XII The Mexicans Rise against the Spaniards and Fight with Desperate Courage—Montezuma is Killed—Cortes Struggles Bravely and is in Danger of his Life 127 XIII Cortes, about to Retreat, Finds the Causeways Cut—The Spaniards Escape with Heavy Loss—The Tlaxcalans Remain True—Guatemozin is Elected Emperor of Mexico 136 XIV Cortes Builds Vessels for a Land and Water Attack—A Conspiracy against his Life is Discovered—The Capital is Attacked 144 XV The Spaniards Lose Heavily in Battle—The Prisoners are Sacrificed—Some of Cortes’ Allies Desert but soon Return—The City of Mexico Captured—Guatemozin Attempts Flight but is taken 153 XVI Tapia, Commissioned to Depose Cortes, is Induced to Return to Cuba—Cortes is Confirmed as Governor of New Spain—He Goes to Spain and is Ennobled—A Second Visit to Spain Discloses the Fickleness of the Court—He Vainly Begs the Emperor’s Favor—His Death 162 Appendix 168 Illustrations Page Cortes and Montezuma _Frontispiece_ The Engagement between the Spaniards and the People of Tabasco 32 Mexican Caciques before Cortes 60 Meeting of Cortes and Montezuma 94 Montezuma the Captive of the Spaniards 106 The Entry of Cortes into Mexico City 158 Hernando Cortes Chapter I Velasquez in Cuba—Hernandez de Cordova Discovers Yucatan—The Natives on the Mainland are Hostile—Grijalva Advances from Yucatan Farther Northward—He is the First European to Step upon Mexican Soil In the year 1511 Diego, Columbus’ son, finding that the gold mines of Hispaniola were nearly exhausted, decided to take possession of the neighboring island of Cuba, or Fernandina, as it was called, in honor of the King of Spain. The force which he sent for the capture of the island was placed under the command of Velasquez,[1] a man described by his contemporaries as possessing extraordinary experience as a soldier, having served seventeen years in European campaigns, also of a renowned family and name, eager for glory and yet ambitious for wealth.