CHAPTER XXII.
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE CITY.
The very day after he had become firmly fixed in his position, Cortez himself made an assault upon the city, Alvarado and Sandoval approaching it from their respective camps. Eighty thousand allies assisted them, yet they barely succeeded in penetrating to the great square, where they were attacked by such numbers of Mexicans that they fell back in confusion, leaving a cannon in possession of the enemy. The forces of their allies daily increased, until they soon amounted to above two hundred and forty thousand. The King of Tezcoco at last joined forces with Cortez, sending him an army of fifty thousand men. Day by day, the surrounding tribes sent in their allegiance to Cortez, until at last the intrepid Mexicans were left alone to struggle single-handed against the common enemy of their country. When he felt that he had his troops well in hand Cortez made another attack upon the city, penetrating again—though over ditches and entrenchments valiantly defended—to the square. Ten thousand of the allies busied themselves in filling up the ditches in the causeway, while others destroyed the houses bordering it. Among the buildings demolished on that day were several temples, the great palace of Axayacatl (in which the Spaniards had been quartered on their first entry), and Montezuma's aviary, or house of birds. At this time was commenced that systematic tearing down of the structures of the city and the filling of the canals with the débris, that
