 Book 2 Chapter 7. There is no situation which tries so severely the patience and discipline of the soldier as a life of idleness in camp. Where his thoughts, instead of being bent on enterprise and action, are fastened on himself and the inevitable privations and dangers of his condition. This was particularly the case in the present instance where, in addition to the evils of a scanty subsistence, the troops suffered from excessive heat, swarms of venomous insects, and the other annoyances of a sultry climate. They were, moreover, far from possessing the character of regular forces, trained to subordination under a commander whom they had long been taught to reverence and obey. They were soldiers of fortune embarked with him in an adventure in which all seemed to have an equal stake, and they regarded their captain, the captain of a day, as little more than an equal. There was a growing discontent among the men at their longer residence in this strange land. They were still more dissatisfied on learning the general's intention to remove to the neighborhood of the port discovered by Montejo. It was time to return, they said, and report what had been done to the governor of Cuba and not linger on these barren shores until they had brought the whole Mexican Empire on their heads. Cortes evaded their importunities, as well as he could, assuring them there was no cause for despondency. Everything so far had gone on prosperously, and, when they had taken up a more favorable position, there was no reason to doubt they might still continue the same profitable intercourse with the natives. While this was passing, five Indians made their appearance in the camp one morning and were brought to the general's tent. Their dress and whole appearance were different from those of the Mexicans. They wore rings of gold and gems of a bright blue stone in their ears and nostrils, while a gold leaf delicately wrought was attached to the underlip. Marina was unable to comprehend their language, but on her addressing them in Aztec, two of them it was found could converse in that tongue. They said they were natives of Kempo Alala, the chief town of the Totonax, a powerful nation who had come upon the Great Plateau many centuries back, and, descending its eastern slope, settled along the Sierras and broad plains which skirt the Mexican Gulf towards the north. Their country was one of the recent conquests of the Aztecs, and they experienced such vexatious oppressions from their conquerors as made them very impatient of the oak. They informed Cortes of these and other particulars. The fame of the Spaniards had reached their master who sent these messengers to request the presence of the wonderful strangers in his capital. This communication was eagerly listened to by the general, who, it will be remembered, was possessed of none of these facts laid before the reader, respecting the internal condition of the kingdom which he had no reason to suppose other than strong and united. An important truth now flashed on his mind as his quick eye described in this spirit of discontent a potent lever by the aid of which he might hope to overturn this barbaric empire. He received the mission of the Totonax most graciously and after informing himself as far as possible of their dispositions and resources dismissed them with presence, promising soon to pay a visit to their lord. Meanwhile his personal friends among whom may be particularly mentioned Alonso Hernández de Puerto Carrero, Cristóbal de Olíd, Alonso de Avila, Pedro de Alvarado, and his brothers were very busy in persuading the troops to take such measures as should enable Cortes to go forward in those ambitious plans for which he had no warrant from the powers of Velázquez. To return now, they said, was to abandon the enterprise on the threshold which, under such a leader, must conduct to glory and incalculable riches. To return to Cuba would be to surrender to the greedy governor the little gains they had already got. The only way was to persuade the general to establish a permanent colony in the country, the government of which would take the conduct of matters into its own hands and provide for the interests of its members. It was true Cortes had no such authority from Velázquez, but the interests of the sovereigns which were paramount to every other imperatively demanded it. These conferences could not be conducted so secretly, though held by night as not to reach the ears of the friends of Velázquez. They remonstrated against the proceedings as insidious and disloyal. They accused the general of instigating them and, calling on him to take measures without delay for the return of the troops to Cuba, announced their own intention to depart, with such followers as still remained true to the governor. Cortes, instead of taking on Braj at this high-handed proceeding or even answering in the same hot tone, mildly replied that nothing was further from his desire than to exceed his instructions. He indeed preferred to remain in the country and continue his profitable intercourse with the natives, but, since the army thought otherwise, he should defer to their opinion and give orders to return as they desired. On the following morning proclamation was made for the troops to hold themselves in readiness to embark at once aboard the fleet which was to sail for Cuba. Great was the sensation caused by their general's order. Even many of those before clamorous for it were the usual caprice of men whose wishes are too easily gratified now regretted it. The partisans of Cortes were loud in their remonstrances. They were betrayed by the general. They cried and thronging around his tent called on him to counterman his orders. We came here, said they, expecting to form a settlement if the state of the country authorized it. Now it seems you have no warrant from the governor to make one, but there are interests higher than those of Velazquez which demanded. These territories are not his property, but were discovered for the sovereign's, and it is necessary to plant a colony to watch over their interests instead of wasting time in idle barter, or still worse of returning in the present state of affairs to Cuba. If you refuse, they concluded, we shall protest against your conduct as disloyal to their heinouses. Cortes received this remonstrance with the embarrassed air of one by whom it was altogether unexpected. He modestly requested time for deliberation and promised to give his answer on the following day. At the time appointed he called the troops together and made them a brief address. There was no one, he said, if he knew his own heart more deeply devoted than himself to the welfare of his sovereigns and the glory of the Spanish name. He had not only expended his all but incurred heavy debts to meet the charges of this expedition, and had hoped to reimburse himself by continuing his traffic with the Americans. But, if the soldiers thought a different course advisable, he was ready to postpone his own advantage to the good of the state. He concluded by declaring his willingness to take measures for settling a colony in the name of the Spanish sovereigns and to nominate a magistracy to preside over it. For the alcaldes he selected Puerto Carrero and Montejo, the former Cavalier his fast friend and the latter the friend of Velázquez, and chosen for that very reason a stroke of policy which perfectly succeeded. The regidores, Algo Axil, Treasurer and other functionares, were then appointed, all of them his personal friends and adherents. They were regularly sworn into office and the new city received the title of Villarica de Veracruz, the rich town of the True Cross, a name which was considered as happily intimating that union of spiritual and temporal interests to which the arms of the Spanish adventurers in the new world were to be devoted. Thus, by a single stroke of the pen, the camp was transformed into a civil community, and the whole framework and even title of the city were arranged before the sight of it had been settled. The new municipality were not slow in coming together, when Cortés presented himself cap in hand before that august body, and laying the powers of Velázquez on the table, respectfully tendered the resignation of his office of Captain General, which indeed, he said, had necessarily expired since the authority of the governor was now superseded by that of the magistracy of Villarica de Veracruz. He then, with a profound obeisance, left the apartment. The council, after a decent time spent in deliberation, again requested his presence. There was no one, they said, who on mature reflection appeared to them so well qualified to take charge of the interests of the community both in peace and in war, as himself and they unanimously named him in behalf of their Catholic Highnesses, Captain General and Chief Justice of the Colony. He was further empowered to draw, on his own account, one-fifth of the gold and silver which might hereafter be obtained by commerce or conquest from the natives. Thus clothed with supreme civil and military jurisdiction, Cortés was not backward in exerting his authority. He found speedy occasion for it. The transactions above described had succeeded each other so rapidly that the governor's party seemed to be taken by surprise and had formed no plan of opposition. When the last measure was carried, however, they broke forth into the most indignant and appropriate invectives, denouncing the whole as a systematic conspiracy against Velázquez. These accusations led to recrimination from the soldiers of the other side until from words they nearly proceeded to blows. Some of the principal cavaliers among them Velázquez de Lyon, a kinsman of the governor, Escobar, his page, and Diego de Ordaz, were so active in instigating these turbulent movements that Cortés took the bold measure of putting them all in irons and sending them on board the vessels. He then dispersed the common file by detaching many of them with a strong party under alvarado to forage the neighboring country and bring home provisions for the destitute camp. During their absence every argument that cupidity or ambition could suggest was used to win the refractory to his views, promises, and even gold it is set were liberally lavished till by degrees their understandings were open to a clear review of the merits of the case. And when the foraging party reappeared with abundance of poultry and vegetables and the cravings of the stomach, that great laboratory of dissatisfaction, whether in camp or capital, were appeased, good humor returned with good cheer, and the rival factions embraced one another as companions in arms pledged to a common cause. Even the high meddled hedalgos on board the vessels did not long withstand the general tide of reconciliation, but one by one gave in their adhesion to the new government. What is more remarkable is that this forced conversion was not a hollow one, but from this time forward several of these very cavaliers became the most steady and devoted partisans of Cortés. Such was the address of this extraordinary man in such the ascendancy which in a few months he had acquired over these wild and turbulent spirits. By this ingenious transformation of a military into a civil community, he had secured a new and effectual basis for future operations. He might now go forward without fear of cheek or control from a superior, at least from any other superior than the crown, under which alone he held his commission. In accomplishing this, instead of incurring the charge of usurpation, or of transcending his legitimate powers, he had transferred the responsibility in a great measure to those who had imposed on him the necessity of action. By this step, moreover, he had linked the fortunes of his followers indissolubly with his own. They had taken their chance with him, and whether for wheel or for woe must abide the consequences. He was no longer limited to the narrow concerns of a sordid traffic, but sure of their cooperation might now boldly meditate and gradually disclose those lofty schemes which he had formed in his own bosom for the conquest of an empire. Harmony being thus restored, Cortés sent his heavy guns on board the fleet and ordered it to coast along the shore to the north as far as the Chiawitzla. The town near which the distinct port of the new city was situated, proposing, himself at the head of his troops, to visit Kempoalalao on the march. The road lay for some miles across the dreary plains in the neighborhood of the modern Veracruz. In this sandy waste no signs of vegetation met their eyes, which, however, were occasionally refreshed by glimpses of the Blue Atlantic and by the distant view of the magnificent Orizaba, towering with his spotless diadem of snow far above his colossal brethren of the Andes. As they advanced the country gradually assumed a greener and richer aspect. They crossed a river, probably a tributary of the Rio de Le Antigua, with difficulty on rafts and on some broken canoes that were lying on the banks. They now came in view of very different scenery, wide rolling plains covered with a rich carpet of verdure and overshadowed by groves of cocos and feathery palms, among whose tall slender stems were seen deer and various wild animals with which the Spaniards were unacquainted. Some of the horsemen gave chase to the deer and wounded but did not succeed in killing them. They saw also pheasants and other birds, among them the wild turkey, the pride of the American forest, which the Spaniards