voyage along the coast—do?a marina—spaniards land in mexico—interview with the aztecs

1519

the fleet held its course so near the shore that the inhabitants could be seen on it; and, as it swept along the winding borders of the gulf, the soldiers, who had been on the former expedition with grijalva, pointed out to their companions the memorable places on the coast. here was the rio de alvarado, named after the gallant adventurer, who was present also in this expedition; there the rio de vanderas, in which grijalva had carried on so lucrative a commerce with the mexicans; and there the isla de los sacrificios, where the spaniards first saw the vestiges of human sacrifice on the coast. puertocarrero, as he listened to these reminiscences of the sailors, repeated the words of the old ballad of montesinos, “here is france, there is paris, and there the waters of the duero,”[557] etc. “but i advise you,” he added,{360} turning to cortés, “to look out only for the rich lands, and the best way to govern them.” “fear not,” replied his commander: “if fortune but favors me as she did orlando, and i have such gallant gentlemen as you for my companions, i shall understand myself very well.”[558]

the fleet had now arrived off san juan de ulua, the island so named by grijalva. the weather was temperate and serene, and crowds of natives were gathered on the shore of the main land, gazing at the strange phenomenon, as the vessels glided along under easy sail on the smooth bosom of the waters. it was the evening of thursday in passion week. the air came pleasantly off the shore, and cortés, liking the spot, thought he might safely anchor under the lee of the island, which would shelter him from the nortes that sweep over these seas with fatal violence in the winter, sometimes even late in the spring.

the ships had not been long at anchor, when a light pirogue, filled with natives, shot off from the neighboring continent, and steered for the general’s vessel, distinguished by the royal ensign of castile floating from the mast. the indians came on board with a frank confidence, inspired by the accounts of the spaniards spread by their countrymen who had traded with grijalva. they brought presents of fruits and flowers and little ornaments of gold, which they gladly exchanged for the usual trinkets. cortés was baffled in his attempts to hold a conversation with his visitors by means of the interpreter, aguilar, who was ignorant of the lan{361}guage; the mayan dialects, with which he was conversant, bearing too little resemblance to the aztec. the natives supplied the deficiency, as far as possible, by the uncommon vivacity and significance of their gestures,—the hieroglyphics of speech; but the spanish commander saw with chagrin the embarrassments he must encounter in future for want of a more perfect medium of communication.[559] in this dilemma, he was informed that one of the female slaves given to him by the tabascan chiefs was a native mexican, and understood the language. her name—that given to her by the spaniards—was marina; and, as she was to exercise a most important influence on their fortunes, it is necessary to acquaint the reader with something of her character and history.

she was born at painalla, in the province of coatzacualco, on the southeastern borders of the mexican empire. her father, a rich and powerful cacique, died when she was very young. her mother married again, and, having a son, she conceived the infamous idea of securing to this offspring of her second union marina’s rightful inheritance. she accordingly feigned that the latter was dead, but secretly delivered her into the hands of some itinerant traders of xicallanco. she availed herself, at the same time, of the death of a child of one of her slaves, to substitute the{362} corpse for that of her own daughter, and celebrated the obsequies with mock solemnity. these particulars are related by the honest old soldier bernal diaz, who knew the mother, and witnessed the generous treatment of her afterwards by marina. by the merchants the indian maiden was again sold to the cacique of tabasco, who delivered her, as we have seen, to the spaniards.

from the place of her birth, she was well acquainted with the mexican tongue, which, indeed, she is said to have spoken with great elegance. her residence in tabasco familiarized her with the dialects of that country, so that she could carry on a conversation with aguilar, which he in turn rendered into the castilian. thus a certain though somewhat circuitous channel was opened to cortés for communicating with the aztecs; a circumstance of the last importance to the success of his enterprise. it was not very long, however, before marina, who had a lively genius, made herself so far mistress of the castilian as to supersede the necessity of any other linguist. she learned it the more readily, as it was to her the language of love.

cortés, who appreciated the value of her services from the first, made her his interpreter, then his secretary, and, won by her charms, his mistress. she had a son by him, don martin cortés, comendador of the military order of st. james, less distinguished by his birth than his unmerited persecutions.

