now resolved to attack Mexico by water. He therefore dispatched his ship-builder, Martin Lopez, to Tlascala, with orders to construct thirteen brigantines, using the iron and rigging which, with wonderful forethought, he had saved from the two fleets destroyed at Vera Cruz.

A few of his followers, mostly men of wealth and office, beheld these preparations with dismay, "being utterly averse from a repetition of the days of Mexico and Otumba." These men he dismissed in one of the ships of Narvaez, and they "returned to Cuba with their pockets well lined, after all their disasters." His usual good fortune supplied their loss. Two vessels, which Velasquez had dispatched from Cuba to learn the fate of his last expedition, were successively entrapped at Vera Cruz, and their crews and munitions forwarded to Tlascala. From these, and from an unfortunate expedition dispatched from Jamaica, his forces were recruited with an hundred and fifty men, with horses, arms, and ammunition.

In a letter which at this time he dispatched to the emperor, he recounted his wonderful exploits and his terrible misfortunes, and requested that the country in the conquest of which he was engaged might be called, "New Spain"-a name which it has since commonly borne. Another, signed by nearly every person in his service, earnestly besought of the Spanish sovereign a confirmation of his authority. He was still entirely ignorant of the manner in which his proceedings had been received at court; and he remained for a long time in a state of harassing uncertainty whether the arrival of a fleet would bring him the royal approval and the anxiously-desired reinforcements, or an order that, like other illustrious servants of the crown, he should be sent home in chains from the land he had half subjected to its sway. At all events, prompt and energetic enterprise was the course both of prudence and safety. Preparations for the siege of Mexico were vigorously carried on; the brig antines were rapidly building; and fresh supplies of powder were manufactured with sulphur brought by his daring followers from the crater of Popocatepetl.

Meanwhile, the sovereignty of the Aztec empire had again changed hands. The patriotic Cuitlahua, after a brief but honorable reign of four months, had perished of the small-pox, a disease imported in the fleet of Narvaez. This loathsome malady, pursuing its usual course among a strange people, had carried off myriads of the natives from the Gulf to the Pacific. "Thus black," says our old author, "was the arrival of Narvaez, and blacker still the death of such multitudes of unfortunate souls, which were sent into the other world without having an opportunity of being admitted into the bosom of our holy church."

To fill the throne, the Aztec caciques made choice of Guat emozin, a nephew of the two late emperors, and a prince of the most determined courage and patriotism. "He was a young man," says one who had often seen him, "about the age of twentyfive years, of elegant appearance, very brave, and so terrible to his own subjects that they all trembled at the sight of him."

This valiant and able sovereign, already distinguished in war, was a deadly foe to the Spaniards. He took the most immediate and energetic measures for the defence of his capital. His vassals were every where commanded to make a desperate resistance; and high rewards were proclaimed for the head of every Spaniard who should be slain, and especially for those who might be taken alive for sacrifice. The weaker portion of the inhabitants was sent out of the city, and its garrison of Aztec warriors was strengthened and strictly disciplined. Animated by his fearless and chivalrous spirit, all were determined to resist the invaders to the death.

The force which Cortes had prepared for his gigantic undertaking, consisted of less than six hundred Spaniards, with forty horses and nine pieces of artillery; but the requisite physical force was abundantly supplied from the multitudinous ranks of his allies of Tlascala, Cholula, Tepeaca, and other tributary provinces. Their numbers, it is said, exceeded an hundred thousand, and they had already commenced an imitation of the European discipline. To both armies the general made a

most eloquent address, inflaming their ardor to the highest pitch; while, the better to secure the divine favor, he issued a number of wholesome regulations for his own men, especially prohibiting gambling, and any blasphemy against the saints.

On the 28th of December, 1520, he marched from Tlascala, leaving at that city the main body of his Indian levies, in readiness to await his commands. Crossing the rugged sierra, by a most painful and difficult route, the toiling Spaniards attained a height from which they once more beheld that beautiful Valley, the scene of such marvellous triumphs and such deadly suffering and peril. "We could see," says Cortes, "all the provinces of Mexico and Temixtitan, both on the lakes and around them. But although we regarded them with great satisfaction, this feeling was not unmixed with sadness, when we recalled the losses we had experienced there, and we all resolved never to quit the country again without victory, even should it cost us our lives."

