erally covered with them. In the
meantime we had to dress our wounds, to repair the damage done to our
buildings, and get some rest till the next morning. As soon as day began
to dawn, Cortes determined to sally out with the whole of his troops,
including those of Narvaez and the cannon, either to beat the enemy out
of the field altogether, or at least to give them a greater proof of our
power than we had been able to do on the previous day. The Mexicans, it
seemed, had also determined to do their utmost, and they not only
fought with uncommon bravery but came in overwhelming numbers, so that
every instant they poured in fresh men to the attack. Indeed ten
thousand Trojan Hectors, and as many Rolands, would in vain have tried
to break through the enemy's ranks! At this moment even, that battle is
fresh in my memory; but no words can describe the unyielding
stubbornness of the foe. All the volleys from our heavy guns and muskets
were to no purpose; it was in vain we rushed forward upon them, and
killed from thirty to forty of their numbers at a time; their ranks
still remained firmly closed, while their courage seemed to increase
with every loss. Whenever we did drive them back into the streets to
some distance, they had merely retreated in order that we should follow
them, and by so doing be drawn further away from our quarters, when they
hoped more easily to surround us, and so render our escape impossible.
And sure enough by these retrograde movements they invariably made the
greatest destruction among our ranks. Neither did it avail us anything
whenever we set fire to any of the houses; for, as I have above
mentioned, it was only possible to pass from one house to another by
means of wooden drawbridges. If the latter were drawn up we had to wade
through deep water to gain another house. But our men suffered most from
those of the enemy's troops who pelted them with stones and lances from
the housetops. Indeed I cannot imagine how I thus coolly relate all that
passed. Three or four of our men who had previously served in the
Italian wars, swore over and over again that they had never witnessed
such furious fighting, neither in the wars with the king of France, nor
even in those with the grand Turk himself. Indeed it was no easy matter
for us to retreat to our head-quarters, so desperately did they assail
us under the most horrible sound of drums, pipes and trumpets,
accompanied by the most obscene and abusive language.