 Book V. CHAPTER VI The Spanish commander, reassured by the result of the deliberations in the Tlaskalan Senate, now resolved on active operations as the best means of dissipating the spirit of faction and discontent inevitably fostered by a life of idleness. He proposed to exercise his troops, at first, against some of the neighboring tribes who had laid violent hands on such of the Spaniards as, confiding in their friendly spirit, had passed through their territories. Among these were the Tepeyacans, a people often engaged in hostility with the Tlaskalans, and who, as mentioned in a preceding chapter, had lately massacred twelve Spaniards in their march to the capital. An expedition against them would receive the ready support of his allies, and would assert the dignity of the Spanish name, much dimmed in the estimation of the natives by the late disasters. The Tepeyacans were a powerful tribe of the same primitive stock as the Aztecs, to whom they acknowledged allegiance. They had transferred this to the Spaniards on their first march into the country, intimidated by the bloody defeats of their Tlaskalan neighbors. But, since the troubles in the capital, they had again submitted to the Aztec scepter. Their capital, now a petty village, was a flourishing city at the time of the conquest, situated in the fruitful plains that stretch far away towards the base of Orizaba. The province contained, moreover, several towns of considerable size, filled with a bold and war-like population. As these Indians had once acknowledged the authority of Castile, Cortes and his officers regarded their present conduct in the light of rebellion, and, in a council of war, it was decided that those engaged in the late massacre had fairly incurred the doom of slavery. Before proceeding against them, however, the general sent a summons requiring their submission, and offering full pardon for the past, but, in case of refusal, menacing them with the severest retribution. To this the Indians, now in arms, were turned a contemptuous answer, challenging the Spaniards to meet them in fight, as they were in want of victims for their sacrifices. Cortes, without further delay, put himself at the head of his small corpse of Spaniards, and a large reinforcement of Tlaskalan warriors. They were led by the young Chico Tanatl, who now appeared willing to bury his recent animosity, and desirous to take a lesson in war under the chief who had so often foiled him in the field. The Tepeyacans received their enemy on the borders. A bloody battle followed in which the Spanish horse were somewhat embarrassed by the tall maize that covered part of the plain. They were successful in the end, and the Tepeyacans, after holding their ground like good warriors, were at length routed with great slaughter. A second engagement, which took place a few days after, was followed by, like, decisive results, and the victorious Spaniards with their allies, marching straight way on the city of Tepeyaca, entered it in triumph. No further resistance was attempted by the enemy, and the whole province, to avoid further calamities, eagerly tendered its submission. Cortez, however, inflicted the meditated chastisement on the places implicated in the massacre. The inhabitants were branded with a hot iron as slaves, and, after the Royal Fifth had been reserved, were distributed between his own men and the allies. The Spaniards were familiar with the system of Repartimientos, established in the islands, but this was the first example of slavery in New Spain. It was justified, in the opinion of the General and his military casualists, by the aggravated offenses of the party. The sentence, however, was not countenanced by the Crown, which, as the colonial legislation abundantly shows, was ever at issue with the craving and mercenary spirit of the colonist. Satisfied with this display of his vengeance, Cortez now established his headquarters at Tepeyaca, which, situated in a cultivated country, afforded easy means for maintaining an army, while his position on the Mexican frontier made it a good point d'apuis for future operations. The Aztec government, since it had learned the issue of its negotiations at Tlaxcala, had been diligent in fortifying its frontier in that quarter. The garrisons usually maintained there were strengthened, and large bodies of men were marched in the same direction, with orders to occupy the strong positions on the borders. The conduct of these troops was in their usual style of arrogance and extortion, and greatly disgusted the inhabitants of the country. Among the places thus garrisoned by the Aztecs was Cualcatolan, a city containing thirty thousand inhabitants, according to the historians, and lying to the southwest twelve leagues or more from the Spanish quarters. It stood at the extremity of a deep valley, resting against a bold range of hills, or rather mountains, and flanked by two rivers with exceedingly high and precipitous banks. The only avenue by which the town could be easily approached was protected by a stone wall more than twenty feet high and of great thickness. Into this place, thus strongly defended by art as well as by nature, the Aztec emperor had thrown a garrison of several thousand warriors, while a much more formidable force occupied the heights commanding the city. The casique of this strong post, impatient of the Mexican yoke, sent to Cortez, inviting him to march to his relief, and promising a cooperation of the citizens and an assault on the Aztec quarters. The general eagerly embraced the proposal, and arranged with a casique that, on the appearance of the Spaniards, the inhabitants should rise on the garrison. Everything succeeded as he had planned. No sooner had the Christian battalions defiled on the plane before the town than the inhabitants attacked the garrison with the utmost fury. The latter, abandoning the outer defenses of the place, retreated to their own quarters in the principal Teokali, where they maintained a hard struggle with their adversaries. In the heat of it, Cortez, at the head of his little body of horse, rode into the place and directed the assault in person. The Aztecs made a fierce defense, but fresh troops constantly arriving to support the assailants, the works were stormed, and every one of the garrison was put to the sword. The Mehecan forces, meanwhile, stationed on the neighboring eminences, had marched down to the support of their countrymen in the town, and formed an order of battle in the suburbs, where they were countered by the Tlaxcalan levies. They mustered, said Cortez, speaking of the enemy, at least 30,000 men, and it was a brave sight for the eye to look on, such a beautiful array of warriors glistening with gold and jewels and variegated featherwork. The action was well contested between the two Indian armies. The suburbs were set on fire, and, in the midst of the flames, Cortez and his squadrons, rushing on the enemy, at length broke their array, and compelled them to fall back in disorder into the narrow gorge of the mountain, from which they had lately descended. The pass was rough and precipitous, Spaniards and Tlaxcalans followed close in the rear, and the light troops, scaling the high wall of the valley, poured down on the enemy's flanks. The heat was intense, and both parties were so much exhausted by their efforts that it was with difficulty, says the chronicler, that the one could pursue or the other fly. They were not too weary, however, to slay. The Mexicans were routed with terrible slaughter. They found no pity from their Indian foes, who had a long account of injuries to settle with them. Some few sought refuge by flying higher up into the fastness of the flora. There they were followed by their indefatigable enemy, until, on the bold summit of the ridge, they reached the Mexican encampment. It covered a wide tract of ground. Various utensils, ornamented dresses, and articles of luxury were scattered around, and the number of slaves in attendance showed the barbaric pomp with which the nobles of Mexico went on their campaigns. It was a rich booty for the victors, who spread over the deserted camp, and loaded themselves with the spoil, until the gathering darkness warned them to descend. Cortez followed up the blow by assaulting the strong town of its Zocan, held also by a Mexican garrison, and situated in the depths of a green valley watered by artificial canals, and smiling in all the rich abundance of this fruitful region of the plateau. The place, though stoutly defended, was stormed and carried. The Aztecs were driven across a river which ran below the ground, and, although the light bridges that traversed it were broken down in the flight, whether by design or accident, the Spaniards, fording and swimming the stream as they could, found their way to the opposite bank, followed up the chase with the eagerness of bloodhounds. Here too the booty was great, and the Indian auxiliaries flocked by thousands to the banners of the chief, who so surely led them on to victory and plunder. Soon afterwards, Cortez returned to his headquarters of Tepeyaca. Once he dispatched his officers on expeditions which were usually successful. Sendeval, in particular, marched against the large body of the enemy lying between the camp and Vera Cruz, defeated them in two decisive battles, and thus restored the communications with the port. The result of these operations was the reduction of that populous and cultivated territory which lies between the great volcano on the west, and the mighty skirts of Orizaba on the east. Many places, also, in the neighboring province of Mish Tecapan, acknowledge the authority of the Spaniards, and others from the remote region of Oaxaca sent to claim their protection. The conduct of Cortez towards his allies had gained him credit for disinterestedness and equity. The Indian cities in the adjacent territory appealed to him as their umpire in their differences with one another and cases of disputed succession in their governments were referred to as arbitration. By his discreet and moderate policy, he insensibly acquired an ascendancy over their councils, which had been denied to their ferocious Aztec. His authority extended wider and wider every day, and a new empire grew up in the very heart of the land, forming counterpoys to the colossal power which had so long overshadowed it. Cortez now felt himself strong enough to put in execution the plans for recovering the capital, over which he had been brooding ever since the hour of his expulsion. He had greatly undervalued the resources of the Aztec monarchy. He was now aware, from bitter experience, that to vanquish it, his own forces and all he could hope to muster would be incompetent without a very extensive support from the Indians themselves. A large army would, moreover, require large supplies for its maintenance, and these could not regularly be obtained during a protracted siege without the friendly cooperation of the natives. On such support he might now safely calculate from Tlaxcala and the other Indian territories whose warriors were so eager to serve under his banners. His past acquaintance with them had instructed him in their national character and system of war, while the natives who had fought under his command, if they had caught little of the Spanish tactics, had learned to act in concert with the white men and to obey him implicitly as their commander. This was a considerable improvement in such wild and disorderly levies, and greatly augmented the strength derived from numbers. Experience showed that, in a future conflict with the capital, it would not do to trust the causeways, but that to succeed he must command the lake, he proposed, therefore, to build a number of vessels like those constructed under his orders in Montezuma's time, and afterwards destroyed by the inhabitants. For this he had still the services of the same experienced shipbuilder, Martin Lopez, who, as we have seen, had fortunately escaped the slaughter of the Melancholy Knight. Cortes now sent this man to La Scala with order to build thirteen brigantines, which might be taken to pieces and carried on the shoulders of the Indians to be launched on the waters of Lake Tuscucco. The sails, rigging, and ironwork, were to be brought from Vera Cruz, where they had been stored since the removal of the dismantled ships. It was a bold conception, that of constructing a fleet to be transported across forest and mountain before it was launched on its destined waters. But it suited the daring genius of Cortes, who, with the cooperation of his staunch La Scala confederates, did not doubt his ability to carry it into execution. It was with no little regret that the general learned at this time the death of his good friend Machishka, the old lord of La Scala, who had stood by him so steadily in the hour of adversity. He had fallen victim to that terrible epidemic, the smallpox, which was now sweeping over the land like fire over the prairies, smiting down prince and peasant, and adding another to the long train of woes that followed the march of the white men. It was imported into the country, it is said, by a negro slave in the Freet of Narvaez. It first