 Book 3, Chapter 3 of the History of the Conquest of Mejico. The Spaniards were allowed to repose and disturb the following day, and to recruit their strength after the fatigue and hard fighting on the proceeding. They found sufficient employment, however, in repairing and cleaning their weapons, replenishing their diminished stock of arrows, and getting everything in order for further hostilities, should the severe lesson they had inflicted on the enemy prove insufficient to discourage him. From the second day, as Cortes received no overtures from the Tulasculans, he determined to send an embassy to their camp, proposing a cessation of hostilities, and expressing his intention to visit their capital as a friend. He selected two of the principal chiefs taken in the late engagement as the bearers of the message. Meanwhile, averse to living his men longer in a dangerous state of inaction, which the enemy might interpret as the result of timidity or exhaustion, he put himself at the head of the cavalry, and such light troops as were most fit for service, and made a foray into the neighbouring country. It was a mountainous region formed by a ramification of the great Sierra of Tulascula, with verdant slopes and valleys teeming with maize and plantations of mage, while the eminences were crowned with populous towns and villages. In one of these he tells us he found three thousand dwellings. In some places he met with a resolute resistance, and on these occasions took ample vengeance by laying the country waste with fire and sword. After a successful in-road, he returned laden with forge and provisions, and driving before him several hundred Indian captives. He treated them kindly, however, when arrived in camp, endeavouring to make them understand that these acts of violence were not dictated by his own wishes, but by the unfriendly policy of their countrymen. In this way he hoped to impress the nation with the conviction of his power on the one hand, and of his amicable intentions if met by them in the like spirit on the other. On reaching his quarters he found the two envoys returned from the Tulasculan camp. They had fallen in with Cicottencat led about two leagues' distance where he lay in camp with a powerful force. The Cacique gave them audience at the head of his troops. He told them to return with the answer, that the Spaniards might pass on as soon as they chose to Tulascula, and when they reached it their flesh would be hewn from their bodies for sacrifice to the gods. If they preferred to remain in their own quarters he would pay them a visit there the next day. The ambassadors added that the chief had an immense force with him consisting of five battalions of ten thousand men each. They were the flower of the Tulasculan and Otomi warriors assembled under the banners of their respective leaders by command of the senate who were resolved to try the fortunes of the state in a pitched battle, and strike one decisive blow for the extermination of the invaders. His bold defiance fell heavily on the ears of the Spaniards, not prepared for so pertinacious a spirit in their enemy. They had had ample proof of his courage and formidable prowess. There were now in their crippled condition to encounter him with a still more terrible array of numbers. The war, too, from the horrible fate with which it menaced the vanquished wore a peculiarly gloomy aspect that pressed heavily on their spirits. We fear death, says the line-hearted Diaz with his usual simplicity, for we were men. There was scarcely one in the army that did not confess himself that night to the reverend father Olmedo, who was occupied nearly the whole of it with administering Ipsolution and with the other solemn offices of the church. Armed with the blessed sacraments the Catholic soldier lay tranquilly down to rest, prepared for any fate that might betide him under the banner of the cross. As a battle was now inevitable, Cortés resolved to march out and meet the enemy in the field. This would have a show of confidence that might serve the double purpose of intimidating the Tulasculans and inspiring his own men, whose enthusiasm might lose somewhat of its heat if compelled to await the assault of their antagonists inactive in their own entrenchments. The sun rose bright on the following morning, the 5th of September, 1519, an eventful day in the history of Spanish conquest. The general reviewed his army and gave them preparatory to marching, a few words of encouragement and advice. The infantry instructed to rely on the point rather than the edge of their swords and to endeavour to thrust their opponents through the body. The horsemen were to charge at half-speed with their lances aimed at the eyes of the Indians. The artillery, the archipassiers, and crossbowmen were to support one another, some loading while others discharged their pieces that there should be an unintermitted firing kept up through the action. Above all they were to maintain their ranks close and unbroken as on this depended their preservation. They had not advanced a quarter of a leak when they came inside of the Tulasculan army. Its dense array stretched far and wide over a vast plainer meadow-ground about six miles square. Its appearance justified the report which had been given of its numbers. Nothing could be more picturesque than the aspect of these Indian battalions, with the naked bodies of the common soldiers godly painted, the fantastic helmets of the chiefs glittering with golden precious stones, and the glowing panoplies of featherwork which decorated their persons. Innumerable spears and darts tipped with points of transparent idzli or fiery copper sparkled bright in the morning sun, like the phosphoric gleams playing on the surface of a troubled sea. While the rear of the mighty host was dark with the shadows of banners on which were emblazoned, the armorial bearings of the great Tulasculan and Ottoman chieftains. Among these the white heron on the rock, the cognizance of the house of Sikotenkadil, was conspicuous and still more, the golden eagle without spread wings in the fashion of a Roman signum, richly ornamented with emeralds and silverwork, the great standard of the Republic of Tulascula. The common phial wore no covering except a girdle around the loins. Their bodies were painted with the appropriate colors of the chieftain whose banner they followed. The feather-male of the higher class of warriors exhibited also a similar selection of colors for the like object, in the same manner as the color of the tartan indicates the peculiar clan of the Highlander. The casiques and principal warriors were clothed in a quilted cotton tunic, two inches thick, which, fitting close to the body, protected also the thighs and the shoulders. Over this the wealthier Indians wore curises of thin gold, plate or silver. Their legs were defended by leather and boots or sandals trimmed with gold. But the most brilliant part of their costume was a rich mantle of the plumagee or featherwork embroidered with curious art and furnishing some resemblance to the gorgeous surcoat worn by the European knight over his armor in the Middle Ages. This graceful and picturesque dress was surmounted by a fantastic headpiece made of wood or leather representing the head of some wild animal and frequently displaying a formidable array of teeth. With this covering the warrior's head was enveloped, producing a most grotesque and hideous effect. From the crown floated a splendid panache of the richly variegated plumage of the tropics indicating by its form and colors the rank and family of the wearer. To complete their defensive armor they carried shields or targets made sometimes of wood covered with leather but more usually of a light frame of reeds quilted with cotton which were preferred as tougher and less liable to fracture than the former. They had other bucklers in which the cotton was covered with an elastic substance enabling them to be shut up in a more compact form like a fan or umbrella. These shields were decorated with showy ornaments according to the taste or wealth of the wearer and fringed with a beautiful pendant of featherwork. Their weapons were slings, bows and arrows, javelins and darts. They were accomplished archers and would discharge two or even three arrows at a time. But they were most excelled in throwing the javelin. One species of this with a thong attached to it which remained in the slinger's hand that he might recall the weapon was especially dreaded by the Spaniards. These various weapons were pointed with bone or with mineral izzidli, obsidian, the hard vitreous substance already noticed as capable of taking an edge like a razor though easily blunted. Their spares and arrows were also frequently headed with copper. Instead of a sword they bore a two-handed staff about three feet and a half long in which, at regular distances, were inserted, transversely, sharp blades of izzidli, a formidable weapon which, an eyewitness assures us, he had seen fell a horse at a blow. Such was the costume of the Tulasculan warrior and indeed of that great family of nations generally who occupy the plateau of Anahuac. Some parts of it, as the targets in the cotton mail or Escuapel as it was called in Castilian, were so excellent that they were subsequently adopted by the Spaniards as equally effectual in the way of protection and superior on the score of lightness and convenience to their own. They were of sufficient strength to turn an arrow or the stroke of a javelin, although important as a defense against firearms. But what armor is not? Yet it is probably no exaggeration to say that, in convenience, gracefulness and strength, the arms of the Indian warrior were not very inferior to those of the polished nations of antiquity. As soon as the Castilians came in sight, the Tulasculans set up their yell of defiance rising high above the wild barbaric minstrelty of shell, edible, and trumpet with which they proclaimed their triumphant anticipations of victory over the paltry forces of the invaders. When the latter had come within both shot, the Indians hurled a tempest of missiles that darkened the sun for a moment as with a passing cloud strewing the earth around with heaps of stones and arrows. Slowly and steadily the little band of Spaniards held on its way amidst this arrowish shower until it had reached what appeared the proper distance for delivering its fire with full effect. Cortes then halted, and hastily forming his troops, opened a general well-directed fire along the whole line. Every shot bore its errand of death, and the ranks of the Indians were mowed down faster than their comrades in the rear could carry off their bodies, according to custom from the field. The balls in their passage through the crowded files bearing splinters of the broken harness and mangled limbs of the warriors scattered havoc and desolation in their path. The mob of barbarians stood petrified with dismay till at length galled to desperation by their intolerable suffering they poured forth simultaneously their hideous warshrie can rushed impetuously on the Christians. On they came like an avalanche or mountain torrent shaking the solid earth and sweeping away every obstacle in its path. The little army of Spaniards opposed a bold front to the overwhelming mass, but no strength could withstand it. They faltered, gave way, were born along before it and their ranks were broken and thrown into disorder. It was in vain the general called on them to close again and rally. His voice was drowned by the din of fight and the fierce cries of the assailants. For a moment it seemed that all was lost. The tide of battle had turned against them and the fate of the Christians was sealed. But every man had that within his bosom which spoke louder than the voice of the general. The spare gave unnatural energy to his arms. The naked body of the Indian afforded no resistance to the sharp Toledo steel and with their good swords the Spanish infantry at length succeeded in slaying the human torrent. The heavy guns from a distance thundered on the flank of the assailants which shaken by the iron tempest was thrown into disorder. Their varying numbers increased the confusion as they were precipitated on the masses in front. The horse at the same time charging gallantly under Cortez followed up the advantage and at length compelled the tumultuous throng to fall back with greater precipitation and disorder than that with which they had advanced. More than once in the course of the action a similar assault was attempted by the Tulasculins but each time with less spirit and greater loss they were too deficient in military science to profit by their vast superiority in numbers. They were distributed into companies it is true, each serving under its own chieftain and banner, but they were not arranged by rank and file and moved in a confused mass promiscuously heaped together. They knew not how to concentrate numbers on a given point or even how to sustain an assault by employing successive detachments to support and relieve one another. A very small part only of their array could be brought into contact with an enemy inferior to them in amount