ght before him. He also relates that the soldiers said things
which I will not repeat here, though he would make one believe he had
all from good authority. There is not the slightest foundation for all
his assertions. There never was a commander in this world who was so
strictly obeyed as Cortes, nor will it ever again fall to the lot of any
man to be so. No such thought ever entered the minds of our men,
excepting on the occasion which I have related above. Even the
representations which were made to Cortes, mentioned in the preceding
chapter, were all given in the tone of advice. Those who made them did
so with a good intention, and imagined they were in the right, and
though they differed with him in opinion, they paid him strict
obedience. Is it, then, any wonder that a general should listen to good
advice from intelligent soldiers, particularly when his troops are so
awkwardly situated as ours were? I am only sorry when I reflect that all
Gomara's untruths will be credited, because his style of writing is so
eloquent.

CHAPTER LXXII.

_How ambassadors arrive in our camp from Motecusuma, and of the
presents they brought with them._

After the Almighty, in his great mercy, had granted us the victory in
the battles against the Tlascallans, our fame was spread to every
district, and even reached the ears of the mighty Motecusuma, in the
great city of Mexico. If we had been previously looked upon as teules,
or a species of gods, their idea of our bravery now became the more
exalted, and terror seized the whole country when we had broken the
great power of the Tlascallans with such a handful of men, and compelled
them to sue for peace.

And so it also happened that the powerful king of Mexico, Motecusuma,
either in the great goodness of his heart, or because he began to fear
our approach to his metropolis, despatched five men of distinction to
our camp in the land of Tlascalla to welcome us on our arrival, and to
assure us of the excessive delight he felt at the great victories which
we had gained over such numerous armies. This message was accompanied by
a valuable present in gold trinkets of various workmanship, worth about
1000 pesos, and of packages of cotton stuffs as much as twenty men could
carry. He likewise wished us to know that it was his desire to become a
vassal of our emperor, and the great pleasure he felt to find that we
were so near his metropolis, that he was every way well disposed