Chapter IX: Part I: North American Dominions (5)

The dedication of these temples took place in 1486 and in 1487, when there was a terrible shock of an earthquake felt at Mexico. This monarchʼs life was spent in war, he extended his dominions as far as Guatimala, 900 miles from his capital. The Mexicans were however defeated in 1476, by the Atlixcans, under the command of a chief of the Huexotzincas.

Ahuitzotl caused a channel or aqueduct to be made from a fountain into the lake, by which the waters were so much increased, that an inundation, followed by a famine, took place.

He died in 1502, after a reign of twenty years. At the period of his death, Mexico was precisely in the same state, with regard to territorial acquisitions, as when the Spaniards arrived. He embellished Mexico by building with a stone which he discovered a quarry of in the neighbourhood, and his death was caused by a contusion on the head, which he received in rushing out of his palace, when the waters of the lake rose, by striking his head against the upper part of the door.

The next sovereign was Montezuma, the second of that name, and the ninth in order; he was called Montezuma Xocotzin, or the younger; who was a priest, and a man of great bravery; and on his election the people particularly valued themselves.

Montezumaʼs attention was first directed to war, in order to procure victims to be offered to the deities at his coronation, and the unfortunate Atlixcans were the sufferers, who, however, slew numbers of the Mexicans before they were subdued.

The pomp of Montezumaʼs coronation exceeded that of any preceding emperor, and the people saw with regret, symptoms of a tyrannical and haughty disposition show themselves after this ceremony, which they had before not suspected.

Montezuma changed many of the rules adopted by his predecessors, and particularly favoured his nobles, at the expence of the other classes. His household were entirely composed of people of rank, and he kept a number of women confined in the palace, choosing those for himself and favourites, which he thought the most beautiful; 600 neighbouring chieftains came to congratulate him, and appeared themselves to be in the utmost dread of his vengeance. His attendants cast off their shoes on entering the palace, and he permitted none of them to be sumptuously dressed. On entering the audience hall, they made three obeisances, at each of which they addressed him with a higher title. He was carried in a litter on the shoulders of his nobles, covered with a canopy, and carpets were spread along the streets in which he walked; the kitchen utensils of the finest earthenware, his tablecloths and napkins were never used more than once. His chocolate was prepared in golden vessels, and his state dinners were carried by three or four hundred young nobles, who respectfully retired when they set the dishes down, each dish standing on a chafing dish, and the whole consisting of every variety of the game, fish, fruits and herbs of the country. He pointed out those which he preferred, and the rest were taken into the anti-chamber to the attendant nobility. Four women stood by him the whole time with ewers, and he was surrounded by his counsellors and carvers.

He bathed every day, and changed his dress four times, never putting on the same dress again, they being reserved for his nobles and chief warriors. One whole city he appointed as a place of residence at his expence, for those who were worn out in his service. All his palaces and gardens were very magnificent, and he had palaces in Mexico, appropriated to the kings and foreign nobles, whenever they should choose to reside there; with royal menageries; an aviary that occupied the attention of 300 men and physicians; five hundred turkeys were killed every day for the birds of prey, and the beasts were fed on deer, rabbits, and the entrails of human sacrifices.

This Prince had many parks for hunting; he was the patron of the arts, and had many good qualities; but was bigoted in the extreme; so much so, that he afterwards lost his life and empire by his belief in vain predictions. Montezuma was not so fortunate as his predecessors had been, he indeed conquered a province which had not before been reduced; but in his wars with the Tlascalans, he was unsuccessful. This small republic contained a brave and independent people, and though comparatively in small numbers to the Mexicans, they resisted all their attacks; the Tlascalans fortified their territories, and built a wall six miles in length on the frontier they suspected would be attacked, and they repulsed the Mexicans and their allies in every attempt they made to subdue them.

The resistance of these people to the power of Montezuma created several other rebellions which lasted during the remainder of his reign. In the year 1508, an expedition had been sent against Amatla, a distant region, and the Mexican army, in marching over a mountain, encountered a furious snow storm, in which great numbers perished, and on arriving at Amatla, the remainder were almost all slain. A comet appearing at this time, and the empire suffering under rebellion and other calamities, Montezuma, ever superstitious, was thrown into great alarm; the king of Acolhuacan, Nezahualpilli, who was accounted a learned soothsayer, presaged, that the comet portended a calamity that was about to befal the nation, by the arrival of some strangers. This he was unwilling to believe, and an astrologer, who verified the predictions of his brother king, was slain in his house, which was razed to the ground.

There are many other things related of the foreknowledge the Mexicans had of the arrival of the Spaniards, these may be traced to two sources; the Spanish priests, who have invented most of them since, and to the following; the Spaniards at that time had become very formidable in the West India Islands; settlements had even been attempted on the southern continent, and their uncommon arms and appearance must have been the universal topic of conversation among the natives where they came; many of the savages on the islands had escaped, and it is hardly possible to think, that from the year 1492, when Columbus discovered the American islands, to 1508, the period we are now speaking of, that such a people as the Mexicans would not have heard of these formidable neighbours, and that they would not have formed some idea that it might soon be their turn to be attacked. They, however, went on for some years in the usual manner, and although always dreading the arrival of the unknown people, they continued their internal wars and human sacrifices. The stone, or altar, on which these unfortunate victims had been laid, was found too small, and the emperor ordered one of enormous dimensions to replace it; this was dragged by a multitude of people towards the temple, and in going over a bridge, broke the structure and precipitated the high priest and his attendants into the lake. It was, however, got out by immense labour, and, it is said, upwards of 12,000 victims were sacrificed on it.

