[211] Ávila, who had command, was so strict as to lance Hernando Alonso de Villanueva for not keeping in line. Lamed in the arm, he received the nickname of el Manquillo. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 31. The riders were obliged to retain their seats, lest the Indians should suppose that the horses could be deterred by any obstacles. Gomara, Hist. Mex., 53.
[212] Vetancvrt, Teatro Mex., pt. iii. 117. Others suppose that he came merely to persuade the cacique to join Cortés. Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 27.
[213] Four men. Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., 289. ‘Twenty men,’ says Gomara, Hist. Mex., 54, who does not refer to the arrival of Cempoala’s lord.
[214] ‘Monteçuma tenia pensamiẽnto, ... de nos auer todos á las manos, para que hiziessemos generacion, y tambien para tener que sacrificar.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 28.
[215] ‘Carcerati nelle loro gabbie,’ is the way Clavigero puts it. Storia Mess., iii. 28. One was even whipped for resisting.
[216] ‘Porque no se les fuesse alguno dellos á dar mandado á Mexico,’ is Bernal Diaz’ reason for it. Hist. Verdad., 32.
[217] ‘Condotta artifiziosa, e doppia,’ etc., says Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 28, while Solis lauds it as ‘Grande artífice de medir lo que disponia, con lo que rezelaba: y prudente Capitan.’ Hist. Mex., i. 186.
[218] ‘Desde alli adelante nos llamaron Teules,’ says Bernal Diaz, with great satisfaction. Hist Verdad., 32. ‘A los Españoles llamaron teteuh, que quiere decir dioses, y los Españoles corrompiendo el vocablo decian teules, el cual nombre les duró mas de tres años,’ till we stopped it, declaring that there was but one God. Motolinia, Hist. Ind., i. 142-3. See note 16.
CHAPTER X.
MULTIPLICATION OF PLOTS.
June-July, 1519.
Cortés, Diplomate and General—The Municipality of Villa Rica Located—Excitement throughout Anáhuac—Montezuma Demoralized—Arrival of the Released Collectors at the Mexican Capital—The Order for Troops Countermanded—Montezuma Sends an Embassy to Cortés—Chicomacatl Asks Aid against a Mexican Garrison—A Piece of Pleasantry—The Velazquez Men Refuse to Accompany the Expedition—Opportunity Offered them to Return to Cuba, which they Decline through Shame—The Totonacs Rebuked—The Cempoala Brides—Destruction of the Idols—Arrival at Villa Rica of Salcedo—Efforts of Velazquez with the Emperor—Cortés Sends Messengers to Spain—Velazquez Orders them Pursued—The Letters of Cortés—Audiencia of the Emperor at Tordesillas.