arrangements at tezcuco—sack of iztapalapan—advantages of the spaniards—wise policy of cortés—transportation of the brigantines

1521

the city of tezcuco was the best position, probably, which cortés could have chosen for the headquarters of the army. it supplied all the accommodations for lodging a numerous body of troops, and all the facilities for subsistence, incident to a large and populous town.[318] it furnished, moreover, a multitude of artisans and laborers for the uses of the army. its territories, bordering on the tlascalan, afforded a ready means of intercourse with the country of his allies; while its vicinity to mexico enabled the general, without much difficulty, to ascertain the movements{282} in that capital. its central situation, in short, opened facilities for communication with all parts of the valley, and made it an excellent point d’appui for his future operations.

the first care of cortés was to strengthen himself in the palace assigned to him, and to place his quarters in a state of defence which might secure them against surprise not only from the mexicans, but from the tezcucans themselves. since the election of their new ruler, a large part of the population had returned to their homes, assured of protection in person and property. but the spanish general, notwithstanding their show of submission, very much distrusted its sincerity; for he knew that many of them were united too intimately with the aztecs, by marriage and other social relations, not to have their sympathies engaged in their behalf.[319] the young monarch, however, seemed wholly in his interests; and, to secure him more effectually, cortés placed several spaniards near his person, whose ostensible province it was to instruct him in their language and religion, but who were in reality to watch over his conduct and prevent his correspondence with those who might be unfriendly to the spanish interests.[320]

tezcuco stood about half a league from the lake. it would be necessary to open a communication with it, so that the brigantines, when put together in the capital, might be launched upon its waters.{283} it was proposed, therefore, to dig a canal reaching from the gardens of nezahualcoyotl, as they were called, from the old monarch who planned them, to the edge of the basin. a little stream, or rivulet, which flowed in that direction, was to be deepened sufficiently for the purpose; and eight thousand indian laborers were forthwith employed on this great work, under the direction of the young ixtlilxochitl.[321]

meanwhile, cortés received messages from several places in the neighborhood, intimating their desire to become the vassals of his sovereign and to be taken under his protection. the spanish commander required, in return, that they should deliver up every mexican who should set foot in their territories. some noble aztecs, who had been sent on a mission to these towns, were consequently delivered into his hands. he availed himself of it to employ them as bearers of a message to their master the emperor. in it he deprecated the necessity of the present hostilities. those who had most injured him, he said, were no longer among the living. he was willing to forget the past, and invited the mexicans, by a timely submission, to save their capital from the horrors of a siege.[322] cortés had no expectation of producing any immediate result by this appeal. but he thought it might lie in the minds of the mexicans, and that, if there was a{284} party among them disposed to treat with him, it might afford them encouragement, as showing his own willingness to co-operate with their views. at this time, however, there was no division of opinion in the capital. the whole population seemed animated by a spirit of resistance, as one man.

in a former page i have mentioned that it was the plan of cortés, on entering the valley, to commence operations by reducing the subordinate cities before striking at the capital itself, which, like some goodly tree whose roots had been severed one after another, would be thus left without support against the fury of the tempest. the first point of attack which he selected was the ancient city of iztapalapan; a place containing fifty thousand inhabitants, according to his own account, and situated about six leagues distant, on the narrow tongue of land which divides the waters of the great salt lake from those of the fresh. it was the private domain of the last sovereign of mexico; where, as the reader may remember, he entertained the white men the night before their entrance into the capital, and astonished them by the display of his princely gardens. to this monarch they owed no good will, for he had conducted the operations on the noche triste. he was, indeed, no more; but the people of his city entered heartily into his hatred of the strangers, and were now the most loyal vassals of the mexican crown.

in a week after his arrival at his new quarters, cortés, leaving the command of the garrison to sandoval, marched against this indian city, at the head of two hundred spanish foot, eighteen horse,{285} and between three and four thousand tlascalans. their route lay along the eastern border of the lake, gemmed with many a bright town and hamlet, or, unlike its condition at the present day, darkened with overhanging groves of cypress and cedar, and occasionally opening a broad expanse to their view, with the queen of the valley rising gloriously from the waters, as if proudly conscious of her supremacy over the fair cities around her. farther on, the eye ranged along the dark line of causeway connecting mexico with the main land, and suggesting many a bitter recollection to the spaniards.

