OCR Text |
Show H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. and requefied of them that they would not onl~ affifi: him wit}~ their t roop and vcffi Is, but likewife tranfport matenals ff or t.h e e1r .e cbon of huts along that road; for it being 1:0~ the feafon o ram, us people fuffered much from the W<lllt of habttat tons. · His demand wa• fo readily complied with, that they fent immediately a large body of troops, the nutnbcr of which is not kno~n, to be ~tndcr the command of Cortes, :md three thouCmd vclfcls to a{hfi: the bngan tines in their operations. In thefe they tranfported the materials, with which they built fuch a number of barracks, that all the Spaniards, and two thoufand Indians employed in their fcrvice, were conveniently ac. commodatcd ; for the majority of the allied troops were encamped in Cojoh~1acan, four miles difiant fi·om Xoloc; and, not content with giving this afii!l:ance, they brought many provifions to the camp,. par:.. ticularly fifh and cherries in great quantities. Cortes, finding himfelf fo well reinforce~ with troops, entered two or three days fucceffively into the ~ity, making dreadful !laughter of the citizens. He was inclined to imagine that the befieged wouhi nece!farily furrender, feeing fuch an exceffive number of tlroops armed again!l: them~ and having experienced the ruinous efFects of their ob .. ftinacy: but in this he was mi:fiaken, for the Mexicans. w.ere determined to lofe their lives fooner tha11; their liberty.. He r.efolv.ed therefore to make continued entries into the city,, in order to, compel them by hoflilities to aik. for that peace which they had liefufed~ He fqrmed two armaments of his ve!fels,. each confifting of three brigantines and fifteen hundred fmall boats, ordering them to proceed towards the city, to fet fire to its houfes, and do the. Mexicans all the mifchief in. their power. H e ga..:e orders to S:mdoval and Alvarado to do the fitmc: ~n their fide, while he with all his Spai'Mards, and eighty thoufand allies, by. what appears,. marched as ufual by the road of .Iztapalapan. towards the city, but with0ut being able to gain, neither in this nor other entries which he made in thofe partieular days, any other advantage than that of gradually: reduei,ng the number of the . enemy, de-. molilhing fame of their buildings, and advancing daily fome little way farther for the purpofe of opening a communication with the camp of. Alv.arado~ although tl1en. it was not in his power to effect. it. · Alvarado· I H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. A 1 v!rado and all his troops ,fccondcd by the brigantines, had already taken pofiefiion of a temple, which fi:ood in a little [quare in the road of Tlacopan, in which he maintained from that time a garrifon, in fpite of the violent afliJ.Ults of the Mexicans. He h<.ld al(o taken fame ditches and entrenchments, and knowing that the grcateil force of the enemy w:1s in Tlatclolco, where the king ~auhttmotzin refidcd, and numbers of th<:< inhabitants of Tcnochtitlan had refortcd , he direCted his operations towards that quarter; but although he fought frequently with all his force both by land and water, he ould not advance .where he wilhcd, from the gallant oppofition of the befieged. In thofe engagements matJy periO'Ied on both fides. In one of the fi rfi: con teO:s a {hong :md courageous warri,or of Tlatelolco, diigui(cd lil c one of the Otomics, with an !dJCahupi/H, or brcaO:-plate of cotton, and with no other arms than a fhield and three fl:oncs, made his appearance, ann run ning mofi: fwiftly towards the befiegcrs, he threw his threo .fiones fucceffively with fuch dex terity and with iuch force, that with each he knocked down a Spaniard, exciting no lefs indignation among them th:m fear and wonder in the allies . They endeavou red, by every means, to get him into their hands, but could never t, ke him, for in every engagement he appeared differen tly drefll:d, and in each occafioned mnch lofs r to the befiegers, having as much fwiftnefs in his feet to make his efcapc as force in his arms to !hike his blows. The name of this celebrated hero of Tbtclolco was Tz.ilacatz.in . Alvaraclo, eL1 tecl with fome advantages obtained over the Mexicans, fl:ro ve one day to pufh forward as far as the m;lrkct-pbce : he had already taken fevcral ditches and in t1-enchnicn ts, and among others, one which was fifty feet broad, ami more than feven feet deep; but forgetting, through his fuccefs, to q1ake it be filled up, as his general had cnjoim:d, ·he advanced with forty or fifty Span iards, and fome all ies. The Mexicans having obferved this negleCt, foon poured in numbers upon them, and defeated and put them to ilight, anrl in repaffing th ditch, killed fome of the al lies and made four Spaniards prifoi1cr's, who were in !bn t 1 y fltcri ficed in fight of Al vat-.ldo and his people, in the gt:catcr ·temple ofTlatclolco. Cortes was extrc;m,cly troubled at this difidtcr, as it mufl: h;lve incrca[t;d the courage and pride of the enemy, and went inh mediately to TLtcopan, to give a fevcre reprimand to Alvatado for his Z 2 ' difoue .. 171 BOOK IX. \..----..r-""-'1' St(CT. XXlT. Op ·ration1 of Al v~rado, and h r:l\'C '">" of T1.ilaclt· zin. . • |