Cortes now got information from Villa Rica of the arrival of a ship commanded by one Comargo, having upwards of seventy soldiers on board, all very sickly. This vessel had belonged to an expedition sent from Jamaica by Garray to establish a colony at Panuco; the other captain, Pineda, and all his soldiers, having been put to death by the natives, and their ship burnt. On finding, therefore, the ill success of that adventure, and that his men were afflicted with diseases of the liver from the unhealthy nature of the country, Camargo had come to Villa Rica for assistance. He is said to have been perfectly acquainted with the state of affairs in New Spain; and, on his arrival at Villa Rica, he immediately disembarked his soldiers, and went to Segura de la Frontera by slow marches, where he and his men were received with the utmost kindness by Cortes, and every possible care was bestowed for his and their recovery; but he and several of his soldiers soon died. By reason of their swollen bodies and discoloured countenances, we used to call these men the green paunches. That I may not interrupt the thread of my narrative, I shall mention in this place, that all the rest of this armament which was destined for Panuco, arrived at our port of Villa Rica at different and irregular periods, Garray continually sending us reinforcements, which he meant for Panuco, as he believed his intended colony at that place was going on successfully. The first of these reinforcements after Camargo consisted of fifty soldiers with seven horses, under the command of Michael Diaz de Auz. These men were all plump and jolly, and we gave them the nickname of the Sir-loins. Shortly after him another vessel brought forty soldiers with ten horses, and a good supply of crossbows and other arms. These were commanded by an officer named Ramirez, and as all his soldiers wore very thick and clumsy cotton armour, quite impenetrable by arrows, we called them the Pack-horses.

Being thus unexpectedly reinforced by upwards of an hundred and fifty men, and twenty horses, Cortes determined to chastise the Indians of Xalatcingo, Cacatame, and other towns near the road to Villa Rica, who had been concerned in the murder of those Spaniards who had been sent from Villa Rica for the treasure. For this purpose he sent a detachment of two hundred veterans, among whom were twenty horsemen, and twelve armed with crossbows, under the command of Sandoval, who had likewise along with him a strong detachment of Tlascalans. Being informed that the Indians of that district were in arms, and reinforced by Mexican troops, Sandoval sent a message, offering pardon for the murder of the Spaniards, if they would submit to our government, and return the treasure. Their answer was, that they would eat him and all his men, as they had done the others. Sandoval, therefore, immediately marched into their country, and attacked them in two places at once, and though both the natives and the Mexicans defended themselves with great bravery, they were soon defeated with considerable loss. On going into some of their temples after the victory, our people found Spanish cloths, arms, saddles, and bridles, hung up as offerings to their gods. The inhabitants of this district submitted themselves to his majesties government, but were unable to return the treasure, as it had been sent to Mexico. Sandoval remained three days in this district receiving the submission of the inhabitants, whom he referred to Cortes for their pardon, and then returned to head-quarters, carrying a number of women and boys along with him, who were all branded as slaves. I was not on this expedition, being ill of a fever, attended with a vomiting of blood; but, being bled plentifully, I recovered by the blessing of God. In pursuance of orders from Sandoval, the chiefs of these tribes and of many others in the neighbourhood, came to Cortes and submitted themselves to his authority. Sandoval was sent in the next place to chastise the inhabitants of a district called Xocotlan, who had murdered nine Spaniards, having with him an hundred infantry, thirty cavalry, and a strong body of Tlascalans. On entering the district, he summoned the people to submission under the usual threats; but, as they had a considerable body of Mexican forces to aid them, they returned for answer, that they would acknowledge no other government than that of Mexico. Sandoval, therefore, put his troops in motion, cautioning the allies not to advance to the attack till the enemy were broken by our troops, and then to fall upon the Mexicans especially. Two large bodies of the enemy were found posted in strong and rocky ground, very difficult for our cavalry, insomuch, that before Sandoval could drive them from this post, one of his horses was killed, and nine wounded, as likewise were four of his soldiers. They were at length driven from this post into the town of Xocotlan, where they took post in the temples and some large walled courts; but were dislodged from these and put to flight with great slaughter, our Tlascalan allies giving good assistance, as they were incited by the hopes of abundant plunder. Sandoval halted two days in this place, to receive the submission of the chiefs, who begged pardon for what had passed, promising future obedience, and to supply us plentifully with provisions. On being ordered to restore the effects of the Spaniards whom they had slain, they replied that every thing of that kind had been burnt. They said, likewise that most of the Spaniards whom they had slain were eaten by them, except five, whom they sent to Guatimotzin38.

These expeditions were productive of the best effects, as they extended the fame of Cortes and the Spaniards through the whole country for valour and clemency; and our general became more dreaded and respected than Guatimotzin, the new sovereign of Mexico, insomuch that his authority was resorted to on all occasions of importance. The small-pox at this time committed dreadful ravages in New Spain, cutting off vast numbers of the natives, and among the rest, many of the chiefs and princes of the country became victims to this dreadful calamity. On these occasions, the claimants for succession to the vacant chiefships resorted to Cortes, as sovereign of the country, for his decision, which they uniformly submitted to. Among the rest, the lordship of Guacacualco and Ozucar became vacant, and the various claimants submitted their claims to the decision of Cortes, who decided in favour of a nephew of the late Montezuma, whose sister had been married to the former cacique of the district.

All the country around Tlascala and to the eastwards being now reduced to subjection, an order was issued to bring all the prisoners to a large house in the town of Segura, that the fifths belonging to the king and Cortes might be deducted, and the rest divided among the troops. The prisoners consisted of women, boys, and girls, as the men were found too difficult to keep, and our Tlascalan friends performed every service for us that we could desire, such as carrying our baggage, ammunition, and provisions, and all other drudgery. The prisoners were confined all night, and the repartition took place next morning. In the first place the king's fifth was set aside, and then that which belonged to Cortes; but when the shares of the soldiers came to be distributed, there remained only a parcel of old miserable jades, and it was found that some person had been in the depot during the night, who had taken away all the young and handsome women. This occasioned much clamour among the soldiers, who accused Cortes of injustice, and the soldiers of Narvaez swore no such thing had ever been heard of in the Spanish dominions as two kings and two fifths. One Juan de Quexo was very loud in his complaints on this occasion, declaring that he would make it known in Spain how we had been abused by Cortes, more especially in regard to the gold at Mexico, where only the value of 300,000 crowns appeared at the division, whereas 700,000 crowns worth were produced at the time of our flight. Many of the soldiers loudly complained of having their women taken from them, after they had given them clothes and ornaments, saying they had only expected to have paid the fifth of their values to the king, and then that each would have got back his own. Cortes protested that better regulations should he adopted in future, and got the affair hushed up with smooth words and fair promises; yet he soon attempted even worse than this. It may be remembered, that, on the fatal night of our retreat from Mexico, all the treasure was produced, and every soldier was allowed to take as much as he pleased. On this occasion, many of the soldiers of Narvaez, and some of our own, loaded themselves with gold. Cortes now learned that a quantity of gold in bars was in circulation among the troops at La Frontera, who were much engaged in deep play, and forgot the old adage, that riches and amours should be concealed. He now issued an order for all the gold to be delivered within a given time, under severe penalties for disobedience, and promised to return back a third part to all who delivered their gold, but that all should be forfeited in case of failure or evasion. Many of the soldiers refused obedience to this arbitrary order, and from some Cortes took their gold by way of loan, yet rather by force than with their consent. Many of our captains, and those who had civil offices in the colony, were possessed of gold, and at length Cortes was glad to quash the order and say no more about the matter.