THE METROPOLIS INVADED.
The ride through Tenochtitlan.--Visit to the market-place.--The
pyramidal temple.--View from the summit.--The gong.--Indignation of
Cortez.--The chapel.--General appearance of the city.--Apprehension
from the natives.--The Tlascalans anxious for war.--The trap.--
Situation of the city.--Cortez determines to seize Montezuma.--The
pretext.--Engagement at Vera Cruz.--Cortez demands atonement.--
Montezuma declares his innocence.--Montezuma called upon to surrender
himself a prisoner.--Montezuma conveyed to the Spanish quarters.--The
body-guard.--Qualpopoca arrested.--Condemned to be burned alive.--
Atrocious insult to Montezuma.--Execution of the victims.--Cortez the
emperor.--The Spanish commission.--Contributions exacted.--Discontent
of the soldiers.--Building of the brigantines.--Indignation of
Cacamatzin.--His arrest and imprisonment.--Acknowledgment of
vassalage.--Indignation of the nobles.--Cortez determines to overthrow
the system of idolatry.--Opposition.--Indications of trouble.--
Hardships endured.--Alarming intelligence.--An armament sent after
Cortez.--Surrender of Vera Cruz demanded.--The envoy sent to Cortez.
--Montezuma elated.--Preparations for war.--Terms of accommodation.
--Cortez marches on Narvaez.--The storm.--Narvaez's army seeks
shelter.--The harangue and the attack.--Narvaez made prisoner.--The
surrender.--Artfulness of Cortez.--The insurrection in the metropolis.
--Disaffection of the inhabitants.--They arrive at the causeway.--
Cause of the insurrection.--Displeasure of Cortez.--His insolent
manner.--Diaz's record.--Motives for the attack.--The massacre
intended to prevent insurrection.
The next morning, Cortez, with a showy retinue of horsemen, prancing
through streets upon which hoof had never before trodden, called upon
the emperor. The streets were lined, and the roofs of the houses
crowded with multitudes gazing upon the amazing spectacle. The Spanish
chieftain was kindly received by the emperor, and three days were
appointed to introduce him to all the objects of interest in the
capital. Tenochtitlan was the native name by which the imperial city
was then known.
They first visited the great public square or market-place. An
immense concourse was here assembled, engaged in peaceful traffic.
Three judges sat in state at the end of the square, to settle all
difficulties. A numerous body of police, ever moving through the
crowd, prevented all riot or confusion. Though there were many other
minor market-places scattered through the city, this was the principal
one.
Cortez then expressed the wish that he might be conducted to the great
pyramidal temple, which reared its lofty structure from the heart of
the city. The summit of the pyramid was an extended plain, where
several hundred priests could officiate in sacrifice. The corners of
the area were ornamented with towers. One hundred and fourteen steps
led to the summit of the temple. Several large altars stood here,
besmeared with the blood of human sacrifices, and there was also a
hideous image of a dragon polluted with gore.
From this towering eminence the whole adjacent country lay spread out
before the eye of Cortez in surpassing loveliness. Gardens, groves,
villages, waving fields of grain, and the wide expanse of the placid
lakes, covered with boats gliding rapidly over the mirrored waters,
presented a scene of beauty which excited the enthusiasm of Cortez to
the highest pitch. They then entered the sanctuaries of the temple,
where human hearts were smoking, and almost throbbing, upon the altars
before the revolting images of their gods. On the summit of the
temple there was an enormous drum or gong, which was struck when the
miserable victim was shrieking beneath the knife of sacrifice. Its
doleful tones, it was said, floating over the still waters of the
lake, could be heard at the distance of many miles.
From these sickening scenes Cortez turned away in disgust, and
exclaimed indignantly to Montezuma,
"How can you, wise and powerful as you are, put trust in such
representatives of the devil? Why do you allow your people to be
butchered before these abominable idols? Let me place here the cross,
and the image of the blessed Virgin and of her Son, and the influence
of these detestable idols will soon vanish."
Montezuma, shocked by words which he deemed so blasphemous, and
dreading the swift vengeance of the gods, hurried his irreverent guest
away.
"Go," said he, "go hence, I entreat you, while I remain to appease, if
possible, the wrath of the gods whom you have so dreadfully provoked."
But these scenes aroused anew the religious zeal of Cortez and his
companions. As they returned to their lodgings, they immediately
converted one of the halls of their residence into a Christian chapel.