described as a species of peacock. On their route they passed through some deserted villages in which were Indian temples, where they found censors and other sacred utensils and manuscripts of the Agave fiber, containing the picture writing in which probably their religious ceremonies were recorded. They now beheld also the hideous spectacle with which they became afterwards familiar, of the mutilated corpses of victims who had been sacrificed to the accursed deities of the land. The Spaniards turned with loathing and indignation from a display of butchery, which formed so dismal a contrast to the fair scenes of nature by which they were surrounded. They held their course along the banks of the river towards its source when they were met by twelve Indians sent by the Casique of Campoalala to show them the way to his residence. At night they bewalked in an open meadow where they were well supplied with provisions by their new friends. They left the stream on the following morning and, striking northerly across the country, came upon a wide expanse of luxuriant plains and woodland glowing in all the splendor of tropical vegetation. The branches of the stately trees were gaily festooned with clustering vines of the dark purple grape variegated of convovulli, and other flowering parasites of the most brilliant dyes. The undergrowth of prickly aloe matted with wild rose and honeysuckle made in many places an almost impervious thicket. Amid this wilderness of sweet smelling buds and blossoms fluttered numerous birds of the parrot tribe and clouds of butterflies whose gaudy colors nowhere so gorgeous as in the Tierra Caliente rivaled those of the vegetable creation, while birds of exquisite song, the scarlet cardinal and the marvellous mockingbird that comprehends in his own notes the whole music of a forest filled the air with delicious melody. The hearts of the stern conquerors were not very sensible to the beauties of nature, but the magical charms of the scenery drew forth unbounded expressions of delight, and as they wandered through this terrestrial paradise as they called it they fondly compared it to the fairest regions of their own sunny land. As they approached the Indian city they saw abundant signs of cultivation in the trim gardens and orchards that lined both sides of the road. They were now met by parties of the natives of either sex who increased in numbers with every step of their progress. The women as well as men mingled fearlessly among the soldiers, bearing bunches and wreaths of flowers with which they decorated the neck of the general's charger and hung a chaplet of roses about his helmet. Flowers were the delight of these people. They bestowed much care in their cultivation in which they were well seconded by a climate of alternate heat and moisture, stimulating the soil to the spontaneous production of every form of vegetable life. The same refined taste as we shall see prevailed among the warlike Aztecs. Many of the women appeared from their richer dress and numerous attendants to be persons of rank. They were clad in robes of fine cotton, curiously colored, which reached from the neck in the inferior orders from the waist to the ankles. The men wore a sort of mantle of the same material in the Moorish fashion, over their shoulders and belts or sashes about the loins. Both sexes had jewels and ornaments of gold round their necks while their ears and nostrils were perforated with rings of the same metal. Just before reaching the town some horsemen who had rode in advance returned with the amazing intelligence that they had been near enough to look within the gates and found the houses all plated with burnished silver. On entering the place the silver was found to be nothing more than a brilliant coating of stucco with which the principal buildings were covered, a circumstance which produced much merriment among soldiers at the expense of their credulous cromrats. Such ready credulities a proof of the exalted state of their imaginations which were prepared to see gold and silver in every object around them. The edifices of the better kind were of stone and lime or bricks dried in the sun, the poorer were of clay and earth. All were thatched with palm leaves which, though a flimsy roof apparently for such structures, were so nicely interwoven as to form a very effectual protection against the weather. The city was said to contain from twenty to thirty thousand inhabitants. This is the most moderate computation and not improbable. Slowly and silently the little army paced the narrow and now crowded streets of Kempoalala, inspiring the natives with no greater wonder than they themselves experienced at the display of a policy and refinement so far superior to anything they had witnessed in the New World. The kassike came out in front of his residence to receive them. He was a tall and very corpulent man, and advanced leaning on two of his attendants. He received Cortez and his followers with great courtesy, and after a brief interchange of civilities assigned the army its corridors in a neighboring temple into the spacious courtyard of which a number of apartments opened, affording excellent accommodations for the soldiery. Here the Spaniards were well supplied with provisions, meat cooked after the fashion of the country, and maize made into bread-cakes. The general received also a present of considerable value from the kassike consisting of ornaments of gold and fine cottons. Notwithstanding these friendly demonstrations, Cortez did not relax his habitual vigilance nor neglect any of the precautions of a good soldier. On his route indeed he had always marched in order of battle, well prepared against surprise. In his present quarters he stationed his sentinels with light care, posted his small artillery so as to command the entrance, and forbade any soldier to leave the camp without orders under pain of death. The following morning Cortez, accompanied by fifty of his men, paid a visit to the Lord of Kempoalala in his own residence. It was a building of stone and lime standing on a steep terrace of earth, and was reached by a flight of stone steps. It may have borne resemblance in its structure to some of the ancient buildings found in Central America. Cortez, leaving his soldiers in the courtyard, entered the mansion with one of his officers and his fair interpreter, Donia Marina. A long conference ensued from which the Spanish general gathered much light respecting the state of the country. He first announced to the chief that he was a subject of a great monarch who dwelt beyond the waters, that he had come to the Aztec shores to abolish the inhuman worship which prevailed there and to introduce the knowledge of the true God. The casique replied that their gods, who sent them, the sunshine and the rain, were good enough for them, that he was a tributary of a powerful monarch also whose capital stood on a lake far off among the mountains, a stern prince merciless in his exactions and, in case of resistance, or any offense, sure to rack his vengeance by carrying off their young men and maidens to be sacrificed to his deities. Cortez assured him that he would never consent to such enormities. He had been sent by his sovereign to redress abuses and to punish the oppressor, and, if the Totonax would be true to him, he would enable them to throw off the detested yoke of the Aztecs. The casique added that the Totonax territory contained about thirty towns and villages which could muster a hundred thousand warriors, a number much exaggerated. There were other provinces of the empire he said where the Aztec rule was equally odious, and between him and the capital lay the warlike republic of Las Cala, which had always maintained its independence of Mexico. The fame of the Spaniards had gone before them, and he was well acquainted with their terrible victory at Tabasco. But still he looked with doubt and alarmed a rupture with a great Montezuma, as he always styled him, whose armies on the least provocation would pour down from the mountain regions of the west and rushing over the plains like a whirlwind sweep off the wretched people to slavery and sacrifice. Cortez endeavored to reassure him by declaring that a single Spaniard was stronger than a host of Aztecs. At the same time it was desirable to know what nations would cooperate with him not so much on his account as theirs that he might distinguish friend from foe and know whom he was to spare in this war of extermination. Having raised the confidence of the admiring chief by this comfortable and politic font, he took an affectionate leave with the assurance that he would shortly return and concert measures for their future operations when he had visited his ships in the adjoining port and secured a permanent settlement there. The intelligence gained by Cortez gave great satisfaction to his mind. It confirmed his former views and showed indeed the interior of the monarchy to be in a state far more distracted than he had supposed. If he had before scarcely shrunk from attacking the Aztec Empire, in the true spirit of a night errant, with his single arm as it were, what had he now to fear when one half of the nation could be thus marshaled against the other. In the excitement of the moment his sanguine spirit kindled with an enthusiasm which overleaped every obstacle. He communicated his own feelings to the officers about him, and before a blow was struck, they already felt as if the banners of Spain were waving in triumph the towers of Montezuma. Taking leave of the hospitable Indian on the following day, the Spaniards took the road to Chia-Hutzla, about four leagues distant near which was the port discovered by Montejo, where their ships were now riding at anchor. They were provided by the Cacique with four hundred Indian porters, Tamanes, as they were called to transport the baggage. These men easily carried fifty pounds weight five or six leagues in a day. They were in use all over the Mexican Empire, and the Spaniards found them of great service, henceforth in relieving the troops from this part of their duty. They passed through a country of the same rich, voluptuous characters that which they had lately traversed, and arrived early next morning at the Indian town, perched like a fortress on a bold rocky eminence that commanded the gulf. Most of the inhabitants had fled, but fifteen of the principal men remained, who received them in a friendly manner, offering the usual compliments of flowers and incense. The people of the place losing their fears gradually returned. While conversing with the chiefs, the Spaniards were joined by the worthy Cacique of Campoalala, born by his men on a litter. He eagerly took part in their deliberations. The intelligence gained here by Cortés confirmed the accounts already gathered of the feelings and resources of the Totonac Nation. In the midst of their conference they were interrupted by a movement among the people, and soon afterwards five men enter the great square or marketplace where they were standing. By their lofty port, their peculiar and much richer dress, they seemed not to be the same race as these Indians. Their dark glossy hair was tied in a knot on the top of the head. They had bunches of flowers in their hands, and were followed by several attendants, some bearing wands, with cords, others fans, with which they brushed away the flies and insects from their lordly masters. As these persons passed through the place they cast a haughty look on the Spaniards, scarcely daining to return their salutations. They were immediately joined in great confusion by the Totonac chiefs, who seemed anxious to conciliate them by every kind of attention. The general much astonished and quiet of Marina what it meant. She informed him they were Aztec nobles, empowered to receive the tribute for Montezuma. Soon after the chiefs returned with dismay painted on their faces, they confirmed Marina's statement adding that the Aztecs greatly resented the entertainment of order the Spaniards without the emperor's permission and demanded, in expiation, twenty young men and women for sacrifice to their gods. Cortes showed the strongest indignation at this insolence. He required the Totonacs not only to refuse the demand but to arrest the persons of the collectors and throw them into prison. The chiefs hesitated, but he insisted on it so preemptorily that they at length complied and the Aztecs were seized, bound hand and foot and placed under a guard. In the night the Spanish general procured the escape of two of them and had them brought secretly before him. He expressed his regret at the indignity they had experienced from the Totonacs, told them he would provide means for their flight and tomorrow would endeavor to obtain the release of their companions. He desired them to report this to their master with assurances of the great regard the Spaniards entertained for him, not withstanding his ungenerous behavior in leaving them to perish from want on his barren shores. He then sent the Mehecan nobles down to the port once they were carried to another part of the coast by water for fear of the violence of the Totonacs. They were greatly incensed at the escape of the prisoners and would have sacrificed the remainder at once, but for the Spanish commander who evinced the utmost horror at the proposal and ordered them to be sent for safe custody on board the fleet. Soon after they were permitted to join their companions. This artful proceeding, so characteristic of the policy of