of forces. The remainder of the army inactive and worse than useless in the rear served only to press tumultuously on the advance and embarrass its movements by mere weight of numbers while in the least alarm they were seized with a panic and threw the whole body into an extricable confusion. It was in short the combat of the ancient Greeks and Persians over again. Still the great numerical superiority of the Indians might have enabled them at a severe cost of their own lives indeed to wear out in time the constancy of the Spaniards disabled by wounds and incessant fatigue. But fortunately for the latter, dissensions arose among their enemies. It Alaskan Chieftain, commanding one of the great divisions, had taken Umbrage at the haughty demeanor of Cicotin Cattle who had charged him with misconduct or cowardice in the late action. The injured Kastike challenged his rival to single combat. This did not take place, burning with resentment he chose the present occasion to indulge it by drawing off his forces amounting to ten thousand men from the field. He also persuaded another of the commanders to follow his example. Thus reduced to about half his original strength and that greatly crippled by the losses of the day, Cicotin Cattle could no longer maintain his ground against the Spaniards. After disputing the field with admirable courage for four hours, he retreated and resigned it to the enemy. The Spaniards were too much jaded and too many were disabled by wounds to allow them to pursue, and Cortés, satisfied with a decisive victory he had gained, returned in triumph to his position on the hill of Zompak. The number of killed in his own ranks had been very small, notwithstanding the severe loss inflicted on the enemy. These few he was careful to bury where they could not be discovered, anxious to conceal not only the amount of the slain, but the fact that the Whites were mortal. But very many of the men were wounded and all the horses. The trouble of the Spaniards was much enhanced by the want of many articles important to them in their present exigency. They had neither oil nor salt which as before noticed was not to be obtained in Tulascula. Their clothing, accommodated to a softer climate, was ill-adapted to the rude air of the mountains and bows and arrows, as Bernal Diaz, sarcastically remarks, formed an indifferent protection against the inclinancy of the weather. Still, they had much to cheer them in the events of the day, and they might draw from them a reasonable ground for confidence in their own resources, such as no other experience could have supplied, not that the results could authorize anything like contempt for their Indian foe. Singly and with the same weapons he might have stood his grounds against the Spaniards, but the success of the day established the superiority of science and discipline over mere physical courage and numbers. It was fighting over again, as we have said, the old battle of the European and the Asiatic, but the handful of Greeks who routed the hosts of Circuses and Darius, it must be remembered, had not so obvious an advantage on the score of weapons as was enjoyed by the Spaniards in these wars. The use of firearms gave an ascendancy which cannot easily be estimated, one so great that a contest between nations equally civilized, which should be similar in all other respects to that between the Spaniards and the Tulasculans would probably be attended with a similar issue. To all this must be added the effect produced by the cavalry. The nations of Anahuac had no large domesticated animals, and were unacquainted with any beast of burden. Their imaginations were bewildered when they beheld the strange apparition of the horse and its rider moving in unison and obedient to one impulse, as if possessed of a common nature, and as they saw the terrible animal with his neck clothed in thunder, bearing down their squadrons and trampling them in the dust, no wonder they should have regarded him with the mysterious terror felt for a supernatural being. A very little reflection on the manifold grounds of superiority, both moral and physical possessed by the Spaniards in this contest, will surely explain the issue without any disparagement to the courage or capacity of their opponents. Cortes, thinking the occasion favourable, followed up the important blow he had struck by a new mission to the capital bearing a message of similar import with that recently sent to the camp. But the senate was not yet sufficiently humbled, the late defeat caused indeed general consternation. Maxx Katzin, one of the four great lords who presided over the Republic, reiterated with greater force the arguments before urged by him for embracing the proffered alliance of strangers. The armies of the state had been beaten too often to allow any reasonable hope of successful resistance, and he enlarged on the generosity shown by the politic conqueror to his prisoners, so unusual in Anahuac as an additional motive for an alliance with men who knew how to be friends as well as foes. But in these views he was overruled by the war party whose animosity was sharpened rather than subdued by the late disconfiture. Their hostile feelings were further exasperated by the younger Exiquitin Cuttle who burned for an opportunity to retrieve his disgrace and to wipe away the stain which had fallen for the first time on the arms of the Republic. In their perplexity they called in the assistance of the priests whose authority was frequently invoked in the deliberations of the American chiefs. The latter inquired with some simplicity of these interpreters of fate whether the strangers were supernatural beings or men of flesh and blood like themselves. The priests, after some consultation, are said to have made a strange answer, that the Spaniards, though not gods, were children of the sun, that they derived their strength from that luminary end, when his beams were withdrawn their powers would also fail. They recommended a night attack therefore as one which afforded the best chance of success. This apparently childish response may have had in it more of cunning than credulity. It was not improbably suggested by Exiquitin Cuttle himself or by the Casiques in his interest to reconcile the people to a measure which was contrary to the military usages. Indeed it may be said to the public law of Anahuaq. Whether the fruit of artifice or superstition it prevailed and the Tulasculin general was empowered at the head of a detachment of ten thousand warriors to try the effect of an assault by night. The affair was conducted with such secrecy that it did not reach the ears of the Spaniards. But their general was not one who allowed himself sleeping or waking to be surprised on his post. Fortunately the night appointed was illumined by the full beams of an autumnal moon and one of the vedettes perceived by its light at a considerable distance, a large body of Indians moving toward the Christian lines. He was not slow in giving the alarm to the garrison. The Spaniards slept, as has been said, with their arms by their side, while their horses, picketed near them, stood ready saddled, with a bridal hanging at the bow. In five minutes the whole camp was under arms when they beheld the dusky columns of the Indians cautiously advancing over the plain, their heads just appearing above the tall maze with which the land was partially covered. Cortez determined not to abide the assault in his entrenchments, but to sally out and pounce on the enemy when he had reached the bottom of the hill. Slowly and stealthily the Indians advanced, while the Christian camp, hushed in profound silence, seemed to them buried in slumber. But no sooner had they reached the slope of the rising ground than they were astounded by the deep battle cry of the Spaniards, followed by the instantaneous apparition of the whole army, as they salad forth from the works and pour down the sides of the hill. Brandishing aloft their weapons they seemed to the troubled fancies of the Tlescalans, like so many specters or demons, hurrying to and fro in midair, while the uncertain light magnified their numbers and expanded the horse and his rider into gigantic and unearthly dimensions. Scarcely wading the shock of their enemy, the panic struck a barbarians, left off a feeble volley of arrows and offering no other resistance, fled rapidly and tumultuously across the plain. The horse easily overtook the fugitives, riding them down and cutting them to pieces without mercy until Cortez, weary with a slaughter, called off his men, leaving the field loaded with a bloody trophies of victory. The next day, the Spanish commander, with his usual policy after a decisive blow had been struck, sent a new embassy to the Tlescalan capital. The envoys received their instructions through the interpreter Marina. That remarkable woman had attracted general admiration by the constancy and cheerfulness with which she endured all the privations of the camp. Far from betraying the natural weakness and timidity of her sex, she had shrunk from no hardship herself and had done much to fortify the drooping spirits of her soldiers, while her sympathies, whenever occasion offered, had been actively exerted in mitigating the calamities of her Indian countrymen. Through his faithful interpreter Cortez communicated the terms of his message to the Tlescalan envoys. He made the same professions of Amity as before, promising oblivion of all past injuries, but if this proffer was rejected he would visit their capital as a conqueror, raise every house in it to the ground, and put every inhabitant to the sword. He then dismissed the ambassadors with a symbolical presence of a letter in one hand and an arrow in the other. The envoys obtained respectful audience from the Council of Tlescala, whom they found plunged in deep dejection by their recent reverses. The failure of the night attack had extinguished every spark of hope in their bosoms. Their armies had been beaten again and again in the open field and in secret ambush. Strategium and courage, all their resources, had alike, proved ineffectual against a foe whose hand was never weary and whose eye was never closed. Nothing remained but to submit. They selected four principal casiques whom they entrusted with a mission to the Christian camp. They were to assure the strangers of a free passage through the country and a friendly reception in the capital. The proffered friendship of the Spaniards was cordially embraced, with many awkward excuses for the past. The envoys were to touch at the Tlescalan camp on their way and inform Cicotancatl of their proceedings. They were to require him, at the same time, to abstain from all further hostilities and to furnish the white men with an ample supply of provisions. But the Tlescalan deputies on arriving at the quarters of that chief did not find him in the humour to comply with these instructions. His repeated collisions with the Spaniards, or it may be, his constitutional courage left him inaccessible to the vulgar terrors of his countrymen. He regarded the strangers not as supernatural beings, but as men like himself. The animosity of a warrior had rankled into a deadly hatred from the mortifications he had endured at their hands, and his head teemed with plans for recovering his fallen honors and for taking vengeance on the invaders of his country. He refused to disband any of the force still formidable under his command or to send supplies to the enemy's camp. He further induced the ambassadors to remain in his quarters and relinquish their visits to the Spaniards. The latter in consequence were captain ignorance of the movements in their favour which had taken place in the Tlescalan capital. The conduct of Cicotin cattle is condemned by Castilian riders as that of a ferocious and sanguinary barbarian. It is natural they should so regard it, but those who have no national prejudice to warp their judgments may come to a different conclusion. They may find much to admire in that high unconquerable spirit like some proud column standing alone in its majesty amidst the fragments and ruins around it. They may see evidences of a clear-sided sagacity which piercing the thin veil of insidious friendship proffered by the Spaniards and penetrating the future discerned the coming miseries of his country, the noble patriotism of one who would rescue that country at any cost, and amidst the gathering darkness would infuse his own intrepid spirit into the hearts of his nation to animate them to a last struggle for independence. History of the Conquest of Mexico by William H. Prescott, Book 3, Chapter 4. Desirous to keep up the terror of the Castilian name by leaving the enemy no respite, Cortes on the same day that he dispatched the embassy to Tlescalan put himself at the head of a small core of cavalry and light troops to scour the neighbouring country. He was at that time so ill from fever, aided by medical treatment that he could hardly keep his seat in the saddle. It was a rough country, and the sharp winds from the frosty summits of the mountains pierced the scanty covering of the troops and chilled both men and horses. Four or five of the animals