MEXICO,

AZTEC, SPANISH AND REPUBLICAN:

A HISTORICAL, GEOGRAPHICAL, POLITICAL, STATISTICAL AND SOCIAL
ACCOUNT OF THAT COUNTRY FROM THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION
BY THE SPANIARDS TO THE PRESENT TIME;

WITH A VIEW OF THE

ANCIENT AZTEC EMPIRE AND CIVILIZATION;

A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE LATE WAR;

AND NOTICES OF

NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA

BY

BRANTZ MAYER,

FORMERLY SECRETARY OF LEGATION TO MEXICO

IN TWO VOLUMES

VOLUME I.

HARTFORD:

S. DRAKE AND COMPANY.

MDCCCLII.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by

SIDNEY DRAKE,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut.

C. A. ALVORD, PRINTER,
29 Gold-st., N. Y.

TO THE

HONORABLE HENRY CLAY:

My Dear Sir:

I take the liberty to inscribe these volumes to you as a testimonial of personal gratitude. In the midst of engrossing cares you have often been pleased to turn aside for a while to foster those who were following the humbler and quieter walks of literature; and it is, naturally, their delight to offer for your acceptance, upon every suitable occasion, an acknowledgment of cordial thankfulness.

Allow me, then, as the only tribute I can tender, to present a work designed to illustrate the history and resources of one of those American States which were summoned into the brotherhood of nations by your sympathy and eloquence.

I am, with the greatest respect,
Your friend and servant,
BRANTZ MAYER.

Baltimore, July, 1850.

PREFACE.

The people of the United States have always felt a deep interest in the history and destiny of Mexico. It was not only the commercial spirit of our citizens that awakened this sentiment. In former times, when the exclusive policy of Spain closed the door of intercourse with her American colonies, the ancient history of Peru and Mexico attracted the curiosity of our students. They were eager to solve the enigma of a strange civilization which had originated in the central portions of our continent in isolated independence of all the world. They desired, moreover, to know something of those enchanted regions, which, like the fabled garden of the Hesperides, were watched and warded with such jealous vigilance; and they craved to behold those marvelous mines whose boundless wealth was poured into the lap of Spain. The valuable work of Baron Humboldt, published in the early part of this century, stimulated this natural curiosity; and, when the revolutionary spirit of Europe penetrated our continent, and the masses rose to cast off colonial bondage, we hailed with joy every effort of the patriots who fought so bravely in the war of liberation. Bound to Mexico by geographical ties, though without a common language or lineage, we were the first to welcome her and the new American Sovereignties into the brotherhood of nations, and to fortify our continental alliance by embassies and treaties.

After more than twenty years of peaceful intercourse, the war of 1846 broke out between Mexico and our Union. Thousands, of all classes, professions and occupations,—educated and uneducated—observers and idlers,—poured into the territory of the invaded republic. In the course of the conflict these sturdy adventurers traversed the central and northern regions of Mexico, scoured her coasts, possessed themselves for many months of her beautiful Capital, and although they returned to their homes worn with the toils of war, none have ceased to remember the delicious land, amid whose sunny valleys and majestic mountains they had learned, at least, to admire the sublimity of nature. The returned warriors did not fail to report around their firesides the marvels they witnessed during their campaigns, and numerous works have been written to sketch the story of individual adventure, or to portray the most interesting physical features of various sections of the republic. Thus by war and literature, by ancient curiosity and political sympathy, by geographical position and commercial interest, Mexico has become perhaps the most interesting portion of the world to our countrymen at the present moment. And I have been led to believe that the American people would not receive unfavorably a work designed to describe the entire country, to develop its resources and condition, and to sketch impartially its history from the conquest to the present day.

It has been no ordinary task to chronicle the career of a nation for more than three centuries, to unveil the colonial government of sixty-two Viceroys, to follow the thread of war and politics through the mazes of revolution, and to track the rebellious spirit of intrigue amid the numerous civil outbreaks which have occurred since the downfall of Iturbide. The complete Viceroyal history of Mexico is now for the first time presented to the world in the English language, while, in Spanish, no single author has ever attempted it continuously. Free from the bias of Mexican partizanship, I have endeavored to narrate events fairly, and to paint character without regard to individual men. In describing the country, its resources, geography, finances, church, agriculture, army, industrial condition, and social as well as political prospects, I have taken care to provide myself with the most recent and respectable authorities. My residence in the country, and intimacy with many of its educated and intelligent patriots, enabled me to gather information in which I confided, and I have endeavored to fuse the whole mass of knowledge thus laboriously procured, with my personal, and, I hope, unprejudiced, observation.

I have not deemed it proper to encumber the margin of my pages with continual references to authorities that are rarely consulted by general readers, and could only be desired by critics who would often be tantalized by the citation of works, which, in all likelihood, are not to be found except in private collections in the United States, and some of which, I am quite sure, exist only in my own library or in the Mexican Legation, at Washington. Such references, whilst they occupied an undue portion of the book, would be ostentatiously and tediously pedantic in a work of so little pretension as mine. I may state, however, that no important fact has been asserted without authority, and, in order to indicate the greater portion of my published sources of reliance, I have subjoined a list of the principal materials consulted and carefully verified in the composition of these volumes. Nevertheless, I have perhaps failed sometimes to procure the standard works that are accessible to native or permanent residents of the country, and thus, may have fallen accidental into error, whilst honestly seeking to shun misstatement. If those whose information enables them to detect important mistakes will be kind enough to point them out candidly and clearly, I will gladly correct such serious faults if another edition should ever be required by an indulgent public.

BRANTZ MAYER.

Baltimore, August, 1850.

AUTHORITIES USED IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS WORK.

I. HISTORICAL.

Cartas de Cortéz ed. Lorenzana.

Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva España—Bernal Diaz.

Peter Martyr.

Conquista de Mejico, by De Solis.

Veytia. Herrera.

Robertson's History of America.

Clavigero—Historia Antigua de Mejico.

Prescott's History of the Conquest of Mexico.

Cavo y Bustamante—Tres Siglos de Mejico.

Alaman—Disertaciones sobre la Historia de Mejico.

Father Gage's America.

Ternaux-Compans's History of the Conquest.

Recopilacion de las leyes de las Indias.

Mendez—Observaciones sobre las leyes, &c., &c.

N. American Review, vol. XIX.

Transactions of the American Ethnological Society, in the Articles on Mexico, by Mr. Gallatin.

Researches, Philosophical and Antiquarian, concerning the Aboriginal History of America, by J. H. McCulloh.

Pesquisia contra Pedro de Alvarado y Nuño de Guzman.

Lives of the Viceroys in the Liceo Mejicano.

Notas y esclarecimientos à la historia de la Conquista de Mejico, por José F. Ramirez.—2d vol. of Mexican translation of Prescott.

Zavala—Revoluciones de Mejico desde 1808, hasta 1830.

Don Vicente Pazo's Letters on the United Provinces of South America.

Robinson's Memoirs of the Mexican Revolution.

Ward's Mexico in 1827, &c.

Foote's History of Texas.

Tejas in 1836.

Memorias para la Historia de la Guerra de Tejas, por General Vicente Filisola.

Forbes's California.

Greenhow's Oregon and California.

American State Papers.

Ranke—Fursten und Volker.

Dr. Dunham's History of Spain and Portugal.

General Waddy Thompson's Recollections of Mexico.

Apuntes para la historia de la guerra entre Mejico y los Estados Unidos.

Lectures on Mexican history, by José Maria Lacunza, Professor in the College of San Juan de Letran.

Constituciones de Mejico y de los Estados Mejicanos.

Thirteen octavo volumes of documents published by the Congress of the United States, relative to our intercourse and war with Mexico, collected by myself.

Tributo à la Verdad,—Vera Cruz 1847.

II. DESCRIPTIVE.

Humboldt, Essai Politique sur la Nouvelle Espagne.

Poinsett's Notes on Mexico.

Bullock's Mexico.

Lieut. Hardy's Journey in Mexico.

Ward's Mexico in 1827.

Folsom's Mexico in 1842.

Mühlenpfordt—Die Republik Mejico.

Mejico en 1842, por Luis Manuel de Rivero.

Mexico as it Was and as it Is, 1844.

Ensayo sobre el verdadero estado de la cuestion social y politica que se agita en la Republica Mejicana, por Otero, 1842.

Madame Calderon de la Barca's Life in Mexico.

Kennedy's Texas.

Emory, Abert, Cooke and Johnston—Journals in New Mexico and California—1848.

Frémont's Expeditions, 1842-'3-'4.

Frémont's California, 1848.

T. Butler King's Report on California, 1850.

W. Carey Jones's do. do. 1850.

Executive documents in relation to California, 1850.

Forbes's California.

Bryant's do.

Kendall's Santa Fé Expedition.

Wilkes's Exploring Expedition.

Wise—Los Gringos.

Ruxton's Travels in Mexico, &c.

Norman's Rambles in Yucatan.

" " in Mexico.

Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies.

Dr. Wislizenius's Memoir on New Mexico.

Stephens's Central America.

" Yucatan.

Gama—Piedras Antiguas de Mejico.

El Museo Mejicano.

Isidro R. Gondra's Notes on Mexican Antiquities, in the 3rd vol. (with plates) of the Mexican translation of Prescott.

Nebel—Voyage Arquéologique et Pittoresque en Mexique.

Memoir of the Mexican Minister of Foreign and Domestic Affairs on the condition of the country in 1846.

Idem in 1849.

Memoir of the Mexican Minister of War, 1844.

Idem in 1846.

Idem in 1849.

Memoir of the Mexican Minister of Finance on the condition of the Treasury, 1841.

Idem in 1846.

Idem in 1848.

Idem in 1849.

Memoir on the Agriculture and Manufactures of Mexico, by Don Lucas Alaman, 1843.

Memoir on the Liquidation of the National Debt, by Alaman, 1845.

Noticias Estadisticas del Estado de Chihuahua, 1834.

Noticias Estadisticas sobre el Departamento de Querétaro, 1845.

Nos. 1, 2, 3, Boletin del Instituto Nacional de Geografia y Estadistica, 1839–1849.

Collecion de documentos relativos al departamento de Californias, 1846.

El Observador Judicial de Mejico.

Semanario de la Industria Mejicana.

El Mosaico Mejicano.

Journal des Economistes.

Lyell's Geology.

Lerdo—Consideraciones sobre la condicion social y politica de la Republica Mejicana en 1847.