Here the rites of the Roman Catholic Church were introduced, and the
whole army of Cortez, with soldierly devotion, attended mass every
day. Good Father Olmedo, with perhaps a clouded intellect, but with
that recognition of the universal brotherhood of man which sincere
piety ever confers, prayed fervently for God's blessing upon his frail
children of every name and nation.
The Spaniards estimated the population of the city at about five
hundred thousand. The streets were very regularly laid out at right
angles. Many of them were wide, and lined with shade-trees. The houses
of the common people were small but comfortable cottages, built of
reeds or of bricks baked in the sun. The dwellings of the nobles and
of the more wealthy inhabitants were strongly-built mansions of stone,
very extensive on the ground floor, though generally but one story
high. They were inclosed in gardens blooming with flowers. Fountains
of cool water, conveyed through earthen pipes, played in the
court-yards. The police regulations were unsurpassed by those of any
city in Europe. A thousand persons were continually employed in
sweeping and watering the streets. So clean were the well-cemented
pavements kept, that "a man could walk through the streets," says one
of the Spanish historians, "with as little danger of soiling his feet
as his hands."
Day after day was passed in the interchange of visits, and in the
careful examination by Cortez of the strength and the resources of
the city. He had now been a week in the capital, and the question
naturally arose, What is next to be done? He was, indeed, perplexed to
decide this question. Montezuma treated him with such extraordinary
hospitality, supplying all his wants, and leaving him at perfect
liberty, that it was difficult for one, who laid any claim whatever to
a conscience, to find occasion to pick a quarrel. To remain inactive,
merely enjoying the luxury of a most hospitable entertainment, was not
only accomplishing nothing, but was also enervating the army. It was
also to be apprehended that the Mexicans would gradually regain their
courage as they counted the small number of the invaders, and fall
upon them with resistless power.
The Tlascalans, who had rioted in blood at Cholula, seemed anxious for
a renewal of that scene of awful butchery in the streets of Mexico.
They assured Cortez that he had every thing to fear from the treachery
of Montezuma; that he had lured them into the city but to inclose
them in a trap; that the drawbridges of the causeways need but be
removed, and escape for the Spaniards would be impossible. They
assured him that the Mexican priests had counseled Montezuma, in the
name of the gods, to admit the strangers into the capital that he
might cut them off at a blow. It was obvious, even to the meanest
soldier, that all this might be true, and that they were in reality
in a trap from which it would be exceedingly difficult to extricate
themselves, should the Mexicans manifest any resolute hostility.
On the east the island city had no connection with the main land, and
could only be approached over the broad waters of the lake by canoes.
On the west the city was entered by an artificial causeway, built of
earth and stone, a mile and a half in length, and but thirty feet
in breadth. A similar causeway on the northwest, three miles long,
connected the city with the main land. There was another causeway on
the south, six miles long. There were many openings along these
causeways, through which the waters of the lake flowed unimpeded.
These openings were bridged over by means of timber. The destruction
of these bridges, which might be accomplished at any hour, would
render an escape for the Spaniards almost impossible.
[Illustration: CITY OF MEXICO.]
In this dilemma, the bold Spaniard adopted the audacious yet
characteristic plan of seizing Montezuma, who was regarded with almost
religious adoration by his subjects, and holding him as a hostage. The
following occurrence furnished Cortez with a plausible pretext to pick
a quarrel.
We have before mentioned that the Totonacs, wishing to escape from
the subjection of the Mexicans, had acknowledged themselves vassals of
the King of Spain. When the officers of Montezuma attempted, as usual,
to collect the taxes, the Totonacs refused payment. Force was resorted
to, and a conflict arose. The colony at Vera Cruz immediately sent
some soldiers to aid their allies, headed by Escalente, the commander
of the Spanish garrison. In the engagement which ensued, Escalente and
seven of his men were mortally wounded, one horse was killed, and one
Spaniard taken captive, who soon, however, died of his wounds. Still
the Spaniards, with their Totonac allies, were victorious, and
repelled the Mexicans with much slaughter. The vanquished party cut
off the head of their unfortunate prisoner, and carried it in triumph
to several cities, to show that their foes were not invulnerable.
