[135] “Que todas las calzadas de las entradas de la ciudad eran deshechas, como de hecho passaba.” Ibid., loc. cit.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13. [136] “Pues tambien quiero dezir las maldiciones que los de Narvaez echauan á Cortés, y las palabras que dezian, que renegauan dél, y de la tierra, y aun de Diego Velasquez, que acá les embió, que bien pacíficos estauan en sus casas en la Isla de Cuba, y estavan embelesados, y sin sentido.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra. [137] Notwithstanding this, in the petition or letter from Vera Cruz, addressed by the army to the Emperor Charles V., after the Conquest, the importunity of the soldiers is expressly stated as the principal motive that finally induced their general to abandon the city. Carta del Exército, MS. [138] “The scarcity was such that the ration of the Indians was a small cake, and that of the Spaniards fifty grains of maize.” Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 9. [139] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 135.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 106.--Dr. Bird, in his picturesque romance of “Calavar,” has made good use of these _mantas_, better, indeed, than can be permitted to the historian. He claims the privilege of the romancer; though it must be owned he does not abuse this privilege, for he has studied with great care the costume, manners, and military usages of the natives. He has done for them what Cooper has done for the wild tribes of the North,--touched their rude features with the bright coloring of a poetic fancy. He has been equally fortunate in his delineation of the picturesque scenery of the land. If he has been less so in attempting to revive the antique dialogue of the Spanish cavalier, we must not be surprised. Nothing is more difficult than the skilful execution of a modern antique. It requires all the genius and learning of Scott to execute it so that the connoisseur shall not detect the counterfeit. [140] Carta del Exército, MS.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 140.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 109. [141] Clavigero is mistaken in calling this the street of Iztapalapan. (Stor. del Messico, tom. iii. p. 120.) It was not the street by which the Spaniards entered, but by which they finally left the city, and is correctly indicated by Lorenzana as that of Tlacopan,--or, rather, Tacuba, into which the Spaniards corrupted the name. See vol. ii. p. 322, note. [142] It is Oviedo who finds a parallel for his hero in the Roman warrior; the same, to quote the spirit-stirring legend of Macaulay, “who kept the bridge so well In the brave days of old.” “Mui digno es Cortés que se compare este fecho suyo desta jornada al de Oracio Cocles, que se tocó de suso, porque con su esfuerzo é lanza sola dió tanto lugar, que los caballos pudieran pasar, é hizo desembarazar la puente é pasó, á pesar de los Enemigos, aunque con harto trabajo.” Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13.