CHAPTER XV.
FROM CHOLULA TO IZTAPALAPAN.
October-November, 1519.
Montezuma, Consults the Gods — He Again Begs the Strangers not to Come to Him — Popocatepetl And Iztaccihuatli — News from Villa Rica — Death of Escalante — Return of the Cempoalan Allies — Again en route for Mexico — Reception at Huexotzinco — First View of the Mexican Valley — Exultations and Misgivings — Resting at Quauhtechcatl — The Counterfeit Montezuma — Munificent Presents — The Emperor Attempts to Annihilate the Army by Means of Sorcerers — Through Quauhtechcatl, Amaquemecan, and Tlalmanalco — A Brilliant Procession Heralds the Coming of Cacama, King of Tezcuco — At Cuitlahuac — Met by Ixtlilxochitl — The Hospitality of Iztapalapan.
Elated by his success, Cortés again spoke to the Aztec embassadors, telling them in an aggrieved tone that proofs existed connecting Mexican troops with the recent plot, and that it would be only just for him to enter and desolate the country for such perfidy. The envoys protested their ignorance of any such complicity, and offered to send one of their number to Mexico to ascertain what ground there was for the charge. This Cortés agreed to, expressing at the same time the opinion that Montezuma, after all his friendly demeanor, could hardly have favored the treachery. He regarded him as a friend, both for the sake of his king and for himself, and it was out of deference to him that he had spared the Cholultecs from total extermination.[1]
When the envoy reached Mexico he found that his master had retired to grieve over the fate of the holy
- ↑ Cortés, Cartas, 75-6; Gomara, Hist. Mex., 96-7.