With alacrity Cortez availed himself of this event. He immediately
repaired to the palace of Montezuma, and, with bitter reproaches,
accused him of treacherously ordering an assault upon the Spaniards
who had been left at Vera Cruz. Sternly the pitiless Spaniard demanded
reparation for the loss, and atonement for the insult. Montezuma,
confounded at this unexpected accusation, earnestly declared that the
order had not been issued by him, but that the distant officer had
acted on his own responsibility, without consulting the sovereign.
Ungenerously he added that, in proof of his innocence, he would
immediately command the offending officer, Qualpopoca, and his
accomplices, to be brought prisoners to Mexico, and to be delivered
to Cortez for any punishment which the Spaniards might decree.
Cortez now feigned a relenting mood, and declared that he could not
himself doubt the word of the emperor, but that something more was
requisite to appease the rage of his followers. "Nothing," said he,
"can satisfy them of your sincerity and of your honorable intentions,
unless you will leave your palace, and take up your abode in the
Spanish quarters. This will pacify my men, and they will honor you
there as becomes a great monarch."
When Marina interpreted this strange proposal, Montezuma was for a
moment so struck with amazement as to be almost bereft of speech. His
cheek was flushed with shame and rage, and then the hectic glow passed
away into deadly paleness. His ancient spirit was for a moment
revived, and he exclaimed, indignantly,
"When did ever a monarch suffer himself to be tamely led to a prison?
Even were I willing to debase myself in so vile a manner, would not my
people immediately arm themselves to set me free?"
One of the impetuous attendants of Cortez, as the altercation
continued, exclaimed, grasping his sword,
"Why waste time in vain? Let us either seize him instantly or stab him
to the heart."
Montezuma, though he did not understand his words, observed the
threatening voice and the fierce gesture, and, turning to the amiable
interpretress, Marina, inquired what he said.
"Sire," she replied, with her characteristic mildness and tact, "as
your subject, I desire your happiness; but as the confidante of those
men, I know their secrets, and am acquainted with their character. If
you yield to their wishes, you will be treated with all the honor due
to your royal person; but if you persist in your refusal, your life
will be in danger."
Montezuma, reading in these events, as he supposed, but the decrees of
fate, now yielded. He called his officers, and informed them of his
decision. Though they were plunged into utter consternation by the
intelligence, they did not venture to question his will. The imperial
palanquin was brought, and the humiliated emperor was conveyed,
followed by a mourning crowd, to the Spanish quarters. Montezuma
endeavored to appease them, and to prevent any act of violence, by
assuring the people that it was his own pleasure to go and reside with
his friends. He was now so thoroughly convinced of the resistless
power of the Spaniards, and that he was swept along by the decrees of
fate, that he dreaded any movement of resistance on the part of his
people.[E]
[Footnote E: Bernal Diaz says, "It having been decided that we should
seize the person of the king, we passed the whole of the preceding
night in praying to our Lord that he would be pleased to guide us, so
that what we were going to do should redound to his holy service."]
He was magnificently imprisoned. His own servants were permitted to
attend him, and he continued to administer the government as if he
had been in his own palace. All the forms of courtly etiquette were
scrupulously observed in approaching his person. Ostensibly to confer
upon him greater honor, a body-guard of stern Spanish veterans was
appointed for his protection. This body-guard, with all external
demonstrations of obsequiousness, watched him by night and by day,
rendering escape impossible.
This violence, however, was but the beginning of the humiliation and
anguish imposed upon the unhappy monarch. The governor, Qualpopoca,
who had ventured to resist the Spaniards, was brought a captive to the
capital, with his son and fifteen of the principal officers who had
served under him. They were immediately surrendered to Cortez, that he
might determine their crime and their punishment. Qualpopoca was put
to the torture. He avowed, in his intolerable agony, that he had only
obeyed the orders of his sovereign. Cortez, who wished to impress the
Mexicans with the idea that it was the greatest of all conceivable
crimes to cause the death of a Spaniard, determined to inflict upon
them a punishment which should appal every beholder. They were all
doomed to be burned alive in the great market-place of the city.
To allow no time for any resistance to be organized, they were
immediately led out for execution. In the royal arsenals there was an
immense amount of arrows, spears, javelins, and other wooden martial
weapons, which had been collected for the defense of the city. These
the soldiers gathered, thus disarming the population, and heaped them
up in an immense funeral pile.
