Page:Vol 1 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/764

644 the causeway on either side of Fort Xoloc. These afforded shelter for all the Spaniards and two thousand servants, and proved most welcome, for the rainy season had already set in. The same natives were obliged to provide supplies, such as fish and a species of cherry, which together with maize formed the chief sustenance of the army. Frijoles, or beans, cacao, quilite herbs, and nochtli, afforded variety. The maize was ground by hand and made into tortillas, or pancakes, by the slave women and mistresses of the soldiers, either for their individual lords or for the mess to which they belonged. These duties were also assumed by some of the few Spanish and mulatto women who had accompanied their husbands. Although there was little fear of starvation in the Spanish camps, yet the fare was at times not of the best. The less fastidious auxiliaries were content with a range of eatables which the soldiers would not touch; human meat with them was a bonne-bouche for which they were prepared to risk even their own flesh. Alvarado's men enjoyed perhaps the least comfort, for they had moved their camp to a point on the causeway, leaving the auxiliaries at Tlacopan, together with the slaves and tortilla-makers. Nor were their barracks properly constructed, so that exposure to wind and rain was added to poor fare and miry roads, while the situation of the camp added to danger and guard duty.

The camp had been formed round a temple square on the causeway, quite close to Mexico, or rather to Tlatelulco, for Alvarado had tired of having his day's work destroyed every night, and he resolved at least to protect the approach to the suburb. One deep channel yet intervened, beyond which the camp could not well be moved, but a large force was stationed to guard it at night, so that the crossing should be