Cortes, had as we shall see her after, all the effect intended on Montezuma. By order of Cortes, messengers were dispatched to the Totonac towns to report what had been done, calling on them to refuse the payment of further tribute to Montezuma. But there was no need of messengers. The affrighted attendants of the Aztec lords had fled in every direction bearing the tidings, which spread like wildfire through the country of the daring insult offered to the majesty of Mexico. The astonished Indians cheered with a sweet hope of regaining their ancient liberty, came in numbers, Chihuahuetzla, to see and confer with the formidable strangers. The more timid, dismayed at the thoughts of encountering the power of Montezuma, recommended an embassy to avert his displeasure by timely concessions. But the dexterous management of Cortes had committed them too far to allow any reasonable expectation of indulgence from this quarter. After some hesitation, therefore, it was determined to embrace the protection of the Spaniards and to make one bold effort for the recovery of freedom. Oaths of allegiance were taken by the chiefs to the Spanish sovereigns and duly recorded by Codoy, the royal notary. Cortes satisfied with the important acquisition of so many vassals to the crown, set out soon after for the distinct port, having first promised to revisit Quimboalala, where his business was but partially accomplished. The spot selected for the new city was only half a league distant in a wide and fruitful plain, affording a tolerable haven for the shipping. Cortes was not long in determining the circuit of the walls and the sights of the fort, granary, townhouse, temple, and other public buildings. The friendly Indians eagerly assisted by bringing materials, stone, lime, wood, and bricks dried in the sun. Every man put his hand to the work. The general labored, with the meanest of the soldiers, stimulating their exertions by his example as well as voice. In a few weeks, the task was accomplished, and a town rose up, which, if not quite worthy of the aspiring name it bore, answered most of the purpose for which it was intended. It served as a good point de appui for future operations, a place of retreat for the disabled, as well as for the army in case of reverses, a magazine for stores and for such articles as might be received from or sent to the mother country, a port for the shipping, a position of sufficient strength to overall the adjacent country. It was the first colony, the fruitful parent of so many others in New Spain. It was hailed with satisfaction by the simple natives who hoped to repose in safety under its protecting shadow. Alas, they could not read the future, or they would have found no cause to rejoice in this harbinger of a revolution more tremendous than any predicted by their bards and prophets. It was not the good Quetzalcoatl who had returned to claim his own again, bringing peace, freedom and civilization in his train. Their fetters, indeed, would be broken and their wrongs be amply avenged on the proud head of the Aztec, but it was to be by that strong arm which should bow down equally the oppressor and the oppressed. The light of civilization would be poured on their land, but it would be the light of a consuming fire before which their barbaric glory, their institutions, their very existence and name as a nation would wither and become extinct. Their doom was sealed when the white man had set his foot on their soil. 8. Another Aztec embassy. Destruction of idols. Dispatches sent to Spain. Conspiracy in the camp. The fleet sunk. While the Spaniards were occupied with their new settlement they were surprised by the presence of an embassy from Mexico. The account of the imprisonment of the royal collectors had spread rapidly through the country. When it reached the capital all were filled with amazement at the unprecedented daring of the strangers. In Montezuma every other feeling, even that of fear, was swallowed up in indignation and he showed his wanted energy in the vigorous preparations which he instantly made to punish his rebellious vassals and to avenge the insult offered to the majesty of the empire. But when the Aztec officers liberated by Cortez reached the capital and reported the courteous treatment they had received from the Spanish commander Montezuma's anger was mitigated and his superstitious fears getting the ascendancy again induced him to resume his former timid and conciliatory policy. He accordingly sent an embassy consisting of two youths, his nephews, and four of the ancient nobles of his court to the Spanish quarters. He provided them, in his usual munificent spirit, with a princely donation of gold, rich cotton-stuffs, and beautiful mantles of the plumage or feather and broidery. The invoice oncoming before Cortez presented him with the articles, at the same time offering the acknowledgment of their master for the courtesy he had shown in liberating his captive nobles. He was surprised and afflicted, however, that the Spaniards should have countenanced his faithless vassals in their rebellion. He had no doubt they were the strangers whose rival had been so long announced by the oracles and of the same lineage with himself. From deference to them he would spare the Totonics while they were present, but the time for vengeance would come. Cortez entertained the Indian chieftains with frank hospitality. At the same time he took care to make such a display of his resources, as, while it amused their minds, should leave a deep impression of his power. He then, after a few trifling gifts, dismissed them with a conciliatory message to their master, and the assurance that he should soon pay his respects to him in his capital, where all misunderstandings between them would be readily adjusted. The Totonic allies could scarcely credit their senses, when they gathered the nature of this interview. Notwithstanding the presence of the Spaniards, they had looked with apprehension to the consequences of their rash act, and their feelings of admiration were hyphened into all for the strangers who, at this distance, could exercise so mysterious an influence over the terrible Montezuma. Not long after the Spaniards received an application from the Cacique of Sempoala to aid him in a dispute in which he was engaged with a neighboring city, Cortez marched with a part of his forces to his support. On the route, one Maria, a common soldier, robbed the native of a couple of fowls. Cortez indignant at this violation of his orders before his face, and aware of the importance of maintaining a reputation for good faith with his allies, commanded the man to be hung up at once by the roadside, in face of the whole army. Fortunately for the poor wretch, Pedro de Alvarado, the future conqueror of Quiche, was present, and ventured to cut down the body, while there was yet life in it. He probably thought enough had been done, for example, and the loss of a single life unnecessarily was more than the little band could afford. The antidote is characteristic, as showing the strict discipline maintained by Cortez over his men, and the freedom assumed by his captains, who regarded him on terms nearly of equality, as a fellow adventurer with themselves. This feeling of companionship led to a spirit of insubordination among them, which made his own post as commander, the more delicate and difficult. On reaching the hostile city, but a few leagues from the coast, they were received in an amicable manner, and Cortez, who was accompanied by his allies, had the satisfaction of reconciling these different branches of the Totenac family with each other, without bloodshed. He returned to Sempuala, where he was welcomed with joy by the people, who were now impressed with as favorable an opinion of his moderation and justice as they had before been of his valor. In Totenac of his gratitude, the Indian Kaseek delivered to the general eight Indian maidens, richly dressed, wearing collars and ornaments of gold, with a number of female slaves to wait on them. They were daughters of the principal chiefs, and the Kaseek requested that the Spanish captains might take them as their wives. Cortez received the damsels courteously, but told the Kaseek that they must first be baptized, as the sons of the church could have no commerce with idolaters. He then declared that it was a great object of his mission to wean the natives from their heathenish abominations, and besought the Totenac, Lord, to allow his idols to be cast down, and the symbols of the true faith to be erected in their place. To this the other answered as before, that his gods were good enough for him, nor could all the persuasion of the general, nor the preachings of Father Omedo, induce him to acquiesce. Mingled with his polytheism, he had conceptions of a supreme and infinite being, creator of the universe, and his darkened understanding could not comprehend how such a being could condescend to take the form of humanity, with its infirmities and ills, and wonder about on earth, the voluntary victim of persecution, from the hands of those whose breath had called into existence. He plainly told the Spaniards that he would resist any violence offered to his gods, who would indeed avenge the acts themselves, by the instant destruction of their enemies. But the zeal of the Christians had mounted too high to be cooled by remonstrance or menace. During their residence in the land they had witnessed more than once the barbarous rites of the natives, their cruel sacrifices of human victims, and their disgusting cannibal repasts. Their souls sickened at these abominations, and they agreed with one voice to stand by their general when he told him that heaven would never smile on their enterprise if they countenanced such atrocities, and that for his own part he was resolved the Indian idols should be demolished that very hour if it cost him his life. To postpone the work of conversion was a sin. In the enthusiasm of the moment the dictates of policy and ordinary prudence were alike unheeded. Scarcely waiting for his commands, the Spaniards moved toward one of the principal teal callus or temples, which rose high on a pyramidal foundation with a steep ascent of stone steps in the middle. The Kaseek, dividing their purpose, instantly called his men to arms. The Indian warriors gathered from all quarters with shrill cries and a clashing of weapons, while the priests and their dark cotton robes, with disheveled presses matted with blood, flowing wildly over their shoulders, rushed frantic among the natives, calling on them to protect their gods from violation. All was now confusion, Tommelt, and warlike menace, where so lately had been peace and the sweet brotherhood of nations. Cortez took his usual prompt and decided measures. He caused the Kaseek and some of the principal inhabitants and priests to be arrested by his soldiers. He then commanded them to quiet the people. For, if an arrow was shot against the Spaniard, it should cost every one of them his life. Marina, at the same time, represented the madness of resistance, and reminded the Kaseek that, if he now alienated the affections of the Spaniards, he would be left without a protector against the terrible vengeance of Montezuma. These temporal considerations seemed to have had more weight with the Totenec chieftain than those of a more spiritual nature. He covered his face with his hands, exclaiming that the gods would avenge their own wrongs. The Christians were not slow in availing themselves of his tacit acquiescence. Fifty soldiers at a signal from their general sprang up the great stairway of the temple, entered the building on the summit, the walls which were black with human gore, tore the huge wooden idols from their foundations, and dragged them to the edge of the terrace. Their fantastic forms and features conveying a symbolic meaning, which was lost on the Spaniards, seemed in their eyes only the hideous lineaments of Satan. With great aclarity they rolled the colossal monsters down the steps of the pyramid, amid the triumphant shouts of their own companions, and the groans and lamentations of the natives. There they consummated the whole by burning them in the presence of the assembled multitude. The same effect followed as in Cozumel. The Totenecs, finding their deities incapable of preventing or even punishing this profanation of their shrines, conceived the mean opinion of their power, compared with that of the mysterious and formidable strangers. The floors and walls of the Teokali were then cleansed by command of Cortez from their foul impurities. A fresh coating of stucco was laid on them by the Indian masons, and an altar was raised, surmounted by a lofty cross, and hung with garlands of roses. A procession was next formed, in which some of the principal Totene priests, exchanging their dark mantles for robes of white, carried lighted candles in their hands, while an image of the virgin, half smothered under the weight of flowers, was borne aloft, and, as the procession climbed the steps of the temple, was deposited above the altar. Mass was performed by Father Almeido, and the impressive character of the ceremony and the passionate eloquence of the good priests touched the feeling of the motley audience, until Indians as well as Spaniards, if we may trust the chronicler, were melted into tears and audible sobs. An old soldier named Juan de Torres, disabled by bodily infirmity, consented to remain and watch over the sanctuary, and instruct the natives in its