they quickened their step, and had advanced within two leagues of their point of destination, when they were encountered by a strong aztec force drawn up to dispute their progress. cortés instantly gave them battle. the barbarians showed their usual courage, but, after some hard fighting, were compelled to give way before the steady valor of the spanish infantry, backed by the desperate fury of the tlascalans, whom the sight of an aztec seemed to inflame almost to madness. the enemy retreated in disorder, closely followed by the spaniards. when they had arrived within half a league of iztapalapan, they observed a number of canoes filled with indians, who appeared to be laboring on the mole which hemmed in the waters of the salt lake. swept along in the tide of pursuit, they gave little heed to it, but, following up the chase, entered pell-mell with the fugitives into the city.

the houses stood some of them on dry ground,{286} some on piles in the water. the former were deserted by the inhabitants, most of whom had escaped in canoes across the lake, leaving, in their haste, their effects behind them. the tlascalans poured at once into the vacant dwellings and loaded themselves with booty; while the enemy, making the best of their way through this part of the town, sought shelter in the buildings erected over the water, or among the reeds which sprung from its shallow bottom. in the houses were many of the citizens also, who still lingered with their wives and children, unable to find the means of transporting themselves from the scene of danger.

cortés, supported by his own men, and by such of the allies as could be brought to obey his orders, attacked the enemy in this last place of their retreat. both parties fought up to their girdles in the water. a desperate struggle ensued; as the aztec fought with the fury of a tiger driven to bay by the huntsmen. it was all in vain. the enemy was overpowered in every quarter. the citizen shared the fate of the soldier, and a pitiless massacre succeeded, without regard to sex or age. cortés endeavored to stop it. but it would have been as easy to call away the starving wolf from the carcass he was devouring, as the tlascalan who had once tasted the blood of an enemy. more than six thousand, including women and children, according to the conqueror’s own statement, perished in the conflict.[323]{287}

darkness meanwhile had set in; but it was dispelled in some measure by the light of the burning houses, which the troops had set on fire, in different parts of the town. their insulated position, it is true, prevented the flames from spreading from one building to another, but the solitary masses threw a strong and lurid glare over their own neighborhood, which gave additional horror to the scene. as resistance was now at an end, the soldiers abandoned themselves to pillage, and soon stripped the dwellings of every portable article of any value.

while engaged in this work of devastation, a murmuring sound was heard as of the hoarse rippling of waters, and a cry soon arose among the indians that the dikes were broken! cortés now comprehended the business of the men whom he had seen in the canoes at work on the mole which fenced in the great basin of lake tezcuco.[324] it had been pierced by the desperate indians, who thus laid the country under an inundation, by suffering the waters of the salt lake to spread themselves over the lower level, through the opening. greatly alarmed, the general called his men together, and made all haste to evacuate the city. had they remained three hours longer, he says, not a soul could have escaped.[325] they came stag{288}gering under the weight of booty, wading with difficulty through the water, which was fast gaining upon them. for some distance their path was illumined by the glare of the burning buildings. but, as the light faded away in the distance, they wandered with uncertain steps, sometimes up to their knees, at others up to their waists, in the water, through which they floundered on with the greatest difficulty. as they reached the opening in the dike, the stream became deeper, and flowed out with such a current that the men were unable to maintain their footing. the spaniards, breasting the flood, forced their way through; but many of the indians, unable to swim, were borne down by the waters. all the plunder was lost. the powder was spoiled; the arms and clothes of the soldiers were saturated with the brine, and the cold night-wind, as it blew over them, benumbed their weary limbs till they could scarcely drag them along. at dawn they beheld the lake swarming with canoes, full of indians, who had anticipated their disaster, and who now saluted them with showers of stones, arrows, and other deadly missiles. bodies of light troops, hovering in the distance, disquieted the flanks of the army in like manner. the spaniards had no desire to close with the enemy. they only wished to regain their comfortable quarters in tezcuco, where they arrived on the same day, more disconsolate and fatigued than after many a long march and hard-fought battle.[326]{289}

the close of the expedition, so different from its brilliant commencement, greatly disappointed cortés. his numerical loss had, indeed, not been great; but this affair convinced him how much he had to apprehend from the resolution of a people who, with a spirit worthy of the ancient hollanders, were prepared to bury their country under water rather than to submit. still, the enemy had little cause for congratulation; since, independently of the number of slain, they had seen one of their most flourishing cities sacked, and in part, at least, laid in ruins,—one of those, too, which in its public works displayed the nearest approach to civilization. such are the triumphs of war!