While these atrocities were in preparation, Cortez entered the
presence of his captive, Montezuma, and sternly accused him of being
an accomplice in the death of the Spaniards. He then pitilessly
ordered the soldiers who accompanied him to bind upon the hands and
the feet of the monarch the iron manacles of a felon. It was one
of the most cruel insults which could have been inflicted upon
fallen majesty. Montezuma was speechless with horror, and his
attendants, who regarded the person of their sovereign with religious
veneration, wailed and wept. The shackles being adjusted, Cortez
turned abruptly upon his heel, leaving the monarch in the endurance
of this ignominious punishment, and went out to attend to the
execution of the victims, who were already bound to the stake.
The cruel fires were then kindled. The flames crackled, and rose in
fierce, devouring billows around the sufferers. The stern soldiery
stood, with musketry and artillery loaded and primed, ready to repel
any attempts at rescue. Thousands of Mexicans, with no time for
consideration, gazed with awe upon the appalling spectacle; and the
Indian chieftains, without a struggle or an audible groan, were burned
to ashes. The dreadful execution being terminated, and the blood of
the Spaniards being thus avenged by the degradation of the sovereign
and the death of his officers, Cortez returned to Montezuma, and
ordered the fetters to be struck from his limbs.
Step after step of violence succeeded, until Montezuma was humbled to
the dust. The fearful rigor with which Cortez had punished even the
slightest attempt to resist the Spaniards overawed the nation. Cortez
was now virtually the Emperor of Mexico. The general laws and customs
of the nation remained unchanged; but Cortez issued his commands
through Montezuma, and the mandates of the imprisoned sovereign were
submissively obeyed. With great skill, the Spanish adventurer availed
himself of these new powers. He sent a Spanish commission, by the
authority and under the protection of Montezuma, to explore the
empire--to ascertain its strength and its weakness, its wealth and its
resources. These officers went to nearly all the provinces, and, by
their arrogant display of power, endeavored to intimidate the natives,
and to prepare them for entire subjection to Spain.
Mexican officers, whose fidelity Cortez suspected, were degraded, and
their places supplied by others whose influence he had secured. A
general contribution of gold was exacted throughout the whole Mexican
territories for the benefit of the conquerors.
A large sum was thus collected. One fifth of this was laid aside
for his majesty, the King of Spain. Another fifth was claimed by
Cortez. The remaining portion was so greatly absorbed to defray the
innumerable expenses of the expedition, that only about one hundred
crowns fell to the lot of each soldier. This excited discontent so
deep and loud that Cortez was compelled to attempt to pacify his men
by a public address.
"He called us together," says Diaz, "and in a long set speech, gave us
a great many honeyed words, which he had an extraordinary facility of
doing, wondering how we could be so solicitous about a little paltry
gold when the whole country would soon be ours, with all its rich
mines, wherewith there was enough to make us great lords and princes,
and I know not what."
Cortez was cautious as well as bold. To prepare for a retreat in case
of necessity, should the Mexicans seize their arms and break down
their bridges, he wished, without exciting the suspicions of the
natives, to build some vessels which would command the lake. He
accomplished this with his usual address. In conversation with
Montezuma, he gave the monarch such glowing accounts of floating
palaces, which would glide rapidly over the water without oars, as to
excite the intense curiosity of his captive. Montezuma expressed a
strong desire to see these wonderful fabrics. Cortez, under the
pretext of gratifying this desire, very obligingly consented to build
two brigantines. The resources of the empire were immediately placed
at the disposal of Cortez. A multitude of men were sent to the forest
to cut down ship-timber and draw it to the lake. Several hundred _men
of burden_ were dispatched to Vera Cruz to transport naval stores from
that place to Mexico. Aided by so many strong arms, the Spanish
carpenters soon succeeded in constructing two vessels, which amused
the monarch and his people, and which afforded the Spaniards an
invaluable resource in the hour of danger.
But the insolent bearing of the Spaniards had now become to many quite
unendurable. Cacamatzin, the chief of the powerful city of Tezcuco,
at the farther extremity of the lake, was a nephew of Montezuma. He
was a bold man, and his indignation, in view of the pusillanimity of
his uncle, at last overleaped his prudence. He began to assemble an
army to make war upon the Spaniards. The Mexicans began to rally
around their new leader. The indications were alarming to Cortez, and
even Montezuma became apprehensive that he might lose his crown, for
it was reported that Cacamatzin, regarding his uncle as degraded
and a captive, intended to seize the reins of empire. Under these
circumstances, Cortez and Montezuma acted in perfect harmony against
their common foe. After several unsuccessful stratagems to get
possession of the person of the bold chieftain, Montezuma sent some of
his nobles, who secretly seized him, and brought him a prisoner to the
capital, where he was thrust into prison. A partisan of Cortez was
sent to take the place of Cacamatzin as governor of the province of
Tezcuco. Thus this danger was averted.
