early one morning in some extensive buildings which belonged to one of the Mexican grandees. Cortes then marched as usual with the remaining troops along the causeway into the city, the cavalry clearing the streets in advance, followed by the musketeers and crossbow-men. When he had arrived at a bridge which lay across a broad canal, and was defended by a vast body of the enemy, he ordered his men to make a sudden retreat, and our allies to move off the causeway. The Mexicans, who imagined Cortes was retreating from fear, fell upon his rear with great impetuosity; but as soon as he saw the enemy had passed the houses in which we lay concealed, he fired a cannon, which was the signal previously agreed upon; and we rushed forth from our ambush with the cavalry at our head, and fell in our turn upon the enemy's rear. Cortes then faced about with his men and our Tlascallan friends, and attacked the enemy in front. A terrible slaughter now ensued in the ranks of the Mexicans, and they never after showed any inclination to molest us when we marched back to our encampments in the evening.
Alvarado, with his division, had in a similar manner attempted to entrap the enemy by an ambush, but he was not equally successful.
As for myself I was not with my division on this occasion, Cortes having purposely selected me to join his troops in the ambush above-mentioned.
We had now entire possession of the Tlatelulco, and Cortes ordered our three companies to fortify themselves on this large square, to save the men the trouble of marching thither every morning from the encampment which was two miles off. Here we lay quietly for three days without doing anything worthy of notice, and Cortes, in the hopes that the Mexicans would now certainly sue for peace, would not allow any more houses to be pulled down, nor any further attacks to be made on the other parts of the city. He then forwarded another message to the Mexican monarch, in which he desired him to surrender, and assured him he would have nothing to fear for his own person; on the contrary,