n, which
occasioned the general no little uneasiness. As they advanced the
country became rougher and the scenery bolder, and at last their
progress was arrested by a most remarkable fortification. It was a stone
wall nine feet high and twenty feet thick, with a parapet a foot and a
half broad at the top, for the protection of those who defended it. It
had only one opening in the centre, made by two semicircular lines of
wall overlapping each other for the space of forty paces, and having a
passage-way between, ten paces wide, so contrived as to be perfectly
commanded by the inner wall. This fortification, which extended for more
than two leagues, rested at either end on the bold, natural buttresses
of the chain of mountains. It was built of immense blocks of stone
nicely laid together without cement, and from the remains that still
exist it is easy to imagine what its size and solidity must have been.
This singular structure marked the limits of Tlascala, and was intended,
the natives said, as a barrier against Mexican invasions. The soldiers
paused amazed, and not a little apprehensive as to their reception in
Tlascala, since a people who were capable of such a work as that would
indeed prove formidable should they not be friendly. But Cortes, putting
himself at the head of his cavalry, shouted, 'Forward, soldiers; the
Holy Cross is our banner, and under that we shall conquer.' And so they
marched through the undefended passage, and found themselves in
Tlascala.

The Tlascalan people belonged to the same great family as the Aztecs,
and had planted themselves upon the western shore of Lake Tezcuco at
about the same period--at the close of the twelfth century. There they
remained many years, until they had, for some reason, incurred the
displeasure of all the surrounding tribes, who combined to attack them,
and a terrible battle took place. Though the Tlascalans were entirely
victorious, they were so disgusted by this state of things that they
resolved to migrate, and the greater number of them finally settled in
the warm and fruitful valley overshadowed by the mountains of Tlascala.
After some years the monarchy was divided, first into two, then four
separate states, each with its own chief, who was independent in his
own territory, and possessed equal authority with the other three in all
matters concerning the whole republic, the affairs of which were settled
by a council consisting of the four chiefs and the inferio