BY W. H. PRESCOTT
William Hickling Prescott (1795-1859): An American historian. His works, "The History of Ferdinand and Isabella," "The Conquest of Mexico," "The Conquest of Peru," and "The History of Philip II.," are all about Spain and her conquests.
William Hickling Prescott
This account of a combat between the Mexicans and the Spaniards is from "The Conquest of Mexico."Cortes1, having cleared a way for the assault, sprang up thelower stairway, followed by the gallant cavaliers of his little band, leaving a file of his own men and a strong corps of Indian1 Hernando Cortes (1485-1547?): a Spanish adventurer, the conqueror of Mexico.
allies to hold the enemy in check at the foot of the monument. On the first landing, as well as on the several galleries above, and on the summit, the Aztec1 warriors were drawn up to dispute his passage.
From their elevated position they showered down volleys of lighter missiles2, together with heavy stones, beams, and burning rafters, which, thundering along the stairway, overturned the ascending Spaniards and carried desolation through their ranks. The more fortunate, eluding3 or springing over these obstacles, succeeded in gaining the first terrace; where, throwing themselves on their enemies, they compelled them after a short resistance to fall back. The assailants pressed on, supported by a brisk fire of the soldiers from below, which so much galled4 the Mexicans in their exposed situations that they were glad to take shelter on the broad summit of the teocalli5.
Cortes and his comrades were close upon their rear, and the two parties soon found themselves face to face on this aerial battlefield, engaged in mortal6 combat in presence of the whole city, as well as of the troops in the courtyard, who paused as if by mutual consent from their own hostilities7,1Aztec: belonging to the Aztec race, an early North American race which the Spaniards found inhabiting the plateau of Mexico.
2Missiles: weapons intended to be thrown. 3 Eluding: shunning; avoiding.
4Galled: injured; annoyed.
5Teocalli: a Mexican temple in the form of a pyramid. 6 Mortal: deadly.
7 Hostilities: acts of warfare.
gazing in silent expectation on the issue of those above. The area, though somewhat smaller than the base of the teocalli, was large enough to afford a fair field of fight for a thousand combatants.
It was paved with broad, flat stones. No impediment occurred over its surface except the huge sacrificial block and the temples of stone which rose to the height of forty feet at the farther extremity of the area. One of these had been consecrated to the Cross; the other was still occupied by the Mexican war god. The Christian and the Aztec contended for their religions under the very shadow of their respective shrines; while the Indian priests, running to and fro, with their hair wildly streaming over their sable mantles, seemed hovering in mid-air, like so many demons of darkness, urging on the work of slaughter.