This was the period when Mexican splendour was at its height, and Montezuma on the pinnacle of his glory. The Spaniards having well settled themselves in the great islands of Cuba and Hispaniola, turned their attention to explore the continent towards the west. Vasco Nuñez de Balboa first landed on the coast, and from the mountains descried the Pacific; this was, however, near the Isthmus, in the year 1513.

Juan de Grijalva was appointed to command a small expedition for discovery; having four ships and 240 men, he first landed on the island of Cozumel, east of Yucatan, on the 3d of May, 1518, and returned to Cuba without making any attempt to reduce the country, which he called New Spain. Velasquez, the governor, by the accounts he gave, entrusted Cortez with a commission to explore and conquer the newly discovered regions; the manner in which this was effected has been related under the head of New Spain, as well as the cause of the death of Montezuma.

The Mexican empire extended, at this time, 500 leagues from east to west, and 200 from north to south. On the death of Montezuma, his brother Quetlavaca, or Cuitlahuitzin, succeeded him after he had reigned nearly eighteen years; which event happened in June 1520. Quetlavaca gave promise of being an excellent king; he prepared his capital to receive the Spaniards, when he heard they were returning from their last retreat, and caused it to be supplied with stores, and made spears headed with the daggers and swords taken from the Europeans who had fallen, to annoy the Spanish cavalry. He died of the small-pox before he could bring his projects to bear, in July 1520, and was succeeded by his nephew and son-in-law, Guatimozin, who had the misfortune to observe his people, dividing themselves from each other, and instead of aiding him to extirpate the Spaniards, many of them were assisting them to the utmost of their power. He was a man of undaunted courage and great capacity, and defended his city with great resolution; but being at last nearly starved; want, wretchedness, and disease, with the daily advance of the Spaniards and their auxiliaries, induced him to effect his escape, which he sought to do with his family in a canoe, accompanied by many of his faithful subjects; whilst those whom he had left to guard the remnant of his once flourishing capital endeavoured to deceive the Spaniards, in order to favour it. The canoes being large and rowing very swiftly, with other suspicious appearances, attracted the attention of the Spanish vessel, and a brigantine commanded by Garcia Holguin, was ordered to chase by Sandoval, one of Cortezʼs best officers. On coming up with the canoes the rowers dropped their oars, and the people with lamentations, begged the Spaniards not to fire, as the emperor was there. Garcia eagerly seized such a prize, and the emperor in an undaunted manner gave himself up, earnestly requesting them not to injure his wife and children. Appearing before Cortez, he, in a manly and majestic tone, addressed him, saying, “I have done my duty as a king, sheath your dagger in my body; my life is now useless to myself and my subjects.”

He had, previously, ordered his treasures to be thrown into the lake; and the allies of Cortez, had, during the general bustle, carried off the most valuable of what remained; this exasperated the Spaniards, and the rebellious spirit of his soldiers urged Cortez to a deed which has for ever stained his memory; he directed that Guatimozin and his prime minister should be put to the torture, to make them reveal where the treasure had been deposited. The emperorʼs favourite or minister, overcome with pain, for they varied the torture in every possible manner, putting them on heated grates with live coals, &c. threw a glance of supplication to Guatimozin, as if he requested leave to explain. The emperor looked at him sternly, and saying, “am I reposing on a bed of roses,” checked all further solicitation. The unfortunate minister, worn out with agony, shortly after breathed his last. Cortez, who was present, ordered the torture to cease, and released the emperor, but only for further indignities; he made him swear allegiance to the crown of Spain, and afterwards, pretending he had planned a revolt, ordered him to be strangled. Thus died Guatimozin, who had reigned about nine months, and finished his imperial career on the 15th of August 1521, the day on which the city was taken.

Here ended the race of Mexican emperors, after a period of 197 years, and 300 years from the emigration of the colony to Mexico.

The memory of the events which happened in Mexican history was retained by means of paintings on cloth of a coarse and awkward appearance, and by historical songs which were handed from generation to generation; we shall not, however, enter into those discussions which have taken place with respect to the probability of many of the circumstances; it is sufficent to say, that they were generally believed by the natives themselves. The Mexicans were assuredly an extraordinary people, and were acquainted with many arts unknown to more civilised nations; they cast metals, made pictures in feather work, dyed their cloths with beautiful and permanent colours, fabricated mirrors of a stone called itzli, as well as razors of the same substance, cut and polished gems, made a strong and lasting cement for their architectural purposes, cultivated their land, and knew the uses of the cochineal insect, which they bred; manufactured cotton cloth and hewed wood into beams, &c. with instruments of copper. Their potters were adroit, and manufactured beautiful articles; above all, they knew the difference between the solar and civil year, and added 13 days to their cycles, or era of 52 years, as intercalary days. They divided their year into 18 months, and gave these months appropriate names from the seasons, agricultural employments, &c. In their pictures, a month was represented by a circle divided into twenty parts or days; for a year, they divided a circle into eighteen parts or figures, and placed the moon in the centre. The era or century of fifty-two years, was similarly represented, and round the circle a serpent was drawn with four folds, to denote the commencement of the four periods of thirteen years each.

