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THE CHRONICLES PART TWO Ot Bernal Diaz del Castillo, the Herod otus of the Expedition of the Conquista dores, not much ie known. Contemporary historians say nothing of bis birth or of bis deutb—few of them even mention his name. When he himself wielded the pen, be wrote not of what he was, but of what he did. Anil the writings ho left are the record of the downfall of a strange old dynasty, the supplanting of a yet stranger religion and the final extinction of a race which counted its members by millions. He was born at Medina del Campo, Spain, about 1498, and died in Guatemala about 1593. He was a soldier and author. He went to Darien with Pedro Arias de Avila in 1514, thence crossed to Cuba: was with Cordoba in the discovery of Yucatan in 1517, and with Grijalva in 1518. Ho subsequently joined Cortes, served through the conquest of Mexico, 1519-21, und went to Guatemala with Al varado in 154. In all these campaigns he was a common soldier, or at most a subaltern officer. Diaz settled in Guate mala, at Santiago de los Caballeros, where be began writing his "Historia de la Conquista de Nueva Espana" in 1658. It was first published at Madrid in 1632, and has remained a standard historical authority for the conquest of Mexico. Bernal Diaz left Castile, as he says in bis memoirs, in 1514 for 'Tierra Firma. " also called the New World. In due time be reached Cuba, and from tbat place proceeded as one of a few hundred cav aliers to the discovering of new countries, impelled thereto by an insatiable thirst for gold and a still more intense determ ination to carry to strange peoples the re ligion of God and Our Lady the Mother of Christ. Bernal Diaz constituted himself the historian of the expedition, even as Her nando Cortos made himself Captain-Gen eral; for though the company, at first,had certain authority conferred upon its offi cers and certain general directions given by tbe Governor of Cuba, tbe commissions to the officers wore withdrawn and the directions ignored. He was Captain who bad the inherent faculty of commanding men, and tbe routo followed was that which commended itself to them from day to day. The story of the progress through Mex co is one infinitely varied, yet strangely monotonous. It is a story of weariness and hunger, of disappointment and suf fering, of battles with savages in hordes innumerable, actuated by bitter bate; of courage undaunted, and an unconquered and the unconquerable faith that the Lord fought witb them, that in His own good time He would give to his servants riches and honor and tbe glory of bring ing a great people within the folds of tbe True Church. As the fame of Semiramis was spread to tho utmost confines of Assyria, so the greatness of Montezuma was known even to that place whero the wavos of the sea washed the sands of Yucatan. To the City of Montezuma. Mexico, the Con quistadores turned their faces, and after many days the first glimpse "of the grand city und all the lakes" was gained by Diego do Ordas, who, from the summit of Mount Popocatapetl, looked out across the wide country. Later the city was reached. Of the city and of what was done there let Bernal Diaz tell, as in the history which he has written. I'ivscott quotes no authority in his His tory of the Conquest of Mexico as often as LOS ANGELES: SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 3, 1895.—TWENTY-FOUR PAGES he does that of Bernal Diaz del Castillo, and in the appendix to his work refers to his Chronicles in the following language: Bernal Diaz, the untutored child of Nature, is a most true and literal copyist of nature. He transfers the scenes of real life by a sort of daguerreotype pro cess, if I may so say, to his pages. He is among chroniclers, what De Foe is among novelists. He introduces us into the heart of the camp, we huddle round the bivouac with the soldiers, loiter with them on their wearisome marches, listen to their stories, their murmurs of discontent, their, plans of conquest, their hopes, their triumphs, their dis appointments. All the picturesque scenes and romantic incidents of the campaign are reflected in his pages as in a mirror. It was by a mere chance that this in imitable chronicle was rescued from the oblivion into which so many works of higher pretentions have fallen in the Peninsula. For more than sixty years after its composition the manuscript lay concealed in the obscurity of a private library, when it was put into the hands of Father Alonso Ramon, Chronicler of the Order of Mercy. He Had the sagacity to discover under its rude exterior, its high value in illustrating the history of the Conquest. He obtained a license for the publication of the work, and under its auspices it appeared at Madrid in 