Chapter II: Part 2

They remained prosperous for 400 years, when a famine succeeded, occasioned by a severe drought, which was followed by a pestilence that destroyed many of them. Tradition says, that a demon appeared once at a festival ball, and with giant arms embraced the people, and suffocated them; that he appeared again as a child with a putrid head, and brought the plague; and that, by his persuasion, they abandoned Tula, and scattered themselves among various nations, by whom they were well received.

A hundred years afterwards, succeeded a more barbarous people from Amaquemecan. Who or what they were is not known, as there is no trace of them among the American nations; nor is there any reason given why they left their own country. They are said to have been eight months on their way, led by a son of their monarch, called Xolotl, who sent his son to survey the country, which he took possession of by shooting four arrows to the four winds. He chose for his capital Tenayuca, six miles north of the site of Mexico; in which direction most of the people settled. It is asserted that their numbers amounted to 1,000,000; as ascertained by twelve piles of stones which were thrown up at a review of the people; but this is probably an exaggeration.

This barbarous people formed alliances with the relics of the Toltecan race, and their prince, Nopaltzin, married a descendant of the Toltecan royal family. The effect of these intermarriages on them was a happy one, as they were civilized by the Toltecas, who were much their superiors in a knowledge of the arts. Heretofore they had subsisted only on roots and fruits, and by hunting; sucking the blood of the animals they killed, and taking their skins for clothing; but now they began to dig up and sow the ground, to work metals, and attempt other useful arts. About eighteen years after their arrival, six persons made their appearance as an embassy from a people living near Amaquemecan; a place was assigned them, and in a few years three princes came with a large army of Acolhuans, who received three princesses in marriage. The two nations gradually coalesced in one, and took the name of the new comers; the name Chechemecas being left to the ruder and more barbarous tribes who lived by hunting and on roots. These latter joined the Otomies, a barbarous people who lived farther north, in the mountains.

Xolotl divided his dominions into three states, namely, Azcapozalco, eighteen miles west of Tezcuco, Xaltocan, and Coatlichan, which he conferred, in fief, on his three sons-in-law. As was natural, various civil wars afterwards occurred during the reigns of the sovereigns who succeeded Xolotl. Nopaltzin reigned thirty-two years, and is said to have died at the advanced age of ninety-two. After him came Tlotzin, who reigned thirty-six years, and was a good prince. He was succeeded by Quinatzin, a luxurious tyrant, who, on the removal of his court from Tenayuca to Tezcuco, caused himself to be borne thither in a litter by four lords, while a fifth held an umbrella over him to keep off the sun; he is said to have reigned sixty years. In his reign, there were many rebellions, and on his death he was succeeded by a prince named Techotlala.

In the year 1160, the Mexicans, Aztecas, or Aztecs made their appearance. They are said to have come from the region north of the Gulf of California, and were induced to migrate from the country where they lived by the persuasion of Huitziton, a man of great influence among them. He is said to have observed a little singing-bird, whose notes sounded like _Tihui_, which in their language meant, _Let us go_. He led another person, also a man of influence, to observe this, and they persuaded the people to obey the suggestion, as they said, of the secret divinity. This was no difficult matter in a partially civilized and superstitious community. They proceeded, as their tradition relates, to the River Gila, where they stopped for a time, and where, it is affirmed, remains have been found at a somewhat recent date.

They then removed to a place about 250 miles from Chihuahua, toward the north-northwest, now called in Spanish _Casas Grandes_, on account of a large building found there, on the plan of those in New Mexico, having three floors with a terrace above them, the door for entrance opening on the second floor, to which the ascent was by a ladder. Other remains, also, of a fortress, and various utensils, have been found there. From this spot they proceeded southward, crossed the mountains, and stopped at Culiacan, a place on the Gulf of California in Lat. 24° N. Here they made a wooden image, called Huitzilopochtli, which they carried on a chair of reeds, and appointed priests for its service. When they left their country, on their migration, they consisted of seven different tribes; but here the Mexicans were left with their god by the others, called the Xochimilcas, Tepanecas, Chalchese, Colhuas, Tlahuicas, and Tlascalans, who proceeded onwards. The reason of this separation is not mentioned, except that it was at the command of the god, from which it may be conjectured that some quarrel had arisen with respect to his worship.

On their way to Tula, the Mexicans became divided into two factions; yet they kept together, for the sake of the god, while they built altars, and left their sick in different places. They remained in Tula nine years, and spent eleven more in the countries adjoining. In 1216, they reached Tzompanco, a city in the vale of Mexico, and were hospitably received by the lord of the district; his son, named Ilhuitcatl, married among them. From him have descended all the Mexican monarchs. The people continued to migrate along the Lake Tezcuco during the reign of Xolotl, but in the reign of Nopaltzin they were persecuted, and obliged, in 1245, to go to Chapoltepec, a mountain two miles from Mexico. They then took refuge in the small islands Acocolco, at the southern extremity of the Lake of Mexico. Here they lived miserably for 52 years, till the year 1314, when they were reduced to slavery by a petty king of Colhuacan, by whom they were treacherously entrapped and cruelly oppressed.

