Alvarado was then despatched thither with six soldiers, among which number I also was; but when we arrived at the spot, this king assured us he had merely invented all this in the hopes that we would have killed him in a moment of anger at our disappointment. We consequently returned without the treasure, and thus there was no more smelting of gold into bars for the present. But it is an undoubted fact that there was very little left in the treasury of Motecusuma when it came into the hands of Quauhtemoctzin; for by far the greater part had been taken out as a present for our emperor. Among the things which were collected together on this occasion, there were various objects of beautiful workmanship, which it would be too tedious to describe. One thing however is certain, and many were bold enough to assert it, that the emperor's fifths were not taken of a third part of what there really was. I said above that there was some truth in what was stated by Quauhtemoctzin with regard to his having ordered a quantity of gold and other things to be thrown into the lake. I, with many of my companions proved this to be a fact, for we frequently dived to the bottom of the water in the spot which had been pointed out by the monarch. Each time we brought up some trifling trinket or other, which were afterwards demanded of us by Cortes and the royal treasurer. On one occasion they both accompanied us to this spot, and took a number of good divers with them, who brought up various ornaments of gold, worth altogether about one hundred pesos; but this was nothing in comparison to the treasure which was said to have been thrown in by the command of the monarch. When the gold we took on this occasion came to be divided, the officers and all our men were of opinion that what would fall to each one's share would scarcely be worth accepting; wherefore father Olmedo, Avila, Alvarado, and other cavaliers proposed to Cortes, that the whole should be distributed among the invalids, the blind, the lame, the deaf, and those who had been accidentally burnt by powder; assuring him that we others who enjoyed good health, would gladly accede to this. Their object in making this proposal was to induce Cortes to add so much to each one's share as to make it worthy of our acceptance; for the suspicion was become pretty general that he had concealed the greater part of Quauhtemoctzin's treasure.