had been dispersed, and then even to aim at their faces only. The following men were selected to fight on horseback: Christobal de Oli, Pedro de Alvarado, Alonso Hernandez Puertocarrero, and Juan de Escalante. Francisco de Montejo and Alonso de Avila were to use the horses of Ortiz the musician, and of a certain Bartolome Garcia, though neither were worth much. Further, there were Velasquez de Leon, Francisco de Morla, and one of the Lares, (for there was another excellent horseman among us of that name,) and Gonzalo Dominiguez, both superior horsemen; lastly, there were Moron de Bayamo and Pedro de Truxillo. Then comes Cortes, who placed himself at their head. Mesa had charge of the artillery, while the rest of our men were commanded by Diego de Ordas, who, though he knew nothing of the cavalry service, excelled as a crossbow-man and musketeer. The morning following, which was the day of annunciation to the holy Virgin, we attended mass very early, and arranged ourselves under our ensign Antonio de Villareal. We now put ourselves in motion, and marched towards some extensive bean fields, where Francisco de Lugo and Pedro de Alvarado had fought the previous battle. There was a village in this neighbourhood called Cintla, belonging to the Tabascans, which lay about four miles from our head-quarters. Cortes, on account of the bogs which our horse could not pass, was obliged to take a circuitous route. Our other troops, however, under Diego de Ordas, came up with the Indians near Cintla, where they had arranged themselves on the plain: if they felt equal ardour for the combat as we did, they could now satisfy themselves, – for this was a battle in every sense of the word which we here fought, fearful in the extreme, as will be seen.

CHAPTER XXXIV

How we are attacked by all the caziques of Tabasco, and the whole armed force of this province, and what further took place.

The Indians were already moving forward in search of us, when we came up with them: every one had a large bunch of feathers on his head, a cotton cuirass on, and their faces were daubed with white, black, and red colours. Besides having drums and trumpets, they were armed with huge bows and arrows, shields, lances, and large broadswords; they had also bodies of slingers, and others armed with poles hardened in the fire. The Indians were in such vast numbers that they completely filled the bean fields, and immediately fell upon us on all sides at once, like furious dogs. Their attack was so impetuous, so numerous were the arrows, stones, and lances with which they greeted us, that above seventy of our men were wounded in no time, and one named Saldaña, was struck by an arrow in the ear, and instantly dropt down dead. With like fury they rushed at us with their pikes, at the same time pouring forth showers of arrows, and continually wounding our men. However, we fully repaid them with our crossbows, muskets, and heavy cannon, cutting right and left among them with our swords. By this means we forced them to give ground a little, but only that they might shower forth their arrows at a greater distance, where they thought themselves more secure from our arms. Even then our artilleryman Mesa made terrible havoc among them, standing as they did crowded together and within reach of the cannon, so that he could fire among them to his heart's content. Notwithstanding the destruction we made among their ranks, we could not put them to flight. I now remarked to our commander Diego de Ordas that we should rush forward upon the Indians and close with them. My motive for advising this was, because I saw that they merely retreated from fear of our swords, but still continued to annoy us at a distance with arrows, lances, and large stones. De Ordas, however, considered this not expedient, as the enemy's numbers were so vast that every single man of us would have had to encounter 300 of the enemy at once.

My advice, however, was at length followed up, and we fell so heavily upon them that they retreated as far as the wells. All this time Cortes still remained behind with the cavalry, though we so greatly longed for that reinforcement: we began to fear that some misfortune might also have befallen him. I shall never forget the piping and yelling which the Indians set up at every shot we fired, and how they sought to hide their loss from us by tossing up earth and straw into the air, making a terrible noise with their drums and trumpets, and their war-whoop Ala lala.11

In one of these moments Cortes came galloping up with the horse. Our enemies being still busily engaged with us, did not immediately observe this, so that our cavalry easily dashed in among them from behind. The nature of the ground was quite favorable for its manœuvres; and as it consisted of strong active fellows, most of the horses being, moreover, powerful and fiery animals, our small body of cavalry in every way made the best use of their weapons. When we, who were already hotly engaged with the enemy, espied our cavalry, we fought with renewed energy, while the latter, by attacking them in the rear at the same time, now obliged them to face about. The Indians, who had never seen any horses before, could not think otherwise than that horse and rider were one body. Quite astounded at this to them so novel a sight, they quitted the plain and retreated to a rising ground.

Cortes now related why he had not come sooner. First, he had been delayed by the morass; then again he was obliged to fight his way through other bodies of the enemy whom he had met, in which five men and eight horses were wounded.

Having somewhat rested from our fatigue under the trees which stood on the field of battle, we praised God and the holy Virgin, and thanked them with uplifted hands for the complete victory they had granted us: and, as it was the feast of the annunciation to the holy Virgin, the town which was subsequently built here in memory of this great victory, was named Santa Maria de la Vitoria. This was the first battle we fought under Cortes in New Spain.

