The Memoirs of the Conquistador
2/5
()
About this ebook
According to Wikipedia: "Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1492 – 1585) was a conquistador, who wrote an eyewitness account of the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards for Hernán Cortés, himself serving as a rodelero under Cortés… In the book, Castillo describes the Conquest of the Aztecs, in which he describes the Indoamerican cultures predominant in Mexico at that time. He also gives accounts of the human sacrifices, cannibalism and idolatry that he witnessed first hand... As a reward for his service, Díaz was appointed governor of Santiago de los Caballeros, present-day Antigua Guatemala. He finished writing his history in 1568, almost fifty years after the events described, a work he had begun (probably in the mid-1550s)..."
Related to The Memoirs of the Conquistador
Related ebooks
The True History of the Conquest of New Spain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The True History of the Conquest of New Spain: Unabridged Edition Vol.1-2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Conquest of New Spain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Conquest: Cortes, Montezuma, and the Fall of Old Mexico Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Conquest of New Spain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five Letters of Cortes to the Emperor: 1519-1526 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCardinal Richelieu Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Glorious Defeat: Mexico and Its War with the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Southern Tiger: Chile's Fight for a Democratic and Prosperous Future Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5General Miranda's Wars: Turmoil and Revolt in Spanish America, 1750-1816 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Once a Jailbird: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Native Conquistador: Alva Ixtlilxochitl’s Account of the Conquest of New Spain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCanute the Great, 995 (circa)-1035, and the Rise of Danish Imperialism during the Viking Age Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lapeer Area Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Coming of the Civil War [First Ed.] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Conquest of Mexico Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wind that Swept Mexico: The History of the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1942 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistory of the Thirty Years War in Germany Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIncidents of Travel in Yucatan Volumes 1 and 2 (Annotated, Illustrated): Vol I and II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPius IX. And His Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of Mexico: A Historical, Geographical, Political and Social Account of Mexico From the Invasion to 19th Century Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wars of the Barbary Pirates: To the shores of Tripoli: the rise of the US Navy and Marines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mexican American Experience in Texas: Citizenship, Segregation, and the Struggle for Equality Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTi-Ping Tien-Kwoh (Vol. 1&2): The History of the Ti-Ping Revolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGuns, Girls, and Greed: I Was a Blackwater Mercenary in Iraq Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEyewitnesses to the Indian Wars, 1865–1890: The Struggle for Apacheria Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistory of Kershaw's Brigade Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Spanish Pioneers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEmpires of the Normans: Conquerors of Europe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Latin America History For You
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Genesis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life (Revised Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Days of the Incas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize): An American History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A new Compact History of Mexico Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMayan Civilization: A History From Beginning to End Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Have Black Lives Ever Mattered? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5MS-13: The Making of America's Most Notorious Gang Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEl Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana and the Deadly First Voyage through the Amazon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Memory of Fire Trilogy: Genesis, Faces and Masks, and Century of the Wind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Forgotten Continent: A History of the New Latin America Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Power and Ideology: The Managua Lectures Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Chicano Bakes: Recipes for Mexican Pan Dulce, Tamales, and My Favorite Desserts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTurning the Tide: U.S. Intervention in Central America and the Struggle for Peace Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mexicanos, Third Edition: A History of Mexicans in the United States Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Narco History: How the United States and Mexico Jointly Created the "Mexican Drug War" Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Maya Mythology: Myths and Folklore of the Mayan Civilization Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Aztec Herbal: The Classic Codex of 1552 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba…and Then Lost It to the Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Puerto Rican Nation on the Move: Identities on the Island and in the United States Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCosta Rica: The Complete Guide: Ecotourism in Costa Rica Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mexican Revolution: A Short History, 1910-1920 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Popol Vuh Illustrated Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsState of War: MS-13 and El Salvador's World of Violence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFive Letters of Cortes to the Emperor: 1519-1526 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Reviews for The Memoirs of the Conquistador
1 rating0 reviews
Book preview
The Memoirs of the Conquistador - Bernal Diaz del Castillo
story.
CHAPTER XXX.
How we re-embark and sail for the river Grijalva, and what happened to us on our voyage there.
