HISTORY
CONQUEST OF MEXICO
BY
WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT
1 Victrices aqtrilas alium laturus in orbcm "
LUCAS, I'harsalia, lib. v., v. 239
NEW AND REVISED EDITION
WITH THE AUTHOR'S LATEST CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS
EDITED
BY
JOHN FOSTER KIRK
LONDON
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS, Limited
BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL
MANCHESTER AND NEW YORK
1893
P R E F A C E.
As the Conquest of Mexico has occupied the pens of Solis and of Robertson,
two of the ablest historians of their respective nations, it might seem that little
could remain at the present day to be gleaned by the historical inquirer. But
Robertson's narrative is necessarily brief, forming only part of a more extended
work ; and neither the British nor the Castilian author was provided with the
important materials for relating this event which have been since assembled
by the industry of Spanish scholars. The scholar who led the way in these
researches was Don Juan Baptista Murioz, the celebrated historiographer of
the Indies, who, by a royal edict, was allowed free access to the national
archives, and to all libraries, public, private, and monastic, in the kingdom and
its colonies. The result of his long labours was a vast body of materials, of
which unhappily he did not live to reap the benefit himself. His manuscripts
were deposited, after his death, in the archives of the Royal Academy of History
at Madrid ; and that collection was subsequently augmented by the manuscripts
of Don Vargas Ponce, President of the Academy, obtained, like those of Mufloz,
from different quarters, but especially from the archives of the Indies at Seville.
On my application to the Academy, in 1838, for permission to copy that part
of this inestimable collection relating to Mexico and Peru, it was freely acceded
to, and an eminent German scholar, one of their own number, was appointed
to superintend the collation and transcription of the manuscripts ; and this,
it may be added, before I had any claim on the courtesy of that respectable
body, as one of its associates. This conduct shows the advance of a liberal
spirit in the Peninsula since the time of Dr. Robertson, who complains that
he was denied admission to the most important public repositories. The favour
with which my own application was regarded, however, must chiefly be attri-
buted to the kind offices of the venerable President of the Academy, Don
Martin Fernandez de Navarrete ; a scholar whose personal character has
secured to him the same high consideration at home which his literary labours
have obtained abroad. To this eminent person I am under still further obli-
gations, for the free use which he has allowed me to make of his own manu-
scripts,— the fruits of a life of accumulation, and the basis of those valuable
publications with which he has at different times illustrated the Spanish
colonial history.
From these three magnificent collections, the result of half a century's careful
researches, I have obtained a mass of unpublished documents, relating to the
Conquest and Settlement of Mexico and of Peru, comprising altogether about
eight thousand folio pages. They consist of instructions of the Court, military
and private journals, correspondence of the great actors in the scenes, legal
instruments, contemporary chronicles, and the like, drawn from all the principal
places in the extensive colonial empire of Spain, as well as from the public
archives in the Peninsula.
I have still further fortified the collection by gleaning such materials from
Mexico itself as had been overlooked by my illustrious predecessors in these
vi PREFACE.
researches. For these I am indebted to the courtesy of Count Cortina, and,
yet more, to that of Don Lucas Alaman, Minister of Foreign Affairs in Mexico ;
but, above all, to my excellent friend, Don Angel Calderon de la Barca, late
Minister Plenipotentiary to that country from the court of Madrid,— a gentle-
man whose high and estimable qualities, even more than his station, secured
him the public confidence, and gained him free access to every place of interest
and importance in Mexico.
I have also to acknowledge the very kind offices rendered to me by the Count
Camaldoli at Naples ; by the Duke of Serradifalco in Sicily, a nobleman whose
science gives additional lustre to his rank ; and by the Duke of Monteleone,
the present representative of Cortes, who has courteously opened the archives
of his family to my inspection. To these names must also be added that of
Sir Thomas Phillips, Bart., whose precious collection of manuscripts probably
surpasses in extent that of any private gentleman in Great Britain, if not in
Europe ; that of M. Ternaux-Compans, the proprietor of the valuable literary
collection of Don Antonio Uguina, including the papers of Munoz, the fruits
of which he is giving to the world in his excellent translations ; and, lastly, that
< ? my friend and countryman, Arthur Middleton, Esq., late Charge-d'Affaires
from the United States at the court of Madrid, for the efficient aid he has
afforded me in prosecuting my inquiries in that capital.
In addition to this stock of original documents obtained through these
various sources, I have diligently provided myself with such printed works as
have reference to the subject, including the magnificent publications, which
have appeared both in France and England, on the Antiquities of Mexico,
which, from their cost and colossal dimensions, would seem better suited to a
public than to a private library.
Having thus stated the nature of my materials, and the sources whence they
are derived, it remains for me to add a few observations on the general plan
and composition of the work. Among the remarkable achievements of the
Spaniards in the sixteenth century, there is no one more striking to the
imagination than the conquest of Mexico. The subversion of a great empire
by a handful of adventurers, taken with all its strange and picturesque accom-
paniments, has the air of romance rather than of sober history ; and it is not
easy to treat such a theme according to the severe rules prescribed by historical
criticism. But, notwithstanding the seductions of the subject, I have con-
scientiously endeavoured to distinguish fact from fiction, and to establish the
narrative on as broad a basis as possible of contemporary evidence ; and I
have taken occasion to corroborate the text by ample citations from authorities,
usually in the original, since few of them can be very accessible to the reader.
In these extracts I have scrupulously conformed to the ancient orthography,
however obsolete and even barbarous, rather than impair in any degree the
integrity of the original document.
Although the subject of the work is, properly, only the Conquest of Mexico,
I have prepared the way for it by such a view of the civilization of the ancient
Mexicans as might acquaint the reader with the character of this extraordinary
race, and enable him to understand the difficulties which the Spaniards had
to encounter in their subjugation. This Introductory part of the work, with
the essay in the Appendix which properly belongs to the Introduction, although
both together making only half a volume, has post me as much labour, and
nearly as much time, as the remainder of the history. If I shall have succeeded
in giving the reader a just idea of the true nature and extent of the civilization
to which the Mexicans had attained, it will not be labour lost.
The story of the Conquest terminates with the fall of the capital. Yet I
PREFACE.
vn
have preierred to continue the narrative to the death of Cortes, relying on the
interest which the development of his character in his military career may have
excited in the reader. I am not - sensible to the hazard I incur by such a
course. The mind, previously occupied with one great idea, that of the sub-
version of the capital, may feel the prolongation of the story beyond that point
superfluous, if not tedious, and may find it difficult, after the excitement caused
by witnessing a great national catastrophe, to take an interest in the adven-
tures of a private individual. Solis took the more politic course of concluding
his narrative with the fall of Mexico, and thus leaves his readers with the full
impression of that memorable event, undisturbed, on their minds. To prolong
the narrative is to expose the historian ^o the error so much censured by the
French critics in some of their most cek orated dramas, where the author by a
premature denouement has impaired the interest of his piece. It is the defect
that necessarily attaches, though in a greater degree, to the history of
Columbus, in which petty adventures among a group of islands make up the
sequel of a life that opened with the magnificent discovery of a Worla\ — a
defect, in short, which it has required all the genius of Irving and the magical
charm of his style perfectly to overcome.
Notwithstanding these objections, I have been induced to continue the
narrative, partly from deference to the opinion of several Spanish scholars,
who considered that the biography of Cortes had not been fully exhibited, and
partly from the circumstance of my having such a body of original materials
for this biography at my command. And I cannot regret that I have adopted
this course ; since, whatever lustre the Conquest may reflect on Cortes as a
military achievement, it gives but an imperfect idea of his enlightened spirit
and of his comprehensive and versatile genius.
To the eye of the critic there may seem some incongruity in a plan which
combines objects so dissimilar as those embraced by the present history, where
the Introduction, occupied with the antiquities and origin of a nation, has
somewhat the character of a philosophic theme, while the conclusion is strictly
biographical^ and the two may be supposed to match indifferently with the
main body, or historical portion, of the work. But I may hope that such
objections will be found to have less weight in practice than in theory ; and,
if properly managed,. that the general views of the Introduction will prepare
the reader for the particulars of the Conquest, and that the great public events
narrated in this will, without violence, open the way to the remaining personal
history of the hero who is the soul of it. Whatever incongruity may exist in
other respects, I may hope that the unity of interest, the only unity held of
much importance by modern critics, will be found still to be preserved.
The distance of the present age from the period of the narrative might be
presumed to secure the historian from undue prejudice or partiality. Yet
by the American and the English reader, acknowledging so different a moral
standard from that of the sixteenth century, I may possibly be thought too
indulgent to the errors of the Conquerors ; while by a Spaniard, accustomed
to the undiluted panegyric of Soli's, I may be deemed to have dealt too hardly
with them. To such I can only say that, while, on the one hand, I have not
hesitated to expose in their strongest colours the excesses of the Conquerors,
on the other, I have given them the benefit of such mitigating reflections as
might be suggested by the circumstances and the period in which they lived.
I have endeavoured not only to present a picture true in itself, but to place it
in its proper light, and to put the spectator in a proper point of view for seeing
it to the best advantage. I have endeavoured, at the expense of some
repetition, to surround him with the spirit of the times, and, in a word, to
viii PREFACE.
make him, if I may so express myself, a contemporary of the sixteenth century.
Whether, and how far, I have succeeded in this, he must determine.
For one thing, before I conclude, I may reasonably ask the reader's indul-
gence. Owing to the state of my eyes, I have been obliged to use a writing-
case made for the blind, which does not permit the writer to see his own
manuscript. Nor have I ever corrected, or even read, my own original draft.
As the chirography, under these disadvantages, has been too often careless
and obscure, occasional errors, even with the utmost care of my secretary,
must have necessarily occurred in the transcription, somewhat increased by
the barbarous phraseology imported from my Mexican authorities. I cannot
expect that these errors have always been detected even by the vigilant eye
of the perspicacious critic to whom the proof-sheets have been subjected.
In the Preface to the " History of Ferdinand and Isabella," I lamented that,
while occupied with that subject, two of its most attractive parts had engaged
the attention of the most popular of American authors, Washington Irving.
By a singular chance, something like the reverse of this has taken place in the
composition of the present history, and I have found myself unconsciously
taking up ground which he was preparing to occupy. It was not till I had
become master of my rich collection of materials that I was acquainted with
this circumstance ; and, had he persevered in his design, I should unhesitatingly
have abandoned my own, if not from courtesy, at least from policy ; for, though
armed with the weapons of Achilles, this could give me no hope of success m
a competition with Achilles himself. But no sooner was that distinguished
writer informed of the preparations I had made, than, with the gentlemanly
spirit which will surprise no one who has the pleasure of his acquaintance, he
instantly announced to me his intention of leaving the subject open to me.
While I do but justice to Mr. Irving by this statement, I feel the prejudice it
does to myself in the unavailing regret I am exciting in the bosom of the
reader.
I must not conclude this Preface, too long protracted as it is already, without
a word of acknowledgment to my friend George Ticknor, Esq., — the friend of
many years, — for his patient revision of my manuscript ; a labour of love, the
worth of which those only can estimate who are acquainted with his extra-
ordinary erudition and his nice critical taste. If I have reserved his name
for the last in the list of those to whose good offices I am indebted, it is most
assuredly not because I value his services least.
WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT.
Boston, October 1, 1843.
Note.— The author's emendations of this history include many additional notes, which, being
often contradictory to the text, have been printed between brackets. They were chiefly derived
from the copious annotations of Don Jose F. Ramirez and Don Lucas Alaman to the two Spanish
translations published in Mexico. There could be no stronger guarantee of the value and
general accuracy of the work than the minute labour bestowed upon it bv these distinguished
scholars.— En.
CONTENTS.
BOOK I.
INTRODUCTION — VIEW OP THE AZTEO CIVILIZATION.
CHAPTER I. page
Ancient Mexico— Climate and Pro-
ducts— Primitive Races — Aztec
Empire 3
Extent of the Aztec Territory . . 3
The Hot Region 4
Volcanic Scenery 5
Cordillera of the Andes 5
Table-land in the Days of the Aztecs 6
Valley of Mexico 6
TheToltecs 7
Their mysterious Disappearance . . 9
Races from the North-west . . . . 9
Their Hostilities 10
Foundation of Mexico .. .. 11
Domestic Feuds 11
League of the kindred Tribes . . 12
Rapid Rise of Mexico . . ' . . . . 12
Prosperity of the Empire .. .. 13
Criticism on Veytia's History . . . . 13
CHAPTER II.
Succession to the Crown— Aztec No-
bility— Judicial System— Laws
and Revenues— Military Insti-
tutions 14
Election of the Sovereigu .. 14
His Coronation '14
Aztec Nobles ^!5
Their barbaric Pomp 15
Tenure of their Estates 15
Legislative Power 16
Judicial System 16
Independent Judges 17
Their Mode of Procedure . . . . . . 18
Showy Tribunal 18
Hieroglyphical Paintings . . . . 19
Marriage Rites 19
Slavery in Mexico . . .. .. 19
Royal Revenues . . . . . . 20
Burdensome Imposts .... . . 21
Public Couriers.. .. .. .. 22
Military Enthusiasm *22
Aztec Ambassadors 22
Orders of Knighthood . . , . . . 23
Gorgeous Armour . . . . . . 23
National Standard 23
Military Code 34
Hospitals for the Wounded
Influence of Conquest on a Nation . ,
Criticism on Torquemada's History
Abbe Clavigero
PAGE
24
25
26
"4 CHAPTER III.
Mexican Mythology— The Sacerdo
tal Order — The Temples-
Hu-
man Sacrifices
.. 27
Systems of Mythology
27
Mythology of the Aztecs
.. 28
Ideas of a God
28
Sanguinary War-god
28
God of the Air
29
Mystic Legends
29
Division of Time
3i
Future State
.. 31
Funeral Ceremonies
32
Baptismal Rites
.. 32
Monastic Orders
33
Feasts and Flagellation
.. 34
Aztec Confessional
34
Education of the Youth
.. 34
Revenue of the Priests
35
Mexican Temples
.. 35
Religious Festivals
36
Human Sacrifices
37
The Captive's Doom
37
Ceremonies of Sacrifice
.. 37
Torturing of the Victim
38
Sacrifice of Infants
.. 38
Cannibal Banquets
38
Number of Victims
.. 39
Houses of Skulls
39
Cannibalism of the Aztecs
.. 41
Criticism on Sahtgun's History
42
CHAPTER IV.
Mexican Hieroglyphics — Manu-
scripts — Arithmetic — Chrono-
logy— Astronomy 44
Dawning of Science 44
Picture-writing 44
Aztec Hieroglyphics 45
Manuscripts of the Mexicans . . . . 45
Emblematic Symbols 46
X
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Phonetic Signs
Materials of the Aztec Manuscripts
Form of their volumes 4b
Destruction of most of tliem. . . . 48
Remaining Manuscripts 4y
Difficulty of dedphering them .. 60
Minstrelsy of the Aztecs 51
Theatrical Entertainments .. .. 51
System of Notation 51
Their Chronology 53
The Aztec Era 54
Calendar of the Priests .. .. 55
.science of Astrology 57
Astrology of the Aztecs .. .. 57
Their Astronomy 5s
Wonderful Attainments in this Science 59
Remarkable Festival 59
Carnival of the Aztecs 60
Lord Kingsborough's Work . . . . 61
Criticism on Gaina 62
CHAPTER V.
Aztec Agriculture — Mechanical
A uts — Mebchakts — Domestic
Manheks 62
Mechanical Genius 62
Agriculture 63
Mexican Husbandry 63
Vegetable Products 64
Mineral Treasures 65
Skill of -the Aztec Jewellers . . 66
Sculpture 67
Huge Calendar-stone 67
Aztec Dyes 68
Beautiful Feather-work . . . . . 68
Fairs of Mexico 68
National Currency 69
Trades . . <;<*
Aztec Merchants (;y
Militant. Traders 69
Domestic Life . . 7o
Kindness to Children 71
Polygamy 71
Condition of the Sex 71
Social Entertainments 71
Use of Tobacco 72
Culinary Art 72
Agreeable Drinks 73
Dancing 73
PAOB
Intoxication
73
Criticism on Boturini's Work . .
1
CHAPTER VI.
Tezcccans — Their Golden Age—
Ao-
pli8hed Princes — Decline ok
their Monarchy
75
The Acolhuans or Tezcucans
75
Prince Nczahualcoyotl
76
His Persecution
7(5
His Hair-breadth Escapes
76
His wandering Life
77
Fidelity of his Subjects
77
Triumphs over his Enemies. .
7S
Remarkable League
General Amnesty
7X
The Tezcucan Code
78
Departments of Government
79
Council of' Music
79
Its Censorial Office
79
Literary Taste
Tezcucan Bards
80
Royal Ode
81
Resources of Nczahualcoyotl
82
His magnificent Palace
His Gardens and Villas
82
Address of the Priest
His Baths
84
Luxurious Residence
Existing Remains of it
85
Royal Amours
85
Marriage of the King
86
Forest Laws
.. 87
Strolling Adventures
87
Munificence of the Monarch
88
His Religion ..
88
Temple to the Unknown God . .
88
Philosophic Retirement
89
His plaintive Verses
89
Last Hours of Nezahualcoyotl
9<J
His Character
.. 91
Succeeded by Nezahualpilli . .
91
The Lady of Tula
.. 92
Executes his Sou
92
Effeminacy of the King
92
His consequent Misfortunes . .
93
Death of Nezahualpilli
.. 93
Tezcucan Civilization
93
Criticism on Ixtlilxocuitl's Writing
i .. 94
BOOK II.
DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
CHAPTER I.
Spain under Charles V.— Progress
of Discovery— Colonial Policy-
Conquest of Cuba— Expeditions
to Yucatan
Condition of Spain
Increase of Empire
Cardinal Ximenes
Arrival of Charles the Fifth . . . . 99
Swarm of Flemings 100
Opposition of the Cor t6s 100
Colonial Administration . . . . 101
Spirit of Chivalry 101
Progress of Discovery 102
Advancement of Colonization . . . . 102
System of Kepartimientos . . .. 102
Colonial Policy 102
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Discovery of Cuba 103
Its Conquest by Velasquez . . . 103
Cordova's Expedition to Yucatan . . 104
His Reception by the Natives . . .104
Grijalva's Expedition 105
Civilization in Yucatan 105
Traffic with the Indians . . 105
His Return to Cuba 106
His cool Reception 106
Ambitious Schemes of the Governor .. 106
Preparations for an Expedition . . 106
CHAPTER II.
HERNANDO CoRTES— HlS EARLY LlBE
Visits the New Would— His Resi-
dence in Ccba — Difficulties
with Velasquez — Armada in-
trusted to Cortes 107
Hernando Cortes 107
His Education 107
Choice of a Profession. . . . . . 108
Departure for America . . . . 108
Arrival at Hispauiola 109
His Mode of Life lot*
Enlists under Velasquez . . . . 109
Habits of Gallantry 110
Disaffected towards Velasquez . . no
Cortes in Confinement .. .. . . llo
Flies into a Sanctuary . . . . Ill
Again put in Irons Ill
His perilous Escape Ill
His Marriage Ill
Reconciled with the Governor . . 112
Retires to his Plantation 112
Armada intrusted to Cortes . . . . 113
Preparations for the Voyage .. 113
Instructions to Cortes 114
CHAPTER III.
Jealolsv ok Velasquez — Cortes em-
barks—Equipment of his Fleet
—His Person and Character
— Rendezvous at Havana —
Strength of his Armament .. 115
Jealousy of Velasquez .. .. 115
Intrigues against Cortes 116
His clandestine Embarkation .. 116
Arrives at Macaca 116
Accession of Volunteers .. .. 117
Stores and Ammunition .117
Orders from Velasquez to arrest Cortes lis
He raises the Standard at Havana .. 118
Person of Cortes lis
His Character .. ., .. ..119
Strength of the Armament .. .. 119
Stirring Address to his Troops . . . . 120
Fleet weighs Anchor < 121
Remarks on Estrella's Manuscript . . 121
CHAPTER IV.
Voyage to Cozumel— Conversion of
the Natives— Geronimo de Agui-
lar — Army arrives at Tabasco
— Great Battle with the Indians
—Christianity introduced .. 121
PAGE
Disastrous Voyage to Cozuuul
121
Humane Policy of Cortes. .
.. 121-
Cross found in the Island
122
Religious Zeal of the Spaniards . .
.. 123
Attempts at Conversion
123
Overthrow of the Idols ..
.. 124
Geronimo de Aguilar
124
His Adventures
.. 124
Employed as an Interpreter . .
125
Fleet arrives at Tabasco
. 125
Hostile Reception
120
Fierce Defiance of the Nativ
. 126
Desperate Conflict
126
Effect of the Fire-arms ..
. . 127
Cortes takes Tabasco. .
127
Ambush of the Indians
. 128
The Country in Arms
128
Preparations for Battle
. 128
March on the Enemy
128
■Joins Battle with the Indians
129
Doubtful Struggle
129
Terror at the War-horse . .
130
Victory of the Spaniards
130
Number of Slain
. 130
Treaty with the Natives
131
Conversion of the Heathen
.. 131
Catholic Communion
132
Spaniards embark for Mexico . .
. . 132
CHAPTER V.
Voyage along the Coast— Don a Ma-
rina— Spaniards land in Mexico
—Interview with the Aztecs . . 132
Voyage along the Coast . . . . 132
Natives come on Board . . . . . . 133
Dona Marina 133
Her History 133
Her Beauty and Character . . . . 134
First Tidings of Montezuma . . . . 134
Spaniards land in Mexico . . . . 135
First Interview with the Aztecs . . 135
Their magnificent Presents . . . . 136
Cupidity of the Spaniards . . . . 136
Cortes displays his Cavalry . . . . 137
Aztec Paintings l?7
CHAPTER VI.
Account of Montezuma— State of
his Empire — Strange Prognos
tics — Embassy and Presents -
Spanish Encampment
Montezuma then upon the Throne . .
Inaugural Address
The Wars of Montezuma
His civil Policy
Oppression of his Subjects
Foee of his Empire
Superstition of Montezuma
Mysterious Prophecy
Portentous 0men3
Dismay of the Emperor
Embassy and Presents to the Spaniards
Life in the Spanish Camp
Rich Present from Montezuma
138
13S
138
138
139
140
■140
141
142
142
143
143
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Large gold Wheels 143
Message from Montezuma . . . - J 44
Effects of the Treasure ou the Spaniards 1-15
Return of the Aztec Envoys .. .. 145
l'rohibition of Montezuma . . . . 146
Preaching of Father Olmedo .. .. 146
Desertion of the Natives . . . . 146
CHAPTER VII.
Troubles in the Camp— Pi-am oe a
Colony — Management op Cortes
— March to Cempoalla — Pro-
ceedings with the Natives-
Foundation of Vera Cruz .. 147
Discontent of the Soldiery .. .. 147
Envoys from the Totonacs . . . . 147
Dissensions in the Aztec Empire . . 147
Proceedings in the Camp 1 48
Cort€s prepares to return to Cuba .. 148
Army remonstrate 148
Cortes yields \. .. :. .. 149
Foundation of Villa Rica }49
Resignation and Reappointment of Cortes 14U
Divisions in the Camp 150
General Reconciliation .. .. 150
March to Cempoalla 151
Picturesque Scenery 151
Remains of Victims 152
Terrestrial Paradise 152
Love of Flowers by the Natives . . 152
Their splendid Edifices . . . . 153
Hospitable Entertainment at Cempoalla 153
Conference with the Cacique . . . . 154
Proposals of Alliance 154
Advance of the Spaniards .. .. 155
•
page
Arrival of Aztec Nobles .. .. 155
Artful Policy of Cortes 156
Allegiance of the Natives . . . . 156
City of Villa Rica built 157
Infatuation of the Indians .. .. 157
CHAPTER VIII.
Another Aztec Embassy— Destruc-
tion oe the Idols — Despatched
sent to Spain— Conspiracy in
the Camp— The Fleet sunk .. 157
Embassy from Montezuma . . . . 157
us xvesuus
Severe Discipline in the Army
158
Gratitude of the Cempoallan Cacique . . 159
Attempt at Conversion . . '
159
Sensation among the Natives
.. 159
The Idols burned
160
Consecration of the Sanctuary . .
. 160
News from Cuba
161
Presents for Charles the Fifth . .
.. 161
First Letter of Cortes
162
Despatches to Spain
. 163
Agents for the Mission
163
Departure of the Ship
. . 164
It touches at Cuba
164
Rage of Velasquez
.. 164
Ship arrives in Spain
164
Conspiracy in the Camp . .
. 165
1 )estruction of the Fleet
165
Oration of Cortes
. . 166
Enthusiasm of the Army
167
Notice of Las Casas
.. 168
His Life and Character
168
Criticism on his Works
. . 171
BOOK III.
MARCH TO MEXICO.
CHATTER I.
Proceedings at Cempoalla — The
Spaniards climb the Ta»le-land
—Picturesque Scenery— Trans-
actions with the Natives — Em
bassy to Tlascala
Squadron off the Coast
Stratagem of Cortes
Arrangement at Villa Rica
Spaniards begin their March
Climb the Cordilleras
Wild Mountain Scenery
Immense Heaps of human Skulls . .
Transactions with the Natives
Accounts of Montezuma's Power . .
Moderation of Father Olmedo . .
Indian Dwellings
Cortes determines his Route
Embassy to Tlascala*. . ..
Remarkable Fortification
Arrival in Tlascala
GHAPTER II.
Republic of Tlascala— Its Institu-
tions—Early History — Discus-
sions in the Senate— Desperate
Battles
184
175
The Tlascalans
184
175
Their Migrations
184
176
Their Government
184
176
Public Games
185
177
Ordf r of Knighthood
185
177
Internal Resources
185
178
Their Civilization
186
179
Struggles with the Aztecs
186
179
Means of Defence
186
180
Sufferings of the Tlascalans
187
181
Their hardy Character
188
182
Debates in the Senate
188
182
Spaniards advance
188
182
Desperate Onslaught
189
183
Retreat of the Indians
189
183
Bivouac of the Spaniards
189
CONTENTS.
The Army resumes its March
Immense Host of Barbarians
Bloody Conflict in the Pas* . .
Enemy give Ground
Spaniards clear the Pase
Cessation of Hostilities . .
Results of the Conflict
Troop3 encamp for the Night
PAGE
190
191
191
192
192
192
192
193
CHAPTER III
Decisive Victory— Indian Councii
Night Attack — .Negotiations
with the Enemy — Tlascalan
Hei;o ..
Envoys to Tlascala
Foraging Party
Bold Defiance by the Tlascalan^
Preparations for Battle
Appearance of the Tlascalans
Showy Costume of the Warriors
Their Weapons
Desperate Engagement . .
The Combat thickens
Divisions among the Enemy
Decisive Victory
Triumph of Science over Numbers
Dread of the Cavalry
Indian Council
Night Attack
Spaniards victorious
Embassy to Tlascala
Peace with the Enemy . .
Patriotic Spirit of their Chief
CHAPTER IV.
Discontents in the Army— Tlascalan
Spies — Peace with the Republic
— Embassy from Montezuma
Spaniards scour the Country. .
Suecess of the Foray
Discontents in the Camp
Representations of the Malecontent.
Reply of Cortes
Difficulties of the Enterprise
Mutilation of the Spies
Interview with the Tlascalan Chief
Peace with the Republic
Embassy from Montezuma
Declines to receive the Spaniards
They advance towards the City. ,
CHAPTER V.
Spaniards enter Tlascala— Descrip-
tion of the Capital — Attempted
Conversion — Aztec Emba ssy —
Invited to Cholula
Spaniards enter Tlascala
Rejoicings on their Arrival
Description of Tlascala
Its Houses and Streets
Its Fairs and Police
Divisions of the City
193
194
194
194
195
195
196
190
197
198
198
198
199
199
199
200
200
201
201
201
202
202
202
203
203
204
205
205
206
206
207
207
268
209
210
210
210
Wild Scenery round Tlascala
Character of the Tlascalans
Vigilance of Cortes
Attempted Conversion . .
Resistance of the Natives
Zeal of Cortes
Prudence of the Friar. .
Character of Olmedo
Mass celebrated in Tlascala . .
The Indian Maidens
Aztec Embassy
Power of Montezuma
Embassy from Ixtlilxochitl . .
I teputies from Cholula . .
Invitation to Cholula
Prepare to leave Tlascala
page
210
211
211
211
212
212
212
212
213
213
213
214
214
214
215
215
CHAPTER VI.
City of Cholula— Great Temple —
March to Cholula— Reception
of the Spaniards— Conspiracy
detected
.. 215
City of Cholula
215
Its History
.. 216
Religious Traditions
216
Its ancient Pyramid
... 217
Temple of Quetzalcoatl
217
Holy City
. . 218
Magnificent Scenery
218
Spaniards leave Tlascala
.. 218
Indian Volunteers
219
Army enters Cholula
.. 219
Brilliant Reception
219
Envoys from Montezuma
.. 220
Suspicions of Conspiracy
220
Fidelity of Marina
.. 221
Alarming Situation of Cortes
221
Intrigues with the Priests
.. 221
Interview with the Caciques . .
222
Night-watch of the Spaniards . .
.. 223
CHAPTER VII.
Terrible Massacre — Tranquillity
restored— Reflections on the
Massacre— Further Proceedings
—Envoys from Montezuma
Preparations for a secret Assault
Natives collect in the Square . .
The Signal given
Terrible Massacre
Onset of the Tlascalans
Defence of the Pyramid
Division of the Spoil
Restoration of Order
Reflections on the Massacre . .
Right of Conquest
Missionary Spirit
Policy of Cortes
His perilous Situation
Cruelty to be charged on him . ,
Terror of " the White Gods "
The Cross raised in Cholula
Victims liberated from the Cages
Christian Temple reared on the Pyramid
223
223
223
224
224
224
224
225
225
226
227
227
228
228
228
229
230
230
230
CONTENTS.
Embassy from Montezuma . .
Departure of the Cempoallans
PAGE
230
, 231
CHAPTER VIII.
Maech resumed — Ascent of the
G beat Volcano— Valley of Mex-
ico— Impression on the Spaniards
—Conduct of Montezuma— They
descend into the Valley. . . . 231
Spaniards-leave Cholula . . . . 231
Signs of Treachery 232
The Army reaches the Mountains . . 232
Wild Traditions 232
The great Volcano 233
Spaniards ascend its Sides . . 233
Perils of the Enterprise . . . . 233
Subsequent Ascent ^34
Descent into the Crater . . . . 234
The Troops suffer from the Tempest . . 235
First View of the Valley . . . . 235
Its Magnificence and Beauty . . . . 235
Impression on the Spaniards . . 236
Disaffection of the Natives to Montezuma 236
Embassy from the Emperor . . . . 237
His gloomy Apprehensions . . . . 237
Silence of the Oracles 237
Spaniards advance 238
Death of the Spies 233
Arrival of the Tezcucan Lord . . . . 239
Floating Gardens 239
Crowds assembled on the Roads . . 240
Army reaches Iztapalapan . . . . 240
Its celebrated Gardens 241
Striking View of Mexico . . . . 242
CHAPTER IX.
Environs of Mexico— Interview with
Montezuma — Entrance into the
Capital— Hospitable Reception
— Visit to the Emperor
Preparations to enter the Capital . .
Army enters on the great Causeway . .
Beautiful Environs ;
Brilliant Procession of Chiefs
Splendid Retinue of Montezuma
Dress of the Emperor
His Person
His Reception of Cortes .
Spaniards enter the Capita
Feelings of the Aztecs
Hospitable Reception . .
The Spanish Quarters
Precaution of the General
Visited by the Emperor .
His rich Presents
Superstitious Terrors
Royal Palace
Description of its Interior
Cortes visits Montezuma
Attempts to convert the Monarch
Entire Failure
His religious Views
Montezuma's Eloquence
His courteous Bearing
Reflections of Cortes . .
Notice of Herrera . .
Criticism on his Historv
Life of Toribio
Peter Martyr
His Works
242
242
243
243,
243
244
244
245
245
246
246
247
247
248
248
248
249
249
250
250
250
251
251
251
252
252
253
253
254
255
256
BOOK IV.
RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
CHAPTER I.
Tezcucan Lake — Description of the
Capital — Palaces and Museums
—Royal Household — Montezu-
ma's Way of Life 259
Lake of Tezcuco 259
Its Diminution 259
Floating Islands 260
The ancient Dikes 260
Houses of ancient Mexico .. 260
Its Streets 261
Its Population 262
Its Aqueducts and Fountains . . . . 263
The imperial Palace 264
Adjoining Edifices 264
Magnificent Aviary 264
Intensive Menagerie 265
Collection of Dwarfs 265
Beautiful Gardens 265
Royal Hill of Chapoltepec . . . . 266
Wives of Montezuma 266
His Meals 267
Luxurious Dessert 268
Custom of Smoking
Ceremonies at Court
Economy of the Palace
Oriental Civilization
Reserve of Montezuma
Symptoms of Decline of Power .
269
269
270
270
270
CHAPTER II.
Market of Mexico— Great Temple
—Interior Sanctuaries— Spanish
Quarters 271
Mexican Costume 27 1
Great Market of Mexico . . 272
Quarter of the Goldsmiths 272
Booths of the Armourers 272
Provisions for the Capital . . 273
Throngs in the Market 274
Aztec Money 274
The great Temple 275
Its Structure 275
Dimensions 276
Instruments of Worship . . . . 276
Grand View from the Temple . . . . 276
CONTENTS.
xv
PAGE
Shrines of the Idols 277
Imprudence of Cortes 278
Interior Sanctuaries 278
Wound of Skulls 279
Aztec Seminaries 279
Impression on the Spaniards . . . . 280
Hidden Treasures 280
Mass performed in Mexico . . . . 281
CHAPTER III.
Anxiety of Cortes — Seizure of Mon-
tezuma—His Treatment by the
Spaniards — Execution of his Of-
ficers—Montezlm a in Ikons-
Reflections 281
Anxiety of Cortes 281
Council of War 282
Opinions of the Officers . . . . 282
Bold Project of Cortes 282
Plausible Pretext 283
Interview with Montezuma . . . . 284
Accusation of the Emperor .. .. 284
His Seizure by the Spaniards . . . . 285
He is carried to their Quarters . . 286
Tumult among the Aztecs . . . . 286
Montezuma's Treatment . . . . 2s0
Vigilant Patrol 286
Trial of the Aztec Chiefs . . . . 2*7
Montezuma in Irons .. .. .. 288
Chiefs burnt at the Stake . . . . 288
Emperor allowed to return . . . . 288
Declines this Permission .. .. 288
Reflections on these Proceedings . . . 2*9
Views of the Conquerors . . . . 290
CHAPTER IV.
Montezuma's Deportment— His Life
in the Spanish Quarters— Medi-
tated Insurrection— Lord of
Tezclto seized— Further Mea-
sures OF Cortes 290
Troubles at Vera Cruz . . . . 291
Vessels built on the Lake .. .. 291
Montezuma's Life in the Spanish Quar-
ters 291
His Munificence 292
Sensitive to Insult 292
The Emperor's Favourites . . . . 292
Spaniards attempt his Conversion . . 293
Brigantines on the Lake . . . . 293
The Royal Cbase 293
Lord of Tezcuco 294
Meditated Insurrection 295
Policy of Cortes 295
Tezcucan Lord in Chains 296
Further Measures of Cortes . . . . 296
Surveys the Coast 297
CHAPTER V.
Montezuma swears Allegiance to
Spain— Royal Treasures — Their
Division— Christian Worship in
the Teocalli— Discontents of the
Aztecs
PAGE
Montezuma convenes his Nobles .
297
Swears Allegiance to Spain
.. 298
His Distress
298
Its Effect on the Spaniards
. . 298
Imperial Treasures
299
Splendid Ornaments
.. 299
The Royal Fifth
300
Amount of the Treasure
.. 300
Division of Spoil
301
Murmurs of the Soldiery
.. 301
Cortes calms the Storm
301
Progress in Conversion
. . 302
Cortes demands the Teocalli. .
303
Christian Worship in the Sanctuary
.. 303
National Attachment to Religion .
304
Discontents of the Aztecs
.. 304
Montezuma's Warning
304
Reply of Cortes
. . 305
Insecurity in the Castilian Quarters
305
297
CHAPTER VI.
Fate op Cortes' Emissaries— Pro-
ceedings in the Castilian Court
— Preparations of Velasquez —
Narvaez lands in Mexico— Poli-
tic Conduct of Cortes — He leaves
the Capital 306
Cortes' Emissaries arrive in Spain . . 306
Their Fate 306
Proceedings at Court 307
The Bishop of Burgos 307
Emperor postpones his Decision . . 308
Velasquez meditates Revenge . . . . 308
Sends Narvaez against Cortes . . 308
The Audience interferes ?09
Narvaez sails for Mexico . . . . 309
He anchors off San Juan de Ulu* . . 310
Vaunts of Narvaez . . . . . . 310
Sandoval prepares for Defence . . .. 311
His Treatment of the Invaders . . 311
Cortes hears of Narvaez 312
He bribes his Emissaries . . . . 312
Sends an Envoy to his Camp . . . . 313
The Friar's Intrigues 313
Embarrassment of Cortes .. .. 314
He prepares for Departure . . . . 314
He leaves the Capital 315
CHAPTER VII.
Cortes descends from the Table-land
— Negotiates with Narvaez—
Prepares to assault him — Quar-
ters of Narvaez — Attack by
Night — Narvaez defeated . . 316
Cortes crosses the Valley .. .. 316
Reinforced at Cholula 316
Falls in with his Envoy .. .. 316
Unites with Sandoval 317
He reviews his Troops .. .. 317
Embassy from Narvaez 318
His Letter to the General .. .. 318
Cortes' Tenure of Authority .. ..318
Negotiates with Narvaez . . . . 319
Spaniards resume their March .. .. 319
Prepare for the Assault .. .. 32«
XVI
CONTENTS.
Cortes harangues the Soldiers . .
Their Enthusiasm in his Cause
He divides his Forces
Quarters of Narvaez at Onipoalla . .
Cortes crosses the Rio de Cauoa^
Surprises Narvaez by Night
Tumult In his Camp
Narvaez wounded and taken
The Sanctuary in Flames
The Garrisons surrender
Cortes gives Audience to his Captives .
Reflections on the Enterprise
CHAPTER VIII.
Discontent of thh Troops— Insurrec-
tion in the Capital— Return of
Cortes — General Signs of Hos-
tility— Massacre by Alvarado
— Rising of the Aztecs
Discontent of the Troops of Narvaez
Policy of Cortes
He displeases his Veterans . .
AGE
320
320
321
321
322
322
323
323
323
324
325
325
327
327
327
328
PAGE
He divides his Forces 328
News of an Insurrection in the Capital 328
Cortes prepares to return 329
Arrives at Tlascala 329
Beautiful Landscape 330
Disposition of the Natives . . . . 330
News from the Spaniards in Mexico .. 331
Cortes marches to the Capital
Signs of Alienation in the Aztecs . . 331
Spaniards re-enter the Capital . . 331
Cause of the Insurrection .. .. 332
Massacre by Alvarado .. .. 332
His Apology for the Deed . . . . 333
His probable Motives 334
Rising of the Aztecs 335
Assault the Garrison 335
Cortes reprimands his Officer . . . . 335
His Coldness to Montezuma . . . . 336
Cortes releases Montezuma's Brother . . 336
He heads the Aztecs 337
The City in Arms 337
Notice of Oviedo 337
His Life and Writings 338
Camargo's History 339
BOOK V.
EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
CII VPTEP I Bloody Combat on the Area . . . . 333
DKSPERATE ASSAULT ON^HEQCARTEnS ^SSXtSSS^ " .. " .. " .. S
-laiRY of TinwMEXiCAN^-S.u^ Conflagration of the Temple . . .. 364
of THE SpaKIAM«--Montezoma Cortes invites a Parley ! 355
addresses the People-Dam.i.l- He addresses the Aztecs .. ■• 355
ously wounded '4 J Spirit of the Aztecs 355
Quarters of the Spaniards .. .. 343 The Spaniards dismayed .. . . 356
Desperate Assault of the Aztecs .. 343 Distresses of the Garrison .. .. 350
Cannonade of the Besieged .. .. 344 Military Machine of Cortes . . .. 357
Indians fire the Outworks . . . . 345 impeded by the Canals 358
Fury of the Mexicans 345 sharp Combats in the City . . . . 358
Appearance of their Forces .. .. 346 Bold Bearing of Cortes 359
Sally of the Spaniards 346 Apparition of St. James .. .. 360
Aztecs shower Missiles from the Azoteas 347 Attempt to convert Montezuma. . . . 360
Their Dwellings in Flames .. .. 347 its Failure 361
Spaniards sound the Retreat . . .. 348 Last Hours of Montezuma .. ..361
Gallantry of Cortes 348 His Character 362
Resolute Bearing of the Aztecs .. 348 His Posterity 364
Cortes requests Montezuma to interpose 349 Effect of his Death on the Spaniards 365
He ascends the Turret .. .. 350 Interment of Montezuma 365
Addresses his Subjects *50
Is dangerously wounded .. .. 350 „..Drr™ TTr
His Grief and Humiliation 350 CHAPrER HI.
Council of War— Spaniards evacu-
ate the City — NochkTriste, Or
CHAPTER II. the "Melancholy Night "— Teu-
Storming of the Great Temple- rible Slaughter-Halt for the
Spirit of the Aztecs— Distresses Night— Amount of Losses . . 36o
of the Garrison— Sharp Combats Council of War 365
in the City— Death of Monte- Predictions of the Astrologer .. .. 366
zuma 352 Their Effect on Cortes 366
The Aztecs hold the Great Temple.. 352 He decides to abandon the Capital .. 366
It is stormed by the Spaniards .. .. 352 Arranges his Order of March
Spirited Resistance 353 Spaniards leave the City >w
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Noche Triste, or the "Melancholy
Night" 308
The Capital is roused 30s
Spaniards assailed on the Causeway . . 368
The Bridge wedged in the Stones . . 369
Despair of the Spaniards 369
Fearful Carnage 369
Wreck of Bodies and Treasure . . . . .370
Spaniards arrive at the Third Breach 370
The Cavaliers return to the Rescue . . 370
Condition of the Rear 371
Alvarado's Leap .. .. .. .. 371
Sad Spectacle of the Survivors . . 372
Feelings of Cortes 372
Spaniards defile through Tacuba . . 373
Storm the Temple 373
Halt for the Night 374
Reflections of the General .. ..374
The Loss of the Spaniards . . . . 374
CHAPTER IV.
Retreat of the Spaniards— Da-
TBE8SR8 or THE A KM* — PYRAMIDS
of Teotihuacak — Great Battle
of Otumba 376
Quiet of the Mexicans .. .. 376
The Spaniards resume their Retreat . . 377
Distresses of the Army . . . . 377
Their heroic Fortitude 378
Pyramids of Teotihuacan .. .. 378
Account of them .. .. .. .. 379
Their probable Destination . . . . 380
The Micoatl, or Path of the Dead . . 3*0
The Races who reared them . . . . 3«0
Indian Host in the Valley of Otumba . . 3s 1
Sensations of the Spaniards . . . . 381
Instructions of Cortes 382
He leads the Attack 382
Great Battle of Otumba 382
Gallantry of the Spaniards . . . . 383
Their Forces in Disorder. . . . . . 383
Desperate Effort of Cortes . . . . 383
The Aztec Chief is slain 384
The Barbarians put to Flight . . 384
Rich Spoil for the Victors .. ..384
Reflections on the Battle . . . . 385
CHAPTER V.
Arrival in Tlascala— Friendly Re-
ception—Discontents of THE
Army — Jealousy of the Tlas-
calans— Embassy from MEXICO .. 385
Spaniards arrive at Tlascala. . .. 386
Friendly Reception 386
Feelings of the Tlascalans . . . . 387
Spaniards recruit their Strength . . 387
Their further Misfortunes . . . . 387
Tidings from Villa Rica 388
Indomitable Spirit of Cortes . . . . 388
Discontents of the Army 388
Their Remonstrance 388
The General's resolute Reply . . . . 389
Jealousy of the Tlascalans . . . . 390
Cortes strives to allay it 390
Events in Mexico 391
PAOB
Preparations fur Defence . . . . ' . . 391
Aztec Embassy to Tlascala .. .. 391
Stormy Debate in the Senate . . . . 392
Mexican Alliance rejected .. .. S92
CHAPTER VI.
War with the surrounding Tribes-
Successes of the Spaniards —
Death of Maxixca — Arrival of
Reinforcements— Return in Tri-
umph to Tlascala 393
War with the surrounding Tribes . . 393
Battle with the Tepeacans . . . . 394
They are branded as Slaves . . . . 394
Hostilities with the Aztecs renewed . . 395
Suspicions of the Allies .. .. 395
Cortes heads his Forces 395
Capture of Quauhquechollan .. 395
Mexicans routed 396
Spaniards follow up the Blow . . 396
Cortes' Treatment of his Allies. . . . 397
State of his Resources 397
Building of the Brigantines . . . . 397
Death of Maxixca 398
The Smallpox in Mexico 398
The disaffected Soldiers leave the Army 399
Arrival of Reinforcements . . . . 399
Further Good Fortune of Cortes .. 399
His Letter to the Emperor .. .. 4uo
Memorial of the Army .. .. 401
The Policy of Cortes 4U1
Returns in Triumph to Tlascala . . 402
Prepares for the final Campaign . . 402
CHAPTER VII.
Glatemozin, Emperor of the Aztecs
—Preparations for the March —
Military Code— Spaniards cross
the Sierra— Enter Tezcuco—
Prince Ixtlilxochitl . . ' . . 403
The Aztec Monarch dies . . . . 403
The Electors appoint another . . . . 403
Prayer of the High-priest .. .. 403
Guatemozin elected Emperor . . . . 404
Prepares for War 404
Amount of the Spanish Force . . . . 405
Cortes reviews his Troops . . . . 405
His animated Address .' 405
Number of the Indian Allies . . 405
Their brilliant Array 406
Military Code of Cortes .. .. 406
lis Purpose 407
Its salutary Provisions . . . . 407
The Troops begin their March . . . . 408
Designs of Cortes 408
He selects his Route 408
Crosses the Sierra 409
Magnificent View of the Valley . . 409
Energy of Cortes .. .. .. 410
Affairs in Tezcuco 410
Spaniards arrive there .. .. 411
Oveitures of the Tezcucans .. .. 411
Spanish Quarters in Tezcuco. . . . 412
The Inhabitants leave the Town . . 412
xviil
CONTENTS.
Prince Ixtlilxochitl . .
His youthful Excesses
Disputes the Succession
l'ACF,
4:3
, 413
414
PACE
Becomes the fast Friend of the Spaniards 4 14
Life and Writings of Gomara . . . . -114
OfBernalDiaz 415
BOOK VI.
SIEGE AND SURRENDER OP MEXICO.
CHAPTER I. His Reconciliation 438
Arrangements at Tezcuco — Sack Arrival of Reinforcements .. .. 438
of Iztapalapan-Advaktages of The Dominican Friar «9
the Spaniards— Wise Policy of
Cortes— Transportation of the
Brigantines..- 421 CHAPTER III.
Head-quarters at Tezcuco . . • • 421 Second reconnoitring Expedition—
Cortes distrusts the Natives . . . . 421 Engagements on the Sierra —
-Negotiates with the Aztecs . . .. 422 Capture of Cuernavaca — Bat-
City of Iztapalapan 422 TLEs at Xochimilco — Narrow
Spaniards march upon it .. •• 423 Escape of Cortes — He enters
Sack the Town 423 Tacuba 439
Natives break down the Dikes . . 423 second reconnoitring Expedition . . 439
Spaniards struggle in the Flood. . . . 424 preparations for the March . . . . 439
Regain their Quarters in Tezcuco . . 424 Spaniards enter the Sierra . . . . 440
Indian Cities tender Allegiance . . .. 424 Engagements in the Passes .. ..440
Some ask for Protection .. . • 424 Kocks rolled down by the A itecs .. 440
Cortes detaches Sandoval to their Aid . . 42a Enemy routed 441
Difficult Situation of Cortes .. .. 425 Spaniards bivouac is the Mulberry Grove 441
His sagacious Policy 426 gU)rm the Cliffg 411
Makes Overtures to Guatemozin . . 427 March through the Mountains . . 442
Spirit of the Indian Emperor .. .. 427 Arrive at Cuernavaca 442
The Brigantines are completed . . 428 Scenery in its Environs . . . . 442
Sandoval detached to transport them . . 428 Bold passage 0f the Ravine . . . . 443
Signs of the Massacre at Zoltepec .. 423 Capture of the City 444
Reaches Tlascala 429 cortes recrosses the Sierra . . . . 444
Transportation of the Brigantines . . 429 Exquisite View of the Valley . . 444
Joy at their Arrival 429 Marches against Xochimilco . . . . 444
Reflections 430 Narrow Escape of Cortes . . . . 445
Chivalric Spirit of the Age .. ..440
Cortes surveys the Country . . . . 440
CHAPTER II. Vigilance in his Quarters . . . . 447
Cortes reconnoitres the Capital— Battles at Xochimilco 447
Occupies Tacuba — Skirmishes Spaniards Masters of the Town . . .. 447
with the Enemy— Expedition of Conflagration of Xochimilco . . .. 448
Sandoval — Arrival of Rein- Army arrives at Cojohuacan .. ..449
forcements 430 Ambuscade of the Indians .. .. 450
Cortes reconnoitres the Capital .. 431 . Spaniards enter Tacuba 450
i'tinT1 nt Yflitocan . .. ..431 View from its Peocalli .. .. 4..0
Spl^lJdt^Lalce .... 43! Strong Emotion of Cortes .. .. W
Towns deserted as they advance .. 432 Return to Tezcuco 4al
Beautiful Environs of Mexico . . 432
Cortes occupies Tacuba 432 CHAPTER IV.
The Allies fire the Town .. .. 433 c RACy IX THE Army-Brigan-
Ambuscade of the Aztecs .. .. 433 launched - Muster of
Parley with the Enemy .. .. 434 Forces-Execution of Xicotex-
Single Combats .. 434 catl_March of the Army-Bk-
P^sition of the Parties .. .. 434 ^ ^ m
Spaniards return to Tezcuco . . . . 435 #
Etnbassv from Chalco .. .. 435 Affairs in Spain 4a~
Sandoval is detached to defend it .. 436 Conspiracy m the Camp 459
Takes Huaxtepec 430 Its Design . ,. JM
Storms Jacapichtla 437 Disclosed to Cortes 4.,
Puts the Garrison to the Sword .. 437 1 he Ringleader executed .. .. «M
Countermarch on Chalco 438 Policy of Cortes . . «S4
Cortes* Coolness with Sand.. val .. . 438 I he General s Body-guard .. .. 463
CONTENTS.
Brigantines launched
Impression on the Spectators
Muster of Forces
Instructions to the Allies
Cortes distributes his Troops
His Spirited Harangue
Regulations read to the Army .
Desertion of Xicotcncatl
His Execution
His Character
March of the Army
Quarrel of Olid and Alvarado
Spaniards destroy the Aqueduct
Commencement of the Siege. .
PAGE
455
456
456
457
457
157
458
458
450
459
459
4 fill
460
46 L
CHAPTER V.
Indian Flotilla defeated— Occupa-
tion of the CAUSEWAYS — Des-
perate Assaults — Firing of THE
Pa lacks — Spirit of the Besieged
—Barracks for the Troops .. 461
Sandoval marches on Iztapalapan .. 4 til
Cortes takes Command of the Fleet . . 401
Indian Flotilla defeated .. .. 162
Cortes occupies Xoloc 463
Sandoval advances to Cojohuacan . . 463
Skirmishes on the Causeway . . . . 463
Blockade completed 464
Simultaneous Assaults on Mexico . . 464
Ramparts raised by the Aztecs . . 464
Brigantines enfilade the Causeway . . 464
Spaniards enter the City .. .. 465
Allies demolish the Buildings . . . . 465
Fierce Battles in the City . . . . 465
Spaniards reach the Square . . . . 466
Storm the Pyramid 466
Hurl the Priests headlong . . . . 467
The Aztecs rally 467
Spaniards give Way 467
Cavalry to the Rescue .. .. 467
Pietreat to their Quarters . . . . (67
Ixtlilxochitl in the Camp . . . . 468
A second Assault 468
Spaniards penetrate the City . . 469
Fire the Palace of Axayacatl . . . . 469
Royal Aviary in Flames 4 69
Rage of the Mexicans 4 70
Their Desperation 470
Sufferings of the Spaniards . . . . 4 7 i
Operations of Guatemozin .. .. 471
His Vigilance . . . , . . . . 472
Ambuscade among the Heeds . . 472
Resources of the Indian Emperor . . 472
Accession of Allies to the Spaniards. . 473
Barracks for the Troops 473
Hard Fare of the Besiegers .. .. 473
Spirit of the Aztecs 474
CHAPTER VI.
General Assault on the Citt— De-
feat of the Spaniards— Their
disastrous Condition — Sacrifice
of the Captives — Defection of
the Allies— Constancy of the
Troops 175
PACK
Views of the Spaniards .. .. 4 75
Council of War 4 75
General Assault on the City . . . . 476
Cortes rebukes Alvarado 476
The Enemy give Way . . . . 47«
Their cunning Stratagem 477
Horn of Guatemozin sounds . . . . 477
Aztecs turn upon their Foe .. .. 477
Terrible Rout of the Spaniards . . 478
Imminent Danger of Cortes .. .. 478
Self-devotion of his Followers .. 479
Sharp Struggle on the Causeway . . 479
His Division retreats 47:)
Sandoval and Alvarado 4 so
Their Troops driven from the City. . 480
Sandoval visits the General .. .. 480
His Interview with him .. .. 481
Great Drum best In the Temple .. 482
Sacrifice of the Captives .. .. 482
Sensations of the Spaniards . . . . 482
Rejoicings of the Aztecs . . . . 483
Prophecy of the Priests 48;*
Defection of the Allies .. .. 483
Gloomy Condition of the Spaniards . . 1st
Their Constancy 1st
Heroism of their Women .. .. 485
CHAPTER VII.
Successes of the Spaniards— Fruit-
less Offers to Guatemozin —
Buildings RAZED TO the Ground —
Terrible Famine— The Troops
gain the Market-place— Batter-
ing Engine 485
Allies return to the Camp . . . . 485
-ion of Confederates .. .. 486
Plan of the Campaign. . . . . . 486
The Breaches filled 487
Famine in the City 488
Fruitless Offers to Guatemozin . . . . 488
Council of the Aztecs 488
Result of their Deliberations .. .. 489
Buildings razed to the Ground . . 489
Single Combats 490
Guatemozin's Palace in Flames . . 490
Sufferings of the Besieged .. .. 490
Neglect of their Dead. . .. .. 491
Their unconquerable Spirit .. ..491
Conflagration of the Teoca Hi .. 492
Success of Alvarado 492
Spaniards in the Market-place . . 493
Cortes surveys the C.ty 494
Its Desolation 494
Battering Engine 495
Its Failure . . ' 495
CHAPTER VIII.
Dreadful Sufferings of the Besieged
—Spirit of Guatemozin— Mur-
derous Assaults — Capture of
Guatemozin— Evacuation of the
City — Termination of the Siege
— Reflections 496
Dreadful Famine in the City . . 496
Cannibalism 496
XX
CONTENT*.
PAGE
The Corpses fill the Streets .- .. 497
Pestilence sweeps off Multitudes .. 497
Alarming Prodigies 497
Spirit of Guatemozin 497
Cortes requests an Interview with liim 498
Guatemozin consents 498
He avoids a Parley 498
.Murderous Assault 499
Appalling Scene of Carnage . . . . 499
Preparations for the final Attack . . 500
Cortes urges an Interview . . . . 501
The Signal given .. 5ol
Aztecs attempt to escape . . . . 502
Capture of Guatemozin .. ,. .. 502
Cessation of Hostilities . , . . 502
Person of Guatemozin 503
Brought before Cortes 503
PAGS
His Wife, Montezuma's Daughter .. 504
Furious Thunder-storm . . . . 505
Mexicans abandon their City .. .. 505
Number of those who perished .. 506
Amount of the Spoil 506
Cortes dismisses his Allies . . . . 506
Rejoicings of the Spaniards . . . . 506
Solemn Thanksgiving 507
Reflections 507
Aztec Institutions 508
Their moral Influence 508
Cruelty ascribed to the Spaniards . . 508
The Conquest as amilitary Achievement 510
Notice of the Historian Solis . . . . 511
His Life and Writings . . . . 511
Sahagun's Twelfth Book 513
BOOK VII.
CONCLUSION— SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
CHAPTER I.
Torture <>k Guatemozin— Submission
of the Country — Rebuilding of
the Capital — Mission to Castile
— Complaints against Cortes —
He is confirmed in his Autho-
rity
Small Amount of Treasure
Disappointment of the Soldiers
Torture of Guatemozin
His Fortitude unshaken
Submission of the Country
The Southern Ocean reached
Rebuilding of the Capital
Aztec Prophecy accomplished
Mission to Castile
Envoys captured by the French
Charges against Cortes
Tapia sent to New Spain
Insurrection of the Natives
Quelled by Sandoval
Fonseca's Hostility to Cortes
His Cause referred to a select Tribunal. .
Accusations against Cortes
Defence by his Friends
Acts of Cortes ratified
He isconfirmed in the supreme Authority
He triumphs over Fonseca
Mortification of Velasquez
His Death and Character
CHAPTER II.
Modern Mexico— Settlement of the
Country— Condition of the Na-
tives—Christian Mission ari es—
Cultivation of the Soil — Voy-
ages and Expeditions
Mexico rebuilt
Edifices in the City
Its Fortress
517
517
r,)7
517
5 1 8
518
5 1 9
6 1 9
5 2 (J
520
521
521
522
522
522
523
523
523
524
524
524
525 !
525
525
526
526
527
527
Its Population
Settlement of the Country . .
Encouragements to Marriage
The "Wife of Cortes arrives In M
Her Death
System of Repartimientos . .
Reward of the Tlascalans
Treatment of the Natives
Franciscan Missionaries . .
Their Reception by Cortes . .
Progress of Conversion . .
Settlements of the Conquerors
Cultivation of the Soil
Fleet burnt at Zacatula
Voyages to discover a Strait
Expedition of Alvarado
Result of the Enterprises of Cortes
CHAPTER III.
Defection of Olid— Dreadful March
to Honduras — Execution of
Guatemozin— Dona Marina— Ar-
rival at Honduras
Defection of Olid
Cortes prepares to visit Honduras
The General's Retinue
Obstacles on the March . .
Passes near Palenque
Lost in the Mazes of the Forests
Builds a stupendous Bridge
Horses sink in the Marshes
Reports of a Conspiracy
Guatemozin arrested
His Execution
His Character
Feelings of the Army. .
Cause of the Execution . .
Cortes' Remorse
Prosecution of the March . .
Lake of Peten
Dofia Marina, , .
527
5j!8
529
529
530
530
531
531
532
532
533
533
534
534
535
535
536
536
536
537
537
538
539
539
539
540
540
540
541 '
541 '
542
542
542
543
543
543
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Her Meeting with her Mother . . 543
She marries a Castilian Knight . . . . 543
Her Son Don Martin .. .. .. 544
Missionaries in the Isles of Pet en . . 544
1'assage of "the Mountain of Flints " 544
Army arrives at Honduras .. .. 545
Famine in the Colony . . . . 545
Cortes reaches Truxillo 545
Prepares to reduce Nicaragua .. 546
His romantic Daring 540
Tidings from Mexico su;
CHAPTER IV.
Disturbances ix Mexico — Return of
Cokte's — Distrust or thk Court—
Cortes returns to Spain— Death
ok Sandoval— Brilliant Recep-
tiox of cortls— hoxours con-
ferred ox him 517
Misrule in Mexico 547
Cortes attempts to return . . . . 54 7
1 (riven back by the Tempest . . 517
His Despondency 5 4 7
Embarks once more for Mexico .. 548
Lands near San Juan de Ulua .. .. 548
Progress to the Capital .. .. 548
Cortes re-enters Mexico in State .. 548
1 (istrust of the Crown 549
Ponce de Leon sent as Commissioner . . 549
He dies on his Arrival . . . . 549
Appoints Estrada his Successor. . . . 551
Affronts to Cortes 551
He leaves the City 551
The Commission of the Royal Audience 551
Cortes determines to return to Spain . . 552
News of his Father's Death .. .. 552
Preparations for Departure . . . . 552
He lands at Palos 553
His Meeting with Pizarro .. .. 553
Death of Sandoval . . . . . 553
His Person and Character . . . . 554
Brilliant Reception of Cortes . . 554
Sensation caused by his Presence . . 554
Admitted to an Audience by the Em-
peror 555
Charles V. visits him when ill . . . . 555
He is made Marquis of the Valley . . 556
Grants of Lands and Vassals .. .. 556
Refused the Government of Mexico
Reinstated in his military Command
Cortes' second Marriage
Splendid Presents to his Bride . .
His Residence at Court
PAGE
556
557
557
557
55-t
CHAPTER V.
Cortes revisits Mexico— Retires to
his Estates — His Voyages of
Discovery — Final Return to
Casti le— Co i.n R EC ept iox— D ea t h
of Cortes — His Character . . 558
Cortes embarks for Mexico .. .. 558
Stops at Hispaniola 558
Proceedings of the Audieiu :e .. 55s
Cortes lands at Viila Rica . . . . 559
Reception in Mexico 560
Retires to his Estates 560
His Improvement of them .. .. 561
His Voyages of Discovery .. ..561
He embarks for California . . . . 561
Disastrous Expedition 562
Arrival of a Viceroy 562
Policy of the Crown 562
Maritime Enterprises of Cortes .. 562
His Disgust with Mendo/.a .. .. 562
His final Return to Castile .. .. 564
He joins the Expedition to Algiers . . 564
His cold Reception by Charles V. . . 564
Cortes' last Letter to the Emperor . . 565
Taken ill at Seville 565
His Will 565
Scruples of Conscience as to Slavery 566
Views entertained on this Topic .. 566
1 le moves to Castilleja . . . . 567
Death of Cortes 567
His funeral Obsequies .. .. 567
Fate of his Remains 567
Posterity of Cortes 568
His Character 569
His Knight-errantry 569
His military Genius 570
Power over his Soldiers . . . . 570
Character as a Conqueror 571
His enlightened Views . . . . 572
His private Life 572
His Bigotry .. 573
His Manners and Habits 573
APPENDIX, PART I.
ORIGIN' OF THE MEXICAN CIVILIZATION — ANALOGIES WITH THE OLD WORLD.
Preliminary Notice -577 Their Traditions of the Deluge . . .. 581
Speculations on the New World . . 578 Resemble the Hebrew Accounts . . 582
Manner of its Population .. ..578 Temple of Cholula 582
Plato's Atlantis 578 Analogy to the Tower of Babel . . 582
Modern Theory 579 The Mexican Eve 583
Communication with the Old World 579 The God Quetzalcoatl 583
Origin of American Civilization . . 580 Natural Errors of the Missionaries . . 583
Plan of the Essay 581 'J he Cross in Anahuac .. .. 584
Analogies suggested by the Mexicans to Eucharist and Baptism 584
the Old World 581 Chroniclers strive for Coincidences . . 585
XX11
CONTENTS.
Argument drawn from these
Resemblance of social Usages
Analogies from Science . .
Chronological System. .
Hieroglyphics and Symbols
Adjustment of Time . .
A trinities of Language . .
Difficulties of Comparison
Traditions of Migration . .
Tests of their Truth . .
Physical Analogies
Architectural Remains
Destructive Spirit of the Spania
PAGE PAOB
.. 586 Ruins in Chiapa and Yucatan .. :>92
586 Works of Art 593
. . 587 Tools for Building 503
5*7 Little Resemblance to Egyptian Art . . 594
. . 587 Sculpture 594
588 Hieroglyphics 594
.. 5*8 Probable Age of these Monuments. . 595
589 Their probable Architects . . . . 595
. . 589 Difficulties in forming a Conclusion 596
590 Ignorance of Iron and of Milk .. . . 597
. , 590 Unsatisfactory Explanations . . 598
592 General Conclusions 598
. . 592
APPENDIX, PART II.
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS.
Aztec Mother's Advice to her Daughter 601
Translations of Nezahualcoyotl's Poem 603
Palace of Tezcotzinco 605
Punishment of the guilty Tezcucan
Queen 606
Velasquez's Instructions to Cortes. . 607
Extract from Las Casas' History . . 609
Deposition of Puerto Carrero " . 609
Extract from the Letter of Vera Cruz . . 611
Extract from Camargo's Tlascala . . 612
Extract from Oviedo's History .. ., 613
Dialogue of Oviedo with Cano .. 615
Privilege of Dona Isabel de Montezuma 619
Military Ordinances of Cortes .. 621
Extracts from the Fifth Letter of Cortes 623
Last Letter of Cortes 625
Account of his funeral Obsequies . . 627
BOOK FIRST.
INTRODUCTION,
PRELIMINARY VIEW OF THE AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
CONQUEST OF MEXICO.
BOOK I.
INTRODUCTION.
VIEW OF THE AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
CHAPTER I.
. ANCIENT MEXICO— CLIMATE AND PRODUCTS— PRIMITIVE RACES— AZTEC
EMPIRE.
Of all that extensive empire which once acknowledged the authority of Spain
in the New World, no portion, for interest and importance, can be compared
with Mexico ;— and this equally, whether we consider the variety of its soil
and climate ; the inexhaustible stores of its mineral wealth ; its scenery, grand
and picturesque beyond example ; the character of its ancient inhabitants, not
only far surpassing in intelligence that of the other North American races, but
reminding us, by their monuments, of the primitive civilization of Egypt and
Hindostan ; or, lastly, the peculiar circumstances of its Conquest, adventurous
and romantic as any legend devised by Norman or Italian bard of chivalry. It
is the purpose of the present narrative to exhibit the history of this Conquest,
and that of the remarkable man by whom it was achieved.
But, in order that the reader may have a better understanding of the subject,
it will be well, before entering on it, to take a general survey of the political
and social institutions of the races who occupied the land at the time of its
discovery.
The country of the ancient Mexicans, or Aztecs as they were called, formed
but a very small part of the extensive territories comprehended in the modern
republic of Mexico.1 Its boundaries cannot be defined with certainty. They
were much enlarged in the latter days of the empire, when they may be con-
sidered as reaching from about the eighteenth degree north, to the twenty-first,
on the Atlantic ; and from the fourteenth to the nineteenth, including a very
narrow strip, on the Pacific.2 In its greatest breadth, it could not exceed five
1 Extensive indeed, if we may trust Arch- him, and who assign a more liberal extent
bishop Lorenzana, who tells us, "It is doubt- to the monarchy. (See his Storia antica del
ful if the country of New Spain does not Messico (Cesena, 1780), dissert. 7.) The abbe,
border on Tartary and Greenland; — by the however, has not informed his readers on
way of California, on the former, and by New what frail foundations his conclusions rest.
Mexico, on the latter": Historia de Nueva- The extent of the Aztec empire is to be
Espana (Mexico, 1770), p. 33, nota. gathered from the writings of historians since
3 I have conformed to the limits fixed by the arrival of the Spaniards, and from the
Clayigero. He has, probably, examined the picture-rolls of tribute paid by the conquered
6ubje< t with more thoroughness and fidelity cities ; both sources extremely vague and de-
than most of his countrymen, who differ from fective. See the MSS. of the Mendoza collec-
4 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
degrees and a half, dwindling, as it approached its south-eastern limits, to less
than two. It covered, probably, less than sixteen thousand square leagues.3
Yet such is the remarkable formation of this country, that, though not more
than twice as large as New England, it presented every variety of climate,
and was capable of yielding nearly every fruit, found between the equator and
the Arctic circle.
All along the Atlantic, the country is bordered by a broad tract, called the
tierra caliente, or hot region, which has the usual high temperature of equi-
noctial lands. Parched and sandy plains are intermingled with others, of
exuberant fertility, almost impervious from thickets of aromatic shrubs and
wild flowers, in the midst of which tower up trees of that magnificent growth
which is found only within the tropics. In this wilderness of sweets lurks the
fatal malaria, engendered, probably, by the decomposition of rank vegetable
substances in a hot and humid soil." The season of the bilious fever, — vomiio,
as it is called,— which scourges these coasts, continues from the spring to the
autumnal equinox, when it is checked by the cold winds that descend from
Hudson's Bay. These winds in the winter season frequently freshen into
tempests, and, sweeping down the Atlantic coast and the winding Gulf of
Mexico, burst with the fury of a hurricane on its unprotected shores, and on
the neighbouring West India islands. Such are the mighty spells with which
Nature has surrounded this land of enchantment, as if to guard the golden
treasures locked up within its bosom. The genius and enterprise of man have
proved more potent than her spells.
After passing some twenty leagues across this burning region, the traveller
finds himself rising into a purer atmosphere. His limbs recover their elas-
ticity. He breathes more freely, for his senses are not now oppressed by the
sultry heats and intoxicating perfumes of the valley. The aspect of nature,
too, has changed, and his eye no longer revels among the gay variety of
colours with which the landscape was painted there. The vanilla, the indigo,
and the flowering cacao-groves disappear as he advances. The sugar-cane
and the glossy-leaved banana still accompany him ; and, when he has
ascended about four thousand feet, he sees in the unchanging verdure, and
the rich foliage of the liquid-amber tree, that he has reached the height where
clouds and mists settle, in their passage from the Mexican Gulf. This is the
region of perpetual humidity ; but he welcomes it with pleasure, as announcing
his escape from the influence of the deadly vomit o.* He has entered the
tion, in Lord Kingsborough's magnificent portion of Guatemala. (See torn. i. p. 29,
publication (Antiquities of Mexico, com- and torn. iv. dissert. 7.) Tha Tezcucan chro-
prising Facsimiles of Ancient Paintings and nicler Ixtlilxochitl puts in a sturdy claim for
Hieroglyphics, together with the Monuments the paramount empire of his own nation,
of New Spain. London, 1830). The diffi- Historia Chichimeca, MS., cap. 39, 53, et
culty of the inquiry is much increased by the alibi.
fact of the conquests having been made, as 3 Eighteen to twenty thousand, according
will be seen hereafter, by the united arms of to Humboldt, who considers the Mexican
three powers, so that it is not always easy territory to have been the same with that
to tell to which party they eventually be- occupied by the modern intendancies of
longed. The affair is involved in so much Mexico, Puebla, Vera Cruz, Oaxaca, and
uncertainty that Clavigero, notwithstanding Yalladolid. (Essai politique sur le Royaume
the positive assenions in his text, has not de' Nouvelle-Espagne (Paris, 1825), torn. i.
ventured, in his map, to define the precise p. 196.) This last, however, was all, or
limits of the empire, either towards the north, nearly all, included in the rival kingdom of
where it mingles with the Tezcucan empire, Michoaciin, as he himself more correctly
or towards the south, where, indeed, he has states in another part of his work. Comp.
fallen into the egregious blunder of asserting torn. ii. p. 164.
that, while the Mexican territory reached to * The traveller who enters the country
the fourteenth degree, it did not include any across the dreary sand-hills of Vera Cruz will
CLIMATE AND PRODUCTS. 5
tierra templada, or temperate region, whose character resembles that of
the temperate zone of the globe. The features of the scenery become grand,
and even terrible. His road sweeps along the base of mighty mountains,
once gleaming with volcanic fires, and still resplendent in their mantles of
snow, which serve as beacons to the mariner, for many a league at sea. All
around he beholds traces of their ancient combustion, as his road passes along-
vast tracts of lava, bristling in the innumerable fantastic forms into which the
fiery torrent has been thrown by the obstacles in its career. Perhaps, at the
same moment, as he casts his eye down some steep slope, or almost unfathom-
able ravine, on the margin of the road, he sees their depths glowing with the
rich blooms and enamelled vegetation of the tropics. Such "are the singular
contrasts presented, at the same time, to the senses, in this picturesque
region !
Still pressing upwards, the traveller mounts into other climates, favourable
to other kinds of cultivation. The yellow maize, or Indian corn, as we usually
call it, has continued to follow him up from the lowest level ; but he now first
sees fields of wheat, and the other European grains brought into the country
by the Conquerors. Mingled with them, he views the plantations of the aloe
or maguey {agave Americana), applied to such various and important uses
by the Aztecs. The oaks now acquire a sturdier growth, and the dark forests
of pine announce that he has entered the tierra frieu or cold region, — the
third and last of the great natural terraces into which the country is divided.
When he has climbed to the height of between seven and eight thousand
feet, the weary traveller sets his foot on the summit of the Cordillera of the
Andes, — the colossal range that, after traversing South America and the
Isthmus of Darien, spreads out, as it enters Mexico, into that vast sheet of
table-land which maintains an elevation of more than six thousand feet, for
the distance of nearly two hundred leagues, until it gradually declines in the
higher latitudes of the north.5
Across this mountain rampart a chain of volcanic hills stretches, in a
westerly direction, of still more stupendous dimensions, forming, indeed, some
of the highest land on the globe. Their peaks, entering the limits of perpetual
snow, diffuse a grateful coolness over the elevated plateaus below ; for these
last, though termed "cold," enjoy a climate the mean temperature of which
is not lower than that of the central parts of Italy.6 The air is exceedingly
dry ; the soil, though naturally good, is rarely clothed with the luxuriant
vegetation of the lower regions. It frequently, indeed, has a parched and
barren aspect, owing partly to the greater evaporation which takes place on
these lofty plains, through the diminished pressure of the atmosphere, and
partly, no doubt, to the want of trees to shelter the soil from the tierce
hardly recognize the truth of the above de- Great St. Bernard. The table-land stretches
scription. He must look for it in other parts still three hundred leagues farther, before it
of the tierra caliente. Of recent tourists, no declines to a level of 2624 feet. Humboldt,
one has given a more gorgeous picture of the Essai politique, torn. i. pp. 157, 255.
impressions made on his 6enses by these * About 62° Fahrenheit, or 17° Reaumur,
sunny regions than Latrobe, who came on (Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. i. p. 273.)
shore at Tampico (Rambler in Mexico (New The more elevated plateaus of the table-land,
York, 1836), chap. 1), — a traveller, it may be as the Valley of Toluca, about 8500 feet above
added, whose descriptions of man and nature the sea, have a stern climate, in which the
hi our own country, where we can judge, are thermometer, during a great part of the day,
distinguished by a sobriety and fairness that rarely rises beyond 45° F. Idem (loc. cit.),
entitle him to confidence in his delineation of and Malte-Brun (Universal Geography, Eng.
other countries. trans., book 83), who is, indeed, in this part
5 This long extent of country varies in of his work, but an echo of the former
elevation from 5570 to 8856 feet,— equal to writer,
the height of the passes of Mount Cenis or the
B
AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
influence of the summer sun. In the time of the Aztecs, the table-land was
thickly covered with larch, oak, cypress, and other forest trees, the extraor-
dinary dimensions of some of which, remaining to the present day, show that the
curse of barrenness in later times is chargeable more on man than on nature.
Indeed, the early Spaniards made as indiscriminate war on the forest as did
our Puritan ancestors, though with much less reason. After once conquering
the country, they had no lurking ambush to fear from the submissive, semi-
civilized Indian, and were not, like our forefathers, obliged to keep watch and
ward for a century. This spoliation of the ground, however, is said to have
been pleasing to their imaginations, as it reminded them of the plains of their
own Castile,— the table-land of Europe ; 7 where the nakedness of the land-
scape forms the burden of every traveller's lament who visits that country.
Midway across the continent, somewhat nearer the Pacific than the Atlantic
Ocean, at an elevation of nearly seven thousand five hundred feet, is the cele-
brated Valley of Mexico. It is of an oval form, about sixty-seven leagues in
circumference,8 and is encompassed by a towering rampart of porphyritic rock,
which nature seems to have provided, though ineffectually, to protect it from
invasion.
The soil, once carpeted with a beautiful verdure and thickly sprinkled with
stately trees, is often bare, and, in many places, white with the incrustation
of salts caused by the draining of the waters. Five lakes are spread over the
Valley, occupying one-tenth of its surface.9 On the opposite borders of
the largest of these basins, much shrunk in its dimensions l0 since the days
of the Aztecs, stood the cities of Mexico and Tezcuco, the capitals of the two
most potent and flourishing states of Anahuac, whose history, with that of
the mysterious races that preceded them in the country,* exhibits some of the
7 The elevation of the Castiles, according
to the authority repeatedly cited, is about
350 toises, or 2100 feet above the ocean.
(Humboldt's Dissertation, apud Laborde,
Itineraire descriptif de l'Espagne (Paris,
182"), torn. i. p. 5.) It is rare to find plains
in Europe of so' great a height.
8 Archbishop Lorenzana estimates the cir-
cuit of the Valley at ninety leagues, correct-
ing at the same time the statement of Cortes,
which puts it at seventy, very near the truth,
as appears from the result of M. de Hum-
boldt's measurement, cited in the text. Its
length is about eighteen leagues, by twelve
and a half in breadth. (Humboldt, Essai
politique, torn. ii. p. 29. — Lorenzana; Hist, de
Nueva-Espana, p. 101.) Humboldt's map of
the Valley of Mexico forms the third in his
" Atlas geographique et physique," and, like
all the others in the collection, will be found
of inestimable value to the traveller, the geo-
logist, and the historian.
" Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. ii. pp.
29, 44-49.— Malte-Brun, book 85. This latter
geographer assigns only 6700 feet for the
level of the Valley, contradicting himself
(comp. book 83), or rather Humboldt, to
whose pages he helps himself plenis mani-
bus, somewhat too liberally, indeed, for tbe
scanty references at the bottom of his page.
10 Torquemada accounts in part for this
diminution by supposing that, as God per-
mitted the waters, which once covered the
whole earth, to subside after mankind had
been nearly exterminated for their iniquities,
so he allowed the waters of the Mexican lake
to subside, in token of good will and recon-
ciliation, after the idolatrous races of the land
had been destroyed by the Spaniards ! Mo-
narchia Indiana (Madrid, 1723), torn. i. p.
309.) Quite as probable, if not as orthodox,
an explanation, may be found in the active
evaporation of these upper regions, and in
the fact of an immense drain having been
constructed, during the lifetime of the good
father, to reduce the waters of the principal
lake and protect the capital from inundation.
* [It is perhaps to be regretted that, instead
of a meagre notice of the Toltecs with a
passing allusion to earlier races, the author
did not give a separate chapter to the history
of the country during the ages preceding the
Conquest. That history, it is true, resting on
tradition or on questionable records mingled
with legendary and mythological relations, is
full of obscurity and doubt. But, whatever
its uncertainty in regard to details, it presents
a mass of general facts supported by analogy
and by the stronger evidence of language
and of the existing relics of the past. The
number and diversity of the architectural and
other remains found on the soil of Mexico
and the adjacent regions, and the immense
PRIMITIVE RACES.
nearest approaches to civilization to be met with anciently on the North
American continent.
Of these races the most conspicuous were the Toltecs. Advancing from a
northerly direction, but from what region is uncertain,* they entered the
variety of the spoken languages, with the
vestiges of others that have passed out of
use, — all perhaps derived originally from a
common stock, but exhibiting different stages
of development or decay, and capable of being
classified into several distinct families, — point
to conclusions that render the subject one of
the most attractive fields for critical investi-
gation. These concurrent testimonies leave
no doubt that, like portions of the Old World
similarly favoured in regard to climate, soil,
and situation, the central regions of America
were occupied from a very remote period by
nations which made distinct advances in civi-
lization, and passed through a cycle of revo-
lutions comparable to that of which the
Vulley of the Euphrates and other parts of
Asia were anciently the scene. The useful
arts were known and practised, wealth was
accumulated, social systems exhibiting a cer-
tain refinement and a peculiar complexity
were orgmized, states were established which
flourished, decayed,— either from the effects
of isolation or an inherent incapacity for
continuance,— and were finally overthrown
by invaders, by whom the experiment was
repeated, though not always with equal suc-
cess. Some of these nations passed away,
leaving no trace but their names; others,
whose very names are unknown, left myste-
rious monuments imbedded in the soil or
records that are undecipherable. Of those
that still remain, comprising about a dozen
distinct races speaking a hundred and twenty
different dialects, we have the traditions pre-
served either in their own records or in those
of the Spanish discoverers. The task of con-
structing out of these materials a history
Bhorn of the adornments of mythology and
fable lias been attempted by the Abbe Bras-
seur de Bourbourg (llistoire des Nations civi-
lisees du Mexique et de l'Amerique-Centrale,
durant les Siecles anterieurs a Christophe
Colomb, 4 vols., Paris, 1857-59), and, what-
ever may be thought of the method he has
pursued, his research is unquestionable, and
his views — very different from those which
he has since put forth— merit attention. A
more practical effurt has been made by Don
Manuel Orozco y P.erra to trace the order,
diffusion, and relations of the various races
by the differences, the intermixtures, and the
geographical limits of their languages. (Geo-
graffa de las Lenguas y Carta etnogriifica de
Mexico, precedidas de un Ensayo deClasifica-
cion de las mismas Lenguas yde Apuntespara
las Inmigraciones delas Tribus, Mexico, 1864.)
—En.]
* [Tli£ uncertainty is not diminished by
our being told that tollan, Tullan, Tulan, or
Tula (called also Tlapallan and Huehuetla-
pallan) was the original seat of this people,
Bince we are still left in doubt whether the
country so designated — like Aztlan, the sup-
posed point of departure of the Aztecs -is to
be located in New Mexico, California, the
north-western extremity of America, or in
Asia. M. Brasseur de Bourbourg (whose later
speculations, in which the name plays a con-
spicuous part, will be noticed more appro-
priately in the Appendix) found in the Quiche'
manuscripts mention of four Tollans, one of
them "in the east, on the other side of the
sea." " Rut," he adds, "in what part of the
world is it to be placed ? Cat la encore line
question bien difficile a resoudre." (Hist,
des Nations civili'sees du Mexique, torn. i. pp.
107, 168.) Nor will the etymology much
help us. According to Bu«chmann, Tollan
is derived from tolin, reed, and signifies
"place of reeds," — " Ort der Binsen, Platz
mit Binsen gewachsen, jitneetum." (tlber
die aztekischen Ortsnamen, S. 682.) He refers,
however, to a different derivation, suggested
by a writer who has made it the basis of one
of those extraordinary theories which are pro-
pounded from time to time, to account for the
first diffusion of the human race, and more
particularly for the original settlement of
America. According to this theory, the cradle
of mankind was the Himalayan Mountains.
" But the collective name of these lofty regions
was very anciently designated by appellations
the roots of which were Tal, HI, Tal, meaning
tall, high, ... as it does yet in many lan-
guages, the English, Chinese, and Arabic for
instance. Such were Tolo, T'hala, Talaha,
Tulan, etc., in the old Sanscrit and primitive
languages of Asia. Whence came the Asiatic
Atlas and also the Atlanta of the Greeks,
who, spreading through the world westerly,
gave these names to many other places and
nations. . . . The Talas or Atlantes occupied
or conquered Europe and Africa, nay, went
to America in very early times. . . . In
Greece they became Atalantes, Tolautians of
Epirus, Aetolians. . . . They gave name to
Italy, Attala meaning land eminent, ... to
the Atlantic Ocean, and to the great Atlantis.
or America, called in the Hindu books Atala
or Tala-tolo, the fourth world, where dwelt
giants or powerful men. . . . America is also
filled with their names and deeds from Mexico
and Carolina to Peru : the Tol-tecas, people of
Tol, and Aztlan, Otolum near Palenque.
many towns of Tula and Tolu ; the Talas of
Michuacan, the Matalans, Atalans, Tulukis,
etc., of North America." (C. S. Rafinesque,
Atlantic Journal, Philadelphia, 1832-33.) It
need hardly be added that Tula has also been
identified with the equally unknown and
long-sought-for idtima Thule, with the sim-
plifying effect of bringing two streams of
inquiry into one channel. Meanwhile, by a
3
AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
territory of Anahuac,11 probably before the close of the seventh century. Of
course, little can be gleaned with certainty respecting a people whose written
records have perished, and who are known to us only through the traditionary
legends of the nations that succeeded them.12 By the general agreement of
these, however, the Toltecs were well instructed in agriculture and many of
the most useful mechanic arts ; were nice workers of metals ; invented the
complex arrangement of time adopted by the Aztecs ; and, in short, were the
true fountains of the civilization which distinguished this part of the continent
in later times.13 They established their capital at Tula, north of the Mexican
Valley, and the remains of extensive buildings were to be discerned there at the
time of the Conquest.14 The noble ruins of religious and other edifices, still
to be seen in various parts of New Spain, are referred to this people, whose
name, Toltec, has passed into a synonym for architect}* Their shadowy
with a Toltec manuscript himself, and bad
heard of only one in the possession of Ixtli-
lxochitl. (See his Idea de una nueva His-
toria general de la America Septentrional
(Madrid, 1746), p. 110.) The latter writer
tells us that his account of the Toltec and
Chichimec races was "derived from interpre-
tation " (probably of the Tezcucan paintings),
"and from tbe traditions of old men; " poor
authority for events which had passed cen-
turies before. Indeed, he acknowledges that
their narratives were so full of absurdity and
falsehood that lie was obliged to reject nine-
tenths of them. (See his Relaciones, MS.,
no. 5.) The cause of truth would not have
suffered much, probably, if he had rejected
nine-tenths of the remainder, f
13 Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS. cap. 2.—
Idem, Relaciones, MS., no. 2.— Sahagun, His-
toria general de las Cosas de Nueva Espafia
(Mexico, 1829), lib. 10, cap. 29.— Veytia,
Hist, antig., lib. 1, cap. 27.
11 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, lib.
10, cap. 29.
15 Sahagun, ubi supra. — Torquemada,
Monarch. Ind., lib. 1, cap. 14.
11 Anahuac, according to Humboldt, com-
prehended only the country between the four-
teenth and twenty-first degrees of north
latitude. (Essai politique, torn. i. p. 197.)
According to Clavigero, it included nearly all
Bince known as New Spain. (Stor. del Mes-
sico, torn. i. p. 27.) Veytia uses it, also, as
synonymous with New Spain. (Historia an-
tigua de Mejico (Mejico, 1836), torn. i. cap. 12.)
The first of these writers probably allows too
little, as the latter do too much, for its boun-
daries. Ixtlilxochitl says it extended four
hundred leagues south of the Otomi country.
(Hist. Chichimeca, MS., cap. 73.) The word
Anahuac signifies near the water. It was,
probably, first applied to the country around
the lakes in the Mexican Valley, and gradu-
ally extended to the remoter regions occupied
by the Aztecs and the other semi-civilized
races. Or possibly the name may have been
intended, as Veytia suggests (Hist, antig.,
lib. 1, cap. 1), to denote the land between the
waters of the Atlantic and Pacific*
12 Clavigero talks of Boturini's having
written " on the faith of the Toltec historians."
(Stor. del Messico, torn. i. p. 128.) But that
scholar docs not pretend to have ever met
different kind of criticism, the whole question
is dissipated into thin air, Tollan and Aztlan
being resolved into names of mere mythical
import, and the regions thus designated trans-
ferred from the earth to the bright domain of
the sky, from which the descriptions in the
legends appear to have been borrowed. See
Brinton, Myths of the New World, pp. 88,
89.— Ed.]
* [This suggestion of Veytia is unworthy
of attention,— refuted by the actual applica-
tion and appropriateness of the name, and by
the state of geographical knowledge and ideas
at the period when it must have originated.
A modern traveller, describing the appearance
of the great plains as seen from the summit
of Popocatepetl, remarks, " Even now that
the lakes have shrunk to a fraction of their
former size, we could see the fitness of the
name given in old times to the Valley of
Mexico, Avahuac, that is, By the water-side."
Tylor, Anahuac: or Mexico and the Mexi-
cans, Ancient and Modern (London, 1861), p.
270.— Ed.]
f [Ixtlilxochitl's language does not neces-
sarily imply that he considered any of the
relations he had received as false or absurd,
nor does he say that he had rejected nine-tenths
of them. What he lias written is, he asserts,
" the true history of the Toltecs," though it
does not amount to nine-tenths of the whole
(" de lo que ello fue "), i.e., of what had been
contained in the original records ; these records
having perished, and he himself having
abridged the accounts he had been able to
obtain of their contents, as well for the sake
of brevity as because of the marvellous cha-
racter of the relations ("son tan estrafias las
cosas y tan peregrinas y nunca oidas "). The
sources of his information are also incorrectly
described ; but a further mention of them
will be found in a note at the end of this
Book. -Ed.]
PRIMITIVE RACES.
history reminds us of those primitive races who preceded the ancient Egyptians
in the march of civilization ; fragments of whose monuments, as they are seen
at this day, incorporated with the buildings of the Egyptians themselves, give
to these latter the appearance of almost modern constructions.10
After a period of four centuries, the Toltecs, who had extended their sway
over the remotest borders of Anahuac,17 having been greatly reduced, it is
said, by famine, pestilence, and unsuccessful wars, disappeared from the land
as silently and mysteriously as they had entered it. A few of them still
lingered behind, but much the greater number, probably, spread over the
region of Central America and the neighbouring isles ; and the traveller now
speculates on the majestic ruins of Mitia and Palenque, as possibly the work
of this extraordinary people.18 *
After the lapse of another hundred years, a numerous and rude tribe, called
the Chichimecs, entered the deserted country from the regions of the far
North-west. They were speedily followed by other races, of higher civiliza-
tion, perhaps of the same family with the Toltecs, whose language they appear
to have spoken. The most noted of these were the Aztecs or Mexicans, and
the Acolhuans. The latter, better known in later times by the name of
Tezcucans, from their capital, Tezcuco,19 on the eastern border of the Mexican
lake, were peculiarly fitted, by their comparatively mild religion and manners,
for receiving the tincture of civilization which could be derived from the few
Toltecs that still remained in the country.! This, in their turn, they com-
,r' Description de l'Egypte (Paris, 1809),
Antiquites, torn. i. cap. l. Veytia has traced
the migrations of the Toltecs with sufficient
industry, scarcely rewarded by the neces-
sarily doubtful credit of the results. Hist,
antig., lib. 2, cap. 21-33.
17 Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chicb., M.S., cap. 73.
18 Veytia, Hist, antig., lib. 1, cap. 33.—
Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 3.—
idem, Kelaciones, MS., nos. 4, 5.— Father
Torquemada— perhaps misinterpreting the
Tezcucan hieroglyphics— has accounted for
this mysterious disappearance of the Toltecs
by Buch fee-faw-fum stories of giants and
demons as show 'his appetite for the mar-
vellous was fully equal to that of any of his
calling. See his Monarch. Ind., lib. 1, cap. 14.
19 Tezcuco signifies "place of detention;"
as several of the tribes who successively oc-
cupied Anahuac were said to have halted
* [This supposition, neither adopted nor
rejected in the text, was, as Mr. Tylor re-
marks, " quite tenable at the time that Pres-
cott wrote," being founded on the statements
of early writers and partially supported by
the conclusions of Mr. Stephens, who be-
lieved that the ruined cities of Oaxaca, Chiapa,
Yucatan, ami Guatemala dated from a com-
paratively recent period, and were still flour-
ishing at the time of the Spanish Conquest ;
and that their inhabitants, the ancestors,
as he contends, of the degenerate race that
now occupies the soil, were of the same stock
and spoke the same language as the Mexicans.
(Incidents of Travel in Central America,
Chiapas, and Yucatan.) But these opinions
have been refuted by later investigators.
Orozco y Berra, in an elaborate and satisfac-
tory examination of the question, discusses
all the evidence relating to it, compares the
remains in the southern provinces with those
of the Valley of Mexico, points out the es-
sential differences in the architecture, sculp-
ture, and inscriptions, and arrives at the
conclusion that there was " no point of con-
tact or resemblance " between the two civi-
lizations. He considers that of the 6outhern
provinces, though of a far higher grade, as
long anterior in time to the Toltec domina-
tion,— the work of a people which had passed
away, under the atsaults of barbarism, at a
period prior to all traditions, leaving no name
and no trace of their existence save those
monuments which, neglected and forgotten
by their successors, have become the riddle of
later generations. Geografia de las Lenguas
de Mexico, pp. 122-131. See also. Tylor,
Anahuac, p. 189, et seq.— Ed.]
t [It is difficult to reconcile the two state-
ments that the Toltecs "were the true foun-
tains of the civilization which distinguished
this part of the continent in later times," and
that they "disappeared from the land as
silently and mysteriously as they had entered
it," leaving an interval of more than a cen-
tury before the appearance of the Aztecs and
the Acolhuans. If the latter received from
the former the knowledge of those arts in
which they speedily rivalled them, it must
have been by more direct communication and
transmission than can be inferred from the
mention of a small fraction of the Toltec
population as remaining in the country, — a
fact which has itself the appearance of having
B 2
10
AZTEC CIVILIZATION".
municated to the barbarous Chichimecs, a large portion of whom became
amalgamated with tbe new settlers as one nation.20
Availing themselves of the strength derived, not only from this increase of
numbers, but from their own superior refinement, the Acolhuans gradually
■stretched their empire over the ruder tribes in the north ; while their capital
was rilled with a numerous population, busily employed in many of the more
useful and even elegant arts of a civilized community. In this palmy state,
they were suddenly assaulted by a warlike neighbour, the Tepanecs, their own
kindred, and inhabitants of the same valley as themselves. Their provinces
were overrun, their armies beaten, their king assassinated, and the flourishing
city of Tezcuco became the prize of the victor. From this abject condition
the uncommon abilities of the young prince, Nezahualcoyotl, the rightful heir
to the crown, backed by the efficient aid of his Mexican allies, at length
redeemed the state, and opened to it a new career of prosperity, even more
brilliant than the former.21
The Mexicans, with whom our history is principally concerned, came also,
as we have seen, from the remote regions of the North, — the populous hive of
nations in the New World, as it has been in the Old.* They arrived on the
borders of Anahuac towards the beginning of the thirteenth century, some
time after the occupation of the land by the kindred races. For a long time
they did not establish themselves in any permanent residence, but continued
shifting their quarters to different parts of the Mexican Valley, enduring all
the casualties and hardships of a migratory life. On one occasion they were
enslaved by a more powerful tribe ; but their ferocity soon made them for-
some time at the spot. Ixtlilxochitl, Hist.
Chich., MS., cap. lO.f
20 The historian speaks, in one page, of
the Chichimecs burrowing in caves, or, at
best, in cabins of straw, and, in the next,
talks gravely of their senoras, infantas, and
cdballeros ! i Ibid., cap. 9, et seq.— Veytia,
Hist, antig., lib. 2, cap. 1-10. — -Caniargo,
Historia de Tlascala. MS.
81 Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 9-
20— Veytia, Hist, antig., lib. 2, cap 29-54.
been invented to meet the difficulty. Orozco
y Berra compares this transitional period
with that which followed the overthrow of
the Roman Empire ; but if in the former case
there was, in his own words, "no conquest,
but only an occupation, no war because no
one to contend with," the analogy altogether
fails. Brasseur de Bourbourg reduces the
interval between the departure of the Toltecs
and the arrival of the Chichimecs to a few-
years, and supposes that a considerable
number'of the former inhabitants remained
scattered through the Valley. If, however,
it be allowable to substitute probabilities for
doubtful relations, it is an easier solution to
believe that no interval occurred and that no
emigration took place.— Ed.]
* Some recent writers have contended that
Mexico must have been peopled originally by
migrations from the South. Aztec names
and communities, and traces of Toltec settle-
ments long anterior to the occupation of
Anahuac by the same people, are found in
several parts of Central America. The most
primitive traditions, as well as the remains
of the earliest civilization, belong also to the
same quarter. This latter fact, however, is
considered by Orozco y Berra as itself an
evidence of the migrations having been from
the North, the first comers having been
naturally attracted southward by a warmer
climate and more fertile soil, or pushed on-
ward in this direction by successive invasions
from behind. Contradictory inferences have
in like manner been drawn from the existence
of Aztec remains and settlements in New
Mexico and Arizona. All that can be said
with confidence is that neither of the oppos-
ing theories rests on a secure and sufficient
basis.— Ed.]
_ f [" TJber die Etymologie lasst sich nichts
sicheres sagen," says Buschmann, "so zuver*-
sichtlich auch Prescott, wohl nach Ixtlilxo-
chitl, den Nam en durch place of detention
ubersetzt." Tiber die aztekischen Ortsnamen,
S. 697.— Ed.]
t [The confusion arises from the fact that
the name of Chichimecs, originally that of a
single tribe, and subsequently of its many
offshoots, was also used, like the term bar-
barians in mediaeval Italy, to designate suc-
cessive hordes, of whatever race, being some-
times employed as a mark of contempt, and
sometimes assumed as an honourable appella-
tion. It is found applied to the Gtomies, the
Toltecs, and many other races.— Ed.]
PRIMITIVE RACES. 11
midable to their masters.22 After a series of wanderings and adventures
which need not shrink from comparison with the most extravagant legends of
the heroic ages of antiquity, they at length halted on the south-western borders
of the principal lake, in the year 1325. They there beheld, perched on the
stem of a prickly pear, which shot out from the crevice of a rock that was
washed by the waves, a royal eagle of extraordinary size and beauty, with a
serpent in his talons, and his broad wings opened to the rising sun. They
hailed the auspicious omen, announced by an oracle as indicating the site of their
future city, and laid its foundations by sinking piles into the shallows ; for
the low marshes were half buried under water. On these they erected their
light fabrics of reeds and rushes, and sought a precarious subsistence from
fishing, and from the wild fowl which frequented the waters, as well as from
the cultivation of such simple vegetables as they could raise on their floating
gardens. The place was called Tenochtitlan, in token of its miraculous origin,
though only known to Europeans by its other name of Mexico,* derived from
their war-god, Mexitli.23 The legend of its foundation is still further comme-
morated by the device of the eagle and the cactus, which form the arms of
the modern Mexican republic. Such were the humble beginnings of the
Venice of the Western World.24
The forlorn condition of the new settlers was made still worse by domestic
feuds. A part of the citizens seceded from the main body, and formed a sepa-
rate community on the neighbouring marshes. Thus divided, it was long-
before they could aspire to the acquisition of territory on the main land.
They gradually increased, however, in numbers, and strengthened themselves
yet more by various improvements in their polity and military discipline,
while they established a reputation for courage as well as cruelty in war which
22 These were the Colhuans, not Acolhuans, nation, assigns the following dates to some of
with whom Humboldt, and most writers the prominent events noticed in the text. No
since, have confounded them. + See his Essai two authorities agree on them; and this is
politique, torn. i. p. 414; ii. p. 37. not sirange, considering that Clavigero— the
" Clavigero gives good reasons for pre- most inquisitive of all — does not always agree
ferring the etymology of Mexico above with himself. (Compare his dates for the
noticed, to various others. (See his Stor. del coming of the Acolhuans; torn. i. p. 147, and
Messico, torn. i. p. 168, nota.) The name torn, iv., dissert. 2 :) —
Tenochtitlan signifies tunal (a cactus) on a a.i>.
stone. Esplicacion de la Col. de Mendoza, The Toltecs arrived in Anahuac . . 648
apud Antiq. of Mexico, vol. iv. They abandoned the country . . . . 1051
a* "Datur ha>c venia antiquitati," says The Chichimecs arrived . . . . . 1170
Livy, "ut, miscendo humana divinis, pri- The Acolhuans arrived about . . . 1200
mordia urbium augustiora faciat." Hist., The Mexicans reached Tula . . . 1196
Prsef.— See, for the above paragraph, Col. de They founded Mexico 1325
Mendoza, plate 1, apud Antiq. of Mexico,
vol. i.,— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. See his dissert. 2, sec. 12. In the last date,
10,— Toribio, Historia de los Indios, MS., the one of most importance, he is confirmed
Parte 3, cap. 8,— Veytia, Hist, antig., lib. 2, by the learned Veytia, who differs from him
cap. 15.— Clavigero, after a laborious exami- in all the others. Hist, antig., lib. 2, cap. 15.
* [This is not quite correct, since the form says Buschmann, " ist der crstere mit dem
used in the letters of Cortes and other early Zusatz von atl Wasser, — Wasser Colhuer."
documents is Temixtitan, which is explained (tfber die aztekischen Ortsnamen, S. 690.)
as a corruption of Tenochtitlan. The letters Yet the two tribes, according to* the same
x and ch are convertible, and have the same authority, were entirely distinct, one alone —
sound,— that of the English sh. Mexico is though which, he is unable to determine—
Mexitl with the place-designation, co, tl final being of the Nahuatlac race. Orozco y Berra,
being dropped before an affix. — Ed.] however, makes them both of this stock, the
f [Humboldt, strictly speaking, has not Acolhuans being one of the main branches,
confounded the Colhuans with the Acolhuans, the Colhuans merely the descendants of the
but has written, in the places cited, the latter Toltec remnant in Aimmiac.— Ed.]
name for the former. "Letzterer Name,"
]2 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
made their name terrible throughout the Valley. In the early part of the
Fifteenth century, nearly a hundred years from the foundation of the city, an
event took place which created an entire revolution in the circumstances and,
to some extent, in the character of the Aztecs. This was the subversion of
the Tezcucan monarchy by the Tepanecs, already noticed. When the oppres-
sive conduct of the victors had at length aroused a spirit of resistance, its
prince, Nezahualcoyotl, succeeded, after incredible perils and escapes, in mus-
tering such a force as, with the aid of the Mexicans, placed him on a level
with his enemies. In two successive battles, these were defeated with great
slaughter, their chief slain, and their territory, by one of those sudden reverses
which characterize the wars of petty states, passed into the hands of the con-
querors. It was awarded to Mexico, in return for its important services.
Then was formed that remarkable league, which, indeed, has no parallel in
history. It was agreed between the states of Mexico, Tezcuco, and the neigh-
bouring little kingdom of Tlacopan, that they should mutually support each
other in their wars, offensive and defensive, and that in the distribution of the
spoil one-fifth should be assigned to Tlacopan, and the remainder be divided,
in what proportions is' uncertain, between the other powers. The Tezcucan
writers claim an equal share for their nation with the Aztecs. But this does
not seem to be warranted by the immense increase of territory subsequently
appropriated by the latter. And we may account for any advantage conceded
to them by the treaty, on the supposition that, however inferior they may
have been originally, they were, at the time of making it, in a more prosperous
condition than their allies, broken and dispirited by long oppression. What
is more extraordinary than the treaty itself, however, is the fidelity with Avhich
it was maintained. During a century of uninterrupted warfare that ensued,
no instance occurred where the parties quarrelled over the division of the
spoil, which so often makes shipwreck of similar confederacies among civilized
states.23
The allies for some time found sufficient occupation for their arms in their
own valley ; but they soon overleaped its rocky ramparts, and by the middle
of the fifteenth century, under the first Montezuma, had spread down the
sides of the table-land to the borders of the Gulf of Mexico. Tenochtitlan,
the Aztec capital, gave evidence of the public prosperity. Its frail tenements
were supplanted by solid structures of stone and lime. Its population rapidly
increased. Its old feuds were healed. The citizens who nad seceded were
again brought under a common government with the main body, and the
quarter they occupied was permanently connected with the parent city ; the
dimensions of which, covering the same ground, were much larger than those
of the modern capital of Mexico.26
23 The loyal Tezcucan chronicler claims the Castilian version, bears testimony to the
supreme dignity for his own sovereign, if not singular union of the three powers :
!&JP latlSLSliare ,& *he nSP0i!' by thiS !?; " solo se acordaran en las Naciones
perial compact. (Hist. Chich., cap. 32.)
Torquemada, on the other hand, claims one-
half of all the conquered lands for Mexico.
lo bien que gobernaron
las tres Cabezas que el Imperio honraron.
ua.i 01 ». «w cuKjueieu iaiu> iui xm-xico. Cantares del Emperador .
(Monarch. Ind., lib. 2, cap. 40.) All agree c Nezahualcoyotl MS
in assigning only one-fifth to Tlacopan ; and J\ezanuaicoyou,
Veytia (Hist, antig.. lib. 3, cap. 3) and Zurita =e See the plans of the ancient and modern
(Rapport sur les differentes Classes de Chefs capital, in Bullock's "Mexico," first edition,
de la Nouvelle-Espagne, trad, de Ternaux The original of the ancient map was obtained
(Paris, 1840), p. 11), both very competent by that traveller from the collection of the
critics, acquiesce in an equal division between unfortunate Boturini; if, as seems probable,
the two principal states in the confederacy. it is the one indicated on page 13 of his Cata-
An ode, still extant, of Nezahualcoyotl, in its logue, I find no warrant for Mr. Bullock's
AZTEC EMPIRE— VEYTIA.
13
Fortunately, the throne was filled by a succession of able princes, who knew
how to profit by their enlarged resources and by the martial enthusiasm of the
nation. Year after year saw them return, loaded with the spoils of conquered
cities, and with throngs of devoted captives, to their capital. No state was
able long to resist the accumulated strength of the confederates. At the
beginning of the sixteenth century, just before the arrival of the Spaniards,
the Aztec dominion reached across the continent, from the Atlantic to the
Pacific ; and, under the bold and bloody Ahuitzotl, its arms had been carried
far over the limits already noticed as defining its permanent territory, into the
farthest corners of Guatemala and Nicaragua. This extent of empire, however
limited in comparison with that of many other states, is truly wonderful,
considering it as the acquisition of a people whose whole population and
resources had so recently been comprised within the walls of their own petty
city, and considering, moreover, that the conquered territory was thickly
settled by various races, bred to arms like the Mexicans, and little inferior to
them in social organization. The history of the Aztecs suggests some strong
points of resemblance to that of the ancient Romans, not only in their military
successes, but in the policy which led to them.2'
statement that it was the one prepared for
Cortes by the order of Montezuma.
27 Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. i. lib.
2. — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., torn. i. lib.
2.— Boturini, Idea, p. 146.— Col. of Mendoza,
Part 1, and Codex Telleriano-Remensis, apud
Antiq. of Mexico, vols, i., vi. — Machiavelli
has noticed it as one great cause of the mili-
tary successes of the Romans, "that they
associated themselves, in their wars, with
other states, as the principal," and expresses
his astonishment that a similar policy should
not have been adopted by ambitious republics
in liter times. (See his Discorsi sopra T.
Livio, lib. 2, cap. 4, apud Opere (Geneva,
1798).) This, as we have seen above, was the
very course pursued by the Mexicans.'
The most important contribution, of late
years, to the early history of Mexico is the His-
toriaantigua of the Lie. Don Mariano Veytia,
published in the city of Mexico, in 1836. This
scholar was born of an ancient and highly^
respectable family at Puebla, 1718. Alter
finishing his academic education, he went to
Spain, where he was kindty received at court.
He afterwards visited several other countries
of Europe, made himself acquainted with
their languages, and returned home well stored
with the fruits of a discriminating observation
and diligent study. The rest of his life he
devoted to letters ; especially to the illustra-
tion of the national history and antiquities.
As the executor of the unfortunate Boturini,
with whom he had contracted an intimacy in
Madrid, he obtained access to his valuable
collection of manuscripts in Mexico, and from
them, and every other source which his posi-
tion in society and his eminent character
opened to him, he composed various works,
none of which, however, except the one before
us, has been admitted to the honours of the
press. The time of his death is not given by
his editor, but it was probably not later than
1780.
Veytia's history covers the whole period
from the first occupation of Anahuac to the
middle of the fifteenth century, at which
point his labours were unfortunately termi-
nated by his death. In the early portion he
has endeavoured to trace the migratory move-
ments and historical annals of the principal
races who entered the country. Every page
bears testimony to the extent and fidelity of
his researches ; and, if we feel but moderate
confidence in the results, the fault is not Im-
potable to him, so much as to the dark and
doubtful nature of the subject. As he de-
scends to later ages, lie is more occupied with
the fortunes of the Tezcucan than with those
of the Aztec dynasty, which have been
amply discussed by others of his countrymen.
The premature close of his labours prevented
him, probably, from giving that attention to
the domestic institutions of the people he
describes, to which they are entitled as a most
important subject of inquiry to the historian.
The deficiency has been supplied by his
judicious editor, Orteaga, from other sources.
In the early part of his work, Veytia has
explained the chronological system of the
Aztecs, but, like most writers preceding the
accurate Gama, with indifferent success. As
a critic, he certainly ranks much higher than
the annalists who preceded him, and, when
his own religion is not involved, shows a dis-
criminating judgment. When it is, he betrays
a full measure of the credulity which still
maintains its hold on too many even of the
well-informed of his countrymen. The editor
of the work has given a very interesting
letter from the Abbe Clavigero to Veytia,
14 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
written when the former was a poor and various languages, have spread his fame
humble exile, and in the tone of one addressing throughout Europe ; while the name of Veytia,
a person of high standing and literary emi- whose works have been locked up in their
nence. Both were employed on the same primitive manuscript, is scarcely known
subject. The writings of the poor abbe, pub- beyond the boundaries of Mexico,
lished again and again, and translated into
CHAPTER ir.
SUCCESSION TO THE CROWN— AZTEC NOBILITY— JUDICIAL SYSTEM— LA WS
AND REVENUES— MILITARY INSTITUTIONS.
The form of government differed in the different states of Anahuac. With
the Aztecs and Tezcucans it was monarchical and nearly absolute. The two
nations resembled each other so much in their political institutions that one
of their historians has remarked, in too unqualified a manner indeed, that
what is told of one may be always understood as applying to the other.1 I
shall direct my inquiries to the Mexican polity, borrowing an illustration
occasionally from that of the rival kingdom.
The government was an elective monarchy. Four of the principal nobles,
who had been chosen by their own body in the preceding reign, filled the office
of electors, to whom were added, with merely mi honorary rank, however, the
two royal allies of Tezcuco and Tlacopan. The sovereign was selected from
the brothers of the deceased prince, or, in default of them, from his nephews.
Thus the election was always restricted to the same family. The candidate
preferred must have distinguished himself in war, though, as in the case of
the last Montezuma, he were a member of the priesthood.2 This singular
mode of supplying the throne had some advantages. The candidates received
an education which fitted them for the royal dignity, while the age at which
they were chosen not only secured the nation against the evils of minority,
but afforded ample means for estimating their qualifications for the office.
The result, at all events, was favourable ; since the throne, as already noticed,
was filled by a succession of able princes, well qualified to rule over a Avarlike
and ambitious people. The scheme of election, however defective, argues a
more refined and calculating policy than was to have been expected from a
barbarous nation.3
The new7 monarch was installed in his regal dignity with much parade" of
religious ceremony, but not until, by a victorious campaign, he had obtained
a sufficient number of captives to grace his triumphal entry into the capital
and to furnish victims for the dark and bloody rites which stained the Aztec
superstition. Amidst this pomp of human sacrifice he was crowned. The
crown, resembling a mitre in its form, and curiously ornamented with gold,
gems, and feathers, was placed on his head by the lord of Tezcuco, the most
1 Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 36. Messico, torn. ii. p. 112. — Acosta, Natural.
- This was an exception. — In Egypt, also, and Morall Historie of the East and West
the king was frequently taken from the Indies, Eng. trans. (London, 1004). — Accord-
warrior caste, though obliged afterwards to be ing to Zurita. an election by the nobles took
instructed in the mysteries of the priesthood : place only in default of heirs of the deceased
o <3e 'k fxaxifJibyv uxodedetyfiivoi evSv? kfivtro monarch. (Rapport, p. 15.) The minute
Toil/ itpwv. Plutarch, de Isid. et Osir., sec. 9. historical investigation of Clavigero may be
3 Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 2, cap. permitted to outweigh this general assertion.
IS; lib. 11, cap. 27.— Clavigero, Stor. del
SUCCESSION TO THE CROWN-AZTEC NOBILITY. 15
powerful of his royal allies. The title of King, by which the earlier Aztec-
princes are distinguished by Spanish writers, is supplanted by that of Emperor
in the later reigns, intimating, perhaps, his superiority over the confederated
monarchies of Tlacopan and Tezcuco.4
The Aztec princes, especially towards the close of the dynasty, lived in a
barbaric pomp, truly Oriental. Their spacious palaces were provided with
halls for the different councils who aided the monarch in the transaction of
business. The chief of these was a sort of privy council, composed in part,
probably, of the four ejectors chosen by the nobles after the accession, whose
places, when made vacant by death, were immediately supplied as before. It
was the business of this body, so far as can be gathered from the very loose
accounts given of it, to advise the king, in respect to the government 'of the
provinces, the administration of the revenues, and, indeed, on all great matters
of public interest.5
In the royal buildings were accommodations, also, for a numerous body-
guard of the sovereign, made up of the chief nobility. It is not easy to deter-
mine, with precision, in these barbarian governments, the limits of the several
orders. It is certain there was a distinct class of nobles, with large landed
possessions, who held the most important offices near the person of the prince,
and engrossed the administration of the provinces and cities." Many of these
could trace their descent from the founders of the Aztec monarchy. Accord-
ing to some writers of authority, there were thirty great caciques, who had
their residence, at least a part of the year, in the capital, and who could
muster a hundred thousand vassals each on their estates.7 Without relying
on such wild statements, it is clear, from the testimony of the Conquerors,
that the country was occupied by numerous powerful chieftains, who lived
like independent princes on their domains. If it be true that the kings
encouraged, or, indeed, exacted, the residence of these nobles in the capital,
and required hostages in their absence, it is evident that their power must
have been very formidable.8
Their estates appear to have been held by various tenures, and to have been
subject to different restrictions. Some of them, earned by their own good
swords or received as the recompense of public services, were held without any
limitation, except that the possessors could not dispose of them to a plebeian.9
Others were entailed on the eldest male issue, and, in default of such, reverted
to the crown. Most of them seem to have been burdened with the obligation
* Sahagun, Hi<t. de Nueva-Espafia, lib. 6, 7 See, in particular, Herrera, Historta
cap. 9, 10, 14; lib. 8, cap. 31, 34. —See, also, general de los Hechos de los Castellanos en
Zurita, Rapport, pp. 20-23. — Ixtlilxocbitl las lslas y Tierra firme del Mar Oceano
stoutly claims this supremacy for bis own (Madrid, 1730), dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 12.
nation. (Hist. Cbicb., MS., cap. 34.) His 8 Carta de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, Hist, de
assertions are at variance with facts stated Nueva-Espafia, p. 110. — Torquemada, Mon-
by himself elsewhere, and are not counte- arch. Ind., lib. 2, cap. 89 ; lib. 14, cap. 6. —
nanced by any other writer whom I have Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. p. 121. —
consulted. Zurita. Rapport, pp. 48, 65.— Ixtlilxocbitl
6 Sahagun, who places the elective power (Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 34) speaks of thirty
in a much larger body, speaks of four senators, great feudal chiefs, some of them Tezcucan
who formed a state council. (Hist, de Nueva- and Tlacopan, whom he styles " grandees of
Espafia, lib. 8, cap. 30.) Acosta enlarges the the empire " ! He says nothing of the great
council beyond the number of the electors.* tail of 100,000 vassals to each, mentioned by
(Lib. 6, ch. 26.) No two writers agree. Torquemada and Herrera.
* Zurita enumerates four orders of chiefs, 9 Macehual, — a word equivalent to the
all of whom were exempted from imposts and French word roturier. Nor could fiefs origin-
enjoyed very considerable privileges. He ally be held by plebeians in France. See
does not discriminate the several ranks with Hallam's Middle Ages (London, 1819), vol. ii.
much precision. Rapport, p. 47, et seq. p. 207.
16 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
of military service. The principal chiefs of Tezcuco, according to its chronicler,
were expressly obliged to support their prince with their armed vassals, to
attend his court, and aid him in the council. Some, instead of these services,
were to provide for the repairs of his buildings, and to keep the royal demesnes
in order, with an annual offering, by way of homage, of fruits and flowers. It
was usual, if we are to believe historians, for a new king, on his accession, to
confirm the investiture of estates derived from the crown.10
It cannot be denied that we recognize, in all this, several features of the
feudal system, which, no doubt, lose nothing of their effect under the hands of
the Spanish writers, who are fond of tracing analogies to European institu-
tions. But such analogies lead sometimes to very erroneous conclusions. The
obligation of military service, for instance, the most essential principle of a
fief, seems to be naturally demanded by every government from its subjects.
As to minor points of resemblance, they fall far short of that harmonious
system of reciprocal service and protection which embraced, in nice gradation,
every order of a feudal monarchy. The kingdoms of Anahuac were in their
nature despotic, attended, indeed, with many mitigating circumstances un-
known to the despotisms of the East ; but it is chimerical to look for much in
common— beyond a few accidental forms and ceremonies — with those aristo-
cratic institutions of the Middle Ages which made the court of every petty
baron the precise image in miniature of that of his sovereign.
The legislative power, both in Mexico and Tezcuco, resided wholly with the
monarch. This feature of despotism, however, was in some measure counter-
acted by the constitution of the judicial tribunals,— of more importance,
among a rude people, than the legislative, since it is easier to make good laws
for such a community than to enforce them, and the best laws, badly adminis-
tered, are but a mockery. Over each of the principal cities, with its dependent
territories, was placed a supreme judge, appointed by the crown, with original
and final jurisdiction in both civil and criminal cases. There was no appeal
from his sentence to any other tribunal, nor even to the king. He held his
office during life ; and any one who usurped his ensigns was punished with
death.'1
Below this magistrate was a court, established in each province, and con-
sisting of three members. It held concurrent jurisdiction with the supreme
judge in civil suits, but in criminal an appeal lay to his tribunal. Besides
these courts, there was a body of inferior magistrates, distributed through the
country, chosen by the people themselves in their several districts. Their
authority was limited to smaller causes, while the more important were carried
10 Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., ubi supra. " This magistrate, who was called cihita-
— Zurita, Rapport, ubi supra. — Clavigero, Stor. coatl* was also to audit the accounts of the
del Messico, torn. ii. pp. 122-124. — Torque- collectors of the taxes in his district. (Clavi-
mada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 14, cap. 7. — Gomara, gero, Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. p. 127. —
Cronica de Nueva-Espana, cap. 199, ap. Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 11, cap. 25.)
Barcia, torn, ii.— Boturini (Idea, p. 165) carries The Mendoza Collection contains a painting
back the origin of fiefs in Anahuac to the of the courts of justice under Montezuma,
twelfth century. Carli says, "Le systeme who introduced great changes in them,
politique y etoit feodal." In the next page (Antiq. of Mexico, vol. i., Plate 70.) Ac-
he tells us, "Personal merit alone made the cording to the interpreter, an appeal lay from
distinction of the nobility" ! (Lettres Ameri- them, in certain cases, to the king's council,
caines, trad. Fr. (Paris, 1788), torn. i. let. 11.) Ibid., vol. vi. p. 79.
Carli was a writer of a lively imagination.
* [This word, a compound of cihuatl, species. Its typical application may have had
woman, and coatl, serpent, was the name of reference to justice, or law, as the source of
a divinity, the mythical mother of the human Bocial order.— Ed.]
JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 17
up to the higher courts. There was still another class of subordinate officers,
appointed also by the people, each of whom was to watch over the conduct
of a certain number of families and report any disorder or breach of the
laws to the higher authorities.12
In Tezcuco the judicial arrangements were of a more refined character ; 13
and a gradation of tribunals finally terminated in a general meeting or parlia-
ment, consisting of all the judges, great and petty, throughout the kingdom,
held every eighty days in the capital, over which the king presided in person.
This body determined all suits which, from their importance or difficulty, had
been reserved for its consideration by the lower tribunals. It served, more-
over, as a council of state, to assist the monarch in the transaction of public
business.14
Such are the vague and imperfect notices that can be gleaned, respecting
the Aztec tribunals, from the hieroglyphical paintings still preserved, and
from the most accredited Spanish writers. These, being usually ecclesiastics,
have taken much less interest in this subject than in matters connected with
religion. They find some apology, certainly, in the early destruction of most
of the Indian paintings, from which their information was, in part, to be
gathered.
On the whole, however, it must be inferred that the Aztecs were sufficiently
civilized to evince a solicitude for the rights both of property and of persons.
The law, authorizing an appeal to the highest judicature in criminal matters
only, shows an attention to personal security, rendered the more obligatory by
the extreme severity of their penal code, which would naturally have made
them more cautious of a wrong conviction. The existence of a number of
co-ordinate tribunals, without a central one of supreme authority to control
the whole, must have given rise to very discordant interpretations 'of the law
in different districts. But this is an evil which they shared in common with
most of the nations of Europe.
The provision for making the superior judges wholly independent of the
crown was worthy of an enlightened people. It presented the strongest
barrier that a mere constitution could afford against tyranny. It is not,
indeed, to be supposed that, in a government otherwise so despotic, means
could not be found for influencing the magistrate. But it Avas a great step to
fence round his authority with the sanction of the law ; and no one of the
Aztec monarchs, so far as I know, is accused of an attempt to violate it.
To receive presents or a bribe, to be guilty of collusion in any way with a
suitor, was punished, in a judge, with death. Who, or what tribunal, decided
as to his guilt, does not appear. In Tezcuco this was done by the rest of the
la Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. pp. courts, which in their forms of procedure, he
127, 128. — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., ubi says, were like the Aztec. (Loc. cit.)
eupra. — In this arrangement of the more l* Boturini, Idea, p. 87. — Torquemada,
humble magistrates we are reminded of the Monarch. Ind., lib. 11, cap. 26. — Zurita corn-
Anglo-Saxon hundreds and tithings, especially pares this body to the Castilian cortes. It
the latter, the members of which were to would seem, however, according to him, to
watch over the conduct of the families in have consisted only of twelve principal judges,
their districts and bring the offenders to besides the king. His meaning is somewhat
justice. The hard penalty of mutual re- doubtful. (Rapport, pp. 94, 101, 106.) M.
sponsibility was not known to the Mexicans. de Humboldt, in his account of the Aztec
13 Zurita, so temperate, usually, in his courts, has confounded them with the Tez-
language, remarks that, in the capital, " Tribu- cucan. Comp. Vues des Cordilleres et Monu-
nal8 were instituted which might compare in mens des Teuples indigenes de l'Amerique
their organization with the royal audiences (Paris, 1810), p. 55, and Clavigero, Stor. del
of Castile." (Rapport, p. 93.) His observa- Messico, torn. ii. pp. 128, 129.
tions are chiefly drawn from the Tezcucan
18 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
court. But the king presided over that body. The Tezcucan prince Nezahu-
alpilli, who rarely tempered justice with mercy, put one judge to death for
taking a bribe, and another for determining suits in his own house,— a capital
offence, also, by law.15
The judges of the higher tribunals were maintained from the produce of a
part of the crown lands, reserved for this purpose. They, as well as the
supreme judge, held their offices for life. The proceedings in the courts were
conducted with decency and order. The judges wore an appropriate dress,
and attended to business both parts of the day, dining ahvays, for the sake
of despatch, in an apartment of the same building where they held their
session ; a method of proceeding much commended by the Spanish chroniclers,
to whom despatch was not very familiar in their own tribunals. Officers
attended to preserve order, and others summoned the parties and produced
them in court. No counsel was employed ; the parties stated their own case
and supported it by their witnesses. The oath of the accused was also
admitted in evidence. The statement of the case, the testimony, and the
proceedings of the trial were all set forth by a clerk, in hieroglypliical paint-
ings, and handed over to the court. The paintings were executed with so
much accuracy that in all suits respecting real property they were ahWed
to be produced as good authority in the Spanish tribunals, very long after
the Conquest ; and a chair for their study and interpretation was* established
at Mexico in 1553, which has long since shared the fate of most other
provisions for learning in that unfortunate country.16
A capital sentence was indicated by a line traced with an arrow across the
portrait of the accused. In Tezcuco, where the king presided in the court,
this, according to the national chronicler, was done with extraordinary parade.
His description, which is of rather a poetical cast, I give in his own words.
" In the royal palace of Tezcuco was a court-yard, on the opposite sides of
which Avere two halls of justice. In the principal one, called the 'tribunal of
God,' was a throne of pure gold, inlaid with turquoises and other precious
stones. On a stool in front was placed a human skull, crowned with an
immense emerald of a pyramidal form, and surmounted by an aigrette of
brilliant plumes and precious stones. The skull was laid on a heap of military
weapons, shields, quivers, bows, and arrows. The walls were hung with
tapestry, made of the hair of different wild animals, of rich and various
colours, festooned by gold rings and embroidered with figures of birds and
flowers. Above the throne was a canopy of variegated plumage, from the
centre of which shot forth resplendent rays of gold and jewels. The other
tribunal, called ' the King's,' was also surmounted by a gorgeous canopy of
feathers, on which were emblazoned the royal arms. Here the sovereign gave
public audience and communicated his despatches. But when he decided
important causes, or confirmed a capital sentence, he passed to the ' tribunal
of God,' attended by the fourteen great lords of the realm, marshalled accord-
ing to their rank. Then, putting on his mitred crown, in crusted with precious
stories, and holding a golden arrow, by way of sceptre, in his left hand, he laid
li "If this should be done now. what an gun. Hist, de Nueva-Espaiia, loc. cit— Hum-
excellent thing it would be ! " exclaims Saha- boldt, Vues des Cordilleres, pp. 55, 56.—
gun's Mexican editor. Hist, de Nueva-Es- Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 11, cap. 25.
pafia, torn. ii. p. 304, nota.— Zurita, Rapport, — Clavigero says the accused might free him-
p. 102. — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., ubi self by oath: "il reo poteva purgarsi col
supra. — Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. giuramento." (Stor. del Messico, torn. ii.
t>7. p. 129.) What rogue, then, could ever have
16 Zurita, Rapport, pp. 95, 100, 103.— Saha- been convicted?
LAWS AND REVENUES. 19
his right upon the skull^ and pronounced judgment," 17 All this looks rather
fine for a court of justice, it must be owned. But it is certain that the Tezcu-
cans, as we shall see hereafter, possessed both the materials and the skill
requisite to work them up in this manner. Had they been a little further
advanced in refinement, one might well doubt their having the bad taste to
do so.
The laws of the Aztecs were registered, and exhibited to the people, in their
hieroglyphical paintings. Much the larger part of them, as in every nation
imperfectly civilized, relates rather to the security of persons than of property.
The great crimes against society were all made capital. Even the murder
of a slave was punished with death. Adulterers, as among the Jews, were
stoned to death. Thieving, according to the degree of the offence, was
punished by slavery or death. Yet the Mexicans could have been under no
great apprehension of this crime, since the entrances to their dwellings were
not secured by bolts or fastenings of any kind. It was a capital offence to
remove the boundaries of another's lands ; to alter the established measures ;
and for a guardian not to be able to give a good account of his ward's property.
These regulations evince a regard for equity in dealings, and for private rights,
which argues a considerable progress in civilization. Prodigals, who squan-
dered their patrimony, were punished in like manner ; a severe sentence, since
the crime brought its adequate punishment along with it. Intemperance,
which was the burden, moreover, of their religious homilies, was visited with
the severest penalties ; as if they had foreseen in it the consuming canker of
their own as well as of the other Indian races in later times. It was punished
in the young with death, and in older persons with loss of rank and confisca-
tion of property. Yet a decent conviviality was not meant to be proscribed
at their festivals, and they possessed the means of indulging it, in a mild
fermented liquor, called pulque, which is still popular, not only with the
Indian, but the European population of the country.18
The rites of marriage were celebrated with as much formality as in any
Christian country ; and the institution was held in such reverence that a
tribunal was instituted for the sole purpose of determining questions relating
to it. Divorces could not be obtained until authorized by a sentence of this
court, after a patient hearing of the parties.
But the most remarkable part of the Aztec code was that relating to slavery.
There were several descriptions of slaves : prisoners taken in war, who were
almost always reserved for the dreadful doom of sacrifice ; criminals, public
debtors, persons who, from extreme poverty, voluntarily resigned their freedom,
and children who were sold by their own parents. In the last instance, usually
occasioned also by poverty, it was common for the parents, with the master's
consent, to substitute others of their children successively, as they grew up ;
thus distributing the burden as equally as possible among the different
members of the family. The willingness of freemen to incur the penalties of
'" Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chicli., MS., cap. 36. thought they were greatly erred. (Rapport,
—These various ohjects had a symbolical p. 112.") M. Ternaux's translation of a pas-
meaning, according to Boturini, Idea, p. s4. sage of the Anonymous Conqueror, " aucun
18 Paintings of the Mendoza Collection, PI. peuple n'est aussi sobre" (Recueil de Pieces
72, and Interpretation, ap. Antiq. of Mexico, relatives a la Conquete du Mexique, ap.
vol. vi. p. ST.— Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., Voyages, etc. (Paris, 1838), p. 54), may give
lib. 12, cap. 7.— Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, a more favourable impression, however, than
torn. ii. pp. 130-134. — Camargo, Hist, de that intended by his original, whose remark
Tlascala, MS.— They could scarcely have been is confined to abstemiousness in eating. See
an intemperate people, with these heavy the Relatione, ap. Ramusio, Raccolta delle
penalties hanging over them. Indeed, Zurita Navigationi et Viaggi (Venetia, 1554-1565).
bears testimony that those Spaniards who
20 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
this condition is explained by the mild form in which it existed. The contract
of sale was executed in the presence of at least four witnesses. The services
to be exacted were limited with great precision. The .slave was allowed to
have his own family, to hold property, and even other slaves. His children
were free. No one could be born to slavery in Mexico ; 19 an honourable dis-
tinction, not known, I believe, in any civilized community where slavery has
been sanctioned.20 Slaves were not sold by their masters, unless when these
were driven to it by poverty. They were often liberated by them at their
death, and sometimes, as there was no natural repugnance founded on differ-
ence of blood and race, were married to them. Yet a refractory or vicious
slave might be led into the market, with a collar round his neck, which
intimated his bad character, and there be publicly sold, and, on a second sale,
reserved for sacrifice.21
Such are some of the most striking features of the Aztec code, to which the
Tezcucan bore great resemblance.22 With some exceptions, it is stamped with
the severity, the ferocity indeed, of a rude people, hardened by familiarity with
scenes of blood, and relying on physical instead of moral means for the correc-
tion of evil.23 Still, it evinces a profound respect for the great principles of
morality, and as clear a perception of these principles as is to be found in the
most cultivated nations.
The royal revenues were derived from various sources. The crown lands,
which appear to have been extensive, made their returns in kind. The places
in the neighbourhood of the capital were bound to supply workmen and
materials for building the king's palaces and keeping them in repair. They
were also to furnish fuel, provisions, and whatever was necessary for his
ordinary domestic expenditure, which was certainly on no stinted scale.24 The
principal cities, which had numerous villages and a large territory dependent
on them, were distributed into districts, with each a share of the lands allotted
to it, for its support. The inhabitants paid a stipulated part of the produce
to the crown. The vassals of the great chiefs, also, paid a portion of their
earnings into the public treasury ; an arrangement not at all in the spirit of
the feudal institutions.-25
19 In ancient Egypt the child of a slave the latter days of the empire. Zurita, Rap-
was born free, if the father were free. (Dio- port, p. 95.
dorus, Bibl. Hist., lib. 1, sec. 80.) This, ** In this, at least, they did not resemble
though more liberal than the code of most the Romans; of whom their countryman
countries, fell short of the Mexican. • could boa6t, "Gloriari licet, nulli gentium
20 In Egypt the same penalty was attached mitiores placuisse pcenas." Livy, Hist., lib.
to the murder of a slave as to that of a free- 1, cap. 28.
man. (Ibid., lib. 1, sec. 77.) Robertson -' The Tezcucan revenues were, in like
speaks of a class of slaves held so cheap in manner, paid in the produce of the country,
the eye of the Mexican law that one might The various branches of the royal expendi-
kill them with impunity. (History of Ame- ture were defrayed by specified towns and
rica (ed. London, 1776), vol. iii. p. 164.) districts ; and the whole arrangements here,
This, however, was not in Mexico, but in and in Mexico, bore a remarkable resem-
Nicaragua (see his own authority, Herrera, blance to the financial regulations of the
Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 4, cap. 2), a distant Persian empire, as reported by the Greek
country, not incorporated in the Mexican writers (see Herodotus, Clio, sec. 192) ; with
empire, and with laws and institutions very this difference, however, that the towns of
different from those of the latter. Persia proper were not burdened with tri-
-' Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 12, cap. butes, like the conquered cities. Idem.
15; lib. 14, cap. 16, 17.— Sahagun, Hist, de Thalia, sec. 97.
Nueva-Espana, lib. 8, cap. 14.— Clavigero, -- Lorenzana, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, p.
Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. pp. 134-136. 172. — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 2,
" Ixtlilxochitl, Hist Chich., MS., cap. 38, cap. 89; lib. 14, cap. 7.— Boturini, Idea, p.
and Relaciones, MS. — The Tezcucan code, 166.— Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— Her-
indeed, as digested under the great Nezahual- rera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 13. —
coyotl, formed the basis of the Mexican, in The people of the provinces were distributed
LAWS AND REVENUES.
21
In addition to this tax on all the agricultural produce of the kingdom, there
was another on its manufactures. Tlie nature and the variety of the tributes
will be best shown by an enumeration of some of the principal articles. These
were cotton dresses, and mantles of feather-work exquisitely made ; orna-
mented armour ; vases and plates of gold ; gold dust, bands and bracelets ;
crystal, gilt, and varnished jars and goblets ; bells, arms, and utensils of copper ;
reams of paper ; grain, fruits, copal, amber, cochineal, cacao, wild animals and
birds, timber, lime, mats, etc.2'1 In this curious medley of the most homely
commodities and the elegant superfluities of luxury, it is singular that no
mention should be made of silver, the great staple of the country in later times,
and the use of which was certainly known to the Aztecs.27
Garrisons were established in the larger cities,— probably those at a distance
and recently conquered,— to keep down revolt, and to enforce the payment of
the tribute.28 Tax-gatherers were also distributed throughout the kingdom,
who were recognized by their official badges, and dreaded from the merciless
rigour of their exactions. By a stern lawr, every defaulter was liable to be
taken and sold as a slave. In the capital were spacious granaries and ware-
houses for the reception of the tributes. A receiver-general was quartered in
the palace, who rendered in an exact account of the various contributions, and
watched over the conduct of the inferior agents, in whom the least malversa-
tion was summarily punished. This functionary was furnished with a map of
the whole empire, with a minute specification of the imposts assessed on every
part of it. These imposts, moderate under the reigns of the early princes,
became so burdensome under those at the close of the dynasty, being rendered
into calpulli, or tribes, who held tbo lands
of the neighbourhood in common. Officers
of their own appointment parcelled out those
lands among the several families of the cal-
pulli-; and on the extinction or removal of
a family its lands reverted to the common
stock, to be again distributed. The indi-
vidual proprietor bad no power to alienate
them. The laws regulating these matters
were very precise, and had existed ever since
the occupation of the country by the Aztecs.
Zurita, Rapport, pp. 51-G2.
M The following items of the tribute fur-
nished by different cities will give a more
precise idea of its nature : — 2d chests of
ground chocolate ; 40 pieces of armour, of a
particular device ; 2400 loads of large mantles,
of twisted cloth ; 800 loads of small mantles,
of rich wearing-apparel ; 5 pieces of armour,
of rich feathers ; 60 pieces of armour, of com-
mon feathers ; a chest of beans ; a chest of
chian; a chest of maize; 8000 reams of paper;
likewise 2000 loaves of very white salt, re-
fined in the shape of a mould, for the con-
sumption only of the lords of Mexico ; 8000
lumps of unrefined copal ; 400 small baskets
of white refined copal ; 100 copper axes ; 80
loads of red chocolate ; 800 zicaras, out of
which they drank chocolate; a little vessel
of small turquoise stones ; 4 chests of timber,
full of maize; 4000 loads of lime; tiles of
gold, of the size of an oyster, and as thick as
the finger ; 40 bags of cochineal ; 20 bags of
gold dust, of the finest quality; a diadem
of gold, of a specified pattern ; 20 lip-jewels
of clear amber, ornamented with gold ; 200
loads of chocolate ; 100 pots or jars of liquid-
amber ; 800t) handfuJs of rich scarlet feathers ;
40 tiger skins; 1600 bundles of cotton, etc.,
etc. Col. de Mendoza, part 2, ap. Antiq. of
Mexico, vols, j., vi.
- Mapa de Tributos, ap. Lorenzana, Hist,
de >Jueva-Espana. — Tribute-roll, ap. Antiq.
of Mexico, vol. i., and Interpretation, vol.
vi., pp. 17-44. — The Mendoza Collection, in
the Bodleian Library at Oxford, contains a
roll of the cities of the Mexican empire, with
the specific tributes exacted from them. It
is a copy made alter the Conquest, with a
pen, on European paper. (See Foreign
Quarterly Review, Is'o. XVII. Art. 4.) An
original painting of the same roll was in
Boturini's museum. Lorenzana has given
us engravings of it, in which the outlines of
the Oxford copy are filled up, though some-
what rudely. Clavigero considers the expla-
nations in Lorenzana's edition very inaccurate
(Stor. del Messico, torn. i. p. 25), a judgment
confirmed by Aglio, who has transcribed the
entire collection of the Mendoza papers, in
the first volume of the Antiquities of Mexico.
It would have much facilitated reference to
his plates if they had been numbered;— a
strange omission !
118 The caciques, who submitted to the
allied arms, were usually confirmed in their
authority, and the conquered places allowed
to retain their laws and usages. (Zurita,
Rapport, p. 67.) The conquests were not
always partitioned, but sometimes, singularly
enough, were held in common by the three
powers. Ibid., p. 11.
2-2 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
still move oppressive by the manner of collection, that they bred disaffection
throughout the land, and prepared the way for its conquest by the Spaniards.2'
Communication was maintained with the remotest parts of the country by
means of couriers. Post-houses were established on the great roads, about
two leagues distant from each other. The courier, bearing his despatches in
the form of a hieroglyphical painting, ran with them to the first station,
where they were taken by another messenger and carried forward to the next,
and so on till they reached the capital. These couriers, trained from child-
hood, travelled with incredible swiftness, — not four or rive leagues an hour,
as an old chronicler would make us believe, but with such speed that
despatches were carried from one to two hundred miles a day.30 Fresh fish
was frequently served at Montezuma's table in twenty-four hours from the
time it had been taken in the Gulf of Mexico, two hundred miles from the
capital. In this way intelligence of the movements of the royal armies was
rapidly brought to court ; and the dress of the courier, denoting by its colour
the nature of his tidings, spread joy or consternation in the towiis through
which he passed.31
But the great aim of the Aztec institutions, to which private discipline and
public honours wTere alike directed, w^as the profession of arms. In Mexico,
as in Egypt, the soldier shared with the priest the highest consideration.
The king, as wTe have seen, must be an experienced warrior. The tutelary
deity of the Aztecs wras the god of war. A great object of their military ex-
peditions was to gather hecatombs of captives for his altars. The soldier who
fell in battle was transported at once to the region of ineffable bliss in the
bright mansions of the Sun.32 Every war, therefore, became a crusade ; and
the warrior, animated by a religious enthusiasm like that of the early Saracen
or the Christian crusader, was not only raised to a contempt of danger, but
courted it, for the imperishable crown of martyrdom. Thus we find the same
impulse acting in the most opposite quarters of the globe, and the Asiatic, the
European, and the American, each earnestly invoking the holy name of
religion in the perpetration of human butchery.
The question of war wras discussed in a council of the king and his chief
nobles. Ambassadors were sent, previously to its declaration, to require the
20 Col. of Mendoza, ap. Antiq. of Mexico, 31 Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 14,
vol. vi. p. 17. — Carta de Cortes, ap. Loren- cap. 1. — The same wants led to the same
zana, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, p. 110.— Tor- expedients in ancient Rome, and still more
quemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 14, cap. 6, 8. — ancient Persia. "Nothing in the world is
Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 13. borne so swiftly," says Herodotus, "as mes-
— Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, lib. 8, sages by the Persian couriers;" which his
cap. 18, 19. commentator Valckenaer prudently qualifies
•'° The Hon. C. A. Murray, whose imper- by the exception of the carrier-pigeon. (He-
turbable good humour under real troubles rodotus, Hist., Urania, sec. 98, nee ■ non Adnot.
forms a contrast, rather striking, to the ed. Schweighauser.) Couriers are noticed, in
sensitiveness of some of his predecessors to the thirteenth century, in China, by Marco
imaginary ones, tells us, among other marvels, Polo. Their stations were only three miles
that an Indian of his party travelled a bun- apart, and they accomplished five days' jour-
dred miles in four-and-twenty hours. (Tra- ney in one. (Viaggi di Marco Polo, lib. 2,
vels in North America (New York, 1839), cap. 20, ap. Ramusio, torn, ii.) A similar
vol. i. p. 193.) The Greek who, according arrangement for posts subsists there at the
to Plutarch, brought the news of victory to present day, and excites the admiration of a
Platan, a hundred and twenty-five miles, in modern traveller. (Anderson, British Em-
a day, was a better traveller still. Some bassy to China (London, 1796), p. 282.) In
interesting facts on the pedestrian capabili- all these cases, the posts were for the use of
ties of man in the savage state are collected government only.
by Buffon, who concludes, truly enough, 32 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, lib. 3,
" L'homme civilise ne connatt pas ses forces." Apend., cap. 3.
(Histoire naturelle : De la Jeunesse.)
MILITARY INSTITUTIONS. 23
hostile state to receive the Mexican gods and to pay the customary tribute.
The persons of ambassadors were held sacred throughout Anahuac. They
were lodged and entertained in the great towns at the public charge, and were
everywhere received with courtesy, so long as they did not deviate from the
high-roads on their route. When they did, they forfeited their privileges. If
the embassy proved unsuccessful, a defiance, or open declaration of war, was
sent ; quotas were drawn from the conquered provinces, which were always
subjected to military service, as well as the payment of taxes ; and the royal
army, usually with the monarch at its head, began its march.33
The Aztec princes made use of the incentives employed by European
monarchs to excite the ambition of their followers. They established various
military orders, each having its privileges and peculiar insignia. There seems,
also, to have existed a sort of knighthood, of inferior degree. It was the
cheapest reward of martial prowess, and whoever had not reached it was
excluded from using ornaments on his arms or his person, and obliged to wear
a coarse white stuff, made from the threads of the aloe, called nequen. Even
the members of the royal family were not excepted from this law, which
reminds one of the occasional practice of Christian knights, to wear plain
armour, or shields without device, till they had achieved some doughty feat of
chivalry. Although the military orders were thrown open to all, it is probable
that they were chiefly filled with persons of rank, who, by their previous
training and connections, were able to come into the held under peculiar
advantages.*'
The dress of the higher warriors was picturesque and often magnificent.
Their bodies were covered with a close vest of quilted cotton, so thick as to
be impenetrable to the light missiles of Indian warfare. This garment was
so light and serviceable that it was adopted by the Spaniards. The wealthier
chiefs sometimes wore, instead of this cotton mail, a cuirass made of thin
plates of gold or silver. Over it was thrown a surcoat of the gorgeous feather-
work in which they excelled.35 Their helmets were sometimes of wood,
fashioned like the heads of wild animals, and sometimes of silver, on the top
of which waved a panache of variegated plumes, sprinkled with precious
stones and ornaments of gold. They wore also collars, bracelets, and ear-rings
of the same rich materials.38
Their armies were divided into bodies of eight thousand men ; and these,
again, into companies of three or four hundred, each with its own commander.
The national standard, which has been compared to the ancient Roman,
displayed, in its embroidery of gold and feather-work, the armorial ensigns of
** Zurita, Rapport, pp. 68, 120.— Col. of Other?, of higher office, were arrayed
Mendoza, ap. Antiq. of Mexico, vol. i. PI. In feathery breastplates, of more gorgeous
67; vol. vi. p. 74. — Torquemada, Monarch. hue
Inch, lib. 14, cap. l. — The reader will find a Than the gay plumage of the mountain-cock,
remarkable resemblance to these military Than the pheasant's glittering pride. But
usages in those of the early Romans. Comp. what were these,
Liv., Hist., lib. 1, cap. 32; lib. 4, cap. 30, Or what the thin gold hauberk, when op-
et alibi. posed
** Ibid., lib. 14, cap. 4, 5. — Acosta, lib. 6, To arms like ours in battle ? "
ch. 20. — Col. of Mendoza, ap. Antiq. of Madoc, Part 1, canto 7.
Mexico, vol. i. PI. 65 ; vol. vi. p. 72.— Ca- t> , .- , ... . ~ , , . .
murgo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. Beautiful painting ! One may doubt, how-
6 ' ever, the propriety of the Welshman 3 vaunt,
■■' " Their mail, if mail it may be called, was before the use of fire-arms.
woven ** Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, lib. 2,
Of vegetable down, like finest flax, cap. 27; lib. 8, cap. 12. — Relatione d'un
Bleached to the whiteness of new-fallen gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii. p. 305.
snow. —Torquemada, Monarch. Lid., ubi supra.
'24 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
the state. These were significant of its name, which, as the names of both
persons and places were borrowed from some material object, was easily
expressed b*y hieroglyphical symbols. The companies and the great chiefs
had also their appropriate banners and devices, and the gaudy hues of their
many-coloured plumes gave a dazzling spendour to the spectacle.
Their tactics were such as belong to a nation with whom Avar, though a
trade, is not elevated to the rank of a science. They advanced singing, and
shouting their war-cries, briskly charging the enemy, as rapidly retreating,
and making use of ambuscades, sudden surprises, and the light skirmish of
guerilla warfare. Yet their discipline was such as to draw forth the en-
comiums of the Spanish conquerors. " A beautiful sight it was," says one of
them, " to see them set out on their march, all moving forward so gayly, and
in so admirable order ! ;' 37Y In battle they did not seek to kill their enemies,
so much as to take them prisoners ; and they never scalped, like other North
American tribes. The valour of a warrior was estimated by the number
of his prisoners ; and no ransom was large enough to save the devoted
captive.38 /
Their military code bore the same stern features as their other laws. Dis-
obedience of orders was punished with death. It was death, also, for a soldier
to leave his colours, to attack the enemy before the signal was given, or to
plunder another's booty or prisoners. One of the last Tezcucan princes, in
the spirit of an ancient Roman, put two sons to death — after having cured
their wounds — for violating the last-mentioned law.39
I must not omit to notice here an institution the introduction of which in
the Old World is ranked among the beneficent fruits of Christianity. Hos-
pitals were established in the principal cities, for the cure of the sick and the
permanent refuge of the disabled soldier ; and surgeons were placed over
them, "who were so far better than those in Europe," says an old chronicler,
" that they did not protract the cure in order to increase the pay." 40
Such is the brief outline of the civil and military polity of the ancient
Mexicans ; less perfect than could be desired in regard to the former, from
the imperfection of the sources whence it is drawn. Whoever has had
occasion to explore the early history of modern Europe has found how vague
and unsatisfactory is the political information which can be gleaned from the
gossip of monkish annalists. How much is the difficulty increased in the
present instance, where this information, first recorded in the dubious
language of hieroglyphics, was interpreted in another language, with which
the Spanish chroniclers were imperfectly acquainted, while it related to
institutions of which their past experience enabled them to form no adequate
'conception ! Amidst such uncertain lights, it is in vain to expect nice
accuracy of detail. All that can be done is to attempt an outline of the more
prominent features, that a correct impression, so far as it goes, may be pro-
duced on the mind of the reader
37 Relatione d'un gentil' huomo, ubi supra. the same manner as our North American
38 Col. of Mendoza, ap. Antiq. of Mexico, Indians. (Herodot., Hist., Melpomene, sec.
vol. i. PI. 65, 66; vol. vi. p. 73.— Sahagun, 64.) Traces of the same savage custom are
Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, lib. 8, cap. 12. — also found in the laws of the Visigoths,
Turibio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte I. among the Franks, and even the Anglo-
cap. 7. — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 14, Saxons. See Guizot, Cours d'Histoire mo
cap. 3. — Relatione d'un gentil' huomo, ap. derne (Paris, 1829), torn. i. p. 283.
Ramusio, loc. cit.— Scalping may claim high 3S Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS. cap. 67.
authority, or, at least, antiquity. The Father 4° Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., fib. 12,
of History gives an account of it among the cap. 6 ; lib. 14, cap. 3.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist.
Scythians, showing that they performed the Chich., MS., cap; 36.
operation, and wore the hideous trophy, in
AZTEC CIVILIZATION. r»
Enough has been said, however, to show that the Aztec and Tezcucan races
were advanced in civilization very far beyond the wandering tribes of North
America.41 The degree of civilization wliich they had reached, as inferred by
their political institutions, may be considered, perhaps, not much short of that
enjoyed by our Saxon ancestors under Alfred. In respect to the nature of
it; they may be better compared with the Egyptians ; and the examination
of their social relations and culture may suggest still stronger points of
resemblance to that ancient people.
Those familiar with the modern .Mexicans will find it difficult to conceive
that the nation should ever have been capable of devising the enlightened
polity which we have been considering. But they should remember that in
the Mexicans of our day they see only a conquered race ; as different from
their ancestors as are the modern Egyptians from those who built, — I will not
say, the tasteless pyramids,— but the temples and palaces whose magnificent
wrecks strew the borders of the Nile, at Luxor and Karnac. The difference
is not so great as between the ancient Greek, and his degenerate descendant,
lounging among the masterpieces of art which he has scarcely taste enough to
admire, — speaking the language of those still more imperishable monuments
of literature which he has hardly capacity to comprehend. Yet he breathes
the same atmosphere, is warmed by the same sun, nourished by the same scenes,
as those who fell at Marathon and won the trophies of Olympic Pisa. The
same blood flows in his veins that flowed in theirs. But ages of tyranny have
passed over him ; he belongs to a conquered race.
The American Indian has something peculiarly sensitive in his nature.
He shrinks instinctively from the rude touch of a foreign hand. Even when
this foreign influence 'comes in the form of civilization, he seems to sink and
pine away beneath it. It has been so with the Mexicans. Under the
Spanish domination, their numbers have silently melted away. Their energies
are broken. They no longer tread their mountain plains with the conscious
independence of their ancestors. In their faltering step and meek and
melancholy aspect we read the sad characters of the conquered race. The
cause of humanity, indeed, has gained. They live under a better system of
lawSj a more assured tranquillity, a purer faith. But all does not avail Their
civilization was of the hardy character which belongs to the wilderness. The
fierce virtues of the Aztec were all his own. They refused to submit to
European culture, — to be engrafted on a foreign stock. His outward form,
41 Zurita is indignant at the epithet of Aztec laws and institutions, and on that of
barbarians bestowed on the Aztecs; an epi- the modifications introduced by the Spaniards.
thet, he says, "which could come from no Much of his treatise is taken up with the
one who had personal knowledge of the latter subject. In what relates to the former
capacity of the people, or their institutions, he is more brief than could be wished, from
and which in some respects is quite as well the difficulty, perhaps, of obtaining full and
merited by the European nations." (Rap- satisfactory information as to the details,
port, p. 200, et seq.) This is strong language. As far as he goes, however, he manifests a
Yet no one had better means of knowing sound and discriminating judgment. He is
than this eminent jurist, who for nineteen very rarely betrayed into the extravagance
years held a post in the royal audiences of of expression so visible in the writers of the
New Spain. During his long residence in time ; and this temperance, combined with
the country he had ample opportunity of his uncommon sources of information, makes
acquainting himself with its usages, both his work cue of highest authority on the
through his own personal observation and limited topics within its range. The original
intercourse with the natives, and through the manuscript was consulted by Clavigero, and,
first missionaries who came over after the indeed, has been used by other writers. The
Conquest. On his return to Spain, probably work is now accessible to all, as one of the
about 15G0, he occupied himself with an series of translations from the pen of the iu-
answer to queries which had been propounded defatigable Ternaux.
by the government, on the character of the
26
TORQUEMADA.
his complexion, his lineaments, are substantially the same ; but the moral
characteristics of the nation, all that constituted its individuality as a race,
are effaced for ever.
Two of the principal authorities for this
chapter are Torquemada and Clavigero. The
former, a Provincial of the Franciscan order,
came to the New World about the middle of
the sixteenth century. As the generation of
the Conquerors had not then passed away,
he had ample opportunities of gathering the
particulars of their enterprise from their own
lips. Fifty years, during which he continued
in the country, put him in possession of the
traditions and usages of the natives, and
enabled him to collect their history from the
earliest missionaries, as well as from such
monuments as the fanaticism of his own
countrymen had not then destroyed. From
these ample sources he compiled his bulky
tomes, beginning, after the approved fashion
of the ancient Castilian chroniclers, with the
creation of the world, and embracing the
whole circle of the Mexican institutions, po-
litical, religious, and social, from the earliest
period to his own time. In handling these
fruitful themes, the worthy father has. shown
a full measure of the bigotry which belonged
to his order at that period. Every page, too,
is loaded with illustrations from Scripture or
profane history, which form a whimsical con-
trast to the barbaric staple of his story; and
he has sometimes fallen into serious errors,
from his misconception of the chronological
system of the Aztecs. But, notwithstanding
these glaring defects in the composition of
the work, the student, aware of his author's
infirmities, will find few better guides than
Torquemada in tracing the stream of historic
truth up to the fountain-head; such is his
manifest integrity, and so great were his
facilities for information on the most curious
points of Mexican antiquity. No work, ac-
oordingty, has been more largely consulted
and copied, even by some who, like Herrera,
have affected to set little value on the sources
Avhence its information was drawn. (Hist.
general, dec. 6, lib. 6, cap. 19.) The Mo-
narchal Indiana was first published at Seville,
1615 (Nie, Antonio, Bibliotheca Nova (Ma-
triti, 1783), torn. ii. p. 787), and since, in a
better style, in three volumes folio, at Ma-
drid, in 1723.
The other authority, frequently cited in
the preceding pages, is the Abbe Clavigero's
Storia antica del Messico. It was originally
printed towards the close of the last century,
in the Italian language, and in Italy, whither
the author, a native of Vera Cruz, and a
member of the order of the Jesuits, had re-
tired, on the expulsion of that body from
Spanish America, in 1767. During a resi-
dence of thirty-five years in his own country,
Clavigero had made himself intimately ac-
quainted with its antiquities, by the careful
examination of paintings, manuscripts, and
such other remains as were to be found in
his day. The plan of his work is nearly as
comprehensive as that of his predecessor^
Torquemada; but the later and more culti-
vated period in which he wrote is visible in
the superior address with which he has man-
aged his complicated subject. In the elabo-
rate disquisitions in his concluding volume,
he has done much to rectify the chronology
and the various inaccuracies of preceding
writers. Indeed, an avowed object of his
work was to vindicate his countrymen from
what he conceived to be the misrepresenta-
tions of Robertson, Raynal, and De Pau. In
regard to the last two he was perfectly suc-
cessful. Such an ostensible design might
naturally suggest unfavourable ideas of his
impartiality. But, on the whole, he seems
to have conducted the discussion with good
faith ; and, if he has been led by national
zeal to overcharge the picture with brilliant
colours, he will be found much more tem-
perate, in this respect, than those who pre-
ceded him, while he has applied sound
principles of criticism, of which they were
incapable. In a word, the diligence of his
researches has gathered into one focus the
scattered lights of tradition and antiquarian
lore, purified in a great, measure from the
mists of superstition which obscure the best
productions of an earlier period. From these
causes, the work, notwithstanding its occa-
sional prolixity, and the disagreeable aspect
given to it by the profusion of uncouth names
in the Mexican orthography, which bristle
over every page, has found merited favour
with the public, and created something like a
popular interest in the subject. Soon after
its publication at Cesena, in 1780, it was
translated into English, and more lately into
Spanish and German,
MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY. -27
CHAPTER III.
MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY — THE SACERDOTAL ORDER— TPIE TEMPLES
HUMAN SACRIFICES.
The civil polity of the Aztecs is so closely blended with their religion that
without understanding the latter it is impossible to form correct ideas of their
government or their social institutions. I shall pass over, for the present,
some remarkable traditions, bearing a singular resemblance to those found in
the Scriptures, and endeavour to give a brief sketch of their mythology and
their careful provisions for maintaining a national worship.
Mythology may be regarded as the poetry of religion, or rather as the
poetic development of the religious principle in a primitive age. It is the
effort of untutored man to explain the mysteries of existence, and the secret
agencies by which the operations of nature are conducted. Although the
growth of similar conditions of society, its character must vary with that of
the rude tribes in which it originates ; and the ferocious Goth, quaffing mead
from the skulls of his .slaughtered enemies, must have a very different mytho-
logy from that of the effeminate native of Hispaniola, loitering away his hours
in idle pastimes, under the shadow of his bananas.
At a later and more refined period, we sometimes find these primitive
legends combined into a regular system under the hands of the poet, and the
rude outline moulded into forms of ideal beauty, which are the objects of
adoration in a credulous age, and the delight of all succeeding ones.
Such were the beautiful inventions of Hesiod and Homer, " who/' says the
Father of History, "created the theogony of the Greeks ;" an assertion not to
be taken too literally, since it is hardly possible that any man should create a
religious system for his nation.1 They only filled up the shadowy outlines of
tradition with the bright touches of their own imaginations, until they had
clothed them in beauty which kindled the imaginations of others. The power
of the poet, indeed, may be felt in a similar way in a much riper period of
society. To say nothing of the " Divina Commedia," who is there that rises
from the perusal of " Paradise Lost " without feeling his own conceptions of
the angelic hierarchy quickened by those of the inspired artist, and a new and
sensible form, as it were, given to images which had before floated dim and
undefined before him ?
The last-mentioned period is succeeded by that of philosophy ; which, dis-
claiming alike the legends of the primitive age and the poetical embellishments
of the succeeding one, seeks to shelter itself from the charge of impiety by
giving an allegorical interpretation to the popular mythology, and thus to
reconcile the latter with the genuine deductions of science.
The Mexican religion had emerged from the first of the periods we have
been considering, and, although little affected by poetical influences, had
received a peculiar complexion from the priests, who had digested as thorough
and burdensome a ceremonial as ever existed in any nation. They had, more-
over, thrown the veil of allegory over early tradition, and invested their
1 7ron'i<rai/T£9 Oeofovlt]v "F.\\ri<n. Hero- plied the numerous gods that fill her Pan-
dotus, Euterpe, sec. 53. — Heeren hazards a theon." Historical Researches, Eng. trans
remark equally strong, respecting the epic (Oxford, 1833), vol. iii. p. 139.
poets of India,* " who," says he, " have sup-
28 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
deities with attributes savouring much more of the grotesque conceptions of
the Eastern nations in the Old World, than of the lighter fictions of Greek
mythology, in which the features of humanity, however exaggerated, were
never wholly abandoned.2
In contemplating the religious system of the Aztecs, one is struck with its
apparent incongruity, as if some portion of it emanated from a comparatively
refined people, open to gentle influences, while the rest breathes a spirit of
unmitigated ferocity. It naturally suggests the idea of two distinct sources,
and authorizes the belief that the Aztecs had inherited from their predecessors
a milder faith, on which was afterwards engrafted their own mythology. The
latter soon became dominant, and gave its dark colouring to the creeds of the
conquered nations, — which the Mexicans, like the ancient Romans, seem
willingly to have incorporated into their own, — until the same funereal super-
stition settled over the farthest borders of Anahuac.
The Aztecs recognized the existence of a supreme Creator and Lord of the
universe. They addressed him, in their prayers, as "the God by whom we
live," "omnipresent, that knoweth all thoughts, and giveth all gifts," " without
whom man is as nothing," "invisible, incorporeal, one God, of perfect per-
fection and purity," "under whose Avings we find repose and a sure defence."
These sublime attributes infer no inadequate conception of the true God. But
the idea of unity— of a being with whom volition is action, who has no need
of inferior ministers to execute his purposes — wras too simple, or too vast, for
their understandings ; and they sought relief, as usual, in a plurality of
deities, who presided over the elements, the changes of the seasons, and the
various occupations of man.3 Of these, there were thirteen principal deities,
and more than two hundred inferior ; to each of whom some special day or
appropriate festival was consecrated.4
At the head of all stood the terrible Huitzilopochtli, the Mexican Mars ;
although it is doing injustice to the heroic war-god of antiquity to identify
him with this sanguinary monster. This was the patron deity of the nation.
His fantastic image wras loaded with costly ornaments. His temples were the
most stately and august of the public edifices ; and his altars reeked with the
blood of human hecatombs in every city of the empire. Disastrous indeed
must have been the influence of such a 'superstition on the character of the
people.5
- The Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone has lieved in an evil Spirit, the enemy of the
fallen into a similar train of thought, in a human race, whose harbarous name signified
comparison of the Hindoo and Greek My- "Rational Owl." (Stor. del Messico, torn. ii.
thology, in his " History of India," published p. 2.) The curate Bernaldez speaks of the
since the remarks in the text were written. Devil being embroidered on the dresses of
(See Book I. ch. 4.) The same chapter of Columbus's Indians, in the likeness of an
this truly philosophic work suggests some owl. (Historia de los Reyes Catolicos, MS.,
curious points of resemblance to the Aztec cap. 131.) This must not be confounded,
religious institutions, that may furnish per- however, with the evil Spirit in the mytho-
tinent illustrations to the mind bent on logy of the North American Indians (see
tracing the affinities of the Asiatic and Ameri- Heckewelder's Account, ap. Transactions of
can races. the American Philosophical Society, Phila-
8 Ritter has well shown, by the example of delphia, vol. i. p. 205), still less with the
the Hindoo system, how the idea of unity evil Principle of the Oriental nations of the
suggests, of itself, that of plurality. History Old World. It was only one among many
of Ancient Philosophy, Eng. trans. (Oxford, deities, for evil was found too liberally
1838), book 2, ch. 1. mingled in the natures of most of the Aztec
* Salmgun, Hist, de Xueva-Espana, lib. 6, gods— in the same manner as with the Greeks
passim. — Acosta, lib. 5, ch. 9. — Boturini, • — to admit of its personification by any one.
Idea, p. 8, etseq.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., 5 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, lib. 3,
MS., cap. 1.— Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. cap. 1, et seq.— Acosta, lib. 5, ch. 9.— Tor-
— The Mexicans, according to Clavigero, be- quemada, Monarch, lnd,, lib. 6, cap. 21. —
l
MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY.
29
A far more interesting personage in their mythology was Quetzalcoatl, god
of the air, a divinity who, during his residence on earth, instructed the natives
in the use of metals, in agriculture, and in the arts of government. He was
one of those benefactors of their species, doubtless, who have been deified by
the gratitude of posterity. Under him, the earth teemed with fruits and
Mowers, without the pains' of culture. An ear of Indian corn was as much as
a single man could carry. The cotton, as it grew, took, of its own accord, the
rich dyes of human art. The air was filled with intoxicating perfumes and
the sweet melody of birds. In short, these were the halcyon clays, which find
a place in the mythic systems of so many nations in the Old World. It was
the golden age of Anahuac.
From some cause, not explained, Quetzalcoatl incurred the wrath of one of
the principal gods, and was compelled to abandon the country. On his way
he stopped at the city of Cholula, where a temple was dedicated to his
worship, the massy ruins of which still form one of the most interesting relics
of antiquity in Mexico. When he reached the shores of the Mexican Gulf, he
took leave of his followers, promising that he and his descendants would
revisit them hereafter, and then, entering his wizard skiff, made of serpents'
Boturini, Idea, pp. 27, 28. — Huitzilopochtli is
compounded of two words, signifying "hum-
ming-bird," and " left," from his image
having the feathers of this bird on its left
foot (Clavigero, Stor. del Mcssico, torn. ii. p.
17); an amiable etymology for so ruffian a
deity.* — The fantastic forms of the Mexican
idols were in the highest degree symbolical.
See Gama's learned exposition of the devices
on the statue of the goddess found in the
great square of Mexico. (Descripcion de las
Dos Piedras (Mexico, 1832), Parte 1, pp. 34-
44.) The tradition respecting the origin of
this god, or, at least, his appearance on earth,
is curious. He was born of a woman. His
mother, a devout person, one day, in her
attendance on the temple, saw a ball of
bright-coloured feathers floating in the air.
She took it, and deposited it in her bosom.
She soon after found herself pregnant, and
the dread deity was born, coming into the
world, like Minerva, all armed,— with a spear
in the right hand, a shield in the left, and his
head surmounted by a crest of green plumes.
(See Clavigero, St>>r. del Messico, torn. ii. p.
19, et seq.) A similar notion in respect to
the incarnation of their principal deity
existed among the people of India beyond the
Ganges, of China, and of Thibt t. " Budh,"
says Milman, in" his learned and luminous
work on the History of Christianity, "ac-
cording to a tradition known in the West,
was born of a virgin. So were the Fohi of
China, and the Schakaof of Thibet, no doubt
the same, whether a mythic or a real per-
suiage. The Jesuits in China, says Barrow,
were appalled at finding in the mythology of
that country the counterpart of the Virgo
Ileipara." (Vol. i. p. 99, note.) The exist-
ence of similar religious ideas in ren ote
regions, inhabited by different races, is an
interesting subject of study ; furnishing, as it
does, one of the most important links in the
great chain of communication which binds
together the distant families of nations.
* [The name may possibly have referred
to the whispered oracles and intimations in
dreams— such as "a little bird of the air" is
still fabled to convey — by which, according
to the legend, the deity had guided his people
in their migrations and conquests. That it
had a symbolical meaning will hardly be
doubted, and M. Brasseur de Bourbourg, who
had originally explained it as "Huitzil the
Left-handed," — the proper name of a deified
hero with the addition of a descriptive epithet,
—has since found oue of too deep an import
to be briefly expounded or easily understood.
(Quatre Lettres sur le Mexique (Paris, 1868),
p. 201, et al.) Mexitl, another name of the
same deity, is translated " the hare of the
aloes." In some accounts the two are dis-
tinct personages. Mythological science re-
jects the legend, and regards the Aztec war-
god as a " nature-deity," a personification of
the lightning, this being a natural type of
warlike might, of which the common symbol,
the serpent, was represented among the deco-
rations of the idol. (Myths of the New
World, p. 118.) More commonly he has been
identified with the sun, and Mr. Tylor, while
declining "to attempt a general solution of
this inextricable compound parthenogenelic
deity," notices the association of his principal
festival with the winter's solstice, and the
fact that his paste idol was then shot through
with an arrow, as tending to show that the
life and death of the deity were emblematic
of the year's, " while his functions of war-
god may have been of later addition." Primi-
tive Culture, torn. ii. p. 279.— Ed.]
80
AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
skins, embarked on the great ocean for the fabled land of Tlapallan. lie was
said to have been tall in statnre, with a white skin, loiii;', dark hair, and a
flowing beard. The Mexicans looked confidently to the return of the benevo-
lent deity ; and this remarkable tradition, deeply cherished in their hearts,
prepared' the way, as we shall see hereafter, for the future success of the
Spaniards. 6
6 Codex Vatkanua, PL 15, and Codex Tel-
leriano-liemensis, Part. 2, PI. 2, ap. Antiq.
of Mexico, vols, L, vi. — Sahagun, Hist, do
Nueva-Espana, lib. 3, cap. 3, 4, 13, 14.— Tor-
quemada. Monarch. Ind., lib. 6, cap. 24. —
Ixtlilxocbitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 1.—
Gomara, Cromica de la Nueva-Espana, cap.
222, ap. Barcia, Historiadores primitivos de
las Indias Occidentales (Madrid, 1749), torn,
ii. — Quetzalcoatl signifies "feathered ser-
pent." The last syllable means, likewise, a
" twin ; " which furnished an argument for
Dr. Siguenza to identify. tbis god with the
apostle Thomas (Didymus signifying also a
twin), who, he supposes, came over to
America to preach the gospel. In this rather
startling conjecture he is supported by several
of his devout countrymen, who appear to
have as little doubt of the fact as of the ad-
vent of St. James, for a similar purpose, in
the mother-country. See the various autho-
rities and arguments set forth with becoming
gravity in Dr. Mier's dissertation in Busta-
mante's edition of Sahagun (lib. 3, Suplem.),
and Yeytia (torn. i. pp. 160-200). Our in-
genious countryman McCulloh carries the
Aztec god up to a still more respectable an-
tiquity, by identifying him with the patriarch
Noah. Researches, Philosophical and Anti-
quarian, concerning the Aboriginal History
of America (Baltimore, 1829\ p. 233.*
* [Under the modern system of mythical
interpretation, which has been applied by Dr.
Brinton with singular force and ingenuity to
the traditions of the New World, Quetzal-
coatl, "the central figure of Toltec mytho-
logy," with the corresponding figures found
in the legends of the Mayas, Quiches, Peru-
vians, and other races, loses all personal
existence, and becomes a creation of that
primitive religious sentiment which clothed
the uncomprehended powers of nature with
the attributes of divinity. His name, " Bird-
Serpent," unites the emblems of the wind
and the lightning. "He is both lord of the
eastern light and the winds. As the former,
he was born of a virgin in the land of Tula or
Tlapallan, in the distant Orient, and was
high-priest of that happy realm. The morn-
ing star was his symbol. . . . Like all the
dawn heroes, he too was represented as of
white complexion, clothed in long white
robes, and, as most of the Aztec gods, with a
full and flowing beard. When his earthly
work was done, he too returned to the east,
assigning as a reason that the sun, the ruler
of Tlapallan, demanded his presence. But
the real motive was that he had been over-
come by Tezcatlipoca, otherwise called Yoal-
lichecatl, the wind or spirit of the night, who
had descended from heaven by a spider's web
and presented his rival with" a draught pre-
tended to confer immortality, but, in fact,
producing uncontrollable longing for home.
For the wind and the light both depart when
the gloaming draws near, or when the clouds
spread their dark and shadowy webs along
the mountains and pour the vivifying raiu
upon the fields. . . . Wherever he went, all
manner of 6inging birds bore him company,
emblems of the whistling breezes. When he
finally disappeared in the far east, he sent
back four trusty youths, who had ever shared
his fortunes, incomparably swift and light of
foot, with directions to divide the earth be-
tween them and rule it till he should return
and resume his power." (The Myths of the
New World, p. 180, et seq.) So far as mere
physical attributes are concerned, this ana-
lysis may be accepted as a satisfactory elu-
cidation of the class of figures to which it
relates. But the grand and distinguishing
characteristic of these figures is the moral
and intellectual eminence ascribed to them.
They are invested with the highest qualities
of humanity, — attributes neither drawn from
the external phenomena of nature nor born
of any rude sentiment of wonder and fear.
Their lives and doctrines are in strong con-
trast with those of the ordinary divinities of
the same or other lands, and they are objects
not of a propitiatory worship, but of a pious
veneration. Can we, then, asstnt to the con-
clusion that under this aspect also they were
"wholly mythical," "creations of the re-
ligious fancy," " ideals summing up in them-
selves the best traits, the most approved
virtues, of whole nations " ? (Ibid., pp. 293,
294.) This would seem to imply that nations
may attain to lofty conceptions of moral truth
and excellence by a process of selection, with-
out any standard or point of view furnished
by living embodiments of the ideal. But this
would be as impossible as to arrive at con-
ceptions of the highest forms and ideas of
art independently of the special genius and
actual productions of the artist. In the one
case, as in the other, the ideal is derived
originally from examples shaped by finer and
deeper intuitions than those of the masses.
" Im Anfang war die That." The mere fact,
therefore, that the Mexican people recognized
an exalted ideal of purity and wisdom is a
sufficient proof that men 'had existed among
them who displayed these qualities in an
MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY
31
We have not space fur further details respecting the Mexican divinities, the
attributes of many of whom were carefully defined, as they descended, in
regular gradation, to the penates or household gods, whose little images were
to be found in the humblest dwelling.
The Aztecs felt the curiosity, common to man in almost every stage of
civilization, to lift the veil which covers the mysterious past and the more
awful future. They sought relief, like the nations of the Old Continent, from
the oppressive idea of eternity, by breaking it up into distinct cycles, or
periods of time, each of several thousand years' duration. There were four of
these cycles, and at the end of each, by the agency of one of the elements, the
human family was swept from the earth, and the sun blotted out from the
heavens, to be again rekindled.7
They imagined three separate states of existence in the future life. The
wicked, comprehending the greater part of mankind, were to expiate their
sins in a place of everlasting darkness. Another class, with no other merit
than that of having died of certain diseases, capriciously selected, were to
enjoy a negative existence of indolent contentment. The highest place was
reserved, as in most warlike nations, for the heroes avIio fell in battle, or
in sacrifice. They passed at once into the presence of the Sun, whom they
accompanied with songs and choral dances in his bright progress through
the heavens ; and, after some years, their spirits went to animate the clouds
and singing-birds of beautiful plumage, and to revel amidst the rich blossoms
and odours of the gardens of paradise.8 Such was the heaven of the Aztecs ;
more refined in its character than that of the more polished pagan, whose
elysium reflected only the martial sports or sensual gratifications of this life.0
7 Cod. Vat.. Tl. 7-10, Antiq. of Mexico,
vols, i., vi.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS.,
cap. ].— M. do Humboldt has been at some
pains to trace the analogy between the Aztec
cosmogony and that of Eastern Asia. Ho has
tried, though in vain, to find a multiple which
might serve as the key to the calculations of
the former. (Vues des Cordilleres, pp. 202-
212.) In truth, there seems to be a material
discordance in the Mexican statements, both
in regard to the number of revolutions and
their duration. A manuscript before mo, of
Ixtlilxochitl, reduces them to three, before
the present state of the world, and allows
only 4394 years for them (Sumaria Kelacion,
MS., No. 1): (lama, on the faith of an an-
cient Indian MS. in Boturini's Catalogue (viii.
13), reduces the duration still lower (Descrip-
cion de las Dos I'iedras, Parte 1, p. 49, et
seq.) ; while the cycles of the Vatican paint-
ing' take up near 18,000 years. — It is inte-
resting to observe how the wild conjectures
of an ignorant age have been confirmed by
the more recent discoveries in geology,
making it probable that the earth has ex-
perienced a number of convulsions possibly
thousands of years distant from each other,
which have swept away the races then exist-
ing, and given a new aspect to the globe.
b Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, lib. 3,
Apond.— Cod. Vat., ap. Antiq. ot Mexico, PI.
1-5.— -Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 13,
cap. 48. — The last writer assures us "that, as
to what the Aztecs said of their going to hell,
they were right ; for, as they died in ignorance
of the true faith, they have, without question,
all gone there to suffer everlasting punish-
ment " ! Ubi supra.
0 It convoys but a poor idea of these
pleasures, that the shade of Achilles can say
" he had rather be the slave of the meanest
man on earth, than sovereign among the
dead." (Odyss.. A. 488-490.) The Mahomet-
ans believe that the souls of martyrs pass,
after death, into the bodies of birds, that haunt
the sweet waters and bowers of Faradise.
(Sale's Koran (London, 1825), vol. i. p. IOC.)
— The Mexican heaven may remind one of
Dante's, in its material enjoyments ; which, in
both, are made up of light, music, and motion.
The sun, it must also be remembered, was
a spiritual conception with the Aztec :
" He sees with other eyes than theirs ; where
they
Behold a sun, he spies a deity."
eminent degree. The status of their civili-
zation, imperfect as it was, can be accounted
for only in the same way. Comparative my-
thology may resolve into its original elements
a personification of the forces of nature
woven by the religious fancy of primitive
races, but it cannot sever that chain of dis-
coverers and civilizers by which mankind has
been drawn from the abysses of savage igno-
rance, and by which its progress, when un-
interrupted, has been always maintained.—
Ed.]
32
AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
In the destiny they assigned to the wicked, Ave discern similar traces of
refinement ; since the absence of all physical torture forms a striking contrast
to the schemes of suffering so ingeniously devised by the fancies of the most
enlightened nations.10 In all this, so contrary to the natural suggestions of
the ferocious Aztec, we see the evidences of a higher civilization,* inherited
from their predecessors in the land.
Our limits Avill allow only a brief allusion to one or two of their most inte-
resting ceremonies. On the death of a person, his corpse was dressed in the
peculiar habiliments of his tutelar deity. It was strewed with pieces of paper,
which operated as charms against the dangers of the dark road he was to
travel. A throng of slaves, if he were rich, was sacrificed at his obsequies.
His body was burned, and the ashes, collected in a vase, were preserved
in one of the apartments of his house. Here we have successively the usages
of the Roman Catholic, the Mussulman, the Tartar, and the ancient Greek
and Roman ; curious coincidences, which may show how cautious we should
be in adopting conclusions founded on analogy.11
A more extraordinary coincidence may be traced with Christian rites,
in the ceremony of naming their children. The lips and bosom of the infant
were sprinkled with water, and -" the Lord was implored to permit the holy
drops to wash away the sin that was given to it before the foundation of the
world ; so that the child might be born anew." 12 We are reminded of
Christian morals, in more than one of their prayers, in which they used
regular forms. " Wilt thou blot us out, 0 Lord, for ever 1 Is this punish-
ment intended, not for our reformation, but for our destruction ? " Again,
" Impart to us, out of thy great mercy, thy gifts, which we are not worthy to
receive through our own merits." "Keep peace with all," says another
petition ; " bear injuries with humility ; God, who sees, will avenge you." But
the most striking parallel with (Scripture is in the remarkable declaration
that "he who looks too curiously on a woman commits adultery with his
eyes."13 These pure and elevated maxims, it is true, are mixed up with
10 It is singular that the Tuscan bard, while
exhausting his invention in devising modes
of bodily torture, in his " Inferno," should
have made so little use of the moral sources
of misery. That he has not done so might
be reckoned a strong proof of the' rudeness of
the time, d d we not meet with examples of
it in a later day; in which a serious and
sublime writer, like Dr. Watts, does not dis-
dain to employ the same coarse machinery for
moving the conscience of the reader.
" Carta del Lie. Zuazo (Nov. 1521), MS.—
Acosta, lib. 5, cap. 8. — Torquemada, Monarch. .
Ind., lib. 13, cap. 45. — Sahagun, Hist, de
Nueva-Kspana, lib. 3, Apend.— Sometimes
the body was buried entire, with valuable
treasures, if the deceased was rich. The
"Anonymous Conqueror," as he is called,
saw gold to the value of 3000 castellanos
drawn from one of these tombs. .Relatione
* [It should perhaps be regarded rather as
evidence of a low civilization, since the absence
of any strict ideas of retribution is a charac-
teristic of the notions in regard to a future
life entertained by savage races. See Tylor,
Primitive Culture, vol. ii. p. 76, et seq.— Ed.]
d'un gentil' huomo, ap. llamusio, torn. iii.
p. 310.
12 Tiiis interesting rite, usually solemnized
with great formality, in the presence of the
assembled friends and relatives, is detailed
with minuteness by Sahagun (Hist, de Nueva-
Espaha, lib. 6, cap. 37), and by Zuazo (Carta,
MS.), both of them eye-witnesses. For a
version of part of Sahagun's account, see
Appendix, Part 1, note 2ti.f
18 '• i Es posible que este azote y este cas-
tigo no se nos da para nuestra correccion y
enmienda, sitio para total destruction y aso-
lamiento?" (Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-
Espafia, lib. 6, cap. 1.) "Y esto por sola
vuestra liberalidad y magnificencia lo habeis
de hacer, que ninguno es digno ni merecedor
de recibir vuestra larguezas por su dignidad y
merecimiento, sino que por vuestra benigni-
dad." (Ibid., lib. 6, cap. 2.) "Sed sufridos
f [A similar rite of baptism, founded on
the natural symbolism of the purifying power
of water, was practised by other races in
America, and had existed in the East, as the
reader need hardly be told, long anterior to
Christianity.— -El>.]
SACERDOTAL ORDER. 33
others of a puerile, and even brutal, character, arguing that confusion of the
moral perceptions which is natural in the twilight of civilization. One would
not expect, however, to meet, in such a state of society, with doctrines as
sublime as any inculcated by the enlightened codes of ancient philosophy.1*
But, although the Aztec mythology gathered nothing from the beautiful
inventions of the poet or from the refinements of philosophy, it was much
indebted, as I have noticed, to the priests, who endeavoured to dazzle the
imagination of the people by the most formal and pompous ceremonial.
The influence of the priesthood must be greatest in an imperfect state of
civilization, where it engrosses all the scanty scieAce of the time in its
own body. This is particularly the case when the science is of that spurious
kind which is less occupied with the real phenomena of nature than with the
fanciful chimeras of human superstition. Such are the sciences of astrology
and divination, in which the Aztec priests were well initiated ; and, while
they seemed to hold the keys of the future in their own hands, they impressed
the ignorant people with sentiments of superstitious awe, beyond that which
has probably existed in any other country,— even in ancient Egypt
The sacerdotal order was very numerous ; as may be interred from the
statement that five thousand priests were, in some way or other, attached to
the principal temple in the capital. The various ranks and functions of this
multitudinous body were discriminated with great exactness. Those best
instructed .in music took the management of the choirs. Others arranged
the festivals conformably to the calendar. Some superintended the education
of youth, and others had charge of the hieroglyphical paintings and oral
traditions ; while the dismal rites of sacrifice were reserved for the chief dig-
nitaries of the order. At the head of the whole establishment were two high-
priests, elected from the order, as it would seem, by the king and principal
nobles, without reference to birth, but solely for their qualifications, as shown
by their previous conduct in a subordinate station. They were equal in
dignity, and inferior only to the sovereign, who rarely acted without their
advice in weighty matters of public concern.15
y reportados, que Dios bien os ve y respon- more properly belonged to a generation coeval
dent por vosotros, y el os vengani (a) scd with the Conquest, and brought into contact
hum i Ides con todos, y con esto os hara Dios with the Europeans. "The substance," he
merced y tambien honra." (Ibid., lib. 6, cap. remarks, "may be true; but several of the
11.) " Tampoco mires con curiosidad el gesto prayers convey elevated and correct notions
y disposicion de la gente principal, mayor- of a Supreme "Being, which appear to me
mente de las mugeres, y sobre todo de las altogether inconsistent with that which we
casadas, porque dice el refran que el que know to have been their practical religion and
curiosamente niira a la muger adultera con worship." * Transactions of the American
la vista." (Ibid., lib. 6, cap. 22.) Ethnological Society, i. 210.]
14 [On reviewing the remarkable coinci- *• Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, lib. 2,
dences shown in the above pages with the Apend. ; lib. 3, cap. 9. — Torquemada, Mon-
. sentiments and even the phraseology of arch. Ind., lib. 8, cap. 20; lib. 9, cap. 3, 56. —
Scripture, we cannot but admit there is Gomara, Cron., cap. 215, ap. Barcia, torn. ii.
plausible ground for Mr. Gallatin's conjecture — Toribio.Hist.de los Indios, MS., Parte 1,
that the Mexicans, after the Conquest, attri- cap. 4. — Clavigero says that the high-priest
buted to their remote ancestors ideas which was necessarily a person of rank. (Stor. del
* [It is evident that an inconsistency such tinct from material blessings, a contrast to
as belongs to all religions, and to human the forms of petition employed by the wholly
nature in general, affords no sufficient ground uncivilized races of the north. They are in
for doubting the authenticity of the prayers harmony with the purer conceptions of mo-
reported by Sahagun. Similar specimens of rality which those nations are admitted to
prayers used by the Peruvians have been have possessed, and which formed the real
I, and, like those ot the Aztecs, ex- basis ol their civilization.— Ei>.]
t) their recognition of spiritual as dis-
M AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
The priests were each devoted to the service of some particular deity, and
had quarters provided within the spacious precincts of their temple ; at least,
while engaged in immediate attendance there,— for they were allowed to
marry, ana have families of their own. In this monastic residence they
lived in all the stern severity of conventual discipline. Thrice during the day,
and once at night, they were called to prayers. They were frequent
in their ablutions and vigils, and mortified the flesh by fasting and cruel
penance,— drawing blood from their bodies by flagellation, or by piercing
them with the thorns of the aloe ; in short, by practising all those austerities
to which fanaticism (to borrow the strong language of the poet) has resorted,
in every age of the world,
"In hopes to merit heaven by making earth a hell." 1G
The great cities were divided into districts, placed under the charge of
a sort of parochial clergy, who regulated every act of religion within their
precincts. It is remarkable that they administered the rites of confession
and absolution. The secrets of the confessional were held inviolable, and
penances were imposed of much the same kind as those enjoined in the
Roman Catholic* Church. There were two remarkable peculiarities in the
Aztec ceremony. The first was, that, as the repetition of an offence once
atoned for was deemed inexpiable, confession was made but once in a man's
life, and was usually deferred to a late period of it, when the penitent un-
burdened his conscience and settled at once the long arrears of iniquity.
Another peculiarity was, that priestly absolution was received in place of the
legal punishment of offences, and authorized an acquittal in case of arrest.
Long after the Conquest, the simple natives, when they came under the arm
of the law, sought to escape by producing the certificate of their confession.17
One of the most important duties of the priesthood was that of education,
to which certain buildings Were appropriated within the enclosure of the
principal temple. Here the youth of both sexes, of the higher and middling-
orders, were placed at a very tender age. The girls were intrusted to the care
of priestesses ; for women were allowed to exercise sacerdotal functions,
except those of sacrifice.18 In these institutions the boys were drilled in the
Itfessico, torn. ii. p. 37.) I find no authority hut from the influence of the sign under
for this, not even in his oracle, Torquemada, which he was born." After a copious ex-
who expressly says, " There is no warrant for hortation to the penitent, enjoining a variety
the assertion, however probable the fact may of mortifications and minute ceremonies by
be." (Monarch. Ind., lib. 9, cap. 5.) It is way of penance, and particularly urging the
contradicted by Sahagun, whom I have fol- necessity of instantly procuring a slave for
lowed as the highest authority in these sacrifice to the Deity, the priest concludes
matters. Clavigero had no otber knowledge with inculcating charity to the poor. "Clothe
of Sahagun's work than what was filtered the naked and feed the hungry, whatever
through the writings of Torquemada and later privations it may cost thee ; for remember,
authors. their flesh is like thine, and they are men
10 Sahngun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, ubi like thee." Such is the strange medley of
supra. — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 9, truly Christian benevolence and heathenish
cap. 25. — Gomara, Cron., ap. Barcia, ubi abominations which pervades the Aztec litany,
supra. — Acosta, lib. 5, cap. 14, 17. —intimating sources widely different.
17 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, lib. 1, 18 The Egyptian gods were also served by
cap. 12; lib. 6, cap. 7.— The address of the priestesses. (See Herodotus, Euterpe, sec.
confessor, on these occasions, contains some 54.) Tales of scandal similar to those which
things too remarkable to be omitted. "0 the Greeks circulated respecting them, have
merciful Lord," he says, in his prayer, " thou been told of the Aztec virgins. (See Le Noir's
who knowest the secrets of all hearts, let thy dissertation, ap. Antiquites Mexicaines (Paris,
forgiveness and favour descend, like the pure 1834), torn. ii. p. 7, note.) The early mission-
waters of heaven, to wash away the stains aries, credulous enough certainly, give no
from the soul. Thou knowest that this poor countenance to such reports ; and Father
man has sinned, not from his own free will, Acosta, on the contrary, exclaim^. " In truth,
SACERDOTAL ORDER-TEMPLES. U
routine of monastic discipline ; they decorated the shrines of the gods with
flowers, fed the sacred fires, and took part in the religious chants and festivals.
Those in the higher school — the Calmecac, as it was called — were initiated in
their traditionary lore, the mysteries of hieroglyphics, the principles of govern-
ment, and such branches of astronomical and natural science as wrere within
the compass of the priesthood. The girls learned various feminine employ-
ments, especially to weave and embroider rich coverings for the altars of the
gods. Great attention was paid to the moral discipline of both sexes. The
most perfect decorum prevailed ; and offences were punished with extreme
rigour, in some instances with death itself. Terror, not love, was the
spring of education with the Aztecs.19
At a suitable age for marrying, or for entering into the world, the pupils
were dismissed, with much ceremony, from the convent, and the recommenda-
tion of the principal often introduced those most competent to responsible
situations in public life. Such was the crafty policy of the Mexican priests,
who, by reserving to themselves the business of instruction, were enabled to
mould the young and plastic mind according to their own wills, and to train
it early to implicit reverence for religion and its ministers ; a reverence which
still maintained its hold on the iron nature of the warrior, long after every
other vestige of education had been effaced by the rough trade to which he
was devoted.
To each of the principal temples, lands were annexed for the maintenance
of the priests. These estates were augmented by the policy or devotion of
successive princes, until, under the last Montezuma, they had swollen to an
enormous extent, and covered every district of the empire. The priests took
the management of their property into their own hands ; and they seem to
have treated their tenants with the liberality and indulgence characteristic
of monastic corporations, Besides the large supplies drawn from this source,
the religious order was enriched with the first-fruits, and such other offerings
as piety or superstition dictated. The surplus beyond what was required for
the support of the national worship was distributed in alms among the poor ;
a duty strenuously prescribed by their moral code. Thus we find the same*
religion inculcating lessons of pure philanthropy, on the one hand, and of
merciless extermination, as we shall soon see, on the other. The inconsistency
will not appear incredible to those who are familiar with the history of the
Roman Catholic Church, in the early ages of the Inquisition.20
The Mexican temples — teocallis, " houses of God," as they were called *—
it is very strange to see that this frflse opinion — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 9, cap.
of religion hath so great force among these 11-14, 30, 31.— "They were taught," says
yoong men and maidens of Mexico, that they the good father last cited, " to eschew vice,
will serve the Di veil with so great liguur and and cleave to virtue, — according to their
austerity, which many of us doe not in the notions of them: namely, to abstain from
service of the most high God; the which is a wrath, to offer violence and do wrong to no
great shame and confusion." Eng. trans., man,— in short, to perform the duties plainly
lib. 5, cap. 16. pointed out by natural religion."
10 Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte i0 Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 8, cap.
1, cap. 9. — Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, 20, 21.— Cumargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— It
lih. 2, Apend. ; lib. 3, cap. 4-8.— Zurita, Rap- is impossible not to be struck with the great
port, pp. 123-126.— Acosta, lib. 5, cap. 15, 16. resemblance, not merely in a few empty
* [Humboldt has noticed the curious simi- sehr hoch anzuschlagen wegen des Doppel-
larity of the word teocalli with the Greek vocals, zeigt wie weit es der Zufall in \Vor-
compound — actual or possible — tieonaXia.; tjihnlichkeiten zwischen ganz verschiedenen
and Buschmann observes, " Die ttboreinstim- Sprachen bringen kann." tjber die azteki-
mung des mex. teotl und tfeor, arithmetisch schen Ortsnanen, S. 627.— En.J
36
AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
were very numerous. There were several hundreds in each of the principal
cities, many of them, doubtless, very humble edifices. They were solid masses
of earth, cased with brick or stone, and in their form somewhat resembled the
pyramidal structures of ancient Egypt. The bases of many of them were
more than a hundred feet square, and they towered to a still greater height.
They were distributed into four or five stories, each of smaller dimensions
than that below. The ascent was by a flight of steps, at an angle of the
pyramid, on the outside. This led to a sort of terrace, or gallery, at the base
of the second story, which passed quite round the building to another flight
of stairs, commencing also at the same angle as the preceding and directly
over it, and leading to a similar terrace ; so that one had to make the circuit
of the temple several times, before reaching the summit. In some instances
the stairway led directly up the centre of the western face of the building.
The top was a broad area, on which were erected one or two towers, forty or
fifty feet high, the sanctuaries in which .stood the sacred images of the pre-
siding deities. Before these towers stood the dreadful stone of sacrifice, and
two lofty altars, on which fires were kept, as inextinguishable as those in the
temple of Vesta. There were said to be six hundred of these altars, on smaller
buildings within the enclosure of the great temple of Mexico, which, with
those on the sacred edifices in other parts qf the city, shed a brilliant illumina-
tion over its streets, through the darkest night.21
From the construction of their temples, all religious services were public.
The long processions of priests, winding round their massive sides, as they
rose higher and higher towards the summit, and the dismal rites of sacrifice
performed there, were all visible from the remotest corners of the capital,
impressing on the spectator's mind a superstitious veneration for the mysteries
of his religion, and for the dread ministers by whom they were interpreted.
This impression was kept in full force by their numerous festivals. Every
month was consecrated to some protecting deity ; and every week, nay, almost
every day, was set down in their calendar for some appropriate celebration ;
so that it is difficult to understand how the ordinary business of life could
have been compatible with the exactions of religion. Many of their cere-
monies were of a light and cheerful complexion, consisting of the national
songs and dances, in which both sexes joined. Processions were made of
women and children crowned with garlands and bearing offerings of fruits,
the ripened maize, or the sweet incense of copal and other odoriferous gums,
while the altars of the deity were stained with no blood save that of animals.22
These were the peaceful rites derived from their Toltec predecessors, on which
the fierce Aztecs engrafted a superstition too loathsome to be exhibited in
forms, but in the whole way of life, of the
Mexican and Egyptian priesthood. Compare
Herodotus (Euterpe, passim) and Diodorus
(lib. 1, sec. 73, 81). The English reader may
consult, for the same purpose, Heeren (Hist.
Res., vol. v. chap. 2), Wilkinson (Manners
and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians (Lon-
don, 1837), vol. i. pp. 257-279), the last writer
especially,— who has contributed, more than
all others, towards opening to us the interior
of the social life of this interesting people.
21 Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio,
torn. iii. fol. 307.— Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala,
MS. — Acosta, lib. 5, cap. 13. — Gomara, Cron.,
cap. 80, ap. Barcia, torn. ii. — Toribio, Hist, de
los Indios, MS., Parte 1, cap. 4.— Carta del
Lie. Zuuzo, MS.— This last writer, who visited
Mexico immediately after the Conquest, in
1521, assures us that some of the smaller
temples, or pyramids, were filled with earth
impregnated with odoriferous gums and gold
dust ; the latter sometimes in such quantities
as probably to be worth a million of castel-
lanos ! (Ubi supra.) These were the temples
of Mammon, indeed ! But I find no confirma-
tion of such golden reports.
22 Cod. Tel.-Rem., PI. 1, and Cod. Vat.,
passim, ap. Antiq. of Mexico, vols, i., vi.—
Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 10, cap. 10,
et seq. — Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana,
lib. 2, passim. — Among the offerings, quails
may be particularly noticed, for the incredible
quantities of them sacrificed and consumed
at many of the festival*.
HUMAN SACRIFICES. 37
all its nakedness, and one over which I would gladly draw a veil altogether,
but that it would leave the reader in ignorance of their most striking institu-
tion, and one that had the greatest influence in forming the national
character.
Human sacrifices were adopted by the Aztecs early in the fourteenth
century, about two hundred years before the Conquest.23 Rare at first, they
became more frequent with the wider extent of their empire ; till, at length,
almost every festival was closed with this cruel abomination. These religious
ceremonials were generally arranged in such a manner as to afford a type of
the most prominent circumstances in the character or history of the' deity
who was the object of them. A single example will suffice.
One of their most important festivals was that in honour of the god Tez-
catlipoca, whose rank was inferior only to that of the Supreme Being. He
was called " the soul of the world," and supposed to have been its creator.
He was depicted as a handsome man, endowed with perpetual youth. A year
before the intended sacrifice, a captive, distinguished for his personal beauty,
and without a blemish on his body, was selected to represent this deity.
Certain tutors took charge of him, and instructed him how to perform his
new part with becoming grace and dignity. He was arrayed in a splendid
dress, regaled with incense and with a profusion of sweet-scented flowers, of
which the ancient Mexicans were as fond as their descendants at the present
day. When he went abroad, he was attended by a train of the royal pages,
and, as he halted in the streets to play some favourite melody, the crowd
prostrated themselves before him, and did him homage as the representative
of their good deity. In this way he led an easy, luxurious life, till within a
month of his sacrifice. Four beautiful girls, bearing the names of the principal
goddesses, were then selected to share the honours of his bed ; and with them
he continued to live in idle dalliance, feasted at the banquets of the principal
nobles, Avho paid him all the honours of a divinity.
At length the fatal day of sacrifice arrived. The term of his short-lived
glories was at an end. He was stripped of his gaudy apparel, and bade adieu
to the fair partners of his revelries. One of the royal barges transported him
across the lake to a temple which rose on its margin, about a league from the
city. Hither the inhabitants of the capital flocked, to witness the consumma-
tion of the ceremony. As the sad procession wound up the sides of the
pyramid, the unhappy victim threw away his gay chaplets of flowers, and
broke in pieces the musical instruments with which he had solaced the nours
of captivity. On the summit he was received by six priests, whose long and
matted locks flowed disorderly over their sable robes, covered with hieroglyphic
scrolls of mystic import. They led him to the sacrificial stone, a huge block
of jasper, with its upper surface somewhat convex. On this the prisoner was
stretched. Five priests secured his head and his limbs ; while the sixth, clad
in a scarlet mantle, emblematic of his bloody office, dexterously opened the
breast of the wretched victim with a sharp razor of itztli, — a volcanic substance,
hard as flint,— and, inserting his hand in the wound, tore out the palpitating
heart. The minister of death, first holding this up towards the sun, an object
of worship throughout Anahuac, cast it at the feet of the deity to whom the
temple was devoted, while the multitudes below prostrated themselves in
humble adoration. The tragic story of this prisoner was expounded by the
" The traditions of their origin have some- be the subject of them. Clavigero, Stor. del
what of a fabulous tinge. But, whether true Messico, torn. i. p. 167, et seq. ; also Hum-
or false, they are equally indicative of un- boldt (who does not appear to doubt them),
paralleled ferocity in the people who could Yues des Cordilleres, p. 95.
30
AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
priests as the type of human destiny, which, brilliant in its commencement,
too often closes in sorrow and disaster.24
Such was the form of human sacrifice usually practised by the Aztecs. It
was the same that often met the indignant eyes of the Europeans in their
progress through the country, and from the dreadful doom of which they
themselves were not exempted. There were, indeed, some occasions when
preliminary tortures, of the most exquisite kind, — with which it is unnecessary
to shock the reader, — were inflicted, but they always terminated with the
bloody ceremony above described. It should be remarked, however, that such
tortures were not the spontaneous suggestions of cruelty, as with the North
American Indians, but were all rigorously prescribed in the Aztec ritual, and
doubtless were often inflicted with the same compunctious visitings which
a devout familiar of the Holy Office might at times experience in executing
its stern decrees.25 Women, as well as the other sex, were sometimes reserved
for sacrifice. On some occasions, particularly in seasons of drought, at the
festival of the insatiable Tlaloc, the god of rain, children, for the most part
infants, were offered up. As they were borne along in open litters, dressed
in their festal robes, and decked with the fresh blossoms of spring, they moved
the hardest heart to pity, though their cries were drowned in the wild chant
of the priests, who read in their tears a favourable augury for their petition.
These innocent victims were generally bought by the priests of parents who
were poor, but who stifled the voice of nature, probably less at the suggestions
of poverty than of a wretched superstition.28
The most loathsome part of the story— the manner in which the body of the
sacrificed captive was disposed of— remains yet to be told. It was delivered
to the warrior who had taken him in battle, and by him, after being dressed,
was served up in an entertainment to his friends. This was not the coarse
repast of famished cannibals, but a banquet teeming with delicious beverages
and delicate viands, prepared with art, and attended by both sexes, who, as
we shall see hereafter, conducted themselves with all the decorum of civilized
life. Surely, never were refinement and the extreme of barbarism brought
so closely in contact with each other.27
Human sacrifices have been practised by many nations, not excepting the
34 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, lib. 2,
cap. 2, 5, 24, et alibi.— Herrera, Hist, general,
dec. 3, lib. 2, cap. 16.— Torquemada, Monarch.
Ind., lib. 7, cap. 19 ; lib. 10, cap. 14.— Rel.
d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Rarnusio, torn. iii.
fol. 307.— Acosta, lib. 5, cap. 9-21.— Carta del
Lie. Zuazo, MS. — Relacion por el Regimieuto
de Vera Cruz (Julio, 1519), MS.— Few readers,
probably, will sympathize with the sentence
of Torquemada, who concludes his tale of
woe by coolly dismissing "the soul of the
victim, to sleep with those of his false gods,
in hell ! " Lib. Iff, cap. 23.
25 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, lib. 2,
cap. 10, 29. — Gomara, Cron., cap. 219, ap.
Barcia, torn, ii.— Toribio, Hist, de los Indios,
MS., Parte 1, cap. 6-11.— The reader will find
a tolerably exact picture of the nature of
these tortures in the twenty-first canto of the
" Inferno." The fantastic creations of the
Florentine poet were nearly realized, at thE
very time he was writing, by the barbarians
of an unknown world. One sacrifice, of a
less revolting character, deserves to be men-
tioned. The Spaniards called it the " gladia-
torial sacrifice," and it may remind one of
the bloody games of antiquity. A captive of
distinction was sometimes furnished with
arms, and brought against a number of Mexi-
cans in succession. If he defeated them all,
as did occasionally happen, he was allowed to
escape. If vanquished, he was dragged to
the block and sacrificed in the usual manner.
The combat was fought on a huge circular
stone, before the assembled capital. Sahagun,
Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, lib. 2, cap. 21.— Rel.
d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii.
fol. 305.
26 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, lib. 2,
cap. 1, 4, 21, et alibi. — Torquemada, Monarch.
Ind., lib. 10, cap. 10.— Clavigero, Stor. del
Messico, torn. ii. pp. 76, 82.
27 Carta del Lie. Zuazo, MS. — Torquemada,
Monarch. Ind., lib. 7, cap. 19.— Herrera,
Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 2, cap. 17.— Saha-
gun, Hist, de Nueva-Espaiia, lib. 2, cap. 21,
et alibi.— Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS.,
Parte 1, cap. 2.
11 r MAN SACRIFICES.
30
most polished nations of antiquity ; 28 but never by any, on a scale to be com-
pared with those in Anahuac. The amoun t of victims immolated on its accursed
altars would stagger the faith of the least scrupulous believer. Scarcely any
author pretends to estimate the yearly sacrifices throughout the empire at less
than twenty thousand, and some carry the number as high as fifty thousand ! 29
• On great occasions, as the coronation of a king or the consecration of a
temple, the number becomes still more appalling. At the dedication of the
treat temple of Huitzilopochtli, in 1486, the prisoners, who for some years
ad been reserved for the purpose, were drawn from all quarters to the
capital. They were ranged in files, forming a procession nearly two miles
long. The ceremony consumed several days, and seventy thousand captives
are said to have perished at the shrine of this terrible deity ! But who can
believe that so numerous a body would have suffered themselves to be led
unresistingly like sheep to the slaughter '( Or how could their remains, too
great for consumption in the ordinary way, be disposed of, without breeding
a pestilence in the capital ? Yet the event was of recent date, and is
unequivocally attested by the best-informed historians.30 One fact may be
considered certain. It was customary to preserve the skulls of the sacrificed,
in buildings appropriated to the purpose. The companions of Cortes counted
one hundred and thirty-six thousand in one of these edifices ! 31 Without
attempting a precise calculation, therefore, it is safe to conclude that thousands
were yearly offered up, in the different cities of Anahuac, on the bloody altars
of the Mexican divinities.32
'-" To say nothing of Egypt, where, not-
withstanding the indications on the monu-
ments, there is strong reason for doubting it.
(Conip. Herodotus, Euterpe, sec. 45.) It was
of frequent occurrence among the Greeks, as
every schoolboy knows. In Home, it was so
common as to require to be interdicted by an
express law, less than a hundred years before
the Christian era, — a law recorded in a very
honest strain of exultation by Pliny (Hist.
Nat., lib. 30, sec. 3, 4); notwithstanding
which, traces of the existence of the practice
may be discerned to a much later period.
See, among others, Horace, Epod., In Ca-
nidiani.
2'J See Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. ii.
p. 49.— Bishop Zumarraga, in a letter written
a few years after the Conquest, states that
20,000 victims were yearly slaughtered in
the capital. Torquemada turns this into
20,000 infants. (Monarch. Ind., lib. 7, cap.
21.) Herrera, following Acosta, says 20,000
victims on a specified day of the year, through-
out the kingdom. (Hist, general, dec. 2, lib.
2, cap. 16.) Clavigero, more cautious, infers
that this number may have been sacrificed
annually throughout Anahuac. (Ubi supra.)
Las Casas, however, in his reply to Sepul-
veda's assertion, that no one who had visited
the New World put the number of yearly
sacrifices at less than 20,000, declares that
" this is the estimate of brigands, who wish
to find an apology for their own atrocities,
and that the real number was not above 50 " 1
(CEuvres, ed. Llorente (Paris, 1822), torn. i. pp.
365, 386.) Probably the good Bishop's arith-
metic here, as in most other instances, came
more from his heart than his head. With
such loose and contradictory data, it is clear
that any specific number is mere conjecture,
undeserving the name of calculation.
30 I am within bounds. Torquemada states
the number, most precisely, at 72,344 (Mo-
narch. Ind., lib. 2, cap. 63) ; Ixtlilxochitl,
with equal precision, at 80,400. (Hist.
Chich., MS.) i Quien sabe ? The latter adds
that the captives massacred in the capital, in
the course of that memorable year, exceeded
100,000 ! (Loc. cit.) One, however, has to
read but a little way, to find out that the
science of numbers — at least where the party
was not an eye-witness— is anything but an
exact science with these ancient chroniclers.
The Codex Telleriano - Remensis, written
some fifty years after the Conquest, reduces the
amount to 20,000. (Antiq. of Mexico, vol.
i. PI. 19 ; vol. vi. p. 141, Eng. note.) Even
this hardly warrants the Spanish interpreter
in calling king Ahuitzotl a man "of a mild
and moderate disposition," templada y be-
iiigna condition ! Ibid., vol. v. p. 49.
al Gomara states the number on the
authority of two soldiers, whose names he
gives, who took the trouble to count the grin-
ning horrors in one of these Golgothas, where
they were so arranged as to produce the most
hideous* effect. The existence of these con-
servatories is attested by every writer of the
time.
• - The " Anonymous Conqueror " assures
us, as a fact beyond dispute, that the Devil
introduced himself into the bodies of the
idols, and persuaded the silly priests that his
only diet was human hearts ! It furnishes a
40 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
Indeed, the great object of war, with the Aztecs, was quite as much to
gather victims for their sacrifices as to extend their empire. Hence it was
that an enemy was never slain in battle, if there were a chance of taking
him alive. To this circumstance the Spaniards repeatedly owed their preser-
vation. When Montezuma was asked " why he had suffered the republic of
Tlascala to maintain her independence on his borders," he replied, " that she
might furnish him with victims for his gods " ! As the supply began to fail,
the priests, the Dominicans of the New World, bellowed aloud for more, and
urged on their superstitious sovereign by the denunciations of celestial wrath.
Like the militant churchmen of Christendom in the Middle Ages, they
mingled themselves in the ranks, and were conspicuous in the thickest of the
fight, by their hideous aspect and frantic gestures. Strange, that, in every
country, the most fiendish passions of the human heart have been those
kindlea in the name of religion ! 33
The influence of these practices on the Aztec character was as disastrous
as might have been expected. Familiarity with the bloody rites of sacrifice
steeled, the heart against human sympathy, and begat a thirst for carnage,
like that excited in the Romans by the exhibitions of the circus. The
perpetual recurrence of ceremonies, in which the people took part, associated
religion with their most intimate concerns, and spread the gloom of super-
stition over the domestic hearth, until the character of the nation wore a
grave and even melancholy aspect, which belongs to their descendants at the
present day. The influence of the priesthood, of course, became unbounded.
The sovereign thought himself honoured by being permitted to assist in the
services of the temple. Far from limiting the authority of the priests to
spiritual matters, he often surrendered his opinion to theirs, where they were
least competent to give it. It was their opposition that prevented the final
capitulation which would have saved the capital. The Avhole nation, from the
pea ant to the prince, bowed their necks to the worst kind of tyranny, that of
a blind fanaticism.
In reflecting on the revolting usages recorded in the preceding pages, one
finds it difficult to reconcile their existence Avith anything like a regular form
of government, or an advance in civilization.31 Yet the Mexicans had many
very satisfactory solution, to his mind, of the find occasion to shelter himself, like Ariosto,
frequency of sacrifices in Mexico. Rel. d'un with
gentiP huomo, ap. llamusio, torn. iii. fol. 307. „,r .. , , m • , u i » • >•
" The Tezcucan priest, would fain have "Mettendolo Turpin, lo metto anch 10."
persuaded the good king Nezahualcoyotl, on 34 [Don Jose F. Ramirez, the distinguished
occasion of a pestilence, to appease the gods Mexican scholar, has made this sentence the
by the sacrifice of some of his own subjects, text for a disquisition of fifty pages or more,
instead of his enemies; on the ground that one object of which is to show that the ex-
they would not only be obtained more easily, istence of human sacrifices is not irrecon-
but would be fresher victims, and more ac- cilable with an advance in civilization. This
ceptable. (Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., leads him into an argument of much length,
cap. 41.) This writer mentions a cool ar- covering a broad range of historical inquiry,
rangement entered into by the allied monarchs and displaying much learning as well as a
with the republic of Tlascala and her con- careful consideration of the subject. In one
federates. A battle-field was marked out, respect, however, he has been led into an
on which the troops of the hostile nations important error by misunderstanding the
were to engage at stated seasons, a«d thus drift of my remarks, where, speaking of can-
supply themselves with subjects for sacrifice. nibalism, I say, " It is impossible the people
The victorious party was not to pursue his who practise it should make any great pro-
advantage by invading the other's territory, gress in moral or intellectual culture" (p.
and they were to continue, in all other re- 41). This observation, referring solely to
spects, on the most amicable footing. (Ubi cannibalism, the critic cites as if applied by
supra.) The historian, who follows in the me to human sacrifices. Whatever force,
track of the Tezcucan Chronicler, may often therefore, his reasoning may have in respect
HUMAN SACRIFICES. 41
claims to the character of a civilized community. One may, perhaps, better
understand the anomaly, by reflecting on the condition of some of the most
polished countries in Europe, in the sixteenth century, after the establish-
ment of the modern Inquisition,— an institution which yearly destroyed its
thousands, by a death more painful than the Aztec sacrifices ; which armed
the hand of brother against brother, and, setting its burning seal upon the
lip, did more to stay the march of improvement than any other scheme ever
devised by human cunning.
Human sacrifice, however cruel, has nothing in it degrading to its victim.
It may be rather said to ennoble him by devoting him to the gods. Although
so terrible with the Aztecs, it was sometimes voluntarily embraced by them,
as the most glorious death and one that opened a sure passage into paradise.35
The Inquisition, on the other hand, branded its victims with infamy in this
world, and consigned them to everlasting perdition in the next.
One detestable feature of the Aztec superstition, however, sunk it far below
the Christian. This was its cannibalism; though, in truth, the Mexicans
were not cannibals in the coarsest acceptation of the term. They did not
feed on human flesh merely to gratify a brutish appetite, but in obedience
to their religion. Their repasts were made of the victims whose blood had
been poured out on the altar of sacrifice. This is a distinction worthy of
notice.36 Still, cannibalism, under any form or whatever sanction, cannot but
have a fatal influence on the nation addicted to it. It suggests ideas so
loathsome, so degrading to man, to his spiritual and immortal nature, that
it is impossible the people who practise it should make any great progress
in moral or intellectual culture. The Mexicans furnish no exception to this
remark. The civilization which they possessed descended from the Toltecs,
a race who never stained their altars, still less their banquets, with the blood
of man.37 All that deserved the name of science in Mexico came from this
to the latter, it cannot be admitted to apply says, " lis n'etaient point anthropophages,
to the former. The distance is wide between comme un tres-petit n ombre de peupladea
human sacrifices and cannibalism ; though Americaines." (Essai sur les Mceurs, chap.
Senor Ramirez diminishes this distance by 147.)
regarding both one and the other simply as 37 [The remark in the text admits of some
religious exercises, springing from the de- qualification. According to an ancient Tez-
votional principle in our nature.* He en- cucan chronicler, quoted by Senor Ramirez,
forces his views by a multitude of examples the Toltecs celebrated occasionally the wor-
from history, which show how extensively ship of the god Tlaloc with human sacrifices,
these revolting usages of the Aztecs— on a The most important of these was the offering
much less gigantic scale indeed — have been up once a year of five or six maidens, who
practised by the primitive races of the Old were immolated in the usual horrid way of
World, some of whom, at a later period, tearing out their hearts. It does not appear
made high advances in civilization. Ramirez, that the Toltecs consummated the sacrifice
Notas y Esclarecimientos a la Historia del by devouring the flesh of the victim. This
Conquista de Mexico del Senor W. Prescott, seems to have been the only exception to the
appended to Navarro's translation.] blameless character of the Toltec rites.
as Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, Tlaloc was the oldest deity in the Aztec my-
tom. iii. fol. 307. — Among other instances is thology, in which he found a suitable place,
that of Chimalpopoca, third king of Mexico, Yet, as the knowledge of him was originally
who doomed himself, with a number of his derived from the Toltecs, it caunot be denied
lords, to this death, to wipe off an indignity that this people, as Ramirez says, possessed
offered him by a brother monarch. (Torque- in their peculiar civilization the germs of
mada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 2, cap. 28.) This those sanguinary institutions which existed
was the law of honour with the Aztecs. on so appalling a scale in Mexico. See Ra-
3B Voltaire, doubtless, intends this, when he mirez, Notas y Esclarecimientos, ubi supra.]
* [The practice of eating, or tasting, the the soul, the immaterial part, or the blood as
victim has been generally associated with containing the principle of life, and leaving
sacrifice, from the idea either of the sacred- the flesh to his worshippers.— Ed. J
ness of the offering or of the deity's accepting
c 2
42
AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
source ; and the crumbling ruins of edifices attributed to them, still extant in
various parts of New Spain, show a decided^ superiority in their architecture
over that of the later races of Anahuac. It is true, the Mexicans made great
proficiency in many of the social and mechanic arts, in that material culture,
—if I may so call it, — the natural growth of increasing opulence, which
ministers to the gratification of the senses. In purely intellectual progress
they were behind the Tezcucans, whose wise sovereigns came into the
abominable rites of their neighbours with reluctance and practised them on
a much more moderate scale.38
In this state of things, it Avas beneficently ordered by Providence that the
land should be delivered over to another race, who would rescue it from
the brutish superstitions that daily extended wider and wider with extent
of empire.39 The debasing institutions of the Aztecs furnish the best
apology for their conquest. It is true, the conquerors brought along with
them the Inquisition. But they also brought Christianity, whose benign
radiance would still survive when the fierce flames of fanaticism should be
extinguished ; dispelling those dark forms of horror which had so long brooded
over the fair regions of Anahuac.
3" Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 45,
ct alibi.
88 No doubt the ferocity of character en-
gendered by their sanguinary rites greatly
facilitated their conquests. Machiavelli at-
tributes to a similar cause, in part, the mili-
tary successes of the Romans. (Discorsi
sopra T. Livio, lib. 2; cap. 2.) The same
chapter contains some ingenious reflections —
much more ingenious than candid — on the
opposite tendencies of Christianity.
The most important authority in the pre-
ceding chapter, and, indeed, wherever the
Aztec religion is concerned, is Bernardino de
Sahagun, a Franciscan friar, contemporary
with the Conquest. His great work, Historia
universal de Nueva-Espana, has been re-
cently printed for the first time. The cir-
cumstances attending its compilation and
subsequent fate form one of the most re-
markable passages in literary history.
Sahagun was born in a place of the same
name, in old Spain. He was educated at
Salamanca, and, having taken the vows of St.
Francis, came over as a missionary to Mexico
in the year 1529. Here he distinguished
himself by his zeal, the purity of his life,
and his unwearied exertions to spread the
great truths of religion among the natives.
He was the guardian of several conventual
houses, successively, until he relinquished
these cares, that he might devote himself
more unreservedly to the business of preach-
ing, and of compiling various works designed
to illustrate the antiquities of the Aztecs.
For these literary labours he found some
facilities in the situation which he continued
to occupy, of reader, or lecturer, in the
College of Santa Cruz, in the capital.
The "Universal History" was concocted
in a singular manner. In order to secure to
it the greatest possible authority, he passed
some years in a Tezcucan town, where he
conferred daily with a number of respectable
natives unacquainted with Castilian. He
propounded to them queries, which they,
after deliberation, answered in their usual
method of writing, by hieroglyphical paint-
ings. These he submitted to other natives,
who had been educated under his own eye in
the College of Santa Cruz ; and the latter,
after a consultation among themselves, gave
a written version, in the Mexican tongue, of
the hieroglyphics. This process he repeated
in another place, in some part of Mexico,
and subjected the whole to a still further re-
vision by a third body in another quarter.
He finally arranged the combined results into
a regular" history, in the form it now bears;
composing it in the Mexican language, which
he could both write and speak with great
accuracy and elegance,— greater, indeed, than
any Spaniard of the time.
The work presented a mass of curious in-
formation, that attracted much attention
among his brethren. But they feared its
influence in keeping alive in the natives a too
vivid reminiscence of the very superstitions
which it was the great object of the Christian
clergy to eradicate. Sahagun had views more
liberal than those of his order, whose blind
zeal would willingly have annihilated every
monument of art and human ingenuity
which had not been produced under the in-
fluence of Christianity. They refused to
allow him the necessary aid to transcribe his
papers, which he had been so many years in
preparing, under the pretext that the expense
*as too great for their order to incur. This
occasioned a further delay of several years.
What was worse, his provincial got possession
of his manuscripts, which were soon scat-
tered among the different religious houses in
the country.
In this forlorn state of his affairs, Sahagun
SAHAGUN.
43
drew up a brief statement of the nature and
contents of his work, and forwarded it to
Madrid. It fell into the hands of Don Juan
de Ovando, president of the Council for the
Indies, who was so much interested in it that
he ordered the manuscripts to be restored to
their author, with the request that he would
at once set about translating them into Cas-
tilian. This was accordingly done. His
papers were recovered, though not without
the menace of ecclesiastical censures ; and
the octogenarian author began the work of
translation from the Mexican, in which they
had been originally written by him thirty
years before. He had the satisfaction to
complete the task, arranging the Spanish
version in a parallel column with the original,
and adding a vocabulary, explaining the
difficult Aztec terms and phrases ; while the
text was supported by the numerous paintings
on which it was founded. In this form,
making two bulky volumes in folio, it was
sent to Madrid. There seemed now to be no
further reason for postponing its publication,
the importance of which could not be doubted.
But from this moment it disappears ; and we
hear nothing further of it, for more than two
centuries, except only as a valuable work,
which had once existed and was probably
buried in some one of the numerous ceme-
teries of learning in which Spain abounds.
At length, towards the close of the last
century, the indefatigable Mufioz succeeded
in disinterring the long-lost manuscript from
the place tradition had assigned to it, — the
library of a convent at Tolosa, in Navarre,
the northern extremity of Spain. With his
usual ardour, he transcribed the whole work
with his own hands, and added it to the
inestimable collection, of which, alas ! he
was destined not to reap the full benefit him-
self. From this transcript Lord Kingsborough
was enabled to procure the copy which was
published in 1830, in the sixth volume of his
magnificent compilation. In it he expresses
an honest satisfaction at being the first to
give Sahagun's work to the world. But in
this supposition he was mistaken. The very
year preceding, an edition of it, with anno-
tations, appeared in Mexico, in three volumes
octavo. It was prepared by Bustamante, — a
scholar to whose editorial activity his country
is largely indebted, — from a copy of the
Mufioz manuscript which came into his pos-
session. Thus this remarkable work, which
was denied the honours of the press during
the author's lifetime, after passing into
oblivion, reappeared, at the distance of nearly
three centuries, not in his own country, but
in foreign lands widely remote from each
other, and that almost simultaneously. The
story is extraordinary, though unhappily not
so extraordinary in Spain as it would be else-
where.
Sahagun divided his history into twelve
books. The first eleven are occupied with
the social institutions of Mexico, and the last
with the Conquest. On the religion of the
country he is particularly full. His great
object evidently was, to give a clear view of
its mythology, and of the burdensome ritual
which belonged to it. Religion entered so
intimately into the most private concerns
and usages of the Aztecs, that Sahagun's
work must be a text-book for every student
of their antiquities. Torquemada availed
himself of a manuscript copy, which fell into
his hands before it was sent to Spain, to
enrich his own pages,— a circumstance more
fortunate for his readers than for Sahagun's
reputation, whose work, now that it is pub-
lished, loses much of the originality and
interest which would otherwise attach to it.
In one respect it is invaluable ; as presenting
a complete collection of the various forms of
prayer, accommodated to every possible
emergency, in use by the Mexicans. They
are often clothed in dignified and beautiful
language, showing that sublime speculative
tenets are quite compatible with the most
degrading practices of superstition. It is
much to be regretted that we have not the
eighteen hymns inserted by the author in his
book, which would have particular interest,
as the only specimen of devotional poetry
preserved of the Aztecs. The bierogtyphical
paintings, which accompanied the text, are
also missing. If they have escaped the
hands of fanaticism, both may reappear at
some future day.
Sahagun produced several other works, of
a religious or philological character. Some
of these were voluminous, but none have
been printed. He lived to a very advanced
age, closing a life of activity and usefulness,
in 1590, in the capital of Mexico. His re-
mains were followed to the tomb by a nu-
merous concourse of his own countrymen,
and of the natives, who lamented in him the
loss of unaffected piety, benevolence, and
learning.
44 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
CHAPTER IV.
MEXICAN HIEROGLYPHICS.— MANUSCRIPTS.— ARITHMETIC— CHRONOLOGY.—
ASTRONOMY
It is a relief to turn from the gloomy pages of the preceding chapter to a
brighter side of the picture, and to contemplate the same nation in its
generous struggle to raise itself from a state of barbarism and to take a
positive rank in the scale of civilization. It is not the less interesting, that
these efforts were made on an entirely new theatre of action, apart from those
influences that operate in the Old World ; the inhabitants of which, forming
one great brotherhood of nations, are knit together by sympathies that make
the faintest spark of knowledge, struck out in one quarter, spread gradually
Avider and wider, until it has diffused a cheering light over the remotest. It
is curious to observe the human mind, in this new position, conforming to the
same laws as on the ancient continent, and taking a similar direction in its
first inquiries after truth, — so similar, indeed, as, although not warranting,
perhaps, the idea of imitation, to suggest at least that of a common origin.
In the Eastern hemisphere we rind some nations, as the Greeks, for
instance, early smitten with such a love of the beautiful as to be unwilling
to dispense with it even in the graver productions of science ; and other
nations, again, proposing a severer "end to themselves, to which even imagina-
tion and elegant art were made subservient. The productions of such a
people must be criticised, not by the ordinary rules of taste, but by their
adaptation to the peculiar end for which they were designed. Such were the
Egyptians in the Old World,1 and the Mexicans in the New. We have
already had occasion to notice the resemblance borne by the latter nation
to the former in their religious economy. We shall be more struck with it
in their scientific culture, especially their hieroglyphical writing and their
astronomy.
To describe actions and events by delineating visible objects seems to be
a natural suggestion, and is practised, after a certain fashion, by the rudest
savages. The North American Indian carves an arrow on the bark of trees
to show his followers the direction of his march, and some other sign to show
the success of his expeditions. But to paint intelligibly a consecutive series
of these actions — forming what Warburton has happily called picture-
writing 2 — requires a combination of ideas that amounts to a positively
intellectual effort. Yet further, when the object of the painter, instead of
being limited to the present, is to penetrate the past, and to gather from its
dark recesses lessons of instruction for coming generations, we see the dawn-
ings of a literary culture, and recognize the proof of a decided civilization
in the attempt itself, however imperfectly it may be executed. The literal
1 " An Egyptian temple," says Denon, Gloucester, in his comparison of the various
strikingly, " is an open volume, in which hieroglyphical systems of the world, shows
the teachings of science, morality, and the his characteristic sagacity and boldness by
arts are recorded. Every thing seems to speak announcing opinions little credited then,
one and the same language, and breathes one though since established. He affirmed the
and the same spirit." The passage is cited existence of an Egyptian alphabet, but was
by Heeren, Hist. Res., vol. v. p. 178. not aware of the phonetic property of biero-
a Divine Legation, ap. Works (London, glyphics,— the great literary discovery of our
1811), vol. iv. b. 4, sec. 4.— The Bishop of age.
MEXICAN HIEROGLYPHICS. 45
imitation of objects will not answer for this more complex and extended plan.
It would occupy too much space, as well as time in the execution. It then
becomes necessary to abridge the pictures, to confine the drawing to outlines,
or to such prominent parts of the bodies delineated as may readily suggest
the whole. This is the representative or figurative writing, which forms the
lowest stage of hieroglyphics.
But there are things which have no type in the material world ; abstract
ideas, which can only be represented by visible objects supposed to have some
quality analogous to the idea intended. This constitutes symbolical writing,
the most difficult of all to the interpreter, since the analogy between the
material and immaterial object is often purely fanciful, or local in its applica-
tion. Who, for instance, could suspect the association which made a beetle
represent the universe, as with the Egyptians, or a serpent typify time, as
with the Aztecs ?
The third and last division is the phonetic, in which signs are made to
represent sounds, either entire words, or parts of them. This is the nearest
approach of the hieroglyphical series to that beautiful invention, the alphabet,
by which language is resolved into its elementary sounds, and an apparatus
supplied for easily and accurately expressing the most delicate shades of
thought
The Egyptians were well skilled in all three kinds of hieroglyphics. > But,
although their public monuments display the first class, in their ordinary
intercourse and written records it is now certain that they almost wholly relied
on the phonetic character. Strange that, having thus broken down the thin
partition which divided them from an alphabet, their latest monuments should
exhibit no nearer approach to it than their earliest.3 The Aztecs, also, were
acquainted with the several varieties of hieroglyphics. But they relied on the
figurative infinitely more than on the others. The Egyptians were at the top
of the scale, the Aztecs at the bottom.
In casting the eye over a Mexican manuscript, or map, as it is called, one
is struck with the grotesque caricatures it exhibits of the human figure ;
monstrous, overgrown heads, on puny, misshapen bodies, which are themselves
hard and angular in their outlines, and without the least skill in composition.
On closer inspection, however, it is obvious that it is not so much a rude
attempt to delineate nature, as a conventional symbol, to express the idea in
the most clear and forcible manner ; in the same way as the pieces of similar
value on a chess-board, while they correspond with one another in form, bear
little resemblance, usually, to the objects they represent. Those parts* of the
figure are most distinctly traced which are the most important. So, also, the
colouring, instead of the delicate gradations of nature, exhibits only gaudy
and violent contrasts, such as may produce the most vivid impression " For
even colours," as Gama observes, " speak in the Aztec hieroglyphics." 4
But in the execution of all this the Mexicans were much inferior to the
Egyptians. The drawings of the latter, indeed, are exceedingly defective,
3 It appears that the hieroglyphics on the dious, should not have been substituted. But
most recent monuments of Egypt contain no the Egyptians were familiar with their hiero-
larger infusion of phonetic characters than glyphics from infancy, which, moreover, took
those which existed eighteen centuries before the fancies of the most illiterate, probably in
Christ ; showing no advance, in this respect, the same manner as our children are attracted
for twenty-two hundred years ! (See Cham- and taught by the picture-alphabets in an
pollion, Precis du Systeme hieroglyphique ordinary spelling-book,
des anciens Egyptiens (Paris, 1824), pp. 242, * Descripcion histoiica y cronologica de las
231.) It may seem more strange that thr Dos Piedras (Mexico, 1 832), Parte 2, p. 39.
enchorial alphabet, so much more commp'
46 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
when criticised by the rules of art ; for they were as ignorant of perspective
as the Chinese, and only exhibited the head in profile, with the eye in the
centre, and witn total absence of expression. But they handled the pencil
more gracefully than the Aztecs, were more true to the natural forms of
objects, and, above all, showed great superiority in abridging the original
figure by giving only the outline, or some characteristic or essential feature.
This simplified the process, and facilitated the communication of thought. An
Egyptian text has almost the appearance of alphabetical writing in its regular
lines of minute figures. A Mexican text looks usually like a collection of pic-
tures, each one forming the subject of a separate study. This is particularly
the case with the delineations of mythology ; in which the story is told by a con-
glomeration of symbols, that may remind one more of the mysterious anaglyphs
sculptured on the temples of the Egyptians, than of their written records.
The Aztecs had various emblems for expressing such things as, from their
nature, could not be directly represented by the painter ; as, for example, the .
years, months, days, the seasons, the elements, the heavens, and the like. A
"tongue" denoted, speaking; a "footprint," travelling; a "man sitting on
the ground," an earthquake. These symbols were often very arbitrary, vary-
ing with the caprice of the writer ; and it requires a nice discrimination to
interpret them, as a slight change in the form or position of the figure
intimated a very different meaning.5 An ingenious writer asserts that the
priests devised secret symbolic characters for the record of their religious
mysteries. It is possible. But the researches of Champollion lead to the
conclusion that the similar opinion formerly entertained respecting the
Egyptian hieroglyphics is without foundation.6
Lastly, they employed, as above stated, phonetic signs, though these were
chiefly confined to the names of persons and places ; which, being derived
from some circumstance or characteristic quality, were accommodated to the
hieroglyphical system. Thus, the town Cimatlan was compounded of cimatl,
a " root," which grew near it, and tlan, signifying " near ; " Tlaxcallan meant
" the place of bread," from its rich fields of corn ; Hue.votzi?ico, " a place
surrounded by willows." The names of persons were often significant of their
adventures and achievements. That of the great Tezcucan prince Nezahual-
coyotl signified " hungry fox," intimating his sagacity, and his distresses in
early life.7 The emblems of such names were no sooner seen, than they
suggested to every Mexican the person and place intended, and, when painted
on their shields or embroidered on their banners, became the armorial bear-
ings by which city and chieftain were distinguished, as in Europe in the age
of chivalry.8
5 Gama, Descripcion, Parte 2, pp. 32, 44.— p. 360.) Why may not this be true, likewise,
Acosta, lib. 6, cap. 7. — The continuation of of the monstrous symbolical combinations
Gama's work, recently edited by Bustamante, which represented the Mexican deities ?
in Mexico, contains, among other things, 7 Boturini. Idea, pp. 77-83.— Gama, De-
some interesting remarks on the Aztec hiero- scripcion, Parte 2, pp. 34-43.— Heeren is not
glyphics. The editor has rendered a good aware, or does not allow, that the Mexicans
service by this further publication of the used phonetic characters of any kind. (Hist,
writings of this estimable scholar, who has Res., vol. v. p. 45.) They, indeed, reversed
done more than any of his countrymen to the usual order of proceeding, and, instead of
explain the mysteries of Aztec science. - adapting the hieroglyphic to the name of the
• Gama, Descripcion, Parte 2, p. 32.— War- object, accommodated the name of the object
burton, with his usual penetration, rejects to the hieroglyphic. This, of course, could
the idea of mystery in the figurative hiero- not admit of great extension. We find pho-
glyphics. (Divine Legation, b. 4, sec. 4.) netic characters, however, applied in some
If there was any mystery reserved for the instances to common as well as proper names,
initiated, Champollion thinks it may have e Boturini, Idea, ubi supra
been the system of the anaglyphs (Precis,
MEXICAN HIEROGLYPHICS-MANUSCRIPTS. 47
But, although the Aztecs were instructed in all the varieties of hieroglyphical
painting, they chiefly resorted to the clumsy method of direct representation.
Had their empire lasted, like the Egyptian, several thousand years, instead
of the brief space of two hundred, they would doubtless, like them, have
advanced to the more frequent use of the phonetic writing. But, before they
could be made acquainted with the capabilities of their own system, the
Spanish Conquest, by introducing the European alphabet, supplied their
scholars with a more perfect contrivance for expressing thought, which soon
supplanted the ancient pictorial character.9
Clumsy as it was, however, the Aztec picture-writing seems to have been
adequate to the demands of the nation, in their imperfect state of civilization.
By means of it were recorded all their laws, and even their regulations for
domestic economy ; their tribute-rolls, specifying the imposts of the various
towns ; their mythology, calendars, and rituals ; their political annals, carried
back to a period long before the foundation of the city. They digested a
complete system of chronology, and could specify with accuracy the dates of
the most important events in' their history ; the year being inscribed on the
margin, against the particular circumstance recorded. It is true, history, thus
executed, must necessarily be vague and fragmentary. Only a few leading-
incidents could be presented. But in this it did not differ much from the
monkish chronicles of the dark ages, which often dispose of years in a few
brief sentences,— quite long enough for the annals of barbarians.10
In order to estimate aright the picture-writing of the Aztecs, one must
regard it in connection with oral tradition, to which it was auxiliary. In the
colleges of the priests the youth were instructed in astronomy, history,
mythology, etc. ; and those who were to follow the profession of hieroglyphical
painting were taught the application of the characters appropriated to each
of these branches. In an historical work, one had charge of the chronology,
another of the events. Every part of the labour was thus mechanically dis-
tributed.11 The pupils, instructed in all that was before known in their
several departments, were prepared to extend still further the boundaries of
their imperfect science. The hieroglyphics served as a sort of stenography,
a collection of notes, suggesting to the initiated much more than could be
conveyed by a literal interpretation. This combination of the written and
the oral comprehended what may be called the literature of the Aztecs.12
0 Clavigero has given a catalogue of the coming to an agreement about the proper
Mexican historians of the sixteenth century, signification of the paintings. Antiq. of
— some of whom are often cited in this his- Mexico, vol. vi. p. 87.
tory,— which bears honourable testimony to " Gama, Description, Parte 2, p. 30. —
the literary ardour and intelligence of the Acosta, lib. 6, cap. 7.— "Tenian para cada
native races. Stor. del Messico, torn, i., genero," says Ixtlilxochitl, "sus Escritores,
Pref. — Also, Gama, Description, Parte 1, unos que trataban de los Anales, poniendo
passim. por su orden las cosas que acaecian en cada
,J M. de Humboldt's remark, that the un ano, con dia, mes, y hora ; otros tenian &
Aztec annals, from the close of the eleventh su cargo las Genealogias, y descendencia de
century. " exhibit the greatest method and los Reyes, Sefiores, y Personas de linaje,
astonishing minuteness" (Vues des Cordil- asentando por cuenta y razon los que nacian,
leres, p. 137), must be received with some y borraban los que morian con la misma
qualification. The reader would scarcely cuenta. Unos tenian cuidado de las pinturas,
understand from it that there are rarely more de los terminos, lfmites, y mojoneras de las
than one or two facts recorded in any year, Ciudades, Provincias, Pueblos, y Lugares, y
and sometimes not one in a dozen or more. de las suertes, y repartimiento de las tierras
The necessary looseness and uncertainty of cuyas eran, y a quien pertenecian ; otros de
these historical records are made apparent by los libros de Leyes, ritos, y ceremonias que
the remarks of the Spanish interpreter of the usaban." Hist. Chich., MS., Prologo.
Mendoza Codex, who tells us that the natives, '- According to Boturini, the ancient Mexi-
to whom it was submitted, were very long in cans were acquainted with the Peruvian
48 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
Their manuscripts were made of different materials, — of cotton cloth, or
skins nicely prepared ; of a composition of silk and gum ; but, for the most
part, of a fine fabric from the leaves of the aloe, agave Americana, called by
the natives maguey, which grows luxuriantly over the table-lands of Mexico.
A sort of paper was made from it, resembling somewhat the Egyptian
papyrus,13 -which, when properly dressed and polished, is said to have been
more soft and beautiful than parchment. Some of the specimens, still exist-
ing, exhibit their original freshness, and the paintings on them retain their
brilliancy of colours. They were sometimes done up into rolls, but more
frequently into volumes, of moderate size, in which the paper was shut up,
like a folding screen, with a leaf or tablet of wood at each extremity, that
gave the whole, when closed, the appearance of a book. The length of the
strips was determined only by convenience. As the pages might be read and
referred to separately, this form had obvious advantages over the rolls of the
ancients.14
At the time of the arrival of the Spaniards, great quantities of these
manuscripts were treasured up in the country. Numerous persons were
employed in painting, and the dexterity, of their operations excited the
astonishment of the Conquerors. Unfortunately, this was mingled with other
and unworthy feelings. The strange, unknown characters inscribed on them
excited suspicion. They were looked on as magic scrolls, and were regarded
in the same light with the idols and temples, as the symbols of a pestilent
superstition, that must be extirpated. The first archbishop of Mexico, Don
Juan de Zumarraga, — a name that should be as immortal as that of Omar,—
collected these paintings from every quarter, especially from Tezcuco, the
most cultivated capital in Anahuac, and the great depository of the national
archives. He then caused them to be piled up in a "mountain-heap" —
as it is called by the Spanish writers themselves— in the market-place
of Tlatelolco, and' reduced them all to ashes ! ls His greater countryman,
method of recording events by means of the l* Lorenzana, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, p. 8.
quippus,— knotted strings of various colours, — Boturini, Idea, p. 96. — Humboldt, Vues des
— which were afterwards superseded by hiero- Cordilleres, p. 52. — Peter Martyr Anglerius,
glyphical painting. (Idea, p. 86.) He could I)e Orbe Novo (Compluti, 1530), dec. 3,
discover, however, but a single specimen, cap. 8 ; dec. 5, cap. 10. — Martyr has given a
which he met with in Tlascala, and that had minute description of the Indian maps sent
n-arly fallen to pieces with age. McCulloh home soon after the invasion of New Spain,
suggests that it may have been only a warn- His inquisitive mind was struck with the
pum belt, such as is common among our evidence they afforded of a positive civiliza-
North American Indians. (Researches, p. tion. Ribera, the friend of Cortes, brought
201.) The conjecture is plausible enough. back a story that the paintings were designed
Strings of wampum, of various colours, were as patterns for embroiderers and jewellers,
used by the latter people for the similar But Martyr had been in Egypt, and he felt
purpose of registering events. The insulated little hesitation in placing the Indian draw-
fact, recorded by Boturini, is hardly sufficient ings in the same class with those he had seen
— unsupported, so far as I know, by any on the obelisks and temples of that country,
other testimony— to establish the existence ,B Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., Prologo.
of quippus among the Aztecs, who had but —Idem, Sum. Relac, MS. — ["The name
little in common with the Peruvians. of Zumarraga," says Senor Alaman, " has
13 Pliny, who gives a minute account of other and very different titles to immortality
the papyrus reed of Egypt, notices the various from that mentioned by Mr. Prescott,— titles
manufactures obtained from it, as ropes, founded on his virtues and apostolic labours,
clot!), paper, etc. It also served as a thatch especially on the fervid zeal with which he
for the roofs of housrs, and as food and drink defended the natives and the manifold benefits
for the natives. (Hist. Nat., lib. 11, cap. he secured to them. The loss that history
20-22.) It is singular that the American suffered by the destruction of the Indian
agave, a plant so totally different, should manuscripts by the missionaries has been in
also have been applied to all these various a great measure repaired by the writings of
uses. the missionaries themselves." Conquista
MANUSCRIPTS.
49
Archbishop Ximenes, had celebrated a similar auto-da-fe of Arabic raanu-
cripts, in Granada, some twenty years before. Never did fanaticism achieve
two more signal triumphs than by the annihilation of so many curious
monuments of human ingenuity and learning ! 16
The unlettered soldiers were not slow in imitating the example of their
prelate. Every chart and volume which fell into their hands was wantonly
destroyed ; so that, when the scholars of a later and more enlightened age
anxiously sought to recover some of these memorials of civilization, nearly all
had perished, and the few surviving were jealously hidden by the natives.17
Through the indefatigable labours of a private individual, however, a con-
siderable collection was eventually deposited in the archives of Mexico, but
was so little heeded there that some were plundered, others decayed piecemeal
from the damps and mildews, and others, again, were used up as waste
paper ! 18 We contemplate with indignation the cruelties inflicted by the
early conquerors. But indignation is qualified with contempt when we see
them thus ruthlessly trampling out the spark of knowledge, the commor
boon and property of all mankind. We may well doubt which has the stronger
claim to civilization, the victor or the vanquished.
A few of the Mexican manuscripts have found their way, from time to time,
to Europe, and are carefully preserved in the public libraries of its capitals.
They are brought together in the magnificent work of Lord Kingsborough ;
but not one is there from Spain. The most important of them, for the light
it throws on the Aztec institutions, is the Mei;doza Codex ; which, after its
mysterious disappearance for more than a century, has at length reappeared
in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. It has been several times engraved.19
de Mejico (trad, de Vega), torn. i. p. 60.]—
Writers are not agreed whether the confla-
gration took place in the square of Tlatelolco
or Tezcuco. Comp. Clavigero, Stor. del
Messico, torn. ii. p. 188, and Bustamante's
Pref. to Ixtlilxochitl, Cruautes des Con-
querans, trad, de Ternaux, p. xvii.
'" It has been my Lot to record both these
displays of human infirmity, so humbling to
the pride of intellect. See the History of
Ferdinand and Isabella, Tart 2, chap. 6.
17 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, lib.
10, cap. 27.— Bustamante, Mananas de Ala-
meda (Mexico, 1836), torn, ii., Prologo.
" Very many of the documents thus pain-
fully amassed in the archives of the Audience
of Mexico were sold, according to Busta-
mante, as wrapping-paper, to apothecaries,
shopkeepers, and rocket-makers ! Boturini's
noble collection has not fared much better.
19 The history of this famous collection is
familiar to scholars. It was sent to the Em-
peror Charles the Fifth, not long after the
Conquest, by the viceroy Mendoza, Marques
de Mondejar. The vessel fell into the hands
of a French cruiser, and the manuscript was
taken to Paris. It was afterwards bought by
the chaplain of the English embassy, and,
coming into the possession of the antiquary
Purchas, was engraved, in extenso, by him,
in the third volume of his "Pilgrimage."
After its publication, in 1625, the Aztec
original lost its importance, and fell into
oblivion so completely that, when at length
the public curiosity was excited in regard
to its fate, no trace of it could be discovered.
Many were the speculations of scholars, at
home and abroad, respecting it, and Dr.
Bobertson settled the question as to its exist-
ence in England, by declaring that there was
no Mexican relic in that country, except a
golden goblet of Montezuma. (History of
America (London, 1796), vol. iii. p. 370.)
Nevertheless, the identical Codex, and several
other Mexican paintings, have been since
discovered in the Bodleian Library. The
circumstance has brought some obloquy on
the historian, who, while prying into the
collections of Vienna and the Escorial, could
be so blind to those under his own eyes. The
oversight will not appear so extraordinary to
a tliorough-bred collector, whether of manu-
scripts, or medals, or any other rarity. The
Mendoza Codex is, after all, but a copy,
coarsely done with a pen on European paper.
Another copy, from which Archbishop Loren-
zana engraved his tribute-rolls in Mexico,
existed in Boturini's collection. A third is
in the Escorial, according to the Marquis
of Spineto. (Lectures on the Elements of
Hieroglyphics (London), Lect. 7.) This may
possibly be the original painting. The entire
Codex, copied from the Bodleian maps, with
its Spanish and English interpretations, is
included in the noble compilation of Lord
Kingsborough. (Vols, i., v., vi.) It is dis-
tributed into three parts, embracing the civil
history of the nation, the tributes paid by the
cities, and the domestic economy and dis-
cipline of the Mexicans, and, from the fulness
no
AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
The most brilliant in colouring, probably, is the Borgian collection, in Home.20
The most curious, however, is the Dresden Codex, which has excited less
attention than it deserves. Although usually classed among Mexican manu-
scripts, it bears little resemblance to them in its execution ; the figures of
objects are more delicately drawn, and the characters, unlike the Mexican,
appear to be purely arbitrary, and are possibly phonetic.21 Their regular
arrangement is quite equal to the Egyptian. The whole infers a much higher
civilization than the Aztec, and offers abundant food for curious speculation.22
Some few of these maps have interpretations annexed to them, which were
obtained from the natives after the Conquest.23 The greater part are without
any, and cannot now be unriddled. Had the Mexicans made free use of a
phonetic alphabet, it might have been originally easy, by mastering the
comparatively few signs employed in this kind of communication, to have
got a permanent key to the whole.24 A brief inscription has furnished a clue
of the interpretation, is of much importance
in regard to these several topics.
20 It formerly belonged to the Giustiniani
family, but was so little cared for that it was
suffered to fall into the mischievous hands
of the domestics' children, who made sundry
attempts to burn it. Fortunately, it was
painted on deerskin, and, though somewhat
singed, was not destroyed. (Humboldt, Vues
des Cordilleres, p. 89, et seq.) It is impos-
sible to cast the eye over this brilliant assem-
blage of forms and colours without feeling
how hopeless must be the attempt to recover
a key to the Aztec mythological symbols;
which are here distributed with the symmetry,
indeed, but in all the endless combinations,
of the kaleidoscope. It is in the third volume
of Lord Kingsborough's work.
21 Humboldt, Avho has copied some pages
of it in his " Atlas pittoresque," intimates no
doubt of its Aztec origin. (Vues des Cor-
dilleres, pp. 266, 267.) M. Le Noir even
reads in it an exposition of Mexican Mytho-
logy, with occasional analogies to that of
Egypt and of Hindostan. (Antiquites Mexi-
caines, torn, ii., Introd.) The fantastic forms
of hieroglyphic symbols may afford analogies
for almost anything.
M The history of this Codex, engraved
entire in the third volume of the " Antiquities
of Mexico," goes no further back than 1739,
when it was purchased at Vienna for the
Dresden Library. It is made of the American
agave. The figures painted on it bear little
resemblance, either in feature or form, to the
Mexican. They are surmounted by a sort
of head-gear, which looks something like a
modern peruke. On the chin of one we may
notice a beard, a sign often used after the
Conquest to denote a European. Many of
the persons are sitting cross-legged. The
profiles of the faces, and the whole contour
of the limbs, are sketched with a spirit and
freedom very unlike the hard, angular out-
lines of the Aztecs. The characters, also, are
delicately traced, generally in an irregular
but circular form, and are very minute.
They are arranged, like the Egyptian, botji
horizontally and perpendicularly, mostly in
the former manner, and, from the prevalent
direction of the profiles, would seem to have
been read from right to left. Whether pho-
netic or ideographic, they are of that compact
and purely conventional sort which belongs
to a well-digested system for the communica-
tion of thought. One cannot but regret that
no trace should exist of the quarter whence
this MS. was obtained ; perhaps some part of
Central America, from the region of the
mysterious races who built the monuments
of Mitla and Palenque; though, in truth,
there seems scarcely more resemblance in the
symbols to the Palenque bas-reliefs than to
the Aztec paintings.*
-3 There are three of these : the Mendoza
Codex; the Telleriano-Remensis,— formerly
the property of Archbishop Tellier, — in the
Eoyal Library of Paris; and the Vatican
MS., No. 3738. The interpretation of the
last bears evident marks of its recent origin ;
probably as late as the close of the sixteenth
or the beginning of the seventeenth century,
when the ancient hieroglyphics were read
with the eye of faith rather than of reasou.
Whoever was the commentator (comp. Vues
des Cordilleres, pp. 203, 204; and Antiq. of
Mexico, vol. vi. pp. 155, 222), he has given
such an exposition as shows the old Aztecs
to have been as orthodox Christians as any
subjects of the Pope.
-* The total number of Egyptian hiero-
glyphics discovered by Champo'llion amounts
_ * [Mr. Stephens, who, like Humboldt, con-
sidered the Dresden Codex a Mexican manu-
script, compared the characters of it with
those on the altar of Copan, and drew the
conclusion that the inhabitants of that place
and of Palenque must have spoken the same
language as the Aztecs. Prescott's opinion
has, however, been confirmed by later critics,
who have shown that the hieroglyphics of
the Dresden Codex are quite different from
those at Copan and Palenque, while the Mexi-
can writing bears not the least resemblance
to either. See Orozco y Berra, Geograh'a de
las Lenguas de Mexico, p. 101. — Ed.]
MANUSCRIPTS.
51
to the vast labyrinth of Egyptian hieroglyphics. But the Aztec characters,
representing individuals, or, at most, species, require to be made out separately ;
a hopeless task, for which little aid is to be expected from the vague and
general tenor of the few interpretations now existing. There was, as already
mentioned, until late in the last century, a professor in the University of
Mexico, especially devoted to the study of the national picture-writing. But,
as this was with a view to legal proceedings, his information, probably, was
limited to deciphering titles. In less than a hundred years after the Conquest,
the knowledge of the hieroglyphics had so far declined that a diligent Tezcu-
can writer complains he could hnd in the country only two persons, both very
aged, at all competent to interpret them.25
It is not probable, therefore, that the art of reading these picture-writings
will ever be recovered ; a circumstance certainly to be regretted. Not that
the records of a semi-civilized people would be likely to contain any new truth
or discovery important to human comfort or progress ; but they could scarcely
fail to throw some additional light on the previous history of the nation, and
that of the more polished people who before occupied the country. This would
be still more probable, if any literary relics of their Toltec predecessors Avere
preserved ; and, if report be true, an important compilation from this source
was extant at the time of the invasion, and may have perhaps contributed to
swell the holocaust of Zumarraga.26 It is no great stretch of fancy to suppose
that such records might reveal the successive links in the mighty chain of
migration of the primitive races, and, by carrying us back to the seat of their
possessions in the Old World, have solved the mystery which has so long
perplexed the learned, in regard to the settlement and civilization of the
New.*
to 864 ; and of these 130 only are phonetic,
notwithstanding that this kind of character
is used far more frequently than hoth the
others. Precis, p. 263 ;— also Spineto, Lec-
tures, Lect. 3.
M Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., Dedic—
Boturini, who travelled through every part of
the country in the middle of the last century,
could not meet with an individual who could
afford him the least clue to the Aztec hiero-
glyphics. So completely had every vestige of
their ancient language been swept away from
the memory of the natives. (Idea, p. 116.)
If we are to believe Uustamante, however, a
complete key to the whole system is, at this
moment, someivhere in Spain. It was carried
* [Such a supposition would require a
"stretch of fancy" greater than any which
the mind of the mere historical inquirer is
capable of taking. To admit the probability
of the Asiatic origin of the American races,
and of the indefinite antiquity of the Mexican
civilization, is something very different from
believing that this civilization, already de-
veloped in the degree required for the exist-
ence and preservation of its own records
during so long a period and so great a mi-
gration, can have been transplanted from the
one continent to the other. It would be
easier to accept the theory, now generally
abandoned, that the original settlers owed
home, at the time of the process against
Father Mier, in 1795. The name of the
Mexican Champollion who discovered it is
Borunda. Gama, Descripcion, torn. ii. p. 33,
nota.
-° Teoamoxtli, "the divine book," as it was
called. According to Ixtlilxochitl, it was
composed by a Tezcucan doctor, named Hue-
matzin, towards the close of the seventeenth
century. (Relaciones, MS.) It gave an
account of the migrations of his nation from
Asia, of the various stations on their journey,
of their social and religious institutions, their
science, arts, etc., etc., a good deal too much
for one book. Ignotum pro mirifico. It has
never been seen by a European. f A copy is
their civilization to a body of colonists from
Phoenicia. In view of so hazardous a con-
jecture, it is difficult to understand why
Buschmann has taken exception to the
"sharp criticism" to which Prescott has
subjected the sources of Mexican history, and
his "low estimate of their value and credi-
bility."—Ed.]
f [It must have been seen by many PJuro-
peans, if we accept either the statement of the
Baron de Waldeck, in 1838 (Voyage pitto-
resque et archeologique dans la Province
d' Yucatan), that it was then in his possession,
or the theories of Brasseur de Bourbourg, who
identifies it with the Dresden Codex and cer-
ft AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
Besides the hieroglyphical maps, the traditions of the country were em-
bodied in the songs and hymns, which, as already mentioned, were carefully
taught in the public schools. These were various, embracing the mythic
legends of a heroic age, the warlike achievements of their own, or the softer
tales of love and pleasure.27 Many of them were composed by scholars and
persons of rank, and are cited as affording the most authentic record of
events.28 The Mexican dialect was rich and expressive, though inferior to
the Tezcucan, the most polished of the idioms of Anahuac. None of the
Aztec compositions have survived, but we can form some estimate of the
general state of poetic culture from the odes which have come down to us
from the royal house of Tezcuco.29 Sahagun has furnished us with transla-
tions of their more elaborate prose, consisting of prayers and public discourses,
which give a favourable idea of their eloquence, and show that they paid
much attention to rhetorical effect. They are said to have had, also, some-
thing like theatrical exhibitions, of a pantomimic sort, in which the faces of
the performers were covered with masks, and the figures of birds or animals
were frequently represented ; an imitation to which they may have been led
by the familiar delineation of such objects in their hieroglyphics.30 In all
this we see the dawning of a literary culture, surpassed, however, by their
attainments in the severer walks of mathematical science.
They devised a system of notation in their arithmetic sufficiently simple.
The first twenty numbers were expressed by a corresponding number of dots.
The first five had specific names ; after which they were represented by com-
bining the fifth with one of the four preceding ; as five and one for six, five
and two for seven, and so on. Ten and fifteen had each a separate name,
which was also combined with the first four, to express a higher quantity.
These four, therefore, were the radical characters of their oral arithmetic, in
the same manner as they were of the written with the ancient Romans ; a
more simple arrangement, probably, than any existing among Europeans.31
Twenty was expressed by a separate hieroglyphic, — a flag. Large sums were
reckoned by twenties, and, in writing, by repeating the number of flags. The
square of twenty, four hundred, had a separate sign, that of a plume, and so
had the cube of twenty, or eight thousand, which was denoted by a purse, or
sack. This was the whole arithmetical apparatus of the Mexicans, by the
said to have been in possession of the Tezcucan con tanta razon, quanta pudie"ron tener los
chroniclers on the taking of their capital. mas graves y fidedignos Autores." Ixtlilxo-
(Bustamante, Cronica Mexicana (Mexico, chitl, Hist. Chich., IMS., Prologo.
1822), carta 3.) Lord Kingshorough, who can m See chap. 6 of this Introduction,
scent out a Hebrew root be it buried never so 30 See some account of these mummeries in
deep, has discovered that the Teoamoxtli was Acosta (lib. 5, cap. 30),— also Clavigero (Stor.
the Pentateuch. Thus, teo means "divine," del Messico, ubi supra). Stone models of
amotl, " paper " or " book," and moxtli " ap- masks are sometimes found among the Indian
pears to be Moses ; "— " Divine Book of ruins, and engravings of them are both in
Moses"! Antiq. of Mexico, vol. vi. p. 204, Lord Kingsborough's work and in the Anti-
nota. quites Mexicaines.
" Boturini, Idea, pp. 90-97.— Clavigero, 31 Gama, Descripcion, Parte 2, Apend. 2.—
Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. pp. 174-17*. Gama, in comparing the language of Mexican
28 "Los cantos con que las observaban notation with the decimal system of the
Antores muy graves en su modo de ciencia y Europeans and the ingenious binary system
facultad, pues fueron los mismos Reyes, y de of Leibnitz, confounds oral with written
la gente mas ilustre y entendida, que siempre arithmetic,
observaron y adquirieron la verdad, y esta
tain other hieroglyphical manuscripts, and documents in Boturini's collection, to which
who believes himself to have found the key he has given the name of the Codex Chimal-
to it, and consequently to the origin of the popoca. Quatre Lettres sur le Mexique (Paris,
Mexican history and civilization, in one of the 1863) — Ed.J
ARITHMETIC-CHRONOLOGY. 53
combination of which they were enabled to indicate any quantity. For
greater expedition, they used to denote fractions of the larger sums by drawing-
only a part of the object. Thus, half or three-fourths of a plume, or of a
purse, represented that proportion of their respective sums, and so on.32
With all this, the machinery will appear very awkward to us, who perform our
operations with so much ease by means of the Arabic or, rather, Indian
ciphers. It is not much more awkward, however, than the system pursued by
the great mathematicians of antiquity, unacquainted with the brilliant in-
vention, which has given a new aspect to mathematical science, of determining
the value, in a great measure, by the relative position of the figures.
In the measurement of time, the Aztecs adjusted their civil year by the
solar. They divided it into eighteen months of twenty days each. Both
months and days were expressed by peculiar hieroglyphics, — those of the
former often intimating the season of the year, like the French months at the
period of the Revolution. Five complementary days, as in Egypt,33 were
added, to make up the full number of three hundred and sixty-five. They
belonged to no month, and were regarded as peculiarly unlucky. A month
was divided into four weeks, of five days each, on the last of which was the
public fair, or market-day.34 This arrangement, differing from that of the
nations of the Old Continent, whether of Europe or Asia,35 has the advan-
tage of giving an equal number of days to each month, and of comprehending
entire weeks, without a fraction, both in the months and in the year.36
As the year is composed of nearly six hours more than three hundred and
sixty-live days, there still remained an excess, which, like other nations who
have framed a calendar, they provided for by intercalation ; not, indeed, every
fourth year, as the Europeans,37 but at longer intervals, like some of the
Asiatics.38 They waited till the expiration of fifty-two vague years, when
they interposed thirteen days, or rather twelve and a half, this being the
number which had fallen in arrear. Had they inserted thirteen, it would
have been too much, since the annual excess over three hundred and sixty-
five is about eleven minutes less than six hours. But, as their calendar at the
time of the Conquest was found to correspond with the European (making
32 (Jama, Description, ubi supra. — This 37 Sahagun intimates doubts of this. "They
learned Mexican has given a very satisfactory celebrated another feast every four years in
treatise on the arithmetic of the Aztecs, in his honour of the elements of fire, and it is pro-
second part. bable and has been conjectured that it was on
■'■'■' Herodotus. Euterpe, sec. 4. these occasions that they made their interca-
34 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, lib. 4, lation, counting six days of nemontemi," as
A pend.— According to Clavigero, the fairs the unlucky complementary days were called,
were held on the days bearing the sign of the (Hist, de Nueva-Espana, lib. 4, Apend.)
year. Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. p. 62. But this author, however good an authority
35 The people of Java, according to Sir for the superstitions, is an indifferent one for
Stamford Raffles, regulated their markets, the science of the Mexicans.
also, by a week of five days. They had, 38 The Persians had a cycle of one hundred
besides, our week of seven. (History of Java and twenty years, of three hundred and sixty -
( London, 1830), vol. i. pp. 531, 532.) The five days each, at the end of which they
latter division of time, of general use through- intercalated thirty days. (Humboldt, Vues
out the East, is the oldest monument existing des Oordilleres, p. 177.) This was the same
of astronomical science. See La Place, Ex- as thirteen after the cycle of fifty-two years
position du Systeme du Monde (Paris, 1808), of the Mexicans, but was less accurate than
lib. 5, chap. 1. their probable intercalation of twelve days
36 Veytia, Historia antigua de Mejico (Me- and a half. It is obviously indifferent, as far
jico, 1806), torn. i. cap. 6, 7. — Gama, Deserip- as accuracy is concerned, which multiple of
cion, Parte 1, pp. 33, 34, et alibi. — Boturini, four is selected to form the cycle ; though, the
Idea, pp. 4. 44, et seq. — Cod. Tel. -Rem., ap. shorter the interval of intercalation, the less,
Antiq. of Mexico, vol. vi. p. 104. — Camargo, of course, will be the temporary departure
Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— Toribio, Hist, de los from the true time.
Indies, MS., Parte 1, cap. 5.
AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
allowance for the subsequent Gregorian reform), they would seem to have
adopted the shorter period- of twelve days and a half,39 which brought them,
within an almost inappreciable fraction, to the exact length of the tropical year,
as established by the most accurate observations.40 Indeed, the intercalation
of twenty-five days in every hundred and four years shows a nicer adjustment
of civil to solar time than is presented by any European calendar ; since more
than five centuries must elapse before the loss of an entire day.41 Such was
the astonishing precision displayed by the Aztecs, or, perhaps, by their, more
Eolished Toltec predecessors, in these computations, so difficult as to have
afrled, till a comparatively recent period, the most enlightened nations of
Christendom ! 42
The chronological system of the Mexicans, by which they determined the
date of any particular event, was also very remarkable. The epoch from
which they reckoned corresponded! with the year 1091 of the Christian era.
It was the period of the reform of their calendar, soon after their migration
from Aztlan. They threw the years, as already noticed, into great cycles, of
fifty two each, which they called " sheafs," or " bundles," and represented by
a quantity of reeds bound together by a string. As often as this hieroglyphic
occurs in their maps, it shows the number of half- centuries. To enable them
30 This is the conclusion to which Gama
arrives, after a very careful investigation of
the subject. He supposes that the " bundles,"
or cycles, of fifty-two years— by which, as we
shall see, the Mexicans computed time —
ended alternately at midnight and midday.
(Descripcion, Parte 1, p. 52, et seq.) He
finds some warrant for this in Acosta's ac-
count (lib. 6, cap. 2), though contradicted by
Torquemada (Monarch. Ind., lib. 5, cap. 33),
and, as it appears, by Sahagun, — whose work,
however, Gama never saw (Hist, de Nueva-
Espana, lib. 7, cap. 9),— both of whom place
the close of the year at midnight. Gama's
hypothesis derives confirmation from a cir-
cumstance I have not seen noticed. Besides
the " bundle " of fifty-two years, the Mexicans
had a larger cycle of one hundred and four
years, called ** an old age." As this was not
used in their reckonings, which were carried
on by their "bundles," it seems highly proba-
ble that it was designed to express the period
which would bring round the commencement
of ihe smaller cycles to the same hour, and in
which the intercalary days, amounting to
twenty-five, might be comprehended without
a fraction.
<0 This length, as computed by Zach, at
365d. 5h. 48m. 48sec, is only 2m. 9sec. longer
than the Mexican ; which corresponds with
the celebrated calculation of the astronomers
of the Caliph Almamon, that fell short about
two minutes of the true time. See La Place,
Expjsition, p. 350.
41 "El corto exceso de 4hor. 38min. 40seg.,
que hay de mas de los 25 dias en el periodo de
104 anos, no puede componer un dia entero,
hasta que pasen mas de cinco de estos penodos
maximos 6 538 anos." (Gama, Descripcion,
Parte 1, p. 23.) Gama estimates the solar
year at 365d. 5h. 48m. 50sec.
" The ancient Etruscans arranged their
calendar in cycles of 110 solar years, and
reckoned the year at 365d. 5h. 40m. ; at least
this seems probable, says Niebuhr. (History
of Rome, Eng. trans. (Cambridge, 1828), vol.
i. pp. 113, 238.) The early Romans had not
wit enough to avail themselves of this accurate
measurement, which came within nine mi-
nutes of the true time. The Julian reform,
which assumed 365d. 5|h. as the length of the
year, erred as much, or rather more, on the
other side. And when the Europeans, who
adopted this calendar, landed in Mexico, their
reckoning was nearly eleven days in advance
of the exact time, — or, in other words, of the
reckoning of the barbarous Aztecs ; a remark-
able fact. — Gama's researches led to the con-
clusion that the year of the new cycle began
with the Aztecs on the ninth of January ; a
date considerably earlier than that usually
assigned by the Mexican writers. (Descrip-
cion, Parte 2, pp. 49-52.) By postponing the
intercalation to the end of fifty-two years, the
annual loss of six hours made every fourth
year begin a day earlier. Thus, the cycle
commencing on the ninth of January, the fifth
year of it began on the eighth, the ninth year
on the seventh, and so on ; so that the last
day of the series of fifty-two years fell on the
twenty-sixth of December, when the interca-
lation of thirteen days rectified the chronology
and carried the commencement of the new
near to the ninth of January again. Torque-
mada, puzzled by the irregularity of the new-
year's day, asserts that the Mexicans were
unacquainted with the annual excess of six
hours, and therefore never intercalated:
(Monarch. Ind., lib. 10, cap. 36.) The in-
terpreter of the Vatican Codex has fallen into
a series of blunders on the same subject, still
more ludicrous. (Antiq. of Mexico, vol. vi.
PI. 16.) So soon had Aztec science fallen into
oblivion after the Conquest !
CHRONOLOGY.
to specify any particular year, they divided the great cycle into four smaller
cycles, or indictions, of thirteen years each. They then adopted two peri-
odical series of signs, one consisting of their numerical dots, up to thirteen,
the other, of four hieroglyphics of the years.'13 These latter they repeated in
regular succession, setting against each one a number of the corresponding-
series of dots, continued also in regular succession up to thirteen. The same
system was pursued through the four indictions, which thus, it will be
observed, began always with a different hieroglyphic of the year from the
preceding ; and in this way each of the hieroglyphics was made to combine
successively with each of the numerical signs, but never twice with the same ;
since four, and thirteen, the factors of fifty-two,— the number of years in the
cycle, — must admit of just as many combinations as are equal to their product,
^hus every year had its appropriate symbol, by which it was at once
recognized. And this symbol, preceded by the proper number of " bundles "
indicating the half-centuries, showed the precise time which had elapsed since
the national epoch of 1091.44 The ingenious contrivance of a periodical series,
in place of the cumbrous system of hieroglyphical notation, is not peculiar
to the Aztecs, and is to be found among various nations on the Asiatic con-
tinent,—the same in principle, though varying materially in arrangement.45
The solar calendar described might have answered all the purposes of the
people ; but the priests chose to construct another for themselves. This was
called a " lunar reckoning," though nowise accommodated to the revolutions
of the moon." It was formed, "also, of two periodical series, one of them
*' These hieroglyphics were a "rabbit," a
"reed," a "flint," a "house." They were
taken as symbolical of the four elements, air,
water, fire, earth, according to Veytia. (Hist,
antig., torn. i. cap. 5.) It is not easy to Bee
the connection between the terms " rabbit "
and "air," which lead the respective series.*
44 The following table of two of the four
indictions of thirteen years each will make
the text more clear. The first column shows
the actual year of the great cycle, or " bundle."
The second, the numerical dots used in their
arithmetic. The third is composed of their
hieroglyphics for rabbit, reed, flint, house, in
t'.ieir regular order.
By pursuing the combinations through the
two remaining indictions, it will be found
that the same number of dots will never coin-
cide with the same hieroglyphic. These
tables are generally thrown into the form of
wheels, as are those also of their months and
days, having a very pretty effect. Several
have been published, at different times, from
the collections of Siguenza and Boturini. The
wheel of the great cycle of fifty-two years is
encompassed by a serpent, which was also
the symbol of " an age," both with the Per-
sians and Egyptians. Father Toribio seems
to misapprehend the nature of these chrono-
logical wheels : " Tenian rodelas y escudos, y
en ellas pintadas las figuras y armas de sus
Demonios con su blason." Hist, de los Indios,
MS., Parte 1, cap. 4.
"* Among the Chinese, Japanese, Moghols,
Mantchous, and other families of the Tartar
race. Their series are composed of symbols
of their five elements, and the twelve zodiacal
signs, making a cycle of sixty years' duration.
Their several systems are exhibited, in con-
nection with the Mexican, in the luminous
pages of Humboldt (Vues des Cordilleres,
]>. 149), who draws important consequences
from the comparison, to which we shall have
occasion to return hereafter.
40 In this calendar, the months of the tropi-
cal year were distributed into cycles of thirteen
days, which, being repeated twenty times, —
the number of days in a solar month, — com-
pleted the lunar, or astrological, year of 260
days ; when the reckoning began again. " By
the contrivance of these trecenas (terms of
thirteen days) and the cycle of fifty-two years,"
says Gama, "they formed a luni-solar period,
most exact for astronomical purposes." (De-
scription, Parte 1, p. 27.) He adds that these
trecenas were suggested by the periods in
which the moon is visible before a*nd after
conjunction. (Loc. cit.) It seems hardly pos-
sible that a people capable of constructing a
calendar so accurately on the true principles
of solar time should so grossly err as to suppose
that in this reckoning they really " repre-
sented the daily revolutions of the moon."
"The whole PJastern world," says the learned
Niebuhr, " has followed the moon in its calen-
dar ; the free scientific division of a vast
* [The fleet and noiseless motions of the animal seem to offer an obvious explanation of the
symbol.— Ed.]
56
AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
consisting of thirteen numerical signs, or dots, the other, of the twenty
hieroglyphics of the days. But, as the product of these combinations would
he only 260, and as some confusion might arise from the repetition of the
First Indiction.
Second Indiction.
Year
Year
of the
of the
Cycle.
1.
.
e&
Cycle.
14.
,
%
2.
o .
ffi
15.
• •
t
S.
t
16.
1
4-
fi
17.
<ff$J
5.
CS
18.
6.
ty?
19.
7.
t
20.
, .
1
8.
: : r *
S
21.
! 1 . "
flsb
9.
: : : : *
(P5s?
22.
....
10.
191
23
11.
t
24.
B
12.
1
25.
^
13.
. . .
SB
26.
^
same terms for the remaining 105 days of the year, they invented a third
series, consisting of nine additional hieroglyphics, which, alternating with the
two preceding series, rendered it impossible that the three should coincide
portion of time is peculiar to the West. Con- world which we call the New.'
nected with the West is that primeval extinct Koine, vol. i. p. 239.
History of
CHRONOLOGY.
twice in the same year, or indeed in less than 2340 days ; since 20 x 13 x 9
= 2340. i7 Thirteen was a mystic number, of frequent use in their tables.4*
Why they resorted to that of nine, on this occasion, is not so clear.49
This second calendar rouses a holy indignation in the early Spanish mis-
sionaries, and Father Sahagun loudly condemns it, as k'*most unhallowed,
since it is founded neither on natural reason, nor on the influence of the
planets, nor on the true course of the year ; but is plainly the work of necro-
mancy, and the fruit of a compact with the Devil ! ;; *° One may doubt
whether the superstition of those who invented the scheme was greater
than that of those who thus impugned it. At all events, we may, without
having recourse to supernatural agency, find in the human heart a sufficient
explanation of its origin ; in that love of power, that has led the priesthood
of many a faith to affect a mystery the key to which was in their own
keeping.
By means of this calendar, the Aztec priests kept their own records,
regulated the festivals and seasons of sacrifice, and made all their astrological
calculations.51 The false science of astrology is natural to a state of society
partially civilized, where the mind, impatient of the slow and cautious exami-
nation by which alone it can arrive at truth, launches at once into the
regions of speculation, and rashly attempts to lift the veil — the impenetrable
veil— which is drawn around the mysteries of nature. It is the characteristic
of true science to discern the impassable, but not very obvious, limits which
divide the province of reason from that of speculation. Such knowledge comes
tardily. How many ages have rolled away, in which powers that, rightly
*7 They were named "companions," and
"lo'ds of the night," and were supposed to
preside over the night, as the other signs did
over the day. Boturini, Idea, p. 57.
*• Thus, their astrological year was di-
vided into months of thirteen days; there
were thirteen years in their indictions, which
contained each three hundred and sixty-five
periods of thirteen days, etc. It is a curious
tact that the number of lunar months of
thirteen days contained in a cycle of fifty-two
years, with the intercalation, should corre-
spond precisely with the number of years in
the great Sothic period of the Egyptians,
namely, 1491 ; a period in which the seasons
and festivals came round to the same place
in the year again. The coincidence may be
accidental. But a people employing peri-
odical series and astrological calculations
have generally some meaning in the numbers
they select and the combinations to which
they lead.
*" According to Gama (Descripcion, Parte 1,
pp. 75, 76), because 360 can be divided by
nine without a fraction; the nine "com-
panions " not being attached to the five com-
plementary days. But 4, a mystic number
much used in their arithmetical combina-
tions, would have answered the same pur-
pose equally well. In regard to this, McCulloh
observes, with much shrewdness, "It seems
impossible that the Mexicans, so careful in
constructing their cycle, should abruptly ter-
minate it with 360 revolutions, whose natural
period of termination is 2340." And he sup-
poses the nine "companions" were used in
connection with the cycles of 260 days, in
order to throw them into the larger ones, of
2340 ; eight of which, with a ninth of 200
days, he ascertains to be equal to tlie great
soiar period of 52 years. (Researches, pp.
207, 208.) This is very plausible. But in
fact the combinations of the two first series,
forming the cycle of 260 days, were always
interrupted at the end of the year, since each
new year began with the same hieroglyphic
of the days. The third series of the "com-
panions" was intermitted, as above stated,
on the five unlucky days which closed the
year, in order, if we may believe Boturini,
that the first day of the solar year might have
annexed to it the first of the nine "com-
panions," which signified "lord of the year"
(idea, p. 57) ; a result which might have been
equally well secured, without any intermis-
sion at all, by taking 5, another favourite
number, instead of 9, as the divisor. As it
was, however, the cycle, as far as the third
series was concerned, did terminate with 360
revolutions. The subject is a perplexing one,
and I can hardly hope to have presented it in
such a manner as to make it perfectly clear
to the reader.
*° Hist, de Nueva-Espana, lib. 4, Introd.
51 "Dans les pays les plus diffdrents," says
Benjamin Constant, concluding some sensible
reflections on the sources of the sacerdotal
power, " chez les peuples de mceurs les plus
opposees, le sacerdoce a du au culte des ele-
ments et des astres un pouvoir dont aujour-
d'hui nous concevons a peine l'id^e." De la
Religion (Paris, 1825), lib. 3, ch. 5.
58 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
directed, might have revealed the great laws of nature, have been wasted
in brilliant but barren reveries on alchemy and astrology ! -
The latter is more particularly the study of a primitive age ; when the
mind, incapable of arriving at the stupendous fact that the myriads of minute
lights glowing in the firmament are the centres of systems as glorious as our
own, is naturally led to speculate on their probable uses, and to connect them
in some way or other with man, for whose convenience every other object
in the universe seems to have been created. As the eye of the simple child
of nature watches, through the long nights, the stately march of the heavenly
bodies, and sees the bright hosts coming up, one after another, and changing
with the changing seasons of the year, he naturally associates them with those
seasons, as the periods over which they hold a mysterious influence. In the
same manner, he connects their appearance with any interesting event of the
time, and explores, in their flaming characters, the destinies of the new-born
infant.52 Such is the origin of astrology, the false lights of which have con-
tinued from the earliest ages to dazzle and bewilder mankind, till they have
faded away in the superior illumination of a comparatively recent period.
The astrological scheme of the Aztecs was founded less on the planetary
influences than on those of the arbitrary signs they had adopted for the
months and days. The character of the leading sign in each lunar cycle
of thirteen days gave a complexion to the whole ; though this was qualified
in some degree by the signs of the succeeding days, as well as by those
of the hours. It was in adjusting these conflicting forces that the great art
of the diviner was shown. In no country, not even in ancient Egypt, were
the dreams of the astrologer more implicitly deferred to. On the birth of
a child, he was instantly summoned. _ The time of the event was accurately
ascertained; and the family hung in trembling suspense, as the minister
of Heaven cast the horoscope of the infant and unrolled the dark volume
of destiny. The influence of the priest was confessed by the Mexican in the
very first breath which he inhaled.53
We know little further of the astronomical attainments of the Aztecs.
That they were acquainted with the cause of eclipses is evident from the
representation, on their maps, of the disk of the moon projected on that
of the sun.54 Whether they had arranged a system of constellations is
uncertain ; though that they recognized some of the most obvious, as the
Pleiades, for example, is evident from the fact that they regulated their
festivals by them. We know of no astronomical instruments used by themr
except the dial.55 An immense circular block of carved stone, disinterred in
32 " It is a gentle and affectionate thought. hagun has devoted a whole book to explain-
That, in immeasurable heights above us, ing the mystic import and value of these
At our first birth the wreath of love was signs, with a minuteness that may enable
woven one to cast tip a scheme of nativity for him-
With sparkling stars for flowers." self. (Hist, de Nueva-Espaiia, lib. 4.) It is
Coleridge : Translation of Wallen- evident he fully believed the magic wonders
stein, act 2, BC. 4. which he told. " It was a deceittul art," lie
says, "pernicious and idolatrous, and was
Schiller is more true to poetry than history, never contrived by human reason." The
when he tells us, in the beautiful passage of good father was certainly no philosopher,
which this is part, that the worship of the r"1 See, among others, the Cod. Tel.-Rem.,
stars took the place of classic mythology. It Tart 1, PI. 22, ap. Antiq. of Mexico, vol. i.
existed long before it. '■ "It can hardly be doubted," says Lord
53 Gama has given us a complete almanac . Kingsborough, " that the Mexicans were ac-
of the astrological year, with the appropriate quainted with many scientifical instruments
signs and divisions, showing with what scien- of strange invention, as compared with our
tine skill it was adapted to its various uses. own ; whether the telescope may not have
(Descripcion, Parte 1, pp. 25-31, 62-76.) Sa- been of the number is uncertain; but the
ASTRONOMY. 59
1 790, in the great square of Mexico, has supplied an acute and learned scholar
with the means of establishing some interesting facts in regard to Mexican
science.58 This colossal fragment, on which the calendar is engraved, shows
that they had the means of settling the hours of the day with precision, the
periods of the solstices and of the equinoxes, and that of the transit of the
sun across the zenith of Mexico.57
We cannot contemplate the astronomical science of the Mexicans, so
disproportioned to their progress in other walks of civilization, without aston-
ishment. An acquaintance with some of the more obvious principles of
astronomy is within the reach of the rudest people. With a little care, they
may learn to connect the regular changes of the seasons with those of the
place of the sun at his rising and setting. They may follow the march of the
great luminary through the heavens, by watching the stars that first brighten
on his evening track or fade in his morning beams. They may measure
a revolution of the moon, by marking her phases, and may even form a
general idea of the number of such revolutions in a solar year. But that
they should be capable of accurately adjusting their festivals by the move-
ments of the heavenly bodies, and should fix the true length of the tropical
year, with a precision unknown to the great philosophers of antiquity, could
be the result only of a long series of nice and patient observations, evincing
no slight progress in civilization.58 But whence could the rude inhabitants
of these mountain-regions have derived this curious erudition? Not from the
barbarous hordes who roamed over the higher latitudes of the North ; nor
from the more polished races on the Southern continent, with whom, it is ap-
parent, they had no intercourse. If we are driven, in our embarrassment,
like the greatest astronomer' of our age, to seek the solution among the
civilized communities of Asia, we shall still be perplexed by finding, amidst
general resemblance of outline, sufficient discrepancy in the details to vin-
dicate, in the judgments of many, the Aztec claim to originality.59
I shall conclude the account of Mexican science with that of a remarkable
festival, celebrated by the natives at the termination of the great cycle of
thirteenth plate of M. Dupaix's Monuments, scientific construction, as a vertical sun-dial.
Part Second, which represents a man holding in order to dispel the douhts of some sturdy
something of a similar nature to his eye, skeptics on this point. (Descripcion, Parte 2,
affords reason to suppose that they knew how Apend. 1.) The civil day was distributed by
to improve the powers of vision." (Antiq. of the Mexicans into sixteen parts, and began,
Mexico, vol. vi. p. 15, note.) The instrn- like that of most of the Asiatic nations, with
ment alluded to is rudely carved on a conical sunrise. M. de Humboldt, who probably
rock. It is raised no higher than the neck of never saw Gaina's second treatise, allows only
the person who holds it, and looks— to my eight intervals. Vues des Cordilleres, p. 128.
thinking— as much like a musket as a tele- " " Un calendrier," exclaims the enthusi-
scope ; though 1 shall not infer the use of astic Carli, " qui est regie sur la revolution
fire-arms among the Aztecs from this cir- annuelle du soleil, non-seulement par l'ad-
cumstance. (See vol. iv. PI. 15.) Captain dition de cinq jours tous les ans, mais encore
Dupaix, however, in his commentary on the par la correction du bissextile, doit sans
drawing, sees quite as much in it as his lord- doute etre regarde comme une operation
ship. Ibid., vol. v. p. 241. deduite d'une etude reflechie, et d'une grande
w Gama, Descripcion, Parte 1, sec. 4; combinaison. 11 faut done supposer chez ces
Parte 2, Apend.— Besides this colossal frag- peuples une suite d'observations astrono-
ment, Gama met with some others, designed, miques, une idee distincte de la sphere, de la
probably, for similar scientific uses, at Cha- declinaison de l'ecliptique, et l'usage d'un
poltepec. Before he had leisure to examine calcul concernant les jours et les heures des
them, however, they were broken up for apparitions solaires." Lettres Americaines,
materials to build a furnace,— a fate not un- torn. i. let. 23.
like that which has too often befallen the 5U La Place, who suggests the analogv,
monuments of ancient art in the Old World. frankly admits the difficulty. Systeme du
" In his second treatise on the cylindrical Monde, lib. 5, eh. 3.
stone, Gama dwells more at large on its
60 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
fifty-two years. We have seen, in the preceding chapter, their tradition of
the destruction of the world at four successive epochs. They looked forward
confidently to another such catastrophe, to take place, like the preceding,
at the close of a cycle, when the sun was to be effaced from the heavens, the
human race from the earth, and when the darkness of chaos was to settle on
the habitable globe. The cycle would end in the latter part of December,
and as the dreary season of the winter solstice approached, and the dimin-
ished light of day gave melancholy presage of its speedy extinction, their
apprehensions increased ; and on the arrival of the five " unlucky " days
which closed the year they abandoned themselves to despair."0 They broke
in pieces the little images of their household gods, in whom they no longer
trusted. The holy fires were suffered to go out in the temples, and none were
lighted in their own dwellings. Their furniture and domestic utensils were
destroyed ; their garments torn in pieces ; and everything was thrown into
disorder, for the coming of the evil genii who were to descend on the
desolate earth.
On the evening of the last day, a procession of priests, assuming the dress
and ornaments of their gods, moved from the capital towards a lofty mountain,
about two leagues distant. They carried with them a noble victim, the
flower of their captives, and an apparatus for kindling the new fire, the
success of which was an augury of the renewal of the cycle. On reaching
the summit of the mountain, the procession paused till midnight ; when, as
the constellation of the Pleiades approached the zenith,61 the new fire was
kindled by the friction of the sticks placed on the wounded breast of the
victim.02 The flame was soon communicated to a funeral pile, on which the
body of the slaughtered captive was thrown. As the light streamed up towards
heaven, shouts of joy and triumph burst forth from the countless multitudes
who covered the hills, the terraces of the temples, and the house-tops, with
eyes anxiously bent on the mount of sacrifice. Couriers, with torches lighted
at the blazing beacon, rapidly bore them over every part of the country ; and
the cheering element was seen brightening on altar and hearth -stone, 'for the
circuit of many a league, long before the sun, rising on his accustomed track,
gave assurance that a new cycle had commenced its march, and that the laws
of nature were not to be reversed for the Aztecs.
The following thirteen days were given up to festivity. The houses were
cleansed and whitened. The broken vessels were replaced by new ones. The
people, dressed in their gayest apparel, and crowned with garlands and
chaplets of flowers, thronged in joyous procession to offer up their oblations
and thanksgivings in the temples. Dances and games were instituted, em-
blematical of the regeneration of the world. It was the carnival of the
60 M. Jomard errs in placing the new fire, tezuma's reign, in 1507. (Gama, Description,
•with which ceremony the old cycle properly Parte 1, p. 50, nota.— Humboldt, Vues des
concluded, at the winter solstice. It was not Cqrdilleres, pp. 181, 182.) The longer we
till the 26th of December, if Gama is right. postpone the beginning of the new cycle, the
The cause of M. Jomard's error is his fixing greater must be the discrepancy,
it before, instead of after, the complementary ■? « n~ , i «_ , L „ , , ,
days. See his sensible letter on the Aztec 0n bls. ,bare breast tbe cedar bouSbs are
calendar, in the Vues des Cordilleres, p. 309. r. , . , ' ._ _. . , . ,
" At the actual moment of their culmina- 0n bis bare breast» dlT sed8e and odorous
tion, according to both Sahaguu (Hist, de T . -gim1?' . . ., , ,
Nueva-Espafia, lib. 4, Apend.) and Torque- J^aid [f d^ *° ™cei™ tbe s*cred spark,
mada (Monarch. Ind. lib. 10, cap. 33, 36). ;Vld *>{•«. *? berald tbe ascending Sun,
But this could not be, as that took place at Lpon his living altar,
midnight, in November, so late as the last Southet s Madoc, part 2, canto 26
secular festival, which was early in Mon-
LORD KINGSBOROUGH.
61
Aztecs ; or rather the national jubilee, the great secular festival, like that of
the Romans, or ancient Etruscans, which few alive had witnessed before,
or could expect to see again.63
M I borrow the words of the summons by
which the people were called to the ludi
seculares, the secular games of ancient
Rome, "quos nee spectdsset quisquam, nee
spectaturus esset." (Suetonius, Vita Tib.
Claudii, lib. 5.) The old Mexican chroniclers
warm into something like eloquence in their
descriptions of the Aztec festival. (Torque-
mada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 10, cap. 33. —
M. de Humboldt remarked, many years
ago, "It were to be wished that some govern-
ment would publish at its own expense the
remains of the ancient American civilization ;
for it is only by the comparison of several
monuments that we can succeed in discover-
ing the meaning of these allegories, which
are partly astronomical and partly mystic."
This enlightened wish has now been realized,
not by any government, but by a private
individual, Lord Ivingsboronph. The great
work published under his auspices, and so
often cited in this Introduction, appeared in
London in 1830. When completed it will
reach to nine volumes, seven of which are
now before the public. Some idea of its
magnificence may be formed by those who
have not seen it, from the fact that copies of
it, with coloured plates, sold originally at
£175, and, with uncoloured, at £120. The
price has been since much reduced. It is
designed to exhibit a complete view of the
ancient Aztec MSS., with such few interpre
tations as exist ; the beautiful drawings of
Oastafteda relating to Central America, with
the commentary of Dupaix; the unpublished
history of Father Sahagun ; and last, not
least, the copious annotations of his lordship.
Too much cannot be said of the mechanical
execution of the book, -its splendid typo-
graphy, the apparent accuracy and the deli-
cacy of the drawings, and the sumptuous
quality of the materials. Yet the purchaser
would have been saved some superfluous
expense, and the reader much inconvenience,
if the letter-press had been in volumes of an
ordinary size. But it is not uncommon, in
works on this magnificent plan, to find utility
in some measure sacrificed to show.
The collection of Aztec MSS., if not per-
fectly complete, is very extensive, and re-
flects great credit on the diligence and re-
search of the compiler. It strikes one as
strange, however, that not a single document
should have been drawn from Spain. Peter
Martyr speaks of a number having been
brought thither in his time. (De Insulis
nuper Inventis, p. 308.) The Marquis Spineto
examined one in the Escorial, being the same
with the Mendoza Codex, and perhaps the
original, since that at Oxford is but a copy.
(Lectures, Lect. 7.) Mr. Waddilove, chaplain
Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 1,
cap. 5.— Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana,
lib. 7, cap. 9-12. See, also, Gama, Descrip-
cion, Parte 1, pp. 52-54,— Clavigero, Stor.
del Messico, torn. ii. pp. 84-86.) The English
reader will find a more brilliant colouring of
the same scene in the canto of Madoc above
cited,—" On the Close of the Century."
of the British embassy to Spain, gave a par-
ticular account of one to Dr. Robertson,
which he saw in the same library and con-
sidered an Aztec calendar. Indeed, it is
scarcely possible that the frequent voyagers
to the New World should not have furnished
the mother-country with abundant specimens
of this most interesting feature of Aztec
civilization. Nor should we fear that the
present liberal government would seclude
these treasures from the inspection of the
scholar.
Much cannot be said in favour of the ar-
rangement of these codices. In some of
them, as the Mendoza Codex, for example,
the plates are not even numbered; and one
who would study them by the corresponding
interpretation must often bewilder himself in
the maze of hieroglyphics, without a clue to
guide him. Neither is there any attempt to
enlighten us as to the positive value and
authenticity of the respective documents,
or even their previous history, beyond a
barren reference to the particular library
from which they have been borrowed. Little
light, indeed, can be expected on these matters ;
but we have not that little. The defect of
arrangement is chargeable on other parts of
the work. Thus, for instance, the sixth book
of Sahagun is transferred from the body of
the history to which it belongs, to a pre-
ceding volume ; while the grand hypothesis
of his lordship, for which the work was con-
cocted, is huddled into notes, hitched on
random passages of the text, with a good
deal less connection than the stories of Queen
Scheherezade, in the "Arabian Nights," and
not quite so entertaining.
The drift of Lord Kingsborough's specula-
tions is, to establish the colonization of
Mexico by the Israelites. To this the whole
battery of his logic and learning is directed.
For this, hierogl yphics fare unriddled, manu-
scripts compared, monuments delineated.
His theory, however, whatever be its merits,
will scarcely become popular; since, instead
of being exhibited in a clear and compre-
hensive form, readily embraced by the mind,
it is spread over an infinite number of notes,
thickly sprinkled with quotations from lan-
guages ai.cient and modern, till the weary
reader floundering about in the ocean of frag-
62
AZTEC CIVILIZATION
ments, with no light to guide him, feels like
Milton's Devil, working his way through
chaos,—
" neither sea,
Nor good dry land ; nigh foundered, on he
fares."
It would be unjust, however, not to admit
that the noble author, if his logic is not
always convincing, shows much acuteness in
detecting analogies ; that he displays fa-
miliarity with his subject, and a fund of
erudition, though it often runs to waste;
that, whatever be the defects of arrangement,
he has brought together a most rich col-
lection of unpublished materials to illustrate
the Aztec and, in a wider sense, American
antiquities ; and that by this munificent un-
dertaking, which no government, probably,
would have, and few individuals could have,
executed, he has entitled himself to the
lasting gratitude of every friend of science.
Another writer whose works must be dili-
gently consulted by every student of Mexican
antiquities is Antonio Gama. His life con-
tains as few incidents as those of most
scholars. He was born at Mexico, in 1735,
of a respectable family, and was bred to the
law. He early showed a preference for ma-
thematical studies, conscious that in this
career lay his strength. In 1771 he com-
municated his observations on the eclipse of
that year to the French astronomer M. de
Lalande, who published them in Paris, with
high commendations of the author. Gama's
increasing reputation attracted the attention
of government ; and he was employed by it
in various scientific labours of importance.
His great passion, however, was the study of
Indian antiquities. He made himself ac-
quainted with the history of the native races,
their traditions, their languages, and, as far
as possible, their hieroglyphics. He had an
opportunity of showing the fruits of this
preparatory training, and his skill as an
antiquary, on the discovery of the great ca-
lendar-stone, in 1790. He produced a mas-
terly treatise on this, and another Aztec
monument, explaining the objects to which
they were devoted, and pouring a flood of
light on the astronomical science of the
aborigines, their mythology, and their astro-
logical system. He, afterwards continued his
investigations in the same path, and wrote
treatises on the dial, hieroglyphics, and
arithmetic of the Indians. These, however,
were not given to the world till a few years
since, when they were published, together
with a reprint of the former work, under the
auspices of the industrious Bustamante.
Gama died in 1802, leaving behind him a
reputation for great worth in private life, —
one in which the bigotry that seems to enter
too frequently into the character of the
Spanish-Mexican was tempered by the liberal
feelings of a man of .science. His reputation
as a writer stands high for patient acquisition,
accuracy, and acuteness. His conclusions
are neither warped by the love of theory so
common in the philosopher, nor by the easy
credulity so natural to the antiquary. He
feels his way with the caution of a mathe-
matician, whose steps are demonstrations.
M. de Humboldt was largely indebted to his
first work, as he has emphatically acknow-
ledged. But, notwithstanding the eulogiurns
of this popular writer, and his own merits,
Gama's treatises are rarely met with out of
New Spain, and his name can hardly be said
to have a transatlantic reputation.
CHAPTER V.
AZTEC AGRICULTURE— MECHANICAL ARTS — MERCHANTS— DOMESTIC MANNERS.
It is hardly possible that a nation so far advanced as the Aztecs in mathe-
matical science should not have made considerable progress in the mechanical
arts, which are so nearly connected with it. Indeed, intellectual progress of
any kind implies a degree of refinement that requires a certain cultivation
of both useful and elegant art. The savage wandering through the wide
forest, without shelter for his head or raiment for his back, knows no other
wants than those of animal appetites, and, when they are satisfied, seems to
himself to have answered the only ends of existence. But man, in society,
feels numerous desires, and artificial tastes spring up accommodated to the
various relations in which he is placed, and perpetually stimulating his
invention to devise new expedients to gratify them.
There is a wide difference in the mechanical skill of different nations ;
bu.t tlie difference is still greater in the inventive power which directs this
skill and makes it available. Some nations seem to have no power beyond
AGRICULTURE. 63
that of imitation, or, if they possess invention, have it in .so low a degree that
they are constantly repeating the same idea, without a shadow of alteration
or improvement ; as the bird builds precisely the same kind of nest which
those of its own species built at the beginning of the world. Such, for
example, are the Chinese, who have probably been familiar for ages with the
germs of some discoveries, of little practical benefit to themselves, but which,
under the influence of European genius, have reached a degree of excellence
that has wrought an important change in the constitution of society.
Far from looking back and forming itself slavishly on the past, it is charac-
teristic of the European intellect to "be ever on the advance. Old discoveries
become the basis of new ones. It passes onward from truth to truth, connect-
ing the whole by a succession of links, as it were, into the great chain of
science which is to encircle and bind together the universe. The light of
learning is shed over the labours of art. New avenues are opened for the
communication both of person and of thought. New facilities are devised for
subsistence. Personal comforts, of every kind, are inconceivably multiplied,
and brought within the reach of the poorest. Secure of these, the thoughts
travel into a nobler region than that of the senses ; and the appliances of art
are made to minister to the demands of an elegant taste and a higher moral
culture.
The same enlightened spirit, applied to agriculture, raises it from a mere
mechanical drudgery, or the barren formula of traditional precepts, to the
dignity of a science. As the composition of the earth is analyzed, man learns
the capacity of the soil that he cultivates ; and, as his empire is gradually
extended over the elements of nature, he gains the power to stimulate her to
her most bountiful and various production. It is with satisfaction that we can
turn to the land o.f our fathers, as the one in which the experiment has been
conducted on the broadest scale and attended with results that the world has
never before witnessed. With equal truth, we may point to the Anglo-Saxon
race in both hemispheres, as that whose enterprising genius has contributed
most essentially to the great interests of humanity, by the application of
science to the useful arts.
Husbandry, to a very limited extent, indeed, was practised by most of the
rude tribes of North America. "Wherever a natural opening in the forest, or
a rich strip of interval, met their eyes, or a green slope was found along the
rivers, they planted it with beans 'and Indian corn.1 The cultivation was
slovenly in the extreme, and could not secure the improvident natives from
the frequent recurrence of desolating famines. Still, that they tilled the soil
at all was a peculiarity which honourably distinguished them from other tribes
of hunters, and raised them one degree higher in the scale of civilization.
Agriculture in Mexico wras in the same advanced state as the other arts of
social life. In few countries, indeed, has it been more respected. It was
closely interwoven with the civil and religious institutions of the nation.
There were peculiar deities to preside over it ; the names of the months
and of the religious festivals had more or less reference to it. The public
taxes, as we have seen, wrere often paid in agricultural produce. All except
the soldiers and great nobles, even the inhabitants of the cities, cultivated the
soil. The work was chiefly done by the men ; the women scattering the
1 This latter grain, according to Humboldt, Puritan fathers found it in abundance on the
was found by the Europeans in the New New England coast, wherever they landed.
World, from the South of Chili to Pennsyl- See Morton, New England's Memorial (Boston,
vania (Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 408); he 1826), p. 68.— Gookin, Massachusetts His-
might have added, to the St. Lawrence. Our torical Collections, chap. 3.
04
AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
seed, husking the corn, and taking part only in the lighter labours of the field.2
In this they presented an honourable contrast to the other tribes of the con-
tinent, who imposed the burden of agriculture, severe as it is in the North, on
their women.3 Indeed, the sex was as tenderly regarded by the Aztecs in
this matter, as it is, in most parts of Europe, at the present day.
There was no want of judgment in the management of their ground. When
somewhat exhausted, it was permitted to recover by lying fallow. Its extreme
dryness was relieved by canals, with which the land was partially irrigated ;
and the same end was promoted by severe penalties against the destruction
of the woods, with which the country, as already noticed, was well covered
before the Conquest. Lastly, they provided for their harvests ample granaries,
which were admitted by the Conquerors to be of admirable construction. In
this provision we see the forecast of civilized man.4
Among the most important articles of husbandry, we may notice the banana,
whose facility of cultivation and exuberant returns are so fatal to habits of
systematic and hardy industry.5 Another celebrated plant was the cacao, the
fruit of which furnished the chocolate, — from the Mexican chocolatl, — now so
common a beverage throughout Europe.*3 The vanilla, confined to a small
district of the sea-coast, was used for the same purposes, of flavouring their
food and drink, as with us.7 The great staple of the country, as, indeed, of the
American continent, was maize, or Indian corn, which grew freely along the
valleys, and up the steep sides of the Cordilleras to the high level of the table-
land. The Aztecs were as curious in its preparation, and as well instructed
in its manifold uses, as the most expert New England housewife. Its gigantic
stalks, in these equinoctial regions, afford a saccharine matter, not found
to the same extent in northern latitudes, and supplied the natives with sugar
little inferior to that of the cane itself, which was not introduced among them
till after the Conquest.8 But the miracle of nature was the great Mexican
aloe, or maguey, whose clustering pyramids of flowers, towering above their
dark coronals of leaves, were seen sprinkled over many a broad acre of the
table-land. As we have already noticed, its bruised leaves afforded a paste from
" Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 13, cap.
31. — "Admirable example for our times,"
exclaims the good father, " when women are
not only unfit for the labours of the field, but
have too much levity to attend to their own
household ! "
3 A striking contrast also to the Egyptians,
'with whom some antiquaries are disposed to
identify the ancient Mexicans. Sophocles
notices the effeminacy of the men in Egypt,
who stayed at home tending the loom while
their wives were employed in severe labours
out of doors :
M Q. nuvr eKeivw toT? tv \\*jvtttw vo/iotv
<t>v<rtv KaretKatrdevTe Kai 0iov rpocjxx?,
'E/cel yitp ol fxiv apaeier Kara (ni-yas
OaKovcrtv iorovp'yovvTes' at <5e (tiivvo/jloi
Tctfu) fiiov Tjjcxpeia Tropaiwovcr' uei."
Sophocl., (Edip. Col., v. 337-341.
4 Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 13, cap.
32.— Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. pp.
153-155. — " Jamas padecieron hambre," says
the former writer, " sino en pocas ocasiones."
If these famines were rare, they were very
distressing, however, and lasted very long.
Comp. Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap
41, 71, et alibi.
5 Oviedo considers the mum an imported
plant ; and Hernandez, in his copious cata-
logue, makes no mention of it at all. But
Humboldt, who has given much attention
to it, concludes that, if some species were
brought into the country, others were in-
digenous. (Essai politique, torn. ii. pp. 382-
3S8.) If we may credit Clavigero, the ba-
nana was the forbidden fruit that tempted
our poor mother Eve! Stor. del Messico,
torn. i. p. 49, nota.
G Eel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio,
torn. iii. fol. 306.— Hernandez, De Historia
Plantarum Novae Hispanise (Matriti, 1790),'
lib. 6, cap. 87.
7 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, lib. 8,
cap. 13, et alibi.
8 Carta del. Lie. Zuazo, MS.— He extols the
honey of the maize, as equal to that of bees.
(Also Oviedo, Hist, natural de las Indias, cap.
4, ap. Barcia, torn, i.) Hernandez, who cele-
brates the manifold ways in which the maize
was prepared, derives it from the Hayti,
word mahiz. Hist. Plantarum, lib. 6, cap.
44, 45.
MINERALS. 65
which paper was manufactured ; 9 its juice was fermented into an intoxicating
beverage, pulque, of which the natives, to this day, are excessively fond ; io
its leaves further supplied an impenetrable thatch for the more humble
dwellings ; thread, of which coarse stuffs were made, and strong cords, were
drawn from its tough and twisted fibres ; pins and needles were made of the
thorns at the extremity of its leaves ; and the root, when properly cooked,
was converted into a palatable and nutritious food. The agave, in short, was
meat, drink, clothing, and writing-materials, for the Aztec ! Surely, never
did Nature enclose in so compact a form so many of the elements of human
comfort and civilization ! u
It would be obviously out of place to enumerate in these pages all the
varieties of plants, many of them of medicinal virtue, which have been Intro-
duced from Mexico into Europe. Still less can I attempt a catalogue of its
flowers, which, with their variegated and gaudy colours, form the greatest
attraction of our greenhouses. The opposite climates embraced within the
narrow latitudes of New Spain have given to it, probably, the richest and
most diversified flora to be found in any country on the globe. These different
products were systematically arranged by the Aztecs, who understood their
properties, and collected them into nurseries, more extensive than any then
existing in the Old World. It is not improbable that they suggested the idea
of those "gardens of plants" which were introduced into Europe not many
years after the Conquest.12
The Mexicans were as well acquainted with the mineral as with the
vegetable treasures of their kingdom. Silver, lead, and tin they drew from
the mines of Tasco ; copper from the mountains of Zacotollan. These were
taken not only from the crude masses on the surface, but from veins wrought
in the solid rock, into which they opened extensive galleries. In fact, the
traces of their labours furnished the best indications for the early Spanish
miners.13 Gold, found on the surface, or gleaned from the beds of fivers, was
9 And is still, in one spot at least, San sour rebuke from our countryman the late
Angel, — three leagues from the capital. Dr. Perrine, who pronounces them a distinct
Another mill was to have been established, species from the American agave, and regards
a few years since, in Puebla. Whether this one of the kinds, the pita, from which the
has actually been done, I am ignorant. See fine thread is obtained, as a totally distinct
the Report of the Committee on Agriculture genus. (See the Report of the Committee on
to the Senate of the United States, March 12, Agriculture.) Yet the Baron may find au-
1838. thority for all the properties ascribed by him
10 Before the Revolution, the duties on the to the maguey, in the most accredited writers
pulque formed so important a branch of who have resided more or less time in Mexico,
revenue that the cities of Mexico, Puebla, and See, among others, Hernandez, ubi supra.—
Toluca alone paid $817,739 to government. Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Kspana, lib. 9, cap.
(Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 47.) 2; lib. 11, cap. 7.— Toribio, Hist, de los In-
It requires time to reconcile Europeans to the dios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 19.— Carta del Lie.
peculiar flavour of this liquor, on the merits Zuazo, MS. The last, speaking of the maguey,
of which they are consequently much divided. which produces the fermented drink, says
There is but one opinion among the natives. expressly, " With what remain of these
The English reader will find a good account leaves they manufacture excellent and very
of its manufacture in Ward's Mexico, vol. ii. fine cloth, resembling holland, or the finest
pp. 55-60. linen." It cannot be denied, however, that
11 Hernandez enumerates the several spe- Dr. Perrine shows himself intimately ac-
cies of the maguey, which are turned to these quainted with the structure and habits of the
manifold uses, in his learned work, De Hist. tropical plants, which, with such patriotic
Plantarum. (Lib. 7, cap. 71, et seq.) M. de spirit, he proposed to introduce into Florida.
Humboldt considers them all varieties of the 12 The first regular establishment of this
agave Americana, familiar in the southern kind, according to Carli, was at Padua, in
parts both of the United States and Europe. 1545. Lettres Americaines, torn. i. chap. 21.
(Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 487, et seq.) 13 [Though I have conformed to the views
This opinion has brought on him a rather of Humboldt in regard to the knowledge of
66
AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
cast into bars, or, in the form of dust, made part of the regular tribute <3f the
southern provinces of the empire. The use of iron, with which the soil was
impregnated, was unknoAvn to them. Notwithstanding its abundance, it
demands so many processes to prepare it for use that it has commonly been
one of the last metals pressed into the service of man. The age of iron has
followed that of brass, in fact as well as in fiction.14
They found a substitute in an alloy of tin and copper, and, with tools made
of this bronze, could cut not only metals, but, with the aid of a silicious dust,
the hardest substances, as basalt, porphyry, amethysts, and emeralds.15 They
fashioned these last, which were found very large, into many curious and
fantastic forms. They cast, also, vessels of gold and silver, carving them with
their metallic chisels in a very delicate, manner. Some of the silver vases
were so large that a man could not encircle them with his arms. They imitated
very nicely the figures of animals, and, what was extraordinary, could mix the
metals in such a manner that the feathers of a bird, or the scales of a fish,
should be alternately of gold and silver. The Spanish goldsmiths admitted
their superiority over themselves in these ingenious works.16
They employed another tool, made of itztci, or obsidian, a dark transparent
mineral, exceedingly hard, found in abundance in their hills. They made it
into knives, razors, and their serrated swords. It took a keen edge, though
soon blunted. With this they wrought the various stones and alabasters
employed in the construction of their public works and principal dwellings.
I shall defer a more particular account of these to the body of the narrative,
and will only add here that the entrances and angles of the buildings were
profusely ornamented with images, sometimes of their fantastic deities, and
frequently of animals.17 The latter were executed with great accuracy.
"The former," according to Torquemada, "were the hideous reflection of
their own souls. And it was not till after they had been converted to
mining possessed by the ancient Mexicans,
Sefior Ramirez thinks the conclusions to which
I have been led are not warranted by the
ancient writers. From the language of Bernal
Diaz and of Sahagun, in particular, he infers
that their only means of obtaining the precious
metals was by gathering such detached masses
as were found on the surface of the ground or
in the beds of the rivers. The small amount
of silver in their possession he regards as an
additional proof of their ignorance of the
proper method and their want of the re-
quisite tools for extracting it from the earth.
See Ramirez, Notas y Esclarecimientos, p.
73.]
14 P. Martyr, De Orbe Novo, Decades (Com-
pluti, 1530), dec. 5, p. 191. — Acosta, lib. 4,
cap. 3. — Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. iii.
pp. 114-125. — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind.,
lib. 13, cap. 34.
"Men wrought in brass," says Hesiod,
" when iron did not exist."
Xa\«y 6' ep7a£ovro' jut\a? 5' ova evicc <ri'5))por.
Hesiod, "Ep?a nai "H/xepcu.
The Abbe Raynal contends that the igno-
rance of iron must necessarily have kept the
Mexicans in a low state of civilization, since
without it " they could have produced no
work in metal, worth looking at, no masonry
nor architecture, engraving nor sculpture."
(History of the Indies, Eng. trans., vol. iii.
b. 6. Iron, however, if known, was little
used by the ancient Egyptians, whose mighty
monuments were hewn with bronze tools;
while their weapons and domestic utensils
were of the same material, as appears from
the green colour given to them in their
paintings.
15 Gama, Descripcion, Parte 2, pp. 25-29.—
Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., ubi supra.
16 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, lib. 9,
cap. 15-17. — Boturini, Idea, pp. 77.— Torque-
mada, Monarch. Ind., loc. cit. — Herrera, who
says they could also enamel, commends the
skill of the Mexican goldsmiths in makir
birds and animals with movable wings and
limbs, in a most curious fashion. (Hist
general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 15.) Sir Jot
Maundeville, as usual,
" with his hair on end
At his own wonders,"
notices the " gret marvayle " of similar piec
of mechanism at the court of the grand Char
of Cathay. See his Voiage and Travaile
chap. 20.
17 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib.
cap. 11.— Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lit
13, cap. 34.— Gama, Descripcion, Parte 2, pj
27, 28.
MECHANICAL ARTS. 67
Christianity that they could model the true figure of a man.;! I8 The old
chronicler's facts are well founded, whatever we may think of his reasons.
The allegorical phantasms of his religion, no doubt, gave a direction to the
Aztec artist, in his delineation of the human figure ; supplying him with an
imaginary beauty in the personification 01 divinity itself. As these super-
stitions lost their hold on his mind, it opened to the influences of a purer
taste and, after the Conquest, the Mexicans furnished many examples of
correct, and some of beautiful, portraiture.
Sculptured images were so numerous that the foundations of the cathedral
in the plaza mayor, the great square of Mexico, are said to be entirely
composed of them.19 This spot may, indeed, be regarded as the Aztec
forum, — the great depository of the treasures of ancient sculpture, which now
lie hid in its bosom. Such monuments are spread all over the capital, how-
ever, and a new cellar can hardly be dug, or foundation laid, without turning
up some of the mouldering relics of barbaric art. But they are little heeded,
and, if not wantonly broken in pieces at once, are usually worked into the
rising wall or supports of the new edifice.20 Two celebrated bas-reliefs of
the last Montezuma and his father, cut in the solid rock, in the beautiful
groves of Chapoltepec, were deliberately destroyed, as late as the last century,
by order of the government ! 2l The monuments of the barbarian meet with
as little respect from civilized man as those of the civilized man from the
barbarian.22
The most remarkable piece of sculpture yet disinterred is the great calendar-
stone, noticed in the preceding chapter. It consists of dark porphyry, and
in its original dimensions, as taken from the qaarry, is computed to have
weighed nearly fifty tons. It was transported from the mountains beyond
Lake Chalco, a distance of many leagues, over a broken country intersected
by water-courses and canals. In crossing a bridge which traversed one of
these latter, in the capital, the supports gave way, and the huge mass was
precipitated into the water, whence it was with difficulty recovered. The
fact that so enormous a fragment of porphyry could be thus safely carried for
leagues, in the face of such obstacles, and without the aid of cattle,— for the
Aztecs, as already mentioned, had no animals of draught,— suggests to us
no mean ideas of their mechanical skill and of their machinery, and implies
a degree of cultivation little inferior to that demanded for the geometrical and
astronomical science displayed in the inscriptions on this very stone.23
18 " Parece, que permitia Dios, que lafigura enlightened mind respected the vestiges of
de sus cuerpos se asiniilase & la que tenian sus civilization wherever found. " The con-
almas por el pecado, en que siempre perma- querors," he says, " seldom repaired the
necian." Monarch. Ind., lib. 13, cap. 34. buildings that were defaced. They would
19 Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. p. rather sack twenty stately cities than erect
195. one good edifice." De Orbe Novo, dec. 5,
20 Gama, Descripcion, Parte 1, p. 1. Besides cap. 10.
the plaza mayor, Gama points out the Square " Gama, Descripcion, Parte 1, pp. 110-114.
of Tlatelolco, as a great cemetery of ancient — Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 40. —
relics. It was the quarter to which the Ten thousand men were employed in the
Mexicans retreated, on the siege of the transportation of this enormous mass, accord-
capital, ing to Tezozomoc, whose narrative, with all
-l Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 13, cap. the accompanying prodigies, is minutely
34.— Gama, Descripcion, Parte 2, pp. 81-83. — transcribed by Bustamante. The Licentiate
These statues are repeatedly noticed by the shows an appetite for the marvellous which
old writers. The last was destroyed in 1754, might excite the envy of a monk of the Middle
when it was seen by Gama, who highly com- Ages. (See Descripcion, nota, loc. cit.) The
mends the execution of it. Ibid. English traveller Latrobe accommodates the
w This wantonness of destruction provokes wonders of nature and art very well to each
the bitter animadversion of Martyr, whose other, by suggesting that these great masses
68 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
The ancient Mexicans made utensils of earthen-ware for the ordinary
purposes of domestic life, numerous specimens of which still exist.24 They
made cups and vases of a lackered or painted wood, impervious to wet and
gaudily coloured. Their dyes were obtained from both mineral and vegetable
substances. Among them was the rich crimson of the cochineal, the modern
rival of the famed Tyrian purple. It was introduced into Europe from
Mexico, where the curious little insect was nourished with great care on
plantations of cactus, since fallen into neglect.25 The natives were thus
enabled to give a brilliant colouring to the webs which were manufactured,
of every degree of fineness, from the cotton raised in abundance throughout
the warmer regions of the country. They had the art, also, of interweaving
witrf these the delicate hair of rabbits and other animals, which made a cloth
of great warmth as well as beauty, of a' kind altogether original ; and on this
they often laid a rich embroidery, of birds, flowers, or some other fanciful
device.26
But the art in which they most delighted was their plumaje, or feather-
work. With this they could produee all the effect of a beautiful mosaic.
The gorgeous plumage of the tropical birds, especially of the parrot tribe,
afforded every variety of colour ; and the fine down of the humming-bird,
which revelled in swarms among the honeysuckle bowers of Mexico, supplied
them with soft aerial tints that gave an exquisite finish to the picture.
The feathers, pasted on a fine cotton web, were wrought into dresses for the
wealthy, hangings for apartments, and ornaments for the temples. No one
of the American fabrics excited such admiration in Europe, whither numerous
specimens were sent by the Conquerors. It is to be regretted that so graceful
an art should have been suffered to fall into decay.27
There were no shops in Mexico, but the various manufactures and agricul-
tural products were brought together for sale in the great market-places of
the principal cities. Fairs were held there every fifth day, and were thronged
by a numerous concourse of persons, who came to buy or sell from all the
neighbouring country. A particular quarter was allotted to each kind of
article. The numerous transactions were conducted without confusion, and
with entire regard to justice, under the inspection of magistrates appointed
for the purpose. The traffic was carried on partly by barter, and partly by
of stone were transported by means of the politique (torn. iii. pp. 66-69), where M. de
mastodon, whose remains are occasionally Humboldt has collected some interesting facts
disinterred in the Mexican Valley. Rambler in regard to the culture of silk by the Aztecs.
in Mexico, p. 145. Still, that the fabric should be a matter of
24 A great collection of ancient pottery, uncertainty at all shows that it could not
with various other specimens of Aztec art, the have reached any great excellence or extent,
gift of Messrs. Poinsett and Keating, is de- 2' Carta del Lie. Zuazo, MS. — Acosta, lib.
posited in the Cabinet of the American Philo- 4, cap. 37.— Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana,
sophical Society, at Philadelphia. See the lib. 9, cap. 18-21. — Toribio, Hist, de los In-
Catalogue, ap. Transactions, vol. iii. p. 510. dios, MS., Parte 1, cap. 15.— Eel. d'un gentil'
25 Hernandez, Hist. Plantarum, lib. 6, cap. huomo, ap. Ranmsio, torn. iii. fol. 306. —
116. Count Carli is in raptures with a specimen of
20 Carta del Lie. Zuazo, MS — Herrera, Hist. feather-painting which he saw in Strasbourg,
general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 15. — Boturini, Idea, "Never did I behold anything so exquisite,"
p. 77.— It is doubtful how far they were ac- he says, " for brilliancy and nice gradation of
quainted with the manufacture of silk. Carli colour, and for beauty of design. No Euro-
supposes that what Cortes calls silk was only pean artist could have made such a thing.'
the fine texture of hair, or down, mentioned (Lettres Americaines, let. 21, note.) There
in the text. (Lettres Americaines, torn. i. is still one place, Patzquaro, where, according
let. 21.) But it is certain they had a species to Bustamante, they preserve some knowledge
of caterpillar, unlike our silkworm, indeed, of this interesting art, though it is practised
which spun a thread that was sold in the on a very limited scale and at great cost,
markets of ancient Mexico. See the Essai Sahagun, ubi supra, nota.
MERCHANTS. 69
means of a regulated currency, of different values. This consisted of trans-
parent quills of gold dust ; of bits of tin, cut in the form of a T; and of
bags of cacao, containing a specified number of grains. "Blessed money,"
exclaims Peter Martyr, " which exempts its possessors from avarice, since it
cannot be long hoarded, nor hidden under ground ! " 28
There did not exist in Mexico that distinction of castes found among the
Egyptian and Asiatic nations. It was usual, however, for the son to follow
the occupation of his father. The different trades were arranged into some-
thing like guilds ; each having a particular district of the city appropriated
to it, with its own chief, its own tutelar deity, its peculiar festivals, and the
like. Trade was held in avowed estimation by the Aztecs. " Apply thyself,
my son," was the advice of an aged chief, "to agriculture, or to feather- work,
or some other honourable calling. Thus did your ancestors before you. Else
how would they have provided for themselves and their families ? Never was
it heard that nobility alone was able to maintain its possessor."29 Shrewd
maxims, that must have sounded somewhat strange in the ear of a Spanish
hidalgo ! 30
But the occupation peculiarly respected was that of the merchant. It
formed so important and singular a feature of their social economy as to
merit a much more particular notice than it has received from historians.
The Aztec merchant was a sort of itinerant trader, who made his journeys
to the remotest borders of Anahuac, and to the countries beyond, carrying
with him merchandise of rich stuffs, jewelry, slaves, and other valuable
commodities. The slaves were obtained at the great market of Azcapozalco,
not many leagues from the capital, where fairs were regularly held for the
sale of these unfortunate beings. They were brought thither by their masters,
dressed in their gayest apparel, and instructed to sing, dance, and display
their little stock of personal accomplishments, so as to recommend them-
selves to the purchaser. Slave-dealing was an honourable calling among the
Aztecs.31
With this rich freight, the merchant visited the different provinces, always
bearing some present of value from his own sovereign to their chiefs, and
usually receiving others in return, with a permission to trade. Should this
be denied him, or should he meet with indignity or violence, he had the
means of resistance in his power. He performed his journeys with a number
of companions of his own rank, and a large body of inferior attendants who
were employed to transport the goods. Fifty or sixty pounds were the usual
load for a man. The whole caravan went armed, and so well provided against
sudden hostilities that they could make good their defence, if necessary, till
reinforced from home. In one instance, a body of these militant traders
stood a siege of four years in the town of Ayotlan, which they finally took
s* " 0 felicem monetam, qute suavem uti- Messer Marco Polo, gentil' huomo Venetiano,
lemque prsebet humano generi potum, et a lib. 2, cap. 18, ap. Ramusio, torn. ii.
tartarea peste avaritiae suos immunes servat 20 " Procurad de saber algun qficio hcnroso,
possessores, quod suffodi aut diu servari como es el hacer obras de pluma y otros
nequeat ! " De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 4. — oficios mecauicos. . . . Mirad que tengais
(See, also, Carta de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. cuidado de lo tocante a la agricultura. . . .
100, et seq.— Sabagun, Hist, de Nueva-Es- En ninguna parte be visto que alguno se
pana, lib. 8, cap. 36.— Toribio, Hist, de los mantenga por su nobleza." Sabagan, Hist.
Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 8.— Carta del Lie. de Nueva-Espana, lib. 6, cap. 17.
Zuazo, MS.) The substitute for money 30 Col. de Mendoza, ap. Antiq. of Mexico,
throughout the Chinese empire was equally vol. i. PI. 71 ; vol. vi. p. 86.— Torquemada,
Bimple in Marco Polo's time, consisting of Monarch. Ind., lib. 2, cap. 41.
bits of stamped paper, made from the inner 31 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, lib. 9,
bark of the mulberry-tree. See Viaggi di cap. 4, 10-14.
70 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
from the enemy.32 Their own government, however, was always prompt to
embark in a war on this ground, rinding it a very convenient pretext for
extending the Mexican empire. It was not unusual to allow the merchants
to raise levies themselves, which were placed under their command. It was,
moreover, very common for the prince to employ the merchants as a sort
of spies, to furnish him information of the state of the countries through
which they passed, and the dispositions of the inhabitants towards himself.33
Thus their sphere of action was much enlarged beyond that of a humble
trader, and they acquired a high consideration in the body politic. They
were allowed to assume insignia and devices of their own. Some of their
number composed what is called by the Spanish writers a council of finance ;
at least, this was the case in Tezcuco.34 They were much consulted by the
monarch, who had some of them constantly near his person, addressing them
by the title of " uncle," which may remind one of that of primo, or " cousin,"
by which a grandee of Spain is saluted by his sovereign. They were allowed
to have their own courts, in which civil and criminal cases, not excepting
capital, were determined ; so that they formed an independent community,
as it were, of themselves. And, as their various traffic supplied them
with abundant stores of wealth, they enjoyed many of the most essential
advantages of an hereditary aristocracy.35
That trade should prove the path to eminent political preferment in a
nation but partially civilized, wnere the names of soldier and priest are
usually the only titles to respect, is certainly an anomaly in history. It
forms some contrast to the standard of the more polished monarchies of the
Old World, in which rank is supposed to be less dishonoured by a life of idle
ease or frivolous pleasure than by those active pursuits which promote equally
the prosperity of the state and of the individual. If civilization corrects
many prejudices, it must be allowed that it creates others.
We shall be able to form a better idea of the actual refinement of the
natives by penetrating into their domestic life and observing the intercourse
between the sexes. We have, fortunately, the means of doing this. We
shall there find the ferocious Aztec frequently displaying all the sensibility
of a cultivated nature ; consoling his friends under affliction, or congratulating
them on their good fortune, as on occasion of a marriage, or of the birth
or the baptism of a child, when he was punctilious in his visits, bringing
presents of costly dresses and ornaments, or the more simple offering of
flowers, equally indicative of his sympathy. The visits at these times, though
regulated with all the precision of Oriental courtesy, were accompanied by
expressions of the most cordial and affectionate regard.36
32 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espaiia, lib. 9, elTect their object. Hist. Ohieh., MS., cap. 62.
cap. 2. 33 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Bspafia, lib. 9,
** Ibid., lib. 9, cap. 2, 4.— In the Mendoza cap. 2, 5.— The ninth book is taken up with
Codex is a painting representing the execu- an account .of the merchants, their pilgrim-
tion of a cacique and his family, with the ages, the religious rites on their departure,
destruction of his city, for maltreating the and the sumptuous way of living on their
persons of some Aztec merchants. Antiq. return. The whole presents a very remark-
of Mexico, vol. i. PI. 67. able picture, showing they enjoyed a con-
31 Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 2, cap. sideration, among the half-civilized nations
41. — Ixtlilxochitl gives a curious story of one of Anahuac, to which there is no parallel,
of the royal family of Tezcuco, who offered, unless it be that possessed by the merchant-
with two other merchants, otros mercaderes, princes of an Italian republic, or the princely
to visit the court of a hostile cacique and merchants of our own.
bring him dead or alive to the capital. They se Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, lib. 6,
availed themselves of a drunken revel, at cap. 23-37.— Camargo, Hist, do Tlascala, MS.
which they were to have been sacrificed, to —These complimentary attentions were paid
DOMESTIC MANNERS. 71
The discipline of children, especially at the public schools, as stated in a
previous chapter, was exceedingly severe.37 But after she had come to
a mature age the Aztec maiden was treated by her parents with a tenderness
from which all reserve seemed banished. In the counsels to a daughter about
to enter into life, they conjured her to preserve simplicity in her manners
and conversation, uniform neatness in her attire, with strict attention to
personal cleanliness. They inculcated modesty, as the great ornament of a
woman, and implicit reverence for her husband ; softening their admonitions
by such endearing epithets as showed the fulness of a parent's love.38
Polygamy was permitted among the Mexicans, though chiefly confined,
probably, to the wealthiest classes.5'39 And the obligations of the married
vow, which was made with all the formality of a religious ceremony, were
fully recognized, and impressed on both parties. The women are described
by the Spaniards as pretty, unlike their unfortunate descendants of the
present day, though with the same serious and rather melancholy cast of
countenance. Their long black hair, covered, in some parts of the country,
by a veil made of the fine web of the pita, might generally be seen wreathed
with flowers, or, among the richer people, with strings of precious stones, and
pearls from the Gulf of California. They appear to have been treated with
much consideration by their husbands, and passed their time in indolent
tranquillity, or in such feminine occupations as spinning, embroidery, and the
like, while* their maidens beguiled the hours by the rehearsal of traditionary
tales and ballads.40
The women partook equally with the men of social festivities and enter-
tainments. These were often conducted on a large scale, both as regards
the number of guests and the costliness of the preparations. Numerous
attendants, of both sexes, waited at the banquet. The halls were scented
with perfumes, and the courts strewed with odoriferous herbs and flowers,
Which were distributed in profusion among the guests, as they arrived.
Cotton napkins and ewers of water were placed before them, as they took
their seats at the board ; for the venerable ceremony of ablution 41 before
at stated seasons, even during pregnancy. bien sabe que eres su hija, engendrada de el,
The details are given with abundant gravity eres su sangre y su came, y sabe Dios nuestro
and minuteness by Sahagun, who descends seiior que es asf ; aunque eres muger, 6 imagen
to particulars which his Mexican editor, Bus- de tu padre i que mas te puedo decir, hija
tamanto, has excluded, as somewhat too un- mia, de lo que ya esta dicho ? " (Hist, de
reserved for the public eye. If they were Nueva-Espana, lib. 6, cap. 19.) The reader
more so than some of the editor's own notes, will rind this interesting .document, which
they must have been very communicative enjoins so much of what is deemed most
indeed. essential among civilized nations, translated
37 Zurita, Rapport, pp. 112-134. — The entire in the Appendix, Part 2, No. 1.
Third Part of the Col. de Mendoza (Antiq. of 3<J Yet we find the remarkable declaration,
Mexico, vol. i.) exhibits the various ingenious in the counsels of a father to his son, that,
punishments devised for the refractory child. for the multiplication of the species, God
The flowery path of knowledge was well ordained one man only for one woman,
strewed with thorns for the Mexican tyro. " Nota, hijo mio, lo que te digo, mira que
M Zurita, Rapport, pp. 151-160, — Sahagun el mundo ya tiene este estilo de engendrar
has given us the admonitions of both father y multiplicar, y para esta generacion y mul-
and mother to the Aztec maiden on her tiplicacion, ordeno Dios que una muger usase
coming to years of discretion. What can de un varon, y un varon de una muger."
be more tender than the beginning of the Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, lib. 6, cap.
mother's exhortation ? "Hija mia muy 21.
amada, muy querida palomita : ya has oido 40 Ibid., lib. 6, cap. 21-23 ; lib. 8, cap. 23.
y notado las palabras que tu seiior padre te — Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn,
ha dicho ; ellas son palabras preciosas, y que iii. fol. 305.— Carta del Lie. Zuazo, MS.
raramente se dicen ni se oyen, las quales ban 41 As old as the heroic age of Greece, at
procedido de las entranas y corazon en que least. We may fancy ourselves at the table
estaban atesoradas ; y tu muy amado padre of Penelope, where water hi golden ewers
72
AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
and after eating was punctiliously observed by the Aztecs.42 Tobacco Was
then offered to the company, in pipes, mixed up with aromatic substances,
or in the form of cigars, inserted in tubes of tortoise-shell or silver. They
compressed the nostrils with the fingers, while they inhaled the smoke, which
they frequently swallowed. Whether the women, who sat apart from the
men at table, were allowed the indulgence of the fragrant weed, as in the
most polished circles of modern Mexico, is not told us. It is a curious fact
that the Aztecs also took the dried leaf in the pulverized form of snuff.43
The table was well provided with substantial meats, especially game ;
among which the most conspicuous was the turkey, erroneously supposed,
as its name imports, to have come originally from the East.44 These more
solid dishes were flanked by others of vegetables and fruits, of every delicious
variety found on the North American continent. The different viands were
prepared in various ways, with delicate sauces and seasoning, of which the
Mexicans were very fond. Their palate was still further regaled by con-
was poured into silver basins for the accom-
modation of her guests, before beginning the
repast :
" Xepvifla 3' u/i0t7ro\or irpoxo<p tirex^ve
(pepovaa
Ka\rj, xpvaeli], iiirep upfvptoio Ai/JrjTO?,
Ni\}/a(rt)at' ■napa 6fc fecrWji' erawttae rpd'
ne£av."
OAY22. A.
The feast affords many other points of analogy
to the Aztec, inferring a similar stage of
civilization in the two nations. One may be
surprised, however, to find a greater pro-
fusion of the precious metals in the barren
isle of Ithaca than in Mexico. But the poet's
fancy was a richer mine than either.
" Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espaiia, lib. 6,
cap. 22. — Amidst some excellent advice of a
parent to his son, on his general deportment,
we find the latter punctiliously enjoined not
to take his seat at the board till he has
washed his face and hands, and not to leave
it till he has repeated the same thing, and
cleansed his teeth. The directions are given
with a preci?ion worthy of an Asiatic. " Al
principio de la comida labarte has las manos
y la boca, y donde te juntares con otros &
comer, no te sientes luego ; mas antes to-
maris el agua y la jicara para que se laben
los otros, y echarles has agua a" los manos, y
despues de esto, cojertis lo que se ha caido
por cl suelo y barreras el lugar de la comida,
y tambien despues de comer lavar^s te las
manos y la boca, y limpiards los dientes."
Ibid., loc. cit.
13 Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio,
torn. iii. fol. 306.— Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-
Espaiia, lib. 4, cap. 37.— Torquemada, Mo-
narch. Ind., lib. 13, cap. 23.— Clavigero, Stor.
del Messico, torn. ii. p. 227. — The Aztecs
used to smoke after dinner, to prepare for
the siesta, in which they indulged them-
selves as regularly as an old Castilian. —
Tobacco, in Mexican yetl, is derived from a
Haytian word, tabaco. The natives of His-
paniola, being the first with whom the
Spaniards had much intercourse, have sup-
plied Europe with the names of several im-
portant plants.— Tobacco, in some form or
other, was used by almost all the tribes of
the American continent, from the North-west
Coast to Patagonia. (See McCulloh, Re-
searches, pp. 91-94.) Its manifold virtues,
both social and medicinal, are profusely
panegyrized by Hernandez, in his Hist. Plan-
tarum, lib. 2, cap. 109.
44 This noble bird was introduced into
Europe from Mexico. The Spaniards called
it gallopavo, from its resemblance to the
peacock. See Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap.
Ramusio (torn. iii. fol. 306) ; also Oviedo (Rel.
Sumaria, cap. 38), the earliest naturalist
who gives an account of the bird, which he
saw soon after the Conquest, in the West
Indies, whither it had been brought, as he
says, from New Spain. The Europeans,
however, soon lost sight of its origin, and the
name "turkey" intimated the popular belief
of its Eastern origin. Several eminent writers
have maintained its Asiatic or African de-
scent; but they could not impose on the
sagacious and better-instructed Buffon. (See
Histoire naturelle, art. Dindon.) The Span-
iards saw immense numbers of turkeys in
the domesticated state, on their arrival in
Mexico, where they were more common than
any other poultry. They were found wild,
not only in New Spain, but all along the
continent, in the less frequent places, from the
North-western territory of the United States
to Panama. The wild turkey is larger, more
beautiful, and every way an incomparably
finer bird than the tame. Franklin, with
some point, as well as pleasantry, insists
on its preference to the bald eagle as the
national emblem. (See his Works, vol. x.
p. 63, in Sparks's excellent edition.) In-
teresting notices of the history and habits
of the wild turkey may be found in the
Ornithology both of Buonaparte and of that
enthusiastic lover of nature, Audubon, vox
Meleagris, Gallopavo.
DOMESTIC MANNERS.
73
fections and pastry, for which their maize-flour and sugar supplied ample
materials. One other dish, of a disgusting nature, was sometimes added to
the feast, especially when the celebration partook of a religious character.
On such occasions a slave was sacrificed, and his flesh, elaborately dressed,
formed one of the chief ornaments of the banquet. Cannibalism, in the
guise of an Epicurean science, becomes even the more revolting.45
The meats were kept warm by chafing-dishes. The table was ornamented
with vases of silver, and sometimes gold, of delicate workmanship. The
drinking- cups and spoons were of the same costly materials, and likewise of
tortoise-shell. The favourite beverage was the chocolatl, flavoured with
vanilla and different spices. They had a way of preparing the froth of it, so
as to make it almost solid enough to be eaten, and took it cold.4r> The fer-
mented juice of the maguey, with a mixture of sweets and acids, supplied,
also, various agreeable drinks, of different degrees of strength, and formed the
chief beverage of the elder part of the company.47
As soon as they had finished their repast, the young people rose from the
table, to close the festivities of the day with dancing. They danced gracefully,
to the sound of various instruments, accompanying their movements with
chants of a pleasing though somewhat plaintive character.48 The older guests
continued at table, sipping pulque, and gossiping about other times, till the
virtues of the exhilarating beverage put them in good humour with their own.
Intoxication was not rare in this part of the company, and, what is singular,
was excused in them, though severely punished in the younger. The enter-
tainment was concluded by a liberal distribution of rich dresses and ornaments
among the guests, when they withdrew, after midnight, " some commending
the feast, and others condemning the bad taste or extravagance of their host ;
in the same manner," says an old Spanish writer, " as with us." 49 Human
nature is, indeed, much the same all the world over.
45 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, lib. 4,
cap. 37 ; lib. 8, cap. 13; lib. 9, cap. 10-14.—
Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 13, cap. 23.
— Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio,
torn. iii. fol. 306. — Father Sahagun has gone
into many particulars of the Aztec cuisine,
and the mode of preparing sundry savoury
messes, making, all together, no despicable
contribution to the noble science of gas-
tronomy.
46 The froth, delicately flavoured with
spices and some other ingredients, was taken
cold by itself. It had the consistency almost
of a solid ; and the " Anonymous Conqueror"
is very careful to inculcate the importance of
"opening the mouth wide, in order to facili-
tate deglutition, that the foam may dissolve
gradually, and descend imperceptibly, as it
were, into the stomach." It was so nutritious
that a single cup of it was enough to sustain
a man through the longest day's march.
(Fol. 306.) The old soldier discusses the
beverage con amove.
47 Sahagun, Hist, de Hueva-Espaha, lib. 4,
cap. 37; lib. 8, cap. 13.— Torquemada, Mo-
narch. Ind., lib. 13, cap. 23. — Rel. d'un
gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii. fol.
306.
48 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7,
cap. 8. — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 14,
cap. ll. — The Mexican nobles entertained
minstrels in their houses, who composed
ballads suited to the times, or the achieve-
ments of their lord, which they chanted, to
the accompaniment of instruments, at the
festivals and dances. Indeed, there was more
or less dancing at most of the festivals, and
it was performed in the court-yards of the
houses, or in the open squares of the city.
(Ibid., ubi supra.) The principal men had,
also, buffoons and jugglers in their service,
who amused them and astonished the Span-
iards by their feats of dexterity and strength.
(Acosta, lib. 6, cap. 28; also Clavigero (Stor.
del Messico, torn. ii. pp. 179-186), who has
designed several representations of their ex-
ploits, truly surprising.) It is natural that
a people of limited refinement should find
their employment in material rather than
intellectual pleasures, and, consequently,
should excel in them. The Asiatic nations,
as the Hindoos and Chinese, for example,
surpass the more polished Europeans in dis-
plays of agility and legerdemain.
40 "Y de esta manera pasaban gran rato
de la noche, y se despedian, e iban a sus
casas, unos alabando la fiesta, y otros mur-
muraudo de las demasias y excesos, cosa mui
ordinaria en los que & semejantes actos se
juntan." Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib.
13, cap. 23. — Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-
Espaiia, lib. 9, cap. 10-14.
d2
74
AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
In this remarkable picture of manners, which I have copied faithfully from
the records of earliest date after the Conquest, Ave find no resemblance to the
other races of North American Indians. Some resemblance we may trace to
the general style of Asiatic pomp and luxury. But in Asia, woman, far from
being admitted to unreserved intercourse with the other sex, is too often
jealously immured within the walls of the harem. European civilization,
which accords to this loveliest portion of creation her proper rank in the social
scale, is still more removed from some of the brutish usages of the Aztecs.
That such* usages should have existed with the degree of refinement they
showed in other things is almost inconceivable. It can only be explained as
the result of religious superstition ; superstition which clouds the moral per-
ception, and perverts even the natural senses, till man, civilized man, is recon-
ciled to the very things which are most revolting to humanity. Habits and
opinions founded on religion must not be taken as conclusive evidence of the
actual refinement of a people.
The Aztec character was perfectly original and unique. It was made up
of incongruities apparently irreconcilable. It blended into one the marked
peculiarities of different nations, not only of the same phase of civilization, but
as far removed from each other as the extremes of barbarism and refinement.
It may find a fitting parallel in their own wonderful climate, capable of pro-
ducing, on a few square leagues of surface, the boundless variety of vegetable
forms which belong to the frozen regions of the North, the temperate zone of
Europe, and the burning skies of Arabia and Hindostan.
One of the works repeatedly consulted and
referred to in this Introduction is Boturini's
Idea de una nueva Historia general de la
America Septentrional. Tbe singular perse-
cutions sustained by its author, even more
than the merits of his book, have associated
his name inseparably with the literary his-
tory of Mexico. The Chevalier Lorenzo
"Boturini^ Benaduci was a Milanese by birth,
of an ancient family, and possessed of much
learning. From Madrid, where he was re-
siding, he passed over to New Spain, in
1735, on some business of the Countess of
Santibanez, a lineal descendant of Monte-
zuma. While employed on this, he visited
the celebrated shrine of Our Lady of Guada-
loupe, and, being a person of devout and
enthusiastic temper, was filled with the desire
of collecting testimony to establish the mar-
vellous fact of her apparition. In the course
of his excursions, made with this view, he
fell in with many relics of Aztec antiquity,
and conceived— what to a Protestant, at least,
would seem much more rational — the idea of
gathering together all the memorials he could
meet with of the primitive civilization of the
land.
In pursuit of this double object, he pene-
trated into the remotest parts of the country,
living much with the natives, passing his
nights sometimes in their huts, sometimes in
caves and the depths of the ionely forests.
Frequently months would elapse without his
being able to add anything to his collection;
for the Indians had suffered too much not to
be very shy of Europeans. His long inter-
course with them, however, gave him ample
opportunity to learn their language and popu-
lar traditions, and, in the end, to amass a
large stock of materials, consisting of hiero-
glyphical charts on cotton, skins, and the
fibre of the maguey ; besides a considerable
body of Indian manuscripts, written after
the Conquest. To all these must be added
the precious documents for placing beyond
controversy the miraculous apparition of the
Virgin. With this treasure he returned,
after a pilgrimage of eight years, to the
capital.
His zeal, in the mean while, had induced
him to procure from Rome a bull authorizing
the coronation of the sacred image at Guada-
loupe. The bull, however, though sanctioned
by the Audience of New Spain, had never
been approved by the Council of the Indies.
In consequence of this informality, Boturini
was arrested in the midst of his proceedings,
his papers were taken from him, and, as he
declined to give an inventory of them, he
was thrown into prison, and confined in the
same apartment with two criminals ! Not
long afterward he was sent to Spain. He
there presented a memorial to the Council of
the Indies, setting forth his manifold griev-
ances, and soliciting redress. At the same
time, he drew up his " Idea," above noticed,
in which he displayed the catalogue of his
museum in New Spain, declaring, with affect-
ing earnestness, that " he would not exchange
these treasures for all the gold and silver,
diamonds and pearls, in the New World."
After some delay, the Council gave an
BOTURINI-GOLDEN AGE OF TEZCUCO.
75
award in his favour ; acquitting him of any
intentional violation of the law, and pro-
nouncing a high encomium on his deserts.
His papers, however, were not restored. But
his Majesty was graciously pleased to appoint
him Historiographer-General of the Indies,
with a salary of one thousand dollars per
annum. The stipend was too small to allow
him to return to Mexico. He remained in
Madrid, and completed there the first volume
of a "General History of North America,"
in 1749. Not long after this event, and before
the publication of the work, he died. The
same injustice was continued to his heirs ;
and, notwithstanding repeated applications
in their behalf, they were neither put in pos-
session of their unfortunate kinsmau's col-
lection, nor received a remuneration for it.
What was worse,— as far as the public was
concerned, — the collection itself was deposited
in apartments of the vice-regal palace at
Mexico, so damp that they gradually fell to
pieces, and the few remaining were still
further diminished by the pilfering of the
curious. When Baron Humboldt visited
Mexico, not one-eighth of this inestimable
treasure was in existence !
1 have been thus particular in the account
of the unfortunate Boturini, as affording, on
the whole, the most remarkable example of
the serious obstacles and persecutions which
literary enterprise, directed in the path of
the national antiquities, has, from some cause
or other, been exposed to in New Spain.
Boturini's manuscript volume was never
printed, and probably never will be, if indeed
it is in existence. This will scarcely prove a
great detriment to science or to his own re-
putation. He was a man of a zealous temper,
strongly inclined to the marvellous, with
little of that acuteness requisite for pene-
trating the tangled mazes of antiquity, or of
the philosophic spirit fitted for calmly weigh-
ing its doubts and difficulties. His "Idea"
affords a sample of his peculiar mind.. With
abundant learning, ill assorted and ill digested,
it is a jumble of fact and puerile fiction, in-
teresting details, crazy dreams, and fantastic
theories. But it is hardly fair to judge by
the strict rules of criticism a work which,
put together hastily, as a catalogue of literary
treasures, was designed by the author rather
to show what might be done, than that he
could do it himself. It is rare that talents
for action and contemplation are united in
the same individual. Boturini was eminently
qualified, by his enthusiasm and perseverance,
for collecting the materials necessary to
illustrate the antiquities of the country. It
requires a more highly gifted mind to avail
itself of them.
CHAPTER VI.
THE TEZCUCANS— THEIR GOLDEN AGE.— ACCOMPLISHED PRINCES.— DECLINE
OF THEIR MONARCHY.
The reader would gather but an imperfect notion of the civilization of Ana-
huac, without some account of the Acolhuans, or Tezcucans, as they are usually
called ; a nation of the same great family with the Aztecs, whom they rivalled
in power and surpassed in intellectual culture and the arts of social refinement.
Fortunately, we have ample materials for this in the records left by Ixtlilxochitl,
a lineal descendant of the royal line of Tezcuco, who flourished in the century of
the Conquest. With every opportunity for information he combined much
industry and talent, and, if his narrative bears the high colouring of one who
would revive the faded glories of an ancient but dilapidated house, he has
been uniformly commended for his fairness and integrity, and has been
followed without misgiving by such Spanish writers as could have access to
his manuscripts.1 I shall confine myself to the prominent features of the two
reigns which may be said to embrace the golden age of Tezcuco, without
attempting to weigh the probability of the details, Avhich I will leave to be
settled by the reader, according to the measure of his faith.
The Acolhuans came into the Valley, as we have seen, about the close of
the twelfth century, and built their capital of Tezcuco on the eastern borders
of the lake, opposite to Mexico. From this point they gradually spread
themselves over the northern portion of Anahuac, when their career was
1 For a criticism on this writer, see the Postscript to this chapter.
76 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
checked by an invasion of a kindred race, the Tepanecs, who, after a desperate
struggle, succeeded in taking their city, slaying their monarch, and entirely
subjugating his kingdom.2 This event took place about 1418 ; and the young
prince, Nezahualcoyotl, the heir to the crown, then fifteen years old, saw his
father butchered before his eyes, while he himself lay concealed among the
friendly branches of a tree which overshadowed the spot.3 His subsequent
history is as full of romantic daring and perilous escapes as that of the
renowned Scanderbeg or of the " young Chevalier." *
Not long after his flight from the field of his father's blood, the Tezcucan
prince fell into the hands of his enemy, was borne off in triumph to his city,
and was thrown into a dungeon. He effected his escape, however, through
the connivance of the governor of the fortress, an old servant of his family,
who took the place of the royal fugitive, and paid for his loyalty with his life.
He was at length permitted, through the intercession of the reigning family in
Mexico, which was allied to him, to retire to that capital, and subsequently to
his own, where he found a shelter in his ancestral palace. Here he remained
unmolested for eight years, pursuing his studies under an old preceptor, who
had had the care of his early youth, and who instructed him in the various
duties befitting his princely station.5
At the end of this period the Tepanec usurper died, bequeathing his empire
to his son, Maxtla, a man of fierce and suspicious temper. Nezahualcoyotl
hastened to pay his obeisance to him, on his accession. But the tyrant refused
to receive the little present of flowers which he laid at his feet, and turned his
back on him in presence of his chieftains. One of his attendants, friendly to
the young prince, admonished him to provide for his own safety, by withdraw-
ing, as speedily as possible, from the palace, where his life was in danger. He
lost no time, consequently, in retreating from the inhospitable court, and
returned to Tezcuco. Maxtla, however, was bent on his destruction. He saw
with jealous eye the opening talents and popular manners of his rival, and the
favour he was daily winning from his ancient subjects.6
He accordingly laid a plan for making away with him at an evening enter-
tainment. It was defeated by the vigilance of the prince's tutor, who contrived
to mislead the assassins and to substitute another victim in the place of his
pupil.7 The baffled tyrant now threw off all disguise, and sent a strong party
of soldiers to Tezcuco, with orders to enter the palace, seize the person of
Nezahualcoyotl, and slay him on the spot. The prince, who became acquainted
with the plot through the watchfulness of his preceptor, instead of flying, as
he was counselled, resolved to await his enemies. They found him playing at
ball, when they arrived, in the court of his palace. He received them cour-
teously, and invited them in, to take some refreshments after their journey.
While they were occupied in this way, he passed into an adjoining saloon,
which excited no suspicion, as he was' still visible through the open doors by
which the apartments communicated with each other. A burning censer
stood in the passage, and, as it was fed by the attendants, threw up such
2 See Chapter I. of this Introduction, p. 10. divides romance from reality.
a lxtlilxochitl, Relaciones, MS., No. 9.— 6 Ixtlilxochitl, Relaciones, MS., No. 10.
Idem, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 19. 6 Idem, Relaciones, MS., No. 10.— Hist.
4 The adventures of the former hero are Chich., MS., cap. 20-24.
told with his usual spirit by Sismondi (Re- ' Idem, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 25. The
publiques Italienues, chap. 79). It is hardly contrivance was effected by means of an ex-
necessary, for the latter, to refer the English traordinary personal resemblance of the
reader to Chambers's " History of the Rebel- parties; a fruitful source of comic— as every
lion of 1745;" a work which proves how reader of the dmnia knows — though rarely of
thin is the partition in human life which tragic interest.
GOLDEN AGE OF TEZCUCO. 77
clouds of incense as obscured his movements from the soldiers. Under this
friendly veil he succeeded in making his escape by a secret passage, which
communicated with a large earthen pipe formerly used to bring water to the
palace.8 Here he remained till nightfall, when, taking advantage of the
obscurity, he found his way into the suburbs, and sought a shelter in the cot-
tage of one of his father's vassals.
The Tepanec monarch, enraged at this repeated disappointment, ordered
instant pursuit. A price was set on the head of the royal fugitive. Whoever
should take him, dead or alive, was promised, however humble his degree, the
hand of a noble lady, and an ample domain along with it. Troops of armed
men were ordered to scour the country in every direction. In the course of the
search, the cottage in which the prince had taken refuge was entered. But
he fortunately escaped detection by being hid under a heap of maguey fibres
used for manufacturing cloth. As this was no longer a proper place of
concealment, he sought a retreat in the mountainous and woody district lying
between the borders of his own state and Tlascala.9
Here he led a wretched, wandering life, exposed to all the inclemencies of
the weather, hiding himself in deep thickets and caverns, and stealing out, at
night, to satisfy the cravings of appetite ; while he was kept in constant
alarm by the activity of his pursuers, always hovering on his track. On one
occasion he sought refuge from them among a small party of soldiers, who
proved friendly to him and concealed him in a large drum around which they
were dancing. At another time he was just able to turn the crest of a hill as
his enemies were climbing it on the other side, when he fell in with a girl who
was reaping chia, — a Mexican plant, the seed of whicji was much used in the
drinks of the country. He persuaded her to cover him up with the stalks she
had been cutting. When his pursuers came up, and inquired if she had seen
the fugitive, the girl coolly answered that she had, and pointed out a path as
the one he had taken. Notwithstanding the high rewards offered, Nezahual-
coyotl seems to have incurred no danger from treachery, such was the general
attachment felt to himself and his house. " Would you not deliver up the
prince, if he came in your way? "he inquired of a young peasant who was
unacquainted with his person. "Not I," replied the other. "What, not for
a fair lady's hand, and a rich dowry beside r' rejoined the prince. At which
the other only shook his head and laughed.10 On more than one occasion his
faithful people submitted to torture, and even to lose their lives, rather than
disclose the place of his retreat.11
However gratifying such proofs of loyalty might be to his feelings, the situa-
tion of the prince in these mountain solitudes became every day more dis-
tressing. It gave a still keener edge to his own sufferings to witness those of
the faithful followers who chose to accompany him in his wanderings. " Leave
me," he would say to them, "to my fate ! Why should you throw away your
own lives for one whom fortune is never weary of persecuting ? " Most of the
8 It was customary, on entering the pre- 10 " Nezahualcoiotzin le dixo, que si viese
sence of a great lord, to throw aroniatics into a quien huseaban, si lo irfa a denunciar ? re-
the censer. " Hecho en el brasero incienso y* spondio, que no ; tornandole a" replicar
copal, que era uso y costumbre donde estaban diciendole, que haria mui nial en perder una
lo8 Reyes y Senores, cada vez que los criados muger hermosa y lo demas que el rey Maxtla
entraban con mucha reverencia y acata- prometia, el mancebo se rio de todo, no ha-
miento echaban sahumerio en el brasero ; y ciendo caso ni de louno ni de lo otro." Ixtlil-
asi con este perfume se obscurecia algo la xochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 27.
sala." Ixtlilxochitl, Relaciones, MS., No. 11. "Ibid., MS., cap. 26, 27.— Relaciones,
" Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 26. MS., No. 11.— Veytia, Hist, antig., lib. 2,
—Relaciones, MS., No. 11.— Veytia, Hist. cap. 47, 48.
antig., lib. 2, cap. 47.
78 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
great Tezcucan chiefs had consulted their interests by a timely adhesion
to the usurper. But some still clung to their prince, preferring proscription,
and death itself, rather than desert him in his extremity.12
In the mean time, his friends at a distance were active in measures for his
relief. The oppressions of Maxtla, and his growing empire, had caused general
alarm in the surrounding states, who recalled the mild rule of the Tezcucan
princes. A coalition was formed, a plan of operations concerted, and, on the
day appointed for a general rising, Nezahualcoyotl found himself at the head
of a force sufficiently strong to face his Tepanec adversaries. An engagement
came on, in which the latter were totally discomfited ; and the victorious
prince, receiving everywhere on his route the homage of his joyful subjects,
entered his capital, not like a proscribed outcast, but as the rightful heir, and
saw himself once more enthroned in the halls of his fathers.
Soon after, he united his forces with the Mexicans, long disgusted with the
arbitrary conduct of Maxtla. The allied powers, after a series of bloody
engagements with the usurper, routed him under the walls of his own capital.
He fled to the baths, whence he Avas dragged out, and sacrificed with the
usual cruel ceremonies of the Aztecs ; the royal city of Azcapozalco was razed
to the ground, and the wasted territory was henceforth reserved as the great
slave-market for the nations of Anahuac.13
These events were succeeded by the remarkable league among the three
powers of Tezcuco, Mexico, and Tlacopan, of which some account has been
given in a previous chapter.14 Historians are not agreed as to the precise
terms of it ; the writers of the two former nations each insisting on the para-
mount authority of his own in the coalition. All agree in the subordinate
position of Tlacopan, a state, like the others, bordering on the lake. It is
certain that in their subsequent operations, whether of peace or war, the three
states shared in each other's councils, embarked in each other's enterprises,
and moved in perfect concert together, till just before the coming of the
Spaniards.
- The first measure of Nezahualcoyotl, on returning to his dominions, was a
general amnesty. It was his maxim " that a monarch might punish, but
revenge was unworthy of him." 15 In the present instance he was averse even
to punish, and not only freely pardoned his rebel nobles, but conferred on
some, who had most deeply offended, posts of honour and confidence. Such
conduct was doubtless politic, especially as their alienation was owing, pro-
bably, much more to fear of the usurper than to any disaffection towards
himself. But there are some acts of policy which a magnanimous spirit only
can execute.
The restored monarch next set about repairing the damages sustained under
the late misrule, and reviving, or rather remodelling, the various departments
of government. He framed a concise, but comprehensive, code of laws, so
well suited, it was thought, to the exigencies of the times, that it was adopted
as their own by the two other members of the triple alliance. It was written
in blood, and entitled the author to be called the Draco rather than " the Solon
of Anahuac," as he is fondly styled by his admirers.16 Humanity is one of
12 Ixtlilxochitl, MSS., ubi supra.— Veytia, los Reyes, sino castigar al que lo mereciere."
ubi supra. MS. de Ixtlilxocbitl.
13 Ixtlilxocbitl, Hist. Cbicb., MS., cap. 28- le See Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. i.
31.— Relaciones, MS., No. 11.— Veytia, Hist. p. 247.— Nezahualcoyotl's code consisted of
antig., lib. 2, cap. 51-54. eighty laws, of which thirty-four only have
4 See page 12. come down to us, according to Veytia. (Hist.
" "Que venganza no es justo la procuren antig., torn, iii. p. 224, nota.) ixtlilxochitl
GOLDEN AGE OF TEZCUCO. 79
the best fruits of refinement. It is only with increasing civilization that the
legislator studies to economize human suffering, even for the guilty ; to devise
penalties not so much by way of punishment for the past as of reformation for
the future.17
He divided the burden of government among a number of departments, as
the council of war, the council of finance, the council of justice. This last
was a court of supreme authority, both in civil and criminal matters, receiving
appeals from the lower tribunals of the provinces, which were obliged to make
a full report, every four months, or eighty days, of their own proceedings to
this higher judicature. In all these bodies, a certain number of citizens were
allowed to have seats with the nobles and professional dignitaries. There was,
however, another body, a council of state, for aiding the king in the despatch
of business, and advising him in matters of importance, which was drawn
altogether from the highest order of chiefs. It consisted of fourteen members ;
and they had seats provided for them at the royal table.18
Lastly, there was an extraordinary tribunal, called the council of music, but
which, (littering from the import of its name, was devoted to the encourage-
ment of science and art. Works on astronomy, chronology, history, or any
other science, were required to be submitted to its judgment, before they
could be made public. This censorial power was of some moment, at least
with regard to the historical department, where the wilful perversion of truth
was made a capital offence by the bloody code of Nezahualcoyotl. Yet a
Tezcucan author must have been a bungler, who could not elude a conviction
under the cloudy veil of hieroglyphics. This body, which was drawn from the
best-instructed persons in the kingdom, with little regard to rank, had super-
vision of all the productions of art, and of the nicer fabrics. It decided on
the qualifications of the professors in the various branches of science, on the
fidelity of their instructions to their pupils, the deficiency of which was
severely punished, and it instituted examinations of these latter. In short, it
was a general board of education for the country. On stated days, historical
compositions, and poems treating of moral or traditional topics, were recited
before it by their authors. Seats were provided for the three crowned heads
of the empire, who deliberated with the other members on the respective
merits of the pieces, and distributed prizes of value to the successful com-
petitors.19
Such are the marvellous accounts transmitted to us of this institution ; an
institution certainly not to have been expected among the aborigines of
America. It is calculated to give us a higher idea of the refinement of the
enumerates several of them. Hist. Chicli., — Veytia, Hist, antig., lib. 3, cap. 7. — " Con-
MS., cap. 38, and llelaciones, MS., Ordenan- currian a este consejo las tres cabezas del
zas. imperio, en ciertos dias, & oir cantar las
" Nowhere are these principles kept mora poesfas historicas antiguas y modernas, para
steadily in view than in the various writings instruirse de toda su historia, y tambien
of our adopted countryman Dr. Lieber, having cuando habia algun nuevo invento en cual-
more or less to do with the theory of legisla- quicra facultad, para examinarlo, aprobarlo,
tion. Sucli works could not have been pro- o reprobarlo. Delante de las sillas de los
duced before the nineteenth century. • reyes habia una gran mesa cargada de joyas
,e Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 36. de oro y plata, pedreria, plumas, y otras
— Veytia, Hist, antig., lib. 3, cap. 7. — Ac- cosas estiniables, y en los rincones de la sala
cording to Zurita, the principal judges, at muchas de mantas de todas calidades, para
their general meetings every four months, . premios de las habilidades y estimulo de los
constituted also a sort of parliament or cortes. profesores, las cuales alhajas repartian los
for advising the king on matters of state. reyes, en los dias que concurrian, A los que se
See his Rapport, p. 106 ; also ante, p. 17. aventajabau en el ejerciciode sus facultades."
10 Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 36. Ibid.
— Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tore, ii. p. 137,
80 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
people than even the noble architectural remains which still cover some parts
of the continent. Architecture is, to a certain extent, a sensual gratification.
It addresses itself to the eye, and affords the best scope for the parade of bar-
baric pomp and splendour. It is the form in which the revenues of a semi-
civilized people are most likely to be lavished. The most gaudy and ostenta-
tious specimens of it, and sometimes the most stupendous, have been reared
by such hands. It is one of the first steps in the great march of civilization,
lint the institution in question was evidence of still higher refinement. It
was a literary luxury, and argued the existence of a taste in the nation which
relied for its gratification on pleasures of a purely intellectual character.
The influence of this academy must have been most propitious to the
capital, which became the nursery not only of such sciences as could be com-
passed by the scholarship of the period, but of various useful and ornamental
arts. Its historians, orators, and poets were celebrated throughout the
country.20 Its archives, for which accommodations were provided in the
royal palace, were stored with the records of primitive ages.21 Its idiom,
more polished than the Mexican, was, indeed, the purest of all the Nahuatlac
dialects, and continued, long after the Conquest, to be that in which the best
E inductions of the native races were composed. Tezcuco claimed the glory of
eing the Athens of the Western world.22
Among the most illustrious of her bards was the emperor himself, — for the
Tezcucan writers claim this title for their chief, as head of the imperial
alliance. He doubtless appeared as a competitor before that very academy
where he so often sat as a critic. Many of his odes descended to a late
generation, and are still preserved, perhaps, in some of the dusty repositories
of Mexico or Spain.23 The historian Ixtlilxochitl has left a translation, in
Castilian, of one of the poems of his royal ancestor. It is not easy to render
his version into corresponding English rhyme, without the perfume of the
original escaping in this double filtration.24 They remind one of the rich
breathings of Spanish- Arab poetry, in which an ardent imagination is tem-
pered by a not unpleasing and moral melancholy.23 But, though sufficiently
florid in diction, they are generally free from the meretricious ornaments and
20 Veytia, Hist, antig., lib. 3, cap. 7.— heathen theology, astronomy, medicine, and
Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. i. p. 247. — history." Idea, p. 142.
The latter author enumerates four historians, 23 "He composed sixty songs," says the
some of much repute, of the royal house of author last quoted, "which have probably
Tezcuco, descendants of the great Nezahual- perished by the incendiary hands of the
coyotl. See his Account of Writers, torn. i. ignorant." (Idea, p. 79.) Boturini had trans-
pp. 6-21. lations of two of these in his museum (Cata-
21 " En la ciudad de Tezcuco estaban los logo, p. 8), and another, has since come to
Archivos Reales de todas las cosas referidas, light.
por haver sido la Metropoli de todas las cien- -" Difficult as the task may be, it has been
cias, usos, y buenas costumbres, porque los executed by the hand of a fair friend, who,
Reyes que fueron de ella se preciaron de esto." while she has adhered to the Castilian with
(Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., Prologo.) singular fidelity, has shown a grace and flexi-
It was from the poor wreck of these docu- bility in her poetical movements which the
ments, once so carefully preserved by his Castilian version, and probably the Mexican
ancestors, that the historian gleaned the original, cannot boast. See both translations
materials, as he informs us, for his own in Appendix, Part 2, No. 2.
works. ■* Numerous specimens of this may be
22 " Aunque es tenida la lengua Mejicana found in Conde's "Dominacion de los Arabes
por materna, y la Tezcucana por mas corte- en Espafia." None of them are superior to
sana y pulida." (Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, the plaintive strains of the royal Abderahman
MS.) " Tezcuco," says Boturini, " where the on the solitary palm-tree which reminded him
poblemen sent their sons to acquire the most of the pleasant land of his birth. See Par^e
polished dialect of the Nahuatlac language, 2, cap. 9f
and to study poetry, moral philosophy, the
GOLDEN AGE OF TEZCUCO. 81
hyperbole with which the minstrelsy of the East is usually tainted. They
turn on the vanities and mutability of human life,— a topic very natural for
a monarch who had himself experienced the strangest mutations of fortune.
There is mingled in the lament of the Tezcucan bard, however, an Epicurean
philosophy, which seeks relief from the fears of the future in the joys of the
present. "Banish care," he says: "if there are bounds to pleasure, the
saddest life must also have an end. Then weave the chaplet of flowers, and
sing thy songs in praise of the all-powerful God ; for the glory of this world
soon fadeth away. Rejoice in the green freshness of thy spring ; for the day
will come when thou shalt sigh for these joys in vain ; when the sceptre shall
pass from thy hands, thy servants shall wander desolate in thy courts, thy
sons, and the sons of thy nobles, shall drink the dregs of distress, and all the
pomp of thy victories and triumphs shall live only in their recollection. Yet
the remembrance of the just shall not pass away from the nations, and the
good thou hast done shall ever be held in honour. The goods of this life, its
glories and its riches, are but lent to us, its substance is but an illusory
shadow, and the things of to-day shall change on the coming of the morrow.
Then gather the fairest flowers from thy gardens, to bind round thy brow,
and seize the joys of the present ere they perish." 2li
But the hours of the Tezcucan monarch were not all passed in idle dalliance
with the Muse, nor in the sober contemplations of philosophy, as at a later
period. In the freshness of youth and early manhood he led the allied armies
in their annual expeditions, which were certain to result in a wider extent of
territory to the empire.27 In the intervals of peace he fostered those pro-
ductive arts which are the surest sources of public prosperity. He encouraged
agriculture above all ; and there was scarcely a spot so rude, or a steep so
inaccessible, as not to confess the power of cultivation. The land was covered
with a busy population, and towns and cities sprang up in places since deserted
or dwindled into miserable villages.28
46 " lo toeare cantando forms the same sentiment is developed by
El miisico instrumento sonoroso, different races and in different languages. It
Tii de flores gozando is an Epicurean sentiment, indeed, but its
Danza, y festeja ;i Dios que es poderoso ; universality proves its truth to nature.
0 gozemos de esta gloria, ** Some of the provinces and places thus
Porque la humana vida es transitoria." conquered were held by the allied powers in
MS. de Ixtulxochitl. common ; Tlacopan, however, only receiving
The sentiment which is common enoueh one-fifth of the tribute. It was more usual
tfoglisb poet Hernck . See Ixtlllxochitl, Hist CMch>i MS<> cap- 38>__
" Gather the rosebuds while you may ; Zurita, Rapport, p. 1 1.
Old Time is still a flying ; ■• Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 41.
The fairest flower that blooms to-day The same writer, in another work, calls the
To-morrow may be dying." population of Tezcuco, at this period, double
And with stil, greater beauty, perhaps, by ^'^SgEgfigSSl
numerous remains of edifices still visible in
" Rions, chantons, dit cette troupe impie, his day, in places now depopulated. •• Parece
De fleurs en fleurs, de plaisirs en plaisirs, en las historias que en este tienipo, antes que
Promenons nos de'sirs. ' se destruyesen, havia doblado mas gente de
Sur l'avenir insense qui se fie. la que hallo al tiempo que vino Cortes, y los
De nos ans passagers le nombre est incer- demas Espafioles : porque yo hallo en los
tain. padrones reales, que el menor pueblo tenia
Hatons-nous aujourd'hui de jouir de la 1100 vecinos, y de alii para arriba, y ahora
vie ; no tienen 200 vecinos, y aun en algunas partes
Qui sait si nous serons demain ? " de todo punto se ban acabado. . . . Como se
Athalie, Acte 2. hecha de ver en las ruinas, hasta los mas altos
It is interesting to see under what different montes y sierras tenian sus sementeras, y
82 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
From resources thus enlarged by conquest and domestic industry, the
monarch drew the means for the large consumption of his own numerous
household,29 and for the costly works which lie executed for the convenience
and embellishment of the capital. He rilled it with stately edifices for his
nobles, whose constant attendance he was anxious to secure at his court.30
He erected a magnificent pile of buildings which might serve both for a royal
residence and for the public offices. It extended, from east to west, twelve
hundred and thirty -four yards, and from north to south, nine hundred and
seventy-eight. It was encompassed by a wall of unburnt bricks and cement,
six feet wide and nine high for one half of the circumference, and fifteen feet
high for the other half. Within this enclosure were two courts. The outer
one was used as the great market-place of the city, and continued to be so
until long after the Conquest, — if, indeed, it is not now. The interior court
was surrounded by the council- chambers and halls of justice. There were also
accommodations there for the foreign ambassadors ; and a spacious saloon, with
apartments opening into it, for men of science and poets, who pursued their
studies in this retreat or met together to hold converse under its marble porti-
coes. In this quarter, also, were kept the public archives, which fared better
under the Indian dynasty than they have since under their European
successors.31
Adjoining this court were the apartments of the king, including those for
the royal harem, as liberally supplied with beauties as that of an Eastern sultan.
Their walls were incrusted with alabasters and richly-tinted stucco, or hung
with gorgeous tapestries of variegated feather-work. They led through long-
arcades, and through intricate labyrinths of shrubbery, into gardens where
baths and sparkling fountains were overshadowed by tall groves of cedar and
cypress. The basins of water were well stocked with fish of various kinds,
and the aviaries with birds glowing in all the gaudy plumage of the tropics.
Many birds and animals which could not be obtained alive were represented
in gold and silver so skilfully as to have furnished the great naturalist
Hernandez with models for his work.32
casas principals para vivir y morar." Ke- poetas, historicos, y x>hil6sophos del reyno,
laciones, MS., No. 9. divididos en sus claves, y academi as, con forme
2J Torquemada has extracted the particulars era la facultad de cada uno, y asi mismo
of the yearly expenditure of the palace from estaban aqui los archives reales."
the royal account-book, which came into the 3il This celebrated naturalist was sent by
historian's possession. The following are Philip II. to New Spain, and he employed
some of the items, namely : 4,900,300 fanegas several years in compiling a voluminous work
of maize (the fanega is equal lo about one on its various natural productions, with draw-
hundred pounds) ; 2,744,000 fanegas of cacao ; ings illustrating them. Although the govern-
8000 turkeys ; 1300 baskets of salt ; besides ment is said to have expended sixty thousand
an incredible quantity of game of every kind, ducats in effecting this great object, the
vegetables, condiments, etc. (Monarch. Ind., volumes were not published till long after the
lib. 2, cap. 53.) See, also, Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. author's death. In 1651 a mutilated edition
Chich., MS., cap. 35. of the part of the work relating to medical
30 There were more than four hundred of botany appeared at Rome. — The original MSS.
these lordly residences. "Asi mismo hizo were supposed to have been destroyed by the
edificar muchas casas y palacios para los great fire in the Escorial, not many years
senores y cavalleros, que asistian en su corte, after. Fortunately, another copy, in the
cada uno conforme a la calidad y meritos de author's own hand, was detected by the in-
su persona, las quales llegaron a ser mas de defatigable Munoz, in the library of the
quatrocientas casas de senores y cavalleros Jesuits' College at Madrid, in the latter part
de solar conocido." Ibid., cap. 38. of the last century; and a beautiful edition,
31 Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 36. from the famous press of Ibarra, was pub-
"Esta plaza cercada de portales, y tenia asi lished in that capital, under the patronage of
mismo por la parte del poniente otra sala government, in 1790. (Hist. Plantarum,
grande, y muchos quartos a, la redonda, que Prajfatio. — Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca, His-
era la universidad, en donde asistian todos los pana Nova (Matriti, 1790), torn. ii. p. 432.)
GOLDEN AGE OF TEZCUCO. 83
Accommodations on a princely scale were provided for the sovereigns of
Mexico and Tlacopan when they visited the court. The whole of this lordly
pile contained three hundred 'apartments, some of them fifty yards square.33
The height of the building is not mentioned. It was probably not great, but
supplied the requisite room by the immense extent of ground which it covered.
The interior was doubtless constructed of light materials, especially of the
rich woods which, in that country, are remarkable, when polished, for the
brilliancy and variety of their colours. That the more solid materials of stone
and stucco were also liberally employed is proved by the remains at the present
day ; remains which have furnished an inexhaustible quarry for the churches
and other edifices since erected by the Spaniards on the site of the ancient
city.34
We are not informed of the time occupied in building this palace. But two
hundred thousand workmen, it is said, were employed on it.35 However this
may be, it is certain that the Tezcucan monarchs, like those of Asia and
ancient Egypt, had the control of immense masses of men, and would some-
times turn the whole population of a conquered city, including the women, into
the public works.36 The most gigantic monuments of architecture which the
world has witnessed would never have been reared by the hands of freemen.
Adjoining the palace were buildings for the king's children, who, by his
various wives, amounted to no less than sixty sons and fifty daughters.37
Here they were instructed in all the exercises and accomplishments suited to
their station ; comprehending, what would scarcely find a place in a royal
education on the other side of the Atlantic, the arts of working in metals,
jewelry, and feather-mosaic. Once in every four months, the whole household,
not excepting the youngest, and including all the officers and attendants on
the king's person, assembled in a grand saloon of the palace, to listen to a dis-
course from an orator, probably one of the priesthood. The princes, on this
occasion, were all dressed in nequen, the coarsest manufacture of the country.
The preacher began by enlarging on the obligations of morality and of respect
for the gods, especially important in persons whose rank gave such additional
weight to example. He occasionally seasoned his homily with a pertinent
application to his audience, if any member of it had been guilty of a notorious
delinquency. From this wholesome admonition the monarch himself was not
exempted, and the orator boldly reminded him of his paramount duty to show
respect for his own laws. The king, so far from taking umbrage, received the
The work of Hernandez is a monument of our guide informed us that whoever built a
industry and erudition, the more remarkable house at Tezcuco made the ruins of the palace
as being the first on this difficult subject. serve as his quarry." (Six Months in Mexico,
And, after all the additional light from the chap. 26.) Torquemada notices the appro-
labours of later naturalists, it still holds its priation of the materials to the same purpose.
place as a book of the highest authority, for Monarch. lad., lib. 2, cap. 45.
the perspicuity, fidelity, and thoroughness 3S Ixtlilxochitl, MS., ubi supra,
with which the multifarious topics in it are 36 Thus, to punish the Chalcas for their
rebellion, the whole population were com-
33 Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 36. pelled, women as well as men, says the chro-
34 " Some of the terraces on which it stood," nicler so often quoted, to labour on the royal
says Mr. Bullock, speaking of this palace, edifices for four years together; and large
" are still entire, and covered with cement, granaries were provided with stores for their
very hard, and equal in beauty to that found maintenance in the mean time. Idem, Hist,
in ancient Roman buildings. . . . The great Chich., MS., cap. 46.
church, which stands close by, is almost 37 If the people in general were not much
entirely built of the materials taken from the addicted to polygamy, the sovereign, it must
palace, many of the sculptured stones from be confessed,— and it was the same, we shall
which may be seen in the walls, though most see, in Mexico,— made ample amends for any
of the ornaments are turned inwards. Indeed, self-denial on the part of his subjects.
84 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
lesson with humility ; and the audience, we are assured, were often melted into
tears by the eloquence of the preacher.38 This curious scene may remind one
of similar usages in the Asiatic and Egyptian despotisms, where the sovereign
occasionally condescended to stoop from his pride of plaoe and allow his
memory to be refreshed with the conviction of his own mortality.39 It soothed
the feelings of the subject to find himself thus placed, though but for a moment,
on a level with his king ; while it cost little to the latter, who was removed too
far from his people to suffer anything by this short-lived familiarity. It is
probable that such an act of public humiliation would have found less favour
with a prince less absolute.
Nezahualcoyotl's fondness for magnificence was shown in his numerous
villas, which were embellished with all that could make a rural retreat delight-
ful. His favourite residence was at Tezcotzinco, a conical hill about two
leagues from the capital.40 It was laid out in terraces, or hanging gardens,
having a flight of steps five hundred and twenty in number, many of them
hewn in the natural porphyry.41 In the garden on the summit was a reservoir
of water, fed by an aqueduct that was carried over hill and valley, for several
miles, on huge buttresses of masonry. A large rock stood in the midst of this
basin, sculptured with the hieroglyphics representing the years of Nezahual-
coyotl's reign and his principal achievements in each.42 On a lower level were
three other reservoirs, in each of which stood a marble statue of a woman,
emblematic of the three states of the empire. Another tank contained a
winged lion, (?) cut out of the solid rock, bearing in its mouth the portrait of
the emperor.43 His likeness had been executed in gold, wood, feather-work,
and stone ; but this was the only one which pleased him.
From these copious basins the wrater was distributed in numerous channels
through the garcfens, or was made to tumble over the rocks in cascades, shed-
ding refreshing dews on the flowers and odoriferous shrubs below. In the
depths of this fragrant wilderness, marble porticoes and pavilions were
erected, and baths excavated in the solid porphyry, which are still shown by
the ignorant natives as the " Baths of Montezuma" ! 44 The visitor descended
by steps cut in the living stone and polished so bright as to reflect like
38 Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 37. staunch iconoclast, Bishop Zumarraga, as a
39 The Egyptian priests managed the affair relic of idolatry. (Hist, de Santiago, lib. 2X
in a more courtly style, and, while they cap. 81.) This figure was, no doubt, the
prayed that all sorts of kingly virtues might emblem of Nezahualcoyotl himself, whose
descend on the prince, they threw the blame of name, as elsewhere noticed, signified " hungry
actual delinquencies on his ministers; thus, fox."
" not by the bitterness of reproof," says Dio- " " Hecho de una pefia un leon de mas de
dorus, " but by the allurements of praise, dos brazas de largo con sus alas y plumas :
enticing him to an honest way of life ." Lib. estaba hechado y mirando it la parte del
1, cap. 70. oriente, en cuia boca asomaba un rostro, que
40 Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 42. era el mismo retrato del Rey." Ixtlilxochitl,
—See Appendix, Part 2, No. 3, for the ori- Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 42.
ginal description of this royal residence. 44 Bullock speaks of a "beautiful basm,
41 "Quinientos y veynte escalones." Da- twelve feet long by eight wide, having a
villa Padilla, Historia de la Provincia de well five feet by four, deep in the centre,"
Santiago (Madrid, 1596), lib. 2, cap. 81.— etc., etc. Whether truth lies in the bottom
This writer, who lived in the sixteenth cen- of this well is not so clear. Latrobe de-
tury, counted the steps himself. Those which scribes the baths as " two singular basins,
were not cut in the rock were crumbling into perhaps two feet and a half in diameter, not
ruins, as, indeed, every part of the establish- large enough for any monarch bigger than
ment was even then far gone to decay. Oberon to take a duck in." (Comp. Six
*" On the summit of the mount, according Months in Mexico, chap. 26; and Rambler in
to Padilla, stood an image of a coyotl, — an Mexico, Let. 7.) Ward speaks much to the
animal resembling a fox, — which, according same purpose (Mexico in 1827 (London, 1828),
to tradition, represented an Indian famous vol. ii. p. 296), which agrees with verbal
for his fasts. It was destroyed by that accounts I have received of the same spot.
GOLDEN AGE OF TEZCUCO. $5
■
mirrors.45 Towards the base of the hill, in the midst of cedar groves, whose
gigantic branches threw a refreshing coolness over the verdure in the sultriest
seasons of the year,46 rose the royal villa, with its light arcades and airy halls,
drinking in the sweet perfumes of the gardens. Here the monarch often
retired, to throw off the burden of state and refresh his wearied spirits in the
society of his favourite wives, reposing during the noontide heats in the
embowering shades of his paradise, or mingling, in the cool of the evening, in
their festive sports and dances. Here he entertained his imperial brothers of
Mexico and Tlacopan, and followed the hardier pleasures of the chase in the
noble woods that stretched for miles around his villa, nourishing in all their
primeval majesty. Here, too, he often repaired in the latter days of his life,
when age had tempered ambition and cooled the ardour of his blood, to pursue
in solitude the studies of philosophy and gather wisdom from meditation.
The extraordinary accounts of the Tezcucan architecture are confirmed, in
the main, by the relics which still cover the hill of Tezcotzinco or are half
buried beneath its surface. They attract little attention, indeed, in the
country, where their true history has long since passed into oblivion ; 47 while
the traveller whose curiosity leads him to the spot speculates on their probable
origin, and, as he stumbles over the huge fragments of sculptured porphyry
and granite, refers them to the primitive races who spread their colossal
architecture over the country long before the coming of the Acolhuans and the
Aztecs.48
The Tezcucan princes were used to entertain a great number of concubines.
They had but one lawful wife, to whose issue the crown descended.49 Neza-
hualcoyotl remained unmarried to a late period. He was disappointed in an
early attachment, as the princess who had been educated in privacy to be the
partner of his throne gave her hand to another. The injured monarch sub-
mitted the affair to the proper tribunal. The parties, however, were proved
to have been ignorant .of the destination of the lady, and the court, with an
independence which reflects equal honour on the judges who could give and the
monarch who could receive the sentence; acquitted the young couple. This
story is sadly contrasted by the following.50
The king devoured his chagrin in the solitude of his beautiful villa of
45 "Gradas hechas de la misma pefia tan this ground, "the Mount Palatine" of
bien gravadas y lizas que parecian espejos." Mexico! But, unhappily, the age of violence
[Ixtlilxochitl, MS., ubi supra.) The travel- has been succeeded by one of apathy.
lers just cited notice the beautiful polish still 48"They are doubtless," says Mr. La-
visible in the porphyry. trobe, speaking of what he calls " these in-
46 Padilla saw entire pieces of cedar among explicable ruins," "rather of Toltrc than
the ruins, ninety feet long and four in dia- Aztec origin, and, perhaps, with still more
meter. Some of the massive portals, he probability, attributable to a people of an
observed, were made of a single stone. (Hist. age yet more remote." (Rambler in Mexico,
de Santiago, lib. 11, cap. 81.) Peter Martyr Let. 7.) "I am of opinion," says Mr. Bul-
notices an enormous wooden beam, used in lock, '• that these were antiquities prior to
the construction of the palaces of Tezcuco, the discovery of America, and erected by a
which was one hundred and twenty feet long people whose history was lost even before
by eight feet in diameter ! The accounts of the building of the city of Mexico. — Who
this and similar huge pieces of timber were can solve this difficulty ? " (Six Months in
so astonishing, he adds, that he could not Mexico, ubi supra.) The reader who takes
have received them except on the most un- Ixtlilxochitl for his guide will have no great
exceptionable testimony. De Orbe Novo, trouble in solving it. He will find here, as
dec. 5, cap. 10. he might, probably, in some other instances,
47 It is much to be regretted that the Mexi- that one need go little higher than the Con-
can government should not take a deeper quest for the origin of antiquities which claim
interest in the Indian antiquities. What to be coeval with Phoenicia and ancient
might not be effected by a few hands drawn Lgypt.
from the idle garrisons of some of the neigh- 4J Zurita, Rapport, p. 12.
bouring towns and employed in excavating 50 Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 43.
86 ' AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
Tezcotzinco, or sought to divert it by travelling. On one of his journeys he
was hospitably entertained by a potent vassal, the old lord of Tepechpan, who,
to do his sovereign more honour, caused him to be attended at the banquet by
a noble maiden, betrothed to himself, and who, after the fashion of the country,
had been educated under his own roof. She was of the blood royal of Mexico,
and nearly related, moreover, to the Tezcucan monarch. The latter, who had
all the amorous temperament of the South, wras captivated by the grace and
personal charms of the youthful Hebe, and conceived a violent passion for her.
He did not disclose it to any one, however, but, on his return home, resolved
to gratify it, though at the expense of his own honour, by sweeping away the
only obstacle which stood in his path.
He accordingly sent an order to the chief of Tepechpan to take command of
an expedition set on foot against the Tlascalans. At the same time he
instructed two Tezcucan chiefs to keep near the person of the old lord, and
bring him into the thickest of the" fight, where he might lose his life. He
assured them this had been forfeited by a great crime, but that, from regard
for his vassal's past services, he was willing to cover up his disgrace by an
honourable death.
The veteran, who had long lived in retirement on his estates, saw himself
with astonishment called so suddenly and needlessly into action, for which so
many younger men were better fitted. He suspected the cause, and, in the
farewell entertainment to his friends, uttered a presentiment of his sad destiny.
His predictions were too soon verified ; and a few weeks placed the hand of
his virgin bride at her own disposal.
Nezahualcoyotl did not think it prudent to break his passion publicly to the
princess so soon after the death of his victim. He opened a correspondence
with her through a female relative, and expressed his deep sympathy for her
loss. At the same time, he tendered the best consolation in his power, by an
offer of his heart and hand. Her former lover had been too well stricken
in years for the maiden to remain long inconsolable. She wTas not aware of
the perfidious plot against his life ; and, after a decent time, she was ready
to comply with her duty, by placing herself at the disposal of her royal
kinsman.
It was arranged by the king, in order to give a more natural aspect to the
affair and prevent all suspicion of the unworthy part he had acted, that the
princess should present herself in his grounds at Tezcotzinco, to witness some
public ceremony there. Nezahualcoyotl was standing in a balcony of the
palace when she appeared, and inquired, as if struck with her beauty for the
first time, " who the lovely young creature was, in his gardens." When his
courtiers had acquainted him with her name and rank, he ordered her to be con-
ducted to the palace, that she might receive the attentions due to her station.
The interview was soon followed by a public declaration of his passion ; and
the marriage was celebrated not long after, with great pomp, in the presence
of his court, and of his brother monarchs of Mexico and Tlacopan.61
This story, which furnishes so obvious a counterpart to that of David and
Uriah, is told with great circumstantiality, both by the king's son and grand-
son, from whose narratives Ixtlilxochitl derived it.52 They stigmatize the
action as the basest in their great ancestor's life. It is indeed too base not to
leave an indelible stain on any character, however pure in other respects, and
exalted.
The king was strict in the execution of his laws, though his natural dis-
51 Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chicb., MS. cap. 43. " Idem, ubi supra.
ACCOMPLISHED PRINCES. 87
position led him to temper justice with mercy. Many anecdotes are told of
the benevolent interest he took in the concerns of his subjects, and of his
anxiety to detect and reward merit, even in the most humble. It was
common for him to ramble among them in disguise, like the celebrated caliph
in the " Arabian Nights/' mingling freely in conversation, and ascertaining
their actual condition with his own eyes.53
On one such occasion, when attended only by a single lord, he met with a
boy who was gathering sticks in a field for fuel. He inquired of him " why
he did not go into the neighbouring forest, where he would find a plenty of
them." To which the lad answered, " It was the king's wood, and he would
punish him with death if he trespassed there." The royal forests were very
extensive in Tezcuco, and Avere guarded by laws full as severe as those of the
Norman tyrants in England. " What kind of man is your king 1 " asked the
monarch, willing to learn the effect of these prohibitions on his own popularity.
"A very hard man," answered the boy, "who denies his people what God has
given tnem." 54 Nezahualcoyotl urged him not to mind such arbitrary laws,
but to glean his sticks in the forest, as there was no one present who would
betray him. But the boy sturdily refused, bluntly accusing the disguised
king, at the same time, of being a traitor, and of wishing to bring him into
trouble.
Nezahualcoyotl, on returning to the palace, ordered the child and his
parents to be summoned before him. They received the orders with astonish-
ment, but, on entering the presence, the boy at once recognized the person
with whom he had discoursed so unceremoniously, and he was rilled with
consternation. The good-natured monarch, however, relieved his apprehen-
sions, by thanking him for the lesson he had given him, and, at the same time,
commended his respect for the laws, and praised his parents for the manner
in which they had trained their son. He then dismissed the parties with a
liberal largess, and afterwards mitigated the severity of the forest laws, so as
to allow persons to gather any wood they might find on the ground, if they
did not meddle with the standing timber.55
Another adventure is told of him, with a poor woodman and his wife, who
had brought their little load of billets for sale to the market-place of Tezcuco.
The man was bitterly lamenting his hard lot, and the difficulty with which he
earned a wretched subsistence, while the master of the palace before which they
were standing lived an idle life, without toil, and with all the luxuries in the
world at his command.
He was going on in his complaints, when the good woman stopped him,
by reminding him he might be overheard. He was so, by Nezahualcoyotl
himself, who, standing screened from observation at a latticed window which
overlooked the market, was amusing himself, as he was wont, with observing
the common people chaffering in the square. He immediately ordered the
querulous couple into his presence. They appeared trembling and conscience-
struck before him. The king gravely inquired what they had said. As they
answered him truly, he told them they should reflect that, if he had great
treasures at his command, he had still greater calls for them ; that, far from
leading an easy life, he Avas oppressed with the whole burden of government ;
and concluded by admonishing them "to be more cautious in future, as walls
" "En traje de cazador (que lo acostum- Idem, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 46.
braba a hacer muy de ordinario), saliendo a :'4 " Un hombresillo miserable, pues quita
solas, y di.sfrazado para que no fuese cono- 6 los bombres lo que Dios a mauos llenas les
cido, a reconocer las faltas y necesidad que da." Ixtlilxochitl, loc, cit.
havia en la republica para remediarlas." ** Ibid., cap. 46.
83 Aztec civilization.
had ears." 56 He then ordered his officers to bring a quantity of cloth and a
generous supply of cacao (the coin of the country), and dismissed them.
" Go," said he ; " with the little you now have, you will be rich ; while, with
all my riches, I shall still be poor.5' "
It was not his passion to hoard. He dispensed his revenues munificently,
seeking out poor but meritorious objects on whom to bestoAV them. He was
particularly mindful of disabled soldiers, and those who had in any way
sustained loss in the public service, and, in case of their death, extended
assistance to their surviving families. Open mendicity was a thing he would
never tolerate, but chastised it with exemplary rigour.58
It would be incredible that a man of the enlarged mind and endowments
of Nezahualcoyotl should acquiesce in the sordid superstitions of his country-
men, and still more in the sanguinary rites borrowed by them from the
Aztecs. In truth, his humane temper shrunk from these cruel ceremonies,
and he strenuously endeavoured to recall his people to the more pure and
.simple worship of the ancient Toltecs. A circumstance produced a temporary
change in his conduct.
He had been married some years to the wife he had so unrighteously
obtained, but was not blessed with issue. The priests represented that it was
owing to his neglect of the gods of his country, and that his only remedy was to
propitiate them by human sacrifice. The king reluctantly consented, and the
altars once more smoked with the blood of slaughtered captives. But it was
all in vain ; and he indignantly exclaimed, " These idols of wood and stone
can neither hear nor feel ; much less could they make the heavens, and the
e.irth, and man, the lord of it. These must be the work of the all-powerful,
unknown God, Creator of the universe, on whom alone I must rely for con-
solation and support." 59
He then withdrew to his rural palace of Tezcotzinco where he remained
forty days, fasting and praying at stated hours, and offering up no other
sacrifice than the sweet incense of copal, and aromatic herbs and gums. At
the expiration of this time, he is said to have been comforted by a vision
assuring him of the success of his petition. At all events, such proved to be
the fact ; and this was followed by the cheering intelligence of the triumph of
his arms in a quarter where he had lately experienced some humiliating
reverses.60
Greatly strengthened in his former religious convictions, he now openly
professed his faith, and was more earnest to wean his subjects from their
degrading superstitions and to substitute nobler and more spiritual conceptions
of the Deity. He built a temple in the usual pyramidal form, and on the
86 'Torque las paredes oian." (Ixtlil- aguas y fuentes, drboles, y platitas que la
xochitl, loc. cit.) A European proverb hermosean, las gentes que la poaeen, y todo
among the American aborigines looks too lo criado; alguu Dios muy poderoso, oculto,
strange not to make one suspect the hand of y no conocido es el Ciiador de todo el uni-
the chronicler. verso. El solo es el que puede consolarme en
57 "Le dijo, que con aquello poco le bas- mi afliccion, y socorrerme en tan grande
taba, y viviria bien aventurado ; y el, con angustia como mi corazon siente." MS. de
toda la mJ^uina que le parecia que tenia Ixtlilxochitl.
arto, no tenia nada ; y asi lo despidio." 60 MS. de Ixtlilxochitl.— The manuscript
Ixtlilxochitl, loc. cit. here quoted is one of the many left by the
" Ibid. author on the antiquities of his country, and
59 ii Verdadera&iente los Dioses que io forms part of a voluminous compilation
adoro, que son fdolos de piedraque no hablan, made in Mexico by Father Vega, in 1792, by
ni sienten, no pudieron hacer ni formar la order of the Spanish government. See Ap-
hermosura del cielo, el sol, luna, y estrellas peudix, Part 2, No. 2
que lo hermosean, y dan luz a" la tierra, rios,
ACCOMPLISHED PRINCES. 89
summit a tower nine stories high, to represent the nine heavens j a tenth was
surmounted by a roof painted black, and profusely gilded with stars, on the
outside, and incrusted with metals and precious stones within. He dedicated
this to "the unknown God, the Cause of causes"61 It seems probable, from
the emblem on the tower, as well as from the complexion of his verses, as we
shall see, that he mingled with his reverence for the Supreme the astral
worship which existed among the Toltecs.62 Various ' musical instruments
were placed on the top of the tower, and the sound of them, accompanied
by the ringing of a sonorous metal struck by a mallet, summoned the
worshippers to prayers, at regular seasons.63 No image was allowed in the
edifice, as unsuited to the " invisible God ; " and the people were expressly
prohibited from profaning the altars with blood, or any other sacrifices than
that of the perfume of flowers and sweet-scented gums.
The remainder of his days was chiefly spent in his delicious solitudes of
Tezcotzinco, where he devoted himself to astronomical and, probably, astro- '
logical studies, and to meditation on his immortal destiny,— giving utterance
to his feelings in songs, or rather hymns, of much solemnity and pathos. An
extract from one of these will convey some idea of his religious speculations.
The pensive tenderness of the verses quoted in a preceding page is deepened
here into a mournful, and even gloomy, colouring ; while the wounded spirit,
instead of seeking relief in the convivial sallies of a young and buoyant
temperament, turns for consolation to the world beyond the grave :
" All things on earth have their term, and, in the most joyous career of
their vanity and splendour, their strength fails, and they sink into the dust.
All the round world is but a sepulchre ; and there is nothing which lives on
its surface that shall not be nidden and entombed beneath it. Rivers,
torrents, and streams move onward to their destination. Not one flows back
to its pleasant source. They rush onward, hastening to bury themselves in
the deep bosom of the ocean. The things of yesterday are no more to-day ;
and the things of to-day shall cease, perhaps, on the morrow.64 The cemetery
is full of the loathsome dust of bodies once quickened by living souls, who
occupied thrones, presided over assemblies, marshalled armies, subdued
provinces, arrogated to themselves worship, were-puft'ed up with vain-glorious
pomp, and power, and empire.
" But these glories have all passed away, like the fearful smoke that issues
from the throat of Popocatepetl, with no other memorial of their existence
than the record on the page of the chronicler.
" The great, the wise, the valiant, the beautiful,— alas ! where are they
now 1 They are all mingled with the clod ; and that which has befallen
them shall happen to us, and to those that come after us. Yet let us take
61 " Al Dios no conocido, ' causa de las quary. See his Historical Researches on the
causas." MS. de Ixtlilxochitl. Conquest of Peru, Mexico, etc., by the Mon-
62 Their earliest temples were dedicated to gols (London, 1827), p. 310.
the sun. The moon they worshipped as his " " Toda la redondez de la tierra es un
wife, and the stars as his sisters. (Veytia, sepulcro.: no hay cosa que sustente que con
Hist, antig., torn. i. cap. 25.) The ruins still tftulo de piedad no la esconda y entierre.
existing at Teotihuacan, about seven leagues Corren los rios, los arroyos, las fuentes, y las
from Mexico, are supposed to have been aguas, y ningunas retroceden parasus alegres
temples raised by this ancient people in nacimientos: aceleranse con ansia para los
honour of the two great deities. Boturini, vastos dominios de Tluloca [Neptuno], y
Idea, p. 42. cuanto mas se arriman & sus dilatadas mar-
63 MS. de Ixtlilxochitl. — "This was evi- genes, tanto mas van labrando las melanco-
dently a gong," says Mr. Ranking, who licas urnas para sepultarse. Lo que fue ayer
treads with enviable confidence over the no es hoy, ni lo de hoy se afianza que sera
" Buppositos cineres," in the path of the anti- nianana."
90 AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
courage, illustrious nobles and chieftains, true friends and loyal subjects,— let
us aspire to that heaven where all is eternal and corruption cannot come.6'1'
The horrors of the tomb are but the cradle of the Sun, and the dark shadows
of death are brilliant light for the stars." es The mystic import of the last
sentence seems to point to that superstition respecting the mansions of the
Sun, which forms so beautiful a contrast to the dark features of the Aztec
mythology.
At length, about the year 1470,67 Nezahualcoyotl, full of years and honours,
felt himself drawing near his end. Almost half a century had elapsed since "
he mounted the throne of Tezcuco. He had found his kingdom dismembered
by faction and bowed to the dust beneath the yoke of a foreign tyrant. He
had broken that yoke ; had breathed new life into the nation, renewed its
ancient institutions, extended wide its domain ; had seen it flourishing in all
the activity of trade and agriculture, gathering strength from its enlarged
resources, and daily advancing higher and higher in the great march of
civilization. All this he had seen, and might fairly attribute no small portion
of it to his own wise and beneficent rule. His long and glorious day was
now drawing to its close ; and he contemplated the event with the same
serenity which he had shown under the clouds of its morning and in its
meridian splendour.
A short time before his death, he gathered around him those of his children
in whom he most confided, his chief counsellors, the ambassadors of Mexico
and Tlacopan, and his little son, the heir to the crown, his only offspring by
the queen. He was then not eight years old, but had already given, as far
as so tender a blossom might, the rich promise of future excellence.68
After tenderly embracing the child, the dying monarch threw over him the
robes of sovereignty. He then gave audience to the ambassadors, and, when
they had retired, made the boy repeat the substance of the conversation. He
followed this by such counsels as were suited to his comprehension, and
which, when remembered through the long vista of after-years, would serve
as lights to guide him in his government of the kingdom. He besought him
not to neglect the worship of " the unknown God," regretting that he him-
self had been unworthy to know him, and intimating his conviction that the
time would come when he should be known and worshipped throughout the
land.09
65 "Aspiremos al cielo, que alii todo es the Tezcucan tongue; and, indeed, it is not
eternoy nada secorrompe." probable that the Otomi, an Indian dialect,
66 " El horror del sepulcro es lisongera po distinct from the languages of Anahuac,
cuna para 61, y las funestas soinbras, bril- however well understood by the royal poet,
lantes luces para los astros." — The original could have been comprehended by a miscel-
text and a Spanish translation of this poem laneous audience of his countrymen.
first appeared, I believe, in a work of Gra- c7 An approximation to a date is the most
nados y Galvez. (Tardea Americanas (Mexi- one can hope to arrive at with Ixtlilxochitl,
co, 1778), p. 90, et seq.) The original is in who has entangled his chronology in a
the Otomi tongue, and both, together with a manner beyond my skill to unravel. Thus,
French version, have been inserted by M. after telling us that Nezahualcoyotl was fif-
Ternaux-Compans in the Appendix to his teen years old when his father was slain ra
translation of Ixtlilxochitl's Hist, des Chi- 1418, he says he died at the age of seventy-
chimeques (torn. i. pp. 359-367). Busta- one, in 1462. Jnstar omnium. Comp. Hist,
mante, who has, also, published the Spanish Chich., MS., cap. 18, 19, 49.
version in his Galeria de antiguos Principes t9 MS. de Ixtlilxochitl,— also Hist. Chich.,
Mejicanos (Puebla, 1821 (pp. 16, 17),), calls MS., cap. 49.
it the " Ode of the Flower," which was re- 69 " No consentiendo que haya sacrificios
cited at a banquet of the great Tezcucan de gente humana, que Dios se enoja de ello,
nobles. If this last, however, be the same castigando con rigor a" los que lo hicieren ;
mentioned by Torquemada (Monarch. Ind., que el dolor que llevo es no tener luz, ni
lib. 2, cap. 45), it must have been written in conocimiento, ni eer merecedor de conocer
ACCOMPLISHED PRINCES. 91
He next addressed himself to that one of his sons in whom he placed the
greatest trust, and whom he had selected as the guardian of the realm. " From
this hour," said he to him, " you will fill the place that I have filled, of father
to this child ; you will teach him to live as he ought ; and by your counsels
he will rule over the empire. Stand in his place, and be his guide, till he
shall be of age to govern for himself." Then, turning to his other children,
he admonished them to live united with one another, and to show all loyalty
to their prince, who, though a child, already manifested a discretion far above
his years. "Be true to him," he added, "and he will maintain you in your
rights and dignities." 70
Feeling his end approaching, he exclaimed, "Do not bewail me with
idle lamentations. But sing the song of gladness, and show a courageous
spirit, that the nations I have subdued may not believe you disheartened, but
may feel that each one of you is strong enough to keep them in obedience ! "
The undaunted spirit of the monarch shone forth even in the agonies of
death. That stout heart, however, melted, as he took leave of his children
and friends, weeping tenderly over them, while he bade each a last adieu.
When they had withdrawn, he ordered the officers of the palace to allow no
one to enter it again. Soon after, he expired, in the seventy-second year of
his age, and the forty-third of his reign.71
Thus died the greatest monarch, and, if one foul blot could be effaced,
perhaps the best, who ever sat upon an Indian throne. His character is
delineated with tolerable impartiality by his kinsman, the Tezcucan chroni-
cler : " He was wise, valiant, liberal ; and, when we consider the magnanimity
of his soul, the grandeur and success of his enterprises, his deep policy, as
well as daring, we must admit him to have far surpassed every other prince
and captain of this New World. He had few failings himself, and rigorously
punished those of others. He preferred the public to his private interest ;
was most charitable in his nature, often buying articles, at double their worth,
of poor and honest persons, and giving them away again to the sick and
infirm. In seasons of scarcity he was particularly bountiful, remitting the
taxes of his vassals, and supplying their wants from the royal granaries. He
put no faith in the idolatrous worship of the country. He was well in-
structed in moral science, and sought, above all things, to obtain light for
knowing the true God. lie believed in one God only, the Creator of heaven
and earth, by whom we have our being, who never revealed himself to us in
human form, nor in any other ; with whom the souls of the virtuous are to
dwell after death, while the wicked will suffer pains unspeakable. He
invoked the Most High, as ' He by whom we live,' and " Who has all things
in himself.' He recognized the Sun for his father, and the Earth for his
mother. He taught his children not to confide in idols, and only to conform
to the outward worship of them from deference to public opinion.72 If he
could not entirely abolish human sacrifices, derived from the Aztecs, he at
least restricted them to slaves and captives." 73
I have occupied so much space with this illu strious prince that but little
remains for his son and successor, Nezahualpilli. I have thought it better, in
our narrow limits, to present a complete view of a single epoch, the most
tan grau Dios, el qual tengo por cierto que " Ixtlilxocbitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 49..
ya quo los presentes no lo conozcan, ha de 72 " Solia amonestar a* sus hijos en secreto
venir tiempo en que sea conocido y adorado que no adorasen a" aquellas figuras de idolos.
en esta lierra." MS. de Ixtlilxocbitl. y que aquello que hiciesen en publico fuese
"° Idem, ubi supra; also Hist. Cbicb., MS., solo por cumplimiento." Ixtlilxocbitl.
cap. 49. 7J Idem, ubi supra.
92
AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
interesting in the Tezcucan .annals, than^ to spread the inquiries over a
broader but comparatively barren field. Yet Nezahualpilli, the heir to the
crown, was a remarkable person, and his reign contains many incidents which
I regret to be obliged to pass over in silence.7*
lie had, in many respects, a taste similar to his father's, and, like him,
displayed a profuse magnificence in his way of living and in his public edifices.
He was more severe in his morals, and, in the execution of justice, stern even
to the sacrifice of natural affection. Several remarkable instances of this are
told ; one, among others, in relation to his eldest son, the heir to the crown,
a prince of great promise. The young man entered into a poetical corre-
spondence with one of his father's concubines, the lady of Tula, as she was
called, a woman of humble origin, but of uncommon endowments. She wrote
verses with ease, and could discuss graver matters with the king and his
ministers. She maintained a separate establishment, where she lived in state,
and acquired, by her beauty and accomplishments, great ascendency over her
royal lover.75 With this favourite the prince carried on a correspondence in
verse, — whether of an amorous nature does not appear. At all events, the
offence was capital. It was submitted to the regular tribunal, who pro-
nounced sentence of death on the unfortunate youth ; and the king, steeling
his heart against all entreaties and the voice of nature, suffered the cruel
judgment to be carried into execution. We might, in this case, suspect the
influence of baser passions on his mind, but it was not a solitary instance of
his inexorable justice towards those most near to him. He had the stern
virtue of an ancient Roman, destitute of the softer graces which make virtue
attractive. When the sentence was carried into effect, he shut himself up in
his palace for many weeks, and commanded the doors and windows of his
son's residence to be walled up, that it might never again be occupied.7"
Nezahualpilli resembled his father in his passion for astronomical studies,
and is said to have had an observatory on one of his palaces.77 He was
devoted to war in his youth, but, as he advanced in years, resigned himself to
a more indolent way of life, and sought his chief amusement in the pursuit of
his favourite science, or in the soft pleasures of the sequestered gardens of
Tezcotzinco. This quiet life was ill suited to the turbulent temper of the
74 The name Nezahualpilli signifies " the
prince for whom one has fasted," — in allu-
sion, no doubt, to the long fast of his father
previous to his birth. (See Ixtlilxochitl,
Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 45.) 1 have explained
the meaning of the equally euphonious name
of his parent, Nezahualcoyotl. {Ante, ch. 4.)
If it be true that
" Caesar or Epaminondas
Could ne'er without names have been known
to us,"
it is no less certain that such names as those
of the two Tezcucan princes, so difficult to
be pronounced or remembered by a European,
are most unfavourable to immortality.
7i "De las concubinas la que mas privo
con el rey fue la que llamaban la Senora de
Tula, no por linage, sino porque era hija de
tin mercader, y era tan sabia que competia
con el rey y con los mas sabios de. su reyno,
y era en la poesia muy aventajada, que con
estas gracias y dories naturales tenia al rey
navvy sugeto a su voluntad de tal manera que
lo que queria alcanzaba de el, y asf vivia sola
por si con grande aparato y magestad en
unos palacios que el rey le mando edificar."
Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 57.
7G Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 67.
— The Tezcucan historian records several ap-
palling examples of this severity, — one in
particular, in relation to his guilty wife. The
story, reminding one of the tales of an Oriental
harem, has been translated for the Appendix,
Part 2, No. 4. See also Torquemada (Mo-
narch. Ind., lib. 2, cap. 66), and Zurita (Rap-
port, pp. 108, 109). He was the terror, in
particular, of all unjust magistrates. They
had little favour to expect from the man who
could stifle the voice of nature in his own
bosom in obedience to the laws. As Suetonius
said of a prince who had not his virtue, " Ve
hemens et in coercendis quidem delictis im
modicus." Vita Galbse, sec. 9.
77 Torquemada saw the remains of this, or
what passed for such, in his day. Monarch.
Ind., lib. 2, cap. 64.
ACCOMPLISHED PRINCES. 93
times, and of his Mexican rival, Montezuma. The distant provinces fell off
from their allegiance ; the army relaxed its discipline ; disaffection crept into
its ranks ; and the wily Montezuma, partly by violence, and, partly by
stratagems unworthy of a king, succeeded in plundering his brother monarch
of some of his most valuable domains. Then it was that he arrogated to him-
self the title and supremacy of emperor, hitherto borne by the Tezcucan
princes as head of the alliance. Such is the account given by the historians
of that nation, who in this way explain the acknowledged superiority of the
Aztec sovereign, both in territory and consideration, on the landing of the
Spaniards.78
These misfortunes pressed heavily on the spirits of Nezahualpilli. Their
effect was increased by certain gloomy prognostics of a near calamity which
was to overwhelm the country.79 lie withdrew to his retreat, to brood in
secret over his sorrows. His health rapidly declined ; and in the year 1515,
at the age of fifty-two, he sank into the grave ; 80 happy, at least, that by
this timely death he escaped witnessing the fulfilment of his own predictions,
in the ruin of his country, and the extinction of the Indian dynasties for
ever.81
In reviewing the brief sketch here presented of the Tezcucan monarchy, Ave
are strongly impressed with the conviction of its superiority, in all the great
features of civilization, over the rest of Anahuac. The Mexicans showed a simi-
lar proficiency, no doubt, in the mechanic arts, and even in mathematical science.
But in the science of government, in legislation, in speculative doctrines of
a religious nature, in the more elegant pursuits of poetry, eloquence, and
whatever depended on refinement of taste and a polished idiom, they confessed
themselves inferior, by resorting to their rivals for instruction and citing their
works as the masterpieces of their tongue. The best histories, the best poems,
the best code of laws, the purest dialect, were all allowed to be Tezcucan.
The Aztecs rivalled their, neighbours in splendour of living, and even in the
magnificence of their structures. They displayed a pomp and ostentatious
pageantry truly Asiatic. But this was the development of the material
rather than the intellectual principle. They wanted the refinement of
manners essential to a continued advance in civilization. An insurmount-
able limit was put to theirs by that bloody mythology which threw its wither-
ing taint over the very air that they breathed.
The superiority of the Tezcucans was owing, doubtless, in a great measure
to that of the two sovereigns whose reigns we have been depicting. There is
no position which affords such scope for ameliorating the condition of man as
that occupied by an absolute ruler over a nation imperfectly civilized. From
his elevated place, commanding all the resources of his age, it is in his power
to diffuse them far and wide among his people. He may be the copious
"• Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Cbicb., MS., cap. 73, birth, as be does in tbe preceding chapter, in
74.— This sudden transfer of empire from the 1465. (See cap. 46.) It is not easy to decide
Tezcucans, at the close of tbe reigns of two what is true, when the writer does not take
of their ablest monarchs, is so improbable the trouble to be true to himself,
that one cannot but doubt if they ever pos- 81 His obsequies were celebrated with san-
sessed it,— at least to the extent claimed by guinary pomp. Two hundred male and one
the patriotic historian. See ante, chap. 1, hundred female slaves were sacrificed at his
note 25, and the corresponding text. tomb. His body was consumed, amidst a
** Ibid., cap. 72. — The reader will find a heap of jewels, precious stuffs, and incense,
particular account of these prodigies, better on a funeral pile ; and the ashes, deposited in
authenticated than most miracles, in a future a golden urn, were placed in the great temple
page of this History. of Huitzilopochtli, for whose worship the
80 Ibid., cap. 75.— Or, rather, at the age of king, notwithstanding the lessons of his
fifty, if the historian is right in placing his lather, had some partiality. Ixtlilxochitl.
94
AZTEC CIVILIZATION.
reservoir on the mountain-top, drinking in the dews of heaven, to send them
in fertilizing streams along the lower slopes and valleys, doming even the
wilderness in beauty. Such were Nezahualcoyotl and his illustrious successor,
whose enlightened policy, extending through nearly a century, wrought a
most salutary revolution in the condition of their country. It is remarkable
that we, the inhabitants of the same continent, should be more familiar with
the history of many a barbarian chief, both in the Old and New World, than
with that of these truly great men, whose names are identified with the most
glorious period in the annals of the Indian races.
What was the actual amount of the Tezcucan civilization it is not easy to
determine, with the imperfect light afforded us. It was certainly far below
anything which the word conveys, measured by a European standard. In
some of the arts, and in any walk of science, they could only have made, as it
were, a beginning. But they had begun in the right way, and already showed
a refinement in sentiment and manners, a capacity for receiving instruction,
which, under good auspices, might have led them on to indefinite improve-
ment. Unhappily, they were fast falling under the dominion of the war-
like Aztecs. And that people repaid the benefits received from their more
polished neighbours by imparting to them their own ferocious superstition,
which, falling like a mildew on the land, would soon have blighted its rich
blossoms of promise and turned even its fruits to dust and ashes.
Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, who flour-
ished in the beginning of the sixteenth cen-
tury,* was a native of Tezcuco, and descended
in a direct line from the sovereigns of that
kingdom. The royal posterity became so
numerous in a few generations that it was
common to see them reduced to great poverty
and earning a painful subsistence by the most
humble occupations. Ixtlilxochitl, who was
descended from the principal wife or queen
of Nezahualpilli, maintained a very respect-
able position. He filled the office of inter-
preter to the viceroy, to which he was recom-
mended by his acquaintance with the ancient
hieroglyphics and his knowledge of the
Mexican and Spanish languages. His birth
gave him access to persons of the highest
rank in his own nation, some of whom occu-
pied important civil posts under the new
government, and were thus enabled to make
large collections of Indian manuscripts, which
were liberally opened to him. He had an
extensive library of his own, also, and with
these means diligently pursued the study of
the Tezcucan antiquities. He deciphered the
hieroglyphics, made himself master of the
songs and traditions, and fortified his narra-
tive by the oral testimony of some very
aged persons, who had themselves been ac-
quainted with the Conquerors. From such
authentic sources he composed various works
in the Castilian, on the primitive history of
the Toltec and the Tezcucan races, continuing
it down to the subversion of the empire by
Cortes. These various accounts, compiled
under the title oilidaciones, are, more or less,
repetitions and abridgments of each other ;
nor is it easy to understand why they were
thus composed. The Historia Chichimeca is
the best digested and most complete of the
whole series, and as 6uch has been the most
frequently consulted for the preceding pages.
Ixtlilxochitl's writings have many of the
defects belonging to his age. He often crowds
the page with incidents of a trivial, and some-
times improbable, character. The improba-
bility increases with the distance of the period ;
for distance, which diminishes objects to the
natural eye, exaggerates them to the mental.
His chronology, as I have more than once
noticed, is inextricably entangled. He has
often lent a too willing ear to traditions and
reports which would startle the more skeptical
criticism of the present time. Yet there is an
appearance of good faith and simplicity in his
writings, which may convince the reader that
when he errs it is from no worse cause than
national partiality. And surely such partiality
is excusable in the descendant of a proud line,
shorn of its ancient splendours, which it was
soothing to his own feelings to revive again —
though with something more than their legiti-
mate lustre— on the canvas of history. It
should also be considered that if his narrative
* [Ixtlilxochitl wrote in the early part of
the seventeenth century. A certificate which
he presented to the viceroy bears the date of
November 18, 1608. The error is apparently
a clerical one ; though a previous passage in
the text seems to indicate some confusion on
the author's part.— Ed.]
IXTLILXOCHITL.
95
is sometimes startling, his researches penetrate
into the mysterious depths of antiquity, where
light and darkness meet and melt into each
other, and where everything is still further
liable to distortion, as seen through the misty
medium of hieroglyphics.*
With these allowances, it will be found that
the Tezcucan historian has just claims to our
admiration for the compass of his inquiries
and the sagacity with which they have been
conducted. He has introduced us to the
knowledge of the most polished people of
Anahuac, whose records, if preserved, could
not, at a much later period, have been compre-
hended ; and he has thus afforded a standard
of comparison which much raises our ideas
of American civilization. His language is
simple, and, occasionally, eloquent and touch-
ing. His descriptions are highly picturesque.
He abounds in familiar anecdote ; and the
natural graces of his manner, in detailing the
more striking events of history and the per-
sonal adventures of his heroes, entitle him to
the name of the Livy of Anahuac.
I shall be obliged to enter hereafter into his
literary merits, in connection with the narra-
tive of the Conquest ; for which he is a pro-
minent authority. His earlier annals — though
no one of his manuscripts has been printed —
have been diligently studied by the Spanish
writers in Mexico, and liberally transferred
to their pages ; and his reputation, like Saha-
gun's, has doubtless suffered by the process.
His Historia Cliichimeca is now turned into
French by M. Ternaux-Compans, forming part
of that inestimable series of translations from
unpublished documents which have so much
enlarged our acquaintance with the early
American history. I have had ample oppor-
tunity of proving the merits of his version
of Ixtlilxochitl, and am happy to bear my
testimony to the fidelity and elegance with
which it is executed.
Note. — It was my intention to conclude this
Introductory portion of the work with an in-
quiry into the Origin of the Mexican Civiliza-
tion. " But the general question of the origin
of the inhabitants of a continent," says Hum-
boldt, "is beyond -the limits prescribed to
history ; perhaps it is not even a philosophic
question." " For the majority of readers,"
says Livy, "the origin and remote antiquities
of a nation can have comparatively little
interest." The criticism of these great writers
is just and pertinent; and, on further con-
sideration, I have thrown the observations on
this topic, prepared with some care, into the
Appendix (Part 1); to which those who feel
sufficient curiosity in the discussion can turn
before entering on the narrative of the Con-
quest.
* [Sefior Ramirez objects to this remark,
on the ground that, however obscure the
hieroglyphics may now seem, at the time of
Ixtlilxochitl they were, in his language, " as
plain as our letters to those who were ac-
quainted with them." Notas y Esclarecimi-
eutos, p. 10.— Ed.]
BOOK SECOND.
DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
BOOK II.
DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
CHAPTER I.
BPAIX UNDER CHARLES V.— PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY — COLONIAL POLICY —
CONQUEST OF CUBA— EXPEDITIONS TO YUCATAN.
1516-1518.
In the beginning of the sixteenth century, Spain occupied perhaps the most
prominent position on the theatre of Europe. The numerous states into
which she had been so long divided were consolidated into one monarchy.
The Moslem crescent, after reigning there for eight centuries, was no longer
seen on her borders. The authority of the crown did not, as in later times,
overshadow the inferior orders of the state. The people enjoyed the inestim-
able privilege of political representation, and exercised it with manly inde-
pendence. The nation at large could boast as great a degree of constitutional
freedom as any other, at that time, in Christendom. Under a system of
salutary laws and an equitable administration, domestic tranquillity was
secured, public credit established, trade, manufactures, and even the more
elegant arts, began to flourish ; while a higher education called forth the first
blossoms of that literature which was to ripen into so rich a harvest before
the close of the century. Arms abroad kept pace with arts at home. Spain
found her empire suddenly enlarged by important acquisitions both in Europe
and Africa, while a New World beyond the waters poured into her lap
treasures of countless wealth and opened an unbounded field for honourable
enterprise.
Such was the condition of the kingdom at the close of the long and glorious
reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, when, on the 23rd of January, 1516, the
sceptre passed into the hands of their daughter Joanna, or rather their grand-
son, Charles the Fifth, who alone ruled the monarchy during the long and
imbecile existence of his unfortunate mother. During the two years following
Ferdinand's death, the regency, in the absence of Charles, was held by Cardinal
Ximenei!, a man whose intrepidity, extraordinary talents, and capacity for
great enterprises were accompanied by a haughty spirit, which made him too
indifferent as to the means of their execution. His administration, therefore,
notwithstanding the uprightness of his intentions, was, from his total disregard
of forms, unfavourable to constitutional liberty ; for respect for forms is an
essential element of freedom. With all his faults, however, Ximenes was a
Spaniard ; and the object he had at heart was the good of his country.
It was otherwise on the arrival of Charles, who, after a long absence, came
as a foreigner into the land of his fathers. (November, 1517.) His manners,
100 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
sympathies, even his language, were foreign, for he spoke the Castilian with
difficulty. He knew little of his native country, of the character of the people
or their institutions. He seemed to care still less for them ; while his natural
reserve precluded that freedom of communication which might have counter-
acted, to some extent, at least, the errors of education. In everything, in
short, he was a foreigner, and resigned himself to the direction of his Flemish
counsellors with a docility that gave little augury of his future greatness.
On his entrance into Castile, the young monarch was accompanied by a
swarm of courtly sycophants, who settled, like locusts, on every place of profit
and honour throughout the kingdom. A Fleming was made grand chancellor
of Castile ; another Fleming was placed in the archiepiscopal see of Toledo
They even ventured to profane the sanctity of the cortes, by intruding them-
selves on its deliberations. Yet that body did not tamely submit to these
usurpations, but gave vent to its indignation in tones becoming the repre-
sentatives of a free people.1
The deportment of Charles, so different from that to which the Spaniards
had been accustomed under the benign administration of Ferdinand and
Isabella, closed all hearts against him ; and, as his character came to be
understood, instead of the spontaneous outpourings of loyalty which usually
greet the accession of a new and youthful sovereign, he was everywhere
encountered by opposition and disgust. In Castile, and afterwards in
Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia, the commons hesitated to confer on him
the title of King during the lifetime of his mother; and, though they
eventually yielded this point, and associated his name with hers in the
sovereignty, yet they reluctantly granted the supplies he demanded, and,
when they did so, watched over their appropriation with a vigilance which
left little to gratify the cupidity of the Flemings. The language of the
legislature on these occasions, though temperate and respectful, breathes a
spirit of resolute independence not to be found, probably, on the parliamentary
records of any other nation at that period. No wonder that Charles should
have early imbibed a disgust for these popular assemblies, — the only bodies
whence truths so unpalatable could find their way to the ears of the sove-
reign ! 2 Unfortunately, they had no influence on his conduct ; till the discon-
tent, long allowed to fester in secret, broke out in that sad war of the
comunidades, which shook the state to its foundations and ended in the
subversion of its liberties.*
' The following passage— one among many vices tales esse conqueruntur, quod ipsi
—from that faithful mirror of the times, domitores regnorum ita fioccifiant ab his,
Peter Martyr's correspondence, does ample quorum Deus unicus (sub rege temperato)
justice to the intemperance, avarice, and in- Bacchus est cum Citherea." Opus Episto-
tolerable arrogance of the Flemings. The larum (Amstelodami, 1610), ep. 608.
testimony is worth the more, as coming from " Yet the nobles were not all backward in
one who, though resident in Spain, was not a manifesting their disgust. When Charles
Spaniard. "Crumenas auro fulcire inhiant ; would have conferred the famous Burgundian
huic uni studio invigilant. Nee detrectat order of the Golden Fleece on the Count of
juvenis Rex. Farcit quacunque posse datur; Benavente, that lord refused it, proudly
non satiat tamen. Qua? qualisve sit gens telling him, "1 am a Castilian. I desire no
lieec, depingere adhuc nescio. Insufflat vulgus honours but those of my own country, in my
hie in omne genus hominum non arctoum. opinion quite as good as— indeed, better than
Minores faciunt Hispanos, quam si nati essent — those of any other." Sandoval, Historia de
inter eorum cloacas. Rugiunt jam Hispani, la Vida y Hechos del Emperador Girlos V.
labra mordent, submurmurant taciti, fatorum (Amberes, 1681), torn. i. p. 103.
* [The tone of the preceding paragraphs is despite his natural candour and impartiality
that of the Spanish chroniclers of the seven- of mind, had acquired insensibly the habit of
teenth century, and shows how the author, considering questions that affected Spain from
SPAIN UNDER CHARLES V. 101
The same pestilent foreign influence was felt, though much less sensibly, in
the colonial administration. This had been placed, in the preceding reign,
under the immediate charge of the two great tribunals, the Council of the
Indies, and the Casa de Contratacion, or India House, at Seville. It was
their business to further the progress of discovery, watch over the infant
settlements, and adjust the disputes which grew up in them. But the licenses
granted to private adventurers did more for the cause of discovery than the
patronage of the crown or its officers. The long peace, enjoyed with slight
interruption by Spain in the early part of the sixteenth century, Avas most
auspicious for this ; and the restless cavalier, who could no longer Avin laurels
on the fields of Africa or Europe, turned with eagerness to the brilliant career
opened to him beyond the ocean.
It is difficult for those of our time, as familiar from childhood with the most
remote places on the globe as with those in their own neighbourhood, to
picture to themselves the feelings of the men who lived in the sixteenth
century. The dread mystery which had so long hung over the great deep
had, indeed, been removed. It was no longer beset with the same undefined
horrors as when Columbus launched his bold bark on its dark and unknown
waters. A new and glorious world had been thrown open. But as to the
precise spot where that world lay, its extent, its history, whether it were
island or continent,— of all this they had very vague and confused conceptions.
Many, in their ignorance, blindly adopted the erroneous conclusion into
which the great Admiral had been led by his superior science, — that the new
countries were a part of Asia ; and, as the mariner wandered among the
Bahamas, or steered his caravel across the Caribbean Seas, lie fancied he was
inhaling the rich odours of the spice-islands in the Indian Ocean. Thus every
fresh discovery, interpreted by this previous delusion, served to confirm him
in his error, or, at least, to fill his mind with new perplexities.
The career thus thrown open had all the fascinations of a desperate hazard,
on which the adventurer staked all his hopes of fortune, fame, and life itself.
It was not often, indeed, that he Avon the rich prize Avhich he most coveted ;
but then he Avas sure to win the meed of glory, scarcely less dear to his
chivalrous spirit ; and, if he survived to return to his home, he had wonderful
stories to recount, of perilous chances among the strange people he had
visited, and the burning climes whose rank fertility and magnificence of vege-
tation so far surpassed anything he had witnessed in his own. These reports
added fresh fuel to imaginations already warmed by the study of those tales
of chivalry which formed the favourite reading of the Spaniards at that
the national point of view of the class of demeanour in that of the taciturn and phleg-
writers with whom his studies had made him matic Philip II. In like manner, Charles is
most familiar. Spain is called the "native supposed to have made his first acquaintance
country " of Charles V., and the " land of his with free institutions on his arrival in Spain ;
fathers," although, as hardly any reader will whereas he had been brought up in a country
need to be reminded, he was born in the where the power of the sovereign was per-
Netherlands and was of Spanish descent only haps more closely restricted by the chartered
on the maternal side. The term " foreigner " rights and immunities of the subject than was
is applied to him as if it indicated some vicious the case in any other part of Europe. That
trait in his nature ; and the training which he the union of Spain and the Netherlands was
had received as the heir to the Austro-Bur- a most incongruous one, disastrous to the
gundian dominions is spoken of as erroneous, freedom, the independence, and the develop-
merely because it had not fitted him for a ment of both countries, is undeniable; but it
different position. His manners are contrasted was not Charles's early partiality for the one,
with those of native Spanish sovereigns, as if but his successor's far stronger partiality for
wanting in graciousness and affability; yet the other, which rendered the incompatibility
the Spaniards, who alone ever made this com- apparent and led to a rupture of the connec*
plaint, recognized their own ideal of royal tion.— Ed.]
102 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
period. Thus romance and reality acted on each other, and the soul of the
Spaniard was exalted to that pitch of enthusiasm which enabled him to
encounter the terrible trials that lay in the path of the discoverer. Indeed,
the life of the cavalier of that day was romance put into action. The story
of his adventures in the New World forms one of the most remarkable pages
in the history of man.
Under this chivalrous spirit of enterprise, the progress of discovery had
extended, by the beginning of Charles the Fifth's reign, from the Bay of
Honduras, along the winding shores of Darien, and the South American
continent, to the Rio de la Plata. The mighty barrier of the Isthmus had
been climbed, and the Pacific descried, by Nunez de Balboa, second only to
Columbus in this valiant band of " ocean chivalry." The Bahamas and
Caribbee Islands had been explored, as well as the Peninsula of Florida on
the northern continent. This latter point had been reached by Sebastian
Cabot in his descent along the coast from Labrador, in 1497. So that before
1518, the period when our narrative begins, the eastern borders of both the
great continents had been surveyed through nearly their whole extent. The
shores of the great Mexican Gulf, however, sweeping with a wide circuit far
into the interior, remained still concealed, with the rich realms that lay beyond,
from the eye of the navigator. The time had now come for their discovery.
The business of colonization had kept pace with that of discovery. In
several of the islands, and in "various parts of Terra Firma, and in Darien,
settlements had been established, under the control of governors who affected
the state and authority of viceroys. Grants of land Avere assigned to the
colonists, on which they raised the natural products of the soil, but gave still
more attention to the sugar-cane, imported from the Canaries. Sugar,
indeed, together Avith the beautiful dye-Avoods of the country and the precious
metals, formed almost the only articles of export in the infancy of the
colonies, Avhich had not yet introduced those other staples of the West Indian
commerce Avhich in our clay constitute its principal wealth. Yet the precious
metals, painfully gleaned from a feAv scanty sources, Avould have made poor
returns, but for the gratuitous labour of the Indians.
The cruel system of repartimientos, or distribution of the Indians as slaves
among the conquerors, had been suppressed by Isabella. Although subse-
quently countenanced by the government, it Avas under the most careful
limitations. But it is impossible to license crime by halves, — to authorize
injustice at all, and hope to regulate the measure of it. The eloquent re-
monstrances of the Dominicans,— avIio devoted themselves to the good Avork
of conversion in the NeAv World Avith the same zeal that they showed for
persecution in the Old, — but, above all, those of Las Casas, induced the
regent, Ximenes, to send out a commission Avith full poAvers to inquire into
the alleged grievances and to redress them. It had authority, moreover, to
investigate the conduct of the civil officers, and to reform any abuses in their
administration. This extraordinary commission consisted of three Hieronymite
friars and an eminent jurist, all men of learning and unblemished piety/
They conducted the inquiry in a very dispassionate manner, but, after long
deliberation, came to a conclusion most unfavourable to the demands of Las
Casas, Avho insisted on the entire freedom of the natives. This conclusion
they justified on the grounds that the Indians would not labour without
compulsion, and that, unless they laboured, they could not be brought into
communication Avith the Avhites, nor be converted to Christianity. Whatever
Ave may think of this argument, it Avas doubtless urged Avith sincerity by its
advocates, Avhose conduct through their Avhole administration places their
CONQUEST OF CUBA. 103
motives above suspicion. They accompanied it with many careful provisions
for the protection of the natives. But in vain. The simple people, accus-
tomed all their days to a life of indolence and ease, sank under the oppressions
of their masters, and the population wasted away with even more frightful
rapidity than did the aborigines in our own country under the operation of
other causes. It is not necessary to pursue these details further, into which
I have been led by the desire to put the reader in possession of the general
policy and state of affairs in the New World at the period when the present
narrative begins.3
Of the islands, Cuba was the second discovered ; but no attempt had been
made to plant a colony there during the lifetime of Columbus, who, indeed,
after skirting the whole extent of its southern coast, died in the conviction
that it was part of the continent.4 At length, in 1511, Diego, the son and
successor of the "Admiral," who still maintained the seat of government in
Hispaniola, finding the mines much exhausted there, proposed to occupy the
neighbouring island of Cuba, or Fernandina, as it was called in compliment
to the Spanish monarch.5 He prepared a small force for the conquest, whicb
he placed under the command of Don Diego Velasquez ; a man described by
a contemporary as " possessed of considerable experience in military affairs,
having served seventeen years in the European wars ; as honest, illustrious
by his lineage and reputation, covetous of glory, and somewhat more covetous
of wealth." 6 The portrait was sketched by no unfriendly hand.
Velasquez, or rather his lieutenant, Narvaez, who took the office on him-
self of scouring the country, met with no serious opposition from the inhabi-
tants, who were of the same family with the effeminate natives of Hispaniola.
The conquest, through the merciful interposition of Las Casas, " the protector
of the Indians," who accompanied the army in its march, was effectea without
much bloodshed. One chief, indeed, named Hatuey, having fled originally
from St. Domingo to escape the oppression of its invaders, made a desperate
resistance, for which he was condemned by Velasquez to be burned alive. It
was he who made that memorable reply, more eloquent than a volume of
invective. When urged at the stake to embrace Christianity, that his soul
might find admission into heaven, he inquired if the white men would go there.
On being answered in the affirmative, ne exclaimed, " Then I will not be a
Christian ; for I would not go again to a place where I must find men so cruel ! " 7
3 I will take the liberty to refer the reader king's desire. The Indian name has survived
who is desirous of being more minutely ac- buth. Ilerrera, Hist, general, Descrip., cap. 6.
quainted with the Spanish colonial adminis- ■ " Erat Didacus, ut hoc in loco de eo semel
tration and the state of discovery previous to tantumdicamus, veteranus miles, rei militaris
Charles V., to the " History of the Reign of gnarus, quippe qui septem et decern annos in
Ferdinand and Isabella " (Part 2, ch. 9, 26), Hispania militiam exercitus fuerat, homo
where the subject is treated in extenso* probus, opibus, genere et famaclarus, honoris
* See the curious document attesting this, cupidus, pecunia? aliquanto cupidior." De
and drawn up by order of Columbus, ap. Rebus gestis Ferdinandi Cortesii, MS.
Navarrete, Colleccion de los Viages y de 7 The story is told by Las Casas in his
Descubrimientos (Madrid, 1825), torn. ii. Col. appalling record of the cruelties of bis
Dip., No. 76. countrymen in the New World, which charity
s The island was originally called by Co- — and common sense— may excuse us for
lnmbus Juana, in honour of Prince John, believing the good father has greatly over-
heir to the Castilian crown. After his death charged. Brevissima Relacion de la De-
it received the name of Fernandina, at the struycion de las Indias (Venetia, 1643), p. 28.
* [All the documents relative to the com- Descubrimiento, Conquista y Colonizacion de
mission sent out by Xirnenes, including many las Poseskmes espafiolas en America y Ocea-
reports from the commissioners, have been nfa, torn, i.— Ed.]
printed in the Col. de Doc. ineU relativos al
104 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO. '
After the conquest, Velasquez, now appointed governor, diligently occupied
himself with measures for promoting the prosperity of the island, lie formed
a number of settlements, bearing the same names with the modern towns,
and made St. Jago, on the south-east corner, the seat of government.8 He
invited settlers by liberal grants of land and slaves. He encouraged them to
cultivate the soil, and gave particular attention to the sugar-cane, so profit-
able an article of commerce in later times. He was, above all, intent on work-
ing the gold-mines, which promised better returns than those in Ilispaniola.
The affairs of his government did not prevent him, meanwhile, from casting
many a wistful glance at the discoveries going forward on the continent, and
he longed for an opportunity to embark in these golden adventures himself.
Fortune gave him the occasion he desired.
An hidalgo of Cuba, named Hernandez de Cordova, sailed with three
vessels on an expedition to one of the neighbouring Bahama Islands, in quest
of Indian slaves. (February 8, 1517.) He encountered a succession of heavy
gales which drove him far out of his course, and at the end of three weeks he
found himself on a strange and unknown coast. On landing and asking the
name of the country, he was answered by the natives, " Tcctetan" meaning
" I do not understand you," — but which the Spaniards, misinterpreting into
the name of the place, easily corrupted into Yucatan. Some writers give a
different etymology.9 Such mistakes, however, were not uncommon with the
early discoverers, and have been the origin of many a name on the American
continent.10
Cordova had landed on the north-eastern end of the peninsula, at Cape
Catoche. He was astonished at the size and solid materials of the buildings,
constructed of stone and lime, so different from the frail tenements of reeds
and rushes which formed the habitations of the islanders. He was struck,
also, with the higher cultivation of the soil, and with the delicate texture of
the cotton garments and gold ornaments of the natives. Everything indicated
a civilization far superior to anything he had before witnessed in the New
World. He saw the evidence of a different race, moreover, in the warlike
spirit of the people. Rumours of the Spaniards had, perhaps, preceded them,
as they were repeatedly asked if they came from the east ; and, wherever they
landed, they were met with the most deadly hostility. Cordova himself, in
one of his skirmishes with the Indians, received more than a dozen wounds,
and one only of his party escaped unhurt. At length, when he had coasted
the peninsula as far as Campeachy, he returned to Cuba, which he reached
after an absence of several months, having suffered all the extremities of ill
which these pioneers of the ocean were sometimes called to endure, and which
none but the most courageous spirit could have survived. As it was, half the
original number, consisting of one hundred and ten men, perished, including
their brave commander, who died soon after his return. The reports he had
brought back of the country, and, still more, the specimens of curiously
" Among the most ancient of these estab- finds a much more plausible derivation in the
lishments -we find the Havana, Puerto del Indian word Ouyouckatan, "listen to what
Principe, Trinidad, St. Salvador, and Matanzas, they say." Voyage pittoresque, p. 25.
or the Slaughter^ so called from a massacre of 10 Two navigators, Solis and Pinzon, had
the Spaniards there by the Indians. Bernal descried the coast as far back as 1506, accord-
Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 8. ing to Herrera, though they had not taken pos-
9 Goniara, Historia de las Indias, cap. 52, session of it. (Hist, general, dec. 1, lib. 6,
ap Bareia, torn, it.— Bernal Diaz says the cap. 17.) It is, indeed, remarkable it should
word came from the vegetable yuca, and tale, so long have eluded discovery, considering
the name for a hillock in which it is planted. that it is but two degrees distant from Cuba.
(Hist, de la Conquista, cap. t>.) M. AValdeck
EXPEDITIONS TO YUCATAN. 105
wrought gold, convinced Velasquez of the importance of this discovery, and he
prepared with all despatch to avail himself of it.11
lie accordingly fitted out a little squadron of four vessels for the newly-
discovered lands, and placed it under the command of his nephew, Juan de
Grijalva, a man on whose probity, prudence, and attachment to himself he
knew he could rely. The fleet left the port of St. Jago de Cuba, May 1, 1518.12
It took the course pursued by Cordova, but was driven somewhat to the south,
the first land that it made being the island of Cozumel. From this quarter
Grijalva soon passed over to the continent, and coasted the peninsula, touch-
ing at the same places as his predecessor. Everywhere he was struck, like
him, with the evidences of a higher civilization, especially in the architecture;
as he well might be, since this was the region of those extraordinary remains
which have become recently the subject of so much speculation. He was
astonished, also, at the sight of large stone crosses, evidently objects of wor-
ship, which he met with in various places. Reminded by these circumstances
of his own country, he gave the peninsula the name of " New Spain," a name
since appropriated, to a much wider extent of territory.13
Wherever Grijalva landed, he experienced the same unfriendly reception as
Cordova ; though he suffered less, being better prepared to meet it. In the
Rio de Tabasco, or Grijalva, as it is often called, after him, he held an
amicable conference with a chief who gave him a number of gold plates
fashioned into a sort of armour. As he wound round the Mexican coast, one
of his captains, Pedro de Alvarado, afterwards famous in the Conquest, entered
a river, to which he, also, left his own name. In a neighbouring stream,
called the Rio de Vanderas, or " River of Banners," from the ensigns dis-
played by the natives on its borders, Grijalva had the first communication
with the Mexicans themselves.
The cacique who ruled over this province had received notice of the
approach of the Europeans, and of their extraordinary appearance. He was
anxious to collect all the information he could respecting them and the motives
of their visit, that he might transmit them to his master, the Aztec emperor.14
A friendly conference took place between the parties on shore, where Grijalva
landed with all his force, so as to make a suitable impression on the mind of
the barbaric chief. The interview lasted some hours, though, as there was
no one on either side to interpret the language of the other, they could com-
municate only by signs. They, however, interchanged presents, and the
Spaniards had the satisfaction of receiving, for a few worthless toys and
trinkets, a rich treasure of jewels, gold ornaments and vessels, of the most
fantastic forms and workmanship.15
Grijalva now thought that in this successful traffic— successful beyond his
" Oviedo, General y natural Historia de las '* De Rebus gestis, MS.— Itinerario del
Indias, MS., lib. 33, cap. 1.— De Rebus gestis, Capellano, MS.
MS.— Carta del Cabildo de Vera Cruz (July l* According to the Spanish authorities, the
10, 1519), MS.— Bernal Diaz denies that the cacique was sent with these presents from the
original object of the expedition, in which he Mexican sovereign, who had received pie-
took part, was to procure slaves, though vious tidings of the approach of the Spaniards.
Velasquez had proposed it. (Hist, de la Con- I have followed Sahagun, who obtained his
quista, cap. 2.) But he is contradicted in this intelligence directly from the i:atives. liis-
by the other contemporary records above toria de la Conquista, MS., cap. 2.
cited. ,s Gomara has given the per and contra of
12 Itinerario de la Isola de Iuchathan, nova- this negotiation, in which gold and jewels of
mente ritrovata per il Signor Joan de Grijalva, the value of fifteen or twenty thousand pesos
per il 6uo Capellano, MS.— The chaplain's de oro were exchanged for glass beads, pins,
Word may be taken for the date, which is scissors, and other trinkets common in an
Usually put at the eighth of April. assorted cargo for savages. Cionica, cop. 6.
E 2
106 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
most sanguine expectations— he had accomplished the chief object of his
mission. He steadily refused the solicitations of his followers to plant a colony
on the spot,— a work of no little difficulty in so populous and powerful a
country as this appeared to be. To this, indeed, he was inclined, but deemed
it contrary to his instructions, which limited him to barter with the natives.
He therefore despatched Alvarado in one of the caravels back to Cuba, with
the treasure and such intelligence as he had gleaned of the great empire in
the interior, and then pursued his voyage along the coast.
He touched at San Juan de Ulua, and at the Ida de los Sacrificios, so called
by him from the bloody remains of human victims found in one of the temples.
He then held on his course as far as the province of Panuco, where, finding
some difficulty in doubling a boisterous headland, he returned on his track,
and, after an absence of nearly six months, reached Cuba in safety. Grijalva
has the glory of being the first navigator who set foot on the Mexican soil and
opened an intercourse with the Aztecs.16
On reaching the island, he was surprised to learn that another and more
formidable armament had been fitted out to follow up his own discoveries, and
to find orders, at the same time, from the governor, couched in no very cour-
teous language, to repair at once to St. Jago. He was received by that
personage not merely with coldness, but with reproaches for having neglected
so fair an opportunity of establishing a colony in the country he had visited.
Velasquez was one of those captious spirits who, when things do not go exactly
to their minds, are sure to shift the responsibility of the failure from their own
shoulders, where it should lie, to those of others. He had an ungenerous
nature, says an old writer, credulous, and easily moved to suspicion.17 In the
present instance it was most unmerited. Grijalva, naturally a modest, unas-
suming person, had acted in obedience to the instructions of his commander,
given before sailing, and had done this in opposition to his own judgment and
the importunities of his followers. ■ His conduct merited anything but censure
from his employer.18
When Alvarado had returned to Cuba with his golden freight, and the
accounts of the rich empire of Mexico which he had gathered from the natives,
the heart of the governor swelled with rapture as he saw his dreams of avarice
and ambition so likely to be realized. Impatient of the long absence of
Grijalva, he despatched a vessel in search of him under the command of Olid,
a cavalier who took an important part afterwards in the Conquest. Finally
he resolved to fit out another armament on a sufficient scale to insure the
subjugation of the country.
He previously solicited authority for this from the Hieronymite commission
in St. Domingo. He then despatched his chaplain to Spain with the royal
share of the gold brought from Mexico, and a full account of the intelligence
gleaned there. He set forth his own manifold services, and solicited from the
court full powers to go on with the conquest and colonization of the newly-
discovered regions.19 Before receiving an answer, he began his preparations
16 Itinerario del Capellano, MS.— Carta de voyage. Historia general de las Indias, MS.,
Vera Cruz, MS. lib. 3, cap. 113.
17 "Hombre de terrible condicion," says 10 ltinerario del Capellano, MS.— Las Casas,
Herrera, citing the good Bishop of Chiapa, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 113. —
"para los que le Servian, i aiudaban, i que The most circumstantial account of Grijalva's
facilmente se indignaba contra aquellos." expedition is to be found in the Itinerary of
Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 3, cap. 10. his chaplain above quoted. The original is
18 At least, such is the testimony of Las lost, but an indifferent Italian version was
Casas, who knew both the parties well, and published at Venice in 1522. A copy, which
bad often conversed with Grijalva upon his belonged to Ferdinand Columbus, is still
HERNANDO CORTES. 10?
tor the armament, and, first of all, endeavoured to find a suitable person to'
share the expense of it and to take the command. Such a person, he found,
after some difficulty and delay, in Hernando Cortes ; the man of all others
best calculated to achieve this great enterprise, — the last man to whom Velas-
quez, could he have foreseen the results, would have confided it.
CHAPTER II.
HERNANDO CORTES — HIS EARLY LIFE — VISITS THE NEW" WORLD — HIS
RESIDENCE IN CUBA — DIFFICULTIES WITH VELASQUEZ — ARMADA IN-
TRUSTED TO CORTES.
1518.
HernanDo Cortes was born at'Medellin, a town in the south-east corner of
Estremadura,1 in 1485.2 He came of an ancient and' respectable family ; and
historians have gratified the national vanity by tracing it up to the Lombard
kings, Avhose descendants crossed the Pyrenees and established themselves in
Aragon under the Gothic monarchy.3 This royal genealogy was not found
out till Cortes had acquired a name which would confer distinction on any
descent, however noble. His father, Martin Cortes de Monroy, was a captain
of infantry, in moderate circumstances, but a man of unblemished honour ;
and both he and his wife, Dona Catalina Pizarro Altamirano, appear to have
been much regarded for their excellent qualities.4
In his infancy Cortes is said to have had a feeble constitution, which
strengthened as. he grew older.5 At fourteen, he was sent to Salamanca, as
his father, who conceived great hopes from his quick and showy parts, proposed
to educate him for the law, a profession which held out better inducements to
the young aspirant than any other. The son, however, did not conform to
extant in the library of the great church of ment of the good cavalier, which places the
Seville. The book had become so exceed- birth of our hero in 1483, looks rather more
ingly rare, however, that the historiographer like a zeal for "the true faith" than for
Muiioz made a transcript of it with his own historic.
hand; and from his manuscript that in my 3 Argeusola, in particular, has bestowred
possession was taken. great pains on the prosapia of the house of
1 [The house in which he was bom, in the Cortes ; which he traces up, nothing doubt-
Calle de la Feria, was preserved until the ing, to Names Cortes, king of Lombardy and
present century, and many a traveller has Tuscany. Analesde Aragon (Zaragoza, 1630),
lodged there, desirous, says Alaman, of sleep- pp. 621-625.— Also, Caro de Torres, Historia
ing in the mansion where the hero was bom. de las Ordenes militares (Madrid, 1629), fol.
In the year 1809 the building was destroyed 103.
by the French, and only a few fragments of * De Rebus gestis, MS.— Las Casas, who
Avail now remain to commemorate the birth- knew the father, bears stronger testimony to
place of the Conqueror. Alaman, Diserta- his poverty than to his noble birth. "Un
ciones historicas, torn. ii. p. 2.] escudero," he says of him, "que yo conoci
* Gomara, Cronica, cap. 1.— Bernal Diaz, harto pobre y humilde, aunque cristiano,
Hist, de la Conquisla, cap. 203. I find no viejo y dizen que hidalgo." Hist, de las
more precise notice of the date of his birth, Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 27.
except, indeed, by Pizarro y Orellana, who 5 [His parents had cast lots to decide which
tells us " that Cortes came into the world the of the apostles should be chosen as his patron
same day that that infernal beast, the false saint. The lot fell upon Peter, which ex-
heretic Luther, entered it, — by way of com- plains the especial devotion which Cortes
pensation, no doubt, since the labours of the professed, through his whole life, to that
one to pull down the true faith were counter- saint, to whose watchful care he attributed
balanced by those of the other to maintain the improvement in his health. Alamao,
and extend it " ! (Varonesilustres del Nuevo- Disertaciones historicas, torn. ii. p. 4.J
Mimdo (Madrid, 1639), p. 66.) But this state-
108 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
these views. He showed little fondness for books, and, after loitering away
two years at college, returned home, to the great chagrin of his parents. Yet
his time had not been wholly misspent, since he had laid up a little store of
Latin, and learned to write good prose, and even verses " of some estimation,
considering "—as an old writer quaintly remarks— " Cortes as the author."6
He now passed his days in the idle, unprofitable manner of one who, too wilful
to be guided by others, proposes no object to himself. His buoyant spirits
were continually breaking out in troublesome frolics and capricious humours,
quite at variance with the orderly habits of his father's household. He showed
a particular inclination for the military profession, or rather for the life of
adventure to which in those days it was sure to lead. And when, at the age
of seventeen, he proposed to enroll himself under the banners of the Great
Captain, his parents, probably thinking a life of hardship and hazard abroad
preferable to one of idleness at home, made no objection.
The youthful cavalier, however, hesitated whether to seek his fortunes under
that victorious chief, or in the New World, where gold as well as glory was to
be won, and where the very dangers had a mystery and romance in them
inexpressibly fascinating to a youthful fancy. It was in this direction, accord-
ingly, that the hot spirits of that day found a vent, especially from that part
of the country where Cortes lived, the neighbourhood of Seville and Cadiz, the
focus of nautical enterprise. He decided on this latter course, and an opportu-
nity offered in the splendid armament fitted out under Don Nicolas de Ovando,
successor to Columbus. An unlucky accident defeated the purpose of CorteV
As he was scaling a high wall, one night, which gave him access to the
apartment of a lady with wnom he was engaged in an intrigue, the stones
gave way, and he was thrown down with much violence and buried under the
ruins. A severe contusion, though attended with no other serious con-
sequences, confined him to his bed till after the departure of the fleet.8
Two years longer he remained at home, profiting little, as it would seem,
from the lesson he had received. At length he availed himself of another
opportunity presented by the departure of a small squadron of vessels bound
to the Indian islands. He was nineteen years of age when he bade adieu to
his native shores in 1504,— the same year in which Spain lost the best and
greatest in her long line of princes, Isabella the Catholic. .
The vessel in which Cortes sailed was commanded by one Alonso Quintero.
The fleet touched at the Canaries, as was common in the outward passage.
While the other vessels were detained there taking in supplies, Quintero
secretly stole out by night from the island, with the design of reaching His-
paniola and securing the market before the arrival of his companions. A
furious storm which he encountered, however, dismasted his ship, and he was
obliged to return to port and refit. The convoy consented to wait for their
unworthy partner, and after a short detention they all sailed in company
again. But the faithless Quintero, as they drew near the Islands, availed
himself once more of the darkness of the night, to leave the squadron with
the same purpose as before. Unluckily for him, he met with a succession of
heavy gales and head-winds, which drove him from his course, and he wholly
6 Argensola, Anales, p. 220.— Las Casas 7 De Rebus gestis, MS.— Goniara, Croniea,
and Bernal Diaz both state that he was cap. l.
Bachelor of Laws at Salamanca. (Hist, de B De Rebus gestis, MS.— Gomara, Ibid. —
las Indias, MS., ubi supra.— Hist, de la Con- Argensola states the cause of his detention
quista, cap. 203.) The degree was given concisely enough : " Suspendio el viaje, por
probably in later life, when the University enamorada y por quartanario." Anales,
might feel a pride in claiming him among p. 621.
her sons.
SOJOURN IN CUBA. 100
lost his reckoning. For many days the vessel was tossed about, and all on
board were filled with apprehensions, and no little indignation against the
author of their calamities. At length they were cheered one morning with
the sight of a white dove, which, wearied by its flight, lighted on the topmast.
The biographers of Cortes speak of it as a miracle.9 Fortunately it was no
miracle, but a very nautical occurence, showing incontestable that they were
near land. In a short time, by taking the direction of the bird's flight, they
reached the island of Hispaniola ; and, on coming into port, the worthy master
had the satisfaction to find his companions arrived before him, and their
cargoes already sold.10
Immediately on landing, Cortes repaired to the house of the governor, to
whom he had been personally known in Spain. Ovando was absent on an
expedition into the interior, but the young man was kindly received by the
secretary, who assured him there would be no doubt of his obtaining a liberal
grant of land to settle on. " But I came to get gold," replied Corte's, " not
to till the soil, like a peasant."
On the governor's return, Cortes consented to give up his roving thoughts,
at least for a time, as the other laboured to convince him that he AvouTd be
more likely to realize his wishes from the slow, indeed, but sure, returns of
husbandry, where the soil and the labourers were a free gift to the planter, than
by taking his chance in the lottery of adventure, in which there were so many
blanks to a prize. He accordingly received a grant of land, with a reparti-
miento of Indians, and was appointed notary of the town or settlement of
Acua. His graver pursuits, however, did not prevent his 'indulgence of the
amorous propensities which belong to the sunny clime where he was born ; and
this frequently involved him in affairs of honour, from which, though an expert
swordsman, he carried away scars that accompanied him to his grave.11 He
occasionally, moreover, found the means of breaking up tho monotony of his
way of life by engaging in the military expeditions which, under the command
of Ovando's lieutenant, Diego Velasquez, were employed to suppress the insur-
rections of the natives. In this school the young adventurer first studied the
wild tactics of Indian warfare ; he became familiar with toil and danger, and
with those deeds of cruelty which have too often, alas ! stained the bright
scutcheons of the Castilian chivalry in the New World. He was only prevented
by illness— a most fortunate one, on this occasion — from embarking in"
Nicuessa's expedition, which furnished a tale of woe not often matched in the
annals of Spanish discovery. Providence reserved him for higher ends.
At length, in 1511, when Velasquez undertook the conquest of Cuba, Cortes
willingly abandoned his quiet life for the stirring scenes there opened, and took
part in the expedition. He displayed, throughout the invasion, an activity
and courage that won him the approbation of the commander ; while his free
and cordial manners, his good humour and lively sallies of wit, made him the
favourite of the soldiers. " He gave little evidence," says a contemporary, " of
the great qualities which he afterwards showed." It is probable these qualities
were not known to himself ; while to a common observer his careless manners
and jocund repartees might well seem incompatible with anything serious or
9 Some thought it was the Holy Ghost in the spread of the Catholic faith, and the
the form of this dove : " Sanctum esse Spiri- Castilian monarchy " ! Varones ilustres, p.
turn, qui, in illius alitis specie, ut mcestos et 70.
afflictos solaretur, venire erat dignatus" (De '° Gomara, Ctonica, cap. 2.
Rebus gestis, MS.); a conjecture which seems ,l Bernal I)ia& Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
very reasonable to Pizarro y Orellana, since 203.
the expedition was to "redound so much to
110 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
profound ; as the real depth of the current is not suspected under the light
play and sunny sparkling of the surface.12
After the reduction of the island, Cortes seems to have been held in great
favour by Velasquez, now appointed its governor. According to Las Casus,
he was made one of his secretaries.13 He still retained the same fondness for
gallantry, for which his handsome person afforded obvious advantages, but
which had more than once brought him into trouble in earlier life. Among
the families who had taken up their residence in Cuba was one of the name of
Xuarez, from Granada in Old Spain. It consisted of a brother, and four
sisters remarkable for their beauty. With one of them, named Catalina, the
susceptible heart of the young soldier became enamoured.14 How far the
intimacy was carried is not quite certain. But it appears he gave his promise
to marry her, — a promise which, when the time came, and reason, it may be,
had got the better of passion, he showed no alacrity in keeping. He resisted,
indeed, all remonstrances to this effect, from the lady's family, backed by the
governor, and somewhat sharpened, no doubt, in the latter by the particular
interest he took in one of the fair sisters, who is said not to have repaid it
with ingratitude.
Whether the rebuke of Velasquez or some other cause of disgust rankled in
the breast of Cortes, he now became cold towards his patron, and connected
himself with a disaffected party tolerably numerous in the island. They were
in the habit of meeting at his house and brooding over their causes of discon-
tent, chiefly founded, it would appear, on what they conceived an ill requital
of their services in the distribution' of lands and offices. It may well be
imagined that it could have been no easy task for the ruler of one of these
colonies, however discreet and well intentioned, to satisfy the indefinite
cravings of speculators and adventurers, who swarmed, like so many famished
harpies, in the track of discovery in the New World.15
The malecontents determined to lay their grievances before the higher
authorities in Hispaniola, from whom Velasquez had received his commission.
The voyage was one of some hazard, as it was to be made in an open boat,
across an arm of the sea eighteen leagues wide ; and they fixed on Cortes, with
whose fearless spirit they were well acquainted, as the fittest man to under-
take it. The conspiracy got wind, and came to the governor's ears before the
departure of the envoy, whom he instantly caused to be seized, loaded with
fetters, and placed in strict confinement. It is even said he would have hung
him, but for the interposition of his friends.16 The fact is not incredible.
The governors of these little territories, having entire control over the fortunes
of their subjects, enjoyed an authority far more despotic than that of the
sovereign himself, 'they were generally men of rank and personal considera-
tion; their distance from the mother-country withdrew their conduct from
searching scrutiny, and, when that did occur, they usually had interest and
means of corruption at command sufficient to shield them from punishment.
12 De Rebus gestis, MS.— Gomara, Cronica, 1838), lib. 1, cap. 9.) Las Casas treats her
cap. 3, 4.— Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., with less ceremony : " Una bermana de un
lib. 3, cap. 27. Juan Xuarez, gente pobre." Hist, de las
13 Hist, de las Indias, MS., loc. cit. — "Res Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 17.
omnes arduas difficilosque per Cortesium, I5 Gomara, Cronica, cap. 4. — Las Casas,
quern in dies magis magisque amplectebatur, Hist, de las Indias, MS., ubi supra. -— De
Velasquius agit. Ex eo ducis favore et gratia Rebus gestis, MS.— Memorial de Benito Mar •
magna Cortesio invidia" est orta." De Rebus tinez, Capellan de D. Velasquez, contra H.
gestis, MS. Cortes, MS.
l* Soli's has found a patent of nobility for 1G Las Casas, Hist, de las Iudias, MS., ubi
this lady also, — " doncella noble y recatada." supra.
(Historia de la Conquista de Mejico (Paris,
DIFFICULTIES WITH VELASQUEZ. Ill
The Spanish colonial history, in its earlier stages, affords striking instances of
the extraordinary assumption and abuse of powers by these petty potentates ;
and the sad fate of Vasquez Nunez de Balboa, the illustrious discoverer of the
Pacific, though the most signal, is by no means a solitary example, that the
greatest services could be requited by persecution and an ignominious death.
The governor of Cuba, however, although irascible and suspicious in his
nature, does not seem to have been vindictive, nor particularly cruel. In the
present instance, indeed, it may well be doubted whether the blame would not
be more reasonably charged on the unfounded expectations of his followers
than on himself.
Cortes did not long remain in durance. He contrived to throw back one of
the bolts of his fetters, and, after extricating his limbs, succeeded in forcing
open a window with the irons so as to admit of his escape. He was lodged on
the second floor of the building, and was able to let himself down to the pave-
ment without injury, and unobserved. He then made the best of his way to
a neighbouring church, where he claimed the privilege of sanctuary.
Velasquez, though incensed at his escape, was afraid to violate the sanctity
of the place by employing force. But he stationed a guard in the neighbour-
hood, with orders to seize the fugitive if he should forget himself so far as to
leave the sanctuary. In a few clays this happened. As Cortes was carelessly
standing without the walls in front of the building, an alguacil suddenly
sprang on him from behind and pinioned his arms, wliile others rushed in and
secured him. This man, whose name was Juan Escudero, was afterwards
hung by Corte's for some offence in New Spain.17
The unlucky prisoner was again put in irons, and carried on board a vessel
to sail the next morning for Hispaniola, there to undergo his trial. Fortune
favoured him once more. He succeeded, after much difficulty and no little
pain, in passing his feet through the rings which shackled them. He then
came cautiously on deck, and, covered by the darkness of the night, stole
quietly down the side of tlie ship into a boat that lay floating below. He
pushed off from the vessel with as little noise as possible. As he drew near
the shore, the stream became rapid and turbulent. He hesitated to trust his
boat to it, and, as he was an excellent swimmer, prepared to breast it himself,
and boldly plunged into the water. The current was strong, but the arm of a
man struggling for life was stronger ; and, after buffeting the waves till he was
nearly exhausted, he succeeded in gaining a landing ; when he sought refuge
in the same sanctuary which had protected him before. The facility with
which Corte's a second time effected his escape may lead one to doubt the
fidelity of his guards ; who perhaps looked on him as the victim of persecution,
and felt the influence of those popular manners which seem to have gained him
friends in every society into which he was thrown.18
m For some reason not explained,— perhaps from policy,— he now relinquished
his objections to the marriage with Catalina Xuarez. He thus secured the
good offices of her family. Soon afterwards the governor himself relented, and
became reconciled to his unfortunate enemy. A strange story is told in
connection with this event. It is said his proud spirit refused to accept the
proffers of reconciliation made him by Velasquez ; and that one evening, leav-
ing the sanctuary, he presented himself unexpectedly before the latter in his
own quarters, when on a military excursion at some 'distance from the capital.
17 Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., loc. throwing himself on a plank, which, after
cit. — Memorial de Martinez, MS. being carried out to sea, was washed ashore
18 Gomara, Cronica, cap. 4.— Herrera tells with him at flood tide, ilist. general, dec. 1,
a silly story of his being unable to swim, and lib. 9, cap. 8.
1 1 2 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
The governor, startled by the sudden apparition of his enemy completely
armed before him, with some dismay inquired the meaning of it. Cortes
answered by insisting on a full explanation of his previous conduct. After
some hot discussion the interview terminated amicably ; the parties embraced,
and, when a messenger arrived to announce the escape of Cortes, he found him
in the apartments of his Excellency, where, having retired to rest, both were
actually sleeping in the same bed ! The anecdote is repeated without distrust
by more than one biographer of Cortes.19 It is not very probable, however,
that a haughty, irascible man like Velasquez should have given such uncommon
proofs of condescension and familiarity to one, so far beneath him in station,
with whom he had been so recently in deadly feud ; nor, on the other hand,
that Corte's should have had the silly temerity to brave the lion in his den,
where a single nod would have sent him to the gibbet, — and that, too, with as
little compunction or fear of consequences as would have attended the execu-
tion of an Indian slave.20
The reconciliation with the governor, however brought about, was perma-
nent. Cortes, though not re-establishea in the office of secretary, received a
liberal repartimiento of Indians, and an ample territory in the neighbourhood
of St. Jago, of which he was soon after made alcalde. He now lived almost
wholly on his estate, devoting himself to agriculture with more zeal than
formerly. He stocked his plantation with different kinds of cattle, some of
which were first introduced by him into Cuba.21 He wrought, also, the gold-
mines which fell to his share, and which in this island promised better returns
than those in Hispaniola. By this course of industry he found himself, in a
few years, master of some two or three thousand castella?ios, a large sum for
one in his situation. " God, who alone knows at what cost of Indian lives it
was obtained," exclaims Las Casas, " will take account of it ! " 22 His days
glided smoothly away in these tranquil pursuits, and in the society of his
beautiful wife, who, however ineligible as a connection, from the inferiority of
her condition, appears to have fulfilled all the relations of a faithful and affec-
tionate partner. Indeed, he was often heard to say at this time, as the good
bishop above quoted remarks, " that he lived as happily with her as if she had
been the daughter of a duchess." Fortune gave him the means in after-life of
verifying the truth of his assertion.23
Such was the state of things, Avhen Alvarado returned with the tidings of
Grijalva's discoveries and the rich fruits of his traffic with the natives. The
news spread like wildfire throughout the island ; for all saw in it the promise
of more important results than any hitherto obtained. The governor, as
already noticed, resolved to follow up the track of discovery with a more con-
siderable armament ; and' he looked around for a proper person to share the
expense of it and to take the command.
13 Gomara, Cronica, cap. 4. — " Coenat cu- de la tierra y lo sumiera en ella sin qne alzara
batque Cortesius cum Velasquio eodem in cabeza en su vida." Hist, de las Indias, MS.,
lecto. Qui postero die fuga? Cortesii nuntius lib. 3, cap. 27.
venerat, Velasquium et Cortesium juxtaaccu- 2l "Pecuariam primus quoque habuit, in
bantes intuitus, miratur." De Rebus gestis, insulamque induxit, omni pecorum genere
MS. ex Hispania petito." De Rebus gestis, MS.
-° Las Casas, who remembered Cortes at 22 " Los que por sacarle el oro murieron
this time "so poor and lowly that he would Dios abni tenido mejor cuenta que yo."
have gladly received any favour from the Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 21. The
least of Velasquez' attendants," treats the text is a free translation,
story of the bravado with contempt. " Por *3 " Estando conmigo, me lo dixo que es-
lo qual si el [Velasquez] sintiera de Cortes tava tan contento con ella como si fuera hija
una puncta de alfiler de cerviguillo 6 pre- de una Duquessa." Hist, de las Indias, MS.f
suncion, 6 lo ahorcara 6 a lo menos lo echara ubi supra.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 4.
ARMADA INTRUSTED TO CORTES. 113
Several hidalgos presented themselves, whom, from want of proper qualifi-
cations, or from Ins distrust of their assuming an independence of their
employer, he, one after another, rejected. There were two persons in St. Jago
in whom he placed great confidence, — Amador de Lares, the contador, or
royal treasurer,24 and his own secretary, Andres de Duero. Cortes was also in
close intimacy with both these persons ; and he availed himself of it to prevail
on them to recommend him as a suitable person to be intrusted with the
expedition. It is said he reinforced the proposal by promising a liberal share
of the proceeds of it. However this may oe, the parties urged his selection by
the governor with all the eloquence of which they were capable. That officer
had had ample experience of the capacity and courage of the candidate. He
knew, too, that he had acquired a fortune which would enable him to co-
operate materially in fitting out the armament. His popularity in the island
would speedily attract followers to his standard.25 All past animosities had
long since been buried in oblivion, and the confidence he was now to repose in
him would insure his fidelity and gratitude. He lent a willing ear, therefore,
to the recommendation of his counsellors, and, sending for Cortes, announced
his purpose of making him Captain-General of the Armada.26
Corte's had now attained the object of his wishes, — the object for which his
soul had panted ever since he had set foot in the New World. He was no
longer to be condemned to a life of mercenary drudgery, nor to be cooped up
within the precincts of a petty island ; but he was to be placed on a new and
independent theatre of action, and a boundless prospective was opened to his
view, which might satisfy not merely the wildest cravings of avarice, but, to a
bold, aspiring spirit like his, the far more importunate cravings of ambition.
He fully appreciated the importance of the late discoveries, and read in them
the existence of the great empire in the far West, dark hints of which had
floated, from time to time, to the Islands, and of which more certain glimpses
had been caught by those who had reached the continent. This was the
country intimated to the " Great Admiral " in his visit to Honduras in 1502,
and which he might have reached had he held on a northern course, instead of
striking to the south in quest of an imaginary strait. As it was, " he had but
opened the gate," to use his own bitter expression, "for others to enter." The
time had at length come when they were to enter it ; and the young adven-
turer, whose magic lance was to dissolve the spell ^hich had so long hung over
these mysterious regions, now stood ready to assume the enterprise.
From this hour the deportment of Cortes seemed to undergo a change. His
thoughts, instead of evaporating in empty levities or idle flashes of merriment,
were wholly concentrated on the great object to which he was devoted. His
elastic spirits were shown in cheering and stimulating the companions of his
toilsome duties, and he was roused to a generous enthusiasm, of which even
those who knew him best had not conceived him capable. He applied at once
all the money in his possession to fitting out the armament. He raised more
by the mortgage @f his estates, and by giving his obligations to some wealthy
merchants of the place, who relied for their reimbursement on the success of
"4 The treasurer used to boast he had M "Si el no fuera por Capitan, que no
passed some two-and-twenty years in the fuera la tercera parte de la gente que con el
wars of Italy. He was a shrewd personage, fue." Declaracion de Puertocarrero, MS.
and Las Casas, thinking that country a (Corufia, 30 de Abril, 1520).
slippery school for morals, warned the go- 26 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
vernor, he says, more than once " to beware 19. — De Rebus gestis, MS.— Gomara, Cronica,
of the twenty-two years in Italy." Hist.de cap. 7.— Las Casas, Hist, general de las
las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 113." Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 113.
114 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
the expedition ; and, when his own credit was exhausted, he availed himself
of that of his friends.
The funds thus acquired he expended in the purchase of vessels, provisions,
and military stores, while he invited recruits by offers of assistance to such as
were too poor to provide for themselves, and by the additional promise of a
liberal share of the anticipated profits.27
All was now bustle and excitement in the little town of St. Jago. Some
were busy in refitting the vessels and getting them ready for the voyage ;
some in providing naval stores ; others in converting their own estates into
money in order to equip themselves ; every one seemed anxious to contribute
in some way or other to the success of the expedition. Six ships, some of them
of a large size, had already been procured ; and three hundred recruits enrolled
themselves in the course of a few days, eager to seek their fortunes under the
banner of this daring and popular chieftain.
How far the governor contributed towards the expenses of the outfit is not
very clear. If the friends of Corte's are to be believed, nearly the whole burden
fell on him ; since, while he supplied the squadron without remuneration, the
governor sold many of his own stores at an exorbitant profit.28 Yet it does
not seem probable that Velasquez, with such ample means at his command,
should have thrown on his deputy the burden of the expedition, nor that the
latter— had he done so — could have been in a condition to meet these expenses,
amounting, as we are told, to more than twenty thousand gold ducats. Still
it cannot be denied that an ambitious man like Cortes, who was to reap all the
glory of the enterprise, would very naturally be less solicitous to count the
gains of it, than his employer, who, inactive at home, and having no laurels to
win, must look on the pecuniary profits as his only recompense. The question
gave rise, some years later, to a furious litigation between the parties, with
which it is not necessary at present to embarrass the reader.
It is due to Velasquez to state that the instructions delivered by him for the
conduct of the expedition cannot be charged with a narrow or mercenary
spirit. The first object of the voyage was to find Grijalva, after which the
two commanders were to proceed in company together. Reports had been
brought back by Cordova, on his return from the first visit to Yucatan, that
six Christians were said to be lingering in captivity in the interior of the
country. It was supposed they might belong to the party of the unfortunate
Nicuessa, and orders were given to find them out, if possible, and restore them
to liberty. But the great object of the expedition was barter with the natives.
In pursuing this, special care was to be taken that they should receive no
wrong, but be treated with kindness and humanity. Cortes was to bear in
mind, above all things, that the object which the Spanish monarch had most
at heart was the conversion of the Indians. He was to impress on them the
27 Declaracion de Puertocarrero, MS. — decir que entre nosotros los Espafioles va-
Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.— Probanza en la sallos de Vras. Reales Altezas ha hecho
Villa Segura, MS. (4 de Oct., 1520). Diego Velasquez su rescate y granosea de sus
-a The letter from the Municipality of dineros cobrandolos muy men." (Carta de
Vera Cruz, after stating that Velasquez bore Vera Cruz, MS.) Puertocarrero and Montejo,
only one-third of the original expense, adds, also, in their depositions taken in Spain, both
"Y sepan Vras. Magestades que la mayor speak of Cortes' having furnished two-thirds
parte de la dicha tercia parte que el dicho of the cost of the flotilla. (Declaracion de
Diego Velasquez gasto en hacer la dicha Puertocarrero, MS.— Declaracion de Montejo,
armada fue emplear sus dineros en vinos y en MS. (29 de Abril, 1520).) The letter from
ropas, y en otras cosas de poco valor para nos Vera Cruz, however, was prepared under the
lo vender aca en mucha mas cantidad de lo eye of Cortes ; and the last two were his con-
que a" el le costo, por manera que podemos fidential officers,
JEALOUSY OF VELASQUEZ. 115
grandeur and goodness of his royal master, to invite them " to give in then-
allegiance to him, and to manifest it by regaling him with such comfortable
presents of gold, pearls, and precious stones as, by showing their own good
will, Avould secure his favour and protection." He was to make an accurate
survey of the coast, sounding its bays and inlets for the benefit of future navi-
gators. He was to acquaint himself with the natural products of the country,
with the character of its different races, their institutions and progress in
civilization ; and he was to send home minute accounts of all these, together
with such articles as he should obtain in his intercourse with them. Finally,
he was to take the most careful care to omit nothing that might redound to
the service of God or his sovereign.29
Such was the general tenor of the instructions given to Cortes ; and they
must be admitted to provide for the interests of science and humanity, as well
as for those which had reference only to a commercial speculation. It may
seem strange, considering the discontent shown by Velasquez with his former
captain, Grijalva, for not colonizing, that no directions should have been given
to that effect here. But he had not yet received from Spain the warrant for
investing his agents with such powers ; and that which had been obtained
from the Hieronymite fathers in Hispaniola conceded only the right to traffic
with the natives. The commission at the same time recognized the authority
of Cortes as Captain- General of the expedition.30
CHAPTER III.
JEALOUSY OP VELASQUEZ— CORTES EMBARKS— EQUIPMENT OP HIS FLEET—
HIS PERSON AND CHARACTER— RENDEZVOUS AT HAVANA — STRENGTH OP
IITS ARMAMENT.
1519.
The importance given to Cortes by his new position, and, perhaps, a some-
what more lofty bearing, gradually gave uneasiness to the naturally suspicious
temper of Velasquez, who became apprehensive that his officer, when away_
where he would have the power, might also have the inclination, to throw off
his dependence on him altogether. An accidental circumstailce at this time
heightened these suspicions. A mad fellow, his jester, one of those crack-
brained wits— half wit, half fool — who formed in those days a common
appendage to every great man's establishment, called out to the governor,
as he was taking his usual walk one morning with Cortes towards the
port, " Have a care, master Velasquez, or we shall have to go a hunting, some
day or other, after this same captain of ours ! " " Do you hear what the
rogue says 1 " exclaimed the governor to his companion. "Do not heed him,"
-6 The instrument, in the original Castilian, tado over them. The instrument was dated
will he found In Appendix, Part 2, No. 5. at Barcelona, Nov. 13th, 1518. (Herrera,
It is often referred to by writers who never Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 3, cap. 8.) Empty-
saw it, as the Agreement between Cortes and privileges ! Las Casas gives a caustic ety-
Velasquez. It is, in fact, only the instruc- mology of the title of adelantado, so often
tions given by this latter to his officer, who granted to the Spanish discoverers. " Ade-
was no party to it. lantados porque se adelantaran en hazer
30 Declaracion de Puertocarrero, MS.— Go- males y dafios tan gravfsimos ;i gentes pacf-
mara, Cronica, cap. 7. — Velasquez soon after fleas." Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap.
obtained from the crown authority to colonize 117.
the new countries, with the title of adelan-
116 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
said Cortes : " he is a saucy knave, and deserves a good whipping." The
Avords sank deep, however, in the mind of Velasquez,— as, indeed, true jests
are apt to stick.
There were not wanting persons about his Excellency who fanned the latent
embers of jealousy into a blaze. These worthy gentlemen, some of them
kinsmen of Velasquez, who probably felt their own deserts somewhat thrown
into the shade by the rising fortunes of Cortes, reminded the governor of his
ancient quarrel with that officer, and of the little probability that affronts
so keenly felt at the time could ever be forgotten. By these and similar
suggestions, and by misconstructions of the present conduct of Cortes, they
wrought on the passions of Velasquez to such a degree that he resolved
to intrust the expedition to other hands.1
He communicated his design to his confidential advisers, Lares and Duero,
and these trusty personages reported it without delay to Cortes, although,
"to a man of half his penetration," says Las Casas, "the thing would have
been readily divined from the governor's altered demeanour."2 The two
functionaries advised their friend to expedite matters as much as possible, and
to lose no time in getting his fleet ready for sea, if he would retain the com-
mand of it. Cortes showed the same prompt decision on this occasion which
more than once afterwards in a similar crisis gave the direction to his destiny.
He had not yet got his complement of men, nor of vessels, and was very
inadequately provided with supplies of any kind. But he resolved to weigh
anchor that very night. He waited on his officers, informed them of his
purpose, and probably of the cause of it ; and at midnight, when the town
was hushed in sleep, they all went quietly on board, and the little squadron
dropped down the bay. First, however, Cortes had visited the person whose
business it was to supply the place with meat, and relieved him of all his
stock on hand, notwithstanding his complaint that the city must suffer for it
on the morrow, leaving him, at the same time, in payment, a massive gold
chain of much value, wnich he wore round his neck.3
Great was the amazement of the good citizens of St. Jago when, at dawTn,
they saw that the fleet, which they knew was so ill prepared for the voyage,
had. left its moorings and was busily getting under way. The tidings soon
came to the ears of his Excellency, who, springing from his bed, hastily
dressed himself, mounted his horse, and, followed by his retinue, galloped
down to the quay. Cortes, as soon as he descried their approach, entered
an armed boat, and came within speaking-distance of the shore. " And is
it thus you part from me ? " exclaimed Velasquez ; " a courteous way of taking
leave, truly ! " " Pardon me," answered Cortes ; " time presses, and there are
some things that should be done before they are even thought of. Has your
Excellency any commands ? " But the mortified governor had no commands
to give ; and Cortes, politely waving his hand, returned to his vessel, and the
little fleet instantly made sail for the port of Macaca, about fifteen leagues
distant. (November 18, 1518.) Velasquez rode back to his house to digest
his chagrin as he best might ; satisfied, probably, that he had made at least
1 " Deterrebat," says the anonymous bio- 2 "Cortes no avia menester mas para en-
grapher, " eum Cortesii natura imperii avida, tend«llo de mirar el gesto a Diego Velasquez
fiducia sui ingens, et nimius sumptus in segun su astuta viveza y mundana sabidun'a."
classe paranda. Timere itaque Velasquius Hist, de las Indias, MS., cap. 114.
ccepit, si Cortesius cum ea classe iret, nihil ad 3 Las Casas had the story from Cortes' own
se vel honoris vel lucri rediturum." De mouth. Hist, de las Indias, MS., cap. 114.—
Rebus gestis, MS.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Gomara, Cronica, cap. 7.— De Rebus gestis,
Conquista, cap. 19.— Las Casas, Hist, de las MS.
Indias, MS., cap. 114
EQUIPMENT OF HIS FLEET. 117
two blunders,— one in appointing Cortes to the command, the other in
attempting to deprive him of it. For, if it be true that by giving our confi-
dence by halves we can scarcely hope to make a friend, it is equally true that
by withdrawing it when given we shall make an enemy.4
This clandestine departure of Cortes has been severely criticised by some
writers, especially by Las Casas.5 Yet much may be urged in vindication
of his conduct. He nad been appointed to the command by the voluntary act
of the governor, and this had been fully ratified by the authorities of
Hispaniola. He had at once devoted all his resources to the undertaking,
incurring, indeed, a heavy debt in addition. He was now to be deprived
of his commission, without any misconduct having been alleged or at least
proved against him. Such an event must overwhelm him in irretrievable
ruin, to s,ay nothing of the friends from whom he had so largely borrowed, and
the followers who had embarked their fortunes in the expedition on the faith
of his commanding it. There are few persons, probably, who, under these
circumstances, would have felt called tamely to acquiesce in the sacrifice
of their hopes to a groundless and arbitrary whim. The most to have been
expected from Cortes was that he should feel obliged to provide faithfully for
the interests of his employer in the conduct of the enterprise. How far
he felt the force of this obligation will appear in the sequel.
From Macaca, where Cortes laid in such stores as he could obtain from the
royal farms, and which, he said, he considered as " a loan from the king,"
he proceeded to Trinidad ; a more considerable town, on the southern coast of
Cuba. Here he landed, and, erecting his standard in front of his quarters,
made proclamation, with liberal -offers to all who would join the expedition.
Volunteers came in daily, and among them more than a hundred of Grijalva's
men, just returned from their voyage and willing to follow up the discovery
under an enterprising leader. The fame of Cortes attracted, also, a number
of cavaliers of family and distinction, some of whom, having accompanied
Grijalva, brought much information valuable for the present expedition.
Among these hidalgos may be mentioned Pedro de Alvarado and his brothers,
Cristoval de Olid, Alonso de Avila, Juan Velasquez de Leon, a near relation
of the governor, Alonso Hernandez de Puertocarrero, and Gonzalo de San-
doval,— all of them men who took a most important part in the Conquest.
Their presence was of great moment, as giving consideration to the enterprise ;
and, when they entered the little camp of the adventurers, the latter turned
out to welcome them amidst lively strains of music and joyous salvos of
artillery.
Cortes meanwhile was active in purchasing military stores and provisions.
Learning that a trading-vessel laden with grain and other commodities for the
mines was off the coast, he ordered* out one of his caravels to seize her and
bring her into port. He paid the master in bills for both cargo and ship, and
even persuaded this man, named Sedeno, who was wealthy, to join his
fortunes to the expedition. He also despatched one of his officers, Diego de
Ordaz, in quest of another ship, of which he had tidings, with instructions to
* Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., cap. But it is not necessary to suppose that Cortes
114. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 3, intended a rupture with his employer by this
cap. 12. — Solis, who follows Bernal Diaz in clandestine movement, but only to secure
saying; that Cortes parted openly and amicably himself in the command. At all events, the
from Velasquez, seems to consider it a great text conforms in every particular to the state-
slander on the character of the former to ment of Las Casas, who, as he knew both the
suppose that he wanted to break with the parties well, and resided on the island at the
governor so soon, when he had received so time, had ample means of information,
little provocation. (Conquista, lib. 1, cap. 10.) s Hist, de las Indias, MS., cap. 114.
118 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
seize it in like manner, and to meet him with it off Cape St. Antonio, the
westerly point of the island.6 By this he effected another object, that of •
getting rid of Ordaz, who was one of the governor's household, and an incon-
venient spy on his own actions.
While thus occupied, letters from Velasquez were received by the com-
mander of Trinidad, requiring him to seize the person of Cortes and to detain
him, as he had been deposed from the command of the fleet, which was given
to another. This functionary communicated Ms instructions to the principal
officers in the expedition, who counselled him not to make the attempt, as
it would undoubtedly lead to a commotion among the soldiers, that might end
in laying the town in ashes. Verdugo thought it prudent to conform to this
advice.7
As Cortes was willing to strengthen himself by still further reinforcements,
lie ordered Alvarado with a small body of men to inarch across the country to
the Havana, while he himself would sail round the westerly point of the
island and meet him there with the squadron. In this port he again dis-
played his standard, making the usual proclamation. He caused all the large
guns to be brought on shore, and, with the small arms and cross-bows, to be
put in order. As there was abundance of cotton raised in this neighbourhood,
he had the jackets of the soldiers thickly quilted with it, for a defence against
the Indian arrows, from which the troops in the former expeditions had
grievously suffered. He distributed his men into eleven companies, each under
the command of an experienced officer ; and it was observed that, although
several of the cavaliers in the service were the personal friends and even
kinsmen of Velasquez, he appeared to treat them all Avith perfect confidence.
His principal standard was of black velvet, embroidered with gold, and
emblazoned with a red cross amidst flames of blue and white, with this motto
in Latin beneath : " Friends, let us follow the Cross ; and under this sign,
if we have faith, we shall conquer." He now assumed more state in his own
person and way of living, introducing a greater number of domestics and
officers into his household, and placing it on a footing becoming a man of high
station. This state he maintained through the rest of his life.
Cortes at this time was thirty-three, orperhaps thirty-four, years of age. In
stature he was rather above the middle size. His complexion was pale ; and
his large dark eye gave an expression of gravity to his countenance, not
to have been expected in one of his cheerful temperament. His figure
was slender, at least until later life ; but his chest was deep, his shoulders
broad, his frame muscular and well proportioned. It presented the union of
agility and vigour which qualified him to excel in fencing, horsemanship, and
the other generous exercises of chivalry. In his diet he was temperate, care-
less of what he ate, and drinking little ; while to toil and privation he seemed
perfectly indifferent. His dress, for he did not disdain the impression pro-
duced by such adventitious aids, was such as to set off his handsome person to
advantage ; neither gaudy nor striking, but rich. He wore few ornaments,
and usually the same ; but those were of great price. His manners, frank
and soldier-like, concealed a most cool and calculating spirit. With his gayest
e Las Casas had this, also, from the lips of cap. 8.— Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS.,
Cortes in later life. " Todo esto me dixo el cap. 114, 115.
mismo Cortes, con otras cosas cerca dello " Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
despues de Marques ; . . . reindo^y mofando 24. — De Rebus gestis, MS. — Gomara. Cionica,
6 con estas forinales palabras, A la mi fee cap. 8. — Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS.,
andube por alii como un gentil cosario." cap. 115. — The legend on the standard was.
Hist, de las Indias, MS., cap. 115. doubtless, suggested by that on the labarum,
7 De Rebus gestis, MS.— Gomara, Cronica, —the sacred banner of Constantine.
CORTES' CHARACTER. lit)
humour there mingled a settled air of resolution, which made those who
approached him feel they must obey, and which infused something like awe
into the attachment of his most devoted followers. Such a combination,
in which love was tempered by authority, was the one probably best calculated
to inspire devotion in the rough and turbulent spirits among whom his lot
was to be cast.
The character of Cortes seems to have undergone some change with change
of circumstances ; or, to speak more correctly, the new scenes in which he
was placed called forth qualities which before lay dormant in his bosom.
There are some hardy natures that require the heats of excited action to
unfold their energies ; like the plants which, closed to the mild influence of a
temperate latitude, come to their full growth, and give forth their fruits, only
in the burning atmosphere of the tropics. Such is the portrait left to us
by his contemporaries of this remarkable man ; the instrument selected by
Providence to scatter terror among the barbarian monarchs of the Western
World, and lay their empires in the dust.9
Before the preparations were fully completed at the Havana, the com-
mander of the place, Don Pedro Barba, received despatches from Velasquez
ordering him to apprehend Cortes and to prevent the departure of his vessels ;
while another epistle from the same source was delivered to Cortes himself,
requesting him to postpone his voyage till the governor could communicate
with him, as he proposed, in person. " Never," exclaims Las Casas, " did
I see so little knowledge of affairs shown, as in this letter of Diego Velasquez,
—that he should have imagined that a man who had so recently put such an
affront on him would defer his departure at his bidding ! " 10 It was, indeed,
hoping to stay the flight of the arrow by a word, after it had left the bow.
The Captain-General, however, during his short stay, had entirely con-
ciliated the good will of Barba. And, if that officer had had the inclination,
he knew he had not the power, to enforce his principal's orders, in the face
of a resolute soldiery, incensed at this ungenerous persecution of their com-
mander, and " all of whom," in the words of the honest chronicler who bore
part in the expedition, "officers and privates, would have cheerfully laid
down their lives for him." ll Barba contented himself, therefore, with
explaining to Velasquez the impracticability of the attempt, and at the same
time endeavoured to tranquillize his apprehensions by asserting his own
confidence in the fidelity of Cortes. To this the latter added a communication
of his own, couched "in the soft terms he knew so well how to use," 12 in
which he implored his Excellency to rely on his devotion to his interests, and
concluded with the comfortable assurance that lie and the whole fleet, God
willing, would sail on the following morning.
Accordingly, on the 10th of February, 1519, the little squadron got under
way, and directed its course towards Cape St. Antonio, the appointed place
of rendezvous. When all were brought together, the vessels were found to be
eleven in number ; one of them, in which Cortes himself went, was of a
hundred tons' burden, three others were from seventy to eighty tons ; the
remainder were caravels and open brigantines. The whole was put under
the direction of Antonio de Alaminos, as chief pilot ; a veteran navigator,
■ The most minute notices of the person and cap. 203 of the Hist, de la Conqmsta.
and habits of Cortes are to be gathered from ,0 Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., cap.
the narrative of the old cavalier Bernal Diaz. 115.
who served so long under him, and from " Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
Gomara, the general's chaplain. See in par- 24.
ticular the last chapter of Gomara's Cronica, '• Ibid., loc. cit.
120 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
who had acted as pilot to Columbus in his last voyage, and to Cordova and
Grijalva in the former expeditions to Yucatan.
Landing on the Cape and mustering his forces, Cortes found they amounted
to one hundred and ten mariners, five hundred and fifty-three soldiers,
including thirty-two cross-bowmen, and thirteen arquebusiers, besides two
hundred Indians of the island, and a few Indian women for menial offices.
He was provided with ten heavy guns, four lighter pieces called falconets,
and with a good supply of ammunition.13 He had besides sixteen horses.
They were not easily procured ; for the difficulty of transporting thffln across
the ocean in the flimsy craft of that day made them rare and incredibly dear
in the Islands.14 But Cortes rightfully estimated the importance of cavalry,
however small in number, both for their actual service in the field, and for
striking terror into the savages. With so paltry a force did he enter on a
conquest which even his stout heart must have shrunk from attempting with
such means, had he but foreseen half its real difficulties !
Before embarking, Cortes addressed his soldiers in a short but animated
harangue. He told them they were about to enter on a noble enterprise, one
that would make their name famous to after-ages. He was leading them
to countries more vast and opulent than any yet visited by Europeans. " I
hold out to you a glorious prize," continued the orator, " but it is to be won
by incessant toil. Great things are achieved only by great exertions, and
glory was never the reward of sloth.15 If I have laboured hard and staked
my all on this undertaking, it is for the love of that renown which is the
noblest recompense of man. But, if any among you covet riches more, be
but true to me, as I will be true to you and to the occasion, and I will make
you masters of such as our countrymen have never dreamed of ! You are
few in number, but strong in resolution ; and, if this does not falter, doubt
not but that the Almighty, who has never deserted the Spaniard in his
contest with the infidel, will shield you, though encompassed by a cloud of
enemies ; for your cause is a just cause, and you are to fight under the
banner of the Cross. Go forward, then," he concluded, " with alacrity and
confidence, and carry to a glorious issue the work so auspiciously begun." 1G
The rough eloquence of the general, touching the various chords of
ambition, avarice, and religious zeal, sent a thrill through the bosoms of his
martial audience ; and, receiving it with acclamations, they seemed eager to
13 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. scrvir en la dicha Conquista, que son diez e
26. — There is some discrepancy among au- ocho,que le ban costado a, quatrocientos cin-
thorities in regard to the numbers of the quenta e <£ quinientos pesos ha pagado, e que
army. The Letter from Vera Cruz, which deve mas de ocho mil pesos de oro dellos."
should have been exact, speaks in round (Probanza en Villa Segura, MS.) The esti-
terms of only four hundred soldiers. (Carta mation of these horses is sufficiently shown
de Vera Cruz, MS.) Velasquez himself, in a by the minute information Bernal Diaz has
communication to the Chief Judge of His- thought proper to give of every one of them ;
paniola, states the number at six hundred. minute enough for the pages of a sporting
(Carta de Diego Velasquez al Lie. Figueroa, calendar. See Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 23.
MS.) I have adopted the estimates of Bernal '" "Io vos propongo grandes premios, mas
Diaz, who, in his long service, seems to have embueltos en grandes trabajos ; pero la virtud
become intimately acquainted with everyone no quiere ociosidad." (Gomara, Cronica, cap.
of his comrades, their persons, and private 9.) It is the thought so finely expressed by
history. ■ Thomson :
14 Incrediblv dear indeed, since, from the ,, t-> i « * ^ i i
statements contained in the depositions at ''For sluggards brow the laurel never grows;
Villa Segura, it appears that the cost of the Renown 1S not the chlld of indolent reP08e-
horses for the expedition was from four to 16 The text is a very condensed abridgment
five hundred pesos de oro each ! " Si saben of the original speech of Cortes, — or of his
que de caballos que el dicho Sefior Capitan chaplain, as the case may be. See it, in
General Hernando Cortes ha comprado para Gomara, Cronica, cap. 9.
VOYAGE TO COZUMEL. 121
press forward under a chief who was to lead them not so much to battle, as
to triumph.
Cortes was well satisfied to find his own enthusiasm so largely shared by
his followers. Mass was then celebrated with the solemnities usual with the
Spanish navigators when entering on their voyages of discovery. The fleet
was placed under the immediate protection of St. Peter, the patron saint
of Cortes, and, weighing anchor, took its departure on the eighteenth day of
February, 1519, for the coast of Yucatan,17
CHAPTER IV.
VOYAGE TO COZUMEL— CONVERSION OF THE NATIVES— GERoNIMO DE AGUILAH
—ARMY ARRIVES AT TABASCO— GREAT BATTLE WITH THE INDIANS-
CHRISTIANITY INTRODUCED.
1519.
Orders were given for the vessels to keep as near together as possible, and
to take the direction of the capitania, or admiral's ship, which carried a
beacon-light in the stern during the night. But the weather, which had
been favourable, changed soon after their departure, and one of those
tempests set in which at this season are often found in the latitudes of the
West Indies. It fell with terrible force on the little navy, scattering it far
asunder, dismantling some of the ships, and driving them all considerably
south of their proposed destination.
Cortes, who had lingered behind to convoy a disabled vessel, reached the
island of Cozumel last. On landing, he learned that one of his captains,
Pedro de Alvarado, had availed himself of the short time he had been there,
to enter the temples, rifle them of their few ornaments, and, by his violent
conduct, so far to terrify the simple natives that they had fled for refuge into
the interior of the island. Cortes, highly incensed at these rash proceedings,
so contrary to the policy he had proposed, could not refrain from severely
reprimanding his officer in the presence of the army. He commanded two
Indian captives, taken by Alvarado, to be brought before him, and explained
to them the pacific purpose of his visit. This he did through the assistance
of his interpreter, Melchorejo, a native of Yucatan, who had been brought
back by Grijalva, and who during his residence in Cuba had picked up
" Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., cap. torian, therefore, had ample means of verify-
115.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 10.— De Rebus ing the truth of his own statements, although
gestis, MS.— "Tantus fait armorum appa- they too often betray, in his partiality for
ratus," exclaims the author of the last work, his hero, the influence of the patronage under
"quo alterum terrarum orbem bellis Cor- which the work was produced. It runs into
tesius concutit ; ex tarn parvis opibus tan- a prolixity of detail which, however tedious,-
turn imperium Carolo facit; aperitque om- has its uses in a contemporary document,
niiun primus Hispana? genti Hispaniam Unluckily, only the first book was finished,
novam ! " The author of this work is un- or, at least, has survived ; terminating with
known. It seems to have been part of a the events of this chapter. It is written in
great compilation," De Orbe Novo," written, Latin, in a pure and perspicuous style, and is
probably, on the plan of a series of bio- conjectured with some plausibility to be the
graphical sketches, as the introduction speaks work of Calvet de Estrella, Chronicler of the
of a life of Columbus preceding this of Cortes. Indies. The original exists in the Archives
It was composed, as it states, while many of of Simancas, where it was discovered and
the old Conquerors were still surviving, and transcribed by Mufioz, from whose copy that
is addressed to the son cf Cortes. The his- in my library was taken.
122
DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
some acquaintance with the Castilian. lie then dismissed them loaded with
presents, and with an invitation to their countrymen to return to their homes
without fear of further annoyance. This humane policy succeeded. The
fugitives, reassured, were not slow in coming back ; and an amicable inter-
course was established, in which Spanish cutlery and trinkets were exchanged
for the gold ornaments of the natives ; a traffic in which each party con-
gratulated itself— a philosopher might think with equal reason— on outwitting
the other.
The first object of Cortes was to gather tidings of the unfortunate-
Christians who were reported to be still lingering in captivity on the neigh-
bouring continent. From some traders in the island he obtained such a
confirmation of the report that he sent Diego de Ordaz with two brigantines
to the opposite coast of Yucatan, with instructions to remain there eight
days. Some Indians went as messengers in the vessels, who consented to
bear a letter to the captives informing them of the arrival of their country-
men in Cozumel with a liberal ransom for their release. Meanwhile the
general proposed to make an excursion to the different parts of the island,
that he might give employment to the restless spirits of the soldiers, and
ascertain the resources of the country.
It was poor and thinly peopled. But everywhere he recognized the
vestiges of a higher civilization . than what he had before witnessed in the
Indian islands. The houses were some of them large, and often built of
stone and lime. He was particularly struck with the temples, in which were
towers constructed of the same solid materials, and rising several stories in
height. In the court of one of these he was amazed by the sight of a cross,
of stone and lime, about ten palms high. It was the emblem of the god of
rain. Its appearance suggested the wildest conjectures, not merely to the
unlettered soldiers, but subsequently to the European scholar, who speculated
on the character of the races that had introduced there the sacred symbol
of Christianity. But no such inference, as we shall see hereafter, could be
warranted.1 Yet it must be regarded as a curious fact that the Cross snould
have been venerated as the object of religious worship both in the New
World and in regions of the Old where the light of Christianity had never risen.2
1 See Appendix, Part 1, Note 27.
2 Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.— Bernal Diaz,
Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 25, et seq. — Go-
mara, Cronica, cap. 10, 15.— Las Casas, Hist.
de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 115.— Herrera,
Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 4, cap. 6. — Martyr,
De Insulis nuper inventis (Colonise, 1574), p.
344.— While these pages were passing through
the press, but not till two years after they
were written, Mr. Stephens's important and
interesting volumes appeared, containing the
account of his second expedition to Yucatan.
In the latter part of the work he describes his
visit to Cozumel, now an uninhabited island
covered with impenetrable forests. Near the
shore he saw the remains of ancient Indiar
structures, which he conceives may possiblj
have been the same that met the eyes
Grijalva and Cortes, and which suggest
him some important inferences. He is le
into further reflections on the existence of the
cross as a symbol of worship among the
islanders. (Incidents of Travel in Yucatan
(New York, 1843), vol. ii. chap. 20.) As the
discussion of these matters would lead me
far from the track of our narrative, I shal
take occasion to return to them hereafter,
when I treat of the architectural remains of
the country.*
* [In the passages here referred to, the
author has noticed various proofs of the
existence of the cross as a symbol of worship
among pagan nations both in the Old World
and the New. The fact has been deemed a
very puzzling one ; yet the explanation, as
traced by Dr. Brinton, is sufficiently simple :
" The arms of the cross were designed to
point to the cardinal points and represent
the four winds,— the rain-bringers." Henc
the name given to it in the Mexican language
signifying " Tree of our Life," — a term well
calculated to increase the wonderment of the
Spanish discoverers. Myths of the Nev
World, p. 96, et al.— Ed.]
CONVERSION OF THE NATIVES. 123
The next object of Cortes was to reclaim the natives from their gross
idolatry and to substitute a purer form of worship. In accomplishing this
he was prepared to use force, if milder measures should be ineffectual. There
was nothing which the Spanish government had more earnestly at heart than
the conversion of the Indians. It forms the constant burden of their instruc-
tions, and gave to the military expeditions in this western hemisphere some-
what of the air of a crusade. The cavalier who embarked in them entered
fully into these chivalrous and devotional feelings. No doubt was entertained
of the efficacy of conversion, however sudden might be the change or however
violent the means. The sword was a good argument, when the tongue failed ;
and the spread of Mahometanism had shown that seeds sown by the hand of
violence, far from perishing in the ground, would spring up and bear fruit to
After-time. If this were so in a bad cause, how much niore would it be true in
a good one ! The Spanish cavalier felt he had a high mission to accom-
plish as a soldier of the Cross. However unauthorized or unrighteous the war
into which he had entered may seem to us, to him it was a holy war. He was
in arms against the infidel. Not to care for the soul of his benighted enemy
was to put his own in jeopardy. The conversion of a single soul might cover
a multitude of sins. It was not for morals that he was concerned, but for the
faith. This, though understood in its most literal and limited sense, com-
E rehended the whole scheme of Christian morality. 'Whoever died in the faith,
owever immoral had been his life, might be said to die in the Lord. Such
was the creed of the Castilian knight of that day, as imbibed from the preach-
ings of the pulpit, from cloisters and colleges at home, from monks and
missionaries abroad, — from all save one, whose devotion, kindled at a purer
source, was not, alas ! permitted to send forth its radiance far into the thick
gloom by which he was encompassed.3
No one partook more fully of the feelings above described than Hernan
Corte's. He was, in truth, the veiy mirror of the time in which he lived,
reflecting its motley characteristics, its speculative devotion and practical
license, but with an 'intensity all his own. He was greatly scandalized at the.
exhibition of the idolatrous practices of the people of Cozumel, though untainted,
as it would seem, with human sacrifices. He endeavoured to persuade them
to embrace a better faith, through the agency of two ecclesiastics who attended
the expedition,— the licentiate Juan Diaz and Father Bartolome de Olmedo.
The latter of these godly men afforded the rare example— rare in any age— of
the union of fervent zeal with charity, while he beautifully illustrated in his
own conduct the precepts which he taught. He remained with the army
through the whole expedition, and by his Avise and benevolent counsels was
often enabled to mitigate the cruelties of the Conquerors, and to turn aside
the edge of the sword from the unfortunate natives.
These two missionaries vainly laboured to persuade the people of Cozumel
to renounce their abominations, and to allow the Indian idols, in which the
Christians recognized the true lineaments of Satan,4 to be thrown down and
demolished. The simple natives, filled with horror at the proposed profanation,
exclaimed that these were the gods who sent them the sunshine and the storm,
and, should any violence be offered, they would be sure to avenge it by sending
their lightnings on the heads of its perpetrators.
" * See the biographical sketch of the good to them as he is, and left these forms stamped
bishop Las Casas, the " Protector of the on their imagination, so that the imitative
Indians," in the.Postscript at the close of the power of the artist reveals itself in the ugli-
present Book. ness of the image." Soli's, Conquista, p. 39.
* " It may have been that the devil appeared
124 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
Cortes was probably not much of a polemic. At all events, he preferred on
the present occasion action to argument, and thought that the best way to
convince the Indians of their error was to prove the falsehood of the prediction.
He accordingly, without further ceremony, caused the venerated images to be
rolled down the stairs of the great temple, amidst the groans and lamentations
of the natives. An altar was hastily constructed, an image of the Virgin and
Child placed over it, and mass was performed by Father Olmedo and his
reverend companion for the first time within the walls of a temple in JSTew
Spain. The patient ministers tried once more to pour the light of the gospel
into the benighted understandings of the islanders, and to expound the
mysteries of the Catholic faith. The Indian interpreter must have afforded
rather a dubious channel for the transmission of such abstruse doctrines. But
they at length found favour with their auditors, Avho, whether overawed by
the bold bearing of the invaders, or convinced of the impotence of deities
that could not shield their own shrines from violation, now consented to
embrace Christianity.5
While Cortes was thus occupied with the triumphs of the Cross, he received
intelligence that Ordaz had returned from Yucatan without tidings of the
Spanish captives. Though much chagrined, the general did not choose to
postpone longer his departure from Cozumel. The fleet had been well stored
with provisions by the friendly inhabitants, and, embarking his troops, Corte's,
in the beginning of March, took leave of its hospitable shores. The squadron
had not proceeded far, however, before a leak in one of the vessels compelled
them to return to the same port. The detention was attended with important
consequences ; so much so, indeed, that a writer of the time discerns in it " a
great mystery and a miracle." 6
Soon after landing, a canoe with several Indians was seen making its way
from the neighbouring shores of Yucatan. On reaching the island, one of the
men inquired, in broken Castilian, " if he were among Christians," and, being
answered in the affirmative, threw himself on his knees and returned thanks
to Heaven for his delivery. He was one of the unfortunate captives for whose
fate so much interest had been felt. His name was Geronimo de Aguilar, a
native of Ecija, in Old Spain, where he had been regularly educated for the
church. He had been established with the colony at Darien, and on a voyage
from that place to Hispaniola, eight years previous, was wrecked near the
coast of Yucatan. He escaped with several of his companions in the ship's
boat, where some perished from hunger and exposure, while others were
sacrificed, on their reaching land, by the canmbal natives of the peninsula.
