Chapter IV (3)

[217] It is in the same spirit that the laws of Oleron, the maritime code of so high authority in the Middle Ages, abandon the property of the infidel, in common with that of pirates, as fair spoil to the true believer! “S’ilz sont pyrates, pilleurs, ou escumeurs de mer, ou Tures, _et autres contraires et ennemis de nostredicte foy catholicque_, chascun peut prendre sur telles manieres de gens, _comme sur chiens, si peut l’on les desrobber et spoiler de leurs biens sans pugnition_. C’est le jugement.” Jugemens d’Oleron, Art. 45, ap. Collection de Lois maritimes, par J. M. Pardessus (ed. Paris, 1828), tom. i. p. 351.

[218] The famous bull of partition became the basis of the treaty of Tordesillas, by which the Castilian and Portuguese governments determined the boundary line of their respective discoveries; a line that secured the vast empire of Brazil to the latter, which from priority of occupation should have belonged to their rivals. See the “History of Ferdinand and Isabella,” Part I. chap. 18; Part II. chap. 9,--the closing pages of each.

[219] It is the condition, unequivocally expressed and reiterated, on which Alexander VI., in his famous bulls of May 3d and 4th, 1493, conveys to Ferdinand and Isabella full and absolute right over all such territories in the Western World as may not have been previously occupied by Christian princes. See these precious documents _in extenso_, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de los Viages y Descubrimientos (Madrid, 1825), tom. ii. Nos. 17, 18.

[220] The ground on which Protestant nations assert a natural right to the fruits of their discoveries in the New World is very different. They consider that the earth was intended for cultivation, and that Providence never designed that hordes of wandering savages should hold a territory far more than necessary for their own maintenance, to the exclusion of civilized man. Yet it may be thought, as far as improvement of the soil is concerned, that this argument would afford us but an indifferent tenure for much of our own unoccupied and uncultivated territory, far exceeding what is demanded for our present or prospective support. As to a right founded on difference of civilization, this is obviously a still more uncertain criterion. It is to the credit of our Puritan ancestors that they did not avail themselves of any such interpretation of the law of nature, and still less relied on the powers conceded by King James’s patent, asserting rights as absolute, nearly, as those claimed by the Roman See. On the contrary, they established their title to the soil by fair purchase of the aborigines; thus forming an honorable contrast to the policy pursued by too many of the settlers on the American continents. It should be remarked that, whatever difference of opinion may have subsisted between the Roman Catholic--or rather the Spanish and Portuguese--nations and the rest of Europe, in regard to the true foundation of their titles in a moral view, they have always been content, in their controversies with one another, to rest them exclusively on priority of discovery. For a brief view of the discussion, see Vattel (Droit des Gens, sec. 209), and especially Kent (Commentaries on American Law, vol. iii. lec. 51), where it is handled with much perspicuity and eloquence. The argument, as founded on the law of nations, may be found in the celebrated case of Johnson v. McIntosh. (Wheaton, Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of the United States, vol. iii. p. 543, et seq.) If it were not treating a grave discussion too lightly, I should crave leave to refer the reader to the renowned Diedrich Knickerbocker’s History of New York (book 1, chap. 5) for a luminous disquisition on this knotty question. At all events, he will find there the popular arguments subjected to the test of ridicule; a test showing, more than any reasoning can, how much, or rather how little, they are really worth.

[221] _Los Dioses blancos._--Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 40.

[222] Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 11.--In an old Aztec harangue, made as a matter of form on the accession of a prince, we find the following remarkable prediction: “Perhaps ye are dismayed at the prospect of the terrible calamities that are one day to overwhelm us, calamities foreseen and foretold, though not felt, by our fathers!... when the destruction and desolation of the empire shall come, when all shall be plunged in darkness, when the hour shall arrive in which they shall make us slaves throughout the land, and we shall be condemned to the lowest and most degrading offices!” (Ibid., lib. 6, cap. 16.) This random shot of prophecy, which I have rendered literally, shows how strong and settled was the apprehension of some impending revolution.

[223] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 3.

[224] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 83.

[225] Veytia, Hist. antig., tom. i. cap. 13.

[226] Humboldt, Vues des Cordillères, p. 32.

[227] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 69.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 63.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 84.

[228] The language of the text may appear somewhat too unqualified, considering that three Aztec codices exist with interpretations. (See _ante_, vol. i. pp. 117-119.) But they contain very few and general allusions to Montezuma, and these strained through commentaries of Spanish monks, oftentimes manifestly irreconcilable with the genuine Aztec notions. Even such writers as Ixtlilxochitl and Camargo, from whom, considering their Indian descent, we might expect more independence, seem less solicitous to show this, than their loyalty to the new faith and country of their adoption. Perhaps the most honest Aztec record of the period is to be obtained from the volumes, the twelfth book particularly, of Father Sahagun, embodying the traditions of the natives soon after the Conquest. This portion of his great work was rewritten by its author, and considerable changes were made in it, at a later period of his life. Yet it may be doubted if the reformed version reflects the traditions of the country as faithfully as the original, which is still in manuscript, and which I have chiefly followed.

[229] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 84, 85.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 67.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 60.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5.

[230] “We walked,” says Diaz, in the homely but expressive Spanish proverb, “with our beards over our shoulders”--_la barba sobre el ombro_. Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 86.

[231] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 86.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 70.--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 41.

[232] “Llamaban al volcan Popocatépetl, y á la sierra nevada Iztaccihuatl, que quiere decir la sierra que humea, y la blanca muger.” Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[233] “La Sierra nevada y el volcan los tenian por Dioses; y que el volcan y la Sierra nevada eran marido y muger.” Ibid., MS.

[234] Gomara, Crónica, cap. 62.

