Bono did not disclose any part of his commission, or produce any of his papers, until we were all duly assembled in council; but as soon as he mentioned the nature of his business, we stopped any discussion on the matter, by telling him that Tapia himself had long ago left New Spain again, and we advised him to repair to Mexico, and lay his commission before Cortes.
When Bono, to his great surprise, found that Tapia had left the country, he became quite downcast, set sail the very next day for Vera Cruz, from whence he journeyed overland to Mexico. What passed between him and Cortes I do not know, but I understood that the latter supplied him with a certain sum of money to defray the expenses of his voyage back to Spain.
I could say a good deal of the numerous battles we fought, and of the great fatigues we underwent during our stay at Guacasualco, in putting down the frequent insurrections in the provinces; but it is high time I should relate something about the expedition of Alvarado to the province of Tutepec.
CHAPTER CLXI.
How Alvarado marches to the province of Tutepec, to build a town there; and how far he succeeded in subduing the country, and in founding a colony.
To give an account of Alvarado's expedition to the province of Tutepec, we must return to the period immediately following the conquest of Mexico. It will be remembered that after the news of the fall of that large city had spread through the provinces, ambassadors arrived from all parts to congratulate Cortes on this great victory over the Mexican power, and the different tribes declared themselves vassals of our emperor. Among the more powerful tribes which submitted on this occasion was that of the Tecuantepec—Tzapotecs, whose ambassadors brought with them a present in gold, stating at the same time that they were at war with their neighbours, the Tutepecs, who had commenced hostilities with them, because they had submitted to the Spanish crown. This tribe inhabited the coast on the South Sea, they added,—and possessed great quantities of gold, both in the raw material and in ornaments; they themselves now came to request Cortes to assist them against their enemies with some of his cavalry, musketeers, and crossbow-men.
Cortes assured them, in a very affectionate manner, that he would send Tonatio (as they called Alvarado) with them. He accordingly despatched Alvarado thither with a considerable detachment, consisting of one hundred and eighty men, among whom there were thirty-five horse; and a further reinforcement of twenty men, most of whom were crossbow-men, would join him in the province of Guaxaca, where the captain Francisco de Orozco commanded in chief.
Alvarado left Mexico in the year 1522, and first of all marched to a mountainous district, where it was said disturbances had recently broken out; but he found all in profound peace here, and the inhabitants well disposed towards the Spaniards; nevertheless, he appears to have been very tardy in his movements, for he did not reach Tutepec until forty days after. The inhabitants, who had received intelligence of his approach, came out to meet him with every show of magnificence, and conducted him to the most populous of all their townships, where stood the temples and their largest buildings. The houses were very crowded, and made of straw, for in this excessively hot climate the dwellings have no upper stories, and are not built of stone. Father Olmedo here observed to Alvarado, that it would not be advisable to quarter the troops in the houses, for if the inhabitants were to take it into their heads to set fire to the town there would be no possibility of escape. Alvarado considered his apprehensions well founded, and encamped with his men at the extremity of the town. The cazique soon after arrived with a valuable present in gold, which he repeated almost every day, and provided the troops with abundance of provisions. When Alvarado found what a quantity of gold the inhabitants possessed, he ordered them to make him a pair of stirrups of the finest gold, and gave them a couple of his own for a pattern; and indeed those they made turned out very good.
Notwithstanding all the gold which Alvarado received from this cazique, he ordered him to be imprisoned a few days after his arrival, as the people of Tecuantepec had assured him that the whole province was upon the eve of rising up in arms against him, and that the chiefs of Tutepec had only invited him to quarter his troops in the large houses in the heart of their town, that they might set fire to them, and burn him, with all his men, to death.