services. Cortez, then embracing his Totonec allies, now brothers in religion as in arms, set out once more for the Villa Rica, where he had some arrangements to complete, previous to his departure for the capital. He was surprised to find that a Spanish vessel had arrived there, in his absence, having on board twelve soldiers and two horses. It was under the command of a captain named Sausado, a cavalier of the ocean, who had followed in the track of Cortez in quest of adventure. Though a small, they afforded a very seasonable body of recruits for the little army. By these men the Spaniards were informed that Valescas, the Governor of Cuba, had lately received a warrant from the Spanish government to establish a colony in the newly discovered countries. Cortez now resolved to put a plan in execution, which he had been some time meditating. He knew that all the late acts of the colony, as well as his own authority, would fall to the ground without the royal sanction. He knew, too, that the interest of Valescas, which was great at court, would as soon as he was acquainted with his succession be wholly employed to circumvent and crush him. He was resolved to anticipate this movement and to send a vessel to Spain with dispatches addressed to the Emperor himself, announcing the nature and extent of his discoveries, and to obtain, if possible, the confirmation of his proceedings. In order to conciliate his master's good will, he further proposed to send him, such as present, as should suggest the lofty ideals of the importance of his own service to the Crown. To effect this, the royal fift he considered inadequate. He conferred with his officers and persuaded them to relinquish their share of the treasure. At his insistence they made a similar application to the soldiers, representing that it was the earnest wish of the general, who set the example by resigning his own fift, equal to the share of the Crown. It was but little that each man was asked to surrender, but the whole would make a present worthy of the monarch for whom it was intended. By this sacrifice they might hope to secure his indulgence for the past, and his favor for the future, a temporary sacrifice that would be well repaid by the security of the rich possessions which awaited them in Mexico. A paper was then circulated among the soldiers, which all who were disposed to relinquish their shares were requested to sign. Those who declined should have their claims respected, and receive the amount due to them. No one refused to sign, thus furnishing another example of the extraordinary power obtained by Cortez over these rapacious spirits, who, at his call, surrendered up the very treasures which had been the great object of their hazardous enterprise. A complete inventory of the articles received from Montezuma is contained in the Carta de Veracruz. The following are a few of the items. Two collars made of gold and precious stones. A hundred ounces of gold ore that their highnesses might see in what state the gold came from the mines. Two birds made of green feathers with feet, beaks, and eyes of gold, and, in the same piece with them, animals of gold resembling snails. A large alligator's head of gold. A bird of green feathers with feet, beak, and eyes of gold. Two birds made of thread and feather work, having the quills of their wings and tails, their feet, eyes, and the ends of their beaks, of gold, standing upon two reeds covered with gold, which are raised on balls of feather work and gold embroidery, one white and the other yellow, with seven tassels of feather work hanging from each of them. A large wheel of silver weighing forty marks and several smaller ones of the same metal. A box of feather work embroidered on leather, with a large plate of gold weighing seventy ounces in the midst. Two pieces of cloth woven with feathers, another with variegated colors, and another worked with black and white figures. A large wheel of gold with figures of strange animals on it, and worked with tufts of leaves, weighing three thousand eight hundred ounces. A fan of variegated feather work, with thirty-seven rods played it with gold. Five fans of variegated feathers, four of which have ten, and the other thirteen rods embossed with gold. Sixteen shields of precious stones with feathers of various colors hanging from their rims. Two pieces of cotton very richly wrought with black and white embroidery. Six shields each covered with a plate of gold, with something resembling a golden mitre in the center. He accompanied this present, with a letter to the emperor, in which he gave a full account of all that had befallen him since his departure from Cuba. Of his various discoveries, battles, and traffic with the natives, their conversion to Christianity, his strange perils and sufferings, many particulars respecting the lands he had visited, and such as he could collect in regard to the great Mexican monarchy and its sovereign. He stated his difficulties with the governor of Cuba, the proceedings of the army in reference to colonization, and besought the emperor to confirm their acts as well as his own authority, expressing his entire confidence that he should be able, with the aid of his brave followers, to place the Castilian crown in possession of this great Indian empire. This was the celebrated first letter, as it is called of Cortez, which has hitherto eluded every search that has been made for it in the libraries of Europe. Its existence is fully established by references to it, both in his own subsequent letters and in the writings of contemporaries. Its general port is given by his chaplain, Gomara. The importance of the document has doubtless been much overrated, and, should it ever come to light, it will probably be found to add little of interest to the matter contained in the letter from Vera Cruz, which has formed the basis of the preceding portion of our narrative. He had no sources of information beyond those open to the authors of the latter document. He was even less full and frank in his communications, if it be true, that he suppressed all notice of the discoveries of his two predecessors. The magistrates of the Villarica in their epistle went over the same grounds with Cortez, concluding with an emphatic representation of the misconduct of Velazquez, whose venality, extortion, and self-devotion to his personal interests, to the exclusion of those of his sovereigns, as well as his own followers, they placed in a most clear and unenviable light. They implored the government not to sanction his interference with the new colony, which would be fatal to its welfare, but commit the undertaking to Hernando Cortez as the man most capable by his experience and conduct of bringing it to a glorious termination. With this letter went also another in the name of the citizen soldiers of Villarica, tendering their dutiful submissions to the sovereigns, and requesting the confirmation of their proceedings. Above all, that of Cortez as their general. The selection of the agents for the mission was a delicate matter, as on the result might depend the future fortunes of the colony and its commander. Cortez entrusted the affair to two cavaliers on whom he could rely, Francisco de Montello, the ancient partisan of Velazquez, and Alonso Hernández de Puerto Carrero, the latter officer, a near kinsman of the count of Medellin, and it was hoped his high connections might secure a favorable influence at court. Together with the treasure, which seemed to verify the assertion that the land teamed with gold as abundantly as that whence Solomon drew the same precious medal for his temple, several Indian manuscripts were sent. Some were of cotton, others of the Mexican aguave. Their unintelligible characters, says a chronicler, excited little interest in the conquerors. As evidence of the intellectual culture, however, they formed higher objects of interest to a philosophic mind than those costly fabrics which attested only the mechanical ingenuity of the nation. Four Indian slaves were added as specimens of the natives. They had been rescued from the cages in which they were confined for sacrifice. One of the best vessels of the fleet was selected for the voyage, manned by fifteen seamen and placed under the direction of the pilot Alaminos. He was directed to hold his course through the Bahama Channel, north of Cuba, or Fernandina, as it was then called, and on no account to touch that island or any other in the Indian Ocean. With these instructions the good ship took its departure on the 26th of July, freight it with the treasures and the good wishes of the community of the Villarica de Vada Cruz. After a quick run the emissaries made the island of Cuba, and in direct disregard of orders, anchored before Merien on the northern side of the island. This was done to accommodate Montejo, who wished to visit a plantation owned by him in the neighborhood. While off the port a sailor got on shore, and crossing the island to Santiago the capital, spread everywhere tidings of the expedition, until they reached the ears of Alasquez. It was the first intelligence which had been received of the armament since its departure, and as the governor listened to the recital it would not be easy to paint the mingled emotions of curiosity, astonishment, and wrath, which agitated his bosom. In the first sally of passion he poured a storm of invectives on the heads of his secretary and treasurer, the friends of Cortez who had recommended him as the leader of the expedition. After somewhat relieving himself in this way he dispatched two fast sailing vessels to Merien with orders to seize the rebel ship, and in case of her departure to follow and overtake her. But before the ships could reach that port the bird had flown, and was far on her way across the broad Atlantic. Stung with mortification at his fresh disappointment, Velazquez wrote letters of indignant complaint to the government at home, and to the fathers of Saint Jerome in his spinola, demanding redress. He obtained little satisfaction from the last. He resolved, however, to take it into his own hands, and set about making formidable preparations for another squadron which should be more than a match for that under his rebellious officer. He was indefatigable in his exertions, visiting every part of the island, and straining all his resources to affect his purpose. The preparations were on a scale that necessarily consumed many months. Meanwhile the little vessel was speeding her prosperous way across the waters, and after touching at one of the Azores came safely into the harbor of Saint Lucar in the month of October. However long it may appear in the more perfect nautical science of our day, it was reckoned a fair voyage for that. Of what befell the commissioners on their arrival, the reception at court, and the sensation caused by their intelligence, I defer the account to a future chapter. Shortly after the departure of the commissioners, an affair occurred of a most unpleasant nature. A number of persons, with the priest Juan Diaz at their head, ill-affected for some cause or other, towards the administration of Cortez, or not relishing the hazardous expedition before them, lay to plan the seas one of the vessels, make the best of their way to Cuba, and report to the governor the fate of the armament. It was conducted with so much secrecy that the party had got their provisions, water, and everything necessary for the voyage on board, without detection, when the conspiracy was betrayed on the very night they were to sail by one of their own number, who repented the part he had taken in it. The general clause of the persons implicated to be instantly apprehended. An examination was instituted. The guilt of the parties was placed beyond a doubt. Sentence of death was passed on two of the ring-leaders. Another, the pilot, was condemned to lose his feet, and several others to be whipped. The priest, probably the most guilty of the whole, claiming the usual benefit of clergy, was permitted to escape. One of those condemned to the gallows was named Escudero, the very algacil, who the reader may remember, so stealthily apprehended Cortez, before the sanctuary in Cuba. The general unsigning the death warrants was heard to exclaim, would that I had never learned to write. The arrangements being now fully settled at the Villa Rica, Cortez sent forward Alvarado, with a large part of the army, to Sempuala, where he soon after joined them with a remainder. The late affair of the conspiracy seems to have made a deep impression on his mind. It showed him that there were timid spirits in the camp on whom he could not rely, and who, he feared, might spread the seas of disaffection among their companions. Even the more resolute, on any occasion of disgust or disappointment hereafter, might falter in purpose, and getting possession of the vessels abandoned the enterprise. This was already too vast, and the odds were too formidable to authorize expectations of success with diminations of numbers. Experience showed that this was always to be apprehended, while means of escape were at hand. The best chance of success was to cut off these means. He came to the daring resolution to destroy the fleet, without the knowledge of his army. When arrived at Sempuala, he communicated his design to a few of his devoted adherents, who entered warmly into his views. Through them he readily persuaded the pilots, by means of those golden arguments which weigh more than any other with ordinary minds, to make such a report of the