gave out and the general, alarmed for their safety, sent them back to the camp. The soldiers discouraged by these ill omen would have persuaded him to return, but he made answer, we fight under the banner of the cross, God is stronger than nature, and continued his march. It led through the same kind of checkered scenery of rugged hill and cultivated plain as that already described well covered with towns and villages, some of them the frontier posts occupied by the Altomys. Practicing the Roman maxim of lenity to the submissive foe, he took full vengeance on those who resisted, and as resistance too often occurred, marked his path with fire and desolation. After a short absence he returned in safety laden with the plunder of a successful foray. It would have been more honourable to him had it been conducted with less rigor. The excesses are imputed by Bernal Diaz to the Indian allies whom in the heat of victory it was found impossible to restrain. On whose head, so ever they fall, they seem to have given little uneasiness to the general, who declares in his letter to the Emperor Charles V, as we fought under the standard of the cross for the true faith and the service of your highness, heaven crowned our arms with such success that, while multitudes of the infidels were slain, little loss was suffered by the Castilians. The Spanish conquerors, to judge from their writings unconscious of any worldly motive lurking in the bottom of their hearts, regarded themselves as soldiers of the church, fighting the great battle of Christianity, and in the same edifying and comfortable light, are regarded by most of the national historians of a later day. On his return to the camp Cortes found a new cause of disquietude in the discontents which had broken out among the soldiery. Their patience was exhausted by a life of fatigued peril to which there seemed to be no end. The battles they had won against such tremendous odds had not advanced them a jot. The idea of their reaching Mejicos as the old soldier, so often quoted, was treated as jest by the whole army, and the indefinite prospect of hostilities with the ferocious people among whom they were now cast through a deep gloom over their spirits. Among the malcontents were a number of noisy vaporing persons, such as are found in every camp, who, like empty bubbles, are sure to rise to the surface and to make themselves seen in seasons of agitation. They were for the most part of the old faction of Velazquez, and had estates in Cuba to which they turned many a wistful glance as they receded more and more from the coast. They now waited on the general, not in a mutinous spirit of resistance, for they remembered the lesson in Vyarica, but with the design of frank expulsion, as with a brother adventurer in a common cause. The tone of familiarity, thus assumed, was eminently characteristic of the footing of equality on which the parties in the expedition stood with one another. Their sufferings they told him were too great to be endured. All the men had received one, most of them two or three wounds. More than fifty had perished in one way or another, since leaving Veracruz. There was no beast of burden, but led a life preferable to theirs. For when the night came the former could rest from his labours, but they, fighting or watching, had no rest day or night. As to conquering Mexico, the very thought of it was madness. If they had encountered such opposition from the petty republic of Tulascula, what might they not expect from the great Mexican empire? There was now a temporary suspension of hostilities. They should avail themselves of it to retrace their steps to Veracruz. It is true the fleet there was destroyed, and by this act, unparalleled for rashness even in Roman annals, the general had become responsible for the fate of the whole army. Still, there was one vessel left. That might be dispatched to Cuba for reinforcements and supplies, and, when these arrived, they would be enabled to resume operations with some prospect of success. Cortes listened to this singular expostulation with perfect composure. He knew his men, and instead of rebuke or harsher measures, replied in the same frank and soldier-like vein which they had affected. There was much truth, he allowed, in what they said. The sufferings of the Spaniards had been great, greater than those recorded of any heroes in Greek or Roman story. So much the greater would be their glory. He had often been filled with admiration as he had seen his little host encircled by myriads of barbarians, and felt that no people but Spaniards could have triumphed over such formidable odds. Nor could they, unless the arm of the Almighty had been over them, and they might reasonably look for his protection hereafter, for was it not in his cause they were fighting? They had encountered dangers and difficulties, it was true, but they had not come here expecting a life of idle dallians and a pleasure. Glory as he had told them at the outset was to be won only by toil and danger. They would do him the justice to acknowledge that he had never shrunk from his share of both. This was a truth, adds the honest chronicler, who heard and reports the dialogue, which no one could deny. But if they had met with hardships he continued, they had been everywhere victorious. Even now they were enjoying the fruits of this, in the plenty which reigned in the camp. And they would soon see the Tulasculans humbled by their late reverses, suing for peace on any terms. To go back now was impossible. The very stories would rise up against them. The Tulasculans would hunt them in triumph down to the water's edge. And how would the Mexicans exult at this miserable issue of their vain glorious vants? Their former friends would become their enemies, and the Totonax, to avert the vengeance of the Aztecs from which the Spaniards could no longer shield them, would join in the general cry. There was no alternative then, but to go forward in their career. And he besought them to silence their pusalanamas, scruples, and instead of turning their eyes towards Cuba, to fix them on Mexico, the great object of their enterprise. While this singular conference was going on, many other soldiers had gathered round the spot, and the discontented party emboldened by the presence of their comrades as well, as by the general's forbearance replied, that they were far from being convinced. Another such victory as the last would be their ruin. They were going to Mexico only to be slaughtered. Until at length the general's patience being exhausted, he cut the argument short by quoting a verse from an old song, implying that it was better to die with honour than to live disgraced, a sentiment which was loudly echoed by the greater part of his audience who, notwithstanding their occasional murmurs, had no design to abandon the expedition, still less the commander to whom they were passionately devoted. The malcontents, disconcerted by this rebuke, slunk back to their own quarters, muttering half-smothered execrations on the leader, who had projected the enterprise, the Indians who had guided him, and their own countrymen who supported him in it. Such were the difficulties that lay in the path of Cortes, a wildly and ferocious enemy, a climate uncertain, often unhealthy, illness in his own person, much aggravated by anxiety as to the manner in which his conduct would be received by his sovereign. Last, not least, disaffection among his soldiers, on whose constancy and union he rested for the success of his operations, the great lever by which he was to overturn the empire of Montezuma. On the morning following this event the camp was surprised by the appearance of a small body of the laskalans, decorated with badges, the white colour of which intimated peace. They brought a quantity of provisions and some trifling ornaments which they said were sent by the laskalan general who was weary of the war, and desired an accommodation with the Spaniards. He would soon present himself to arrange this in person. The intelligence diffused general joy, and the emissaries received a friendly welcome. A day or two elapsed, and while a few of the party left the Spanish quarters, the others, about fifty in number, who remained, excited some distrust in the bosom of Marina. She communicated her suspicions to Cortes that they were spies. He caused several of them, in consequence, to be arrested, examined them separately, and ascertained that they were employed by Cicot and Cuddle to inform him of the state of their Christian camp, preparatory to a meditated assault for which he was mustering his forces. Cortes, satisfied of the truth of this, determined to make such an example of the delinquents as should intimidate his enemy from repeating the attempt. He ordered their hands to be cut off, and in that condition sent them back to their countrymen with the message that the Tulasculans might come by day or night, they would find the Spaniards ready for them. The doleful spectacle of their comrades returning in this mutilated state filled the Indian camp with horror and consternation. The haughty crest of their chief was humbled. From that moment he lost his wanted buoyancy and confidence. His soldiers, filled with superstitious fear, refused to serve longer against a foe who could read their very thoughts and divine their plans before they were ripe for execution. The punishment inflicted by Cortes may well shock the reader by its brutality, but it should be considered in mitigation that the victims of it were spies, and as such by the laws of war, whether among civilized or savage nations, had incurred the penalty of death. The amputation of the limbs was a milder punishment and reserved for inferior offenses. If we're evolved at the barbarous nature of the sentence, we should reflect that it was no uncommon one at that day, not more uncommon indeed than whipping and branding with a hot iron were in our own country at the beginning of the present century, or than cropping the ears was in the preceding one. A higher civilization indeed rejects such punishments as pernicious in themselves and degrading to humanity, but in the 16th century they were openly recognized by the laws of the most polished nations in Europe. And it is too much to ask of any man, still less one bred to the iron trade of war, to be in advance of the refinement of his age. We may be content if, in circumstances so unfavorable to humanity, he does not fall below it. All thoughts of further resistance being abandoned, the four delegates of the Tulasculin Republic were now allowed to proceed on their mission. They were speedily followed by C. Coocten-Cuddle himself, attended by a numerous train of military retainers. As they drew near the Spanish lines, they were easily recognized by the white and yellow colors of their uniforms, the livery of the house of C. Cuddle. The joy of the army was great at the sure intimation of the close of hostilities, and it was with difficulty that Cortes was enabled to restore the men to tranquility and the assumed indifference which it was proper to maintain in the presence of an enemy. The Spaniards gazed with curious eye on the valiant chief who had so long kept his enemies at bay and who now advanced with a firm and fearless step of one who was coming, rather, to bid defiance than to sue for peace. He was rather above the middle size, with broad shoulders and a muscular frame intimating great activity and strength. His head was large and his countenance marked with the lines of hard service rather than of age for he was but thirty-five. When he entered the presence of Cortes he made the usual salutation by touching the ground with his hand and carrying it to his head while the sweet incense of aromatic gums rolled up in clouds from the sensors carried by his slaves. Far from a pusillanimous attempt to throw the blame on the senate he assumed the whole responsibility of the war. He had considered the white men, he said, as enemies for they came with the allies and vassals of Montezuma. He loved his country and wished to preserve the independence which she had maintained through her long wars with the Aztecs. He had been beaten. They might be the strangers who it had been so long predicted would come from the east to take possession of the country. He hoped they would use their victory with moderation and not trample on the liberties of the republic. He came now in the name of his nation to tender their obedience to the Spaniards, assuring them they would find his countrymen as faithful in peace as they had been firm in war. Cortes, far from taking ombrage, was filled with admiration at the lofty spirit which thus disdained to stoop beneath misfortunes. The brave man knows how to respect a bravery in another. He assumed, however, a severe aspect as he rebuked the chief for having so long persisted in hostilities. Had Seconte Cattle believed the words of the Spaniards and accepted their proffered friendship sooner, he would have spared his people much suffering, which they well merited by their obstinacy. But it was impossible continued the general to retrieve the past. He was willing to bury it in oblivion, and to