1632. THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE mmm BERNAL DIAZ DEL CAS fjHL TILLO, Regidor of this city of Santiago de Guate- mala, am the author of this true and clear history, aßp which I now bring to light, J**** which tells of the first dis covery of and the conquest of New Spain, and how the great City of Mexico and many other cities were taken and brought to peace. In this history will be found many not able things, and things worthy of being known; and there also will be found clearly set forth, all the errors and vicious misstatements written about the Conquest by Francisco Lopez de Gomara, who not only was wrong in what he wrote, con cerning the Conquest of New Spain, him self, but was the cause of error in two groat historians who wrote after him, that is to say Doctor lllescas and the Bishop Paulo Jobio. And for this reason I now say and affirm, that everything written in this book is very true, for I was an ocular witness in all the battles, skirmishes and sieges of the Conquest, and this is no ol i story or history of the Romans, over seven hundred years old, because as I might say, it was only yesterday that what is related in my history occurred, and of the truth of this, a good witness was the hardy and valiant Captain Herr nando Cortes, Marquis del Valle, who re lated all of these matters in a letter whioh he wrote from Mexico to his own most Serene Highness, the Emperor Don Carlos, the fifth, of glorious memory. This history was finished, although there are some points still lacking, in this loyal city of Guatemala, where re sides the Royal Andiencia, this sixth day of the tnonth of February, 1568. I humbly beseech the gentlemen who print this book, that they will not add to or take from it one letter. And now Cortes, having been appoint ed Captain of the expedition, fitted out in Cuba in the year of our Lord and tho Virgin 1518, by Diego Velasquez, the Gov ernor of that island, we sailed from Ha vana on the 10th day of February, 1519 And there were eleven ships under Cortes and a fighting force of 463 fofit soldiers, 16' horse, 13 arquebusiers and 32 crossbow men. After touching at the island of Cozumel and other points on the coast of Yucatan, at one of which he rescued Geronimo Aguilar, a Spaniard who bad been held in slavery by the Indians for eight years The herald THE CHRONICLES OF THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO Being the Diary OF BERNAIj DIAZ DEL CASTILiIrO Translated by JOHN T. GAFFEY Copyrighted. All Rights Reserved and who afterwards, with Dona Marina, served Cortes as interpreter, he arrived at the mouth of the Rio de Grijalva, on the coast of Mexico. I How we arrived at the Rio de Grijalva, which the Indians call Tabasco, and of the attack they made on us N t,,e 12tl - d »y ° f March, in the J' ear 1&19, the whole lm " eet arr - ve d at the mouth I li tho Rio de Gri i alvu - We \»3ti&i fijknew already from the ex nuWAju pedition of Grijalva that heavy ships could not enter. We anchored them outside, and with the small ones and our boats we disembarked all our soldiers at tho I'unta de las Palmas, about half a league from the town of Tabasco. When we saw that And Now Cortes, Having Been Appointed Captain of the Expedition, Pitted Out In Cuba In the Year of Our Lord and The Virgin 1318, By Diego Velasquez, The Governor of That Island, We Sailed From Hava .na on the loth Day of February, 1519 that the reeds on the banks of the river were full of Indian warriors, those of us who had been with Grijalva were much surprised; and moreover tbere were over twelve thousand warriors in the town, all armed and ready to givo us war. At this time Tabaspo was a place of note and had many other large towns subject to it. The cause of this preparation to at tack us was that the Indians of Potonchan and neiguboring towns had called them cowards and threw it in their faces that they had traded their gold ornaments to Grijalva, and through cowardice did not dare to attack him, although they had more towns and warriors than either Potonchan or San Lazaro, both of whicli towns made war on us and killed fifty-six of us, all of which was said to affront the men of Tabasco. Stirred by these insults, they took up arms and prepared to attack us. When Cortes saw this he told Aguilar, who spoke Tabascan, to speak to some In dians who appeared to be Chiefs, and who were passing by in canoes, and ask them why they were making these war like preparations. He should tell them that we had not come there to do them injury but, on the cdhtrary, to treat them like brothers and give them of the things we had brought with us, and that he begged of them not to commence the war as they would be the losers by it. Aguilar used many other arguments, but the more he argued the bolder the Indians became,and they