By Right of Conquest; Or, With Cortez in Mexico by G. A. Henty
Chapter 17: The Insurrection.
Cacama's prognostication was speedily verified; for in the courseof the next two or three days, all the nobles who had joined him inpreparations for a rising were, by Montezuma's orders, arrested andsent in, in chains, and were placed with him in prison.
Bathalda came on the day after Roger's return, with the news thatthe two ladies had reached Cuitcatl's house in safety and, as theybelieved, without exciting observation. The queen was anxious toknow if he had seen Cacama, and whether her husband had anyinstructions for her. Amenche simply sent him some flowers,gathered by her own hand.
Roger gave Bathalda Cacama's message to the queen. While out in themarket, he purchased a large packet of choice and delicatesweetmeats, of which he knew Amenche was particularly fond, andgave them to Bathalda; with the message that he would someday teachher to read and write, and then, when they were away from eachother, they could talk at a distance.
For some little time things went on quietly, but the Spanish greedand bigotry gradually worked the Mexicans up to a point of fury. Atthe suggestion of Cortez, Montezuma sent collectors to all theprincipal cities and provinces, accompanied by Spaniards, and thesebrought back immense quantities of gold and silver plate and othervaluables; and to these Montezuma added an enormous treasure thathad been accumulated and hidden by his father, amounting to a sumwhich astounded even the Spaniards. The value of the gold alone wasequal to nearly a million and a half pounds sterling, in thepresent day, besides a vast amount of gold ornaments and jewelry,and feather work of excellent manufacture. A fifth of this was setaside for the King of Spain, the rest divided among the officersand soldiers.
Even the extortion of this vast sum from the people might have beenpassed over in quiet, had the Spaniards been content to abstainfrom interference with their religion; but during the weeks thathad elapsed since Montezuma had been a prisoner in their hands,they had vainly endeavored to convert the emperor, and the noblesand attendants on him, to Christianity.
They had listened attentively to the preaching and exhortations ofFather Olmedo; but their faith in their own gods was unshaken, thebloody sacrifices were carried on as usual in the temples, andthese horrible spectacles naturally excited the wrath andindignation of the Spaniards to the utmost; although theythemselves had, in Cuba and the islands, put to death great numbersof the natives in pursuance of their own religious views.
Cortez with many of his leaders went to the emperor, and told himthat they would no longer consent to have the services of theirreligion conducted in the palace, but wished to celebrate thempublicly; and therefore requested that the great temple should behanded over to them, for their services. Montezuma was muchagitated. He was a devout believer in his gods; and his conducttowards the Spaniards had been, in no slight degree, influenced bythe belief that their coming had been foretold by Quetzalcoatl, andthat they were the descendants of that god. However, after aconference with the priests, he consented that they should occupyone of the sanctuaries on the summit of the temple.
Great joy was caused among the Spaniards at this permission. Theyat once took possession of the sanctuary, and thoroughly cleansedit. They then decorated its walls with flowers, and raised analtar, surmounted by a crucifix and an image of the Virgin. Whenall was ready, the whole army moved up the winding ascent to thesummit, and a solemn mass was celebrated.
The result of this occupation of the temple of their god was soonvisible in the conduct of the Mexicans. Montezuma himself becamegrave and distant towards the Spaniards; and a few days later sentfor Cortez, and informed them that they were in great danger, andthat they had best leave the country, at once. Cortez replied thathe should regret to leave the capital so suddenly, when he had noship to take him from the country; but that if he should be drivento take such a step, he should feel compelled to carry the emperoralong with him.
Montezuma then agreed to send, at once, a number of workmen to thecoast, to build vessels under the instructions of the Spaniards;and promised to use his authority to restrain his people, assuringthem that the Spaniards would leave, as soon as means wereprovided. A large number of artisans were accordingly sent off atonce, with some of the Spaniards most skilled in ship building; andon their arrival at the coast they began to fell trees, and to makeall preparations for building the vessels.
In the meantime, at Mexico, every precaution was taken by theSpaniards. Since Montezuma had been in their hands, they had feltin perfect security, had wandered about the city and neighboringcountry as they chose, fished upon the lake, and hunted in theroyal preserves. Now the utmost vigilance was observed, strongguards were mounted, the soldiers slept in their armor with theirarms beside them, and were no longer permitted to leave the palace.