“Ætna Giganteos nunquam tacitura triumphos,
Enceladi bustum, qui saucia terga revinctus
Spirat inexhaustum flagranti pectore sulphur.”
CLAUDIAN, De Rapt. Pros., lib. 1, v. 152.

[235] The old Spanish called any lofty mountain by that name, though never having given signs of combustion. Thus, Chimborazo was called a _volcan de nieve_, or “snow volcano” (Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. i. p. 162); and that enterprising traveller, Stephens, notices the _volcan de agua_, “water volcano,” in the neighborhood of Antigua Guatemala. Incidents of Travel in Chiapas, Central America, and Yucatan (New York, 1841), vol. i. chap. 13.

[236] Mont Blanc, according to M. de Saussure, is 15,670 feet high. For the estimate of Popocatepetl, see an elaborate communication in the “Revista Mexicana,” tom. ii. No. 4.

[237] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 70.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 78.--The latter writer speaks of the ascent as made when the army lay at Tlascala, and of the attempt as perfectly successful. The general’s letter, written soon after the event, with no motive for misstatement, is the better authority. See, also, Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 18.--Rel. d’un gentil’ huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. p. 308.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 62.

[238] [Montaño’s family remained in Mexico after the Conquest, and his daughter received a pension from the government. Alaman, Disertaciones históricas, tom. i. apénd. 2.]

[239] Rel. Ter. y Quarta de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 318, 380.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 3, lib. 3, cap. 1.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 41.--M. de Humboldt doubts the fact of Montaño’s descent into the crater, thinking it more probable that he obtained the sulphur through some lateral crevice in the mountain. (Essai politique, tom. i. p. 164.){*} No attempt--at least, no successful one--was made to gain the summit of Popocatepetl, since this of Montaño, till the present century. In 1827 it was reached in two expeditions, and again in 1833 and 1834. A very full account of the last, containing many interesting details and scientific observations, was written by Federico de Gerolt, one of the party, and published in the periodical already referred to. (Revista Mexicana, tom. i. pp. 461-482.) The party from the topmost peak, which commanded a full view of the less elevated Iztaccihuatl, saw no vestige of a crater in that mountain, contrary to the opinion usually received.

{*} [There would seem to have been no grounds for the doubt expressed by Humboldt, as the sulphur is now nearly exhausted, having been regularly collected by Indian laborers, lowered into the crater by means of a rope of hide attached to a windlass. Tylor, Anahuac, p. 269.--K.]

[240] Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. iv. p. 17.

[241] The lake of Tezcuco, on which stood the capital of Mexico, is 2277 metres--nearly 7500 feet--above the sea. Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 45.

[242] It is unnecessary to refer to the pages of modern travellers, who, however they may differ in taste, talent, or feeling, all concur in the impressions produced on them by the sight of this beautiful valley.{*}

{*} [Modern civilization has, according to Bandelier, made Mexico much more beautiful than it was in the days of Montezuma. He says, “The city of Mexico, with its domes and spires glistening in the noonday sun, is certainly a finer sight than was the old pueblo, resting on the dull waters of the lagune, like an adobe patch, surmounted by the clumsy mounds of worship.” He forgets, however, that the adobe was plastered over with gypsum, and that “the walls were so well whitened, polished, and shining that they appeared to the Spaniards when at a distance to have been silver.” Clavigero, Mexico, ii. p. 232.--M.]

[243] Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 41.--It may call to the reader’s mind the memorable view of the fair plains of Italy which Hannibal displayed to his hungry barbarians after a similar march through the wild passes of the Alps, as reported by the prince of historic painters. Livy, Hist., lib. 21, cap. 35.

[244] Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., ubi supra.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 3.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 64.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5.

[245] A load for a Mexican _tamane_ was about fifty pounds, or eight hundred ounces. Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. ii. p. 69, nota.

[246] Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 12.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 73.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 3.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 64.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 87.

[247] This was not the sentiment of the Roman hero:

“Victrix causa Diis placuit, sed victa Catoni!”
LUCAN, lib. 1, v. 128.

[248] Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 13.--Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 44.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 63.

[249] “El señor de esta provincia y pueblo me dió hasta quarenta esclavas, y tres mil castellanos; y dos dias que allí estuve nos proveyó muy cumplidamente de todo lo necesario para nuestra comida.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 74.

[250] “De todas partes era infinita la gente que de un cabo é de otro concurrian á mirar á los Españoles, é maravillábanse mucho de los ver. Tenian grande espacio é atención en mirar los caballos; decian, ‘Estos son Teules,’ que quiere decir Demonios.” Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 45.

[251] Cortés tells the affair coolly enough to the emperor. “And that night I kept such guard that of the spies--as well those who came across the water in canoes as those who descended from the sierra to watch for an opportunity of accomplishing their design--fifteen or twenty were discovered in the morning that had been killed by our men; so that few returned with the information they had come to get.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 74.{*}

{*} [Cortés cannot be blamed for adopting such precautions as any good general would have thought it culpable to neglect; while his repeated warnings to the natives not to approach the camp after sunset show his anxiety to impress them with a sense of the danger. “Sabed,” he said to the chiefs, “que estos que conmigo vienen no duermen de noche, é si duermen es un poco cuando es de dia; é de noche están con sus armas, é cualquiera que ven que anda en pié ó entra do ellos están, luego lo matan; é yo no basto á lo resistir; por tanto, haceldo así saber á toda vuestra gente, é decildes que despues de puesto el sol ninguna venga do estamos, porque morirá, _é á mí me pesará de los que murieren_.” Relacion hecha por el Señor Andrés de Tápia sobre la Conquista de México.--K.]

[252] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 75.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 64.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 85.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5.--“We esteemed it a great matter, and said amongst ourselves, If this cacique appeared in such state, what must be that displayed by the great Montezuma?” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 87.

