In the smelting of the gold there was also allowed an eighth of alloy to every ounce, to assist the men in the purchase of the necessaries of life, as about that time a number of vessels had arrived at Vera Cruz with various kinds of merchandise. But we derived no advantage from this, on the contrary it proved very prejudicial to us; for the merchants added the same per centage to the price of their goods, and sold for five pesos what was only worth three, and so this alloy became, as the Indians termed it, tepuzque, or copper. This expression afterwards became so common among us, that we added it to the names of distinguished cavaliers, to express the worth of their character; as for instance we would say, Señor Don Juan of so much tepuzque.
Complaints were now made of the excess of alloy which was mixed with the gold; at length two gold workers were even detected in stamping the gold mark on pure copper, in punishment for which Cortes ordered them to be hung. But all these are stories which do not exactly belong to my history.
Our general becoming weary of the continued reproaches which were thrown out against him, and the everlasting petitions for loans and advance in pay, determined at once to get rid of the most troublesome fellows, by forming settlements in those provinces which appeared most eligible for this purpose. He accordingly despatched Sandoval to Tuztepec, to form a settlement there, and punish the Mexican garrison lying in that township, for having, about the time of our unfortunate retreat from Mexico, put to death sixty Spaniards, and six Spanish ladies, all of Narvaez's corps. He was, first of all, to leave a settlement at Medellin, then to proceed to the river Guacasualco, form a settlement in the harbour there, and then subdue the province of Panuco.
Rodrigo Rangel and Pedro de Ircio were ordered off to Vera Cruz; the younger Juan Velasquez to Colima and Villa Fuerte, in the province of Zacatula; Christobal de Oli, who about this time married a Portuguese lady, named Doña Filipa de Araujo, was sent to Mechoacan; and Francisco de Horozco was commissioned with the colonization of Oaxaca.
The inhabitants of the provinces I have just mentioned would not at first credit that Mexico had fallen; but when they found it to be a fact, the kings and caziques of those distant provinces sent ambassadors to congratulate Cortes on his victory, and to declare themselves vassals of our emperor; as also to convince themselves with their own eyes that we had really levelled that terrible city to the ground. Each of these ambassadors brought with them valuable presents in gold, and many had their young sons with them, to whom they pointed out the ruins of Mexico, just as we would show our children the spot where Troy once stood.
I will now answer a question which the curious reader will surely ask himself, namely, why we, the true Conquistadores of New Spain, and of the strong city of Mexico, did not settle down there, but selected other provinces by preference? The reason is, that we had learnt from Motecusuma's rent-rolls where those districts lay from which he derived the greatest quantity of gold, cacao, and cotton stuffs. All our thoughts and desires were bent upon those provinces whence the monarch obtained the largest tribute in gold, and when we found that even Sandoval, one of our chief officers, and a particular friend of Cortes, likewise left Mexico for the provinces, we no longer hesitated to follow his example; the more so, as there were no gold mines in the neighbourhood of Mexico, nor did it produce cotton or cacao, but merely maguey and maise, from the former of which the inhabitants prepare their wine. We therefore considered the country surrounding the metropolis very poor, and we consequently settled in other provinces, though we were greatly disappointed in our expectations! This Cortes had well foreseen, and I still remember that he said to me, when I requested his permission to accompany Sandoval: "Upon my conscience, brother Bernal Diaz del Castillo, you are making a great mistake. I should feel delighted if you would stay with me in Mexico; but if you have made up your mind to accompany your friend Sandoval, I will not oppose your wishes, and may God be with you. You may rely upon it I will take every opportunity to promote your welfare; but I am sure you will soon regret having left me."
Before we commenced our march each man received an account of his share of the booty, when it was found that all our shares of the gold were due to the officers of the crown, in payment for the slaves we had bought at the auctions.
I will not here trouble the reader by enumerating what number of horse, crossbow-men, musketeers, or other soldiers left for the provinces, nor will I give the date of the month, but merely inform him that the first troops left a few days after the capture of Quauhtemoctzin, and the second expedition two months later.
I must now relate the important news which arrived about this time from Vera Cruz.