the Hieronymite brothers, who were appointed
viceroys over the whole of the islands, to gain their approbation of our
proceedings against Narvaez, and their sanction of the manner in which
we had enslaved and punished the inhabitants who had murdered the
Spaniards and rebelled against his majesty: and their opinion as to
whether Cortes should not similarly punish all those tribes who, as
allies of the Mexicans, had been guilty of like offences. Lastly, Cortes
begged of them to inform his majesty of all this, and of the great
services we had rendered and still daily rendered to the crown; and
requested them to favour our just cause against the bishop of Burgos,
who was striving to work out our ruin.

A third vessel was despatched by Cortes to Jamaica, to purchase horses
there, the command of which was given to Solis, who was the son-in-law
of the bachelor Ortega. Here the reader might be induced to ask whence
Cortes obtained the money to do all this? In reply to which, I can only
say that of the gold stowed away by Narvaez's and our own troops,
particularly by the horse, a great quantity was certainly saved. Besides
that, many of the eighty Tlascallans, who were loaded with the gold, and
retreated from Mexico in the vanguard, got safely over the bridges. We
poor soldiers, who had not to command but to obey, cared very little at
that time whether there was plenty of gold or not, but were happy if we
escaped alive and were able to cure our wounds. However, of the gold
that was saved, Cortes received as much back as he could possibly lay
his hands on; our men likewise suspected that he had put into his own
pocket again the 40,000 pesos, being the share of the Mexican treasure
belonging to the garrison of Vera Cruz. With this money he sent persons
to Spain and St. Domingo on his own private business, and others to
Jamaica to purchase horses.

Perfect tranquillity being now again restored to the province of
Tepeaca, Cortes marched back with his troops to Tlascalla, and left
Francisco de Orozco behind, with twenty invalid soldiers, as commandant
of Villa Segura.

Cortes then ordered the necessary quantity of wood to be felled for
building thirteen brigantines, with which another attack was to be made
upon Mexico; for we were convinced we should not be able to make any
impression upon that town without a small fleet, nor ever again be able
to enter it by the causeways. Martin Lopez was appointed by Cortes to
superintend the