At this moment news arrived that filled the mind even of Cortezwith consternation. The expedition that he felt sure Velasquez, theGovernor of Cuba, would dispatch against him, had arrived on thecoast, and had landed. It consisted of eighteen vessels, carryingnine hundred men, of whom eighty were cavalry. So large a fleet hadnever before been collected in the Indies. It was commanded by aCastilian noble, named Panfilo de Narvaez.
Until they arrived at the coast, they had learned very little ofwhat was happening in Mexico, as the vessels which Cortez haddispatched had avoided touching at the islands. They now learned,from the Spaniards left on the coast, all that had taken place; andNarvaez found, with indignation, that Cortez was the conqueror of agreat empire, and that the honor and wealth had been reaped by aman whom he considered as an insolent adventurer, instead of byVelasquez. He therefore at once proclaimed his intention to marchagainst Cortez, and to punish him for his rebellion; and thenatives who had flocked to his camp soon comprehended that the newarmy had arrived as enemies, and not as friends, of the white menwho had preceded them.
A small body of the troops of Cortez, commanded by Sandoval, werein garrison at Villa Rica; and he at once dispatched a messengerwith the news to Cortez, and prepared for a vigorous defense. Apriest, a noble, and four Spaniards who arrived from Narvaez,ordering him to surrender, were bound, placed on the backs ofIndian porters, and sent off to Mexico under a strong guard.
When the news of the arrival of the force of Narvaez reachedMexico, the soldiers were delighted, believing that means were nowat their disposal for their return home; but when they heard, fromtheir officers, that the newcomers were sent by the Governor ofCuba, and had assuredly arrived as enemies, the troops declaredthat, come what might, they would remain true to their leader.
On the arrival of the prisoners, Cortez received them with thegreatest courtesy, apologized for the rough conduct of Sandovaland, loading them with presents, converted them into allies. Helearned from the priest that the soldiers of Narvaez had nohostility towards them, and that the arrogance of their leadercaused much discontent among them.
When he was sure of the good offices of the priest, Cortez sent himback with a friendly letter to Narvaez, whom he adjured to layaside his hostile designs which, if persisted in, might cause theloss of all the conquests he had made. He was ready, he said, togreet him as a brother, and to share with him the fruits of hissuccesses. The priest fulfilled his mission, and added his ownadvice that the offers of Cortez should be accepted.
Narvaez rejected the counsel with scorn, but the accounts of thepriest of the splendor of the country, the rich spoils won by thesoldiers, and also of the generosity and popularity of Cortez,exercised a great influence over the soldiers.
The priest was followed by Father Olmedo, with some more letters.These were similarly rejected by Narvaez; but Olmedo, during hisstay at the camp, contrived largely to add to the feeling in favorof Cortez, by his eloquence and the numerous presents hedistributed among the officers and soldiers.
Cortez had, some time before, dispatched Don Velasquez de Leon, oneof his trusted officers, with a hundred and fifty men, to plant acolony near the mouth of one of the great rivers. He was a kinsmanof the Governor of Cuba, and Narvaez had, on landing, sent to himbeggin
Cortez summoned a force of two thousand natives from the distantprovince of Chinantla and, leaving Pedro d'Alvarado in command of ahundred and fifty Spaniards in Mexico, marched with the remainderof his force, consisting of some seventy men only, for Cholula.Here he was joined by Velasquez, with his hundred and fifty men.Thus reinforced, they marched to Tlascala, where six hundred nativetroops joined him.
But his allies soon fell off. They had had too severe an experienceof the fighting powers of the white men to care about taking partin a battle with them, and so many deserted on the way that Cortezdismissed the rest, saying that he would rather part with them,then, than in the hour of trial. On reaching Perote they werejoined by Sandoval with fifty Spaniards, which brought their numberup to two hundred and sixty-six, only five of whom were mounted.
On their march towards Cempoalla, where Narvaez had now establishedhis headquarters, they were met by an embassy from him, requiringthe acknowledgment by Cortez of his authority, offering at the sametime that all who wished to leave should be transported in hisvessels. By liberal presents Cortez won over the members of theembassy, who returned to Cempoalla to inform the soldiers there ofthe liberality of Cortez, and of the wonderful array of goldornaments and chains worn by his soldiers.
Narvaez advanced to meet Cortez but, the weather proving bad, againfell back on Cempoalla. Cortez, on the other hand, took advantageof the weather, and in the night fell upon the garrison, and tookthem completely by surprise.