Some years after, on the occasion of a war between the Colhuas and the Xochimilcas, in which the latter were victorious, the Colhuas were obliged to release their slaves, who fought with great bravery, cutting off the ears of the enemies they had killed, which they produced on being reproached with cowardice. The effect of this was to excite such a detestation of them, that they were desired to leave the country. They did so, and went north till they came to a place called Acatzitzintlan, and afterwards Mexicaltzinco; but not liking this, they went on to Iztacalco, still nearer to the site of Mexico. Here they remained two years, and then went to a place on the lake, where they found the _nopal_ growing on a stone, and over it the foot of an eagle; this was the place marked out by the oracle. Here they ended their wanderings, and erected an altar to their god; one of them went for a victim, and found a Colhuan, whom they killed, and offered as a sacrifice to the idol. Here, too, they built their rush huts, and formed a city, which was called Tenochtitlan, and afterwards Mexico, or the place of Mexitli, their god of war.

This was in 1325; the city was situated on a small island in the middle of a great lake, without ground sufficient for cultivation, or even to build upon. It was necessary, therefore, to enlarge it; and for this purpose they drove down piles and palisades, and with stones, turf, &c., thus united the other small islands to the larger one. To procure stone and wood, they exchanged fish and water-fowl with some other nations, and made, with incredible industry, floating gardens, on which they raised vegetable products. They here remained thirteen years at peace, but afterwards quarrels ensued, and the factions separated; one of them went to a small island a little northward, named Xaltilolco, afterwards Tlatelolco.

These divided their city into four parts, each quarter having its tutelar deity. In the midst of the city, Mexitli was worshipped with horrible rites, and the sacrifice of prisoners. Under pretence of consecrating her to be the mother of their god, they sought the presence of a Colhuan princess at their rites; and when the request was granted, they put her to death, flayed her body, and dressed one of their brave men in her skin. The father was invited to be present and officiate as the priest. All was darkness, till, on lighting the copal in his censer to begin the rites of worship, he saw the horrible spectacle of his immolated daughter.

In 1352, the Mexicans changed their aristocracy of twenty lords for a monarchy, and elected as their king Acamapitzin, who married a daughter of the lord of Coatlichan. The Tlatelolcos also chose a king, who was a son of the king of the Tepanecas. The king of the Tepanecas was persuaded by them to double the tributes of the Mexicans, and oppress them. They were commanded to transport to his capital, Azcapozalco, a great floating garden, producing every kind of vegetable known in Anahuac; when this was done, the next year, another garden was required, with a duck and a swan in it sitting on their eggs, ready to hatch on arriving at Azcapozalco; and then again, a garden was exacted from them having a live stag, which they were obliged to hunt in the mountains, among their enemies.

Acamapitzin, the king of Mexico, reigned thirty-seven years, and died in 1389, and, after an interregnum of four months, his son Huitzilihuitl succeeded him. He requested, for a wife, one of the daughters of the king of Azcapozalco, on which occasion the ambassadors are said to have made the following speech: “We beseech you, with the most profound respect, to take compassion on our master and your servant, Huitzilihuitl. He is without a wife, and we are without a queen. Vouchsafe, Sire, to part with one of your jewels or most precious feathers. Give us one of your daughters, who may come and reign over us in a country which belongs to you.” This request was granted.

It will be recollected that the Acolhuans were under the government of Techotlala, son of Quinatzin. After a thirty years’ peace, a revolt was begun by a prince called Tzompan, a descendant of one of the three original Acolhuan princes. The rebel was defeated and put to death. The Mexicans, in this war, were the allies of Techotlala, and showed great valor.

The son of the king of the Tepanecas, Maxtlaton, fearing that his sister’s son by the Mexican king might obtain the Tepanecan crown, began to oppress the Mexicans, and sent assassins to murder his nephew. The Mexicans, however, were too weak to resent this baseness.

The rival Mexicans and Tlatelolcos advanced together in wealth and power. Techotlala, the Acolhuan king, was succeeded by Ixtlilxochitl in 1406. The king of Azcapozalco, his vassal, sought to stir up rebellion, but he was defeated, and compelled to sue for peace. The same year in which this occurred, the Mexican king died, and his son, Chimalpopoca, was chosen his successor.

The king of the Acolhuans, mentioned above, was driven from his kingdom, and both he and one of his grandsons were cut off by the treachery of the Tepanecas. The rebels, led on by their king, Tezozomoc, poured in, and conquered Acolhuacan. Tezozomoc then gave Tezcuco to the Mexican king, Chimalpopoca, and other portions to the king of Tlatelolco, and proclaimed his own capital, Azcapozalco, the metropolis of all the kingdoms of Acolhuacan. He was a great tyrant, and was tormented with dreams, that the son of the murdered king of the Acolhuans, Nezahualcoyotl, transformed into an eagle, had eaten out his heart, or, in the shape of a lion, had sucked his blood. He enjoined it, therefore, on his sons, to put the prince, of whom he had dreamed, to death. He survived his dreams but a year, and died in 1422.

He was succeeded by his son Tajatzin, but the throne was at once usurped by another son, Maxtlaton, and Tajatzin took refuge with Chimalpopoca, who advised him to invite his brother to a feast, and murder him. This being overheard and told to Maxtlaton, he pretended not to believe it, but took the same means to get rid of Tajatzin. The king of Mexico declined the invitation, and escaped for a time; but his wife having been ravished by Maxtlaton, he resolved not to survive his dishonor, but to offer himself in sacrifice to his god, Huitzilopochtli. In the midst of the ceremonies, Maxtlaton burst in, took him, carried him off, and caged him like a criminal.

