[1070] H. H. Bancroft (Mexico, i. 378) and Prescott (new edition vol. ii., p. 231) collate the authorities.
[1071] There are a variety of views as to the force Cortés now commanded; cf. H. H. Bancroft, Mexico, i. 424.
[1072] Prescott (Mexico, new ed., ii. 309) collates the diverse accounts.
[1073] It must be mentioned that the Spaniards have been accused of murdering Montezuma. Bancroft (Mexico, i. 464) collates the different views of the authorities. Cortes sent the body out of the fort. Indignities were offered it; but some of the imperial party got possession of it, and buried it with such honor as the times permitted.
[1074] There are difficulties about the exact date; cf. H. H. Bancroft, Mexico, i. 472.
[1075] Bancroft (Mexico, i. 488) collates the various authorities; so does Prescott (Mexico, new ed., ii. 364) of the losses of this famous triste Noche.
[1076] The figures usually given are enormous, and often greatly vary with the different authorities. In this as in other cases where numbers are mentioned, Prescott and Bancroft collate the several reckonings which have been recorded.
[1077] Their chief was Juan Florin, who has been identified by some with Verrazano.
[1078] H. H. Bancroft (Central Mexico, i. 626) collates as usual the various estimates of Alvarado’s force.
[1079] There is some doubt whether the alleged plot was not, after all, a fiction to cover the getting rid of burdensome personages. H. H. Bancroft (Central America, i. 555) collates the various views, but it does not seem that any unassailable conclusion can be reached.