cupa, despatched Ordas with 400
men, mostly armed with crossbows and muskets, and a few horse, to see
what truth there was in his statement. He recommended him, however, to
avoid, if possible, all hostilities, and to settle the affair amicably.
Ordas had scarcely reached half-way down the causeway when he was met by
a vast body of Mexicans, who, with those posted on the tops of the
houses, attacked him so furiously that eight of his men were killed at
the first onset, and most of them wounded, Ordas himself in three
several places. He found it impossible to move on any further, and he
therefore gradually retreated to our quarters. On his retreat he lost
another excellent soldier named Lezcano, who had done wonders with his
broadsword.

If the body of warriors was vast which had fallen upon Ordas, that which
at the same instant attacked our quarters was by far more so; and so
vigorously did they assail us with lances, arrows, and stones, that, in
an instant, forty of our men were wounded, twelve of whom subsequently
died. The numbers who attacked us in front, from behind, and from the
tops of the houses, were so vast that Ordas was unable, for a length of
time, to cut his way through. Our cannon, muskets, crossbows, and
lances, did, certainly, great havoc among the enemy's ranks, who, in
fact, rushed in upon our weapons; yet they continued the combat with the
same fury, and closed their ranks more firmly, nor could we drive them
back a single inch. It was only after a good deal of hard fighting that
Diego and his men were able to regain our quarters, though with
twenty-three soldiers less than when he had left it, and the rest all
wounded: add to which, the enemy's numbers were every moment increasing;
nor did they spare abusive language, calling us old women, ragged
scoundrels, and such like beautiful names. But the loss we sustained at
present was nothing to what we subsequently suffered. They even carried
their audacity so far as to throw fire into our quarters, while one body
attacked us in front and another from behind, so that we should soon
have been suffocated by the flames and smoke if we had not succeeded in
putting out the fire by throwing quantities of earth on it, and by
pulling down the apartments from which the fire was spreading.

The combat continued the whole day until late at night, during which
time they continued to throw such quantities of stones and lances into
our quarters, that the place was lit