[253] “Nos quedámos admirados,” exclaims Diaz, with simple wonder, “y deziamos que parecia á las casas de encantamento, que cuentan en el libro de Amadis!” Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 87. An edition of this celebrated romance in its Castilian dress had appeared before this time, as the prologue to the second edition of 1521 speaks of a former one in the reign of the “Catholic Sovereigns.” See Cervantes, Don Quixote, ed. Pellicer (Madrid, 1797), tom. i., Discurso prelim.

[254] “Una ciudad, la mas hermosa, aunque pequeña, que hasta entonces habiamos visto, assí de muy bien obradas Casas, y Torres, como de la buena órden, que en el fundamento de ella habia por ser armada toda sobre Agua.” (Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 76.) The Spaniards gave this aquatic city the name of Venezuela, or Little Venice. Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 2, cap. 4.

[255] M. de Humboldt has dotted the _conjectural_ limits of the ancient lake in his admirable chart of the Mexican Valley. (Atlas géographique et physique de la Nouvelle-Espagne (Paris, 1811), carte 3.) Notwithstanding his great care, it is not easy always to reconcile his topography with the itineraries of the Conquerors, so much has the face of the country been changed by natural and artificial causes. It is still less possible to reconcile their narratives with the maps of Clavigero, Lopez, Robertson, and others, defying equally topography and history.

[256] Several writers notice a visit of the Spaniards to Tezcuco on the way to the capital. (Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 42.--Solís, Conquista, lib. 3, cap. 9.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 4.--Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. ii. p. 74.) This improbable episode--which, it may be remarked, has led these authors into some geographical perplexities, not to say blunders--is altogether too remarkable to have been passed over in silence in the minute relation of Bernal Diaz, and that of Cortés, neither of whom alludes to it.

[257] “E me diéron,” says Cortés, “hasta tres, ó quatro mil Castellanos, y algunas Esclavas, y Ropa, é me hiciéron muy buen acogimiento.” Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 76.

[258] “Tiene el Señor de ella unas Casas nuevas, que aun no están acabadas, que son tan buenas como las mejores de España, digo de grandes y bien labradas.” Ibid., p. 77.

[259] The earliest instance of a Garden of Plants in Europe is said to have been at Padua, in 1545. Carli, Lettres Américaines, tom. i. let. 21.

[260] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ubi supra.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 44.--Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 13.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 87.

“There Aztlan stood upon the farther shore;
Amid the shade of trees its dwellings rose,
Their level roofs with turrets set around,
And battlements all burnished white, which shone
Like silver in the sunshine. I beheld
The imperial city, her far-circling walls,
Her garden groves and stately palaces,
Her temples mountain size, her thousand roofs;
And when I saw her might and majesty,
My mind misgave me then.”
SOUTHEY’S Madoc, Part 1, canto 6.

[261] [Alaman objects to my speaking of the “gray mists of morning” in connection with the Aztec capital. “In the beginning of November,” he says, “there is no such thing as a mist to be seen in the morning, or indeed in any part of the day, in the Valley of Mexico, where the weather is uncommonly bright and beautiful. The historian,” he adds, “has confounded the climate of Mexico with that of England or the United States.” Conquista de Méjico (trad. de Vega), tom. i. p. 337.]

[262] [A Spanish translator incorrectly renders the words “dark files” by _indisciplinadas filas_, “undisciplined files.” Señor Alaman, correcting, in this instance at least, the translation instead of the original, objects to this language. We may talk, says the critic, of the different kind of discipline peculiar to the Tlascalans, but not of their want of discipline, a defect which can hardly be charged on the most warlike nation of Anahuac. Conquista de Méjico (trad. de Vega), tom. i. p. 337.]

[263] He took about 6000 warriors from Tlascala; and some few of the Cempoallan and other Indian allies continued with him. The Spanish force on leaving Vera Cruz amounted to about 400 foot and 15 horse. In the remonstrance of the disaffected soldiers, after the murderous Tlascalan combats, they speak of having lost fifty of their number since the beginning of the campaign. _Ante_, vol. ii. p. 150.

[264] “La calzada d’Iztapalapan est fondée sur cette même digue ancienne, sur laquelle Cortéz fit des prodiges de valeur dans ses rencontres avec les assiégés.” (Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 57.) [At present the road of Tlalplan, or St. Augustine of the Caves (San Augustin de las Cuevas). Conquista de Méjico (trad. de Vega), tom. i. p. 338.]

[265] Among these towns were several containing from three to five or six thousand dwellings, according to Cortés, whose barbarous orthography in proper names will not easily be recognized by Mexican or Spaniard. Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 78.

[266] Father Toribio Benavente does not stint his panegyric in speaking of the neighborhood of the capital, which he saw in its glory. “Creo, que en toda nuestra Europa hay pocas ciudades que tengan tal asiento y tal comarca, con tantos pueblos á la redonda de sí y tan bien asentados.” Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.

[267] It is not necessary, however, to adopt Herrera’s account of 50,000 canoes, which, he says, were constantly employed in supplying the capital with provisions! (Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 14.) The poet-chronicler Saavedra is more modest in his estimate:

“Dos mil y mas canoas cada dia
Bastecen el gran pueblo Mexicano
De la mas y la menos niñería
Que es necesario al alimento humano.”
EL PEREGRINO INDIANO, canto 11.

[268] “Usaban unos brazaletes de musaico, hechos de turquezas con unas plumas ricas que salian de ellos, que eran mas altas que la cabeza, y bordadas con plumas ricas y con oro, y unas bandas de oro, que subian con las plumas.” Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, lib. 8, cap. 9.

[269] Gonzalo de las Casas, Defensa, MS., Parte 1, cap. 24.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 65.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 88.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 78, 79.--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 85.

