Conquest of Mexico
Page 265 (1).—And yet the priests were not so much to blame, if, as Solís assures us, "the devil went about very industriously in those days, insinuating into the ears of his flock, what he could not into their hearts."—Conquista, lib. 5, cap. 22.
Page 266 (1).—"God knows," says the general, " the peril in which we all stood; but since it was necessary for us to show more energy and spirit than ever, and to die fighting, we concealed our weakness from our friends as much as from our enemies."—Ibid., p. 275.
Page 266 (2).— Tapia's force consisted of 10 horse and 80 foot; the chief alguacil, as Sandoval was styled, had 18 horse and 100 infantry.—Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, loc. cit.—Also Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 26.
Page 266 (3).—"Powder and balls, of which we had very great need." (Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 278.) It was probably the expedition in which Ponce de Leon lost his life; an expedition to the very land which the chivalrous cavalier had himself first visited in quest of the Fountain of Health. The story is pleasantly told by Irving, as the reader may remember, in his "Companions of Columbus."
Page 267 (1).—Yet we shall hardly credit the Tezcucan historian's assertion, that a hundred thousand Indians flocked to the camp for this purpose! "The labourers came with all speed for this purpose, bearing their hoes. . . there came more than a hundred thousand of them."— Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los Esp., p. 42.
Page 267 (2).—Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 153.
Page 268 (1).—The flesh of the Christians failed to afford them even the customary nourishment, since the Mexicans said It was intolerably bitter: a miracle, considered by Captain Diaz, as expressly wrought for this occasion.—Ibid., cap. 153.
Page 268 (2).—Ibid., ubi supra. When dried in the sun, this slimy deposit had a flavour not unlike that of cheese, and formed part of the food of the poorer classes at all times, according to Clavigero, Stor. del. Messico, tom. ii. p. 222.
Page 268 (3).—Bernal Diaz, Ibid., cap. 154.
Page 272 (1).—"And it is true and I swear it, that all the lake and the houses and platforms were full of corpses and the heads of dead men, so that I do not know how to describe the scene." (Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 156.) Clavigero considers that it was a scheme of the Mexicans to leave the dead unburied, in order that the stench might annoy and drive off the Spaniards. (Stor. del. Messico, tom. ii. p. 231, nota.) But this policy would have operated much more to the detriment of the besieged than of the besiegers, whose presence in the capital was but transitory. It is much more natural to refer it to the same cause which has led to a similar conduct under similar circumstances elsewhere, whether occasioned by pestilence or famine.
Page 274 (1).—Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 29.-—Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 155.—Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 287-289.
Page 276 (1).—Toribio, Hist. de los Ind., MS., Parte 3, cap. 7. The remains of the ancient foundations may still be discerned in this quarter, while in every other etiam periére ruinæ!
Page 277 (1).—Vestiges of the work are still visible, according to M. de Humboldt, within the limits of the porch of the chapel of St. Jago. Essai Politique, tom. ii. p. 44.
Page 277 (2).—Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 155.—Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 290.—Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 37.442