the expedition of cortés, notwithstanding the disasters which checkered it, was favorable to the spanish cause. the fate of iztapalapan struck a terror throughout the valley. the consequences were soon apparent in the deputations sent by the different places eager to offer their submission. its influence was visible, indeed, beyond the mountains. among others, the people of otumba, the town near which the spaniards had gained their famous victory, sent to tender their allegiance and to request the protection of the powerful strangers. they excused themselves, as usual, for the part they had taken in the late hostilities, by throwing the blame on the aztecs.

but the place of most importance which thus claimed their protection was chalco, situated on{290} the eastern extremity of the lake of that name. it was an ancient city, peopled by a kindred tribe of the aztecs, and once their formidable rival. the mexican emperor, distrusting their loyalty, had placed a garrison within their walls to hold them in check. the rulers of the city now sent a message secretly to cortés, proposing to put themselves under his protection, if he would enable them to expel the garrison.

the spanish commander did not hesitate, but instantly detached a considerable force under sandoval for this object. on the march, his rear-guard, composed of tlascalans, was roughly handled by some light troops of the mexicans. but he took his revenge in a pitched battle which took place with the main body of the enemy at no great distance from chalco. they were drawn up on a level ground, covered with green crops of maize and maguey. the field is traversed by the road which at this day leads from the last-mentioned city to tezcuco.[327] sandoval, charging the enemy at the head of his cavalry, threw them into disorder. but they quickly rallied, formed again, and renewed the battle with greater spirit than ever. in a second attempt he was more fortunate; and, breaking through their lines by a desperate onset, the brave cavalier succeeded, after a warm but ineffectual struggle on their part, in completely routing and driving them from the field. the conquering army continued its march to chalco, which the mexican garrison had already evacuated, and was received in triumph by the as{291}sembled citizens, who seemed eager to testify their gratitude for their deliverance from the aztec yoke. after taking such measures as he could for the permanent security of the place, sandoval returned to tezcuco, accompanied by the two young lords of the city, sons of the late cacique.

they were courteously received by cortés; and they informed him that their father had died, full of years, a short time before. with his last breath he had expressed his regret that he should not have lived to see malinche. he believed that the white men were the beings predicted by the oracles as one day to come from the east and take possession of the land;[328] and he enjoined it on his children, should the strangers return to the valley, to render them their homage and allegiance. the young caciques expressed their readiness to do so; but, as this must bring on them the vengeance of the aztecs, they implored the general to furnish a sufficient force for their protection.[329]

cortés received a similar application from various other towns, which were disposed, could they do so with safety, to throw off the mexican yoke. but he was in no situation to comply with their request. he now felt more sensibly than ever the incompetency of his means to his undertaking. “i assure your majesty,” he writes in his letter to the emperor, “the greatest uneasiness which i feel,{292} after all my labors and fatigues, is from my inability to succor and support our indian friends, your majesty’s loyal vassals.”[330] far from having a force competent to this, he had scarcely enough for his own protection. his vigilant enemy had an eye on all his movements, and, should he cripple his strength by sending away too many detachments or by employing them at too great a distance, would be prompt to take advantage of it. his only expeditions, hitherto, had been in the neighborhood, where the troops, after striking some sudden and decisive blow, might speedily regain their quarters. the utmost watchfulness was maintained there, and the spaniards lived in as constant preparation for an assault as if their camp was pitched under the walls of mexico.

on two occasions the general had sallied forth and engaged the enemy in the environs of tezcuco. at one time a thousand canoes filled with aztecs, crossed the lake to gather in a large crop of indian corn, nearly ripe, on its borders. cortés thought it important to secure this for himself. he accordingly marched out and gave battle to the enemy, drove them from the field, and swept away the rich harvest to the granaries of tezcuco. another time a strong body of mexicans had established themselves in some neighboring towns friendly to their interests. cortés, again sallying, dislodged them from their quarters, beat them in{293} several skirmishes, and reduced the places to obedience. but these enterprises demanded all his resources, and left him nothing to spare for his allies. in this exigency, his fruitful genius suggested an expedient for supplying the deficiency of his means.

some of the friendly cities without the valley, observing the numerous beacon-fires on the mountains, inferred that the mexicans were mustering in great strength, and that the spaniards must be hard pressed in their new quarters. they sent messengers to tezcuco, expressing their apprehension, and offering reinforcements, which the general, when he set out on his march, had declined. he returned many thanks for the proffered aid; but, while he declined it for himself, as unnecessary, he indicated in what manner their services might be effectual for the defence of chalco and the other places which had invoked his protection. but his indian allies were in deadly feud with these places, whose inhabitants had too often fought under the aztec banner not to have been engaged in repeated wars with the people beyond the mountains.