Aguilar was preserved from the same dismal fate by escaping into the interior,
where he fell into the hands of a powerful cacique, who, though he spared his
life, treated him at first with great rigour. The patience of the captive, how-
ever, and his singular humility, touched the better feelings of the chieftair
5 Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.— Gomara, Cro- Deity and of the doctrines they are to em-
nica, cap. 13. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, brace. Above all, the lives of the Christians
lib. 4, cap. 7.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., should be such as to exemplify the truth
cap. 78. — Las Casas, whose enlightened views these doctrines, that, seeing this, the poor
in religion would have done honour to the Indian may glorify the Father, and acknow-
present age, insists on the futility of these ledge him, who has such worshippers, for tl
forced conversions, by which it was proposed true and only God." See the original re
in a few days to wean men from the idolatry marks, which I quote in extinso, as a goc
which they had been taught to reverence specimen of the bishop's style when kindle
from the cradle. " The only way of doing by his subject into eloquence, in Appendb
this," he says, " is by long, assiduous, and Part 2, No. 6.
faithful preaching, until the heathen shall 6 " Muy gran misterio y milagro de Pios,'1
gather some ideas of the true nature of tbe Carta de Vera Cruz, MS,
GERONIMO BE AGUILAR. 125
who would have persuaded Aguilar to take a wife among his people, but the
ecclesiastic steadily refused, in obedience to his vows. This admirable con-
stancy excited the distrust of the cacique, who put his virtue to a severe test
by various temptations, and much of the same sort as those with which the
Devil is said to have assailed St. Anthony.7 From all these fiery trials,
however, like his ghostly predecessor, he came out unscorched. Continence
is too rare and difficult a virtue with barbarians, not to challenge their venera-
tion, and the practice of it has made the reputation of more than one saint
in the Old as well as the New World. Aguilar was now intrusted with the
care of his master's household and his numerous wives. He was a man of
discretion, as well as virtue ; and his counsels were found so salutary that he
was consulted on all important matters. In short, Aguilar became a great
man among the Indians.
It was with much regret, therefore, that his master received the proposals
for his return to his countrymen, to which nothing but the rich treasure
of glass beads, hawk-bells, and other jewels of like value, sent for his ransom,
would have induced him to consent. When Aguilar reached the coast, there
had been so much delay that the brigantines had sailed ; and it was owing to
the fortunate return of the fleet to Cozumel that he was enabled to join it.
On appearing before Cortes, the poor man saluted him in the Indian style,
by touching the earth with his hand and carrying it to his head. The
commander, raising him up, affectionately embraced him, covering him at the
same time with his own cloak, as Aguilar was simply clad in the habiliments
of the country, somewhat too scanty for a European eye. It was long, indeed,
before the tastes which he had acquired in the freedom of the forest could be
reconciled to the constraints either of dress or manners imposed by the arti-
ficial forms of civilization. Aguilar's long residence in the country had fami-
liarized him with the Mayan dialects of Yucatan, and, as he gradually revived
his Castilian, he became of essential importance as an interpreter. Cortes
saw the advantage of this from the first, but he could not fully estimate
all the consequences that were to flow from it.8
The repairs of the vessels being at length completed, the Spanish com-
mander once more took leave of the friendly natives of Cozumel, and set sail
on the 4th of March. Keeping as near as possible to the coast of Yucatan,
he doubled Cape Catoche, and with flowing sheets swept down the broad bay
of Campeachy, fringed with the rich dye-woods which have since furnished so
important an article of commerce to Europe. He passed Potonchan, where
Cordova had experienced a rough reception from the natives ; and soon after
reached the mouth of the Rio de Tabasco, or Grijalva, in which that navi-
gator had carried on so lucrative a traffic. Though mindful" of the great
object of his voyage, — the visit to the Aztec territories, — he was desirous of
acquainting himself with the resources of this country, and determined to
ascend the river and visit the great town on its borders.
The water was so shallow, from the accumulation of sand .at the mouth of
the stream, that the general was obliged to leave the ships at anchor and to
* They are enumerated by Herrera with a et seq.
minuteness which may claim at least the 8 Camargo, Historia de Tlascala, MS.—
merit of giving a much higher notion of Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 33, cap.
Aguilar's virtue than the barren generalities 1.— Martyr, De Insulis, p. 347.— Bernal Diaz,
of the text. (Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 4, cap. Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 29.— Carta de Vera
6-8.) The story is prettily told by Washington Cruz; MS.— Las Casas, Hist, de las Jndias,
Irving, Voyages and Discoveries of the Com- MS., lib. 3, cap. 115, 11G.
pauions of Columbus (London, 1833), p. 263,
126 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
embark in the boats with a part only of his forces. The banks were thickly
studded with mangrove -trees, that, with their roots shooting up and inter-
lacing one another, formed a kind of impervious screen or net-work, behind
which the dark forms of the natives were seen glancing to and fro with the
most menacing looks and gestures. Cortes, much surprised at these un-
friendly demonstrations, so unlike what he had had reason to expect, moved
cautiously up the stream. When he had reached an open place, where a
large number of Indians were assembled, he asked, through his interpreter,
leave to land, explaining at the same time his amicable intentions. But the
Indians, brandishing their weapons, answered only with gestures of angry
defiance. Though much chagrined, Corte's thought it best not to urge the
matter further that evening, but withdrew to a neighbouring island, where he
disembarked his troops, resolved to effect a landing on the following morning.
When day broke, the Spaniards saw the opposite banks lined with a much
more numerous array than on the preceding evening, while the canoes along
the shore were filled with bands of armed warriors. Cortes now made his
preparations for the attack. He first landed a detachment of a hundred m*en
under Alonso de Avila, at a point somewhat lower down the stream, sheltered
by a thick grove of palms, from which a road, as he knew, led to the town of
Tabasco, giving orders to his officer to march at once on the place, while he
himself advanced to assault it in front.9
Then, -embarking the remainder of his troops, Corte's crossed the river in
face of the enemy ; but, before commencing hostilities, that he might " act
with entire regard to justice, and in obedience to the instructions of the Royal
Council," 10 he first caused proclamation to be made, through the interpreter,
that he desired only a free passage for his men, and that he proposed to revive
the friendly relations which had formerly subsisted between his countrymen
and the natives. He assured them that if blood were split the sin would lie
on their heads, and that resistance would be useless, since he was resolved at
all hazards to take up his cpiarters that night in the town of Tabasco. This
proclamation, delivered in lofty tone, and duly recorded by the notary, was
answered by the Indians— who might possibly have comprehended one word
in ten of it— with shouts of defiance and a shower of arrows.11
Cortes, having now complied with all the requisitions of a loyal cavalier, and
shifted the responsibility from his own shoulders to those of the Royal Council,
brought his boats alongside of the Indian canoes. They grappled fiercely
together, and both parties were soon in the water, which rose above the girdle.
The struggle was not long, though desperate. The superior strength of the
Europeans prevailed, and they forced the enemy back to land. Here, however,
,J Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. another place he pronounces an animated
31.— Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.— Gomara, Cro- invective against the iniquity of those whc
nica, cap. 18.— Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, covered up hostilities under this empty for
MS., lib. 3, cap. 118.— Martyr, De Insulis, p. of words, the import of which was utter.
348. — There are some discrepancies between incomprehensible to the barbarians. (Ibid,
the statements of Bernal Diaz and the Letter lib. 3, cap. 57.) The famous formula, use
from Vera Cruz ; both by parties who were by the Spanish conquerors on this occasio
present. was drawn up by Dr. Palacios Reubios, a ms
10 Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.— Bernal Diaz, of letters, and a member of the King's council
Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 31. " But I laugh at him and his letters," es
11 "See," exclaims the Bishop of Chiapa, in claims Oviedo, "if he thought a word of
his caustic vein, " the reasonableness of this could be comprehended by the untutore
'requisition,' or, to speak more correctly, the Indians!" (Hist, de las Lid., MS., lib. 29,
folly and insensibility of the Royal Council, cap. 1.) The regular Manifesto, requiri
who could find, in the refusal of the Indians miento, may be found translated in the con
to receive it, a good pretext for war." (Hist. eluding pages of Irving's " Vovages of tf
de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 118.) In Companions of Columbus."
ARMY ARRIVES AT TABASCO. 127
they were supported by their countrymen, who showered down darts, arrows,
and blazing billets of wood on the, heads of the invaders. The banks were soft
and slippery, and it was with difficulty the soldiers made good their footing.
Cortes lost a sandal in the mud, but continued to fight barefoot, with great
exposure of his person, as the Indians, who soon singled out the leader, called
to one another, " Strike at the chief ! "
At length the Spaniards gained the bank, and were able to come into some-
thing like order, when they opened a brisk tire from their arquebuses and
cross-bows. The enemy, astounded by the roar and flash of the fire-arms, of
which they had had no experience, fell back, and retreated behind a breast-
work of timber thrown across the way. The Spaniards, hot in the pursuit,
soon carried these rude defences, and drove the Tabascans before them
towards the town, where they again took shelter behind their palisades.
Meanwhile Avila had arrived from the opposite quarter, and the natives,
taken by surprise, made no further attempt at resistance, but abandoned the
place to the Christians. They had previously removed their families and
effects. Some provisions fell into the hands of the victors, but little gold, "a
circumstance," says Las Casas, " which gave them no particular satisfaction." J-
It was a very populous place. The houses were mostly of mud ; the better
sort of stone and lime ; affording proofs in the inhabitants of a superior refine-
ment to that found in the Islands, as their stout resistance had given evidence
of superior valour.13
Cortes, having thus made himself master of the town, took formal possession
of it for the crown of Castile. He gave three cuts with his sword on a. large
ceiba-tree which grew in the place, and proclaimed aloud that he took posses-
sion of the city in the name and behalf of the Catholic sovereigns, and would
maintain and defend the same with sword and buckler against all who should
gainsay it. The same vaunting declaration was also made by the soldiers, and
the whole was duly recorded and attested by the notary. This was the usual
simple but chivalric form with which the Spanish cavaliers asserted the royal
title to the conquered territorities in the New World. It was a good title,
doubtless, against the claims of any other European potentate.
The general took up his quarters that night in the court-yard of the princi-
pal temple, He posted his sentinels, and took all the precautions practised in
Avars with a civilized foe. Indeed, there Avas reason for them. A suspicious
silence seemed to reign through the place and its neighbourhood ; and tidings
Avere brought that the interpreter, Melchorejo, had lied, leaving his Spanish
dress hanging on a tree. Corte's Avas disquieted by the desertion of this man,
Avho would not only inform his countrymen of the small number of the
Spaniards, but dissipate any illusions that might be entertained of their
superior natures.
On the folloAving morning, as no traces of the enemy Avere visible, Cortes
ordered out a detachment under Alvarado, and another under Francisco de
12 " Halhironlas llenas de maiz c gallinas y calce fabrefactce, maxima indu&trid et archi-
otros vastimentos, oro ninguno, de lo que tectorum arte." (De Insulis, p. 349.) AVilh
ellos no rescivieron mucho plazer." Hist, de Iris usual inquisitive spirit, he gleaned all the
las Ind., MS., ubi supra. particulars from the old pilot Alaniinos, and
13 Peter Martyr gives a glowing picture of from two of the officers of Cortes who revisited
this Indian capital. "Ad flumini3 ripam Spain in the course of that year. Tabasco
protentum dicunt esse oppidum, quantum non was in the neighbourhood of those ruined
auMm dicere : mille quingentorum passuum, cities of Yucatan which have lately been the
ait Alanrinus nauclerus, et domorum quinque theme of 60 much speculation. The encomiums
ac viginti millium : stringunt alij, ingens of Martyr are not so remarkable as the apathy
tamen fatentur et celebre. Hortia iaterse- of other contemporary chroniclers.
cantur domus, qua; sunt egregil laphlibus et
128 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
Lujo, to reconnoitre. The latter officer had not advanced a league, before he
learned the position of the Indians, by their attacking him in such force that
he was fain to take shelter in a large stone building, where he was closely
besieged. Fortunately, the loud yells of the assailants, like most barbarous
nations seeking to strike terror by their ferocious cries, reached the ears of
Alvarado and his men, who, speedily advancing to the relief of their comrades,
enabled them to force a passage through the enemy. Both parties retreated,
closely pursued, on the town, when Cortes, marching out to their support,
compelled the Tabascans to retire.
A few prisoners were taken in this skirmish. By them Cortes found his
worst apprehensions verified. The country was everywhere in arms. A force
consisting of many thousands had assembled from the neighbouring provinces,
and a general assault was resolved on for the next day. To the general's
inquiries why he had been received in so different a manner from his prede-
cessor, Grijalva, they answered that " the conduct of the Tabascans then had
given great offence to the other Indian tribes, who taxed them with treachery
and cowardice ; so that they had promised, on any return of the white men, to
resist them in the same manner as their neighbours had done." u
Cortes might now well regret that he had allowed himself to deviate from
the direct object of his enterprise, and to become entangled in a doubtful war
which could lead to no profitable result. But it was too late to repent. He
had taken the step, and had no alternative but to go forward. To retreat
would dishearten his own men at the outset, impair their confidence in him as
their leader, and confirm the arrogance of his foes, the tidings of whose success
might precede him on his voyage and prepare the way for greater mortifica-
tions and defeats. He did not hesitate as to the course he was to pursue, but,
calling his officers together, announced his intention to give battle the follow-
ing morning.15
He sent back to the vessels such as were disabled by their wounds, and
ordered the remainder of the forces to join the camp. Six of the heavy guns
were also taken from the ships, together with all the horses. The animals
were stiff and torpid from long confinement on board ; but a few hours' exercise
restored them to their strength and usual spirit. He gave the command of
the artillery— if it may be dignified with the name— to a soldier named Mesa,
who had acquired some experience as an engineer in the Italian wars. The
infantry he put under .the orders of Diego de Ordaz, and took charge of the
cavalry himself. It consisted of some of the most valiant gentlemen of his
little band, among whom may be mentioned Alvarado, Velasquez de Leon,
Avila, Puertocarrero, Olid, Montejo. Having thus made all the necessary
arrangements, and settled his plan of battle, he retired to rest,— but not to
slumber. His feverish mind, as may well be imagined, was filled with anxiety
for the morrow, which might decide the fate of his expedition ; and, as was
his wont on such occasions, he was frequently observed, during the night, going
the rounds, and visiting the sentinels, to see that no one slept upon his post.
At the first glimmering of light he mustered his army, and declared his
purpose not to abide, cooped up in the town, the assault of the enemy, but to
march at once against him. For he wrell knew that the spirits rise with action,
and that the attacking party gathers a confidence from the very movement
14 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. dress of Cortes on the occasion, he summon*
31, 32. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 18. — Las Casas, a council of his captains to advise him as I
Hist.de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 118, 119. the course he should pursue. (Conquista,
— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 78, 79. cap. 19.) It is possible ; but 1 find no warrant
15 According to Soli's, who quotes the ad- for it anywhere.
GREAT BATTLE WITH THE INDIANS. 129
which is not felt by the one who is passively, perhaps anxiously, awaiting the
assault. The Indians were understood to be encamped on a level ground a
few miles distant from the city, called the plain of Ceutla. The general com-
manded that Ordaz should march with the foot, including the artillery, directly
across the country, and attack them in front, while he himself would fetch a
circuit with the horse, and turn their flank when thus engaged, or fall upok
their rear.
These dispositions being completed, the little army heard mass and then
sallied forth from the wooden walls of Tabasco. It was Lady-day, the twenty-
fifth of March, — long memorable in the annals of New Spain. The district
around the town was checkered with patches of maize, and, on the lower
level, with plantations of cacao, — supplying the beverage, and perhaps the
coin, of the country, as in Mexico. These plantations, requiring constant
irrigation, were fed by numerous canals and reservoirs of water, so that the
country could not be traversed without great toil and difficulty. It was, howr-
ever, intersected by a narrow path or causeway over Avhich the cannon could be
dragged.
The troops advanced more than a league on their laborious march, without
descrying the enemy. The weather was sultry, but few of them were embar-
rassed by the heavy mail worn by the European cavaliers at that period.
Their cotton jackets, thickly quilted, afforded a tolerable protection against
the arrows of the Indians, and allowed room for the freedom and activity of
movement essential to a life of rambling adventure in the wilderness.
At length they came in sight of the broad plains of Ceutla, and beheld the
dusky lines of the enemy stretching, as far as the eye could reach, along the
edge of the horizon. The Indians had shown some sagacity in the choice of
their position ; and, as the weary Spaniards came slowly on, floundering
through the morass, the Tabascans set up their hideous battle-cries, and dis-
charged volleys of arrows, stones, and other missiles, which rattled like hail
on the shields and helmets of the assailants. Many wyere severely wounded
before they could gain the firm ground, where they soon cleared a space for
themselves, and opened a heavy fire of artillery and musketry on the dense
columns of the enemy, which presented a fatal'mark for the balls. Numbers
were swept down at every discharge ; but the bold barbarians, far from being
dismayed, threw up dust and leaves to hide their losses, and, sounding their
war-instruments, shot off fresh flights of arrows in return.
They even pressed closer on the Spaniards, and, when driven off by a vigor-
ous charge, soon turned again, and, rolling back like the waves of the ocean,
seemed ready to overwhelm the little band by weight of numbers. Thus
cramped, the latter had scarcely room to perform their necessary evolutions,
or even to work their guns with effect.16
The engagement had now lasted more than an hour, and the Spaniards,
sorely pressed, looked with great anxiety for the arrival of the horse — which
some unaccountable impediments must have detained— to relieve them from
their perilous position. At this crisis, the farthest columns of the Indian army
were seen to be agitated and thrown into a disorder that rapidly spread through
the whole mass. It was not long before the ears of the Christians were saluted
with the cheering war-cry of " San Jago and San Pedro ! " and they beheld the
bright helmets and swords of the Castilian chivalry flashing back the rays of the
16 Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. Hist. Chicb., MS., cap. 79. — Bernal Diaz, Hist.
3, cap. 119.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 19, 20.— de la Conc'piista, cap. 33, 36.— Carta de Vera
Herrera, Mist, general, dec. 2, lib. 4, cap. 11. Cruz, .MS.
—Martyr, Do InsuUs, p. 350.— Ixtlilsocbitl,
130
DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
morning sun, as they dashed through the ranks of the enemy, striking to the
right and left, and scattering dismay around them. The eye of faith, indeed,
could discern the patron Saint of Spain, himself, mounted on his gray war-
horse, heading the rescue and trampling over the bodies of the fallen infidels ! 17
The approach of Cortes had been greatly retarded by the broken nature of
the ground. When he came up the Indians were so hotly engaged that he
was upon them before they observed his approach, fie ordered his men to
direct their lances at the faces of their opponents,18 who, terrified at the
monstrous apparition,— for they supposed the rider and the horse, which they
bad never before seen, to be one and the same,19— were seized with a panic.
Ordaz availed himself of it to command a general charge along the line, and
the Indians, many of them throwing away their arms, fled without attempting
further resistance.
Cortes was too content with the victory to care to follow it up by dipping
his sword in the blood of the fugitives. He drew off his men to a copse of
palms which skirted the place, and under their broad canopy the soldiers
offered up thanksgivings to the Almighty for the victory vouchsafed them.
The field of battle was made the site of a town, called, in honour of the day
on which the action took place, Santa Maria de la Victoria, long afterwards
the capital of the province.20 The number of those who fought or fell in the
engagement is altogether doubtful. Nothing, indeed, is more uncertain than
numerical estimates of barbarians. And they gain nothing in probability
when they come, as in the present instance, from the reports of their enemies.
Most accounts, however, agree that the Indian force consisted of five squadrons
of eight thousand men each. There is more discrepancy as to the number of
slain, varying from one to thirty thousand S In this monstrous discordance,
the common disposition to exaggerate may lead us to look for truth in the
neighbourhood of the smallest number. The loss of the Christians was incon-
siderable ; not exceeding — if we receive their own reports, probably, from the
same causes, much diminishing the truth— two killed and less than a hundred
17 Ixtlilxochitl. Hist.Chich.,MS. cap. 79.—
" Cortes supposed it was his own tutelar
saint, St. Peter," says Pizarro y Orellana;
*' but the common and indubitable opinion is
that it was our glorious apostle St. James,
the bulwark and safeguard of our nation."
(Varones ilustres, p. 73.) "Sinner that I
am," exclaims honest Bernal Diaz, in a more
skeptical vein, " it was not permitted to me
to see either the one or the other of the
Apostles on this occasion." Hist, de la Con-
quista, cap. 34.*
13 It was the order— as the reader may re
member — given by C»sar to his followers ii
his battle with Pompey :
" Adversosque jubet ferro'confundere vultus.
Lucan, Pharsalia, lib. 7, v. 575.
13 "Equites," says Paolo Giovio, " unur
integrum Centaurorum specie animal es
existimarent." Elogia Virorum Illustriui
(Basil, 1696), lib. 6, p. 229.
'20 Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn, iii
p. 11.
* [The remark of Bernal Diaz is not to be
taken as ironical. His faith in the same
vision on subsequent occasions is expressed
without demur. In the present case he re-
cognized the rider of the gray horse as a
Spanish cavalier, Francisco de Morla. It ap-
pears from the account of Andres de 'IVipia,
sinother companion of Cortes, whose narrative
has been recently published, that, owing to
canals and other impediments, the cavalry
was unable to effect the intended detour, and
it therefore returned and joined the infantry.
The latter, meanwhile, having seen a cavalier
on a gray horse charging the Indians in their
rear, supposed that the cavalry had penetrated
to that quarter. Cortes, on hearing this, ex-
claimed, " Adelante, companeros, que Dios es
con nosotros." (Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc. para
la Hist, de Mexico, torn, i.) TYipia Bays
nothing about St. James or St. Peter, and
perhaps suspected that the incident was a
ruse contrived by Cortes. Generally, how-
ever, such legends seem to be sufficiently
explained by the religious belief and excited
imagination of the narrators. See the re-
marks, on this point, of Macaulay, who
notices the account of Diaz, in the introduc-
tion to his lay of the Battle of the Lake Re-
gillus.— Ed.]
CHRISTIANITY INTRODUCED. 131
wounded ! We may readily comprehend the feelings of the Conquerors, "when
they declared that " Heaven must have fought on their side, since their own
strength could never have prevailed against such a multitude of enemies ! "21
Several prisoners were taken in the battle, among them two chiefs. Cortes
gave them their liberty, and sent a message by them to their countrymen
" that he would overlook the past, if they would come in at once and tender
their submission. Otherwise lie would ride over the land, and put every living
tiling in it, man, woman, and child, to the sword !" With this formidable
menace ringing in their ears, the envoys departed.
But the Tabascans had no relish for further hostilities. A bony of inferior
chiefs appeared the next day, clad in dark dresses of cotton, intimating their
abject condition, and implored leave to bury their dead. It was granted by
the general, with many assurances of his friendly disposition ; but at the same
time he told them he expected their principal caciques, as he would treat with
none other. These soon presented themselves, attended by a numerous train
of vassals, who followed with timid curiosity to the Christian camp. Among
their propitiatory gifts were twenty female slaves, which, from the character
of one of them, proved of infinitely more consequence than was anticipated
by either Spaniards or Tabascans. Confidence was soon restored, and was
succeeded by a friendly intercourse, and the interchange of Spanish toys for
the rude commodities of the country, articles of food, cotton, and a few gold
ornaments of little value. When asked where the precious metal was pro-
cured, they pointed to the west, and answered, " Culhua," " Mexico." The
Spaniards saw this was no place for them to traffic, or to tarry in. Yet
here, they were not many leagues distant from a potent and opulent city,
or what once had been so, the ancient Palenque. But its glory may haye
even then passed away, and its name have been forgotten by the surrounding
nations.
'Before his departure the Spanish commander did not omit to provide for
one great object of his expedition, the conversion of the Indians! He first
represented to the caciques that he had been sent thither by a powerful
monarch on the other side of the water, for whom he had now a right to claim
their allegiance. He then caused the reverend fathers Olmedo and Diaz to
enlighten their minds, as far as possible, in regard to the great truths of
revelation, urging them to receive these in place of their own heathenish
abominations. The Tabascans, whose perceptions were no doubt materially
quickened by the discipline they had undergone, made but a faint resistance
to either proposal. The next day was Palm Sunday, and the general resolved
to celebrate their conversion by one of those pompous ceremonials of the
Church, which should make a lasting impression on their minds.
A solemn procession was formed of the whole army, with the ecclesiastics
at their head, each soldier bearing a palm-branch in his hand. The concourse
was swelled by thousands of Indians of both sexes, who followed in curious
astonishment at the spectacle. The long files bent their way through the
flowery savannas that bordered the settlement, to the principal temple, where
an altar was raised, and the image of the presiding deity was deposed to make
21 "Crean Vras. lleales Altezas por cicrto, de la'Conquista, cap. 35.) It is Las Casus,
que esta batalla fue vencida mas por volun- who, regulating his mathematics, as usual,
tad de Dios que por nras. fuerzas, porquc by his feelings, rates the Indian loss at the
para con quarenta mil hombres de guerra, exorbitant amount cited in the text. "This,"
poca defeusa fuera quatrozientos que nosotros he concludes, dryly, " was the first preaching
eramos." (Carta de Vera Cruz, MS. — Go- of the gospel by Cortes in New Spain " !
mara, Cronica, cap. 20..— Bemal Diaz, Hist. Hist, de las Indias.'MS., lib. 3, cap. 119.
132 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
room for that of the Virgin with the infant Saviour. Mass was celebrated by
Father Ohnedo, and the soldiers who were capable joined in the solemn chant.
The natives listened in profound silence, and, if we may believe the chronicler
of the event who witnessed it, were melted into tears ; wh^le their hearts were
penetrated with reverential awe for the God of those terrible beings who
seemed to wield in their own hands the thunder and the lightning.22
The Roman Catholic communion has, it must be admitted, some decided
advantages over the Protestant, for the purposes of proselytism. The dazzling
pomp of its service and its touching appeal to the sensibilities affect the imagina-
tion of the rude child of nature much more powerfully than the cold abstrac-
tions of Protestantism, which, addressed to the reason, demand a degree of
refinement and mental culture in the audience to comprehend them. The
respect, moreover, shown by the Catholic for the material representations of
Divinity, greatly facilitates the same object. It is true, such representations
are used by him only as incentives, not as the objects of worship. But this
distinction is lost on the savage, who finds such forms of adoration too analo-
gous to his own to impose any great violence on his feelings. It is only re-
quired of him to transfer his homage from the image of Quetzalcoatl, the
benevolent deity who walked among men, to that of the Virgin or the Re-
deemer ; from the Cross, which he has worshipped as the emblem of the god
of rain, to the same Cross, the symbol of salvation.
These solemnities concluded, Cortes prepared to return to his ships, well
satisfied with the impression made on the new converts, and with the conquests
he had thus achieved for Castile and Christianity. The soldiers, taking leave
of their Indian friends, entered the boats with the palm -branches in their
hands, and, descending the river, re-embarked on board their vessels, which
rode at anchor at its mouth. A favourable breeze was blowing, and the
little navy, opening its sails to receive it, was soon on its way again to the
golden shores of Mexico.
CHAPTER V.
VOYAGE ALONG THE COAST— DONA MARINA— SPANIARDS LAND IN MEXICO-
INTERVIEW WITH THE AZTECS.
1519.
The fleet held its course so near the shore that the inhabitants could be seen
on it ; and, as it swept along the winding borders of the Gulf, the soldiers, who
had been on the former expedition with Grijalva, pointed out to their com-
panions the memorable places on the coast. Here was the Bio de Alvarado,
named after the gallant adventurer, who was present also in this expedition ;
there the Bio de Vanderas, in which Grijalva had carried on so lucrative a
commerce with the Mexicans ; and there the Ida de los Sacrificios, where
the Spaniards first saw the vestiges of human sacrifice on the coast. Puerto-
carrero, as he listened to these reminiscences of the sailors, repeated the words
of the old ballad of Montesinos> " Here is France, there is Paris, and there the
22 Gomara, Cronica, cap. 21, 22.— Carta de —Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., ubi
Vera Cruz, MS.— Martyr, De Insulis, p. 351. supra.
DONA MARINA. 133
waters of the Duero," J etc. " But I advise you,"' he added, turning to Cortes,
"to look out only for the rich lands, and the best way to govern them."
" Fear not," replied his commander : " if Fortune but favours me as she did
Orlando, and I have such gallant gentlemen as you for my companions, I shall
understand myself very well."2
The fleet had now arrived off San Juan de Ulna, the island so named by
Grijalva. The weather was temperate and serene, and crowds of natives were
gathered on the shore of the main laud, gazing at the strange phenomenon,
as the vessels glided along under easy sail on the smooth bosom of the waters.
It was the evening of Thursday in Passion Week. The air came pleasantly
off the shore, and Corte's, liking the spot, thought he might safely anchor
under the lee of the island, which would shelter him from the nortes that sweep
over these seas with fatal violence in the winter, sometimes even late in the
spring.
The ships had not been long at anchor, when a light pirogue, filled with
natives, shot off from the neighbouring continent, and steered for the general's
vessel, distinguished by the royal ensign of Castile floating from the mast.
The Indians came on board with a frank confidence, inspired by the accounts
of the Spaniards spread by their countrymen who had traded with Grijalva.
They brought presents of fruits and flowers and little ornaments of gold, which
they gladly exchanged for the usual trinkets. Cortes was baffled in his
attempts to hold a conversation with his visitors by means of the interpreter,
Aguilar, who was ignorant of the language ; the Mayan dialects, with which
he was conversant, bearing too little resemblance to the Aztec. The natives
supplied the deficiency, as far as possible, by the uncommon vivacity and
significance of their gestures,— the hieroglyphics of speech ; but the Spanish
commander saw with chagrin the embarrassments he must encounter in future
for want of a more perfect medium of communication.3 In this dilemma, he
was informed that one of the female slaves given to him by the Tabascan
chiefs Avas a native Mexican, and understood the language. Her name— that
given to her by the Spaniards— was Marina ; and, as she was to exercise a
most important influence on their fortunes, it is necessary to acquaint the
reader with something of her character and history.
She was born at Painalla, in the province of Coatzacualco, on the south-
eastern borders of the Mexican empire. Her father, a rich and powerful
cacique, died when she was very young. Her mother married again, and,
having a son, she conceived the infamous idea of securing to this offspring of
her second union Marina's rightful inheritance. She accordingly feigned that
the latter was dead, but secretly delivered her into the hands of some itinerant
traders of Xicallanco. She availed herself, at the same time, of the death
of a child of one of her slaves, to substitute the corpse for that of her own
daughter, and celebrated the obsequies with mock solemnity. These par-
ticulars are related by the honest old soldier Bernal Diaz, who knew the
mother, and witnessed the generous treatment of her afterwards by Marina.
1 •' Cata Francia, Montesinos, 3 Las Casas notices the significance of the
Cata Paris la ciudad, Indian gestures as implying a most active
Cata las aguas de Duero imagination : " Senas e mencos con que los
Do van ;t dar en la mar." Yndios mucho mas que otras generaciones
Thev are tbe words of the nonular old entienden y se dan a entender, por tener muy
ssKSSiSBSES SSSSrSSsSK
Romances caballerescos e histfricoB? Parte l Tlf' ^ ' '
p g2 3, cap. 120.
5 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista,cap. 37
134 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
By the merchants the Indian maiden was again sold to the cacique of Tabasco,
who delivered her, as we have seen, to the Spaniards.
From the place of her birth, she was well acquainted with the Mexican
tongue, which, indeed, she is said to have spoken with great elegance. Her
residence in Tabasco familiarized her with the dialects of that country, so that
she could carry on a conversation with Aguilar, which he in turn rendered into
the Castilian. Thus a certain though somewhat circuitous channel was opened
to Corte's for communicating with the Aztecs; a circumstance of the last
importance to the success of his enterprise. It was not very long, however,
before Marina, who had a lively genius, made herself so far mistress of the
Castilian as to supersede the necessity of any other linguist. She learned it
the more readily, as it was to her the language of love.
Cortes, who appreciated the value of her services from the first, made her his
interpreter, then his secretary, and, won by her charms, his mistress. She
had a son by him, Don Martin Cortes, comendador of the Military Order of
St. James, less distinguished by his birth than his unmerited persecutions.
Marina was at this time in the morning of life. She is said to have possessed
uncommon personal attractions,4 and her open, expressive features indicated
her generous temper. She always remained faithful to the countrymen of her
adoption ; and her knowledge of the language and customs of the Mexicans,
and often of their designs, enabled her to extricate the Spaniards, more than
once, from the most embarrassing and perilous situations. She had her errors,
as we have seen. But they should be rather charged to the defects of early
education, and to the evil influence of him to whom in the darkness of her
spirit she looked with simple confidence for the light to guide her. All agree
that she was full of excellent qualities, and the important services which she
rendered the Spaniards have made her memory deservedly dear to them ;
while the name of Malinche5 — the name by which she is still known in
Mexico— was pronounced with kindness by the conquered races, with whose
misfortunes she showed an invariable sympathy.6
With the aid of his two intelligent interpreters, Cortes entered into con-
versation with his Indian visitors. He learned that they were Mexicans, or
rather subjects of the great Mexican empire, of which "their own province
formed one of the comparatively recent conquests. The country was ruled by
a powerful monarch, called Moctheuzoma, or by Europeans more commonly
* "Hermosa como Diosa," beautiful as a tion of the Spanish name "Marina." The
goddess, says Camargo of her. (Hist, de Aztecs, having no r in their alphabet, sub-
Tluscala, MS.) A modern poet pays her stituted I for it, while the termination tzin
charms the following not inelegant tribute : was added in token of respect, so that the
" Admira tan lucida cabalgada "ame ™s equivalent to Doha or Lady Ma-
Y especttfctilo tal Dona Marina, nna; , Conquista de Mejico (trad, de Vega,
India noble al caudillo presentada, ?» °*a<J* Por D- Lucas Alaman), torn. n. pp.
De fortuna y belleza pereerina. ' T J-, TT. . , , T ,. ,,„ ,.,
# #J * * Las Casas> Hlst- de las India?, MS., lib.
Con despejado espiritu y viveza ft cap. I20.-Gomara, Cronica, cap. 25 26.-
Gira la vista en el concurso mudo ; ^VF^A ^ x.vl ?T 1Ct' ^ 3 fSt
Rico manto de extrema sutileza ^-14.- Oviedo Hist, de las Indtes, MS, .lib.
Con chapas de oro autorizarla pudo, 33' caP- l.-Ixthlxochitl, Hist Cinch. MS.,
Prendido con bizarra gentileza °aP" ^--p*™"^' Hist, de Tlascala, MS -
Sobre los pechos en ayroso nudo ; Jf"^, Diaz.' Hlst- £e la Conqmsta, cap 37,
Reyna parece de la Indiana Zona, 3?-^rherf ia,.?mf ^cordance in the notices
v»Ln ,r i^^rr,^arcirv,„ a ™„™~„ » of the early life of Marina. I have followed
Bernal Diaz, — from his means of observation,
the best authority. There is happily no
difference in the estimate of her singular
B [" Malinche " is a corruption of the Aztec merits and services.
Word " Malintzin," which is itself a cornij*-
Yaronifyhermosisima , Amazona> SLSS^S^MSS
Moratin, Las Naves de Cortes-
destruidas.
SPANIARDS LAND IN MEXICO. 135
Montezuma,7 who dwelt on the mountain plains of the interior, nearly seventy
leagues from the coast ; their own province was governed by one of his nobles,
named Teuhtlile, whose residence was eight leagues distant. Corte's acquainted
them in turn with his own friendly views in visiting their country, and with
his desire of an interview Avith the Aztec governor. He then dismissed them
loaded with presents, having first ascertained that there was abundance of
gold in the interior, like the specimens they had brought.
Cortes, pleased with the manners of the people and the goodly reports of the
land, resolved to take up his quarters here for the present. The next morning,
April 21, being Good Friday, he landed, with all his force, on the very spot
where now stands the modern city of Vera Cruz. Little did the conqueror
imagine that the desolate beach on which he first planted his foot was one day
to be covered by a flourishing city, the great mart of European and Oriental
trade, the commercial capital of New Spain.8
It was a wide and level plain, except where the sand had been drifted into
hillocks by the perpetual blowing of the norte. On these sand-hills he
mounted his little battery of guns, so as to give him the command of the
country. He then employed the troops in cutting down small trees and bushes
which grew near, in order to provide a shelter from the weather. In this he
was aided by the people of the country, sent, as it appeared, by the governor
of the district to assist the Spaniards. With their help stakes were firmly set
in the earth, and covered with boughs, and with mats and cotton carpets,
which the friendly natives brought with them. In this way they secured, in
a couple of days, a good defence against the scorching rays of the sun, which
beat with intolerable fierceness on the sands. The place was surrounded by
stagnant marshes, the exhalations from which, quickened by the heat into the
pestilent malaria, have occasioned in later times wider mortality to Europeans
than all the hurricanes on the coast. The bilious disorders, now the terrible
scourge of the tierra caliente, were little known before the Conquest. The
seeds of the poison seem to have been scattered by the hand of civilization ;
for it is only necessary to settle a town, and draw together a busy European
population, in order to call out the malignity of the venom which had before
lurked innoxious in the atmosphere.9
While these arrangements were in progress, the natives flocked in from the
adjacent district, which was tolerably populous in the interior, drawn by a
~ The name of the Aztec monarch, like 30, nota.
those of most persons and places in New 9 The epidemic of the matlazahuatl, so
Spain, has been twisted into all possible fatal to the Aztecs, is shown by M. de Hum-
varieties of orthography. Cortes, in his boldt to have been essentially different from
letters, calls him "Muteczuma." Modern the vomito, or billions fever of our day. In-
Spanish historians usually spell his name deed, this disease is not noticed by the early
"Motezuma." I have preferred to conform conquerors and colonists, and, Clavigero
to the name by which he is usually known asserts, was not known in Mexico till 1725.
to English readers. It is the one adopted by (Stor. del Messico, torn. i. p. 117, nota.)
Denial Diaz, and by most writers near the Humboldt, however, arguing that the same
time of the Conquest. Alaman, Disertaciones physical causes must have produced similar
historicas, torn, i., apend. 2. results, carries the disease back to a much
■ Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 79. higher antiquity, of which he discerns some
—Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. hi. p. 16. traditional and historic vestiges. " 11 ne faut
— New Vera Cruz, as the present town is pas confondre l'epoque," he remarks, with
called, is distinct, as we shall see hereafter, his usual penetration, " a laquelle une mala-
from that established by Cortes, and was not die a ete decrite pour la premiere fois, parce
founded till the close of the sixteenth cen- qu'elle a fait de grands ravages dans un
tury, by the Conde de Monterey, Viceroy of court espace de temps, avec l'epoque de sa
Mexico. It received its privileges as a city premiere apparition." Essai politique, torn,
from Philip III. in 1615. Ibid., torn. iii. p. iv. p. 161 et seq.,'and 179.
136 ^DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
natural curiosity to see the wonderful strangers; They brought with them"
fruits, vegetables, flowers in abundance, game, and many dishes cooked after
the fashion of the country, with little articles of gold and other ornaments.
They gave away some as presents, and bartered others for the wares of the
Spaniards ; so that the camp, crowded with a motley throng of every age and
sex, wore the appearance of a fair. From some of the visitors Cortes learned
the intention of the governor to wait on him the following day.
This was Easter. Teuhtlile arrived, as he had announced, before noon.
He was attended by a numerous train, and was met by Cortes, who conducted
him with much ceremony to his tent, where his principal officers were assem-
bled. The Aztec chief returned their salutations with polite though formal
courtesy. Mass was first said by Father Olmedo, and the service was
listened to by Teuhtlile and his attendants with decent reverence. A colla-
tion was afterwards served, at which the general entertained his guest with
Spanish wines and confections. The interpreters were then introduced, and
a conversation commenced between the parties.
The first inquiries of Teuhtlile were respecting the country of the strangers
and the purport of their visit. Cortes told him that " he was the subject of
a potent monarch beyond the seas, who ruled over an immense empire, and
had kings and princes for his vassals ; that, acquainted with the greatness of
the Mexican emperor, his master had desired to enter into a communication
with him, and had sent him as his envoy to wait on Montezuma with a
present in token of his good will, and a message which he must deliver in
person." He concluded by inquiring of Teuhtlile when he could be admitted
to his sovereign's presence.
To this the Aztec noble somewhat haughtily replied, " How is it that you
have been here only two days, and demand to see the emperor ? " He then
added, with more courtesy, that " he was surprised to learn there was another
monarch as powerful as Montezuma, but that, if it were so, he had no doubt
his master would be happy to communicate with him. He would send his
couriers with the royal gift brought by the Spanish commander, and, so
soon as he had learned Montezuma's will, would communicate it."
Teuhtlile then commanded his slaves to bring forward the present intended
for the Spanish general. It consisted of ten loads of fine cottons, several
mantles of that curious feather-work whose rich and delicate dyes might vie
with the most beautiful painting, and a wicker basket filled with ornaments
of wrought gold, all calculated to inspire the Spaniards with high ideas of the
■wealth and mechanical ingenuity of the Mexicans.
Cortes received these presents with suitable acknowledgments, and ordered
his own attendants to lay before the chief the articles designed for Monte-
zuma. These were an arm-chair richly carved and painted, a crimson cap of
cloth, having a gold medal emblazoned with St. George and the dragon, and
a quantity of collars, bracelets, and other ornaments of cut glass, which, in
a country where glass was not to be had, might claim to have the value of
real gems, and no doubt passed for such with the inexperienced Mexican.
Teuhtlile observed a soldier in the camp with a shining gilt helmet on his
head, which he said reminded him of one worn by the god Quetzalcoatl in
Mexico ; and he showed a desire that Montezuma should see it. The coming
of the Spaniards, as the reader will soon see, was associated with some
traditions of this same deity. Cortes expressed his willingness that the
casque should be sent to the emperor, intimating a hope that it would be
returned filled with the gold dust of the country, that he might be able to
compare its quality with that in his own ! He further told the governor, as
INTERVIEW WITH THE AZTECS. 137
We are informed by his chaplain, " that the Spaniards were troubled with a
disease of the heart, for which gold was a specific remedy ! " 10 In short,"
says Las Casas, " he contrived to make his want of gold very clear to the
governor." "
While these things were passing, Cortes observed one of Teuhtlile's atten-
dants busy with a pencil, apparently delineating some object. On looking
at his work, he found that it was a sketch on canvas of the Spaniards, their
costumes, arms, and, in short, different objects of interest, giving to each its
appropriate form and colour. This was the celebrated picture-writing of the
Aztecs, and, as Teuhtlile informed him, this man was employed in portraying
the various objects for the eye of Montezuma, who would thus gather a more
vivid notion of their appearance than from any description by words. Cortes
was pleased with the idea ; and, as he knew how much the effect would be
heightened by converting still life into action, he ordered out the cavalry on
the beach, the wet sands of which afforded a firm footing for the horses. The
bold and rapid movements of the troops, as they went through their military
exercises ; the apparent ease with which they managed the fiery animals on
they were mounted ; the glancing of their weapons, and the shrill cry of the
trumpet, all rilled the spectators with astonishment ; but when they heard
the thunders of the cannon, which Cortes ordered to be fired at the same
time, and witnessed the volumes of smoke and flame issuing from these
terrible engines, and the rushing sound of the balls, as they dashed through
the trees of the neighbouring forest, shivering their branches into fragments,
they were filled with consternation, from which the Aztec chief himself wk
not wholly free.
Nothing of all this was lost on the painters, who faithfully recorded, after
their fashion, every particular ; not omitting the ships, — " the water- houses,"
as they called them, of the strangers, — which, with their dark hulls and snow-
white sails reflected from the water, were swinging lazily at anchor on the
calm bosom of the bay. All was depicted with a fidelity that excited in their
turn the admiration of the Spaniards, who, doubtless, unprepared for this
exhibition of skill, greatly overestimated the merits of the execution.*
These various matters completed, Teuhtlile with his attendants withdrew
from the Spanish quarters, with the same ceremony with which he had
entered them ; leaving orders that his people should supply the troops with
provisions and other articles requisite for their accommodation, till further
instructions from the capital.12
,0 Gomara, Cronica, cap. 26. la Conquista, cap. 38. — Herrera, Hist, general,
" Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. dec. 2, lib. 5, cap. 4.— Carta de Vera Cruz,
3, cap. 119. MS. — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4,
'■ Ixtlilxochitl, Relaciones, MS., No. 13. — cap. 13-15. — Tezozoinoc, Cron. Mexicana,
Idem, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 79.— Gomara, MS., cap. 107.
Cronica, cap. 25, 26.— Bemal Diaz, Hist, de
* [According to a curious document pub- would be correctly delineated. The offer was
lished by Icazbalceta (Col. de Doc. para la accepted, and on the next visit the painting.;
Hist, de Mexico, torn, ii.), two of the prin- were produced, and proved subsequently of
cipal caciques present on this occasion com- great service to Cort6s, who rewarded the
municated secretly with Cortes, and, declaring donors with certain grants. But the genuine-
themselves disaffected subjects of Montezuma, ness of this paper, though supported by so
offered to facilitate the advance of the Span- distinguished a scholar as Sefior Ramirez, is
iards by furnishing the general with paintings more than questionable. — Ed.]
in which the various features of the country
r 2
138 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
CHAPTER VI.
ACCOUNT OF MONTEZUMA— STATE OF HIS EMPIRE— STRANGE PROGNOSTICS
EMBASSY AND PRESENTS — SPANISH ENCAMPMENT.
1519.
We must, now take leave of the Spanish camp in the tierra caliente, and
transport ourselves to the capital of Mexico, where no little sensation was ex-
cited by the arrival of the wonderful strangers on the coast. The Aztec throne
was filled at that time by Montezuma the Second, nephew of the last, and
grandson of a preceding monarch. He had been elected to the regal dignity
in 1502, in preference to his brothers, for his superior qualifications both as a
soldier and a priest, — a combination of offices sometimes found in the Mexican
candidates, as it was more frequently in the Egyptian. In early youth he
had taken an active part in the wars of the empire, though of late he had
devoted himself more exclusively to the services of the temple ; and he was
scrupulous in his attentions to all the burdensome ceremonial of the Aztec
worship. He maintained a grave and reserved demeanour, speaking little
and with prudent deliberation. His deportment was well calculated to
inspire ideas of superior sanctity.1
When his election was announced to him, he was found sweeping down
the stairs in the great temple of the national war-god. He received the
messengers with a becoming humility, professing his unfitness for so re-
sponsible a station. The address delivered as usual on the occasion was
made by his relative Nezahualpilli, the wise king of Tezcuco.2 It has,
fortunately, been preserved, and presents a favourable specimen of Indian
eloquence. Towards the conclusion, the orator exclaims, "Who can doubt
that the Aztec empire has reached the zenith of its greatness, since the
Almighty has placed over it one whose very presence fills every beholder with
reverence? .Rejoice, happy people, that you have now a sovereign who will
be to you a steady column of support ; a father in distress, a more than
brother in tenderness and sympathy ; one whose aspiring soul will disdain all
the profligate pleasures of the senses and the wasting indulgence of sloth.
And thou, illustrious youth, doubt not that the Creator, who has laid on thee
so weighty a charge, will also give strength to sustain it ; that He, who has
been so liberal in times past, will shower yet more abundant blessings on thy
head, and keep thee firm in thy royal seat through many long and glorious
years." These golden prognostics, which melted the royal auditor into tears,
were not destined to be realized.3
Montezuma displayed all the energy and enterprise in the commencement
of his reign which had been anticipated from him. His first expedition
against a rebel province in the neighbourhood was crowned with success, and
1 His name suited his nature ; Montezuma, Book I., chap. 6.
according to Las Casas, signifying, in the 3 The address is fully reported by Torque-
Mexican, " sad or severe man." Hist, de las mada (Monarch. Ind., lib. 3, cap. 68), whu
Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 120.— Ixtlilxochitl, came into the country little more than half a
Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 10. — Acosta, lib. 7, century after its delivery. It has been re-
cap. 20.— Col. de Mendoza, pp. 13-16; Codex cently republished by Bustamante. Tezcuco
Tel.-Rem., p. 143, ap. Antiq. of Mexico, en los ultimos Tiempos (Mexico, 1826), pp.
vol. vi. 256-258.
- For a full account of this prince, see
ACCOUNT OF MONTEZUMA. 139
he led back in triumph a throng of captives for the bloody sacrifice that was \/
to grace his coronation. This was celebrated with uncommon pomp. Games
and religious ceremonies continued for several days, and among the spectators
who flocked from distant quarters were some noble Tlascalans, the hereditary
enemies of Mexico. They were in disguise, hoping thus to elude detection.
They were recognized, however, and reported to the monarch. But he only
availed himself of the information to provide them with honourable entertain-
ment and a good place for witnessing the games. This was a magnanimous
act, considering the long-cherished hostility between the nations.
In his first years, Montezuma was constantly engaged in war, and
frequently led his armies in person. The Aztec banners were seen in the *
farthest provinces on the Gulf of Mexico, and the distant regions of Nicaragua
and Honduras. The expeditions were generally successful ; and the limits of
the empire were more widely extended than at any preceding period. *
Meanwhile the monarch was not inattentive to the interior concerns of
the kingdom. He made some important changes in the courts of justice,
and carefully watched over the execution of the Taws, which he enforced with
stern severity. He was in the habit of patrolling the streets of his capital in
disguise, to make himself personally acquainted with the abuses in it. And
with more questionable policy, it is said, he would sometimes try the integrity
of his judges by tempting them with large bribes to swerve from their duty,
and then call the delinquent to strict account for yielding to the temptation.
He liberally recompensed all who served him. He showed a similar muni-
ficent spirit in his public works, constructing and embellishing the temples,
bringing water into the capital by a new channel, and establishing a hospital,
or retreat for invalid soldiers, in the city of Colhuacan.4
These acts, so worthy of a great prince, were counterbalanced by others
of an opposite complexion. The humility, displayed so ostentatiously before
his elevation, gave way to an intolerable arrogance. In his pleasure-houses,
domestic establishment, and way of living, he assumed a pomp unknown to
his predecessors. He secluded himself from public observation, or, when he
went abroad, exacted the most slavish homage ; while in the palace be would
be served only, even in the most menial offices, by persons of rank. He,
further, dismissed several plebeians, chiefly poor soldiers of merit, from the
places they had occupied near the person of his predecessor, considering their
attendance a dishonour to royalty. It was in vain that his oldest and sagest
counsellors remonstrated on a conduct so impolitic.
While he thus disgusted his subjects by his haughty deportment, he
alienated their affections by the imposition of grievous taxes. These were }
demanded by the lavish expenditure of his courCjMiey fell with peculiar /
heaviness on the conquered cities. This oppression led to frequent insurrec-i ^
tion and resistance ; ancttlie latter years of his reign present a scene of {
umntermitting hostility, in which the forces of one half of the empire were )
employed in suppressing the commotions of the other. Unfortunately, there
was no principle of amalgamation by which the new acquisitions could be
incorporated into the ancient monarchy as parts of one whole. Their
interests, as well as sympathies, were different. Thus the more widely then ^
Aztec empire was extended, the weaker it became ; resembling some vast and \ 5
ill-proportioned edifice, whose disjointed materials, having no principle of
"v
4 Acosta. lib. 7, cap. 22 — Sahagun, Hist. U, 81.— Col. de Mendoza, pp. 14, 85, ap.
de Nueva-Espana, lib. 8, Frologo, et cap. 1. — Antiq. of Mexico, vol. Yi.
Torqucmada, Monarch. Ind., lib, 3, cap. 73;
140 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
cohesion, and tottering under their own weight, seem ready to fall before the
first blast of the tempest.
In 1516 died the Tezcucan king, Nezahualpilli ; in whom Montezuma lost
his most sagacious counsellor. The succession was contested by his two sons,
Cacama and Ixtlilxochitl. The former was supported by Montezuma. The
latter, the younger of the princes, a bold, aspiring youth, appealing to the
patriotic sentiment of his nation, would have persuaded them that his brother
was too much in the Mexican interests to be true to his own country. A civil
war ensued, and ended by a compromise, by which one half of the kingdom,
with the capital, remained to Cacamo, and the northern portion to his am-
bitious rival. Ixtlilxochitl became from that time the mortal foe of Monte-
zuma.5
A more formidable enemy still was the little republic of Tlascala, lying
midway between the Mexican Valley and the coast. It had maintained its
independence for more than two centuries against the allied forces of the
empire. Its resources were unimpaired, its civilization scarcely below that of
its great rival states, and for courage and military prowess it had established
a name inferior to none other of the nations of Anahuac.
- Such was the condition of the Aztec monarchy on the arrival of Cortes ; —
the people disgusted with the arrogance of the sovereign ; the provinces and
distant cities outraged by fiscal exactions ; while potent enemies in the
neighbourhood lay watching the hour when they might assail their formidable
rival with advantage. Still the kingdom was strong in its internal resources,
in the will of its monarch, in the long habitual deference to his authority, —
in short, in the terror of his name, and in the valour and discipline of his
armies, grown gray in active service, and well drilled in all the tactics of
Indian warfare. The time had now come when these imperfect tactics and
rude weapons of the barbarian were to be brought into collision with the
science and enginery of the most civilized nations of the globe.
During the latter years of his reign, Montezuma had rarely taken part in
his military expeditions, which he left to his captains, occupying himself
chiefly with his sacerdotal functions. Under no prince had the priesthood
enjoyed greater consideration and immunities. The religious festivals and;
rites were celebrated with unprecedented pomp. The oracles were consulted
on the most trivial occasions ; and the sanguinary deities were propitiated by
hecatombs of victims dragged in triumph to the capital from the conquered
or rebellious provinces. The religion, or, to speak correctly, the superstition
of Montezuma proved a principal cause of his calamities.
In a preceding chapter I have noticed the popular traditions respecting
Quetzalcoatl, that deity with a fair complexion and flowing beard, so unlike
the Indian physiognomy, who, after fulfilling his mission of benevolence among
the Aztecs, embarked on the Atlantic Sea for the mysterious sh&res of Tlapal-
lan.6 He promised, on his departure, to return at some future day with his
posterity, and resume the possession of his empire. That day was looked
forward to with hope or with apprehension, according to the interest of the
believer, but with general confidence, throughout the wide borders of Anahuac.
Even after the Conquest it still lingered among the Indian races, by whom it
was as fondly cherished as the advent of their king Sebastian continued to be
by the Portuguese, or that of the Messiah by the Jews.7
5 Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. i. pp. note 6.
267, 274, 275.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., 7 Tezozomoc, Cron. Mexicana, MS., cap.
MS., cap. 70-76.— Acosta, lib. 7, cap. 21. 107. -Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 1.
b Ante, Book I., chap. 3, pp. 29, .30, and — Torqnemada, Monarch. Ind„ lib, 4, cap. 14;
STRANGE PROGNOSTICS. 141
A general feeling seems to have prevailed in the time of Montezuma that
the period for the return of the deity and the full accomplishment of his
promise was near at hand. This conviction is said to have gained ground
from various preternatural occurrences, reported with more or less detail by
all the most ancient historians.8 In 1510 the great lake of Tezcuco, without
the occurrence of a tempest, or earthquake, or any other visible cause,
became violently agitated, overflowed its banks, and, pouring into the streets
of Mexico, swept off many of the buildings by the fury of the waters. In
1511 one of the turrets of the great temple took fire, equally without any
apparent cause, and continued to burn in defiance of all attempts to extinguish
it. In the following years, three comets were seen ; and not long before the
coming of the Spaniards a strange light broke forth in the east. It spread
broad at its base on the horizon, and rising in a pyramidal form tapered off
as it approached the zenith. It resembled a vast sheet or flood of fire, emitting
sparkles, or, as an old writer expresses it, " seemed thickly powdered witfi
stars."9 At the same time, low voices were heard in the air, and doleful
wailings, as if to announce some strange, mysterious calamity ! The Aztec
monarch, terrified at the apparitions in the heavens, took counsel of Neza-
hualpilli, who was a great proficient in the subtle science of astrology. But
the royal sage cast a deeper cloud over his spirit by reading in these prodigies
the speedy downfall of the empire.10
Such are the strange stories reported by the chroniclers, in which it is not
impossible to detect the glimmerings of truth.11 Nearly thirty years had
elapsed since the discovery of the Islands by Columbus, and more than
twenty since his visit to the American continent. Rumours, more or less
distinct, of this wonderful appearance of the white men, bearing in their
hands the thunder and the lightning, so like in many respects to the traditions
of Quetzalcoatl, would naturally spread far and wide among the Indian
nations. Such rumours, doubtless, long before the landing of the Spaniards
in Mexico, found their way up the grand plateau, filling the minds of men
with anticipations of the near coming of the period when the great deity was
to return and receive his own again.
In the excited state of their imaginations, prodigies became a familiar
occurrence. Or rather, events not very uncommon in themselves, seen through
the discoloured medium of fear, were easily magnified into prodigies ; and
the accidental swell of the lake, the appearance of a comet, and the conflagra-
tion of a building were all interpreted as the special annunciations of Heaven.12
lib. 6, cap. 24. — Codex Vaticanus, ap. Antiq. 10 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS.,
of Mexico, vol. vi.— Sahagun, Hist. deNueva- lib. 12, cap. 1.— Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala,
Espaiia, lib. 8, cap. 7.— Ibid., MS., lib. 12, MS.— Acosta, lib. 7, cap. 23.— Herrera, Hist,
cap. 3, 4. general, dec. 2, lib. 5, cap. 5.— lxtlilxochitl,
8 "Tenia por cierto," says Las Casas of Hist. Chicb., MS., cap. 74.
Montezuma, "segun bus prophetas 6 ago- " I omit tbe most extraordinary miracle
reros le avian certificado, que su estado e of all,— though legal attestations of its truth
rriquezas y prosperidad avia de perezer dentro were furnished the court of Rome (see Cla-
de pocos aiios por ciertas gentes que avian de vigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. i. p. 289), —
venir en sus dias, que de su felicidad lo der- namely, the resurrection of Montezuma's
rocase, y por esto vivia siempre con temor y sister, Papantzin, four days after her burial,
en tristeca y sobresaltado." Hist, de las to warn the monarch of the approaching ruin
Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 120. of his empire. It finds credit with one
u Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— The writer, at least, in the nineteenth century !
Interpreter of the Codex Tel. -Rem. intimates See the note of Sahagun's Mexican editor,
that this scintillating phenomenon was pro- Bustamante, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, torn. ii.
bably nothing more than an eruption of one p. 270.
, of the great volcanoes of Mexico. Antiq. of '- Lucan gives a fine enumeration of such
. Mexico, vol. vi. p. 144, prodigies witnessed in the Roman capital in
142 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
Thus it happens in those great political convulsions which shake the founda-
tions of society,— the mighty events that cast their shadows before them in
their coming. Then it is that the atmosphere is agitated with the low, pro-
phetic murmurs with which Nature, in the moral as in the physical world,
announces the march of the hurricane :
" When from the shores
And forest-rustling mountains comes a voice.
That, solemn sounding, bids the world prepare ! "
When tidings were brought to the capital of the landing of Grijalva on the
coast, in the preceding year, the heart of Montezuma was filled with dismay.
He felt as if the destinies which had so long brooded over the royal line of
Mexico were to be accomplished, and the sceptre was to pass away from his
house for ever. Though somewhat relieved by the departure of the Spaniards,
he caused sentinels to be stationed on the heights ; and, when the Europeans
returned under Cortes, he doubtless received the earliest notice of the unwel-
come event. It was by his orders, however, that the provincial governor had
prepared so hospitable a reception for them. The hieroglyphical report of
these strange visitors, now forwarded to the capital, revived all his apprehen-
sions. He called, without delay, a meeting of his principal counsellors,
including the kings of Tezcuco and Tlacopan, and laid the matter before
them.13
There seems to have been much division of op.mon in that body. Some
were for resisting the strangers at once, whether by fraud or by open force.
Others contended that, if they were supernatural beings, fraud and force
would be alike useless. If they were, as they pretended, ambassadors from a
foreign prince, such a policy would be cowardly and unjust. That they were
not of the family of Quetzalcoatl was argued from the fact that they had
shown themselves hostile to his religion ; for tidings of the proceedings of the
Spaniards in Tabasco, it seems, had already reached the capital. Among
those in favour of giving them a friendly and honourable reception was the
Tezcucan king, Cacama.
But Montezuma, taking counsel of his own ill-defined apprehensions,
preferred a half-way course, — as usual, the most impolitic. \ He resolved to
send an embassy, with such a magnificent present to the strangers as should
impress them with high ideas of his grandeur and resources ; while at the
same time he would forbid their approach to the capital. This was to reveal
at once both his wealth and his weakness.14
While the Aztec court was thus agitated by the arrival of the Spaniards,
they were passing their time in the tierra caliente, not a little annoyed bv
the excessive heats and suffocating atmosphere of the sandy waste on which
they were encamped. They experienced every alleviation that could be
derived from the attentions of the friendly natives. These, by the governor's
command, had constructed more than a thousand huts or booths of branches
and matting, which they occupied in the neighbourhood of the camp. Here
a similar excitement. (Pharsalia, lib. 1, v. I3 Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib.
523, et seq.) Toor human nature is much the 3, cap. 120.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS.,
same everywhere. Machiavelli has thought cap. 80.— Idem, Eelaciones, • MS. — Sahagun,
the subject worthy of a separate chapter in Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 3,
his Discourses. The philosopher even inti- 4. — Tezozomoc, Cron. Mexicana, MS., cap.
mateg a belief in the existence of beneficent 108.
intelligences who send these portents as a 14 Tezozomoc, Cron. Mexicana, MS., loc.
sort of premonitories, to warn mankind of cit.— Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— Ixtli-
the coming tempest. Discorsi sopra Tito lxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 80.
Livio, lib. 1, cap. 56.
EMBASSY AND PRESENTS. 143
they prepared various articles of food for the tables of Cortes and his officers,
without any recompense ; while the common soldiers easily obtained a supply
for themselves, in exchange for such trifles as they brought with them for
barter. Thus the camp was liberally provided with meat and fish dressed in
many savoury ways, with cakes of corn, bananas, - pine-apples, and divers
luscious vegetables of the tropics, hitherto unknown to the Spaniards. The
soldiers contrived, moreover, to obtain many little bits of gold, of no great
value, indeed, from the natives ; a traffic very displeasing .to the partisans of
Velasquez, who considered it an invasion of his rights. Cortes, however, did
not think it prudent, in this matter, to balk the inclinations of nis followers.15
At the expiration of seven, or eight days at most, the Mexican embassy
presented itself before the camp. It may seem an incredibly -short space of
time, considering the distance of the capital was near seventy, leagues But
it may be remembered that tidings were carried there by means of posts, as
already noticed, in the brief space of four-ancl- twenty hours ; 16 and* four or
five days would suffice for the descent of the envoys to the coast, accustomed
as the Mexicans were to long and rapid travelling. At all events, no writer
states the period occupied by the Indian emissaries on this occasion as longer
than that mentioned.
The embassy, consisting of two Aztec nobles, was accompanied by the
fovernor, Teuhtlile, and by a hundred slaves, bearing the' princely gifts of
lontezuma. One of the envoys had been selected on account of the great
resemblance which, as appeared from the painting representing the camp, he
bore to the Spanish commander. And it is a proof of ..the fidelity of the
painting, that the soldiers recognized the resemblance, and' always distin-
guished the chief by the name of the " Mexican Cortes."
On entering the general's pavilion, the ambassadors saluted him and his
officers with the usual signs of reverence to persons of great consideration,
touching the ground with their hands and then carrying them to their heads,
while tlie air was filled with clouds of incense, which rose up from the censers
borne by their attendants. Some delicately wrought mats of the -country
{petates) were then unrolled, and on them the slaves displayed the various
articles they had brought. They were of the most miscellaneous kind :
shields, helmets, cuirasses, embossed with plates and ornaments of pure gold ;
collars and bracelets of the same metal, sandals, fans, pcuiaches and crests of
variegated feathers, intermingled with gold and silver thread, and sprinkled
with pearls and precious stones ; imitations of birds and animals in wrought
and cast gold and silver, of exquisite workmanship ; curtains, coverlets, and
robes of cotton, fine as silk, of rich and various dyes, interwoven with feather-
work that rivalled the delicacy of painting.17 TMiere were more than thirty
loads of cotton cloth in addition. Among the articles was the Spanish
helmet sent to the capital, and now returned filled to the brim with grains of
gold. But the things which excited the most admiration were two circular
plates of gold and silver, " as large as carriage-wheels." One, representing
the sun, was richly carved with plants and animals,— no doubt, denoting the
Aztec century. It was thirty palms in circumference, and was valued at
'"• Bernal Diaz, Hist, dc la Conquista, cap. animals, feathers, and cotton thread, inter-
39. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 27, ap. Barcia, woven together. ° Plumas illas et concin-
tom. ii. nant inter cuniculorum villos interque go-
18 Ante, Book 1, chap. 2, p. 22. nampij stamina ordiuntur, et intexunt operose
" From the checkered figure of some of adeo, ut quo pacto id faciant non bene intel-
these coloured cottons, Peter Martyr infers, lexerimus."' De Orbe Novo (Parisiis, 1587),
the Indians were acquainted with chess ! He dec. 5, cap. 10.
notices a curious fabric made of the hair of
144
DISCOVERY OP MEXICO.
twenty thous&nd^esos de oro.
fifty inarki- '
The silver wheel, of the same size, weighed
'Nie Spaniards could not conceal their rapture at the exhibition of treasures
which so far surpassed all the dreams in which they had indulged. For, rich
as were the materials, they were exceeded— according to the testimony of
those who saw these articles afterwards in Seville, where they could coolly
examine them — by the beauty and richness of the workmanship.19
When Cortes and his officers had completed their survey, the ambassadors
courteously delivered the message of Montezuma. " It gave their master great
pleasure," they said, " to hold this communication with so powerful a monarch
as the King of Spain, for whom he felt the most profound respect. He
regretted much that he could not enjoy a personal interview with the
Spaniards, but the distance of his capital was too great ; since the journey
was beset' with difficulties, and with too many dangers from formidable
enemies, to make it possible. All that could be done, therefore, was for the
strangers to return to their own land, with the proofs thus afforded them of
his friendly disposition."
Cortes, though much chagrined at this decided refusal of Montezuma to
admit his visit, concealed his mortification as he best might, and politely-
expressed his sense of the emperor's munificence. " It made him only the
more desirous," he said, " to have a personal interview with him. He should
feel it, indeed, impossible to present himself again before his own sovereign,
without having accomplished this great object of his voyage ; and one who
8 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap
39.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33
cap. 1.— Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS.
lib. 3, cap. 120.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 27
ap. Barcia, torn. ii. — Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.
— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 5, cap.
5. — Robertson cites Bernal Diaz as reckoning
the value of the silver plate at 20,000 pesos,
or about £5000. (History of America, vol. ii.
note 75.) But Bernal Diaz speaks only of
the value of the gold plate, which he esti-
mates at 20,000 pesos de oro, different from
the pesos, dollars, or ounces of silver, with
which the historian confounds them. As the
mention of the peso de oro will often recur in
these pages, it will be well to make the
reader acquainted with its probable value.
Nothing is more difficult than to ascertain
the actual value of the currency of a distant
age; so many circumstances occur to em-
barrass the calculation, besides the general
depreciation of the precious metals, such as
the adulteration of specific coins, and the
like. Senor Clemencin, the Secretary of the
Royal Academy of History, in the sixth
volume of its Memorias, has computed with
great accuracy the value of the different de-
nominations of the Spanish currency at the
close of the fifteenth century, the period just
preceding that of the conquest of Mexico.
He makes no mention of the peso de oro in
his tables. But he ascertains the precise
value of the gold ducat, which will answer
our purpose as well. (Memorias de la Real
Academia de Historia (Madrid, 1821), torn,
vi. Ilust. 20.) Oviedo, a contemporary of the
Conquerors, informs us that the peso de oro
and the castellano were of the same value,
and that was precisely one-third greater than
the value of the ducat. (Hist, del Ind., lib.
6, cap. 8, ap. Ramusio, Navigationi et Viaggi
(Venetia, 1565), torn, iii.) Now, the ducat,
as appears from Clemencin, reduced to our
own currency, would be equal to eight dollars
and seventy-five cents. The peso de oro,
therefore, was equal to eleven dollars and.
sixty-seven cents, or two pounds, twelve shil-
lings, and sixpence sterling. Keeping this in
mind, it will be easy for the reader to deter-
mine the actual value, in pesos de oro, of any
sum that may be hereafter mentioned.
18 " j Cierto cosas de ver ! " exclaims Las
Casas, who saw them with the Emperor
Charles V. in Seville, in 1520. "Quedaron
todos los que vieron aquestas *cosas tan ricas
y tan bien artificiadas y ermosfsimas como
de cosas nunca vistas," etc. (Hist, de las
Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 120.) "Muy her-
mosas," says Oviedo, who saw them in Val-
ladolid, and describes the great wheels more
minutely ; '* todo era mucho de ver ! " (Hist,
de las Indias, MS., loc. cit.) The inquisitive
Martyr, who examined them carefully, re-
marks, yet more emphatically, " Si quid un-
quam honoris humana ingenia in huiusce-
modi artibus sunt adepta, principatum iure
merito ista consequentur. Aurum, gem-
masque non admiror quidem, qua. industria,
quove studio superet opus materiam, stupeo.
Mille figuras et facies mille prospexi quaj
scribere nequeo. Quid oculos hominum sua
pulchritudine seque possit allicere meo iudicio
vidi nunquam." De Orbe Novo, dec. 4,
cap. 9.
EMBASSY AND PRESENTS. 145
had .-ailed over two thousand leagues of ocean held lightly the perils and
fatigues of so short a journey by land." He once more requested them to
become the bearers of' his message to their master, together with a slight
additional token of his respect.
This consisted of a few fine Holland shirts, a' Florentine goblet, gilt and
somewhat curiously enamelled, with some toys of little value, — a sorry return
for the solid magnificence of the royal present. The ambassadors may have
thought as much. At least, they showed no alacrity in charging themselves
either with the present or the message, and, on quitting the Castilian quarters,
repeated their assurance that the general's application would be unavailing.20 ^
The splendid treasure, which now lay dazzling the eyes of the Spaniards^
raised in their bosoms very different emotions, according to the difference of
their characters. Some it stimulated with the ardent desire to strike at once
into the interior and possess themselves of a country which teemed with such
boundless stores of wealth. Others looked on it as the evidence of a power
altogether too formidable to be encountered with their present insignificant
force. They thought, therefore, it would be most prudent to return and
report their proceedings to the governor of Cuba, where preparations could be
made commensurate with so vast an undertaking. There can be little doubt
as to the impression made on the bold spirit of Cortes, on which difficulties
ever operated as incentives, rather than discouragements, to enterprise. But
he prudently said nothing,— at least in public,— preferring that so important
a movement should flow from the determination of his whole army, rather
than from his own individual impulse.
Meanwhile the soldiers suffered greatly from the inconveniences of their
position amidst burning sands and the pestilent effluvia of the neighbouring
marshes, while the venomous insects of these hot regions left them no repose,
day or night. Thirty of their number had already sickened and died ; a loss
that could ill be afforded by the little band. To add to their troubles, the
coldness of the Mexican chiefs had extended to their followers ; and the
supplies for the camp were not only much diminished, but the prices set on
them were exorbitant. The position Avas equally unfavourable for the
shipping, which lay in an open roadstead, exposed to the fury of the first
norte which should sweep the Mexican Gulf.
The general was induced by these circumstances to despatch two vessels,
under Francisco de Montejo, with the experienced Alaminos for his pilot, to
explore the coast in a northerly direction, and see if a safer port and more
commodious quarters for the army could not be found there.
After the lapse of ten days the Mexican envoys returned. They entered
the Spanish quarters with the same formality as on the former visit, bearing
with them an additional present of rich stuffs and metallic ornaments, which,
though inferior in value to those before brought, were estimated at three
thousand ounces of gold. Besides these, there were four precious stones, of a
considerable size, resembling emeralds, called by the natives chalchuites, each
of which, as they assured the Spaniards, was Avorth more than a load of gold,
and Avas designed as a mark of particular respect for the Spanish monarch.21
'Unfortunately, they Avere not worth as many loads of earth in Europe.
20 Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib 40.— Father • Sahagun thus describes these
3, cap. 121. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con- stones, so precious in Mexico that the use of
quista, cap. 39. — Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich.,* them was interdicted to any but the nobles :
MS., cap. 80. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 27, ap. "The chalchuites are of a green colour mixed
Barcia, torn. ii. with white, and are not transparent. They
*l .Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. are much worn by persons of rank, and,
146 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
Montezuma's answer was in substance the same as before. It contained a
positive prohibition for the strangers to advance nearer to the capital, and
expressed his confidence that, now they had obtained what they had most
desired, they would return to their own country without unnecessary delay.
Cortes received this unpalatable response courteously, though somewhat
coldly, and, turning to his officers, exclaimed, "This is a rich and powerful
prince indeed ; yet it shall go hard but we will one day pay him a visit in his
capital ! "
While they were conversing, the bell struck for vespers. At the sound, the
soldiers, throwing themselves on their knees, offered up their orisons before
the large wooden cross planted in the sands. As the Aztec chiefs gazed with
curious surprise, Cortes thought it a favourable occasion to impress them with
what he conceived to be a principal object of his visit to the country. Father
Olmedo accordingly expounded, as briefly and clearly as he could, the great
doctrines of Christianity, touching on the atonement, the passion, and the
resurrection, and concluding with assuring his astonished audience that it
was their intention to extirpate the idolatrous practices of the nation and to
substitute the pure worship of the true God. He then put into their hands
a little image of the Virgin with the infant Redeemer, requesting them to
place it in their temples instead of their sanguinary deities. How far the
Aztec lords comprehended the mysteries of the faith, as conveyed through the
double version of Aguilar and Marina, or how well they perceived the subtle
distinctions between their own images and those of the Roman Church, we
are not informed. There is reason to fear, however, that the seed fell on
barren ground ; for, when the homily of the good father ended, they withdrew
with an air of dubious reserve very different from their friendly manners at
the first interview. The same night every hut was deserted by the natives,
and the Spaniards saw themselves suddenly cut off" from supplies in the midst
of a desolate wilderness. The movement had so suspicious an appearance
that Cortes apprehended an attack would be made on his quarters, and took
precautions accordingly. But none was meditated.
The army was at length cheered by the return of Montejo from his ex-
loring expedition, after an absence of twelve days. He had run doAvn the
riilf as far as Panuco, where he experienced such heavy gales, in attempting
to double that headland, that he was driven back, and had nearly foundered.
In the whole course of the voyage he had found only one place tolerably-
sheltered from the north winds. Fortunately, the adjacent country, well
watered by fresh, running streams, afforded a favourable position for the
camp ; and thither, after some deliberation, it was determined to repair.22
attached to the wrist by a thread, are a token 121. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
of the nobility of the wearer." Hist, de 40, 41.— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 5,
Nueva-Espana, lib. 11, cap. 8. cap. 6.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 29, ap. Carcia,
22 Carnargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— Las torn. ii.
Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap.
8
TROUBLES IN THE CAMP. 147
CHAPTER VII.
TROUBLES IN THE CAMP— PLAN OF A COLONY— MANAGEMENT OF CORTES —
MARCH TO CEMPOALLA— PROCEEDINGS WITH THE NATIVES— FOUNDATION
OF VERA CRUZ.
1519.
There is no situation which tries so severely the patience and discipline of
the soldier as a life of idleness in camp, where his thoughts, instead of being .
bent on enterprise and action, are fastened on himself and the inevitable
privations and dangers of his condition. This was particularly the case in
the present instance, where, in addition to the evils of a scanty subsistence,
the troops suffered from excessive heat, swarms of venomous insects, and the
other annoyances of a sultry climate. They were, moreover, far from possessing
the character of regular forces, trained to subordination under a commander
whom they had long been taught to reverence and obey. They were soldiers
of fortune, embarked with him in an adventure in which all seemed to
have an equal stake, and they regarded their captain— the captain of a day
— as little more than an equal.
There was a growing discontent among the men at their longer residence
in this strange land. They were still more dissatisfied on learning the
feneral's intention to remove to the neighbourhood of the port discovered by
fontejo. "It was time to return," they said, "and report what had been
done to the governor of Cuba, and not 'linger on these barren shores until
they had brought the whole Mexican empire on their heads ! " Cortes evaded
their importunities as well as he could, assuring them there was no cause
for despondency. " Everything so far had gone on prosperously, and, when
they had taken up a more favourable position, there was no reason to doubt
they might still continue the same profitable intercourse with the natives."
While this was passing, five Indians made their appearance in the camp
one morning, and were brought to the general's tent. Their dress and whole
appearance were different from those of the Mexicans. They wore rings of
gold, and gems of bright blue stone in their ears and nostrils, while a gold
leaf delicately wrought was attached to the under lip. Marina was unable to
comprehend their language, but, on her addressing them in Aztec, two of
them, it was found, could converse in that tongue. They said they were
natives of Cempoalla, the chief town of the Totonacs, a powerful nation who
had come upon the great plateau many centuries back, and, descending its
eastern slope, settled along the sierras and broad plains which skirt the
Mexican Gulf towards the north. Their country was one of the recent
conquests of the Aztecs, and they experienced such vexatious oppressions
from their conquerors as made them very impatient of the yoke. They
informed Cortes of these and other particulars. The fame of the Spaniards ;
had reached their master, who sent these messengers to request the presence
of the wonderful strangers in his capital.
This communication was eagerly listened to by the general, who, it will be
remembered, was possessed of none of those facts, laid before the reader,
respecting the internal condition of the kingdom, which he had no reason to
suppose other than strong and united. An important truth now flashed on
his mind, as his quick eye descried in this spirit of discontent a potent lever,
148 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
by the aid of which he might hope to overturn this barbaric empire. He
received the mission of the Totonacs most graciously, and, after informing
himself, as far as possible, of their dispositions and resources, dismissed them
Avith presents, promising soon to pay a visit to their lord.1
Meanwhile, his personal friends, among whom may be particularly men-
tioned Alonso Hernandez Puertocarrero, Cristobal de Olid, Alonso de Avila,
Pedro de Alvarado and his brothers, were very busy in persuading the troops
to take such measures as should enable Cortes to go forward in those
ambitious plans for Avhich he had no warrant from the powers of Velasquez.
" To return now," they said, " was to abandon the enterprise on the threshold,
which, under such a leader, must conduct to glory and incalculable riches.
To return to Cuba would be to surrender to the greedy. governor the little
gains they had already got. The only way was to persuade the general to
establish a permanent colony in the country, the government of which would
take the conduct of matters into its own hands and provide for the interests
of its members. It was true, Cortes had no such authority from Velasquez.
But the interests of the sovereigns, which were paramount to every other,
imperatively demanded it."
These conferences could not be conducted so secretly, though held by night,
as not to reach the ears of the friends of Velasquez.2 They remonstrated
against the proceedings, as insidious and disloyal. They accused the general
of instigating them, and, calling on him to take measures without delay for
the return of the troops to Cuba, announced their own intention to depart,
with such followers as still remained true to the governor.
Cortes, instead of taking umbrage at this high-handed proceeding, or even
answering in the same haughty tone, mildly replied, " that nothing was further
from his desire than to exceed his instructions. He, indeed, preferred to
remain in the country, and continue his profitable intercourse with the
natives. But, since the army thought otherwise, he should defer to their
opinion, and give orders to return, as they desired." On the following
morning, proclamation was made for the troops to hold themselves in
readiness to embark at once on board the fleet, which was to sail for Cuba.3
Great was the sensation caused by their general's order. Even many of
those before clamorous for it, with the usual caprice of men whose wishes are
too easily gratified, now regretted it. The partisans of Cortes were loud in
their remonstrances. " They were betrayed by the general," they cried, and,
thronging round his tent, called on him to countermand his orders. " We
came here," said they, " expecting to form a settlement, if the state of the
country authorized it. Now it seems you have no warrant from the governor
to make one. But there are interests, higher than those of Velasquez, which
demand it. These territories are not his property, but were discovered for
the sovereigns ; 4 and it is necessary to plant a colony to watch over their
1 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. spectable person like Puertocarrero, taken in
41.— Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. the spring of the following year, after his
3, cap. 121.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 28. return to Spain, is a document* of such au-
2 The letter from the cabildo of Vera Cruz thority that 1 have transferred it entire, in
says nothing of these midnight conferences. the original, to the Appendix, Part 2, No. 7.
Bernal Diaz, who was privy to them, is a 4 Sometimes we find the Spanish writers
sufficient authority. See Hist, de la Cou- referring jto "the sovereigns," sometimes to
quista, cap. 42. " the emperor ; " in the former case intend-
■' Gomara, Cronica, cap. 30.— Las Casas, ing Queen Joanna, the crazy mother of
Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 121. — Charles V., as well as himself. Indeed, all
Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 80. — public acts and ordinances ran in the name
Bernal Diaz, Ibid., loc. cit. — Declaracion de of both. The title of " Highness," which
Puertocarrero, MS.— The deposition of a re- until the reign pf Chavles V. had usually— »
PLAN OF A COLONY. M9
interests, instead of wasting time in idle barter, or, still worse, of returning,
in the present state of affairs, to Cuba. If you refuse," they concluded, " we
shall protest against your conduct as disloyal to their Highnesses."
Cortes received this remonstrance with the embarrassed air of one by whom
it was altogether unexpected. He modestly requested time for deliberation,
and promised to give his answer on the following day. At the time appointed,
he called the troops together, and made them a brief address. "There was
no one," he said, "if he knew his own heart, more deeply devoted than him-
self to the welfare of his sovereigns and the glory of the 'Spanish name. He
had not only expended his all, but incurred heavy debts, to meet the charges
of this expedition, and had hoped to reimburse himself by continuing his
traffic with the Mexicans. But, if the soldiers thought a different course
advisable, he was ready to postpone his own advantage to the good of the
state."5 He concluded by declaring his willingness to take measures for
settling a colony in the name of the Spanish sovereigns, and to nominate a
magistracy to preside over it.6
For the alcaldes he selected* Puertocarrero and Monte jo, the former cavalier
his fast friend, and the latter the friend of Velasquez, and chosen for that very
reason ; a stroke of policy which perfectly succeeded. The regidores, alguacil,
treasurer, and other functionaries were then appointed, all of them his per-
sonal friends and adherents. They were regularly sworn into office, and the
new city received the title of Villa Rica de Vera Cruz, " The Rich Town of
the True Cross ; " a name which was considered as happily intimating that
union of spiritual and temporal interests to which the arms of the Spanish
adventurers in the New World were to be devoted.7 Thus, by a single stroke
of the pen, as it were, the camp was transformed into a civil community, and
the whole frame- work and even title of the city were arranged, before the
site of it had been settled.
The new municipality were not slow in coming together ; when Cortes
presented himself, cap in hand, before that august body, and, laying the
powers of Velasquez on the table, respectfully tendered the resignation of his
office of Captain -General, "which, indeed," he said, " had necessarily expired,
since the authority of the governor was now superseded by that of the magis-
tracy of Villa Rica de Vera Cruz." He then, with a profound obeisance, left
the apartment.8
not uniftn-mly, as Robertson imagines (His- the statement in the text,
tory of Charles V., vol. ii. p. 59) —been ap- e Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3,
plied to the sovereign, now gradually gave cap. 122.— Carta de Vera Cruz, MS. — Declara-
way to that of " Majest}-," which Charles cion de Montejo, MS.— Declaracion de Puer-
affected after his election to the imperial tocarrero, MS.— "Our general, after some
throne. The same title is occasionally found urging, acquiesced," says the blunt old soldier
in the correspondence of the Great Captain, Bernal Diaz; "for, as the proverb says,
and other courtiers of the reign of Ferdinand 'You ask me to do what I have already
and Isabella. made up my mind to.' " Tu me lo ruegas,
5 According to Robertson, Cortes told his i yo me lo quiero. Hist, de la Conquista,
men that he had proposed to establish a cap. 42.
colony on the coast, before marching into the ' According to Bernal Diaz, the title of
country; but he abandoned his design, at " Vera Cruz " was intended>to commemorate
their entreaties to set out at once on the ex- their landing on Good Friday. Hist, de la
pedition. In the very next page we find him Conquista, cap. 42.
organizing this same colony. (History of * Solis, whose taste for speech-making
America, vol. ii. pp. 241, 242.) The his- might have satisfied even the Abbe Mably
torian would have been saved this inconsis- (see his Treatise, " De la Maniere d'ecrire
tency, if he had followed either of the au- l'Histoire"), has put a very flourishing ha-
thorities whom he cites, Bernal Diaz and rangue on this occasion into the mouth of his
Herrera, or the letter from Vera Cruz, of hero, of which there is not a vestige- in any
■which he had a copy. They all concur in contemporary account. (Conquista, lib. 2,
150 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
The council, after a decent time spent in deliberation, again requested his
presence. "There was no one," they said, "who, on mature reflection,
appeared to them so well qualified to take charge of the interests of the
community, both in peace and in war, as himself ; and they unanimously
named him, in behalf of their Catholic Highnesses, Captain-General and
Chief Justice of the colony." He was further empowered to draw, on his
own account, one-fifth of the gold and silver which might hereafter be
obtained by commerce or conquest from the natives.9 Thus clothed with
supreme civil and military jurisdiction, Cortes was not backward in asserting
his authority. He found speedy occasion for it.
The transactions above described had succeeded each other so rapidly that
the governor's party seemed to be taken by surprise, and had formed no plan
of opposition. When the last measure was carried, however, they broke
forth into the most indignant and opprobrious invectives, denouncing the
whole as a systematic conspiracy against Velasquez. These accusations led
to recrimination from the soldiers of the other side, until from words they
nearly proceeded to blows. Some of the principal cavaliers, among them
Velasquez de Leon, a kinsman of the governor, Escobar, his page, and Diego
de Ordaz, were so active in instigating these turbulent movements that Corte's
took the bold measure of putting them all in irons and sending them on board
the vessels He then dispersed the common file by detaching many of them
with a strong party under Alvarado to forage the neighbouring country and
bring home provisions for the destitute camp.
During their absence, every argument that cupidity or ambition could
suggest was used to win the refractory to his views. Promises, and even gold,
it is said, were liberally lavished ; till, by degrees, their understandings were
opened to a clearer view of the merits of the case. And when the foraging
party reappeared with abundance of poultry and vegetables, and the cravings
of the stomach - that great laboratory of disaffection, whether in camp or
capital — were appeased, good humour returned with good cheer, and the rival
factions embraced one another as companions in arms, pledged to a common
cause. Even the high-mettled hidalgos on board the vessels did not long
withstand the general tide of reconciliation, but one by one gave in their
adhesion to the new government. What is more remarkable is that this
forced conversion was not a hollow one, but from this time forward several
of these very cavaliers became the most steady and devoted partisans of
Cortes.10
cap. 7.) Dr. Robertson has transferred it to tie la Conquista, cap. 42. — Declaraciones de
his own eloquent pages, without citing his Montejo y Puertocarrero, MSS. — In the process
author, indeed, who, considering he came a of Narvaez against Cortes, the latter is accused
century and a half after the Conquest, must of being possessed with the Devil, as only
be allowed to be not the best, especially when Lucifer could have thus gained him the affec-
the only, voucher for a fact. tions of the soldiery. (Demanda de Narvaez,
9 "Lo peor de todo que leotorgamos,"says MS.) Soli's, on the other hand, sees nothing
Bernal Diaz, somewhat peevishly, was, " que but good faith and loyalty in the conduct of
le 'dariamos el quinto del oro de lo que se the general, who acted from a sense of duty !
huuiesse, despues de sacado el Real quinto." (Conquista, lib. 2, cap. 6, 7.) Soli's is even a
(Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 42.) The letter more steady apologist for his hero than his
from Vera Cruz says nothing of this fifth. own chaplain, Gomara, or the worthy magis-
The reader who would see the whole account trates of Vera Cruz. A more impartial testi-
of this remarkable transaction in the original inony than either, probably, may be gathered
may find it in the Appendix, Part 2, No. 8. from honest Bernal Diaz, so often quoted. A
10 Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.— Gomara, Cro- hearty champion of the cause, he was by no
nica, cap. 30. 31. — Las Casas, Hist, de las means blind to the defects or the merits of his
Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 122.— Ixtlilxochitl, leader.
Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 80.— Bernal Diaz, Hist.
MANAGEMENT OF CORTES. 151
Such was the address of this extraordinary man, and such the ascendency
which in a few months he had acquired over these wild and turbulent spirits !
By this ingenious transformation of a military into a civil community, he had
secured a new and effectual basis for future operations. He might now go
forward without fear of check or control from a superior, — at least from any
other superior than the crown, under which alone he held Ins commission. In
accomplishing this, instead of incurring the charge of usurpation or of tran-
scending his legitimate powers, he had transferred the responsibility, in a great
measure, to those who had imposed on him the necessity of action. By
this step, moreover, he had linked the fortunes of his followers indissolubly
with his own. They had taken their chance Avith him, and, whether for weal
or for woe, must abide the consequences. He was no longer limited to the
narrow concerns of a sordid traffic, but, sure of their co-operation, might now
boldly meditate, and gradually disclose, those lofty schemes which lie had
formed in his own bosom for the conquest of an empire.11
Harmony being thus restored, Cortes sent his heavy guns on board the
fleet, and ordered it to coast along the shore to the north as far as Chia-
huitztla, the town near which the destined port of the new city was situated ;
proposing, himself, at the head of his troops, to visit Cempoalla, on the march.
The road lay for some miles across the dreary plains in the neighbourhood of
the modern Vera Cruz. In this sandy Avaste no signs of vegetation met their
eyes, which, hoAvever, Avere occasionally refreshed by glimpses of the blue
Atlantic, and by the distant vieAv of the magnificent Orizaba, towering, Avith
his spotless diadem of snow, far above his colossal brethren of the Andes.12
As they advanced, the country gradually assumed a greener and richer aspect.
They crossed a river, probably a tributary of the Rio de la Antigua, with
difficulty, on rafts, and on some broken canoes that Avere lying on the banks.
They now came in vieAv of very different scenery,— Avide-rolling plains covered
Avith a rich carpet of verdure and overshadoAved by groves of cocoas and
feathery palms, among Avhose tall, slender stems Avere seen deer, and various
Avild animals Avith Avhich the Spaniards AATere unacquainted. Some of the
horsemen gave chase to the deer, and wounded, but did not succeed in killing
them. They saw, also, pheasants and other birds ; among them the wild
turkey, the pride of the American forest, Avhich the Spaniards described as a
species of peacock.13
On their route they passed through some deserted villages, in Avhich Avere
Indian temples, Avhere they found censers, and other sacred utensils, and
1 ' This may appear rather indifferent logic claro, no se puede divisar ni ver lo alto de ella,
to those who consider that Cortes appointed porque de la mitad arriba esta, toda cubierta
the very body who, in turn, appointed him to de nubes: y algunos veces, cuando hace muy
the command. But the affectation of legal claro dia, se vee por cima de las dichas nubes
forms afforded him a thin varnish for his pro- lo alto de ella, y esta tan bianco, que lo jusga-
ceedings, which served his purpose, for the mos por nieve." (Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.)
present at least, with the troops. For the This huge volcano was called Citlaltepetl, or
future, he trusted to his good star— in other " Star-Mountain," by the Mexicans,— perhaps
words, to the success of his enterprise — to from the fire which once issued from its
vindicate his conduct to the Emperor. He conical summit, far above the clouds. It
did not miscalculate. stands in the intendancy of Vera Cruz, and
12 The name of the mountain is not given, rises, according to Humboldt's measurement,
and probably was not known, but the minute to the enormous height of 17,368 feet above
description in the MS. of Vera Cruz leaves no the ocean. (Essai politique, torn. i. p. 265.)
doubt that it was the one mentioned in the It is the highest peak but one in the whole
text. " Entre las quales asf una que excede range of the Mexican Cordilleras. .
en mucha altura & todas las otras y de ella '3 Carta de Vera Cruz, MS. — Bernal Diaz,
se vee y descubre gran parte de la mar y de la Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 44.
tierra, y es tan alta, que si el dia no es bien
152 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
manuscripts of the agave fibre, containing the picture-writing, in which,
probably, their religious ceremonies were recorded. They now beheld, also,
the hideous spectacle, with which they became afterwards familiar, of the
mutilated corpses of victims who had been sacrificed to the accursed deities of
the land. The Spaniards turned with loathing and indignation from a display
of butchery which formed so dismal a contrast to the fair scenes of nature by
which they were surrounded.
They held their course along the banks of the river, towards its source, when
they were met by twelve Indians, sent by the cacique of Cempoalla to show
them the way to nis residence. At night they bivouacked in an open meadow,
where they were well supplied with provisions by their new friends. They
left the stream on the following morning, and, striking northerly across the
country, came upon a wide expanse of luxuriant plains and woodland, glowing
in all the splendour of tropical vegetation. The branches of the stately trees
were gayly festooned with clustering vines of the dark-purple grape, variegated
convolvuli, and other flowering parasites of the most brilliant dyes. The
undergrowth of prickly aloe, matted with wild rose and honeysuckle, made in
many places an almost impervious thicket. Amid this wilderness of sweet-
smelling buds and blossoms fluttered numerous birds of the parrot tribe, and
clouds of butterflies, whose gaudy colours, nowhere so gorgeous as in the tierra
calienle, rivalled those of the vegetable creation ; while birds of exquisite song,
the scarlet cardinal, and the marvellous mocking-bird, that comprehends in his
own notes the whole music of a forest, filled the air with delicious melody.
The hearts of the stern Conquerors were not very sensible to the beauties of
nature. But the magical charms of the scenery drew forth unbounded expres-
sions of delight, and as they wandered through this " terrestrial paradise," as
they called it, they fondly compared it to the fairest regions of their own
sunny land.14
As they approached the Indian city, they saw abundant signs of cultivation,
in the trim gardens and orchards that lined both sides of the road They
were now met by parties of the natives, of either sex, who increased in numbers
with every step of their progress. The wTomen, as well as men, mingled fear-
lessly among the soldiers, bearing bunches and wreaths of flowers, with which
they decorated the neck of the general's charger, and hung a chaplet of roses
about his helmet. Flowers were the delight'of this people. They bestowed
much care in their cultivation, in which they were well seconded by a climate
of alternate heat and moisture, stimulating the soil to the spontaneous pro-
14 Gomara, Cronica, cap. 32, ap. Barcia, Where the light bamboo waves her feathery
torn. ii. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 5, screen,
cap. 1.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. And her far shade the matchless ceiba
33, cap. 1. — "Mui hermosas vegas y riberas throws!
tlaes y tan hermosas que en toda Espafia no
pueden ser mejores ansi de apacibles a. la " Ye cloudless ethers of unchanging blue,
vista como de fructiferas." (Carta de Vera Save where the rosy streaks of eve give
Cruz, MS.) The following poetical apo- way
strophe, by Lord Morpeth, to the scenery of To the clear sapphire of your midnight
Cuba, equally applicable to that of the tierra hue,
caliente, will give the reader a more animated The burnished azure of your perfect day !
picture of the glories of these sunny climes
than any of my own prose can. The verses, " Yet tell me not my native skies are bleak,
which have never been published, breathe the That flushed with liquid wealth no cane-
generous sentiment characteristic of their fields wave ;
noble author : For Virtue pines, and Manhood dares not
" Ye tropic forests of unfading green, , *$%&* ,,.,., , * A,
Where the palm tapers ami the orange A»d Nature's glories brighten round the
jrl
Slav.
RECEPTION AT CEMPOALLA. 353
duction of every form of vegetable life. The same refined taste, as we shall
see, prevailed among the warlike Aztecs, and has survived the degradation of
the nation in their descendants of the present day.15
Many of the women appeared, from their richer dress and numerous atten-
dants, to be persons of rank. They were clad in robes of fine cotton, curiously
coloured, which reached from the neck — in the inferior orders, from the waist
—to the ankles. The men wore a sort of mantle of the same material, a la
Morisca, in the ^Moorish fashion, over their shoulders, and belts or sashes
about the loins. Both sexes had jewels and ornaments of gold round their
necks, while their ears and nostrils were perforated with rings of the same
metal.
Just before reaching the town, some horsemen who had ridden in advance
returned with the amazing intelligence " that they had been near enough to
look within the gates, and found the houses all plated with burnished silver ! "
On entering the place, the silver was found to be nothing more than a brilliant
coating of stucco, with which the principal buildings were covered ; a circum-
stance which produced much merriment among the soldiers at the expense of
their credulous comrades. Such ready credulity is a proof of the exalted state
of their imaginations, which were prepared to see gold and silver in every
object around them.10 The edifices of the better kind were of stone and lime,
or bricks dried in the sun ; the poorer were of clay and earth. All were
thatched with palm-leaves, which, though a flimsy roof, apparently, for such
structures, were so nicely interwoven as to form a very effectual protection
against the weather.
The city was said to contain from twenty to thirty thousand inhabitants.
This is the most moderate computation, and not improbable.17 Slowly and
silently the little army paced the narrow and now crowded streets of'Cem-
poalla, inspiring the natives with no greater wonder then they themselve3
experienced at the display of a policy and refinement so far superior to any-
thing they had witnessed in the New World.18 The cacique came out in front
of his residence to receive them. He was a tall and very corpulent man, and
advanced leaning on two of his attendants. He received Corte's and his
followers with great courtesy, and, after a brief interchange of civilities,
assigned the army its quarters in a neighbouring temple, into the spacious
court-yard of which a number of apartments opened, affording excellent
accommodations for the soldiery.
Here the Spaniards were well supplied with provisions, meat cooked after
the fashion of the country, and maize made into bread-cakes. The general
received, also, a present of considerable value from the cacique, consisting of
ornaments of gold and fine cottons. Notwithstanding these friendly demon-
strations, Cortes did not relax his habitual vigilance, nor neglect any of the
15 "The same love of flowers," observes Ind., IMS., lib. 3, cap. 121.) Torquemada
one of the most delightful of modern travel- hesitates between twenty, fifty, and one hun-
lers, "distinguishes the natives now, as in dred and fifty thousand, each of which he
the times of Cortes. And it presents a strange names at different times! (Clavigero, Stor.
anomaly," she adds, with her usual acuteness ; del Messico, torn. iii. p. 26, nota.) The place
"this love of flowers having existed along was gradually abandoned, after the Conquest,
with their sanguinary worship and barbarous for others, in a more favourable position,
sacrifices." Madame Calderon de la Barca, probably, for trade. Its ruins wore visihle
Life in Mexico, vol. i. let. 12. at the close of the last century. See Loren-
"• "Con la imaginacion que llevaban, i zana, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, p. 39, nota.
buenos deseos, todo se les antojaba plata i oro '8 " Porque viven mas polftica y rasonable-
lo que relucia." Gomara, Cronica, cap. 32, mente que ninguna de las gentes que hasta
ap. Barcia, torn. ii. oy en estas partes se ha visto." Carta de
17 This is Las Casas' estimate (Hist, de las Vera Cruz, MS.
154 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
precautions of a good soldier. On his route, indeed, he had always marched
in order of battle, well prepared against surprise. In his present quarters, he
stationed his sentinels with like care, posted his small artillery so as to
command the entrance, and forbade any soldier to leave the camp without
orders, under pain of death.19
The following morning, Cortes, accompanied by fifty of his men, paid a
visit to the lord of Cempoalla in his own residence. It was a budding of
stone and lime, standing on a steep terrace of earth, and was reached by a
flight of stone steps. It may have borne resemblance in its structure to some
of the ancient buildings found in Central America. Cortes, leaving his soldiers
in the court-yard, entered the mansion with one of his officers, and his fair
interpreter, Dorla Marina.20 A long conference ensued, from which the
Spanish general gathered much light respecting the state of the country.
He first announced to the chief that he was the subject of a great monarch
who dwelt beyond the Avaters ; that he had come to the Aztec shores to abolish
the inhuman worship which prevailed there, and to introduce the knowledge
of the true God. The cacique replied that their gods, who sent them the
sunshine and the rain, were good enough for them ; that he was the tributary
of a powerful monarch also, whose capital stood on a lake far off among the
mountains, — a stern prince, merciless in his exactions, and, in case of resistance,
or any offence, sure to wreak his vengeance by carrying oft' their young men
and maidens to be sacrificed to his deities. Cortes assured him that hewould
never consent to such enormities ; he had been sent by his sovereign to
redress abuses and to punish the oppressor ; 21 and, if the Totonacs would be
true to him, he would enable them to throw off the detested yoke of the
Aztecs.
The cacique added that the Totonac territory contained about thirty towns
and villages, which could muster a hundred thousand warriors,— a number
much exaggerated.22 There were other provinces of the empire, he said,
where the Aztec rule was equally odious ; and between him and the capital
lay the warlike republic of Tlascala, which had always maintained its inde-
pendence of Mexico. The fame of the Spaniards had gone before them,
and he was well acquainted with their terrible victory at Tabasco. But
still he looked with doubt and alarm to a rupture with " the great Monte*
zuma," as he always styled him ; whose armies, on the least provocation,
would pour down from the mountain regions of the West, and, rushing
over the plains like a whirlwind, sweep off the wretched people to slavery
and sacrifice !
Cortes endeavoured to reassure him, by declaring that a single Spaniai
was stronger than a host of Aztecs. At the same time, it was desirable
know what nations would co-operate with him, not so much on his account
theirs, that he might distinguish friend from foe and know whom he was
spare in this war of extermination. Having raised the confidence of tl
admiring chief by this comfortable and politic vaunt, he took an affectionat
leave, with the assurance that he would shortly return and concert measui
19 Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, and to overthrow tyranny." (Gomara,
cap. 121.— Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.— Gomara, - nica, cap. 33, ap. Barcia, torn, ii.) Are
Cronica, cap. 33, ap. Barcia, torn, ii.— Oviedo, reading the adventures— it is the languag
Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 33, cap. 1. of Don Quixote or Amadis de Gaula?
20 The courteous title of dofia is usually " Ibid., cap. 36.— Cortes, in his Secor
given by the Spanish chroniclers to this ac- Letter to the Emperor Charles V., estimat
complished Indian. the number of fighting-men at 50,000. Itel
21 " He had come only to redress injuries, cion segunda, ap. Lorenzana, p. 40.
to protect the captive, to succour the weak,
PROCEEDINGS WITH THE NATIVES. 155
for their future operations, when he had visited his ships in the adjoining port
and secured a permanent settlement there.23
The intelligence gained by Cortes gave great satisfaction to his mind. It
confirmed his former views, and showed, indeed, the interior of the monarchy
to be in a state far more distracted than he had supposed. If he had before
scarcely shrunk from attacking the Aztec empire, in the true spirit of a
knight-errant, with his single arm, as it were, Avnat had he now to fear, when
one "half of the nation could be thus marshalled against the other? In the
excitement of the moment, his sanguine spirit kindled with an enthusiasm
which overleaped every obstacle. He communicated his own feelings to the
officers about him, and, before a blow was struck, they already felt as if the
banners of Spain were waving in triumph from the towers of Montezuma !
But many a bloody field was to be fought, many a peril and privation to be
encountered, before that consummation could be attained.
Taking leave of the hospitable Indian, on the following day the Spaniards
took the road to Chiahuitztla,24 about four leagues distant, near which was
the port discovered by Montejo, where their ships were now riding at anchor.
They were provided by the cacique with four hundred Indian porters, tamanes,
as they were called, to transport the baggage, These men easily carried fifty
pounds' weight five or six leagues in a day. They were in use all over the
Mexican empire, and the Spaniards found them of great service, henceforth,
in relieving the troops from this part of their duty. They passed through a
country of the same rich, voluptuous character as that wliich they had lately
traversed, and arrived early next morning at the Indian town, perched like a
fortress on a bold, rocky eminence that commanded the Gulf. Most of the
inhabitants had fled, but fifteen of the principal men remained, who received
them in a friendly manner, offering the usual compliments of flowers and
incense. The people of tli£ place, losing their fears, gradually returned.
While conversing with the chiefs, the Spaniards were joined by the worthy
cacique of Cempoalla, borne by his men on a litter. He eagerly took part in
their deliberations. The intelligence gained here by Cortes confirmed the
accounts already gathered of the feelings and resources of the Totonac
nation.
In the midst of their conference, they were interrupted by a movement
among the people, and soon afterwards "five men entered the great square or
market-place, where they were standing. By their lofty port, their peculiar
and much richer dress, they seemed not to be of the same race as these
Indians. Their dark, glossy hair was tied in a knot on the top of the head.
They had bunches of flowers in their hands, and were followed by^ several
attendants, some bearing wands with cords, others fans, with which they
brushed away the flies and insects from their lordly masters. As these
persons passed through the place, they cast a haughty look on the Spaniards,
scarcely deigning to return their salutations. They were immediately joined,
in great confusion, by the Totonac chiefs, who seemed anxious to conciliate
them by every kind of attention.
The general, much astonished, inquired of Marina what it meant. She
informed him they wrere Aztec nobles, empowered to receive the tribute for
-3 Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, blunders of former writers, in the orthography
cap. 121.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., of Aztec names. Both Robertson and Solfs
cap. 81.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. spell the name of this place Quiabislan.
33, cap. 1. Blunders in such a barbarous nomenclature
"* The historian, with the aid of Clavigero, must be admitted to be very pardonable,
himself a Mexican, may rectify frequent
156 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
Montezuma. Soon after, the chiefs returned with dismay painted on their
faces. They confirmed Marina's statement, adding that the Aztecs greatly
resented the entertainment afforded the Spaniards without the Emperons
permission, and demanded in expiation twenty young men and women for
sacrifice to the gods. Cortes showed the strongest indignation at this in-
solence. He required the Totonacs not only to refuse the demand, but to
arrest the persons of the collectors and throw them into prison. The chiefs
hesitated, but he insisted on it so peremptorily that they at length complied,
and the Aztecs were seized, bound hand and foot, and placed under a guard.
In the night, the Spanish general procured the escape of two of them, and
had them brought secretly before him. He expressed his regret at the
indignity they had experienced from the Totonacs ; told them he would
provide means for their flight, and to-morrow would endeavour to obtain the
release of their companions. He desired them to report this to their master,
with assurances of the great regard the Spaniards entertained for him, not-
withstanding his ungenerous behaviour in leaving them to perish from want
on his barren shores. He then sent the Mexican nobles down to the port,
whence they were carried to another part of the coast by water, for fear of
the violence of the Totonacs. These were greatly incensed at the escape
of the prisoners, and would have sacrificed the remainder at once, but for the
Spanish commander, who evinced the utmost horror at the proposal, and
ordered them to be sent for safe custody on board the fleet. Soon after, they
were permitted to join their companions. This artful proceeding, so character-
istic of the policy of Cortes, had, as we shall see hereafter, all the effect
intended on Montezuma. It cannot be commended, certainly, as in the true
spirit of chivalry. Yet it has not wanted its panegyrist among the national
historians ! 25
By order of Cortes, messengers were despatched to the Totonac towns to
report what had been done, calling on them to refuse the payment of further
tribute to Montezuma. But there was no need of messengers. The affrighted
attendants of the Aztec lords had fled in every direction, bearing the tidings,
which spread like wildfire through the country, of the daring insult offered to
the majesty of Mexico. The astonished Indians, cheered with the sweet hope
of regaining their ancient liberty, came in numbers to Chiahuitztla, to see and
confer with the formidable strangers. The more timid, dismayed at the
thought of encountering the power of Montezuma, recommended an embassy
to avert his displeasure by timely concessions. But the dexterous manage-
ment of Cortes had committed them too far to allow any reasonable expec-
tation of indulgence from this quarter. After some hesitation, therefore, it
was determined to embrace the protection of the Spaniards, and to make one
bold effort for the recovery of freedom. Oaths of allegiance were taken by th«
chiefs to the Spanish sovereigns, and duly recorded by Godoy, the royi
notary. Cortes, satisfied with the important acquisition of so many vassal
to the crown, set out soon after for the destined port, having first promised
to revisit Cempoalla, where his business was but partially accomplished.26
The spot selected for this new city was only half a league distant, in a wide
and fruitful plain, affording a tolerable haven for the shipping. Cortes was
23 "Grande artifice," exclaims Solfs, "de — Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 40.-
medir lo que disponia con lo que recelaba ; y Gornara, Cronica, cap. 34-3C. ap. Barcia, torn,
prudente capitan el que sabe caminar en ii. — Bernal Diaz, Conquista, cap. 46, 47.
alcance de las contingencies " I Conquista, Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 5, cap,
lib. 2, cap. 9. 10, 11.
20 Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chid)., MS , cap. 81.
FOUNDATION OF VERA CRUZ. 157
not long in determining the circuit of the Avails, and the sites of the fort,
franary, town-house, temple, and other public buildings. The friendly
ndians eagerly assisted, by bringing materials, stone, lime, wood, and bricks
dried in the sun. Every man put his hand to the work. The general
laboured with the meanest of the soldiers, stimulating their exertions by his
example as well as voice. In a few weeks the task was accomplished, and a
town rose up, which, if not quite worthy of the aspiring name it bore,
answered most of the purposes for which it was intended. It served as a good
point cVappui for future operations ; a place of retreat for the disabled, as
well as for the army in case of reverses ; a magazine for stores, and for such
articles as might be received from or sent to the mother-country ; a port
for the shipping; a position of sufficient strength to overawe the adjacent
country.27
It was the first colony— the fruitful parent of so many others— in New
Spain. It was hailed with satisfaction by the simple natives, who hoped to
repose in safety under its protecting shadow. Alas ! they could not read the
future, or they would have found no cause to rejoice in this harbinger of a
revolution more tremendous than any predicted by their bards and prophets,
It was not the good Quetzalcoatl who had returned to claim his own again,
bringing peace, freedom, and civilization in his train. Their fetters, indeed,
would be broken, and their wrongs be amply avenged on the proud head of
the Aztec. But it was to be by that strong arm which should bow down
equally the oppressor and the oppressed. The light of civilization would be
poured on their land. But it would be the light of a consuming fire, before
which their barbaric glory, their institutions, their very existence and name
as a nation, would wither and become extinct ! Their doom was sealed when
the white man had set his foot on their soil.
CHAPTER VIII.
ANOTHER AZTEC EMBASSY— DESTRUCTION OF THE IDOLS — DESPATCHES SENT
TO SPAIN— CONSPIRACY IN THE CAMP — THE FLEET SUNK.
1519.
While the Spaniards were occupied with their new settlement, they were
surprised by the presence of an embassy from Mexico. The account of the
imprisonment of the royal collectors had spread rapidly through the country.
"When it reached the capital, all were filled with amazement at the unpre-
cedented daring of the strangers. In Montezuma every other feeling, even
27 Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.— Bcrnal Diaz, called. (See ante, chap. 5, note 8.) Of the
Conquista, cap. 48.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., true cause of these successive migrations we
MS., lib. 33, cap. 1. — Declaracion de Montejo, arc ignorant. If, as is pretended, it was on
MS. — Notwithstanding the advantages of its account of the vomitn, the inhabitants, one
situation, La Villa Rica was abandoned in a would suppose, could have gained little by the
few years for a neighbouring position to the exchange. (See Humboldt, Essai politique,
south, not far from the mouth of the Antigua. torn. ii. p. 210.) A want of attention to these
This second settlement was known by the changes has led to much confusion and in-
name of Vera Cruz Vieja, "Old Vera Cruz." accuracy in the ancient maps. Lorenzanahas
Early in Uie seventeenth century this place, not escaped them in his chart and topographi-
also, was abandoned for the present city, cal account of the route of Cortes.
Nueva Vera Cruz, or New Vera Cruz, as it is
158 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
that of fear, was swallowed up in indignation ; and he showed his wonted
energy in the vigorous preparations which he instantly made to punish his
rebellious vassals and to avenge the insult offered to the majesty of the
empire. But when the Aztec officers liberated by Cortes reached the capital
and reported the courteous treatment they had received from the Spanish
commander, Montezuma's anger was mitigated, and his superstitious fears,
getting the ascendency again, induced him to resume his former timid and
conciliatory policy. He accordingly sent an embassy, consisting of two youths,
his nephews, and four of the ancient nobles of his court, to the Spanish
quarters. He provided them, in his usual munificent spirit, with a princely
donation of gold, rich cotton stuffs, and beautiful mantles of the 2^u?nqje,
or feather embroidery. The envoys, on coming before Cortes, presented him
with the articles, at the same time offering the acknowledgments of their
master for the courtesy he had shown in liberating his captive nobles. He
was surprised and afflicted, however, that the Spaniards should have coun-
tenanced his faithless vassals in their rebellion. He had no doubt they were
the strangers whose arrival had been so long announced by the oracles, and
of the same lineage with himself.1 From deference to them he would spare
the Totonacs, while they were present. But the time for vengeance would
come.
Cortes entertained the Indian chieftains with frank hospitality. At the
same time, he took care to make such a display of his resources as, while it
amused their minds, should leave a deep impression of his power. He then,
after a few trifling gifts, dismissed them with a conciliatory message to their
master, and the assurance that he should soon pay his respects to nim in his
capital, where all misunderstanding between them would be readily adjusted.
The Totonac allies could scarcely credit their senses, when they gathered
the nature of this interview. Notwithstanding the presence of the Spaniards,
they had looked with apprehension to the consequences of their rash act ;
and their, feelings of admiration were heightened into awe for the strangers
who, at this distance, could exercise so mysterious an influence over the
terrible Montezuma.2
Not long after, the Spaniards received an application from the cacique of
Cempoalla to aid him in a dispute in which he was engaged with a neigh-
bouring city. Cortes marched with a part of his forces to his support. On
the route, one Morla, a common soldier, robbed a native of a couple of fowls.
Cortes, indignant at this violation of his orders before his face, and aware
of the importance of maintaining a reputation for good faith with his allies,
commanded the man to be hung up, at once, by the roadside, in face of the
whole army. Fortunately for the poor wretch, Pedro de Alvarado, the future
conqueror of Quiche, was present, and ventured to cut down the body, while
there was yet life in it. He, probably, thought enough had been done for
example, and the loss of a single life, unnecessarily, was more than the little
band could afford. The anecdote is characteristic, as showing the strict
discipline maintained by Cortes over his men, and the freedom assumed by
his captains, who regarded him on terms nearly of equality,— as a fellow-
adventurer with themselves. This feeling of companionship led to a spirit
of insubordination among them, which made his own post as commander the
more delicate and difficult.
1 " Teniendo respeto & que tiene por cierto, Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 48.
que sonios los que sus antepassados les auian 2 Gomara, Cronica, cap. 37.— Ixtlilxochitl,
dicho, que ;auian de venir & sus tierras, 6" Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 82. »
que deueruos de ser de sus linajes." Bernal
DESTRUCTION OF THE IDOLS. 159
On reaching the hostile city, but a few leagues from the coast, they were
received in an amicable manner; and Cortes, who was accompanied by his
allies, had the satisfaction of reconciling these different branches of the
Totonac family with each other, without bloodshed. He then returned to
Cempoalla, where he was welcomed with joy by the people, who were now
impressed with as favourable an opinion of his moderation and justice as they
had before been of his valour. In token of his gratitude, the Indian cacique
delivered to the general eight Indian maidens, richly dressed, wearing collars
and ornaments of gold, with a number of female slaves to wait on them.
They were daughters of the principal chiefs, and the cacique requested that
the Spanish captains might take them as their wives. Cortes received the'
damsels courteously, but told the cacique they must first be baptized, as
the sons of the Church could have no commerce with idolaters.3 He then
declared that it was a great object of his mission to wean the natives from
their heathenish abominations, and besought the Totonac lord to allow his
idols to be cast down, and the symbols of the true faith to be erected in their
place.
To this the other answered, as before, that his gods were good enough for
him ; nor could all the persuasion of the general, nor the preaching of Father
Olmedo, induce him to acquiesce. Mingled with his polytheism, he had con-
ceptions of a Supreme and Infinite Being, Creator of the Universe, and his
darkened understanding could not comprehend how such a Being could con-
descend to take the form of humanity, with its infirmities" and ills, and wander
about on earth, the voluntary victim of persecution from the hands of those
whom his breath had called into existence.4 He plainly told the Spaniards
that he would resist any violence offered to his gods, who would, indeed,
avenge the act themselves, by the instant destruction of their enemies.
But the zeal of the Christians had mounted too high to be cooled by remon-
strance or menace. During their residence in the land, they had witnessed
more than once the barbarous rites of the natives, their cruel sacrifices of
human victims, and their disgusting cannibal repasts.5 Their souls sickened
at these abominations, and they agreed with one voice to stand by their
general, when he told them that " Heaven would never smile on their enter-
prise if they countenanced such atrocities, and that, for his own part, he was
resolved the Indian idols should be demolished that very hour, if it cost him
his life." To postpone the work of conversion was a sin. In the enthusiasm
of the moment, the dictates of policy and ordinary prudence were alike
unheeded.
Scarcely waiting for his commands, the Spaniards moved towards one of
the principal teocallis, or temples, which rose high on a pyramidal foundation,
with a steep ascent of stone steps in the middle. The cacique, divining their
3 " De buena gana recibirian las Doncellas Vera Cruz, " algunos de nosotros, y los que
como fuesen Christianas ; porque de otra lo ban visto dizen que es la mas terrible y la
manera, no era permitido il hombres, bijos mas espantosa cosa de ver que jamas ban
de la Iglesia de Dios, tener comercio con visto." Still more strongly speaks Bernal
idolatras." Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, Diaz. (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 51.) The
lib. 5, cap. 13. Letter computes that there were fifty or sixty
4 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 5, cap. persons thus butchered in each of the ttocallis
13. — Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., every year; giving an annual consumption,
lib. 3, cap. 122.— Herrera has put a very in the countries which the Spaniards had
edifying harangue, on this occasion, into the then visited, of three or four thousand vic-
mouth of Cortes, which savours much more tims! (Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.) However
of the priest than the soldier. Does he not loose this arithmetic may be, the general fact
confound him with Father Olmedo ? is appalling.
6 "Esto habemos visto," says the Letter of
160 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
purpose, instantly called his men to arms. The Indian warriors gathered
from all quarters, with shrill cries and clashing of weapons ; while the priests,
in their dark cotton robes, with dishevelled tresses matted with blood, flowing
wildly over their shoulders, rushed frantic among the natives, calling on them
to protect their gods from violation ! All was now confusion, tumult, and
warlike menace, where so lately had been peace and the sweet brotherhood of
nations.
Cortes took his usual prompt and decided measures. He caused the
cacique and some of the principal inhabitants and priests to be arrested 1 >y
his soldiers. He then commanded them to quiet the people, for, if an
arrow was shot against a Spaniard, it should cost every one of them his
life. Marina, at the same time, represented the madness of resistance, and
reminded the cacique that if he now alienated the affections of the Spaniards
he would be left without a protector against the terrible vengeance of Monte-
zuma. These temporal considerations seem to have had more weight with
the Totonac chieftain than those of a more spiritual nature. He covered his
face with his hands, exclaiming that the gods would avenge their own wrongs.
The Christians were not slow in availing themselves of his tacit acquies-
cence. Fifty soldiers, at a signal from their general, sprang up the great
stairway of' the temple, entered the building on the summit, the walls of
which were black with human gore, tore the huge wooden idols from their
foundations, and dragged them to the edge of the terrace. Their fantastic
forms and features, conveying a symbolic meaning, which was lost on the
Spaniards, seemed in their eyes only the hideous lineaments of Satan. With
great alacrity they rolled the colossal monsters down the steps of the pyramid,
amidst the triumphant shouts of their own companions, and the groans and
lamentations of the natives. They then consummated the whole by burning
them in the presence of the assembled multitude.
The same effect followed as in Cozumel. The Totonacs, finding their deities
incapable of preventing or even punishing this profanation of their shrines,
conceived a mean opinion of their power, compared with that of the mys-
terious and formidable strangers. The floor and walls of the teocalli were
then cleansed, by command of Cortes, from their foul impurities ; a fresh
coating of stucco was laid on them by the Indian masons ; and an altar was
raised, surmounted by a lofty cross, and hung with garlands of roses. A
procession was next formed, in which some of the principal Totonac priests,
exchanging their dark mantles for robes of white, carried lighted candles in
their hands ; while an image of the Virgin, half smothered under the weight
of flowers, was borne aloft, and, as the procession climbed the steps of the
temple, was deposited above the altar. Mass was performed by Father
Olmedo, and the impressive character of the ceremony and the passionate
eloquence of the good priest touched the feelings of the motley audience,
until Indians as well as Spaniards, if we may trust the chronicler, were melted
into tears and audible sobs. The Protestant missionary seeks to enlighten
the understanding of his convert by the pale light of reason. But the bolder
Catholic, kindling the spirit by the splendour of the spectacle and by the
glowing portrait of an agonized Redeemer, sweeps along his hearers in a
tempest of passion, that drowns everything like reflection. He has secured
his cpnvert, however, by the hold on his affections, — an easier and more
powerful hold, writh the untutored savage, than reason.
An old soldier named Juan de Torres, disabled by bodily infirmity, con-
sented to remain and watch over the sanctuary and instruct the natives in its
services. Cortes then, embracing his Totonac allies, now^brothers in religion
DESPATCHES SENT TO SPAIN. 161
as in arms, set out once more for the Villa Hica, where he had some arrange-.
merits to complete previous to his departure for the capital.6
He was surprised to find that a Spanish vessel had arrived there in "his
absence, having on board twelve soldiers and two horses. It was under the
command of a captain named Saucedo, a cavalier of the ocean, who had
followed in the track of Cortes in quest of adventure. Though a small, they
afforded a very seasonable body of recruits for the little army. By these men,
the Spaniards were informed that Velasquez, the governor of Cuba, had lately
received a warrant from the Spanish government to establish a colony in the
newly-discovered countries.
Cortes now resolved to put a plan in execution which he had been some
time meditating. He knew that all the late acts of the colony, as well as his
own authority, would fall to the ground without the royal sanction. He knew,
too, that the interest of Velasquez, which was great at court, would, so soon as
he was acquainted with his secession, be wholly employed to circumvent and
crush him. He resolved to anticipate his movements, and to send a vessel to
Spain with despatches addressed to the emperor himself, announcing the
nature and extent of his discoveries, and to obtain, if possible, the confirma-
tion of his proceedings. In order to conciliate his master's good will, he further
proposed to send him such a present as should suggest lofty ideas of the im-
portance of his own services to the crown. To effect this/the royal fifth he
considered inadequate. He conferred with his officers, and persuaded them
to relinquish their share of the treasure. At his instance, they made a similar
application to the soldiers ; representing that it was the earnest wish of the
general, who set the example by resigning his own fifth, equal to the share of
the crown. It was but little that each man was asked to surrender, but the
whole would make a present worthy of the monarch for whom it was intended.
By this sacrifice they might hope to secure his indulgence for the past and his
favour for the future ; a temporary sacrifice, that would be well repaid by the
security of the rich possessions which awaited them in Mexico. A paper was
then circulated among the soldiers, which all who were disposed to relinquish
their shares were requested to sign. Those who declined should have their
claims respected, and receive the amount due to them. No one refused to
sign ; thus furnishing another example of the extraordinary power obtained
by Corte's over these rapacious spirits, who, at his call, surrendered up the
very treasures which had been the great object of their hazardous enterprise ! 7
8 Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. sembling snails.
3, cap. 122.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con- A large alligator's head of gold,
quista, cap. 51, 52.— Gomara, Crcmica, cap. A bird of green feathers, with feet, beak,
43.— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 5, and eyes of gold.
cap. 13, 11.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., Two birds made of thread and feather-
cap. 83. work, having the quills of their wings and
7 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. tails, their feet, eyes, and the ends of their
53.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., M.S., cap. 82. beaks, of gold,— standing upon two reeds
—Carta de Vera Cruz, MS. covered with gold, which are raised on balls
A complete inventory of the articles re- of feather-work and gold embroidery, one
ceived from Montezuma is contained in the white and the other yellow, with seven tassels
Carta de Vera Cruz.— The following are a of feather-work hanging from each of them,
few of the items. A large silver wheel weighing forty-eight
Two collars made of gold and precious marks, several bracelets and leaves of the
stones. same metal, together with five smaller shields,
A hundred ounces of gold ore, that their the whole weighing sixty-two marks of
Highnesses might see in what state the gold silver,
came from the mines. A box of feather-work embroidered on
Two birds made of green feathers, with leather, with a large plate of gold, weighing
feet, beaks, and eyes of gold,— and, in the seventy ounces, in the midst,
came piece with them, animals of gold, re- Two pieces of cloth woven with feathers ;
162
DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
" He accompanied this present with a letter to the emperor, in which he gave
a full account of all that had befallen him since his departure from Cuba ; of
his various discoveries, battles, and traffic with the natives ; their conversion
to Christianity ; his strange perils and sufferings ; many particulars respecting
the lands he had visited, and such as he could collect in regard to the great
Mexican monarchy and its sovereign. He stated his difficulties with the
governor of Cuba, the proceedings of the army in reference to colonization, and
besought the emperor to confirm their acts, as well as his own authority,
expressing his entire confidence that he should be able, with the aid of his
brave followers, to place the Castilian crown in possession of this great Indian
empire.8
This was the celebrated First Letter, as it is called, of Corte's, which has
hitherto eluded every search that has been made for it in the libraries of
Europe.9 Its existence is fully established" by references to it, both in his own
subsequent letters, and in the writings of contemporaries.10 Its general
another with variegated colours ; and another
Avorked with black and white figures.
A large wheel of gold, with figures of
strange animals on it, and worked with tufts
of leaves ; weighing three thousand eight
hundred ounces.
A fan of variegated feather-work, with
thirty-seven rods plated with gold.
Five fans of variegated feathers,— four of
which have ten, and the other thirteen, rods
embossed with gold.
Sixteen shields of precious stones, with
feathers of various colours hanging from
their rims.
Two pieces of cotton very richly wrought
with black and white embroidery.
Six shields, each covered with a plate of
gold, with something resembling a golden
mitre in the centre.
8 "Una muy larga Carta," says Gomara,
in his loose analysis of it. Chronica, cap. 40.
9 Dr. Kobertson states that the Imperial
Library at Vienna was examined for this
document, at his instance, but without suc-
cess. (History of America, vol. ii. note 70.)
I have not been more fortunate in the re-
searches made for me in the British Museum,
the Royal Library of Paris, and that of the
Academy of History at Madrid. The last is
a great depository for the colonial historical
* [There can be little doubt that the " Letter
of Vera Cruz " is the document referred to by
Cortes, writing in October, 1520, as the "muy
larga y particular Relacion" which he had
" despatched " to the emperor in the summer
of the preceding year. This language would
not necessarily imply that the letter so de-
scribed bore his own signature, while it was
a natural mode of designating one of which
he was the real author. It is easy to under-
stand why, holding as yet no direct commis-
sion from the crown, he should have been
less solicitous to appear as the narrator of his
own exploits than to give them an appear-
ance of official sanction and cover up his
documents ; but a very thorough inspection
of its papers makes it certain that this is
wanting to the collection. As the emperor
received it on the eve of his embarkation for
Germany, and the Letter of Vera Cruz, for-
warded at the. same time, is in the library of
Vienna, this would seem, after all, to be the
most probable place of its retreat.
10 "By a ship," says Cortes, in the very
first sentence of his Second Letter to the
emperor, " which I despatched from this your
sacred majesty's province of New Spain on
.the 16th of July of the year 1519, I sent your
highness a very long and particular relation
of what had happened from my coming
hither up to that time." (Rel. Seg. de Cortes,
ap. Lorenzana, p. 38.) " Cortes wrote," says
Bernal Diaz, "as he informed us, an accurate
report, but we did not see his letter." (Hist,
de la Conquista, cap. 53.) (Also, Oviedo,
Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 1, and
Gomara, ut supra.) Were it not for these
positive testimonies, one might suppose that
the Carta de Vera Cruz had suggested an
imaginary letter of Cortes. Indeed, the copy
of the former document belonging to the
Spanish Academy of History— and perhaps
the original at Vienna— bears the erroneous
title of " Primera Relacion de Cortes." *
irregularity in not addressing his report
Velasquez, the official superior from who
control he was seeking to emancipate hii
self. Nor is it necessary, in accepting tl
hypothesis, to reject the statement of Bern
Diaz that Cortes sent to the emperor a rel
tion under his own hand which he did no
show to his companions. It seems to hav
been his habit on subsequent occasions, whe
sending a detailed report, to accompany
with a briefer and more private letter, givir
a summary of what was contained in
longer document, sometimes with the add
tion of other matter, to be read by
emperor himself. One such letter, cit
. DESPATCHES SENT TO SPAIN. 163
is given by his chaplain, Gomara. The importance of the document
bwdoubtless been much overrated ; and, should it ever come to light, it will
probably be found to add little of interest to the matter contained in the letter
from Vera Cruz, which has formed the basis of the preceding portion of our
narrative. Cortes had no sources of information beyond those open to the
authors of the latter document. He was even less full and frank in his com-
munications, if it be true that he suppressed all notice of the discoveries of his
two immediate predecessors.11
The maristrates of the Villa Rica, in their epistle, went over the same
ground witn Cortes ; concluding with an emphatic representation of the mis-
conduct of Velasquez, whose venality, extortion, and selfish devotion to his
personal interests, to the exclusion of those of his sovereigns as well as of his
own followers, they placed in a most clear and unenviable light.12 They
implored the government not to sanction his interference with the new colony,
which would be fatal to its welfare, but to commit the undertaking to Her-
nando Cortes, a3 the man most capable, by his experience and conduct, of
bringing it to a glorious termination.13
With this letter went also another in the name of the citizen -soldiers of Villa
Rica, tendering their dutiful submission to the sovereigns, and requesting the
confirmation of their proceedings, above all, that of Corte's as their general.
The selection of the agents for the mission was a delicate matter, as on the
result might depend the future fortunes of the colony and its commander.
Cortes intrusted the affair to two cavaliers on whom he could rely ; Francisco
de Montejo, the ancient partisan of Velasquez, and Alonso Hernandez de
Puertocarrero. The latter officer was a near kinsman of the count of Medellin,
and it was hoped his high connections might secure a favourable influence at
court.
Together with the treasure, which seemed to verify the assertion that " the
land teemed with gold as abundantly as that whence Solomon drew the same
precious metal for his temple," 14 several Indian manuscripts were sent. Some
11 This is the imputation of Bernal Diaz, en algo se errase la relacion, porque niuchas
reported on hearsay, as he admits he never de ellas no se han visto mas de pur informa-
eawthe letter himself. Hist, de la Conquista, ciones de los naturales de ella, y por esto no
cap. 54. nos entremetemos £ dar mas de aquello que
'- "Fingiendo mill cautelas," says Las por muy cierto y verdadero Vras. Realea
Casas, politely, of this part of -the letter, "y ' Altezas podran mandar tener." The account
afirmando otras muchas falsedades e men- given of Velasquez, however, must be con-
tiras"! Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. sidered as an ex parte testimony, and, as
122. such, admitted with great reserve. , It was
:a This document is of the greatest value essential to their own vindication, to vindi-
and interest, coming as it does from the best- cate Cortes. The letter has never been
instructed persons in the camp. It presents an printed. The original exists, as above stated,
elaborate record of all then known of the coun- in the Imperial Library at Vienna. The
tries they had visited, and of the principal copy in my possession, covering more than
movements of the army, to the time of the sixty pages folio, is taken from that of the
foundation of the Villa Rica. The writers con- Academy of History at Madrid.*
ciliate our confidence by the circumspect tone J* " A nuestra parecer se debe creer, que ai
of their narration. " Querer dar," they say, "i£ en esta tierra tanto quanto en aquella de
Vuestra Magestad todas las particularidades donde se dize aver llevado Salomon el oro
de esta tierra y gente de ella, podria ser que para el templo." Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.
hereafter (p. 538, note), mentions "una re- have befallen a full official report, the first of
lacion bien larga y particular," which he was a series otherwise complete and disseminated
sending under the same date. That letters by means of copies.— Ed.]
of this kind should not always have been * [The letter has since been printed, from
preserved can excite no surprise ; but it is the original at Vienna, in the Col. de Doc.
highly improbable that the same fate should ined. para la Hist, de Espana, torn, i.— Ed.]
164 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
were of cotton, others of the Mexican agave. Their unintelligible characters,
says a chronicler, excited little interest in the Conquerors. As evidence of
intellectual culture, however, they formed higher objects of interest to a
philosophic mind than those costly fabrics which attested only the mechanical
ingenuity of the nation.15 Four Indian slaves were added as specimens of the
natives. They had been rescued from the cages in which they were confined
for sacrifice. One of the best vessels of the fleet was selected for the voyage,
manned by fifteen seamen, and placed under the direction of the pilot Ala-
minos. He was directed to hold his course through the Bahama channel, north
of Cuba, or Fernandina, as it was then called, and on no account to touch at
that island, or any other in the Indian Ocean. With these instructions, the
good ship took its departure on the 26th of July, freighted with the treasures
and the good wishes of the community of the Villa Rica de Vera Cruz.
After a quick run the emissaries made the island of Cuba, and, in direct
disregard of orders, anchored before Marien, on the northern side of the
island. This was done to accommodate Montejo, who wished to visit a planta-
tion owned by him in the neighbourhood. While off the port, a sailor got on
shore, and, crossing the island to St. Jago, the capital, spread everyAvhere
tidings of the expedition, until they reached the ears of Velasquez. It Avas
the first intelligence which had been received of the armament since its
departure ; and, as the governor listened to the recital, it would not be easy
to paint the mingled emotions of curiosity, astonishment, and wrath which
agitated his bosom. In the first sally of passion, he poured a storm of invec-
tive on the heads of his secretary and treasurer, the friends of Cortes,
who had recommended him as the leader of the expedition. After somewhat
relieving himself in this way, he despatched two fast sailing vessels to Marien
with orders to seize the rebel ship, and, in case of her departure, to follow and
overtake her.
But before the ships could reach that port the bird had flown, and was far
on her way across the broad Atlantic. Stung with mortification at this fresh
disappointment, Velasquez wrote letters of indignant complaint to the govern-
ment at home, and to the Hieronymite fathers in Hispaniola, demanding
redress. He obtained little satisfaction from the latter. He resolved, how-
ever, to take the matter into his own hands, and set about making formidable
preparations for another squadron, which should be more than a match for
that under his rebellious officer. He was indefatigable in his exertions, visiting
every part of the island, and straining all his resources to effect his purpose.
The preparations were on a scale that necessarily consumed many months.
Meanwhile the little vessel was speeding her prosperous way across the
waters, and, after touching at one of the Azores, came safely into the harbor
of St. Lucar, in the month of October. However long it may appear in tl
more perfect nautical science of our day, it was reckoned a fair voyage fc
that. Of what befell the commissioners on their arrival, their reception
court, and the sensation caused by their intelligence, I defer the account
a future chapter.16
Shortly after the departure of the commissioners, an affair occurred of
,5 Peter Martyr, pre-eminent above his 54-57.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 40.— Herrer
contemporaries for the enlightened views he Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 5, cap. 14. — Ca
took of the new discoveries, devotes half a de Vera Cruz, MS. — Martyr's copious inforr
chapter to the Indian manuscripts, in which tion was chiefly derived from his conver
he recogflized the evidence of a civilization tions with Alaminos and the two envoys,
analogous to the Egyptian. De Orbe Novo, their arrival at court. De Orbe Novo, dec.
dec. 4, cap. 8. cap. 6, et alibi ; also Idem, Opus Epistolar
)e Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. (Ainstelodami, 1670% ep. 650.
CONSPIRACY IN THE CAMP. 165
most unpleasant nature. A number of persons, with the priest Juan Diaz at
their head, ill-affected, for some cause or other, towards the administration of
Cortes, or not relishing the hazardous expedition before them, laid a plan to
seize one of the vessels, make the best of their way to Cuba, and report to the
governor the fate of the armament. It was conducted with so much secrecy
that the party had got their provisions, water, and everything necessary for
the voyage, on board, without detection ; when the conspiracy was betrayed,
on the very night they were to sail, by one of their own number, who repented
the part he had taken in it. The general caused the persons implicated to be
instantly apprehended. An examination was instituted. The guilt of the
parties was placed beyond a doubt. Sentence of death was passed on two of the
ringleaders ; another, the pilot, was condemned to lose his feet, and several
others to be whipped. The priest, probably the most guilty of the whole,
claiming the usual benefit of clergy, was permitted to escape. One of those
condemned to the gallows was named Escudero, the very alguacil who, the
reader may remember, so stealthily apprehended Cortes before the sanctuary
in Cuba.17 The general, on signing the death-warrants, was heard to exclaim,
" Would that I had never learned to write ! " It was not the first time, it was
remarked, that the exclamation had been uttered in similar circumstances.18
The arrangements being now finally settled at the Villa Rica, Cortes sent
forward Alvarado, with a large part of the army, to Cempoalla, where he soon
after joined them with the remainder. The late affair of the conspiracy seems
to have made a deep impression on his mind. It showed him that there were
timid spirits in the camp on whom he could not rely, and who, he feared,
might spread the seeds of disaffection among their companions. Even the
more resolute, on any occasion of disgust or disappointment nereafter,
might falter in purpose, and, getting possession of the vessels, abandon the
enterprise. This was already too vast, and the odds were too formidable, to
authorize expectation of success with diminution of numbers. Experience
showed that this was always to be apprehended while means of escape were
at hand.19 The best chance for success was to cut off these means. He
came to the daring resolution to destroy the fleet, without the knowledge of
his army.
When arrived at Cempoalla, he communicated his design to a few of his
devoted adherents, who entered warmly into his views. Through them he
readily persuaded the pilots, by means of those golden arguments which weigh
more than any other with ordinary minds, to make such a report of the con-
dition of the fleet as suited his purpose. The ships, they said, were grievously
racked by the heavy gales they had encountered, and, what was worse, the
worms had eaten into their sides and bottoms until most of them were not
seaworthy, and some, indeed, could scarcely now be kept afloat.
Cortes received the communication with surprise ; k' for he could well dis-
able," observes Las Casas, with his usual friendly comment, "when it
17 See ante, p. 111. literas ! ' " Lib. 6, cap. 10.
18 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 19 " Y porque," says Cortes, " demas de los
57. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., IMS., lib. 33, que por ser ciiados y amigos de Diego Velas-
cap. 2. — Las Casas, Hist, de las India?, M.S., quez tenian voluntad de salir de la Tierra,
lib. 3, cap. 122.— Demanda de Narvaez, MS. babia otros, que por verla tan grande, y de
— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 41. — tanta gente, y tal, y ver los pocos Espanoles
It was the exclamation of Nero, as reported que eramos, estaban del mismo proposito ;
by Suetonius. "Et cum de supplicio cujus- creyendo, que si alii los navios dejasse, se me
dam capite damnati ut ex more subscriberet, alzarian con ellos, y yendose todos los que de
admoneretur, 'O^uam vellem,' inquit, ' nescire esta voluntad estavan, yo quedaria casi solo."
1GG DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
of it ! Heaven's will be done ! " 20 He then ordered five of the worst con-
ditioned to be dismantled, their cordage, sails, iron, and whatever was
movable, to be brought on shore, and the ships to be sunk. A survey was
made of the others, and, on a similar report, four more were condemned in
the same manner. Only one small vessel remained !
When the intelligence reached the troops in Cempoalla, it caused the deepest
consternation. Tney saw themselves cut off by a single blow from friends,
family, country ! The stoutest hearts quailed before the prospect of being
thus abandoned on a hostile shore, a handful of men arrayed against a formi-
dable empire. When the news arrived of the destruction of the five vessels
first condemned, they had acquiesced in it as a necessary measure, knowing
the mischievous activity of the insects in these tropical seas. But, when this
was followed by the loss of the remaining four, suspicions of the truth flashed
on their minds. They felt they were betrayed. Murmurs, at first deep,
swelled louder and louder, menacing open mutiny. "Their general," they
said, "had led them like cattle to be butchered in the shambles !"21 The
affair wore a most alarming aspect. In no situation was Cortes ever exposed
to greater danger from his soldiers.22
His presence of mind did not desert him at this crisis. He called his men
together, and, employing the tones of persuasion rather than authority,
assured them that a survey of the ships showed they were not fit for
service. If he had ordered them to be destroyed, they should consider, also,
that his was the greatest sacrifice, for they were his property,— all, indeed, he
possessed in the world. The troops, on the other hand, would derive one great
advantage from it, by the addition of a hundred able-bodied recruits, before
required to man the vessels. But, even if the fleet had been saved, it could
have been of little service in their present expedition ; since they would not
need it if they succeeded, while they would be too far in the interior to profit
by it if they failed. He besought them to turn their thoughts in another
direction. To be thus calculating chances and means of escape was unworthy
of brave souls. They had set their hands to the work ; to look back, as they
advanced, would be their ruin. They had only to resume their former con-
fidence in themselves and their general, and success was certain. " As for
me," he concluded, " I have chosen my part. I will remain here, while there
is one to bear me company. If there be any so craven as to shrink from
sharing the dangers of our glorious enterprise, let them go home, in God's
name. There is still one vessel left. Let them take that and return to Cuba.
They can tell there how they deserted their commander and their comrades,
and patiently wait till we return loaded with the spoils of the Aztecs.23
The politic orator had touched the right chord in the bosoms of the soldiers.
As he spoke, their resentment gradually died away. The faded visions of
20 " Mostro quando se lo dixeron mucho Espafioles estuvo." Las Casas, Hist, de las
sentimiento Cortes, porque savia bien ha$er Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 122.
fingimientos quando le era provechoso, y " " Que ninguno seria tan cobarde y tan
rrespondioles que mirasen vien en ello, e que pusikinime que queria estimar su vida mas
si no estavan para navegar que dies?n gracias que la 6uya, ni de tan debil corazon que du-
a Dios por ello, pues no se podia hacer mas." dase de ir con el a Mexico, donde tanto bien
Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, le estaba aparejado, y que si acaso se deter-
cap. 122. minaba alguno de dejar de hacer este se podia
- "Decian, que Ios queria meter en el ir bendito de Dios a Cuba en el navio que
matadero." Gomara, Cronica, cap. 42. habia dexado, de que antes de mucho se arre-
23 "Al cavo lo ovieron de sentir la gente pentiria,y pelaria las barbas, viendo la buena
y ayna se le amotinaran muchos, y esta fue ventura que esperaba le sucederia. Ixtlilx
uno de los peligros que pasaron por Cortes de chitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 82.
muchos que para matallQ de los mismos
THE FLEET SUNK.
167
future riches and glory, rekindled by his eloquence, again floated before their
imaginations. The first shock over, they felt ashamed of their temporary
distrust. The enthusiasm for their leader revived, for they felt that under
his banner only they could hope for victory ; and, as he concluded, they
testified the revulsion of their feelings by making the air ring with their
shouts, " To Mexico ! to Mexico ! "
The destruction of his fleet by Cortes is, perhaps, the most remarkable
passage in the life of this remarkable man. History, indeed, affords examples
of a similar expedient in emergencies somewhat similar ; but none where the
chances of success were so precarious and defeat would be so disastrous."
Had he failed, it might well seem an act of madness. Yet it was the fruit of
deliberate calculation. He had set fortune, fame, life itself, all upon the
cast, and must abide the issue. There was no alternative in his mind but to
succeed or perish. The measure he adopted greatly increased the chance of
success. But to carry it into execution, in the face of an incensed and desperate
soldiery, was an act of resolution that has few parallels in history.25
21 Perhaps the most remarkable of these
examples is that of Julian, who, in his un-
fortunate Assyrian invasion, burnt the fleet
which had carried him up the Tigris. The
Btory is told by Gibbon, who shows very
satisfactorily that the fleet would have proved
a hinderance rather than a help to the em-
peror in his further progress. See History of
the Decline and Fall, vol. ix. p. 177, of Mil-
man's excellent edition.
23 The account given in the text of the
destruction of the fleet is not that of Bevnal
Diaz, who states it to have been accomplished
not only with the knowledge, but entire ap-
probation of the army, though at the sugg s-
tion of Cortes. (Hist.de la Conquista, cap. b8.)
This version is sanctioned by Dr. Robertson
(History of America, vol. ii. pp. 253, 254).
One should be very slow to depart from the
honest record of the old soldier, especially
when confirmed by the discriminating judg-
ment of the Historian of America. But Cortes
expressly declares in his letter to the emperor
that he ordered the vessels to be sunk, without
the knowledge of his men, from the appre-
hension that, if the means of escape were
open, the timid and disaffected might at some
future time avail themselves of them. (Rel.
Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 41.) The
cavaliers Montejo and Puertocarrero, on their
visit to Spain, stated, in their depositions, that
the general destroyed the fleet on information
received from the pilots. (Declaraciones,
MSS.) Narvaez in his accusation of Cortes,
and Las Casas, speak of the act in terms of
unqualified reprobation, charg ng him, more-
over, with bribing the pilots to bore holes in
the bottoms of the ships in order to disable
them. (Demanda de Narvaez, MS.— Hist, de
las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 122.) The same
account of the transaction, though with a very
different commentary as to its merits, is re-
peated by Oviedo (Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib.
33, cap. 2), Gomara (Cronica, cap. 42), and
Peter Martyr (De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 1),
all of whom had access to the best sources of
information . The affair, so remarkable as the
act of one individual, becomes absolutely in-
credible when considered as the result of so
many independent wills. It ts not impro-
bable that Bernal Diaz, from his known devo-
tion to the cause, may have been one of the
few to whom Cortes confided his purpose.
The veteran, in writing his narrative, many
years after, may have mistaken a part for the
whole, and in his zeal to secure to the army a
full share of the glory of the expedition, too
exclusively appropriated by the general (a
great object, as he tells us, of his history),
may have distributed among his comrades the
credit of an exploit which, in this instance, at
least, properly belonged to their commander.
Whatever be. the cause of the discrepancy, his
solitary testimony can hardly be sustained
against the weight of contemporary evidence
from such competent sources.*
* [PrescoK's account of the circumstances
attending the destruction of the fleet has been
contested at great length by Seiior Ramirez;,
who insists on accepting the statements of
Bernal Diaz without qualification and ascrib-
ing to the army an equal share with the
general in the merit of the act. He remarks
with truth that the language of Cortes—
" Tuve manera, como so color que los dichos
navfos no estaban para navegar, los eche a la
costa" — contains no express declaration, as
stated by Prescott, that the order for the fleet
to be sunk was given without the knowledge
of the army, but would, at the most, lead to
an inference to that effect. "Nor can even
this," he adds, " be admitted, since, in order
to persuade the soldiers that the ships were
unfit for sailing, he must have had an under-
standing with the mariners who were to make
the statement, and with his friends who were
to confirm it." This is, however, very in-
efficient reasoning. It is not pretended that
Cortes had no confidants and agents in the
transaction . The questiou of real importance
168
LAS CASAS.
Fray Bartolome de las Casas, Bishop of
Chiapa, whose " History of the Indies" forms
an important authority for the preceding
pages, was one cf the most remarkable men
of the sixteenth century. He was born at
Seville in 1474. His father accompanied
Columbus, as a common soldier, in his first
voyage to the New World ; and he acquired
wealth enough by his vocation to place his
Bon at the University of Salamanca. During
his residence there, he was attended by an
Indian page, whom his father had brought
with him from Hispaniola. Thus the un-
compromising advocate for freedom began his
career as the owner of a slave himself. But
he did not long remain so, for his slave was
one of those subsequently liberated by the
generous commands of Isabella.
In 1498 he completed his studies in law and
divinity, took his degree of licentiate, and in
1502 accompanied Oviedo, in the most brilliant
armada which had been equipped for the
Western World. Eight years after, he was
admitted to priest's orders in St. Domingo, an
event somewhat memorable, since he was the
first person consecrated in that holy office in
the colonies. On the occupation of Cuba by
the Spaniards, Las Casas passed over to that
island, where he obtained a curacy in a small
settlement. He soon, however, made himself
known to the governor, Velasquez, by the
fidelity with which he discharged his duties,
and especially by the influence which his mild
and benevolent teaching obtained for him over
the Indians. Through his intimacy with the
governor, Las Casas had the means of ame-
liorating the condition of the conquered race,
and from this time he may be said to have
consecrated all his energies to this one great
object. At this period, the scheme of reparti-
mimtos, introduced soon after the discoveries
of Columbus, was in full operation, and the
aboriginal population of the islands was
rapidly melting away under a system of op-
pression which has been seldom paralleled in
the annals of mankind. Las Casas, outraged
at the daily exhibition of crime and misery,
returned to Spain to obtain some redress from
government. Ferdinand died soon after his
arrival. Charles was absent, but the reins
were held by Cardinal Ximenes, who listened
to the complaints of the benevolent mission-
ary, and, with his characteristic vigour, insti-
tuted a commission of three Hicronymite
friars, with full authority, as already noticed
in the text, to reform abuses. Las Casas
was honoured, for his exertions, with the title
of " Protector General of the Indians."
The new commissioners behaved with great
discretion. But their office was one of con-
summate difficulty, as it required time to
introduce important changes in established
institutions. The ardent and impetuous
temper of Las Casas, disdaining every con-
sideration of prudence, overleaped all these
obstacles, and chafed under what he con-
sidered the lukewarm and temporizing policy
of the commissioners. As he was at no pains
to conceal his disgust, the parties soon came
to a misunderstanding with each other ; and
Las Casas again returned to the mother-
country, to stimulate the government, if
possible, to more effectual measures for the
protection of the natives.
He found the country under the adminis-
tration of the Flemings, who discovered from
the first a wholesome abhorrence of the abuses
practised in the colonies, and who, in short,
seemed inclined to tolerate no peculation or
extortion but their own. They acquiesced,
without much difficulty, in the recommenda-
tions of Las Casas, who proposed to relieve
the natives by sending out Castilian labourers
and by importing negro slaves into the islands.
This last proposition has brought heavy ob-
loquy on the head of its author, who>has been
freely accused of having thus introduced negro
slavery into the New World. Others, with
equal groundlessness, have attempted to vin-
dicate his memory from the reproach of
having recommended the measure at all. Un-
fortunately for the latter assertion, Las Casas,
in his History of the Indies, confesses, with
deep regret and humiliation, his advice on
this occasion, founded on the most erroneous
views, as he frankly states ; since, to use his
own words, " the same law applies equally to
the negro as to the Indian." But, so far from
having introduced slavery by this measure
into the islands, the importation of blacks
there dates from the-beginning of the century.
It was recommended by some of the wisest
and most benevolent persons in the colony,
as the means of diminishing the amount of
human suffering ; since the African was more
fitted by his constitution to endure the climate
and the severe toil imposed on the slave, than
the feeble and effeminate islander. It was a
suggestion of humanity, however mistaken,
and, considering the circumstances under
which it occurred, and the age, it may well
be forgiven in Las Casas, especially taking
into view that, as he became more enlightened
himself, he was so ready to testify his regret
at having unadvisedly countenanced the
measure.
is, Was the resolution -taken, as Bernal Diaz
asserts, openly and by the advice of the whole
army, — " claramente, por consejo de todos los
demas soldados " ? or was it formed by Cortes,
and were measures taken for giving effect to
it, without any communication with the mass
of his followers ? The newly discovered re-
lation of Tdpia is cited by Senor Ramirez as
"in perfect accordance with. the testimony of
Diaz and destructive of every supposition of
mystery and secrecy." Yet Tapia says, with
Herrera, that Cortes caused holes to be bored
in the ships and their unserviceable condition
to be reported to him, and thereupon gave
orders for their destruction ; no mention being
made of the concurrence of the soldiers at any
etage of the proceedings.— Ld.J
LAS CASAS.
169
The experiment recommended by Las Casas
was made, but, through the apathy of Fon-
6eca, president of the Indian Council, not
heartily, — and it failed. The good missionary
now proposed another and much bolder
scheme. He requested that a large tract of
country in .Tierra Firme, in the neighbour-
hood of the famous pearl-fisheries, might be
ceded to him for the purpose of planting a
colony there, and of converting the natives to
Christianity. He required that none of the
authorities of the islands, and no military
force, especially, 6hould be allowed to inter-
fere with his movements. He pledged him-
self by peaceful means alone to accomplish
all that had been done by violence in other
quarters. He asked only that a certain
number of labourers should attend him, in-
vited by a bounty from government, and that
he might further be accompanied by fifty
Dominicans, who were to be distinguished
like himself by a peculiar dress, that should
lead the natives to suppose them a different
race of men from the Spaniards. This pro-
position was denounced as chimerical and
fantastic by some, whose own opportunities
of observation entitled their judgment to re-
spect. These men declared the Indian, from
his nature, incapable of civilization. The
question was one of such moment that Charles
the Fifth ordered the discussion to be con-
ducted before him. The opponent of Las
Casas was first heard, when the good mission-
ary, in answer, warmed by the noble cause
he was to maintain, and nothing daunted by
the august presence in which he stood, de-
livered himself with a fervent eloquence that
went directly to the hearts of his auditors.
"The Christian religion," he concluded, "is
equal in its operation, and is accommodated
to every nation on the globe. It robs no one
of his freedom, violates none of his inherent
rights, on the ground that he is a slave by
nature, as pretended; and it well becomes
your Majesty to banish so monstrous an op-
pression from your kingdoms in the beginning
of your reign, that the Almighty may make
it long and glorious."
In the end Las Casas prevailed. He was
furnished with the men and means for estab-
lishing his colony, and in 1520 embarked for
America. But the result was a lamentable
failure. The country assigned to him lay in
the neighbourhood of a Spanish settlement,
which had already committed some acts of
violence on the natives. To quell the latter,
now thrown into commotion, an armed force
was sent by the young "Admiral" from
Hispaniola. The very people, among whom
Las Casas was to appear as the messenger
of peace, were thus involved in deadly strife
with his countrymen. The enemy had been
before him in his own harvest. While wait-
ing for the close of these turbulent scenes,
the labourers, whom he had taken out with
him, dispersed, in despair of effecting their
object. And after an attempt to pursue,
with his faithful Dominican brethren, the
work of colonization further, other untoward
circumstances compelled them to abandon
the project altogether. Its unfortunate author,
overwhelmed with chagrin, took refuge in
the Dominican monastery in the island of
Hispaniola. The failure of the enterprise
should, no doubt, be partly ascribed to cir-
cumstances beyond the control of its projector.
Yet it is impossible not to recognize in the
whole scheme, and in the conduct of it, the
hand of one much more familiar with books
than men, who, in the seclusion of the
cloister, had meditated and matured his be-
nevolent plans, without fully estimating the
obstacles that lay in their way, and who
counted too confidently on meeting the same
generous enthusiasm in others which glowed
in his own bosom.
He found, in his disgrace, the greatest con-
solation and sympathy from the brethren of
St. Dominic, who stood forth as the avowed
champions of the Indians on all occasions,
and showed themselves as devoted to the
cause of freedom in the. New World as lhey
had been hostile to it in the Old. Las Casas
soon became a member of their order, and.
in his monastic retirement, applied himself
for many years to the performance of his
spiritual duties, and the composition of various
works, all directed, more or less, to vindicate
the rights of the Indians. Here, too, he com-
menced .his great work, the " Historia general
de las Indias," which he pursued, at intervals
of leisure, from 1527 till a few years before
his death. His time, however, was not
wholly absorbed by these labours ; and he
found means to engage in several laborious
missions. He preached the gospel among
the natives of Nicaragua and Guatemala, and
succeeded in converting and reducing to obe-
dience some wild tribes in the latter province,
who had defied the arms of his countrymen.
In all these pious labours he was sustained
by his Dominican brethren. At length, in
1539, he crossed the waters again, to seek
further assistance and recruits among the
members of his order.
A great change had taken place in the
board that now presided over the colonial
department. The cold and narrow-minded
Fonseca, who, during his long administration,
had, it may be truly said, shown himself the
enemy of every great name and good measure
connected with the Indians, had died. His
place, as president of the Indian Council, was
filled by Loaysa, Charles's confessor. This
functionary, general of the Dominicans, gave
ready audience to Las Casas, and showed a
good will to his proposed plans of reform.
Charles, too, now grown older, seemed to feel
more deeply the responsibility of his station,
and the necessity of redressing the wrongs,
too long tolerated, of his American subjects.
The state of the colonies became a common
topic of discussion, not only in the council,
but in the court ; and the representations of
Las Casas made an impression that manifested
itself in the change of sentiment more clearly
G 2
170
LAS CASAS.
every day. He promoted this by the publi-
cation of some of his writings at this time,
and especially of his " Brevisima Relacion,"
or Short Account of the Destruction of the
Indies, in which he sets before the reader the
manifold atrocities committed by his country-
men in different parts of the New World in
the prosecution of their conquests. It is a
tale of woe. Every line of the work may be
said to be written in blood. However good
the motives of its author, we may regret that
the book was ever written. He would have
been certainly right not lo spare his country-
men ; to exhibit their misdeeds in their true
colours, and by this appalling picture — for
such it would have been— to have recalled
the nation, and those who governed it, to a
proper serise of the iniquitous career it was
pursuing on the other side of the water. But,
to produce a more striking effect, he has lent
a willing ear to every tale of violence and
rapine, and magnified the amount to a degree
which borders on the ridiculous. The wild
extravagance of his numerical estimates is
of itself sufficient to shake confidence in the
accuracy of his statements generally. Yet
the naked truth was too startling in itself to
demand the aid of exaggeration. The book
found great favour with foreigners; was
rapidly translated into various languages,
and ornamented with characteristic designs,
which seemed to put into action all the re-
corded atrocities of the text. It excited some-
what different feelings in his own countrymen,
particularly the people of the colonies, who
considered themselves the subjects of a gross,
however undesigned, misrepresentation ; and
In his future intercourse with them it con-
tributed, no doubt, to diminish his influence
and consequent usefulness, by the spirit of
alienation, and even resentment, which it
engendered.
Las Casas' honest intentions, his enlight-
ened views and long experience, gained him
deserved credit at home. This was visible in
the important regulations made at this time
for the better government of the colonies,
and particularly in respect to the aborigines.
A code of laws, Las Nuevas Leyes, was passed,
having for their avowed object the enfran-
chisement of this unfortunate race ; and in
the wisdom and humanity of its provisions
it is easy to recognize the hand of the Pro-
tector of the Indians. The history of Spanish
colonial legislation is the history of the im-
potent struggles of the government in behalf
of the natives, against the avarice and cruelty
of its subjects. It proves that an empire
powerful at home— and Spain then was so —
may be so widely extended that its authority
shall scarcely be felt in its extremities.
The government testified their sense of the
signal services of Las Casas by promoting
him to the bishopric of Cuzco, one of the
richest sees in the colonies. But the dis-
interested soul of the missionary did not covet
riches or preferment. He rejected <*ho prof-
fered dignity without hesitation. Yet he
could not refuse the bishopric of Chiapa, a
country which, from the poverty and igno-
rance of its inhabitants, offered a good field
for his spiritual labours. In 1544, though at
the advanced age of seventy, he took upon
himself these new duties, and embarked, for
the fifth and last time, for the shores of
America. His fame had preceded him. The
colonists looked on his coming with appre-
hension, regarding him as the real author of
the new code, which struck at their ancient
immunities, and which he would be likely to
enforce to the letter. Everywhere he was
received with coldness. In some places his
person was menaced with violence. But the
venerable presence of the prelate, his earnest
expostulations, which flowed so obviously
from conviction, and his generous self-devo-
tion, so regardless of personal considerations,
preserved him from this outrage. Yet he
showed no disposition to conciliate his oppo-
nents by what he deemed an unworthy con-
cession; and he even stretched the arm of
authority so far as to refuse the sacraments
to any who still held an Indian in bondage.
This high-handed measure not only outraged
the planters, but incurred the disapprobation
of his own brethren in the Church. Three
years were spent in disagreeable altercation
without coming to any decision. The Span-
iards, to borrow their accustomed phraseology
on these occasions, " obeying the law, but
not fulfilling it," applied to the court for
further instructions ; and the bishop, no
longer supported by his own brethren,
thwarted by the colonial magistrates, and
outraged by the people, relinquished a post
where his presence could be no longer useful,
and returned to spend the remainder of his
days in tranquillity at home.
Yet, though withdrawn to his Dominican
convent, he did not pass his hours in slothful
seclusion. He again appeared as the cham-
pion of Indian freedom in the famous con-
troversy with Sepulveda, one of the most acute
scholars of the time, and far surpassing Las
Casas in elegance and correctness of composi-
tion. But the Bishop of Chiapa was his
superior in argument, at least in this di?-
cussion, where he had right and reason on
his side. In his "Thirty Propositions," as
they are called, in which he sums up the
several points of his case, he maintains that
the circumstance of infidelity in religion
cannot deprive a nation of its political rights ;
that the Holy See, in its grant of the New
World to the Catholic sovereigns, designed
only to confer the right of converting its
inhabitants to Christianity, and of thus win-
ning a peaceful authority over them ; and
that no authority could be valid which rested
on other foundations. This was striking at
the root of the colonial empire as assumed by
Castile. But the disinterested views of Las
Casas, the respect entertained for his prin-
ciples, and the general conviction, it may be,
of the force of his arguments, prevented the
court from taking umbrage at their import,
LAS CASAS.
171
or from pressing them to their legitimate
conclusion. While the writings of his ad-
versary were interdicted from publication, he
had the satisfaction to see his own printed
and circulated in every quarter.
From this period his time was distributed
among his religious duties, his studies, and
the composition* of his works, especially his
History. His constitution, naturally excel-
lent, had been strengthened by a life of
temperance and toil; and he retained his
faculties unimpaired to the last. He died
after a short illness, July, 15GG, at the great
age of ninety-two, in his monastery of Atocha,
at Madrid.
The character of Las Casas maybe inferred
from his career. He was one of those to
whose gifted minds are revealed those glorious
moral truths which, like the lights of heaven,
are fixed and the same for ever, but which,
though now familiar, were hidden from all
but a few penetrating intellects by#the gene-
ral darkness of the time in which he lived. .
He was a reformer, and had the virtues and
errors of a reformer. He was inspired by one
great and glorious idea. This was the key to '
all his thoughts, to all that he said and wrote,
to every act of his long life. It was this which
urged him to lifj the voice of rebuke in the
presence of princes, to brave the menaces of
an infuriated populace, to cross seas, to tra-
verse mountains and deserts, to incur the
alienation of friends, the hostility of enemies,
to endure obloquy, insult, and persecution.
It was this, too, which made him reckless of
obstacles, led him to count too confidently on
the co-operation of others, animated his dis-
cussion, sharpened his invective, too ofteii
6teeped his pen in the gall of personal vitu-
peration, led him into gross exaggeration and
over-colouring in his statements, and a blind
credulity of evil that rendered him unsafe as
a counsellor and unsuccessful in the practical
concerns of life. His views were pure and
elevated. But his manner of enforcing them
was not always so commendable. This may
be gathered not only from the testimony of
the colonists generally, who, as parties inte-
rested, may be supposed to have been preju-
diced, but from that of' the members of his
own profession, persons high in office, and of
integrity beyond suspicion, not to add that of
■missionaries engaged in the same good work
with himself. These, in their letters and
reported conversations, charged the Bishop
of Chiapa with an arrogant, uncharitable
temper, which deluded his judgment, and
vented itself in unwarrantable crimination
against such as resisted his projects or differed
from him in opinion. Las Casas, in short,
was a man. 'But, if he had the errors of
humanity, he had virtues that rarely belong
to it. The best commentary on his character
is the estimation which he obtained in the
court of his sovereign. A liberal pension
Was settled on him after his last return from
America, which he chiefly expended on chari-
table objects. No measure of importance
relating to the Indians was taken without his
advice. He lived to see the fruits of his efforts
in the positive amelioration of their condition,
and in the popular admission of those great
truths which it had been the object of his life
to unfold. And who shall say how much of
the successful efforts and arguments since
made in behalf of persecuted humanity may
be traced to the example and the writings of
this illustrious philanthropist?
His compositions were numerous, most of
them of no great length. Some were printed
in his time ; others have since appeared, es-
pecially in the French translation of Lloiente.
His great work, which occupied him at inter-
vals for more than thirty years, the Historia
general de las Indias, still remains in manu-
script. It is in three volumes, divided into as
many parts, and embraces the colonial history
from the discovery of the country by Colum-
bus to the year 1520. The style of the work,
like that of all his writings, is awkward, dis-
jointed, and excessively diffuse, abounding in
repetitions, irrelevant digressions, and pedan-
tic citations. But it is sprinkled over with
passages of a different kind ; and, when he is
roused by the desire to exhibit some gross
wrong to the natives, his simple language
kindles into eloquence, and he expounds those
great and immutable principles of natural
justice which in his own day were so little
understood. His defect as a historian is that
he wrote history, like everything else, under
the influence of one dominant idea. He is
always pleading the cause of the persecuted
native. This gives a colouring to events
which passed under his own eyes, and filled
him with a too easy confidence in those which
he gathered from the reports of others. Much
of the preceding portion of our narrative which
relates to affairs in Cuba must have come
under his personal observation. But he seems
incapable of shaking off his early deference to
Velasquez, who, as we have noticed, treated
him, while a poor curate in the island, with
peculiar confidence. For Cortes, on the other
hand, he appears to have felt a profound con-
tempt. He witnessed the commencement of
his career, when he was standing, cap in
hand, as it were, at the proud governor's door,
thankful even for a smile of recognition. Las
.Casas remembered all this, and, when he saw
the Conqueror of Mexico rise into a glory and
renown that threw his former patron into the
shade,— and most unfairly, as Las Casas
deemed, at the expense of that patron, — the
good bishop could not withhold his indigna-
tion, nor speak of him otherwise than with a
sneer, as a mere upstart adventurer.
It is the existence of defects like these, and
the fear of the misconceptions likely to be
produced by them, that have so loug prevented
the publication of his History. At his death,
he left it to the convent of San Gregorio, at
Valladolid, with directions that it should not
be printed for forty years, nor be seen during
that time by any layman or member of the
fraternity. Herrera, however, was permitted
it:
LAS CASAS.
to consult it, and he liberally transferred its
contents to his own volumes, which appeared
in 1601. The Royal Academy of History
revised the first volume of Las Casas some
years since, with a view to the publication of
the whole work. But the indiscreet and
imaginative style of the composition, accord-
ing to Navarette, and the consideration that
its most important facts were already known
through other channels, induced that body to
abandon the design. With deference to their
judgment, this seems to me a mistake. Las
; Casas, with every deduction, is one of the
great writers of the nation ; great from the im-
portant truths which he discerned when none
else could see them, and from the courage
with which he proclaimed them to the world.
They are scattered over his History as well as
his other writings. They are not, however,
the passages transcribed by Herrera. In the
statement of fact, too, however partial and
prejudiced, no one will impeach his integrity ;
and, as an enlightened contemporary, his evi-
dence is of undeniable value. It is due to the
memory of Las Casas that, if his work be given
to the public at all, it should not be through
the garbled extracts of one who was no fair
interpreter of his opinions. Las Casas does
not speak for himself in the courtly pages of
Herrera. Yet the History should not bo pub.
lished without a suitable commentary to
enlighten the student and guard him against
any undue prejudices in the writer. We may
hope that the entire manuscript will one day
be given to the world under the auspices of
that distinguished body which has already
done so much in this way for the illustration
of the national annals.
The life of Las Casas has been several times
written. The two memoirs most worthy of
notice are that by Llorente, late Secretary of
the Inquisition, prefixed to his French trans-
lation of the bishop's controversial writings,
and that by Quintana, in the third volume of
his " Espanoles celebres," where it presents
a truly noble specimen of biographical com-
position, enriched by a literary criticism as
acute as it is candid. 1 have gone to the
greater length in this notice, from the inte-
resting character of the man, and the little that
is known of him to the English reader. I
have also transferred a passage from his work
in the original to the Appendix, that the
Spanish scholar may form an idea of his style
of composition. He ceases to be an authority
for us henceforth, as his account of the ex-
pedition of Cortes terminates with the destruc-
tion of the navy.
BOOK THIRD.
MARCH TO MEXICO.
BOOK IIL
MARCH TO MEXICO,
CHAPTER I.
PROCEEDINGS AT CEMPOALLA— THE SPANIARDS CLIMB THE TABLE-LAND—
PICTURESQUE SCENERY — TRANSACTIONS WITH THE NATIVES— EMBASSY TO
TLASCALA.
1519.
While at Cempoalla, CortCs received a message from Escalante, his com-
mander at Villa Rica, informing him there were four strange ships hovering off
the coast, and that they took no notice of his repeated signals. This intelli-
gence greatly alarmed the general, who feared they might be a squadron sent
by the governor of Cuba to interfere with his movements. In much haste, he
set out at the head of a few horsemen, and, ordering a party of light infantry
to follow, posted back to Villa Rica. The rest of the army he left in charge of
Alvarado and of Gonzalo de Sandoval, a young officer who had begun to give
evidence of the uncommon qualities which have secured to him so distinguished
a rank among the conquerors of Mexico.
Escalante would have persuaded the general, on his reaching the town, to
take some rest, and allow him to go in search of the strangers. But Cortes
replied with the homely proverb, " A wounded hare takes no nap," ! and, with-
out stopping to refresh himself or his men, pushed on three or four leagues to
the north, where he understood the ships were at anchor. On the way, he fell
in with three Spaniards, just landed from them. To his eager inquiries whence
they came, they replied that they belonged to a squadron fitted out by Fran-
cisco de Garay, governor of Jamaica. This person, the year previous, had
visited the Florida coast, and obtained from Spain — where he had some
interest at court— authority over the countries he might discover in that
vicinity. The three men, consisting of a notary and two witnesses, had been
sent on shore to warn their countrymen under Cortes to desist from what was
considered an encroachment on the territories of Garay. Probably neither the
governor of Jamaica nor his officers had any very precise notion of the geo-
graphy and limits of these territories.
Cortes saw at once there was nothing to apprehend from this quarter. He
would have been glad, however, if he could by any means have induced the
crews of the ships to join his expedition. He found no difficulty in persuading
the notary and his companions. But when he came in sight of the vessels,
the people on board, distrusting the good terms on which their comrades
appeared to be with the Spaniards, refused to send their boat ashore. In this
dilemma, Cortes had recourse to a stratagem.
1 " Cabra ccija no tenga siesta."
176 MARCH TO MEXICO.
He ordered three of his own men to exchange dresses with the new-comers.
He then drew off his little band in sight of the vessels, affecting to return to
the city. In the night, however, he came back to the same place, and lay in
ambush, directing the disguised Spaniards, when the morning broke, and they
could be discerned, to make signals to those on board. The artifice succeeded.
A boat put off, filled with armed men, and three or four leaped on shore. But
they soon detected the deceit, and Cortes, springing from his ambush, made
them prisoners. Their comrades in the boat, alarmed, pushed off, at once, for
the vessels, which soon got under way, leaving those on shore to their fate.
Thus ended the affair. Cortes returned to Cempoalla, with the addition of
lalf a dozen able-bodied recruits, and, what was of more importance, relieved
in his own mind from the apprehension of interference with his operations.2
He now made arrangements for his speedy departure from the Totonac
capital. The forces reserved for the expedition amounted to about four
hundred foot and fifteen horse, with seven pieces of artillery. He obtained,
also, from the cacique of Cempoallo, thirteen hundred warriors, and a thousand
tamanes, or porters, to drag the guns and transport the baggage. He took
forty more of their principal men as hostages, as well as to guide him on the
way and serve him by their counsels among the strange tribes he was to visit.
They were, in fact, of essential service to him throughout the march.3
The remainder of his Spanish force he left in garrison at Villa Rial de Vera
Cruz, the command of Avhich he had intrusted to the alguacil, Juan de Esca-
lante, an officer devoted to his interests. The selection was judicious. It was
important to place there a man who would resist any hostile interferences
from his European rivals, on the one hand, and maintain the present friendly
relations with the natives, on the other. Corte's recommended the Totonac
chiefs to apply to this officer in case of any difficulty, assuring them that so
long as they remained faithful to their new sovereign and religion they should
find a sure protection in the Spaniards.
Before marching, the general spoke a few words of encouragement to his
own men. He told them they were now to embark in earnest on an enterprise
which had been the great object of their desires, and that the blessed Saviour
would carry them victorious through every battle with their enemies.
" Indeed," he added, "this assurance must be our stay, for every other refuge
is now cut off but that afforded by the providence of God and your own stout
hearts." 4 He ended by comparing their achievements to those of the ancient
Romans, " in phrases of honeyed eloquence far beyond anything I can repeat,"
says the brave and simple-hearted chronicler who heard them. Cortes was,
indeed, master of that eloquence which Avent to the soldiers' hearts. For their
sympathies were his, and he shared in that romantic spirit of adventure which
belonged to them. " We are ready to obey you," they cried as with one voice.
"Our fortunes, for better or worse, are cast with yours."5 Taking leave,
2 Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, numbers of their foes and diminishing their
cap. 1.— Rel. Seg.de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, own, to be entitled to much confidence in
pp. 42-45.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con- their estimates,
(juista, cap. 59, 60. « " No teniamos otro socorro, ni ayuda sino
* Gomara, Cronica, cap. 44.— Ixtlilxochitl, el de Dios; porque ya no teniamos nauios
Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.— Bernal Diaz, para ir ji Cuba, salvo nuestro buen pelear y
Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 61.— -The number coracones fuertes." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la
of the Indian auxiliaries stated in the text is Conquista, cap. 59.
much larger than that allowed by either s " Y todos a vna le respondfmos, que
Cortes or Diaz. But both these actors in the hariamos lo que ordenasse, que echada estaua
drama show too obvious a desire to magnify la sur?rte de la buena 6 mala ventura." Loc.
their own prowess, by exaggerating the cit.
THE SPANIARDS CLIMB THE TABLE-LAND. 177
therefore, of their hospitable Indian friends, the little army, buoyant with
high hopes and lofty plans of conquest, set forward on the march to
Mexico.
It was the sixteenth of August, 1519. During the first day, their road lay
through the tierra caliente, the beautiful land where they had been so long
lingering ; the land of the vanilla, cochineal, cacao (not till later days of the
orange and the sugar-cane), products which, indigenous to Mexico, have now
become the luxuries of Europe ; the land where the fruits and the flowers
chase one another in unbroken circle through the year ; where the gales are
loaded with perfumes till the sense aches at their sweetness, and the groves
are filled with many-coloured birds, and insects whose enamelled wings
glisten like diamonds in the bright sun of the tropics. Such are the magical
splendours of this paradise of the senses. Yet Nature, who generally works
in a spirit of compensation, has provided one here ; since the same burning
sun which quickens into life these glories of the vegetable and animal king-
doms calls forth the pestilent malaria, with its train of bilious disorders,
unknown to the cold skies of the North. The season in which the Spaniards
were there, the rainy months of summer, was precisely that in which the
vomito rages with greatest fury ; when the European stranger hardly ventures
to set his foot on shore, still less to linger there a day. We find no mention
made of it in the records of the Conquerors, nor any notice, indeed, of an
uncommon mortality. The fact doubtless corroborates the theory of those
who postpone the appearance of the yellow fever till long after the occupation
of the country by the whites. It proves, at least, that, if existing before, it
must have been in a very much mitigated form.
After some leagues of travel over roads made nearly impassable by the
summer rains, the troops began the gradual ascent— more gradual on the
eastern than the western declivities of the Cordilleras— which leads up to
the table-land of Mexico. At the close of the second day they reached
Xalapa, a place still retaining the same Aztec name that it has communicated
to the drug raised in its environs, the medicinal virtues of which are now
known throughout the world.6 This town stands midway up the long ascent,
at an elevation where the vapours from the ocean, touching in their westerly
progress, maintain a rich verdure throughout the year. Though somewhat
infected with these marine fogs, the air is usually bland and salubrious. The
wealthy resident of the. lower regions retires here for safety in the heats of
summer, and the traveller hails its groves of oak with delight, as announcing
that he is above the deadly influence of the vomito." From this delicious
spot, the Spaniards enjoyed one of the grandest prospects in nature. Before
them was the steep ascent— much steeper after this point— which they were
to climb. On the right rose the Sierra Madre, girt with its dark belt of
pines, and its long lines of shadowy hills stretching away in the distance. To
the south, in brilliant contrast, stood the mighty Orizaba, with his white robe
of snow descending far down his sides, towering in solitary grandeur, the
giant spectre of the Andes. Behind them, they beheld, unrolled at their feet,
the magnificent tierra caliente, with its gay confusion of meadows, streams,
and flowering forests, sprinkled over with shining Indian villages, while a
faint line of light on the edge of the horizon told them that there was the
6 Jalap, Convolvulus jalapce. The x and j like others of the period built under the same
are convertible consonants in the Castilian. auspices, says an agreeable traveller, a mili-
7 The heights of Xalapa are crowned with tary as well as religious design. Tudor's
a convent dedicated to St. Francis, erected In Travels in North America (London, 1834),
later days by Cortes, showing, in its solidity, vol. ii. p. 186.
MARCH TO MEXICO.
ocean, beyond which were the kindred and country they were many of them
never more to see.
Still winding their way upward, amidst scenery as different as Avas the
temperature from that of the regions below, the army passed through settle-
ments containing some hundreds of inhabitants each, and on the fourth day
reached a " strong town," as Cortes terms it, standing on a rocky eminence,
supposed to be that now known by the Mexican name of Naulinco. Here
they were hospitably entertained by the inhabitants, who were friends of the
Totonacs. Cortes endeavoured, through Father Olmedo, to impart to them
some knowledge of Christian truths, which were kindly received, and the
Spaniards were allowed to erect a cross in the place, for the future adoration
of the natives. Indeed, the route of the army might be tracked by these
emblems of man's salvation, raised wherever a willing population of Indians
invited it, suggesting a very different idea from what the same memorials
intimate to the traveller in these mountain solitudes in our day.8
The troops now entered a rugged defile, the Bishop's Pass,9 as it is called,
capable of easy defence against an army. Very soon they experienced a most
unwelcome change of climate. Cold winds from the mountains, mingled with
rain, and, as they rose still higher, with driving sleet and hail, drenched their
garments, and seemed to penetrate to their very bones. The Spaniards, in-
deed, partially covered by their armour and thick jackets of quilted cotton,
were better able to resist the weather, though their long residence in the
sultry regions of the valley made them still keenly sensible to the annoyance.
But the poor Indians, natives of the tierra caliente, with little protection in
the way of covering, sank under the rude assault of the elements, and several
of them perished on the road.
The aspect of the country was as wild and dreary as the climate. Their
route wround along the spur 'of the huge Cofre de Perote, which borrows its
name, both in Mexican and Castilian, from the coffer-like rock on its summit.10
It is one of the great volcanoes of New Spain. It exhibits now, indeed, no
8 Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33,
cap. 1. — Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana,
p. 40. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 44. — Ixtlilxo-
chitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.— " Every
hundred yards of our route," says tbo tra-
veller last quoted, speaking of this very
region, " was marked by the melancholy
erection of a wooden cross, denoting, accord-
ing to the custom of the country, the com-
mission of some horrible murder on the spot
where it was planted." (Travels in North
America, vol. ii. p. 188.)— [Seiior Alaman
stoutly defends his countrymen from this
gross exaggeration, as he pronounces it, of
Mr. Tudor. For although it is unhappily
true, he says, that travellers were formerly
liable to be attacked in going from the city
of Mexico to Vera Cruz, "and that the dili-
gence which passes over this road is still fre-
quently stopped, yet it is very seldom that
personal violence is offered. " Foreign tourists
are .prone to believe all the stories of atro-
cities that are related to them, and generally,
at inns, fall into the society of persons who
take delight in furnishing a large- supply of
such materials. The crosses that are to be
met with in the country are not so numerous
as is pretended; nor are all of them me-
morials of assassinations committed in the
places where they have been erected. Many
are merely objects of devotion, and others
indicate the spot where two roads diverge
from each other. We must, nevertheless,
confess that this matter is one that demands
all the attentio'n of the government; while
the candid foreigner will doubtless admit
that it is not easy to exercise police super-
vision over roads on which the central points
of population lie far apart, as in countries
like ours, instead of being so near that a
watch can be maintained from them over the
intermediate spaces, as is the case in most
countries of Europe and in a great part of the
United States." Conquista de Mejico (trad,
de Vega), torn. i. p. 251.]
" El Paso del Obispo. Cortes named it
Puerto del Nombre de Dios. Viaje, ap. Loren-
zana, p. ii.
10 The Aztec name is Xauhcampatepetl,
from nauhcampa, "anything square," and
tepetl, " a mountain."— Humboldt, who waded
through forests and snows to its summit,
ascertained its height to be 4089 metres,
= 13,414 feet, above the sea. See his Vues
des Cordilleres, p. 234, and E^sai politique,
vol. i. p. 266.
ARDUOUS MARCH. 179
vestige of a crater on its top, but abundant traces of volcanic action at its
base, where acres of lava, blackened scoriae, and cinders proclaim the convul-
sions of nature, while numerous shrubs and mouldering trunks of enormous
trees, among the crevices, attest the antiquity of these events. Working their
toilsome way across this scene of desolation, the path often led them along
the borders of precipices, down whose sheer depths of two or tbree thousand
feet the shrinking eye might behold another climate, and see all the glowing
vegetation of the tropics choking up the bottom of the ravines.
After three days of this fatiguing travel, the wayworn army emerged
through another defile, the Sierra del Agua.n They soon came upon an
open reach of country, with a genial climate, such as belongs to the temperate
latitudes of southern Europe. They had reached the level of more than
seven thousand feet above the ocean, where the great sheet of table-land
spreads out for hundreds of miles along the crests of the Cordilleras. The
country showed signs of careful cultivation, but the products were, for the
most part, not familiar to the eyes of the Spaniards. Fields and hedges*of
the various tribes of the cactus, the towering organum, and plantations of
aloes with rich yellow clusters of flowers on their tall stems, affording drink
and clothing to the Aztec, were everywhere seen. The plants of the torrid
and temperate zones had disappeared, one after another, with the ascent into
these elevated regions. The glossy and dark-leaved banana, the chief, as it
is the cheapest, aliment of the countries below, had long since faded from the
landscape. The hardy maize, however, still shone with its golden harvests in
all the pride of cultivation, the great staple of the higher equally with the
loAver terraces of the plateau.
Suddenly the troops came upon what seemed the environs of a populous
city, which, as they entered it, appeared to surpass even that of Cempoalla
in the size and solidity of its structures.12 These were of stone and lime,
many of them spacious and tolerably high. There were thirteen teocallis in
the place ; and in the suburbs they had seen a receptacle, in which, according
to Bernal Diaz, were stored a hundred thousand skulls of human victims, all
piled and ranged in order ! lie reports the number as one he had ascertained
by counting tliem himself.13 Whatever faith we may attach to the precise
accuracy of his figures, the result is almost equally startling. The Spaniards
were destined to become familiar with this appalling spectacle as they
approached nearer to the Aztec capital.
The lord of the town ruled over twenty thousand vassals. He was tribu-
tary to Montezuma, and a strong Mexican garrison was quartered in the
place. He had probably been advised of the approach of the Spaniards, and
doubted how far it would be welcome to his sovereign. At all events, he gave
them a cold reception, the more unpalatable after the extraordinary sufferings
of the last few days. To the inquiry of Cortes, whether he were subject to
Montezuma, he answered, with real or affected surprise, "Who is there
that is not a vassal of Montezuma 1 " M The general told him, with some
11 The same mentioned in Cortes' Letter as 13 " Fue3tos tantos rimeros de calaueras de
the Puerto de la Lena. Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, muertos, que se podian bien contar, segun el
p. iii. concerto con que estauan puestas, que me
12 Now known by the euphonious Indian parece que eran mas de cien mil, y digo otra
name of Tlatlauqnitepec. (Viaje, ap. Lo- vez sobre cien mil." Ibid., ubi supra,
renzana, p. iv.) It is the Cocotlan of Bernal 14 "El qual casi admirado de lo que le
Diaz. (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 61.) The preguntaba, me respondio, diciendo ; ique
old Conquerors, made sorry work with the quien no era vasallo de Muctezuma ? que-
Aztec names, both of places and persons, for riendo decir, que alii era Seiior del Mundo."
which they must be allowed to have had Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 47.
ample excuse.
180 MARCH TO MEXICO.
emphasis, that he was not. He then explained whence and why he came;
assuring him that he served a monarch who had princes for his vassals as
powerful as the Aztec monarch himself.
The cacique, in turn, fell nothing short of the Spaniard in the pompous
display of the grandeur and resources of the Indian emperor. He told his
guest that Montezuma could muster thirty great vassals, each master of
a hundred thousand men ! 15 His revenues were immense, as every subject,
however poor, paid something. They were all expended on his magnificent
state and in support of his armies. These were continually in the field, while
garrisons were maintained in most of the large cities of the empire. More
than twenty thousand victims, the fruit of his wars, were annually sacrificed
on the altars of his gods ! His capital, the cacique said, stood in a lake, in
the centre of a spacious valley. The lake was commanded by the' emperor's
vessels, and the approach to the city was by means of causeways, several
miles long, connected in parts by wooden bridges, which, when raised, cut off
all communication with the country. Some other things he added, in answer
to queries of his guest, in which, as the reader may imagine, the crafty or
credulous cacique varnished over the truth with a lively colouring of romance.
Whether romance, or reality, the Spaniards could not determine. The
particulars they gleaned were not of a kind to tranquillize their minds, and
might well have made bolder hearts than theirs pause, ere they advanced.
But far from it. " The words which we heard," says the stout old cavalier so
often quoted, " however they may have filled us with wonder, made us — such
is the temper of the Spaniard — only the more earnest to prove the adventure,
desperate as it might appear." 16
In a further conversation Cortes inquired of the chief whether his country
abounded in gold, and intimated a desire to take home some, as specimens, to
his sovereign. But the Indian lord declined to give him any, saying it might
displease Montezuma. " Should he command it," he added, " my gold, my
person, and all I possess, shall be at your disposal." The general did not
press the matter further.
The curiosity of the natives was naturally excited by the strange dresses,
weapons, horses, and dogs of the Spaniards. Marina, in satisfying their
inquiries, took occasion to magnify the prowess of her adopted countrymen,
expatiating on their exploits and victories, and stating the extraordinary
marks of respect they had received from Montezuma. This intelligence seems
to have had its effect ; for soon after the cacique gave the general some curious
trinkets of gold, of no great value, indeed, but as a testimony of his good will.
He sent him, also, some female slaves to prepare bread for the troops, and
supplied the means of refreshment and repose, more important to them, in the
present juncture, than all the gold of Mexico.17
The Spanish general, as usual, did not neglect the occasion to inculcate the
" "Tiene mas <le 30 Prlncipes a si sub- 61. — There is a slight ground-swell of glori-
jectos, que cada uno dello3 tiene cient mill fication in the Captain's narrative, which
hombres e mas de pelea." (Oviedo, Hist, de may provoke a smile,— not a sneer, for it is
las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 1.) This marvel- mingled with too much real courage and sim-
lous tale is gravely repeated by more than plicity of character.
one Spanish writer, in their accounts of the " For the preceding pages, besides autho-
Aztec monarchy, not as the assertion of this rities cited in Course, see Peter Martyr, De
chief, but as a veritable piece of statistics. Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 1, — Ixtlilxochftl,
See, among others, Herrera, Hist, general, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83, — Gomara, Cronica,
dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 12, — Solis, Conquista, lib. cap. 44, — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4,
3, cap. 16. cap. 26.
18 Bernal Diaz. Hist, de la Conq*uista, cap.
TRANSACTIONS WITH THE NATIVES. 181
great truths of revelation on his host, and to display the atrocity of the Indian
superstitions. The cacique listened with civil but cold indifference. Cortes,
finding him unmoved, turned briskly round to his soldiers, exclaiming that
now was the time to plant the Cross ! They eagerly seconded his pious
purpose, and the same scenes might have been enacted as at Cempoalla, with
perhaps very different results, had not Father Olmedo, with better judgment,
interposed. He represented that to introduce the Cross among the natives, in
their present state of ignorance and incredulity, would be to expose the sacred
symbol to desecration so soon as the backs of the Spaniards were turned. The
only way was to wait patiently the season when more leisure should be afforded
to instil into their minds a knowledge of the truth. The sober reasoning of
the good father prevailed over the passions of the martial enthusiasts.
It was fortunate for Cortes that Olmedo was not one of those frantic friars
who would have fanned his fiery temper on such occasions into a blaze. It
might have had a most disastrous influence on his fortunes ; for he held all
temporal consequences light in comparison with the great work of conversion,
to effect which the unscrupulous mind of the soldier, trained to the stern
discipline of the camp, would have employed force whenever fair means were
ineffectual.18 But Olmedo belonged to that class of benevolent missionaries —
of whom the Roman Catholic church, to its credit, has furnished many
examples — who rely on spiritual weapons for the great work, inculcating those
doctrines of love and mercy which can best touch the sensibilities and win the
affections of their rude audience. These, indeed, are the true weapons of the
Church, the weapons employed in the primitive ages, by which it has spread
its peaceful banners over the farthest regions of the globe. Such were not the
means used by the conquerors of America, who, rather adopting the policy of
the victorious Moslems in their early career, carried with them the sword in
one hand and the Bible in the other. They imposed obedience in matters of
faith, no less than of government, on the vanquished, little heeding whether
the conversion were genuine, so that it conformed to the outward observances
of the Church. Yet the seeds thus recklessly scattered must have perished
but for the missionaries of their own nation, who, in later times, worked over
the same ground, living among the Indians as brethren, and, by long and
patient culture, enabling the germs of truth to take root and fructify in their
hearts.
The Spanish commander remained in the city four or five days, to recruit
his fatigued and famished forces ; and the modern Indians still point out, or
did, at the close of the last century, a venerable cypress, under the branches of
which was tied the horse of the Conquistador,— the Conqueror, as Cortes was
styled, par excellence.™ Their route now opened on a broad and verdant
valley, watered by a noble stream, — a circumstance of not too frequent occur-
rence on the parched table-land of New Spain. The soil was well protected
by woods, — a thing still rarer at the present day ; since the invaders, soon
after the Conquest, swept away the magnificent growth of timber, rivalling
that of our Southern and Western States in variety and beauty, which covered
the plateau under the Aztecs.20
18 The general clearly belonged to the (Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. iii.) The cupressus
church militant, mentioned by Butler : disticha of Linnaeus. See Humboldt, Essai
''T^rfSSfn^r P^s^amePta^ which has made the
1 he holy text of pike and gun, Castiles, the table-land of the Peninsula, so
And prove their doctrines orthodox ^ d ' Prudential reasons, as well
By apostolic blows and knocks." J g»J however, seem to have operated in
>9 " Arbol graude, diche ahuehuete." ZSTew Spain. A friend of mine on a visit to a
182 MARCH TO MEXICO.
All along the river, on both sides of it, an unbroken line of Indian dwellings,
" so near as almost to touch one another," extended for three or four leagues ;
arguing a population much denser than at present.21 On a rough and rising
ground stood a town that might contain five or six thousand inhabitants, com-
manded by a fortress, which, with its walls and trenches, seemed to the
Spaniards quite " on a level with similar Avorks in Europe." Here the troops
again halted, and met with friendly treatment.22
Cortes now determined his future line of march. At the last place he had
been counselled by the natives to take the route of the ancient city of Cholula,
the inhabitants of which, subjects of Montezuma, were a mild race, devoted
to mechanical and other peaceful arts, and would be likely to entertain him
kindly. Their Cempoallan allies, however, advised the Spaniards not to trust
the Cholulans, "a false and perfidious people," but to take the road to Tlascala,
that valiant little republic which had so long maintained its independence
against the arms of Mexico. The people were frank as they were fearless, and
fair in their dealings. They had always been on terms of amity with the
Totonacs, which afforded a strong guarantee for their amicable disposition on
the present occasion.
The arguments of his Indian allies prevailed with the Spanish commander,
who resolved to propitiate the good will of the Tlascalans by an embassy. He
selected four of the principal Cempoallans for this, and sent by them a martial
gift, — a cap of crimson cloth, together with a sword and a cross-bow, weapons
which, it was observed, excited general admiration among the natives. He
added a letter, in which he asked permission to pass through" their country.
He expressed his admiration of the valour of the Tlascalans, and of their long
resistance to the Aztecs, whose proud empire he designed to humble.23 It was
not to be expected that this epistle, indited in good Castilian, would be very
intelligible to the Tlascalans. But Cortes communicated its import to the
ambassadors. Its mysterious characters might impress the natives with an
idea of superior intelligence, and the letter serve instead of those hieroglyphical
missives which formed the usual credentials of an Indian ambassador.24
The Spaniards remained three days in this hospitable place, after the
departure of the envoys, when they resumed their progress. Although in a
friendly country, they marched always as if in a land of enemies, the horse and
light troops in the van, with the heavy-armed and baggage in the rear, all in
battle-array. They were never without their armour, waking or sleeping,
lying down with their weapons by their sides. This unintermitting and rest-
less vigilance was, perhaps, more oppressive to the spirits than even bodily
fatigue. But they were confident in their superiority in a fair field, and felt
noble hacienda, but uncommonly barren of litique, torn. ii. p. 202.
trees, was informed by the proprietor that ~ The correct Indian name of the town,
they were cut down to prevent the lazy Yxtacamaxtitlan, Tztacmasiitan of Cortes,
Indians on the plantation from wasting their will hardly be recognized in the Xalacingo of
time by loitering in their shade ! Diaz. The town was removed, in 1601, from
21 It confirms the observations of M. de the top of the hill to the plain. On the ori-
Humboldt. " Sans doute lors de la pre- ginal site are still visible remains of carved
miere arrivee des Espagnols, toute cette stones of large dimensions, attesting the ele-
cote, depuis la riviere de Papaloapan (Alva- gance of the ancient fortress or palace of the
rado) jusqu'a Huaxtecapan, etait plushabitee cacique. Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. v.
et mieux cultivee qu'elle ne l'est aujourd'hui. 23 "Estas cosas y otras de gran persuasion
Cependant a mesure que les conquerans contenia la carta, pero como no sabian leer
monterent au plateau, ils trouverent les vil- no pudieron entender lo que contenia.'"' Ca-
lages plus rapproches les uns des autres, les margo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.
champs divises en portions plus petites, lo -' For an account of the diplomatic usages
peuple plus police." Humboldt, Essai po- of the people of Anahuac, see ante, p. 23,
EMBASSY TO TLASCALA. 183
that the most serious danger they had to fear from Indian warfare was surprise.
" We are few against many, brave companions," Cortes would say to them ;
" be prepared, then, not as if you were going to battle, but as if actually in the
midst of it ! " 25
The road taken by the Spaniards was the same which at present leads to
Tlascala ; not that, however, usually followed in passing from Vera Cruz to
the capital, which makes a circuit considerably to the south, towards Puebla,
in the neighbourhood of the ancient Cholula. They more than once forded
the stream that roils through this beautiful plain, lingering several days on the
way, in hopes of receiving an answer from" the Indian republic. The unex-
pected delay of the messengers could not be explained, and occasioned some
uneasiness.
As they advanced into a country of rougher and bolder features, their
progress was suddenly arrested by a" remarkable fortification. It was a .stone
Avail nine feet in height, and twenty in thickness, with a parapet, a foot and a
half broad, raised on the summit for the protection of those who defended it.
It had only one opening, in the centre, made by two semicircular lines of wall
overlapping each other for the space of forty paces, and affording a passage-
way between, ten paces wide, so contrived, therefore, as to be perfectly com-
manded by the inner wall. This fortification, which extended more than two
leagues, rested at either end on the bold natural buttresses formed by the
sierra. The work was built of immense blocks of stones nicely laid together
without cement ; 2(J and the remains still existing, among which are rocks of
the whole breadth of the rampart, fully attest its solidity and size.27
This singular structure marked the limits of Tlascala, and was intended, as
the natives told the Spaniards, as a barrier against the Mexican invasions.
The army paused, filled with amazement at the contemplation of this Cyclopean
monument, which naturally suggested reflections on the strength and resources
of the people who had raised it. It caused them, too, some painful solicitude
as to the probable result of their mission to Tlascala, and their own consequent
reception there. But they were too sanguine to allow such uncomfortable
surmises long to dwell in their minds. Cortes put himself at the head of his
cavalry, and, calling out, " Forward, soldiers, the Holy Cross is our banner,
and under that we shall conquer," led his little army through the undefended
passage, and in a few moments they trod the soil of the free republic of
Tlascala.23
■'- "Mira, senorcs companeros, ya veis que wall. Yiaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. vii.
somos pocos, hemos de estar sieniprc tan *■ Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. vii. — The at-
apercebidos, y aparejados, como si aora vies- tempts of the Archbishop to identify the
Bemos venh- los contrarios a pelear, y no route of Cortes have been very successful. It
solamente vellos venir, sino hazer cuenta que is a pity that his map illustrating the itinerary
estamos ya en la batalla con ellos." Bernal should be so worthless.
Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 62. 28 Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— Go-
26 According to the writer last citrd, the mara, Cronica, cap. 44, 45.— IxtlilxochitI,
stones were held by a cement so hard that the Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83. — Hevrera, Hist,
men could scarcely break it with their pikes. general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 3.— Oviedo, Hist.
(Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 62.) But the de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 2.— Peter Martyr,
contrary statement, in the general's letter, is De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 1.
confirmed by the present appearance of the
184 MARCH TO MEXICO,
CHAPTER II.
REPUBLIC OF TLASCALA— ITS INSTITUTIONS— EARLY HISTORY— DISCUSSIONS
IN THE SENATE — DESPERATE BATTLES.
1519.
Before advancing further with the Spaniards into the territory of Tlascala, it
will be well to notice some traits in the character and institutions of the nation,
in many respects the most remarkable in Anahuac. The Tlascalans belonged
to the same great family with the Aztecs.1 They came on the grand plateau
about the same time with the kindred races, at the close of the twelfth century,
and planted themselves on the western borders of the lake of Tezcuco. Here
they remained many years, engaged in the usual pursuits of a bold and partially
civilized people. From some cause or other, perhaps their turbulent temper,
they incurred the enmity of surrounding tribes. A coalition was formed against
them ; and a bloody battle was fought on the plains of Poyauhtlan, in which
the Tlascalans were completely victorious.
Disgusted, however, with their residence among nations with whom they
found so little favour, the conquering people resolved to migrate. They
separated into three divisions, the largest of which, taking a southern course
by the great volcan of Mexico, wound round the ancient city of Cholula, and
finally settled in the district of country overshadowed 'by the sierra of Tlascala.
The warm and fruitful valleys, locked up in the embraces of this rugged
brotherhood of mountains, afforded means of subsistence for an agricultural
people, while the bold eminences of the sierra presented secure positions for
their towns.
After the lapse of years, the institutions of the nation underwent an important
change. The monarchy was divided first into two, afterwards into four separate
states, bound together by a sort of federal compact, probably not very nicely
defined. Each state, however, had its lord or supreme chief, independent in
his own territories, and possessed of co-ordinate authority with the others in
all matters concerning the whole republic. The affairs of government, especially
all those relating to peace and war, were settled in a senate or council, con-
sisting of the four lords with their inferior nobles.
The lower dignitaries held of the superior, each in his own district, by a kind
of feudal tenure, being bound to supply his table and enable him to maintain
his state in peace, as well as to serve him in war.2 In return, he experienced
the aid and protection of his suzerain. The same mutual obligations existed
1 The Indian chronicler, Caraargo, considers any Biscayan or Asturian in Old Spain. Long
his nation a branch of the Chichimec. (Hist. after the Conquest, they refused, however
de Tlascala, MS.) So also, Torquemada. needy, to dishonour their birth by resorting
(Monarch. Ind., lib. 3, cap. 9.) Clavigero, to mechanical or other plebeian occupations,
who has carefully investigated the antiquities oficios viles y bajos. " Los descendientes de
of Anahuac, calls it on« of the seven Nahu- estos son estimados por hombres calificados,
atlac tribes. (Stor. del Messico, torn. i. p. 153, que aunque sean pobrisimos no usan oficios
nota.) The fact is not of great moment, since mecanicos ni tratos bajos ni viles, ni jamas
they were all cognate races, speaking the 6e permiten cargar ni cabar con coas y aza.
same tongue, and, probably, migrated from dones, dieiendo que son hijos Idalgos en que
their country in the far North at nearly the no han de aplicarse d. estas cosas soeces y
same time. bajas, sino servir en guerras y fronteras, como
3 The descendants of these petty nobles Idalgos, y morir como hombres peleando.'-
attached as great value to their pedigrees as Camargo, Hiit. de Tlascala, MS.
REPUBLIC OF TLASCALA-ITS INSTITUTIONS. 185
between him and the followers among whom his own territories were dis-
tributed.3 Thus a chain of feudal dependencies was established, which, if not
contrived with all the art and legal refinements of analogous institutions in the
Old World, displayed their most prominent characteristics in its personal
relations, the obligations of military service on the one hand, and protection
on the other. This form of government, so different from that of the sur-
rounding nations, subsisted till the arrival of the Spaniards. And it is certainly
evidence of considerable civilization that so complex a polity should have so long
continued, undisturbed by violence or faction in the confederate states, and
should have been found competent to protect the people in their rights, and
the country from foreign invasion.
The lowest order of the people, however, do not seem to have enjoyed higher
immunities than under the monarchical governments ; and their rank was
carefully defined by an appropriate dress, and by their exclusion from the
insignia of the aristocratic orders.4
The nation, agricultural in its habits, reserved its highest honours, like most
other rude— unhappily, also, civilized — nations, for military prow7ess. Public
games were instituted, and prizes decreed to those who excelled in such manly
and athletic exercises as might train them for the fatigues of war. Triumphs
were granted to the victorious general, who entered the city, leading his spoils
and captives in long procession, while his achievements were commemorated
in national songs, and his effigy, whether in wood or stone, was erected in the
temples. It was truly in the martial spirit of republican Rome.3
An institution not unlike knighthood was introduced, very similar to one
existing also among the Aztecs. The aspirant to the honours of this barbaric
chivalry watched his arms and fasted fifty or sixty days in the temple, then
listened to a grave discourse on the duties of his new profession. Various
whimsical ceremonies followed, when his arms were restored to him ; he was
led in solemn procession through the public streets, and the inauguration was
concluded by banquets and public rejoicings. The new knight was distinguished
henceforth by certain peculiar privileges, as well as by a badge intimating his
rank. It is worthy of remark that this honour was not reserved exclusively
for military merit, but was the recompense, also, of public services of other
kinds, as wisdom in council, or sagacity and success in trade. For trade was
held in as high estimation by the "Tlascalans as by the other people of
Anahuac.6
The temperate climate of the table-land furnished the ready means for
distant traffic. The fruitfulness of the soil was indicated by the name of the
country, — Tlascala signifying the " land of bread." Its w'ide plains, to the
slopes of its rocky hills, waved with yellow harvests of maize, and with
3 "Cualquier Tecuhtli que formaba un 4 Ibid., MS.
Tecalli, que es casa de Mayorazgo, todas '" " Los grandes recibimientos que bacian a
aquellas tierras que le caian en suerte de los capitanes que venianyalcan/aban victoria
repartimiento, con montes, fuentes, rios, 6 on las guerras, las fiestas y solenidades con
lagunas tomase para la casa principal la mayor que se solenizaban a manera de triunfo, que
y mejor suerte 6 pagos de tierra, y luego las los metian en andas en su puebla, trayendo
demas que quedaban se partian por sus solda- consigo a los vencidos ; y por eternizar sus
dos amigos y parientes, igualmente, y todos hazanas se las cantaban publicamente, y ansi
estos estanobligadosareconocerlacasa mayor quedaban memoradas y con estatuas que les
y acudir a ella, ;i alzarla y repararla, y a. ser ponian en los templos." Ibid., MS.
continuos en reconocer a ella de aves, caza, c For the whole ceremony of inauguration,
flores, y ramos para el sustento de la«asa del — tbough, as it seems, having especial reft r-
Mayorazgo, y el que lo es esta. obligado a sus- ence to the merchant-knights, — see Appen-
tentarlosy a regalarlos como amigos deaquella dix, Part 2, No. 9, where the original is given
casa y parientes de ella." Camargo, Hist, de from Camargo.
Tlascala, MS.
18G MARCH TO MEXICO.
the bountiful maguey, a plant which, as we have seen, supplied the materials
for some important fabrics. With these, as well as the products of agri-
cultural industry, the merchant found his way down the sides of the Cordil-
leras, wandered over the sunny regions at their base, and brought back the
luxuries which nature had denied to his own.7
The various arts of civilization kept pace with increasing wealth and public
prosperity ; at least, these arts were cultivated to the same limited extent,
apparently, as among the other people of Anahuac. The Tlascalan tongue,
says the national historian, simple as beseemed that of a mountain region,
was rough compared with the polished Tezcucan or the popular Aztec dialect,
and, therefore, not so well fitted for composition. But the Tlascalans made
like proficiency with the kindred nations in the rudiments of science. Their
calendar was formed on the same plan. Their religion, their architecture,
many of their laws and social usages, were the same, arguing a common origin
for all. Their tutelary deity was the same ferocious war-god as that of the
Aztecs, though with a different name ; their temples, in like manner, were
drenched with the blood of human victims, and their boards groaned with the
same cannibal repasts.8
Though not ambitious of foreign conquest, the prosperity of the Tlascalans,
in time, excited the jealousy of their neighbours, and especially of the opulent
state of Cholula. Frequent hostilities arose between them, in which the
advantage was almost always on the side of the former. A still more for-
midable foe appeared in later days in the Aztecs, who could ill brook the
independence of Tlascala when the surrounding nations had acknowledged,
one after another, their influence or their empire. Under the ambitious
Axayacatl, they demanded of the Tlascalans the same tribute and obedience
rendered by other people of the country. If it were refused, the Aztecs
would raze their cities to their foundations, and deliver the land to their
enemies.
To this imperious summons, the little republic proudly replied, "Neither
they nor their ancestors had ever paid tribute or homage to a foreign power,
and. never wrould pay it. If their country was invaded, they knew how to
defend it, and would pour out their blood as freely in defence of their freedom
now as their fathers did of yore, when they routed the Aztecs on the plains
of Poyauhtlan ! " 9
This resolute answer brought on them the forces of the monarchy. A
pitched battle followed, and the sturdy republicans were victorious. Prom
this period, hostilities between the two nations continued with more or less
activity, but with unsparing ferocity. Every captive was mercilessly sacri-
ficed. The children were trained from the cradle to deadly hatred against
the Mexicans ; and, even in the brief intervals of war, none of those inter-
marriages took place between the people of the respective countries, whicl
knit together in social bonds most of the other kindred races of Anahuac.
In this struggle the Tlascalans received an important support in the acces-
sion of the Othomis, or Otomies,— as usually spelt by Castilian writer-
wild and warlike race originally spread over the table-land north of the
7 "Ha bel paese," says the Anonymous and domestic policy of Tlascala is given bj
Conqueror, speaking of Tlascala at the time the national historian, throwing much ligh'
of the invasion, "di pianure et motagne, et e on the other states of Anahuac, whose socia
provincia popolosa et vi si raccoglie molto institutions seem to have been all cast in the
pane." Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, same mould,
torn. iii. p. 308. 9 Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— Tor-
A full account of the manners, customs, quemada, Monarch. Ind.. lib. 2, cap. 70
EARLY HISTORY. 187
Mexican Valley. A portion of them obtained a settlement in the republic,
and were speedily incorporated in its armies. Their courage and fidelity to
the nation of their adoption showed them worthy of trust, and the frontier
places were consigned to their keeping. The mountain barriers by which
Tlascala is encompassed afforded many strong natural positions for defence
against invasion. The country was open towards the east, where a valley, of
some six miles in breadth, invited the approach of an enemy. But here it
was that the jealous Tlascalans erected the formidable rampart which had
excited the admiration of the Spaniards, and which they manned with a
garrison of Otomies.
Efforts for their subjugation were renewed on a greater scale after the
accession of Montezuma. His victorious arms had spread down the declivi-
ties of the Andes to the distant provinces of Vera Paz and Nicaragua,10 and
his haughty spirit was chafed by the opposition of a petty state whose
territorial extent did not exceed ten leagues in breadth by fifteen in length.11
He sent an army against them under the command of a favourite son. His
troops were beaten, and his son was slain. The enraged and mortified
monarch was roused to still greater preparations. He enlisted the forces of
the cities bordering on his enemy, together with those of the empire, and with
this formidable army swept over trie devoted valleys of Tlascala. But the
bold mountaineers withdrew into the recesses of their hills, and, coolly await-
ing their opportunity, rushed like a torrent on the invaders, and drove them
back, with dreadful slaughter, from their territories.
Still, notwithstanding the advantages gained over the enemy in the field,
the Tlascalans were sorely pressed by their long hostilities with a foe so far
superior to themselves in numbers and resources. The Aztec armies lay
between them and the coast, cutting off all communication with that prolific
region, and thus limited their supplies to the products of their own soil and
manufacture. For more than half a century they had neither cotton, nor
cacao, nor salt. Indeed, their taste had been so far affected by long absti-
nence from these articles that it required the lapse of several generations
after the Conquest to reconcile them to the use of salt at their meals.12
During the short intervals of war, it is said, the Aztec nobles, in the true
spirit of chivalry, sent supplies of these commodities as presents, with many
courteous expressions of respect, to the Tlascalan chiefs. This intercourse,
we are assured by the Indian chronicler, was unsuspected by the people. Nor
did it lead to any further correspondence, he adds, between the parties, pre-
judicial to the liberties of the republic, " which maintained its customs and
good government inviolate, and the worship of its gods." 13
Such was the condition of Tlascala at the coming of the Spaniards ; hold-
ing, it might seem, a precarious existence under the shadow of the formidable
power which seemed suspended like an avalanche over her head, but still
10 Camargo (Hist, de Tlascala, MS.) notices tiempo que ponian treguas por algunas tem-
the extent of Montezuma's conquests, — a de- poradas embiaban a los Sefiores de Tlaxcalla
batable ground for the historian. grandes presentes y dudivas de oro, ropa, y
11 Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 3, cap. cacao, y sal, y de todas las cosas de que care-
16. — Soli's says, " The Tlascalan territory was cian, sin que la gente plebeya lo entendiese,
fifty leagues in circumference, ten long, from y se saludaban secretamente, guardandose el
east to west, and four broad, from north to decoro que se debian ; mas con todos estos
south." (Conquista de Mejico, lib. 3, cap. 3.) trabajos la orden de su republica jamas se
It must have made a curious figure in geo- dejaba de gobernar con la rectrtud' de sus
metry! costumbres guardando inviolablemente el
12 Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. culto de sus Dioses." Ibid., MS.
13 " Los Sefiores Mejicanos y Tezcucanos en
188 ' MARCH TO MEXICO.
strong in her own resources, stronger in the indomitable temper of her people ;
with a reputation established throughout the land for good faith and modera-
tion in peace, for valour in war, while her uncompromising spirit of inde-
pendence secured the respect even of her enemies. With such qualities of
character, and with an animosity sharpened by long, deadly hostility with
Mexico, her alliance was obviously of the last importance to the Spaniards,
in their present enterprise. It was not easy to secure it.14
The Tlascalans had been made acquainted with the advance and victorious
career of the Christians, the intelligence of which had spread far and wide
over the plateau. But they do not seem to have anticipated the approach of
the strangers to their own borders. They were now much embarrassed by
the embassy demanding a passage through their territories. The great
council was convened, and a considerable difference of opinion prevailed in its
members. Some, adopting the popular superstition, supposed the Spaniards
might be the white and bearded men foretold by the oracles.15 At all events,
they were the enemies of Mexico, and as such might co-operate with them in
their struggle with the empire. Others argued that the strangers could have
nothing in common with them. Their march throughout the land might be
tracked by the broken images of the Indian gods and desecrated temples.
How did the Tlascalans even knoAv that they were foes to Montezuma 1 They
had received his embassies, accepted his presents, and were now in the com-
pany of his vassals on the way to his capital.
These last were the reflections of an aged chief, one of the four who presided
over the republic. His name was Xicotencatl. He was nearly blind, having
lived, as is said, far beyond the limits of a century.18 His son, an impetuous
young man of the same name with himself, commanded a powerful army of
^Tlascalan and Otomi wa-rriors, near the eastern frontier. It would be best,
the old man said, to fall with this force at once on the Spaniards. If vic-
torious, the latter would then be in their power. If defeated, the senate
could disown the act as that of the general, not of the republic.17 The
cunning counsel of the chief found favour with his hearers, though assuredly
not in the spirit of chivalry, nor of the good faith for which his countrymen
were celebrated. But with an Indian, force and stratagem, courage and
deceit, were equally admissible in war, as they wrere among the barbarians of
ancient Rome.18 The Cempoallan envoys were to be detained under pretence
of assisting at a religious sacrifice.
Meanwhile, Cortes and his gallant band, as stated in the preceding chapter,
had arrived before the rocky rampart on the eastern confines of Tlascala.
From some cause or other, it was not manned by its Otomi garrison, and the
Spaniards passed in, as we have seen, without resistance. Cortes rode at the
head of his body of horse, and, ordering the infantry to come on at a quick
14 The Tlascalan chronicler discerns in this flourishing harangue in the mouth of the
deep-rooted hatred of Mexico the hand of latter, which would be a rare gem of Indian
Providence, who wrought out of it an im- eloquence, — were it notCastilian. Conquista,
portant means for subverting the Aztec em- lib. 2, cap. 16.
pire. Hist, de Tlascala, MS. l7 Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. — Her-
15 " Si bien os acordais, como tenemos de rera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 3.-
nuestra antiguedad como han de venir gentes Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 21.—
a la parte donde sale el sol, y que han de There is sufficient contradiction, as well as
emparentar con nosotros, y que hemos de ser obscurity, in the proceedings reported of the
todos unos ; y que han de ser blancos y bar- council, which it is not easy to reconcile alto-
budos." Ibid., MS. gether with subsequent events.
16 To the rme age of one hundred and forty ! ,8 ., ^ , . , ....
we n,.,v credit Canianro. Soils, who con- .D°l™ ^ virtus' 1U13 in hoste «-
if we may credit Camargo. Soils, who con-
founds this veteran, with Ms son, has put a
quir4
DESPERATE BATTLES. 189
pace, went forward to reconnoitre. After advancing three or four leagues, lie
descried a small party of Indians, armed with sword and buckler, in the
fashion of the country. They lied at his approach. He made signs for them
to halt, but, seeing that they only fled the faster, he and his companions put
spurs to their horses, and soon came up with them. The Indians, finding
escape impossible, faced round, and, instead of showing the accustomed terror
of the natives at the strange and appalling aspect of a mounted trooper, they
commenced a furious assault on the cavaliers. The latter, however, were too
strong for them, and would have cut their enemy to pieces without much diffi-
culty, when a body of several thousand Indians appeared in sight, coming
briskly on to the support of their countrymen.
Cortes, seeing them, despatched one of his party in all haste, to accelerate
the march of his infantry. The Indians, after discharging their missiles, fell
furiously on the little band of Spaniards. They strove to tear the lances from
their grasp, and to drag the riders from the horses. They brought one cava-
lier to the ground, who afterwards died of his wounds, and they killed two of
the horses, cutting through their necks with their stout broadswords — if we
may believe the chronicler — at a blow ! la In the narrative of these campaigns
there is sometimes but one step — and that a short one— from history to
romance. The loss of the horses, so important and so few in number, was
seriously felt by Cortes, who could have better spared the life of the best rider
in the troop.
The struggle was a hard one. But the odds were as overwhelming as any
recorded by the Spaniards in their own romances, where a handful of knights
is arrayed against legions of enemies. The lances of the Christians did terrible
execution here also ; but they had need of the magic lance of Astolpho, that
overturned myriads with a touch, to carry them safe through so unequal a
contest. It was with no little satisfaction, therefore, that they beheld their
comrades rapidly advancing to their support.
No sooner had the mam body reached the field of battle, than, hastily
forming, they poured such a volley from their muskets and cross-bows as
staggered the enemy. Astounded, rather than intimidated, by the terrible
report of the fire-arms, now heard for the first time in these regions, the
Indians made no further effort to continue the fight, but drew oft' in good
order, leaving the road open to the Spaniards. The latter, too well satisfied
to be rid of the annoyance to care to follow the retreating foe, again held on
their way.
Their route took them through a country sprinkled over with Indian cot-
tages, amidst flourishing fields of maize and maguey, indicating an industrious
and thriving peasantry. They were met here by two Tlascalan envoys,
accompanied by two of the Cempoallans. The former, presenting themselves
before the general, disavowed the assault on his troops, as an unauthorized
act, and assured him of a friendly reception at their capital. Cortes received
the communication in a courteous manner, affecting ta place more confidence
in its good faith than he probably felt.
It was now growing late, and the Spaniards quickened their march, anxious
to reach a favourable ground for encampment before nightfall. They found
such a spot on the borders of a stream that rolled sluggishly across the
plain. A few deserted cottages stood along the banks, and the fatigued and
famished soldiers ransacked them in quest of food. All they could find was
19 "I les matilron dos Caballos, de dos con riendas, i todas." Gomara, Cronica, cap.
cuchilladas, i segun algunos, que lo vieron, 45.
cortaron £ cercen de un golpe cada pescueco,
190 MARCH TO MEXICO.
some tame animals resembling dogs. These they killed and dressed without
ceremony, and, garnishing their unsavoury repast with the fruit of the tuna,
the Indian fig, which grew wild in the neighbourhood, they contrived to satisfy
the cravings of appetite. A careful watch was maintained by Cortes, and
companies of a hundred men each relieved each other in mounting guard
through the night. But no attack was made. Hostilities by night were
contrary to the system of Indian tactics.20
By break of day on the following morning, it being the second of September,
the troops were under arms. Besides the Spaniards, the whole number of
Indian auxiliaries might now amount to three thousand ; for Cortes had
gathered recruits from the friendly places on his route, — three hundred from
the last. After hearing mass, they resumed their march. They moved in
close array; the general had previously admonished the men not to lag
behind, or wander from the ranks a moment, as stragglers would be sure to
be cut off by their stealthy and vigilant enemy. The horsemen rode three
abreast, the better to give one another support ; and Cortes instructed them
in the heat of fight to keep together, and never to charge singly. He taught
them how to carry their lances that they might not be wrested from their
hands by the Indians, who constantly attempted it. For the same reason,
they should avoid giving thrusts, but aim their weapons steadily at the faces
of their foes.21
They had not proceeded far, when they were met by the two remaining
Cempoallan envoys, who with looks of terror informed the general that they
had been treacherously seized and confined, in order to be sacrificed at an
approaching festival of the Tlascalans, but in the night had succeeded in
making their escape. They gave the unwelcome tidings, also, that a large
force of the natives was already assembled to oppose the progress of the
Spaniards.
Soon after, they came in sight of a body of Indians, about a thousand,
apparently, all armed, and brandishing their weapons, as the Christians
approacheci, in token of defiance. Cortes, when he had come within hearing,
ordered the interpreters to proclaim that he had no hostile intentions, but
wished only to be allowed a passage through their country, which he had
entered as a friend. This declaration he commanded the royal notary,
Godoy, to record on the spot, that, if blood were shed, it might not be charged
on the Spaniards. This pacific proclamation was met, as usual on such
occasions, by a shower of darts, stones, and arroAvs, which fell like rain on the
Spaniards, rattling on their stout harness, and in some instances penetrating
to the skin. Galled by the smart of their wounds, they called on the general
to lead them on, till he sounded the well-known battle-cry, " St. Jago, and at
them!"22 J'
The Indians maintained their ground for a while with spirit, when they
retreated with precipitation, but not in disorder.23 The Spaniards, whose
blood was heated by the encounter, followed up their advantage with more
zeal than prudence, suffering the wily enemy to draw them into a narrow
glen or defile intersected by a little stream of water, where the broken ground
2* Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. las caras, y no parassen a dar lancadas, por-
50. — Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. — Bernal que no les echassen mano dellas." Bernal
Diaz, Hist, de laConquista, cap. 62.— Gomara, Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 62.
Cronica, cap. 45.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., -- " Entonces dixo Cortes, ' Santiago, y &
MS., lib. 33, cap. 3, 41.— Sahagun, Hist, de ellos.'" Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista,
Nueva-Espafia, MS., lib. 12, cap. 10. cap. 63.
M "Que quando rompiessemos por los -3 "Una gentil contienda," says Gomara of
esquadrones, que lleuassen las lan^as por this skirmish. Cronica, cap. 46.
DESPERATE BATTLES. 191
was impracticable for artillery, as well as for the movements of cavalry.
Pressing forward with eagerness, to extricate themselves from their perilous
position, to their great dismay, on turning an abrupt angle of the pass, they
came in presence of a numerous army, choking up the gorge of the valley,
and stretching far over the plains beyond. To the astonished eyes of Cortes,
they appeared a hundred thousand men, while no account estimates them
at less than thirty thousand.24
They presented a confused assemblage of helmets, weapons, and many-
coloured plumes, glancing bright in the morning sun, and mingled with
banners, above which proudly floated one that bore as a device the heron on
a rock. It was the well-known ensign of the house of Titcala, and, as well as
the white and yellow stripes on the bodies, and the like colours on the
feather-mail of the Indians, showed that they were the warriors of Xicoten-
catl."
As the Spaniards came in sight, the Tlascalans set up a hideous war-cry,
or rather whistle, piercing the ear with its shrillness, and which, with the
beat of their melancholy drums, that could be heard for half a league or more,2a
might well have filled the stoutest heart with dismay. This formidable host
came rolling on towards the Christians, as if to overwhelm them by their very
numbers. But the courageous band of warriors, closely serried together and
sheltered under their strong panoplies, received the shock unshaken, while the
broken masses of the enemy, chafing and heaving tumultuously around them,
seemed to recede only to return with new and accumulated force.
Cortes, as usual, in the front of danger, in vain endeavoured, at the head of
the horse, to open a passage for the infantry. Still his men, both cavalry and
foot, kept their array unbroken, offering no assailable point to their foe. A
body of the Tlascalans, however, acjbing in concert, assaulted a soldier named
Moran, one of the best riders in the troop. They succeeded in dragging him
from his horse, which they despatched with a thousand blows. The Spaniards,
on foot, made a desperate effort to rescue their comrade from the hands of
the enemy,— and from the horrible doom of the captive. A fierce struggle
now began over the body of the prostrate horse. Ten of the Spaniards were
Avounded, when they succeeded in retrieving the unfortunate cavalier from his
assailants, but in so disastrous a plight that he died on the following day.
The horse was borne off in triumph by the Indians, and his mangled remains
were sent, a strange trophy, to the different towns of Tlascala. The circum-
stance troubled the Spanish commander, as it divested the animal of the
supernatural terrors with which the superstition of the natives had usually
24 Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. -s "La divisa y arrqas de la casa y cabe-
51. According to Gomara (Cronica, cap. 46), cera de Titcala es una garga blanca sobre un
the eremy mustered 80,000. So, also, Ixtli- penasco." (Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.)
lxochitl. (Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.) Bernal " El capitan general," says Bernal Diaz, " que
Diaz says, more than 40,000. (Hist, de la se dezia Xicotenga, y con sus diuisas de bianco
Conquista, cap. 03.) But Herrera (Hist. y Colorado, porque aquel la diuisa y librea era
general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 5) aud Torque- de aquel Xicotenga." Hist, de la Conquista,
mada (Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 20) reduce cap. 63.
them to 30,000. One might as easily reckon -'■'• " Llaman Teponaztle ques de un trozo
the leaves in a forest, as the numbers of a de madero concavado y de una pieza rollizo
confused throng of barbarians. As this was y, como decimos, hueco por de dentro, que
one of several armies kept on foot by the suena algunas veces mas de media legua y
Tlascalans, the smallest amount is, probably, con el atambor hace estrana y suave conso-
too large. The whole population of the state, nancia." (Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.)
according to Clavigero, who would not be Clavigero, who gives a drawing of this same
likely to underrate it, did not exceed half a drum, says it is still used by the Indians, and
million at the time of the invasion. Stor. may be heard two or three miles. Stor. del
del Messico, torn. i. p. 156. Messico, torn, ii.* p, lid.
192 MARCH TO MEXICO.
surrounded it. To prevent such a consequence, he had caused the two horses,
killed on the preceding day, to be secretly buried on the spot.
The enemy now began to give ground gradually, borne down by the riders,
and trampled under the hoofs of their horses. Through the whole of this
sharp encounter the Indian allies were of great service to the Spaniards.
They rushed into the water, and grappled their enemies, with the desperation
of men who felt that " their only safety was in the despair of safety." 27 " I
see nothing but death for us," exclaimed a Cempoallan chief to Marina ; " we
shall never get through the pass alive." " The God of the Christians is with
us," answered the intrepid woman ; " and He will carry us safely through." 2*
Amidst the din of battle, the voice of Cortes was heard, cheering on his
soldiers. " If we fail now," he cried, " the Cross of Christ can never be planted
in the land. Forward, comrades ! When was it ever known that a Castilian
turned his back on a foe 1 " 29 Animated by the words and heroic bearing of
their general, the soldiers, with desperate efforts, at length succeeded in
forcing a passage through the dark columns of the enemy, and emerged from
the defile on the open plain beyond.
Here they quickly recovered their confidence with their superiority. The
horse soon opened a space for the manoeuvres of the artillery. The close files
of their antagonists presented a sure mark ; and the thunders of the ordnance
vomiting forth torrents of fire and sulphurous smoke, the wide desolation
caused in their ranks, and the strangely mangled carcases of the slain, filled
the barbarians with consternation and horror. They had no weapons to cope
with these terrible engines, and their clumsy missiles, discharged from un-
certain hands, seemed to fall ineffectual on the charmed heads of the Chris-
tians. What added to their embarrassment was, the desire to carry off the
dead and wounded from the field, a general practice among the people of
Anahuac, but one which necessarily exposed them, while thus employed, to
still greater loss.
Eight of their principal chiefs had now fallen, and Xicotencatl, finding him-
self wholly unable to make head against the Spaniards in the open field,
ordered a retreat. Far from the confusion of a panic- struck mob, so common
among barbarians, the Tlasca'an force moved off the ground with all the order
of a well-disciplined army. Cortes, as on the preceding day, was too well
satisfied with his present advantage to desire to follow it up. It was within
an hour of sunset, and he was anxious before nightfall to secure a good posi-
tion, where he might refresh his wounded troops and bivouac for the night.30
Gathering up his wounded, he held on his way, without loss of time, and
before dusk reached a rocky eminence, called Tzompachtepetl, or " the hill of
Tzompach." It was crowned by a sort of tower or temple, the remains of
which are still visible.31 His first care was given to the wounded, both men
and horses. Fortunately, an abundance of provisions was found in some
neighbouring cottages ; and the soldiers, at least all who were not disabled
by their injuries, celebrated the victory of the day with feasting and rejoicing.
As to the number of killed or wounded on either side, it is matter of loosest
conjecture. The Indians must have suffered severely, but the practice of
27 " Una illis fuit sp?s salutis, desperasse dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 5.
de salute." (P. Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. -,J Ibid., ubi supra.
1, cap. 1.) It is said with the classic energy 30 Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33,
of Tacitus. cap. 3, 45.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS.,
38 "Respondiole Marina, que no tuviese cap. 83. — Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana,
miedo, porque el Dios de los Christianos, que p. 51. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista,
es muy poderoso, i los queria mucho, los cap. 63.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 40.
sacaria de peligro." Hen-era, Hist, general, al Viaje de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. ix.
DESPERATE BATTLES- 193
carrying off the dead from the field made it impossible to know to what
extent. The injury sustained by the Spaniards appears to have been princi-i
pally in the number of their wounded. The great object of the natives of
Anahuac in their battles was to make prisoners, who might grace their
triumphs and supply victims for sacrifice. To this brutal superstition the
Christians were indebted, in no slight degree, for their personal preservation.
To take the reports of the Conquerors, their own losses in action were always
inconsiderable. But whoever has had occasion to consult the ancient
chroniclers of Spain in relation to its wars with the infidel, whether Arab or
American, will place little confidence in numbers.32
The events of the day had suggested many topics for painful reflection to
Cortes. He had nowhere met with so determined a resistance within the
borders of Anahuac ; nowhere had he encountered native troops so formi-
dable for their weapons, their discipline, and their valour. Far from manifest-
ing the superstitious terrors felt by the other Indians at the strange arms and
aspect of the Spaniards, the Tlascalans had boldly grappled with their enemy,
and only yielded to the inevitable superiority of his military science. How
important would the alliance of such a nation be in a struggle with those of
their own race,— for example, with the Aztecs ! But how was he to secure
this alliance ? Hitherto, all overtures had been rejected with disdain ; and it
seemed probable that every step of his progress in this populous land was to
be fiercely contested. His army, especially the Indians, celebrated the events
of the day with feasting and dancing, songs of merriment, and shouts of
triumph. Cortes encouraged it, well knowing how important it was to keep
up the spirits of his soldiers. But the sounds of revelry at length died away ;
and, in the still watches of the night, many an anxious thought must have
crowded on the mind of the general, while his little army lay buried in
slumber in its encampment around the Indian hill
CHAPTER III.
DECISIVE VICTORY— INDIAN COUNCIL— NIGHT ATTACK— NEGOTIATIONS WITH
THE ENEMF— TLASCALAN HEKO.
1519.
The Spaniards were allowed to repose undisturbed the following day, and to
recruit their strength after the fatigue and hard righting of the preceding.
They found sufficient employment, however, in repairing and cleaning their
weapons, replenishing their diminished stock of arrows, and getting every-
thing in order for further hostilities, should the severe lesson they had inflicted
on the enemy prove insufficient to discourage him. On the second day, as
Cortes received no overtures from the Tlascalans, he determined to send an
"2 According to Cortds, not a Spaniard fell only five-and-twenty Christians ! See the
—though many were wounded — in this action estimate in Alfonso IX.'s veracious letter,
bo fatal to the infidel ! Diaz allows one. In ap. Mariana (Hist, de Espaiia, lib. 2, cap. 24).
the famous battle of Navas de Tolosa, be- The official returns of the old Castilian
tween the Spaniards and Arabs, in 1212. crusaders, whether in the Old World or the
equally matched in military science at that New, are scarcely more trustworthy than a
time, there were left 200,000 of the latter on French imperial bulletin in our day.
the field; and, to balance this bloody roll,
H
104 MARCH TO MEXICO.
embassy to their camp, proposing a cessation of hostilities, and expressing- bis
intention to visit their capital as a friend. lie selected two of the principal
chiefs taken in the late engagement, as the bearers of the message.
Meanwhile, averse to leaving- his men longer in a dangerous state of
inaction, which the enemy might interpret as the result of timidity or ex-
haustion, he put himself at the head of the cavalry and such light troops as
were most fit for service, and made a foray into the neighbouring country.
It was a mountainous region, formed by a ramification of the great sierra of
Tlascala, Avith verdant slopes and valleys teeming with maize and plantations
of maguey, while the eminences were crowned with populous towns and
villages. In one of these, he tells us, he found three thousand dwellings.1 In
some places he met with a resolute resistance, and on these occasions took
ample vengeance by laying the country waste with fire and sword. After a
successful inroad he returned laden with forage and provisions and driving
before him several hundred Indian captives, lie treated them kindly, how-
ever, when arrived in camp, endeavouring to make them understand that
these acts of violence were not dictated by his own wishes, but by the
unfriendly policy of their countrymen. In this way he hoped to impress the
nation with the conviction of his power on the one hand, and of his amicable
intentions, if met by them in the like spirit, on the other.
On reaching his quarters, he found the two envoys returned from the Tlas-
calan camp. They had fallen in with Xicotencatl at about two leagues'
distance, where he lay encamped with a powerful force. The cacique gave
them audience at the head of his troops. He told them to return with the
answer, " that the Spaniards might pass on as soon as they chose to Tlascala ;
and, when they reached it, their flesh would be hewn from their bodies, for
sacrifice to the gods ! If they preferred to remain in their own quarters, he
would pay them a visit there the next day." 2 The ambassadors added that
the chief had an immense force with him, consisting of five battalions of ten
thousand men each. They were the flower of the Tlascalan and Otomi
warriors, assembled under the banners of their respective leaders, by command
of the senate, who were resolved to try the fortunes of the state in a pitched
i battle and strike one decisive blow for the extermination of the invaders.3
This bold defiance fell heavily on the ears of the Spaniards, not prepared
for so pertinacious a spirit in their enemy. They had had ample proof of his
courage and formidable prowess. They were now, in their crippled condition,
to encounter him with a still more terrible array of numbers. The war, too,
from the horrible fate with which it menaced the vanquished, wore a pecu-
liarly gloomy aspect, that pressed heavily on their spirits. "We feared
death," says the lion-hearted Diaz, with his usual simplicity, " for we were
men." There was scarcely one in the army that did not confess himself that
Iiel. Seg. tie Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 52. dia de mafiana veriamos su respuesta."
— Oviedo, who made free use of the manu- Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 64.
scripts of Cortes, writes thirty-nine houses. a More than one writer repeats a story of
(Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 3.) This the Tlascalan general's sending a good supply
may perhaps be explained by the sigu for a of provisions, at this time, to the famished
thousand, in Spanish notation, bearing great army of the Spaniards ; to pmV them in
resemblance to the figure 9. Martyr, who stomach, it may be, for the fight. (Gomara,
had access, also, to the Conqueror's manu- Cronica, cap. 46.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich.,
script, confirms the large and, a priori, less MS., cap. S3.) This ultra-chivalrous display
probable number. from the barbarian is not very probable, and
2 "Que fuessemos a su pueblo adonde esta, Cortes' own account of his successful foray
su padre, q alia harian las pazes co hartarse may much better explain the abundance
de nuestras carnes, y honrar sus djoses con which reigned in his camp.
nuestios cora^ones, y sangre, e que para otrq
DECISIVE VICTORY. 195
night to the reverend Father Oiinedo, who was occupied nearly the wnole of
it with administering absolution, and with the other solemn offices of the
Church. Armed with the blessed sacraments, the Catholic soldier lay tran-
quilly down to rest, prepared for any fate that might betide him under the
banner of the Cross.4
As a battle was now inevitable, Cortes resolved to march out and meet the
enemy in the field. This would have a show of confidence that might serve
the double purpose of intimidating the Tlascalans and inspiriting his own
men, whose enthusiasm might lose somewhat of its heat if compelled to await
the assault of their antagonists, inactive in their own intrenchments. The
sun rose bright on the following morning, the fifth of .September, 1519, an
eventful day in the history of the Spanish Conquest. The general reviewed
his army, and gave them, preparatory to marching, a few words of encourage-
ment and advice. The infantry he instructed to rely on the point rather than
the edge of their swords, and to endeavour to thrust their opponents through
the body. The horsemen were to charge at half speed, with their lances
aimed at the eyes of the Indians. The artillery, the arquebusiers, and cross-
bowmen were to support one another, some loading while others discharged
their pieces, that there should be an unintermitted firing kept up through the
action. Above all, they were to maintain their ranks close and unbroken, as
on this depended their preservation.
They had not advanced a quarter of a league, when they came in sight of
the Tlascalan army. Its dense array stretched far and wide over a vast plain
or meadow-ground about six miles square. Its appearance justified the re-
port which had been given of its numbers.* Nothing could be more picturesque
than the aspect of these Indian battalions, with the naked bodies of the
common solcliers gaudily painted, the fantastic helmets of the chiefs glittering
with gold and precious stones, and the glowing panoplies of feather-work which
decorated their persons.6 Innumerable spears and darts, tipped with points
of transparent itztli or fiery copper, sparkled bright in the morning sun,
like the phosphoric gleams playing on the surface oi' a troubled sea, while the
rear of the mighty host was dark with the shadows of banners, on which were
emblazoned the armorial bearings of the great Tlascalan and Otomi chieftains.7
4 Eel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 52. Whereto shall that be likened ? to what
— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chicb., MS., cap. 83.— gem
Gomara, Cronica, cap. 46, 47.— Oviedo, Hist Indiademed, what flower, what insect's
de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 3.— Berual wing?
Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 64. With war-songs and wttd music they cam?
5 Through the magnifying lens of Cortes, on ;
there appeared to be 150,000 men (Kel. Seg., We, the while kneeling, raised with one
ap. Lorenzana, p. 52); a number usually accord
preferred by succeeding writers. The hymn of supplication.
■ "Not half so gorgeous, for their May-day Socxhk'b Madoc, Part 1, canto 7.
mirth ~ The standards _ of the Mexicans were
All wreathed and ribanded, our youths carried in the centre, those of the Tlascalans
and maids, in the rear of the army. (Clavigero, Stor.
As these stern Tlascalans in war attire ! del Messico, vol. ii. p. 145.) According to
The golden glitterance, and the feather- the Anonymous Conqueror, the bai:ner-staff
mail was attached to the back of the ensign, so
More gay than glittering gold ; and round that it was impossible to be torn away. " Ha
the helm ogni copagnia il suo Alnere con la* sua in-
A coronal of high upstanding plumes, segna inhastata, et in tal modo ligata sopra
Green .as the spring grass in a sunny le spalle, che non gli da alcun disturbo di
shower ; poter combattere ne far cio che vuole, et la
f)r scarlet bright, as in the wintry wood porta cosi ligata bene al corpo, che se no
The clustered holly ; or of purple tint ; fanno del suo corpo pezzi, non se gli puo
196
MARCH TO MEXICO.
Among these, the white heron on the rock, the cognizance of the house of
Xicotencatl, was conspicuous, and, still more, the golden eagle with outspread
wings, in the fashion of a Roman signum, richly ornamented with emeralds
and silver-work, the great standard of the republic of Tlascala.8
The common file Avore no covering except a girdle round the loins. Thei
bodies were painted with the appropriate colours of the chieftain whoa
banner they followed. The feather-mail of the higher class of warrior
exhibited, also, a similar selection of colours for the like object, in the same
manner as the colour of the tartan indicates the peculiar clan of the High-
lander.9 The caciques and principal warriors were clothed in quilted cotton
tunics, two inches thick, which, fitting close to the body, protected also th
thighs and the shoulders. Over these the wealthier Indians wore cuirasses of
thin gold plate, or silver. Their legs were defended by leathern boots or
sandals, trimmed with gold. But the most brilliant part of their costunn
was a rich mantle of the plumaje or feather-work, embroidered with cuiious
art, and furnishing some resemblance to the gorgeous surcoat worn by the
European knight over his armour in the Middle Ages. This graceful and
picturesque dress was surmounted by a fantastic head-piece made of wood or
leather, representing the head of some wild animal, and frequently displaying
a formidable array of teeth. With this covering the warrior's head was
enveloped, producing a most grotesque and hideous effect.10 From the crown
lioated a splendid panache of the richly variegated plumage of the tropics,
indicating, by its form and colours, the rank and family of the wearer. To
complete their defensive armour, they carried shields or targets, made some-
times of wood covered with leather, but more usually of a light frame of reeds
quilted with cotton, which were preferred, as tougher and less liable to fracture
than the former. They had other bucklers, in which trie cotton was coverec*
with an elastic substance, enabling them to be shut up in a more compju.
form, like a fan or umbrella. These shields were decorated with showy orna-
ments, according to the taste or wealth of the wearer, and fringed with
beautiful pendant of feather- work.
Their weapons were slings, bows and arrows, javelins, and darts. Thej
were accomplished archers, and would discharge two or even three arrows at
a time. But they most excelled in throwing the javelin. One species of this
with a thong attached to it, which remained in the slinger's hand, that he
might recall the weapon, was especially dreaded by the Spaniards. Thes
various weapons were pointed with bone, or the mineral itztli (obsidian), the
hard vitreous substance already noticed as capable of taking an edge like
I
I
e
sligare, ne torgliela mai." Rel. d'un gentil*
huomo, ap. Raniusio, torn. iii. fol. 305.
* Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. — Her-
rera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 6.—
Gomara, Cronica, cap. 46. — Bernal Diaz, Hist,
de la Conquista, cap. 64. — Oviedo, Hist, de
las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 45.— The last two
authors speak of the device of " a white bird
like an ostrich," as that of the republic.
They have evidently confounded it with that
of the Indian general. Camargo, who has
given the heraldic emblems of the four great
families of Tlascala, notices the white heron
as that of Xicotencatl.
3 The accounts of the Tlascalan chronicler
are confirmed by the Anonymous Conqueror
and by Bernal Diaz, both eye-witnesses;
though the latter frankly declares that had
he not seen them with his own eyes he
should never have credited the existence of
orders and badges among the barbarians, like
those found among the civilized nations of
Europe. Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 64, et
alibi.— Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.-
Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Raniusio, torn,
iii. fol. 305.
io "Portano in testa," says the Anonymon
Conqueror, "per difesa una cosa come test
di serpeti, 6 di tigri, 6 di leoni, o di lupi, che
ha le mascelle, et e la testa dell' huomo
niessa nella testa di qsto animale come se lo
volesse diuorare : sono di legno, et sopra vi
e la pena, et di piastra d'oro et di pietre
preciose copte, che e cosa marauigliosa da
vedere." Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap, Ra-
niusio, torn. iii. fol. 305.
DECISIVE VICTORY. 197
a razor, though easily blunted. Their spears and arrows were also frequently
headed with copper. Instead of a sword, they bore a two-handed staff, about
three feet and a half long, in which, at regular distances, were inserted,
transversely, sharp blades of itztli—& formidable weapon, which, an eye-
witness assures us, he had seen fell a horse at a blow.11
Such was the costume of the Tlascalan warrior, and, indeed, of that great
family of nations generally who occupied the plateau of Anahuac. jSome
parts of it, as the targets and the cotton mail, or escaupil, as it was called
in Castilian, were so excellent that they were subsequently adopted by the
Spaniards, as equally effectual in the way of protection, and superior on
the score of lightness and convenience to their own. They were of sufficient
strength to turn an arrow or the stroke of a javelin, although impotent as
a defence against fire-arms. But what armour is not? Yet it is probably
no exaggeration to say that, in convenience, gracefulness, and strength, the
arms of the Indian warrior were not very inferior to those of the polished
nations of antiquity.12
As soon as the Castilians came in sight, the TIascalans set up their yell of
defiance, rising high above the wild barbaric minstrelsy of shell, atabal, and
trumpet, with which they proclaimed their triumphant anticipations of victory
over the paltry forces of the invaders. When the latter had come withiii
bowshot, the Indians hurled a tempest of missiles, that darkened the sun for
a moment as with a passing cloud, strewing the earth around with heaps of
stones and arrows.13 Slowly and steadily the little band of Spaniards held
on its way amidst this arrowy shower, until it had reached what appeared the
proper distance for delivering its fire with full effect. Cortes then halted, and,
hastily forming his troops, opened a general well-directed fire along the whole
line. Every shot bore its errand of death ; and the ranks of the Indians
were mowed down faster than their comrades in the rear could carry off their
bodies, according to custom, from the field. The balls in their passage through
the crowded files, bearing splinters of the broken harness and mangled limbs
of the warriors, scattered havoc and desolation in their path. The mob of
barbarians stood petrified with dismay, till at length, galled to desperation
by their intolerable suffering, they poured forth simultaneously their hideous
war-shriek and rushed impetuously on the Christians.
On they came like an avalanche, or mountain torrent, shaking the solid
earth and sweeping away every obstacle in its path. The little arnry of
Spaniards opposed a bold front to the overwhelming mass. But no strength
could withstand it. They faltered, gave way, were borne along before it, and
their ranks were broken and thrown into disorder. It was in vain the general
called on them to close again and rally. His voice was drowned by the din of
fight and the fierce cries of the assailants. For a moment, it seemed that all
was lost. The tide of battle had turned against them, and the fate of the
Christians was sealed.
But every man had that within his bosom which spoke louder than the
" "I saw one day an Indian make a thrust the plateau may be found in Camargo, Hist,
at the horse of a cavalier with whom he was deTlascala, MS., — Clavigero, Stor. delMessico,
fighting, which pierced its breast, and pene- torn. ii. p. 101, et seq., — Acosta, lib. 6, cap.
trated so deep that it immediately fell dead; 2C,— Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Kamusio,
and the same day I saw another Indian cut torn. iii. fol. 305, et auct. al.
the neck of a horse, which fell dead at his 13 "Que granizo de piedra de los honderos !
feet." Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Kamusio, Pues fiechas todo el suelo hecho parva de varas
torn. iii. fol. 305. todas de a dos gajos, que passan qualquiera
12 Particular notices of the military dress arma, y las entranas adonde no ay defensa."
and appointments of the American tribes on Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 65.
198 MARCH TO MEXICO.
voice of the general. Despair gave unnatural energy to his arm. The naked
body of the Indian afforded no resistance to the sharp Toledo steel ; and with
their good swords the Spanish infantry at length succeeded in staying the
human torrent. The heavy guns from a distance thundered on the flank of
the assailants, which, shaken by the iron tempest, was thrown into disorder.
Their very numbers increased the confusion, as they were precipitated on the
masses in front. The horse at the same moment, charging gallantly under
Cortes, followed up the advantage, and at length compelled the tumultuous
throng to fall back with greater precipitation and disorder than that witl
which they had advanced.
More than once in the course of the action a similar assault was attempt
by the Tlascalans, but each time with less spirit and greater loss. They wen
too deficient in military science to profit by their vast superiority in numbei
They were distributed into companies, it is true, each serving under its owi
chieftain and banner. But they were not arranged by rank and file, anc
moved in a confused mass, promiscuously heaped together. They knew not
how to concentrate numbers on a given point, or even how to sustain an
assault, by employing successive detachments to support and relieve one
another. A very small part only of their array could be brought into contact
with an enemy inferior to them in amount of forces. The remainder of the
army, inactive and worse than useless, in the rear, served only to press tumul-
tuously on the advance and embarrass its movements by mere weight of
numbers, while on the least alarm they were seized with a panic and threw
the whole body into inextricable confusion. It was, in short, the combat of
the ancient Greeks and Persians over again.
Still, the great numerical superiority of the Indians might have enable
them, at a severe cost of their own lives, indeed, to wear out, in time, the
constancy of the Spaniards, disabled by wounds and incessant fatigue. But,
fortunately for the latter, dissensions arose among their enemies. A Tlascalai
chieftain, commanding one of the great divisions, had taken umbrage at th
haughty demeanour of Xicotencatl, who had charged him with misconduct 01
cowardice in the late action. The injured cacique challenged his rival tc
single combat. This did not take place. But, burning with resentment, he
chose the present occasion to indulge it, by drawing off his forces, amounting
to ten thousand men, from the field. He also persuaded another of the
commanders to follow his example.
Thus reduced to about half his original strength, and that greatly cripple
by the losses of the day, Xicotencatl could no longer maintain his ground
against the Spaniards. * After disputing the field with admirable courage for
four hours, he retreated and resigned it to the enemy. The Spaniards were
too much jaded, and too many were disabled by wounds, to allow them to
pursue ; and Cortes, satisfied with the decisive victory he had gained, return* "
in triumph to his position on the hill of Tzompach.
The number of killed in his own ranks had been very small, notwith-
standing the severe loss inflicted on the enemy. These few he was careful t(
bury where they could not be discovered, anxious to conceal not only th(
amount of the slain, but the fact that the whites were mortal.14 But verj
many of the jnen were wounded, and all the horses. The trouble of the
Spaniards was much enhanced by the want of many articles important to
them in their present exigency. They had neither oil nor salt, which, as
14 So says Bernal Diaz; who at the same only one Christian fell in the fight. (Hist, de
time, by the epithets los muertos, los cuerpos, la Conquista, cap. 6*5.) Cortes has not the
plainly contradicts his previous boast that grace to acknowledge that one.
DECISIVE VICTORY. 199
before noticed, was not to be obtained in Tlascala. Their clothing, accom -
modated to a softer climate, was ill adapted to the rude air of the mountains ;
and bows and arrows, as Bernal Diaz sarcastically remarks, formed an
indifferent protection against the inclemency of the weather.15
Still, they had much to cheer them in the events of the day ; and they
might draw from them a reasonable ground for confidence in their own
resources, such as no other experience could have supplied. Not that the
results could authorize anything like contempt for their Indian foe. Singly
and with the same weapons, he might have stood his ground against the
Spaniard.10 But the success of the day established the superiority of science
and discipline over mere physical courage and numbers. It was fighting over
again, as -\ve have said, the old battle of the European and the Asiatic. But
the handful of Greeks who routed the hosts of Xerxes and Darius, it must be
remembered, had not so obvious an advantage on the score of weapons as was
enjoyed by the Spaniards in these wars. The use of fire-arms gave an ascen-
dency which cannot easily be estimated ; one so great, that a contest between
nations equally civilized, which should be similar in all other respects to that
between the Spaniards and the Tlascalans, would probably be attended with
a similar issue. To all this must be added the effect produced by the cavalry.
The nations of Anahuac had no large domesticated animals, and were unac-
quainted with any beast of burden. Their imaginations were bewildered
when they beheld the strange apparition of the horse and his rider moving
in unison and obedient to one impulse, as if possessed of a common nature ;
and as they saw the terrible animal, with his " neck clothed in thunder,"
bearing down their squadrons and trampling them in the dust, no wonder
they should have regarded him with the mysterious terror felt for a super-
natural being. A very little reflection on the manifold grounds of superiority,
both moral and physical, possessed by the Spaniards in this contest, will
surely explain the issue, without any disparagement to the courage or capacity
of their opponents.17
Cortes, thinking the occasion favourable, followed up the important blow
he had struck by a new mission to the capital, bearing a message of similar
import with that recently sent to the camp. But the senate was not yet
sufficiently humbled. The late defeat caused, indeed, general consternation.
