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Show II6 • H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. in other affairs, of various opinions (q); we nre npt to think the co:n .. · 1 putat10n true w ·ch }1as been mad~ by Gomant, who appcnrs to have ll ' • v • • made the moil: diligent enquirictl, and to have l.nformecl hllnfelf both f rom C or t es an d tlle Otl1er conquerors ,· . that 1s, . there fell, . b.e fi.d c s four hundred and fifty Spaniards, more than four thoufand aux1.lianc: , .1 g t11anu an1on em , as Cortes fc.tys , all the Cholulans : almoft a.l l the pn .. foncrs the men and women who were in the fcrvice of the Spanmrds., ~ere killed (r ), alfo forty-fix horfes ; and all the riches th:y ha':i amalkd, all their artillery, and all the manu[! ripts belonging to Cort<.:s , containing an account of every thing which had h~ppened to the Sp;miards until that period, were loft. Among the Spant~rds who were mifilng, the moll: confidcrable per[ons were, the capta1~s V elafq~H~Z de Leon, the .intimate friend of Cortes, Amador de Lavtz, Franc1fco Marla and Francifco de Saucedo, all four, men of great courage and merit.' Among the prifoners who were killed was Cacamatzi~1, that unfortunate king, and a brother and fon, and two daugHters of Mon-tezuma (.r), and a daughter of prince ~axixcatzin. · · In fpite of his greatnefs of foul, Cortes could not chec~ his tears at the fight of fuch calamity. He fat down upon a fi:one m Popotla, a village near Tlacopan, not to repofe after his toil, but to weep fo~ the lofs of his friends and companions. In the midft of fo many difafl: ers, however, he had at lea!l: the comfort of hearing that his brave captains Sandoval, Alvarado, Olid, Ordaz, Avila, and Lugo, his inter- (r/) Cortes fays, that one hundred and fifty Spaniards pe.rilhod; but he either ~cfignedly lcflened the number for particular ends, or there was fome mafiake made by the copy all or firlt printer of that letter. B. Diaz numbers eight hun~ red and feventy to h~ve f~llcn; but in this account he includes, not only thofc who were ktlled on that unlucky n1ght, but alfo thofc who died before he reached Tlafcala. Solis reckons only upon two hundred, and Torquemada two hun'dred and ninety. Concerning the number of auxiliary troops which perifhcd then, Comnra, Hcrrern, Torquemada, and Betancourt, arc agreed. Solis f:~ya only, that more than two thoufand Tlafcalans were miffed;. but in this he docs not agree with the computation made by Cortes, or other authors. . (r) Ordaz aflirms, that all the prifoncrs were k1lled; but he ought to have exceptrd Cuicuitzcatl: in, whom Cortes had aln·ady placed on the throne of Acolhuacan ; beca~1fc we know from the account of Cortes, that he was one of the .prifoners, anrl on the other hand, it is certain that he was killed afterwards in T ezcuco. (l) Torqucmada affia·ma, as a well cr:rcificd point, that Cortes, a few days after he took Ca· camatzin, made him be firangl cd in prifon. Cortes, B. Diaz., Betancourt, and others,. fay that he w:1s killed along witP, th.e other prifon.crs on that memorable night. 8 prere~ . .. H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. Pt preters Aguilar and Donna Marina, were fafe, by means of whom he BOOK. I~. chiefly trufl:ed to be able to repair his honour and conquer Mexico. 1..--r--J The Spaniards found themfelves fo dt:jeeted and enfeebled with £1tigue, and with their wounds, that if the Mexicans had purfued them, not one of them could have efcapeu with life; but the latter had hardly arrived at the la!l: bridge upon that road, when they returned to their city, Ss cT. XXI. Fatiguing march of the Spaniards . either becaufe they were contented with the fi~;~ughter already committed,. or having found the dead bodic of the king of Acolhuacan, the royal princes of Mexico, and other lords, they were employed in mourning for their death and paying them funeral honours. They would have ob-ferved the f.1me conduCt with their dead relations or friends; for they left the fi:reets and ditches entirely clean that day, burning all the dead bodies, before they could infect the air by corruption. At break 'of day the Spaniards found themfelvcs in Popotla, fcattered about, wounded, wearied, and affliCted. Cortes h avingaflembledand fonned them in order, marched through the city of Tlacopan, !l:ill harra!fed by fome troops · of that city and of Azcapozalco, until they came to Otoncalpolco, a temple fituated upon the top of a fmall mountain nine miles to the weft of the capital, where at prefent fi:ands the celebrated fancl:uary or temple of the Virgin de los remedioJ, or fuccour. Here they fortified themfel ves as well as they could, to defend themfel ves with the lefs trouble from the enemy, who continued to annoy them the whole day. At night they repofed a little, and had fome refrelhment furnifhed them by the Otomies, who occupied two neighbouring hamlets, and lived impatient under the yoke of the Mexicans. From this place they directed their courfe towards Tla[cala, their only re-treat in their misfortunes, through ~auhtitlan, Citlaltepec, Xoloc. and Zacamolco, annoyed all the way by flying troops of the enemy. In Zacamol.co they were fo famiG1~d, and reduced to fuch diftrefs, that at fupper they eat a horfe which had been killed that day by the enemy, of which the general himfelf had his part. The Tlafcalans threw themfelves upon the earth to eat tl~e herbs of it, praying for affiftance from their gods. The day followin T, when they had jufi: began their march by the SxcT. XXII. FamonR bat• mountains of Aztaqucmccan, they faw at a diftance in the plain of tie of Ocov1· Tonan, a little way from the city of Otompan, a numerous and b:il- pan. . ll~t |