As the utmost harmony subsisted between Alvarado and the natives of Guatimala, the chiefs of that nation represented to him that a nation in their neighbourhood, called the Altitlans, who occupied several strong fortresses on the side of a lake, had refused to make submission to him, and that they were a barbarous and malicious people. Alvarado sent a message commanding these people to submit, but they abused his messengers; on which he marched against them with 140 Spanish soldiers and 2000 warriors of the Guatimalans, and was resisted by a strong force of the Altitlans, whom he soon defeated with considerable loss, and pursued to their fortresses on the lake. Having driven them from these fortresses, they took shelter in an island of the lake, to which he sent several of their chiefs whom he had taken prisoners, to persuade them into peace and submission, in which he at length succeeded, partly by threats and partly by promises, and returned to Guatimala. Father Olmedo exerted himself so effectually in his mission, that he prevailed upon the people to imitate our example, in adoring the holy Virgin, for which purpose he erected an altar and image of our lady, and explained the mysteries of the Christian faith to the natives. A people named the Pipiles, who came from a considerable distance towards the south, to enter into submission to Alvarado, informed him that a nation in their way, called the Izcuintepecs, were of a malignant disposition, and maltreated all travellers through their country. He sent, therefore, a message to invite them to come in and submit, which they refused to comply with; for which reason he marched into their country with his whole force, united to a strong body of his allies of Guatimala, and made great havock among them. Not having been present in this expedition, as I did not go into the province of Guatimala until my return from Higueras, I have only given a short summary of the conquest of Guatimala and its dependencies, which may be found related at full length in a book written by Gonzalo de Alvarado.
About this time Cortes was informed that the provinces of Higueras and Honduras contained rich mines, and some sailors reported that the native fishers of these countries used weights to their nets made of gold mixed with copper; they alleged also, that a strait or passage would probably be found in that direction into the Pacific Ocean. On these accounts he determined to send some troops to that country under Christoval de Oli, to inquire after the mines, and to search for this reported strait, by which a communication might be opened with the Spice Islands; and as the way by land was long and difficult, it was determined to send this expedition by sea. Accordingly, de Oli embarked in six ships, with a force of 370 soldiers, 100 of whom were musqueteers and crossbow-men, and 22 cavalry. Five of the veteran conquerors of Mexico went along with this expedition; among whom was one Briones, a seditious fellow and a bitter enemy of Cortes; besides whom, many of the soldiers on this expedition were greatly dissatisfied at the unequal distribution of lands which had been made in New Spain. De Oli was ordered to go first to the Havanna, to procure a supply of provisions and necessaries, and then to pursue his voyage to the Higueras to make the necessary inquiries for the reported mines and straits; after which he was to build a town in some commodious situation. To advance the interests of our holy religion, he was provided with two friars, one of whom understood the Mexican language. At the Havanna, de Oli took on board five of the followers of Garay, who had been expelled from Panuco for seditious conduct, who ingratiated themselves into his confidence, and advised him to renounce his obedience to Cortes, in which they were aided by Briones; so that he at length went over to the party of Velasquez, who engaged to make such representations at court that the command of this intended settlement might be given to de Oli independent of Cortes. De Oli was a brave man, and endowed with many good qualities, yet unfit for his present employment, having been brought up in the house of Velasquez, so that he was the more readily influenced by bad advisers to desert the interest of Cortes to whom he lay under great obligations. On the third of May, de Oli arrived at his station, which he named El Triumpho de la Cruz, where he appointed to the civil administration of the new colony, such alcaldes and regidors as had been recommended by Cortes, and even took possession of the country for his majesty in the name of Cortes, as he wished to conceal his secession from our general till he saw whether the country was sufficiently rich to be worth while to set up an independent government; as, if it turned out otherwise, he could return to his possessions in Mexico, and gloss over his negociations with Velasquez, under pretence of having done so in order to procure the necessary supplies. In this manner was the new colony of El Triumpho established, from whence Cortes had no intelligence for more than eight months.