broke out in Kemphoala. The poor natives, ignorant of the best mode of treating the loathsome disorder, sought a relief in their usual practice of bathing in cold water, which greatly aggravated their trouble. From Kemphoala it spread rapidly over the neighboring country, and, penetrating through La Scala, reached the Aztec capital, where Montezuma's successor, Kuwait La Hua, fell one of its first victims. Thence it swept down towards the borders of the Pacific, leaving its path strewn with the dead bodies of the natives, who, in the strong language of a contemporary, perished in heaps like cattle stricken with the moraine. It does not seem to have been fatal with the Spaniards, many of whom, probably, had already had the disorder. The death of Machishka was deeply regretted by the troops, who lost in him a true and most efficient ally. With his last breath he commended them to his son and successor, and the great beings whose coming into the country had been so long predicted by the oracles. He expressed a desire to die in the profession of the Christian faith. Cortez no sooner learned his condition than he dispatched father Olmeido to La Scala. The friar found that Machishka had already caused a crucifix to be placed before his sick couch as the object of his adoration. After explaining, as intelligibly as he could, the truths of revelation, he baptized the dying chieftain, and the Spaniards had the satisfaction to believe that the soul of their benefactor was exempted from the doom of eternal perdition that hung over the unfortunate Indian who perished in his unbelief. Their late brilliant successes seemed to have reconciled most of the disaffected soldiers to the prosecution of the war. There were still a few among them, the secretary Duero, Bermuda's the treasurer, and others high in office, or wealthy Hidalgos, who looked with disgust on another campaign and now loudly reiterated their demand of a free passage to Cuba. To this Cortez, satisfied with the support on which he could safely count, bade no further objection. Having once given his consent, he did all in his power to facilitate their departure and provide for their comfort. He ordered the best ship at Veracruz to be placed at their disposal, to be well supplied with provisions and everything necessary for the voyage, and sent Alvarado to the coast to superintend the embarkation. He took the most courteous leave of them, with assurances of his own unalterable regard. But as the event proved, those who could part from him at this crisis had little sympathy for his fortunes, and we find Duero not long afterwards in Spain, supporting the claims of Velasquez before the emperor, in opposition to those of his former friend and commander. The loss of these few men was amply compensated by their rival of others, whom Fortune most unexpectedly threw in his way. The first of these came in a small vessel sent from Cuba by the governor, Velasquez, with stores from the colony at Veracruz. He was not aware of the late transactions in the country and of the discomforture of his officer. In the vessel came dispatches, it is said, from Fronseca, Bishop of Burgos, instructing Narvaez to Sencortes if he had not already done so, for trial to Spain. The Alcádea of Veracruz, agreeably to the general's instructions, allowed the captain of the barque to land, who had no doubt that the country was in the hands of Narvaez. He was undeceived by being seized, together with his men, so soon as they had set foot on shore. The vessel was then secured, and the commander and his crew, finding out their error, were persuaded without much difficulty to join their countrymen in Tlaxcala. A second vessel, sent soon after by Velasquez, shared the same fate, and those on board consented also to take their chance in the expedition under Cortez. About the same time, Garay, the emperor of Jamaica, handed out three ships with an armed force to plant a colony on the Panuco, a river which pours into the gulf a few degrees north of the Eureka. Garay persisted in establishing his settlement, in contempt of the claims of Cortez, who had already entered into a friendly communication with the inhabitants of that region. But the crews experienced such a rough reception from the natives on landing, and lost so many of them, that they were glad to take to their vessels again. One of these foundered in a storm, the others put into the port of Vera Cruz to restore the men, much weakened by hunger and disease. Here they were kindly received, there once supplied, their wounds healed, when they were induced by the liberal promises of Cortez, to abandon the disastrous service of their employer, and enlist under his own prosperous banner. The reinforcements obtained from these sources amounted to a full hundred and fifty men, well provided with arms and ammunition, together with twenty horses, by the strange concurrence of circumstances, Cortez saw himself in possession of the supplies he most needed, that, too, from the hands of his enemies, whose costly preparations were thus turned to the benefit of the very men whom they were designed to ruin. His good fortune did not stop here, a ship from the canaries touched at Cuba, frayed with arms and military stores from the adventurers in the New World. Their commander heard here of the recent discoveries in Mexico, and thinking it would afford a favorable market for him, directed his course to Vera Cruz. He was not mistaken. The Elcate, by the general's orders, purchased both ship and cargo, and the Cruz, catching the spirit of adventure, followed their countrymen into the interior. There seemed to be a magic in the name of Cortez, which drew all who came with an hearing of it under his standard. Having now completed the arrangements for settling his new conquests, there seemed to be no further reason for postponing his departure to Tlaxcala. He was first solicited by the citizens of Tepeyaca to leave a garrison with him to protect them from the vengeance of the Aztecs. Cortez exceeded to this request, and, considering the central position of the town favorable for maintaining his conquests, resolved to plant a colony there. For this object he selected sixty of his soldiers, most of whom were disabled by wounds or infirmity. He appointed the Elcates, Regadores, and other functionaries of his civic magistracy, the place be called Segura de la Fontera, or Security of the Frontier. It received valuable privileges as a city, a few years later, from the Emperor Charles V, and rose to some consideration in the age of the conquest. But its consequence soon after declined, even its Castilian name, with the same caprice which has decided the fate of more than one name in our own country, was gradually supplanted by its ancient one, and the little village of Tepeyaca is all that now commemorates the once flourishing Indian capital and the second Spanish colony in Mexico. While at Segura, Cortez wrote that celebrated letter to the Emperor, the second in the series, so often cited in the preceding pages. It takes up the narrative with the departure from Vera Cruz, and exhibits in a brief and comprehensive form the occurrences up to the time in which we are now arrived. In the concluding page, the general, after noticing the embarrassments under which he labors, says, in his usual manly spirit, that he holds danger and fatigue light in comparison with the attainment of his object, and that he is confident a short time will restore the Spaniards to their former position, and repair all of their losses. He notices the resemblance of Mexico, and many of its features and productions, to the mother country, and requests that it may henceforth be called New Spain of the Ocean Sea. He finally requests that a commission may be sent out at once to investigate his conduct and to verify the accuracy of his statements. This letter, which was printed at Seville the year after its reception, has been since reprinted and translated more than once. It excited a great sensation at the court, and among the friends of science generally. The previous discoveries of the New World had disappointed the expectations which had been formed after the solution of the grand problem of its existence. They had brought to light only rude tribes which, however gentle and inoffensive in their manner, were still in the primitive stages of barbarism. Here was an authentic account of a vast nation, potent and populace, exhibiting an elaborate social polity, well advanced in the arts of civilization, occupying a soil that teamed with mineral treasures and with a boundless variety of vegetable products, stores of wealth, both natural and artificial, that seemed, for the first time, to realize the golden dreams in which the great discoverer of the New World had so fondly, and in his own day, so fallaciously, indulged. Well might the scholar of that age exalt in the revelation of these wonders, which so many had long but in vain desired to see. With this letter went another to the emperor, signed, as it would seem, by nearly every officer and soldier in the camp. It expiated on the obstacles thrown in the way of the expedition by Velasquez and Narváez, and the great prejudice this had caused to the royal interest. He then sent forth the services of Cortez, and the sought the emperor to confirm him in his authority, and not allow any interference with one who, from his personal character, had intimate knowledge of the land and its people, and the attachment of his soldiers, was the best man qualified in all the world to achieve the conquest of the country. It added not a little to the perplexities of Cortez, that he was still an entire ignorance of the light in which his conduct was regarded in Spain. He had not even heard whether his despatches, sent a year preceding from Veracruz, had been received. Mexico was as far removed from all intercourse with the civilized world as if it had been placed at the antipodes. Few vessels had entered, and none had been allowed to leave its ports. The governor of Cuba, an island distant but a few days' sale, was yet ignorant as we have seen of the fate of his armament. On the arrival of every new vessel or fleet on these shores, I'd well doubt whether it brought aid to his undertaking, or a royal commission to supersede him. His sanguine spirit relied on the former, though the latter was much more probable considering the intimacy of his enemy, the governor, with Bishop Fonseca. It was the policy of Cortez, therefore, to lose no time, to push forward his preparations, lest another should be permitted to snatch the laurel now almost within his grasp. Could he but reduce the Aztec capital, he felt that he should be safe, and that, in whatever light his irregular proceedings might now be viewed, his services in that event would far more than counterbalance them in the eyes both of the crown and of the country. The general wrote also, to the royal audience at St. Domingo, in order to interest them in his cause, he sent four vessels to the same island to obtain a further supply of arms and ammunition, and, the better to stimulate the cupidity of adventurers, and allure them to the expedition, he added specimens of the beautiful fabrics of the country and of its precious metals. The funds for procuring these important supplies were probably derived from the plunder gathered in the late battles, and the gold which, as already remarked, had been saved from the general wreck by the Castilian convoy. It was the middle of December when Cortez, having completed all his arrangements, set out on his return to La Scala, ten or twelve leagues distant. He marched in the van of the army and took the way of Cholula. How different was his condition from that in which he had left the Republican capital not five months before? His march was a triumphal procession, displaying the various banners and military end-signs taken from the enemy, long files of captives, and all the rich spoils of conquests gleaned from many a hard-fought field. As the army passed through the towns and villages, the inhabitants poured out to greet them, and, as they drew near to La Scala, the whole population, men, women, and children, came forth celebrating their return with songs, dancing, and music. Arches decorated with flowers were thrown across the street through which they passed, and a La Scala and orator addressed the general on his entry to the city and a lofty panageric on his late achievements, proclaiming him the Avenger of the Nation. Amidst this pomp and triumphal show, Cortez and his principal officers were seen clad in deep mourning in honor of their friend Machiska, and this tribute of respect in the memory of their venerated ruler touched the La Scalaons more sensibly than all the proud display of military trophies. The general's first act was to confirm the son of his deceased friend in the succession, which had been contested by an illegitimate brother. The youth was but twelve years of age, and Cortez revealed on him without difficulty to follow his father's example and receive baptism. He afterwards knighted him with his own hand, the first instance, probably, of the order of chivalry being conferred on an American Indian. The