Cacao nuts were the monies of the people of Anahuac; and, for large purchases, were made up in bags, each bag passing for a certain sum. (In Mexico, the poor people still make use of these nuts, to purchase articles at market.) Very few remains of the Mexican structures exist; but Cortez asserted, that the great temple of Mexitli, occupied a space, in which five hundred houses might have stood. It appears, that the habitations of the Mexicans were rudely constructed, and ill contrived. The ancient city stood nearly where the present stands; though the waters of the lake have receded, owing to a drain having been formerly cut, to carry off some superabundant water. Its scite was on some islands on the west side of Lake Tezcuco, north of its junction with Lake Chalco, accessible on the west side only, by three large causeways, thirty feet broad, of earth and stone; the lake covering the other sides. It is asserted, that the circumference of the city was ten miles, and that it contained 60,000 houses. It was divided into four quarters, which had four broad roads leading from the four gates of the great temple; a fifth quarter was added, when the city of Tlatelolco was taken, and the city was intersected by canals in every direction.

It contained many temples and palaces, the better kind of which had parapets and balconies; and many had even towers for defence. The largest square was that of Tlatelolco, where the great market was held, large enough to contain 40,000 people; and the city had fountains and reservoirs for fish, with beautiful gardens and terraces. The population was immense, but no just account has been given of it.

The Mexicans were a sanguinary people. The human beings they sacrificed on the altars of their gods were innumerable; they laid the body on the altar, cut the breast open, and took out the panting heart to satisfy their chief deity. The priests practised all sorts of austerities; puncturing their bodies with the spines of aloes, and mangling their flesh; after which they bathed in a sacred pond, which was tinged with the blood of these self-tormentors.

The dress of the Mexicans consisted, in the higher ranks, of fine cotton, dyed in fanciful colours, interwoven with hair and feathers, and painted with curious figures; they wore two or three mantles, one above another, the longest undermost, so that each might be visible. Their shoes were mere sandals of leather, or coarse fibrous cloth, tied with ribbands; the rich people adorning them with precious stones, &c. Their hair was worn long; the women allowed it to fall naturally in tresses; the men tied it up, and adorned it with feathers and jewels. They wore ear-rings, pendants from the upper lip, as well as the nose; necklaces, bracelets on the wrists and arms, and round their legs. Those of the rich were of gold, pearls and gems; the poorer sort wore crystal, amber and shells, and their habits were made of the thread of the mountain-palm or coarse cotton. They used the pulp of a fruit, and a root, for soap, to wash their cotton garments.

Having traced the Mexican people, from the earliest known period of their history, to the conquest by Cortez, it is now time to recur to the actual situation of the country.

The climate of Mexico Proper varies according to the situation of the districts; its sea coast is hot and unhealthy, the plains are temperate and salubrious, and the high land cold and barren. Earthquakes and dreadful thunder storms are common. This province abounds in mountains; their principal summits have been described under the general head of New Spain; four of them are within a short distance of the capital; these mountains abound in ores and fossils, and are in general covered with thick forests, and, in their upper regions, with snow. Some large rivers run from them into the two oceans. They occasionally furnish precious stones and marbles for sculpture, as well as different kinds of stone for building. Mexico is cultivated with the lemon, orange, citron, cocoa, and plantain trees, vanilla, chili, or long-pepper, achiote, cotton, indigo, pimento, wheat, maize, barley, rice, pease, beans, and all sorts of European vegetables and fruits; also the plants useful in forming drugs, resins, gums, oils, as well as for their fruit, flowers, and roots, which are indigenous, have been enumerated as exceeding one thousand.

The trees which afford timber in this province, are of every variety. Tigers, wild cats, or loupcerviers, wolves, bears, foxes, deer, goats, badgers, weazels, polecats, martins, squirrels, rabbits, otters, and rats, are common in the forests, and usual haunts of the respective species. The cojotl, the tlacojotl, and three other species similar to dogs; the wild cat, called ocotochtli; the cajopollin, resembling a mouse; the tozan, a similar animal; the porcupine and ahuitzotl, an amphibious creature; the mitzli, a sort of lion, without long hair; the polutaca, a flying rat; the Mexican hog, the opossum, the armadillo, the tapir, racoons, monkeys, and apes, are amongst the most noted animals of Mexico, and the adjacent regions.

The birds of Mexico are numerous, and celebrated for the variety and splendour of their plumage. Eagles, falcons, hawks, ravens of two or three different kinds, of which one never touches carrion, but subsists on corn; and another which follows the alligator, and destroys her eggs; ducks, geese, swans, herons, quails, divers, king-fishers, pelicans, pheasants, pea-hens, the mocking bird, cardinals, humming bird, &c. &c. It would occupy a volume to describe their peculiarities as well as their number. Mexico has indeed been called the country of birds, celebrated for their song, their beauty, and for their feathers, of which the Mexican pictures were executed, and which had all the softness and brilliancy of oil colours, and were so skilfully done, as to be distinguished only by the touch; they having had the art of flattening them, in such a manner, as to give them an appearance of the finest painting.

