Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 1.djvu/316

292 adversaries on all sides, who, for the purpose of helping their own men, came in increased numbers. And I began to ascend the tower, followed by some Spaniards, but they defended the ascent very stubbornly, throwing down three or four of my followers. With the help of God, and His Glorious Mother (for whose house that tower had been set aside, her image being placed in it), we reached the top, where we fought them so stoutly that they were forced to jump down on some terraces about a pace broad which extended round it. This tower had three or four of these terraces about sixteen feet one above the other. Some of the enemy fell all the way down, and, in addition to the injuries they received in the fall, were immediately killed by the Spaniards who surrounded the base of the tower. Those who remained on the terrace fought so valiantly, that we were more than three hours in completely dispatching them; and not one escaped. Your Sacred Majesty may believe that we captured this tower only because God had clipped their wings; because twenty of them were sufficient to resist the ascent of a thousand men even though they fought very valiantly till death. I had the tower set on fire, as well as others in the mosque, from which they had already taken away and carried off the images we had placed in them.

Some of their pride was taken out of them by our obtaining this advantage, so that they fell back a little on all sides, and I afterwards returned to the roof, and spoke to the captains who had talked with me before, and who were somewhat dismayed by what they had seen. They immediately appeared, and I told them to look about and see that they could not hold out anywhere, and that every day we did them great harm and killed