CHAPTER CXCV.

This is all I know of the contents of the letter which his holiness wrote to Cortes; but everything I have above related of this mission to Rome I learnt from Herrada himself and from another soldier who had accompanied him named Campo. They staid altogether eight days at Rome, and his holiness, with the cardinals, were highly delighted with the performances of the Indian buffoons. His holiness even created Herrada a count palatine, presented him with a large sum of money for his journey back, and gave him a letter to our emperor, in which he requested his majesty to bestow upon him some lucrative commendary; but as Cortes, on his return to New Spain, had no longer the power to distribute lands or Indians, Herrada never derived any benefit from the pope's letter, and he repaired to Peru, where he made a brilliant career.