Alderete, Your Majesty's treasurer in these parts, but they were captured by the French.[1] Neither was this my fault, but rather the fault of those who did not provide a sufficient armada in time to go to the Azores for the protection of such an important treasure. As I was starting on my later expedition to the Gulf of Hibueras, I, likewise, sent to Your Excellency sixty thousand pesos of gold, by Diego de Ocampo and Francisco de Montejo; and, if a greater amount was not sent, it was owing to the orders issued by Your Majesty's Council of the Indies, respecting the gold to be sent from these parts to Spain; for, indeed, we somewhat exceeded ourselves and contravened the orders in sending such an amount at one time. We ventured to do this, however, on account of the stress in which Your Majesty was for want of money, and I, likewise, sent at the same time to Your Highness, with my servant Diego de Soto, everything I possessed, there not being one peso of gold left me, including a field piece which in its material and manufacture had cost me more than thirty-five thousand pesos in gold[2]; likewise certain jewels of gold and stones which belonged to me, and which I sent, not so much on account of their value, although this was not insignificant for me, but because the French had captured the first consignment I had sent, and it grieved my soul that Your Sacred Majesty should not have seen those things. Thus, in order that a sample might be seen, even though trifling in comparison with the things I first sent, I sent all I possessed of the kind. Hence, I cannot understand what reason there could be for keeping back anything belonging to
- ↑ See Note to Fourth Letter, p. 159.
- ↑ Already in the Fourth Letter, Cortes explained to the Emperor the exact cost of this unique piece of artillery; that he here repeats himself may be due to reasonable fear that his former letter never reached its destination; for many of those he wrote were lost. He has no delicacy about insisting upon the value of his gift to the Emperor.
