The struggle which Contreras had so long maintained against the machinations of his foes was now drawing to an end. In the beginning of the year 1548, the licentiate Alonso Lopez de Cerrato, formerly president of the audiencia in Española, and now appointed to that of the Confines, arrived at Gracias á Dios. One of his first acts was to take the residencia of the governor, whereupon finding that the transfer of his encomiendas had been made after the passage of the new code, though before its publication in the province,[X‑40] he declared them confiscated. Contreras at once repaired to Spain to seek redress, and for some time after his departure his enemies were in constant dread lest he should regain his authority and return to take vengeance on his accusers. The alcaldes and regidores of Leon, having now made peace with the bishop, ordered their secretary to prepare a list of accusations against the departed governor,[X‑41] but only one of their number had the courage to sign it, each official fearing that his signature might afterward cost him his life. It was even requested that the entire family of the fallen ruler be recalled to Spain, for of his sons Hernando and Pedro it was stated that they had committed many excesses, and of his son-in-law, Arias Gonzalo, the alguacil mayor, that he kept a public gambling-house. Finally the decision of the oidor was confirmed by the council of the Indies, and Rodrigo de Contreras returned no more to Nicaragua.[X‑42] His children, however, still remained in the province, soon to figure as the leaders of a revolt which threatened, for a time, the very existence of Spain's dominion in the western world.
Although the ecclesiastics were held in little respect by a majority of the Spaniards, there is sufficient evidence that they labored faithfully in their calling. When Fray Toribio de Motolinia came from Guatemala, in the year 1528, to join certain Flemish friars then resident in Nicaragua, he founded at Granada the convent of Concepcion,[X‑43] and having a knowledge of the native language, was successful in his efforts, giving special care to the baptism and conversion of children. His stay was of short duration; but by others the work of christianizing the natives was continued with vigor. Gil Gonzalez is said to have baptized thirty-two thousand.[X‑44] Hernandez and Salcedo also baptized large numbers. Pedrarias, inasmuch as this great work had been accomplished without his intervention, affected contempt for such summary methods of conversion, and ordered an investigation to be made by Francisco de Bobadilla, a friar provincial of the order of Mercy, and by the public notary Bartolomé Perez. Diligent search was made by these officials, but it was found that the barbarians had either forgotten or never understood the truths of Christianity, and Bobadilla was obliged to perform this holy work anew. This friar baptized twenty-nine thousand and sixty-three persons in the province of Nicaragua, during a space of nine days,[X‑45] and later, between the 1st of September 1538 and the 5th of March 1539, fifty-two thousand five hundred and fifty-eight were baptized, though, as Oviedo says, "by no means could they be called converted."
On the 29th of August 1540, Hernando de Alvarado and Fray Juan de Padilla started from Granada toward the South Sea by way of Coiba,[X‑46] and were everywhere well received. When crosses were erected the natives adorned them with roses, and brought offerings of whatever they valued most. Some years later Fray Lorenzo de Bienvenida and thirty others left Yucatan for the province of Costa Rica[X‑47] to continue the work of conversion in those parts, and many may have fallen victims to their pious zeal. I may mention the sad fate of the martyr Fray Juan Pizarro. While laboring in one of the most remote districts of Nicaragua, he was seized by drunken savages during the celebration of one of their feasts, dragged over the rocks, beaten till he was almost lifeless, and then hanged; his murderers completing their work by burning down a church which he had erected at his own expense.
