mination we
had come to, to remain in this country, had met with grace in the sight
of God, and he has blessed all our endeavours in his holy cause, and
granted us success in our undertakings in the emperor's service. Above
all, however, I must put you in mind of the promise we made the emperor
when we forwarded him a full account of our great deeds, with a
description of the country. We begged his majesty not to confer the
government of this country on any one before our agents had obtained a
hearing, as we had all reason to fear that the powerful bishop of Burgos
would strive to obtain that appointment for Diego Velasquez, or for one
of his friends or relatives. We assured his majesty that this country
was of such vast extent as to merit being governed by an infante or
grandee of his empire, and that we were only awaiting his most gracious
commands which we should obey with the deepest veneration, and would not
acknowledge any appointment unless it came from his majesty himself.
With this account we sent our monarch all the gold, silver, jewels, and
other valuable things we had collected. These had been, up to that time,
our only remuneration for the many fatigues we had undergone; and how
often had not death stood before our eyes in the battles we had fought!
what various kinds of hardships we have suffered! we have slept on the
bare ground both in the rain and snow, and never lay our arms aside.
When we reflect on all these hardships, it really sends a thrill through
the heart. In the several battles we have fought, we have lost above
fifty of our men, and we are all covered with wounds, and many a one
still suffers severely from them. First we had to brave all the dangers
of the sea; then followed the battles of Tabasco, Almeria, Cingapacinga,
with the ambushes which were laid for us in the mountains, defiles, and
the villages. How nigh we were being totally worsted in the battles of
Tlascalla! We had scarcely time allowed us to take breath, when the
affair at Cholulla awaited us, where the pots stood ready in which our
flesh was to be cooked for the inhabitants to feast on! None of us can
ever forget our march through the mountain passes, where Motecusuma had
posted the whole of his troops, and blocked up the road by a heavy fall
of trees, intending that none of us should escape death! Notwithstanding
all this, we march into Mexico, and quarter ourselves in the very heart
of that city; but how oft there again has de