their attacks upon us, and when
we commenced our retreat towards nightfall they followed us with greater
fierceness than on former occasions.

Cortes, finding that day after day passed away without the Mexicans
seeming any way inclined to sue for peace, determined to try if he
could not gain some decisive victory over them by suddenly falling upon
them from an ambush. For this purpose he selected thirty horse and one
hundred of the most active foot soldiers from the three divisions; these
troops were ordered to conceal themselves with 3000 Tlascallans very
early one morning in some extensive buildings which belonged to one of
the Mexican grandees. Cortes then marched as usual with the remaining
troops along the causeway into the city, the cavalry clearing the
streets in advance, followed by the musketeers and crossbow-men. When he
had arrived at a bridge which lay across a broad canal, and was defended
by a vast body of the enemy, he ordered his men to make a sudden
retreat, and our allies to move off the causeway. The Mexicans, who
imagined Cortes was retreating from fear, fell upon his rear with great
impetuosity; but as soon as he saw the enemy had passed the houses in
which we lay concealed, he fired a cannon, which was the signal
previously agreed upon; and we rushed forth from our ambush with the
cavalry at our head, and fell in our turn upon the enemy's rear. Cortes
then faced about with his men and our Tlascallan friends, and attacked
the enemy in front. A terrible slaughter now ensued in the ranks of the
Mexicans, and they never after showed any inclination to molest us when
we marched back to our encampments in the evening.

Alvarado, with his division, had in a similar manner attempted to entrap
the enemy by an ambush, but he was not equally successful.

As for myself I was not with my division on this occasion, Cortes having
purposely selected me to join his troops in the ambush above-mentioned.

We had now entire possession of the Tlatelulco, and Cortes ordered our
three companies to fortify themselves on this large square, to save the
men the trouble of marching thither every morning from the encampment
which was two miles off. Here we lay quietly for three days without
doing anything worthy of notice, and Cortes, in the hopes that the
Mexicans would now certainly sue for peace, would not allow any more
houses to be pulled down, nor any further attacks to be made on the
other parts of the city. He then