n Catalan, who charmed the wounds, and the Lord Jesus
blessed this man's exertions in a manner that he invariably succeeded in
his cures. Indeed, if all our wounded, each day we renewed the attack,
had remained behind in our camp, none of the companies could ever have
sallied out with more than twenty men at a time. When our friends of
Tlascalla observed how this man charmed the wounds, and how every one
who was wounded applied to him for assistance, they likewise brought him
all their wounded, and these were so very numerous, that his only
occupation throughout the day consisted in charming wounds.

Our officers and ensigns were most exposed to the enemy's weapons, and
were oftener wounded in consequence; for which reason a fresh set of men
were each day appointed to carry our tattered colours. With all these
hardships we had to suffer, it will at least be thought that we had
plenty of food. But of this we were likewise deprived, and we should
have thought ourselves fortunate if we had only had some refreshing food
for our wounded; we had not even a cake of maise! Miserable indeed was
our distress! The only means we had of keeping soul and body together
was by eating herbs and cherries, and at last we had nothing to subsist
on but wild figs; Cortes and Sandoval's divisions fared no better than
ours, and the Mexicans likewise continued the attack upon them from
morning to night. Every blessed day that came they were obliged to
advance fighting their way up to the bridges along the causeway; for the
Mexicans, and the troops which lay in the other towns of the lake,
merely awaited the morning dawn, when the signals were given from the
summit of the great temple of Huitzilopochtli to rush out upon us both
by land and water.

The operations of the besieged were carried on with perfect order, and
it was previously settled where the different bodies of their troops
were to direct the attack.

As we began to experience that our daily advancing along the causeway
each time cost us a loss of men, besides that we gained little advantage
by it, for the Mexicans returned in the night, and again took possession
of the points we had forced, we determined to alter our plan of
operations, and took up a position on a more spacious part of the
causeway, where several towers rose up together, and where we should be
able to quarter ourselves for the night. Though we were miserably off
here, and had nothing to protect us from the rain, no