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Show • s .. BOOK X. ~ ll' I $ T 0 R: y :.0 F M 'E X I C 0. ad . 1 . h there was fo great a ditch#hat the whole daY. was not r? ' 10 • '~' uc 11. ,fill 't up. They molifued or burned all the tJme fltlncJ.Cut to nop or ~ • · Th 'hou!es of that qu~rtc.:r, i 1 fpite of the refi~ance of the enemy. . e • ' 1, 1 ld' the allies butied 111 rafing the houfcs, cned M¢xlCaJ"\S, on "ici19, mg • . · · · ·h r. ' · • • fi · 1-. " Demolilh ye traitors! .Jay thof~1 ou.es m tum, 0t ·OUt tO t't'em, . rr'-'1 · • • ] " H W J' " afterw.<trds you . wil\ have the 'labour of repamng t 1ct~., ~~ . r. d tl'"' 'l1l'tc.: " will unquefl:ionably rebuild them, lf you lhould :1.111 were .... .• • · fc 1 fl: · " be .conq~erors; ~ut if you !hould be conqQered, your c v~s mu ~e- " build th~;tl), a.Hd yo,ur ,enemies in};labit them." The M~x.lcans pemg una.ble to &'e ~ir. ~be quildings, m~e little fqrtificatlons of vyooq on thq roads to annoy the beficged fr01n ~he1~1>as they h"d g.one frotn ~he tenace::s ; and t~ irup~de .the motions of t11e Cavalry, they Jftrowed the fquare witlllarge fiones J but th~ \>efieger~ made u(e o(,them to ~111 up the ditches. ! 1 • , ' • _ , L . ·• ·; 1 o . . In the entry which w.as made on the twentyr fixth, two la~ge· dltcl;les were taken which had beeq recently dug ,by, tl)e Me):icans. 1\.lvarado in his qua:ter was daily advancing farther i.l)to the citr, and on the twenty-ieventh pulhed fo far, taking feveral ditches and mtrettchmen&s, that he came at laft to occupy two towers neigh.bq~ring to tl}e 1 p"lace where king ~auhtemotzin refide~; but, he co.uld 1 proc~ed no farther on account of the great difficulty he fou.nd from ot~1,cr .d1tches, al)d ~he gallant refifi:ance of the enemy, who obliged him to retreat, cha1:gmg furioufly upon his rear-guard. Cortes having obferved an, extraordmary fmoke which arofe from thofe towers, macla by way of fignal, anc;l fufpeeling that which'had aCtually happened, e,Mcrcd as ufu~l into the city, and employed the whple day i11 repairing e.vory ·bad ftep. He wanted but one canal and one iQtrenchment to come at the fquare of the mar~ ket; he determined to pufh on until he got there,. which. at laft he effc:. Cted; and then, for the firft time after the col)lmencement of the f1ege, his troops met with thofe of Alvarado, to. the inexpref1iblc fatisfaction , of both. Cortes entered with {orne cavalry iAto th~ fquare, a.Qd found innumerable .people there, lodged in the porticos, the houfes of that diftriet not being fufficient to contain them. He mounted the: temple, from whence he obterved the city, and perceiYe.d that. o£ the eight parts of which it confifted, only one remained to be taken. He ordered hls pepple to fet . fire' to . tpe lofty and beaut~l. ·, to'w~~~ -~~ 'hat temli.P,,rc, 8 ' ' w ere, li I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0 . where, as in the greater temple ofTenochtitlan, the idol of the god of war was adored. The Mexican populace, qn feeing the great flame which arofe from thence and feemed to reach the clouds, uttered deep lamentations. Cortes, moved with pity a.t feeing fo great a body of people reduced to the utmoft diftreffes, commanded all ho!l:ilities to ceafc for ~hat day, a~d new propofals to be made to the befieged, if they would furrender; but they anfwered, that they never would, and . that while but one Mexican remained alive he would continue the defence ·till death. Four days having pafied without hofiilities, Cortes entered anew ·into the city, and encountered with a large croud of miferal)le creatures, of men, women, and young children, emaciated and almoft dying of hunger; the famine being fo great, that many of them lived folely upon herbs, mar!h roots, infects, and even the bark of trees. The general, compaffionating fuch wretches, ordered his. troops not to do them any hurt, and paffed on to the fquarc of the market, where he found the porticos fil.led with people who were unarmed; a certain token of the defpondency of the people and their di(pleafure at the obftinacy of the king and the nobles. The greater part of that day was em- .. ~Ioyed i~ negociations for peace ; but Cortes finding that nothing would av~il, ocdered Alvarado to advance with an armed body through a gr~at road where ~here were more than a thoufand hou.fes, while he with all his army made an attack in another quarter. The flaughter which they made ~f the befieged that day was fo great, that there wet:e upwards of twelve thoufand killed and . taken prifoners. The allies raged fo cruelly againft thefe unhappy viCtims, that they [pared n_either ~ge nor fex, the fevere orders of the gcner.al being of no effect to control them. The next day Cortes returned with all his forces, ~ut commanded them to do no hurt to the befieged, moved not lefs by the compaffiop which , the fight of their mifery excited than tl~e hope he had of inducing them to furrender. The Mexicans feeing fitch a hoft of ene-mies come againfl: them, and among them their own fubj ects who had formerly ferved them and now threatened them with ruin~ finding themfelves reduced to the moll diftrefiing fituation, and viewing bcfo,rc _ their eyes fo many objects of affliction, having hardly a place to fet a ·v o 1. .·-.II. B h foot .. _ • BOOK X. l .. ' ::1 SEcT. XX'Jt. La1nentable llatc of the Mcxicnnli |