Perfect tranquillity being now again restored to the province of Tepeaca, Cortes marched back with his troops to Tlascalla, and left Francisco de Orozco behind, with twenty invalid soldiers, as commandant of Villa Segura.
Cortes then ordered the necessary quantity of wood to be felled for building thirteen brigantines, with which another attack was to be made upon Mexico; for we were convinced we should not be able to make any impression upon that town without a small fleet, nor ever again be able to enter it by the causeways. Martin Lopez was appointed by Cortes to superintend the important business of constructing these brigantines, for he was not only a good soldier, but, upon the whole, rendered his majesty the greatest services in all our warlike operations. On this occasion again, he set to work with his usual assiduity, and it was very fortunate that this man had been with us from the beginning; for, if we had been forced to send for a ship-builder from Spain, we should have lost much valuable time, and we might not have found a man who suited so well.
On our arrival in Tlascalla, we found that our old friend Maxixcatzin, one of his majesty's most faithful vassals, was no more, he having died of the smallpox. We were all sorely grieved at this loss, and Cortes himself, as he assured us, felt it as much as if he had lost his own father. We put on black cloaks in mourning for him, and paid the last honours to the remains of our departed friend, in conjunction with his sons and relations.
A dispute having arisen in Tlascalla respecting the heir to the caziquedom, Cortes pronounced in favour of the deceased's son, in accordance with the last wishes of his late father. Maxixcatzin, on his death-bed, strongly advised his whole family to remain faithful to Malinche and his brothers; for they, he said, were certainly those people for whom the dominion of these countries had been predestined.
However, let us leave the dead in peace, and turn to the living. The elder Xicotencatl, Chichimeclatecl, and the other caziques of Tlascalla, one and all gladly offered their assistance to Cortes in cutting wood for the building of the brigantines, and generally to aid in prosecuting the war against Mexico.
Cortes gave them all a hearty embrace, and thanked them for their great kindness, especially Chichimeclatecl and Xicotencatl, the latter of whom eventually became a convert to Christianity, and was baptized by father Olmedo with every solemnity, and received the name of Don Lorenzo de Vargas.
In the meantime the preparations for the building of our brigantines were going on very fast; the wood being soon felled and prepared for use with the assistance of the Indians; an excellent soldier named Andreas Nuñez, and Ramirez the elder, an old carpenter who had been lamed by a wound, rendering most efficient services. Matters being thus far advanced, Cortes sent for a quantity of ironwork, anchors, sails, and ropes, from the vessels which had been destroyed at Vera Cruz, and ordered all the smiths of that town to repair to Tlascalla. Above 1000 Indians were despatched thither to transport these things. The cauldrons for boiling and preparing the tar were likewise brought from Vera Cruz, and we were now only in want of the materials for making it, the preparation of which was wholly unknown to the Indians; but here again Cortes was not at a loss, for he picked out four men from among the sailors who understood its preparation, and for that purpose sent them off to a forest of pine trees near Huexotzinco.
Though it may, perhaps, be rather out of place here, I must answer a question which has been put to me by several cavaliers respecting Alonso de Avila, with whom they were well acquainted. They knew that this man, though treasurer of New Spain, was, at the same time, an excellent soldier, and felt more inclination for the life of a warrior than for business; they could not, therefore, imagine why Cortes should exactly have selected him to confer with the Hieronymite brothers at St. Domingo, and that he had not rather chosen some person of more business-like habits; as, for instance, Alonso de Grado, or Juan de Cacares, called the wealthy, or others whose names they mentioned to me. Cortes had no other motive than to get Avila out of the way, because he spoke his mind too freely, and took every occasion to side with us soldiers if he saw we were unjustly dealt with. To this was added, that the latter had fallen out with several of our officers, from a frankness of disposition displeasing to them. And, lastly, Cortes was desirous of conferring the command of a company on Andreas de Tapia, and of appointing Alonso de Grado treasurer, both of which were only possible by removing Avila.
Cortes now determined to march, with the whole of his men, to Tezcuco, as the wood for constructing the brigantines was ready prepared, and we had got rid of Narvaez's men, who made difficulties in all our expeditions, and always argued against any attempt to besiege Mexico, maintaining we were not sufficiently numerous for that purpose; by which means they infected others with their cowardice. Previous to our leaving for Tezcuco, however, various deliberations took place as to which would be the most eligible spot for launching our brigantines. Some of our men maintained that Ayotzinco, near to Chalco, on account of its canals and harbour, was better adapted for this purpose; others, again, preferred Tezcuco, and were of opinion that, once having taken possession of that town, standing as it did in the midst of so many other populous townships, we should be better able to plan our operations against Mexico.
We had scarcely decided in favour of the latter place, when three men arrived with the news from Vera Cruz that a large Spanish vessel had run in there from the Canaries, having on board a quantity of crossbows, muskets, powder, and other ammunition, besides three horses and thirteen soldiers. The owner of the cargo was a certain Juan de Burgos, and the captain of the vessel was named Francisco Medel.