elder, Shikoten Kattel, was also persuaded to embrace Christianity, and the example of their rulers had its obvious effect in preparing the minds of the people for the reception of the truth. Cortez, whether from the suggestions of Olmeido, or from the engrossing nature of his own affairs, did not press the work of conversion further at this time, but wisely left the good seed already sown to ripen in secret, till time should bring forth the harvest. The Spanish commander, during his short stay in Tlaskala, urged forward the preparations for the campaign. He endeavored to drill the Tlaskalans and give them some idea of European discipline and tactics. He caused new arms to be made, and the old ones to be put in order. Powder was manufactured with the aid of sulfur, obtained by some adventurous cavaliers from the smoking throat of Popocatepetl, the construction of the brigantines went forward prosperously under the direction of Lopez. With the aid of the Tlaskalans, timber was cut in the forest, and pitch, an article unknown to the Indians, was obtained from the pines on the neighbouring Sierra de Melinche. The rigging and other appurtences were transported by the Indian Timanes from Villarica, and by Christmas the work was so far advanced that it was no longer necessary for Cortez to delay the march to Mexico. CHAPTER VII BOOK V CHAPTER VII Gwatemothin, new emperor of the Aztecs. Preparations for the march. Military code. Spaniards cross the Sierra. Enter Tecucco. Prince Islilshochitl. While the events related in the preceding chapter were passing, an important change had taken place in the Aztec monarchy. Montezuma's brother and successor, Quitlahua, has suddenly died of the smallpox, after a brief reign of four months. Brief but glorious, for it had witnessed the overthrow of the Spaniards and their expulsion from Mexico. On the death of their warlike chief, the electors were convened as usual to supply the vacant throne. It was an office of great responsibility in the dark hour of their fortunes. The choice fell on Gwatemothin, or Gwatemothin, as euphoniously corrupted by the Spaniards. He was nephew to the two last monarchs, and married his cousin, the beautiful princess Tecucco, Montezuma's daughter. He was not more than twenty-five years old, and elegant in his person for an Indian, says one who had seen him often, valiant and so terrible that his followers trembled in his presence. He did not shrink from the perilous post that was offered to him, and as he saw the tempest gathering darkly around, he prepared to meet it like a man. Though young, he had ample experience in military matters, and had distinguished himself above all in the bloody conflicts of the capital. By means of his spies, Gwatemothin made himself acquainted with the movements of the Spaniards and their design to besiege the capital. He prepared for it by sending away the useless part of the population, while he called in his potent vassals from the neighbourhood. He continued the plans of his predecessor for strengthening the defences of the city, reviewed his troops, and stimulated them by prizes to excel in their exercises. He made harangues to his soldiers to rouse them to a spirit of desperate resistance. He encouraged his vassals throughout the Empire to attack the white men wherever they were to be met with, setting a price on their heads as well as the persons of all who should be brought alive to him in Mexico. And it was no uncommon thing for the Spaniards to find hanging up in the temples of the conquered places the arms and accoutrements of their unfortunate countrymen who had been seized and sent to the capital for sacrifice. Such was the young monarch who was now called to the tottering throne of the Aztecs, worthy, by his bold and magnanimous nature, to sway the scepter of his country in the most flourishing period of her renown, and now in her distress devoting himself in the true spirit of a patriotic prince to uphold her falling fortunes or bravely perish with them. We must now return to the Spaniards in Tlaxcala, where we left them preparing to resume their march on Mexico. Their commander had the satisfaction to see his troops tolerably complete in their appointments, varying indeed according to the condition of the different reinforcements which had arrived from time to time, but on the whole superior to those of the army with which he had first invaded the country. His whole force fell little short of six hundred men, forty of whom were cavalry, together with eighty acribosias and crossbowmen. The rest were armed with sword and target, and with the copper-headed pike of Chinantla. He had nine cannon of a moderate calibre, and was indifferently supplied with powder. As his forces were drawn up in order of march, Cortes rode through the ranks, exhorting his soldiers, as usual with him on these occasions, to be true to themselves and the enterprise in which they were embarked. He told them they were to march against rebels who had once acknowledged allegiance to the Spanish sovereign, against barbarians, the enemies of their religion. They were to fight the battles of the cross and of the crown, to fight their own battles, to wipe away the stain from their arms, to avenge their injuries and the loss of the dear companions who had been butchered on the field or on the accursed altar of their sacrifice. Never was there a war which offered higher incentives to the Christian cavalier, a war which opened to him riches and renown in this life, and an imperishable glory in that to come. They answered with acclamations that they were ready to die in defense of the faith, and would either conquer or leave their bones with those of their countrymen in the waters of the Tethcucco. The army of the allies next passed in review before the general. It is variously estimated by writers from 110 to 150,000 soldiers. The palpable exaggeration, no less than the discrepancy, shows that little reliance can be placed on any estimate. It is certain, however, that it was a multitudinous array consisting not only of the flower of the Tlaxcalan warriors, but of those of Cholula, Tepeaca, and the neighboring territories which had submitted to the Castilian crown. Cortes, with the aid of Marina, made a brief address to his Indian allies. He reminded them that he was going to fight their battles against their ancient enemies. He called on them to support him in a manner worthy of their renowned republic. To those who remained at home, he committed the charge of aiding in the completion of the brigantines, on which the success of the expedition so much depended, and he requested that none would follow his banner who were not prepared to remain till the final reduction of the capital. This address was answered by shouts, or rather yells of defiance, showing the exhortation felt by his Indian confederates at the prospect of at last avenging their manifold wrongs and humbling their haughty enemy. Before setting out on the expedition, Cortes published a code of ordinances as he terms them, or regulations for the army, too remarkable to be passed over in silence. The preamble sets forth that in all institutions, whether divine or human, if the latter have any worth, order is the great law. The ancient chronicles inform us that the greatest captains in past times owed their successes quite as much to the wisdom of their ordinances as to their own valour and virtue. The situation of the Spaniards eminently demanded such a code, a mere handful of men as they were in the midst of countless enemies, most cunning in the management of their weapons and in the art of war. The instrument then reminds the army that the conversion of the heathen is the work most acceptable in the eye of the Almighty, and one that will be sure to receive his support. It calls on every soldier to regard this as the prime object of the expedition, without which the war would be manifestly unjust, and every acquisition made by it a robbery. The general solemnly protests that the principal motive which operates in his own bosom is the desire to wean the natives from their gloomy idolatry, and to impart to them the knowledge of a purer faith, and next to recover for his master the emperor the dominions which of right belong to him. The ordinances then prohibit all blasphemy against God, all the saints. Another law is directed against gaming to which the Spaniards in all ages have been peculiarly addicted. Cortes, making allowance for the strong national propensity, authorizes it under certain limitations, but prohibits the use of dice altogether. Then follow other laws against brawls and private combats, against personal taunts and the irritating sarcasms of rival companies, rules for the more perfect discipline of the troops, whether in camp or the field. Among others is one prohibiting any captain under pain of death from charging the enemy without orders. A practice noticed as most pernicious and of two frequent occurrence, showing the impetuous spirit and want of true military subordination in the bold Cavaliers who followed the standard of Cortes. The last ordinance prohibits any man, officer, or private, from securing to his own use any of the booty taken from the enemy, whether it be gold, silver, precious stones, featherwork, staffs, slaves, or other commodity, however or wherever obtained, in the city or in the field, and requires him to bring it forthwith to the presence of the general or the officer appointed to receive it. The violation of this law was punished with death and confiscation of property. So severe an edict may be thought to prove that, however much the conquistador may have been influenced by spiritual considerations, he was by no means insensible to those of a temporal character. These provisions were not suffered to remain a dead letter. The Spanish commander, soon after their proclamation, made an example of two of his own slaves whom he hanged for plundering the natives. A similar sentence was passed on a soldier for the like offence, though he allowed him to be cut down before the sentence was entirely executed. Cortes knew well the character of his followers, rough and turbulent spirits, who required to be ruled with an iron hand. Yet he was not eager to assert his authority on light occasions, the intimacy into which they were thrown by their peculiar situation, perils, and sufferings in which all equally shared, and a common interest in the adventure, induced a familiarity between men and officers most unfavorable to military discipline. The general's own manners, frank and liberal, seemed to invite this freedom, which on ordinary occasions he made no attempt to repress, perhaps finding it too difficult, or at least impolitic, since it afforded a safety valve for the spirits of a licentious soldiery that, if violently coerced, might have burst forth into open mutiny. But the limits of his forbearance were clearly defined, and any attempt to overstep them, or to violate the established regulations of the camp, brought assure and speedy punishment on the offender. By thus tempering severity with indulgence, masking an iron wheel under the open bearing of a soldier, Cortes established a control over his band of bold and reckless adventurers, such as a pedantic Martinette, scrupulous in enforcing the minutiae of military etiquette, could never have obtained. The ordinances, dated on the 22nd of December, were proclaimed to the assembled army on the 26th. Two days afterwards the troops were on their march. Notwithstanding the great force mustered by the Indian Confederates, the Spanish general allowed but a small part of them now to attend him. He proposed to establish his headquarters at some place on the Tezcucun Lake, whence he could annoy the Aztec capital by reducing the surrounding country, cutting off the supplies, and thus placing the city in a state of blockade. The director sought on Mexico itself. He intended to postpone, until the arrival of the brigantines should enable him to make it with the greatest advantage. Meanwhile, he had no desire to encumber himself with a superfluous multitude, whom it would be difficult to feed, and he preferred to leave them at Clascala, whence they might convey the vessels when completed to the camp, and aid him in his future operations. Three routes presented themselves to Cortes by which he might penetrate into the valley. He chose the most difficult, traversing the bold Sierra, which divides the eastern plateau from the western, and so rough and precipitous as to be scarcely practicable for the march of an army. He wisely judged that he should be less likely to experience annoyance from the enemy in this direction, as they might naturally confide in the difficulties of the ground. The first day the troops advanced five or six leagues, Cortes riding in the van at the head of his little body of cavalry. They halted at the village of Tetsmelocan, at the base of the mountain chain which traverses the country touching at its southern limit the mighty Ith-Takiwakl, or White Woman, white with the snows of the ages. At this village they met with a friendly reception, and on the following morning began the ascent of the Sierra. It was night