HKB
With these and the boats we had constructed, the whole of the troops safely crossed the river; but, as I have said before, all this cost us four whole days.
We then arrived in the township of Tepetitan, which was quite deserted by its inhabitants, and every house had been burnt to the ground. The inhabitants of this place, we were told, had been at war with their neighbours, and a severe battle had recently been fought between them, in which the former were defeated with great loss, when the enemy destroyed their town by fire, and returned home with a great number of prisoners.
For the next three days after we had passed the river Chilapa, our route lay through one continued bog, in which our horses often sank up to their girths. The next township we came to was Iztapa, where we did not meet a living soul, for the inhabitants, from fear of us, had all fled across a rapid river. We, however, went instantly in pursuit of them, and after some time we came up with the caziques, and a number of men, women, and children. Cortes, by means of Doña Marina, spoke very kindly to them, and restored to their families four women and three men, whom we had captured among the mountains. In gratitude for this, and in order to show how friendly they were disposed towards us, these Indians presented our general with several ornaments of gold, but the metal was of an inferior quality. In this neighbourhood we halted three days, as it contained plenty of good food for our horses, and a great abundance of maise. Cortes considered this would be a most eligible spot to found a colony in, as the country round about contained a number of wealthy townships, from which a settlement would derive great advantages, and have a constant supply of all necessaries. Here Cortes also made the most minute inquiries of the caziques and Indian merchants as to the route we were to take; for which purpose he laid before them a piece of nequen cloth, he had brought with him from Guacasualco, and on which were noted down all the townships we had to pass through up to Huyacala. This place was termed by these Indians Great Acala, in order to distinguish it from another, called Little Acala, and they assured us that the greater part of our route lay through a country containing numerous rivers, and was intersected in various places by arms of the sea. Up to Tamaztepec alone, they said, which lay at a distance of three days' journey, we should have to pass no less than three rivers, and one estuary, which was exceedingly broad.