Cortez still felt much solicitude concerning the judgment of the King
of Spain respecting his bold assumption of authority. He well knew
that Velasquez, the governor of Cuba, whose dominion he had so
recklessly renounced, would report the proceedings to the court at
Madrid, sustained by all the influence he could command. To conciliate
his sovereign, and to bribe him to indulgence, he extorted from the
weeping, spirit-crushed sovereign of Mexico an acknowledgment of
vassalage to the King of Spain. This humiliating deed was invested
with much imposing pomp. All the nobles and lords were assembled in a
large hall in the Spanish quarters. The poor monarch wept bitterly,
and his voice often broke with emotion as he tremblingly said,
"I speak as the gods direct. Our prophets have told us that a new race
is to come to supplant our own. The hour has arrived. The sceptre
passes from my hands by the decrees of fate which no one can resist. I
now surrender to the King of the East my power and allegiance, and
promise to pay to him an annual tribute."
A general outburst of amazement and indignation from the nobles
followed this address. Cortez, apprehensive that he might have
proceeded a little too far, endeavored to appease the rising agitation
by the assurance that his master had no intention to deprive Montezuma
of his regal power, or to make any innovations upon the manners and
the laws of the Mexicans. The act of submission and homage was,
however, executed with all the formalities which Cortez saw fit to
prescribe. The nobles retired, exasperated to the highest degree, and
burning with desires for vengeance.
Encouraged by these wonderful successes, and by the tame submission of
the monarch, Cortez resolved upon the entire overthrow, by violence if
necessary, of the whole system of idolatry, and to introduce Catholic
Christianity in its stead. He had often, with the most importunate
zeal, urged Montezuma to renounce his false gods and to embrace the
Christian faith. But superstition was too firmly enthroned in the
heart of the Mexican monarch to be easily supplanted. To every thing
but this the monarch was ready to yield; but every proposition to
renounce his gods he rejected with horror. Cortez at length firmly
ordered his soldiers to march to the temples and sweep them clean of
every vestige of paganism. This roused the priests. They seized their
arms, and the alarm was spread rapidly through the streets of the
city. Vast multitudes, grasping such weapons as they could get,
assembled around the temples, resolved to brave every peril in defense
of their religion. Matters assumed an aspect so threatening, that,
for the first time, Cortez found it necessary to draw back. He
contented himself with simply ejecting the gods from one of the
shrines, and in erecting in their stead an image of the Virgin.
There were now many indications of approaching trouble. The natives
were greatly provoked, and it was evident that they were watching
for a favorable opportunity to rise against their invaders. Cortez
practiced the most sleepless vigilance. Diaz speaks thus of the
hardships he and his comrades endured:
"During the nine months that we remained in Mexico, every
man, without any distinction between officers and soldiers,
slept on his arms, in his quilted jacket and gorget. They lay
on mats or straw spread on the floor, and each was obliged to
hold himself as alert as if he had been on guard. This became
so habitual to me, that even now, in my advanced age, I
always sleep in my clothes, and never in any bed."
Just in this crisis alarming intelligence was received from the
commander of the garrison at Vera Cruz. One of the ships of the
delegation sent to Spain, of which we have previously spoken, had,
contrary to the orders of Cortez, stopped at Cuba. In this way the
indignant governor, Velasquez, learned that Cortez had renounced all
connection with him, and had set up an independent colony. His anger
was roused to the utmost, and he resolved upon summary vengeance. It
so happened that Velasquez had just received from his sovereign the
appointment of governor _for life_, and was authorized to prosecute
discoveries in Mexico with very extensive and exclusive privileges and
powers.
He immediately fitted out an armament consisting of nineteen ships,
with eighty horsemen, fourteen hundred soldiers, and twenty pieces of
cannon. This was, in that day, a formidable force. The commandant,
Narvaez, was ordered to seize Cortez and his principal officers, and
send them in chains to Cuba. He was then, in the name of Velasquez,
to prosecute the discovery and the conquest of the country.
