Cortes immediately ordered out a detachment of 400 men under Ordas, to see what was the matter, and to endeavour to pacify the people; but he had hardly proceeded the length of a street, when he was assailed by immense numbers of the natives, some in the street, and others from the terraced tops of the houses, who killed eight of his men on the first discharge of missiles, and wounded mostly the whole of his men, himself in three places. Finding it impossible to proceed, Ordas retreated slowly towards our quarters, and soon after lost another soldier, who did astonishing feats of valour with a two-handed sword. The streets were so crowded with enemies, and we were so incessantly attacked in front and rear, and from the roofs, that for a long while he was unable to force his way. Neither the effect of our fire-arms, nor the most efficacious use of our other arms could deter the natives from closing in upon us hand to hand, and foot to foot; but at length Ordas forced his way back, having lost in all twenty-three of his men. Our quarters were attacked by prodigious multitudes at the same moment that the attack on Ordas began, and they poured in such incessant discharges of missile weapons, that they soon wounded above forty-six of our men, of whom twelve afterwards died. Even after the retreat of Ordas, the enemy continued their attacks, and at length set fire to various parts of the buildings forming our quarters, thinking to burn us alive or to stifle us with smoke; and we were reduced to the necessity of tearing down some parts of the building, and to throw earth upon other parts, to extinguish the fire. All the courts and open places of our quarters were thickly strewed with arrows, stones, and darts, which had been thrown at us; and we were occupied the whole day and night, in repelling the incessant assaults, repairing the breaches in our defences, dressing our wounds, and preparing for future assaults. At dawn of the ensuing morning, we sallied out with our whole force, determined to conquer or to impress them with respect. The Mexicans met us with the utmost resolution, and though we fought almost in despair, their numbers were so immense, and they continually brought up such strong reinforcements of fresh troops, that even if we had all been Hectors or Orlandos, we could not have forced them to give ground. It is quite impossible to give any adequate idea of the obstinacy and violence of this battle. Though in every reiterated charge we brought down thirty or forty of the enemy, it had no effect, as they returned upon us with more violence and desperation than before; our musketry and cannon made no impression that was not instantly replaced; and if at any time they gave ground, it was only to draw us farther from our quarters, to make our destruction more sure. In the midst of all this, the stones and darts which were launched upon us from the terraces of the house tops did us astonishing injury.