under Sandoval, and the city was thus completely blockaded. A general assault was then made from each of these three approaches, Cortes, on foot, leading a heavy column over the great southern causeway, while his generals attempted those allotted to their charge. Neither Alvarado nor Sandoval, desperately opposed, were able to penetrate the city; but the force led by Cortes, assisted by the brigantines sailing on either side, despite the valiant defence of the Aztecs, carried barrier after barrier, and filled up breach after breach in the long dike which led to the great street of Mexico. As they forced their way, fighting furiously, up that splendid avenue, the scene, two years before, of their peaceful and triumphant entry, a tempest of missiles, from every roof and terrace, was showered upon their heads. They entered the houses, and by destroying the partitions, slowly forced their way into the heart of the city. They were held at bay for two hours before a strong stone barricade, which, however, was finally broken down by the artillery, and at last gained the great square. Here Cortes, with a number of his companions, ascended the teocalli, and with his own hand tore from the face of the idol, again enshrined in his gory dwelling, a mask of gold and jewels. As he rejoined his force below, the Aztecs made an attack so furious that the whole allied army, Spaniards and Tlascalans, were driven in confusion down the street. Nothing saved them from utter defeat, except the exertions of the cavalry, who in some measure were enabled to protect their retreat to their quarters. That this daring and obstinate assault should have met with so much success as it did, is certainly wonderful.

The besieging force was soon augmented by fifty thousand Tezcucans, under Ixtlilxochitl, and, with the aid of these forces, which he distributed among the three camps, Cortes planned a fresh general assault. After a repetition of the scenes already described, he once more made his way into the square, and fired the palace of Axayacatl, his former quarters, and a magnificent aviary, called "The House of Birds," one of the finest ornaments of the city. Although it grieved me much," he writes, "yet, as it grieved the enemy more, I determined to burn these palaces; whereupon they manifested great sorrow, as well as their allies from the cities on the lake, because none of them had supposed we should be able to penetrate so far into the city. This filled them with terrible dismay"a dismay not a little increased, he adds, when his allies "displayed to the inhabitants of the city the bodies of their countrymen cut

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into pieces, exclaiming at the same time that they would have them for supper that night and for breakfast the next day, as was in fact the case." Indeed, throughout this horrible siege, cannibalism, both from necessity and from the habits of the combatants, appears to have played a most conspicuous part; and it is certain that, but for the sustenance afforded to the garrison by their numerous victims, the defence could never have been so long protracted.

Ixtlilxochitl, the fierce young prince of Tezcuco, signalized himself in this engagement, fighting by the side of Cortes, amid yells and reproaches from his Aztec countrymen, and slaying their general with his own hand. Alvarado, on his part, though his men had made the most desperate exertions, was unable to effect an entrance, and Cortes himself finally judged it prudent to retreat to his camp, The Mexicans hung on his rear, fighting with such fury and recklessness of life, that nearly all the Spaniards were wounded before they could regain their quarters. This scene was repeated for many ensuing days, Cortes continually assaulting the city from his cause way, and the Mexicans, though compelled to give way before the cavalry and the superior arms of their enemies, always annoying the retreat with great obstinacy. "Their conduct," says that general himself, "was certainly worthy of admiration, for however great the evils and losses to which they were exposed in harassing our march, they did not relax their pursuit till they saw us out of the city."

CHAPTER XIV.

GENERAL ASSAULT ON THE CITY. ARTFUL DEVICE OF THR BESIEGED.-DEFEAT OF THE SPANIARDS. THEIR LOSSES. -TERRIBLE PARTICULARS OF THE SACRIFICE OF PRISONERS. THE GREAT DRUM.-DISCOURAGEMENT AND DEFECTION OF THE ALLIES.-THEIR RETURN.

GRADUAL DESTRUCTION OF THE CITY.

THE brave Guatemozin, though famine began to press heavily on the multitudes crowded within his walls, rejected all overtures for peace and capitulation, and bent his sole energies to the annoyance of the enemy. He made frequent and furious sallies upon the three

camps, especially those where Cortes did not command in person, and once succceded in seizing two of the brigantines. A number of the Spaniards, to the inexpressible delight of his people, had been taken alive for sacrifice, and the dread inspired by this circumstance induced the survivors to fight to the death rather than encounter a similar fate. A vast swarm of Indian allies, (a hundred and fifty thousand in number, according to Cortes,) attracted by the hope of sharing the plunder of the Aztec capital, now flocked into the Christian camps, and assisted in rendering the siege more strict They were also employed, with good effect, against the outposts and detached strongholds of the Mexican emperor, and such cities as yet remained faithful to his sway.

On the three causeways, the fighting was almost continual, and many gallant actions, both by besiegers and besieged, for want of space, are necessarily omitted in this account. "For ninety-three days together," says Diaz, who was with Alvarado, "we were engaged in the siege of this great and strong city, and every day and night we were engaged with the enemy. Were I to extend my narrative to include every action which took place, it would be almost endless, and my history would resemble that of Amadis and the other books of chivalry." Cortes, his army swelled by vast reinforcements, at last resolved on a grand attempt to take the city by storm. Alvarado and Sandoval were instructed to use every exertion to effect an entrance by the causeway of Tacuba, while he attempted that of the south, and all were to endeavour to gain possession of the great market-place, that a communication might be opened between the opposite camps.

