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Show .. H I S T 0 R Y 0 F 1. . :. X I C 0. BOOK IX. '--V--.1 S~cT.XXVI. New difcontcnts nnd fr·ars among fome of r he Spnni;mhl. Cortes was now freed from the d;mger to wh ich his life W<tS cxpo(~d from the blow he had rcceiverl on hi ~ h -. d in the latl: battle; and the re.fl: of the paniards, except a few who died, were. cured of. their wo~mds by the aOifhwcc of the Tlafcalan furo-cons. Dunng the tunc of h1 ~ fickn cfs, Cortes thought of nothing cUi.: than the mea ns he mutl: ufc to conduct his undertaking of the conq11cf1: of Mexico to a prol}-,erous end ; and to fur ther this, he had ord~rccb conGderablc quantity of tim er to be cut for the conJl:ru Cl ion of thirlccn brigantines; but wl~ilc he was forming thofc grand projeCts, many of h is foldicrs were indLJlging very di frl!re nt thoughts in their minds. They beheld their number diminifheu, thcmfelvcs poor, ill accoutred, and unfurni(hed with horfes as wel l as arms. They could not chafe frorn their thoughts the terrible conOitl and tra~ gic night of the firft of July, and were unwilling to expofc them[clves •my more to uew adventures. Their prefent ideas, and future apprchcnfions, were both too much for them; and they blamed their gener;\} for his obll:inacy in [o ra{h an undertaking. From murmurs in private, they proceeded to make a legal requefl: to h~m, defi rous of prevailing on him, by a variety of arguments, to return to Vera ru z, where they could procure freih troops, and a fupply of arms and proviiions, for the purpofe of attempting the· conqneil: with greater hopes, as at prefent they deemed it impoH1ble. Cortes was thuch troubled at this alteration of their [entiments, which threatened to frufl:rate all his defigns ; but exerciting his talent to perfuade his foldiers to his own pleafure, he made them a pointed energetic fpeech, which had etfeCl: enough to make them give up their pretenfions. He reproached them for that bud of cowardice he fttw fpringing in their minds, awakened their fentiments of honour, by a flattering recital of their glorio11s atlions, and the protell::ations full of ardor and courage which they had frequently made him. He made them fully fenfible how mu h mor9 difficult it would be for them to return to Vera Cruz than to remain at Tlafcala; alfured them of the fidelity of that republic, of which they feemed a little doubtful. Laftly, he prayed them to [ufpend their refolution, until they fhould fee the event of the war, which he defigned to make upon the province of Tcpcjacac, in which he hoped to find new proofs of the fincerity of the T lafcalans. • S 8 C T, XXVII. War of the S p n ni ~rd s n~ a i nft TcpcJ:! Cac, The lords of the province of Tcpejacac, which hdrdered on the republic of Tlafcala, had declared themfelves the friends of Cortes, and fubjcets H I S T 0 R :Y 0 F M E X I C 0. fupjcc:ts of the court of Spain, c;ver fince tq~t terrible mafi"acrc which the·Spaniards had made in Cholula; ~ut fc~ing afterwards that the r.a~ 11iards were woril:ed, ~nd tl1t: Mexicans yi,~oriqus, they P,Ut the~~ [elves ng~in under obodicf)C~ ~o the kipg o£ MfX~co; and, in order to conciliate his f.w.uur, they, ~ille~ fom~ Spa~iards who were on their journey from Vera Cruz to Me~ico, ~n~ ~l)apprifeq of the tra ·gecly which had happened t~ ~heir co~p~nions there; they admit. t~d a Mex ican garrifun intq their tc!-ritory, ~nd ~ccupied the road w~uch led from Vera ruz to Tlafcala; and, not even ~onten~ed with that, they maclc fome incurfions into the lands of that republic. Cortes propo~ d to make war upon them, not lefs to punia1 their perfidy than to fcc urc the road hom that port for the fuccours he expecl:ed from thence. I Ic wa infl:i~ ted alfo to this expedition by the young Xicotcncat1, who had been 1et at liberty by the J?lediation C?f the Spalli! h g~neral 1 1mfdf, and that he might remoye every fufpicion a,gainfl: him concerning what had paifed in the fenate, offered to affifi: him in that wa,r with a .!hong army. Cortes accepted his offer; but before he took up arms, he in a frienJly manner demanded f.·uiff; lCl:ion of the Tep jacans, and advifed them to quit the Mexican cau[e, promifing to pardon the trefpafs they had comr11ittcd in murdering thofe Spaniards; but his propofition having been rej eCted, he marched aga infl: them with four hundred and twenty Span iards and fix thoufand Tlafcahtn ~rchers, while Xicotcncatl was levying an army of fifty thoufand men . In Tzimpontzinco, a city of the repnblic, fo many troops aflembled from the fl:ntcs of Hucxozinco, and Cholula, that it was imagined their numb~r amounted to <t h undred and fifty thoufand. The firfi: exped ition W•ls againfl: Zac:ltcpcc, the place of the confcqeracy Qf the Tepejacans. The inhabitants of it laid in ambulcade for the Spaniards. They fough t on . both fides with great courage and obll:inacy, but at lai1 the Spanbrds were vifror , and a confidcrablc number of the enemy left dead on the field (a) . From thence the army marched againfi: Acatzinco, a t'ity ten miles t the fouthward of (a) Several hiftorinns fay, that the night afr r the bartlc of 7.trcntrpec the allies of the Sp:t• aiards had a great fup pcr of human Jlc(h; p:trt roa ilcd on fpi ts of wood, part boiled in fi fty thou fand pots. But this app ars a complete fable. It is not probable that Cortes, or Bcrnnl Diaz, fhould have omiucd an CVl!nt in th eir rc iations of JiJ r ·rnarkablc a natttrc, pnrti~tdarly ,Diaz, who is generally too prolix anJ tedious in his l'C ita! of fuch nets of inhumanity. Tcpejacac, • uz r f BOOK IX. ~ . |