Aggrieved at the brusqueness of his commander, Sandoval sent in his report without presenting himself; but Cortés had by this time recognized the injustice of his treatment, and actuated by policy no less than by affection, he summoned his captain and frankly avowed his haste, thus strengthening the friendship which ever after bound them.
The victories in Chalco left secure the entire region between Villa Rica and the Spanish lines, and communication was henceforth regularly maintained, permitting fresh supplies and war material to be brought from a vessel which had recently reached the coast.
A great event was the arrival of three vessels with two hundred Spaniards, eighty horses, and a full complement of arms, ammunition, and other effects, partly bought and partly enlisted by the agents whom Cortés had despatched to the Islands during the previous autumn.
Among the new-comers were Julian de Alderete of Tordesillas, appointed royal treasurer for New Spain, and the Franciscan Pedro Melgarejo de Urrea of Seville, bearing a supply of papal indulgences for the men who had been engaged in the crusade. That the soldiers were conscious of frequent transgressions may be judged from the suggestive and not wholly reverential observation of Bernal Diaz, that “after patching their defects the friar returned to Spain within a few months, a rich man.”14
Cortés was cheered by offers of submission and alliance, owing partly to the good offices of Tezcucans and other allies. Some came from places quite distant, such as Nautla and Tuzapan, on the coast north of Villa Rica, laden as usual with presents.15 Another pleasing evidence of still more devoted loyalty came not long after from the south, from the country of the valiant Chinantecs, of the long pikes. During the great uprising, when Spaniards in small or straggling parties had everywhere been slaughtered, this people faithfully