Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- EXTRACTS FROM INTRODUCTION BY SEÑOR DON GENARO GARCÍA
- BERNAL DÍAZ DEL CASTILLO: HIS LIFE
- INTRODUCTION BY THE TRANSLATOR
- NOTE ON SPELLING, ETC.
- ITINERARY—FEBRUARY 8, 1517, TO APRIL 21, 1519
- The True History of the Conquest of New Spain
- PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR
- BOOK I THE DISCOVERY: THE EXPEDITION UNDER FRANCISCO HERNÁNDEZ DE CÓRDOVA
- THE EXPEDITION UNDER JUAN DE GRIJALVA
- BOOK II THE EXPEDITION UNDER HERNANDO CORTÉS. THE VOYAGE
- CHAPTER XVII
- CHAPTER XVIII
- CHAPTER XIX
- CHAPTER XX
- CHAPTER XXI
- CHAPTER XXII
- CHAPTER XXIII
- CHAPTER XXIV
- CHAPTER XXV
- CHAPTER XXVI
- CHAPTER XXVII
- CHAPTER XXVIII
- CHAPTER XXIX
- CHAPTER XXX
- CHAPTER XXXI
- CHAPTER XXXII
- CHAPTER XXXIII
- CHAPTER XXXIV
- CHAPTER XXXV
- CHAPTER XXXVI
- CHAPTER XXXVII
- BOOK III THE MARCH INLAND
- BOOK IV THE WAR IN TLAXCALA
- APPENDIX
- GLOSSARY OF MEXICAN, SPANISH, AND OTHER FOREIGN WORDS
- PLACE-NAMES
- BIBLIOGRAPHY OF MEXICO
- INDEX
- Plate section
CHAPTER XXXIV
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- EXTRACTS FROM INTRODUCTION BY SEÑOR DON GENARO GARCÍA
- BERNAL DÍAZ DEL CASTILLO: HIS LIFE
- INTRODUCTION BY THE TRANSLATOR
- NOTE ON SPELLING, ETC.
- ITINERARY—FEBRUARY 8, 1517, TO APRIL 21, 1519
- The True History of the Conquest of New Spain
- PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR
- BOOK I THE DISCOVERY: THE EXPEDITION UNDER FRANCISCO HERNÁNDEZ DE CÓRDOVA
- THE EXPEDITION UNDER JUAN DE GRIJALVA
- BOOK II THE EXPEDITION UNDER HERNANDO CORTÉS. THE VOYAGE
- CHAPTER XVII
- CHAPTER XVIII
- CHAPTER XIX
- CHAPTER XX
- CHAPTER XXI
- CHAPTER XXII
- CHAPTER XXIII
- CHAPTER XXIV
- CHAPTER XXV
- CHAPTER XXVI
- CHAPTER XXVII
- CHAPTER XXVIII
- CHAPTER XXIX
- CHAPTER XXX
- CHAPTER XXXI
- CHAPTER XXXII
- CHAPTER XXXIII
- CHAPTER XXXIV
- CHAPTER XXXV
- CHAPTER XXXVI
- CHAPTER XXXVII
- BOOK III THE MARCH INLAND
- BOOK IV THE WAR IN TLAXCALA
- APPENDIX
- GLOSSARY OF MEXICAN, SPANISH, AND OTHER FOREIGN WORDS
- PLACE-NAMES
- BIBLIOGRAPHY OF MEXICO
- INDEX
- Plate section
Summary
How all the Caciques of Tabasco and its dependencies atttacked us, and what came of it.
I have already said how we were marching along when we met all the forces of the enemy which were moving in search of us, and all the men wore great feather crests and they carried drums and trumpets, and their faces were coloured black and white, and they were armed with large bows and arrows, lances and shields and swords shaped like our two-handed swords, and many slings and stones and fire-hardened javelins, and all wore quilted cotton armour. As they approached us their squadrons were so numerous that they covered the whole plain, and they rushed on us like mad dogs completely surrounding us, and they let fly such a cloud of arrows, javelins and stones that on the first assault they wounded over seventy of us, and fighting hand to hand they did us great damage with their lances, and one soldier fell dead at once from an arrow wound in the ear, and they kept on shooting and wounding us. With our muskets and crossbows and with good sword play we did not fail as stout fighters, and when they came to feel the edge of our swords little by little they fell back, but it was only so as to shoot at us in greater safety.
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- The True History of the Conquest of New Spain , pp. 118 - 122Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1908