Note 216 — Chapter IV
Reading edition
Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.—Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 14.—Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 128.—Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 27.—Cortés might have addressed his troops, as Napoleon did his in the famous battle with the Mamelukes: “From yonder pyramids forty centuries look down upon you.” But the situation of the Spaniards was altogether too serious for theatrical display.