On the 4th of March, 1519, the day after we had had the good fortune to obtain such an excellent and trustworthy interpreter, Cortes gave orders for re-embarking. This took place in the same way as before, and similar instructions were issued with regard to the night signals with the lanterns. For some time we had the most favorable weather imaginable; when, towards evening, it suddenly changed, the wind blowing most violently against us, so that all our vessels were in danger of being cast on shore. Towards midnight, it pleased God the wind should abate, and, when daylight broke forth, our vessels again joined each other; one only was missing, that namely of Velasquez de Leon, which occasioned a good deal of anxiety, for we concluded she had been wrecked off some of the shallows. We did not discover her loss until midday; and as night was now fast approaching, and the vessel still nowhere to be seen, Cortes told our principal pilot Alaminos that we ought not to continue our course without gaining some certain knowledge as to her fate: signals were, therefore, made for all the vessels to drop anchor, to give the missing ship time to come up with us, on the supposition it had been driven into some harbour and there retained by contrary winds. Alaminos, still finding she did not make her appearance, said to Cortes, You may be sure, sir, that she has run into some harbour or inlet along this coast, where she is now wind-bound; for her pilot Manquillo has twice before visited these seas, once with Hernandez de Cordoba, the second time under Grijalva, and is acquainted with this bay.
Upon this it was resolved that the whole squadron should return to the bay which Alaminos was speaking of, in search of the vessel: to our great joy we indeed found her riding there at anchor, and we all remained here for one day. During this time, Alaminos, with one of our principal officers named Francisco de Lugo, went on shore in two boats; they found the country inhabited, and saw several regular maise-plantations: they likewise met with places where salt was manufactured, and saw four cues, or large temples, with numerous figures, mostly in the shape of women, and of considerable height; whence this promontory was called la punta de las Mujeres, (the promontory of women.) Aguilar observed that this was the spot where he was once a slave among the Indians; here his master had found him sunk beneath the weight of the heavy burden which he had forced him to carry: neither was the township far off where Alonso Guerrero had settled himself. Every inhabitant possessed gold, but in small quantities; he would show us the way, if we were desirous of going there. To which Cortes said, laughingly, he had not gone out for the sake of such trifles, but to serve God and his king. In the meantime he despatched Escobar, one of our commanders, with a fast-sailing vessel of small tonnage, to the Terminos bay, there to examine the country and search for a secure spot to found a colony; also to inform us whether game really was so abundant there as had been represented. All this was done according to the advice of our chief pilot, to save the trouble of running in there with the whole fleet on our passing by. Escobar, when he had explored the harbour, was merely to leave some sign on both sides of the entrance, either by felling trees or by leaving something in writing, from which we should know that he had entered safely, or that, having fully explored the harbour, he was tacking about until we fell in with him again.
With these instructions Escobar set sail, and ran into Terminos bay, where he executed the commands he had received: he likewise found the greyhound which had run away from us when we landed there with Grijalva. It was quite glossy and fat, and immediately knew the ship again as it entered the bay, wagging its tail, and jumping up against our men as it followed them on board. Escobar now quitted the bay, and intended laying-to until the rest of our vessels should come up, but was driven a considerable way out to sea by a strong south wind. We must now return to our squadron, which we left at the punta de las Mujeres. Having left this spot next morning with a stiffish breeze blowing from the land, we arrived at the entrance of Terminos bay, without, however, seeing anything of Escobar. Cortes ordered a boat to be lowered, armed with ten crossbow-men, to run into the bay, or search whether Escobar had left any sign or written paper as desired. Some trees were found cut down, and near them a small paper, on which was written, that both the bay and country round about were charming, that the spot abounded with game, and that they had found the dog. Our principal pilot here remarked to Cortes that it would be most advisable for us to continue our course, for the south wind had no doubt obliged Escobar to hold out to sea, though he could not be far off, as he must have sailed in a slanting direction. Cortes, however, still apprehended some accident must have befallen him: nevertheless, he ordered the sails to be set, and we very soon came up with Escobar, who related all he had seen, and explained what had prevented him from waiting for us. In this way we arrived in the waters off Potonchan, and Cortes ordered Alaminos to run into the inlet where Cordoba and Grijalva had met with such disastrous treatment. Alaminos, however, declared that it was a dangerous station for the vessels, as the waters were very shallow off the coast, and we should be forced to anchor six miles from the land. Cortes's intention was to punish the inhabitants severely, and many of us who had been present at those engagements begged of him to run in that we might revenge ourselves upon them. But Alaminos and the other pilots said we should lose more than three days by running in, and, if the weather became unfavorable, we might be detained there above eight: the wind, moreover, being now most favorable to reach the Tabasco river, which was our chief object, and where we might arrive in a couple of days. We accordingly put out to sea, and reached the Tabasco after three days'