said they would kill us all if we entered their town, and that they had fortified it with a wall of large trees piled close together. Aguilar again begged of them to come to pear.c, ami allow us to get water, and to come and trade with us, and he also said many other things to the Caciques that were for their good and for the service of God and our Lord the King, but still they swore that if we passed the Palms they would kill us. When Cortes saw this, he ordered that all the ships of light burden and all the boats be made ready, and that in each one there be placed three cannon, and he distributed among the different boats all the crossbowmen and musketeers, for we remembered from the time of tlrijalva that the roads leading from the Palms to the town were very narrow and led through a swamp. Cortes then sent out three spies to ex amine the Indian town and see if the In dians went to their houses, and they came hack and said they had, and the remain der of that day we spent in preparing ior the attack. The next day, after hearing mass, our preparations having all been made, Cortes ordered Captain Alonzo de Avila to take a body of one hundred men, among whom were ten crossbowmen, and proceed toward the town by the narrow road I have already mentioned, while the remainder of our forces would proceed up the river in our boats, and that when Avila should hear shots, he should imme diately proceed to attack the Indians. When the Indians saw us about to go up the river they came against us with so many canoes, and the whole shore being covered with warriors, that we did not attempt to land at once, for Cortes ordered that we should halt and that no shot should be fired until he had made pro clamation in the presence of the King's secretary, Diego de Godoy, and then through our interpreter, Aguilar, de manded that they should let us land to get water, and that if tbey attacked us whatever deaths or injury they should sustain would be their own fault and not ours. And still they would not let us land, but said they would kill us. They attacked us fiercely, and with their drums made signals for all their squadrons to rush upon us, and like brave men they came to the attack, and from their canoes and from the shore poured upon us such a shower of arrows that a great many of us were wounded, and we were forced to disembark where the water reached our waists, and in some places higher. And as the place where we attempted to land was very swampy and full of mud we could not move very rapidly, and the In dians charged so fiercely upon us with their lances, all the while pouring upon us a shower of arrows, that we did not land as quickly as we wished. Cortes was ] also fighting in the mud, where he left I one of his shoes, so that we were at a I great disadvantage until we got ashore, i But then, calling on Santiago and clos ing in upon them, we forced them back, I but not very far, because of the barri cades of trees behind which they took ref | uge. . And the fight was a hot one and I doubtful, until we had made breaches through which we entered the town, they retreating up a street and taking refuge behind other barricades, where they turned and fought bravely and with great de termination, all the time shouting to each other: l- Ala,ala, alCalchoni, alCalchoni," which meant "kill the Captain." At this point Alonzo de Avila came up, and all together we attacked the Indians and drove them back, but they retired fighting like good warriors and never showed their backs until they had carried off everything they had in a large patio, where they had their houses of idols. And when they had drawn off, Cortes took pos session of the country in the name of our Lord the King, arid he did it in this manner: Unsheathing his sword, he struck a large tree three times and declared that if any person questioned the right of our Lord the King to these lands, he would support it with sword and shield, and all of us who were there declared that it was well done to take possession in the name of our King, and that we would assist him against all who should question that right, and all of this was done in the presence of a King's secre tary. , I remember that in this light fourteen soldiers were wounded, and I also was wounded in the thigh by an arrow. Eighteen of the Indians lay dead in the water and on land. We remained in the town that night, placing sentinels and watches with great care. II How Cortes sent an exploring; expedition Into the Interior, and how Melchore|o, our Indian guide, fled to the natives *HE next day Cortes or dered Pedro de Alvarado to take one hundred sol diers, and among them five crossbowmen, and march two leagues into the interior, and to take with him Melchorejo, our Indian from Point Cotoche. But when they went to call