marina was at this time in the morning of life. she is said to have possessed uncommon personal{363} attractions,[560] and her open, expressive features indicated her generous temper. she always remained faithful to the countrymen of her adoption; and her knowledge of the language and customs of the mexicans, and often of their designs, enabled her to extricate the spaniards, more than once, from the most embarrassing and perilous situations. she had her errors, as we have seen. but they should be rather charged to the defects of early education, and to the evil influence of him to whom in the darkness of her spirit she looked with simple confidence for the light to guide her. all agree that she was full of excellent qualities, and the important services which she rendered the spaniards have made her memory deservedly dear to them; while the name of malinche[561]—the name by which she is still known in mexico—was pronounced with kindness by the conquered races,{364} with whose misfortunes she showed an invariable sympathy.[562]

with the aid of his two intelligent interpreters, cortés entered into conversation with his indian visitors. he learned that they were mexicans, or rather subjects of the great mexican empire, of which their own province formed one of the comparatively recent conquests. the country was ruled by a powerful monarch, called moctheuzoma, or by europeans more commonly montezuma,[563] who dwelt on the mountain plains of the interior, nearly seventy leagues from the coast; their own province was governed by one of his nobles, named teuhtlile, whose residence was eight leagues distant. cortés acquainted them in turn with his own friendly views in visiting their country, and with his desire of an interview with the aztec governor. he then dismissed them loaded with presents, having first ascertained that there was abundance of gold in the interior, like the specimens they had brought.{365}

cortés, pleased with the manners of the people and the goodly reports of the land, resolved to take up his quarters here for the present. the next morning, april twenty-first, being good friday, he landed, with all his force, on the very spot where now stands the modern city of vera cruz. little did the conqueror imagine that the desolate beach on which he first planted his foot was one day to be covered by a flourishing city, the great mart of european and oriental trade, the commercial capital of new spain.[564]

it was a wide and level plain, except where the sand had been drifted into hillocks by the perpetual blowing of the norte. on these sand-hills he mounted his little battery of guns, so as to give him the command of the country. he then employed the troops in cutting down small trees and bushes which grew near, in order to provide a shelter from the weather. in this he was aided by the people of the country, sent, as it appeared, by the governor of the district to assist the spaniards. with their help stakes were firmly set in the earth, and covered with boughs, and with mats and cotton carpets, which the friendly natives brought with them. in this way they secured, in a couple of days, a good defence against the scorching rays of the sun, which beat with intolerable fierceness on the sands. the place was surrounded by stag{366}nant marshes, the exhalations from which, quickened by the heat into the pestilent malaria, have occasioned in later times wider mortality to europeans than all the hurricanes on the coast. the bilious disorders, now the terrible scourge of the tierra caliente, were little known before the conquest. the seeds of the poison seem to have been scattered by the hand of civilization; for it is only necessary to settle a town, and draw together a busy european population, in order to call out the malignity of the venom which had before lurked innoxious in the atmosphere.[565]

while these arrangements were in progress, the natives flocked in from the adjacent district, which was tolerably populous in the interior, drawn by a natural curiosity to see the wonderful strangers. they brought with them fruits, vegetables, flowers in abundance, game, and many dishes cooked after the fashion of the country, with little articles of gold and other ornaments. they gave away some as presents, and bartered others for the wares of the spaniards; so that the camp, crowded with a motley throng of every age and sex, wore the ap{367}pearance of a fair. from some of the visitors cortés learned the intention of the governor to wait on him the following day.

this was easter. teuhtlile arrived, as he had announced, before noon. he was attended by a numerous train, and was met by cortés, who conducted him with much ceremony to his tent, where his principal officers were assembled. the aztec chief returned their salutations with polite though formal courtesy. mass was first said by father olmedo, and the service was listened to by teuhtlile and his attendants with decent reverence. a collation was afterwards served, at which the general entertained his guest with spanish wines and confections. the interpreters were then introduced, and a conversation commenced between the parties.

