Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 2.djvu/147

 surrender, I had two large field pieces directed against them to see whether they would surrender then, because they would suffer greater damage by our giving permission to our friends to attack them, than by those two field pieces, which caused some destruction. As this also brought no result, I ordered the signal of the musket to be fired, whereupon the corner they still held was immediately taken, and those who were in it were forced into the water, and others who had not fought surrendered. The brigantines swiftly entered that lake, and broke into the midst of the fleet of canoes, and the warriors no longer ventured to fight.

It pleased God that the captain of a brigantine, called Garci Holguin, overtook a canoe in which there were some distinguished people, and, as he had two  August 13, 1521 or three cross-bowmen in the prow of the brigantine, and was crossing in the front of the canoe, they signalled to him not to shoot because their sovereign was there. The canoe was quickly captured, and they took Quatamucin, and the lord of Tacuba, and the other chiefs who were with him;