During the internal dissensions which have just been related, bands of hostile Indians taking advantage of the opportunity were continually committing depredations on the borders, robbing and slaughtering those of the natives who were at peace with the Spaniards, the cacique Lacandon being especially troublesome and refusing all overtures of peace. No progress could be made in forming new settlements or improving the condition of those already established. After the explorations conducted by Captain Machuca, we read of no important enterprise until the year of the governor's departure. In 1548 the contador Diego de Castañeda organized an expedition for the conquest of the district of Tegucigalpa.[X‑48] Through the treachery of the guides, his men were led into marshy and difficult ground, where they soon found themselves surrounded by hordes of savages. Repelling their attacks with much difficulty they made their way to the Desaguadero, and passing down that channel in barges landed on the shores of Costa Rica, where they founded the settlement of Nueva Jaen.[X‑49]
Diego Gutierrez Appointed Governor—Desertion of his Soldiers—He Proceeds to Nicaragua—The Advice of Contreras—The Expedition Sails for the Rio San Juan—Friendly Reception by the Natives—His Men Desert a Second Time—Reënforcements from Nicaragua and Nombre de Dios—The Historian Benzoni Joins the Party—Gutierrez as an Evangelist—He Inveigles Camachire and Cocori into his Camp—He Demands Gold under Pain of Death—Noble Conduct of the Cacique Cocori—The Spaniards March into the Interior—Their Sufferings from Hunger—They are Attacked and Massacred—Benzoni and Five Other Survivors Rescued by Alonso de Pisa.
Between the Rio San Juan and the province of Veragua lay a territory whose rugged and densely wooded surface had hitherto proved a barrier to Spanish conquest and colonization. Costa Rica, or Nueva Cartago, by both of which names this region was known,[XI‑1] yet remained almost a terra incognita to Europeans. During his last voyage, in the year 1502, Columbus had touched at several points on its northern shore. At the Golfo Dulce, on its southern coast, it will be remembered that Gil Gonzalez and his band were glad to find shelter in the trees from storm and flood.[XI‑2] Vague reports of a settlement named Cartago, founded early in the sixteenth century by some band of roaming adventurers, are mentioned in several of the early chroniclers; but when and by whom it was established, is a question[XI‑3] on which there is no conclusive evidence.
Costa Rica, 1545.
The exploration of the Rio San Juan, which had opened up a passage from the North Sea into the very heart of Nicaragua, awakened a more eager desire to possess this unknown region; and to the pride of conquest and discovery was added the all-pervading passion of the Spaniard, for it was believed that the armies of the great Montezuma had invaded the territory from a distance of more than six hundred leagues, and had brought thence many a rich specimen of gold. In 1540 Diego Gutierrez, a citizen of Madrid and brother to Felipe Gutierrez, who five years before had conducted the ill-fated expedition to Veragua, was appointed governor of this province, and soon afterward set forth on an enterprise which was destined to prove even more calamitous than the one conducted by his kinsman.
Gutierrez proceeded first to Española, where he raised a company of about two hundred men and sailed thence for Jamaica, the base of supplies for the colonies of Tierra Firme. Here a mutiny broke out among his men, causing the loss of all his military stores. Arriving at Nombre de Dios he fell sick, and while lying at the point of death his men deserted, and crossing over to Panamá took ship for Peru. Recovering from his illness he found himself with but five men and almost without means. He gathered courage, however, and fitting out a small barge sailed for the Rio San Juan, and so made his way to the city of Granada. Falling in with one Baena, a successful adventurer from Peru, he succeeded in borrowing from him three thousand castellanos with which he hoped to retrieve his fortunes.
