While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
Communications With The Mexican
Emperor, The Zempoallans And Quiavistlans.
"Thou too
dost purge from earth its horrible
And old idolatries; from their proud fanes
Each to his grave their priests go out, till
none
Is left to teach their worship!"
Bryant's Hymn to Death.
Before his departure from Tabasco, Cortez
and his priest made strenuous efforts to
explain the principles of his religion to
the chiefs and their people. This, indeed,
seems really to have been a purpose
uppermost in his heart throughout the whole
of his bloody campaign; but, as may well be
supposed, the subject was too abstract, too
novel, and too little capable of proofs,
which appeal to the senses and inclinations,
to meet with much favor. "They only
complied," says Solis, "as men that were
subdued, being more inclined to receive
another God than to part with any of their
own. They hearkened with pleasure, and
seemed desirous to comprehend what they
heard; but reason was no sooner admitted by
the will than it was rejected by the
understanding." They acknowledged that "this
must, indeed, be a great God, to whom such
valiant men show so much respect."
From the river Tabasco the fleet sailed
direct for San Juan de Ulua, where they were
no sooner moored than two large piraguas,
with a number of Indians on board, came
boldly alongside. By the interpretation of
Marina, Cortez learned that these came in
behalf of Pitalpitoque and Tendile, governor
and captain of the district, under
Montezuma, to inquire as to his purposes,
and to make offers of friendship and
assistance. The messengers were handsomely
entertained, and dismissed with a few
presents, trifling in themselves, but of
inestimable value in their un-skilful eyes.
As the troops landed, Tendile sent great
numbers of his men to assist in erecting
huts for their accommodation; a service,
which was rendered with remarkable dexterity
and rapidity.
On the morning of Easter day, the two great
officers came to the camp with a lordly
company of attendants. Not to be outdone in
parade, Cortez marshaled his soldiers, and
having conducted the chiefs to the rude
chapel, Mass was said with due ceremony. He
then feasted them, and opened negotiations
by telling of his great sovereign, Don
Carlos, of Austria, (Charles the Fifth,) and
expressing a desire to hold communion in his
behalf with the mighty Emperor Montezuma,
This proposition met with little favor.
Tendile urged him to accept the presents of
plumed cotton mantles, gold, &c., which they
had brought to offer him, and depart in
peace. Diaz says that the Indian commander
expressed haughty astonishment at the
Spaniard s presumption. Cortez told them
that he was fully resolved not to leave the
country without obtaining an audience from
the emperor; but, to quiet the apprehension
and disturbance of the Indians, he agreed to
wait until a message could be sent to the
court and an answer returned, before
commencing further operations.
Painters, whose skill Diaz enlarges upon,
now set to work to depict upon rolls of
cloth, the portraits of Cortez and his
officers, the aspect of the army, the arms,
and other furniture, the smoke poured forth
from the cannon, and, above all, the horses,
whose "obedient fierceness" struck them with
astonishment. These representations were for
the benefit of Montezuma, that he might
learn more clearly than he could by verbal
report, the nature of his novel visitants.
By the messengers, Cortez sent, as a royal
present, a crimson velvet cap, with a gold
medal upon it, some ornaments of cut glass,
and a chair of tapestry.
Pitalpitoque now settled himself, with a
great company of his people, in a temporary
collection of huts, built in the immediate
vicinity of the Spanish camp, while Tendile
attended to the delivery of the message to
his monarch. Diaz says that he went to the
royal court, at the city of Mexico, in
person, being renowned for his swift ness of
foot; but the most probable account is that
he availed himself of a regular system of
couriers, established over the more
important routes throughout the empire.
However this may be, an answer was returned
in seven days time, the distance between
Mexico and San Juan being sixty leagues, by
the shortest road.
With the messenger returned a great officer
of the court, named Quintalbor, who bore a
most striking resemblance to Cortez, and one
hundred other Indians, loaded with gifts for
the Spaniards. Escorted by Tendilo, the
embassy arrived at the camp, and, after
performing the usual ceremony of solemn
salutations, by burning incense, &c., the
Mexican lords caused mats to be spread, and
displayed the gorgeous presents they had
brought.
These consisted of beautifully woven cotton
cloths; ornamental work in feathers, so
skillfully executed that the figures
represented had all the effect of a
painting; a quantity of gold in its rough
state; images wrought or cast in gold of
various animals; and, above all, two huge
plates, one of gold, the other of silver,
fancifully chased and embossed to represent
the sun and moon. Diaz says that the golden
sun was of the size of a carriage wheel, and
that the silver plate was still larger.
Proffering these rich tokens of good will,
together with numerous minor articles, the
chiefs delivered their monarch's mission.