After this pious solemnity we bandaged the wounds of our men with linen, which was all we had for that purpose. Those of our horses we dressed with melted fat, which we cut from the dead bodies of the Indians. We likewise took this opportunity of counting the number of killed left by the enemy on the field of battle. We found above eight hundred, numbers still showing signs of life. Our swords had done the most carnage among them, though many were killed by our cannon. Wherever the cavalry made its appearance the enemy had most work to do. The fighting lasted about an hour; and our enemies maintained their ground so well, that they did not quit the field of battle until our horse broke in among them. There were two caziques among the five prisoners we made.

As we were quite fatigued and hungry we returned to our quarters, buried the two soldiers, one of whom had been shot in the neck and the other in the ear, posted strong watches, then ate our supper and retired to rest.

Francisco Lopez de Gomara, in his account of this battle, says, that previous to the arrival of Cortes with the cavalry, the holy apostle St. Jacob or St. Peter in person had galloped up on a gray-coloured horse to our assistance. I can only say, that for the exertion of our arms and this victory, we stand indebted to our Lord Jesus Christ; and that in this battle every individual man among us was set upon by such numbers of the enemy, that if each of them had merely thrown a handful of earth upon us we should have been buried beneath it. Certain it is, therefore, that God showed his mercy to us here, and it may, indeed, have been one of the two glorious apostles St. Jacob or St. Peter who thus came to our assistance. Perhaps on account of my sins I was not considered worthy of the good fortune to behold them; for I could only see Francisco de Morla on his brown horse galloping up with Cortes, and even at this very moment, while I am writing this, I can fancy I see all passing before my eyes just as I have related it; although I, an unworthy sinner, was not considered worthy of beholding one of the glorious apostles face to face: yet again I never heard any of the four hundred soldiers, nor ever Cortes himself, nor any of the many cavaliers, mention this wonder, or confirm its truth. We should certainly have built a church, and have called the town Santiago, or San Pedro de la Vitoria, and not Santa Maria de la Vitoria. If, therefore, what Gomara relates is true, then we must indeed have been bad Christians not to have paid greater respect to the assistance which God sent us in the person of his holy apostles, and for having omitted to thank him daily for it in his own church. Nevertheless, I should feel delighted if this historian has spoken the truth, although I must confess that I never heard this wonder mentioned before reading his book, nor have I ever heard any of the conquistadores speak of it who were present at the battle.

CHAPTER XXXV

How Cortes assembles all the caziques of this province, and what further happened.

I have above related that in this battle we took five prisoners, among whom were two chiefs. Aguilar, who understood their language, often discoursed with them, and from some remarks which they made, concluded that we might employ them as delegates to their countrymen. Having communicated his thoughts to Cortes, he proposed they should be set at liberty, and despatched with a message to the caziques and other inhabitants of the district. To this Cortes assented, ordering both the prisoners to be presented with blue glass beads, while Aguilar told them many things which he knew would please the inhabitants and prove advantageous to us. He assured them, that after this battle, which had been entirely of their own seeking, they had nothing further to fear from us, and commissioned them now to assemble all the caziques of the district, for we were very desirous of communicating with them. Everything Aguilar said was done with the view of inclining the Indians to make peace with us. The prisoners most willingly complied with our wishes, which they communicated to the caziques and principal personages among the inhabitants, telling them how we longed to become their friends. This message was in so far successful, that they resolved to send us fifteen of their Indian slaves with fowls, baked fish, and maise-bread. These slaves had their faces blackened, and were completely covered with ragged cloaks. When these personages appeared in the presence of Cortes he received them very friendly: Aguilar, on the contrary, asked them in an angry tone, why they had come with such painted faces – appearing rather to seek war than peace? If they were desirous of making peace, continued he, persons of rank should be deputed to us, not slaves. This they were to communicate to those who had sent them. We, however, treated these black faces very kindly, presenting them moreover with blue beads in token of peace, and in order to gain the good wishes of the inhabitants. And sure enough the very next day above thirty of the principal Indians, well dressed, appeared in our quarters, bringing with them, fowls, fruits, and maise-bread, and begged permission of Cortes to burn and bury the bodies of their fallen countrymen, in order that they might not create a pestilence in the air, or become a prey to the lions and tigers. This being granted, they brought along with them a great number of Indians to burn the bodies, and bury them according to their custom. Cortes himself went to watch their proceedings, when they assured him they had lost above 800 killed, without counting the wounded; adding, that at present they durst not enter into any treaty with us, as the day following all the chiefs and principal personages of the district would assemble to take our offers of peace into consideration.