Camargo embraces in his narrative an account of this great event, and of the subsequent settlement of the country. As one of the Indian family, we might expect to see his chronicle reflect the prejudices, or, at least, partialities, of the Indian. But the Christian convert yielded up his sympathies as freely to the Conquerors as to his own countrymen. The desire to magnify the exploits of the latter, and at the same time to do full justice to the prowess of the white men, produces occasionally a most whimsical contrast in his pages, giving the story a strong air of inconsistency. In point of literary execution the work has little merit; as great, however, as could be expected from a native Indian, indebted for his knowledge of the tongue to such imperfect instruction as he could obtain from the missionaries. Yet in style of composition it may compare not unfavorably with the writings of some of the missionaries themselves. The original manuscript was long preserved in the convent of _San Felipe Neri_ in Mexico, where Torquemada, as appears from occasional references, had access to it. It has escaped the attention of other historians, but was embraced by Muñoz in his magnificent collection, and deposited in the archives of the Royal Academy of History at Madrid; from which source the copy in my possession was obtained. It bears the title of _Pedazo de Historia verdadera_, and is without the author’s name, and without division into books or chapters. BOOK V EXPULSION FROM MEXICO CHAPTER I DESPERATE ASSAULT ON THE QUARTERS--FURY OF THE MEXICANS--SALLY OF THE SPANIARDS--MONTEZUMA ADDRESSES THE PEOPLE--DANGEROUSLY WOUNDED 1520