[227] “If any unhappy wretch had become giddy in this transit,” says Cortés, “he must inevitably have been precipitated into the gulf and perished. There were upwards of twenty of these frightful passes.” Carta Quinta, MS. [228] “Espantáronse en gran manera, y como supiéron que era Cortés [~q] tan nombrado era en todas estas partes de las Indias, y en Castilla, no sabiā que se hazer de placer.” Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 179. [229] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 179, et seq.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 8, cap. 3, 4.--Carta Quinta de Cortés, MS. [230] Carta Quinta de Cortés, MS.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 185.--Relacion del Tesorero Strada, MS., México, 1526. [231] Carta Quinta de Cortés, MS. [232] Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 184, et seq.--Carta Quinta de Cortés, MS. [233] Carta Quinta de Cortés, MS.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 189, 190.--Carta de Cortés al Emperador, MS., México, Sept. 11, 1526. [234] Carta de Ocaña, MS., Agosto 31, 1526.--Carta Quinta de Cortés, MS. [235] “What Cortés suffered,” says Dr. Robertson, “on this march,--a distance, according to Gomara, of 3000 miles” (the distance must be greatly exaggerated),--“from famine, from the hostility of the natives, from the climate, and from hardships of every species, has nothing in history parallel to it, but what occurs in the adventures of the other discoverers and conquerors of the New World. Cortés was employed in this dreadful service above two years; and, though it was not distinguished by any splendid event, he exhibited, during the course of it, greater personal courage, more fortitude of mind, more perseverance and patience, than in any other period or scene in his life.” (Hist. of America, note 96.) The historian’s remarks are just; as the passage which I have borrowed from the extraordinary record of the Conqueror may show. Those who are desirous of seeing something of the narrative told in his own way will find a few pages of it translated in the Appendix, No. 14. [236] “Y esto yo lo oí dezir á los del Real Consejo de Indias, estando presente el señor Obispo Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, que se descuidó mucho Cortés en ello, y se lo tuviéron á floxedad.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 190. [237] Memorial de Luis Cardenas, MS.--Carta de Diego de Ocaña, MS.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 8, cap. 14, 15. [238] Carta del Emperador, MS., Toledo, Nov. 4, 1525. [239] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 192.--Carta de Cortés al Emperador, MS., México, Set. 11, 1526. [240] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 194.--Carta de Cortés al Emperador, MS., Set. 11, 1526. [241] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 4, lib. 2, cap. 1; and lib. 3, cap. 8.