condition of the fleet as suited his purpose. The ships, they said, were grievously wracked by the heavy gales they had encountered, and, what was worse, the worms had eaten into their sides and bottoms until most of them were not sea-worthy. Some, indeed, could scarcely now be kept afloat. Cortes received the communication with surprise, for he could well dissemble. Observed Las Casas, with his usual friendly comment, when it suited his interest. If it be so, he exclaimed, we must make the best of it. Heaven's will be done. He then ordered five of the worst conditioned to be dismantled, their cordage, sales, iron, and whatever was movable to be brought on shore and the ships to be sunk. A survey was made of the others, and, on a similar report, four more were condemned in the same manner. Only one small vessel remained. When the intelligence reached the troops in Semupala, it caused the deepest consternation. They saw themselves cut off by a single blow from friends, family, country. The stoutest hearts quailed before the prospect of being thus abandoned on a hostile shore. A handful of men arrayed against the formidable empire. When the news arrived of the destruction of the five vessels first condemned, they had acquiesces in it as a necessary measure, knowing the mischievous activity of the insects in these tropical seas. But when this was followed by the loss of the remaining four, suspicions of the truth flashed on their minds. They felt they were portrayed. Murmers at first deep swelled louder and louder, menacing open mutiny. Their general, they said, had led them like cattle to be butchered in the shambles. The affair wore a most alarming aspect. In no situation was Cortez ever exposed to greater danger from his soldiers. His presence of mind did not desert him at this crisis. He called his men together, and employing the tones of persuasion, rather than authority, assured them that a survey of the ships showed that they were not fit for service. If he had ordered them to be destroyed, they should consider also, that his was the greatest sacrifice, for they were his property, all indeed, he possessed in the world. The troops, on the other hand, would derive one great advantage from it, by the addition of a hundred able-bodied recruits, before required to man the vessels. But even if the fleet had been saved, it could have been of little service in their present expedition, since they would not need it if they succeeded, while they would be too far in the interior to profit by it if they failed. He besought them to turn their thoughts in another direction. To be thus calculating chances and means of escape was unworthy of brave souls. They had set their hands to work to look back as they advanced would be their ruin. They had only to resume their former confidence in themselves and their general, and success was certain. As for me he concluded, I have chosen my part. I will remain here, while there is one to bear me company. If there be any so craven as to shrink from sharing the dangers of our glorious enterprise, let them go home, in God's name. There is still one vessel left. Let them take that and return to Cuba. They can tell there how they deserted their commander and their comrades, and patiently wait until we return loaded with the spoils of the Aztecs. The politic orator had touched the right cord in the bosom of the soldiers. As he spoke, their resentment gradually died away. The faded vision of future riches and glory, rekindled by his elegance, again floated before their imaginations. The first shock over they felt ashamed of their temporary distrust. The enthusiasm for their leader revived. For they felt that under his banner only they could hope for victory, and they testified the revulsion of their feelings by making the air ring with their shouts. To Mexico, to Mexico. The destruction of his fleet by Cortez is perhaps the most remarkable passage in the life of this remarkable man. History indeed affords examples of a similar expedience in emergencies somewhat similar. But none where the chance of success was so precarious, and defeat would be so disastrous. Had he failed, it might well seem an act of madness. Yet it was the fruit of deliberate calculation. He had set fortune, fame, life itself, all upon the cast, and must abide the issue. There was no alternative in his mind, but to succeed or perish. The measure he adopted greatly increased the chance of success. But to carry it into execution in the face of an incensed and desperate soldiery was an act of resolution that has few parallels in history. Chapter 1 While at Campo Alala, Cortez received a message from Escalante, his commander at Villarica, informing him there were four strange ships hovering off the coast and that they took no notice of his repeated signals. This intelligence greatly alarmed the general who feared they might be a squadron sent by the governor of Cuba to interfere with his movements. In much haste he set out at the head of a few horsemen and, ordering a party of light infantry to follow, posted back to Villarica. The rest of the army he left in charge of Alvarado and of Gonzalo de Sandoval, a young officer who had begun to give evidence of the uncommon qualities which have secured to him so distinguished a rank among the conquerors of Mexico. Escalante would have persuaded the general on his reaching the town to take some rest and allow him to go in search of the strangers, but Cortez replied with a homely proverb, a wounded hare takes no nap, and, without stopping to refresh himself or his men, pushed on three or four leagues to the north where he understood the ship's red anchor. On the way he fell in with three Spaniards just landed from them. To his eager inquiries once they came they replied that they belonged to a squadron fitted out by Francisco de Garay, governor of Jamaica. This person, the year previous, had visited the Florida coast and obtained from Spain where he had some interest at court authority over the countries he might discover in that vicinity. The three men consisting of a notary and two witnesses had been sent on shore to warn their countrymen under Cortez to desist from what was considered an encroachment on the territories of Garay. Probably neither the governor of Jamaica nor his officers had any very precise notion of the geography and limits of these territories. Cortez saw at once there was nothing to apprehend from this quarter. He would have been glad, however, if he could by any means have induced the crews of the ship to join his expedition. He found no difficulty in persuading the notary and his companions, but when he came inside of the vessels, the people on board, distrusting the good terms on which their comrades appeared to be with the Spaniards, refused to send their boat ashore, in this dilemma Cortez had recourse to a stratagem. He ordered three of his own men to exchange dresses with the newcomers. He then drew off his little band inside of the vessels affecting to return to the city. In the night, however, he came back to the same place and lain ambush, directing the disguised Spaniards when the morning broke and they could be discerned to make signals to those on board. The Artif has succeeded. A boat put off filled with armed men and three or four leapt on shore, but they soon detected the deceit and Cortez, bringing from his ambush, made them prisoners. Their comrades in the boat alarmed, pushed off at once for the vessels which soon got under way, leaving those on the shore to their fate. Thus ended their affair. Cortez returned to Campoalala with the addition of half a dozen able-bodied recruits and, what was of more importance, relieved in his own mind from the apprehension of interference with his operations. He now made arrangements for his speedy departure from the Totona capital. The forces reserved for the expedition amounted to about four hundred foot and fifteen horse with seven pieces of artillery. He obtained also thirteen hundred Indian warriors and a thousand Tamanis, or porters from the Casique of Campoalala to drag the guns and transport the baggage. He took forty more of their principal men as hostages as well as to guide him on the way and serve him by their councils among the strange tribes he was to visit. They were of essential service to him throughout the march. The remainder of his Spanish force he left in Garrison at Villarica de Veracruz, the command of which he had entrusted to the Alguacil Juan de Escalante, an officer devoted to his interests. The selection was judicious. It was important to place there a man who would resist any hostile interference from his European rivals, on the one hand and maintain the present friendly relations with the natives on the other. Cortez recommended that Totonac chiefs to apply to his officer in case of any difficulty, assuring them that so long as they remained faithful to their new sovereign and religion they should find a sure protection in the Spaniards. Before marching the general spoke a few words of encouragement to his own men. He told them they were now to embark in earnest on an enterprise which had been the great object of their desires, and that the blessed savior would carry them victorious through every battle with their enemies. Indeed, he added, these assurance must be our stay for every other refuge is now cut off, but that afforded by the providence of God and your own stout hearts. He ended by comparing their achievements to those of the ancient Romans in phrases of honeyed eloquence far beyond anything I can repeat, says the brave and simple hearted Bernaldias who heard them. Cortez was indeed master of that eloquence which went to the soldier's hearts, for their sympathies were his and he shared in that romantic spirit of adventure which belonged to them. We are ready to obey you, they cried as with one voice. Our fortunes for better or worse are cast with yours. Taking leave therefore of their hospitable Indian friends, the little army buoyant with high hopes and lofty plans of conquest set forward on the march to Mexico the 16th of August 1519. After some leaks of travel over roads made nearly impassable by the summer rains, the troops began the gradual ascent, more gradual on the eastern than the western declivities of the Cordilleras which leads up to the table-end of Mexico. At the close of the second day they reached Halapa, a place still retaining the same astic name that it has communicated to the drug-raised in its environs, the medicinal virtues of which are now known throughout the world. Still winding their way upward the army passed through settlements containing some hundreds of inhabitants each, and on the fourth day reached a strong town as Cortés terms it, standing on a rocky eminence supposed to be that now known by the mehican name of Naulinco. Here they were hospitably entertained by the inhabitants who were friends at the Totonax. Cortés endeavored through Father Olmedo to impart to them some knowledge of Christian truths which were kindly received, and the Spaniards were allowed to erect a cross in the place for the future adoration of the natives. Indeed the route of the army might be tracked by these emblems of man's salvation raised for every willing population of Indians invited it. The troops now entered a rugged, defile, the bishops pass as it is called, capable of easy defense against an army. Very soon they experienced a most unwelcome change of climate. Cold winds from the mountains mingled with rain and as they rose still higher with driving sleet and hail drenched their garments and seemed to penetrate to their very bones. The Spaniards indeed partially covered by their armor and thick jackets of quilted cotton were better able to resist the weather, though their long residence in the sultry regions of the valley made them still keenly sensible to the annoyance. But the poor Indians, natives of the Tierra Caliente, with a little protection in the way of covering, sunk under the root assault of the elements and several of them perished on the road. The aspect of the country was as wild and dreary as the climate. Their route wound along the spur of the huge cofre of Perote which borrows its name from the coffer-like rock on its summit. It is one of the great volcanoes of New Spain. It exhibits now, indeed, no vestige of a crater on its top, but abundant traces of volcanic action at its base, where acres of lava, blackened scorer and cinders proclaim the convulsions of nature, while numerous shrubs and moldering trunks of enormous trees among the crevices attest to the antiquity of these events. Working their toilsome way across the scene of desolation the path often led them along the border of precipices, down whose sheer depths of two or three thousand feet the shrinking eye might behold another climate and see all the glowing vegetation of the tropics choking up the bottom of the ravines. After three days of this fatiguing travel the way-worn army emerged through another defile, the Sierra de la Gua. They soon came upon an open reach of country with a genial climate, such as belongs to the temperate latitudes of southern Europe. They had reached the level of more than seven thousand feet above the ocean, where the great sheet of table-land spreads out for hundreds of miles along the crests of the Cordilleras. The country showed signs of careful cultivation, but the products were, for the most part, not familiar to the eyes of the Spaniards. Fields and hedges of the various tribes of the cactus, the