The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2): Written by Himself Containing a True and Full Account of the Discovery and Conquest of Mexico and New Spain.Díaz del Castillo, Bernal
History
The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2): Written by Himself Containing a True and Full Account of the Discovery and Conquest of Mexico and New Spain.
Díaz del Castillo, Bernal
Mexico -- History -- Conquest, 1519-1540
In the same way he mentions what numbers of towns and temples we either
burnt or destroyed. I am speaking of the Indian temples, called by the
inhabitants cues. This latter circumstance would certainly be most
pleasing to his readers; but he never gave it a thought, when he was
writing, that the conquistadores themselves, and those better informed,
would detect his errors and falsehoods. Even in his other works,
whenever he speaks about New Spain, he immediately commits blunders. In
one place he praises a commander far above his merits, for which very
reason he in another most unjustly diminishes that of a second. In
another place again, he gives many a one a command who was not even in
the army during the conquest: he gives, for instance, the chief command
at the battle fought near the town afterwards called Almeria, to Pedro
d'Irico, when, in fact, it was Juan de Escalante who commanded on that
occasion, and was killed with seven of his men. Again he says, that Juan
Velasquez de Leon founded the colony of Guacasualco, although it was
Gonzalo de Sandoval, of Avila. There is as much truth in his account
when he says that Cortes ordered the Indian Quezal Popoca, one of
Motecusuma's chiefs, to be burnt, together with the village in which it
was stated he had hid himself. Equal reliance may be placed in his
description of our entry into the town and fortress of Anga Panga, where
everything happened exactly contrary to what he has stated. In his
narrative of our proceedings on the downs, when we had appointed Cortes
captain-general and chief justice, he has allowed himself to be deceived
by false information, while he has totally misrepresented our taking of
the town Chamula, in the province of Chiapa. A still greater blunder he
commits when he states that Cortes issued his orders secretly for the
destruction of the eleven vessels which had brought us to New Spain, for
it is perfectly well known that the ships were run on shore by our
unanimous consent, and in presence of us all, in order that the sailors
might also be armed and accompany us on our march.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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