Gutierrez now endeavored to enlist men in Nicaragua, but disputes between himself and Rodrigo de Contreras, the governor of that province, caused a further delay of two years. Contreras declared that his province extended to the border of Veragua and that there was no intervening territory for Gutierrez to colonize. Gutierrez on the other hand affirmed that the boundaries of Veragua and Castilla del Oro had been placed far south of those originally appointed, and that in consequence there existed a large domain of which he was appointed governor by a charter granted to him from the crown. Though the limits[XI‑4] of Costa Rica as set forth in this document were somewhat indefinite, Contreras at length admitted that his opponent was duly authorized to take possession of the newly created province. He then endeavored to dissuade him from his purpose, representing the country as rugged and his scheme as foolhardy and dangerous. "But if you persist in the occupation of that territory, take my advice," he said, "and keep one hundred well armed men upon the sea-shore, always ready to forage, sometimes in one direction and sometimes in another, for the people are rich in gold, and in this way only can you obtain food."[XI‑5]
The advice of Contreras was cruel, unjust, and contrary to law, but it was such alone as would lead to success, and the event proved that it was sound and politic. In a lofty strain that ill consisted with his future conduct Gutierrez replied: "The government of this province was conferred upon me by the emperor that I might people and not pillage it; and if fortune has been adverse to others, I trust in God that to me it may be more propitious."[XI‑6] It was fine doctrine, but doctrine that here would not win. Collecting a force of sixty men, he soon set sail with two vessels for the mouth of the Rio Surre.[XI‑7]
After ascending the river for about three leagues the party came in sight of some deserted huts, and there encamping, were visited by several caciques, who brought gold to the value of seven hundred ducats, and received in return some rosaries of beads, a few bells and trinkets, and an earnest exhortation to join the true faith. The native chieftains were well pleased with their visit, and on returning to their homes sent presents of fruit, fish, and the dried flesh of wild boars. A gleam of success thus at first attended Gutierrez' effort at colonization, but he was not destined to escape the disasters which seemed almost inseparable from the attempts of the Spaniards to establish settlements in the New World. He was a man of great tenacity of purpose, but irascible, and singularly deficient in power of control. At Jamaica his soldiers mutinied; at Nombre de Dios they deserted; at Costa Rica, suffering from hunger and the privations of pioneer life, they abandoned the enterprise, and stole away to the sea-shore, where they fell in with two vessels from Nombre de Dios and so made their way back to Nicaragua.
Left with only six followers,[XI‑8] his nephew Alonso de Pisa, one sailor, and four servants, Gutierrez had no alternative but to follow his recreant band. Digging a hole in the earth, he buried there several jars of salt, honey, and other stores not needed for his voyage, and embarking in a small river-boat descended to the sea. Soon he descried approaching the mouth of the river a brigantine, which proved to be in command of one Captain Bariento, with men, arms, ammunition, and provisions from Nicaragua. Thereupon he turned back, conducted the vessel to his settlement, and handing to his nephew all the gold that had been collected, amounting to eight hundred castellanos, bade him return with the ship to Nombre de Dios and there purchase arms and procure recruits. Girolomo Benzoni, the Italian chronicler of the New World, was at Nombre de Dios when Captain Pisa arrived early in 1545, and being, as he says, young and strong, filled with high aspirations, and desirous of enriching himself, he determined to return with the vessel to Nueva Cartago.[XI‑9] Other adventurers, lured by the promise of wealth, determined to join the expedition, and soon twenty-seven men were pledged for the new colony.
On the return voyage the brigantine encountered a gale near the entrance of the river and was driven to the islands of Zorobaro, a short distance from the coast. There they remained for seventy-two days, exposed to incessant rains, three of their number being killed by lightning. Such was the blackness of the storm that during all this time they did not see four hours of sunshine. The captain of the vessel went ashore on the mainland to obtain provisions, but after eight days' search midst forest, swamp, and mountain, during which time he subsisted on snails and berries, he returned empty-handed. Finally the men made their way to the encampment of Gutierrez, who, being determined at all hazard to people his territory, immediately sent the ship back to Nombre de Dios for more recruits, supplying funds to the amount of fifteen hundred castellanos. The number of the colonists was thereby increased to eighty men. Thus reënforced he began the exploration of his province. With four canoes he ascended the Rio Surre, and after making a distance of about ten leagues, landed at an Indian village to which he gave the name of San Francisco in honor of the saint on whose natal day the spot was reached. Here the party was met by certain caciques, who brought presents of fruit but no gold. The governor received them kindly, informing them through an interpreter that the strangers had in their possession a secret which was of the utmost value; that they had come a great distance, and some of them for no other purpose than to reveal it. In return for this the Christians must have gold.
