[192] Martyr, Opus Epist., ep. 811. [193] Rel. Quarto, ap. Lorenzana, p. 385. [194] The illusion at home was kept up, in some measure, by the dazzling display of gold and jewels remitted from time to time, wrought into fanciful and often fantastic forms. One of the articles sent home by Cortés was a piece of ordnance, made of gold and silver, of very fine workmanship, the metal of which alone cost 25,000 _pesos de oro_. Oviedo, who saw it in the palace, speaks with admiration of this magnificent toy. Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 41. [195] Among these may be particularly mentioned the Letters of Alvarado and Diego de Godoy, transcribed by Oviedo in his Hist. de las Ind., MS. (lib. 33, cap. 42-44), and translated by Ramusio for his rich collection, Viaggi, tom. iii. [196] See, among others, his orders to his kinsman, Francisco Cortés,--“Instruccion civil y militar por la Expedicion de la Costa de Colima.” The paper is dated in 1524, and forms part of the Muñoz collection of MSS. [197] Rel. Quarta, ap. Lorenzana, p. 371.--“Well may we wonder,” exclaims his archiepiscopal editor, “that Cortés and his soldiers could have overrun and subdued, in so short a time, countries, many of them so rough and difficult of access that even at the present day we can hardly penetrate them!” Ibid., nota. [198] Carta Quinta de Cortés, MS. [199] Carta de Albornos, MS., Mexico, Dec. 15, 1525.--Carta Quinta de Cortés, MS.--The authorities do not precisely agree as to the numbers, which were changing, probably, with every step of their march across the table-land. [200] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 175. [201] Among these was Captain Diaz, who, however, left the pleasant farm, which he occupied in the province of Coatzacualco, with a very ill grace, to accompany the expedition. “But Cortés commanded it, and we dared not say no,” says the veteran. Ibid., cap. 174. [202] This celebrated Letter, which has never been published, is usually designated as the _Carta Quinta_, or “Fifth Letter,” of Cortés. It is nearly as long as the longest of the printed letters of the Conqueror, is written in the same clear, simple, business-like manner, and is as full of interest as any of the preceding. It gives a minute account of the expedition to Honduras, together with events that occurred in the year following. It bears no date, but was probably written in that year from Mexico. The original manuscript is in the Imperial Library at Vienna, which, as the German sceptre was swayed at that time by the same hand which held the Castilian, contains many documents of value for the illustration of Spanish history.{*}