Sandoval, with a small band, had been told off to attack the templeoccupied by Narvaez, and to take him prisoner. The general, withthe troops in the temple, defended himself bravely, until seriouslywounded by one of the long spears with which Cortez had armed hismen. The thatched roof of the temple was set on fire, the defenderswere driven out by the smoke, and Narvaez was seized and madeprisoner.
Another division, under Olid, fell upon the guns, captured them,and turned them upon the temples in which the troops werequartered; when the soldiers, whose loyalty to their commander hadalready been sapped, accepted the offer of Cortez of an amnesty forthe past, and a full participation in the advantages of theconquest of the country. Having sworn allegiance to Cortez ascaptain general, they were incorporated in his little army.
In the morning, when they saw how small had been the body of menwho had defeated them, many regretted the course they had taken,but in the course of the day the two thousand native allies fromChinantla arrived, and their military appearance, and the proofafforded by their presence of the influence of Cortez with theinhabitants of the country, put a stop to the murmuring; especiallyas Cortez ordered all the spoils taken from them to be returned,and distributed among them considerable sums of money--exciting,indeed, murmurs of discontent among his own veterans, whoconsidered that they had been deprived of the spoil they hadrightfully won.
The eloquence of their general, however, as usual, was successfulin pacifying them; but to prevent further difficulties, he broke uphis force, and sent off two hundred men under Diego de Ordaz, and asimilar number under Velasquez de Leon, to form settlements on thecoasts and rivers; and two hundred men to Vera Cruz, to dismantlethe fleet of Narvaez.
Scarcely had these parties left when a messenger arrived withletters from Alvarado, saying that the Mexicans had risen andassaulted the Spaniards in their quarters, and had partlyundermined the walls; and that, in the fighting, several of thegarrison had been killed, and a great number wounded.
Cortez at once dispatched messengers after Velasquez and Ordaz, andordered them to march to join him at Tlascala; recalled a hundredmen from Vera Cruz, and then set forward. The troops suffered muchin their march across the low country to the foot of the hills,beneath a sun of terrible power. However, they reached Tlascala,and were there joined by Ordaz and Velasquez. They were mosthospitably entertained by their allies, and a number of leviesjoined them; and with these and eleven hundred Spaniards, of whom ahundred were cavalry, they marched towards Mexico.
They took a more northern route than before and, crossing themountains, held their way on to Tezcuco. Upon their route throughthe plains the peasantry held aloof, and the greater portion of thepopulation of Tezcuco withdrew before their arrival; and even itsnew lord, although appointed at the instigation of Cortez, wasabsent from the city. Dispatches arrived from Alvarado saying thatthe Mexicans had, for the last fortnight, ceased their attacks; butwere blockading him in the palace.
Cortez marched down the lake shore on the following day, andcrossed the causeway to the city. Not a native was to be seen nearthe line of march, not a boat was visible on the lake, and an airof gloom and solitude hung over everything; showing but too plainlythe altered feelings with which the natives regarded the whites.The streets were similarly deserted. When the head of the columnreached the palace, the gates were thrown open and the garrisonrushed out to greet the newcomers, with joyful shouts.
Cortez now learned the reason of the rising of the Mexicans. It wasthe result of a hideous act of treachery, on the part of Alvarado.In the month of May was the great festival of the war god, whichwas held in his great temple; and the caziques asked permission ofAlvarado to use, for the day, that portion which had been handedover to the Spaniards. He agreed to the request, on the conditionthat the Aztecs should celebrate no human sacrifices, and shouldcome unarmed.
At least six hundred nobles attended, in their most gorgeous robes,and Alvarado and his soldiers were present as spectators. While theAztecs were employed in a religious dance, Alvarado gave thesignal, his men rushed upon them with their arms, and every one ofthem was massacred unresistingly, not a single soul escaping.
Various motives were assigned for this most foul massacre. Somewriters have ascribed it solely to the desire for plunder; othersto the desire of Alvarado to strike a blow that would intimidatethe Mexicans from making any insurrectionary movement. Alvaradohimself declared that he had information that the Mexicans intendedto rise, but he gave no proofs, whatever, to justify hissuspicions. The affair, indeed, seems to have been utterlyindefensible, and must ever remain a foul blot upon Spanish honor.
Cortez was extremely angry at hearing what had taken place and,after listening to Alvarado's explanation, said:
"You have done badly. You have been false to your trust! Yourconduct has been that of a madman!"