him he could not be found, having fled to the natives of tlie town; and, as it seems, the day before at the Point of Palms, he had hung the clothes we gave him on a tree and tied in a canoe. Cortes was very angry at his flight, lest he should tell the natives things that would injure us. He also ordered Francisco de Lugo to take another hun dred men, and among them twelve cross bowmen and musketeers, and to march into the interior the same distance as Alvarado and to return to the camp at night. Scarcely had Lugo marched one league from the camp when he was attacked by multitudes of Indian warriors, who poured upon him showers of arrows and earthen balls hardened in the fire which they threw with slings, so that it was like a hailstorm. Being surrounded by them on all sides and finding it impossible to beat the In dians off, Francisco de Lugo commenced to retreat in good order for the camp, having sent a. Cuban Indian who was a great runner to notify Cortes, that he might come to his assistance. AU this time Francisco de Lugo was repelling the attacks of the Indians by his cross bow men and ArpuebusieYs, and sustaining the desperaate charges of the Indian squadron as well as he could. But we will leave him in the great peril he is in and follow Pedro de Alvarado, who, when he had marched about a mile, came to a slough, and it pleased God that he had to change his route toward where Francisco de Lugo was fighting, as I have described. And hearing the shots and the shouts and cries of the Indians, and the sound of tbeir drums and trumpets, he immediately knew that the Indians had attacked Lugo; so that with all haste he went, to where he was standing at bay, and as soon as he joined him they forced the Indians to retire, but could not put them to flight, and as Lugo and Alvarado retreated they still continued to follow them toward our cmp. Cortes had also been attacked by other large bodies of Indians, but had forced them to retire by means of the heavy fire he poured upon them and by the sharp edge of the swords of his men. When the messenger arrived we instant ly set out to the relief of Lugo, but met that Captain and Alvarado about half a league from camp. Francisco de Lugo lost three men and had eight wounded, and Pedro de Alva rado had three wounded, and when we returned to the camp we buried our dead and kept good watch that night. In this battle we killed fifteen Indians and took three prisoners, one of whom seemed to be a chief, and Aguilar told him that they were foolish to make war on us, and he sent one with beads to give the chiefs to induce them to come to peace. Tho messenger said that Mecherejo, whom we had brought with us from Point Cotoche and who had fled to them the night before, had advised them to make war on us by clay and night, and that they would con quer us because we were so few. The mes senger we sent never returned, and Ag uilar learned from the other prisoners that all the neighboring Caciques would attack us the next day in our camp. 11l How Cortez ordered everything to be made ready next day to march out in search of the Indians, and caused the horses to be brought from the ships, and what happened to us in the battle HEN Cortes learned would attack us next -^»*-' and that every one should bs ready next morning, even the wounded. And the next day, very early in the morning, which was the day of Nucstro Senora de Marzo, after hearing mass, we OF THE CONQUEST marched out on the plain where Francis co de Lugo had tlie battle, towards the town of Cintla. This plain and town were so called and belonged to Tobasco. Cortes had to make a long detour because of some swamps, and as we approached the town of Cintla the Indians came upon us with their whole force. They were coming to attack us in our camp. They carried large banners'and had drums and trumpets, and had their faces painted black and white, and they were armed with large bows and long arrows and carried shields and a sort of two handed swords, and were armed with slings from which they threw rocks and balls of burnt earth, and each one wore armor of quilted cotton. Their squadrons covered the plains and they came upon us like mad dogs and surrounded us on all sides and poured upon us such a shower of rocks and arrows that the first dis charge wounded over seventy of us and one soldier was killed by an arrow in the ear. They fought with us foot to foot with their lances and did us much injury. We replied with our crossbows and arque buses, but presently as they felt the sham edge of our swords they drew off and then Mesa used our artillery and did them much damage; but with all we could not break their ranks. I then said to Captain de Ordas that it appeared to me that we ought to charge them, because we did fearful execution on them with