I 



68 SACRIFICE OF CAPTIVES FLIGHT OF ALLIES. 



boiling tide of battle sufficiently to enable those who were most 

 sorely pressed to be gradually withdrawn, yet not until sixty-two 

 Spaniards and a multitude of allies, besides many killed and 

 wounded, had fallen captives and victims in the hands of their 

 implacable enemies. 



It was yet day when the broken band withdrew from the city, 

 and returned to the camps either on the first slopes of the hills, or 

 at the terminations of the causeways. But sad, indeed, was the 

 spectacle that presented itself to their eyes, as they gazed towards 

 the city, through the clear atmosphere of those elevated regions, 

 when they heard the drum sound from the top of the Great Teo- 

 calli. It was the dread signal of sacrifice. The wretched Span- 

 iards, who had been captured in the fight, were, one after another, 

 stretched on the stone in front of the hideous idols, and their reek- 

 ing hearts, torn from their bosoms, thrown as propitiating morsels 

 into the flames before the deities. The mutilated remains of the 

 captives were then flung down the steep sides of the pyramid, to 

 glut the crowds at its base with a " cannibal repast." 



Whilst these repulses and dreadful misfortunes served to dispirit 

 the Spaniards and elate the Aztecs, they were not without their 

 signally bad effects upon the auxiliaries. Messages were sent to 

 these insurgent bodies by the Emperor. He conjured them to 

 return to their allegiance. He showed them how bravely their out- 

 raged gods had. been revenged. He spoke of the reverses that 

 had befallen the white men in both their invasions, and warned 

 them that a parricidal war like this could " come to no good for 

 the people of Anahuac." Otomies, Cholulans, Tepeacans, Tezco- 

 cans, and even the loyal Tlascalans, the hereditary enemies of the 

 Montezumas and Guatemozins, stole off secretly under the cover 

 of night. There were of course exceptions in this inglorious 

 desertion ; but it seems that perhaps the majority of the tribes 

 departed for their homes with the belief that the tide had turned 

 against the Spanish conqueror and that it was best to escape 

 before it was too late, the scandal or danger of open treason 

 against their lawful Emperor. But, amid all these disasters, the 

 noble heart of Cortez remained firm and true to his purpose. He 

 placed his artillery again in position upon the causeways, and, 

 never wasting his ammunition, contrived to husband it carefully 

 until the assaulting Aztecs swarmed in such numbers on the 

 dykes that his discharges mowed them down like grass as 

 they advanced to attack him. It was a gloomy time, requiring 