CONTENTS.

BOOK I.

BOOK II.

BOOK III.

BOOK I.

HISTORY OF THE
CONQUEST OF MEXICO BY CORTÉZ,
WITH A SKETCH OF AZTEC CIVILIZATION
1511–1530.

BOOK I.

CHAPTER I.
1511 TO 1519.

DISCOVERIES OF CORDOVA AND GRIJALVA.—CORTÉZ APPOINTED BY VELASQUEZ.—BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF CORTÉZ.—CORTÉZ CAPTAIN GENERAL OF THE ARMADA.—EQUIPMENT OF THE EXPEDITION.—QUARREL OF VELASQUEZ—FIRMNESS OF CORTÉZ.—EXPEDITION DEPARTS UNDER CORTÉZ.

There is perhaps no page in modern history so full of dramatic incidents and useful consequences, as that which records the discovery, conquest and development of America by the Spanish and Anglo Saxon races. The extraordinary achievements of Columbus, Cortéz, Pizarro, and Washington, have resulted in the acquisition of broad lands, immense wealth, and rational liberty; and the names of these heroes are thus indissolubly connected with the physical and intellectual progress of mankind.

In the following pages we propose to write the history, and depict the manners, customs and condition of Mexico. Our narrative begins with the first movements that were made for the conquest of the country; yet, we shall recount, fully and accurately, the story of those Indian princes,—the splendor of whose courts, and the misery of whose tragic doom, enhance the picturesque grandeur and solemn lessons that are exhibited in the career of Hernando Cortéz.

Cuba was the second island discovered, in the West Indies; but it was not until 1511, that Diego, son of the gallant admiral, who had hitherto maintained the seat of government in Hispaniola, resolved to occupy the adjacent isle of Fernandina,—as it was then called,—amid whose virgin mountains and forests he hoped to find new mines to repair the loss of those which were rapidly failing in Hispaniola. [1]

For the conquest of this imagined El Dorado, he prepared a small armament, under the command of Diego Velasquez, an ambitious and covetous leader, who, together with his lieutenant, Narvaez, soon established the Spanish authority in the island, of which he was appointed Governor.

*****

Columbus, after coasting the shores of Cuba for a great distance, had always believed that it constituted a portion of the continent, but it was soon discovered that the illustrious admiral had been in error, and that Cuba, extensive as it appeared to be, was, in fact, only an island.

In February, 1517, a Spanish hidalgo, Hernandez de Cordova, set sail, with three vessels, towards the adjacent Bahamas in search of slaves. He was driven by a succession of severe storms on coasts which had hitherto been unknown to the Spanish adventurers, and finally landed on that part of the continent which forms the north-eastern end of the peninsula of Yucatan, and is known as Cape Catoché. Here he first discovered the evidence of a more liberal civilization than had been hitherto known among his adventurous countrymen in the New World. Large and solid buildings, formed of stone;—cultivated fields;—delicate fabrics of cotton and precious metals,—indicated the presence of a race that had long emerged from the semi-barbarism of the Indian Isles. The bold but accidental explorer continued his voyage along the coast of the peninsula until he reached the site of Campeché; and then, after an absence of seven months and severe losses among his men, returned to Cuba, with but half the number of his reckless companions. He brought back with him, however, numerous evidences of the wealth and progress of the people he had fortuitously discovered on the American main; but he soon died, and left to others the task of completing the enterprise he had so auspiciously begun. The fruits of his discoveries remained to be gathered by Velasquez, who at once equipped four vessels and entrusted them to the command of his nephew, Juan de Grijalva, and on the 1st of May, 1518, this new commander left the port of St. Jago de Cuba. The first land he touched on his voyage of discovery, was the Island of Cozumel, whence he passed to the continent, glancing at the spots that had been previously visited by Cordova. So struck was he by the architecture, the improved agriculture, the civilized tastes, the friendly character and demeanor of the inhabitants, and, especially, by the sight of "large stone crosses, evidently objects of worship," that, in the enthusiasm of the moment, he gave to the land the name of Nueva España-or New Spain,—a title which has since been extended from the peninsula of Yucatan to even more than the entire empire of Montezuma and the Aztecs.

Grijalva did not content himself with a mere casual visit to the continent, but pursued his course along the coast, stopping at the Rio de Tabasco. Whilst at Rio de Vanderas, he enjoyed the first intercourse that ever took place between the Spaniards and Mexicans. The Cacique of the Province sought from the strangers a full account of their distant country and the motives of their visit, in order that he might convey the intelligence to his Aztec master. Presents were interchanged, and Grijalva received, in return for his toys and tinsel, a mass of jewels, together with ornaments and vessels of gold, which satisfied the adventurers that they had reached a country whose resources would repay them for the toil of further exploration. Accordingly, he despatched to Cuba with the joyous news, Pedro de Alvarado, one of his captains,—a man who was destined to play a conspicuous part in the future conquest,—whilst he, with the remainder of his companies, continued his coasting voyage to San Juan de Ulua, the Island of Sacrificios, and the northern shores, until he reached the Province of Panuco; whence, after an absence of six months, he set sail for Cuba, having been the first Spanish adventurer who trod the soil of Mexico.

But his return was not hailed even with gratitude. The florid reports of Pedro de Alvarado had already inflamed the ambition and avarice of Velasquez, who, impatient of the prolonged absence of Grijalva, had despatched a vessel under the command of Olid in search of his tardy officer. Nor was he content with this jealous exhibition of his temper; for, anxious to secure to himself all the glory and treasure to be derived from the boundless resources of a continent, he solicited authority from the Spanish crown to prosecute the adventures that had been so auspiciously begun; and, in the meanwhile, after considerable deliberation, resolved to fit out another armament on a scale, in some degree, commensurate with the military subjugation of the country, should he find himself opposed by its sovereign and people. After considerable doubt, difficulty and delay, he resolved to entrust this expedition to the command of Hernando Cortéz; "the last man," says Prescott, "to whom Velasquez,—could he have foreseen the results,—would have confided the enterprise."

*****

It will not be foreign to our purpose to sketch, briefly, the previous life of a man who subsequently became so eminent in the history of both worlds. Seven years before Columbus planted the standard of Castile and Arragon in the West Indies, Hernando Cortéz, was born, of a noble lineage, in the town of Medellin, in the Province of Estremadura, in Spain. His infancy was frail and delicate, but his constitution strengthened as he grew, until, at the age of fourteen, he was placed in the venerable university of Salamanca, where his parents, who rejoiced in the extreme vivacity of his talents, designed to prepare him for the profession of law, the emoluments of which were, at that period, most tempting in Spain. But the restless spirit of the future conqueror was not to be manacled by the musty ritual of a tedious science whose pursuit would confine him to a quiet life. He wasted two years at the college, and, like many men who subsequently became renowned either for thought or action, was finally sent home in disgrace. Nevertheless, in the midst of his recklessness, and by the quickness of his genius, he had learned "a little store of Latin," and acquired the habit of writing good prose, or of versifying agreeably. His father,—Don Martin Cortéz de Monroy, and his mother, Doña Catalina Pizarro Altamirano,—seem to have been accomplished people, nor is it improbable, that the greater part of their son's information was obtained under the influence of the domestic circle. At college he was free from all restraint,—giving himself up to the spirit of adventure, the pursuit of pleasure, and convivial intercourse,—so that no hope was entertained of his further improvement from scholastic studies. His worthy parents were, moreover, people of limited fortune, and unable to prolong these agreeable but profitless pursuits. Accordingly, when Cortéz attained the age of seventeen, they yielded to his proposal to enlist under the banner of Gonsalvo of Cordova, and to devote himself, heart and soul, to the military life which seemed most suitable for one of his wild, adventurous and resolute disposition. It was well for Spain and for himself, that the chivalric wish of Cortéz was not thwarted,—and that one of the ablest soldiers produced by Castile at that period, was not dwarfed by parental control into a bad lawyer or pestilent pettifogger.

The attention of our hero was soon directed towards the New World,—the stories of whose wealth had now for upwards of twenty years been pouring into the greedy ear of Spain,—and he speedily determined to embark in the armament which Nicolas de Ovando, the successor of Columbus, was fitting out for the West Indies. This design was frustrated, however, for two years longer, by an accident which occurred in one of his amours; nor did another opportunity present itself, until, at the age of nineteen, in 1504, he bade adieu to Spain in a small squadron bound to the Islands.

As soon as Cortéz reached Hispaniola, he visited the Governor, whom he had formerly known at home. Ovando was absent, but his secretary received the emigrant kindly, and assured him "a liberal grant of land." "I come for gold," replied Cortéz, sneeringly, "and not to toil like a peasant!" Ovando, however, was more fortunate than the secretary, in prevailing upon the future conqueror to forego the lottery of adventure, for no sooner had he returned to his post, than Cortéz was persuaded to accept a grant of land, a repartimiento of Indians, and the office of notary in the village of Açua. Here he seems to have dwelt until 1511, varying the routine of notarial and agricultural pursuits by an occasional adventure, of an amorous character, which involved him in duels. Sometimes he took part in the military expeditions under Diego Velasquez for the suppression of Indian insurrections in the interior. This was the school in which he learned his tactics, and here did he study the native character until he joined Velasquez for the conquest of Cuba.

As soon as this famous Island was reduced to Spanish authority, Cortéz became high in favor with Velasquez, who had received the commission of Governor. But love, intrigues, jealousy and ambition, quickly began to chequer the wayward life of our hero, and estranged him from Velasquez, for the new Governor found it difficult to satisfy the cravings of those rapacious adventurers who flocked in crowds to the New World, and, in all probability, clustered around Cortéz as the nucleus of discontent. It was soon resolved by these men to submit their complaints against Velasquez to the higher authorities in Hispaniola, and the daring Cortéz was fixed on as the bearer of the message in an open boat, across the eighteen intervening leagues. But the conspiracy was detected,—the rash ambassador confined in chains,—and only saved from hanging by the interposition of powerful friends.

Cortéz speedily contrived to relieve himself of the fetters with which he was bound, and, forcing a window, escaped from his prison to the sanctuary of a neighboring church. A few days after, however, he was seized whilst standing carelessly in front of the sacred edifice, and conveyed on board a vessel bound for Hispaniola, where he was to be tried. But his intrepidity and skill did not forsake him even in this strait. Ascending cautiously from the vessel's hold to the deck, he dropped into a boat and pulled near ashore, when dreading to risk the frail bark in the breakers, he abandoned his skiff,—plunged boldly into the surf,—and landing on the sands, sought again the sanctuary, whence he had been rudely snatched by the myrmidons of the Governor.

