Great Battles with the Natives

Great Battles With The Natives. Conciliatory Intercourse. Donna Marina.

Hitherto a blind superstition, by which supernatural powers were ascribed to the whites, had quelled the vigor and spirit of the Indians; but an interpreter named Melchorejo, whom Cortez had brought over from Cuba, deserted from the Spaniards during the first night spent in Tabasco, and urged the natives to another engagement. He explained the real nature of the mysterious weapons, whose flash and thunder had created such terror, and disabused the simple savages of the ideas entertained by them of the invulnerable nature of their foes. They proved in the subsequent battles much more dangerous opponents than before. The narrator mentions, with no little satisfaction, the fate of this deserter. His new allies, it seems, " being vanquished a second time, revenged themselves on the adviser of the war, by making him a miserable sacrifice to their idols."

All was as still, upon the succeeding day, as if the country was abandoned by its inhabitants; but a party of one hundred men, on a scout, was suddenly surrounded and attacked by such hordes of the enemy, that they might have been cut off from sheer fatigue, but for another company which came to their assistance. As the Spaniards endeavored to retreat to the camp, the Indians would rush upon them in full force, "who, immediately upon their facing about, got out of their reach, retiring with the same swiftness that they were attacked; the motions of this great multitude of barbarians from one side to another, resembling the rolling of the sea, whose waves are driven back by the wind."

Two of the Spaniards were killed and eleven wounded in the fray: of the Indians, eighteen were seen lying dead on the field, and several prisoners were taken. From these Cortez learned that tribes from all sides were gathered to assist those of Tabasco in a general engagement planned for the next day, and he accordingly made the most diligent preparation to receive them. The horses were brought on shore, and care was taken to restore their animation, subdued by confinement on board ship.

As soon as day broke, mass was said, and the little army was put in motion to advance upon the enemy. They were discovered, marshaled on the vast plain of Cintia, in such numbers that it was impossible to compute them. They extended so far, says Solis, "that the sight could not reach to see the end of them." The Indian warriors were painted and plumed, their arms were bows and arrows, slings, darts, clubs armed with sharp flints, and heavy wooden swords. The bodies of the leaders were protected by quilted coats of cotton, and they bore shields of tortoise-shell or wood, mounted, in some instances, with gold.

To the sound of rude drums, and the blast of seashells and large flutes, the vast crowd fell furiously upon the Spaniards, and although checked by their more efficient weapons, only retired to a convenient distance for hurling stones and discharging arrows. The field-pieces mowed them down by hundreds; but concealing the havoc by raising clouds of dust, and closing up their ranks with shouts of " ala lala " (the precise sound of the Turkish war-cry, viz., a constant repetition of the word Allah), they held their ground with the most determined courage.

The little handful of cavalry, which, led by Cortez in person, had made a detour to avoid a marsh, now fell upon the Indians from a new quarter, and, riding through and through the crowded mass of savages, so bewildered and amazed them that they fled in dismay. No such animal as the horse had ever before been seen by them. They took the monsters, says Diaz, for centaurs, supposing the horse and his rider to be one.

On the field of battle, as the conquerors passed over it, lay more than eight hundred dead or desperately wounded. But two of the Spaniards were killed, although seventy of their number were wounded at the first rush of the barbarians.

The victors having rendered thanks "to God and to our Lady, his blessed Mother," for their success, dressed their wounds, and those of the invaluable horses, with the fat of dead Indians, and retired to refresh themselves by food and sleep.

Lopez de Gomara affirms that one of the holy apostles, under the form of Francisco de Morla, appeared upon the field during this bloody engagement, and turned the scale of victory. Diaz says, "It might be the case, and I, sinner as I am, was not permitted to see it. What I did see was Francisco de Morla, in company with Cortez and the rest, upon a chestnut horse. But although I, unworthy sinner that I am, was unfit to behold either of those holy apostles, upwards of four hundred of us were present; let their testimony be taken." He adds, that he never heard of the incident until he read of it in Gomara s history.

Several prisoners were taken in this battle, among them two who appeared to be of superior rank. These were dismissed with presents and favors, to carry proposals of peace to their friends. The result was highly satisfactory: fifteen slaves, with blackened faces and ragged attire, "in token of contrition," came bringing offerings. Permission was given to bury and burn the bodies of those who fell in the terrible slaughter, that they might not be devoured by wild beasts ("lions and tigers," according to Diaz). This duty accomplished, ten of the caciques and principal men made their appearance, clad in robes of state, and expressed desire for peace, excusing their hostility, as the result of bad advice from their neighbors, and the persuasion of the renegade whom they had sacrificed. Cortez took pains to impress them with ideas of his power and the greatness of the monarch he served; he ordered the artillery to be discharged, and one of the most Spirited of the horses to be brought into the reception-room: "it being so contrived that he should show himself to the greatest advantage, his apparent fierceness, and his action, struck the natives with awe."

Many more chiefs came in on the following day, bringing the usual presents of little gold figures, the material of which came, they said, from "Culchua," and from " Mexico," words not yet familiar to the ears of the Spaniards.

Twenty women were, moreover, offered as presents, and gladly received by Cortez, who bestowed one upon each of his officers. . They were all duly baptized, and had the pleasure of listening to a discourse upon the mysteries of his faith, delivered for their especial benefit by Father Bartholomew, the spiritual guide of the invaders. Knowing nothing of the language, and having no competent interpreter, it probably made no very vivid impression; but these captives were set down as the first Christian women of the country.

Among them was one young woman of remarkable beauty and intelligence, whom the Spaniards christened Marina. She was said to be of royal parentage, but from parental cruelty, or the fortunes of war, had been held in slavery at a settlement on the borders of Yucatan, where a Mexican fort was established, and afterwards fell into the hands of the Tabascan cacique. She spoke both the Mexican language, and that common to Yucatan and Tabasco, so that Cortez was able, by means of her and Aguilar, to communicate with the inhabitants of the interior, through a double interpretation, until Marina had mastered the Spanish tongue. She accompanied Cortez throughout his eventful career in Mexico, and had a son by him, who was made, says Solis, "a Knight of St. Jago, in consideration of the nobility of his mother s birth." Before this connection she had been bestowed by the commander upon one Alonzo Puerto Carrero, until his departure for Castile.

Indian Races of North and South America

This site includes some historical materials that may imply negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These items are presented as part of the historical record and should not be interpreted to mean that the WebMasters in any way endorse the stereotypes implied .

Indian Races of North and South America, By Charles De Wolf Brownell, 1865