Page:Vol 1 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/684

564 Orders were also issued to regulate the prices of clothing and accoutrements, which were excessive. In order to enforce the necessary respect for the regulations, Cortés punished the earlier infringements with a severity even in excess of the penalty proclaimed. Two of the general's own negro slaves were hanged for petty theft, and a pilfering soldier was pardoned only when half strangled.

After a fortnight of rest and preparation Cortés concluded to resume the campaign, partly lest a longer delay should cool the ardor of the soldiers and allies. On the day following Christmas the troops were mustered for review in the main square of Tlascala, where Cortés in velvet-covered mail stood surrounded by the royal officials, the leading chiefs of the republic, and a brilliant suite. First marched the cross-bowmen in double file, who at a signal discharged their arms aloft and passed on with a salute. After them came the shield-bearers, waving their swords, which they sheathed after saluting; then the pikemen with copper-headed pikes, followed by arquebusiers, who saluted with a thundering salvo that reëchoed along the circling hills and sent a tremor through the crowd of native spectators. Last came the cavalry, prancing and skirmishing in rapid evolutions, to display their skill as fighters and riders, and to dazzle the beholders with their glittering arms and adornment. The total force consisted of five hundred and fifty infantry, divided into nine companies, and forty cavalry in four squads, with nine small pieces of artillery, eighty cross-bows and arquebuses.

The main reliance of the infantry was in the swords and pikes, the long Chinantec poles being largely introduced, even among the allies, and made effective