o
at first was to help his men out of the water; and meanwhile, the
Mexicans charged upon them in such numbers, that he and his little
party were entirely surrounded. The enemy seized upon his person, and
would have carried him off, but for the resolute bravery of some of his
guard, one of whom lost his life there in succoring his master. The
greatest aid, however, that Cortes had at this moment of urgent peril,
was the cruel superstition of the Mexicans, which made them wish to
take the Malinche alive, and grudged the death of an enemy in any other
way than that of sacrifice to their detestable gods. The captain of
the body-guard seized hold of Cortes, and insisted upon his retreating,
declaring that upon his life depended the lives of all of them.
Cortes, though at that moment he felt that he should have delighted
more in death than life, gave way to the importunity of his captain,
and of other Spaniards who were near, and commenced a retreat for his
life. His flight was along a narrow causeway at the same level as the
water, an additional circumstance of danger, {209} which to use his
expression about them, those 'dogs' had contrived against the
Spaniards. The Mexicans in their canoes approached the causeway on
both sides, and the slaughter they were thus enabled to commit, both
among the allies and the Spaniards, was very great. Meanwhile, two or
three horses were sent to aid Cortes in his retreat, and a youth upon
one of them contrived to reach him, although the others were lost. At
last he and a few of his men succeeded in fighting their way to the
broad street of Tlacuba, where, like a brave captain, instead of
continuing his flight, he and the few horsemen that were with him
turned around and formed a rear-guard to protect his retreating troops.
He also sent immediate orders to the King's Treasurer and the other
commanders to make good their escape; orders the force of which was
much heightened by the sight of two or three Spanish heads which the
Mexicans, who were fighting behind a barricade, threw amongst the
besiegers.

"We must now see how it fared with the other divisions. Alvarado's men
had prospered in their attack, and were steadily advancing toward the
marketplace, when, all of a sudden, they found themselves encountered
by an immense body of Mexican troops, splendidly accoutred, who threw
before them five heads of Spaniards and kept shouting out, 'Thus we
will slay you, as we have slain Malinc