After a prosperous voyage, the fleet cast anchor in the Bay of St.
Juan de Ulua, and the soldiers were landed. Narvaez then sent a
summons to the governor of Vera Cruz to surrender. Sandoval, the
commandant, however, being zealously attached to Cortez, seized the
envoy and his attendants, and sent them in chains to the capital,
with intelligence of the impending peril. Cortez, with his wonted
sagacity, received them as friends, ordered their chains to be struck
off, condemned the severity of Sandoval, and loaded them with caresses
and presents. He thus won their confidence, and drew from them all the
particulars of the force, and the intentions of the expedition. Cortez
had great cause for alarm when he learned that Narvaez was instructed
to espouse the cause of Montezuma; to assure the Mexican monarch that
the violence which he had suffered was unauthorized by the King of
Spain, and that he was ready to assist Montezuma and his subjects in
repelling the invaders from the capital. From peril so imminent no
ordinary man could have extricated himself. Narvaez was already on the
march, and the natives, enraged against Cortez, were in great numbers
joining the standard of the new-comers. Already emissaries from the
camp of Narvaez had reached the capital, and had communicated to
Montezuma, through the nobles, intelligence that Narvaez was marching
to his relief. Montezuma was overjoyed, and his nobles were elated
with hope, as they secretly collected arms and marshaled their forces
for battle.
Cortez immediately dispatched Father Olmedo to meet Narvaez to propose
terms of accommodation. He was fully aware that no such terms as he
proposed could be acceded to; but Olmedo and his attendants were
enjoined, as the main but secret object of their mission, to do every
thing they could, by presents, caresses, promises, and glowing
descriptions of the greatness of Cortez, his power, and the glory
opening before him, to induce the officers and soldiers of Narvaez to
abandon his standard, and range themselves under the banner of Cortez.
At the same time, Cortez, leaving one hundred and fifty men, under
Alvarado, to guard the fortified camp in the metropolis, set out by
forced marches, with the rest of his force, to fall unexpectedly upon
Narvaez. His strength did not exceed two hundred and fifty men. In a
great emergency like this, the natives could not be trusted. As Cortez
drew near his foe, he found that Narvaez was encamped upon a great
plain in the vicinity of Zempoalla. A terrible tempest arose. Black
clouds darkened the sky, and the rain fell in floods. The soldiers of
Narvaez, drenched through and through by the unceasing torrents,
demanded to be led to the shelter of the houses in Zempoalla. They
deemed it impossible that any foe could approach in such a storm; but
the storm, in all its pitiless fury, was the very re-enforcement which
Cortez and his men desired. Black midnight came, and the careering
tempest swept the deluged streets of Zempoalla, driving even the
sentinels to seek shelter.
Cortez gathered his little band around him, and roused them, by a
vigorous harangue, for an immediate attack. The odds were fearful.
Cortez had but two hundred and fifty men. Narvaez had fifteen hundred,
with nineteen pieces of artillery and eighty horsemen. Giving the
soldiers for their countersign the inspiring words, "The Holy Spirit,"
they rushed through the darkness and the raging storm upon the
unsuspecting foe. They first directed their energies for the capture
of the artillery. The party who made this attack was headed by
Pizarro, "an active lad," says Diaz, "whose name, however, was at that
time as little known as that of Peru." The guns were seized, after
a short and not a very sanguinary struggle. They then, without a
moment's delay, turned upon the horsemen. But the sleeping foe was now
effectually aroused. A short scene of consternation, clamor, horror,
and blood ensued. The companions of Cortez fought with the energies of
despair. To them, defeat was certain death. The soldiers of Narvaez
were bewildered. Many of them, even before the battle, were half
disposed to abandon Narvaez and join the standard of Cortez, of whose
renown they had heard such glowing accounts. Taken by a midnight
surprise, they fought manfully for a time. But at length, in the hot
and tumultuary fight, a spear pierced the cheek of Narvaez, and tore
out one of his eyes. He was struck down and made a prisoner. This led
to an immediate surrender. The genius of Cortez had most signally
triumphed. Though many were wounded in this conflict, but two men on
the side of Cortez were killed, and fifteen of the party of Narvaez.
