Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 2.djvu/91

 damage with the field pieces and the horsemen, that we almost shut them up amidst the first houses of the city. As many canoes were collected on the other side of the causeway where the brigantines could not pass, doing us much harm with the arrows and darts they discharged at us on the causeway, I ordered an opening to be made near our camp, and sent four brigantines through from the other side, which as soon as they passed through, shut up all the canoes amongst the houses of the city, so that they did not dare in any way to come out into the open. On the other side of the causeway, the other eight brigantines fought with the canoes and shut them up amongst the houses, following in amongst them, where, until then, they had not ventured to go, because there were so many shallows and stakes which prevented them. When they found canals where the brigantines could enter with safety, they fought with the people in the canoes and captured some of them, and burned many of the houses in the outskirts. We spent all that day in fighting in the aforesaid manner.

The following day, the alguacil mayor departed from Iztapalapa with his people, Spaniards as well as our allies, for Cuyoacan whence there is a causeway  Cortes Completely Invests Mexico about a league and a half in length to the mainland. After making about a quarter of a league, the alguacil mayor reached a small city [Mexicaltzingo] which is also on the water, in many parts of which it was possible to ride on horseback; the inhabitants began fighting with him, but he routed them, killing many, and burning and destroying the entire city. When I learned that the Indians had made a great breach in the causeway, which the people could not easily cross, I sent two brigantines to help them, and these were used as bridges for the foot soldiers to cross over. When they had crossed, they went to camp at Cuyoacan, and the alguacil mayor with