Page:Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol 1.djvu/79

Rh success of Cortéz, in all his engagements by land and water, his victorious incursions into the very heart of the city, and the general odium which was cherished against the central power of the empire by all the tributary tribes and dependant provinces, combined, at this moment, to aid the efforts of the conqueror in cutting off supplies from the famishing capital. The great towns and small villages in the neighborhood threw off their allegiance, and the camps, of the Spanish leaders thronged with one hundred and fifty thousand auxiliaries selected from among the recreants. The Spaniards were amply supplied with food from these friendly towns, and never experienced the sufferings from famine that were soon to overtake the beleagured capital.

At length the day was fixed for a general assault upon the city by the two divisions under Alvarado and Cortéz. As usual, the battle was preceded by the celebration of mass, and the army then advanced in three divisions up the most important streets. They entered the town, cast down the barricades which had been erected to impede their progress, and, with remarkable ease, penetrated even to the neighborhood of the market-place. But the very facility of their advance alarmed the cautious mind of Cortéz, and induced him to believe that this slack resistance was but designed to seduce him farther and farther within the city walls until he found himself beyond the reach of succor or retreat. This made him pause. His men, more eager for victory and plunder than anxious to secure themselves by filling up the canals and clearing the streets of their impediments, had rushed madly on without taking proper precaution to protect their rear, if the enemy became too hot in front. Suddenly the horn of Guatemozin was heard from a neighboring Teocalli, and the flying Indians, at the sacred and warning sound, turned upon the Spaniards with all the mingled feeling of reinspired revenge and religion. For a while the utmost disorder prevailed in the ranks of the invaders, Spaniards, Tlascalans, Tezcocans and Otomies, were mixed in a common crowd of combatants. From the tops of houses; from converging streets; from the edges of canals,—crowds of Aztecs swarmed and poured their vollies of javelins, arrows and stones. Many were driven into the lake. Cortéz himself had nigh fallen a victim in the dreadful melée, and was rescued with difficulty. Meanwhile, Alvarado and Sandoval had penetrated the city from the western causeway, and aided in stemming the onslaught of the Aztecs. For a while the combined forces served to check the