[1119] Cortés, Cartas, 206. Gomara agrees, Hist. Mex., 191, but Bernal Diaz gives the number as 84 horsemen, 650 soldiers with swords, shields, and lances, and 194 archers and arquebusiers. loc. cit.
[1120] Some half a dozen towns furnished 8000 each within eight days. The feathers were fastened by the archers with glue from the cactle root. They kept two strings and as many catches, and maintained their skill by target practice. Id.
[1121] The distribution of forces as given by Cortés stands thus: To Alvarado, 30 horse, 18 arquebusiers and archers, 150 sword and shield men, and over 25,000 Tlascaltecs; to Olid, 33 horse, 18 archers and arquebusiers, 160 sword and shield men, and over 20,000 allies; to Sandoval, 24 horse, 4 arquebusiers, 13 archers, 150 sword and shield men, and over 30,000 allies from Huexotzinco, Cholula, and Chalco. Cartas, 207. Others differ more or less, some giving details that hardly accord with the totals. Bernal Diaz names as Alvarado’s three captains his brother Jorge de Alvarado, Gutierre de Badajoz, and Andrés de Monjaraz, the latter an agreeable, bright-faced fellow of about 32 years, always suffering from a Lotharian disease which prevented him from doing anything. The three captains under Olid were Andrés de Tápia, a growing favorite of Cortés’, Francisco Verdugo, the unconscious fellow-conspirator of Villafañe, and Francisco de Lugo, the natural son of a prominent estate-holder at Medina del Campo. Sandoval had but two captains, the insinuating Pedro de Ircio, and Luis Marin of San Lúcar, a muscular and dashing fellow, of Monjaraz’ age, with an open blonde face, somewhat pitted, and possessed of a voluble tongue. Hist. Verdad., 139, 240, 246. Ixtlilxochitl gives a longer list, which is clearly wrong in many respects, and he adds some names of native leaders. Alvarado kept the Tlascaltecs of Tizatlan and Tepeticpac; Olid those of Ocotelulco and Quiahuiztlan. Hist. Chich., 313-14. He further states that his namesake joined Cortés’ fleet with 16,000 canoes, containing 50,000 Tezcucans, of whom 8000 were nobles. Hor. Crueldades, 21. Brasseur de Bourbourg follows this author in many respects, improving somewhat on the names. Herrera names five of the sub-captains, among them Hernando de Lerma of Galicia. dec. iii. lib. i. cap. xii.
[1122] ‘Iva a tomar por fuerça el Cacicazgo, e vassallos, y tierra del mismo Chichimecatecle,’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 139, which must be an idle rumor.
[1123] Some time later when Ojeda went to Tlascala for supplies he brought back the confiscated property, including a quantity of treasure, and 30 women, the daughters, servants, etc., of Xicotencatl. Torquemada, i. 558. The Tlascaltec laws were severe, ‘E l’odio particolare, che portavano a quel Principe, il cui orgoglio non potevano più soffrire.’ Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 195. Some Tlascaltecs say his father had warned Cortés against his son, and urged his death. Bernal Diaz, loc. cit. Herrera observes that he could hardly have been seized without Tlascaltec aid. dec. iii. lib. i. cap. xvii.
[1124] Ojeda, in Herrera, loc. cit. Solis, Hist. Mex., ii. 379, thinks that it would have been hazardous to hang him at Tezcuco, where many Tlascaltecs were gathered; but he forgets that nearly all this people had already set out for Mexico. His supposition is based on Bernal Diaz, who intimates that he was not hanged in Tezcuco. Alvarado had pleaded for his life, and Cortés, while pretending compliance, secretly ordered the alguacil to despatch him. Hist. Verdad., 139.
[1125] Cortés divided the lordship of the chieftain afterward between his two sons, and the name of Xicotencatl has been perpetuated by more than one line, as Camargo shows in his Hist. Tlax. Two officers of that name figured during the American invasion of 1847 in defence of their country. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., iv. 447.
[1126] Most writers say the 10th, misled by an error in Cortés, Cartas, 208; and this error causes Prescott, among others, to fall into more than one mistake, which he upholds with vain arguments. On earlier pages in the Cartas are given dates in connection with religious festivals which show that Whitsunday fell on the 19th of May, and the departure took place three days later. Bernal Diaz gives the 13th, and says that the Xicotencatl affair had detained them a day. He afterward varies the date.
[1127] They passed round Zumpango Lake, through Quauhtitlan and Tenayocan. Cortés, Cartas, 210; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 139.
[1128] ‘Jamàs quisieron Paz [the Aztecs]; y aunque à la postre la recibieron, el Rei no la aceptò, porque al principio, contra su Consejo, la rehusaron.’ Torquemada, i. 572. Gomara says the same, but Duran, the historian of his dynasty, declares that he loved too much to rule and to display his personal valor ever to listen to peace proposals. Hist. Ind., MS., ii. 490. On the following pages he gives a speech by this ruler, painting the shame and evil of surrender. Before this, according to the native records of Sahagun, Cortés had invited Quauhtemotzin, under promise of security, to a conference, in order to explain his motives for the campaign. Not wishing to appear afraid, the Aztec monarch came to the rendezvous near Acachinanco, in a state barge, attended by several nobles. Cortés arrived in a brigantine. He reviewed the allegiance tendered to the Spanish sovereign, the revolt, precipitated by Alvarado’s effort to anticipate the murderous plot, and the subsequent slaughter of Spaniards and robbery of treasures. These unjustifiable and inhuman outrages he had come to avenge; and he would not stay his hand till the enemies of his king and God had been driven forth. Quauhtemotzin merely replied that he accepted war, and thereupon returned to the city. Sahagun, Hist. Conq. (ed. 1840), 147-50. Torquemada, i, 543, and Brasseur de Bourbourg adopt this story, the latter stating that the Aztec ruler proposed to consult his council. But Clavigero rightly assumes that the interview never took place. All other records say that Quauhtemotzin persistently refused ever to speak with Cortés, even from behind his walls.