Note 129 — Chapter II
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Captain Diaz, a little loth sometimes, is emphatic in his encomiums on the valor shown by his commander on this occasion. “Here Cortés showed himself a very man, such as he always was. Oh, what a fighting, what a strenuous battle, did we have! It was a memorable thing to see us flowing with blood and full of wounds, and more than forty soldiers slain.” (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 126.) The pens of the old chroniclers keep pace with their swords in the display of this brilliant exploit:—“colla penna e colla spada,” equally fortunate. See Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 138.—Gomara, Crónica, cap. 106.—Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 22.—Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 9.—Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13.—Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 69.