The chiefs were then invited to a feast, the viands consisting of fowl and salt pork; but they had little relish for such food, and merely tasting it handed it to their attendants to be cast to the dogs. After the meal came an exhortation in which, as Benzoni relates, Gutierrez thus harangued his guests: "My very dear friends and brothers, I am come hither to free you from the chains of idolatry, by which through the influences of your evil spirits you have until now been bound. I am come to teach you the way to heaven, whence Jesus Christ, the son of God, descended to save you. With me I have brought holy men to teach you this faith, which to accept, and implicitly to obey our sovereign emperor Charles V., king of Spain and monarch of the world, and us his representatives, comprises your whole duty." To these words the chieftains bowed their heads, but without making answer, neither assenting to nor rejecting the munificent and disinterested offer of the Christians, who for a little yellow earthly metal gave in return the ineffable joys of heaven.
Nevertheless, the savages were slow to bring in their gold, and the governor, forgetting the lofty sentiments with which he had regaled Contreras prior to his departure from Nicaragua, looked about him for some means by which to enforce his injunctions. Being informed that two of the caciques, named Camachire and Cocori,[XI‑10] who had before presented him with treasure to the value of seven hundred ducats, were now encamped on the opposite side of the river, he summoned them into his presence, at the same time pledging his word for their safety. Reluctantly the chieftains came, and no sooner had they placed themselves in the power of the Spaniards than Gutierrez ordered a strong iron collar to be fastened round their necks, and chaining them to a beam in his dwelling, taxed them with stealing the buried jars of salt and honey, and demanded restitution, or, as an equivalent, a large amount of gold. They answered that they knew nothing of the matter, and had no need to pilfer articles of which they possessed an abundant store. Camachire procured gold to the value of two thousand ducats, which was greedily appropriated by the governor, but served only to whet his appetite. In place of thanks, baptism, and restoration to liberty, the cacique was dragged before a burning fire; a large basket was placed beside him, and he was told that unless, within four days, he obtained gold enough to fill it six times he should be burned to death.[XI‑11] The trembling native promised to comply, and sent out his slaves to collect the treasure. Perceiving the Indian to be tractable, and believing him anxious to comply in good faith with the demand, Gutierrez permitted him to be led every day to the stream to bathe, as was his daily habit. Returning on one occasion from the bath, the soldier having the captive in charge neglected to secure him properly, and the following night he made his escape.
Cocori, who yet remained a prisoner, had now to bear the brunt of the governor's wrath. After being frequently importuned for gold, which he always declared himself unable to obtain, he was led daily to a spot where blood-hounds were chained; bid to observe well their huge teeth and gleaming eyes; and threatened that unless gold were soon forthcoming he should be torn and devoured by these ferocious brutes. At length the indignation of the chieftain overcame his fear. "You lie, bad Christians," he exclaimed, "for often have you made the same threat and yet I live; besides I would rather die than live in bondage among such vipers which I greatly wonder how the earth can bear." The noble native was then reserved for use as a pack animal. Thus did Diego Gutierrez fulfil his promise to people the province and not to pillage it.
It was soon noised abroad that the strangers who had brought to the shores of Costa Rica the glad tidings of the gospel were more to be dreaded than the evil spirits which they had come to exorcise; and the neighboring caciques, fearing to attack the Spaniards, laid waste their own lands, destroyed their crops, burned their dwellings and withdrew to the mountains, until starvation should compel the intruders to abandon the territory. The governor soon found himself in evil plight; moreover he possessed a temperament singularly adapted to inspire distrust, discontent, and melancholy among his followers. Again they threatened to desert him and return to Nombre de Dios or Nicaragua, leaving him in sole possession of the boundless forests, sole ruler over naked and hostile natives. He had but one alternative—to push on boldly into the heart of the province in the hope of finding gold or at least a store of provisions. After some persuasion the men agreed to accompany him. The sick and disabled were sent back to the sea-shore, where Alonso de Pisa was stationed with twenty-four men, bearing orders that he should march through the forest along a track which would be designated by placing crosses along the route. Dividing a scanty stock of grain among his soldiers, now mustering but forty capable of bearing arms, Gutierrez plunged blindly into the wilderness.
