he had no ships in which to sail, and even if we did leave the country we must take with us the monarch to meet our king, and therefore he begged that Montezuma would restrain the priests and chieftains till we had built three ships on the sand dunes—this would be the wiser course, for if they began war on us we should certainly kill them all. That the monarch might see he purposed to carry out what he said, he further asked that carpenters be sent with two of our soldiers to cut wood near the coast.
When Montezuma heard that he was to go with us he was more dispirited than ever. Still he said he would send the carpenters with orders to work, not talk, and would command the papas and caciques not to raise the town to rebellion, for they might for the time being appease Huitzilopochtli with sacrifices, but not of human lives. After this exciting interview we were all in anxiety wondering when they would begin their attack.
At once Cortes sent for Martin Lopez and other ship carpenters, and after some discussion about the size of the three vessels to be built, he ordered them to march to Vera Cruz, where every necessary thing in iron, rigging, tar and tow was ready, and there to set to work. In all haste they obeyed, cutting the wood on the coast near Vera Cruz.
Let us leave them building the ships and tell how, back in the city of Mexico, we grew more alarmed