The reptiles are numerous; the cayman, or alligator, being nearly as formidable in appearance as the Egyptian crocodile. The serpents in the forests and marshes attain an enormous size, but are rarely found in the inhabited districts. The lizard tribe, from the cayman down to the water lizard, are very numerous. The rattle snake, cenocoatl, or phosphorescent snake, are the most venomous; and there are many harmless snakes, who devour the ants and other insects. Edible frogs, of three species, which attain a great size, are found in Lake Chalco and are eaten at Mexico. The rivers and lakes abound with fish, as do the seas which bound the province. Turtles are a principal article of food; lobsters, and other crustaceous animals also abound; and upwards of one hundred kinds of nutritious fish, have been enumerated as used by the inhabitants. Sharks of great voracity are found on the coasts; and the almost tepid water of the Mexican gulf, seems highly natural for the production of the large aquatic animals. Beautiful shells are collected on the shores, and sponges and lithophytes are produced in great variety. The insect tribe, terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospherical, are more numerous than can be conceived; of these, the scolopendras, ants, scorpions, spiders of great size, are all dreadful and venomous; hornets, wasps, bees, &c. common, and the fire-fly and lanthorn beetle, are singular and innumerable; indeed, the whole continent of America seems to be amply furnished with luminous insects, which are not to be found in Europe. A large fly, which is produced near the Mexican lake, lays innumerable eggs on the flags which border the shores; these eggs are collected by the natives, and made into a sort of paste for sale in the market, where it is eagerly purchased for food, and is said to resemble caviare.

Mosquitoes and venomous gnats occupy the air in clouds, and are extremely tormenting, sometimes causing inflammatory appearances on the bitten parts, which become dangerous. The capital, though on a lake, is however free from these pests, probably owing to the circumambient atmosphere being charged with smoke; the smoke or vapour of wood fires being destructive to these insects. Thus many towns in North America are free from mosquitoes, whilst, if you step across their boundaries, these insects immediately assail you, and it is remarkable, that they are more troublesome to strangers than to the natives. Butterflies of every beautiful and elegant variety are natives of the Mexican forests and fields, and form rich articles in the collections of the virtuosi. A species of locust sometimes destroys the rising vegetables, and great distress is felt from their ravages. A species of the tique or tick is as troublesome as the chigoe, or jigger of the West Indies. Many of the insect tribe, after being reduced to powder, and made into paste, are eaten by the natives, as they were also before the conquest.

The silk-worms of Mexico are in a state of nature; but produce a beautiful and strong cocoon. The cochineal insect forms one of the principal articles of Mexican commerce; and great pains are taken in rearing it.

The mineral productions, are gold, silver, copper, tin, the mines of which are near the capital; lead, iron, quicksilver, sulphur, alum, vitriol, cinnabar, ochre, and a sort of earth, resembling white lead. Asphaltum and amber are found on the coasts.

Among the precious stones and gems of Mexico, are a few diamonds, topazes, emeralds, amethysts, the stone called cats-eye, turquoises, cornelians, &c. Chrystal is also found in the mountains. Jasper, and various marbles, alabaster in particular, and a red stone, called tetzontli, which is porous and light, yet firm, is much used in the capital, where the foundations being marshy, they wish not, in many spots, to overload the piles on which they are erected. The loadstone is found to the north-west of the province; mica is common, and a fine sort was, after being burnt and powdered, used by the Mexicans in their paintings. The itzli stone is the most curious of the productions of the Mexican quarries; it has a glossy appearance, is semi-transparent, and generally of a black colour, though sometimes varying to dark blue and dirty white; it has been assimilated to the obsidian of the ancients, and declared to be the obsidian, or volcanic glass of modern mineralogy. The Mexican artists fabricated it into mirrors, razors, spearheads, knives, lancets, and all sorts of fine tools.

The natives, that is to say, the aborigines or Indians, are well made, above the middle size, with complexions of an olive colour, narrow foreheads, black eyes, firm, regular, and fine teeth, coarse, black shining hair, with very little beard or hair on the trunk, or legs and arms; and it is remarked, that few deformed people are seen amongst them.

The women are fairer than the men, and many of them handsome. These people have generally good health, and are long-lived. Ardent spirits, together with European disorders, have considerably thinned their numbers, and they have much degenerated; the modern Mexican possessing little of the fire and warlike spirit which characterized his ancestors, neither are they so industrious as their forefathers, being of a melancholic temperament, and affecting mystery in all their actions. They are mostly of the Catholic persuasion; their progenitors had an imperfect notion of the Supreme Being, and adored him under the appellation of TEOTL; they likewise called him Ipalnemoani, “He by whom we live,” and Tloque Nahuaque, “He who has all in himself.” Of the Creator, they formed no image, and to him no set forms of religious worship were made; they principally directed their prayers to Tlatecolototl, or the wise owl, an evil spirit; they also believed in the metemsychosis, and imagined, that the souls of their heroes went, after death, to the mansions of the Sun; and, after living there four years in happiness, returned under the form of beautiful birds. The souls of their slaves and meaner people, passed into the bodies of animals, in the more abject scale of creation; but souls of those who died by disease, by water, by lightning, and other accidental causes, went with the souls of little children to an Elysium; and those who died by punishment for crimes, &c., to a kind of Tartarus, which they called Mictlan, or the abode of utter darkness. It is said, that their historical pictures related the events of the creation, deluge, confusion of languages, and consequent dispersion of the people; and that this is one proof of the Americans being of the same origin as their brethren of the Old World.

They had thirteen chief deities. The creator; Tezcatlipoca, ever young, and supreme agent under the Invisible Being; the Sun, the Moon, the god of the air; Tlaloc, the god of water, of harvests, and of the household; the god of fire, Centeotl; the goddess of the earth; the god and goddess of hell; the god of night, and Mexitli, the god of war; and the rational owl, or evil god, who was worshipped to avert his wrath. Besides these, they had many inferior deities, who presided over the hunters, fishers, &c. They had also 260 gods, who had each a day of service assigned them; these were probably their heroes.

