CHAPTER CXCVII.
How Nuño de Guzman, on the intelligence that the emperor had cashiered the royal court of audience, determines to subdue the province of Xalisco, at present called New Galicia.
Nuño de Guzman, finding that his power in New Spain was drawing to an end, assembled a large body of troops, consisting of cavaliers, crossbow-men, and musketeers, for an expedition to the province of Xalisco. Those who were not willing to accompany him he compelled, or made them give a certain sum of money to hire a substitute. He seized every horse he could lay his hands on, and at most only paid half their value. The more wealthy inhabitants of the metropolis were obliged to contribute as much money as they could spare, and a large number of Indian auxiliary troops and porters were joined to the expedition.
Guzman's troops everywhere committed terrible depredations. The first province he marched through was Mechoacan, the inhabitants of which still possessed abundance of gold, though not of the finest quality, as it contained a considerable alloy of silver, for which reason Guzman compelled them to contribute a larger amount. Casonci, the principal cazique of the province, boldly refused to give him so great a quantity of gold as he demanded, wherefore Guzman ordered him to be tortured, by pouring hot oil over his feet; but as the unfortunate cazique, notwithstanding all the torments he endured, still remained firm to his purpose, he was ordered to be hung. This was the most cruel and wicked deed the president ever perpetrated, and he himself was the only guilty person, for the whole of his men expressed their horror at this inhuman act. Out of this province he took with him a great number of Indians, to transport his baggage to the spot where he built the present town of Compostella; which, however, cost the imperial treasury a vast sum of money, besides the heavy contributions he levied on the inhabitants of Mexico, a number of whom he compelled to settle in the new town. As I did not accompany this expedition, I will not go into its particulars; but I know well that neither Cortes nor Nuño de Guzman drew any advantages from it, and that the latter remained in the province of Xalisco until his majesty issued orders for him to be seized, and brought back a prisoner to Mexico, at Guzman's own expense, there to render an account of his government to the new court of audience which his majesty had appointed. It was at the particular request of Matienzo and of Delgadillo that these steps were taken against him. We will now, however, leave him to his own fate, and see who the new members of the royal court of audience were.
CHAPTER CXCVIII.
The arrival of the new members of the royal court of audience in Mexico.
I have above mentioned the orders which his majesty issued with respect to the formation of a new court of audience, which was solely composed of men of intelligence and strict justice, and choice was made of the following persons: Don Sebastian Fuen Leal, as president, who at that time was bishop of St. Domingo; auditors, the licentiate Maldonado, of Salamanca; Francisco de Cainos, of Toro or of Zamora; Vasco de Quiroga, of Madrigal, subsequently bishop of Mechoacan; and Salmeron, of Madrid. The auditors arrived in Mexico before the president, and they, as well as the latter, who came a few days after, were received with great splendour.
These gentlemen immediately instituted a general inquiry into the government of the late auditors. Numbers of the inhabitants, with the procuradores from every town of New Spain, besides several Indian chiefs, repaired without delay to Mexico, and brought such a mass of accusations against the late auditors, of oppression, extortion, and of injustice, that the present auditors were utterly astounded. Cortes' agents also complained of the illegal manner in which Nuño de Guzman and his colleagues had seized part of the former's property, and sold it by public auction to the highest bidder. The agents then claimed damages to the amount of 200,000 pesos. As Nuño de Guzman refused to appear in Mexico at the summons of the auditors, obstinately refusing to leave the province of Xalisco, Delgadillo and Matienzo had alone to answer all these accusations; they, however, threw all the guilt on the shoulders of Guzman, who, in his capacity of president, they said, had acted on his own authority, and therefore was the only responsible person.
As Guzman refused to appear before the auditors, all they could do for the present was to forward his majesty an account of the state of affairs in New Spain; for they feared, by employing open force, to create insurrection throughout the country. The council of the Indies, on receiving this information, despatched to Mexico the licentiate de la Torre, with orders to repair in person to the province of Xalisco, there to institute an inquiry against Guzman, and to take him prisoner to Mexico. This licentiate was also commissioned to see that Guzman repaid us the money he had obliged us to pay to the wife of Narvaez, as an indemnification for the losses the latter sustained in our expedition against him.