[270] Cardinal Lorenzana says, the street intended was, probably, that crossing the city from the Hospital of San Antonio. (Rel. Seg. de Cortés, p. 79, nota.) This is confirmed by Sahagun. “Y así en aquel trecho que está desde la Iglesia de San Antonio (que ellos llaman Xuluco) que va por cave las casas de Alvarado, hácia el Hospital de la Concepcion, salió Moctezuma á recibir de paz á D. Hernando Cortés.” Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 16. [The present Calle del Rastro, which continues, under different names, from the guard-house of San Antonio Abad to the Plaza. According to an early tradition, Montezuma and Cortés met in front of the spot where the Hospital of Jesus now stands, and the site for the building was chosen on that account. Conquista de Méjico (trad. de Vega), tom. i. p. 339.]

[271] Carta del Lic. Zuazo, MS.

[272] “Toda la gente que estaba en las calles se le humiliaban y hacian profunda reverencia y grande acatamiento sin levantar los ojos á le mirar, sino que todos estaban hasta que él era pasado, _tan inclinados como frayles en Gloria Patri_.” Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.

[273] For the preceding account of the equipage and appearance of Montezuma, see Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 88,--Carta de Zuazo, MS.,--Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 85,--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 65,--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., ubi supra, et cap. 45,--Acosta, lib. 7, cap. 22,--Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 16,--Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.--The noble Castilian or rather Mexican bard, Saavedra, who belonged to the generation after the Conquest, has introduced most of the particulars in his rhyming chronicle. The following specimen will probably suffice for the reader:

“Y va el gran Moteçuma atauiado
De manta açul y blanca con gran falda,
De algodon muy sutil y delicado,
Y al remate vna concha de esmeralda;
En la parte que el nudo tiene dado,
Y una tiara á modo de guirnalda,
Zapatos que de oro son las suelas
Asidos con muy ricas correhuelas.”
EL PEREGRINO INDIANO, canto 11.

[274] “Satis vultu læto,” says Martyr, “an stomacho sedatus, et an hospites per vim quis unquam libens susceperit, experti loquantur.” De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3.

[275] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 79.

[276] “Entráron en la ciudad de Méjico á punto de guerra, tocando los atambores, y con banderas desplegadas,” etc. Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 15.

[277] “Et giardini alti et bassi, che era cosa maravigliosa da vedere.” Rel. d’un gentil’ huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 309.

[278] “¿Quien podrá,” exclaims the old soldier, “dezir la multitud de hombres, y mujeres, y muchachos, que estauan en las calles, é açuteas, y en Canoas en aquellas acequias, que nos salian á mirar? Era cosa de notar, que agora que lo estoy escriuiendo, se me representa todo delante de mis ojos, como si ayer fuera quando esto passó.” Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 88.

[279] “Ad spectaculum,” says the penetrating Martyr, “tandem Hispanis placidum, quia diu optatum, Tenustiatanis prudentibus forte aliter, quia verentur fore, vt hi hospites quietem suam Elysiam veniant perturbaturi; de populo secus, qui nil sentit æque delectabile, quàm res novas ante oculos in presentiarum habere, de futuro nihil anxius.” De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3.

[280] The euphonious name of _Tenochtitlan_ is commonly derived from Aztec words signifying “the _tuna_, or cactus, on a rock,” the appearance of which, as the reader may remember, was to determine the site of the future capital. (Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, Parte 3, cap. 7.--Esplic. de la Coleccion de Mendoza, ap. Antiq. of Mexico, vol. iv.) Another etymology derives the word from _Tenoch_, the name of one of the founders of the monarchy.

[281] [“Por algunos manuscritos que he consultado é investigaciones que he hecho, me inclino á creer, que el templo se estendia desde la esquina de la calle de _Plateros_ y _Empedradillo_ hasta la de _Cordobanes_; y de P. á O., desde el tercio ó cuarto de la placeta del _Empedradillo_, hasta penetrar unas cuantas varas hácia el O., dentro de las aceras que miran al P., y forman las calles del _Seminario_ y del _Relox_.” Ramirez, Notas y Esclarecimientos, p. 103.]

[282] Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. iii. p. 78.--It occupied what is now the corner of the streets “Del Indio Triste” and “Tacuba.”{*} Humboldt, Vues des Cordillères, p. 7, et seq.

{*} [Consequently, says Alaman, it must have faced the east, not the west gate of the Temple. Conquista de Méjico, tom. i. p. 343.--K.]

[283] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 88.--Gonzalo de las Casas, Defensa, MS., Parte 1, cap. 24.

[284] Boturini says, greater, by the acknowledgment of the goldsmiths themselves. “Los plateros de Madrid, viendo algunas Piezas, y Brazaletes de oro, con que se armaban en guerra los Reyes, y Capitanes Indianos, confessáron, que eran inimitables en Europa.” (Idea, p. 78.) And Oviedo, speaking of their work in jewelry, remarks, “Io ví algunas piedras jaspes, calcidonias, jacintos, corniolas, é plasmas de esmeraldas, é otras de otras especies labradas é fechas, cabezas de Aves, é otras hechas animales é otras figuras, que dudo haber en España ni en Italia quien las supiera hacer con tanta perficion.” Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 11.

[285] _Ante_, vol. ii. p. 175.

[286] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 88.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 80.

[287] Bernal Diaz, Ibid., loc. cit.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 83, cap. 5.--Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 16.

[288] “Muchas y diversas Joyas de Oro, y Plata, y Plumajes, y con fasta cinco ó seis mil Piezas de Ropa de Algodon muy ricas, y de diversas maneras texida, y labrada.” (Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 80.) Even this falls short of truth, according to Diaz. “Tenia apercebido el gran Monteçuma muy ricas joyas de oro, y de muchas hechuras, que dió á nuestro Capitan, é assí mismo á cada vno de nuestros Capitanes dió cositas de oro, y tres cargas de mantas de labores ricas de pluma, y entre todos los soldados tambien nos dio á cada vno á dos cargas de mantas, con alegría, y en todo parecia gran señor.” (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 89.) “Sex millia vestium, aiunt qui eas vidêre.” Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3.