towering organem, and plantations of aloes with rich yellow clusters of flowers on their tall stems, affording drink and clothing to the Aztec, were everywhere seen. The plants of the torrid and temperate zones had disappeared, one after another, with the ascent into these elevated regions. The glossy and dark-leaved banana, the chief, as it is the cheapest element of the country's below, had long since faded from the landscape. The hardy maze, however, still shone with its golden harvests in all the pride of cultivation, the great staple of the higher equally, with the lower terraces of the plateau. Suddenly the troops came upon what seemed the environs of a populous city, which, as they entered, it appeared to surpass even that of Kempoalala in the size and solidity of its structures. These were of stone and lime, many of them spacious and tolerably high. There were thirteen teocalilis in the place, and in the suburbs they had seen a receptacle, in which, according to Bernal Díaz, were stored a hundred thousand skulls of human victims all piled and ranged in order. He reports the number as one he had ascertained by counting them himself. Whatever faith we may attach to the precise accuracy of his figures, the result is almost equally startling. The Spaniards were destined to become familiar with his appalling spectacle as they approached nearer to the Aztec capital. The Lord of the town ruled over twenty thousand vassals. He was tributary to Montezuma, and a strong Meheken garrison was quartered in the place. He had probably been advised of the approach of the Spaniards and doubted how far it would be welcome to his sovereign. At all events he gave them a cold reception, the more unpalatable after the extraordinary sufferings of the last few days. To the inquiry of Cortes, whether he were subject to Montezuma, he answered with real or affected surprise. Who is there that is not a vassal to Montezuma? The general told him with some emphasis that he was not. He then explained whence and why he came, assuring him that he served a monarch, who had princes for his vassals as powerful as the Aztec monarch himself. The casique in turn fell nothing short of the Spaniard in the pompous display of the grandeur and resources of the Indian Emperor. He told his guest that Montezuma could muster thirty great vassals, each master of a hundred thousand men. His revenues were immense, as every subject, however poor, paid something. They were all expended on his magnificent state and in support of his armies. These were continually in the field while garrisons were maintained in most of the large cities of the empire. More than twenty thousand victims, the fruit of his wars, were annually sacrificed on the altars of his gods. His capital, the casique said, stood in a lake in the center of a spacious valley. The lake was commanded by the emperor's vassals, and the approach to the city was by means of causeways several miles long, connected in parts by wooden bridges, which, when raised, cut off all communication with the country. Some other things he added in answer to queries of his guest, in which as the reader may imagine, the craftier, credulous casique varnished over the truth with a lively coloring of romance. Whether romance or reality the Spaniards could not determine, the particulars they gleaned were not of a kind to tranquilize their minds, and might well have made bolder hearts than theirs pause ere they advanced, but far from it. The words which we heard, says the stout old cavalier, so often quoted, however they may have filled us with wonder, made us, such is the temper of the Spaniard, only the more earnest to prove the adventure desperate as it might appear. In further conversation of Cortes inquired of the chief whether his country abounded in gold, and intimated a desire to take homesome as specimens to his sovereign. But the Indian Lord declined to give him any saying at my displease, Montezuma. Should he command it, he added, My gold, my person, and all I possess shall be at your disposal. The general did not press the matter further. The curiosity of the natives was naturally excited by the strange dresses, weapons, horses, and dogs of the Spaniards. Marina, in satisfying their inquiries, took occasion to magnify the prowess of her adopted countrymen, expatiating on their exploits and victories, and stating the extraordinary marks of respect they had received from Montezuma. This intelligence seems to have had its effect for soon after that Casique gave the general some curious trinkets of gold of no great value indeed, but as a testimony of his good will. He sent him, also, some female slaves, to prepare bread for the troops and supply the means of refreshment and repose, more important to them in the present juncture than all the gold of Mexico. The Spanish general, as usual, did not neglect the occasion to inculcate the great truths of revelation on his host, and to display the atrocity of the Indian superstitions. The Casique listened with civil but cold indifference. Cortes, finding him unmoved, turned briskly round to his soldiers, exclaiming that now was the time to plant the cross. The eagerly seconded his pious purpose, and the same scenes might have been enacted, as at Campoalala, with perhaps very different results, had not father Almedo with better judgment interposed. He represented that to introduce the cross among the natives in their present state of ignorance and incredulity would be to expose a sacred symbol to desecration so soon as the backs of the Spaniards returned. The only way was to wait patiently the season when more leisure should be afforded to instill into their minds a knowledge of the truth, the sober reasoning of the good father prevailed over the passions of the martial enthusiasts. The Spanish commander remained in the city four or five days to recruit his fatigued and famished forces. Their route now opened on a broad and verdant valley, watered by a noble stream, a circumstance of not too frequent occurrence, on the parched table-land of New Spain. All along the river on both sides of it an unbroken line of Indian dwellings, so near as almost to touch one another, extended for three or four leagues, arguing a population much denser than at present. On a rough and rising ground stood a town that might contain five or six thousand inhabitants commanded by a fortress which, with its walls and trenches, seemed to the Spaniards quite on a level with similar works in Europe. Here the troops again halted and met with friendly treatment. Cortes now determined his future line of march. At the last place he had been counseled by the natives to take the route of the ancient city of Cúllula, the inhabitants of which subjects of Montezuma were a mild race, devoted to mechanical and other peaceful arts, and would be likely to entertain them kindly. Their exempla la la allies, however, advised the Spaniards not to trust the Cúllulans, a false and perfidious people, but to take the road to Tláscala, that valiant little republic which had so long maintained its independence against the arms of Mexico. The people were frank as they were fearless and fair in their dealings. They had always been on terms of enmity with the Totonacs which afforded a strong guarantee for the amicable disposition on the present occasion. The arguments of his Indian allies prevailed with the Spanish commander, who resolved to propitiate the goodwill of the Tláscalans by an embassy. He selected four of the principal Kempoalalans for this, and sent by them a marshal gift, a cave of crimson cloth together with a sword and a crossbow, weapons which it was observed excite a general admiration among the natives. He added a letter in which he asked permission to pass through their country. He expressed his admiration of the valor of the Tláscalans, and of their long resistance to the Aztecs, whose proud empire he had designed to humble. It was not to be expected that this episode indicted in good Castilian would be very intelligible to the Tláscalans, but Cortés communicated its import to the ambassadors. Its mysterious characters might impress the natives with an idea of superior intelligence, and the letters serve instead of those hieroglyphical missives which formed the usual credentials of an Indian ambassador. The Spaniards remained three days in this hospitable place after the departure of the envoys when they resumed their progress. Although in a friendly country they marched always as if in a land of enemies, the horse and light troops in the van, with a heavy armed and baggage in the rear, all in battle array, they were never without their armor, waking or sleeping, lying down with their weapons by their sides. These unintermitting and restless vigilance was perhaps more oppressive to the spirits than even bodily fatigue, but they were confident in their superiority in a fair field, and felt that the most serious danger they had to fear from Indian warfare was surprise. We are few against many brave companions, Cortés would say to them, be prepared then, not as if you were going to battle, but as if actually in the midst of it. The road taken by the Spaniards was the same which at present leads to Tláscala, not that, however, usually followed in passing from Veracruz to the capital which makes a circuit considerably to the south towards Puebla in the neighborhood of the ancient Cúlula. They more than once forwarded the stream that rolls through this beautiful plain, lingering several days on the way in hopes of receiving an answer from the Indian Republic. The unexpected delay of the messengers could not be explained and occasioned some uneasiness. As they advanced into a country of rougher and bolder features, their progress was suddenly arrested by a remarkable fortification. It was a stone wall nine feet in height and twenty in thickness with a parapet a foot and a half broad raised on the summit for the protection of those who defended it. It had only one opening in the center made by two semicircular lines of wall overlapping each other for the space of forty paces and affording a passageway between ten paces wide so contrived therefore as to be perfectly commanded by the inner wall. This fortification which extended more than two leagues rested at either end on the bold natural buttresses formed by the sierra. The work was built of immense blocks of stone nicely laid together without cement and the remains still existing among which are rocks of the whole breadth of the rampart fully attest its solidity and size. This singular structure marked the limits of glascula and was intended as the natives told the Spaniards as a barrier against the Mexican invasions. The army paused filled with amazement at the contemplation of this cyclopean monument which naturally suggested reflections on the strength and resources of the people who had raised it. It caused them to some painful solitude as to the probable result of their mission to talascula and their own consequent reception there. But they were too sanguine to allow such uncomfortable surmises long to dwell in their minds. Cortés put himself at the head of his cavalry and calling out forward soldiers the holy cross is our banner and under that we shall conquer, let his little army through the undefended passage and in a few moments they trod the soil of the free republic of the lascula. And of book three chapter one. Book three chapter two 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 three chapter two. Before advancing further with the Spaniards into the territory of talascula it will be well to notice some traits in the character and institutions of the nation in many respects the most remarkable in Anahuac. The talasculans belonged to the same great family with the Aztecs. They came on the grand plateau about the same time with the kindred races at the close of the 12th century and planted themselves on the western borders of the lake of Tezcucco. Here they remained many years engaged in the usual pursuits of a bold and partially civilized people. From some cause or other perhaps their turbulent temper they incurred the enmity of surrounding tribes. A coalition was formed against them and a bloody battle was fought on the plains of Pueja Huatlán in which the talasculans were completely victorious. Disgusted however with residents among nations with whom they found so little favor the conquering people resolved to migrate they separated into three divisions the largest of which taking a southern course by the great volcano of Mexico wound around the ancient city of Cholula and finally settled in the district of country overshadowed by the Sierra of the Lascala. The warm and fruitful valleys locked up in the embraces of this rugged brotherhood of mountains afforded means of subsistence for an agricultural people while the bold eminences of the Sierra presented secure positions for their towns. After the lapse of years the institutions of the nation underwent an important change. The monarchy was divided first into two afterwards into four separate states bound together by a sort of federal compact probably not very nicely defined. Each state however had its lord or supreme chief independent in his own territories and possessed of coordinate authority with the others in all matters concerning the whole republic. The affairs of government especially all those relating to peace and war were settled in a senate or council consisting of the four lords with their inferior nobles. The lower dignitaries held