Maxixcatzin, one of the four great lords' who presided over the republic,
reiterated with greater force the arguments before urged by him for embracing
the proffered alliance of the strangers. The armies of the state had been
beaten too often to allow any reasonable hope of successful resistance ; and he
enlarged on the generosity shown by the politic Conqueror to his prisoners—
15 Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, phatic testimony to the valour of the Indians,
cap. 3.— Uel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, specifying instances in which he had seen a
p. 52.— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, single warrior defend himself for a long time
cap. 6.— Jxtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. against two, three, and even four Spaniards!
83. — Gomara, Cronica,cap. 46. — Torquemada, " Sono fra loro di valetissimi huomini et che
Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 32.— Bernal Diaz, ossano morir ostinatissimamete. Et io ho
Hist, de laConquista, cap. 65,66. — The warm, veduto un d' essi difendersi valetemente da
chivalrous glow of feeling which colours the duoi caualli leggieri, et un altro da tre, et
rude composition of the last chronicler makes quattro." Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap.
him a better painter than his more correct llamusio, torn. iii. fol. 305.
and classical rivals. And, if there is some- " The appalling effectof the cavalry on the
what too much of the self-complacent tone of natives reminds one of the confusion into
the quorum pars magna fui in his writing, which the Roman legions were thrown by the
it may be pardoned in the hero of more than a strange appearance of the elephants in their
hundred battles and almost as many wounds. first engagements with Pyrrhus, as told by
10 The Anonymous Conqueror bears em- Plutarch in his life of that prince.
200 MARCH TO MEXICO.
so unusual in Analmac— as an additional motive for an alliance "with men who
knew how to be friends as well as foes.
But in these views he was' overruled by the war-party, whose animosity
was sharpened, rather than subdued, by the late discomfiture. Their hostile
feelings were further exasperated by the younger Xicotencatl, who burned for
an opportunity to retrieve his disgrace, and to wipe away the stain which had
fallen for the first time on the arms of the republic.
. In their perplexity they called in the assistance of the priests, whose
authority was frequently invoked in the deliberations of the American chiefs.
The latter inquired, with some simplicity, of these interpreters of fate,
Avhether the strangers were supernatural beings, or men of flesh and blood
like themselves. The priests, after some consultation, are said to have made
the strange answer that the Spaniards, though not gods, were children of the
Sun, that they derived their strength from that luminary, and when his
beams were withdrawn their powers would also fail. They recommended a
night attack, therefore, as one which afforded the best chance of success.
This apparently childish response may have had in it more of cunning than
credulity. It was not improbably suggested tby Xicotencatl himself, or by
the caciques in his interest, to reconcile the people to a measure which was
contrary to the military usages— indeed, it may be said, to the public law— of
Anahuac. Whether the fruit of artifice or superstition, it prevailed ; and
the Tlascalan general was empowered, at the head of a detachment of ten
thousand warriors, to try the effect of an assault by night on the Christian
camp.
The affair was conducted with such secrecy that it did not reach the ears of
the Spaniards. But their general was not one who allowed himself, sleeping
or waking, to be surprised on his post. Fortunately, the night appointed was
illumined by the full beams of an autumnal moon ; and one of the vedettes
perceived by its light, at a considerable distance, a large body of Indians
moving towards the Christian lines. He was not slow in giving the alarm to
the garrison.
The Spaniards slept, as has been said, with their arms by their side ;
while their horses, picketed near them, stood ready saddled, with the bridle
hanging at the bow. In five minutes the whole camp was under arms ; when
they beheld the dusky columns of the Indians cautiously advancing over the
plain, their heads just peering above the tall maize with which the land was
partially covered. Cortes determined not to abide the assault in his intrench-
ments, but to sally out and pounce on the enemy when he had reached the
bottom of the hill.
Slowly and stealthily the Indians advanced, while the Christian- camp,
hushed in profound silence, seemed to them buried in slumber. But no sooner
had they reached the slope of the rising ground than they were astounded by
the deep battle-cry of the Spaniards, followed by the instantaneous appa-
rition of the whole army, as they sallied forth from the works and poured
down the sides of the hill. Brandishing aloft their weapons, they seemed
to the troubled fancies of the Tlascalans like so many spectres or demons
hurrying to and fro in mid air, while the uncertain light magnified their
numbers and expanded the horse and his rider into gigantic and unearthly
dimensions.
Scarcely awaiting the shock of their enemy, the panic-struck barbarians let
off a feeble volley of arrows, and, offering no other resistance, fled rapidly and
tumultuously across the plain. The horse easily overtook the fugitives,
riding them down and cutting them to pieces without mercy, until Cortes,
NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE ENEMY. 20'
weary with slaughter, called off his men, leaving the field loaded with the
bloody trophies of victory.18
The next day, the Spanish commander, with his usual policy after a decisive
blow had been struck, sent a new embassy to the Tlascalan capital. The
envoys received their instructions through the interpreter, Marina. That
remarkable woman had attracted general admiration by the constancy and
cheerfulness with which she endured all the privations of the camp. Far from
betraying the natural weakness and timidity of her sex, she had shrunk from
no hardship herself, and had done much to fortify the drooping spirits of the
soldiers ; while her sympathies, whenever occasion offered, had been actively
exerted in mitigating the calamities of her Indian countrymen.19
Through his faithful interpreter, Cortes communicated the terms of his
message to the Tlascalan envoys. He made the same professions of amity as
before, promising oblivion of all past injuries ; but, if this proffer were rejected,
he would visit their capital as a conqueror, raze every house in it to the
ground, and put every inhabitant to the sword ! He then dismissed the am-
bassadors, with the symbolical presents of a letter in one hand and an
arrow in the other.
The envoys obtained respectful audience from the council of Tlascala,
whom they found plunged in deep dejection by their recent reverses. The
failure of the night attack had extinguished every spark of hope in their
bosoms. Their armies had been beaten again and again, in the open field
and in secret ambush. Stratagem and courage, all their resources, had alike
proved ineffectual against a foe whose hand was never weary and Avhose eye
was never closed. Nothing remained but to submit. They selected four
principal caciques, whom they intrusted with a mission to the Christian camp.
They were to assure the strangers of a free passage through the country, and
a friendly reception in the capital. The proffered friendship of the Spaniards
was cordially embraced, with many awkward excuses for the past. The
envoys were to touch at the Tlascalan camp on their way, and inform Xico-
tencatl of their proceedings. They were to require him, at the same time,
to abstain from all further hostilities and to furnish the white men with an
ample supply of provisions.
But the Tlascalan deputies, on arriving at the quarters of that chief, did
not find him in the humour to comply with these instructions. His repeated
collisions with the Spaniards, or, it may be, his constitutional courage, left
him inaccessible to the vulgar terrors of his countrymen. He regarded the
strangers not as supernatural beings, but as men like himself. The animosity
of a warrior had rankled into a deadly hatred from the mortifications he had
endured at their hands, and his head teemed with plans for recovering his
fallen honours and for taking vengeance on the invaders of his country. He
refused to disband any of the force, still formidable, under his command, or to
send supplies to the enemy's camp. He further induced the ambassadors to
remain in his quarters and relinquish their visit to the Spaniards. The latter,
in consequence, were kept in ignorance of the movements in their favour
which had taken place in the Tlascalan capital.20
19 Eel. S?g. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. she had seen us surrounded in past battles,
53, 5-1. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. and knew that we were now all of us
33, cap. 3.— P. Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 2, wounded and suffering, yet we never saw
cap. 2. — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, any weakness in her, but a courage far be-
cap. 32. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. yond that of woman." Bernal Diaz, Hist.de
6, cap. 8. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, ia Conquista, cap. 66.
cap. 06. -° Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
'• '* Though she heard them every day 07.— Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— Ixtli-
talk of killing us and eating our flesh, though lxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.
H 2
202 MARCH TO MEXICO.
The conduct of Xicotencatl is condemned by Castilian writers as tl
a ferocious and sanguinary barbarian. It is natural they should so regard it.
But those who have no national prejudice to warp their judgments may come
to a different conclusion. They may find much to admire in that high,
unconquerable spirit, like some proud column standing alone in its majesty
amidst the fragments and ruins around it. They may see evidences of a
clear-sighted sagacity, which, piercing the thin veil of insidious friendship
proffered by the Spaniards, and penetrating the future, discerned the coming
miseries of his country ; the noble patriotism of one who would rescue that
country at any cost, and, amidst the gathering darkness, would infuse his own
intrepid spirit into the hearts of his nation, to animate them to a last struggle
for independence.
CHAPTER IV.
DISCONTENTS IN THE ARMY — TLASCALAN , SPIES — PEACE WITH THE REPUBLIC
— EMBASSY FROM MONTEZUMA.
1519.
Desirous to keep up the terror of the Castilian name by leaving the enemy
no respite, Cortes, on the same day that he despatched the embassy to
Tlascala, put himself at the head of a small corps of cavalry and light troops
to scour the neighbouring country. He was at that time so ill from fever,
aided by medical treatment,1 that he could hardly keep his seat in the saddle.
It was a rough country, and the sharp winds from the frosty summits of the
mountains pierced the scanty covering of the troops and chilled both men
and horses. Four or five of the animals gave out, and the general, alarmed
for their safety, sent them back to the camp. The soldiers, discouraged by
this ill omen, would have persuaded him to return. But he made answer,
" We fight under the banner of the Cross ; God is stronger than nature," 2
and continued his march.
It led through the same kind of checkered scenery of rugged hill and
cultivated plain as that already described, well covered with towns and villages,
some of them the frontier posts occupied by the Otomies. Practising the
Roman maxim of lenity to the submissive foe, he took full vengeance on those
who resisted, and, as resistance too often occurred, marked his path with fire
and desolation. After a short absence, he returned in safety, laden with the
E hinder of a successful foray. It would have been more honourable to him
ad it been conducted with less rigour. The excesses are imputed by Bernal
Diaz to the Indian allies, whom in the heat of victory it was found impossible
to restrain.3 On whose head soever they fall, they seem to have given little
uneasiness to the general, who declares in his letter to the emperor Charles
1 The effect of the medicine— though rather against the father ! Conquista, lib. 2, cap. 20.
a severe dose, according to the precise Diaz — - "Dios es sobre natura." Eel. Seg.de
was suspended during the general's active Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 54.
exertions. Gomara, however, does not con- 3 Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 64.— Not so
sider this a miracle. (Cronica, cap. 49.) Cortes, who says, boldly, "I burned more
Father Sandoval does. (Hist, de Carlos than ten towns.'' (Ibid., p. 52.) His reve-
Quinto, torn. i. p. 127.) Soli's, after a con- rend commentator specifies the localities of
6cientious inquiry into this perplexing the Indian towns destroyed by him in his
matter, decides— strange as it may seem— forays. Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, pp. ix.-xi.
DISCONTENTS IN THE ARMY. 208
the Fifth, " As we fought under the standard of the Cross,4 for the true Faith,
and the service of your Highness, Heaven crowned our arms with such success
that, while multitudes of the infidel were slain, little loss was suffered by the
Castilians." 3 The Spanish Conquerors, to judge from their writings, uncon-
scious of any worldly motive lurking in the bottom of their hearts, regarded
themselves as soldiers of the Church, fighting the great battle of Christianity,
and in the same edifying and comfortable light are regarded by most of the
national historians of a later day.6
On his return to the camp, Cortes found a new cause of disquietude, in
discontents which had broken out among the soldiery. Their patience was
exhausted by a life of fatigue and peril to which there seemed to be no end.
The battles they had won against such tremendous odds had not advanced
them a jot. The idea of their reaching Mexico, says the old soldier so often
quoted, " was treated as a jest by the whole army ; " 7 and the indefinite
prospect of hostilities with the ferocious people among whom they were now
cast threw a deep gloom over their spirits.
Among the malecontents were a number of noisy, vapouring persons, such
as are found in every camp, whe, like empty bubbles, are sure to rise to the
surface and make themselves seen in seasons of agitation. They were, for
the most part, of the old faction of Velasquez, and had estates in Cuba, to
which they turned many a wistful glance as they receded more and more from
the coast. They now waited on the general, not in a mutinous spirit of
resistance (for they remembered the lesson in Villa Rica), but with the design
of frank expostulation, as with a brother adventurer in a common cause.8
The tone of familiarity thus assumed was eminently characteristic of the
footing of equality on which the parties in the expedition stood with one
another.
Their sufferings, they told him, were too great to be endured. All the men
had received one, most of them two or three wounds. More than fifty had
perished, in one way or another, since leaving Vera Cruz. There was no
beast of burden but led a life preferable to theirs. For, when the night came,
the former could rest from his labours ; but they, fighting or watching, had
4 [Lorenzana speaks of two standards as de Vuestra Sacra Magestad, en su muy Real
borne by Cortes in the Conquest, one having ventura nos dio Dios tanta victoria, que' les
the image of the Virgin emblazoned on it, matamos mucha gente, sin que los nucstros
the other that of the Cross. It may be the recibiessen daho." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ftp.
latter which is still preserved in the Museum Lorenzana, p. 52.
of Artillery at Mad red. (Rel. Seg. de Cortes, G "It was a notable thing," exclaims
ap. Lorenzana, p. 52, nota.) " i a letter written Ilerrera, "to see with what humility and
to me from tliat capital, a fev. years since, by devotion all returned praising God, who gave
my friend Mr. George Summer, lie remarks, them victories so miraculous, by which it
" In Madrid, in the Museum of Artillery, is a was clearly apparent that they were favoured
small mahogany box, about a foot square, with the divine assistance."
locked and sealed, which contains, as the 7 "Porque entrar en Mexico, tcnfamoslo
inscription above it states, the pendon which por cosa de risa, a causa de sus grandes
Hernan Cortes carried to the conquest of fuercas." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Couquista,
Mexico. On applying to the Brigadier Leon cap. G6.
de Palacio, the director of the museum, he " Diaz indignantly disclaims the idea o;
was so kind as not only to order this to be mutiny, which Gomara attached to this 'pro-
opened, but to come himself with me to ex- ceeding. "What they said to him was by
amine it. The standard is probably the way of counsel, and because they believed it
same which Lorenzana, in 1770, speaks of as were well said, and not with any other in-
being then in the Secretario de Gobierno. It tent, since they followed him ever, bravely
is of red Damascus silk, and has marks of and loyally ; nor is it strange that in an
the painting once upon it, but is now com- army some good soldiers should offer counsel
pletely.in rags."] to their captain, especially when such hard-
5 "E como trayamos la Bandera de la Cruz, ships have been endured as were by us."
y puuabamos por nuestra Fe, y por scrvicio Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 71.
204 MARCH TO MEXICO.
no rest, day nor night. As to conquering Mexico, the very thought of it was
madness. If they had encountered such opposition from the petty republic
of Tlascala, what might they not expect from the great Mexican empire 2
There was now a temporary suspension of hostilities. They should avail
themselves of it to retrace their steps to Vera Cruz. It is true, the fleet
there was destroyed ; and by this act, unparalleled for rashness even in
Roman annals, the general had become responsible for the fate of the whole
army. Still there was one vessel left. That might be despatched to Cuba
for reinforcements and supplies ; and, when these arrived, they would be
enabled to resume operations with some prospect of success.
Cortes listened to this singular expostulation with perfect composure. He
knew his men, and, instead of rebuke or harsher measures, replied in the
same frank and soldier-like vein which they had affected.
There was much truth, he allowed, in what they said. The sufferings of
the Spaniards had been great ; greater than those recorded of any heroes in
Greek or Roman story. So much the greater would be their glory. He had
often been rilled with admiration as he had seen his little host encircled by
myriads of barbarians, and felt that no pepple but Spaniards could have
triumphed over such formidable odds. Nor could they, unless the arm of* the
Almighty had been over them. And they might reasonably look for his pro-
tection hereafter ; for was it not in his cause they were fighting ? They had
encountered dangers and difficulties, it was true. But they had not come
here expecting a life of idle dalliance and pleasure. Glory, as he Had told
them at the outset, was to be won only by toil and danger. They would do
him the justice to acknowledge that he had never shrunk from his share of
both. This Avas a truth, adds the honest chronicler who heard and reports
the dialogue, which no one could deny. But, if they had met with hardships,
lie continued, they had been everywhere victorious. Even now they were
enjoying the fruits of this, in the plenty which reigned in the camp. And
they would soon see the Tlascalans, humbled by their late reverses, suing for
peace on any terms. To go back now was impossible. The very stones would
rise up against them. The Tlascalans would hunt them in triumph down to
the water's edge. And how would the Mexicans exult at this miserable issue
of their vainglorious vaunts ! Their former friends would become their
enemies ; and the Totonacs, to avert the vengeance of the Aztecs, from which
the Spaniards could no longer shield them, would join in the general cry.
There was no alternative, then, but to go forward in their career. And he
besought them to silence their pusillanimous scruples, and, instead of turning
their eyes towards Cuba, to fix them on Mexico, the great object of their
enterprise.
While this singular conference was going on, many other soldiers had
gathered round the spot; and the discontented party, emboldened by the
presence of their comrades, as well as by the general's forbearance, replied
that they were far from being convinced. Another such victory as the last
would be their ruin. They Avere going to Mexico only to be slaughtered.
Until, at length, the general's patience being exhausted, he cut the argu-
ment short, by quoting a verse from an old song, implying that it was better
to die with honour than to live disgraced, — a sentiment which was loudly
echoed by the greater part of his audience, who, notwithstanding their
occasional murmurs, had no design to abandon the expedition, still less the
commander to whom they were passionately devoted. The malecontents,
disconcerted by this rebuke, slunk back to their own quarters, muttering
half-smothered execrations on the leader who had projected the enterprise,
TLASCALAN SPIES. 205
the Indians who had guided him, and their own countrymen who supported
him in it.9 *.
Sucli were the difficulties that lay in the path of Cortes : a wily and fevo- '
cious enemy ; a climate uncertain, often unhealthy ; illness in his own person,
much aggravated by anxiety as to the manner in which his conduct would be
received by his sovereign ; last, not least, disaffection among his soldiers, on
whose constancy and union he rested for the success of his operations, — the
great lever by which he Avas to overturn the empire of Montezuma.
On the morning following this event, the camp was surprised by the appear-
ance of a small body of Tlascalans, decorated with badges, the white colour
of which intimated peace. They brought a quantity of provisions, and some
trifling ornaments, which, they said, were sent by the Tlascalan general, who
was weary of the war and desired an accommodation with the Spaniards. He
would soon present himself to arrange this in person. The intelligence
diffused general joy, and the emissaries received a friendly welcome.
A day or two elapsed, and, while a few of the party left the Spanish quarters,
the others, about fifty in number, who remained, excited some distrust in the
bosom of Marina. She communicated her suspicions to Cortes that they were
spies. He caused several of them, in consequence, to be arrested, examined
them separately, and ascertained that they were employed by Xicotencatl to
inform him of the state of the Christian camp, preparatory to a meditated
assault, for which he was mustering his forces. Cortes, satisfied of the
truth of this, determined to make such an example of the delinquents as
should intimidate his enemy from repeating the attempt. He ordered their
hands to be cut oft", and in that condition sent them back to their countrymen,
with the message " that the Tlascalans might come by day or night ; they
would find the Spaniards ready for them." l0
The doleful spectacle of their comrades returning in this mutilated state
filled the Indian camp with horror and consternation. The haughty crest of
their chief was humbled. From that moment he lost his wonted buoyancy
and confidence. His soldiers, filled with superstitious fear, refused to serve
longer against a foe who could read their very thoughts and divine their plans
before they were ripe for execution.11
The punishment inflicted by Cortes may well shock the reader by its
brutality. But it should be considered, in mitigation, that the victims of it
were spies, and, as sn.:i, by the laws of war, whether among civilized or
savage nations, had incurred the penalty of death. The amputation of the
limbs was a milder punishment, and reserved for inferior offences. If we
revolt at the barbarous nature of the sentence, we should reflect that it was
no uncommon one at that day ; not more uncommon, indeed, than whipping
and branding with a hot iron were in our own country at the beginning of
the present century, or than cropping the ears was in the preceding one. A
9 This conference is reported, with some hands, the rest their thumbs. (Hist, de la
variety, indeed, by nearly every historian. Conquista, cap. 70.) Cortes does not flinch
(Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 55.— from confessing, the hands of the whole fifty:
Oyiedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. " I ordered that all the fifty should have
3.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 51, 52.— Ixtlilxo- their hands cut off; and I sent them to tell
chitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap." 80.— Herrera, their lord that let him come when he would,
Hist, general, • dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 9.— P. by [night or. day, they should see who we
Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 2.) I were." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana,
have abridged the account given by Bernal p. 53.
Diaz, one of the audience, though not one of !1 "De que los Tlascaltecas se admiraron,
the parties to the dialogue,— for that reason entcndiendo que Cortes les entendia sus pen-
the better authority. samientos." Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS.,
10 Diaz says only seventeen lost their cap. 83.
206 MARCH TO MEXICO.
higher civilization, indeed, rejects such punishments, as pernicious in them-
selves, and degrading to humanity. But in the sixteenth century they were
openly recognized by the laws of the most polished nations in Europe. And
it is too much to ask of any man, still less one bred to the iron trade of war,
to be in advance of the refinement of his age. VVe may tie content if, in
circumstances so unfavourable to humanity, he does not fall below it.
All thoughts of further resistance being abandoned, the four delegates of
the Tlascalan republic were now allowed to proceed on their mission. They
were speedily followed by Xicotencatl himself, attended by a numerous train
of military retainers. As they drew near the Spanish lines, they were easily
recognized by the white and yellow colours of their uniforms, the livery of
the house of Titcala. The joy of the army was great at this sure intimation
of the close of hostilities ; and it was with difficulty that Cortes was enabled
to restore the men to tranquillity and the assumed indifference which it was
proper to maintain in presence of an enemy.
The Spaniards gazed with curious eye on the valiant chief who had so long
kept his enemies at bay, and who now advanced with the firm and fearless
step of one who was coming rather to bid defiance than to sue for peace. He
was rather above the middle size, with broad shoulders, and a muscular frame
intimating great activity and strength. His head was large, and his coun-
tenance marked with the lines of hard service rather than of age, for he wag
but thirty-five. When he entered the presence of Cortes, he made the usual
salutation by touching the ground with his hand and carrying it to his head ;
while the sweet incense of aromatic gums rolled up in clouds from the censers
carried by his slaves.
Far from a pusillanimous attempt to throw the blame on the senate, he
assumed the whole responsibility of the war. He had considered the Avhite
men, he said, as enemies, for they came with the allies and vassals of Mon-
tezuma. He loved his country, 'and wished to preserve the independence
which she had maintained through her long wars with the Aztecs. He had
been beaten. They might be the strangers Avho, it had been so long pre-
dicted, wouTd come from the east, to take possession of the country. He
hoped they would use their victory with moderation, and not trample on the
liberties of the republic. He came now in the name of his nation, to tender
their obedience to the Spaniards, assuring them they would find his country-
men as faithful in peace as they had been firm in war.
Cortes, far from taking umbrage, was filled with admiration at the lofty
spirit which thus disdained to stoop beneath misfortunes. The brave man
knows how to respect bravery in another. He assumed, however, a severe
aspect, as he rebuked the chief for having so long persisted in hostilities.
Had Xicotencatl believed the word of the Spaniards, and accepted their
proffered friendship sooner, he would have spared his people much suffering,
which they well merited by their obstinacy. But it wTas impossible, continued
the general, to retrieve the past. He was willing to bury it in oblivion, and
to receive the Tlascalans as vassals to the emperor, his master. If they
proved true, they should find him a sure column of support ; if false, he would
take such vengeance on them as he had intended to take on their capital had
they not speedily given in their submission. It proved an ominous menace
for the chief to whom it was addressed.
The cacique then ordered his slaves to bring forward some trifling orna-
ments of gold and feather- embroidery, designed as presents. They were of
little value, he said, with a smile, for the Tlascalans wrere poor. They had
little gold, not even cotton, nor salt. The Aztec emperor had left them
EMBASSY FROM MONTEZUMA. 207
nothing but their freedom and their arms. He offered this gift only as a
token of his good will. " As such I receive it," answered Cortes, "and, coming
from the Tlascalans, set more value on it than I should from any other source,
though it were a house full of gold ; "—a politic as well as magnanimous
reply, for it was by the aid of this good will that he was to win the gold of
Mexico.12
Thus ended the bloody war with the fierce republic of Tlascala, during the
course of which the fortunes of the Spaniards more than once had trembled in
the balance. Had it been persevered in but a little longer, it must have ended
in their confusion and ruin, exhausted as they were by wounds, watching, and
fatigues, with the seeds of disaffection rankling among themselves. As it
was, they came out of the fearful contest with untarnished glory. To the
enemy they seemed invulnerable, bearing charmed lives, proof alike against
the accidents of fortune and the assaults of man. No wonder that they
indulged a similar conceit in their own bosoms, and that the humblest Spaniard
should have fancied himself the subject of a special interposition of Providence,
which shielded him in the hour of battle and reserved him for a higher
destiny.
While the Tlascalans were still in the camp, an embassy was announced from
Montezuma. Tidings of the exploits of the Spaniards had spread far and wide
over the plateau. The emperor, in particular, had watched every step of their
progress, as they climbed the steeps of the Cordilleras and advanced over the
broad table-land on their summit. He had seen them, with great satisfaction,
take the road to Tlascala, trusting that, if they were mortal men, they would
find their graves there. Great was his dismay when courier after courier
brought him intelligence of their successes, and that the most redoubtable
warriors on the plateau had been scattered like chaff by the swords of this
handful of strangers.
His superstitious fears returned in full force. He saw in the Spaniards
"the men of destiny," who were to take possession of his sceptre. In his
alarm and uncertainty, he sent a new embassy to the Christian camp. It
consisted of five great nobles of his court, attended by a train of two hundred
slaves. They brought with them a present, as usual, dictated partly by fear
and in part by the natural munificence of his disposition. It consisted of
three thousand ounces of gold, in grains, or in various manufactured articles,
with several hundred mantles and dresses of embroidered cotton and the
picturesque feather -work. As they laid these at the feet of Cortes, they told
him they had come to offer the congratulations of their master on the late
victories of the white men. The emperor only regretted that it would not be
in his power to receive them in his capital, where the numerous population
was so unruly that their safety would be placed in jeopardy. The mere intima-
tion of the Aztec emperor's wishes, in the most distant way, would have
sufficed with the Indian nations. It had very little weight with the Spaniards ;
and the envoys, finding this puerile expression of them ineffectual, resorted to
another argument, offering a tribute in their master's name to the Castilian
sovereign, provided the Spaniards would relinquish their visit to his capital.
This was a greater error : it was displaying the rich casket with one hand which
he was unable to defend with the other. Yet the author of this pusillanimous
policy, the unhappy victim of superstition, wTas a monarch renowned among
the Indian nations for his intrepidity and enterprise,— the terror of Anahuac !
12 Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. Diaz, Hist, de las Conquista, cap. 71, et scq. —
56, 57.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib.
cap. 3.— Goraara, Oronica, cap. 53.— Bernal 12, cap. 11.
208
MARCH TO MEXICO.
Cortes, while he urged his own sovereign's commands as a reason for dis-
regarding the wishes of Montezuma, uttered expressions of the most profound
respect for the Aztec prince, and declared that if he had not the means of
requiting his munificence, as he could' wish, at present, he trusted to repay him,
at some future day, with good ivorks/13
The Mexican ambassadors were not much gratified Avith finding the war at
an end, and a reconciliation established between their mortal enemies and the
Spaniards. The mutual disgust of the two parties with each other was too
strong to be repressed even in the presence of the general, who saw with
satisfaction the evidences of a jealousy which, undermining the strength of the
Indian emperor, was to prove the surest source of his own success.11
Two of the Aztec envoys returned to Mexico, to acquaint their sovereign
with the state of affairs in the Spanish camp. The others remained with the
army, Cortes being willing that they should be personal spectators of the
deference shown him by the Tlascalans. Still he did not hasten his departure
for their capital. Not that he placed reliance on the injurious intimations of
the Mexicans respecting their good faith. Yet he was willing to put this to
some longer trial, and at the same time to re-establish his own health more
thoroughly before his visit. Meanwhile, messengers daily arrived from the
city, pressing his journey, and were finally followed by some of the aged rulers
of the republic, attended by a numerous retinue, impatient of his long delay.
They brought with them a body of five hundred tamanes, or men of burden,
to drag his cannon and relieve his own forces from this fatiguing part of their
duty. It was impossible to defer his departure longer ; and after mass, and a
solemn thanksgiving to the great Being who had crowned their arms with
triumph, the Spaniards bade adieu to the quarters which they had occupied
for nearly three weeks on the hill of Tzompach. The strong tower, or teocalli,
which commanded it, was called, in commemoration of their residence, "the
tower of victory ; " and the few stones which still survive of its ruins point out
to the eye of the traveller a spot ever memorable in history for the courage
and constancy of the early Conquerors.15
CHAPTER V.
SPANIARDS ENTER TLASCALA— DESCRIPTION OP THE CAPITAL— ATTEMPTED
CONVERSION— AZTEC EMBASSY— INVITED TO CHOLULA.
1519.
The city of Tlascala, the capital of the
distance of about six leagues from the
13 Cortes recibio con alegria aquel presente,
y dixo que se lo tenia en merced, y que el lo
pagaria al senor Montecuma en buenas
obras." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista,
cap. 73.
14 He dwells on it in his letter to the em-
peror. " Seeing the discord and division be-
tween them, I felt not a little pleasure, for it
appeared to me to suit well with my design,
and that through this means I might the
more easily subjugate them. Moreover I
remombere'd a text of the Evangelist, which
says, ' Every kingdom divided against itself
republic of the same name, lay at the
Spanish camp. The road led into a
is brought to desolation.' I treated therefore
with both parties, and thanked each in secret
for the intelligence it had given me, profess-
ing to regard it with greater friendship than
the other." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Loren-
zana, p. 61.
15 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap.
10.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33,
cap. 4.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 54. — Martyr,
He Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 2. — Bernal Diaz,
Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 72-74. — Ixtlilxq-
chitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.
SPANIARDS ENTER TLASCALA. 209
hilly region, exhibiting in every arable patch of ground the evidence of
laborious cultivation. Over a deep barranca, or ravine, they crossed on a
bridge of stone, which, according to tradition,— a slippery authority,— is the
same still standing, and was constructed originally for the passage of the
army.1 They passed some considerable towns on their route, where they
experienced a full measure of Indian hospitality. As they advanced, the
approach to a populous city was intimated by the crowds who flocked out to
see and welcome the strangers ; men and women in their picturesque dresses,
with bunches and wreaths of roses, which they gave to the Spaniards, or
fastened to the necks and caparisons of their horses, in the same manner as
at Cempoalla. Priests, with their white robes, and long matted tresses float-
ing over them, mingled in the crowd, scattering volumes of incense from their
burning censers. In this way, the multitudinous and motley procession
defiled: through the gates of the ancient capital of TIascala. It was the
twcnty-frhird of September, 1519, the anniversary of which is still celebrated
by the inhabitants as a day of jubilee.2
The press was now so great that it was with difficulty the police of the city
could clear a passage for the army ; while the azoteas, or flat terraced roofs
of the buildings, were covered with spectators, eager to catch a glimpse of the
wonderful strangers. The houses were hung with festoons of flowers, and
arches of verdant boughs, intertwined with roses and honeysuckle, were
thrown across the streets. The whole population abandoned itself to rejoicing ;
and the air was rent with songs and shouts of triumph, mingled with the wild
music of the national instruments, that might have excited apprehensions in
the breasts of the soldiery had they not gathered their peaceful import from
the assurance of Marina and the joyous countenances of the natives.
With these accompaniments, the procession moved along the principal
streets to the mansion of Xicotencatl, the aged father of the Tlascalan general,
and one of the four rulers of the republic. Cortes dismounted from his horse
to receive the old chieftain's embrace. He was nearly blind, and satisfied, as
far as he could, a natural curiosity respecting the person of the Spanish
general, by passing his hand over his features. He then led the way to a
spacious hall in his palace, where a banquet was served to the army. In the
evening they were shown to their quarters, in the buildings and open ground
surrounding one of the principal teocallis ; while the Mexican ambassadors,
at the desire of Cortes, had apartments assigned them next to his own, that
he might the better watch over their safety in this city of their enemies.3
TIascala was one of the most important and populous towns on the table-
land. Cortes, in his letter to the emperor, compares it to Granada, affirming
that it was larger, stronger, and more populous than the Moorish capital at
the time of the conquest, and quite as well built.4 But, notwithstanding we
1 " A distancia de un quarto de legua cami- 53.—" Rccibimiento el mas solene y famoso
nando a esta dicha ciudad se encuentra una que en el mundo se ha visto," exclaims the
barranca honda, que tiene para pasar un enthusiastic historian of the republic. He
Puente de cal y canto de boveda, y es tradicion adds that " more than a hundred thousand
en el pueblo de San Salvador, que se hizo en men flocked out to receive the Spaniards : a
aquellos dias, que estubo alii Cortes para que tiling that appears impossible," que parece
pasase." (Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. xi.) If cosa imposible! It does indeed. Camargo,
the antiquity of this arched stone bridge could Hist, de TIascala, MS.
be established, it would settle a point much 3 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS.,
mooted in respect to Indian architecture. But lib. 12, cap. 11.— Eel. Seg. de Cortes, ap.
the construction of so solid a work in so short Lorenzana, p. 59.— Camargo, llist.de TIascala,
a time is a fact requiring a better voucher MS.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 54.— Herrera,
than the villagers of San Salvador. Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 11.
ivigero, Stor. del Mfssico, torn. iii. p. * "La qual ciudad estau grande, yde tauta
210
MARCH TO MEXICO.
arc assured by a most respectable writer at the close of the last century that
its remains justify the assertion,5 we shall be slow to believe that its edifices
could have rivalled those monuments of Oriental magnificence, whose light,
aerial* forms still survive after the lapse of ages, the admiration of every
traveller of sensibility and taste. The truth is, that Cortes, like Columlm::,
saw objects through the warm medium of his own fond imagination, giving
them a higher tone of colouring and larger dimensions than were strictly
warranted by the fact. It was natural that the man who had made such
rare discoveries should unconsciously magnify their merits to his own eyes
and to those of others.
The houses were built, for the most part, of mud or earth ; the better sort
of stone and lime, or bricks dried in the sun. They were unprovided with
doors or windows, but in the apertures for the former hung mats fringed with
pieces of copper or something which, by its tinkling sound, would give notice
of any one's entrance. The streets were narrow and dark. The population
must have been considerable, if, as Cortes asserts, thirty thousand souls were
often gathered in the market on a public day. These meetings were a sort
of fairs, held, as usual, in all the great towns, every fifth day, and attended
by the inhabitants of the adjacent country, who brought there for sale every
description of domestic produce and manufacture with Avhich they were
acquainted. They peculiarly excelled in pottery, which was considered as
equal to the best in Europe.6 It is a further proof of civilized habits that the
Spaniards found barbers' shops, and baths both of vapour and hot water,
familiarly used by the inhabitants. A still higher proof of refinement may be
discerned in a vigilant police which repressed everything like disorder among
the people.7 .
The city was divided into four quarters, which might rather be called so
many separate towns, since they were built at different times, and separated
from each other by high stone walls, defining their respective limits. Over
each of these districts ruled one of the four great chiefs of the republic, occupy-
ing his own spacious mansion and surrounded by his own immediate vassals.
Strange arrangement, — and more strange that it should have been compatible
with social order and tranquillity ! The ancient capital, through one quarter
of Avhich flowed the rapid current of the Zahuatl, stretched along the summits
and sides of hills, at whose base are now gathered the miserable remains of its
once flourishing population.8 Far beyond, to the south-east, extended the bold
sierra of Tlascala, and the huge Malinche, crowned with the usual silver diadem
of the highest Andes, having its shaggy sides clothed with dark-green forests of
firs, gigantic sycamores, and oaks whose towering stems rose to the height
of forty er fifty feet, unencumbered by a branch. The clouds, which sailed
adiniracion, que aunque mucho de lo, que de
ella podria decir, dexe, lo poco que dire creo
es casi increible, porque es muy mayor que
Granada, y muy mas fuerte, y de tan buenos
Edificios, y de muy mucha mas gente, que
Granada tenia al tiempo que se gano." Bel,
Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 58.
5 " En las Ruinas, que aun hoy se ven en
Tlaxcala, se conoce, que no es ponderacion."
Rel. Seg. de Cortes, p. 58^ Nota del editor,
Lorenzana.
G " Nullum est fictile vas apud nos, quod
arte superet ab illis vasa formata." Martyr,
De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 2.
7 Camargo, Hist.de Tlascala, MS.— Rel. Seg.
de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 59.— Oviedo, Hist.
de las Lid., MS., lib. 33, cap. 4.— Ixtlilxochitl,
Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83. — The last historian
enumerates such a number of contemporary
Indian authorities for his narrative as of itself
argues no inconsiderable degree of civilization
in the people.
8 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap.
12. — The population of a place which Cortes
could compare with Granada had dwindled by
the beginning of the present century to 3400
inhabitants, of whom less than a thousand
were of the Indian stock. See Humboldt,
Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 158.
SEVERE DISCIPLINE-ATTEMPTED CONVERSION. 211
over from the distant Atlantic, gathered round the lofty peaks of the sierra,
and, settling into torrents, poured over the plains in the neighbourhood of the
city, converting them, at such seasons, into swamps. Thunder-storms, more
frequent and terrible here than in other parts of the table-land, swept down
the sides of the mountains and shook the frail tenements of the capital to their
foundations. But, although the bleak winds of the sierra gave an austerity
to the climate, unlike the sunny skies and genial temperature of the lower
regions, it was far more favourable to the development of both the physical
and moral energies. A bold and hardy peasantry was nurtured among the
recesses of the hills, fit equally to cultivate the land in peace and to defend it
in war. Unlike the spoiled child of Nature, who derives such facilities of sub-
sistence from her too prodigal hand as supersede the necessity of exertion on
his own part, the Tlascalan earned his bread— from a soil not ungrateful, it is
true— by the sweat of his brow. He led a life of temperance and toil. Cut off
by his long wars with the Aztecs from commercial intercourse, he was driven
chiefly to agricultural labour, the occupation most propitious to purity of
morals and sinewy strength of constitution. His honest breast glowed with
the patriotism, or local attachment to the soil, which is the fruit of its diligent
culture ; while he was elevated by a proud consciousness of independence, the
natural birthright of the child of the mountains. Such was the race with whom
Cortes was now associated for the achievement of his great work.
Some days were given by the Spaniards to festivity, in which they were
successively entertained at the hospitable boards of the four great nobles, in
their several quarters of the city. Amidst these friendly demonstrations,
however, the general never relaxed for a moment his habitual vigilance, or
the strict discipline of the camp ; and he was careful to provide for the security
of the citizens by prohibiting, under severe penalties, any soldier from leaving
his quarters without express permission. Indeed, the severity of his discipline
provoked the remonstrance of more than one of his officers, as a superfluous
caution ; and the Tlascalan chiefs took some exception at it, as inferring an
unreasonable distrust of them. But, when Cortes explained it, as in obedience
to an established military system, they testified their admiration, and the
ambitious young general of the republic proposed to introduce it, if possible,
into his own ranks.9
The Spanish commander, having assured himself of the loyalty of his new
allies, next proposed to accomplish one of the great objects of his mission, their
conversion to Christianity. By the advice of Father Olmedo, always opposed
to precipitate measures, he had deferred this till a suitable opportunity pre-
sented itself for opening the subject. Such a one occurred when the chiefs of
the state proposed to strengthen the alliance with the Spaniards by the inter-
marriage of their daughters with Cortes and his officers. He told them this
could not be while they continued in the darkness of infidelity. Then, with
the aid of the good friar, he expounded as well as he could the doctrines of the
Faith, and, exhibiting the image of the Virgin with the infant Redeemer, told
them that there was the God in whose worship alone they would find salvation,
while that of their oavu false idols would sink them in eternal perdition.
It is unnecessary to burden the reader with a recapitulation of his homily,
which contained, probably, dogmas quite as incomprehensible to the untutored
Indian as any to be found in his own rude mythology. But, though it failed
to convince liis audience, they listened with a deferential awe. When he had
° Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, ISIS., Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. G, cap. 13.— Bemal
lib. 12. cap. 11.— Camargo, Hist, de Tiascala, Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 75.
MS.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 54, 55. — Herrera,
212 MARCH TO MEXICO.
finished, they renlied they had no doubt that the God of the Christians must
be a good and a great God, and as such they were willing to give him a place
among the divinities of Tlascala. The polytheistic system of the Indians, like
that of the ancient Greeks, Avas of that accommodating kind which could admit
within its elastic folds the deities of any other religion, without violence to
itself.10 But every nation, they continued, must have its own appropriate and
tutelary deities. Nor could they, in their old age, abjure the service of those
who had watched over them from youth. It would bring down the vengeance
of their gods, and of their own nation, who were as warmly attached to their
religion as their liberties, and would defend both with the last drop of their
blood !
It was clearly inexpedient to press the matter further at present. But the
zeal of Cortes, as usual, waxing warm by opposition, had now mounted too
high for him to calculate obstacles ; nor would he have shrunk, probably, from
the crown of martyrdom in so good a cause. But, fortunately, at least for the
success of his temporal cause, this crown was not reserved for him.
The good monk, his ghostly adviser, seeing the course things were likely to
take, with better judgment interposed to prevent it. He had no desire, he
said, to see the same scenes acted over again as at Cempoalla. He had no
relish for forced conversions. They could hardly be lasting. The growth of
an hour might well die with the hour. Of what use was it to overturn the
altar, if the idol remained enthroned in the heart ? or to destroy the idol itself,
•if it were only to make room for another ? Better to wait patiently the effect
of time and teaching to soften the heart and open the understanding, without
which there could be no assurance of a sound and permanent conviction.
These rational vieAvs Avere enforced by the remonstrances of Alvarado, Velasquez
de Leon, and those in Avhom Cortes placed most confidence ; till, driven from
'his original purpose, the military polemic consented to relinquish the attempt
at conversion for the present, and to refrain from a repetition of scenes which.
considering the different mettle of the population, might have been attended
with very different results from those at Cozumel and Cempoalla.11
In the course of our narrative Ave have had occasion to Avitness more than
once the good effects of the interposition of Father Olmedo. Indeed, it is
scarcely too much to say that his discretion in spiritual matters contributed as
essentially to the success of the expedition as did the sagacity and courage of
Cortes in temporal. He Avas a true disciple in the school of Las Casas. His
heart Avas unscathed by that fiery fanaticism Avhich sears and hardens Avhatever
it touches. It melted Avith the Avarm glow of Christian charity. He had" come
out to the NeAv World as a missionary among the heathen, and he shrunk
from no sacrifice but that of the Avelfare of the poor benighted flock to Avhom
he had consecrated his days. If he followed the banners of the warrior, it
Avas to mitigate the ferocity of Avar, and to turn the triumphs of the Cross to
10 Camargo notices this elastic property in not the account of Camargo. According to
the religions of Anahuac : "Este modo de him, Cortes gained his point: the nobles led
hablar y decir que les querni dar otroDios, es the way by embracing Christianity, and the
saber que cuando estas gentes tenian noticia idols were broken. (Hist, de Tlascala, MS.)
de algun Dios de buenas propiedades y cos- But Camargo was himself a Christianized
tumbres, que le rescibiesen admitieifdole por Indian, who lived in the next generation after
tal, porque otras gentes advenedizas trujeron the Conquest, and may very likely have felt
muchos idolos que tubieron por Dioses, y a as much desire to relieve his nation from the
este fin y proposito decian, que Cortes les traia reproach of infidelity as a modern Spaniard
otro Dios." Hist, de Tlascala, MS. would to scour out the stain— mala raza y
11 Jxtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 84. mancha— of Jewish or Moorish lineage from
— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 56.— Bernal Diaz, his escutcheon.
Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 7(5, 77.— This is
ATTEMPTED CONVERSION. 218
I account for the natives themselves, by the spiritual labours of con-
version. He afforded the uncommon example — not to have been looked for,
certainly, in a Spanish monk of the sixteenth century— of enthusiasm controlled
by reason, a quickening zeal tempered by the mild spirit of toleration.
* But, though Cortes abandoned the ground of conversion for the present, he
compelled the Tlascalans to break the fetters of the unfortunate victims
reserved for sacrifice ; an act of humanity unhappily only transient in its
effects, since the prisons were filled with fresh victims on his departure.
He also obtained permission for the Spaniards to perform" the services of
their own religion unmolested. A large cross was erected in one of the great
courts or squares. Mass was celebrated every day in the presence of the army
and of crowds of natives, who, if they did not comprehend its full import, were
so far edified that they learned to reverence the religion of their conquerors.
The direct interposition of Heaven, however, wrought more for their conversion
than the best homily of priest or soldier. Scarcely had the Spaniards left the
city — the tale is told on very respectable authority — when a thin, transparent
cloud descended and settled like a column on the cross, and, wrapping it round
in its luminous folds, continued to emit a soft, celestial radiance through the
night, thus proclaiming the sacred character of the symbol, on which was shed
the halo of divinity ! 12
The principle of toleration in religious matters being established, the Spanish
general consented to receive the daughters of the caciques. Five or six of the
most beautiful of the Indian maidens were assigned to as many of his principal
officers, after they had been cleansed from the stains of infidelity by the waters
of baptism. They received, as usual, on this occasion, good Castilian names,
in exchange for the barbarous nomenclature of their own vernacular.13 Among
them, Xicotencatl's daughter, Dona Luisa, as she was called after her baptism,
was a princess of the highest estimation and authority in Tlascala. She was
given by her father to Alvarado, and their posterity intermarried with the
noblest families of Castile. The frank and joyous manners of this cavalier
made him a great favourite with the Tlascalans ; and his bright, open coun-
tenance, fair complexion, and golden locks gave him the name of Tonatiuh,
the " Sun." The Indians often pleased their fancies by fastening a sobriquet,
or some characteristic epithet, on the Spaniards. As Cortes was always
attended, on public occasions, by Dona Marina, or Malinche, as she was called
by the natives, they distinguished him by the same name. By these epithets,
originally bestowed in Tlascala, the two Spanish captains were popularly
designated among the Indian nations.14
While these events were passing, another embassy arrived from the court of
Mexico. It was charged, as usual, with a costly donative of embossed gold
plate, and rich embroidered stuffs of cotton and feather- work. The terms of
the message might well argue a vacillating and timid temper in the monarch,
did they not mask a deeper policy. He now invited the Spaniards to his
12 The miracle is reported by Herrera (Hist. '" Ibid., MS.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con-
general, dec. 2, lib. (5, cap. 15), and believed by quista, cap. 74, 77. — According to Caniargo,
Soli's. Conquista de Mejico, lib. 3, cap. 5. the Tlascalans gave the Spanish commander
13 To avoid the perplexity of selection, it three hundred damsels to wait on Marina;
was common for the missionary to give the and the kind treatment and instruction they
same names to all the Indians baptized on the received led some of the chiefs to surrender
same day. Thus, one day was set apart for their own daughters, "con proposito de que si
the Johns, another for the Peters, and so on ; acaso algunas se emprenasen quedase entre
an ingenious arrangement, much more f«*r the ellos gencracion de hombres tan valientes y
convenience of the clergy than of the converts. ti.midos."
See Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.
214
MARCH TO MEXICO.
capital, with the assurance of a cordial welcome. He besought them to enter
into no alliance with the base and barbarous Tlascalans ; and he invited them to
take the route of the friendly city of Cholula, where arrangements, according
to his orders, were made for their reception.15
The Tlascalans viewed with deep regret the general's proposed visit to
Mexico. Their reports fully confirmed all he had before heard of the power
and ambition of Montezuma. His armies, they said, were spread over every
part of the continent. His capital was a place of great strength, and as, from
its insular position, all communication could be easily cut off with the adjacent
country, the Spaniards, once entrapped there, would be at his mercy. His
policy, they represented, was as insidious as his ambition was boundless.
"Trust not his fair words," they said, "his courtesies, and his gifts. His
professions are hollow, and his friendships are false." When Cortes remarked
that he hoped to bring about a better understanding between the emperor and
them, they replied it would be impossible ; however smooth his words, he would
hate them at heart.
They warmly protested, also, against the general's taking the route of
Cholula. The inhabitants, not brave in the open field, were more dangerous
from their perfidy and craft. They were Montezuma's tools* and would do his
bidding. The Tlascalans seemed to combine with this distrust a superstitious
dread of the ancient city, the head-quarters of the religion of Anahuac. It was
here that the god Quetzalcoatl held the pristine seat of his empire. His temple
was celebrated throughout the land, and the priests were confidently believed
to have the power, as they themselves boasted, of opening an inundation from
the foundations of his shrine, AVhich should bury their enemies in the deluge.
The Tlascalans further reminded Cortes that, while so many other and distant
places had sent to him at Tlascala to testify their good will and offer their
allegiance to his sovereigns, Cholula, only six leagues distant, had done neither.
The last suggestion struck the general more forcibly than any of the preceding.
He instantly despatched a summons to the city, requiring a formal tender of
its submission.
Among the embassies from different quarters which had waited on the
Spanish commander, while at Tlascala, was one from Ixtlilxochitl, son of the
great Nezahualpilli, and an unsuccessful competitor with his elder brother—
as noticed in a former part of our narrative— for the crown of Tezcuco.18
Though defeated in his pretensions, he had obtained a part of the kingdom,
over which he ruled with a deadly feeling of animosity towards his rival, and
to Montezuma, who had sustained him. II 2 now offered his services to Cortes,
asking his aid, in return, to place him on the throne of his ancestors. The
politic general returned such an answer to the aspiring young prince as might
encourage his expectations and attach him to his interests. It was his aim
to strengthen his cause by attracting to himself every particle of disaffection
that was floating through the land.
It was not long before deputies arrived from Cholula, profuse in their
expressions of good will, and inviting the presence of the Spaniards in their
** Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
80.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 60.
— Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 2. —
Cortes notices only one Aztec mission, while
Diaz speaks of three. The former, from
brevity, falls so much short of the whole
truth, and the latter, from forgetfulness per-
haps, goes so much beyond it, that it is not
always easy to decide between them. Diaz
did not "compile his narrative till some fifty
years after the Conquest ; a lapse of time
which may excuse many errors, but must
considerably impair our confidence in the
minute accuracy of his details. A more inti-
mate acquaintance with his chronicle does not
strengthen this confidence.
19 Ante, p. 140.
INVITED TO OIIOLULA. 215
capital. The messengers were of low degree, far beneath the usual rank of
ambassadors. This was pointed out by the Tlascalans ; and Cortes regarded
it as a fresh indignity. He sent in consequence a new summons, declaring if
they did not instantly send him a deputation of their principal men he would
deal with them as rebels to his own sovereign, the rightful lord of these realms I11
The menace had the desired effect. The Cholulans were not inclined to
contest, at least for the present, his magnificent pretensions. Another embassy
appeared in the camp, consisting of some of the highest nobles ; who repeated
the invitation for the Spaniards to visit their city, and excused their own tardy
appearance by apprehensions for their personal safety in the capital of their
enemies. The explanation was plausible, and was admitted by Cortes.
The Tlascalans were now more than ever opposed to his projected visit. A
strong Aztec force, they had ascertained, lay in the neighbourhood of Cholula,
and the people were actively placing their city in a posture of defence. They
suspected some insidious scheme concerted by Montezuma to destroy the
Spaniards.
These suggestions disturbed the mind of Cortes, but did not turn him from
his purpose. He felt a natural curiosity to see the venerable city so celebrated
in the history of the Indian nations. He had, besides, gone too far to recede,
— too far, at least, to do so without a show of apprehension implying a distrust
in his own resources which could not fail to have a bad effect on his enemies,
his allies, and his own men. After a brief consultation with his officers, he
decided on the route to Cholula,18 . .
It was now three weeks since the Spaniards had taken up their residence
within the hospitable Avails of Tlascala, and nearly six since they entered her
territory. They had been met on the threshold as enemies, with the most
determined hostility. They were now to part with the same people as friends
and allies ; fast friends, who were to stand by them, side by side, through the
whole of their arduous struggle. The result of their visit, therefore, was of the
last importance ; since on the co-operation of these brave and warlike republicans
greatly depended the ultimate 'success of the expedition.
CHAPTER VI.
CITY OF CHOLL'LA-— GREAT TEMPLE—MARCH TO CHOLULA— RECEPTION OF
THE SPANIARDS— CONSPIRACY DETECTED.
1519.
The ancient city of Cholula, capital of the republic of that name, lay neany
six leagues south of Tlascala, and about twenty east, or rather south-east, of
Mexico. It was said by Cortes to contain tAventy thousand houses within the
17 "Si no viniesscn, iria sobre ellos, y log turies in the Peninsula. It_ justified very
destruiria, y proeederia contra ellos como rigorous reprisals. (See the History of Ferdi-
contra personas rebeldes; diciendoles, como nand and Isabella, Part I. chap. 13, et alibi.)
todas estas Partes, y otras muy mayores " Ret. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp.
Tierras, y Sefiori'os eran de Vuestra Alteza." 62, 63.— Oviedo, Hist, de lasInd.,MS., lib. 33,
(Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 63.) cap. 4.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap.
" Rebellion " was a very convenient term, 84.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 58.— Martyr, De
fastened in like manner by tbe countrymen Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 2.— Herrera, Hist.
of Cortes on the Moors for defending the pos- general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 18.— Sahagun, Hist.
sessions which they had held for eight cen- de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 11.
216 MARCH TO MEXICO.
walls, and as many more in the environs ; 1 though now dwindled to a popula-
tion of less than sixteen thousand souls.2 Whatever was its real number ot
inhabitants, it was unquestionably, at the time of the Conquest, one of the
most populous and flourishing cities in New Spain.
It was of great antiquity, and was founded by the primitive races who over
spread the land before the Aztecs.3 We have few particulars of its form of
government, which seems to have been cast on a republican model similar to
that of Tlascala. This answered so well that the state maintained its inde-
pendence down to a very late period, when, if not reduced to vassalage by the
Aztecs, it was so far under their control as to enjoy few of the benefits of a
separate political existence. Their connection with Mexico brought the
Cholulans into frequent collision with their neighbours and kindred the
Tlascalans. But, although far superior to them in refinement and the various
arts of civilization, they were no match in Avar for the bold mountaineers, the
Swiss of Anahuac. The Cholulan capital was the great commercial emporium
of the plateau. The inhabitants excelled in various mechanical arts, especially
that of working in metals, the manufacture of cotton and agave cloths, and of
a delicate kind of pottery, rivalling, it was said, that of Florence in beauty.4
But such attention to the arts of a polished and peaceful community naturally
indisposed them to war, and disqualified them for coping with those who made
war the great business of life. The Cholulans were accused of effeminacy,
and were less distinguished — it is the charge of their rivals — by their courage
than their cunning.5
But the capital, so conspicuous for its" refinement and its great antiquity,
was even more venerable for the religious traditions which invested it. It was
here that the god Quetzalcoatl paused in his passage to the coast, and passed
twenty years in teaching the Toltec inhabitants the arts of civilization. He
made them acquainted with better forms of government, and a more spiritual-
ized religion, in which the only sacrifices were the fruits and flowers of the
season.6 It is not easy to determine what he taught, since his lessons have
been so mingled with the licentious dogmas of his own priests and the mystic
commentaries of the Christian missionary.7 It is probable that he was one of
those rare and gifted beings who, dissipating the darkness of the age by the
illumination, of their own genius, are deified by a grateful posterity and placed
among the lights of heaven.
It was in honour of this benevolent deity that the stupendous mound was
1 Eel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 67.— Accord- cap. 2.
ing to Las Casas, the place contained 30,000 5 Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— Goman,
vecinos, or about 150,000 inhabitants. (Bre- Cronica, cap. 58. — Torquemada, Monarch,
vissima Relatione dellaDistruttione dell' Indie Ind., lib. 3, cap. 19.
Occidental (Venetia, 1643).) This latter, c Veytia, Hist, antig., torn. i. cap. 15, et
being the smaller estimate, is a priori the seq. — Sahagun, Hist. deNueva-Espaiia, lib. 1,
more credible ; especially— a rare occurrence cap. 5 ; lib. 3.
—when in the pages of the good Bishop of 7 Later divines have found in these teach-
Chiapa. ings of the Tolt-c god, or high-priest, the
" Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. iii. p. germs of some of the gjeat mysteries of the
159. Christian faith, as those of the Incarnation.
3 Veytia carries back the foundation of the and the Trinity, for example. In the teacher
city to the Ulmecs,a people who preceded the himself they recognize no less a person than
Toltecs. (Hist, antig., torn. i. cap. 13, 20.) St. Thomas'the Apostle ! See the Dissertation
As the latter, after occupying the land several of the irrefragable Dr. Mier, with an edifying
centuries, have left not a single written re- commentary by Sehor Bustamante, ap. Saha-
cord, probably, of their existence, it will ba gun. (Hist, de Nueva-Espana, torn. i.,Suple-
hard to disprove the licentiate's assertion, — rnento.) The reader will find further par-
still harder to prove it. ticulars of this matter in Appendix, Tart 1,
J Hen-era, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, of this History.
]
f
GREAT TEMPLE. 217
erected on which the traveller still gazes with admiration as the most colossal
fabric in New Spain, rivalling in dimensions, and somewhat resembling in
form, the pyramidal structures of ancient Egypt. The date of its erection is
unknown ; for it was found there when the Aztecs entered on the plateau. It
had the form common to the Mexican teocallis, that of a truncated pyramid,
facing with its four sides the cardinal points, and divided into the same number
of terraces. Its original outlines, however, have been effaced by the action of
time and of the elements, while the exuberant growth of shrubs and wild
flowers, which have mantled over its surface, give it the appearance of one of
those symmetrical elevations thrown up by the caprice of nature rather than
by the industry of man. It is doubtful, indeed, whether the interior be not a
natural hill ; though it seems not improbable that it is an artificial composi-
tion of stone and earth, deeply incrusted, as is certain, in every part, with
alternate strata of brick and clay.8
The perpendicular height of the pyramid is one hundred and seventy-seven
feet. Its base is one thousand four hundred and twenty-three feet long, twice
as long as that of the great pyramid of Cheops. It may give some idea of it ;
dimensions to state that its' base, which is square, covers about forty-four
acres, and the platform on its truncated summit embraces more than one. It
reminds us of those colossal monuments of brickwork which are still seen in
ruins on the banks of the Euphrates, and, in much higher preservation, on
those of the Nile.9
On the summit stood a sumptuous temple, in which was the image of the
mystic deity, "god of the air," with ebon features, unlike the fair complexion
which he bore upon earth, wearing a mitre on his head waving with plumes
ofjire, Avith a resplendent collar of gold round his neck, pendants of mosaic
turquoise in his ears, a jewelled sceptre in one hand, and a shield curiously
painted, the emblem of his rule over the winds, in the other.10 The sanctity
of the place, hallowed by hoary tradition, and the magnificence of the temple
and its services, made it an object of veneration throughout the land, and
pilgrims from the farthest corners of Anahuac came to offer up their devo-
tions at the shrine of Quetzalcoatl.11 The number of these was so great as to
give an air of mendicity to the motley population of the city ; and Cortes,
struck with the novelty, tells us that he saw multitudes of beggars, such as
are to be found in the enlightened capitals of Europe ; 12— a whimsical
criterion of civilization, which must place our own prosperous land somewhat
low in the scale.
H Such, on the whole, seems to be the size of the Mexican teocalli, by comparing it
judgment of M. de Humboldt, who has ex- to a mass of bricks covering a square Jour
amined this interesting monument with his times as large as the Place Yendome, and of
usual care. (Vues des Cordilleres, p. 27, et twice the height of the Louvre. Essai po-
seq.— Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 150, et seq.) litique, torn. ii. p. 152.
The opinion derives strong confirmation from '" A minute account of the costume and
the fact that a road, cut some years since insignia of Quetzalcoatl is given by Father
across the tumulus, laid open a large section Sahagun, who saw the Aztec gods before the
of it, in which the alternate layers of brick arm of the Christian convert had tumbled
and clay are distinctly visible. (Ibid., loc. them from " their pride of place." See Hist,
cit.) The present appearance of this monu- de Nueva-Espaha, lib. 1, cap. 3.
ment, covered over with the verdure and " They came from the distance of two
vegetable mould of centuries, excuses the hundred leagues, says Torquemada. Monarch,
scepticism of the more superficial traveller. Ind., lib. 3, cap. 19.
s Several of the pyramids of Egypt, and the - "Hay mucha gente pobre, y que piden
ruins of Babylon, are, as is well known, of entre los Ricos por las Calles, y por las Casas,
brick. An inscription on one of the former, y Mercados. como hacen losPobreseu Espana,
indeed, celebrates this material as superior y en otras partes que hay Gente de razon."
to stone. (Herodotus, Euterpe, sec. 136.) — Bel. Scg., ap. Lorenzana, pp. 67, 68.
Humboldt furnishes an apt illustration of the
•21 8 MARCH TO MEXICO.
Cholula was not the resort only of the indigent devotee. Many of the
kindred races had temples of their own in the city, in the same manner as
some Christian nations have in Rome, and each temple was provided with its
own peculiar ministers for the service of the deity to whom it was consecrated.
In no city was there seen such a concourse of priests, so many processions,
such pomp of ceremonial, sacrifice, and religious festivals. Cholula was, in
short, what Mecca is among Mahometans, or Jerusalem among Christians ;
it was the Holy City of Anahuac.13
The religious rites were not performed, however, in the pure spirit originally
prescribed by its tutelary deity. His altars, as well as those of the numerous
Aztec gods, were stained with human blood ; and six thousand victims are
said to have been annually offered up at their sanguinary shrines ! u The
great number of these may be estimated from the declaration of Cortes that
e counted four hundred towers in the city ; 15 yet no temple had more than
two, many only one. High above the rest rose the great "pyramid of
Cholula," with its undying fires flinging their radiance far and wide over the
capital, and proclaiming to the nations that there was the mystic worship—
alas ! how corrupted by cruelty and superstition !— of the good deity who was
one day to return and resume his empire over the land.
Nothing could be more grand than the view which met the eye from the
area on the truncated summit of the pyramid. Towards the west stretched
that bold barrier of porphyritic rock which nature has reared around the
Valley of Mexico, with the huge Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl standing like
two colossal sentinels to guard the entrance to the enchanted region. Far
away to the east was seen the conical head of Orizaba soaring high into the
clouds, and nearer, the barren though beautifully- shaped Sierra de la Mai inche,
throwing its broad shadows over the plains of Tlascala. Three of these are
volcanoes higher than the highest mountain-peak in Europe, and shrouded in
snows which never melt under the fierce sun of the tropics. At the foot of
the spectator lay the sacred city of Cholula, with its bright towers and pin-
nacles sparkling in the sun, reposing amidst gardens and verdant groves,
which then thickly studded the cultivated environs of the capital. Such was
the magnificent prospect which met the gaze of the Conquerors, and may still,
with slight change, meet that of the modern traveller, as from the platform
of the great pyramid his eye wanders over the fairest portion of the beautiful
plateau of Puebla."
But it is time to return to Tlascala. On the appointed morning the
Spanish army took up its march to Mexico by the way of Cholula. It was
*3 Torquernada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 3, cap. have inherited the religious pre-eminence of
19. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 61. — Cainargo, the ancient Cholula, being distinguished, like
Hist, de Tlascala, MS. her, for the number and splendour of its
'* Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, churches, the multitude of its clergy, and
cap. 2.— Torquernada, Monarch. Ind., ubi the magnificence of its ceremonies and festi-
supra. , vals. These are fully displayed in the pages
15 "E certifico a Vuestra Alteza, qua yo of travellers who have passed through the
conte desde una Mezquita quatrocientas, y place on the usual route from Vera Cruz to
tantas Torres en la dicha Ciudad, y todas son the capital. (See, in particular, Bullock's
de Mezquitas." Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, Mexico, vol. i. chap. 6.) The environs of
p. 07. , Cholula, still irrigated as in the days of the
"■ The city of Puebla de los Angeles was Aztecs, are equally remarkahle for the fruit-
founded by the Spaniards soon after the Con- fulness of the soil. The best wheat-lands,
quest, on the site of an insignificant village according to a very respectable authority,
in the territory of Cholula, a few miles to the yield in the proportion of eighty for one.
east of that capital. It is, perhaps, the most Ward's Mexico, vol. ii. p. 270.— See, also,
considerable city in New Spain, after Mexico Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 158 ;
itself, which it rivals in beauty. It seems to torn. iv. p. 330.
MARCH TO CHOLULA. 219
followed by crowds of the citizens, filled with admiration at the intrepidity of
men who, so few in number, would venture to brave the great Montezuma in
his capital. Yet an immense body of warriors offered to share the dangers of
the expedition ; but Cortes, while he showed his gratitude for their good will,
selected only six thousand of the volunteers to bear him company.17" He was
unwilling to encumber himself with an unwieldy force that might impede his
movements, and probably did not care to put himself so far in the power of
allies whose attachment was too recent to afford sufficient guarantee for their
fidelity.
After crossing some rough and hilly ground, the army entered on the wide
plain which spreads out for miles around Cholula. At the elevation of more
than six thousand feet above the sea, they beheld the rich products of various
climes growing side by side, fields of towering maize, the juicy aloe, the chilli
or Aztec pepper, and large plantations of the cactus, on which the brilliant
cochineal is nourished. Not a rood of land but was under cultivation ; 18 and
the soil— an uncommon thing on the table-land — was irrigated by numerous
streams and canals, and well shaded by woods, that have disappeared before
the rude axe of the Spaniards. Towards evening they reached a small stream,
on the banks of which Cortes determined to take up his quarters for the night,
being unwilling to disturb the tranquillity of the city by introducing so large
a force into it at an unseasonable hour.
Here he was soon joined by a number of Cholulan caciques and their atten*
dants, who came to view and welcome the strangers. When they saw their
Tlascalan enemies in the camp, however, they exhibited signs of displeasure,
and intimated an apprehension that their presence in the town might occasion
disorder. The remonstrance seemed reasonable to Cortes, and he accordingly
commanded his allies to remain in their present quarters, and to join him as
he left the city on the way to Mexico.
. On the following morning he made his entrance at the head of his army into
Cholula, attended by no other Indians than those from Cempoalla, and a
handful of Tlascalans, to take charge of the baggage. His allies, at parting,
gave him many cautions respecting the people he was to visit, who, while they
affected to despise them as a nation of traders, employed the dangerous arms
of perfidy and cunning. As the troops drew near the city, the road was lined
}vith swarms of people of both sexes and every age, old men tottering with
infirmity, women with children in their arms, all eager to catch a glimpse of the
strangers, whose persons, weapons, and horses were objects of intense curiosity
to eyes which had not hitherto ever encountered them in battle. The
Spaniards, in turn, were filled with admiration at the aspect of the Cholulans,
much superior in dress and general appearance to the nations they had hitherto
seen. They were particularly struck with the costume of the higher classes,
who wore fine em broidered* mantles, resembling the graceful albomoz, or
Moorish cloak, in their texture and fashion.19 They showed the same delicate
17 According to Cortes, a hundred thousand This, which must have been nearly the
men offered their services on this occasion ! whole fighting force of the republic, does not
"And although I forbade it, and requested startle Oviedo (Hist, de las Ind., MS., cap. 4)
that they would not go, since there was no nor Gomara (Cronica, cap. 58).
necessity for it, yet I was followed by as '8 The words of the Conquistador are yet
many as a hundred, thousand men well fitted stronger. " There is not a hand' s-breadth of
for war, who came with me to the distance of land that is not cultivated." Ilel. Seg., ap.
nearly two leagues from the city, and then Lorenzana, p. 67.
through my pressing importunities were in- lB "All the inhabitants of rank wear, be-
duced to return, with the exception of five sides their other clothing, albornoces, differ-
or six thousand, who continued in my com- ing from those of Africa inasmuch as they
pany." (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 04.) have pookets, but very similar in form, in
220 MARCH TO MEXICO.
taste for flowers as the other tribes of the plateau, decorating their persons
with them, and tossing garlands and bunches among the soldiers. An immense
number of priests mingled with the crowd, swinging their aromatic censers,
while music from various kinds of instruments gave a lively welcome to the
visitors, and made the whole scene one of gay, bewildering enchantment. If
it did not have the air of a triumphal procession so much as at Tlascala, where
the melody of instruments was drowned by the shouts of the multitude, it gave
a quiet assurance of hospitality and friendly feeling not less grateful.
The Spaniards were also struck with the cleanliness of the city, the width
and great regularity of the streets, which seemed to have been laid out on a
settled plan, with the solidity of the houses, and the number and size of the
pyramidal temples. In the court of one of these, and its surrounding build-
ings, they were quartered.20
They were soon visited by the principal lords of the place, who seemed
solicitous to provide them with accommodations. Their table was plentifully
supplied, and, in short, they experienced such attentions as were calculated to
dissipate their suspicions, and made them impute those of their Tlascalan
friends to prejudice and old national hostility. In a few days the scene changed.
Messengers arrived from Montezuma, who, after a short and unpleasant inti-
mation to Cortes that his approach occasioned much disquietude to their
master, conferred separately with the Mexican ambassadors still in the Castilian
camp, and then departed, taking one of the latter along with them. From this
time the deportment of their Cholulan hosts underwent a visible alteration.
They did not visit the quarters as before, and, when invited to do so, excused
themselves on pretence of illness. The supply of provisions was stinted, on the
ground that they were short of maize. These symptoms of alienation, in-
dependently of temporary embarrassment, caused serious alarm in the breast
of Cortes, for the future. His apprehensions were not allayed by the reports
of the Cempoallans, who told him that in wandering round the city they had
seen several streets barricadoed, the azoteas, or flat roofs of the houses, loaded
with huge stones and other missiles, as if preparatory to an assault, and in
some places they had found holes covered over with' branches, and upright
stakes planted within, as if to embarrass the movements of the cavalry.21
Some Tlascalans coming in, also, from their camp, informed the general that
a great sacrifice, mostly of children, had been offered up in a distant quarter
material, and in the bordering." Rel. Seg. delante, los bracks defuera, con flueeos de
de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 67. algodon en las orillas. Unos llevaban figuras
-° Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. de idolos en las nianos, otros sabumerios;
C7.— Ixtlilxocbitl, Hist. Cbich., 1V1S., cap. 84. otros tocaban cornetas, atabalejos, i diversas
— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS.,'lib. 33, cap. musicas, i todos iban cantando, i llegaban a
4.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. encensar a los Castellanos. Con esta pompa
82.— The Spaniards compared Cholula to the entraron en Cbulula." Hist, general, dec. 2,
beautiful Valladolid, according to Hen-era, lib. 7, cap. 1.
whose description of the entry is very ani- 21 Cortes, indeed, noticed these same alarm-
mated: " Salieronle otro dia tl recibir mas de ing appearances on his entering the city,
diez mil ciudadanos en diversas tropas, con thus suggesting the idea of a premeditated
rosas, flores, pan, aves, i frutas, i mucha treachery. " On the road we noticed many
miisica. Llegaba vn esquadron a. dar la bien indications such as the natives of this pro-
llegada a Hernando Cortes, i con buena orden vince had told us of; for we found the royal
se iba apartando, dando lugar a que otro road barred up and another opened, and some
Uegase. ... En llegando a la ciudad, que holes dug, — though not many, — and some of
parecio mucho a los Castellanos, en el asiento, the streets of the city barricadoed, and many
i perspectiva, a Valladolid, salio la demas stones upon the roofs ; which put us more
gente, quedando mui espantada de ver las upon our guard and caused us to exercise
figuras, talles, i armas de los Castellanos. great caution." Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana,
Salieron los sacerdotes con vestiduras blancas, p. 64.
como sobrepellices, i algunas cerradas por
CONSPIRACY DETECTED, 221
of the town, to propitiate the favour of the gods, apparently for some intended
enterprise. They added that they had seen numbers of the citizens leaving
the city with their women and children, as if to remove them to a place of
safety. These tidings confirmed the worst suspicions of Cortes, who had no
doubt that some hostile scheme was in agitation. If he had felt any, a dis-
covery by Marina, the good angel of the expedition, would have turned these
doubts into certainty.
The amiable manners of the Indian girl had won her the regard of the wife
of one of the caciques, who repeatedly urged Marina to visit her house, darkly
intimating that in this way she would escape the fate that awaited the Spaniards.
The interpreter, seeing the importance of obtaining further intelligence at once,
pretended to be pleased with the proposal, and affected, at the same time, great
discontent with the white men, by whom she was detained in captivity. Thus
throwing the credulous Cholulan off her guard, Marina gradually insinuated
herself into her confidence, so far as to draw from her a full account of the
conspiracy.
It originated, she said, with the Aztec emperor, who had sent rich bribes to
the great caciques, and to her husband among others, to secure them in his
views. The Spaniards were to be assaulted as they marched out of the capital,
when entangled in its streets, in which numerous impediments had been placed
to throw the cavalry into disorder. A force of twenty thousand Mexicans was
already quartered at no great distance from the city/ to support the Cholulans
in the assault. It was confidently expected that the Spaniards, thus embar-
rassed in their movements, would fall an easy prey to the superior strength of
their enemy. A sufficient number of prisoners was to be reserved to grace the
sacrifices of Cholula; the rest were to be led in fetters to the capital of
Montezuma.
While this conversation was going on, Marina occupied herself with putting
up such articles of value and wearing-apparel as she proposed to take with her
in the evening, when she could escape unnoticed from the Spanish quarters to
the house of her Cholulan friend, who assisted her in the operation. Leaving
her visitor thus employed, Marina found an opportunity to steal away for a
few moments, and, going to the general's apartment, disclosed to him her
discoveries. He immediately caused the cacique's wife to be seized, and, on
examination, she fully confirmed the statement of his Indian mistress.
The intelligence thus gathered by Cortes filled him with the deepest alarm.
He was fairly taken in the snare. To fight or to fly seemed equally difficult.
He was in a city of enemies, where every house might be converted into a
fortress, and where such embarrassments were thrown in the way as might
render the manoeuvres of his artillery and horse nearly impracticable. In
addition to the wily Cholulans, he must cope, under all these disadvantages,
with the redoubtable warriors of Mexico. lie was like a traveller who has lost
his way in the darkness among precipices, where any step may dash him to
pieces, and where to retreat or to advance is equally perilous.
He was desirous to obtain still further confirmation and particulars of the
conspiracy. He accordingly induced two of the priests in the neighbourhood,
one of them a person of much influence in the place, to visit his quarters. By
courteous treatment, and liberal largesses[of the rich presents he had received
from Montezuma, — thus turning his own gifts against the giver,— he drew
from them a full confirmation of the previous report. The emperor had been
in a state of pitiable vacillation since the arrival of the Spaniards. His first
orders to the Cholulans were to receive the strangers kindly. He had recently
consulted his oracles anew, and obtained for answer that Cholula would
222 MARCH TO MEXICO.
be the grave of his enemies ; for the gods would be sure to support him in
avenging the sacrilege offered to the Holy City. So confident were the Aztecs
of success, that numerous manacles, or poles with thongs which served as
such, were already in the place to secure the prisoners.
Cortes, now feeling himself fully possessed of the facts, dismissed the pries.
with injunctions of secrecy, scarcely necessary. He told them it was h
purpose to leave the city on the following morning, and requested that they
would induce some of the principal cacicpies to grant him an interview in his
quarters. He then summoned a council of his officers, though, as it seems,
already determined as to the course he was to take.
The members of the council were differently affected by the startling in-
telligence, according to their different characters. The more timid, dis-
heartened by the prospect of obstacles which seemed to multiply as they
drew nearer the Mexican capital, were for retracing their steps and seeking
shelter in the friendly city of Tlascala. Others, more persevering, but
prudent, were for taking the more northerly route, originally recommended
by their allies. The greater part supported the general, who was ever of
opinion that they had no alternative but to advance. Retreat would be ruin,
Iialf-Avay measures were scarcely better, and would infer a timidity which
must discredit them with both friend and foe. Their true policy was to rely
on themselves,— to strike such a blow as should intimidate their enemies and
show them that the Spaniards were as incapable of being circumvented by
artifice as of being crushed by weight of numbers and courage in the open field.
When the caciques, persuaded by the priests, appeared before Cortes, he
contented himself with gently rebuking their want of hospitality, and assured
them the Spaniards would be no longer a burden to their city, as he proposed
to leave it early on the following morning. He requested, moreover, that
they would furnish a reinforcement of two thousand men to transport his
artillery and baggage. The chiefs, after some consultation, acquiesced in a
demand which might in some measure favour their own designs.
On their departure, the general summoned the Aztec ambassadors before
him. He briefly acquainted them with his detection of the treacherous plot
to destroy his army, the contrivance of which, he said, was imputed to their
master, Montezuma. It grieved him much, he added, to find the emperor
implicated in so nefarious a scheme, and that the Spaniards must now march
as enemies against the prince whom they had hoped to visit as -a friend.
The ambassadors, with earnest protestations, asserted their entire ignorance
of the conspiracy, and their belief that Montezuma was equally hthocent of a
crime which they charged wholly on -the Cholulans. It was clearly the policy
of Corte's to keep on good terms with the Indian monarch, to profit as long as
possible by his good offices, and to avail himself of his fancied security — such
feelings of security as the general could inspire him with— to cover his own
future operations. He affected to give credit, therefore, to the assertion of
the envoys, and declared his unwillingness to believe that a monarch who had
rendered the Spaniards so many friendly offices would now consummate the
whole by a deed of such unparalleled baseness. The discovery of their twofold
duplicity, he added, sharpened his resentment against the Cholulans, on whom
he would take such vengeance as should amply requite the injuries done both
to Montezuma and the Spaniards. He then dismissed the ambassadors,
taking care, notwithstanding this show of confidence, to place a strong guard
over them, to prevent communication with the citizens.22
83 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 65. — Torqucmaria,
83.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 59.— Eel. Seg. de Monarch. Iud., lib. 4, cap. 39.— Ovicdo, Hist.
TERRIBLE MASSACRE. 223
That night was one of deep anxiety to the army. The ground they stood
on seemed loosening beneath their feet, and any moment might he the one
marked for their destruction. Their vigilant general took all possible precau-
tions for their safety, increasing the number of the sentinels, and posting his
guns in such a manner as to protect the approaches to the camp. His eyes,
it may well be believed, did not close during the night. Indeed, every
Spaniard lay down in his arms, and every horse stood saddled and bridled,
ready for instant service. But no assault was meditated by the Indians, and
the stillness of the hour was undisturbed except by the occasional sounds
heard in a populous city, even when buried in slumber, and by the hoarse
cries of the priests from the turrets of the teocallis, proclaiming through their
trumpets the watches of the night,23
CHAPTER VII.
TERRIBLE MASSACRE— TRANQUILLITY RESTORED -REFLECTIONS ON THE
MASSACRE— FURTHER PROCEEDINGS— ENVOYS FROM MONTEZUMA.
1519.
With the first streak of morning light, Cortes was seen on horseback, direct-
ing the movements of his little band. The strength of his forces he drew up
hi the great square or court, surrounded partly by buildings, as before noticed,
and in part by a high wall. There were three gates of entrance, at each of
which he placed a strong guard. The rest of his troops, with his great guns,
he posted without the enclosure, in such a manner as to command the avenues
and secure those within from interruption in their bloody work. Orders had
been sent the night before to the Tlascalan chiefs to hold themselves ready, at
a concerted signal, to march into the city and join the Spaniards.
The arrangements Avere hardly completed, before the Cholulan caciques
appeared, leading a body of levies, tannines, even more numerous than had
been demanded. They were marched at once into the square, commanded, as
we have seen, by the Spanish infantry, which was drawn up under the walls.
Corte's then took some of the caciques aside. With a stern air, he bluntly
charged them with the conspiracy, showing that he was well acquainted with
all the particulars. He had visited their city, he said, at the invitation of
their emperor ; had come as a friend ; had respected the inhabitants and their
property ; and, to avoid all cause of umbrage, had left a great part of his
forces without the walls. They had received him with a show of kindness
and hospitality, and, reposing on this, he had been decoyed into the snare,
and found this kindness only a mask to cover the blackest perfidy.
The Cholulans were thunderstruck at the accusation. An undefined awe
crept over them as they gazed on the mysterious strangers and felt themselves
in the presence of beings Avho seemed to have the power of reading the
thoughts scarcely formed in their bosoms. There was no use in prevarication
<le las Ind., MS., lib. 83, cap. 4. —Martyr. De por las estrellas, y tocaban los ministros del
Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 2.— Hcrrera, Hist. tcmplo que estaban dettinados para este fin,
Reneral, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 1.— Argensola, ciertos instiuraentos coiuo vocinas, am que,
Anales, lib. 1, cap. 85. hacian conocer al pueblo el tier.ipo." C»ama,
3 "Las boras de la noche las regulaban Descripcion, Parte 1, p. 11.
224 MARCH TO MEXICO.
or denial before such judges. They confessed the whole, and endeavoured to
excuse themselves by throwing the blame on Montezuma. Cortes, assuming
an air of higher indignation at this, assured them that the pretence should
not serve, since, even if well founded, it would be no justification ; and he
would now make such an example of them for their treachery that the report
of it should ring throughout the wide borders of Anahuac !
The fatal signal, the discharge of an arquebuse, was then given. In an
instant every musket and cross-bow was levelled at the unfortunate Cholulai
in the court-yard, and a frightful volley poured into them as they stood crowdc
together like a herd of deer in the centre. They were taken by surprise, for
they had not heard the preceding dialogue with the chiefs. They made
scarcely any resistance to the Spaniards, who followed up the discharge
their pieces by rushing on them with their swords ; and, as the half-nake
bodies of the natives afforded no protection, they hewed them down with as
much ease as the reaper mows down the ripe corn in harvest-time. Some
endeavoured to scale the walls, but only afforded a surer mark to the arque-
busiers and archers. Others threw themselves into the gateways, but were
received on the long pikes of the soldiers who guarded them. Some few had
better luck in hiding themselves under the heaps of slain with which the
ground was soon loaded.
While this work of death was going on, the countrymen of the slaughtered
Indians, drawn together by the noise of the massacre, had commenced a
furious assault on the Spaniards from without. But Cortes had placed his
battery of heavy guns in a position that commanded the avenues, and swept
off' the files of the assailants as they rushed on. In. the intervals between the
discharges, which, in the imperfect state of the science in that day, were
much longer than in ours, he forced back the press by charging with the
horse into the midst. The steeds, the guns, the weapons of the Spaniards
were all new to the Cholulans. Notwithstanding the novelty of the terrific
spectacle, the flash of fire-arms mingling with the deafening roar of the artillery
as its thunders reverberated among the buildings, the despairing Indians
pushed on to take the places of their fallen comrades.
While this fierce struggle was going foward, the Tlascalans, hearing the
concerted signal, had advanced with quick pace into the city. They had
bound, by order of Cortes, wreaths of sedge round their heads, that they
might the more surely be distinguished from the Cholulans.1 Coming up in
the very heat of the engagement, they fell on the defenceless rear of the
townsmen, who, trampled down under the heels of the Castilian cavalry on
one side, and galled by their vindictive enemies on the other, could no longer
maintain their ground. They gave way, some taking refuge in the nearest
buildings, which, being partly of wrood, were speedily set on fire. Others fled
to the temples. One strong party, with a number of priests at its. head, got
possession of the great teocalli. There was a vulgar tradition, already alluded
to, that on removal of part of the walls the god would send forth an in-
undation to overwhelm his enemies. The superstitious Cholulans with great
difficulty succeeded in wrenching away some of the stones in the walls of
the edifice. But dust, not water, followed. Their false god deserted them
in the hour of need. In despair they flung themselves into the wooden
1 "Usaron los de Tlaxcalla de un aviso pusieron en las cabezas unas guirnaldas de
muy bueno y les dio Hernando Cortes porque esparto a* manera de torzales, y con esto eran
fueran conocidos y no morir entre los ene- conocidos los de nuestra parcialidad que no
migos por yerro, porque sus armas y divisas fue pequefio aviso." Camargo, Hist. deTlas-
eran casi de una manera ; . . . y ansi se cala, MS.
TRANQUILLITY RESTORED. 225
turrets that crowned the temple, and poured down stones, javelins, and
burning arrows on the Spaniards, as they climbed the great staircase which, by
a flight of one hundred and twenty steps, scaled the face of the pyramid. But
the fiery shower fell harmless on the steel bonnets of the Christians, while
they availed themselves of the burning shafts to set fire to the wooden citadel,
which was speedily wrapt in flames. Still the garrison held out, and though
quarter, it is said, was offered, only one Cholulan availed himself of it. The
rest threw themselves headlong from the parapet, or perished miserably in
the flames.2
All was now confusion and uproar in the fair city which had so lately
reposed in security and peace. The groans of the dying, the frantic supplica-
tions of the vanquished for mercy, were mingled with the loud battle-cries of
the Spaniards as they rode down their enemy, and with the shrill whistle of
the Tlascalans, who gave full scope to the long- cherished rancour of ancient,
rivalry. The tumult was still further swelled by the incessant rattle of
musketry, and the crash of falling timbers, which sent up a volume of flame
that outshone the ruddy light of morning, making altogether a hideous con-
fusion of sights and sounds that converted the Holy City into a Pandemonium.
As resistance slackened, the victors broke into the houses and sacred places,
plundering them of whatever valuables they contained, plate, jewels, which
were found in some quantity, wearing-apparel and provisions, the two last
coveted even more than the former by the simple Tlascalans, thus facilitating
a division of the spoil much to the satisfaction of their Christian confederates.
Amidst this universal license, it is worthy of remark, the commands of Cortes
were so far respected that no violence was offered to -women or children,
though these, as well as numbers of men, were made prisoners to be swept
into slavery by the Tlascalans.3 These scenes of violence had lasted some
hours, when Cortes, moved by the entreaties of some Cholulan chiefs who had
been reserved from the massacre, backed by the prayers of the Mexican
envoys, consented, out of regard, as he said, to the latter, the representatives
of Montezuma, to call off the soldiers, and put a stop, as well as he could, to
further outrage.* Two of the caciques were, also, permitted to go to their
countrymen with assurances of pardon and protection to all who would return
to their obedience.
These measures had their effect. By the joint efforts of Cortes and the
caciques, the tumult was with much difficulty appeased. The assailants,
Spaniards and Indians, gathered under their respective banners, and the
Cholulans, relying on the assurance of their chiefs, gradually returned to
their homes.
The first act of Cortes was to prevail on the Tlascalan chiefs to liberate
their captives.4 Such was their deference to the Spanish commander that
■ Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— Oviedo, sons, but touched neither women nor chil-
Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 4, 45.— dren, for so it had been ordered." Herrera,
Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 40. Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 2.
— Ixililxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 84.— * Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
Go:nara, Cronica, cap. 60. 83. — Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., ubi
•' "They killed nearly six thousand per- supra.
* [Andres de Tapia, -who participated in tants, many of whom had fled to the nioun-
the massacre, says that the work of destroy- tains and neighbouring territory, obtained
Ing the city ("el trabajar por destruir, la pardon and leave to return. Col. de Doc.
cibdad ") went on for two days, before Cortes para la Hist, de Mexico, publicada por Joa-
gave orders for it to cease, and that it was not quin Garcia Icazbalceta, torn, ii.— Ed.]
till two or three days later that the inhabi-
22G MARCH TO MEXICO.
they acquiesced, though not without murmurs, contenting themselves, as they
best could, with the rich spoil rifled from the Cholulans, consisting of various
luxuries long since unknown in Tlascala. His next care was to cleanse the
city from its loathsome impurities, particularly from the dead bodies which
lay festering in heaps in the streets and great square. The general, in his
letter to Charles the Fifth, admits three thousand slain, most accounts say
six, and some swell the amount yet higher. As the eldest and principal
cacique was among the number, Cortes assisted the Cholulans in installing a
successor in his place.5 By these pacific measures confidence was gradually
restored. The people in the environs, reassured, flocked into the capital to
supply the place of the diminished population. The markets were again
opened ; and the usual avocations of an orderly, industrious community were
resumed. Still, the long piles of black and smouldering ruins proclaimed the
• hurricane which had so" lately swept over the city, and the walls surrounding
the scene of slaughter in the great square, which were standing more than
fifty years after the event, told the sad tale of the Massacre of Cholula.6
. This passage in their history is one of those that have left a dark stain on
the memory of the Conquerors. Nor can we contemplate at this day, without
a shudder, the condition of this fair and flourishing capital thus invaded in its
privacy and delivered over to the excesses of a rude and ruthless soldiery.
But, to judge the action fairly, we must transport ourselves to the age when
it happened. The difficulty that meets us in the outset is, to find a justifica-
tion of the right of conquest, at all. But it should be remembered that religious
infidelity, at this period, and till a much later, was regarded— no matter whether
founded on ignorance or education, whether hereditary or acquired, heretical
or pagan — as a sin to be punished with fire and fagot in this world, and eternal
suffering in the next. This doctrine, monstrous as it is, was the creed of the
Bomish, in other words, of the Christian Church, — the basis of the Inquisition,
and of those other species of religious persecutions which have stained the
annals, at some time or other, of nearly every nation in Christendom.7 Under
5 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. This is the first instance, I suspect, on
83. — The descendants of the principal Clio- record of any person being ambitious of find-
lulan cacique are living at this day in Puebla, ing a parallel for himself in that emperor !
according to Bustamante. See Gomara, Cro- Bernal Diaz, who had seen "the intermi-
nica, trad, de Chimalpain (Mexico, 1826), nable narrative," as he calls it, of Las Casas,
torn. i. p. 98, nota. treats it with great contempt. His own ver-
0 Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 66. sion— one of those chiefly followed in the
— Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— Ixtli- text— was corroborated by the report of the
lxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 84.— Oviedo, missionaries, who, after the Conquest, visited
Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 4, 45. — Cholula, and investigated the affair with the
Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 83. — aid of the priests and several. old survivors
Gomara, Cronica, cap. 60.— Sahagun, Hist.de who had witnessed it. It is confirmed in its
Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 11.— Las substantial details by the other contemporary
Casas, in his printed treatise on the Destruc- accounts. The excellent Bishop of Chiapa
tion of the Indies, garnishes his account of wrote with the avowed object of moving the
these transactions with some additional and sympathies of his countrymen in behalf of
rather startling particulars. According to the oppressed natives ; a generous object,
him, Cortes caused a hundred or more of the certainly, but one that has too often warped
caciques to be impaled or roasted at the his judgment from the strict line of historic
stake ! He adds the report that, while the impartiality. He was not an eye-witness of
massacre in the court-yard was going on, the transactions in New Spain, and was much
the Spanish general repeated a scrap of an too willing to receive whatever would make
old romance, describing Nero as rejoicing for his case, and to " over-red," if I may so
over the burning ruins of Borne : say, his argument with such details of blood
« Mira Nero de Tarpeya, aud daughter as, from their very extrava-
A Roma como se ardia. Z™™' carry their own refutation with them
Gritos dan nifios y vfctfos, tl For »n. *lli«tratoon of the above remark
Y el de nada se dolia." * ie ref*lr » rTeTferre? *> % .cl°8inB Pa|e9 °*
CBrevisima Relacion, p. 46.) ch^' 7> Part "' of the "Hlstory of *«*"
REFLECTIONS ON THE MASSACRE.
227
tins code, the territory of the heathen, wherever found, was regarded as a sort
of religious waif, which, in default of a legal proprietor, was claimed and taken
possession of by the Holy See, and as such was freely given away by the head
of the Church, to any temporal potentate whom he pleased, that would assume
the burden of conquest.8 Thus, Alexander the Sixth generously granted a
large portion of the Western hemisphere to the Spaniards, and of the Eastern
to the Portuguese. These lofty pretensions of the successors of the humble
fisherman of Galilee, far from being nominal, were acknowledged and appealed
to as conclusive in controversies between nations."
With the right of conquest, thus conferred, came also the obligation, on
which it may be said to have been founded, to retrieve the nations sitting in
darkness from eternal perdition. This obligation was acknowledged by the
best and the bravest, the gownsman in his closet, the missionary, and the
warrior in the crusade. However much it may have been debased by temporal
motives and mixed up with worldly considerations of ambition and avarice, it
was still active in the mind of the Christian conqueror. We have seen how
far paramount it was to every calculation of personal interest in the breast of
Cortes. The concession of the Pope, then, founded on, and enforcing, the im-
perative duty of conversion,10 was the assumed basis— and, in the apprehension
of that age, a sound one— of the right of conquest.11
naud and Isabella," where: I have taken some
pains to show how deep-settled were these
convictions in Spain at the period with which
we are now occupied. The world had gained
little in liberality since the age of Dante, who
could coolly dispose of the great and good of
antiquity in one of the circles of Hell because
—no fault of theirs, certainly— they had come
into the world too soon. The memorable
verses, like many others of the immortal
bard, arc a proof at once of the strength and
weakness of the human understanding. They
may he cited as a fair exponent of the popular
feeling at the beginning of the sixteenth cen-
tury :
"Ch' ei non peccaro, e, s'egli hanno mercedi,
Non b^sta., perch' e' non ebber battesmo,
Ch' e porta della fede che tu credi.
E, se furon dinanzi al Cristianesmo,
Non adorar debitamente Dio ;
E di questi cotai son io medesmo
Per tai difetti, e non per altro rio,
Semo perduti, e sol di tanto offesi
Che sanza sperne vivemo in disio."
Infekno, canto 4.
a It is in the same spirit that the laws of
Okron, the maritime code of so high autho-
rity in the Middle Ages, abandon the pro-
perty 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 Turcs, et antres c'ontraires el en-
nemis de nostredictefoy catholicque, chascun
peut prendre sur telles mmieres de gens,
comme sur chiens, si peut Von Its desrobber et
spolier de leurs Mens sans pugnition. C'est
le jugeraent." Jugemens d'Oleron, Art. 45,
ap. Collection de Lois maritimes, par J. M.
Pardessus (cd. Paris, 1828), torn. i. p. 351.
. 8 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 respec-
tive discoveries ; aline 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, is ; Part II. chap.
9,— the closing pages of each.
>0 It is the condition, unequivocally ex-
pressed and reiterated, on which Alexander
VI., in his famous bulls of May 3rd 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 Yiages y
Descubrimientos (Madrid, 1825), torn. ii. Nos.
17, 18.
11 The ground on which Protestant nations
assert a natural right to the fruits of their
discoveries in the New World is very dif-
ferent. 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 pre-
sent 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 rely on the powers conceded by
228 MARCH TO MEXICO.
This right could not, indeed, be construed to authorize any unnecessary act
of violence to the natives. The present expedition, up to the period of its
history at which we are now arrived, had probably been stained with fewer of
such acts than almost any similar enterprise of the Spanish discoverers in the
New World. Throughout the campaign, Cortes had prohibited all wanton
injuries to the natives in person or property, and had punished the perpetrators
of them with exemplary severity. He had been faithful to his friends, and,
with perhaps a single exception, not unmerciful to his foes. Whether from
policy or principle, it should be recorded to his credit; though, like every
sagacious mind, he may have felt that principle and policy go together.
He had entered Cholula as a friend, at the invitation of the Indian emperor,
who had a real, if not avowed, control over the state. He had been received as
a friend, with every demonstration of good will ; when, without any offence of
his own or his followers, he found they were to be the victims of an insidious
plot, — that they were standing on a mine which might be sprung at any moment
and bury them all in its ruins. His safety, as he truly considered, left no
alternative but to anticipate the blow of his enemies. Yet who can doubt that
the punishment thus inflicted was excessive,— that the same end might have
been attained by directing the blow against the guilty chiefs, instead of letting
it fall on the ignorant rabble who but obeyed the commands of their masters t
But when was it ever seen that fear, armed with power, Avas scrupulous in the
exercise of it ? or that the passions of a fierce soldiery, inflamed by conscious
injuries, could be regulated in the moment of explosion ?
We shall, perhaps, pronounce more impartially on the conduct of the Con-
querors if Ave compare it with that of our OAvn contemporaries under someAvhat
similar circumstances. The atrocities at Cholula Avere not so bad as those
inflicted on the descendants of these very Spaniards, in the late Avar of the
Peninsula, by the most polished nations of our time ; by the British at
Badajoz, for example, — at Tarragona, and a hundred other places, by the
French. The Avanton butchery, the ruin of property, and, above all, those
outrages Avorse than death, from Avhich the female part of the population Avere
protected at Cholula, shoAv a catalogue of enormities quite as black as those
imputed to the Spaniards, and Avithout the same apology for resentment, —
Avith no apology, indeed, but that afforded by a brave and patriotic resistance.
The consideration of these events, Avhich, from their familiarity, make little
impression on our senses, should render us more lenient in our judgments of
the past, shoAving, as they do, that man in a state of excitement, savage or
civilized, is much the same in every age. It may teach us — it is one of the
King James's patent, asserting rights as ab- Law, vol. iii. lee. 51), where it is handled
solute, nearly, as those claimed by the Roman with much perspicuity and eloquence. The
See. On the contrary, they established their argument, as founded on the law of nations,
title to the soil by fair purchase of the abo- may be found in the celebrated case of John-
rigines; thus forming an honourable contrast son v. ^Mcintosh. (Wheaton, Reports of
to the policy pursued by too many of the Cases in the Supreme Court of the United
settlers on the American continents. It States, vol. viii. p. 543, et seq.) If it were
should be remarked that, whatever difference not treating a grave discussion. too lightly, I
of opinion may have subsisted between the should crave leave to refer the reader to the
Roman Catholic— or rather the Spanish and renowned Diedrich Knickerbocker's History
Portuguese — nations and the rest of Europe, of New York (book 1, chap. 5) for a luminous
in regard to the true foundation of their titles disquisition on this knotty question. At all
in a moral view, they have always been con- events, he will find there the popular argu-
tent, in their controversies with one another, ments subjected to the test of ridicule ; a test
to rest them exclusively on priority of dis- showing, more than any reasoning can, how
covery. For a brief view of the discussion, much, or rather how little, they are really
see Vattel (Droit des Gens, sec. 209), and worth,
especially Kent (Commentaries on American
FURTHER PROCEEDINGS. 229
best lessons of history — that, since such are the inevitable evils of war, even
among the most polished people, those who hold the destinies of nations in
their hands, whether rulers or legislators, should submit to every sacrifice,
save that of honour, before authorizing an appeal to arms. The extreme
solicitude to avoid these calamities, by the aid of peaceful congresses and
impartial mediation, is, on the whole, the strongest evidence, stronger than
that afforded by the progress of science and art, of our boasted advance in
civilization.
It is far from my intention to vindicate the cruel deeds of the old Con-
querors. Let them lie heavy on their heads. They were an iron race, who
perilled life and fortune in the cause ; and, as they made little account of
danger and suffering for themselves, they had little sympathy to spare for
their unfortunate enemies. But, to judge them fairly, we must not do it by
the lights of our own age. We must carry ourselves back to theirs, and take
the point of view afforded by the civilization of their time. Thus only can we
arrive at impartial criticism in reviewing the generations that are past. We
must extend to them the same justice which we shall have occasion to ask
from posterity, when, by the light of a higher civilization, it surveys the dark
or doubtful passages in our own history, which hardly arrest the eye of the
contemporary.
But, whatever be thought of this transaction in a moral view, as a stroke of
policy it was unquestionable. The nations of Anahuac had beheld, with
admiration mingled with awe, the little band of Christian warriors steadily
advancing along the plateau in face of every obstacle, overturning army after
army with as much ease, apparently, as the good ship throws off the angry
billows from her bows, or rather like the lava, which, rolling from their own
volcanoes, holds on its course unchecked by obstacles, rock, tree, or building,
bearing them along, or crushing and consuming them in its fiery path. The
prowess of the Spaniards — "the white gods," as they were often called13-
made them to be thought invincible. But it was not till their arrival at
Cholula that the natives learned how terrible was their vengeance ; and they
trembled !
None trembled more than the Aztec emperor on his throne among the
mountains. He read in these events the dark characters traced by the finger
of Destiny.13 He felt his empire melting away like a morning mist. He
might well feel so. Some of the most important cities in the neighbourhood
of Cholula, intimidated by the fate of that capital, now sent their envoys to
the Castilian camp, tendering their allegiance, and propitiating the favour of
the strangers by rich presents of gold and slaves.14 Montezuma, alarmed at
these signs of defection, took counsel again of his impotent deities ; but,
although the altars smoked with fresh" hecatombs of human victims, he
obtained no cheering response. He determined, therefore, to send another em-
bassy to the Spaniards, disavowing any participation in the conspiracy of Cholula.
12 Los Dioses blancos.— Camargo, Hist, de the empire shall come, when all shall he
Tlascala, MS. — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., plunged in darkness, when the hour shall
lib. 4, cap. 40. arrive in which they shall make us slaves
13 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, MS., throughout the land, and we shall be con-
lib. 12, cap. 11. — In an old Aztec harangue, demned to the lowest and most degrading
made as a matter of form on the accession of offices ! " (Ibid., lib. 6, cap. 16.) This ran-
a prince, we find the following remarkable dom shot of prophecy, which I have rendered
prediction : •* Perhaps ye are dismayed at the literally, shows how strong and settled was
prospect of the terrible calamities that are the apprehension of Borne impending re vol u-
one day to overwhelm us, calamities foreseen . tion.
and foretold, though net felt, by our fathers ! 14 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. ",
. . . when the destruction and desolation of cap. 3.
230 MARCH TO MEXICO.
Meanwhile Cortes was passing his time in that capital. He thought that
the impression produced by the late scenes, and by the present restoration of
tranquillity, offered a fair opportunity for the good work of conversion. He
accordingly urged the citizens to embrace the Cross and abandon the false
guardians who had abandoned them in their extremity. But the traditions of
centuries rested on the Holy City, shedding a halo of glory around it as "the
sanctuary of the gods," the religious capital of Anahuac. 'it was too much to
expect that the people would willingly resign this pre-eminence and descend
to the level of an ordinary community. Still Cortes might have pressed the
matter, however unpalatable, but for the renewed interposition of the wise
Olmedo, who persuaded him to postpone it till after the reduction of the whole
country.15
The Spanish general, however, had the satisfaction to break open the cages
in which the victims for sacrifice were confined, and to dismiss the trembling
inmates to liberty and life. He also seized upon the great teocalli, and devoted
that portion of the building which, being of stone, had escaped the fury of the
flames, to the purposes of a Christian church ; while a crucifix of stone and
lime, of gigantic dimensions, spreading out its arms above the city, proclaimed
that the population below was under the protection of the Cross. On the
same spot now stands a temple overshadowed by dark cypresses of unknown
antiquity, and dedicated to Our Lady de los Eemedios. An image of the
Virgin presides over it, said to have been left by the Conqueror himself ; 16
and an Indian ecclesiastic, a descendant of the ancient Cholulans, performs
the peaceful services of the Roman Catholic communion on the spot where his
ancestors celebrated the sanguinary rites of the mystic Quetzalcoatl.17
During the occurrence of these events, envoys arrived from Mexico. They
were charged, as usual, with a rich present of plate and ornaments of gold,
among others, artificial birds in imitation of turkeys, with plumes of the same
precious metal. To these were added fifteen hundred cotton dresses of delicate
fabric. The emperor even expressed his regret at the catastrophe of Cholula,
vindicated himself from any share in the conspiracy, which he said had brought
deserved retribution on the heads of its authors, and explained the existence
of an Aztec force in the neighbourhood by the necessity of repressing some
disorders there.18
One cannot contemplate this pusillanimous conduct of Montezuma without
mingled feelings of pity and contempt. It is not easy to reconcile his assumed
innocence of the plot with many circumstances connected with it. But it
must be remembered here, and always, that his history is to be collected solely
from Spanish writers and such of the natives as flourished after the Conquest,
when the country had become a colony of Spain. Not an Aztec record of the
primitive age survives, in a form capable of interpretation.19 It is the hard
lr' Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. mcntaries of Spanish monks, oftentimes mani-
83. festly irreconcilable with the genuine Aztec
""• Veytia, Hist, antig., torn. i. cap. 13. notions. Even such writers as Ixtlilxochitl
17 Humboldt, Vues des Cordilleres, p. 32. and Camargo, from whom, considering their
18 Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana", p. Indian descent, we might expect more inde-
69. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 63. — Oviedo, Hist. pendence, seem less solicitous to show this,
de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5. — ixtlilxochitl, than their loyalty to the new faith and
Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 84. country of their adoption. Perhaps the most
l» The language of the text may appear honest Aztec record of the period is to be
somewhat too unqualified, considering that ■ obtained from the volumes,, the twelfth book
three Aztec codices exist with interpretations. particularly, of Father Sahagun, embodying
(See ante, vol. i. pp. 49, 50.) But they the traditions of the natives soon after the
contain very few and general allusions to Conquest. This portion of his great work
Montezuma, and these strained through com- was rewritten by its author, and considerable
MARCH RESUMED. 231
fate of this unfortunate monarch to J)e wholly indebted for his portraiture to
the pencil of his enemies.
More than a fortnight had elapsed since the entrance of the Spaniards into
Cholnla, and Corte's now resolved without loss of time to resume his march
towards the capital. His rigorous reprisals had so far intimidated the Cliolu-
Jans that he felt assured he should no longer leave an active enemy in his rear,
to annoy him in case of retreat. He had the satisfaction, before his departure,
to heal the feud — in outward appearance, at least — that had so long subsisted
between the Holy City and Tlascala, and which, under the revolution which
so soon changed the destinies of the country, never revived.
It was with some disquietude that he now received an application from his
Cempoallan allies to be allowed to withdraw from the expedition and return to
their own homes. They had incurred too deeply the resentment of the Aztec
emperor, by their insults to his collectors, and by their co-operation with the
Spaniards, to care to trust themselves in his capital. It was in vain Cortes
endeavoured to reassure them by promises of his protection. Their habitual
distrust and dread of " the great Montezuma " were not to be overcome. The
general learned their determination with regret, for they had been of infinite
service to the cause by their stanch fidelity and courage. All this made it the
more difficult for him to resist their reasonable demand. Liberally recom-
pensing their services, therefore, from the rich wardrobe and treasures of the
emperor, he'took leave of his faithful followers, before his own departure from
Cholula. He availed himself of their return to send letters to Juan de Esca-
lante, his lieutenant at Vera Cruz, acquainting him with the successful progress
of the expedition. He enjoined on that officer to strengthen the fortifications
of the place, so as the better to resist any hostile interference from Cuba,— an
event for which Cortes was ever on the watch, — and to keep down revolt
among the natives. He especially commended the Totonacs to nis protection,
as allies whose fidelity to the Spaniards exposed them, in no slight degree, to
the vengeance of the Aztecs.20
CHAPTER VIH.
MARCH RESUMED— ASCENT OP THE GREAT VOLCANO— VALLEY OP MEXICO—
IMPRESSION ON THE SPANIARDS — CONDUCT OP MONTEZUMA— THEY DESCEND
INTO THE VALLEY.
1519.
Everything being now restored to quiet in Cholula, the allied army of
Spaniards and Tlascalans set forward in high spirits, and resumed the march
on Mexico. The road lay through the beautiful savannas and luxuriant plan-
tations that spread out for several leagues in every direction. On the march,
they wrere met occasionally by embassies from the neighbouring places, anxious
to claim the protection of the white men, and to propitiate them by gifts,
especially of gold, their appetite for which was generally known throughout
the country.
changes wore made in it, at a later period of followed.
his life. Yet it may be doubted if the re- " Bcrnal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
formed version reflects the traditions of the S4, 85.— Ilel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana,
country as faithfully as the original, which is p. 67.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 60. — Oviedo,
still in manuscript, and which I have chiefly Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5.
232 MARCH TO MEXICO.
Some of these places were allies of the Tlasealans, and all showed much dis-
content with the oppressive rule of Montezuma. The natives cautioned the
Spaniards against putting themselves in his power by entering his capital ;
and they stated, as evidence of his hostile disposition, that he had caused the
direct road to it to be blocked up, that the strangers might be compelled to
choose another, which, from its narrow passes and strong positions, would
enable him to take them at great disadvantage.
The information was not lost on Cortes, who kept a strict eye on the move-
ments of the Mexican envoys, and redoubled his own precautions against
surprise.1 Cheerful and active, he was ever where his presence was needed,
sometimes in the van, at others in the rear, encouraging the weak, stimulating
the sluggish, and striving to kindle in the breasts of others the same coura-
geous spirit which glowed in his own. At night he never omitted to go the
rounds, to see that every man was at his post. On one occasion his vigilance
had wellnigh proved fatal to him. He approached so near a sentinel that the
man, unable to distinguish his person in the dark, levelled his cross-bow at
him, when fortunately an exclamation of the general, who gave the watchword
of the night, arrested a movement which might else have brought the campaign
to a close and given a respite for some time longer to the empire of Monte-
zuma.
The army came at length to the place mentioned by the frien^W Indians,
where the road forked, and one arm of it was found, as they had foretold,
obstructed with large trunks of trees, and huge stones which had been strewn
across it. Cortes inquired the meaning of this from the Mexican ambassadors.
They said it was done by the emperor's orders, to prevent their taking a route
Avhich, after some distance, they would find nearly impracticable for the
cavalry. They acknowledged, however, that it was the most direct road ; and
Cortes, declaring that this was enough to decide him in favour of it, as the
Spaniards made no account of obstacles, commanded the rubbish to be cleared
away. Some of the timber might still be seen by the roadside, as Bernal Diaz
tells us, many years after. The event left little doubt in the general's mind of
the meditated treachery of the Mexicans. But he was too politic to betray
his suspicions.2
They were now leaving the pleasant champaign country, as the road wound
up the bold sierra which separates the great plateaus of Mexico and Puebla.
The air, as they ascended, became keen and piercing ; and the blasts, sweep-
ing down the frozen sides of the mountains, made the soldiers shiver in their
thick harness of cotton, and benumbed the limbs of both men and horses.
They were passing between two of the highest mountains on the North
American continent ; Popocatepetl, "the hill that smokes," and Iztaccihuatl,
or " white woman," 3— a name suggested, doubtless, by the bright robe of snow
spread over its broad and broken surface. A puerile superstition of the
Indians regarded these celebrated mountains as gods, and Iztaccihuatl as the
wife of her more formidable neighbour.4 A tradition of a higher character
described the northern volcano as the abode of the departed spirits of wicked
rulers, whose fiery agonies in their prison-house caused the fearful bellowings
1 " We walked," says Diaz, in the homely 3 " Llamaban al volcan Popocatepetl, y
but expressive Spanish proverb, "with our la sierra nevacla Iztaccihuatl, que quiere deeir
beards over our shoulders " — la barba sobre el la sierra que humea, y la blanca muger,"
ombro. Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 86. Oamargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.
- Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 4 " La Sierra nevada y el volcan los tenian
86. — Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. por Dioses ; y que el volcan y la Sierra nevada
70.— Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. eran marido y muger." Ibid., MS.
41.
THE GREAT VOLCANO. 233
and convulsions in times of eruption. It was the classic fable of antiquity.5
These superstitious legends had invested the mountain with a mysterious
horror, that made the natives shrink from attempting its ascent, which, indeed,
was from natural causes a work of incredible difficulty.
The great volcan,6 as Popocatepetl was called, rose to the enormous height
of 17,852 feet above the level of the sea ; more than 2000 feet above the
"monarch of mountains,"— the highest elevation in Europe.7 During the
present century it has rarely given evidence of its volcanic origin, and " the hill
that smokes " has almost forfeited its claim to the appellation. But at the
time of the Conquest it was frequently in a state of activity, and raged with
uncommon fury while the Spaniards were at Tlascala ; an evil omen, it was
thought, for the natives of Anahuac. Its head, gathered into a regular cone
by the deposit of successive eruptions, wore the usual form of volcanic mountains
when not disturbed by the falling in of the crater. Soaring towards the skies,
with its silver sheet of everlasting snow, it was seen far and wide over the
broad plains of Mexico and Puebla, the first object which the morning sun
greeted in his rising, the last where his evening ray-; were seen to linger,
shedding a glorious effulgence over its head, that contrasted strikingly with
the ruinous waste of sand and lava immediately below, and the deep frii
funereal pines that shrouded its base.
The mysterious terrors which hung over the spot, and the wild love of
adventure, made some of the Spanish cavaliers desirous to attempt the ascent,
which the natives declared no man could accomplish and live. Cortes en-
couraged them in the enterprise, willing to show the Indians that no achieve-
ment was above the dauntless daring of his followers. One of his captains,
accordingly, Diego Ordaz, with nine Spaniards, and several Tlascalans, en-
couraged by their example, undertook the ascent. It was attended with more
difficulty than had been anticipated.
The lower region was clothed with a dense forest, so thickly matted that in
some places it was scarcely possible to penetrate it. It grew thinner, however,
as they advanced, dwindling by degrees into a straggling, stunted vegetation,
till, at the height of somewhat more than thirteen thousand feet, it faded away
altogether. The Indians who had held on thus far, intimidated by the strange
subterraneous sounds of the volcano, even then in a state of combustion, now
left them. The track opened on a black surface of glazed volcanic sand and
of lava, the broken fragments of which, arrested in its boiling progress in a
thousand fantastic forms, opposed continual impediments to their advance.
Amidst these, one huge rock, the Pico del Fraile, a conspicuous object from
below, rose to the perpendicular height of a hundred and fifty feet, compelling
them to take a wide circuit. They soon came to the limits of perpetual snowr,
new difficulties presented themselves, as the treacherous ice gave an
imperfect footing, and a false step might precipitate them into the frozen
chasms that yawned- around. To increase their distress, respiration in these
s Gomara, Cronica, cap. 62. cano" (Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. i.
« *tna Giganteos nunquam tacitura trium- **£>* «*** SSSSLSSSi
phos,
Knceladi bustum, quisaucia terga revinctus
Stephens, notices the volcan de agua, " water
volcano," in the neighbourhood of Antigua
Guatemala. Incidents of Travel in Chiapas,
Spirat^nexhaustum flagranti pectore sul- ^ET^eriS^d lf^ (New Y<£
Ccauduk, De Rapt. Pros., lib. 1, v. 152. ^^^J^ing to M. de Sanssure.
e The old Spaniards called any lofty inoun- is 15,670 feet high. For the estimate of Po-
tain by that name, though never having given pocatepetl, see an elaborate communication
signs of combustion. Thus, Chimborazo in the " Revista Mexicana,"' torn, ii, No. 4.
was called a volcan de nieve, or " snow vol-
i 2
234 MARCH TO MEXICO.
aerial regions became so difficult that every effort was attended with sharp
pains in the head and limbs. Still they pressed on, till, drawing near the
crater, such volumes of smoke, sparks, and cinders were belched forth from its
burning entrails, and driven down the sides of the mountain, as nearly suffocated
and blinded them. It was too much even for their hardy frames to endure,
and, however reluctantly, they were compelled to abandon the attempt on the
eve of its completion. They brought back some huge icicles, — a curious sight
in these tropical regions,— as a trophy of their achievement, which, however
imperfect, was sufficient to strike the minds of the natives with wonder, by
snowing that with the Spaniards the most appalling and mysterious perils were
only as pastimes. The undertaking was eminently characteristic of the bold
spirit of the cavalier of that day, who, not content with the dangers that lay
in his path, seemed to court them from the mere Quixotic love of adventure.
A' report of the affair was transmitted to the emperor Charles the Fifth, and
the family of Ordaz was allowed to commemorate the exploit by assuming a
burning mountain on their escutcheon.8
The general was not satisfied with the result. Two years after, he sent up
another party, under Francisco Montaiio, a cavalier of determined resolution.
The object was to obtain sulphur to assist in making gunpowder for the army.
The mountain was quiet at this time, and the expedition was attended with
better success. _ The Spaniards, five in number, climbed to the very edge of
the crater, which piosented an irregular ellipse at its mouth, more than a
league in circumference. Its depth might be from eight hundred to a thousand
feet. A lurid flame burned gloomily at the bottom, sending up a sulphureous
steam, which, cooling as it rose, was precipitated on the sides of the cavity.
The party cast lots, and it fell on Montano liimself, to descend in a basket into
this hideous abyss, into which he was lowered by his companions to the depth
of four hundred feet ! This was repeated several times, till the adventurous
cavalier had collected a sufficient quantity of sulphur for the wants of the
army.9 This doughty enterprise excited general admiration at the time. Cortes
concludes his report of it to the emperor with the judicious reflection that it
would be less inconvenient, on the whole, to import their powder from Spain.10
8 Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 70. doubts the fact of Montafio's descent into the
— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. crater, thinking it more probable that he ob-
5. — Bernal Diaz,. Hist, de la Conquista, cap. tainod the sulphur through some lateral
78.— The latter writer speaks of the ascent as crevice in the mountain. (Essai politique,
made when the army lay at Tlascala, and of torn. i. p. 164.)* No attempt — at least, no
the attempt as perfectly successful. The successful one — was made to gain the summit
general's letter, written soon after the event, of Popocatepetl, since this of Montano, till the
with no motive for misstatement, is the better present century. In 1827 ft was reached in
authority. See, also, Herrera, Hist, general, two expeditions, and again in 1833 and 1834.
dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 18.— Rel. d'un gentiP A very full account of the last, containing
huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii. p. 308.— Go- many interesting details and scientific obser-
mara, Crunica, cap. 62. vations, was written by Federico de Gerolt,
3 [Montafio's family remained in Mexico one of the party, and published in the peri-
after the Conquest, and his daughter received odical already referred to. (llevista Mexi-
a pension from the government. Alaman, cana, torn. i. pp. 461-482.) The party from
Disertaciones hlstoricas, torn. i. apend. 2.J the topmost peak, which commanded a full
'" Pel. Ter. y Quarta de Cortes, ap. Loren- view of the less elevated Iztaccihuatl, saw no
zana, pp. 318, 380.— Herrera, Hist, general, vestige of a crater in that mountain, contrary
dec. 3, lib. 3, cap. 1.— Oviedo, Hist, de las to the opinion usually received.
Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 41.— M. de Humboldt
* [There would seem to have been no labourers, lowered into the crater by means
grounds for the doubt expressed by Humboldt, of a rope of hide attached to a windlass,
as the sulphur is now nearly exhausted, Tylor, Auahuac, p. 269.— Ed.]
having been regularly collected by Indian
VALLEY OF MEXICO. 235
But it is time to return from our digression, which may perhaps be excused,
as illustrating, in a remarkable manner, the chimerical spirit of enterprise —
not inferior to that in his own romances of chivalry— which glowed in the
breast of the Spanish cavalier in the sixteenth century.
The army held on its march through the intricate gorges of the sierra.
The route was nearly the same as that pursued at the present day by the
courier from the capital to Puebla, by the way of Mecameca.11 It was not
that usually taken by travellers from Vera Cruz, who follow the more cir-
cuitous road round the northern base of Iztaccihuatl, as less fatiguing than
the other, though inferior in picturesque scenery and romantic points of view.
The icy winds, that now swept down the sides of the mountains, brought with
them a tempest of arrowy sleet and snow, from which the Christians suffered
even more than the Tlascalans, reared from infancy among the wild solitudes
of their own native hills. As night came on, their sufferings would have been
intolerable, but they luckily found a shelter in the commodious stone buildings
which the Mexican government had placed at stated intervals along the roads
for the accommodation of the traveller and their own couriers. It little
dreamed it was providing a protection for its enemies.
The troops, refreshed by a night's rest, succeeded, early on the following-
day, in gaining the crest of the sierra of Ahualco, which stretches like a
curtain between the two great mountains on the north and south. Their
progress was now comparatively easy, and they marched forward with a
buoyant step, as they felt they were treading the' soil of Montezuma.
They had not advanced far, when, turning an angie of the sierra, they
suddenly came on a view which more than compensated the toils of the pre-
ceding day. It was that of the Valley of Mexico, or Tenochtitlan, as more
commonly called by the natives ; which, with its picturesque assemblage of
water, woodland, and cultivated plains, its shining cities and shadowy hills,
was spread out like some gay and gorgeous panorama before them. In the
highly rarefied atmosphere of these upper regions, even remote objects have
a brilliancy of colouring and a distinctness of outline which seem to annihilate
distance.12 Stretching far away at their feet, were seen noble forests of oak,
sycamore, and cedar, and beyond, yellow fields of maize and the towering
maguey, intermingled with orchards and blooming gardens ; for flowers, in
such demand for their religious festivals, were even more abundant in this
populous valley than in other parts of Anahuac. In the centre of the great
basin were beheld the lakes, occupying then a much larger portion of its
surface than at present ; their borders thickly studded with towns and ham-
lets, and, in the midst,— like some Indian empress with her coronal of pearls,
—the fair city of Mexico, with her white towers and pyramidal temples,
reposing, as it were, on the bosom of the waters,— the far-famed "Venice of
the Aztecs." High over all rose the royal hill of Chapoltepec, the residence of the
Mexican monarchs, crowned with the same grove of gigantic cypresses which
at this day fling their broad shadows over the land. In the distance beyond
the blue waters of the lake, and nearly screened by intervening foliage, was
seen a shining speck, the rival capital of Tezcuco, and, still farther on, the
dark belt of porphyry, girdling the Valley around, like a rich setting which
Nature had devised for the fairest of her jewels.
Such was the beautiful vision which broke on the eyes of the Conquerors.
And even now, when so sad a change has come over the scene ; when the
11 Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. iv. p. 17. 7500 feet— above tin sea. Humboldt, Essai
'-' The lake of Tezcuco, on which stood the politique, torn. ii. p. i5.
ranital of Mexico, is 2277 metres— nearly
236 MARCH TO MEXICO.
stately forests have been laid low, and the soil, unsheltered from the fierce
radiance of a tropical sun, is in many places abandoned to sterility ; when the
waters have retired, leaving a broad and ghastly margin white with the in-
crustation of salts, while the cities and hamlets on their borders have mouldered
into ruins ;— even now that desolation broods over the landscape, so inde-
structible are the lines of beauty which Nature has traced on its features, that
no traveller, however cold, can gaze on them with any other emotions than
those of astonishment and rapture.13
What, then, must have been the emotions of the Spaniards, when, after
working their toilsome way into the upper air, the cloudy tabernacle parted
before their eyes, and they beheld these fair scenes in all their pristine
magnificence and beauty ! It was like the spectacle which greeted the eyes
of Moses from the summit of Pisgah, and, in the warm glow of their feelings,
they cried out, " It is the promised land ! " u
But these feelings of admiration were soon followed by others of a very
different complexion, as they saw in all this the evidences of a civilization and
power far superior to anything they had yet encountered. The more timid,
disheartened by the prospect, shrunk from a contest so unequal, and demanded,
as they had done on some former occasions, to be led back again to Vera Cruz.
Such was not the effect produced on the sanguine spirit of the general. His
avarice was sharpened by the display of the dazzling spoil at his f eet ; and, if
he felt a natural anxiety at the formidable odds, his confidence was renewed,
as he gazed on the lines of his veterans, whose weather-beaten visages and
battered armour told of battles won and difficulties surmounted, while his
bold barbarians, with appetites whetted by the view of their enemies' country,
seemed like eagles on the mountains, ready to pounce upon their prey. By
argument, entreaty, and menace, he endeavoured to restore the faltering
courage of the soldiers, urging them not to think of retreat, now that they
had reached the goal for which they had panted, and the golden gates were
opened to receive them. In these efforts he was well seconded by the brave
cavaliers, who held honour as dear to them as fortune ; until the dullest
spirits caught somewhat of the enthusiasm of their leaders, and the general
had the satisfaction to see his hesitating columns, with their usual buoyant
step, once more on their march down the slopes of the sierra.15
With every step of their progress, the woods became thinner ; patches of
cultivated land more frequent ; and hamlets were seen in the green and
sheltered nooks, the inhabitants of which, coming out to meet them, gave the
troops a kind reception. Everywhere they heard complaints of Montezuma,
especially of the unfeeling manner in which he carried off their young men to
recruit his armies, and their maidens for his harem. These symptoms of dis-
content were noticed with satisfaction by Cortes, who saw that Montezuma's
" mountain-throne," as it was called, was indeed seated on a volcano, with the
elements of combustion so active within that it seemed as if any hour might
witness an explosion. He encouraged the disaffected natives to rely on his
protection, as he had come to redress their wrongs. He took advantage.
13 It is unnecessary to refer to the pages of bavians after a similar march through the.
•modern travellers, who, however they may wild passes of the Alps, as reported by the
differ in taste, talent, or feeling, all concur in prince of historic painters. Livy, Hist., lib.
"the impressions produced on them by the 21, cap. 35.
sight of this beautiful valley. « Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., ubi supra.
14 Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 3.
41.— It may call to the reader's mind the — Gomara, Cronica.cap. 64.— Oviedo, Hist. d6
memorable view of the fair plains of Italy las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5.
which Hannibal displayed to his hungry bar-
CONDUCT OF MONTEZUMA.. 237
moreover, of their favourable dispositions, to scatter among them such gleams
of spiritual light as time and the preaching of Father Olmedo could afford.
He advanced by easy stages, somewhat retarded by the crowd of curious
inhabitants gathered on the highways to see the strangers, and halting at
every spot of interest or importance. On the road, he was met by another
embassy from the capital. It consisted of several Aztec lords, freighted, as
usual, with a rich largess of gold, and robes of delicate furs and feathers. The
message of the emperor was couched in the same deprecatory terms as before.
He even condescended to bribe the return of the Spaniards, by promising, in
that event, four loads of gold to the general, and one to each of the captains,16
with a yearly tribute to their sovereign. So effectually had the lofty and
naturally courageous spirit of the barbarian monarch been subdued by the
influence of superstition !
But the man whom the hostile array of armies could not daunt was not to
be turned from his purpose by a woman's prayers. He received the embassy
with his usual courtesy, declaring, as before, that he could not answer it to his
own sovereign if he were now to return without visiting the emperor in his
capital. It would be much easier to arrange matters by a personal interview
than by distant negotiation. The Spaniards came in the spirit of peace.
Montezuma would so find it ; but, should their presence prove burdensome to
him, it Avould be easy for them to relieve him of it.17
The Aztec monarch, meanwhile, was a prey to the most dismal apprehen-
sions. It was intended that the embassy above noticed should reach the
Spaniards before they crossed the mountains. When he learned that this was
accomplished, and that the dread strangers were on their march across the
Valley, the very threshold of his capital, the last spark of hope died away in
his bosom. Like one who suddenly finds himself on the brink of some dark
and yawning gulf, he was too much bewildered to be able to rally his thoughts,
or even to comprehend his situation. He was the victim of an absolute destiny,
against which no foresight or precautions could have availed. It was as if the
strange beings who had thus invaded his shores had dropped from some
distant planet, so different were they from all he had ever seen, in appearance
and manners ; so superior — though a mere handful in numbers — to the banded
nations of Anahuac in strength and science and all the fearful accompaniments
of war ! They were now in the Valley. The huge mountain screen, which
nature had so kindly drawn around it for its defence, had been overleaped.
The golden visions of security and repose in which he had so long indulged, the
lordly sway descended from his ancestors, his broad imperial domain, were all
to pass away. It seemed like some terrible dream, — from which he was now,
alas ! to awake to a still more terrible reality.
In a paroxysm of despair, he shut himself up in his palace, refused food, and
sought relief in prayer and in sacrifice. But the oracles were dumb. He then
adopted the more sensible expedient of calling a council of his principal and
oldest nobles. Here was the same division of opinion which had before pre-
vailed. Cacama, the young king of Tezcuco, his nephew, counselled him to
receive the Spaniards courteously, as ambassadors, so styled by themselves, of
a foreign prince. Cuitlahua, Montezuma's more warlike brother, urged him to
muster his forces on the instant, and drive back the invaders from his capital
10 A load for a Mexican tamane was about Lorenzana,p. 73. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec.
fifty pounds, or eight hundred ounces. Clavi- 2. lib. 7, cap. 3.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 64.—
gero, Stor. del Messico, torn. iii. p. 09, nota. Oviedo,«Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5.
17 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 87.
lib. 12, cap. 12.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap.
1
238
MARCH TO MEXICO.
or die in its defence. But the monarch found it difficult to rally his spirits for
this final struggle. With downcast eye and dejected mien, he exclaimed, " Of
what avail is resistance, when the gods have declared themselves against us ? 18
Yet I mourn most for the old and infirm, the women and children, too feeble
to fight or to fly. For myself and the brave men around me, we must bare
our breasts to the storm, and meet it as we may ! " Such are the sorrowful
and sympathetic tones in which the Aztec emperor is said to have uttered the
bitterness of his grief. He would have acted a more glorious part had he put
his capital in a posture of defence, and prepared, like the last of the Palseologi,
to bury himself under its ruins.19
He straightway prepared to send a last embassy to the Spaniards, with his
nephew, the lord of Tezcuco, at its head, to welcome them to Mexico.
The Christian army, meanwhile, had advanced as far as Amaquemecan, a
well-built town of several thousand inhabitants. They were kindly received
by the cacique, lodged in large, commodious, stone buildings, and at their
departure presented, among other things, with gold to the amount of three
thousand castella?ws.20 Having halted there a couple of days, they descended
among flourishing plantations of maize and of maguey, the latter of which might
be called the Aztec vineyards, towards the lake of Chalco. Their first resting-
place was Ajotzinco, a town of considerable size, with a great part of it then
standing on piles in the water. It was the first specimen which the Spaniards
had seen of this maritime architecture. The canals which intersected the
city, instead of streets, presented an animated scene, from the number of
barks which glided up and down freighted with provisions and other articles
for the inhabitants. The Spaniards were particularly struck with the style
and commodious structure of the houses, built chiefly of stone, and with the
general aspect of wealth and even elegance which prevailed there.
Though received with the greatest show of hospitality, Cortes found some
occasion for distrust in the eagerness manifested by the people to see and
approach the Spaniards.21 Not content with gazing at them in the roads,
some even made their way stealthily into their quarters, and fifteen or twenty
unhappy Indians were shot down by the sentinels as spies. Yet there appears,
as well as we can judge at this distance of time, to have been no real ground
for such suspicion. t The undisguised jealousy of the court, and the cautions
he had received from his allies, while they very properly put the general on
his guard, seem to have given an unnatural acuteness, at least in the present
instance, to his perceptions of danger.22
18 This was not the sentiment of the Roman
hero :
" Victrix causa Diis placuit, sed victa Catoni ! "
Lucan, lib. 1, v. 128.
19 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS.,
lib. 12, cap. 13. — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind.,
lib. 4, cap. 44. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 63.
20 " El sefior de esta provincia y pueblo me
dio hasta quarenta esclavas, y tres mil castel-
lanos ; y dos dias que alii estuve nos proveyo
muy cumplidamente de todo lo necesario para
nuestra comida." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap.
Lorenzana, p. 74.
"l "De todas partes era infmita la gente
que de un cabo e de otro concurrian a mirar
a los Espafioles, e maravilliibanse mucho de
los ver. Tenian grande espacio e atencion en
mirar los caballos ; decian, ' Estos son Teules,'
que quiere decir Demonios." Oviedo, Hist,
de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 45.
22 Cortes 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 Cortes,
ap. Lorenzana, p. 74.*
* f_Cortes 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
THEY DESCEND INTO THE VALLEY. 239
Early on the following morning, as the army was preparing to leave the
place, a courier came, requesting the general to postpone his departure till
after the arrival of the king of Tezcuco, who was advancing to meet him. It
was not long before he appeared, borne in a palanquin or litter, richly deco-
rated with plates of gold and precious stones, having pillars curiously wrought,
supporting a canopy of green plumes, a favourite colour with the Aztec
princes. He was accompanied by a numerous suite of nobles and inferior
attendants. As he came into the presence of Cortes, the lord of Tezcuco
descended from his palanquin, and the obsequious officers swept the ground
before him as he advanced. He appeared to be a young man of about twenty-
five years of age, with a comely presence, erect and stately in his deportment.
He made the Mexican salutation usually addressed to persons of high rank,
touching the earth with his right hand, and raising it to his head. Cortes
embraced him as he rose, when the young prince informed him that he came
as the representative of Montezuma, to bid the Spaniards welcome to his
capital. He then presented the general with three pearls of uncommon size
and lustre. Cortes, in return, threw over Cacama's neck a chain of cut glass,
which, where glass was as rare as diamonds, might be admitted to have a
value as real as the latter. After this interchange of courtesies, and the most
friendly and respectful assurances on the part of Cortes, the Indian prince
withdrew, leavjng the Spaniards strongly impressed with the superiority of his
state and bearing over anything they had hitherto seen in the country.23
Resuming its march, the army kept along the southern borders of the lake
of Chalcol overshadowed, at that time, by noble woods, and by orchards
glowing with autumnal fruits, of unknown names, but rich and tempting
hues. More frequently it passed through cultivated fields waving with the
yellow harvest, and irrigated by canals introduced from the neighbouring lake ;
the whole showing a" careful and economical husbandry, essential to the
maintenance of a crowded population.
Leaving the main land, the Spaniards came on the great dike or causeway,
which stretches some four or five miles in length and divides lake Chalco from
Xochicalco on the Avest. It was a lance in breadth in the narrowest part,
and in some places wide enough for eight horsemen to ride abreast. It was a
solid structure of stone and lime, running directly through the lake, and struck
the Spaniards as one of the most remarkable works which 'they had seen in
the country.
As they passed along, they beheld the gay spectacle of multitudes of Indians
darting up and down in their light pirogues, eager to catch a glimpse of the
strangers, or bearing the products of the country to the neighbouring cities.
They were amazed, also, by the sight of the ckmampas, or floating gardens, —
those wandering islands of verdure, to which we shall have occasion to return
"■" Bel. Seg. de Cortes, ap Lorenzana, p. 75. If this cacique appeared In such state, what
— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 64.— lxtlilxochitl, must be that displayed by the great Monte-
Ilist. Chich., MS., cap. 85.— Oviedo, Hist, de zuma?" Bernal Diaz, HU. de la Conquista,
las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5. — "We esteemed cap. 87.
it a great matter, and said amongst ourselves,
approach the camp after sunset show his lo resistir ; por tanto, haceldo as! saber & toda
anxiety to impress them with a sense of the vuestra gente. « decildes que despues de"
danger. "Sabed," he said to the chiefs, "que puesto el sol ninguna venga do estamos,
estos que conmigo vienen no duermen de porque morird, 4 d mi me petard de los que
noche, e si duermen es un poco cuando es de murieren." Itelacion hecha por el Sefior
dia ; e de noche estan con sua arm as, 6 cual- Andres de Tapia sobre la Conquista de
quiera que ven que anda en pie 6 entra do Mexico. — En.j
ellos estan. luego lo matan ; e yo no basto a
240 MARCH TO MEXICO. '
hereafter, — teeming with flowers and vegetables, and moving like rafts over
the waters. All round the margin, and occasionally far in the lake, they
beheld little towns and villages, which, half concealed by the foliage, and
gathered in white clusters round the shore, looked in the distance like com-
panies of wild swans riding quietly on the waves. A scene so new and
wonderful filled their rude hearts with amazement. It seemed like enchant-
ment ; and they could find nothing to compare it with but the magical
pictures in the "Amadis de Gaula."2"4 Few pictures, indeed, in that or any
other legend of chivalry, could surpass the realities of their own experience.
The life of the adventurer in the New World was romance put into action.
What wonder, then, if the Spaniard of that day, feeding liis imagination with
dreams of enchantment at home and with its realities abroad, should have
displayed a Quixotic enthusiasm, — a romantic exaltation of character, not to
be comprehended by the colder spirits of other lands !
Midway across the lake the army halted at the town of Cuitlahuac, a place
of moderate size, but distinguished by the beauty of the buildings, — the most
beautiful, according to Cortes, that he had yet seen in the country.25 After
taking some refreshment at this place, they continued their march along the
dike. Though broader in this northern section, the troops found themselves
much embarrassed by the throng of Indians, who, not content with gazing on
them from the boats, climbed up the causeway and lined the sides of the road.
The general, afraid that his ranks might be disordered, and that too great
familiarity might diminish a salutary awe in the natives, wras obliged to'
resort not merely to command, but menace, to clear a passage. He now
found, as he advanced, a considerable change in the feelings shown towards
the government. He heard only of the pomp and magnificence, nothing of
the oppressions, of Montezuma. Contrary to the usual fact, it seemed that
the respect for the court was greatest in its immediate neighbourhood.
From the causeway, the army descended on that narrow point of land
which divides the waters of the Chalco from the Tezcucan lake, but which in
those days was overflowed for many a mile now laid bare.26 Traversing this
peninsula, tljey entered the royal residence of Iztapalapan, a place containing
twelve or fifteen thousand houses, according to Cortes.27 It was governed by
'■** "Nos quedumos admirados," exclaims geographique et physique de la Nouvelle-
Diaz, with simple wonder, " y d 'ziamos que Espagne (Paris, 1811), carte 3.) Notwith-
parecia a las casas de encantaraento, que standing his great care, it is not easy always
cuentan en el libro de Amadis ! " Hist, de la to reconcile his topography with the itineraries
Conquista, cap. 87. An edition of this cele- of the Conquerors, so much has the face of
brated romance in its Castilian dress had the country been changed by natural and
appeared before this time, as the prologue to artificial causes. It is still less possible to
the second edition of 1521 speaks of a former reconcile their narratives with the maps of
one in the reign of the "Catholic Sovereigns." Clavigero, Lopez, Robertson, and others,
See Cervantes, Don Quixote, ed. Pellicor defying equally topography and history.
(Madrid, 1797), torn, i., Discurso prelim. 2r Several writers notice a visit of the
** " Una ciudad, la mas hermosa, aunque Spaniards to Tezcuco on the way to the
pequena, que hasta entonces habiamos visto, capital. (Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4,
assi de muy bien obradas Casas, y Torres, cap. 42. — Soils, Conquista, lib. 3, cap. 9. —
como de la buena orden, que en el funda- Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 4. —
mento de ellahabia por ser armada toda sobre Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. iii. p. 74.)
Agua." (Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, This improbable episode— which, it may be
p. 76.) The Spaniards gave this aquatic city remarked, has led these authors into some
the name of Venezuela, or Little Venice. geographical perplexities, not to say blunders
Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 2. — is altogether too remarkable to have been
cap. 4. passed over in silence in the minute relation
aj M. de Humboldt has dotted the conjee- of Bernal Diaz, and that of Cortes, neither of
tural limits of the ancient lake in his admi- whom alludes to it.
rable chart of the Mexican Valley. (Atlas
THEY DESCEND INTO THE VALLEY. 241
Cnitlahua, the emperor's brother, who, to do greater honour to the general,
had invited the lords of some neighbouring cities, of the royal house of
Mexico, like himself, to be present at the interview. This was conducted
with much ceremony, and, after the usual present of gold and delicate
stuffs,28 a collation was served to the Spaniards in one of the great halls of the
palace. The excellence of the architecture here, also, excited the admiration
of the general, who does not hesitate, in the glow of his enthusiasm, to pro-
nounce some of the buildings equal to the best in Spain.29 They were of
stone, and the spacious apartments had roofs of odorous cedar-wood, while the
walls were tapestried with fine cotton stained with brilliant colours.
But the pride of Iztapalapan, on which its lord had freely lavished his care
and his revenues, was its celebrated gardens. They covered an immense
tract of land ; were laid out in regular squares, and the paths intersecting
them were bordered with trellises, supporting creepers and aromatic shrubs
that loaded the air with their perfumes. The gardens were stocked with fruit-
trees, imported from distant places, and with the gaudy family of flowers
which belonged to the 'Mexican flora, scientifically arranged, and growing
luxuriant in the equable temperature of the table-land. The natural dryness
of the atmosphere was counteracted by means of aqueducts and canals that
carried water into all parts of the grounds.
In one quarter was an aviary, filled with numerous kinds of birds, remark-
able in this region both for brilliancy of plumage and of song. The gardens
were intersected by a canal communicating with the lake of Tezcuco, and of
sufficient size for barge-; to enter from the latter. But the most elaborate
piece of work was a huge reservoir of stone, filled to a considerable height
with water well supplied with different sorts of fish. This basin was sixteen
hundred paces in circumference, and was surrounded by a walk, made also of
stone, wide enough for four persons to go abreast. The sides were curiously
sculptured, and a flight of steps led to the water below, which fed the
aqueducts above noticed, or, collected into fountains, diffused a perpetual
moisture.
Such are the accounts transmitted of these celebrated gardens, at a period
when similar horticultural establishments were unknown in Europe ; 30 and
we might well doubt their existence in this semi-civilized land, were it not
a matter of such notoriety at the time and so explicitly attested by the
invaders. But a generation had scarcely passed after the Conquest, before
a sad change came over these scenes so beautiful. The town itself was de-
serted, and the shore of the lake was strewed with the Avreck of buildings
which once were its ornament and its glory. The gardens shared the fate of
the city. The retreating waters withdrew the means of nourishment, con-
verting the flourishing plains into a foul and unsightly morass, the haunt
of loathsome reptiles ; and the water-fowl built her nest in what had once
been the palaces of princes ! 3l
In the city of Iztapalapan, Cortes took up his quarters for the night. We
may imagine what a crowd of ideas must have pressed on the mind of the
28 " E me dieron," says Cortes, " hasta tres, Plants in Europe is said to Lave been at
6 quatro mil Casiellanos, y algunas Esclavas, Padua, in 1545. Carli, Lettres Americaines,
y ltopa, e me hicieron muy buen acogimi- torn. i. let. 21.
ento." Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 76. " ReL Seg. de Cortes, ubi supra.— Herrera,
n "Tiene el Senor de ella unas Casas Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 44.— Sahagun,
nuevas, que aun no estan acabadas, que son IIist.de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 13.
tan buenas como las mejores de Espana, digo — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33,
de grandes y bien labradas." Ibid., p. 77. cap. 5. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista,
M The earliest instance of a Garden of cap. 87.
242
MARCH TO MEXICO.
Conqueror, as, surrounded by these evidences of civilization, he prepared with
his handful of followers to enter the capital of a monarch who, as he had
abundant reason to know, regarded him with distrust and aversion. This
capital was now but a few miles distant, distinctly visible from Iztapalapan.
And as its long lines of glittering edifices, struck by the rays of the evening-
sun, trembled on the dark-blue waters of the lake, it looked like a thing of
fairy creation, rather than the work of mortal hands. Into this city of en-
chantment Cortes prepared to make his entry on the following morning.32
CHAPTER IX.
ENVIRONS OP MEXICO — INTERVIEW WITH MONTEZUMA — ENTRANCE INTO
THE CAPITAL — HOSPITABLE RECEPTION — VISIT TO THE EMPEROR.
1519.
With the first faint streak of dawn, the Spanish general was up, mustering
his followers. They gathered, with beating hearts, under their respective
banners, as the trumpet sent forth its spirit-stirring sounds across water and
woodland, till they died away in distant echoes among th,e mountains. The
sacred flames on the altars of numberless teocallis, dimly seen through the
gray mists of morning,1 indicated the site of the capital, till temple, tower,
and palace were fully revealed in the glorious illumination which the sun, as
he rose above the eastern barrier, poured over the beautiful Valley. It was
the eighth of November, 1519, a conspicuous day in history, as that on
which the Europeans first set foot in the capital of the Western World.
Cortes with his little body of horse formed a sort of advanced guard to the
army. Then came the Spanish infantry, who in a summer's campaign had
acquired the discipline and the weather-beaten aspect of veterans. The
baggage occupied the centre ; and the rear was closed by the dark files 2 of
Tlascalan warriors. The whole number must have fallen short of seven
thousand ; of which less than four hundred were Spaniards.3
M "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."
South ei's Madoc, Part 1, canto 6.
1 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
brfght and beautiful. The historian," he
adds, "has confounded the climate of Mexico
with that of England or the United States."
Conquista de Mexico (trad, de Vega), torn. i.
p. 337.]
2 [A Spanish translator incorrectly renders
the words "dark files" by indisciplinadas
fdas, "undisciplined files." Senor Alaman,
correcting, in this instance at least, the trans-
lation 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 disci-
pline, a defect which can hardly be charged
on the most warlike nation of Anahuac.
Conquista de Mejico (trad, de Vega), torn. i.
p. 337.]
3 He took about 6000 warriors from Tlas-
cala; 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 re-
monstrance of the disaffected soldiers, after
the murderous Tlascalan combats, they speak
ENVIRONS OF MEXICO. 243
For a short distance, the army kept along the narrow tongue of land that
divides the Tezcucan from the Chalcan waters, when it entered on the great
dike, which, with the exception of an angle near the commencement, stretches
in a perfectly straight line across the salt floods of Tezcuco to the gates of the
capital. It was the same causeway, or rather the basis of that, which still
forms the great southern avenue of Mexico.4 The Spaniards had occasion
more than ever to admire the mechanical science of the Aztecs, in the geo-
metrical precision with which the work was executed, as well as the solidity
of its construction. It was composed of huge stones well laid in cement, and
wide enough, throughout its whole extent, for ten horsemen to ride abreast.
They saw, as they passed along, several large towns, resting on piles, and
reaching far into the water, — a kind of architecture which found great favour
with the Aztecs, being in imitation of that of their metropolis.5 The busy
population obtained a good subsistence from the manufacture of salt, which
they, extracted from the waters of the great lake. The duties on the traffic
in this article were a considerable source of revenue to the crown.
Everywhere the Conquerors beheld the evidence of a crowded and thriving
population, exceeding all they had yet seen. The temples and principal
buildings of the cities were covered with a hard white stucco, which glistened
like enamel in the level beams of the morning. The margin of the great
basin was more thickly gemmed than that of Chalco with towns and hamlets.0
The water was darkened by swarms of canoes filled with Indians,7 who
clambered up the sides of the causeway and gazed with curious astonishment
on the strangers. And here, also, they beheld those fairy islands of flowers,
overshadowed occasionally by trees of considerable size, rising and falling
with the gentle undulation of the billows. At the distance of half a league
from the capital, they encountered a solid work or curtain of stone, which
traversed the dike, it was twelve feet high, was strengthened by towers at
the extremities, and in the centre was a battlemented gateway, which opened
a passage to the troops. It was called the Fort of Xoloc, and became
memorable in after-times as the position o/cupied by Cortes in the famous
siege of Mexico.
Here they were met by several hundred Aztec chiefs, who came out to
announce the approach of Montezuma and to welcome the Spaniards to his
capital. They were dressed.in the fanciful gala costume of the country, with
the maxtlatl. or cotton sash, around their loins, and a broad mantle of the
same material, or of the brilliant feather-embroidery, flowing gracefully down
of having lost fitty of their number since the hood of the capital, which he saw in its glory,
beginning of the campaign. Ante, p. 203. "Creo, que en toda nuestra Europa hay pocas
* " La calzada d'Iztapalapan est fondee sur ciudades que tengan tal asiento y tal comarca,
cette meme digue ancienne, sur laquelle con tantos pueblos i la redonda de si y tan
Cortez fit des prodiges de valeur dans ses bien asentados.'' Hist, de los Indios, MS.,
rencontres avec les assieges." (Humboldt, Parte 3, cap. 7.
Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 57.) [At present 7 It is not necessary, however, to adopt
the road of Tlalplan, or St. Augustine of the Herrera's account of 50,000 canoes, which, he
Caves (San Augustin de las Cuevas). Con- says, were constantly employed in supplying
quista de Mejico (trad, de Vega), torn. i. p. the capital with provisions ! (Hist, general,
338.] dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 14.) The poet-chronicler
5 Among these towns were several con- Saavedra is more modest in his estimate :
taining from three to five or six thousand
dwellings, according to Cortes, whose bar- " Dos mil y mas canoas cada dia
barous orthography in proper names will not Bastecen el gran pueblo Mexicano
easily be recognized by Mexican or Spaniard. De la mas y la menos nuiena
Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 78. Que os necesario al alimento humano.
G Father Toribio Benavente does not stint &t Pekegrino Ikdiano, canto 11.
his panegyric in speaking of the neighbour-
244 MARCH TO MEXICO.
their shoulders. On their necks and arms they displayed collars and bracelets
of turquoise mosaic, with which delicate plumage was curiously mingled,8
while their ears, under-lips, and occasionally their noses, were garnished with
pendants formed of precious stones, or crescents of fine gold. As each cacique
made the usual formal salutation of the country separately to the general, the
tedious ceremony delayed the march more than an hour. After this, the
army experienced no further interruption till it reached a bridge near the
gates of the city. It was built of wood, since replaced by one of stone, and
was thrown across an opening of the dike, which furnished an outlet to the
waters when agitated by the winds or swollen by a sudden influx in the
rainy season. It was a draw-bridge ; and the Spaniards, as they crossed it,
felt how truly they Avere committing themselves to the mercy of Montezuma,
who, by thus cutting off their communications with the country, might hold
them prisoners in his capital.9
In the midst of these unpleasant reflections, they beheld the glittering re-
tinue of the emperor emerging from the great street which led then, as it still
does, through the heart of the city.10 Amidst a crowd of Indian nobles,
preceded by three officers of state bearing golden wands,11 they saw the royal
palanquin blazing with burnished gold, it was borne on the shoulders of
nobles, and over it a canopy of gaudy feather- work, powdered with jewels and
fringed with silver, was supported by four attendants of the same rank.
They were bare-footed, and walked with a slow, measured pace, and with
eyes bent on the ground. When the train had come within a convenient
distance, it halted, and Montezuma, descending from his litter, came forward,
leaning on the arms of the lords of Tezcuco and Iztapalapan, his nephew and
brother, both of whom, as we have seen, had already been made known to the
(Spaniards. As the monarch advanced under the canopy, the obsequious
attendants strewed the ground with cotton tapestry, that his imperial feet
might not be contaminated by the rude soil. His subjects of high and low
degree, who lined the sides of the causeway, bent forward with their eyes
fastened on the ground as he passed, and some of the humbler class prostrated
themselves before him.12 Such was the homage paid to the Indian despot,
showing that the slavish forms of Oriental adulation were to be found among
the rude inhabitants of the Western World.
Montezuma wore the girdle and ample square cloak, tihnatli, of his nation.
It was made of the finest cotton, with the embroidered ends gathered in a
knot round his neck. His feet were defended by sandals having soles of gold,
8 "Usaban unos brazaletes de musaico, Alvarado, hacia el Hospital de. la Concepcion,
hechos de turquezas con unas plumas ricas Balio Moctezuma a recibir de paz a, D. Her-
que salian de ellos, que eran mas altas que la nando Cortes." Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS.,
cabeza, y bordadas con plumas ricas y con lib. 12, cap. 16. [The present Calle del Ras-
oro, y unas bandas de oro, que subian con las tro, which continues, under different names,
plumas." Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, from the guard-house of San Antonio Abad to
lib. 8, cap. 9. the Plaza. According to an early tradiiion,
■ Gonzalo de las Casas, Defensa, MS , Parte Montezuma and Cortes met in front of the
1, cap. 24. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 65. — Ber- spot where the Hospital of Jesus now stands,
nal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 88. — and the site for the building was chosen on
Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5. that account. Conquista de Mejico (trad, de
— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 78, Vega), torn. i. p. 339.
79.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 85.,' " Carta del Lie. Zuazo, MS.
10 Cardinal Lorenzana sa3*s, the street in- 12 " Toda la gente que estaba en las calles
tended was, probably, that crossing the city se le humiliaban y hacian profunda reverencia
from the Hospital of San Antonio. (Rel. Seg. y grande acatam'iento sin levantar los ojosjS.
de Cortes, p. 79, nota.) This is confirmed by le mirar, sino que todos estaban hasta que el
Sahagun. "Yasi en aquel trecho que esta era pasado, tan inclinados como frayles en
desde la Iglesia de San Antonio (que ellos Gloi-ia Patri." Toribio, Hist, de los Indios,
Raman Xuluco) que va por cave les casas de MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.
INTERVIEW WI'
I MONTEZUMA. 245
and the leathern thongs which hr d tnem to llls m^les were embossed with
the same metal. Both the cloa' sandals were sprinkled with pearls and
precious stones, anion" which te emerald and tne chalchivitl—& green stone
of higher estimation "than pj other amon& the Aztecs— were conspicuous.
On his head he wore no r iier ornament tnan a pancake of plumes of the
royal green, which floats ^own n^s back, the badge of military, rather than
of regal, rank.
He was at this -line about forty years of age. His person was tall and thin,
but not ill mad- Hi>s hair, which was black and straight, was not very long ;
to wear it sli^'t was considered unbecoming persons of rank. His beard was
thin ; his complexion somewhat paler than is often found in his dusky, or
rather copper-coloured, race. His features, though serious in their expression,
did not wear the look of melancholy, indeed, of dejection, which characterizes
his portrait, and which may well have settled on them at a later period. He
moved with dignity, and his whole demeanour, tempered by an expression of
benignity not to have been anticipated from the reports circulated of his
character, was worthy of a great prince. Such is the portrait left to us of
the celebrated Indian emperor in this his first interview with the white
men
13 \
The army'yhalted as he drew near. Cortes, dismounting, threw his reins
to a page, an d?*- supported by a few of the principal cavaliers, advanced to
meet him. The interview must have been one of uncommon interest to both.
In Montezuma, Cotr^s beheld the lord of the broad realms he had traversed,
whose magnificence an(* Power had been the burden of every tongue. In the
Spaniard, on the -other hand, the Aztec prince saw the strange being whose
history seemed to fc De so mysteriously connected with his own ; the predicted
one of his oracles '■> whose achievements proclaimed him something more than
human. But, w- :hatever may have been the monarch's feelings, he so far
suppressed their a as to receive his guest with princely courtesy, and to express
his satisfaction-' at personally seeing him in his capital.14 Cortes responded
by the most profound expressions of respect, while he made ample acknow-
ledgments l- for the substantial proofs which the emperor had given the
Spaniard/-^ of his munificence. He then hung round Montezuma s neck a
sparkling Jp chain of coloured crystal, accompanying this with a movement as
if to embWace him, when he was restrained by the two Aztec lords, shocked at
the menaced profanation of the sacred person of their master.15 After the
interchange e of these civilities, Montezuma appointed his brother to conduct
the Spaniards to their residence in the capital, and, again entering his litter-
was born iiye off amidst prostrate crowds in the same state in which he had
come.o ;>r The Spaniards quickly followed, and, with colours flying and music
'• Yva el gran Motecurna atauiado
^e and appearance of Montezuma, see Bernal De manta acul y blanca con gran falda.
D» .fliaz* Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 88, — Carta He algodon inuy sutil y delicado.
de j j\ Zuazo, MS.,— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chicb., Y al remate vna concha de esmeralda :
MS.,/*., cap. 85, — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 65, — En la parte que el nudo tiene dado,
Ov: ,ledo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., ubi supra, et Y una tiara a modo de guirnalda,
ca^Jel ~ 45' — Acosta, lib- 7> caP- 22> — Sabagun, Zapatos que de oro son las suelas
Hi.|ei .jst. de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 16, Asidos con muy ricas correbuelas."
— aa /JToribio, Hist, de los Jndios, MS., Parte 3, El Peregkixo Indiano, canto 11.
cal' if*- 1-— The noble Castilian or rather Mexi- M „*_♦,_ u , t ,, , Martvr .«-„
Ao
246 MARCH TX> MEXICO.
playing, soon made their entrance into'Vhe southern quarter of Tenoch-
1 Here, again, they found fresh cause for admiration in the grandeur of the
city and the superior style of its architecture. Tn>e dwellings of the poorer class
were, indeed, chiefly of reeds and mud. But the g-reat avenue ttar ough wMcfc
they were now marching was lined with the houses11.?* ™?. nobles, wno wen
encouraged by the emperor to make the capital their fe^denoe. lney were
built of a red porous stone drawn from quarries in the ne^nDourn?°^!™
though they rarely rose to a second story, often covered a large h^f° ° s ? "
The flat roofs, azoteas, were protected by stone parapets, so tEa~y eJerv 110
was a fortress. Sometimes these roofs resembled parterres of'Tol^fv'
thickly were they covered with them, but more frequently these were ti^gj -Si
in broad terraced gardens, laid out between the edifices.17 Occasion c J
great square or market-place intervened, surrounded by its porticoes of n.fi
and stucco ; or a pyramidal temple reared its colossal bulk, crowned w }/
tapering sanctuaries, and altars blazing with inextinguishable fires. Thtn ; p. ,'
street facing the southern causeway, unlike most others in the place, wp, /f
and extended some miles in nearly a straight line, as before noticed^.* J^?JJ|S
the centre of the city. A spectator standing at one end of it, as his. " eJ V-Sf~ rn
along the deep vista of temples, terraces, and gardens, might A'vTe? *~~ .
the other, with the blue mountains in the distance, which, in ^ * he transpaieu
atmosphere of the table-land, seemed almost in contact wit';™ r 1? ' .
But what most impressed the Spaniards was the thr&S8 V^fjj
swarmed through the streets and on the canals, filling "every doorway ana
window and clustering on the roofs of the buildings. " I?" well reniembei the
spectacle," exclaims kernal Diaz: "it seems now, after s< !"*> many Je^L *„
present to my mind as if it were but yesterday." I8 But wha?^ m1?st naYe "rr"
the sensations of the Aztecs themselves, as they looked dl n the porteii lous
pageant ! as they heard, now for the first time, the well-cenid ente? iP?Jar In d
ring under the iron tramp of the horses, — the strange animals .. cj£"*? c A.e
clothed in such supernatural terrors ; as they gazed on the chn^^v1 ? ,.,.,
East, revealing their celestial origin in their fair complexions ; saw'fomtne ^my?
falchions and bonnets of steel, a metal to them unknown, glancing likv "J *P ' ^ 1*
in the sun, while sounds of unearthly music — at least, such as tf ]^ ntion
instruments had never awakened — floated in the air ! But every oth^K1 em° +]ie
was lost in that of deadly hatred, when they beheld their detested s0 e*jeSorine
Tlascalan stalking, in defiance, as it were, through their streets, ( ^nt| f *?
around Avith looks of ferocity and wonder, like some wild animal cJj^?^ , } c
who had strayed by chance from Ins native fastnesses into the »^E8 *
civilization.19 - ^le dt .,
As they passed down the spacious street, the troops repeatedly trave^jj[
bridges suspended above canals, along which they saw the Indian barks glitUdiuV0
of ycr
10 "EntraronenlaciudaddeMejicoapivnto senta todo delante de mis ojos, como siostai;ou-
de guerra, tocando los atambores, y con ban- fucra quando esto passo." Hist, de la Coser.'
deras desplegadas," etc. Sahagun, Hist, de quista, cap. 88. tradan"-
Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 15. ,0 " Ad spectaculum," says the penetra' '^
J7 "Et giardini alti et bassi, che era cosa Martyr, "tandem Hispanis placidum, ( ,te
maravigliosa da vedere." llel. d'un gentil' diu optatum, Tenustiatanis prudentibus fo, cartes
huomo, ap. Rarhusio, torn. iii. fol. 309. alitor, quia verentur fore, vt hi liosiH-ereuri •
,s " dQuienpodni," exclaims the old soldier, quietem suam Elysiam veniant perturbattjg oiftec-
" dezir la multitud de bombres, y mugore*, y de populo secus, qui nil sontit a^que deja cCsen-
muchachos, que estauan en las calles, 6 acu- tabile, quain res novas ante oculoe in prfrq
teas, y en Canoas en aquellas acequias, que tiarum habere, de futuro nihil anxius i0c
nos salian a mirar ? Era cosa de notar, que Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3.
agora que lo estoy escriuiendo, se me repre-
HOSPITABLE RECEPTION. 247
swiftly with their little cargoes of fruits and vegetables for the markets of
Tenochtitlau.20 At length they halted before a broad area near the centre of
the city, Avhere rose thehuge pyramidal pile dedicated to the patron war-god
of the Aztecs, second only, in size as well as sanctity, to the temple of Cholula,
and covering the same ground now in part occupied by the great cathedral of
Mexico.21
Facing the western gate of the enclosure of the temple, stood a low range
of stone buildings, spreading over a wide extent of ground, the palace of
Axayacatl, Montezuma's father, built by that monarch about fifty years
before.22 It was appropriated as the barracks of the Spaniards. The emperor
himself was in the court-yard, waiting to receive them. Approaching Cortes,
he took from a vase of flowers, borne by one of his slaves, a massy collar, in
which the shell of a species of craw-fish, much prized by the Indians, was set
in gold and connected by heavy links of the same metal. From this chain
depended eight ornaments, also of gold, made in resemblance of the same shell-
fish, a span in length each, and of delicate workmanship ; 23 for the Aztec
goldsmiths were confessed to have shown skill in their craft not inferior to their
brethren of Europe.24 Montezuma, as he hung the gorgeous collar round the
general's neck, said, " This palace belongs to you, Malincne " 25 (the epithet by
which he always addressed him ), " and your brethren. Rest after your fatigues,
for you have much need to do so, and in a little while I will visit you again."
So saying, he withdrew with his attendants, evincing in this act a delicate
consideration not to have been expected in a barbarian.
Cortes' first care Avas to inspect his new quarters. The building, though
spacious, was low, consisting of one floor, except, indeed, in the centre, where
it rose to an additional story. The apartments were of great size, and afforded
accommodations, according to the testimony of the Conquerors themselves, for
the Avhole army ! 26 The hardy mountaineers of Tlascala Avere, probably, not
very fastidious, and might easily find a shelter in the out-buildings, or under
temporary aAvnings in the ample court-yards. The best apartments Avere
20 The etiphonious name of Tenochtitlan is cuba." * Humboldt, Vues des Cordilleres, p.
commonly derived from Aztec words signify- 7, et seq.
ing "the tuna, or cactus, on a rock," the M Ret Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p.
appearance of which, as the reader may 88. — Gonzalo de las Casas, Defensa, MS.,
remember, was to determine the site of the Parte 1 , cap. 24.
future capital. [Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, -* Boturini says, greater, by the acknow-
Parte 3, cap. 7.— Esplic. de la Coleccion de ledgment of the goldsmiths themselves.
Mendoza, ap Antiq. of Mexico, vol. iv.) "Los plateros de Madrid, viendo algunas
Another etymology derives the word from Piezas, y Brazaletes de oro, con que se arma-
Tenoch, the name of one of the founders of ban en guerra los Reyes, y Capitanes Indianos,
the monarchy. confessiron, que eran inimitables en Europa."
21 [«por algunos manuscritos que he con- (Idea, p. 78.) And Oviedo, speaking of their
sultado e investigaciones que he hecho, mo work in jewelry, remarks, "lo vi algunas
inclino 6. creer, que el teruplo se estendia piedras jaspes, calcidonias, jacintos, corniolas,
desde la esquina de la calle de Plateros y e plasmas de esmeraldas, e otras de otras
Empedradillo hasta la de Cordobanes ; y do cspecies labradas e fechas, cabezas de Aves, e
P. a 0., desde el tercio 6 cuarto de la placeta otras hechas animales e otras figuras, que dudo
del Eihpedradillo, hasta penetrar unas cuantas haber en Espana ni en Italia quien las su-
varas hacia el 0., dentro de las aceras que piera hacer con tanta perficion." Hist, de
miran al P., y forman las callesdel Seminario las Ind , MS., lib. 33, cap. 11.
y del Eelox. Ramirez, Notas y Esclareci- "' Ante, p. 213.
mientos, p. 103.] -" Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
- Clavigcro, Stor. del Messieo, torn. iii. p. 88. — llel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p.
78. — It occupied what is now tin' corner of 80.
the streets "Del Indio Triste" and "Ta-
* [Consequently, says Alaman, it must Temple. Conquista de Mejico, torn. i. p, 343.
have faced the east, not the west gate of the —Ed.]
248 MARCH TO MEXICO.
hung with gay cotton draperies, the floors covered with mats or rushes.
There were, also, low stools made of single pieces of wood elaborately carved,
and in most of the apartments beds made of the palm-leaf, woven into a thick
mat, with coverlets, and sometimes canopies, of cotton. These mats were the
only beds used by the natives, whether of high or low decree.27
After a rapid survey of this gigantic pile, the general assigned his troops
their respective quarters, and took as vigilant precautions for security as if he
had anticipated a siege instead of a friendly entertainment. The place was
encompassed by a stone wall of considerable thickness, with towers or heavy
buttresses at intervals, affording a good means of defence. He planted his
cannon so as to command the approaches, stationed his sentinels along the
works, and, in short, enforced in every respect as strict military discipline as
had been observed in any part of the march. He well knew the importance
to his little band, at least for the present, of conciliating the good will of the
citizens ; and, to avoid all possibility of collision, he prohibited any soldier
from leaving his quarters without orders, under pain of death. Having taken
these precautions, he allowed his men to partake of the bountiful collation
which had been prepared for them.
They had been long enough in the country to become reconciled to, if not
to relish, the peculiar cooking of the Aztecs. The appetite of the soldier is
not often dainty, and on the present occasion it cannot be doubted that the
Spaniards did full justice to the savoury productions of the royal kitchen.
During the meal they were served by numerous Mexican slaves, who were,
indeed, distributed through the palace, anxious to do the bidding of the
strangers. After the repast was concluded, and they had taken their siesta,
not less important to a Spaniard than food itself, the presence of the emperor
was again announced.
Montezuma Avas attended by a few of his principal nobles. He was received
with much deference by Corte's ; and, after the parties had taken their seats,
a conversation commenced between them, through the aid of Doha Marina,
while the cavaliers and Aztec chieftains stood around in respectful silence.
Montezuma made many inquiries concerning the country of the Spaniards,
their sovereign, the nature of his government, and especially their own motives
in visiting Anahuac. Cortes explained these motives by the desire to see so
distinguished a monarch and to declare to him the true Faith professed by the
Christians. With rare discretion, he contented himself with dropping this
hint, for the present, allowing it to ripen in the mind of the emperor, till a
future conference. The latter asked whether those white men who in the
preceding year had landed on the eastern shores of his empire were their
country men. He showed himself well informed of the proceedings of the
Spaniards from their arrival in Tabasco to the present time, information of
which had been regularly transmitted in the hieroglyphical paintings. He
was curious, also, in regard to the rank of his visitors in their own country ;
inquiring if they were the kinsmen of the sovereign. Cortes replied, they
were kinsmen of one another, and subjects of their great monarch, who helcl
them all in peculiar estimation. Before his departure, Montezuma made
himself acquainted with the names of the principal cavaliers, and the position
they occupied in the army.
At the conclusion of the interview, the Aztec prince commanded his atten-
dants to bring forward the presents prepared for his guests. They consisted of
27 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, loc. cap. 5.— Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espaiia,
cit.— Oviedo, Hibt. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, MS., lib. 12, cap. 16.
VISIT TO THE EMPEROR, 249
cotton dresses, enough to supply every man, it is said, including the allies,
with a suit ! 2S And he did not fail to add the usual accompaniment of gold
chains and other ornaments, which he distributed in profusion among the
Spaniards. He then withdrew with the same ceremony with which he had
entered, leaving every one deeply impressed with his munificence and his
affability, so unlike what they had been taught to expect by what they now
considered an invention of the enemy.29
That evening the Spaniards celebrated their arrival in the Mexican capital
by a general discharge of artillery. The thunders of the ordnance, reverbe-
rating among the buildings and shaking them to their foundations, the stench
of the sulphureous vapour that rolled in volumes above the walls of the
encampment, reminding the inhabitants of the explosions of the great volcan,
rilled the hearts of the superstitious Aztecs with dismay. It proclaimed to
them that their city held in its bosom those dread beings whose path had
been marked with clesolation, and who could call down the thunderbolts to
consume their enemies ! It was doubtless the policy of Cortes to strengthen
this superstitious feeling as far as possible, and to impress the natives, at the
outset, with a salutary awe of the supernatural powers of the Spaniards.30
On the following morning, the general requested permission to return the
emperor's visit, by waiting on him in his palace.*. This was readily granted,
and Montezuma sent his officers to conduct the Spaniards to his presence.
Cortes dressed himself in his richest habit, and left the quarters attended by
Alvarado, Sandoval, Velasquez, and Ordaz, together with five or six of the
common file.
The royal habitation was at no great distance. It stood on the ground, to the
south-west of the cathedral, since covered in part by the Casa del Estado, the
palace of the dukes of Monteleone, the descendants of Cortes.31 It was a vast,
irregular pile of low stone buildings, like that garrisoned by the Spaniards.32
So spacious was it, indeed, that, as one of the Conquerors assures us, although
he had visited it more than once, for the express purpose, he had been too
much fatigued each time by wandering through the apartments ever to see
the whole of it.33 It was built of the red porous stone of the country,
-M "Muchas y diversas Joyas de Oro, y do la polvora, reeibieron grande alteration y
Plata, y Plumajes, y con fasta cinco 6 sois miedo toda aquella noche." Sahagun, Hist,
mil Piezas de Kopa de Algodon miiy rieas, y de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 17.
de diversas maneras texida, y labrada." (Rel. ;" " C'est la que la famille construisit le bel
Sng. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 80.) Even edifice dans lequel se trouvent les archives
this falls short of truth, according to Diaz. del Estado, et qui est passe avec tout l'hentago
"Tenia apercebido el gran Monteguma niuy au due Napolitain de Monteleone." (Hnm-
ncas joyas de oro, y de mucbas hechuras, que boldt, Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 72.) The
dio a nuestro Capitan, 6 assf mismo a cadi inhabitants of modern Mexico have large
vno de nuestros Capitanes dio cositas de oro, obligations to this inquisitive traveller for
y tres cargas de mantas de laborea ricas de the care he has taken to identify the memo-
pluma, y entre todos los soldados tambien nos rable localities of their capital. It is not often
dio a cada vno a dos cargas de mantas, con that a philosophical treatise is also a good
alegria, y en todo parecia gran senor." (Hist. manual du voyageur.
de la Conquista, cap. 89.) " Sex inilia ves- M [The palace of Montezuma, according to
tium, aiunt qui eas videre." Martyr, De Ramirez, "occupied the site where the national
Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3. palace now stands, including that of the
M Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich.,MS., cap. 85. university and the adjacent houses, and ex-
— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 66.— Herrera, Hist. tending to the Plaza del Volador, or new
general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 6. — Bernal Diaz, market-place. This was the ordinary resi-
Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 88. — Oviedo, Hist. dence of the last Montezuma, and the place
de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5. where he was actually made prisoner."
:'° " La noche siguiente jugiiron la artillena Notas y Esclarecimientos, p. 103.]
por la solemnidad de haber llegado sin data 3~ " Et io entrai piu di quattro volte in una
:i donde deseaban ; pero los Indjos como no casa del gran Signor non per altro effetto die
usados a los truenos de la artillena, mal edor per vederla, et ogni volta vi camminauu tanto
250 MARCH TO MEXICO
tetzontli, was ornamented with marble, and on the facade over the principal
entrance were sculptured the arms or device of Montezuma, an eagle bearing
an ocelot in his talons.34
In the courts through which the Spaniards passed, fountains of crystal water-
were playing, fed from the copious reservoir on the distant hill of Cnapoltepec,
and supplying in their turn more than a hundred baths in the interior of the
palace. Crowds of Aztec nobles were sauntering up and down in these squares,
and in the outer halls, loitering away their hours in attendance on the court.
The apartments were of immense size, though not lofty. The ceilings were
of various sorts of odoriferous wood ingeniously carved ; the floors covered
with mats of the palm- leaf. The walls were hung with cotton richly stained,
with the skins of wild animals, or gorgeous draperies of feather-work wrought in
imitation of birds, insects, and flowers, with the nice art and glowing radiance
of colours that might compare with the tapestries of Flanders. Clouds of
incense rolled up from censers and diffused intoxicating odours through the
apartments. The Spaniards might well have fancied themselves in the
voluptuous precincts of an Eastern harem, instead of treading the halls of a
wild barbaric chief in the Western World.35
On reaching the hall of audience, the Mexican officers took off their sandals,
and covered their gay attire with a mantle of nequen, a coarse stuff made of the
fibres of the maguey, worn only by the poorest classes. This act of humilia-
tion was imposed on all, except the members of his own family, who ap-
proached the sovereign.30 Thus bare-footed, with downcast eyes and formal
obeisance, they ushered the Spaniards into the royal presence.
They found Montezuma seated at the further end of a spacious saloon and
surrounded by a few of his favourite chiefs. He received them kindly, and
very soon Cortes, without much ceremony, entered on the subject whicn was
uppermost in his thoughts. He was fully aware of the importance of gaining
the royal convert, whose example would have such an influence on the conversion
of his people. The general, therefore, prepared to display the whole store of
his theological science, with the most winning arts of rhetoric he could com-
mand, while the interpretation was conveyed through the silver tones of
Marina, as inseparable from him, on these occasions, as his shadow.
He set forth, as clearly as he could, the ideas entertained by the Church in
regard to the holy mysteries of the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Atone-
ment. From this he ascended to the origin of things, the creation of the
world, the first pair, paradise, and the fall of man. He assured Montezuma
that the idols he worshipped were Satan under different forms'. A sufficient
proof of it was the bloody sacrifices they imposed, which he contrasted with
the pure and simple rite of the mass. Their worship would sink him in per-
che mi staticauo, ct mai la fini di vedere tutta." ltd. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 111-
Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Pamusio, torn. 114.
iii. fol. 309. 30 "Para entrar en su palacio, it que ellos
34 Gomara, Cronica, cap. 71. — Herrera, Hist. llaman Tecpa, tcdos se descalzaban, y los que
general, dec. 2, lib, 7. cap. 9. — The authorities entraban <i negociar con el babian de llevar
call it "tiger," an animal not known in mantas groseras encima de si, y si eran
America. I have ventured to substitute the grandes senores 6 en tiempo de frio, sobre las
"ocelot," tlalocelotl of Mexico, a native animal, mantas buenas que llevaban vestidas, ponian
which, being of the same family, might easily una mania grosera y pobre ; y para hablarle,
be confounded by the Spaniards with the estaban nruy humiliados y sin levantar los
tiger of the Old Continent. ojos." (Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS.,
;ir' Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte Parte 3, cap. 7.) There is no better authority
3, cap. 7. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. than this worthy missionary for the usages of
7, cap. 9.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 71. — Bernal the ancient Aztecs, of which he had such
Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 91.— Oviedo, large personal knowledge.
Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5, 46.—
VISIT TO THE EMPEROR. 251
dition. It was to snatch his soul, and the souls of his people, from the flames
of eternal tire by opening to them a purer faith, that the Christians had
come to his land. And he earnestly besought him not to neglect the occasion,
but to secure his salvation by embracing the Cross, the great sign of human
redemption.
The eloquence of the preacher was wasted on the insensible heart of Ins
royal auditor. It doubtless lost somewhat of its efficacy, strained through the
imperfect interpretation of so recent a neophyte as the Indian damsel. But
the doctrines were too abstruse in themselves to be comprehended at a glance
by the rude intellect of a barbarian. And Montezuma may have, perhaps,
thought it was not more monstrous to feed on the flesh of a fellow-creature
than on that of the Creator himself.37 He was, besides, steeped in the super-
stitions of his country from his cradle. He had been educated in the straitest
sect of her religion, bad been himself a priest before his election to the throne,
and was now the head both of the religion and the state. Little probability
was there that such a man would be open to argument or persuasion, even
from the lips of a more practised polemic than the Spanish commander. How
could he abjure the faith that was intertwined with the dearest affections of
his heart and the very elements of his being ? How could he be false to the
gods who had raised him to such prosperity and honours, and whose shrines
were intrusted to his especial keeping?
He listened, however, with silent attention, until the general had concluded
his homily. He then replied that he knew the Spaniards had held this dis-
course wherever they had been. He doubted not their God was, as they said,
a good being. His gods, also, were good to him. Yet what his visitor said
of the creation of the world Avas like what he had been taught to believe.2*
It was not worth while to discourse further of the matter. His ancestors, he
said, Avere not the original proprietors of the land. They had occupied it but
a feAv ages, and had been led there by a great Being, Avho after giving them
laAvs and ruling over the nation for a time, had withdrawn to the regions Avhere
the sun rises. He had declared, on his departure, that he or his descendants
would again visit them and resume his empire.30 The Avonderful deeds of the
Spaniards, their fair complexions, and the quarter Avhence they came, all
shoAved they Avere his descendants. If Montezuma had resisted their visit to
his capital, it Avas because he had heard such accounts of their cruelties,— that
they sent the lightning to consume his people, or crushed them to pieces
under the hard feet of the ferocious animals on which they rode. He Avas
iioav convinced that these Avere idle tales ; that the Spaniards were kind and
generous in their natures ; they Avere mortals, of a different race, indeed,
from the Aztecs, wiser, and more valiant, — and for this he honoured them.
" You, too," he added, with a smile, " have been told, perhaps, that I am a
god, and dwell in palaces of gold and silver.40 But you see it is false. My
'" The ludicrous effect — if the subject be *• " E siempre hemos tenido, que de los
not too grave to justify the expression — of a que de el descendiessen habian de venir ;i
literal belief in the doctrine of transubstan- sojuzprar esta tierra, y a nosotros como a sus
tiation iu the mother-country, even at this Vasallos." Kel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana,
day, is well illustrated by Blanco AVhite, p. 81.
Letters from {Spain (London, 1822), let. 1. «° "Y luego el Montecuma dixo riendo,
38 " Y en esso de la creacion del mundo assf porque en todo era muy regozijado en su
lo tenemos nosotros creido muchos tiempos hablar de gran sefior : Malinche, bien se que
passados." (Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con- te han dicho essos de Tlascala, con quien tanta
quista, cap. 90.) For some points of re- amistad aucis tornado, que yo que soy como
semblance between the Aztec and Hebrew Dios, 6 Teule, que quanto ay en mis casas es
traditions, see Book 1, chap. 0, and Appendix, todo uro, e plata, y piedras ricas." Bernal
Part 1, of this History, Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 90,
252 MARCH TO MEXICO.
houses, though large, are of stone and wood like those of others ; and as to
my body," he said, baring his tawny arm, " you see it is flesh and bone like
yours. It is true, I have a great empire inherited from my ancestors ; lands,
and gold, and silver. But your sovereign beyond the waters is, I know, the
rightful lord of all. I rule in his name. You, Malinche,are his ambassador ;
you and your brethren shall share these things with me. Rest now from your
labours. You are here in your own dwellings, and everything shall be pro-
vided for your subsistence. I will see that your wishes shall be obeyed in the
same way as my own." 41 As the monarch concluded these words, a few
natural tears suffused his eyes, while the image of ancient independence,
perhaps, flitted across his mind.42
Cortes, while he encouraged the idea that his own sovereign was the great
Being indicated byJVIontezuma, endeavoured to comfort the monarch by the
assurance that his master had no desire to interfere with his authority, other-
wise than, out of pure concern for his welfare, to effect his conversion and
that of his people to Christianity. Before the emperor dismissed his visitors
he consulted his munificent spirit, as usual, by distributing rich stuffs and
trinkets of gold among them, so that the poorest soldier, says Bernal Diaz,
one of the party, received at least two heavy collars of the precious metal
for his share. The iron hearts of the Spaniards were touched with the emotion
displayed by Montezuma, as well as by his princely spirit of liberality. As
they passed him, the cavaliers, with bonnet in hand, made him the most
profound obeisance, and " on the way home," continues the same chronicler,
" we could discourse of nothing but the gentle breeding and courtesy of the
Indian monarch, and of the respect we entertained for him." 43
Speculations of a graver complexion must have pressed on the mind of the
general, as he saw around him the evidences of a civilization, and consequently
power, for which even the exaggerated reports of the natives — discredited
from their apparent exaggeration— had not prepared him. In the pomp and
burdensome ceremonial of the court he saw that nice system of subordination
and profound reverence for the monarch which characterize the semi-civilized
empires of Asia. In the appearance of the capital, its massy yet elegant
architecture, its luxurious social accommodations, its activity in trade, he
recognized the proof s of the intellectual progress, mechanical skill, and enlarged
resources of an old and opulent community ; while the swarms in the streets
attested the existence of a population capable of turning these resources to
the best account.
In the Aztec he beheld a being unlike either the rude republican Tlascalan
or the effeminate Cholulan, but combining the courage of the one with the
cultivation of the other. He was in the heart of a great capital, which seemed
41 " E por tanto Vos sed cierto, que os the interview with Montezuma in the Spanish
obedeceremos, y ternemos por senor en lugar quarters, which he makes the scene of the
de esse gran sefior, que decis, y que en ello no preceding dialogue. Bernal Diaz transfers
habia falta, ni engano alguno ; e bien podeis this to the subsequent meeting in the palace,
en toda la tierra, digo, que en ia que yo en In the only fact of importance, the dialogue
mi Senorio poseo, mandar & vuestra voluntad, itself, both substantially agree,
porque sera obedecido y feclio, y todo lo que 43 " Assi nos despedimos con grandes cor-
nosotros tenemos es para lo que Vos de ello tesias del, y nos fuymos & nuestros aposentos,
quisieredes disponer." Eel. Seg. de Cortes, e ibamos platicando de la buena manera e
ubi supra. crianca que en todo tenia, e que nosotros en
"a Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3. — todo le tuuies<- "iclio acato, e con las
Gomara, Cronica, cap. 66. — Oviedo, Hist, de gorras de an "as quitadas, quando
las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5. — Gonzalo de las delante del p" Bernal Diaz, Ilist.
Casas, MS., Parte 1, cap. 24.— Cortes, in his de la Conquist; jO..
brief notes of this proceeding, speaks on1"
HERRERA.
253
like an extensive fortification, with its dikes and its draw-bridges, where every
house might be easily converted into a castle. Its insular position removed
it from the continent, from which, at the mere nod of the sovereign, all com-
munication might he cut off', and the whole warlike population be at once
precipitated on him and his handful of followers. What could superior science
avail against such odds ? 44
As to the subversion of Montezuma's empire, now that he had seen him in
his capital, it must have seemed a more doubtful enterprise than ever. The
recognition which the Aztec prince had made of the feudal supremacy, if I
may so say, of the Spanish sovereign, was not to be taken too literally.
Whatever show of deference he might be disposed to pay the latter under the
influence of his present — perhaps temporary — delusion, it was not to be sup-
posed that he would so easily relinquish his actual power *and possessions, or
that his people would consent to it. Indeed, his sensitive apprehensions in
regard to this very subject, on the coming of the Spaniards, were sufficient
proof of the tenacity with which he clung to his authority. It is true that
Cortes had a strong lever for future operations in the superstitious reverence
felt for himself both by prince and people. It was undoubtedly his policy to
maintain this sentiment unimpaired in both, as far as possible.45 But, before
settling any plan of operations, it was necessary to make himself personally
acquainted with the topography and local advantages of the capital, the
character of its population, and the real nature and amount of its resources.
With this view, he asked the emperor's permission to visit the principal public
edifices.
** " Y assi, ' says Toribio de Benavente,
" estaba tan i tone esta ciudad, que parecia
no bastarpode/humanoparaganarla; porque
ademas de su fuerza y municion que tenia,
era cabeza y Senoria de toda la tierra, y el
Sefiorde ella (Moteczuma) gloriabase en su
silla y en la fortaleza de su ciudad, y en la
liiuchedumbre de sus vassallos." Hist, de los
Indios, MS., Pnrtc 3, cap. 8.
45 "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 king-
dom, and introduced the law of Christ,
without much bloodshed." Lib. 7, cap. 25.
Antonio de Herrera, the celebrated chro-
nicler of the Indies, was born of a respectable
family at Onella, in Old Spain, in 1549. After
passing through the usual course of academic
discipline in his own country, he went to
Italy, to which land of art and letters the
Spanish youth of that time frequently rt sorted
to complete their education. He there became
acquainted with Vespasian Gonzaga, brother
of the duke of Mantua, and entered into his
service. He continued with this prince after
he was made Viceroy of Navarre, and was so
highly regarded by him, that, on his death-
bed, Gonzaga earnestly commended him to
the protection of Philip the Second. This
penetrating monarch soon discerned the ex-
cellent qualities of Herrera, and raised him to
the post of Historiographer of the Indies,— an
ofliee for which Spain is indebted to Philip.
Thus provided with a libera) salary, and with
every facility for pursi'i'iv.. .historical re-
searches to which \v -on led him,
Herrera's days glide*. , ay in the
steady, but silent, oceu, f of a man of
letters. He continued to i the office of
historian of the colonies through Plr the
Second's reign, and under his successors, Philip
the Third and the Fourth ; till in 1025 he died
at the advanced age of seventy-six, leaving
behind him a high character for intellectual
and moral worth.
Herrera wrote several works, chiefly his-
torical. The most important, that on which
his reputation rests, is his Historia general de
las Indias occiden tales. It extends from the
year 1492, the time of the discovery of
America, to 1554, and is divided into eight
decades. Four of them were published in
1601, and the remaining four in 1615, making
in all five volumes in folio. The work was
subsequently republished in 1730, and has
been translated into most of the languages of
Europe. The English translator, Stevens,
has taken great liberties with his original, in
the way of abridgment and omission, but the
execution of his work is, on the whole, superior
to that of most of the old English versions of
the Castilian chroniclers.
Herrera's vast subject embraces the whole
colonial empire of Spain in the New World.
The work is thrown into the form of annals,
and the multifarious occurrences in the dis-
254
IIERRERA-TORIBIO.
taut, regions of which he treats are all mar-
shalled with exclusive reference to their
chronology, and made to move together pari
passu. By means of this tasteless arrange-
ment the thread of interest is perpetually
snapped, the reader is hurried from one scene
to another, without the opportunity of com-
pleting his survey of any. His patience is
exhausted and his mind perplexed with partial
and scattered glimpses, instead of gathering
new light as he advances from the skilful
development of a continuous and well-digested
narrative. This is the great defect of a plan
founded on a slavish adherence to chronology.
The defect becomes more serious when the
work, as in the present instance, is of vast
compass and embraces a great variety of
details having little relation to each other.
In such a work we feel the superiority of a
plan like that which Robertson has pursued
in his "History of America,-" where every
subject is allowed to occupy its own indepen-
dent place, proportioned to its importance,
and thus to make a distinct and individual
impression on the reader.
Herrera's position gave him access to the
official returns from the colonies, state papers,
and whatever documents existed in the public
offices for the illustration of the colonial
history. Among these sources of information
were some manuscripts, with which it is not
now easy to meet; as, for example, the me-
morial of Alonso de Ojeda, one of the followers
of Cortes, which has eluded my researches
both in Spain and Mexico. Other writings, as
those of Father Sahagun, of much importance
in the history of Indian civilization, were
unknown to the historian. Of such manu-
scripts as fell into his hands, Herrera made the
freest use. From the writings of Las Casas,
in particular, he borrowed without ceremony.
The bishop had left orders that his "History
of the Indies " should not be published till at
least forty years after his death. Before that
period had elapsed, Herrera had entered on
his labours, and, as he had access to the papers
of Las Casas, he availed himself of it to transfer
whole pages, nay, chapters, of his narrative
in the most unscrupulous manner to his own
work. In doing this, he made a decided im-
provement on the manner of his original, re-
duced his cumbrous and entangled sentences
to pure Castilian, omitted his turgid declama-
tion and his unreasonable invectives. But,
at the same time, he also excluded the passages
that bore hardest on the conduct of his
countrymen, and those bursts of indignant
eloquence which showed a moral sensibility
in the Bishop of Chiapa that raised him so far
above his age. By this sort of metempsy-
chosis, if one may so speak, by which the
letter and not the spirit of the good missionary
was transferred to Herrera's pages, he rendered
the publication of Las Casas' history, in some
measure, superfluous; and this circumstance
has, no doubt, been one reason for its having
been so long detained in manuscript.
Vet. with -every allowance for the errors
incident to rapid composition, and to the
pedantic chronological system pursued by
Herrera, his work must be admitted to have
extraordinary merit. It displays to the reader
the whole progress of Spanish conquest and
colonization in the New World for the first
sixty years after the discovery. The individual
actions of his complicated story, though un-
skilfully grouped together, are unfolded in a
pure and simple style, well suited to the
gravity of his subject. If at first sight he
may seem rather too willing to magnify the
merits of the early discoverers and to throw a
veil over their excesses, it may be pardoned,
as flowing, not from moral insensibility, but
from the patriotic sentiment which made him
desirous, as far as might be, to wipe away
every stain from the escutcheon of Ins nation,
in the proud period of her renown. It is
natural that the Spaniard who dwells on this
period should be too much dazzled by the
display of her gigantic efforts, scrupulously
to weigh their moral character, or the merits
of the cause in which they were made. Yet
Herrera's national partiality never makes him
the apologist of crime; and, with the allow-
ances fairly to be conceded, he may be en-
titled to the praise so often given him of
integrity and candour.
It must not be forgotten that, in addition
to the narrative of the early discoveries of the
Spaniards, Herrera has brought together a
vast quantity of information in respect to the
institutions and usages of the Indian nations,
collected from the most authentic sources.
This gives his work a completeness beyond
what is to be found in any other on the same
subject. It is, indeed, a noble monument of
sagacity and erudition ; and the student of
history, and still more the historical compiler,
will find himself unable to advance a single
step among the early colonial settlements of
the New World without reference to the pages
of Herrera.
Another writer on Mexico, frequently con-
sulted in the course of the present narrative,
is Toribio de Benavente, or Motolinia, as he
is still more frequently called, from his Indian
cognomen. He was one of the twelve Fran-
ciscan missionaries who, at the request of
Cortes, were sent out to New Spain immedi-
ately after the Conquest, in 1 523. Toribio's
humble attire, naked feet, and, in short, the
poverty-stricken aspect which belongs to his
order, frequently drew from the natives the
exclamation of Motolinia, or " poor man." It
was the first Aztec word the signification of
which the missionary learned, and he was so
much pleased with it, as intimating his own
condition, that he henceforth assumed it as his
name. Toribio employed himself zealously
with his brethren in the great object of their
mission. He travelled on foot over various
parts of Mexico, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.
Wherever he went, he spared no pains to
wean the natives from their dark idolatry, and
to pour into their minds the light of revela-
tion. He showed even a tender regard for
TORIBIO-MARTYR.
2Z5
their temporal as well as spiritual wants, and
Bernal Diaz testifies that he has known him
to give away his own robe to clothe a desti-
tute and suffering Indian. Yet this charitable
friar, so meek and conscientious in the dis-
charge of his Christian duties, was one of the
fiercest opponents of Las Casas, and sent home
a remonstrance against the Bishop of Chiapa,
couched in terms the most opprobrious and
sarcastic. It has led the bishop's biographer,
Quintana, to suggest that the friar's thread-
bare robe may have covered somewhat of
worldly pride and envy. It may be so. Yet
it may also lead us to distrust the discretion
of Las Casas himself, who could carry mea-
sures with so rude a hand as to provoke such
unsparing animadversions from his fellow-
labourers in the vineyard.
Toribio was made guardian of a Franciscan
convent at Tezcuco. In this situation he con-
tinued active in good works, and at this place,
and in his different pilgrimages, is stated to
have baptized more than four hundred thousand
natives. His efficacious piety was attested by
various miracles. One of the most remarkable
was when the Indians were suffering from
great drought, which threatened to annihilate
the approaching harvests. The good father re-
commended a solemn procession of the natives
to the church of Santa Cruz, with prayers and
a vigorous flagellation. The effect was soon
visible in such copious rains as entirely re-
lieved the people from their apprehensions,
and in the end made the season uncommonly
fruitful. The counterpart to this prodigy was
afforded a few years later, while the country
was labouring under excessive rains; when,
by a similar remedy, the evil was checked,
and a like propitious influence exerted on the
season as before. The exhibition of such
miracles greatly edified the people, says his
biographer, and established them firmly in the
Faith. Probably Toribio's exemplary life and
conversation, so beautifully illustrating the
principles which he taught, did quite as much
for the good cause as his miracles.
Thus passing his days in the peaceful and
pious avocations of the Christian missionary,
the worthy ecclesiastic was at length called
from the scene of his earthly pilgrimage, in
what year is uncertain, but at an advanced
age, for he survived all the little band of
missionaries who had accompanied him to
New Spain. He died in the convent of San
Francisco at Mexico, and his panegyric is thus
emphatically pronounced by Torquemada, a
brother of his own order: "He was a truly
apostolic man, a great teacher of Christianity,
beautiful in the ornament of every virtue,
jealous of the glory of God, a friend of evan-
gelical poverty, most true to the observance
of his monastic rule, and zealous in the con-
version of the heathen."
Father Toribio's long personal intercoyrse
with the Mexicans, and the knowledge of
their language, which he was at much pains
to acquire, opened to him all the sources of
information respecting them and their insti-
tutions, which existed at the time of the Con-
quest. The result he carefully digested in
the work so often cited in these pages, the
Hisloria de los Indias de Nueva-Kspana,
making a volume of manuscript in folio. It
is divided into three parts. 1. The religion,
rites, and sacrifices of the Aztecs. 2. Their
conversion to Christianity, and their manner
of celebrating the festivals of the Church. 3.
The genius and character of the nation, their
chronology and astrology, together with
notices of the principal cities >nd the staple
productions of the country. Notwithstand-
ing the methodical arrangement of the work,
it is written in the rambling, unconnected
manner of a commonplace-book, into which
the author has thrown at random his notices
of such matters as most interested him in his
survey of the country. His own mission is
ever before his eyes, and the immediate topic
of discussion, of whatever nature it may be,
is at once abandoned to exhibit an event or
an anecdote that can illustrate his eccle-
siastical labours. The most startling occur-
rences are recorded with all the credulous
gravity which is so likely to win credit from
the vulgar ; and a stock of miracles is duly
attested by the historian, of more than suffi-
cient magnitude to supply the wants of the
infant religious communities of New Spain.
Yet amidst this mass of pious incrtdibilia
the inquirer into the Aztec antiquities will
find much curious and substantial informa-
tion. Toribio's long and intimate relations
with the natives put him in possession of
their whole stock of theology and science ;
and as his manner, though MMtewhat dis-
cursive, is plain and unaffected, there is no
obscurity in the communication of his ideas.
His inferences, coloured by the superstitions
of the age and the peculiar nature of his pro-
fession, may be often received with distrust.
But, as his integrity and his means of infor-
mation were unquestionable, his work be-
comes of the first authority in relation to the
antiquities of the country, and its condition
at the period of the Conquest. As an edu-
cated man, he was enabled to penetrate
deeper than the illiterate soldiers of Cortes,
men given to action rather than to specula-
tion. Yet Toribio's manuscript, valuable as
it is to the historian, has never been printed,
and has too little in it of popular interest,
probably, ever to be printed. Much that it
contains has found its way, in various forms,
into subsequent compilations. The work
itself is very rarely to be found. Dr. Robert-
son had a copy, as it seems from the cata-
logue of MSS. published with his "History
of America ; " though the author's name is
not prefixed to it. There is no copy, I be-
lieve, in the library of the Academy of His-
tory at Madrid ; and for that in my possession
I am indebted to the kindness of that curious
bibliographer, Mr. 0. Rich, now consul for
the United States at Minorca.
Pietro Mortire de Angleria, or Peter Martyr,
as he is called by English writers, belongei
256
HRRRERA.
to an ancient and highly respectable family
of Arona in the north of Italy. In 1487 he
was induced by the count of Tendilla, the
Spanish ambassador at Rome, to return with
him to Castile. lie was graciously received
by Queen Isabella, always desirous to draw
around her enlightened foreigners, who might
exercise a salutary influence on the rough
and warlike nobility of Castile. Martyr, who
had been educated for the Church, was per-
suaded by the queen to undertake the in-
struction of the young nobles at the court.
In this way he formed an intimacy with
some of the most illustrious men of the na-
tion, who seem to have cherished a warm
personal regard for him through the re-
mainder ofi»his life. He was employed by
the Catholic sovereigns in various concerns
of public interest, w-as sent on a mission to
Egypt, and was subsequently raised to a dis-
tinguished post in the cathedral of Granada.
But he continued to pass much of his time at
court, where he enjoyed the confidence of
Ferdinand and Isabella, and of their successor,
Charles the Fifth, till in 1525 he died, at the
age of seventy.
Martyr's character combined qualities not
often found in the same individual, — an
ardent love of letters, with a practical sa-
gacity that can only result from familiarity
with men and affairs. Though passing his
days in the gay and dazzling society of the
capital, he preserved the simple tastes and
dignified temper of a philosopher. His corre-
spondence, as well as his more elaborate
writings, if the term elaborate can be applied
to any of his writings, manifests an enlight-
ened and oftentimes independent spirit ;
though one would have been better pleased
had he been sufficiently independent to con-
demn the religious intolerance of the govern-
ment. But Martyr, though a philosopher,
was enough of a courtier to look with a
lenient eye on the errors of princes. Though
deeply imbued with the learning of antiquity,
and a scholar at heart, he had none of the
feelings of the recluse, but took the most
lively interest in the events that were pass-
ing around him. His various writings, in-
cluding his copious correspondence, are for
this reason the very best mirror of the age
in which he lived.
His inquisitive mind was particularly in-
terested by the discoveries that were going
on in the New World. He was allowed to
be present- at the sittings of the Council of
the Indies when any communication of im-
portance was made to it ; and he was sub-
sequently appointed a member of that body.
All that related to the colonies passed through
his hands. The correspondence of Columbus,
Cortes, and the other discoverers with the
court of Castile was submitted to his perusal.
He became personally acquainted with these
illustrious persons on their return home, and
frequently, as we find from his letters, enter-
tained them at his own table. AVith these
advantages, his testimony becomes but one
degree removed from that of the actors them-
selves in the groat drama. In one respect it
is of a higher kind, since it is free from tin-
prejudice and passion which a personal in-
terest in events is apt to beget. The testi-
mony of Martyr is that of a philosopher,
taking a clear and comprehensive survey of
the ground, with such lights of previous
knowledge to guide him as none of the actual
discoverers and conquerors could pretend to.
It is true, this does not prevent his occasion-
ally falling into errors; the errors of credulity,
— not, however, of the credulity founded on
superstition, but that which arises from the
uncertain nature of the subject, where phe-
nomena so unlike anything with which he
had been familiar were now first disclosed by
the revelation of an unknown world.
He may be more fairly charged with in-
accuracies of another description, growing
out of haste and inadvertence of composition.
But even here we should be charitable. For
he confesses his sins with a candour that
disarms criticism. In truth, he w7rote i*apidly,
and on the spur of the moment, as occasion
served. He shrunk from the publication of
his writings, when it was urged on him, and
his Decades De Orbe Novo, in which he em-
bodied the results of his researches in respect
to the American discoveries, were not pub-
lished entire till after his death. The most
valuable and complete edition of this work —
the one referred to in the present pages— is
the edition of Hakluyt, published at Paris in
1587.
Martyr's works are all in Latin, and that
not the purest; a circumstance rather sin-
gular, considering his familiarity with the
classic models of antiquity. Yet he evidently
handled the dead languages with the same
facility as the living. Whatever defects may
be charged on his manner, in the selection
and management of his topics he shows the
superiority of his genius. He passes over
the trivial details which so often encumber
the literal narratives of the Spanish voyagers,
and fixes his attention on the great results of
their discoveries, — the products of the coun-
try, the history and institutions of the races,
their character and advance in civilization.
In one respect his writings are of peculiar
value. They show the state of feeling which
existed at the Castilian court during the pro-
gress of discovery. They furnish, in shor
the reverse side of the picture; and, wher
we have followed the Spanish conquerors ii;
their wonderful career of adventure in the
New World, we have only to turn to the
pages of Martyr to find the impression pro
duced by them on the enlightened minds
the Old. Such a view is necessary to the
completeness of the historical picture.
If the reader is curious to learn more
this estimable scholar, he will find the par-
ticulars given in " The History of Ferdinand
and Isabella" (Part I. chap. 14, Postscript
and chap. 19), for the illustration of who
reign his voluminous correspondence fu
nishes the most authentic materials.
BOOK FOURTH.
BESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
BOOK IV.
RESIDENCE IN MEXICO,
CHAPTER I.
• TEZCUCAN LAKE— DESCRIPTION OF THE CAPITAL—PALACES AND MUSEUMS-
ROYAL household— montezuma's way op life.
1519.
The ancient city of Mexico covered the same spot occupied by the modern
capital. The great causeways touched it in the same points ; the streets ran
in much the same direction, nearly from north to south and from east to west ;
the cathedral in the plaza mayor stands on the same ground that was covered
by the temple of the Aztec war-god ; and the four principal quarters of the
town are still known among the Indians by their ancient names. Yet an
Aztec of the days of Montezuma, could he behold the modern metropolis,
which has risen with such phoenix-like splendour from the ashes of the old,
would not recognize its site as that of his own Tenochtitlan. For the latter
was encompassed by the salt floods of Tezcuco, which flowed in ample canals
through every part of the city ; while the Mexico of our day stands high and
dry on the main land, nearly a league distant, at its centre, from the water.
The cause of this apparent change in its position is the diminution of the
lake, which, from the rapidity of evaporation in these elevated regions,
had become perceptible before the Conquest, but which has since been greatly
accelerated by artificial causes.1
The average level of the Tezcucan lake, at the present day, is but four feet
lower than the great square of Mexico.2 It is considerably lower than the
other great basins of Avater which are found in the Valley. In the heavy
swell sometimes caused by long and excessive rains, these latter reservoirs
anciently overflowed into the Tezcuco, which, rising with the accumulated
volume of waters, burst through the dikes, and, pouring into the streets of the
capital, buried the lower part of the buildings under a deluge. This was
comparatively a light evil when the houses stood on piles so elevated that
boats might pass under them ; when the streets were canals, and the ordinary
mode of communication was by water. But it became more disastrous as
these canals, filled up with the rubbish of the ruined Indian city, were
1 The lake, it seems, had perceptibly shrunk This sorely puzzles the learned Martyr (De
before the Conquest, from the testimony of Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3) ; as it has more
Motolinia, who entered the country soon after. than one philosopher since, whom it has led
Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, to speculate on a subterraneous communica-
cap. 6. tion with the ocean ! What the general called
■ Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 95. "tides" was probably the periodical swells
— Corte»£upposed there were regular tides in caused by the prevalence of certain regular
this lake. (Rel. Seg., ap. Loreuzana, p. 101.) winds.
260 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
supplanted by streets of solid earth, and the foundations of the capital were
gradually reclaimed from the watery element. To obviate this alarming evil,
the famous drain of Huehuetoca was opened, at an enormous cost, in the
beginning of the seventeenth century, and Mexico, after repeated inundations,
has been at length placed above the reach of the flood.3 But what was gained
to the useful, in this case, as in some others, has been purchased at the
expense of the beautiful. By this shrinking of the waters, the bright towns
and hamlets once washed by them have been removed some miles into the
interior, while a barren strip of land, ghastly from the incrustation of salts
formed on the surface, has taken the place of the glowing vegetation which
once enamelled the borders of the lake, and of the dark groves of oak, cedar,
and sycamore which threw their broad shadows over its bosom.
The chinampas, that archipelago of wandering islands, to which our atten-
tion was drawn in the last chapter, have, also, nearly disappeared. These
had their origin in the detached masses of earth, which, loosening from the
shores, were still held together by the fibrous roots with which they were
penetrated. The primitive Aztecs, in their poverty of land, availed them-
selves of the hint thus afforded by nature. They constructed rafts of reeds,
rushes, and other fibrous materials, which, tightly knit together, formed a
sufficient basis for the sediment that they drew up from the bottom of the
lake. Gradually islands were formed, two or three hundred feet in length,
and three or four feet in depth, with a rich stimulated soil, on which the
economical Indian raised his vegetables and flowers for the markets of Tenoch-
titlan. Some of these chinampas were even firm enough to allow the growth
of small trees, and to sustain a hut for the residence of the person that had
charge of it, who with a long pole, resting on the sides or the bottom of the
shallow basin, could change the position of his little territory at pleasure,
which with its rich freight of vegetable stores was seen moving like some
enchanted island over the water.4
The ancient dikes were three in number. That of Iztapalapan, by which
the Spaniards entered, approaching the city from the south. That of Tepe-
jacac, on the north, which, continuing the principal street, might be regard!
also, as a continuation of the first causeway. Lastly, the dike of Tlacop;
connecting the island-city with the continent on the west. This last cav
way, memorable for the disastrous retreat of the Spaniards, was about t
miles in length. They were all built in the same substantial manner, of li
and stone, were defended by draw-bridges, and were wide enough for ten
twelve horsemen to ride abreast.5
The rude founders of Tenochtitlan built their frail tenements of reeds a
rushes on the group of small islands in the western part of the lake,
process of time, these were supplanted by more substantial buildings,
quarry in the neighbourhood, of a red porous amygdaloid, tetzontli,
opened, and a light, brittle stone drawn from it and wrought with litt'
difficulty. Of this their edifices were constructed, with some reference to
architectural solidity, if not elegance. Mexico, as already noticed, was the
residence of the great chiefs, whom the sovereign encouraged, or rather com-
3 Humboldt has given a minute account of et seq.— Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. ii.
this tunnel, which he pronounces one of the p. 153.
most stupendous hydraulic works in exist- s Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 3,
ence, and the completion of which, in its pre- cap. 8. — Cortes, indeed, speaks of four cause-
sent form, does not date earlier than the latter ways. (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. Iu2.)
part of the last century. See his Essai poli- He may have reckoned an arm of the southern
tique, torn. ii. p. 105, et seq. one leading to Cojohuacan, or possibly the
* Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 87, great aqueduct of Chapoltepec.
DESCRIPTION OF THE CAPITAL 261
pelled, from obvious motives of policy, to spend part of the year in the capital.
It was also the temporary abode of the great lords of Tezcuco and Tlacopan,
who shared, nominally at least, the sovereignty of the empire.6 The mansions
of these dignitaries, and of the principal nobles, were on a scale of rude
magnificence corresponding with their state. They were low, indeed, —
seldom of more than one floor, never exceeding two. But they spread over a
wide extent of ground, were arranged in a quadrangular form, with a court in
the centre, and were surrounded by porticoes embellished with porphyry and
jasper, easily found in the neighbourhood, while not unfrequently a fountain
of crystal water in the centre shed a grateful coolness through the air. The
dwellings of the common people were also placed on foundations of stone,
which rose to the height of a few feet and were then succeeded by courses of
unbaked bricks, crossed occasionally by wooden rafters.7 Most of the streets
were mean and narrow. Some few, hoAvever, were wide and of great length.
The principal street, conducting from the great southern causeway, penetrated
in a straight line the whole length of the city, and afforded a noble vista, in
which the long lines of low stone edifices were broken occasionally by intervening
gardens, rising on terraces and displaying all the pomp of Aztec horticulture.
The great streets, which were coated with a hard cement, were intersected
by numerous canals. Some of these were flanked by a solid way, which
served as a foot-walk for passengers, and as a landing-place where boats
might discharge their cargoes. Small buildings were erected at intervals, as
stations for the revenue officers who collected the duties on different articles
of merchandise. The canals were traversed by numerous bridges, many of
which could be raised, affording the means of cutting off communication
between different parts of the city.8
From the accounts of the ancient capital, one is reminded of those aquatic
cities in the Old World, the positions of which have been selected from similar
motives of economy and defence ; above all, of Venice,9 — if it be not rash to
compare the rude architecture of the American Indian with the marble
palaces and temples— alas, how shorn of their splendour !— which crowned the
once proud mistress of the Adriatic.10 The example of the metropolis was
soon followed by the other towns in the vicinity. Instead of resting their
foundations on terra Jirma, they were seen advancing far into the lake, the
0 Ante, p. 12. "Uti de illustrissima civitate Venetiarum
7 Martyr gives a particular account of these legitur, ad tumulum in ea sinus Adriatici
dwellings, which shows that even the poorer parte visum, fuisse constructam." Martyr,
classes were comfortably lodged. " Populares De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 10.
vero domus cingulo vir'li tenus lapideae sunt '° May we not apply, without much vio-
et ipsa?, ob lacunas incrementum per fiuxum lence, to the Aztec capital, Giovanni della
aut fluviorum in ea labentium alluvies. Casa's spirited sonnet, contrasting the origin
Super fundamentis illis magnis, lateribus of Venice with its meridian glory ?
turn coctis, turn asstivo sole siccatis, immixtis 4, n..aoti o«i „.,„.• « „„^*„ i~„„„ „.. ™n„
trabibus reliquam molem constraint ; uno ^^Jr^^Z^ i^n?1 2?^
sunt communis domus content* tabulato. Fuf^hl, eT^ ^ inKI^Slte
In solo parum hospitantur propter humidi- Ki^V t insieme accoite
tatem, tecta non tegulis sed^ bitumine quo- M?S? lluL^ ^ u
dam terreo vestiunt ; ad solem captandum Ma genti ardite d ogni vizio sciolte
commodior est ille modus, breviore tempore Zle™T° 5 ^h'0" P1CC,Gl- barchet/;e>
consumi debere credendum est." De Orbe ^&"°" Per ^omar provincie molte,
Novo, dec. 5, cap. 10. ~ Ma {u^\ ?ervitu s, eran ™trette
" Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, ^^J^J^^J^^ToL i. «,«r*
cap. 8.-Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana ™* \m™u™ abborrian piu che la morte,
p. 108.-OviedogHist. de la's Ind., MS., lib! J^Ii^TS f^\ S^T
33 cat) 10 11 — RpI ri'nn trentil' biiomo flti Se 1 Clel V ha dato Plu beata 80rte'
RamuSio torn.' iii fol. 3o5.g ' P' ?™ sien ^elle 7M* che tant0 onorf0' „
• Mart'yr was struck with the resemblance. L,alle nuove ncchezze °PPresse emorte-
262'
RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
shallow waters of which in some parts do not exceed four feet in depth.11
Thus an easy means of intercommunication was opened, and the surface of
this inland "sea," as Cortes styles it, was darkened by thousands of canoes12
— an Indian term— industriously engaged in the traffic between these little
communities. How gay and picturesque must have been the aspect of the
lake in those days, with its shining cities, and flowering islets rocking, as it
were, at anchor on the fair bosom of its waters !
The population of Tenochtitlan at the time of the Conquest is variously
stated. No contemporary writer estimates it at less than sixty thousand
houses, which, by the ordinary rules of reckoning, would give three hundred
thousand souls.13 If a dwelling often contained, as is asserted, several
families, it would swell the amount considerably higher.14 Nothing is more
uncertain than estimates of numbers among barbarous communities, who
necessarily live in a more confused and promiscuous manner than civilized,
and among whom no regular system is adopted for ascertaining the population.
The concurrent testimony of the Conquerors ; the extent of the city, which
was said to be nearly three leagues in circumference ; ls the immense size of
its great market-place ; the long lines of edifices, vestiges of whose ruins may
still be found in the suburbs, miles from the modern city ; 16 the fame of the
metropolis throughout Anahuac, which, however, could boast many large and
populous places; lastly, the economical husbandry and the ingenious con-
trivances to extract aliment from the most unpromising sources,17— all attest
a numerous population, far beyond that of the present capital.18
11 "Le lac de Tezcuco n'a generalement
que trois a, cinq metres de profondeur. Dans
■ quelques endroits le fond se trouve metne
'deja a moins d'un metre." Humboldt, Essai
politique, torn. ii. p. 49.
12 " Y cada dia entran gran multitud de
Indios cargados de bastimentos y tributes, asf
por tierra como por agua, en acales 6 barcas,
que en lengua de las Islas llaman Canoas."
Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 3,
cap. 6.
" " Esta la cibdad de Mejico 6 Teneztutan,
que sera' de sesenta mil vecinos." (Carta del
Lie. Zuazo, MS.) " Tenustitanam ipsam in-
quiunt sexaginta circiter esse millium do-
morum." (Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5,
cap. 3.) " Era Mejico, quando Cortes entro,
pueblo de sesenta mil casas." (Gomara,
Cronica, 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 hdbi-
tatori" (Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramu-
sio, torn. iii. fol. 309) ; owing, probably, to a
blunder in rendering the word vecinos, the
ordinary term in Spanish statistics, which,
signifying householders, corresponds with tlie
Italian fuochi. See, also, Clavigero. (Stor.
del Messico, torn. 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 authori-
ties in the same connection ; Cortes, 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.
14 " In the smallest houses, with few ex-,
ceptions, two, four, and even six families
resided together." Herrera, Hist, general,
dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 13.
,s Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio,
torn. iii. fol. 309.
16 " C'est sur le chemin qui mene a. Tane-
pantla et aux Ahuahuetes que Ton peut
marcher plus d'une heure entre les ruines de
l'ancienne ville. On y reconnait, ainsi que
sur la route de Tacuba-et dTztapalapan, com-
bien Mexico, rebati par Cortex, est plus petit
que l'etait Tenochtitlan sous le dernier des
Montezuma. L'enorme grandeur du marche
de Tlatelolco, dont on reconnait encore les
limites, prouve combien la population de
l'ancienne ville doit avoir ete considerable."
Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 43.
17 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 savour 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 Mejico (trad, de Vega), torn. i.
p. 366.] *
18 One is confirmed in this inference by
[* Little can be inferred, in regard to the
difference of population, from the use of the
ahuahutle, as these cakes are called, since it ,
is still a favourite article of 'food at Tezcuco,
DESCRIPTION OF THE CAPITAL.
263
A Careful police provided for J;he health and cleanliness of the city. A
thousand persons are said to have been daily employed in watering and sweep-
ing the streets,19 so that a man— to borrow the language of an old Spaniard —
" could walk through them with as little danger of soiling his feet as his
hands." 20 The water, in a city washed on all sides by the salt floods, was
extremely brackish. A liberal supply of the pure element, however, was
brought from Chapoltepec, " the grasshopper's hill," less than a league distant.
It was brought through an earthen pipe, along a dike constructed for the
purpose. That there might be no failure in so essential an article when
repairs were going on, a double course of pipes was laid. In this way a
column of water of the size of a man's body was conducted into the heart of
the capital, where it fed the fountains and reservoirs of the principal mansions.
Openings were made in the aqueduct as it crossed the bridges, and thus a
supply was furnished to the canoes below, by means of which it was trans-
ported to all parts of the city.21
While Montezuma encouraged a taste for architectural magnificence in his
nobles, he contributed his own share towards the embellishment of the city.
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 Botnrini's museum, and showing
its regular arrangement of streets and canals ;
as regular, indeed, as the squares on a chess-
board.*
19 Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. i.
p. 274.
1,0 " 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.
■* Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzaha, p.
108.— Carta del Lie. Zuazo, MS.— Rel. d'un
gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii. fol.
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 Noto-
necta unifasciata, according to MM. Mene-
ville and Virlet d'Aoust." Tylor, Anahuac,
p. 156.— Ed.]
* [The doubts so often excited by the de-
scriptions 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 ex-
amined the ploughed fields in the neighbour-
hood 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 won-
derful 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 exagge-
rations of Solis and Gomara and other Spanish
chroniclers, wno 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.— Ed.]
264 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
It was in his reign that the famous calendar stone, weighing, probably, in its
primitive state, nearly fifty tons, was transported from its native quarry,
many leagues distant, to the capital, where it still forms one of the most
curious monuments of Aztec science. Indeed, when we reflect on the diffi-
culty of hewing such a stupendous mass from its hard basaltic bed without
the aid of iron tools, and that of transporting it such a distance across land
and water without the help of animals, we may well feel admiration at the
mechanical ingenuity and enterprise of the people who accomplished it.22
Not content with the spacious residence of his father, Montezuma erected
another on a yet more magnificent scale. It occupied, as before mentioned,
the ground partly covered by the private dwellings on one side of the plaza
mayor of the modern city. This huilding, or, as -it might more correctly be
styied, pile of buildings, spread over an extent of ground so vast that, as one
of the Conquerors assures us, its terraced roof might have afforded ample
room for thirty knights to run their courses in a regular tourney.23 I have
already noticed its interior decorations, its fanciful draperies, its roofs inlaid
with cedar and other odoriferous woods, held together without a nail, and,
probably, without a knowledge of the arch,24 its numerous and spacious apart-
ments, which Cortes, with enthusiastic hyperbole, does not hesitate to declare
superior to anything of the kind in Spain.25
Adjoining the principal edifice were others, devoted to various objects.
One was an armoury, filled with the weapons and military dresses worn by
the Aztecs, all kept in the most perfect order, ready for instant use. The
emperor was himself very expert in the management of the maquahuitl, or
Indian sword, and took great delight in witnessing athletic exercises and the
mimic representation of war by his young nobility. Another building was
used as a granary, and others as warehouses for the different articles of food
and apparel contributed by the districts charged with the maintenance of the
royal household.
There were, also, edifices appropriated to objects of quite another kind.
One of these was an immense aviary, in which birds of splendid plumage
were assembled from all parts of the empire. Here was the scarlet cardinal,
the golden pheasant, the endless parrot-tribe with their rainbow hues (the
royal green predominant), and that miniature miracle of nature, the hum-
ming-bird, which delights to revel among the honeysuckle bowers of Mexico.26
•" These immense masses, according to it seems to me almost impossible to describe
Martyr, who gathered his information from it. I shall therefore say no more of it than
eye-witnesses, were transported by means of that there is nothing like it in Spain." Eel.
long riles of men, who dragged them with Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. ill.
ropes over huge wooden rollers. (De Orbe *B Herrera's account of these feathered in-
Novo, dec. 5, cap. 10.) It was the manner in sects, if one may so style them, shows the
which the Egyptians removed their ejiormous fanciful errors into which even men of science
blocks of granite, as appears from numerous were led in regard to the new tribes of
reliefs sculptured on their buildings. animals discovered in America : " There are
23 Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, some birds in the country of the size of
torn. iii. fol. 309. butterflies, with long beaks, brilliant plu-
a* " Ricos edificios," says the Licentiate mage, much esteemed for the curious works
Zuazo, speaking of the buildings in Anahuac made of them. Like the bees, they live on
generally, " ecepto que no se halla alguno flowers, and the dew which settles on them ;
con boveda." (Carta, MS.) The writer made and when the rainy season is over,, and the
large and careful observation, the year after dry weather sets in, they fasten themselves
the Conquest. His assertion, if it be received, to the trees by their beaks and soon die. But
will settle a question much mooted among in the following year, when the new rains
antiquaries. • come, they come to life again " ! Hist.
25 " His residence within the city was so general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 21.
marvellous for its beauty and vastness that
PiVLACES AND MUSEUMS. 265
Three hundred attendants had charge of this aviary, who made themselves
acquainted with the appropriate food of its inmates, oftentimes procured at
great cost, and in the moulting season were careful to collect the beautiful
plumage, which, with its many-coloured tints, furnished the materials for the
Aztec painter.
A separate building was reserved for the fierce birds of prey ; the voracious
vulture-tribes and eagles of enormous size, whose home Avas in the snowy
solitudes of the Andes. No less than five hundred turkeys, the cheapest meat
in Mexico, were allowed for the daily consumption of these tyrants of the
feathered race.
Adjoining this aviary was a menagerie of wild animals, gathered from the
mountain forests, and even from the remote swamps of the tierra caliente.
The resemblance of the different species to those in the Old World, with
which no one of them, however, was identical, led to a perpetual confusion
in the nomenclature of the Spaniards, as it has since done in that of better-
instructed naturalists. The collection was still further swelled by a great
number of reptiles and serpents remarkable for their size and venomous
qualities, among which the Spaniards beheld the fiery little animal " with the
castanets in his tail," the terror of the American wilderness.27 The serpents
were confined in long cages lined with down or feathers, or in troughs of mud
and water. The beasts and birds of prey were provided with apartments
large enough to allow of their moving about, and secured by a strong lattice-
work, through which light and air were freely admitted. The whole was
placed under the charge of numerous keepers, who acquainted themselves
with the habits of their prisoners and provided for their comfort and cleanli-
ness. With what deep interest would the enlightened naturalist of that day—
an Oviedo, or a Martyr, for example— have surveyed this magnificent collec-
tion, in which the various tribes which roamed over the Western wilderness,
the unknown races of an unknown world, were brought into one view ! How
would they have delighted to study the peculiarities of these new species,
compared with those of their own hemisphere, and thus have risen to some
comprehension of the general laws by which Nature acts in all her works !
The rude followers of Cortes did not trouble themselves with such refined
speculations. They gazed on the. spectacle with a vague curiosity not un-
mixed with awe ; and, as they listened to the wild cries of the ferocious
animals and the hissings of the serpents, they almost fancied themselves in
the infernal regions.25
I must not omit to notice a strange collection of human monsters, dwarfs,
and other unfortunate persons in whose organization Nature had capriciously
deviated from her regular laws. Such hideous anomalies were regarded by
the Aztecs as a suitable appendage of state. It is even said they were in
some cases the result of artificial means, employed by unnatural parents
desirous to secure a provision for their offspring by thus qualifying them for a
place in the royal museum ! 29
Extensive gardens were spread out around these buildings, filled with fra-
"" "Pues mas tenian," says the honest los Adiues y Zorros, y silbauan las Slerpes,
Captain Diaz, "en aquella maldita casa era grima oirlo, yparecia infierno." Jiist.de
muchas Viboras, y Culebras emponcjonadas, laConquista, cap. 91.
que traen en las colas vnos que suenan como 2S> Ibid., ubi supra.— Pel. Seg de Cortes,
cascabeles; estas son las peores Viboras de ap. Lorenzana, pp. 111-113.— Carta del l,ic.
todas." Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 91. Zuazo, MS. — Toribio, Hist, de los Tndios, MS.,
'"" "Dlganios aora," exclaims Captain Diaz, Parte 3, cap. 7. — Oviedo, Hist, de las I rid.,
"las cosas infernales que hazian, quando MS., lib. 33, cap. 11, 46.
bramauan los Tigres y Leones, y aullauan
K 2
266 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
grant shrubs and flowers, and especially with medicinal plants.39 No country
has afforded more numerous species of these last than New Spain ; and their
virtues were perfectly understood by the Aztecs, with whom medical botany
may be said to have been studied as a science. Amidst this labyrinth of
sweet-scented groves and shrubberies, fountains of pure water might be seen
throwing up their sparkling jets and scattering refreshing dews over the
blossoms. Ten large tanks, well stocked with fish, afforded a retreat on their
margins to various tribes of waterfowl, whose habits were so carefully con-
sulted that some of these ponds were of salt water, as that which they most
loved to frequent. A tessellated pavement of marble enclosed the ample
basins, which were overhung by light and fanciful pavilions, that admitted the
perfumed breezes of the gardens, and offered a grateful shelter to the monarch
and his mistresses in the sultry heats of summer.31
But the most luxurious residence of the Aztec monarch, at that season, was
the royal hill of Chapoltepec,— a spot consecrated, moreover, by the ashes of
his ancestors. It stood in a westerly direction from the capital, and its base
was, in his day, washed by the waters of the Tezcnco. On its lofty crest of
porphyritic rock there now stands the magnificent, though desolate, castle
erected by the young viceroy Galvez at the close of the seventeenth century.32
The view from its windows is one of the finest in the environs of Mexico. The
landscape is not disfigured here, as in many other quarters, by the white and
barren patches, so offensive to the sight ; but the eye wanders over an unbroken
expanse of meadows and cultivated fields, waving with rich harvests of European
grain. Montezuma's gardens stretched for miles around the base of the hill.
Two statues of that monarch and his father, cut in bas-relief in the porphyry,
were spared till the middle of the last century ; " and the grounds are still
shaded by gigantic cypresses, more than fifty feet in circumference, which
were centuries old at the time of the Conquest.34 The place is now a tangled
wilderness of wild shrubs, where the myrtle mingles its dark, glossy leaves with
the red berries and delicate foliage of the pepper-tree. Surely there is no spot
better suited to awaken meditation on the past ; none where the traveller, as
he sits under those stately cypresses gray with the moss of ages, can so fitly
})onder on the sad destinies of the Indian races and the monarch who once hela
lis courtly revels under the shadow of their branches.
The domestic establishment of Montezuma was on the same scale of barbaric
splendour as everything else about him. He could boast as many wives as are
found in the harem of an Eastern sultan.35 They were lodged in their own
apartments, and provided with every accommodation, according to their ideas,
for personal comfort and cleanliness. They passed their hours in the usual
30 Montezuma, according to Gomara, would M Gomara, a competent critic, who saw
a*llow no fruit-trees, considering them as them just before their destruction, praises
unsuitable to pleasure-grounds. (Cronica, tlieir execution. Garua, Description, Parte
cap. 75.) Toribio says, to the same effect, 2, pp. 81-83 — Also, ante, p. 67.
"Los Indios Sefior.es no procuran urbole's de a' [Yet the whole of this beautiful grove
fruta, porque se la traen sus vasallos, sino was not spared. The axes of the Conquerors
jirboles de floresta, de donde cojan rosas, y levelled such of the trees as grew round the
adonde se crian aves, asi para gozar del canto, fountain of Chapoltepec and dropped their
como para las tirar con Cerbatana, de la cual decayed leaves into its waters. The order of
son grandes tiradores." Hist, de los Indios, the municipality, dated February 28, 1527, is
MS., Parte 3, cap. 6. quoted by Alaman, Disertaciones historicas,
31 Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte -torn. ii. p. 290.]
3, cap. 6.— llel. Seg. de Cortes, ubi supra.— 3a No less than one thousand, if we believe
Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 11. Gomara ; who adds the edifying intelligence,
32 [It is used at the present day for a mili- " que huvo vez, que tuvo cieuto i cincuenta
tary school. Conquista de Mejico (trad.de prefiadas 3 un tiempo ! "
Vega), torn. i. p. 370.]
ROYAL HOUSEHOLD. 267
feminine employments of weaving and embroidery, especially in the graceful
feather- work, for which such rich materials were furnished by the royal aviaries.
They conducted themselves with strict decorum, under the supervision of
certain aged females, who acted in the respectable capacity of duennas, in the
same manner as in the religious houses attached to the teocallis. The palace
was supplied with numerous baths, and Montezuma set the example, in his
own person, of frequent ablutions. He bathed at least once, and changed his
dress four times, it is said, every day.36 He never put on the same apparel a
second time, but gave it away to his attendants. Queen Elizabeth, with a
similar taste for costume, showed a less princely spirit in hoarding her dis-
carded suits. Her wardrobe was, probably, somewhat more costly than that of
the Indian emperor.
Besides his numerous female retinue, the halls and antechambers were filled
with nobles in constant attendance on his person, who served also as a sort of
body-guard. It had been usual for plebeians of merit to fill certain offices in
the palace. But the haughty Montezuma refused to be waited upon by any
but men of noble birth. They were not unfrequently the sons of the great
chiefs, and remained as hostages in the absence of their fathers ; thus serving
the double purpose of security and state.37
His meals the emperor took alone. The well-matted floor of a large saloon
was covered with hundreds of dishes.38 Sometimes Montezuma himself, but
more frequently his steward, indicated those which he preferred, and which
were kept hot by means of chafing-dishes.39 The royal bill of fare compre-
hended, besides domestic animals, game from the distant forests, and fish
which, the day before, was swimming in the Gulf of Mexico ! They were
dressed in manifold ways, for the Aztec artistes, as we have already had
occasion to notice, had penetrated deep into the mysteries of culinary science.40
The meats were served by the attendant nobles, who then resigned the office
of waiting on the monarch" to maidens selected for their personal grace and
beauty. A screen of richly gilt and carved wood was drawn around him, so as
to conceal him from vulgar eyes during the repast. He was seated on a
cushion, and the dinner was served on a low table covered with a delicate
cotton cloth. The dishes were of the finest ware of Cholula. He had a service
of gold, Avhich was reserved for religious celebrations. Indeed, it would scarcely
have comported with even his princely revenues to have used it on ordinary
occasions, when his table-equipage was not allowed to appear a second time,
38 " Vestfase todos los dias quatro maneras Hist, do las Ind., MS., lib 33, cap, 46.) A
de vestiduras todas nuevas, y nunca mas se very curious and fall account of Montezuma's
las vestia otra vez." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. household is given by this author, as he
Lorenzana, p. 114. gathered it from the Spaniards who saw it, in
37 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. its splendour. As Oviedo's history still re-
91.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 67, 71, 76.— Rel. mains in manuscript, I have transferred the
Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 113, 114.— chapter in the original Castilian to Appendix..
Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. • Part 2, No. 10.
7.—" A* la puerta de la sala estaba vn patio M Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
mui grande en que habia cien aposentos de 25 91.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ubi supra.
6 30 pies de largo cada vno sobrc si en torno £9 " Y porque la Tierra es fria trahian debaxo
de dicho patio, e alii estaban los Sefiores de cada plato y escudilla de manjar un brase-
principales aposentados como guardas del rico con brasa, porque no se enfriasse." Rel.
palacio ordinarias, y estos tales aposentos se Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 113.
llamau galpones, los quales ;i la contina ocu- '" Bernal Diaz has given us a few items of
pan mas de 600 hombres, que jamas se quita- the royal carte. The .first cover is rather a
ban de alii, e cada vno de aquellos tenian mas startling one, being a fricassee or stew of
de 30 servidores de manera que a lo menos little children! " carries demuchachos depoca
nunca faltaban 3000 hombres de guerra en edad." He admits, however, that this is
esta guarda cotediana del palacio." (^Oviedo, somewhat apocryphal. Ibid., ubi supra.
268 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
but was given away to his attendants. The saloon was lighted by torches
made of a resinous wood, which sent forth a sweet odour and, probably, not a
little smoke, as they burned. At his meal, he was attended by five or six of
his ancient counsellors, who stood at a respectful distance, answering his
questions, and occasionally rejoiced by some of the viands with which he
complimented them from his table.
This course of solid dishes was succeeded by another of sweetmeats and
pastry, for which the Aztec cooks, provided with the important requisites of
maize-flour, eggs, and the rich sugar of the aloe, were famous. Two girls were
occupied at the farther end of the apartment, during dinner, in preparing fine
rolls and wafers, with which they garnished the board from time to time. The
emperor took no other beverage than the chocolatl, a potation of chocolate,
flavoured with vanilla and other spices, and so prepared as to be reduced to a
froth of the consistency of honey, which gradually dissolved in the mouth.
This beverage, if so it could be called, was served in golden goblets, with spoons
of the same metal or of tortoise-shell finely wrought. The emperor was ex-
ceedingly fond of it, to judge from the quantity— no less than fifty jars or
pitchers— prepared for his own daily consumption.41 Two thousand more were
allowed for that of his household.42
The general arrangement of the meal seem to have been not very unlike
that of Europeans. But no prince in Europe could boast a dessert which could
compare with that of the Aztec emperor. For it was gathered fresh from the
most opposite climes ; and his board displayed the products of his own temperate
region, and the luscious fruits of the tropics, plucked, the day previous, from
the green groves of the tierra cahente, and transmitted with the speed of steam,
by means of couriers, to the capital. It was as if some kind fairy should crown
our banquets with the spicy products that but yesterday were growing in a
sunny isle of the far-off Indian seas ! *
After the emperor's appetite was appeased, water was handed to him by the
female attendants in a silver basin, in the same manner as had been done before
commencing his meal ; for the Aztecs were as constant in their ablutions, at
these times, as any nation of the East. Pipes were then brought, made of a
varnished and richly- gilt wood, from which he inhaled, sometimes through the
nose, at others through the mouth, the fumes of an intoxicating weed, "called
tobacco," 43 mingled with liquid amber. While this soothing process of fumi-
gation was going on, the emperor enjoyed the exhibitions of his mountebanks
and jugglers,-of whom a regular corps was attached to the palace. No people,
not even those of China or Hindostan, surpassed the Aztecs in feats of agility
and legerdemain.44
Sometimes he amused himself with his jester ; for the Indian monarch had
*l " Lo que yo vi," says Diaz, speaking traian liquidambar, rebuelto con vnas yervas
from his own observation, " que traian sobre que se dize tabaco." Bernal. Diaz, Hist, de la
cincuenta jarros grandes hecbos de buen cacao Conquista, cap. 91 .
con su espuma, y de lo que bebia." Hist, de <1 The feats of jugglers and tumblers were
la Conquista, cap. 91. a favourite diversion with the Grand Khan of
** Ibid., ubi supra. — Rel. Seg. de Cortes, China, as Sir John Maundeville informs us.
ap. Lorenzana, pp. 113, 114.— Oviedo, Hist. (Voiage and Travaille, chap. 22.) The Az'ec
de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 11,46.— Gomara, mountebanks had such repute, that Cortes
Cronica, cap. 67. sent two of them to Rome to amuse his Holi-
43 "Tambien le ponian en la mesa tres ness Clement VII. Clavigero, Stor. del Mes-
caiiutos muy pintados, y dorados, y dentro eico, torn. ii. p. 186.
* [This description, as Senor Alaman ob- Buch abundance in Mexico were unknown
serves, seems to have a tincture of romance, there previous to the Conquest. Conquista
since many of the fruits now produced in de Mejico, trad. de;Vega,tom. i. p. 373.— Kv.)
MONTEZUMA'S WAY OF LIFE. 269
his jesters, as well as his more refined brethren of Europe, at that day. In-
deed, he used to say that more instruction was to be gathered from them than
from wiser men, for they dared to tell the truth. At other times he witnessed
the graceful dances of his women, or took delight in listening to music,— if the
rude minstrelsy of the Mexicans deserve that name, — accompanied by a
chant, in slow and solemn cadence, celebrating the heroic deeds of great Aztec
warriors, or of his own princely line.
When he had sufficiently refreshed his spirits with these diversions, he
composed himself to sleep, for in his siesta he was as regular as a Spaniard.
On awaking, he gave audience to ambassadors from foreign states or his own
tributary cities, or to such caciques as had suits to prefer to him. They were
introduced by the young nobles in attendance, and, whatever might be their
rank, unless of the blood royal, they were obliged to submit to the humilia-
tion of shrouding their rich dresses under the coarse mantle of nequen, and
entering bare-footed, with downcast eyes, into the presence. The emperor
addressed few and brief remarks to the suitors, answering them generally
by his secretaries ; and the parties retired with the same reverential obeisance,
taking care to keep their faces turned towards the monarch. Well might
Cortes exclaim that no court, whether of the Grand Seignior or any other
infidel, ever displayed so pompous and elaborate a ceremonial ! 45
Besides the crowd of retainers already noticed, the royal household was not
complete without a host of artisans constantly employed in the erection or
repair of buildings, besides a great number of jewellers and persons skilled in
working metals, who found abundant demand for their trinkets among the
dark-eyed beauties of the harem. The imperial mummers and jugglers Avere
also very numerous, and the dancers belonging to the palace occupied a
particular district of the city, appropriated exclusively to them.
The maintenance of this little host, amounting to some thousands of
individuals, involved a heavy expenditure, requiring accounts of a complicated
and, to a simple people, it might well be, embarrassing nature. Everything,
however, was conducted with perfect order ; and all the various receipts and
disbursements were set down in the picture-writing of the country. The
arithmetical characters were of a more refined and conventional sort than
those for narrative purposes ; and a separate apartment was filled with hiero-
glyphical legers, exhibiting a complete view of the economy of the palace.
The care of all this was intrusted to a treasurer, who acted as a sort of major-
domo in the household, having a general superintendence over all its concerns.
This responsible office, on trie arrival of the Spaniards, was in the hands of
a trusty cacique named Tapia.46 *
Such is the picture of Montezuma's domestic establishment and way of
living, as delineated by the Conquerors and their immediate followers, who
had the best means of information ; i7 too highly coloured, it may be, by the
proneness to exaggerate, which was natural to those who first witnessed a
45 "NingunodelosSoldanes.niotroningun de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.— Rel. Seg.
sefior infiel, de ios que hasta agora se tiene de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 110-115. — Rel.
noticia, no creo, que tantas, ni tales cere- d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii.
monias en servicio tengan." Rel. Seg. de fol. 306.
Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 115. *7 If the historian will descend but a gencra-
18 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. tion later for his authorities, he may find
91.— Carta del Lie. Zuazo, MS. — Oviedo, Hist. materials for as good a chapter as any in Sir
de las Ind., MS., ubi supra. — Toribio, Hist. John Maundeville or the Arabian Nights.
*«[The name, which is Spanish, not Aztec, perhaps with some reference to one of their
Was that given to him by the Conquerors, own number, Andres de Tiipia.— Ed.]
270 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
spectacle so. striking to the imagination, so new and unexpected. I have
thought it best to present the full details, trivial though they may seem to the
reader, as affording a curious picture of manners so superior in point of refine-
ment to those of the other aboriginal tribes on the North American continent.
Nor are they, in fact, so trivial, when we reflect that in these details of
private life we possess a surer measure of civilization than in those of a public
nature.
In surveying them we are strongly reminded of the civilization of the East ;
not of that higher, intellectual kind which belonged to the more polished
Arabs and the Persians, but that semi-civilization which has distinguished, for
example, the Tartar races, among whom art, and even science, have made,
indeed, some progress in their adaptation to material wants and sensual
gratification, but little in reference to the higher and more ennobling interests
of humanity. It is characteristic of such a people to rind a puerile pleasure in
a dazzling and ostentatious pageantry ; to mistake show for substance, vain
pomp for power ; to hedge round the throne itself with a barren and burden-
some ceremonial, the counterfeit of real majesty.
Even this, however, was an advance in refinement, compared with the rude
manners of the earlier Aztecs. The change may, doubtless, be referred in
some degree to the personal influence of Montezuma. In his younger days he
had tempered the fierce habits of the soldier with the milder profession of
religion. In later life he had withdrawn himself still more from the brutal-
izing occupations of war, and his manners acquired a refinement, tinctured,
it may be added, with an effeminacy, unknown to his martial predecessors.
The condition of the empire, too, under his reign, wras favourable to this
change. The dismemberment of the Tezcucan kingdom on the death of the
great Nezahualpilli had left the Aztec monarchy without a rival ; and it soon
spread its colossal arms over the farthest limits of Anahuac. The aspiring
mind of Montezuma rose with the acquisition of wealth and power ; and he
displayed the consciousness of new importance by the assumption of unprece-
dented state. •- He affected a reserve unknown to his predecessors, withdrew
his person from the vulgar eye, and fenced himself round with an elaborate
and courtly etiquette. When he went abroad, it was in state, on some public
occasion, usually to the great temple, to take part in the religious services ;
and, as he passed along he exacted from his people, as we nave seen, the
homage of an adulation worthy of an Oriental despot.48 , His haughty demea-
nour touched the pride of his more potent vassals, particularly those Avho, at
a distance, felt themselves nearly independent of his authority. His exactions,
demanded by the profuse expenditure of his palace, scattered broad-cast the
seeds of discontent ; and, while the empire seemed towering in its most palmy
and prosperous state, the canker had eaten deepest into its heart.
49 " Referre in tanto rege piget superbam torian in reference to Alexander, after he was
mutationem vestis, et desideratas bumi ja- infected by the manners of Persia, fit equally
centium adulationes." (Livy, Hist., lib. 9, well the Aztec emperor,
cap. IS.) The remarks of the Roman his-
MARKET OF MEXICO. 271
CHAPTER II
MARKET OF MEXICO— GREAT TEMPLE— INTERIOR SANCTUARIES-
SPANISH QUARTERS.
1519.
Four days had elapsed since the Spaniards made their entry into Mexico.
Whatever schemes their commander may have revolved in his mind, he felt
that he could determine on no plan of operations till he had seen more of the
capital and ascertained by his own inspection the nature of its resources. He
accordingly, as was observed at the close of the last Book, sent to Monte-
zuma, asking permission to visit the great teocalli, and some other places in
the city.
The friendly monarch consented without difficulty. He even prepared to
go in person to the great temple to receive his guests there,— it may be, to
shield the shrine of his tutelar deity from any attempted profanation. He
was acquainted, as we have already seen, with the proceedings of the Spaniards
on .similar occasions in the course of their march. Cortes put himself at the
head of his little corps of cavalry, and nearly all the Spanish foot, as usual,
and followed the caciques sent by Montezuma to guide him. They proposed
first to conduct him to the great market of Tlatelolco, in the western part of
the city.
On the Avay the Spaniards were struck, in the same manner as they had
been on entering the capital, with the appearance of the inhabitants, and
their great superiority in the style and quality of their dress over the people
of the lower countries.1 The tilmatli, or cloak thrown over the shoulders and
tied round the neck, made of cotton of different degrees of fineness, according
to the condition of the wearer, and the ample sash around the loins, were
often wrought in rich and elegant figures and edged with a deep fringe or
tassel. As the wreather was now growing cool, mantles of fur or of the
gorgeous feather-Avork were sometimes substituted. The latter combined the
advantage of great warmth with beauty.2 The Mexicans had also the art of
Spinning a fine thread of the hair of the rabbit and other animals, which they
wove into a delicate web that took a permanent dye.
The women, as in other parts of the country, seemed to go about as freely
fts the men. They wore several skirts or petticoats of different lengths, with
highly-ornamented borders, and sometimes over them loose flowing robes,
which reached to the ankles. These, also, were made of cotton, for the
wealthier classes, of a fine texture, prettily embroidered.3 No veils were worn
1 "-La Gente de esta Ciudad cs dc mas ma- inano por eucima it pelo y u pospelo, no era
nera y primor eu su vestido, y servicio, que mas que vna manta zebellina mui bien ado-
110 la otra de estas otras l'rovincias, y Ciu- bada : bice pesar vna dellas ; no peso mas de.
(lades ; porque como alii estaba siempre este seis onzas. Dicen que en el tiempo del
Senor Muteczuma, y todos los Senores sus Yubiernounaabastaparaencimadelacamisa
Vasallos ocurrian siempre a la Ciudad, habia sin otro eobertor nijmas ropa encima de la
en ella mas manera, y policfa en todas las cama." Carta, MS.
cosas." Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 109. 3 * Sono lunghe & large, lauorate di belli-
2 Zuazo, speaking of the beauty and warmth simi. & molto gentlli lauori sparsi per esse,
of this national tabric, says, " Vi muchas co le loro frangie, 6 orletti ben lauorati che
toantas de a dos haces labradas de plumas de compariscono benlssimo." Rel. d'un gentil'
papos de aves tan suaves, que trayendo la huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii. fol. 305.
272
RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
here, as in some other parts of Anahuac, where they were made of the aloe
thread, or of the light web of hair, above noticed. The Aztec women had
their faces exposed ; and their dark, raven tresses floated luxuriantly over
their shoulders, revealing features which, although of a dusky or rather cinna-
mon hue, were not unfrequently pleasing, while touched with the serious, even
sad expression characteristic of the national physiognomy.4
On drawing near to the tiangiiez, or great market, the Spaniards were
astonished at the throng of people pressing towards it, and on entering the
place their surprise was still further heightened by the sight of the multitudes
assembled there, and the dimensions of the enclosure, thrice as large as the
celebrated square of Salamanca.5 Here were met together traders from all
parts, with the products and manufactures peculiar to their countries ; the
goldsmiths of Azcapozalco ; the potters and jewellers of Cholula, the painters
of Tezcuco, the stonecutters of Tenajocan, the hunters of Xilotepec, the fisher-
men of Cuitlahuac, the fruiterers of the warm countries, the mat- and chair-
makers of Quauhtitlan, and the florists of Xochimilco, — all busily engaged in
recommending their respective wares and in chaffering with purchasers.0
The market-place was surrounded by deep porticoes, and the several articles
had each its own quarter allotted to it. Here might be seen cotton piled up
in bales, or manufactured into dresses and articles of domestic use, as tapestry,
curtains, coverlets, and the like. The richly stained and nice fabrics reminded
Cortes of the alcayceria, or silk-market, of Granada. There was the quarter
assigned to the goldsmiths, where the purchaser might find various articles of
ornament or use formed of the precious metals, or curious toys, such as we
have already had occasion to notice, made in imitation of birds and fishes,
with scales and feathers alternately of gold and silver, and with movable heads
and bodies. These fantastic little trinkets were often garnished with precious
stones, and showed a patient, puerile ingenuity in the manufacture, like that
of the Chinese.7
In an adjoining quarter were collected specimens of pottery coarse and fine,
vases of wood elaborately carved, varnished or gilt, of curious and sometimes
graceful forms. There were also hatchets made of copper alloyed with tin, the
substitute, and, as it proved, not a bad one, for iron. The soldier found here
all the implements of his trade : the casque fashioned into the head of some
wild animal, with its grinning defences of teeth, and bristling crest dyed with
the rich tint of the cochineal ;8 the escaupU, or quilted doubtlet of cotton, the
* Kei. d'uu gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio,
torn. iii. fol. 305. s Ibid., fol. 309.
6 "Quivi- concorrevano i Peutolai, ed i
Giojellieri di Cholulla, gli Orefici d' Azcapo-
7alto, i Pittori di Tezcuco, gli Scarpellini di
Tenajocan. i Cacciatori di Xilotepec, i Pesca-
toii di Cuitlahuac, i lYuttajuoli de'paesi ealdi,
gli artefici di stuoje, e di scranne di Quauh-
titlan ed i cultivator! de' fiori di Xochimilco."
Clavigero, Slor. del Messico, torn. ii. p. 165.
7 "Oro y plata, piedras de valor, con otros
plumajes e argenterfas maravillosas, y con
tanto primor fabricadas que excede todo in-
genio humano para comprenderlas y alcan-
zarlas." (.Carta del Lie. Zuazo, MS.) The
licentiate then enumerates several of these
elegant pieces of mechanism. Cortes is not
less emphatic in his admiration : " Contra-
hechas 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 j uicio cornpre-
heuder con que Instrumentos se hiciesse tan
perfecto, y lo de Pluma, que ni de Cera, ni
en nitiguii broslado se podria hacer tan mara-
villosamente." (Rel. Seg., ap. Loren/ana,
p. 110.) Peter Martyr, a less prejudiced
critic than Cortes, who. saw and examined
many of these golden trinkets afterwards in
Castile, bears the same testimony to the ex-
quisite character of the workmanship, which,
he says, far surpassed the value of the
material. De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 10.
8 Herrera makes the unauthorized assertion,
repeated by Soli's, that the Mexicans were
unacquainted with the value of the cochineal
till it was taught them by the Spaniards.
(Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 4, lib. 8, cap. 11.)
The natives, on the contrary, took infinite
pains to rear the insect on plantations of the
cactus, and it formed one of the staple
tributes to the crown from certain districts.
MARKET OP MEXICO. 273
rich surcoat of feather- mail, and weapons of all sorts, copper-headed lances
and arrows, and the broad maqitahuitl, the Mexican sword, with its sharp
blades of itztli. Here were razors and mirrors of this same hard and polished
mineral, which served so many of the purposes of steel with the Aztecs.9 In
the square were also to be found booths occupied by barbers, who used these
same razors in their vocation. For the Mexicans, contrary to the popular and
erroneous notions respecting the aborigines of the New World, had beards,
though scanty ones. Other shops or booths were tenanted by apothecaries,
well provided with drugs, roots, and different medicinal preparations. In
other places, again, blank books or maps for the hieroglyphical picture-writing
were to be seen, folded together like fans, and made of cotton, skins, or more
commonly the fibres of the agave, the Aztec papyrus.
Under some of the porticoes they saw hides raw and dressed, and various
articles for domestic or personal use made of the leather. Animals, both wild
and tame, were offered for sale, and near them, perhaps, a gang of slaves, with
collars round their necks, intimating they were likewise on sale, — a spectacle
unhappily not confined to the barbarian markets of Mexico, though the evils
of their condition were aggravated there by the consciousness that a life of
degradation might be consummated at any moment by the dreadful doom of
sacrifice.
The heavier materials for building, as stone, lime, timber, were considered too
bulky to be allowed a place in the square, and were deposited in the adjacent
streets on the borders of the canals. It would be tedious to enumerate all the
various articles, whether for luxury or daily use, which were collected from all
quarters in this vast bazaar. I must not omit to mention, however, the display
of provisions, one of the most attractive features of the ttanguez; meats of all
kinds, domestic poultry, game from the neighbouring mountains, fish from the
lakes and streams, fruits in all the delicious abundance of these temperate
regions, green vegetables, and the unfailing maize. There was many a viand,
too, ready dressed, which sent up its savoury steams provoking the appetite of
the idle passenger ; pastry, bread of the Indian corn, cakes, and confectionery.10
Along with these were to be seen cooling or stimulating beverages, the spicy
foaming chocolatl, with its delicate aroma of vanilla, and the inebriating
pulque, the fermented juice of the aloe. All these commodities, and every
stall and portico, were set out, or rather smothered, with tiowers, snowing — on
a much greater scale, indeed — a taste similar to that displayed in the markets
of modern Mexico. Flowers seem to be the spontaneous growth of this
luxuriant soil ; which, instead of noxious weeds, as in other regions, is ever
ready, without the aid of man, to cover up its nakedness with this rich and
variegated livery of Nature.11
I will spare the reader the repetition of all the particulars enumerated by
the bewildered Spaniards, which are of some interest as evincing the various
mechanical skill and the polished wants, resembling those of a refined com-
See the tribute-rolls, ap. Lorenzana, Nos. 23, lugares de Tlamencos dicen que hai ni so
24.— Hernandez, Hist. Plantarum, lib. 6, cap. pueden hallar tales trujamanes." Carta, MS.
