Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 2.djvu/134

 place and capturing a broad water street where the enemy was well fortified. We were delayed there for some time; and it was dangerous capturing it, nor were we able to fill it up in the whole of the day (as it was very broad), so that the horsemen could cross to the other side. The Indians, seeing we were all on foot, and that the horsemen had not passed over, attacked us with some fresh troops, many of them very splendid; but, as we turned upon them with our many archers, they retreated towards their barricades and forts, badly wounded with arrows. Besides this, all the Spanish foot soldiers carried their pikes, which I had ordered made after our rout, and which were very useful. Nothing was heard all day on each side of the principal street but the burning and destroying of the houses, which was certainly pitiful to see, but as nothing else could avail we were obliged to follow those tactics. When the people of the city saw such ruin, they encouraged themselves by telling our friends to go on burning and destroying as it was they who would have to rebuild the city in any case, because if they [the Mexicans] were victorious they would make them do it, and if not they would have to rebuild it for us; and it pleased God that this last should turn out to be true, for they are indeed the ones who have to do this work.

Very early on the morning of the next day, we entered the city in the customary order, and, arriving at the water street which we had filled up the day before, found it in the same state we had left it; and, advancing about two bow-shots, we captured two large ditches of water, which had been cut in the same street, and arrived at the small tower of their idols, in which we found certain heads of Christians whom they had killed; a sight which filled us with much commiseration. And from that tower,