CHAPTER CCX.
Of other advantages which arose from our glorious conquests.
Having shown how many advantages the Indians derived from our glorious conquests, I must now speak about the gold, silver, precious stones, and other valuable matters, as cochineal, wool, sarsaparilla and cow-hides, which are annually exported to Spain; also of the monies arising from the royal fifths, and of the valuable presents which we forwarded to his majesty during the course of the conquest; in which, of course, are not included the quantity of valuable goods which merchants and travellers take with them. Certainly, since the time that the wise king Solomon built the holy temple of Jerusalem with the gold and silver of the islands of Tarshis, of Ophir and Saba, we find no mention made in any old histories of so much gold, silver, and of other riches, as are continually being exported from this country to Spain. Many thousands of pounds weight of gold and silver have indeed been also sent from Peru; but at the time we conquered New Spain the name of Peru was not even known, nor was it discovered till ten years after. We forwarded to his majesty presents of immense value from the very beginning, for which and other reasons I place New Spain at the head; for we very well know with regard to the affairs of Peru, that the captains, governors, and soldiers continually carried on civil wars with each other, in which the lives of many Spaniards were sacrificed. We, in New Spain, on the contrary, were never for a moment forgetful of the profound respect which was due to our emperor and master; nor will our fidelity ever be questioned, and whenever his majesty requires our services we are ready with our property and our lives to obey his commands.
Let the kind reader reflect but for one moment on the towns and villages which the Spaniards have already founded in these countries. Their number is so extensive, that I must pass them by in silence. Seven bishoprics have already been erected in New Spain; the very celebrated city of Mexico is the see of an archbishop, and there are three royal courts of audience. The reader would be astonished to see the number of cathedrals, and the monasteries of the Brothers of Charity, and of the Franciscan, Dominican, and Augustin friars; the hospitals, with their endowments, and the church of our dear lady of Guadaloupe, at Tepeaquilla, where Sandoval was stationed during the siege of Mexico: also the holy miracles which have taken place in the country, and those which happen daily, are astonishing; and we cannot sufficiently thank God and the blessed Virgin, who gave us the power to conquer this country, where everything has already become so Christian. In Mexico there is an universal college, where grammar, rhetoric, logic, philosophy, theology, and other sciences and arts are taught. In this city even books are printed both in the Latin and Spanish languages, and here also licentiates and doctors graduate.
I could enumerate many other matters of great importance, and describe the numerous silver mines which are worked in New Spain, and the new ones that are daily being discovered, and from which Spain draws so much wealth; but I have stated sufficient to prove that our heroic deeds were never surpassed in any age, and that no men ever subdued so many kingdoms as we, the true Conquistadores, conquered for our emperor and master: and though there were many brave men among us, yet I was not the least among them, and now I am the oldest alive. I repeat it, I, I, I am the oldest, and I have always served his majesty like a good soldier. And here I must relate something after the manner of a dialogue. When illustrious Fame resounded from one end of the world to the other our glorious deeds of arms, and the important services which we had rendered to God, our emperor, and the whole of Christendom, she cried aloud, and said, that we were more justly entitled to and deserving of lucrative possessions than those who had neither rendered his majesty any services here nor in any other place. Where, she asks, are your palaces, castles, and escutcheons, to witness of your heroic deeds to posterity, like the escutcheons of so many illustrious families do of the deeds of their forefathers, but which have not surpassed yours? Where, inquired illustrious Fame, where are the Conquistadores, who escaped alive from all those battles; where are the tombs of those great heroes who fell in battle; where are their escutcheons?