116. — Also, Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. " Ample details — many more than I have
i. p. 114, nota. thought it necessary to give — of the Aztec
I "'Ante, p. 66. market of Tlatelolco may be found in the
10 Zuazo, who seems to have been nice in writings of all the old Spaniards who visited
these matters, concludes a paragraph of the capital. Among others, see Iiel. Seg. de
dainties with the following tribute to the Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 103-105,— Toribio,
Aztec cuisine!-'" Vendense huebos asados,cru- Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7, —
dos, en tort ilia, e diversidad de guisados que se Carta del Lie. Zuazo, MS. — Ilel. d'un gentil'
suelen guisar, con otras cazuelas y pasteles, huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii. fol. 309, — '.[Jer-
que en el mal cocinado de Medina, ni en otros nal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 92,
274 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
munity rather than of a nation of savages. It was the material civilization,
which belongs neither to the one nor the other. The Aztec had plainly
reached that middle station, as far above the mde races of the New World as
it was below the cultivated communities of the Old.
As to the numbers assembled in the market, the estimates differ, as usual.
The Spaniards often visited the place, and no one states the amount at less
than forty thousand ! Some carry it much higher.12 Without relying too much
on the arithmetic of the Conquerors, it is certain that on this occasion, which
occurred every fifth day, the city swarmed with a motley crowd of strangers,
not only from the vicinity, but from many leagues around ; the causeways
were thronged, and the lake was darkened by canoes filled with traders flock-
ing to the great tianguez. It resembled, indeed, the periodical fairs in
Europe, not as they exist now, but as they existed in the Middle Ages, when,
from the difficulties of intercommunication, they served as the great central
marts for commercial intercourse, exercising a most important and salutary
influence on the community.
The exchanges were conducted partly by barter, but more usually in the
currency of the country. This consisted of bits of tin stamped with a
character like a T, bags of cacao, the value of which was regulated by their
size, and, lastly, quills rilled with gold dust.13 Gold was part of the regular
currency, it seems, in both hemispheres. In their dealings it is singular that
they should have had no knowledge of scales and weights. The quantity was
determined by measure and number.14
The most perfect order reigned throughout this vast assembly. Officers
patrolled the square, whose business it was to keep the peace, to collect the
duties imposed on the different articles of merchandise, to see that no false
measures or fraud of any kind were used, and to bring offenders at once to
justice. A court of twelve judges sat in one part of the tianguez, clothed
with those ample and summary powers which in despotic countries are often
delegated even to petty tribunals. The extreme severity with which they
exercised these powers, in more than one instance, proves that they were not
a dead letter.15
The tianguez of Mexico was naturally an object of great interest, as well
as wonder, to the Spaniards. For in it they saw converged into one focus, as
it were, all the rays of civilization scattered! throughout the land. Here they
beheld the various evidences of mechanical skill, of domestic industry, the
multiplied resources, of whatever kind, within the compass of the natives.
It could not fail to impress them with high ideas of the magnitude of these
resources, as well as of the commercial activity and social subordination by
which the whole community was knit together ; and their admiration is fully
evinced by the minuteness and energy of their descriptions.16
12 Zuazo raises it to 80,000! (Carta, MS.) '3 [From the description of the coiu, Ra-
Cortes to 60,000. (Rel Seg., ubi supra.) The mirez infers that it was not stamped, but cut,
most modest computation is that of the in the form mentioned in the text. This is
"Anonymous Conqueror," who says from confirmed by one or two specimens of the
40,000 to 50,000. " Et il giorno del mercato, kind still preserved in the National Museum
che si fa di cinque in cinque giorni, vi sono at Mexico. Ramirez, Notas y Esclarecimien-
da quaranta 6 cinquanta mila personc " (Rel. tos, p. 102.]
d'un gentil' liuomo, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii. '* Ante, p. 60.
fol.309); a confirmation, by the by, of the sup- 15 Toribio, Hist, de los lndios, MS., Parte
position that the estimated population of the 3, cap. 7.— Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 104.
capital, found in the Italian version of this — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap.
author, is a misprint. (See the preceding 10.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, loc.
chapter, note 13.) He would hardly have cit.
crowded an amount equal to the whole of it "; "There were amongst us," says Diaz,
into the market. "soldiers who had been in many parts of the
» GREAT TEMPLE. 275
From this bustling scene the Spaniards took their way to the great teocalli,
in the neighbourhood of their own quarters. It covered, with the subordinate
edifices, as the reader has already seen, the large tract of ground now occupied
by the cathedral, part of the market-place, and some of the adjoining streets.17
It was the spot which had been consecrated to the same object, probably, ever
since the foundation of the city. The present building, however, was of no
great antiquity, having been constructed by Ahuitzotl, who celebrated its
dedication, in 1486, by the hecatomb of victims of which such incredible
reports are to be found in the chronicles.18
It stood in the midst of a vast area, encompassed by a wall of stone and
lime, about eight feet high, ornamented on the outer side by figures of ser-
pents, raised in relief, which gave it the name of the coatejxmtli, or " wall of
serpents." This emblem was a common one in the sacred sculpture of
Anahuac, as well as of Egypt. The wall, which was quadrangular, was pierced
by huge battlemented gateways, opening on the four principal streets of the
capital. Over each of the gates was a kind of arsenal, filled with arms and
warlike gear ; and, if we may credit the report of the Conquerors, there
were barracks adjoining, garrisoned by ten thousand soldiers, who served as
a sort of military police for the capital, supplying the emperor with a strong
arm in case of tumult or sedition.19
The teocalli itself was a solid pyramidal structure of earth and pebbles,
coated on the outside with hewn stones, probably of the light, porous kind
employed in the buildings of the city.20 It was probably square, with its sides
facing the cardinal points.21 It was divided into five bodies or stories, each
one receding so as to be of smaller dimensions than that immediately below
it,— the usual form of the Aztec teocallis, as already described, and bearing
obvious resemblance to some of the primitive pyramidal structures in the Old
World.22 The ascent was by a flight of steps on the outside, which reached
to the narrow terrace or platform at the base of the second story, passing
quite round the building, when a second stairway conducted to a similar
landing at the base of the third. The breadth of this walk was just so
much space as was left by the retreating story next above it. From this
construction the visitor was obliged to pass round the whole edifice four
times in order to reach the top. This had a most imposing effect in the
religious ceremonials, when the pompous procession of priests with their wild
world,— in Constantinople and in Rome and ap. Ramusio, torn. iii. fol. 309.
through all Italy,— and who said that a 20 Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. ii. p.
market-place so large, so well ordered and 40.— On paving the square, not long ago,
regulated, and so filled with people, they had round the modern cathedral, there were found
never se#n." Hist, de la Conquista, loc. cit. large blocks of sculptured stone buried be-
17 Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. p. tween thirty and forty feet deep in the ground.
27. Ibid., loc. cit.
18 Ante, p. 39.— [A minute account of tbe -' Clavigero calls it oblong, on the alleged
site and extent of the ground covered by the authority of the "Anonymous Conqueror."
great temple is given by Alaman (Diserta- (Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. p. 27, nota.) But
ciones historicas, torn. ii. pp. 246-248). The the latter says not a word of the shape, and
Mexicans are largely indebted to this eminent his contemptible wood-cut is too plainly des-
scholar for his elaborate researches into the tituteofall proportion to furnish an inference
topography and antiquities of the Aztec of any kind. (Comp. Rel. d'un gentil' huomo,
capital.] ap. Kamusio, torn. iii. fol. 307.) 'forquemada
" " Et di piii v' hauea vna guarnigione di and Gomara both say it was square (Monarch,
dieci mila huomini di guerra, tutti eletti per Ind., lib. 8, cap. 11 ;— Cronica, cap. 80); and
buomini valenti, & questi accompagnauano & Toribio de Benavente, speaking generally of
guardauano la sua persona, & quando si facea tbe Mexican temples, says they bad that
qualche rumore 6 ribellione nella citta o nel form. Hist, de los Ind., MS., Parte 1, cap.
circumuicino, andauano questi, 6 parte 12.
<T essi per Capitani," Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, M See Appendix, Part 1.
276 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
minstrelsy came sweeping round the huge sides of the pyramid, as they rose
higher and higher, in the presence of gazing multitudes, towards the summit.
The dimensions of the temple cannot he given with any certainty. The
Conquerors judged by the eye, rarely troubling themselves with anything like
an accurate measurement. It was, probably, not much less than three hundred
feet square at the base ; 23 and, as the Spaniards counted a hundred and four-
teen steps, was, probably, less than one hundred feet in height.24
When Cortes arrived before the teocalli, he found two priests and several
caciques commissioned by Montezuma to save him the fatigue of the ascent by
bearing him on their shoulders, in the same manner as had been done to the
emperor. But the general declined the compliment, preferring to march up at
the head of his men. On reaching the summit, they found it a vast area,
paved with broad flat stones. The first object that met their view was a large
block of jasper, the peculiar shape of which showed it was the stone on which
the bodies of the unhappy victims were stretched for sacrifice. Its convex
surface, by raising the. breast, enabled the priest to perform his diabolical task
more easily, of removing the heart. At the other end of the area were two
towers or sanctuaries, consisting of three stories, the lower one of stone and
stucco, the two upper of wood elaborately carved. In the lower division stood
the images of their gods ; the apartments above were filled with utensils for
their religious services, and with the ashes of some of their Aztec princes, who
had fancied this airy sepulchre. Before each sanctuary stood an altar, with
that undying fire upon it, the extinction of which boded as much evil to the
empire as that of the Vestal flame would have done in ancient Rome. Here,
also, was the huge cylindrical drum made of serpents' skins, and struck only
on extraordinary occasions, when it sent forth a melancholy sound that might
be heard for miles, — a sound of woe in after-times to the Spaniards.
Montezuma, attended by the high-priest, came forward to receive Cortes as
he mounted the area. " You are weary, Malinche," said he to him, " with
climbing up our great temple." But Cortes, with a politic vaunt, assured him
" the Spaniards were never weary " ! Then, taking him by the hand, the
emperor pointed out the localities of the neighbourhood. The temple on which
they stood, rising high above all other edifices in the capital, afforded the most
elevated as well as central point of view. Below them, the city lay spread out
like a map, with its stre'ets and canals intersecting each other at right angles,
its terraced roofs blooming like so many parterres of flowers. Every place
seemed alive with business and bustle ; canoes were glancing up and down the
23 Clavigero, calling it oblong, adopts Tor- (Monarch. Ind., lib. 8, cap. 11.) How can
quemada'R estimate— not Sahagun's, as be M. de Humboldt speak of the "gteat con-
pretends, which he never saw, and who gives currence of testimony" in regard to the
no measurement, of the building — for the dimensions of the temple ? (Essai politique,
length, and Gomara's estimate, which is some- torn. ii. p. 41.) No two authorities agree,
what less, for the breadth. (Stor. del Mes- 24 Bernal Diaz says he counted one hundred
sico, torn. ii. p. 28, nota.) As both his and fourteen steps. (Hist, de la Conquista,
authorities make the building square, this cap. 92.) Toribio says that more than one
spirit of accommodation is whimsical enough. person who had numbered them told him
Toribio, who did measure a teocalli of the they exceeded a hundred. (Hist, de los In-
usual construction in the town of Tenayuca, dios, MS., Parte 1, cap. 12.) The steps could
found it to be forty brazas, or two hundred hardly have been less than eight or ten inches
and forty feet, square. (Hist, de los Ind., high, each; Clavigero assumes that they were
MS., Parte 1, cap. 12.) The great temple of a loot, and that the building, therefore, was a
Mexico was undoubtedly larger, and, in the hundred and fourteen feet high, precisely,
want of better authorities, one may accept (Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. pp. 28, 29.) It is
Torquemada, who makes it a little more than seldom safe to use anything stronger than,
three hundred and sixty Toledan, equal to probably in history,
three hundred and eight French feet, square.
GREAT! TEMPLE. 277
canals, the streets were crowded with people in their gay, picturesque costume,
while from the market place they had so lately left a confused hum of many
sounds and voices rose upon the air." They 'could distinctly trace the sym-
metrical plan of the city, with its principal avenues issuing, as it were, from
the four gates of the coatepanth and connecting themselves with the cause-
ways, which formed the grand entrances to the capital. This regular and
beautiful arrangement was imitated in many of the inferior towns, where the
great roads converged towards the chief teocalli, or cathedral, as to a common
focus.26 They could discern the insular position of the metropolis, bathed on
all sides by the salt floods of the Tezcuco. and in the distance the clear fresh
waters of the Chalco ; far beyond stretched a wide prospect of fields and waving
woods, with the burnished walls of many a lofty temple rising high above the
trees and crowning the distant hill tops.27 The view reached in an unbroken
line to the very base of the circular range of mountains, whose frosty peaks
glittered as if touched with fire in the morning ray ; while long, daik wreaths
of vapour, rolling up from the hoary head of Popocatepetl^ told that the
destroying element was, indeed, at work in the bosom of the beautiful Valley.
Cortes was filled with admiration at this grand and glorious spectacle, and
gave utterance to his feelings in animated language to the emperor, the lord
of these flourishing domains. His thoughts, however, soon took another
direction ; and, turning to Father Olmedo, who stood by his side, he suggested
that the area would atiord a most conspicuous position for the Christian Cross,
if Montezuma would but allow it to be planted there. But the discreet
ecclesiastic, with the good sense which on these occasions seems to have been
so lamentably deficient in his commander, reminded him that such a request,
at present, would be exceedingly ill timed, as the Indian monarch had shown
no dispositions as yet favourable to Christianity.28
Cortes then requested Montezuma to allow him to enter the sanctuaries and
behold the shrines of his gods. To this the latter, after a short conference
with the priests, assented, and conducted the Spaniards into the building.
They found themselves in a spacious apartment incrusted on the sides with
stucco, on which various figures Averc sculptured, representing the Mexican
calendar, perhaps, or the priestly ritual. At one end of the saloon was a
recess with a roof of timber richly carved and gilt. Before the altar in this
sanctuary stood the colossal image of Huitzilopochtli, the tutelary deity and
war-god of the Aztecs. His countenance was distorted into hideous linea-
ments of symbolical import. In his right hand he wielded a bow, and in hi.-s
left a bunch of golden arrows, which a mystic legend had connected with the
victories of his people. The huge folds of a serpent, consisting of pearls and
precious stones, were coiled round his waist, and the same rich materials were
"" "Tornamos a ver la gran placa, y la [Teucates] ya dicbos,sino queen cada pueblo,
multitud de gente que en ella auia, vnos en cada barrio, y & cuarto de legua, tenian
comprado, y otros vendiendo, que solamente otros patios pequenos adonde babia tres 6
el rumor, y zumbido de las vozes, y palabras cuatro teocallis, y en algunos may, en otras
que alii auia, sonauamas que de vna legua ! " partes solo uno, y en cada Mogote 6 Cerrejon
Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap 92. uno o dos, y por los caminos y entre los
3" "Y por bonrar mas sus templos sacaban Maizaics, babia otros ruuchos pequenos,
los caminos muy derecbos por cordel de una y todos estaban blancos y encalados, que pare-
y de dos leguas que era cosa barto de ver, cian y abultaban rnucbo, que en la tierra
desde lo Alto del principal templo, como bien poblada parecia que todo estaba lleno de
venian de todos los pueblos menoresy barrios; casas, en especial de los patios del Demonio,
salian los caminos muy derecbos y iban a dar que eran muy de ver." Toribio, Hist, de los
al patio de los teocallis." Toribio, Hist, de lndios, MS., ubi supra.
los lndios, MS., Parte 1, cap. 12. " Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, ubi
17 "No se contentaba el Demonio con los supra,
278 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
profusely sprinkled over his person. On his left foot were the delicate feathers
of the humming-bird, which, singularly enough, gave its name to the dread
deity.29 The most conspicuous ornament was a chain of gold and silver hearts
alternate, suspended round his neck, emhlematical of the sacrifice in which he
most delighted. A more unequivocal evidence of this was afforded by three
human hearts smoking and almost palpitating, as if recently torn from the
victims, and now lying on the altar before him !
The adjoining sanctuary was dedicated to a milder deity. This was Tez-
catlipoca, next in honour to that invisible Being, the Supreme God, who was
represented by no image and confined by no temple. It was Tezcatlipoca who
created the world and watched over it with a prqvidential care. He was
represented as a young man, and his image, of polished black stone, was richly
garnished with gold plates and ornaments, among which a shield burnished
like a mirror was the most characteristic emblem, as in it he saw reflected all
the doings of the worjd. But the homage to this god was not always of a
more refined or merciful character than that paid to his carnivorous brother ;
for five bleeding hearts were also seen in a golden platter on his altar.
The walls of both these chapels were stained with human gore. "The
stench was more intolerable," exclaims Diaz, " than that of the slaughter-
houses in Castile ! " And the frantic forms of the priests, with their dark
robes clotted with blood, as they flitted to and fro, seemed to the Spaniards to
be those of the very ministers of Satan ! 30
From this foul abode they gladly escaped into the open air ; when Cortes,
turning to Montezuma, said, with a smile, " I do not comprehend how a great
and wise prince, like you, can put faith in such evil spirits as these idols, the
representatives of tlie Devil ! If you will but permit us to erect here the
true Cross, and place the images of the blessed Virgin and her Son in your
sanctuaries, you will soon see how your false gods will shrink before them ! "
Montezuma was greatly shocked at this sacrilegious address. " These are
the gods," he answered, "who have led the Aztecs on to victory since they were
a nation, and who send the seedtime and harvest in their seasons. Had I
thought you would have offered them this outrage, I would not have admitted
you into their presence."
Cortes, after some expressions of concern at having wounded the feelings of
the emperor, took his leave. Montezuma remained, saying that he must
expiate, if possible, the crime of exposing the shrines of 'the divinities to such
profanation by the strangers.31
On descending to the court, the Spaniards took a leisurely survey of the
other edifices in the enclosure. The area was protected by a smooth stone
pavement, so polished, indeed, that it was with difficulty the horses could keep
their legs. There were several other teocallis, built generally on the model of
the great one, though of much inferior size, dedicated to the different Aztec
*" Avte, p. 28. examines Cortes' great letter to Charles V.
30 "Y tenia en las paredes tantas costra3 will be surprised to find it stated that, instead
de sangre, y el suelo todo banado dello, que of any acknowledgment to Montezuma, he
en los mataderos de Castilla no auia ;tanto threw down his idols and erected the Christian
hedor." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conqiusta, emblems in their stead. (Rel. Seg.,ap Loren-
ubi supra. — Rel. Seg de Cortes, ap. Loren- zana, p. 106.) This was an event of much
zana, pp. 105, 106.— Carta del Lie. Zuazo.MS. later date. The Conquistador wrote his de-
— See, also, for notices of these deities, Saha- spatches too rapidly and concisely to give
gun, lib. 3, cap. 1, et seq. — Torquemada, heed always to exact time and circumstance.
Monarch. Ind., lib. 6, cap. 20, 21.— Acosta, We are quite as likely to find them attended
lib. 5, cap. 9. to in the long-winded, gossiping,— inestimable
Sl Bernal Diaz, Ibid., ubi supra.— Whoever chronicle of Diaz.
INTERIOR SANCTUARIES. 270
deities.32 On their summits were the altars crowned with perpetual flames,
which, with those on the numerous temples in other quarters of the capital,
shed a brilliant illumination over its streets through the long nights.33
Among the teoccdlis in the enclosure was one consecrated to Quetzalcoatl,
circular in its form, and having an entrance in imitation of a dragon's mouth,
bristling with sharp fangs and dropping with blood. As the Spaniards cast a
furtive glance into the throat of this horrible monster, they saw collected
there implements of sacrifice and other abominations of fearful import. Their
bold hearts shuddered at the spectacle, and they designated the place not
inaptly as the "Hell.''3*
One other structure may be noticed as characteristic of the brutish nature
of their religion. This was a pyramidal mound or tumulus, having a compli-
cated frame-work of timber on its bread summit. On this was strung an
immense number of human skulls, which belonged to the victims, mostly
prisoners of war, who had perished on the accursed stone of sacrifice. Two of
the soldiers had the patience to count the number of these ghastly trophies,
and reported it to be one hundred and thirty-six thousand ! 35 Belief might
well be staggered, did not the Old World present a worthy counterpart in the
pyramidal Golgothas which commemorated the triumphs of Tamerlane.36
There were long ranges of buildings in the enclosure, appropriated as the
residence of the priests and others engaged in the offices of religion. The
whole number of them was said to amount to several thousand. Here were,
also, the principal seminaries for the instruction of youth of both sexes, drawn
chiefly from the higher and wealthier classes. The girls were taught by
elderly women who officiated as priestesses in the temples, a custom familiar,
also, to Egypt. The Spaniards admit that the greatest care for morals, and
the most blameless deportment, were maintained in these institutions. The
time of the pupils was chiefly occupied, as in most monastic establishments,
with the minute and burdensome ceremonial of their religion. The boys were
likewise taught such elements of science as were known to their teachers, and
"•■ "Quarenta torres muy altas y bien del verdadero infierno." Hist, de los Indios,
obradas." Rel.Seg.de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, SIS., Parte 1, cap. 4.
p. 105. '•''- Bernal Diaz, ubi supra.— " Andres de
*J " Delante de todos estos altares habia Tapia, que me lo dijo, i Gongalo de Umbria,
braceros quo toda la noche bardian, y en las las contaron vnDia, i hailaron ciento i treiula
salas tambien lenian sus fiiegos." Toribio, i seis mil Calaberas, en las Vigas, i Gradas."
Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 1, cap. 12. Gomara, Cronica, cap. 82.*
31 Bernal Diaz, Ibid., ubi supra.— Toribio, ' Three collections, tbus fancifully dis-
also, notices this temple with the same com- posed, of these grinning horrors — in all
plimentary epithet. " La boca hecha como 230,000 — are noticed by Gibbon ! (Decline
de infierno y en eila pintada la bocade una and Fall, ed. Milman, vol. i. p. 52; vol. xii.
temerosa Sierpe con terribles colmillos y p. 45.) A JSuropean scholar commends " the
dientes, y en algnnas de estas los colmillos conqueror's piety, his moderation, and his
eran de bulto, que verlo y entrar dentro ponia justice"! Rowe's Dedication of •• Tamer-
gran temor y grima, en especial el infierno lane."
que estaba en Mexico, que parecla traslado
. * [Gomara is so often accused of exaggeia- cabezas. sin las de las torres." (Icazbalceta,
tion and falsehood that it is satisfactory to Col. de Doc. para la Hist, de Mexico, torn,
find his exactness, in the present instance, iii.) The original of this "Relacion," re-
established by the evidence of Tapia himself, cently discovered, is in the library of the
who thus describes the manner i a which the Academy of History at Madrid. It is mi
estimate was made . " E quien esto escribe, y unfinished narrative, valuable as the produc-
un Gonzalo de Umbrea, contaron los palos tion of one of the chief companions of Cortes,
que habie, e multiplicand© a cinco cabezas and for the confirmation it affords of other
cada palo de los que entre viga y viga estaban, contemporaneous accounts of the Conquest.—
. . . hallamos haber ciento treinta y seis mill Ed. J
280 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
the girls initiated in the mysteries of embroidery and weaving, which they
employed in decorating the temples. At a suitable age they generally went
forth into the world to assume the occupations fitted to their condition, though
some remained permanently devoted to the services of religion.37
The spot was also covered by edifices of a still different character. There
were granaries filled with the rich produce of the church-lands and with the
first fruits and other offerings of the faithful. One large mansion was reserved
for strangers of eminence who were on a pilgrimage to the great teocalli.
The enclosure was ornamented with gardens, shaded by ancient trees and
watered by fountains and reservoirs from the copious streams of Chapoltepec.
The little community was thus provided with almost everything requisite for
its own maintenance and the services of the temple.38
It was a microcosm of itself, a city within a city, and, according to the
assertion of Cortes, embraced a tract of ground large enough for five hundred
houses.35' It presented in this brief compass the extremes of barbarism,
blended with a certain civilization, altogether characteristic of the Aztecs.
The rude Conquerors saw only the evidence of the former. In the fantastic
and symbolical features of the deities they beheld the literal lineaments of
Satan ; in the rites and frivolous ceremonial, his own especial code of dam-
nation ; and in the modest deportment and careful nurture of the inmates of
the seminaries, the snares by which he was to beguile his deluded victims ! 40
Before a century had elapsed, the descendants of these same Spaniards dis-
cerned in the mysteries of the Aztec religion the features, obscured and
defaced, indeed, of the Jewish and Christian revelations ! 4l Such were the
opposite conclusions of the unlettered soldier and of the scholar. A philo-
sopher, untouched by superstition, might well doubt which of the two was the
more extraordinary.
The sight of the Indian abominations seems to have kindled in the Spaniards
a livelier feeling for their own religion ; since on the following day they asked
leave of Montezuma to convert one of the halls in their residence into a chapel,
that they might celebrate the services of the Church there. The monarch, in
whose bosom the feelings of resentment seem to have soon subsided, easily
granted their request, and sent some of his own artisans to aid them in the
work.
While it was in progress, some of the Spaniards observed what appeared to
be a door recently plastered over. It was a common rumour that Montezuma
still kept the treasures of his father, King Axayacatl, in this ancient palace.
The Spaniards, acquainted with this fact, felt *no scruple in gratifying their
curiosity by removing the plaster. As was anticipated, it concealed a door.
On forcing this, they found the rumour was no exaggeration. They beheld a
large hair tilled with rich and beautiful stuffs, articles of curious workmanship
of various kinds, gold and silver in bars and in the ore, and many jewels of
value. It Avas the private hoard of Montezuma, the contributions, it may be,
37 Ante, pp. 3-1, 35.— The desire of present- 3J " Es tan grande que dentro del circuito
ing the reader with a complete view of the de ella, que es todo cercado de Muro muyalto,
actual state of the capital at the time of its se podia muy bien facer una Villa dequinien-
occupation by the Spaniards has led me in tos Vecinos." llel. Seg.,^ap. Lorenzana, p.
this and the preceding chapter into a few 105.
repetitions of remarks on the Aztec institu- 4° "Todas estas mugeres," says Father
tions in the Introductory Book of this History. Toribio, "estabanaqui sirviendo al demonio
•" Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte por sus propios intereses ; las mi as porque el
Leap. 12. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 80. — Rel. Demonio las hiciese modestas," etc. Hist.de
d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn, iii. los Indios, MS., Parte 1, cap. 9.
fol. 309. «• See Appendix, Part 1.
ANXIETY OF CORTES. 281
of tributary cities, and once the property of his father. " I was a young
man," says Diaz, who was one of those that obtained a sight of it, "and it
seemed to me as if all the riches of the world were in that room ! " 42 The
Spaniards, notwithstanding their elation at the discovery of this precious
deposit, seem to have felt some commendable scruples as to appropriating it
to their own use,— at least for the present. And Cortes, after closing up the
wall as it was before, gave strict injunctions that nothing should be said of
the matter, unwilling that the knowledge of its existence by his guests should
reach the ears of Montezuma.
Three days sufficed to complete the chapel ; and the Christians had the
satisfaction to see themselves in possession of a temple where they might
worship God in their own way, under the protection of the Cross and the
blessed Virgin. Mass was regularly performed by the fathers Olmedo and
Diaz, in the presence of the assembled army, who were most earnest and
exemplary in their devotions, partly, says the chronicler above quoted, from
the propriety of the thing, and partly for its edifying influence on the benighted
heathen.43
CHAPTER III.
ANXIETY OF CORTES— SEIZURE OF MONTEZUMA— HIS TREATMENT BY THE
SPANIARDS'— EXECUTION OP HIS OFFICERS — MONTEZUMA IN IRONS —
REFLECTIONS.
1519.
The Spaniards had been now a week in Mexico. During this time they had
experienced the most friendly treatment from the emperor. But the mind of
Cortes was far from easy. He felt that it was quite uncertain how long this
amiable temper would last. A hundred circumstances might occur to change
it. Montezuma might very naturally feel the maintenance of so large a body
too burdensome on his treasury. The people of the capital might become
dissatisfied at the presence of so numerous an armed force within their walls.
Many causes of disgust might arise betwixt the soldiers and the citizens.
Indeed, it was scarcely possible that a rude, licentious soldiery, like the
Spaniards, could be long kept in subjection without active employment.1 The
danger Avas even greater Avith the 'tlascalans, a fierce race now brought into
daily contact Avith the nation who held them in loathing and detestation.
Rumours Avere already rife among the allies, whether well founded or not,
of murmurs among the Mexicans, accompanied by menaces of raising the
bridges.2
42 "Y luego lo supfmos eutre todos los son to doubt the truth of these stories. " Se-
demas Capitanes, y soldados, y lo entramos t£ gun una carta original que tengo en mi poder
ver muy secretamente, y como yo lo vf, digo firniada de las tres cabezas de la Nueva-Es-
que me admire, e como en aquel tiempo era pana en donde escriben & la Mugestad del
mancebo, y no auia visto en mi vida riquezas Emperador Nuestro Senor (que Dios tenga en
como aquellas, tuue por cierto, que en el bu Santo Reyno) disculpan en ella a Motecuh-
mundo no deuiera auer otras tantas ! " Hist. zoma y a los Mexicanos de esto, y de lo denias
de la Conquista, cap. 93. que se les argullo, que lo cierto era que fue
43 Ibid., loc. cit. Invencion de los Tlascaltecas, y de algunos
1 "We Spaniards," says Cortds, frankly, de los Espanoles que veian la hora de salirse
"are apt to be somewbat unmanageable and de miedo de la Ciudad, y poner en cobro in-
troublesome." Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, numerables riquezas que babian venido a sus,
p. 84. manos." Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS.,
2 Gomara, Cronica, cap. 83. There is rea- cap. 85.
282 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
Even should the Spaniards be allowed to occupy their present quarters
unmolested, it was not advancing the great object of the expedition. Corses
was not a wffit nearer gaining the capital, so essential to Ins meditated subju-
gation of the country ; and any day he might receive tidings that the crown,
or, what he most feared, the governor of Cuba, had sent a force of superior
strength to wrest from him a conquest but half achieved. Disturbed by these
anxious reflections, he resolved to extricate himself from his embarrassment
by one bold stroke. But he first submitted the affair to a council of the
officers in whom he most confided, desirous to divide with them the responsi-
bility of the act, and, no doubt, to interest them more heartily in its execution
by making it in some measure the result of their combined judgments.
When the general had briefly stated the embarrassments of their position,
the council was divided in opinion. . All admitted the necessity of some instant
action. One party were for retiring secretly from the city, and getting beyond
the causeways before their march could be intercepted. Another advised
that it should be done openly, with the knowledge of the emperor, of whose
good will they had had so many proofs. But both these measures seemed
alike impolitic. A retreat under these circumstances, and so abruptly made,
would have the air of a flight. It would be construed into distrust of them-
selves ; and, anything like timidity on their part would be sure not only to
bring on them the Mexicans, but the contempt of their allies, who would,
doubtless, join in the general cry.
As to Montezuma, what reliance could they place on the protection of a
prince so recently their enemy, and who, in his altered bearing, must have
taken counsel of his fears rather than his inclinations ?
Even should they succeed in reaching the coast, their situation would be
little better. It would be proclaiming to the world that, after all their lofty
vaunts, they were unequal to the enterprise. Their only hopes of their sove-
reign's favour, and of pardon for their irregular proceedings, were founded on
success. Hitherto, they had only made the discovery of Mexico ; to retreat
would be to leave conquest and the fruits of it to another. In short, to stay
and to retreat seemed equally disastrous.
In this perplexity, Cortes proposed an expedient which none but the most
daring spirit, in the most desperate extremity, would have conceived. This
was to march to the royal palace and bring Montezuma to the Spanish quarters,
by fair means if they could persuade him, by force if necessary, — at all events,
to get possession of his person. With such a pledge, the Spaniards would be
secure from the assault of the Mexicans, afraid by acts of violence to com-
promise the safety of their prince. If he came by his own consent, they
would be deprived of all apology for doing so. As long as the emperor
remained among the Spaniards, it would be easy, by allowing him a show of
sovereignty, to rule in his name, until they had taken measures for securing
their safety and the success of their enterprise. The idea of employing a
sovereign as a tool for the government of his own kingdom, if a new one in
the age of Cortes, is certainly not so in ours.3
3 Rel. Seg. de CortSs, ap. Lorenzana, p. 84. tion. (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 93.) Thia
— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 85. — is contrary to the character of Cortes, who was
P. Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3. — a man to lead, not to be led, on such occa-
Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 6. sions. It is contrary to the general report of
— Bernal Diaz gives a very different report of historians, though these, it must be confessed,
this matter. According to him, a number are mainly built on the general's narrative,
of officers and soldiers, of whom he was one, It is contrary to anterior probability ; since,
suggested the capture of Montezuma to the if the conception seems almost too desperate
general, who came into the plan with hesita- to have seriously entered into the head of any
SEIZURE OF MONTEZUMA. 283
A plausible pretext for the seizure of the hospitable monarch— for the mast
barefaced action seeks to veil itself under some show of decency — was afforded
by a circumstance of which Cortes had received intelligence at (Blolula.4 He
had left, as we have seen, a faithful officer, Juan de Escalante, with a
hundred and fifty men, in garrison at Vera Cruz, on his departure for the
•capital. He had not been long absent when his lieutenant received a message
from an Aztec chief named Quauhpopoca, governor of a district to the north
of the Spanish settlement, declaring his desire to come in person and tender
his allegiance to the Spanish authorities at Vera Cruz. He requested that
four of the white men might be sent to protect him against certain unfriendly
tribes through which his road lay. This was not an uncommon request, and
excited no suspicion in Escalante. The four soldiers were sent ; and on their
arrival two of them were murdered by the false Aztec. The other two made
their way back to the garrison.5
The commander inarched at once, with fifty of his men, and several thousand
Indian allies, to take vengeance on the cacique. A pitched battle followed.
The allies tied from the redoubted Mexicans. The few Spaniards stood firm,
and with the aid of their fire-arms and the blessed Virgin, who was distinctly
seen hovering over their ranks in the van, they made good the field against
the enemy. It cost them dear, however ; since seven or eight Christians were
slain, and among them the gallant Escalante himself, who died of his injuries
soon after his return to the fort. The Indian prisoners captured in the battle
spoke of the whole proceeding as having taken place at the instigation of
Montezuma.0
One of the Spaniards fell into the hands of the natives, but soon after
perished of his wounds. His head was cut off and sent to the Aztec emperor.
It was uncommonly large and covered with hair ; and, as Montezuma gazed
on the ferocious features, rendered more horrible by death, he seemed to read
in them the dark lineaments of the destined destroyers of his house. He
turned from it with a shudder, and commanded that it should be taken from
the city, and not offered at the shrine of any of his gods.
Although Cortes had received intelligence of this disaster at Cholula, he had
concealed it within his own breast, or communicated it to very few only of his
most trusty officers, from apprehension of the ill effect it might have on the
spirits of the common soldiers.
one man, how much more improbable is it Escalante, interfering to protect his allies,
that it should have originated with a number ! now subjects of Spain, was slain in an action
Lastly, it is contrary to the positive written with the enemy. (Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
statement of Cortes to the emperor, publicly 93.) Cortes had the best means of knowing
known and circulated, confirmed in print by the facts, and wrote at the time. He does not
his chaplain, Gomara, and all this when the usually shrink from avowing his policy, how-
thing was fresh and when the parties inte- ever severe, towards the natives ; and I have
rested were alive to contradict it. We cannot thought it fair to give him the benefit of his
but think that the captain here, as in the case own version of the story,
of the burning of the ships, assumes rather 6 Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33,
more for himself and his comrades than the cap. 5.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana,
facts will strictly warrant ; an oversight for pp. 83, 84. — The apparition of the Virgin was
which- the lapse of half a century— to say seen only by the Aztecs, who, it is true, had
nothing of his avowed anxiety to show up the to make out the best case for their defeat
claims of the latter — may furnish some they could to Montezuma ; a suspicious cir-
apology. cumstance, which, however, did not stagger
* Even Gomara has the candour to style it the Spaniards. " Assuredly all of us soldiers
a " pretext,'' — achaque. Cronica, cap. 83. who accompanied Cortes held the belief that
5 Bernal Diaz states the affair, also, diffe- the divine mercy and Our Lady the Virgin
rently. According to him, the Aztec go- Mary were always with us, and this was the
vernor was enforcing the payment of the truth." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista*
customaryjribute from the Totonacs, when cap. 94.
284 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
The cavaliers whom Cortes now summoned to the council were men of the
same mettle T|ith their leader. Their bold, chivalrous spirits seemed to court
danger for its own sake. If one or two, less adventurous, were startled by
the proposal he made, they were soon overruled by the others, who, no doubt,
considered that a desperate disease required as desperate a remedy.
That night Cortes was heard pacing his apartment to and fro, like a man
oppressed by thought or agitated by strong emotion. He may have been
ripening in his mind the daring scheme for the morrow.7 In the morning the
soldiers heard mass as usual, and Father Olmedo invoked the blessing of
Heaven on their hazardous enterprise. Whatever might be the cause in
which he was embarked, the heart of the Spaniard was cheered with the
conviction that the saints were on his side ! 8
Having asked an audience from Montezuma, which was readily granted,
the general made the neceesary arrangements for his enterprise. The prin-
cipal part of his force was drawn up in the court-yard, and he stationed a
considerable detachment in the avenues leading to the palace, to check any
attempt at rescue by the populace. He ordered twenty-five or thirty of the
soldiers to drop in at the palace, as if by accident, in groups of three or four
at a time, while the conference was going on with Montezuma. He selected
five cavaliers, in whose courage and coolness he placed most trust, to bear him
company ; Pedro de Alvarado, Gonzalo de Sandoval, Francisco de Lujo,
Velasquez de Leon, and Alonso de Avila, — brilliant names in the annals of
the Conquest. All were clad, as well as the common soldiers, in complete
armour, a circumstance of too familiar occurrence to excite suspicion.
The little party were graciously received by the emperor, who soon, with
the aid of the interpreters, became interested in a sportive conversation with
the Spaniards, while he indulged his natural munificence by giving them
presents of gold and jewels. He paid the Spanish general the particular
compliment of offering him one of his daughters as his wife ; an honour which
the latter respectfully declined, on the ground that he was already accommo-
dated with one in Cuba, and that his religion forbade a plurality.
When Corte's perceived that a sufficient number of his soldiers were assem-
bled, he changed his playful manner, and in a serious tone briefly acquainted
Montezuma with the treacherous proceedings in the tierra caliente, and the
accusation of him as their author. The emperor listened to the charge with
.surprise, and disavowed the act, which he said could only have been imputed
to him by his enemies. Cortes expressed his belief in his declaration, but
added that, to prove it true, it would be necessary to send for Quauhpopoca
and his accomplices, that they might be examined and dealt with according to
their deserts. To this Montezuma made no objection. Taking from his
wrist, to which it was attached, a precious stone, the royal signet, on which
was cut the figure of the War-god,9 he gave it to one of his nobles, with orders
to show it to the Aztec governor, and require his instant presence in the
capital, together with all those who had been accessory to the murder of the
Spaniards. If he resisted, the officer was empowered to call in the aid of the
neighbouring towns to enforce the mandate.
7 "Paseose vn gran rato solo, i cuidadoso contribute to his holy service." Hist, de la
de aquel gran hecho, que eruprendia, i que Conquista, cap. 95.
aim a el niesmo le parecia temerario, pero 3 According to Ixtlilxochitl, it was his own
necesario para su intento, andando." Go- portrait. " Se quito del brazo una rica piedra,
mara, Cronica, cap. 83. donde esta esculpido su rostro (que era lo
8 Diaz says, " All that night we spent in rnismo que un sello Real "). Hist. Chich.,
prayer, beseeching the Father of Mercies that MS., cap. 85.
he would so direct the matter that it should
SEIZURE OF MONTEZUMA. 285
When the messenger had gone, Cortes assured the monarch that this prompt
compliance with his request convinced him of his innocence. But it was
important that his own sovereign should be equally convinced of it. Nothing
would promote this so much as for Montezuma to transfer his residence to the
palace occupied by the Spaniards, till on the arrival of Quauhpopoca the
affair could be fully investigated. Such an act of condescension would, of
itself, show a personal regard for the Spaniards, incompatible with the base
conduct alleged against him, and would fully absolve him from all suspicion ! 10
Montezuma listened to this proposal, and the flimsy reasoning with which
it was covered, with looks of profound amazement. He became pale as death ;
but in a moment his face flushed with resentment, as, with the pride of
offended dignity, he exclaimed, " When was it ever heard that a great prince,
like myself, voluntarily left his own palace to become a prisoner in the hands
of strangers ! "
Cortes assured him he would not go as a prisoner. He would experience
nothing but respectful treatment from the Spaniards, would be surrounded
by his own household, and hold intercourse with his people as usual. In
short, it would be but a change of residence, from one of his palaces to
another, a circumstance of frequent occurrence with him. It was in vain.
"If I should consent to such a degradation," he answered, "my subjects
never would ! " u When further Dressed, he offered to give up one of his sons
and two of his daughters to remain as hostages with the Spaniards, so that
he might be spared this disgrace.
Two hours passed in this fruitless discussion, till a high-mettled cavalier,
Velasquez de Leon, impatient of the long delay, and seeing that the attempt,
if not the deed, must ruin them, cried out, " Why do we waste words on this
barbarian ? We have gone too far to recede now. Let us seize him, and, if
he resists, plunge our swords into his body ! " 12 The fierce tone and menacing
gestures with which this was uttered alarmed the monarch, who inquired of
Marina what the angry Spaniard said. The interpreter explained it in as
gentle a manner as she could, beseeching him " to accompany the white men
to their quarters, where he would be treated with all respect and kindness,
while to refuse them would but expose himself to violence, perhaps to death."
Marina, doubtless, spoke to her sovereign as she thought, and no one had
'better opportunity of knowing the truth than herself.
This last appeal shook the resolution of Montezuma. It was in vain that
•the unhappy prince looked around for sympathy or support. As his eyes
wandered over the stern visages and iron forms of the Spaniards, he felt that
ihis hour was indeed come ; and, with a voice scarcely audible from emotion,
he consented to accompany the strangers,— to quit the palace, whither he was
never more to return. Had he possessed the spirit of the first Montezuma,
he would have called his guards around him, and left his life-blood on the
threshold, sooner than have been dragged a dishonoured captive across it.
But his courage sank under circumstances. He felt he was the instrument of
an irresistible Fate ! 13
10 Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. que mas vale que desta vez asseguremos
86. nuestras vidas, 6 las perdamos." Bernal
11 "Quando Io lo consintiera, los mios no Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 95.
pasarian por ello." Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., 13 Oviedo has some doubts whether Monte-
MS., cap. 85. zuma's conduct is to be viewed as pusillani-
12 ";Que haze v. m. ya con tantas pala- mous or as prudent. " Al coronista le parece,
bras ? 0 le lleuemos preso, 6 le daremos de Begun lo que se puede colegir de esta materia,
estocadas, por esso tornadle a" dezir, que si da que Montezuma era, 6 mui falto de ammo, 6
vozes, 6 haze alboroto, que le matareis, por- pusilanimo, 6 mui prudente, aunque en
286 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
No sooner had the Spaniards got his consent, than orders were given foi
the royal litter. The nobles who bore and attended it could scarcely believe
'their senses when they learned their master's purpose. But pride now came
to Montezuma's aid, and, since he must go, he preferred that it should appear
to be with his own tree will. As the royal retinue, escorted by the Spaniards,
marched through the street with downcast eyes and dejected mien, the people
assembled in crowds, and a rumour ran among them that the emperor was
carried off by force to the quarters of the white men. A tumult would have
soon arisen but for the intervention of Montezuma himself, who called out to the
Eeople to disperse, as he was visiting his friends of his own accord ; thus sealing
is ignominy by a declaration which deprived his subjects of the only excuse
for resistance. On reaching the quarters, he sent out his nobles with similar
assurances to the mob, and renewed orders to return to their homes.1*
He was received with ostentatious respect by the Spaniards, and selected
the suite of apartments which best pleased him. They were soon furnished
with fine cotton tapestries, feather-work, and all the elegancies of Indian
upholstery. He was attended by such of his household as he chose, his wives
and his pages, and was served with his usual pomp and luxury at his meals.*
He gave audience, as in his own palace, to his subjects, who were admitted to
his presence, few, indeed, at a time, under the pretext of greater order and
decorum. From the Spaniards themselves he met with a formal deference.
No one, not even the general himself, approached him without doffing his
casque and rendering the obeisance due to his rank. Nor did they ever sit in
his presence, without being invited by him to do so.15
With all this studied ceremony and show of homage, there was one circum-
stance which too clearly proclaimed to his people that their 'sovereign was a
prisoner. In the front of the palace a patrol of "sixty men was established,
and the same number in the rear. Twenty of each corps mounted guard at
once, maintaining a careful watch, day and night.10 Another body, under
command of Velasquez de Leon, was stationed in the royal antechamber.
Cortes punished any departure from duty, or relaxation of vigilance, in these
sentinels, with the utmost severity.17 He felt, as indeed every Spaniard must
muchas cosas, los que le vieron lo loan de cap. 83, — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 8,
mui sefior y mui liberal ; y en sus razonami- cap. 2, 3, — Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5,
entos rnostraba ser de buen juicio." He cap. 3.
strikes the balance, however, in favour of ls "Siempre que ante el .passauamos, y
pusillanimity. " Un Principe tan grande aunque fuessc Cortes, le quitauamos los
como Montezuma no se habia de dexar in- bonetes de armas 6 cascos, que siempre es-
currir en tales terminos, ni consentir ser tauamos armados, y el nos hazia gran mesura,
detenido de tan poco niimero de Espanoles, ni y honra & todos. . . . Digo que no se sentauan
de otra generacion alguna ; mas como Dios Cortes, ni ningun Capitan, hasta que el Mon-
tiene ordenado lo que ha de ser, ninguno tecuma les mandaua dar sus assentaderos ricos,
puede huir de su juicio." Hist, de las Ind., y les mandaua assentar." Bernal Diaz, Hist.
MS., lib. 33, cap. 6. ■ de la Conquista, cap. 95, 100.
14 The story of the seizure of Montezuma l6 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 8,
may be found, with the usual discrepancies cap. 3.
in the details, in Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. 17 On one occasion, three soldiers, who left
Lorenzana, pp. 84-86, — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de their posts without orders, were sentenced to
la Conquista, cap. 95, — Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. run the gauntlet, — a punishment little short
Chich., MS., cap. 85,— Oviedo, Hist, de las of death. Ibid., ubi supra.
Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 6,— Gomara, Cronica,
* [According to Tapia, his servants brought lumbre; . . . siempre le traian platos nuevos
him at each meal more than four hundred en que comie, e jamas comie en cada plato
dishes of meat, game, and fish, intermingled mas de una vez, ni se vistie ropa mas de una
with vegetables and fruits : " e debajo de cada vez ; 6 lavibase el cuerpo cada dia dos veces."
plato de los que a" sus servidores les parecie Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc. para la Hist, do
que 61 comerie, v«nia un braserico con Mexico, torn. ii. — Ei>.]
HIS TREATMENT BY THE SPANIARDS. 287
have felt, that the escape of the emperor now would be their ruin. Yet the
task of this unintermittmg watch sorely added to their fatigues. " Better this
dog of a king should die," cried a soldier one day, " than that we should wear
out our lives in this manner." The words were uttered in the hearing of
Montezuma, who gathered something of their import, and the offender was
severely chastised by order of the general.18 Such instances of disrespect,
however, were very rare. Indeed, the amiable deportment of the monarch,
who seemed to take pleasure in the society of nis jailers, and who never
allowed a favour or attention from the meanest soldier to go unrequited,
inspired the Spaniards with as much attachment as they were capable of
feeling — for a barbarian.19
Things were in this posture, when the arrival of Quauhpopoca from the
coast was announced. He was accompanied by his son and fifteen Aztec
chiefs. He had travelled all the way, borne, as became his high rank, in a
litter. On entering Montezuma's presence, he threw over his dress the coarse
robe of ?iequen, and made the usual humiliating acts of obeisance. The poor
parade of courtly ceremony was the more striking when placed in contrast Avith
the actual condition of the parties.
The Aztec governor was coldly received by his master, who referred the
affair (had he the power to do otherwise ?) to the examination of Cortes. It
was, doubtless, conducted in a sufficiently summary manner. To the general's
query, whether the cacique was the subject of Montezuma, he replied, "And
what other sovereign could I serve ? " implying that his sway was universal.20
He did not deny his share in the transaction, nor did he seek to shelter him-
self under the royal authority till sentence of death was passed on him and his
followers, when they all laid the blame of their proceedings on Montezuma.21
They were condemned to be burnt alive in the area before the palace. The
funeral piles were made of heaps of arrows, javelins, and other weapons,
drawn by the emperor's permission from the arsenals round the great teocalli,
where they had been stored to supply means of defence in times of civic
18 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. occupied by the semi-civilized races of China
97. and Hindustan. But there is another side of
19 [The patriotic sensibilities of Senor the picture, not presented by the Eastern
Ramirez are somewhat disturbed by my ap- nations, in those loathsome abominations
plication of the term barbarians to his Aztec which degraded the Aztec character to a level
countrymen.* This word, with the corre- with the lowest stages of humanity, and
sponding epithet of savages, forms the key, makes even the term barbarian inadequate
he seems to think, to my descriptions of the to express the ferocity of his nature.]
ancient Mexicans. "Regarded from this E0 "Y despues que confesaron haber mu-
point of view," he sajTs, " the astounding ex- erto los Espanoles, les hice interrogar si
amples of heroism and self-devotion so rarely ellos eran Vasallos de Muteczuma ? Y cl
met with in the history of the world are dicho Qualpopoca respondio, que si habia otro
iuterpreted not as a voluntary sacrifice in- Bonor, de quien pudiesse serlo ? casi diciendo,
spired by the holy love of country and of que no habia otro, y que si eran." Kel. Seg.
freedom, but as the effect of a brutish hatred de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 87.
and stupid ferocity." There may be some •' " E as^mismo les pregunte, 6i lo que
foundation for these strictures, though some- alii se habia hecho si habia sido por su man-
what too highly coloured. And one cannot dado ? y dijeron que no, aunque despues, al
deny that, as he reflects on the progress made tiempo que en ellos se executo la sentencia,
by the Aztecs in the knowledge of the useful que fuessen quemados, todos £ una voz
arts, and, indeed, to a certain extent, of dijeron, que era verdad que el dicho Mutec-
science, he must admit their claim to a higher zuina se lo habia embiado & mandar, y que
place in the scale of civilization than that por su mandado lo habian hecho." Rel. Seg.
occupied by barbarians,— to one, in truth, de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, loc. cit.
* [This sensibility is the more natural that a fact which may also account for his rigorous
Senor Ramirez claims descent not from the judgments on the acts and character of Cortes.
conquering but from the conquered race, — — Ed.]
288 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
tumult or insurrection. By this politic precaution Cortes proposed to remove
a ready means of annoyance in case of hostilities with the citizens.
To crown the whole of these extraordinary proceedings, Cortes, while prepa-
rations for the execution were going on, entered the emperor's apartment,
attended by a soldier bearing fetters in his hands. With a severe aspect, he
charged the monarch with being the original contriver of the violence offered
to the Spaniards, as was now proved by trie declaration of his own instruments.
Such a crime, which merited death in a subject, could not be atoned for, even
by a sovereign, without some punishment. So saying, he ordered the soldier
to fasten the fetters on Montezuma's ankles. He coolly waited till it was done,
then, turning his back on the monarch, quitted the room.
Montezuma was speechless under the infliction of this last insult. He was
like one struck down by a heavy blow, that deprives him of all his faculties.
He offered no resistance. But, though he spoke not a word, low, ill-suppressed
moans, from time to time, intimated the anguish of his spirit. His attendants,
bathed in tears, offered him their consolations. They tenderly held his feet
in their arms, and endeavoured, by inserting their shawls and mantles, to
relieve them from the pressure of the iron. But they could not reach the
iron which had penetrated into his soul. He felt that he was no more a
king.
Meanwhile, the execution of the dreadful doom was going forward in the
court-yard. The whole Spanish force was under arms, to check any interrup-
tion that might be offered by the Mexicans. But none was attempted. The
populace gazed in silent wonder, regarding it as the sentence of the emperor.
The manner of the execution, too, excited less surprise, from their familiarity
with similar spectacles, aggravated, indeed, by additional horrors, in their own
diabolical sacrifices. The Aztec lord and his companions, bound hand and
foot to the blazing piles, submitted without a cry or a complaint to their
terrible fate. Passive fortitude is the virtue of the Indian warrior ; and it
was the glory of the Aztec, as of the other races on the North American con-
tinent, to show how the spirit of the brave man may triumph over torture and
the agonies of death.
When the dismal tragedy was ended, Cortes re-entered Montezuma's
apartment. Kneeling down, he unclasped his shackles with his own hand,
expressing at the same time his regret that so disagreeable a duty as that of
subjecting him to such a punishment had been imposed on him. This last
indignity had entirely crushed the spirit of Montezuma ; and the monarch
whose frown, but a week since, would have made the nations of Anahuac
tremble to their remotest borders, was now craven enough to thank his deliverer
for his freedom, as for a great and unmerited boon ! 22
Not long after, the Spanish general, conceiving that his royal captive was
sufficiently humbled, expressed his willingness that he should return, if he
inclined, to his own palace. Montezuma declined it ; alleging, it is said, that
his nobles had more than once importuned him to resent his injuries by taking
arms against the Spaniards, and that, were he in the midst of them, it would
be difficult to avoid it, or to save his capital from bloodshed and anarchy.2*
22 Gomara, Cronica, cap. 89.— Oviedo, Hist. plorare. Hie vero poenam se meruisse fassus
de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 6. — Bernal Diaz, est, vti agnus mitis. jEquo animo patl vide-
Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 95. — One may tur has regulas grammaticalibus duriores,
doubt whether pity or contempt predominates imberbibus pueris dictatas, omnia placide fert,
in Martyr's notice of this event. "Infelix ne seditio ciuium et procerum oriatur." De
tunc Muteczuma re adeo noua perculsus, for- Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3.
midine repletur, decidit animo, neque iam M Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p.
erigere caput audet, aut suorum auxilia im- 18.
REFLECTIONS. 289
The reason did honour to his heart, if it was the one which influenced him.
It is probable that he did not care to trust his safety to those haughty and
ferocious chieftains, who had witnessed the degradation of their master, and
must despise his pusillanimity, as a thing unprecedented in an Aztec monarch.
It is also said that, when Marina conveyed to him the permission of Cortes,
the other interpreter, Aguilar, gave him to understand the Spanish officers
never would consent that he should avail himself of it.24
Whatever were his reasons, it is certain that he declined the offer ; and the
general, in a well-feigned or real ecstasy, embraced him, declaring "that he
loved him as a brother, and that every Spaniard would be zealously devoted
to his interests, since he had shown himself so mindful of theirs ! " Honeyed
words, " which," says the shrewd old chronicler who was present, "Montezuma
was wise enough to know the worth of."
The events recorded in this chapter are certainly some of the most extra-
ordinary on the page of history. That a small body of men, like the Spaniards,
should have entered the palace of a mighty prince, have seized his person in
the midst of his vassals, have borne him oft' a captive to their quarters, — that
they should have put to an ignominious death before his face his high officers,
for executing, probably, his own commands, and have crowned the whole by
putting the monarch in irons like a common malefactor,— that this should have
been done, not to a drivelling dotard in the decay of Ins fortunes, but to a
proud monarch in the plenitude of his power, in the very heart of his capital,
surrounded by thousands and tens of thousands, who trembled at his nod and
would have poured out their blood like water in his defence, — that all this
should have been done by a mere handful of adventurers, is a thing too ex-
travagant, altogether too' improbable, for the pages of romance ! It is, never-
theless, literally true. Yet we shall not be prepared to acquiesce in the
judgments of contemporaries who regarded these acts with admiration. We
may well distrust any grounds on which it is attempted to justify the kid-
napping of a friendly sovereign, — by those very persons, too, who were reaping
the full benefit of his favours.
To view the matter differently, we must take the position of the Conquerors
and assume with them the original right of conquest. Regarded from this
point of view, many difficulties vanish. If conquest were a duty, whatever
was necessary to effect it was right also. Right and expedient become con-
vertible terms. And jt can hardly be denied that the capture of the monarch
was expedient, if the Spaniards would maintain their hold on the empire.25
The execution of the Aztec governor suggests other considerations. If he
were really guilty of the perfidious act imputed to him by Cortes, and it
Montezuma disavowed it, the governor deserved death, and the general was
justified by the law of nations in inflicting it.28 It is by no means so clear,
however, Avhy he should have involved so many in this sentence ; most, per-
haps all, of whom must have acted under his authority. The cruel manner
of the death will less startle those who are familiar with the established penal
codes in most civilized nations in the sixteenth century.
!1 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, ub' el Emperador se aseguraba a si mismo, puea
Bupra. los Espanoles no se confian ligeramente :
28 Archbishop Lorenzana, as late as the Jonathas fue muerto, y sorprendido por ha-
elose of the last century, finds good Scripture berse confiado de Triphon." Rel. Seg. de
warrant for the proceeding of the Spaniards. Cortes, p. 84, nota.
" Fue grande prudencia, y Arte militar hafjer 26 See Puffendorf, De Jure Naturae et Gen-
asegurado & el Emperador, porque sino que- tium, lib. 8, cap. 6, sec. 10.— Vattel, Law of
da bap expuestos Hernan Cortes, y sus solda- Nations, book 3, cap. 8, sec. 141,
dos u perccor ii traycion, y teniendo seguro ti
290 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
But, if the governor deserved death, what pretence was there for the outrage
on the person of Montezuma ? If the former was guilty, the latter surely was
not. But, if the cacique only acted in obedience to orders, the responsibility
was transferred to the sovereign who gave the orders. They could not bot
stand in the same category.
It is vain, however, to reason on the matter on any abstract principles
right and wrong, or to suppose that the Conquerors troubled themselves wit
the refinements of casuistry. Their standard of right and wrong, in referenc
to the natives, was a very simple one. Despising them as an outlawed raci
without God in the world, they, in common with their age, held it to be thei
" mission " (to borrow the cant phrase of our own day) to conquer and to conver
The measures they adopted certainly facilitated the first great work of cor
quest. By the execution of the caciques they struck terror not only into the
capital, but throughout the country. It proclaimed that not a hair of a
Spaniard was to be touched with impunity ! By rendering Montezuma con-
temptible in his own eyes and those of his subjects, Corte's deprived him of
the support of his people and forced him to lean on the arm of the stranger.
It was a politic proceeding,— to which few men could have been equal who had
a touch of humanity in their natures.
A good criterion of the moral sense of the actors in these events is afforded
by the reflections of Bernal Diaz, made some fifty years, it will be remembered,
after the events themselves, when the fire of youth had become extinct, and
the eye, glancing back through the vista of half a century, might be supposed
to be unclouded by the passions and prejudices which throw their mist over the
present. " Now that I am an old man, says the veteran, " I often entertain
myself with calling to mind the heroical deeds of early days, till they are as
fresh as the events of yesterday. I think of the seizure of the Indian monarch,
his confinement in irons, and the execution of his officers, till all these things
seem actually passing before me. And, as I ponder on our exploits, I feel that
it was not of ourselves that we performed them, but that it was the providence
of God which guided us. Much food is there here for meditation ! " 27 There
is so, indeed, and for a meditation not unpleasing, as we reflect on the advance,
in speculative morality at least, which the nineteenth century has made over
the sixteenth. But should not the consciousness of this teach us charity?
Should it not make us the more distrustful of applying the standard of the
present to measure the actions of the past 1
CHAPTER IV.
[IS LIFE IN THE SP
INSURRECTION— LORD OF TEZCUCO SEIZED— FURTHER MEASURES OF CORTES.
1520.
The settlement of La Villa Rica de Vera Cruz was of the last importance to
the Spaniards. It was the port by which they were to communicate with
27 " Osar quemar sus Capitanes delante de me pafece las veo presentes : Y digo que
sus Palacios, y ecballe grillos entre tanto que nuestros hechos, que no los haziamos noso-
se hazia la Justicia, que muchas vezes aora tros, sino que venian todos encaminados por
que soy viejo me paro a* considerar las cosas Dios. . . . Porque ay mucho que ponderar
herolcas que en aquel tiempo passumos, quo en ello." Hist, de la Conrjuista, cap. 95.
MONTEZUMA'S DEPORTMENT. 291
Spain ; the strong post on which they were to retreat in case of disaster, and
which was to bridle their enemies and give security to their allies ; the point
(Vcqrpui for all their operations in the country. It was of great moment,
therefore, that the care of it should be intrusted to proper hands.
A cavalier, named Alonso de Grado, had been sent by Cortes to take the
place made vacant by the death of Escalante. He was a person of greater
repute in civil than military matters, and would be more likely, it was thought,
to maintain peaceful relations with the natives than a person of more bellige-
rent spirit. Cortes made — what was rare with him— a bad choice. He soon
received such accounts of troubles in the settlement from the exactions and
negligence of the new governor, that he resolved to supersede him.
He now gave the command to Gonsalo de Sandoval, a young cavalier, who
had displayed, through the whole campaign, singular intrepidity united with
sagacity and discretion ; while the good humour with which he bore every
privation, and his affable manners, made him a favourite with all, privates as
well as officers. Sandoval accordingly left the camp for the coast, Cortes did
not mistake his man a second time.
Notwithstanding the actual control exercised by the Spaniards through
their royal captive, Cortes felt some uneasiness when he reflected that it was
in the power of the Indians at any time to cut off his communications with the
surrounding country and hold him a prisoner in the capital. He proposed,
therefore, to build two vessels of sufficient size to transport his forces across
the lake, and thus to render himself independent of the causeways. Monte-
zuma was pleased with the idea of seeing those wonderful " water-houses," of
which he had heard so much, and readily gave permission to have the timber
in the royal forests felled for the purpose. The work was placed under the
direction of Martin Lopez, an experienced ship-builder. Orders were also
given to Sandoval to send up from the coast a supply of cordage, sails, iron,
and other necessary materials, which had been judiciously saved on the
destruction of the fleet.1
The Aztec emperor, meanwhile, was passing his days in the Spanish
quarters in no very different manner from what he had been accustomed to in
nis own palace. His keepers were too well aware of the value of their prize,
not to do everything which could make his captivity comfortable and disguise
it from himself. But the chain will gall, though wreathed with roses. After
Montezuma's breakfast, which was a light meal of fruits or vegetables, Cortes
or some of his officers usually waited on him, to learn if he had any commands
for them. He then devoted some time to business. He gave audience to
those of his subjects who had petitions to prefer or suits to settle. The
statement of the party was drawn up on the hieroglyphic scrolls, which were
submitted to a number of counsellors or judges, who assisted him with their
advice on these occasions. Envoys from foreign states or his own remote
provinces and cities were also admitted, and the Spaniards were careful that
the same precise and punctilious etiquette should be maintained towards the
royal puppet as when in the plenitude of his authority.
After business was despatched, Montezuma often amused himself with seeing
the Castilian troops go through their military exercises. He, too, had been a
soldier, and in his prouder days had led armies in the field. It was very
natural he should take an interest in the novel display of European tactics and
discipline. At other times he would challenge Cortes or his officers to play at
some of. the national games. A favourite one was called totoloque, played
with golden bails aimed at a target or mark of the same metal. Montezuma
1 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conauista, cap. 97.
292 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
usually staked something of value, — precious stones or ingots of gold. He
lost with good humour ; indeed, it was of little consequence whether he won
or lost, since he generally gave away his winnings to his attendants.2 He
had, in truth, a most munificent spirit. His enemies accused him of avarice.
But, if he were avaricious, it could have been only that he might have the
more to give away.
Each of the Spaniards had several Mexicans, male and female, who attended
^to his cooking and various other personal offices. Cortes, considering that the
maintenance of this host of menials was a heavy tax on the royal exchequer,
ordered them to be dismissed, excepting one to be retained for each soldier.
Montezuma, on learning this, pleasantly remonstrated with the general on his
careful economy, as unbecoming a royal establishment, and, countermanding
the order, caused additional accommodations to be provided for the attendants,
and their pay to be doubled.
•On another occasion, a soldier purloined some trinkets of gold from the
treasure kept in the chamber, which, since Montezuma's arrival in the
Spanish quarters, had been reopened. Cortes would have punished the man
for the theft, but the emperor, interfering, said to him, " Your countrymen
are welcome to the gold and other articles, if you will but spare those
belonging to the gods." Some of the soldiers, making the most of his per-
mission, carried off several hundred loads of fine cotton to their quarters.
When this was represented to Montezuma, he only replied, " What I have
once given I never take back again." 3
While thus indifferent to his treasures, he was keenly sensitive to personal
slight or insult. When a common soldier once spoke to him angrily, the tears
came into the monarch's eyes, as it made him feel the true character of his
impotent condition. Cortes, on becoming acquainted with it, was so much
incensed that he ordered the soldier to be hanged, but, on Montezuma's
intercession, commuted this severe sentence for a Hogging. The general was
not willing that any one but himself should treat his royal captive with
indignity. Montezuma was desired to procure a further mitigation of the
punishment. But he refused, saying "that, if a similar insult had been,
offered by any one of his subjects 'to Malinche, he would have resented it in
like manner." 4
Such instances of disrespect were very rare. Montezuma's amiable and
inoffensive manners, together with his liberality, the most popular of virtues
with the vulgar, made him generally beloved by the Spaniards.5 The arro-
gance for Avhich he had been so distinguished in his prosperous days deserted
him in his fallen fortunes. His character in captivity seems to have under-
gone something of that change which takes place in the wild animals of the
forest when caged within the walls of the menagerie.
The Indian monarch knew the name of every man in the army, and was
careful to discriminate his proper rank.6 For some he showed, a strong-
partiality. He obtained from the general a favourite page, named Orteguilla,
who, being in constant attendance on his person, soon learned enough of the
Mexican language to be of use to his countrymen. Montezuma took great
- Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. deramente era gran sefior en todas las cosas
97. que le viamos hazer." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la
3 Gomara, Cronica, cap. 84.— Herrera, Hist. Conquista, cap. 100.
general, dec. 2, lib. 8, cap. 4. 8 " Y el bien conocia a todos, y sabia nues-
4 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 8, tjos nombres, y aun calidades, yera tan bueno
cap. 5. que a todos nos daua joyas, a otros mantas e
5 "En esto era tan bien mirado, que todos Indias hermosas." Ibid., cap. 97.
le queriamos con gran amor, porque verda-
HIS LIFE IN THE SPANISH QUARTERS. 293
pleasure, also, in the society of Velasquez de Leon, the captain of his guard,
and Pedro de Alvarado, Tonatiuh, or "the Sun," as he was called by the
Aztecs, from his yellow hair and sunny countenance. The sunshine, as events
afterwards showed, could sometimes be the prelude to a terrible tempest.
Notwithstanding the care taken to cheat him of the tedium of captivity,
the royal prisoner cast a wistful glance, now and then, beyond the walls of his
residence to the ancient haunts of business or pleasure. He intimated a
desire to offer up his devotions at the great temple, where he was once so con-
stant in his worship. The suggestion startled Cortes. It was too reasonable,
however, for him to object to it without wholly discarding the appearances
which he was desirous to maintain. But he secured Montezuma's return by
sending an escort with him of a hundred and fifty soldiers under the same
resolute cavaliers who had aided in his seizure. He told him, also, that in
case of any attempt to escape his. life would instantly pay the forfeit. Thus
guarded, the Indian prince visited the teocalU, where he was received witli
the usual state, and, after performing his devotions, he returned again to his
quarters.7
It may well be believed that the Spaniards did not neglect the opportunity
afforded by his residence with them, of instilling into him some notions of the
Christian doctrine. Fathers Diaz and Olmedo exhausted all their battery of
logic and persuasion, to shake his faith in his idols, but in vain. He, indeed,
paid a most edifying attention, which gave promise of better things. But the
conferences always closed with the declaration that " the God of the Christians
was good, but the gods of his own country were the true gods for him." 8 It
is said, however, they extorted a promise from him that he would take part in
no more human sacrifices. Yet such sacrifices were of daily occurrence in the
great temples of the capital ; and the people were too blindly attached to
their bloody abominations for the Spaniards to deem it safe, for the present
at least, openly to interfere.
Montezuma showed, also, an inclination to engage in the pleasures of the
chase, of wrhich he once was immoderately fond. He had large forests re-
served for the purpose on the other side of the lake. As the Spanish
brigantines were now completed, Cortes proposed to transport him and his
suite across the water in them. They were of a good size, strongly built. The
largest was mounted with four falconets, or small guns. It was protected by a
gayly- coloured awning stretched over the deck, and the royal ensign of Castile
floated proudly from the mast. On board of this vessel, Montezuma,
delighted with the opportunity of witnessing the nautical skill of the white
men, embarked with a train of Aztec nobles and a numerous guard of
Spaniards. A fresh breeze played on the waters, and the vessel soon left
behind it the swarms of light pirogues which darkened their surface. She
seemed like a thing of life in the eyes of the astonished natives, who saw her,
as if disdaining human agency, sweeping by with snowy pinions as if on the
wings of the wind, while the thunders from her sides, now for the first time
breaking on the silence of this "inland sea," showed that the beautiful
phantom was clothed in terror.9
The royal chase was well stocked Avith game ; some of which the emperor
7 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de* la Conquista, cap. and conversed with Montezuma after the
9S- Spaniards had displayed the Cross in Mexico.
• According to Soli's, the Devil closed his Conquista, lib. 3, cap. 20.
heart against these good men ; though, in B Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
the historian's opinion, there is no evidence 99.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. %%.
that this evil counsellor actually appeared
294 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
shot with arrows, and others were driven by the numerous attendants into
nets.10 In these woodland exercises, while he ranged over his wild domain,
Montezuma seemed to enjoy again the sweets of liberty. It was but the
shadow of liberty, however ; as in his quarters, at home, he enjoyed but the
shadow of royalty. At home or abroad, the eye of the Spaniard was always
upon him.
But, while he resigned .himself without a struggle to his inglorious fate,
there were others who looked on it with very different emotions. Among
them was his nephew Cacama, lord of Tezcuco, a young man not more than
twenty-five years of age, but who enjoyed great consideration from his high
personal qualities, especially his intrepidity of character. He was the same
prince who had been sent by Montezuma to welcome the Spaniards on their
entrance into the Valley ; and, when the question of their reception was first
debated in the council, he had advised to admit them honourably as ambassa-
dors of a foreign prince, and, if they should prove different from what they
pretended, it would be time enough then to take up arms against them. That
time, he thought, had now come.
In a former part of this work, the reader has been made acquainted with
the ancient history of the Acolhuan or Tezcucan monarchy, once the proud
rival of the Aztec in power, and greatly its superior in civilization.11 Under
its last sovereign, Nezahuilpilli, its territory is said to have been grievously
clipped by the insidious practices of Montezuma, who fomented dissensions
and insubordination among his subjects. On the death of the Tezcucan
prince, the succession was contested, and a bloody war ensued between his
eldest son, Cacama, and an ambitious younger brother, Ixtlilxochitl. This
was followed by a partition of the kingdom, in which the latter chieftain held
the mountain districts north of the capital, leaving the residue to Cacama.
Though shorn of a large part of his hereditary domain, the city was itself so
important that the lord of Tezcuco still held a high rank among the petty
princes of the Valley. His capital, at the time of the Conquest, contained,
according to Cortes, a hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants.12 It was
embellished with noble buildings, rivalling those of Mexico itself, and the
ruins still to be met with on its ancient site attest that it was once the abode
of princes.13
10 He sometimes killed his game with a edificios de templos del Demonio, y muy gen-
tube, a sort of air-gun, through -which he tiles casas y aposentos de Seiiores, entre los
blew little balls at birds and rabbits. "La cuales, fue muy cosa de ver la casa del Seilor
Caca a que Motecuma iba por la Laguna, era principal, asi la vieja con su huerta cercada
a tirar a" Pajaros, a Conejos, con Cerbatana, de de mas de mil cedros muy grandes y muy
la qual era diestro." Herrera, Hist, general, hermosos, de los cuales hoy din eshin los mas
dec. 2, lib. 8, cap. 4. en pie, aunque la casa esta asohda, otra casa
•' Ante, Book I. Chap. 6. tenia que se podia aposentar en ella un eger-
la "IS llamase esta Ciudad Tezcuco, y sera cito, con muchos jardines, y un muy grande
de hasta treinta mil Vecinos." (Rel. Seg., ap. estanque, que por debajo de tierra solian
Lorenzana, p. 94.) According to the licen- entrar ii el con barcas." (Toribio, Hist, de
tiate Zuazo, double that number,— sesentamil los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.) The last
Vecinos. (Carta, MS.) Scarcely probable, as relics of this palace were employed in the
Mexico had no more. Toribio speaks of it fortifications of the city in the revolutionary
as covering a league one way by six another ! war of 1810. (Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los
(Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.) Esp., p. 78, nota.) Tezcuco is now nn iu-
This must include the environs to a con- significant little place, with a population of
siderable extent. The language of the old a few thousand inhabitants. Its architec-
ehroniclers is not the most precise. tural remains, as still to be discerned, seem
13 A description of the capital in its glory to have made a stronger impression on Mr.
is thus given by an eye-witness. "Esta Bullock than on most travellers. Six Months
Ciudad era la segunda cosa principal de la in Mexico, chap. 21.
tierra, y asi habia en Tezcuco muy grandes
MEDITATED INSURRECTION, 295
The young Tezcuean chief beheld with indignation and no slight contempt
the abject condition of his uncle. He endeavoured to rouse him to manly
exertion, but in vain. He then set about forming a league with several of the
neighbouring caciques to rescue his kinsman and to break the detested yoke
of the strangers. lie called on the lord of Iztapalapan, Montezuma's brother,
the lord of Tlacopan, and some others of most authority, all of whom entered
heartily into his views. He then urged the Aztec nobles to join them ; but
they expressed an unwillingness to take any step not first sanctioned by the
emperor.14 They entertained, undoubtedly, a profound reverence for their
master ; but it seems probable that jealousy of the personal views of Cacama
had its influence on theft determination. Whatever were their motives, it is
certain that by this refusal they relinquished the best opportunity ever
presented for retrieving their sovereign's independence and their own.
These intrigues could not be conducted so secretly as not to reach the ears
of Cortes, who, with his characteristic promptness, would have marched at
once on Tezcuco and trodden out the spark of " rebellion " I5 before it had
time to burst into a flame. But from this he was dissuaded by Montezuma,
who represented that Cacama was a man of resolution, backed by a powerful
force, and not to be put down without a desperate struggle. He consented,
therefore, to negotiate, and sent a message of amicable expostulation to the
cacique. He received a haughty answer in return. Cortes rejoined in a more
menacing tone, asserting the supremacy of his own sovereign, the emperor of
Castile. To this Cacama replied, " He acknowledged no such authority ; he
knew nothing of the Spanish sovereign or his people, nor did he wish to know
anything of them." I6 Montezuma was not more successful in his application
to Cacama to come to Mexico and allow him to mediate his differences with
the Spaniards, with whom he assured the prince he was residing as a friend.
But the young lord of Tezcuco was not to be so duped. He understood the
position of his uncle, and replied " that when he did visit his capital it would
be to rescue it, as well as the emperor himself, and their common gods, from
bondage. He should come, not with his hand in his bosom, but on his
sword,— to drive out the detested strangers who had brought such dishonour
on their country ! " l7
Cortes, incensed at this tone of defiance, would again have put himself in
motion to punish it, but Montezuma interposed with his more politic arts.
14 "Cacama reprehendio asperamente a la como contra el dicho Mutcczuma." Rel.Seg.,
Nobleza Mexicana porque consentia liacer op. Rorenzana, p. 95. — Voltaire, with his
semejantes desacatos a quatro Estrangeros y quick eye for the ridiculous, notices this arro-
que no les mataban ; se escusaban con decides grance in his tragedy of Alzire :
t ^tSXZ^JSEfrJSZZ " Tn vols de ces tyrans la fureur despotique :
las Armas para libertarlo, y tomar si una tan
gran deshonra como era la que los Estrangeros
lis pensent que pour eux le Ciel fit l'Ame-
rique,
les habian hecho en prender a su senor, y n, ,.,1' ,' m . „#„ • -_ »„«,,. „♦ 7.«.a« -
quemar a Quauhpopoeatzin, les demas BUS ^ ^e» nt nes les ***** et Zamore *
Hijos v Deudos sin culpa, con las Armas v leursjeux, ,„..,_. ,
MunicLiquetenianpafaladefenzayguarda Ion souvera.n qu'il fut, n'est qu'nn Be-
de la ciudad, y de su autoridad tomar para si mueux. .
los tesoros del Rev, y de los Dioses, y otras Ai./ntt, act 4, sc. o.
libertades y desvergiienzas que cada dia pasa- '' Gomara, Cronica, cap. 91.
ban, y aunque todo esto vehian lo disimulaban '7 " 1 que para reparar la Religion, i resti-
por no enojar a Moteculizoma que tan amigo tuir los IMoses, guardar el Reino, cobrar la
y casado estaba con ellos." Ixtlilxochitl, lama, i libertad a el, i a Mexico, iria de mui
Mist. Cliich., MS., cap. 86. buena gana, mas no las manos en el seno,
" It is the language of Cortes. " Y este sino en la Espada, para matar los Espanoles,
sehor se rebeld, assi contra el servicio de que tanta mengua, i afrenta havian hecho u
Vuestra Alteza, a quien se habia bftedclo, la Nacion de Culhua." Ibid., c\p. 91.
296 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
He had several of the Tezcucan nobles, he said, in his pay ; 18 and it would be
easy, through their means, to secure Cacama's person, and thus break up the
confederacy, at once, without bloodshed. The maintaining of a corps of
stipendiaries in the courts of neighbouring princes was a refinement which
showed that the Western barbarian understood the science of political
intrigue as well as some of his royal brethren on the other side of the water.
By the contrivance of these faithless nobles, Cacama was induced to hold a
conference, relative to the proposed invasion, in a villa which qverhung the
Tezcucan lake, not far from his capital. Like most of the principal edifices,
it was raised so as to admit the entrance of boats beneath it. In the midst
of the conference, Cacama was seized by the conspirators, hurried on board a
bark in readiness for the purpose, and transported to Mexico. When brought
into Montezuma's presence, the high-spirited chief abated nothing of his
Eroud and lofty bearing. He taxed his uncle with his perfidy, and a pusil-
mimity so unworthy of his former character and of the royal house from
which he was descended. By the emperor he was referred to Cortes, who,
holding royalty but cheap in an Indian prince, put him in fetters. 19
There was at this time in Mexico a brother of Cacama, a stripling much
younger than himself. At the instigation of Cortes, Montezuma, pretending
that nis nephew had forfeited the sovereignty by his late rebellion, declared
him to be deposed, and appointed Cuicuitzca in his place. The Aztec sove-
reigns had always been allowed a paramount authority in questions relating
to the succession. But this was a most unwarrantable exercise of it. The
Tezcucans acquiesced, however, with a ready ductility, which showed their
allegiance hung but lightly on them, or, what is more probable, that they were
greatly in awe of the Spaniards ; and the new prince was welcomed with
acclamations to his capital.20
Cortes still wanted to get into his hands the other chiefs who had entered
into the confederacy with Cacama. This was no difficult matter. Monte-
zuma's authority was absolute, everywhere but in his own palace. By his
command, the caciques were seized, each in his own city, and brought in
chains to Mexico, where Cortes placed them in strict confinement with their
leader.21
He had now triumphed over all his enemies. He had set his foot on the
necks of princes ; and the great chief of the Aztec empire was but a con-
venient tool in his hands for accomplishing his purposes. His first use of
this power was to ascertain the actual resources of the monarchy. He sent
several parties of Spaniards, guided by the natives, to explore the regions
is «tpero qUe gi tenia en su Tierra de el in his catalogue of Tezcucan monarchs, omits
dicho Cacamazin inuchas Personas Princi- him altogether. He probably regards him as
pales, que vivian con 61, y les daba su sa- an intruder, who had no claim to be ranked
lario." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, among the rightful t-overeigns of the land.
p. 95. (Galeriade antiguos Pn'ncipes (Puebla, 1821),
,9 Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. p. 21.) Sahagun has, in like manner, struck
95, 96.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. his name from the royal roll of Tezcuco. Hist.
33, cap. 8.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., de Nueva-Espafia, lib. 8, cap. 3.
cap. 86. — The latter author dismisses the 21 The exceeding lenity of the Spanish corn-
capture of Cacama with the comfortable re- mander, on this occasion, excited general
flectiou "that it saved the Spaniards much admiration, if we are to credit Soli's, through-
embarrassment, and greatly facilitated the out the Aztec empire ! "Tuvo notable aplau«o
introduction of the Catholic faith." en todo el imperio este genero de castigo sin
20 Cortes calls the name of this prince Cu- sangre, que se atribuyo al superior juicio de
cuzca. (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 96.) los Espafioles, porque no esperaban de Mote-
Jn the orthography of Aztec words, the zumasemejantemoderacion." Conquista, l|b.
general was governed by his ear, and was 4, cap. 2.
wrong irine times out of ten,— Bustamante,
MONTEZUMA SWEARS ALLEGIANCE TO SPAIN. 297
where gold was obtained. It was gleaned mostly from the beds of rivers,
several hundred miles from the capital.
His next object was to learn if there existed any good natural harbour for
shipping on the Atlantic coast, as the road of Vera Cruz left no protection
against the tempests that at certain seasons swept over these seas. Monte-
zuma showed him a chart on which the shores of the Mexican Gulf were laid
down with tolerable accuracy.22 Cortes, after carefully inspecting it, sent a
commission, consisting of ten Spaniards, several of them pilots, and some
Aztecs, who descended to Vera Cruz and made a careful survey of the coast
for nearly sixty leagues south of that settlement, as far as the great river
Coatzacualco, which seemed to offer the best — indeed, the only — accommoda-
tions for a safe and suitable harbour. A spot was selected as the site of a
fortified post, and the general sent a detachment of a hundred and fifty men
under Velasquez de Leon to plant a colony there.
He also obtained a grant of an extensive tract of land in the fruitful pro-
vince of Oaxaca, where he proposed to lay out a plantation for the crown.
He stocked it with the different kinds of domesticated animals peculiar to the
country, and with such indigenous grains and plants as would afford the best
articles for export. He soon had the estate under such cultivation that he
assured his master, the emperor Charles the Fifth, it was worth twenty
thousand ounces of gold.23
CHAPTER V.
MONTEZUMA SWEARS ALLEGIANCE TO SPAIN — ROYAL TREASURES — THEIR
DIVISION— CHRISTIAN WORSHIP IN THE TEOCALLI— DISCONTENTS OF THE
AZTECS.
1520.
Cortes now felt his authority sufficiently assured to demand from Monte-
zuma a formal recognition of the supremacy of the Spanish emperor. The
Indian monarch had intimated his willingness to acquiesce in this, on their
very first interview. He did not object, therefore, to call together his principal
caciques for the purpose. When they were assembled, he made them an
address, briefly stating the object of the meeting. They were all acquainted,
he said, with the ancient tradition that the great Being who had once ruled
over the land had declared, on his departure, that he should return at some
future time and resume his sway. That time had now arrived. The white
men had come from the quarter where the sun rises, beyond the ocean,
to which the good deity had withdrawn. They were sent by their master to
reclaim the obedience of his ancient subjects. For himself, he was ready to
acknowledge his authority. " You have been faithful vassals of mine," con-
tinued Montezuma, " during the many years that I have sat on the throne of
my fathers. I now expect that you will show me this last act of obedience by
acknowledging the great king beyond the waters to be your lord, also, and
'*- Rel. Seg.de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. edifices in the province of Oaxaca. (Rel. Seg.,
91. ap. Lorenzana, p. 89.) It is here, also, that
"" Damus qua? dant," says Martyr, briefly, some of the most elaborate specimens of
In reference to this valuation. (De Orbe Novo, Indian architecture are still to be seen, in the
dec. 5, cap. 3.) Cortes notices the reports ruins of Mitla.
made by his people, of large and beautiful
208 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
that you will pay him tribute in the same manner as you have hitherto done
to me." l As he concluded, his voice was nearly stifled by his emotion, and
the tears fell fast down his cheeks.
His nobles, many of whom, coming from a distance, had not kept pace with
the changes which had been going on in the capital, were filled with astonish-
ment as they listened to his words and beheld the voluntary abasement of
their master, whom they had hitherto reverenced as the omnipotent lord of
Anahuac. They were the more affected, therefore, by the sight of his dis-
tress.2 His will, they told him, had always been their law. It should be so
now ; and, if he thought the sovereign of the strangers was the ancient lord
of their country, they were willing to acknowledge him as such still. The
oaths of allegiance were then administered with all due solemnity, attested by
the Spaniards present, and a full record of the proceedings was drawn up by
the royal notary, to be sent to Spain.3 There was something deeply touching
in the ceremony by which an independent and absolute monarch, in obedience
less to the dictates of fear than of conscience, thus relinquished his hereditary
rights in favour of an unknown and mysterious power. It even moved those
hard men who were thus unscrupulously availing themselves of the confiding
ignorance of the natives ; and, though "it was^in the regular way of their
own business," says an old chronicler, " there was not a Spaniard who could
look on the spectacle Avith a dry eye " ! 4
The rumour of these strange proceedings was soon circulated through the
capital and the country. Men read in them the finger of Providence. The
ancient tradition of Quetzalcoatl was familiar to all ; and where it had slept
scarcely noticed in the memory, it was now revived with many exaggerated
circumstances. It was said to be part of the tradition that the royal line of
the Aztecs was to end with Montezuma ; and his name, the literal significa-
1 "Y mucho os ruego, pues & todos os es cap. 3.
uotorio todo esto, que assi coino hasta aqui it * Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
mi me habeis tenido, y obedecido por Senor 101.— Soli's, Conquista, loc. cit. — Herrera,
vuestro, de aqui adelante tengais, y obedes- Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 9, cap. 4. — Ixtlilxo-
cais a este Gran Rey, pues el es vuestro chitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 87.— Oviedo
natural Senor, y en su lugar tengais & este su considers the grief of Montezuma as sufficient
Capitan : y todos los Tributes, y Servicios, proof that his homage, far from being volun-
que fasta aqui a mi me haciades, los haced, y tary, was extorted by necessity ._ The his-
dad a el, porque yo assimismo tengo de con- torian appears to have seen the drift of events
tribuir, y servir con todo lo que me mandare." more clearly than some of the actors in them.
Eel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 97. " Y en la verdad si como Cortes lo dice, 6
2 " Lo qual todo les dijo llorando, con las escrivio, passo en efecto, mui gran cosa me
mayores lagrimas, y suspiros, que un hombre parece la conciencia y liberalidad de Monte-
podia manifestar; e assimismo todos aquellos zuma en esta su restitucion e obediencia al
Senores, que le estaban oiendo, llorabau tanto, Rey de Castilla, por la simple 6 cautelosa in-
que en gran rato no le pudieron responder." formacion de Cortes, que le podia hacer para
Ibid., loc. cit. ello ; Mas aquellas lagrimas con que dice,
3 Solis regards this ceremony as supplying que Montezuma hizo su oracion, e amonesta-
what was before defective in the title of the miento, despojundose de su sefiorfo, e las de
Spaniards to the country. The remarks are aquellos con que les respondieron aceptando
curious, even from a professed casuist: "Y lo que les mandaba, y exortaba, y a mi pare-
siendo una como insinuacion misteriosa del cer su llanto queria decir, 6 ensefiar otra cosa
titulo que se debio despues al derecho de las do lo que el, y ellos dixeron ; porque las
armas. sobre justa provocacion, como lo vere- obediencias que se suelen dar a los Pn'ncipes
mos en su lugar : circun>tancia particular, con riza, e con camaras ; e diversidad de
que concurrio en la conquista de Mejico para Musica, e leticia, .ensenales de placer, se
mayor justificacion de aquel dominio, sobre suele hacer; e no con lucto ni lagrimas, e
las demas consideraciones generales que no sollozos, ni estando preso quien obedece ;
eolo hicieron licita la guerra en otras partes, porque como dice Marco Varron : Lo que por
sino legftima y razonable siempre que se puso fuerza se da no es servicio sino robo." Hist,
en terminos d« medio necesario para la intro- de las Ind., MS., lib, 33, cap. 9.
duceidn del Evangelic." Conquista, lib. 4,
ROYAL TREASURES. 299
tion of which is " sad " or " angry lord," was construed into an omen of his
evil destiny.5
Having thus secured this great feudatory to the crown of Castile, Cortes
suggested that it would be well for the Aztec chiefs to send his sovereign such
a gratuity as would conciliate his good will by convincing him of the'loyalty
of his new vassals.0 Montezuma consented that his collectors should visit the
principal cities and provinces, attended by a number of Spaniards, to receive
the customary tributes, in the name of the Castilian sovereign. In a few
weeks most of them returned, bringing back large quantities of gold and
silver plate, rich stuffs, and the various commodities in which the taxes were
usually paid.
To this store Montezuma added, on his own account, the treasure of Axa-
yacatl, previously noticed, some part of which had been already given to the
Spaniards. It was the fruit of long and careful hoarding,— of extortion, it
may be, — by a prince who little dreamed of its final destination. When
brought into the quarters, the gold alone was sufficient to make three great
heaps. It consisted partly of native grains ; part had been melted into bars ;
but the greatest portion was in utensils, and various kinds of ornaments and
curious toys, together with imitations of birds, insects, or flowers, executed
with uncommon truth and delicacy. There were, also, quantities of collars,
bracelets, wands, fans? and other trinkets, in wnicn the ffoia antt IeWine^W6re
5'ere richly powdered witn pearls alia precious stories. M£X)$J£.X5q ?:
were even more admirable for the workmanship than for the value of the
.materials;7 such, indeed, — if we may take the report of Cortes to one who
would himself have soon an opportunity to judge of its veracity, and whom it
-would not be safe to trifle with,— as no monarch in Europe could boast in his
dominions ! 8 ■"■■•'■
Magnificent as it Avas, Montezuma expressed his regret that the treasure
was no larger. But he had diminished it, he said, by his former gifts to the
white men. "Take it," he added, "Malinche, and let it be recorded in your
annals that Montezuma sent this present to your master." 9
The Spaniards gazed with greedy eyes on the display of riches,10 now their
own, which far exceeded all hitherto seen in the New World, and fell nothing
short of the El Dorado which their glowing imaginations had depicted. It
may be that they felt somewhat rebuked by the contrast which their own
avarice presented to the princely munificence of the barbarian chief. At least,
they seemed to testify their sense of his superiority by the respectful homage
which they rendered him, as they poured forth the fulness of their gratitude.11
5 Gomara, Cionica, cap. 92. — Clavigero, talcs, y tan maravillosas, que eonsideradas
Stor. del Messko, torn. ii. p. 256. por su novedad, y estrafieza, no tenian precio,
6 "Parecc-ria que ellos comenzaban a ser- ni es de creer, que alguno de todos los Pn'n-
vir, y Vuestra Alteza tendria mas concepto cipes del Mundo de quien se tiene noticia, las
de las voluntades, que ii su servicio mostra- pndiesse tener tales, y de tal calidad." Eel.
ban." Eel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 99. -See,
98. also, Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33,
7 Peter Martyr, distrusting some extra va- cap. 9,— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista,
gance in this statement of Cortes, found it cap. 104.
fully confirmed by the testimony of others. P ■ " Dezilde en vuestros anales y cartas :
M Eeferunt non credenda. Credenda tamen, Esto os embia vuestro buen vassallo Monte-
5[Uando vir talis ad Caesarem ct nostri collegii §urua." Bernal Diaz, ubi supra,
ndici senatores andeat exscribere. Addes
insuper se multa pratermittere, ne tanta re
Fluctibus auri
Expleri calor ille nequit.
censendo sit molestus. Idem affirmant qui " * Claudiax, In Euf., lib. 1.
ad nos mde regrediuntur." De Orbe Novo,
dec. 5. cap. 3. ll " Y quado aquello le oyo Cortes, y todos
5 "Las quales, demas de su valor, cran noqotros, estuvfmos espantados de la gran
300 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
They were not so scrupulous, however, as to manifest any delicacy in appro-
priating to themselves the donative, a small part of which was to find its way
into the royal coffers. They clamoured loudly for an immediate division of the
spoil, which the general would have postponed till the tributes from the
remoter provinces had been gathered in. The goldsmiths of Azcapozalco were
sent for to take in pieces the larger and coarser ornaments, leaving untouched
those of more delicate workmanship. Three days were consumed in this labour,
when the heaps of j^old were cast into ingots and stamped with the royal
arms.
Some difficulty occurred in the division of the treasure, from the want of
weights, which, strange as it appears, considering their advancement in the
arts, were, as already observed, unknown to the Aztecs. The deficiency was
soon supplied by the Spaniards, however, with scales and weights of their own
manufacture, probably not the most exact. With the aid of these they ascer-
tained the value of the royal fifth to be thirty-two thousand and four hundred
pesos de oro.™ Diaz swells it to nearly four times that amount.13 But their
desire of securing the emperor's favour makes it improbable that the Spaniards
should have defrauded the exchequer of any part of its due ; while, as Cortes
was responsible for the sum admitted in his letter, he Avoukl be still less likely
to overstate it. His estimate may be received as the true one.
The whole amounted, therefore, to one hundred and sixty-two thousand
pesos de oro, independently of the fine ornaments and jewelry, the value of
which Cortes computes at five hundred thousand ducats more. There were,
besides, five hundred marks of silver, chiefly in plate, drinking-cups, and other
articles of luxury. The inconsiderable quantity of the silver, as compared with
the gold, forms a singular contrast to the relative proportions of the two metals
since the occupation of the country by the Europeans.14 The whole amount
of the treasure, reduced to our own currency, and making allowance for the
change in the value of gold since the beginning of the sixteenth century, was
about six million three hundred thousand dollars, or one million four hundred
and seventeen thousand pounds sterling ; a sum large enough to show the
incorrectness of the popular notion that little or no wealth was found in
Mexico.15 It was, indeed, small in comparison with that obtained by the
bondad, y liberalidad del gran Montecuma, y the ratio of forty-six to one. (Humboldt,
con mucho acato le quitamos todos las gorras Essai politique, torn. iii. p. 401.) The value
de arrnas, y le diximos, que se lo teniamos of the latter metal, says Clemencin, which on
en merced, y con palabras de mucho amor," the discovery of the New World was only
etc. Bernal Diaz, ubi supra. eleven times greater than that of the former,
'- Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. has now come to be sixteen times. (Memo-
99. — This estimate of the royal fifth is con- rias de la Real Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. I lust,
firmed (with the exception of the four hundred 20.) This does not vary materially from
ounces) by the affidavits of a number of wit- Smith's estimate made after the middle of the
nesses cited on behalf of Cortes to show the last century. (Wealth of Nations, book 1,
amount of the treasure. Among these wit- chap. 11.) The difference would have been
nesses we find some of the most respectable much more considerable, but for the greater
names in the army, as Olid, Ordaz, Avila, the demand for silver for objects of ornament and
priests Olmedo and Dias, — the last, it may be use.
added, not too friendly to the general. The ,s Dr. Robertson, preferring the authority,
instrument, which is without date, is in the it seems, of Diaz, speaks of the value of the
collection of Vargas Ponce. Probanza fecha treasure as 600,000 pesos. (History of Ame-
A pedimento de Juan de Lexalde, MS. rica, vol. ii. pp. 296, 298.) The value of the peso
'3 " Eran tres montones de oro, y pesado is an ounce of silver, or dollar, which, making
huvo en ellos sobre sets cientos mil pesos, allowance for the depreciation of silver, re-
como adelante dire, sin laplata, eotrasmuchas presented, in the time of Cortes, nearly four
riquezas." Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 104. times its value at the present day. But rhat
14 The quantity of silver taken from the of the peso de oro was nearly three times that
American mines has exceeded that of gold in sum, or eleven dollars sixty-seven cents. (See
toEIR DIVISION. 301
conquerors of Peru. But few European monarch* of that day could boast a
larger treasure in their coffers.16
The division of the spoil was a work of some difficulty. A perfectly equal
division of it among the Conquerors would have given them more than three
thousand pounds sterling apiece ; a magnificent booty ! But one-fifth was
to be deducted for the crown. An equal portion was reserved for the general,
pursuant to the tenor of his commission. A large sum was then allowed to
indemnify him and the governor of Cuba for the charges of the expedition
and the loss of the fleet. The garrison of Vera Cruz was also to be provided
for. Ample compensation was made to the principal cavaliers. The cavalry,
arquebusiers, and cross-bowmen each received double pay. So that when the
turn of the common soldiers came there remained not more than a hundred
pesos de oro for each ; a sum so insignificant, in comparison with their expec-
tations, that several refused to accept it.17
Loud murmurs now rose among the men. " Was it for this,'5 they said,
" that we left our homes and families, perilled our lives, submitted to fatigue
and famine, and all for so contemptible a pittance ? Better to have stayed in
Cuba and contented ourselves with the gains of a safe and easy traffic. When
we gave up our share of the gold at Vera Cruz, it was on the assurance that
we should be amply requited in Mexico. We have, indeed, found the riches
we expected ; but no sooner seen, than they are snatched from us by the very
men who pledged us their faith ! " The malecontents even went so far as to
accuse their leaders of appropriating to themselves several of the richest orna-
ments before the partition had been made ; an accusation that receives some
countenance from a dispute which arose between Mexia, the treasurer for the
crown, and Velasquez de Leon, a relation of the governor, and a favourite of
Cortes. The treasurer accused this cavalier of purloining certain pieces of
plate before they were submitted to the royal stamp. From words the parties
came to blows. They were good swordsmen ; several wounds Mere given on
both sides, and the affair might have ended fatally, but for the interference of
Cortes, who placed both under arrest.
He then used all his authority and insinuating eloquence to calm the
passions of his men. It was a delicate crisis. He was sorry, he said, to see
them so unmindful of the duty of loyal soldiers and cavaliers of the Cross, as
to brawl like common banditti over their booty. The division, he assured
them, had been made on perfectly fair and equitable principles. As to his
own share, it was no more than was warranted by his commission. Yet; if
they thought it too much, he was willing to forego his just claims and divide
with the poorest soldier. Gold, however welcome, was not the chief object of
his ambition. If it were theirs, they should still reflect that the present
treasure was little in comparison with what awaited them hereafter ; for had
they not the whole country and its mines at their disposal ? It was only
ante. Book II. chap. 6, note 18.) Robertson Germany, and the more prudent Ferdinand of
makes his own estimate, so much reduced Spain, left scarcely enough to defray their
below that of his original, an argument for funeral expenses. Even as late as the begin-
douhting the existence, in any great quantity, ning of the next century we find Henry IV.
of either gold or silver in the country. In of France embracing his minister, Sully, with
accounting for the scarcity of the former rapture when he informed him that, by dint
metal in this argument, he falls into an error of great economy, he had 36,o00,000 livres—
in stating that gold was not one of the about 1,500,000 pounds sterling— in his trea-
standards by which the value of other com- sury. See Memoires du Due de Sully, torn,
modities in Mexico was estimated. Comp. iii. liv. 27.
ante, p. 69. 17 " Por ser tan poco, muchos soldados huuo
w Many of them, indeed, could boast little que no lo quisieion recebir." Bernal Diaz,
or nothing in their coffers. Maximilian of His* de la Conquista, cap. 105.
302 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
necessary that they should not give an opening to the enemy, by their discord,
to circumvent and to crush them. With these honeyed words, of which lie
had good store for all fitting occasions, says an old soldier,18 for whose benefit,
in part, they were intended, he succeeded in calming the storm for the
present ; while in private he took more effectual means, by presents judiciously
administered, to mitigate the discontents of the importunate and refrac-
tory. And, although there were a few of more tenacious temper, who
treasured this in their memories against a future day, the troops soon returned
to their usual subordination. This was one of those critical conjunctures
which taxed all the address and personal authority of Cortes. He never
shrunk from them, but on such occasions was true to himself. At Vera Cruz
he had persuaded his followers to give up what was but the earnest of future
gains. Here he persuaded them to relinquish these gains themselves. It was
snatching the prey from the very jaws of the lion. Why did he not turn and
rend him 1
To many of the soldiers, indeed, it mattered little whether their share of the
booty were more or less. Gaming is a deep-rooted passion in the Spaniard,
and the sudden acquisition of riches furnished both the means and the motive
for its indulgence. Cards were easily made out of old parchment drum-heads,
and in a few days most of the prize-money, obtained with so much toil and
suffering, had changed hands, and many of the improvident soldiers closed the
campaign as poor as they had commenced it. Others, it is true, more prudent,
followed the example of their officers, who, with the aid of the royal jewellers,
converted their gold into chains, services of plate, and other portable articles of
ornament or use.19
Cortes seemed now to have accomplished the great objects of the expedition.
The Indian monarch had declared himself the feudatory of the Spanish. His
authority, his revenues, were at the disposal of the general. The conquest of
Mexico seemed to be achieved, and that without a blow. But it was far from
being achieved. One important step yet remained to be taken, towards which
the Spaniards had hitherto made little progress, — the conversion of the
natives. With all the exertions of Father Olmedo, backed by the polemic
talents of the general,20 neither Montezuma nor his subjects showed any
disposition to abjure the faith of their fathers.21 The bloody exercises of their
religion, on the contrary, were celebrated with all the usual circumstance and
pomp of sacrifice before the eyes of the Spaniards,
Unable further to endure 'these abominations, Cortes, attended by several
of his cavaliers, waited on Montezuma. He told the emperor that the Chris-
tians could no longer consent to have the services of their religion shut up
"* " Palabras muy melifluas ; . . . razones further notices the general's unsuccessful
mui bien dichas, que las sabia bien proponer." labours among the Indians: "Cortes co-
Bernal Diaz, ubi supra. menzo & dar orden de la conversion de los
19 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. Naturales, diciendoles, que pues eran vasal -
105, 106. — Gomara, 6ronica, cap. 93. — Her- los del Bey de Espana que se tornasen Cris-
rera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 8, cap. 5. tianos como 61 lo era, y asi se comenzaron a
*" " Ex jureconsulto Cortesius theologus Bautizar algunos aunque fueron muy pocos,
effectus," says Martyr, in his pithy manner. y Motecuhzoma aunque pidio el Bautismo, y
De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 4. sabia algunas de las oraciones como eran el
21 According to lxtlilxochitl, Montezuma Ave Maria, y el Credo, se dilato por la Pasqua
got as far on the road to conversion as the siguiente, que era la* de Resurreccion, y fue
Credo and the Ave Maria, both of which he tan desdichado que nunca alcanzo tanto bien,
could repeat; but his baptism was postponed, y los Nuestros con la dilacion y aprieto en
and he died before receiving it. That he ever que se vieron, se descuidaron, de que peso a
consented to receive it is highly improbable. todos mucho muriese sin Bautismo." Hist.
1 quote the historian's M-ords, in which he Chich., MS., cap. 87
CHRISTIAN WORSHIP IN THE TEOCALLI. 303
within the narrow walls of the garrison. They wished to spread its light far
abroad, and to open to the people a full participation in the blessings of
Christianity. For this purpose, they requested that the great teocalli should
be delivered up, as a fit place where their worship might be conducted in the
presence of the whole city.
Montezuma listened to the proposal with visible consternation. Amidst all
his troubles he had leaned for support on his own faith, and, indeed, it was in
obedience to it that he had shown such deference to the Spaniards as the
mysterious messengers predicted by the oracles. " Why," said he, " Malinche,
why will you urge matters to an extremity, that must surely bring down the
vengeance of our gods, and stir up an insurrection among my people, who will
never endure this profanation of their temples 1 " 22
Cortes, seeing how greatly he was moved, made a sign to his officers to*
withdraw. When left alone with the interpreters, he told the emperor that
he would use his influence to moderate the zeal of his followers, and persuade
them to be contented with one of the sanctuaries of the teocalli. If that
were not granted, they should be obliged to take it by force, and to roll down
the images of his false deities in the face of the city. " We fear not for our
lives," he added, " for, though our numbers are few, the arm of the true God is
over us." Montezuma, much agitated, told him that he would confer with the
priests.
The result of the conference was favourable to the Spaniards, who were
allowed to occupy one of the sanctuaries as a place of worship. The tidings
spread great joy throughout the camp. They might now go forth in open day
and publish their religion to the assembled capital. $o time was lost in
availing themselves of the permission. The sanctuary was cleansed of its
disgusting impurities. An altar was raised, surmounted by a crucifix and the
image of the Virgin. Instead of the gold and jewels which blazed on the
neighbouring pagan shrine, its walls were decorated with fresh garlands of
flowers ; and an old soldier was stationed to watch over the chapel and guard
it from intrusion.
When these arrangements were completed, the whole army moved in solemn
procession up the winding ascent of the pyramid. Entering the sanctuary,
and clustering round its portals, they listened reverentially to the service of
the mass, as it was performed by the fathers Olmedo and Diaz. And, as the
beautiful Te Deum rose towards heaven, Cortes and his soldiers, kneeling on
the ground, with tears streaming from their eyes, poured forth their gratitude
to the Almighty for this glorious triumph of the Cross.23
It was a "striking spectacle,— that of these rude warriors lifting up their
orisons on the summit of this mountain temple, in the very capital of heathen-
dom, on the spot especially dedicated to its unhallowed mysteries. Side by
side, the Spaniard and the Aztec knelt down in prayer ; and the Christian
hymn mingled its sweet tones of love and mercy with the wild chant raised
-- "O Malinche, y como nos quereis echar Oviedo, who nevertheless reports it. (Hist.
;i perder & toda esta ciudad, porque estanin de las Tnd., MS., lib. 33, cap. 10.) it looks,
nnii enojados nuestros Dioses contra nosotros, indeed, very much as if the general was some-
y aim vuestras vidas no se en que paranin." what too eager to set off his militant zeal to
Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 107. advantage in the eyes of his master. The
21 This transaction is told with more dis- statements of Diaz, and of other chroniclers,
crepancy than usual by the different writers. conformably to that in the text, seem far the
Cortes assures the emperor that he occupied most probable. Comp. Diaz, Hist, de la Con-
the temple, and turned out the false gods by quista, ubi supra. — Herrera, Hist, general,
force, In spite of the menaces of the Mexi- dec. 2, lib. 8, cap. 6.— Argensola, Anales, lib,
cans. (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 106.") 1, cap. 88,
The improbability of this Quixotic feat startles
304 KESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
by the Indian priest in honour of the war-god of Anahuac ! It was an unna-
tural union, and could not long abide.
A nation will endure any outrage sooner than that on its religion. This is
an outrage both on its principles and its prejudices ; on the ideas instilled into
it from childhood, which have strengthened with its growth, until they become
a part of its nature,— which have to do with its highest interests here, and
with the dread hereafter. Any violence to the religious sentiment touches all
alike, the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the noble and the plebeian.
Above all, it touches the priests, whose personal consideration rests on that of
their religion, and who, in a semi-civilized state of society, usually hold an
unbounded authority. Thus it was with the Brahmins of India, the Magi of
Persia, the Roman Catholic clergy in the Dark Ages, the priests of Ancient
Egypt and Mexico.
The people had borne with patience all the injuries and affronts hitherto
put on them by the Spaniards. They had seen their sovereign dragged as a
captive from his own palace, his ministers butchered before his eyes, his
treasure seized and appropriated, himself in a manner deposed from his royal
supremacy. All this they had seen, without a struggle to prevent it. But
the profanation of their temples touched a deeper feeling, of which the priest-
hood were not slow to take advantage.24
The first intimation of this change of feeling was gathered from Monte-
zuma himself. Instead of his usual cheerfulness, he appeared grave and
abstracted, and instead of seeking, as he was wont, the society of the Span-
iards, seemed rather to shun it. It was noticed, too, that conferences were
more frequent between him and the nobles, and especially the priests. His
little page, Orteguilla, who had now picked up a tolerable acquaintance with
the Aztec, contrary to Montezuma's usual practice, was not allowed to attend
him at these meetings. These circumstances could not fail to awaken most
uncomfortable apprehensions in the Spaniards.
Not many days elapsed, however, before Cortes received an invitation, or
rather a summons, from the emperor to attend him in his apartment. The
general went with some feelings of anxiety and distrust, taking with him
Olid, captain of the guard, and two or three other trusty cavaliers. Monte-
zuma received them with cold civility, and, turning to the general, told him
that all his predictions had come to pass. The gods of his country had been
offended by the violation of their temples. They had threatened the priests
that they would forsake the city if the sacrilegious strangers were not driven
from it, or rather sacrificed on the altars in expiation of their crimes.25 The
a* "para mf y0 tengo por inarabilla, 6 zuiua, and he reports the substance of the
grande, la mucha paciencia de Montezuma, y dialogue between the parties. (Hist, general,
de los Indios principales, que assi vierou dec. 2, lib. 9, cap. 6.) Indeed, the apparition
tratar sus Templos, e Idolos : Mas su disimu- of Satan in his own bodily presence, on this
lacion adelante se mostro ser otra cosa viendo, occasion, is stoutly maintained by most histo-
que vna Gente Extrangera, e de tan poco rians of the time. Oviedo, a man of enlarged
numero, les prendio su Senor e porque formas ideas on most subjects, speaks with a little
los hacia tributarios, e se castigaban e que- more qualification on this: "Porque la Misa
maban los principales, e se aniquilaban y y Evangelio, que predicaban y decian los
disipaban sus templos, e hasta en aquellos y christianos, le [al Diablo] daban gran tor-
sus antecesores estaban. Itecia cosa me pa- mento ; y debese pensar, si verdad es, que
rece soportarla con tanta quietud; pero ade- esasgentes tienen tanta conversacion y comu-
lante, como lo dira la Historia, mostro el nicacion con nuestro adversario, como se titne
tiempo lo que en el pecho estaba oculto en por cierto en estas Indias, que no le podia a.
todos los Indios generalmente." Oviedo, Hist. nuestro enemigo placer con los misterios y
de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 10. sacramentos de la sagrada religion Christiana."
"h According to Herrera, it was the Devil Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47..
himself who communicated this to Monte-
DISCONTENTS OF THE AZTECS. 305
monarch assured the Christians it was from regard for their safety that he
communicated this ; and, " if you have any regard for it yourselves," he con-
cluded, " you will leave the country without delay. I have only to raise my
ringer, and every Aztec in the land will rise in arms against you." There was
no reason to doubt his sincerity. For Montezuma, whatever evils had been
brought on him by the white men, held them in reverence as a race more
highly gifted than his own, while for several, as we have seen, he had con-
ceived an attachment, flowing, no doubt, from their personal attentions and
deference to himself.
Cortes was too much master of his feelings to show how far he was startled
by this intelligence. He replied, with admirable coolness, that he should
regret much to leave the capital so precipitately, when he had no vessels to
take him from the country. If it were not for this, there could be no obstacle
to his leaving it at once. He should also regret another step to which he
should be driven, if he quitted it under these circumstances, — that of taking
the emperor along with him.
Montezuma was evidently troubled by this last suggestion. He inquired
how long it would take to build the vessels, and finally consented to send a
sufficient number of workmen to the coast, to act under the orders of the
Spaniards ; meanwhile, he would use his authority to restrain the impatience
of the people, under the assurance that the white men would leave the land
when the means for it were provided. He kept his word. A large body of
Aztec artisans left the capital with the most experienced Castilian ship-
builders, and, descending to Vera Cruz, began at once to fell the timber and
build a sufficient number of ships to transport the Spaniards back to their
own country. The work went forward with apparent alacrity. But those
who had the direction of it, it is said, received private instructions from the
general to interpose as many delays as possible, in hopes of receiving in the
mean time such reinforcements from Europe as would enable him to maintain
his ground.2'
The whole aspect of things was now changed in the Castilian quarters.
Instead of the security and repose in which the troops had of late indulged,
they felt a gloomy apprehension of danger, not the less oppressive to the
spirits that it was scarcely visible to the eye ; — like the faint speck just de-
scried above the horizon 'by the voyager in the tropics, to the common gaze
seeming only a summer cloud, but which to the experienced mariner bodes
the coming of the hurricane. Every precaution that prudence could devise
was taken to meet it. The soldier, as he threw himself on his mats for repose,
kept on his armour. He ate, drank, slept, with his weapons by his side. His
horse stood ready caparisoned, day and night, with the bridle hanging at the
saddle-bow. The guns were carefully planted so as to command the great
avenues. The sentinels were doubled, and every man, of whatever rank, took
his turn in mounting guard. The garrison was in a state of siege.27 Such
28 " E Cortes proveio de maestros e personas disimulacion. E asi se puso por obra."
que entendiesen en la labor de los Navios, e (Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap.
dixo despues a los Espanoles desta man era : 47.) So, also, Gomara. (Cronica, cap. 95.)
Senores y hermanos, este Senor Montezuma Diaz denies any such secret orders, alleging
quiere que nos vamos de la tierra, y conviene that Martin Lopez, the principal builder,
que se hagan Navios. Id con estos Indios e assured him they made all the. expedition
cortese la madera ; e entretanto Dios nos pro- possible in getting three ships on the stockg.
vehera de gente e socorro ; por tanto, poned Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 108.
tal dilacion que parezca que haceis algo y se 27 "I may say without vaunting," observes
haga con ella lo que nos conviene ; e siempre our stout-hearted old chronicler, Bernal Diaz,
me escrivid e avisad que tales estais en la "that I was so accustomed to this way of
Montana, e que no sientan los Indios nuestra life, that since the conquest of the country I
300
RESIDENCE IN MEXICO-
was the uncomfortable position of the army when, in the beginning of May,
1520, six months after their arrival in the capital, tidings came from {he
coast which gave greater alarm to Cortes than even the menaced insurrection
of the Aztecs.
CHAPTER VI.
fate op cortes' emissaries — proceedings in the castilian court-
preparations OP VELASQUEZ — NARVAEZ LANDS IN MEXICO — POLITIO
CONDUCT OP CORTES — HE LEAVES THE CAPITAL.
1520.
Before explaining the nature of the tidings alluded to in the preceding
chapter, it will be necessary to cast a glance over some of the transactions of
an earlier period. The vessel, which, as the reader may remember, bore the
envoys Puertocarrero and Montejo with the despatches from Vera Cruz, after
touching, contrary to orders, at the northern coast of Cuba, and spreading
the news of the late discoveries, held on its way uninterrupted towards Spain,
and early in October, 1519, reached the little port of San Lucar. Great was
the sensation caused byjier arrival and the tidings which she brought; a
sensation scarcely inferior to that created by the original discovery of Colum-
bus. For now, for the first time, all the magnificent anticipations formed of
the New World seemed destined to be realized.
Unfortunately, there was a person in Seville at this time, named Benito
Martin, chaplain of Velasquez, the governor of Cuba. No sooner did this
man learn the arrival of the envoys, and the particulars of their story, than
he lodged a complaint with the Casa de Contratacion, — the Royal India
House, — charging those on board the vessel with mutiny and rebellion against
the authorities of Cuba, as well as with treason to the crown.1 In conse-
quence of his representations, the ship was taken possession of by the public
officers, and those on board were prohibited from removing their own effects,
or anything else, from her. . The envoys were not even allowed the funds
necessary for the expenses of the voyage, nor a considerable sum remitted by
Cortes to his father, Bon Martin. In this embarrassment they had no
alternative but to present themselves, as speedily as possible, before the
emperor, deliver the letters with which they had been charged by the colony,
and seek redress for their own grievances. They first sought out Martin
Cortes, residing at Medellin, and with him made the best of their way to court.
have never been able to lie down undressed,
or in a bed ; yet I sleep as sound as if I were
on the softest down. Even when I make the
rounds of my encomienda, I never take a bed
with me, unless, indeed, I go in the company
of other cavaliers, who might impute this t©
parsimony. But even then I throw myself
on it with my clothes on. Another thing I
must add, that I cannot sleep long in the
night without getting up to look at the
heavens and the 6tars, and stay a while in
the open air, and this without a bonnet or
covering of any sort on my head. And,
thanks to God, I have received no harm from
it. I mention these things, that the world
may understand of what stuff we, the true
Conquerors, were made, and how well drilled
we were to arms and watching." Hist, de la
Conquista, cap. 108.
1 In the collection of MSS. made by Don
Vargas Ponce, former President of the
Academy of History, is a Memorial of this
same Benito Martin to the emperor, setting
forth the services of Velasquez and the in-
gratitude and revolt of Cortes and his fol-
lowers. The paper is without date ; written
after the arrival of the envoys, probably at
the close of 1519 or the beginning of the
following year.
PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASTILIAN COURT. 307
Charles the Fifth was then on his first visit to Spain after his accession.
It was not a long one ; long enough, however, to disgust his subjects, and; in
a great degree, to alienate their affections. He had lately received intelligence
of his election to the imperial crown of Germany. From that hour his eyes
were turned to that quarter. His stay in the Peninsula was prolonged
only that he might raise supplies for appearing with splendour on the great
theatre of Europe. Every act showed too plainly that the diadem of his
ancestors was held lightly' in comparison with the imperial bauble in which
neither his countrymen nor his own posterity could have the slightest
interest. The interest was wholly personal.
Contrary to established usage, he had summoned the Castilian cortes to
meet at Compostella, a remote town in the north, Avhich presented no other
advantage than that of being near his place of embarkation.2 On his way
thither he stopped some time at Tordesillas, the residence of his unhappy
mother, Joanna " the Mad." It was here that the envoys from Vera Cruz
presented themselves before him, in March, 1520. At nearly the same time,
the treasures brought over by them reached the court, where they excited
unbounded admiration.3 Hitherto, the returns from the New World had
been chiefly in vegetable products, which, if the surest, are also the slowest
sources of wealth. Of gold they had as yet seen but little, and that in its
natural state or wrought into the rudest trinkets. The courtiers gazed with
astonishment on the large masses of the precious metal, and the delicate
manufacture of the various articles, especially of the richly tinted feather-
work. And, as they listened to the accounts, written and oral, of the great
Aztec empire, they felt assured that the Castilian ships had at length reached
the golden Indies, which hitherto had seemed to recede before them.
In this favourable mood there is little doubt the monarch would have granted
the petition of the envoys, and confirmed the irregular proceedings of the Con-
?uerors, but for the opposition of a person who held the highest office in the
ndian department. This was Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca, formerly clean of
Seville, now bishop of Burgos. He was a man of noble family, and had been
intrusted with the direction of the colonial concerns on the discovery of the
New World. On the establishment of the Royal Council of the Indies by
Ferdinand the Catholic, he had been made its president, and had occupied
that post ever since. His long continuance in a position of great importance
and difficulty is evidence of capacity for business. It was no uncommon thing
in that age to find ecclesiastics in high civil, and even military, employments.
Fonseca appears to have been an active, efficient person, better suited to a
secular than to a religious vocation. He had, indeed, little that was religious
in his temper ; quick to take offence and slow to forgive. His resentments
seem to have been nourished and perpetuated like a part of his own nature.
Unfortunately, his peculiar position enabled him to display them towards
some of the most illustrious men of his time. From pique at some real or
fancied slight from Columbus, he had constantly thwarted the plans of the
great navigator. He had shown the same unfriendly feeling towards the
Admiral's son, Diego, the heir of his honours ; and lie now, and from this
time forward, showed a similar spirit towards the Conqueror of Mexico. The
2 Sandoval, indeed, gives a singular reason, 1634.
-that of being near the coast, so as to enable a See the letter of Peter Martyr to his noble
Chievres and the other Flemish blood-suckers friend and pupil, the Marquis de Mondejar,
to escape suddenly, if need were, with their written two months after the arrival of the
ill-gotten treasures, from the country. Hist. vessel from Vera Cruz. Opus Epist., ep.
de f'.irlosQuinto.tom. i. p. 203, ed. Pamplona, 650.
308 RESIDENCE IK MEXICO.
immediate cause of this was his own personal relations with Velasquez, to
whom a near relative was betrothed.*
Through this prelate's representations, Charles, instead of a favourable
answer to the envoys, postponed his decision till he should arrive at Coruna,
the place of embarkation.4 Bat here he was much pressed by the troubles
which his impolitic conduct had raised, as well as by preparations for his
voyage. The transaction of the colonial business, which, long postponed, had
greatly accumulated on his hands, was reserved for the last week in Spain.
But the affairs of the "young admiral" consumed so large a portion of this,
that he had no time to give to those of Cortes, except, indeed, to instruct the
board at Seville to remit to the envoys so much of their funds as was required
to defray the charges of the voyage. On the 16th of May, 1520, the impatient
monarcn bade adieu to his distracted kingdom, without one attempt to settle
the dispute between his belligerent vassals in the New World, and without an
effort to promote the magnificent enterprise which was to secure to him the
possession of an empire. What a contrast to the policy of his illustrious pre-
decessors, Ferdinand and Isabella ! 6
The governor of Cuba, meanwhile, without waiting for support from home,
took measures for redress into his own hands. We have seen in a preceding
chapter how deeply he was moved by the reports of the proceedings of Cortes,
and of the treasures which his vessel was bearing to Spain. Rage, mortifica-
tion, disappointed avarice, distracted his mind. He could not forgive himself
for trusting the affair to such hands. On the very week in which Cortes had
parted from him to take charge of the fleet, a capitulation had been signed
by Charles the Fifth, conferring on Velasquez the title of adelantado, with
great augmentation of his original powers.7 The governor resolved, without
loss of time, to send such a force to the Mexican coast as should enable him
to assert his new authority to its full extent and to take vengeance on his
rebellious officer. He began his preparations as early as October.8 At first
he proposed to assume the command in person. But nis unwieldy size, which
disqualified him for the fatigues incident to such an expedition, or, according
to his own account, tenderness for his Indian subjects, then wasted by an
epidemic, induced him to devolve the command on another.9
The person whom he selected was a Castilian hidalgo, named Panfilo de
Narvaez. He had assisted Velasquez in the reduction of Cuba, where his
conduct cannot be wholly vindicated from the charge of inhumanity which too
often attaches to the early Spanish adventurers. From that time he continued
to hold important posts under the government, and was a decided favourite
with Velasquez. He was a man of some military capacity, though negligent
and lax in his discipline. He possessed undoubted courage, but it was mingled
* Zufiiga, Anales eclesiasticos y seculares 7 The instrument was dated at Barcelona,
de Sevilla (Madrid, 1677), fol. 414.— Herrera, Nov. 13, 1518. Cortes left St. Jago the 18th
Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 5, cap. 14 ; lib. 9, of the same month. Herrera, Hist, general,
cap. 17, et alibi. dec. 2, lib. 3, cap. 11.
' Velasquez, it appears, had sent home an 8 Gomara (Cronica, cap. 96) and Robertson
account of the doings of Cortes and of the (History of America, vol. ii. pp. 304, 466)
vessel which touched with the treasures at consider that the new dignity of adelantado
Cuba, as early as October, 1519. Carta de stimulated the governor to this, enterprise.
Velasquez al Lie. Figueroa, MS., Nov. 17, By a letter of his own writing in the Mufioz
1519. collection, it appears he had begun operations
6 "With loud music from clarions and some months previous to his receiving notice
flutes, and with great demonstrations of joy, of his appointment. Carta de Velasquez al
they weighed anchor and unfurled their sails Senor de Xevres, Isla Fernandina, MS.,
to the wind, leaving unhappy Spain op- Octubre 12, 1519.
pressed with sorrows and misfortunes." San- 9 Carta de Velasquez al Lie. Figueroa, MS.,
doval, Hist, de Carlos Quinto, torn. i. p. 219. Nov. 17, 1519.
PREPARATIONS OF VELASQUEZ. 309
with an arrogance, or rather overweening confidence in his own powers, which
made him deaf to the suggestions of others more sagacious than himself. He
was altogether deficient in that prudence and calculating foresight demanded
in a leader who was to cope with an antagonist like Cortes.10
The governor and his lieutenant were unwearied' in their efforts to assemble
an army. They visited every considerable town in the island, fitting out
vessels, laying in stores and ammunition, and encouraging volunteers to enlist
by liberal promises. But the most effectual bounty was the assurance of the
rich treasures that awaited them in the golden regions of Mexico. So con-
fident were they in this expectation, that all classes and ages vied with one
another in eagerness to embark in the expedition, until it seemed as if the
whole white population would desert the island and leave it to its primitive
occupants.11
The report of these proceedings soon spread through the Islands, and drew
the attention of the Royal Audience of St. Domingo. This body was intrusted,
at that time, not only with the highest judicial authority in the colonies, but
with a civil jurisdiction, which, as " the Admiral" complained, encroached on
his own rights. The tribunal saw with alarm the proposed expedition of
Velasquez, which, whatever might be its issue in regard to the parties, could
not fail to compromise the interests of the crown. They chose accordingly
one of their number, the licentiate Ayllon, a man of prudence and resolution,
and despatched him to Cuba, with instructions to interpose his authority, and
stay, if possible, the proceedings of Velasquez.12
On his arrival, he* found the governor in the western part of the island,
busily occupied in getting the fleet ready for sea. The licentiate explained to
him the purport of his mission, and the views entertained of the proposed
enterprise by the Royal Audience. The conquest of a powerful country like
Mexico required the whole force of the Spaniards, and, if one half were em-
ployed against the other, nothing but ruin could come of it. It was the
governors duty, as a good subject, to forego all private animosities, and to
sustain those now engaged in the great work by sending them the necessary
supplies. He might, indeed, proclaim his own powers and demand obedience
to them. But, if this were refused, he should leave the determination of his
dispute to the authorized tribunals, and employ his resources in prosecuting
discovery in another direction, instead of hazarding all by hostilities with his
rival.
This admonition, however sensible and salutary, was not at all to the taste of
the governor. He professed, indeed, to have no intention of coming to hostili-
ties with Cortes. He designed only to assert his lawful jurisdiction oyer
territories discovered under his own auspices. At the same time, he denied
the right of Ayllon or of the Royal Audience to interfere in the matter.
Narvaez was still more refractory, and, as the fleet was now ready, proclaimed
his intention to sail in a few hours. In this state of things, the licentiate,
baffled in his first purpose of staying the expedition, determined to accompany
it in person, that he might prevent, if possible, by his presence, an open
rupture between the parties.13
10 The person of Narvaez is thus whimsi- urged in a memorandum of the licentiate
cally described by Diaz : " He was tall, stout- Ayllon. Carta al Emperador Guaniguanico,
limbed, with a large head and red beard, an Marzo 4, 1520, MS.
agreeable presence, a voice deep and sonorous, '- Processo y Pesquiza hecha por la Real
as if it rose from a cavern. He was a good Audiencia do la Espaiiola, Santo Domingo,
horseman and valiant." Hist, de la Con- Diciembre 24, 1519, MS.
quista, cap. 205. 13 Parecer del Lie. Ayllon al Adelantado
u The danger of such a result is particularly Diego Velasquez, Isla Fernandina, 1520, MS.
310 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
The squadron consisted of eighteen vessels, large and small. It carried nine
hundred men, eighty of whom were cavalry, eighty more arquebusiers, one
hundred and fifty cross-bowmen, with a number of heavy guns, and a large
supply of ammunition and military stores. There were, besides, a thousand
Indians, natives of the island, who went, probably, in a menial capacity.1* So
gallant an armada— with one exception "—never before rode in the Indian
seas. None to compare with it had ever been fitted out in the Western
World.
Leaving Cuba early in March, 1520, Narvaez held nearly the same course as
Cortes, and running down what was then called the "island of Yucatan,"16
after a heavy tempest, in which some of his smaller vessels foundered, anchored,
April 23, oft' San Juan de Ulua. It was the place where Cortes, also, had
first landed ; the sandy waste covered by the present city of Vera Cruz.
Here the commander met with a Spaniard, one of those sent by the general
from Mexico to ascertain the resources of the country, especially its mineral
products. This man came on board the fleet, and from him the Spaniards
gathered the particulars of all that had occurred since the departure of the
envoys from Vera Cruz,— the march into the interior, the bloody battles with
the Tlascalans, the occupation of Mexico, the rich treasures found in it, and
the seizure of the monarch, by means of which, concluded the soldier, " Cortes
rules over the land like its own sovereign, so that a Spaniard may travel
unarmed from one end of the country to the other, without insult or injury." "
His audience listened to this marvellous report with speechless amazement,
and the loyal indignation of Narvaez waxed stronger and stronger, as he
learned the value of the prize which had been snatched from his employer.
He now openly proclaimed his intention to march against Cortes and punish
him for his rebellion. He made his vaunt so loudly, that the natives, who had
flocked in numbers to the camp, which was soon formed on shore, clearly com-
prehended that the new-comers were not friends, but enemies, of the preceding.
Narvaez determined, also, — though in opposition to the counsel of the Spaniard,
who quoted the example of Cortes, — to establish a settlement on this unpro-
mising spot ; and he made the necessary arrangements to organize a munici-
pality. He was informed by the soldier of the existence of the neighbouring
colony at Villa Rica, commanded by Sandoval, and consisting of a few invalids,
who, he was assured, would surrender on the first summons. Instead of
marching against the place, however, he determined to send a peaceful
embassy to display his powers and demand the submission of the garrison.18
These successive steps gave serious displeasure to Ayllon, who saw they
must lead to inevitable collision with Cortes. But it was in vain, he remon-
strated and threatened to lay the proceedings of Narvaez before the govern-
ment. The latter, chafed by his continued opposition and sour rebuke, deter-
14 Relacion del Lie. Ayllon, Santo Domingo, pacifica, e le sirven e obedecen todos log
30 de Agosto 1520, MS. — Processo y Pesquiza Indios ; e qne cree este testigo que lo hacen
por la Real Audiencia, MS. — According to por cabsa que el dicho Hernando Cortes tiene
Diaz, the ordnance amounted to twenty preso a un Cacique que dicen Montesuma, que
cannon. Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 109. es Senor de lo mas de la tierra, £ lo que este
13 The great fleet under Ovando, 1501, in testigo alcanza, al cual los Indios obedecen, e
which Cortes had intended to embark for the facen lo que les manda, e los Cristianos andan
New World. Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 1, por toda esta tierra seguros, e un solo Cristiano
lib. 4, cap. 11. la ha atravesado toda sin temor." Processo y
16 "De alii soguimos el viage por toda la Pesquiza hecha por la Real Audiencia de la
costa de la Isla de Yucatan." Relacion del Espanola, MS.
Lie. Ayllon, MS. ". Relacion del Lie. Ayllon, MS.— Demanda
17 "La cual tierra sabe e ha visto este tes- de Zavallos en nombre de Narvaez, MSi
tigo, que el dicho Hernando Cortes tiene
POLITIC CONDUCT OF CORTES. 311
mined to rid himself of a companion who acted as a spy on his movements.
He caused him to be seized and sent back to Cuba. The licentiate had the
address to persuade the captain of the vessel to change her destination for St.
Domingo ; and, when he arrived there, a formal report of his proceedings,
exhibiting in strong colours the disloyal conduct of the governor and his lieu-
tenant, was prepared, and despatched by the Royal Audience to Spain.10
Sandoval meanwhile had not been inattentive to the movements of Narvaez.
From the time of his first appearance on the coast, that vigilant officer,
distrusting the object of the armament, had kept his eye on him. No sooner
was he apprised of the landing of the Spaniards, than the commander of Villa
Rica sent oft" his few disabled soldiers to a place of safety in the neighbour-
hood. He then put his works in the best posture of defence that he could,
and prepared to maintain the place to the last extremity. His men promised
to stand by him, and, the more effectually to fortify the resolution of any who
might falter, he ordered a gallows to be set up in a conspicuous part of the
town ! The constancy of his men was not put to the trial.
The only invaders of the place were a priest, a notary, and four other
Spaniards, selected for the mission, already noticed, by Narvaez. The eccle-
siastic's name was Guevara. On coming before Sandoval, he made him a
formal address, in which he pompously enumerated the services and claims of
Velasquez, taxed Cortes and his adherents with rebellion, and demanded of
Sandoval to tender his submission, as a loyal subject, to the newly constituted
authority of Narvaez.
< The commander of La Villa Rica was so much incensed at this unceremo-
nious mention of his companions in arms sthat he assured the reverend envoy
that nothing but respect for his cloth saved him from the chastisement he
merited. Guevara now waxed wroth in his turn, and called on the notary to
read the proclamation. But Sandoval interposed, promising that functionary
that if he attempted to do so, without first producing a warrant of his autho-
rity from the crown, he should be soundly flogged. Guevara lost all command
of himself at this, and, stamping on the ground, repeated his orders in a more
peremptory tone than before. Sandoval was not a man of many words. He
simply remarked that the instrument should be read to the general himself in
Mexico. At the same time, he ordered his men to procure a number of sturdy
tamanes, or Indian porters, on whose backs the unfortunate priest and his
companions were bound like so many bales of goods. They were then placed
under a guard of twenty Spaniards, and the whole caravan took its march for
the capital. Day and night they travelled, stopping only to obtain fresh relays
of carriers ; and as they passed through populous towns, forests, and cultivated
fields, vanishing as soon as seen, the Spaniards, bewildered by the strangeness
of the scene, as well as of their novel mode of conveyance, hardly knew whether
they were awake or in a dream. In this way, at the end of the fourth day,
they reached the Tezcucan lake in view of the Aztec capital.20
Its inhabitants had already been made acquainted with the fresh arrival of
white men on the coast. Indeed, directly on their landing, intelligence had
been communicated to Montezuma, who is said (it does not seem probable) to
I* This report is to be found among the -° " E iban espantados de que veian tatas
MSS. of Vargas PoiiQe, in the archives of ciudades y pueblos grandes, que les traian de
the Royal Academy of History. It embraces comer, y vnos los dexavau, y otros los toma-
a hundred and ten folio pages, and is entitled, van, y andar por su camino. Dize que iban
" El Processo y Pesquiza hecha por la Real pcnsando si era en cantarniento, 6 sueno."
Audienciade la Espanola e tierra nuevamente Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 111.
descubierta. Tara el Consejo de su MajesUid." — Demanda dc Zavallos, MS.
312 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
have concealed it some days from Cortes.21 At length, inviting him to an in-
terview, he told him there was no longer any obstacle to his leaving the country,
as a fleet was readv for him. To the inquiries of the astonished general,
Montezuma replied by pointing to a hieroglyphical map sent him from the
coast, on which the ships, the Spaniards themselves, and their whole equip-
ment were minutely delineated. Cortes, suppressing all emotions but those
of pleasure, exclaimed, " Blessed be the Redeemer for his mercies ! " On
returning to his quarters, the tidings were received by the troops with loud
shouts, the firing of cannon, and other demonstration's of joy. They hailed
the new-comers as a reinforcement from Spain. Not so their commander.
From the first, he suspected them to be sent by his enemy, the governor of
Cuba. He communicated his suspicions to his officers, through whom they
gradually found their way among the men. The tide of joy was instantly
checked. Alarming apprehensions succeeded, as they dwelt on the probability
of this suggestion and on the strength of the invaders. Yet their constancy
did not desert them ; and they pledged themselves to remain true to their
cause, and, come what might, to stand by their leader. It was one of those
occasions that proved the entire influence which Cortes held over these wild
adventurers. All doubts were soon dispelled by the arrival of the prisoners
from Villa Rica.
One of the convoy, leaving the party in the suburbs, entered the city,
and delivered a letter to the general from Sandoval, acquainting him with
all the particulars. Cortes instantly sent to the prisoners, ordered them to
be released, and furnished them with horses to make their entrance into the
capital, — a more creditable conveyance than the backs of tamanes. On their
arrival he received them with marked courtesy, apologized for the rude
conduct of his officers, and seemed desirous by the most assiduous attentions
to soothe the irritation /of their minds. He showed his good will still
further by lavishing presents on Guevara and his associates, until he
gradually wrought such a change in their dispositions that from enemies he
converted them into friends, and drew forth many important particulars
respecting not merely the designs of their leader, but the feelings of his army.
The soldiers, in general, they said, far from desiring a rupture with those of
Cortes, would willingly co-operate with them, were it not for their commander.
They had no feelings of resentment to gratify. Their object was gold. The
personal influence of Narvaez was not great, and his arrogance and penurious
temper had already gone far to alienate from him the affections of his
followers. These hints were not lost on the general.
He addressed a letter to his rival in the most conciliatory terms. He
besought him not to proclaim their animosity to the world, and, by kindling
a spirit of insubordination in the natives, unsettle all that had been so far
secured. A violent collision must be prejudicial even to the victor, and might
be fatal to both. It was only in union that they could look for success. He
was ready to greet Narvaez as a brother in arms, to share with him the fruits
of conquest, and, if he could produce a royal commission, to submit to his
authority. Cortes well knew he had no such commission to show.22
Soon after the departure of Guevara and his comrades,23 the general deter-
" " Ya auia tres dias que lo sabia el Mon- M "Our commander said so many kind
tecuma, y Cortes no sabia cosa ninguna." things to them," says Diaz, "and anointed
Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 110. their fingers so plentifully with gold, that,
M Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, though they came like roaring lions, they
cap. 47.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, went home perfectly tame ! " Hist, de la
pp. 117-120. Conquista, cap. 111.
POLITIC CONDUCT OF CORTES. 313
mined to send a special envoy of his own. The person selected for this
delicate office was J ather Olmedo, who, through the campaign, had shown a
practical good sense, and a talent for affairs, not always to be found in persons
of his spiritual calling. He was intrusted with another epistle to Narvaez, of
similar import with the preceding. Cortes wrote, also, to the licentiate
Ayllon, with whose departure he was not acquainted, and to Andres de Duero,
former secretary of Velasquez, and his own friend, who had come over in the
present fleet. Olmedo was instructed to converse with these persons in
private, as well as with the principal officers and soldiers, and, as far as possible,
to infuse into them a spirit of accommodation. To give greater weight to his
arguments, he was furnished with a liberal supply of gold.
During this time, Narvaez had abandoned his original design of planting a
colony on the sea-coast, and had crossed the country to Cempoalla, where he
had taken up his quarters. He was here when Guevara returned and pre-
sented the letter of Cortes.
Narvaez glanced over it with a look of contempt, which was changed into
one of stern displeasure as his envoy enlarged on the resources and formi-
dable character of his rival, counselling him by all means to accept his proffers
of amity. A different effect was produced on the troops, who listened with
greedy ears to the accounts given of Cortes, his frank and liberal manners,
which they involuntarily contrasted with those of their own commander, the
wealth in his camp, where the humblest private could stake his ingot and
chain of gold at play, where all revelled in plenty, and the life of the soldier
seemed to be one long holiday. Guevara had been admitted only to the
sunny side of the picture.
The impression made by these accounts was confirmed by the presence of
Olmedo. The ecclesiastic delivered his missives, in like manner, to Narvaez,
who ran through their contents with feelings of anger which found vent in the
most opprobrious invectives against his rival ; while one of his captains, named
Salvatierra, openly avowed his intention to cut off the rebel's ears and broil them
for his breakfast ! 24 Such impotent sallies did not alarm the stout-hearted
friar, who soon entered into communication with many of the officers and
soldiers, whom he found better inclined to an accommodation. His insinuating
eloquence, backed by his liberal largesses, gradually opened a way into their
hearts, and a party was formed, under the very eye of their chief, better affected
to his rival's interests than to his own. The intrigue could not be conducted so
secretly as wholly to elude the suspicions of Narvaez, who would have arrested
Olmedo and placed him under confinement, but for the interposition of Duero.
He put a stop to his further machinations by sending him back again to his
master. But the poison was left to do its work.
Narvaez made the same vaunt as at his landing, of his design to march
against Cortes and apprehend him as a traitor. The Cempoallans learned with
astonishment that their new guests, though the countrymen, were enemies of
their former. Narvaez, also, proclaimed his intention to release Montezuma
from captivity and restore him to his throne. It is said he . received a rich
present from the Aztec emperor, who entered into a correspondence with
him.25 That Montezuma should have treated him with his usual munificence,
** Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.) Considering the
112. awe in which the latter alone were held by
■* Ibid., cap. 111. — Oviedo says that Monte- the Mexicans, a more improbable tale could
zuma called a council of his nobles, in which not be devised. But nothing is too impro-
it was decided to let the troops of Narvaez bable for history,— though, according to
into the capital, and then to crush them at Boileau's maxim, it may be for fiction,
one blow, with those of Cortes ! (.Hist, de las
311 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
supposing him to be the. friend of Cortes, is very probable. But that he
should have entered into a secret communication, hostile to the general's
interests, is too repugnant to the whole tenor of his conduct to be lightly
admitted.
These proceedings did not escape the watchful eye of Sandoval. lie
gathered the particulars partly from deserters who fled to Villa Rica, and
partly from his own agents, who in the disguise of natives mingled in the
enemy's camp. He sent a full account of them to Cortes, acquainted him with
the growing defection of the Indians, and urged him to take speedy measures
for the defence of Villa Rica if he would not see it fall into the enemy's
hands. The general felt that it was time to act.
Yet the selection of the course to be pursued was embarrassing in the
extreme. If he remained in Mexico and awaited there the attack of his rival,
it would give the latter time to gather round him the whole forces of the
empire, including those of the capital itself, all willing, no doubt, to serve
under the banners of a chief who proposed the liberation of their master.
The odds were too great to be hazarded.
If he marched against Narvaez, he must either abandon the city and the
emperor, the fruit of all his toils and triumphs, or, by leaving a garrison to
hold them in awe, must cripple his strength, already far too weak to cope with
that of his adversary. Yet on this latter course lie decided. He trusted less,
perhaps, to an open encounter of arms than to the influence of his personal
address and previous intrigues, to bring about an amicable arrangement.
But he prepared himself for either result.
In the preceding chapter it was mentioned that Velasquez de Leon was
sent with a hundred and fifty men to plant a colony on one of the great
rivers emptying into the Mexican Gulf. Cortes, on learning the arrival of
Narvaez, had despatched a messenger to his officer, to acquaint him with the
fact and to arrest his further progress. But Velasquez had already received
notice of it from Narvaez himself,' who, in a letter written soon after his land-
ing, had adjured him in the name of his kinsman, the governor of Cuba, to
quit the banners of Cortes and come over to him. That "officer, however, had
long since buried the feelings of resentment which he had once nourished against
his general, to whom he was now devotedly attached, and who had honoured
him throughout the campaign with particular regard. Cortes had early seen
the importance of securing this cavalier to his interests. Without waiting
for orders, Velasquez abandoned his expedition, and commenced a counter-
march on the capital, when he received the general's commands to await him
in Cholula.
Cortes had also sent to the distant province of Chinantla, situated far to
the south-east of Cholula, for a'reinforcement of two thousand natives. They
were a bold race, hostile to the Mexicans, and had offered their services to
him since his residence in the metropolis. They used a long spear in battle,
longer, indeed, than that borne by the Spanish or German infantry. Cortes
ordered three hundred of their double-headed lances to be made for him, and
to be tipped with copper instead of itztli. With this formidable weapon he
proposed to foil the cavalry of his enemy.
The command of the garrison in his absence he intrusted to Pedro de
Alvarado,— the Tonatiuh of the Mexicans,— a man possessed of many com-
manding qualities, of an intrepid though somewhat arrogant spirit, and his
warm personal friend. He inculcated on him moderation and forbearance.
He was to keep a close watch on Montezuma, for on the possession of the
royal person rested all their authority in the land. He was to show him the
HE LEAVES THE CAPITAL. 318
deference alike due to his high station and demanded by policy. He was to
pay uniform respect to the usages and the prejudices of* the people ; remem-
bering that though his small force would be large enough to overawe them in
times of quiet, yet should they be once roused it would be swept away like
chaff before the whirlwind.
From Montezuma he exacted a promise to maintain the same friendly
relations with his lieutenant which he had preserved towards himself. This,
said Cortes, would be most grateful to his own master, the Spanish sovereign.
Should the Aztec prince do otherwise, and lend himself to any hostile move-
ment, he must be convinced that he would fall the first victim of it.
The emperor assured him of his continued good will. He was much perplexed,
however, by the recent events. Were the Spaniards at his court, or those
just landed, the true representatives of their sovereign ? Cortes, who had
hitherto maintained a reserve on the subject, now told him that the latter were
indeed his countrymen, but traitors to his master. As such, it was his painful
duty to march against them, and, when he had chastised their rebellion, lie
should return, before his departure from the land, in triumph to the capital.
Montezuma offered to support him with five thousand Aztec warriors ; but the
general declined it, not choosing to encumber himself with a body of doubtful,
perhaps disaffected, auxiliaries.
He left in garrison, under Alvarado, one hundred and forty men, two-thirds
of his whole force.20 With these remained all the artillery, the greater part
of the little body of horse, and most of the arquebusiers. He took with him
only seventy soldiers, but they were men of the most mettle in the army and
his stanch adherents. They were lightly armed, and encumbered with as
little baggage as possible. Everything depended on celerity of movement.
Montezuma, in his royal litter borne on the shoulders of his nobles, and
escorted by the whole Spanish infantry, accompanied the general to the cause-
way. There, embracing him in the most cordial manner, they parted, with all
the external marks of mutual regard. It was about the middle of May, 1520,
more than six months since the entrance of the Spaniards into Mexico.
During this time they had lorded it over the land with absolute sway. They
were now leaving the city in hostile array, not against an Indian foe, but
their own countrymen. It was the beginning of a long career of calamity,—
checkered, indeed, by occasional triumphs, — which was yet to be run before
the Conquest could be completed.27
" In the Mexican edition of the letters of en nombre de Hernando Cortes, MS.) The
Cortes, it is called five hundred men. (Rel. account in the Mexican edition is unquestion-
Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 122.) But this was ably an error.
more than his whole Spanish force. In -7 Carta de la Villa de Vera Cruz A el Eni-
Kamusio's version of the same letter, printed perador, MS. This letter without date was
as early as 1505, the number is stated as in probably written in 1520.— See, also, for the
the text. (Navigationi et Viaggi, fol. 244.) preceding pages, Probanza fecha .-1 pedimento
In an instrument without date, containing de Juan Ochoa, MS., — Herrera, Hist, general,
the affidavits of certain witnesses as to the dec. 2. lib. 9, cap. 1, 21; lib. 10, cap. 1,— Rel.
management of the royal fifth by Cortes, it Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 119, 120,—
Is said there were one hundred and fifty Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 112-
BoUiers left in the capital under Alvarado. 115,— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33,
(Probanza fecha en la nueva Espana del mar cap. 47.
oceano a pedimento de Juan Ochoa de Lexalde,
316 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
CHAPTER VII.
CORTES DESCENDS FROM THE TABLE-LAND— NEGOTIATES WITH NARVAEZ —
PREPARES TO ASSAULT HIM— QUARTERS OF NARVAEZ— ATTACK BY NIGHT
—NARVAEZ DEFEATED.
1520.
Traversing the southern causewav, by which they had entered the capital,
the little party were soon on their march across the beautiful Valley. They
climbed the mountain screen which Nature had so ineffectually drawn around
it, passed between the huge volcanoes that, like faithless watch-dogs on their
posts, have long since been buried in slumber, threaded the intricate defiles
where they had before experienced such bleak and tempestuous weather, and,
emerging on the other side, descended the western slope which opens on the
wide expanse of the fruitful plateau of Cholula.
They heeded little of what they saw on their rapid march, nor whether it
was cold or hot. The anxiety of their minds made them indifferent to out-
ward annoyances ; and they had fortunately none to encounter from the
natives, for the name of Spaniard was in itself a charm, — a better guard than
helm or buckler to the bearer.
In Cholula, Cortes had the inexpressible satisfaction of meeting Velasquez
de Leon, with the hundred and twenty soldiers intrusted to his command for the
formation of a colony. That faithful officer had been some time at Cholula,
waiting for the general's approach. Had he failed, the enterprise of Cortes
must have failed also.1 The idea of resistance, with his own handful of
followers, would have been chimerical. As it was, his little band was now
trebled, and acquired a confidence in proportion.
Cordially embracing their companions in arms, now knit together more
closely than ever by the sense of a great and common danger, the combined
troops traversed with quick step the streets of the sacred city, where many a
dark pile of ruins told of their disastrous visit on the preceding autumn.
They kept the high-road to Tlascala, and, at not many leagues' distance from
that capital, fell in with Father Olmedo and his companions on their return
from the camp of Narvaez, to which, it will be remembered, they had been
sent as envoys. The ecclesiastic bore a letter from that commander, in which
he summoned Cortes and his followers to submit to his authority as captain-
general of the country, menacing them with condign punishment in case of
refusal or delay. Olmedo gave many curious particulars of the state of the
enemy's camp. Narvaez he described as puffed up by authority, and negligent
of precautions against a foe whom he held in contempt. He was surrounded
by a number of pompous, conceited officers, who ministered to his vanity, and
whose braggart tones the good father, who had an eye for the ridiculous, imi-
tated, to the no small diversion of Cortes and the soldiers. Many of the troops,
he said, showed no great partiality for their commander, and were strongly
disinclined to a rupture with their countrymen ; a state of feeling much pro-
moted by the accounts they had received of Corte's, by his own arguments and
1 So says Oviedo,— and with truth: "Si havia llevado a" Guacacalco, a la parte de
aquel capitan Juan Velasquez de Leon no Piinfilo de Narvaez se cunado, acabado oviera
estubiera nial con su pariente Diego Velas- Cortes su oficio." Hist, de las Ind., MS., ljb,
tiuez, e se pasara con los 150 Hombres, que 33, cap. 12.
HE REVIEWS HIS ARMY. 317
promises, and by the liberal distribution of the gold with which he had been
provided. In addition to these matters, Cortes gathered much important
intelligence respecting the position of the enemy's force and his general plan
of operations.
At Tlascala the Spaniards were received with a frank and friendly hospitality.
It is not said whethe any of the Tlascalan allies had accompanied them froin
Mexico. If they did, they went no farther than their native city. Cortes
requested a reinforcement of six hundred fresh troops to attend him on his
present expedition. It was readily granted ; but, before the army had pro-
ceeded many miles on its route, the Indian auxiliaries fell off, one after another,
and returned to their city. They had no personal feeling of animosity to
gratify in the present instance, as 'in a war against Mexico. It may be, too,
that, although intrepid in a contest with the bravest of the Indian races, they
had had too fatal experience of the prowess of the white men to care to
measure swords with them again. At any rate, they deserted in such numbers
that Cortes dismissed the remainder at once, saying, good-humouredly, " He
had rather part with them then than in the hour of trial."
The troops soon entered on that wild district in the neighbourhood of
Perote, strewed with the wreck of volcanic matter, which forms so singular
a contrast to the general character of beauty with which the scenery is
stamped. It was not long before their eyes were gladdened by the approach
of Sandoval and about sixty soldiers from the garrison of Vera Cruz, including
several deserters from the enemy. It was a most important reinforcement,
not more on account of the numbers of the men than of the character of the
commander, in every respect one of the ablest captains in the service. He had
been compelled to fetch a circuit in order to avoid falling in with the enemy,
and had forced his way through thick forests and wild mountain-passes, till he
had fortunately, without accident, reached the appointed place of rendezvous
and stationed himself once more under the banner of his chieftain.2
At the same place, also, Cortes was met by Tobillos, a Spaniard whom he
had sent to procure the lances from Chinantla. They wrere perfectly well
made, after the pattern which had been given,— double-headed spears, tipped
with copper, and of great length. Tobillos drilled the men in the exercise
of this weapon, the formidable uses of which, especially against horse, had
been fully demonstrated, towards the close of the last century, by the Swiss
battalions, in their encounters with the Burgundian chivalry, the best in
Europe.3
Cortes now took a review of his army, — if so paltry a force may be called
an army, — and found their numbers were two hundred and sixty-six, only five
of whom were mounted. A few muskets and cross-bows were sprinkled among
them. In defensive armour they were sadly deficient. They were for the
most part cased in the quilted doublet of the country, thickly stuffed with
cotton, the escaupil, recommended by its superior lightness, but which, though
competent to turn the arrow of the Indian, was ineffectual against a musket-
ball. Most of this cotton mail was exceedingly out of repair, giving evidence,
in its unsightly gaps, of much rude service and hard blows. Few, in this
emergency, but would, have given almost any price— the best of the gold
2 Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. match for the short sword and buckler of the
123, 124.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, Spaniard, in the great battle of Ravenna,
cap. 115-117.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., fought a few years before this, 1512. Machla-
lib. 33, cap. 12. velli makes some excellent reflections on the
a But, although irresistible against cavalry, comparative merit of these arms. Arte della
the long pike of the German proved no Guerra, lib. 2, ap. Opere, torn. iv. p. (57
m RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
chains which they wore in tawdry display over their poor habiliments — for a
steel morion or cuirass, to take the place of their own hacked and battered
armour.4
Under this coarse covering, however, they bore hearts stout and courageous
as ever beat in human bosoms. For they were the heroes, still invincible, of
many a. hard-fought held, where the odds had been incalculably against them.
They had large experience of the country and of the natives, and knew well
the character of their own commander, under whose eye they had been trained
till every movement was in obedience to him. The whole body seemed to
constitute but a single individual, in respect of unity of design and of action.
Thus its real effective force was incredibly augmented ; and, what was no less
important, the humblest soldier felt it to be so.
The troops now resumed their march across the table-land, until, reaching
the eastern slope, their labours were lightened, as they descended towards the
broad plains of the tierra caliente, spread out like a boundless ocean of verdure
below them. At some fifteen leagues' distance from Cempoalla, where Narvaez,
as has been noticed, had established his quarters, they were met by another
embassy from that commander. It consisted of the priest, Guevara, Andres
de Duero, and two or three others. Duero, the fast friend of Cortes, had been
the person most instrumental, originally, in obtaining him his commission
from Velasquez. They now greeted eacli other with a warm embrace, and it
was not till after much preliminary conversation on private matters that the
secretary disclosed the object of his visit.
He bore a letter from Narvaez, couched in terms somewhat different from
the preceding. That officer required, indeed, the acknowledgment of his para-
mount authority in the land, but offered his vessels to transport all, who
desired it, from the country, together with their treasures and effects, without
molestation or inquiry. The more liberal tenor of these terms was, doubtless,
to be ascribed to the influence of Duero. The secretary strongly urged Cortes
to comply with them, as the most favourable that couid be obtained, and as
the only alternative affording him a chance of safety in his desperate condition.
" For, however valiant your men may be, how can they expect," he asked,
" to face a force so much superior in numbers and equipment as that of
their antagonist?" But Cortes had set his fortunes on the cast, and he
was not the man to shrink from it. " If Narvaez bears a royal commission,"
he returned, " I will readily submit to him. But he has produced none. He
is a deputy of my rival, Velasquez. For myself, I am a servant of the king ;
I have conquered the country for him ; and for him I and my brave followers
will defend it, be assured, to the last drop of our blood. If we fall, it will be
glory enough to have perished in the discharge of our duty." 5
His friend might have been somewhat puzzled to comprehend how the
authority of Cortes rested on a different ground from that of Narvaez ; and if
* Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. y cumplir; y que hasta tanto, per ningun
118. — "Tanibien quiero dezir la gran neces- interese, ni partido haria lo que el decia;
sidad que teniamos de avmas, que por vn peto, antes yo, y los que conmigo estaban, mori-
6 capacete, 6 casco, 6 babera de hierro, die- riamos en defensa de la Tierra, pucs la babia-
ramos aquella nocbe quato nos pidiera por inos ganado, y tenido por Vuestra Magestad
ello, y todo quato auiamos ganado." Cap. paeffica, y segura, y por no ser Traydores y
122. desleales a nuestro Key. . . . Considerando,
5 " Yo les respond!, que no via provision que morir en servicio de mi Key, y por de-
de Vuestra Alteza, por donde le debiesse en- lender, y amparar sus Tierras, y no las dejar
tregar la Tierra; e que si alguna trahia, que usurpar, a mi, y a los de mi Companfa se nos
la presentasse ante mi, y ante el Cabildo de la seguia farta gloria." Rel. S?g. de C 'l'tes, ap.
Vera Cruz, segun orden, y costumbre de Ks- Lorenzona, pp. 125-127.
pana, y que yo estaba presto de la obedecer,
NEGOTIATES WITH NARVAEZ. 319
they both held of the same superior, the governor of Cuba, why that dignitary
should not be empowered to supersede his own officer, in case of dissatisfac-
tion, and appoint a substitute.0 But Cortes here reaped the full benefit of
that legal fiction, if it may be so termed, by which his commission, resigned
to the self-constituted municipality of Vera" Cruz, was again derived through
that body from the crown. The device, indeed, was too palpable to impose
on any but those who chose to be blinded. Most of the army were of this
number. To them it seemed to give additional confidence, in the same
manner as a strip of painted canvas, when substituted, as it has sometimes
been, for a real parapet of stone, has been found not merely to impose on the
enemy, but to give a sort of artificial courage to the defenders concealed
behind it.7
Duero had arranged with his friend in Cuba, when he took command of the
expedition, that he himself was to have a liberal share of the profits. It is
said that Cortes confirmed this arrangement at the present juncture, and
made it clearly for the other's interest that he should prevail in the struggle
with Narvaez. This was an important point, considering the position of the
secretary.8 From this authentic source the general derived much information
respecting the designs of Narvaez, which had escaped the knowledge of
Olmedo. On the departure of the envoys, Cortes intrusted them with a letter
for his rival, a counterpart of that which he had received from him. This
show of negotiation intimated a desire on his part to postpone, if not avoid,
hostilities, which might the better put Narvaez off his guard. In the letter he
summoned that commander and his followers to present themselves before him
without delay, and to acknowledge his authority as the representative of his
sovereign, lie should otherwise be compelled to proceed against them as
rebels to the crown ! 9 With this missive, the vaunting tone of which was
intended quite as much for his own troops as the enemy, Cortes dismissed the
envoys. They returned to disseminate among their comrades their admiration
of the general, and of his unbounded liberality, of which he took care they
should experience full measure, and they dilated on the riches of his adherents,
who, over their wretched attire, displayed, with ostentatious profusion, jewels,
ornaments of gold, collars, and massive chains winding several times round
their necks and bodies, the rich spoil of the treasury of Montezuma.
The army now took its way across the level plains of the tie-rra caliente, on
which Nature has exhausted all the wonders of creation ; it was covered more
thickly then than at the present day with noble forests, where the towering
cottonwood-tree, the growth of ages, stood side by side, with the light bamboo
s Such are the natural reflections of Oviedo, though the precise passages have escaped my
speculating on the matter some years later. memory.
"E tambien que me parece donaire. 6 no 8 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
bastante la escusa que Cortes da para fundar 119.
e justificar su negocio, que es decir, que el D "E assimismo mandaba, y mande" por el
Narvaez presentase las provisiones que He- dicho Mandamiento a todas las Personas, que
vaba de S. M. Como si el dicho Cortes oviera con el dicho Narvaez estaban, que no tubies-
ido a aquella tierra por mandado de S. M. 6 sen, ni obedeciessen al dicho Narvaez por tal
con mas, ni tanta autoridad como llebaba Capitan, ni Justicia ; antes, dentro de cierto
Narvaez ; pues que es claro e notorio, que el termino, que en el dicho Mandamiento senale,
Adelantado Diego Velasquez, que embio a pareciessen ante mi, para que yo les dijesse,
Cortes, era parte, segun derecho, para le em- lo que debian hacer en servicio de Vuestra
biar a remover, y el Cortes obligado a. le obe- Alteza : con protestacion, que lo contrario
decer. No quiero decir mas en esto por no haciendo, procederia contra ellos, como contra
ser odioso a" ninguna de las partes." Hist, de Traydores, y aleves, y malos Vasallos, que
las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 12. se rebelaban contra su Rey, y quieren usurpav
7 More than one example of this ruse is sus Tierras, y Sefiorfos." Rel. Seg. de Cortes,
mentioned by Mariana in Spanish history, ap. Lorenzana, p. 127.
320 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
or banana, the product of a season, each in its way attesting the marvello
fecundity of the soil, while innumerable creeping flowers, muffling up th
giant branches of the trees, waved in bright festoons above their heads
loading the air with odours. But the senses of the Spaniards were not opei
to the delicious influences of nature. Their minds were occupied by on
idea.
Coming upon an open reach of meadow, of some extent, they were at lengt'.
stopped by a river, or rather stream, called Rio de Canoas, " the River o;
Canoes," of no great volume ordinarily, but swollen at this time by excessiv
rains. It had rained hard that day, although at intervals the sun had broke:
forth with intolerable fervour, affording a good specimen of those alternatio
of heat and moisture which give such activity to vegetation in the tropi
where the process of forcing seems to be always going on.
The river was about a league distant from the camp of Narvaez. Before
seeking out a practicable ford by which to cross it, Cortes allowed his men to
recruit their exhausted strength by stretching themselves on the ground.
The shades of evening had gathered round ; and the rising moon, wading
through dark masses of cloud, shone with a doubtful and interrupted light.
It was evident that the storm had not yet spent its fury.10 Cortes did not
regret this. He had made up his mind to an assault that very night, and in
the darkness and uproar of the tempest his movements would be most effectu-
ally concealed.
Before disclosing his design, he addressed his men in one of those stirring,
soldierly harangues to which he had recourse in emergencies of great moment,
as if to sound the depths of their hearts, and, where any faltered, to reanimate
them with his own heroic spirit. He briefly recapitulated the great events of
the campaign, the dangers they had surmounted, the victories they had
achieved over the most appalling odds, the glorious spoil they had won. Bu
of this they were now to be defrauded ; not by men holding a legal warrant
from the crown, but by adventurers, with no better title than that of superior
force. They had established a claim on the gratitude of their country and
their sovereign. This claim was now to be dishonoured, their very services
were converted into crimes, and their names branded with infamy as those of
traitors. But the time had at last come for vengeance. God would not-
desert the soldier of the Cross. Those whom he had carried victorious through'
greater dangers would not be left to fail now. And, if they should fail, better
to die like brave men on the field of battle, than, with fame and fortune cast
away, to perish ignominiously like slaves on the gibbet. This last point he
urged home upon his hearers ; well knowing there was not one among them so
dull as not to be touched by it.
They responded with hearty acclamations, and Velasquez de Leon, and de
Lugo, in the name of the rest, assured their commander, if they failed, it
should be his fault, not theirs. They would follow wherever he led. The
general was fully satisfied with the temper of his soldiers, as he felt that his
difficulty lay not in awakening^ their enthusiasm, but in giving it a right
direction. One thing is remarkable. He made no allusion to the defection
which he knew existed in the enemy's camp. -He would have his soldiers, in
this last pinch, rely on nothing but themselves.
He announced bis purpose to attack the enemy that very night, when he
.should be buried in slumber, and the friendly darkness might throw a veil
10 "Y aun llouia de rato en rato, y en- escuridad ayndu," Hist, de la Conquista,
tonces salia la Luna, que quado alii llegamos cap. 122.
hazia niuy escuro, y llouia, y tarabien la
e
I
t
QUARTERS OF NARVAEZ. 321
over their own movements and conceal the poverty of their numbers. To this
the troops, jaded though they were by incessant marching, and half famished,
joyfully assented. In their situation, suspense was the worst of evils. He
next distributed the commands among his captains. To Gonzalo de Sandoval
he assigned the important office of taking Narvaez. He was commanded, as
alguacil mayor, to seize the person of that officer as a rebel to his sovereign,
and, if he made resistance, to kill him on the spot.11 He was provided with
sixty picked men to aid him in this difficult task, supported by, several of the
ablest captains, among whom were two of the Alvarados, de Avila, and Ordaz.
The largest division of the force was placed under Cristoval de Olid, or,
according to some authorities, of Pizarro, one of that family so renowned in
the subsequent conquest of Peru. He was to get possession of the artillery,
and to cover the assault of Sandoval by keeping those of the enemy at bay
who would interfere with it. Cortes reserved only a body of twenty'men for
himself, to act on any point that occasion might require. The watch- word
was Espiritu Santo, it being the evening of Whitsunday. Having made these
arrangements, he prepared to cross the river.12
During the interval thus occupied by Cortes, Narvaez had remained at
Cempoalla, passing his days in idle and frivolous amusement. From this he
was at length roused, after the return of Duero, by the remonstrances of the
old cacique of the city. " Why are you so heedless '{ " exclaimed the latter ;
f do you think Malinche is so ? Depend on it, he knows your situation
exactly, and, when you least dream of it, he will be upon you." 13
Alarmed at these suggestions and those of his friends, Narvaez at length
put himself at the head of his troops, and, on the very day on which Cortes
arrived at the River of Canoes, sallied out to meet him. But, when he had
reached this barrier, Narvaez saw no sign of an enemy. The rain, which fell
in torrents, soon drenched the soldiers to the skin. Made somewhat effemi-
nate by their long and luxurious residence at Cempoalla, they murmured at
their uncomfortable situation. " Of what use was it to remain there fighting
with the elements ? There was no sign of an enemy, and little reason to
apprehend his approach in such tempestuous wTeather. It w^ould be wiser to
retain to Cempoalla, and in the morning they should be all fresh for action,
should Cortes make his appearance."
Narvaez took counsel of these advisers, or rather of his own inclinations.
Before retracing his steps, he provided against surprise by stationing a couple
of sentinels at no great distance from the river, to give notice of the approach
of Cortes. He also detached a body of forty horse in another direction, by
which he thought it not improbable the enemy might advance on Cempoalla.
Having taken these precautions, he fell back again before night on his own
quarters.
He there occupied the principal teocallL It consisted of a stone building
on the usual pyramidal basis ; and the ascent was by a flight of steep steps
" The Attorney of Narvaez, in his corn- de Zavallos en nornbre de Narvaez, MS.
plaint before the crown, expatiates en the ,3 Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33,
diabolical enormity of these instructions. cap. 12, 47.— Bernal Diaz, Hist de la Con-
" El dho Fernando Corttes conio traidor ale- quista, cap. 122. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec.
boso, sin apercibir al dho mi partte, con un 2, lib. 10, cap. 1.
diabolico pensamto 4 infernal osadia, en con- l3 " Que hazeis, que estais mui descuidado ?
temtto e menosprecio de V. M. 6 de sus pensais que Malinche, y los Teules que trae
provisiones R.s, no mirando ni asattando la cosigo, que son assf conio vosotros ? Pues yo
lealtad qe debia a V. M., el dho Corttes dio os digo, que quado no os cataredes, senl aquf,
un Mandamientto al dho Gonzalo de Sandobal y os matara." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con-
paraque prendieseal dho Panfilo de Narvaez, quista, cap. 121.
Q si se defendiese qe lo mattase." Denianda
32-2 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
on one" of the faces of the pyramid. In the edifice or sanctuary above lie
stationed himself with a strong party of arquebusiers and cross-bowmen. Two
other teocallis in the same area were garrisoned by large detachments of
infantry. His artillery, consisting of seventeen or eighteen small guns, he
posted in the area below, and protected it by the remainder of his cavalry.
When he had thus distributed his forces, he returned to his own quarters, and
soon after to repose, with as much indifference as if his rival had been on the
other side of the Atlantic instead of a neighbouring stream.
That stream was now converted by the deluge of waters into a furious
torrent. It was with difficulty that a practicable ford could be found. The
slippery stones, rolling beneath the feet, gave way at every step. The diffi-
culty of the passage was much increased by the darkness and driving tempest.
Still, with their long pikes, the Spaniards contrived to make good their foot-
ing,— at least, all but two, Avho were swept down 'by the fury of the current.
When they had reached the opposite side, they had new impediments to
encounter, in traversing a road, never good, now made doubly difficult by the
deep mire, and the tangled brushwood with which it was overrun.
Here they met w7ith a cross, which had been raised by them on their former
march into the interior. They hailed it as a good omen ; and Cortes, kneel-
ing before the blessed sign, confessed his sins, and declared his great object
to be the triumph of the holy Catholic faith. The army followed his example,
and, having made a general confession, received absolution from Father
Olmedo, who invoked the blessing of Heaven on the warriors who had con-
secrated their swords to the glory of the Cross. Then rising up and embracing
one another, as companions in the good cause, they found themselves wonder-
fully invigorated and refreshed. The incident is curious, and well illustrates the
character of the time,— in which war, religion, and rapine were so intimately
blended together. Adjoining the road was a little coppice ; and 'Cortes, and
the few who had horses, dismounting, fastened the animals to the trees, where
they might find some shelter from the storm. They deposited there, too, their
baggage, and such superfluous articles as would encumber their movements.
The general then gave them a few last words of advice. " Everything," said
he, " depends on obedience. Let no man, from desire of distinguishing him-
self, break his ranks. On silence, despatch, and, above all, obedience to your
officers, the success of our enterprise depends."
Silently and stealthily they held on their way, without beat of drum or sound
of trumpet, when they suddenly came on the two sentinels who had been
stationed by Narvaez to give notice of their approach. This had been so
noiseless that the vedettes were both of them surprised on their post, and one
only, with difficulty, effected his escape. The other was brought before Cortes.
Every effort was made to draw from him some account of the present position
of Narvaez. But the man remained obstinately silent ; and, though threatened
with the gibbet, and having a noose actually drawn round his neck, his
Spartan heroism was not to be vanquished. Fortunately, no change had
taken place in the arrangements of Narvaez since the intelligence previously
derived from Duero.
The other sentinel, who had escaped, carried the news of the enemy's
approach to the camp. But his report was not credited by the lazy soldiers
whose slumbers he had disturbed. " He had been deceived by his fears," they
said, " and mistaken the noise of the storm and the waving of the bushes for
the enemy. Cortes and his men were far enough on the other side of the
river, which they would be slow to cross in such a night." Narvaez himself
shared in the same blind infatuation, and the discredited sentinel slunk
ATTACKED BY NIGHT. 323
abashed to his own quarters, vainly menacing them with the consequences of
their incredulity.14
Cortes, not doubting that the sentinel's report must alarm the enemy's
camp,rquickened his pace. As he drew near, he discerned a light in one of the
lofty towers of the city. " It is the quarters of Narvaez," he exclaimed to
Sandoval, " and that light must be your beacon." On entering the suburbs,
the Spaniards were surprised to find no one stirring, and no symptom of
alarm. Not a sound was to be heard, except the measured tread of their own
footsteps, half drowned in the howling of the tempest. Still they could not
move so stealthily as altogether to elude notice, as they defiled through the
streets of this populous city. The tidings were quickly conveyed to the enemy's
quarters, where in an instant all was bustle and confusion. The trumpets
sounded to arms. The dragoons sprang to their steeds, the artillery-men to
their guns. Narvaez hastily buckled on his armour, called his men around
him, and summoned those in the neighbouring teocallis to join him in the
area. He gave his orders with coolness ; for, however wanting in prudence,
he was not deficient in presence of mind, or courage.
All this was the work of a few minutes. But in those minutes the
Spaniards had reached the avenue leading to the camp. Cortes ordered his
men to keep close to the walls of the buildings, that the cannon-shot might
pass between the two files.15 No sooner had they presented themselves before
the enclosure, than the artillery of Narvaez opened a general fire. For-
tunately, the pieces were pointed so high that most of the balls passed over
their heads, and three men only were struck down. They did not give the
enemy time to reload. Cortes shouting the watch-word of the night,
" Espiritu Santo ! Espiritu Santo ! Upon them ! " in a moment Olid and his
division rushed on the artillery -men, whom they pierced or knocked dowrn
with their pikes, and got possession of their guns. Another division engaged
the cavalry, and made a diversion in favour of Sandoval, who with his gallant
little band sprang up the great stairway of the temple. They were received
with a shower of missiles, — arrows and musket-balls, which, in the hurried
aim, and the darkness of the night, did little mischief. The next minute the
assailants were on the platform, engaged hand to hand with their foes. Nar-
vaez fought bravely in the midst, encouraging his followers. His standard-
bearer fell by his side, run through the body. He himself received several
wounds ; for his short sword was no match for the long pikes of the assailants.
At length he received a blow from a spear, which struck out his left eye.
"Santa Maria !" exclaimed the unhappy man, " I am -slain ! " The cry was
instantly taken up by the followers of Cortes, who shouted " Victory ! "
Disabled, and half mad with agony from his wound, Narvaez was with-
drawn by his men into the sanctuary. The assailants endeavoured to force
an entrance, but it was stoutly defended. At length a soldier, getting
possession of a torch or firebrand, flung it on the thatched roof, and in a few
moments the combustible materials of which it was composed were in a blaze.
Those within were driven out by the suffocating heat and smoke. A soldier
named Farfan grappled with the wounded commander, and easily brought
him to the ground ; when he was speedily dragged down the steps, and
w Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. ordenando (\ lodas partes, dixo a la Tropa de
128.-— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 3?, Sandoval : Sefiores, arrimaos a" las dos aceras
cap, 47.— Herrera, ^Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. de la Calle, para que las balas del Artillerfa
10, cap. 2, 3. pasen por medio, 6in bacer dano." Herrera,
,s "Ya que se acercaban al Aposento de Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 3.
Jsarvaez, Cortes, que andaba reconociendo, i
324 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
secured with fetters. His followers, seeing the fate of their chief, made no
further resistance.16
During this time, Cortes and the troops of Olid had been engaged with the
cavalry, and had discomfited them, after some ineffectual attempts on the
part of the latter to break through the dense array of pikes, by which several
of their number were unhorsed and some of them slain. The general then
prepared to assault the other teocallis, first summoning the garrisons to
surrender. As they refused, he brought up the heavy guns to bear on them,
thus turning the artillery against its own masters. He accompanied this
menacing movement with offers of the most liberal import ; an amnesty for
the past, and a full participation in all the advantages of the Conquest. One
of the garrisons was under the command of Salvatierra, the same officer who
talked of cutting off the ears of Cortes. From the moment he had learned the
fate of his own general, the hero was seized with a violent fit of illness which
disabled him from further action. The garrison waited only for one discharge
of the ordnance, when they accepted the terms of capitulation. Cortes, it is
said, received, on this occasion, support from an unexpected auxiliary. The
air was filled with the cQcuyos, — a species of large beetle which emits an
intense phosphoric light from its body, strong enough to enable one to read
by it. These wandering fires, seen in the darkness of the night, were con-
verted, by the excited imaginations of the besieged, into an army with match-
locks ! Such is the report of an eye-witness.17 But the facility with which
the enemy surrendered may quite as probably be referred to the cowardice of
the commander, and the disaffection of the soldiers, not unwilling to come
under the banners of Cortes.
The body of cavalry, posted, it will be remembered, by Narvaez on one of
the roads to Cempoalla, to intercept his rival, having learned what had been
passing, were not long in tendering their submission. Each of the soldiers in
the conquered army was required, in token of his obedience, to deposit his
arms in the hands of the alguacils, and to take the oaths to Cortes as Chief
Justice and Captain-General of the colony.
The number of the slain is variously reported. It seems probable that not
more than twelve perished on the side of the vanquished, and of the victors
half that number. The small amount may be explained by the short duration
of the action, and the random aim of the missiles in the darkness. The
number of the wounded was much more considerable.18
The field was now completely won. A few brief hours had sufficed to
change the condition of Cortes from that of a wandering outlaw at the head
of a handful of needy adventurers, a rebel with a price upon his head, to that
of an independent chief, with a force at his disposal strong enough not only
to secure his present conquests, but to open a career for still loftier ambition.
While the air rung with the acclamations of the soldiery, the victorious
16 Demandade Zavallos ennombre de Nar- collation of this account with those of Cortc
vaez, MS.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., and his followers affords the best means of
lib. 33, cap. 47. approximation to the truth. "Eallilemat-
17 "Como hazia tan escuro auia muchos taronj quince hombres qe murieron de las
cocayos (ansf los llaman en Cuba) que relum- feridas qe les dieron e les quemaron seis hom-
brauan de noche, e los de Narvaez creyeron bres del dho Incendio qe despues parecieron
que era muchas de las escopetas." Bernal las cabezas de ellos quemadas, e pusieron a
Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 122. sacomanotodo quantto ttenian los que benian
18 Narvaez, or rather his attorney, swells con el dho mi partte como si fueran Moros y
the amount of slain on his own side much al dho mi partte roMron e saqueiiron todos.
higher. But it was his cue to magnify the sus vienes, oro, e Platta e Joyas." Demand*
mischief sustained by his employer. The de Zavallos en nombre de Narvaez, MS.
NARVAEZ DEFEATED. 325
general, assuming a deportment corresponding with his change of fortune,
took his seat in a chair of state, and, with a rich, embroidered mantle thrown
over his shoulders, received, one by one, the officers and soldiers, as they
came to tender their congratulations. The privates were graciously permitted
to kiss his hand. The officers he noticed with words of compliment or cour-
tesy; and when Duero, Bermudez, the treasurer, and some others of the
vanquished party, his old friends, presented themselves, he cordially em-
braced them.19
Narvaez, Salvatierra, and two or three of the other hostile leaders were led
before him in chains. It was a moment of deep humiliation for the former
commander, in which the anguish of the body, however keen, must have been
forgotten in that of the spirit. "You have great reason, Senor Cortes," said
the discomfited warrior, "to thank Fortune for having given you the day
so easily, and put me in your power." " I have much to be thankful for,"
replied the general ; " but for my victory over you, I esteem it as one of the
least of my achievements since my coming into the country ! " 20 He then
ordered the wounds of the prisoners to be cared for, and sent them under a
strong guard to Vera Cruz.
Notwithstanding the proud humility of his reply, Cortes could scarcely
have failed to regard his victory over Narvaez as one of the most brilliant
achievements in his career. With a few scores of followers, badly clothed,
worse fed, wasted by forced marches, under every personal disadvantage,
deficient in weapons and military stores, he had attacked in their own
quarters, routed, and captured the entire force of the enemy, thrice his
superior in numbers, well provided with cavalry and artillery, admirably
equipped, and complete in all the munitions of war ! The amount of troops
engaged on either side was, indeed, inconsiderable. But the proportions are
not affected by this ; and the relative strength of the parties made a result
so decisive one of the most remarkable events in the annals of war.
It is true there were some contingencies on which the fortunes of the day
depended, that could not be said to be entirely within his control. Something
was the work of chance. If Velasquez de Leon, for example, had proved
false, the expedition must have failed.21 If the weather, on the night of the
13 " Entre ellos venia Andres de Duero, y *• Oviedo says that military men discussed
Agustin Bermudez, y muchos amigos do whether Velasquez de Leon should have
nuestro Capita, y assf cotno venia, ivan u. obeyed the commands of Cortes rather than
besar las manos it Cortes, q estaua sentado en those of his kinsman, the governor of Cuba,
vna silla de caderas, con vna ropa larga de They decided in favour of the former, on the
color como narajada, co sus annas debaxo, ground of his holding his commission im-
acopafiado de nosotros. Pues ver la gracia mediately from him. " Visto he platicar sobre
con que les hablaua, y abracaua, y las pala- esto a caballeros e personas militares sobre si
bras de tatos cumplimietos que les dezia, era este Juan Velasquez de Leon hizo lo que
cosa de ver que alegre estaua : y tenia mucha debia, en acudir 6 no a" Diego_ Velasquez, 6 al
razon de verse en aquel puto tan senor, y Panfilo en su nombre ; e' combienen los
pujate : y assf como le besaua la mano, se veteranos roilites, e a mi parecer determinan
fuero cada vno a su posada." Birnal Diaz, bien la question, en que si Juan Velasquez
Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 122. tubo conductade capitan para que con aquella
20 Ibid., loc. cit. — " Dixose que como Nar- Gente que el le dio 6 toviese en aquella tierra
vaez vido si Cortes estando asi preso le dixo : como capitan particular le acudiese a" el 6 £
Senor Cortes, tened en mucho la ventura que quien le mandase. Juan Velasquez falt» a
habeis tenido, e lo mucho que habeis hecho lo que era obligado en no pasar a Panfilo de
en tener mi persona, 6 en tomar mi persona. Narvaez siendo requerido de Diego Velasquez,
E que Cortes le respondio, e dixo : Lo menos mas si le hizo capitan Hernando Cortes, e le
que yo he hecho en esta tierra donde estais, Dio el la Gente, li el havia de acudir, como
es haberos prendido • e luego le hizo poner & acudio, excepto si viera carta, a mandamiento
buen recaudo e le tubo mucho tiempo preso." expreso del Rey en contrario." Hist, de las
Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47. Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 12.
326 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
attack, had been fair, the enemy would have had certain notice of his
approach, and been prepared for it. But these are the chances that enter
more or less into every enterprise. He is the skilful general who knows how
to turn them to account ; to win the smiles of Fortune, and make even the
elements fight on his side.
If Velasquez de Leon was, as it proved, the very officer whom the general
should have trusted with the command, it was his sagacity which originally
discerned this and selected him for it. It was his address that converted this
dangerous foe into a friend, and one so fast that in the hour of need he chose
rather to attach himself to his desperate fortunes than to those of the governor
of Cuba, powerful as the latter was, and his near kinsman. It was the same
address which gained Cortes such an ascendency over his soldiers and knit
them to him so closely that in the darkest moment not a man offered to desert
him.22 If the success of the assault may be ascribed mainly to the dark and
stormy weather which covered it, it was owing to him that he was in a con-
dition to avail himself of this. The shortest possible time intervened between
the conception of his plan and its execution. In a very few days he descended
by extraordinary marches from the capital to the sea-coast. He came like a
torrent from the mountains, pouring on the enemy's camp, and sweeping
everything away, before a barrier could be raised to arrest it. This celerity
of movement, the result of a clear head and determined will, has entered into
the strategy of the greatest captains, and forms a prominent feature in their
most brilliant military exploits. It was undoubtedly in the present instance
a great cause of success.
But it would be taking a limited view of the subject to consider the battle
which decided the fate of Narvaez as wholly fought at Cempoalla. It was
begun in Mexico. With that singular power which he exercised over all who
came near him, Cortes converted the very emissaries of Narvaez into his
own friends and agents. The reports of Guevara and his companions, the
intrigues of Father Olmedo, and the general's gold, were all busily at work to
shake the loyalty of the soldiers, and the battle was half won before a blow
had .been struck. It was fought quite as much with gold as with steel.
Cortes understood this so well that he made it his great object to seize the
person of Narvaez. In such an event, he had full confidence that indifference
to their own cause and partiality to himself would speedily bring the rest of
the army under his banner. He was not deceived. Narvaez said truly
enough, therefore, some years after this event, that " he had been beaten by
his own troops, not by those of his rival ; that his followers had been bribed
to betray him." 23 This affords the only explanation of their brief and in-
effectual resistance.
■* This ascendency the thoughtful Ovkdo ral, on his rival's conduct. The gossip, whicn
refers to his dazzling and liberal manners, so has never appeared in print, may have some
strongly contrasted with those of the governor interest for the Spanish reader. " Que el ano
of Cuba. " En lo demas valerosa persona ha de 1525, estando Cesar en la cibdad de Toledo,
seido, e para mucho; y este deseo de mandar vi allialdicho Narvaez, e publicamentedecia,
juntamente con que fue mui bien partido 6 que Cortes era vn traidor : E que diindole S.
gratificador de los que le vinieron, fue mucha M. licencia se lo haria conocer de su persona
causa juntamente con ser mal quisto Diego ii la suya, e que era hombre sin verdad, e
Velasquez, para que Cortes se saliese con lo otras muchas e fcas palabras llamandole ale-
que emprendio, e se quedase en el oficio, e voso e tirano, e ingrato <i su Seiior, e a quien
governacion." Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, le havia embiado a la Nueva Espana, que era
cap. 12. el Adelantado Diego Velasquez a su propia
33 It was in a conversation with Oviedo costa, e se le havia alzado con la tierra, e con
himself, at Toledo, in 1525, in which Narvaez la Gente e Hacienda, e otras muchas cosas
descanted with much bitterness, as was natu- que mal sonaban. Y en la manera de su
DISCONTENT OF THE TROOPS. 327
CHAPTER VIII.
DISCONTENT OF THE TROOPS — INSURRECTION IN THE CAPITAL— RETURN OF
CORTES— GENERAL SIGNS OF HOSTILITY — MASSACRE BY ALVAR ADO— RISING
OF THE AZTECS.
1520.
The tempest, that had raged so wildly during the night, passed away with the
morning, which rose bright and unclouded on the field of battle. As the light
advanced, it revealed more strikingly the disparity of the two forces so lately
opposed to each other. Those of Narvaez could not conceal their chagrin ;
and murmurs of displeasure became audible, as they contrasted their own
superior numbers and perfect appointments with the way-worn visages and
rude attire of their handful of enemies ! It was with some satisfaction, there-
fore, that the general beheld his dusky allies from Chinantla, two thousand in
number, arrive upon the field. They were a fine, athletic'set of men ; and, as
they advanced in a sort of promiscuous order, so to speak, with their gay
banners of feather-work, and their long lances tipped with itztli and copper
glistening in the morning sun, they had something of an air of military disci-
pline. They came too late for the action, indeed, but Corte's Avas not sorry
to exhibit to his new'followers the extent of his resources in the country. As
he had now no occasion for his Indian allies, after a courteous reception and a
liberal recompense he dismissed them to their homes.1
He then used his utmost endeavours to allay the discontent of the troops.
He addressed them in his most soft and insinuating tones, and was by no
means frugal of his promises.2 He suited the action to the word. There were
few of them but had lost their accoutrements or their baggage, or horses taken
and appropriated by the victors. This last article was in great request among
the latter, and many a soldier, weary with the long marches hitherto made on
foot, had provided himself, as he imagined, with a much more comfortable as
well as creditable conveyance for the rest of the campaign. The general now
commanded everything to be restored.3 " They were embarked in the same
cause," he said, " and should share with one another equally." He went still
further, and distributed among the soldiers of Narvaez a quantity of gold and
other precious commodities gathered from the neighbouring tribes or found in
his rival's quarters.4
prision la contaba mui al reves delo'que esta dichas cierto otras palabras mas sabrosas, y
dicho. Lo que yo noto de esto es, que con llenasde ofertas, q yo aqui no sabre escriuir."
torto lo que 01 a Narvaez (como yo se lo dixe) Ibid., cap. 122.
no puedo hallarle desculpa para su descuido, 3 Captain Diaz had secured for his share of
porque ninguna necesi.iad tenia de andar con the spoil of the Philistines, as he tells us,
Cortes en pkiticas, sinb estar en vela mejor a very good horse with all his accoutrements,
que la que hizo. E a esto decia el que le a brace of swords, three daggers, and a
havian vendido aquellos de quien se fiaba, buckler,— a very beautiful outfit for the cam-
que Cortes le havia sobornado." Oviedo, paign. The general's orders were, naturally
Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 12. enough, not at all to his taste. Ibid., cap.
1 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, 124.
cap. 6.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind.. MS., lib. * Narvaez alleges that Corte's plundered
33, cap. 47.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con- him of property to the value of 100,000
quista, cap. 123. castellanos of gold ! (Demanda de Zavallos
2 Diaz, who had often listened to it, thus en nombre de Narvaez, MS.) If so, the
notices his eloquence : "Comenzo vn parla- pillage of the leader may have supplied the
mento por tan Undo estilo, y platica, tabie means of liberality to the*privates.
328 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
These proceedings, however politic in reference to his new followers, gave
great disgust to his old. "Our commander," they cried, "has forsaken his
friends for his foes. We stood by him in his hour of distress, and are rewarded
with blows and wounds, while the spoil goes to our enemies ! " The indignant
soldiery commissioned the priest Olmedo and Alonso deAvila to lay their
complaints before Cortes. The ambassadors stated them without reserve, com-
paring their commander's conduct to the ungrateful proceeding of Alexander,
who, when he gained a victory, usually gave away more to his enemies than to
the troops who enabled him to beat them. Cortes was greatly perplexed.
Victorious or defeated, his path seemed equally beset with difficulties.
He endeavoured to soothe their irritation by pleading the necessity of the
case. "Our new comrades," he said, "are formidable from their numbers, so
much so that we are even now much more in their power than they are in ours.
Our only security is to make them not merely confederates, but friends. On
any cause of disgust, we shall have the whole battle to fight over again, and,
if they are united, under a much greater disadvantage than before. I have
considered your interests," he added, "as much as my own. All that I have
is yours. But why should there be any ground for discontent, when the whole
country, with its riches, is before us ? And our augmented strength must
henceforth secure the undisturbed control of it."
But Cortes did not rely wholly on argument for the restoration of tranquillity.
He knew this to be incompatible with inaction, and he made arrangements to
divide his forces at once and to employ them on distant services. He selected
a detachment of two hundred men, under Diego de Ordaz, whom he ordered to
form the settlement before meditated on the Coatzacualco. A like number was
sent with Velasquez de Leon, to secure the province of Panuco, some three
degrees to the north, on the Mexican Gulf. Twenty in each detachment were
drafted from his own veterans.
Two hundred men he despatched to Vera Cruz, with orders to have the
rigging, iron, and everything portable on board of the fleet of Narvaez, brought
on shore, and the vessels completely dismantled. He appointed a person named
Cavallero superintendent of the marine, with instructions that if any ships here-
after should enter the port they should be dismantled in like manner, and their
officers imprisoned on shore.5
But, while he was thus occupied with new schemes of discovery and conquest,
he received such astounding intelligence from Mexico as compelled him to con-
centrate all his faculties and his forces on that one point. The city was in a
state of insurrection. No sooner had the struggle with his rival been decided,
than Cortes despatched a courier with the tidings to the capital. In less than
a fortnight the messenger returned with a letter from Alvarado, conveying the
alarming information that the Mexicans were in arms and had vigorously
assaulted the Spaniards in their own quarters. The enemy, he added, had
burned the brigantines, by which Cortes had secured the means of retreat in
case of the destruction of the bridges. They had attempted to force the
defences, and had succeeded in partially undermining them, and they had over-
whelmed the garrison with a tempest of missiles, which had killed several and
wounded a great number. The letter concluded with beseeching the commander
s Demanda de Zavallos en nombre de made it long remembered. A negro in his
Narvaez, MS. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con- suite brought with him the smallpox. The
quista, cap. 124. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., disease spread rapidly in that quarter of the
MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.— Eel. Seg. de Cortes, country, and great numbers of the Indian
ap. Lorenzana, p. 130.— Camargo, Hist, de population soon fell victims to it. Herrera,
TlascaLv MS.— The visit of Narvaez left Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 6.
melancholy traces among the natives, that
RETURN OF CORTES. 320
to hasten to the relief of his men, if he would save them or keep his hold on
the capital.
These tidings were a heavy blow to the general,— the heavier, it seemed,
coming as they did in the hour of triumph, when he had thought to have all
his enemies at his feet. There Avas no room for hesitation. To lose his
footing in the capital, the noblest city in the Western World, would be to
lose the country itself, which looked up to it as its head.0 He opened the
matter fully to his soldiers, calling on all who would save their countrymen to
follow him. All declared their readiness to go; showing an alacrity, says
Diaz, which some would have been slow to manifest had they foreseen the
future.
Cortes now made preparations for instant departure. He countermanded
the orders previously given to Velasquez and Ordaz, and directed them
to join him with their forces at Tlascala. He called the troops from Vera
Cruz, leaving only a hundred men in garrison there, under command of
one Rodrigo Rangre ; for he could not spare the services of Sandoval at
this crisis. He left his sick and wounded at Cempoalla, under charge of a
small detachment, directing that they should follow as soon as they were in
marching order. Having completed these arrangements, he set out from Cem-
Eoalla, well supplied with provisions by its hospitable cacique, who attended
im some leagues on his way. The Totonac chief seems to have had an amiable
facility of accommodating himself to the powers that were in the ascendant.
Nothing worthy of notice occurred during the first part of the march. The
troops everywhere met with a friendly reception from the peasantry, who
readily supplied their wants. For some time before reaching Tlascala, the
route "lay through a country thinly settled ; and the army experienced con-
siderable suffering from want of 'food, and still more from that of water.
Their distress increased to an alarming degree, as, in the hurry of their forced
march, they travelled with the meridian sun beating fiercely on their heads.
Several faltered by the way, and, throwing themselves down by the roadside,
seemed incapable of further eftbrt, and almost indifferent to life.
In this extremity, Cortes sent forward a small detachment of horse to
procure provisions in Tlascala, and speedily followed in person. On arriving,
he found abundant supplies already prepared by the hospitable natives. They
were sent back to the troops ; the stragglers were collected one by one ;
refreshments were administered; and the army, restored in strength and
spirits, entered the republican capital.
Here they gathered little additional news respecting the events in Mexico,
which a popular rumour attributed to the secret encouragement and machina-
tions of Montezuma. Cortes was commodiously lodged in the quarters of
Maxixca, one of the four chiefs of the republic. They readily furnished him
with two thousand troops. There was no want of heartiness, when the war
was with their ancient enemy the Aztec.7
The Spanish commander, on reviewing his forces after the junction with his
two captains, found that thev amounted to about a thousand foot, and one
hundred horse, besides the T^lascalan levies.8 In the infantry were nearly a
8 " Se perdia la mejor, y mas Noble Ciudad cap. 13, 14.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con-
de todo lo nuevamente descubierto del Mun- quista, cap. 124, 125. — Peter Martyr, De Orbe
do ; y ella perdida, se perdia todo lo qwe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 5.— Camargo, Hist, de
estaba ganado, por ser la Cabeza de todo, y <i Tlascala, MS.
quien todos obedecian." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, 8 Gomara, Cronica, cap. 103.— Herrera,
ap. Lorenzana, p. 131. Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 1.— Bernal
7 Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. Diaz raises tbe amount to 1300 foot and 96
131.— Oviedo, Hist, de las lnd., MS., lib. 33, horse. (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 125.)
M 2
330 KESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
hundred arquebusiers, with as many cross-bowmen ; and the part of the army
brought over by Narvaez was admirably equipped. It was inferior, however,
to his own veterans in what is better than any outward appointments, —
military training, and familiarity with the peculiar service in which they were
engaged.
Leaving these friendly quarters, the Spaniards took a more northerly route,
as more direct than that by which they had before penetrated into the Valley.
It was the road to Tezcuco. It still compelled them to climb the same bold
range of the Cordilleras, which attains its greatest elevation in the two mighty
volcans at whose base they had before travelled. The sides of the sierra
were clothed with dark forests of pine, cypress, and cedar,9 through which
glimpses now and then opened into fathomless dells and valleys, whose
depths, far down in the sultry climate of the tropics, were lost in a glowing
wilderness of vegetation. From the crest of the mountain range the eye
travelled over the broad expanse of country, which they had lately crossed,
far away to the green plains of Cholula. Towards the west, they looked down
on the Mexican Valley, from a point of view wholly different from that which
they had before occupied, but still offering the same beautiful spectacle, with
its lakes trembling in the light, its gay cities and villas floating on their
bosom, its burnished teocallis touched with fire, its cultivated slopes and dark
hills of porphyry stretching away in dim perspective to the verge of the
horizon. At their feet lay the city of Tezcuco, which, modestly retiring
behind her deep groves of cypress, formed a contrast to her more ambitious
rival on the other side of the lake, who seemed to glory in the unveiled
splendours of her charms, as Mistress of the Valley.
As they descended into the populous plains, their reception by the natives
was very different from that which they had experienced on the preceding
visit. There were no groups of curious peasantry to be seen gazing at them
as they passed, and offering their simple hospitality. The supplies they asked
Avere not refused, but granted with an ungracious air, that showed the bless-
ing of the giver did not accompany them. This air of reserve became still
more marked as the army entered the suburbs of the ancient capital of the
Acolhuans. No one came forth to greet them, and the population seemed to
have dwindled away, — so many of them were withdrawn to the neighbouring
scene of hostilities at Mexico.10 Their cold reception was a sensible mortifica-
tion to the veterans of Cortes, who, judging from the past, had boasted to
their new comrades of the sensation their presence would excite among the
natives. The cacique of the place, who, as it may be remembered, had been
created through the influence of Cortes, was himself absent. The general
drew an ill omen from all these circumstances, which even raised an uncom-
fortable apprehension in his mind respecting the fate of the garrison in
Mexico.11
Cortes diminishes it to less than half that el un emisferio y otro, porque son los mayores
number. (Rel. Seg., ubi supra.) The esti- puertos y mas altos de esta Nueva Espana, de
mate cited in the text from the two preceding arboles y montes de grandfsima altura, de
authorities corresponds nearly enough with cedras, cipreses y pinares." Camargo, Hist,
that already given from official documents of de Tlascala, MS.
the forces of Cortes and Narvaez before the lo The historian partly explains the reason:
junction. " En la misma Ciudad de Tezcuco habia
9 " Las sierras altas de Tetzcuco a* que le algunos apasionados de los deudos y amigos
mostrasen desde la mas alta cumbre de de los que matiiron Pedro de Alvarado y sus
aquellas montaQas y sierras de Tetzcuco, que compafieros en Mexico." Txtlilxochitl, Hist,
son las sierras de Tlallocan altisimas y hum- Chich., MS., cap. 88.
brosas, en las cuales he estado y visto, y " "En todo el camino nunca me salio a"
puedo decir que son bastante para descubrir recibir ninguna Persona de el dicho Mutec-
GENERAL SIGNS OF HOSTILITY. 331
But his dcubts were soon dispelled by the arrival of a messenger in a canoe
from that city, whence he had escaped through the remissness of the enemy,
or, perhaps, with their connivance. He brought despatches from Alvarado,
informing his commander that the Mexicans liad for the last fortnight de-
sisted from active hostilities and converted their operations into a blockade.
The garrison had suffered greatly, but Alvarado expressed his conviction that
the siege would be raised, and tranquillity restored, on the approach of his
countrymen. Montezuma sent a messenger, also, to the same effect. At the
same time he exculpated himself from any part in the -late hostilities, Avhich
lie said had been conducted not only without his privity, but contrary to his
inclination and efforts.
The Spanish general, having halted long enough to refresh his wearied
troops, took up his mapch along the southern margin of the lake, which led
him over the same causeway by which he had before entered the capital. It
was the day consecrated to St. John the Baptist, the 24th of June, 1520. But
how different was the scene from that presented on his former entrance ! 18
No crowds now lined the roads, no boats swarmed on the lake, filled with
admiring spectators. A single pirogue might now and then be seen in the
distance, like a spy stealthily watching their movements, and darting away
the moment it had attracted notice. A deathlike stillness brooded over the
scene,— a stillness that spoke louder to the heart than the acclamations of
multitudes.
Corte's rode on moodily at the head of his battalions, finding abundant food
for meditation, doubtless, in this change of circumstances. As if to dispel
these gloomy reflections, he ordered his trumpets to sound, and their clear,
shrill notes, borne across the waters, told the inhabitants of the beleaguered
fortress that their friends were at hand. They-were answered by a joyous
pea], of artillery, which seemed to give a momentary exhilaration to the troops,
as they quickened their pace, traversed the great draw-bridges, and once more
found themselves within the walls of the imperial city.
The appearance of things here was not such as to allay their apprehensions.
In some places they beheld the smaller bridges removed, intimating too plainly,
now that their brigantines were destroyed, how easy it would be to cut off
their retreat.13 The town seemed even more deserted than Tezcuco. Its once
busy and crowded population had mysteriously vanished. And, as the
Spaniards defiled through the empty streets, the tramp of their horses' feet
upon the pavement was answered by dull and melancholy echoes that fell
heavily on their hearts. With saddened feelings they reached the great gates
of the palace of Axayacatl. The gates were thrown open, and Cortes and his
veterans, rushing in, were cordially embraced by their companions in arms,
while both parties soon forgot the present in the interesting recapitulation of
the past.14
zuma, como states lo solian facer ; y toda la Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 19.
Tierra estaba alborotada, y casi despoblada : l3 " Pontes ligneos qui tractim lapideos hi-
de que concebi mala sospecba, creyendo que tersecant, sublatos, ac vias aggeribus munitas
los Espanoles que en la dicha Ciudad habian reperit." P. Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5,
quedado, eran muertos." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, cap. 5.
ap. Lorenzana, p. 132. l* Probanza & pedimento de Juan de Lex-
13 " Y como asomo a la vista de la Ciudad aide, MS.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana,
de Mexico, pareciole que estaba toda yerma, p. 133. — "Esto causo gran adiniracion en
y que no parecia persona por todos los todos los que venian, pero no dejaron de
caminos, ni casas, ni plazas, ni uadie le salio marchar, hasta eutrar donde estaban los
& recibir, ni de los suyos, ni de los enemigos ; Espanoles acorralados. Venian todos muy
y fue esto serial de indignacion y enemistad casados y muy fatigados y con mucbo deseo
por lo que babia pasado." Sabagun, Hist, de de llegar a donde estaban sus hermanos-.
332 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
The first inquiries of the general were respecting the origin of the tumult.
The accounts were various. Some imputed it to the desire of the Mexicans
to release their sovereign from confinement ; others to the design of cutting
off the garrison while crippled by the absence of Cortes and their countrymen.
All agreed, however, in tracing the immediate cause to the violence of Alva-
rado. It was common for the Aztecs to celebrate an annual festival in May,
in honour of their patron war-god. It was called the " incensing of Huitzilo-
pochtli," and was commemorated by sacrifice, religious songs, and dances, in
which most of the nobles engaged, for it was one of the great festivals which
displayed the pomp of the Aztec ritual. As it was held in the court of the
teocalli, in the immediate neighbourhood of the Spanish quarters, and as a
part of the temple itself was reserved for a Christian chapel, the caciques
asked permission of Alvarado to perform their rites there. They requested
also, it is said, to be ahWed the presence of Montezuma. This latter petition
Alvarado declined, in obedience to the injunctions of Cortes ; but acquiesced
in the former, on condition that the Aztecs should celebrate no human sacri-
fices and should come without weapons.
They assembled accordingly on the day appointed, to the number of six
hundred, at the smallest computation.15 They were dressed in their most
magnificent gala costumes, with their graceful mantles of feather-work
sprinkled with precious stones, and their necks, arms, and legs Ornamented
with collars and bracelets of gold. They had that love of gaudy splendour
which belongs to semi-civilized nations, and on these occasions displayed all
the pomp and profusion of their barbaric wardrobes.
Alvarado and his soldiers attended as spectators, some of them taking their
station at the gates as if by chance, and others mingling in the crowd. They
were all armed, — a circumstance which, as it was usual, excited no attention.
The Aztecs were soon engrossed by the exciting movement of the dance,
accompanied by their religious chant and wild, discordant minstrelsy. While
thus occupied, Alvarado and his men, at a concerted signal, rushed with
drawn swords on their victims. Unprotected by armour or weapons of any
kind, they were hewn down without resistance by their assailants, who in
their bloody work, says a contemporary, showed no touch of pity or compunc-
tion.16 Some fled to the gates, but were caught on the long pikes of the
soldiers. Others, who attempted to scale the coatepantli, or Wall of Serpents,
as it was called, which surrounded the area, shared the like fate, or were cut
to pieces, or shot by the ruthless soldiery. The pavement, says a writer of
the age, ran with streams of blood, like water in a heavy shower.17 Not an
Aztec, of all that gay company, was left alive ! It was repeating the dreadful
scene of Cholula, with the disgraceful addition that the Spaniards, not content
with slaughtering their victims, rifled them of the precious ornaments on their
persons ! On this sad day fell the flower of the Aztec nobility. Not a family
los de dentro cuando los vieron, recibieron lib. 33, cap. 54.) Some writers carry the
singular consolacton y esfuerzo y recibieronlos number as high as eight hundred or even one
con la artilleria que tenian, saludandolos, y thousand. Las Casas, with a more modest
dandolos el parabien de su venida." Sahagun, exaggeration than usual, swells it only to
Hist. de. Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 22. two thousand. Brevissima Relatione, p. 48.
15 " E asi los Indios, todos Senores, mas de I8 "Sin duelo ni piedad Christiana los
600 desnudos e con jnuchas joyas de oro e acuchillo, i mato." Gomara, Cronica, cap.
hermosos penachos, e muchas piedras preci- 104.
osas, e como mas aderezados e gentiles horn- 17 " Fue tan grande el derramamiento de
bres se pudieron e supieron aderezar, 6 sin Sangre, que corrian arroyos de ella por el
arma algnna defensiva ni ofensiva bailaban e Patio, como agua cuando mucho llueve."
cantaban e hacian su areito 6" fiesta segun su Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib.
costumbre." (Oviedo, Hist, de Us Ind., MS., 12, cap. 20.
MASSACRE BY ALVARADO.
333
of note but had mourning and desolation brought within its walls.18 And
many a doleful ballad, rehearsing the tragic incidents of the story, and
adapted to the plaintive national airs, continued to be chanted by the natives
long after the subjugation of the country.19
Various explanations have been given of this atrocious deed. But few
historians have been content to admit that of Alvarado himself. According
to this, intelligence had been obtained through his spies— some of them
Mexicans— of an intended rising of the Indians. The celebration of this
festival was fixed on as the period for its execution, when the caciques would
be met together and would easily rouse the people to support them. Alvarado,
advised of all this, had forbidden them to wear arms at their meeting. While
affecting to comply, they had secreted their weapons in the neighbouring
arsenals, whence they could readily withdraw them. But his own blow, by
anticipating theirs, defeated the design, and, as he confidently hoped, would
deter the Aztecs from a similar attempt in future.20
Such is the account of the matter given by Alvarado. But, if true, why
did he not verify his assertion by exposing the arms thus secreted ? Why
did he not vindicate his conduct in the eyes of the Mexicans generally, by
publicly avowing the treason of the nobles, as was done by Cortes at Cholula ?
The whole" looks much like an apology devised after the commission of the deed,
to cover up its atrocity.
Some contemporaries assign a very different motive for the massacre, which,
according to them, originated in the cupidity of the Conquerors, as shown by
their plundering the bodies of their victims.21 Bernal Diaz, who, though not
18 [In the process instituted against Alva-
rado this massacre forms one of the most im-
portant charges. He is there accused of
having killed four hundred of the principal
nobles and a great number of the common
people, of whom more than three thousand,
it is stated, were assembled to celebrate the
festival in honour of their war-god. " Ynbio
al patyo donde todos baylaban y syn cabsa ni
razon algunadieron sobrellos y mataron todos
los mas de los senores que estavan presos con
eldicho Motenzuma y mataron cuatro cientos
Benores e prencipales que con el estavan e
mataron mucho numero de yndios que estavan
baylando en mas cantydad de tres mill per-
sonas." (Procesos de Residencia, instruidos
contra Pedro de Alvarado y Nuno de Guzman,
p. 53.) The public are under great obliga-
tions to the licentiate Don Ignacio Rayon for
bringing into light this important document,
which for more than three centuries had lain
hid in the General Archives of Mexico. "We
have hardly less reason to thank him for
placing the manuscript in the hands of so
competent a scholar as Don Jose Fernando
Ramirez, to enrich it with the stores of his
critical erudition. The publication of the
process did not take place till some years
after that of my own history of the Conquest
of Mexico. But, as it contains a minute
specification of the various charges against
Alvarado, and his own defence, it furnishes
me with the means of correcting any errors
into which I have fallen in reference to that
commander, while it corroborates, I may add,
the general tenor of the statements 1 have
derived from contemporary chroniclers.]
19 " Y de aqui a" que se acabe el mundo, 6
ellos del todo se acaben, no dexanin do la-
mentar, y cantar en sus areytos, y bayles,
como en romances, que aca dezimos, aquella
calamidad, y perdida de la sucession de toda
su nobleza, de que se preciauan de tantos anos
atras." Las Casas, Brevissima Relatione,
p. 49.
20 See Alvarado's reply to queries of Cortes,
as reported by Diaz (Hist, de la Conquista,
cap. 125), with some additional particulars in
Torquemada (Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 66),
Solis (Conquista, lib. 4, cap. 12), and Herrera
(Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 8), who all
seem content to endorse Alvarado's version
of the matter. I find no other authority, of
any weight, in the same charitable vein.
21 Oviedo mentions a conversation which
he had some years after this tragedy with
a noble Spaniard, Don Thoan Cano, who came
over in the train of Narvaez and was present
at all the subsequent operations of the army.
He married a daughter of Montezuma, and
settled in Mexico after the Conquest. Oviedo
describes him as a man of sense and integrity.
In answer to the historian's queries respecting
the cause of the rising, he said that Alvarado
had wantonly perpetrated the massacre from
pure avarice; and the Aztecs, enraged at
such unprovoked and unmerited cruelty, rose,
as they well might, to avenge it. (Hist, de
las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 54.) See the
original dialogue in Appendix, Fart 2. No.
11.
334
RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
present, had conversed familiarly with those who were, vindicates them from
the charge of this unworthy motive. According to him, Alvarado struck the
blow in order to intimidate the Aztecs from any insurrectionary movement."
But whether he had reason to apprehend such, or even affected to do so before
the massacre, the old chronicler does not inform us.
On reflection, it seems scarcely possible that so foul a deed, and one involving
so much hazard to the Spaniards themselves, should have been perpetratecl
from the mere desire of getting possession of the baubles worn on the persons
of the natives. It is more likely this was an after-thought, suggested to' the
rapacious soldiery bv the display of the spoil before them. It is not improbable
that Alvarado may have gathered rumours of a conspiracy among the nobles, —
rumours, perhaps, derived through the Tlascalans, their inveterate foes, and
for that reason very little deserving of credit.23 He proposed to defeat it by
imitating the example of his commander at Cholula. But he omitted to imitate
his leader in taking precautions against the subsequent rising of the populace.
And he grievously miscalculated when he confounded the bold and warlike
Aztec with the effeminate Cholulan.24
No sooner was the butchery accomplished, than the tidings spread like wild-
fire through the capital. Men could scarcely credit their senses. All they had
hitherto suffered, the desecration of their temples, the imprisonment of their
sovereign, the insults heaped on his person, all were forgotten in this one act.25
22 " Verdaderamente dio en ellos por me-
telles temor." Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
125.
23 Such, indeed, is the statement of Ixtlilxo-
chitl, derived, as he says, from the native
Tezcucan annalists. According to them, the
Tlascalans, urged by their hatred of the
Aztecs and their thirst for plunder, per-
suaded Alvarado, nothing loth, that the nobles
meditated a rising on the occasion of these
festivities. The testimony is important, and
1 give it in the author's words : " Fue que
ciertos Tlascaltecas (segun las Historias de
Tescuco que son las que Io sigo y la carta
que otras veces he referido) por embidia lo
uno acorddndose que en semejante fiesta los
Mexicanos solian sacrificar gran suma de
cautivos de los de la Nacion Tlascalteca, y lo
otro que era la mejor ocasion que ellos podian
tener para poder hinchir las manos de despojos
y hartar su codicia, y vengarse de sus Ene-
migos (porque hasta entonces no habian
tenido lugar, ni Cortes se les diera, ni ad-
mitiera sus dichos, porque siempre hacia las
cosas con mucho acuerdo) fueron con esta
invencion al capitan Pedro de Albarado, que
cstaba en lugar de Cortes, el qual no fue
menester mucho para darles credito porque
tan buenos filos, y pensamientos tenia como
ellos, y mas viendo que alii en aquella fiesta
habian acudido todos los Senores y Cabezas
del Impcrio y que muertos no tenian mucho
trabajo en sojuzgarles." Hist. Chich., MS.,
cap. 88.
** [Alvarado intimates, in the defence of
his conduct which forms part of the pro-
cess, one source of the rumours respecting
the rising of the Aztecs, by saying that
the existence of such a scheme was matter
of public notoriety among the Tlascalans.
He adds that he obtained more precise
intelligence from two or three Indians, one
a Tezcucan, another a slave whom he bad
rescued from the sacrifice to which he had
been doomed by the Aztecs ; that these latter,
under cover of the festivities, had planned an
insurrection against the Spaniards, in which
he and his countrymen were all to be exter-
minated. At the same time they determined
to tear down the image of the Virgin which
had been raised in the temple, and in its
place to substitute that of their war-god,
Huitzilopochtli. Montezuma was accused of
being privy to this conspiracy. Thus in-
structed, Alvarado, as he asserts, got his
men in readiness to resist the enemy, who,
after a short encounter, was repulsed with
slaughter, while one Spaniard was slain, and
he himself, with several others, severely
wounded (Proceso, pp. 66, 67). But although
a long array of witnesses, most of them pro-
bably his ancient friends and comrades, are
introduced to endorse his statement, one who
reflects on the submissive spirit hitherto
shown, not only by Montezuma, but his sub-
jects, in their dealings with the Spaniards,
and contrasts it with the fierce and un-
scrupulous temper displayed by Alvarado,
will have little doubt on whose head the
guilt of the massacre must rest ; and as
little seems to have been felt by most of the
writers of the time who have spoken of the
affair.]
23 Martyr well recapitulates these griev-
ances, showing that they seemed 6uch in the
eyes of the Spaniards themselves, — of those,
at least, whose judgment was not warped by
a share in the transactions. " Emori'statue-
runt malle, quam diutius ferre tales hospites
qui regem suum sub tutoris vitas specie
RISING OF THE AZTECS. 335
Every feeling of long-smothered hostility and rancour now burst f( rth in the
cry for vengeance. Every former sentiment of superstitious dread was merged
in that of inextinguishable hatred. It required no effort of the priests — though
this was not wanting — to fan these passions into a blaze. The city rose in
arms to a man ; and on the following dawn, almost before the Spaniards could
secure themselves in their defences, they were assaulted with desperate fury.
Some of the assailants attempted to scale the walls; others succeeded in
partially undermining and setting fire to the works. Whether they would
have succeeded in carrying the place by storm is doubtful. But, at the prayers
of the garrison, Montezuma himself interfered, and, mounting the battlements,
addressed the populace, whose fury he endeavoured to mitigate by urging con-
siderations for his own safety. They respected their monarch so far as to
desist from further attempts to storm the fortress, but changed their operations
into a regular blockade. They threw up works around the palace to prevent
the egress of the Spaniards. They suspended the tianguez, or market, to
preclude the possibility of their enemy's obtaining supplies ; and they then
quietly sat down, with feelings of sullen desperation, waiting for the hour when
famine should throw their victims into their hands.
The condition of the besieged, meanwhile, was sufficiently distressing.
Their magazines of provisions, it is true, were not exhausted ; but they
suffered greatly from want of water, which, within the enclosure, was exceed-
ingly brackish, for the soil was saturated with the salt of the surrounding
element. In this extremity, they discovered, it is said, a spring of fresh water
in the area. Such springs were known in some other parts of the city ; but,
discovered first under these circumstances, it was accounted as nothing less
than a miracle. Still they suffered much from their past encounters. Seven
Spaniards, and many Tlascalans, had fallen, and there was scarcely one of
either nation who had not received several wounds. In this situation, far
from their own countrymen, without expectation of succour from abroad, they
seemed to have no alternative before them but a lingering death by famine, or
one more dreadful on the altar of sacrifice. From this gloomy state they were
relieved by the coming of their comrades.26
Cortes calmly listened to the explanation made by Alvarado. But, before
it was ended, the conviction must have forced itself on his mind that he had
made a wrong selection for this important post. Yet the mistake was natural.
Alvarado was a cavalier of high family, gallant and chivalrous, and his warm
personal friend. He had talents for action, was possessed of firmness and
intrepidity, while his frank and dazzling manners made the Tonatiuh an
especial favourite with the Mexicans. But underneath this showy exterior
the future conqueror of Guatemala concealed a heart rash, rapacious, and
cruel. He was altogether destitute of that moderation which, in the delicate
position he occupied, was" a quality of more worth than all the rest.
When Alvarado had concluded his answers to the several interrogatories of
Corte's, the brow of the latter darkened, as he said to his lieutenant, " You
have done badly. You have been false to your trust. Your conduct has been
that of a madman!" And, turning abruptly on his heel, he left him in
undisguised displeasure.
Yet this was not a time to break with one so popular, and, in many respects,
detineant, civitatemoccupent, antiquos hostes monias antiquas illis abstulerint." Do Orbe
Tasealtecanos et alios prasterea in contume- Novo, dec. 5, cap. 5.
liam ante illovum oculos ipsorum impensa =" Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala.MS.— Oviedo,
conseruent; . . . qui demum simulachra Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13, 47.—
cjeorum confregerint, et ritus veteres ac ceve- Oomara, Cronica, cap. 105,
336 RESIDENCE IN MEXICO.
so important to him, as this captain, much less to inflict on him the punish-
ment he merited. The Spaniards were like mariners labouring in a heavy
tempest, whose bark nothing but the dexterity of the pilot and the hearty
co-operation of the crew can save from foundering. Dissensions at such a
moment must be fatal. Cortes, it is true, felt strong in his present resources.
He now found himself at the head of a force which could scarcely amount to
less than twelve hundred and fifty Spaniards, and eight thousand native
warriors, principally Tlascalans.27 But, though relying on this to overawe
resistance, the very augmentation of numbers increased the difficulty of
subsistence. Discontented with himself, "disgusted with his officer, and embar-
rassed by the disastrous consequences in which Alvarado's intemperance had
involved him, he became irritable, and indulged in a petulance by no means
common ; for, though a man of lively passions by nature, he held them
habitually under control.2*
On the day that Cortes arrived, Montezuma had left his own quarters to
welcome him. But the Spanish commander,, distrusting, as it would seem,
however unreasonably, his good faith, received him so coldly that the Indian
monarch withdrew, displeased and dejected, to his apartment. As the
Mexican populace made no show of submission, and brought no supplies to
the army, the general's ill humour with the emperor continued. When, there-
fore, Montezuma sent some of the nobles to ask an interview with Cortes,
the latter, turning to his own officers, haughtily exclaimed, " What have I to
do with this dog of a king who suffers us to starve before his eyes 1 "
His captains, among, whom were Olid, De Avila, and Velasquez de Leon,
endeavoured to mitigate his anger, reminding him, in respectful terms, that
had it not been for the emperor the garrison might even now have been over-
whelmed by the enemy. This remonstrance only chafed him the more. " Did
not the dog," he asked, repeating the opprobrious epithet, " betray us in his
communications with Narvaez ? And does he not now suffer his markets to
be closed, and ^eave us to die of famine?" Then, turning fiercely to the
Mexicans, he said, " Go tell your master and his people to open the markets,
or we will do it for them, at their cost ! " The chiefs, who had gathered the
import of his previous taunt on their sovereign, from his tone and gesture, or
perhaps from some comprehension of his language, left his presence swelling
with resentment, and, in communicating his message, took care it should lose
none of its effect.29
Shortly after, Cortes, at the suggestion, it is said, of Montezuma, released
his brother Cuitlahua, lord of Iztapalapan, who, it will be remembered, had
been seized on suspicion of co-operating with the chief of Tezcuco in his medi-
tated revolt. It was thought he might be of service in allaying the present
tumult and bringing the populace to a better state of feeling. But he returned
no more to the fortress.30 He was a bold, ambitious prince, and the injuries he
had received from the Spaniards rankled deep in his bosom. He was pre-
27 He left in garrison, on his departure from fretful and haughty." Bernal Diaz, Hist.de
Mexico, 140 Spaniards and about 6500 Tlasca- la Conquista, cap. 126.
lans, including a few Cempoallan warriors. 23 The scene is reported by Diaz, who was
Supposing five hundred of these— a liberal present. (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 126.)-
allowance— to have perished in battle and See, also, the Chronicle of Gomara, the chap-
otherwise, it would still leave a number which, lain of Cortes. (Cap. 106.) It is further con-
with the reinforcement now brought, would firmed by Don Thoan Cano, an eye-witness, in
raise the amount to that stated in the text. his conversation with Oviedo. See Appendix,
a* "Seeing how all went contrary to his Part 2, No. 11.
expectations and that we still received no 30 Herreraj Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10,
supplies, he grew extremely sad, and showed cap. 8.
himself in his bearing towards the Spaniards
OVIEDO.
337
sumptive heir to the crown, which, by the Aztec laws of succession, descended
much more frequently in a collateral than in a direct line. The people wel-
comed him as the representative of their sovereign, and chose him to supply
the place of Montezuma during his captivity. Cuitlahua willingly accepted the
post of honour and of danger. He was an experienced warrior, and exerted
himself to reorganize the disorderly levies and to arrange a more efficient plan
of operations. The effect was soon visible.
Corte's meanwhile had so little doubt of his ability to overawe the insur-
§ents, that he wrote to that effect to the garrison of Villa Rica by the same
espatches in which he informed them of his safe arrival in the capital. But
scarcely had his messenger been gone half an hour, when he returned breath-
less with terror and covered with wounds. "The city," he said, "was all in
arms ! The draw-bridges were raised, and the enemy would soon be upon
them ! " He spoke truth. It was not long before a hoarse, sullen sound
became audible, like that of the roaring of distant waters. It grew louder and
louder ; till, from the parapet surrounding the enclosure, the great avenues
which led to it might be seen dark with the masses of warriors, who came
rolling on in a confused tide towards the fortress. At the same time, the
terraces and azoteas or flat roofs, in the neighbourhood, were thronged with
combatants brandishing their missiles, who seemed to have risen up as if by
magic ! 3l It was a spectacle to appall the stoutest. But the dark storm to
which it was the prelude, and which gathered deeper and deeper round the
Spaniards during the remainder of their residence in the capital, must form
the subject of a separate Book.
31 " El qual Mensajero bolvio dende a" media
bora todo descalabrado, y herido, dando voces,
que todos los Indios de la Ciudad venian de
(iuerra y que tenian todas las Puentes alzadas ;
e junto tras el da sobre nosotros tanta inultitud
da Gente por todas partes que ni las calles ni
Azoteas se parecian con Gente ; la qual venia
con los mayores alaridos, y grita mas espan-
table, que en el Mundo se puede pensar."
Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 134. —
Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13.
Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes was
born in 1478. He belonged to an ancient
family of the Asturias. Every family, indeed,
claims to be ancient in this last retreat of the
intrepid Goths. He was early introduced at
court, and was appointed page to Prince Juan,
the only son of Ferdinand and Isabella, on
whom their hopes, and those of the nation,
deservedly rested. Oviedo accompanied the
camp in the latter campaigns of the Moorish
war, and was present at the memorable siege
of Granada. On the untimely death of hi s
royal master, in 1496, he passed over to Italy
and entered the service of King Frederick of
Naples. At the death of that prince he re-
turned to his own country, and in the begin-
ning of the sixteenth century we find"him
again established in Castile, where he occu-
pied the place of keeper of the crown jewels.
In 1513 he was named by Ferdinand the
Catholic veedor, or inspector, of the gold
founderies in the American colonies. Oviedo,
accordingly, transported himself to the New
World, where he soon took a commission
under Pedrarias, governor of Darien.and shared
In the disastrous fortunes of that colony. He
obtained some valuable privileges from the
Crown, built a, fortress on Tierra Firme and
entered into traffic with the natives. In this
we may presume he was prosperous, since we
find him at length established with a wife and
family at Hispaniola, or Fernandina, as it was
then called. Although he continued to make
his principal residence in the New World, he
made occasional visits to Spain, and in 1526
published at Madrid his Sumario. It is dedi-
cated to the Emperor'Charles the Fifth, and
contains an account of the West Indies, their
geography, climate, the races who inhabited
them, together with their animals and vege-
table productions. The subject was of great
interest to the inquisitive minds of Europe,
and one of which they had previously gleaned
but scanty information. In 1535, in a subse-
quent visit to Spain, Oviedo gave to the world
the first volume of his great work, which he
had been many years in compiling, — the His-
tona de las Indias occidentales. In the same
year he was appointed by Charles the Fifth
alcayde of the fortress of Hispaniola. He con-
tinued in the island the ten following years,
actively engaged in the prosecution of his
historical researches, and then returned for
the last time to his native land. The veteran
scholar was well received at court, and ob-
tained the honourable appointment of Chroni-
833
OVIEDO.
clor of tho Indies. He occupied this post until
fie period of his death, which took place at
Valladolid in 1557, in the seventy-ninth year
of his age, at the very time when he was em-
ployed in preparing tho residue of his history
for the press.
Considering the intimate footing on which
Oviedo lived with the eminent persons of his
time, it is singular that so little is preserved
of his personal history and his character, Nic.
Antonio^ speaks of him as a " man of large
experience, courteous in his manners, and of
great probity." His long and active life is a
sufficient voucher for his experience, and one
will hardly doubt his good breeding when we
know the high society in which he moved.
He left a large mass of manuscripts, embracing
a vast range both of civil and natural history.
By far the most important is his Histor'ia
general de las Indias. It is divided into three
parts, containing fifty books. The first part,
consisting of nineteen books, is the one already
noticed as having been published during his
lifetime. It gives in a more extended form
the details of geographical and natural history
embodied in his Sumario, with a narrative,
moreover, of the discoveries and conquests of
the Islands. A translation of this portion of
the work was made by the learned Ramusio,
with whom Oviedo was in correspondence,
and is published in the third volume of his
inestimable collection. The two remaining
parts relate to the conquests of Mexico, of
Peru, and other countries of South America.
It is that portion of the work consulted for
these pages. The manuscript was deposited,
at bis death, in the Casa de la Contralacion,
at Seville. It afterwards came^into the posses-
sion of the Dominican monastery of Monserrat.
In process of time, mutilated copies found
their way into several private collections ;
when, in 1775, Don Francisco Cerda y Rico,
an officer in the Indian department, ascer-
tained the place in which the original was
preserved, and, prompted by his literary zeal,
obtained an order from the government for its
publication. Under his supervision the work
was put in order for the press, and Oviedo's
biographer, Alvarez y Baena, assures us that
a complete edition of it, prepared with the
greatest care, would soon be given to the
world. (Hijos, de Madrid (Madrid, 1790), torn.
ii. pp. 354-361.) It still remains in manu-
script.
; No country has been more fruitful in the
field of historical composition than Spain.
Her ballads are chronicles done into verse.
The chronicles themselves date from the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Every city,
every small town, every great family, and
many a petty one, has its chronicler. These
were often mere monkish chroniclers, who in
the seclusion of the convent found leisure for
literary occupation. Or, not unfrequently,
they were men who had taken part in the
affairs they described, more expert with the
Bword than with the pen. The compositions
of this latter class have a general character of
that indifference to fine writing which shov
a mind intent on the facts with which it is
occupied, much more than on forms of ex-
pression. The monkish chroniclers, on the
other hand, often make a pedantic display of
obsolete erudition, which contrasts rather
whimsically with the homely texture of the
narrative. The chronicles of both the one and
the other class of wriiers may frequently
claim the merit of picturesque and animated
detail, showing that the subject was one of
living interest, and that the writer's heart was
in his subject.
Many of the characteristic blemishes of
which I have been speaking may be charged
on Oviedo. His style is cast in no classic
mould. His thoughts find themselves a vent
in tedious interminable sentences, that may
fill the reader with despair ; and the thread of
the narrative is broken by impertinent epi-
sodes that lead to nothing. His scholarship
was said to be somewhat scanty. One will
hardly be led to doubt it, from the tawdry dis-
play of Latin quotations with which he gar-
nishes his pages, like a poor gallant who
would make the most of his little store of
finery. He affected to take the elder Pliny as
his model, as appears from the preface to his
Sumario. But his own work fell far short of
the model of erudition and eloquence which
that great writer of natural history has be-
queathed to us.
■Yet, with his obvious defects, Oviedo showed
an enlightened curiosity, and a shrewd spirit
of observation, which place him far above the
ordinary range of chroniclers. He may even
be said to display a philosophic tone in his
reflections, though his philosophy must be
regarded as cold and unscrupulous wherever
the rights of the aborigines are in question.
He was indefatigable in amassing materials
for his narratives, and for this purpose main-
tained a correspondence with the most eminent .
men of his time who had taken j»art in the
transactions which he commemorates. He
even condescended to collect information from
more humble sources, from popular tradition
and the reports of the common soldiers.
Hence his work often presents a medley of
inconsistent and contradictory details, which
perplex the judgment, making it exceedingly
difficult, at this distance of time, to disen-
tangle the truth. It was perhaps for this
reason that Las Casas complimented the author
by declaring that " his works were a whole-
sale fabrication, as full of lies as of pages ! "
Yet another explanation of this severe judg-
ment may be found in the different characters
of the two men. Oviedo shared in the worldly
feelings common to the Spanish Conquerors,
and, while he was ever ready to magnify the
exploits of his countrymen, held lightly the
claims and the sufferings of the unfortunate
aborigines. He was incapable of appreci-
ating the generous philanthropy of Las Casas,
or of rising to his lofty views, which he doubt-
less derided as those of a benevolent, it might
be, but visionary, fanatic. Las Casas, on the-
CAMARGO.
839
other hand, whose voice had been constantly-
uplifted against the abuses of the Conquerors,
was filled with abhorrence at the sentiments
avowed by Oviedo, and It was natural tliat his
aversion to the principles should be extended
to the person who professed them. Probably
no two men could have been found less com-
petent to form a right estimate of each other.
Oviedo showed the same activity in gather-
ing materials for natural history as he had
done for the illustration of civil. He collected
the different plants of the Islands in his garden,
and domesticated many of the animals, or kept
them in confinement under his eye, where he
could study their peculiar habits. By this
course, if he did not himself rival Pliny and
Hernandez in science, he was, at least, enabled
to furnish the man of science with facts of the
highest interest and importance.
Besides these historical writings, Oviedo
left a work in six volumes, called by the
whimsical title of Quincuagenas. It consists
of imaginary dialogues between the most emi-
nent Spaniards of the time, in respect to their
personal history, their families, and genealogy.
It is a work of inestimable value to the his-
torian of the times of Ferdinand and Isabella,
and of Charles the Filth. But it has attracted
little attention in-Spain, where it still remains
in manuscript. A complete copy of Oviedo's
History of the Indies is in the archives of the
Royal Academy of History in Madrid, and it
is understood that this body has now an edition
prepared for the press. Such parts as are
literally transcribed from precedir- narratives,
like the Letters of Cortes, which 0* iedo trans-
ferred without scruple entire end unmutilated
into his own pages, though enlivened, it is
true, by occasional criticism of his own, might
as well be omitted. But the remainder of the
great work affords a mass of multifarious in-
formation which would make an important
contribution to the colonial history of Spain.
An authority of frequent reference in these
pages is Diego Munoz Camargo. He was a
noble Tlascalan mestee, and lived in the latter
half of the sixteenth century. He was edu-
cated in the Christian faith, and early in-
structed in Castilian, in which tongue decom-
posed his Historic/, de Tlascala. In this work
he introduces the reader to the different mem-
bers of the great Nahuatlac family who came
successively up the Mexican plateau. Born
and bred among the aborigines of the country,
when the practices of the pagan age had not
wholly become obsolete, Camargo was in a
position perfectly to comprehend the condition
of the ancient inhabitants ; and his work sup-
plies much curious and authentic information
respecting the social and religious institutions
of the land at the time of the Conquest. His
patriotism warms as he recounts the old hos-
tilities of his countrymen with the Aztecs ;
and it is singular to observe how the detesta-
tion of the rival nations survived their com-
mon subjection under the Castilian yoke.
Camargo embraces in his narrative an ac-
count of this great event, and of the subse-
quent settlement of the county. As one of
the Indian family, we might expect to see his
chronicle reflect the prejudices, or, at least,
partialities, of the Indian. But the Christian
convert yielded up his sympathies as freely to
the Conquerors as to his own countrymen.
The desire to magnify the exploits of the
latter, and at the same time to do full justice
to the prowess of the white men, produces
occasionally a most whimsical contrast in his
pages, giving the story a strong air of in-
consistency. In point of literary execution
the work has little merit ; as great, however,
as could be expected from a native Indian, in-
debted for his knowledge of the tongue to
such imperfect instruction as he could obtain
fromtthe missionaries. Yet in style of com-
position it may compare not unfavourably
with the writings of some of the missionaries
themselves.
The original manuscript was long preserved
in the convent of San Ftlipe Keri in Mexico,
where Torquemada, as appears from occa-
sional references, had access to it. It has
escaped the attention of other historians, but
was embraced by Munoz in his magnificent
collection, and deposited in the archives of the
Royal Academy of History at Madrid ; from
which source the copy in my possession was
obtained. It bears the title of Pedazo de His-
toria verdadera, and is without the author's
name, and without division into books or
chapters.
BOOK FIFTH.
EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
BOOK V.
EXPULSION FROM MEXICO,
CHAPTER I.
DESPERATE ASSAULT ON THE QUARTERS— FURY OF THE MEXICANS— SALLY OF
THE SPANIARDS— MONTEZUMA ADDRESSES T,IIE PEOPLE— DANGEROUSLY
WOUNDED.
1520.
The palace of Axayacatl, in which the Spaniards were quartered, was, as the
reader may remember, a vast, irregular pile of stone buildings, having but one
floor, except in the centre, where another story was added, consisting of a suite
of apartments which rose like turrets on the main building of the edifice. A
vast area stretched around, encompassed by a stone wall of no great height.
This was supported by towers or bulwarks at certain intervals, which gave it
some degree of strength, not, indeed, as compared with European fortifications,
but sufficient to resist the rude battering enginery of the Indians. The parapet
had been pierced here and there with embrasures for the artillery, which coril
sisted of thirteen guns ; and smaller apertures were made in other parts for
the convenience of the arquebusiers. The Spanish forces found accommoda-
tions within the great building ; but the numerous body of Tlascalan auxiliaries
could have had no other shelter than what was afforded by barracks or sheds
hastily constructed for the purpose in the spacious court-yard. Most of them,
probably, bivouacked under the open sky, in a climate milder than that to which
they were accustomed among the rude hills of their native land. Thus crowded
into a small and compact compass, the whole army could be assembled at a
moment's notice ; and, as the Spanish commander was careful to enforce the
strictest discipline and vigilance, it was scarcely possible that he could be taken
by surprise. No sooner, therefore, did the trumpet call to arms, as the approach
of the enemy was announced, than every soldier was at his post, the cavalry
mounted, the artillery-men at their guns, and the archers and arquebusiers
stationed so as to give the assailants a warm reception.
On they came, with the companies, or irregular masses, into which the mul-
titude was divided, rushing forward each in its own dense column, with many
a gay banner displayed, and many a bright gleam of light reflected from
helmet, arrow, and spear-head, as they were tossed about in their disorderly
array. As they drew near the enclosure, the Aztecs set up a hideous yell, or
rather that shrill whistle used in fight by the nations of Anahuac, which rose
far above the sound of shell and atabal and their other rude instruments of
warlike melody. They followed this by a tempest of missiles,— stones, darts,
344 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
and arrows,— which -fell thick as rain on the besieged, while volleys of the
same kind descended from the crowded terraces in the neighbourhood.1
The Spaniards waited until the foremost column had arrived within the best
distance for giving effect to their fire, when a general discharge of artillery and
arquebuses swept the ranks of the assailants and mowed them down by
hundreds.3 The Mexicans were familiar with the report of these formidable
engines as they had been harmlessly discharged on some holiday festival ; but
never till now had they witnessed their murderous power. They stood aghast
for a moment, as with bewildered looks they staggered under the fury of the
fire ; 3 but, soon rallying, the bold barbarians uttered a piercing cry, and
rushed forward over the prostrate bodies of their comrades. A second and a
third volley checked their career, and threw them into disorder, but still they
pressed on, letting off clouds of arrows ; while their comrades on the roofs of
the houses took more deliberate aim at the combatants in the court-yard.
The Mexicans were particularly expert in the use of the sling ; * and the
stones which they hurled from their elevated positions on the heads of their
enemies did even greater execution than the arrows. They glanced, indeed,
from the mail-covered bodies of the cavaliers, and from those who were
sheltered under the cotton panoply, or escaujnl. But some of the soldiers,
especially the veterans of Cortes, and many of their Jndian allies, had but slight
defences, and suffered greatly under this stony tempest.
The Aztecs, meanwhile, had advanced close under the walls of the intrench-
ment, their ranks broken and disordered and their limbs mangled by the unin-
termitting fire of the Christians. But they still pressed on, under the very
muzzles of the guns. They endeavoured to scale the parapet, which, from its
moderate height, was in itself a work of no great difficulty. But the moment
they showed their heads above the rampart they were shot down by the unerr-
ing marksmen within, or stretched on the ground by a blow of a Tlascalan
maquahuitl. Nothing daunted, others soon appeared to take the place of the
fallen, and strove by raising themselves on the writhing bodies of their dying
comrades, or by fixing their spears in the crevices of the wall, to surmount the
barrier. But the attempt proved equally vain.
Defeated here, they tried to effect a breach in the parapet by battering it
with heavy pieces of timber. The works were not constructed on those scien-
tific principles by which one part is made to overlook and protect another.
The besiegers, therefore, might operate at their pleasure, with but little
molestation from the garrison within, whose guns could not be brought into
a position to bear on them, and who could mount no part of their own works
1 "Eran tantas las Piedras, que nos echa- les comenzaron a responder de dentro con
ban con Hondas dentro en la Fortaleza, que toda la artilleria que de nuebo habian traido,
no parecia sino que el Cielo las llovia ; e las y con toda la gente que de nuevo habia
Flechas, y Tiraderas eran tantas, que todas venido, y los Espanoles hicieron gran de-
las paredes y Patios estaban llenos, que casi strozo en los Itidios, con la artilleria, area-
no podiamos andar con ellas." (Rel. Seg. de buzes, y ballestas y todo el otro artiticio de
Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 134.) No wonder peloar." (Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva- Espana,
that they should have found some difficulty MS., lib. 12, cap. 22.) The good father waxes
in wading through the arrows, if Herrera's eloquent in his description of the battle-scene,
account be correct, that forty cart-loads of ' The enemy presented so easy a mark,
them were gathered up and burnt by the says Gomara, that the gunners loaded and
besieged every day ! Hist, general, dec. 2, fired with hardly the trouble of pointing their
lib. 10, cap. 9. pieces. "Tan recio, que los artilleros sin
- " Luego sin tardanza se juntaron los asestar jugaban con los tiros." Cronica, cap.
Mexicanos, en gran copia, puestos a punto de 106.
Guerra, que no parecia, sino que habian salido 4 "Hondas, que eran la mas fuerte arma
debajo de tierra todos juntos, y comenzaron de pelea que los Mejicanos tenian." Ca-
luego a dar grita y pelea--, y los Espanoles margo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.
DESPERATE ASSAULT ON THE QUARTERS. 343
for their defence without exposing their persons to the missiles of the Whole
besieging army. The parapet, however, proved too strong for the efforts of
the assailants. In their despair, they endeavoured to set the Christian
quarters on fire, shooting burning arrows into them, and climbing up so as to
dart their firebrands through the embrasures. The principal edifice was of
stone. But the temporary defences of the Indian allies, and other parts of
the exterior works, were of wood. Several of these took fire, and the flame
spread rapidly among the light, combustible materials. This was a disaster
for which the besieged were wholly unprepared. They had little water,
scarcely enough for their own consumption. They endeavoured to extinguish
the flames by heaping on earth. But in vain. Fortunately, the great build-
ing was of materials which defied the destroying element. But the fire raged
in some of the outworks, connected with the parapet, with a fury which could
only be checked by throwing down a part of the wall itself, thus laying open a
formidable breach. This, by the general's order, was speedily protected by
a battery of heavy guns, and a file of arquebusiers, who kept up an incessant
volley through the opening on the assailants.5
The fight now raged with fury on both sides. The walls around the palace
belched forth an unintermitting sheet of flame and smoke. The groans of the
wounded and dying were lost in the fiercer battle-cries of the combatants, the
roar of the artillery, the sharper rattle of the musketry, and the hissing sound
of Indian missiles. It was the conflict of the European with the American ;
of civilized man with the barbarian ; of the science of the one with the rude
weapons and warfare of the other. And as the ancient walls of Tenochtitlan
shook under the thunders of the artillery, it announced that the white man,
the destroyer, had set his foot within her precincts.6
Night at length came, and drew her friendly mantle over the contest. The
Aztec seldom fought by night. It brought little repose, however, to the
Spaniards, in hourly expectation of an assault ; and they found abundant
occupation in restoring the breaches in their defences and in repairing their
battered armour. The beleaguering host lay on their arms through the night,
giving token of their presence, now and then, by sending a stone or shaft over
the battlements, or by a solitary cry of defiance from some warrior more
determined than the rest, till all other sounds were lost in the vague, indis-
tinct murmurs which float upon the air in the neighbourhood of a vast
assembly.
The ferocity shown by the Mexicans seems to have been a thing for which
Cortes was wholly unprepared. His past experience, his uninterrupted career
of victory with a much feebler force at his command, had led him to under-
rate the military efficiency, as well as the valour, of the Indians. The apparent
facility with which the Mexicans had acquiesced in the outrages on their
sovereign and themselves had led him to hold their courage, in particular, too
lightly. He could not believe the present assault to be anything more than
a temporary ebullition of the populace, which would soon waste itself by its
own fury. And he proposed, on the following day, to sally out and inflict
5 >" En la Fortaleza daban tan redo com- resistir." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana,
bate, que por muchas partes nos pusieron p. 134.
luego, y por la una se quemo mucha parte 6 Ibid., ubi supra.— Gomara, Cronica, cap.
de ella, sin la poder remediar, hasta que la 106. — Oviedo, Hist.'de las Ind., MS., lib. 33,
atajiimos, cortando las paredes, y derrocando cap. 13. — Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia,
un pedazo que niato el fuego. E si no fuera MS., lib. 12, cap. 22. — Gonza/o de las Casas,
por la mucba Guarda, que allf puse de Esco- Defensa, MS., Parte 1, cap. 26.— Bernal Diaz,
peteros, y Ballesteros, y otros tiros de polvora, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 126.
nos entraran u escala vista, sin los poder
346 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
uch chastisement on his foes as should bring them to their senses and show
who was master in the capital.
With early dawn, the Spaniards were up and under arms ; but not before
their enemies had given evidence of their hostility by the random missiles
which from time to time were sent into the enclosure. As the gray light of
morning advanced, it showed the besieging army, far from being diminished
in numbers, rilling up the great square and neighbouring avenues in more
dense array than on the preceding evening. Instead of a confused, disorderly
rabble, it 'had the appearance of something like a regular force, with its
battalions distributed under their respective banners, the devices of which
showed a contribution from the principal cities and districts in the Valley.
High above the rest was conspicuous the ancient standard of Mexico, with its
well-known cognizance, an eagle pouncing on an ocelot, emblazoned on a rich
mantle of feather- work. Here and there priests might be seen mingling in
the ranks of the besiegers, and, with frantic gestures, animating them to
avenge their insulted deities.
The greater part of the enemy had little clothing save the maxtlatl, or
sash round the loins. They were variously armed, with long spears tipped
with copper or flint, or sometimes merely pointed and hardened in the fire.
Some were provided with slings, and others with darts having two or three
points, with long strings attached to them, by which, when discharged, they
could be torn away again from the body of the wounded. This was a formi-
dable weapon, much dreaded by the Spaniards. Those of a higher order
wielded the terrible marmahuitl, with its sharp and brittle blades of obsidian.
Amidst the motley bands of warriors were seen many whose showy dress and
air of authority intimated persons of high military consequence, Their breasts
were protected by plates of metal, over which was thrown the gay surcoat of
feather- work. They wore casques resembling in their form the head of some
wild and ferocious animal, crested with bristly hair, or overshadowed by tall
and graceful plumes of many a brilliant colour. Some few were decorated
with the red fillet bound round the hair, having tufts of cotton attached to it,
which denoted by their number that of the victories they had won, and their
own pre-eminent rank among the warriors of the nation. The motley assembly
plainly showed that priest, warrior, and citizen had all united to swell the
tumult.
' Before the sun had shot his beams into the Castilian quarters, the enemy
were in motion, evidently preparing to renew the assault of the preceding day.
The Spanish commander determined to anticipate them by a vigorous sortie,
for which he had already made the necessary dispositions. A general dis-
charge of ordnance and musketry sent death far and wide into the enemy's
ranks, and, before they had time to recover from their confusion, the gates
were thrown open, and Cortes, sallying out at the head of his cavalry, sup-
ported by a large body of infantry and several thousand Tlascatans, rode at
full gallop against them. Taken thus by surprise, it was scarcely -possible tc
offer much resistance. Those who did were trampled down under the horses
feet, cut to pieces with the broadswords, or pierced with the lances of the
riders. The infantry followed up the blow, and the rout for the moment was
general.
But the Aztecs fled only to take refuge behind a barricade, or strong work
of timber and earth, which had been thrown across the great street through
which they were pursued. Rallying on the other side, they made a gallant
stand, and poured in turn a volley of their light weapons on the Spaniards,
(
SALLY OF THE SPANIARDS. 347
who, saluted with a storm of missiles at the same time from the terraces
of the houses, were checked in their career and thrown into some disorder.7
Cortes, thus impeded, ordered up a few pieces of heavy ordnance, which
soon swept away the barricades and cleared a passage for the army. But it
had lost the momentum acquired in its rapid advance. The enemy had time
to rally and to meet the Spaniards on more equal terms. They were attacked
in flank, too, as they advanced, by fresh battalions, who swarmed in from the
adjoining streets and lanes. The canals were alive with boats filled with
warriors, who with their formidable darts searched every crevice or weak
place in the armour of proof, and made havoc on the unprotected bodies of
the Tlascalans. By repeated and vigorous charges, the Spaniards succeeded
in driving the Indians before them ; though many, with a desperation which
showed they loved vengeance better than life, sought to embarrass the move-
ments of their horses by clinging to their legs, or, more successfully, strove to
pull the riders from their saddles. And woe to the unfortunate cavalier who
was thus dismounted, — to be despatched by the brutal maquahuitl, or to be
dragged on board a canoe to the bloody altar of sacrifice !
But the greatest annoyance which the Spaniards endured was from the
missiles from the azoteas, consisting often of large stones, hurled with a force
that would tumble the stoutest rider from his saddle. Galled in the extreme
by these discharges, against which even their shields afforded no adequate
protection, Cortes ordered fire to be set to the buildings. This was no very
difficult matter, since, although chiefly of stone, they Avere filled with mats,
cane-work, and other combustible materials, which were soon in a blaze.
But the buildings stood separated from one another by canals and draw-
bridges, so that the flames did not easily communicate to the neighbouring
edifices. Hence the labour of the Spaniards was incalculably increased, and
their progress in the work of destruction — fortunately for the city — was com-
paratively slow.8 They did not relax their efforts, however, till several
hundred houses had been consumed, and the miseries of a conflagration, in
which the wretched inmates perished equally with the defenders, Avere added
to the other horrors of the scene.
The day Avas uoav far spent. The Spaniards had been everyAVhere victorious.
But the enemy, though driven back on every point, still kept the field. When
broken by the furious charges of the cavalry, he soon rallied behind the
temporary defences, Avhich, at different intervals, had been thrown across the
streets, and, facing about, reneAved the fight with undiminished courage, till
the SAveeping aAvay of the barriers by the cannon of the assailants left a free
passage for the movements of their horse. Thus the action was a succession
of rallying and retreating, in Avhich both parties suffered much, although the
loss inflicted on the Indians was probably tenfold greater than that of the
Spaniards. But the Aztecs could better afford the loss of a hundred lives
than their antagonists that of one. And, while the Spaniards shoAved an
array broken and obviously thinned in numbers, the Mexican army, swelled
by the tributary levies Avhich floAved in upon it from the neighbouring streets,
exhibited, with all its losses, no sign of diminution. At length, sated with
7 Carta del Exercito, MS. algunas casas que les poniamos fuego, tar-
8 "Estan todas en el agua, y de casa a* casa daua vna casa en se quemar vn dia entero, y
vna puente leuadiza, passalla a nado, era cosa no se podia pegar fuego de vna casa a" otra;
muy peligrosa ; porque desde las aQuteas lo vno, por estar apartadas la vna de otra el
tirauan tanta piedra, y cantos, "que era cosa ' agua en medio; y lootro, por ser deaQuteas."
perdida ponemos en ello. Y demas desto, en Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 126. r
348 EXPULSION FROM xMEXlCO.
carnage, and exhausted by toil and hunger, the Spanish commander drew off
his men, and sounded a retreat.9
On his way back to his quarters, he beheld his friend the secretary Duero,
in a street adjoining, unhorsed, and hotly engaged with a body of Mexicans,
against whom he was desperately defending himself with his poniard. Cortes,
roused at the sight, shouted his war-cry, and, dashing into the midst of the
enemy, scattered them like chaff by the fury of his onset ; then, recovering
his friend's horse, he enabled him to remount, and the two cavaliers, striking
their spurs into their steeds, burst through their opponents and joined the
main body of the army.10 Such displays of generous gallantry were not un-
common in these engagements, which called forth more feats of personal
adventure than battles with antagonists better skilled in the science of war.
The chivalrous bearing of the general was emulated in full measure by Sandoval,
De Leon, Olid, Alvarado, Ordaz, and his other brave companions, who won
such glory under the eye of their leader as prepared the way for the indepen-
dent commands which afterwards placed provinces and kingdoms at their
disposal.
