Page:Vol 2 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/523

Rh When the fortifications were completed, news came by the natives who supplied the city with food and water, that the friendly people of Tlacotlan, a town of three thousand inhabitants, one league from Guadalajara, had also rebelled.

Captain Pedro de Placencia was sent to protect the carriers, but the enemy advanced upon him in such force that he was obliged to return headlong into the city, with the pursuers upon his heels. On the 28th of September the assailants appeared in the vicinity, fifty thousand strong, blackening the plain for half a league about the town. The following morning, St Michael's day, they entered Guadalajara, set fire to the abandoned houses, destroyed the church, desecrated the images, and desperately assaulted the fortified buildings. The protected position of the Spaniards and the skilful use of a few pieces of artillery alone enabled them to withstand the shock. The entrances to the plaza were bravely defended; only one Indian entered, and he was killed by Beatriz Hernandez, wife of Captain Olea, who distinguished herself throughout the war by comforting the women and children and aiding the soldiers.

At one time the enemy were on the point of success. The powder had become wet and the cannon useless, and an explosion occurred during an attempt at drying. Meanwhile the adobe wall was undermined and fell; but the guns were brought to bear in time and the foe fell by hundreds. The Indians ceased their assaults, resolved to starve the besieged; they retired behind the buildings, where they were sheltered from the guns, and poured in upon the garrison volley after volley of taunts and threats, promising to kill all the men and make concubines of the women. The virago Beatriz Hernandez, enraged by these insults, would have sprung from a window upon the savages to tear their tongues out, but was prevented by the men. The soldiers in time became