This success excited afresh in the mind of Maxtlaton the desire to get the Acolhuan prince, Nezahualcoyotl, into his power. He, discovering the designs of the tyrant, went boldly to him and told him he had heard that he wished his life also, and he had therefore come to offer it. Maxtlaton, struck by his conduct, assured him he had no designs against him, nor was it his purpose to put the king of Mexico to death. He then gave orders that he should be hospitably entertained, and even allowed him to visit Chimalpopoca in prison. The Mexican king, however, soon after, hanged himself with his girdle; and Nezahualcoyotl, suspecting the sincerity of Maxtlaton’s professions, left the court. After wandering about for some time, exposed to various dangers from his inveterate foe, he finally took refuge among the Cholulans, who agreed to assist him with an army for the purpose of overthrowing Maxtlaton, and restoring him to the throne, which had been usurped by the father of the tyrant.

On the death of their king, the Mexicans raised to the throne Itzcoatl, a son of their first monarch, Acamapitzin, a brave, prudent, and just prince. This choice was offensive to Maxtlaton,--but to Nezahualcoyotl, on the contrary, it afforded the highest satisfaction. The new monarch, immediately on his elevation to the throne, resolved to unite all his forces with this prince against the tyrant Maxtlaton. On a certain occasion, he sent an ambassador to Nezahualcoyotl, named Montezuma, who, with another nobleman, was taken captive on the way, and carried to Chalco. They were then sent to the Huexotzincas to be sacrificed. This people, however, spurned the barbarous proposal. Maxtlaton was then informed of their capture; but he commanded the lord of Chalco, whom he called a double-minded traitor, to set them both at liberty. Before this, however, they had escaped, by the connivance of the man to whom they had been intrusted, and returned to Mexico. Maxtlaton then made war against Mexico. Montezuma offered to challenge him, which he did by presenting to him certain defensive weapons, anointing his head, and fixing feathers on it. Maxtlaton, in turn, commissioned him in like manner to bear a challenge from himself to the king of Mexico. A terrible battle ensued; the tyrant was defeated, his city taken, and himself killed, being beaten to death while attempting to escape. His people, the Tepanecas, were entirely subdued.

The Mexican king now replaced the Acolhuan prince on the throne of his ancestors, and carried on his conquests by his general, Montezuma. On his death in 1436, he was succeeded by Montezuma the First. This monarch was the greatest that ever sat on the throne of Mexico. He engaged in a war with Chalco, the king of which city had taken three Mexican lords, and two sons of the king of Tezcuco, put them to death, salted and dried their bodies, and placed them in his hall as supporters to torches! Montezuma took the city, and executed vengeance on the barbarous people. He then reduced Tlatelolco, whose king had conspired against the late king of Mexico. He also subdued the Mixtecas, and thus enlarged his dominions.

In 1457, he sent an expedition against the Cotastese, and took 6,200 prisoners, whom he sacrificed to his god. He also took signal vengeance again on the Chalchese, who had rebelled, and had sought to make one of his brothers king in his stead. The brother pretended to comply; but mounting a scaffold which he ordered to be erected, and taking a bunch of flowers in his hand, then urging his attendant Mexicans to be faithful to their king, he threw himself from the scaffold. This enraged the Chalchese so much that they put the Mexicans to death, for which Montezuma made war against them till he had almost exterminated them. He finally, however, proclaimed a general amnesty. He constructed a dike, nine miles long and eleven cubits broad, to prevent the recurrence of an inundation which had happened, and which was followed by a famine. He died in 1464.

Montezuma the First was succeeded by Axayacatl, who pursued the conquests so successfully begun by the late king. A war broke out between the Mexicans and Tlatelolcos, which ended in the final subjection of the latter. Their king was killed, and carried to the Mexican monarch, who, with his own hand, cut open his breast, and tore out his heart. He also fought the Otomies, and gained a complete victory, making 11,060 prisoners, among whom were three chiefs. He died in 1477, and was succeeded by his oldest brother, Tizoc, who was probably cut off by poison. Tizoc was succeeded by another brother, named Ahuitzotl, who finished the great temple begun by his predecessor, and, having reserved the prisoners taken in his wars for this purpose, he sacrificed, at its dedication, as Torquemada asserts, 72,344; others say, 64,060. This was in the year 1486. He carried on his conquests even as far as Guatemala, 900 miles south of Mexico. He was only once defeated; this was in 1496, by Toltecatl, a Huexotzincan chief. He died in 1502, in consequence of striking his head against a door. Two years previous to his death there was an inundation, which was followed by a famine, proceeding, it is said, from the decay of the grain.

Ahuitzotl was succeeded by Montezuma the Second, a man of great bravery, and also a priest, but excessively haughty. His coronation was attended with the greatest display and pomp. He lived in exceeding splendor; lords were his servants, and no one was permitted to enter his palace without putting off his shoes and stockings. Even the meanest utensils of his service were of gold plate and sea-shell. His dinner was carried in by 300 or 400 of his young nobles, and he pointed with a rod to such dishes as he chose. He was served with water for washing by four of his most beautiful women. The vast expenses necessary to support such luxury displeased his subjects. He was, however, munificent in rewarding his generals, by which means he retained their services, and still further secured the soldiery by appointing a hospital for invalids. Unsuccessful for a time in a war with the Tlascalans, he finally took captive a brave Tlascalan general, named Tlahuicol, and put him into a cage. When, however, he gave him his liberty to return home, Tlahuicol wished to sacrifice himself, and perished in a gladiatorial combat, after having killed eight men, and wounded twenty more.