before the way-worn soldiers reached the bold crest of the Sierra, where they lost no time in kindling their fires, and, huddling round their bivouacs, they warmed their frozen limbs and prepared their evening repast. With the earliest dawn the troops were again in motion. Mass was said, and they began their descent, more difficult and painful than their ascent on the day preceding, for in addition to the natural obstacles of the road they found it strewn with huge pieces of timber and trees obviously failed for the purpose by the natives. Cortes ordered up a body of light troops to clear away the impediments, and the army again resumed its march, but with the apprehension that the enemy had prepared an ambush-gade to surprise them when they should be entangled in the pass. They moved cautiously forward, straining their vision to pierce the thick gloom of the forests where the wily foe might be lurking. But they saw no living thing except only the wild inhabitants of the woods, and flocks of the topilote, the voracious vulture of the country, which, in anticipation of a bloody banquet, hung like a troop of evil spirits on the march of the army. At length the army emerged on an open level, where the eye unobstructed by intervening wood or hilltop could range far and wide over the valley of Mexico. The magnificent vision knew to many of the spectators filled them with rapture. Even the veterans of Cortes could not withhold their admiration, though this was soon followed by a bitter feeling as they recalled the sufferings which had befallen them within these beautiful but treacherous precincts. It made us feel, says the lion-hearted conqueror in his letters, that we had no choice but victory or death, and our minds once resolved we moved forward with as light a step as if we had been going on an errand of certain pleasure. As the Spaniards advanced they beheld the neighbouring hilltops blazing with beacon fires, showing that the country was already alarmed and mustering to oppose them. The general called on his men to be mindful of their high reputation, to move in order, closing up their ranks, and to obey implicitly the commands of their officers. At every turn among the hills they expected to meet the forces of the enemy drawn up to dispute their passage, and as they were allowed to pass the defiles unmolested and drew near to the open plains, they were prepared to see them occupied by a formidable host who would compel them to fight over again the battle of Otumba. But although clouds of dusky warriors were seen from time to time hovering on the highlands as if watching their progress, they experienced no interruption till they reached a baranka or deep ravine through which flowed a little river crossed by a bridge partly demolished. On the opposite side a considerable body of Indians was stationed as if to dispute the passage, but whether distrusting their own numbers, or intimidated by the steady advance of the Spaniards, they offered them no annoyance, and were quickly dispersed by a few resolute charges of cavalry. The army then proceeded without molestation to a small town called Coatepec, where they halted for the night. Before retiring to his own quarters, Cortes made the rounds of the camp with a few trusty followers to see that all were safe. He seemed to have an eye that never slumbered, and a frame incapable of fatigue. It was the indomitable spirit within which sustained him. Yet he may well have been kept awake through the watches of the night by anxiety and doubt. He was now but three leagues from Tethcucco, the far-famed capital of the Acolluans. He proposed to establish his headquarters, if possible, at this place. Its numerous dwellings would afford ample accommodations for his army. An easy communication with Tlaxcala, by a different route from that which he had traversed, would furnish him with the means of readily obtaining supplies from that friendly country, and for the safe transportation of the brigantines when finished, to be launched on the waters of Tethcucco. But he had good reason to distrust the reception he should meet within the capital, for an important revolution had taken place there since the expulsion of the Spaniards from Mexico, of which it will be necessary to give some account. The reader will remember that the casiqui of that place, named Cacama, was deposed by Cortes during his first residence in the Aztec metropolis, in consequence of a projected revolt against the Spaniards, and that the crown had been placed on the head of a younger brother, Quiquitzia. The deposed prince was among the prisoners carried away by Cortes, and perished with the others in the terrible passage of the causeway on the Noche Triste. His brother, afraid probably after the flight of the Spaniards of continuing with the Aztecs, accompanied his friends in their retreat, and was so fortunate as to reach Tlaxcala in safety. Meanwhile, a second son of Nezahualpili, named Coenaco, claimed the crown on his elder brother's death as his own rightful inheritance. As he heartily joined his countrymen and the Aztecs in their detestation of the white men, his claims were sanctioned by the Mexican emperor. Soon after his accession, the new Lord of Tethcúco had an opportunity of showing his loyalty to his imperial patron in an effectual manner. A body of forty-five Spaniards, ignorant of the disasters in Mexico, were transporting thither a large quantity of gold, at the very time their countrymen were on the retreat to Tlaxcala. As they passed through the Tethcúcan territory, they were attacked by Coenaco's orders, most of them massacred on the spot, and the rest sent for sacrifice to Mexico. The arms and accoutrements of these unfortunate men were hung up as trophies in the temples, and their skins, stripped from their dead bodies, were suspended over the bloody shrines as the most acceptable offering to the defended deities. Some months after this event, the exiled prince, Quixotea, wearied with his residence in Tlaxcala and pining for his former royal state, made his way back secretly to Tethcúco, hoping it would seem to raise a party there in his favour. But if such were his expectations they were sadly disappointed, for no sooner had he set foot in the capital than he was betrayed to his brother, who by the advice of Guatimothin put him to death as a traitor to his country. Such was the posture of affairs in Tethcúco when Cortés for the second time approached its gates, and well might he doubt not merely the nature of his reception there, but whether he would be permitted to enter it at all without force of arms. These apprehensions were dispelled the following morning when, before the troops were well under arms, an embassy was announced from the lord of Tethcúco. It consisted of several nobles, some of whom were known to the companions of Cortés. They bore a golden flag in token of amity, and a present of no great value to Cortés. They brought also a message from the casique, imploring the general to spare his territories, inviting him to take up his quarters in the capital, and promising on his arrival to become the vassal of the Spanish sovereign. Cortés dissembled the satisfaction with which he listened to these overtures, and sternly demanded of the envoys an account of the Spaniards who had been massacred, insisting at the same time on immediate restitution of the plunder. But the Indian nobles excused themselves by throwing the whole blame upon the Aztec emperor by whose orders the deed had been perpetrated, and who now had possession of the treasure. They urged Cortés not to enter the city that day, but to pass the night in the suburbs, that their master might have time to prepare suitable accommodations for him. The Spanish commander, however, gave no heed to this suggestion, but pushed forward his march, and at noon on the 31st of December, 1520, entered, at the head of his legions, the venerable walls of Tethcúco. He was struck as when he before visited this popular city, with the solitude and silence which reigned throughout its streets. He was conducted to the palace of Nessa Valpili, which was assigned at his quarters. It was an irregular pile of low buildings, covering a wide extent of ground, like the royal residence occupied by the troops in Mexico. It was spacious enough to furnish accommodations, not only for all the Spaniards, says Cortés, but for twice their number. He gave orders on his arrival that all regard should be paid to the persons and property of the citizens, and forbade any Spaniard to leave his quarters under pain of death. Alarmed at the apparent desertion of the place, as well as by the fact that none of its principal inhabitants came to welcome him, Cortés ordered some soldiers to ascend the neighbouring Teocali and survey the city. They soon returned with the report that the inhabitants were leaving it in great numbers, with their families and effects, some in canoes upon the lake, others on foot towards the mountains. The general now comprehended the import of the Cacique's suggestion that the Spaniards should pass the night in the suburbs in order to secure time for evacuating the city. He feared that the chief himself might have fled. He lost no time in detaching troops to secure the principal avenues where they were to turn back the fugitives and arrest the Cacique if he was among the number. But it was too late. Coenaco was already far on his way across the lake to Mexico. Cortés now determined to turn this event to his own account by placing another ruler on the throne who should be more subservient to his interests. He called a meeting of the few principal persons still remaining in the city, and by their advice and ostensible election advanced a brother of the late Sovereign to the dignity which they declared vacant. The prince, who consented to be baptised, was a willing instrument in the hands of the Spaniards. He survived but a few months, and was succeeded by another member of the royal house named Ischlilchocic, who indeed, as general of his armies, may be said to have held the reins of government in his hands during his brother's lifetime. As this person was intimately associated with the Spaniards in their subsequent operations, to the success of which he essentially contributed, it is proper to give some account of his earlier history, which in truth is as much enveloped in the marvellous as that of any fabulous history of antiquity. He was a son by a second queen of the great Nesualpili. Some alarming prodigies at his birth and the gloomy aspect of the planets led the astrologers who cast his horoscope to advise the king his father to take away the infant's life, since, if he lived to grow up, he was destined to unite with the enemies of his country, and overturn its institutions and religion. But the old monarch replied, says the chronicler, that the time had arrived when the sons of Quetzalcoatl were to come from the east to take possession of the land, and if the Almighty had selected his child to cooperate with them in the work, his will be done. As the boy advanced in years, he exhibited a marvellous precocity not merely of talent, but of mischievous activity, which afforded an alarming prognostic for the future. When about twelve years old, he formed a little corps of followers of about his own age, or somewhat older, with whom he practised the military exercises of his nation, conducting mimic fights, and occasionally assaulting the peaceful burghers, and throwing the whole city as well as palace into uproar and confusion. Some of his father's ancient councillors, connecting this conduct with the predictions at his birth, saw in it such alarming symptoms that they repeated the advice of the astrologers to take away the prince's life, if the monarch would not see his kingdom one day given up to anarchy. This unpleasant advice was reported to the juvenile offender, who was so much exasperated by it, that he put himself at the head of a party of his young desperados, and entering the house of the offending councillors, dragged them forth and administered to them the garot, the mode in which the capital punishment was inflicted in Tescuco. He was seized and brought before his father. When questioned as to his extraordinary conduct, he coolly replied that he had done no more than he had a right to do. The guilty ministers had deserved their fate by endeavouring to alienate his father's affections from him, for no other reason than his too great fondness for the profession of arms, the most honourable profession in the state, and the one most worthy of a prince. If they had suffered death, it was no more than they had intended for him. The wise Nezawalbili, says the chronicler, found much force in these reasons, and as he saw nothing low or sordid in the action, but rather the abolition of a daring spirit which in afterlife might lead to great things, he contented himself with bestowing a grave admonition on the juvenile culprit. Whether this admonition had any solitary effect on his subsequent demeanour, we are not informed. It is said, however, that as he grew older he took an active part in the wars of his country, and when no more than 17, had won for himself the insignia