On setting out upon this hazardous raid, Benzoni, who affirms that he realized fully the situation, remarked to a comrade, "We are going to the shambles." Whereupon the other, a man of more sanguine temperament, made answer: "Thou art one of those who, we intend, shalt have a principality in spite of thyself."[XI‑12] For six days no human habitation was seen. Through dense woods they journeyed, climbing the mountain sides by clinging to the roots of trees, and making the descent by sliding down their steep declivities. Leaves were their chief food, and some half-picked bones, which the wild beasts had abandoned, furnished them a rich repast.
The temper of the governor was no more happy than his situation. Arriving at a spot where the path divided, Gutierrez demanded of an Indian belonging to the train which route to pursue in order to arrive at some native villages of which they were in search. He replied that he did not know; whereupon the governor taking it for granted that the answer was false ordered his head to be stricken off by a negro slave. The same question was then put to Cocori, who now served the Spaniards as a beast of burden;[XI‑13] and the same reply was made. Again the cruel governor gave the order to kill. As the executioner approached him the brave cacique instantly laid down his burden, bowed his head, and calmly awaited the expected blow. Struck by the noble bearing of the cacique and his own infamous conduct, Gutierrez countermanded the order, and the chieftain's life was spared to further misery. On the spot where these incidents occurred three soldiers were obliged from exhaustion to rest, while the company advanced. They were soon afterward massacred by the Indians. The dogs were now killed and their carcasses divided among the men, the governor refusing to share with them the more wholesome viands which he had reserved for his own use.[XI‑14]
But the career of Diego Gutierrez was well-nigh closed. The party was now upon the southern slope of the cordillera, on the banks of a large stream which flows into the South Sea[XI‑15] and the time was July 1545. A small band of disaffected men miserably clad, and destitute of food, had thus wandered far into the interior of a wilderness. Whither were they bound, and what the insane hope that urged them forward? Gutierrez who had been twice abandoned by his soldiers, was now resolved that these men whom he had brought with so much labor and expense from Nicaragua and Nombre de Dios should not escape him. Alarmed by their loud murmuring at the place called San Francisco, he had hastily departed, cutting off, as many other Spanish leaders had done before him, all hope of ever returning except as a successful man. Could he have pilfered from the natives and thereby obtained food and gold, thus keeping his men in heart until the arrival of Alonso de Pisa, all would have been well. But until reaching the southern declivity of the mountains the country was everywhere deserted. So rugged had been their path, and so toilsome their march, that they were now exhausted, and the natives whom before they had so much longed to meet and make their prey were now congregating to prey upon them.
A day or two later the Spaniards were approaching the verge of a forest. An Indian hidden behind the trees to watch their movements was observed running off at full speed to give the alarm. Next morning at daybreak they were attacked by a horde of natives who "advanced," as Benzoni relates, "with horrid howls and screams and noises with the buccinus—shells and drums—all painted red and black, adorned with feathers, and golden trinkets round their necks." "In one half of a quarter of an hour," continues the chronicler, "during which we killed and wounded a great many Indians, we made them turn their shoulders."[XI‑16] They soon returned, however, and renewed the conflict. The Spaniards, worn with toil and fasting, were quickly overpowered and all but six were slain. Gutierrez fell[XI‑17] mortally wounded, and his head, hands, and feet were afterward severed from his body and borne as trophies through the region which he had proposed to subjugate.
