[XXII-18] For more concerning his character see Hist. Mex., i. 73-5, this series.
[XXII-19] Cortés, Cartas, 304. With regard to both date and number authorities differ. Bernal Diaz assigns December 13th as the day of departure; Ixtlilxochitl, December 8th. Horribles Crueldades, 71; Fuentes, November 19th, and Vazquez, November 13th. Vazquez states that this last is the date given in the original manuscript of Bernal Diaz, though the printed copy gives December 13th. Chronica de Gvat., 523. The number of forces at the second mustering is stated by Cortés to have been 120 horsemen, with 40 spare animals, and 300 foot-soldiers, of whom 130 were cross-bowmen and arquebusiers. There were also several persons of high rank from Mexico and the neighboring cities with the native troops; but the latter were not numerous, on account of the distance of the proposed scene of action. A park of four pieces of artillery completed the equipment. Oviedo follows Cortés. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 174, gives the number of arquebusiers and cross-bowmen as 120, and that of the horsemen 135, with above 200 Tlascaltecs and Cholultecs, besides 100 picked Mexicans. Herrera, dec. iii. lib. v. cap. viii., assigns 300 Spaniards, 100 of whom were arquebusiers, with 160 horses. Vazquez, Chronica de Gvat., 4, says the force consisted of 300 Spaniards with Tlascaltec, Mexican, and Cholultec allies. Without making any mention of the guns, which the above authorities do not omit, Fuentes says the force was composed of 750 hombres de calidad, as follows: 300 foot-soldiers, arquebusiers, and cross-bowmen, 135 horsemen, and four guns under the artilleryman Usagre, written in Bernal Diaz as Viagre; but 750 must be an error, since the artillerymen would thus number 315; 450 is probably the intended number. To these were added 200 Tlascaltec and Cholultec bowmen, and 100 picked Mexicans. This author, moreover, gives a list of the names of nearly 200 conquistadores. Recordacion Florida, MS., 25-7. Gomara has 420 Spaniards, with 170 horses, four pieces of artillery, a great quantity of stores, and a large number of Mexican troops. 'Mucha gente Mexicana.' Hist. Ind., 267. Brasseur de Bourbourg gives the forces as 300 foot-soldiers, 120 of whom were arquebusiers or cross-bowmen, 135 horsemen, with four pieces of artillery, 200 warriors of Tlascala and Cholula, 10,000 each of Mexico and Acolhuacan, besides a large number of porters and carriers. Hist. Nat. Civ., 632. This last author is supported by Ixtlilxochitl, who states that Ixtlilxochitl and Quauhtemoctzin supplied Cortés each with 10,000 warriors, under the command of able captains. Horribles Crueldades, 65-6. And with regard to the native contingent troops, we have additional evidence that they were far more numerous than Cortés chose to represent them to the Spanish monarch. The Xochimilco Indians, whose city lay five leagues from Mexico, sent in a petition for redress of grievances, dated 2d May, 1563, in which they claim to have furnished Alvarado, their encomendero, with 2500 warriors for the conquest of Honduras and Guatemala. Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., viii. 293-4. By royal edict the employment of natives beyond their own borders had been forbidden; hence, to diminish the magnitude of the disobedience, the number was diminished.
[XXII-20] The former were Franciscans, named Juan de Torres and Francisco Martinez de Pontaza, according to Vazquez, Chronica de Gvat., 524. This writer enters into a long argument to prove that Bartolomé de Olmedo, of the order of Nuestra Señora de la Merced, could not have accompanied the expedition, as stated by Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 174. Vazquez, with the aid of two other friars, compared the original manuscript of Bernal Diaz with the printed work published in 1632, and found the last mention of Olmedo in the manuscript to be in chapter clvii. He had a suspicion that the passages in later chapters where Olmedo's connection with the expedition is mentioned may be interpolations by the Friar Alonso Remon, who was of the same order as Olmedo, and who first published the Historia Verdadera. The two clergymen were Juan Godinez, Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, 4, and Juan Diaz, Ramirez, Proceso contra Alvarado, 128.
[XXII-21] Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, 3. This authority also states that Cortés conferred on Alvarado the title of lieutenant-governor and captain-general. Cortés, in his letter to the king, expresses great confidence in the expedition, and regrets that inopportune circumstances in connection with the fleets had retarded the discovery of many secrets, and the collection of gold and pearls for the royal treasury. Cartas, 305.
[XXII-22] In some rocky fastnesses, peñoles, called the Peñoles de Guelamo, being in the encomienda of a soldier of that name. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 174; Fuentes, Conq. Guat., MS., 1.
[XXII-23] Larrainzar finds no difficulty in looking beyond the myths to a time when this people was included in the Chiapanec nation. Hist. Soconusco, 7.
[XXII-24] Bernal Diaz assumes that the province contained only 15,000 families, estimated by Fuentes to represent a population of 60,000 inhabitants. Hist. Verdad., 174.
[XXII-25] Pelaez, Mem. Guat., i. 45; Gomara, Hist. Mex., 229; Vazquez, Chronica de Gvat., 4; Herrera, dec. iii. lib. v. cap. viii. Bernal Diaz, followed by Fuentes, states that in Soconusco Alvarado was peaceably received, and that the natives presented offerings of gold. Hist. Verdad., 174. This idea may have arisen from the fact that some towns did submit without active opposition, as recorded or implied by Gomara and Herrera. Remesal says that Alvarado passed on like a thunderbolt, conquering by force of arms and exciting great terror by reason of the carnage at Soconusco. That the destruction was great is evident from the ruins to be seen at the entrance into Guatemala, in the locality called the Sacrificadero. Hist. Chyapa, 3. Brasseur de Bourbourg affirms that Alvarado, as he passed through this district, founded a Spanish colony at Huehuetan, which was long the capital of the territory after the destruction of the city of Soconusco. Hist. Nat. Civ., iv. 633-4. This could have been only a concentration of the already resident Spaniards, for Alvarado would scarcely have left behind him, at this juncture, many of his own men.
[XXII-26] Fuentes and Guzman, MS., 2, give the later name of Zapotitlan as Suchitepeque, which signifies Hill of Flowers.
[XXII-27] Place of zapotes, a plum-like fruit abounding in the neighborhood. Niebla, Mem. Zapotitlan, MS., 7-8. Its ancient name was Xetulul. It is now abandoned, and the inhabitants are dispersed among the neighboring villages. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., iv. 635.