Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 1.djvu/328

and their bedding. I learned that another servant of mine had come from Vera Cruz, bringing provisions and things for me. He had been accompanied by horsemen and forty-five foot-soldiers, and had likewise taken with him the others whom I had left there. He carried all the silver and clothing, my own as well as that of my companions, with seven thousand dollars of melted gold, which I had left there in two chests, without counting other valuables, and other fourteen thousand dollars of gold in pieces, which had been given, in the province of Tuchitepeque, to that captain whom I had sent to build the town of Quacucalco. He carried also many other things which were worth more than thirty thousand dollars of gold. This I learned, and also that the Indians of Culua had killed them all on the road, and taken their treasure. I likewise learned that they had killed, on the roads, many other Spaniards who were coming to the city of Temixtitan, believing that I was there at peace, and that the roads were as secure as I had before held them. I assure Your Majesty that all of us were plunged into such sadness by this news that it could hardly have been worse, because the loss of these Spaniards and the treasure recalled the deaths and losses of the Spaniards who had been killed in the city, at the bridges, and on the road; and especially as it roused much suspicion in me that, in like manner, the people of Vera Cruz might have been attacked, and that those whom we considered our friends might have rebelled, upon hearing of our defeat. To learn the truth, I immediately dispatched messengers accompanied by Indians to guide them, whom I ordered to avoid the high road until they arrived at Vera Cruz, and to let me know promptly what had happened there. It pleased Our Lord that they should find the Spaniards very well, and the natives perfectly faithful. It was a great relief to learn this after our losses and griefs, though it was very bad news for them to hear of our disaster and rout.