One of the causes of his quarrel with Velasquez had been an intrigue with a beautiful woman, in whose family the Governor was, perhaps, personally interested. The fickle Cortéz cruelly abandoned the fair Catalina Xuares at a most inauspicious moment of her fate, and was condemned for his conduct by all the best people in the Island; but now, under the influence of penitence or policy, his feelings suddenly experienced a strange revulsion. He expressed a contrite desire to do justice to the injured woman by marriage, and thus, at once obtained the favor of her family and the pardon of the Governor, who becoming permanently reconciled to Cortéz, presented him a liberal repartimiento of Indians together with broad lands in the neighborhood of St. Jago, of which he was soon made alcalde.

The future conqueror devoted himself henceforth to his duties with remarkable assiduity. Agriculture,—the introduction of cattle of the best breeds,—and the revenues of a share of the mines which he wrought,—soon began to enrich the restless adventurer who had settled down for a while into the quiet life of a married man. His beautiful wife fulfilled her share of the cares of life with remarkable fidelity, and seems to have contented the heart even of her liege lord, who declared himself as happy with his bride as if she had been the daughter of a duchess.

*****

At this juncture Alvarado returned with the account of the discoveries, the wealth, and the golden prospects of continental adventure which we have already narrated. Cortéz and Velasquez were alike fired by the alluring story. The old flame of enterprise was rekindled in the breast of the wild boy of Medellin, and when the Governor looked around for one who could command the projected expedition, he found none, among the hosts who pressed for service, better fitted for the enterprise by personal qualities and fortune, than Hernando Cortéz, whom he named Captain General of his Armada.

The high office and the important task imposed on him seem to have sobered the excitable, and heretofore fickle, mind of our hero. His ardent animal spirits, under the influence of a bold and lofty purpose, became the servants rather than the masters of his indomitable will, and he at once proceeded to arrange all the details of the expedition which he was to lead to Mexico. The means that he did not already possess in his own coffers, he raised by mortgage, and he applied the funds, thus obtained, to the purchase of vessels, rations, and military stores, or to the furnishing of adequate equipments for adventurers who were too poor to provide their own outfit. It is somewhat questionable whether Velasquez, the Governor, was very liberal in his personal and pecuniary contributions to this expedition, the cost of which amounted to about twenty thousand gold ducats. It has been alleged that Cortéz was the chief support of the adventure, and it is certain, that in later years, this question resulted in bitter litigation between the parties.

*****

Six ships and three hundred followers were soon prepared for the enterprise under Cortéz, and the Governor proceeded to give instructions to the leader, all of which are couched in language of unquestionable liberality.

The captain of the Armada was first to seek the missing Grijalva, after which the two commanders were to unite in their quest of gold and adventure. Six Christians, supposed to be lingering in captivity in Yucatan, were to be sought and released. Barter and traffic, generally, with the natives were to be encouraged and carried on, so as to avoid all offence against humanity or kindness. The Indians were to be christianized;—for the conversion of heathens was one of the dearest objects of the Spanish king. The aborigines, in turn, were to manifest their good will by ample gifts of jewels and treasure. The coasts and adjacent streams were to be surveyed,—and the productions of the country, its races, civilization, and institutions, were to be noted with minute accuracy, so that a faithful report might be returned to the crown, to whose honor and the service of God, it was hoped the enterprise would certainly redound.

Such was the state of things in the port of St. Jago, when jealous fears began to interrupt the confidence between Velasquez and Cortéz. The counsel of friends who were companions of the Governor, and his own notice of that personage's altered conduct, soon put the new Captain General of the Armada on his guard. Neither his equipment nor his crew was yet complete; nevertheless, he supplied his fleet with all the provisions he could hastily obtain at midnight; and, paying the provider with a massive chain which he had worn about his neck,—the last available remnant, perhaps, of his fortune,—he hastened with his officers on board the vessels.

On the 18th of November, 1518, he made sail for the port of Macaca, about fifteen leagues distant, and thence he proceeded to Trinidad, on the southern coast of Cuba. Here he obtained stores from the royal farms, whilst he recruited his forces from all classes, but especially from the returned troops and sailors of Grijalva's expedition. Pedro de Alvarado and his brothers; Cristoval de Olid, Alonzo de Avila, Juan Velasquez de Leon, Hernandez de Puerto Carrero, and Gonzalo de Sandoval, united their fortunes to his, and thus identified themselves forever with the conquest of Mexico. He added considerably to his stock by the seizure of several vessels and cargoes; and prudently got rid of Diego de Ordaz, whom he regarded as a spy of the estranged Velasquez.

At Trinidad, Cortéz was overtaken by orders for detention from his former friend and patron. These commands, however, were not enforced by the cautious official who received them; and Cortéz, forthwith, despatched Alvarado, by land, to Havana, whilst he prepared to follow with his fleet around the coast and western part of the island. At Havana he again added to his forces,—prepared arms and quilted armor as a defence against the Indian arrows,—and distributed his men into eleven companies under the command of experienced officers. But, before all his arrangements were completed, the commander of the place, Don Pedro Barba, was ordered, by express from Velasquez, to arrest Cortéz, whilst the Captain General of the Armada himself received a hypocritical letter from the same personage, "requesting him to delay his voyage till the governor could communicate with him in person!" Barba, however, knew that the attempt to seize the leader of such an enterprise and of such a band, would be vain;—whilst Cortéz, in reply to Velasquez, "implored his Excellency to rely on his boundless devotion to the interests of his Governor, but assured him, nevertheless, that he and his fleet, by divine permission, would sail on the following day!"

Accordingly, on the 18th of February, 1519, the little squadron weighed anchor, with one hundred and ten mariners, sixteen horses, five hundred and fifty-three soldiers, including thirty-two crossbowmen and thirteen arquebusiers, besides two hundred Indians of the island and a few native women, for menial offices. The ordnance consisted of ten heavy guns, four lighter pieces or falconets, together with a good supply of ammunition.

With this insignificant command and paltry equipment, Hernando Cortéz, at the age of thirty-three, set sail for the conquest of Mexico. He invoked on his enterprise the blessing of his patron, Saint Peter;—he addressed his followers in the language of encouragement and resolution;—he unfurled a velvet banner on which was emblazoned the figure of a crimson cross amid flames of blue and white, and he pointed to the motto which was to be the presage of victory: "Friends, let us follow the Cross: and under this sign, if we have faith, we shall conquer!"

Footnote

[1] In 1525, the gold washings of Hispaniola were already exhausted; and sugar and hides are alone mentioned as exports. Petri Mart: Ep. 806, Kal. Mart. 1525.

CHAPTER II.
1519.

OLMEDO PREACHES TO THE INDIANS.—AGUILAR AND MARIANA—INTERPRETERS.—CORTÉZ LANDS—INTERVIEW WITH THE AZTECS.—DIPLOMACY—MONTEZUMA'S PRESENTS.—MONTEZUMA REFUSES TO RECEIVE CORTÉZ.

Soon after the adventurers departed from the coast of Cuba, the weather, which had been hitherto fine, suddenly changed, and one of those violent hurricanes which ravage the Indian Isles during the warm season, scattered and dismantled the small squadron, sweeping it far to the south of its original destination. Cortéz was the last to reach the Island of Cozumel, having been forced to linger in order to watch for the safety of one of his battered craft. But, immediately on landing, he was pained to learn that the impetuous Pedro de Alvarado had rashly entered the temples, despoiled them of their ornaments, and terrified the natives into promiscuous flight. He immediately devoted himself to the task of obliterating this stain on Spanish humanity, by kindly releasing two of the captives taken by Alvarado. Through an interpreter he satisfied them of the pacific purpose of his voyage, and despatched them to their homes with valuable gifts. This humane policy appears to have succeeded with the natives, who speedily returned from the interior, and commenced a brisk traffic of gold for trinkets.

The chief objection of Cortéz to the headlong destruction which Alvarado had committed in the temples, seems rather to have been against the robbery than the religious motive, if such existed in the breast of his impetuous companion. We have already said that the conversion of the heathen was one of the alleged primary objects of this expedition, for the instructions of the Governor of Cuba were full of zeal for the spread of Christianity; yet, in the diffusion of this novel creed among the aborigines, it sometimes happened that its military propagandists regarded the sword as more powerful than the sermon. The idolatrous practices of the inhabitants of Cozumel shocked the sensibility of the commander, and he set about the work of christianization through the labors of the licentiate Juan Diaz and Bartolomé de Olmedo, the latter of whom,—who remained with the army during the whole expedition,—was, indeed, a mirror of zeal and charity. The discourses of these worthy priests were, however, unavailing;—the Indians, who of course could not comprehend their eloquent exhortations or pious logic, refused to abandon their idols; and our hero resolved at once to convince them, by palpable arguments, of the inefficiency of those hideous emblems, either to save themselves from destruction, or to bestow blessings on the blind adorers. An order was, therefore, forthwith given for the immediate destruction of the Indian images; and, in their place, the Virgin and her Son were erected on a hastily constructed altar. Olmedo and his companion were thus the first to offer the sacrifice of the mass in New Spain, where they, finally, induced numbers of the aborigines to renounce idolatry and embrace the Catholic faith.

In spite of this marauding crusade against their property and creed, the Indians kindly furnished the fleet with provisions, which enabled the squadron to sail in the ensuing March. But a leak in one of the vessels compelled the adventurers to return to port,—a circumstance which was regarded by many as providential,—inasmuch as it was the means of restoring to his countryman, a Spaniard, named Aguilar, who had been wrecked on the coast of Yucatan eight years before. The long residence of this person in the country made him familiar with the language of the inhabitants of that neighborhood, and thus a valuable interpreter,—one of its most pressing wants,—was added to the expedition.

*****

After the vessels were refitted, Cortéz coasted the shores of Yucatan until he reached the Rio de Tabasco or Grijalva, where he encountered the first serious opposition to the Spanish arms. He had a severe conflict, in the vicinity of his landing, with a large force of the natives; but the valor of his men, the terror inspired by fire arms, and the singular spectacle presented to the astonished Indians by the extraordinary appearance of cavalry, soon turned the tide of victory in his favor. The subdued tribes appeased his anger by valuable gifts, and forthwith established friendly relations with their dreaded conqueror. Among the presents offered upon this occasion by the vanquished, were twenty female slaves;—and after one of the holy fathers had attempted, as usual, to impress the truths of christianity upon the natives, and had closed the ceremonies of the day by a pompous procession, with all the impressive ceremonial of the Roman church, the fleet again sailed towards the empire Cortéz was destined to penetrate and subdue.

