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Show nooK x. '---v--1 • H I S T 0 R y 0 F M E X J C 0. dt.t iO. n and to ren de r an..rt. il: ancc, wllen it {1roved necellary. in {hort, its vicini;y to Mexico contributed to make every attack .more eafy. . . There he alfcmbled his brig~mtincs, and abandonmg the cxpedttlon again.{.l lztapalapan, formed a refolution to give very foon a commence-ment to h1. s opet.a t1'o ns • rL.f e ordered to his camp one half of the troops o1f Cojohuaean, and fifty chofen foldiers from the troops . under Sandova .. That night he heard a great body of enemies. commg towards h•s camp. The Spaniards, kno\ving that the Mex1ca.ns were no_t ufed ~o combat by night unlefs when they were fccure of vtft:ory, we1c at fidl: apprehenfive; but, although thc.y received fome hurt from the et:emy, they obliged them by the fire of their artillery and mu~\:e ts to r~ttr~ ~o the city. The next day they found thcm~dv cs attac_ked b~ a pt_odJ?tous multitude of warriors, who enlarged thetr number m the 1magmattorr of the Spaniards with dreadful howls. The fuppl~ expeft:e~ from Co~ johuacan being arrived, Cortes made a fally with 1~ts people m order of battle. They fought with great courage an~ obftmacy ~n both fides, but the Spaniards and their allies took one .d1tch ~nd a_n mtrenchment, and did fo much damage to the Mexicans wtth theJJ· artillery and horfes, thott they were compelled to retreat to their city ; and becaufe, by that part of the lake which was to the weft of the road, they were ~uch annoyed by the veffels of the Mexicans, Cortes made o~e o~ the d•:ches be enlarged, tlut the brigantines might p.tfs there, whtch Iml~ edta te]y charged impetuouOy upon them, pmfued them as filr as the capttal, and iet fire to fome houfcs of the fuburbs. In the meanwhile, Sandoval having fuccefsfully terminated, though not without i11 fin ite peril, the expedition of lztapabpan, marched with· his troops towards Cojohuacan. On his way thither, he was attacked by the troops of Mexicaltzinco, but he defeated them, and fet fire to the city. ortes, apprifed of his march, and :11lfo of a great ditch which had been recently made in that road, fent two brigantines to facilitate the palfage to the army. It marched towards Cojohuacan, and Sandoval came with ten cavalry to the camp of Cortes. When he arrived there he found the Spaniards in combat with the Mexicans: the fu tigue of the journey and the battle of Mexicaltzinco was not fuflicient to refl:rain him from engaging : he joined battle with his ufual courage, but whilt fighting he was pierced in the leg by a dart, and many. other S p ~tniards I H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. Spaniards were wounded with him. Thofe advantages, if we may call them fo, are little in comparifon with the lofs which the Mexicans fuftaincd that day, or the dread which the fire of the artillery excited in them; which was fo great, that for fomc days they durfi not come near the Spanilh . camp. The Spaniards continued for fix days in continual ikirmifhes; the brigrtn tines failing round th e capital, fet fire to many houfes of the fuburbs, and in their expcdi tious diCc overed a large and deep canal, by which they could cafily enter the city. This was in future a circumfiance of great advantage to the Spaniards. . Alvarado, on his part, hemmed in the Mexicans as much as pol1ible, by taking at diftcrcnt encounters feme ditches and intrenchments on the road of Tlacopan ; but fome of his men were kil1ed, and many' wounded. He obferved, that by the road of Tepejacac, fituated towards the north, provifions were .continually introduced to the city, and perceived aHo, that by that road the befieged could ealily efcape, when they found they could no longer refill: the beiiegers. He communicated this obfcrvation to Cortes, who commanded Sandoval to go with one hundred and eighteen Spaniards and a very il:rong army of allies to occLJpy that place, and intercept the fuppli es which fJwu l<i c9me that way to the enemy. Sandoval obeyed, though fl:ill unrecovered of the wound in his leg, and took polfenion without opJ ofition of that fl:ation , by which means every communication of the Mexicans with other cities by land was cut off (o). BOOK X. "--v--1 , F C'T. .X VCII. This being done, Cortes determined to make an entry the next d:ty into the city, with more than five hundred Spaniards and more th~ n eighty thouf:md allies from Tezcuco, T1aicala, Chalco, and H ucxotzinco, leaving fome cavalry with ten thoufrllld allies to guard the camp ; ordering Sandoval and Alvarado to enter there at the f<tme time, each by his different road, with their troops, which were not let$ Firfl c 11 r ry of t hr hr. ficgns in ro l\ k xi.:o. (u) Do8or Robntfon f.1ys, that Cortes defignc:J to attack the city at three diffi·t'CIH places ; from Tczcuco, on the can lidc of the lake; from Tacuba, on the wen ; :tnd from 'uzo : 111 (t)tat is, ojohtHlcan), in the fouth; thofc cities, he add s, commanded the prin cip~d c~lllf<' ways which led to the c:tpitnl, and were built for its defence : but this is an error; bec:wfc to the ea{lward th ere was not, nor could he, any road which lcJ to the capital, on a count of tht• depth of the lake. Sandoval did not encamp in T :t.cuco, from whc:n~:c it was impo(fiulc to attllck Mexico, but in T cpcjncac, towards the north. than |