od of its inhabitants and devastated by fire it lay before they left
it! There had been signs of treachery, even on the road thither, work
of the Cholulans; but, lodged in the city, the Spaniards discovered,
through the agency of the intelligent Marina, a plot to annihilate them
later. Taking the Cholulans unawares as they crowded the streets
with--at the moment--harmless curiosity, the Spaniards, with cannon,
musket, and sabre, mowed down the unfortunate and unprotected natives
in one bloody massacre, aided by the ferocious Tlascalans, who fell
upon the Cholulans from the rear. The appalling and unnecessary
slaughter at Cholula has called down upon the heads of Cortes and the
Spaniards the execration of historians. Some have endeavoured to excuse
or palliate it, but it remains as one of the indelible stains of the
Spanish _Conquistadores_ upon the history they were making. Having
accomplished this "punitive" act, an image of the Virgin was set up on
the summit of the great pyramidal temple, and some order restored.
"They are now your Highness's faithful vassals," wrote Cortes to the
king of Spain!

After this the way seemed clear. Far on the horizon loomed the white,
snow-capped cones of Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl, beautiful and pure
above the deserts, the canyons, and the forests beneath them--the
gateway to Mexico. From the foremost, above its snow-cap, there belched
forth a great column of smoke, for at that period Popocatepetl was an
active volcano. Onwards the Spaniards pressed with buoyant hearts and
eager feet, and when they stood upon the summit of the range their eyes
beheld the beautiful valley of Mexico, the haven for which they had
long toiled and fought, stretched below. There, shimmering in distance,
lay the strange, unknown city of the Aztecs, like a gem upon the
borders of its lakes: its towers and buildings gleaming white in the
brilliant sun of the tropic upland beneath the azure firmament and
brought to deceptive nearness by the clear atmosphere of that high
environment. There at last was their longed-for goal, the mysterious
Tenochtitlan.

CHAPTER V
THE FALL OF THE LAKE CITY

The Valley of Mexico--The City and the Causeways--The _Conquistadores_
enter Mexico City--Meeting of Cortes and Montezuma--Greeting of the
Aztec emperor to the Spaniards--Tradition of Quetzalcoatl--Splendid
reception--The Teocalli--Spanish duplicity--Capture of Montezuma--
Spanish gambling--News from Vera Cruz--For