"He was not more than twenty-five years old, and
elegant in his person for an Indian," says one who had seen him often;
"valiant, and so terrible, that his followers trembled in his
presence." He did not shrink from the perilous post that was offered
to him; and, as he saw the tempest gathering darkly around, he
prepared to meet it like a man. Though young, he had ample
experience in military matters, and had distinguished himself above
all others in the bloody conflicts of the capital.
By means of his spies, Guatemozin made himself acquainted with the
movements of the Spaniards, and their design to besiege the capital.
He prepared for it by sending away the useless part of the population,
while he called in his potent vassals from the neighbourhood. He
continued the plans of his predecessor for strengthening the
defences of the city, reviewed his troops, and stimulated them by
prizes to excel in their exercises. He made harangues to his
soldiers to rouse them to a spirit of desperate resistance. He
encouraged his vassals throughout the empire to attack the white men
wherever they were to be met with, setting a price on their heads,
as well as the persons of all who should be brought alive to him in
Mexico. And it was no uncommon thing for the Spaniards to find hanging
up in the temples of the conquered places the arms and accoutrements
of their unfortunate countrymen who had been seized and sent to the
capital for sacrifice.
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