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d who have up to this moment behaved so courageously, and
whom despondency so ill suits, to drive from your minds all remembrance
of Cuba and everything you have left behind there. Show yourselves brave
soldiers as you have hitherto, for next to God, who is our strength, all
depends upon the valour of our arms."

With this answer the deputies repaired to their partisans, who all
declared they could not contradict anything our general had stated, and
remarked that we had certainly departed from Vera Cruz with the full
intention of marching to Mexico; but that at present we were better
informed as to the strength of that city and its numerous troops. The
Tlascallans themselves never mentioned the Mexican name but with terror.
We said the Sempoallans were at peace with us, but we had as few certain
proofs of that as of the state of affairs in Mexico. Up to this moment
we had altogether suffered so much that if we were once again so
furiously attacked as we had been in the late battles, we should be
unable to stand against them. Suppose even they were to remain quiet for
the present, our march to Mexico would, nevertheless, be a monstrous
undertaking; and they were surprised at the man who could desire it and
issue commands to that effect. To all this Cortes replied rather
angrily: "Even then it is better to die like a brave warrior, as the
poets say, than to live a coward!" We others who closely adhered to our
general, and had consented to the destruction of our vessels, and
appointed him captain-general, agreed with all he had said, and desired
him in a loud voice not to trouble himself any further about their talk
and complaints, but to order everything, with the aid of God, as
circumstances might require, and to rely on our faithful assistance.

Herewith an end was put to all their cabals. They certainly continued
their murmurings against Cortes, and cursed us who adhered to him, and
the Sempoallans for having proposed this route; making altogether use
of language which little beseemed them; but for the time being they
remained quiet, and obeyed our general even to a wink.

In the meantime the elders of Tlascalla again sent peremptory orders to
Xicotencatl not to attack us, but to send us provisions and repair to
our camp in person to conclude a treaty of peace with us. This was the
desire of all the caziques and principal personages of Huexotzinco and
Tlascalla. A message was at the same time forwarded to each of his
officers, commanding them not to obey him in anything which had not
reference to a conclusion of peace. These orders were despatched no less
than three successive times to Xicotencatl, information having been
received that he was not only determined to lend a deaf ear to these
injunctions, but to fall upon us the very next night, for which purpose
he had assembled 20,000 warriors. Thus ever presumptuous and haughty, he
now again refused to listen to their commands, and we shall see in the
following chapter how this terminated.

CHAPTER LXX.

 _How the captain Xicotencatl assembled 20,000 chosen warriors to
 make an attack upon us in our camp, and what happened upon this._

The caziques, Maxixcatzin and the elder Xicotencatl, with all the chief
personages of the principal town of Tlascalla, had now for the fourth
time issued orders to their captain-general not to approach our camp,
and commanded the other officers not to accompany him unless he called
upon us to make peace. Xicotencatl lay in our immediate neighbourhood,
and was terribly exasperated at this; yet he determined to send us forty
Indians with provisions, consisting in fowls, bread, and fruits.[26]
This present was also accompanied by four disgusting old Indian females
and a quantity of copal and parrot feathers.

We, of course, concluded that these people came with peaceable
intentions. They perfumed Cortes when they were brought into his
presence, and thus addressed him, without observing the courtesies
customary among them: "These presents are sent you by the general
Xicotencatl, that you may eat, in case you are teules, as the people of
Sempoalla have assured us. If you require a sacrifice with them, kill
these four women, and devour their flesh and their hearts. As we do not
know what your wish is on this head we have not sacrificed them for you.
But if you are human beings, be contented with the fruit and the fowls;
and if you are kind-hearted teules, take the copal and the parrot
feathers as an offering."

Cortes answered, by means of our interpreters, that he was desirous of
making peace, not war, which he had already made known to them. He was
come into their country to beg of them, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and of our great emperor Don Carlos, to abstain from human
sacrifices. We were all human beings made of flesh and bone like
themselves, and not teules, but Christians. We killed no one, excepting
when we were attacked, then, indeed, we destroyed our enemies, whether
it happened to be day or night. He was very thankful for the provisions,
but now they should likewise have the good sense to send us messengers
of peace.

We readily perceived that these people whom Xicotencatl had despatched
to us were spies, who came to gain the necessary information respecting
the accesses to our camp, and the number of our troops, of the horses
and the cannon, and everything else. They remained with us the whole day
and following night. From time to time some returned to Xicotencatl, and
others again arrived in their stead. All this greatly surprised our
friends of Sempoalla, as it was not customary with them to stay night
and day in an enemy's camp without some particular design. This
accordingly aroused their suspicions, which were further confirmed by
some hints which fell from two old men of Zumpanzingo that Xicotencatl
stood ready with a large army to fall upon us unawares. At first they
had laughed at the idea, thinking it a mere piece of bragging, and had,
therefore, not mentioned it to Cortes. Doña Marina, to whom they had
made this known, immediately brought the intelligence to our general,
who, to fathom this matter more deeply, ordered two of the Tlascallans,
who appeared to be honest fellows, to be seized, when they confessed
that Xicotencatl had sent them as spies into our camp. These men were
then liberated, and several others seized, who all gave the same answer,
adding, that their commander Xicotencatl was merely waiting their
information to fall upon us the following night with the whole of his
troops.

After Cortes had convinced himself of the true state of affairs, he
commanded us to be upon our guard, and to hold ourselves ready for
action; he also imprisoned seventeen other of the spies, some of whom he
ordered to have their thumbs cut off, others the whole hand, and to be
sent back in that condition to Xicotencatl, with the information, "That
this was his mode of punishing such messengers. He might now come
whenever he liked in the night or by daytime, we would wa

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