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tain Corrar, as Villareal, who
first filled this post, had got into disgrace with Cortes about an
Indian female of Cuba, and was obliged to relinquish it. Achoa of Biscay
and Alonso Romero were nominated alguacils of the camp.

The reader will wonder that I have not yet mentioned the name of one of
our principal men, Gonzalo de Sandoval, though he was such a renowned
officer, being second to Cortes only, and particularly distinguished by
our emperor himself. There is no other reason than that Sandoval was
still very young, and that we did not make so much of him and other
brave officers then as we did subsequently, when we saw all his real
qualities developed in a manner that drew forth unbounded praise from
Cortes and every soldier: indeed he was considered equal to Cortes
himself.--Gomara has likewise related a good deal respecting these
matters, of which he has been ill informed. I could not leave this
unnoticed, however beautiful his style of writing may be, in which his
strength really lies.

CHAPTER XLIII.

 _How the partisans of Diego Velasquez would not acknowledge the
 power we had conferred upon Cortes, and what further took place._

The partisans of Diego Velasquez, finding we had elected Cortes
captain-general, and appointed the other officers just mentioned, were
terribly annoyed and vexed. They armed themselves in small troops, and
threw out the most insolent language against Cortes and those among us
who had chosen him captain-general. All this they considered should not
have been done without the consent of the whole of the officers and
soldiers. Diego Velasquez had merely empowered Cortes to barter with the
natives. In short, their dissatisfaction rose to such a pitch, that our
party was afraid matters would be carried much farther, and end in
hostilities. Cortes now secretly desired Juan de Escalante to intimate
that we should demand the instructions to be produced which he had
received from Velasquez. This was accordingly done, and Cortes pulled
them out from under his waistcoat, handing them over to the royal
secretary to be read aloud. And sure enough the words were, _After you
have bartered for as many precious things as possible, you shall return
home._ This document was signed by Velasquez, and countersigned by his
private secretary Andreas de Duero. Upon this we desired of Cortes that
these instructions should be entered into the appointment we had given
him, and announced by a public crier, as had been done at Cuba, in order
that his majesty might convince himself of the true state of things, and
that everything was done to further his sovereign interest only. This
step was most agreeable to our purpose, as the bishop of Burgos, Don
Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca, was wrongly informed respecting these
proceedings, and only laboured to ruin us, as we subsequently learnt.
The partisans of Diego Velasquez, however, were not to be silenced by
this; and as the election had been made without their knowledge, they
considered it illegal, and maintained that they were not called upon to
obey his commands, but were determined to return to Cuba. Cortes
answered, that he would not compel them to remain, but would discharge
any one who might wish it, even if he himself should, in the end, remain
alone behind. By this some were silenced. Juan Velasquez de Leon, (who
was closely related to Velasquez,) Diego de Ordas, Escobar, (whom we
commonly termed the page,) Pedro de Escudero, and others of Velasquez's
party, still continued refractory, and things at last came to such a
pass, that, in the end, they formally refused to obey Cortes. In such a
state of affairs it was necessary to adopt some stronger measure, which
was carried into execution with our consent. We seized the persons of
the above-mentioned refractory officers, bound them in chains, and kept
watch over them as if they had been prisoners.

Respecting these circumstances Gomara has again been misinformed, and
not a word is to be credited of anything he says on the subject.

CHAPTER XLIV.

 _How Pedro de Alvarado was ordered to make an excursion into the
 interior of the country, in order to procure maise and other
 provisions; and what further happened._

It was now resolved that Pedro de Alvarado should make an excursion into
the interior to explore the country, gain further knowledge of some
townships which we knew by name, and procure maise and other provisions,
of which we were in the greatest want. For this purpose 100 men were
selected, among whom were fifteen crossbow-men and six musketeers; above
half, moreover, were adherents of Velasquez: the rest of us, on whom
Cortes could fully depend, remained with him, in order that no
conspiracy might be set on foot against him.

Alvarado, during this expedition, visited some small townships which
were subject to a greater one, called, in the Aculhua language,
_Costatlan_.[17*] This language is that of Mexico and Motecusuma; and
when we speak of persons of Aculhua, we must always understand subjects
of his empire. Alvarado nowhere met with any inhabitants, but found
sufficient proofs in the temples that boys and full-grown people had
very recently been sacrificed; for the altars and walls were covered
with drops of fresh blood. The flint knives with which the unfortunate
victim's breast is cut open to tear the heart away, and the large stones
on which they are sacrificed, still lay in their proper places. Most of
the bodies thus seen by our men were without arms or legs, which,
according to the accounts of the Indians, had been devoured. Our men
were perfectly horror-struck at such barbarities: however, I will not
waste another word on the subject, for we found the same thing over
again in every district we visited in this country. Alvarado found these
districts well stocked with provisions, but so completely deserted by
the inhabitants that he could only find two Indians to assist the men in
carrying maise: every soldier, therefore, was compelled to take a load
of greens and fowls, and in this way the detachment returned to our camp
with a good supply of provisions, and without having encountered any
disaster. This was all the damage our men did, although they had so many
opportunities of doing more, Cortes having most strictly forbidden any
wanton outrage, that there might not be a repetition of what happened on
the island of Cozumel.

We were overjoyed with the provisions; for when man can satisfy his
appetite, he forgets half his sufferings. Gomara mentions another
expedition in this place, which, he says, Cortes himself undertook, with
400 men, to explore the interior of the country: but here again he must
have been misinformed; for there was no other made than the one I have
just mentioned. In the meantime Cortes was not inactive, but did all in
his power to gain the adherents of Diego Velasquez: one was presented
with some of the gold we had made,--for with gold mountains are removed;
another was silenced by considerable promises. He likewise set

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