There were a considerable number of veterans and Spaniards of rank, established in the town of Coatzacuaclo, otherwise called Del Espiritu Santo, who were entrusted with the government of that province, together with the districts of Citla, Tabasco, Cimatan, Choutalpa, Cachula, Zoque, the Quilenes, Cinacatan, Chamuela, Chiapa, Papanahausta, Pinula, Xaltepec, Huaxaltepec, Chinantla, Tepeque, and others; but through all New Spain, the demand for tribute was the signal of insurrection, and all who attempted to levy it were killed, as were all Spaniards who fell into the hands of the natives; so that we were continually obliged to go from one town to another with a company of soldiers to preserve peace. As the district of Cimatan was particularly refractory, and Captain Luis Marin could not conveniently send a body of troops to that place, I and three other Spaniards were sent there to endeavour to prevail on the people to submit. On approaching the principal town, we were attacked by a large body of Indians, who killed two of my companions, and wounded me desperately in the throat. My surviving companion made off to some canoes on the banks of the river Macapa, leaving me alone and in great jeopardy; but I crept under cover of some bushes where I lay some time almost exhausted, and recovering my strength after some time, I forced my way through the natives, and escaped to where my companion was in the canoes, with four Indians whom we had brought with us to carry our baggage, which they had thrown away, and for the sake of which the natives quitted us, so that we got across the river, which is broad and deep and full of alligators. To avoid the Indians, we concealed ourselves for eight days in the woods, so that we were concluded to be lost, and our property in lands and Indians was divided among the other Spaniards, such being then the custom in New Spain. We returned to the town, however, at the end of twenty-three days, to the great joy of our friends, and the disappointment of those who had succeeded to our property.
Our captain, Luis Marin, thought proper to wait upon Cortes, to represent the necessity of a reinforcement; and accordingly got thirty soldiers, commanded by Alonzo de Grado, with orders for all the Spaniards at Coatzacualco to march for the province of Chiapa, which was then in a state of rebellion, and directions to build a town there to keep the natives in order. In the first place, we had to make roads through the woods, and the country being very marshy, we were under the necessity of constructing causeways in many places to enable the horses to pass. The first place we came to was Tezputzlan, and thence to Cachula, beyond which there had been no passage before our expedition, all the other natives being in great fear of the inhabitants of Chiapa, who were then the bravest warriors in all America, and had never been subdued by the Mexicans; but they were extremely barbarous, being in use to rob all passengers, and to carry away the natives of other districts to till their ground. The present expedition was during Lent, and as well as I can now remember, in the year 1524, our little army consisting of 27 cavalry, 23 musqueteers, 72 foot soldiers armed with sword and target, and one field-piece under the direction of a cowardly fellow of a gunner, who pretended to have served in Italy. Besides these, we had 50 Mexican warriors, and the cacique of Cachula with some of his principal people, who were all terribly afraid. On approaching Chiapa, an advanced guard of four of our most active soldiers, of whom I was one, always preceded the army to reconnoitre, and as the ground was not fit for a horse, I left mine behind. We were usually about half a league in front of the army, but on our approach to Estapa, their first settlement, some of the hunters of Chiapa perceived us at a distance, and gave the alarm by means of smoke. The road was now wide and convenient, between well cultivated fields of corn and other vegetables; and on coming to Estapa we found it abandoned by the inhabitants, on which we posted our guards and patroles, and took up our quarters for the night. We were soon disturbed by information from our out-guards, that the natives were collecting on every side to attack us; and, going out of town to meet them we had a severe action, in which they killed two of our soldiers and four horses, wounding our reverend father Fra Juan, and thirteen soldiers, including our captain Luis Marin, who was wounded in two places; besides which many of our allies were slain. This action lasted till dark night, when the enemy were forced to retire, leaving fifteen slain and many wounded in the field. From two of the wounded, who seemed chiefs, we learnt that a general attack was intended against us next day. These people were clothed in good defensive armour of quilted cotton, using darts hardened in the fire, war clubs, and lances longer than ours, and they fought with unusual bravery; insomuch that, when one of our horsemen halted to make a thrust, the Indians seized the horse, and either wrested the lance from the horseman or pulled him to the ground.
Next day we pursued our march to Chiapa, a place with very regular streets, and containing not less than four thousand families, besides the dependent towns and villages around. We had not proceeded above a quarter of a league from Estapa, where we had passed the night, when we found the whole warriors of the district drawn up to oppose us, well armed, dressed up in plumes of feathers, and making the hills resound with their warlike shouts. They attacked us with the utmost fury, and our black gunner was so stupified with fear, that he stood long trembling before he durst put the match to the gun, and when he fired the piece all the good he did was wounding three of our own men. After a severe conflict, we at length forced them to fly; but they rallied in some broken ground, reinforced by some fresh bodies of Indians, and attacked us again by surprize, while we were giving God thanks for our victory. In these new troops, many were provided with long thongs to twist round our horses, and some carried the nets they used in hunting for the same purpose. In this second battle the enemy were so desperate that they killed two of our soldiers and five horses, and scarce one of us escaped without a wound. They had along with them a very fat aged woman, whom they esteemed a wizard, who had promised them the victory. Her body was all covered over with paint mixed with cotton wool; and she advanced fearlessly amid our allies, who were regularly formed by companies, by whom she was cut to pieces. At length, by a violent effort, we forced the enemy to fly, some taking to the rocks and others to the river, and being excellent swimmers they made their escape. We then halted and sang the Salve regina: After which we took possession of a town on the river, where we halted for the night, taking care of our wounded, and carefully concealing our dead.
