Page:Vol 2 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/141

Rh struck him full in the face. Previous lessons had not been in vain, for the foe soon wavered before the resolute advance, and when the foot and allies came up, the battle turned into a chase and slaughter. A large number of prisoners were also taken, and every village on the way was ravaged and burned by the auxiliaries.

Sandoval arrived most opportunely at San Estévan. "Three days' more delay," says Cortés, "and all there would have been lost." So reduced were the besieged by wounds, hunger, and fatigue, harassed day and night by the natives, that but for the resolute demeanor of a few of the veterans of Cortés they would have yielded. The besiegers having now dispersed, two expeditions were sent out in pursuit, and to forage, with the injunction to secure every rebel of note. Sandoval remaining behind among the disabled, no restraint was placed on the troops in observing the order of Cortés to inflict severe punishment. Sacking, slaughtering, and burning went hand in hand, the example being set by the Spaniards and eagerly excelled by the auxiliaries with the intensity customary among those cruel warriors. The captain himself set forth a few days later, marking his advance with comparative leniency, even where submission was tardy, yet he failed not to take prisoners all sturdy and prominent rebels, swelling the total of captured chiefs and notable men alone to fully four hundred.

Sandoval now reported to Mexico the pacification of the province, and asked for instructions concerning