uarters for his troops,
and had ordered that the houses which they took possession of should, by
way of distinction, be decorated with green boughs. When we arrived with
Alvarado, we found, to our surprise, that every house had been taken,
and the two divisions were just about to settle the matter, sword in
hand, when the officers stepped in between, and thereby put a stop to
the dispute. But the insult which had thus been offered to us was not so
easily to be forgotten; when, therefore, this circumstance became known
to Cortes, he sent off father Melgarejo and Luis Marin to us, with
letters to every officer and soldier, in which he reproached us for
quarrelling, and admonished us to keep peace with each other. From this
moment Alvarado and Oli were never upon such friendly terms as formerly.

The following morning the two divisions continued their march, and we
encamped for the night in a town subject to Mexico, but which was quite
deserted by its inhabitants. This was likewise the case in Quauhtitlan,
where we took up our quarters the next night.

Tenayucan and Escapuzalco, through which we marched the day following,
were also quite deserted. Our Tlascallan friends spread themselves all
through these townships, and entered into every house during the fore
part of the evening, from which they brought in quantities of
provisions. We adopted every military precaution for the night, as we
were not far distant from Mexico, and could plainly hear the Mexicans,
who were lying in crowds in their canoes on the lake and along the
causeways, hooting and yelling fearfully throughout the whole of the
night, and challenging us to the combat. Their object, was to induce us
to fall upon them in the dark, when they would have had a great
advantage over us. We had, however, received a sufficient warning by our
former misfortune, and very wisely kept ourselves as quietly as possible
until next morning, which was a Sunday.

After father Juan Diaz had said mass, we commended ourselves to the
protection of the Almighty, and both divisions marched forward to cut
off the aqueduct of Chapultepec, which lies about two miles from
Tlacupa, and supplies Mexico with water. On our way thither, we fell in
with several bodies of Mexicans, who had received intelligence that this
was to be the commencement of our operations against Mexico. The enemy
had in every way the advantage ground over us, and attacked us
vigorously with lances, arrows, and sto