*****

In Passion week, of the year 1519, the squadron dropped anchor under the lee of the Island or reef of St. Juan de Ulua. The natives immediately boarded the vessel of the Captain General; but their language was altogether different from that of the Mayan dialects spoken in Yucatan and its immediate dependencies. In this emergency Cortéz learned that, among the twenty female slaves who had been recently presented him, there was one who knew the Mexican language, and, in fact, that she was an Aztec by birth. This was the celebrated Marina or Mariana, who accompanied the conqueror throughout his subsequent adventures, and was so useful as a sagacious friend and discreet interpreter. Acquainted with the languages of her native land and of the Yucatecos, she found it easy to translate the idiom of the Aztecs into the Mayan dialect which Aguilar, the Spaniard, had learned during his captivity. Through this medium, Cortéz was apprised that these Mexicans or Aztecs were the subjects of a powerful sovereign who ruled an empire bounded by two seas, and that his name was Montezuma.

*****

On the 21st of April the Captain General landed on the sandy and desolate beach whereon is now built the modern city of Vera Cruz. Within a few days the native Governor of the province arrived to greet him, and expressed great anxiety to learn whence the "fair and bearded strangers" had come? Cortéz told him that he was the "subject of a mighty monarch beyond the sea who ruled over an immense empire and had kings and princes for his vassals;—that, acquainted with the greatness of the Mexican emperor, his master desired to enter into communication with so great a personage, and had sent him, as an envoy, to wait on Montezuma with a present in token of his good will, and a friendly message which he must deliver in person." The Indian Governor expressed surprise that there was another king as great as his master, yet assured Cortéz that as soon as he learned Montezuma's determination, he would again converse with him on the subject. Teuhtle then presented the Captain General ten loads of fine cottons; mantles of curious feather work, beautifully dyed; and baskets filled with golden ornaments. Cortéz, in turn, produced the gifts for the emperor, which were comparatively insignificant; but, when the Aztec Governor desired to receive the glittering helmet of one of the men, it was readily given as an offering to the emperor, with the significant request that it might be returned filled with gold, which Cortéz told him was "a specific remedy for a disease of the heart with which his countrymen, the Spaniards, were sorely afflicted!"

During this interview between the functionaries it was noticed by the adventurers that men were eagerly employed among the Indians in sketching every thing they beheld in the ranks of the strangers,—for, by this picture-writing, the Mexican monarch was to be apprised in accurate detail of the men, horses, ships, armor, force, and weapons of this motley band of invaders.

These pictorial missives were swiftly borne by the Mexican couriers to the Aztec capital among the mountains, and, together with the oral account of the landing of Cortéz and his demand for an interview, were laid before the Imperial Court. It may well be imagined that the extraordinary advent of the Captain General and his squadron was productive of no small degree of excitement and even tremor, among this primitive people; for, not only were they unnerved by the dread which all secluded races feel for innovation, but an ancient prophecy had foretold the downfall of the empire through the instrumentality of beings, who, like these adventurers, were to "come from the rising sun." Montezuma, who was then on the throne, had been elected to that dignity in 1502 in preference to his brothers, in consequence of his superior qualifications as a soldier and a priest. His reign commenced energetically; and whilst he, at first, administered the interior affairs of his realm with justice, capacity, and moderation, his hand fell heavily on all who dared to raise their arms against his people. But, as he waxed older and firmer in power, and as his empire extended, he began to exhibit those selfish traits which so often characterize men who possess, for a length of time, supreme power untrammelled by constitutional restraints. His court was sumptuous, and his people were grievously taxed to support its unbounded extravagance. This, in some degree, alienated the loyalty of his subjects, while continued oppression finally led to frequent insurrection. In addition to these internal discontents of the Aztec empire, Montezuma had met in the nominal republic of Tlascala,—lying midway between the valley of Mexico and the seacoast,—a brave and stubborn foe, whose civilization, unimpaired resources, and martial character, enabled it to resist the combined forces of the Aztecs for upwards of two hundred years.

Such was the state of the empire when the news of Cortéz's arrival became the subject of discussion in Mexico. Some were for open or wily resistance. Others were oppressed with superstitious fears. But Montezuma, adopting a medium but fatal course, resolved, without delay, to send an embassy with such gifts as he imagined would impress the strangers with the idea of his magnificence and power, whilst, at the same time, he courteously commanded the adventurers to refrain from approaching his capital.

Meanwhile the Spaniards restlessly endured the scorching heats and manifold annoyances of the coast, and were amusing themselves by a paltry traffic with the Indians, whose offerings were generally of but trifling value. After the expiration of a week, however, the returned couriers and the embassy approached the camp. The time is seemingly short when we consider the difficulty of transportation through a mountain country, and recollect that the Mexicans, who were without horses, had been obliged to traverse the distance on foot. But it is related on ample authority,—so perfectly were the posts arranged among these semi-civilized people,—that tidings were borne in the short period of twenty-four hours from the city to the sea, and, consequently, that three or four days were ample for the journey of the envoys of Montezuma, upon a matter of so much national importance.

The two Aztec nobles, accompanied by the Governor of the province, Teuhtle, did not approach with empty hands the men whom they hoped to bribe if they could not intimidate. Gold and native fabrics of the most delicate character; shields, helmets, cuirasses, collars, bracelets, sandals, fans, pearls, precious stones; loads of cotton cloth, extraordinary manufactures of feathers, circular plates of gold and silver as large as carriage wheels, and the Spanish helmet filled with golden grains; were all spread out, as a free gift from the Emperor to the Spaniards!

With these magnificent presents, Montezuma replied to the request of Cortéz, that it would give him pleasure to communicate with so mighty a monarch as the king of Spain, whom he respected highly, but that he could not gratify himself by according the foreign envoy a personal interview, inasmuch as the distance to his capital was great, and the toilsome journey among the mountains was beset with dangers from formidable enemies. He could do no more, therefore, than bid the strangers farewell, and request them to return to their homes over the sea with these proofs of his perfect friendship.

It may well be supposed that this naïve system of diplomacy could have but little effect on men who were bent on improving their fortunes, and whose rapacity was only stimulated by the evidences of unbounded wealth which the simple-minded king had so lavishly bestowed on them. Montezuma was the dupe of his own credulity, and only inflamed, by the very means he imagined would assuage the avarice or ambition of his Spanish visitors. Nor was Cortéz less resolved than his companions. Accordingly he made another pacific effort, by means of additional presents and a gentle message, to change the resolution of the Indian emperor. Still the Aztec sovereign was obstinate in his refusal of a personal interview, although he sent fresh gifts by the persons who bore to the Spaniards his polite but firm and peremptory denial.

Cortéz could hardly conceal his disappointment at this second rebuff; but, as the vesper bell tolled, whilst the ambassadors were in his presence, he threw himself on his knees with his soldiers, and, after a prayer, Father Olmedo expounded to the Aztec chiefs, by his interpreters, the doctrines of Christianity, and putting into their hands an image of the Virgin and Saviour, he exhorted them to abandon their hideous idolatry, and to place these milder emblems of faith and hope on the altars of their bloody gods. That very night the Indians abandoned the Spanish camp and the neighborhood, leaving the adventurers without the copious supplies of food that hitherto had been bountifully furnished. Cortéz, nevertheless, was undismayed by these menacing symptoms, and exclaimed to his hardy followers: "It shall yet go hard, but we will one day pay this powerful prince a visit in his gorgeous capital!"

CHAPTER III.
1519.

CORTÉZ FOUNDS LA VILLA RICA DE LA VERA CRUZ.—FLEET DESTROYED—MARCH TO MEXICO.—CONQUEST OF TLASCALA—CHOLULA.—SLAUGHTER IN CHOLULA—VALLEY OF MEXICO.—CORTÉZ ENTERS THE VALLEY—GIGANTIC CAUSEWAY.—LAKE OF TEZCOCO—RECEPTION BY MONTEZUMA.—SPANIARDS ENTER THE CAPITAL.

It is impossible, in a work like the present, which is designed to cover the history of a country during three hundred years, to present the reader with as complete a narrative of events as we would desire. Happily, the task of recording the story of the conquest, has fallen into the hands of the classic historians of Spain, England and America; and the astonishing particulars of that mighty enterprise may be found, minutely recounted, in the works of De Solis, Robertson and Prescott. We shall therefore content ourselves with as rapid a summary as is consistent with the development of the modern Mexican character, and shall refer those who are anxious for more explicit and perfect details to the writings of the authors we have mentioned.

*****

Cortéz was not long idle after the withdrawal of the Aztec emissaries and the surly departure of the Indians, who, as we have related in the last chapter, quitted his camp and neighborhood on the same night with the ambassadors of Montezuma. He forthwith proceeded to establish a military and civil colony, of which he became Captain General and Chief Justice; he founded the Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz in order to secure a base on the coast for future military operation, by means of which he might be independent of Velasquez; and he formed an alliance with the Totonacos of Cempoalla, whose loyalty,—though they were subjects of Montezuma,—was alienated from him by his merciless exactions. We shall not dwell upon the skill with which he fomented a breach between the Totonacos and the ambassadors of Montezuma, nor upon the valuable gifts, and discreet despatches he forwarded to the Emperor Charles V., in order to secure a confirmation of his proceedings. The most daring act of this period was the destruction of the squadron which had wafted him to Mexico. It was a deed of wise policy, which deliberately cut off all hope of retreat,—pacified, in some degree, the querulous conspirators who lurked in his camp,—and placed before all who were embarked in the enterprise the alternative of conquest or destruction. But one vessel remained. Nine out of the ten were dismantled and sunk. When his men murmured for a moment, and imagined themselves betrayed, he addressed them in that language of bland diplomacy which he was so well skilled to use whenever the occasion required. "As for me," said he, "I will remain here whilst there is one to bear me company! Let the cravens shrink from danger and go home in the single vessel that remains. Let them hasten to Cuba, and relate how they deserted their commander and comrades; and there let them wait in patience till we return laden with the spoils of Mexico!"

This was an appeal that rekindled the combined enthusiasm and avarice of the despondent murmurers; and the reply was a universal shout: "To Mexico! to Mexico!"

