The following are the provinces which Sandoval divided into commendaries on this occasion, after they had been fully explored by our troops,—Guacasualco, Guazpaltepec, Tepeca, Chinanta, and the Tzapotecas; along the banks of the river there were: Copilco, Cimatan, Tabasco, the mountains of Cachula, the country of the Zoqueschas and of the Quilenes; the districts of Tacheapa, Cinacatan and Papanachasta. All these districts were divided among the inhabitants of the new town, and as far as regards myself I should have been perfectly contented if I could have kept what I obtained on this occasion; but the country was of itself not very productive, and then we were led into ruinous lawsuits with three towns, which had by degrees sprung up in these parts; for instance, the town of Vera Cruz laid claim to Guazpaltepec, Chinanta, and Tepeca; Tabasco to the province of the Quilenes and Zogues; and, lastly, the town of Santo Ildefonso to the province of the Tzapotecs. If we had been allowed to retain our original boundaries we should have been rich men, but when his majesty issued an order that the boundaries of every Indian township and of all the Spanish towns should be accurately defined, our possessions became so terribly curtailed on every side, that at last we had nothing but a blank remaining, which is the reason why Guacasualco, which was at first the most beautiful and most thriving settlement of all, and where the most noble of the conquistadores of all New Spain had settled, fell to nothing again, and is at present a mere village, with a scanty population. While Sandoval was busily occupied with the founding of this town and in subduing other provinces, intelligence arrived that a vessel had run into the river Aguayalco, which forms a very bad harbour, and lies about sixty miles from Guacasualco. The passengers on board this vessel were Donna Catalina, the wife of Cortes; her brother Juan Juarez, who subsequently settled in Mexico; the lady Gambrana, with her sons; Villegas, with his daughters; and even their grandmother, besides several other married ladies. If I am not mistaken there was also Elvira Lopez, the tall, the wife of Juan Palma, who came with us to New Spain, but was subsequently condemned to the gallows; after which his widow married a certain Argueta. Of the number of gentlemen who came on this occasion, I remember a certain Antonio Diosdato, who settled in Guatimala.
On the first intelligence of their arrival, Sandoval left with most of the officers and several of the soldiers to pay his respects to these ladies, and to those by whom they were accompanied. I still remember how heavily it rained at the time, and the difficulty we experienced in crossing the rivers, which had all overflowed their banks; heavy gales were blowing from the north, and indeed it was from distress of weather that the vessel had put into that harbour. Donna Catalina and all the passengers were highly delighted at our arrival, and they immediately accompanied us back to Guacasualco, from whence Sandoval despatched a courier to Mexico to inform Cortes of the arrival of his wife; who, with the other ladies, soon after left for the same place, accompanied by Sandoval, Briones, Lugo, and other cavaliers.
It is said that Cortes was greatly vexed when he received intelligence of their arrival, though he did not show it, and even issued the necessary orders to give his wife a splendid reception. On the whole of her road to Mexico, as may be imagined, the greatest honours were paid to her, and when she arrived in the city itself all manner of festivities and tournaments took place to welcome her arrival. But the joy of this excellent lady was of short duration, for scarcely three months had elapsed when we received intelligence of her death, from a violent asthma.
I must now relate what befel Villafuerta, who was sent out to colonize Zacatula, and Juan Alvarez Chico, who marched to Colima for a like purpose. Both of them had encountered the most obstinate resistance from the inhabitants, the whole of whom rose up in arms against them and killed several of their men. Cortes was excessively annoyed at the unfortunate termination of these expeditions; but as Oli happened to return about the same time from Mechoacan with a great quantity of gold, after having restored perfect tranquillity to that district, he looked upon him as the most likely man to subdue the provinces of Zacatula and Colima. He therefore despatched him thither as commander-in-chief with fifteen horse and thirty musketeers and crossbow-men.
When Oli had arrived within a short distance of Zacatula, a large body of the enemy suddenly fell upon his troops in a narrow pass, with great dexterity; killed two of his men and wounded several others; he nevertheless drove them back, and safely reached the town built by Villafuerta, which with the whole settlement he found in a miserable condition. No one durst stir out of the town to visit the townships which had been bestowed upon him as a commendary; for the inhabitants had already put four Spaniards to death who had attempted to collect their rents.
In all the provinces where Spanish settlements are formed, the chief colonists are presented with commendaries, and it is when these persons travel to the different townships to demand their tribute, that the inhabitants generally rise up in arms and murder every Spaniard they can seize. Christobal de Oli, therefore, had to fight many a severe battle before he could put down the insurrection, and he lost many of his men. What became of Juan Alvarez Chico, who had been sent to form settlements in Colima, I cannot exactly remember, though I think he was killed in one of the battles he fought with the natives.
After Oli, as he thought, had restored peace to the province, he returned to Mexico, he having a short time previously married a beautiful Portuguese lady, named Filipa de Araujo; but he had scarcely set foot in Mexico when he received intelligence that the two provinces, Zacatula and Colima had again risen up in arms. This happened just about the time when Sandoval reached Mexico with Cortes' wife, and our general thought it best to despatch Sandoval to these rebellious provinces, though he could only furnish him with a few horse, and fifteen crossbow-men and musketeers; but every one of these men were of the original conquistadores, who made very short work with the rebels, punished two of the caziques of Colima, and completely quelled the rebellion, nor did the inhabitants ever after break out into hostilities. Sandoval was equally successful in Zacatula, so that he soon returned to Mexico.
We who were stationed at Guacasualco, had in the meantime also our work to do, for scarcely had Sandoval departed when most of the provinces in which our commendaries lay again revolted, and it was with great difficulty we at length succeeded in tranquillising the inhabitants. The first district which had rebelled was that part of Xaltepec lying among rugged and almost inaccessible mountains, inhabited by a tribe of the Tzapotecs; this example was followed by Cimatan and Copilco, which are situated between large rivers and morasses; and, within forty-eight miles of Guacasualco, a Spaniard had been murdered on his own property.
While the whole of us regidors, with the captain Luis Marin, and one of the alcaldes of the town were making arrangements for an expedition against the rebellious provinces, we were informed that a small vessel had run into the harbour, having on board Juan Bono de Quexo. This man said he came with authority from our emperor, we therefore determined to call upon him without delay to inquire the nature of his business.
This Bono had first arrived in New Spain with Narvaez, and thus he was well known to us all. After he had given each of us a hearty embrace, he desired us to call a council of the chief authorities of the town, that he might notify to them certain powers with which he was invested by his majesty, and lay before them the instructions he had received from the bishop of Burgos, from whom he brought letters for all of us. He was provided with a number of blank papers, with only the bishop's signature attached to them, which Juan Bono now filled up with the names of the regidors, accompanied by all manner of fine promises, according to the instructions he had received from the bishop; these appointments were to be presented to the proper persons mentioned therein, if we gave up possession of the country to Cristobal de Tapia. This Bono was not at all aware that Tapia had returned to St. Domingo; and the bishop had so little suspected that we should not have acknowledged the authority of Tapia, that he sent Bono after him with this commission. Among others, my name was also put down in one of these appointments, as regidor.