Benzoni stumbled upon the helmet of a dead comrade, but for which circumstance no history of the New World would ever have been produced by him. "For," says he, "the stones from the savages hailed upon it with such force that it looked as if it had been hammered by a smith." After some hair-breadth escapes on which the historian fondly lingers, he was rescued together with his five comrades by the timely arrival of Alonso de Pisa's detachment, and marching night and day the survivors made their way back to the Rio San Juan, and thence embarked for Nombre de Dios.[XI‑18]
The Adelantado's Match-making Venture—Its Failure—Alvarado's Commission from the Crown—He Lands at Puerto de Caballos—And Thence Proceeds to Iztapa—His Armament—He Sails for Mexico—His Defeat at Nochistlan—His Penitence, Death, and Last Will—Character of the Conqueror—Comparison of Traits with Those of Cortés—While above Pizarro He was far beneath Sandoval—His Delight in Bloodshed for its own Sake—The Resting-place and Epitaph—Alvarado's Progeny.
Of the events in Guatemala during the three years succeeding the arrival of Maldonado the chroniclers are somewhat silent. In a letter to the emperor, dated December 10, 1537, the viceroy Mendoza states that he had received from the oidor a report wherein the province is represented to be at peace and in a prosperous condition, and that other accounts had reached him representing the country to be well governed. If this were so Maldonado's character soon changed for the worse, for later we shall find in him much to his discredit.
Early in 1538 a royal decree was received in the city of Santiago, ordering that all who held encomiendas were to marry within three years from the date of their notification, or to forfeit their Indians in favor of married persons.[XII‑1] This order met with general disapproval, and the cabildo petitioned the king to reconsider the matter. Eligible women, they said, could be found only in the city of Mexico, so remote from the province of Guatemala that the expense of the journey was beyond the means of most colonists. Many declined to marry because they would not link themselves with persons socially their inferiors,[XII‑2] while the small number of Indians assigned to some would prevent their supporting a family.
On his return from Spain in the following year Alvarado reports to the cabildo that, in company with his wife, come twenty maidens, well bred, the daughters of gentlemen of good lineage, and he expresses confidence that none of this merchandise will remain on his hands. But the venture does not meet with the success the adelantado anticipated. At one of the entertainments given in honor of his arrival, and at which, relates Vega,[XII‑3] many of the conquistadores were present, these damsels, who, concealed behind a screen in an adjoining apartment, were witnessing the festivities, commented on the appearance of their prospective husbands in the most disparaging terms. "They say," remarked one to her companions, "that these are to be our husbands." "What! marry those old fellows?" was the reply. "Let those wed them who choose; I will not; the devil take them! One would think by the way they are cut up that they just escaped from the infernal regions; for some are lame, some with but one hand, others without ears, others with only one eye, others with half their face gone, and the best of them have one or two cuts across the forehead." "We are not to marry them for their good looks," said a third, "but for the purpose of inheriting their Indians; for they are so old and worn out that they will soon die, and then we can choose in place of these old men young fellows to our tastes, in the same manner that an old broken kettle is exchanged for one that is new and sound."
Now it chanced that one of the 'old fellows' overheard what was said and told his companions. "Marry with them by all means," was his advice, and then he went and took to himself the daughter of a cacique.