The undaunted Aztecs hung on the rear of their retreating foes, annoying
them at every step by fresh flights of stones and arrows ; and, when' the
Spaniards had re-entered their fortress, the Indian host encamped around it,"
showing the same dogged resolution as on the preceding evening. Though
true to their ancient habits of inaction during the night, they broke the still-
ness of the hour by insulting cries and menaces, which reached the ears of the
besieged. " The gods have delivered you, at last, into our hands," they said ;
" Huitzilopochtli has long cried for his victims. The stone of sacrifice is
ready. The knives are sharpened. The wild beasts in the palace are roaring
for their offal. And the cages," they added, taunting the Tlascalans with
their leanness, "are waiting for the false sons of Anahuac, who are to be
fattened for the festival ! " These dismal menaces, which sounded fearfully in
the ears of the besieged, who understood too well their import, were mingled
with piteous lamentations for their sovereign, whom they called on the
Spaniards to deliver up to them.
Cortes suffered much from a severe wound which he had received in the
hand in the late action. But the anguish of his mind must have been still
greater as he brooded over the dark prospect before him. He had mistaken
the character of the Mexicans. Their long and patient endurance had been a
violence to their natural temper, which, as their whole history proves, was
arrogant and ferocious beyond that of most of the races of Anahuac. The
restraint which, in deference to their monarch more than to their own fears,
they had so long put on their natures, being once removed, their passions
burst forth with accumulated violence. The Spaniards had encountered in
the Tlascalan an open enemy, who had no grievance to complain of, no wrong
to redress. He fought under the vague apprehension only of some coming
evil to his country. But the Aztec, hitherto the proud lord of the land, was
9 "The Mexicans fought with such fere- See, also, for the last pages, Rel. Seg. de
city," says Diaz, "that, if we had had the Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 135,— Ixtlilxochitl,
assistance on that day of ten thousand Hectors, Relaciones, MS.,— Probanza & pedimento de
and as many Orlandos, we should have made Juan de Lexalde, MS.,— Oviedo, Hist, de las
no impression on them. There were several Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13,— Gomara, Cronica,
of our troops," he adds, "who had served in cap. 196.
the Italian wars, but neither there nor in the i0 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10,
battles with the Turk had they ever seen cap. 9.— Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4,
anything like the desperation shown by these cap. 69.
Indians." Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 126.
MONTEZUMA CONSENTS TO* INTERPOSE. 349
goaded by insult and injury, till he had reached that pitch of self-devotion
which made life cheap in comparison with revenge. Armed thus with the
energy of despair, the savage is almost a match for the civilized man ; and a
whole nation, moved to its depths by a common feeling, which swallows up
all selfish considerations of personal interest and safety, becomes, whatever be
its resources, like the earthquake and the tornado, the most formidable among
the agencies of nature.
Considerations of this kind may have passed through the mind of Cortes, as
he reflected on his own impotence to restrain the fury of the Mexicans, and
resolved, in despite of his late supercilious treatment of Montezuma, to
employ his authority to allay the tumult,— an authority so successfully exerted
in behalf of Alvarado at an earlier stage of the insurrection. lie was the
more confirmed in his purpose on the following morning, when the assailants,
redoubling their efforts, succeeded in scaling the works in one quarter and
effecting an entrance into the enclosure. It is true, they were met with so
resolute a spirit that not a man of those who entered was left alive. But, in
the impetuosity of the assault, it seemed, for a few moments, as if the place
was to be carried by storm.11
Cortes now sent to the Aztec emperor to request his interposition with his
subjects in behalf of the Spaniards. But Montezuma was not in the humour
to comply. He had remained moodily in his quarters ever since the general's
return. Disgusted with the treatment he had received, he had still further
cause for mortification in finding himself the ally of those who were the open
enemies of his nation. From his apartment he had beheld the tragical scenes
in his capital, and seen another, the presumptive heir to his throne, taking the
place which he should have occupied at the head of his warriors and fighting
the battles of his country.12 Distressed by his position, indignant at those
who had placed him in 'it, he coldly answered, " What have I to do with
Malinche f I do not wish to hear from him. I desire only to die. To what
a state has my willingness to serve him reduced me ! " 13 When urged still
further to comply by Olid and Father Olmedo, he added, " It is of no use.
They will neither believe me, nor the false words and promises of Malinche.
You will never leave these walls alive." On being assured, however, that the
Spaniards would willingly depart if a way were opened to them by their
enemies, he at length — moved, probably, more by the desire to spare the blood
of his subjects than of the Christians— consented to expostulate with his
people.14
In order to give the greater effect to his presence, he put on his imperial
robes. The tumatli, his mantle of white and blue, flowed over his shoulders,
held together by its rich clasp of the green chalchivitl. The same precious
gem, with emeralds of uncommon size, set in gold, profusely ornamented other
parts of his dress. His feet were shod with the golden sandals, and his brows
covered by the copllli, or Mexican diadem, resembling in form the pontifical
tiara. Thus attired, and surrounded by a guard of Spaniards and several
" Bernal Diaz.Hist.de la Conquista, cap. mander had released a few days previous.
126 — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 10.
cap. 13. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 107. ,3 "^Que quiere de mi ya Malinche, que yo
'■ Cortes sent Marina to ascertain from no deseo viuir ni oille ? pues en tal estado por
Montezuma the name of the gallant chief, su causa mi ventura me ha traido." Bernal
who could be easily seen from the walls ani- Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 126.
mating and directing his countrymen. The u Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, ubi
emperor informed him that it was his brother supra. — Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap.
Cuitiahua, the presumptive heir to his crown, 88.
and the same chief whom the Spanish com-
350 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
Aztec nobles, and preceded by the golden wand, the symbol of sovereignty, the
Indian monarch ascended the central turret of the palace. His presence was
instantly recognized by the people, and, as the royal retinue advanced along
the battlements, a change, as if by magic, came over the scene. The clang of
instruments, the fierce cries of the assailants, were hushed, and a death-Tike
stillness pervaded the whole assembly, so fiercely agitated, but a few moments
before, by the wild tumult of war ! Many prostrated themselves on the
ground ; others bent the knee ; and all turned with eager expectation towards
the monarch whom they had been taught to reverence with slavish awe, and
from whose countenance they had been wont to turn away as from the intole-
rable splendours of divinity. Montezuma saw his advantage ; and, while he
stood thus confronted with his awe-struck people, he seemed to recover all his
former authority and confidence, as he felt himself to be still a king. With a
calm voice, easily heard over the silent assembly, he is said by the Castilian
writers to have thus addressed them :
" Why do I see my people here in arms against the palace of my fathers ?
Is it that you think your sovereign a prisoner, and wish to release him 1 If
so, you have acted rightly. But you are mistaken. I am no prisoner. The
strangers are my guests. I remain with them only from choice, and can leave
them when I list. Have you come to drive them from the city % That is
unnecessary. They will depart of their own accord, if you will open a way for
them. Return to your homes, then. Lay down your arms. Show your
obedience to me who have a right to it. The white men shall go back to their
own land ; and all shall be well again within the walls of Tenochtitlan."
As Montezuma announced himself the friend of the detested strangers, a
murmur ran through the multitude ; a murmur of contempt for the pusillani-
mous prince who could show himself so insensible to the insults and injuries
for which the nation was in arms. The swollen tide of their passions swept
away all the barriers of ancient reverence, and, taking a neAv direction,
descended on the head of the unfortunate monarch, so far degenerated from
his warlike ancestors. " Base Aztec," they exclaimed, " woman, coward ! the
white men have made you a woman,— fit only to weave and spin ! " These
bitter taunts were soon followed by still more hostile demonstrations. A
chief, it is said, of high rank, bent a bow or brandished a javelin with an air
of defiance against the emperor,15 when, in an instant, a cloud of stones and
arrows descended on the spot where the royal train was gathered. The
Spaniards appointed to protect his person had been thrown off their guard by
the respectful deportment of the people during their lord's address. They now
hastily interposed their bucklers. But it was too late. Montezuma was
wounded by three of the missiles, one of which, a stone, fell with such violence
on his head, near the temple, as brought him senseless to5 the ground. The
Mexicans, shocked at their own sacrilegious act, experienced a sudden revulsion
of feeling, and, setting up a dismal cry, dispersed, panic-struck, in different
directions. Not one of the multitudinous array remained in the great square
before the palace !
The unhappy prince, meanwhile, was borne by his attendants to his apart-
ments below. On recovering from the insensibility caused by the blow, the
WTetchedness of his condition broke upon him. He had tasted the last bitter-
ness of degradation. He had been reviled, rejected, by his people. The
meanest of the rabble had raised their hands against him. He had nothing
15 Acosta reports a tradition that Guate- •> afterwards succeeded to the throne, was the
mozin, Montezuma's nephew, who himself man that shot the first arrow. Lib. 7, cap. 23.
HE IS DANGEROUSLY WOUNDED.
S51
more to live for. It was in vain that Cortes and his officers endeavoured to
soothe the anguish of his spirit and fill him with better thoughts. He spoke
not a word in answer. His wound, though dangerous, might still, with skilful
treatment, not prove mortal. But Montezuma refused all the remedies pre-
scribed for it. He tore off the bandages as often as they were applied, main-
taining, all the while, the most determined silence. He sat with eyes dejected,
brooding over his fallen fortunes, over the image of ancient majesty and pre-
sent humiliation. He had survived his honour. But a spark of his ancient
spirit seemed to kindle in his bosom, as it was clear he diet not mean' to sur-
vive his disgrace. From this painful scene the Spanish general and his
followers were soon called away by the new dangers which menaced the
garrison.10
16 I have reported this tragical event, and
the circumstances attending it, as they are
given, in more or less detail, but substantially
in the same way, by the most accredited
writers of that and the following age, — several
of them eye-witnesses. (See Bernal Diaz,
Hist, de laConquista, cap. 12G. — Oviedo, Hist.
de las Iiul., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47 Rel. Seg.
de Cortes, np. Lorenzana, p. 13C— Camargo,
Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist.
Chich., MS., cap. 88.— Herrera, Hist, general,
dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 10. — Torquemada, Mon-
arch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 70. — Acosta, ubi supra.
— Martyr, De Orbe- Novo, dec. 5, cap. 5.) It
is also confirmed' by Cortes in the instrument
granting to Montezuma's favourite daughter
certain estates by way of dowry. (See Ap-
pendix, Tart 2, No. 12.) Don Thoan Cano,
indeed, who married this princess, assured
Oviedo that the Mexicans respected the person
of the monarch so long as they saw him, and
were not aware, when they discharged their
missiles, that he was present, being hid from
sight by the shields of the Spaniards. (See
Appendix, Part 2, No. 11.) This improbable
statement is repeated by the chaplain Uomara.
(Cronica, cap. 107.) It is rejected by Oviedo,
however, who says that Alvarado, himself
present at the scene, in a conversation with him
afterwards, explicitly confirmed the narrative
given in the text. (Hist, de las Ind., MS.,
lib. 33, cap. 47.) The Mexicans gave a very
different account of the transaction. Accord-
ing to them, Montezuma, together with the
lords of Tezcuco and Tlatelolco, then detained
as prisoners in the fortress by the Spaniards,
were all strangled by means of the gar-rote,
and their dead bodies thrown over the walls
to their countrymen. I quote the original of
Father Sahagun, who gathered the story from
the Aztecs themselves :
"De esta manera se determinaron los Espa-
fioles a niorir 6 veneer varonilmente ; y asi
habhiron a todos los amigos Indios, y todos
ellos estuvieron firmes en esta determinacion :
y lo primero que hicieron fu6 que dieron
garrote a" todos los Seiiores que tenian prcsos,
y los echavon mucrtos fuera del fuerte : y
antes que esto hiciesen les dijeron muchas
cosas, y les hicieron saber su determinacion,
y que de ellos habia de comenzar esta obra, y
luego todos los demas habian de ser muertos
ji sus manos, dijeronles, no es posible quo
vuestros Idolos os libren de nuestras manos.
Y desque les hubieron dado Garrote, y vieron
que estaban muertos, mandaronlos echar por
las azoteas, fuera de la casa, en un lugar que
se llama Tortuga de Piedra, porque all! estaba
una piedra labrada a manera de Tortuga. Y
desque supieron y vieron los de & fuera, que
aquellos Senores tan principales habian sido
muertos por las manos de los Espafioles,
luego tomd'ron los cuerpos, y les hicieron sus
exequias, al modo de su ldolatria, y quemdron
sus cuerpos, y tomdron sus cenizas, y las
pusieron en lugares apropiadas tt sus digni-
dades y valor." Hist, de Nueva-Espafla, MS.,
lib. 12, cap. 23.
It is hardly necessary to comment on the
absurdity of this monstrous imputation, which,
however, has found favour with some later
writers. Independently of .all other considera-
tions, the Spaniards would have been slow to
compass the Jndian monarch's death, since,
as the Tezcucan Ixtlilxochitl truly observes,
it was the most fatal blow which could befall
them, by dissolving the last tie which held
them to the Mexicans. Hist. Chich., MS., ubi
supra.
352
EXPULSION FROM MEXICO,
CHAPTER II.
STORMING OF THE GREAT TEMPLE— SPIRIT OF TIIE AZTECS— DISTRESSES OF Tl
GARRISON— SHARP COMBATS IN THE CITY— DEATH OF MONTEZUMA.
1520.
Opposite to the Spanish quarters, at only a few rods' distance, stood the great
teocalli of Huitzilopochtli. This pyramidal mound, with the sanctuaries'that
crowned it, rising altogether to the height of near a hundred and fifty feet
afforded an elevated position that completely commanded the palace of Axaya
catl, occupied by the Christians. A body of five or six hundred Mexican?
many of them nobles and warriors of the highest rank, had got possession
the teocalli, whence they discharged such a tempest of arrows on the garrisor
that no one could leave his defences for a moment without imminent danger
while the Mexicans, under shelter of the sanctuaries, were entirely coverc
from the fire of the besieged. It was obviously necessary to dislodge the
enemy, if the Spaniards would remain longer in their quarters.
Corte's assigned this service to his chamberlain, Escobar, giving him
hundred men for the purpose, with orders to storm the teocalli and set fire
the sanctuaries. But that officer was thrice repulsed in the attempt, am
after the most desperate efforts, was obliged to return with considerable los
and without accomplishing his object.
Cortes, who saw the immediate necessity of carrying the place, determined
to lead the storming party himself. He was then suffering much from the
wound in his left hand, which had disabled it for the present. He made tl
arm serviceable, however, by fastening his buckler to it,1 and, thus crippk
sallied out at the head of three hundred chosen cavaliers and several thousar
of his auxiliaries.
In the court-yard of the temple he found a numerous body of Indians pre-
pared to dispute his passage. He briskly charged them ; but the flat smooth
stones of the pavement were so slippery that the horses lost their footing and
many of them fell. Hastily dismounting, they sent back the animals to their
quarters, and, renewing the assault, the Spaniards succeeded without much
difficulty in dispersing the Indian warriors and opening a free passage for
themselves to the teocalli. This building, as the reader may remember, was
a huge pyramidal structure, about three hundred feet square at the base. A
flight of stone steps on the outside, at one of the angles of the mound, led to
a platform, or terraced walk, which passed round the building until it reached
a similar flight of stairs directly over the preceding, that conducted to another
landing as before. As there were five bodies or divisions of the teocalli, it
became necessary to pass round its whole extent four times, or nearly a mile,
in order to reach the summit, which, it may be recollected, was an open area,
crowned only by the two sanctuaries dedicated to the Aztec deities.2
Cortes, having cleared a way for the assault, sprang up the lower stairway,
'"Sali fuera de la Fortaleza, aunque 2 See ante, pp. 275, 276.— I have ventured
manco de la mano izquierda de una herida to repeat the description of the temple here,
que el primer dia me habian dado : y liada la as it is important that the reader, who may
rodela en el brazo fuy a la Torre con algunos perhaps not turn to the preceding pages, should
Espanoles, que me siguieron." Rel. Seg. de have a distinct image of it in his own mind
Corte's, ap. Lorenzana, p. 138. before beginning the account of the combat.
STORMING OP THE GREAT TEMPLE. 353
followed by Alvarado, Sandoval, Ordaz, and the other gallant cavaliers of his
iittle band, leaving a file of arquebusiers and a strong corps of Indian allies
to hold the enemy in check at the foot of the monument. On the first land-
ing, as well as on the several galleries above, and on the summit, the Aztec
warriors were drawn up to dispute his passage. From their elevated position
they showered down volleys of lighter missiles, together with heavy stones,
beams, and burning rafters, which, thundering along the stairway, overturned
the ascending Spaniards and carried desolation through their ranks. The
more fortunate, eluding or springing over these obstacles, succeeded in gaining
the first terrace ; where, throwing themselves on their enemies, they com-
pelled them, after a short resistance, to fall back. The assailants pressed on,
effectually supported by a brisk fire of the musketeers from below, which so
much galled the Mexicans in their exposed situation that they were glad to
take shelter on the broad summit of the teocalli.
Cortes and his comrades were close upon their rear, and the two parties
soon found themselves face to face on this aerial battle-field, engaged in
mortal combat in presence of the whole city, as well as of the troops in the
court-yard, who paused, as if by mutual consent, from their own hostilities,
gazing in silent expectation on the issue of those above. The area, though
somewhat smaller than the base of the teocalli, was large enough to afford a
fair field of fight for a thousand combatants. It was paved with broad, flat
stones. No impediment occurred over its surface, except the huge sacrificial
block, and the temples of stone which rose to the height of forty feet, at the
farther extremity of the arena. One of these had been consecrated to the
Cross. The other was still occupied by the Mexican war-god. The Christian
and the Aztec contended for their religions under the very shadow of their
respective shrines ; while the Indian priests, running to and fro, with their
hair wildly streaming over their sable mantles, seemed hovering in mid-air,
like so many demons of darkness urging on the work of slaughter !
The parties closed with the desperate fury of men who had no hope but in
victory. Quarter was neither asked nor given ; and to fly was impossible.
The edge of the area was unprotected by parapet or battlement. The least
slip would be fatal ; and the combatants, as they struggled in mortal agony,
were sometimes seen to roll over the sheer sides of the precipice together.3
Cortes himself is said to have had a narrow escape from this dreadful fate.
Two warriors, of strong, muscular frames, seized on him, and were dragging
him violently towards the brink of the pyramid. Aware of their intention,
he struggled with all his force, and, before they could accomplish their pur-
pose, succeeded in tearing himself from their grasp and hurling one of them
over the walls with his OAvn arm ! The story is not improbable in itself, for
Cortes was a man of uncommon agility and strength. It has been often
repeated ; but not by contemporary history.4
3 Many of the Aztecs, according to Sahagun, lo alto del cu, y asf todos cuantos alia habian
seeing the fate of such of their comrades as subido de los Mexicanos, murieron mala
fell into the hands of the Spaniards on the muerte." Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafta,
narrow terraces below, voluntarily threw MS., lib. 12, cap. 22.
themselves headlong from the lofty summit * Among others, see Herrera, Hist, general,
and were dashed in pieces on the pavement. dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 9, — Torquemada, Monarch.
" Y los de arriba viendo a los de abajo muertos, Ind., lib,. 4, cap. 69, — and Soli's, very circum-
y a los de arriba que los iban matando los que 6tantially, as usual, Conquista, lib. 4, cap. 16.
habian subido, comenzdron ji arrojarse del cu — The first of these authors had access to
abajo, desde lo alto, los cuales todos morian some contemporary sources, the chronicle of
despenados, quebrados brazos y piernas, y the old soldier, Ojeda, for example, not now
hechos pedazos, porque el cu era muy alto ; to be met with. It is strange that so valiant
yotroslos mesmos Espafioles los arrojaban de an exploit should not have been communi-
8
354
EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
The battle lasted with unintermitting fury for three hours. The number
of the enemy was double that of the Christians ; and it seemed as if it were a
contest which must be determined by numbers and brute force, rather than
by superior science. But it was not so. The invulnerable armour of the
Spaniard, his sword of matchless temper, and his skill in the use of it, gave
him advantages which far outweighed the odds of physical strength and
numbers. After doing all that the courage of despair could enable men to do,
resistance grew fainter and fainter on the side of the Aztecs. One after
another they had fallen. Two or three priests only survived, to be led away
in triumph by the victors. Every other combatant was stretched a corpse on
the bloody arena, or had been hurled from the giddy heights. Yet the loss of
the Spaniards was not inconsiderable. It amounted to forty-five of their best
men ; and nearly all the remainder were more or less injured in the desperate
conflict.5
The victorious cavaliers now rushed towards the sanctuaries. The lower
story was of stone ; the two upper were of wood. Penetrating into their
recesses, they had the mortification to find the image of the Virgin and the
Cross removed.6 But in the other edifice they still beheld the grim figure of
Huitzilopochtli, with his censer of smoking hearts, and the Avails of his oratory
reeking with gore,— not improbably of their own countrymen ! "With shouts
of triumph the Christians tore the uncouth monster from his niche, and
tumbled him, in the presence of the horror-struck Aztecs, down the steps of
the teocalli* They then set fire to the accursed building. The flames
speedily ran up the slender towers, sending forth an ominous light over city,
lake, and valley, to the remotest hut among the mountains. It was the
funeral pyre of paganism, and proclaimed the fall of that sanguinary religion
which had so long nung like a dark cloud over the fair regions of Anahuac ! 7
cated by Cortes himself, who cannot be
accused of diffidence in such matters.
r" Captain Diaz, a little loth sometimes, is
emphatic in his encomiums on the valour
shown by his commander on this occasion.
"Here Cortes showed himself a very man,
such as he always was. Oh what a fighting,
what a strenuous battle, did we have ! It was
a memorable thing to see us flowing with
blood and full of wounds, and more than forty
soldiers slain." (Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
126.) The pens of the old chroniclers keep
pace with their swords in the display of this
brilliant exploit :— " colla penna e colla
spad;i," equally fortunate. See Rel. Seg. de
Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 138. — Gomara, Cro-
nica, cap. 106.— Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-
Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 22. — Herrera, Hist,
general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 9. — Oviedo, Hist,
de las Tnd., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13.— Torque-
mada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 69.
6 Archbishop Lorenzana is of opinion tha'i
this image of the Virgin is the same now seen
in the church of Nuestra Senora de los Reme-
dios ! (Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p.
138, nota.) In what way the Virgin survived
the sack of the city and was brought to light
again, he does not inform us. But the more
difficult to explain, the more undoubted the
miracle.
7 No achievement in the war struck more
awe into the Mexicans than this storming of
the great temple, in which the white me
seemed to bid defiance equally to the power
of God and man. Hieroglyphical painting
minutely commemorating it were to be fr
quently found among the natives after th
Conqutst. The sensitive Captain Diaz intl
mates that those which he saw made full
much account of the wounds and losses oft!
Christians as the facts would warrant. (His
de la Conquista, ubi supra.) It was the onl
way in which the conquered could take thei
revenge.
* [Sir Arthur Helps speaks, rather oddly,
of Cortes having set fire to this image. .Neither
Cortes himself nor Bernal Diaz mentions any
such attempt to burn what is described as a
" huge block of basalt covered with sculptured
figures." It is now in the Museum at Mexico,
having lain undiscovered in the great square,
close to the site of the teocjlli, till the end of
the last century. " For some years after tha
it was kept buried, lest the sight of one
their old deities might be too exciting for the
Indians, who had certainly not forgotten it
and secretly ornamented it with flowers
long as it remained above ground." Tylor
Anahuac, p. 223.— Ed.]
SPIRIT OF THE AZTECS. 555
Having accomplished this good work, the Spaniards descended the winding
slopes of the teocalli with more free and buoyant step, as if conscious that
the blessing of Heaven now rested on their arms. They passed through the
dusky files of Indian warriors in the court -yard, too much dismayed by the
appalling scenes they had witnessed to offer resistance, and reached their own
quarters in safety. That very night they followed up the blow by a sortie on
the sleeping town, and burned three hundred houses, the horrors of conflagra-
tion being made still more impressive by occurring at the hour when the
Aztecs, from their own system of warfare, were least prepared for them.8
Hoping to find the temper of the natives somewhat subdued by these re-
verses, Cortes now determined, with his usual policy, to make them a vantage-
ground for proposing terms of accommodation. He accordingly invited the
enemy to a parley, and, as the principal chiefs, attended by their followers,
assembled in the great square, he mounted the turret before occupied by
Montezuma, and made signs that he would address them. Marina, as usual,
took her place by his side, as his interpreter. The multitude gazed with
earnest curiosity on the Indian girl, whose influence with the Spaniards was
well known, and whose connection with the general, in particular, had led the
Aztecs to designate him by her Mexican name of Malinche.9 Cortes, speak-
ing through the soft, musical tones of his mistress, told his audience they
must now be convinced that they had nothing further to hope from opposition
to the Spaniards. They had seen their gods trampled in the dust, their
altars broken, their dwellings burned, their warriors falling on all sides. "All
this," continued he, " you have brought on yourselves by your rebellion. Yet,
for the affection the sovereign whom you have so unworthily treated still
bears you, I would willingly stay my hand, if you will lay down your arms
and return once more to your obedience. But, if you do not," lie concluded,
" I will make your city a heap of ruins, and leave not a soul alive to mourn
over it ! "
But the Spanish commander did not yet comprehend the character of the
Aztecs, if he thought to intimidate them by menaces. Calm in their exterior,
and slow to move, they were the more difficult to pacify when roused ; and
now that they had been stirred to their inmost depths, it was no human voice
that could still the tempest. It may be, however, that Cortes did not so
much misconceive the character of the people. He may have felt that an
authoritative tone was the only one he could assume with any chance of effect
in his present position, in which milder and more conciliatory language
would, by intimating a consciousness of inferiority, have too certainly defeated
its own object.
It was true, they answered, he had destroyed their temples, broken in
pieces their gods, massacred their countrymen. Many more, doubtless, were
yet to fall under their terrible swords. But they were content so long as for
every thousand Mexicans they could shed the blood of a single white man ! 10
8 "Sequenti nocte, nostri erumpentes in How shall the historian of the present day
vna viarum arci vicina, domos combussere make a harmonious tissue out of these motley
tercentum : in altera plerasque e quibus arci and many-coloured threads ?
molestia fiebat. Ita nunc trucidando, nunc • It is the name by which she is still cele-
diruendo, et interdum vulnera recipiendo, in brated in the popular minstrelsy of Mexico,
pontibus et in viis, diebusnoctibusquemultis "Was the famous Tlascalan mountain, sierra
laboratum est utrinque." (Martyr, De Orbe de Malinche,— anciently "Mattalcueye," —
Novo, dec. 5, cap. 6.) In the number of named in compliment to the Indian damsel?
actions and their general result, namely, the At all events, it was an honour well merited
victories, barren victories, of the Christians, from her adopted countrymen,
all writers are agreed. But as to time, place, '° According to Cortes, they boasted, in
circumstance, or order, no two hold together. somewhat loftier strain, they could spare
350 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
" Look out," they continued, " on our terraces and streets ; see them still
thronged with warriors as far as your eyes can reach. Our numbers are
scarcely diminished by our losses. Yours, on the contrary, are lessening
every hour. You are perishing from hunger and sickness. Your provisions
and water are failing. You must soon fall into our hands. The bridges are
broken down, and you cannot escape ! u There will be too few of you left
to glut the vengeance of our gods ! " As they concluded, they sent a volley
of arrows over the battlements, which compelled the Spaniards to descend
and take refuge in their defences.
The fierce and. indomitable spirit of the Aztecs filled the besieged with
dismay. All, then, that they had done and suffered, their battles by day,
their vigils by night, the perils they had braved, even the victories they had
Avon, were of no avail. It was too evident that they had no longer the spring
of ancient superstition to work upon in the breasts of the natives, who, like
some wild beast that has burst the bonds of his keeper, seemed now to swell
and exult in the full consciousness of their strength. The annunciation re-
specting the bridges fell like a knell on the ears of the Christians. All that
they had heard was too true ; and they gazed on one another with looks of
anxiety and dismay.
The same consequences followed which sometimes take place among the
crew of a shipwrecked vessel. Subordination was lost in the dreadful sense
of danger. A spirit of mutiny broke out, especially among the recent levies
drawn from the army of Narvaez. They had come into the country from no
motive of ambition," but attracted simply by the glowing reports of its opu-
lence, and they had fondly hoped to return in a few months with their
pockets well lined with the gold of the Aztec monarch. But how different
had been their lot! From the first hour of their landing, they had ex-
perienced only trouble and disaster, privations of every description, sufferings
unexampled, and they now beheld in perspective a fate yet more appalling.
Bitterly did they lament the hour when they left the sunny fields of Cuba for
these cannibal regions ! And heartily did they curse their own folly in listen-
ing to the call of Velasquez, and still more in embarking under the banner of
Cortes ! 12
They now demanded, with noisy vehemence, to be led instantly from the
city, and refused to serve longer in defence of a place where they were cooped
up like sheep in the shambles, waiting only to be dragged to slaughter. In
all this they were rebuked by the more orderly, soldier-like conduct of the
veterans of Cortes. These latter had shared witli their general the day of
his prosperity, and they were not disposed to desert him in the tempest. It
was, indeed, obvious, on a little reflection, that the only chance of safety, in
the existing crisis, rested on subordination and union, and that even th'
chance must be greatly diminished under any other leader than their pre
sent one.
Thus pressed by enemies without and by factions within, that leader was
found, as usual, true to himself. Circumstances so appalling as would hav
paralyzed a common mind only stimulated his to higher action and drew fort1
twenty-five thousand for one : " a morir veinte ciones que los de Narvaez echauan & Cortes,
y cinco mil de ellos, y uno de los nuestros." y las palabras que dezian, que renegauan del,
■ Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 139. y de la tierra, y aun de Diego Velasquez, que
11 "Que todas las calzadas de las entradas aai les embio, que bien pacfficos estauan en
de la ciudad eran deshechas, como de hecbo sus casas en la Isla de Cuba, y estavan embe-
ipassaba." Ibid., loc. cit.—Oviedo, Hist, de lesados, y sin sentido.'* Bemal Diaz, His>t. d>
' las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13. la Conquista, ubi supra.
in
!
"Pues tambien quiero dezir las maldi-
DISTRESSES OF THE GARRISON. 357
all its resources. He combined, what is most rare, singular coolness and
constancy of purpose with a spirit of enterprise that might Avell be called
romantic. His presence of mind did not now desert him. He calmly sur-
veyed Iris condition and weighed the difficulties which surrounded him, before
coming to a decision. Independently of the hazard of a retreat in the face
of a watchful and desperate foe, it was a deep mortification to surrender up
the city where he had so long lorded it as a master ; to abandon the rich
treasures which he had secured to himself and his followers ; to forego the
very means by which he had hoped to propitiate the favour of his sovereign
and secure an amnesty for his irregular proceedings. This, he well knew,*
must, after all, be dependent on success. To fly now was to acknowledge
himself further removed from the conquest than ever. What a close was this
to a career so auspiciously begun ! What a contrast to his magnificent
vaunts ! What a triumph would it afford to his enemies ! The governor
of Cuba would be amply revenged.
But, if such humiliating reflections crowded on his mind, the alternative of
remaining, in his present crippled condition, seemed yet more desperate.13
With his men daily diminishing in strength and numbers, their provisions
reduced so low that a small daily ration of bread was all the sustenance
afforded to the soldier under his extraordinary fatigues,14 with the breaches
every day widening in his feeble fortifications, with his ammunition, in fine,
nearly expended, it would be impossible to maintain the place much longer —
and none but men of iron constitutions and tempers, like the Spaniards, could
have held it so long— against the enemy. The chief embarrassment was as
to the time and manner in which it would be expedient to evacuate the city.
The best route seemed to be that of Tlacopan (Tacuba). For the causeway,
the most dangerous part of the road, was but two miles long in that direction,
and would, therefore, place the fugitives, much sooner than either of the
other great avenues, on terra firma. Before his final departure, however,
Cortes proposed to make another sally, in order to reconnoitre the ground,
and, at the same time, divert the enemy's attention from his real purpose by
a show of active operations.
For some days his workmen had been employed in constructing a military
machine of his own invention. It was called a ma?ita, and was contrived
somewhat on the principle of the mantelets used in the wars of the Middle
Ages. It was, however, more complicated, consisting of a tower made of light
beams and planks, having two chambers, one over the other. These were
to be filled with musketeers, and the sides were provided with loop-holes,
through which a fire could be kept up on the enemy. The great advantage
proposed by this contrivance was to afford a defence to the troops against the
missiles hurled from the terraces. These machines, three of which were made,
rested on rollers, and were provided with strong ropes, by which they were to
be dragged along the streets by the Tlascalan auxiliaries.15
13 Notwithstanding this, in the petition or 135. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 106.— Dr. Bird,
letter from Vera Cruz, addressed by the army in his picturesque romance of " Calavar," has
to the Emperor Charles V., after the Conquest, made good use of these tnantas, better, indeed,
the importunity of the solders is expressly than can be permitted to the historian. He
stated as the principal motive that finally claims the privilege of the romancer ; though
induced their general to abandon the city. it must be owned he does not abuse this
Carta del Exercito, MS. privilege, for he has studied with great care
14 "The scarcity was such that the ration the costume, manners, and military usages of
of the Indians was a small cake, and that of the natives. He has done for them what
the Spaniards fifty grains of maize." Herrera, Cooper has done for the wild tribes of the
Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 9. North,— touched their rude features with the
(. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. bright colouring of a poetic fancy. He has
358 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
The Mexicans gazed with astonishment on this warlike machinery, and, as
the rolling fortresses advanced, belching forth fire and smoke from their entrails,
the enemy, incapable of making an impression on those within, fell back in
dismay. By bringing the mantas under the walls of the nouses, the Spaniards
were enabled to fire with effect on the mischievous tenants of the azoteas,
and, when this did not silence them, by letting a ladder, or light draw-bridge,
fall on the roof from the top of the* mania, they opened a passage to the
terrace, and closed with the combatants hand to hand. They could not,
however, thus approach the higher buildings, from which the Indian warriors
threw down such heavy masses of stone and timber as dislodged the planks
that covered the machines, or, thundering against their sides, shook the frail
edifices to their foundations, threatening all within with indiscriminate ruin.
Indeed, the success of the experiment was doubtful, when the intervention of
a canal put a stop to their further progress.
The Spaniards now found the assertion of their enemies too well confirmed.
The bridge which traversed the opening had been demolished ; and, although
the canals which intersected the city were, in general, of no great width or
depth, the removal of the bridges not only impeded the movements of the
general's clumsy machines, but effectually disconcerted those of his cavalry.
Resolving to abandon the mantas, he gave orders to fill up the chasm with
stone, timber, and other rubbish drawn from the ruined buildings, and to
make a new passage-way for the army. While this labour was going on, the
Aztec slingers and archers on the other side of the opening kept up a galling
discharge on the Christians, the more defenceless from the nature of their
occupation. When the work was completed, and a safe passage secured, the
Spanish cavaliers rode briskly against the enemy, who, unable to resist the
shock of the steel-clad column, fell back with precipitation to where another
canal afforded a similar strong position for defence.16
There were no less than seven of these canals intersecting the great street
of Tlacopan,17 and at every one the same scene was renewed, the Mexicans
making a gallant stand and inflicting some loss, at each, on their persevering
antagonists. These operations consumed two days, when, after incredible
toil, the Spanish general had the satisfaction to find the line of communication
completely re-established through the whole length of the avenue, and the
principal bridges placed under strong detachments of infantry. At this
juncture, when he had driven the foe before Mm to the farthest extremity of
the street, where it touches on the causeway, he was informed that 'the
Mexicans, disheartened by their reverses, desired to open a parley with him
respecting the terms of an accommodation, and that their chiefs awaited his
return for that purpose at the fortress. Overjoyed at the intelligence, he
instantly rode back, attended by Alvarado, Sandoval, and about sixty of t' "
cavaliers, to his quarters
The Mexicans proposed that he should release the two priests captured
•opos
ight
the temple, who might be the bearer of his terms and serve as agents for
been equally fortunate in his delineation of Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 140.— Gomara, Cro
tbe picturesque scenery of tbe land. If be nica, cap. 109.
bas been less so in attempting to revive tbe 17 Clavigero is mistaken in calling this tb
antique dialogue of tbe Spanisb cavalier, we street of Iztapalapan. (Stor. del Messico,
must not be surprised. Nothing is more torn. iii. p. 120.) It was not tbe street by
difficult than tbe skilful execution of amodern which the Spaniards entered, but by which
antique. It requires all the genius and learn- they finally left the city, and is correctly in-
ing of Scott to execute it so that the connois- dicated by Lorenzana as that of Tlacopan,—
seur shall not detect the counterfeit. or, rather', Tacuba, into which the Spaniards
14 Cwta del Exercito, MS.— Rei. Seg. de corrupted the name. See p. 2G0, note
:or
fu-
he
SHARP COMBATS IN THE CITY. 359
conducting the negotiation. They were accordingly sent with the requisite
instructions to their countrymen. But they did not return. The whole was
an artifice of the enemy, anxious to procure the liberation of their religious
leaders, one of whom was their teoteuctli, or high-priest, whose presence was
indispensable in the probable event of a new coronation.
Cortes, meanwhile, relying on the prospects of a speedy arrangement, was
hastily taking some refreshment with his officers, after the fatigues of the day,
when he received the alarming tidings that the enemy were in arms again,
with more fury than ever; that they had overpowered the detachments
posted under Alvarado at three of the bridges, and were busily occupied in
demolishing them. Stung with shame at the facility with which he had been
duped by his wily foe, or rather by his own sanguine hopes, Cortes threw
himself into the saddle, and, followed by his brave companions, galloped back
at full speed to the scene of action. The Mexicans recoiled before the
impetuous charge of the Spaniards. The bridges were again restored ; and
Cortes and his chivalry rode down the whole extent of the great street, driving
the enemy, like frightened deer, at the point of their lances. But, before he
could return on his steps, he had the mortification to find that the indefati-
gable foe, gathering from the adjoining lanes and streets, had again closed on
his infantry, who, worn down by fatigue, were unable to maintain their
position at one of ihe principal bridges. New swarms of warriors now poured
in on all sides, overwhelming the little band of Christian cavaliers with a
storm of stones, darts, and arrows, which rattled like hail on their armour
and on that of their well-barbed horses. Most of the missiles, indeed glanced
harmless from the good panoplies of steel, or thick quilted cotton, but, now
and then, one better aimed penetrated the joints of the harness and stretched
the rider on the ground.
The confusion became greater around the broken bridge. Some of the
horsemen were thrown into the canal, and their steeds floundered wildly
about without a rider. Cortes himself, at this crisis, did more than any other
to cover the retreat of his followers. While the bridge Avas repairing, he
plunged boldly into the midst of the barbarians, striking down an enemy at
every vault of his charger, cheering on his own men. and spreading terror
through the ranks of his opponents by the well-known sound of his battle-
cry. Never did he display greater hardihood, or more freely expose his
person, emulating, says an old chronicler, the feats of the Roman Codes.18 In
this way he stayed the tide of assailants till the last man had crossed the
bridge, when, some of the planks having given way, he was compelled to
leap a chasm of full six feet in width, amidst a cloud of missiles, before he
could place himself in safety.19 A report ran through the army that the
general was slain. It soon spread through the city, to the great joy of the
18 It is Oviedo who finds a parallel for his ia It was a fair leap, for a knight and horso
hero in the Roman warrior ; the same, to in armour. But the general's own assertion
quote the spirit-stirring legend of Macaulay, to the emperor (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p.
, , . ., , ., „ v„„ii H2) is fullv confirmed hy Oviedo, who tells
who kept the bridge so well m ^ had it*from geveral (vho weve prcgent .
In the brave days of old
" Y segun lo que yo he entendido de algunos
" Mui digno es Cortes que se compare este que presentes se hallaron, demas de la resis-
fecho suyo desta Jornada al de Oracio Codes, tencia de aquellos havia de la vna parte a la
que se toco de suso, porque con su esfuer/.o e otra casi vn estado de saltar con el caballo sin
lanza sola dio tanto lugar, que los caballos le faltar muclias pedradas de diversas partes,
pudieran pasar. 6 liizo desembarazar la puente e manos, e por ir el, e su caballo bien armados
e paso, ii pesar de los Enemigos, aunque con no los hiricron ; pero no dexo de quedarator-
harto trabajo." Hi«t. de las Fnd., MS., lib. 33, mentado de los golpes que le dierom" lli-t .
cap. 13. de las Ind., MS., ubi supra,
360
EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
Mexicans, and reached the fortress, where the besieged were thrown into no"
less consternation. But, happily for them, it was false. He, indeed, received
two severe contusions on the knee, but in other respects remained uninjured.
At no time, however, had he been in such extreme danger ; and his escape,
and that of his companions, were esteemed little less than a miracle. More
than one grave historian refers the preservation of the Spaniards to the
watchful care of their patron Apostle, St. James, who, in these desperate
conflicts, was beheld careering on his milk-white steed at the head of the
Christian squadrons, with his sword flashing lightning, while a lady robed in
white— supposed to be the Virgin— was distinctly seen by his side, throwing
dust in the eyes of the infidel ! The fact is attested both by Spaniards and
Mexicans,— by the latter after their conversion to Christianity. Surely,
never was there a time when the interposition of their tutelar saint was more
strongly demanded.20
The coming of night dispersed the Indian battalions, which, vanishing like
birds of ill omen from the field, left the well -contested pass in possession of
the Spaniards. They returned, however, with none of the joyous feelings of
conquerors to their citadel, but with slow step and dispirited, with weapons
hacked, armour battered, and fainting under the loss of blood, fasting, and
fatigue. In this condition they had yet to learn the tidings of a fresh mis-
fortune in the death of Montezuma.21
The Indian monarch had rapidly declined, since he had received his injury,
sinking, however, quite as much under the anguish of a wounded spirit as
under disease. He continued in the same moody state of insensibility as that
already described ; holding little communication with those around him, deaf
to consolation, obstinately rejecting all medical remedies as well as nourish-
ment. Perceiving his end approach, some of the cavaliers present in the
fortress, whom the kindness of his manners had personally attached to him,
were anxious to save the soul of the dying prince from the sad doom of those
who perish in the darkness of unbelief. They accordingly waited on him, with
Father Olmedo at their head, and in the most earnest manner implored him to
open his eyes to the error of his creed, and consent to be baptized. But
Montezuma— whatever may have been suggested to the contrary— seems never
20 Truly, ** dignus vindice nodus " ! The
intervention of the celestial chivalry on these
occasions is testified in the most unqualified
manner by many respectable authorities. It
is edifying to observe the combat going on
in Oviedo's mind between the dictates of
strong sense and superior learning, and those
of the superstition of the age. It was an
unequal combat, with odds sorely against the
former, in the sixteenth century. I quote
the passage, as characteristic of the times.
" Afirman que se vido el Apostol Santiago a
caballo peleando sobre vn caballo bianco en
favor de los Christianos ; e decian los Indios
que el caballo con los pies y manos e con la
boca mataba muchos dellos, de forma, que en
poco discurso de tiempo no parecio Indio, 6
reposaron los Christianos lo restante de aquel
dia. Ya &6 que los incredulos 6 poco devotos
diran, que mi ocupacion en esto destos mira-
glos, pues no los vi, es superflua, 6 perder
tiempo novelando, y yo hablo, que esto e ma3
se puede creer ; pues que los gentiles e sin fe,
6 Idolatras escriben, que ovo grandes misterios
£ miraglos en sus tienypos, e aquellQS sabemos
que eran causados e fechos por el Diablo, pues
mas facil cosa es d, Dlos e a la inmaculata
Virgen Nuestra Sefiora e al glorioso Apostol
Santiago, e & los santos 6 amigos de Jesu
Christo hacer esos miraglos, que de suso estan
dichos, e otros maiores." Hist, de las Ind.,
MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.
21 "Multi restiterunt lapidibus et iaculi
confossi, fuit et Cortesius grauiter percussu
pauci evaserunt incolumes, et hi adeo lai
guidi, vt neque lacertos erigere quirent. Post-
quam vero se in arcem receperunt, non cor
mode satis conditas dapes, quibus reficerentur
inuenerunt.nec forte asperi maiicii panis bi
cellas, aut aquam potabilem, de vino ar
carnibus sublata erat cura." (Martyr, E
Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 6.) See also, for the
hard fighting described in the last pages
Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 12
— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. HC
142,— Carta del Exercito, MS.,— Gonzalo J
las Casas, Defensa, MS., Parte 1, cap. 26,
Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap.
10,— Gomara, Cionica, cap, 107,
DEATH OF MONTEZUMA.
361
to have faltered in his hereditary faith, or to have contemplated becoming an
apostate ; for surely he merits that name in its most odious application, who,
whether Christian or pagan, renounces his religion without conviction of its
falsehood.22 Indeed, it was a too implicit reliance on its oracles which had led
him to give such easy confidence to the Spaniards. His intercourse with them
had, doubtless, not sharpened his desire to embrace their communion ; and the
calamities of his country he might consider as sent by his gods to punish him
for his hospitality to those who had desecrated and destroyed their shrines.23
When Father Olmedo, therefore, kneeling at his side, with the uplifted
crucifix, affectionately besought him to embrace the sign of man's redemption,
he coldly repulsed the priest, exclaiming, " I have but a few moments to live,
and will not at this hour desert the faith' of my fathers." 24 One thing, how-
ever, seemed to press heavily on Montezuma's mind. This was the fate of his
children, especially of three daughters, whom he had by his two wives ; for
there were certain rites of marriage which distinguished the lawful wife from
the concubine. Calling Cortes to his bedside, he earnestly commended these
children to his care, as " the most precious jewels that he could leave him."
Pie besought the general to interest his master, the emperor, in their behalf,
and to see that they should not be left destitute, but be allowed some portion
of their rightful inheritance. "Your lord will do this," he concluded, "if it
were only for the friendly offices I have rendered the Spaniards, and for the
love I have shown them, — though it has brought me to this condition ! But
for this I bear them no ill will." " Such, according to Cortes himself, were the
*'d The sentiment is expressed with singular
energy in the verses of Voltaire :
" Mais renoncer aux dieux que Ton crott dans
son coeur,
("est le crime d'un lache, et non pas une
erreur ;
C'est trahira la fois, sous un masque hypo-
crite,
Et le dieu qu'on prefere, et le dieu que Ton
quitte:
C'est mentir au Ciel meme, a l'univers, a,
soi."
Alziee, acte 5, sc. 5.
23 Camargo, the Tlascalan convert, says he
was told by several of the Conquerors that
Montezuma was baptized at his own desire
in his last moments, and that Cortes and
Alvarado stood sponsors on the occasion.
" Muchos afirman de los conquistadores que
yo conoci, que estando en el articulo de la
mnerte, pidio agua de batismo e que fue bati-
zado y murio Cristiano, aunque en esto hay
grandes dudas y diferentes paresceres ; mas
como digo que de personas fidedignas con-
quistadores de los primeros desta tierra de
quien fufmos informados, supimos que murio
batizado y Cristiano, e que fueron sus padrinos
del batismo Fernando Cortes y Don Pedro de
Alvarado." (Hist, de Tlascala, MS.) Ac-
cording to Gomara, the Mexican monarch
desired to be baptized before the arrival of
Narvaez. The ceremony was deferred till
Easter, that it might be performed with greater
effect. But in the hurry and bustle of the
subsequent scenes it was forgotten, and he
died without the stain of infidelity having
been washed away from him. (Crouica, cap.
107.) Torquemada, not often a Pyrrhonist
where the honour of the faith is concerned,
rejects these tales as irreconcilable with tho
subsequent silence of Cortes himself, as well
as of Alvarado, who would have been loud to
proclaim an event so long in vain desired by
them. (Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 70.) Tho
criticism of the father is strongly supported
by the fact that neither of the preceding
accounts is corroborated by writers of any
weight, while they are contradicted by several ,
by popular tradition, and, it may be added,
by one another.
M "Respondio, Que por la media bora que
le quedaba de vida, no se queria apartar do
la religion de sus Padres." (Herrera, Hist,
general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 10.) " Ya he
dicho," says Diaz, ''latristeza que todos no-
sotros huvfmos por ello, y aim al Frayle de
la Merced, que siempre estaua con el, y no le
pudo atraer a que se bolviesse Christiano."
Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 127.
25 Aunque no les pesaba dello ; literally,
" although he did not repent of it." But this
would be rather too much for human nature
to assert; and it is probable the language
of the Indian prince underwent some little
change as it was sifted through the interpre-
tation of Marina. The Spanish reader will
find the original conversation, as reported by
Cortes himself, in the remarkable document
in the Appendix, Part 2, No. 12. The general
adds that he faithfully complied with Monte-
zuma's request, receiving his daughters, after
the Conquest, into his own family, where,
agreeably to their royal father's desire, they
K 2
302
EXPULSION FROM MEXICO
words of the dying monarch. Not long after, on the 30th of June, 1520,26 lie
expired in the arms of some of his own nobles, who still remained faithful in
their attendance on his person. " Thus," exclaims a native historian, one of
his enemies, a Tlascalan, " thus died the unfortunate Montezuma, who had
swayed the sceptre with such consummate policy and wisdom, and who was
held in greater reverence and awe than any other prince of his lineage, or any,
indeed, that ever sat on a throne in this Western World. With him may be
said to have terminated the royal line of the Aztecs, and the glory to have
passed away from the empire, which under him had reached the zenith of its
prosperity."27 "The tidings of his death," says the old Castilian chronicler,
Diaz, " were received with real grief by every cavalier and soldier in the army
who had had access to his person ; for we all loved him as a father, — and no
wonder, seeing hoAv good he was." 28 This simple but emphatic testimony to
his desert, at such a time, is in itself the best refutation of the suspicions
occasionally entertained of his fidelity to the Christians.29
It is not easy to depict the portrait of Montezuma in its true colours, since
it has been exhibited to us under two aspects, of the most opposite and con-
tradictory character. In the accounts gathered of him by the Spaniards on
coming into the country, he was uniformly represented as bold and warlike,
unscrupulous as to the means of gratifying his ambition, hollow and perfidious,
the terror of his foes, with a haughty bearing which made him feared even by
his own people. They found him, on the contrary, not merely affable and
gracious, but disposed to waive all the advantages of his own position, and to
were baptized, and instructed in the doctrines
and usages of the Christian faith. They
•were afterwards married to Castilian hidalgos,
and handsome dowries were assigned them
by the government. See note 36 of this
chapter.
s? I adopt Clavigero's chronology, which
cannot be far from truth. (Stor. del Messico,
torn. iii. p. 131.) And yet there are reasons
for supposing he must have died at least a day
sooner.
'" " De suerte que le tiraron una pedrada
con una honda y le dieron en la cabeza, de
que vino a" roorir el desdichado Key, habiendo
gobernado este nuevo Mundo con la mayor
prudencia y gobierno que se puede imaginar,
siendo el mas tenido y reverenciado y ado-
rado Senor que en el mundo ha habido, y en
6u linaje, como es cosa publica y notoria en
toda la maquina deste-Nuevo Mundo, donde
con la muerte de tan gran Senor se acabaron
los Eeyes Culhuaques Mejicanos, y todo su
poder y mando, estando en la mayor felicidad
de su monarqui'a ; y ansi no hay de que flar
en las cosas desta vida sino en solo Dios."
Hist, de Tlascala, MS.
38 " Y Cortes lloro por el, y todos nuestros
Capitanes, y soldados : e hombres huvo entre
nosotros de los que le conociamos, y trata-
uamos, que tan llorado fue\ como si fuera
nuestro padre, y no nos hemos de maravillar
dello, viendo que tan bueno era." Hist, de la
Conquista, cap. 126.
33 "He loved the Christians," says Her-
rera, " as well as could be judged from ap-
pearances." (Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10,
cap. 10.) " They say," remarks the general's
chaplain, "-that Montezuma, though often
urged to it, never consented to the death of a
Spaniard, nor to the injury of Cortes, whom
he loved exceedingly. But there are those
who dispute this." (Gomara, Cionica, cap.
107.) Don Thoan Cano assured Oviedo that
during all the troubles of the Spaniards with
the Mexicans, both in the absence of Cortes
and after his return, the emperor did his best
to supply the camp with provisions. (See
Appendix, Part 2, No. 11.) And, finally,
Cortes himself, in an instrument already re-
ferred to, dated six years after Montezuma's
death, bears emphatic testimony to the good
will he had shown the Spaniards, and pai--
ticularly acquits him of any share in the late
rising, which, 6ays the Conqueror, "I had
trusted to suppress through his assistance."
See Appendix, Part 2, No. 12. — The Spanish
historians, in general, — notwithstanding an
occasional intimation of a doubt as to his
good faith towards their countrymen, — make
honourable mention of the many excellent
qualities of the Indian prince. Solis, how-
ever, the most eminent of all, dismisses the
account of his death with the remark that
" his last hours were spent in breathing ven-
geance and maledictions against his people ;
until he surrendered up to Satan — with whom
he had frequent communication in his life-
time— the eternal possession of his soul ! "
(Conquista de Mexico, lib. 4, cap. 15.) For-
tunately, the historiographer of the Indians
could know as little of Montezuma's fate in
the next world as be appears to have known
of it in this. Was it bigotry, or a desire to
set his own hero's character in a brighter light,
which led him thus unworthily to darken that
of his Indian rival ?
DEATH OF MONTEZUMA. 3G3
place them on a footing with himself ; making their wishes his law ; gentle
even to effeminacy in his deportment, and constant in his friendship while his
whole nation was in arms against them. Yet these traits, so contradictory,
were truly enough drawn. They are to be explained by the extraordinary
circumstances of his position.
When Montezuma ascended the throne, he was scarcely twenty-three years
of age. Young, and ambitious of extending his empire, he was continually
engaged in war, and is said to have been present himself in nine pitched
battles.30 He was greatly renowned for his martial prowess, for he belonged
to the Quachictin, the highest military order of his nation, and one into which
but few even of its sovereigns had been admitted.31 In later life, he preferred
intrigue to violence, as more consonant to his character and priestly education.
In this he was as great an adept as any prince of his time, and, by arts not
very honourable to himself, succeeded in filching away much of the territory of
his royal kinsman of Tezcuco. Severe in the administration of justice, he made
important reforms in the arrangement of the tribunals. He introduced other
innovations in the royal household, creating new offices, introducing a lavish
magnificence and forms of courtly etiquette unknown to his ruder predecessors.
He was, in short, most attentive to all that concerned the exterior and pomp
of royalty.32 Stately and decorous, he was careful of his own dignity, and
might be said to be as great an "actor of majesty" among the barbarian
potentates. of the New World as Louis the Fourteenth was among the polished
princes of Europe.
He was deeply tinctured, moreover, with that spirit of bigotry which threw
such a shade over the latter days of the French monarch. He received the
Spaniards as the beings predicted by his oracles. The anxious dread with
which he had evaded their proffered visit was founded on the same feelings
which led him so blindly to resign himself to them on their approach. He
felt himself rebuked by their superior genius. He at once conceded all that
they demanded, — his treasures, his power, even his person. For their sake,
he forsook his wonted occupations, his pleasures, his most familiar habits.
He might be said to forego his nature, and, as his subjects asserted, to change
his sex and become a Avoman. If we cannot refuse our contempt for the
pusillanimity of the Aztec monarch, it should be mitigated by the consideration
that his pusillanimity sprung from his superstition, and that superstition
in the savage is the substitute for religious principle in the civilized man.
It is not easy to contemplate the fate of Montezuma without feelings of the
strongest compassion ;— to see him thus borne along the tide of events beyond
his power to avert or control ; to see him, like some stately tree, the pride of
his own Indian forests, towering aloft in the pomp and majesty of its branches,
by its very eminence a mark for the thunderbolt, the first victim of the
tempest which was to sweep over its native hills ! When the wise king of
Tezcuco addressed his royal relative at his coronation, he exclaimed, " Happy
the empire which is now in the meridian of its prosperity, for the sceptre is
given to one whom the Almighty has in his keeping ; and the nations shall
hold him in reverence ! " 33 Alas ! the subject of this auspicious invocation
30 " Dicen que 'vencio nucve, Batallas i valeroso. En las Armas, y modo de su go-
otros neuve Campos, en desario vno & vno." vierno, fue muy justiciero'; en las cosas to-
Oomara, Cronica, cap. 107. cantes a" ser estiinado y tenido en su Dignidad
31 One other only of his predecessors, Tizoc, y Majestad Real de condicion muy severo,
is shown by the Aztec paintings to have be- aunque cuerdo y gracioso." Ixtlilxochitl,
longed to this knightly order, according to Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 88.
Chvicrpvo. Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. p 140. 33 The whole address is given by Torquc-
<" "Ea mas cauteloso, y ardidoso, quo mada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 68.
364
EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
lived to see his empire melt away like the winter's wreath ; to see a strange
race drop, as it were, from the clouds on his land ; to find himself a prisoner
in the palace of his fathers, the companion of those who were the enemies of
his gods and his people ; to be insulted, reviled, trodden in the dust, by the
meanest of his subjects, by those who, a few months previous, had trembled at
his glance ; drawing his last breath in the halls of the stranger,— a lonely
outcast in the heart of his own capital ! He was the sad victim of destiny, —
a destiny as dark and irresistible in its march as that which broods over the
mythic legends of antiquity ! 3*
Montezuma, at the time of his death, was about forty-one years old, of
which he reigned eighteen. His person and manners have been already
described. He left a numerous progeny by his various wives, most of whom,
having lost their consideration after the Conquest, fell into obscurity, as they
mingled with the mass of the Indian population.35 Two of them, however, a
son and a daughter, who embraced Christianity, became the founders of noble
houses in Spain.36 The government, willing to show its gratitude for the
large extent of empire derived from their ancestor, conferred on them
ample estates and important hereditary honours ; and the counts of Monte-
zuma and Tula, intermarrying with the best blood of Castile, intimated
by their names and titles their illustrious descent from the royal dynasty of
Mexico.37
34 "Tex^n &' avdyKris aaCbicrrepa nakpui.
T<? ovv uva-y/crj? kvrlv oloKcxnpocpos ;
MoTpai rp//iop0o«, /jLvijiiovet t' 'Eptvvve?,
TovTotv 'dp' Zeus' ecrTiv ao-Oeveo-repos ;
O'vkovv av eK<pvfoi ye rr^v irenpwuevrjv."
JEschyl., Prometh., v. 522-526.
" Seiior de Calderon, the late Spanish
minister at Mexico, informs me that he has
more than once passed by an Indian dwelling
where the Indians in his suite made a reve-
rence, saying it was occupied by a descendant
of Montezuma.
36 This son, baptized by the name of Pedro,
was descended from one of the royal concu-
bines. Montezuma had two lawful wives.
By the first of these, named Tegalco, he had
a son, who perished in the flight from Mexico ;
and a daughter named Tecuichpo, who em-
braced Christianity and received the name of
Isabella. She was married, when very young,
to her cousin Guatemozin, and lived long
enough after his death to give her hand to
four Castilians, all of honourable family.
From two of these, Don Thoan Cano and Don
Juan Andrada, descended the illustrious
families of the Cano and Andrada Monte-
zuma. From the last came the counts of
Miravalle noticed by Humboldt (Essai poli-
tique, torn. ii. p. 73, note). See Alaman,
Disertaciones historicas, torn. ii. p. 325. —
Montezuma, by his second wife, the princess
Aca'tlan, left two daughters, named, after
their conversion, Maria and Leonor. The
former died without issue. Dona Leonor
married a Spanish cavalier, Cristoval de Val-
derrama, from whom descended the family
of the Sotelos de Montezuma. — The royal
genealogy is minutely exhibited in a Memorial
setting forth the claims of Montezuma's
grandsons to certain property in right of their
respective mothers. The document, which is
without date, is among the MSS. of Muiioz.
37 It is interesting to know that a descen-
dant of the Aztec emperor, Don Jose Sarmiento
Valladares, count of Montezuma, ruled as
viceroy, from 1697 to 1701, over the dominions
of his barbaric ancestors. (Humboldt, Essai
politique, torn. ii. p. 93, note.)* Soli's speaks
of this noble house, grandees of Spain, who
intermingled their blood with that of the
Guzmans and the Mendozas. Clavigero has
traced their descent from the emperor's son
Iohualicahua, or Don Pedro Montezuma (as
he was called after his baptism), down to the
close of the eighteenth century. (See Soli's,
Conquista, lib. 4, cap. 15. — Clavigero, Stor.
del Messico, torn. i. p. 302; torn. iii. p. 132.)
The title of count was bestowed on the head
of the family by Philip the Second, in 1556.
In 1765, under Charles the Third, the count
of Montezuma was made a grandee of Spain,
and he was in receipt of a yearly pension of
40,000 pesos. (Alaman, Disertaciones his-
toricas, torn. i. p. 159.) The last of the line,
of whom I have been able to obtain any in-
telligence, died not long since in this country.
[* Senor Alaman, in a note on this pas-
sage, says it was not the viceroy, but his
wife, Dona Maria Geronima Montezuma, who
Was a descendant of the Aztec emperor. She
was third countess of Montezuma in her
own right, her husband's title being duke of
Atlixco.— Ed.J
COUNCIL OF WAR. 305
Montezuma's death was a misfortune to the Spaniards. While he lived,
they; had a precious pledge in their hands, which, in extremity, they might
possibly have turned to account. Now the last link was snapped which con-
nected them with the natives of the country. But, independently of interested
feelings, Cortes and his officers were much affected by his death, from personal
considerations, and, when they gazed on the cold remains of the ill-starred
monarch, they may have felt a natural compunction, as they contrasted his
late flourishing condition with that to which his friendship for them had
reduced him.
The Spanish commander showed all respect for his memory. His body,
arrayed in its royal robes, was laid decently on a bier, and borne on the
shoulders of his nobles to his subjects in the city. What honours, if any,
indeed, were paid to his remains, is uncertain. A sound of wailing, distinctly
heard in the western quarters of the capital, was interpreted by the Spaniards
into the moans of a funeral procession, as it bore the body to be laid among
those of his ancestors, under the princely shades of Chapoltepec.38 Others
state that it was removed to a burial-place in the city named Copalco, and
there burned with the usual solemnities and signs of lamentation by his chiefs,
but not without some unworthy insults from the Mexican populace.39 What-
ever be the fact, the people, occupied with the stirring scenes in which they
were engaged, were probably not long mindful of the monarch who had taken
no share in their late patriotic movements. Nor is it strange that the very
memory of his sepulchre should be effaced in the terrible catastrophe which
afterwards overwhelmed the capital and swept away every landmark from its
surface.
CHAPTER III.
MELANCHOLY NIGHT — TERRIBLE SLAUGHTER— HALT FOR THE NIGHT-
AMOUNT OF LOSSES.
1520.
There was no longer any question as to the expediency of evacuating the
capital. The only doubt was as to the time of doing so, and the route. The
Spanish commander called a council of officers to deliberate on these matters.
It was his purpose to retreat on Tlascala, and in that capital to decide,
according to circumstances, on his future operations. After some discussion,
they agreed on the causeway of Tlacopan as the avenue by which to leave the
city. It would, indeed, take them back by a circuitous route, considerably
longer than either of those by which they had- approached the capital. But.
for that reason, it would be less likely to be guarded, as least suspected ; and
He was very wealthy, having large estates in showed no respect for the royal blood of the
Spain, — but was not, as it appears, very wise. Aztecs. The unfortunate nobleman retired
When seventy years old or more, he passed to New Orleans, where he soon after put an
over to Mexico, in the vain hope that the end to his existence by blowing out his
nation, in deference to his descent, might brains,— not for ambition, however, if report
place him on the throne of his Indian an- be true, but disappointed love !
cestors, so recently occupied by the presump- 38 Gomara, Cronica, cap. 107. — Herrera,
tuous Iturbide. But the modern Mexicans, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 10.
with all their detestation of the old Spaniards m Torquemada, Monarch. Ind-, lib. 4, cap. 7.
m EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
the causeway itself, being shorter than either of the other entrances, would
sooner place the army in comparative security on the main land.
There was some difference of opinion in respect to the hour of departure.
The daytime, it was argued by some, would be preferable, since it would
enable them to see the nature and extent of their danger and to provide
against it. Darkness Avould be much more likely to embarrass their own
movements than those of the enemy, who were familiar with the ground. A
thousand impediments would occur in the night, which might prevent their
acting in concert, or obeying, or even ascertaining, the orders of the com-
mander. But, on the other hand, it was urged that the night presented
many obvious advantages in dealing with a foe who rarely carried his hostili-
ties beyond the day. The late active operations of the Spaniards had thrown
the Mexicans off their guard, and it was improbable they would anticipate so
speedy a departure of their enemies. With celerity and caution they might
succeed, therefore, in making their escape from the town, possibly over the
causeway, before their retreat should be discovered ; and, could they once get
beyond that pass of peril, they felt little apprehension for the rest.
These views were fortified, it is said, by the counsels of a soldier named
Botello, who professed the mysterious science of judicial astrology. He had
gained credit with the army by some predictions which had been verified by
the events ; those lucky hits which make chance pass for calculation with the
credulous multitude.1 This man recommended to his countrymen by all
means to evacuate the place in the night, as the hour most propitious to them,
although he should perish in it. The event proved the astrologer better
acquainted with his own horoscope than with that of others.2
It is possible Botello's predictions had some weight in determining the
opinion of Cortes. Superstition was the feature of the age, and the Spanish
general, as we have seen, had a full measure of its bigotry. Seasons of gloom,
moreover, dispose the mind to a ready acquiescence in the marvellous. It is,
however, quite as probable that he made use of the astrologer's opinion, find-
ing it coincided with his own, to influence that of his men and inspire them
with higher confidence. At all events, it was decided to abandon the city that
very night.
The general's first care was to provide for the safe transportation of the
treasure. Many of the common soldiers had converted their share of the
prize, as we have seen, into gold chains, collars, or other ornaments, which they
easily carried about their persons. But the royal fifth, together with that of
Cortes himself, and much of the rich booty of the principal cavaliers, had been
converted into bars and wedges of solid gold, and deposited in one of the strong
apartments of the palace. Cortes delivered the share belonging to the crown
to the royal officers, assigning them one of the strongest horses, and a guard
of Castilian soldiers, to transport it.3 Still, much of the treasure, belonging
1 Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib, 33, cap. stated with some discrepancy, though all agree
47. — The astrologer predicted that Cortes as to its ultimate fate. The general himself
would be reduced to the greatest extremity of did not escape the imputation of negligence,
distress, and afterwards come to great honour and even peculation, most unfounded, from
and fortune. (Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con- his enemies. The account in the text is sub-
quista, cap. 128.) He showed himself as stantiated by the evidence, under oath, of the
cunning in his art as the West Indian sibyl most respectable names in the expedition, as
who foretold the destiny of the unfortunate given in the instrument already more than
Josephine. once referred to. " Hizo sacar el oro e
2 "Pues al astrologo Botello, no le aproue- joyas de sus Altezas e le dio 6" entrego ;t los
cho su astrologfa, que tambien alii murio." otros oficiales Alcaldes e Regidores, e lea
Bernal Diaz, ubi supra. dixo a la rason que asi se lo entrego, que todos
The disposition of the treasure has been viesen el mejor modo e manera que
K I.OUUB
habia
THE SPANIARDS EVACUATE THE CITY. 367
both to the crown and to individuals, was necessarily abandoned, from the
want of adequate means of conveyance. The metal lay scattered in shining
heaps along the floor, exciting the cupidity of the soldiers. " Take what you
will of it," said Cortes to his men. " Better you should have it, than these
Mexican hounds.4 But be careful not to overload yourselves. He travels safest
in the dark night who travels lightest." His own more wary followers took
heed to his counsel, helping themselves to a few articles of least bulk, though,
it might be, of greatest value.5 But the troops of Narvaez, pining for riches
of which they had heard so much and hitherto seen so little, showed no such
discretion. To them it seemed as if the very mines of Mexico were turned
up before them, and, rushing on the treacherous spoil, they greedily loaded
themselves with as much of it, not merely as they could accommodate about
their persons, but as they could stow away in wallets, boxes, or any other
means of conveyance at their disposal.6
Corte's next arranged the order of march. The van, composed of two
hundred Spanish foot, he placed under the command of the valiant Gonzalo
de Sandoval, supported by Diego de Ordaz, Francisco de Lujo, and about
twenty other cavaliers. "The rear-guard, constituting the strength of the
infantry, was intrusted to Pedro de Alvarado and Velasquez de LTeon. The
general himself took charge of the " battle," or centre, in which went the bag-
gage, some of the heavy guns, most of which, however, remained in the rear,
the treasure, and the prisoners. These consisted of a son and two daughters
of Montezuma, Cacama, the deposed lord of Tezcuco, and several other nobles,
whom Corte's retained as important pledges in his future negotiations with the
enemy. The Tlascalans were distributed pretty ecpually among the three
divisions ; and Cortes had under his immediate command a hundred picked
soldiers, his own veterans most attached to his service, who, with Cristoval
de Olid, Francisco de Morla, Alonso de Avila, and two or three other cavaliers,
formed a select corps, to act wherever occasion might require.
The general had already superintended the construction of a portable bridge
to be laid over the open canals in the causeway. ,This was given in charge to
an officer named Magarino, with forty soldiers under his orders, all pledged to
defend the passage t;o the last extremity. The bridge was to be taken up
when the entire army had crossed one of the breaches, and transported to the
next. There were three of these openings in the causeway, and most fortu-
nate would it have been for the expedition if the foresight of the commander
had provided the same number of bridges. But the labour would have been
great, and time was short.7
At midnight the troops were under arms, in readiness for the march. Mass
was performed by Father Olmedo, who invoked the protection of the Almighty
through the awful perils of the night. The gates were thrown open, and on
para lo poder salvar, que el alii estaba para himself with four chalchivitl,— the green
por su parte hacer lo que fuese posible e stone so much prized by the natives,— which
poner su persona u qualquier trance e riesgo he cunningly picked out of the royal coffers
que .sobre lo salvar le viniese. ... El qual before Cortes' majordomo had time to secure
les dip para ello una muy buena yegua, e them. The prize proved of great service, by
quatro 6 cinco Espafioles demucha contianza, supplying him the means of obtaining food
4 quien se encargo la dha yegua cargado con and medicine when in great extremity, after-
el otro oro." Probanza a, pedimento de Juan wards, from the people of the country. Ibid.,
de Lexalde. loc. cit.
4 " Desde aquf selo doi,como seha de que- 6 Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., ubi supra.
dar aqui perdido entre estos perros." Bernal 7 Gomara, Crouica, cap. 109.— Rel. Seg. de
Diaz, Hist. delaConquista, cap. 128. — Oviedo, Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 143.— Oviedo, Hist.
Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47. de las Ind., MS , lib. 33, cap. 13, 47.
* Captain Diaz tells us that he contented
96S EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
the first of July, 1520, the Spaniards for the last time sallied forth from the
walls of the ancient fortress, the scene of so much suffering and such indomi-
table courage.8
The night was cloudy, and a drizzling rain, which fell without intermission,
added to the obscurity.' The great square before the palace was deserted, as,
indeed, it had been since the fall of Montezuma. Steadily, and as noiselessly
as possible, the Spaniards held their way along the great street of Tlacopan,
which so lately had resounded with the tumult of battle. All was now hushed
in silence ; and they were only reminded of the past by the occasional presence
of some solitary corpse, or a dark heap of the slain, which too plainly told
where the strife had been hottest. As they passed along the lanes and alleys
which opened into the great street, or looked down the canals, whose polished
surface gleamed with a sort of ebon lustre through the obscurity of nignt, they
easily fancied that they discerned the shadowy forms of their foe lurking in
ambush and ready to spring on them. But it was only fancy ; and the city
•slept undisturbed even by the prolonged echoes of the tramp of the horses
and the hoarse rumbling of the artillery and baggage-trains. At length, a
lighter space beyond the dusky line of buildings snowed the van of the army
that it was emerging on the open causeway. They might well have congratu-
lated themselves on having thus escaped the dangers of an assault in the city
itself, and that a brief time would place them in comparative safety on the
opposite shore. But the Mexicans were not all asleep.
As the Spaniards drew near the spot where the street opened on the cause-
way, and were preparing to lay the portable bridge across the uncovered
breach, which now met their eyes, several Indian sentinels, who had been
stationed at this, as at the other approaches to the city, took the alarm, and
fled, rousing their countrymen by their cries. The priests, keeping their
night-watch on the summit of the teocallis, instantly caught the tidings and
sounded their shells, while the huge drum in the desolate temple of the war-
god sent forth those solemn tones, which, heard only in seasons of calamity,
vibrated through every corner of the capital. The Spaniards saw that no
time was to be lost. The bridge was brought forward and fitted with all
possible expedition. Sandoval was the first to try; its strength, and, riding
across, was followed by his little body of chivalry, his infantry, and Tlascalan
allies, Avho formed the first division of the army. Then came Corte's and his
squadrons, with the baggage, ammunition-waggons, and a part of the artillery.
But before they had time to defile across the narrow passage, a gathering
sound was heard, like that of a mighty forest agitated by the winds. It grew
louder and louder, while on the dark waters of the lake was heard a plashing
noise, as of many oars. Then came a few stones and arrows striking at random
among the hurrying troops. They fell every moment faster and more furious,
till they thickened into a terrible tempest, while the very heavens were rent
with the yells and war-cries of myriads of combatants, who seemed all at once
to be swarming over land and lake !
The Spaniards pushed steadily on through this arrowy sleet, though the
• There is some difficulty in adjusting the as Clavigero misquotes him (Stor. del Messico,
precise date of their departure, as, indeed, of torn. iii. pp. 135, 136, nota) ; and from the
most events in the Conquest ; attention to general's accurate account of their progress
chronology being deemed somewhat super- each day, it appears that they left the capital
fluous by the old chroniclers. Ixtlilxochitl, on the last night of June, or rather the morn-
Gomara, and others fix the date at July 10th. ing of July 1st. It was the night, he also
But this is wholly contrary to the letter of adds, following the affair of the bridges in the
Cortes, which states that the army reached city. Comp. Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, pp.
Tlascala on the eighth of July, not the tenth, 1 42-149.
THE MELANCHOLY NIGHT. 369
barbarian^ clashing their canoes against the sides of the causeway, clambered
up and broke in upon their ranks. But the Christians, anxious only to make
their escape, declined all combat except for self-preservation. The cavaliers,
spurring forward their steeds, shook off their assailants and rode over their
prostrate bodies, while the men on foot with their good swords or the butts of
their pieces drove them headlong again down the sides of the dike.
But the advance of several thousand men, marching, probably, on a front
of not more than fifteen or twenty abreast, necessarily required much time,
and the leading files had already reached the second breach in the causeway
before those in the rear had entirely traversed the first.9 Here they haltea,
as they had no means of effecting a passage, smarting all the while under
unintermitting volleys from the enemy, who were clustered thick on the
waters around this second opening. Sorely distressed, the van-guard sent
repeated messages to the rear to demand the portable bridge. At length the
last of the army had crossed, and Magarino and his sturdy followers en-
deavoured to raise the ponderous framework. But it stuck fast in the sides
of the dike. In vain they strained every nerve. The weight of so many men
and horses, and above all of the heavy artillery, had wedged the timbers so
firmly in the stones and earth that it was beyond their power to dislodge
them. Still they laboured amidst a torrent of missiles, until, many of them
slain, and all wounded, they were obliged to abandon the attempt.
The tidings soon spread from man to man, and no sooner was their dread-
ful import comprehended than a cry of despair arose, which for a moment
drowned all the noise of conflict. All means of retreat were cut off. Scarcely
hope was left. The only hope was in such desperate exertions as each could
make for himself. Order and subordination were at an end. Intense danger
produced intense selfishness. Each thought only of his own life. Pressing
forward, he trampled down the weak and the wounded, heedless whether it
were friend or foe. The leading files, urged on by the rear, were crowded on
the brink of the gulf. Sandoval, Ordaz, and the other cavaliers dashed into
the water. Some succeeded in swimming their horses across. Others failed,
and some, who reached the opposite bank, being overturned in the ascent,
rolled headlong with their steeds into the lake. The infantry followed pell-
mell, heaped promiscuously on one another, frequently pierced by the shafts
or struck down by the war-clubs of the Aztecs ; while many an unfortunate
victim was dragged half stunned on board their canoes, to be reserved for a
protracted but more dreadful death.10
The carnage raged fearfully along the length of the causeway. Its
shadowy bulk presented a mark of sufficient distinctness for the enemy's
missiles, which often prostrated their own countrymen in the blind fury of
the tempest. Those nearest the dike, running their canoes alongside, with a
force that shattered them to pieces, leaped on the land, and grappled with the
Christians, until both came rolling down the side of the causeway together.
But the Aztec fell among his friends, while his antagonist was borne away in
triumph to the sacrifice. The struggle was long and deadly. The Mexicans
were recognized by their white cotton tunics, which showed faint through the
9 [This second breach, says Ramirez, " the ,0 Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p.
scene of the rout and slaughter of the Span- 143.— Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. — Ber-
iards, was in front of San Hipolito, where a nal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 128. —
chapel was built, to commemorate the event, Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13,
and dedicated to the Martyrs,— though as- 47 — Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS.,
suredly none of those who had fallen there lib. 12, cap. 24.— Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec.
had any claim to the crown of martyrdom." 5, cap. 6.— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib.
Netas y Esclarecimientos, p. 104.] 10, cap. 4.— Probanza en la Villa Segura, MS.
370 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
darkness. Above the combatants rose a wild and discordant clamour, in
which horrid shouts of vengeance were mingled with groans of agony, with in-
vocations of the saints and the blessed Virgin, and with the screams of women ; ll
for there were several women, both natives and Spaniards, who had accom-
panied the Christian camp. Among these, one named Maria de Estrada is
particularly noticed for the courage she displayed, battling with broadsword
and target like the stanchest of the warriors.12
The opening in the causeway, meanwhile, was filled up with the wreck of
matter which had been forced into it, ammunition-wagons, heavy guns, bales of
rich stuffs scattered over the waters, chests of solid ingots, and bodies of men
and horses, till over this dismal ruin a passage was gradually formed, by
which those in the rear were enabled to clamber to the other side.13 Cortes,
it is said, found a place that was fordable, where, halting, with the water up
to his saddle-girths, he endeavoured to check the confusion, and lead his
followers by a safer path to the opposite bank. But his voice was lost in the
wild uproar, and finally, hurrying on with the tide, he pressed forwards with a
few trusty cavaliers, who remained near his person, to the van ; but not
before he had seen his favourite page, Juan de Salazar, struck down, a corpse,
by his side. Here he found Sandoval and his companions, halting before the
third and last breach, endeavouring to cheer on their followers to surmount
it. But their resolution faltered. It was wide and deep ; though the passage
was not so closely beset by the enemy as the preceding ones. The cavaliers
again set the example by plunging into the water. Horse and foot followed
as they could, some swimming, others with dying grasp clinging to the manes
and tails of the struggling animals. Those fared best, as the general had
predicted, who travelled lightest ; and many were the unfortunate wretches
who, weighed down by the fatal gold which they loved so well, were buried
with it in the salt floods of the lake.14 Cortes, with his gallant comrades,
Olid, Morla, Sandoval, and some few others, still kept in the advance, leading
his broken remnant off the fatal causeway. The din of battle lessened in the
distance; when the rumour reached them that the rear-guard would be
wholly overwhelmed without speedy relief. It seemed almost an act of des-
peration ; but the generous hearts of the Spanish cavaliers did not stop to
calculate danger when the cry for succour reached them. Turning their
horses' bridles^ they galloped back to the theatre of action, worked their way
through the press, swam the canal, and placed themselves in the thick of
the melee on the opposite bank.15
11 "Pues la grita, y lloros, y lastimas q el camino, comenzaron a caer en aquel foso, y
dezia demadando socorro : Ayudadme, q me cayeron juntos, que de Espafioles, que de In-
ahogo, otros : Socorredme, q me mata, otros dios y de caballos, y de cargas, el foso se hin-
demadando ayuda a N. Senora Santa Maria, cho hasta arriba, cayendo los unos sobre lo8
y a Sefior Santiago." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la otros, y los otros sobre los otros, de manera
Conquista, cap. 128. que todos los del bagage quedaron alii ahoga-
12 "In this combat Maria de Estrada, obli- dos, y los de la retaguardia pasaron sobre los
vious of her sex, showed herself most valor- muertos." Sahagun, Hist, de JSueva-Espafia,
ous, and armed with sword and shield did MS., lib. 12, cap. 24.
marvellous deeds, rushing into the midst of 14 " E los que habian ido con Narvaez arro-
the enemy with a courage and spirit equal to jaronse en la sala, e cargaronse de aquel oro
that of the bravest of men. . . . This lady e plata quanto pudieron ; pero los menos lo
became the wife of Pedro Sanchez Farfan, and gozdron, porque la carga no los dexaba pelear,
the village of Tetela was granted to them en e los Indios los tomaban vivos cargados ; e a
encomienda." Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., otros llevaban arrastrando, e a otros mataban
: lib. 4, cap. 12. alii ; £ asf no se salvaron sino los desocupados
1 ls Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. — Bernal e ,que iban en la delantera." Oviedo, Hist.
!Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 128. — "Por de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.
la gran priesa que daban deambas partes de ,s Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10,
TERRIBLE SLAUGHTER,
The first gray of the morning was now coming over the waters. It showed
the hideous confusion of the scene which had been shrouded in the obscurity
of night. The dark masses of combatants, stretching along the dike, were
seen struggling for mastery, until the very causeway on which they stood
appeared to tremble, and reel to and fro, as if shaken by an earthquake ;
while the bosom of the lake, as far as the eye could reach, was darkened by
canoes crowded with warriors, whose spears and bludgeons, armed with blades
of " volcanic glass," gleamed in the morning light.
The cavaliers found Alvarado unhorsed, and defending himself with a poor
handful of followers against an overwhelming tide of the enemy. His good
steed, which had borne him through many a hard fight, had fallen under him.16
He was himself wounded in several places, and was striving in vain to rally
his scattered column, which was driven to the verge of the canal by the fury
of the enemy, then in possession of the whole rear of the causeway, where
they were reinforced every hour by fresh combatants from the city. , The
artillery in the earlier part of the engagement had not been idle, and its iron
shower, sweeping along the dike, had mowed down the assailants by hundreds.
But nothing could resist their impetuosity. The front ranks, pushed on by
those behind, were at length forced up to the pieces, and, pouring over them
like a torrent, overthrew men and guns in one general ruin. The resolute
charge of the Spanish cavaliers, who had now arrived, created a temporary
Check, and gave time for their countrymen to make a feeble rally. But they
were speedily borne down by the returning flood. Cortes and his companions
were compelled to plunge again into the lake, — though all did not escape.
Alvarado stood on the brink for a moment, hesitating what to do. Unhorsed
as he was, to throw himself into the water, in the face of the hostile canoes
that now swarmed around the opening, afforded but a desperate chance of
safety. He had but a second for thought. He was a man of powerful frame,
and despair gave him unnatural energy. Setting his long lance firmly on the
wreck which strewed the bottom of the lake, he sprung forward with all his
might, and cleared the wide gap at a leap ! Aztecs and Tlascalans gazed in
stupid amazement, exclaiming, as they beheld the incredible feat, " This is
truly the Tonatiuh,— the child of the Sun ! " l7 The breadth of the opening-
is not given. But it was so great that the valorous captain Diaz, who well
remembered the place, says the leap was impossible to any man.18 Other
contemporaries, however, do not discredit the story.19 It was, beyond doubt,
cap. 11.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. the most valorous captains of the Tlascalan
33, cap. 13.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con- nation, present at the Conquest. It may be
quista, cap. 128. that the famous leap was among these
16 " Luego encontraron con Pedro de Alva- "merits" of which the historian speaks,
rado hien herido con vna lanca en la mano a M. de Humboldt, citing Camargo, so con-
pie, que la yegua alacana ya se la auian siders it. (Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 75.)
muerto." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, This would do more than anything else to
cap. 128. establish the fact. But Camargo's language
'T " Y los amigos vista tan gran hazafia does not seem to me necessarily to warrant
quedaron maravillados, y al instante que esto the inference.
vieron se arrojaron por el suelo postrados por 19 "Se llama aora la puente del salto de
tierra en senal de hecho tan heroico, espan- Alvarado: y platicauamos muchos soldados
table y raro, que ellos no habian visto hacer sobre ello, y no hallavamos razon, ni soltura
ii ningun hombre, y ansf adoraron al Sol, de vn hombre que tal saltasse." Hist, de la
comiendo punados de tierra, arrancando yer- Conquista, cap. 128.
vas del campo, diciendo a grandes voces, ver- 13 Gomara, Cronica, cap. 109.— Camargo,
daderamente que este hombre eshijodelSol." Hist, de Tlascala, ubi supra.— Oviedo, Hist.
(Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.) This de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.— Which last
writer consulted the process instituted by author, however, frankly says that many who
Alvarado's Jieirs, in which they set forth had seen the place declared that it seemed to
the merits of their ancestor, as attested by them impossible. " Fue tan estremado de
372 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
matter of popular belief at the time ; it is to this day familiarly known to
every inhabitant of the capital ; and the name of the Salto de Alvarado,
" Alvarado's Leap," given to the spot, still commemorates an exploit which
rivalled those of the demi-gods of Grecian fable.20
Cortes and his companions now rode forward to the front, where the troops,
in a loose, disorderly manner, were marching off the fatal causeway. A few
only of the enemy hung on their rear, or annoyed them by occasional flights
of arrows from the lake. The attention of the Aztecs was diverted by the
rich spoil that strewed the battle-ground ; fortunately for the Spaniards, who,
had their enemy pursued with the same ferocity with which he had fought,
would, in their crippled condition, have been cut off, probably, to a man.
But little molested, therefore, they were allowed to defile through the adjacent
village or suburbs, it might be called, of Popotla.21
The Spanish commander there dismounted from his jaded steed, and, sitting
down on the steps of an Indian temple, gazed mournfully on the broken files
as they passed before him. What a spectacle did they present ! The cavalry,
most of them dismounted, were mingled with the infantry, who dragged their
feeble limbs along with difficulty ; their shattered mail and tattered garments
dripping with the salt ooze, showing through their rents many a bruise and
ghastly wound ; their bright arms soiled, their proud crests and banners gone,
the baggage, artillery, all, in short, that constitutes the pride and panoply of
glorious war, for ever lost. Cortes, as he looked wistfully on their thin and
disordered ranks, sought in vain for many a familiar face, and missed more
than one dear companion who had stood side by side with him through all the
perils of the Conquest. Though accustomed to control his emotions, or, at
least, to conceal them, the sight was too much for him. He covered his face
grande el salto, que a" muchos hombres que deserting his men, they deserted him, and
han visto aquello, he oido decir que parece that he did not fly till he was wounded and
cosa imposihle haberlo podido saltar ninguno his horse killed under him, when he escaped
hombre humano. En fin el lo salto e gano across the breach, was taken up behind a
por ello la vida, e perdieronla muchos que mounted cavalier on the other side, and
atras quedaban." carried out of the fray. That he should not
29 The spot is pointed out to every traveller. have alluded to the account given of the
It is where a ditch, of no great width, is maimer of his escape, so much less glorious
traversed by a small bridge not far from the than that usually claimed for him, may lead
western extremity of the Alameda. A house, us to infer that it was too true to be disputed,
lately erected there, may somewhat interfere Such is the judgment of Senor Ramirez, who,
with the meditations of the antiquary. (Ala- in his account of the affair, tells us that, far
man, Disertaciones historicas, torn. i. p. 202.) from being an object of admiration, Alvarado's
As the place received its name in Alvarado's escape was, in his own time, deemed rather
time, the story could scarcely have been dis- worthy of punishment, as an act of desertion
countenanced by him. But, since the length which cost the lives of many brave followers
of the leap, strange to say, is nowhere given, whom he left behind him. (See the Proceso
the reader can have no means of passing his de Alvarado, pp. 53, 68, with the caustic
own judgment on its probability. ["Unfor- remarks of Ramirez, pp. xiv., 288, et 6eq.)
tunately for the lovers of the marvellous, It is natural that a descendant of the con-
another version is now given of the account qucred race should hold in peculiar detesta-
of Alvarado's escape, which deprives him of tion the most cruel persecutor of the Aztecs.]
the glory claimed for him by this astounding 2l " Fue" Dios servido de que los Mejicanos
feat. In the process against him, which was se ocupasen en recojer los despojos de los
not brought to light till several years after muertos, y las riquezas de oro y piedras que
the present work was published, one of the llevaba el bagage, y de sacar los muertos de
charges was that he fled from the field, leav- aquel acequia, y a los caballos y otros bes-
ing his soldiers to their fate, and escaping by tias. Y por esto no siguieron el alcanze, y
means of a beam which had survived the los Espanoles pudierou ir poco a poco por su
demolition of the bridge and still stretched camino sin tener mucha molestia do en^-
across the chasm from one side to the other. migos." Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia,
The chief, in his reply, said that, far from MS., lib. 12, cap. 25.
HALT FOR THE NIGHT. 373
with his hands, and the tears, which trickled down, revealed too plainly the
anguish of his soul.22
He found some consolation, however, in the sight of several of the cavaliers
on whom he most relied. Alvarado, Sandoval, Olid, Ordaz, Avila, were yet
safe. He had the inexpressible satisfaction, also, of learning the safety of the
Indian interpreter, Marina, so dear to him, and so important to the army.
She had been committed, with a daughter of a Tlascalan chief, to several of
that nation. She was fortunately placed in the van, and her faithful escort
had carried her securely through all the dangers of the night. Aguilar, the
other interpreter, had also escaped. And it was with no less satisfaction that
Cortes learned the safety of the ship-builder, Martin Lopez.23 The general's
solicitude for the fate of this man, so indispensable, as he proved, to the suc-
cess of his subsequent operations, showed that, amidst all his affliction, his
indomitable spirit was looking forward to the hour of vengeance.
Meanwhile, the advancing column had reached the neighbouring city of
Tlacopan (Tacuba), once the capital of an independent principality. There it
halted in the great street, as if bewildered and altogether uncertain what
course to take ; like a herd of panic- struck deer, who, flying from the
hunters, with the cry of hound and horn still ringing in their ears, look wildly
around for some glen or copse in which to plunge for concealment. Cortes,
who had hastily mounted and rode on to the front again, saw the danger of
remaining in a populous place, where the inhabitants might sorely annoy the
troops from the azoleas, with little risk to themselves. Pushing forward,
therefore, he soon led them into the country. There he endeavoured to reform
his disorganized battalions and bring them to something like order.24
Hard by, at no great distance on the left, rose an eminence, looking towards
a chain of mountains which fences in the Valley on the west. It was called
the Hill of Otoncalpolco, and sometimes the Hill of Montezuma.25 It was
crowned with an Indian teocalli, with its large outworks of stone covering an
ample space, and by its strong position, which commanded the neighbouring
plain, promised a good place of refuge for the exhausted troops. But the
men, disheartened and stupefied by their late reverses, seemed for the moment
incapable of further exertion ; and the place was held by a body of armed
Indians. Cortes saw the necessity of dislodging them if he would save the
remains of his army from entire destruction. The event showed he still held
a control over their wills stronger than circumstances themselves. Cheering
them on, and supported by his gallant cavaliers, he succeeded in infusing into
the most sluggish something of his own intrepid temper, and led them up the
ascent in face of the enemy. But the latter made slight resistance, and, after
a few feeble volleys of missiles which did little injury, left the ground to the
assailants.
It was covered by a building of considerable size, and furnished ample
accommodations for the diminished numbers of the Spaniards. They found
22 Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, hazard the opinion, but it might appear by
cap. 47.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. the coincidence, that this was the veiy posi-
89.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 109. tion chosen by Cortes for his intrenchinent,
23 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, after the retreat just mentioned, and before
cap. 12. he commenced his painful route towards
24 "Tacuba," says that interesting traveller, Otumba." (Rambler In Mexico, Letter 5.)
Latrobe, "lies near the foot of the hills, and It is evident, from our text, that Cortes could
is at the present day chiefly noted for the have thrown up no intrenchment here, at
large and noble church which was erected least on his retreat from the capital,
there by Cortes. And hard by you trace the 25 Lorenzana, Viage, p. siii.
lines of a Spanish encampment. I do not
374 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
there some provisions ; and more, it is said, were brought to them, in the
course of the day, from some friendly Otomi villages in the neighbourhood.
There was, also, a quantity of fuel in the courts, destined to the uses of the
temple. With this they made fires to dry their drenched garments, and busily
employed themselves in dressing one another's wounds, stiff and extremely
painful from exposure and long exertion. Thus refreshed, the weary soldiers
threw themselves down on the floor and courts of the temple, and soon found
the temporary oblivion which Nature seldom denies even in the greatest
extremity of suffering.28
There was one eye in that assembly, however, which we may well believe
did not so speedily close. For what agitating thoughts must have crowded on
the mind of their commander, as he beheld his poor remnant of followers thus
huddled together in this miserable bivouac ! And this was all that survived
of the brilliant array with which but a few weeks since he had entered the
capital of Mexico ! Where now were his dreams of conquest and empire ?
And what was he but a luckless adventurer, at whom the finger of scorn
would be uplifted as a madman ? Whichever way he turned, the horizon was
almost equally gloomy, with scarcely one light spot to cheer him. He had
still a weary journey before him, through perilous and unknown paths, with
fuides of whose fidelity he could not be assured. And how could he rely on
is reception at Tlascala, the place of his destination, — the land of his ancient
enemies, where, formerly as a foe, and now as a friend, he had brought deso-
lation to every family within its borders 1
Yet these agitating and gloomy reflections, which might have crushed a
common mind, had no power over that of Cortes ; or, rather, they only served
to renew his energies and quicken his perceptions, as the war of the elements
purifies and gives elasticity to the atmosphere. He looked with an unblench-
ing eye on his past reverses ; but, confident in his own resources, he saw a
light through the gloom which others could not. Even in the shattered relics
Avnich lay around him, resembling in their haggard aspect and wild attire a
horde of famished outlaws, he discerned the materials out of which to recon-
struct his ruined fortunes. In the very hour of discomfiture and general
despondency, there is.no doubt that his heroic spirit was meditating the plan
of operations which he afterwards pursued with such dauntless constancy.
The loss sustained by the Spaniards on this fatal night, like every other
event in the history of the Conquest, is reported with the greatest discrepancy.
If we believe Cortes' own letter, it did not exceed one hundred and fifty
Spaniards and two thousand Indians. But the general's bulletins, while they
do full justice to the difficulties to be overcome and the importance of the
results, are less scrupulous in stating the extent either of his means or of his
losses. Thoan Cano, one of the cavaliers present, estimates the slain at eleven
hundred and seventy Spaniards and eight thousand allies. But this is a greater
number than we have allowed for the whole army. Perhaps we may come
nearest the truth by taking the computation of Gomara,who was the chaplain
of Cortes, and who had free access, doubtless, not only to the general's papers,
but to other authentic sources of information. According to him, the number
of Christians killed and missing Avas four hundred and fifty, and that of the
natives four thousand. This, with the loss sustained in the conflicts of the
previous week, may have reduced the former to something more than a third,
and the latter to a fourth, or perhaps fifth, of the original force with which
Sfi Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., Tlascala, MS.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich.,
lib. 12, cap. 24.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la MS., cap. 89.
Conquista, cap. 128. — Camargo, Hist, de
AMOUNT OP LOSSES. 375
they entered the capital.27 The brunt of the action fell on the rear-guard,
few of whom escaped. It was formed chiefly of the soldiers of Narvaez, who
fell the victims, in some measure, of their cupidity.28 Forty-six of the cavalry
were cut off, which with previous losses reduced the number in this branch of
the service to twenty-three, and some of these in very poor condition. The
greater part of the treasure, the baggage, the general's papers, including his
accounts, and a minute diary of transactions since leaving Cuba, — which, to
posterity at least, would have been of more worth than the gold,— had been
swallowed up by the waters.29 The ammunition, the beautiful little train of
artillery with which Cortes had entered the city, were all gone. Not a musket
even remained, the men having thrown them away, eager to disencumber
themselves of all that might retard their escape on that disastrous night.
Nothing, in short, of their military apparatus was left, but their swords, their
crippled cavalry, and a few damaged cross-bows, to assert the superiority of
the European over the barbarian.
The prisoners, including, as already noticed, the children of Montezuma
and the cacique of Tezcuco, all perished by the hands of their ignorant
countrymen, it is said, in the indiscriminate fury of the assault. There were,
also, some persons of consideration among the Spaniards whose names were
inscribed on the same bloody roll of slaughter. Such was Francisco de Morla,
who fell by the side of Cortes on returning with him to the rescue. But the
greatest loss was that of Juan Velasquez de Leon, who, with Alvarado, had
command of the rear. It was the post of danger on that night, and he fell,
bravely defending it, at an early part of the retreat, lie was an excellent
officer, possessed of many knightly qualities, though somewhat haughty in his
bearing, being one of the best-connected cavaliers in the army. The near
relation of the governor of Cuba, he looked coldly, at first, on the pretensions
of Cortes ; but, whether from a conviction that the latter had been wronged,
27 The table below may give the reader was comparatively small— who perished sub-
some idea of the discrepancies in numerical sequently on the march. The same authority
estimates, even among eye-witnesses, and states that 270 of the garrison, ignorant of
writers who, having access to the actors, are the proposed departure of their countrymen,
nearly of equal authority : were perfidiously left in the palace of Axa-
*-,77„,7 „,„7 1/,-oc.v ,„ yacatl, where they surrendered on terms, hut
Exiled and Mimng. > subsequently all sacrificed by the Az-
Spaniards. Indian. to| (See Appendix, Part 2, No. 11.) The
improbability of this monstrous story, by-.
Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p
n145-" r> v^ m, •>">' 15° 20°° which the army with all its equipage could
Cano ap Oviedo, lib. 33, leave the c[tJel WHhout the Umbledge of
pJ^S'Jo »tn " " ! o ! bo many of their comrades,-and this be per-
o S" fn« al'ioe TnH * 0°° mitted, too, at a juncture which made every
°Ub33clpt3a ' 150 2000 «anT co-operation so important, -is too
lib. 33 cap. 13 .. 1,0 2000 obvious to require refutation. Herrera re
Gomara, cap. 109
1170
200
8000
2000
150
450
450
2000
4000
4000
450
300
4000
2000
S5-P-. ,» '■ IS 1«5 ££ .K-^— ^r.s
Cortes gave particular orders to the captain,
IxtlUxochltl.Hist.Chich., . SX^^birnonroVtberieei^or
sfiun lib 12 " car. 04 " 300 2000 wounded should, in the hurry of the moment,
Htrfrtdec^o'/nbriO, ^ 2°°° &TM -^'i*"1*™- "* " '
,0 ' ,rn Annn dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 11
cap- ^ *• '• ldJ M "Puesde los de Narvaez, todos los mas
Bernal Diaz does not take the trouble to en las puentes quedaron, cargados de oro."
agree »with himself. After stating that the Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 12s.
rear, on which the loss fell heaviest, consisted 29 According to Diaz, part of the gold in-
of 120 men, he adds, in the same paragraph, trusted to the Tlascalan convoy was preserved.
that 150 of these were slain, which number (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 136.) From the
swells to 200 in a few lines further! Fal- document already cited,— Probanza de Villa
staffs men in buckram ! See Hist, de la Segura, MS.,— it appears that it was a Cas-
Conquista, cap. 128. — Cano's estimate em- tilian guard who had charge ol it.
braces, it is true, those— but their number
376 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
or from personal preference, he afterwards attached himself zealously to his
leader's interests. The general requited this with a generous confidence, as-
signing him, as we have seen, a separate and independent command, where
misconduct, or even a mistake, would have been fatal to the expedition. Velas-
quez proved himself worthy of the trust ; and there was. no cavalier in the
army, with the exception, perhaps, of Sandoval and Alvarado, whose loss would
have been so deeply deplored by the commander. Such were the disastrous
results of this terrible passage of the causeway ; more disastrous than those
occasioned by any other reverse which has stained the Spanish arms in the
New World ; and which have branded the night on which it happened, in
the national annals, with the name of the noche triste, " the sad or melancholy
night." 30
CHAPTER IV.
RETREAT OF THE SPANIARDS— DISTRESSES OP THE ARMY— PYRAMIDS OF
TEOTIHUACAN— GREAT BATTLE OP OTUMBA.
1520
The Mexicans, during the day which followed the retreat of the Spaniards,
remained, for the most part, quiet in their own capital, where they found
occupation in cleansing the streets and causeways from the dead, which lay
festering in heaps that might have bred a pestilence. They may have been
employed, also, in paying the last honours to such of their warriors as had
fallen, solemnizing the funeral rites by the sacrifice of their wretched prisoners,
who, as they contemplated their own destiny, may well have envied the fate
of their companions who left their bones on the battlefield. It was most
fortunate for the Spaniards, in their extremity, that they had this breathing-
time allowed them by the enemy. But Cortes knew that he could not calcu-
late on its continuance, and, feeling how important it was to get the start of
his vigilant foe, he ordered his troops to be in readiness to resume their march
by midnight. Fires were left burning, the better to deceive the enemy ; and
at the appointed hour the little army, without sound of drum or trumpet, but
with renewed spirits, sallied forth from the gates of the teocalli, within whose
hospitable walls they had found such seasonable succour. The place is now
indicated by a Christian church, dedicated to the Virgin, under the title of
Nuestra Senora de los Bemedios, whose miraculous image — the very same, it
is said, brought over by the followers of Cortes * — still extends her beneficent
sway over the neighbouring capital ; and the traveller who pauses within the
precincts of the consecrated fane may feel that he is standing on the spot
made memorable by the refuge it afforded to the Conquerors in the hour of
their deepest despondency.2
It was arranged that the sick and wounded should occupy the centre, trans -
30 Gornara, Cronica, cap. 109. — Oviedo, into the city to avert the cholera. She refused
Hist, de las Lnd., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13.— Pro- to pass the night in town, however, but was
banza en la Villa Segura, MS.— Bernal Diaz, found the next morning in her own sanctuary
Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 128. at Los Remedios, showing, by the mud with
1 Lorenzana, Viage, p. xiii. which she was plentifully bespattered, that
3 The last instance, I believe, cf the direct she must have performed the distance— several
interposition of the Virgin in behalf of the leagues— through the miry ways on foot !
metropolis was in 1833, when she was brought See Latrobe, Rambler in Mexico, Letter 5.
RETREAT OF THE SPANIARDS. 377
ported on litters, or on the backs of the tamanes, while those who were strong
enough to keep their seats should mount behind the cavalry. The able-bodied
soldiers were ordered to the front and rear, while others protected the flanks,
thus affording all the security possible to the invalids.
The retreating army held on its way unmolested under cover of the dark-
ness. But, as morning dawned, they beheld parties of the natives moving
over the heights, or hanging at a distance, like a cloud of locusts, on their
rear. They did not belong to the capital, but were gathered from the neigh-
bouring country, where the tidings of their rout had already penetrated. The
charm which had hitherto covered the white men was gone. The dread Teules
were no longer invincible.3
The Spaniards, under the conduct of their Tlascalan guides, took a cir-
cuitous route to the north, passing through Quauhtitlan, and round lake
Tzompanco (Zumpango), thus lengthening their march, but keeping at a
distance from the capital. From the eminences, as they passed along, the
Indians rolled down heavy stones, mingled with volleys of darts and arrows,
on the heads of the soldiers. Some were even bold enough to descend into
the plain and assault the extremities of the column. But they were soon
beaten off by the horse, and compelled to take refuge among the hills, where
the ground was too rough for the rider to follow. Indeed, the Spaniards did
not care to do so, their object being rather to fly than to fight.
\n this way they slowly advanced, halting at intervals to drive off their
assailants when they became too importunate, and greatly distressed by their
missiles and their desultory attacks. At night, the troops usually found
shelter in some town or hamlet, whence the inhabitants, in anticipation of
their approach, had been careful to carry oft" all the provisions. The Spaniards
were soon reduced to the greatest straits for subsistence. Their principal
food was the wild cherry, which grew in the woods or by the roadside. Fortu-
nate were they if they found a few ears of corn unplucked. More frequently
nothing was left but the stalks ; and with them, and the like unwholesome
fare, they were fain to supply the cravings of appetite. When a horse
happened to be killed, it furnished an extraordinary banquet ; and Cortes
himself records the fact of his having made one of a party who thus sump-
tuously regaled themselves, devouring the animal even to his hide.4
The wretched soldiers, faint with famine and fatigue, were sometimes seen
to drop down lifeless on the road. Others loitered behind, unable to keep up
■ The epithet by which, according to I>iaz, — Hunger furnished them a sauce, says Oviedo,
the Castilians were constantly addressed by which made their horse-flesh as relishing as
the natives, and which — whether correctly or the far-famed sausages of Naples, the delicate
not — he interprets into gods, or divine beings. kid of Avila, or the savoury veal of Sarago-sa !
(See Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 48, et alibi.) "Con la carne del caballo tubieron buen
One of the stanzas of Ercilla intimates the pasto, e se consolaron 6 mitigdron en parte
existence of a similar delusion among the su hambre, e se lo comieron sin dexar cuero,
South American Indians,— and a similar cure ni otra cosa del sino los huesos, e las vnas,
of it : y el pelo ; e aun las tripas no les parecio de
„Da ..r„r mmA.. „ „,,,_ ,._;Jn, menos buen gusto que las sobreasados de Nu-
Por dioses, cotno d1Xe eran tenidos { & { | n i b rf de Abil 6 ,
de los Indies los nuestros ; pero oUeron l&hv^ Terneras de Zaragosa, segun la es-
v^SSS£^ treraa npcesidad ^ llevft"an ; p°r que des-
y todas sus ttaquezas entenuieron . d { cibdad de Temixt tau
v^ndolosannsenassometidos, J J b otra C0Sft comieron
el error ignorante conocieron, f hi Q d« . id & 8 del
ard.endo en viva rabia avergonzados l a s • 't0 qi;iisieran 6
^^SS^SEKEi ifi^fer" Hist %e las Ind-'MS"
* Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 147.
378 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
with the march, and fell into the hands of the enemy, who followed in the
track of the army like a flock of famished vultures, eager to pounce on the
dying and the dead. Others, again, who strayed too far, in their eagerness to
procure sustenance, shared the same fate. The number of these, at length,
and the consciousness of the cruel lot for which they were reserved, compelled
Cortes to introduce stricter discipline, and to enforce it by sterner punish-
ments than he had hitherto done, — though too often ineffectually, such was
the indifference to danger, under the overwhelming pressure of present
calamity.
In their prolonged distresses, the soldiers ceased to set a value on those
very things for which they had once been content to hazard life itself. More
than one who had brought his golden treasure safe through the perils of the
noche triste now abandoned it as an intolerable burden ; and the rude Indian
peasant gleaned up, with wondering delight, the bright fragments of the spoils
of the capital.5
Through these weary days Cortes displayed his usual serenity and fortitude;
He was ever in the post of danger, freely exposing himself in encounters with
the enemy ; in one of which he received a severe wound in the head that
afterwards gave him much trouble.6 He fared no better than the humblest
soldier, and strove, by his own cheerful countenance and counsels, to fortify
the courage of those who faltered, assuring them that their sufferings would
soon be ended by their arrival in the hospitable " land of bread." 7 His faith-
ful officers co-operated with him in these efforts ; and the common file, indeed,
especially his own veterans, must be allowed, for the most part, to have shown
a full measure of the constancy and power of endurance so characteristic of
their nation, — justifying the honest boast of an old chronicler, "that there
was no people so capable of supporting hunger as the Spaniards, and none of
them who were ever more severely tried than the soldiers of Cortes." 8 A
similar fortitude was shown by the Tlascalans, trained in a rough school that
made them familiar with hardship and privations. Although they sometimes
threw themselves on the ground, in the extremity of famine, imploring their
gods not to abandon them, they did their duty as warriors, and, far from
manifesting coldness towards the Spaniards as the cause of their distresses,
seemed only the more firmly knit to them by the sense of a common suffering.
On the seventh morning, the army had reached the mountain rampart
which overlooks the plains of Otompan, or Otumba, as commonly called, from
the Indian city— now a village— situated in them. The distance from the
capital is hardly nine leagues. But the Spaniards had travelled more than
thrice that distance, in tneir circuitous march round the lakes. This had
been performed so slowly that it consumed a week, two nights of which had
been passed in the same quarters, from the absolute necessity of rest. It was
not, therefore, till the seventh of July that they reached the heights com-
manding the plains which stretched far away towards the territory of Tlascala,
in full view of the venerable pyramids of Teotihuacan, two of the most remark-
able monuments of the antique American civilization now existing north of
the Isthmus. During all the preceding day they had seen parties of the
5 Herrera mentions one soldier who had 6 Gomara, Cronica, cap. 110.
succeeded in carrying off his gold to the value r The meaning of the word Tlascala, and
of 3000 castellanos across the causeway, and so called from the ahuudance of maize raised
afterwards flung it away by the advice of in the country. Boturini, Idea, p. 78.
(,'ortes. "The devil take your gold," said 8 "Empero la Nacion nuestra Espafiola
the'commander bluntly to him, " if it is to cost sufre mas hambre que otra ninguna, i estos
you your life." Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, de Cortes mas que todos." Gomara, Crtfnjca,
cap. 11. cap. 110
PYRAMIDS OF TEOTIHUACAN. 379
enemy hovering like dark clouds above the highlands, brandishing their
weapons, and calling out, in vindictive tones, " Hasten on ! You will soon
find yourselves where you cannot escape ! " words of mysterious import, which
they were made fully to comprehend on the following morning.9
The monuments of San Juan Teotihuacan are, with the exception of the
temple of Cholula, the most ancient remains, probably, on the Mexican soil.
They were found by the Axtecs, according to their traditions, on their entrance
into the country, when Teotihuacan, the habitation of the c/ods, now a paltry
village, was a flourishing city, the rival of Tula, the great Toltec capital.10 The
two principal pyramids were dedicated to Tonatuth, the Sun, and Meztli, the
Moon. The former, which is considerably the larger, is found by recent
measurements to be six hundred and eighty-two feet long at the base, and one
hundred and eighty feet high, dimensions not inferior to those of some of the
kindred monuments of Egypt.11 They were divided into four stories, of which
three are now discernible, while the vestiges of the intermediate gradations are
nearly effaced. In fact, time lias dealt so roughly with them, and the materials
have been so much displaced by the treacherous vegetation of the tropics,
muffling up with its flowery mantle the ruin which it causes, that it is not easy
to discern at once the pyramidal form of the structures.12 The huge masses
bear such resemblance to the North American mounds that some have fancied
them to be only natural eminences shaped by the hand of a man into a regular
form, and ornamented with the temples and terraces the wreck of which still
covers their slopes. But others, seeing no example of a similar elevation in
the wide plain in which they stand, infer, with more probability, that they are
wholly of an artificial construction.13
The interior is composed of clay mixed with pebbles, incrusted on the surface
with the light porous stone, tetzontli, so abundant in the neighbouring quarries.
Over this was a thick coating of stucco, resembling, in its reddish colour, that
found in the ruins of Palenque. According to tradition, the pyramids are
hcllow ; but hitherto the attempt to discover the cavity in that dedicated to
the Sun has been unsuccessful. In the smaller mound an aperture has been
found on the southern side, at two-thirds of the elevation. It is formed by a
narrow gallery, which, after penetrating to the distance of several yards,
terminates in two pits or wells. The largest of these is about fifteen feet
deep,14 and the sides are faced with unbaked bricks : but to what purpose it
was devoted, nothing is left to show. It may have been to hold the ashes of
9 For the foregoing pages, see Camargo, Mr. Tudor, "united with some little faith, to
Hist, de TIascala, MS.,— Bernai Diaz. Hist. discover the pyramidal form at all." (Tour
de la Conquista, cap. 128,— Oviedo, Hist, de in North America, vol. ii. p. 277.) Yet Mr.
las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 13,— Gomara, Cro- Bullock says, "The general figure of the
nica, ubi supra,— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., square is as perfect as the great pyramid of
MS., cap. 89,— Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, Egypt." (Six Months in Mexico, vol. ii. chap,
cap. 6,— llel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, 26 ) Eye-witnesses both ! The historian
pp. 147, 148,— Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Es- must often content himself with repeating,in
pana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 25, 26. the words of the old French lay,—
10 " Su nombre, que quiere decir habitation t,si , v . { ■ {(
de los Dioses, y que ya por estos tiempos era y C0Ler&i la verit6 » '
ciudad tan famosa, que no solo competia, pero v os comerai ia * erue-
excedia con muchas ventajas a la corte de ' This is M. de Humboldt's opinion. (See
Tollan." Veytia, Hist, antig., torn. i. cap. 27. his Essai politique, torn. ii. pp. 66-70.') He
11 The pyramid of Mycerinos is 230 feet only has also discussed these interesting monu-
at the base, and 162 feet in height. The merits in his Vues des Cordilleres, p. 25, et
great pyramid of Cheops is 728 feet at the seq.
base, and -448 feet high. See Denon, Egypt ■* Latrobe gives the description of this
Illustrated (London, 1825), p. 9. cavity, into which he and his fellow-travellers
w "It requires a particular position," says penetrated. Rambler in Mexico, Letter 1.
380 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
some powerful chief, like the solitary apartment discovered in the great Egyptian
pyramid. That these monuments were dedicated to religious uses, there is no
doubt ; and it would be only conformable to the practice of antiquity in the
Eastern continent that they should have served for tombs as weir as temples.15
Distinct traces of the latter destination are said to be visible on the summit
of the smaller pyramid, consisting of the remains of stone walls showing a
building of considerable size and strength.16 There are no remains on the top
of the pyramid of the Sun. But the traveller who will take the trouble to
ascend its bald summit will be amply compensated by the glorious view it will
open to him ; — towards the south-east, the hills of Tlascala, surrounded by
their green plantations and cultivated corn-fields, in the midst of which stands
the little village, once the proud capital of the republic. Somewhat farther to
the south, the eye passes across the beautiful plains lying around the city of
Puebla de los Angeles, founded by the old Spaniards, and still rivalling, in the
splendour of its churches, the most brilliant capitals of Europe ; and far in the
west he may behold the Valley of Mexico, spread out like a map, with its
diminished lakes, its princely capital rising in still greater glory from its ruins,
and its rugged hills gathering darkly around it, as in the days of Montezuma.
The summit of this larger mound is said to have been crowned by a temple,
in which was a colossal statue of its presiding deity, the Sun, made of one
entire block of stone, and facing the east. Its breast was protected by a plate
of burnished gold and silver, on which the first rays of the rising luminary
rested.17 An antiquary, in the early part of the last century, speaks of having
seen some fragments of the statue. It was still standing, according to report,
on the invasion of the Spaniards, and was demolished by the indefatigable
Bishop Zumarraga, whose hand fell more heavily than that of Time itself on
the Aztec monuments.18
Around the principal pyramids are a great number of smaller ones, rarely
exceeding thirty feet in neight, which, according to tradition, wrere dedicated
to the stars and served as sepulchres for the great men of the nation. They
are arranged symmetrically in avenues terminating at the sides of the great
pyramids, which face the cardinal points. The plain on which they stand was
called Micoatl, or "Path of the Dead." The labourer, as he turns up the
ground, still finds there numerous arrow-heads, and blades of obsidian, attesting
the warlike character of its primitive population.19
What thoughts must crowd on the mind of the traveller as he wanders
amidst these memorials of the past ; as he treads over the ashes of the gene-
rations who reared these colossal fabrics, which take us from the present into
the very depths of time ! But who were their builders ? Was it the shadowy
Olmecs, whose history, like that of the ancient Titans, is lost in the mists of
fable ? or, as commonly reported, the peaceful and industrious Toltecs, of whom
all that we can glean rests on traditions hardly more secure 'I What has become
14 " Et tot templa deum Romce.quot in urbe Boturini. Idea, pp. 42, 43.
sepulcra ia Both Ixtlilxochitl and Boturini, who
Heroum numerare licet: quos fabula visited these monuments, one early in the
manes seventeenth, the other in the first part of the
Nobilitat, noster populus veneratus ado- eighteenth century, testify to their having
rat." seen the remains of this statue. They had
Prudentius, Contra Sym., lib. 1. entirely disappeared by 1757, when Veytia
" The dimensions are given by Bullock l™™fd the pyramid* Hi8t' antig-' t0m' U
(Six Months in Mexico, vol. ii. chap. 26), who cap* **'
has sometimes seen what has eluded the optics la «« Agricola, incurvo terram molitus aratro,
of other travellers. Exesa inveniet scabra rubigine pila," etc.
J7 Such is the account given by the cavalier Qeorg., lib. j,
GREAT BATTLE OP OTUMBA. 381
of the races who built them ? Did they remain on the soil, and mingle and
become incorporated with the fierce Aztecs who succeeded them ? Or did they
pass on to the South, and find a wider field for the expansion of their civiliza-
tion, as shown by the higher character of the architectural remains in the
distant regions of Central America and Yucatan ? It is all a mystery,— over
which time has thrown an impenetrable veil, that no mortal hand may raise.
A nation has passed away, — powerful, populous, and well advanced in refine-
ment, as attested by their monuments, — but it has perished without a name.
It has died and made no sign !
Such speculations, however, do not seem to have disturbed the minds of the
Conquerors, who have not left a single line respecting these time-honoured
structures, though they passed in full view of them, — perhaps under their very
shadows. In the sufferings of the present they had little leisure to bestow on
the past. Indeed, the new and perilous position in which at this very spot
they found themselves must naturally have excluded every other thought from
their bosoms but that of self-preservation.
As the army was climbing the mountain steeps which shut in the Valley of
Otompan, the vedettes came in with the intelligence that a powerful body
was encamped on the other side, apparently awaiting their approach. The
intelligence was soon confirmed by their own eyes, as they turned the crest of
the sierra, and saw spread out, below, a mighty host, filling up the whole
depth of the valley, and giving to it the appearance, from the white cotton
mail of the warriors, of being covered with snow.20 It consisted of levies from
the surrounding country, and especially the populous territory of Tezcuco,
drawn together at the instance of Cuitlahua, Montezuma's successor, and now
concentrated on this point to dispute the passage of the Spaniards. Every
chief of note had taken the field with his whole array gathered under hi*
standard, proudly displaying all the pomp and rude splendour of his military
equipment. As far as the eye could reach, were to be seen shields and waving
banners, fantastic helmets, forests of shining spears, the bright feather-mail
of the chief, and the coarse cotton panoply of his follower, all mingled together
in wild confusion and tossing to and fro like the billows of a troubled ocean.21
It was a sight to fill the stoutest heart among the Christians with dismay,
heightened by the previous expectation of soon reaching the friendly land
which was to terminate their wearisome pilgrimage. Even Cortes, as he con-
trasted the tremendous array before him with his own diminished squadrons,
wasted by disease and enfeebled by hunger and fatigue, could not escape the
conviction that his last hour had arrived.22
But his was not the heart to despond ; and he gathered strength from the
very extremity of his situation. He had no room for hesitation ; for there was
no alternative left to him. To escape was impossible. He could not retreat
on the capital, from which he had been expelled. He must advance,— cut
through the enemy, or perish. He hastily made his dispositions for the fight.
He gave his force as broad a front as possible, protecting it on each Hank by
his little body of horse, now reduced to twenty. Fortunately he had not
allowed the invalids, for the last two days, to mount behind the riders, from a
desire to spare the horses, so that these were now in tolerable condition ; and,
20 " Y como iban vestidos de bianco, parecia —which he certainly was. But he should
el campo nevado." Herrera, Hist, general, not have put fire-arms into the hands of his
dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 13. countrymen on this occasion.
a> •< vistosa confusion," says Solis, " de " " Y cierto creimos ser aquel el ultimo de
armas y penachos, en que tenian su hermosura nuestros dias." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap.
los horrores." (Conquista, lib. 4, cap. 20.) Lorenzana, p. 148,
His painting shows the hand of a great artist,
382 EXPULSION i'ROM MEXICO.
indeed, the whole army had been refreshed by halting, as we have seen, two
nights and a day in the same place, a delay, however, which had allowed the
enemy time to assemble in such force to dispute its progress.
Cortes instructed his cavaliers not to part with their lances, and to direct
them at the face. The infantry were to thrust, not strike, with their swords ;
passing them at once through the bodies of their enemies. They were, above
all, to aim at the leaders, as the general well knew how much depends on the
life of the commander in the wars of barbarians, whose want of subordination
makes them impatient of any control but that to which they are accustomed.
He then addressed to his troops a few words of encouragement, as customary
with him on the eve of an engagement. He reminded them of the victories
they had won with odds nearly as discouraging as the present ; thus establish-
ing the superiority of science and discipline over numbers. Numbers, indeed,
were of no account, where the arm of the Almighty was on their side. And
he bade them have full confidence that He wTho had carried them safely
through so many perils would not now abandon them and his own good cause
to perish by the hand of the infidel. His address was brief, for he read in
their looks that settled resolve which rendered words unnecessary. The
circumstances of their position spoke more forcibly to the heart of every soldier
than any eloquence could have done, rilling it with that feeling of desperation
which makes the weak arm strong and turns the coward into a hero. After
they had earnestly commended themselves, therefore, to the protection of
God, the Virgin, and St. James, Cortes led his battalions straight against the
enemy.23
It was a solemn moment, that in which the devoted little band, with stead-
fast countenances and their usual intrepid step, descended on the plain, to be
swallowed up, as it were, in the vast ocean of their enemies. The latter
rushed on with impetuosity to meet them, making the mountains ring to their
discordant yells and battle-cries, and sending forth volleys of stones and arrows
which for a moment shut out the light of day. But, when the leading files of
the two armies closed, the superiority of the Christians was felt, as their
antagonists, falling back before the charges of cavalry, were thrown into
confusion by their own numbers who pressed on them from behind. The
Spanish infantry followed up the blow, and a wide lane was opened in the
ranks of the enemy, who, receding on all sides, seemed willing to allow a free
passage for their opponents. But it was to return on them with accumulated
force, as rallying they poured upon the Christians, enveloping the little army
on all sides, which, with its bristling array of long swords and javelins, stood
firm, — in the words of a contemporary,--like an islet against which the
breakers, roaring and surging, spend their fury in vain.24 The struggle was
desperate of man against man. The Tlascalan seemed to renew his . strength,
as he fought almost in view of*his own native hills ; as did the Spaniard, with
the horrible doom of the captive before his eyes. Well did the cavaliers do
their duty on that day ; charging, in little bodies of four or five abreast, deep
into the enemy's ranks, riding over the broken files, and by this temporary
" Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— 0 viedo, altogether too serious for theatrical display.
Hist, delaslnd., MS., lib. 33, cap. 14.— Bernal 24 It is Sahagun's simile: "Estaban los
Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 128. — Saha- Espafioles como una Isleta en el mar, coin-
gun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, batida de las olas por todas partes." (Hist.de
cap. 27.— Cortes might have addressed his Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 27.) The
troops, as Napoleon did his in the famous venerable missionary gathered the particulars
battle with the Mamelukes: "From yonder of the action, as he informs* us, from several
pyramids forty centuries look down upon who were present in it.
you." But the situation of the Spaniards was
GREAT BATTLE OP OTUMBA. 383
advantage giving strength and courage to the infantry. Not a lance was
there which did not reek with the blood of the infidel. Among the rest the
young captain Sandoval is particularly commemorated for his daring prowess.
Managing his fiery steed with easy horsemanship, he darted, when least
expected, into the thickest of the melee, overturning the stanchest warriors,
and rejoicing in danger, as if it were his natural element.23
But' these gallant displays of heroism served only to ingulf the Spaniards
deeper and deeper in the mass of the enemy, with scarcely any more chance
of cutting their way through his dense and interminable battalions than of
hewing a passage with their swords through the mountains. Many of the
Tlascalans and some of the Spaniards had fallen, and not one but had been
wounded. Cortes himself had received a second cut on the head, and his
horse was so much injured that he* was compelled to dismount, and take one
from the baggage train, a strong-boned animal, who carried him well through
the turmoil of the day.ZG The contest had now lasted several hours. The
sun rode high in the heavens, and shed an intolerable fervour over the plain.
The Christians, weakened by previous sufferings, and faint with loss of blood,
began to relax in their desperate exertions. Their enemies, constantly sup-
ported by fresh relays from the rear, were still in good heart, and, quick to
perceive their advantage, pressed with redoubled force on the Spaniards. The
horse fell back, crowded on the foot ; and the latter, in vain seeking a passage
amidst the dusky throngs of tbe enemy, who now closed up the rear, were
thrown into some disorder. The tide of battle was setting rapidly against the
Christians. The fate of the day would soon be decided ; and all that now
remained for them seemed to be to sell their lives as dearly as possible.
At this critical moment, Cortes, whose restless eye had been roving round
the field in quest of any object that might offer him the means of arresting
the coming ruin, rising in his stirrups, descried at a distance, in the midst of
the throng, the chief who from his dress and military cortege he knew must
be the commander of the barbarian forces. He was covered with a rich
surcoat of feather-work ; and a panache of beautiful plumes, gorgeously set in
gold and precious stones, floated above his head. Rising above this, and
attached to his back, between the shoulders, was a short staff bearing a
golden net for a banner,— the singular, but customary, symbol of authority
for an Aztec commander. The cacique, whose name was Cihuaca, was borne
on a litter, and a body of young warriors, whose gay and ornamented dresses
showed them to be the flower of the Indian nobles, stood round as a guard of
his person and the sacred emblem.
The eagle eye of Cortes no sooner fell on this personage than it lighted up
with triumph. Turning quickly round to the cavaliers at his side, among
whom were Sandoval, Olid, Alvarado, and Avila, he pointed out the chief,
exclaiming, " There is our mark ! Follow and support me ! " Then, crying
his war-cry, and striking his iron heel into his weary steed, he plunged head-
long into the thickest of the press. His enemies fell back, taken by surprise
and daunted by the ferocity of the attack. Those who did not were pierced
" The epic bard Ercilla's spirited portrait con piedra, palo, flecha, lanza y dardo
of the young warrior Tucapel may be applied le persigue la gente de manera
without violence to Sandoval, as described conio si fuera toro, 6 brava fiera."
by the Castilian chroniclers : La Auaucana, Parte 1, canto 8.
" Cubierto Tucapel de fina rnalla 2G Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap.
salto como un ligero y suelto pardo 13. — " Este caballo harriero," says Camargo,
en medio de la timida canalla, " le sirvio en la conquista de Mejico, y en la
haciendo plaza el barbaro gallardo : ultima guerra que se dio se le mataron."
con silvos grita en desigual be.talla : Hist, de Tlascalo, MS.
384 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
through with his lance or borne down by the weight of his charger. The
cavaliers followed close in the rear. On they swept with the fury of a thunder-
bolt, cleaving the solid ranks asunder, strewing their path with the dying and
the dead, and bounding over every obstacle in their way. In a few minutes
they were in the presence of the Indian commander, and Cortes, overturning
his supporters, sprang forward with the strength of a lion, and, striking him
through with his lance, hurled him to the ground. A young cavalier, Juan de
Salamanca, who had kept close by his general's side, quickly dismounted and
despatched the fallen chief. Then, tearing away his banner, he presented it
to Cortes, as a trophy to which he had the best claim.27 It was all the work
of a moment. The guard, overpowered by the suddenness of the onset, made
little resistance, but, flying, communicated their own panic to their comrades.
The tidings of the loss soon spread over the field. The Indians, filled with
consternation, noAV thought only of escape. In their blind terror, their
numbers augmented their confusion. They trampled on one another, fancying
it was the enemy in their rear.28
The Spaniards and Tlascalans were not slow to avail themselves of the
marvellous change in their affairs. Their fatigue, their wounds, hunger, thirst,
all were forgotten in the eagerness for vengeance ; and they followed up the
flying foe, dealing death at every stroke, and taking ample retribution for all
they had suffered in the bloody marshes of Mexico.29 Long did they pursue,
till, the enemy having abandoned the field, they returned, sated with slaughter,
to glean the booty which he had left. It was great, for the ground was
covered with the bodies of chiefs, at whom the Spaniards, in obedience to the
general's instructions, had particularly aimed ; and their dresses displayed all
the barbaric pomp of ornament in which the Indian warrior delighted.30
When his men had thus indemnified themselves, in some degree, for their
fate reverses, Cortes called them again under their banners ; and, after offering
up a grateful acknowledgment to the Lord of Hosts for their miraculous
preservation,31 they renewed their march across the now deserted valley. The
sun was declining in the heavens, but, before the shades of evening had
27 The brave cavalier was afterwards per- teniamos hambre, ni sed, sino que parecia que
mitted by the emperor Charles V. to assume no auiamos auido, ni passado ningun mal
this trophy on his own escutcheon, in com- trabajo. Seguimos la vitoria matando, e hiri-
memoration of his exploit. Bernal Diaz, endo. Pues nuestros amigos los de Tlascala
Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 128. estavan hechos vnos leones, y con sus espadas,
28 The historians all concur in celebrating y montantes, y otras armas que allf apanaron,
this glorious achievement of Cortes; who, hazfanlo muy bie y esforcadamente." Hist,
concludes Gomara, "by his single arm saved de la Conquista, loc. cit."
the whole army from destruction." See 30 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, ubi
Cr6nica, cap. 110. — Also Sahagun, Hist, de supra.
Nueva-Espafia, MS., lib. 12, cap. 27.— Ca- 31 The belligerent apostle'St. James, riding,
margo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. — Bernal Diaz, as usual, his milk-white courser, came to the
Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 128. — Oviedo, Hist. rescue on this occasion ; aw event comraemo-
de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.— Herrera, rated by the dedication of a hermitage to him,
Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 13. — Ix- in the neighbourhood. (Camargo, Hist, de
tlilxochitl. Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 89. — The Tlascala.) Diaz, a skeptic on foflner occa-
brief and extremely modest notice of the sions, admits his indubitable appearance on
affair in the general's own letter forms a this. (Hist, de la Conquista, ubi supra.) Ac-
beautiful contrast to the style of panegyric cording to the Tezcucan chronicler, he was
by others : " In this arduous contest we con- supported by the Virgin and St. Peter. (Hist,
sumed a great part of the day, until it pleased Chich., MS., cap. 89.) Voltaire sensibly re-
God that a person was slain in their ranks of marks, "Ceux qui ont fait les relations de
such consequence that his death put an end ces etranges evenemens les ont voulu relever
to the battle." Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. par des miracles, qui ne servent en effet qu'a
148. les rabaisser. Le vrai miracle fut la conduite
>* «pues £ nosotros," says the doughty de Cortes." Voltaire, Essai sur les Moeure.
Captain Diaz, "no nos dolian las heridas, ni chap. 147.
ARRIVAL IN TLASCALA. 385
gathered around, they reached an Indian temple on an eminence, which
afforded a strong and commodious position for the night.
Such was the famous battle of Otompan, — or Otumba, as commonly called,
from the Spanish corruption of the name. It was fought on the eighth of
July, 1520. The whole amount of the Indian force is reckoned by Castilian
writers at two hundred thousand ! that of the slain at twenty thousand !
Those who admit the first part of the estimate will find no difficulty in receiving
the last.32 It is about as difficult to form an accurate calculation of the
numbers of a disorderly savage multitude as of the pebbles on the beach or
the scattered leaves in autumn. Yet it was, undoubtedly, one of the most
remarkable victories ever achieved in the New World. And this, not merely
on account of the disparity of the forces, but of their unequal condition. For
the Indians were in all their strength, while the Christians were wasted by
disease, famine, and long-protracted sufferings ; without cannon or fire-arms,
and deficient in the military apparatus' which had so often struck terror into
their barbarian foe, — deficient even in the terrors of a victorious name. But
they had discipline on their side, desperate resolve, and implicit confidence in
their commander. That they should have triumphed against such odds
furnishes an inference of the same kind as that established by the victories of
the European over the semi-civilized hordes of Asia.
Yet even here all must not be referred to superior discipline and tactics.
For the battle would certainly have been lost had it not been for the fortunate
death of the Indian general. And, although the selection of the victim may
be called the result of calculation, yet it was by the most precarious chance
that he was thrown in the way of the Spaniards. It is, indeed, one among
many examples of the influence of fortune in determining the fate of military
operations. The star of Cortes was in the ascendant. Had it been otherwise,
not a Spaniard would have survived that day to tell the bloody tale of the
battle of Otumba.
CHAPTER V.
ARRIVAL IN TLASCALA — FRIENDLY RECEPTION— DISCONTENTS OP THE ARMY-
JEALOUSY OP THE TLASCALANS— EMBASSY FROM MEXICO.
1520.
On the following morning the army broke up its encampment at an early
hour. The enemy does not seem to have made an attempt to rally. Clouds
of skirmishers, however, were seen during the morning, keeping at a respectful
distance, though occasionally venturing near enough to salute the Spaniards
with a volley of missiles.
On a rising ground they discovered a fountain, a blessing not too often met
with in these arid regions, and gratefully commemorated by the Christians
for the refreshment it afforded by its cool and abundant waters.1 A little
32 See Oviedo, Hist, do las Ind., MS., lib. Norte, cinco leguas de la principal ciudad ;
33, cap. 47. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, nace en un pueblo que se llama Azumba, que
lib. 10, cap. 13.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 110. en su lengua quiere decir cabeza, y asi es,
1 Is it not the same fountain of which porque esta fuente es cabeza y principio del
Toribio makes honourable mention in his mayor rio de los que entran en la mar del Sur,
topographical account of the country? " Nace el cual entra en la mar por Zacatula." Hist,
en Tiaxcala una fuente grande a, la parte del de los Indios, MS., Tarte 3, cap. 16. ■
386 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
farther on they descried the rude works which served as the bid walk and
boundary of the Tlascalan territory. At the sight, the allies sent up a joyous
shout of congratulation, in which the Spaniards heartily joined, as they felt
they were soon to be on friendly and hospitable ground.
But these feelings were speedily followed by others of a different nature ;
and, as they drew nearer the territory, their minds were disturbed with the
most painful apprehensions as to their reception by the people among whom
they were bringing desolation and mourning, and who might so easily, if ill
disposed, take advantage of their present crippled condition. " Thougnts like
these," says Cortes, " weighed as heavily on my spirit as any which I ever
experienced in going to battle with the Aztecs." 2 Still he put, as usual, a
good face on the matter, and encouraged his men to confide in their allies,
whose past conduct had afforded every ground for trusting to their fidelity in
future. He cautioned them, however, as their own strength was so much
impaired, to be most careful to give no umbrage or ground for jealousy to
their high-spirited allies. " Be but on your guard," continued the intrepid
general, " and we have still stout hearts and strong hands to carry us through
the midst of them ! " 3 With these anxious surmises, bidding adieu to the
Aztec domain, the Christian army crossed the frontier, and once more trod
the soil of the Republic.
The first place at which they halted was the town of Huejotlipan, a place
of about twelve or fifteen thousand inhabitants.4 They were kindly greeted
by the people, who came out to receive them, inviting the troops to their
habitations, and administering all the relief of their simple hospitality. Yet
this was not so disinterested, according to some of the Spaniards, as to prevent
their expecting in requital a share of the plunder taken in the late action.5
Here the weary forces remained two or three days, when, the news of their
arrival having reached the capital, not more than four or five leagues distant,
the old chief Maxixca, their efficient friend on their former visit, and Xieo-
tencatl, the young warrior who, it will be remembered, had commanded the
troops of his nation in their bloody encounters with the Spaniards, came with
a numerous concourse of the citizens to welcome the fugitives to Tlascala.
Maxixca, cordially embracing the Spanish commander, testified the deepest
sympathy for his misfortunes. That the white men could so long have with-
stood the confederated power of the Aztecs was proof enough of their marvel-
lous prowess. "We have made common cause together, said the lord of
Tlascala, " and we have common injuries to avenge ; and, come weal or come
woe, be assured we will prove true and loyal friends and stand by you to the
cieatn.
This cordial assurance and sympathy, from one who exercised a control
over the public counsels beyond any other ruler, effectually dispelled
doubts that lingered in the mind of Cortes. He readily accepted his invitati
to continue his march at once to the capital, where he would find so m
3 "El qual pensamiento, y sospecha nos * Called Gualipan by Cortes. (Rel
puso en tanta afliccion, quanta trahiamos ap. Lorenzana, p. 149.) An Aztec woi
viniendo peleando con los de Culua." Rel. have found it hard to trace the route of h
Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 149. enemies by their itineraries.
3 " Y mas dixo, que tenia esperanca en 5 Ibid., ubi supra.— Thoan Cano, however,
Dios que los hallariamos buenos, y leales ; 6 one of the army, denies this, and asserts that
que si otra cosa fuesse, lo que Dios no per- the natives received them like their children,
mita, que nos han de tornar a andar los and would take no recompense. (See Appen-
punos con coracjones fuertes, y bra?os vigo- dix, Tart 2, No. 11.)
rosos, y que para esso fuessemos muy aperci- < <.y que tubiesse por cierto, que
bidos." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista. serian muy ciertos, y verdaderos Amig
cap. 128. hasta la muerte." Ibid., p. 150.
tion
rOUld
f his
FRIENDLY RECEPTION". 387
better accommodations for his army than in a small town on the frontier.
The sick and wounded, placed in hammocks, were borne on the shoulders of
the friendly natives ; and, as the troops drew near the city, the inhabitants
came flocking out in crowds to meet them, rending the air with joyous accla-
mations and wild bursts of their rude Indian minstrelsy. Amidst the general
jubilee, however, were heard sounds of wailing and sad lament, as some un-
happy relative or friend, looking earnestly into the diminished files of their
countrymen, sought in vain for some dear and familiar countenance, and, as
they turned disappointed away, gave utterance to their sorrow in tones that
touched the heart of every soldier in the army. With these mingled accom-
paniments of joy and woe,— the motley web of human life, — the way-worn
columns of Cortes at length re-entered the republican capital.7
The general and his suite were lodged in the rude but spacious palace of
Maxixca. The rest of the army took up their quarters in the district over
which the Tlascalan lord presided. Here they continued several weeks, until,
by the attentions of the hospitable citizens, and such medical treatment as
their humble science could supply, the wounds of the soldiers were healed,
and they recovered from the debility to which they had been reduced by their
long and unparalleled sufferings. Cortes was one of those who suffered
severely. He lost the use of two of the fingers of his left hand.8 He had
received, besides, two injuries on the head ; one of which was so much ex-
asperated by his subsequent fatigues and excitement of mind that it assumed
an alarming appearance. A part of the bone was obliged to be removed.9
A fever ensued, and for several days the hero who had braved danger and
death in their most terrible forms lay stretched on his bed, as helpless as an
infant. His excellent constitution, however, got the better of disease, and
he was at length once more enabled to resume his customary activity. The
Spaniards, with politic generosity, requited the hospitality of their hosts by
sharing with them the spoils of their recent victory, and Cortes especially
rejoiced the heart of Maxixca by presenting him with the military trophy
which he had won from the Indian commander.10
But while the Spaniards were thus recruiting their health and spirits under
the friendly treatment of their allies, and recovering the confidence and tran-
quillity of mind which had sunk under their hard reverses, they received
tidings, from time to time, which showed that their late disaster had not been
confined to the Mexican capital. On his descent from Mexico to encounter
Narvaez, Cortes had brought with him a quantity of gold, which he left for
safe keeping at Tlascala. To this was added a considerable sum collected by
, * Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. — Bernal Cano, however, whose sympathies— from his
Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, ubi supra. — " So- Indian alliance, perhaps — seem to have been
brevinieron las mugeres Tlascaltecas, y todas quite as much with the Aztecs as with his
puestas de luto, y llorando a. donde estaban own countrymen, assured Oviedo, who was
los Espaholes, las unas preguntaban por sus lamenting the general's loss, that he might
maridos, las otras por sus hijos y hermanos, spare his regrets, since Cortes had as many
las otras por sus parientes que habian ido con fingers on his hand at that hour as when he
los Espanoles, y quedaban todos allti muertos : came from Castile. (See Appendix, Part 2,
no es menos, sino que de esto llanto causo No. 11.) May not the word manco, in his
gran senti'miento en el corazon del Capitan, y letter, be rendered by " maimed" ?
de todos los Espanoles, y el procuro lo mejor 9 " Hirieron si Cortes con Honda tan mal,
que pudo consolarles por medio de sus Inter- que se le pasmo la Cabeca, 6 porque no le
pretes." Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, curaron bien, sacandole Cascos, o por el de-
MS., lib. 12, cap. 28. masiado trabajo que paso." Gomara, Cro-
■ s " Yo assimismo quede manco de dos dedos nica, cap. 110.
de la rnano izquierda" — is Cortes' own ex- 10 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10,
pression in his letter to the emperor. (Rel. cap. 13. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista,
p. Lorenzana, p. 152.) Don Thoan ubi supra.
'388 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
the unfortunate VeLasquez de Leon in his expedition to the coast, as well as
contributions from other sources. From the unquiet state of the capital, the
general thought it best, on his return there, still to leave the treasure under
the care of a number of invalid soldiers, who, when in marching condition,
were to rejoin him in Mexico. A party from Vera Cruz, consisting of five
horsemen and forty foot, had since arrived at Tlascala, and, taking charge of
the invalids and treasure, undertook to escort them to the capital. He now
learned that they had been intercepted on the route and all cut off, with the
entire loss of the treasure. Twelve other soldiers, marching in the same
direction, had been massacred in the neighbouring province of Tepeaca ; and
accounts continually arrived of some unfortunate Castilian, who, presuming
on the respect hitherto shown to his countrymen, and ignorant of the disasters
in the capital, had fallen a victim to the fury of the enemy.11 '
These dismal tidings filled the mind of Cortes with gloomy apprehensions
for the fate of the settlement at Villa Rica, — the last stay of their hopes. He
despatched a trusty messenger, at once, to that place, and had the inexpres-
sible satisfaction to receive a letter in return from the commander of the
garrison, acquainting him with the safety of the colony and its friendly rela-
tions with the neighbouring Totonacs. It was the best guarantee of the
fidelity of the latter, that they had offended the Mexicans too deeply to be
forgiven.
While the affairs of Cortes wore so gloomy an aspect without, he had to
experience an annoyance scarcely less serious from the discontents of his
followers. Many of them had fancied that their late appalling reverses would
put an end to the expedition, or, at least, postpone all thoughts of resuming
it for the present. But they knew little of Cortes who reasoned thus. Even
while tossing on his bed of sickness, he was ripening in his mind fresh schemes
for retrieving his honour, and for recovering the empire which had been lost
more by another's rashness than his own. This was apparent, as he became
convalescent, from the new regulations he made respecting the army, as well
as from the orders sent to Vera Cruz for fresh reinforcements.
The knowledge of all this occasioned much disquietude to the disaffected
soldiers. They were, for the most part, the ancient followers of Narvaez, on
whom, as we have seen, the brunt of the war had fallen the heaviest. > Many
of them possessed property in the Islands, and had embarked on this expe-
dition chiefly from the desire of increasing it. But they had gathered neither
gold nor glory in Mexico. Their present service filled them only with disgust ;
and the few, comparatively, who had been so fortunate as to survive, Ian
guished to return to their rich mines and pleasant farms in Cuba, bitter1
cursing the day when they had left them.
Finding their complaints little heeded by the general, they prepared
written remonstrance, in which they made their demand more formally. Th
represented the rashness of persisting in the enterprise in his present i
poverished state, without arms or ammunition, almost without men; a
this, too, against a powerful enemy, who had been more than a match for h
with all the strength of his late resources. It was madness to think of
The attempt would bring them all to the sacrifice-block. Their only couri
was to continue their march to Vera Cruz. Every hour of delay might "
11 Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. panions, who were so much pinched
150.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, hunger that they were obliged to give a sol
cap. 15. — Herrera gives the following inscrip- bar of gold, weighing eight hundred duct*
tion, cut on the bark of a tree by Rome of for a few cakes of maize bread." Hist, ge
these unfortunate Spaniards : "By this road ral, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 13.
passed Juan Juste and his wrenched com-
DISCONTENTS OF THE ARMY. 389
fatal. The garrison in that place might be overwhelmed from want of strength
to defend itself ; and thus their last hope would be annihilated. But, once
there, they might wait in comparative security for such reinforcements as
would join them from abroad ; while in case of failure they could the more
easily make their escape. They concluded with insisting on being permitted
to return at once to the port of Villa Rica. This petition, or rather remon-
strance, was signed by all the disaffected soldiers, and, after being formally
attested by the royal notary, was presented to Cortes.12
It was a trying circumstance for him. What touched him most nearly was
to find the name of his friend the secretary Duero, to whose good offices he
had chiefly owed his command, at the head of the paper. He was not, how-
ever, to be shaken from his purpose for a moment ; and, while all outward
resources seemed to be fading away, and his own friends faltered, or failed
him, he was still true to himself. He knew that to retreat to Vera Cruz
would be to abandon the enterprise. Once there, his army would soon find a
pretext and a way for breaking up and returning to the Islands. All his
ambitious schemes would be blasted. The great prize, already once in his
grasp, would then be lost for ever. He would be a ruined man.
In his celebrated letter to Charles the Fifth, he says that, in reflecting on
his position, he felt the truth of the old adage, " that fortune favours the
brave. The Spaniards were the followers of the Cross ; and, trusting in the
infinite goodness and mercy of God, he could not believe that He would suffer
them and his own good cause thus to perish among the heathen.13 He was
resolved, therefore, not to descend to the coast, but at all hazards to retrace
his steps and beard the enemy again in his capital."
It was in the same resolute tone that he answered his discontented fol-
lowers.14 He urged every argument which could touch their pride or honour
as cavaliers. He appealed to that ancient Castilian valour which had never
been known to falter before an enemy ; besought them not to discredit the
great deeds which had made their name ring throughout Europe ; not to leave
the emprise half achieved, for others more daring and adventurous to finish.
How could they with any honour, he asked, desert their allies whom they had
involved in the Avar, and leave them unprotected to the vengeance of the
Aztecs 1 To retreat but a single step towards Villa Rica would be to pro-
claim their own weakness. It would dishearten their friends and give con-
fidence to their foes. He implored them to resume the confidence in him
which they had ever showed, and to reflect that, if they had recently met with
reverses, he had up to that point accomplished all, and more than all, that he
had promised. It would be easy now to retrieve their losses, if they would
have patience and abide in this friendly land until the reinforcements, which
would be ready to come in at his call, should enable them to act on the offen-
sive. If, however, there Avere any so insensible to the motiA^es which touch a
brave man's heart, as to prefer ease at home to the glory of this great achieve-
12 One is reminded of the similar remon- Misericordia de Dios, que no permitiria, que
strance made by Alexander's soldiers to him del todo pereciessemos, y se perdiesse tanta,
on reaching the Hystaspis, — but attended with y tan noble Tierra." Iiel. Seg., ap. Loren-
more success ; as, indeed, was reasonable. zana, p. 152.
For Alexander continued to advance from 14 This reply, exclaims Oviedo, showed a
the ambition of indefinite conquest, while man of unconquerable spirit and high desti-
Cortes was only bent ton carrying out his nies : " Pareceme que la respuesta que a esto
• original enterprise. What was madness in les dio Hernando Cortes, e lo que hizo en
the one was heroism in the other. ello, fue vna cosa de ilnimo invencible, e de
13 " Acordandome, que siempre a los osa- varon de mucha suerte e valor." Hist, de las
dos ayuda la fortuna, y que eramos Christia- Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 15.
nos y confiando en la grandfssinia Bondad, y
390 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
ment, he would not stand in their way. Let them go, in God's name. Let
them leave their general in his extremity. He should feel stronger in the
service of a few brave spirits than if surrounded by a host of the false or the
faint-hearted.15
The disaffected party, as already noticed, was chiefly drawn from the troops
of Narvaez. When the general's own veterans heard this appeal,18 their blood
warmed with indignation at the thoughts of abandoning him or the cause at
such a crisis. They pledged themselves to stand by him to the last ; and the
malecontents, silenced, if not convinced, by this generous expression of senti-
ment from their comrades, consented to' postpone " their departure for the
present, under the assurance that no obstacle would be thrown in their way
when a more favourable season should present itself.17
Scarcely was this difficulty adjusted, when Cortes was menaced with one
more serious, in the jealousy springing up between his soldiers and their
Indian allies. Notwithstanding the demonstrations of regard by Maxixca
and his immediate followers, there were others of the nation who looked with
an evil eye on their guests, for the calamities in which they had involved
them ; and they tauntingly asked if, in addition to this, they were now to be
burdened by the presence and maintenance of the strangers. These sallies
of discontent were not so secret as altogether to escape the ears of the
Spaniards, in whom they occasioned no little disquietude. They proceeded
for the most part, it is true, from persons of little consideration, since the four
great chiefs of the republic appear to have been steadily secured to the in-
terests of Cortes. But they derived some importance from the countenance
of the warlike Xicotencatl, in whose bosom still lingered the embers of that
implacable hostility which he had displayed so courageously on the field of
battle ; and sparkles of this fiery temper occasionally gleamed forth in the
intimate intercourse into which he was now reluctantly brought with his
ancient opponents.
Cortes, who saw with alarm the growing feeling of estrangement which
must sap the very foundations on which he was to, rest the lever for future
operations, employed every argument which suggested itself, to restore the
confidence of his own men. He reminded them of the good services they had
•uniformly received from the great body of the nation. They had a sufficient
pledge of the future constancy of the Tlascalans in their long- cherished hatred
of the Aztecs, which the recent disasters they had suffered from the same
quarter could serve only to sharpen. And he urged, with much force, that if
any evil design had been meditated by them against the Spaniards the Tlas-
calans would, doubtless, have taken advantage of their late disabled con-
dition, and not waited till they had recovered their strength^and means of
resistance.18
15 "E no me hable ninguno en otra cosa; 17 For the account of this turbulent trans
y el que desta opinion no estubiere viiyase action, see Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquist
en buen hora, que mas holgare de quedar con cap. 129, — Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzar
los pocos y osados, que en compam'a de mu- p. 152,— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib.
chos, ni de ninguno cobarde, ni desacordado 33, cap. 15, — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 112, 113
de su propia honra." Hist, de las Ind., MS., — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap.
loc. cit. 14. — Diaz is exceedingly wroth -with tl
16 Oviedo has expanded the harangue of chaplain Gomara for not discriminating be
Cortes into several pages, in the course of tween the old soldiers and the levies
which the orator quotes Xenophon, and bor- Narvaez, whom he involves equally in the
rows largely from the old Jewish history, a sin of rebellion. The captain's own versic
style of eloquence savouring much more of seems a fair one, and I have followed
the closet than the camp. Cortes was no therefore, in the text.
pedant, and his soldiers were no scholars, ,8 Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib.
3iONTEZUMA'S SUCCESSOR. S91
While Cortes was thus endeavouring, with somewhat, doubtful success, to
stifle his own apprehensions, as well as those in the bosoms of his followers,
an event occurred which happily brought the affair to an issue, and per-
manently settled the relations in which the two parties were to stand to each
other. This will make it necessary to notice some events which had occurred
in Mexico since the expulsion of the Spaniards.
On Montezuma's death, his brother, Cuitlahna, lord of Iztapalapan, con-
formably to the usage regulating the descent of the Aztec crown, was chosen
to succeed him. He was an active prince, of large experience in military
affairs, and, by the strength of his character, was well fitted to sustain the
tottering fortunes of the monarchy. He appears, moreover, to have been a
man of liberal, and what may be called enlightened, taste, to judge from the
beautiful gardens which he had filled with rare exotics and which so much
attracted the admiration of the Spaniards in his city of Iztapalapan. Unlike
his predecessor, he held the white men in detestation, and had, probably, the
satisfaction of celebrating his own coronation by the sacrifice of many of
them. From the moment of his release from the Spanish quarters, where he
had been detained by Cortes, he entered into the patriotic movements of his
people. It was he who -conducted the assaults both in the streets of the city
and on the " Melancholy Night ; " and it was at his instigation that the
powerful force had been assembled to dispute the passage of the Spaniards in
the Vale of Otumba.19
Since the evacuation of the capital, he had been busily occupied in repairing
the mischief it had received, — restoring the buildings and the bridges and
putting it in the best posture of defence. He had endeavoured to improve
the discipline and arms of his troops. He introduced the long spear among
them, and, by attaching the sword-blades taken from the Christians to long
poles, contrived a weapon that should be formidable against the cavalry.
He summoned his vassals, far and near, to hold themselves in readiness to
march to the relief of the capital, if necessary, and, the better to secure their
good will, relieved them from some of the burdens usually laid on them. But
he was now to experience the instability of a government which rested not on
love, but on fear. The vassals in the neighbourhood of the Valley remained
true to their allegiance ; but others held themselves aloof, uncertain what
course to adopt ; while others, again, in the more distant provinces, refused
obedience altogether, considering this a favourable moment for throwing off
the yoke which had so long galled them.20
In this emergency, the government sent a deputation to its ancient enemies
the Tlascalans. It consisted of six Aztec nobles, bearing a present of cotton
cloth, salt, and other articles rarely seen, of late years, in the republic. _ The
lords of the state, astonished at this unprecedented act of condescension in
their ancient foe, called the council or senate of the great chiefs together, to
give the envoys audience.
Before this body the Aztecs stated the purpose of their mission. They
invited the Tlascalans to bury all past grievances in oblivion, and to enter into
cap. 15.— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. regulated every thing in New' Spain by his
10, cap. 14.— Sahagun.Hist.de Nueva-Espafia, free will and pleasure, before the coming of
MS., lib. 12, cap. 29. the Spaniards," according to Father Sahagun,
w Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, who begins his chapter with this eloquent
cap. 47. — Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, exordium.
p. 166.— Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, 2° Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 88.
MS., lib. 12, cap. 27, 29.— Or, rather, it was —Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, MS., lib.
"at the instigation of the great Devil, the 12, cap. 29. Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2,
captain of all the devils, called Satan, who lib. 10, cap. 19.
392 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
a treaty with them. All the nations of Anahuac should make common cause
in defence of their country against the white men. The Tlascalans would
bring down on their own heads the wrath of the gods, if they longer harboured
the strangers who had violated and destroyed their temples. If they counted
on the support and friendship of their guests, let them take warning from the
fate of Mexico, which had received them kindly within its walls, and which,
in return, they had filled with blood and ashes. They conjured them, by
their reverence for their common religion, not to suffer the white men, dis-
abled as they now were, to escape from their hands, but to sacrifice them, at
once to the gods, whose temples they had profaned. In that event, they
proffered them their alliance, and the renewal of that friendly traffic whicn
would restore to the republic the possession of the comforts and luxuries of
which it had been so long deprived.
The proposals of the ambassadors produced different effects on their audience.
Xicotencatl was for embracing them at once. Far better was it, he said, to
unite with their kindred, with those who held their own language, their faith
and usages, than to throw themselves into the arms of the fierce strangers,
who, however they might talk of religion, worshipped no god but gold. This
opinion was followed by that of the younger warriors,- who readily caught the
fire of his enthusiasm. But the elder chiefs, especially his blind old father,
one of the four rulers of the state, who seem to have been all heartily in the
interests of the Spaniards, and one of them, Maxixca, their stanch friend,
strongly expressed their aversion to the proposed alliance with the Aztecs.
They were always the same, said the latter, — fair in speech, and false in heart.
They now proffered friendship to the Tlascalans. But it was fear which drove
them to it, and, when that fear was removed, they would return to their old
hostility. Who was it, but these insidious foes, that had so long deprived the
country of the very necessaries of life, of which they were now so lavish in their
offers 1 Was it not owing to the white men that the nation at length possessed
them ? Yet they were called on to sacrifice the white men to the gods !— the
warriors who, after fighting the battles of the Tlascalans, now threw themselves
on their hospitality. But the gods abhorred perfidy. And were not their
guests the very beings whose coming had been so long predicted by the oracles ?
"Let us avail ourselves of it," he concluded, "and unite and make common
cause with them, until we have humbled our haughty enemy."
This discourse provoked a sharp rejoinder from Xicotencatl, till the passion
of the elder chieftain got the better of his patience, and, substituting force for
argument, he thrust his younger antagonist, with some violence, from the
council-chamber. A proceeding so contrary to the usual decorum of Indian
debate astonished the assembly. But, far from bringing censure on its author,
it effectually silenced opposition. Even the hot-headed followers of Xicotencatl
shrunk from supporting a leader who had incurred such a mark of contemptuous
displeasure from the ruler whom they most venerated. His own father openly
condemned him ; and the patriotic young warrior, gifted with a truer foresight
into futurity than his countrymen, was left without support in the council, as
he had formerly been on the field of battle. The proffered alliance of the
Mexicans was unanimously rejected ; and the envoys, fearing that even the
sacred character with which they were invested might not protect them from
violence, made their escape secretly from the capital.21
31 The proceedings in'the Tlascalan senate MS., lib. 12, cap. 29,— Herrera, Hist, general,
are reported in more or less detail, but sub- dec. 2, lib. 12, cap. 14.— See, also, Bernal Diaz,
stantially alike, by Camargo, Hist, de Tlas- Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 129,— Gomara,
cala, MS., — Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafla, Cronica, cap. 111.
War with the surrounding tribes. 393
The result of the conference was of the last importance to the Spaniards, Avho,
in their present crippled condition, especially if taken unawares, would have
been, probably, at the mercy of the Tlascalans. At all events, the union of
these latter with the Aztecs would have settled the fate of the expedition ;
since, in the poverty of his own resources, it was only by adroitly playing off
one part of the Indian population against the other that Cortes could ultimately
hope for- success.
CHAPTER VI.
WAR WITH THE SURROUNDING TRIBES— SUCCESSES OF THE SPANIARDS— DEATH
OP MAXIXCA — ARRIVAL OF REINFORCEMENTS— RETURN IN TRIUMPH TO
TLASCALA.
1520.
-The Spanish commander, -reassured by the result of the deliberations in the
Tlascalan senate, now resolved on active operations, as the best means of
dissipating the spirit of faction and discontent inevitably fostered by a life of
idleness. He proposed to exercise his troops, at first, against some of the
neighbouring tribes who had laid violent hands on such of the Spaniards as,
confiding in their friendly spirit, had passed through their territories. Among
these were the Tepeacans, a people often engaged in hostility with the Tlas-
calans, and who, as mentioned in a preceding chapter, had lately massacred
twelve Spaniards in their march to the capital. An expedition against them
would receive the ready support of his allies, and would assert the dignity of
the Spanish name, much dimmed in the estimation of the natives by the late
disasters.
The Tepeacans were a powerful tribe of the same primitive stock as the
Aztecs, to whom they acknowledged allegiance. They had trasferred this to
the Spaniards, on their first march into the country, intimidated by the bloody
defeats of their Tlascalan neighbours. But, since the troubles in the capital,
they had again submitted to the Aztec sceptre. Their capital, now a petty
village, was a flourishing city at the time of the Conquest, situated in the
fruitful plains that stretch far away towards the base of Orizaba.1 The province
contained, moreover, several towns of considerable size, filled with a bold and
warlike population.
As these Indians had once acknowledged the authority of Castile, Cortes and
his officers regarded their present conduct in the light of rebellion, and, in a
council of war, it was decided that those engaged in the late massacre had
fairly incurred the doom of slavery.2 Before proceeding against them, however,
the general sent a summons requiring their submission, and offering full pardon
for the past, but, in case of refusal, menacing them with the severest retribu-
tion. To this the Indians, now in arms, returned a contemptuous answer,
challenging the Spaniards to meet them in fight, as they wrere in want of
victims for their sacrifices.
Cortes, without further delay, put himself at the head of his small corps of
' The Indian name of the capital,— the con todos nuestros Capitanes, y soldados : y
same as that of the province, — Tepejacac, was fue acordado, que se hiziesse vn auto por ante
corrupted by the Spaniards into Tepenca. It Escriuano, que diesse fe de todo lo passado,
must be admitted to have gained by the cor- y que se diessen por esclauos." Bernal Diaz,
ruption. Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 130.
* " Y como aquello vio Cortes, comunicolo
o 2
394 EXPULSION PROM MEXICO.
Spaniards and a large reinforcement of Tlascalan warriors. They were led by
the younger Xicotencatl, who now appeared willing to bury his recent animosity,
and desirous to take a lesson in war under the chief who had so often foiled
him in the field.3
The Tepeacans received their enemy on their borders. A bloody battle
followed, in which the Spanish horse were somewhat embarrassed by the tall
maize that covered part of the plain. They were successful in the end, and
the Tepeacans, after holding their ground like good warriors, were at length
routed with great slaughter. A second engagement, which took place a few
days after, Avas followed by like decisive results ; and the victorious Spaniards
with their allies, marching straightway on the city of Tepeaca, entered it in
triumph.4 No further resistance was attempted by the enemy, and the whole
province, to avoid further calamities, eagerly tendered its submission. Cortes,
however, inflicted the meditated chastisement on the places implicated in the
massacre. The inhabitants were branded with a hot iron as slaves, and, after
the royal fifth had been reserved, were distributed between his own men and
the allies.5 The Spaniards were familiar with the system of repartimientos
established in the Islands ; but this was the first example of slavery in New
Spain.# It was justified, in the opinion of the general and his military casuists,
by the aggravated offences of the party. The sentence, however, was not coun-
tenanced by the crown,6 which, as the colonial legislation abundantly shows,
was ever at issue with the craving and mercenary spirit of the colonist.
Satisfied with this display of his vengeance, Cortes now established his
head-quarters at Tepeaca, which, situated in a cultivated country, afforded
easy means for maintaining an army, while its position on the Mexican fron-
tier made it a good point ctappui for future operations.
The Aztec government, since it had learned the issue of its negotiations at
Tlascala, had been diligent in fortifying its frontier in that quarter. The
garrisons usually maintained there were strengthened, and large bodies of
men were marched in the same direction, with orders to occupy the strong
positions on the borders. The conduct of these troops was in their usual
style of arrogance and extortion, and greatly disgusted the inhabitants of
the country.
Among the places thus garrisoned by the Aztecs was Quauhquechollan,7 a
The chroniclers estimate his army at flesh"! (Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 15.)
50,000 warriors ; one-half, according to Tori- Such a banquet would not have smelt savoury
bio, of the disposable military force of the in the nostrils of Cortes.
republic. "De la cual (Tlascala), como ya" 5 "Yalli hizieron hazer el hierro con que
tengo dicho, sofian salir cien mil hombres de se auian de herrar los que se tomauan por
pelea." Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, esclauos, que era una G., que quiere decir
cap. 16. guerra." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de laConquista,
4 "That night," says the credulous Herrera, cap. 130.
speaking of the carouse that followed one of c Solis, Conquista, lib. 5, cap. 3.
their victories, " the Indian allies had a grand 7 Called by the Spaniards Huacachula, and
supper of legs and arms ; for, besides an in- spelt with every conceivable diversity by the
credible number of roasts on wooden spits, old writers, who may be excused for stum-
they had fifty thousand pots of stewed human bling over such a confusion of consonants.
* [It may have been the first instance of divided among the new possessors. In the
natives being reduced to slavery by the Span- case of the Tepeacans, no attempt was made
iards, but female slaves at least had been to enslave the adult males, whose services
given to them on several previous occasions were not needed, and who would have brought
by the Mexican chiefs. The present case has only embarrassment to their captors. See
also no connection with the system of repar- Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 135.
timientos, by which, after the conquest was -—Ed.]
effected, the soil and its inhabitants were
WAR WITH THE SURROUNDING TRIBES. 395
city containing thirty thousand inhabitants, according to the historians, and
lying to the south-west twelve leagues or more from the Spanish quarters. It
stood at the extremity of a deep valley, resting against a bold range of hills,
or rather mountains, and flanked by two rivers with exceedingly high and
precipitous banks. The only avenue by which the town could be easily
approached was protected by a stone wall more than twenty feet high and of
great thickness.8 Into this place, thus strongly defended by art as well as by
nature, the Aztec emperor had thrown a garrison of several thousand warriors,
while a much more formidable force occupied the heights commanding the
city.
The cacique of this strong post, impatient of the Mexican yoke, sent to
Cortes, inviting him to inarch to his relief, and promising a co-operation of
the citizens in an assault on the Aztec quarters. The general eagerly embraced
the proposal, and detached Cristoval de Olid, with two hundred Spaniards and
a strong body of Tlascalans, to support the friendly cacique.9 On the way,
Olid was joined by many volunteers from the Indian city and from the neigh-
bouring capital of Cholula, all equally pressing their services. The number
and eagerness of these auxiliaries excited suspicions in the bosom of the
cavalier. They were strengthened by the surmises of the soldiers of Narvaez,
whose imaginations were still haunted, it seems, by the horrors of the noche
triste, and who saw in the friendly alacrity of their new allies evidence of an
insidious understanding with the Aztecs. Olid, catching this distrust, made a
countermarch on Cholula, where he seized the suspected chiefs, who had been
most forward in offering their services, and sent them under a strong guard to
Cortes.
The general, after a careful examination, was satisfied of the integrity of the
suspected parties. He, expressing his deep regret at the treatment they had
received, made them such amends as he could by liberal presents, and, as he
now saw the impropriety of committing an affair of such importance to other
hands, put himself at the head of his remaining force and effected a junction
with his officer in Cholula.
He had arranged with the cacique of the city against which he was march-
ing, that on the appearance of the Spaniards the inhabitants should rise on
the garrison. Everything succeeded as he had planned. No sooner had the
Christian battalions defiled on the plain before the town, than the inhabitants
attacked the garrison with the utmost fury. The latter, abandoning the
outer defences of the place, retreated to their own quarters in the principal
teocalli, where they maintained a hard struggle with their adversaries. In
the heat of it, Cortes, at the head of his little body of horse, rode into the
place , and directed the assault in person. The Aztecs made a fierce defence.
But, fresh troops constantly arriving to support the assailants, the works were
stormed, and every one of the garrison was put to the sword.10
The Mexican forces, meanwhile, stationed on the neighbouring eminences,
had marched down to the support of their countrymen in the town, and formed
8 " Y toda la Ciudad esta cercada de muy signature I find it written Oli.
fuerte Muro de cal y canto, tan alto, como ,0 " I should have been very glad to have
quatro estados por de fuera de la Ciudad : e taken some alive," says Cortes, " who could
por de dentro esta" casi igual con el suelo. Y have informed me of what was going on in the
por toda la Muralla va su petril, tan alto, great city, and who had been lord there since
como medio estado, para pelear, tiene quatro the death of Montezuma. But I succeeded in
entradas, tan anchas, como uno puede entrar saving only one ; and he was more dead than
a" Caballo." Rel. Seg., p. 162. alive." Eel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana,
9 This cavalier's name is usually spelt Olid p. 159.
by the chroniclers. In a copy of his own
3&6 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
in order of battle in the suburbs, where they were encountered by the Tlascalan
levies. "They mustered," says Cortes, speaking of the enemy, "at least
thirty thousand men ; and it was a brave sight for the eye to look on, — such
a beautiful array of warriors glistening with gold and jewels and variegated
feather- work." ll The action was well contested between the two Indian
armies. The suburbs were set on fire, and, in the midst of the flames, Cortes
and his squadrons, rushing on the enemy, at length broke their array, and
compelled them to fall back in disorder into the narrow gorge of the mountain,
from which they had lately descended. The pass was rough and precipitous.
Spaniards and Tlascalans followed close in the rear, and the light troops,
scaling the high wall of the valley, poured down on the enemy's flanks. The
heat was intense, and both parties were so much exhausted by their efforts
that it was with difficulty, says the chronicler, that the one could pursue, or
the other fly.12 They were not too weary, however, to slay. The Mexicans
were routed with terrible slaughter. They found no pity from their Indian
foes, who had a long account of injuries to settle with them. Some few sought
refuge by flying higher up into the fastnesses of the sierra. They were
followed by their indefatigable enemy, until, on the bald summit of the ridge,
they reached the Mexican encampment. It covered a wide tract of ground.
Various utensils, ornamented dresses, and articles of luxury, were scattered
round, and the number of slaves in attendance showed the barbaric pomp
with which the nobles of Mexico went to their campaigns.13 It was a rich
booty for the victors, who spread over the deserted camp, and loaded them-
selves with the spoil, until the gathering darkness warned them to descend.14
Cortes followed up the blow by assaulting the strong town of Itzocan, held
also by a Mxeican garrison, and situated in the depths of a green valley
watered by artificial canals and smiling in all the rich abundance of this fruit-
ful region of the plateau.15 The place, though stoutly defended, was stormed
and carried ; the Aztecs were driven across a river which ran below the town,
and, although the light bridges that traversed it were broken down in the
flight, whether by design or accident, the Spaniards, fording and swimming
the stream as they could, found their way to the opposite bank, following up
11 " Y li ver que cosa era aquella, los quales totally routed them. (Hist, de la Oonquista,
eran mas de treinta mil Hombres, y la mas cap. 132.) But this version of the affair is
lficida Gente, que hemos visto, porque trahian not endorsed, so far as I am aware, by any
muchas Joyas de Oro, y Plata, y Plumajes." contemporary. Cortes is so compendious in
Ibid., p. 160. his report that it is often necessary to supply
12 " Alcanzando muchos por una Cuesta the omissions with the details of other writers,
arriba muy agra ; y tal, que quando acabamos But, where he is positive in his statements, —
de encumbrar la Sierra, ni los Enemigos, ni unless there be some reason to suspect a bias,
nosotros podiamos ir atras, ni adelante : e — his practice of writing on the spot, and the
assf caieron muchos de ellos muertos, y aho- peculiar facilities for information afforded by
gados de la calor, sin herida ninguna." Rel. his position, make him decidedly the best
Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 160. authority.
13 ««porqUe demas de la Gente de Guerra, 15 Cortes, with an eye less sensible to the
tenian mucho aparato de Servidores, y forne- picturesque than his great predecessor in the
cimiento para su Real." Ibid., p. 160. track of discovery, Columbus, was full as
lt The story of the capture of this strong quick in detecting the capabilities of the soil,
post is told very differently by Captain Diaz. «' Tiene un Valle redondo muy fertil de
According to him, Olid, when he had fallen Frutas, y Algodon, que en ninguna parte de
back on Cholula, in consequence of the refusal los Puertos arriba se hace por la gran frialdad ;
of his men to advance, under the strong sus- y alii es Tierra caliente, y causalo, que esti
picion which they entertained of some foul muy abrigada de Sierras ; todo este Valle se
practice from their allies, received such a riega por muy buenas Azequias, que tienen
stinging rebuke from Cortes that he compelled muy bien sacadas, y concertadas." Rel. Seg.
his troops to resume their march, and, attack- de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 164, 165.
ing the enemy " with the fury of a tiger,"
SUCCESSES OF THE SPANIARDS. 397
the chase with the eagerness of bloodhounds. Here, too, the booty was great ;
and the Indian auxiliaries flocked by thousands to the banners of the chief
who so surely led them on to victory and plunder.16
Soon afterwards, Cortes returned, to his head-quarters at Tepeaca. Thence
he detached his officers on expeditions which were usually successful. San-
doval, in particular, marched against a large body of the enemy lying between
the camp and Vera Cruz, defeated them in two decisive battles, and thus
restored the communications with the port.
The result of these operations was the reduction of that populous and
cultivated territory which lies between the great volcan, on the west, and the
mighty skirts of Orizaba, on the east. Many places, also, in the neighbouring
province of Mixtecapan acknowledged the authority of the Spaniards, and
others from the remote region of Oaxaca sent to claim their protection. The
conduct of Cortes towards his allies had gained him great credit for dis-
interestedness and equity. The Indian cities in the adjacent territory
appealed to him, as their umpire, in their differences with one another, and
cases of disputed succession in their governments were referred to his arbi-
tration. By his discreet and moderate policy he insensibly acquired an
ascendency over their counsels which had been denied to the ferocious Aztec.
His authority extended wider and wider every day ; and a new empire grew
up in the very heart of the land, forming a coimterpoise to the colossal power
wnich had so long overshadowed it.17
Cortes now felt himself strong enough to put in execution the plans for
recovering the capital, over which he had been brooding ever since the hour
of his expulsion. He had greatly undervalued the resources of the Aztec
monarchy. He was now aware, from bitter experience, that, to vanquish it,
his own forces, and all he could hope to muster, would be incompetent, with-
out a very extensive support from the Indians themselves. A large army
would, moreover, require large supplies for its maintenance, and these, could
not be regularly obtained, during a protracted siege, without the friendly
co-operation of the natives. On such support he might now safely calculate
from Tlascala and the other Indian territories, whose warriors were so eager to
serve under his banners. His past acquaintance with them had instructed
him in their national character and system of war ; while the natives who had
fought 'Under his command, if they had caught little of the Spanish tactics,
had learned to act in concert with the white men and to obey liim implicitly
as their commander. This was a considerable improvement in such wild and
disorderly levies, and greatly augmented the strength derived from numbers.
Experience showed that in a future conflict with the capital it would not
do to trust to the causeways, but that, to succeed, he must command the lake.
He proposed, therefore, to build a number of vessels like those constructed
under his orders in Montezuma's time and afterwards destroyed by the in-
habitants. For this he had still the services of the same experienced ship-
builder, Martin Lopez, who, as we have seen, had fortunately escaped the
So numerous, according to Cortes, that noticed in the preceding pages, see, in addi-
they covered hill and dale, as far as the eye tion to the Letter of Cortes, so often cited,
could reach, mustering more than a hundred Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap.
and twenty thousand strong! (Rel. Seg., ap. 15,— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10,
Lorenzana, p. 162.) When the Conquerors cap. 15, 16,— Ixtlilxochitl, .Hist. Chich., MS.,
attempt anything like a precise numeration, cap. 90, — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista,
it will be as safe to substitute "a multi- cap. 130, 132, 134,— Gomara, Cronica, cap.
tude," " a great force," etc., trusting the 114-117,— P. Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5,
amount to the reader's own imagination. cap. 6, — Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS,
17 For the hostilities with the Indian tribes,
398 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
-slaughter of the " Melancholy Night." Cortes now sent this man to Tlascala,
with orders to build thirteen brigantines, which might be taken to pieces and
carried on the shoulders of the Indians to be launched on the waters of Lake
Tezcuco. The sails, rigging, and iron -work were to be brought from Vera
Cruz, where they had been stored since their removal from the dismantled
ships. It was a bold conception, that of constructing a fleet to be transported
across forest and mountain before it was launched on its destined waters !
But it suited the daring genius of Cortes, who, with the co- operation of his
stanch Tlascalan confederates, did not doubt his ability ta carry it into
execution.
It was with no little regret that the general learned at this time the death
of his good friend Maxixca, the old lord of Tlascala, who had stood by him so
steadily in the hour of adversity. He had fallen a victim to that terrible
epidemic, the smallpox, which was now sweeping over the land like fire over
the prairies, smiting down prince and peasant, and adding another to the
long train of woes that followed the march of the white men. It was imported
into the country, it is said, by a negro slave in the fleet of Narvaez.18 It first
broke out in Cempoalla. The poor natives, ignorant of the best mode of
treating the loathsome disorder, sought relief in their usual practice of bathing
in cold water, which greatly aggravated their trouble. From Cempoalla it
spread rapidly over the neighbouring country, and, penetrating through Tlas-
cala, readied the Aztec capital, where Montezuma's successor, Cuitlanua, fell
one of its first victims. Thence it swept down tOAvards the borders of the
Pacific, leaving its path strewn with the dead bodies of the natives, who, in
the strong language of a contemporary, perished in heaps like cattle stricken
with the murrain.19 It does not seem to have been fatal to the Spaniards,
many of whom, probably, had already had the disorder, and who were, at all
events, acquainted with the proper method of treating it.
The death of Maxixca was deeply regretted by the troops, who lost in him
a true and most efficient ally. With his last breath he commended them to
his son and successor, as the great beings whose coming into the country had
been so long predicted by the oracles.20 He expressed a desire to die in the
Erofession of the Christian faith. Co tes no sooner learned his condition than
e despatched Father Olmedo to Tlascala. The friar found that Maxixca had
already caused a crucifix to be placed before his sick couch, as the object of
his adoration. After explaining, as intelligibly as he could, the truths of
revelation, he baptized the dying chieftain ; and the Spaniards had the
satisfaction to believe that the soul of their benefactor was exempted from
the doom of eternal perdition that hung over the unfortunate Indian who
perished in his unbelief.21
Their late brilliant successes seem to have reconciled most of the disaffected
soldiers to the prosecution of the war. There were still a few among them,
18 "Laprimera file" de viruela, y comenzo this disease that there was no possibility of
de esta manera. Siendo Capitan y Governador burying them, and in Mexico the dead were
Hernando Cortes al tiempo que el Capitan thrown into the canals, then filled with water,
Panfilo de Narvaez desembarco en esta tierra, until the air was poisoned with the stench of
en uno de sus navfos vino un negro herido de putrid bodies." Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-
viruelas, la cual enfermedad nunca en esta Espana, lib. 8, cap. 1.
tierra se habia visto, y esta sazon estaba esta ao Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
nueva Espana en estremo muy llena de gente." 136.
Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 1, 21 Hist, de la Conquista, ubi supra.— Her-
cap. 1. rera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 19. —
'9 "Morian conio chinches & montones." Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espaha, MS., lib.
(Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, ubi supra.) " So 12, cap. 39.
great was the number of those who died of
ARRIVAL OF REINFORCEMENTS. 3C9
the secretary Duero, Bermudez the treasurer, and others high in office, or
wealthy hidalgos, who looked with disgust on another campaign, and now
loudly reiterated their demand of a free passage to Cuba. To this Cortes,
satisfied with the support on which he could safely count, made no further
objection. Having once given his consent, he did all in his power to facilitate
their departure and provide for their comfort. He ordered the best ship at
Vera Cruz to be placed at their disposal, to be well supplied with provisions
and everything necessary for the voyage, and sent Alvarado to the coast to
superintend the embarkation. He took the most courteous leave of them,
with assurances of his own unalterable regard. But, as the event proved, those
who could part from him at this crisis had little sympathy with his fortunes ;
and we find Duero not long afterwards in Spain, supporting the claims of
Velasquez before the emperor, in opposition to those of his former friend and
commander.
The loss of these few men was amply compensated by the arrival of others,
whom Fortune—to use no higher term— most unexpectedly threw in his way.
The first of these came in a small vessel sent from Cuba by the governor,
Velasquez, with stores for the colony at Vera Cruz. He was not aware of the
late transactions in the country, and of the discomfiture of his officer. In the
vessel came despatches, it is said, from Fonseca, bishop of Burgos, instructing
Narvaez to send Cortes, if he had not already done so, for trial to Spain.22
The alcalde of Vera Cruz, agreeably to the general's instructions, allowed the
captain of the bark to land, who had no doubt that the country was in the
hands of Narvaez. He was undeceived by being seized, together with his
men, so soon as they had set foot on shore. The vessel was then secured ;
and the commander and his crew, finding out their error, were persuaded with-
out much difficulty to join their countrymen in Tlascala.
A second vessel, sent soon after by Velasquez, shared the same fate, and
those on board consented, also, to take their chance in the expedition under
Cortes.
About the same time, Garay, the governor of Jamaica, fitted out three
ships with an armed force to plant a colony on the Panuco, a river which
pours into the Gulf a few degrees north of Villa Rica. Garay persisted in
establishing this settlement, in contempt of the claims of Cortes, who had
already entered into a friendly communication with the inhabitants of that
region. But the crews experienced such a rough reception from the natives
on landing, and lost so many men, that they were glad to take to their vessels
again. One of these foundered in a storm. The others put into the port of
Vera Cruz to restore the men, much weakened by hunger and disease. Here
they were kindly received, their wants supplied, their wounds healed ; when
they were induced, by the liberal promises of Cortes, to abandon the disastrous
service of their employer and enlist under his own prosperous banner. The
reinforcements obtained from these sources amounted to full a hundred and
fifty men, well provided with arms and ammunition, together with twenty
horses. By this strange concurrence of circumstances, Cortes saw himself in
possession of the supplies he most needed ; that, too, from the hands of his
enemies, whose costly preparations were thus turned to the benefit of the very
man whom they were designed to ruin.
His good fortune did not stop here. A ship from the Canaries touched at
Cuba, freighted with arms and military stores for the adventurers in the New
.World. Their commander heard there of the recent discoveries in Mexico,
and, thinking it would afford a favourable market for him, directed his course
82 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 131.
400 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
to Vera Cruz. Pie was not mistaken The alcalde, by the general's orders,
purchased both ship and cargo ; and the crews, catching the spirit of adven-
ture, followed their countrymen into the interior. There seemed to be a magic
in the name of Cortes, which drew all who came within hearing of it under
his standard.23
Having now completed the arrangements for settling his new conquests,
there seemed to be no further reason for postponing his departure to Tlascala.
He was first solicited by the citizens of Tepeaca to leave a garrison with them,
to protect them from the vengeance of the Aztecs. Cortes acceded to the
request, and, considering the central position of the town favourable for main-
taining his conquests, resolved to plant a colony there. For this object he
selected sixty of his soldiers, most of whom were disabled by wounds or
infirmity. He appointed the alcaldes, regidores, and other functionaries of a
civic magistracy. The place he called Segura de la Frontera, or Security of
the Frontier.24 It received valuable privileges as a city, a few years later,
from the emperor Charles the Fifth,25 and rose to some consideration in the
age of the Conquest. But its consequence soon after declined. Even its
Castilian name, with the same caprice which has decided the fate of more than
one name in our own country, was gradually supplanted by its ancient one,
and the little village of Tepeaca is all that now commemorates the once
flourishing Indian capital, and the second Spanish colony in Mexico.
While at Segura, Cortes wrote that celebrated letter to the emperor— the
second in the series — so often cited in the preceding pages. It takes up the
narrative with the departure from Vera Cruz, and exhibits in a brief and com-
prehensive form the occurrences up to the time at which we are now arrived.
In the concluding page, the general, after noticing the embarrassments under
which he labours, says, in his usual manly spirit, that he holds danger and
fatigue light in comparison with the attainment of his object, and that he is
confident a short time will restore the Spaniards to their former position and
repair all their losses.26
He notices the resemblance of Mexico, in many of its features and produc-
tions, to the mother country, and requests that it may henceforth be called
"New Spain of the Ocean Sea."27 He finally requests that a commission
may be sent out, at once, to investigate his conduct and to verify the accuracy
of his statements.
This letter, which was printed at Seville the year after its reception, has
been since reprinted, and translated, more than once.28 It excited a great
sensation at the court, and among the friends of science generally. The
previous discoveries in the New World had disappointed the expectations
*3 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. nombre de Vuestra Magestad se le puso
131, 133, 136. — Herrera, Hist, general, ubi aqueste nombre; humildemente suplico &
supra.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, Vuestra Alteza lo tenga por bien, y mande,
pp. 154, 167.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., que se nombre assi." (Ibid., p. 169.) The
ib. 33, cap. 16. name of " New Spain," without other addition,
24 Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p* had been before given by Grijalva to Yucatan.
156. Ante, Book 2, Chapter 1.
a' Clavlgero, Stor. del Messico, torn. iii. p. 28 It was dated, " De la Villa Segura de la
153. Frontera de esta Nueva-Espaiia, a" treinta de
26 (lg cre0) como ya a Vuestra Magestad Octubre de mil quinientosveinteanos." But,
he dicho, que en muy breve tomara al estado, in consequence of the loss of the ship intended
en que antes yo la tenia, 6 se restaurardn las to bear it, the letter was not sent till the
perdidas pasadas." Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, spring of the following year ; leaving the
p. 167. nation still in ignorance of the fate of
27 "Me parecio, que el mas conveniente the gallant adventurers in Mexico, and the
nombre para esta dicha Tierra, era llamarse magnitude of their discoveries.
la Nueva tfspana del Mar Cceano: y assi en
SECOND LETTER TO THE EMPEROR. 401
which had been formed after the solution of the grand problem of its existence.
They had brought to light only rude tribes, which, however gentle and in-
offensive in their manners, were still in the primitive stages of barbarism.
Here was an authentic account of a vast nation, potent and populous,
exhibiting an elaborate social polity, well advanced in the arts of civilization,
occupying a soil that teemed with mineral treasures and with a boundless
variety of vegetable products, stores of wealth, both natural and artificial, that
seemed, for the first time, to realize the golden dreams in which the great
discoverer of the New World had so fondly, and in his own day so fallaciously,
indulged. Well might the scholar of that age exult in the revelation of these
wonders, which so many had long, but in vain, desired to see.29
With this letter went another to the emperor, signed, as it would seem, by
nearly every officer and soldier in the camp. It expatiated on the obstacles
thrown in the way of the expedition by Velasquez and Narvaez, and the
great prejudice this had caused to the royal interests. It then set forth the
services of Cortes, and besought the emperor to confirm him in his authority,
and not to allow any interference with one who, from his personal character, his
intimate knowledge of the land and its people, and the attachment of his
soldiers, was the man best qualified in all the Avorld to achieve the conquest of
the country.30
It added not a little to the perplexities of Cortes that he was still in entire
ignorance of the light in which his conduct was regarded in Spain. He had
not even heard whether his despatches, sent the year preceding from Vera
Cruz, had been received. Mexico was as far removed from all intercourse
with the civilized world as if it had been placed at the antipodes. Few vessels
had entered, and none had been allowed to leave, its ports. The governor of
Cuba, an island distant but a few days' sail, was yet ignorant, as we have
seen, of the fate of his armament. On the arrival of every new vessel or fleet
on these shores, Cortes might well doubt whether it brought aid to his under-
taking, or a royal commission to supersede him. His sanguine spirit relied on
the former ; though the latter was much the more probable, considering the
intimacy of his enemy, the governor, with Bishop Fonseca, a man jealous of
his authority, and one who, from his station at the head of the Indian depart-
ment, held a predominant control over the affairs of the New World. It was
the policy of Cortes, therefore, to lose no time ; to push forward his prepara-
tions, lest another should be permitted to snatch the laurel now almost within
his grasp. Could he but reduce the Aztec capital, he felt that he should be
safe, and that, in whatever light his irregular proceedings might now be
viewed, his services in that event would far more than counterbalance them
in the eyes both of the crown and of the country.
The general wrote, also, to the Royal Audience at St. Domingo, in order to
interest them in his cause. He sent four vessels to the same island, to obtain
a further supply of arms and ammunition ; and, the better to stimulate the
cupidity of adventurers and allure them to the expedition, he added specimens
29 The state of feeling occasioned by these lection made by the former President of the
discoveries may be seen in the correspondence Spanish Academy, Vargas Pon9e. It is signed
of Peter Martyr, then residing at the court of by four hundred and forty-four names ; and
Castile. See, in particular, his epistle, dated it is remarkable that this r«ll, which includes
March, 1521, to his noble pupil, the Marquis every other familiar name in the army, should
de Mondejar, in which he dwells with un- not contain that of Bernal Diaz del Castillo,
bounded satisfaction on all the rich stores of It can only be accounted for by his illness ;
science which the expedition of Cortes had as he tells us he was confined to his bed by a
thrown open to the world. Opus Epistolarum, fever about this time. Hist, de la Conquista,
ep. 771. cap. 134.
*° Thjs memorial is in that part of my col-
402 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
of the beautiful fabrics of the country, and of its precious metals.31 The
funds for procuring these important supplies were, probably, derived from
tha plunder gathered in the late battles, and the gold which, as already
remarked, had been saved from the general wreck by the Castilian convoy.
It was the middle of December when Cortes, having completed all his
arrangements, set out on his return to Tlascala, ten or twelve leagues distant.
He marched in the van of the army, and took the way of Cholula. How
different was his condition from that in which he had left the republican
capital not five months before ! His march was a triumphal procession, dis-
playing the various banners and military ensigns taken from the enemy, long
tiles of captives, and all the rich spoils of conquest gleaned from many a hard-
fought field. As the army passed through the towns and villages, the
inhabitants poured out to greet them, and, as they drew near to Tlascala, the
whole population, men, women, and children, came forth, celebrating their
return with songs, dancing, and music. Arches decorated with flowers were
thrown across the streets through which they passed, and a Tlascalan orator
addressed the general, on his entrance into the city, in a lofty panegyric on
his late achievements, proclaiming him the " avenger of the nation." Amidst
this pomp and triumphal show, Cortes and his principal officers were see;
clad in deep mourning in honour of their friend Maxixca. And this tribttf
of respect to the memory of their venerated ruler touched the Tlascalans mo:
sensibly than all the proud display of military trophies.32
The general's first act was to confirm the son of his deceased friend in the
succession, which had been contested by an illegitimate brother. The youth
was but twelve years of age ; and Cortes prevailed on him without difficulty
to follow his father's example and receive baptism. He afterwards knighted
him with his own hand ; the first instance, probably, of the order of chivalry
being conferred on an American Indian.33 The elder Xicotencatl was also
persuaded to embrace Christianity ; and the example of their rulers had its
obvious effect in preparing the minds of the people for the reception of the
truth. Cortes, whether from the suggestions of Olmedo, or from the engrossing
nature Of his own affairs, did not press the work of conversion further at this
time, but wisely left the good seed, already sown, to ripen in secret, till time
should bring forth the harvest.
The Spanish commander, during his short stay in Tlascala, urged forward
the preparations for the campaign. He endeavoured to drill the Tlascalans
and to give them some idea of European discipline and tactics. He caused
new arms to be made, and the old ones to be put in order. Powder was
manufactured with the aid of sulphur obtained by some adventurous cavaliers
from the smoking throat of Popocatepetl.34 The construction of the brigan-
tines went forward prosperously under the direction of Lopez, with the aid of
the Tlascalans.35 Timber was cut in the forests, ana pitch, an article
31 Eel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. rera, " i armole caballero, al vso de Castilla ;
179. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, i porque lo fuese de Jesu-Christo, le hico
cap. 18. — Alonso de Avila went as tbe bearer bauticar, i se llamo D. Lorenco Maxiscatzin."
of despatches to St. Domingo. Bernal Diaz, 3* For an account of the manner in which
who is not averse, now and then, to a fling at this article was procured by Montano and his
his commander, says that Cortes was willing doughty companions, see ante, p. 234.
to get rid of this gallant cavalier, because he 35 " Ansi se hicieron trece bergantines en
was too independent and plain-spoken. Hist. el barrio Atempa, junto si una hermita que se
de la Conquista, cap. 136. llama San Buenaventura, los quales hizo y
32 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. otro Martin Lopez uno de los primeros con-
136.— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, quistadores, y le ayudo Neguez Gomez."
cap. 19. Hist, de Tlascala, MS.
s
Ibid,, ubi supra.— "Hicolo," says Her-
PRAYER OF THE HIGH-PRIEST. 403
unknown to the Indians, was obtained from the pines on the neighbouring
Sierra de Malinche. The rigging and other appurtenances were transported
by the Indian tamanes from Villa Rica ; and by Christmas the work was so
far advanced that it was no longer necessary for Cortes to delay the march to-
Mexico.
CHAPTER VII.
GUATEMOZIN, EMPEROR OP THE AZTECS — PREPARATIONS FOR THE MARCH —
MILITARY CODE — SPANIARDS CROSS THE SIERRA — ENTER TEZCTJCO—
PRINCE IXTLILXOCHITL.
1520.
While the events related in the preceding chapter were passing, an
important change had taken place in the Aztec monarchy. Montezuma's
brother and successor, Cuitlahua, had suddenly died of the smallpox, after a
brief reign of four months,— brief, but glorious, for it had witnessed the over-
throw of the Spaniards and their expulsion from Mexico.1 On the death of
their warlike chief, the electors were convened, as usual, to supply the vacant
throne. It was an office of great responsibility in the dark hour of their
fortunes. The teoteuctli, or high-priest, invoked the blessing of the supreme
God on their deliberations. His prayer is still extant. It was the last one
ever made on a similar occasion in Anahuac, and a few extracts from it may
interest the reader, as a specimen of Aztec eloquence :
" 0 Lord ! thou knowest that the days of our sovereign are at an end, for
thou hast placed him beneath thy feet. He abides in the place of his
retreat ; he has trodden the path which we are all to tread ; he has gone to
the house whither we are all to follow,— the house of eternal darkness,
where no light cometh. He is gathered to his rest, and no one henceforth
shall disquiet him. ... All these were the princes, his predecessors, who
sat on the imperial throne, directing the affairs of thy kingdom ; for thou art
the universal lord and emperor, by whose" will and movement the whole
world is directed ; thou needest not the counsel of another. They laid down
the intolerable burden of government, and left it to him, their successor.
Yet he sojourned but a few days in his kingdom,— but a few days had we
enjoyed his presence, when thou summonedst him away to follow those who
had ruled over the land before him. And great cause has he for thankfulness,
that thou hast relieved him from so grievous a load, and placed him in tran-
quillity and rest. . . . Who now shall order matters for the good of the people
and the realm ? Who shall appoint the judges to administer justice to thy
people 1 Who now shall bid the drum and the flute to sound, and gather
together the veteran soldiers and the men mighty in battle ? Our Lord and
1 Soli's dismisses this prince with the re- light represented in the text. Cortes, who
mark "that he reigned but a few days; long ought to know, describes him "as held to be
enough, however, for his indolence and apathy very wise and valiant." Rel. Seg., ap. Loren-
to efface the memory of his name among the zana, p. 166. — See, also, Sahagun, Hist, de
people." (Conquista, lib. 4, cap. 16.) Whence Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 29,— Herrera,
the historiographer of the Indies borrowed Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 19,— Ixtli-
the colouring for this portrait I cannot con- lxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 8S,— Oviedo,
jecture; certainly not from the ancient autho- Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 16, —
rities, which uniformly delineate the character Gomara, Cronica, cap. 118.
and conduct of the Aztec sovereign in the
404
EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
our Defence ! wilt thou, in thy wisdom, elect one who shall be worthy to sit
on the throne of thy kingdom ; one who shall bear the grievous burden of
government ; who shall comfort and cherish thy poor people, even as the
mother cherisheth her offspring? ... 0 Lord most merciful! pour forth
thy light and thy splendour over this thine empire ! . . . Order it so that
thou shalt be served in all, and through all." 2
The choice fell on Quauhtemotzin, or Guatemozin, as euphoniously cor-
rupted by the Spaniards.3 He was nephew to the two last monarchs, and
married his cousin, the beautiful princess Tecuichpo, Montezuma's daughter.
" He was not more than twenty-five years old, and elegant in his person for
an Indian," says one who had seen him often ; " valiant, and so terrible that
his followers trembled in his presence."4 He did not shrink from the
perilous post that was offered to him ; and, as he saw the tempest gathering
darkly around, he prepared to meet it like a man. Though young, he had
ample experience in military matters, and had distinguished himself above all
others in the bloody conflicts of the capital. He bore a sort of religious
hatred to the Spaniards, like that which Hannibal is said to have sworn,
and which he certainly cherished, against his Roman foes.
By means of his spies, Guatemozin made himself acquainted with the move-
ments of the Spaniards and their design to besiege the capital. He prepared
for it by sending away the useless part of the population, while he called in
his potent vassals from the neighbourhood. He continued the plans of his
predecessor for strengthening the defences of the city, reviewed his troops,
and stimulated them by prizes to excel in their exercises. He made harangues
to his soldiers to rouse them to a spirit of desperate resistance. He en-
Quien mandara tocar el atambor y pffano
2 The reader of Spanish will see that in the
version in the text I have condensed the
original, which abounds in the tautology and
repetitions characteristic of the compositions
of a rude people. " Sefior nuestro ! ya V. M.
sabe conio es muerto nuestro N. : ya lo
habeis puesto debajo de vuestros pies : ya est£
en su recogimiento, y es ido por el camino
que todos hemos de ir y a la casa donde
nemos de niorar, casa de perpetuas tinieblas,
donde ni hay ventana, ni luz alguna : ya estii
en el reposo donde nadie le desasosegani. . . .
Todos estos sefiores y reyes rigieron, gober-
naron, y gozaron del sefiorfo y dignidad real, y
del trono y sitial del imperio, los cuales orde-
naron y concertaron las cosas de vuestro reino,
que sois el universal senor y emperador, por
cuyo albedrio y motivo se rige todo el universo,
y que no teneis necesidad de consejo de ningun
otro. Ya estos dichos dejaron la carga in-
tolerable del gobierno que trageron sobre sus
hombros, y lo dejaron a su succesor N., el cual
por algunos pocos dias tuvo en pie su senorio
y reino, y ahora ya se ha ido en pos de ellos
al otro mundo, porque vos le mandasteis que
fuese y le llamasteis, y por haberle descargado
de tan gran carga, y quitado tan gran trabajo,
y haberle puesto en paz y en reposo, esta muy
obligado A daros gracias. Algunos pocos dias
le logramos, y ahora para siempre se ausento
de nosotros para nunca mas volver al mundo.
. . . i Quien ordenara y dispondni las cosas
necesarias al bien del pueblo, senorfo y reino ?
i Quien elegira a los jueces particulars, que
{engan carga de la gente baja por los barrios ?
para juntar gente para la guerra? i Y quien
reunin£ y acaudillara a los soldados viejos, y
hombres diestros en la pelea ? Sefior nuestro
y amparador nuestro ! tenga por bien V. M.
de elegir, y sefialar alguna persona suficiente
para que tenga vuestro trono, y lleve & cuestas
la carga pesada del regimen de la republica,
regocige y regale a, los populares, bien asi
como la madre regala si su hijo, poniendole
en su regazo. ... 0 sefior nuestro humanf-
simo ! dad lumbre y resplandor de vuestra
mano £ esto reino ! . . . Hagase como V. M.
fuere servido en todo, y por todo." Sahagun,
Hist, de Nueva-Espana, lib. 6, cap. 5.
3 The Spaniards appear to have changed the
Qua, beginning Aztec names, into Gua, in
the same manner as, in the mother country,
they changed the Wad at the beginning of
Arabic names into Guad. (See Conde, El
Nubiense, Descripcion de Espafia, notas,
passim.) The Aztec tzin was added to the
names of sovereigns and great lords, as a
mark of reverence. Thus, Cuitlahua was
called Cuitlahuatzin. This termination, usu-
ally dropped by the Spaniards, has been re-
tained from accident, or perhaps for the sake
of euphony, in Guatemozin's name.
* " Mancebo de hasta veynte y cinco afios,
bien gentil hombre papa ser Indio, y muy
esforcado, y se hizo temer de tal manera, que
todos los suyos temblauan del; y estaua
casado con vna hija de Montecuma, bien
hermosa muger para ser India." Bernal Diaz,
Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 130.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE MARCH. 405
couraged his vassals throughout the empire to attack the white men wherever
they were to be met with, setting- a price on their heads, as well as on the
persons of all who should be brought alive to him in Mexico.5 And it was no
uncommon thing for the Spaniards to find hanging up in the temples of the
conquered places the arms and accoutrements of their unfortunate country-
men who had been seized and sent to the capital for sacrifice.6 Such was the
young monarch who was now called to the tottering throne of the Aztecs ;
worthy, by his bold and magnanimous nature, to sway the sceptre of his
country in the most flourishing period of her renown, and now, in her distress,
devoting himself in the true spirit of a patriot prince to uphold her falling
fortunes or bravely perish with them.7
We must now return to the Spaniards in Tlascala, where we left them pre-
paring to resume their march on Mexico. Their commander had the satis-
faction to see his troops tolerably complete in their appointments ; varying,
indeed, according to the condition of the different reinforcements which had.
arrived from time to time, but, on the whole, superior to those of the army
with which he had first invaded the country. His whole force fell little short
of six hundred men ; forty of whom were cavalry, together with eighty arque-
busiers and cross-bowmen. The rest were armed with sword and target, and
with the copper-headed pike of Chinantla. He had nine cannon of a moderate
calibre, and was indifferently supplied with powder.8
As his forces were drawn up in order of march, Cortes rode through the
ranks, exhorting his soldiers, as usual with him on these occasions, to be true
to themselves and the enterprise in which they were embarked. He told
them they were to march against rebels, who had once acknowledged allegiance
to the Spanish sovereign ;9' against barbarians, the enemies of their religion.
They were to fight the battles of the Cross and of the crown ; to fight their
own battles, to wipe away the stain from their arms, to avenge their injuries,
and the loss of the dear companions who had been butchered on the field or
on the accursed altar of sacrifice. Never was there a war which offered
higher incentives to the Christian cavalier ; a war which opened to him riches
and renown in this life, and an imperishable glory in that to come.10
Thus did the politic chief touch all the secret springs of devotion, honour,
and ambition in the bosoms of his martial audience, waking the mettle of the
most sluggish before leading him on the perilous emprise. They answered
with acclamations that they were ready to die in defence of the Faith, and
would either conquer, or leave their bones with those of their countrymen in
the waters of the Tezcuco.
The army of the allies next passed in review before the general. It is
variously estimated by writers from a hundred and ten to a hundred and fifty
Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, p. 183.— Most, if not all, of the authorities —
cap. 19. a thing worthy of note — concur in this esti-
6 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. mate of the Spanish forces.
134. » "Y como sin causa ninguna todos los
7 One may call to mind the beautiful Naturales de Coliia, que son los de la gran
invocation which Racine has put into the Ciudad de Temixtitan, y los de todas las otras
mouth of Joad : Provincias a ellas sujetas, no solamente se
Hv™,, „r^„ „„•„*„„ A<„nn «„{n„„»A „„„„ habian rebelado contra Vuestra Magestad."
Venez, cher rejeton d une vaillante race, j^- * . = sunra
Remplir vos defenseurs d'une nouvelle .oft,id#|P . i84'.-" Porque demas del premio,
auaace; nue les davia en el cielo.se les seguirian en
Venez du diademe a leurs yeux vous couvnr, «*o mundo grandfssima honra, riquezas in-
it penssez du moms en roi, s'll faut penr.'' tables." BIxtliiJ£0Chitll Hist. Chichimeca,
athalie, acie *, scene o. t\*o „,-,— m
Rel. Tercera de Cortes, ap, Lorenzana,
MS., cap.
406 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
thousand soldiers ! The palpable exaggeration, no less than the discrepancy,
shows that little reliance can be placed on any estimate. It is certain, how-
ever, that it was a multitudinous array, consisting not only of the flower of
the Tlascalan warriors, but of those of Cholula, Tepeaca, and the neighbour-
ing territories, which had submitted to the Castilian crown.11
They were armed, after the Indian fashion, with bows and arrows, the
glassy maquahuitl, and the long pike, which formidable weapon Cortes, as
we have seen, had introduced among his own troops. They were divided into
battalions, each having its own banner, displaying the appropriate arms or
emblem of its company. The four great chiefs of the nation marched in the
van ; three of them venerable for their years, and showing, in the insignia
which decorated their persons, the evidence of many a glorious feat in arms.
The panache of many-coloured plumes floated from their casques, set in
emeralds or other precious stones. Their escaiqnl, or stuffed doublet of
cotton, was covered with the graceful surcoat of feather- work, and their feet
were protected by sandals embossed with gold. Four young pages followed,
bearing their weapons, and four others supported as many standards, on
which were emblazoned the armorial bearings of the four great divisions of
the republic.12 The Tlascalans, though frugal in the extreme, and rude in
their way of life, were as ambitious of display in their military attire as any
of the races on the plateau. As they defiled before Cortes, they saluted him
by waving their banners and by a flourish of their wild music, which the
general acknowledged by courteously raising his cap as they passed.13 The
Tlascalan warriors, and especially the younger Xicotencatl, their commander,
affected to imitate their European masters, not merely in their tactics, but in
minuter matters of military etiquette.
Cortes, with the aid of Marina, made a brief address to his Indian allies.
He reminded them that he was going to fight their battles against their
ancient enemies. He called on them to support him in a manner worthy of
their renowned republic. To those who remained at home, he committed the
charge of aiding in the completion of the brigantines, on which the success of
the expedition so much depended ; and he requested that none would follow
his banner who were not prepared to remain till the final reduction of the
capital.14 This address was answered by shouts, or rather yells, of defiance,
showing the exultation felt by his Indian confederates at the prospect of at
last avenging their manifold wrongs and humbling their haughty enemy.
Before setting out on the expedition, Cortes published a code of ordinances,
as he terms them, or regulations for the army, too remarkable to be passed
over in silence. The preamble sets forth that in all institutions, whether
divine or human, — if the latter have any worth, — order is the great law. The
ancient chronicles inform us that the greatest captains in past times owed
their successes quite as much to the wisdom of their ordinances as to their own
valour and virtue. The situation of the Spaniards eminently demanded such
a code ; a mere handful of men as they Avere, in the midst of countless
enemies^ most cunning in the management of their weapons and in the art
of war. The instrument then reminds the army that the conversion of the
heathen is the work most acceptable in the eye of the Almighty, and one that
will be sure to receive his support. It calls on every soldier to regard this as
11 "Cosa muy de ver," says Father Saha- 12 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10,
gun, without hazarding any precise number, cap. 20.
"en la cantidad y en los aparejos que lleva- J* Ibid., ubi supra,
ban." Hist, de Nueva-Espaiia, lib. 12, cap. 30, Ibid., loc. eft.
MS.
MILITARY CODE. 407
the prime object of the expedition, without which the war would be mani-
festly unjust, and evenj acquisition made by it, a robbery.15
Tne general solemnly protests that the principal motive which operates in
his own bosom is the desire to wean the natives from their gloomy idolatry
and to impart to them the knowledge of a purer faith ; and next, to recover
for his master, the emperor, the dominions which of right belong to him.10
The ordinances then prohibit all blasphemy against God or the saints ; a
vice much more frequent among Catholic than Protestant nations, arising,
perhaps, less from difference of religion than of physical temperament, — for
the warm sun of the South, under which Catholicism prevails, stimulates the
sensibilities to the more violent expression of passion.17
Another law is directed against gaming, to which the Spaniards, in all ages,
have been peculiarly addicted. Corte's, making allowance for the strong
national propensity, authorizes it under certain limitations, but prohibits the
use of dice altogether.18 Then follow other laws against brawls and private
combats, against personal taunts and the irritating sarcasms of rival com-
panies ; rules for the more perfect discipline of the troops, whether in camp
or the field. Among others is one prohibiting any captain, under pain of
death, from charging the enemy without orders ; a practice noticed as most
pernicious and of too frequent occurrence, — showing the impetuous spirit and
want of true military subordination in the bold cavaliers who followed the
standard of Cortes
The last ordinance prohibits any man, officer or private, from securing to
his own use any of the booty taken'from the enemy, whether it be gold, silver,
precious stones, feather-work, stuff's, slaves, or other commodity, however or
wherever obtained, in the city or in the field, and requires him to bring it
forthwith to the presence of the general, or the officer appointed to receive it.
The violation of this law was punished with death and confiscation of pro-
perty. So severe an edict may be thought to prove that, however much the
Conquistador may have been influenced by spiritual considerations, he was
by no means insensible to those of a temporal character.19
" "Que su principal motivo e intencion sea acces de colere des peuples du Midi, ils
apartar y desarraigar de las dichas idolatrias s'attaquent aux objets de leur culte, ils
a todos los naturalesdestas partes yreducillos les menacent, et ils accablent de paroles
6 a lo menos desear su salvacion y que sean outrageantes la Divinite elle-menie, le Ile-
reducidos al conocimiento de Dios y de su dempteur ou ses saints." Sismondi, Kepub-
Santa Fe catolica : porque si con otra inten- liques Italiennes, cap. 126.
cion se hiciese la dicha guerra seria injusta y ls Lucio Marineo, who -witnessed all the
todo lo que en ella se oviese Onoloxio e dire effects of this national propensity at the
obligado a restitucion." Ordenanzas mili- Castilian court, where he was residing at this
tares, MS. time, breaks out into the following animated
16 "E desde ahora protesto en nombre de apostrophe against it: "The gambler is he
S. M. que mi principal intencion e motivo es who wishes and conspires the death of his
facer esta guerra e las otras que ficiese por parents, he who swears falsely by God and
traerir y reduc a los dichos naturales al dicho by the life of his king and lord, he who kills
conocimiento denuestra Santa' Fe e creencia; his own soul and casts it into hell. What
y despues por los sozjugar e* supeditar debajo will not the gambler do, when he is not
del yugo e dominio imperial e real de su ashamed to lose his money, his time, his
Sacra Magestad; a quien juridicamente el sleep, his reputation, his honour, and even
Seiiorio de todas estas partes." Ordenanzas life itself? So that, considering how great
militares, MS. a number of men are incessantly engaged in
17 "Ce n'est qu'en Espagne et en Italie," play, the opinion seems to me well founded
says the penetrating historian of the Italian of those who say that hell is filled with
Republics, "qu'on rencontre cette habitude gamblers." Cosas memorables de Espagna
vicieuse, absolument inconnue aux peuples (ed. Sevilla, 1539), fol. 165.
protestants, et qu'il ne faut point confondre 19 These regulations are reported with
avec les grossiers juremens que le peuple en much uniformity by Herrera, Soli's, Clavigero,
tout days mele a ses discours. Dans tous les and others, but with such palpable inaccuracy
408 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
These provisions were not suffered to remain a dead letter. The Spanish
commander, soon after their proclamation, made an example of two of his
own slaves, whom he hanged for plundering the natives. A similar sentence
was passed on a soldier for the like offence, though he allowed him to be cut
down before the sentence was entirely executed. Cortes knew well the
character of his followers ; rough and turbulent spirits, who required to be
ruled with an iron hand. Yet "he was not eager to assert his authority on
light occasions. The intimacy into which they were thrown by their peculiar
situation, perils, and sufferings, in which all equally shared, and a common
interest in the adventure, induced a familiarity between men and officers,
most unfavourable to military discipline. The general's own manners, frank
and liberal, seemed to invite this freedom, which, on ordinary occasions, he
made no attempt to repress ; perhaps finding it too difficult, or at least im-
politic, since it afforded a safety-valve for the spirits of a licentious soldiery,
that, if violently coerced, might have burst forth into open mutiny. But the
limits of his forbearance were clearly defined ; and any attempt to overstep
them, or to violate the established regulations of the camp, brought a sure
and speedy punishment on the offender. By thus tempering severity with
indulgence, masking an iron will under the open bearing of a soldier, Cortes
established a control over his band of bold and reckless adventurers, such as
a pedantic martinet, scrupulous in enforcing the minutiae of military etiquette,
could never have obtained.
The ordinances, dated on the twenty-second of December, were proclaimed
to the assembled army on the twenty-sixth. Two days afterwards, the troops
were on their march, and Cortes, at the head of his battalions, with colours
flying and music playing, issued forth from the gates of the republican capital,
which had so generously received him in his distress, and which now, for the
second time, supplied him with the means for consummating his great enter-
prise. The population of the city, men, women, and children, hung on the
rear of the army, taking a last leave of their countrymen, and imploring the
gods to crown their arms with victory.
Notwithstanding the great force mustered by the Indian confederates, the
Spanish general allowed but a small part of them now to attend him. He
proposed to establish his head-quarters at some place on the Tezcucan lake,
whence he could annoy the Aztec capital by reducing the surrounding country,
cutting off the supplies, and thus placing the city in a state of blockade.20
The direct assault on Mexico itself he intended to postpone until the arrival
of the brigantines should enable him to make it with the greatest advantage.
Meanwhile, he had no desire to encumber himself with a superfluous multi-
tude, whom it would be difficult to feed ; and he preferred to leave them at
Tlascala, whence they might convey the vessels, when completed, to the camp,
and aid him in his future operations.
Three routes presented themselves to Cortes by which he might penetrate
into the Valley. He chose the most difficult, traversing the bold sierra which
divides the eastern plateau from the western, and so rough and precipitous as
to be scarcely practicable for the march of an army. He wisely judged that
he should be less likely to experience annoyance from the enemy in this direc-
that it is clear they never could have seen 20 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10,
the original instrument. The copy in my cap. 20. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista,
possession was taken from the Mufioz collec- cap. 127. The former historian states the
tion. As the document, though curious and number of Indian allies who followed Cortes,
highly interesting, has never bean published, at eighty thousand ; the latter at ten thou-
I have given it entire in the Appendix, Part sand ! 4 Quien szbe ?
2, No. 13.
SPANIARDS CROSS THE SIERRA. 409
tion, as they might naturally confide in the difficulties of the ground for their
protection.
The first day, the troops advanced five or six leagues, Cortes riding in the
van, at the head of his little body of cavalry. They halted at the village of
Tetzmellocan, at the base of the mountain chain which traverses the country,
touching, at its southern limit, the mighty Iztaccihuatl, or " White Woman."
— white with the snows of ages.21 At this village they met with a friendly
reception, and on the following morning began the ascent of the sierra.
The path was steep and exceedingly rough. Thick matted bushes covered
its surface, and the winter torrents had broken it into deep stony channels,
hardly practicable for the passage of artillery, while the straggling branches
of the trees, flung horizontally across the road, made it equally difficult for
cavalry. The cold, as they rose higher, became intense. It was keenly felt
by the Spaniards, accustomed of late to a warm, or at least temperate, climate ;
though the extreme toil with which they forced their way upward furnished
the best means of resisting the weather. The only vegetation to be seen in
these higher regions was the pine, dark forests of which clothed the sides of
the mountains, till even these dwindled into a thin and stunted growth. It
was night before the way-worn soldiers reached the bald crest of the sierra,
where they lost no time in kindling their fires ; and, huddling round their
bivouacs, they warmed their frozen limbs and prepared their evening repast.
With the earliest dawn, the troops were again in motion. Mass Avas said,
and they began their descent, more difficult and painful than their ascent on
the day preceding ; for, in addition to the natural obstacles of the road, they
found it strewn with huge pieces of timber and trees, obviously felled for the
purpose by the natives. Cortes ordered up a body of light troops to clear
away the impediments, and the army again resumed its march, but with the
apprehension that the enemy had prepared an ambuscade, to surprise them
when they should be entangled in the pass. They moved cautiously forward,
straining their vision to pierce the thick gloom of the forests, where the wily
foe might be lurking. But they saw no living thing, except only the wild
inhabitants of the woods, and flocks of the zopilote, the voracious vulture of
the country, which, in anticipation of a bloody banquet, hung, like a troop of
evil spirits, on the march of the .army.
As they descended, the Spaniards felt a sensible and most welcome change
in the temperature. The character of the vegetation changed with it, and
the funereal pine, their only companion of late, gave way to the sturdy oak,
to the sycamore, and, lower down, to the graceful pepper-tree mingling its red
berry with the dark foliage of the forest ; while, in still lower depths, the
faudy- coloured creepers might be seen flinging their gay blossoms over the
ranches and telling of a softer and more luxurious climate.
At length the army emerged on an open level, where the eye, unobstructed
by intervening wood or hill-top, could range, far and wide, over the Valley of
Mexico. There it lay bathed in the golden sunshine, stretched out, as it
were, in slumber, in the arms of the giant hills which clustered, like a phalanx
of guardian genii, around it. The magnificent vision, new to many of the
spectators, filled them with rapture. Even the veterans of Corte's could not
21 This mountain, which, with its neigh- It rises far above the limits of perpetual snow
"bour Popocatepetl, forms the great barrier — in the tropics, and its huge crest and sides,
the Herculis columrxe — of the Mexican enveloped in its silver drapery, form one of
"Valley, has been fancifully likened, from its the most striking objects in the magnificent
long dorsal swell, to the back of a dromedary. emip-d'ceil presented to the inhabitants of the
(Tudor's Tour in North America, Let. 22.) capita!.
410 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
withhold their admiration, though this was soon followed by a bitter feeling,
as they recalled the sufferings which had befallen them within these beautiful
but treacherous precincts. It made us feel, says the lion-hearted Conqueror,
in his Letters, that " we had no choice but victory or death ; and, our minds
once resolved, we moved forward with as light a step as if we had been going
on an errand of certain pleasure." 22
As the Spaniards advanced, they beheld the neighbouring hill-tops blazing
with beacon-fires, showing that the country was already alarmed and mustering
to oppose them. The general called on his men to be mindful of their high
reputation ; to move in order, closing up their ranks, and to obey implicitly
the commands of their officers.23 At every turn among the hills, they expected
to meet the forces of the enemy drawn up to dispute their passage. And, as
they were allowed to pass the defiles unmolested, and drew near to the open
plains, they were prepared to see them occupied by a formidable host, who
would compel them to fight over again the battle of Otumba. But, although
clouds of dusky warriors were seen, from time to time, hovering on the high-
lands, as if watching their progress, they experienced no interruption till they
reached a barranca, or deep ravine, through which flowed a little river, crossed
by a bridge partly demolished. On the opposite side a considerable body of
Indians was stationed, as if to dispute the passage ; but, whether distrusting
their own numbers, or intimidated by the steady advance of the Spaniards,
they offered them no annoyance, and were quickly dispersed by a few resolute
charges of cavalry. The army then proceeded, without molestation, to a
small town, called Coatepec, where they halted for the night. Before retiring
to his own quarters, Corte's made the rounds of the camp, with a few trusty
followers, to see that all was safe.24 He seemed to have an eye that never
slumbered, and a frame incapable of fatigue. It was the indomitable spirit
within, which sustained him.25
Yet he may well have been kept awake through the watches of the night,
by anxiety and doubt. He was now but three leagues from Tezcuco, the far-
famed capital of the Acolhuans. He proposed to establish his head- quarters,
if possible, at this place. Its numerous dwellings would afford ample accom-
modations for his army. An easy communication with Tlascala, by a different
route from that which he had traversed, would furnish him with the means
of readily obtaining supplies from that friendly country, and for the safe
transportation of the brigantines, when finished, to be launched on the waters
of the Tezcuco. But he had good reason to distrust the reception he should
meet with in the capital ; for an important revolution had taken place there
since the expulsion of the Spaniards from Mexico, of which it will be necessary
to give some account.
The reader will remember that the cacique of that place, named Cacama,
22 (i y prometfmos todos de nunca do clla con diez de Caballo comenze la Vela, y Konda
salir, sin Victoria, 6 dejarallf las vidas. Ycon de la prima, y bice, que toda la Gente estu-
esta determinacion ibamos todos tan alegres, biesse muy apercibida." Ibid., pp. 188, 189.
como si fueramos & cosa de mucho placer." " For tbe preceding pages, giving the
Rel. Terc, ap. Lorenzana, p. 188. account of tbe marcb, besides the Letter of
** " Y yo torne <i rogar, y encomendar Cortes, so often quoted, see Gomara, Cronica,
raucho ;i los Espanoles, que hiciessen, como cap. 121, — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib.
siempre habian hecho, y como se esperaba de 33, cap. 18, — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con-
sus Personas ; y que nadie no se desmandasse, quista, cap. 137,— Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala,
y que fuessen con rnucho concierto, y orden MS., — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10,
por su'^amino." Ibid., ubi supra. cap. 20, — Ixtlilxochitl, Relacion de la Venida
21 "E como la Gente de pie venia algo de los Espanoles y Principio de la Ley
cansada, y se hacia tarde, dormfmos en una EvangeUica (Mexico, 1829), p. 9.
Poblacion, que se dice Coatepeque. ... E yo
ENTER TEXCUCO. 411
was deposed by Corte's, during his first residence in the Aztec metropolis, in
consequence of a projected revolt against the Spaniards, and that the crown
had been placed on the head of a younger brother, Cuicuitzca. The deposed
prince was among the prisoners carried away by Cortes, and perished with
the others, in the terrible passage of the causeway, on the noche triste. His
brother, afraid, probably, after the flight of the Spaniards, of continuing with
his. own vassals, whose sympathies were altogether with the Aztecs, accom-
panied his friends in their retreat, and was so fortunate as to reach Tlascala
in safety.
Meanwhile, a second son of Nezahualpilli, named Coanaco, claimed the
crown, on his elder brother's death, as his own rightful inheritance. As he
heartily joined his countrymen and the Aztecs in their detestation of the
white men, his claims were sanctioned by the Mexican emperor. Soon after
his accession, the new lord of Tezcuco had an opportunity of showing his
loyalty to his imperial patron in an effectual manner.
A body of forty-five Spaniards, ignorant of the disasters in Mexico, were
transporting thither a large quantity of gold, at the very time their country-
men were on the retreat to Tlascala. As they passed through the Tezcucan
territory, they were attacked by Coanaco's orders, most of them massacred on
the spot, and the rest sent for sacrifice to Mexico. The arms and accoutre-
ments of these unfortunate men were hung up as trophies in the temples, and
their skins, stripped from their dead bodies, were suspended over the bloody
shrines, as the most acceptable offering to the offended deities.26
Some months after this event, the exiled prince, Cuicuitzca, wearied with
his residence in Tlascala, and pining for his former royal state, made his way
back secretly to Tezcuco, hoping, it would seem, to raise a party there in his
favour. But, if such were his expectations, they were sadly disappointed ; for
no sooner had he set foot in the capital than he was betrayed to his brother,
who, by the advice of Guatemozin, put him to death, as a traitor to his
country.27 Such was the posture of affairs in Tezcuco when Cortes, for the
second time, approached its gates ; and well might he doubt, not merely the
nature of his reception there, but whether he would be permitted to enter it
at all, without force of arms.
These apprehensions were dispelled the following morning, when, before the
troops were well under arms, an embassy was announced from the lord of
Tezcuco. It consisted of several nobles, some of whom were known to the
companions of Cortes. They bore a golden flag in token of amity, and a
present of no great value to Cortes. They brought also a message from the
cacique, imploring the general to spare his territories, inviting him to take
up his quarters in his capital, and promising on his arrival to become the
vassal of the Spanish sovereign.
Cortes dissembled the satisfaction with which he listened to these overtures,
and sternly demanded of the envoys an account of the Spaniards who had been
massacred, insisting, at the same time, on the immediate restitution of the
plunder. But the Indian nobles excused themselves by throwing the whole
blame upon the Aztec emperor, by whose orders the deed had been perpetrated,
and who now had possession of the treasure. They urged Cortes not to enter
28 See ante, p. 388.— The skins of those of their victims. See Sahagun, Hist, de
immolated on the sacrificial stone were a Nueva-Espafia, passim,
common offering in the Indian temples, and 27 Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p.
the mad priests celebrated many of their 187.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind,, MS., lib. 33,
festivals by publicly dancing with their own cap. 19.
persons enveloped in these disgusting spoils
412 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
the city that day, but to pass the night in the suburbs, that their master
might have time to prepare suitable accommodations for him. The Spanish
commander, however, gave no heed to this suggestion, but pushed forward his
march, and at noon, on the thirty-first of December, 1520, entered, at the head
of his legions, the venerable walls of Tezcuco, "the place of rest," as not
inaptly denominated.28
He was struck, as when he before visited this populous city, with the soli-
tude and silence which reigned throughout its streets. He was conducted to
the palace of Nezahualpilli, which was assigned as his quarters. It was an
irregular pile of low buildings, covering a wide extent of ground, like the
royal residence occupied by the troops at Mexico. It was spacious enough
to furnish accommodations not only for all the Spaniards, says Cortes, but for
twice their number.29 He gave orders, on his arrival, that all regard should
be paid to the persons and property of the citizens, and forbade any Spaniard
to leave his quarters, under pain of death.
His commands were not effectual to suppress some excesses of his Indian
allies, if the report of the Tezcucan chronicler be correct, who states that the
Tlascalans burned down one of the royal palaces soon after their arrival. It
was the depository of the national archives ; and the conflagration, however
it may have occurred, may well be deplored by the antiquary, who might have
found in. its hieroglyphic records some clue to the migrations of the mysterious
races which first settled on the highlands of Anahuac.30
Alarmed at the apparent desertion of the place, as well as by the fact that
none of its principal inhabitants came to welcome him, Cortes ordered some
soldiers to ascend the neighbouring teocalli and survey the city. They soon
returned with the report that the inhabitants were leaving it in great numbers,
with their families and effects, some in canoes upon the lake, others on foot
towards the mountains. The general now comprehended the import of the
cacique's suggestion that the Spaniards should pass the night in the suburbs,
— in order to secure time for evacuating the city. He feared that the chief
himself might have fled. He lost no time in detaching troops to secure the
principal avenues, where they were to turn back the fugitives, and arrest the
cacique, if he were among the number. But it was too late. Coanaco was
already far on his way across the lake to Mexico.
Cortes now determined to turn this event to his own account, by placing
another ruler on the throne, who should be more subservient to his interests.
He called a meeting of the few principal persons still remaining in the city,
and, by their advice and ostensible election, advanced a brother of the late
sovereign to the dignity, which they declared vacant. This prince, who con-
sented to be baptized, was a willing instrument in the hands of the Spaniards.
He survived but a few months,31 and was succeeded by another member of
28 Tezcuco, a Chichimecname, according; to eran como Escrituras y recuerdos perecieron
Ixtlilxocliitl, signifying " place of detention desde este tiempo. La obra de las Casas era
or rest," because the various tribes from the la mejor y la mas artificiosaque bubo en esta
North halted there on their entrance into tierra." Ixtlilxocliitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap.
Anahuac. Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 10. 91.
as " La qual es tan grande, que aunque 3l The historian Ixtlilxocliitl pays the fol-
fueramos doblados los Espafioles, nos pudie- lowing high tribute to the character of bis
ranios aposentar bien & placer en ella." Kel. royal kinsman, whose name was Tecocol.
Terc, ap. Lorenzana, p. 191. Strange that this name is not to be found —
so " De tal manera que se quemaron todos with the exception of Sabaguu's work— in
los Archivos Reales de toda la Nueva Espafia, any contemporary record ! *' Fue1 el pnmeru
que fue una de las mayores perdidas que que lo fue en Tezcoco, con barta pena de los
tuvo esta tierra, porque con esto toda la Espafioles, porque fue uobilfsimo y los quiso
memoria de sus autiguayas y otras cosas que mucho. Fue D. Fernando Tecocoltzin muy
PRINCE IXTLILXOCHITL. 413
the royal house, named Ixtlilxochitl, who, indeed, as general of his armies,
may be said to have held the reins of government in his hands during his
brother's lifetime. As this person was intimately associated with the Span-
iards in their subsequent operations, to the success of which he essentially
contributed, it is proper to give some account of his early history, which, in
truth, is as much enveloped in the marvellous as that of any fabulous hero of
antiquity.32
He was son, by a second queen, of the great Nezahualpilli. Some alarming
prodigies at his birth, and the gloomy aspect of the planets, led the astrologers
who cast his horoscope to advise the king, his father, to take away the infant's
life, since, if he lived to grow up, he was destined to unite with the enemies of
his country and overturn its institutions and religion. But the old monarch
replied, says the chronicler, that " the time had arrived when the sons of
Quctzalcoatl were to come from the East to take possession of the land ; and,
if the Almighty had selected his child to co-operate with them in the work,
His will be done." 33
As the boy advanced in years, he exhibited a marvellous precocity not
merely of talent, but of mischievous activity, which afforded an alarming
prognostic for the future. When about twelve years old, he formed a little
corps of followers of about his own age, or somewhat older, with whom he
practised the military exercises of his nation, conducting mimic fights and
occasionally assaulting the peaceful burghers and throwing the whole city as
well as palace into uproar and confusion. Some of his father's ancient coun-
sellors, connecting this conduct with the predictions at his birth, saw in it such
alarming symptoms that they repeated the advice of the astrologers to take
away the prince's life, if the monarch would not see his kingdom one day given
up to anarchy. This unpleasant advice was reported to the juvenile offender,
who was so much exasperated by it that he put himself at the head of a party
of his young desperadoes, and, entering the houses of the offending counsellors,
dragged them forth and administered to them the garrote— the mode in
which capital punishment was inflicted in Tezcuco.
He was seized and brought before his father. When questioned as to his
extraordinary conduct, he coolly replied "that he had done no more than he
had a right to do. The guilty ministers had deserved their fate, by endeavour-
ing to alienate his father's affections from him, for no other reason than his
gentil hombre, alto de cuerpo y niuy bianco, last melodious name* lias alono given the
tanto cuanto podia ser cualquier Espafiol por particulars of his history. I have followed
muy bianco que fuese, y que mostraba su him, as, from his personal connections, having
persona y termino descender, y ser del linage had access to the best sources of information ;
que era. Supo la lengua Castellar.a, y asi though, it must be confessed, he is far too
casi las mas noches despues de baber cenado, ready to take things on trust, to be always
trataban el y Cortes de todo lo que se debia the best, authority.
hactr acerca de las guerras." Ixtlilxochitl, M "El respondio, que era por denias ir
Venida de los Espafioles, pp. 12, 13. contra lo determinado por el Dies Criador de
M The accession of Tecocol, as, indeed, his todas las cosas, pues no sin misterio y secreto
existence, passes unnoticed by some bis- juicio suyoledabatal Hijoaltiempoy quando
torians, and by others is mentioned in so se acercaban las profeci'asde sus Antepasados,
equivocal a manner — his Indian name being que haviase venir nuevas Gentes ;i poseer la
omitted— that it is very doubtful if any other Tierra, como eran los Hijos de Quetzaleoatl
is intended than his younger brother Ixtlilxo- que aguardaban su venida de la parte oriental."
chitl. The Tezcucan chronicler bearing this Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chicb., MS., cap. 69.
* [Thi3 name— " which," says Mr. Tylor, latter being itself a compound of tliU}, black,
"sticks in the throats of readers of Prescott" and xochitl, flower.— Buschmann% Ubcr die
—signifies "vanilla-face," being compounded Aztekischen Ortsnamen, S. 681.— En.]
of ixtli, face, and UUxochitl, vanilla, the
414 EXPULSION FROM MEXICO.
too great fondness for the profession of arms, — the most honourable profession
in the state, and the one most worthy of a prince. If they had .suffered death,
it was no more than they had intended for him." The wise Nezahualpilli,
says the chronicler, found much force in these reasons ; and, as he saw nothing
low and sordid in the action, but rather the ebullition of a daring spirit, which
in after-life might lead to great things, he contented himself with bestowing
a grave admonition on the juvenile culprit.34 Whether this admonition had
any salutary effect on his subsequent demeanour, we are not informed. It is
said, however, that as he grew older he took an active part in the wars of his
country, and, when no more than seventeen, had won for himself the insignia
of a valiant and victorious captain.35
On his father's death, he disputed the succession with his elder brother, ■
Cacama. The country was menaced with a civil war, when the affair was
compromised by his brother's ceding to him that portion of his territories
which lay among the mountains. On the arrival of the Spaniards, the young
chieftain— for he was scarcely twenty years of age— made, as we have seen,
many friendly demonstrations towards them, induced, no doubt, by his hatred
of Montezuma? who had supported the pretensions of Cacama.30 It was not,
however, till his advancement to the lordship of Tezcuco that he showed the
full extent of his good will. From that hour he became the fast friend of the
Christians, supporting them with his personal authority and the whole strength
of his military array and resources, which, although much shorn of their
ancient splendour since the days of his father, were still considerable, and
made him a most valuable ally. His important services have been gratefully
commemorated by the Castilian historians ; and history should certainly not
defraud him of his just meed of glory,— the melancholy glory of having
contributed more than any other chieftain of Anahuac to rivet the chains of
the white man round the necks of his countrymen.
31 " Con que el Key no supo con que ocacion development is one of his having, when only
poderle castigar, porque lo parecieron sus ra- three years old, pitched his nurse into a well,
zones tan vivas y fundadas que su parte no as she was drawing water, to punish her for
habia hecho cosa indebida ni vileza para poder certain improprieties of conduct of which he
ser castegado, mas tan solo una ferocidad de had been witness. But I spare the reader
jinimo ; pronostico de lo mucho que habia de the recital of these astonishing proofs of pre-
venir .-l saber por las Armas, y asi el Rey dijo, cocity, as it is very probable his appetite for
que se fuese a la mano." Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. the marvellous may not keep pace with that
Chich., MS., cap. 69. of the chronicler of Tezcuco.
a5 Ibid., ubi supra. — Among other anec- 3B Ante, p. 140.
dotes recorded of the young prince's early
The two pillars on which the story of the The history of the Conquest is necessarily
Conquest mainly rests are the Chronicles of that of the great man who achieved it. But
Gomara and of Bernal Diaz, two individuals Gomara has thrown his hero's character into
having as little resemblance to each other as so bold relief that it has entirely overshadowed
the courtly and cultivated churchman lias to that of his brave companions in arms ; and,
the unlettered soldier. while he has tenderly drawn the veil over
The first of these, Francisco Lopez de Go- the infirmities of his favourite, he is ever
mara, was a native of Seville. On the return. studious to display his exploits in the full
of Cortes to Spain after the Conquest, Gomara blaze of panegyric. His situation may in
became his chaplain, and on his patron's some degree excuse his partiality. But it
death continued in the service of his son, the did not vindicate him in the eyes of the honest
second Marquis of the Valley. It was then Las Casas, who seldom concludes a chapter of
that he wrote his Chronicle ; and the circum- his oWn -narrative of the Conquest without.
stances under which it was produced might administering a wholesome castigation to
lead one to conjecture that the narrative Gomara. He even goes so far as to tax the
would not be conducted on the strict prin- chaplain with "downright falsehood," assur-
ciples of historic impartiality. Nor would ing us "that he had neither eyes nor ears
such a conjecture be without foundation. but for what his patron chose to dictate to
GOMARA-BERNAL DIAZ.
415
him." That this is not literally true is evi-
dent from the fact that the narrative was not
written till several years after the death of
Cortes. Indeed, Gomara derived his infor-
mation from the highest sources; not merely
from his patron's family, but also from the
most distinguished actors in the great drama,
with whom his position in society placed him
in intimate communication.
The materials thus obtained he arranged
with a symmetry little understood by the
chroniclers of the time. Instead of their
rambling mcoherencies, his style displays an
elegant brevity ; it is as clear as it is concise.
If the facts are somewhat too thickly crowded
on the reader, and occupy the mind too
busily for reflection, they at least all tend to
a determinate point, and the story, instead
of dragging its slow length along till our
patience and interest are exhausted, steadily
maintains its onward march. In short, the
execution of the work is not only superior to
that of most contemporary narratives, but,
to a certain extent, may aspire to the rank of
a classical composition.
Owing to these circumstances, Gomara's
History soon obtained general circulation and
celebrity ; and, while many a letter of Cortes,
and the more elaborate compositions of
Oviedo and Las Casas, were suffered to
slumber in manuscript, Gomara's writings
were printed and reprinted in his owu day,
and translated into various languages of
Europe. The first edition of the Cronica de
la Nueva-Espana appeared at Medina, in 1553 ;
it was republished at Antwerp the follow-
ing year. It has since been incorporated in
Barcia's collection, and lastly, in 1826, made
its appearance on this side of the water from
the Mexican press. The circumstances at-
tending this last edition are curious. The
Mexican government appropriated a small
sum to defray the expense of translating
what was supposed to be an original chronicle
of Chimalpain, an Indian writer who lived at
the close of the sixteenth century. The care
of the translation was committed to the
laborious Bustamante. But this scholar had
not proceeded far in his labour when he
' ascertained that the supposed original was
itself an Aztec translation of Gomara's
Chronicle. He persevered, however, in his
editorial labours, until he had given to the
public an American edition of Gomara. It
is a fact more remarkable that the editor in
• his different compilations constantly refers
to this same work as the Chronicle of Chimal-
pain.
The other authority to which I have ad-
verted is Bernal Diaz del Castillo, a native of
Medina del Campo in Old Castile. He was
born of a poor and humble family, and in
1514 came over to seek his fortunes in the
New World. He embarked as a common
soldier under Cordova in the first expedition
to Yucatan. He accompanied Grijalva in the
following year to the same quarter, and
finally enlisted under the banner of Cortes.
He followed this victorious chief in his first
march up the great plateau ; descended with
him to make the assault on Narvaez; shared
the disasters of the noche trisle ; and was
present at the siege and surrender of the
capital. In short, there was scarcely an
event or an action of importance in the whole
war in which he did not bear a part. He
was engaged in a hundred and nineteen dif-
ferent battles and rencontres, in several of
which he was wounded, and in more than
one narrowly escaped falling into the enemy's
hands. In all these Bernal Diaz displayed
the old Castilian valour, and a loyalty which
made him proof against the mutinous spirit
that too often disturbed the harmony of the
camp. On every occasion he was found true
to his commander and to the cause in which
he was embarked. And his fidelity is at-
tested not only by his own report, but by the
emphatic commendations of his general ; who
selected him on this account for offices of
trust and responsibility, which furnished the
future v chronicler with access to the best
means of information in respect to the Con-
quest.
On the settlement of the country, Bernal
Diaz received his share of the repartimientos
of land and labourers. But the arrangement
was not to his satisfaction; and he loudly
murmurs at the selfishness of his commander,
too much engrossed by the care for his own
emoluments to think of his followers. The
division of spoil is usually an unthankful
office. Diaz had been too long used to a life
of adventure to be content with one of torpid
security. He took part in several expeditions
conducted by the captains of Cortes, and he
accompanied that chief in his terrible passage
through the forests of Honduras. At length,
in 1568, we find the veteran established as
regidor of the city of Guatemala, peacefully
employed in recounting the valorous achieve-
ments of his youth. It was then nearly half
a century after the Conquest. He had survived
his general and nearly all his ancient com-
panions in arms. Five only remained of that
gallant band who had accompanied Cortes on
his expedition from Cuba ; and those five, to
borrow the words of the old chronicler, were
"poor, aged, and infirm, with children and
grandchildren looking to them for support,
but with scarcely the means of affording it, —
ending their days, as they had begun them,
in toil and trouble." Such was the fate of
the Conquerors of golden Mexico.
The motives which induced liernal Diaz to
take up his pen at so late a period of life
Avere to vindicate forliimself and his comrades
that share of renown in the Conquest which
fairly belonged to them. Of this they had
been deprived, as he conceived, by the exag-
gerated reputation of their general; owing,
no doubt, in part, to the influence of Gomara's
writings. It was not, however, till he had
advanced beyond the threshold of his own
work that Diaz met with that of the chaplain.
The contrast presented by his own homely
416
BERNAL DIAZ.
diction to the clear and polished style of his
predecessor filled him with so much disgust
that he threw down his pen in despair. But,
when he had read further, and saw the gross
inaccuracies and what he deemed disregard of
truth in his rival, he resumed his labours,
determined to exhibit to the world a narrative
which should at least have the merit of
fidelity. Such was the origin of the Historia
verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva-
Uspaiia.
The chronicler may be allowed to have suc-
ceeded in his object. In reading his pages,
we feel that, whatever are the errors into
which he has fallen, from oblivion of ancient
transactions, or from unconscious vanity, — of
which he had full measure,— or from cre-
dulity, or any other cause, there is nowhere
a wilful perversion of truth. Had he at-
tempted it, indeed, his very simplicity would
have betrayed him. Even in relation to
Cortes, while he endeavours to adjust the
true balance between his pretensions and
those of his followers, and while he freely
exposes his cunning or cupidity, and some-
times his cruelty, he does ample justice to
his great and heroic qualities. With all his
defects, it is clear that he considers his own
chief as superior to any other of ancient or
modern times. In the heat of remonstrance,
he is ever ready to testify his loyalty and
personal attachment. When calumnies assail
his commander, or he experiences unmerited
slight or indignity, the loyal chronicler is
prompt to step forward and shield him. In
short, it is evident that, however much he
may at times censure Cortes, he will allow
no one else to do it.
Bernal Diaz, the untutored child of nature,
is a most true and literal copyist of nature.
He transfers the scenes of real life by a sort
of daguerreotype process, if I may so say, to
his pages. He is among chroniclers what De
Foe is among novelists. He introduces us
into the heart of the camp, wre huddle round
the bivouac with the soldiers, loiter with them
on their wearisome marches, listen to their
stories, their murmurs of discontent, their
plans of conquest, their hopes, their triumphs,
their disappointments. All the picturesque
scenes and romantic incidents of the campaign
are reflected in his page as in a mirror. The
lapse of fifty years has had no power over
the spirit of the veteran. The fire of youth
glows in every line of his rude history ; and,
as he calls up the scenes of the past, the
remembrance of the brave companions who
are gone gives, it may be, a warmer colouring
to the picture than if it had been made at an
earlier period. Time, and reflection, and the
apprehensions for the future, which might
steal over the evening of life, have no power
over the settled opinions of his earlier days.
He has no misgivings as to the right of con-
quest, or as to the justice of the severities
inflicted on the natives. He is still the
soldier of the Cross ; and those who fell by
his side in the fight were martyrs for the
faith. "Where are now my companions?'*
he asks; "they have fallen in battle or been
devoured by the cannibal, or been thrown to
fatten the wild beasts in their cages! they
whose remains should rather have been
gathered under monuments emblazoned with
their achievements, which deserve to be com-
memorated in letters of gold ; for they died
in the service of God and of his Majesty, and
to give light to those who sat in darkness, —
and also to acquire that wealth vjhich most
men covet." The last motive — thus tardily
and incidentally expressed — may be thought
by some to furnish a better k<>y than either
of the preceding to the conduct of the Con-
querors. It is, at all events, a specimen of
that naivete which gives an irresistible charm
to the old chronicler, and which, in spite of
himself, unlocks his bosom, as it were, and
lays it open to the eye of the reader.
It may seem extraordinary that, after so
long an interval, the incidents of his cam-
paigns should have been so freshly remem-
bered. But we must consider that they were
of the most strange and romantic character,
welt fitted to make an impression on a young
and susceptible imagination. They had pro-
bably been rehearsed by the veteran again
and again to his family and friends, until
every passage of the war was as familiar to
his mind as the " tale of Troy " to the Greek
rhapsodist, or the interminable adventures of
Sir Lancelot or Sir Gawain to the Norman
minstrel. The throwing of his narrative into
the form of chronicle was but repeating it
once more.
The literary merits of the work are of a
very humble order; as might be expected
from the condition of the writer. He has not
even the art to conceal his own vulgar vanity,
which breaks out with a truly comic ostenta-
tion in every page of the narrative. And
yet we should have charity for this, when we
find that it is attended with no disposition to
depreciate the merits of others, and that its
display may be referred in part to the singu-
lar simplicity of the man. He honestly con-
fesses his infirmity, though, indeed, to excuse
it. "When my chronicle was finished," he.
says, "I submitted it to two licentiates, who"
were desirous of reading the story, and for
wThom I felt all the respect which an ignorant
man naturally feels for a soholar. I besought
them, at the same time, to make no change or
correction in the manuscript, as all there was
set down in good faith. When they had read
the work, they much commended me for my
wonderful memory. The language, they said,
was good old Castilian, without any of the
flourishes and finicalities so much affected by
our fine writers. But they remarked that it
would have been as well if I had not praised
myself and my comrades so liberally, but
had left that to others. To this I answered
that it was common for neighbours and kin-
dred to speak kindly of one another ; and, if
we did not speak well of ourselves, who
would? Who else witnessed our exploits
BERNAL DIAZ.
417
and our battles, — uuless, indeed, the clouds
in the sky, and the birds that were flying
over our heads?"
Notwithstanding the liberal emcomiums
passed by the licentiates on our author's
style, it is of a very homely texture, abound-
ing in colloquial barbarisms, and seasoned
occasionally by the piquant sallies of the
camp. It has the merit, however, of clearly
conveying the writer's thoughts, and is well
suited to their simple character. His narra-
tive is put together with even less skill than
is usual among his craft, and abounds in
digressions and repetitions, such as vulgar
gossips are apt to use in telling their stories.
But it is superfluous to criticise a work by
the rules of art which was written mani-
festly in total ignorance of those rules, and
wliich, however we may criticise it, will be
read and re-read by the scholar and the
schoolboy, while the compositions of more
classic chroniclers sleep undisturbed on their
shelves.
In what, then, lies the charm of the work?
In that spirit of truth which pervades it;
which shows us situations as they were, and
sentiments as they really existed in the heart
of the writer. It is this which imparts a
living interest to his story, and which is more
frequently found in the productions of the
untutored penman solely intent upon facts,
than in those of the ripe and fastidious
scholar occupied with the mode of expressing
them.
It was by a mere chance that this inimi-
table chronicle was rescued from the oblivion
into which so many works of higber preten-
sions have fallen in the Peninsula. For more
than sixty years after its composition the
manuscript lay concealed in the obscurity of
a private library, when it was put into the
hands of Father Alonso llemon, Chronicler-
General of the Order of Mercy. He had the
sagacity to discover, under its rude exterior,
its high value in illustrating the history of
the Conquest. He obtained a licence for the
publication of the work, and under his
auspices it appeared at Madrid in 1632,— the
edition used in the preparation of these
volumes.
BOOK SIXTH.
SIEGE AND SURRENDER OP MEXICO.
BOOK VI.
SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
CHAPTER I.
ARRANGEMENTS AT TEZCUCO.-— SACK OF IZTAPALAPAN — ADVANTAGES OF THE
SPANIARDS — WISE POLICY OF CORTES — TRANSPORTATION OF THE BRI-
GANTINES.
1521.
The city of Tezcuco was the best position, probably, which Cortes could
have chosen for the head-quarters of the army. It supplied all the accommo-
dations for lodging a numerous body of troops, and all the facilities for sub-
sistence, incident to a large and populous town.1 It furnished, moreover, a
multitude of artisans and labourers for the uses of the army. Its territories,
bordering on the Tlascalan, afforded a ready means of intercourse with the
country of his allies ; while its vicinity to Mexico enabled the general, with-
out much difficulty, to ascertain the movements in that capital. Its central
situation, in short, opened facilities for communication with all parts of the
Valley, and made it an excellent point dJappui for his future operations.
The first care of Cortes was to strengthen himself in the palace assigned to
him, and to place his quarters in a state of defence which might secure them
against surprise not only from the Mexicans, but from the Tezcucans them-
selves. Since the election of their new ruler, a large part of the population
had returned to their homes, assured of protection in person ana property.
But the Spanish general, notwithstanding their show of submission, very much
distrusted its sincerity; for he knew that many of them were united too
intimately with the Aztecs, by marriage and other social relations, not to have
their sympathies engaged in their behalf.2 The young monarch, however,
seemed wholly in his interests ; and, to secure him more effectually, Cortes
placed several Spaniards near his person, whose ostensible province it was to
instruct him in their language and religion, but who were in reality to watch
over his conduct and prevent his correspondence with those who might be
unfriendly to the Spanish interests.3
Tezcuco stood about half a league from the lake. It would be necessary to
1 " Asf mismo hizo juntar todos los basti- recelo, porque sus Enemigos, y los de esta
mentos que fiieYon necesarios para sustentar Ciudad eran todos Deudos y Parientes mas
el Exercito y Guarniciones de Gente que cercanos, ruas despues el tiempo lo desengafio,
andaban en favor de Cortes, y asi hizo traer u. y vido la gran lealtad de Ixtlilxocbitl, y de
la Ciudad de Tezcuco el Maiz que babia en las todos." Ixtlilxocbitl, Hist. Cbicb., MS., cap.
Troxes y Graneros de las Provincial sugetas 92.
al Reyno de Tezcuco." Ixtlilxocbitl, Hist. 3 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
Chicb.,MS., cap. 91. 137..
' "No era de espantar que tuviese este
422 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
open a communication with it, so that the brigantines, when put together in
the capita], might be launched upon its waters. It was proposed, therefore, to
dig a canal, reaching from the gardens of Nezahualcoyotl, as they were called,
from the old monarch who planned them, to the edge of the basin. A little
stream, or rivulet, which flowed in that direction, was to be deepened suffi-
ciently for the purpose ; and eight thousand Indian labourers were forthwith
employed on this great work, under the direction of the young Ixtlilxochitl.4
Meanwhile, Cortes received messages from several places in the neighbour-
hood, intimating their desire to become the vassals of his sovereign and to be
taken under his protection. The Spanish commander required, in return,
that they should deliver up every Mexican who should set foot in their terri-
tories. Some noble Aztecs, who had been sent on a mission to these towns,
were consequently delivered into his hands. He availed himself of it to employ
them as bearers of a message to their master the emperor. In it he deprecated
the necessity of the present hostilities. Those who had most injured him, he
said, were no longer among the living. He was willing to forget the past, and
invited the Mexicans, by a timely submission, to save their capital from the
horrors of a siege.5 Cortes had no expectation of producing any immediate
result by this appeal. But he thought it might lie in the minds of the
Mexicans, and that, if there was a party among them disposed to treat with
him, it might afforcl them encouragement, as showing his own willingness to
co-operate with their views. At this time, however, there was no division of
opinion in the capital. The whole population seemed animated by a spirit of
resistance, as one man.
In a former page I have mentioned that it was the plan of Cortes, on enter-
ing the Valley, to commence operations by reducing the subordinate cities
before striking at the capital itself, which, like some goodly tree whose roots
had been severed one after another, would be thus left without support against
the fury of the tempest. The first point of attack which he selected was the
ancient city of Iztapalapan ; a place containing fifty thousand inhabitants,
according to his own account, and situated about six leagues distant, on the
narrow tongue of land which divides the waters of the great salt lake from
those of the fresh. It was the private domain of the last sovereign of Mexico ;
where, as the reader may remember, he entertained the white men the night
before their entrance into the capital, and astonished them by the display of
his princely gardens. To this monarch they owed no good will, for he had
conducted the operations on the noche triste. He was, indeed, no more ; but
the people of his city entered heartily into his hatred of the strangers, and
were now the most loyal vassals of the Mexican crown.