cortés set himself earnestly to reconcile these differences. he told the hostile parties that they should be willing to forget their mutual wrongs, since they had entered into new relations. they were now vassals of the same sovereign, engaged in a common enterprise against the formidable foe who had so long trodden them in the dust. singly they could do little, but united they might protect each other’s weakness and hold their enemy at bay{294} till the spaniards could come to their assistance. these arguments finally prevailed; and the politic general had the satisfaction to see the high-spirited and hostile tribes forego their long-cherished rivalry, and, resigning the pleasures of revenge, so dear to the barbarian, embrace one another as friends and champions in a common cause. to this wise policy the spanish commander owed quite as much of his subsequent success as to his arms.[331]

thus the foundations of the mexican empire were hourly loosening, as the great vassals around the capital, on whom it most relied, fell off one after another from their allegiance. the aztecs, properly so called, formed but a small part of the population of the valley. this was principally composed of cognate tribes, members of the same great family of the nahuatlacs who had come upon the plateau at nearly the same time. they were mutual rivals, and were reduced one after another by the more warlike mexican, who held them in subjection, often by open force, always by fear. fear was the great principle of cohesion which bound together the discordant members of the monarchy; and this was now fast dissolving before the influence of a power more mighty than that of the aztec. this, it is true, was not the first time that the conquered races had attempted to recover their independence. but all such attempts had failed for want of concert. it was reserved for the commanding genius of cortés to extinguish their old hereditary feuds, and, combining their{295} scattered energies, to animate them with a common principle of action.[332]

encouraged by this state of things, the spanish general thought it a favorable moment to press his negotiations with the capital. he availed himself of the presence of some noble mexicans, taken in the late action with sandoval, to send another message to their master. it was in substance a repetition of the first, with a renewed assurance that, if the city would return to its allegiance to the spanish crown, the authority of guatemozin should be confirmed and the persons and property of his subjects be respected. to this communication no reply was made. the young indian emperor had a spirit as dauntless as that of cortés himself. on his head descended the full effects of that vicious system of government bequeathed to him by his ancestors. but, as he saw his empire crumbling be{296}neath him, he sought to uphold it by his own energy and resources. he anticipated the defection of some vassals by establishing garrisons within their walls. others he conciliated by exempting them from tributes or greatly lightening their burdens, or by advancing them to posts of honor and authority in the state. he showed, at the same time, his implacable animosity towards the christians by commanding that every one taken within his dominions should be straightway sent to the capital, where he was sacrificed, with all the barbarous ceremonies prescribed by the aztec ritual.[333]{297}

while these occurrences were passing, cortés received the welcome intelligence that the brigantines were completed and waiting to be transported to tezcuco. he detached a body for the service, consisting of two hundred spanish foot and fifteen horse, which he placed under the command of sandoval. this cavalier had been rising daily in the estimation both of the general and of the army. though one of the youngest officers in the service, he possessed a cool head and a ripe judgment, which fitted him for the most delicate and difficult undertakings. there were others, indeed, as alvarado and olid, for example, whose intrepidity made them equally competent to achieve a brilliant coup-de-main. but the courage of alvarado was too often carried to temerity or perverted by passion; while olid, dark and doubtful in his character, was not entirely to be trusted. sandoval was a native of medellin, the birthplace of cortés himself. he was warmly attached to his commander, and had on all occasions proved himself worthy of his confidence. he was a man of few words, showing his worth rather by what he did than what he said. his honest, soldier-like deportment made him a favorite with the troops, and had its influence even on his enemies. he unfortunately died in the flower of his age. but he discovered talents and military skill which, had he{298} lived to later life, would undoubtedly have placed his name on the roll with those of the greatest captains of his nation.

sandoval’s route was to lead him by zoltepec, a small city where the massacre of the forty-five spaniards, already noticed, had been perpetrated. the cavalier received orders to find out the guilty parties, if possible, and to punish them for their share in the transaction.

