condition the moment Cortés entered it, and he expressed a hope that no ill-will would be entertained toward him for what had happened, since this had been beyond his control, and had grieved him as much as the Spaniards. Reassuring messages were forwarded to Villa Rica.
After a stay of four days the army proceeded from Tezcuco by the northern shore of the lake, and camped for the night at Tepeyacac, the terminus of the northern causeway from Mexico.[1] On entering this place the horse of Solis, Casquete, stepped into a hole on the bridge and broke a leg, throwing its rider into the water. This was looked on as a bad omen, particularly by an astrologer soldier named Botello, but Cortés made light of it, saying, "Troubles at St John's festival bring peace for the year."[2] The following morning, St John's day, the army entered the capital. On all sides an ominous silence prevailed. The streets were deserted, the houses apparently abandoned, and the solitary native occasionally seen hovered in the distance like a shadow.[3] It was also noticed with apprehension that many of the canal bridges were removed. On approaching the Axayacatl palace the arrival was heralded by trumpet blasts, which called forth responsive shouts
- ↑ 'Parò en Tepeaquilla, lugar a legua de Mexico.' Id. Now the shrine of Guadalupe. Prescott assumes that the Iztapalapan road was taken, as before, but it was avoided probably because Cortés feared the fort Xoloc, which guarded the centre. It was also longer, and had more movable bridges than the other causeways.
- ↑ 'Riñas por San Iuan pazes para todo el año.' Vetancvrt, Teatro Mex., pt. iii. 139. The following day a dress was found hanging from a beam, and in a square a pile of bread, with over 500 fowl, without a guard. This Cortés considered less favorable, and said 'que serian riñas de por Šan Iuan.' Herrera, dec. ii. lib. x. cap. vii.-viii.
- ↑ 'Para dar á entender con esto que ellos esta ban de guerra y muy ofendidos de los españoles que él habia dejado.' Sahagun, Hist. Conq. (ed. 1840), 108. His account of deserted streets, applied to Cortés' first arrival in Mexico, belongs no doubt to this occasion. Duran argues that had the massacre taken place before Cortés' arrival he would not have been allowed to enter. Hist. Ind., MS., ii. 470. Equally in the dark is Acosta, who assumes that the Indians were openly at war, but the custom being to rest every fourth day, Cortés managed to enter during the cessation of hostilities. Hist. Ind., 522. Oviedo looks on the non-resistance of the Indians as a wile to entrap all the Spaniards. ii. 510.
