[XXIV-13] 'Estamos metidos en la mas recia Tierra de Gente que se ha visto.' Relacion, i. 160.
[XXIV-14] Relacion, i. 159; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 175.
[XXV-1] Alvarado's line of march on this occasion seems to have been confounded by different authors with routes followed by him at later dates. Juarros says that he did not pass through the towns of the coast, but along the Itzapa road; for in a land title possessed by the Indians of Parramos, extended in the year 1577, on the 10th of November, in a reference to a plain on said road, this expression occurs: 'Where they say the camp of the Spaniards was pitched when the Adelantado D. Pedro de Alvarado came to conquer this land.' Guat., ii. 255. By these remarks Juarros supports Fuentes' opinion that the capital of the Cakchiquel nation was situated on the slopes of the Volcan de Agua. I am, however, persuaded that the encampment mentioned in the land title took place later, on the occasion of Alvarado's campaign southward.
[XXV-2] Vazquez calls this ruler King Ahpotzotzil, Chronica de Gvat., 68, which was only his title. His proper name was Sinacam, by which he was called in the books of the cabildos of Guatemala. Juarros, Guat., ii. 256. Brasseur de Bourbourg gives his name as Belehé Qat.
[XXV-3] Juarros, Guat., ii. 254-5. The account given by the Cakchiquel manuscript of this conversation differs somewhat from the above, stating that it took place in the palace; that the martial aspect of the population, and the number of warriors, excited the suspicions of Alvarado; and that on the night after his arrival, agitated by his apprehensions, he suddenly entered the royal apartments, followed by his officers. His unexpected presence caused great confusion, and the nobles in waiting rallied round their sovereign. The conversation then followed, when Sinacam spoke thus: 'Would I have sent my warriors and braves to die for you and find a tomb at Gumarcaah if I had such treacherous intentions?' In his explanation, also, the king states that the armed troops were intended to be directed against the provinces of Itzcuintlan and Atitlan, with which nations the Cakchiquels were at war. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., 650-1.
[XXV-4] Bernal Diaz, or his editor, here introduces Friar Bartolomé de Olmedo. His story is this: When the Spaniards arrived at Guatemala, Alvarado told the friar that he had never been so hard pressed as when fighting with the Indians of Utatlan, describing them as most brave and excellent warriors, and at the same time claimed to himself the merit of having done a good work. The friar chided him, and said it was God who had wrought the deed; and in order that he might regard it as good, and aid them in future, it would be well to give thanks to him, appoint a holiday, celebrate mass, and preach to the Indians. This injunction was carried out, and resulted in the baptism of more than 30 natives in two days. Others also were anxious to be baptized when they perceived that the Spaniards held intercourse more freely with the converts than with others. Hist. Verdad., 175.
[XXV-5] Patinamit, or Iximché, called by Alvarado the city of Guatemala. Juarros is in doubt as to the site of the ancient Cakchiquel capital. Remesal makes no mention of it, though he speaks of the founding of the Villa de Guatemala. Fuentes argues that it was not Patinamit, but a city on the slope of the Volcan de Agua, occupying the same position that San Miguel Tzacualpa occupied when he wrote. His reasons are, first, the preservation of the Indian name Guatemala, indicating that the Spaniards did not found a new town, but occupied the existing city; the custom of the Spaniards being to give Spanish names to cities founded by them, as Trujillo, Granada, Cartago, and others, while those cities which were already founded retained their native names, as Mexico, Cuzco, Tlascala, and the like. Again, as observed elsewhere, the word Guatemala is derived from Coctecmalan, which means Palo de leche, milk-tree, commonly called Yerba mala. This is found only at Antigua Guatemala, and within a league around, in which space, therefore, the capital must have stood. But it was not situated where Antigua Guatemala stands, because that place was always called Panchoy, or Great Lagoon; nor where the Pueblo of Ciudad Vieja stands, which locality was called Atmulunca, meaning Gushing Water. Therefore it must have been on the spot where stood the city of the Spaniards, which was destroyed in 1541, and where now exists the little village of Tzacualpa, which name in itself is an additional argument in favor of this supposition, inasmuch as its meaning is Old Town. The third argument of Fuentes is based on the improbability that the Spaniards would found a city in an unpopulated district when the court and capital of the Cakchiquels were at their command. Consequently the court of King Sinacam was situated where the Spaniards first established themselves, that is where Tzacualpa stands. See also Juarros, Guat., ii. 255-9. Vazquez maintains that this capital was the city Patinamit, antonomastically so called, meaning the 'metropolis' or 'the city' par excellence. The locality on which it was built was called 'Iximché,' and in his own time Ohertinamit, which means Old Town. The Mexicans who came with the Spaniards called it Quauhtemali, meaning rotten tree, from an old worm-eaten Iximché tree. To distinguish it from the Ciudad de Santiago founded by the Spaniards, it was afterward named Tecpan Guatemala, that is, Palace or Royal House of Guatemala, a meaning different from that given by Fuentes, who says that Tecpan means 'above,' encima, as Tecpan Atitlan, a town situated on a more elevated site than Atitlan. The city Tecpan Guatemala still exists about half a league distant from the old site. Vazquez, moreover, supports his opinion on the extent and magnificence of the palace and public buildings indicated by the ruins, which he visited in person; and also on the fortified position of the place. Chronica de Gvat., 7, 10, 68, 73; Juarros, Guat., ii. 243, 256-7. That the arguments of Fuentes are fallacious, and that Vazquez is right, Alvarado's own despatches prove almost to a certainty. In his report to Cortés, dated 11th April, at Utatlan, he says, 'Embiè à la Ciudad de Guatemala, que està diez Leguas de esta,' and afterward informs Cortés that on that day he will leave for the city of Guatemala, 'Yo me parto para la Ciudad de Guatemala Lunes once de Abril.' At the commencement of the next despatch he writes, 'Yo, Señor, partì de la Ciudad de Uclatan, í vine en dos Dias à esta Ciudad de Guatemala.' Now this 'city of Guatemala' was the capital of the king of the Cakchiquels, and where Alvarado was entertained by him, as will be told in the text, and it was ten leagues from Utatlan, a distance which would occupy the army two days, as stated by Alvarado; for it was difficult ground to march over, being intersected by numerous ravines. Vazquez, Chronica de Gvat., 7. The site proposed by Fuentes is nearly twice the distance from Utatlan, and could not have been reached by the Spaniards in the short period of two days, except by very exhausting and forced marches, to which it is most improbable that Alvarado subjected his men when on a visit to a friendly power. Again, Alvarado reports that when on his expedition against Atitlan he left the city of Guatemala and by a forced march entered that territory the same day—'I anduve tanto, que aquel Dia lleguè a su Tierra'—a distance that could be accomplished from the existing ruins of Patinamit, but apparently not from the Volcan de Agua.
[XXV-6] Juarros calls it 'chay.'
[XXV-7] Juarros, Guat., ii. 243-4. This author adds that Bishop Marroquin, having heard of this stone, caused it to be cut into a square and consecrated as part of the high altar in the church of Tecpan Guatemala. Stephens saw it and says that it is a piece of common slate. Incid. of Travel in Cent. Am., ii. 150.
[XXV-8] 'Donde fui mui bien recibido de los Señores de ella, que no pudiera ser mas en Casa de nuestros Padres; i fuimos tan proveidos de todo lo necesario, que ninguna cosa hovo falta.' Alvarado, Relacion, i. 161.