when the spaniards arrived at the spot, they found that the inhabitants, who had previous notice of their approach, had all fled. in the deserted temples they discovered abundant traces of the fate of their countrymen; for, besides their arms and clothing, and the hides of their horses, the heads of several soldiers, prepared in such a way that they could be well preserved, were found suspended as trophies of the victory. in a neighboring building, traced with charcoal on the walls, they found the following inscription in castilian: “in this place the unfortunate juan juste, with many others of his company, was imprisoned.”[334] this hidalgo was one of the followers of narvaez, and had come with him into the country in quest of gold, but had found, instead, an obscure and inglorious death. the eyes of the soldiers were suffused with tears as they gazed on the gloomy record, and their bosoms swelled with indignation as they thought of the horrible fate of the captives. fortunately, the inhabitants were not then{299} before them. some few, who subsequently fell into their hands, were branded as slaves. but the greater part of the population, who threw themselves, in the most abject manner, on the mercy of the conquerors, imputing the blame of the affair to the aztecs, the spanish commander spared, from pity, or contempt.[335]

he now resumed his march on tlascala; but scarcely had he crossed the borders of the republic, when he descried the flaunting banners of the convoy which transported the brigantines, as it was threading its way through the defiles of the mountains. great was his satisfaction at the spectacle, for he had feared a detention of some days at tlascala before the preparations for the march could be completed.

there were thirteen vessels in all, of different sizes. they had been constructed under the direction of the experienced ship-builder, martin lopez, aided by three or four spanish carpenters and the friendly natives, some of whom showed no mean degree of imitative skill. the brigantines, when completed, had been fairly tried on the waters of the zahuapan. they were then taken to pieces, and, as lopez was impatient of delay, the several parts, the timbers, anchors, iron-work, sails, and cordage, were placed on the shoulders of the tamanes, and, under a numerous military escort, were thus far advanced on the way to tezcuco.[336] san{300}doval dismissed a part of the indian convoy, as superfluous.

twenty thousand warriors he retained, dividing them into two equal bodies for the protection of the tamanes in the centre.[337] his own little body of spaniards he distributed in like manner. the tlascalans in the van marched under the command of a chief who gloried in the name of chichemecatl. for some reason sandoval afterwards changed the order of march, and placed this division in the rear,—an arrangement which gave great umbrage to the doughty warrior that led it, who asserted his right to the front, the place which he and his ancestors had always occupied, as the post of danger. he was somewhat appeased by sandoval’s assurance that it was for that very reason he had been transferred to the rear, the quarter most likely to be assailed by the enemy. but even then he was greatly dissatisfied on finding that the spanish commander was to march by his side, grudging, it would seem, that any other should share the laurel with himself.

slowly and painfully, encumbered with their heavy burden, the troops worked their way over steep eminences and rough mountain-passes, presenting, one might suppose, in their long line of march, many a vulnerable point to an enemy. but,{301} although small parties of warriors were seen hovering at times on their flanks and rear, they kept at a respectful distance, not caring to encounter so formidable a foe. on the fourth day the warlike caravan arrived in safety before tezcuco.

their approach was beheld with joy by cortés and the soldiers, who hailed it as the signal of a speedy termination of the war. the general, attended by his officers, all dressed in their richest attire, came out to welcome the convoy. it extended over a space of two leagues; and so slow was its progress that six hours elapsed before the closing files had entered the city.[338] the tlascalan chiefs displayed all their wonted bravery of apparel, and the whole array, composed of the flower of their warriors, made a brilliant appearance. they marched by the sound of atabal and cornet, and, as they traversed the streets of the capital amidst the acclamations of the soldiery, they made the city ring with the shouts of “castile and tlascala, long live our sovereign, the emperor!”[339]

“it was a marvellous thing,” exclaims the conqueror, in his letters, “that few have seen, or even heard of,—this transportation of thirteen vessels of war on the shoulders of men for nearly{302} twenty leagues across the mountains!”[340] it was, indeed, a stupendous achievement, and not easily matched in ancient or modern story; one which only a genius like that of cortés could have devised, or a daring spirit like his have so successfully executed. little did he foresee, when he ordered the destruction of the fleet which first brought him to the country, and with his usual forecast commanded the preservation of the iron-work and rigging,—little did he foresee the important uses for which they were to be reserved; so important, that on their preservation may be said to have depended the successful issue of his great enterprise.[341]

he greeted his indian allies with the greatest cordiality, testifying his sense of their services by those honors and attentions which he knew would be most grateful to their ambitious spirits. “we come,” exclaimed the hardy warriors, “to fight{303} under your banner; to avenge our common quarrel, or to fall by your side;” and, with their usual impatience, they urged him to lead them at once against the enemy. “wait,” replied the general, bluntly, “till you are rested, and you shall have your hands full.”