University of Virginia Library

2. CHAPTER II.

Passing the night in a little hamlet on the mountain
side, the army was prepared, at the dawn of the following
day, to resume its march. But the events of
this march being varied by nothing but the change
of prospect, and the wonder of those by whom the
valley was seen for the first time, we will not imitate
the prolixity of our authority, the worthy Don Cristobal,
but despatch, in a word, the increasing delight
and astonishment with which Don Amador de Leste,
after having satiated his appetite with views of lake
and garden, surveyed the countless villages and
towns of hewn stone that rose, almost at every moment,
among them. A neck of land now separates
the lakes of Chalco and Xochimilco; and the retreat
of the waters has left their banks deformed with fens
and morasses, wherein the wild-duck screams among
waving reeds and bulrushes. Originally, these basins
were united in one long and lovely sheet of water,
divided indeed, yet only by a causey built by the
hands of man, which is now lost in the before-mentioned
neck, together with its sluices and bridges, as
well as a beautiful little city, that lay midway between
the two shores, called by the Spaniards Venezuela,
(because rising, like its aristocratic godmother,
from among the waters,) until they discovered
that this was a peculiarity presented by dozens of
other cities in the valley. Here was enjoyed the
spectacle of innumerable canoes, paddled, with corn

and merchandise, from distant towns, or parting with
a freight of flowers from the chinampas, or floating
gardens. But this was a spectacle disclosed by other
cities of greater magnitude and beauty; and when,
from the streets of the royal city Iztapalapan, the
army issued at once upon the broad and straight dike
that stretched for more than two leagues in length,
a noble highway, through the salt floods of Tezcuco;
when the neophyte beheld islands rocking like anchored
ships in the water, the face of the lake thronged
with little piraguas, and the air alive with snowy
gulls; when he perceived the banks of this great
sheet, as far as they could be seen, lined with villages
and towns; and especially when he traced far away
in the distance, in the line of the causeway, such a
multitude of high towers and shadowy pyramids
looming over the waters, as denoted the presence
of a vast city,—he was seized with a species of awe
at the thought of the marvellous ways of God, who
had raised up that mighty empire, all unknown to the
men of his own hemisphere, and now revealed it, for
the accomplishment of a destiny which he trembled
to imagine. He rode at the head of the army, in a
post of distinction, by the side of Cortes, and fell
moved to express some of the strange ideas which
haunted him; but looking on the general attentively,
he perceived about his whole countenance and figure
an expression of singular gloom, mingled with such
unusual haughtiness, as quickly indisposed him to
conversation.

The feelings that struggled in the bosom of the Conqueror
were, at this instant, akin to those of the destroyer,
as he sat upon `the Assyrian mount,' over-looking
the walls of Paradise, almost lamenting, and
yet excusing to himself, the ruin he was about to
bring upon that heavenly scene. Perhaps `horror
and doubt' for a moment distracted his thoughts; for
no one knew better than he the uncertain chances
and tremendous perils of the enterprise, or mused
with more fear upon the probable and most sanguinary

resistance of his victims, as foreboded by the
tumults that followed after the late massacre. But
when he cast his eye backward on the causey, and
beheld the long train of foot and horse following at
his beck; the many cannons, which, as they were
dragged along, opened their brazen throats towards
the city; the rows of spears and arquebuses bristling,
and the banners flapping, over the heads of his
people, and behind them the feathered tufts of his
Tlascalans; and heard the music of his trumpets
swell from the dike to the lake, from the lake to the
shores, and die away, with pleasant echoes, among
the hills; when he surveyed and listened to these
things, and contrasted with them the imperfect weapons
and naked bodies of his adversaries; the weakness
of their institutions; the feebleness of their
princes; the general disorganization of the people;
and counted the guerdon of wealth and immortal
renown that should wait upon success; he stifled at
once his apprehensions and his remorse, ceased to
remember that those, whose destruction he meditated,
were, to him, `harmless innocence,' and satisfied
himself, almost with the arguments of the fiend,
that—

Triumph and regret were at once dividing his bosom;
he knew he was a destroyer, but felt he should be a
conqueror.