receive the Tulasculans as vassals to the emperor, his master. If they proved true, they should find him a sure column of support. If false, he would take such vengeance on them as he had intended to take on their capital, had they not speedily given in their submission. It proved an ominous menace for the chief to whom it was addressed. The Gaseke then ordered his slaves to bring forward some trifling ornaments of gold and feather embroidery designed as presents. They were of little value, he said with a smile, for the Tulasculans were poor. They had little gold, not even cotton or salt. The Aztec emperor had left them nothing but their freedom and their arms. He offered this gift only as a token of his good will. As such I received it, answered Cortes and coming from the Tulasculans set more value on it than I should from any other source, though it were a houseful of gold. A politic as well as magnanimous reply, for it was by the aid of this good will that he was to win the gold of Mexico. Thus ended the bloody war with a fierce Republic of Tulascula, during the course of which the fortunes of the Spaniards more than once had trembled in the Malans. Had it been persevered in but a little longer, it might have ended in their confusion and ruin, exhausted as they were by wounds, watching and fatigues, with the seeds of disaffection rankling among themselves. As it was they came out of the fearful contest with untarnished glory. To the enemy they seemed invulnerable, bearing charmed lives, proof alike against the accidents of fortune and the assaults of men. No wonder that they indulged a similar conceit in their own bosoms and that the humblest Spaniard should have fancied himself the subject of a special interposition of providence which shielded him in the hour of battle and reserved him for a higher destiny. While the Tulasculans were still in the camp, an embassy was announced from Montezuma. Tidings of the exploits of the Spaniards had spread far and wide over the plateau. The Emperor in particular had watched every step of their progress as they climbed the steeps of the Cordilleras and advanced over the broad table-end on their summit. He had seen them with great satisfaction take the road to Tulascula, trusting that if they were mortal men they would find their graves there. Great was his dismay when courier after courier brought him intelligence of their successes and that the most redoubtable warriors on the plateau had been scattered like chafe by the swords of this handful of strangers. His superstitious fears returned in full force. He saw in the Spaniards the men of destiny who were to take possession of his scepter. In his alarm and uncertainty he sent a new embassy to the Christian camp. It consisted of five great nobles of his court, attended by a train of two hundred slaves. They brought with them a present as usual dictated partly by fear and in part by the natural magnificence of his disposition. It consisted of three thousand ounces of gold in grains or in various manufactured articles with several hundred mantles and dresses of embroidered cotton and the picturesque featherwork. As they laid these at the feet of Cortes they told him they had come to offer the congratulations of their master on the late victories of the white men. The Emperor only regretted that it would not be in his power to receive them in his capital where the numerous population was so unruly that their safety would be placed in jeopardy. The mere intimation of the Aztec Emperor's wishes in the most distant way would have sufficed with Indian nations. It had very little weight with the Spaniards and the envoys finding this plural expression of them ineffectual resorted to another argument, offering a tribute in their master's name to the Castilian sovereign, provided the Spaniards would relinquish their visit to his capital. This was a greater error. It was displaying the rich casket with one hand, which he was unable to defend with the other. Yet the author of this pusillanimous policy, the unhappy victim of superstition, was a monarch renowned among the Indian nations for his interpidity and enterprise, the terror of Anahuaq. Cortez, while he urged his own sovereign's commands as a reason for disregarding the wishes of Montezuma, uttered expressions of the most profound respect for the Aztec Prince, and declared that if he had not the means of requiting his munificence as he could wish, at present he trusted to repay him at some future day with good works. The Mexican ambassadors were not much gratified with finding the ward an end, and a reconciliation established between their mortal enemies and the Spaniards. The mutual disgust of the two parties with each other was too strong to be repressed, even in the presence of a general, who saw with satisfaction the evidences of a jealousy which, undermining the strength of the Indian Emperor, was to prove the surest source of his own success. Two of the Aztec missions returned to Mexico to acquaint their sovereign with the state of affairs in the Spanish camp. The others remained with the army, Cortez being willing that they should be personal spectators of the deference shown him by the Tulasculans. Still, he did not hasten his departure for their capital. Not that he placed reliance on the injurious intimations of the Mexicans respecting their good faith, yet he was willing to put this to some longer trial, and at the same time to re-establish his own health more thoroughly before his visit. Meanwhile, messengers daily arrived from the city, pressing his journey, and were finally followed by some of the aged rulers of the Republic attended by a numerous retinue, impatient of his long delay. They brought with them a body of five hundred Timanes, or men of burden, to drag his cannon and relieve his own forces from this fatiguing part of their duty. It was impossible to defer his departure longer, and after mass, and a solemn thanksgiving to the great being who had crowned their arms with triumph, the Spaniards bated due to the quarters which they had occupied for nearly three weeks on the hill of Zompac. Book 3, Chapter 5 of the History of the Conquest of Mexico. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. History of the Conquest of Mexico by William H. Prescott. Book 3, Chapter 5. Spaniards entered Tlaxcala, a description of the capital, attempted conversion, Aztec Embassy, invited to Cholula. The city of Tlaxcala, the capital of the Republic of the same name, lay at the distance of about six leagues from the Spanish camp. The road led into a hilly region, exhibiting in every arable patch of ground the evidence of laborious cultivation. Over a deep baranka, or ravine, they crossed on a bridge of stone which, according to tradition, a slippery authority, is the same still standing and was constructed originally for the passage of the army. They passed some considerable towns on their route, where they experienced a full measure of Indian hospitality. As they advanced, the approach to a populous city was intimated by the crowds who flocked out to see and welcome the strangers. Men and women in their picturesque dresses, with bunches and reeds of roses, which they gave to the Spaniards or fastened to the necks and comparisons of their horses, in the manner as at Sempawaya. Priests, with their white robes and long matted tresses floating over them, mingled in the crowd, scattering volumes of incense from their burning censors. In this way the multitudinous and motley procession defiled through the gates of the ancient capital of Tlaxcala. It was the 23rd of September, 1519. The press was now so great that it was with difficulty the police of the city could clear a passage for the army, while the asoteas, or flat terraced roofs of the buildings, were covered with spectators eager to catch a glimpse of the wonderful strangers. The houses were hung with festoons of flowers, and arches of verdant boughs intertwined with roses and honeysuckle were thrown across the streets. The whole population abandoned itself to rejoicing, and the air was rent with songs and shouts of triumphs mingled with the old music of the national instruments that might have excited apprehensions in the breasts of the soldiery had they not gathered their peaceful import from the assurance of marina and the joyous countenances of the natives. With these accompaniments the procession moved along the principal streets to the mansion of Chico Tencatol, the aged father of the Tlaxcala in general, and one of the four rulers of the Republic. Cortes dismounted from his horse to receive the old chieftain's embrace. He was nearly blind and satisfied as far as he could a natural curiosity respecting the person of the Spanish general by passing his hand over his features. He then led the way to a spacious hall in his palace where a banquet was served to the army. In the evening they were shown to their quarters in the buildings and open grounds surrounding one of the principal Teocales, while the Mexican ambassadors at the Desire of Cortes had apartments assigned them next to his own that he might the better watch over their safety in the city of their enemies. Tlaxcala was one of the most important and populist towns on the table land. Cortes, in his letter to the emperor, compares it to Granada affirming that it was larger, stronger, and more populist than the Moorish capital at the time of the conquest and quite as well built. But notwithstanding we are assured by a most respectable writer at the close of the last century that its remains justify the assertion we shall be slow to believe that its edifices could have rivaled those monuments of oriental magnificence whose light aerial forms still survive after the lapse of ages, the admiration of every traveler of sensibility and taste. The truth is that Cortes, like Columbus, saw objects through the warm medium of his own fond imagination giving them a higher tone of coloring and larger dimensions than were strictly warranted by the fact. It was natural that the man who had made such rare discoveries should unconsciously magnify their merits to his own eyes and to those of others. The houses were, for the most part, of mud and earth, the better sort of stone and lime or bricks dried in the sun. They were unprovided with doors or windows, but in the apertures for the former hung mats fringed with pieces of copper or something which, by its tinkling sound, would give notice of anyone's entrance. The streets were narrow and dark. The population must have been considerable if, as Cortes asserts, thirty thousand souls were often gathered in the market on a public day. These meetings were a sort of fares held as usual in all the great towns every fifth day and attended by the inhabitants of the adjacent country who brought there for sale every description of domestic produce and manufacture with which they were acquainted. They peculiarly excelled in pottery which was considered as equal to the best in Europe. It is a further proof of civilized habits that the Spaniards found barbers' shops and baths, both of vapor and hot water, familiarly used by the inhabitants. A still higher proof of refinement may be discerned in a vigilant police which repressed everything like disorder among the people. The city was divided into four quarters which might rather be called so many separate towns since they were built at different times and separated from each other by high stone walls defining their respective limits. Over each of these districts ruled one of the four great chiefs of the Republic occupying his own spacious mansion and surrounded by his own immediate vassals. Strange arrangement and more strange that it should have been compatible with social order and tranquility. The ancient capital through one quarter of which flowed the rapid current of the Sahwatul stretched along the summits and sides of hills at whose base are now gathered the miserable remains of its once flourishing population. Far beyond to the southwest extended the bold Sierra of Tilescala and the huge Malinche crowned with the usual silver diadem of the highest Andes having its shaggy sides clothed with dark green forest of furs, gigantic sycamores, and oaks whose towering stems rose to the height of forty or fifty feet unencumbered by a branch. The clouds which sailed over from the distant Atlantic gathered round the lofty peaks of the Sierra and settling into torrents poured over the plains in the neighborhood of the city converting them at such seasons into swamps. Thunderstorms, more frequent and terrible here than in other parts of the table land, swept down the sides of the mountains and shook the frail tenements of the capital to their foundations. But although the bleak winds of the Sierra gave an austerity to the climate, unlike the sunny skies and genial temperature of the lower regions, it was far more favorable to the development of both the physical and moral energies. A bold and hardy peasantry was nurtured among the recesses of the hills, fit equally to cultivate the land in peace and to defend it in war. Unlike the spoiled child of nature, who derived such faculties of substance from her