to abandon all thoughts of the campaign against Mexico, on account of
the vast power of this state and the great strength of its metropolis.
We were the same men who marched with him into Mexico, who assisted him
in taking the powerful Motecusuma prisoner in the midst of his warriors,
who lent him such efficient aid against Narvaez, and then instantly
marched back with him to Mexico to the assistance of Alvarado; the same
men who fought the terrific battles on the disastrous retreat from this
city, and who had to mourn the loss of so many of their brave companions
on that night of sorrows; the men by whose valour the memorable battle
was gained on the plains of Otumpan; who again put down the
insurrections in the provinces, conquered all the large townships which
lay around the lake, and subdued the country; who rallied round his
person when a conspiracy was set on foot by Villafana and others to put
him to death; who patiently endured the indescribable fatigues and
hardships of the ninety-three days' siege of Mexico, during which time
we had night and day encountered the attacks of an infuriated enemy
until at length we placed him in possession of that strong city. We
remained faithful to him when Christobal de Tapia arrived in New Spain
with the appointment of governor. We wrote three several times to his
majesty in praise of the great services he had rendered to the crown,
extolling his loyalty to the skies, and begging of his majesty to confer
upon him the appointment of governor. I will not even mention the many
other great services which we rendered to our general; but certainly,
after he had obtained the government of New Spain, he ought to have
remembered the brave and courageous men who also, subsequent to the
conquest of Mexico, made those severe campaigns to Colima, Zacatula, and
Panuco, and those of the troops who from extreme poverty were obliged to
relinquish the settlement founded by Alvarado at Tutepec.

We had altogether shared badly in the division of the Indians, and
miserable districts of the country had been allotted to us, although his
majesty had so often desired Cortes to reward our meritorious conduct,
and to give us the preference in all matters. In all his letters which
he wrote to his agents in Spain he ought never to have omitted
mentioning our names with unbounded praise, and ought to have made it a
point of obtaining from his majesty, for ourselves and children, the
preference in all offic