our swords. Ordas re plied that it would not do because there were three hundred Indians for each one of us and that it would be rash to at tack such odds. Afterward we fought them at close quar ters, as I had suggested to Ordas, and they retired a little toward a swamp. And all this time we were wishing for Cortes and the horses and we began to fear that some disaster had happened to him. I remem bered that whenever wo discharged our firearms the Indians threw dust in the air that we might not see the effects and then beat their drums and shouted "ala lala." While we were thus, we saw the horse ap proach and the Indians being busily en gaged with us did not see them until they were at their backs, and the ground being level and the horses fast and with good riders, they lanced the Indians as they pleased. While they were attacked by the horse in the rear, we charged them in front so that they soon broke and fled. Those Indians had never seen horses before and they believed the horse and rider to be one; so that they were stricken with fear and most of them fled to a neighboring mountain, the reßt [taking refuge in the swamps. We then rested under some large trees ttnd Cortes told us he had been so long in coming up partly because of the swamp, but chiefly because he had encountered another squadron of Indians whom he had defeated, but he had six of his men and eight horses wounded. We now gave thanks to God for this complete victory, and as it was the day of Nuestra Senoia de Marzo, we called the town which we afterwards founded Santa Maria de la Victoria. Thia was the first battle we had under Cortes in New Spain. We bound up our own wounds and those of the horse* after dressing them with the fat of an Indian, whom we opened for that purpose. We had been engaged in this battle over one hour before tho horses arrived. We took five prisoners, two being Captains. We then marched back to our camp, where we buried two of our men who had been killed in the action. It is in this battle that the chronicler Gomara says that Francisco de Morla fought with us on a roan horse before Cortes arrived, and that we were assist ed by the Apostles San Pedro and Santi ago. I say that all of our victories were won by the hand of our Lord Jesus Christ, for there were so many Indians against us that they might bave covered us with hands full of earth if it had not been that the great mercy of God protected us; yet it might have been, as the chronicler Gomara says, that it was done by the glo rious Apostles Saint Peter or Santiago; and that I, as an unworthy sinner, was not considered worthy to see them. What I did see was Francisco de Morla on a chestnut horse and he came up with Cortes, and I am now telling of the battle as my sinful eyes saw it, as I, an un worthy sinner, was not permitted to see any of the glorious Apostles. There was there in our company over four hundred soldiers and Cortes and many other gen tlemen whom I take for my witnesses, and if a church had been built when the town was founded it would have been called La Villa de Santiago or La Villa de San Pedro de la Victoria, as it was called Santa Maria de la Victoria; and if it had been as Gomara says, full un worthy Christians would we have been not to acknowledge the great mercy of God in sending his holy Apostles to our as sistance. But among all the Conquista dores who were there, not one ever heard of such a thing until he had read the chron icles of Gomara. IV How All the Caciques and Captains of the Rio de (irijulva Came and Brought Presents, Among Which Were Twenty Women ggffffffffffffjffjfff. HE next day, early in CJmfflmbC) the '"orning, which was the lust of March, tsj 1519, there came many \W\ Caciques and the pri li lt] cipal men of Tabasco JlgaMsl and surrounding - r P\ J towns. They treated us all with great re spect, and brought presents of some gold ornaments made in figures of animals, and they also brought mantles like those they used, but we already knew the Province was poor in gold and did not expect much. But these presents were nothing in comparison to twenty women they brought, and among them one excellent one who was afterward called Dona Marina. Cortes received the presents with joy, and taking the Caciques aside with Agui lar, he told them he was much pleased, but that he urgently requested them to repopulate the town, anil that inside of two days he would like to see all of their men and children returned there, and that hy this he would know their peace was a true one; and he also ordered that they must give up tueir idols and human sacrifices, which they promised to do. Then, as best he could, Cortes toltl them of our holy faith and how we wero Chris tians and worshiped the only true God. And then he showed them an image of PAGES 13 TO 24