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ans, which had been
represented to him by pictures, all further doubt had vanished from his
mind.[50]

To which Cortes answered, that we should never be able to repay him for
all the kindnesses he had shown us. We indeed came from the rising of
the sun, and were servants and subjects of a powerful monarch, called
Don Carlos, who had numerous distinguished princes among his vassals.
Our monarch had received intelligence of him, Motecusuma, and of his
great power, and had expressly sent us to his country to beg of him and
his subjects to become converts to the Christian faith, for the
salvation of their souls; and that we only adored one true God, as he
had previously, in some degree, explained on the downs to his
ambassadors Teuthlille, Cuitalpitoc, and Quintalbor, all of which,
however, would be more fully explained to him at some future period.
When this discourse was ended, Motecusuma presented to our general
various kinds of valuable gold trinkets, and a smaller portion of the
same kind to each of our officers, with three packages of cotton stuffs,
splendidly interwoven with feathers; and to every soldier two similar
packages. All this he gave with every appearance of delight, and in all
he did he showed his excellent breeding. He likewise inquired, after the
presents had been distributed, whether we were all brothers, and
subjects of our great emperor? To which Cortes replied in the
affirmative, assuring him we were all united in love and friendship
towards each other. In this way a pleasant discourse was kept up between
Motecusuma and Cortes, though it was of short duration, as this was the
monarch's first visit, and he was unwilling to be too troublesome thus
early. He then ordered his house steward to provide us the necessary
provisions, consisting in maise, fowls, and fruits, and also grass for
our horses; to furnish women to grind our corn with stones, and bake the
bread: after which the monarch took leave of us with great courtesy,
Cortes and all of us conducting him to the door.

Our general now issued strict commands that no one should stir from
head-quarters until we had gained some certain knowledge as to how
matters really stood.

[50] Cortes, in his despatches to the emperor, says that the monarch
spoke as follows to him: "We have long known, from the historical books
of our forefathers, that neither I, nor the inhabitants of this country,
originally belonged to it, but that our forefathers came from distant
countries. We also know that the tribe we belong to was brought hither
by a monarch to whom it was subject; but this king returned to his own
country, nor did he return to visit his people till several years had
elapsed, after they had married the daughters of the land, and got large
families by them. The monarch came with the view of leading them back to
their old country again; however, they not only refused to accompany
them, but would no longer acknowledge him as their king. We have always
firmly believed that descendants of this monarch would one time or other
make their appearance among us, and obtain the dominion of the country.
As you, according to your assurances, come from the rising of the sun,
we doubt not, after what you have told us of your great monarch, who
sent you here, that he is our rightful sovereign; and we have the more
reason to believe this, since you tell us that he had some previous
knowledge of us." (p. 224.)

CHAPTER XC.

 _How our general, the day following, paid a visit to Motecusuma, and
 of the discourse that passed between them._

The next day Cortes determined to visit Motecusuma in his own palace. He
therefore first sent to inquire after his health, and whether it would
be agreeable to the monarch to receive a visit from him. Our general
took with him four of our principal officers, namely, Alvarado, Leon,
Ordas, and Sandoval, besides five soldiers, of whom I was one.

When our arrival was announced to Motecusuma, he advanced to the middle
of the apartment to meet us, being solely attended by his nephew, as the
other grandees were only allowed to enter his apartments upon very
important occasions. After the first compliments had passed between the
monarch and our general, they shook hands, and Motecusuma conducted
Cortes to an elevated seat, and placed him at his right hand. The rest
of us were also desired to sit down on chairs which were brought in for
us. Cortes then, by means of our interpreters, addressed Motecusuma at
considerable length: "He said that all his and our wishes were now
fulfilled, as he had reached the end of his journey, and obeyed the
commands of our great emperor. There only now remained to disclose to
him the commandments of our God. We were Christians, believing in one
true God only, Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for our salvation. We
prayed to the cross as an emblem of that cross on which our Lord and
Saviour was crucified. By his death the whole human race was saved. He
rose on the third day, and was received into heaven. By him, heaven,
earth, and sea, and every living creature was formed: and nothing
existed but by his divine will. Those figures, on the contrary, which he
considered as gods, were no gods, but devils, which were evil spirits.
It was very evident how powerless and what miserable things they were,
since in all those places where we had planted the cross, those gods no
longer durst make their appearance. Of this his ambassadors were fully
convinced, and he himself would, in the course of time, be convinced of
this truth. He begged he would also pay particular attention to
something else he had to communicate." Here Cortes very intelligently
explained to him how the world was created, how all people were
brothers, and sons of one father and mother, called Adam and Eve; and
how grieved our emperor was to think that so many human souls should be
lost, and sent to hell by those false idols, where they would be
tormented by everlasting fire; for this reason he had sent us hither to
put an end to so much misery, and to exhort the inhabitants of this
country no longer to adore such gods, nor sacrifice human beings to
them; and also to abstain from robbery and committing unnatural
offences. In a very short time our emperor would send to this country
men of great piety and virtue, of whom there were numbers in our
country, and who would explain these things more fully to them. Of all
this we were merely the first messengers, and could only beg of them to
support us in our labours, and assist us in their completion.

As Motecusuma was about to answer, Cortes stopped short, and, turning to
us, said, "Verily, I am determined they shall comply with this, and let
this be the commencement of our work!"

Motecusuma, in reply, expressed himself as follows: "Malinche! What you
have just been telling me of your God has, indeed, been mentioned to me
before by my servants, to whom you made similar disclosures immediately
upon your arrival off the coast. Neither am I ignorant of what you

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