"I shall now go to other houses where I Hve; but you will be provided here with everything necessary for you and your people, and you shall suffer no annoyance, for you are in your own house and country."
I answered to all he said, certifying that which seemed to be suitable, especially in confirming his belief that it was Your Majesty whom they were expecting. After this, he took his leave, and, when he had gone, we were well provided with chickens, and bread, and fruits, and other necessities, especially such as were required for the semce of our quarters. Thus I passed six days well provided with everything necessary, and visited by many of the lords.
I have already mentioned at the beginning. Most Catholic Lord, that when I started from the city of Vera Cruz, in search of this lord, Montezuma, I left there a hundred and fifty men, to build that fort which I had begun, and I likewise stated, that I had left many villages and forts in the neighbourhood of that town, under the royal dominion of Your Highness, and the natives as very loyal vassals of Your Majesty.
While I was in the city of Chuiultecal, I received letters from the captain, whom I had left in my
Treachery
of Quauh-
popoca
place at Vera Cruz, informing me that Quauhpopoca,[1] lord of the city called Almeria, had sent messengers to him, saying, that if he had not yet offered to become a vassal of Your
- ↑ Quauhpopoca commanded the garrisons at Nauhtla (named Almeria by the Spaniards) and Tochpan, which is the present town of Tuxpan.
If Quauhpopoca acted by his sovereign's orders, he merely did his duty, and merited no punishment from Cortes, but if, on the other hand, he acted on his own initiative, then Montezuma was free from blame and should not have been degraded by the imposition of chains. Cortes's action is indefensible; his intention doubtless was to convince the emperor that there was no depth of humiliation to which he might not be brought, and to prove to the people that to kill a Spaniard was the greatest of crimes, sure to be followed by the direst punishment.
