Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 2.djvu/85

 captured. There was much bandying of words, and many challenges between those of the city and the warriors of Tascaltecal, things very remarkable and worthy of notice.

The captain, Cristobal de Olid, departed with the people who were to be garrisoned in Cuyoacan, two leagues from Tacuba, and the captain, Pedro de Alvarado stayed with his people in garrison at Tacuba, where he had skirmishes daily with the Indians. The same day that Cristobal de Olid left for Cuyoacan, he and his men arrived at ten o'clock in the morning and lodged in the houses of its chief, finding the city deserted. The next morning, with about twenty horsemen, some archers, and some six or seven thousand warriors of Tascaltecal they went to take a look at the causeway leading to Temixtitan; and they found the enemy well prepared, the causeway broken up, and many barricades erected. They engaged the enemy „ and the archers wounded and killed some of their number. This was repeated for six or seven days, on each of which there were many encounters and skirmishes. One night, at midnight, certain watchmen of the city gave their cry near our quarters and the Spanish watchman cried "To arms!" whereupon our men sallied forth, but none of the enemy were to be found, for the cry which had alarmed them had been given very far from headquarters. As our people were distributed in so many places, the garrisons longed, as for their salvation, for my arrival with the brigantines and they continued hopeful those few days until I arrived, as I shall hereafter relate. During those six days, they would meet from both headquarters daily as they were near each other, and the horsemen scoured the country killing many of the enemy with their lances and bringing into the headquarters from the mountains great quantities of maize, of which bread is made, the principal food of these parts, and much superior to that of the Islands.