Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/460

440 While Vera Cruz, the gateway to the heart of the nation, was yet threatened with this hostile movement, the inhabitants received the unpleasant tidings that a revolution had broken out in the capital, and that the troops destined to move to their aid were there employed. It was more interesting fighting each other for individual supremacy than banding against the invaders. The fortifications of Vera Cruz were not in a satisfactory condition, many important points being out of repair, and the armament by no means in serviceable order. Gunpowder also would have been almost entirely wanting but for the opportune arrival of the French bark Anax, which succeeded in running the blockade during a norther with a cargo of that article. Provisions both in the city and in San Juan de Ulúa were scarce at the time of Scott's descent upon the coast, and the government's extraordinary neglect to furnish aid in any form gave rise to bitter reflections and to suspicions of treachery on the part of Santa Anna.