It Was Utterly Impossible For Us To Burn The Houses, Or To Pull
Them Down, As They All Stood Singly
In the water, communicating only by
means of draw-bridges; and it was too dangerous for us to attempt reaching
Them by swimming, as they showered vollies of stones upon us by slings,
and threw large stones upon our heads from the terraces of their house
tops. Even when a house was set on fire, it was very long of taking effect;
and even when we succeeded, the flames could not communicate to the other
houses, as they were all separated by canals, and their roofs were
terraced, not thatched.
At length we reached the great temple, into which four thousand of the
Mexicans immediately rushed, independent of other large bodies who were
previously stationed there for its defence. They defended their temple
with the most obstinate valour, and for some time prevented us from being
able to ascend, our turrets, musketry, and cavalry, being of no avail to
force them to give ground. The pavements of the temple courts were so
smooth, that the horses fell when our cavalry attempted to charge. They
opposed us in front from the steps of the great temple, and assailed us
with such fury on both flanks and in the rear, that though our guns swept
off a dozen or fifteen of them at every discharge, and though in each
charge of our infantry we killed many of them with our swords and lances,
they continually filled up the chasms we had made among them, and their
numbers and resolution were so great that we could not make any permanent
or effectual impression.
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