l to destroy the whole of us; but we shall soon see how
this scheme terminated.

CHAPTER CLV.

_How Gonzalo de Sandoval marches against the provinces which had
sent their troops to cooperate with Quauhtemoctzin._

In order that these events may be rendered more intelligible, I must
recur to the defeat which Cortes' division sustained on the causeway,
when sixty of his men, or rather sixty-two, as subsequently appeared,
were taken prisoners. The reader will remember that Quauhtemoctzin,
after that unfortunate day, sent the feet and hands, with the skins torn
from the faces of the murdered Spaniards, and the heads of the dead
horses to Matlaltzinco, Malinalco, and other townships. This he did to
blazon forth the victory he had gained over us; and he summoned the
inhabitants to cooperate with him, and carry on the war with us day and
night without intermission, and on a certain day to fall upon our rear,
while he with his troops sallied out upon us from the city; in that way,
he assured them, they could not fail to give us a total overthrow, as
above half of our men had been killed in the last battle. This message
from Quauhtemoctzin met with the more favorable reception in
Matlaltzinco, as the monarch had many relations on his mother's side in
this township. It was therefore resolved that the whole armed force of
the country should be called out, and march to the relief of Mexico.

The warriors of these three townships accordingly put themselves in
motion, and commenced hostilities by plundering and ill-using the
inhabitants of the districts they passed through, and carrying off their
children to sacrifice them to their idols. The inhabitants of these
places, therefore, applied to Cortes, who instantly despatched Andreas
de Tapia, with twenty horse, one hundred Spanish foot, and a strong body
of our allies to their assistance. Tapia soon dispersed the enemy, with
considerable loss, and they fled precipitately to their own country.

Cortes was excessively pleased with the promptness that Tapia had
displayed, who, however, had scarcely returned to head-quarters, when
messengers arrived from Quauhnahuac, praying for immediate assistance
against these same tribes of Matlaltzinco and Malinalco, who had fallen
hostilely into their country.

Cortes, on receiving this intelligence, instantly ordered off Sandoval
with twenty cavalry, eighty of his most nimble foot soldiers, and a
considerable body of allies t