SANDOVAL'S PRUDENCE.
373
told of it, "long live the last victor."[1] But he could hardly blame the natives for yielding, when even Sandoval himself, on hearing of this approach, abandoned Villa Rica and took refuge in the mountains, where he remained till the general bade him join his forces.[2]
- ↑ Herrera assumes that he was deceived by Narvaez, dec. ii. lib. ix. cap. xix., but intimidation was no doubt the leading motive, for he could not possibly relish the prospect of Montezuma's release by the new-comers, nor the licentiousness and greed of the soldiers. This conduct of the men drove the inhabitants to flight,' says Cortés, Cartas, 119, 125. When the jewels and other effects belonging to Cortés' party were seized, together with the Indian wives of the conquerors, the cacique became seriously alarmed, exclaiming that he would surely be killed for permitting the outrage. This excited only derision, Salvatierra remarking : 'Aueys visto que miedo que tienen todos estos Caciques desta nonada de Cortesillo.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 90.
- ↑ Tapia, Rel., in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 587. 'Ellos dejaban la villa sola por no pelear con ellos.' Cortés, Cartas, 119.