It was, however, no time for quarrels; and as it was the impolicyof the deed, rather than its treachery, that angered Cortez, hespeedily forgave the offender, who was one of the most popularofficers in his army.
The blow Alvarado had struck had a contrary effect to that which hehad expected of it. No sooner had the news of the massacre spreadthrough the city than the whole population rose, and at dawn nextmorning they attacked the palace, with desperate fury. Volumes ofmissiles were poured upon the defenders. The walls were assaulted,and the works set on fire, and the palace might have been taken hadnot Montezuma, yielding to the entreaties--and perhaps threats--ofthe garrison, mounted the walls, and urged the people to desistfrom the attack, as his own safety would be imperiled did theycontinue it.
They obeyed him as usual, and withdrew from the assault; but threwup works round the place, and proceeded to starve the Spaniardsout. The latter had considerable stores of food, but sufferedseverely from thirst until they were fortunate enough to discover aspring, and were thus enabled to hold out until the arrival ofCortez.
The latter refused to comply with the request of Montezuma to seehim. He had some reason to doubt the good faith of the emperor, forhe had discovered that the latter had sent envoys to Narvaez; andhe had, upon his arrival at Tlascala, been informed that the risingat Mexico had been, to a great extent, prepared beforehand by theorders of Montezuma; and even the assurances of the officers of thegarrison, that they owed their safety to the emperor's in
The real reason, no doubt, of his anger was that he found he hadoverrated the advantages he would gain from Montezuma being in hishands; but for this he himself, and not the emperor, was to blame.At first the capture had all the success that he had expected fromit. The people had obeyed their emperor as implicitly, when acaptive, as when his power had been supreme. They had sent in theirnobles, prisoners and bound, at his orders. They had built shipsfor these strangers. They had suffered them to go unmolestedthrough the country.
But there was an end even to Aztec patience. The avarice of thewhite men had drained the country of its wealth. Their arrogancehad humiliated their pride. Their occupation of their holiesttemple and the insults to their gods had aroused them to fury; andthe massacre, in cold blood, of six hundred of their nobles, whileengaged in religious devotions, had been the signal for anexplosion. Their emperor, formerly so venerated, they now regardedwith contempt as the creature of the Spaniards; as the betrayer ofhis country; and the thought of his safety no longer restrainedtheir thirst for vengeance.
Cortez, however, was in no mood to reflect.
"What have I to do with this dog of a king," he exclaimed, "whosuffers us to starve before his eyes?
"Go, tell your master and his people," he said fiercely to theMexicans, "to open the markets, or we will do it for them, at theircost!"
The chiefs, who were the bearers of Montezuma's message, left hispresence in deep resentment; and reported to the emperor, and tothe people outside, the manner in which Montezuma's request for aninterview had been refused. Cortez, however, thought it politic torelease Cuitlahua, Montezuma's brother, who had been among thoseimprisoned for taking share in Cacama's league; and allowed him togo into the city, thinking that he would allay the tumult.
But Cuitlahua was a man of different spirit from his brother. Hewas heir presumptive to the throne, and a bold and daring prince.The people welcomed him, at once, as Montezuma's representative;and chose him to represent the emperor during his confinement.Cuitlahua accepted the post, and immediately set to work toorganize the fighting men, and to arrange a plan of attack.
Roger had not been with the party that accompanied Cortez on hisexpedition against Narvaez; but, with his two companions, remainedto form part of the garrison of the palace.
"You are out of spirits, young fellow," Juan said, on the day afterCortez had marched away. "You are changed, very much, since youfirst joined us."
"I have much to make me so, Juan," Roger replied, in his brokenSpanish. "You see, I am white by blood, but I have dear friendsamong the natives. What do I see? As a white, I perceive that ourposition here is one of the gravest danger, and that destructionmay fall upon us all. As a friend of the natives, I see the countryplundered, the people trodden down and, sooner or later, the ruinand misery of the whole people."
"You mean we are in danger from Narvaez' people," Juan said. "Ihave faith in Cortez. He will either fight them or bring them over.He is a wonderful man, and will find some way out of thedifficulty."
"I do not mean that, entirely," Roger replied. "I mean that thereis danger from the natives."
"Pooh!" the old soldier said, disdainfully. "The natives are nobetter than so many women."
