anged the order of march. The van was composed of two
hundred Spanish foot, and twenty horsemen, under the orders of
Gonzalo de Sandoval. The rearguard, with the main body of the
infantry and the greater portion of the guns, was commanded by
Alvarado and Velasquez de Leon. Cortez himself led the center,
which was in charge of the baggage, some of the heavy guns, and the
prisoners; among whom were a son and two daughters of Montezuma,
Cacama, and the other nobles who had been in prison with him. The
Tlascalans were divided among the three corps.

A portable bridge had been prepared for crossing the canals which
intersected the causeway; the intention being that it should be
laid across a canal, that the army should pass over it, and that it
should then be carried forward to the next gap in the causeway.
This was a most faulty arrangement, necessitating frequent and long
delays, and entailing almost certain disaster. Had three such
portable bridges been constructed, the column could have crossed
the causeway with comparatively little risk; and there was no
reason why these bridges should not have been constructed, as they
could have been carried, without difficulty, by the Tlascalans.

At midnight the troops were in readiness for the march. Mass was
performed by Father Olmedo; and at one o'clock on July 1st, 1520,
the Spaniards sallied out from the fortress that they had so
stoutly defended.

Silence reigned in the city. As noiselessly as possible, the troops
made their way down the broad street, expecting every moment to be
attacked; but even the tramping of the horses, and the rumbling of
the baggage wagons and artillery did not awake the sleeping
Mexicans, and the head of the column arrived at the head of the
causeway before they were discovered. Then, as the advanced guard
were preparing to lay the portable bridge across the first opening,
some Aztec sentinels gave the alarm.

The priests on the summits of the temples heard their cries, and at
once sounded their horns and the huge war drum. Instantly the city
awoke, and the silence was succeeded by a roar of sound. The
vanguard had scarcely got upon the causeway when canoes shot out
upon the lake, and soon a storm of stones and arrows burst upon the
column. More and more terrible did it become, as fresh canoes,
crowded with the warriors, came up. Many of these pushed up to the
causeway itself; and the natives, landing, fell upon the Spaniards
with fury.

The l