Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 1.djvu/317

Rh many, and that we were forced to burn and destroy their city, for I would not stop till there was nothing left of it or them. They answered, that they saw very well that they had sustained much damage from us, and that many of them had perished, but that they were already all fully determined to die, or be rid of us, and that I might behold how all these streets and squares and terraces were filled with people, who were so numerous that they had made their calculations that, if twenty-five thousand of them perished for every one of ours, they would finish with us first, for we were few and they were many. They told me all the high roads leading to the entrances to the city had been destroyed (as, in fact, they had destroyed all save one), and that we had no way of escape save by water; and that they knew very well that, as we had few provisions and little fresh water, we could not hold out much longer, for we would die by hunger, even if they did not kill us. In truth they were right, for, though we had no other enemy save starvation and the want of provisions, these would suffice to kill us in a short time. We exchanged many other arguments, each sustaining his 0vn side.

When night set in, I sallied forth with certain Spaniards, and, as we took them by surprise, we captured a street from them, burning more than three hundred houses. I quickly returned by another street, while the people had assembled in that one, in which I also burned many houses; especially some terraces which overlooked the fort, from which they did us much damage. They were greatly frightened by what we had done that night; and during the same night I ordered the engines, which had been damaged the day before, to be repaired.

In order to follow up the victory God had given us, I sallied forth at daybreak into the same street where we had been routed the day before, where I found not less resistance than on the former occasion. As our lives