[289] Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 85.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 66.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 6.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 88.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5.

[290] “La noche siguiente jugáron la artillería por la solemnidad de haber llegado sin daño á donde deseaban; pero los Indios como no usados á los truenos de la artillería, mal edor de la pólvora, recibiéron grande alteracion y miedo toda aquella noche.” Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 17.

[291] “C’est là que la famille construisit le bel édifice dans lequel se trouvent les archives del Estado, et qui est passé avec tout l’héritage au duc Napolitain de Monteleone.” (Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 72.) The inhabitants of modern Mexico have large obligations to this inquisitive traveller for the care he has taken to identify the memorable localities of their capital. It is not often that a philosophical treatise is also a good _manuel du voyageur_.

[292] [The palace of Montezuma, according to Ramirez, “occupied the site where the national palace now stands, including that of the university and the adjacent houses, and extending to the Plaza del Volador, or new market-place. This was the ordinary residence of the last Montezuma, and the place where he was actually made prisoner.” Notas y Esclarecimientos, p. 103.]

[293] “Et io entrai più di quattro volte in una casa del gran Signor non per altro effetto che per vederla, et ogni volta vi camminauo tanto che mi stancauo, et mai la fini di vedere tutta.” Rel. d’un gentil’ huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 309.

[294] Gomara, Crónica, cap. 71.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 9.--The authorities call it “tiger,” an animal not known in America. I have ventured to substitute the “ocelot,” _tlalocelotl_ of Mexico, a native animal, which, being of the same family, might easily be confounded by the Spaniards with the tiger of the Old Continent.

[295] Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.--Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 9.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 71.--Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 91.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5, 46.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 111-114.

[296] “Para entrar en su palacio, á que ellos llaman Tecpa, todos se descalzaban, y los que entraban á negociar con él habian de llevar mantas groseras encima de si, y si eran grandes señores ó en tiempo de frio, sobre las mantas buenas que llevaban vestidas, ponian una manta grosera y pobre; y para hablarle, estaban muy humiliados y sin levantar los ojos.” (Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.) There is no better authority than this worthy missionary for the usages of the ancient Aztecs, of which he had such large personal knowledge.

[297] The ludicrous effect--if the subject be not too grave to justify the expression--of a literal belief in the doctrine of transubstantiation in the mother-country, even at this day, is well illustrated by Blanco White, Letters from Spain (London, 1822), let. 1.

[298] “Y en esso de la creacion del mundo assí lo tenemos nosotros creido muchos tiempos passados.” (Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 90.) For some points of resemblance between the Aztec and Hebrew traditions, see Book 1, chap. 3, and the essay on The Origin of the Mexican Civilization, at the end of the first book of this History.

[299] “E siempre hemos tenido, que de los que de él descendiessen habian de venir á sojuzgar esta tierra, y á nosotros como á sus Vasallos.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 81.

[300] “Y luego el Monteçuma dixo riendo, porque en todo era muy regozijado en su hablar de gran señor: Malinche, bien sé que te han dicho essos de Tlascala, con quien tanta amistad aueis tomado, que yo que soy como Dios, ó Teule, que quanto ay en mis casas es todo oro, é plata, y piedras ricas.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 90.

[301] “E por tanto Vos sed cierto, que os obedecerémos, y ternémos por señor en lugar de esse gran señor que decis, y que en ello no habia falta, ni engaño alguno; é bien podeis en toda la tierra, digo, que en la que yo en mi Señorío poseo, mandar á vuestra voluntad, porque será obedecido y fecho, y todo lo que nosotros tenemos es para lo que Vos de ello quisieredes disponer.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ubi supra.

[302] Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 66.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5.--Gonzalo de las Casas, MS., Parte 1, cap. 24.--Cortés, in his brief notes of this proceeding, speaks only of the interview with Montezuma in the Spanish quarters, which he makes the scene of the preceding dialogue. Bernal Diaz transfers this to the subsequent meeting in the palace. In the only fact of importance, the dialogue itself, both substantially agree.

[303] “Assí nos despedímos con grandes cortesías dél, y nos fuýmos á nuestros aposentos, é ibamos platicando de la buena manera é criança que en todo tenia, é que nosotros en todo le tuuiessemos mucho acato, é con las gorras de armas colchadas quitadas, quando delante dél passassemos.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 90.

[304] “Y assí,” says Toribio de Benavente, “estaba tan fuerte esta ciudad, que parecia no bastar poder humano para ganarla; porque ademas de su fuerza y municion que tenia, era cabeza y Señoría de toda la tierra, y el Señor de ella (Moteczuma) gloriábase en su silla y en la fortaleza de su ciudad, y en la muchedumbre de sus vassallos.” Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 8.

[305] “Many are of opinion,” says Father Acosta, “that, if the Spaniards had continued the course they began, they might easily have disposed of Montezuma and his kingdom, and introduced the law of Christ, without much bloodshed.” Lib. 7, cap. 25.

[306] The lake, it seems, had perceptibly shrunk before the Conquest, from the testimony of Motolinia, who entered the country soon after. Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 6.

[307] Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 95.--Cortés supposed there were regular tides in this lake. (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 101.) This sorely puzzles the learned Martyr (De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3); as it has more than one philosopher since, whom it has led to speculate on a subterraneous communication with the ocean! What the general called “tides” was probably the periodical swells caused by the prevalence of certain regular winds.

[308] Humboldt has given a minute account of this tunnel, which he pronounces one of the most stupendous hydraulic works in existence, and the completion of which, in its present form, does not date earlier than the latter part of the eighteenth century. See his Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 105, et seq.

