ies, and far too light for a charge. Semmes' Campaign of
General Scott.) and a large number of heavy batteries, were now ready
to oppose the advance of the invaders.

On August 10 the American army crossed the Rio Frio Mountains, 10,000
feet above the sea, the highest point between the Atlantic and the
Pacific, and as the troops descended the western slopes the valley of
Mexico first broke upon their view. There, beneath the shadow of her
mighty mountains, capped with eternal snows, stood

The Imperial city, her far circling walls,
Her garden groves, and stately palaces.

There lay the broad plain of Tenochtitlan, with all its wealth of
light and colour, the verdure of the forest, the warmer hues of the
great corn-fields, ripening to the harvest, and the sheen and sparkle
of the distant lakes. There it lay, as it burst upon the awe-struck
vision of Cortez and his companions, "bathed in the golden sunshine,
stretched out as it were in slumber, in the arms of the giant hills."

On every hand were the signs of a teeming population. White villages
and substantial haciendas glistened in the woodlands; roads broad and
well-travelled crossed the level; and in the clear atmosphere of
those lofty altitudes the vast size of the city was plainly visible.
The whole army of Mexico formed the garrison; hills crowned with
batteries commanded the approaches, while a network of canals on
either flank and a broad area of deep water enhanced the difficulties
of manoeuvre. The line of communication, far too long to be
maintained by the small force at Scott's disposal, had already been
abandoned. The army depended for subsistence on what it could
purchase in the country; the sick and wounded were carried with the
troops, and there was no further reserve of ammunition than that
which was packed in the regimental waggons. Cortez and his four
hundred when they essayed the same enterprise were not more
completely isolated, for, while the Spaniard had staunch allies in
the hereditary foes of the Aztecs, Scott's nearest supports were at
Puebla, eighty miles from Mexico, and these numbered only 1200
effective soldiers. The most adventurous of leaders might well have
hesitated ere he plunged into the great valley, swarming with
enemies, and defended by all the resources of a civilised State. But
there was no misgiving in the ranks of the Americans. With that
wholesome contempt for a foreign foe which has wrought more good than
evil for the Ang