*****

On the 16th of August, 1519, Cortéz set out with his small army of about four hundred men, now swelled by the addition of thirteen hundred Indian warriors and a thousand porters, and accompanied by forty of the chief Totonacs as hostages and advisers. From the burning climate of the coast the army gradually ascended to the cooler regions of the tierra templada, and tierra fria, encountering all degrees of temperature on the route. After a journey of three days, the forces arrived at a town on one of the table lands of the interior, whose chief magistrate confirmed the stories of the power of Montezuma. Here Cortéz tarried three days for repose, and then proceeded towards the Republic of Tlascala, which lay directly in his path, and with whose inhabitants he hoped to form an alliance founded on the elements of discontent which he knew existed among these inveterate foes of the central Aztec power. But he was mistaken in his calculations. The Tlascalans were not so easily won as his allies, the Totonacs, who, dwelling in a warmer climate, had not the hardier virtues of these mountaineers. The Tlascalans entertained no favorable feeling towards Montezuma, but they nourished quite as little cordiality for men whose characters they did not know, and whose purposes they had cause to dread. A deadly hostility to the Spaniards was consequently soon manifested. Cortéz was attacked by them on the borders of their Republic, and fought four sharp battles with fifty thousand warriors who maintained, in all the conflicts, their reputation for military skill and hardihood. At length the Tlascalans were forced to acknowledge the superiority of the invaders, whom they could not overcome either by stratagem or battle, and, after the exchange of embassies and gifts, they honored our hero with a triumphal entry into their capital.

*****

The news of these victories as well as of the fatal alliance which ensued with the Tlascalans, was soon borne to the court of Montezuma, who began to tremble for the fate of his empire when he saw the fall of the indomitable foes who had held him so long at bay. Two embassies to Cortéz succeeded each other, in vain. Presents were no longer of avail. His offer of tribute to the Spanish king was not listened to. All requests that the conqueror should not advance towards his capital were unheeded. "The command of his own emperor," said Cortéz, "was the only reason which could induce him to disregard the wishes of an Aztec prince, for whom he cherished the profoundest respect!" Soon after, another embassy came from Montezuma with magnificent gifts and an invitation to his capital, yet with a request that he would break with his new allies and approach Mexico through the friendly city of Cholula. The policy of this request on the part of Montezuma, will be seen in the sequel. Our hero, accompanied by six thousand volunteers from Tlascala, advanced towards the sacred city,—the site of the most splendid temple in the empire, whose foundations yet remain in the nineteenth century. The six intervening leagues were soon crossed, and he entered Cholula with his Spanish army, attended by no other Indians than those who accompanied him from Cempoalla. At first, the General and his companions were treated hospitably, and the suspicions which had been instilled into his mind by the Tlascalans were lulled to sleep. However, he soon had cause to become fearful of treachery. Messengers arrived from Montezuma, and his entertainers were observed to be less gracious in their demeanor. It was noticed that several important streets had been barricaded or converted into pitfalls, whilst stones, missiles and weapons were heaped on the flat roofs of houses. Besides this, Mariana had become intimate with the wife of one of the Caciques, and cunningly drew from her gossiping friend the whole conspiracy that was brewing against the adventurers. Montezuma, she learned, had stationed twenty thousand Mexicans near the city, who, together with the Cholulans, were to assault the invaders in the narrow streets and avenues, as they quitted the town; and, thus, he hoped, by successful treachery, to rid the land of such dangerous visitors either by slaughter in conflict, or to offer them, when made captive, upon the altars of the sacred temple in Cholula and on the teocallis of Mexico, as proper sacrifices to the bloody gods of his country.

Cortéz, however, was not to be so easily outwitted and entrapped. He, in turn, resorted to stratagem. Concentrating all his Spanish army, and concerting a signal for co-operation with his Indian allies, he suddenly fell upon the Cholulans at an unexpected moment. Three thousand of the citizens perished in the frightful massacre that ensued; and Cortéz pursued his uninterrupted way towards the fated capital of the Aztecs, after this awful chastisement, which was perhaps needful to relieve him from the danger of utter annihilation in the heart of an enemy's country with so small a band of countrymen in whom he could confide.

*****

From the plain of Cholula,—which is now known as the fruitful vale of Puebla,—the conqueror ascended the last ridge of mountains that separated him from the city of Mexico; and, as he turned the edge of the Cordillera, the beautiful valley was at once revealed to him in all its indescribable loveliness. [2] It lay at his feet, surrounded by the placid waters of Tezcoco. The sight that burst upon the Spaniards from this lofty eminence, in the language of Prescott, was that of the vale of Tenochtitlan, as it was called by the natives, "which, with its picturesque assemblage of water, woodland, and cultivated plains; its shining cities and shadowy hills, was spread out like some gay and gorgeous panorama before them. In the highly rarefied atmosphere of these upper regions, even remote objects have a brilliancy of coloring and a distinctness of outline which seems to annihilate distance. Stretching far away at their feet, were seen noble forests of oak, sycamore, and cedar; and beyond, yellow fields of maize and the towering maguey, intermingled with orchards and blooming gardens; for flowers, in such demand for their religious festivals, were even more abundant in this populous valley, than in other parts of Anahuac. In the centre of the great basin, were beheld the lakes, occupying then a much larger portion of its surface than at present; their borders thickly studded with towns and hamlets, and, in the midst,—like some Indian empress with her coronal of pearls,—the fair city of Mexico, with her white towers and pyramidal temples reposing, as it were, on the bosom of the waters—the far-famed 'Venice of the Aztecs.' High over all rose the royal hill of Chapultepec, the residence of the Mexican monarchs, belted with the same grove of gigantic cypresses, which at this day fling their broad shadows over the land. In the distance, to the north, beyond the blue waters of the lake, and nearly screened by intervening foliage, was seen a shining speck, the rival capital of Tezcoco; and, still further on, the dark belt of porphyry, girdling the valley around, like a rich setting which Nature had devised for the fairest of her jewels."

*****

Cortéz easily descended with his troops by the mountain road towards the plain of the valley; and as he passed along the levels, or through the numerous villages and hamlets, he endeavored to foster and foment the ill feeling which he found secretly existing against the government of the Mexican Emperor. When he had advanced somewhat into the heart of the valley he was met by an embassy of the chief lords of the Aztec court, sent to him by Montezuma, with gifts of considerable value; but he rejected a proffered bribe of "four loads of gold to the General, and one to each of his captains, with a yearly tribute to their sovereign," provided the Spanish troops would quit the country. Heedless of all menaced opposition as well as appeals to his avarice, he seems, at this period, to have cast aside the earlier and sordid motives which might then have been easily satisfied had his pursuit been gold alone. The most abundant wealth was cast at his feet; but the higher qualities of his nature were now allowed the fullest play, and strengthened him in his resolution to risk all in the daring and glorious project of subjecting a splendid empire to his control. Accordingly, he advanced though Amaquemecan, a town of several thousand inhabitants, where he was met by a nephew of the Emperor, the Lord of Tezcoco, who had been despatched by his vacillating uncle, at the head of a large number of influential personages, to welcome the invaders to the capital. The friendly summons was of course not disregarded by Cortéz, who forthwith proceeded along the most splendid and massive structure of the New World—a gigantic causeway, five miles in length, constructed of huge stones, which passed along the narrow strait of sand that separated the waters of Chalco from those of Tezcoco. The lakes were covered with boats filled with natives. Floating islands, made of reeds and wicker-work, covered with soil, brimmed with luxuriant vegetation whose splendid fruits and odorous petals rested on the waters. Several large towns were built on artificial foundations in the lake. And, every where, around the Spaniards, were beheld the evidences of a dense population, whose edifices, agriculture, and labors denoted a high degree of civilization and intelligence. As the foreign warriors proceeded onwards towards the city, which rose before them with its temples, palaces and shrines, covered with hard stucco that glistened in the sun, they crossed a wooden drawbridge in the causeway; and, as they passed it, they felt that now, indeed, if they faltered, they were completely in the grasp of the Mexicans, and more effectually cut off from all retreat than they had been when the fleet was destroyed at Vera Cruz.

Near this spot they were encountered by Montezuma with his court, who came forth in regal state to salute his future conqueror. Surrounded by all the pageantry and splendor of an oriental monarch, he descended from the litter in which he was borne from the city, and, leaning on the shoulders of the Lords of Tezcoco and of Iztapalapan,—his nephew and brother,—he advanced towards the Spaniards, under a canopy and over a cotton carpet, whilst his prostrate subjects manifested, by their abject demeanor, the fear or respect which the presence of their sovereign inspired.

"Montezuma was at this time about forty years of age. His person was tall and slender, but not ill-made. His hair, which was black and straight, was not very long. His beard was thin; his complexion somewhat paler than is often found in his dusky, or rather copper-colored race. His features, though serious in their expression, did not wear the look of melancholy, or dejection, which characterizes his portrait, and which may well have settled on them at a later period. He moved with dignity, and his whole demeanor, tempered by an expression of benignity not to have been anticipated from the reports circulated of his character, was worthy of a great prince. Such is the picture left to us of the celebrated Indian Emperor in this his first interview with the white men." [3]

*****

As this mighty prince approached, Cortéz halted his men, and, advancing with a few of his principal retainers, was most courteously welcomed by Montezuma, who, adroitly concealing his chagrin, diplomatically expressed the uncommon delight he experienced at this unexpected visit of the strangers to his capital. Our hero thanked him for his friendly welcome and bounteous gifts,—and hung around his neck a chain set with colored crystal. Montezuma then opened his gates to the Spaniards and appointed his brother to conduct the General with his troops, to the city.

Here he found a spacious edifice, surrounded by a wall, assigned for his future residence; and, having stationed sentinels, and placed his cannon on the battlements so as to command all the important avenues to his palace, he proceeded to examine the city and to acquaint himself with the character, occupations, and temper of the people.[4]

Footnotes

[2] Between nine and ten thousand feet above the level of the sea, at this point of the road.

[3] Prescott.

[4] "The province which constitutes the principal territory of Montezuma," (says Cortéz in his letter to Charles the V.,) "is circular, and entirely surrounded by lofty and rugged mountains, and the circumference of it is full seventy leagues. In this plain there are two lakes which nearly occupy the whole of it, as the people use canoes for more than fifty leagues round. One of these lakes is of fresh water, and the other, which is larger, is of salt water. They are divided, on one side, by a small collection of high hills, which stand in the centre of the plain, and they unite in a level strait formed between these hills and the high mountains, which strait is a gun-shot wide, and the people of the cities and other settlements which are in these lakes, communicate together in their canoes by water, without the necessity of going by land. And as this great salt lake ebbs and flows with the tide, as the sea does, in every flood the water flows from it into the other fresh lake as impetuously as if it were a large river, and consequently at the ebb, the fresh lake flows into the salt.