of a valiant and victorious captain. On his father's death he disputed the succession with his elder brother, Kakama. The country was menaced with the civil war when the affair was compromised by his brother's ceding to him that portion of his territories which lay among the mountains. On the arrival of the Spaniards, the young chieftain, for he was scarcely twenty years of age, made, as we have seen, many friendly demonstrations towards them, induced, no doubt, by his hatred of Montezuma, who had supported the pretensions of Kakama. It was not, however, till his advancement to the lordship of Tethcoco, that he showed the full extent of his good will. From that hour he became the fast friend of the Christians, supporting them with his personal authority and the whole strength of his military array and resources, which, although much shorn of their ancient splendour since the days of his father, were still considerable and made him a most valuable ally. His important services have been gratefully commemorated by the Castilian historians, and history should certainly not defraud him of his just mead of glory, the melancholy glory of having contributed more than any other chieftain of a Nahwak to rivet the chains round the necks of his countrymen. CHAPTER I siege and surrender of Mexico. Arrangements at Tuscucco, sack of Iztapalapan, advantages of the Spaniards, wise policy of Cortes, transportation of the brigantines. The city of Tuscucco was the best position, probably, which Cortes could have chosen for the headquarters of the army. It's applied all the accommodation for lodging a numerous body of troops and all the facilities for subsistence, incident to a large and populous town. It furnished, moreover, a multitude of artisans and laborers for the use of the army. Its territories, bordering on the Tlaskalan, afforded a ready means of intercourse with the country of its allies, while its vicinity to Mexico enabled the general, without much difficulty, to ascertain the movements in that capital. Its central situation, in short, opened facilities for communication with all parts of the valley and made it an excellent point d'apuis for its future operations. The first care of Cortes was to strengthen himself in the palace assigned to him and to place his quarters in a state of defense, which might secure them against surprise not only from the Mexicans, but from the Tuscuccans themselves. Since the election of their new ruler, a large part of the population had returned to their homes assured of protection in person and property. But the Spanish general, notwithstanding their show of submission, very much distrusted its sincerity, for he knew that many of them were united too intimately with the Aztecs by marriage and other social relations not to have their sympathies engaged on their behalf. The young monarch, however, seemed holy in his interest, and to secure him more effectually, Cortes placed several Spaniards near his person, whose ostensible province it was to instruct him in their language and religion, but who were in reality to watch over his conduct and prevent his correspondence with those who might be unfriendly to the Spanish interests. Tuscucco stood about half a league from the lake. It would be necessary to open a communication with it so that the brigantines, when put together in the capital, might be launched upon its waters. It was proposed, therefore, to dig a canal reaching from the gardens of Nezahoyacoto, as they were called from the old monarch who planned them, to the edge of the basin. A little stream or rivulet, which flowed in that direction, was to be deepened sufficiently for the purpose, and 8,000 Indian laborers were forthwith employed on this great work under the direction of the young Itslil Solchitl. Meanwhile Cortes received messages from several places in the neighborhood, intimating their desire to become the vassals of his sovereign and to be taken under his protection. The Spanish commander required in return that they should deliver up every Mexican who should set foot in their territories. Some noble Aztecs, who had been sent on a mission to these towns, were consequently delivered into his hands. He availed himself of it to employ them as bearers of a message to their master, the emperor. In it he deprecated the necessity of the present hostilities. Those who had most injured him, he said, were no longer among the living. He was willing to forget the past and invited the Mexicans by a timely submission to save their capital from the horrors of a siege. Cortes had no expectation of producing any immediate result by this appeal. But he thought it might lie in the minds of the Mexicans, and that, if there was a party among them disposed to treat with him, it might afford them encouragement as showing his own willingness to cooperate with their views. At this time, however, there was no division of opinion in the capital. The whole population seemed animated by a spirit of resistance as one man. In a former page I have mentioned that it was the plan of Cortes on entering the valley to commence operations by reducing the subordinate cities before striking at the capital itself, which, like some goodly tree whose roots had been severed one after another, would be thus left without support against the fury of the tempest. The first point of attack which he selected was the ancient city of Iztapalapan, a place containing fifty thousand inhabitants according to his own account, and situated about six leagues distant on the narrow tongue of land which divides the waters of the great Salt Lake from those of the fresh. It was the private domain of the last sovereign of Mexico, where as the reader may remember, he entertained the white men the night before their entrance into the capital and astonished them by the display of his princely gardens. To this monarch they owed no good will, for he had conducted the operations on the Noche tree-stay. He was, indeed, no more, but the people of his city entered heartily into his hatred of the strangers, and were now the most loyal vassals of the Mexican crown. In a week after his arrival at his new quarters, Cortes, leaving the command of the garrison to Sandoval, marched against this Indian city at the head of two hundred Spanish foot, eighteen horse, and between three and four thousand Tluscalans. Within two leagues of their point of destination, they were encountered by a strong Aztec force drawn up to dispute their progress. Cortes instantly gave them battle. The barbarians showed their usual courage, but after some hard fighting were compelled to give way before the steady valor of the Spanish infantry, backed by the desperate fury of the Tluscalans, whom the sight of an Aztec seemed to inflame almost to madness. The enemy retreated in disorder, closely followed by the Spaniards. When they had arrived within a half a league of Iztapalapan, they observed a number of canoes filled with Indians, who appeared to be laboring on the mole, which hemmed in the waters of the Salt Lake. Swept along in the tide of pursuit, they gave little heed to it, but, following up the chase, entered Pelmel with the fugitives into the city. The houses stood some of them on dry ground, some on piles in the water. The former were deserted by the inhabitants, most of whom had escaped in canoes across the lake, leaving in their haste their effects behind them. The Tluscalans poured at once into the vacant dwellings and loaded themselves with booty. While the enemy, making the best of their way through this part of the town, sought shelter in the buildings erected over the water, or among the reeds which sprung from its shallow bottom. In the houses were many of the citizens also, who still lingered with their wives and children, unable to find the means of transporting themselves from the scene of danger. Cortes, supported by his own men and by such of the allies as could be brought to obey his orders, attacked the enemy in this last place of their retreat. Both parties fought up to their girdles in the water. A desperate struggle ensued, as the Aztec fought with the fury of a tiger driven to bay by the huntsmen. It was all in vain. The enemy was overpowered in every quarter. The citizens shared the fate of the soldier and the pitiless massacre succeeded without regard to sex or age. Cortes endeavored to stop it, but it would have been as easy to call away the starving wolf from the carcass he was devouring as the Tluscalan who had once tasted the blood of an enemy. More than six thousand, including women and children, according to the conqueror's own statement, perished in the conflict. Darkness, meanwhile, had set in, but it was dispelled in some measure by the light of the burning houses which the troops had set on fire in different parts of the town. Their insulated position, it is true, prevented the flames from spreading from one building to another, but the solitary masses threw a strong and lurid glare over their own neighborhood which gave additional horror to the scene. As resistance was now at an end, the soldiers abandoned themselves to pillage and soon stripped the dwellings of every portable article of any value. While engaged in this work of devastation, a murmuring sound was heard as of the horse rippling of waters, and a cry soon arose among the Indians that the dykes were broken. Cortes now comprehended the business of the men whom he had seen in the canoes at work on the mole which fenced the great basin of Lake Tescuco. It had been pierced by the desperate Indians who thus laid the country under an inundation by suffering the waters of the Salt Lake to spread themselves over the lower level through the opening. Greatly alarmed, the general called his men together and made all haste to evacuate the city. Had they remained three hours longer, he says, not a soul could have escaped. They came staggering under the weight of booty, wading with difficulty through the water which was fast gaining upon them. For some distance their path was illuminated by the glare of the burning buildings, but as the light faded away in the distance, they wandered with uncertain steps, sometimes up to their knees, at others up to their wastes, in the water, through which they floundered on with the greatest difficulty. As they reached the opening in the dyke, the stream became deeper and flowed out with such a current that the men were unable to maintain their footing. The Spaniards, resting the flood, forced their way through, but many of the Indians, unable to swim, were born down by the waters. All the plunder was lost, the powder was spoiled, the arms and clothes of all the soldiers were saturated with the brine, and the cold night wind as it blew over them, benumbed their weary limbs until they could scarcely drag them along. At dawn they beheld the lake swarming with canoes full of Indians who had anticipated their disaster and who now saluted them with showers of stones, arrows, and other deadly missiles. Bodies of light troops hovering in the distance, disquieted the flanks of the army in like manner. The Spaniards had no desire to close with the enemy. They only wished to regain their comfortable quarters in Tescuco, where they arrived on the same day, more disconsolate and fatigued than after many a long march and hard-fought battle. The close of the expedition, so different from its brilliant commencement, greatly disappointed Cortes. His numerical loss had indeed not been great, but this affair convinced him how much he had to apprehend from the resolution of a people who were prepared to bury their country under water rather than to submit. Still, the enemy had little cause for congratulation, since, independently of the number of slain, they had seen one of their most flourishing cities sacked and, in part at least, played in ruins. One of those, too, which, in its public works, displayed the nearest approach to civilization. Such are the triumphs of war. The expedition of Cortes, notwithstanding the disasters which checkered it, was favorable to the Spanish cause. The fate of Istapalapan struck a terror throughout the valley. The consequences were soon apparent in the deputations sent by different places, eager to offer their submission. Its influence was visible, indeed, beyond the mountains. Among others the people of Otumba, the town near which the Spaniards had gained their famous victory, sent to tender their allegiance and to request the protection of the powerful strangers. They excused themselves, as usual, for the part they had taken in the late hostilities by throwing the blame on the Aztecs. But the place of most importance which thus claimed their protection was Chalco, situated on the eastern extremity of the lake of that name. It was an ancient city, people by a kindred tribe of the Aztecs, and once their formidable rival. The Mexican emperor, distrusting their loyalty, had placed a garrison within their walls to hold them in check. The rulers of the city now sent a message secretly to Cortes, proposing to put themselves under his protection if he would enable them to expel the garrison. The Spanish commander did not hesitate, but instantly detached a considerable