ere must have been at least two hundred thousand.

The Spaniards, in this sanguinary and protracted siege, often suffered
severely for want of food. With apparent reluctance, the historians
of the expedition record that their Indian auxiliaries found quite an
abundant supply for themselves in the bodies of their enemies. Some of
them were rather ashamed to acknowledge that their auxiliaries were
inveterate cannibals. Cortez, however, alludes to their horrible
repasts quite in a tone of indifference.

With greater caution the Spaniards now advanced, fortifying every
point they gained, and preparing a smooth and unobstructed road in
their rear. Their progress was exceedingly slow, and it was necessary
to adopt every possible precaution against an enemy who had manifested
such unexpected audacity and skill. As the Spaniards pushed forward,
the Mexicans, contesting every inch of the way, sullenly retired,
rearing barricade after barricade, and digging ditch behind ditch. But
artillery and European science were sure, in the end, to triumph.
Gradually the three divisions of the army forced their way across the
causeways, and entered the streets of the city. But here the defense
was, if possible, still more determined and sanguinary. Every street
was a guarded defile, where every obstacle was interposed which
Mexican military skill could devise. Every house was a fortress, from
whose battlemented roof and loop-holed windows a shower of stones,
arrows, and javelins fell upon the besiegers. As the Spaniards gained
ground, step by step, they leveled every house, and left entire ruin
and desolation behind them.

Day after day and week after week of this unparalleled siege lingered
along, every hour of which almost was a battle. The Mexicans fell in
incredible numbers. The horrors of pestilence and famine in the
pent-up city were soon added to the awful carnage and misery of war.

The brigantines swept the lake, cutting off nearly all supplies by
water for the valiant yet starving defenders, while the armies on the
causeways completely invested the city by land. Wan and haggard,
these unhappy victims of European aggression, even when all hope of
successful resistance had expired, heroically resolved to perish to
the last man, and to bury themselves beneath the ruins of their city.

Even the heart of Cortez was touched with the almost unearthly misery
he was inflicting upon an unoffending people. Again and again he sent
to Guat