Expeditions of Gonzalo de Sandoval, Pedro de Alvarado, and others, for reducing the Mexican Provinces.
After the settlement with Christoval de Tapia, the Captains Sandoval and Alvarado resumed the expeditions with which they had been before entrusted, and on this occasion I went along with Sandoval. On our arrival at Tustepeque[1], I took my lodgings on the summit of a very high tower of a temple, for the sake of fresh air, and to avoid the musquitoes, which were very troublesome below. At this place, seventy-two of the soldiers who came with Narvaez and six Spanish women were put to death. The whole province submitted immediately to Sandoval, except the Mexican chief who had been the principal instrument of the destruction of our soldiers, who was soon afterwards made prisoner and burnt alive. Many others had been equally guilty, but this example of severity was deemed sufficient.
[1] This expedition appears to have been for the reduction of certain provinces to the south-east of the vale of Mexico, now forming the intendency of Oaxaca, inhabited by the Mixtecas and Tzapotecas. The Tustepeque of the text, was probably a town on the Boca de Chacahua on the South Sea, now called Tututepec, in lat. 15º 50' N. and long. 100º 15' E. On the very imperfect map of Clavigero, it is named Tototepec, and is placed in the country of the Mixtecas.--E.
Sandoval, in the next place, sent a message to the Tzapotecas, who inhabit a mountainous district about ten leagues from Tustepeque or Tututepec, ordering them to submit to his authority; and on their refusal, an expedition was sent against them under Captain Briones, who according to his own account had served with reputation in the wars of Italy. His detachment consisted of 100 Spanish infantry, and about an equal number of Indian allies; but the enemy were prepared for him, and so completely surprised him in a difficult pass of the mountains, that they drove him and his men over the rocks, rolling them down to the bottom, by which above a third of them were wounded, of whom one afterwards died. The district inhabited by the Tzapotecas is of very difficult access among rocky mountains, where the troops can only pass in single file, and the climate is very moist and rainy. The inhabitants are armed with long lances, having stone heads about an ell long, which have two edges as sharp as razors, and they are defended by pliable shields which cover their whole bodies. They are extremely nimble, and give signals to each other by loud whistlings, which echo among the rocks with inconceivable shrillness. Their province is named Tiltepeque[2]; which, after its submission, was confided to the charge of a soldier named Ojeda. On his return to quarters, Sandoval ridiculed Briones on the bad success of his expedition, asking him if he had ever seen the like in Italy; for Briones was always boasting of his exploits there, as how he had severed men in two, and the like. Briones was sore displeased with these sarcasms, and swore he would rather fight against the Turks or Moors than the Tzapotecas. There was another district of the Tzapotecas called Xaltepec, which was then at war with a neighbouring tribe, and who immediately, on being summoned by Sandoval, sent a deputation of their chiefs to wait upon him with handsome presents; among which was a considerable quantity of gold, partly made into toys, and partly in ten little tubes. Their chiefs were dressed in long cotton robes, richly embroidered, and reaching to their feet, like the upper garments worn by the Moors. They requested to be assisted by some of our soldiers against their enemies, whom they named the Minxes. The state of our force at this time did not permit him to comply with this request, but he promised to transmit their request to our general at Mexico, with an application for an auxiliary force to be sent them, and said he could only now send a small number of his men along with them, to observe the nature of the passes, but his real object was to examine their mines. With this answer he dismissed them all except three, sending eight of us along with them to explore the country and its mines.
[2] Named, more appropriately, in the map of Clavigero, Tzapoteca-pan.--E.
There was another soldier of the same name with myself in this party, for indeed there were three of us in the army named Castillo. At that time I prided myself on my dress, and was called Castillo the beau. My namesake who went on the present expedition was named Castillo the thoughtful, as he was of slow speech, never replying to a question for a long while, and then answering by some absurdity. The third was called Castillo the prompt, as he was always very ready and smart in all his words. On our arrival at the district of Xaltepec, the Indians turned over the soil in three different rivers, in each of which they found gold, and soon filled three tubes with it as large as a mans middle finger, with which we returned to Sandoval, who now thought that all our fortunes would be made. He took a district to himself, from which he very soon procured gold to the value of 15,000 crowns. He gave the district of Xaltepec, whence we had obtained the gold, to Captain Luis Marin, but it turned out very indifferently. He gave me a very profitable district, which I wish to God I had kept; it consisted of three places, named Matalan, Oztoequipa, and Oriaca, where the ingenio of the viceroy is now situated; but I thought it more consistent with my character as a soldier to accompany Sandoval in his military expeditions. Sandoval called his town Medellin, after the birth-place of Cortes; and the Rio de las Vanderas, from which he procured the 15,000 crowns, was for some time the port where the merchandise from Spain was discharged, until Vera Cruz became the emporium.
We now marched into the province of Coatzacualco, through the district of Citla[3], which is about twelve leagues in length and breadth, and is very populous, having a fine climate and abounding in provisions. The chiefs immediately submitted. On our arrival at the river of Coatzacualco, which is the governing district of all the neighbouring tribes, the chiefs did not make their appearance on being summoned, which we considered as an indication of hostility, which was in fact their first intention; but after five days, they came in and made their submissions, presenting some trinkets of fine gold to Sandoval. By his orders, they collected a hundred canoes, in which we crossed the river, sending four soldiers in advance to examine and report the state of the country. A town was founded in this place, which we named Villa del Espiritu Santo, because on that day we defeated Narvaez, using that expression as our watchword, and because we crossed this river on the same day. In this place the flower of our army was established, which at this time mustered eighty cavalry, a greater number in proportion than five hundred is now, horses being then very scarce and dear. Having examined the surrounding districts, Sandoval divided them among the different settlements. To the settlement of Coatzacualco, he allotted Cuetzpaltepec, Tepeca, Chinantla, the Tzapotecas, Copilco, Cimatan, Tabasco, Cachula, the Zoques, Techeapa, Cinacatan, the Quilenes, and Papanahausta. We had a long litigation afterwards with the district of Vera Cruz about three of these, Cuetzpaltepec, Chinantla, and Tepeca; with Tabasco about Cimatan and Copilco; with Chiapa or Guatimala, concerning the Quilenes and Zoques; and likewise with the town of St Ildefonso about the Tzapotecas. I regretted having fixed myself in this place, as the lands were very poor, and every thing turned out to my disadvantage. We might indeed have done well enough if we had been left in our original situation; but as new settlements were successively formed, ours were curtailed to accommodate them, so that our colony fell into decay; and from being the best, and containing the greatest number of the true conquerors of Mexico, it has now very few inhabitants.
[3] I suspect this ought to be named Chinantla.--E.
About this time Sandoval received intelligence of the arrival of Donna Catalina, the lady of our general, in the river of Aguayalco[4], accompanied by her brother. La Zembrana also with her family came along with her, and Donna Elvira Lopez the tall, who married Juan de Palma, who was afterwards hanged. We all went to pay our respects to the ladies, the roads being almost impassable owing to constant heavy rain. Having escorted Donna Catalina and the rest to our town of Coatzacualco, or Espiritu Santo, intelligence was sent to Cortes of their arrival, and they set out soon afterwards for Mexico. Cortes was sorry for their coming, but he received them with great pomp, and we heard about three months afterwards that Donna Catalina had died of an asthma.
[4] This way probably be some corruption of the native name of the Rio Coatzacualco, or Huaxacualco; by giving it the ordinary Spanish prefix agua; which signifies water, or a river, with the native termination cualco.--E.