rough which our march lay to this township; Luis Marin,
therefore, sent to the caziques of this place, desiring them to clear
the roads for us that our horses might pass along in greater safety.
This they readily undertook to do; but even then it was with great
difficulty our cavalry could pass through the defiles. From Tapelola we
marched peaceably over the townships Silo, Suchiapa, and Coyumelapa, to
Panguaxaya, and it was not until we approached the townships of
Tecomayacatl and Ateapan, which then formed but one town, that matters
began to assume a different aspect. These were the most populous
townships in the province, and formed part of my commendary. As the
inhabitants of themselves were very numerous, and had besides called in
the assistance of their neighbours, they mustered a very considerable
body of troops, and attacked us as we were crossing the deep river which
flows through the midst of their town. Six Spaniards were wounded and
three of our horses killed, the battle continuing very sharply for a
length of time before we could reach the opposite shore and drive the
enemy back, who set fire to the houses in their flight, and then escaped
to the mountains. Here we rested for five days to cure our wounds, and
we sent out frequent foraging parties who captured many a fine Indian
female. We then forwarded a message to the inhabitants, inviting them to
return to obedience, with which they instantly complied, and their wives
and children were again restored to them. The secretary Godoy had indeed
advised Luis Marin not to return the prisoners, but to mark them with
the iron and retain them as slaves, a punishment to which all those were
subject who had once acknowledged themselves vassals of our emperor, and
afterwards revolted without any apparent reason. These people, Godoy
maintained, had commenced hostilities with us from sheer obstinacy, and
we ought at least to demand a sufficient number of slaves as a
compensation for the loss of our three horses. For myself, I loudly
protested against this, and said it would be unjust to punish these
people who had freely submitted again to our arms. At length Godoy and
myself got to high words about this matter, which ended in our drawing
swords and wounding each other, when our friends interfered and brought
about a reconciliation between us. Luis Marin, who was, upon the whole,
a very kind-hearted man, was convinced of the justness of my
observation, and ordered all th