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xcessively grieved, and
reminded Cortes how frequently they had warned him, and could not do so
too often, to dissuade him from marching into a town of such vast extent
and power, and which possessed various means of carrying on a murderous
war. The Mexicans would certainly, one day or other, fall upon us
unawares, and it would be a wonder if we escaped alive out of their
hands. To convince us how well they were inclined towards us, they
would, however, gladly furnish us with 10,000 of their warriors, under
the command of their most able generals, with a sufficient supply of
provisions.

Cortes thanked them for their kind offers, and explained to them that it
would not be proper to enter Mexico at the head of so large an army,
particularly as the hatred between themselves and the Mexicans was so
excessive. One thousand men was all he required to transport our cannon
and baggage, and clear the road before us.

These 1000 men were immediately upon the spot, all strong and fine young
fellows, and we were just upon the point of commencing our march when
the caziques and chiefs of Sempoalla, who had remained with us all this
time, and rendered us such valuable services, called upon Cortes and
hoped he would return with them to Sempoalla. They were determined, they
said, not to march over Cholulla to Mexico, as they were quite convinced
it would be ours and their destruction; theirs, because they were the
most distinguished personages of Sempoalla, who had not only been the
chief means of inducing their countrymen to refuse all further obedience
and to pay tribute to Motecusuma, but also of seizing his tax-gatherers.

Cortes, in answer to this, desired them to allay their fears; he was
sure no harm would befall them, for, if they marched along in our
company, who would dare to molest either? He therefore begged of them to
alter their determination, and remain with us, and promised them all
manner of riches. But all his entreaties, added to Marina's friendly
advice, were fruitless, and they refused to accompany us: upon which
Cortes cried out, "God forbid that we should force these people, who
have rendered us such valuable services, to go with us against their
inclination!" He then ordered several packages of the very finest cotton
stuffs to be divided among them, and likewise sent the fat cazique two
packages for himself and his nephew Cuesco, who was also a powerful
cazique. He wrote, at the same time, to his lieutenant Juan de
Escalante, who was alguacil-major of Vera Cruz, mentioning all that had
befallen us, and that we were on our march to Mexico. He particularly
cautioned him to keep a sharp look out upon the inhabitants of the
country, desired him by all means to hasten the completion of the
fortress, and to take the inhabitants there under his protection against
the Mexicans, and also not to suffer our men to molest them in any way.
This letter was given in charge of the Sempoallans, and we then
commenced our march forward with every military precaution.

CHAPTER LXXXVI.

 _How we set out on our march to Mexico; what happened to us on our
 route; and the message Motecusuma sent us._

On our march from Cholulla, we adopted our usual precautions. A few of
our cavalry were always in advance to explore the territory, and these
were closely followed by a number of our best foot to assist them in
case of an ambush, and to clear any obstruction from the road. Our
cannon and muskets were ready loaded, while our cavalry rode three and
three together on the flanks of our troops to lend immediate assistance
should anything occur, all the rest of our men marching in close order.
I am very particular in mentioning all this that my readers may convince
themselves of the great precautions we observed on this march.

On the first day we arrived at a spot where there were a few scattered
dwellings on a rising ground, subject to Huexotzinco, and, if I mistake
not, bear the name of Iscalpan, and lie about nine miles from Cholulla.
Here we found all the caziques and papas of Huexotzinco assembled, who
were friendly with the Tlascallans. They had brought along with them
other tribes from the neighbourhood of the volcano, and presented Cortes
with a quantity of provisions and a few trinkets of gold, begging him,
at the same time, not to consider the small worth of the latter, but
the good will with which they were given. They then one and all
dissuaded him from marching to Mexico, representing to him the strength
of the city, the vast numbers of warriors there, and all the dangers we
should be exposed to. Seeing, however, that they could not alter our
determination, they instructed us as to the road we should take, and
told us that, as soon as we had laid back the mountain pass, we should
come to two broad roads, one of which led to Chalco, the other to
Tlalmanalco, both of which townships were subject to the Mexican empire.
One of these roads was in excellent condition, and passable, and in so
far it would be the best we could take; the other had been rendered
impassable by numbers of large pine and other trees which had been
felled and thrown across the road to prevent our marching that way. A
little way further up the mountain, the good road along which it was
supposed we would march had been intersected and palisaded, and Mexican
troops were lying in ambush there, and others had been stationed in this
pass to fall upon us and put us to the sword. They therefore advised us
to leave the good road, and turn into the one leading to Tlalmanalco,
which had been rendered impassable by the fallen trees. They would lend
us sufficient hands to clear away the latter, in which they would be
assisted by the Tlascallans who were with us.

Cortes returned them many thanks for their present and good advice,
assuring them he was determined, with the assistance of Providence, to
continue his march, and would take the road they had pointed out.

The next morning very early we again moved forward, and, towards noon we
reached the summit of the mountain, where we found the two roads exactly
as described by the inhabitants of Huexotzinco. Here we halted for a
short time to reconsider what had been told us respecting the Mexican
troops which we should find stationed in the pass. Cortes then inquired
of the two Mexican ambassadors which of the two roads they would advise
him to turn into,--the one which had been blocked up by a fall of
timber, or the smooth road? They told him into the latter, because it
led to Chalco, a town of considerable magnitude, where we should meet
with a good reception, as it was subject to Motecusuma; the other road,
blocked up by the trees, was very dangerous in places, and was rather
round about, leading, moreover, to a township much inferior to Chalco.
Cortes, however, determined for the other road, and we marched through
the mountains in the closest possible order. Our Indian friends set
diligently to work to clear away the heavy trees, and even to this day
many of the latter

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