e had at last retreated, certain bleeding heads, which they
said, were those of 'Tonatiuh' (Alvarado), Sandoval, and the other
_teules_. Then it was that Cortes felt more dismay than ever,
'though,' says the honest chronicler, who did not like the man, no
matter how much he admired the soldier, 'not in such a manner that
those who were with him should perceive in it much weakness.'

"After Sandoval had made good his retreat, he set off, accompanied by a
few horsemen, for the camp of Cortes, and had an interview with him, of
which the following account is given: 'O Senor Captain! what is this?'
exclaimed Sandoval; 'are these the great counsels, and artifices of war
which you have always been wont to show us? How has this disaster
happened?' Cortes replied, 'O Don Sandoval! my sins have permitted
this; but I am not so culpable in the business as they may make out,
for it is the fault of the Treasurer, Juan de Alderete, whom I charged
to fill up that difficult pass where they routed us; but he did not do
so, for he is not accustomed to wars, nor to be commanded by superior
officers.' At this point of the conference, the Treasurer himself, who
had approached the captains in order to learn Sandoval's news,
exclaimed that it was Cortes himself who was to blame; that he had
encouraged his men to go {212} forward; that he had not charged them to
fill up the bridges and bad passes--if he had done so, he (the
Treasurer) and his company would have done it; and, moreover, that
Cortes had not cleared the causeway in time of his Indian allies. Thus
they argued and disputed with one another; for hardly any one is
generous, in defeat, to those with whom he has acted. Indeed, a
generosity of this kind, which will not allow a man to comment severely
upon the errors of his comrades in misfortune, is so rare a virtue,
that it scarcely seems to belong to this planet.

"There was little time, however, for altercation, and Cortes was not
the man to indulge in more of that luxury for the unfortunate than
human nature demanded. He had received no tidings of what had befallen
the Camp of Tlacuba, and thither he despatched Sandoval, embracing him
and saying, 'Look you, since you see that I cannot go to all parts, I
commend these labors to you, for, as you perceive, I am wounded and
lame. I implore you, take charge of these three camps. I well know
that Pedro de Alvarado and his soldiers will have behaved themselves as
cavaliers, but I f