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CHAPTER IX. 

 1521. 



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. 



The desertion of numerous allies, which we have noticed in the 

 last chapter, was not alone prompted by the judgment of the flying 

 Indians, but was stimulated in a great degree by the prophecy of 

 the Aztec priests, that, within eight days from the period of predic- 

 tion, the beleagured city would be delivered from the Spaniards. 

 But the sun rose on the ninth over the inexorable foes still in posi- 

 tion on the causeways and on the lake. The news was soon sent 

 by the allies who had remained faithful, to those who had fled, and 

 the deficient ranks were quickly restored by the numbers who 

 flocked back to the Spanish standard as soon as they were relieved 

 from superstitious fear. 



About this time, moreover, a vessel that had been destined for 

 Ponce de Leon, in his romantic quest of Florida, put into Vera 

 Cruz with ammunition and military stores, which were soon 

 forwarded to the valley. Thus strengthened by his renerved 

 Indian auxiliaries, and reinforced with Spanish powder and guns, 

 Cortez was speedily again in train to assail the capital ; for he was 

 not content to be idle except when the most serious disasters 

 forced him to endure the slow and murderous process of subduing 

 the city by famine. There may, perhaps, be something noble and 

 chivalrous in this feeling of the Castilian hero. His heart revolted 

 at the sight of misery inflicted without a chance of escape, and it 

 delighted in those conflicts which matched man with man, and 

 gave the ultimate victory to valor and not to stratagem. 



