The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo Vol. 2

1/25/22, 8:50 PM The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo written by himself, containing a true an…
Mexicans had purposelyso contrived, as they justly foresaw what would take place.
Cortes, with the whole of his division, now sure of victory, vigorouslypursued the enemy,
who from time to time faced about, to fly their arrowsand lances at him; but all this was a
mere stratagem on their part, to entice Cortes further into the city; and this object was
entirely accomplished.
The wheel of fortune now suddenly turned against Cortes, and thejoyous feelings of victory
were changed into bitter mourning; for whilehe was eager in pursuit of the enemy, with
every appearance of victory,it so happened that his officers never thought to fill up the large
openingwhich they had crossed. The Mexicans had taken care to lessen thewidth of the
causeway, which in some places was covered with water,and at others with a great depth of
mud and mire. When the Mexicanssaw that Cortes had passed the fatal opening without
filling itup, their object was gained. An immense body of troops, with numbersof canoes,
which lay concealed for this purpose in places wherethe brigantines could not get at them,
now suddenly rushed forth fromtheir hiding places, and fell upon this ill-fated division with
incrediblefierceness, accompanied by the most fearful yells. It was impossiblefor the men
to make any stand against this overwhelming power, andnothing now remained for our men
but to close their ranks firmly, andcommence a retreat. But the enemy kept rushing on in
such crowds,that our men, just as they had retreated as far back as the dangerousopening,
gave up all further resistance, and fled precipitately. Cortesindeed strove to rally his men,
and cried out to them, "Stand! standfirm, gentlemen! is it thus you turn your backs upon the
enemy?"But all his commands were fruitless here, and every one strove tosave his own
life. Now the awful consequences of the neglect to fill up the opening in the causeway
began to show themselves. Infront of the narrow path, which the canoes had now broken
down, theMexicans wounded Cortes in the leg, took sixty Spaniards prisoners,and killed
six horses. Several Mexican chiefs had already laid hands on our general, but with great
exertion he tore himself from their grasp,and at the same moment the brave Christobal de
Olea (who must notbe confounded with Christobal de Oli) came up to his assistance, cut
down one of the Mexican chiefs who had seized hold of Cortes, andrescued his general, by
cutting his way through the enemy sword in hand, assisted by another excellent soldier,
called Lerma. But thisheroic deed cost Olea his life, and Lerma was very nigh sharing a
likefate. During this dubious conflict for the rescue of our general's personseveral other of
our men had by degrees hastened up to his assistance,who, though themselves covered with
wounds, boldly risked their livesfor Cortes. Antonio de Quiñones, the captain of his guards,
had likewise hastened up; they now succeeded in dragging Cortes out of the water, and,
placing him on the back of a horse, he reached a place ofsafety. At this instant his majordomo,
Christobal de Guzman, cameup with another horse for him; but the Mexicans, who
had become excessively daring, took him prisoner, and instantly carried him into the
presence of Quauhtemoctzin. The enemy in the meantime pursuedCortes and his troops up
to their very encampment, hooting and yellingmost fearfully.
[Pg 83]
We under Alvarado had likewise advanced along our causeway with like confidence of
victory; but, when we least expected it, an immensebody of Mexicans, completely clothed
in their military costume, rushedout upon us with the most dissonant howls, and threw at
our feet fivebloody heads of our countrymen, whom they had captured of Cortes'division.
"See these heads!" they cried; "we mean to kill you all inthe same way we have Malinche
and Sandoval, with the whole of their troops! These are some of their heads; you will
certainly know themagain." Under these and similar threats they continued to surroundus
on all sides, and fell so furiously upon us that all our courageousfighting was to no purpose:
yet they were unable to break through ourfirmly closed ranks, and we began to retreat with
a steady step, afterwe had sent the Tlascallans in advance to clear the causeway and the
dangerous passages. The Tlascallans, at the sight of the five bleeding heads, had really
credited the enemy's shout of triumph, that Malinche,with Sandoval and all their teules, had
been killed; and they were seizedwith sudden terror.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/32475/32475-h/32475-h.htm 61/282