CHAPTER XLVIII.

How we resolved to found Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz and construct a

fortress on the low meadows, in the neighbourhood of some salt

springs and the harbour, where our vessels were anchored; and what

further happened.

After we had thus formed an alliance with the thirty townships of the

Totonaque mountains, which had revolted from Motecusuma and submitted of

their own free will to the sceptre of our sovereign, we immediately

hastened to profit by the circumstance and found Villa Rica de la Vera

Cruz. The spot we made choice of lay at about two miles distance from

the fortress of Quiahuitzlan, in the valley beneath. We first of all

marked out the ground for the church, the market, the magazines and

other public buildings belonging to a town. We then set off part of the

ground to form a fortress, and nothing could exceed the assiduity with

which the walls of the foundation were carried up, the woodwork

completed, the turrets and loopholes constructed with the parapets.

Cortes himself put the first hand to it, carried a basket filled with

stones and earth on his shoulders, and worked at the foundations. The

caziques and all of us followed his example, and every part of the work

was carried on with like vigour. Some were mixing mortar, fetching

water, burning chalk, baking bricks and tiles, others prepared the food

and cut wood. The smiths hammered hard at the nails and other ironwork.

In short, from the highest to the lowest showed the greatest activity,

while the Indians lent us such efficacious aid, that in a short time the

church and other buildings were quite finished, and the fortress nearly

so.

In the meantime Motecusuma received the intelligence at Mexico, that

his tax-gatherers had been imprisoned by our allies; that the latter had

renounced obedience to him, and that all the Totonaque townships had

revolted. He was excessively enraged against Cortes and the whole of us,

and ordered one of his powerful chiefs to make war upon the tribes which

had revolted, and extirpate them to a man. Against us he would march in

person at the head of an immense army, commanded by many generals. While

preparations for this purpose were being made, the two prisoners whom

Cortes had liberated arrived in Mexico. When Motecusuma learnt that

Cortes had restored them to liberty, and himself sent them to Mexico

with the commission to offer his services to their monarch, the Almighty

softened down the hardness of his heart, and he resolved to make

inquiries as to what our intentions were. To this end he despatched two

of his young nephews, accompanied by four aged men, who were caziques of

distinction, to our quarters, sending with them a present consisting in

gold and cotton stuffs. These men were commissioned to thank Cortes for

the liberation of his two tax-gatherers, but at the same time to make

heavy complaints respecting these tribes who had presumed to revolt from

him, merely because we had taken them under our protection, and now

refused all further obedience and to pay tribute. At present he was

merely withheld from putting his threat into execution of exterminating

them totally, out of consideration for us, since we inhabited their

dwellings; for, in our persons he recognized that people whose arrival

in this country had been foretold by his ancestors, and who were of the

same lineage with himself. However, they would not long rejoice in their

treachery, and he should know how to deal with them at some future

period.

Cortes received these messengers very kindly and accepted their

present, which was worth above 2000 pesos. He assured them that he as

well as all the rest of us were friendly disposed, and ready to serve

Motecusuma, and that it was in this spirit we had taken the three other

tax-gatherers under our protection, who were now immediately brought

forth from our vessels, clothed and delivered up to the ambassadors.

Neither did Cortes on his part suppress the complaints he had to make

against Motecusuma, for he told them, that Quitlalpitoc, his governor,

had passed a night in our quarters, and had been uncourteous enough not

to call upon him. He was, certainly, convinced that such behaviour had

not been commanded by Motecusuma, but had emanated from the natural

ill-breeding of the man. Honorable treatment, however, had so much worth

in our estimation, that for this reason only had we paid a visit to the

townships where we now were. Motecusuma, therefore, ought to pardon the

people for our sakes. But as to their complaints respecting the refusal

to pay tribute, it was to be imagined that they could not serve two

masters at once, as they had, during our stay here, sworn allegiance to

our emperor. For the rest, he and his companions would shortly wait upon

Motecusuma himself, when these matters could be altogether amicably

adjusted.

After this and other declarations, Cortes presented both these

distinguished young personages and their four venerable companions, who

were men of the first consequence, with blue and green coloured beads,

paying them the greatest possible respect.

As the meadows in this neighbourhood were well adapted for cavalry

exercise, Cortes desired Alvarado, who had an excellent brown mare, and

our other good riders, to go through the different manoeuvres, by which

we quite won the hearts of these messengers, who returned highly

satisfied to Mexico. About this time Cortes lost his horse; for which

reason Ortiz, the musician, and Bartolome Garcia, the mountaineer, gave

up their dark brown horse to him, which was one of the best among the

whole troop.

For the rest, our allies in the mountains and the inhabitants of

Sempoalla had stood in no little awe of Motecusuma, as they believed

nothing less than that he would instantly invade their country with a

great army to extirpate them. But, when they found that even several of

his relatives arrived, bringing presents, and that they comported

themselves so submissively to Cortes, they began more and more to fear

us, and the caziques said to one another, these must necessarily be

teules, as even Motecusuma himself stood in awe of us and sent us

presents. If they had previously formed a great idea of our power, it

was now vastly augmented by this unexpected circumstance.