"This great city of Temixtitlan, (meaning Tenochtitlan, Mexico,) is founded in this salt lake; and from terra firma to the body of the city, the distance is two leagues on whichever side they please to enter it.

"It has four entrances, or causeways, made by the hand of man, as wide as two horsemen's lances.

"The city is as large as Seville and Cordova. The streets (I mean the principal ones,) are very wide, and others very narrow; and some of the latter and all the others are one-half land and the other half water, along which the inhabitants go in their canoes; and all the streets, at given distances, are open, so that the water passes from one to the other; and in all their openings, some of which are very wide, there are very wide bridges, made of massive beams joined together and well wrought; and so wide that ten horsemen may pass abreast over many of them."—Letters of Cortéz to Charles V.

CHAPTER IV.
1519–1520.

DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY OF TENOCHTITLAN.—MONTEZUMA'S WAY OF LIFE—MARKET-PLACE.—CORTÉZ AT THE GREAT TEMPLE—DESCRIPTION OF IT.—PLACE OF SACRIFICE—SANCTUARIES—HUITZILOPOTCHTLI.—TEZCATLIPOCA— DANGER OF CORTÉZ—MONTEZUMA SEIZED.—MONTEZUMA A PRISONER—HIS SUBMISSIVENESS.—ARRIVAL OF NARVAEZ—CORTÉZ'S DIPLOMACY.—CORTÉZ OVERCOMES NARVAEZ, AND RECRUITS HIS FORCES.

The city of Mexico, or Tenochtitlan, was, as we have already said, encompassed by the lake of Tezcoco, over which three solid causeways formed the only approaches. This inland sea was, indeed, "an archipelago of wandering islands." The whole city was penetrated throughout its entire length by a principal street, which was intersected by numerous canals, crossed by drawbridges; and, wherever the eye could reach, long vistas of low stone buildings rose on every side among beautiful gardens or luxuriant foliage. The quadrangular palaces of the nobles who Montezuma encouraged to reside at his court, were spread over a wide extent of ground, embellished with beautiful fountains which shot their spray amid porticoes and columns of polished porphyry. The palace of Montezuma was so vast a pile, that one of the conquerors alleges its terraced roof afforded ample room for thirty knights to tilt in tournament. A royal armory was filled with curious and dangerous weapons, and adorned with an ample store of military dresses, equipments and armor. Huge granaries contained the tributary supplies which were brought to the Prince by the provinces for the maintenance of the royal family, and there was an aviary in which three hundred attendants fed and reared birds of the sweetest voice or rarest plumage; whilst, near it, rose a menagerie, filled with specimens of all the native beasts, together with a museum, in which, with an oddity of taste unparalleled in history, there had been collected a vast number of human monsters, cripples, dwarfs, Albinos and other freaks and caprices of nature. The royal gardens are described by eye-witnesses as spots of unsurpassed elegance, adorned with rare shrubs, medicinal plants, and ponds, supplied by aqueducts and fountains, wherein, amid beautiful flowers, the finest fish and aquatic birds were seen forever floating in undisturbed quiet. The interior of the palace was equally attractive for its comfort and elegance. Spacious halls were covered with ceilings of odoriferous wood, while the lofty walls were hung with richly tinted fabrics of cotton, the skins of animals, or feather work wrought in mosaic imitation of birds, reptiles, insects and flowers. Nor was the Emperor alone amid the splendid wastes of his palace. A thousand women thronged these royal chambers, ministering to the tastes and passions of the elegant voluptuary. The rarest viands, from far and near, supplied his table, the service of which was performed by numerous attendants on utensils and equipage of the choicest material and shape. Four times, daily, the Emperor changed his apparel, and never put on again the dress he once had worn, or defiled his lips twice with the same vessels from which he fed.

Such was the sovereign's palace and way of life, nor can we suppose that this refinement of luxury was to be found alone in the dwelling of Montezuma and his nobles. It is to be regretted that we are not more fully informed of the condition of property, wealth and labor among the masses of this singular empire. The conquerors did not trouble themselves with acquiring accurate statistical information, nor do they seem to have counted numbers carefully, except when they had enemies to conquer or spoil to divide. In all primitive nations, however, the best idea of a people is to be attained from visiting the market-place,—or rather the fair,—in which it is their custom to sell or barter the products of their industry; and, to this rendezvous of the Aztecs, Cortéz, with the astuteness that never forsook him during his perilous enterprise, soon betook himself after his arrival in the city.

The market of Tenochtitlan was a scene of commercial activity as well as of humble thrift. It was devoted to all kinds of native traffic. In the centre of the city the conqueror found a magnificent square surrounded by porticoes, in which, it is alleged, that sixty thousand traders were engaged in buying and selling every species of merchandize produced in the realm; jewels, goldware, toys, curious imitations of natural objects, wrought with the utmost skill of deception; weapons of copper alloyed with tin, pottery of all degrees of fineness, carved vases, bales of richly dyed cotton; beautifully woven feather-work, wild and tame animals, grain, fish, vegetables, all the necessaries of life and all its luxuries, together with restaurateurs and shops for the sale of medical drugs, confectionery, or stimulating drinks. It was, in fact, an immense bazaar, which, at a glance, gave an insight into the tastes, wants and productive industry of the nation.

Satisfied with this inspection of the people and their talents, the next visit of the General was, doubtless, made with the double object of becoming acquainted with that class of men, who in all countries so powerfully influence public opinion, whilst, from the top of their tall temple, situated on their lofty central Teocalli or pyramid, he might, with a military eye, scan the general topography of the city.

This pyramidal structure, or Great Temple, as it is generally called, was perhaps rather the base of a religious structure, than the religious edifice itself. We possess no accurate drawing of it among the contemporary or early relics of the conquest, that have descended to us; but it is known to have been pyramidal in shape, over one hundred and twenty feet in altitude, with a base of three hundred and twenty. It stood in a large area, surrounded by a wall eight feet high, sculptured with the figures of serpents in relief. From one end of the base of this structure, a flight of steps rose to a terrace at the base of the second story of the pyramid. Around this terrace, a person, in ascending, was obliged to pass until he came to the corner immediately above the first flight, where he encountered another set of steps, up which he passed to the second terrace, and so on, continuously, to the third and fourth terraces, until, by a fifth flight, he attained the summit platform of the Teocalli. These spaces or terraces, at each story, are represented to have been about six feet in width, so that three or four persons could easily ascend abreast. It will be perceived that in attaining the top of the edifice it was necessary to pass round it entirely four times and to ascend five stairways. Within the enclosure, built of stone and crowned with battlements, a village of five hundred houses might have been built. Its area was paved with smooth and polished stones, and the pyramid that rose in its centre seems to have been constructed as well for military as religious purposes, inasmuch as its architecture made it fully capable of resistance as a citadel; and we may properly assume this opinion as a fact, from the circumstance that the enclosing walls were entered by four gates, facing the cardinal points, while over each portal was erected a military arsenal filled with immense stores of warlike equipments.

RESTORATION OF GREAT TEMPLE.

When Cortéz arrived in front of this truncated pyramid, two priests and several caciques were in attendance, by order of Montezuma, to bear him in their arms to its summit. But the hardy conqueror declined this effeminate means of transportation, and marched up slowly at the head of his soldiers. On the paved and level area at the top, they found a large block of jasper, the peculiar shape of which showed it was the stone on which the bodies of the unhappy victims were stretched for sacrifice. Its convex surface, rising breast high, enabled the priest to perform more easily his diabolical task of removing the heart. Besides this, there were two sanctuaries erected on the level surface of the Teocalli; two altars, glowing with a fire that was never extinguished; and a large circular drum, which was struck only on occasions of great public concern.

Such was the Teocalli or House of God. There were other edifices, having the name of Teopan, or Places of God. Some writers allege that there were two towers erected on the great Teocalli of Tenochtitlan; but it may be safely asserted that there was at least one of these, which rose to the height of about fifty-six feet, and was divided into three stories, the lower being of stone, while the others were constructed of wrought and painted wood. In the basement of these towers were the sanctuaries, where two splendid altars had been erected to Huitzilopotchtli and Tezcatlipoca, over which the idol representatives of these divinities were placed in state.

Within the enclosure of the Teocalli there were forty other temples dedicated to various Aztec gods. Besides these, there were colleges or residences and seminaries of the priests, together with a splendid house of entertainment, devoted to the accommodation of eminent strangers who visited the temple and the court. All these sumptuous ecclesiastical establishments were grouped around the pyramid, protected by the quadrangular wall, and built amid gardens and groves.

Cortéz asked leave of the Emperor, who accompanied him on his visit, to enter the sanctuaries of the Aztec deities. In a spacious stuccoed saloon, roofed with carved and gilt timber, stood the gigantic idol of Huitzilopotchtli, the Mexican Mars. His countenance was harsh and menacing. In his hands he grasped a bow and golden arrows. He was girt with the folds of a serpent, formed of precious materials, whilst his left foot was feathered with the plumage of the humming-bird, from which he took his name. Around his throat hung suspended a massive necklace of alternate gold and silver hearts; and on the altar before him, three human hearts which had recently been torn from living breasts, were still quivering and bleeding, fresh from the immolated victims.

In the other chamber, or sanctuary, were the milder emblems of Tezcatlipoca, who "created the world and watched it with providential care." The lineaments of this idol were those of a youth, whose image, carved in black and polished stone, was adorned with discs of burnished gold, and embellished with a brilliant shield. Nevertheless, the worship of this more benign deity was stained with homicide, for on its altar, in a plate of gold, the conqueror found five human hearts; and, in these dens of inhumanity, Bernal Diaz tells us, that the "stench was more intolerable than in the slaughter houses of Castile!"