In his reign, the conquest of Mexico was effected by Cortés. Previous to the arrival of the Spaniards, a vague apprehension seems to have troubled the minds of Montezuma and his people, respecting the downfall of their empire, an event which was supposed likewise to be portended by a comet. But the history of this catastrophe must be reserved for another chapter.

MEXICO, FROM THE ARRIVAL OF CORTÉS.

Mexico was first discovered by Juan de Grijalva. He, however, seems to have made no attempt to penetrate into the interior from the sea-coast. In 1518, when its conquest was undertaken by Cortés, the Mexican empire is said to have extended 230 leagues from east to west, and 140 from north to south. After arranging his expedition, on the 10th of February, 1519, Cortés set sail from Havana, in Cuba, and landed at the island of Cozumel, on the coast of Yucatan. His whole army consisted of but 553 soldiers, 16 horsemen, and 110 mechanics, pilots, and mariners. Having released some Spanish captives whom he found there, he proceeded to Tabasco. Here he was attacked by the natives, but defeated them, and then pursued his course north-west to San Juan de Ulua, where he arrived on the 20th of April.

Hardly had the Spaniards cast anchor, when they saw two canoes, filled with Indians, put off from the shore, and steer directly for the general’s ship. Cortés received his visiters courteously, and, in exchange for the presents of fruit, flowers, and little ornaments of gold which they brought, gave them a few trinkets, of European fabric, with which they seemed to be greatly pleased. Through the medium of an interpreter, whom he chanced to have on board, a Mexican female slave, the celebrated Marina, he learned from the Indians that they belonged to a neighbouring province which was subject to the emperor of Mexico, a mighty monarch who lived far in the interior, called Montezuma; and that they had been sent to ascertain who the strangers were, and what they wanted. Cortés replied, that he had come only with the most friendly purposes, and expressed a desire for an interview with the governor of their province. Their inquiries being satisfied, his guests shortly afterwards took their leave, and returned to the shore.

The next morning, Cortés landed with all his troops and munitions of war, and immediately set to work, with the assistance of the natives, in erecting barracks. One can scarcely help being reminded, on reading the account of the readiness with which the simple Indians engaged in this object, of the fatal alacrity with which the Trojans are said to have received within their walls the wooden horse that was so soon to prove their ruin.

Once on shore, Cortés informed the governor, Teuhtlile, that he must go to the capital. He said that he came as the ambassador of a great monarch, and must see Montezuma himself. To this the governor replied, that he would send couriers to the capital, to convey his request to the emperor, and so soon as he had learned Montezuma’s will he would communicate it to him. He then ordered his attendants to bring forward some presents which he had prepared, the richness and splendor of which only confirmed Cortés in the determination to prosecute his schemes. In the mean while, some Mexican painters who accompanied the governor were employed in depicting the appearance of the Spaniards, their ships and horses; and Cortés, to render the intelligence to be thus conveyed to the emperor more striking, arrayed his horsemen, commanded his trumpets to sound, and the guns to be fired, by which display the Mexicans were deeply impressed with the idea of the greatness of the Spaniards.

Couriers, stationed in relays along the whole line of the distance, in a day or two informed Montezuma of these things, though it was 180 miles to the capital. The monarch, who, in the midst of his fears, seems to have summoned somewhat more resolution, commanded Cortés to leave his dominions. He likewise sent him more presents; fine cotton stuffs resembling silk, pictures, gold and silver plates representing the sun and moon, bracelets, and other costly things. Cortés, however, still persisted in his purpose; on hearing which, the Mexican ambassadors turned away with surprise and resentment, and all the natives deserted the camp of the Spaniards, nor came any more to trade with them. Cortés, already threatened with a mutiny among his soldiers, evidently felt his situation to be critical, but he nevertheless went on to found a city, and establish a government for his colony.

In this juncture of his affairs, he was visited by some people from Cempoalla and Chiahuitztla, two small cities or villages tributary to Montezuma. With the caciques of these places he formed a treaty of alliance, and agreed to protect them against Montezuma. Encouraged by his promises, they went so far as to insult the Mexican power, of which they had before stood in the greatest dread. Having secured their submission, Cortés, to take away all hope of a return to Cuba, and inspire his soldiers with a desperate courage, burned his fleet; and, leaving a garrison in his new city, called Vera Cruz, he set out for the capital of the Mexican empire with 400 infantry, 15 horsemen, and seven field-pieces, having also been furnished by the Cempoallans with 1300 warriors and 1000 _tamanes_, or men of burden, to carry the baggage.

On the route to Mexico lay the little republic of Tlascala, and between these two powers there had existed for a long period an inextinguishable feud. On arriving near the confines of the republic, therefore, Cortés sent forward an embassy of Cempoallans inviting the Tlascalans to an alliance, and requesting, that, at least, he might be allowed to pass through their territories. The senate was immediately convened to decide upon this application. Maxicatzin, one of the oldest of the senators, alluded to a tradition respecting the coming of white men, and favored the request. He was opposed by Xicotencatl, who sought to prove that the Spaniards were magicians, and asserted, as they had pulled down the images in Cempoalla, that the gods would be against them. They resolved therefore on war; seized the ambassadors, and placed them in confinement.

