ntained abundance of
provisions, staid eight days in a township near the field of battle,
and, ardently desirous of restoring peace to the country, he sent father
Olmedo and ten distinguished caziques he had taken prisoners in the last
battles, with Dona Marina and Aguilar, to the enemy. Father Olmedo then
addressed the several chiefs in a suitable speech, and asked them, among
other things, how they could have entertained a hope of maintaining
their independence, as they well knew that the city of Mexico, which had
been defended by so many brave warriors, was obliged to surrender to our
emperor. They ought, therefore, to sue for peace, and he promised them
that Cortes would pardon their past behaviour. By these and other
representations which the excellent father made to them, mixed up with a
few threats, they were brought to their senses, and began to reflect on
the large body of men they had lost, and the number of towns which had
been sacked and burnt to the ground; so that, at length, they agreed to
send a message of peace to Cortes, with a few ornaments of gold. Our
general received the ambassadors very kindly, and assured them of his
future friendship.

From this place Cortes marched, with half of his troops, to the river
Chila, which lay at about twenty miles from the sea shore, and requested
the tribes inhabiting the country on the opposite side to send him
messengers of peace. But as their bellies were still full of the flesh
of the many Spaniards they had killed belonging to the several
expeditions which had been sent thither during the two last years by
Garay, to form settlements, they imagined they would be able to
overthrow Cortes with the same ease. They likewise placed great
dependence in the inaccessibility of the places they inhabited, which
lay between large lakes, rivers, and morasses; they therefore not only
refused to return an answer, but murdered the ambassadors whom Cortes
had sent to them. He, however, still remained quiet for a few days, to
see whether they would not alter their minds; but, finding they
persisted in their hostile feeling towards him, he ordered all the
canoes which lay in the river to be seized; and with these, and some
boats he ordered to be constructed from the wrecks of the old vessels
belonging to Garay's expedition, he crossed the river with one hundred
and fifty men, among which there were fifty horse, the rest being, for
the greater part, crossbow-men and musketeers. Th