There were many things in Don Hernan, which
notwithstanding the gratitude and the desires of the
neophyte, prevented the latter from bestowing upon
him so much affection as he gave to one or two of
his followers. The spirit of the leader was wholly,
and, for his station, necessarily, crafty; and this very
quality raised up a wall between him and one who
was of so honourable a nature that he knew no concealment.
The whole schemes and aims of the general

were based upon such a foundation of fraud
and injustice, that, he well knew, he could not, without
expecting constant and vexatious opposition, give
his full confidence to any truly noble spirit; and the
same wisdom that estranged him from the lofty,
taught him to keep aloof from the base. While artful
enough to make use of the good qualities of the
one, and the bad principles of the other class, he was
satisfied with their respect; he cared not for their
friendship. It was enough to him, that he had zealous
and obedient followers: his situation allowed
him no friends; and he had none. Of all the valiant
cavaliers who shared with him the perils and the
rewards of the invasion, there was not one who, after
peace had severed the bonds of companionship, did
not, at the first frown of fortune, or the first invitation
of self-interest, array himself in arms against his
leader.

While the general gave himself up to his proud
and gloomy imaginings, the novice of Rhodes again
cast his eyes over the lake. It seemed to him, that,
notwithstanding the triumphant blasts of the trumpet,
the neighing of horses, and the multitudinous tread
of the foot-soldiers, as well as the presence of so
many canoes on the water, there was an air of sadness
and solitude pervading the whole spectacle. The
new soldiers were perhaps impressed with an awe
like his own, at the strange prospect; the veterans
were, doubtless, revolving in their minds some of the
darker contingencies, over which their commander
was brooding. Their steps rung heavily on the stone
mole; and as the breeze curled up the surface of the
lake into light billows, and tossed them against the
causeway, Don Amador fancied, they approached
and dashed at his feet with a certain sullen and hostile
voice of warning. He thought it remarkable,
also, that, among the throngs of canoes, there rose
no shouts of welcome: the little vessels, forming a
fleet on either side of the dike, were paddled along,
at the distance of two or three hundred yards, so as

to keep pace with the army; and the motion of the
rowers, and the gleaming of their white garments,
might have given animation, as well as picturesqueness,
to the scene, but for the death-like silence that
was preserved among them. The novelty of everything
about the cavalier gave vigour to his imagination—he
thought these paddling hordes resembled the
flight of ravens that track the steps of a wounded
beast in the desert,—or a shoal of those ravenous
monsters that scent a pestilence on the deep, and
swim by the side of the floating hospital, waiting for
their prey.

“What they mean, I know not,” mused the cavalier.
“After what De Morla has told me, I shall be
loath to slay any of them; but if they desire to make
a dinner of me, I swear to St. John! I will carve
their brown bodies into all sorts of dishes, before I
submit my limbs to the imprisonment of their most
damnable maws! And yet, poor infidels! methinks
they have some cause, after that affair of the festival,
to look upon us with fear, if not with wrath; for if a
garrison of an hundred men could be prompted to do
them such a foul and murderous wrong, there is
much reason to apprehend this well-appointed thousand
might be, with as little provocation and warning,
incited to work them a still more deadly injury.
I would, however, that they might shout a little, were
it only to make me feel more like a man awake; for,
at present, it seems to me, that I am dreaming all these
things which I am looking at!”

The wish of the cavalier was not obeyed; and
many a suspicious glance was cast, both by soldier
and officer, to the dumb myriads paddling on their
flanks; for it could not be denied, though no one
dared to give utterance to such a suggestion, that
were these countless barbarians provided with arms,
as was perhaps the case, and could they but conceive
the simple expedient of landing both in front and rear,
and thus cut off their invaders from the city and the
shore, and attack them at the same time, with good

heart, in this insulated and very disadvantageous position,
there was no knowing how obscure a conjecture
the historian might hazard for the story of their
fate. But this suspicion was also proved to be groundless;
no sort of annoyance was practised, none indeed
was meditated. The thousands that burthened
the canoes, had issued from their canals to indulge a
stupid curiosity, or, perhaps, under an impulse which
they did not understand, to display to their enemies
the long banquet of slaughter which fate was preparing
for them.

The army reached, at last, a point where another
causeway of equal breadth, and seemingly of equal
length, coming from the south-west, from the city
Cojohuacan, ruled by a king, (the brother and feudatory
of Montezuma,) terminated in the dike of Iztapulapan.
At the point of junction was a sort of
military work, consisting of a bastion, a strong wall
and two towers, guarding the approach to the imperial
city. It was known by the name of Xoloc, (or, as
it should be written in our tongue, Holoc,) and was
in after times made famous by becoming the headquarters
of Cortes, during the time of the siege. It
stood at the distance of only half a league from the
city; and from hence could be plainly seen, not only
the huge pyramids, with their remarkable towers
rising aloft, but the low stone fabrics whereon, among
the flowers (for every roof was a terrace, and every
terrace a garden,) stood the gloomy citizens, watching
the approach of the Christian army.