The artful conqueror loaded the vanquished with favors, and soon
succeeded in winning nearly all of them to engage in his service. With
enthusiasm these new recruits, thus singularly gained, rallied around
him, eager to march in the paths of glory to which such a leader could
guide them.
This achievement was hardly accomplished ere a new peril menaced the
victorious Spaniard. An express arrived from the Mexican metropolis
with the intelligence that the Mexicans had risen in arms; that they
had attacked the Spaniards in their quarters, and had killed several,
and had wounded more; that they had also seized the two brigantines,
destroyed the magazine of provisions, and that the whole garrison was
in imminent danger of destruction.
Immediately collecting his whole force, now greatly augmented by the
accession of the vanquished troops of Narvaez, with their cavalry and
artillery, Cortez hastened back from Zempoalla to the rescue of
his beleaguered camp. His army now, with his strangely acquired
re-enforcement, amounted to over a thousand infantry and a hundred
cavalry, besides several thousands of the natives, whom he recruited
from his allies, the Totonacs.
The danger was so imminent that his troops were urged to the utmost
possible rapidity of march. At Tlascala, two thousand of those fierce
warriors joined him; but as he advanced into the territory of
Montezuma, he met every where the evidences of strong disaffection to
his cause. The nobles avoided his camp. The inhabitants of cities and
villages retired at his approach. No food was brought to him. The
natives made no attempt to oppose a force so resistless, but they left
before him a path of silence and solitude.
When the Spaniards arrived at the causeway which led to the city, they
found, to their surprise, that the Mexicans had not destroyed the
bridges, but throughout the whole length of this narrow passage no
person was to be seen. No one welcomed or opposed. Fiercely those
stern men strode on, over the causeway and through the now deserted
streets, till they entered into the encampment of their comrades.
The insurrection had been suddenly excited by an atrocious massacre
on the part of Alvarado. This leader, a brave soldier, but destitute
either of tact or judgment, suspected, or pretended to suspect, that
the Mexican nobles were conspiring to attack him. One of their
religious festivals was at hand, when all the principal nobles of the
empire were to be assembled in the performance of the rites of their
religion, in the court-yard of the great temple. Suddenly Alvarado
came upon them, when they were thus unarmed and unsuspicious,
and, cutting them off from every avenue of escape, with musketry,
artillery, and the keen sabres of his horsemen, mercilessly hewed
them down. Nearly six hundred of the flower of the Mexican nobility
were massacred. Though Cortez was very indignant with his lieutenant
when he heard this story from his lips, and exclaimed, "Your conduct
has been that of a madman," he was still enraged with the Mexicans for
venturing to attack his garrison, and declared that they should feel
the weight of Spanish vengeance.
In his displeasure, he refused to call upon Montezuma. Elated by the
success with which he had thus far triumphed over all obstacles, and
deeming the forces he now had under his command sufficient to sweep,
like chaff before the whirlwind, any armies which the natives could
raise, he gave free utterance to expressions of contempt for both
prince and people. There had been a tacit truce between the two
parties for a few days, and had Cortez disavowed the conduct of his
subaltern, and pursued conciliatory measures, it is possible that the
natives might again have been appeased. The insolent tone he assumed,
and his loud menace of vengeance, aroused the natives anew, and they
grasped their arms with a degree of determination and ferocity never
manifested before.
Bernal Diaz in the following terms records this event:
"Cortez asked Alvarado for what reason he fell upon the
natives while they were dancing and holding a festival in
honor of their gods. To this Alvarado replied that it was in
order to be beforehand with them, having had intelligence of
their hostile intentions toward him from two of their own
nobility and a priest. Cortez then asked of him if it was
true that they had requested of him permission to hold their
festival. The other replied that it was so, and that it was
in order to take them by surprise, and to punish and terrify
them, so as to prevent their making war upon the Spaniards,
that he had determined to fall on them by anticipation. At
hearing this avowal, Cortez was highly enraged. He censured
the conduct of Alvarado in the strongest terms, and in this
temper left him.
"Some say that it was avarice which tempted Alvarado to make
this attack, in order to pillage the Indians of the golden
ornaments which they wore at their festival. I never heard
any just reason for the assertion; nor do I believe any such
thing, although it is so represented by Bartholome de las
Casas. For my part, I am convinced that his intention in
falling on them at that time was in order to strike terror
into them, and prevent their insurrection, according to the
saying that the first attack is half the battle."