Skirmishing parties, of no very formidable nature, beset the way, but the invaders pushed on, and approached the walls of Tezcuco, which city was destined for their head-quarters. Cacama, the prince of that city, had been, as we have seen, made prisoner by Cortes, and, with some of the children of Montezuma, and other persons of eminence, had perished in the "Noche Triste." His brother, Coanaco, had then assumed the throne, and had evinced his enmity to the invaders by the massacre of forty-five of their companions-whose skins and accoutrements, a ghastly trophy, were afterwards found suspended in the neighboring temples.* A friendly message, how

* "In Tezcuco," says Cortes, "we found in the oratories, or temples of the city, the skins of five horses, sewed up, and containing the horse-shoes, and the hands and feet of our men, * * and we found the blood of our companions and brothers, spilled and sacrificed in all the towns and temples: the occasion of much grief." In another town, says Solis, continuing the ghastly narrative, "in one of their temples, were found the Heads of those Spaniards, dried in the Fire to preserve them from Corruption: A dreadful Spectacle! which, giving a fresh Idea of their terrible Death, made the Images and Representations of the Devil appear still more hideous."

ever, was sent to the advancing forces, and, on the 30th of December, Cortes and his followers entered the walls of that ancient city.

The Spaniards, conducted to an immense palace, were struck by the desertion of the streets, so populous on their former visit, and naturally dreaded a conspiracy. From the summit of the great teocalli, which they ascended, they could see the inhabitants pouring forth in all directions, some by land and some by water, till the city was nearly deserted. Coanaco had fled to Mexico. Hereupon, Cortes, with a few of the chief inhabitants, appointed in his place Tecocol, his brother, who, during his brief reign, held only the shadow of authority, the real power being lodged in the hands of the Spaniards, and of his general, the warlike Ixtlilxochitl, who shortly after succeeded to the throne. This famous chieftain had, from his youth, been distinguished by the fierceness and hardihood of his disposition, and, before the age of twenty, had wrested from Cacama (his elder brother) a considerable portion of his territory. Ambitious of further rule, he had, on the first arrival of the Christians, made them overtures of alliance. He now became their most efficient friend and supporter, and in the following campaigns acquired "the melancholy glory of having contributed more than any other chieftain of Anahuac, to rivet the chains of the white man around the necks of his countrymen."

CHAPTER XIII.

COMMENCEMENT OF THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST MEXICO-TAKING OF IZTAPALAPAN-POLICY OF CORTES IN UNITING THE NATIVESGREAT ACCESSIONS TO HIS POWER-VESSELS TRANSPORTED OVERLAND-VARIOUS BATTLES WITH THE AZTECS-THEIR COURAGE AND RESOLUTION-MARCH AROUND THE LAKES -GREAT VICTORY AT XOCHIMILCO.

THE city of Tezcuco was half a league distant from the lake, and to secure a communication for their vessels when completed, the Spaniards commenced digging a canal, on which seven or eight thousand Indians were kept constantly employ. ed. The plan of Cortes was, successively to reduce the numerous cities in the neighborhood of the lakes, and gradually to hem in the devoted capital with a circle of enemies. Soon after his arrival in Tezcuco, he marched with a large force against Iztapalapan, a city of fifty thousand inhabitants, the former abode of Cuitlahua, and firmly loyal to the present emperor. Defeating a force of the Aztecs, drawn up to oppose him, he drove them in a tumultuous rout within the walls. The inhabitants fought desperately, but were overpowered, and a massacre of six thousand, including women and children, ensued.

As night came on, the town was set on fire; but while the Spaniards and their allies were abandoned to pillage and slaughter, their resolute foes, with the courage of despair, labored at undermining the dikes which surrounded their city. The salt floods of the lake poured in upon the assailants, and though Cortes ordered an immediate retreat, it was with great difficulty and some loss that they escaped, wet to the skin, their ammunition spoiled, and all the plunder washed away. "We passed the night badly enough," says Diaz, "being sup perless and very cold; but what provoked us most was the laughter and mockings of the Indians upon the lakes." At day-break, a large body of the garrison of Mexico, crossing in