too prodigal hand, as superseded the necessity of exertion on his own part, the Tlescalan earned his bread from a soil not ungrateful it is true, by the sweat of his brow. He led a life of temperance and toil. Caught off by his long wars with the Aztecs from commercial intercourse, he was driven chiefly to agricultural labor, the occupation most propitious to purity of morals and sinewy strength of constitution. His honest breast glowed with the patriotism or local attachment to the soil which is the fruit of its diligent culture. While he was elevated by a proud consciousness of independence, the natural birthright of the child of the mountains, such was the race with whom Cortes was now associated for the achievement of his great work. Some days were given by the Spaniards to festivity in which they were successively entertained at the hospitable boards of the four great nobles in their several quarters of the city. Amidst these friendly people, Cortes never relaxed for a moment his habitual vigilance or the strict discipline of the camp, and he was careful to provide for the security of the citizens by prohibiting, under severe penalties, any soldier from leaving his quarters without express permission. Indeed, the severity of his discipline provoked the remonstrance of more than one of his officers as a superfluous caution, and the Tlescalan chiefs took some exception at it as well, but when Cortes explained it as an obedience to an established military system, they testified their admiration and the ambitious young general of the Republic proposed to introduce it if possible into his own ranks. The Spanish commander, having assured himself of the loyalty of his new allies, next proposed to accomplish one of the great objects of his mission, their conversion to Christianity. By the advice of Father Olmedo, always opposed to exhibitant measures, he had deferred this till a suitable opportunity presented itself for opening the subject. Such a one occurred when the chiefs of the state proposed to strengthen the alliance with the Spaniards by the intermarriage of their daughters with Cortes and his officers. He told them this could not be while they continued in the darkness of infidelity. Then, with the aid of the good friar, he expounded as well as he could the doctrines of the faith, and exhibiting the image of the virgin and the infant redeemer, told them that there was the God in whose worship alone they would find salvation, while that of their own false gods would sink them in eternal perdition. It is unnecessary to burden the reader with a recapitulation of his homily, which contained probably dogmas quite as incomprehensible to the untutored Indian as any to be found in his own rude mythology. But, though it failed to convince his audience, they listened with a differential awe. When he had finished, they replied, they had no doubt that the God of the Christians must be a good and a great God, and as such they were willing to give him a place among the divinities of Tlaskala. The polytheistic system of the Indians, like that of the ancient Greeks, was of that accommodating kind which could admit within its elastic folds the deities of any other religion without violence to itself. But every nation they continued must have its own appropriate and tutelary deities, nor could they, in their old age, abjure the service of those who had watched over them from youth. It would bring down the vengeance of their gods and of their own nation who were as warmly attached to their religion as their liberties and would defend both with the last drop of their blood. It was clearly inexpedient to press the matter further at present, but the zeal of Cortez, as usual, waxing warm by opposition, had now mounted too high for him to calculate obstacles, nor would he have shrunk, probably, from the crown of Martidom in so good a cause. But fortunately, at least for the success of his temporal cause, this crown was not reserved for him. The good monk, his ghostly advisor, seeing the course things were likely to take, with better judgment interposed to prevent it, he had no desire, he said, to see the same scenes acted over again as at Sampoia. He had no relish for forced conversions. They could hardly be lasting. The growth of an hour might well die with the hour. Of what use was it to overturn the altar if the idol remained enthroned in the heart, or to destroy the idol itself if it were only to make room for another? Better to wait patiently the effect of time and teaching to soften the heart and open the understanding without which there could be no assurance of a sound and permanent conviction. These rational views were enforced by the remonstrances of Alvarado, Velasquez de León, and those in whom Cortes placed most confidence. Till, driven from his original purpose, the military polemic consulted to relinquish the attempt at conversion for the present and to refrain from a repetition of the scenes, which, considering the different metal of the population, might have been attended with very different results from those at Cozumel and Sampoia. But, though Cortes abandoned the ground of conversion for the present, he compelled the Toscallans to break the fetters of the unfortunate victims reserved for sacrifice, an act of humanity unhappily only transient in its effects, since the prisons were filled with fresh victims on his departure. He also obtained permission for the Spaniers to perform the services of their own religion unmolested. A large cross was erected in one of the great courts or squares. Mass was celebrated every day in the presence of the army and of crowds of natives who, if they did not comprehend its full import, were so far edified that they learned to reverence the religion of their conquerors. The direct interposition of heaven, however, wrought more for their conversion than the best homily of priest or soldier. Scarcely had the Spaniards left the city, the tale is told, on very respectable authority, when a thin transparent cloud descended and settled like a column on the cross, and, wrapping it round in its luminous folds, continued to emit a soft celestial radiance through the night, thus proclaiming the sacred character of the symbol on which was shed the halo of divinity. The principle of toleration in religious matters being established, the Spanish general consented to receive the daughters of the Cossics. Five or six of the most beautiful Indian maidens were assigned to as many of his principal officers after they had been cleansed from the stains of infidelity by the waters of baptism. They received, as usual, on this occasion good Castilian names in exchange for the barbarous nomenclature of their own vernacular. Among them, Chico Tencatl's daughter, Donia Luisa, as she was called after her baptism, was a princess of the highest estimation and authority in Scala. She was given by her father to Alvarado and their posterity intermarried with the noblest families of Castile. The frank and joyous manners of this cavalier made him a great favorite with the Toscallans, and his bright open countenance, fair complexion in golden locks, gave him the name of Tonatia, the Sun. The Indians often pleased their fancies by fastening a sobriquet or some characteristic epithet on the Spaniards, as Cortes was always attended on public occasions by Donia Marina, or Malinche, as she was called by the natives, they distinguished him by the same name. By these epithets, originally bestowed into Scala, the two Spanish captains were popularly designated among the Indian nations. While these events were passing, another embassy arrived from the court of Mexico. It was charged, as usual, with a costly donative of embossed gold plate and rich embroidered stuffs of cotton and leatherwork. The terms of the message might well argue a vacillating and timid temper in the monarch did they not mask a deeper policy. He now invited the Spaniards to his capital with the assurance of a cordial welcome. He besought them to enter into no alliance with the base and barbarous Toscallans, and he invited them to take the route of the friendly city of Cholula, where arrangements, according to his orders, were made for their reception. The Toscallans viewed with deep regret the generals' proposed visit to Mexico. Their reports fully confirmed all he had before heard of the power and ambition of Montezuma. His armies, they said, were spread over every part of the continent. His capital was a place of great strength, and as from its insular position, all communication could be easily cut off with the adjacent country, the Spaniards once entrapped there would be at his mercy. His policy, they represented, was as insidious as his ambition was boundless. Trust not his fair words, they said, his courtesies and his gifts. His professions are hollow and his friendships are false. When Cortes remarked that he hoped to bring about a better understanding between the Emperor and them, they replied it would be impossible, however smooth his words he would hate them at heart. They warmly protested also against the generals taking the route of Cholula. The inhabitants, not brave in the open field, were more dangerous from their perfidy and craft. They were Montezuma's tools and would do his bidding. The Tlaskolans seemed to combine with this distrust a superstitious dread of the ancient city, the headquarters of the religion of Anahuac. It was here that the god Quetzalcoatl held the pristine seat of his empire. His temple was celebrated throughout the land, and the priests were confidently believed to have the power, as they themselves boasted, of opening an inundation from the foundations of his shrine, which should bury their enemies in the deluge. The Tlaskolans further reminded Cortes that while so many other and distant places had sent to him at Tlaskala to testify their good will and offer their allegiance to his sovereign, Cholula, only six leads distant, had done neither. The last suggestions struck the general more forcibly than any of the proceeding. He instantly dispatched a summons to the city requiring a formal tender of its submission. Among the embassies from different quarters which had waited on the Spanish commander, while at Tlaskala, was one from Itzlil Solcitl, son of the great Nezahualpili, and an unsuccessful competitor with his elder brother, as noticed in a former part of our narrative, for the crown of Tescucco. Though defeated in his pretensions, he had obtained a part of the kingdom over which he ruled with a deadly feeling of animosity towards his rival and to Montezuma who had sustained him. He now offered his services to Cortes, asking his aid in return to place him on the throne of his ancestors. The politic general returned such an answer to the aspiring young prince as might encourage his expectations and attach him to his interests. It was his aim to strengthen his cause by attracting to himself every particle of disaffection that was floating through the land. It was not long before deputies arrived at Tlaskala, profusing their expressions of good will and inviting the presence of the Spaniards in their capital. The messengers were of low degree, far beneath the usual rank of ambassadors. This was pointed out by the Tlaskalans, and Cortes regarded it as a fresh indignity. He sent in consequence a new summons, declaring if they did not instantly send him a deputation of their principal men, he would deal with them as rebels to his own sovereign and rightful lord of these realms. The menace had the desired effect. The Cholulans were not inclined to contest, at least for the present, his magnificent pretensions. Another embassy appeared in the camp, consisting of some of the highest nobles, who repeated the invitation for the Spaniards to visit their city and excused their own tardy appearance by apprehensions for their personal safety in the capital of their enemies. The explanation was plausible and was admitted by Cortes. The Tlaskalans were now more than ever opposed to his projected visit. A strong Aztec forest they had ascertained lay in the neighborhood of Cholula, and the people were actively placing their city in a posture of defense. They suspected some insidious scheme concerted by Montezuma to destroy the Spaniards. These suggestions disturbed the mind of Cortes, but did not turn him from his purpose. He felt a natural curiosity to see the venerable city so celebrated in the history of the Indian nations. He had, besides, gone too far to recede, too far at least to do so without a show of apprehension, implying a distrust in his own resources, which could not fail to have had a bad effect on his enemies, his allies, and his own men. After a brief consultation with his officers, he decided on the route to Cholula. It was now three weeks since the Spaniards had taken up their residence within the hospitable walls of Cholula, and nearly six since they entered her territory. They had been met on the threshold as an enemy with the most determined hostility. They were now to part with the same people as friends and allies, fast friends who were to stand by them side by side through the whole of their arduous struggle. The