tly after Cortes' departure from Mexico; the whole
of the inhabitants of which city had shed tears for the loss of this
holy man. He was buried in the church of Santiago, and the Indians
fasted from the day of his decease up to the moment of his funeral. The
Franciscan monks held a beautiful funeral oration over his body, in
which they enumerated all his great virtues, and said that the emperor
was as much indebted to him as to us, the veteran Conquistadores, for
the conquest of New Spain; but the still greater praise was due to him
for giving the Indians a knowledge of God, and for having opened to them
the gates of heaven. They knew, these Franciscans said, that he alone
had baptized above 2500 Indians; that the good he had done by his advice
and kindness was endless; and that he had been a father to the poor. In
short, concluded Zuazo, all is lost in Mexico; and thus matters stood,
when I was thrown on the back of a mule, and sent in chains to the place
whence I date my letter.

When Cortes had finished reading this letter to us, our grief and
vexation were without bounds; nor did we spare our abuse of him who, in
addition to the many hardships and fatigues we suffered, had also
brought this calamity upon us. We vented a thousand curses upon Cortes,
as well as upon the factor, and every one expressed his sentiments
aloud, without any reserve. But Cortes himself could not refrain from
shedding tears. He again shut himself up for half a day with the letter,
and would not allow any one to come near him. When he made his
reappearance, we unanimously proposed to him immediately to embark with
the three vessels which lay in the harbour for New Spain. To this he
replied, in the most affectionate manner, as follows: "O! my sons and
companions, with so worthless a character as the factor a person must be
particularly on his guard. This man has at present the government in his
own hands, and is villain enough, if he should get us into his power, to
put us all to death. Wherefore I intend, with God's assistance, to
embark with no more than four or five of you gentlemen, and to land in
some harbour where my arrival will not be immediately known in Mexico;
not, until we are enabled to march with a considerable force into this
metropolis: besides which, Sandoval is with too small a body of troops
in Naco for you all to leave him; wherefore you, Luis Marin, must again
join him with your small detachment, and desire him to commence h