[309] Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 87, et seq.--Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. ii. p. 153.

[310] Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 8.--Cortés, indeed, speaks of four causeways. (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 102.) He may have reckoned an arm of the southern one leading to Cojohuacan, or possibly the great aqueduct of Chapoltepec.

[311] _Ante_, vol. i. p. 23.

[312] Martyr gives a particular account of these dwellings, which shows that even the poorer classes were comfortably lodged. “Populares vero domus cingulo virili tenus lapideæ sunt et ipsæ, ob lacunæ incrementum per fluxum aut fluviorum in ea labentium alluvies. Super fundamentis illis magnis, lateribus tum coctis, tum æstivo sole siccatis, immixtis trabibus reliquam molem construunt; uno sunt communes domus contentæ tabulato. In solo parum hospitantur propter humiditatem, tecta non tegulis sed bitumine quodam terreo vestiunt; ad solem captandum commodior est ille modus, breviore tempore consumi debere credendum est.” De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 10.

[313] Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 8.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 108.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 10, 11.--Rel. d’un gentil’ huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 309.

[314] Martyr was struck with the resemblance. “Uti de illustrissima civitate Venetiarum legitur, ad tumulum in ea sinus Adriatici parte visum, fuisse constructam.” Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 10.

[315] May we not apply, without much violence, to the Aztec capital, Giovanni della Casa’s spirited sonnet, contrasting the origin of Venice with its meridian glory?

“Questi Palazzi e queste logge or colte
D’ostro, di marmo e di figure elette,
Fur poche e basse case insieme accolte
Deserti lidi e povere Isolette.
Ma genti ardite d’ogni vizio sciolte
Premeano il mar con picciole barchette,
Che qui non per domar provincie molte,
Ma fuggir servitù s’ eran ristrette
Non era ambizion ne’ petti loro;
Ma ’l mentire abborrian più che la morte,
Nè vi regnava ingorda fame d’oro.
Se ’l Ciel v’ ha dato piu beata sorte,
Non sien quelle virtù che tanto onoro,
Dalle nuove ricchezze oppresse e morte.”

[316] “Le lac de Tezcuco n’a généralement que trois à cinq mètres de profondeur. Dans quelques endroits le fond se trouve même déjà à moins d’un mètre.” Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 49.

[317] “Y cada dia entran gran multitud de Indios cargados de bastimentos y tributos, así por tierra como por agua, en acales ó barcas, que _en lengua de las Islas llaman Canoas_.” Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 6.

[318] “Esta la cibdad de Méjico ó _Teneztutan_, que será de sesenta mil vecinos.” (Carta del Lic. Zuazo, MS.) “Tenustitanam ipsam inquiunt sexaginta circiter esse millium domorum.” (Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3.) “Era Méjico, quando Cortés entró, pueblo de sesenta mil casas.” (Gomara, Crónica, cap. 78.) Toribio says, vaguely, “Los moradores y gente era innumerable.” (Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 8.) The Italian translation of the “Anonymous Conqueror,” who survives only in translation, says, indeed, “meglio di sessanta mila _habitatori_” (Rel. d’un gentil’ huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 309); owing, probably, to a blunder in rendering the word _vecinos_, the ordinary term in Spanish statistics, which, signifying _householders_, corresponds with the Italian _fuochi_. See, also, Clavigero. (Stor. del Messico, tom. iii. p. 86, nota.) Robertson rests _exclusively_ on this Italian translation for his estimate. (History of America, vol. ii. p. 281.) He cites, indeed, two other authorities in the same connection; Cortés, who says nothing of the population, and Herrera, who confirms the popular statement of “sesenta mil casas.” (Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 13.) The fact is of some importance.

[319] “In the smallest houses, with few exceptions, two, four, and even six families resided together.” Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 13.

[320] Rel. d’un gentil’ huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 309.

[321] “C’est sur le chemin qui mène a Tanepantla et aux Ahuahuetes que l’on peut marcher plus d’une heure entre les ruines de l’ancienne ville. On y reconnaît, ainsi que sur la route de Tacuba et d’Iztapalapan, combien Mexico, rebâti par Cortéz, est plus petit que l’était Tenochtitlan sous le dernier des Montezuma. L’énorme grandeur du marché de Tlatelolco, dont on reconnaît encore les limites, prouve combien la population de l’ancienne ville doit avoir été considerable.” Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 43.

[322] A common food with the lower classes was a glutinous scum found in the lakes, which they made into a sort of cake, having a savor not unlike cheese. (Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 92.)--[This “scum” consists in fact of the eggs of aquatic insects, with which cakes are made, in the same manner as with the spawn of fishes. Conquista de Méjico (trad. de Vega), tom. i. p. 366.{*}]

{*} [Little can be inferred, in regard to the difference of population, from the use of the _ahuähutle_, as these cakes are called, since it is still a favorite article of food at Tezcuco, where the eggs are found in great abundance, and sold in the market both in the prepared state and in lumps as collected at the edge of the lake. “The flies which produce these eggs are called by the Mexicans _axayacatl_, or _water-face_,--_Corixa femorata_, and _Notonecta unifasciata_, according to MM. Meneville and Virlet d’Aoust.” Tylor, Anahuac, p. 156.--K.]

