to withstand the force of the enemy, had to retreat exposed to great danger, in the midst of which it pleased God that three horsemen should advance into the square; when the enemy saw them they believed there were more, and took to flight; and the horsemen killed some of them and recaptured the court and enclosure I mentioned above. In the principal and highest tower, which has a hundred and some steps to the top, ten or twelve of the principal Indians of the city fortified themselves, but four or five Spaniards forced their way up and overpowered and killed all of them in spite of their stout defence.[1] Five or six horsemen afterwards concerted with others and laid an ambush in which they killed more than thirty of the enemy.
As it was now late, I ordered our people to collect and retire, and, while doing so, such a multitude of the enemy pressed on them, that, had it not been for the horsemen, the Spaniards could not possibly have escaped without injury. But, as I had had all the difficult passes in the street and causeway, where danger was anticipated, well filled in with adobes by the time of retiring, the horsemen could easily move about, so they turned against the enemy, who were harassing our rearguard four or five times in the length of the street, killing some of them with their lances. Although the enemy saw they sustained damage, the dogs rushed on so furiously that we could not check them nor would they stop following us. The whole day would have been spent in this manner, had they not already taken many terraces giving on to the street, and the horsemen were
- ↑ The Mexican historian, Ixtlilxochitl, is authority for the story that Cortes and his Texcocan ally, Prince Ixtlilochitl, headed this assault upon the great teocalli, penetrating into the sanctuary of the idol; and that Cortes himself tore away the jewelled mask of gold from the idol's face while the Prince of Texcoco struck off its head with his sword. In the absence of any mention of these details by Cortes or any other witnesses, this version seems unworthy of credence.
