ounds from arrows,
stones, and lances. Whenever we did penetrate into the houses, the
inmates had already escaped with their valuables; for we were unable to
get at the houses without first filling up a canal, or throwing a bridge
across, which took up a considerable time: and this was my reason for
observing in a former chapter, that the troops whom Cortes selected for
the service of the brigantines fared better than those who were
stationed on the mainland. There was not the slightest doubt about this;
for when Cortes asked Quauhtemoctzin after Motecusuma's treasure, he and
his generals declared that the greater part of it had been carried off
by the crews of the brigantines.

As the atmosphere of the town had become perfectly pestiferous, from the
decomposed bodies, Quauhtemoctzin requested Cortes to allow the whole of
the inhabitants, with the remaining part of his troops, to leave the
city. This our general readily granted, and the causeways were crowded
for three days and nights with men, women, and children, on their way to
the mainland. These poor beings were quite emaciated, and had a
death-like appearance; their bodies covered with filth, and they spread
around them so abominable a stench, that we grew miserable at the very
sight.

As soon as all the inhabitants had left the city, Cortes sent some
persons there to see how things looked in general. The houses were found
crammed with dead bodies, and among them several poor people were found
still alive, though too weak to stand, and lying in their own filth,
like those hogs which are fed upon nothing but grass. Every spot of
earth in the town looked as if it had been ploughed up, for the famished
inhabitants had dug up every root out of the ground, and had even peeled
the bark from the trees, to still their hunger; neither did we find any
fresh water, for that in the wells was of a salty flavour; and yet
during this horrible famine the Mexicans had not eaten the flesh of
their countrymen, though they so greedily devoured that of the
Tlascallans and Spaniards.[28] Certainly no people ever suffered so much
in this world from hunger, thirst, and the horrors of war, as the
inhabitants of this great city.

After we had thus subdued the great, the populous, and the celebrated
city of Mexico, a solemn service was performed, to offer up our thanks
to the Almighty. After this Cortes ordered a banquet to be prepared in
Cojohuacan, to celebrate the conquest with a joyo