Day after day Cortés marched on until a beautiful valley broke upon his view. His men now saw a wonderful sight: cities built over lakes, where canals took the place of streets and where canoes carried people from place to place. It all seemed like a dream. But they hastened forward to the great capital city. It, too, was built over a lake, larger than any seen before, and it could be reached only along three great roads of solid mason work. [Sidenote: =A great Indian City=] These roads ran to the center of the city where stood, in a great square, a wonderful temple. The top of this temple could be reached by one hundred fourteen stone steps running around the outside. The city contained sixty thousand people, and there were many stone buildings, on the flat roofs of which the natives had beautiful flower gardens. [Illustration: GUATEMOTZIN _The nephew of Montezuma and the last Indian emperor of Mexico. After the statue by Don Francisco Jimenes_] [Sidenote: =Cortés makes Montezuma a prisoner=] Montezuma, the Indian ruler, received Cortés and his men very politely and gave the officers a house near the great temple. But Cortés was in danger. What if the Indians should rise against him? To guard against this danger, Cortés compelled Montezuma to live in the Spanish quarters. The people did not like to see their beloved ruler a prisoner in his own city. [Illustration: AN INDIAN CORN BIN, TLAXCALA _These are community or public bins, stand in the open roadway, and are still fashioned as in the days of Cortés_] [Sidenote: =The Spaniards driven out of the city=] But no outbreak came until the Spaniards, fearing an attack, fell upon the Indians, who were holding a religious festival, and killed hundreds of them. The Indian council immediately chose Montezuma's brother to be their ruler and the whole city rose in great fury to drive out the now hated Spaniards. The streets and even the housetops were filled with angry warriors. Cortés compelled Montezuma to stand upon the roof of the Spanish fort and command his people to stop fighting. But he was ruler no longer. He was struck down by his own warriors, and died in a few days, a broken-hearted man. After several days of hard fighting, Cortés and his men tried to get out of the city, but the Indians fell on the little army and killed more than half of the Spanish soldiers before they could get away. [Illustration: HERNANDO CORTÉS _From the portrait painted by Charles Wilson Peale, now in Independence Hall, Philadelphia_] [Sidenote: =The great Indian city almost destroyed=]