"But even women may be serious opponents, when they are fifty toone, Juan; and you mistake these Mexicans. They have been friendlyand submissive, because it has been the order of the emperor; butalthough physically not strong, they are brave. The Aztec army hasspread the dominion of Mexico over a wide extent of country. Theyhave conquered many peoples, and are by no means to be despised. Itis true you beat the Tlascalans, but that was not because you werebraver than they were, but because of your superior arms and armor,and above all by the terror inspired by your horses--but this willnot last. The Mexicans now know that you are but men, likethemselves; and when they fight, inspired both by national spiritand the memory of their wrongs, I tell you that you will have hardwork to hold your own."
"Ah well," Juan grumbled. "If it must come, it must. It will notdisturb my appetite."
When Roger learned that orders had been given for the massacre atthe temple, he determined firmly that he would take no part in thedeed, whatever it might cost him to refuse. Fortunately, he foundno difficulty in persuading one of the soldiers, told off to act asa guard at the palace during the absence of the rest, to changeplaces with him, as the man wanted to have his share in theexpected plunder. Had Cacama been at liberty, Roger would not havehesitated a moment, but would have left the Spaniards and thrown inhis lot with the Mexicans; but now it was impossible to do so. Thefrenzied population would have seized any white man they came upon,outside the walls of the palace, and would have carried him to thealtars of their gods. It would be hopeless to endeavor to explainthat he was of another race. All white men would be alike, in theireyes.
He bitterly regretted, now, that he had returned from Tezcuco. Hadhe, at that time, gone with the queen and princess to the house ofhis friend Cuitcatl, he could have remained there in quiet; and thenatives would have seen that he, at least, had no part or share inthis horrible massacre. Now it seemed to him that there was nothingto be done, save to share the lot of the Spaniards, whatever thatmight be.
He believed that the Mexicans would storm the palace, and slaughterall within it, long before the return of Cortez; and he by no meansshared the confident anticipation of the soldiers, that thegeneral, on his arrival, would very speedily put down anyinsurrection that might occur; and would, with the assistance ofthe soldiers of Narvaez, soon bring all Mexico into subjection.
It had happened that both Juan and Pedro had also been on guard,during the massacre. This was a great satisfaction to him, for hefelt he could no longer have remained in intimate communion withthem, had their hands been drenched with innocent blood. When, upontheir being relieved at their posts, they joined each other in thechamber they shared in common, the old soldier held up his hand andsaid gruffly:
"Do you hold your tongue, Sancho. I know what you are thinking,lad, as well as if you said it; and maybe I do not disagree withyou; but least said, soonest mended. These rooms without doors arenot places for a man to relieve his mind by strong language, if hehappens to differ from his superiors. It is a bad business, and ashameful one. At Cholula there was some excuse for it. Here thereis none. I am an old soldier, and have taken many a life in mytime, but never in cold blood like this. Say nothing, lad, at anyrate until you get a chance of being outside this city; or on thelake, where none can get near you--then pour it out, as much as youlike."
"It is like enough," Roger said, "that none of us will ever go outof the city alive; and it will serve us thoroughly right. If thisis to be a Spaniard and a Catholic, let me be a Mexican and aheathen."
"There, there, that is enough," Juan interrupted. "Now let us haveour supper."
"I can eat nothing," Roger said, throwing himself down on thecouch, where he remained in silence until a sudden outburst of wildshouts and cries, followed instantly by the trumpet, calling everyman to his allotted place on the walls, aroused him.
"The work of vengeance has begun," he said gravely, as he put onhis thick padded jerkin and helmet, and took up his pike. "I onlyhope I may see Alvarado, the author of this massacre, killed beforeI am."
Juan shook his head as Roger left the room, and he followed withPedro.
"In faith, I do not blame him. He has been brought up among thesepeople."
"He is quite right," the young soldier said. "It is a shamefulbusiness. Had I known that we were coming here to be butchers, Iwould never have taken service under Cortez. What should we havesaid if, on our first arrival here, when Montezuma entertainedCortez and all the cavaliers, his people had slain them at thefeast?"
"Hold your tongue, you young fool!" Juan muttered angrily. "Thething is done, and you cannot undo it. What we have to do now is tofight for our lives. Even if these poor devils have right on theirside, it is not a matter to stop and discuss, now. So keep yourbreath for fighting.
But this was by no means the case, and it was only the interventionof Montezuma that saved the garrison from destruction.
