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Show 132 BOOK. IX. ~ ~&CT. XXX. Wtar of Xa· lut:t.inco, Te· cumachalco, unu Tochtc· JlCC, H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. death by Montezuma; and becaufe he was ftill a yo~th of ~ew ye.\rs, his father; his uncle, :md two other nobles, were appomted h1s tutors. The fame· of the victories of the Spaniards fpread fuddenly through all the country, and drew the obedience of many to the Catholic king. Befides <l!!auhquechollan, Itzocan, and Ocopetlajoccan, a large city at u. little dilbnce from the two firft, fame lords came to pay homage to the crown of Cafiile, from eight places of Coaixtlahnacan, a part of the great province of Mixtccapan, more than a hundred and twenty miles difiant towards the fouth from the city of <l!!aubquechol1an,, courting with emulation the alliance and friendlhip of fuc.:h brave ll:rangers. Cortes, having returned to Tcpejacac, made war, by means of his captains~ on fome cities who had !hewn hoil:ilities to the Spaniards. The inhabitants of Xalatzinco, a city at a litle di!l:ance from the road of Vel·a Cruz, were conquered by the brave Sandoval, and the principal ·perfons carried prifoners to Cortes, who, upon feeing them humble and penitent, fet them at liberty again. Thofe of Tecamachalco, a city of confiderable fize, of the Popolocan nation, made a ftout refi!l:ance; but at la!l: they furrendered, and two thoufand of them wcr~ made flaves. Againft Tochtepcc, a large city .upon the river Papaloapan, where thel·e was a Mexican garrifon, he fent a captain, named Salcedo, with eighty· Spaniards, of whom .not one returned alive to bring the general the news of their defeat. This lofs was fenfibly felt by Cortes, and on account of the few Spaniards he then had, was n very heavy nne; but, in order to revenge it, he fent two brave capltains, Ordaz and Avila, with fome horfes and two thoufand allies againn the garrifon,. who, notwithftanding the great courage with which the Mexicans defended themfdves, took the city, and killed a 'number of the enemy. , . . , . . . The lofs of thofe eighty foldiers was not the only thing which d1frrdfed ortes. Thofe who a little time before had conjured him t<> .return to Vera Cruz, p~rfified now. fo ob!l:inately in their demand, that he was obliged to grant them permiHio11 not to return to Ver.a Cruz t~ wait for fome reinforcement, but to Cuba, in order to be at a great<:.; d_l!l:ance fro~. the _dangers of war, it appearing a lefs evil to that judi. c10us and_ d1lcermng leader to diminifh the nnmber of his troop.s thao to keep d1fcontcntcd men, who, by their w~\nt of fpirit, would relax 8 ilie . H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X 1 C 0. ~he courage and damp the minds of the rcfi:; put this lof&> was quickly ~nd abundant1y fupplied by a confid.erabl~ n111mber of foldiers, who 9r.rived wi.th.l)orfes, arms, and ammunition, at the port of Vera Cru~ .; 9ne party being fent by the governor of Cuba to the aUiftance o,f N. ar-vaez, . the other by the go,vernor of Jaynaica, to the expedition of . Panuco : who all willingly j~ined themfelves to Co~ttes, converting thofc very means, which w.ere employed by his enemies fo! his ~·uin, into inil:ruments of his fucccfs. The conquefts of the Spaniards, and the number of their allies, fo aggrandifed their name, and procured fuch aythority to Cortes among thofe people, that he was the umpire in all their differences, and they repaired to him as if he had been the fovereign lord of all the region, to obtain confirmation of the inveftiture of vacant ftates, and in particular thofe of Cholula and Ocotelolco in Tlafcala, both vacant by deaths occafioned by the fmall-pox. This fcourge of the human race, totally unknown hitherto in the new world, was brought there by a Moorilh fiave belonging to Narvaez. He infctl:ed the Chcmpoallefe, and from thence the infection fpread through all the Mexican empire, to the irremediable de!l:rutl:ion of thofe nations. Many thoufands perifhed and fame places were utterly depopulated. They whole conftitution furmounted the violence of the diftemper, remained fo disfigured and marked with fuch deep pits in the .filce, that they raifed horror in every perfon who viewed them. Among other dif;.1fters occafion~d by this diforder, the death of Cuitlahuatzin, after a reign of three or four months, was moft fenfibly felt by the Mexicans, and the death of prince Maxixcatzin by the Tlafcalans and Spaniards. The Mexicans chofe ~auhtemotzin, nephew of the dcccafed Cuit.: 'lahuatzin, for their king, as no brother of the two laft kings was furvlVIng. This was a youth of about twen~y-five years, of great fpirit; and although not much prattifed in the art of war, on account pf his age, he continued the military difpofitions of his predecelior. He married his coufin Tecuichpotzin, daughter of Montezuma, and for-merly wife to his uncle Cuitlahuatzin • The death of Maxixcatzin was greatly lamented by Cortes,. as much on account of t!lc particubr friendlhip formed between them, as .to hin1 it had been principally owing tha.t there was fa much harmony bctw en • f3l B..O.. O..K .. I.X. ,'. SiLcT.XXXI. Havock made by the fmall· pox. Death of king Cuitlahuat7. in and the prince Maxixcatzin, and clccH'on of king ~auhtemot· zm. |