Page:Vol 1 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/750

630 causeway with the greater part of his infantry, attended by several cavaliers on foot, and by over eighty thousand allies, while a vessel skirted the road on either side. There was more than one breach in the road, behind which were posted large forces of warriors protected by intrenchments of earth and inasonry.

Without the vessels it would have cost much time and many lives to cross; but the well-directed fire from the guns and arquebuses on the flanks and rear of the enemy soon wrought disorder, which enabled the sallying parties to obtain a foothold. Meanwhile a number of infantry had swum across the channel and aided to drive the Mexicans beyond the next breach. The same manœuvre was repeated at this and the other chasms, till the army found itself at the very entrance of the city, protected by a wider channel than the preceding, with more extensive fortifications, commanded by a temple tower. This with its swarms of slingers and archers made the capture difficult, and the Mexicans also showed more determination; but the guns and fusillade could not be resisted, and soon the Spaniards stood within the city for the first time since the memorable Noche Triste. Revenge seemed already secured, and the lost treasures almost within the invaders' grasp. Cortés, however, did not permit himself to be carried away by a momentary success. He saw the main street beyond thronged with warriors fiercely bent on resistance, streets as far as the distant temple of the war-god bordered with buildings, each a fortress in itself, while many a barricaded channel blocked the way.

A large force of allies had been left to fill the chasm and level the ground as the army advanced, using for this purpose the captured intrenchments and buildings, or even material from the causeway itself. This work was under the direction of Diego Hernandez, a man of herculean strength, who could throw a stone with a force and precision, it was said, approximating