Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/692

676 frenzy numbers climbed back upon the rock only to fall a living prey; others leaped into the gulch to hide in the underbrush, while many ran blindly through the lines to the plain, soon to be hunted down by horsemen. Only fifty escaped from all that number, including Bradburn and Moreno. At dawn the fortress was entered, after a slight resistance from crouching fugitives. Then followed another carnage: and this time in cold blood, for Liñan must have his turn at the slaughter. The male prisoners, over two hundred in number, were brought forth in batches and shot, the sick being supported and the maimed propped up to suit the marksmen.

Sixty miles south of Sombrero, in the midst of the fertile plains of Pénjamo, rises a straggling range known as San Gregorio, and near its centre a broken circle of peaks covered with bastions and breastworks, and enclosing an area 5,000 feet in circumference, to which had been applied the name of Los Remedios. This was the retreat of Torres, forming one of the strongest fortresses in the country; for it was protected on nearly every side by abrupt ravines, leaving only one easy approach, which had been covered by heavy works. Within, were inexhaustible springs. It was called the bulwark of Mexican independence. The defences had of late been improved with the aid of Mina's officers, and an immense supply of provisions introduced, sufficient to sustain