The time until the arrival of Cortez had passed slowly. Thesoldiers, weakened by hunger and thirst, muttered angrily againstthe officer who had so rashly brought them into this strait. Few ofthem regretted the deed for its own sake, but simply because it hadbrought on them peril and misfortune.
Roger had borne his share of the fighting on the walls. He wasdefending his life, and although at first he had fought with littleardor, the pain given by two arrows which pierced his cotton armorheated his blood; and he afterwards fought as stoutly as the rest.
During the period of inaction he had, more than once, tried toobtain an interview with Cacama; but the prisoners were jealouslywatched, and no one was allowed access to them on any pretext, andtwo officers always accompanied the men who took in their dailyrations. They were regarded as hostages, only less important thanMontezuma himself; and as most of them were very rich and powerfulcaziques, they might offer bribes which might well shake thefidelity of any private soldier.
When the news arrived that Cortez, with the whole of the army ofNarvaez, was at hand, the depression that had reigned gave way toexultation; and the soldiers believed that they would now take theoffensive, and without loss of time put an end to the insurrection.
Marina had accompanied Cortez on his expedition, for she was stillnecessary to him as an interpreter, and her influence with thenatives was great. Roger obtained an interview with her, a fewhours after her return. She had evidently been crying passionately.
"My heart is broken, Roger," she said. "I had hoped that the whitemen would have done great things for my country. They know so much,and although I thought there might be trouble at first, for greatchanges can never be introduced without trouble, I never dreamed ofanything like this. Cholula was bad enough, but there the peoplebrought it on themselves; and the Spaniards would have been slain,had they not first begun to kill. But here it is altogetherdifferent. It was an unprovoked massacre, and after this, who canhope that the whites and Mexicans can ever be friendly together?
"I love Cortez. He is great and generous, and had he been here thiswould have never happened; but many of his people are cruel, andthey are all greedy of wealth; and he, general though he is, has togive way to them.
"I remember that, in the old days at Tabasco, you told me howcruelly the Spaniards had treated the people of the islands; butwhen I saw them first, I thought that you, being of a differentnation, had spoken too hardly of them. I see, now, that you wereright. I have, all along, done what I could for my people; andthough I am with the invaders, I am sure they recognize this, andthat they feel no ill will against me. But now I fear that theywill curse me, as they will curse them; and that, through all time,my name will be abhorred in Mexico," and she again burst intotears.
"I do not think so, Malinche. At Tezcuco it was always said thatyou stood between the natives and the whites, and it was owing toyou that they were not more harsh than they were.
"As to this massacre, God forbid that I should say a single word indefense of it! As a white man and a Christian, I feel it is an actof horrible atrocity; but it should not make such an impressionupon your people, who make wars solely to obtain victims, whom theymay sacrifice at the altars of their gods; and who, every year,slay in cold blood fully twenty-five thousand people who have donethem no wrong. By the side of such horrible slaughter as this, themurder of six hundred, the other day, was but a drop in the oceanof blood annually shed here."
"Had it been in battle, it would have been nothing," Malinche said."Had they offered them up at the altars of the gods, the peoplewould have understood it, for they do it themselves; but this was afoul act of treachery. Who, after this, can believe in the promisesof the whites?
"I know the people. You whites despise them, because they havehitherto allowed themselves to be subdued without resistance; butnow that their first awe of the Spaniards has died away, and theyhave nerved themselves to take up arms, you will find that they arebrave. I see nothing but trouble before us. Cortez feels confidentthat he can easily repulse any attack, and subdue the city and thecountry round; but I do not think so."
"Nor do I, Malinche. No men could have fought more bravely than theMexicans, the other day. It is true that we were but in smallnumbers, and that we are now many times stronger, and have Cortezto command us; but on the other hand, the attack was but a hastyone, and the next time we shall have the whole Mexican force uponus."
"What will you do, Roger?"
"I must fight for the Spaniards," Roger said gloomily. "They arenot my countrymen, but they are white men as I am, and surroundedby foes. Besides, I have no option. The Mexicans cannot distinguishbetween Spaniards and Englishmen, and I should be seized andsacrificed, were I to set foot beyond the walls. Were it not forthat I would leave the city, join Amenche, and leave the Spaniardsand Mexicans to fight out their quarrel as they might; but now,whichever won, the result would be fatal to me. If the Mexicanswere victorious, I, like all other whites, would be sacrificed totheir gods. If the Spaniards won, I should be executed as atraitor. Therefore, there is nothing for me to do but to remainwith the Spaniards, and share their fate, whatever it may be."
