The avarice of the white men had drained the country of its wealth.

Their arrogance had humiliated their pride.

Their occupation of their holiest temple and the insults to their gods had aroused them to fury; and the massacre, in cold blood, of six hundred of their nobles, while engaged in religious devotions, had been the signal for an explosion.

Their emperor, formerly so venerated, they now regarded with contempt as the creature of the Spaniards; as the betrayer of his country; and the thought of his safety no longer restrained their thirst for vengeance.
Cortez, however, was in no mood to reflect.
"What have I to do with this dog of a king," he exclaimed, "who suffers us to starve before his eyes?
"Go, tell your master and his people," he said fiercely to the Mexicans, "to open the markets, or we will do it for them, at their cost!" The chiefs, who were the bearers of Montezuma's message, left his presence in deep resentment; and reported to the emperor, and to the people outside, the manner in which Montezuma's request for an interview had been refused.

Cortez, however, thought it politic to release Cuitlahua, Montezuma's brother, who had been among those imprisoned for taking share in Cacama's league; and allowed him to go into the city, thinking that he would allay the tumult.
But Cuitlahua was a man of different spirit from his brother.