signal was then given by the discharge of an arquebuse--speedily
followed by peals of heavy ordnance, the rattle of fire-arms, and the
hellish shouts of the confederates as they sprang upon their victims.

It is unnecessary to stain the page with a repetition of the horrors of
the preceding day. Some of the wretched Aztecs threw themselves into the
water and were picked up by the canoes. Others sank and were suffocated
in the canals. The number of these became so great that a bridge was
made of their dead bodies, over which the assailants could climb to the
opposite banks. Others again, especially the women, begged for mercy,
which, as the chroniclers assure us, was everywhere granted by the
Spaniards, and, contrary to the instructions and entreaties of Cortes,
everywhere refused by the confederates.

While this work of butchery was going on, numbers were observed pushing
off in the barks that lined the shore, and making the best of their way
across the lake. They were constantly intercepted by the brigantines,
which broke the flimsy array of boats, sending off their volleys to the
right and left as the crews of the latter hotly assailed them. The
battle raged as fiercely on the lake as on the land. Many of the Indian
vessels were shattered and overturned. Some few, however, under cover of
smoke, which rolled darkly over the waters, succeeded in clearing
themselves of the turmoil, and were fast nearing the opposite shore.
Sandoval had particularly charged his captains to keep an eye on the
movements of any vessel in which it was at all probable that Guatemotzin
might be concealed. At this crisis, three or four of the largest
periaguas were seen skimming over the water and making their way rapidly
across the lake. A captain, named Garci Holguin, who had command of one
of the best sailors in the fleet, instantly gave them chase. The wind
was favorable, and every moment he gained on the fugitives, who pulled
their oars with a vigor that despair alone could have given. But it was
in vain; and after a short race, Holguin, coming alongside of one of the
periaguas, which, whether from its appearance or from information he had
received, he conjectured might bear the Indian Emperor, ordered his men
to level their cross-bows at the boat. But, before they could discharge
them a cry arose from those in it that their lord was on board. At the
same moment a young warrior, armed with buckler and _maquahuitl_, rose
up, as if to beat