the first inquiries of teuhtlile were respecting the country of the strangers and the purport of their visit. cortés told him that “he was the subject of a potent monarch beyond the seas, who ruled over an immense empire, and had kings and princes for his vassals; that, acquainted with the greatness of the mexican emperor, his master had desired to enter into a communication with him, and had sent him as his envoy to wait on montezuma with a present in token of his good will, and a message which he must deliver in person.” he concluded by inquiring of teuhtlile when he could be admitted to his sovereign’s presence.

to this the aztec noble somewhat haughtily replied, “how is it that you have been here only two days, and demand to see the emperor?” he{368} then added, with more courtesy, that “he was surprised to learn there was another monarch as powerful as montezuma, but that, if it were so, he had no doubt his master would be happy to communicate with him. he would send his couriers with the royal gift brought by the spanish commander, and, so soon as he had learned montezuma’s will, would communicate it.”

teuhtlile then commanded his slaves to bring forward the present intended for the spanish general. it consisted of ten loads of fine cottons, several mantles of that curious feather-work whose rich and delicate dyes might vie with the most beautiful painting, and a wicker basket filled with ornaments of wrought gold, all calculated to inspire the spaniards with high ideas of the wealth and mechanical ingenuity of the mexicans.

cortés received these presents with suitable acknowledgments, and ordered his own attendants to lay before the chief the articles designed for montezuma. these were an arm-chair richly carved and painted, a crimson cap of cloth, having a gold medal emblazoned with st. george and the dragon, and a quantity of collars, bracelets, and other ornaments of cut glass, which, in a country where glass was not to be had, might claim to have the value of real gems, and no doubt passed for such with the inexperienced mexican. teuhtlile observed a soldier in the camp with a shining gilt helmet on his head, which he said reminded him of one worn by the god quetzalcoatl in mexico; and he showed a desire that montezuma should see it. the coming of the spaniards,{369} as the reader will soon see, was associated with some traditions of this same deity. cortés expressed his willingness that the casque should be sent to the emperor, intimating a hope that it would be returned filled with the gold dust of the country, that he might be able to compare its quality with that in his own! he further told the governor, as we are informed by his chaplain, “that the spaniards were troubled with a disease of the heart, for which gold was a specific remedy”![566] “in short,” says las casas, “he contrived to make his want of gold very clear to the governor.”[567]

while these things were passing, cortés observed one of teuhtlile’s attendants busy with a pencil, apparently delineating some object. on looking at his work, he found that it was a sketch on canvas of the spaniards, their costumes, arms, and, in short, different objects of interest, giving to each its appropriate form and color. this was the celebrated picture-writing of the aztecs, and, as teuhtlile informed him, this man was employed in portraying the various objects for the eye of montezuma, who would thus gather a more vivid notion of their appearance than from any description by words. cortés was pleased with the idea; and, as he knew how much the effect would be heightened by converting still life into action, he ordered out the cavalry on the beach, the wet sands of which afforded a firm footing for the horses. the bold and rapid movements of{370} the troops, as they went through their military exercises; the apparent ease with which they managed the fiery animals on which they were mounted; the glancing of their weapons, and the shrill cry of the trumpet, all filled the spectators with astonishment; but when they heard the thunders of the cannon, which cortés ordered to be fired at the same time, and witnessed the volumes of smoke and flame issuing from these terrible engines, and the rushing sound of the balls, as they dashed through the trees of the neighboring forest, shivering their branches into fragments, they were filled with consternation, from which the aztec chief himself was not wholly free.

nothing of all this was lost on the painters, who faithfully recorded, after their fashion, every particular; not omitting the ships,—“the water-houses,” as they called them, of the strangers,—which, with their dark hulls and snow-white sails reflected from the water, were swinging lazily at anchor on the calm bosom of the bay. all was depicted with a fidelity that excited in their turn the admiration of the spaniards, who, doubtless, unprepared for this exhibition of skill, greatly overestimated the merits of the execution.[568]

these various matters completed, teuhtlile with his attendants withdrew from the spanish{371} quarters, with the same ceremony with which he had entered them; leaving orders that his people should supply the troops with provisions and other articles requisite for their accommodation, till further instructions from the capital.