result of their visit therefore was of the last importance since on the cooperation of these brave and warlike Republicans greatly depended the ultimate success of the expedition. Cholula, reception accorded the Spaniards conspiracy detected. The ancient city of Cholula, capital of the Republic of that name, lay nearly six leagues south of Tlescala and about twenty east or rather southeast of Mexico. It was said by Cortes to contain twenty thousand houses within the walls and as many more in the environs. Whatever was its real number of inhabitants, it was unquestionably, at the time of the conquest, one of the most populous flourishing cities in New Spain. It was of great antiquity and was founded by the primitive races who overspread the land before the Aztecs. We have few particulars of its form of government which seems to have been cast on a Republican model similar to that of Tlescala. This answered so well that the state maintained its independence down to a very late period when, if not reduced to vassalage by the Aztecs, it was so far under their control as to enjoy few of the benefits of a separate political existence. Their connection with Mexico brought the Cholulans into frequent collision with their neighbors and kindred the Tlescalans. But although far superior to them in refinement and the various arts of civilization, they were no match in war for the bold mountaineers the Swiss of Anahuac. The Cholulan capital was the great commercial emporium of the plateau. The inhabitants excelled in various mechanical arts especially that of working in metals, the manufacture of cotton and agave cloths, and of a delicate kind of pottery rivaling it is said that of Florence in beauty. But such attention to the arts of a polished and peaceful community naturally indisposed them to war and disqualified them for coping with those who have made war the great business of life. The Cholulans were accused of effeminacy and were less distinguished it is the charge they were using. But the capital so conspicuous for its refinement and its great antiquity was even more venerable for the religious traditions which invested it. It was here that the god Quetzalcoatl paused in his passage to the coast and passed twenty years in teaching the Toltec inhabitants the arts of civilization. He made them acquainted with better forms of government and a more spiritualized religion in which the only sacrifices were the fruits and flowers of life. It is not easy to determine what he taught since his lessons have been so mingled with the licentious dogmas of his own priests and the mystic commentaries of the Christian missionary. It is probable that he was one of those rare and gifted beings who dissipating the darkness of the age by the illumination of their own genius are deified by a grateful posterity and placed among the lights of heaven. It was in honor of this benevolent deity that this pyramid on which the traveler still gazes with admiration as the most colossal fabric in New Spain rivaling in dimensions and somewhat resembling in form the pyramidal structures of ancient Egypt. The date of its erection is unknown for it was found there when the Aztecs entered on the plateau. It had the form common to the Mexican tail-collies that of a truncated pyramid facing with its four sides the cardinal points and divided into the same number of places. Its original outlines, however, have been effaced by the action of time and of the elements while the exuberant growth of shrubs and wild flowers which have mantled over its surface give it the appearance of one of those symmetrical elevations thrown up by the caprice of nature rather than by the industry of man. It is doubtful indeed whether the interior be not a natural hill though it seems not improbable that it is an artificial composition of the pyramid as is certain in every part with alternate strata of brick and clay. The perpendicular height of the pyramid is 177 feet. Its base is 1423 feet long. Twice as long as that of the great pyramid of Chiops. It may give some idea of its dimensions to state that its base which is square covers about 44 acres and the platform on its truncated summit embraces the mountain. It reminds us of those colossal monuments of brickwork which are still seen in ruins on the banks of the Euphrates and in much higher preservation on those of the Nile. On the summit stood a sumptuous temple in which was the image of the mystic deity, God of the Air, with Ebon features unlike the fair complexion which he bore upon earth wearing a mitre on his head waving with clunes of fire with a resplendent collar of gold round mosaic turquoise in his ears, a jeweled scepter in one hand and a shield curiously painted the emblem of his rule over the winds in the other. The sanctity of the place hallowed by Hori tradition and the magnificence of the temple and its services made it an object of veneration throughout the land and pilgrims from the furthest corners of Anahuac came to offer up their devotions at the shrine of Quetzalcoatl. The number of these was so great that it gave an air of mendicity to the motley population of the city and Cortes struck with the novelty tells us that he saw multitudes of beggars such as are to be found in the enlightened capitals of Europe, a whimsical criterion of civilization which must place our own prosperous land somewhat low in the scale. Cholula was not the resort only of the indigent devotee. Many of the kindred races had temples of their own in the city in the same manner as some Christian nations have in Rome and each temple was provided with its own peculiar ministers for the service of the deity to whom it was consecrated. In no city was there seen such a concourse of priests, so many processions, such pomp of ceremonial sacrifice and religious festivals. Cholula was in short what Mecca is among Mahometans or Jerusalem among Christians. It was the holy city of Anahuac. The religious rites were not performed however in the pure spirit originally prescribed by its tutelary deity. His altars as well as those of the numerous Aztec gods were stained with human blood and 6,000 victims are said to have been annually offered up at their sanguinary shrines. The great number of these may be estimated from the declaration of Cortes that he counted 400 towers in the city yet no temple had more than two, many only one. High above the rest rose the great pyramid of Cholula with its undying fires flinging their radiance over the capital and proclaiming to the nations that there was the mystic worship alas how corrupted by cruelty and superstition of the good deity who had one day to return and resume his empire over the land. But it is time to return to Tlescala. On the appointed morning the Spanish army took up its march to Mexico by the way of Cholula. It was followed by crowds of the citizens whose admiration at the intrepidity of men who, so few in number would venture to brave the great Montezuma in his capital. Yet an immense body of warriors offered to share the dangers of the expedition but Cortes, while he showed his gratitude for their good will, selected only 6,000 of the volunteers to bear him company. He was unwilling to encumber himself with an unwieldy force that might impede his movements and probably did not care to put himself so far in the power of allies whose attachment was too recent to afford sufficient guarantee for their fidelity. After crossing some rough and hilly ground the army entered on the wide plain which spreads out for miles around Cholula. At the elevation of more than 6,000 feet above the sea they beheld the rich products of various climes growing side by side fields of towering maize, the juicy aloe, the chili or Aztec pepper and large plantations of the cactus on which the brilliant cocanile was nourished. Not a root of land but was under cultivation and the soil, an uncommon thing on the table land, was irrigated by numerous streams and canals and well shaded by woods that have disappeared before the rude acts of the Spaniards. Towards evening they reached a small stream on the banks of which Cortes determined to take up his quarters for the night being unwilling to disturb the tranquility of the city by introducing so large a force into it at an unseasonable hour. Here he was soon joined by a number of Cholulan Caciques and their attendants who came to view and welcome the strangers. When they saw their Tlascallan enemies in the camp, however, they exhibited signs of displeasure and intimated an apprehension that their presence in the town might occasion disorder. The remonstrance seemed reasonable to Cortes and he accordingly commanded his allies to remain in their present quarters and to join him as he left the city on the way to Cholula. On the following morning he made his entrance at the head of his army into Cholula attended by no other Indians than those from Sampoia and a handful of Tlascallans to take charge of the baggage. His allies at parting gave him many cautions respecting the people he was to visit who, while they affected to despise them as a nation of traitors, employed the dangerous arms of perfidy and cunning. As the troops drew near the city the road was lined with swarms of people of both sexes and every age. Old men tottering with infirmity women with children in their arms all eager to catch a glimpse of the strangers whose persons, weapons and horses were objects of intense curiosity to eyes which had not hitherto ever encountered them in battle. The Spaniards in turn were filled with admiration at the aspect of the Cholulans much superior in dress and general appearance to the nations they had hitherto seen. They were particularly struck with the doom of the higher classes who were fine embroidered mantles resembling the graceful albornos or moorish cloak in their texture and fashion. They showed the same delicate taste for flowers as the other tribes of the plateau decorating their persons with them and tossing garlands and bunches among the soldiers. An immense number of priests mingled with the crowd swinging their aromatic sensors while music from various kinds of instruments gave a lively welcome to the visitors and made the whole scene one of gay bewildering enchantment. If it did not have the air of a triumphal procession so much as at Tlaskala where the melody of instruments was drowned by the shouts of the multitude it gave a quiet assurance of hospitality and friendly feeling not less grateful. The Spaniards were also struck by the cleanness of the city, the width and great regularity of the streets which seemed to have been laid out on a settled plan with the solidity of the houses and the number and size of the royal temples. In the court of one of these and its surrounding buildings they were quartered. They were soon visited by the principal lords of the place who seemed solicitous to provide them with accommodations. Their table was plentifully supplied and in short they experienced such attentions as were calculated to dissipate their suspicions and made them impute those of their Tlaskalan friends to prejudice and old national hostility. In a few days the scene changed. The quarters arrived from Montezuma who after a short and unpleasant intimation to Cortes that his approach occasioned much disquietude to their master conferred separately with the Mexican ambassadors still in the Castilian camp and then departed taking one of the latter along with them. From this time the department of their Tlulun hosts underwent a visible alteration. They did not visit the quarters as before and, when invited to do so, excused themselves on pretense of illness. The supply of provisions was stinted on the ground that they were short of maze. These symptoms of alienation independently of temporary embarrassment caused serious alarm in the breast of Cortes for the future. His apprehensions were not allayed by the reports of the Sempawayans who told him that in wandering round the city they had seen several streets barricaded. The asoteas or flat roofs of the houses loaded with huge stones and other missiles as if preparatory to an assault. And in some places they had found holes covered over with branches and upright stakes planted within as if to embarrass the movements of the cavalry. Some Tlulus gollans coming in also from their camp informed the general that a great sacrifice mostly of children had been offered up in a distant quarter of the town to propitiate the favor of the gods apparently for some intended enterprise. They added that they had seen numbers of the citizens leaving the city with their women as if to remove them to a place of safety. These tidings confirmed the worst suspicions of Cortes who had no doubt that some hostile scheme was in agitation. If he had felt any a discovery by Marina the good angel of the expedition would have turned those doubts into certainty. The amiable manners of the Indian girl had won her the regard of the wife of one of the casiques who repeatedly urged Marina to visit her house darkly intimating that in this way she would escape the fate that awaited the Spaniards. The interpreter seeing the importance of obtaining further intelligence