They were adored under the form of images of clay, wood, stone, gold, silver, or copper, and gems. In their prayers, their faces were turned to the east; and the avenue to the sanctuary, where the image was placed, had its opening to the west. It is said, the temples in Mexico amounted to 2000, and that the idol Huitzilopochtli, or Mexitli, was the most adored; having more sacrifices offered at his altar; and that this image was formed of seeds glued together with human blood. The two high priests, in fact, governed the nation; they were consulted on all occasions, and wore a distinctive habit. They ruled the inferior priests, whose dress consisted of a black mantle, thrown over the head; their hair reaching down to their legs, as they never were shaved. They gave the names to new born children with many ceremonies, and assisted at all nuptials. They also presided on these occasions, and at the funeral ceremonies, placing by the side of the deceased, if he was buried, a jug of water, and pieces of their paper, with gems, and one of the deceasedʼs domestic animals. The bodies of the dead were however generally burnt, and the ashes collected in a pot, which, in the case of people of high rank, were deposited in the temples. The priests had likewise the care of instructing the children, and preceded their armies in war.

The language of the Mexicans bears some similarity to that of the Peruvians; it is expressive and copious; and the great feature of it before the conquest was, that an addition of respect, according to the rank of the person addressed, might be added to each word; the words are many of them of immense length, as in the more northern dialects of the American Indians. It has not the consonants _b_, _d_, _f_, _g_, _r_, _s_;--_l_, _x_, _t_, _z_, _tl_, _tz_, are the most usual; but no word begins with _l_, though it is the most common liquid of the language. The penultimate syllable of most of the words is long, yet no nasal sound occurs in speaking it; the aspirations are soft; it is also abundant in augmentatives and diminutives; and is as well supplied with verbs as with nouns.

The colleges and university of Mexico admit the natives as freely as the Spaniards and their descendants, and are said to be well conducted, and to find considerable genius for the fine arts, and for some of the higher branches of science manifested in the pupils.

The capital of this province or intendancy, and of the whole of New Spain, has been already described under the head of New Spain; and the province of Mexico is 136 leagues in length, and ninety-two leagues broad; its population has been laid down at 1,511,800 souls; which at once shows its importance.

The great features of this province are the immense plains on the ridge of the Cordillera, elevated from 6561 to 8857 feet above the level of the sea, and forming bases for still higher mountains, whose hoary heads repose on their bosom. These plains are from fifty leagues in length, to ten in breadth.

The mountain of Toluca, the highest summit of the intendancy, is covered with snow, whence it is called Nevado de Toluca; the word _nevado_ signifying a mountain which rises above the lowest term of congelation. The highest peak of this volcano is 15,156 feet in height, the plain on which it rests being itself 8857 feet above the level of the sea. The mountains surrounding the vale in which Mexico is situated, are all very high, but reach the greatest elevation on the south, where the intendancy of Puebla begins, in which are two great volcanoes close to the boundaries of Mexico. The Iztaccihuatl and Popocatepetl roads of communication cross the crest of the Cordillera, enclosing the valley in six directions; one road passes between the last named volcanoes, and consequently, through very sublime scenery, another road, which is not yet finished, leads from Mexico to Vera Cruz, and promises to give great energy to the commerce of the interior countries. Some idea may be formed of the labour and art employed in opening these extraordinary communications, when we find that some of them are carried over summits elevated near 10,000 feet above the sea, at a greater altitude than the lower limit of perpetual snow in central Europe, and at nearly the height of Mont Perdu, the highest peak of the Pyrennean chain.

On the plate of comparative heights of the American Cordilleras which accompanies this work, a glance will suffice to point out these stupendous undertakings.

The lakes of Mexico are fed by small rivers, which rise in the surrounding mountains.

The Lake Tezcuco has retired since the period of the conquest, nearly three miles from the city of Mexico, and the city at present, instead of being enveloped by waters, stands solely on the margin of the strait or channel which connects the lakes with each other. Lake Tezcuco, the sheet of water nearest to the city, is saturated with salts, and hence was called by Cortez, who supposed that it ebbed and flowed, the sea of Anahuac; it is 7468 feet above the ocean, and is only from ten to sixteen feet in depth. In the dry seasons it is so drained by evaporation, that the canoes find great difficulty in navigating it; there is also another cause, which operates to decrease this celebrated lake; a cut has been made through the mountains to throw off the superabundant waters of the two upper lakes of Zumpango and San Christoval, which prevents those lakes from nourishing Tezcuco. Lake Tezcuco, covers a space equal to ten square leagues. A strait or channel connects Tezcuco with the lakes of Xochimilco and Chalco to the south of the city, which are not so broad as Tezcuco, but are more interesting; in Chalco there are several islands of large size, famous for the retreat of the ancient Aztecs. These lakes are of fresh water, and occupy a space of six and a half square leagues; the first-named is the most pure; on their surfaces are the celebrated floating gardens of the Mexicans, which supply the capital with fruits and vegetables. They are formed on rafts of reeds and brush-wood covered with soil, which is constantly watered from the surrounding lake, and the earth, which is strongly impregnated with muriate of soda, becomes by this continual washing, at last very free from salt and fit for vegetation. They are moved from one place to another by men with poles, and some of them contain watch-huts; where the proprietor or his deputy resides to overlook the gardens; pease, beans, chilis, potatoes, artichokes, cabbage, &c. pimento and flowers of all sorts luxuriate on these moving gardens, and afford both pleasure and profit to the inhabitants of the metropolis; many of them have become fixed on the borders of the lake, on account of the general decrease of the waters. The remaining great lakes to the north, are San Christoval and Zumpango; the former has an expanse of three and a half square leagues; the latter of one and a quarter.