Accompanied by every expression of good
will, his refusal was declared to allow the
strangers to visit his court. Bad roads and
hostile tribes were alleged to constitute
insuperable difficulties, but it was hinted
that more important, though unexplainable
reasons existed why the interview could not
take place.
Cortez, courteously, but firmly, persisted
in his determination, and dismissed the
ambassadors with renewed gifts; expressing
himself content to await yet another message
from Montezuma. He said that he could not,
without dishonoring the king, his master,
return before having personal communication
with the emperor.
He, meantime, sent a detachment farther up
the coast, with two vessels, to seek for a
more convenient and healthy place of
encampment than the burning plain of sand
where the army was now quartered.
Montezuma persisted in objections to the
advance of the Spaniards, and Cortez being
equally immovable in his determination to
proceed, the friendly intercourse hither to
maintained between the natives and their
guests now ceased. Tendile took his leave
with some ominous threats, and Pitalpitoque
with his people departed from their
temporary domiciles.
The soldiers cut off from their former
supplies of pro vision, and seeing nothing
but danger and privation in store for them,
began to rebel, and to talk of returning
home. Cortez checked this movement by
precisely the same policy that was resorted
to by Agamemnon and Ulysses, under somewhat
similar circumstances, as will be found at
large in the second book of the Iliad, line
110 et seq.
He seemed to assent to the arguments of the
spokesman of the malcontents, and proceeded
to proclaim his purpose of making sail for
Cuba, but, in the meantime, engaged the most
trusty of his friends to excite a contrary
feeling among the troops. The effort was
signally successful: the commander
graciously consented to remain, and lead
them to further conquests, expressing his
great satisfaction in finding them of such
bold and determined spirit.
About this time, Bernal Diaz and another
sentinel being stationed on the beach, at
some distance from the camp, perceived five
Indians of a different appearance from any
hitherto seen, approaching them upon the
level sands. Diaz conducted them to the
general, who learned, by Marina s
interpretation, that they came in behalf of
the cacique of Zempoala, or Cempoal, to
proffer the services of their king and his
people. This tribe held the Mexicans in
great fear and detestation, and rejoiced in
the opportunity now presented for attempting
some retaliation for former oppressions and
injuries.
The exploring expedition had discovered a
desirable location, at the town of
Quiavistlan, a few leagues north of the
encampment, and Cortez concluded to move
thither immediately. Before taking further
steps, he established himself more firmly in
command by resigning his commission under
Valasquez, and taking the vote of his
followers as to whether he should be their
captain. This being settled to his
satisfaction, he marched for Quiavistlan,
passing the river at the spot where Vera
Cruz was afterwards built.
Zempoalla lay in his route, and there the
army was met by a deputation from the
cacique, he being too corpulent to come in
person. Sweet-smelling flowers were offered
as tokens of friendship to the Spanish
officers. The town was well built, and
ornamented with shade trees. The inhabitants
collected in innumerable but orderly crowds
to witness the entrance of the cavalcade.
The "fat cacique" entertained his guests
handsomely, making grievous complaints of
the oppressions and ex actions suffered by
him and his tribes at the hands of Montezuma
s officers. He had been subdued by the great
emperor, and was now his unwilling
tributary.
Quiavistlan was situated upon a rocky
eminence, up which the army advanced,
prepared to crush any opposition on the part
of the inhabitants. These, however, had
mostly fled from their homes on the approach
of the Spaniards. In the principal square,
Cortez was met, and saluted with the usual
fumigations of incense, by fifteen of the
chief men of the town. They excused the
timidity of their people, and promised that
they should immediately return, as no
injuries were intended by the strangers.
They came accordingly; the chiefs, together
with the corpulent cacique of Zempoalla,
being borne upon litters. All united in
lamentations over the cruel state of
degradation and servitude to which they were
subjected by the tyrant Montezuma. He
plundered them of their treasures, seized
and carried away their wives and daughters,
and sacrificed no small number of them to
his gods.
While they were yet consulting and
beseeching assistance from the Spaniards,
the whole conclave was stricken with terror
by the intelligence of the arrival of five
royal emissaries or tax-gatherers. These
stately personages, to whom the Quiavistlans
hastened to minister with cringing
servility, did not even condescend to bestow
a look upon the Spanish officers. "They were
dressed," says Diaz, "in mantles elegantly
wrought, and drawers of the same, their hair
shining, and, as it were, tied at the top of
the head, and each of them had in his hand a
bunch of roses, which he occasionally smelt
to. They were attended by servants, who
fanned them, and each of whom carried a cord
and a hooked stick."