Their plans were well laid. They prepared an ambush, allowed Cortés to pass the frontier, and then, after a little skirmishing, suddenly fell upon him with an overwhelming force, which to the astonished view of the Spaniards appeared to number 100,000 men. Notwithstanding the immense odds opposed to them, the Spaniards bravely maintained their ground; and at length, after a desperate conflict, the Tlascalans, daunted by the horses and the fire-arms of the Spaniards, to which they were unaccustomed, and disheartened by the havoc they sustained in this to them novel species of warfare, retreated. Among the slain were eight of their principal chiefs. On the side of the Spaniards the loss was inconsiderable.

Thinking that this experience of the prowess of the Spaniards might have wrought a change in the disposition of the Tlascalans towards him, Cortés now determined to send an embassy to their camp with overtures of peace. The proposals were promptly rejected, and a message of defiance was returned from the Tlascalan general. The next day another battle followed, the odds being even greater than in the former engagement; but Spanish prowess, aided by dissensions in the Tlascalan camp, again proved victorious.

The Tlascalans, thus repulsed, were assured by their priests, that their enemies, being children of the sun, received strength from his beams by day, and therefore must be attacked in the night; and that, being withdrawn from his rays, their vigor declined, and they faded and became like other men. A renewed trial, however, proved the falsity of this assertion, and, after desperate efforts against the invading foe, the Tlascalans were compelled to sue for peace. A treaty of alliance was formed for mutual protection, and Cortés and his troops were received, as beings of a superior order, into the city of Tlascala.

After recruiting himself for twenty days at Tlascala, during which time Cortés sought to gain all the information he could respecting the condition of the Mexican empire, he prepared to resume his march. During his stay, the Tlascalans yielded readily to all his requests and commands, except the one by which they were required to dethrone their own gods, and substitute the objects of the Spaniards’ worship. Cortés, indignant at their refusal, was going to effect his object by force, had he not been restrained by the prudence of his chaplain, Olmedo, who represented to him the danger of such an attempt. The Tlascalans, therefore, were left to their own religious rites and objects of worship.

Cortés, accompanied by 6,000 of them, now directed his course towards Cholula. This place was only six leagues distant from Tlascala, was formerly an independent state, and had been but lately subjected to the Mexican empire. It was considered by all the people around as a peculiarly holy place, the sanctuary or principal seat of their gods, to which pilgrimages were made, and in whose temple even more human victims were sacrificed than in that of Mexico. Montezuma professed now to be willing to receive Cortés in his capital. He had, however, laid a deep plot for the extermination of his enemies. They were to be received into Cholula under the mask of friendship, and, when not expecting it, a vigorous onset was to be made on them from every quarter, while, by means of pits dug, and barricades erected, and large collections of stones on the tops of the temples, their retreat would be cut off, and their ruin completed. Cortés was forewarned of the treachery, and took decisive measures to defeat the project. He arrested some of their chief priests, and thus obtained a confession of the meditated crime, drew up his troops, seized the magistrates and chief citizens, and, on a preconcerted signal, both the Spaniards and Tlascalans poured upon the multitude, who were so amazed, that they were unable to offer any resistance. The streets were filled with blood and carnage. The temples were set on fire, and many of the priests and chiefs perished in the flames. More than 6,000 Cholulans are said to have fallen in the massacre, without the loss of a single Spaniard. The magistrates were then released, and commanded to recall the people, who had, in the mean time, fled in every direction. After so terrible a lesson, they dared not disobey the command of one who seemed to them of a character something more than human, and the city was soon filled again with those who yielded their service to the very men who had so mercilessly butchered their friends and relatives.

Cholula was but twenty leagues from Mexico, and Cortés, on his march, was everywhere hailed as a deliverer, who came to free the people from the oppression of the Mexican yoke. Complaints were made of Montezuma and his governors, and Cortés was encouraged in the belief of the ultimate success of his enterprise against so mighty a monarchy. Without entering into the details of his march, it is enough to say, that, on crossing the Sierra of Ahualco, the valley of Mexico lay outstretched below, and the city, the object of his schemes, with its temples, and walls, and palaces, was in full view before him.

While the Spanish adventurer became more bold as he proceeded, the Mexican monarch, on the other hand, seems to have grown more irresolute and timid. The rapid march of the new enemy, the success which had crowned his arms, his sagacity in detecting the plans for his defeat,--all these things, combined with the traditions to which allusion has been made, seem to have withheld Montezuma from that wise and valiant course which might have been expected from the descendant of a long line of brave men. Had Montezuma the First been in his place, as the adversary with whom Cortés was to contend, the result might have been different.

As the Spaniards approached Mexico, they were met by 1,000 persons of high rank adorned with plumes and clothed in fine cotton mantles. These saluted Cortés after the manner of their country, and announced the approach of Montezuma. Next came two hundred persons dressed alike, with large plumes, marching two and two, in deep silence, and barefooted, with their eyes fixed on the ground. Then came a company of still higher rank in their most costly and splendid attire, in the midst of whom was Montezuma, borne on the shoulders of four of his principal favorites, while others supported a canopy of curious workmanship above his head. Before him marched three officers, bearing rods of gold, which they lifted up on high at certain intervals, as a signal for the people to bow and hide their faces, as unworthy to look on so glorious a monarch. As he drew near, Cortés dismounted, and respectfully advanced to meet him. Montezuma likewise alighted, the ground being covered with cotton cloths, and, leaning on the arm of an attendant, proceeded at a slow pace. For the first time, the invader and the monarch stood face to face. They made their salutations, Cortés after the European fashion, and the Mexican by touching the earth with his hand, and kissing it. This condescension in so mighty a monarch only tended to confirm his people in their belief, that the Spaniards belonged to a superior race; and, as they passed along, these latter heard themselves often called _Teules_, or gods.