In a week after his arrival at his new quarters, Cortes, leaving the command
of the garrison to Sandoval, marched against this Indian city, at the head of
two hundred Spanish foot, eighteen horse, and between three and four
thousand Tlascalans. Their route lay along the eastern border of the lake,
gemmed .with many a bright town and hamlet, or, unlike its condition at the
present day, darkened with overhanging groves of cypress and cedar, and
occasionally opening a broad expanse to their view, with the Queen of the
Valley rising gloriously from the waters, as if proudly conscious of her supre-
macy over the fair cities around her. Farther on, the eye ranged along the
4 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, ubi y que lo pasado fuesse " pasado, y que no
supra. — Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. quisiessen dar causa ii quo destruyesse sua
91. Tierras, y Ciudades, porque me pesaba mucho
5 "Los principales, que habian sido en de ello." Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzaua,
hacerme la Guerra pasada, eran ya muertos ; p. 193.
SIEGE AND SACK OP IZTAPALAPAN, 423
dark line of causeway connecting Mexico with the main land, and suggesting
many a bitter recollection to the Spaniards.
They quickened their step, and had advanced within two leagues of their
point of destination, when they were encountered by a strong Aztec force
drawn up to dispute their progress. Cortes instantly gave them battle. The
,barbarians showed their usual courage, but, after some hard fighting, were
compelled to give way before the steady valour of the Spanish infantry, backed
by the desperate fury of the Tlascalans, whom the sight of an Aztec seemed
to inflame almost to madness. The enemy retreated in disorder, closely
followed by the Spaniards. When they had arrived within half a league of
Iztapalapan, they observed a number of canoes tilled with Indians, who
appeared to be labouring on the mole which hemmed in the waters of the
salt lake. Swept along in the tide of pursuit, they gave little heed to it,
but, following up the chase, entered pell-mell with the fugitives into the city.
The houses stood some of them on dry ground, some on piles in the water.
The former were deserted by the inhabitants, most of whom had escaped in
canoes across the lake, leaving, in their haste, their effects behind them. The
Tlascalans poured at once into the vacant dwellings and loaded themselves
with booty ; while the enemy, making the best of their way through this part
of the town, sought shelter in the buildings erected over the water, or among
the reeds which sprung from its shallow bottom. In the houses were many of
the citizens also, who still lingered with their wives and children, unable to
find the means of transporting themselves from the scene of danger.
Corte's, supported by his own men, and by such of the allies as could be
brought to obey his orders, attacked the enemy in this last place of their
retreat. Both parties fought up to their girdles in the water. A desperate
struggle ensued ;. as the Aztec fought with the fury of a tiger driven to hay
by the huntsmen. It was all in vain. The enemy was overpowered in every
quarter. The citizen shared the fate of the soldier, and a pitiless massacre
succeeded, without regard to sex or age. Cortes endeavoured to stop it. But
it would have been as easy to call away the starving wolf from the carcass he
was devouring, as the Tlascalan who had once tasted the blood of an enemy.
More than six thousand, including women and children, according to the
Conqueror's own statement, perished in the conflict.6
Darkness meanwhile had set in ; but it was dispelled in some measure by
the light of the burning houses, which the troops had set on fire in different
parts of the town. Their insulated position, it is true, prevented the flames
from spreading from one building to another, but the solitary masses threw a
strong and lurid glare over their own neighbourhood, which gave additional
horror to the scene. As resistance was now at an end, the soldiers abandoned
themselves to pillage, and soon stripped the dwellings of every portable article
of any value.
While engaged in this work of devastation, a murmuring sound was heard
as of the hoarse rippling of waters, and a cry soon arose among the Indians
that the dikes were broken ! Cortes now comprehended the business of the
men whom he had seen in the canoes at work on the mole which fenced in the
great basin of Lake Tezcuco.7 It had been pierced by the desperate Indians,
6 "Murieron de ellos mas de seis mil ilni- * "Esttindolasquemando.parecioqueNues-
mas, entre Honibres, y Mugeres, y Nifios ; tro Sefior me inspiro, y trujo a la memoria la
porque los lndios nuestros Amigos, vista la Calzada, 6 Presa, que habia visto rota en el
Victoria, que Dios nos daba, no entendian en Camino, y representosenie el gran dafio, que
otra cosa, sino on matar a diestro y i£ siniestro." era." Rel. Terc. de Cortes, loc. cit.
Bel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 195.
424 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
who thus laid the country under an inundation, by suffering the waters of the
salt lake to spread themselves over the lower level, through the opening.
Greatly alarmed, the general called his men together, and made all haste to
evacuate the city. Had they remained three hours longer, he says, not a soul
could have escaped.8 They came staggering under the weight of booty,
wading with difficulty through the water, which was fast gaining upon them.
For some distance their path was illumined by the glare of the burning build-
ings. But, as the light faded away in the distance, they wandered with
uncertain steps, sometimes up to their knees, at others up to their waists, in
the water, through which they floundered on with the greatest difficulty. As
they reached the opening in the dike, the stream became deeper, and 'flowed
out with such a current that the men were unable to maintain their footing.
The Spaniards, breasting the flood, forced their way through ; but many of
the Indians, unable to swim, were borne down by the waters. All the plunder
was lost. The powder was spoiled ; the arms and clothes of the soldiers were
saturated with the brine, and the cold night wind, as it blew over them,
benumbed their weary limbs till they could scarcely drag tjiem along. At
dawn they beheld the lake swarming with canoes, full of Indians, who had
anticipated their disaster, and who now saluted them with showers of stones,
arrows, and other deadly missiles. Bodies of light troops, hovering in the
distance, disquieted the flanks of the army in like manner. The Spaniards
had no desire to close with the enemy. They only wished to regain their
comfortable quarters in Tezcuco, where they arrived on the same day, more
disconsolate and fatigued than after many a long march and hard-fought
battle.9
The close of the expedition, so different from its brilliant commencement,
greatly disappointed Cortes. His numerical loss had, indeed, not been great ;
but this affair convinced him how much he had to apprehend from the resolu-
tion of a people who, with a spirit worthy of the ancient Hollanders, were
prepared to bury their country under water rather than to submit. Still, the
enemy had little cause for congratulation ; since, independently of the number
of slain, they had seen one of their most flourishing cities sacked, and in part,
at least, laid in ruins, — one of those, too, which in its public works displayed
the nearest approach to civilization. Such are the triumphs of war !
The expedition of Cortes, notwithstanding the disasters which checkered
it, was favourable to the Spanish cause. The fate of Iztapalapan struck a
terror throughout the Valley. The consequences were soon apparent in the
deputations sent by the different places eager to offer their submission. Its
influence was visible, indeed, beyond the mountains. Among others, the
people of Otumba, the town near which the Spaniards had gained their
famous victory, sent to tender their allegiance and to request the protection
of the powerful strangers. They excused themselves, as usual, for the part
they had taken in the late hostilities, by throwing the blame on the Aztecs.
But the place of most importance which thus claimed their protection was
Chalco, situated on the eastern extremity of the lake of that name. It was
an ancient city, peopled by a kindred tribe of the Aztecs, and once their
8 " Y certifico & Vuestra Magestad, que si is so full and precise that it is the very best
aquella noche no pasaramos el Agua, 6 authority for this event. The story is told
aguardaramos tres horas mas, que ninguno also by Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista,
de nosotros escapara, porque quedabamos cap. 138, — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib.
cercados de Agua, sin tener paso por parte 33, cap. 18,— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS.,
ninguna." Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ubi supra. cap. 92,— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 1,
0 The general's own Letter to the emperor cap. 2, et auct. aliis.
SUCCESSES OF THE SPANIARDS. 425
formidable rival. The Mexican emperor, distrusting their loyalty, had placed
a garrison within their walls to hold them in check. The rulers of the city
now sent a message secretly to Cortes, proposing to put themselves under his
protection, if he would enable them to expel the garrison.
The Spanish commander did not hesitate, but instantly detached a consider-
able force under Sandoval for this object. On the march, his rear-guard,
composed ol* Tlascalans, was roughly handled by some light troops of the
Mexicans. But he took his revenge in a pitched battle which took place with
the mSlii body of the enemy at no great distance from Chalco. They were
drawn up on a level ground, covered with green crops of maize and maguey.
The field is traversed by the road which at this day leads from the last-
mentioned city to Tezcuco.10 Sandoval, charging the enemy at the head of his
cavalry, threw them into disorder. But they quickly rallied, formed again,
and renewed the battle with greater spirit than ever. In a second attempt
he was more fortunate ; and, breaking through their lines by a desperate
onset, the brave cavalier succeeded, after a warm but ineffectual struggle on
their part, in completely routing and driving them from the field. The con-
quering army continued its march to Chalco, which the Mexican garrison had
already evacuated, and was received in triumph by the assembled citizens,
who seemed eager to testify their gratitude for their deliverance from the
Aztec yoke. After taking such measures as he could for the permanent
security of the place, Sandoval returned to Tezcuco, accompanied by the two
young lords of the city, sons of the late cacique.
They were courteously received by Corte's ; and they informed him that
their father had died, full of years, a short time before. With his last breath
he had expressed his regret that he should not have lived to see Malinche.
He believed that the white men were the beings predicted by the oracles as
one day to come from the East and take possession of the land ; " and he
enjoined it on his children, should the strangers return to the Valley, to
render them their homage and allegiance. The young caciques expressed
their readiness to do so ; but, as this must bring on them the vengeance of
the Aztecs, they implored the general to furnish a sufficient force for their
protection.12
Cortes received a similar application from various other towns, which were
disposed, could they do so with safety, to throw off the Mexican yoke. But
he was in no situation to comply with their request. He now felt more
sensibly than ever the incompetency of his means to his undertaking. "I
assure your Majesty," he Avrites in his letter to the emperor, " the greatest
uneasiness which I feel, after all my labours and fatigues, is from my inability
to succour and support our Indian friends, your Majesty's loyal vassals." j3
Far from having a force competent to this, he had scarcely enough for his
own protection. His vigilant enemy had an eye on all his movements, and,
should he cripple his strength by sending away too many detachments or by
employing them at too great a distance, would be prompt to take advantage
of it. His only expeditions, hitherto, had been in the neighbourhood, where
10 Lorenzana, p. 199, nota. 122.— Venida de los Espafioles, p. 15.
ii »«porque ciertamente bus antepassados 13 "Y certifico a Vuestra Magestad, allende
les auian dicbo, que auian de senorear aquellas de nuestro trabajo y necesidad, la mayor
tierras honibres que vernian con baa&as de fatiga, que tenia, era no poder ayudar, y
hazia donde sale el Sol, y que por las cosas socorrer a los Tndios nuestros Amigos, que
que ban visto, eramos nosotros." Bernal por ser Vasallos de Vuestra Magestud, eran
l>iaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 139. inolestados y trabajados de los de Culua."
" Ibid., ubi supra. — Rel. Terc. de Cortes, Rel. Terc, ap. Lorenzana, p. 204. *
ap. Lorenzana, p. 200.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 0
426 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
the troops, after striking some sudden and decisive blow, might speedily
regain their quarters. "The utmost watchfulness was maintained there, and
the Spaniards lived in as constant preparation for an assault as if their camp
was pitched under the walls of Mexico.
On two occasions the general had sallied forth and engaged the enemy in
the environs of Tezcuco. At one time a thousand canoes, rilled with Aztecs,
crossed the lake to gather' ni a large crop of Indian corn, nearly ripe, on its
borders. Cortes thought it important to secure this for himself. He accordingly
marched out and gave battle to the enemy, drove them from the f.e>l, and
swept away the rich harvest to the granaries of Tezcuco. Another time a
strong body of Mexicans had established themselves in some neighbouring
towns friendly to their interests. Cortes, again sallying, dislodged them from
their quarters, beat them in several skirmishes, and reduced the places to
obedience. But these enterprises demanded all his resources, and left him
nothing to spare for his allies. In this exigency, his fruitful genius suggested
an expedient for supplying the deficiency of his means.
Some of the friendly cities without the Valley, observing the numerous
beacon-fires on the mountains, inferred that the Mexicans were mustering in
great strength, and that the Spaniards must be hard pressed in their new
quarters. They sent messengers to Tezcuco, expressing their apprehension,
and offering reinforcements, which the general, when he set out on his march,
had declined. He returned many thanks for the proffered aid ; but, while
lie declined it for himself, as unnecessary, he indicated in what manner their
services might be effectual for the defence of Chalco and the other places
which had invoked his protection. Rut his Indian allies were in deadly feud
with these places, whose inhabitants had too often fought under the Aztec
banner not to have been engaged in repeated wars with trie people beyond the
mountains.
Cortes set himself earnestly to reconcile these differences. He told the
hostile parties that they should be willing to forget their mutual wrongs,
since they had entered into new relations. They were now vassals of the
same sovereign, engaged in a common enterprise against the formidable foe
who had so long trodden them in the dust. Singly they could do little, but
united they might protect each other's weakness and hold their enemy at bay
till the Spaniards could come to their assistance. These arguments finally
prevailed ; and the politic general had the satisfaction to see the high-spirited
and hostile tribes forego their long-cherished rivalry, and, resigning the
pleasures of revenge, so dear to the barbarian, embrace one another as friends
and champions in a common cause. To this wise policy the Spanish com-
mander owed quite as much of his subsequent successes as to his arms.14
Thus the foundations of the Mexican empire were hourly loosening, as the
great vassals around the capital, on whom it most relied, fell oft" one after
another from their allegiance. The Aztecs, properly so called, formed but a
small part of the population of the Valley. This was principally composed of
cognate tribes, members of the same great family of the Nahuatlacs who had
come upon the plateau at nearly the same time. They were mutual rivals,
and were reduced one after another by the more warlike Mexican, who held
them in subjection, often by open force, always by fear. Fear was the great
principle of cohesion which bound together the discordant members of the
monarchy ; and this was now fast dissolving before the influence of a power
" Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 204, 205.-Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33,
cap. 19.
WISE POLICY OF CORTES.
427
more mighty than that of the Aztec. This, it is true, was not the first time
that the conquered races had attempted to recover their independence. But
all such attempts had failed for want of concert. It was reserved for the
commanding genius of Cortes to extinguish their old hereditary feuds, and,
combining their scattered energies, to animate them with a common principle
of action.15
Encouraged by this state of things, the Spanish general thought it a
favourable moment to press his negotiations with the capital. He availed
himself of the presence of some noble Mexicans, taken in the late action with
Sandoval, to send another message to their master. It was in substance a
repetition of the first, with a renewed assurance that, if the city would return
to its allegiance to the Spanish crown, the authority of Guatemozin should be
confirmed and the persons and property of his subjects be% respected. To
this communication no reply was made. The young Indian* emperor had a
spirit as dauntless as that of Cortes himsejf. On his head descended the full
effects of that vicious system of government bequeathed to him by his ances-
tors. But, as he saw his empire crumbling beneath him, he sought to up-
hold it by his own energy and resources. He anticipated the defection of
some vassals by establishing garrisons within their Avails. Others he conci-
liated by exempting them from tributes or greatly lightening their burdens, or
by advancing them to posts of honour and authority in the state. He showed,
at the same time, his implacable animosity towards the Christians by com-
manding that every one taken within his dominions should be straightway
sent to the capital, where he was sacrificed, with all the barbarous ceremonies
prescribed by the 'Aztec ritual.™
u Oviedo, in his admiration of his hero,
breaks out into the following panegyric on
his policy, prudence, and military science,
which, as he truly predicts, must make his
name immortal. It is a fair specimen of tho
manner of the sagacious old chronicler. " Sin
dubda alguna la habilidad y esfuerzo, e pru-
dencia de Hernando Cortes mui dignas son
que entre los cavalleros, e gente militar en
nuestros tiempos se tengan en mucha estima-
cion, y en los venideros nunca se desacuerden.
Por causa suya me acuerdo muchas veces de
aquellas cosas que se escriven del capitan
Viriato nuestro Espanol y Estremeuo ; y por
Hernando Cortes me ocurren al sentido las
muchas fatigas de aquel espejo de caballeria
Julio Cesar dictador, como parece por sus
comentarios, 6 por Suetonio e Plutarco e otros
autores que en conformidad escrivieron los
grandes hechos suyos. Pero los de Hernando
Cortes en un Mundo nuevo, e tan apartadas
provincias de Europa, e con tantos trabajos e*
necesidades e pocas fuerzas, e con gente tan
innumerable, e tan barbara 6 bellicosa, 6
apacentada en carne humana, e aun habida
por excelente 6 sabroso manjar entre sus
adversarios ; e faltandole it el 6 d, sus mflites
el pan e vino 6 los otros mantenimientos
todos de Espana, y en tan diferenciadas re-
•giones e aires e tan desviado e lejos de socorro
e do su principe, cosas son de admiracion."
Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 20.
16 Among other chiefs, to whom Guatemozin
applied for assistance in the perilous state of
his affairs, was Tangapan, lord of Michoaciui,
an independent and powerful slate in the
West, which had never been subdued by the
Mexican army. The accounts which the Aztec
emperor gave him, through his ambassadors,
of the white men, were so alarming, according
to Ixtlilxochitl, who tells the story, that the
king's sister voluntarily 'starved herself to
death, from her apprehensions of the coming
of the terrible strangers. Her body was de-
posited, as usual, in the vaults reserved for
the royal household, uutil preparations could
be made for its being burnt. On the fourth
day, the attendants who had charge of it were
astounded by seeing the corpse exhibit signs
of returning life. The restored princess, re-
covering her speech, requested her brother's
presence. On his coming, she implored him
not to think of hurting a hair of the heads of
the mysterious visitors. She had been per-
mitted, she said, to see the fate of the departed
in the next world. The souls of all her
ancestors she had beheld tossing about in
unquenchable fire ; while those who embraced
the faith of the strangers were in glory. As
a proof of the truth of her assertion, she added
that her brother would see, on a great festival
near at hand, a young warrior, armed with a
torch brighter than the sun, in one hand, and
a flaming sword, like that worn by the white
men, in the other, passing from east to west
over the city. Whether the monarch waited
for the vision, or ever beheld it, is not told us
by the historian. But, relying perhaps on
the miracle of her resurrection as quite a
sufficient voucher, be disbanded a very
428 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
While these occurrences were passing, Cortes received the welcome intelli-
gence that the brigantines were completed and waiting to be transported to
Tezcuco. He detached a body for the service, consisting of two hundred
Spanish foot and fifteen horse, which he placed under the command of
Sandoval. This cavalier had been rising daily in the estimation both of the
general and of the army. Though one of the youngest officers in the service,
he possessed a cool head and a ripe judgment, which fitted him for the most
delicate and difficult undertakings. There were others, indeed, as Alvarado
and Olid, for example, whose intrepidity made them equally competent to
achieve a brilliant coup-de-main. But the courage of Alvarado was too often
carried to temerity or perverted by passion ; while Olid, dark and doubtful
in his character, was not entirely to be trusted. Sandoval was a native of
Medellin, the birthplace of Cortes himself. He was warmly attached to his
commander, and had on all occasions proved himself worthy of his confidence.
He was a man of few words, showing his worth rather by what he did than
what he said. His honest, soldier-like deportment made him a favourite with
the troops, and had its influence even on his enemies. He unfortunately died
in the flower of his age. But he discovered talents and military skill which,
had he lived to later life, would undoubtedly have placed his name on the roll
with those of the greatest captains of his nation.
Sandoval's route was to lead him by Zoltepec, a small city where the mas-
sacre of the forty-five Spaniards, already noticed, had been perpetrated. The
cavalier received orders to find out the guilty parties, if possible, and to punish
them for their share in the transaction.
When the Spaniards arrived at the spot, they found that the inhabitants,
who had previous notice of their approach, had all lied. In the deserted
temples they discovered abundant traces of the fate of their countrymen ; for,
besides their arms and clothing, and the hides of their horses, the heads of
several soldiers, prepared in such a way that they could be well preserved,
were found suspended as trophies of the victory. In a neighbouring building,
traced with charcoal on the walls, they found the following inscription in
Castilian : " In this place the unfortunate Juan Juste, with many others of
his company, was imprisoned."17 This hidalgo was one of the followers of
Narvaez, and had come with him into the country in quest of gold, but had
found, instead, an obscure and inglorious death. The eyes of the soldiers
were suffused with tears as they gazed on the gloomy record, and their
bosoms swelled with indignation as they thought of the horrible fate of the
captives. Fortunately, the inhabitants were not then before them. Some
few, who subsequently fell into their hands, were branded as slaves. But the
greater part of the population, who threw themselves, in the most abject
manner, on the mercy of the Conquerors, imputing the blame of the affair to
the Aztecs, the Spanish commander spared, from pity, or contempt.18
He now resumed his march on Tlascala ; but scarcely had he crossed the
powerful force which he had assembled on the for the good of the Church on the Old Conti-
plains of Avalos for the support of his brother nent, and which now found, in the credulity
of Mexico. This narrative, with abundance of the New, a rich harvest for the same godly
of supernumerary incidents, not necessary to work.
repeat, was commemorated in the Michoaean " "Aquf estuvo preso el 6in ventura de
picture-records, and reported to the historian Jua Iuste co otros muchos que traia en mi
of Tezcuco himself by the grandson of Tan ga- compafna." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con-
pan. (See Txtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., quista, cap. 140.
cap. 91.) Whoever reported it to him, it is 18 Ibid., ubi supra.— Oviedo, Hist, de las
not difficult to trace the same pious fingers in Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 19. — Kel. Terc. de
it which made so many wholesome legends Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 206.
TRANSPORTATION OF THE BRIGANTINES. 429
borders of the republic, when he descried the flaunting banners of the convoy
which transported the brigantines, as it was threading its way through the
defiles of the mountains. Great was his satisfaction at the spectacle, for he
had feared a detention of some days at Tlascala before the preparations for
the march could be completed.
There were thirteen vessels in all, of different sizes. They had been con-
structed under the direction of the experienced ship builder, Martin Lopez,
aided by three or four Spanish carpenters and the friendly natives, some of
whom showed no mean degree of imitative skill. The brigantines, when com-
pleted, had been fairly tried on the waters of the Zahuapan. They were then
taken to pieces, and, as Lopez was impatient of delay, the several parts, the
timbers, anchors, iron-work, sails, ancl cordage, were placed on the shoulders
of the tamcmes, and, under a numerous military escort, were thus far advanced
on the way to Tezcuco.19 Sandoval dismissed a part of the Indian convoy, as
superfluous.
Twenty thousand warriors he retained, dividing them into two equal bodies
for the protection of the tammies in the centre.20 His own little body of
Spaniards he distributed in like manner. The Tlascalans in the van marched
under the command of a chief who gloried in the name of Chicheniecatl. For
some reason Sandoval afterwards changed the order of march, and placed this
division in the rear,— an arrangement which gave great umbrage to the doughty
warrior that led it, who asserted his right to the front, the place which he and
his ancestors had always occupied, as the post of danger. He was somewhat
appeased by Sandoval's assurance that it was for that very reason he had been
transferred to the rear, the quarter most likely to be assailed by the enemy.
But even then he was greatly dissatisfied on finding that the Spanish com-
mander was to march by his side, grudging, it would seem, that any other
should share the laurel with himself.
Slowly and painfully, encumbered with their heavy burden, the troops
worked their way over steep eminences and rough mountain-passes, presenting,
one might suppose, in their long line of march, many a vulnerable point to an
enemy. But, although small parties of warriors were seen hovering at times
on their flanks and rear, they kept at a respectful distance, not caring to
encounter so formidable a foe. On the fourth day the warlike caravan arrived
safely before Tezcuco.
Their approach was beheld with joy by Cortes and the soldiers, who hailed
it as the signal of a speedy termination of the war. The general, attended by
his officers, all dressed in their richest attire, came out to welcome the convoy.
It extended over a space of two leagues ; and so slow was its progress that six
hours elapsed before the closing files had entered the city.21 The Tlascalan
chiefs displayed all their wonted bravery of apparel, and the whole array,
composed of the flower of their warriors, made a brilliant appearance. They
marched by the sound of atabal and cornet, and, as they traversed the streets
19 " Y despues de hechos por orden de (Hist, de la Conquista, ubi supra.) There is
Cortes, y probados en el rio que llaman de a wonderful agreement between the several
Tlaxcalla Zahuapan, que se atajo para pro- Castilian writers as to the number of forces,
barlos los bergantines, y los tormiron a des- the order of march, and the events that
baratar por llevarlos it cuestas sobrc hombro3 occurred on it.
de los de Tlaxcalla & la ciudad de Tetzcuco, 21 " Estendiase tanto la Gente, que dende
donde se echaron en la laguna, y se armaron que los primeros comenzaron ti entrar, hasta
de artillerfa y municion." Camargo, Hist. que los postreros hobieron acabado, se pasa-
de Tlascala, MS. ron mas de seis horas ; sin quebrar el hilo de
-° Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. la Gente." Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Loren?
207. — Bernal Diaz says sixteen thousand. aaua, p, 20a
430 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
of the capital amidst the acclamations of the soldiery, they made the city
ring with the shouts of " Castile and Tlascala, long live our sovereign, the
emperor!"22
" It was a marvellous thing," exclaims the Conqueror, in his Letters, " that
few have seen, or. even heard of, — this transportation of thirteen vessels of war
on the shoulders of men for nearly twenty leagues across the mountains ! " 23
It was, indeed, a stupendous achievement, and not easily matched in ancient
or modern story ; one which only a genius like that of Cortes could have devised,
or a daring spirit like his have so successfully executed. Little did he foresee,
when he ordered the destruction of the fleet which first brought him to the
country, and with his usual forecast commanded the preservation of the iron-
work and rigging,— little did he foresee the important uses for which they were
to be reserved ; so important, that on their preservation may be said to have
depended the successful issue of his great enterprise.24
He greeted his Indian allies with the greatest cordiality, testifying his sense
of their services by those honours and attentions which he knew would be most
grateful to their ambitious spirits. " We come," exclaimed the hardy warriors,
" to fight under your banner ; to avenge our common quarrel, or to fall by
your side ; * and,' with their usual impatience, they urged him to lead them at
once against the enemy. " Wait," replied the general, bluntly, " till you are
rested, and you shall have your hands full,"25
CHAPTER II.
CORTES RECONNOITRES THE CAPITAL — OCCUPIES TACUBA— SKIRMISHES WITH
THE ENEMY — EXPEDITION OF SANDOVAL — ARRIVAL OF REINFORCEMENTS.
1521.
In the course of three or four days, the Spanish general furnished the Tlascalans
with the opportunity so much coveted, and allowed their boiling spirits to
22 " Dando vozes y silvos y diziendo : Viua, some seventeen centuries later, by the Great
viua el Emperador, nuestro Senor, y Castilla, Captain, Gonsalvo de Cordova. But the dis-
Castilla, y Tlascala, Tlascala." (Bernal Diaz, tance they were transported was inconsider-
Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 140.) For the able. A more analogous example is that of
Sirticulars of Sandoval's expedition, see, also, Balboa, the bold discoverer of the Pacific.
viedo, Hist, de las Ind.,MS., lib. 33, cap. 19, He made arrangements to have four brigan-
— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 124, — Torquemada, tines transported a distance of twenty-two
Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 84,— Ixtlilxocliitl, leagues across the Isthmus of Darien, a stu-
Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 92,— Herrera, Hist. pendous labour, and not entirely successful,
general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 2. as only two reached their point of destina-
23 " Que era cosa maravillosa de ver, y assf tion. (See Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2,
me parece que es de oir, Uevar trece Fustas lib. 2, cap. 11.) This took place in 1516, in
diez y ocho leguas por Tierra." (Rel. Terc. the neighbourhood, as it were, of Cortes, and
de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 207.) "En rem may have suggested to his enterprising spirit
Romano populo," exclaims Martyr, "quando the first idea of his own more successful, as
illustrius res illorum vigebant, non facilem ! " well as more extensive, undertaking.
De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 8. 25 " Y ellos me dijeron, que trahian deseo
24 Two memorable examples of a similar de se ver con los de Culiia, y que viesse lo
transportation of vessels across the land are que mandaba, que ellos, y aquella Gente
recorded, the one in ancient, the other in venian con deseos, y voluntad de se vengar,
modern history; and both, singularly enough, 6 morir con nosotros ; y yo les dl las gracias,
fit the same place, Tarentum, in Italy. The y les dye, que reposassen, y que presto les
first occurred at the siege of that city by daria las manos llenas." Rel. Terc. de Cortes,
Hannibal (see Polybius, Mb. 8) ; the latter ap. Lorenzana, p. 208.
CORTES RECONNOITRES THE CAPITAL. 431
effervesce in active operations. He had for some time meditated an expedition
to reconnoitre the capital and its environs, and to chastise, on the way, certain
places which had sent him insulting messages of defiance and which were
particularly active in their hostilities. He disclosed his design to a few only
of his principal officers, from his distrust of the Tezcucans, whom he suspected
to be in correspondence with the enemy.
Early in the spring, he left Tezcuco, at the head of three hundred and fifty
Spaniards and the whole strength of his allies. He took with him Alvarado
and Olid, and intrusted the charge of the garrison to Sandoval. Cortes had
had practical acquaintance with the incompetence of the first of these cavaliers
for so delicate a post, during his short but disastrous rule in Mexico.
But all his precautions had not availed to shroud his designs from the vigilant
foe, whose eye was on all his movements ; who seemed even to divine his thoughts
and to be prepared to thwart their execution. He had advanced but a few
leagues, when he was met by a considerable body of Mexicans, drawn up to
dispute his progress. A sharp skirmish took place, in which the enemy were
driven from the ground, and the way was left open to the Christians. They
held a circuitous route to the north, and their first point of attack was the
insular town of Xaltocan, situated on the northern extremity of the lake of
that name, now called San Christdbal. The town was entirely surrounded by
water, and communicated with the main land by means of causeways, in the
same manner as the Mexican capital. Cortes, riding at the head of his cavalry,
advanced along the dike till he was brought to a stand by finding a wide
opening in it, through which the waters poured, so as to be altogether im-
practicable, irot only for horse, but for infantry. The lake was covered with
canoes, filled with Aztec warriors, who, anticipating the movement of the
Spaniards, had come to the aid of the city. They now began a furious discharge
of stones and arrows on the assailants," while they were themselves tolerably
well protected from the musketry of their enemy" by the light bulwarks with,
which, for that purpose, they had fortified their canoes.
The severe volleys of the Mexicans did some injury to the Spaniards and
their allies, and began to throw them into disorder, crowded as they were on
the narrow causeway, without the means of advancing, when Cortes ordered a
retreat. This was followed by renewed tempests of missiles, accompanied by
taunts and fierce yells of defiance. The battle-cry of the Aztec, like the war-
whoop of the North American Indian, was an appalling note, according to the
Conqueror's own acknowledgment, in the ears of the Spaniards.1 At this
juncture, the" general fortunately obtained information from a deserter, one of
the Mexican allies, of a ford, by which the army might traverse the shallow
lake and penetrate into the place. He instantly despatched the greater part
of the infantry on the service, posting himself with the remainder and with the
horse at the entrance of the passage, to cover the attack and prevent any
interruption in the rear.
The soldiers, under the direction of the Indian guide, forded the lake with-
out much difficulty, though in some places the water came above their girdles.
During the passage, they were annoyed by the enemy's missiles ; but when
they had gained the dry level they took ample revenge, and speedily put all
who resisted to the sword. The greater part, together with the townsmen,
made their escape in the boats. The place was now abandoned to pillage.
The troops found in it many women, who had been left to their fate ; aiid
1 "De lejos comenzaron a" gritar, como lo espantosa oillos." Rel. Terc, ap. Loreuzana,
suelen hacer en la Guerra, que cierto es cosa p. 209.
432 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
these, together with a considerable quantity of cotton stuffs, gold, and articles
of food, fell into the hands of the victors, who, setting fire to the deserted city,
returned in triumph to their comrades.2
Continuing his circuitous route, Cortes presented himself successively before
three other places, each of which had been deserted by the inhabitants in
anticipation of his arrival.3 The principal of these, Azcapozalco, had once
been the capital of an independent state. It was now the great slave-market
of the Aztecs, where their unfortunate captives were brought and disposed of
at public sale. It was also the quarter occupied by the jewellers, and the
place whence the Spaniards obtained the goldsmiths who melted down the
rich treasures received from Montezuma. But they found there only a small
supply of the precious metals, or, indeed, of anything else of value, as the
people had been careful to remove their effects. They spared the buildings,
however, in consideration of their having met with no resistance.
During the nights, the troops bivouacked in the open fields, maintaining
the strictest watch, for the country*was all in arms, and beacons were flaming
on every hill-top, while dark masses of the enemy were occasionally descried
in the distance. The Spaniards were now traversing the most opulent region
of Anahnac. Cities and villages were scattered over hill and valley, with
cultivated environs blooming around them, all giving token of a dense and
industrious population. In the centre of this brilliant circumference stood
the Indian metropolis, with its gorgeous tiara of pyramids and temples,
attracting the eye of the soldier from every other object, as he wound round the
borders of the lake. Every inch of ground which the army trod was familiar
to them, — familiar as the scenes of childhood, though with very different asso-
ciations, for it had been written on their memories in characters of blood. On
the right rose the Hill of Montezuma,4 crowned by the teocalli under the roof
of which the shattered relics of the army had been gathered on the day follow-
ing the flight from the capital. In front lay the city of Tacuba, through
whose inhospitable streets they had hurried in fear and consternation ; and
away to the east of it stretched the melancholy causeway.
It was the general's purpose to march at once on Tacuba and establish his
quarters in that ancient capital for the present. He found a strong force
encamped under its walls, prepared to dispute his entrance. Without waiting
for their advance, he rode at full gallop against them with his little body of
horse. The arquebuses and cross-bows opened a lively volley on their extended
wings, and the infantry, armed with their swords and copper-headed lances
and supported by the Indian battalions, followed up the attack of the horse
with an alacrity which soon put the enemy to flight. The Spaniards usually
opened the combat with a charge of cavalry. But, had the science of the
Aztecs been equal to their courage, they might with their long spears have
•turned the scale of battle, sometimes at least, in their own favour ; for it was
with the same formidable weapon that the Swiss mountaineers, but a few
2 Rel. Terc, ap. Lorenzana, loc. cit. — Bernal he is aware by this time, have not even
Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 141. — Oviedo, brevity to recommend them. [Alaman, with
Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 20. — some justice, remarks that these names ap-
Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los Espanoles, pp. pear unmelodious to an English writer who
13, 14. — Idem, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 92. — does not know how to pronounce them, for
Gomara, Cronica, cap. 125. the same reason as English names would
' These towns rejoiced in the melodious appear tinmelodious to a Mexican. Con-
names of Tenajocoan, Quauhtitlan, and Azca- quista de Mejico (trad, de Vega), torn. ii.
pozalco. I have constantly endeavoured to p. 115.]
spare the reader, in the text, any unnecessary 4 [The Hill of Los Remedios. Conquista
accumulation of Mexican names, which, as de Mejico (trad, de Vega), torn. ii. p. 116.J
OCCUPIES TACUBA. 433
years before this period of our history, broke and completely foir-ecf the famous
ordonnance of Charles the Bold, the best appointed cavalry of their day.
But the barbarians were ignorant of the value of this weapon when opposed
to cavalry. And, indeed, the appalling apparition of the war-horse and his
rider still held a mysterious power over their imaginations, which contributed,
perhaps, quite as much as the effective force of the cavalry itself, to their
discomfiture. Cortes led his troops without further opposition into the
suburbs of Tacuba, the ancient Tlacopan, where he established himself for
the night.
On the following morning he found the indefatigable Aztecs again under
arms, and, on the open ground before the city, prepared to give him battle.
He marched out against them, and, after an action hotly contested, though of
no long duration, again routed them. They Med towards the town, but were
driven through the streets at the point of the lance, and were compelled,
together with the inhabitants, to evacuate the place. The city was then
delivered over to pillage ; and the Indian allies, not content with plundering
the houses of everything portable within them, set them on fire, and in a
short time a quarter of the town— the poorer dwellings, probably, built of
light, combustible materials — was in flames. Corte's and his troops did all in
their power to stop the conllagration, but the Tlascalans were a fierce race, not
easily guided at any time, and when their passions were once kindled it was
impossible even for the general himself to control them. They were a terrible
auxiliary, and, from their insubordination, as terrible sometimes to friend as
to foe.5
Corte's proposed to remain in his present quarters for some days, during
which time he established his own residence in the ancient palace of the lords
of Tlacopan. It was a long range of low buildings, like most of the royal
residences in the country, and ottered good- accommodations for the Spanish
forces. 'During his halt here, there was not a day on which the army was not
engaged in one or more rencontres with the enemy. They terminated almost
uniformly in favour of the Spaniards, though with more or less injury to them
and to their allies. One encounter, indeed, had nearly been attended with
more fatal consequences.
The Spanish general, in the heat of pursuit, had allowed himself to be
decoyed upon the great causeway,— the same which had once been so fatal to
his army. He followed the flying foe until he had gained the farther side of
the nearest bridge, which had been repaired since the disastrous action of the
noche triste. When thus far advanced, the Aztecs, with the rapidity of light-
ning, turned on him, and he beheld a large reinforcement in their rear, all
fresh on the field, prepared to support their countrymen. At the same time,
swarms of boats, unobserved in the eagerness of the chase, seemed to start up
as if by magic, covering the waters around. The Spaniards were now exposed
to a perfect hail-storm of missiles, both from the causeway and the lake ; but
they stood unmoved amidst the tempest, when Cortes, too late perceiving his
error, gave orders for the retreat. Slowly, and with admirable coolness, his
men receded, step by step, offering a resolute front to the enemy.6 The
'- They burned this place, according to porque quando salimos la otra vez desbarata-
Cortes, in retaliation of the injuries inflicted dos de Temixtitan, pasando por esta Ciudad.
by the inhabitants on their countrymen in the los Naturales de ella juntamente con los de
retreat : "Yen amaneciendo los Indios nues- Temixtitan nos hicieron muy cruel Guerra,
tros Amigos comenzdron a saquear, y quemar y nos mataron muchos Espanoles." Rel.
toda la Ciudad, salvo el Aposento donde esta- Terc, ap. Lorenzana, p. 210.
bamos, y pusieron tanta diligencia, que aun c " Luego mando, que todos se retraxessen :
de el se quemo un Quarto ; y esto se hizo, y con el mejor coucierto que pudo, y no
431- SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
Mexicans came on with their usual vociferation, making the shores echo to
their war-cries, and striking at the Spaniards with their long pikes, and with
poles, to which the swords taken from the Christians had been fastened. A
cavalier, named Volante, bearing the standard of Cortes, was felled by one of
their weapons, and, tumbling into the lake, was picked up by the Mexican
boats. He was a man of muscular frame, and, as the enemy were dragging
him off, he succeeded in extricating himself from their grasp, and, clenching
his colours in his hand, with a desperate effort sprang back upon the cause-
way. At length, after some hard fighting, in which many of the Spaniards
wrere wounded and many of their allies slain, the troops regained the land,
where Cortes, with a full heart, returned thanks to Heaven for what he might
well regard as a providential deliverance.7 It was a salutary lesson ; though
he should scarcely have needed one, so soon after the affair of Iztapalapan, to
warn him of the wily tactics of his enemy.
It had been one of Cortes' prilfcipal objects in this expedition to obtain an
interview, if possible, with the Aztec emperor, or with some of the great lords
ajt his court, and to try if some means for an accommodation could not be
found, by which he might avoid the appeal to arms. An occasion for such a
parley presented itself when his forces were one day confronted with those of
the enemy, with a broken bridge interposed between them. Cortes, riding in
advance of his people, intimated by signs his peaceful intent, and that he
wished to confer with the Aztecs. They respected the signal, and, with the
aid of his interpreter, he requested that if there were any great chief among
them he would come forward and hold a parley with him. The Mexicans
replied, in derision, they were all chiefs, and bade him speak openly whatever
he had to tell them. As the general returned no answer, they asked why he
did not make another visit to the capital, and tauntingly added, "Perhaps
Malinche does not expect to find there another Montezuma, as obedient to
his commands as the former.5' 8 Some of them complimented the Tlascalans
with the epithet of women, who, they said, would never have ventured so near
the capital but for the protection of the white men.
The animosity of the two nations was not confined to these harmless though
bitter jests, but showed itself in regular cartels of defiance, which daily passed
between the principal chieftains. These were followed by combats, in which
one or more champions fought on a side, to vindicate the honour of then-
respective countries. A fan- field of fight was given to the warriors, who
conducted these combats a Voutrance with the -• punctilio of a European
tourney ; displaying a valour worthy of the two boldest of the races of Ana-
huac, and a skill in the management of their weapons, which drew forth the
admiration of the Spaniards.9
Cortes had now been six days in Tacuba. There was nothing further to
detain him, as he had accomplished the chief objects of his expedition. He
had humbled several of the places which had been most active in their hos-
tility ; and he had revived the credit of the Castilian arms, which had been
much tarnished by their former reverses in this quarter of the Valley. He
had also made himself acquainted writh the condition of the capital, which he
bueltas las espaldas, sino los rostros a los * " Pensais, que hay agora otro Muteczuma,
contrarios, pie contra pie, como quien haze para que haga todo, lo que quisieredes ? "
represas." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con- Eel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 211.
quista, cap, 141. " "Y peleaban los unos con los otros m»y
7 "Desta manera se escapo Cortes aquella hermosamente." Eel. Terc. de Cortes, ul i
vez del poder de Mexico, y quando se vio en supra. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib.
tierra firme, dio muchas gracias a Dios." 33, cap. 20.
Ibid., ubi supra.
SKIRMISHES WITH THE ENEMY.
found in a better posture of defence than he had imagined. All the ravages
of the preceding year seemed to be repaired, and there was no evidence, even
to his experienced eye, that the wasting hand of war had so lately swept over
the land. The Aztec troops, which swarmed through the Valley, seemed to
be well appointed, and showed an invincible spirit, as if prepared to resist to
the last. It is true, they had been beaten in every encounter. In the open
field they were no match for the Spaniards, whose cavalry they could never
comprehend, and whose fire-arms easily penetrated the cotton mail which
formed the stoutest defence of the Indian warrior. But, entangled in the long-
streets and narrow lanes of the metropolis, where every house was a citadel,
the Spaniards, as experience had shown, would lose much of their superiority.
With the Mexican emperor, confident in the strength of his preparations, the
general saw there was no probability of effecting an accommodation. He
saw, too, the necessity of the most carefuL preparations on his own part —
indeed, that he must strain his resources to The utmost— before he could safely
venture to rouse the lion in his lair.
The Spaniards returned by the same route by which they had come. Their
retreat was interpreted into a flight by the natives, who hung on the rear of
the army, uttering vainglorious vaunts, and saluting the troops with showers
of arrows, which did some mischief. Cortes resorted to one of their own stra-
tagems to rid himself of this annoyance. He divided his cavalry into two or
three small parties, and concealed them among some thick shrubbery which
fringed both sides of the road. The rest of the army continued its march.
The Mexicans followed, unsuspicious of the ambuscade, when the horse,
suddenly darting from their place of concealment, threw the enemy's flanks
into confusion, and the retreating columns of infantry, facing about suddenly,
commenced a brisk attack, which completed their consternation. It was a
broad and level plain, over which the panic-struck Mexicans made the best of
their way, without attempting resistance ; while the cavalry, riding them down
and piercing the fugitives with their lances, followed up the chase for several
miles, in what Cortes calls a truly beautiful style.10 The army experienced
no further annoyance from the enemy.
On their arrival at Tezcuco they were greeted with joy by their comrades,
who had received no tidings of them during the fortnight which had elapsed
since their departure. The Tlascalans, immediately on their return, requested
the general's permission to carryback to their own country the valuable booty
which they had gathered in their foray, — a request which, however unpala-
table, he could not refuse.11
The troops had not been in quarters more than two or three days, when an
embassy arrived from Chalco, again soliciting the protection of the Spaniards
against the Mexicans, who menaced them from several points in their neigh-
bourhood. But the soldiers were so much exhausted by unintermitted vigils,
forced marches, battles, and wounds, that Cortes wished to give them a
breathing-time to recruit, before engaging in a new expedition. He answered
the application of the Chalcans by sending his missives to the allied cities,
calling on them to march to the assistance of their confederate. It is not to
be supposed that they could comprehend the import of his despatches. But
10 «< y comenzamos a lanzear en ellos, y often quoted, Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS.,
duro el alcanze cerca de dos leguas todas lib. 33, cap. 20, — Torquemada, Monarch,
lianas, como la palma, que fue muy herniosa Ind., lib. 4, cap. 85, — Gomara, Cronica, cap.
cosa." Kel. Terc, ap. Lorenzana, p. 212. 125, — Ixtlilxochitl, Yenida de los Espafioles,
11 For the particulars of this expedition of pp. 13, 14, — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con-
Cortes, see, besides his own Commentaries so quista, cap. 141,
436 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
the paper, with its mysterious characters, served for a warrant to the officer
who bore it, as the interpreter of the general's commands.
But, although these were implicitly obeyed, the Chalcans felt the danger so
pressing that they soon repeated their petition for the Spaniards to come in
person to their relief. Cortes no longer hesitated ; for he was well aware of
the importance of Xhalco, not merely on its own account, but from its
position, which commanded one of the great avenues to Tlascala, and to Vera
Cruz, the intercourse with which should run no risk of interruption. Without
further loss of time, therefore, he detached a body of three hundred Spanish
foot and twenty horse, under the command of Sandoval, for the protection of
the city.
That active officer soon presented himself before Chalco, and, strengthened
by the reinforcement of its OAvn troops and those of the confederate towns,
directed his first operations against Huaxtepec, a place of some importance,
lying five leagues or more to the south among the mountains. It was held by
a strong Mexican force, watching their opportunity to make a descent upon
Chalco. The Spaniards found the enemy drawn up at a distance from the
town, prepared to receive them. The ground was broken and tangled with
bushes, unfavourable to the cavalry, which, in consequence, soon fell into dis-
order; and Sandoval, finding himself embarrassed by their movements,
ordered them, after sustaining some loss, from the field. In their place he
brought up his musketeers and cross-bowmen, who poured a rapid fire into the
thick columns of the Indians. The rest of the infantry, with sword and pike,
charged the flanks of the enemy, who, bewildered by the shock, after sustain-
ing considerable slaughter, fell back in an irregular manner, leaving the field
of battle to the Spaniards.
The victors proposed to bivouac there for the night. But, while engaged in
preparations for their evening meal, they were aroused by the cry of "To
arms, to arms ! the enemy is upon us ! " In an instant the trooper was in his
saddle, the soldier grasped his musket or his good Toledo, and the action was
renewed with greater fury than before. The Mexicans had received a rein-
forcement from the city. But their second attempt was not more fortunate
than their first ; and the victorious Spaniards, driving their antagonists before
them, entered and took possession of the town itself, which had already been
evacuated by the inhabitants.12
Sandoval took up his quarters in the dwelling of the lord of the place, sur-
rounded by gardens which rivalled those of Iztapalapan in magnificence and
surpassed them in extent. They are said to have been two leagues in circum-
ference, having pleasure-houses, and numerous tanks stocked with various
kinds of fish ; and they were embellished with trees, shrubs, and plants, native
and exotic, some selected for their beauty and fragrance, others for their
medicinal properties. They were scientifically arranged; and the whole
establishment displayed a degree of horticultural taste and knowledge of which
it would not have been easy to find a counterpart, at that day, in the more
civilized communities of, Europe.13 Such is the testimony not only of the rude
12 Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. pleasant stream of water. At distances of
214, 215.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 146.— Bernal two bow-shots are buildings surrounded by
Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 142.— Oviedo, grounds planted with fruit-trees of various
Hist, do las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 21. kinds, with many shrubs and odorous flowers.
13 "Which gardens," says Cortes, who Truly the whole place 'is wonderful for its
afterwards passed a day there, "are the pleasantness and its extent." (Rel. Terc,
largest, freshest, and most beautiful that ap. Lorenzana, pp. 221, 222.) Bernal Diaz
were ever seen. They have a circuit of two is not less emphatic in his admiratiou. His*.
leagues, and through the middle flows a very de la Conquista, cap. 142.
EXPEDITION OF SANDOVAL. 431
Conquerors, but of men of science, who visited these beautiful repositories ill
the day of their glory.14
After halting two days to refresh his forces in this agreeable spot, Sandoval
marched on Jacapichtla, about twelve miles to the eastward. It was a town,
or rather fortress, perched on a rocky eminence almost inaccessible from its
steepness. It was garrisoned by a Mexican force, who rolled down on the
assailants, as they attempted to scale the heights, huge fragments of rock,
which, thundering over the sides of the precipice, carried ruin and desolation
in their path. The Indian confederates fell back in dismay from the attempt.
But Sandoval, indignant that any achievement should be too difficult for a
Spaniard, commanded his cavaliers to dismount, and, declaring that he " would
carry the place or die in the attempt," led on his men with the cheering cry
of "St. Jago."15 With renewed courage, they now followed their gallant
leader up the ascent, under a storm of lighter missiles, mingled with huge
masses of stone, which, breaking into splinters, overturned the assailants and
made fearful havoc in their ranks. Sandoval, who had been wounded on the
preceding day, received a severe contusion on the head, while more than one of
his brave comrades were struck down by his side. Still they clambered up,
sustaining themselves by the bushes or projecting pieces of rock, and seemed
to force themselves onward as much by the energy of their wills as by the
strength of their bodies.
After incredible toil, they stood on the summit, face to face with the aston-
ished garrison. For a moment they paused to recover breath, then sprang
furiously on their foes. The struggle was short, but desperate. Most of the
Aztecs were put to the sword. Some were thrown headlong over the battle-
ments, and others, letting themselves down the precipice, were killed on the
borders of a little stream that wound round its base, the waters of which were
so polluted with blood that the victors were unable to slake their thirst with
them for a full hour ! 16
Sandoval, having now accomplished the object of his expedition, by reducing
the strongholds which had so long held the Chalcans in awe, returned in
triumph to Tezcuco. Meanwhile, the Aztec emperor, whose vigilant eye had
been attentive to all that had passed, thought that the absence of so many of
its warriors afforded a favourable opportunity for recovering Chalco. He sent
a fleet of boats, for this purpose, across the lake, with a numerous force under
the command of some of his most valiant chiefs.17 Fortunately, the absent
Chalcans reached their city before the arrival of the^ enemy ; but, though
supported by their Indian allies, they were so much alarmed by the magnitude
of the hostile array that they sent again to the Spaniards, invoking their aid.
The messengers arrived at the same time with Sandoval and his army.
Cortes was much puzzled by the contradictory accounts. He suspected some
14 The distinguished naturalist Hernandez zana, p. 214.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS.,
has frequent occasion to notice this garden, lib. 33, cap. 21.
which furnished him with many specimens 1G So says the Conquistador. (Rel. Terc,
for his great work. It had the good fortune ap. Lorenzana, p. 215.) Diaz, who will allow
to be preserved after the Conquest, when no one to hyperbolize but himself, says, " For
particular attention was given to its me- as long as one might take to say an Ave
dicinal plants, for the use of a great hospital Maria ! " (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 142.)
established in the neighbourhood. See Clavi- Neither was present,
gero, Stpr. del Messico, torn. ii. p. 153. " The gallant Captain Diaz, who affects a
11 "E como esto vio el dicho Alguacil sobriety in his own estimates, which often
Mayor, y los Espanoles, determinarun de leads him to disparage those of the chaplain
morir, 6 subilles por fuerza & lo alto del Gomara, says that the force consisted of 20,000
Pueblo, y con el apellido de Seiior Santiago, warriors in 2000 canoes. Hist, de la Conquista,
comenzaron a" subir." Rel. Terc, ap. Loren- loc. cit.
438 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
negligence in his lieutenant, and, displeased with his precipitate return in this
unsettled state of the affair, ordered him back at once, with such of his forces
as were in fighting condition. Sandoval felt deeply injured by this proceeding,
but he made no attempt at exculpation, and, obeying his commander in
silence, put himself at the head of his troops and made a rapid countermarch
on the Indian city.18
Before he reached it, a battle had been fought between the Mexicans and
the confederates, in which the latter, who had acquired unwonted confidence
from their recent successes, were victorious. A number of Aztec nobles fell
into their hands in the engagement, whom they delivered to Sandoval to be
carried off as prisoners to Tezcuco. On his arrival there, the cavalier, wounded
by the unworthy treatment he had received, retired to his own quarters with-
out presenting himself before his chief.
During his absence, the inquiries of Cortes had satisfied him of his own
precipitate conduct, and of the great injustice he had done his lieutenant.
There was no man in the army on whose services he set so high a value, as
the responsible situations in which he had placed him plainly showed ; and
there was none for whom he seems to have entertained a greater personal
regard. On Sandoval's return, therefore, Cortes instantly sent to request his
attendance ; when, with a soldier's frankness, he made such an explanation
as soothed the irritated spirit of the cavalier,— a matter of no great difficulty,
as the latter had too generous a nature, and too earnest a devotion to his
commander and the cause in which they were embarked, to harbour a petty
feeling of resentment in his bosom.19
During the occurrence of these events the work was going forward actively
on the canal, and the brigantines were within a fortnight of their completion.
The greatest vigilance was required, in the mean time, to prevent their
destruction by the enemy, who nad already made three ineffectual attempts
to burn them on the stocks. The precautions which Cortes thought it
necessary to take against the Tezcucans themselves added not a little to his
embarrassment.
At this time he received embassies from different Indian states, some of
them on the remote shores of the Mexican Gulf, tendering their allegiance
and soliciting his protection. For this he was partly indebted to the good
offices of Ixtlilxochitl, who, in consequence of his brother's death, was now
advanced to the sovereignty of Tezcuco. This important position greatly
increased his consideration and authority through the country, of which he
freely availed himself to bring the natives under the dominion of the
Spaniards.20
The general received also at this time the welcome intelligence of the
arrival of three vessels at Villa Rica, with two hundred men on board, well
provided with arms and ammunition, and with seventy or eighty horses. It
was a most seasonable reinforcement. From what quarter it came is un-
certain ; most probably from Hispaniola. Corte's, it may be remembered, had
3S "El Cortes no le quiso escuchar a" San- 20 " Ixtlilxochitl procuraba siempre traer a
doual de enojo, creyendo que por su culpa, 6 la devocion y amistad de los Cristianos no tan
descuido, recibia. mala obra nuestros amigos solamente a los de el Reyno de Tezcuco siuo
los de Chalco ; y luego sin mas dilacion, ni le aun los de las Provincias remotas, rogiindoles
oyr, le mando bolver." Hist, de la Conquista, que todos se procurasen dar de paz al Capitan
ubi supra. Cortes, y que aunque de las guerras pasadas
18 Besides the authorities already quoted algunos tuviesen culpa, era tan afable y de-
for Sandoval's expedition, see Gomara, Cro- seaba tanto la paz que luego al panto los
nica, cap. 126,— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., reciviria en su amistad." Ixtlilxochitl, Hist.
MS., cap. 92, — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., Chich., MS., cap. 92.
lib. 4, cap. 86.
SECOND RECONNOITRING EXPEDITION. m
ssnt for supplies to that place ; and the authorities of the island, who had
general jurisdiction over the affairs of the colonies, had shown themselves, on
more than one occasion, well inclined towards him, probably considering him,
under all circumstances, as better fitted than any other man to achieve the
con quest of the country.21
The new recruits soon found their way to Tezcuco ; as the communications
with the port were now open and unobstructed. Among them were several
cavaliers of consideration, one of whom, Julian de Alderete, the royal treasurer,
came over to superintend the interests of the crown.
There was also in the number a Dominican friar, who brought a quantity
of pontifical bulls, offering indulgences to those engaged in war against the
infidel. The soldiers were not slow to fortify themselves with the good graces
of the Church ; and the worthy father, after driving a prosperous traffic with
his spiritual wares, had the satisfaction to return home, at the end of a few
months, well freighted, in exchange, with the more substantial treasures of
the Indies.-1
CHAPTER III.
•
BECoND RECONNOITRING EXPEDITION — ENGAGEMENTS ON THE SIERRA— CAP-
TURE OP CUERNAVACA— BATTLES AT XOCHIMILCO— NARROW ESCAPE OP
CORTES— HE ENTERS TAOUBA.
1521,
Notwithstanding the relief which had been afforded to the people^of Chalco,
it was so ineffectual that envoys from that city again arrived at Tezcuco,
bearing a hieroglyphical chart, on which were depicted several strong places in
their neighbourhood, garrisoned by the Aztecs, from which they expected
annoyance. Cortes determined, this time, to take the affair into his own
hands, and to scour the country so effectually as to place Chalco, if possible,
in a state of security. He did not confine himself to this object, but proposed,
before his return, to pass quite round the great lakes, and reconnoitre the
country to the south of them, in the same manner as he had before done to
the west. In the course of his march he would direct his arms against some of
the strong places from which the Mexicans might expect support in the siege.
Two or three weeks must elapse before the completion of the brigantines ;
and, if no other good resulted from the expedition, it would give active occu-
pation to his troops, whose turbulent spirits might fester into discontent in
the monotonous existence of a camp.
He selected for the expedition thirty horse and three hundred Spanish
infanty, with a considerable body of Tlascalan and Tezcucan warriors. The
remaining garrison he left in charge of the trusty Sandoval, who, with the
21 Cortes speaks of these vessels as coming reinforcement should have arrived from Cas-
at the same time, but does not intimate from tile, considering that Cortes had yet received
what quarter. (Rel. Terc, ap. Lorenzana, none of the royal patronage, or even sanction,
p. 216.) Bemal Diaz, who notices only one, which would stimulate adventurers in the
says it came from Castile. (Hist, de la Con- mother country to enlist under his standard,
quista, cap. 143.) But the old soldier wrote ■" Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con quista, cap.
long after the events he commemorates, and 143.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33,
may have confused the true order of things. cap. 21.— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 1,
It seems hardly probable that so important a cap. 6.
440 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
friendly lord of the capital, would watch over the construction of the brigaii*
tines and protect them from the assaults of the Aztecs.
#On the fifth of April he began his march, and on the following day arrived
at Chalco, where he was met by a number of the confederate chiefs. With
the aid of his faithful interpreters, Dona Marina and Aguilar, he explained
to them the objects of his present expedition, stated his purpose soon to
enforce the blockade of Mexico, and required their co-operation with the
whole strength of their levies. To this they readily assented ; and he soon
received a sufficient proof of their friendly disposition in the forces which
joined him on the march, amounting, according to one of the army, to more
than had ever before followed his banner.1
Taking a southerly direction, the troops, after leaving Chalco, struck into
the recesses of the wild sierra, which, Avith its bristling peaks, serves as a for-
midable palisade to fence round the beautiful Valley ; while within its rugged
arms it shuts up many a green and fruitful pasture of its own. As the
Spaniards passed through its deep gorges, they occasionally wound round the
base of some huge cliff or rocky eminence, on which the inhabitants had built
their towns, in the same manner as was done by the people of Europe in the
feudal ages ; a position which, however favourable to the picturesque, inti-
mates a sense of insecurity as the cause of it, which may reconcile us to the
absence of this striking appendage of the landscape in our own more fortunate
country.
The occupants of these airy pinnacles took advantage of their situation to
shower down stones and arrows on the troops as they defiled through the
narrow passes of the sierra. Though greatly annoyed by their incessant
hostilities, Cortes held on his way, till, winding round the base of a castellated
cliff occupied by a strong garrison of Indians, he was so severely pressed that
lie felt to pass on without chastising the aggressors would imply a want of
strength which must disparage him in the eyes of his allies. Halting in the
valley, therefore, he detached a small body of light troops to scale the heights,
while he remained with the main body of the army below, to guard against
surprise from the enemy.
The lower region of the rocky eminence was so steep that the soldiers found
it no easy matter to ascend, scrambling, as well as they could, with hand and
knee. But, as they came into the more exposed view of the garrison, the latter
rolled down huge masses of rock, which, bounding along the declivity and
breaking into fragments, crushed the foremost assailants and mangled their
limbs in a frightful manner. Still they strove to work their way upward, now
taking advantage of some gulley worn by the winter torrent, now sheltering
themselves behind a projecting cliff, or some straggling tree anchored among
the crevices of the mountain. It was all in vain. For no sooner did they
emerge again into open view than the rocky avalanche thundered on their
heads with a fury against which steel helm and cuirass were as little defence
as gossamer. All the party were more or less wounded. Eight of the number
were killed on the spot,— a loss the little band could ill afford,— and the gallant
ensign, Corral, who led the advance, saw the banner in his hand torn into
shreds.2 Cortes, at length, convinced of the impracticability of the attempt, at
least without a more severe loss than he was disposed to incur, commanded a
J " Vinieron tantos, que en todas las entra- Conquista, cap. 144.
das que yo auia ido, despues que en la Nueua * 4*Todosdescalabrados,ycorriendosangre,
Espana entre, nunca vi tanta gente de guerra y las vanderas rotas, y ocho muertos." Berual
de nuestros amigos, como aora fueron en Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, ubi supra,
nuestra compaiiia." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la
ENGAGEMENTS ON THE SIERRA. 441
retreat. It was high time ; for a large body of the enemy were on full march
acroos the valley to attack him.
He did not wait for their approach, but, gathering his broken files together,
headed his cavalry and spurred boldly against them. On the level plain the
Spaniards were on their own ground. The Indians, unable to sustain the
furious onset, broke, and fell back before it. The flight soon became a rout,
and the fiery cavaliers, dashing over them at full gallop, or running them
through with their lances, took some revenge for their late discomfiture. The
pursuit continued for some miles, till the nimble foe made their escape into
the rugged fastnesses of the sierra, where the Spaniards did not care to follow.
The weather was sultry, and, as the country was nearlv destitute of water, the
men and horses suffered extremely. Before evening they reached a spot over-
shadowed by a grove of wild mulberry-trees, in which some scanty springs
afforded a miserable supply to the army. Near the place rose another rocky
summit of the sierra, garrisoned by a stronger force than the one which they
had encountered in the former part of the day ; and at no great distance stood a
second fortress at a still greater height, though considerably smaller than its
neighbour. This was also tenanted by a body of warriors, who, as well as those
of the adjoining cliff, soon made active demonstration of their hostility by
Souring down missiles on the troops below. Cortes, anxious to retrieve the
isgrace of the morning, ordered an assault on the larger and, as it seemed,
more practicable eminence. But, though two attempts were made with great
resolution, they were repulsed with loss to the assailants. The rocky sides of
the hill had been artificially cut and smoothed, so as greatly to increase the
natural difficulties of the ascent. The shades of evening now closed around ;
and Cortes drew off his men to the mulberry-grove, where he took up his bivouac
for the night, deeply chagrined at having been twice foiled by the enemy on
the same day.
During the night, the Indian force which occupied the adjoining height
passed over to their brethren, to aid them in the ei>counter which they foresaw
would be renewed on the following morning. No sooner did the Spanish
general, at the break of day, become aware of this manoeuvre, than, with his
usual quickness, he took advantage of it. He detached a body of musketeers
and cross-bowmen to occupy the deserted eminence, purposing, as soon as this
was done, to lead the assault in person against the other. It was not long
before the Castilian banner was seen streaming from the rocky pinnacle, when
the general instantly led up his men to the attack. And, while the garrison
were meeting them resolutely on that quarter, the detachment on the neigh-
bouring heights poured into the place a well-directed fire, which so much dis-
tressed the enemy that in a very short time they signified their willingness to
capitulate.3
On entering the place, the Spaniards found that a plain of some extent ran
along the crest of the sierra, and that it was tenanted not only by men, but
by women and their families, with their effects. No violence was offered by
the victors to the property or persons of the vanquished ; and the knowledge
of this lenity induced the Indian garrison, who had made so stout a resistance
on the morning of the preceding day, to tender their submission.4
3 For the assault on the rocks,— the topo- chUl, Venida de los Espafioles, pp. 16, 17,
graphy of which it is impossible to verify — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33,
from the narratives of the Conquerors,— see cap. 21.
Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 144, * Cortes, according to Bernal Diaz, ordered
— Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. the troops who took possession of the second
218-221,— Gomara,Cronica,cap. 127,— Ixtlilxo- fortress " not to meddle with a grain of maize
442 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
After a halt of two days in this sequestered region, the army resumed its
march in a south-westerly direction on Huaxtepec, the same city which had
surrendered to Sandoval. Here they were kindly received by the cacique, and
entertained in his magnificent gardens, which Cortes and his officers, who had
not before seen them, compared, with the best in Castile.5 Still threading the
wild mountain mazes, the army passed through Jauhtepec and several other
places, which were abandoned at their approach. As the inhabitants, however,
hung in armed bodies on their flanks and rear, doing them occasionally some
mischief, the Spaniards took their revenge by burning the deserted towns.
Thus holding on their fiery track, they descended the bold slope of the
Cordilleras, which on the south are far more precipitous than on the Atlantic
side. Indeed, a single day's journey is sufficient to place the traveller on a
level several thousand feet lower than that occupied by him in the morning ;
thus conveying him, in a few hours, through the climates of many degrees of
latitude. 'The route of the army led them across many an acre covered with
lava and blackened scoriae, attesting the volcanic character of the region ;
though this was frequently relieved by patches of verdure, and even tracts of
prodigal fertility, as if Nature were desirous to compensate by these extra-
ordinary efforts for the curse of barrenness which elsewhere had fallen on the
land. On the ninth day of their march the troops arrived before the strong-
city of Quauhnahuac, or Cuernavaca, as since called by the Spaniards.0 It
was the ancient capital of the Tlahuicas, and the most considerable place for
wealth and population in this part of the country. . It was tributary to the
Aztecs, and a garrison of this nation was quartered'within its walls. The town
Avas singularly situated, on a projecting piece of land, encompassed by barrancas,
or formidable ravines, except on one side, which opened on a rich and well-
cultivated country. For, though the place stood at an elevation of between
five and six thousand feet above the level of the sea, it had a southern exposure
so sheltered by the mountain barrier on the north that its climate was as soft
and genial as that of a much lower. region.
The Spaniards, on arriving before this city, the limit of their southerly pro-
gress, found themselves separated from it by one of the vast barrancas before
noticed, which resemjbled one of those frightful rents not unfrequent in the
Mexican Andes, the result, no doubt, of some terrible convulsion in earlier ages.
The rocky sides of the ravine sank perpendicularly down, so bare as scarcely
to exhibit even a vestige of the cactus, or of the other hardy plants with which
Nature in these fruitful regions so gracefully covers up her deformities. The
bottom of the chasm, however, showed a striking contrast to this, being literally
choked up with a rich and spontaneous vegetation ; for the huge walls of rock
which shut in these barrancas, while they screen them from the cold winds of
the Cordilleras, reflect the rays of a vertical sun, so as to produce an almost
belonging to the besieged." Diaz, giving this y passedron algo de ella, se admiraron, y
a very liberal interpretation, proceeded forth- dixeron, que mejor cosa de huerta no auian
with to load his Indian tamanes with every- visto en Castilla." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la
thing but maize, as fair booty. He was in- Conquista, cap. 144.
terrupted in his labours, however, by the 6 This barbarous Indian name is tortured
captain of the detachment, who gave a more into all possible variations by the old chro-
narrow construction to his general's orders, niclers. The town soon received from the
much to the dissatisfaction of the latter, if we Spaniards the name which it now bears, of
may trust the doughty chronicler. Hist, de Cuernavaca, and by which it is indicated on
la Conquista, ubi supra. modern maps. "Prevalse poi quello di
5 " Adonde estaua la huerta que he dicho, Cuernabaca, col quale epresentemente cono-
que es la mejor que auia visto en toda mi sciutadagli Spagnuoli." Clavigero, Stor. del
vida, y ansi lo torno <i dezir, que Cortes, y el Messico, torn. iii. p. 1S5, nota.
Tesorero Alderete, desque entonces la vieron,
CAPTURE OF CUERNAVACA. 443
suffocating heat in the enclosure, stimulating the soil to the rank fertility of the
tierra caliente. Under the action of this forcing apparatus,— so to speak, —
the inhabitants of the towns on their margin above may with ease obtain the
vegetable products which are to be found on the sultry level of the lowlands.*
At the bottom of the ravine was seen a little stream, which, oozing from the
stony bowels of the sierra, tumbled along its narrow channel and contributed
by its perpetual moisture to the exuberant fertility of the valley. This
rivulet, which at certain seasons of the year was swollen to a torrent, was
traversed at some distance below the town, where the sloping sides of the
barranca afforded a more practicable passage, by two rude bridges, both of
which had been broken, in anticipation of the coming of the Spaniards. The
latter had now arrived on the brink of the chasm which intervened between
them and the city. It was, as has been remarked, of no great width, and
the army drawn up on its borders was directly exposed to the archery of the
garrison, on whom its own fire made little impression, protected as they were
by their defences.
The general, annoyed by his position, sent a detachment to seek a passage
lower down, by which the troops might be landed on the other side. But,
although the banks of the ravine became less formidable as they descended,
they found no means of crossing the river, till a path unexpectedly pre-
sented itself, on which, probably, no one before had been daring enough to
venture.
From the cliffs on the opposite sides of the barranca, two huge trees shot
up to an enormous height, and, inclining towards each other, interlaced their
boughs so as to form a sort of natural bridge. Across this avenue, in mid-air,
ia Tlascalan conceived it would not be difficult to pass to the opposite bank.
The bold mountaineer succeeded in the attempt, and was soon followed by
several others of his countrymen, trained to feats of agility and strength
among their native hills. The Spaniards imitated their example. It was a
perilous effort for an armed man to make his way over this aerial causeway,
swayed to and fro by the wind, where the brain might become giddy, and
Avhere a single false movement of hand or foot would plunge him in the abyss
below. Three of the soldiers lost their hold and fell. The rest, consisting
of some twenty or thirty Spaniards and a considerable number of Tlascalans,
alighted in safety on the other bank.7 There hastily forming, they marched
with all speed on the .city. The enemy, engaged in their contest with the
Gastilians on the opposite brink of the ravine, were taken by surprise, — which,
indeed, could scarcely have been exceeded if they had seen their foe drop from
the clouds on the field of battle.
They made a brave resistance, however, when fortunately the Spaniards
succeeded in repairing one of the dilapidated bridges in such a manner as to
enable both cavalry and foot to cross the river, though with much delay. The
horse, under Olid and Andres de Tapia, instantly rode up to the succour of
their countrymen. They were soon followed by Cortes at the head of the
remaining battalions, and the enemy, driven from one point to another, were
7 The s'out-hearted Diaz was one of those q lo vf mui peligroso, e malo de passar, y se
who performed this dangerous feat, though me desvanecia la cabeca, y todavia passe yo,
his head swam so, as he tells us, that he y otros veinte, 6 treinta soldados, y muchos
scarcely knew how he got on. " Porque de Tlascaltecas." Hist, de la Conquista, ubi
mf digo, que verdaderamete quando passaua, supra.
* ["The whole of this description," re- present aspect of Cuernavaca and the barrancas
marks Alaman, "agrees perfectly with the surrounding it."— Ed.]
444 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
compelled to evacuate the city and to take refuge among the mountains. The
buildings In one quarter of the town were speedily wrapt in flames. The
place was abandoned to pillage, and, as it was one of the most opulent marts
in the country, it amply compensated the victors for the toil and danger
they had encountered. The trembling caciques, returning soon after to the
city, appeared before Cortes, and, deprecating his resentment by charging the
blame, as usual, on the Mexicans, threw themselves on his mercy. Satisfied
with their submission, he allowed no further violence to the inhabitants.8
Having thus accomplished the great object of his expedition across the
mountains, the Spanish commander turned his face northwards, to recross the
formidable barrier which divided him from the Valley. The ascent, steep and
laborious, was rendered still more difficult by fragments of rock and loose
stones, which encumbered the passes. The mountain sides and summits were
snaggy with thick forests of pine and stunted oak, which threw a melancholy
gloom over the region, still further heightened at the present day by its being
a favourite haunt of banditti.
The weather was sultry, and, as the stony soil was nearly destitute of water,
the troops suffered severely from thirst. Several of them, indeed, fainted on
the road, and a few of the Indian allies perished from exhaustion.9 The
line of march must have taken the army across the eastern shoulder of
the mountain, called the Cruz del Marques, or Cross of the Marquess, from
a huge stone cross erected there to indicate the boundary of the territories
granted by the Crown to Cortes, as Marquis of the Valley. Much, indeed,
of the route lately traversed by the troops lay across the princely domain
subsequently assigned to the Conqueror.10
The Spaniards were greeted from these heights with a different view from
any which they had before had of the Mexican Valley, made more attractive
in their eyes, doubtless, by contrast with the savage scenery in which they had
lately been involved. It was its most pleasant and populous quarter ; for
nowhere did its cities and villages cluster together in such numbers as round
the lake of sweet water. From whatever quarter seen, however, the en-
chanting region presented the same aspect of natural beauty and cultivation,
with its flourishing villas, and its fair lake in the centre, whose dark and
polished surface glistened like a mirror, deep set in the huge frame-work of
porphyry in which nature had enclosed it.
The point of attack selected by the general was Xochimilco, or " the field of
flowers," as its name implies, from the floating gardens which rode at anchor,
as it were, on the neighbouring waters.11 It was one of the most potent and
wealthy cities in the Valley, and a stanch vassal of the Aztec crown. It
stood, iike the capital itself, partly in the water, and was approached in that
quarter by causeways of no great length. The town was composed of houses
like those of most other places of like magnitude in the country, mostly of
" For the preceding account of the capture Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 224.
of Cuernavaca, see Bernal Diaz, ubi supra, — 10 The city ofCuernavaca was comprehended
Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. in the patrimony of the dukes of Monteleone,
21, — Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 93, descendants and* heirs of the Conquistador. —
— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 8, The Spaniards, in their line of march towards
— Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. the north, did not deviate far, probably, from
87, — Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. the great road which now leads from Mexico
223, 224. to Acapulco, still exhibiting in this upper
Una Tierra de Tinales, despoblada, y portion of it the same characteristic features
nguna agua. la qual y un Puerto pasii-
;on grandissimo trabajo, y sin beber :
que muchos de los lndios que iban con
uosotros perecieron dc sed." Rel. Terc. de
sin ninguna agua. la qual y un Puerto passi- as at the period of the Conquest.
mos con grandissimo trabajo, y sin beber: " Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. iii. p
tanto, que muchos de los lndios que iban con 137, nota.
XARROW ESCAPE OP CORTES. 445
cottages or huts made of clay and the light bamboo, mingled with aspiring
teocailis, and edifices of stone, belonging to the more opulent classes.
As the Spaniards advanced, they were met by skirmishing parties of the
enemy, who, after dismissing a light volley of arrows, rapidly retreated before
them. As they took the direction of Xochimilco, Cortes inferred that they
were prepared to resist him in considerable force. It exceeded his expecta-
tions.
On traversing the principal causeway, he found it occupied at the farther
extremity by a numerous body of warriors, who, stationed on the opposite
side of a bridge, which had been broken, were prepared to dispute his passage.
They had constructed a temporary barrier of palisades, which screened them
from the fire of the musketry. But the water in its neighbourhood was very
shallow, and the cavaliers and infantry, plunging into it, soon made their
way, swimming or wacling, as they could, in face of a storm of missiles, to the
landing near the town. Here they closed with the enemy, and hand to hand,
after a sharp struggle, drove them back on the city ; a few, howrever, taking
the direction of the open country, were followed up by the cavalry. The
great mass, hotly pursued by the infantry, were driven through street and
lane, without much further resistance. Cortes, with a few followers, disen-
gaging himself from the tumult, remained near the entrance of the city. He
had not been there long when he was assailed by a fresh body of Indians, who
suddenly poured into the place from a neighbouring dike. The general,
with his usual fearlessness, threw himself into the midst, in hopes to check
their advance. But his oavii followers were too few to support him, and he
was overwhelmed by the crowd of combatants. His horse lost his footing
and fell ; and Cortes, who received a severe blow on the head before he could
rise, was seized and dragged off in triumph by the Indians. At this critical
moment, a Tlascalan, who perceived the general's extremity, sprang, like one
of the wild ocelots of his own forests, into the midst of the assailants, and
endeavoured to tear him from their grasp. Two of the general's servants
also speedily came to the rescue, and Cortes, with their aid and that of the
brave Tlascalan, succeeded in regaining his feet and shaking off his enemies.
To vault into the saddle and brandish his good lance was but the work of a
moment. Others of his men quickly came up, and the clash of arms reaching
the ears of the Spaniards, who had gone in pursuit, they returned, and, after
a desperate conflict, forced the enemy from the city. Their retreat, however,
was intercepted by the cavalry, returning from the country, and, thus hemmed
in between the opposite columns, they were cut to pieces, or saved themselves
only by plunging into the lake.12
This was the greatest personal danger which Cortes had yet encountered.
His life was in the power of the barbarians, and, had it not been for their
eagerness to take him prisoner, he must undoubtedly have lost it. To the
same cause may be frequently attributed the preservation of the Spaniards in
these engagements. The next day he sought, it is said, for the Tlascalan
who came so boldly to his rescue, and, as he could learn nothing of him. he
12 Itel. Terc. de Cortes, ap, Lorenzana, p. himself on the occasion. (Hist, de la Con-
226.— Hen-era, Hist, general, dec. 3, lib l.cap. quista, cap. 145.) This was an affair, how-
8.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, ever, in which Cortes ought to be better
cap. 21.— This is the general's own account of informed than any one else, and one, more-
the matter. Diaz, however, says that he was over, not likely to slip his memory. The old
indebted for his rescue to a Castilian, named soldier has probably confounded it with
Olea, supported by some Tlascalans, and that another and similar adventure of his com-
his preserver received three severe wounds mander.
446 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OP MEXICO.
gave the credit of his preservation to his patron, St. Peter.13 He may well be
excused for presuming the interposition of his good Genius to shield him from
the awful doom of the captive, — a doom not likely to be mitigated in his case.
That heart must have been a bold one, indeed, which, from any motive, could
voluntarily encounter such a peril ! Yet his followers did as much, and that,
too, for a much inferior reward.
The period which we are reviewing was still the age of chivalry,— that
stirring and adventurous age, of which we can form little conception in the
E resent day of sober, practical reality. The Spaniard, with his nice point of
onour, high romance, and proud, vainglorious vaunt, was the true represen-
tative of that age. The Europeans generally had not yet learned to accom-
modate themselves to a life of literary toil, or to the drudgery of trade or the
patient tillage of the soil. They left these to the booded inmate of the
cloister, the humble burgher, and the miserable serf. Arms was the only
profession worthy of gentle blood, — the only career which the high-mettled
cavalier could tread with honour. The New World, with its strange and
mysterious perils, afforded a noble theatre for the exercise of his calling;
and the Spaniard entered on it with all the enthusiasm of a paladin of
romance.
Other nations entered on it also, but with different motives. The French
sent forth their missionaries to take up their dwelling among the heathen,
who, in the good work. of winning souls to Paradise, were content to wear —
nay, sometimes seemed to court — the crown of martyrdom. The Dutch, too,
had their mission, but it was one of worldly lucre, and they found a recom-
pense for toil and suffering in their gainful traffic with the natives. While
our own Puritan fathers, Avith the true Anglo-Saxon spirit, left their pleasant
homes across the waters, and pitched their tents in the howling wilderness,
that they might enjoy the sweets of- civil and religious freedom. But the
Spaniard came over to the New World in the true spirit of a knight-errant,
courting adventure however perilous, wooing danger, as it would seem, for its
own sake. With sword and lance, he was ever ready to do battle for the
Faith ; and, as he raised his old war-cry of " St. Jago," he fancied himself
righting under the banner of the military apostle, and felt his single arm a
match for more than a hundred infidels ! It was the expiring age of chivalry ;
and Spain, romantic Spain, was the land where its light lingered longest above
the horizon.
It was not yet dusk when Cortes and his followers re-entered the city ; and
the general's first act was to ascend a neighbouring teocalli and reconnoitre
the surrounding country. He there beheld a sight which might have troubled
a bolder spirit than his. The surface of the salt lake was darkened with
canoes, and the causeway, for many a mile, with Indian squadrons, apparently
on their march towards the Christian camp. In fact, no sooner had Guate-
mozin been apprised of the arrival of the white men at Xochimilco than he
mustered his levies in great force to relieve the city. They were now on their
march, and, as the capital was but four leagues distant, would arrive soon
after night-fall.14
Cortes made active preparations for the defence of his quarters. He sta-
13 "Otro Dia busco Cortes al Indio, que le de Canoas, que creo, que pasaban do dos mil .-
socorrio, i muerto, ni vivo no parecio ; i y on ellas venian mas de doce mil Hombres
Cortes, por la devocion de San Pedro, juzgo de Guerra; e por la Tierra Uego_tanta mul-
que el le avia aiudado." Herrera, Hist. titud de Gente, que todos los Campos cubrian."
general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. s. Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 227.
i4 u por el AgUa a una muy grande flota
BATTLES AT XOCHIMILCO. 447
tioned a corps of pikemen along the landing where the Aztecs would be likely
to disembark. lie doubled the sentinels, and, with his principal officers, made
the rounds repeatedly in the course of the night. In addition to other causes
for watchfulness, the bolts of the cross -bowmen were nearly exhausted, and the
archers were busily employed in preparing and adjusting shafts to the copper
heads, of which great store had been provided for the army. There was little
sleep in the camp that night.15
It passed away, however, without molestation from the enemy. Though
not stormy, it was exceedingly dark. But, although the Spaniards on duty
could see nothing, they distinctly heard the sound of many oars in the water,
at no great distance from the shore. Yet those on board the canoes made no
attempt to land, distrusting, or advised, it may be, of the preparations made
for their reception. With early dawn they were under arms, and, without
waiting for the movement of the Spaniards, poured into the city and attacked
them in their own quarters.
The Spaniards, who were gathered in the area round one of the teocallis,
were taken at disadvantage in the town, where the narrow lanes and streets,
many of them covered with a smooth and slippery cement, offered obvious
impediments to the manoeuvres of cavalry. But Cortes hastily formed his
musketeers and cross-bowmen, and poured such a lively, well-directed fire into
the enemy's ranks as threw him into disorder and compelled him to recoil.
The infantry, with their long pikes, followed up the blow ; and the horse,
charging at full speed as the retreating Aztecs emerged from the city, drove
them several miles along the main land.
At some distance, however, they were met by a strong reinforcement of
their countrymen, and, rallying, the tide of battle turned, and the cavaliers,
swept along by it, gave the rein to their steeds and rode back at full gallop
towards the town. They had not proceeded very far, when they came upon
the main body of the army, advancing rapidly to their support. Thus
strengthened, they once more returned to the charge, and the rival hosts met
together in full career, with the shock of an earthquake. For a time, victory
seemed to hang in the balance, as the mighty press reeled to and fro under the
opposite impulse, and a confused shout rose up towards heaven, in which the
war-whoop of the savage was mingled with the battle-cry of the Christian,— a
still stranger sound on these sequestered shores. But, in the end, Castilian
valour, or rather Castilian arms and discipline, proved triumphant. The enemy
faltered, gave way, and, recoiling step by step, the retreat soon terminated in
a rout, and the Spaniards, following up the flying foe, drove them from the
field with such dreadful slaughter that they made no further attempt to renew
the battle.
The victors were now undisputed masters of the city. It was a wealthy
place, well stored with Indian fabrics, cotton, gold, feather-work, and other
articles of luxury and use, affording a rich booty to the soldiers. While
engaged in the work of plunder, a party of the enemy, landing from their
canoes, fell on some of the stragglers, laden with merchandise, and made four
of them prisoners. It created a greater sensation among the troops than if
ten times that number had fallen on the field. Indeed, it was rare that a
Spaniard allowed himself to be taken alive. In the present instance the
15 "Y acordose" que huviesse mui buena dando en la ealcada, y tierra firme, y todos
vela en todo nuestro Real, repartida a los los Capitanes, y Cortes con ellos, haziendo
puertos, e azequias por donde auian de venir vela y ronda toda la noche." Bernal Diaz,
h desembarcar, y los de acauallo mui & punto Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 145.
toda la nocbe ensillados y enfrenados, aguar-
448 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
unfortunate men were taken by surprise. They were hurried to the capital,
and soon after sacrificed ; when their arms and legs were cut off, by the com-
mand of the ferocious young chief of the Aztecs, and sent round to the
different cities, with the assurance that this should be the fate of the enemies
of Mexico ! ,G
From the prisoners taken in the late engagement, Cortes learned that the
forces already sent by Guatemozin formed but a small part of his levies ; that
his policy was to send detachment after detachment, until the Spaniards,
however victorious they might come off from the contest with each individu-
ally, would, in the end, succumb from mere exhaustion, and thus be vanquished,
as it were, by their own victories.
The soldiers having now sacked the city, Cortes did not care to await further
assaults from the enemy in his present quarters. On the fourth morning
after his arrival, he mustered his forces on a neighbouring plain. They came,
many of them reeling under the weight of their plunder. The general saw
this with uneasiness. They were to march, he said, through a populous
country, all in arms to dispute their passage. To secure their safety, the^
should move as light and unencumbered as possible. The sight of so mucl
spoil would sharpen the appetite of their enemies, and draw them on, like
flock of famished eagles after their prey. But his eloquence was lost on hi
men, who plainly told him they had a right to the fruit of their victories, anc
that what they had won Avith their swords they knew well enough how
defend with them.
Seeing them thus bent on their purpose, the general did not care to bal
their inclinations. He ordered the baggage to the centre, and placed a few
the cavalry over it ; dividing the remainder between the front and rear,
which latter post, as that most exposed to attack, he also stationed his arque-
busiers and cross-bowmen. Thus prepared, he resumed his march, but first
set fire to the combustible buildings of Xochimilco, in retaliation for the resist-
ance he had met there.17 The light of the burning city streamed high into
the air, sending its ominous glare far and wide across the waters, and telling
the inhabitants on their margin that the fatal strangers so long predicted by
their oracles had descended like a consuming flame upon their borders.18
Small bodies of the enemy were seen occasionally at a distance, but they
,G Diaz, who had an easy faith, states, as a MS., lib. 23, cap. 21,— Herrera, Hist, general,
fact, that the limbs of the unfortunate men dec. 3, lib. l,cap. 8, 11, — Ixtlilxochitl, Venida
were cut off before their sacrifice : " Manda de los Espanoles, p. 18, — Torquemada, Mon-
cortar pies y bracos a los tristes nuestros arch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 87, 88, — Bernal Diaz,
companeros, y las embia por muchos pueblos Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 145. — The Con-
nuestros amigos de los q nos auian venido de queror's own account of these engagements
paz, y les embia a dezir, que antes que bol- has not his usual perspicuity, perhaps from
vamos & Tezcuco, piensa no quedarii ninguno its brevity. A more than ordinary confusion,
de nosotros & vida, y con los coracones y indeed, prevails in the different reports of
sangre hizo sacrificio a sus idolos.'' ; (Hist, de them, even those proceeding !from contem-
la Conquista, cap. 145.)— This is not very poraries, making it extremely difficult to
probable. The Aztecs did not, like our collect a probable narrative from authorities
North American Indians, torture their ene- not only contradicting one another, but
mies from mere cruelty, but in conformity themselves. It is rare, at any time, that two
to the prescribed regulations of their ritual. accounts of a battle coincide in all respects ;
The captive was a religious victim. the range of observation for each individual
17 "Y al cabo dejandola toda quemada y is necessarily so limited and different, and it
asolada nos partimos ; y cierto era mucho is so difficult to make a cool observation at
para vejr, porque tenia muchas Casas, y Torres all, in the hurry and heat of conflict. Any
de sus Idolos de cal y canto." Rel. Terc. de one who has conversed with the survivors
Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 228. will readily comprehend this, and be apt to
18 For other particulars of the actions at conclude that, wherever he may look for
Xochimilco, see Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., truth, it will hardly be- on the battle-ground.
ON THE ROAD TO TACUBA. 449
did not venture to attack the army on its march, which, before noon, brought
them to Cojohuacan, a large town about two leagues distant from Xochimilco.
One could scarcely travel that distance in this populous quarter of the Valley
without meeting with a place of considerable size, oftentimes the capital of
what had formerly been an independent state. The inhabitants, members of
different tribes, and speaking dialects somewhat different, belonged to the same
great family of nations, who had come from the real or imaginary region of
Aztlan, in the far North-west. Gathered round the shores of their Alpine sea,
these petty communities continued, after their incorporation with the Aztec
monarchy, to maintain a spirit of rivalry in their intercourse with one another,
which— as with the cities on the Mediterranean in the feudal ages— quickened
their mental energies, and raised the Mexican Valley higher in the scale of
civilization than most other quarters of Anahuac.
The town at which the army had now arrived was deserted by its inhabi-
tants ; and Cortes halted two days there to restore his troops and give the
needful attention to the wounded.19 He made use of the time to reconnoitre
the neighbouring ground, and, taking with him a strong detachment, descended
on the causeway which led from Cojohuacan to the great avenue of Iztapala-
pan.20 At the point of intersection, called Xoloc, he found a strong barrier,
or fortification, behind which a Mexican force was intrenched. Their archery
did some mischief to the Spaniards as they came within bowshot. But the
latter, marching intrepidly forward in face of the arrowy shower, stormed the
works, and, after an obstinate struggle, drove the enemy from their position.21
Cortes then advanced some way on the great causeway of Iztapalapan ; but
he beheld the farther extremity darkened by a numerous array of warriors,
and, as he did not care to engage in unnecessary hostilities, especially as
his ammunition was nearly exhausted, he fell back and retreated to his own
quarters,
The following day, the army continued its march, taking the road to Tacuba,
but a few miles distant. On the way it experienced much annoyance from
straggling parties of the enemy, who, furious at the sight of the booty which
the invaders were bearing away, made repeated attacks on their flanks and
rear. Cortes retaliated, as on the former expedition, by one of their own
stratagems, but with less success than before ; for, pursuing the retreating
13 This place, recommended by the exceed- obliquely the great southern avenue by which
ing beauty of its situation, became, after the the Spaniards first entered the capital. As
Conquest, a favourite residence of Cortes, the waters which once entirely surrounded
who founded a nunnery in it, and commanded Mexico have shrunk into their narrow basin,
in his will that his bones should be removed the face of the country has undergone a great
thither from any part of the world in which change, and, though the foundations of the
'he might die: "Que mis huetos — los lleven principal causeways are still maintained, it is
a" la mi Villa de Coyoacan, y alii les den not always easy to discern vestiges of the
tierra en el Monesterio de Monjas, que mando ancient avenues.*
hacer y edificar en la dicha mi Villa." Testa- "' "We came to a wall which they had
niento de Hernan Cortes, M.S. built across the causeway, and the foot-soldiers
-° This, says Archbishop Lorenzana, was began to attack it ; and though it was very
the modern calzada de la Piedad. (Rel. thick and stoutly defended, and ten Spaniards
Terc. de Cortes, p. 229, nota.) But it is not were wounded, at length they gained it,
easy to reconcile this with the elaborate chart killing many of the enemy, although the
which M. de Humboldt has given of the musketeers were without powder and the
Valley. A short arm, which reached from bowmen without arrows." Rel. Terc, ubi
this city in the days of the Aztecs, touched supra.
* ["La calzada de Iztapalapan," says Ala- que conduce A San Augustin de las Cuevas 6
nun, who has made a minute study of the Tlalpaui."— Ed.J
topography,*" es la do San Antonio Abad,
450
SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
enemy too hotly, he fell with his cavalry into an ambuscade which they had
prepared for him in turn. He was not yet a match for their wily tactics. The
Spanish cavaliers were enveloped in a moment by their subtle foe, and sepa-
rated from the rest of the army. But, spurring on their good steeds, and
charging in a solid column together, they succeeded in breaking through the
Indian array, and in making their escape, except two individuals, who fell
into the enemy's hands. They were the general's own servants, who had
folloAved him faithfully through the whole campaign, and he was deeply affected
by their loss,— rendered the more distressing by the consideration of the
dismal fate that awaited them. When the little band rejoined the army, which
had halted, in some anxiety at their absence, under the walls of Tacuba, the
soldiers were astonished at the dejected mien of their commander, which tc
visibly betrayed his emotion.22
The sun was still high in the heavens when they entered the ancient capital
of the Tepanecs. The first care of Cortes was to ascend the principal teocalli
and survey the surrounding country. It was an admirable point of view,
commanding the capital, which lay but little more than a league distant, ana
its immediate environs. Cortes was accompanied by Alderete, the treasurer,
and some other cavaliers, who had lately joined his banner. The spectacle
was still new to them ; and, as they gazed on the stately city, with its brog "
lake covered with boats and barges hurrying to and fro, some laden witl
merchandise, or fruits and vegetables, for the markets of Tenochtitlan, othei
crowded with warriors, they could not withhold their admiration at the life
and activity of the scene, declaring that nothing but the hand of Providenc
could have led their countrymen safe through the heart of tins powerfi
empire.23
In the midst of the admiring circle, the brow of Cortes alone was observec
to be overcast, and a sigh, which now and then stole audibly from his bosom,
showed the gloomy working of his thoughts.24 ' ' Take comfort," said one
of the cayaliers, approaching his commander, and wishing to console him,
in his rough Avay, for his recent loss ; " you must not lay these things so
much to heart ; it is, after all, but the fortune of war." The general's answer
showed the nature of his meditations. " You are my witness," said he, " how
often I have endeavoured to persuade yonder capital peacefully to submit.
It fills me with grief when I think of the toil and the dangers my brave
followers have yet to encounter before we can call it ours. But the time is
come when we must put our hands to the work." 2*
There can be no doubt that Cortes, with every other man in his army, felt
he was engaged on a- holy crusade, and that, independently of personal con-
siderations, he could not serve Heaven better than by planting the Cross on
the blood-stained towers of the heathen metropolis. But it was natural that
lie should feel some compunction as he gazed on the goodly scene, and thought
-- " Y estando en esto viene Cortes, con el
qual nos alegnimos, puesto que el venia muy
triste y conio lloroso." Benial Diaz, Hist, de
la Conquista, cap. 145.
M "Pues quando vieron la gran ciudad de
Mexico, y la laguna, y tanta multitud de
canoas, que vnas ivan cargadas con basti-
mentos, y otras ivan a" pescar, y otras val-
dias. mucho mas se espantaron, porque no
las auian visto, hasta en aquella sacon : y
dixeron, que nuestra venida en esta Nueua
Espana, que no eran cosas de honibres hu.
manos, sino que la gran misericordia de Dios
era quie nos sosteoia." Ibid,, loc. cit.
24 "En este instante suspiro Cortes co vna
muy gra tristeza, mui mayor <| la q de antes
traia." Ibid., loc. cit.
**. " Y Cortes le dixo, que ya veia quantas
vezes auia embiado & Mexico a rogalles con la
paz, y que la tristeza no la tenia por sola vna
cosa, sino en pensar en los grandes trabajos
en que noa auiamos de ver, basta tornar d
sefiorear ; y que con la ayuda de Dios presto
lo porniamos por la obra." Ibid., ubi supra.
HE ENTERS TACITBA. 451
of the coming tempest, and how soon the opening blossoms of civilization
which there met his eye must wither under the rude breath of War. It was
a striking spectacle, that of the great Conqueror thus brooding in silence over
the desolation he was about to bring on the land ! It seems to have made a
deep impression on his soldiers, little accustomed to such proofs of his sensi-
bility ; and it forms the burden of some of those romances, or national ballads,
with which the Castilian minstrel, in the olden time, delighted to commemo-
rate the favourite heroes of his country, and which, coming midway between
oral tradition and chronicle, have been found as imperishable a record as
chronicle itself.26
Tacuba was the point which Cortes had reached on his former expedition
round the northern side of the Valley. He had now, therefore, made the
entire circuit of the great lake ; had reconnoitred the several approaches to
the capital, and inspected with his own eyes the dispositions made on the
opposite quarters for its defence. He had no occasion to prolong his stay in
Tacuba, the vicinity of which to Mexico must soon bring on him its whole
warlike population.
Early on the following morning he resumed his march, taking the route
pursued in the former expedition north of the small lakes. He met with less
annoyance from the enemy than on the preceding days ; a circumstance owing
in some degree, perhaps, to the state of the weather, which was exceedingly
tempestuous. The soldiers, with their garments heavy with moisture, ploughed
their way with difficulty through miry roads flooded by the torrents. On one
occasion, as their military chronicler informs us, the officers neglected to go
the rounds of the camp at night, and the sentinels to mount guard, trusting
to the violence of the storm for their protection. Yet the fate of Narvaez
might have taught them not to put their faith in the elements.
At Acolman, in the Acolhuan territory, they were met by Sandoval, with
the friendly cacique of Tezcuco, and several cavaliers, among whom were some
recently arrived from the Islands. They cordially greeted their countrymen,
and communicated the tidings that the canal was completed, and that the
brigantines, rigged and equipped, were ready to be launched on the bosom of
the lake. There seemed to be no reason, therefore, for longer postponing
operations against Mexico.— With this welcome intelligence, Cortes and his
victorious legions made their entry for the last time into the Acolhuan capital,
having consumed just three weeks in completing the circuit of the Valley.
2r- Diaz gives the opening redondillas of It may be thus done into pretty literal dog-
the romance, which I have not been able to gerel :
find in any of the printed collections : fa Tacuba gtood ^^
" En Tacuba esta Cortes, With many a care opprest,
co su esquadron esforcado, Thoughts of the past came o'er him,
triste estaua, y muy penoso, And lie bowed his haughty crest,
triste, y con gran cuidado, One hand upon his cheek he laid,
la vna mano en la mexilla, The other on his breast,
y la otra en el costado," etc. While his valiant squadrons round him, etc.
452 8IE0B AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO,
CHAPTER IV.
CONSPIRACY IN THE ARMY— BRIGANTINES LAUNCHED— MUSTER OF FORCES—
EXEOUTION OF XICOTENCATL— MARCH OF THE ARMY — BEGINNING OF THE
SIEGE.
1521.
At the very time when Cortes was occupied with reconnoitring the Valley,
preparatory to his siege of the capital, a busy faction in Castile was labouring
to subvert his authority and defeat his plans of conquest altogether. The
fame of his brilliant exploits had spread not only through the Isles, but to
Spain and many parts of Europe, where a general admiration was felt for the
invincible energy of the man who with his single arm, as it were, could so
long maintain a contest with the powerful Indian empire. The absence of
the Spanish monarch from his dominions, and the troubles of the country,
can alone explain the supine indifference shown by the government to the
prosecution of this great enterprise. To the same causes it may be ascribed
that no action was had in regard to the suits of Velasquez and Narvae
backed as they were by so potent an advocate as Bishop Fonseca, presidei
of the Council of the Indies. The reins of government had fallen into tl
hands of Adrian of Utrecht, Charles's preceptor, and afterwards Pope,-
man of learning, and not without sagacity, but slowand timid in his polie
and altogether incapable of that decisive action which suited the bold genii
of his predecessor, Cardinal Ximenes.
In the spring of 1521, however, a number of ordinances passed the Council
of the Indies, which threatened an important innovation in the affairs of New
Spain. It was decreed that the Royal Audience of Hispaniola should abandon
the proceedings already instituted against Narvaez for his treatment of the
commissioner Ayllon ; that that unfortunate commander should be release
from his confinement at Vera Cruz ; and that an arbitrator should be sent
Mexico with authority to investigate the affairs and conduct of Cortes, ai
to render ample justice to the governor of Cuba. There were not wanti
persons at court who looked with dissatisfaction on these proceedings, as
unworthy requital of the services of Cortes, and who thought the preser
moment, at any rate, not the most suitable for taking measures which migl
discourage the general and perhaps render him desperate. But the arrogar
temper of the bishop of Burgos overruled all objections ; and the ordinance
having been approved by the Regency, were signed by that body, April 1 1
1521. A person named Tapia, one of the functionaries of the Audience
St. Domingo, was selected as the new commissioner to be despatched to Vei
Cruz. Fortunately, circumstances occurred which postponed the executk
of the design for the present, and permitted Cortes to go forward unmolesf
in his career of conquest.1
But, while thus allowed to remain, for the present at least, in possession
authority, he was assailed by a danger nearer home, which menaced not onl
his authority, but his life. This was a conspiracy in the army, of a more dar!
and dangerous character than any hitherto formed there. It was set on foot
by a common soldier, named Antonio Villafana, a native of Old Castile, of
1 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap, 15.— Kelacion de Alonso de Verzara, Escrivauo
Publico de Vera Cruz, MS., dec. 21.
CONSPIRACY IK THE ARMY. 453
whom nothing is known but his share in this transaction. He was one of the
troop of N arvaez,— that leaven of disaffection, which had remained with the
army, swelling with discontent on every light occasion, and ready at all times
to rise into mutiny. They had voluntarily continued in the service after the
secession of their comrades at Tlascala ; but it was from the same mercenary
hopes with which they had originally embarked in the expedition,— and in
these they were destined still to be disappointed. They had little of the true
spirit of adventure which distinguished the old companions of Cortes ; and
they found the barren laurels of victory but a sorry recompense for all their
toils and sufferings.
With these men were joined others, who had causes of personal disgust
with the general ; and others, again, who looked with distrust on the result
of the war. The gloomy fate of their countrymen who had fallen into the
enemy's hands filled them with dismay. They felt themselves the victims of
a chimerical spirit in their leader, who, with such inadequate means, was
urging to extremity so ferocious and formidable a foe ; and they shrank with
something like apprehension from thus pursuing the enemy "into his own
haunts, where he would gather tenfold energy from despair.
These men would have willingly abandoned the enterprise and returned to
Cuba ; but how could they do it '( Cortes had control over the whole route
from the city to the sea-coast ; and not a vessel could leave its ports without
his warrant. Even if he were put out of the way, there were others, his
principal officers, ready to step into his place and avenge the death of their
commander. It was necessary to embrace these, also, in the scheme of
destruction ; and it was proposed, therefore, together with Cortes, to assassi-
nate Sandoval, Olid, ' Alvarado, and two or three others most devoted to his
interests. The conspirators would then raise the cry of liberty, and doubted
not that they should be joined by the greater part of the army, or enough, at
least, to enable them to work their own pleasure. They proposed to offer the
command, on Cortes' death, to Francisco Verdugo, a brother-in-law of Velas-
quez. He was an honourable cavalier, and not privy to their design. But
tliey had little doubt that he would acquiesce in the command thus in a
manner forced upon him, and this would secure them the protection of the
governor of Cuba, who, indeed, from his OAvn hatred of Cortes, would be
disposed to look with a lenient eye on their proceedings.
The conspirators even went so far as to appoint the subordinate officers, an
alguacil mayor in place of Sandoval, a quartermaster-general to succeed Olid,
and some others.2 The time fixed for the execution of the plot was soon after
the return of Cortes from his expedition. A parcel, pretended to have come
by a fresh arrival from Castile, was to be presented to him while at table, and,
when he was engaged in breaking open the letters, the conspirators were to
fall on him and his officers and despatch them with their poniards. Such was
the iniquitous scheme devised for the destruction of Cortes and the expedition.
But a conspiracy, to be successful, especially when numbers are concerned,
should allow but little time to elapse between its conception and its execution.
On the day previous to that appointed for the perpetration of the deed, one
of the party, feeling a natural compunction at the commission of the crime,
went to the general's quarters and solicited a private interview with him.
He threw himself at his commander's feet, and revealed all the particulars
relating to the conspiracy, adding that in Villafaila's possession a paper would
"Hazia Alguazil mayor e Alferez, y partido entre ellos nuestros bienes, y caual-
Alcaldes, y Regidores, y Contador, y Tesorero, los." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista,
y lTeedor, y otras cosas deste arte, y aim re- cap. 146.
454 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
he found, containing the names of his accomplices. Cortes, thunderstruck at
the disclosure, lost not a moment in profiting by it. He sent for Alvarado,
Sandoval, and one or two other officers marked out by the conspirator, and,
after communicating the affair to them, went at once with them to Villafana's
quarters, attended by four alguacils.
They found him in conference with three or four friends, who were instantly
taken from the apartment and placed in custody. Villafaiia, confounded at
this sudden apparition of his commander, had barely time to snatch a paper,
containing the signatures of the confederates, from his bosom, and attempt
to swallow it. But Cortes arrested his arm, and seized the paper. As he
glanced his eye rapidly over the fatal list, he was much moved at finding
there the names of more than one who had some claim to consideration in the
army. He tore the scroll in pieces, and ordered Villafana to be taken into
custody. He was immediately tried by a military court hastily got together,
at which the general himself presided. There seems to have been no doubt
of the man's guilt. He was condemned to death, and, after allowing him
time for confession and absolution, the sentence was executed by hanging
him from the window of his own quarters.3
Those ignorant of the affair were astonished at the spectacle ; and the
remaining conspirators were filled with consternation when they saw that
their plot was detected, and anticipated a similar fate for themselves. But
they were mistaken. Cortes pursued the matter no further. A little reflec-
tion convinced him that to do so would involve him in the most disagreeable,
and even dangerous, perplexities. And, however much the parties implicated
in so foul a deed might deserve death, he could ill afford the loss even of the
guilty, with his present limited numbers. He resolved, therefore, to content
himself with the punishment of the ringleader.
He called his troops together, and briefly explained to them the nature of
the crime for which Villafana had suffered. He had made no confession, he
said, and the guilty secret had perished with him. He then expressed his
sorrow that any should have been found in their ranks capable of so base an
act, and stated his own unconsciousness of having wronged any individual
among them ; but, if he had done so, he invited them frankly to declare it, as
he was most anxious to afford them all the redress in his power.4 But there
was no one of his audience, whatever might be his grievances, who cared to
enter his complaint at such a moment ; least of all were the conspirator
willing to do so, for they were too happy at having, as they fancied, escap~
detection, to stand forward now in the ranks of the malecontents. The af
passed off, therefore, without further consequences.
The conduct of Cortes in this delicate conjuncture shows great coolne
and knowledge of human nature. Had he suffered his detection, or even
suspicion, of the guilty parties to take air, it would have placed him in hosti
relations with them for the rest of his life. It was a disclosure of this kin
in the early part of Louis the Eleventh's reign, to which many of the trouble
of his later years were attributed.5 The mask once torn away, there is no
longer occasion to consult even appearances. The door seems to be closed
against reform. The alienation, which might have been changed by circum-
3 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. proces du connetable et de monsieur de Ne-
146.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, mours, bien d'autre9 revelations, avaient fait
cap. 48.— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 1, eclater leur mauvais vouloir, ou du moins leur
cap. 1. peu de fidelity pour le roi ; ils ne pouvaient
* Herrera, Hist, general, ubi supra. done douter qu'il desirat ou complotat leur
' So says M. de Barante in his picturesque mine." Histoire des Dues de Bourgogno
rifacimento of the ancient chronicles: " Les (Paris, 1838), torn. xi. p. 169.
BRIGANTINES LAUNCHED. 455
stances or conciliated by kindness, settles into a deep and deadly rancour.
And Cortes would have been surrounded by enemies m his own camp mors
implacable than those in the camp of the Aztecs.
As it was, the guilty soldiers had suffered too serious apprehensions to place
their lives hastily in a similar ieopardy. They strove, on the contrary, by
demonstrations of loyalty, and the assiduous discharge of their duties, to turn
away suspicion from themselves. Cortes, on his part, was careful to preserve
his natural demeanour, equally removed from distrust and— what was perhaps
more difficult— that studied courtesy which intimates, quite as plainly, sus-
picion of the party who is the object of it. To do this required no little
address. Yet he did not forget the past. He had, it is true, destroyed the
scroll containing the list of the conspirators. But the man that has once
learned the names of those who have conspired against his life has no need of
a written record to keep them fresh in his memory. Cortes kept his eye on
all their movements, and took care to place them in no situation, afterwards,
where they could do him injury.6
This attempt on the life of their commander excited a strong sensation in
the army, with whom his many dazzling qualities and brilliant military talents
had made him a general favourite. They were anxious to testify their repro-
bation of so foul a deed, coming from their own body, and they felt the
necessity of taking some effectual measures for watching over the safety of
one with whom their own destinies, as well as the fate of the enterprise, were
so intimately connected. It Avas arranged, therefore, that he should be pro-
vided with a guard of soldiers, who were placed under the direction of a trusty
cavalier named Antonio de Quinones. They constituted the general's body-
guard during the rest of the campaign, watching over him day and night, and
protecting him from domestic treason no less than from the sword of the
enemy.
As was stated at the close of the last chapter, the Spaniards, on their return
to quarters, found the construction of the brigantines completed, and that
they were fully rigged, equipped, and ready for service. The canal, also, after
having occupied eight thousand men for nearly two months, was finished.
It was a work of great labour ; for it extended half a league in length, was
twelve feet wide, and as many deep. The sides were strengthened by palisades
of wood, or solid masonry. At intervals, dams and locks were constructed,
and part of the opening was through the hard rock. By this avenue the
brigantines might now be safely introduced on the lake.7
Cortes was resolved that so auspicious an event should be celebrated with
due solemnity. On the 28th of April, the troops were drawn up under arms,
and the whole population of Tezcuco assembled to witness the ceremony.
Mass was performed, and every man in the army, together with the general,
confessed and received the sacrament. Prayers were offered up by Father
Olmedo, and a benediction invoked on the little navy, the first — worthy of
the name— ever launched on American waters.8 The signal was given by the
e " Y desde allf adelante, aunque monstraua maestros dellas, hasta que Ios armdron y
gran voluntad a las personas que eran en la echaron en el agua y laguna de Mejico, que
cdjuracio, siempre se rezelaua dellos." Bernal fue obra de mucho efecto para tomarse Mejico."
Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 146. Hist, de Tlascala, MS.
7 Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los Espafioles, p. " The brigantines were still to be seen,
19.— Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. preserved, as precious memorials, long after
234. — " Obra grandissima," exclaims the Con- the conquest, in the dock-yards of Mexico'
queror, "y mucho para ver."— "Fueron en Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 1,
guarde de estos bergantines," adds Camargo, cap. 1.
" mas de diez mil hombres de guerra con los
456
SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
firing of a cannon, when the vessels, dropping down the canal, one after
another, reached the lake in good order ; and, as they emerged on its ample
bosom, with music sounding, and the royal ensign of Castile proudly floating
from their masts, a shout of admiration arose from the countless multitudes
of spectators, which mingled with the roar of artillery and musketry from the
vessels and the shore ! 9 It was a novel spectacle to the simple natives ; and
they gazed with wonder on the gallant ships, which, fluttering like sea-birds
on their snowy pinions, bounded lightly over the waters, as if rejoicing in their
element. It touched the stern hearts of the Conquerors with a glow of
rapture, and, as they felt that Heaven had blessed their undertaking, they
broke forth, by general accord, into the noble anthem of the Te Deum. But
there was no one of that vast multitude for whom the sight had deeper
interest than their commander. For he looked on it as the work, in a manner,
of his own hands ; and his bosom swelled with exultation, as he felt he was
now possessed of a power strong enough to command the lake, and to shake
the haughty towers of Tenochtitlan.10
The general's next step was to muster his forces in the great square of the
capital. He found they amounted to eighty-seven horse, and eight hundred and
eighteen foot, of which one hundred and eighteen were arquebusiers and cross-
bowmen. He had three* large field-pieces of iron, and fifteen lighter guns or
falconets of brass.11 The heavier cannon had been transported from Vera Cruz
to Tezcuco, a little while before, by the faithful Tlascalans. He was well
supplied with shot and balls, with about ten hundred-weight of powder, and
fifty thousand copper-headed arrows, made after a pattern furnished by him
to the natives.12 The number and appointments of the army much exceeded
what they had been at any time since the flight from Mexico, and showed the
good effects of the late arrivals from the Islands. Indeed, taking the fleet
into the account, Corte's had never before been in so good a condition for
carrying on his operations. Three hundred of the men were sent to man the
vessels, thirteen, or rather twelve, in number, one of the smallest having been
found, on trial, too dull a sailer to be of service. Half of the crews were
required to navigate the ships. .There was some difficulty in finding hands for
this, as the men were averse to the employment. Cortes selected those who
came from Palos, Moguer, and other maritime towns, and, notwithstanding
their frequent claims of exemption, as hidalgos, from this menial occupation,
he pressed them into the service.13 Each vessel mounted a piece of heavy
■ " Dada la sefial, solto la Presa, fueron 6oros e Provincias, e Reynos, que no tuvo
saliendo los Vergantines, sin tocar vno & otro,
i apartandose por la Laguna, desplegaron las
Vanderas, toco la Musica, dispararon su Artil-
leria, respondio la del Exercito, asi de Castel-
lanos, corao de Indios." Herrera, Hist,
general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 6.
lo Ibid., ubi supra. — Kel. Terc. de Cortes,
ap. Lorenzana, p. 234. — Ixtlilxochitl, Venida
de los Espanoles, p. 19. — Oviedo, Hist, de las
Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 48.— The last-men-
tioned chronicler indulges in no slight swell
of exultation at this achievement of his hero,
-which in his opinion throws into shade the
boasted exploits of the great Sesostris. " Otras
muchas e notables cosas, cuenta este actor
que he dicho de aqueste Rey Sesori, en que
no me quiero detener, ni las tengo en tanto
como esta tranchea, 6 canja que es dicho, y
los Vergantines de que tratamos, los quales
dieron ocasion a" que se oviesen mayores The-
Sesori, para la corona Real de Castilla por la
industria de Hernando Cortes." Ibid., lib. 33,
cap. 22.
" Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana,
p. 234.
,a Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista,
cap. 147.
13 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, ubi
supra.— Hidalguia, besides its legal privi-
leges, brought with it some fanciful ones to
its possessor; if, indeed, it be considered a
privilege to have excluded him from many
a humble, but honest, calling, by which the
poor man might have gained his bread. (For
an amusing account of these, see Doblado's
Letters from Spain, let. 2.) In no country
has the poor gentleman afforded so rich a
theme for the satirist, as the writings of Le
Sage, Cervantes, and Lope de Vega abundantly
show.
MUSTER OF FORCES. 457
ordnance, and was placed under an officer of respectability, to whom Corte's
gave a general code of instructions for the government of the little navy, of
which he proposed to take the command in person.
He had already sent to his Indian confederates, announcing his purpose of
immediately laying siege to Mexico, and called on them to furnish their pro-
mised levies within the space of ten days at furthest. The Tlascalans he
ordered to join him in Tezcuco ; the others wrere to assemble at Chalco, a
more convenient place of rendezvous for the operations in the southern quarter
of the Valley. The Tlascalans arrived within the time prescribed, led by the
younger Xicotencatl, supported by Chichemecatl, the same doughty warrior
who had convoyed the brigantines to Tezcuco. They came fifty thousand
strong, according to Cortes,14 making a brilliant show with their military
finery, and marching proudly forward under the great national banner,
emblazoned with a spread eagle, the arms of the republic.13 With as blithe
and manly a step as if they were going to the battle-ground, they defiled
through the gates of the capital, making its walls ring with the friendly shouts
of " Castile and Tlascala."
The observations which Cortes had made in his late tour of reconnoissance
had determined him to begin the siege by distributing his forces into three
separate camps, which he proposed to establish at the extremities of the
principal causeways. By this arrangement the troops would be enabled to
move in concert on the capital, and be in the best position to intercept its
supplies from the surrounding country. The first of these points was Tacuba,
commanding the fatal causeway of the noche triste. This was assigned to
Pedro de Alvarado, with a force consisting, according to Cortes' own state-
ment, of thirty horse, one hundred and sixty-eight Spanish infantry, and five-
and-twenty thousand Tlascalans. Cristoval de Olid had command of the
second army, of much the same magnitude, which was to take up its position
at Cojohuacan, the city, it will he remembered, overlooking the short cause-
way connected with that of Iztapalapan. Gonzalo de Sandoval had charge of
the third division, of equal strength with each of the two preceding, but which
was to draw its Indian levies from the forces assembled at Chalco. This
officer was to march on Iztapalapan and complete the destruction of that city,
Tbegun by Cortes soon after his entrance into the Valley. It was too for-
midable a post to remain in the rear of the army. The general intended to
support the attack with his brigantines, after which the subsequent move-
ments of Sandoval would be determined by circumstances.10
Having announced his intended dispositions to his officers, the Spanish com-
mander called his troops together, and made one of those brief and stirring
harangues with which he was wont on great occasions to kindle the hearts of
14 «« Y los Capitanes de Tascaltecal con toda public. (Clavigero, Stor. del Mcssico, torn.
6U gente, muy lucida, y bien armada, ... ii. p. 145.) But, as Bernal Diaz speaks of it
y segun la cuenta, que los Capitanes nos as "white," it may have been the white
dieron, pasaban de cinquentamil Hombres de heron, which belonged to the house of
Guerra." (Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap.'Loren- Xicotencatl.
zana, p. 236.) " I toda la Gente," adds Her- \ i6 The precise amount of each division, as
rera, "tardo tres Dias en entrar, segun en sus given by Cortes, was,— in that of Alvarado,
Memoriales dice Alonso de Ojeda, ni con ser 30 horse, 168 Castilian infantry, and 25,000
Tezcuco tan gran Ciudad, cabian en ella." Tlascalans; in that of Olid, 33 horse, 178
Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 13. infantry, 20,000 Tlascalans ; and in Sandoval's,
15 " Y sus vaderas tedidas, y el aue blaca q 24 horse, 167 infantry, 30,000 Indians. Rel.
tienen por armas, q parece dguila, con sus Terc, ap. Lorenzana, p. 236.) Diaz reduces
alas tendidas." (Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la the number of native troops to one-third.
Conquista, cap. 149.) A spread eagle of gold, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 150.
Clavigero considers as the arms of the re-
458 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OP MEXICO.
his soldiery. " I have taken the last step," he said ; " I have brought you to
the goal for which you have no long panted. A few days will place you before
the gates of Mexico, — the capital from which you were driven with so much
ignominy. But Ave now go forward under the smiles of Providence. Does
any one doubt it 'i Let him but compare our present condition with that in
which we found ourselves not twelve months since, when, broken and
dispirited, we sought shelter within the walls of Tlascala ; nay, with that in
which we were but a few months since, wrhen we took up our quarters in
Tezcuco.17 Since that time our strength has been nearly doubled. We are
fighting the battles of the Faith, fighting for our honour, for riches, for
revenge. I have brought you face to face with vour foe. It is for you to do
the rest." 18
The address of the bold chief was answered by the thundering acclamations
of his followers, wiio declared that every man would do his duty under such a
leader ; and they only asked to be led against the enemy.19 Cortes then
caused the regulations for the army, published at Tlascala, to be read again
to the troops, with the assurance that they should be enforced to the letter.
It was arranged that the Indian forces should precede the Spanish by a
day's march, and should halt for their confederates on the borders of the
Tezcucan territory. A circumstance occurred soon after their departure which
gave bad augury for the future. ' A quarrel had arisen in the camp at Tezcuco
between a Spanish soldier and a Tlascalan chief, in which the latter was
badly hurt. He was sent back to Tlascala, and the matter was hushed up,
that it might not reach the ears of the general, who, it was known, would not
pass it over lightly. Xicotencatl was a near relative of the injured party, and
on the first day's halt he took the opportunity to leave the army, with a
number of his folloAvers, and set oft" for Tlascala. Other causes are assigned
for his desertion.20 It is certain that from the first he had looked on the
expedition with an evil eye, and had predicted that no good would come of it.
He came into it with reluctance, as, indeed, he detested the Spaniards in his
heart.
His partner in the command instantly sent information of the affair to the
Spanish general, still encamped at Tezcuco. Cortes, who saw at once the
mischievous consequences of this defection at such a time, detached a party of
Tlascalan and Tezcucan Indians after the fugitive, with instructions to prevail
on him, if possible, to return to his duty. They overtook him on the road, and
remonstrated with him on his conduct, contrasting it with that of his country-
men generally, and of his own father in particular, the steady friend of the
white men. " So much the worse," replied the chieftain : " if they had taken
" " Que se alegrassen, y esforzassen mucho, voce dicentes ; Sirvanse Dios y el Emperador
pues que veian, que nuestro Sefior nos en- nuestro Sefior de tan buen capitan, y de noso-
caminaba para haber victoria de nuestros tros, que asf lo haremos todos como quien
Enemigos : porque bien sabian, que quando somos, y como se debe esperar de buenos
habiamos entrado en Tesaico, no habiamos Espanoles, y con tanta voluntad, y deseo,
trahido mas de quarenta de Caballo, y que dicho que parecia que cada bora les era perder
Dios nos habia socorrido mejor, que lo habia- vn afio de tiempo por cstar ya a las manos
mos pensado." Eel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. con los Enemigos." Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind.,
Lorenzana, p. 235. MS., ubi supra.
28 Oviedo expands what he nevertheless -° According to Diaz, the desire to possess
calls the " brebe e substancial oracion " of himself of the lands of his comrade Chiche-
Cortes into treble the length of it as found in mecatl, who remained with the army (Hist,
the general's own pages; in which he is de la Conquista, cap. 150) ; according to Her-
imitated by most of the other chroniclers. rera, it was an amour that carried him home.
Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 22. (Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 17.) Both
19 ««y con est,as ultimas palabras ceso; y and all agree on the chief's aversion to the
todos respondieion sin discrepancia, e it una Spaniards and to the war.
EXECUTION OF XICOTENCATL. 459
my counsel, they would never have become the dupes of the perfidious
strangers." 2l Finding their remonstrances received only with anger or con-
temptuous taunts, the emissaries returned without accomplishing their object.
Cortes did not hesitate on the course he was to pursue. "Xicotencatl," he
said, " had always been the enemy of the Spaniards, first in the field, and since
in the council-chamber ; openly, or in secret, still the same,— their implacable
enemy. There was no use in parleying with the false-hearted Indian." He
instantly despatched a small body of horse with an alguacil to arrest the chief
wherever he might be found, even though it were in the streets of Tlascala,
and to bring him back to Tezcuco. At the same time, he sent information of
Xicotencatl's proceedings to the Tlascalan senate, adding that desertion among
the Spaniards was punished with death.
The emissaries of Cortes punctually fulfilled his orders. They arrested the
fugitive chief, — whether in Tlascala or in its neighbourhood is uncertain, —
and brought him a prisoner to Tezcuco, where a high gallows, erected in the
great square, was prepared for his reception. He was instantly led to the
place of execution ; his sentence and the cause for which he suffered were
publicly proclaimed, and the unfortunate cacique expiated his offence by the
vile death of a malefactor. His ample property, consisting of lands, slaves,
and some gold, was all confiscated to the Castilian crown.22
Thus perished Xicotencatl, in the flower of his age,— as dauntless a warrior
as ever led an Indian army to battle. He was the first chief who successfully
resisted the arms of the invaders ; and, had the natives of Anahuac, generally,
been animated with a spirit like his, Cortes would probably never have set
foot in the capital of Montezuma. He was gifted with a clearer insight into
the future than his countrymen ; for he saw that the European was an enemy
far more to be dreaded than the Aztec. Yet, when he consented to fight
under the banner of the white men, he had no right to desert it, and he incurred
the penalty prescribed by the code of savage as well as of civilized nations.
It is said, indeed, that the Tlascalan senate aided in apprehending him, having
previously answered Cortes that his crime was punishable with death by their
own laws.23 It was a bold act, however, thus to execute him in the midst of
his people. For he Avas a powerful chief, heir to one of the four seigniories
of the republic. His chivalrous qualities made him popular, especially with
the younger part of his countrymen ; and his garments Avere torn into shreds
at his death and distributed as sacred relics among them. Still, no resistance
was offered to the execution of the sentence, and no commotion followed it.
He was the only Tlascalan who ever swerved from his loyalty to the Spaniards.
According to the plan of operations settled by Cortes, Sandoval, with his
21 " Y la respuesta que le ernbio si dezir fue, division, in which he served. Soli's, however,
que si el viejo de su padre, y Masse Escaci le prefers his testimony, on the ground that
huvieran creido, que no se huvieran senoreado Cortes would not have hazarded the execution
tanto dellos, que les haze hazer todo lo que of Xicotencatl before the eyes of his own
quiere : y por no gastar mas palabras, dixo, troops. (Conquista, lib. 5, cap. 19.) But the
que no queria venir." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de Tlascalans were already well on their way
la Conquista, cap. 150. towards Tacuba. A very few only could have
22 So says Herrera, who had in his pos- remained in Tezcuco, which was occupied by
session the memorial of Ojeda, one of the the citizens and the Castilian army, — neither of
Spaniards employed to apprehend the chief- them very likely to interfere in the prisoner's
tain. (Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 17, behalf. His execution there would be an
and Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. easier matter than in the territory of Tlascala,
90.) Bernal Diaz, on the other hand, says which he had probably reached before hia
that the Tlascalan chief was taken and exe- apprehension.
cuted on the road. (Hist, de la Conquista, 23 Herrera, Hist, general, dec* 3, lib. 1, cap.
cap. 150.) But the latter chronicler was pro- 17.— Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap.
bably absent at the time with Alvarado's 90.
460 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
division, was to take a southern direction, while Alvarado and Olid would
make trie northern circuit of the lakes. These two cavaliers, after getting
possession of Tacuba, were to advance to Chapoltepec and demolish the great
aqueduct there, which supplied Mexico with water. On the tenth of May
they commenced their march ; but at Acolman, where they halted for the
night, a dispute arose between the soldiers of the two divisions, respecting
their quarters. From words they came to blows, and a defiance was even
exchanged between the leaders, who entered into the angry feelings of their
followers.24 Intelligence of this was soon communicated to Cortes, who sent
at once to the fiery chiefs, imploring them, by their regard for him and the
common cause, to lay aside their differences, which must end in their own
ruin and that of the expedition. His remonstrance prevailed, at least, so far
as to establish a show of reconciliation between the parties. But Olid was
not a man to forget, or easily to forgive ; and Alvarado, though frank and
liberal, had an impatient temper much more easily excited than appeased.
They were never afterwards friends.25
The Spaniards met with no opposition on their march. The principal
towns were all abandoned by the inhabitants, who had gone to strengthen
the garrison of Mexico, or taken refuge with their families among the moun-
tains. Tacuba was in like manner deserted, and the troops once more estab-
lished themselves in their old quarters in the lordly city of the Tepanecs.26
Their first undertaking was to cut off the pipes that conducted the water
from the royal streams of Chapoltepec to feed the numerous tanks and foun-
tains which sparkled in the court-yards of the capital. The aqueduct, partly
constructed of brick-work and partly of stone and mortar, was raised on a
strong though narrow dike, which transported it across an arm of the lake ;
and the whole work was one of the most pleasing monuments of Mexican
civilization. The Indians, well aware of its importance, had stationed a large
body of troops for its protection. A battle followed, in which both sides
suffered considerably, but the Spaniards were victorious. A part of the aque-
duct was demolished, and during the siege no Avater found its way again to
the capital through this channel.
On the following day the combined forces descended on the fatal causeway,
to make themselves masters, if possible, of the nearest bridge. They found
the dike covered with a swarm of warriors, as numerous as on the night of
their disaster, while the surface of the lake was dark with the multitude of
canoes. The intrepid Christians strove to advance under a perfect hurricane
of missiles from the water and the land, but they made slow progress. Bar-
ricades thrown across the causeway embarrassed the cavalry and rendered it
nearly useless. The sides of the Indian boats were fortified with bulwarks,
which shielded the. crews from the arquebuses and cross-bows ; and, when the
warriors on the dike were hard pushed by the pikemen, they threw them
selves fearlessly into the water, as if it were their native element, and, reap
24 "Y sobre ello ya auiamos echado mano Tacuba," says the spirited author of "Life i
s£ las armas los de nuestra Capitania contra Mexico," " once the theatre of fierce au
los de Christoual de Oli, y aun los Capitanes bloody conflicts, and where, during the siege
desafiados." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con- of Mexico, Alvarado * of the leap ' fixed his
quista, cap. 150. camp, now present a very tranquil scene.
" Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. Tacuba itself is now a small village of mud
150. — Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. huts, with some fine old trees, a few very old
237. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 130. — Oviedo, ruined houses, a ruined church, and some
Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 22. traces of a building, which assured ns
26 The Tepanec capital, shorn of its ancient had been the palace of their last monarch ;
splendours, is now only interesting from whilst others declare it to have been the site
its historic associations. "These plains of of the Spanish encampment." Vol. i. let. 13.
i
1!
COMMENCEMENT OF THE SIEGE. 461
pearing along the sides of the dike, shot off their arrows and javelins with
fatal execution. After a long and obstinate struggle, the Christians were
compelled to fall back on their own quarters with disgrace, and— including
the allies— with nearly as much damage as they had inflicted on the enemy.
Olid, disgusted with the result of the engagement, inveighed against his com-
panion as having involved them in it by his wanton temerity, and drew off
his forces the next morning to his own station at Cojohuacan.
The camps, separated by only two leagues, maintained an easy communica-
tion with each other. They found abundant employment in foraging the
neighbouring country for provisions, and in repelling the active sallies of the
enemy ; on whom they took their revenge by cutting off his supplies. But
their own position was precarious, and they looked with impatience for the
arrival of the brigantines under Cortes. It was in the latter part of May
that Olid took up his quarters at Cojohuacan ; and from that time may be
dated the commencement of the siege of Mexico.27
CHAPTER V.
INDIAN FLOTILLA DEFEATED— OCCUPATION OF THE CAUSEWAYS— DESPERATE
ASSAULTS— FIRING OF THE PALACES— SPIRIT OF THE BESIEGED— BAR-
RACKS FOR THE TROOPS.
1521.
No sooner had Cortes received intelligence that his two officers had estab-
lished themselves in their respective posts, than he ordered Sandoval to march
on Iztapalapan. The cavalier's route led him through a country for the most
part friendly ; and at Chalco his little body of Spaniards was swelled by the
formidable muster of Indian levies who awaited there his approach. After
this junction, he continued his march without opposition till he arrived before
the hostile city, under whose Avails he found a large force drawn up to receive
him. A battle followed, and the natives, after maintaining their ground
sturdily for some time, were compelled to give way, and to seek refuge either
on the water, or in that part of the town which hung over it. The remainder
was speedily occupied by the Spaniards.
Meanwhile, Cortes had set sail with his flotilla, intending to support his
lieutenant's attack by water. On drawing near the southern shore of the
lake, he passed under the shadow of an insulated peak, since named from him
the " Rock of the Marquis." It was held by a body of Indians, who saluted
the fleet, as it passed, with showers of stones and arrows. Cortes, resolving
to punish their audacity, and to clear the lake of his troublesome enemy,
instantly landed with a hundred and fifty of his followers. He placed himself
at their head, scaled the steep ascent, in the face of a driving storm of missiles,
27 Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. Cortes ; and three weeks could not have inter-
237-239.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., vened between their departure and their oc-
cap. 94. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. cupation of Cojohuacan. Clavigero disposes
33, cap. 22.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con- of this difficulty, it is true, by dating the
quista, cap. 50. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 130. beginning of their march on the 20th instead
—Clavigero settles this date at the day of of the 10th of May ; following the chronology
Corpus Christi, May 30th. (Clavigero, Stor. of Her rera, instead of that of Cortes. Surely
del Messico, torn. iii. p. 196.) But the Span- the general is the better authority of the two.
iards left Tezcuco May 10th, according to
462 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
and, reaching the summit, put the garrison to the sword. There was a
number of women and children, also, gathered in the place, whom he spared.1
On the top of the eminence Avas a blazing beacon, serving to notify to the
inhabitants of the capital when the Spanish fleet weighed anchor. Before
Cortes had regained his brigantine, the canoes and piraguas of the enemy
had left the harbours of Mexico, and were seen darkening the lake for many
a rood. There were several hundred of them, all crowded with warriors, and
advancing rapidly by means of their oars over the calm bosom of the waters.2
Cortes, who regarded his fleet, to use his own language, as " the key of the
war," felt the importance of striking a decisive blow in the first encounter
with the enemy.3 It was with chagrin, therefore, that he found his sails
rendered useless by the want of wind. He calmly awaited the approach of
the Indian squadron, which, however, lay on their oars at something more
than musket-shot distance, as if hesitating to encounter these leviathans of
their waters. At this moment, a light air from land rippled the surface of
the lake ; it gradually freshened into a breeze, and Cortes, taking advantage
of the friendly succour, which he may be excused, under all the circumstances,
for regarding as especially sent him by Heaven, extended his line of battle,
and bore down, under full press of canvas, on the enemy.4
The latter no sooner encountered the bows of their formidable opponents
than they were overturned and sent to the bottom by the shock, or so much
damaged that they speedily filled and sank. The water was covered with the
fyreck of broken canoes, and with the bodies of men struggling for life in the
waves and vainly imploring their companions to take them on board their
overcrowded vessels. The Spanish fleet, as it dashed through the mob of
"boats, sent off its volleys to the right and left with a terrible effect, completing
the discomfiture of the Aztecs. The latter made no attempt at resistance,
scarcely venturing a single flight of arrows, but strove with all their strength
to regain the port from which they had so lately issued. They were no match
in the chase, any more than in the fight, for their terrible antagonist, who,
borne on the wings of the wind, careered to and fro at his pleasure, dealing
death widely around him, and making the shores ring with the thunders of
his ordnance. A few only of the Indian flotilla succeeded in recovering the
port, and, gliding up the canals, found a shelter in the bosom of the city,
where the heavier burden of the brigantines made it impossible for them to
follow. This victory, more complete than even the sanguine temper of Cortes
had prognosticated, proved the superiority of the Spaniards, and left them-
henceforth, undisputed masters of the Aztec sea.5
1 "It was a beautiful victory," exclaims estaba en ellos." Rel. Terc, ap. Lorenzana,
tbe Conqueror. "E entramoslos de tal pp. 241, 242.
manera, que ninguno de ellos se escapo, ex- * " Plugo a nuestro Sefior, que estandonos
cepto las Mugeres, y Niiios ; y en este com- mirando los unos a los otros, vino un viento
bate me hirieron veinte y cinco Espafioles, de la Tierra muy favorable para embestir con
pero fue muy hermosa Victoria." Rel. Terc, ellus." Ibid., p. 242.
ap. Lorenzana, p. 241. s Rel. Terc, ap. Lorenzana, loc tit.—
2 About five hundred boats, according to Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap.
the general's own estimate (Ibid., loc. cit.) ; 48.— Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, MS.,
but more than four thousand, according to Kb. 12, cap. 32.— I may be excused for again
Bernal Diaz (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 150); quoting a few verses from a beautiful de-
who, however, was not present. scription in " Madoc," and one as pertinent
3 " Ycomoyodeseabamucho, que el primer as lt ls beautiful :
reencuentro, que con ellos obiessemos, fuesse " Their thousand boats, and the ten thousand
de mucha victoria ; y se hiciesse de manera, oars,
que ellos cobrassen mucho temor de los ber- From whose broad bowls the waters fall and
gantines, porque la Have de toda la Uuerra flash,
OCCUPATION OF THE CAUSEWAYS. 4C3
It was nearly dusk when the squadron, coasting along the great southern
causeway, anchored off the point of junction, called Xoloc, where the branch
from Cojohuacan meets the principal dike. The avenue widened at this point,
so as to afford room for two towers, or turreted temples, built of stone, and
surrounded by walls of the same material, which presented altogether a position
of some strength, and, at the present moment, was garrisoned by a body of
Aztecs. They were not numerous, and Cortes, landing with his soldiers,
succeeded without much difficulty in dislodging the enemy and in getting
possession of the works.
It seems to have been originally the general's design to take up his own
quarters with Olid at Cojohuacan. But, if so, he now changed his purpose,
and wisely fixed on this spot as the best position for his encampment. It was
but half a league distant from the capital, and, while it commanded its great
southern avenue, had a direct communication with the garrison at Cojohuacan,
through which he might receive supplies from the surrounding country. Here,
then, he determined to establish his head- quarters. He at once caused his
heavy iron cannon to be transferred from the brigantines to the causeway,
and sent orders to Olid to join him with half his force, while Sandoval was
instructed to abandon his present quarters and advance to Cojohuacan, whence
he was to detach fifty picked men of his infantry to the camp of Cortes.
Having made these arrangements, the general busily occupied himself with
strengthening the works at Xoloc and putting them in the best posture of
defence.
During the first five or six days after their encampment the Spaniards
experienced much annoyance from the enemy, who too late endeavoured to
prevent their taking up a position so near the capital, and which, had they
known much of the science of war, they would have taken better care them-
selves to secure. Contrary to their usual practice, the Indians made their
attacks by night as well as'by day. The water swarmed with canoes, which
hovered at a distance in terror of the brigantines, but still approached near
enough, especially under cover of the darkness, to send showers of arrows
into the Christian camp, that fell so thick as to hide the surface of the ground
and impede the movements of the soldiers. Others ran along the western
side of the causeway, unprotected as it was by the Spanish fleet, and plied
their archery with such galling effect that the Spaniards were forced to make
a temporary breach in the dike, wide enough to admit two of their own
smaller vessels, which, passing through, soon obtained as entire command
of the interior basin as they before had of the outer. Still, the bold
barbarians, advancing along the causeway, marched up within bow- shot of
the Christian ramparts, sending forth such yells and discordant battle-cries
that it seemed, in the words of Cortes, " as if heaven and earth were coming
together." But they were severely punished for their temerity, as the
batteries, which commanded the approaches to the camp, opened a desolating
fire, that scattered the assailants and drove them back in confusion to their
own quarters.6
And twice ten thousand feathered helms, and The waters sing, while proudly they sail on,
and shields, Lords of the water."
Glittering with gold and scarlet plumery. Madoc. Part 2, canto 25.
Onward they come with song and swelling . „ y era ^ k multitud#» says Cortes,
11 ' (\r, tl n(Ur fiirlA " (lUe P0r el AgUa. Y P01' lil 'J ieria B0 ViamOS
"a a ' ' ' x. % -. ■ . 11 ^i r i sino Gente, v daban tantas gritas, y alaridos,
Advance the British barks . the freshening *° Jaereci^ e se Lundia el Mundo." Rel.
rni T a -i a ., v.- Tere.,p. 245.— Oviedo, Hist.de las Ind., MS.,
Heel 5 a ^ lib' 33' caP' ^.-IxtlHxochitl, Hist. Chich.,
464 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
The two principal avenues to Mexico, those on the south and the west,
were now occupied by the Christians. There still remained a third, the great
dike of Tepejacac, on the north, which, indeed, taking up the principal street,
that passed in a direct line through the heart of the city, mignt be regarded
as a continuation of the dike of Iztapalapan. By this northern route a means
of escape was still left open to the besieged, and they availed themselves of it,
at present, to maintain their communications with the country and to supply
themselves with provisions. Alvarado, who observed this from his station at
Tacuba, advised his commander of it, and the latter instructed Sandoval to
take up his position on the causeway. That officer, though suffering at the
time from a severe wound received from a lance in one of the late skirmishes,
hastened to obey, and thus, by shutting up its only communication with the
surrounding country, completed the blockade of the capital.7
But Cortes was not content to wait patiently the effects of a dilatory
blockade, which might exhaust the patience of his allies and his own resources.
He determined to support it by such active assaults on the city as should
still further distress the besieged and hasten the hour of surrender. For this
purpose he ordered a simultaneous attack, by the two commanders at the other
stations, on the quarters nearest their encampments.
On the day appointed, his forces were under arms with the dawn. Mass,
as usual, was performed ; and the Indian confederates, as they listened with
grave attention to the stately and imposing service, regarded with undisguised
admiration the devotional reverence shown by the Christians, whom, in their
simplicity, they looked upon as little less than divinities themselves.8 The
Spanish infantry marched in the van, led on by Cortes, attended by a number
or cavaliers, dismounted like himself. They had not moved far upon the
causeway, when they were brought to a stand by one of the open breaches,
that had formerly been traversed by a bridge. On the farther side a solid
rampart of stone and lime had been erected, and behind this a strong body of
Aztecs were posted, who discharged on the Spaniards, as they advanced, a
thick volley of arrows. The latter vainly endeavoured to dislodge them with
their fire-arms and cross-bows ; they were too well secured behind their
defences.
Cortes then ordered two of the brigantines, which had kept along, one on
each side of the causeway, in order to co-operate with the army, to station
themselves so as to enfilade the position occupied by the enemy. Thus placed
between two well-directed fires, the Indians were compelled to recede. The
soldiers on board the vessels, springing to land, bounded like deer up the
sides of the dike. They were soon followed by their countrymen under Cortes,
who, throwing themselves into the water, swam the undefended chasm and
joined in pursuit of the enemy. The Mexicans fell back, however, in some-
thing like order, till they reached another opening in the dike, like the former,
dismantled of its bridge, and fortified in the same manner by a bulwark of
stone, behind which the retreating Aztecs, swimming across the chasm, and
reinforced by fresh bodies of their countrymen, again took shelter.
They made good their post, till, again assailed by the cannonade from the
MS., cap. 95. — Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva- oyeron con mucha devocion ; e aim los Indios,
Espafia, MS., lib. 12, cap. 32. como simples, e no entendientes de tan alto
7 Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. misterio, con admiracion estaban atentos
246, 247. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, notando el silencio de los catholicos y el
cap. 150. — Herrera, Hist, de las Ind., dec. 3, acatamiento que al altar, y al sacerdote los
lib. 1, cap. 17.— Defensa, MS., cap. 28. Christianos tovieron hasta recevir la bene-
■ " Asi como fue de dia se dixo vna misa dicion." Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib,
^e Espiritu Santo, que todos los Christianos 33, cap. 24.
DESPERATE ASSAULTS. 465
brigantines, they were compelled to give way. In this manner breach after
breach was carried ; and at every fresh instance of success a shout went up
from the crews of the vessels, which, answered by the long files of the Spaniards
and their confederates on the causeway, made the Valley echo to its borders.
Cortes had now reached the end of the great avenue, where it entered the
suburbs. There he halted to give time for the rear-guard to come up with
him. It was detained by the labour of filling up the breaches in such a
manner as to make a practicable passage for the artillery and horse and to
secure one for the rest of the army on its retreat. This important duty was
intrusted to the allies, who executed it by tearing down the ramparts on the
margins and throwing them into the chasms, and, when this was not sufficient,
— for the water was deep around the southern causeway, — by dislodging the
great stones and rubbish from the dike itself, which was broad enough to
admit of it, and adding them to the pile, until it was raised above the level of
the water.
The street on which the Spaniards now entered was the great avenue that
intersected the town from north to south, and the same by which they had first
visited the capital.9 It was broad and perfectly straight, and, in the distance,
dark masses of warriors might be seen gathering to the support of their country-
men, who were prepared to dispute the further progress of the Spaniards. The
sides were lined with buildings, the terraced roofs of which were also crowded
with combatants, who, as the army advanced, poured down a pitiless storm of
missiles on their heads, which glanced harmless, indeed, from the coat of mail,
but too often found their way through the more common escaupil of the soldier,
already gaping with many a ghastly rent. Cortes, to rid himself of this annoy-
ance for the future, ordered his Indian pioneers to level the principal buildings
as they advanced ; in which work of demolition, no less than in the repair of
the breaches, they proved of inestimable service.10
The Spaniards, meanwhile, were steadily, but slowly, advancing, as the
enemy recoiled before the rolling fire of musketry, though turning, at intervals,
to discharge their javelins and arrows against their pursuers. In this way
they kept along the great street until their course was interrupted by a wide
ditch or canal, once traversed by a bridge, of which only a few planks now
remained. These were broken by the Indians the moment they had crossed,
and a formidable array of spears was instantly seen bristling over the summit
of a solid rampart of stone, which protected the opposite side of the canal.
Cortes was no longer supported by his brigantines, which the shallowness of
the canals prevented from penetrating into the suburbs. He brought forward
his arquebusiers, who, protected by the targets of their comrades, opened a
fire on the enemy. But the balls fell harmless from the bulwarks of stone ;
while the assailants presented but too easy a mark to their opponents.
The general then caused the heavy guns to be brought up, and opened a
lively cannonade, which soon cleared a breach in the works, through which
the musketeers and cross-bowmen poured in their volleys thick as hail. The
9 [This street, which is now called the which fronted upon it. After this edifice had
Calle del Rastro, and traverses the whole city been demolished, the street was opened from
from north to south, leading from the Callo one end to the other. Conquista de Mejico
del Relox to the causeway of Guadalupe or (trad, de Vega), torn. ii. p. 157.]
Tepeyacac, was known at the period imme- 10 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, MS.,
diately following the Conquest as the Calle lib. 12, cap. 32.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich.,
de Iztapalapa, which name was given to it JMS., cap. 95.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS.,
through its whole extent. In the time of the lib. 33, cap. 23.— Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap,
ancient Mexicans its course was intercepted Lorenzana, pp. 247, 248.
by the great temple, the principal door of
466 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
Indians now gave way in disorder, after having held their antagonists at bay
for two hours.11 The latter, jumping into the shallow water, scaled the
opposite bank without further resistance, and drove the enemy along the street
towards the square, where the sacred pyramid reared its colossal bulk high
over the other edifices of the city.
It was a spot too familiar to the Spaniards. On one side stood the palace
of Axayacatl, their old quarters, the scene to many of them of so much
suffering.12 Opposite was the pile of low, irregular buildings once the residence
of the unfortunate Montezuma ; 13 while a third side of the square was flanked
by the Coatepantli, or Wall of Serpents, which encompassed the great teocalli
with its little city of holy edifices.14 The Spaniards halted at the entrance of
the square, as if oppressed, and for the moment overpowered, by the bitter
recollections that crowded on their minds. But their intrepid leader, impatient
at their hesitation, loudly called on them to advance before the Aztecs had
time to rally ; and, grasping his target in one hand, and waving his sword
high above his head with the other, he cried his war-cry of "St. Jago,;' and
led them at once against the enemy.15
The Mexicans, intimidated by the presence of their detested foe, who, in
spite of all their efforts, had again forced his way into the heart of their city,
made no further resistance, but retreated, or rather fled, for refuge into the
sacred enclosure of the teocalli, where the numerous buildings scattered over
its ample area afforded many good points of defence. A few priests, clad' in
their usual wild and blood-stained vestments, were to be seen lingering on the
terraces which wound round the stately sides of the pyramid, chanting hymns
in honour of their god, and encouraging the warriors below to battle bravely
for his altars.10
The Spaniards poured through the open gates into the area, and a small
party rushed up the winding corridors to its summit. No vestige now remained
there of the Cross, or of any other symbol of the pure faith to which it had
been dedicated. A new effigy of the Aztec war-god had taken the place of the
one demolished by the Christians, and raised its fantastic and hideous form in
the same niche which had been occupied by its predecessor. The Spaniards
soon tore away its golden mask and the rich jewels with which it was bedizened,
11 Eel. Terc. de Cortes, ubi supra.— Ixtli- twilight civilization, when, if miracles were
lxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 95.— Here not easily wrought, it was at least easy to
terminates the work last cited of the Tezcu- believe them.
can chronicler; who has accompanied us " [In the street of Santa Teresa. Con-
from the earliest period of our narrative quista de Mejico (trad, de Vega), torn. ii.
down to this point in the final siege of the p. 158.]
capital. Whether the concluding pages of 13 [Which forms now what is called "El
the manuscript have been lost, or whether he Empedradillo." Ibid.]
was interrupted by death, it is impossible to l4 [This wall, adorned with serpents, and
say. But the deficiency is supplied by a crowned with the heads, strung together on
brief sketch of the principal events of the stakes, of the human victims sacrificed in the
siege, which he has left in another of his temple, formed the front of the Plaza on the
writings. He had, undoubtedly, uncommon 6outh side, extending from the corner of
sources of information in his knowledge of the Calle de Plateros east, towards the chains
the Indian languages and picture-writing, that enclose the cemetery of the cathedral.
and in the oral testimony which he was at Ibid.]
pains to collect from the actors in the scenes 15 " I con todo eso no se determinaban los
he describes. All these advantages are too Christianos de entrar en la Placa ; por lo
often counterbalanced by a singular inca- qual diciendo Hernando Cortes, que no era
pacity for discriminating— I will not say, tiempo de mostrar cansancio, ni cobardfa,
between historic truth and falsehood (for con vna Rodela en la mano, apellidando San-
what is truth ?) — but between the probable, tiago, arremetio el primero." Herrera, Hist.
or rather the possible, and the impossible. general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 18.
One of the generation of primitive converts "■ Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espaiia, MS.,
to the Romish faith, he lived in a state of lib. 12, cap. 32.
DESPERATE ASSAULTS. 467
and, hurling the straggling priests down the sides of the pyramid, made the
best of their way to their comrades in the area. It was full time.17
The Aztecs, indignant at the sacrilegious outrage perpetrated before their
eyes, and gathering courage froni the inspiration of the place, under the very
presence of their deities, raised a yell of horror and vindictive fury, as, throwing
themselves into something like order, they sprang, by a common impulse, on
the Spaniards. The latter, who had halted near the entrance, though taken
by surprise, made an effort to maintain their position at the gateway. But
in vain ; for the headlong rush of the assailants drove them at once into the
square, where they were attacked by other bodies of Indians, pouring in from
the neighbouring streets. Broken, and losing their presence of mind, the
troops made no attempt to rally, but, crossing the square, and abandoning the
cannon, planted there, to the enemy, they hurried down the great street of
Iztapalapan. Here they were soon mingled with the allies, who choked up
the way, and who, catching the panic of the Spaniards, increased the confusion,
while the eyes of the fugitives, blinded by the missiles that rained on them
from the azoteas, were scarcely capable of distinguishing friend from foe. In
vain Cortes endeavoured to stay the torrent, and to restore order. His voice
was drowned in the wild uproar, as he was swept away, like drift-wood, by the
fury of the current.
All seemed to be lost ; — when suddenly sounds were heard in an adjoining
street, like the distant tramp of horses galloping rapidly over the pavement.
They drew nearer and nearer, and a body of cavalry soon emerged on the
great square. Though but a handful in number, they plunged boldly into the
thick of the enemy. We have often had occasion to notice the superstitious
dread entertained by the Indians of the horse and his rider. And, although
the long residence of the cavalry in the capital had familiarized the natives
in some measure with their presence, so long a time had now elapsed since
they had beheld them that all their former mysterious terrors revived in full
force ; and, when thus suddenly assailed in flank by the formidable apparition,
they were seized with a panic and fell into confusion. It soon spread to the
leading files, and Cortes, perceiving his advantage, turned with the rapidity
of lightning, and, at this time supported by his followers, succeeded in driving
the enemy with some loss back into the enclosure.
It was now the hour of vespers, and, as night must soon overtake them, he
made no further attempt to pursue his advantage. Ordering the trumpets,
therefore, to sound a retreat, he drew off his forces in good order, taking with
him the artillery which had been abandoned in the square. The allies first
went off the ground, followed by the Spanish infantry, while the rear was
protected by the horse, thus reversing the order of march on their entrance.
The Aztecs hung on the closing files, and, though driven back by frequent
charges of the cavalry, still followed in the distance, shooting off' their inef-
fectual missiles, and filling the air with wild cries and howlings, like a herd of
ravenous Avolves disappointed of their prey. It was late before the army
reached its quarters at Xoloc.18
17 Ixtlilxochitl, in his Thirteenth Relacion, mascara de oro que tenia puesta este idolo
embracing among other things a brief notice con ciertas piedras preciosas que estaban en-
of the capture of Mexico, of which an edition gastadas en ella." Venida de los Espafloles,
has been given to the world by the industrious p. 29.
Bustamante, bestows the credit of this exploit l8 "Los de [Caballo revolvian sobre ellos,
on Cortes himself. " En la capilla mayor que siempre aianceaban, 6 mataban algunos ;
donde estaba Huitzilopoxctli, que llegaron e como la Calle era muy larga, hubo lugar
Cortes e Ixtlilxuchitl a un tiempo, y ambos de hacerse esto quatro, 6 cinco veces. E
embistie'ron con el idolo. Cortts cogid la aunque los Enemigos vian que recibian dafio.
468 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
Cortes had been well supported by Alvarado and Sandoval in this assault
on the city ; though neither of these commanders had penetrated the suburbs,
deterred, perhaps, by the difficulties of the passage, which in Alvarado's case
were greater than those presented to Cortes, from the greater number of
breaches with which the dike in his quarter was intersected. Something was
owing, too, to the want of brigantines, until Cortes supplied the deficiency by
detaching half of his little navy to the support of his officers. Without their
co-operation, however, the general himself could not have advanced so far,
nor, perhaps, have succeeded at all in setting foot within the city. The success
of this assault spread consternation not only among the Mexicans, but their
vassals, as they saw that the formidable preparations for defence were to avail
little against the white man, who had so soon, in spite of them, forced his way
into the very heart of the capital. Several of the neighbouring places, in
consequence, now showed a willingness to shake off their allegiance, and
claimed the protection of the Spaniards. Among these were the territory of
Xochimilco, so roughly treated by the invaders, and some tribes of Otomies, a
rude but valiant people, who dwelt on the western confines of the Valley.19
Their support was valuable, not so much from the additional reinforcements
which it brought, as from the greater security it gave to the army, whose
outposts were perpetually menaced by these warlike barbarians.20
The most important aid which the Spaniards received at this time was from
Tezcuco, whose prince, Ixtlilxochitl, gathered the whole strength of his levies,
to the number of fifty thousand, if we are to credit Cortes, and led them in
person to the Christian camp. By the general's orders, they were distributed
among the three divisions of the besiegers.21
Thus strengthened, Cortes prepared to make another attack upon the
capital, and that before it should have time to recover from the former.
Orders were given to his lieutenants on the other causeways to march at the
same time, and co-operate with him, as before, in the assault. It was conducted
in precisely the same manner as on the previous entry, the infantry taking the
van, and the allies and cavalry following. But, to the great dismay of the
Spaniards, they found two-thirds of the breaches restored to their former
state, and the stones and other materials, with which they had been stopped,
removed by the indefatigable enemy. They were again obliged to bring up
the cannon, the brigantines ran alongside, and the enemy was dislodged, and
driven from post to post, in the same manner as on the preceding attack. In
venian los Perros tan rabiosos, que en nin- edad de veinte y tres,"6 veinte y quatro afios,
guna manera los podiamos detener, ni que muy esforzado, amado, y temido de todos."
nos dejassen de seguir." Rel. Terc. de Cortes, (Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 251.)
ap. Lorenzana, p. 250.— Herrera, Hist, gene- The greatest obscurity prevails among his-
ral, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 18. — Sabagun, Hist. torians in respect to this prince, whom they
de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 32. — seem to have confounded very often with his
Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind.,MS., lib. 33, cap. 23. brother and predecessor on the throne of
ia The great mass of the Otomies were an Tezcuco. It is rare that either of them is
untamed race, who roamed over the broad mentioned by any other than his baptismal
tracks of the plateau, far away to the north. name of Hernando ; and, if Herrera is correct
But many of them, who found their way into in the assertion that this name was assumed
the Valley, became blended with the Tezcu- by both, it may explain in some degree the
can, and even with the Tlascalan nation, confusion. (Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap.
making some of the best soldiers in their 18.) I have conformed in the main to the
armies. old Tezcucan chronicler, who gathered his
20 [The Otomies inhabited all the country account of his kinsman, as he tells us, from
of Tula on the west, where their language the records of his nation, and from the oral
is well preserved. Conquista de Mejico (trad. testimony of the contemporaries of the prince
de Vega), torn. ii. p. 161.] himself. Venida de los Espafioles, pp. 30, 31,
21 "Jstrisucb.il [Ixtlilxochitl], que es d*1
FIRING OF THE PALACES. 469
short, the whole work was to be done over again. It was not till an hour
after noon, that the army had won a footing in the suburbs.
Here their progress was not so difficult as before ; for the buildings, from
the terraces of which they had experienced the most annoyance, had been
swept away. Still, it was only step by step that they forced a passage in face
of the Mexican militia, who disputed their advance with the same spirit as
before. Cortes, who would willingly have spared the inhabitants, if he could
have brought them to terms, saw them with regret, as he says, thus despe-
rately bent on a war of extermination. He conceived that there would be no
way more likely to affect their minds than by destroying at once some of the
principal edifices, which they were accustomed to venerate as the pride and
ornament of the city.22
Marching into the great square, he selected, as the first to be destroyed,
the old palace of Axayacatl, his former barracks. The ample range of low
buildings was, it is true, constructed of stone ; but the interior, as well as
the outworks, the turrets, and roofs, was of wrood. The Spaniards, whose
associations with the pile were of so gloomy a character, sprang to the work
of destruction with a satisfaction like that which the French mob may have
felt in the demolition of the Bastile. Torches and firebrands were thrown
about in all directions ; the lower parts of the building were speedily on fire,
which, running along the inflammable hangings and wood-work of the interior,
rapidly spread to the second floor. There the element took freer range, and,
before it was visible from without, sent up from every aperture and crevice
a dense column of vapour, that hung like a funereal pall over the city. This
was dissipated by a bright sheet of flame, which enveloped all the upper
regions of the vast pile, till, the supporters giving way, the wide range of
turreted chambers fell, amidst clouds of dust and ashes, with an appalling
crash, that for a moment stayed the Spaniards in the work of devastation.23
It was but for a moment. On the other side of the square, adjoining
Montezuma's residence, were several buildings, as the reader is aware,
appropriated to animals. One of these was now marked for destruction, —
the House of Birds, filled with specimens of all the painted varieties which
swarmed over the wide forests of Mexico. It was an airy and elegant
building, after the Indian fashion, and, viewed in connection with its object,
was undoubtedly a remarkable proof of refinement and intellectual taste in a
barbarous monarch. Its light, combustible materials, of wood and bamboo,
formed a striking contrast to the heavy stone edifices around it, and made it
obviously convenient for the present purpose of the invaders. The torches
were applied, and the fanciful structure was soon wrapped in flames, that
sent their baleful splendours far and wide over city and lake. Its feathered
inhabitants either perished in the fire, or those of stronger wing, bursting the
burning lattice-work of the aviary, soared high into the air, and, fluttering
for a while over the devoted city, fled with loud screams to their native forests
beyond the mountains.
The Aztecs gazed with inexpressible horror on this destruction of the
22 "Daban ocasion, y nos forzaban a, que ap. Lorenzana, p. 254.
total men te les destruyessemos. E de esta M [The ruins of this building were brought
postrera tenia mas sentimieuto, y me pesaba to light in the process of laying the founda-
en el alma, y pensaba que forma ternia para tions of the houses recently constructed on
los atemorizar, de manera, que viniessen en the southern side of the street of Santa Teresa,
conocimiento de su yerro, y de el dano, que adjoining the convent of the Conception,
podian recibir de nosotros, y no hacia sino Conquista de Mejico (trad, de Vega), torn. ii.
quemalles, y derrocalles las Torres de sus p. 162. J
ldolos, y sus Casas." Rel. Terc. de Cortes,
470 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
venerable abode of their monarchs and of the monuments of their luxury and
splendour. Their rage was exasperated almost to madness as they beheld
their hated foes the Tlascalans busy in the work of desolation, and aided by
the Tezcucans, their own allies, and not unfrequently their kinsmen. They
vented their fury in bitter execrations, especially on the young prince Ixtlilxo-
chitl, who, marching side by side with Cortes, took his full share in the
dangers of the day. The warriors from the house-tops poured the most oppro-
brious epithets on him as he passed, denouncing him as a false-hearted
traitor ; false to his coiintry and his blood, — reproaches not altogether un-
merited, as his kinsman, who chronicles the circumstance, candidly confesses.24
He gave little heed to their taunts, however, holding on his way with the
dogged resolution of one true to the cause in which he was embarked ; and,
when he entered the great square, he grappled with the leader of the Aztec
forces, wrenched a lance from his grasp, won by the latter from the Christians,
and dealt him a blow with his mace, or maquahuitl, which brought him life-
less to the ground.25
The Spanish commander, having accomplished the work of destruction,
sounded a retreat, sending on the Indian allies, who blocked up the way
before him. The Mexicans, maddened by their losses, in wild transports of
fury hung close on his rear, and, though driven back by the cavalry, still
returned, throwing themselves desperately under the horses, striving to tear
the riders from their saddles, and content to throw away their own lives for
one blow at their enemy. Fortunately, the greater part of their militia was
engaged with the assailants on trie opposite quarters of the city, but, thus
crippled, they pushed the Spaniards under Cortes so vigorously that few
reached the camp that night without bearing on their bodies some token of
the desperate conflict.26
On the following day, and, indeed, on several days following, the general
repeated his assaults with as little care for repose as if he and his men had
been made of iron. On one occasion he advanced some way down the street
of Tacuba, in which he carried three of the bridges, desirous, if possible, to open
a communication with Alvarado, posted on the contiguous causeway. But
the Spaniards in that quarter had not penetrated beyond the suburbs, still
impeded by the severe character of the ground, and wanting, it may be, some-
what of that fiery impetuosity which the soldier feels who fights under the eye
of his chief.
In each of these assaults the breaches were found more or less restored to
their original state by the pertinacious Mexicans, and the materials, which
had been deposited in them with so much labour, again removed. It may
seem strange that Cortes did not take measures to guard against the repe-
tition of an act which caused so much delay and embarrassment to his opera-
tions. He notices this in his Letter to the Emperor, in which he says that
to do so would have required either that he should have established his
quarters in the city itself, which would have surrounded him with enemies
and cut off his communications with the country, or that he should have
posted a sufficient guard of Spaniards— for the natives were out of the
'* "Y desde las azoteas deshonrarle llaman- " Ibid., p. 29.
dole de traidor contra su patria y deudos, y "° For the preceding pages relating to this
otras razones pesadas, que & la verdad a ellos second assault, see Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap.
Us sobraba la razon ; mas Ixtlilxuchitl, cal- Lorenzana, pp. 254-256, — Sahagun, Hist, de
laba y peleaba, que mas estimaba la amistad Nueva-Espafia, MS., lib. 12, cap. 33, — Oviedo, ■
y salud de los Cristianos que todo esto.*' Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 24,—
Venida de los Espaiioles, p. 32. Defensa, MS., cap. 28
SPIRIT OF THE BESIEGED. 471
question— to protect the breaches by night, a duty altogether beyond the
strength of men engaged in so arduous service through the" day.27
Yet this was the course adopted by Alvarado ; who stationed at night a
guard of forty soldiers for the defence of the opening nearest to the enemy.
This was relieved by a similar detachment, in a few hours, and this again by
a third, the two former still lying on their post ; so that on an alarm a body
of one hundred and twenty soldiers was ready on the spot to repel an attack.
Sometimes, indeed, the whole division took up their bivouac in the neighbour-
hood of the breach, resting on their arms, and ready for instant action.28
But a life of such incessant toil and vigilance was almost too severe even
for the stubborn constitutions of the Spaniards. " Through the long night/'
exclaims Diaz, who served in Alvarado's division, "we kept our dreary watch ;
neither wind, nor wet, nor cold availing anything. There we stood, smarting
as we were from the wounds we had received in the fight of the preceding
day." 29 It was the rainy season, which continues in that country from July
to September ; 30 and the surface of the causeways, flooded by the storms,
and broken up by the constant movement of such large bodies of men, was
converted into a marsh, or rather quagmire, which added inconceivably to the
distresses of the army.
The troops under Cortes were scarcely in a better situation. But few of
them could mid shelter in the rude towers that garnished the works of Xoloc.
The greater part were compelled to bivouac in the open air, exposed to all the
inclemency of the weather. Every man, unless his wounds prevented it, was
required by the camp regulations to sleep on his arms ; and they were often
roused from their hasty slumbers by the midnight call to battle. For Guate-
mozin, contrary to the usual practice of his countrymen, frequently selected
the hours of darkness to aim a blow at the enemy. " In short," exclaims the
veteran soldier above quoted, " so unintermitting were our engagements, by
day and by night, during the three months in which we lay before the capital,
that to recount them all would but exhaust the reader's patience and make
him fancy he was perusing the incredible feats of a knight-errant of
romance." 31
The Aztec emperor conducted his operations on a systematic plan, which
showed some approach to military science. He not unfrequently made
simultaneous attacks on the three several divisions of the Spaniards estab-
lished on the causeways, and on the garrisons at their extremities. To
accomplish this, he enforced the service not merely of his own militia of the
capital, but of the great towns in the neighbourhood, who all moved in
concert, at the well-known signal of the beacon- fire, or of the huge drum
struck by the priests on the summit of the temple. One of these general
" Rel. Terc, ap. Lorenzana, p. 259. medio de grandeslodos, yheridos.alliauiamos
2S Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. de estar." Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 151.
151.— According to Herrera, Alvarado and 30 [That is to say, the more violent part of
Sandoval did not conceal their disapprobation the rainy season, which lasts, in fact, from
of the course pursued by their commander in May or June to October. Conquista de Mexico
respect to the breaches : " I Alvarado, i San- (trad, de Vega), torn. ii. p. 165.]
doval, por su parte, tambien lo hicieron mui 31 " Porque nouenta y tres dias estuufmos
bien, culpando & Hernando Cortes por estas sobre esta tan fuerte ciudad, cada dia e de
retiradas, queriendo muchos que se quedara noche teniamos guerras, y combates ; e no lo
en lo gnnado, por no bolver tantas veces a pongo aquf por capitulos lo que cada dia
ello." Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 19. naziamos, porque me parece que serla gran
** *' Porque como era de noche, no aguar- proligidad, e seria cosa para nunca acabar, y
dauan mucho, y desta manera que he dicho pareceria a los libros de Amadis, e de otros
velanamos, que ni porque Uouiesse, ni vientos, corros de caualleros." Hist, de la Conquista,
ni frios, y aunque estauamos metidos en ubi supra.
472 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
attacks, it was observed, whether from accident or design, took place on the
eve of St. John the Baptist, the anniversary of the day on which the Span-
iards made their second entry into the Mexican capital.32
Notwithstanding the severe drain on his forces by this incessant warfare,
the young monarch contrived to relieve them in some degree by different
detachments, which took the place of one another. This was apparent from
the different uniforms and military badges of the Indian battalions that suc-
cessively came and disappeared from the field. At night a strict guard was
maintained in the Aztec quarters, a thing not common with the nations of
the plateau. The outposts of the hostile armies were stationed within sight
of each other. That of the Mexicans was usually placed in the neighbourhood
of some wide breach, and its position was marked by a large fire in front.
The hours for relieving guard were intimated by the shrill Aztec whistle,
while bodies of men might be seen moving behind the flame, which threw a
still ruddier glow over the cinnamon- coloured skins of the warriors.
While thus active on land, Guatemozin was not idle on the water. He was
too wise, indeed, to cope with the Spanish navy again in open battle ; but he
resorted to stratagem, so much more congenial to Indian warfare. He placed
a large number of canoes in ambuscade among the tall reeds which fringed
the southern shores of the lake, and caused piles, at the same time, to be
driven into the neighbouring shallows. Several piraguas, or boats of a larger
size, then issued forth, and rowed near the spot where the Spanish brigantines
were moored. Two of the smallest vessels, supposing the Indian barks were
conveying provisions to the besieged, instantly stood after them, as had been
foreseen. The Aztec boats fled for shelter to the reedy thicket where their
companions lay in ambush. The Spaniards, following, were soon entangled
among the palisades under the water. They were instantly surrounded by
the whole swarm of Indian canoes, most of the men were wounded, several,
including the two commanders, slain, and one of the brigantines fell — a useless
prize — into the hands of the victors. Among the slain was Pedro Barba,
captain of the cross-bowmen, a gallant officer, who had highly distinguished
himself in the Conquest. This disaster occasioned much mortification to
Cortes. It was a salutary lesson, that stood him in good stead during the
remainder of the war.33
Thus the contest was waged by land and by water, — on the causeway, the
city, and the lake. Whatever else might fail, the capital of the Aztec empire
was true to itself, and, mindful of its ancient renown, opposed a bold front to
its enemies in every direction. As in a body whose extremities have been
struck with death, life still rallied in the heart, and seemed to beat there, for
the time, with even more vigorous pulsation than ever.
It may appear extraordinary that Guatemozin should have been able to
provide for the maintenance of the crowded population now gathered in the
metropolis, especially as the avenues were all in the possession of the besieging
army.34 But, independently of the preparations made with this view before
the siege, and of the loathsome sustenance daily furnished by the victims for
sacrifice, supplies were constantly obtained from the surrounding country
across the lake. This was so conducted, for a time, as in a great measure to
32 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, ubi 34 I recollect meeting with no estimate of
supra.— Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, their numbers; nor, in the loose arithmetic
MS., lib. 12, cap. 33. of the Conquerors, would it be worth much.
33 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. They must, however, have been very great,
151. — Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, MS., to enable them to meet the assailants so
lib. 12, cap. 34. promptly and efficiently on every point.
BARRACKS FOR THE TROOPS. 473
escape observation ; and even when the brigantines were commanded to cruise
day and night, and sweep the waters of the boats employed in this service,
many still contrived, under cover of the darkness, to elude the vigilance of the
cruisers, and brought their cargoes into port. It was not till the great towns
in the neighbourhood cast off their allegiance that the supply began to fail,
from the failure of its sources. This defection was more frequent, as the
inhabitants became convinced that the government, incompetent to its own
defence, must be still more so to theirs ; and the Aztec metropolis saw its
great vassals fall off one after another, as the tree over which decay is stealing
parts with its leaves at the first blast of the tempest.35
The cities which now claimed the Spanish general's protection supplied the
camrj with an incredible number of warriors ; a number which, if we admit
Cortes' own estimate, one hundred and fifty thousand,36 could have only
served to embarrass his operations on the long extended causeways. Yet it
is true that the Valley, teeming with towns and villages, swarmed with a
population — and one, too, in which every man was a warrior — greatly exceed-
ing that of the present day. These levies were distributed among the three
garrisons at the terminations of the causeways ; and many found active
employment in foraging the country for provisions, and yet more in carrying
on hostilities against the places still unfriendly to the Spaniards.
Cortes found further occupation for them in the construction of barracks
for his troops, who suffered greatly from exposure to the incessant rains of
the season, which were observed to fall more heavily by night than by day.
Quantities of stone and timber were obtained from the buildings that had
been demolished in the city. They were transported in the brigantines to the
causeway, and from these materials a row of huts or barracks was constructed,
extending on either side of the works of Xoloc. It may give some idea of
the great breadth of the causeway at this place, one of the deepest parts of the
lake, to add that, although the barracks were erected in parallel lines on the
opposite sides of it, there still remained space enough for the army to defile
between.37
By this arrangement, ample accommodations were furnished for the Spanish
troops and their Indian attendants, amounting in all to about two thousand.
The great body of the allies, with a small detachment of horse and infantry,
were quartered at the neighbouring post of Cojohuacan, which served to pro-
tect the rear of the encampment and to maintain its communications with the
country. A similar disposition of forces took place in the other divisions of
the army, under Alvarado and Sandoval, though the accommodations provided
for the' shelter of the troops on their causeways were not so substantial as
those for the division of Cortes.
The Spanish camp was supplied with provisions from the friendly towns in
the neighbourhood, and especially from Tezcuco.38 They consisted of fish, the
35 Defensa, MS., cap. 28.— Sahagun, Hist. que muy a placer i pie, y a" caballo ibamos,
de Nueva-Espafla, MS., lib. 12, cap. 34.— The y veniamos por ella." Eel. Terc, ap. Loren-
principal cities were Mexicaltzinco, Cultla- zana, p. 260.
huac, Iztapalapan, Mizquiz, Huitzilopochco, 3S The greatest difficulty under which the
Colhuacan. troops laboured, according to Diaz, was that
36 " Y como aquel dia llevabamos mas de of obtaining the requisite medicaments for
ciento y cincuenta mil Hombres de Guerra." their wounds. But this was in a great degree
Rel. Terc, ap. Lorenzana, p. 280. obviated by a Catalan soldier, wbo by virtue
37 " Y vea Vuestra Magestad," says Cortes of his prayers and incantations _ wrought
to the emperor, " que tan ancha puede ser la wonderful cures both on the Spaniards and
Calzada, que va por lo mas hondo de la La- their allies. The latter, as the more ignorant,
guna, que de la una parte, y de la otra iban flocked in crowds to the tent of this military
est as Casas, y quedaba en medio liecha Calle, ^Esculapius, whose succesfc was doubtless in
474
SIEGE AND SURRENDER OP MEXICO.
fruits of the country, particularly a sort of fig borne by the tuna {cactus,
opuntia), and a species of cherry, or something much resembling it, which
grew abundantly at this season. But their principal food was the tortillas,
cakes of Indian meal, still common in Mexico, for which bake-houses were
established, under the care of the natives, in the garrison towns commanding
the causeways.39 The allies, as appears too probable, reinforced their frugal
fare with an occasional banquet on human flesh, for which the battle-field
unhappily afforded them too much facility, and which, however shocking to the
feelings of Cortes, he did not consider himself in a situation, at that moment,
to prevent.40
Thus the tempest, which had been so long mustering, broke at length, in
all its fury, on the Aztec capital. Its unhappy inmates beheld the hostile
regions encompassing them about, with their glittering files stretching as far
as the eye could reach. They saw themselves deserted by their allies and
vassals in their utmost need ; the fierce stranger penetrating into their secret
E laces, violating their temples, plundering their palaces, wasting the fair city
y day, firing its suburbs by night, and intrenching himself in solid edifices
under their walls, as if determined never to withdraw his foot while one stone
remained upon another. All this they saw ; -yet their spirits were unbroken ;
and, though famine and pestilence were beginning to creep over them, they
still showed the same determined front to their enemies. Cortes, who would
gladly have spared the town and its inhabitants, beheld this resolution with
astonishment. He intimated more than once, by means of the prisoners
whom he released, his willingness to grant them fair terms of capitulation.
Day after day he fully expected his proffers would be accepted. But day
after day he was disappointed.41 He had yet to learn how tenacious was the
memory of the Aztecs, and that, whatever might be the horrors of their present
situation, and their fears for the future, they were all forgotten in their hatred
of the white man.
a direct ratio to the faith of his patients.
Hist, de la Conquista, ubi supra.
33 Diaz mourns over this unsavoury diet.
(Hist, de la Conquista, loc. cit.) Yet the
Indian fig is an agreeable, nutritious fruit;
and the tortilla, made of maize flour, with a
slight infusion of lime, though not precisely
a morceau friand, might pass for very toler-
able camp fare. According to the lively
Author of " Life in Mexico," it is made now
precisely as it was in the days of the Aztecs.
If so, a cooking receipt is almost the only
thing that has not changed in this country of
revolutions.
*° "Quo strages," says Martyr, "erat cru-
delior, eo magis copiose ac opipare ccenabant
Guazuzingui & Tascaltecani, cajterique prouin-
ciales auxiliarii, qui soliti sunt hostes in
prcelio cadentes intra suos ventres sepelire;
nee vetare ausus fuisset Cortesius." (De
Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 8.) " Y los otros les
mostraban los de su Ciudad hechos pedazos,
diciendoles, que los habian de cenar aquella
noche, y almorzar otro dia, como de hecho lo
hacian." (Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Loren-
zana, p. 256.) Yet one may well be startled
by the assertion of Oviedo, that the carnivorous
monsters fished up the bloated bodies of those
drowned in the lake to swell their repast!
" Ni podian ver los ojos de los Christianos, e
Catholicos, mas espantable e aborrecida cosa,
que ver en el Real de los Amigos confede-
rados el continuo exercicio de comer came
asada, 6 cocida de los Indios enemigos, e au
de los que mataban en las canoas, 6 se ahoga-
ban, 6 despues el agua los echaba en la super-
ficie de la laguna, 6 en la costa, no los dexal:
de pescar, e aposentar en sus vientres." I
de las lnd., MS., lib. 33, cap. 24.
41 "I confidently expected both on that
and the preceding day that they would come
with proposals of peace, as 1 had myself,
whether victorious or otherwise, constantly
made overtures to that end. But on theii
part we never perceived a sign of such inten-
tion." Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana
p. 261.
GENERAL ASSAULT ON THE CITY. 475
CHAPTER VI.
GENERAL ASSAULT ON THE CITY— DEFEAT OP THE SPANIARDS — THEIR DIS-
ASTROUS CONDITION — SACRIFICE OP THE CAPTIVES— DEFECTION OP THE
ALLIES— CONSTANCY OF THE TROOPS.
1521.
Famine was now gradaally working its way into the heart of the beleaguered
city. It seemed certain that, with this strict blockade, the crowded popula-
tion must in the end be driven to capitulate, though no arm should be raised
against them. But it required time ; and the Spaniards, though constant
and enduring by nature, began to be impatient of hardships scarcely inferior
to those experienced by the besieged. In some respects their condition was
even worse, exposed as they were to the cold, drenching rains, which fell with
little intermission, rendering their situation dreary and disastrous in the
extreme.
In this state of things, there were many who would willingly have shortened
their sufferings and taken the chance of carrying the place by a coup de
main. Others thought it would be best to get possession of the great market
of Tlatelolco, which, from its situation in the north-western part of the city,
might afford the means of communication with the camps of both Alvarado
and Sandoval. This place, encompassed by spacious porticoes, would furnish
accommodations for a numerous host ; and, once established in the capital,
the Spaniards would be in a position to follow up the blow with far more effect
than at a distance.
These arguments were pressed by several of the officers, particularly by
Alderete, the royal treasurer, a person of much consideration, not only from
his rank, but from the capacity and zeal he had shown in the service. In
deference to their wishes, Cortes summoned a council of war, and laid the
matter before it. The treasurer's views were espoused by most of the high-
mettled cavaliers, who looked with eagerness to any change of their present
forlorn and wearisome life ; and Cortes, thinking it, probably, more prudent
to adopt the less expedient course than to enforce a cold and reluctant obedi-
ence to his own opinion, suffered himself to be overruled.1
A day was fixed for the assault, which was to be made simultaneously by
the two divisions under Alvarado and the commander-in-chief. Sandoval was
instructed to draw off the greater part of his forces from the northern cause-
way and to unite himself with Alvarado, while seventy picked soldiers were
to be detached to the support of Cortes.
On the appointed morning, the two armies, after the usual celebration of
mass, advanced along their respective causeways against the city.2 They
were supported, in addition to the brigantines, by a numerous fleet of Indian
1 Such is the account explicitly given by the army, In storm and in sunshine, by day
Cortes to the emperor. (Rel. Terc, ap. and by night, among friends and enemies,
Lorenzana, p. 264.") Bernal Diaz, on the con- draws forth a warm eulogium from the archi-
trary, speaks of the assault as first conceived episcopal editor of Cortes : " En el Campo, en
by the general himself. (Hist, de la Con- una Calzada, entre Enemigos, trabajando dia,
quista, cap. 151.) Yet Diaz had not the best y noche, nunca se omitia la Missa, paraque
means of knowing ; and Cortes would hardly toda la obra se atribuyesse a Dios, y mas en
have sent home a palpable misstatement that unos Meses, en que incomodan las Aguas de
sould have been so easily exposed. el Cielo ; y encima del Agua las Habitaciones,
a This punctual performance of imps by 6 malas Tiendas." Lorenzana, p. 26G, nota.
476 SIl^GE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
boats, which were to force a passage up the canals, and by a countless multi-
tude of allies, whose very numbers served in the end to embarrass their opera-
tions. After clearing the suburbs, three avenues presented themselves, which
all terminated in the square of Tlatelolco. The principal one, being of much
greater width than the other two, might rather be called a causeway than a
street, since it was flanked by deep canals on either side. Cortes divided his
force into three bodies. One of them he placed under Alderete, with orders
to occupy the principal street. A second he gave in charge to Andres de
Tapia and Jorge de Alvarado ; the former a cavalier of courage and capacity,
the latter a younger brother of Don Pedro, and possessed of the intrepid
spirit which belonged to that chivalrous family. These were to penetrate by
one of the parallel streets, while the general himself, at the head of the third
division, was to occupy the other. A small body of cavalry, with two or three
field-pieces, was stationed as a reserve in front of the great street of Tacuba,
which was designated as the rallying-point for the different divisions.3
Cortes gave the most positive instructions to his captains not to advance a
step without securing the means of retreat by carefully filling up the ditches
and the openings in the causeway. The neglect of this precaution by Alva-
rado, in an assault which he had made on the city but a few days before, had
been attended with such serious consequences to his army that Ctfrtes rode
over, himself, to his officer's quarters, for the purpose of publicly reprimanding
him for his disobedience of orders. On his arrival at the camp, however, he
found that his offending captain had conducted the affair with so much gal-
lantry, that the intended reprimand— though well deserved — subsided into a
mild rebuke.4
The arrangements being completed, the three divisions marched at once up
the several streets. Cortes, dismounting, took the van of his own squadron,
at the head of his infantry. The Mexicans fell back as he advanced, making
less resistance than usual. The Spaniards pushed on, carrying one barricade
after another, and carefully filling up the gaps with rubbish, so as to secure
themselves a footing. The canoes supported the attack, by moving along the
canals and grappling with those of the enemy ; while numbers of the nimble -
footed Tlascalans, scaling the terraces, passed on from one house to another,
where they were connected, hurling the defenders into the streets below.
The enemy, taken apparently by surprise, seemed incapable of withstanding
for a moment the fury of the assault ; and the victorious Christians, cheered
on by the shouts of triumph which arose from their companions in the
adjoining streets, were only the more eager to be first at the destined goal.
Indeed, the facility of his success led' the general to suspect that he might
be advancing too fast ; that it might be a device of the enemy to draw them
into the heart of the city and then surround or attack them in the rear. He
had some misgivings, moreover, lest his too ardent officers, in the heat of the
chase, should, notwithstanding his commands, have overlooked the necessary
precaution of filling up the breaches. He accordingly brought his squadron
to a halt, prepared to baffle any insidious movement of his adversary. Mean-
while he received more than one message from Alderete, informing him that
3 In the treasurer's division, according to or less were of no great moment in the esti-
the general's Letter, there were 70 Spanish mate of the Indian forces,
foot, 7 or 8 horse, and 15,000 or 20,000 Indians; 4 " Otro dia de mafiana acorde de ir a su
in Tapia's, 80 foot, and 10,000 allies ; and in Real para le reprehender lo pasado. . . . Y
his own, 8 horse, 100 infantry, and " an infinite visto, no les impute tanta culpa, como antes
number of allies." (Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. parecia tener.y platicado cercade loque habia
Lorenzana, ubi supra.) The looseness of the de hacer, yo me bolvi a nuestro Real aquel
language shows that a few thousands more dia." Ibid , pp. 263, 261.
GENERAL ASSAULT ON THE CITY. 477
he had nearly gained the market. This only increased the general's appre-
hension that, in the rapidity of his advance, he might have neglected to
secure the ground. He determined to trust no eyes but his own, and, taking
a small body of troops, proceeded at once to reconnoitre the route followed by
the treasurer.
He had not proceeded far along the great street, or causeway, when his
progress was arrested by an opening ten or twelve paces wide, and filled with
water, at least two fathoms deep, by which a communication was formed
between the canals on the opposite sides. A feeble attempt had been made
to stop the gap with the rubbish of the causeway, but in too careless a manner
to be of the least service ; and a few straggling stones and pieces of timber
only showed that the work had been abandoned almost as soon as begun.3
To add to his consternation, the general observed that the sides of the cause-
way in this neighbourhood had been pared off', and, as was evident, very
recently. He saw in all this the artifice of the cunning enemy, and had little
doubt that his hot-headed officer had rushed into a snare deliberately laid fcr
him. Deeply alarmed, he set about repairing the mischief as fast as possible,
by ordering his men to fill up the yawning chasm.
But they had scarcely begun their labours, when the hoarse echoes of conflict
in the distance were succeeded by a hideous sound of mingled yells and war-
whoops, that seemed to rend the very heavens. This was followed by a
rushing noise, as of the tread of thronging multitudes, showing that the tide
of battle was turned back from its former course, and was rolling on towards
the spot where Cortes and his little band of cavaliers were planted.
His conjecture proved too true. Alderete had followed the retreating
Aztecs with an eagerness which increased with every step of his advance. He
had carried the barricades which had defended the breach, without much
difficulty, and, as he swept on, gave orders that the opening should be stopped.
But the blood of the high-spirited cavaliers was warmed by the chase, and no
one cared to be detained by the ignoble occupation of filling up the ditches,
while he could gather laurels so easily in the fight ; and they all pressed on,
exhorting and cheering one another with the assurance of being the first to
reach the square of Tlatelolco. In this way they suffered themselves to be
decoyed into the heart of the city ; when suddenly the horn of Guatemozin—
the sacred symbol, heard only in seasons of extraordinary peril — sent forth a
long and piercing note from the summit of a neighbouring teocalli. In an
instant, the flying Aztecs, as » if maddened by the blast, wheeled about, and
turned on their pursuers. At the same time, countless swarms of warriors
from the adjoining streets and lanes poured in upon the flanks of the assail-
ants, filling the air with the fierce, unearthly cries which had reached the ears
of Cortes, and drowning, for a moment, the wild dissonance which reigned in
the other quarters of the capital.6
'- " Y halie, que habian pasado una que- moxin's horn rang in the ears of Bernal Diaz
brada de la Calle, que era de diez, 6 doce pasos for many a day alter the battle. " Guatemuz,
de ancho ; y el Agua, que por ella pasaba, y manda tocar su corneta, q era vna sefial q
era de hondura de mas de dos estados, y ai quando aquella se tocasse, era q auian de
tiempo que la pasaron habian echado en ella pelear sus Capitanes de manera, q hiziessen
madera, y canas de carrizo, y como pasaban presa, 6 morir sobre ello ; y retumbaua el
pocos a poeos, y con tiento, no se babia hun- sonido, q se metia en los oidos, y de q lo
dido la madera y cafias." Rel. Terc. de oyero aquellos sus esquadrones, y Capitanes :
Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 268. — See also saber yo aquf dezir aora, con q rabia, y esfu-
Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 48. eryo se metian entre nosotros a" nos echar
6 Gomara, Cronica. cap. 138.— Ixtlilxochitl, mano, es cosa de espanto." Hist, de la Con'
Venida de losEspanoles, p. 37.— Oviedo, Hist. quista, cap. 152.
de las Jnd., MS., lib. 33, cop. 26.— Guatc-
478 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
The army, taken by surprise, and shaken by the fury of the assault, was
thrown into the utmost disorder. Friends and foes, white men and Indians,
were mingled together in one promiscuous mass. Spears, swords, and war-
clubs were brandished together in the air. Blows fell at random. In their
eagerness to escape, they trod down one another. Blinded by the missiles
which now rained on them from the azoteas, they staggered on, scarcely
knowing in what direction, or fell, struck down by hands which they could not
see. On they came, like a rushing torrent sweeping along some steep declivity,
and rolling in one confused tide towards the open breach, on the farther side
of which stood Cortes and his companions, horror-struck at the sight of the
approaching ruin. The foremost files soon plunged into the gulf, treading one
another under the flood, some striving ineffectually to swim, others, with more
success, to clamber over the heaps of their suffocated comrades. Many, as
they attempted to scale the opposite sides of the slippery dike, fell into the
water, or were hurried off by the warriors in the canoes, who added to the
horrors of the rout by the fresh storm of darts and javelins which they poured
on the fugitives.
Cortes, meanwhile, with his brave followers, kept his station undaunted on
the other side of the breach. " I have made up my mind," he says, " to die,
rather than desert my poor followers in their extremity ! * 7 With outstretched
hands he endeavoured to rescue as many as he could from the watery grave,
and from the more appalling fate of captivity. He as vainly tried to restore
something like presence of mind and order among the distracted fugitives.
His person was too well known to the Aztecs, and his position now made him
a conspicuous mark for their weapons. Darts, stones, and arrows fell around
him thick as hail, but glanced harmless from his steel helmet and armour of
proof. At length a cry of " Malinche,*' " Malinche," arose among the enemy ;
and six of their number, strong and athletic warriors, rushing on him at once,
made a violent effort to drag him on board their boat. In the struggle he
received a severe wound in the leg, which, for the time, disabled it. There
seemed to be no hope for him ; when a faithful follower, Cristoval de Olea,
perceiving his general's extremity, threw himself on the Aztecs, and with a
blow cut off the arm of one savage, and then plunged his sword in the body
of another. He was quickly supported by a comrade named Lerma, and by
a Tlascalan chief, who, fighting over the prostrate body of Cortes, despatched
three more of the assailants ; though the heroic Olea paid dearly for his self-
devotion, as he fell mortally wounded by the side of his general.8
7 " E como el negocio fue tan de supito, y one of the best men and bravest soldiers in
vi que mataban la Gente, determine de me the army. (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 152,
quedar alii, y morir peleando." Rel. Terc, 204.) Saavedra, the poetic chronicler, — some-
ap. Lorenzana, p. 268. thing more of chronicler than poet,— who
came on the stage before all that had borne
8 Ixtlilxochitl, who would fain make his arms in the Conquest had left it, gives the
royal kinsman a sort of residuary legatee for laurel also to Olea, whose fate he commemo-
all unappropriated, or even doubtful, acts of rates in verses that at least aspire to historic
heroism, puts in a sturdy claim for him on fidelity :
this occasion. A painting, he savs, on one of „ ™. , , , .
the gates of a monastery of Tlate olco, long Ju™le con las ™nos abracado,
recorded the fact that it was the Tezcucan I ^K?1 X^™*X
chief who saved the life of Cortes. ( Venida t^ ± f^K,l' I Z»Zt'
de los Espafioles, p. 38.) But Camargo trives ^e ^i0 vn taJ° ^rauo ? Vg,uroso *
the full cVedit of it to Olea, on the testimony ^as dos manos & cercen to haoMtado,
of « a famous Tlascalan warrior," present in J el le llbr° del tran°e trabaJ0S0: .
the action, who reported it to him. (Hist, de fjuuo muy gran rumor, porque dezjan.
Tlascala, MS.) The same is stoutly main- Que ?a en Pnsion amarSa le temaQ-
tained by Bernal Diaz, the townsman of Olea, " Llegiiron otros Indios arriscados,
to whose memory he pays a hearty tribute, as Yd Olea matiirou en vn punto,
DEFEAT OF THE SPANIARDS. 479
The report soon spread among the soldiers that their commander was
taken ; and Quiiiones, the captain of his guard, with several others, pouring
in to the rescue, succeeded in disentangling Cortes from the grasp of his
enemies, who were struggling with him in the water, and, raising him in their
arms, placed him again on the causeway. One of his pages, meanwhile, had
advanced some way through the press, leading a horse for his master to
mount. But the youth received a wound in the throat from a javelin, which
prevented him from effecting his object. Another of his attendants was more
successful. It was Guzman, his chamberlain ; but, as he held the bridle
while Cortes was assisted into the saddle, he was snatched away by the Aztecs,
and, with the swiftness of thought, hurried off by their canoes. The general
still lingered, unwilling to leave the spot while his presence could be of the
least service. But the faithful Quiiiones, taking his horse by the bridle,
turned his head from the breach, exclaiming, at the same time, that "his
master's life was too important to the army to be thrown away there." 9
Yet it was no easy matter to force a passage through the press. The
surface of the causeway, cut up by the feet of men and horses, was knee-deep
in mud, and in some parts was so much broken that the water from the canals
flowed over it. The crowded mass, in their efforts to extricate themselves
from their perilous position, staggered to and fro like a drunken man. Those
on the flanks were often forced by the lateral pressure of their comrades down
the slippery sides of the iike, where they were picked up by the canoes of the
enemy, whose shouts of triumph proclaimed the savage joy with which they
gathered in every new victim for the sacrifice. Two cavaliers, riding by the
general's side, lost their footing, and rolled clown the declivity into the water.
>ne was taken and his horse killed. The other was happy enough to escape.
The valiant ensign, Corral, had a similar piece of good fortune. He slipped
into the canal, and the enemy felt sure of their prize, when he again succeeded
in recovering the causeway, with the tattered banner of Castile still flying-
above his head. The barbarians set up a cry of disappointed rage as they
lost possession of a trophy to which the people of Anahuac attached, as we
have seen, the highest importance, hardly inferior in their eyes to the capture
of the commander-in-chief himself.10
Cortes at length succeeded in regaining the firm ground, and reaching the
open place before the great street of Tacuba. Here, under a sharp fire of the
artillery, he rallied his broken squadrons, and, charging at the head of
the little body of horse, which, not having been brought into action, were still
fresh, he beat off the enemy. He then commanded the retreat of the two
other divisions. The scattered forces again united ; and the general, sending
forward his Indian confederates, took the rear with a chosen body of cavalry
to cover the retreat of the army, which was effected with but little additional
loss.11
Cercaron a Cortes por todos lados, que no es esfuerzo, sino poquedad, porfiar aquf
Y al miserable cuerpo ya difunto : otra cosa." Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS.,
Y vieudo sus sentidos recobrados, lib. 33, cap. 26.
Puso mano <£ la espada y daga junto. 10 It raay nave been tjje same banner which
Antonio de Quiiiones llego luego, is noticed by Mr. Bullock as treasured up in
Capitan de la guarda ardiendo en fuego." the Hospital of Jesus, "where," says he,
El Peregrino Indiano, Canto 20. « we beheld the identical embroidered stau-
* "E aquel Capitan que estaba con el dard under which the great captain wrested
General, que se decia Antonio de Quiiiones, this immense empire from the unfortunate
dfxole : Vamos, Senor, de aqui, y salvemos Montezuma." Six Months in Mexico, vol. l.
vuestra Persona, pues que ya esto esti£ de chap. 10.
mauera, que es morir desesperado atender ; e ,l For this disastrous affair, besides the
sin yds, ninguno de nosx>tros puede escapar, Letter of Cortes, and the Chronicle of Diaz, so
480 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
Andres de Tapia was despatched to the western causeway to acquaint
Alvarado and Sandoval with the failure of the enterprise. Meanwhile the
two captains had penetrated far into the city. Cheered by the triumphant
shouts of their countrymen in the adjacent streets, they had pushed on with
extraordinary vigour, 'that they might not be outstripped in the race of glory.
They had almost reached the market-place, which lay nearer to their quarters
than to the general's, when they heard the blast from the dread norn of
Guatemozin,12 followed by the overpowering yell of the barbarians, which had
so startled the ears of Cortes ; till at length the sounds of the receding con-
flict died away in the distance. The two captains now understood that the
day must have gone hard with their countrymen. They soon had further
proof of it, when the victorious Aztecs, returning from the pursuit of Cortes,
joined their forces to those engaged with Sandoval and Alvarado, and fell on
them with redoubled fury. At the same time they rolled on the ground two
or three of the bloody heads of the Spaniards, shouting the name of " Ma
linche." The captains, struck with horror at the spectacle,— though they
fave little credit to the words of the enemy, — instantly ordered a retreat,
ndeed, it was not in their power to maintain their ground against the furious
assaults of the besieged, who poured on them, swarm after swarm, with a
desperation of which, says one who was there, "although it seems as if it
were now present to my eyes, I can give but a faint idea to the reader. God
alone could have brought us off safe from the perils of that day." 13 The
fierce barbarians followed up the Spaniards to their very intrenchments. But
here they were met, first by the cross-fire of the brigantines, which, dashing
through the palisades planted to obstruct their movements, completely en
fi laded the causeway, and next by that of the small battery erected in front of
the camp, which, under the management of a skilful engineer, named Medrano,
swept the whole length of the defile. Thus galled in front and on flank, the
shattered columns of the Aztecs were compelled to give way and take shelter
under the defences of the city.
The greatest anxiety now prevailed in the camp regarding the fate of
Cortes ; for Tapia had 'been detained on the road by scattered parties of the
enemy, whom Guatemozin had stationed there to interrupt the communica-
tion between the camps. He arrived at length, however, though bleeding
from several wounds. His intelligence, while it reassured the Spaniards as to
the general's personal safety, was not calculated to allay their uneasiness in
other respects.
Sandoval, in particular, was desirous to acquaint himself with the actual
state of things and the further intentions of Cortes. Suffering as he was from
three wounds, which he had received in that day's fight, he resolved to visit in
person the quarters of the commander-in-chief. It was mid-day— for the busy
scenes of the morning had occupied but a few hours— when Sandoval re-
often quoted, see Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva- Rumor di vento e di tremuoto, e '1 tuono,
Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 33,— Camargo, Hist. A par del suon di questo, era niente."
de Tlascala, MS.,— Goruara.Crouica, cap. 138, Orlando Furioso, Canto 15, st. 15.
^T0OvUiXdHiSf Tt InfM^ lib "8" " " Por * *° no lo s* a^{ escriuir * aora
?arTo6 48 ' «1 me Pongo I pensar en ello, es conio si visi-
» « El resonido de la'corneta de Guatemuz " blemente lo jiesse, mas bueluo A dezir y ansf
-Astoifo'smagicborn.asnotmoreterrible: S^^M^fT,^
"Dico cbe '1 corno e di ei orribil suono, q de otra manera no nos podiamos llegar a
Cb' ovunque s' oda, fa fuggir la gente. nuestros rancbos." Denial Diaz, Hist, de la
Non pu6 trovarsi al mondo un cor si buono Conquista, cap. 152.
Che possa non fuggir come lo sente.
THEIR DISASTROUS CONDITION. 481
mounted the good steed on whose strength and speed he knew he could rely.
It was a noble animal, well known throughout the army, and worthy of its
gallant rider, whom it had carried safe through all the long marches and bloody
battles of the Conquest,14 On the way he fell in with Guatemozin's scouts,
who gave him chase, and showered around him volleys of missiles, which,
fortunately, found no vulnerable point in his own harness or that of his well-
barbed charger.
On arriving at the camp, he found the troops there much worn and dis-
pirited by the disaster of the morning. They had good reason to be so.
Resides the killed, and a long file of wounded, sixty-two Spaniards, with a
multitude of allies, had fallen alive into the hands of the enemy,— an enemy
who was never known to spare a captive. The loss of two field-pieces and
seven horses crowned their own disgrace and the triumph of the Aztecs.
This loss, so insignificant in European warfare, was a great one here, where
both horses and artillery, the most powerful arms of war against the bar-
barians, were not to be procured without the greatest cost and difficulty.15
Cortes, it was observed, had borne himself throughout this trying day with
his usual intrepidity and coolness. The only time he was seen to falter was
when the Mexicans threw down before him the heads of several Spaniards,
shouting, at the same time, "Sandoval," " Tonatiuh," the well-known epithet
of Alvarado. At the sight of the gory trophies he grew deadly pale ; but, in
a moment recovering his usual confidence, he endeavoured to cheer up the
drooping spirits of his followers. It was with a cheerful countenance that he
now received his lieutenant ; but a shade of sadness was visible through this
outward composure, showing how the catastrophe of the puerUe cuidada.,
" the sorrowful bridge," as he mournfully called it, lay heavy at his heart.
To the cavalier's anxious inquiries as to the cause of the disaster, he replied,
"It is for my sins that it has befallen me, son Sandoval ;" for such was the
affectionate epithet with which Cortes often addressed his best-beloved and
trusty officer. He then explained to him the immediate cause, in the
negligence of the treasurer. Further conversation followed, in which the
general declared his purpose to forego active hostilities for a few days. " You
must take my place," he continued, " for I am too much crippled at present
to discharge my duties. You must watch over the safety of the camps. Give
especial heed to Alvarado's. He is a gallant soldier, I know it well ; but I
doubt the Mexican hounds may, some hour, take him at disadvantage."1"
These few words showed the general's own estimation of his two lieutenants ;
both equally brave and chivalrous, but the one uniting with these qualities
the circumspection so essential to success in perilous enterprises,- in which the
other was signally deficient. The future conqueror of Guatemala had to
14 This renowned steed, who might rival pense of eight hundred or a thousand dollar*
the Babieca of the Cid, was named Motilla, apiece: "Torque costaua en aquella sazon vn
and, when one would pass unqualified praise eauallo oehocientos pesos, y aim algunos cos-
on a horse, he would say, " He is as good as tauan a mas de mil." Hist, de la Conquista,
Motilla." So says that'prince of chroniclers, cap. 151. See, also, ante, Book II. chap. 3,
Diaz, who takes care that neither beast nor note 14.
man shall be defrauded of his fair guerdon in 16 " Mira pues veis que yo no puedo ir it
these campaigns against the infidel. He was todas partes, si vos os encomiendo estos traba-
of a chestnut colour, it seems, with a star in jos, pues veis q estoy herido y coxo ; ruego
his forehead, and, luckily for his credit, with os pongais cobro en estos tres reales ; bien se
only one foot white. See Hist, de la Con- q Pedro de Alvarado. ysus Capitanes, y solda-
quista, cap. 152, 205. dos auran batallado, y hecho como caualleros,
lr- The cavaliers might be excused for not mas temo el gran poder destos perms no les
wantonly venturing their horses, if, as Diaz ayan desbaratado." Denial Diaz, Hist, do la
asserts, they could only be replaced at an ex- Conquista, cap. 152.
B
482 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
gather wisdom, as usual, from the bitter fruits of his own errors. It was
under the training- of Cortes that lie learned to be a soldier. The general,
having concluded his instructions, affectionately embraced his lieutenant, and
dismissed him to his quarters.
It was late in the afternoon when he reached them ; but the sun was still
lingering above the western hills, and poured his beams wide over the Valley,
lighting up the old towers and temples of Tenochtitlan with a mellow radiance,
that little harmonized with the dark scenes of strife in which the city had so
lately been involved. The tranquillity of the hour, however,- was on a sudden
broken by the strange sounds of the great drum in the temple of the war-god,
—sounds which recalled the noche triste, with all its terrible images, to the
minds of the Spaniards, for that was the only occasion on which they had
ever heard them.17 They intimated some solemn act of religion within the
unhallowed precincts of the teocalli ; and the" soldiers, startled by the mourn-
ful vibrations, which might be heard for leagues across the Valley, turned
their eyes to the quarter whence they proceeded. They there beheld a long
procession winding up the huge sides of the pyramid ; for the camp of
Alyarado was pitched scarcely a mile from the city, and objects are distinctly
visible at a great distance in the transparent atmosphere of the table-land.
As the long file of priests and warriors reached the flat summit of the
teocalli, the Spaniards saw the figures of several men stripped to their waists,
some of whom, by the whiteness of their skins, they recognized as -their owr
countrymen. They were the victims for sacrifice. Their heads were gaudil)
decorated with coronals of plumes, and they carried fans in their. hands.
They were urged along by blows, and compelled to take part in the dances
in honour of the Aztec war-god. The unfortunate captives, then stripped of
their sad finery, were stretched, one after another, on the great stone of
sacrifice. On its convex surface their breasts were heaved up conveniently
for the diabolical purpose of the priestly executioner, who cut asunder the
ribs by a strong blow with his sharp razor of itztli, and, thrusting his hand
into the wound, tore away the heart, which, hot and reeking, was deposited
on the golden censer before the idol. The body of the slaughtered victim was
then hurled down the steep stairs of the pyramid, which, it may be remem-
bered, were placed at the same angle of the pile, one flight below another ;
and the mutilated remains wTere gathered up by the savages beneath, who
soon prepared with them the cannibal repast which completed the work of
abomination ! 18
We may imagine with what sensations the stupefied Spaniards must have
gazed on this horrid spectacle, so near that they could almost recognize the
persons of their unfortunate friends, see the struggles and writhing of their
bodies, hear— or fancy that they heard— their screams of agony ! yet so far
17 " Vn atanibor de muy triste sonido, enfin con un pedernal, como un hierro de lanza
como instrurnento de demonios, y retumbaua enhastado, en un palo de dos palnios de largo,
tanto, que se oia dos, 6 tres leguas." Bernal le daba un golpe con arobas manos en el
Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, loc. cit. pecbo ; y sacando aquel pedernal,' por la
18 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, nbi misma llaga metia la mano, y arrancabale el
supra.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. corazon, y luego fregaba con el la„boca del
33, cap. 48. — " Sac£ndoles los corazones, sobre Idolo ; y echaba & rodar el cuerpo por las
una piedra que era como un pilar cortado, tan gradas abajo, que serian como cinquenta 6
grueso como un hombre y algo mas, y tan sesenta gradas, por alii abajo iba quebrando
alto como medio estadio; alii & cada uno las piernas y los brazos, y dando cabezasos
echado de espaldas sobre aquella piedra, que con la cabeza, hasta [que llegaba abajo aun
se llama Tecbcatl, uno le iiraba por un brazo, vivo." Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, MS..
y otro por el otro, y tambien por las piernas lib. 12, cap. 35.
otros doa, y venia uno de aquellos Satrapas,
SACIUtf ICE OF THE CAPTIVES!. 483
removed that they could render them no assistance. Their limbs trembled
beneath them, as 'they thought what might one day be their own fate ; and
the bravest among them, who had hitherto gone to battle as careless and
light-hearted as to the banquet or the ball-room, were unable, from this time
forward, to encounter their ferocious enemy without a sickening feeling, much
akin to fear, coming over them.19
Such was not the effect produced by this spectacle on the Mexican forces,
gathered at the end of the causeway. Like vultures maddened by the smell
of distant carrion, they set up a piercing cry, and, as they shouted that "such
should be the fate of all their enemies," swept along in one fierce torrent over
the dike. But the Spaniards were not to be taken by surprise ; and, before
the barbarian horde had come within their lines, they opened such a deadly
fire from their battery of heavy guns, supported by the musketry and cross-
bows, that the assailants were compelled to fall back slowly, but fearfully
mangled, to their former position.
The five following days passed away in a state of inaction, except, indeed,
so far as wras necessary to repel the sorties made from time to time by the
militia of the capital. The Mexicans, elated with their success, meanwhile,
abandoned themselves to jubilee ; singing, dancing, and feasting on the
mangled relics of their wretched victims. Guatemozin sent several heads of
the Spaniards, as well as of the horses, round the country, calling on his old
vassals to forsake the banners of the white men, unless they would share the
doom of the enemies of Mexico. The priests now cheered the young monarch
and the people with the declaration that the dread Huitzilopochtli, their
offended deity, appeased by the sacrifices offered up on his altars, would again
take the Aztecs under his protection, and deliver their enemies, before the
expiration of eight days, into their hands.20
This comfortable prediction, confidently believed by the Mexicans, was
thundered in the ears of the besieging army in tones of exultation and de-
fiance. However it may have been contemned by the Spaniards, it had a
very different effect on 'their allies. The latter had begun to be disgusted
With a service so full of peril and suffering and already protracted far beyond
the usual term of Indian hostilities. They had less confidence than before in
the Spaniards. Experience had shown that they were neither invincible nor
immortal, and their recent reverses made them even distrust the ability of
the Christians to reduce the Aztec metropolis. They recalled to mind the
ominous words of Xicotencatl, that " so sacrilegious a war could come to no
good for the people of Anahuac." They felt that their arm was raised against
the gods of their country. The prediction of the oracle fell heavy on their
hearts. They had little doubt of its fulfilment, and were only eager to turn
away the bolt from their own heads by a timely secession from the cause.
13 At least, such is the honest confession of raucha flaqueza de amnio, 6 u mucho esfuerQo,
Captain Diaz, as stout-hearted a soldier as any porque eoiuo he dicho, sentia yo en mi pensa-
in the army. lie consoles himself, however, miento, que auia de poner por mi persona,
With the reflection that the tremor of his batallando en parte que por fuerga auia de
limbs intimated rather an excess of courage temer la muerte mas que otras vezes, y por
than a want of it, since it arose from a lively esto me temblaua el cora$on, y temia la
sense of the great dangers into which his muerte." Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 156.
daring spirit was about to hurry him! The *° Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 2, cap.
passage iu the original affords a good speci- 20.— Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los Espanoles,
men of the inimitable naivete of the old pp. 41, 42. — " Y nos dezian, que de af £ ocho
chronicler: "Digau agora todos aquellos dias no auia de quedar ninguno de nosotros a
caualleros, que desto del militar entienden, y vida, porque assi se lo auian prometido la
se han hallado en trances peligrosos de mu- noche antes sus Dioses." Bernal Diaz. Hist,
erte, ;i que fin echanln mi temor, si es a" de la Conquista, cap. 153.
484
SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
They took advantage, therefore, of the friendly cover of night to steal away
from tneir quarters. Company after company deserted in this manner, taking
the direction of their respective homes. Those belonging to the great towns
of the Valley, whose allegiance was the most recent, were the first to cast it
off. Their example was followed by the older confederates, the militia of
Cholula, Tepeaca, Tezcuco, and even the faithful Tlascala. There were, it is
true, some exceptions to these, and among them Ixtlilxochitl, the young lord
of Tezcuco, and Chichemecatl, the valiant Tlascalan chieftain, who, with a few
of their immediate followers, still remained true to the banner under which
they had enlisted. But their number was insignificant. The. Spaniards
beheld with dismay the mighty array, on which they relied for support, thus
silently melting away before the breath of superstition. Cortes alone main-
tained a cheerful countenance. He treated the prediction with contempt, as
an invention of the priests, and sent his messengers after the retreating
squadrons, beseeching them to postpone their departure, or at least to halt on
the road, till the time, which would soon elapse, should show the falsehood
the prophecy.
The affairs of the Spaniards at this crisis must be confessed to have wor
a gloomy aspect. Deserted by their allies, with their ammunition nearly
exhausted, cut off from the customary supplies from the neighbourhoc
harrassed by unintermitting vigils and fatigues, smarting under wounds,
which every man in the army had his share, with an unfriendly country
their rear and a mortal foe in' front, they might well be excused for falterin
in their enterprise. They found abundant occupation by day in foraging the
country, and in maintaining their position on the causeways against the
enemy, now made doubly daring by success and by the promises of theii
priests ; while at night their slumbers were disturbed by the beat of the
melancholy drum, the sounds of which, booming far over the waters, toiler
the knell of their murdered comrades. Night after night fresh victims wer<
led up to the great altar of sacrifice ; and, while the city blazed with the
illumination of a thousand bonfires on the terraced roofs of" the dwellings anc"
in the areas of the temples, the dismal pageant, showing through the fiery
glare like the work of the ministers of hell, was distinctly visible from the
camp below. One of tire last of the sufferers was Guzman, the unfortunate
chamberlain of Cortes, who lingered in captiyity eighteen days before he met
his doom.21
Yet in this hour of trial the Spaniards did not falter. Had they falterei
they might have learned a lesson of fortitude from some of their own wive*
who continued with them in the camp, and who displayed a heroism, on tin
occasion, of which history has preserved several examples. One of these
protected by her husband's armour, would frequently mount guard in hi
place when he was wearied. Another, hastily putting on a soldier's escaujn
and seizing a sword and lance, was seen, on one occasion, to rally their
21 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espaila, MS,,
lib. 12, cap. 36.— Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los
Espanoles, pp. 41, 42.— The Cast i Han scholar
will see that I have not drawn on my imagi-
nation for the picture of these horrors:
"Digamos aora lo que los Mexicanos hazian
de noche en sus graudes, y altos Cues ; y es,
q tanian su maldito atambor, que dixe otra
vez que era el de mas maldito sonido, y mas
triste q se podia inuetar, y sonaua muy lexos ;
y tanian otros peores instrumentos. En fin,
cosas diabolicas, y tenia, grandes lumbres,
daua gradi'ssimos gritos, y siluos, y en aque
instate estauan sacrificando de nuestros cop
fieros, de los q tomaro a Corles, que supi'mo
q sacrifkuron diez dias arreo, hast a que lc
acabaron, y el postrero dexaro a Christ oual '
Guzman, q vino lo tuuieron diez y ocho dia
segun dixero tres Capitanes Mexicanos q pr
dimos." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquist
cap. 153.
CONSTANCY OF THE SPANIARDS. 485
treating countrymen and lead them back against the enemy. Cortes would
have persuaded these Amazonian dames to remain at Tlascala ; but they
proudly replied, " It was the duty of Castilian wives not to abandon their
husbands in danger, but to share it with them, — and die with them, if neces-
sary." And well did they do their duty.23
Amidst all the distresses and multiplied embarrassments of their situation,
the Spaniards still remained true to their purpose. They relaxed in no degree
the severity of the blockade. Their camps still occupied the only avenues
to the city; and their batteries, sweeping the long defiles at every fresh
assault of the Aztecs, mowed down hundreds of the assailants. Their brigan-
tines still rode on the waters, cutting off the communication with the shore.
It is true, indeed, the loss of the auxiliary canoes left a passage open for the
occasional introduction of supplies to the capital.23 But the whole amount of
these supplies was small ; and its crowded population, while exulting in their
temporary advantage and the delusive assurances of their priests, were begin-
ning to sink under the withering grasp of an enemy within, more terrible than
the one which lay before their gates.
CHAPTER VII.
SUCCESSES OF THE SPANIARDS— FRUITLESS OFFERS TO GUATEMOZIN — BUILD-
INGS RAZED TO THE GROUND— TERRIBLE FAMINE — THE TROOPS GAISf
THE MARKET-PLACE — BATTERING-ENGINE.
1521.
Thus passed away the eight days prescribed by the oracle ; and the sun which
rose upon the ninth beheld the fair city still beset on every side by the in-
exorable foe. It was a great mistake of the Aztec priests— one not uncommon
with false prophets, anxious to produce a startling impression on their followers
—to assign so short a term for the fulfilment of their prediction.1
The Tezcucan and Tlascalan chiefs now sent to acquaint their troops
with the failure of the prophecy, and to recall them to the Christian camp.
The Tlascalans, who had halted on the way, returned, ashamed of their
credulity, and with ancient feelings of animosity heightened by the artifice of
which they had been the dupes. Their example was followed by many of the
other confederates, with the levity natural to a people wtiose convictions are
the result not of reason, but of superstition. In a short time the Spanish
general found himself at the head of an auxiliary force which, if not so
numerous as before, was more than adequate to all his purposes. He received
them with politic benignity ; and, while he reminded them that they had
been guilty of a great crime in thus abandoning their commander, he was
willing to overlook it in consideration of their past services. They must be
2- "Que no era bien, que Mugeres Castel- Rodriguez, and Beatriz Berniudez.
lanas dexasenasus MarMos, iendoalaGuerra, ■■ Ibid., ubi supra.
i que adonde ellos nmriesen, moririan ellas." ' And yet the priests were not so much to
(Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 1, cap. 22.) blame, if, as Soli's assures us, "the Devil
The historian has embalmed the names of went about very industriously in those days,
several of these heroines in his pages, who insinuating into the ears of his flock what he
are, doubtless, well entitled to share the could not into their hearts." Conquista. lUv
honours of the Conquest : Beatriz dePalacios, 5, cap. 22.
Maria de Estrada, Juana Martin, IsabeJ
486 .SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
aware that these services were not necessary to the Spaniards, who had carried
on the siege witli the same vigour during their absence as when they were
present But he was unwilling that those who had shared the dangers of the
wrar with him should not also partake its triumphs, and be present at the fall
of their enemy, which he promised, with a confidence better founded than
that of the priests in their prediction, should not be long delayed.
Yet the menaces and machinations of Guatemozin were still not without
effect in the distant provinces. Before the full return of the confederates,
Cortes received an embassy from Cuemavaca, ten or twelve leagues distant,
and another from some friendly towns of the Otomies, still further off, im-
ploring his protection against their formidable neighbours, who menaced them
with hostilities as allies of the Spaniards. As the latter were then situated,
they were in a condition to receive succour much more than to give it.2 Most
of the officers were, accordingly, opposed to granting a request compliance
with which must still further impair their diminished strength. But Cortes
knew the importance, above all, of not betraying his own inability to grant
it. "The greater our weakness," he said, "the greater need have Ave to cover
it under a show of strength." 3
He immediately detached Tapia with a body of about a hundred men
one direction, and Sandoval with a somewhat larger force in the other, witl
orders that their absence should not in any event be prolonged beyond tei
days.4 The two captains executed their commissions promptly and effectually.
They each met and defeated his adversary in a pitched battle, laid waste the
hostile territories, and returned within the time prescribed. They were sooi
followed by ambassadors from the conquered places, soliciting the alliance
of the Spaniards ; and the affair terminated by an accession of new con-
federates, and, what was more important, a conviction in the old that the
Spaniards wrere both willing and competent to protect them.
Fortune, who seldom dispenses her frowns or her favours single-handec
further showed her good will to the Spaniards, at this time, by sending
vessel into Vera Cruz laden with ammunition and military stores. It wj
part of the fleet destined for the Florida coast by the romantic old knight
Ponce de Leon. The cargo was immediately taken by the authorities of the
port, and forwarded, without delay, to the camp, where it arrived most season-
ably, as the want of powder, in particular, had begun to be seriously felt.5
With strength thus renovated, Cortes determined to resume active operations,
but on a plan widely differing from that pursued before.
In the former deliberations on the subject, two courses, as we have seen,
E resented themselves to the general.' One was to intrench himself in the
eart of the capital "and from this point carry on hostilities ; the other was
the mode of proceeding hitherto followed. Both were open to serious objec-
tions, which he hoped would be obviated by the one now adopted. This was
" " Y teniamos necesidad antes de ser so- loc. cit. — Also Oviedo, Hist, de las lnd., MS.,
corridos, que de dar socorro." Rel. Terc. de lib. 33, cap. 26.
Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 272. '- " Polvora y Ballestas. de que teniamos
3 "God knows," says the general, "the niuy estrema necesidad." (Rel. Terc. de
peril in which we all stood; pero como nos Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 278.) It was pre-
convenia mostrar mas esfuerzo y ammo, que bably the expedition in which Ponce de Leon
nunca, ymorirpeleando, disimulabamos nues- lost his life; an expedition to the very land
tro fiaqueza assf con los Amigos como con which the chivalrous cavalier had himself
los Enemigos." Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. first visited in quest of the Fountain of
Lorenzana, p. 275. Health. The story is pleasantly J:old by
**Tapia's force consisted of 10 horse and 80 Irving, as the reader may remember, in his
foot; the chief alguacil, as Sandoval was " Companions of Columbus."
styled, had 18 horse and 100 infantry, ibid.,
SUCCESSES OF THE SPANIARDS. 487
to advance no step without securing the entire safety of the army, not only
on its immediate retreat, but in its future inroads. Every breach in the
causeway, every canal in the streets, was to be filled up in so solid a manner
that the work should not be again disturbed. The materials for this were to
be furnished by the buildings, every one of which, as the army advanced,
whether public or private, hut, temple, or palace, was to be demolished ! Not
a building in their path was to be spared. They were all indiscriminately to
be levelled, until, in the Conqueror's own language, "the water should be
converted into dry land," and a smooth and open ground be afforded for the
manoeuvres of the cavalry and artillery ! 6
Cortes came to this terrible determination with great difficulty. He sin-
cerely desired to spare the city, " the most beautiful thing in the world," 7 as
he enthusiastically styles it, and which would have formed the most glorious
trophy of his conquest. But in a place where every house was a fortress and
every street was cut up by canals so embarrassing to his movements, experi-
ence proved it was vain to think of doing so and becoming master of it. There
was as little hope of a peaceful accommodation with the Aztecs, who, so far
from being broken by all they had hitherto endured, and the long perspective
of future woes, showed a spirit as haughty and implacable as ever.8
The general's intentions were, learned by the Indian allies with unbounded
satisfaction ; and they answered his call for aid by thousands of pioneers,
armed with their coas, or hoes of the country, ail testifying the greatest
alacrity in helping on the work of destruction.9 In a short time the breaches
in the great causeways were filled up so effectually that they were never
again molested. Cortes himself set the example by carrying stones and
timber Avith his own hands.10 The buildings in the suburbs were then
thoroughly levelled, the canals were filled up with the rubbish, and a wide
space around the city was thrown open to the manoeuvres of the cavalry, who
swept over it free and unresisted. The Mexicans did not look with indiffer-
ence on these preparations to lay waste their town and leave them bare and
unprotected against the enemy. They made incessant efforts to impede the
labours of the besiegers ; but the latter, under cover of their guns, which kept
up an unintermitting fire, still advanced in the work of desolation.11
The gleam of fortune which had so lately broken out on the Mexicans again
■ The calm and simple manner in which para este efecto con toda brevedad : . . ,
the Conquistador, as usual, states this in his lleguron mas de cien mil de ellos." Ixtlilxo-
Commentaries, has something appalling in chitl, Venida de los Espaflotes, p. 42.
it from its very simplicity: "Acorde de to- ,0 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
mar un medio para nuestra seguridad, y para 153.
poder mas estrechar & los Enemigos; y fue, " Sahagun, who gathered the story from
que como fuessemos ganando por las Calles the actors, and from the aspect of the scene
de la Ciudad, que fuessen derrocando todas before the devastation had been wholly re-
las Casas de ellas, del un lado, y del otro ; paired, writes with the animation of an eye-
por manera, que no fuessemos un paso ade- witness : " La guerra pur agua y por tierra
lante, sin lo dejar todo asolado, y lo que era fue tan porfiada y tan sangrienta, que era
Agua, hacerlo Tierra-firme, aunque hobiosse espanto de verla, y no hay posibilidad, para
toda la dilacion, que se pudiesse seguir." decir las particularidades que pasabau ; eran
Rel. Terc, ap. Lorenzana, p. 279. tan espesas las saetas, y dardos, y piedras, y
7 "Porque era la mas hermosa cosa del palos, que se arrojavan los unos a los otros,
Mtindo." Ibid., p. 278. que quitavan la claridad del sol-, era tan
8 " Mas antes en el pelear, y en todos sus grande la voceria, y grita, de hombres y
ardides, los hallabamos con mas animo, que mugeres, y nihos que voceaban 'y lloraban,
nunca." Ibid., p. 279. que era cosa de grima; era tan grande la
0 Yet we shall hardly credit the Tezcucan polvareda, y ruido, en derrocar y quemar
historian's assertion that a hundred thousand casas, y robar lo que en ellas habia, y cau-
Indians flocked to the camp for this purpose ! tivar ninos y mugeres, queparecia unjuicio."
"Viniesen todos los Jabradores con sus coas Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, MS., lib. 12, cap. 38,
488 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
disappeared ; and the dark mist, after having been raised for a moment,
settled on the doomed capital more heavily than before. Famine, with all
her hideous train of woes, was making rapid strides among its accumulated
population. The stores provided for the siege were exhausted. The casual
supply of human victims, or that obtained by some straggling pirogue from
the neighbouring shores, was too inconsiderable to be widely felt.12 Some
forced a scanty sustenance from a mucilaginous substance gathered in small
quantities on the surface of the lake and canals.13 Others appeased the
cravings of appetite by devouring rats, lizards, and the like loathsome reptiles,
which had not yet deserted the starving city. Its days seemed to be already
numbered. But the page of history has many an example to show that there
are no limits to the endurance of which humanity is capable, when animated
by hatred and despair,
* With the sword thus suspended over it, the Spanish commander, desirous
to make one more effort to save the capital, persuaded three Aztec nobles,
taken in one of the late actions, to bear a message from him to Guatemozin ;
though they undertook it with reluctance, for fear of the consequences to
themselves. Cortes told the emperor that all had now been done that brave
men could do in defence of their country. There remained no hope, no chance
of escape, for the Mexicans. Their provisions were exhausted ; their com-
munications were cut oft" ; their vassals had deserted them ; even their gods
had betrayed them. They stood alone, with the nations of Anahuac banded
against them. There was no hope but in immediate surrender. He besought
the young monarch to take compassion on his brave subjects, who were daily
perishing before his eyes ; and on the fair city, whose stately buildings were fast
crumbling into ruins. " Return to the allegiance," he concludes, " which you
once proffered to the sovereign of Castile. The past shall be forgotten. The
persons and property, in short, all the rights, of the Aztecs shall be respected.
You shall be confirmed in your authority, and Spain will once more take your
city under her protection." u
The eye of the young monarch kindled, and his dark cheek flushed with
sudden anger, as he listened to proposals so humiliating. But, though his bosom
glowed with the fiery temper of the Indian, he had the qualities of a "gentle
cavalier," says one of his enemies, who knew him well.15 He did no harm to
the envoys ; but, after the heat of the moment had passed off, he gave the
matter a calm consideration, and called a council of his wise men and warriors
to deliberate upon it. Some were for accepting the proposals, as offering the
only chance of preservation. But the priests took a different view of the
matter. They knew that the ruin of their own order must follow the triumph
of Christianity. " Peace was good," they said, " but not with the white men."
They reminded Guatemozin of the fate of his uncle Montezuma, and the
requital he had met with for all his hospitality ; of the seizure and imprison-
ment of Cacama, the cacique of Tezcuco ; of the massacre of the nobles by
13 The flesh of the Christians failed to food of the poorer classes at all times, accord-
afford them even the customary nourishment, ing to Clavigero. Stor. del Messico, torn. ii.
since the Mexicans said it was intolerably j). 222.*
hitter ; a miracle considered by Captain Diaz '♦ Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
as expressly wrought for this occasion. Hist. 154.
de la Conquista, cap. 153. ,5 "Mas como el Guatemuz era mancebo,
13 Ibid., ubi supra. — When dried in the y muy gentil-honibre y de buena disposition."
sun, this slimy deposit had a flavour not Ibid., ubi supra,
unlike that of cheese, and formed part of the
[This was the ahaahutle before described. See ante, p. 262, note.— En.]
BUILDINGS RAZED TO THE GKOUND. 489
Alvarado ; of the insatiable avarice of the 'invaders, which had stripped the
country of its treasures ; of their profanation of the temples ; of the injuries
and insults which they had heaped without measure on the people and their
religion. " Better," they said, " to trust in the promises of their own gods,
who had so long watched over the nation. Better, if need be, give up our
lives at once for our country, than drag them out in slavery and suffering
among the false strangers." ltt
The eloquence of the priests, artfully touching the various wrongs of his
people, roused the hot blood of Guateinozin. " Since it is so," he abruptly
exclaimed, " let us think only of supplying the wants of the people. Let no
man, henceforth, who values his life, talk of surrender. We can at least die
like Avarriors." v
The Spaniards waited two days for the answer to their embassy. At length
it came, in a general sortie of the Mexicans, who, pouring through every gate
of the capital, like a river that has burst its banks, swept on, wave upon Avave,
to the very intrenchments of the besiegers, threatening to overwhelm them
by their numbers. Fortunately, the position of the latter on the dikes secured
their flanks, and the narrowness of the defile gave their small battery of guns
all the advantages of a larger one. The fire of artillery and musketry blazed
without intermission along the several causeways, belching forth volumes of
sulphurous smoke, that, rolling heavily over the waters, settled dark around
the Indian city and hid it from the surrounding country. The brigantines
thundered, at the same time, on the flanks of the columns, which, after some
ineffectual efforts to maintain themselves, rolled back in wild confusion, till
their impotent fury died away in sullen murmurs within the capital.
Cortes now steadily pursued the plan he had laid down for the devastation
of the city. Day after day the several armies entered by their respective
quarters, Sandoval probably directing his operations against the north-
eastern district. The buildings, made of the porous tetzontli, though generally
low, were so massy and extensive, and the canals were so numerous, that their
progress was necessarily slow. They, however, gathered fresh accessions of
strength every clay from the numbers who flocked to the camp from the sur-
rounding country, and who joined in the work of destruction with a hearty
good will which showed their eagerness to break the detested yoke of the
Aztecs. The latter raged with impotent anger as they beheld their lordly
edifices, their temples, all they had been accustomed to venerate, thus
ruthlessly swept away ; their canals, constructed with so much labour and
what to them seemed science, filled up with rubbish ; their flourishing city,
in short, turned into a desert, over which the insulting foe now rode trium-
phant. They heaped many a taunt on the Indian allies. " Go on," they said,
bitterly : " the more you destroy, the more you will have to build up again
hereafter. If we conquer, you shall build for us ; and if your white friends
conquer, they will make you do as much for them."18 The event justified
the prediction.
** "Mira primero lo que nuestros Dioses tcnemos. y muramos todos peleando : y desdc
te ban prometido, toma buen consejo sobre aquf adelante ninguno sea osado tt me de-
ello y no te fies de Malincbe, ni de sus pala- ruandar pazes, si no yo le niatare : y alii
bras, que mas vale que todos muramos en todos prometieron de pelear nocbes, y dias, y
esta ciudad peleando, que no vernos en poder morir en la defensa de su ciudad." Ibid.,
de quie nos haran esclauos, y nos atormen- ubi supra.
taran." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, 18 "Los de la Ciudad como veian tanto
cap. 154. estrago, por esforzarse, decian & nuestros
i7 "Y entonces el Guatemuz medio eno- Amigos, que no ficiessen sino quemar, y
jado les dixo : Pues assi quereis que sea, destruir, que ellos se las barian tornar a
guardad mucho el niaiz, y bastimentos que hacer de nuevo, porque si ellos eran vence-
E 2
490 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
In their rage they rushed blindly on the corps which covered the Indian
pioneers. But they were as often 'driven back by the impetuous charge of
the cavalry, or received on the long pikes of Chinantla, which did good service
to the besiegers in their operations. At the close of day, however, when
the Spaniards drew off their forces, taking care to send the multitudinous
host of confederates first from the ground, the Mexicans usually rallied for a
more formidable attack. Then they poured out from every lane and by-way,
like so many mountain streams, sweeping over the broad level cleared by the
enemy, and falling impetuously on their Hanks and rear. At such times they
inflicted considerable loss in their turn, till an ambush, which Cortes laid for
them among the buildings adjoining the great temple, did them so much
mischief that they were compelled to act with more reserve.
At times the war displayed something of a chivalrous character, in the
personal rencontres of the combatants. Challenges passed between them, and
especially between the native warriors. These combats were usually con-
ducted on the azoteas, whose broad and level surface afforded a good field of
fight. On one occasion, a Mexican of powerful frame, brandishing a sword
and buckler which he had won from the Christians, defied his enemies to meet
him in single fight. A young page of Cortes', named Nunez, obtained^ his
master's permission to accept the vaunting challenge of the Aztec, and, spring-
ing on the azotea, succeeded, after a hard struggle, in discomfiting his an-
tagonist, who fought at a disadvantage with weapons in which he was
unpractised, and, running him through the body, brought off his spoils in
triumph and laid them at the generals feet.19
The division of Cortes had now worked its way as far north as the great
street of Tacuba, which opened a communication with Alvarado's camp, and
near which stood the palace of Guatemozin. It was a spacious stone pile,
that might well be called a fortress. Though deserted by its royal master, it
was held by a strong body of Aztecs, who made a temporary defence, but of
little avail against the battering enginery of the besiegers. It was soon set
on fire, and its crumbling walls were levelled in the dust, like those other
stately edifices of the capital, the boast and admiration of the Aztecs, and
some of the fairest fruits of their civilization. " It was a sad thing to witness
their destruction," exclaims Cortes ; " but it was part of our plan of operations,
and we had no alternative." 20
These operations had consumed several weeks, so that it was now drawing
towards the latter part of July. During this time the blockade had been
maintained with the utmost Vigour, and the wretched inhabitants were
suffering all the extremities of famine. Some few stragglers were taken, from
time to time, in the neighbourhood of the Christian camp, whither they had
wandered in search of food. They were kindly treated, by command of
Cortes, who was in hopes to induce others to follow their example, and thus
to afford a means of conciliating the inhabitants, which might open the way
to their submission. But few were found willing to leave the shelter of the
capital, and they preferred to take their chance with their suffering country-
men rather than trust themselves to the mercies of the besiegers.
doves, ya ellos sabian, que habia do ser assi, lib. 33, cap. 28.— Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los
y si no que las habian de hacer para noso- Espafioles, p. 43.
tros." Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, -° " No se entendio sina en quemar, y hal-
p. 2S6. lanar Casas, que era lastima cierto de lo ver ;
13 Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. pero como no nos convenia hacer otra cosa,
232-284.— Hevrera, Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. eramos forzado seguir aquella drden." Rel.
l, cap. 22, lib. 2, cap. 2.— Gomara, Cronica, Terc. de Cortes, p. 286.
cap. U0.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Iud., JIS.,
TERRIBLE FAMINE. 491
From these few stragglers, however, the Spaniards heard a dismal tale of
woe respecting the crowded population in the interior of the city. All the
ordinary means of sustenance had long since failed, and they now supported
life as they could, l»y means of such roots as they could dig from the earth, by
fjnawing the bark of trees, by feeding on the grass, — on anything, in short,
lowever loathsome, that could allay the craving of appetite. Their only
drink was the brackish water of the soil saturated' with the salt lake.21 Under
this unwholesome diet, and the diseases engendered by it, the population was
gradually wasting away. Men sickened and died every day, in all the excru-
ciating torments produced by hunger, and the wan and emaciated survivors
seemed only to be waiting for their time.
The vSpaniards had visible confirmation of all this as they penetrated deeper
into the city and approached the district of TJatelolco, now occupied by the
besieged. I'hey found the ground turned up in quest of roots and weeds, the
trees stripped of their green stems, their foliage, and their bark. Troops of
famished Indians flitted in the distance, gliding like ghosts among the scenes
of their former residence. Dead bodies lay unburied in the streets and court-
yards, or filled up the canals. It was a sure sign of the extremity of the
Aztecs ; for they held the burial of the dead as a solemn and imperative duty.
In the early part of the siege they had religiously attended to it. In its later
stages they were. still careful to withdraw the dead from the public eye, by
bringing their remains within the houses. But the number of these, and
their own sufferings, had now so fearfully increased that they had grown
indifferent to this, and they suffered their friends and their kinsmen to lie and
moulder on the spot where they drew their last breath ! 23
As the invaders entered the "dwellings, a more appalling spectacle presented
itself ;— the floors covered with the prostrate forms of the miserable inmates,
some in the agonies of death, others festering in their corruption ; men, women,
and children inhaling the poisonous atmosphere, and mingled promiscuously
together ; mothers with their infants in their arms perishing of hunger before
their eyes, while they were unable to afford them the nourishment of nature ;
men crippled by their wounds, with their bodies frightfully mangled, vainly
attempting to crawl away, as the enemy entered. Yet even in this state they
scorned to ask for mercy, and glared on the invaders with the sullen ferocity
of the wounded tiger that the huntsmen have tracked to his forest cave. The
Spanish commander issued strict orders that mercy should be shown to these
poor and disabled victims. But the Indian allies made no distinction. An
Aztec, under whatever circumstances, was an. enemy ; and, with hideous
shouts of triumph, they pulled down the burning buildings on their heads, con-
suming the living and the dead in one common funeral pile !
Yet the sufferings of the Aztecs, terrible as they were, did not incline them
to submission. There were many, indeed, who, from greater strength of
21 "No tenian agua dulce para beber, ni (Bcrnal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 156.)
para de ninguna manera de comer; bebian Clavigero considers that it was a scheme of
del agua salada y hediouda, comian ratones the Mexicans to leave the dead unburied, in
y lagartijas, y cortezas de arboles, y otras order that the stench might annoy and drive
cosas no comestibles; y de esta causa enfer- off the Spaniards. (Stor. del Messico, torn,
maron muchos, y murieron muchos." Sana- iii. p. 231, nota.) But this policy would have
gun, Hist, de Nueva-EspaCa, MS., lib. 12, operated much more to the detriment of the
cap. 39. —Also Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. besieged than of the besiegers, whose presence
Lorenzana, p. 289. in the capital was but transitory. It is much
w " Y es verdad y juro amen, que toda more natural to refer- it to the same cause
la laguna, y ca~as, y barbacoas estauan llenas which has led to a similar conduct under
de cuerpos, y cabecas de hombres muertos, similar, circumstances elsewhere, whether oc-
que yo- no se de que manera 10 escriua." casioned by pestilence or famine.
492 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
constitution, or from the more favourable circumstances in which they were
placed, still showed all their wonted energy of body and mind, and maintained
the same undaunted and resolute demeanour as before. They fiercely rejected
all the overtures of Cortes, declaring they would rather die than surrender,
and adding, with a bitter tone of exultation, that the invaders would be at
least disappointed in their expectations of treasure, for it was buried where
they could never find it ! "
The women, it is said, shared in this desperate — it should rather be called
heroic — spirit. They were indefatigable in nursing the sick and dressing their
wounds ; they aided the warriors in battle, by supplying them with the
Indian ammunition of stones and arrows, prepared their shngs, strung their
bows, and displayed, in short, all the constancy and courage shown by the
noble maidens of Saragossa in our day, and by those of Carthage in the days
of antiquity.24
Cortes had now entered one of the great avenues leading to the market-
place of Tlatelolco, the quarter towards which the movements of Alvarado
were also directed. A single canal only lay in his way ; but this was of great
width and stoutly defended by the Mexican archery. At this crisis, the army
one evening, while in their intrenchments on the causeway, were surprised
by an uncommon light that arose from the huge teocalli in that part of the
city which, being at the north, was the most distant from their own position.
This temple, dedicated to t]ie dread war-god, was inferior only to the pyramid
in the great square ; and on it the Spaniards had more than once seen their
unhappy countrymen led to slaughter. They now supposed that the enemy
were employed in some of their diabolical ceremonies,— when the flame,
mounting higher and higher, shoAved that the sanctuaries themselves were
on fire. A shout of exultation at the sight broke forth from the assembled
soldiers, as they assured one another that their countrymen under Alvarado
had got possession of the building.
It >yas indeed true. The.t gallant officer, whose position on the westerr
causeway placed him near the district of Tlatelolco, had obeyed his com-
mander's instructions to the letter, razing every building to the ground in hi?
Progress, and filling up the ditches with their ruins. He at length fount"
imself before the great teocalli in the neighbourhood of the market. H(
ordered a company, under a cavalier named Gutierre de Badajoz, to storm the
place, which was defended by a body of warriors, mingled with priests, stil'
more wild and ferocious than the soldiery. The garrison, rushing down tlic
winding terraces, fell on the assailants with such fury as compelled them to
retreat in confusion and with some loss. Alvarado ordered another detach-
ment to their support. This last was engaged, at the moment, with a body
of Aztecs, who hung on its rear as it wound up the galleries of the teocalli.
Thus hemmed in between two enemies, above and below, the position of the
Spaniards was critical. With sword and" buckler, they plunged desperately
on the ascending Mexicans, and drove them into the court-yard below, where
Alvarado plied them with such lively volleys of musketry as soon threw them
23 Gonzalo de las Casas, Defensa, MS., cap. las Mugeres de Temixtitan, de quien ninguna
23. — Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 8.— mention se ha fecho. Y soy certificado, que
Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los Espanoles, p. 45. fue cosa maravillosa y para espantar, ver la
— Itel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 289. prontitud y constancia que tobieron en 6ervir
— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. a sus maridos, y en curar los heridos, 4> en el
29. labrar de las piedras para los que tiraban con
24 "Mucbas cosas acaecieron en este cerco, hondas, e en otros oficios para mas que mu-
que entre otras generaciones estobieran dis- geres." Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib.
cantadas e tenidus en mucho, en especial de 33, cap. 48.
THE TROOPS GAIN THE MARKET-PLACE. 493
into disorder and compelled them to abandon the ground. Being thus rid of
annoyance in the rear, the Spaniards returned to the charge. They drove
the enemy up the heights of the pyramid, and, reaching the broad summit, a
fierce encounter followed in mid-air, — such an encounter as takes place where
death is the certain consequence of defeat. It ended, as usual, in the dis-
comfiture of the Aztecs, who were either slaughtered on the spot still wet with
the blood of their own victims, or pitched headlong down the sides of the
pyramid.
The area was covered with the various symbols of the barbarous worship of
the country, and with two lofty sanctuaries, before whose grinning idols were
displayed the heads of several Christian captives who had been immolated on
their altars. Although overgrown by their long, matted hair and bushy
beards, the Spaniards could recognize, in the livid countenances, their comrades
who had fallen into the hands of the enemy. Tears fell from their eyes as
they gazed on the melancholy spectacle and thought of the hideous death
which their countrymen had suffered. They removed the sad relics with
decent care, and after the Conquest deposited them in consecrated ground, on
a spot since covered by the Church of the Martyrs.25
They completed their work by firing the sanctuaries, that the place might
be no more polluted by these abominable rites. The flame crept slowly up
the lofty pinnacles, in which stone was mingled with wood, till at length,
bursting into one bright blaze, it shot up its spiral volume to such a height"
that it was seen from the most distant quarters of the Valley. It was this
which had been hailed by the soldiery of Cortes, and it served as the beacon-
light to both friend and foe, intimating the progress of the Christian arms.
The commander-in-chief and his division, animated by the spectacle, made,
in their entrance on the following day, more determined efforts to place
themselves alongside of their companions under Alvarado. The broad canal,
above noticed as the only impediment now lying in his way, was to be
traversed ; and on the farther side the emaciated figures of the Aztec warriors,
were gathered in numbers to dispute the passage, like the gloomy shades that
wander— as ancient poets tell us— on the banks of the infernal river. They
poured down, however, a storm of missiles, which were no shades, on the heads
of the Indian labourers while occupied with filling up the wide gap with the
ruins of the surrounding buildings. Still they toiled on in defiance of the
arrowy shower, fresh numbers taking the place of those who fell. And when
at length the work was completed, the cavalry rode over the rough plain at
full charge against the enemy, followed by the deep array of spearmen, who
bore down all opposition with their invincible phalanx.
The Spaniards now found themselves on the same ground with Alvarado's
division. Soon afterwards, that chief, attended by several of his staff, rode
into their lines, and cordially embraced his countrymen and companions in
arms, for the first time since the beginning of the siege. They were now in
the neighbourhood of the market. Cortes, taking with him a few of his
cavaliers, galloped into it. It was a vast enclosure, as the reader has already
seen, covering many an acre.26 Its dimensions were suited to the immense
23 Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, traron en la plaza 6 Tianguez de eeta Tlalti-
cap. 29.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, lulco (lugar rauy espacioso mucho mas de lo
cap. 155.— Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Loren- que ahora es), el cual se podia llainaremporio
zana, pp. 287-289. de toda esta nueva Esparia : al cual venian &
ae Ante, p. 272.— The tianguez still con- tratar gentes de toda esta nueva Espana, y
tinued of great dimensions, though with aun de los Reinos & ella contiguos, y donde se
faded magnificence, after the Conquest, when vendian y compraban todas cuantas cosas hay
it is thus noticed by Father Sahagun : "En- en toda esta tierra, y en los Reinos de Quah-
494 SIEGE AND SUMENDER OF MEXICO.
multitudes who gathered there from all parts of the Valley in the flourishing
days of the Aztec monarchy. It was surrounded by porticoes and pavilions
for the accommodation of the artisans and traders who there displayed their
various fabrics and articles of merchandise. The flat roofs of the piazzas
were now covered with crowds of men and women, who gazed in silent dismay
on the steel-clad horsemen, that profaned these precincts with their presence
for the first time since their expulsion from the capital. The multitude, com-
posed for the most part, probably, of unarmed citizens, seemed taken by
surprise ; at least, they made no 'show of resistance ; and the general, after
leisurely viewing the ground, was permitted to ride back unmolested to the
army.
On arriving there, he ascended the teocalli, from which the standard of
Castile, supplanting the memorials of Aztec superstition, was now triumph-
antly floating. The Conqueror, as he strode ' among the smoking embers on
the summit, calmly surveyed the scene of desolation below. The palaces, the
temples, the busy marts of industry and trade, the glittering canals, covered
with their rich freights from the surrounding' country, the royal pomp of
groves and gardens, all the splendours of the imperial city, the capital of the
Western World, for ever gone,— and in their place a barren wilderness ! How
different the spectacle which the year before had met his eye, as it wandered
over the same scenes from the heights of the neighbouring teocalli, with
Montezuma at his side ! Seven-eighths of the city were laid in ruins, with
the occasional exception, perhaps, of some colossal temple which it would have
required too much time to demolish.27 The remaining eighth, comprehending
the district of Tlatelolco, was all that now remained to the Aztecs, whose
population— still large after all its losses — was crowded into a compass that
would hardly have afforded accommodations for a third of their numbers. It
was the quarter lying between the great northern and western causeways,
and is recognized in the modern capital as the Barrio de San Jago and its
vicinity. It was the favourite residence of the Indians after the Conquest,28
though at the present day thinly covered with humble dwellings, forming the
straggling suburbs, as it were, of the metropolis. Yet it still affords some
faint vestiges of what it was in its prouder days ; and the curious antiquary,
and occasionally the labourer, as he turns up the soil, encounters a glittering
fragment of obsidian, or the mouldering head of a lance or arrow, or some
other warlike relic, attesting that on this spot the retreating Aztecs made
their last stand for the independence of their country.29
On the day following, Cortes, at the head of his battalions, made a second
entry into the great tianqiiez. But this time the Mexicans were better pre-
pared for his coming. They were assembled in considerable force in the
spacious square. A sharp encounter followed; but it was short. Their
strength was not equal to their spirit, and they melted away before the rolling
fire of musketry, and left the Spaniards masters of the enclosure.
tiinalla y Xalisco (cosa cierto mucho de ver), while in every other etiam periere ruince!
yo lo vi por muchos anos morando en esta *" Bustamante, the Mexican editor of Saha
Casa del Senor Santiago aunque ya» no era gun, mentions that he has now in his posses
tanto como antes de la Conquista." Hist, de sion several of these military spoils. " Toda
Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 37. la llanura del Santuario de nuestra Senora de
27 "E yo mire dende aquella Torre, lo que los Angeles y de Santiago Tlaltilolco se ve
teniamos ganado de la Ciudad, que sin duda sembrada de fragmentos de lanzas cortantes,
de ocho partes teniamos ganado las siete." de macanas, y fiechas de piedra obsidiana, de
Eel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 289. que usaban los Mexicanos 6 sea Chinapos, y
-8 Toribio, Hist, de los Ind., MS., Parte 3, yo he recogido no pocos que conservo en mi
cap. 7. — The remains of the ancient founda- poder." Hist.de Nueva-Espafta, lib. 12, nota
tions may still be discerned in this quarter 21.
BATTERING-ENGINE. 495
The first act was to set fire to some temples, of no great size, within the
market-place, or more probably on its borders. As the flames ascended, the
Aztecs, horror-struck, broke forth into piteous lamentations at the destruction
of the deities on whom they relied for protection.30
The general's next step was at the suggestion of a soldier named Sotelo, a
man who had served under the Great Cap.tain.in the Italian wars, where he
professed to have gathered knowledge of the science of engineering, as it was
then practised. He offered his services to construct a sort of catapult, a
machine for discharging stones of great size, which might take the place of
the regular battering-train in demolishing the buildings. As the ammunition,
notwithstanding the liberal supplies which from time to time had found their
way into the camp, now began to fail, Cor+es eagerly acceded to a proposal so
well suited to his exigences. Timber and stone were furnished, and a number
of hands were employed, under the direction of the self-styled engineer, in
constructing the ponderous apparatus, which Avas erected on a solid platform
of masonry, thirty paces square and seven or eight feet high, that covered the
centre of the market-place. This was a work of the Aztec princes, and was
used as a scaffolding on which mountebanks and jugglers might exhibit their
marvellous feats for the amusement of the populace, who took great delight
in these performances.31
The erection of the machine consumed several days, during which hostilities
were suspended, while the artisans were protected from interruption by a strong
corps of infantry. At length the work was completed ; and the besieged,
who with silent awe had beheld from the neighbouring azoteas the progress
of the mysterious engine which was to lay the remainder of their capital in
ruins, now looked with terror for its operation. A stone of huge size was
deposited on the timber. The machinery was set in motion ; and the rocky
fragment was discharged with a tremendous force from the catapult. But,
instead of taking the direction of the Aztec buildings, it rose high and perpen-
dicularly into the air, and, descending whence it sprung, broke the ill-omened
machine into splinters ! It was a total failure. The Aztecs were released
from their apprehensions, and the soldiery made many a merry jest on the
catastrophe, somewhat at the expense of their commander, who testified no
little vexation at the disappointment, and still more at his own credulity.32
30 " Y como comenzo a arder, levantose una Nueva-Espaiia, MS., lib. 12, cap. 37.
llama tan alta que parecia llegar al cielo, al 3l Vestiges of the work are still visible,
espectdculo de esta quema, todos los hoinbres according to M. de Humboldt, within the
y mugeres que se habian acogido & las tiendas limits of the porch of the chapel of St. Jago.
que cercaban todo el Tianguez comenzaron a Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 44.
llorar & voz en grito, que fue cosa de espanto - Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
oirlos; porque quemado aquel delubro satiinico 155. — Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p.
lu°go entendieron que habian de ser del todo 290. — Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espaua, MS.,
flsstruidos y robados." Sahagun, Hist, de lib. 12, cap. 37.
SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO,
CHAPTER VIII.
DREADFUL SUFFERINGS OF THE BESIEGED— SPIRIT OF GUATEMOZlN— MURDER'
OUS ASSAULTS — CAPTURE OF GUATEMOZlN — EVACUATION OF THE CITY-
TERMINATION OF THE SIEGE— REFLECTIONS.
1521.
There was no occasion to resort to artificial means to precipitate the ruin of
the Aztecs. It was accelerated every hour by causes more potent than those
arising from mere human agency. There they were, — pent up in their close
and suffocating quarters, nobles, commoners, and slaves, men, women, and
children, some in houses, more frequently in hovels, — for this part of thecity
was not the best,— others in the open air in canoes, or in the streets, shiver-
ing in the cold rains of night, and scorched by the burning heat of day.1
An old chronicler mentions the fact of two women of rank remaining three
days and nights up to their necks in the water among the reeds, with only a
handful of maize for their support.2 The ordinary means of sustaining life
were long since gone. They wandered about in search of anything, however
unwholesome or revolting, that might mitigate the fierce gna wings of hunger.
Some hunted for insects and worms on the borders of the lake, or gathered
the salt weeds and moss from its bottom, while at times they might be seen
casting a wistful look at the green hills beyond, which many of them had left
to share the fate of their brethren in the capital.