"On the following morning, the army of Cortes having entered the city, moved in three great bodies along the same number of parallel avenues, or causeways, flanked by deep canals, all leading to the market-place. The Mexicans made no very formidable resistance; barricade after barricade was carried; and the ditches, except in one lamentable instance, were carefully filled up. But when the desired goal was nearly gained, all of a sudden, the horn of Guatemozin sent forth its shrill blast from the summit of the teocalli. the sound, as if by magic, swarms of Aztec warriors closed around the advancing columns. The water was covered with their canoes, and the air was darkened by their missiles. The foremost column, driven back in confusion, was arrested by a deep gap, which they had neglected properly to fill up. Plunged into the water by the

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fury of their pursuers, they vainly attempted to cross the fatal breach Great numbers were slain or drowned, and others, a more horrible fate, were carried off alive.

"Cortes, who had hastened to the spot, in vain endeavoured to assist his unfortunate companions. At the moment I reached this bridge of troubles,' he relates, 'I discovered some Spaniards and many of our allies flying back in great haste, and the enemy like dogs in pursuit of them; and when I saw such a rout, I began to cry 'Hold! Hold!' and on approaching the water, I beheld it full of Spaniards and Indians, in so dense a mass that it seemed as if there was not room for a straw to float. The causeway,' he continues, 'was small and narrow, and on the same level with the water, which had been effected by these dogs, on purpose to annoy us; and as the road was also crowded with our allies who had been routed, much delay was thereby occasioned, enabling the enemy to come up on both sides by water, and to take and destroy as many as they pleased.'

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"Cortes himself barely escaped becoming, in person, a notable sacrifice to the idols. Seized by six Aztec chiefs, he was dragged toward a canoe, and was rescued only by the loss of several of his faithful attendants, who laid down their lives in his defence. Getting at last to the little body of cavalry on firm ground, he led them on a fierce charge against the enemy, and brought off the remnant of his unfortunate companions. All the divisions retreated from the city, and were fiercely attacked in their own quarters.

"Alvarado and Sandoval, who had also penetrated nearly to the rendezvous, were likewise soon compelled to retreat before the furious assault of the Aztecs, who flung before them five bloody heads, exclaiming that one of them was that of Malinche (Cortes). While retreating, hotly pressed, 'we heard,' says Diaz, 'the dismal sound of the great drum, from the top of the principal temple of the god of war, which overlooked the whole city. Its mournful noise was such as may be imagined the music of the infernal gods, and it might be heard almost to the distance of three leagues. They were then sacrificing the hearts of ten of our companions to their idols. Shortly after this, the king's horn was blown, giving notice to his captains that they were then to take their enemies prisoners or die in the attempt. It is impossible to describe the fury with which they closed upon us, when they heard this signall.'

"On this disastrous day, besides the loss of cannon and horses, VOL. III.-11

many of the Spaniards had been killed, and nearly all wounded. Worst of all, sixty-two (mostly under Cortes), and a multitude of their Indian allies, had fallen alive into the hands of the enemy, and been carried off for sacrifice. That very evening, the dismal roar of the great drum was again heard; and the last rays of the setting sun fell on a long procession winding up the sides of the huge teocalli. Among the victims, stripped to their waists, several were seen to be white men; and the Spaniards, with unutterable horror, beheld their miserable comrades, with fans in their hands, and gaudily decked with plumes, compelled to dance before the hideous idol, and then stretched upon the fearful Stone of Sacrifice. As heart after heart was plucked out and laid before the altar, the bodies were hurled down the steep sides of the pyramid, and prepared by the priests below for a grand cannibal festivity.

"Night after night, these hideous scenes were repeated in full view of the camp of Alvarado; and the Spaniards, with sickening hearts, were compelled to witness the fearful solemnities of a fate which any day might be their own. "During each night of this period," says a horrified witness, "the enemy continued beating their accursed drum in the great temple. Nothing can equal the dismal impression its sound conveyed. They were then in the execution of their infernal ceremonies; the whole place was illuminated, and their shrieks at certain intervals pierced the air. Let the 'Oh, heavenly God,' we said to ourselves, 'do not permit us to be sacrificed by these wretches!

reader imagine what were our sensations!

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For ten nights together were they thus employed in put ting to death our unfortunate companions.' The priests eager in their horrid ministry, seemed, amid the glare of sacrificial fires, like demons flitting about in their native element, and busied with the torments of the condemned."*

Exulting in their victory, the besieged, every morning, made furious assaults upon the several camps, exclaiming, with loud revilings, to the Spaniards, that their flesh was too bitter to be eaten"and truly," says honest Diaz, "it seems that such a miracle was wrought." The Mexican priests now predicted that within eight days the gods would deliver the enemy into their hands. Terrified at this ominous announcement, the fulfilment of which seemed heralded by their late misfortunes, all the vast swarm of allies, save those of Tlascala and Tezcuco, smitten with a superstitious panic,

* Discoverers, &c., of America.