force under Sandoval for this object. On the march his rear guard, composed of slush colons, was roughly handled by some light troops of the Mexicans, but he took his revenge in a pitched battle which took place with the main body of the enemy at no great distance from Chalco. They were drawn up on a level ground covered with green crops of maize and mague. Sandoval, charging the enemy at the head of his calvary, threw them into disorder, but they quickly rallied, formed again, and renewed the battle with greater spirit than ever. In a second attempt he was more fortunate, and, breaking through their lines by a desperate onset, the brave cavalier succeeded after a warm but ineffectual struggle on their part, in completely routing and driving them from the field. The conquering army continued its march to Chalco, which the Mexican garrison had already evacuated, and was received in triumph by the assembled citizens, who seemed eager to testify their gratitude for the deliverance from the Aztec yoke. After taking such measures as he could for the permanent security of the place, Sandoval returned to Tuscucco, accompanied by the two young lords of the city, sons of the late Casique. They were courteously received by Cortes, and they informed him that their father had died full of years a short time before. With his last breath he had expressed his regret that he should not have lived to see Malinche. He believed that the white men were the beings predicted by the oracles as one day to come from the east and take possession of the land, and he enjoined it on his children should the strangers return to the valley to render them their homage and allegiance. The young Casiques expressed their readiness to do so, but, as this must bring on them the vengeance of the Aztecs, they implored the general to furnish a sufficient force for their protection. Cortes received a similar application from various other towns which were disposed, could they do so with safety, to throw off the Mexican yoke. But he was in no situation to comply with their request. He now felt, more sensibly than ever, the incompetency of his means to his undertaking. I assure your majesty, he writes in his letter to the Emperor, the greatest uneasiness which I feel after all my laborers and fatigues is from my inability to succor and support our Indian friends, your majesty's loyal vassals. Far from having a force competent to this, he had scarcely enough for his own protection. His vigilant enemy had an eye on all his movements, and, should he cripple his strength by sending away too many detachments, or by employing them at too great a distance, would be prompt to take advantage of it. His only expeditions hitherto had been in the neighborhood where the troops, after striking some sudden and decisive blow, might speedily regain their quarters. The utmost watchfulness was maintained there, and the Spaniards lived in as constant preparation for an assault as if their camp was pitched under the walls of Mexico. On two occasions the General had sallied forth and engaged the enemy in the environs of Tescuco. At one time a thousand canoes filled with Aztecs crossed the lake to gather in a large crop of Indian corn nearly ripe on its borders. Cortez thought it important to secure this for himself. He accordingly marched out and gave battle to the enemy, drove them from the field, and swept away the rich harvest to the granaries of Tescuco. Another time a strong body of Mexicans had established themselves in some neighboring towns friendly to their interests. Cortez, again sallying, dislodged them from their quarters, beat them in several skirmishes, and reduced the places to obedience. But these enterprises demanded all his resources and left him nothing to spare for his allies. In this exigency his fruitful genius suggested an expedient for supplying the deficiency of his means. Some of the friendly cities without the valley, observing the numerous beacon fires on the mountains, inferred that the Mexicans were mustering in great strength, and that the Spaniards must be hard-pressed in their new quarters. They sent messengers to Tescuco expressing their apprehension and offering reinforcements which the general when he had set out on his march had declined. He returned many thanks for the proffered aid, but while he declined it for himself as unnecessary, he indicated in what manner their services might be effectual for the defense of Chalco and the other places which had invoked his protection. But his Indian allies were in deadly feud with these places whose inhabitants had too often fought under the Aztec banner not to have been engaged in repeated wars with the people beyond the mountains. Cortes set himself earnestly to reconcile these differences. He told the hostile parties that they should be willing to forget their mutual wrongs since they had entered into new relations. They were now vassals of the same sovereign engaged in a common enterprise against a formidable foe who had so long tried in them in the dust. Singly they could do little, but united they might protect each other's weakness and hold their enemy at bay till the Spaniards could come to their assistance. These arguments finally prevailed, and the politic general had the satisfaction to see the high spirited and hostile tribes forgo their long cherished rivalry and, resigning the pleasures of revenge so dear to the barbarian, embrace one another as friends and champions in a common cause. To this wise policy the Spanish commander owed quite as much of his subsequent successes as to his arms. Thus the foundations of the Mexican Empire were hourly loosening as the great vassals around the capital, on whom it most relied, fell off one after another from their allegiance. The Aztecs, properly so called, formed but a small part of the population of the valley. This was principally composed of cognate tribes, members of the same great family of the Nahuatlaks, who had come upon the Plateau at nearly the same time. They were mutual arrivals and were reduced one after another by the more warlike Mexican who held them in subjection, often by open force, always by fear. Fear was the great principle of cohesion which bound together the discordant members of the monarchy, and this was now fast dissolving before the influence of a power more mighty than that of the Aztec. This, it is true, was not the first time that the conquered races had attempted to recover their independence, but all such attempts had failed for want of concert. It was reserved for the commanding genius of Cortes to extinguish their old hereditary feuds and, combining their scattered energies, to animate them with a common principle of action. Encouraged by this state of things, the Spanish general thought at a favorable moment to press his negotiations with the capital. He availed himself of the presence of some noble Mexicans, taken in the late action with Sandoval, to send another message to their master. It was in substance a repetition of the first with a renewed assurance that, if the city would return to its allegiance to the Spanish crown, the authority of Guatemoisine should be confirmed, and the persons and property of his subjects be respected. To this communication no reply was made. The young Indian emperor had a spirit as dauntless as that of Cortes himself. On his head descended the full effects of that vicious system of government bequeathed to him by his ancestors. But, as he saw his empire crumbling beneath him, he sought to uphold it by his own energy and resources. He anticipated the defection of some vassals by establishing garrisons within their walls, others he conciliated by exempting them from tributes or greatly lightening their burdens, or by advancing them to posts of honor and authority in the state. He showed, at the same time, his implacable animosity towards the Christians by commanding that every one taken within his dominions should be sent to the capital where he was sacrificed with all the barbarous ceremonies prescribed by the Aztec ritual. While these occurrences were passing, Cortes received the welcome intelligence that the brigatines were completed and waiting to be transported to Tescucco. He detached a body for the service consisting of two hundred Spanish foot and fifteen horse which he placed under the command of Sandoval. This cavalier had been rising daily in the estimation both of the general and of the army. Though one of the youngest officers in the service, he possessed a cool head and a ripe judgment which fitted him for the most delicate and difficult undertakings. Sandoval was a native of Medellin, the birthplace of Cortes himself. He was warmly attached to his commander and had on all occasions proved himself worthy of his confidence. He was a man of few words, showing his worth rather by what he did than what he said. His honest soldier-like deportment made him a favorite with the troops and had its influence even on his enemies. He unfortunately died in the flower of his age, but he discovered talents and military skill which, had he lived to later life, would undoubtedly have placed his name on the role with those of the greatest captains of his nation. Sandoval's route was to lead him by Soltapec, a city where the massacre of the forty-five Spaniards already noticed had been perpetrated. The cavalier received orders to find out the guilty parties if possible and to punish them for their share in the transaction. When the Spaniards arrived at the spot, they found that the inhabitants, who had previous notice of their approach, had all fled. In the deserted temples they discovered abundant traces of the fate of their countrymen, for, besides their arms in clothing and the hides of their horses, the heads of several soldiers, prepared in such a way that they could be well preserved, were found suspended as trophies of the victory. In a neighboring building, traced with charcoal on the walls, they found the following inscription in Castilian. In this place the unfortunate Juan Huste, with many others of his company, was imprisoned. This Sidalgo was one of the followers of Narves and had come with him into the country in quest of gold, but had found, instead, an obscure and inglorious death. The eyes of the soldiers were suffused with tears as they gazed on the gloomy record, and their bosoms swelled with indignation as they thought of the horrible fate of the captives. Fortunately the inhabitants were not then before them. Some few who subsequently fell into their hands were branded as slaves, but the greater part of the population who threw themselves in the most abject manner on the mercy of the conquerors, imputing the blame of the affair to the Aztecs, the Spanish commander spared from pity or contempt. He now resumed his march on Tlaskala, but scarcely had he crossed the borders of the Republic when he thus cried the flaunting banners of the convoy, which transported the Brigitines, as it was threading its way through the defiles of the mountains. Great was his satisfaction at the spectacle, for he had feared a detention of some days at Tlaskala before the preparations for the march could be completed. There were thirteen vessels in all of different sizes. They had been constructed under the direction of the experienced shipbuilder, Martin Lopez, aided by three or four Spanish carpenters and the friendly natives, some of whom showed no mean degree of imitative skill. The Brigitines, when completed, had been fairly tried on the waters of Sahwapan. They were then taken to pieces, and as Lopez was impatient of delay, the several parts, the timbers, anchors, ironwork, sails, and cordage, were placed on the shoulders of the Timanes, and under a numerous military escort, were thus far advanced on the way to Tescupo. Sandoval dismissed a part of the Indian convoy as superfluous. Twenty thousand warriors he retained, dividing them into two equal bodies for the protection of the Timanes in the center. His own little body of Spaniards he distributed in like manner. The Tlaskalans in the van marched under the command of a chief, who gloried in the name of Chichimacatl. For some reason, Sandoval afterwards changed the order of march and placed this division in the rear, an arrangement which gave great umbrage to the dowdy warrior that led it, who asserted his right to the front, the place which he and his ancestors had always occupied as the post of danger. He was somewhat appeased by Sandoval's assurance that it was for that very reason he had been transferred to the rear, the quarter most likely to be assailed by the enemy. But even then he was greatly dissatisfied on finding that the Spanish commander was to march by his side, grudging it would seem that any other should share the laurel with himself. Slowly and painfully, encumbered with their heavy burden, the troops worked their way over steep eminences and rough mountain passes, presenting, one might suppose, in their long line of march, many a vulnerable point to an enemy. But, although small parties of warriors were seen hovering at times on their flanks and rear, they kept at a respectful distance, not caring to encounter so formidable a