*****

Such is a brief summary of the observations made by the Spaniards during a week's residence in the city. They found themselves in the heart of a rich and populous empire, whose civilization, however, was, by a strange contradiction for which we shall hereafter endeavor to account, stained with the most shocking barbarity under the name of religion. The unscrupulous murder, which was dignified with the associations and practice of national worship, was by no means consolatory to the minds of men who were really in the power of semi-civilized rulers and bloody priests. They discovered, from their own experience, that the sovereign was both fickle and feeble, and that a caprice, a hope, or a fear, might suffice to make him free his country from a handful of dangerous guests by offering them as sacrifices to his gods. The Tlascalans were already looked upon with no kind feelings by their hereditary foes. A spark might kindle a fatal flame. It was a moment for bold and unscrupulous action, and it was needful to obtain some signal advantage by which the Spaniards could, at least, effect their retreat, if not ensure an ultimate victory.

*****

News just then was brought to Cortéz that four of his countrymen, whom he left behind at Cempoalla, had been treacherously slain by one of the tributary caciques of Montezuma; and this at once gave him a motive, or at least a pretext, for seizing the Emperor himself, as a hostage for the good faith of his nation. Accordingly, he visited Montezuma with a band of his most reliable followers, who charged the monarch with the treachery of his subordinate, and demanded the apprehension of the cacique to answer for the slaughter of their inoffensive countrymen. Montezuma, of course, immediately disavowed the treason and ordered the arrest of the Governor; but Cortéz would not receive an apology or verbal reparation of the injury,—although he professed to believe the exculpation of Montezuma himself,—unless that sovereign would restore the Spaniard's confidence in his fidelity by quitting his palace and changing his residence to the quarters of the invaders!

This was, indeed, an unexpected blow. It was one of those strokes of unparalleled boldness which paralyzed their victim by sheer amazement. After considerable discussion and useless appeals, the entrapped Emperor tamely submitted to the surprising demand, for he saw, in the resolved faces of his armed and steel-clad foes, that resistance was useless, if he attempted to save his own life, with the small and unprepared forces that were at hand.

For a while the most ceremonious respect was paid by the conqueror and his men to their royal prisoner, who, under strict surveillance, maintained his usual courtly pomp, and performed all the functions of Emperor. But Cortéz soon became his master. The will of an effeminate king was no match for the indomitable courage, effrontery and genius of the Spanish knight. The offending cacique of Cempoalla was burned alive, either to glut his vengeance or inspire dread; and when the traitor endeavored to compromise Montezuma in his crime, fetters were placed for an hour on the limbs of the imprisoned sovereign. Every day the disgraced Emperor became, more and more, the mere minister of Cortéz. He was forced to discountenance publicly those who murmured at his confinement, or to arrest the leading conspirators for his deliverance. He granted a province to the Castilian crown and swore allegiance to it. He collected the tribute and revenue from dependant cities or districts in the name of the Spanish king; and, at last, struck a blow even at his hereditary and superstitious faith by ordering the great Teocalli to be purged of its human gore and the erection of an altar on its summit, on which, before the cross and the images of the Virgin and her Son, the Christian mass might be celebrated in the presence of the Aztec multitude.

*****

It was at this moment, when Cortéz tried the national nerve most daringly by interfering with the religious superstitions of a dissatisfied town, and when every symptom of a general rebellion was visible, that the conqueror received the startling news of the arrival on the coast of Don Pamphilo de Narvaez, with eighteen vessels and nine hundred men, who had been sent, by the revengeful Velasquez, to arrest the hero and send him in chains to St. Jago.

A more unfortunate train of circumstances can scarcely be conceived. In the midst of an enemy's capital, with a handful of men,—menaced by a numerous and outraged nation, on the one hand, and, with a Spanish force sent, in the name of law by authorities to whom he owed loyal respect, to arrest him, on the other,—it is indeed difficult to imagine a situation better calculated to try the soul and task the genius of a general. But it was one of those perilous emergencies which, throughout his whole career, seem to have imparted additional energy, rather than dismay, to the heart of Cortéz, and which prove him to have been, like Nelson, a man who never knew the sensation of fear. Nor must it be imagined that difficulty made him rash. Seldom has a hero appeared in history more perfectly free from precipitancy after he undertook his great enterprise;—and, in the period under consideration, this is fully exhibited in the diplomacy with which he approached the hostile Spaniards on the coast who had been despatched to dislodge and disgrace him. He resolved, at once, not to abandon what he had already gained in the capital; but, at the same time, he endeavored to tranquilize or foil Narvaez if he could not win him over to his enterprise; for it was evidently the policy of the newly arrived general to unite in a spoil which was almost ready for division rather than to incur the perils and uncertainty of another conquest.

Accordingly Cortéz addressed a letter to Narvaez requesting him not to kindle a spirit of insubordination among the natives by proclaiming his enmity. Yet this failed to affect his jealous countryman. He then desired Narvaez to receive his band as brothers in arms, and to share the treasure and fame of the conquest. But this, also, was rejected; while the loyal tool of Velasquez diligently applied himself to fomenting the Aztec discontent against his countrymen, and proclaimed his design of marching to Mexico to release the Emperor from the grasp of his Spanish oppressor.

There was now no other opening for diplomacy, nor was delay to be longer suffered. Cortéz, therefore, leaving the mutinous capital in the hands of Pedro de Alvarado, with a band of but one hundred and fifty men to protect the treasure he had amassed,—departed for the shores of the Gulf with only seventy soldiers, but was joined, on his way, by one hundred and twenty men who had retreated from the garrison at Vera Cruz. He was not long in traversing the plains and Cordilleras towards the eastern sea; and falling suddenly on the camp of Narvaez, in the dead of night, he turned the captured artillery against his foe, seized the general, received the capitulation of the army of nine hundred well equipped men, and soon healed the factions which of course existed between the conquerors and the conquered. He had acquired the prestige which always attends extraordinary success or capacity; and men preferred the chances of splendid results under such a leader to the certainty of moderate gain under a general who did not possess his matchless genius. Thus it was that the lordly spirit and commanding talents of Cortéz enabled him to convert the very elements of disaster into the means of present strength and future success!

CHAPTER V.
1520.

CORTÉZ RETURNS TO THE CAPITAL—CAUSES OF THE REVOLT AGAINST THE SPANIARDS.—CORTÉZ CONDEMNS ALVARADO—HIS CONDUCT TO MONTEZUMA.—BATTLE IN THE CITY—MONTEZUMA MEDIATES.—FIGHT ON THE GREAT TEMPLE OR TEOCALLI.—RETREAT OF THE SPANIARDS—NOCHE TRISTE.—FLIGHT OF THE SPANIARDS TO TACUBA.

Whilst Cortéz was beset with the difficulties recounted in our last chapter, and engaged in overcoming Narvaez on the coast, the news reached him of an insurrection in the capital, towards which he immediately turned his steps. On approaching the city, intelligence was brought that the active hostilities of the natives had been changed, for the last fortnight, into a blockade, and that the garrison had suffered dreadfully during his absence. Montezuma, too, despatched an envoy who was instructed to impress the conqueror with the Emperor's continued fidelity, and to exculpate him from all blame in the movement against Alvarado.

On the 24th June, 1520, Cortéz reached the capital. On all sides he saw the melancholy evidences of war. There were neither greeting crowds on the causeways, nor boats on the lake; bridges were broken down; the brigantines or boats he had constructed to secure a retreat over the waters of these inland seas, were destroyed; the whole population seemed to have vanished, and silence brooded over the melancholy scene.

*****

The revolt against the lieutenant Alvarado was generally attributed to his fiery impetuosity, and to the inhuman and motiveless slaughter committed by the Spanish troops, under his authority, during the celebration of a solemn Aztec festival, called the "incensing of Huitzilopotchtli." Six hundred victims, were, on that occasion, slain by the Spaniards, in cold blood, in the neighborhood of the Great Temple; nor was a single native, engaged in the mysterious rites, left alive to tell the tale of the sudden and brutal assault.

Alvarado, it is true, pretended that his spies had satisfactorily proved the existence of a well founded conspiracy, which was designed to explode upon this occasion; but the evidence is not sufficient to justify the disgraceful and horrid deed that must forever tarnish his fame. It is far more probable that rapacity was the true cause of the onslaught, and that the reckless companion of the conqueror, who had been entrusted with brief authority during his absence, miscalculated the power of his Indian foe, and confounded the warlike Mexican of the valley with the weaker soldiers, dwelling in more emasculating climates, whom he had so rapidly confounded and overthrown in his march to the capital.

It may well be supposed that this slaughter, combined with the other causes of discontent already existing among the Aztecs, served to kindle the outraged national feeling with intense hatred of the invaders. The city rose in arms, and the Spaniards were hemmed within their defences. Montezuma himself addressed the people from the battlements, and stayed their active assault upon the works of Alvarado; but they strictly blockaded the enemy in his castle, cut off all supplies, and entrenched themselves in hastily constructed barricades thrown up around the habitation of the Spaniards, resolved to rest behind these works until despair and famine would finally and surely throw the helpless victims into their power. Here the invaders, with scant provisions and brackish water, awaited the approach of Cortéz, who received the explanations of Alvarado with manifest disgust:—"You have been false to your trust," said he, "you have done badly, indeed, and your conduct has been that of a madman!"

Yet this was not a moment to break entirely with Alvarado, whose qualities, and perhaps, even, whose conduct, rendered him popular with a large class of the Spanish adventurers. The newly recruited forces of Cortéz gave the conqueror additional strength, for he was now at the head of no less than twelve hundred and fifty Spaniards, and eight thousand auxiliaries, chiefly Tlascalans. Yet, under the untoward circumstances, the increase of his forces augmented the difficulties of their support. Montezuma hastened to greet him. But the Spaniard was in no mood to trust the Emperor; and, as his Mexican subjects made no sign of reconciliation or submission, he refused the proferred interview:—"What have I," exclaimed he, haughtily, "to do with this dog of a king who suffers us to starve before his eyes!" He would receive no apology from his countrymen who sought to exculpate the sovereign, or from the mediating nobles of the court:—"Go tell your master," was his reply, "to open the markets, or we will do it for him, at his cost!"

