CONTENTS. 



BOOK I. 



CHAPTER I. — Discoveries of Cordova and Grijalva — Cortez appointed by Velas- 

 quez — Biographical notice of Cortez — Cortez Captain General of the Armada — 

 Equipment of the Expedition — Quarrel of Velasquez — Firmness of Cortez — Ex- 

 pedition departs under Cortez, 13 



CHAPTER II. — Olmeda preaches to the Indians — Aguilar and Mariana — interpre- 

 ters — Cortez lands — interview with the Aztecs — Diplomacy — Montezuma's pres- 

 ents — Montezuma refuses to receive Cortez, 22 



CHAPTER III.— Cortez founds La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz— Fleet destroyed— 

 March to Mexico — Conquest of Tlascala — Cholula — Slaughter in Cholula — Valley 

 of Mexico — Cortez enters the Valley — Gigantic Causeway — Lake of Tezcoco — 

 Reception by Montezuma — Spaniards enter the capital , 28 



CHAPTER IV.— Description of the City of Tenochtitlan— Montezuma's way of 

 life — Market-place — Cortez at the Great Temple — Description of it — Place of Sa- 

 crifice — Sanctuaries — Huitzilopotchtli — Tezcatlipoca — Danger of Cortez — Monte- 

 zuma seized — Montezuma a prisoner — his submissiveness — Arrival of Narvaez — 

 Cortez 's diplomacy — Cortez overcomes Narvaez, and recruits his forces, . . 35 



CHAPTER V. — Cortez returns to the Capital — Causes of the revolt against the 

 Spaniards — Cortez condemns Alvarado — his conduct to Montezuma — Battle in the 

 city — Montezuma mediates — Fight on the Great Temple or Teocalli — Retreat of 

 the Spaniards — Noche Triste — Flight of the Spaniards to Tacuba, .... 44 



CHAPTER VI. — Retreat to Otumba — Cortez is encountered by a new army of Az- 

 tecs and auxiliaries — Victory of the Spaniards at Otumba — Proposed re-alliance of 

 Aztecs and Tlascalans — Forays of Cortez — reduction of the eastern regions — Cor- 

 tez proposes the re-conquest — sends off the disaffected — Cortez settles the Tlascalan 

 succession, 50 



CHAPTER VII. — Death of Cuitlahua — he is succeeded by Guatemozin — Aztecs 

 learn the proposed re-conquest — Cortez 's forces for this enterprise — Cortez at Tez- 

 coco — his plans and acts — Military expeditions of Cortez in the Valley — Operations 

 at Chalco and Cuernavaca — Xochimilco — return to Tacuba — Cortez returns to 

 Tezcoco and is reinforced, 56 



CHAPTER VIII. — Cortez returns — conspiracy among his men detected — Execution 

 of Villafana — Brigantines launched — Xicotencatl's treason and execution — Dispo- 

 sition of forces to attack the city — Siege and assaults on the city — Fight and re- 

 verses of the Spaniards — Sacrifice of captives — Flight of allies — Contest renewed — 

 Starvation, 62 



CHAPTER IX. — Aztec prediction — it is not verified — Cortez reinforced by fresh 

 arrivals — Famine in the city — Cortez levels the city to its foundation — Condition 

 of the capital — Attack renewed — Capture of Guatemozin — Surrender of the city — 

 Frightful condition of the city, 70 



CHAPTER X. — Duty of a historian — Motives of the Conquest — Character and 

 deeds of Cortez — Materials of the Conquest — Adventurers — Priests — Indian allies 

 — Historical aspects of the Conquest, 75 



