The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 2 (of 2) / Written by Himself Containing a True and Full Account of the Discovery and Conquest of Mexico and New Spain.

by Bernal Díaz del Castillo

Notwithstanding this, and the utmost endeavours of the Spaniards, the victory remained dubious for a length of time, until at last the enemy began to give way. Now the cavalry were able to gain the open field, and they dispersed the Indians on every side with considerable slaughter, so that they were unable to show themselves for the next three days. During this time Alvarado encamped on the field of battle, and sent out small detachments to forage. He then marched, with the whole of his troops, to the township of Quetzaltenanco, where he learnt that two caziques of Utatlan were killed in the recent battles. In this place he allowed his men to halt for some time, to dress their wounds, but soon received intelligence that the surrounding tribes again contemplated an attack upon him, for which purpose they had assembled an army of two Xiquipiles, there being 8000 warriors to one Xiquipil. With this formidable body of 16,000 men the enemy were determined to conquer or die. On receiving this information Alvarado drew out his troops on the open plain in order of battle; nor was it long before the enemy came pouring forth with great force, and strove to surround him on all sides; but as the cavalry were unrestricted in their movements on this level plain, they made heavy charges on the enemy's line, who were soon put to a disorderly flight. Several of Alvarado's men were wounded, but some of the most distinguished chiefs had fallen in the battle; so that from this moment the Indians really began to fear the Spaniards, and the whole province came to the determination of suing for peace, and they sent ambassadors to Alvarado with a small present in gold. But all this was mere stratagem on the enemy's part, whose object was to entice the Spaniards, under the assumed cloak of peace, to the strongly situated town of Utatlan, which was surrounded by deep hollows, and there to put them to death, when they least suspected any treachery.

As I have just stated, a great number of distinguished personages arrived in Alvarado's camp to sue for peace; they handed over their miserable present, were remarkably courteous in their behaviour, and begged of Alvarado to pardon their late hostilities, and to acknowledge them as vassals of our great emperor. This humble language they accompanied by an invitation for him and his troops to return with them to the town of Utatlan, which they said was very large, and they would provide them excellent quarters, with every possible comfort.

Alvarado, who did not for an instant imagine they had any treacherous designs, received the caziques very kindly, granted them the peace they sued for, and accepted of their polite invitation. The next morning early he drew out all his troops, and marched to Utatlan; but as soon as the Spaniards arrived in this town they were struck with the warlike aspect which everything wore. There were only two gates by which the town could be entered, one of which was approached by a flight of twenty-five steps, and the other by a causeway, which was intersected in several places. There was also a large building, which was strongly fortified; the houses of the town stood very close together, and the streets were uncommonly narrow. There was neither a woman nor a child to be seen anywhere, for these had all been concealed in the hollows adjoining the town, and it was very late before the troops could obtain any provisions, which even then were bad. The caziques had likewise assumed a different tone to that of the previous day, and Alvarado was secretly informed by some of the inhabitants of Quetzaltenanco that the caziques of Utatlan intended to fall suddenly on his troops in the night, and massacre them all; for which purpose they had concealed a number of their warriors in the adjoining hollows, who were to rush forth from their hiding-place the instant they observed the smoke rising from the houses of the town which would be set on fire, and to fall upon the Spaniards, who would be half suffocated by the smoke and flames, while the inhabitants attacked them from another quarter.

The instant Alvarado was apprized of the imminent danger which threatened him, he assembled the officers, with the whole of the men, and informed them of what he had heard, adding, that their safety now depended upon their leaving the town as quickly as possible, and in gaining some level spot between the hollows, as it was then too late to reach the open field. He then made the necessary arrangements for the troops to abandon the place, and called upon the principal personages of the town, as if he were quite unconscious of their designs; but in the course of the conversation he remarked, as if by chance, that his horses were accustomed to go to grass for a certain time each day, for which reason he would be obliged to quit the town again, where altogether the houses were too much crowded, and the streets too narrow for him. This came like a thunderclap upon the caziques, nor could they hide their inward grief and vexation when they saw the Spaniards marching out again.

As soon as Alvarado was outside the town he threw off the mask, ordered the chief cazique to be seized, and he was tried in due form by a court-martial, which sentenced him to be burnt at the stake. Before this sentence was put into execution father Olmedo begged permission of Alvarado to make an attempt to convert this Indian to Christianity, for which purpose he requested that his execution might be postponed for one day; but of this one day came a second day, at the end of which it pleased the Lord Jesus to incline the cazique's heart to Christianity, and he allowed himself to be baptized by the father, who then prevailed upon Alvarado to commute his sentence into that of hanging. The son of this unfortunate man was then raised to the caziquedom. But matters did not end here, for Alvarado was now attacked by the Indians, who lay concealed in the hollows, but he soon put them to flight.

There was another large township in this province, called Guatimala, the inhabitants of which had been duly apprized of all the battles which Alvarado had fought since his arrival in the country, and how he had each time come off victorious. They also knew that he was staying at Utatlan, and that he made frequent incursions into the surrounding townships, and compelled them to submit to his arms. As the inhabitants of Guatimala were at enmity with the Utatlans, they despatched ambassadors to Alvarado with a present of gold, and declared themselves vassals of our emperor; adding, that they were ready to assist the Spaniards in carrying on the war in that province. Alvarado received these ambassadors in the kindest manner possible, thanked them for their present, and he told them, in order to prove whether they were in earnest in soliciting his friendship and in their offers of assistance, that he would demand of them 2000 of their troops to join his army. He was totally unacquainted, he continued, with the country, which was besides so full of hollows and narrow passes, that he should be glad of this reinforcement to clear the roads which had been barricaded by trees, and to transport his baggage. The inhabitants of Guatimala soon showed they were friendly disposed, and it was not long before the required troops, with their generals, arrived in the Spanish camp. Alvarado staid about eight days in the province of Utatlan, during which time he made repeated incursions into the different townships, and as several of these again revolted after submitting to the Spanish crown, great numbers of the male and female inhabitants were carried off as slaves and marked with the red-hot iron. Of these slaves a fifth were set apart for his majesty, and the remainder were immediately divided among the troops.

