" given to the spot, still commemorates an exploit
which rivaled those of the demi-gods of Grecian fable.

Cortes and his companions now rode forward to the front, where the
troops, in a loose, disorderly manner, were marching off the fatal
causeway. A few only of the enemy hung on their rear, or annoyed them by
occasional flights of arrows from the lake. The attention of the Aztecs
was diverted by the rich spoil that strewed the battle-ground;
fortunately for the Spaniards, who, had their enemy pursued with the
same ferocity with which he had fought, would, in their crippled
condition, have been cut off, probably, to a man. But little molested,
therefore, they were allowed to defile through the adjacent village of
Popotla.

[Illustration: THEY DRAGGED THEIR FEEBLE LIMBS WITH DIFFICULTY]

The Spanish commander there dismounted from his jaded steed, and sitting
down on the steps of an Indian temple, gazed mournfully on the broken
files as they passed before him. What a spectacle did they present! The
cavalry, most of them dismounted, were mingled with the infantry, who
dragged their feeble limbs along with difficulty; their shattered mail
and tattered garments dripping with the salt ooze, showing through their
rents many a bruise and ghastly wound; their bright arms soiled, their
proud crests and banners gone, the baggage, artillery, all, in short,
that constitutes the pride and panoply of glorious war, forever lost.
Cortes, as he looked wistfully on their thinned and disordered ranks,
sought in vain for many a familiar face, and missed more than one dear
companion who had stood side by side with him through all the perils of
the Conquest. Though accustomed to control his emotions, or, at least,
to conceal them, the sight was too much for him. He covered his face
with his hands, and the tears which trickled down revealed too plainly
the anguish of his soul.

FOOTNOTES:

[63-*] NOTE.--Hernando Cortes, the conqueror of Mexico, sailed from
Cuba, which he had assisted in subduing, for the mainland, where he
landed in the spring of 1519. After tarrying on the coast for a time,
and founding the city of Vera Cruz, he started inland, passing first
through the country of the Tlascalans, who were easily induced to submit
to him, and who became his most faithful native allies. By November,
1519, the Spaniards had reached the city of Mexico, the capital of the
Aztecs, and here they established themselves.

The chief of the