This interview had no decisive results. Montezuma conducted Cortés to the quarters he had prepared for him, being a palace built by his father; he then left him, saying, “You are now with your brothers, in your own house; refresh yourself after your fatigue, and be happy till I return.” In the evening he returned, loaded with rich presents to all. Cortés was now informed that the Mexicans were convinced, from what they had seen and heard, that the Spaniards were the very persons predicted by the Mexican traditions, and therefore they were received, not as strangers, but as relations of the same blood and parentage. Montezuma also recognized him as entitled to command, and assured him that he and his subjects would be ready to comply with his will and to anticipate his wishes. This impression Cortés sought to confirm still more, while at the same time he treated him with the respect due to the dignity of the sovereign. He had also a public audience with the monarch, and then spent three days in viewing the city.

The city of Mexico was situated on a large plain surrounded by mountains, the moisture of which collected in several lakes. The two largest of these were sixty or seventy miles in circuit, and communicated with each other. Mexico was built, as has been before said, on some small islands in one of these lakes. The access to it was by causeways or dikes of stone and earth, forty feet broad. As the water overflowed the flat country, these causeways were somewhat long. That of Tacuba, on the west, extended a mile and a half; that of Tepejacac, on the north, three miles; and that of Iztapalapan on the south, seven miles. The east side of the city could only be approached by canoes. Each causeway had openings for the passage of the water, over which were thrown bridges of timber and earth. Many of the buildings, as the temples, palaces, and houses of the rich and the nobles, were large; but there was also a great number of poor huts. The great square, or market of Tlatelolco, was of vast extent, and would hold 40,000 or 50,000 persons. The city contained 300,000 inhabitants, at least, and some writers assert that there were many more.

The Spaniards soon began to feel uneasy, and to expect treachery on the part of Montezuma; which suspicions seemed to be confirmed by the information, that two soldiers belonging to the garrison at Vera Cruz had been treacherously murdered by Quauhpopoca, a Mexican chief, governor of a neighbouring province, instigated, it was believed, by Montezuma; and that, in an expedition subsequently undertaken by the commandant of the garrison for the purpose of avenging this act, this officer, with seven or eight soldiers, had been slain. One Spaniard had also been taken prisoner, and his head cut off and carried in triumph through different cities, to show that the invaders were not invincible. The charm was now broken, and Cortés felt that nothing but the most desperate measures would save his enterprise from ruin. He therefore seized Montezuma in his palace, and hurried him away to the Spanish quarters.

The manner in which this was effected shows the power he had gained over the monarch and his people. Admitted to his presence, the Mexicans having retired from respect, Cortés reproached the monarch with the conduct of Quauhpopoca, and demanded that Montezuma himself should become a hostage for the fulfilment of an order for his arrest. The haughty Mexican, surprised as he was, indignantly replied, that this was contrary to all custom, and that his subjects would never suffer such an affront to be offered to their sovereign; but, seized with dread at the threatening language and gestures of one of the cavaliers who attended Cortés, he finally yielded to the daring invader of his kingdom and authority. Conducted to the Spanish quarters, he received his officers, and issued his orders, as usual, but was carefully watched by the Spaniards.

Quauhpopoca, his son, and fifteen of his principal officers, were brought to the capital and delivered up to the Spaniards, and, not denying their guilt, they were condemned to be burnt alive. The Mexicans gazed in silence on these insults offered their monarch, who is said to have been even put in fetters by Cortés, as a punishment for his treachery. The daring adventurer had now so quelled the spirit of Montezuma, that he became himself the virtual sovereign of the realm. He displaced and appointed officers as he chose; sent out Spaniards to survey the country, and selected stations for colonies, and by various means sought to prepare the minds of this unfortunate people for the Spanish yoke.

To secure the command of the lake, he excited the curiosity of Montezuma to see some of those moving palaces which could pass through the water without oars. Naval equipments were brought from Vera Cruz by the aid of the Mexicans, and others of them were employed in cutting down timber for the construction of two brigantines. Cortés still further urged on Montezuma to own himself the vassal of the king of Castile, and to pay him an annual tribute. With tears and groans, broken in spirit, the Mexican monarch obeyed the humiliating requisition, while the indignant people by their murmurs showed how deeply they felt the degradation inflicted on the empire. Immense treasures were lavished on the Spaniards, and, when Montezuma refused utterly to change his religion, they became at last so daring, as to attempt to throw down the idols by force from the great temple. The priests then rallying to defend them, Cortés prudently desisted from his undertaking.

This insult to their deities roused at last the spirit of the people, who had hitherto submitted to the exactions of their conquerors and the indignities heaped on themselves and their monarch. They determined either to expel or destroy the Spaniards, and nothing but the captive condition of their monarch, and his danger, prevented an outbreak. After many consultations between Montezuma and his priests and officers, Cortés was decidedly told, that, as he had finished his embassy, the gods had signified it as their desire, that he and his band should leave the realm, or sudden destruction would fall on them. Temporizing and affecting to comply, the wily Spaniard informed Montezuma that he must have time to rebuild his vessels. To so reasonable a request no objection could be urged; and Mexicans were sent to Vera Cruz to aid in the prosecution of this labor, while the Spanish carpenters were to superintend the work.