I can answer this with few words: O, excellent and illustrious Fame, who art praised and desired by all good and virtuous men: the malice and envy of those who have sought to cast our heroic deeds into the shade are not desirous of seeing you, nor even to hear your illustrious name mentioned, that you may not praise us according to our deserts. Know then, O Fame, that of the five hundred and fifty warriors who sailed with Cortes from Cuba, that there are now, in the year 1568, while I am writing this, only five of us alive, and that all the others were either captured by the Indians, and sacrified to their idols, or were killed in battle, or have since died in their beds! And with respect to their tombs, I say that the bellies of the Indians were their sepultures, and those parts of their flesh which the Indians did not eat themselves were thrown to the lions, tigers, and serpents, which were kept by the Mexicans in strong cages. These cages were their monuments and their escutcheons; and those who died so cruel a death, who rendered such important services to God and to their emperor, and who gave light to those who lived in darkness, ought to have had their names perpetuated in letters of gold; but they were never remunerated! They did not even obtain wealth, although this is the goal of all men!
Illustrious Fame then inquired after those who had arrived with Narvaez and Garay, and I answered her as follows: Narvaez's troops, without including the sailors, amounted to thirteen hundred men, of which only ten or twelve are now living, the greater part of the rest having fallen in the battles, or were captured by the Indians, and sacrificed. The troops of Garay, including those three companies which landed in San Juan de Ulua, previous to his own arrival, amounted, according to my computation, to about twelve hundred men, most of whom were captured by the Indians of Panuco, and their flesh devoured at their festive orgies. Of the fifteen men who survived the expedition of Vasquez de Aillon to Florida, and joined our army, not a single man is now remaining!
I repeat, O illustrious Fame, that of Cortes' veteran troops there are only five of us alive, all of us far advanced in years, sickly, and very poor, with numbers of grown-up sons and daughters, and we are obliged to drag on a life of misery and toil, with scarcely enough to support our families! And now, O Fame, since I have told you everything you wished to know respecting our palaces, our escutcheons, and our tombs, lift up your excellent and honest voice, and resound our deeds of valour throughout the whole world, that malice and envy may no longer obscure their glory! This, Fame answered she would do with the greatest delight; but added, she was surprised that the best commendaries had not been presented to us, particularly as his majesty had issued commands to that effect. Illustrious Fame then went on to say, that the deeds of the courageous and spirited Cortes would always be considered inestimable, and might be compared to those of the most renowned generals; but that the historians Gomara, doctor Illescas, and others, make all our discoveries and conquests redound to the honour of Cortes alone, and never so much as mention any of our names with praise; but at present she was delighted to find that I had written a faithful account of the conquest, without exaggeration or fulsome flattery, and not, as Gomara, in the praise of one officer alone. Fame then promised, in the goodness of her heart, that she would announce all this to the world; adding, that wherever my book was published persons would everywhere recognize in it impartiality and the naked truth.
A certain doctor, who is one of the members of the royal court of audience, once asked me, how it came that Cortes, in his despatches and during his personal interviews with his majesty, never strove to obtain anything for us, the true Conquistadores, though it was with our assistance he obtained the distinguished appointment of governor of New Spain? To this I answered, and must still answer, that when Cortes received the appointment of governor he immediately took the best commendaries to himself, and imagined that he would remain uncontrolled master of New Spain for life, and that the distribution of the commendaries would continue in his hands. He therefore considered that it would be superfluous to solicit anything for us, as he would have it in his own power to do what he liked; but after his majesty had given him a marquisate, his majesty refused to reappoint him governor: and so it happened that Cortes, in soliciting honours for himself, allowed the best opportunity to pass by of making some provision for us. It was certainly not his majesty's fault that our services were never rewarded; for when he was informed by several cavaliers of Mexico that Cortes had taken the best townships and districts of New Spain to himself, and had presented others to his relations and friends recently arrived from Spain, his majesty issued commands that Cortes' companions in arms should likewise be handsomely rewarded. Soon after this his majesty left, for Flanders, where he most probably lost sight of the matter altogether. If Cortes immediately after the conquest had divided the whole country into five equal parts, and had set one of these with the most lucrative townships apart for the crown, he would have done much better. Then he would have had one fifth and a half for the churches and cloisters, and for those cavaliers who had served in his majesty's armies in the campaigns of Italy, and those against the Moors and Turks; and the other two fifths and a half ought to have been distributed among the Conquistadores in perpetuity. This division would certainly have met with his majesty's approbation, particularly as the whole conquest never put the crown to any expense.