his part he was bound to do to defend himself and his people, until he was reduced to that state, and that I might now do with him as I chose; and placing his hand on a dagger which I wore he bade me stab him with it and kill him. I encouraged him, and told him not to be afraid; and this lord having been made prisoner, the war immediately ceased, which God Our Lord was pleased to bring to its end on this day, the Feast of San Hipolito, which was the 13th of August in the year 152 1. So that from the day when we laid the siege to the city, which was the 30th of May of the said year, until it was taken, seventy-five days passed, in which Your Majesty may perceive the hardships, dangers, and cruelties, which these, your vassals, suffered, and in which they so exposed themselves that their deeds will bear testimony of them. In all these seventy-five days of the siege, none passed without more or less fighting.
On the day of the imprisonment of Quatamucin, and of the capture of the city, we returned to camp, having gathered the spoils found that day, and given thanks to Our Lord for the signal mercy and the much wished for victory He had granted us.[1] I remained in the
- ↑ See Appendix at close of this Letter.
of the capture, and refused to yield to his superior. The dispute which ensued, delayed matters, but Cortes who was informed of the dissension, sent Luis Marin and Francisco Lugo with peremptory orders to cease wrangling, and bring the prisoners to him.
Bernal Diaz relates that, afterwards, the commander called the two claimants, and cited to them, by way of example, the incident from Roman history of the capture of Jugurtha and the dispute between Marius and Sylla as to the honour of that feat, which was productive of civil wars which devastated the state. He calmed them with the assurance that the circumstance should be fully laid before the Emperor, who would decide which of the two should have the action emblazoned in his arms. Two years later, the imperial decision was given, and ignored both the contestants, granting instead to Cortes himself the device of seven captive kings, linked with a chain and representing Montezuma, Quauhtemotzin, and the rulers of Texcoco, Tlapocan, Iztapalapan, Coyohuacan, and Matolzingo.