About midnight, ten chiefs of neighbouring districts came down the river in five canoes, and were brought to our captain, whom they informed that they belonged to the nation of the Xaltepecs, who were at war with the people of Chiapa, and came to offer their assistance to us against them, on condition that we should afterwards support the independence of their nation against the people of Chiapa. This was very satisfactory to us, as we could not have passed the river, which was both broad and deep, without their assistance; the chiefs were therefore dismissed with a promise on our part of protection, and on theirs to bring us canoes and auxiliaries. During the remainder of the night we had to keep strict guard, as the drums and horns of the enemy were heard on the opposite banks of the river, where their warriors were collecting from all sides to attack us. As soon as it was light, our new friends joined us with the promised canoes, and shewed us a very dangerous ford, which they urged us to pass without delay, that we might endeavour to save the lives of some of their people who had been recently made prisoners by the enemy. We accordingly passed the river in a solid column at the ford, which reached our armpits, and where we lost one of our cavalry. On gaining the opposite bank, we were so hotly assailed by the enemy with darts and arrows, that every one of us had two or three wounds before we got out of the water. But as we were now joined by large bodies of those Indians who had offered their assistance, we soon compelled the enemy to fly for shelter to their city, against which we immediately advanced in good order, accompanied by our new allies. On arriving there, it seemed too closely built to be occupied with safety, and we encamped therefore in the open field, sending messengers to invite them to peace, with which they complied, by sending a deputation of their chiefs, who submitted to become subject to our sovereign, and requiring that the neighbouring tribes might be prevented from destroying their houses and plantations. All these things being settled to our mutual satisfaction, we went into the town, where we found many prisoners confined in wooden cages, who had been seized by the Chiapese while travelling from place to place, all of whom we set free. In the temples of this place we found several idols of horrible figures, and many remains of men and boys, who had been recently sacrificed. Our reverend father Fra Juan, broke all the idols to pieces, and preached so successfully that many were baptized. Many of the chiefs of the neighbouring tribes came in and made their submission: Among these were the chiefs of Cinacatan, Papanahaustla, Pinola, Guehuistlan, Chamula, the Quilenes, and others who spoke the Zoque language, and many other tribes, the names of which I do not now remember. These people were much surprised when they perceived the smallness of the force with which we had ventured to attack a nation so warlike as the Chiapese, whom the Mexicans were never able to subdue.
While our captain was thus occupied in arranging matters with the chiefs of the surrounding districts, one of our soldiers went accompanied by eight Mexicans, to a town called Chamula, where he demanded a contribution of gold in the name of our captain, though entirely without authority. A quantity was accordingly offered him; but not being satisfied with the amount, he attempted to seize the cacique, by which violent proceeding he occasioned an insurrection of that town, and another in the neighbourhood called Quiahuitlan, or Guehuistlan. When this improper transaction came to the ears of our captain, he sent the soldier a prisoner to Mexico, and immediately marched to Chamula to quell the insurrection, being assisted on this occasion by the inhabitants of Cinacatan, a polished tribe which was addicted to merchandize. On our arrival at Chamula, we found the place strongly fortified by art and nature, and the people well armed, having a peculiar species of large shield which covered the whole body, and could be rolled up into a small compass when not in use. Our cavalry were ordered to keep guard in the plain in our rear, to watch the motions of the insurgents in the neighbouring districts; while the infantry endeavoured to force their way into the town; but our musketeers made very little impression, as the enemy were covered by their walls, while their missiles injured us materially, being exposed without any defence. We continued the attack during the whole day to very little purpose, being unable to force the ramparts, which were guarded by above 2000 men armed with lances. We therefore drew off for the time, and procured some timber from a depopulated town in the neighbourhood, with which we constructed certain machines named mantas or burros, under cover of which twenty men or more could approach the walls in safety, to work a passage through them. On our first attempt to do this, the enemy threw down upon our machines, heavy stones, fire, and scalding water, so that we were constrained to remove our machines to repair the injury they had sustained. We again brought forward our machines to the walls, and at length succeeded in making several breaches. While employed in this manner, four of their principal chiefs and priests addressed us from the top of the ramparts, saying, since we wanted gold they had brought us some, and then threw over seven crowns of fine gold, with many gold trinkets, some of which were cast in the shape of various birds, shells, and the like; immediately after which they assailed us with repeated vollies of darts, arrows, and stones. By the time that it was dark, we had made two considerable breaches; but as a heavy rain came on, we drew off for the night, keeping a vigilant guard round our post, and having our cavalry on the alert in the plain, ready saddled and bridled. During the whole night, the enemy kept continually sounding their warlike instruments, making horrid yells, and threatening us with destruction next day, which they said was promised by their gods. We brought forward our machines again at day-break to enlarge the breaches we had made on the preceding day; but the enemy defended themselves with great obstinacy, wounding five of our people, and myself among the rest by the thrust of a lance, which had gone through me, had it not been for the strength of my quilted cotton armour. Towards evening it came on again to rain hard, and we were called off from the attack; but as the enemy ceased to shout and make their usual noises, I suspected they were about leaving the town, and perceived also that their lances were mostly rested against the walls and parapets, except about two hundred which still appeared in the hands of a part of the enemy. On this, I and one of my comrades crept in at a small breach in the wall, and were immediately attacked by above two hundred of these lancemen, who would soon have dispatched us, if some of our Indian allies had not noticed our perilous situation, and called the rest of our soldiers to our aid, who crowded in at the breach and soon enabled us to put the enemy to flight. These were only the rear guard of the garrison, all the rest of the inhabitants, men, women, and children, having evacuated the town by the opposite gate. We immediately pursued, and made many prisoners.