But the stern resistance of the natives was not intermitted. On the contrary, active preparations were made to assault the irregular pile of stone buildings which formed the Palace of Axayacatl, in which the Spaniards were lodged. The furious populace rushed through every avenue towards this edifice, and encountered with wonderful nerve and endurance, the ceaseless storm of iron hail which its stout defenders rained upon them from every quarter. Yet the onset of the Aztecs was almost too fierce to be borne much longer by the besieged, when the Spaniards resorted to the lingering authority of Montezuma to save them from annihilation. The pliant Emperor, still their prisoner, assumed his royal robes, and, with the symbol of sovereignty in his hand, ascended the central turret of the palace. Immediately, at this royal apparition, the tumult of the fight was hushed whilst the king addressed his subjects in the language of conciliation and rebuke. Yet the appeal was not satisfactory or effectual. "Base Aztec,"—shouted the chiefs,—"the white men have made you a woman, fit only to weave and spin!"—whilst a cloud of stones, spears and arrows fell upon the monarch, who sank wounded to the ground, though the bucklers of the Spaniards were promptly interposed to shield his person from violence. He was borne to his apartments below; and, bowed to the earth by the humiliation he had suffered alike from his subjects and his foes, he would neither receive comfort nor permit his wounds to be treated by those who were skilled in surgery. He reclined, in moody silence, brooding over his ancient majesty and the deep disgrace which he felt he had too long survived.

*****

Meanwhile the war without continued to rage. The great Teocalli or Mound-Temple, already described, was situated at a short distance opposite the Spanish defences; and, from this elevated position, which commanded the invader's quarters, a body of five or six hundred Mexicans, began to throw their missiles into the Spanish garrison, whilst the natives, under the shelter of the sanctuaries, were screened from the fire of the besieged. It was necessary to dislodge this dangerous armament. An assault, under Escobar, was hastily prepared, but the hundred men who composed it, were thrice repulsed, and obliged finally to retreat with considerable loss. Cortéz had been wounded and disabled in his left hand, in the previous fight, but he bound his buckler to the crippled limb, and, at the head of three hundred chosen men, accompanied by Alvarado, Sandoval, Ordaz and others of his most gallant cavaliers, he sallied from the besieged palace. It was soon found that horses were useless in charging the Indians over the smooth and slippery pavements of the town and square, and accordingly Cortéz sent them back to his quarters; yet he managed to repulse the squadrons in the court-yard of the Teocalli, and to hold them in check by a file of arquebusiers. The singular architecture of this Mound-Temple will be recollected by the reader, and the difficulty of its ascent, by means of five stairways and four terraces, was now increased by the crowds that thronged these narrow avenues. From stair to stair, from gallery to gallery, the Spaniards fought onward and upward with resistless courage, incessantly flinging their Indian foes, by main strength, over the narrow ledges. At length they reached the level platform of the top, which was capable of containing a thousand warriors. Here, at the shrine of the Aztec war-god, was a site for the noblest contest in the empire. The area was paved with broad and level stones. Free from all impediments, it was unguarded at its edges by battlements, parapets, or, any defences which could protect the assailants from falling if they approached the sides too closely. Quarter was out of the question. The battle was hand to hand, and body to body. Combatants grappled and wrestled in deadly efforts to cast each other from the steep and sheer ledges. Indian priests ran to and fro with streaming hair and sable garments, urging their superstitious children to the contest. Men tumbled headlong over the sides of the area, and even Cortéz himself, by superior agility, alone, was saved from the grasp of two warriors who dragged him to the brink of the lofty pyramid and were about to dash him to the earth.

For three hours the battle raged until every Indian combatant was either slain on the summit or hurled to the base. Forty-five of the Spaniards were killed, and nearly all wounded. A few Aztec priests, alone, of all the Indian band, survived to behold the destruction of the sanctuaries, which had so often been desecrated by the hideous rites and offerings of their bloody religion.

For a moment the natives were panic-struck by this masterly and victorious manœuvre, whilst the Spaniards passed unmolested to their quarters, from which, at night, they again sallied to burn three hundred houses of the citizens.

Cortéz thought that these successes would naturally dismay the Mexicans, and proposed, through Mariana,—his faithful interpreter, who had continued throughout his adventures the chief reliance of the Spaniards for intercourse with the Indians,—that this conflict should cease at once, for the Aztecs must be convinced that a soldier who destroyed their gods, laid a part of their capital in ruins, and was able to inflict still more direful chastisement, was, indeed, invincible.

But the day of successful threats had passed. The force of the Aztecs was still undiminished; the bridges were destroyed; the numbers of the Spaniards were lessened; hunger and thirst were beginning to do their deadly work on the invaders; "there will be only too few of you left," said they in reply,—"to satisfy the revenge of our gods."

*****

There was no longer time for diplomacy or delay, and, accordingly, Cortéz resolved to quit the city as soon as practicable, and prepared the means to accomplish this desirable retreat; but, on his first attempt he was unable to reach the open country through the easily defended highway of the capital or the enfilading canals and lanes. From house tops and cross streets, innumerable Indians beset his path wherever he turned. Yet it was essential for the salvation of the Spaniards that they should evacuate the city. No other resource remained, and, desperate as it was, the conqueror persevered, unflinchingly, amid the more hazardous assaults of the Mexicans, and all the internal discords of his own band, whom a common danger did not perfectly unite. He packed the treasure, gathered during the days of prosperous adventure, on his stoutest horses, and, with a portable bridge, to be thrown hastily over the canals, he departed from his stronghold on the dark and rainy evening which has become memorable in American history, as the noche triste, or "melancholy night." The Mexicans were not usually alert during the darkness, and Cortéz hoped that he might steal off unperceived in this unwatchful period. But he was mistaken in his calculations. The Aztecs had become acquainted with Spanish tactics and were eager for the arrival of the moment, by day or night, when the expected victims would fall into their hands. As soon as the Spanish band had advanced a short distance along the causeway of Tlacopan, the attack began by land and water; for the Indians assaulted them from their boats, with spears and arrows, or quitting their skiffs, grappled with the retreating soldiers in mortal agony, and rolled them from the causeway into the waters of the lake. The bridge was wedged inextricably between the sides of a dyke, whilst ammunition wagons, heavy guns, bales of rich cloths, chests of gold, artillery, and the bodies of men or horses, were piled in heaps on the highway or rolled into the water. Forty-six of the cavalry were cut off and four hundred and fifty of the Christians killed, whilst four thousand of the Indian auxiliaries perished. [5] The General's baggage, papers, and minute diary of his adventures, were swallowed in the waters. The ammunition, the artillery, and every musket were lost. Meanwhile Montezuma had perished from his wounds some days before the sortie was attempted, and his body had been delivered to his subjects with suitable honors. Alvarado,—Tonatiuh, the "child of the sun," as the natives delighted to call him, escaped during the noche triste by a miraculous leap with the aid of his lance-staff over a canal, to whose edge he had been pursued by the foe. And when Cortéz, at length, found himself with his thin and battered band, on the heights of Tacuba, west of the city, beyond the borders of the lake, it may be said, without exaggeration, that nothing was left to reassure him but his indomitable heart and the faithful Indian girl whose lips, and perhaps whose counsel, had been so useful in his service.

Footnote

[5] These numbers are variously stated by different authorities.—See Prescott, vol. 2d, p. 377.

CHAPTER VI.
1520.

RETREAT TO OTUMBA.—CORTÉZ IS ENCOUNTERED BY A NEW ARMY OF AZTECS AND AUXILIARIES.—VICTORY OF THE SPANIARDS AT OTUMBA.—PROPOSED RE-ALLIANCE OF AZTECS AND TLASCALANS.—FORAYS OF CORTÉZ—REDUCTION OF THE EASTERN REGIONS.—CORTÉZ PROPOSES THE RECONQUEST—SENDS OFF THE DISAFFECTED.—CORTÉZ SETTLES THE TLASCALAN SUCCESSION.

After the disasters and fatigues of the noche triste, the melancholy and broken band of Cortéz rested for a day at Tacuba, whilst the Mexicans returned to their capital, probably to bury the dead and purify their city. It is singular, yet it is certain, that they did not follow up their successes by a death blow at the disarmed Spaniards. But this momentary paralysis of their efforts was not to be trusted, and accordingly Cortéz began to retreat eastwardly, under the guidance of the Tlascalans, by a circuitous route around the northern limits of lake Zumpango. The flying forces and their auxiliaries were soon in a famishing condition, subsisting alone on corn or on wild cherries gathered in the forest, with occasional refreshment and support from the carcase of a horse that perished by the way. For six days these wretched fragments of the Spanish army continued their weary pilgrimage, and, on the seventh, reached Otumba on the way from Mexico to Tlascala. Along the whole of this march the fainting and dispirited band was, ever and anon, assailed by detached squadrons of the enemy, who threw stones and rolled rocks on the men as they passed beneath precipices, or assaulted them with arrows and spears. As Cortéz advanced, the enemy gathered in his rear and bade him "Go on whither he should meet the vengeance due to his robbery and his crimes," for the main body of the Aztecs had meanwhile passed by an eastern route across the country, and placed itself in a position to intercept the Spaniards on the plains of Otumba. As the army of the conqueror crossed the last dividing ridge that overlooked the vale of Otompan, it beheld the levels below filled, as far as eye could reach, with the spears and standards of the Aztec victors, whose forces had been augmented by levies from the territory of the neighboring Tezcoco. Cortéz presented a sorry array to be launched from the cliffs upon this sea of lances. But he was not the man to tremble or hesitate. He spread out his main body as widely as possible, and guarded the flanks by the twenty horsemen who survived the noche triste, and the disastrous march from Tacuba. He ordered his cavalry not to cast away their lances, but to aim them constantly at the faces of the Indians, whilst the infantry were to thrust and not to strike with their swords;—the leaders of the enemy were especially to be selected as marks; and he, finally, bade his men trust in God, who would not permit them to perish by the hands of infidels. The signal was given for the charge. Spaniard and Tlascalan fought hand to hand with the foe. Long and doubtfully the battle raged on both sides, until every Spaniard was wounded. Suddenly Cortéz descried the ensignia of the enemy's commanding general, and knowing that the fortunes of the day, in all probability, depended upon securing or slaying that personage, he commanded Sandoval, Olid, Alvarado, and Avila to follow and support him as he dashed towards the Indian chief. The Aztecs fell back as he rushed on, leaving a lane for the group of galloping cavaliers. Cortéz and his companions soon reached the fatal spot, and the conqueror driving his lance through the Aztec leader, left him to be dispatched by Juan de Salamanca. This was the work of a moment. The death of the general struck a panic into the combined forces of Tenochtitlan and Tezcoco, and a promiscuous flight began on all sides. At sunset, on the 8th of July, 1520, the Spaniards were victors on the field of Otumba, and gathering together in an Indian temple, which they found on an eminence overlooking the plain, they offered up a Te Deum for their miraculous preservation as well as for the hope with which their success reinspired them.[6]

*****