njustly diminishes that of a second. In
another place again, he gives many a one a command who was not even in
the army during the conquest: he gives, for instance, the chief command
at the battle fought near the town afterwards called Almeria, to Pedro
d'Irico, when, in fact, it was Juan de Escalante who commanded on that
occasion, and was killed with seven of his men. Again he says, that Juan
Velasquez de Leon founded the colony of Guacasualco, although it was
Gonzalo de Sandoval, of Avila. There is as much truth in his account
when he says that Cortes ordered the Indian Quezal Popoca, one of
Motecusuma's chiefs, to be burnt, together with the village in which it
was stated he had hid himself. Equal reliance may be placed in his
description of our entry into the town and fortress of Anga Panga, where
everything happened exactly contrary to what he has stated. In his
narrative of our proceedings on the downs, when we had appointed Cortes
captain-general and chief justice, he has allowed himself to be deceived
by false information, while he has totally misrepresented our taking of
the town Chamula, in the province of Chiapa. A still greater blunder he
commits when he states that Cortes issued his orders secretly for the
destruction of the eleven vessels which had brought us to New Spain, for
it is perfectly well known that the ships were run on shore by our
unanimous consent, and in presence of us all, in order that the sailors
might also be armed and accompany us on our march.

In like manner he lowers the merits of Juan de Grijalva, although he had
proved himself such a worthy officer; while he passes by Hernandez de
Cordoba in silence, though he was the first who discovered Yucatan: of
Francisco de Garay he says, that he had accompanied us on the previous
expedition under Grijalva, though he first visited New Spain during this
last expedition. In the account he gives of the arrival of Narvaez, and
the victory we gained over him, he is certainly more faithful, and has
been well informed of all the circumstances; but, with respect to the
battles with the Tlascallans, up to the time when peace was concluded
with them, he has again diverged from the truth. Concerning the battle
we fought in the city of Mexico itself, in which we were worsted and
beaten back with the loss of 860 of our troops, of whom a great portion
was sacrificed to the idols,--I repeat, where above 860 of our men were
killed, for out of 1300 soldiers wh