fought constantly, and obtained victory. And that day of which I spoke in the past chapter, when he saw the enemies waver, and that where I was engaged they gave continual and stout combats, he got such a taste of victory with the bridges and barricades he had captured, that he determined to pass them, and capture a bridge where they had destroyed the causeway for more than sixty paces, and where the water had entered to a depth of about nine feet; and as the attack was made the same day and the brigantines helped so much, he crossed the water and captured the bridge and pursued the enemy who fled. Pedro de Alvarado hastened to have that pass filled so that the horsemen might cross, and also because I had daily admonished him by writing and by word of mouth not to gain a palm of ground without having the exit and entrance for the horsemen absolutely assured, as they in reality sustained the war. When the enemy saw there were only forty or fifty Spaniards and some of our friends on the other side, and that the horsemen could not cross, they turned on them so quickly that they drove them back and into the water, where they captured three or four Spaniards alive, who were immediately sacrificed; and they killed some of our friends.[1]
- ↑ Cortes says nothing of the losses suffered by the Spaniards during the operations of these days, though they were considerable enough to merit notice. The Mexicans had arranged a clever device for capturing the brigantines, which was partially successful. They stationed thirty of their largest canoes, full of warriors, amongst some rushes, and drove a number of stakes into the bottom of the lake in such wise as to impede the movements of the brigantines. Some smaller canoes, such as usually carried supplies, were then sent into the open, where they were quickly discovered by the Spaniards, who gave chase, allowing themselves to be drawn into the trap, where the stakes interfered with their movements. The captain of one of the brigantines, Portillo, was killed, and Pedro Barbo was mortally wounded; many others were wounded, and the Mexicans carried off one brigantine in triumph. They paid dearly for this victory, for Cortes was so much mortified by this disaster, that a counter ambuscade was prepared, which drew the Mexicans successfully, and in which