During his residence in Spain Alvarado obtained under a commission from the crown, dated April 17, 1538, the grant of the twenty-fifth part of all islands and lands which he might discover, with the title of count, and the seignory and jurisdiction over them; he was appointed governor and captain general for life over all such territories, and was authorized to erect on them three forts; he was, moreover, made alguacil mayor in perpetuity, and exempted from all interference by judges or other officers in everything pertaining to the fitting-out of his fleets. The expedition was to be made at his own expense, and he was to take a westerly direction toward China and the Spice Islands.[XII‑4] From a letter of the viceroy of Mexico we also learn that he was authorized to extend his explorations northward,[XII‑5] and that the emperor directed all the principal officials of the New World to aid in the arrest and punishment of any of Alvarado's subordinates who, when discoveries had been made, should revolt, fail to fulfil missions intrusted to them, or disobey him under any pretext. No clemency would be extended by the crown to such offenders. These privileges were granted in consideration of his services in the conquests of Mexico and Guatemala.[XII‑6]
Early in 1539 the adelantado set sail from Spain, accompanied by his wife Doña Beatriz de la Cueva,[XII‑7] and on the 4th of April landed in state at Puerto de Caballos, with three large vessels well filled with provisions, materials of war, and all things needed to equip a second fleet on the shores of the South Sea. He was attended by a large retinue of cavaliers. Among his troops were three hundred arquebusiers all well armed and accoutred.[XII‑8]
Collecting a large number of natives he at once began the task of transporting his ponderous freight toward the coast of Guatemala. Anchors each weighing three or four hundred pounds, artillery and munitions, iron, chain cables, heavy ship tackle, and cases of merchandise were dragged along by Indians yoked together like draught-animals or carried on their naked shoulders, to be conveyed a distance of a hundred and thirty leagues across a mountainous and difficult country. Forty-three days were consumed in making the journey to Gracias á Dios.[XII‑9] Numbers of the unfortunates succumbed and dropped senseless, only to receive the curses of the commander as he ordered their burdens to be placed on the backs of others, who were constantly arriving in fresh relays from Guatemala. In this manner he pushed on toward the port of Iztapa, where the frames of a number of ships had already been constructed.[XII‑10] On his arrival Alvarado spared no expense in completing his armament, not only using all his own available means, but borrowing largely and purchasing vessels on credit.[XII‑11]
About August 1539, Friar Marcos de Niza, who had for some time past been travelling in the unexplored regions far to the north of Mexico, returned, with the marvellous tale of the seven cities of Cíbola and their wonderful wealth.[XII‑12] The news spread and the excitement became great. Half a dozen rivals claimed the exclusive right to the exploration of that country, and among them Alvarado,[XII‑13] who accordingly hurried forward the preparations for his enterprise.
Before the middle of 1540 his command had been reënforced by numerous recruits, and a fleet of at least twelve[XII‑14] vessels had been constructed, and equipped with everything that foresight could suggest. Leaving Don Francisco de la Cueva as his lieutenant-governor, the adelantado sailed from Iztapa,[XII‑15] and landing at Navidad in Jalisco proceeded to Mexico, where he entered into arrangements with Mendoza relative to the expedition, and their individual interests in it.[XII‑16] The agreement was not concluded without considerable wrangling as to terms, and Alvarado probably considered himself somewhat overreached by the viceroy.
Having remained five or six months in Mexico he was now prepared to set forth on his expedition,[XII‑17] when an insurrection having broken out in Jalisco his assistance in suppressing it was requested by the acting governor Oñate. Contrary to advice he entered the revolted province with his own troops, not waiting for other forces to join him, and attacking the peñol of Nochistlan met with the defeat which has already been described.[XII‑18] While covering the retreat at the head of the rear-guard, his secretary Montoya, in panic flight, so urged his exhausted steed up a steep ascent that the animal lost his foothold and rolling over struck Alvarado, who was toiling upward on foot leading his horse, and crushed his chest. His followers, hastening to his assistance, found him insensible, and as soon as he had somewhat revived carried him on a litter to Guadalajara. He suffered greatly, but his chief anxiety was to procure a priest to whom he could relieve his burdened soul. Borne along on this his last journey, his sins weighed even more heavily upon him than bodily torture, and it was with relief that he greeted the arrival of a friar who had been summoned from a neighboring town. To him, under some pine-trees on the roadside, the conqueror of Guatemala confessed, and lingering for yet a few days, received such consolation as the rites of religion could give.