ve soldier scarcely does justice to the
situation, his peril and his courage. Therefore, I supplement it by
Helps' description of the same day of desperate fighting:

"The impatience of the soldiers grew to a great height, and was
supported in an official quarter--by no less a person than Alderete,
the King's Treasurer. Cortes gave way against his own judgment to
their importunities. There had all along been a reason for his
reluctance, which, probably, he did not communicate to his men; namely,
that he had not abandoned the hope that the enemy would still come to
terms. 'Finally,' he says, 'they pressed me so much that I gave way.'

"The attack was to be a general one, in which the {206} divisions of
Sandoval and Alvarado were to cooperate; but Cortes, with that
knowledge of character which belonged to him, particularly explained
that, though his general orders were for them to press into the
market-place, they were not obliged to gain a single difficult pass
which laid them open to defeat; 'for,' he says, 'I knew, from the men
they were, that they would advance to whatever spot I told them to
gain, even if they knew that it would cost them their lives.'

"On the appointed day, Cortes moved from his camp, supported by seven
brigantines, and by more than three thousand canoes filled with his
Indian allies. When his soldiers reached the entrance of the city, he
divided them in the following manner. There were three streets which
led to the market-place from the position which the Spaniards had
already gained. Along the principal street, the King's Treasurer, with
seventy Spaniards, and fifteen or twenty thousand allies was to make
his way. His rear was to be protected by a small guard of horsemen.

"The other streets were smaller, and led from the street of Tlacuba to
the market-place. Along the broader of these two streets, Cortes sent
two of his principal captains, with eighty Spaniards and the thousand
Indians; he himself with eight horsemen, seventy-five foot-soldiers,
twenty-five musketeers, and an 'infinite number' of allies, was to
enter the narrower street. At the entrance to the street of Tlacuba,
he left two large cannon with eight horsemen to guard them, and at the
entrance of his own street, he also left eight horsemen to protect the
rear.

"The Spaniards and their allies made their entrance into the city with
even more success and less embarrassment than on previous occasions.
Bridges and {207