[323] One is confirmed in this inference by comparing the two maps at the end of the first edition of Bullock’s “Mexico;” one of the modern city, the other of the ancient, taken from Boturini’s museum, and showing its regular arrangement of streets and canals; as regular, indeed, as the squares on a chess-board.{**}

{**} [The doubts so often excited by the descriptions of ancient Mexico in the accounts of the Spanish discoverers, like the similar incredulity formerly entertained in regard to the narrations of Herodotus, are dispelled by a critical investigation in conjunction with the results of modern explorations. Among recent travellers, Mr. Edward B. Tylor, whose learning and acumen have been displayed in various ethnological studies, is entitled to especial confidence. In company with Mr. Christy, the well-known collector, he examined the ploughed fields in the neighborhood of Mexico, making repeated trials whether it was possible to stand in any spot where no relic of the former population was within reach. “But this,” he says, “we could not do. Everywhere the ground was full of unglazed pottery and obsidian.” “We noticed by the sides of the road, and where ditches had been cut, numbers of old Mexican stone floors covered with stucco. The earth has accumulated above them to the depth of two or three feet, so that their position is like that of the Roman pavements so often found in Europe; and we may guess, from what we saw exposed, how great must be the number of such remains still hidden, and how vast a population must once have inhabited this plain, now almost deserted.” “When we left England,” he adds, “we both doubted the accounts of the historians of the Conquest, believing that they had exaggerated the numbers of the population, and the size of the cities, from a natural desire to make the most of their victories, and to write as wonderful a history as they could, as historians are prone to do. But our examination of Mexican remains soon induced us to withdraw this accusation, and even made us inclined to blame the chroniclers for having had no eyes for the wonderful things that surrounded them. I do not mean by this that we felt inclined to swallow the monstrous exaggeration of Solís and Gomara and other Spanish chroniclers, who seemed to think that it was as easy to say a thousand as a hundred, and that it sounded much better. But when this class of writers are set aside, and the more valuable authorities severely criticised, it does not seem to us that the history thus extracted from these sources is much less reliable than European history of the same period. There is, perhaps, no better way of expressing this opinion than to say that what we saw of Mexico tended generally to confirm Prescott’s History of the Conquest, and but seldom to make his statements appear to us improbable.” Anahuac, p. 147.--K.]

[324] Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. i. p. 274.

[325] “Era tan barrido y el suelo tan asentado y liso, que aunque la planta del pie fuera tan delicada como la de la mano no recibiera el pie detrimento ninguno en andar descalzo.” Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.

[326] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 108.--Carta del Lic. Zuazo, MS.--Rel. d’un gentil’ huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 309.

[327] These immense masses, according to Martyr, who gathered his information from eye-witnesses, were transported by means of long files of men, who dragged them with ropes over huge wooden rollers. (De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 10.) It was the manner in which the Egyptians removed their enormous blocks of granite, as appears from numerous reliefs sculptured on their buildings.

[328] Rel. d’un gentil’ huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 309.

[329] “Ricos edificios,” says the Licentiate Zuazo, speaking of the buildings in Anahuac generally, “ecepto que no se halla alguno con _bóveda_.” (Carta, MS.) The writer made large and careful observation, the year after the Conquest. His assertion, if it be received, will settle a question much mooted among antiquaries.

[330] “His residence within the city was so marvellous for its beauty and vastness that it seems to me almost impossible to describe it. I shall therefore say no more of it than that there is nothing like it in Spain.” Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 111.

[331] Herrera’s account of these feathered insects, if one may so style them, shows the fanciful errors into which even men of science were led in regard to the new tribes of animals discovered in America: “There are some birds in the country of the size of butterflies, with long beaks, brilliant plumage, much esteemed for the curious works made of them. Like the bees, they live on flowers, and the dew which settles on them; and when the rainy season is over, and the dry weather sets in, they fasten themselves to the trees by their beaks and soon die. But in the following year, when the new rains come, they come to life again”! Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 21.

[332] “Pues mas tenian,” says the honest Captain Diaz, “en aquella maldita casa muchas Víboras, y Culebras emponçoñadas, que traen en las colas vnos que suenan como cascabeles; estas son las peores Víboras de todas.” Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 91.

[333] “Digamos aora,” exclaims Captain Diaz, “las cosas infernales que hazian, quando bramauan los Tigres y Leones, y aullauan los Adiues y Zorros, y silbauan las Sierpes, era grima oirlo, y parecia infierno.” Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 91.

[334] Ibid., ubi supra.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 111-113.--Carta del Lic. Zuazo, MS.--Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 11, 46.

[335] Montezuma, according to Gomara, would allow no fruit-trees, considering them as unsuitable to pleasure-grounds. (Crónica, cap. 75.) Toribio says, to the same effect, “Los Indios Señores no procuran árboles de fruta, porque se la traen sus vasallos, sino árboles de floresta, de donde cojan rosas, y adonde se crian aves, así para gozar del canto, como para las tirar con Cerbatana, de la cual son grandes tiradores.” Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 6.

[336] Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 6.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ubi supra.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 11.

[337] [It is used at the present day for a military school. Conquista de Méjico (trad. de Vega), tom. i. p. 370.]

[338] Gomara, a competent critic, who saw them just before their destruction, praises their execution. Gama, Descripcion, Parte 2, pp. 81-83.--Also, _ante_, vol. i. p. 157.

[339] [Yet the whole of this beautiful grove was not spared. The axes of the Conquerors levelled such of the trees as grew round the fountain of Chapoltepec and dropped their decayed leaves into its waters. The order of the municipality, dated February 28, 1527, is quoted by Alaman, Disertaciones históricas, tom. ii. p. 290.]

[340] No less than one thousand, if we believe Gomara; who adds the edifying intelligence, “que huvo vez, que tuvo ciento i cincuenta preñadas á un tiempo!”

[341] “Vestíase todos los dias quatro maneras de vestiduras todas nuevas, y nunca mas se las vestia otra vez.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 114.