In consequence of the arrival of an armament from Cuba against him, Cortés was forced to leave an officer with 150 men at Mexico, and hasten towards Vera Cruz. He met the advancing foe and defeated them, received the soldiery thus conquered into his own ranks, and hurried back again to the Mexican capital. During his absence, infuriated by a wanton massacre committed upon their nobles by the Spanish commandant, Alvarado, the Mexicans had risen, attacked the garrison, killed and wounded some of the men, and burned the brigantines, so that the Spaniards, now closely invested in their own quarters, were threatened with famine or by the fury of the people, by whom they were continually attacked. On his return, Cortés found that the disaffection was widely spread, and he was welcomed by none of the towns on his route, except Tlascala.

On his arrival in Mexico, Montezuma, who still remained a prisoner in the Spanish quarters, came to welcome him; but Cortés received him so coldly that the emperor soon retired. Earnestly desirous, however, of vindicating himself from the imputation of having been accessory to the assault on the garrison, he soon after sent some of his attendants to solicit an interview with the Spanish general. Irritated by the continued demonstrations of hostility on the part of the people, Cortés now threw off all restraint, and treated the message with the utmost contumely, exclaiming, “What have I to do with this dog of a king?” The nobles, swelling with indignation, withdrew.

Meanwhile the people of the city were busily engaged in preparing for a vigorous assault on the Spanish quarters. Cortés had just despatched a messenger to Vera Cruz, to announce his safe arrival in the capital, and his confident expectation of a speedy submission on the part of the rebels, as he termed them, when suddenly the din of war rose on the air, and his messenger, who had been gone scarcely half an hour, returned in breathless haste with the intelligence that the city was all in arms. The appalling tidings were speedily confirmed, by the appearance of the furious populace rushing on through every avenue towards the fortress, as if determined to carry it by storm. The conflict was fierce and obstinate. Nothing daunted by the storm of iron hail poured in upon their defenceless bodies from the Spanish ordnance, which stretched them on the ground by hundreds, they pressed on up to the very muzzles of the guns. Repulsed on one quarter, they turned with undiminished fury to another,--striving, now, to scale the parapet, now to force the gates, and now to undermine or open a breach in the walls,--and finally endeavouring to fire the edifice by shooting burning arrows into it. In this last they were partially successful; but the approach of night at length caused them to retire.

On the following day the Mexicans prepared to renew the attack; but Cortés resolved to anticipate it by a sortie. Accordingly he sallied out at the head of his cavalry, supported by the infantry and his Tlascalan allies. The Mexicans fled in disorder; but soon rallying behind a barricade which they had thrown up across the street, they began to pour in volleys of missiles upon the Spaniards, which served in a degree to check their career. With the aid of his field pieces, however, Cortés speedily cleared away the barricade, when the Mexicans again turned and fled. But now, as the Spaniards continued to advance, the enemy had recourse to a new mode of annoyance. Mounting to the roofs of the houses, they hurled down large stones upon the heads of the cavaliers with a force which would often tumble them from their saddles. Unable to protect themselves against this species of missiles, Cortés ordered the buildings to be set on fire, and in this manner several hundred houses were destroyed. The Spaniards were now victorious at every point; at length, sated with slaughter, and perceiving that the day was beginning to decline, Cortés withdrew his troops to their quarters.

The Mexicans, however, were determined to allow the hated strangers no rest. Although, conformably to the usage of their nation, they made no attempt to renew the combat during the night, they nevertheless bivouacked around the fortress, and disturbed the slumbers of their enemy by insulting taunts and menaces, which indicated but too clearly that their ferocity was in no degree subdued by the terrible havoc dealt out to them during the two preceding days.

In the hope of influencing the Mexicans, Cortés now brought out Montezuma to command them to cease from hostilities. At the sight of their venerated sovereign in his royal robes, they dropped their weapons, and silently bowed their heads in prostration to the ground. Obeying Cortés’s directions, he addressed them, and plied them with arguments to urge them to peace. When he ceased, sullen murmurs and indignant reproaches ran through the ranks, and, in a rage, deeming their sovereign only the supple instrument of their foe, flights of arrows and volleys of stones were poured forth on the ramparts where he stood, so that, before he could be protected, Montezuma fell, wounded by the hand of one of his own subjects. Horror-struck, the Mexicans fled; while Montezuma, disdaining to live after this degradation, died in the Spanish quarters.

Cortés, knowing that affairs had arrived at the greatest extremity, now prepared for his retreat, which he was not, however, suffered to effect, till after long and bloody conflicts, in one of which his own life was endangered by the devotion of two young Mexicans, who seized on him and hurried him to the edge of the platform of the temple, intending to cast him and themselves down, that they all might be dashed in pieces. Many of his soldiers were driven into the lake, and there perished; others were killed, and others still were taken prisoners. He lost, it is said, more than half his army, escaping with only about 400 foot soldiers and twenty horsemen, with which force he broke through the multitudes by whom he was everywhere hemmed in. He lost also his artillery, baggage, and ammunition; besides 4,000 Tlascalans who were killed and taken prisoners, which latter the Mexicans sacrificed to their gods.

The retreat continued for six days, during which time Cortés and his soldiers were forced to feed on berries, roots, and stalks of green maize. On the seventh day, they reached Otumba, on the route from Mexico to Tlascala, the point towards which he was directing his course. The Mexicans, as he advanced, hung on his rear, exclaiming, exultingly, “Go on, robbers! go where you shall quickly meet the vengeance due to your crimes!” On reaching the summit of the mountain range, they understood too well the meaning of this threat; for the whole wide plain below them in front was covered with a vast army, drawn up in battle array. The Mexicans, leaving the smaller portion of their force to pursue the flying enemy on one side of the lake, had gathered the main body of their army on the other side, and, marching forward, posted it in the plain of Otumba.

