In this place, Guatimotzin, the last king of the Mexicans, closed his unhappy career.  It appeared that a plot had been concerted by this unfortunate monarch with many of the Mexican nobles who accompanied him, to endeavour to cut off the Spaniards; after which they proposed to make the best of their way back to Mexico, where, collecting all the forces of the natives, they hoped to be able to overpower the Spanish garrison.  This conspiracy was revealed to Cortes by two Mexican nobles who had commanded under Guatimotzin during the siege, and who had been baptized by the names of Tapia and Velasquez.  On receiving this intelligence, Cortes immediately took the judicial informations of these two and of several others who were concerned in the plot; from which it was learnt, that the Mexicans, observing that we marched in a careless manner, that discontent prevailed among our troops, many of whom were sick, that ten of our Spanish soldiers had died of hunger, and several had returned towards Mexico, and considering also the uncertainty of the fate of the expedition and the miseries they endured from scarcity of provisions, they had come to the resolution of falling upon us at the passage of some river or marsh, being encouraged by their numbers, which exceeded 3000 well armed men, and thinking it preferable to die at once than to encounter the perpetual miseries they now endured by accompanying us in this wilderness.  Guatimotzin acknowledged that he had heard of this proposal, which he never approved of, declaring that he did not believe it would ever have been attempted, and anxiously denied that the whole of the Mexican force had concurred in the plot.  His cousin, the prince of Tacuba, declared that all which had ever passed on the subject, between him and Guatimotzin, was, that they had often expressed their opinion, that it would be better to lose their lives at once like brave men, than to suffer in the manner they did by hunger and fatigue, and to witness the intolerable distresses of their friends and subjects who accompanied them.  On those scanty proofs, Cortes sentenced Guatimotzin and the prince of Tacuba to be immediately hanged; and when the preparations were made for the execution, they were led forth to the place attended by the reverend fathers, who did their utmost to console them in their last moments.  Before his execution, Guatimotzin addressed Cortes to the following effect:  “Malintzin!  I now see that your false words and flattering promises have ended in my death.  It had been better to have fallen by my own hands, than to have trusted myself to your power.  You take away my life unjustly, and may God demand of you my innocent blood.”  The prince of Tacuba only said, that he was happy to die along with his beloved sovereign.  Thus did these two great men end their lives, and, for Indians, most piously and like good Christians.  I lamented them both sincerely, having seen them in their greatness.  They always treated me kindly on this march, giving me Indians to procure grass for my horse, and doing me many services.  To me and all of us, their sentence appeared cruel and unjust, and their deaths most undeserved.