subdue the defection under Cristoval de Olid at Honduras, Diaz followed
his old chief in the terrible journey through the forests and swamps.

On his return he presumably adopted the life of a planter, although he
had complained loudly of the meagre allotment of land and laborers which
the conqueror gave him. In 1568, however, after the lapse of half a
century, when Cortes had been dead twenty-one years, we find the veteran
comfortably established as _regidor_ (a civic officer) of the city of
Guatemala, and busily engaged on the narrative of the heroic deeds of
his youth. In his introduction to the 'Historia' Diaz frankly admits
that his principal motive in taking up his pen was to vindicate the
valor of himself and others, who had been completely overshadowed by the
exaggerated reputation of Cortes.

When fairly started, he happened to run across the 'Cronica de la Nueva
Espana' (Saragossa, 1554) of Gomara, secretary and chaplain to Cortes,
1540-47. At first the rough old soldier threw down his pen in despair,
on noting the polished style of the scholar; but when he became aware of
the gross inaccuracies of his predecessor, who had never even set foot
in America, he determined, so he declares, to write above all things a
faithful narrative of the stirring events in which he had participated.
Thus was completed his 'Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva
Espana.' For some reason this valuable manuscript lay neglected in a
private library for about sixty years. Finally it fell into the hands of
Father Alonso Remor, a sagacious priest, who published it at Madrid in
1632.

The narrative of this soldier historian, although clumsy, full of
digressions and repetitions, and laying bare his ignorance, simplicity,
and vanity, will nevertheless always be read with far more interest than
the weightier works of Las Casas, Gomara, or Herrera. Prescott explained
the secret of its fascination when he said:--

"Bernal Diaz, the untutored child of nature, is a most true and
literal copyist of nature. He transfers the scenes of real life by
a sort of _daguerreotype_ process, if I may so say, to his pages.
He is among chroniclers what Defoe is among novelists.... All the
picturesque scenes and romantic incidents of the campaign are
reflected in his pages as in a mirror. The lapse of fifty years has
had no power over the spirit of the veteran. The fire of youth
glows in every line of his