But we added the immense territory of New Spain to the Spanish crown, without his majesty knowing anything about it; and it is for this reason I have written these memoirs, that the great, important, and excellent services which we have rendered to God, our emperor, and to the whole of Christendom, may become known; and I think, when everything is put into the same scale, and weighed according to its quantity, we shall be found equally deserving of remuneration as those cavaliers of previous times.
Though the number of courageous soldiers enumerated in a former chapter may have been considerable, yet I myself was not one of the least among them, and I had always the reputation of being a good soldier. If the curious reader has perused this history with attention, he will have seen in how many severe battles I fought, both during the two first voyages of discovery, and in the campaigns under Cortes, in New Spain; how nearly I was killed on two different occasions, and only escaped by the utmost exertion of my strength from being sacrificed to the abominable idols; not to mention the dreadful hardships I suffered from hunger, thirst, and cold, and the many perils to which those who go out for the discovery of new countries are inevitably exposed.
I will now relate the great advantages which Spain has derived from our illustrious conquests.