temple, which had also the appearance of a
fortress. During the whole of this march the Mexicans continually
harassed our troops, and greatly annoyed us with their arrows, slings,
and lances. The reader must not be displeased if I am forced to depict
the same miserable scenes over again.

It was not until we had reached this temple that we were able to defend
ourselves successfully. Here we lighted several fires, and dressed our
wounds.

After the conquest of Mexico, we turned this building into a church,
and dedicated it to our dear lady _de los remedios_. This church in
course of time became very celebrated, and to this day numerous people
make pilgrimages to that place, particularly females, from Mexico.

We found, however, nothing to eat here, and it was grievous indeed to
see with what miserable rags we were obliged to dress our wounds, which
had become chilled by the cold, and this increased their severity. But
what grieved us most was the great loss of horses, and of so many of our
brave companions. Of our old troops there were missing Leon, Salcedo,
Morla, the brave lancer Lares, and several others. And yet I merely
mention these few; for if I wished to mention the names of all those
whom we had to mourn, I should not finish so easily. Most of Narvaez's
men met with their death at the bridges, from the weight of the gold
with which they had overburdened themselves. The Tlascallans, who had
charge of the crown treasures, shared a similar fate. The astrologer
Botello[89] found no protection in all his art, and perished with many
others. Even Motecusuma's sons,[90] and other princes we had taken
prisoners, met with their deaths in that dreadful night.[91]

Before coming to any determination as to what our next step should be,
we proceeded to consider our present condition. The whole of us were
wounded, and only twenty-three horses had escaped alive; our cannon were
all lost, and we had not a grain of powder left; there were but few
crossbows remaining, though these, with the arrows, might speedily be
replaced. Besides all this, the enemy were day and night at our heels,
and we no longer knew on what footing we stood with our friends of
Tlascalla. Nevertheless, we resolved to continue our march towards that
country, and we set out at midnight. Our guides, with the Tlascallans,
marched in advance; those who were more severely wounded, and obliged to
use the support of a stick, were placed in the centre; and those