[XII‑19] It was the 4th of July 1541 that he breathed his last, having made a will by which he appointed Juan de Alvarado of the city of Mexico and Bishop Marroquin of Santiago his executors. His exhaustion did not permit full details, but he gave instructions that the will should be sent to the prelate with whom he had communicated concerning the performance of certain matters for the benefit of his soul. He ordered his body to be deposited in the church of Guadalajara, thence removed to the convent at Tiripitío, and finally interred in that of Santo Domingo, in the city of Mexico.[XII‑20] To meet the expenses of his funeral enough of his property in Guadalajara or Mexico was to be sold by auction; and he left strict injunctions that all his debts should be paid, subject to the discretion of Bishop Marroquin.[XII‑21] All his remaining property was bequeathed to his wife, and summoning before him the captains and officers of his vessels he ordered them to return to Guatemala and deliver them into her possession; but this injunction was never executed. After the adelantado's decease, his men dispersed in different directions, some remaining in Mexico, others returning to Guatemala or making their way to Peru, while the fleet which had been constructed at so great an expense and at the cost of hundreds of lives, was appropriated by Mendoza. His estate was so encumbered that the viceroy did not suppose that any one would accept as a gift the inheritance with its liabilities,[XII‑22] and in another letter stated that no one cared to do so.[XII‑23]
Duly authorized by Juan de Alvarado, his co-executor, to settle Alvarado's estate, Bishop Marroquin framed a will, bearing date of June 30, 1542, in accordance with what he represents were the wishes of Alvarado. It is quite voluminous and is, with the exception of the preamble, given in full by Remesal. Much is done for the relief of Alvarado's soul, which we grant was needful, and to be expected under the circumstances. The document further chiefly concerns the liberation of Indian slaves, the founding of chaplaincies and altars, the payment of his numerous debts, and the bequest of insignificant sums to his illegitimate sons.[XII‑24]
In a vault beneath the high altar of the cathedral of Guatemala the remains of Pedro de Alvarado were finally laid at rest. Comparing him with other conquerors of his age he was second as a commander only to Cortés, though in character and system of action he was his opposite. Cortés possessed a certain greatness and nobility of soul: Alvarado was mendacious, treacherous, and dishonest; his frank demeanor cloaked deceit, and favors heaped upon him were repaid with ingratitude. In the breast of Cortés beat an affectionate heart, stern though it was, and he seldom failed to win the true regard of his followers. The conqueror of Guatemala was void of affection even for women, and his choice of wife or mistress was inspired by ambition or lust. To govern by fear was his delight. Cortés was cautious and far-sighted; Alvarado impetuous, never anticipating other than favorable results. In versatility, as well as in mental and moral qualities, Cortés was far superior to the adelantado—instance the mutiny at Patinamit. Cortés would have suppressed it, had such a thing ever occurred under his command. Alvarado's career hardly affords the means of fairly estimating his qualities as a commander, for he never met his countrymen in the field. Nevertheless, though his victories were chiefly owing to superiority in arms and discipline, he displayed on several occasions genuine military skill, and his quick perception, coolness, and presence of mind, which no extremity of danger disturbed, ever enabled him to act promptly and rightly in the most critical positions. That he never sustained a reverse in arms, from the time he left Mexico in 1523 until the disaster which caused his death, indicates generalship of no mean order. As a governor he was tyrannical,[XII‑25] and his capacity for ruling was inferior to his ability in the field.[XII‑26]
Judged even by the standard of his age it must be said of him that, while ever proclaiming disinterestedness and loyalty to the crown,[XII‑27] none of his contemporaries were inspired by a more restless ambition, and few actuated by more thoroughly selfish motives. Success appears to have rendered him callous to any sense of shame, and in the last effort of his life he was prompted by boyish egotism and foolish pride, being spurred by jealous opposition to the man through whose favor he had been raised to his high station.[XII‑28] A perusal of the despatches written during his later years would without other evidence lead to the conclusion that he was the victim of a general attack directed against him by his countrymen, who denied his services to the emperor, misrepresented his motives, and decried his conduct. But his earlier letters addressed to Cortés during the days of their friendship, reveal more correctly the true character of the man. There we see portrayed his audacity, his presence of mind in danger, his capacity as a leader, his diabolic delight in bloodshed, blended with the superstition then strangely prevalent among his countrymen, that, while thus serving the devil to the uttermost, he was glorifying God, and winning for himself celestial favors.[XII‑29]