Calling the caciques before them, these
dignitaries rebuked them for entertaining
foreigners, who disregarded the expressed
will of the emperor, and, as a punishment
for the contempt, demanded twenty victims
for sacrifice. Cortez, being informed of
this, advised the seizure and imprisonment
of these emissaries until report of their
cruelties and insolence could be made to
their master. The caciques, accustomed to
submission, were at first horror-stricken at
the proposal, but Cortez persisting boldly
and confidently in his opinion, they went to
the other extreme. The five magnates were
placed, says Solis, "in a kind of pillories,
used in their prisons, and very
incommodious; for they held the delinquents
by the neck, obliging them continually to do
the utmost with their shoulders to ease the
weight, for the freedom of breathing." "One
of them, also, being refractory, was beaten
soundly."
The exultant Quiavistlans would have gone
still farther, and made a speedy end of
their prisoners, had not Cortez interfered.
Not willing to give immediate offence to
Montezuma, but desirous of being in
condition at any moment to pick a quarrel,
or to claim the rewards and consideration
due to meritorious services, he contrived to
effect the escape of two of these lords,
charging them to give him all credit for the
act at their master s court. To preserve the
other three from destruction, he took them
on board one of his vessels, (the fleet
having come round by sea) under pretence of
safekeeping. He, none the less, pro claimed
to the caciques, his allies, that they
should there after be free from all
oppressions and exactions on the part of the
Mexican authorities.
The army was now set to work at the
foundation of a permanent fortification and
town. By the willing assistance of the
natives, the walls of Vera Cruz rose
rapidly. To excite a spirit of industry and
emulation, Cortez commenced the work of
digging and carrying materials with his own
hands. Thirty caciques, from the mountainous
districts of the Totonaques, led by reports
of Spanish valor and virtues, came in to
offer their services and alliance. Their
followers are numbered by Herrera (an author
who speaks too confidently of particulars)
at one hundred thou sand men; wild
mountaineers, but bold and efficient.
While all hands were at work upon the new
town, messengers once again appeared from
Montezuma. His anger, greatly excited by the
first reports of the seizure of his
officers, had been mitigated by the
favorable report of those who had been
allowed to escape; and he now sent two of
his own nephews, accompanied by four old
lords, and a splendid retinue.
Acknowledgments were made by the embassy for
the service rendered by Cortez in setting
the two tax-gatherers at liberty; but he
was, at the same time, vehemently requested
to leave the country, and not hinder, by the
respect due to his presence, the just
punishment of the rebels with whom he was
cohabiting. He was adjured not to dream of
making further progress towards the royal
court, " for that the impediments and
dangers of that journey were very great. On
which point they enlarged with a mysterious
tediousness; this being the principal point
of their instructions."
Cortez replied that danger and difficulties
would but give zest to the adventure, for
that Spaniards knew no fear, and only sought
for glory and renown. He entertained the
ministers handsomely, and dismissed them
with presents.
The Zempoalans thought that the friendship
cemented between them and the foreigners
could not be taken ad vantage of better than
by engaging them to subdue a neighboring
tribe, whose chief town was called
Cingapacinga. They therefore induced Cortez,
by pretending that a troublesome Mexican
garrison was quartered there, to assist them
in conquering the country. With four hundred
Spaniards, and a great company of Zempoalans,
the Spanish leader entered the mountain
district where the enemy was to be sought.
As the army approached the town, eight old
priests, in black and hooded robes, like
friars, came out to deprecate his anger.
These functionaries presented, as usual, the
most disgusting and horrible appearance.
Their long hair was tangled and clotted
with, human blood, which it was a part of
their rules should never be washed off, and
their persons were filthy, loath some, and
offensive beyond conception.
Cortez discovered that he had been deceived,
as no Mexicans were in the vicinity, but he
put a good face on the matter, and succeeded
in making a peaceable arrangement between
the rival tribes.
Returning to Zempoala, renewed evidence was
brought before the eyes of this zealous
Catholic, of the extent to which the custom
of human sacrifice was carried; and
especially of the sale and consumption of
the bodies of the victims as a "sacred
food." He therefore concluded to prostrate
the idols, and set up the insignia of the
true religion. Long and earnest harangues
failed to induce the natives to perform this
service themselves: they would be cut to
pieces, they said, ere they would be guilty
of such sacrilege. The soldiers then broke
up and destroyed the images, purged the
temples, and, covering the bloody marks of
pagan worship with lime and plaster, erected
an altar, and celebrated the rites of
Catholicism. As no prodigy or signal
vengeance from Heaven followed the audacious
act, the pliable natives seemed readily to
fall in with the proposed change, and,
burning the fragments of their idols, they
aped the posture and formula of the devout
Spaniards. An old and partially disabled
soldier, named Torres, agreed to remain as
keeper of the newly consecrated temple, on
the departure of the troops.
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