foe. On the fourth day the war-like caravan arrived in safety before Tescuco. Their approach was beheld with joy by Cortes and the soldiers, who hailed it as a signal of a speedy termination of the war. The general, attended by his officers, all dressed in their richest attire, came out to welcome the convoy. It extended over a space of two leagues and so slow was its progress that six hours elapsed before the closing piles had entered the city. The Tlescalan chiefs displayed their wanted bravery of apparel, and the whole array, composed of the flower of their warriors, made a brilliant appearance. They marched by the sound of Atabal and Comet, and as they traversed the streets of the capital amidst the exclamations of the soldiery, they made the city ring with the shouts of Castile and Tlescala, Long live our sovereign, the Emperor. It was a marvelous thing, exclaimed the conqueror in his letters, that few have seen or even heard of, this transportation of thirteen vessels of war on the shoulders of men for nearly twenty leagues across the mountains. It was indeed a stupendous achievement and not easily matched in ancient or modern story, one which only a genius like that of Cortes could have devised, or a daring spirit like his have so successfully executed. Little did he foresee when he ordered the destruction of the fleet which first brought him to the country, and with his usual forecast commanded the preservation of the ironwork and rigging, little did he foresee the important uses for which they were to be reserved. So important that on their preservation may be said to have depended the successful issue of his great enterprise. Chapter 2 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 6, Chapter 2. Cortes reconnoiters the capital, occupies Tacuba, skirmishes with the enemy, expedition of Sandoval, arrival of reinforcements. In the course of three or four days, the Spanish general furnished the Tlescalans with the opportunity so much coveted and allowed their boiling spirits to effervesce in active operations. He had, for some time, meditated an expedition to reconnoiter the capital and its environs, and to chastise on the way certain places which had sent him insulting messages of defiance and which were particularly active in their hostilities. He disclosed his design to a few only of his principal officers from his distrust of the Tuscucans, whom he suspected to be in correspondence with the enemy. Early in the spring he left Tuscucco at the head of 350 Spaniards and the whole strength of his allies. He took with him Alvarado and Olid and instructed the charge of the garrison to Sandoval. Cortes had practical acquaintance with the incompetence of the first of these cavaliers for so delicate a post, given his short but disastrous rule in Mexico. But all his precautions had not availed to shroud his designs from the vigilant foe, whose eye was on all his movements, who seemed even to divine his thoughts and to be prepared to thwart their execution. He had advanced but a few leagues when he was met by a considerable body of Mexicans drawn up to dispute his progress. A sharp skirmish took place in which the enemy were driven from the ground and the way was left open to the Christians. They held a circuitous route to the north and their first point of attack was the insular town of Saltocan, situated on the northern extremity of the lake of that name, now called San Cristobal. The town was entirely surrounded by water and communicated with the mainland by means of causeways in the same manner as the Mexican capital. Cortes riding at the head of his cavalry advanced along the dyke till he was brought to a stand by finding a wide opening in it through which the waters poured so as to be altogether impracticable not only for horse but for infantry. The lake was covered with canoes filled with Aztec warriors, who, anticipating the movement of the Spaniards, had come to the aid of the city. They now began a furious discharge of stones and arrows on the assailants while they were themselves tolerably well protected from the musketry of their enemy by the light bulwarks with which, for that purpose, they had fortified their canoes. The severe volleys of the Mexicans did some injury to the Spaniards and their allies and began to throw them into disorder, crowded as they were on the narrow causeway without the means of advancing when Cortes ordered a retreat. This was followed by renewed tempests of missiles accompanied by taunts and fierce yells of defiance. The battle cry of the Aztec, like the war hoop of the North American Indian, was an appalling note according to the conqueror's own acknowledgement in the ears of the Spaniards. At this juncture the general fortunately obtained information from a deserter, one of the Mexican allies, of a ford by which the army might traverse the shallow lake and penetrate the place. He instantly detached the greater part of the infantry on the service posting himself with the remainder and with the horse at the entrance of the passage to cover the attack and prevent any interruption in the rear. The soldiers under the direction of the Indian guide forded the lake without much difficulty though in some places the water came above their girdles. During the passage they were annoyed by the enemy's missiles but when they had gained the dry level they took ample revenge and speedily put all who resisted to the sword. The greater part together with the townsmen made their escape in the boats. The place was now abandoned to pillage. The troops found in it many women who had been left to their fate and these together with a considerable quantity of cotton stuffs, gold and articles of food, fell into the hands of the victors who, setting fire to the deserted city, returned in triumph to their comrades. Continuing his circuitous route Cortes presented himself successively before three other places each of which had been deserted by the inhabitants in anticipation of his arrival. The principle of these, Ascapot Zalco, had once been the capital of an independent state. It was now the great slave market of the Aztecs where their unfortunate captives were brought and disposed of at public sale. It was also the quarter occupied by the jewelers and the place whence the Spaniards obtained the goldsmiths who melted down the rich treasures received from Montezuma. But they found there only a small supply of the precious metals or indeed of anything else of value as the people had been careful to remove their effects. They spared the buildings however in consideration of their having met with no resistance. During the nights the troops bivouacked in the open fields maintaining the strictest watch for the country was all in arms and beacons were flaming on every hilltop while dark masses of the enemy were occasionally described in the distance. The Spaniards were now traversing the most opulent region of the Anahuac. Cities and villages were scattered over hill and valley all giving token of a dense and industrious population. It was the general's purpose to march at once on Tacuba and establish his quarters in that ancient capital for the present. He found a strong force encamped under its walls prepared to dispute his entrance. Without waiting for their advance he rode at full gallop against them with his little body of horse. The arquebuses and crossbows opened a lively volley on their extended wings and the infantry armed with their swords and copper-headed lances and supported by the Indian battalions followed up the attack of the horse with an alacrity which soon put the enemy to flight. Cortes led his troops without further opposition into the suburbs of Tacuba the ancient Tlacopan where he established himself for the night. On the following morning he found the indefatigable Aztecs again under arms and on the open ground before the city prepared to give him battle. He marched out against them and after an action hotly contested though of no long duration again routed them. They fled towards the town but were driven through the streets at the point of the lands and were compelled together with the inhabitants to evacuate the place. The city was then delivered over to Pillage and the Indian allies not content with plundering the houses of everything portable within them set them on fire and in a short time a quarter of the town the poorer dwellings probably built of light combustible materials was in flames. Cortes proposed to remain in his present quarters for some days during which time he established his own residence in the ancient palace of the lords of Tlacopan. It was a long range of low buildings like most of the royal residences in the country and offered good accommodations for the Spanish forces. During his halt there there was not a day on which the army was not engaged in one or more one contras with the enemy. They terminated almost uniformly in favor of the Spaniards though with more or less injury to them and to their allies. One encounter indeed had nearly been attended with more fatal consequences. The Spanish general in the heat of pursuit had allowed himself to be decoyed upon the great causeway, the same which had once been so fatal to his army. He followed the flying foe until he had gained the further side of the nearest bridge which had been repaired since the disastrous action of the Noche Trieste. When thus far advanced the Aztecs with the rapidity of lightning turned on him and he beheld a large reinforcement in their rear all fresh on the field prepared to support their countrymen. At the same time swarms of boats, unobserved in the eagerness of the chase, seemed to start up as if by magic covering the waters around. The Spaniards were now exposed to a perfect hail storm of missiles both from the causeway and the lake but they stood unmoved against the tempest when Cortes, too late perceiving his error, gave orders for the retreat. Slowly and with admirable coolness his men receded step by step offering a resolute front to the enemy. The Mexicans came on with their usual vociferation, making the shores echo with their war cries and striking at the Spaniards with their long pikes and with poles to which the swords taken from the Christians had been fastened. A cavalier named Volante, bearing the standard of Cortes, was felled by one of their weapons and tumbling into the lake was picked up by the Mexican boats. He was a man of a muscular frame and as the enemy were dragging him off he succeeded in extricating himself from their grasp and clenching his colors in his hand with a desperate effort sprang back upon the causeway. At length after some hard fighting in which many of the Spaniards were wounded and many of their allies slain the troops regained the land where Cortes with a full heart returned thanks to heaven for what he might well regard as a providential deliverance. It was a salutary lesson, though he should scarcely have needed one so soon after the affair of Iztapulapan to warn him of the wily tactics of his enemy. It had been one of Cortes's principal objects in this expedition to obtain an interview if possible with the Aztec Emperor or with some of the great lords at his court and to try if some means for an accommodation could not be found by which he might avoid the appeal to arms. An occasion for such a parley presented itself when his forces were one day confronted with those of the enemy with a broken bridge interposed between them. Cortes, riding in advance of his people, intimated by signs his peaceful intent and that he wished to confer with the Aztecs. They respected the signal and, with the aid of his interpreter, he requested that if there were any great chief among them he would come forward and hold a parley with him. The Mexicans replied in derision they were all chiefs, and made him speak openly whatever he had to tell them. As the general returned no answer, they asked why he did not make another visit to the capital, and tauntingly added, perhaps Molinche does not expect to find there another Montezuma as obedient to his command as the former. Some of them complimented the Tlescalans with the epithet of women, who, they said, would never have ventured so near the capital but for the protection of the white men. The animosity of the two nations was not confined to these harmless though bitter jests, but showed itself in regular cartels of defiance which daily passed between the principal chieftains. These were followed by combats in which one or more champions fought on a side to vindicate the honor of their respective countries. A fair field of fight was given to the warriors who conducted these combats, ah lotrons, with the punctilio of a European tourney, displaying a valor worthy of the two boldest of the races of the Anahuac, and a skill in the management of their weapons which drew forth the admiration of the Spaniards. Cortes had now been six days into Cuba. There was nothing further to detain him as he accomplished the chief objects of his expedition. He had humbled several of the places which had been most active in their hostility, and he had revived the credit of the Castilian arms which had been much tarnished by their former reverses in this