At this point of Xoloc, at a signal of the general,
every drum was struck with a lusty hand, every
trumpet filled with a furious blast, and the Christians
and Tlascalans, shouting together, while two or three
falconets were at the same time discharged, there
rose such a sudden and mighty din as startled the infidels
in their canoes, and conveyed to the remotest
quarters of Tenochtitlan, the intelligence of the advance
of its masters.

Scarcely had the echoes of this uproar died away

on the lake, when there came, faintly indeed, but full
of joyous animation, the response of the Christian
garrison; and as the army resumed its march, they
repeated their shouts loudly and blithely, for they
now perceived, by the waving of banners and the
glittering of spears, that their friends, rescued, as
they all understood, by their presence, from the fear
of a miserable death, were coming forth to meet them.
Two or three mounted cavaliers were seen to separate
themselves from this little and distant band, and gallop
forwards, while the causeway rung to the sound
of their hoofs. Don Amador, being in advance, was
able, as they rushed forwards with loud and merry
halloos, to observe their persons, as well as the reception
they obtained from Don Hernan. His eye
was attracted to him who seemed to be their leader,
and who, he already knew, was Don Pedro de Alvarado,
a cavalier that had no rival (the gallant Sandoval
excepted,) in fame and in the favour of his general.
He was in the prime of life, of a most noble
stature, and of a countenance so engaging and animated,
that this, in addition to the constant splendour
of his apparel, whether the gilded mail of a
warrior, or the costly vestments of a courtier,—had
won him from the Mexicans themselves the flattering
title of Tonatiuh, or the Sun; a compliment which
his friends did not scruple to perpetuate, nor he to
encourage. He rode immediately up to Cortes, and
stretching out his hand, said gayly, and indeed, affectionately,—

“Long life to thee, Cortes! I welcome thee as my
saint. God be praised for thy coming—Amen! Thou
hast snatched me from a most ignoble and hound-like
death; for Sir Copilli, the emperor, has been starving
me!”

Don Hernan took the hand of the cavalier, and eyeing
him steadfastly and sternly, while his old companions
gathered around, said with a most pointed asperity,—

“My friend Alvarado! thou hast done me, as well

as these noble cavaliers, thy friends, and also thy lord
the king, a most grievous wrong; for, by the indulgence
of thy hot wrath and indiscretion, thou hast,
as I may say, dashed the possession of this empire
out of our hands: and much blood shall be shed, and
many Christian lives sacrificed in a war that might
have been spared us, before we can remedy the consequences
of thy rashness!”

A deep gloom that darkened to a scowl, instantly
gathered over the handsome visage of Don Pedro;
and snatching his had roughly away, he drew himself
up, and prepared to reply to his general with
wrath, and perhaps with defiance. But it was no
part of the policy of Cortes to carry his anger further
than might operate warningly on the officer and
on those around; for which reason, offering his hand
again, as if not noticing the discontent of his lieutenant,
he said, with an artful appearance of sincerity,

“I have often thought how thou mightest have
been spared the necessity of slaying these perfidious
and plotting hounds; and it seems to me, even now,
if thou couldst, by shutting thyself in thy quarters
and avoiding a contest, have submitted to the foolish
imputations some might have cast on thee, of acting
from fear rather than from prudence, this killing of
the nobles might have been avoided. I say, some,
indeed, might have accused thee of being in fear,
hadst thou not killed the knaves that were scheming
thine own destruction; but this is an aspersion which
thou couldst have borne with as little injury as any
other brave cavalier in this army, being second to
none in a high and well-deserved reputation; and so
well am I persuaded that none could have better than
thyself withstood the uncommon dangers of thy command
in this treasonable city, that I should have excused
any precaution of peace, that might have seemed
cowardly to others. Nevertheless, I must own,
thou wert forced to do as thou hast done; for no
brave man can submit to be thought capable of fear;

and, I know, 'twas this thought alone, that drove thee
out to kill the nobles.”

