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Show 18Z H I S. T · 0 R Y 0 F ME X I C 0· :sooK h. .t: • _.:...Led tliere was the greate!l: neceffity of arms and 1 x. At t tS 1ame time,, wn . h ' • • -amtnunition, -ac ve!fel arrived atl rVera .Cruz, and ~hlch broug t new 5 f. C T. XXIX. Slaughter made in Me.r\ co, and the bmvcry of fomc women. . , h S . ds by which they were put m a fiate fit to con-f~ pphels ~o t e ~amar 'The prince D. C. Ixtlilxochitl had advifed the tmue t 1e1r operations· · · h · 1 1 · Spanj{h general not to 1cxhauft himfelf in new aifaults,_ m w 1c 1 us ·. ht ruffer too-much; that without expo!ing hl{llfelf ~o fuch anny Jntg 11 • 1 h ld b an eV'lI ' or rm·r u·n g tha' beat{tifbl ~edifices .of t.h e ca.p 1ta , .e wodu cr 'e able to make hin~lf mafter of it, merely by hmdenng the mtro u 10n of any fupplios; for· the more numerous the betieged were, the· fooner they would confume the few prov.iiions. they had left. ~ortes was not inattentive to the acuteqefs of th1s ad~1ce; and ;aLued. 1~ the more, as it carpe from a pcrfon, who from yo~t~ and. mtr~p1d1ty of temper, might rather have defirep an occafion of d1fpl.aywg ,lus br~yery: but l~c equid only adhere to it fm; a few days. Bee mmg. ~o~n weary of the t~dtoufi1efs of the ficgc, he re-commenced fo;u er hofbl.ttles, tqo~u_gl.l n<;>t w ~hout firft making propofitions of peace to the Mextcans, dra~LUg a pom ... parifon to them bet~een his and their fo.rces, an~ r~peatmg , the , reafens which he had formcdy urged. 1 he Mextcans anfwered, that they would never lay down their arms until the Spaniards fet off to their own coun-try. , , Cortes now feeing the ref9lution of the Mexicans, after fort:y-five days of fiege, and that the more he made overtures of peace the more obilinately they rejeCted them, determined not to make another ftep into the city, without deftroying every building on. either fide of the road, not only to prevent the mifchief which the troo~s fuffere~ ~r~tn the terraces, but likewife to fo~ce the befieged, by conftant 4oft.d1t1es, to accept of his propofitions. He applied, ~herefore, and obtained ~rom his allies, fome thoufands of th ir villflgers and peafants, furm{hed with inftruments fit for demolifi1ing buildings and filling up ditches. For fome days following he made ieveral entries into the city, with his Spaniards and brigantines, and upwards of a hundred and fifty tboufand allies, demqlithing every houfe, filling up. ~11 the di~ches, and diminilbing the number of his enemies by ,death, although . not without the utmoil: peril t~ his own perfon ~nd his peop\e; fo,r he was nearly made a prifoner, when he w~s relieved by1his own foldic;~s, and his troops w-ere foJ}letjmes obliged to efcape ~he. fury of thF enemy • I ·. by I S' T 0 It Y .0 F M E X ~ •C 0. by''flight. I Some Spaniards a~d ~llies perifh'!d in thofe encounters, and I two ,brigantines were almoft captured by a fleet of canoes ; but a third ~omin g· up to their aftJ O:ance, e~tricated thein from the danger. ' In thofc entrie~ fc V~l Spln ilh W~t'nen rfl d~ the~_(elves' famous by ~~cir bravery(~ ) i ·thef ~ dlu~ tanlia companied1their hufbands to war, :liid, from the cdlrtinu:ap1'ardfli}}'s ' tH y underweht and the examples of valour which;they Ii:td always before their eyes," were in a manner become foldiers : they kept gtia1 d, m 1rchcd along with their hufbands, anp'ed ; \~i th' brcafl: .: pbt~s r'of c<;>tton, t'hielas ~ .1i1d f words, taftd threw tH emfclv~s in fe pidly i'n't'o the m\Ha' of the edJffi'y, adding in fpite .of their 1 _(ex1 to tlie nufiib~r-df the' b_fieg~r~/1 I 1 • 1 ' • •.J On 'tlie twenty..:fdu:tnf i ~f'j ufy'theyLmade a new· entry 'into theJ city with'' a ~rea e\- 'ftu~ber o·f ·troeps t-1\an on the preceding days; and, vigoroufiy bent on conqueft, the c:paniards at lafi got poifeffion .of that road hy wHich' th itarge'rbaii' bf' 'Thtapalupah ~c(jn1h1uhitated with •that 6f t:F'lacdpari ;wrheJ ·~(!~ '\"Fuchf' Cbrtes ·had ·fd> ardently ·longed •to acc<> inpiHh{ 'for the fi·ee communication of his Wlth the camp of AlvaraClb. they took by alf.·tult and afterward~ filled J p feveral ditches, :1np burn~a a:ncl, clcfhoyed marly builcli g& ; among others, a palace of l<ing · ~auh cmot'zin, which was a aft and '{hong edifice 1fu!'roundt:d wit h'intren hm'ents The Spai\ittrtls that day ren1ained mafters of three of the four quarters of the capital, the b.cfieged being now reduced to the part of 11atelolco,· ~hich, on account of there being mo1·e water in it, WaS fhoretfit011g and tecure·,r• I , I • 1 rj ' ·From a Mexican woman of,rank·, taKen in the laft aifault, the Spallifil general learned lthe 'tnif~rab'lc ftate oftthe city, r,through tht:: fcarcity of provifions -and the difcord prevailing amo!llg i the befieged : for .the king, anu hiS" relations., arid rpany bf the nobles, were determined to di~ rathe~ than furrcmder; while the .pe04Did were!difcomageq and .weary of bhe 'fi¢gc. Her ~ccount was con.Nrmed by two deferters of inferior runk,ltWho were 'in:pelled by Uunger to ome to the camp qf Cortes. Upon gaining this intelligence, Co tes refol ved [not to Jet a day pa(s without entering· the •city, until he took or ruined it; he therefort ,re- , turned with his ~army on the ~wenty .fifth, and.:got p6£fe.{ijon of a, Jarg<;, • • l J J • 11 ,I ' j ! 'J I' I' I I I I 0 \ I J I J . (f) T~ofe ":om n wer"' M ri:. d t :Jt' f :j "' wh.ofc:; , courage we hav fprmerly . e,ntioncd, • l -J ' ~ "l r- . ~ i lo I ! I • ~ I . . Bt•atn e Ben~udc~ de Valo~f..:o, J uanna Marun, .E izabctu ROdmgucz, and Beatrice .11n uc1os. ' road, 1·83 BOOK X. · ~ |