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202
MARCH TOWARD MEXICO.

force of Indians came up, estimated at from three to five thousand, and a horseman was at once sent back to hurry forward the infantry, while the rest boldly charged the enemy, riding through their ranks, and killing right and left without being injured themselves. On the approach of the foot-soldiers, and the discharge of a volley, the natives retired with about sixty of their number slain.[1] Shortly afterward two of the Cempoalan messengers returned with some Tlascaltecs, who expressed their sorrow at the attack made by a tribe not belonging to their nation. They offered to pay for the horses killed, and invited the Spaniards in the name of the lords to proceed. The army advanced for a league into more open country, and camped among some abandoned farms, where dogs proved to be the only food left. Thus ended the first day in Tlascalan territory, the first of September, according to Bernal Diaz.

In the morning the Spaniards met the two other messengers returning from their mission to Tlascala, who told a harrowing story of their seizure for the sacrificial stone, and of their escape by night. It is probable that their detention by the Tlascaltecs for messenger purposes had frightened them into believing that they were destined to be sacrificed, for envoys enjoyed the greatest respect among the Nahuas.[2] Shortly after a body of over one thousand warriors[3] appeared, to whom Cortés, in presence of the notary Godoy, sent three prisoners, with a formal assurance of his friendly intentions. The

  1. 'Hirieron á quatro de los nuestros, y pareceme que desde alli á pocos dias muriò el vno de las heridas . . . . quedaron muertos hasta diez y siete dellos.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 43; Cortés, Cartas, 61; Lorenzana calls the scene of this battle the plain of Quimichoccan. Viage, p. viii.
  2. See Native Races, ii. 413; Solis, Hist. Mex., i. 230. According to Bernal Diaz the messengers are met before the Tlascalan border is reached, and they deliver the announcement that the Tlascaltecs will kill the Spaniards and eat their flesh, in order to test their reputed strength. The Cempoalans shall suffer the same fate, since they are assumed to be plotting in behalf of the Aztecs. loc. cit. Sahagun supposes that the Cempoalan guide had treacherously led the Spaniards against the Otomís. Conq. Mex. (ed. 1840), 40; Clavigero, Storia Aless., iii. 42-3.
  3. Bernal Diaz says 6000.