at once pretended to be pleased with the proposal and affected at the same time great discontent with the white men by whom she was detained in captivity. Thus throwing the credulous Tlulun off her guard Marina gradually insinuated herself into her confidence so far as to draw from her a full account of the conspiracy. It originated she said with the Aztec emperor who had sent rich bribes to the great casiques and to her husband among others to secure them in his views. The Spaniards were to be assaulted as they marched out of the capital when entangled in its streets in which numerous impediments had been placed to throw the cavalry into disorder. A force of 20,000 Mexicans was already quartered at no great distance from the city to support the Tluluns in the assault. It was confidently expected that the Spaniards, thus embarrassed in their movements, would fall an easy prey to the superior strength of their enemy. A sufficient number of prisoners was to be reserved to grace the sacrifices of Tlulula. The rest were to be led in fetters to the capital of Montezuma. While this conversation was going on Marina occupied herself with putting up such articles of value and wearing apparel as she proposed to take with her in the evening when she could escape unnoticed from the Spanish orders to the house of her Tlulun friend who assisted her in the operation. Leaving her visitor thus employed, Marina found an opportunity to steal away for a few moments and, going to the general's apartment, disclosed to him her discoveries. He immediately caused the Cacique's wife to be seized and on examination she fully confirmed the statement of his Indian mistress. The intelligence thus gathered by Cortes filled him with the deepest alarm. He was fairly taken in the snare. To fight or to fly seemed equally difficult. He was in a city of enemies where every house might be converted into a fortress and where such embarrassments were thrown in the way as might render the maneuvers of his artillery and horse nearly impracticable. In addition to the wily Tluluns he must cope under all these disadvantages with the redoubtable warriors of Mexico. He was like a traveler who has lost his way in the darkness among precipices where any step may dash him to pieces and where to retreat or to advance is equally perilous. He was desirous to obtain still further confirmation and particulars of the conspiracy. He accordingly induced two of the priests in the neighborhood, one of them a person of much influence in the place to visit his quarters. By courteous treatment and liberal largesses of the rich presence he had received from Montezuma thus turning his own gifts against the giver he drew from them a full confirmation of the previous report. The emperor had been in a state of pitiable vacillation since the arrival of the Spaniards. His first orders to the Tluluns were to receive the strangers kindly. He had recently consulted his oracles anew and obtained for answer that Tlulah would be the grave of his enemies for the gods would be sure to support him in avenging the sacrilege offered to the holy city. So confident were the Aztecs of success that these manacles or poles with thongs which served as such were already in the place to secure the prisoners. Cortes now feeling himself fully possessed of the facts dismissed the priests with injunctions of secrecy scarcely necessary. He told them it was his purpose to leave the city on the following morning and requested that they would induce some of the principal casiques to grant him an interview in his quarters. He then summoned a council of his officers though as it seems already determined course he was to take. The members of the council were differently affected by the startling intelligence according to their different characters. The more timid disheartened by the prospect of obstacles which seemed to multiply as they drew nearer the Mexican capital were for retracing their steps and seeking shelter in the friendly city of Tlulah. Others more persevering but prudent were for taking the more northerly route originally recommended by their allies. The greater part supported the general who was ever of opinion that they had no alternative but to advance. Retreat would be ruined. Halfway measures were scarcely better and would infer a timidity which must discredit them from both friend and foe. Their true policy was to rely on themselves to strike such a blow as should intimidate their enemies and to show them that the Spaniards were as incapable of being circumvented by artifice as of being crushed by weight of numbers and courage in the open field. When the casiques persuaded by the priests appeared before Cortes he contented himself with gently rebuking their want of hospitality and assured them the Spaniards would be no longer a burden to their city as he proposed to leave it early on the following morning. He requested moreover that they would furnish a reinforcement of two thousand men to transport his artillery and baggage. The chiefs after some consultation acquiesced in a demand which might in some measure favor their own designs. On their departure the general summoned the Aztec ambassadors before him. He briefly acquainted them with his detection of the treacherous plot to destroy his army, the contrivance of which he said was imputed to their master Montezuma. It grieved him much, he added, to find the emperor implicated in Sonofarius a scheme and that the Spaniards must now march as enemies against the prince whom they had hoped to visit as a friend. The ambassadors with earnest protestations asserted their entire ignorance of the conspiracy and their belief that Montezuma was equally innocent of a crime which they charged wholly on the cellulans. It was clearly the policy of Cortes to keep on good terms with the Indian monarch to profit as long as possible by his good offices and to avail himself of his fancied security such feelings of security as the general could inspire him to cover his own future operations. He affected to give credit therefore to the assertion of the envoys and declared his unwillingness to believe that a monarch who had rendered the Spaniards so many friendly offices would now consummate the whole by a deed of such unparalleled baseness. The discovery of their two-fold duplicity, he added, sharpened his resentment against the cellulans on whom he would take such vengeance as should amply requite the injuries done both to Montezuma and to the Spaniards. He then dismissed the ambassadors taking care notwithstanding the show of confidence to place a strong guard over them to prevent communication with the citizens. That night was one of deep anxiety to the army. The ground they stood on seemed loosening beneath their feet and any moment might be the one marked for their destruction. Their vigilant general took all possible precautions for their safety increasing the number of the sentinels and posting his guns in such a manner as to protect the approaches to the camp. His eyes, it may well be believed, did not close during the night. Indeed, every Spaniard laid down in his arms, and every horse stood saddled and bridled ready for instant service. But no assault was meditated by the Indians and the stillness of the hour was undisturbed except by the occasional sounds heard in a populous city, even when buried in slumber, and the horse cries of the priests from the turrets of the tail-collies proclaiming through their trumpets the watches of the night. End of Book 3, Chapter 6 Book 3, Chapter 7 of History of the Conquest of Mexico This is LibriVox Recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Kalinda History of the Conquest of Mexico by William H. Prescott Book 3, Chapter 7 Terrible Massacre Banquility Restored Reflections on the Massacre Further Proceedings Envoy's from Montezuma With the first streak of morning light Cortes was seen on horseback directing the movements of his little band. The strength of his forces he drew up in the great square or court surrounded partly by buildings as before noticed and in part by a high wall. There were three gates of entrance at each of which he placed a strong guard the rest of his troops with his great guns he posted without enclosure in such a manner as to command the avenues and secure those within from interruption in their bloody work. Orders had been sent the night before to the Toscalan chiefs to hold themselves ready at a concerted signal to march into the city and join the Spaniards. The arrangements were hardly completed before the Cholulan casiques appeared leading a body of levies, tamales even more numerous than had been demanded. They were marched at once into the square commanded as we have seen by the Spanish infantry which was drawn up under the walls. Cortes then took some of the casiques aside. With a stern air he bluntly charged them with the conspiracy showing that he was well acquainted with all the particulars. He had visited their city he said at the invitation of their emperor had come as a friend had respected the inhabitants and their property and to avoid all cause of umbrage he found a great part of his forces without the walls. They had received him with a show of kindness and hospitality and reposing on this he had been decoyed into the snare and found this kindness only a mask to cover the blackest perfidy. The Cholulans were thunderstruck at the accusation and undefined awe crept over them as they gazed on the mysterious strangers and felt themselves in the presence of beings who seemed to have the power of reading the thoughts scarcely formed in their bosoms. There was no use in the denial before such judges. They confessed the whole and endeavored to excuse themselves by throwing the blame on Montezuma. Cortez, assuming an air of higher indignation at this assured them that the pretence should not serve since even if well founded it would be no justification and he would now make such an example of them for their treachery that the report of it should ring throughout the wide borders of Anahuac. The fatal signal the discharge was given. In an instant every musket and crossbow was leveled at the unfortunate Cholulans in the courtyard and a frightful volley poured into them as they stood together like a herd of deer in the center. They were taken by surprise for they had not heard the proceeding dialogue with the chiefs. They made scarcely any resistance to the Spaniards who followed up the discharge of their pieces by rutting on them with their swords and as the half-naked bodies of the natives afforded no protection as much ease as the reaper mows down the ripe corn in harvest time. Some endeavored to scale the walls but only afforded a sure remark to the arch-a-busier and the archers. Others threw themselves into the gateways but were received on the long pikes of the soldiers who guarded them. Some few had better luck in hiding themselves under the heaps of the slain with which the ground was soon loaded. While this work of death was going on the countrymen of the slaughtered Indians together by the noise of the massacre had commenced a furious assault on the Spaniards from without. But Cortez had placed his battery of heavy guns in a position that commanded the avenues and swept off the files of the assailants as they rushed on. In the intervals between the discharges which in the imperfect state of the science in that day were much longer than in ours he forced back the press by charging with the horse into the midst. The steeds, the guns, the weapons of the Spaniards were all new to the Cholulans and notwithstanding the novelty of the terrific spectacle the flash of firearms mingling with the deafening roar of the artillery as its thunders reverberated among the buildings, the despairing Indians pushed on to take the places of their fallen comrades. While this fierce struggle was going on the Tlaxcalans, hearing the concerted signal had advanced with a quick pace into the city. They had bound by order of Cortez reeds of sedge round their heads that they might the more surely distinguished from the Cholulans. Coming up in the very heat of the engagement they fell on the defenseless rear of the townsmen who, trampled down under the heels of the Castilian cavalry on one side and galled by their vindictive enemies on the other could no longer maintain their ground. They gave way, some taking refuge in the nearest buildings which, being partly of wood, were speedily set on fire. Others fled to the temples. One strong party with a number of priests at its head got possession of the great Teocali. There was a vulgar tradition already alluded to that, on removal of part of the walls, the god would send forth an inundation to overwhelm his enemies. The superstitious Cholulans with great difficulty succeeded in wrenching away some of the stones in the walls of the edifice. But dust, not water, followed. Their false gods deserted them in their hour of need. In despair they flung themselves into the wooden turrets that crowned the temple and poured down stones, javelins and burning arrows on the Spaniards as they climbed the great staircase which, by a flight of 120 steps, scaled the face of