[260] Bernal Diaz, who appears to have been with the party, names them as Guillen de la Loa, notary; Andrés Nuñez, shipwright; Pedro de la Arpa, a Valencian, and a fourth man. Hist. Verdad., 40.
[261] ‘Armo Francisco de Garay tres carauelas en Iamaica, el año de mil quiniẽtos y deziocho, y fue a tentar la Florida.’ Gomara, Hist. Ind., 55. ‘Determinó de enviar á un hidalgo, llamado Diego de Camargo, á descubrir é continuar el descubrimiento que Grijalva habia hecho, con uno ó con dos navios; el cual descubrió la provincia de Panuco, ó, por mejor decir, comenzó de allí donde Grijalva se habia tornado, que fué desde Panuco, y anduvo navegando por la costa cien leguas hácia la Florida.’ Las Casas, Hist. Ind., iv. 466; Herrera, dec. ii. lib. iii. cap. xi.; Galvano’s Discov., 133-4.
[262] See Hist. Mex., i. 29, this series. ‘El Rey se las concedió el año de 819, estando en Barcelona.’ Las Casas, loc. cit. ‘Torralua ... truxo prouisiones para que fuesse Adelantado, y Gouernador desde el rio de San Pedro, y San Pablo, y todo lo que descubriesse: y por aquellas prouisiones embiò luego tres Nauios con hasta dozientos y setenta soldados.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 41.
[263] Bernal Diaz intimates that Pineda had remained at Rio Pánuco to colonize, while one vessel was sent down to take possession where Cortés met the men. After giving an account of two expeditions in 1518 and 1519, Gomara says: ‘Otros dizen, que no fue mas de vna vez. Sino que como estuuo mucho alla cuẽtan por dos.’ Hist. Ind., 55. But Las Casas mentions distinctly that it was on the strength of Camargo’s discoveries, in 1518, that the grant was made to Garay in the following year, ubi sup. ‘Garai auia corrido mucha costa en demãda de la Florida, y tocado en vn rio y tierra, cuyo rey se llamaua Panuco, donde vieron oro, aun que poco. Y que sin salir de las naues auiã rescatado hasta tres mil pesos de oro.’ Gomara, Hist. Mex., 67; Cortés, Cartas, 56-7; Oviedo, iii. 262-3; Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vi. cap. i.
[264] ‘El uno(of the captured ones) era maestre de la una nao, é puso fuego á la escopeta, é matara al capitan de la Veracruz, sino que á la mecha le faltó el fuego.’ Oviedo, iii. 263. Bernal Diaz, in a less intelligent account of the capture, states that only two men landed. ‘Por manera que se huuieron de aquel Nauio seis soldados.... Y esto es lo que se hizo, y no lo que escriue el Coronista Gomara.’ Hist. Verdad., 41. But Cortés’ version must surely be the best, since it was related shortly after the occurrence, and by an immediate participator in the events.
CHAPTER XII.
MARCH TOWARD MEXICO.
August-September, 1519.
Enthusiasm of the Army—The Force—The Totonacs Advise the Tlascalan Route—Arrival at Jalapa—A Look Backward—The Anáhuac Plateau—Meeting with Olintetl—Arrival in the Country of the Tlascaltecs—The Senate Convenes and Receives the Envoys of Cortés—An Encounter—A More Serious Battle—Xicotencatl Resolves to Try the Prowess of the Invaders, and is Defeated.
The Garay affair having thus been disposed of, it was announced to the Spaniards that they would now go in quest of the great Montezuma. For as the conciliating sea smooths the sand which but lately it ground in its determinate purpose from the rocks, so had Cortés quieted the ruffled temper of the malcontents, till they were committed as one man to the will of the leader. And he smiled somewhat grimly as he concluded his harangue: “To success or total destruction now we march; for there is open to us no retreat. In Christ we trust, and on our arms rely. And though few in number, our hearts are strong.” The soldiers shouted their approval, and again signified their desire to press onward to Mexico.[265]
The force for the expedition consisted of about four hundred and fifty Spaniards, with fifteen horses, and six or seven light guns, attended by a considerable number of Indian warriors and carriers, including Cubans. The Totonac force comprised also forty chiefs, taken really as hostages, among whom are named Mamexi, Tamalli, and Teuch, the latter proving a most able and trusty guide and counsellor.[266]