d upon a certain Salazar de la Petrada, who came
from Spain for that purpose.

The next thing which Cortes did was to collect all the gold, silver, and
jewels that had been found in Mexico, of which, however, there was very
little; for Quauhtemoctzin, it was said, had ordered all the treasures
to be thrown into the lake four days previous to his capture. A great
quantity had likewise been purloined by the Tlascallans, Tezcucans,
Huexotzincans, Cholullans, and other auxiliary troops which had assisted
us in the siege, besides what had fallen into the hands of the troops on
board the brigantines.

The crown officials were positive that Quauhtemoctzin had concealed the
greater part, and asserted that Cortes was very pleased that the monarch
refused to say a word where it was hidden; for he would then be able to
get the whole treasure into his own possession.

The officers then proposed that Quauhtemoctzin and the king of Tlacupa,
his most intimate friend and cousin, should be put to the torture, in
order to extort from them a confession as to what had become of the
treasures: but Cortes could not make up his mind to insult so great a
monarch as Quauhtemoctzin, whose territory more than trebled that of
Spain, and that for mere lust after gold.[30] Moreover, the monarch's
household assured us they had given up all the gold they possessed to
the officers of the crown, which, it was well known, amounted to 380,000
pesos, the whole of which had been melted into bars; and one thing is
certain, that the emperor's and Cortes' fifths were deducted from that
sum; but the conquistadores were not at all satisfied, and considered
this sum much below the real amount, and several expressed their
suspicion to Alderete, the royal treasurer, that Cortes' only reason for
not wishing to put the monarch to the torture was, that he might
secretly take possession of all his riches. Cortes, not willing that
such a suspicion should any longer lie upon him, or that he should
afterwards be called to an account on this score, at last consented that
both should be put to the torture. Boiling hot oil was then applied to
their feet; upon which they confessed that, four days prior to
Quauhtemoctzin's capture, all the gold, with the cannon, crossbows, and
muskets, which we had lost in the night of sorrows, when we retreated
from Mexico, besides those which had been taken in Cortes' last defeat
on the causeway, had been thrown into the lake. A number of