Note 1140 — Chapter XXXII · INVESTMENT OF MEXICO. May-June, 1521.

Ixtlilxochitl allows his namesake and Cortés to figure in this scene, the former cutting off the idol’s head while the general secured the mask. He states that the temple was captured during the first entry into the court. When the Mexicans rallied, Ixtlilxochitl managed to kill their general, which so enraged them that they rushed madly on and drove back the Spaniards till the horse arrived. Hor. Crueldades, 29-30. His version is adopted in the main by Prescott and others; but there are several discrepancies. The death of a general as a rule discouraged native armies. Cortés, who would not have failed to claim the overthrow of the idol, states that it was effected by four or five Spaniards, after the second capture of the court. Cartas, 218. His presence was needed below to direct operations. Gomara’s text must have misled Ixtlilxochitl and others. Hist. Mex., 197-8. Herrera and Torquemada adhere better to Cortés.