The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 2 (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 2 (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
of Burgos in any way to interfere in matters which concerned Cortes and
ourselves, as otherwise all further conquests we contemplated in New
Spain would be interrupted; nor should we even be able to maintain peace
in the provinces that were subdued. As a proof of the bishop's enmity
towards us, we mentioned that he had forbidden the two harbour masters
of Seville, Pedro de Isasaga and Juan Lopez de Recalte, to allow any
arms or soldiers which were destined for Cortes or our army in general,
to leave that place. We then gave his majesty an account of the recent
campaign of Panuco, how the inhabitants had been obliged to sue for
peace, and had declared themselves vassals of his majesty; what terrible
battles they had fought with Cortes, and how they had killed all the
officers and soldiers which Garay had sent thither from time to time.
This campaign, we went on to say, cost Cortes above 60,000 pesos, which
he had paid out of his own private purse, the reimbursement of which he
had in vain solicited from the royal treasurers; that Garay was fitting
out a new armament in Jamaica destined for the province of Panuco, but
it was advisable that his majesty should issue orders for him to
postpone that expedition until we should have completely subdued the
country, that he might not again sacrifice the lives of his men to no
purpose, and create an insurrection in the country, which would be sure
to ensue if he arrived there beforehand, as the Indians, and
particularly the Mexicans, would immediately conclude that there was no
unanimity in the operations of the Spanish generals; conspiracies would
be formed, and the whole country would rise up into open rebellion.
These and many other things we wrote to his majesty, nor was Cortes' pen
idle on this occasion, for he also sent the emperor an account of every
circumstance in a private despatch, which contained twenty pages, and I
know their contents pretty well, as I read them all through with great
attention. Among other things, he solicited his majesty's permission to
proceed to Cuba in order to take the viceroy Diego Velasquez prisoner,
and send him to Spain, there to stand his trial for having sent persons
to murder him, Cortes, and for having upon the whole endeavoured to
confuse the affairs of New Spain.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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