Leaving this place, we marched for Cinacatan, and halted for the night at the place where Chiapa de los Éspanoles is now built; from whence our captain dismissed six of our prisoners, with a message to their countrymen, offering to restore all the rest of the prisoners, if they would submit. They immediately complied with this, and submitted themselves as subjects to the Spanish monarchy. In this neighbourhood dwelt a nation called the Guehuistlans[2], who possessed three fortified towns, and were in rebellion against us. Leaving our baggage and wounded men in Cinacatan, we proceeded to reduce these people to submission. They had barricaded all the approaches to their towns by means of felled trees, which were cleared away by the aid of our Indian allies, and we got up to one of their fortresses, which threatened to give us infinite trouble, as it was full of warriors, well armed both for offence and defence. But they all fled when we mounted to the assault, leaving the place to us without resistance. By means of two prisoners who were taken by our allies, offers of peace and good treatment were sent to them, on condition of submission; with which they complied, bringing with them some trifling presents of gold and quetzal feathers.
[2] Diaz is often variable in his orthography of Indian names; calling this people in different places, Gueguestitlans, Guehuistlans, and Quiahuistlans.--E.
Having thus effected our business in this place, by reducing all the surrounding tribes to submission, we proceeded, according to the orders of Cortes, to establish a colony, though some who had already plantations and Indians in Coatzacualco objected to this place as unfit for cavalry, and that our force was too small for keeping so populous a district under subjection, especially as the natives had many strong fortresses in the fastnesses of their mountains. Even our captain, Luis Marin, and the royal notary Diego de Godoy, were adverse to the plan. Alonzo de Grado, also, a very troublesome fellow, was possessed of a patent from Cortes, by which he was entitled to an encomienda in the province of Chiapa, when reduced to obedience; and in virtue of this, he demanded that all the gold which had been received from the Indians of Chiapa, and also, that which had been found in the temples, amounting to about 1500 crowns, should be delivered up to him. This was refused by Marin, who alleged that it ought to be applied for replacing the horses which were killed during the expedition. These disputes ran so high, that our captain ordered both Godoy and De Grado into irons, intending to send them to Mexico. Godoy obtained his liberty by concessions; and in return for this lenity entered into cabals with De Grado for misrepresenting the conduct of Marin to Cortes. On this occasion I was solicited to write to Cortes in exculpation of De Grado, as they said that Cortes would believe my statements. I wrote accordingly a true state of the case, but in no respect charging Marin with any thing amiss. De Grado was sent off to Mexico, under an oath to appear before Cortes in eighty days, as the distance he had to travel exceeded 190 leagues. On his arrival, Cortes was so much displeased by his conduct, that he ordered De Grado to take 3000 crowns and retire to Cuba, that he might give no farther trouble in his government; but De Grado made such ample apologies, that he was restored to favour. As it was finally resolved to establish a colony in this place, and as I had an order to that effect from Cortes, our captain, who was likewise my particular friend, appointed me to the command of the encomienda at Cinacatan, which I enjoyed for eight years. As soon as possible after my appointment, I procured a reverend father to preach to the Indians, whom I was anxious to convert to our holy faith. He accordingly erected an altar and crucifix, and preached with so much success, that fifteen of the Indians offered themselves for baptism on the first day of his mission; which gave me infinite satisfaction, as I felt the warmest interest in the welfare of these people, whom I looked upon as my own children.