[342] Gomara, Hist. Mex., 86. Camargo and Ixtlilxochitl quarter the Spaniards in the palace. ‘Á las casas reales.’ Sahagun, Hist. Conq., 17.
[343] Camargo, Hist. Tlax., 150; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 52.
[344] Camargo calls it a rich present.
[345] Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 53.
[346] According to the somewhat mixed account of Bernal Diaz, Xicotencatl offers his daughter at once to Cortés, who accepts, and thereupon urges Padre Olmedo to begin a raid against idolatry. The latter tells him to wait till the daughters are brought. They are introduced on the following day, five in number, and Xicotencatl joins the hands of the general with the one intended for him. He accepts her, but declares that she and her companions must remain with their parents till conversion is consummated. Finally the daughter is transferred to Alvarado.
[347] A not uncommon practice in Mexico, carried out in the same manner as among the Romans. See Native Races, iii., passim.
[348] Portrait in Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., ii. 165, and Zamacois, Hist. Méj., ii. 514.
[349] ‘En aquel templo adonde estaua aposentado, se hiziesse vn capilla.’ Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vi. cap. xv. A new temple near by was set aside for this. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 54. ‘Hizo la sala principal de Xicotencatl Oratorio.’ Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., 294. ‘Hizo una iglesia en una casa de un ídolo principal.’ Tapia, Rel., in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 572-3. This author does not intimate that Cortés sought to force conversion, Bernal Diaz alone being responsible for the statement, though Herrera adopts it. Eager to remove the reproach of infidelity from his people, Camargo relates that Cortés insisted on the renunciation of idolatry, and that the chiefs finally yielded, while placing upon him the responsibility of removing the images. When the iconoclasm began, the people hastened to hide their cherished idols, which they long worshipped in secret, although accepting baptism. Hist. Tlax., 150-8. In a hieroglyphic painting still possessed by the cabildo, says Ixtlilxochitl, it is shown that the lords were at this time baptized. He gives their new names. Hist. Chich., 294.
[350] ‘Durò tres, ó quatro años.’ Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, 304; Dávila, Teatro Ecles., i. 78; Camargo, Hist. Tlax., 140; Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vi. cap. xv. Solis dwells upon the spiritual effect of the miracle, which occurred immediately after the departure from Tlascala. Hist. Mex., i. 324-5. Torquemada devotes a whole chapter to it, and states that the first cross was raised by unseen hands the night after the arrival of the Spaniards in the city. The high-priest placed over it a guard, who was surprised by a celestial light which appeared at midnight and drove out the demon from the temple, iii. 200-3.
[351] ‘Lo primero que mandaua nuestro Capitan era quebralles las tales carceles, y echar fuera los prisioneros.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 55.