quarter of the valley. He had also made himself acquainted with the condition of the capital which he found in a better posture of defense than he had imagined. All the ravages of the preceding year seemed to be repaired, and there was no evidence, even to his experienced eye, that the wasting hand of war had so lately swept over the land. The Aztec troops which swarmed over the valley seemed to be well appointed, and showed an invincible spirit as if prepared to resist to the last. It is true they had been beaten in every encounter. In the open field they were no match for the Spaniards, whose cavalry they could never comprehend, and whose firearms easily penetrated the cotton mail, which formed the stoutest defense of the Indian warrior. But, entangled in the long streets and neural lanes of the Metropolis, where every house was a citadel, the Spaniards as experience had shown would lose much of their superiority. With the Mexican emperor confident in the strength of his preparations, the general saw that there was no probability of effecting an accommodation. He saw, too, the necessity of the most careful preparations on his own part, indeed, that he must strain his resources to the utmost before he could safely venture to rouse the lion in his lair. The Spaniards returned by the same route by which they had come. Their retreat was interpreted into a flight by the natives, who hung in the rear of the army, uttering being glorious bonds, and saluting the troops with showers of arrows, which did some mischief. Cortes resorted to one of their own stratagems to rid himself of the Sonoyans. He divided his cavalry into two or three small parties, and concealed them among some thick shrubbery, which fringed both sides of the road. The rest of the army continued its march. The Mexicans followed unsuspicious of the ambuscade, when the horse, suddenly darting from their place of concealment, threw the enemy's flanks into confusion, and the retreating columns of infantry, facing about suddenly, commenced a brisk attack which completed their consternation. It was a broad and level plain over which the panic-struck Mexicans made the best of their way without attempting resistance. While the cavalry, riding them down and piercing the fugitives with their lances, followed up the chase for several miles in what Cortes calls a truly beautiful style. The army experienced no further annoyance from the enemy. On their arrival at Tescuco, they were greeted with joy by their comrades, who had received no tidings of them during the fortnight which had elapsed since their departure. The Tlaskolans, immediately on their return, requested the general's permission to carry back to their own country the valuable booty which they had gathered in their foray, a request which, however unpalatable, he could not refuse. The troops had not been in quarters more than two or three days when an embassy arrived from Chalco against soliciting the protection of the Spaniards against the Mexicans who menaced them from several points in their neighborhood. But the soldiers were so much exhausted by unintermitted vigils, forced marches, battles, and wounds, the Cortes wished to give them a breathing time to recruit before engaging in a new expedition. He answered the application of the Chalcans by sending his missives to the Allied cities, calling on them to march to the assistance of their Confederate. It is not to be supposed that they could comprehend the import of his dispatches. But the paper, with its mysterious characters, served for a warrant to the officer who bore it as the interpreter of the general's commands. But, although these were implicitly obeyed, the Chalcans felt the dangers so pressing that they soon repeated their petition to the Spaniards to come in person to their relief. Cortes no longer hesitated, for he was well aware of the importance of Chalco, not merely on its own account, but from its position, which commanded one of the great avenues to Tuascala and Tvera Cruz, the intercourse with which should run no risk of interruption. Without further loss of time, therefore, he detached a body of three hundred Spanish foot and twenty horse under the command of Sandoval for the protection of the city. That active officer soon presented himself before Chalco, and, strengthened by the reinforcement of its own troops and those of the Confederate towns, directed his first operations against Huax de Pac, a place of some importance, lying two leagues or more to the south among the mountains. It was held by a strong Mexican force watching their opportunity to make a descent upon Chalco. The Spaniards found the enemy drawn up at a distance from the town prepared to receive them. The ground was broken and tangled with bushes, unfavorable to the Calvary, which in consequence soon fell into disorder, and Sandoval, finding himself embarrassed by their movements, ordered them after sustaining some loss from the field. In their place he brought up his musketeers and crossbowmen, who poured a rapid fire into the thick columns of the Indians. The rest of the infantry, with sword and pike, charged the flanks of the enemy, who, bewildered by the shock, after sustaining considerable slaughter, fell back in an irregular manner, leaving the field of battle to the Spaniards. The victors proposed to Bivouac there for the night, but, while engaged in preparations for their evening meal, they were aroused by the cry of, to arms, to arms, the enemy is upon us. In an instant the trooper was in his saddle, the soldier grasped his musketeer or his good Toledo, and the action was renewed with greater fury than before. The Mexicans had received a reinforcement from the city, but their second attempt was not more fortunate than their first, and the victorious Spaniards, driving their antagonists before them, entered and took possession of the town itself, which had already been evacuated by the inhabitants. Sandoval took up his quarters in the dwelling of the Lord of the Place, surrounded by gardens, which rivaled those of Iztapalopon in magnificence, and surpassed them in extent. They are said to have been two leagues in circumference, having pleasure houses and numerous tanks stocked with various kinds of fish, and they were embellished with trees, shrubs and plants, native and exotic, some selected for their beauty and fragrance, others for their medicinal properties. They were scientifically arranged, and the whole establishment displayed a degree of horticultural taste and knowledge, of which it would not have been easy to find a counterpart at that day in the more civilized communities of Europe, such as the testimony not only of the rude conquerors, but of men of science who visited these beautiful repositories in the day of their glory. After halting two days to refresh his forces in this agreeable spot, Sandoval marched on Hakka Peachtla about six miles to the eastward. It was a town, or rather fortress, perched on Iraqi eminence almost inaccessible from its deepness. It was garrisoned by a Mexican force who rolled down on the assailants as they attempted to scale the heights huge fragments of rock, which, thundering over the sides of the precipice, carried ruin and desolation in their path. The Indian Confederates fell back in dismay from the attempt, but Sandoval, indignant that any achievement should be too difficult for a Spaniard, commanded his Cavaliers to dismount, and declaring that he would carry the place or die in the attempt, led on his men with the cheering cry of St. Iago. With renewed courage they now followed their gallant leader up the ascent under a storm of lighter missiles mingled with huge masses of stone, which, breaking into splinters, overturned the assailants and made fearful havoc in their ranks. Sandoval, who had been wounded on the preceding day, received a severe contusion on the head, while more than one of his brave comrades were struck down by his side. Still they clambered up, sustaining themselves by the bushes or projecting pieces of rock, and seemed to force themselves onward as much by the energy of their wills as by the strength of their bodies. After incredible toil, they stood on the summit, face to face with the astonished garrison. For a moment they paused to recover breath, then sprang furiously on their foes. The struggle was short but desperate. Most of the Aztecs were put to the sword. Some were thrown headlong over the battlements, and others, letting themselves down the precipice, were killed on the borders of a little stream that wound around its base, the waters of which were so polluted with blood that the victors were unable to slake their thirst with them for a full hour. Sandoval, having now accomplished the object of his expedition by reducing the strongholds which had so long held the Chalcans in awe, returned in triumph to Tescuco. Meanwhile, the Aztec emperor, whose vigilant eye had been attentive to all that had passed, thought that the absence of so many of its warriors afforded a favorable opportunity for recovering Chalco. He sent a fleet of boats for this purpose across the lake, with a numerous force under the command of some of his most valiant chiefs. Fortunately the absent Chalcans reached their city before the arrival of the enemy, but, though supported by their Indian allies, they were so much alarmed by the magnitude of the hostile array that they sent again to the Spaniards invoking their aid. The messengers arrived at the same time with Sandoval and his army. Cortes was much puzzled by the contradictory accounts. He suspected some negligence in his lieutenant, and, displeased with his precipitous return in this unsettled state of the affair, ordered him back at once with such of his forces as were in fighting condition. Sandoval felt deeply injured by this proceeding, but he made no attempt at exculpation, and, obeying his commander in silence, put himself at the head of his troops and made a rapid counter-march on the Indian city. Before he reached it, a battle had been fought between the Mexicans and the Confederates, in which the latter, who had acquired unwanted confidence from their recent successes, were victorious. A number of Aztec nobles fell into their hands in the engagement, whom they delivered to Sandoval to be carried off as prisoners to Tescuco. On his arrival there, the Cavalier, wounded by the unworthy treatment he had received, retired to his own corridors without presenting himself before his chief. During his absence the inquiries of Cortes had satisfied him of his own precipitous conduct and of the great injustice he had done his lieutenant. There was no man in the army on whose services he set so high a value, as the responsible situations in which he had placed him plainly showed. And there was none for whom he seems to have entertained a greater personal regard. On Sandoval's return, therefore, Cortes instantly sent to request his attendance. When, with a soldier's frankness, he made such an explanation as soothed the irritated spirit of the Cavalier, a matter of no great difficulty, as the latter had too generous a nature, and too earnest a devotion to his commander and the cause in which they were embarked to harbor a petty feeling of resentment in his bosom. During the occurrence of these events, the work was going forward actively on the canal, and the Brigantines were within a fortnight of their completion. The greatest vigilance was required in the meantime to prevent their destruction by the enemy, who had already made three ineffectual attempts to burn them on the stocks. The precautions which Cortes thought it necessary to take against the Tescoocans themselves added not a little to his embarrassment. At this time, he received embassies from different Indian states, some of them on the remote shores of the Mexican Gulf, tendering their allegiance and soliciting his protection. For this, he was partly indebted to the good offices of Ixtil Sochito, who, in consequence of his brother's death, was now advanced to the sovereignty of Tescooco. This important position greatly increased his consideration and authority through the country, of which he freely availed himself to bring the natives under the dominion of the Spaniards. The general received also at this time the welcome intelligence of the arrival of three vessels at Villarica, with two hundred men on board, well provided with arms and ammunition, and with seventy or eighty horses. It was a most seasonable reinforcement. From what quarter it came is uncertain, most probably from Hispaniola. Cortes, it may be remembered, had sent for supplies to that place, and the authorities of the island, who had general jurisdiction over the affairs of the colonies, had shown themselves, on more than one occasion, well inclined towards him, probably considering him under all circumstances, as better fitted than any other man to achieve the conquest of the country. The new recruits soon found their way to Tescooco, as the communications with the port were now open and unobstructed. Among them were several cavaliers of consideration, one of whom Julian de Alderete, the royal treasurer, came over to superintend the interests of the crown.