1519. March 4. and at Ta basco. Arrives at St. Juan de Ulua. April 2. the river of Tabasco, in hopes of a reception as friendly as Grijalva had met with there, and of finding gold in the same abundance; but the disposition of the natives, from some unknown cause, was totally changed. After repeated endeavours to conciliate their good-will, he was constrained to have recourse to violence. Though the forces of the enemy were numerous, and advanced with extraordinary courage, they were routed, with great slaughter, in several successive actions. The loss which they sustained, and still more the astonishment and terrour excited by the destructive effect of the firearms, and the dreadful appearance of the horses, humbled their fierce spirits, and induced them to sue for peace. They acknowledged the king of Castile as their sovereign, and granted Cortes a supply of provisions, with a present of cotton garments, some gold, and twenty female slaves1. Cortes continued his course to the westward, keeping as near the shore as possible, in order to observe the country; but could discover no proper place for landing, until he arrived at St. Juan de Uluak. As he entered this harbour, a large canoe, full of people, among whom were two who seemed to be persons of distinction, approached his ship, with signs of peace and amity. They came on board without fear or distrust, and addressed him in a most respectful manner, but in a language altogether unknown to Aguilar. Cortes was in the utmost perplexity and distress at an event of which he instantly foresaw all the consequences, and already felt the hesitation and uncertainty with which he should carry on the great schemes which he meditated, if, in his transactions with the natives, he must depend entirely upon such an imperfect, ambiguous, and conjectural mode of i See Note v. * B. Diaz, c. 31-36. Gomara, Chron. c. 18-23. Herrera, dec. ii. lib. iv. c. 11, etc. communication, as the use of signs. But he did not remain long in this embarrassing situation; a fortunate accident extricated him, when his own sagacity could have contributed little towards his relief. One of the female slaves, whom he had received from the cazique of Tabasco, happened to be present at the first interview between Cortes and his new guests. She perceived his distress, as well as the confusion of Aguilar; and, as she perfectly understood the Mexican language, she explained what they had said in the Yucatan tongue, with which Aguilar was acquainted. This woman, known afterwards by the name of doña Marina, and who makes a conspicuous figure in the history of the new world, where great revolutions were brought about by small causes and inconsiderable instruments, was born in one of the provinces of the Mexican empire. Having been sold as a slave in the early part of her life, after a variety of adventures she fell into the hands of the Tabascans, and had resided long enough among them to acquire their language, without losing the use of her own. Though it was both tedious and troublesome to converse by the intervention of two different interpreters, Cortes was so highly pleased with having discovered this method of carrying on some intercourse with the people of a country into which he was determined to penetrate, that, in the transports of his joy, he considered it as a visible interposition of providence in his favour1. 1519. He now learned, that the two persons whom he had Lands his received on board of his ship were deputies from troops. Teutile and Pilpatoe, two officers intrusted with the government of that province by a great monarch whom they called Montezuma; and that they were sent to inquire what his intentions were in visiting their coast, I B. Diaz, c. 37, 38, 39. Gomara, Chron. c. 25, 26. Herrera, dec. ii. lib. v. c. 4. 1519. and to offer him what assistance he might need, in order to continue his voyage. Cortes, struck with the appearance of those people, as well as the tenour of the message, assured them, in respectful terms, that he approached their country with most friendly sentiments, and came to propose matters of great importance to the welfare of their prince and his kingdom, which he would unfold more fully, in person, to the governor and the general. Next morning, without waiting for any answer, he landed his troops, his horses, and artillery; and, having chosen proper ground, began to erect huts for his men, and to fortify his camp. The natives, instead of opposing the entrance of those fatal guests into their country, assisted them in all their operations with an alacrity of which they had, ere long, good reason to repent. His first interview with the Next day Teutile and Pilpatoe entered the Spanish camp with a numerous retinue; and Cortes, considerMexicans. ing them as the ministers of a great monarch, entitled to a degree of attention very different from that which the Spaniards were accustomed to pay to the petty caziques, with whom they had intercourse in the isles, received them with much formal ceremony. He informed them, that he came as ambassador from don Carlos of Austria, king of Castile, the greatest monarch of the east, and was intrusted with propositions of such moment, that he could impart them to none but the emperor Montezuma himself, and, therefore, required them to conduct him, without loss of time, into the presence of their master. The Mexican officers could not conceal their uneasiness at a request, which they knew would be disagreeable, and which they foresaw might prove extremely embarrassing to their sovereign, whose mind had been filled with many disquieting apprehensions, ever since the former appearance of the Spaniards on his coasts. But, before they attempted to dissuade Cortes from insisting on his demand, they endeavoured to conciliate his good-will, by entreating him to accept of certain presents, which, as humble slaves of Montezuma, they laid at his feet. They were introduced with great parade, and consisted of fine cotton cloth, of plumes of various colours, and of ornaments of gold and silver, to a considerable value, the workmanship of which appeared to be as curious as the materials were rich. The display of these produced an effect very different from what the Mexicans intended. Instead of satisfying, it increased the avidity of the Spaniards, and rendered them so eager and impatient to become masters of a country which abounded with such precious productions, that Cortes could hardly listen with patience to the arguments which Pilpatoe and Teutile employed to dissuade him from visiting the capital, and, in a haughty determined tone, he insisted on his demand, of being admitted to a personal audience of their sovereign. During this interview, some painters, in the train of the Mexican chiefs, had been diligently employed in delineating, upon white cotton cloths, figures of the ships, the horses, the artillery, the soldiers, and whatever else attracted their eyes, as singular. When Cortes observed this, and was informed that these pictures were to be sent to Montezuma, in order to convey to him a more lively idea of the strange and wonderful objects now presented to their view, than any words could communicate, he resolved to render the representation still more animating and interesting, by exhibiting such a spectacle, as might give both them and their monarch an awful impression of the extraordinary prowess of his followers, and the irresistible force of their arms. The trumpets, by his order, sounded an alarm; the troops, in a moment, formed in order of battle, the infantry performed such martial exercises as were best suited to display the effect of their different weapons; the horse, in various evolutions, gave a specimen of their agility and strength; the artillery, pointed towards the thick woods which surrounded the camp, 1519. 1519. were fired, and made dreadful havoc among the trees. The Mexicans looked on with that silent amazement, which is natural when the mind is struck with objects, which are both awful and above its comprehension. But, at the explosion of the cannon, many of them fled, some fell to the ground, and all were so much confounded at the sight of men whose power so nearly resembled that of the gods, that Cortes found it difficult to compose and reassure them. The painters had now many new objects on which to exercise their art, and they put their fancy on the stretch in order to invent figures and symbols to represent the extraordinary things which they had seen. Negotiations with Montezuma. Messengers were immediately despatched to Montezuma with those pictures, and a full account of every thing that had passed since the arrival of the Spaniards, and by them Cortes sent a present of some European curiosities to Montezuma, which, though of no great value, he believed would be acceptable on account of their novelty. The Mexican monarchs, in order to obtain early information of every occurrence in all the corners of their extensive empire, had introduced a refinement in police unknown, at that time, in Europe. They had couriers posted at proper stations along the principal roads; and as these were trained to agility by a regular education, and relieved one another at moderate distances, they conveyed intelligence with surprising rapidity. Though the capital in which Montezuma resided was above a hundred and eighty miles from St. Juan de Ulua, Cortes' presents were carried thither, and an answer to his demands was received in a few days. The same officers who had hitherto treated with the Spaniards were employed to deliver this answer; but as they knew how repugnant the determination of their master was to all the schemes and wishes of the Spanish commander, they would not venture to make it known until they had previously endeavoured to sooth and |