artificial birds, made in
imitation of turkeys with plumage of worked gold; there were also
fifteen hundred robes of delicate cotton cloth. The emperor's message
expressed regret for the late catastrophe, and denied all knowledge of
the plot which had, he said, brought a retribution upon its authors
which they richly deserved; and he explained the presence of the Aztec
force in the neighbourhood by saying that there was a disturbance that
had to be quelled. More than a fortnight had passed since the Spaniards
entered Cholula, and the general had, after the city was once more
restored to order, tried to induce the people to give up their false
gods, but this they would not do willingly. However, he seized upon the
great teocalli of which all the woodwork had been burned, and built a
church of the stone that remained, and he opened the cages in which the
wretched victims about to be sacrificed were imprisoned, and restored
them to liberty, and then he thought it time to begin the march to
Mexico once more. So the allied army of Spaniards and Tlascalans set
out upon their journey through luxuriant plains and flourishing
plantations, met occasionally by embassies from different towns, anxious
to claim the protection of the white men, and bringing rich gifts of
gold to propitiate them. They passed between the two enormous mountain
peaks, Popocatapetl, 'the hill that smokes,' and Iztaccihuatl, 'the
white woman,' and presently encountered a blinding snow-storm, from
which they found shelter in one of the large stone buildings, put up by
the Mexicans for the use of travellers and couriers, and here they
encamped for the night. The next morning they reached the top of a range
of hills where progress was comparatively easy, and they had not gone
far when, turning sharply round the shoulder of a hill, they saw spread
out before them the lovely Mexican valley. The clearness of the air
enabled them to see distinctly the shining cities, the lakes, woods,
fields and gardens, and in the midst of all the fair city of Mexico rose
as it were from the waters of the great lake, with its towers and
temples white and gleaming, and behind it the royal hill of Chapoltepec,
the residence of the Mexican kings, crowned with the very same gigantic
cypress trees which to this day fling their broad shadows across the
land. The Spaniards gazed in rapture over the gay scene, exclaiming, 'It
is the promised land!' but presently the evidences of a power an