Cortés, without a moment’s hesitation, lest the sight of such vast numbers might strike his troops with dismay, led them on to the charge; and, notwithstanding the fortitude of the Mexicans, succeeded in penetrating their dense battalions. But, as one quarter gave way, the Mexicans rallied on another, and continued to pour upon the foe in such numbers, that, but for a fortunate event which turned the tide of battle, the Spaniards must have been overpowered from exhaustion. Cortés, availing himself of the knowledge which his stay at Mexico had enabled him to gain, directed his efforts against the quarter where the standard was carried before the Mexican general, assured, that, by the capture of this, he could throw the whole Mexican army into confusion.

The event justified his expectation; for when, in spite of the resistance of the nobles, he killed the Mexican general, and seized on the standard, the whole Mexican army, panic-struck, threw down their weapons and fled to the mountains. The spoils of the field in some degree compensated the Spaniards for the losses they had sustained in their retreat from the capital. Pursuing their march without further molestation from the enemy, they shortly afterwards reached Tlascala, where they were received with the greatest kindness by their faithful allies. Here Cortés remained, raising recruits, and forming new plans for the subjugation of the empire.

The Mexicans, on the death of Montezuma, had raised to the throne his brother, Cuitlahua, who showed himself worthy of the choice. After expelling Cortés from the capital, he repaired the fortifications, provided magazines, caused long spears to be made, headed with the swords and daggers taken from the Spaniards, gathered the people from the provinces, and exhorted them to prove faithful. He also sent embassies to Tlascala, to persuade that people to break off their alliance with men who were the avowed enemies of the gods, and who would assuredly impose on them the yoke of bondage. It was no easy matter for Cortés to withstand the influence of such reasonable suggestions on the minds of the Tlascalans; and had he not been on the spot, their fidelity might perhaps have wavered.

But, while Cuitlahua was thus planning the defence of his kingdom, and performing the part of a wise and valiant prince, he was attacked by the small-pox, a disease introduced, it is said, by the Spaniards, and fell a victim to this scourge of the natives of the New World. He was succeeded by his nephew, Guatemozin, a young man of great ability and valor.

In the mean time, Cortés was busily employed in making arrangements for the renewal of operations against Mexico. Reinforcements of troops, arms, and ammunition came in from various quarters. The strongholds on the Mexican frontier were reduced, and the people of the surrounding country, who had made demonstrations of hostility, were summarily chastised and subdued. Cortés likewise gave orders for the construction of thirteen brigantines at Tlascala, which, when finished, might be taken to pieces and transported to Mexico, to be employed in the siege of the city.

His arrangements being now completed, on the 24th of December, 1520, Cortés set forward on his march. On reëntering the Mexican territories, he found that various preparations had been made to oppose him. He, however, forced his way, and took possession of Tezcuco, the second city of the empire, situated on the lake about twenty miles from Mexico. Fixing his head-quarters here, he now occupied himself in the subjugation of the towns around bordering on the lake. By treating the inhabitants kindly, he won them to himself, and, as they had been originally independent, and were reduced by the Mexican power, he promised them a restoration to their former privileges, subject only to the sway of the king of Castile. In this manner, the Mexican monarch and those who remained faithful to him became more and more limited in their resources, while Cortés was gaining additional strength.

Having finally completed the preparation of the materials for his brigantines, he sent a strong convoy to transport them to Tezcuco. The Tlascalans furnished him 8,000 _tamanes_, or carriers, and appointed 15,000 warriors to accompany the Spanish troops. The materials were carried sixty miles across the mountains, and finally reached Tezcuco in safety.

A new reinforcement of soldiers, with horses, battering cannon, and ammunition, now also joined him from Hispaniola, whither he had sent to raise recruits. The brigantines were soon finished; for the purpose of floating them into the lake, a canal, two miles long, was made by deepening a small rivulet, and amid shouts, firing of cannon, and religious ceremonies, they were launched.

The force, destined for this final attack on Mexico, amounted to 86 horsemen and 818 foot-soldiers, of whom 118 were armed with muskets or crossbows; a train of artillery of three battering cannon, and fifteen field pieces. Each brigantine was manned by twenty-five Spaniards, and bore one of the small cannon. These Cortés commanded in person. The points selected for the attack were, from Tepejacac on the north side of the lake, from Tacuba on the west, and Cojohuacan towards the south, corresponding to the causeways which have been heretofore mentioned. By cutting off the aqueducts, the inhabitants were reduced to great distress; and the efforts of the Mexicans to destroy the fleet were entirely unsuccessful.

Cortés, now master of the lake, pushed on his attack from all points, broke down the barricades, forced his way over the trenches, and sought to penetrate into the heart of the city. The Mexicans, though losing ground every day, repaired the breaches by night, laboring with incredible effort to recover their posts. With his small force, the Spaniard dared not attempt a lodgment where he might be hemmed in by numbers, and thus defeated. Finally, however, his troops, by the most desperate assaults, penetrated into the city; a success which was shortly turned into a disastrous and nearly fatal defeat, in consequence of the commander of one of the divisions, Juan de Alderete, neglecting his instructions to fill up the canals and gaps in the causeways, as he proceeded, in order to secure the means of retreat.