the pyramid. But the fiery shower fell harmless on the steel bonnets of the Christians while they availed themselves with the burning shafts to set fire to the wooden citadel which was speedily wrapped in flames. Still the garrison held out and though quarter, it is said was offered, only one Cholulan availed himself of it. The rest threw themselves headlong from the parapet or perished miserably in the flames. All was now confusion and uproar in the fair city which had so lately reposed in security and peace. The groans of the dying, the frantic supplications of the vanquished for mercy were mingled with the loud battle cries of the Spaniards as they rode down their enemy and with the shrill whistle of the Cholulans who gave full scope to the long cherished rancor of ancient rivalry. The tumult was still further swelled by the incessant rattle of musketry and the crash of falling timbers which sent up a volume of flame that outshone the ready light of morning making altogether a hideous confusion of sights and sounds that converted the holy city into a pandemonium. As resistance slackened the victors broke into the houses in sacred places plundering them of whatever valuables they contained plate, jewels which were found in some quantity wearing apparel and provisions the two last coveted even more than the former by the simple Cholascolans thus facilitating a division of the spoil much to the satisfaction of their Christian Confederates. Amidst this universal license it is worthy of remark the commands of Cortes were so far respected that no violence was offered to women or children though these as well as numbers of the men were made prisoners to be swept into slavery by the Cholascolans. These scenes of violence had lasted some hours when Cortes moved by the entreaties of some Cholulan chiefs who had been reserved from the massacre backed by the prayers of the Mexican envoys consented out of regard as he said to the latter the representatives of Montezuma to call off the soldiers and put a stop as well as he could to further outrage. Two of the casiques were also permitted to go to their countrymen with assurances of pardon and protection and returned to their obedience. These measures had their effect. By the joint efforts of Cortes and the casiques the tumult was with much difficulty appeased. The assailants, Spaniards and Indians gathered under their respective banners and the Cholulans relying on the assurance of their chiefs gradually returned to their homes. The first act of Cortes was to prevail on the Tuscalan chiefs to liberate their captives. Such was their deference to the Spanish commander with the acquiesced, though not without murmurs, contenting themselves as best as they could with the rich spoil rifled from the Cholulans consisting of various luxuries long since unknown in Tlaxcala. His next care was to cleanse the city from its loadsome impurities particularly from the dead bodies which lay festering in heaps in the streets and great square. The general, in his letter to Charles V admits three thousand slain most accounts say six as the eldest and principal Kaseek was among the number. Cortes assisted the Cholulans in installing a successor in his place. By these specific measures confidence was gradually restored. The people in the environs reassured flocked into the capital to supply the place of the diminished population. The markets were again opened and the usual avocations of an orderly industrious community were resumed. Still, the longs piles of black and smoldering ruins proclaimed the hurricane which had so lately swept over the city and the walls surrounding the scene of slaughter in the great square which were standing more than fifty years after the event told the sad tale of the massacre of Cholula. This passage in their history is one of those that have left a dark stain on the memory of the conquerors. Nor can we contemplate at this day without a shutter the condition of this fair and flourishing capital thus invaded in its privacy the excesses of a rude and ruthless soldiery. But to judge the action fairly we must transport ourselves to the age when it happened. The difficulty that meets us in the outset is to find a justification of the right of conquest at all. But it should be remembered that religious infidelity at this period until much later was regarded no matter whether founded on ignorance or education whether hereditary or acquired heretical or pagan as a sin to be punished with fire and a dagger in this world and eternal suffering in the next. Under this code the territory of the heathen wherever found was regarded as a sort of religious wave which in default of a legal proprietor was claimed and taken possession of by the Holy See and as such was freely given away by the head of the church to any temporal potentate who may pleased that would assume the burden of conquest. Thus Alecland of the 6th generously granted a large portion and of the Eastern to the Portuguese. These lofty pretensions of the successors of the humble fisherman of Galilee far from being nominal were acknowledged and appealed to as conclusive in controversies between nations. With the right of conquest thus conferred came also the obligation on which it may be said to have been founded to retrieve the nations sitting in darkness from eternal perdition. This obligation was acknowledged by the best and the bravest, the craftsman in his closet, the missionary and the warrior in the crusade. However much it may have been debased by temporal motives and mixed up with worldly considerations of ambition and avarice it was still active in the mind of the Christian conqueror. We have seen how far paramount it was to every calculation of personal interest in the Breast of Cortez. The concession of the Pope then founded on and enforcing the imperative duty of conversion was the assumed basis of the right of conquest. The right could not indeed be construed to authorize any unnecessary act of violence to the natives. The present expedition up to the period of its history at which we are now arrived had probably been stained with fewer of such acts than almost any similar enterprise of the Spanish discoverers in the New World. Throughout the campaign Cortez had prohibited all wanton injuries to the natives in person or property and had punished the perpetrators of them with exemplary severity. He had been faithful to his friends and with perhaps a single exception not unmerciful to his foes. Whether from policy or principle it should be recorded to his credit though like every sagacious mind he may have felt that principle and policy go together. He had entered Delula as a friend at the invitation of the Indian Emperor who had a real if not a bound control over the state. He had been received as a friend with every demonstration of good will without any offence of his own or his followers. He found they were to be the victims of an insidious plot that they were standing on a mine which might be sprung at any moment and bury them all in its ruins. His safety as he truly considered left no alternative but to anticipate the blows of his enemies. Yet who can doubt that the punishment thus inflicted was excessive that the same end might have been attained by directing the blow against the guilty chiefs instead of letting it fall on the ignorant masters. But when was it ever seen that fear armed with power was scrupulous in the exercise of it or that the passions of a fierce soldiery inflamed by conscious injuries could be regulated in the moment of explosion? But whatever be thought of this transaction in a moral view as a stroke of policy it was unquestionable. The nations of Anahuac had beheld with admiration mingled with awe the little band of Christian warriors steadily advancing plateau in face of every obstacle overturning army after army with as much ease apparently as the good ship throws off the angry billows from her bows. Or rather like the lava which rolling from their own volcanoes holds on its course unchecked by obstacles, rock, tree, or building bearing them along or crushing and consuming them in its fiery path. The prowess of the Spaniards the white gods as they were often called made them to be thought invincible. But it was not till their arrival at Cholula that the natives learned how terrible was their vengeance and they trembled. None trembled more than the Aztec Emperor on his throne among the mountains. He read in these events the dark character traced by the finger of destiny. He felt his empire melting away like a morning mist. He might well feel so. Some of the most important cities in the neighbourhood of Cholula, intimidated by the fate of that capital, now sent their envoys to the Castilian capital, tendering their allegiance and propitiating the favour of the strangers by rich presence of gold and slaves. Montezuma, alarmed at these signs of defection, took council again of his impotent deities. But although the altars smoked with fresh hecatoms of human victims, he obtained no cheering response. He determined therefore to send another embassy to the Spaniards, disavowing any participation in the conspiracy of Cholula. Cortes was passing his time in that capital. He thought that the impression produced by the late scenes and by the present restoration tranquility offered a fair opportunity for the good work of conversion. He accordingly urged the citizens to embrace the cross and abandon the false guardians who had abandoned them in their extremity. But the traditions of centuries rested on the holy city, shedding a halo of glory around it as the sanctuary of the gods, the religious capital of Anahuac. It was too much to expect that the people would willingly resign this preeminence and descend to the level of an ordinary community. Still, Cortes might have pressed the matter however unpalatable, but for the renewed interposition of the wise Olmeido who persuaded him to postpone it till after the reduction of the whole country. During the occurrence of these events, envoys arrived from Mexico. They were charged as usual with a rich presence of platen ornaments of gold. Among others, artificial birds in imitation of turkeys with plumes of the same precious metal. To these were added 1500 cotton dresses of delicate fabric. The emperor even expressed his regret at the catastrophe of Cholula, vindicated himself from any share in the conspiracy which, he said, had brought deserved retribution on the heads of its authors and explained the existence of an Aztec force in the neighborhood by the necessity of repressing some disorders there. One cannot contemplate this pusillanimous conduct of Montezuma without mingled feelings of pity and contempt. It is not easy to reconcile his assumed innocence of the plot with many circumstances connected with it, but it must be remembered here and always that his history is to be collected solely from Spanish writers and such of the natives as flourished after the conquest when the country had become a colony of Spain. It is the hard fate of this unfortunate monarch to be wholly indebted for his portraiture to the pencil of the enemies. More than a fortnight had elapsed since the entrance of the Spaniards into Cholula and Cortez now resolved without loss of time to resume his march towards the capital. His rigorous reprisals had so far intimidated the Cholulans that he felt assured he should no longer leave an active enemy in his rear to annoy him in case of retreat. He had the satisfaction before his departure to heal the feud in outward appearance at least that had so long subsisted between the Holy City and Tlaskala and which under the revolution which so changed the destinies of the country never revived. It was with some disquietude that he now received an application from his simple island allies to be allowed to withdraw from the expedition and return to their own homes. They had incurred too deeply the resentment of the Aztec emperor by their insults to his collectors and by their cooperation with the Spaniards to care to trust themselves in his capital. It was in vain Cortez endeavored to reassure them by promises of his protection. Their habitual distrust and dread of the great Montezuma were not to be overcome. The general learned their determination with regret for they had been of infinite service to their cause by their staunch fidelity and courage. All this made it the more difficult for him to resist their reasonable demand. Liberally recompensing their services therefore from the rich wardrobe and treasures of the emperor he took leave of his faithful followers before his own departure from Cholula. He availed himself of their return to send letters to Juan de Escalante, his lieutenant at Veracruz, appointing him with the successful progress of the expedition. He enjoined on that officer to strengthen the fortifications of the place so as the better to resist any hostile interference from Cuba, an event for which Cortez was ever on the watch and to keep down revolt among the natives. He especially commended the Totonax to his protection as allies whose fidelity to the Spaniards exposed them in no slight degree to the vengeance of the Aztecs.