Upon this Alvarado marched to Guatimala, where the inhabitants gave him a kind and hospitable reception. Here the men enjoyed some rest, and they congratulated each other on the success that had attended their arms, and now they thought with pleasure on the fatigues they had undergone. Among other things, Alvarado declared to father Olmedo and his officers, that he had not been in any battle where he considered himself in greater danger than in the one they had recently fought with the tribes of Utatlan, who had combined excessive ferocity with uncommon bravery, and he considered that his men had done wonders on that occasion. "It was the arm of God," remarked father Olmedo, "that was with us, and that He may not desert us in future, let us appoint a day of thanksgiving to the Almighty and the blessed Virgin, and celebrate high mass, and I will preach a sermon to these Indians." Alvarado and the other officers immediately fell in with this idea, and after an altar had been erected the whole of the men made the communion, and high mass was performed with every solemnity. A great number of Indians were present on the occasion, to whom father Olmedo preached so many excellent things, and gave so many convincing proofs of the truth of our holy religion, that above thirty of them became converts to Christianity. In the course of the two following days they were baptized, and several others expressed a similar wish, when they found that the Spaniards made more of the converts than of the others. Upon the whole, there was nothing but rejoicing and happiness between the troops of Alvarado and the inhabitants of this place.

I must now relate that the caziques of Guatimala drew Alvarado's attention to some townships which lay at no great distance in front of a lake. The inhabitants of these places were at enmity with Guatimala, and their stronghold was a rock of great height, which they had further strengthened by various outworks. Of these townships, Atatlan was the principal one, and it was very evident the inhabitants bore the Spaniards very little good will, since, notwithstanding their near vicinity, they had not thought proper to send them any messengers of peace. Alvarado, therefore, sent them a most polite invitation to come and make a friendly alliance with him; but all the answer they returned was to ill-use the messengers. This invitation Alvarado renewed three several times, and as they still refused to despatch any ambassadors to him, he determined to march thither in person, with 140 foot, 40 horse, and 2000 auxiliaries of Guatimala. When he had approached within a short distance of the township he again sent a friendly message to the inhabitants, who replied by a flight of arrows; upon which he advanced up to the water's edge. At this moment a vast body of Indians fell suddenly upon him, under the sound of their wild music, the whole of them accoutred in their full war costume, with lances of uncommon length. This was a very severe conflict which lasted for some time, and a good number of the Spaniards were wounded; but the Indians at last fled precipitately and strove to regain the fortified rock, but Alvarado followed so close at their heels that he carried the rock before they could rally themselves, and he would have slaughtered a great number of them if they had not leaped into the water and made for a small island on the lake. He then permitted his troops to plunder the houses which lay on the banks, and encamped on a plain which was covered with maise plantations. The day following he marched to Atatlan, which he found quite deserted by its inhabitants; from this place he sent out small detachments to forage the country, and particularly the cacao-plantations, which abounded in this neighbourhood. One of these detachments succeeded in capturing two chiefs of the township, whom Alvarado despatched with some others that had been taken prisoners on the previous day, to the caziques, desiring them to come and sue for peace; if they complied, he would liberate all the prisoners he had taken, and they themselves should receive the most honorable treatment; but if they still obstinately refused to submit, he would punish them as he had the inhabitants of Quetzaltenanco and Utatlan, by cutting down all their cacao trees, and otherwise damaging their property in every possible manner. These threats had the desired effect, they sent messengers with a present in gold, and submitted as vassals to our emperor; when Alvarado again returned to Guatimala.

Father Olmedo, in the meantime, was doing all in his power to convert the Indians to Christianity; he ordered an altar with a cross to be erected, in front of which he regularly performed mass, and the inhabitants, on these occasions, imitated the Spaniards in all their religious ceremonies. Father Olmedo also placed on the altar an image of the Virgin Mary, which had been presented to him by Garay in his dying moments. This image was of such extreme beauty that the Indians became quite enamoured of it, and father Olmedo explained what was meant by such an image, and how Christians prayed before it.

Nothing now happened for several days worthy of mention, excepting that by degrees every township of the surrounding neighbourhood sent ambassadors to Alvarado, and declared themselves vassals of our emperor; even the Pipiles, a tribe inhabiting the sea-coast along the southern ocean. As most of the ambassadors complained that the inhabitants of a township, named Izcuintepec, who were a very ill-disposed people, would not allow them to pass through their territory; besides that they committed all manner of depredations on their neighbours; Alvarado determined that they also should sue for peace and submit to his power. But as they showed no inclination to do either, and sent an insolent answer to his message, he marched out one morning with the greatest part of his troops, accompanied by a strong body of auxiliaries, and fell suddenly upon this township before the inhabitants in the least suspected his approach. But it would have been better if Alvarado had never visited this ill-fated town, for he treated the inhabitants in a manner that was neither conformable with justice nor with the wishes of our emperor.