[342] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 91.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 67, 71, 76.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 113, 114.--Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.--“Á la puerta de la sala estaba vn patio mui grande en que habia cien aposentos de 25 ó 30 pies de largo cada vno sobre sí en torno de dicho patio, é allí estaban los Señores principales aposentados como guardas del palacio ordinarias, y estos tales aposentos se llaman galpones, los quales á la contina ocupan mas de 600 hombres, que jamas se quitaban de allí, é cada vno de aquellos tenian mas de 30 servidores de manera que á lo menos nunca faltaban 3000 hombres de guerra en esta guarda cotediana del palacio.” (Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 46.) A very curious and full account of Montezuma’s household is given by this author, as he gathered it from the Spaniards who saw it in its splendor. As Oviedo’s history still remains in manuscript, I have transferred the chapter in the original Castilian to Appendix, No. 10.

[343] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 91.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ubi supra.

[344] “Y porque la Tierra es fria trahian debaxo de cada plato y escudilla de manjar un braserico con brasa, porque no se enfriasse.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 113.

[345] Bernal Diaz has given us a few items of the royal _carte_. The first cover is rather a startling one, being a fricassee or stew of little children! “_carnes de muchachos de poca edad_.”{*} He admits, however, that this is somewhat apocryphal. Ibid., ubi supra.

{*} [The story of Bernal Diaz is not at all improbable. Young children were frequently sacrificed in order to obtain the auspices. As the flesh of human victims was always eaten, it goes without saying that “dishes of tender children” must have appeared at times upon the tables. Bancroft (Native Races, vol. ii. p. 176, Note) explains that Torquemada (Monarq. Ind.) “regrets that certain persons, out of the ill-will they bore the Mexicans, have falsely imputed to Montezuma the crime of eating human flesh, _without its being well seasoned_, but he admits that when properly cooked and disguised, the flesh of those sacrificed to the gods appeared at the royal board.”--M.]

[346] “_Lo que yo ví_,” says Diaz, speaking from his own observation, “que traian sobre cincuenta jarros grandes hechos de buen cacao con su espuma, y de lo que bebia.” Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 91.

[347] Ibid., ubi supra.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 113, 114.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 11, 46.--Gomara, Crónica, cap. 67.

[348] “Tambien le ponian en la mesa tres cañutos muy pintados, y dorados, y dentro traian liquidámbar, rebuelto con vnas yervas _que se dize tabaco_.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 91.

[349] The feats of jugglers and tumblers were a favorite diversion with the Grand Khan of China, as Sir John Maundeville informs us. (Voiage and Travaille, chap. 22.) The Aztec mountebanks had such repute, that Cortés sent two of them to Rome to amuse his Holiness Clement VII. Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. ii. p. 186.

[350] “Ninguno de los Soldanes, ni otro ningun señor infiel, de los que hasta agora se tiene noticia, no creo, que tantas, ni tales ceremonias en servicio tengan.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 115.

[351] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 91.--Carta del Lic. Zuazo, MS.--Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., ubi supra.--Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.--Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 110-115.--Rel. d’un gentil’ huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 306.

[352] If the historian will descend but a generation later for his authorities, he may find materials for as good a chapter as any in Sir John Maundeville or the Arabian Nights.

[353] “Referre in tanto rege piget superbam mutationem vestis, et desideratas humi jacentium adulationes.” (Livy, Hist., lib. 9, cap. 18.) The remarks of the Roman historian in reference to Alexander, after he was infected by the manners of Persia, fit equally well the Aztec emperor.

[354] “La Gente de esta Ciudad es de mas manera y primor en su vestido, y servicio, que no la otra de estas otras Provincias, y Ciudades; porque como allí estaba siempre este Señor Muteczuma, y todos los Señores sus Vasallos ocurrian siempre á la Ciudad, había en ella mas manera, y policía en todas las cosas.” Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 109.

[355] Zuazo, speaking of the beauty and warmth of this national fabric, says, “Ví muchas mantas de á dos haces labradas de plumas de papos de aves tan suaves, que trayendo la mano por encima á pelo y á pospelo, no era mas que vna manta zebellina mui bien adobada: hice pesar vna dellas; no pesó mas de seis onzas. Dicen que en el tiempo del Ynbierno una abasta para encima de la camisa sin otro cobertor ni mas ropa encima de la cama.” Carta, MS.

[356] “Sono lunghe & large, lauorate di bellisimi, & molto gentili lauori sparsi per esse, cō le loro frangie, ò orletti ben lauorati che compariscono benissimo.” Rel. d’un gentil’ huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 305.

[357] Ibid., fol. 305.

[358] Ibid., fol. 309.

[359] “Quivi concorrevano i Pentolai ed i Giojellieri di Cholulla, gli Orefici d’ Azcapozalco, i Pittori di Tezcuco, gli Scarpellini di Tenajocan, i Cacciatori di Xilotepec, i Pescatori di Cuitlahuac, i fruttajuoli de’ paesi caldi, gli artefici di stuoje, e di scranne di Quauhtitlan ed i coltivatori de’ fiori di Xochimilco.” Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. ii. p. 165.

[360] “Oro y plata, piedras de valor, con otros plumajes é argenterías maravillosas, y con tanto primor fabricadas que excede todo ingenio humano para comprenderlas y alcanzarlas.” (Carta del Lic. Zuazo, MS.) The licentiate then enumerates several of these elegant pieces of mechanism. Cortés is not less emphatic in his admiration: “Contrahechas de oro, y plata, y piedras y plumas, tan al natural lo de Oro, y Plata, que no ha Platero en el Mundo que mejor lo hiciesse, y lo de las Piedras, que no baste juicio comprehender con que Instrumentos se hiciesse tan perfecto, y lo de Pluma, que ni de Cera, ni en ningun broslado se podria hacer tan maravillosamente.” (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 110.) Peter Martyr, a less prejudiced critic than Cortés, who saw and examined many of these golden trinkets afterwards in Castile, bears the same testimony to the exquisite character of the workmanship, which, he says, far surpassed the value of the material. De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 10.