one hundred and eighteen were arquebusiers and crossbowmen. Three large iron field pieces and fifteen brazen falconets formed the ordnance. A plentiful supply of shot and balls, together with fifty thousand copper-headed arrows, composed the ammunition. Three hundred men were sent on board the twelve vessels which were used in the enterprise, for unfortunately, one of the thirteen that were originally ordered to be built, proved useless upon trial. The navigation of these brigantines, each one of which carried a piece of heavy cannon, was, of course, not difficult, for although the waters of the lake have evidently shrunken since the days of the conquest, it is not probable that it was more than three or four feet deeper than at present.1 The distance to be traversed from Tezcoco to the capital was about twelve miles, and the subsequent service was to be rendered in the neighborhood of the causeways, and under the protection of the walls of the city.
The Indian allies from Tlascala came up in force at the appointed time. These fifty thousand well equipped men were led by Xicotencatl, who, as the expedition was about to set forth by land and water for the final attack, seems to have been seized with a sudden panic, and deserted his standard with a number of followers. There was no hope for conquest without the alliance and loyal support of the Tlascalans. The decision of Cortéz upon the occurrence of this dastardly act of a man in whose faith he had religiously confided, although he knew he was not very friendly to the Spaniards, was prompt and terribly severe. A chosen band was directed to follow the fugitive even to the walls of Tlascala. There, the deserter was arrested, brought back to Tezcoco, and hanged on a lofty gallows in the great square of that city. This man, says Prescott, "was the only Tlascalan who swerved from his loyalty to the Spaniards."
All being now prepared, Cortéz planned his attack. It will be recollected that the city of Mexico rose, like Venice, from the bosom of the placid