There are two mineral springs near Mexico, at which baths have been constructed, and near one of them the earth is so impregnated with salts, that regular salt pans are established for the supply of the capital.

One of the most extraordinary works in the neighbourhood of the capital executed by the Spaniards, is the cut or canal above mentioned, which has been made to carry off the superabundant waters of lake Zumpango. It is carried through a mountain, and cost the labour of fifteen thousand Indians for nearly a year; its length is 21,653 feet, in breadth more than eleven feet, and in depth more than thirteen; it was completed in 1608. Beyond the mountain, this canal is carried on above 28,000 feet to the river Tula, which runs into the gulf of Mexico near Panuco. This canal was undertaken in consequence of the many and dreadful inundations the city had suffered, and it appears, that it may still be visited by this calamity, by the southern lakes being overflowed from the high mountains in their neighborhood. This wonderful gallery was however inefficient; for want of proper arching the earth fell in and closed the passage, and Mexico was inundated for the space of five years. After much discussion and trials of various other means, the subterraneous cut was entirely uncovered, and formed into an open trench; in many parts, upwards of 160 feet deep, and 300 in breadth at top, the old canal serving as the course for the water, and it yet does not answer the purpose, the slope of the banks not being sufficient, and the soil so friable that it is constantly falling. This work was put a stop to in 1789; and cost above one million forty thousand pounds sterling, and is 67,535 feet in length. In digging, fossil bones of the elephant species were discovered.

Many unfortunate Indians perished in this undertaking, which displays an astonishing effect of human industry, but very little science. Canals have since been executed at enormous expence, to conduct the water from the lake Zumpango and St. Christoval to the cut; these, with the repairs, and the great cut itself, cost up to the year 1804, as computed by M. De Humboldt, the sum of 1,291,770_l._

It appears, that a new canal is about to be commenced from Lake Tezcuco to the cut just described, which is also to be in part deepened, the waters of Tezcuco being lower than those of Zumpango.

In the vale of Mexico north-east of Lake Tezcuco, are two pyramidal shaped masses, called the temples of San Juan de Teotihuacan, which the Mexicans had built for the worship of the sun and moon. The temple of the sun is 180 feet in height, with a base of 682 feet; the temple of the moon is not so high or so large, their sides nearly correspond to the cardinal points, and around them are lines of smaller pyramids of about thirty feet in height, which branch off in streets from the faces of the pyramids, and were supposed to be dedicated to the stars; of these there are many hundreds. Time has eradicated the exact forms of them all, but though covered with plants, they are still very apparent. To the south of the Nevado de Toluca is another curious monument called Xochicalco, also a pyramid, with its sides to the cardinal points; it is above 500 feet in height, and divided into five stages covered with stone, the whole being surrounded by ditches; on the top are the ruins of a square building, and the stones of the several platforms are covered with figures; it is supposed to have been an Aztec fortress.

The great causeways which led to the ancient Mexico, are now converted into paved roads, but still exhibit all the traces of their wonderful construction.

An extended description of the capital of the intendancy having been given, we shall now briefly describe the most noted towns of the province. Of these, _Queretaro_, _Tacubaya_, _Cuernavaca_, _Tascho_, _Acapulco_, _Toluca_, _Zacatula_, and _Pachuca_, are of the greatest note; there are also four mines of much consequence, of which, those of El Doctor and Zimapan, are the most productive.

_Queretaro_, in 20° 36ʹ 39ʺ north latitude, 100° 9ʹ 15ʺ west longitude, near the east boundary of Guanaxuato, is celebrated for its manufactures of cloth, its superb aqueduct, and the elegance of the buildings; it is situated at the height of 6374 feet above the level of the sea, and contains 35,000 people, of whom 11,600 are Indians; south of this city is a handsome town, called _San Juan del Rio_, surrounded with beautiful vineyards and gardens.

_Tacubaya_, celebrated for its olive grounds and the archbishopʼs palace.

_Cuernavaca_ is in a delightful climate, on the southern edge of the Cordillera.

_Tasco or Tascho_, has a fine church founded by _Laborde_, a Frenchman, which cost him more than 83,000_l._; he had gained enormous riches by the mines, but was afterwards reduced to poverty.

_Acapulco_, in 101° 40ʹ 45ʺ west longitude from Greenwich, and 16° 50ʹ 29ʺ north latitude, formerly the most famous sea-port of America, when the galleons came from Manilla with spices, muslin, china, silk, and other Asiatic productions, in return for cocoa, quicksilver, and silver; this trade still subsists, but in a different manner. It was formerly very populous, but is in so unhealthy a situation behind a chain of mountains, which reflect the heat to so great a degree, that the inhabitants made a cut through them to admit the sea breeze. Its population is only four thousand, which is increased on the arrival of the Asian vessels, by people from the interior employed in the trade.

_Toluca_, at the base of a great mountain, in a fertile valley, producing abundance of maize and the agave, called also by the native name of maguey. This town, though at the foot of a mountain, is elevated 8813 feet above the level of the sea.

_Zacatula_, the most northern sea port of any consequence in the intendancy of Mexico, on the shores of the Pacific, is situated on the borders of the river Zacatula.

