He Desired Them Also To
Say, If They Would Desist From Hostilities, We Would Immediately March Out
Of Their City.
He then ordered the body of Montezuma to be carried out by
six nobles, and attended by most of the priests whom we had taken
prisoners, desiring them to deliver the body of their deceased monarch to
the Mexican chiefs, according to his dying injunctions.
We could hear the
exclamations of sorrow which were expressed by the people, at the sight of
the body of their late sovereign; but our message was unavailing, as they
recommenced their attack on our quarters with the utmost violence,
threatening that in two days we should all pay with our lives for the
death of their king and the dishonour of their gods, as they had now a
sovereign whom we could not deceive as we had done by the good Montezuma.
Our situation was now exceedingly alarming, and on the day after the death
of Montezuma, we made another sally towards that part of the city which
contained many houses built on the firm ground, meaning to do all the
injury we could, and, taking advantage of the causeway, to charge through
the enemy with our cavalry, hoping to intimidate them by severe military
execution, so as to induce them to grant us a free passage; we accordingly
forced our way to that part of the city, where we burnt down about twenty
houses, and very nearly reached the firm land[4]. But the injury we did
the enemy was dearly purchased by the death of twenty of our soldiers, and
we were unable to gain possession of any of the bridges, which were all
partly broken down, and the enemy had constructed barricades or
retrenchments in various places to obstruct the cavalry, wherever they
could have done most essential service.
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