hey were still but thirty miles, in a
direct line, from the capital; but they had traversed fully three
times that distance, in their circuitous journey.

During the last day's march, the numbers of the natives who
surrounded them had considerably increased; and menacing shouts, of
the fate that awaited them, greeted them as they marched along. The
nature of the peril was not understood until, on reaching the crest
from which they looked down on the valley of Otompan, they saw that
it was filled with a mighty army; whose white cotton mail gave
it--as one of their historians states--the appearance of being
covered with snow. Here were all the levies that Cuitlahua had
collected. The whole of the cities of the plains had sent in their
quota, and the bright banners of the chiefs and nobles waved gaily
over the snowy array of their followers.

The numbers of the Mexicans were put down at varying amounts by the
Spanish historians, some of them having them as high as two hundred
thousand; but it is probable that at least half that number were
assembled, to bar the march of the worn-out little force that
surveyed them from the heights. Even the most hopeful and
courageous of the Spaniards felt something like dismay, as they
viewed the tremendous array before them. Deprived of the weapons on
which they had chiefly depended for victory, with their cavalry
reduced to a mere handful, the prospect seemed indeed desperate.
But there was no room for hesitation. They must cut a way through
the enemy, or die.

Cortez addressed the troops in a short speech of encouragement. He
reminded them that they had already won victories against enormous
odds; and that numbers, indeed, were but of slight consequence,
when the arm of God was with them.

"Assuredly He, who had carried them safely through so many perils,
would not now abandon them, and His own good cause, to perish by
the hand of these infidels."

With steady step and in compact array, the little force descended
the hill into the plain; and as soon as they reached the level
ground, the Aztec host attacked them, on all sides. The handful of
cavalry, consisting almost entirely of the personal friends and
officers of Cortez, cleared the way for the head of the column by
repeated and desperate charges; while the infantry, with pike and
sword, maintained a front that the Aztecs, although fighting with
the greatest bravery, were unable to break.

The Tlascalans fought as stoutly as