The next morning silence reigned over the city. Not a Mexican wasto be seen anywhere near the palace, within which the Spaniardswere virtually prisoners. Cortez hoped, however, that Cuitlahuawould soon persuade the people to return to their usual habits, andto open the markets for provisions; but in any case, he felt soconfident of his power to overawe the city, that he sent off amessenger with dispatches to the coast, saying that he had arrivedsafely, and should soon overcome all opposition.
In half an hour, however, the messenger returned at a gallop,wounded in a score of places. He reported that the city was up inarms, the drawbridges were raised, and the Mexicans were marchingtowards the palace. Scarcely had he arrived, when the sentinels onthe towers shouted that masses of men were approaching, by all thestreets leading to the palace; and immediately afterwards theterraces and flat roofs of the houses near were darkened by throngsof natives, shouting and brandishing their weapons.
The trumpet instantly sounded to arms, and so strict was thediscipline that prevailed that, in an incredibly short time, everysoldier was at his post. The position was capable of being defendedagainst a very numerous enemy, unprovided with artillery; for thewall round the great one-storied building, though low, was strong;and the turrets, placed at intervals upon it, enabled the defendersto command its face, and to pour missiles upon any who might bebold enough to endeavor to effect a breach, by undermining it withcrowbars and levers. The garrison, too, were sufficient for itsdefense; for there were not only some twelve hundred Spaniards, butthe eight thousand Tlascalan allies.
The Aztecs rushed forward, with the shrill whistle used as a battlecry by the people of Anahuac; and, as they advanced, poured a rainof missiles of all kinds upon the palace, to which were added thoseshot from the terraces and flat roofs.
The Spaniards had pierced the walls with embrasures for theircannon, and these commanded all the avenues. The gunners waiteduntil the columns were close at hand, and then their terribledischarge swept lanes through the crowded masses in the streets.For a moment the Mexicans paused, paralyzed by the terribleslaughter; and then, rallying, rushed forward again. Three timesthe cannon were discharged into their midst; but though broken anddisordered, they still pressed on until they swept up to the veryfoot of the walls, pouring in a hail of arrows.
They were well seconded by those on the housetops who, from theirelevated position, were on a level with the Spaniards; and whosemissiles, arrows, javelins, and stones thrown with great force fromslings, galled the defenders greatly, and wounded great numbers ofthem.
In vain did the Aztecs strive to climb the walls. These were of nogreat height but, as they showed their heads above the parapet,they were shot d
The palace itself was of stone, but some of the exterior workswhich had been constructed were of wood, and these were soon onfire. The defenders had no water with which to extinguish theflames and, at the point where the new works joined the wall, thefire was so fierce that they were afraid it would spread to thepalace; and, to extinguish it, were forced to adopt the desperateexpedient of overthrowing the wall upon the burning mass. Thebreach thus made was guarded by a battery of heavy guns and a partyof arquebusiers, and these repelled every attempt of the Mexicansto take advantage of the breach which had been thus formed.
The fight continued until night fell, and the Mexicans then drewoff. Cortez and his followers were astonished at the obstinacy withwhich they had fought, and the contempt of death they haddisplayed. They had obtained such easy victories, with forces but afourth of those which Cortez now commanded, that he had formed thelowest opinion of the fighting powers of the Aztecs. But he nowfound that a nation was not to be trampled upon with impunity.
However, he consoled himself with the thought that this was but atemporary outbreak of fury; and he determined to sally out with allhis force, on the following morning, and to inflict a terriblechastisement upon his assailants.
As soon as the morning broke, the Spaniards were under arms. Cortezwas speedily undeceived in his hopes that the slaughter of theprevious day would have cowed the Mexicans. The great square andthe streets leading to it were seen to be crowded with foes, whoappeared better organized than on the previous day, being dividedinto regiments, each with its banners. These, the Mexicanattendants on Montezuma told them, were the cognizances of the manycities of the plain, showing that the whole people were joining inthe movement commenced by those of the capital. Towering above therest was the royal standard of Mexico.
Among the crowd were numerous priests who, with excited gestures,called upon them to avenge the insulted gods, and to destroy thehandful of invaders who had brought disgrace upon the nation, hadtrampled it under foot, had made their sovereign a captive, andmurdered their nobles in cold blood. It was evident that, fierce ashad been the fighting on the previous day, the renewed assaultwould be even more formidable.