of the superior each in his own district by a kind of feudal tenure being bound to supply his table and enable him to maintain his state in peace as well as to serve him in war. In return he experienced the aid and protection of his sozerain the same mutual obligations existed between him and the followers among whom his own territories were distributed. Thus a chain of feudal dependencies was established which if not contrived with all the art and legal refinements of analogous institutions in the old world displayed their most prominent characteristics in its personal relations the obligations of military service on the one hand and protection on the other. This form of government so different from that of the surrounding nations subsisted till the arrival of the Spaniards and it is certainly evidence of considerable civilization that so complex a polity should have so long continued undisturbed by violence or fraction in the confederate states and should have been found competent to protect the people in their rights and the country from foreign invasion. The lowest order of the people however do not seem to have enjoyed higher immunities than under the monarchical governments and their rank was carefully defined by an appropriate dress and by their exclusion from the insignia of the aristocratic orders. The nation agricultural in its habits reserved its highest honors like most other rude unhappily also civilized nations for military prowess. Public games were instituted and prizes decreed to those who excelled in such manly and athletic exercises as might train them for the fatigues of war. Triumphs were granted to the victorious general who entered the city leading his spoils and captives in long procession while his achievements were commemorated in national songs and his effigy whether in wood or stone was erected in the temples. It was truly in the martial spirit of republican Rome. An institution not unlike knighthood was introduced very similar to one existing also among the Aztecs. The aspirant to the honors of this barbaric chivalry watched his arms and fasted fifty or sixty days in the temple then listened to a grave discourse on the duties of his new profession. Various whimsical ceremonies followed when his arms were restored to him he was led in solemn procession through the public streets and the inauguration was concluded by banquets and public rejoicings. The new knight was distinguished henceforth by certain peculiar privileges as well as by a badge intimating his rank. It is worthy of remark that this honor was not reserved exclusively for military merit but was the recompense also of public services of other kinds as wisdom and counsel or sagacity and success in trade. For trade was held in as high estimation by the Tulasculans as by the other people of Anuac. The temperate climate of the table-land furnished the ready means for distant traffic. The fruitfulness of the soil was indicated by the name of the country, Tulascula signifying the land of bread. Its wide plains to the slopes of its rocky hills waved with yellow harvests of maize and with a bountiful mage, a plant which as we have seen supplied the materials for some important fabrics. With these as well as the products of agricultural industry, the merchant found his way down the sides of the Cordilleras, wandered over the sunny regions at their base and brought back the luxuries which nature had denied to his own. The various arts of civilization kept pace with increasing wealth and public prosperity, at least these arts were cultivated to the same limited extent apparently as among the other people of Anuac. The Tulasculan tongue says the national historian, simple as besieged that of a mountain region, was rough compared with the polished Tezcucan or the popular Aztec dialect and therefore not so well fitted for composition, but they made like proficiency with the kindred nations in the rudiments of science. Their calendar was formed on the same plan, their religion, their architecture, many of their laws and social usages were the same, arguing a common origin for all. Their totalary deity was the same ferocious war god as that of the Aztecs though with a different name. Their temples in like manner were drenched with the blood of human victims and their boards groaned with the same cannibal repasts. Though not ambitious of foreign conquest, the prosperity of the Tulasculans in time excited the jealousy of their neighbours and especially of the opulent state of Cholula. Frequent hostilities arose between them in which the advantage was almost always on the side of the former. A still more formidable foe appeared in later days in the Aztecs who could ill-brook the independence of Tulascula when the surrounding nations had acknowledged one after another their influence or their empire. Under the ambitious Aksayah Cattle, they demanded of the Tulasculans the same tribute and obedience rendered by other people of the country. If it were refused, the Aztecs would raise their cities to their foundations and deliver the land to their enemies. To this imperious summons the little Republic proudly replied, neither they nor their ancestors had ever paid tribute or homage to a foreign power and never would pay it. If their country was invaded they knew how to defend it and would pour out their blood as freely in defence of their freedom now, as their fathers did of Yor when they routed the Aztecs on the plains of Puyahuadun. This resolute answer brought on them the forces of the monarchy. A pitched battle followed and the sturdy Republicans were victorious. From this period hostilities between the two nations continued with more or less activity, but with unsparing ferocity. Every captive was mercilessly sacrificed. The children were trained from the cradle to deadly hatred against the Mexicans, and even in the brief intervals of war, none of those intermarriages took place between the people of the respective countries which knit together in social bonds most of the other kindred races of Anahuac. In this struggle the Tulasculans received an important support in the accession of the Otomis, or Otomis, as usually spelled by Castilian riders, a wild and warlike race originally spread over the table-and-north of the Maycan Valley. A portion of them obtained a settlement in the Republic and were speedily incorporated in its armies. Their courage and fidelity to the nation of their adoption showed them worthy of trust and the frontier places were consigned to their keeping. The mountain barriers by which Tulasculans encompassed afforded many strong natural positions for defense against invasion. The country was open towards the east, where a valley of some six miles in breadth invited the approach of an enemy. But here it was that the jealous Tulasculans erected the formidable Rampart which had excited the admiration of the Spaniards and which they manned with a garrison of Otomis. Efforts for their subjugation were renewed on a greater scale after the accession of Montezuma. His victorious arms had spread down the declivities of the Andes to the distant provinces of Verapaz and Nicaragua, and his haughty spirit was chafed by the opposition of a petty state whose territorial extent did not exceed ten leagues in breadth by fifteen in length. He sent an army against them under the command of a favourite son. His troops were beaten and his son was slain. The enraged and mortified monarch was roused to still greater preparations. He enlisted the forces of the city's bordering on his enemy together with those of the Empire and with this formidable army swept over the devoted valleys of Tulascula. But the bold mountaineers withdrew into the recesses of their hills and coolly awaiting their opportunity rushed like a torrent on the invaders and drove them back with dreadful slaughter from their territories. Still notwithstanding the advantages gained over the enemy in the field, the Tulasculans were sorely pressed by their long hostilities with a foe so far superior to themselves in numbers and resources. The Aztec armies lay between them and the coast, cutting off all communication with that prolific region, and thus limited their supplies to the products of their own soil and manufacture. For more than half a century they had neither cotton nor cacao nor salt. Indeed their taste had been so far affected by long abstinence from these articles that it required the lapse of several generations after the conquest to reconcile them to the use of salt at their meals. During the short intervals of war it is said the Aztec nobles and the true spirit of chivalry sense supplies of these commodities as presents with many courteous expressions of respect to the Tulascon sheeps. This intercourse we are assured by the Indian chronicler was unsuspected by the people, nor did it lead to any further correspondency ads between the parties prejudicial to the liberties of the Republic which maintain its customs and good government in violate and the worship of its gods. Such was the condition of Tulascula at the coming of the Spaniards, holding it might seem a precarious existence under the shadow of their formidable power which seemed suspended like an avalanche over her head, but still strong in her own resources, stronger in the indomitable temper of her people, with a reputation established throughout the land for good faith and moderation in peace, for valor in war, while her uncompromising spirit of independence secured the respect even of her enemies. With such qualities of character and with an animosity sharpened by long deadly hostility with Meiko, her alliance was obviously of the last importance to the Spaniards in their present enterprise. It was not easy to secure it. The Tulasculans had been made acquainted with the advance and victorious career of the Christians, the intelligence of which had spread far and wide over the plateau, but they do not seem to have anticipated the approach of the strangers to their own borders. They were now much embarrassed by the Embassy demanding a passage through their territories. The Great Council was convened, and a considerable difference of opinion prevailed in its members. Some, adopting the popular superstition, supposed the Spaniards might be the white and bearded men foretold by the oracles. At all events they were the enemies of Meiko, and as such might co-operate with them in their struggle with the Empire. Others argued that the strangers could have nothing in common with them. Their march throughout the land might be tracked by the broken images of the Indian gods and desecrated temples. How did the Tulasculans even know that they were foes to Montezuma? They had received his embassies, accepted his presence, and were now in the company of his vassals on the way to his capital. These last were the reflections of an aged chief, one of the four who presided over the Republic. His name was Xiconte Cadil. He was nearly blind, having lived, as is said, far beyond the limits of a century. His son, an impetuous young man of the same name with himself, commanded a powerful army of Tulasculan and Otomi warriors near the eastern frontier. It would be best, the old men said, to fall with this force at once on the Spaniards, if victorious the latter would then be in their power. If defeated, the Senate could disownly act as that of the general, not of the Republic. The cunning council of the chief found favor with his hearers, though assuredly not in the spirit of chivalry, nor of the good faith for which his countrymen were celebrated. But with an Indian, force and strategy, courage and deceit were equally admissible in war, as they were among the barbarians of ancient Rome. The Kempoa-Lallan envoys were to be detained under pretense of assisting at a religious sacrifice. Meanwhile, Cortes and his gallant band, as stated in the preceding chapter, had arrived before the rocky rampart on the eastern confines of Tulascula. From some cause or other it was not meant by its Otomi garrison and the Spaniards passed in as we have seen without resistance. Cortes rode at the head of his body of horse, and ordering the infantry to come on at a quick pace went forward to Reconyter. After advancing three or four leagues he described a small party of Indians armed with sword and buckler in the fashion of the country. They fled at his approach. He made signs for them to halt, but seeing that they only fled the faster, he and his companions put spurs to their horses, and soon came up with them. The Indians, finding escape impossible, faced round and instead of showing the accustomed terror of the natives at the strange and appalling aspect of a mounted trooper, they commenced a furious assault on the Cavaliers. The latter, however, were too strong for them and would have cut their enemy to pieces without much difficulty, when a body of several thousand Indians appeared in sight and coming briskly onto the support of their countrymen. Cortes, seeing them dispatched one of his party in all haste to accelerate the march of his infantry. The Indians, after discharging their missiles, fell furiously on the little band of Spaniards. They strove to tear the lances from their grasp and to drag the riders from the horses. They brought one Cavalier to the ground, who afterwards died of his wounds, and they killed two of the horses, cutting through their necks with their stout broadswords, if we may believe the chronicler, at a blow. In the narrative of these campaigns there is sometimes but one