No cloud in those tropical skies could have vanished
more suddenly in the sunbeam, than did the frown of
Alvarado at these complimentary words of his general.
He caught the hand that was still proffered,
shook it heartily, kissed it, and said,—his whole countenance
beaming with delight and pride,—

“I thank your excellency for this just consideration
of my actions, and this expression of a true excuse for
what seems, and what perhaps may have been, a
great indiscretion. Your excellency, and these noble
señores, my friends, would have esteemed me a coward,
had I sat securely and quietly in the palace,
watching, without attempting to forestall, the conspiracy
of the lords of Mexico; and I have great hopes,
when I have permission to explain all these things to
your excellency, though I do not much plume myself
on wisdom, but rather on fighting, (which is the only
thing I have ever studied with diligence,) that you
will say I acted as wisely as, in such case, was possible.”

“I have no doubt of it,” said Cortes, smiling, as he
rode onwards.—“But, nevertheless, there is more
wisdom in thy knocks than in thy noddle,” he muttered
to himself.—The shame of the reproof, though
dispelled by the flattery of the rebuker, did not wholly
disappear from the bosom of Alvarado. A word of
sarcasm will live longer than the memory of a benefit.
Alvarado was, in after days, a traitor to his general.

But without now giving himself leisure for consideration,
the cavalier addressed himself to his old companions;
and even, (for his joy at being so rescued
out of peril, warmed his heart to all,) made up with
much satisfaction to the knight Calavar. But since the
confession at Cholula, the distemper of Don Gabriel
had visibly increased; and his fits of abstraction were
becoming, every hour, so frequent and so profound, as
to cause the greatest alarm and anxiety to his kinsman.
He neither heard nor saw the salutations of

Don Pedro; nor indeed did he seem at all sensible to
any part of the strange scene that surrounded him.
Foiled in this attempt, the courteous and vivacious
soldier turned himself to Don Amador, as presenting
the appearance of a noble and gallant hidalgo, and
would speedily have been on a footing of the most
perfect friendship with him, had it not been that the
neophyte still freshly remembered the story of the
massacre, and met his advances with a frigid haughtiness.

“By'r lady!” said the offended cavalier, “it seems to
me that the devil, or the cold mountain, has got into
the bosoms of all; for here am I, with my heart at
this moment as warm as a pepper-pod, or a black
cloak in the sunshine, and ready to love everybody,
old and young, vile and virtuous, base and gentle;
and yet everybody, notwithstanding, meets me with
a most frosty unconcern. I swear to thee, valiant
cavalier, whosoever thou art, my breast is open to
thee, and I crave thy affection; for, besides perceiving
that thou art assuredly an hidalgo, I see thou hast a
Moorish page at thy side, with a lute at his back; and
if his pipe be half so good as his face, I cannot live
without being thy friend; for I love music!”

Jacinto shrunk away from his admirer, alarmed as
much at the suddenness of his praise, as at the many
evolutions of the lance, which, by way of gesticulation,
he flourished about him in a very vigorous
manner. But Don Amador, greatly amused at the
freedom, and, in spite of himself, gained by the frankness,
of Don Pedro, replied with good-humour.

“Señor,” said he, “I am Amador de Leste, of the
castle Del Alcornoque, near to Cuenza; and having
heard certain charges against you, in the matter of
the Mexican nobles, I replied to you, perhaps, with
prejudice. Nevertheless, what the general has said,
does, in some sort, seem to lessen the force of the
charge; and if you will, at your leisure, condescend
to satisfy my doubts, as I begin to be assured you can,
I will not hesitate to receive your friendship, and to

tender you my own in return. Only, previous to
which, I must beg of you to turn your lance-point
another way, so that the boy Jacinto, who is somewhat
afraid of its antics, may be enabled to walk
again at my side.”

“Señor Don Amador de Leste,” said the soldier,
taking this speech in good part, “I avow myself satisfied
with your explanation, and so determined to pursue
your friendship, (inasmuch as I have not heard any
good singing since the little Orteguilla, the page of
the Indian emperor, or, what is the same thing, of
Cortes, lost his voice in a quinsy,) that I will give you
the whole history of the nobles, their atrocious conspitacy
and their just punishment, as soon as we have
leisure in our quarters. And now, if you will have
the goodness to ride with me a little in advance, I
will have much satisfaction, as I perceive you are a
stranger, to introduce you to this great and wonderful
city, Tenochtitlan, of which I have been, as I may
say, in some sort, the king, for two long and tumultuous
months; and I swear to you, no king ever
clutched upon a crown with more good will and joy
than do I, this moment, abdicate my authority.”

Thus invited by his courteous and jocund friend,
the neophyte rode onwards so as to reach the heels
of Cortes, just as the garrison, inspired by the sight
of their leader, broke their ranks, and rushed forwards
to salute him.