_Pachuca_ is one of the most ancient mines of New Spain, and the village dependent on this town called Pachuquillo, is said to be the first Spanish village that was built in the vale of Anahuac. The height of Pachuca is 8141 feet above the sea.

The rivers of this province are the Rio Tula, which rises near the lakes, and receives several small rivers from the mountains, as well as the superabundant waters of the upper lake; and after a course through the whole north-eastern part of the province, crosses the intendancy of Vera Cruz, and falls into the river Panuco, or Tampico, near the town of Panuco, close to the Mexican gulf.

The great river Santiago also rises in this province, in the Nevado of Toluca, and is called Rio de Lerma, for a considerable length; it has already been described.

The next and last great river of consequence is the Rio Zacatula, which rises in the Cordillera of Anahuac, and discharges itself into the Pacific, at the town of Zacatula, on the confines of the province of Valladolid.

_THE INTENDANCY OF VALLADOLID OR MECHOACAN_

Is bounded on the north by the river Lerma, or Santiago, and Guanaxuato, east by Mexico, west by Guadalaxara and the Pacific Ocean, and south by Mexico; its length is 78 leagues, its breadth 38.

This country enjoys a salubrious climate, owing to its situation along the western side of the great Cordillera of Mexico; on the coast of the Pacific the air is not so good, and the climate in some parts unhealthy.

Travellers speak with much delight of this province; it presents some charming scenery, and in the valleys surrounded by mountains, it has all the variety of hill, dale, water and forest.

The land in some districts is very high, but no part if the country offers so singular a feature, as the volcanic mountain of Jorullo, which rose from the plains in one night The highest point of Valladolid is the Pico de Tancitaro, and a little to the east of it, is the volcanic production above-mentioned; which, in the midst of the darkness of the night on the 29th of September, 1759, rose from the bosom of the plain.

Previous to this wonderful event, the ground consisted of part of an immensely extended plain between some ranges of mountains. This plain was covered with cultivation, and elevated from 2460 to 2624 feet above the level of the ocean. The sugar cane and indigo were thriving, and the inhabitants of the district, or plantation, which was reckoned as the richest of the kingdom, looked forward with delight to the prospect of the fruits they were to derive from their labour. A confused noise under the surface of the plantation was distinctly heard in June, 1759; to which succeeding alarming earthquakes for a month, the inhabitants fled from the devastation they imagined was about to overwhelm them; but these convulsions ceasing for a time, they thought that the effect was at an end, and returned to their beloved spot. For nearly the whole month of September nothing extraordinary appeared, when on the night of the 28th and near the morning of the 29th, the dreadful rumbling noise again began beneath the plain. The affrighted natives fled to the mountains, and forsook their homes; an immense tract suddenly rose and swelled itself into an enormous convex hill 524 feet in perpendicular height above the plain. This phenomenon continued to vomit fire to an amazing extent; rocks of enormous magnitude were cast up, and two rivers were swallowed into the bosom of the burning entrails of the newly formed hill; the land of the plain was also seen to undulate like the waves of the ocean.

Thousands of small conical mounds, enveloped in basaltes, started up, and studded the hill with their knobs, each of these is a little volcano, occasionally vomiting smoke; amidst them, six large hills, elevated themselves above the main body, from 312 to 1640 feet in height, above the mass of cones.

The highest of these is called Volcano de Xorullo, and is 1695 feet above the level of the old plains; it spouted forth fire, rocks, ashes, &c. and continued to terrify the people till February, 1760. The roofs of houses 48 leagues distance were covered with ashes during this time; since then the mountain has been less furious, and the natives have returned to reside in its vicinity. M. De Humboldt went down into the crater of Xorullo in 1803, and examined the inside minutely; a sulphureous vapour issued from it, and the air was at 139° of Fahrenheit. He mentions that the hill begins to be covered with plants as well as the tumuli about it. The country filled with these volcanillos or brood of little volcanoes is not unaptly styled Malpays; and the air is so warm that in the shade the thermometer stood at 109°. The Indians inhabit this country even amidst these ovens! The two rivers which were swallowed, it is said, may be heard running underneath the ground, and issue from it in the form of heated mineral springs.

The above cited author, in concluding his account of Xorullo, remarks what is in reality a most singular circumstance. The volcanic mountains of central New Spain do not follow the direction of the great Cordillera, which is from the south-east to the north-west, but cross this chain perpendicularly, beginning on the east or Mexican gulf-shore by the great Pico de Orizaba; thence west to the Pacific, the two volcanoes of the Intendancy of La Puebla, the Nevado de Toluca, the Pico de Tancitaro, the volcano of Colima and the new volcano of Xorullo, all lying in a line east and west between 18° 59ʹ and 19° 12ʹ of north latitude. The Pico de Tancitaro is covered with snow, but accurate measurement has been made of it.

The population of Valladolid is 376,400 souls. In it there are three cities, three towns and 263 villages. The Indians or natives exceed 120,000, and are of three tribes, the Otomies, Chichimecs and the Tarascs, inhabiting the whole of the southern part of the province; the Chichimecs retain the ancient Mexican language, and the Otomies their former savageness.

The bishop of Valladolid governs the ecclesiastical affairs of this province; his bishopric is not one of the most valuable of New Spain, and many of the priests are Indians.

_Valladolid_ or _Mechoacan_, the capital, is delightfully situated on a small river, which discharges itself, into a little lake on the north; it has also another small lake on the east, both famous for fish.