step, and that a short one, from history to romance. The loss of the horses so important and so few in number was seriously felt by Cortes, who could have better spared the life of the best rider in the troop. The struggle was a hard one, but the odds were as overwhelming as any recorded by the Spaniards in their own romances, where a handful of knights is arrayed against legions of enemies. The lances of the Christians did terrible execution here also, but they had need of the magic lands of Astolfo, that overturned myriads with a touch to carry them safe through so unequally contest. It was with no little satisfaction, therefore, that they beheld their comrades rapidly advancing to their support. No sooner had the main body reached the field of battle than, hastily forming, they poured such a volley from their muskets and crossbows as staggered the enemy, astounded rather than intimidated by the terrible report of the firearms, now hurt for the first time in these regions. The Indians made no further effort to continue the fight, but drew off in good order, leaving the road open to the Spaniards. The latter, too well satisfied to be rid of the annoyance to care, to follow the retreating foe, again held on their way. Their rout took them through a country sprinkled over with Indian cottages, amidst flourishing fields of maize and mage indicating an industrious and thriving peasantry. They were met here by two Tulasculan envoys, accompanied by two of their Kempoala lans. The former, presenting themselves before the general, disavowed the assault on his troops as an unauthorized act, and assured him of a friendly reception of their capital. Cortes received the communication in a courteous manner, affecting to place more confidence in its good faith than he probably felt. It was now growing late, and the Spaniards quickened their march, anxious to reach a favorable ground for encampment before nightfall. They found such a spot on the borders of a stream that rolled sluggishly across the plain. A few deserted cottages stood along the banks, and the fatigued and famished soldiers ransacked them in quest of food. All they could find was some tame animals resembling dogs. These they killed and dressed without ceremony, and garnishing their unsavory repast with the fruit of the tuna, the Indian fig, which grew wild in the neighborhood they contrived to satisfy the cravings of appetite. A careful watch was maintained by Cortes, and the companies of a hundred men each relieved each other in mounting guard through the night. But no attack was made. Hostilities by night were contrary to the system of Indian tactics. By break of day on the following morning, it being the second of September, the troops were under arms. Besides the Spaniards, the whole number of Indian axiliaries might now amount to three thousand. Four Cortes had gathered recruits from their friendly places on his route, three hundred from the last. After hearing mass they resumed their march. They moved in close array. The general had previously admonished the men not to lag behind or wander from the ranks a moment, as stragglers would be sure to be cut off by their stealthy and vigilant enemy. The horsemen rode three abreast. The better to give one another support, and Cortes instructed them in the heat of fight to keep together, and never to charge singly. He taught them how to carry their lances, that they might not be arrested from their hands by the Indians who constantly attempted it. For the same reason they should avoid giving thrusts, but aim their weapons steadily at the faces of their foes. They had not proceeded far when they were met by the two remaining Kempoalalan envoys, who with looks of terror informed the general that they had been treacherously seized and confined in order to be sacrificed at an approaching festival of the Tulasculans. But in the night had succeeded in making their escape. They gave the unwelcome tidings also, that a large force of the natives was already assembled to oppose the progress of the Spaniards. Soon after they came in sight of a body of Indians about a thousand, apparently all armed and brandishing their weapons as the Christians approached in token of defiance. Cortes, when he had come within hearing, ordered the interpreters to proclaim that he had no hostile intentions, but wished only to be allowed a passage through their country, which he had entered as a friend. This specific declaration was met as usual on such occasions by a shower of darts, stones, and arrows, which fell like rain on the Spaniards, rattling on their stout harness, and in some instances penetrating to the skin, galled by the smart of their wounds, they called on the general to lead them on, till he sounded the well-known battle cry, St. Jago, and at them. The Indians maintained their ground for a while with the spirit when they retreated with precipitation but not in disorder. The Spaniards, whose blood was heated by the encounter, followed up their advantage with more zeal than prudence, suffering the wily enemy to draw them into a narrow glen or a defile, intersected by a little stream of water, where the broken ground was impracticable for artillery as well as for the movements of cavalry. Pressing forward with eagerness to extricate themselves from their perilous position to their greatest smay on turning an abrupt angle of the past, they came in presence of a numerous army choking up the gorge of the valley and stretching far over the plains beyond. To the astonished eyes of Cortez, they appeared a hundred thousand men, while no account estimates them at less than thirty thousand. As this was only one of several armies kept on foot by the Tulasculans, the smallest amount is probably too large. The whole population of the state, according to Claviguero, who would not be likely to underrate it, did not exceed half a million at the time of the invasion. They presented a confused assemblage of helmets, weapons and many colored plumes, glancing bright in the morning sun, and mingled with banners above which proudly floated one that bore as a device the heron on a rock. It was the well-known end scene of the House of Tikadla, and as well as the white and yellow stripes on the bodies, and the light colors on the feather mail of the Indians, showed that they were the warriors of Xicoc Tencatl. As the Spaniards came inside, the Tulasculans set up a hideous war cry, or rather whistle piercing the ear with its shrillness, and which with the beat of their melancholy drums, that could be heard for half a league or more, might well have filled a stoutest heart with dismay. This formidable host came rolling on towards the Christians, as if to overwhelm them by their very numbers. But the courageous band of warriors closely serred together, and sheltered under their strong panoplies, received a shock unshaken with the broken masses of the enemy, chafing and heaving tumultuously around them, seemed to recede only to return with new and accumulated force. Cortes, as usual in the front of danger, in vain endeavored the head of the horse to open a passage for the infantry. Still his men, both cavalry and foot, kept their array unbroken, offering no assailable point to their foe. A body of the Tulasculans, however, acting in concert, assaulted a soldier named Moran, one of the best riders in the troop. They succeeded in dragging him from his horse, which they dispatched, with a thousand blows. The Spaniards on foot made a desperate effort to rescue their comrade from the hands of the enemy, and from the horrible doom of the captive. A fierce struggle now began over the body of the prostrate horse. Ten of the Spaniards were wounded when they succeeded in retrieving the unfortunate cavalier from his assailants, but in so disastrous a plight that he died on the following day. The horse was borne off in triumph by the Indians, and his mangled remains were sent, a strange trophy to the different towns of Tulascula. The circumstance troubled the Spanish commander as it divested the animal of the supernatural terrors with which the superstition of the natives had usually surrounded it. To prevent such a consequence he had caused the two horses killed on the preceding day, to be secretly buried on the spot. The enemy now began to give ground gradually, borne down by the riders and trampled under the hooves of their horses. Through the whole of this sharp encounter the Indian allies were of great service to the Spaniards. They rushed into the water and grappled their enemies with the desperation of men, who felt that their only safety was in the despair of safety. I see nothing but death for us, exclaimed a Kemboalalan chief to Marina. We shall never get through the past alive. The God of the Christians is with us, answered the interpret woman, and he will carry us safely through. Amidst the din of battle the voice of Cortes was heard cheering on his soldiers. If we fail now, he cried, the cross of Christ could never be planted in the land. Forward, comrades, when was it ever known that a Castilian turned his back on a foe? Animated by the words and heroic bearing of their general, the soldiers with desperate efforts at length succeeded in forcing a passage through the dark columns of the enemy, and emerged from the defile on the open plain beyond. Here they quickly recovered their confidence with their superiority. The horse soon opened, a space for the maneuvers of artillery. The close files of their antagonists presented a sure mark in the thunders of the ordinance, vomiting forth torrents of fire and sulfurous smoke. The wad desolation caused in their ranks and the strangely mangled carcasses of the slain filled the barbarians with consternation and horror. They had no weapons to cope with these terrible engines, and their clumsy missiles, discharged from uncertain hands, seemed to fall ineffectual on the charmed heads of the Christians. What added to their embarrassment was the desire to carry off the dead and wounded from the field, a general practice among the people of Anahuac, but which necessarily exposed them, while thus employed to still greater loss. Eight of their principal chiefs had now fallen, and Seco Tencatl finding himself wholly unable to make head against the Spaniards in the open field, ordered a retreat. Far from the confusion of a panic-struck mob, so common among barbarians, the Delascalan force moved off the ground with all the order of a well-disciplined army. Cortes, as on the preceding day, was too well satisfied with his present advantage to desire to follow it up. It was within an hour of sunset, and he was anxious before nightfall, to secure a good position where he might refresh his wounded troops and bivouac for the night. Gathering up his wounded, he held on his way without loss of time, and, before dusk, reached a rocky eminence called Dumpak Tepedi, or the hill of Tsumpak, crowned by a sort of tower or temple. His first care was given to the wounded, both men and horses. Fortunately an abundance of provisions was found in some neighbouring cottages, and the soldiers, at least all who were not disabled by their injuries, celebrated the victory of the day with feasting and rejoicing. As to the number of killed or wounded on either side, it is matter of loosest conjecture. The Indians must have suffered severely, but the practice of carrying off the dead from the field made it impossible to know to what extent. The injury sustained by the Spaniards appears to have been principally in the number of their wounded. The great object of the natives of Anahuac in their battles was to make prisoners who might grace their triumphs and supply victims for sacrifice. To this brutal superstition, the Christians were indebted in no slight degree for their personal preservation. To take the reports of the conquerors, their own losses in action were always inconsiderable, but whoever has had occasion to consult the ancient chroniclers of Spain in relation to its wars with the infidel, whether Arab or American, will place little confidence in numbers. According to Cortés, not a Spaniard fell, though many were wounded in these actions so fatal to the infidel. Diaz allows one. The events of the day had suggested many topics for painful reflection to Cortés. He had nowhere met with so determined a resistance within the borders of Anahuac. Nowhere had he encountered native troops so formidable for their weapons, their discipline and their valor. Far from manifesting the superstitious terrors felt by the other Indians at the strange arms and aspect of the Spaniards, the Tulasclans had boldly grappled with their enemy, and only yielded to the inevitable superiority of his military science. How important would the alliance of such a nation be in a struggle with those of their own race, for example, with the Aztecs? But how was he to secure this alliance? Hitherto all overtures had been rejected with disdain, and it seemed probable that every step of his progress in this populous land was to be fiercely contested. His army, especially the Indians, celebrated the events of the day with feasting and dancing, songs of merriment and shouts of triumph. Cortés encouraged it, while knowing how important it was to keep up the spirits of his soldiers. But the sounds of revelry at length died away, and in the still watches of the night many an anxious thought must have crowded on the mind of the general, while his little army lay buried in slumber in its encampment around the Indian hill. End of Book 3, Chapter 2