Cortes, after this, was compelled to return to Cuba for a short time, and the Mexicans, incensed by the cruelties and wanton excesses of the Spaniards, who remained in charge of the monarch and his capital, rose in arms. Cortes returned, and at once threw aside the mask of moderation which he had hitherto worn. He compelled Montezuma, who was in his power, to interpose with his exasperated people; the captive monarch did so, and an aspect of submission was for the moment assumed. The Mexicans reverenced their monarch almost as a divinity, and bowed their heads and dropped their weapons at sight of him; but when, in obedience to the commands of Cortes, he endeavoured to awaken amicable sentiments in their breasts towards the Spaniards, their rage burst forth in fury, and snatching up their arms, they assailed their enemies with tenfold determination, and in this fresh onset the unfortunate Montezuma was himself mortally wounded. The Mexicans, seeing their king fall by their own hands, believed that the vengeance of heaven was pursuing them, and fled; and Montezuma, refusing all food, survived but a short time. The position of Cortes, in the heart of an exasperated nation, was perilous in the extreme. He commenced his retreat from the capital, and fighting almost every yard of ground, found himself on the sixth day in a spacious valley, hemmed in by an innumerable army. Nothing was left but to conquer or die; and they were but a handful of men. Multitudes thronged in upon them, sufficient alone to trample them to dust. At that moment Cortes beheld the great Mexican banner advancing, and recollecting to have heard that upon its fate depended the fate of every Mexican battle, resolved, at the head of his bravest men, to hew his way to the standard, and gain possession of it. He did so. The Mexicans, panic-stricken, threw down their arms and fled to the mountains. The determination of Cortes was undaunted; he resolved to accomplish the conquest of Mexico, and four months after his retreat, having received fresh supplies and reinforcements, he again departed for the interior, and after a siege of twenty-five days, the successor of Montezuma having fallen into his hands, the city yielded, and the wealthy Mexico became a province of Spain. This occurred in August, 1521. While the conquest of Mexico was taking place, another important event occurred in the history of Spanish discoveries. Ferdinand Magellan, having spent several months in exploring the coast of South America, finally passed through the strait which bears his name, thus accomplishing the discovery so long-sought-for of a western passage to India. CHAPTER II. DISCOVERIES CONTINUED.