soldiers, at a signal from their general, sprang up
the great stairway of the temple, entered the building on the summit,
the walls of which were black with human gore, and dragged the huge
wooden idols to the edge of the terrace. Their fantastic forms and
features, conveying a symbolic meaning which was lost on the Spaniards,
seemed to their eyes only the hideous lineaments of Satan. With great
alacrity they rolled the colossal monsters down the steps of the
pyramid, amid the triumphant shouts of their own companions and the
groans and lamentations of the natives. They then consummated the whole
by burning them in the presence of the assembled multitude."

After the temple had been cleansed from every trace of the idol-worship
and its horrors, a new altar was raised, surmounted by a lofty cross,
and hung with garlands of roses. A reaction having now set in among the
Indians, many were willing to become Christians, and some of the Aztec
priests even joined in a procession to signify their conversion, wearing
white robes instead of their former dark mantles, and carrying lighted
candles in their hands, "while an image of the Virgin half smothered
under the weight of flowers was borne aloft, and, as the procession
climbed the steps of the temple, was deposited above the altar.... The
impressive character of the ceremony and the passionate eloquence of the
good priest touched the feelings of the motley audience, until Indians
as well as Spaniards, if we may trust the chronicler, were melted into
tears and audible sobs."

Before finally marching westward toward the temperate "slopes" of the
mountains, Cortes had another opportunity of proving his generalship
and prompt resource at a critical moment. When Agathocles, the
autocratic ruler of Syracuse, sailed over to defeat the Carthaginians,
the first thing he did on landing in Africa was to burn his ships, that
his soldiers might have no opportunity of retreat, and no hope but in
victory. Cortes now acted on exactly the same principle.

After discovering that a number of his soldiers had formed a conspiracy
to seize one of the ships and sail to Cuba, Cortes, on conviction,
punished two of the ringleaders with death. Soon after, he formed the
extraordinary resolution of destroying his ships without the knowledge
of his army.

The five worst ships were first ordered to be dismantled; and, soon
after, to be sunk. When the rest were inspected, four of them were
condemned in