On Those Scanty Proofs,
Cortes Sentenced Guatimotzin And The Prince Of Tacuba To Be Immediately
Hanged; And When The Preparations Were Made For The Execution, They Were
Led Forth To The Place Attended By The Reverend Fathers, Who Did Their
Utmost To Console Them In Their Last Moments.
Before his execution,
Guatimotzin addressed Cortes to the following effect:
"_Malintzin_! I now
see that your false words and flattering promises have ended in my death.
It had been better to have fallen by my own hands, than to have trusted
myself to your power. You take away my life unjustly, and may God demand
of you my innocent blood." The prince of Tacuba only said, that he was
happy to die along with his beloved sovereign. Thus did these two great
men end their lives, and, for Indians, most piously and like good
Christians. I lamented them both sincerely, having seen them in their
greatness. They always treated me kindly on this march, giving me Indians
to procure grass for my horse, and doing me many services. To me and all
of us, their sentence appeared cruel and unjust, and their deaths most
undeserved.
After this, we continued our march with much circumspection, being
apprehensive of a mutiny among the Mexican troops in revenge for the
execution of their chiefs; but these poor creatures were so exhausted by
famine, sickness, and fatigue, that they did not seem even to have
bestowed a thought on the matter. At night we came to a deserted village;
but on searching we found eight priests, whom we brought to Cortes.
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