It is a well built large town, and is at the height of 6396 feet above the level of the sea; snow sometimes falls, but the climate is in general excellent. It has a handsome aqueduct, and is the see of a bishop, with a population of 18,000 souls.

The other towns of note are Pasquaro on the banks of the little lake of that name on the west of Mechoacan, which has 6000 people.

_Huitzitzilla_, a village formerly the capital of the kingdom of Mechoacan, contains 2500 people; there are many other villages and towns, some of which are very large, inhabited chiefly by Indians.

There are five principal mines in Valladolid, and the products of the province are gold, silver, copper, maize, corn, cotton, cacao, gums, sarsaparilla, vanillas, cassia, the root mechoacan, honey, ambergris, balsam, odoriferous gums, &c.

The Indians are famous for their pottery ware, silks and ornamental feather works; they supply the capital with fruit, flowers, vegetables, &c. and possess some beautiful gardens.

Valladolid is famous for an excellent breed of horses and fine cattle; the wild animals are principally the tiger, wild dogs, squirrels and an innumerable tribe of foxes, which are very troublesome to the inhabitants in destroying their fowls, &c.

There are no good ports on the coast of Valladolid, which causes most of the commerce of that province to be carried on by land.

_INTENDANCY OF TLASCALA, OR PUEBLA._

_Puebla_ or _Tlascala_, is the next province to the south of Mexico, and is bounded on the north by Vera Cruz; on the east by Oaxaca, or Guaxaca; on the south by the Pacific, and on the west, by the province of Mexico; and is about 354 miles in length, and from 40 to 150 in breadth.

The soil and productions are nearly the same with Mexico; it is here that the continent begins to narrow very much; and as we approach the southern boundary of North America, it gets continually less and less, until it passes the dividing mountains in Panama, when it again spreads into that immense extent of country, known in geography by the general name of South America.

Tlascala is crossed by the great chain of mountains called Cordillera de Anahuac on the west, which is adorned by cultivation; and on the north, by a range eternally overspread with snow; these are constantly subject to violent hurricanes, terrible tempests and torrents, by which those habitations, situated in their vicinity, are often swept away, and even those which are built on the tops of little rising grounds endangered. Notwithstanding all this, and the dreadful earthquakes to which the country is subject, Tlascala is supposed to be one of the most populous provinces of New Spain. It is so fertile in maize, that it received its name from that produce of the soil; Tlascala signifying the land of bread in the native language.

This province was formerly a kingdom, but afterwards divided into different districts; a chief, or cacique of each district residing at the court of Tlascala, where a council of the whole was held to promulgate laws. They were the enemies of the Mexicans, and maintained themselves against its kings for a length of time, and continued this form of government until the conquest of Mexico by Cortez. The towns and villages are filled with the native Indians. Cortez obtained a grant of this kingdom from Charles VI., and it is consequently exempt from services and duties to the crown of Spain, on account of its having been his ally, in his expedition against the Mexicans; they pay solely a poll-tax to the Spanish king in kind, being a handful of Indian wheat each person, and this has been said to amount to the extraordinary quantity of 13,000 bushels in one year.

The government of the caciques or chiefs was decreed by the inhabitants of the country after the close of some civil wars; thus making many kings to abate the power of one.

The capital of this province was anciently _Tlaxcallan_, or _Tlascala_, on the side of a great mountain, and on the banks of a small river which runs into the Pacific. If we are to believe the accounts of the Spanish adventurers when they first saw this city, its inhabitants amounted to 300,000; and it was adorned with a large market-place, sufficient to contain 30,000 people; the market was supplied with hardly ever fewer than 1500 sheep, 4000 head of cattle, and 2000 swine. In the year 1698, Gemelli says, that it was then a village with one church, in which hung the picture of the vessel in which Cortez arrived at Vera Cruz. The Tlascalans offered human sacrifices to their deities, and kept them in cages till their execution. It is situated twenty miles north of Puebla de los Angelos, and now contains only 3400 inhabitants, of whom 900 are of the original tribe.

_Puebla de los Angelos_, is at present the capital of Tlascala, and one of the few cities entirely built by Spaniards in America; it is situated in 19° 15ʹ north latitude, and 102° 43ʹ west longitude, east-south-east of Mexico, on a small river which runs through the town; the number of good houses is very great. It has a fine cathedral, several churches and monasteries, which are all well built and beautifully decorated. The houses are mostly of stone, very lofty and tasteful, the streets broad and quite straight, crossing each other at right angles, which is a favourite method of building the towns of the Spanish dominions in the New World. The streets are generally very clean, and there is a fine square in the middle of the city, superior to the great square of Mexico, adorned with porticoes or piazzas on three of its sides, and on the fourth, by the great cathedral built of stone, with two lofty towers, and an elegant front of modern architecture. The piazzas are filled with shops for the display of all sorts of goods, which has an exceedingly rich appearance. It is a bishopʼs see removed from Tlascala, and is reckoned the richest in New Spain. There is a manufacture of fine felts, with a royal mint and glass-house. The valley which adjoins this fine city, is extremely productive in corn and fruits, including all the European sorts. In the neighbourhood are many mineral springs; it contains 67,800 inhabitants, and its height above the level of the sea is 7380 feet.

The highest mountain in New Spain, or indeed in all the known parts of North America, is in this province; as Popocatepetl; more elevated than any summit of Europe, its height being 17,716 feet above the level of the sea; it is constantly in action, throwing out smoke, ashes, and fire; and its figure is that of a truncated cone with a large crater; but no great eruption has hitherto taken place.