and eighty fire-arms, besides several cannon, and a large quantity of ammunition.9 The heart of the company, however, was the veterans of Cortés, whose superior discipline and familiarity with native warfare made them doubly reliable. Eager for a fray with the detested Aztecs, and desirous of excusing their refusal of men a month before, the Tlascaltecs offered not only supplies but large reinforcements, of which only two thousand were accepted, besides a small number from Cholula and Huexotzinco.
The more northerly route by way of Calpulalpan, recommended already on the former march as the easiest, was this time selected, partly with a view to obtain provisions more readily.10
As the lake region was approached evidences were seen of the revolt in deserted villages and in the sullen demeanor of the few Indians who showed themselves. The contrast was chilling indeed as compared with the reception accorded on the former occasion, when the journey resembled the triumphal march of gods.
Oppressed with misgivings the army entered Tezcuco, the seat of the Acolhua kings, a few leagues north of Mexico, on the border of the same lake.
It was one of the most ancient cities of the country, ranking since the early half of the eighth century as the capital of a dominion founded by Tezcatlipoca, the later supreme deity of the Nahuas. After the fall of the Toltec empire it took the leading position in Anáhuac, as the centre of Chichimec power. The new dynasty fostered the inherited culture in every way, and made the city not only the political capital, but the Athens of the country. The rise of the Aztecs gave it a rival in Mexico, which in course of the fifteenth century assumed the political sceptre, but Tezcuco still maintained the precedence in culture and elegance. It was said to contain one hundred and forty thousand houses, distributed