To their credit, it is said by the Spanish writers that they were not driven,
in their extremity, to violate the laws of nature by feeding on one another.3
But, unhappily, this is contradicted by the Indian authorities, who. state that
many a mother, in her agony, devoured the offspring which she had no longer
the means of supporting. This is recorded of more than one siege in history ;
and it is the more probable here, where the sensibilities must have been
blunted by familiarity with the brutal practices of the national superstition.4
But all Vas not sufficient, and hundreds of famished wretches died every
day from extremity of suffering. Some dragged themselves jnto the houses,
and drew their last breath alone and in silence. Others sank down in the
public streets. Wherever they died, there they were left. There was no one
to bury or to remove them. Familiarity with the spectacle made men in-
different to it. They looked on in dumb despair, waiting for their own turn.
There was no complaint, no lamentation, but deep, unutterable woe.
1 "Estaban los tristes Mejicanos, hombres
y mugeres, ninos y nifias, viejos y viejas,
heridos y enfermos, en un lugar bien estrecho,
y bien apretados los unos con los otros, y con
grandisima falta de bastimentos, y al calor
del Sol, y al frio de la noche, y cada hora
esperando la muerte." Sahagun, Hist, de
Nueva-Espaiia, MS., lib. 12, cap. 39.
2 Torquemada had the anecdote from a
nephew of one of the Indian matrons, then a
very old man himself. Monarch. Ind., lib. 4,
cap. 102.
3 Torquemada, Monarch. Ind.,ubi supra.—
Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 156.
* " De los ninos, no quedo nadie, que las
mismas madres y padres los cornian (que era
gran lastima de ver, y mayormente de sufrir)."
(Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib.
12, cap. 39.) The historian derived his ac-
counts from the Mexicans themselves, soon
after the event.— One is reminded of the
terrible denunciations of Moses : " The tender
and delicate woman among you, which would
not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon
the ground for delicateness and tenderness,
her eye shall be evil toward . . . her children
which she shall bear : for she shall eat them,
for want of all things, secretly, in the siege
and straitness wherewith thine enemy shall
distress thee in thy gates." Deuteronomy,
chap. 28, vs. 56, 57.
SUFFERINGS OF THE BESIEGED. 497
If in other quarters of the town the corpses might be seen scattered over
the streets, here they were gathered in heaps. " They lay so thick," says
Bernal Diaz, " that one could not tread except among the bodies." 5 "A man
could not set his foot down," says Cortes, yet more strongly, "unless on the
corpse of an Indian." 6 They were piled one upon another, the living mingled
with the dead. They stretched themselves on the bodies of their friends, and
lay down to sleep there. Death was everywhere. The city was a vast charnel-
house, in which all was hastening to decay and decomposition. A poisonous
steam arose from the mass of putrefaction, under the action of alternate
rain and heat, which so tainted the whole atmosphere that the Spaniards,
including the general himself, in their brief visits to the quarter, were made ill
by it, and it bred a pestilence that swept off even greater numbers than the
famine.7
Men's minds were unsettled by these strange and accumulated horrors.
They resorted to all the superstitious rites prescribed by their religion, to stay
the pestilence. They called on their priests to invoke the gods in their behalf.
But the oracles were dumb, or gave only gloomy responses. Their deities had
deserted them, and in their place they saw signs of celestial wrath, telling of
still greater woes in reserve. Many, after the siege, declared that, among
other prodigies, they beheld a stream of light, of a blood-red colour, coming
from the north in the direction of Tepejacac, with a rushing noise like that of
a whirlwind, which swept round the district of Tlatelolco, darting out sparkles
and flakes of fire, till it shot far into the] centre of the lake ! 8 In the dis-
ordered state of their nerves, a mysterious fear took possession of their senses.
Prodigies were of familiar occurrence, and the most familiar phenomena of
nature were converted into prodigies.9 Stunned by their calamities, reason
was bewildered, and they became the sport of the wildest and most super-
stitious fancies.
In the midst of these awful scenes, the young emperor of the Aztecs re-
mained, according to all accounts, calm and courageous. With his fair capital
laid in ruins before his eyes, his nobles and faithful subjects dying around,
him, his territory rent away, foot by foot, till scarce enough remained for him
to stand on, he rejected every invitation to capitulate, and showed the same
indomitable spirit as at the commencement of the siege. When Cortes, in the
hope that the extremities of the besieged would incline them to listen to an
accommodation, persuaded a noble prisoner to bear to Guatemozin his pro-
posals to that effect, the fierce young monarch, according to the general,
ordered him at once to be sacrificed.10 It is a Spaniard, we must remember,
who tells the story.
Cortes, who had suspended hostilities for several days, in the vain hope that
■ "No podiamos andar sino entre cuerpos, los Mejicanos y Tlaltilulcanos; y di6 una
y cabecas de Indios muertos." Hist, de la vuelta para enrededor de ellos, y no dicen si
Conquista, cap. 150. los empecio algo, sino que habiendo dado
u "No tenian donde estar sino sobre los aquella vuelta, 6e entro por la laguna ade-
cuerpos muertos de los suyos." Rel.'Terc, lante; y alii desaparecio." Sabagun, Hist,
ap. Lorenzana, p. 291. de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 40.
7 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, ubi 9 "Inclinatis ad credendum anhnis," says
supra. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 2, the philosophic Roman historian, "loco omi-
cap. 8.— Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, num etiam fortnita." Tacitus, Hist., lib. 2,
MS., lib. 12, cap. 41.— Gonzalo de las Casae, sec. 1.
Defensa, MS., cap. 28. 10 " Y como lo llevaron delante de Guati-
8 "Un torbellino de fuego como sangre mucin su Sefior, y el le comenzo a hablar
embuelto en brasas y en centellas, que partia sobre la Paz, dizque luego lo mando matar y
de hacia Tepeacac (que es donde esta ahora sacrificar." Rel. Terc, ap. Lorenzana, p.
Santa Maria de Guadalupe) y fue haciendo 293.
gran ruido, hacia donde estaban acorralados a
498 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
the distresses of the Mexicans would bend them to submission, now determined
to drive them to it by a general assault. Cooped up as they were within a
narrow quarter of the city, their position favoured such an attempt. He
commanded Alvarado to hold himself in readiness, and directed .Sandoval —
who, besides the causeway, had charge of the fleet, which lay off the Tlatelolcan
district — to support the attack by a cannonade on the houses near the water.
He then led his forces into the city, or rather across the. horrid waste that now
encircled it.
On entering the Indian precincts, he was met by several of the chiefs, who,
stretching forth their emaciated arms, exclaimed, " You are the children of
the Sun. But the Sun is swift in his course. Why are you, then, so tardy %
Why do you delay so long to put an end to our miseries ? Rather kill us at
once, that we may go to our god Huitzilopochtli, who waits for us in heaven
to give us rest from our sufferings ! " u
Corte's was moved by their piteous appeal, and answered that he desired
not their death, but their submission. " Why does your master refuse to
treat with me," he said, " when a single hour will suffice for me to crush him
and all his people ? " He then urged them to request Guatemozin to confer
with him, with the assurance that he might do it in safety, as his person
should not be molested.
The nobles, after some persuasion, undertook the mission ; and it was
received by the young monarch in a manner which showed — if the anecdote
before related of him be true— that misfortune had at length asserted some
power over his haughty spirit. He consented to the interview, though not to
have it take place on that day, but the following, in the great square of
Tlatelolco. Corte's, well satisfied, immediately withdrew from the city and
resumed his position on the causeway.
The next morning he presented himself at the place appointed, having pre-
viously stationed Alvarado there with a strong corps of infantry, to guard
against treachery. The stone platform in the centre of the square was
covered with mats and carpets, and a banquet was prepared to refresh the
famished monarch and his nobles. Having made these arrangements, he
awaited the hour of the interview.
But Guatemqzin, instead of appearing himself, sent his nobles, the same
who had brought to him the general's invitation, and who now excused their
master's absence on the plea of illness. Cortes, though disappointed, gave
a courteous reception to the envoys, considering that it might still afford the
means of opening a communication with the emperor. He persuaded them,
without much entreaty, to partake of the good cheer spread before them,
which they did with a voracity that told how severe had been their abstinence.
He then dismissed them with a seasonable supply of provisions for their
master, pressing him to consent to an interview, without which it was impos-
sible their differences could be adjusted.
The Indian envoys returned in a short time, bearing with them a present
of tine cotton fabrics, of no great value, from Guatemozin, who still declined
to meet the Spanish general. Cortes, though deeply chagrined, was unwilling
to give up the point. " He will surely come," he said to the envoys, "when
he sees that I suffer you to go and come unharmed, you Avho have been my
11 "Que pues ellos me tenian por Hijo del tanto, porque ya ellos tenian deseos de morir,
Sol, y el Sol en tanta brevedad como era en y irse al Cielo para su Ochilobus [Huitzilo-
un dia y una noche daba vuelta u todo el pochtli], que los estaba esperando para des*
Jvlundo, que porque yo assf brevemente no cansar." Rel. Terc, ap. Lorenzana, p. 292.
]<,* acababa de matar, y los quitaba de penar
MURDEROUS ASSAULTS. 499
steady enemies, no less than himself, throughout the war. He has nothing to
fear from me." 12 He again parted with them, promising to receive their
answer the following day.
On the next morning the Aztec chiefs, entering the Christian quarters,
announced to Cortes that Guatemozin would confer with him at noon in the
market-place. The general was punctual at the hour ; but without success.
Neither monarch nor ministers appeared there. It was plain that the Indian
prince did not care to trust the promises of his enemy. A thought of Monte-
zuma may have passed across his mind. After he had waited three hours, the
general's patience was exhausted, and, as he learned that the Mexicans were
busy in preparations for defence,he made immediate dispositions for the assault.13
The confederates had been left without the walls ; for he did not care to
bring them within sight of the quarry before he was ready to slip the leash.
He now ordered them to join him, and, supported by Alvarado's division,
marched at once into the enemy's quarters. He found them prepared to
receive him. Their most able-bodied warriors were thrown into the van,
covering their feeble and crippled comrades. Women were seen occasionally
mingling in the ranks, and, as well as children, thronged the azoteas, where,
with famine-stricken visages and haggard eyes, they scowled defiance and
hatred on their invaders.
As the Spaniards advanced, the Mexicans set up a fierce war-cry, and sent
off clouds of arrows with their accustomed spirit, while the women and boys
rained down darts and stones from their elevated position on the terraces.
But the missiles were sent by hands too feeble to do much damage ; and,
when the squadrons closed, the loss of strength became still more sensible
in the Aztecs. Their blows fell feebly and with doubtful aim, though some,
it is true, of stronger constitution, or gathering strength from despair, main-
tained to the last a desperate fight.
The arquebusiers now poured in a deadly fire. The brigantines replied by
successive volleys, in the opposite quarter. The besieged, hemmed in, like
deer surrounded by the huntsmen, were brought down on every side. The
carnage was horrible. The ground was heaped up with slain, until the
maddened combatants were obliged to climb over the human mounds to get
at one another. The miry soil was saturated with blood, which ran off like
water and dyed the canals themselves with crimson.14 All was uproar and
terrible confusion. The hideous yells of the barbarians, 'the oaths and execra-
tions of the Spaniards, the cries of the wounded, the shrieks of women and
children, the heavy blows of the Conquerors, the death struggle of their
victims, the rapid reverberating echoes of musketry, the hissing of innumer-
able missiles, the crash and crackling of blazing buildings, crushing hundreds
in their ruins, the blinding volumes of dust and sulphurous smoke shrouding
all in their gloomy canopy, made a scene appalling even to the soldiers of
Cortes, steeled as they were by many a rough passage of war, and by long
12 " Y yo les tome i£ repetir, que no sabia equivocal to these repeated efforts on the part
la causa, porque el se recelaba venir ante mi, of Cortes to bring the Aztecs peaceably to
pues veia que a ellos, que yo sabia q habian terms. Besides his own Letter to the em-
sido los causadores principals de la Guerra, peror, see Berual Diaz, cap. 155,— Herrera,
y que la habian sustentado, les hacia buen Hist, general, lib. 2, cap. 6, 7, — Torquemada,
tratamiento, que los dejaba ir, y venir segura- Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 100, — Ixtlilxochitl,
mente, sin recibir enojo alguno ; que le3 Venida de los Espafioles, pp. 44-48, — Oviedo,
rogaba, que le tornassen a hablar, y mirassen Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 29, 30. ^
mucho en esto de su venida, pues a el le con- 14 " Corrian Arroios de Sangre por las Calles,
vetria, y yo lo hacia por su provecho." Rel. como pueden correr de Agua, quando llueve,
Terc, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 294, 295. y cou impetu, y fuerca." Torquemada,
13 The testimony is most emphatic and un- Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 103.
500 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
familiarity with blood and violence. " The piteous cries of the women and
children, in particular," says the general, " were enough to break one's heart." 15
He commanded that they should be spared, and that all who asked it should
receive quarter. He particularly urged this on the confederates, and placed
Spaniards among them to restrain their violence.16 But he had set an engine
in motion too terrible to be controlled. It were as easy to curb the hurricane
in its fury, as the passions of an infuriated horde of savages. " Never did I
see so pitiless a race," he exclaims, " or anything wearing the form of man so
destitute of humanity." 17 They made no distinction of sex or age, and in
this hour of vengeance seemed to be requiting the hoarded wrongs of a
century. At length, sated with slaughter, the Spanish commander sounded
a retreat. It was full time, if, according to his own statement,— we may hope
it is an exaggeration, — forty thousand souls had perished ! 18 Yet their fate
was to be envied, in comparison with that of those who survived.
Through the long night which followed, no movement was perceptible in the
Aztec quarter. No light was seen there, no sound was heard, save the low
moaning of some wounded or dying wretch, writhing in his agony. All was
dark and silent,— the darkness of the grave. The last blow seemed to have
completely stunned them. They had parted with hope, and sat in sullen
despair, like men waiting in silence the stroke of the executioner. Yet, for
all this, they showed no disposition to submit. Every new injury had sunk
deeper into their souls, and filled them with a deeper* hatred of their enemy.
Fortune, friends, kindred, home, — all were gone. They were content to throw
away life itself, now that they had nothing more to live for.
Far different was the scene in the Christian camp, where, elated with their
recent successes, all was alive with bustle and preparation for the morrow.
Bonfires were seen blazing along the causeways, lights gleamed from tents and
barracks, and the sounds of music and merriment, borne over the waters,
proclaimed the joy of the soldiers at the prospect of so soon terminating their
wearisome campaign.
On the following morning the Spanish commander again mustered his
forces, having decided to follow up the blow of the preceding day before the
enemy should have time to rally, and at once to put an end to the war. He
had arranged with Alvarado, on the evening previous, to occupy the market-
place of Tlatelolco ; and the discharge of an arquebuse was to be the signal
for a simultaneous assault. Sandoval was to hold the northern causeway, and,
with the fleet, to watch the movements of the Indian emperor, and to inter-
cept the flight to the main land, which Cortes knew he meditated. To allow
him to eft'ect this would be to leave a formidable enemy in his own neighbour-
hood, who might at any time kindle the flame of insurrection throughout the
country. He ordered Sandoval, however, to do no harm to the royal person,
and not to fire on the enemy at all, except in self-defence.19
1 s " Era tanta la grita, y lloro de los Niiios, dixo a todos los amigos capitanes, que no
y Mugeres, que no habia Persona? a quien no consintiesen a su gente que matasen s£ nin-
quebrantasse el corazon." (Rel. Terc, ap. guno de los que salian." Oviedo, Hist, de las
Lorenzana, p. 296.) They were a rash and Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 30.
stiff-necked race, exclaims his reverend editor, 17 " La qual crueldad nunca en Generacion
the archbishop, with a charitable commen- tan recia se vio, ni tan fuera de toda orden de
tary ! " Gens durce cervkis gens absque con- naturaleza, como en los Naturales de estas
silio." Nota. partes." Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana,
1G " Como la gente de la Cibdad se salia a p. 296.
los nuestros, habia el general proveido, que 18 Ibid., ubi supra. — Ixtlilxochitl says, 50,000
por todas las calles estubiesen Espafioles para were slain and taken in this dreadfulonslaught.
estorvar '£ los amigos, que no mataSen aquellos Venida de los Espanoles, p. 48.
tristes, que eran sin numero. E tambien '-' " Adonde estauan retraidos el Guatemuz
MURDEROUS ASSAULTS. 501
It was the memorable thirteenth of August, 1521, the day of St. Hippolytus,
—from this circumstance selected as the patron saint of modern Mexico,—
that Cortes led his warlike array for the last time across the black and blasted.,
environs which lay around the Indian capital. On entering the Aztec pre-
cincts, he paused, willing to afford its wretched inmates one more chance of
escape before striking the fatal blow. He obtained an interview with
some of the principal chiefs, and expostulated with them on the conduct of
their prince. " He surely will not," said the general, " see you all perish,
when he can so easily save you." He then urged them to prevail on Guate-
inozin to hold a conference with him, repeating the assurances of his personal
safety.
The messengers went on their mission, and soon returned with the cihua-
coatl &t their head, a magistrate of high authority among the Mexicans. He
said, with a melancholy air, in which his own disappointment was visible,
that " Guatemozin was ready to die where he was, but would hold no inter-
view with the Spanish commander ; " adding, in a tone of resignation, " it is
for you to work' your pleasure." "Go, then," replied the stern Conqueror,
" and prepare your countrymen for death. Their hour is come." 20
He still postponed the assault for several hours. But the impatience of his
troops at this delay was heightened by the rumour that Guatemozin and his
nobles were preparing to escape with their effects in the pira<jnas and canoes
which were moored on the margin of the lake. Convinced of the fruitlessness
and impolicy of further procrastination, Cortes made his final dispositions for
the attack, and took his own station on an azotea which commanded the
theatre of operations.
When the assailants came into the presence of the enemy, they found them
huddled together in the utmost confusion, all ages and sexes, in masses so
dense that they nearly forced one another over the brink of the causeways
into the water below. Some had climbed on the terraces, others feebly sup
ported themselves against the walls of the buildings. Their squalid and
tattered garments gave a wildness to their appearance which still further
heightened the ferocity of their expression, as they dared on their enemy
with eyes in which hate was mingled with despair. 'When the Spaniards had
approached within bowshot, the Aztecs let off a flight of impotent missiles,
showing to the last the resolute spirit, though they had lost the strength, of
their better days. The fatal signal was then given by the discharge of an
arquebuse, — speedily followed by peals of heavy ordnance, the rattle of fire-
arms, and the hellish shouts of the confederates as they sprang upon their
victims. It is unnecessary to stain the page with a repetition of the horrors
of the preceding day. Some of the wretched Aztecs threAv themselves into
the water and were picked up by the canoes. Others sank and were suffocated
in the canals. The number of these became so great that a bridge was made
of their dead bodies, over which the assailants could climb to the opposite
banks. Others, again, especially the women, begged for mercy, which, as the
chroniclers assure us, was everywhere granted by the Spaniards, and, contrary
con toda la flor de sus Capitanes, y personas por alia morir, y que a el peeaba mucho de
mas nobles que en Mexico auia, y le rnando esto, que hiciesse yo lo que quisiesse ; y como
que no matasse ni hiriesse a ningunos lndios, vi en esto su determitiacion, yo le dije ; que
saluo si no le diessen guerra, e que aunque se se bolviesse d los suyos, y que el, y ellos se
la diessen, que solaniente 6e defendiesse." aparejassen, porque los queria combatir, y
Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 156. acabar de matar, y assi se fue." Rel, Terc.
20 " Y al fin me dijo. que en ninguna ma- de Cortes, ap. Loreczana, p. 293.
pera el Seiior vernia ante mf ; y antes queria
502 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
to the instructions and entreaties of Cortes, everywhere refused by the con-
federates.21
While this work of butchery was going on, numbers were observed pushing
off in the barks that lined the shore, and making the best of their way across
the lake. They were constantly intercepted by the brigantines, which broke
through the flimsy array of boats, sending off their volleys to the right and
left, as the crews of the latter hotly assailed them. The battle raged as
fiercely on the lake as on the land. Many of the Indian vessels were shattered
and overturned. Some few, however, under cover of the smoke, which rolled
darkly over the waters, succeeded in clearing themselves of the turmoil, and
were fast n earing the opposite shore.
Sandoval had particularly charged his captains to keep an eye on the move-
ments of any vessel in which it was at all probable that Guatemozin might be
concealed. At this crisis, three or four of the largest piraguas were seen
skimming over the Avater and making their way rapidly across the lake. A
captain, named Garci Holguin, who had command of one of the best sailers
in the fleet, instantly gave them chase. The wind was favourable, and every
moment he gained on the fugitives, who pulled their oars with a vigour that
despair alone could have given. But it was in vain ; and, after a short race,
Holguin, coming alongside of one of the piraguas, wrhich, whether from its
appearance, or from information he had received, he conjectured might bear
the Indian emperor, ordered his men to level their cross-bows at the boat.
But, before they could discharge them, a cry arose from those in it that their
lord was on board. At the same moment a young warrior, armed with buckler
and maquahuitl, rose up, as if to beat off the assailants. But, as the Spanish
captain ordered his men not to shoot, he dropped his weapons, and exclaimed :
" I am Guatemozin. Lead me to Malinche ; I am his prisoner ; but let no
harm come to my wife and my followers." 22
Holguin assured him that his wishes should be respected, and assisted him
to get on board the brigantine, followed by his wife and attendants. These
were twenty in number, "consisting of Coanaco, the deposed lord of Tezcuco,
the lord of Tlacopan, and several other caciques and dignitaries, whose rank,
probably, had secured them some exemption from the general calamities of
the siege. When the captives were seated on the deck of his vessel, Holguin
requested the Aztec prince to put an end to the combat by commanding his
people in the other canoes to surrender. But, with a dejected air, he replied,
" It is not necessary. They will fight no longer, when they see that their
prince is taken." He spoke truth. The news of Guatemozin's capture spread
rapidly through the fleet, and on shore, where the Mexicans were still engaged
in conflict with their enemies. It ceased, however, at once. They made no
further resistance ; and those on the water quickly followed the brigantines,
21 Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, ni a ninguna muger, ni a ninguna cosa de lu
cap. 30. — lxtlilxochitl, Venida de los Espa- que aqui traygo, sino que me tomes a mi, y
fioles, p. 48.— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 3, me Ueues a Malinche." (Bernal Diaz, Hist,
lib. 2, cap. 7.— Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lo- de la Conquista, cap. 156.) M. de Humboldt
renzana, pp. 297, 298. — Gomara, Cronica, has taken much pains to identify the place
cap. 142. of Guatemozin's capture,— now become dry
"* lxtlilxochitl, "Tenida de los Espanoles, land,— which he considers to have been some-
p. 49. — "No me tii in, que yo soy el Rey de where between the Garita de Peralvillo, the
Mexico, y desta tierra, y lo que te ruego es, .square of Santiago, Tlaltelolco, and the bridge
que no me llegues & mi muger, ni a. mis hijos ; of Amaxac. Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 76.*
r * [According to an old tradition, it was on Conquista de Mejico (trad, de Yega), torn, ii,
the Puente del Cabildo, which is within the p. 209, note.— En.]
limits designated by Humboldt. Alaman,
CAPTURE OF GUATEMOZIN. 503
which conveyed their captive monarch to land. It seemed as if the fight had
been maintained thus long the better to divert the enemy's attention and
cover their master's retreat.23
Meanwhile, Sandoval, on receiving tidings of the capture, brought his own
brigantine alongside of Holguin's and demanded the royal prisoner to be
surrendered to him. But the captain claimed him as his prize. A dispute
arose between the parties, each anxious to have the glory of the deed, and
perhaps the privilege of commemorating it on his escutcheon. The controversy
continued so long that it reached the ears of Cortes, who, in his station on the
azotea, had learned with no little satisfaction the capture of his enemy. He
instantly sent orders to his wrangling officers to bring Guatemozi if before
him, that he might adjust the difference between them.24 He charged them,
at the same time, to treat their prisoner with respect. He then made pre-
parations for the interview, caused the terrace to be carpeted with crimson
cloth and matting, and a table to be spread with provisions, of which the
unhappy Aztecs stood so much in need.-5 His lovely Indian mistress, Dona
Marina, was present to act as interpreter. She had stood by his side through
all the troubled scenes of the Conquest, and she was there now to witness its
triumphant termination.
Guatemozi n, on landing, was escorted by a company of infantry to the
presence of the Spanish commander. He mounted the azotea with a calm
and steady step, and was easily to be distinguished from his attendant nobles,
though his full, dark eye was no longer lighted up with its accustomed fire,
and his features wore an expression of passive resignation, that told little of
the fierce and fiery spirit that burned within. His head was large, his limbs
well proportioned, his complexion fairer than that of his bronze-coloured
nation , and his whole deportment singularly mild and engaging.26
Cortes came forward with a dignified and studied courtesy to receive him.
The Aztec monarch probably knew the person of his conqueror,* for he first
broke silence by saying, " I "have done all that I could to defend myself and
my people. I am now reduced to this state. You will deal with me, Malinche,
23 For the preceding account of the capture three crowns of gold on a sable field, one
of Guatemozin, told with little discrepancy, above the other two, in token of his victory
though with more or less minuteness, by the over the three lords of Mexico, Montezuma,
different writers, see Bernal Diaz, Hist, lie la his brother Cuitlahua, and Guatemozin. A
Conquista, ubi supra, —Rel. Terc. de Corte's, ■ copy of the instrument containing the grant
p. 299,— Gonzalo de las Casas, Defensa, MS., of the arms of Cortes may be found in the
— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. " Disertaciones historicas" of Alaman, torn.
30, — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. ii. apend. 2.
101. 25 Sahagun, Hist.de Nueva-Espana, lib. 12,
24 The general, according to Diaz, rebuked cap. 40, MS.
his officers for their ill-timed contention, re- '-G For the portrait of Guatemozin I again
minding them of the direful effects of a borrow the faithful pencil of Diaz, who knew
similar quarrel between Marius and Sylla him — at least his person— well : " Guatemuz
respecting Jugurtha. (Hist, de la Conquista, era de muy gentil disposicion, assi de cuerpo,
cap. 15G.) This piece of pedantry savours como de fayciones, y la cata algo larga, y
much more of the old chronicler than his alegre, y los ojos mas parecian que quando
commander. The result of the whole — not miraua, que eran con grauedad, y halagiiefios,
an uncommon one in such cases — was that y no auia falta en ellos, y era de edad de
the emperor granted to neither of the parties, veinte y tres, 6 veinte y quatro anos, y el
but to Corte's, the exclusive right of com- color tiraua mas a bianco, que al color, y
meliorating the capture of Guatemozin on matiz.de essotros Indios morenos." Hist, da
his escutcheon. He was permitted to bear la Conquista, cap. 156.
[* It was unnecessary to qualify the state- de Mejico (trad, de Vega), torn. ii. p. 211,
nieut, as they had often seen each other at note. — Ed.}
the court of Montezuma. Alamaa, Conquista
504 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
as you list." Then, laying his hand on the hilt of a poniard stuck in the
general's belt, he added, with vehemence, " Better despatch me with this, and
rid me of life at once."27 Cortes was filled with admiration at the proud
bearing of the young barbarian, showing in his reverses a spirit worthy of an
ancient Roman. "Fear not," he replied : " you shall be treated Avith all
honour. You have defended your capital like a brave warrior. A Spaniard
knows how to respect valour even in an enemy." 28 He then inquired of him
where he had left the princess his wife ; and, being informed that she still
remained under protection of a Spanish guard on board the brigantine, the
general sent to have her escorted to his presence.
She was the youngest daughter of Montezuma, and was hardly yet on the
verge of womanhood. On the accession of her cousin Guatemozin to the
throne, she had been wedded to him as his lawful wife.29 She is celebrated
by her contemporaries for her personal charms ; and the beautiful princess
Tecuichpo is still commemorated by the Spaniards, since from her by a sub-
sequent marriage are descended some of the illustrious families of their own
nation.30 She was kindly received by Corte's, who showed her the respectful
attentions suited to her rank. Her birth, no doubt, gave her an additional
interest in his eyes, and he may have felt some touch of compunction as he
gazed on the daughter of the unfortunate Montezuma. He invited his royal
captives to partake of the refreshments which their exhausted condition
rendered so necessary. Meanwhile the Spanish commander made his dis-
positions for the night, ordering Sandoval to escort the prisoners to Cojohuacan,
whither he proposed himself immediately to follow. The other captains, Olid
and Alvarado, were to draw off their forces to their respective quarters. It
was impossible for them to continue in the capital, where the poisonous effluvia
from the unburied carcasses loaded the air with infection. A small guard
only was stationed to keep order in the wasted suburbs. It was the hour of
vespers when Guatemozin surrendered,31 and the siege might be considered as
then concluded. The evening set in dark, and the rain began to fall before
the several parties had evacuated the city.32
'■" "Llegose a mi, y dijome en su lengua : bis conversation with Oviedo. According to
que ya el liabia he»ho todo, lo que de su this, it appears that the only legitimate off-
parte era obligado para defenderse a si, y ti spring which Montezuma left at his death
los sujros, hasta venir en aquel estado ; que was a son and a daughter, this same princess,
ahora ficiesse de el lo que yo quisiesse ; y — See Appendix, Part 2, No. 11.
puso la mano en un punal, que yo tenia, 30 For a further account of Montezuma's
diciendome, que le diesse de puiialadas, y le daughter, see Book VII., chapter iii. of this
matasse." (Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lo- History.
renzana, p. 300.) This remarkable account 31 The event is annually commemorated —
by the Conqueror himself is confirmed by or rather was, under the colonial government
])iaz, who does not appear to have seen this —by a solemn procession round the walls of
letter of his commander. Hist, de la Con- the city. It took place on the 13th of August,
quista, cap. 156. the anniversary of the surrender, and con-
28 Ibid., cap. 156. — Also Oviedo, Hist, de sisted of the principal cavaliers and citizens
las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 48,— and Martyr on horseback, headed by the viceroy, and
(De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 8), who, by the displaying the venerable standard of the Con-
epithet of magnanimo regi, testifies the ad- queror.*
miration which Guatemozin's lofty spirit 33 Toribio, Hist, de los Ind., MS., Parte 3,
excited in the court of Castile. cap. 7.— Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana,
-a The ceremony of marriage, which dis- MS., lib. 12, cap. 42.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de
tinguished the "lawful wife" from the con- la Conquista, cap. 156. — "The lord of Mexico
cubine, is described by Don Thoan Cano, in having surrendered," says Cortes, in his letter
[* It was the royal standard, not that of of the cortes of Cadiz in 1812. Alaman.
Cortes, which was carried on this occasion. Conquista de Mejico, trad, do Vega, torn. ii.
The celebration was suppressed by a decree p. 212, note.— El>.J
EVACUATION OF THE CITY. COS
During the night, a tremendous tempest, such as the Spaniards had rarely
witnessed, and such as is known only within the tropics, burst over the
Mexican Valley. The thunder, reverberating from the rocky amphitheatre
of hills, bellowed over the waste of waters, and shook the teocallis and crazy
tenements of Tenochtitlan— the few that yet survived— to their foundations.
The lightning seemed to cleave asunder the vault of heaven, as its vivid
Hashes wrapped the whole scene in a ghastly glare, for a moment, to be again
swallowed up in darkness. The war of elements was in unison with the
fortunes of the ruined city. It seemed as if the deities of Anahuac, scared
from their ancient abodes, were borne along shrieking and howling in the
blast, as they abandoned the fallen capital to its fate ! 33
On the day following the surrender, Guatemozin requested the Spanish
commander to allow the Mexicans to leave the city and to pass unmolested
into the open country. To this Cortes readily assented, as, indeed, without it
he could take no steps for purifying the capital. He gave his orders, accord-
ingly, for the evacuation of the place, commanding that no one, Spaniard or
confederate, should offer violence to the Aztecs or in any way obstruct then-
departure. The whole number of these is variously estimated at from thirty
to seventy thousand, besides women and children, who had survived the
sword, pestilence, and famine.34 It is certain they were three days in defiling
along the several causeways,— a mournful train ; 35 husbands and wives,
parents and children, the sick and the wounded, leaning on one another for
support, as they feebly tottered along, squalid, and but half covered with rags,
that disclosed at every step hideous gashes, some recently received, others
festering from long neglect, and carrying with them an atmosphere of con-
tagion. Their wasted forms and famine-stricken faces told the whole history
of the siege ; and, as the straggling files gained the opposite shore, they Avere
observed to pause from time to time, as if to take one more look at the spot
so lately crowned by the imperial city, once their pleasant home, and endeared
to them by many a glorious recollection.
On the departure of the inhabitants, measures were immediately taken to
purify the place, by means of numerous fires kept burning day and night,
to the emperor, "the -war, by the blessing of bers of the troops, -who had been so much
Heaven, was brought to an end, on Wednes- deafened by the incessant noises of the siege
day, the 13th day-of August, 1521. So that that, now these had ceased, "we felt," says
from the day when we first sat down before Diaz, in his homely way, " like men suddenly
the city, which was the 30th of May, until ita escaped from a belfry, where we had been
final occupation, seventy -five days elapsed." shut up for months with a chime of bells
(Rel. Terc, ap. Lorenzana, p. *300.) It is ringing in our ears ! " Hist, de la Conquista,
not easy to tell what event occurred on May ubi supra.
30th to designate the beginning of the siege. •* Herrera (Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 2,
Clavigero considers it the occupation of Cojo- cap. 7) and Torquemada (Monarch. Ind., lib.
huacan by Olid. (Stor. del Messico, torn. iii. 4, cap. 101) estimate them at 30,000. lxtli-
p. 196.) "But 1 know not on what authority. lxochitl says that 60,000 fighting-men laid
Neither Bernal Diaz, nor Herrera, nor Cortes, down their arms (Venida de los Espaiioles,
so fixes the date. Indeed, Clavigero says p. 49); and Oviedo swells the amount still
that Alvarado and Olid left Tezcuco May higher, to 70,000. (Hist, de las Ind., MS.,
20th, while Cortes says May 10th. Perhaps lib. 33, cap. 48.)— After the losses of the
Cortes dates from the time when Sandoval siege, these numbers are startling,
established himself on the northern cause- " " Digo que en tres dias con sus noches
way, and when the complete investment of iban todas tres calcadas llenas de Indios, e
the capital began. Bernal Diaz, more than Indias, y muchachos, llenas de bote en bote,
once, speaks ot the siege as lasting three que nunca dexauan de salir, y tan flacos, y
months, computing, probably, from the time suzios, e amarillos, e hediondos, que era Uis-
■when his own division, under Alvarado, took tima de los ver." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de Ja.
up its position at Tacuba. Conquista, cap. 156.
f3 If did not, apparently, disturb the slum-
506 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO. ■
especially in the infected quarter of Tlatelolco, and by collecting the heaps of
dead, which lay mouldering in the streets, and consigning them to the earth.
Of the whole- number who perished in the course of the siege it is impossible
to form any probable computation. The accounts range widely, from one
hundred and twenty thousand, the lowest estimate, to two hundred and forty
thousand.36 The number of the Spaniards who fell was comparatively small,
but that of the allies must have been large, if the historian of Tezcuco is
correct in asserting that thirty thousand perished of his own countrymen
alone.37 That the number of those destroyed within the city was immense
cannot be doubted, when we consider that, besides its own redundant population,
it was thronged with fhat of the neighbouring towns, who, distrusting their
strength to resist the enemy, sought protection within its walls.
The booty found there — that is, the treasures of gold and jewels, the only
booty of much value in the eyes of the Spaniards—fell far below their expec-
tations. It did not exceed, according to the general's statement, a hundred
and thirty thousand castellanos of gold, including the sovereign's share, which,
indeed, taking into account many articles of curious and costly workmanship,
voluntarily relinquished by the army, greatly exceeded his legitimate fifth.38
Yet the Aztecs must have been in possession of a much larger treasure, if it
were only the wreck of that recovered from the Spaniards on the night of the
memorable flight from Mexico. Some of the spoil may have been sent away
from the capital, some spent in preparations for defence, and more of it buried
in the earth, or sunk in the water of the lake. Their menaces were not
without a meaning. They had, at least, the satisfaction of disappointing the
avarice of their enemies.
Cortes had no further occasion for the presence of his Indian allies. He
assembled the chiefs of the different squadrons, thanked them for their
services, noticed their valour in flattering terms, and, after distributing-
presents among them, with the assurance that his master the emperor would
recompense their fidelity yet more largely, dismissed them to their own homes.
They carried off a liberal share of the spoils of which they had plundered the
dwellings, — not of a kind to excite the cupidity of the Spaniards,— and returned
in triumph, short-sighted triumph ! at tne success of their expedition and the
downfall of the Aztec dynasty.
Great, also, was the satisfaction of the Spaniards at this brilliant termination
of their long and laborious campaign. They were, indeed, disappointed at the
3fi Cortes estimates the losses of the enemy says Oviedo, " with many hidalgos and other
in the three several assaults at 67,000, which persons, and have heard them say that the
■with 50,000 whom he reckons to have perished number of the dead was incalculable, — greater
from famine and disease would give 117,000. than that at Jerusalem, as described by Jose-
(Rel. Terc, ap. Loreuzana, p. 298, et alibi.) phus." (Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 30, cap.
But this is exclusive of those who fell pre- 30.) As the estimate of the Jewish historian
viously to the commencement of the vigorous amounts to 1,100,000 (Antiquities of the
plan of operations for demolishing the city. Jews, Eng. trans., book vii. chap.-xvii.), the
Ixtlilxochitl, who seldom allows any one to comparison may stagger the most accommo-
beat him in figures, puts the dead, in round dating faith. It will be safer to dispense
numbers, at 240,000, comprehending the with arithmetic where the data are too loose
flower of the Aztec nobility. (Venida de los aiid slippery to afford a foothold for getting
Espanoles, p. 51.) Bernal Diaz observes, at truth,
more generally, "I have read the story of U7 Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los Espanoles.
the destruction of Jerusalem, but I doubt if p. 51.
there was as great mortality there as in this 3S Rel. Terc, ap. Lorenzana, p. 301.-
siege ; for there was assembled in the city an Oviedo goes into some further particular*
immense number of Indian warriors from all respecting the amount of the treasure, and
the provinces and towns subject to Mexico, especially of the imperial fifth, to which I
the most of whom perished." (Hist, de la shall have occasion to advert hereafter. Hist.
Conquista, cap. 156.) "I have conversed." de las Ind., MS., lib, 33, cap. 31.
REFLECTIONS. 507
small amount of treasure found in the conquered city. But the soldier is
usually too much absorbed in the present to give much heed to the future ;
and, though their discontent showed itself afterwards in a more clamorous
form, they now thought only of their triumph, and abandoned themselves to
jubilee. Cortes celebrated the event by a banquet, as sumptuous as circum-
stances would permit, to which all the cavaliers and officers were invited.
Loud and long was their revelry, which was carried to such an excess as
provoked the animadversion of Father Olmedo, who intimated that this was
not the fitting way to testify their sense of the favours shown them by the
Almighty. Cortes admitted the justice of the rebuke, but craved some
indulgence for a soldier's license in the hour of victory, The following day
was appointed for the commemoration of their successes in a more suitable
manner.
A procession of the whole army was then formed, with Father Olmedo at
its head. The soiled and tattered banners of Castile, which had waved over
many a field of battle, now threw their shadows on the peaceful array of the
soldiery, as they slowly moved along, rehearsing the litany, and displaying the
image of the Virgin and the blessed symbol of man's redemption. The
reverend father pronounced a discourse, in which he briefly reminded the
troops of their great cause for thankfulness to Providence for conducting them
safe through their long and perilous pilgrimage ; and, dwelling on the
responsibility incurred by their present position, he besought them not to
abuse the rights of conquest, but to treat the unfortunate Indians with
humanity. The sacrament was then administered to the commander-in-chief
and the principal cavaliers, and the services concluded with a solemn thanks-
giving to the God of battles, who had enabled them to carry the banner of
the Cross triumphant over this barbaric empire.39
Thus, after a siege of nearly three months' duration, unmatched in history
for the constancy and courage of the besieged, seldom surpassed for the
severity of its sufferings, fell the renowned capital of the Aztecs. Un-
matched, it may be truly said, for constancy and courage, when we recollect
that the door of capitulation on the most honourable terms was left open to
them throughout the whole blockade, and that, sternly rejecting every
proposal of their enemy, they, to a man, preferred to die rather than surrender.
More than three centuries liad elapsed since the Aztecs, a poor and wandering
tribe from the far North-west, had come on the plateau. There they built
their miserable collection of huts on the spot — as tradition tells us — prescribed
by the oracle. Their conquests, at first confined to their immediate neigh-
bourhood, gradually covered the Valley, then, crossing the mountains, swept
over the broad extent of the table-land, descended its precipitous sides, and
rolled onwards to the Mexican Gulf and the distant confines of Central
America, Their wretched capital, meanwhile, keeping pace with the enlarge-
ment of territory, had grown into a flourishing city, filled with buildings,
monuments of art, and a numerous population, that gave it the first rank
among the capitals of the Western World. At this crisis came over another
race from the remote East, strangers like themselves, whose coming had also
been predicted by the oracley and, appearing on the plateau, assailed them in
the very zenith of their prosperity, and blotted them out from the map of
nations for ever ! The whole story has the air of fable rather than of history !
a legend of romance, — a tale of the genii !
39 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 2, cap. lib. 12, cap. 42.— Oviedo, Hist, de his Ind.,
8.— Bernal Diaz, Hist.de la Conquista, cap. MS., lib. 33, cap. 30.— Ixtlilxochitl, Venida
156.— Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espafia, MS., Ue los Espaiioles, pp. 61, 52,
508 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
Yet we cannot regret the fall of an empire which did so little to promote
the happiness of its subjects or the real interests of humanity. Notwith-
standing the lustre thrown over its latter days by the glorious defence of its
capital, by the mild munificence of Montezuma, by the dauntless heroism of
Guatemozin, the Aztecs were emphatically a fierce and brutal race, little
calculated, in their best aspects, to excite our sympathy and regard. Their
civilization, such as it was, was not 'their own, but reflected, perhaps im-
perfectly, from a race whom they had succeeded in the land. It was, in
respect to the Aztecs, a generous graft on a vicious stock, and could have
brought no fruit to perfection. They ruled over their wide domains with a
sword, instead of a sceptre. They did nothing to ameliorate the condition or
in any way promote the progress of their vassals. Their vassals were serfs,
used only to minister to their pleasure, held in awe by armed garrison?,
ground to the dust by imposts in peace, by military conscriptions in war.
They did not, like the Romans, whom they resembled in the nature of their
conquests, extend -the rights of citizenship to the conquered. They did not
amalgamate them into one great nation, with common rights and interests.
They held them as aliens, — even those who in the Valley were gathered round
the very walls of the capital. The Aztec metropolis, the heart of the mon-
archy, had not a sympathy, not a pulsation, in common with the rest of the
body politic. It was a stranger in its own land.
The Aztecs not only did not advance the condition of their vassals, but,
morally speaking, they did much to degrade it. How can a nation where
human sacrifices prevail, and especially when combined with cannibalism,
further the march of civilization? How can the interests of humanity be
consulted, where man is levelled to the rank of the brutes that perish 'I The
influence of the Aztecs introduced their gloomy superstition into lands
before unacquainted with it, or where, at least, it was not established in any
great strength. The example of the capital was contagious. As the latter
increased in opulence, the religious celebrations were conducted with still more
terrible magnificence ; in the same manner as the gladiatorial shows of the
Romans increased in pomp with the increasing splendour of the capital. Men
became familiar with scenes of horror and the most loathsome abominations.
Women and children— the whole nation— became familiar with and assisted
at them. The heart was hardened, the manners were made ferocious, the
feeble light of civilization, transmitted from a milder race, was growing
fainter and fainter, as thousands and thousands of miserable victims, through-
out the empire, were yearly fattened in its cages, sacrificed on its altars,
dressed and served at its banquets ! The whole land was converted into vast
human shambles ! The empire of the Aztecs did not fall before its time.
Whether these unparalleled outrages furnish a sufficient plea to the
Spaniards for their invasion, whether, with the Protestant, we are content to
find a warrant for it in the natural rights and demands of civilization, or, with
the Roman Catholic, in the good pleasure of the Pope, — on the one or other
of which grounds the conquests by most Christian nations in the East and the
West have been defended,— it is unnecessary to discuss, as it has already been
considered in a former chapter. It is more material to inquire whether,
assuming the right, the conquest of Mexico was conducted with a proper
regard to the claims of humanity. And here we must admit that, with all
allowance for the ferocity of the age and the laxity of its principles, there are
passages which every Spaniard who cherishes the fame of his countrymen
would be glad to see expunged from their history ; passages not to be vin-
dicated on the score of self-defence2 or of necessity of any kind, and wMcJ!
REFLECTIONS. 509
must for ever leave a dark spot on the annals of the Conquest. And yet,
taken as a whole, the invasion, up to the capture of the capital, was conducted
on principles less revolting to humanity than most, perhaps than any, of the
other conquests of the Castilian crown in the New World.
It may seem slight praise to say that the followers of Cortes used no blood-
hounds to hunt down their wretched victims, as in some other parts of the
Continent, nor exterminated a peaceful and submissive population in mere
wantonness of cruelty, as in the Islands. Yet it is something that they were
not so far infected by the spirit of the age, and that their swords were rarely
stained with blood unless it was indispensable to the success of their enter-
prise. Even in the last siege of the capital, the sufferings of the Aztecs,
terrible as they were, do not imply any unusual cruelty in the victors ; they
were not greater than those inflicted on their own countrymen at home, in
many a memorable instance, by the most polished nations, not merely of
ancient times, but of our own. They were the inevitable consequences which
follow from war when, instead of being confined to its legitimate field, it is
brought home to the hearthstone, to the peaceful community of the city, — its
burghers untrained to arms, its women and children yet more defenceless.
In the present instance, indeed, the sufferings of the besieged were in a great
degree to be charged on themselves,— on their patriotic but desperate self-
devotion. It was not the desire, as certainly it was not the interest, of the
Spaniards to destroy the capital or its inhabitants. When any of these fell
into their hands, they were kindly entertained, their wants supplied, and every
means taken to infuse into them a spirit of conciliation ; and this, too, it
should be remembered, in despite of the dreadful doom to which they con-
signed their Christian captives. The gates of a fair capitulation were kept
open, though unavailingly, to the last hour.
The right of conquest necessarily implies that of using whatever force may
be necessary for overcoming resistance to the assertion of that right. For
the Spaniards to have done otherwise than they did would have been to
abandon the siege, and, with it, the conquest of the country. To have suffered
the inhabitants, with their high-spirited monarch, to escape, would but have
prolonged the miseries of war by transferring it to another and more inacces-
sible quarter. They literally, so far as the success of the expedition was con-
cerned, had no choice. If our imagination is struck with the amount of
suffering in this and in similar scenes'of the Conquest, it should be borne in
mind that it was a natural result of the great masses of men engaged in the
conflict. The amount of suffering does not of itself show the amount of
cruelty which caused it ; and it is but justice to the Conquerors of Mexico to
say that the very brilliancy and importance of their exploits have given a
melancholy celebrity to their misdeeds, and thrown them into somewhat
bolder relief than strictly belongs to them. It is proper that thus much
should be stated, not to excuse their excesses, but that Ave may be enabled
to make a more impartial estimate of their conduct as compared with that of
other nations under similar circumstances, and that we may not visit them
with peculiar obloquy for evils which necessarily flow from the condition of
war.40 I have not drawn a veil over these evils ; for the historian should not
*° By none has this obloquy been poured on the spot — now dry land — where Guate-
with such unsparing hand on the heads of mozin was taken, which, as the proposed in-
the old Conquerors as by their own descen- BCription itself intimates, should "devote to
dants, the modern Mexicans. Ixtlilxochitl's eternal execration the detested memory of
editor, Bustamante, concludes an animated these banditti ! " (Venida de los Espanoles,
invective against the invaders with recom- p. 52, nota.) One would suppose that the
mending that a monument should be raised pure Aztec blood, uncoutaminated by a drop
510 SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO.
shrink from depicting in their true colours the atrocities of a condition over
which success is .apt to throw a false halo of glory, but which, bursting
asunder the strong bonds of human fellowship, purchases its triumphs by
arming the hand of man against his brother, makes a savage of the civilized,
and kindles the fires of hell in the bosom of the savage.
Whatever may be thought of the Conquest in a moral view, regarded as
a military achievement it must fill us Avith astonishment. That a hand-
ful of adventurers, indifferently armed and equipped, should have landed on
the shores of a powerful empire inhabited by a fierce and warlike race, and,
in defiance of the reiterated prohibitions of its sovereign, have forced their
way into the interior ;— that they should have done this without knowledge of
the language or of the land, without chart or compass to guide them, without
any idea of the difficulties they were to encounter, totally uncertain whether
the next step might bring them on a hostile nation or on a desert, feeling
their way along in the dark, as it were ; — that, though nearly overwhelmed in
their first encounter with the inhabitants, they should have kill pressed on to
the capital of the empire, and, having reached it, thrown themselves unhesi-
tatingly into the midst of their enemies ; — that, so far from being daunted by
the extraordinary spectacle there exhibited of power and civilization, they
should have been but the more confirmed in their original design ; —that they
should have seized the monarch, have executed his ministers before the eyes
of his subjects, and, when driven forth with ruin from the gates, have gathered
their scattered wreck together, and, after a system of operations pursued with
consummate policy and daring, have succeeded in overturning the capital and
establishing their sway over the country ; — that all this should have been so
effected by a mere handful of indigent adventurers, is a fact little short of the
miraculous,— too startling for the probabilities demanded by fiction, and
without a parallel in the pages of history.
Yet this must not be understood too literally ; for it would be unjust to the
Aztecs themselves, at least to their military prowess, to regard the Conquest
as directly achieved by the Spaniards alone. This would indeed be to arm
the latter with the charmed shield of Rugdero, and the magic lance of Astolfo,
overturning its hundreds at a touch. The Indian empire was in a manner
conquered by Indians. The first terrible encounter of the Spaniards with
the Tlascalans, which had nearly proved their ruin, did in fact insure their
success. It secured to them a strong native support on which to retreat in
the hour of trouble, and round which they could rally the kindred races of the
land for one great and overwhelming assault. The Aztec monarchy fell by
the hands of its own subjects, under the direction of European sagacity and
science. Had it been united, it might have bidden defiance to the invaders.
As it was, the capital was dissevered from the rest of the country, and the
bolt, which might have passed off comparatively harmless had the empire been
cemented by a common principle of loyalty and patriotism, now found its
way into every crack and crevice of the ill-compacted fabric and buried it in
its own ruins. Its fate may serve as a striking proof that a government
which does not rest on the sympathies of its subjects cannot long abide ; that
human institutions, when not connected with human prosperity and progress,
of Castilian, flowed in the veins of the in- ever, which plentifully season the writings of
dignant editor and his compatriots, or at least the Mexicans of our day, we do not find that
that their sympathies for the conquered race the Revolution, or any of its numerous brood
would make them anxious to reinstate them of pronunciamientos, has resulted in restoring
in their ancient rights. Notwithstanding to them an acre of their ancient territory,
these bursts of generous indignation, how-
SOLIS.
oil
must fall,— if not before the increasing light of civilization, by the hand of
violence; by violence from within, if not from without. And who shall
lament their fall 2
With the events of this Book terminates
the history, by Soli's, of the Conquista de
Mtjico; a history, in many points of view,
the most remarkable in the Castilian lan-
guage. Don Antonio de Soli's was born of a
respectable family, in October, 1610, at Al-
cald de Henares, the nursery of science, and
the name of which is associated in Spain with
the brightest ornaments of both church and
state. Soli's, while very young, exhibited the
sparks of future genius, especially in the
vivacity of his imagination and a sensibility
to the beautiful. He showed a decided turn
for dramatic composition, and produced a
comedy, at the age of seventeen, which would
have reflected credit on a riper age. He after-
wards devoted himself with assiduity, to the
study of ethics, the fruits of which are visible
in the moral reflections which give a didactic
character to the lightest of his compositions.
At the usual age he entered the University
of Salamanca, and wer.t through the regular
course of the canon and civil law. But the
imaginative spirit of Soli's took much more
delight in the soft revels of the Muses than
in the severe discipline of the schools ; and
he produced a number of pieces for the
theatre, much esteemed for the richness of
the diction and for the ingenious and delicate
texture of the intrigue. His taste for dra-
matic composition was, no doubt, nourished
by his intimacy with the great Calderon, for
whose dramas he prepared several loas, or
prologues. The amiable manners and bril-
liant acquisitions of Solis recommended him
to the favour of the Conde de Oropesa, Viceroy
of Navarre, who made him his secretary.
The letters written by him while in the ser-
vice of this nobleman, and afterwards, have
some of them been given to the public, and
are much commended for the suavity and
elegance of expression characteristic of all
the writings of tbeir author.
The increasing reputation of Soli's attracted
the notice of the Court, and in 1661 he was
made secretary of the queen dowager,— an
office which he had declined under Philip the
Fourth, — and he was also preferred to the
still more important post of Historiographer
of the Indies, an appointment which stimu-
lated his ambition to a bold career, different
from anything he had yet attempted. Five
years after this event, at the age of fifty-six,
he made a most important change in his way
of life, by embracing the religious profession,
and was admitted to priest's orders in 1666.
From this time he discontinued his addresses
to the comic Muse, and, if we may credit his
biographers, even refused, from conscientious
scruples, to engage in the composition of the
religious dramas, styled autos sacramentales,
although the field was now opened to him by
the death of th° poet Calderon. But such
tenderness of conscience it seems difficult to
reconcile with the publication of his various
comedies, which took place in 1681. It is
certain, however, that he devoted himself
zealously to his new profession, and to the
historical studies in which his office of chro-
nicler had engaged him. At length the fruits
of these studies were given to the world in
his Conquista de Mtjico, which appeared at
Madrid in 1684. He designed, it is said, to
continue the work to the times after the Con-
quest. But, if so, he was unfortunately pre-
vented by his death, which occurred about
two years after the publication of his history,
on the 13th of April, 1686. He died at the
age. of seventy-six, much regarded for his
virtues and admired for his genius, but in
that poverty with which genius and virtue
are too often requited.
The miscellaneous poems of Solis were
collected and published a few years after his
death, in one volume quarto; which has
since been reprinted. But his great work,
that on which his fame is permanently to
rest, is his Conquista de Me/jico. Notwith-
standing the field of history had been occu-
pied by so many eminent Spanish scholars,
there was still a new career open to Soli's.
His predecessors, with all their merits, had
shown a strange ignorance of the principles
of art. They had regarded historical writing
not as a work of art, but as a science. They
had approached it on that side only, and thus
divorced it from its legitimate connection
with belles-lettres. They had thought only
of the useful, and nothing of the beautiful ;
had addressed themselves to the business of
instruction, not to that of giving pleasure;
to the man of letters, studious to hive up
knowledge, not to the man of leisure, who
turns to books as a solace or a recreation.
Such writers are never in the hands of the
many, — not even of the cultivated many.
They are condemned to the closet of the stu-
dent, painfully toiling after truth, and little
mindful of the coarse covering under which
she may be wrapped. Some of the most dis-
tinguished of the national historiographers,
as, for example, Herrera and Zurita, two of
the greatest names in Castile and Aragon,
fall under this censure. They display acute-
ness, strength of argument, judicious criti-
cism, wonderful patience and industry in
accumulating details for their varied and
voluminous compilations; but in all the
graces of composition— in elegance of style,
skilful arrangement of the story, and selec-
tion of incidents— they are lamentably defi-
cient. With all their high merits, intellects
ally considered, they are so defective on the
score of art that they can neither be popular,
nor reverenced as the great classics of the
nation.
\->
SOLIS.
Soli's saw that the field was unappropriated
by his predecessors, and had the address to
avail himself of it. Instead of spreading him-
self over a vast range, where he must expend
his efforts on cold and barren generalities, he
fixed his attention on one great theme,— one
that, by its picturesque accompaniments, the
romantic incidents of the story, the adven-
turous character of the actors and their ex-
ploits, was associated with many a proud and
patriotic feeling in the bosom of the Spaniard,
—one, in fine, that, by the brilliant contrast
it afforded of European civilization to the bar-
baric splendours of an Fndian dynasty, was
remarkably suited to the kindling imagina-
tion of the poet. It was accordingly under
its poetic aspect that the eye of Soli's sur-
veyed it He distributed the whole subject
with admirable skill, keeping down the sub-
ordinate parts, bringing the most important
into high relief, and by a careful study of its
proportions giving an admirable symmetry
to the whole. Instead of bewildering the at-
tention by a variety of objects, he presented
to it one great and predominant idea, which
shed its light, if I may so say, over his whole
work. Instead of the numerous episodes,
leading, like so many blind galleries, to no-
thing, he took the student along a great road,
conducting straight towards the mark. At
every step which we take in the narrative,
we feel ourselves on the advance. The story
never falters or stands still. That admirable
liaison of the parts is maintained, by which
one part is held to another, and each preced-
ing event prepares the way for that which is
to follow. Even those occasional interrup-
tions, the great stumbling-block of the his-
torian, which cannot be avoided, in conse-
quence of the important bearing which the
events that cause them have on the story,
are managed with such address that, if tiie
interest is suspended, it is never snapped.
Such halting-places, indeed, are so contrived
as to afford a repose not unwelcome after the
stirring scenes in which the reader has been
long involved ; as the traveller, exhausted by
the fatigues of his journey, finds refreshment
at places which in their own character have
little to recommend them.
The work, thus conducted, affords the in-
terest of a grand spectacle, — of some well-
ordered drama, in which scene succeeds to
scene, act to act, each unfolding and prepar-
ing the mind for the one that is to follow,
until the whole is consummated by the grand
and decisive denouement. With this denoue-
ment, the fail of Mexico, Soli's has closed his
history, preferring to leave the full impres-
sion unbroken on the reader's mind rather
than to weaken it by prolonging the narra-
tive to the Conqueror's death. In this he
certainly consulted effect.
Soli's used the same care in regard to style
that he showed in the arrangement of his
story. It is elaborated with the nicest art,
and displays that varied beauty and brilliancy
which remind us of those finely variegated
woods which, under a high polish, display ail
the rich tints that lie beneath the surface.
Yet this style finds little favour with foreign
critics, who are apt to condemn it as tumid,
artificial, and verbose. But let the foreign
critic beware how he meddles with style, that
impalpable essence which surrounds thought
as with an atmosphere, giving to it its life and
peculiar tone of colour, differing in different
nations, like the atmospheres which envelop
the different planets of our Bystem, and which
require to be comprehended that we may in-
terpret the character of the objects seen
through their medium. None but a native
can pronounce with any confidence upon style,
affected as it is by so many casual and local
associations that determine its propriety and
its elegance. In the judgment of eminent
Spanish critics, the styie of Soli's claims the
merits of perspicuity, copiousness, and classic
elegance. Even the foreigner will not be
insensible to its power of conveying a living
picture to the eye. Words are the colours of
the writer, and Soils uses them with the skill
of a consummate artist ; now displaying the
dark tumult of battle, and now refreshing
the mind by scenes of quiet magnificence or
of soft luxury and repose.
Solis formed himself to some extent on the
historical models of antiquity. He introduced
set speeches into the mouths of his person-
ages, speeches of his own composing. The
practice may claim high authority among
moderns as well as ancients, especially among
the great Italian historians. It has its advan-
tages, in enabling the writer to convey in a
dramatic form the sentiments of the actors,
and thus to maintain the charm of historic
illusion by never introducing the person of
the historian. It has also another advantage,
that of exhibiting the author's own sentiments
under cover of his hero's, — a more effective
mode than if they were introduced as his own.
But to one trained in the school of the great
English historians the practice has something
in it unsatisfactory and displeasing. There
is something like deception in it. The reader
is unable tto determine what are the senti-
ments of the characters and what those of the
author. History assumes the air of romance,
and the bewildered student wanders about in
an uncertain light, doubtful whether he is
treading on fact or fiction.
It is open to another objection, when, as it
frequently does, it violates the propriety of
costume. Nothing is more difficult than to
preserve the keeping of the piece when the
new is thus laid on the old,— the imitation of
the antique on the antique itself. The decla-
mations of Solis are much prized as specimens
of eloquence. But they are too often mis-
placed; and the rude characters in whose
mouths they are inserted are as little in keep-
ing with them as were the Roman heroes
with the fashionable wig and sword with
which they strutted on the French stage in
Louis the Fourteenth's time.
As "to the value of the researches made by
SOLIS-SAHAGUN.
513
Soils in the compilation of his work it is not
easy to speak, for the page is supported by
none of the notes and references which enable
us to track the modern author to the quarry
whence he has drawn his materials. It was
not the usage of the age. The people of that
day, and, indeed, of preceding times, were
content to take the author's word for his
facts. They did not require to know why he
affirmed this thing or doubted 'that ; whether
he built his story on the authority of a friend
or of a foe, of a writer of good report or of
evil report. In short, they did not demand a
reason for their faith. They were content to
take it on trust. This was very comfortable
to the historian. It saved him a world of
trouble in the process, and it prevented the
detection of error, or, at least, of negligence.
It prevented it with all who did not carefully
go over the same ground with himself. They
who have occasion to do this with Soli's will
probably rise from the examination with no
very favourable Idea of the extent of his re-
searches : they will find that, though his
situation gave him access to the most valu-
able repositories in the kingdom, he rarely
ascends to original documents, but contents
himself with the most obvious and accessible ;
that he rarely discriminates between the con-
temporary testimony and that of later date;
in a word, that in all that constitutes the
scientific value of history he falls far below
his learned predecessor Herrera, — rapid as
was the composition of this last.
Another objection that may be made to
Soli's is his bigotry, or rather his fanaticism.
This defect, so repugnant to the philosophic
spirit which should preside over the labours
of the historian, he possessed, it is true, in
common with many of his countrymen. But
in him it was carried to an uncommon height ;
and it was peculiarly unfortunate, since his
subject, being the contest between the Chris-
tian and the Infidel, naturally drew forth the
full display of this failing. Instead of re-
garding the benighted heathen with the usual
measure of aversion in which they were held
in the Peninsula after the subjugation of
Granada, he considered them as part of the
grand confederacy of Satan, not merely
breathing the spirit and acting under the in-
visible influence of the Prince of Darkness, but
holding personal communication with him.
He seems to have regarded them, in short, as
his regular and organized militia. In this
view, every act of the unfortunate enemy was
a crime. Even good acts were misrepresented,
or referred to evil motives ; for how could
goodness originate with the Spirit of Evil ?
No better evidence of the results of this way
of thinking need be given than that afforded
by the ill-favoured and unauthorized portrait
which the historian has left us of Montezuma,
— even in his dying hours. The war of the
Conquest was, in short, in the historian's eye,
a conflict between light and darkness, be-
tween the good principle and the evil prin-
ciple, between the soldiers of Satan and the
chivalry of the Cross. It was a Holy War,
in which the sanctity of the cause covered up
the sins of the Conquerors, and every one—
the meanest soldier who fell in it — might
aspire to the crown of martyrdom. With
sympathies thus preoccupied, what room was
there for that impartial criticism which is the
lite of history ?
The historian's overweening partiality to
the Conquerors is still further heightened by
those feelings of patriotism— a bastard pa-
triotism— which, identifying the writer's own
glory with that of his countrymen, makes
him blind to their errors. This partiality is
especially shown in regard to Cortes, the hero
of the piece. The lights and shadows of the
picture are all disposed with reference to this
principal character. The good is ostenta-
tiously paraded before us, and the bad is
winked out of sight. Solis does not stop here,
but, by the artful gloss which makes the worse
appear the better cause, he calls on us to
admire his hero sometimes for his very trans-
gressions. No one, not even Gomara himself,
is such a wholesale encomiast of the great
Conqueror ; and, when his views are contra-
dicted by the statements of honest Diaz,
Soli's is sure to find a motive for the discre-
pancy in some sinister purpose of the veteran.
He knows more of Cortes, of his actions and
his motives, than his companion in arms or
his admiring chaplain.
In this way Solis has presented a beautiful
image of his hero,— but it is a hero of ro-
mance; a character without a blemish. An
eminent Castilian critic has commended him
for "having conducted his history with so
much art that it has become a panegyric."
This maybe true; but, if history be pane-
gyric, panegyric is not history.
Yet, with all these defects, — the existence
of which no candid critic will be disposed to
deny, — the History of Soli's has found such
favour with his own countrymen that it has
been printed and reprinted, with all the re-
finements of editorial luxury. It has been
translated into the principal languages of
Europe ; and such is the charm of its com-
position, and its exquisite finish as a work of
art, that it will doubtless be as imperishable
as the language in which it is written, or the
memory of the events which it records.
At this place also we are to take leave of
Father Sahagun, who has accompanied us
through our narrative. As his information
was collected from the traditions of the na-
tives, the contemporaries of the Conquest, it
has been of considerable importance in cor-
roborating or contradicting the statements of
the Conquerors. Yet its value in this respect
is much impaired by the wild and random
character of many of the Aztec traditions, —
so absurd, indeed, as to carry their own re-
futation with them. Where the passions are
enlisted, what is too absurd to find credit ?
The Twelfth Book — as it would appear
from his Preface, the Ninth Book originally
—of his Historia de la Nueva-Espana is
514
SAHAGUN.
devoted to the account of the Conquest In
1585, thirty years after the first draft, he re-
wrote this part of his great work, moved to it,
as lie tells us, " by the desire to correct the
defects of the first account, in which some
things had found their way that had better
been omitted, and other things omitted which
were well deserving of record." * It might
be supposed that the obloquy which the mis-
sionary had brought on his head by his honest
recital of the Aztec traditions would have
made him more circumspect in this rifaci-
mento of his former narrative. But I have
not found it so, or that there has been any
effort to mitigate the statements that bore
hardest on his countrymen. As this manu-
script copy must have been that which the
author himself deemed the most correct, since
it is his last revision, and as it is more
copious than the printed narrative, I have
been usually guided by it.
Sefior Bustamante is mistaken in supposing
that the edition of this Twelfth Book which
he published in Mexico in 1829 is from the
reformed copy of Sahagun. The manuscript
cited in these pages is undoubtedly a tran-
script of that copy. For in the Preface to it,
as we have seen, the author himself declares
it. In the intrinsic value of the two drafts
there is, after all, but little difference.
* "En el libro nono, donde se trata esta
Conquista, se hicieron ciertos defectos ; y fue,
que algunas cosas se pusieron en la narracion
de este Conquista que fueron mal puestas ; y
otras se callaron, que fueron mal calladas.
For esta causa, este ano de mil quinientos
ochcnta y cinco, enmende este Libro." MS.
BOOK SEVENTH.
(CONCLUSION.)
SUBSEQQENT CAKEER OF CORTES.
i
BOOK VII.
(conclusion.)
SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
CHAPTER I.
TORTURE OF GUATEMOZIN — SUBMISSION OP THE COUNTRY— REBUILDING OF
THE CAPITAL — MISSION TO CASTILE — COMPLAINTS AGAINST CORTES— HE
JS CONFIRMED IN HIS AUTHORITY
1521-1522.
The history of the Conquest of Mexico terminates with the surrender of the
capital. But the history of the Conquest is so intimately blended with that
of the extraordinary man who achieved it, that there would seem to be an
incompleteness in the narrative if it were not continued to the close of his
personal career. This part of the subject has been very imperfectly treated
by preceding writers. I shall therefore avail myself of the authentic materials
in my possession to give a brief sketch of the brilliant but checkered fortunes
which marked the subsequent career of Cortes.
The first ebullition of triumph was succeeded m the army by very different
feelings, as they beheld the scanty spoil gleaned from the conquered city, and
as they brooded over the inadequate compensation they were to receive for all
their toils and sufferings. Some of the soldiers of Narvaez, with feelings of
bitter disappointment, absolutely declined to accept their shares. Some
murmured audibly against the general, and others against Guatemozin, who,
they said, could reveal, if he chose, the place where the treasures were secreted.
The white walls of the barracks were covered with epigrams and pasquinades
levelled at Cortes, whom they accused of taking " one fifth of the booty as
commander-in-chief, and another fifth as king." As Guatemozin refused to
make any revelation in respect to the treasure, or rather declared there was
none to make, the soldiers loudly insisted on his being put to the torture.
But for this act of violence, so contrary to the promise of protection recently
made to the Indian prince, Cortes was not prepared ; and he resisted the
demand, until the men, instigated, it is said, by the royal treasurer, Alderete,
accused the general of a secret understanding with Guatemozin, and of a
design to defraud the Spanish sovereigns and themselves. These unmerited
taunts stung Cortes to the quick, and in an evil hour he delivered the Aztec
prince into the hands of his enemies, to work their pleasure on him.
But the hero who had braved death in its most awful forms was not to be
intimidated by bodily suffering. When his companion, the cacique of Tacuba,
518 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
who was put to the torture with him, testified his anguish by his groans,
Guatemozin coldly rebuked him by exclaiming, "And do you think I, then,
am taking my pleasure in my bath V'1 At length Cortes, ashamed of the
base part he was led to play, rescued the Aztec prince from his tormentors
before it was too late,— not, however, before it was too late for lift own honour,
Avhich has suffered an indelible stain from this treatment of his royal
prisoner.
All that could be wrung from Guatemozin by the extremity of his sufferings
was the confession that much gold had been thrown into the water. But,
although the best divers were employed, under the eye of Corte's himself, to
search the oozy bed of the lake, only a few articles of inconsiderable value
were drawn from it. They had better fortune in searching a pond in Guate-
mozin's gardens, where a sun, as it is called, probably one of the Aztec
calendar wheels, made of pure gold, of great size and thickness, was discovered.
The cacique of Tacuba had confessed that a quantity of treasure was buried
in the ground at one of his own villas. But when the Spaniards carried him
to the spot he alleged that " his only motive for saying so was the hope of
dying on the road ! " The soldiers, disappointed in their expectations, now,
with the usual caprice of an unlicensed mob, changed their tone, and openly
accused their commander of cruelty to his captive. The charge was well
deserved, — but not from them.2
The tidings of the fall of Mexico were borne on the wings of the wind over
the plateau, and down the broad sides of the Cordilleras. Many envoys made
their appearance from the remote Indian tribes, anxious to learn the truth of
the astounding intelligence and to gaze with their own eyes on the ruins
of the detested city. Among these were ambassadors from the kingdom
of Michoacan, a powerful and independent state, inhabited by one of the
kindred Nahuatlac races, and lying between the Mexican Valley and the
Pacific. The embassy was soon followed by the king of the country in person,
who came in great state to the Castilian quarters. Cortes received him with
equal parade, astonished him by the brilliant evolutions of his cavalry and by
the thunders of his ordnance, and escorted him in one of his brigantines
round the fallen city, whose pile of smouldering palaces and temples was all
that now remained of the once dread capital of Anahuac. The Indian
monarch gazed with silent awe on the scene of desolation, and eagerly craved
the protection of the invincible beings who had caused it.3 His example was
followed by ambassadors from the remote regions which had never yet had
intercourse with the Spaniards. Cortes, who saw the boundaries of his empire
thus rapidly enlarging, availed himself of the favourable dispositions of the
natives to ascertain the products and resources of their several countries.
Two small detachments were sent into the friendly state of Michoacan,
' "iEstoi yo en algun deleite, 6 bafio?" contrasts strongly with the pompous narrative
(Gomara, Cronica, cap. 145.) The literal of Herrera (Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 3, cap.
version is not so poetical as " the bed of 3), and with that of Father Cavo, who may
flowers," into which this exclamation of have drawn a little on his own imagination.
Guatemozin is usually rendered. " Cortes en una canoa ricamente entapizada,
2 The most particular account of this dis- llevo a el Rey Vehichilze, y a" los nobles de
graceful transaction is given by Bernal Diaz, Michoacan a" Mexico. Este es uno de los
one of those selected to accompany the palacios de Moctheuzoma (les decia) ; alii esta
lord of Tacuba to his villa. (Hist, de la el gran templo de Huitzilopuctli ; estasruinas
Conquista, cap. 157.") He notices the affair son del grande edificio de Quauhtemoc, aquellos
with becoming indignation, but excuses Cortes de la gran plaza del mercado. Conmovido
from a voluntary part in it. Vehichilze de este espectaculo se le saltaron
3 Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. las Wgrimas." Los tres Siglos de Mexico
303.— The simple statement of the Conqueror ^Mexico, 1836), torn. i. p. 13.
SUBMISSION OF THE COUNTRY. 519
through which country they penetrated to the borders of the great Southern
ocean. No European had as yet descended on its shores so far north of the
equator. The Spaniards eagerly advanced into its waters, erected a cross on
the sandy margin, and took possession of it, with all the usual formalities, in
the name of their Catholic Majesties. On their return, they visited some of
the rich districts towards the north, since celebrated for their mineral treasures,
and brought back samples of gold and Calif ornian pearls, with an account of
their discovery of the ocean. The imagination of Cortes was kindled, and his
soul swelled with exultation, at the splendid prospects which their discoveries
unfolded. * "Most of all," he writes to the emperor, " do I exult in the tidings
brought me of the Great Ocean. For in it, as cosmographers, and those learned
men who know most about the Indies, inform us, are scattered the rich isles
teeming with gold and spices and precious stones." 4 He at once sought a
favourable spot for a colony on the shores of the Pacific, and made arrange-
ments for the construction of four vessels to explore the mysteries of these
unknown seas. This was the beginning of his noble enterprises for discovery
in the Gulf of California.
Although the greater part of Anahuac, overawed by the successes of the
Spaniards, had tendered their allegiance, there were some, especially on the
southern slopes of the Cordilleras, who snowed a less submissive disposition.
Cortes instantly sent out strong detachments under Sandoval and Alvarado
to reduce the enemy and establish colonies in the conquered provinces. The
highly coloured reports which Alvarado, who had a quick scent for gold, gave
of the mineral wealth of Oaxaca, no doubt operated with Cortes in determining
him to select this region for his own particular domain.
The commander-in-chief, with his little band of Spaniards, now daily
recruited by reinforcements from the Islands, still occupied the quarters of
Cojolmaean, which they had taken up at the termination of the siege. Corte's
did not immediately decide in what quarter of the Valley to .establish the new
capital which was to take the place of the ancient Tenochtitlan. The situation
of the latter, surrounded by water and exposed to occasional inundations, had
some obvious disadvantages. But there was no doubt that in some part of
the elevated and central plateau of the Valley the new metropolis should be
built, to which both European and Indian might look up as to the head of
the colonial empire of Spain. At length he decided on retaining the site of the
ancient city, moved to it, as he says, " by its past renown, and the memory "
— not an enviable one, surely — " in which it was held among the nations ; "
and he made preparations for the reconstruction of the capital on a scale of
magnificence which should, in his own language, " raise her tc the rank of
Queen of the surrounding provinces, in the same manner as she had been
of yore/' 5
The labour was to be performed by the Indian population, drawn from all
quarters of the Valley, and including the Mexicans themselves, great numbers
of whom still lingered in the neighbourhood of their ancient residence. At
first they showed reluctance, and even symptoms of hostility, when called to
this work of humiliation by their conquerors. But Cortes had the address to
4 " Que todos los que tienen alguna ciencia, Lorenzana, pp. 302, 303.
y experiencia en al Navegacion de las Indias, '- " Y crea Vuestra Magestad, que cada dia
ban tenido por muy cierto, que descubriendo se ira ennobleciendo en tal manera, que como
por estas Partes la Mar del Sur, se habian de antes i'ue Principal, y Sefiora de todas estas
hallar muchas Islas ricas de Oro, y Perlas, y Provincial, que lo sera tambien de aqui
Piedras preciosas, y Especeria, y se babian de adelante." Rel. Terc. de Cortes, ap. Loren-
descubrir y hallar otros muchos secretos y zana, p. 307.
cosas admirables." P.el. Terc. de Cortes, ap.
520 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
secure some of the principal chiefs in his interests, and under their authority
and direction the labour of their countrymen was conducted. The deep groves
of the Valley and the forests of the neighbouring hills supplied cedar, cypress,
and other durable woods for the interior of the buildings, and the quarries of
tetzontli and the ruins of the ancient edifices furnished abundance of stone.
As there were no beasts of draught employed by the Aztecs, an immense
number of hands was necessarily required for the work. All within the im-
mediate control of Cortes were pressed into the service. The spot so recently
deserted now swarmed with multitudes of Indians of various tribes, and with
Europeans, the latter directing, while the others laboured. The prophecy of
the Aztecs was accomplished.6 And the work of reconstruction went forward
with a rapidity like that shown by an Asiatic despot, who concentrates the
population of an empire on the erection of a favourite capital.7
Yet the condition of Cortes, notwithstanding the success of his arms, sug-
gested many causes for anxiety. He had not received a word of encourage-
ment from home, — not a word, indeed, of encouragement or censure. In what
light his irregular course was regarded by the government or the nation was
still matter of painful uncertainty. He now prepared another Letter to the
emperor, the Third in the published series, written in the same simple and
energetic style which has entitled his Commentaries, as they may be called,
to a comparison with those of Caesar. It was dated at Cojohuacan, May 15th,
1522, and in it he recapitulated the events of the final siege of the capital,
and his subsequent operations, accompanied by many sagacious reflections, as
usual, on the character and resources of the country. With this letter he
purposed to send the royal fifth of the spoils of Mexico, and a rich collection
of fabrics, especially of gold and jewelry wrought into many rare and fanciful
forms. One of -the jewels was an emerald, cut in a pyramidal shape, of so
extraordinary a size that the base was as broad as the palm of the hand ! 8
" Ante, p. 489. 400,000, as the number of natives employed
7 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 4, in this work by Cortes! Venida de los
cap. 8.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. Espanoles, p. 60.
33, cap. 32.— Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. 8 " Sirvieron al Emperador con muchas
— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 162. — " En la cual piedras, i entre ellas con una esmeralda nna,
(la edificacion de la ciudad) los primeros aiios como la palma, pero quadrada, i que se
andaba mas gente que en la edificacion del remataba en punta como piramide." (Gomara,
templo de Jerusalem, porque era tanta la Cronica, cap. 146.) Martyr confirms the ac-
gente que andaba en las obras, que apenas count of this wonderful emerald, which, he
podia hombre romper por algunas calles y says, " was reported to the king and council
calzadas, aunque son muy anchas." (Toribio, to he nearly as broad as the palm of the hand,
Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 1, cap. 1.) and which those who had seen it thought
Ixtlilxochitl supplies any blank which the could not be procured for any sum." De
imagination might, leave, by filling it up with Orbe Novo, dec. 8, cap. 4.*
* [Alaman, however, denies that this stone Yet the Conquerors would seem to have been
was an emerald, or that any true emeralds more descriminating than Seiior Alaman
were found by the Conquerors in Mexico, represents them. Tiny distinguished the
notwithstanding the frequent mention of them chalchivitl, supposed to have been jade, from
in contemporary relations. »« There are no the emerald, and rejected as valueless other
emeralds," he says, "in our republic; and green stones prized by the natives. The case
the stones mistaken for them at the time of of the Sacro Catino does not apply, since it is
the Conquest were jade or serpentine." As not pretended that the Mexicans possessed
an evidence of the ignorance on this subject the art of imitating precious stones by means
common in Europe at a former period, he of paste. The fact, therefore, that the erne-
cites the famous instance of the Sacro Catino raids sent and taken to Europe by Cortes were
at Genoa, regarded for ages as an emerald of there recognized as genuine affords a pre-
priceless value, but now proved to be an sumptive proof in their favour, which has
imitation. (Disertaciones historicas, torn. i. been generally accepted as sufficient by
p. 161.) It is certain that no emeralds are modern writers on the subject. — E».]
now found in any part of North America.
COMPLAINTS AGAINST CORTES. 621
The collection was still further augmented by specimens of many of the
natural products, as well as of animals peculiar to the country.9
The army wrote a letter to accompany that of Cortes, in which they ex-
patiated on his manifold services and besought the emperor to ratify his
proceedings and confirm him in his present authority. The important mission
was intrusted to two of the general's confidential officers, Quinones and Avila.
It proved to be unfortunate. The agents touched at the Azores, where
Quinones lost his life in a brawl. Avila, resuming his voyage, was captured
by a French privateer, and the rich spoils of the Aztecs went into the treasury
of his Most Christian Majesty. Francis the First gazed with pardonable
envy on the treasures which his Imperial rival drew from his colonial domains ;
and he intimated his discontent by peevishly expressing a desire "to see the
clause in Adam's testament which entitled his brothers of Castile and Portugal
to divide the New World between them." Avila found means, through a
private hand, of transmitting his letters, the most important part of his
charge, to Spain, where they reached the court in safety.10
While these events were passing, affairs in Spain had been taking an un-
favourable turn for Cortes. It may seem strange that the brilliant exploits
of the Conqueror of Mexico should have attracted so little notice from the
government at home. But the country was at that time distracted by the
dismal feuds of the comunidades. The sovereign was in Germany, too much
engrossed by the cares of the empire to allow leisure for those of his own
kingdom. The reins of government were in the hands of Adrian, Charles's
preceptor ; a man whose ascetic and studious habits better qualified him to
preside over a college of monks than to fill, as he successively did, the most
important posts in Christendom,— first as Regent of Castile', afterwards as
Head of the Church. Yet the slow and hesitating Adrian could not have so
long passed over in silence the important services of Cortes, but for the hostile
interference of Velasquez, the governor of Cuba, sustained by Fonseca, bishop
of Burgos, the chief person in the Spanish colonial department. This prelate,
from his elevated station, possessed paramount authority in all matters re-
lating to the Indies, and he had exerted it from the first, as we have already
seen, in a manner most prejudicial to the interests of Cortes. He had now
the address to obtain a warrant from the regent, which was designed to ruin
the Conqueror at the very moment when his great enterprise had been crowned
with success. The instrument, after recapitulating the offences of Cortes in
regard to Velasquez, appoints a commissioner with full power to visit the
country, to institute an inquiry into the general's conduct, to suspend him
3 [Cortes availed himself of the same op- .Spain, has been forgotten. To Santa "Maria
port unity by which the royal fifth was del Antigua in Sevilla, a rich offering of gold
despatched, to send costly or curious presents and of plumage ; to Santa Maria del Pilar in.
to numerous individuals and churches in Zaragoza, the same; another again to San
Spain. For this fact I am indebted to the Jago de Compostella ; and one to the Cartuja
kindness of Mr. George Sumner, who, when in of Seville, in which the bones of Columbus
Spain, made a visit to the Archives of Si- were then lying. There are plumages and
mancas, from which he has furnished me gold for every place of importance. Then
with some interesting particulars for the the bishops and men of power are not for-
period on which I am engaged. In a file gotten ; for to them also are rich presents
endorsed Papeles de Cortes he met with a list, sent. In a time when there were no gazettes
without date, but evidently belonging to the to trumpet one's fame, what surer way to
year 1522, of the gold, plumage, and ornaments notoriety than this? What surer way, in
sent by Cortes to the different persons and Spain, for gaining that security which Cortes
institutions in Spain. " The policy of Cortes so much needed ? "]
and his clear-sightedness," Mr. Sumner justly IO Peter Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 8,
remarks, " are well shown by this. Not a cap. 4.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conauista,
church, not a shrin? of any fame, throughout cap. 169.
s 2
522 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
from his functions, and even to seize his person and sequestrate his property,
until the pleasure of the Castilian court could be known. The warrant was
signed by Adrian, at Burgos, on the 11th of April, 1521, and countersigned
by Fonseca.11
* The individual selected for the delicate task of apprehending Cortes and
bringing him to trial on the theatre of his own discoveries and in the heart
of his own camp was named Cristoval de Tapia, veedo?', or inspector, of the
gold founderies in St. Domingo. He was a feeble, vacillating man, as little
competent to cope with Cortes in civil matters as Narvaez had shown himself
to be in military.
The commissioner, clothed in his brief authority, landed, in December, at
Villa Rica. But he was coldly received by the magistrates of the city. His
credentials were disputed, on the ground of some technical informality. It
was objected, moreover, that his commission was founded on obvious mis-
representations to the government ; and, notwithstanding a most courteous
and complimentary epistle which he received from Cortes, congratulating him,
as an old friend, on his arrival, the veedor soon found that he was neither to
be permitted to penetrate far into the country nor to exercise any control
there. He loved money; and, as Cortes knew the weak side of his "old
friend," he proposed to purchase his horses, slaves, and equipage, at a tempting
price. The dreams of disappointed ambition were gradually succeeded by
those of avarice ; and the discomfited commissioner consented to re-embark
for Cuba, well freighted with gold, if not with glory, and provided with fresh
matter of accusation against the high-handed measures of Cortes.12
Thus left in undisputed possession of authority, the Spanish commander
went forward with vigour in his plans for the settlement of his conquests.
The Panuchese, a fierce people on the borders of the Panuco, on the Atlantic
coast, had taken up arms against the Spaniards. Cortes marched at the
head of a considerable force into their country, defeated them in two pitched
battles, and, after a severe campaign, reduced the warlike tribe to subjection.
A subsequent insurrection was punished with greater severity. They rose
on the Spaniards, massacred five nundred of their oppressors, and menaced
with destruction the neighbouring settlement of San Estevan. Cortes ordered
Sandoval to chastise the insurgents ; and that officer, after a campaign of
incredible hardship, completely routed the barbarians, captured four hundred
of their chiefs, and, after the affected formalities of a trial, sentenced every
man of them to the stake or the gibbet. " By which means," says Cortes,
" God be praised ! the safety; of the Spaniards was secured, and the province
once more restored to tranquillity and pea^e." 13 He had omitted to mention
in his letter his ungenerous treatment of Guatemozin. But the undisguised
and naive manner, so to speak, in which he details these circumstances to the
emperor, shows that he attached no discredit to the deed. It was the just
11 The instrument also conferred similar Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 158. — The
powers in respect to an inquiry into Narvaez's regidorcs of Mexico and other places remon-
treatment of the licentiate Ayllon. The strated against Cortes' leaving the Valley to
whole document is cited in a deposition drawn meet Tapia, on the ground that his presence
up by the notary, Alonso de Vergara, setting was necessary to overawe the natives. (MS.,
forth the proceedings of Tapia and the mu- Coyoacan, Dec. 12, 1521.) The general ac-
nicipality of Villa Rica, dated at Cempoalla, quiesced in the force of a remonstrance
December 24, 1521. The MS. forms part of which it is not improbable was made at his
the collection of Don Vargas Ponce, in the own suggestion.
archives of the Academy of History at ,3 " Como ya (loado nuestro Sefior) estaba
Madrid. toda la Provincia muy pacifica, y segura."
13 Relation de Vergara, MS.— Rel. Terc. de Eel. Quarta de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 367.
Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 309-314.— Bernal
COMPLAINTS AGAINST CORTES. 523
recompense of rebellion; a word that has been made the apology for more (V
atrocities than any other word,— save religion.
During this interval the great question in respect to Cortes and the colony
had been brought to a decisive issue. The general must have succumbed
under the insidious and implacable attacks of his enemies, but for the sturdy
opposition of a few powerful friends zealously devoted to his interests. Among
them may be mentioned his own father, Don Martin Cortes, a discreet and
efficient person,14 and the duke de Bejar, a powerful nobleman, who from an
early period had warmly espoused the cause of Cortes. By their representa-
tions the timid regent was at length convinced that the measures of Fonseca
were prejudicial to the interests of the crown, and an order was issued inter-
dicting him from further interference in any matters in which Cortes was
concerned.i
While the exasperated prelate was chafing under this affront, both the
commissioners Tapia and Narvaez arrived in Castile. The latter had been
ordered to Cojohuacan after the surrender of the capital, where his cringing
demeanour formed a striking contrast to the swaggering port which he had
assumed on first entering the country: When brought into the presence of
Cortes, he knelt down, and would have kissed his hand, but the latter raised
him from the ground, and, during his residence in his quarters, treated him
with every mark of respect. Trie general soon afterwards permitted "his
unfortunate rival to return to Spain, where he proved, as might have been
anticipated, a most bitter and implacable enemy.15
These two personages, reinforced by the discontented prelate, brought
forward their several charges against Cortes with all the acrimony which
mortified vanity and the thirst of vengeance could inspire. Adrian was no
longer in Spain, having been called to the chair of St. Peter ; but Charles the
Fifth, after his long absence, had returned to his dominions, in July, 1522.
The royal ear was instantly assailed with accusations of Cortes on the one
hand and his vindication on the other, till the young monarch, perplexed, and
unable to decide on the merits of the question, referred the whole subject to
the decision of a board selected for the purpose. It was drawn partly from
the members of his privy council, and partly from the Indian department,
with the Grand Chancellor of Naples as its president, and constituted alto-
gether a tribunal of the highest respectability for integrity and wisdom.16
By this learned body a patient and temperate hearing was given to the
parties. The enemies of Cortes accused him of having seized and finally
destroyed the fleet intrusted to him by Velasquez and fitted out at. the
governor's expense ; of having afterwards usurped powers in contempt of
the royal prerogative ; of the unjustifiable treatment of Narvaez and Tapia,
when they had been lawfully commissioned to supersede him ; of cruelty to
the natives, and especially to Guatemozin ; of embezzling the royal treasures,
and remitting but a small part of its dues to the crown ; of squandering the
revenues of the conquered countries in useless and wasteful schemes, and
particularly in rebuilding the capital on a plan of unprecedented extrava-
gance; of pursuing, in short, a system of violence and extortion, without
14 The Mufioz collection of MSS. contains 1E Sayas, Annales de Aragon (Zaragoza,
a power of attorney given by Cortes to his 1666), cap. 63, 78.— It is a sufficient voucher
father, authorizing him to manage all nego- for the respectability of this court that we
tiations with the emperor and with private find in it the name of Dr. Galindez de Carbajal,
persons, to conduct all law-suits on his an eminent Castilian jurist, grown gray in
behalf, to pay over and receive money, etc. the service of Ferdinand and Isabella, whose
►• ll Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cop. confidence he enjoyed to the highest degree.
158.
524 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTtfS.
respect to the public interest or any other end than his own selfish aggran-
dizement.
In answer to these grave charges, the friends of Cortes adduced evidence
to show that he had defrayed with his own funds two-thirds of the cost of the
expedition. The powers of Velasquez extended only to traffic, not to estab-
lish a colony. Yet the interest of the crown required the latter. The army
had therefore necessarily assumed this power to themselves ; but, having done
so, they had sent intelligence of their proceedings to the emperor and solicited
his confirmation of them. The rupture with Narvaez was that commander's
own fault ; since Cortes would have met him amicably, had not the violent
measures of his rival, threatening the ruin of the expedition, compelled him
to an opposite course. The treatment of Tapia was vindicated on the grounds
alleged to that officer by the municipality at Cempoalla. The violence to
Guatemozin was laid at the door of Alderete, the royal treasurer, who had
instigated the soldiers to demand it. The remittances to the crown, it was
clearly proved, so far from falling short of the legitimate fifth, had consider-
ably exceeded it. > If the general had expended the revenues of the country
on costly enterprises and public works,- it was for the interest of the country
that he did so, and he had incurred a heavy debt by straining his own credit
to the utmost for the same great objects. Neither did they deny that, in the
same spirit, he was now rebuilding Mexico on a scale suited to the metropolis
of a vast and opulent empire.
They enlarged on the opposition he had experienced throughout his whole
career from the governor of Cuba, and still more from the bishop of Burgos,
which latter functionary, instead of affording him the aid to have been
expected, had discouraged recruits, stopped his supplies, sequestered such
property as from time to time he had sent to Spain, and falsely represented
his remittances to the crown as coming from the governor of Cuba. In short,
such and so numerous were the obstacles thrown in his path that Cortes had
been heard to say " he had found it more difficult to contend against his own
countrymen than against the Aztecs." They concluded with expatiating on
the brilliant results of his expedition, and asked if the council were prepared
to dishonour the man who, in the face of such obstacles and with scarcely
other resources than what he found in himself, had won an empire for Castile
such as was possessed by no European potentate ! 1T
This last appeal was irresistible. However irregular had been the manner
of proceeding, no one could deny the grandeur of the results. There was not
a Spaniard that could be insensible to such services, or that would not have
cried out " Shame !" at an ungenerous requital of them. There were three
Flemings in the council ; but there seems to have been no difference of
opinion in the body. It was decided that neither Velasquez nor Fonseca
should interfere further in the concerns of New Spain. The difficulties of
the former with Cortes were regarded in the nature of a private suit ; and, as
such, redress must be sought by the regular course of law. The acts of Cortes
were confirmed in their full extent. He was constituted Governor, Captain-
General, and Chief Justice of New Spain, with power to appoint to all offices,
civil and military, and to order any person to leave the country whose resi-
dence there he might deem prejudicial to the interests of the crown. This
judgment of the council was ratified by Charles the Fifth, and the commission
investing Cortes with these ample powers was signed by the emperor at Valla-
dolid, October 15th, 1522. A liberal salary was provided, to enable the
17 Sayas, Annales de Aragon, cap. 78.— Probanza en la Villa Segura, MS.— Declara-
Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 4, cap. 3. — ciones de Puertocarrero y de Montejo, MS.
CONFIRMED IN HIS AUTHORITY. 525
governor of New Spain to maintain his office with suitable dignity. The
favour of his sovereign was rendered still more welcome by a letter of the same
date, written by him to the general, in which, after expatiating on the ser-
vices of Cortes, he declares it to be his intention to make him such a requital
as they well deserve.18 The principal officers were recompensed with honours
and substantial emoluments ; and the troops, together with some privileges
grateful to the vanity of the soldier, received the promise of liberal grants of
land. The emperor still further complimented them by a letter written to
the army with his own hand, in which he acknowledged its services in the
fullest manner.19
From this hour the influence of Fonseca in the Indian department was at an
end. He did not long survive his chagrin, as he died in the following year.
No man was in a situation to do more for the prosperity of his country than
the bishop of Burgos. For more than thirty years, ever since the first dawn
of discovery under Columbus, he had held supreme control over colonial
affairs ; and it lay with him, therefore, in an especial degree, to give ardour
to enterprise, and to foster the youthful fortunes of the colonies. But he lay
like a blight upon them. He looked with an evil eye on the most illustrious
of the Spanish discoverers, and sought only to throw impediments in their
career. Such had been his conduct towards Columbus, and such to Cortes.
By a wise and generous policy, he might have placed his name among the
great lights of his age. As it was, he only served to bring these into greater
lustre by contrast with his own dark and malignant nature. His career shows
the overweening ascendency which the ecclesiastical profession possessed in
Castile in the sixteenth century ; when it could raise a man to so important
a station, for which he was totally unfit, and keep him there after he had
proved himself to be so.20
The messengers who bore the commission of Cortes to Mexico touched on
their way at Cuba, where the tidings were proclaimed by sound of trumpet.
It was a death-blow to the hopes of Velasquez. Exasperated by the failure
of his schemes, impoverished by the expense of expeditions of which others
had reaped the fruits, he had still looked forward to eventual redress, and
cherished the sweet hope of vengeance, — long delayed. That hope was now
gone. There was slight chance of redress, he well knew, in the tedious and
thorny litigation of the Castilian courts. Ruined in fortune, dishonoured
before the nation, the haughty spirit of the governor was humbled in the
dust. He would take no comfort, out fell into a sullen melancholy, and in a
few months died — if report be true — of a broken heart.21
The portrait usually given of Velasquez is not favourable. Yet Las Casas
speaks kindly of him, and, when his prejudices are not involved, there can be
no better authority. But Las Casas knew him when, in his earlier days, the
missionary first landed in Cuba. The governor treated him with courtesy,
" ["E porque soy certificado de lo mucho cap. 168.
que vos en ese descubrimiento e conquista y "• The character of Fonseca has been traced
en tornar ■& ganar la dicha ciudad e provincias by the same hand which has traced that of
habeis fecho e trabajado, de que me he tenido Columbus. (Irving's Life and Voyages of
e tengo por muy servido, e tengo la VQluntad Columbus, Appendix, No. 32.) Side by side
que es razon para vos favorecer y hacer la they will go down to posterity in the beautiful
merced que vuestros servicios y trabajos page of the historian, though the characters
merecen." — The whole letter is inserted by of the two individuals have been inscribed
Alaman in his Disertaciones historicas, torn. i. with pens as different from each other as the
apend. 2, p. 144, et seq.] golden and iron pen which Paolo Giovio tells
19 Nombramiento de Governador y Capitan us he employed in his compositions.
General y Justicia Mayor de Nueva-Espana, " Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap,
MS.— Also Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, 158,
526 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
and even confidence ; and it was natural that the condescension of a man of
high family and station should have made its impression on the feelings of the
poor ecclesiastic. In most accounts he is depicted as a haughty, irascible
person, jealous of authority and covetous of wealth. He quarrelled with
Grijalva, CorteY predecessor, apparently without cause. With as little reason,
he broke with Cortes before he left the port. He proposed objects to himself
in their nature incompatible. He proposed that others should fight his
battles, and that he should win the laurels ; that others should make dis-
coveries, and that he should reap the fruits of them. None but a weak mind
would have conformed to his conditions, and a weak mind could not have
effected his objects. His appointment of Cortes put him in a false position
for the rest of his life. His efforts to retrieve his position only made things
worse. The appointment of Cortes to the command was scarcely a greater
error than the subsequent appointment of Narvaez and of Tapia. The life of
Velasquez was a series of errors.
Narvaez had no better fate than his friend the governor of Cuba. In the
hope of retrieving his fortunes, he continued to pursue his adventurous career,
and embarked in an expedition to Honduras. It was his last ; and Las
Casas, who had little love for the Conquerors, and who had watched the acts
of cruelty perpetrated by Narvaez, concludes the notice of his death with the
assurance that the " devil took possession of his soul."
The announcement of the emperor's commission confirming Cortes in the
supreme authority of New Spain was received there with general acclama-
tion. The army rejoiced in having at last secured not merely an amnesty for
their irregular 'proceedings, but a distinct acknowledgment of their services.
The nomination of Cortes to the supreme command put his mind at ease as
to the past, and opened to him a noble theatre for future enterprise. The
soldiers congratulated themselves on the broad powers conferred on their
commander, and, as they reckoned up their scars and their services, indulged
in golden dreams and the most vague and visionary expectations. It is not
strange that their expectations should have been disappointed.
CHAPTER II.
MODERN MEXICO — SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY — CONDITION OF THE NATIVES
—CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES— CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL— VOYAGES AND
EXPEDITIONS.
1522-1524.
In less than four years from the destruction of Mexico, a new city had risen
on its ruins, which, if inferior to the ancient capital in extent, surpassed it in
magnificence and strength. It occupied so exactly the same site as .its pre-
decessor, that the plaza mayor, or great square, was the same spot which had
been covered by the huge teocalli and the' palace of Montezuma; while the
principal streets took their departure as before from this central point, and,
passing through the whole length of the city, terminated at the principal
causeways. Great alterations, however, took place in the fashion of the
architecture. The streets were widened, many of the canals were filled up,
and the edifices were constructed on a plan better accommodated to European
taste and the Avants of a European population.
MODERN MEXICO. £27
On the site of the temple of the Aztec war-god rose the stately cathedral
dedicated to St. Francis ; ' and, as if to complete the triumphs of the Cross,
the foundations were laid with the broken images of the Aztec gods.2 In a
corner of the square, on the ground once covered by the House of Birds, stood
a Franciscan convent, a magnificent pile, erected a few years after the Con-
quest by a lay brother, Pedro de Gante, a natural son, it is said, of Charles
the Fifth.3 In an opposite quarter of the same square Cortes caused his own
palace to be constructed. It was built of hewn stone, and seven thousand
cedar beams are said to have been used for the interior.4 The government
afterwards appropriated it to the residence of the viceroys ; and the Con-
queror's descendants, the dukes of Monteleone, were allowed to erect a new
mansion in another part of the plaza, on the spot which, by an ominous coin-
cidence, had been covered by the palace of Montezuma.5
The houses occupied by the Spaniards were of stone, combining with
elegance a solid strength which made them capable of defence like so many
fortresses.6 The Indian buildings were for the most part of an inferior
quality. They were scattered over the ancient district of Tlatelolco, where
the nation had made its last stand for freedom. This quarter was also
provided with a spacious cathedral ; 7 and thirty inferior churches attested the
care of the Spaniards for the spiritual welfare of the natives.8 It was in
watching over his Indian flock, and in the care of the hospitals with which
the new capital was speedily endowed, that the good Father Olmedo, when
oppressed by growing infirmities, spent the evening of his days.9
To give greater security to the Spaniards, Cortes caused a strong fortress to
be erected in a place since known as the Matadero.™ Jt was provided with
a dockyard, and the brigantines which had served in the siege of Mexico were
long preserved there as memorials of the Conquest. When the fortress was
completed, -the general, owing to the evil offices of Fonseca, found himself in
want of artillery and ammunition for its defence. lie supplied the former
deficiency by causing cannon to be cast in his own founderies, made of the
copper which was common in the country, and tin which he obtained with
more difficulty from the mines. of Tasco. By this means, and a contribution
which he received from the shipping, he contrived to mount his walls with
seventy pieces of ordnance. Stone balls, much used in that age, could easily
be made ; but for the manufacture of his powder, although there was nitre in
abundance, he was obliged to seek the sulphur by a perilous expedition into
the bowels of the great volcan.11 Such were the resources displayed by
Cortes, enabling him to supply every deficiency, and to triumph over every
obstacle which the malice of his enemies had thrown in his path.
The general's next care was to provide a population for the capital. He
invited the Spaniards thither by grants of lands and houses, while the Indians,
1 [According to Seiior Alaman, the cathe- torn. iii. fol. 309.
dral, instead of being dedicated to Saint ' [Alaman asserts that there was no cathe-
• Francis, was consecrated to the Assumption dral in Tlatelolco. but a Franciscan convent,
of the Virgin. Conquista de Mejico (trad, de dedicated to St. James, which still exists.
Vega), torn. ii. p. 254.] Conquista de Mejico (trad, de Vega), torn. ii.
2 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 4, p. 255.]
cap. 8. 8 Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Raruusio,
3 Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. i. p. ubi supra.
271.— Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. ii. 9 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
p. 68. 177.
, * Herrera, Hist, general, ubi supra. lu Rel. Quarta de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p.
■• Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 376, nota.
72. " For an account of this singular enter-
c Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, prise, see ante, p. 234.
528 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
with politic liberality, were permitted to live under their own chiefs as before,
and to enjoy various immunities. With this encouragement, the Spanish
quarter of the city in the neighbourhood of the great square could boast in a
few years two thousand families ; while the Indian district of Tlatelolco
included no less than thirty thousand.12 The various trades and occupations
were resumed ; the canals were again covered with barges ; two vast markets
in the respective quarters of the capital displayed all the different products
and manufactures of the surrounding country ; and the city swarmed with a
busy, industrious population, in which the white man and the Indian, the
conqueror and the conquered, mingled together promiscuously in peaceful and
picturesque confusion. Not twenty years had elapsed since the Conquest,
when a missionary who visited it had the confidence, or the credulity, to assert
that " Europe could not boast a single city so fair and opulent as Mexico." 13
The metropolis of our day would seem to stand in a different situation from
that reared by the Conquerors ; for the waters no longer flow through its
streets, nor wash the ample circumference of its walls. These waters have
retreated within the diminished basin of Tezcuco ; and the causeways, which
anciently traversed the depths of the lake, are not now to be distinguished
from the other avenues to the capital. But the city, embellished, it is true,
by the labours of successive viceroys, is substantially the same as in the days of
the Conquerors ; and the massive grandeur of the few buildings that remain
of the primitive period, and the general magnificence and symmetry of its plan,
attest the far-sighted policy of its founder, which looked beyond the present
to the wants of coming generations.
The attention of Cortes was not confined to the capital. He was careful to
establish settlements in every part of the country which afforded a favourable
position for them. He founded Zacatula on the shores of the miscalled
Pacific, Coliman in the territory of Michoacan, San Estevan on the Atlantic
coast, probably not far from the site of Tampico, Medellin (so called after his
own birthplace) in the neighbourhood of the modern Vera Cruz, and a port
near the river Antigua, from which it derived its name. It was designed to
take the place of Villa Rica, which, as experience had shown, from its exposed
situation, afforded no protection to shipping against the winds that sweep over
the Mexican Gulf. Antigua, sheltered within the recesses of a bay, presented
a more advantageous position. Cortes established there a board of trade,
connected the settlement by a highway with the capital, and fondly predicted
that his new city would become the great emporium of the country.14 But in
this he was mistaken. From some cause, not very obvious, the port of entry
was removed, at the close of the sixteenth century, to the modern Vera Cruz,
which, without any superiority, probably, of topographical position, or even
of salubrity of climate, has remained ever since the great commercial capital
of New Spain.
Cortes stimulated the settlement of his several colonies by liberal grants of
12 Cortes, reckoning only the Indian popu- musio, torn. iii. fol. 309.
lation, says treinta mil vecinos. (Rel. Quarta, " "Y tengo por cierto, que aquel Pueblo
ap. Lorenzana, p. 375.) Gomara, speaking ha de ser, despues de esta Ciudad, el mejor
of Mexico some years later, estimates the que ohiere en esta Nueva Espana." (Rel.
number of Spanish householders as in the Quarta, ap. Lorenzana, p. 382.) The arch-
text. Cronica, cap. 162. bishop confounds this town with the modern
13 Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, Vera Cruz. But the general's description of
cap. 7. — Yet this is scarcely stronger language the port refutes this supposition, and confirms
than that of the Anonymous Conqueror : our confidence in Clavigero's statement that
" Cosi ben ordinato et di si belle piazze et the present city was founded by the Conde de
strade, quanto d' altre citta che siano al Monterey, at the time mentioned in the text,
mondo." Rel. d'un gentiP huomo, ap. Ea- See ante, p. 157, note.
SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY.
529
land and municipal privileges. The great difficulty was to induce women
to reside in the country ; and without them he felt that the colonies, like a
tree without roots, must soon perish. By a singular provision, he required
every settler, if a married man, to bring over his wife within eighteen months,
on pain of forfeiting his estate. If he were too poor to do this himself, the
fovernment would assist him. Another law imposed the same penalty on all
achelors who did not provide themselves with wives within the same period.
The general seems to have considered celibacy as too great a luxury for a
young country.15
His own wife, Dona Catalina Xuarez, was among those who came over
from the Islands to New Spain. According to Bernal Diaz, her coming gave
him no particular satisfaction.16 It is possible ; since his marriage with her
seems to have been entered into with reluctance, and her lowly condition and
connections stood somewhat in the way of his future advancement. Yet they
15 Ordenanzas municipales, Tenochtitlan,
Marzo, 1524, MS.*— The Ordinances made by
Cortes for the government of the country
during his viceroyalty are still preserved in
Mexico ; and the copy in my possession was
transmitted to me from that capital. They
give ample evidence of the wise and pene-
trating spirit which embraced every object
worthy of the attention of an enlightened
ruler; and I will quote, in the original, the
singular provisions mentioned in the text :
"Item. Por que mas se inanities' e la vo-
luntad que los pobladores de estas partes
tienen de residir y permanecer en ellas, mando
que todas las personas que tuvieren lndios,
que fueren casados en Castilla 6 en otras partes,
que traigan sus mugeres dentro de un aiio y
medio primero siguientes de como estas or-
denanzas fueren pregonadas, so pena de per-
der los lndios, y todo lo con ell m adquirido 6
grangeado ; y por que muchas personas po-
drian poner por achaque aunque tuviesen
aparejo de decir que no tienen dineros para
enviar por ellas, por hende las tales personas
que tuvieran esta necesidad parescan ante el
K°. Pe. Fray Juan de Tecto y ante Alonso de
Estrada, tesorero de su Magestad, a les in-
forrnar de su necesidad, para qu" ellos la
coinuniquen a mi, y su necsidad se remedie ;
y si algunas personas hay que casados y no
tienen sus mugeres en esta tierra, y quisieran
traerlas, sepan que trayendolas seran ayu-
dadas asi mismo para las traer, dando hanzas.
"Item. Por quanto en esta tierra hay
muchas personas que tienen lndios de enco-
mienda y no son casados, por hende por que
conviene asi para la salud de sus conciencias
de los tales por estar en buen estado, como
por la poblacion e noblecimiento de sus tierras,
mando que las tales personas se casen, traigan
y tengan sus mugeres en esta tierra dentro de
on afio y medio, despues que fueren pregona-
das estas dichas Ordenanzas, e" que no ha-
ciendo lo por el mismo caso sean privados y
pierdan los tales lndios que asi tienen."
16 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
160.
* [The exact date is given at the close of
the document — "fecha en esta dicha ciudad
[de Temixtitan] a veinte dias del mes de
marzo de mil y quinientos e veinte y cuatro
afios." Sir Arthur Helps says a copy sent by
Cortes to the emperor in October of the same
year " has been lost, but the orders mani-
festly related to this subject of encomiendas."
The original 8.jems also to have disappeared.
But an ancient copy of these, as well as of
subsequent ordinances and instructions of a
similar nature, is preserved in the archives of
the duke of Terranova y Monteleone in the
Hospital of Jesus at Mexico, and the whole
series was published, so far back as 1844, by
Senor Alaman, in his Disertaciones historicas,
torn. i. pp. 105-143. The contents, therefore,
are not a matter of inference. They do not
relate chiefly or directly to the encomiendas,
that system having been already established
and become, in the language of Alaman,
" the basis of the whole organization of the
country." The "Ordenanzas," while they
incidentally modify the system, consist for
the most part of regulations suggested by
the general condition and circumstances of a
new colony. They make provision for the
military equipment and inspection of the
settlers, with a view to their readiness for
service ; for their permanent residence in the
country, which is made a condition of their
holding repartimierdos ; for the conversion
of the natives, their protection against rob-
bery and oppression, and the education of
the children of their chiefs ; for the cultiva-
tion of imported plants and grain, and the
raising of cattle, sheep, and swine ; for facili-
tating traffic by the establishment of markets,
adjustment of prices, etc. ; and for the organi-
zation of the municipalities, prescribing their
powers and forms of administration. Some
of these provisions are still in force, while
others, though obsolete, indicate the origin of
certain existing customs. Taken together,
they contain, in the opinion of Alaman, the
foundation of all the later institutions of the
country, — "el fundamento de todas nuestras
instituciones."— Ed.]
530
SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
lived happily together for several years, according to the testimony of Las
Casas ; 17 and, whatever he may have felt, he had the generosity, or the
prudence, not to betray his feelings to the world. On landing, Bona Catalina
was escorted by Sandoval to the capital, where she was kindly received by her
husband, and all the respect paid to her to which she was entitled by her
elevated rank. But the climate of the table-land was not suited to her con-
stitution, and she died in three months after her arrival.18 An event so
auspicious to his worldly prospects did not fail, as we shall see hereafter, to
provoke the tongue of scandal to the most malicious, but, it is scarcely
necessary to say, unfounded, inferences.
In the distribution of the soil among the Conquerors, Corte's adopted the
vicious system of repartimientos, universally practised among his countrymen.
In a letter to the emperor, he states that the superior capacity of the Indians
in New Spain had made him regard it as a grievous thing to condemn them
to servitude, as had been done in the Islands. But, on further trial, he had
found the Spaniards so much harassed and impoverished that they could not
hope to maintain themselves in the land without enforcing the services of the
natives, and for this reason he had at length waived his own scruples in com-
pliance with their repeated remonstrances.19 This was the wretched pretext
used on the like occasions by his countrymen to cover up this flagrant act of
injustice. The crown, however, in its instructions to the general, disavowed
the act and annulled the repartimientos.20 It was all in vain. The necessi-
ties, or rather the cupidity, of the colonists, easily evaded the royal ordinances.*
17 Ante, p. 112. the subject hereafter.
18 Of asthma, according to Bernal Diaz 19 Eel. Terc, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 319, 320.
(Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 160) ; but her 20 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 5,
death seems to have been too sudden to be cap. 1.
attributed to that disease. I shall return to
* [This remark would imply that the in-
structions were published and some attempts
at least made to enforce them. That such
was not the case we learn from a remarkable
private letter of Corte's to the emperor, sent
with the "Relacion Quarta," and bearing the
same date,— October 15, 1524. Referring first
to an order that the Spanish settlers should
be allowed to have free intercourse with the
Indian population as a means of promoting
conversion, he declines to comply with it, on
the ground that the effects would be most
pernicious. The natives, he says, would be
subjected to violence, robbery, and vexations
of all kinds. Even with the present rigorous
rule forbidding any Spaniard to leave his
settlement and go among the Indians without
a special license, the evils resulting from this
intercourse were so great that if he and his
officers should attend solely to their 'sup-
pression they would be unable to effect it,
the territory being so vast. If all the
Spaniards now in the country or on their
way to it were friars engaged in the work of
conversion, entire freedom of intercourse
would no doubt be profitable. But, the re-
verse being the case, such also would be the
effect. Most of the Spaniards who came were
men of base condition and manners, addicted
to every sort of vice and sin ; and if free
intercourse were allowed, the natives would
be converted to evil rather than to good,
and, seeing the difference between what was
preached and what was practised, would
make a jest of what was taught them by
the priests, thinking it was meant merely
to bring them into servitude. The injuries
done them would lead to rebellion ; they
wrould profit by their acquired knowledge to
arm themselves better, and being so many
and the Spaniards so fewT, the latter would
be cut off singly, as had already happened
in many cases, and the greatest work of con-
version since the time of the apostles would
come to a stop.
Turning then to the emperor's prohibition
of the repartimientos, as a thing which his
conscience would not suffer, the theologiaus
having declared that since God had made the
Indians free their liberty ought not to be
taken away, Cortes states that he has not
only not complied with this order, but he has
kept it secret except from the officials, whom
he has forbidden to make it public. His
reasons for thus acting are as follows: 1st.
The Spaniards are unable to live except by
the labour of the Indians, and if deprived
of this they would be obliged to leave the
country. 2nd. His system of repartimientos
is such that by it the Indians are in fact
taken out of captivity, their condition under
their former masters having been one of in-
CONDITION OF THE NATIVES. 531
The colonial legislation of Spain shows, in the repetition of enactments against
slavery, the perpetual struggle that subsisted between the crown ana the
colonists, and the impotence of the former to enforce measures repugnant to
the interests, at all events to the avarice, of the latter. New Spain furnishes
no exception to the general fact.
The Tlascalans, in gratitude for their signal services, were exempted, at the "y^N
recommendation of Cortes, from the doom of slavery. It should be added
that the general, in granting the repartimientos, made many humane regula-
tions for limiting the power of the master, and for securing as many privileges
to the natives as were compatible with any degree of compulsory service.21
These limitations, it is true, were too often disregarded ; and in the mining
districts, in particular, the situation of the poor Indian was often deplorable.
Yet the Indian population, clustering together in their own villages and living
under their own magistrates, have continued to prove by their numbers, fallen
as these have below their primitive amount, how far superior was their con-
dition to that in most other parts of the vast colonial empire of Spain.22 This
condition has been gradually ameliorated, under the influence of liigher moral
views and larger ideas of government, until the servile descendants of the
ancient lords of the soil have been permitted, in republican Mexico, to rise —
nominally, at least — to a level with the children of their conquerors.
Whatever disregard he may have shown to the political rights of the
natives, Cortes manifested a commendable solicitude for their spiritual welfare.
He requested the emperor to send out holy men to the country ; not bishops
and pampered prelates, who too often squandered the substance of the Church
in riotous living, but godly persons, members of religious fraternities, whose
lives might be a fitting commentary on their teaching. Thus only, he adds, —
and the remark is worthy of note,— can they exercise any influence over the
natives, who have been accustomed to see the least departure from morals in
their own priesthood punished with the utmost rigour of the law.23 In obedi-
-1 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 4, lib. 6, great abuse?
cap. 5.— Ordenanzas, MS. — The ordinances *■ The whole population of New Spain in
prescribe the service of the Indians, the 1810 is estimated by Don Fernando Navarro
hours they may be employed, their food, y Noriega at about 6,000,000 ; of whom more
compensation, and the like. They require than half were pure Indians. The author
the encomendero to provide them with suit- had the best means for arriving at a correct
able means of religious instruction and places result. See Humboldt, Essai politique, torn.
of worship. But what avail good laws, which i. pp. 318, 319, note.
in their very nature imply the toleration of a ■* Bel. Quarta, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 391-
tolerable servitude, in which they were not to the diminution but to the preservation
only deprived of all but the barest means of and increase of the natives, besides securing
subsistence, but they and their children were a provision for the settlers and large revenues
sacrificed to the idols in numbers horrible to to the crown, and he contends that the re-
hear of, it being a certified fact that in the partimientos, instead of being abrogated,
great temple of Mexico alone, at a single should be made hereditary, so that the pos-
festival, one of many that were held annually, sessors might have a stronger interest in the
eight thousand persons had been sacrificed ; proper cultivation of the soil, instead of seek-
all this, with innumerable other wrongs, had ing to extract from it the most that was pos-
now ceased ; and the surest punishment sible in a given time.
which could be inflicted on the Indians was The letter, which concludes by noticing
the threat to send them back to their former and rejecting some minor points in the em-
masters. 3rd. Enumerating the various pro- peror's instructions, has been recently dis-
visions he has made for obviating the evils of covered, and is perhaps the ablest document
the system as practised in the Islands, where, that has come down to us with the signature
during a residence of twenty years, he had of Cortes. It has been published by Senor
ample knowledge of its workings, he asserts Icazbalceta, in his Col. de Doc. para la Hist,
that, in the mode in which it has been estab- de Mexico, torn, i.— Ed.]
lished and regulated by him, it will lead not
53:
SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
ence to these suggestions, twelve Franciscan friars embarked for New Spain,
which they reached early in 1524. They were men of unblemished purity of
life, nourished with the learning of the cloister, and, like many others whom
the Romish Church has sent forth on such apostolic missions, counted all
personal sacrifices as little in the sacred cause to which they were devoted.24
The presence of the reverend fathers in the country was greeted with
general rejoicing. The inhabitants of the towns through which they passed
came out in a body to welcome them ; processions were formed of the natives
bearing wax tapers in their hands, and the bells of the churches rang out a
joyous peal in honour of their arrival. Houses of refreshment were provided
for them along their route to the capital; and when they entered it they were
met by a brilliant cavalcade of the principal cavaliers and citizens, with Cortes
at their head. The general, dismounting, and bending one knee to the
ground, kissed the robes of Father Martin of Valencia, the principal of the
fraternity. The natives, filled with amazement at the viceroy's humiliation
before men whose naked feet and tattered garments gave them the aspect of
mendicants, henceforth regarded them as beings of a superior nature. The
Indian chronicler of Tlascala does not conceal his admiration of this edifying
condescension of Cortes, which he pronounces " one of the most heroical acts
of his life!"25
The missionaries lost no time in the good work of conversion. They began
their preaching through interpreters, until they had acquired a competent
knowledge of the language themselves. They opened schools and founded
colleges, in which the native youth were instructed in profane as well as
Christian learning.* The ardour of the Indian neophyte emulated that of his
394.— The petition of the Conquerors was
acceded to by tbe government, which further
prohibited "attorneys and men learned in
the law from setting foot in the country, on
the ground that experience had shown they,
would be sure by their evil practices to dis-
turb the peace of the community." (Her-
rera, Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 5, cap. 2.)
These enactments are but an indifferent tri-
bute to the character of the two professions
in Castile.
- Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 1,
cap. 1. — Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.
[My views of the character of the Spanish
missionaries find favour with Seiior Alaman,
who warmly eulogizes the spirit of self-sac-
rifice and the untiring zeal which they showed
in propagating the gospel among the natives :
"El Sr. Prescott hace de los misioneros el
justo aprecio que sus virtudes merecieron, y
sus elogios son tanto mas reeomendables,
cuanto que sus opiniones religiosas parece
deberian hacerle contrario a ellos. En efecto,
6olo la iglesia catolica ha producido misio-
neros inflamados de un verdadero celo reli-
gioso, que los ha hecho sacrificar su vida por
la propagacion de la religion y en beneficio
de la humanidad." Conquista de Mejico (trad,
de Vega), torn. ii. p. 255. Mr. Gallatin, also,
in his "Notes on the Semi-civilized Nations
of America," pays a hearty tribute to the
labours of the Roman Catholic missionaries
in the New World : •' The Dominican monks,
though inquisitors and relentless persecutors
in Spain, became in America the protectors
of the Indians. . . . The praise must be ex-
tended to all the Catholic priests, whether
Franciscans or Jesuits, monks or curates.
All, from the beginning, were, have ever
been, and continue to be, the protectors and
the friends of the Indian race." Transac-
tions of the American Ethnological Society,
i. 213.]
85 " Cuyo hecho del rotisimo y humilde re-
cebimiento fue uno de los heroicos hechos
que este Capitan hizo, porque fue documento
para que con mayor fervor los naturales desta
tierra viniesen & la conversion de nuestra fee."
(Camargo. Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— See also
Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 171.)
Archbishop Lorenzana falls nothing short of
the Tlascalan historian in his admiration of
the religious zeal of the great Conquistador,
which, he assures us, " entirely overwhelms
him, as savouring so much more of the apos-
tolic missionary than of the soldier I " Loren-
zana, p. 393, nota.
* [A singular tribute to the thoroughness
of the instruction thus given, and the facility
with which it was imbibed, is rendered in a
long complaint on the subject addressed to
the emperor by Gerouinio Lopez, under date
of October 20, 1541. The writer, a person
evidently commissioned to send home reports
on the condition of the country, denounces
the system of education instituted by the
Franciscan monks as diabolically perniciouSj
CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 533
teacher. In a few years every vestige of the primitive teocallis was effaced
from the land. The uncouth idols of the country, and, unhappily, the hiero-
glyphical manuscripts, shared the same fate. Yet the missionary and the
convert did much to repair these losses by their copious accounts of the Aztec
institutions, collected from the most authentic sources.26
The business of conversion went on prosperously among the several tribes
of the great Nahuatlac family. In about twenty years from the first advent
of the missionaries, one of their body could make the pious vaunt that nine
millions of converts — a number probably exceeding the population of the
country — had been admitted within the Christian fold ! " The Aztec worship
was remarkable for its burdensome ceremonial, and prepared its votaries for
the pomp and splendours of the Romish ritual. It was not difficult to pass
from the fasts and festivals of the one religion to the fasts and festivals of the
other ; to transfer their homage from the fantastic idols of their own creation
to the beautiful forms in sculpture and in painting which decorated the
Christian cathedral. It is true, they could have comprehended little of the
dogmas of their new faith, and little, it may be, of its vital spirit. But, if
the philosopher may smile at the reflection that conversion, under these
circumstances, was one of form rather than of substance, the philanthropist
will console himself by considering how much the cause of humanity and good
morals must have gained by the substitution of these unsullied rites for the
brutal abominations of the Aztecs.
The Conquerors settled in such parts of the country as best suited their
inclinations. Many occupied the south-eastern slopes of the Cordilleras to-
wards the rich valley of Oaxaca. Many more spread themselves over the
broad surface of the table-land, which, from its elevated position, reminded
them of the plateau of their own Castiles. Here, too, they were in the range
of those inexnaustible mines which have since poured their silver deluge over
Europe. The mineral resources of the land were not, indeed, fully explored
26 Toribio, Hist, de los Indios', MS., Parte days, they levelled it to the ground. In this
3, cap. 1. — Father Sahagun, who has done way they demolished, in a short time, all the
better service in this way than any other of Aztec temples, great and small, so that not a
his order, describes with simple brevity the vestige of them remained." (Hist, de Nueva-
rapid process of demolition. " We took the Espana, torn. iii. p. 77.) This passage helps
children of the caciques," he says, "into our to explain why so few architectural relics of
schools, where we taught them to read and the Indian era still survive in Mexico,
write, and to chant. The children of the " "De manera que a" mi juicio y verda-
poorer natives were brought together in the deramente sen£n bautizados en este tiempo
court-yard, and instructed there in the Chris- que digo, que seran quince anos, mas de nueve
tian faith. After our teaching, one or two millones de animas de Indios." Toribio,
brethren took the pupils to Borne neighbour- Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 2, cap. 3.
ing teocalli, and, by working at it for a few
— "muy dafioso como el diablo." He con- thus enabled to carry on a correspondence
siders that the Indians should at the most be and learn what is going on in the country
taught to repeat the Pater Noster and Ave from one sea to the other. There are boys
Maria, the Creed and the Commandments, among them who speak as elegant Latin as
without any expositions, or any distinction Tullius. They have translated and read the
of the persons of the Trinity and their attri- whole of the Scriptures, — the same thing that
butes, above all without learning to read and has ruined so many in Spain and given birth
write. Instead of this, they are taught not to a thousand heresies. A secular ecclesiastic
only these pernicious branches of knowledge, told him that, having visited one of the col-
but punctuation, music,— nay, even gram- leges, he found there two hundred students,
mar ! Thoir natural ability is so great, and who stunned him with questions about re-
the devil is so largely interested in the ligion, till the place seemed to him hell, and
matter, that they have acquired a skill in its inmates disciples of Satan. — Icazbalceta,
forming different kinds of letters which is Col. de Doc. para la Hist, de Mexico, torn. ii.
marvellous, and a great number of them are —Ed.]
634 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OP CORTES.
or comprehended till at a much later period ; but some few, as the mines of
Zacatecas, Guanaxuato, and Tasco, — the last of which was also known in
Montezuma's time, — had begun to be wrought within a generation after the
Conquest.28
But the best wealth of the first settlers was in the vegetable products of the
soil, whether indigenous, or introduced from abroad by the wise economy
of Cortes. He had earnestly recommended the crown to require all vessels
coming to the country to bring over a certain quantity of seeds and plants.29
He made it a condition of the grants of land on the plateau, that the pro-
prietor of every estate should ptant a specified number of vines in it.30 He
further stipulated that no one should get a clear title to his estate until he
had occupied it eight years.31 He knew that permanent residence could alone
create that interest in the soil which would lead to its efficient culture, and
that the opposite system had caused the impoverishment of the best plantations
in the Islands. His various regulations, some of them not a little distasteful
to the colonists, augmented the agricultural resources of the country by the
addition of the most important European grains and other vegetables, for
which the diversified climate of New Spain was admirably adapted. The
sugar-cane was transplanted from the neighbouring islands to the lower level
of the country, and, together with indigo, cotton, and cochineal, formed a
more desirable staple for the colony than its precious metals. Under the sun
of the tropics, the peach, the almond, the orange, the vine, and the olive,
before unknown there, flourished in the gardens of the table-land, at an
elevation twice as great as that at which the clouds are suspended in summer
above our heads. The importation of a European fruit or vegetable ' was
hailed by the simple colonists with delight. The first produce of the exotic
was celebrated by a festival, and the guests greeted each other, as on the
appearance of an old familiar friend, who called up the remembrance of the
past and the tender associations of their native land.32
While thus occupied with the internal economy of the country, Cortes was
still bent on his great schemes of discovery and conquest. In the preceding
chapter we have seen him fitting out a little fleet at Zacatula to explore the
shores of the Pacific. It was burnt in the dockyard when nearly completed.
This was a serious calamity, as most of the materials were to be transported
across the country from Villa Rica. Cortes, however, with his usual prompt-
ness, took measures to repair the loss. He writes to the emperor that another
squadron will soon be got ready at the same port, and, " he doubts not, will
put his Majesty in possession of more lands and kingdoms than the nation has
ever heard of " ! 33 This magnificent vaunt shows the common sentiment of
28 Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. i. p. 43. 32 [" No general interest would attach to
— Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. iii. pp. the private undertakings of Cortes, if the sole
115, 145. — Esposicion de Don Lucas Alaman object of them had been the aggrandizement
(Mexico, 1828), p. 59. of his own fortune. But they were in fact
-a " Paraque cad* Navfo traiga cierta can- the germs of what are now the most impor-
tidad de Plantas, y que no pueda salir sin tant branches of the national wealth; and
ellas, porque sera" mucha causa para la Po- they prove the grandeur of those views which
blacion, y perpetuacion de ella." Kel. Quarta in the times of the Conquest gave an ini-
de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 397. pulse to whatever promised to contribute to
30 "Item, que cualquier vecino que tubiere the prosperity of the country." Alaman,
Indios de repartimiento sea obligado a poner Disertaciones historicas, torn. ii. p. 63.]
en ellos en cada un ano con cada cien Indios 33 "Tengo de ser causa, que Vuestra Ce-
de los que tuvieren de repartimiento mil sar- sarea Magestad sea en estas partes Senor de
mientos aunque sean de laplantade sutierra, mas Reynos, y Sefion'os que los que hasta
escogiendo la mejor que pudiesse hallar." hoy en nuestra Nation se tiene noticia."
Ordenanzas municipales, ano de 1524, MS. Rel. Quarta de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 374.
31 Ordenanzas municipales, ano de 152 i, MS.
I
Voyages and expeditions. 535
the Spaniards at that time, who looked on the Pacific as the famed Indian
Ocean, studded with golden islands and teeming with the rich treasures of the
East.
A principal object of this squadron was the discovery of a strait which should
connect the Atlantic with the Pacific. Another squadron, consisting^ of five
vessels, was fitted out in the Gulf of Mexico, to take the direction of Florida,
with the same view of detecting a strait. For Cortes trusted— we at this day
may smile at the illusion — that one might be found in that direction which
should conduct the navigator to those waters which had been traversed by
the keels of Magellan ! 3*
The discovery of a strait was the great object to which nautical enterprise
in that day was directed, as it had been ever since the time of Columbus. It
was in the sixteenth century what the discovery of the North-west passage
has been in our own age,— the ignis fatuus of navigators. The vast extent
of the American continent had been ascertained by the voyages of Cabot in
the North, and of Magellan very recently in the South. The proximity, in
certain quarters, of the two great oceans that washed its eastern and western
shores had been settled by the discoveries both of Balboa and Cortes. Euro-
pean scholars could not believe that Nature had worked on a plan so repug-
nant, apparently, to the interests of humanity, as to interpose, through the
whole length of the great continent, such a barrier to communication between
the adjacent waters. The correspondence of men of science,35 the instructions
of the Court, the letters of Cortes, like those of Columbus, touch frequently
on this favourite topic. "Your Majesty may be assured," he writes, "that,
as I know how much you have at heart the discovery of this great secret
of a strait, I shall postpone all interests and projects of my own, some of them
of the highest moment, for the fulfilment of this great object," 3G
It was partly with the same view that the general caused a considerable
armament to be equipped and placed under the command of Cristoval de Olid,
the brave officer who, as the reader will remember, had charge of one of the
great divisions of the besieging army. He was to steer for Honduras and
plant a colony on its northern coast." A detachment of Olid's squadron was
afterwards to cruise along its southern shore towards Darien in search of the
mysterious strait. The country was reported to be full of gold ; so full that
" the fishermen used gold weights for their nets." The life of the Spanish
discoverers was one long daydream. Illusion after illusion chased one anothe*
like the bubbles which the child throws off from his pipe, as bright, as beauti-
ful, and as empty. They lived in a world of enchantment.37
Together with these maritime expeditions, Cortes fitted out a powerful
expedition by land. It was intrusted to Alvarado, who, with a large force of
Spaniards and Indians, was to descend the southern slant of the Cordilleras
and penetrate into the countries that lay beyond the rich valley of Oaxaca.
The campaigns of this bold and rapacious chief terminated in the important
conquest of Guatemala. The general required his captains to send him
M "Much as I esteem Hernando Cortes," some measure, by the dazzling display of
exclaims Oviedo, "for the greatest captain gold and jewels remitted from time to time,
and most practised in military matters of any -wrought into fanciful and often fantastic
we have known, I think such an opinion forms. One of the articles sent home by
shows he was no great cosmographer." Cortes was a piece of ordnance, made of gold •
(Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 41.) and silver, of very fine workmanship; the
Oviedo had lived to see its fallacy. metal of which alone cost 25,000 pesos de oro.
35 Martyr, Opus Epist., ep. 811. Oviedo, who saw it in the palace, speaks with
38 Rel. Quarta, ap. Lorenzana, p. 385. admiration of this magnificent toy. Hist, de
37 The illusion at home was kept up, in las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 41.
tm SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
minute accounts of the countries which they visited, the productions of the
soil, and their general resources. The result was several valuable and inte-
resting communications.38 In his instructions for the conduct of these expe-
ditions, he enjoined a considerate treatment of the natives, and inculcated a
policy which may be called humane, as far as humanity is compatible with
a system of subjugation.39 Unfortunately, the character of his officers too
often rendered these instructions unavailing.
In the prosecution of his great enterprises, Cortes, within three short years
after the Conquest, had reduced under the dominion of Castile an extent of
country more than four hundred leagues in length, as he affirms, on the
Atlantic coast, and more than five hundred on the Pacific, and, with the
exception of a few interior provinces of no great importance, had brought
them to a condition of entire tranquillity.40 In accomplishing this, he had
freely expended the revenues of the crown, drawn from tributes similar to
those which had been anciently paid by the natives to their own sovereigns ;
and he had, moreover, incurred a large debt on his own account, for which he
demanded remuneration from the government. The celebrity of his name,
and the dazzling reports of the conquered countries, drew crowds of ad-
venturers to New Spain, who furnished the general with recruits for his
various enterprises.
Whoever would form a just estimate of this remarkable man must not
confine himself to the history of the Conquest. His military career, indeed,
places him on a level with the greatest captains of his age. But the period
subsequent to the Conquest affords different, and in some respects nobler,
points of view for the study of his character. For we then see him devising a
system of government for the motley and antagonist races, so to speak, now
first brought under a common dominion ; repairing the mischiefs of war ; and
employing his efforts to detect the latent resources of the country and to
stimulate it to its highest power of production. The narrative may seem
tame, after the recital of exploits as bold and adventurous as those of a
paladin of romance. But it is only by the perusal of this narrative that we
can form an adequate conception of the acute and comprehensive genius of
Cortes.
CHAPTER III.
DEFECTION OP OLID— DREADFUL MARCH TO HONDURAS— EXECUTION OF
GUATEMOZIN— DONA MARINA — ARRIVAL AT HONDURAS.
1524^-1526.
In the last chapter we have seen that Crist oval de Olid was sent by Corte's to
plant a colony in Honduras. The expedition was attended with consequences
which had not been foreseen, Made giddy by the possession of power, Olid,
38 Among these may be particularly men- part of the Mufioz collection of MSS.
tioned the Letters of Alvarado and Diego de 4° Rel. Quarta, ap. Lorenzatia, p. 371.—
Godoy, transcribed by Oviedo in his Hist, de " Well may we wonder," exclaims his archi-
las Ind., MS. (lib. 33, cap. 42-44), and trans- episcopal editor, " that Cortes and his soldiers
lated by Ramusio for his rich collection, could have overrun and subdued, in so short
Viaggi, torn. lii. a time, countries, many of them so rough and
39 See, among others, his orders to his kins- difficult of access that even at the present
man, Francisco Cortes, — " Instruccion civil y day we can hardly penetrate them ! " Ibid.,
militar por la Expedicios de la Costa de Co- nota.
lima." The paper is dated 1524, and forms
DEFECTION OF OLID. 587
when he had reached his place of destination, determined to assert an inde-
Eendent jurisdiction for himself. His distance from Mexico, he flattered
imself, might enable him to do so with impunity. He misunderstood the
character of Cortes, when he supposed that any distance would be great
enough to shield a rebel from his vengeance.
It was long before the general received tidings of Olid's defection. But no
sooner was he satisfied of this than he despatched to Honduras a trusty
captain and kinsman, Francisco de las Casas, with directions to arrest his
disobedient officer. Las Casas was wrecked on the coast, and fell into Olid's
hands, but eventually succeeded in raising an insurrection in the settlement,
seized the person of Olid, and beheaded that unhappy delinquent in the
market-place of Naco.1
Of these proceedings, Cortes learned only what related to the shipwreck of
his lieutenant. He saw all the mischievous consequences that must arise
from Olid's example, especially if his defection were to go unpunished. He
determined to take the affair into his own hands, and to lead an expedition
in person to Honduras. He would thus, moreover, be enabled to ascertain
from personal inspection the resources of the country, which were reputed
great on the score of mineral wealth, and would perhaps detect the point of
communication between the great oceans, which had so long eluded the efforts
of the Spanish discoverers. He was still further urged to this step by the
uncomfortable position in which he had found himself of late in the capital.
Several functionaries had recently been sent from the mother country for the
ostensible purpose of administering the colonial revenues. But they served
as spies on the general's conduct, caused him many petty annoyances, and
sent back to court the most malicious reports of his purposes and proceedings.
Corte's, in short, now that he was made Governor-General of the country, had
less real power than when he held no legal commission at all.
The Spanish force which he took with him did not probably exceed a
hundred horse and forty or perhaps fifty foot ; to which were added about
three thousand Indian auxiliaries.2 Among them were Guatemozin and the
cacique of Tacuba, with a few others of highest rank, whose consideration with
their countrymen would make them an obvious nucleus round which disaffec-
tion might gather. The general's personal retinue consisted of several pages,
young'men of good family, and among them Montejo, the future conqueror of
Yucatan ; a butler and steward ; several musicians, dancers, jugglers, and
buffoons, showing, it might seem, more of the effeminacy of an Oriental satrap
than the hardy valour of a Spanish cavalier.3 Yet the imputation of effemi-
nacy is sufficiently disproved by the terrible march which he accomplished.
Towards the end of October, 1524, Cortes began his march. As he de-
scended the sides of the Cordilleras, he was met by many of his old companions
in arms, who greeted their commander with a hearty welcome, and some of
them left their estates to join the expedition.4 He halted in the province of
Coatzacualco (Huazacualco) until he could receive intelligence respecting his
route from the natives of Tabasco. They furnished him with a map, exhibiting
the principal places whither the Indian traders who wandered over these wild
1 Carta Quinta de Cortes, MS. 175.
3 Carta de Albornos, MS., Mexico, Dec. 15, 4 Among these was Captain Diaz, who,
1525.— Carta Quinta de Cortes, MS.— The however, left the pleasant farm, which he
authorities do not precisely agree as to the occupied in the province of Coatzacualco,
numbers, which were changing, probably, with a very ill grace, to accompany the expe-
with every Btep of their march across the dition. " But Cortes commanded it, and
table-land. we dared not say no," says the veteran.
3 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. Ibid., cap. 174.
138
SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
regions were in the habit of resorting. With the aid of this map, a compass,
and such guides as from time to time he could pick up on his journey, he
proposed to traverse that broad and level tract which forms the base of
Yucatan and spreads from the Coatzacualco River to the head of the Gulf of
Honduras. " I shall give your Majesty," he begins his celebrated Letter to
the emperor, describing this expedition, " an account, as usual, of the most
remarkable events of my journey, every one of Avhich might form the subject
of a separate narration." Cortes did not exaggerate.5
The beginning of the march lay across a low and marshy level, intersected
by numerous little streams, which form the head- waters of the Rio de Tabasco,
and of the other rivers that discharge themselves, to the north, into the
Mexican Gulf. The smaller streams they forded, or passed in canoes, suffering
their horses to swim across as they held them by the bridle. Rivers of more
formidable size they crossed on floating bridges. It gives one some idea of the
difficulties they had to encounter in this Avay, when it is stated that the
Spaniards were obliged to construct no less than fifty of these bridges in a
distance of less than a hundred miles ! 6 One of them was more than nine
hundred paces in length. Their troubles were much augmented by the diffi-
culty of obtaining subsistence, as the natives frequently set fire to the villages
on their approach, leaving to the wayworn adventurers only a pile of smoking
ruins.
It would be useless to encumber the page with the names of Indian towns
which lay in the route of the army, but which may be now obsolete, and, at all
events, have never found their way into a map of the country.7 The first
considerable place which they reached was Iztapan, pleasantly situated in the
andar, ni se sirve sino en canoas, y con pasarla
yo en tienipo de seca, desde la entrada hasta
la salida de ella, que puede aver veinti leguas,
se hizieron mas de cinquenta puentes, que
sin se hazer, fuera imposible pasar." Carta
Quinta de Cortes, MS.
7 1 have examined some of the most ancient
maps of the country, by Spanish, French, aud
Dutch cosmographers, in order to determine
the route of Cortes. An inestimable collec-
tion of these maps, made by the learned
German Ebeling, is to be found in the library
of Harvard University. I can detect on them
only four or five of the places indicated by the
general. They are the places mentioned in
the text, and, though few, may serve to show
the general direction of the march of the
army.
5 This celebrated Letter, which has never
been published, is usually designated as the
Carta Quinta, or "Fifth "Letter," of Cortes.
It is nearly as long as the longest of the
printed letters of the Conqueror, is written in
the same clear, simple, business-like manner,
and is as full of interest as any of the pre-
ceding. It gives a minute account of the
expedition to Honduras, together with events
that occurred in the year following. It bears
no date, but was probably written in that
year from Mexico. The original manuscript
is in the Imperial Library at Vienna, which,
as the German sceptre was swayed at that
time by the same hand which held the
Castilian, contains many documents of value
for the illustration of Spanish history.*
G " Es tierra mui bajay de muchas sienegas,
tanto que en tiempo de invierno no se puede
* [It is scarcely credible that a long and
important document in an official form should
have borne no date, and we may therefore
suspect that the manuscript at Vienna, if
unmutilated, is not the original. A copy in
the Royal Library at Madrid, purporting to
have been made "from the original" by
Alonso Diaz, terminates as follows: "De la
Cibdad de Temixtitan, desta Nueva Espafia &
tres del mes de setiembre del nascimiento de
nuestro Sehor e Salvador Jesu-Christo de
1526." This date is confirmed by a passage
in a letter which will be found cited in the
notes to the next chapter with the date of
Sept. 11, but of which there are in fact two
originals, the duplicate being dated Sept. 3.
It gives a summary, for the emperor's own
perusal, of the matters narrated at length in
the Carta Quinta, which it thus describes:
" Asi mesmo envio agora & V. M. am lopre-
sente una relacion bien larga y particular de
todo lo que me subcedio en el camino que
hice a las Hibueras, y al cabo della hago saber
a V. M. muy por extenso lo que ha pasado y
se ha becho en esta Nueva Espafia despues
que yo parte de la isla de Cuba para ella."
See Col. de Doc. ined. para la Historia de
Espafia, torn. i. — Ed.]
DREADFUL MARCH TO HONDURAS. 039
midst of a fruitful region, on the banks of one of the tributaries of the Rio de
Tabasco. Such was the extremity to which the Spaniards had already, in the
course of a few weeks, been reduced by hunger and fatigue, that the sight of
a village in these dreary solitudes was welcomed by his followers, says Cortes,
k' with a shout of joy that was echoed back from all the surrounding woods."
The army was now at no great distance from the ancient city of Palenque,
the subject of so much speculation in our time. The village of Las Ires
Cruzes, indeed, situated between twenty and thirty miles from Palenque, is
said still to commemorate the passage of the Conquerors by the existence of
three crosses which they left there. Yet no allusion is made to the ancient
capital. Was it then the abode of a populous and flourishing community,
such as once occupied it, to judge from the extent and magnificence of its
remains ? Or was it, even then, a heap of mouldering ruins, buried in a
wilderness of vegetation, and thus hidden from the knowledge of the sur-
rounding country ? If the former, the silence of Cortes is not easy to be
explained.
On quitting Iztapan, the Spaniards struck across a country having the
same character of a low and marshy soil, checkered by occasional patches of
cultivation, and covered with forests of cedar and Brazil wood, which seemed
absolutely interminable. The overhanging foliage threw so deep a shade that,
as Cortes says, the soldiers could not see where to set their feet.8 To add to
their perplexity, their guides deserted them ; and, when they climbed to the
summits of the tallest trees, they could see only the same cheerless, inter-
minable line of waving woods. The compass and the map furnished the only
clue to extricate them from this gloomy labyrinth ; and Cortes and his officers,
among whom was the constant Sandoval, spreading out their chart on the
ground, anxiously studied the probable direction of their route. Their scanty
supplies meanwhile had entirely failed them, and they appeased the cravings
of appetite by such roots as they dug out of the earth, or by the nuts and
berries that grew wild in the woods. Numbers fell sick, and many of the
Indians sank by the way, and died of absolute starvation.
When at length the troops emerged from these dismal forests, their path
was crossed by a river of great depth, and far wider than any which they had
hitherto traversed. The soldiers, disheartened, broke out into murmurs
against their leader, who was plunging them deeper and deeper in a boundless
wilderness, where they must lay their bones. It was in vain that Cortes en-
couraged them to construct a floating bridge, which might take them to the
opposite bank of the river. It seemed a work of appalling magnitude, to
which their wasted strength was unequal. He was more successful in his
appeal to the Indian auxiliaries, till his own men, put to shame by the ready-
obedience of the latter, engaged in the work with a hearty good will, which
enabled them, although ready to drop from fatigue, to accomplish it at the end
of four days. It was, indeed, the only expedient by which they could hope
to extricate themselves from their perilous situation. The bridge consisted
of one thousand pieces of timber, each of the thickness of a man's body and
full sixty feet long.9 When we consider that the timber was all standing in
the forest at the commencement of the labour, it must be admitted to have
been an achievement worthy of the Spaniards. The well- compacted beams
8 " Donde se ponian los pies en el suelo Cortes, MS.
acia arriba la claridad del cielo no se veia, ° " Porque lleva mas que mil bigas, que la
tanta era la espesura y alteza de los arboles, menor es casi tan gorda como un cuerpo de
que aunque se subian en algunos, no podian un hombre, y de nueve y diez brazas en largo."
desxubrir un tiro de piedra." Carta Quinta de Carta Quinta de Cortes, MS.
540 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
presented a solid structure which nothing, says Cortes, but fire could destroy.
It excited the admiration of the natives, who came from a great distance to
see it ; and " the bridge of Cortes " remained for many a year the enduring
monument of that commander's energy and perseverance.
The arrival of the army on the opposite bank of the river involved them in
new difficulties. The ground was so soft and saturated with water that the
horses floundered up to' their girths, and, sometimes plunging into quagmires,
were nearly buried in the mud. It was with the greatest difficulty that they
could be extricated by covering the wet soil with the foliage and the boughs of
trees, when a stream of water, which forced its way through the heart of the
morass, furnished the jaded animals with the means of effecting their escape
by swimming.10 As the Spaniards emerged from these slimy depths, they
came on a broad and rising ground, which, by its cultivated fields teeming
with maize, agi, or pepper of the country, and the yuca plant, intimated their
approach to the capital of the fruitful province of Aculan. It was in the
beginning of Lent, 1525, a period memorable for an event of which I shall
give the particulars from the narrative of Cortes.
y The general at this place was informed, by one of the Indian converts in his
train, that a conspiracy had been set on foot by Guatemozin, with the cacique
of Tacuba, and some other of the principal Indian nobles, to massacre the
Spaniards. They would seize the moment when the army should be entangled
in the passage of some defile, or some frightful morass like that from which it
had just escaped, where, taken at disadvantage, it could be easily over-
powered by the superior number of the Mexicans. After the slaughter of the
troops, the Indians would continue their march to Honduras and cut off the
Spanish settlements there. Their success would lead to a rising in the capital,
and, indeed, throughout the land, until every Spaniard should be exterminated
and the vessels in the ports be seized, and secured from carrying the tidings
across the waters.
No sooner had Cortes learned the particulars of this formidable plot than
he arrested Guatemozin and the principal Aztec lords in his train. The
latter admitted the fact of the conspiracy, but alleged that it had been
planned by Guatemozin and that they had refused to come into it. Guate-
mozin and the chief of Tacuba neither admitted nor denied the truth of the
accusation, but maintained a dogged silence. Such is the statement of
Cortes.11 Bemal Diaz, however, who was present in the expedition, assures
us that both Guatemozin and the cacique of Tacuba declared their innocence.
They had indeed, they said, talked more than once together of the sufferings
they were then enduring, and had said that death was preferable to seeing so
many of their poor followers dying daily around them. They admitted, also,
that a project for rising on the Spaniards had been discussed by some of the
Aztecs ; but Guatemozin had discouraged it from the first, and no scheme of
the kind could have been put into execution without his knowledge and con-
sent.12 These protestations did not avail the unfortunate princes ; and Cortes,
10 "Pasada toda la gente y cavallos de la que se sostuviesen y no se sumiesen, remedii-
otra parte del alcon dimos luego en una gran vanse algo, y andando trabajando y yendo y
cienega, que durava bien tres tiros de ballesta, viniendo de la una parte & la otra, abriose por
la cosa mas espantosa que jamas las gentes medio de un cal^jon de agua y cieno, que los
vieron, donde todos los cavallos desencillados cavallos comenzaron algo a" nadar, y con esto
se sumieron hasta lasorejas sin parecerse otra plugo a nuestro Senor que salieron todos sin
cosa, y querer forgeiar 6. salir, sumianse mas, peligro ninguno." Carta Quinta de Cortes,
de manera que alii perdfmos toda la esperanza MS.
de poder escapar cavallos ningunos, pero II Carta Quinta de Cortes, MS.
todavfa comenzamos& trabajar ycomponerles '- Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 177.
haces de yerba y ramas grandes de bajo, sobre
y
EXECUTION OF GUATEMOZIN. 541
s/
having satisfied, or affected to satisfy, himself of their guilt, ordered them to
immediate execution.
When brought to the fatal tree, Guatemozin displayed the intrepid spirit
worthy of his better days. " I knew what it was," said he, " to trust to your
false promises, Malinche ; I knew that you had destined me to this fate, since
I did not fall by my own hand when you entered my city of Tenochtitlan.
Why do you slay me so unjustly ? God will demand it of you ! " 13 The
cacique of Tacuba, protesting his innocence, declared that he desired no
better lot than to die by the side of his lord. The unfortunate princes, with
one or more inferior nobles (for the number is uncertain), were then executed
by being hung from the huge branches of a ceiba-tvee which overshadowed the
road.14
Such was the sad end of Guatemozin, the last emperor of the Aztecs, if we
might not rather call him "the last of the Aztecs;" since from this time,
broken in spirit and without a head, the remnant of the nation resigned
itself, almost without a struggle, to the stern yoke of its oppressors. Among
all the names of barbarian princes, there are few entitled to a higher place on
the roll of fame than that of Guatemozin. He was young, and his public
career was not long ; but it was glorious. He was called to the throne in the
convulsed and expiring hours of the monarchy, when the banded nations of
Anahuac and the fierce European were thundering at the gates of the capital.
It was a post of tremendous responsibility ; but Guatemozin's conduct fully
justified the choice of him to fill it. No one can refuse his admiration to the
intrepid spirit which could prolong a defence of his city while one stone was
left upon another ; and our sympathies, for the time, are inevitably thrown
more into the scale of the rime chieftain, thus battling for his country's free-
dom, than into that of his civilized and successful antagonist.14
In reviewing the circumstances of Guatemozin's death, one cannot attach
much weight to the charge of conspiracy brought against him. That the
Indians, brooding over their wrongs and present sufferings, should have some-
times talked of revenge, would not be surprising. But that any chimerical
scheme of an insurrection, like that above mentioned, should have been set on
foot, or even sanctioned, by Guatemozin, is altogether improbable. That
prince's explanation of the affair, as given by Diaz, is, to say the least, quite
as deserving of credit as the accusation of the Indian informer.16 The defect
of testimony and the distance of time make it difficult for us, at the present
"■ ,3 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, ubi having been as well instructed in the Catholic
supra. faith as any woman in Castile, as most
l* According to Diaz, both Guatemozin and gracious and winning in her deportment, and
the prince of Tacuba had embraced the re- as having contributed greatly, by her example,
ligion of their conquerors, and were confessed and the deference with which she inspired the
by a Franciscan friar before their execution. Aztecs, to the tranquillity of the conquered
We are further assured by the same authority country. This pleasing portrait, it may be
that "they were, for Indians, very good well enough to mention, is by the hand of
Christians, and believed well and truly." her husband, Don Thoan Cano. See Ap-
(Ibid., loc. cit.) One is reminded of the last pendix, Part 2, No. 11.
hours of Caupolican, converted to Christianity 1G The Indian chroniclers regard the pre-
by the same men who had tied him to the tended conspiracy of Guatemozin as an
stake. See the scene, painted in the frightful invention of Cortes. The informer himself,
colouring of a master-hand, in the Araucana, when afterwards put to the1 torture by the
Canto 34. cacique of Tezcuco, declared that he had
,s Guatemozin's beautiful wife, the princess made no revelation of this nature to the
Tecuichpo, the daughter of Montezuma, lived Spanish commander. Ixtlilxochitl vouches
long enough after his death to give her hand for the truth of this story. (Venida de los
to four Castilians, all of noble descent. (See Espafioles. pp. 83-93.) But who will vouch
ante, p. 364, note 36.) She is described as for Ixtlilxochitl ? »
542 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
day, to decide the question. We have a surer criterion of the truth in the
opinion of those who were eye-witnesses of the transaction. It is given in the
words of the old chronicler so often quoted. "The execution of Guate-
mozin," says Diaz, " was most unjust, and was thought wrong by all of us." 17
The most probable explanation of the affair seems to be that Guatemozin
was a troublesome and, indeed, formidable captive. Thus much is intimated by
Cortes himself, in his Letter to the emperor.18 The fallen sovereign of
Mexico, by the ascendency of his character, as well as by his previous station,
maintained an influence over his countrymen which would have enabled him
with a breath, as it were, to rouse their smothered, not extinguished, ani-
mosity into rebellion. The Spaniards, during the first years after the
Conquest, lived in constant apprehension of a rising of the Aztecs. This is
evident from numerous passages in the writings of the time. It was under
the same apprehension that Cortes consented to embarrass himself with his
royal captive on this dreary expedition. And in such distrust did he hold
him that, even while in Mexico, he neither rode abroad, nor walked to any
great distance, according to Gomara, without being attended by Guatemozin.19
Parties standing in such relations to each other could have been the objects
only of mutual distrust and aversion. The forlorn condition of the Spaniards
on the present march, which exposed them in a peculiar degree to any sudden
assault from their wily Indian vassals, increased the suspicions of Cortes.
Thus predisposed to think ill of Guatemozin, the general lent a ready ear to
the first accusation against him. Charges were converted into proofs, and
condemnation followed close upon the charges. By a single blow he proposed
to rid himself and the state for ever of a dangerous enemy, — the more
dangerous, that he was an enemy in disguise. Had he but consulted his own
honour and his good name, Guatemozin's head was the last on which he should
have suffered an injury to fall. "He should have cherished him," to borrow
the homely simile of his encomiast, Gomara, " like gold in a napkin, as the
best trophy of his victories." 20
Whatever may have been the real motives of his conduct in this affair, it
seems to 'have left the mind of Cortes but ill at ease. For a long time he was
moody and irritable, and found it difficult to sleep at night. On one occasion,
as he was pacing an upper chamber of a teocalli in which he was quartered,
lie missed his footing in the dark, and was precipitated from a height of somt
twelve feet to the ground, which occasioned him a severe contusion on tht
head, — a thing too palpable to be concealed, through he endeavoured, saj
the gossiping Diaz, to hide the knowledge of it, as well as he could, from tl
soldiers.21
It was not long after the sad scene of Guatemozin's execution that the
wearied troops entered the head town of the great province of Aculan ;
thriving community of traders, who carried on a profitable traffic with tl
farthest quarters of Central America. Cortes notices in general terms tl
excellence and beauty of the buildings, and the hospitable reception which "
experienced from the inhabitants.
17 " Y fue esta muerte que les dieron muy 10 " Y le hacian aquella mesraa reverend
injustamente dada, y parecio mal a todos los i ceremonias, que & Moteguma, i creo que _
que ibaruos aquella Jornada." Hist, de la cso le llevaba siempre consigo por la Ciudt
Conquista, cap. 177. & Caballo si cavalgaba, i sino d pie como
18 "Guatemozin, Senor que fue de esta iba." Cronica, cap. 170.
Ciudad de Temixtitan, a quicn yo despues que 20 " I Cortes debiera guardarlo vivo, cor
la gane be tenido siempre preso, teniendole Oro en pano, que era el triumpho, i gloria <
por liombre bullicioso, ye le lleve conmigo." sus Victorias." Cronica, cap. 170.
Carta Quinta, MS. " Hist, de la Conquista, ubi supra.
DONA MARINA.. 543
After renewing their strength in these comfortable quarters, the Spaniards
left the capital of Aculan, the name of which is to be found on no map, and
held on their toilsome way in the direction of what is now called the Lake of
Peten. It was then the property of an emigrant tribe of the hardy Maya
family, and their capital stood on an island in the lake, " with its nouses and
lofty teocallis glistening in the sun," says Bernal Diaz, " so that it might be
seen for the distance of two leagues." 22 These edifices, built by one of the
races of Yucatan, displayed, doubtless, the same peculiarities of construction
as the remains still to be seen in that remarkable peninsula. But, whatever
may have been their architectural merits, they are disposed of in a brief
sentence by the Conquerors.
The inhabitants of the island showed a friendly spirit, and a docility unlike
the warlike temper of their countrymen of Yucatan. They willingly listened
to the Spanish missionaries who accompanied the expedition, as they ex-
pounded the Christian doctrines through the intervention of Marina. The
Indian interpreter was present throughout this long march, the last in which
she remained at the side of Cortes. As this, too, is the last occasion on
which she will appear in these pages, I will mention, before parting with her,
an interesting circumstance that occurred when the army was traversing the
province of Coatzacualco. This, it may be remembered, was the native
country of Marina, where her infamous mother sold her, when a child, to
some foreign traders, in order to secure her inheritance to a younger brother.
Cortes halted for some days at this place, to hold a conference with the
surrounding caciques on matters of government and religion. Among those
summoned to this meeting was Marina's mother, who came, attended by her
son. No sooner did they make their appearance than all were struck with
the great resemblance of the cacique to her daughter. The two parties
recognized each other, though they had not met since their separation. The
mother, greatly terrified, fancied that she had been decoyed into a snare in
order to punish her inhuman conduct. But Marina instantly ran up to her, and
endeavoured to allay her fears, assuring her that she should receive no harm,
and, addressing the by-standers, said " that she was sure her mother knew
not what she did when she sold her to the traders, and that she forgave her."
Then, tenderly embracing her unnatural parent, she gave her such jewels and
other little ornaments as she wore about her own person, to win back, as it
would seem, her lost affection. Marina added that "she felt much happier
than before, now that she had been instructed in the Christian faith and given
up the bloody worship of the Aztecs." 23
In the course of the expedition to Honduras, Cortes gave Marina away to
a Castilian knight,* Don Juan Xaramillo,24 to whom she was wedded as his
lawful wife. She had estates assigned to her in her native province, where
she probably passed the remainder of her days.25 From this time the name
'" Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 178. the cities of New Spain. Conquista de Mejico
23 Diaz, who was present, attests the truth (trad, de Vega), torn. ii. p. 269.]
of this account by the most solemn adjura- *■ [The Spanish government showed its
tion : " Y todo es'to que digo, se lo of muy Bense of the services of Marina by the grant
certifieadamente y se lo juro, amen." Hist. of several estates both in the town and
de la Conquista, cap. 37. country. The house in which she usually
31 [Alaman, from an examination of the resided in Mexico was in the street of Medinas,
municipal archives of Mexico, finds that Juan as it is now called, which then bore the name
de Jaramillo was commander of one of the of her husband, Jaramillo. She had a plea-
brigautines in the siejie of Mexico. He sub- sure-house at Chapultepec, and in Cuyoacau
sequently filled the office of royal standard- a garden that had belonged to Montezuma,
bearer of the city, and was several times She lived in the enjoyment of wealth and
chosen to represent it in the assemblies of much consideration from her countrymen ;
544 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES/
of Marina disappears from the page of history. But it has been always held
in grateful remembrance by the Spaniards, for the important aid which she
gave them in effecting the Conquest, and by the natives, for the kindness and
sympathy which she showed them in their misfortunes. Many an Indian
ballad commemorates the gentle virtues of Malinche, — her Aztec epithet.
Even now her spirit, if report be true, watches over the capital which she
helped to win ; and the peasant is occasionally startled by the apparition of
an Indian princess, dimly seen through the evening shadoAvs, as it nits among
the groves and grottos of the royal Hill of Chapoltepec.28
By the Conqueror, Marina left one son, Don Martin Cortes. He rose to
high consideration, and was made a comendador of the order of St. Jago. He
was subsequently suspected of treasonable designs against the government ;
and neither his parents' extraordinary services, nor his own deserts, could
protect him from a cruel persecution ; and in 1568 the son of Hernando
Cortes was shamefully subjected to the torture in the very capital which his
father had acquired for the Castilian Crown !
The inhabitants of the isles of Peten — to return from our digression —
listened attentively to the preaching of the Franciscan friars, and consented
to the instant demolition of their idols, and the erection of the Cross upon
their ruins.27 A singular circumstance showed the value of these hurried
conversions, Cortes, on his departure, left among this friendly people one of
his horses, which had been disabled by an injury in the foot. The Indians
felt a reverence for the animal, as in some way connected with the mysterious
power of the white men. When their visitors had gone, they offered flowers
to the horse, and, as it is said, prepared for him many savoury messes of
poultry, such as they would have administered to their own sick. Under this
extraordinary diet the poor animal pined away and died. The affrightec"
Indians raised his effigy in stone, and, placing it in one of their teocallis, dir
homage to it, as to a deity. In 1618, when two Franciscan friars came
preach the gospel in these regions, then scarcely better known to t
Spaniards than before the time of Cortes, one of the most remarkable objec
which they found was this statue of a horse, receiving the homage of tl
Indian worshippers, as the god of thunder and lightning ! 28
It would be wearisome to recount all the perils and hardships endured
the Spaniards in the remainder of their journey. It would be repeating on
the incidents of the preceding narrative, the same obstacles in their path, t"
same extremities of famine and fatigue, — hardships more wearing on t
spirits than encounters with an enemy, which, if more hazardous, are al
more exciting. It is easier to contend with man than with Nature. Yet
must not omit to mention the passage of the Sierra de los Pedernales, " i
Mountain of Flints," which, though only twenty-four miles in extent, co:
sinned no less than twelve days sin crossing it ! The sharp stones cut f
horses' feet to pieces, while many were lost down the precipices and ravines
and, as we see mention made of her grand- were called, did not destroy their idols whil
child during her lifetime, we may presume the Spaniards remained there. (Historia
she reached a good old age. Conquista de la Conquista de la Provincia de el Itz
Mejico (trad, de Vega), torn. ii. p. 269. — (Madrid, 1701), pp. 49, 50.) The historian f
Alaman, Disertaciones historicas, torn, ii. p. wrong, since Cortes expressly asserts that tli
293.] • images were broken and burnt in his presence
86 Life in Mexico, let. 8.— The fair author Carta Quinta, MS.
does not pretend to have been favoured witli a8 The fact is recorded by Villagutier
a sight of the apparition. Conquista de el Itza, pp. 100-102, and Cojul
ST Villagutierre says that the Iztacs, by lado, Hist, de Yucathan, lib. 1, cap. 16.
which name the inhabitants of these islands
ARRIVAL AT HONDURAS. 545
so that when they had reached the opposite side sixty-eight of these valuable
animals had perished, and the remainder were, for the most part, in an un-
serviceable condition ! 29
The rainy season had now set in, and torrents of water, falling day and
night, drenched the adventurers to the skin, and added greatly to their dis-
tresses. The rivers, swollen beyond their usual volume, poured along with
a terrible impetuosity that defied the construction of bridges ; and it was
with the greatest difficulty that, by laying trunks of trees from one huge rock
to another, with which these streams were studded, they effected a perilous
passage to the opposite banks.30
At length the shattered train drew near the Golfo Dolce, at the head of
the Bay of Honduras. Their route could not have been far from the site of
Copan, the celebrated city whose architectural ruins have furnished such
noble illustrations for the pencil of Catherwood. But the Spaniards passed
on in silence. Nor, indeed, can we wonder that at this stage of the enterprise
they should have passed on without heeding the vicinity of a city in the
wilderness, though it were as glorious as the capital of Zenobia ; for they
were arrived almost within view of the Spanish settlements, the object of
their long and wearisome pilgrimage.
The place which they were now approaching was Naco, or San Gil de
Buena Vista, a Spanish settlement on the Golfo Dolce. Cortes advanced
cautiously, prepared to fall on the town by surprise. He had held on his way
with the undeviating step of the North American Indian, who, traversing
morass and mountain and the most intricate forests, guided by the instinct
of revenge, presses straight towards the mark, and, when he has reached it,
springs at once on his unsuspecting victim. Before Cortes made his assault,
his scouts fortunately fell in with some of the inhabitants of the place, from
whom they received tidings of the death of Olid, and of the re-establishment
of his own authority. Cortes, therefore, entered the place like a friend, and
was cordially welcomed by his countrymen, greatly astonished, says Diaz,
"by the presence among them of the general so renowned throughout these
countries." 31
The colony was at this time sorely suffering from famine ; and to such
extremity was it soon reduced that the troops would probably have found
a grave in the very spot to which they had looked forward as the goal of
their labours, but for the seasonable arrival of a vessel with supplies from
Cuba. With a perseverance which nothing could daunt, Cortes made an
examination of the surrounding country, and occupied a month more in
exploring dismal swamps, steaming with unwholesome exhalations, and in-
fected with bilious fevers and with swarms of venomous insects which left
peace neither by day nor night. At length he embarked with a part of his
forces on board of two brigantines, and, after touching at one or two ports
in the bay, anchored oft' Truxillo, the principal Spanish settlement on that
39 <• y qUerer (jezjr ia aspereza y fragosidad 30 " If any unhappy wretch had become
de este Puerto y sierras, ni quien lo dixese lo giddy in this transit," says Cortes, " he must
sabria significar, ni quien lo oyese podria en- inevitably have been precipitated into the
tender, sino que sepaV. M. que en ocholeguas gulf and perished. There were upwards of
que duro hasta este puerto estuvimoa en las twenty of these frightful passes." Carta
andar doze dias, digo los postreros en llegar Quinta, MS.
al cabo de el. en que murilron sesenta y ocho 3l " Espantaronse en gran manera, y como
cavallos despenados y desxaretados, y todos supieron que era Cone's q tan nombrado era
los demas vinieron heridos y tan lastimados en todas estas partes de las Indias, y en Cas-
que no pensrimos aprovecharnos de ninguno." tilla, no sabia que se hazer de placer." Hist.
Carta Quinta de Cortes, MS. de la Conquista, cap. 179.
T
546 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
coast. The surf was too high for him easily to effect a landing; but the
inhabitants, overjoyed at his arrival, rushed into the shallow water and
eagerly bore back the general in their arms to the shore.82
After he had restored the strength and spirits of his men, the indefatigable
commander prepared for a new expedition, the object of which was to explore
and to reduce the extensive province of Nicaragua. One may well feel
astonished at the adventurous spirit of the man who, unsubdued by the
terrible sufferings of his recent march, should so soon be prepared for another
enterprise equally appalling. It is difficult, in this age of sober sense, to
conceive the character of a Castilian cavalier of the sixteenth century, a true
counterpart of which it would not have been easy to find in any other nation,
even at that time,— or anywhere, indeed, save in those tales of chivalry,
which, however wild and extravagant they may seem, were much more tvnf
to character than to situation. The mere excitement of exploring the strange
and the unknown was a sufficient compensation to the Spanish adventurer
for all his toils and trials. It seems to have been ordered by Providence that
such a race of men should exist contemporaneously with the discovery of the
New World, that those regions should be brought to light which we're beset
with dangers and difficulties so appalling as might have tended to overawe
and to discourage the ordinary spirit of adventure. Yet Cortes, though filled
with this spirit, proposed nobler ends to himself than those of the mere vulgar
adventurer. In the expedition to Nicaragua he designed, as he had done in
that to Honduras, to ascertain the resources of the country in general, and,
above all, the existence of any means of communication between the great
oceans on its borders. If none such existed, it would at least establish this
fact, the knowledge of which, to borrow his own language, was scarcely less
important.
The general proposed to himself the further object of enlarging the colonial
empire of Castile. The conquest of Mexico was but the commencement of a
series of conquests. To the warrior who had achieved this, nothing seemed
impracticable ; and scarcely would anything have been so, had he been
properly sustained. It is no great stretch of imagination to see the Con-
queror of Mexico advancing along the provinces of the vast Isthmus, — Nicara-
gua, Costa Rica, and Darien,— until he had planted his victorious banner on
the shores of the Gulf of Panama ; and, while it was there fanned by the
breezes from the golden South, the land of the Incas, to see him gathering
such intelligence of this land as would stimulate him to carry his arms still
farther, and to anticipate, it might be, the splendid career of Pizarro !
But from these dreams of ambition Cortes was suddenly aroused by such
tidings as convinced him that his absence from Mexico was already too far
prolonged, and that he must return without delay, if he would save the
capital or the country.
™ Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 179, et seq.-Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 3, lib.
8, cap. 3, 4.— Carta Quinta de Cortes, MS,
HETURN OF CORTES. 547
CHAPTER IV.
DISTURBANCES IN MEXICO— RETURN OF CORTES— DISTRUST OP THE COURT —
CORTUS RETURNS TO SPAIN — DEATH OP SANDOVAL — BRILLIANT RECEPTION
OF CORTES— HONOURS CONFERRED ON HIM.
1526-1530.
The intelligence alluded to in the preceding chapter was conveyed in a letter
to Cortes from the licentiate Zuazo, one of the functionaries to whom the
general had committed the administration of the country during his absence.
It contained full particulars of the tumultuous proceedings in the capital.
No sooner had Cortes quitted it, than dissensions broke out among the dif-
ferent members of the provisional government. The misrule increased as his
absence was prolonged. At length tidings were received that Cortes with
his whole army had perished in the morasses of Chiapa. The members of the
government snowed no reluctance to credit this story. They now openly
paraded their own authority ; proclaimed the general's death ; caused funeral
ceremonies to be performed in his honour ; took possession of his property
wherever they could meet with it, piously devoting a small part of the pro-
ceeds to purchasing masses for his soul, while the remainder was appropriated
to pay oft" what was called his debt to the state. They seized, in like manner,
the property of other individuals engaged in the expedition. From these
outrages they proceeded to others against the Spanish residents in the city,
until the Franciscan missionaries left the capital in disgust, while the Indian
population were so sorely oppressed that great apprehensions were entertained
of a general rising. Zuazo, who communicated these tidings, implored Cortes
to quicken his return. He was a temperate man, and the opposition which
he had made to the tyrannical measures of his comrades had been rewarded
with exile.1
The general, greatly alarmed by this account, saw that no alternative was
left but to abandon all further schemes of conquest, and to return at once, if
he would secure the preservation of the empire which he had won. He accord-
ingly made the necessary arrangements for settling the administration of the
colonies at Honduras, and embarked with a small number of followers fcr
Mexico.
He had not been long at sea when he encountered such a terrible tempest
as seriously damaged his vessel and compelled him to return to port and refit.
A second attempt proved equally unsuccessful ; and Cortes, feeling that his
food star had deserted him, saw in this repeated disaster an intimation from
leaven that he was not to return.2 He contented himself, therefore, with
sending a trusty messenger to advise his friends of his personal safety in
Honduras. He then instituted processions and public prayers to ascertain
the will of Heaven and to deprecate its anger. His health now showed the
effects of his recent sufferings, and declined under a wasting fever. His spirits
sank with it, and he fell into a state of gloomy despondency. Bernal Diaz,
speaking of him at this time, says that nothing could be more wan and
emaciated than his person, and that so strongly was he possessed of the idea
1 Carta Quinta de Cortes, MS.— Bemal Diaz, del TesorercStrada, MS., Mexico, 1526.
Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 185.— Relacion - Carta Quinta de Cortes, MS.
548 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
of his approaching end that he procured a Franciscan habit, — for it was com-"
mon to be laid out in the habit of some one or other of the monastic orders, —
in which to be carried to the grave.3
From this deplorable apathy Cortes was roused by fresh advices urging his
presence in Mexico, and by the judicious efforts of his good friend Sandoval,
who had lately returned, himself, from an excursion into the interior. By his
persuasion, the general again consented to try his fortunes on the seas. He
embarked on board of a brigantine, with a few followers, and bade adieu to the
disastrous shores of Honduras, April 25, 1526. He had nearly made the coast
of New Spain, when a heavy gale threw him off his course and drove him to
the island of Cuba. After staying there some time to recruit his exhausted
strength, he again put to sea, on the 16th of May, and in eight days landed
near San Juan de Ulua, whence he proceeded about five leagues on foot to
Medellin.
Cortes was so much changed by disease that his person was not easily re-
cognized. But no sooner was it known that the general had returned than
crowds of people, white men and natives, thronged from all the neighbouring
country to welcome him. The tidings spread far and wide on the wings of the
wind, and his progress to the capital was a triumphal procession. The inhabi-
tants came from the distance of eighty leagues to have a sight of him ; and
they congratulated one another on the presence of the only man who could
rescue the country from its state of anarchy. It was a resurrection of the
dead,— so industriously had the reports of his death been circulated, and so
generally believed.4
At all the great towns where he halted he was sumptuously entertained.
Triumphal arches were thrown across the road, and the streets were strewed
with fioAvers as he passed. After a night's repose at Tezcuco, he made his
entrance in great state into the capital. The municipality came out to welcome
him, and a brilliant cavalcade of armed citizens formed his escort ; while the
lake was covered with barges of the Indians, all fancifully decorated with their
gala dresses, as on the day of his first arrival among them. The streets echoed
to music, and dancing, and sounds of jubilee, as the procession held on its way
to the great convent of St. Francis, where thanksgivings were offered up for the
.safe return of the general, who then proceeded to take up his quarters once
more in his own princely residence.5 It was in June, 1526, when Cortes
re-entered Mexico ; nearly two years had elapsed since he had left it, on his
difficult march to Honduras,— a march which led to no important results, but
which consumed nearly as much time, and was attended with sufferings quite
as severe, as the Conquest of Mexico itself.6
3 Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 184, et seq.— other discoverers and conquerors of the New
Carta Quinta de Cortes, MS. World. Cortes was employed in this dread-
* Carta Quinta de Cortes, MS.— Bernal Diaz, ful service above two years ; and, though it
Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 189, 190.— Carta was not distinguished by any splendid event,
de Cortes al Emperador, MS., Mexico, Sept. he exhibited, during the course of it, greater
11, 1526. personal courage, more fortitude of mind,
s Carta de Ocafia, MS., Agosto 31, 152G. — more perseverance and patience, than in any
Carta Quinta de Cortes, MS. other period or scene in his life." (Hist, of
6 "What Cortes suffered," says Dr. Robert- America, note 96.) The historian's remarks
6on, "on this march, — a distance, according are just; as the passages which I have bor-
to Gomara, of 3000 miles " (the distance rowed from the extraordinary record of the
must be greatly exaggerated),— "from fa- Conqueror may show. Those who are desirous
mine, from the hostility of the natives, from of seeing s-omething of the narrative told la
the climate, and from hardships of every his own way will find a few pages of it trana-
epecies, has nothing in history parallel to lated in the Appendix, Part 2, No. 14.
it, but what occurs in the adventures of the
DISTRUST OF THE COURT. 549
Cortes did not abuse his present advantage. He, indeed, instituted pro-
ceedings against his enemies; but he followed them up so languidly as to
incur the imputation of weakness. It is the only instance in which he has
been accused of weakness ; and, since it was shown in redressing his own
injuries, it may be thought to reflect no discredit on his character.7
He was not permitted long to enjoy the sweets of triumph. In the month
of July he received advices of the arrival of ajuez de'residencia on the coast,
sent by the court of Madrid to supersede him temporarily in the government.
The crown of Castile, as its colonial empire extended, became less and less
capable of watching over its administration. It was therefore obliged to place
vast powers in the hands of its viceroys ; and, as suspicion naturally accom-
panies weakness, it was ever prompt to listen to accusations against these
powerful vassals. In such cases the government adopted the expedient of
sending out a commissioner, or juez de residencia, with authority to investigate
the conduct of the accused, to suspend him in the mean while from his office,
and, after a judicial examination, to reinstate him in it or to remove him
altogether, according to the issue of the trial. The enemies of Cortes had
been for a long time busy in undermining his influence at court, and in infusing
suspicions of his loyalty in the bosom of the emperor. Since his elevation to
the government of the country they had redoubled their mischievous activity,
and they assailed his character with the foulest imputations. They charged
him with appropriating to his own use the gold which belonged to the crown,
and especially with secreting the treasures of Montezuma. He was said to
have made false reports of the provinces he had conquered, that he might
defraud the exchequer of its lawful revenues. He had distributed the prin-
cipal offices among his own creatures, and had acquired an unbounded influ-
ence, not only over the Spaniards, but the natives, who were all ready to do
his bidding. He had expended large sums in fortifying both the capital and
his own palace ; and it was evident, from the magnitude of his schemes
and his preparations, that he designed to shake off his allegiance and to establish
an independent sovereignty in New Spain.8
The government, greatly alarmed by these formidable charges, the proba-
bility of which they could not estimate, appointed a commissioner with full
powers to investigate the matter. The person selected for this delicate office
was Luis Ponce de Leon, a man of high family, young for such a post, but of
a mature judgment and distinguished for his moderation and equity. The
nomination of such a minister gave assurance that the crown meant to do
justly by Cortes.
The emperor wrote at the same time with his own hand to the general,
advising him of this step, and assuring him that it was taken, not from
distrust of his integrity, but to afford him the opportunity of placing that
integrity in a clear light before the world.9
Ponce de Leon reached Mexico in July, 1526. He was received with all
respect by Cortes and the municipality of the capital ; and the two parties
interchanged those courtesies with each other wnich gave augury that the
future proceedings would be conducted in a spirit of harmony. Unfortunately,
this fair beginning was blasted by the death of the commissioner in a few
* "Yestoyolo of dezir a los del Real Con- ■ Memorial de Luis Cardenas, MS.— Carta-
sejo de Indias, estando presente el seiior Obis- de Diego de Ocafia, MS. — Herrera, Hist,
po Fray Bartolome de las Casas, que se des- general, dec. 3, lib. 8, cap. 14, 15.
cuido ruucho Cortes en ello, y se lo tuvieron 9 Carta del IJmperador, MS,, Toledo, Nov. 4.
a floxedad." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con- 1525,
quista, cap. 190,
550
SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
weeks after his arrival, a circumstance which did not fail to afford another
item in the loathsome mass of accusation heaped upon Cortes. The commis-
sioner fell the victim of a malignant fever, which carried off a number of
those who had come over in the vessel with him.10
On his death-bed, Ponce de Leon delegated his authority to an infirm old
man, who survived but a few months,* and transmitted the reins of govern.
10 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 192.— Carta de Cortes al Emperador, MS.,
Mexico, Set. 11, 1526.
* [This person, the licentiate Marcos de
Aguilar, showed, during his short tenure of
office, much greater zeal and activity than
would be inferred from the slight mention of
him by historians. Prescott has omitted to
state that a principal point in the instructions
given to Ponce de Leon related to the ques-
tion of the repartimientos and other methods
of treating the Indians, in regard to which he
was to obtain the opinions of the authorities
and other principal persons and of the Do-
minican and Franciscan friars. Sir Arthur
Helps, who notices this fact, adds tbat it "led
to no result," the instructions on this subject
to Ponce de Leon being on his death " for-
gotten or laid aside." But a series of docu-
ments, published by Seilor Icazbalceta (Col.
de Doc. para la Hist, de Mexico, torn, ii.)
Bhows, on the contrary, that they were
promptly and fully carried [out by Aguilar,
who considered this to be the principal busi-
ness of the commission, and one, as he wrote
to the emperor, requiring despatch, since the
very existence of the native population de-
pended on immediate action. He accordingly
consulted all the officials, Cortes himself in-
cluded, the other chief residents of the city,
such as Alvarado and Sandoval, and the mem-
bers of the two religious orders, obtaining
written opinions, individual as well as collec-
tive, which he transmitted with his own re-
port to the emperor. The great majority of
tbe persons consulted, including all the
monks, while differing on some matters of
detail, concurred in urging the .necessity of
the repartimientos and in recommending that
they should be made hereditary.
The same result followed an inquiry insti-
tuted in 1532 and the following years. Among
the opinions delivered on that occasion is one
deserving of particular notice, both for the man-
ner in which it is enforced and the character
of the writer,— Fray Domingo de Batanzos,
whose career has -been agreeably sketched,
though his views on the present matter have
been misapprehended, by Sir Arthur Helps.
The three objects to be kept in view, he begins
by remarking, are the good treatment and
preservation of the natives, the establishment
and security of the Spanish settlers, and the
augmentation of the royal revenues. The
proper means to be adopted are also threefold :
the repartimientos extended and perpetuated,
the abandonment of the idea of reserving cer-
tain pueblos to be held by the crown and
managed by its officers, and the appointment
of good governors, since the best measures
are of no avail if not ably administered. The
objections to the crown's reserving any pue-
blos for itself are, that the officers will be
employed solely in collecting the tribute, the
Indians will receive no protection or religious
instruction, and the cultivation of the soil
will be always degenerating, since no one
will have an interest in maintaining or im-
proving its condition. The repartimientos,
on the contrary, by giving the holders a
direct interest in the better cultivation of the
soil and the increase of the people, will insure
both these results ; and though under this
system the royal revenues may be diminished
for a time, they will in the end be greatly
augmented through the general improvement
of the country. The great misfortune has
been that the authorities at home pursue a
policy which directly contravenes their own
intentions : wishing to benefit, they destroy ;
wishing to enrich, they impoverish ; wishing
to save the Indians, they exterminate them.
There is needed a man with the mind and
resolution of Charlemagne or Caesar, to adopt
a plan and carry it out. Instead of this, the
course pursued is that of endless changes and
experiments, like a perpetual litigation. It
is a sure sign that God intends destruction
when men are unable to find a remedy. In
the present case, well-meaning and holy men
have sought one in vain. In his opinion,
which he knows will be unheeded, the system
which has in it the least evil and the most good
is that of hereditary repartimientos, which
should be established once for all. In a later
letter he says, " The person least deceived
about the affairs of this country is I, who
know its fate as if I saw it with my eyes and
touched it with my hands." He predicts the
extermination of the Indians within fifty
years. He has always believed and asserted
that they would perish, and the laws and
measures founded on any other supposition
have all been bad. The wonderful thing is,
he remarks, with an apparent allusion to Las
Casas, that the men of greatest sanctity and
zeal for good are those who have done the
most harm. (Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc. para
la Hist, de Mexico, torn, ii.) That the pre-
diction of Batanzos has been falsified by the
event may be attributed to a variety of causes t
the vastness of the country and the compara-
tive density of the native population ; the
social and industrial habits of the latter, so
different from those of more northern tribes ;
DISTRUST OF THE COURT. 551
ment to a person named Estrada, or Strada, the royal treasurer, one of the
officers sent from Spain to take charge of the finances, and who was personally
hostile to Cortes. The Spanish residents would have persuaded Corte's to
assert for himself at least an equal share of the authority, to which they con-
sidered Estrada as having no sufficient title. But the general, with singular
moderation, declined a competition in this matter, and determined to abide a
more decided expression of his sovereign's will. To his mortification, the
nomination of Estrada was confirmed ; and this dignitary soon contrived to
inflict on his rival all those annoyances by which a little mind in possession of
unexpected power endeavours to assert superiority over a great one. The
recommendations of Cortes were disregarded, his friends mortified and insulted,
his attendants outraged by injuries. One of the domestics of his friend
Sandoval, for some slight offence, was sentenced to lose his hand ; and when
the general remonstrated against these acts of violence he was peremptorily
commanded to leave the city ! The Spaniards, indignant at this outrage,
would have taken lip arms in his defence ; but Cortes would allow no resistance,
and, simply remarking " that it was well that those who at the price of their
blood had won the capital should not be allowed a footing in it," withdrew to
his favourite villa of Coiohuacan, a few miles distant, to await there the result
of these strange proceedings.11
The suspicions of the court of Madrid, meanwhile, fanned by the breath of
calumny, had reached the most preposterous height. One might have sup-
posed that it fancied the general was organizing a revolt throughout the
colonies and meditated nothing less than an invasion of the mother country.
Intelligence having been received that a vessel might speedily be expected
from New Spain, orders were sent to the different ports of the kingdom, and
even to Portugal, to sequestrate the cargo, under the expectation that it con-
tained remittances to the general's family which belonged to the crown ;
while his letters, affording the most luminous account of all his proceedings
and discoveries, were forbidden to be printed. Fortunately, however, three
letters, constituting the most important part of the Conqueror's correspondence,
had been given to the public, some years previous, by the indefatigable press
of Seville.
The court, moreover, made aware of the incompetency of the treasurer,
Estrada, to the present delicate conjuncture, now intrusted the whole affair
of the inquiry to a commission dignified with the title of the Royal Audience
of New Spain. This body was clothed with full powers to examine into the
charges against Cortes, with instructions to send him back, as a preliminary
measure, to Castile,— peacefully if they could, but forcibly if necessary. Still
afraid that its belligerent vassal might defy the authority of this tribunal, the
" Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 194. — Carta de Cortes al Emperador, MS,, Set. 11,
152G.
the decline of the Spanish power and of that services at first exacted were ultimately com-
spirit of conquest which, by keeping up a muted for a fixed tribute. Living together in
constant stream of emigration and ardour of communities which resembled so many small
enterprise, might have led to a conflict of republics, governed by their own laws and
races; and the sedulous protection afforded to chiefs, guided and protected by the priests,
the Indians by the government and the church. exempt from military service and all the bur-
Their welfare was the object of constant dens imposed by the state on the rest of the
investigation and a long series of enactments. population, the Indians constituted, down
Slavery was in tbeir case entirely abolished. to the period of Independence, a separate
The repartimientos were made' hereditary, and privileged class, despised, it is true, but
but the rights and power of the encomenderos not oppressed, by the superior race.— Ed.]
were carefully restricted, and the personal
SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
fovernment resorted to artifice to effect his return. The president of the
ndian Council was commanded to write to him, urging his presence in Spain
to vindicate himself from the charges of his enemies, and offering his personal
co-operation in his defence. The emperor further wrote a letter to the
Audience, containing his commands for Cortes to return, as the government
wished to consult him on matters relating to the Indies, and to bestow on him
a recompense suited to his high deserts. This letter was intended to be
shown to Cortes.12
But it was superfluous to put in motion all this complicated machinery to
effect a measure on which Cortes was himself resolved. Proudly conscious of
his own unswerving loyalty, and of the benefits he had rendered to his country,
he was deeply sensible to this unworthy requital of them, especially on the
very theatre of his achievements. He determined to abide no longer where he
was exposed to such indignities, but to proceed at once to Spain, present him-
self before his sovereign, boldly assert his innocence, and claim redress for his
wrongs and a just reward for his services. In the close of his letter to the
emperor, detailing the painful expedition to Honduras, after enlarging on the
magnificent schemes he had entertained of discovery in the South Sea, and
vindicating himself from the charge of a too lavish expenditure, he concludes
with the lofty yet touching declaration "that he trusts his Majesty will in
time acknowledge his deserts ; but, if that unhappily shall not be, the world
at least will be assured of his loyalty, and he himself shall have the conviction
of having done his duty ; and no better inheritance than this shall he ask for
his children." 13
No sooner was the intention of Cortes made known, than it excited a general
sensation through the country. Even Estrada relented ; he felt that he had
gone too far, and that it was not his policy to drive his noble enemy to take
refuge in his own land. Negotiations were opened, and an attempt at a
reconciliation was made, through the bishop of Tlascala. Cortes received
these overtures in a courteous spirit, but his resolution was unshaken. Having
made the necessary arrangements, therefore, in Mexico, he left the Valley,
and proceeded at once to the coast. Had he entertained the criminal ambition
imputed to him by his enemies, he might have been sorely tempted by the
repeated offers of support which were made to him, whether in good or in bad
faith, on the journey, if he would but reassume the government and assert his
independence of Castile. But these disloyal advances he rejected with the
scorn they merited.1*
On his arrival at Villa Rica he received the painful tidings of the death of
his father, Don Martin Cortes, whom he had hoped so soon to embrace after
his long and eventful absence. Having celebrated his obsequies with every
mark of filial respect, he made preparations for his speedy departure. Two of
the best vessels in the port were got ready and provided with everything requi-
site for a long voyage. He was attended by his friend the faithful Sandoval,
by Tapia, and some other cavaliers most attached to his person. He also took
with him several Aztec and Tlascalan chiefs, and among them a son of Mon-
tezuma, and another of Maxixca, the friendly old Tlascalan lord, both of whom
12 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 4, lib. 2, cap.
1 ; and lib. 3, cap. 8.
1:1 "Todas estas entradas esUn ahora para
partir casi d una, plega a Dios de los guiar
como el se sirva, que yo aunque V. M,mas
pie mande desfavorecer no tengo de dejar de
servir, que no es posible que por tietnpo V.
M. iio cono*ca mis servicios, y ya que esto nq
sea, yo me satisfago con hazer lo que debo, y
con saber que a tcdo el mundo tengo satis-
fecho, y les son notorios mis servicios y leaU
dad con que los hago, y no quiero otro mayo-
razgo sino este." Carta Quinta, MS.
14 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
191.— Carta de Ocaua, MS., Agosto 31, 152§,, ,
DEATH OF SANDOVAL. 553
were desirous to accompany the general to Castile. He carried home a large
collection of plants and minerals, as specimens of the natural resources of the
country ; several wild animals, and birds of gaudy plumage ; various fabrics
of delicate workmanship, especially the gorgeous feather- work ; and a number
of jugglers, dancers, and buffoons, who greatly astonished the Europeans by
the marvellous facility of their performances, and were thought a suitable
present for his Holiness the Pope.15 Lastly, Cortes displayed his magnificence
in a rich treasure of jewels, among which were emeralds of extraordinary size
and lustre, gold to the amount of two hundred thousand pesos de oro, and
fifteen hundred marks of silver. " In fine," says Herrera, " he came in all the
state of a great lord." 16
After a brief and prosperous voyage, Cortes came in sight once more of his
native shores, and, crossing the bar of Saltes, entered the little port of Palos
in May, 1528,— the same spot where Columbus had landed five-and- thirty
years before, on his return from the discovery of the Western World. Cortes
was not greeted with the enthusiasm and public rejoicings which welcomed the
great navigator ; and, indeed, the inhabitants were not prepared for his arrival.
From Palos he soon proceeded to the convent of La Rabida, the same place,
also, within the hospitable walls of which Columbus had found a shelter. An
interesting circumstance is mentioned by historians, connected with his short
stay at Palos. Francisco Pizarro, the Conqueror of Peru, had arrived there,
having come to Spain to solicit aid for his great enterprise.17 He was then in
the commencement of his brilliant career, as Cortes might be said to be at the
close of his. He was an old acquaintance, and a kinsman, as is affirmed, of
the general, whose mother was a Pizarro.18 The meeting of these two extra-
ordinary men, the Conquerors of the North and of the South in the New
World, as they set foot, after their eventful absence, on the shores of their
native land, and that, too, on the spot consecrated by the presence of Colum-
bus, has something in it striking to the imagination. It has accordingly
attracted the attention of one of the most illustrious of living poets, who, in a
brief but beautiful sketch, has depicted the scene in the genuine colouring of
the age.19
While reposing from the fatigues of his voyage, at La Rabida, an event
occurred which' afflicted Cortes deeply and which threw a dark cloud over his
return. This was the death of Gonzalo de Sandoval, his trusty friend, and
so long the companion of his fortunes. He was taken ill in a wretched inn at
Palos, soon after landing ; and his malady gained ground so rapidly that it
was evident his constitution, impaired, probably, by the extraordinary fatigues
he had of late years undergone, would be unable to resist it. Cortes was
instantly sent for, and arrived in time to administer the last consolations of
friendship to' the dying cavalier. Sandoval met his approaching end with
composure, and, having given the attention which the short interval allowed
to the settlement of both his temporal and spiritual concerns, he breathed his
last in the arms of his commander.
's The Pope, who was of the joyous Medici from their sins. Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
family, Clement VII., and the cardinals, were -195.
greatly delighted with the feats of the Indian 16 "Y en fin veuia como* grau Senor."
jugglers, according to Diaz ; and his Holiness, Hist, gen., dec. 4, lib. 3, cap. 8.
who, it may be added, received at the same 17 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 4, lib. 4, cap.
time from Cortes a substantial donative of 1.— Cavo, Los tres Siglos de Mexico, torn. i.
gold and jewels, publicly testified, by prayers p. 78.
and solemn processions, his great sense of the lb Pizarro y Orellana, Varones ilustrcs, p.
services rendered to Christianity by the Con- 121.
querors of Mexico, and generously requited '" See the conclusion of Rogers's Voyage
th«m by bulls granting plenary absolution of Columbus. _
T 2
554 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
Sandoval died at the premature age of thirty-one.20 He was in many
respects the most eminent of the great captains formed under the eye of
Cortes. He was of good family, and a native of Medellin, also the birth-place
of the general, for whom he had the warmest personal regard. Cortes soon
discerned his uncommon qualities, and proved it by uniformly selecting the
young officer for the most difficult commissions. His conduct on these occa-
sions fully justified the preference. He was a decided favourite with the
soldiers ; for, though strict in enforcing discipline, he was careful of their
comforts and little mindful of his own. He had nothing of the avarice so
common in the Castilian cavalier, and seemed to have no other ambition than
that of faithfully discharging the duties of his profession. He was a plain
man, affecting neither the showy manners nor the bravery in costume which
distinguished Alvarado, the Aztec Tonatiuh. The expression of his counte-
nance was open and manly ; his chestnut hair curled close to his head ; his
frame was strong and sinewy. He had a lisp in his utterance, which made
his voice somewhat indistinct. Indeed, he was no speaker ; but, if slow of
speech, he was prompt and energetic in action. He had precisely the qualities
which fitted him for the perilous enterprise in which he had embarked. He
had accomplished his task ; and, after having escaped death, which lay wait-
ing for him in every step of his path, had come home, as it would seem, to his
native land, only to meet it there.
His obsequies were performed with all solemnity by the Franciscan friars of
La Rabida, and his remains were followed to their final resting-place by the
comrades who had so often stood by his side in battle. They were laid in the
cemetery of the convent, which, shrouded in its forest of pines, stood, and
may yet stand, on the bold eminence that overlooks the waste of waters so
lately traversed by the adventurous soldier.21
If was not long after this melancholy event that Cortes and his suite began
their journey into the interior. The general stayed a few days at the castle
of the duke of Medina Sidonia, the most powerful of the Andalusian lords,
who hospitably entertained him, and, at his departure, presented him with
several noble Arabian horses. Cortes first directed his steps towards Guada-
lupe, where he passed nine days, offering up prayers and causing masses to be
performed at Our Lady's shrine for the soul of his departed friend.
Before his departure from La Rabida, he had written to the court, inform-
ing it of his arrival in the country. Great was the sensation caused there by
the intelligence ; the greater, that the late reports of his treasonable practices
had made it wholly unexpected. His arrival produced an immediate change
of feeling. All cause of jealousy was now removed ; and, as the clouds which
had so long settled over the royal mind were dispelled, the emperor seemed
only anxious to show his sense of the distinguished services of his so dreaded
vassal. Orders were sent to different places on the route to provide him with
suitable accommodations, and preparations were made to give him a brilliant
reception in the capital.
Meanwhile, Cortes had formed the acquaintance at Guadalupe of several
Sersons of distinction, and among them of the family pf the comendador of
ieon, a nobleman of the highest consideration at court. The general's con-
versation, enriched with the stores of a life of adventure, and his maimers, in
which the authority of habitual command was tempered by the frank and
careless freedom of the soldier, made a most favourable impression on his new
so Bernal Diaz says that Sandoval was cap. 205.
twenty-two years old when he first came to '■"■ Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
New Spain, in 1519. — Hist, de la Conquista, 195.
BRILLIANT RECEPTION OF CORTES. 555
friends ; and their letters to the court, where he was yet unknown, heightened
the interest already felt in this remarkable man. The tidings of his arrival
had by this time spread far and wide throughout the country ; and, as he
resumed his journey, the roads presented a spectacle such as 'had not been
seen since the return of Columbus. Cortes did not usually affect an ostenta-
tion of dress, though he loved to display the pomp of a great lord in the
number and magnificence of his retainers." His train was now swelled by the
Indian chieftains, who by the splendours of their barbaric finery gave addi-
tional brilliancy, as well as novelty, to the pageant. But his own person was
the object of general curiosity. # The houses and the streets of the great towns
and villages were thronged with spectators, eager to look on the hero who
with his single arm, as it were, had won an empire for Castile, and who, to
borrow the language of an old historian, " came in the pomp and glory, not so
much of a great vassal, as of an independent monarch." 22
As he approached Toledo, then the rival of Madrid, the press of the multi-
tude increased, till he was met by the duke de Bejar, the count de Aguilar,
and others of his steady friends, who, at the head of a large body of the prin-
cipal nobility and cavaliers of the city, came out to receive him, and attended
him to the quarters prepared for his residence. It was a proud moment for
Cortes ; and distrusting, as he well might, his reception by his countrymen, it
afforded him a greater satisfaction than the brilliant entrance which, a few
years previous, he had made into the capital of Mexico.
The following day he was admitted to an audience by the emperor, and
Cortes, gracefully kneeling to kiss the hand of his sovereign, presented to him
a memorial which succinctly recounted his services and the requital he had
received for them. The emperor graciously raised him, and put many ques-
tions to him respecting the countries he had conquered. Charles was pleased
with the general's answers, and his intelligent mind took great satisfaction in
inspecting the curious specimens of Indian ingenuity which his vassal had
brought with him from New Spain. In subsequent conversations the emperor
repeatedly consulted Cortes on the best mode of administering the government
of the colonies, and by his advice introduced some important regulations,
especially for ameliorating the condition of the natives and for encouraging
domestic industry.
The monarch took frequent opportunity to show the confidence which he
now reposed in Cortes. On all public occasions he appeared with him by his
side ; and once, when the general lay ill of a fever, Charles paid him a visit
in person, and remained some time in the apartment of the invalid. This was
an extraordinary mark of condescension in the haughty court of Castile ; and
it is dwelt upon with becoming emphasis by the historians of the time, who
seem to regard it as an ample compensation for all the sufferings and services
of Cortes.23
The latter had now fairly triumphed over opposition. The courtiers, with
that ready instinct which belongs to the tribe, imitated the example of their
master ; and even envy was silent, amidst the general homage that was paid
to the man who had so lately been a mark for the most envenomed calumny.
Cortes, without a title, without a name but what he had created for himself,
was at once, as it were, raised to a level with the proudest nobles in the land.
22 «• Vino de las Indias despues de la con- torias ecclesiasticas y seculares de Aragon
quista de Mexico, con tanto acompanamiento (Zaragoza, 1622), lib. 3, cap. 14.
y magestad, que mas parecia de Principe, 6 " Gomara, Cronica, cap. 183. — Herrera,
eefior" poderosfssimo, que de Capitan y vasallo Hist, general, dec. 4, lib. 4, cap. 1.— Bernal
de algun Rey 6 Emperador." Lanuza, His- Diaz, Hist, de la Couquista, cap. 195.
556 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
He was so still more effectually by the substantial honours which were
accorded to him by his sovereign in the course of the following year. By an
instrument dated July 6th, 1529, the emperor raised him to the dignity of the
Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca ; 24 and the title of " marquis," when used
without the name of the individual, has been always appropriated in the
colonies, in an especial manner, to Cortes, as the title of " admiral " was to
Columbus.25
Two other instruments, dated in the same month of July, assigned to Cortes
a vast tract of land in the rich province of Oaxaca, together with large estates
in the city of Mexico, and other places in the Valley.26 The princely domain
thus granted comprehended more than twenty large towns and villages, and
twenty-three thousand vassals. The language in which the gift was made
greatly enhanced its value. The preamble of the instrument, after enlarging
on the "good services rendered by Cortes in the Conquest, and the great
benefits resulting therefrom, both in respect to the increase of the Castilian
empire and the advancement of the Holy Catholic Faith," acknowledges
" the sufferings he had undergone in accomplishing this glorious work, and
the fidelity and obedience with which, as a good and trusty vassal, he had
ever served the crown." 27 It declares, in conclusion, that it grants this recom-
pense of his deserts because it is " the duty of princes to honour and reward
those who serve them well and loyally, in order that the memory of their great
deeds should be perpetuated, and others be incited by their example to the
performance of the like illustrious exploits." The unequivocal testimony thus
borne by his sovereign to his unwavering loyalty was most gratifying to
Cortes,— how gratifying, every generous soul who has been the subject of
suspicion undeserved will readily estimate. The language of the general in
after-time shows how deeply he was touched by it.28
Yet there was one degree in the scale, above which the royal gratitude would
not rise. Neither the solicitations of Cortes, nor those of the duke de Bejar
and his other powerful friends, could prevail on the emperor to reinstate him
in the government of Mexico. The country, reduced to tranquillity, had no
longer need of his commanding genius to control it ; and Charles did not care
to place again his formidable vassal in a situation which might revive the
dormant spark of jealousy and distrust. It was the policy of the crown to
employ one class of its subjects to effect its conquests, and another class to
rule over them. For the latter it selected men in whom the fire of ambition
was tempered by a cooler judgment naturally, or by the sober influence of age.
** Tftulo de Marques, MS., Barcelona, 6 de tro Seiior y aumento de su santa fe catolica,
Julio, 1529. y en las dichas tierras que estaban sin cono-
25 Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 30, cimiento ni fe" 6e han plantado, como el acre
note.— According to Lanuza, he was offered ceutamiento que dello ha redundado £ nuestra
by the emperor the Order of St. Jago, but corona real destos reynos, y los trabajos que
declined it, because no encomienda was at- en ello habeis pasado, y la fidelidad y obe-
tached to it. (Hist, de Aragon, torn. i. lib. 3, diencia con que siempre nos babeis servido
cap. 14.) But Caro de Torres, in his History como bueno e fiel servidor y vaeallo nuestro,
of the Military Orders of Castile, enumerates de que somos ciertos y confiados." Merced
Cortes among the members, of, the Compo- de los Vasallos, MS.
stellan fraternity. Hist, de las Ordenes mili- " " The benignant reception" which I ex-
tares (Madrid, 1629), fol. 103, et seq. perienced, on my return, from your Majesty,"
2G Merced de Tierras inmediatas a Mexico, says Cortes, "your kind expressions and
MS., Barcelona, 23 de Julio, 1529.— Merced generous treatment, make me not only forget
de los Vasallos, MS., Barcelona, 6 de Julio, all my toils and sufferings, but even cause
1529. , me regret that I have not been called to
" " E nos habemos recibido y tenemos de endure more in your service." (Carta de
vos por bien servido en ello, y acatando los Cortes al Lie. Nunez. MS., 1535.) This
grandes provechos que de vuestros servicios memorial, addressed to his agent iu Castile,
ban redundado, ansi para el servicio de Nues* was designed for the emperor.
honours conferred on him. 557
Even Columbus, notwithstanding the terms of his original "capitulation"
with the crown, had not been permitted to preside over the colonies ; and still
less likely would it be to concede this power to one possessed of the aspiring
temper of Cortes.
But, although the emperor refused to commit the civil government of the
colony into his hands, he reinstated him in his military command. By a royal
ordinance, dated also in July, 1529, the marquis of the Valley was named
Captain-General of New Spain and of the coasts of the South Sea. lie was
empowered to make discoveries in the Southern Ocean, with the right to rule
over such lands as he should colonize,29 and by a subsequent grant he was to
become proprietor of one-twelfth of all his discoveries.30 The government had
no design to relinquish the services of so able a commander. But it warily
endeavoured to withdraw him from the scene of his former triumphs, and to
throw open a new career of ambition, that might stimulate him still further
to enlarge the dominions of the crown.
Thus gilded by the sunshine of royal favour, " rivalling," to borrow the
homely comparison of an old chronicler, "Alexander in the fame of his
exploits, and Crassus in that of his riches," 31 with brilliant manners, and a
person which, although it showed the effects of hard service, had not yet lost
all the attractions of youth, Cortes might now be regarded as offering an
enviable alliance for the best houses in Castile. It was not long before he
paid his addresses,. which were favourably received, to a member of that noble
house which had so steadily supported him in the dark hour of his fortunes.
The lady's name was Dona Juana de Zuniga, daughter of the second count de
Aguilar, and niece of the duke de Bejar.32 She was much younger than him-
self, beautiful, and, as events showed, not without spirit. One of his presents
to his youthful bride excited the admiration and envy of the fairer part of the
court. This was five emeralds, of wonderful size and brilliancy. These jewels
had been cut by the Aztecs into the shapes of flowers, fishes, and into other
fanciful forms, with an exquisite style of workmanship which enhanced their
original value.33 They were, not improbably, part of the treasure of the
unfortunate Montezuma, and, being easily portable, may have escaped the
general wreck of the noche triste. The queen of Charles the Fifth, it is said,
— it may be the idle gossip of a court, — had intimated a willingness to become
proprietor of some of these magnificent baubles ; and the preference which
Cortes gave to his fair bride caused some feelings of estrangement in the
29 Ti'tnlo de Capitan General de la Nueva- able as Shylock's turquoise. Some Genoese
Espafia y Costa del Sur, MS., Barcelona, 6 de merchants in Seville offered Cortes, according
Julio, 1529. to Gomara, 40,000 ducats for it. The ^ame
30 Asiento y Capitulacion que hizo con el author gives a more particular account of
Emperador Don H. Cortes, MS., Madrid, 27 the jewels, which may interest some readers,
de Oct., 1529. It shows the ingenuity of the artist, who,
31 "Que, segun se dezia, excedia en las without steel, could so nicely cut so hard a
hazafias a Alexandre Magno, y en his riquezas material. One emerald was in the form of a
& Crasso." (Lanuza, Hist, de Aragon, lib. 3, rose ; the second, in that of a horn ; a third,
cap. 14.) The rents of the marquis of the like a fish, with eyes of gold- the fourth was
Valley, according to L. Marineo Sic.lo, who like a little bell, with a fine pearl for the
lived at the court at this time, were about tongue, and on the rim was this inscription,
60,000 ducats a year. Cosas memorables de in Spanish : Blessed is he who created thee.
Espafia (Alcald de Henares, 1539), fol. 24. The fifth, which was the most valuable, was
32 Doha. Juana was of the house of Arel- a small cup with a loot of gold, and with
lano, and of the royal lineage of Navarre. four little chains, of the same metal, attached
Her father was not a very wealthy noble. to a large pearl as a button. The edge of the
L. Marineo Siculo, Cosas memorables, fol. cup was of gold, on which was engraven this
24,25. Latin sentence: Inter natos mulierum non
33 One of these precious stones was as valu- surrexit major. Gomara, Cronica, cap. 184.
SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
royal bosom, which had an unfavourable influence on the future fortunes of
the Marquis.
Late in the summer of 1529, Charles the Fifth left his Spanish dominions
for Italy. Cortes accompanied him on his way, probably to the place of
embarkation ; and in the capital of Aragon Ave find him, according to the
national historian, exciting the same general interest and admiration among
the people as he had done in Castile. On his return, there seemed no occasion
for him to protract his stay longer in the country. He was weary of the life
of idle luxury which he had been leading for the last year, and which was so
foreign to his active habits and the stirring scenes to which he had been
accustomed. He determined, therefore, to return to Mexico, where his exten-
sive property required his presence, and where a new field was now opened to
him for honourable enterprise.
CHAPTER V.
CORTES REVISITS MEXICO — RETIRES TO HIS ESTATES — HIS VOYAGES OF DIS-
COVERY— FINAL RETURN TO CASTILE— COLD RECEPTION— DEATH OF CORTES
— HIS CHARACTER.
1530-1547.
Early in the spring of 1530, Cortes embarked for New Spain. He was
accompanied by the marchioness, his wife, together with his aged mother, who
had the good fortune to live to see her son's elevation, and by a magnificent
retinue of pages and attendants, such as belonged to the household of a power-
ful noble. How different from the forlorn condition in which, twenty-six^
years before, he had been cast loose, as a wild adventurer, to seek his bread"
upon the waters !
The first point of his destination was Hispaniola, where he was to remain
until he received tidings of the organization of the new government that was
to take charge of Mexico.1 In the preceding chapter it was stated that the
administration of the country had been intrusted to a body called the Royal
Audience ; one of whose first duties it was to investigate the charges brought
against Cortes. Nunez de Guzman, his avowed enemy, was placed at the
head of this board ; and the investigation was conducted with all the rancour
of personal hostility. A remarkable document still exists, called the Pesqirisa
Secreta, or "Secret Inquiry," which contains a record of the proceedings
against Cortes. It was prepared by the secretary of the Audience, and signed
by the several members. The document is very long, embracing nearly a
hundred folio pages. The name and the testimony of every witness are given,
and the whole forms a mass of loathsome details, such as might better suit
a prosecution in a petty municipal court than that of a great officer of the
crown.
The charges are eight in number ; involving, among other crimes, that of a
deliberate design to cast off his allegiance to the crown ; that of the murder
of two of the commissioners who had been sent out to supersede him ; of the
murder of his own wife, Catalina Xuarez ; 2 of extortion, and of licentious
1 Carta de Cortes al Emperador, MS., Tez- that this charge of murder by her husband
cuco, 10 de Oct., 1530. has found more credit with the vulgar than
2 I)oiia Catalina's 'death happened so op- the other accusations brought against him.
portunely for the rising fortunes of Cortes, Cgrtes, from whatever reason, perhaps from
CORTES REVISITS MEXICO. 559
practices,— of offences, in short, which, from their private nature, would seem
to have little to do with his conduct as a public man. The testimony is vague
and often contradictory ; the Avitnesses are for the most part obscure indivi-
duals, and the few persons of consideration among them appear to have been
taken from the ranks of his decided enemies. When it is considered that the
inquiry was conducted in the absence cf Cortes, before a court the members
of which were personally unfriendly to him, and that he was furnished with
no specification of the charges, and had no opportunity, consequently, of
disproving them, it is impossible, at this distance of time, to attach any
importance to this paper as a legal document. When it is added that no
action was taken on it by the government to whom it was sent, Ave may be
disposed to regard it simply as a monument of the malice of his enemies. It
has been drawn by the curious antiquary from the obscurity to which it had
been so long consigned in the Indian archives at Seville ; but it can be of no
further use to the historian than to show that a great name in the sixteenth
century exposed its possessor to calumnies as malignant as it has at any time
since
The high-handed measures of the Audience, and the oppressive conduct of
Guzman, especially towards the Indians, excited general indignation in the
colony and led to serious apprehensions of an insurrection. It became neces-
sary to supersede an administration so reckless and unprincipled. But Cortes
was detained two months at the island, by the slow movements of the Castilian
court, before tidings reached him of the appointment of a new Audience for
the government of the country. The person selected to preside over it was
the bishop of St. Domingo, a prelate whose acknowledged wisdom and virtue
gave favourable augury for the conduct of his administration. After this,
Cortes resumed his voyage, and landed at Villa Rica on the 15th of July, 1530.
After remaining for a time in the neighbourhood, where he received some
petty annoyances from the Audience, he proceeded to Tlascala, and publicly
proclaimed his powers as Captain- General of New Spain and the South Sea.
the conviction that the charge was too mon- attach credit to the accusation. Yet so much
strous to ohtain credit, never condescended to credit has been given to this in Mexico, where
vindicate his innocence. But, in addition to the memory of the old Spaniards is not held
the arguments mentioned in the text for dis- in especial favour at the present day, that it
crediting the accusation generally, we should has formed the subject of an elaborate dis-
consider that this particular charge attracted cussion in the public periodicals of that city,
so little attention in Castile, where he had 3 This remarkahle paper, forming part of
abundance of enemies, that he found no diffi- the valuable collection of Don Vargas Ponce,
culty, on his return there, seven years after- is without date. It was doubtless prepared
wards, in forming an alliance with one of the in 1529, during the visit of Cortes to Castile,
noblest houses in the kingdom ; that no writer The following Title is prefixed to it :
of that day (except Bernal Diaz, who treats it ,, pesciujga secreta.
as a base calumny), not even Las Casas, the
stern accuser of the Conquerors, intimates a "Relacion de los cargos que resultan de la
suspicion of his guilt ; and that, lastly, no pesquisa secreta contra Don Hernando Cortes,
allusion whatever is made to it in the suit de los quales no se le dio copia ni traslado a
instituted, seven years after her death, by the la parte del dicho Don Hernando, asi por ser
relatives of Dona Catalina, for the recovery of los dichos cargos de la calidad que son, como
property from Cortes, pretended to have been por estar la persona del dicho Don Hernando
derived through her marriage with him,— a ausente como esta\ Los quales yo Gregono
suit conducted with acrimony and protracted de Saldana, escribano de S. M. y escnbano de
for several years. I have not seen the docu- la dicha Residencia, saque de la dicha pes-
ments connected with this suit, which are quisa secreta por mandado de los Senores,
still preserved in the archives of the house of Presidente y Oidores de la Audiencia y ^lian"
Cortes, but the fact has been communicated cillerfa Real que por mandado de S. M. en
to me by a distinguished Mexican who ha3 esta Nueva Espana reside. Los quales dichos
carefully examined them, and I cannot but Senores, Presidente y Oidores, enviandb. M.
regard it as of itself conclusive that the para que los mande ver, y vistos mande pro-
family at least of Doha Catalina did not veer lo que a su servicio convenga. Mb.
560 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
An edict issued by the empress during her husband's absence had interdicted
Cortes from approaching within ten leagues of the Mexican capital while the
present authorities were there.4 The empress was afraid of a collision be-
tween the parties. Cortes, however, took up his residence on the opposite
side of the fake, at Tezcuco.
No sooner was his arrival there known in the metropolis than multitudes,
both of Spaniards and natives, crossed the lake to pay their respects to their
old commander, to offer him their services, and to complain of their manifold
grievances. It seemed as if the whole population of the capital was pouring
into the neighbouring city, where the Marquis maintained the state of an
independent potentate. The members of the Audience, indignant at the
mortifying contrast which their own diminished court presented, imposed
heavy penalties on such of the natives as should be found in Tezcuco, and,
affecting to consider themselves in danger, made preparations for the defence
of the city. But these belligerent movements were terminated by the arrival
of the new Audience ; though Guzman had the address to maintain his hold
on a northern province, where he earned a reputation for cruelty and extor-
tion unrivalled even in the annals of the New World.
Everything seemed now to assure a tranquil residence to Cortes. Jhe neAV
magistrates treated him with marked respect, and took his advice on the
most important measures of government. Unhappily, this state of things
did not long continue ; and a misunderstanding arose between the parties,
in respect to the enumeration of the vassals assigned by the crown to Cortes,
which the marquis thought was made on principles prejudicial to his interests
and repugnant to the intentions of the grant.5 He was still further dis-
pleased by finding that the Audience were intrusted, by their commission,
with a concurrent jurisdiction with himself in military affairs.6 This led
occasionally to an interference, which the proud spirit of Cortes, so long
accustomed to independent rule, could ill brook. After submitting to it for
a time, he left the capital in disgust, no more to return there, and took up
his residence in his city of Cuernavaca.
It was the place won by his own sword from the Aztecs previous to the
siege of Mexico. It stood on the southern slope of the Cordilleras, and over-
looked a wide expanse of country, the fairest and most flourishing portion of
his own domain.7 He had erected a stately palace on the spot, and hence-
forth made this city his favourite residence.8 It was well situated for super-
* MS., Tordelaguna, 22 de Marzo, 1530. Conquest, Cortes built here a splendid palace,
D The principal grievance alleged was that a church, and a convent for Franciscans, be-
slaves, many of them held temporarily by lieving that he had laid the foundation of a
their masters, according to the old Aztec great city. ... It is, however, a place of
Tisage, were comprehended in the census. ' little importance, though so favoured by
The complaint forms part of a catalogue of nature ; and the Conqueror's palace is a hall-
grievances embodied by Cortes in a memorial ruined barrack, though a most picturesque
to the emperor. It is a clear and business- object, standing on a hill, behind which starts
like paper. Carta de Cortes a Nunez, MS. up the great white volcano."' Life in Mexico,
0 Ibid., MS. vol. ii. let. 31. [The beautiful church of San
7 [" Dominando una vista muy extensa Francisco, now the parish church, was con-
sobre el valle hacia el Sur, lo que al Norte y structed by Cortes, and enriched with jewels
Oriente se termina con la magestuosa cor- and sacred vessels by his wife, manifesting,
dillera que separa el valle de Cuernavaca del says Alaman, the good taste and the piety of
de Mejico." Alaman, Disertaciones historicas, the marquis and the marchioness,— as, in con-
tom. ii. p. 35.] sequence of their being the first at that time
8 The palace has crumbled into ruins, and the only persons who bore the title in Mexico,
the spot is now only remarkable for its they were styled and always subscribed them-
natural beauty and its historic associations. selves. Disertaciones historicas, torn. ii. p,
"It was the capital," says Madame de Cal- 35.]
deron, "of the Tlahuica nation, and, after the
IlIS VOYAGES OP DISCOVERY. 561
intending his vast estates, and he now devoted himself to bringing them into
proper cultivation. He introduced the sugar-cane from Cuba, and it grew
luxuriantly in the rich soil of the neighbouring lowlands. He imported large
numbers of merino sheep and other cattle, Avhich found abundant pastures in
the country around Tehuantepec. His lands were thickly sprinkled with
Soves of mulberry-trees, which furnished nourishment for the silk-worm,
e encouraged the cultivation of hemp and flax, and, by his judicious and
enterprising husbandry, showed the capacity of the soil for the culture of
valuable products before unknown in the land ; and he turned these products to
the best account, by the erection of sugar-mills, and other works for the manu-
facture of the raw material. He thus laid the foundation of an opulence for
his family, as substantial, if not as speedy, as that derived from the mines.
Yet this latter source of wealth was not neglected by him, and he drew gold
from the region of Tehuantepec, and silver from that of Zacatecas. The
amount derived from the e mines was not so abundant as at a later day.
But the expense of working them, on the other hand, was much less in tlie
earlier stages of the operation, when the metal lay so much nearer the surface.9
But this- tranquil way of life did not long content his restless and adven-
turous spirit ; and it sought a vent by availing itself of his new charter of
discovery to explore the mysteries of the great Southern Ocean. In 1527,
two years before his return to Spain, he had sent a little squadron to the
Moluccas. The expedition was attended with some important consequences ;
but, as they do not relate to Cortes, an account of it will find a more suitable
{)lace in the maritime annals of Spain, where it has been given by the able
land which has done so much for the country in this department.10
Cortes was preparing to send another squadron of four vessels in the same
direction, when his plans were interrupted by his visit to Spain ; and his
unfinished little navy, owing to the malice of the Royal Audience, who drew
off the hands employed in building it, went to pieces on the stocks. Two
other squadrons were now fitted out by Cortes, in the years 1532 and 1533,
and sent on a voyage of discovery to the North-west.11 They were unfortu-
nate, though in the latter expedition the Calif ornian peninsula was reached,
and a landing effected on its southern extremity at Santa Cruz, probably the
modern port of La Paz. One of the vessels, thrown on the coast of New
Galicia, was seized by Guzman, the old enemy of Cortes, who ruled over that
territory, the crew were plundered, and the ship was detained as a lawful
prize. Cortes, indignant at the outrage, demanded justice from the Royal
Audience ; and, as that body was too feeble to enforce its own decrees in his
favour, he took redress into his own hands.12
He made a rapid but difficult march on Chiametla, the scene of Guzman's
spoliation ; and, as the latter did not care to face his incensed antagonist,
Cortes recovered his vessel, though not the cargo. He was then joined by
the little squadron which he had fitted out from his own port of Tehuantepec,
— a port which in the sixteenth century promised to hold the place since
occupied by that of Acapulco.13 The vessels were provided with everything
8 These particulars respecting the agricul- ,0 Navarrete, Coleccion de los Viages y
tural economy of Cortes I have derived in Descubrimientos (Madrid, 1837;, torn, v.,
part from a very able argument, prepared, in Viages al Maluco.
January, 1828, for the Mexican Chamber of " Iustruccion que dio el Marques del Valle
Deputies, by Don Lucas Alaman, in defence u Juan de Avellaneda, etc., MS.
of the territorial rights possessed at this day ,2 Provision sobre los Descubrimientos del
by the Conqueror's descendant, the duke of Sur, MS., Setiembre, 1534.
Monteleone. " The river Huasacualco furnished great
502 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
requisite for planting a colony hi the newly-discovered region, and trans-
ported four hundred Spaniards and three hundred negro slaves, which Cortes
had assembled for that purpose. With this intention he crossed the Gulf, the
Adriatic— to which an old writer compares it— of the Western World.
Our limits will not allow us to go into the details of this disastrous expe-
dition, which was attended with no important results either to its projector
or to science. It may suffice to say that, in the prosecution of it, Cortes and
his followers were driven to the last extremity by famine ; that he again
crossed the Gulf, was tossed about by terrible tempests, without a pilot to
guide him, was thrown upon the rocks, where his shattered vessel nearly went
to pieces, and, after a succession of clangers and disasters as formidable as
any which he had ever encountered on land, succeeded, by means of his
indomitable energy, in bringing his crazy bark safe into the same port of Santa
Cruz from which he had started.
While these occurrences were passing, the new Royal Audience, after a
faithful discharge of its commission, had been superseded by the arrival of a
viceroy, the first ever sent to New Spain. Cortes, though invested with
similar powers, had the title only of Governor. This was the commencement
of the system, afterwards pursued by the crown, of intrusting the colonial
administration to some individual whose high rank and personal consideration
might make him the fitting representative of majesty. The jealousy of the
court did not allow the subject clothed with such ample authority to remain
■ long enough in the same station to form dangerous schemes of ambition, but
at the expiration of a few years he was usually recalled, or transferred to
some other province of the vast colonial empire. The person hoav sent to
Mexico was Don Antonio de Mendoza, a man of moderation and practical
good sense, and one of that illustrious family who in the preceding reign
furnished so many distinguished ornaments to the Church, to the camp, and
to letters.
The long absence of Cortes had caused the deepest anxiety in the mind of
his wife, the marchioness of the Valley. She wrote to the viceroy immediately
on his arrival, beseeching him to ascertain, if possible, the fate of her husband,
and, if he could be found, to urge his return. The viceroy, in consequence,
despatched two ships in search of Cortes, but whether they reached him before
his departure from Santa Cruz is doubtful. It is certain that he returned safe,
after his long absence, to Acapulco, and was soon followed by the survivors of
his wretched colony.
Undismayed by these repeated reverses, Cortes, still bent on some discovery
worthy of his reputation, fitted out three more vessels, and placed them under
the command of an officer named Ulloa. This expedition, which took its
departure in July, 1539, was attended with more important results. Ulloa
penetrated to the head of the Gulf, then, returning and winding round the
coast of the peninsula, doubled its southern point, and ascended as high as
the twenty-eighth or twenty-ninth degree of north latitude on its western
borders. After this, sending home one of the squadron, the bold navigator
held on his course to the north, but was never more heard, of. M
Thus ended the maritime enterprises of Cortes, sufficiently disastrous in a
facilities for transporting across the isthmus, of Ulloa's cruise will be found in Ramusio.
from Vera Cruz, materials to build vessels (Tom. iii. pp. 340-354.) It is by one of the
on the Pacific. Humboldt, Essai politique, officers of the squadron. My limits will not
torn. iv. p. 50. . allow me to give the details of the voyages
14 Instruccion del Marques del Valle, MS. made by Cortes, which, although not without
—The most particular and authentic account interest, were attended with no permanent
HIS VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. 563
pecuniary view, since they cost him three hundred thousand castellanos of
sold, without the return of a ducat.15 He was even obliged to borrow mone}r,
and to pawn his wife's jewels, to procure funds for the last enterprise ; 16 thus
incurring a debt which, increased by the great charges of his princely estab-
lishment, hung about him during the remainder of his life. But, though
disastrous in an economical view, his generous efforts added important contri-
butions to science. In the course of these expeditions, and those undertaken
by Cortes previous to his visit to Spain, the Pacific had been coasted from the
Bay of Panama to the Rio Colorado. The great peninsula of California had
been circumnavigated as far as to the isle of Cedros, or Cerros, into which the
name has since been corrupted. This vast tract, which had been supposed to
be an archipelago of islands, was now discovered to be a part of the continent ;
and its general outline, as appears from the maps of the time, was nearly as
well understood as at the present day.17 Lastly, the navigator had explored
the recesses of the Calif omian Gulf, or Sea of Cortes, as, in honour of the great
discoverer, it is with more propriety named by the Spaniards ; and he had
ascertained that, instead of the outlet before supposed to exist towards the
north, this unknown ocean was locked up within the arms of the mighty con-
tinent. These were results that might have made the glory and satisfied the
ambition of a common man ; but they are lost in the brilliant renown of the
former achievements of Cortes.
• Notwithstanding the embarrassments of the marquis of the Valley, he still
made new efforts to enlarge the limits of discovery, and prepared to fit out
another squadron of five vessels, which he proposed to place under the com-
mand of a natural son, Don Luis. But the viceroy Mendoza, whose imagination
had been inflamed by the reports of an itinerant monk respecting an El Dorado
in the north, claimed the right of discovery in that direction. Cortes protested
against this, as an unwarrantable interference with his own powers. Other sub-
jects of collision arose between them ; till the marquis, disgusted with this per-
petual check on his authority and his enterprises, applied for redress to Castile.18
He finally determined to go there to support his claims in person, and to obtain,
if possible, remuneration for the heavy charges he had incurred by his maritime
expeditions, as well as for the spoliation of his property by the Royal Audience
during his absence from the country ; and, lastly, to procure an assignment of
his vassals on principles more conformable to the original intentions of the
consequences.* A good summary of his IG Provision sobre los Descubrimientos del
expeditions in the Gulf has been given by Sur, MS.
Navarrete in the Introduction to his Relacion " See the map prepared by the pilot Do-
del Viage hecho por las Goletas Sutil y Mexi- mingo del Castillo, in 1541, ap. Lorenzana, p.
cana (Madrid, 1802), pp. vi.-xxvi. ; and the 328.
English reader will find a brief account of ,a In the collection of Vargas Ponce is a
them in Greenhow's valuable Memoir on the petition of Cortes, setting forth his grievances,
North-west Coast of North America (Wash- and demanding an investigation of the vice-
ington, 1840), pp. 22-27. roy's conduct. It is without date. Peticioii
15 Memorial al Rey del Marques del Valle, contra Don Antonio de Mendoza Virrey, pedi-
MS., 25 de Junio, 1540. endo reeidencia contra 61, MS.
* [The restless and determined spirit with Panama" and Leon. Though he has not yet
which Cortes pursued his mainly ineffectual secured the fruits he had expected from his
projects of discovery is exemplified by a letter expeditions, he trusts in God that they will
to the Council of the Indies, September 20, be henceforth attended with better fortune.
1538, begging that body to assist his agents Col.de Doc. ined. relativosal Descubrimiento,
in procuring pilots for him. He has at pre- Conquista y Colonizacion de las Posesionea
sent, he sa3Ts, nine vessels, very good and espaiiolas en America y Oceania, torn. iii.
well equipped, and is only waiting for pilots, — En.]
having tried in vain to obtain some from
564
SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
grant. With these objects in view, he hade adieu to his family, and, taking
Avith him his eldest son and heir, Don Martin, then only eight years of age, he
embarked at Mexico in 1540, and, after a favourable voyage, again set foot on
the shores of his native land.
The emperor was absent from the country. But Cortes was honourably
received in the capital, where ample accommodations were provided for him
and his retinue. When he attended the Royal Council of the Indies to urge
his suit, he was distinguished by uncommon 'marks of respect. The president
went to the door of the hall to receive him, and a seat was provided for him
among the members of the Council.19 But all evaporated in this barren show
of courtesy. Justice, proverbially slow in Spain, did not mend her gait for
Cortes ; and at the expiration of a year he found himself no nearer the attain-
ment of his object than on the first week after his arrival in the capital.
In the following year, 1541, we find the marquis of the Valley embarked as
a volunteer in the memorable expedition against Algiers. Charles the Fifth,
on his return to his dominions, laid siege to that stronghold of the Mediter-
ranean corsairs. Cortes accompanied the forces destined to meet the emperor,
and embarked on board the vessel of the Admiral of Castile. But a furious
tempest scattered the navy, and the admiral's ship was driven a wreck upon
the coast. Cortes and his son escaped by swimming, but the former, in the
confusion of the scene, lost the inestimable set of jewels noticed in the pre-
ceding chapter ; "a loss," says an old writer, " that made the expedition fall
more heavily on the marquis of the Valley than on any other man in the
kingdom, except the emperor."20
It is not necessary to recount the particulars of this disastrous siege, in
which Moslem valour, aided by the elements, set at defiance the combined
forces of the Christians. A council of war was called, and it was decided to
abandon the enterprise and return to Castile. This determination was indig-
nantly received by Cortes, who offered, with the support of the army, to reduce
the place himself ; and he only expressed the regret that he had not a handful
of those gallant veterans bv his side who had served him in the Conquest of
Mexico. But his offers were derided, as those of a romantic enthusiast. He
had not been invited to take part in the discussions of the council of war. It
was a marked indignity ; but the courtiers, weary of the service, were too much
bent on an immediate return to Spain, to hazard the opposition of a man who,
when he had once planted his foot, was never known to raise it again till he
had accomplished his object.21
On arriving in Castile, Cortes lost no time in laying his suit before the
emperor. His applications were received by the monarch with civility,— a
cold civility, which carried no conviction of its sincerity. His position was
materially changed since his former visit to the country. More than ten
years had elapsed, and he was now too well advanced in years to give promise
of serviceable enterprise in future. Indeed, his undertakings of late had been
singularly unfortunate. Even his former successes suffered the disparage-
ment natural to a man of declining fortunes. They were already eclipsed by
the magnificent achievements in Peru, which had poured a golden tide into
the country, that formed a striking contrast to the streams of wealth that as
yet had flowed in but scantily from the silver-mines of Mexico. Cortes had
to learn that the gratitude of a court has reference to the future much more
than to the past. He stood in the position of an importunate suitor whose
19 Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 21 Sandoval, Hist, de Carlos V., lib. 12, cap.
200. 25.— Ferreras (trad. d'Hermilly), Hist. d'Es-
M Gomara, Cronica, cap. 237. pagne, torn. ix. p. 231.
HIS COLD RECEPTION. 565
claims, however just, are too large to be readily allowed. He found, like
Columbus, that it was possible to deserve too greatly.72
In the month of February, 1544, he addressed a' letter to the emperor,— it
was the last he ever wrote him,— soliciting his attention to his suit. He
begins by proudly alluding to his past services to the crown. " He had hoped
that the toils of youth would have secured him repose in his old age. For
forty years he had passed his life with little sleep, bad food, and with his arms
constantly by his side. He had freely exposed his person to peril, and spent
his substance in exploring distant and unknown regions, that he might spread
abroad the name of his sovereign and bring under his sceptre many great and
powerful nations. All this he had done, not only without assistance from
home, but in the face of obstacles thrown in his way by rivals and by enemies
who thirsted like leeches for his blood. He was now old, infirm, and embar-
rassed with debt. Better had it been for him not to have known the liberal
intentions of the emperor, as intimated by his grants ; since he should then
have devoted himself to the care of his estates, and not have been compelled,
as he now was, to contend with the officers of the crown, against whom it was
more diffieult to defend himself than to win the land from the enemy." He
concludes with beseeching his sovereign to " order the Council of the Indies,
with the other tribunals which had cognizance of his suits, to come to a
decision ; since he was too old to wander about like a vagrant, but ought
rather, during the brief remainder of his life, to stay at home and settle liis
account with Heaven, occupied with the concerns of his soul, rather than with
his substance." 23
This appeal to his sovereign, which has something in it touching from a
man of the haughty spirit of Cortes, had not the effect to quicken the deter-
mination of his suit. He still lingered at the court from week to week, and
from month to month, beguiled by the deceitful hopes of the litigant, tasting
all that bitterness of the soul which arises from hope deferred. After three
years more, passed in this unprofitable and humiliating occupation, he resolved
to leave his ungrateful country and return to Mexico.
He had proceeded as far as Seville, accompanied by his son, when he fell
ill of an indigestion, caused, probably, by irritation and trouble of mind.
This terminated in dysentery, and his strength sank so rapidly under the
disease that it was apparent his mortal career was drawing towards its close.
He prepared for it by making the necessary arrangements for the settlement
of his affairs. He had made his will some time before ; and he now executed
it. It is a very long document, and in some respects a remarkable one.
The bulk of his property was entailed to his son, Don Martin, then fifteen
years of age. In the testament he fixes his majority at twenty-five ; but at
twenty his guardians were to allow him his full income, to maintain the state
becoming his rank. In a paper accompanying the will, Cortes specified the
names of the agents to whom he had committed the management of his vast
estates scattered over many different provinces ; and he requests his executors
to confirm the nomination, as these agents have been selected by him from a
knowledge of their peculiar qualifications. Nothing can better show the
22 Voltaire tells us that, one day, Cortes, improbable anecdote I have found no autho-
unable to obtain an audience of the emperor, rity whatever. It served, however, very well
pushed through the press surrounding the to point a moral,— the main thing with the
royal carriage, and mounted the steps; and, philosopher of Ferney.
when Charles inquired " who that man was," " The Letter, dated February 3, 1544, Val-
he replied, "One who has given you more ladolM, may be found entire, in the original,
kingdoms than you had towns before." (Essai in Appendix, Part 2, No. 15.
but les Mceurs, chap. 147.) For this most
566 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
thorough supervision which, in the midst of pressing public concerns, he had
given to the details of his widely-extended property.
He makes a liberal provision for his other children, and a generous allowance
to several old domestics and retainers in his household. By another clause he
gives away considerable sums in charity, and he applies the revenues of his
estates in the city of Mexico to establish and permanently endow three public
institutions, — a hospital in the capital, which was to be dedicated to Our Lady
of the Conception, a college in Cojohuacan for the education of missionaries to
preach the gospel among the natives, and a convent, in the same place, for
nuns. To the chapel of this convent, situated in his favourite town, he orders
that his own body shall be transported for burial, in whatever quarter of the
wrorld he may happen to die.
After declaring that he has taken all possible care to ascertain the amount
of the tributes formerly paid by his Indian vassals to their native sovereigns,
he enjoins on his heir that, in case those which they have hitherto paid shall
be found to exceed the right valuation, he shall restore them a full equivalent.
In another clause he expresses a doubt whether it is right to exact personal
service from the natives, and commands that a strict inquiry shall be made
into the nature and value of such services as he had received, and that in all
cases a fair compensation shall be allowed for them. Lastly, he makes this
remarkable declaration : ..." It has long been a question whether one can con-
scientiously hold property in Indian slaves. Since this point has not yet been
determined, I enjoin it on my son Martin and his heirs that they spare no
pains to come to an exact knowledge of the truth ; as a matter which deeply
concerns the conscience of each of them, no less than mine." 24
Such scruples of conscience, not to have been expected in Cortes, were still less
likely to be met with in the Spaniards of a later generation. The state of
opinion in respect to the great question of slavery, in the sixteenth century,
at the commencement of the system, bears some resemblance to that which
exists in our time, when we may hope it is approaching its conclusion. Las
Casas and the Dominicans of the former age, the abolitionists of their day,
thundered out their uncompromising invectives against the system on the
broad ground of natural equity and the rights of man. The great mass of
proprietors troubled their heads little about the question of right, but were
satisfied with the expediency of the institution. Others, more considerate
and conscientious, while they admitted the evil, found an argument for its
toleration in the plea of necessity, regarding the constitution of the white man
as unequal, in a sultry climate, to the labour of cultivating the soil.25 In one
important respect the condition of slavery in the sixteenth century differed
materially from its condition in the nineteenth. In the former, the seeds of
the evil, but lately sown, might have been, with comparatively little difficulty,
eradicated. But in our time they have struck their roots deep into the social
system, and cannot be rudely handled without shaking the very foundations
-* " Item. Torque acerca de los esclavos y mando & D. Martin mi hijo 6ubcesor, y a
naturales de la dicha Nueva Espafia, asi de los que despues del subcedieren en mi Estado,
guerra como de rescate, ha habido y bay que para averiguar esto bagan todas las dili-
muchas dudas y opiniones sobre si se ban gencias que combengan al descargo de mi
podido tener con buena conciencia 6 no, y conciencia y suyas." Testamentode Hernan
hasta abora no esta determinado : Mando que Cortes, MS.
todo aquello que generalmente se averiguare, ' 25 This is the argument controverted by
que en este caso se debe hacer para descargo Las Casas in his elaborate Memorial addressed
de las conciencias en lo que toca & estos cs- to the government, in 1542, on the best method
clavos de la dicha Nueva Espana, que se haya of arresting the destruction of the aborigines,
y cumpla en todos los que yo ten go, e encargo
DEATH OF CORTES. 567
of the political fabric. It is easy to conceive that a man who admits all the
wretchedness of the institution and its wrong to humanity may nevertheless
hesitate to adopt a remedy until he is satisfied that the remedy itself is not
worse than the disease. That such a remedy will come with time, who can
doubt, that has confidence in the ultimate prevalence of the right and the
progressive civilization of his species 1
Cortes names as his executors, and as guardians of his children, the duke
of Medina Sidonia, the marquis of Astorga, and the count of Aguilar. For
his executors in Mexico, he appoints his wife, the marchioness, the archbishop
of Toledo, and two other prelates. The will was executed at Seville, October
11th, 1547.28
Finding himself much incommoded, as he grew weaker, by the presence of
visitors, to which he was necessarily exposed at Seville, he withdrew to the
neighbouring village of Castilleja de la Cuesta, attended by his son, who
watched over his dying parent with filial solicitude.27 Cortes seems to have
contemplated his approaching end with a composure not always to be found
in those who have faced death with indifference on the field of battle. At
length, having devoutly confessed his sins and received the sacrament, he
expired on the 2nd of December, 1547, in the sixty-third year of his age.28
The inhabitants of the neighbouring country were desirous to show every
mark of respect to the memory of Cortes. His funeral obsequies were cele-
brated with due solemnity by a long train of Andalusian nobles and of the
citizens of Seville, and his body was transported to the chapel of the monas-
tery of San Isidro, in that city, where it was laid in the family vault of the
duke of Medina Sidonia.29 In the year 1562 it was removed, by order of his
son, Don Martin, to New Spain, not, as directed by his will, to Cojohuacan,*
but to the monastery of St. Francis, in Tezcuco, where it was laid by the side
of a daughter, and of his mother, Dofia Catalina Pizarro. In 1629 the remains
of Cortes were again removed ; and on the death of Don Pedro, fourth mar-
quis of the Valley, it was decided by the authorities of Mexico to transfer
them to the church of St. Francis, in that capital. The ceremonial was con-
ducted with the pomp suited to the occasion. A military and religious pro-
cession was formed, with the archbishop of Mexico at its head. He was
accompanied by the great dignitaries of church and state, the various associa-
tions with their respective banners, the several religious fraternities, and the
members of the Audience. The coffin, containing the relics of Cortes, was
covered with black velvet, and supported by the judges of the royal tribunals.
26 This interesting document is in the Royal :s Zuniga, 'Annales de Sevilla, p. 504.—
Archives of Seville ; and a copy of it forma Gomara, Cronica, cap. 237.— In his last letter
part of the valuable collection of Don Vargas to the emperor, dated in February, 1544, be
Ponce. speaks of himseif as being " sixty years of
'" [My friend Mr. Picard has furnished me age." But he probably did not mean to be
■with the copy of an inscription which may be exact to a year. Gomara's statement, that he
seen, or could a few years since, on the house was born in the year 1485 (Cronica, cap. 1),
in which Cortes expired. " Here died, on the is confirmed by Diaz, who tells us that Cortes
second of September, 1544, victim of sorrow used to say that when he first came over to
and misfortune, the renowned Hernan Cortes, Mexico, iu 1519, he was thirty-four years
the glory of our country and the conqueror of old. (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 205.) This
the Mexican empire." It is strange that the would coincide with the age mentioned in the
author of the inscription should have made a text.
blunder of more than three years in the date 20 Noticia del Archivero de la Santa Eclesia
of the hero's death.] de Sevilla, MS.
* [This may be accounted for by the fact cording to Alaman, never been carried out.
that his intention to found a convent at — Ed.]
Cuyoacan, as the place is now called, had, ac-
568 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
On either side of it was a man in complete armour, bearing, on the right, a
standard of pure white, with the arms of Castile embroidered in gold, and, on
the left, a banner of black velvet, emblazoned in like manner with the armo-
rial ensigns of the house of Cortes. Behind the corpse came the viceroy and
a numerous escort of Spanish cavaliers, and the rear was closed by a battalion
of infantry, armed with pikes and arquebuses, and with their banners trailing
on the ground. With this funeral pomp, by the sound of mournful music, and
the slow beat of the muffled drum, the procession moved forward, with measured
pace, till it reached the capital, when the gates were thrown open to receive
the mortal remains of the hero who, a century before, had performed there
such prodigies of valour.
Yet his bones were not permitted to rest here undisturbed ; and in 1794
they were removed to the Hospital of Jesus of Nazareth. It was a more
fitting place, since it was the same institution which, under the name of " Our
Lady of. the Conception," had been founded and endowed by Corte's, and
which, with a fate not too frequent in similar charities, has been administered
to this day on the noble principles of its foundation. The mouldering relics
of the warrior, now deposited in a crystal coffin secured by bars and plates of
silver, were laid in the chapel, and over them was raised a simple monument,
displaying the arms of the family, and surmounted by a bust of the Con-
queror, executed in bronze by Tolsa, a sculptor worthy of the best period
of the arts.30
Unfortunately for Mexico, the tale does not stop here. In 1823, the patriot
mob of the capital, in their zeal to commemorate the era of the national inde-
pendence, and their detestation of the " old Spaniards," prepared to break
open the tomb which held the ashes of Cortes, and to scatter them to the
winds ! The authorities declined to interfere on the occasion ; but the friends
of the family, as is commonly reported, entered the vault by night, and, secretly
removing the relics, prevented the commission of a sacrilege which must have
left a stain, not easy to be effaced, on the scutcheon of the fair city of
Mexico.31 Humboldt, forty years ago, remarked that "we may traverse
Spanish America from Buenos Ayres to Monterey, and in no quarter shall
we meet with a national monument which the public gratitude has raised to
Christopher Columbus or Hernando Cortes." 32 It was reserved for our own
age to conceive the design of violating the repose of the dead and insulting
their remains ! Yet the men who meditated this outrage were not the descen-
dants of Montezuma, avenging the wrongs of their fathers and vindicating
their own rightful inheritance. They were the descendants of the old Con-
querors, and their countrymen, depending on the right of conquest for their
ultimate title to the soil.33
Cortes had no children by his first marriage. By his second he left four ; a
10 The full particulars of the ceremony sin la precaucion de personas despreocupadas,
described in the text may be found in Appen- que deseando evitar el deshonor de su patria
dix, Part 2, No. 16. translated into English por tan reprensible e irreflexivo procedimien-
from a copy of the original document, existing to, lograron ocultarlas de pronto y despues
in the Archives of the Hospital of Jesus, in las remitieron a Italia, a su familia." Di-
Mexico. sertaciones historicas, torn. ii. p. 61.]
31 [The bust of Cortes and the arms of gilt 32 Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 60.
bronze were secretly removed from his monu- 33 [They entertained, says Alaman, the
ment, and sent to his descendant, the duke of rather extravagant idea that, as descendants
Monteleone, at Palermo. The remains of the of the conquering nation, they were the heirs
Conqueror were soon after sent in the same of the rights of the conquered, and bound to
direction, according to Dr. Mora, cited by avenge their wrongs. Conquista de Mejico
Alaman, who does not contradict it: "Aun (trad, de Vega), torn. ii. p. 309.]
6e habrian profanado las cenizas del heroe,
HIS CHARACTER. 569
son, Don Martin,— the heir of his honours, and of persecutions even more
severe than those of his father,34 — and three daughters, who formed splendid
alliances. He left, also, five natural children, whom he particularly mentions
in his testament and honourably provides for. Two of these, Don Martin, the
son of Marina, and Don Luis Cortes, attained considerable distinction, and
were created comendadores of the Order of St. Jago.35
The male line of the marquises of the Valley became extinct in the third
generation. The title and estates descended to a female, and by her marriage
were united with those of the house of Terranova, descendants of the " Great
Captain," Gonsalvo de Cordova.33 By a subsequent marriage they were
carried into the family of the duke of Monteleone, a Neapolitan noble. The
present proprietor of these princely honours and of vast domains, both in the
Old and the New World, dwells in Sicily, and boasts a descent— such as few
princes can boast— from two of the most illustrious commanders of the six-
teenth century, the " Great Captain," and the Conqueror of Mexico.
The personal history of Cortes has been so minutely detailed in the preceding
narrative that it will be only necessary to touch on the more prominent features
of his character. Indeed, the history of the Conquest, as I have already had
occasion to remark, is necessarily that of Cortes, who is, if I may so say, not
merely the soul, but the body, of the enterprise, present everywhere in person,
in the thick of the fight or in the building of the works, with his sword or
with his musket, sometimes leading his soldiers, and sometimes directing his
little navy. The negotiations, intrigues, correspondence, are all conducted by
him ; and, like Caesar, he wrote his own Commentaries in the heat of the
stirring scenes which form the subject of them. His character is marked
with the most opposite traits, embracing qualities apparently the most incom-
patible. He was avaricious, yet liberal ; bold to desperation, yet cautious and
calculating in his plans ; magnanimous, yet very cunning ; courteous and
affable in his deportment, yet inexorably stern ; lax in his notions of morality,
yet (not uncommon) a sad bigot. The great feature in his character was con-
stancy of purpose ; a constancy not to be daunted by danger, nor baffled by
disappointment, nor wearied out by impediments and delays.
He was a knight-errant, in the literal sense of the word. Of all the band
of adventurous cavaliers whom Spain, in the sixteenth century, sent forth on
the career of discovery and conquest, there was none more deeply filled with
the spirit of romantic enterprise than Hernando Cortes. Dangers and diffi*
34 Don Martin Cortes, second marquis of tration.
the Valley, was accused, like his father, of an ** [The illegitimate children were Don
attempt to establish an independent sove- Martin Cortes, Don Luis Cortes, Dona Catalina
reignty in New Spain. His natural brothers, Pizarro (daughter of Dona Leonor Pizarro),
Don Martin and Don Luis, were involved in also two other daughters, Leonor and Maria,
the same accusation with himself, and the born of two Indian women of noble birth,
former— as I have elsewhere remarked— was Alaman, Disertaciones historicas, torn. ii. p.
in consequence subjected to the torture. 48.]
Several others of his friends, on charge of 30 [Sefior Alaman, in reference to this pas-
abet ing his treasonable designs, suffered sage, says, " It is a mistake to suppose that
death. The marquis was obliged to remove the heirs of Cortes and Gonsalvo de Cordova
with his family to Spain, where the investi- were ever united by marriage. The fact ap-
gation was conducted ; and his large estates in pears to be that the title of duke of Terranova,
Mexico were sequestered until the termina- was held by the descendants of both ; but the
tion of the process, a period of seven years, Terranova assigned to the Great Captain was
from 1567 to 1574, when he was declared inno- in Calabria, while the place from which the
cent. But his property suffered irreparable descendants of Cortes took the title was in
injury, under the wretched administration of Sicily." Conquista de Mejico (trad, de Veg.i),
$he royal officers, during the term of seques- torn. ii. p. 308.]
SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
culties, instead of deterring, seemed to have a charm in his eyes. They were
necessary to rouse him to a full consciousness of his powers. He grapplV
with them at the outset, and, if I may so express myself, seemed to prefer t
take his enterprises by the most difficult side. lie conceived, at the first
moment of his landing in Mexico, the design of its conquest. When he saw
the strength of its civilization, he was not turned from his purpose. When he
was assailed by the superior force of Narvaez, he still persisted in it ; and
when he was driven in ruin from the capital, he still cherished his original
idea. How successfully he carried it into execution, we have seen. After the
few years of repose which succeeded the Conquest, his adventurous spirit
impelled him to that dreary march across the marshes of Chiapa, and, after
another interval, to seek his fortunes on the stormy Californian Gulf. When
he found that no other continent remained for him to conquer, he made
serious proposals to the emperor to equip a fleet at his own expense, with
which he would sail to the Moluccas and subdue the Spice Islands for the
crown of Castile ! 37
This spirit of knight-errantry might lead us to undervalue his talents as a
general and to regard, him merely in the light of a lucky adventurer. But
this would be doing him injustice ; for Cortes was certainly a great general,
if that man be one who performs great achievements with the resources which
his own genius has created. There is probably no instance in history where
so vast an enterprise has been achieved by means apparently so inadequate.
He may be truly said to have effected the Conquest by his own resources. If
he was indebted for his success to the co-operation of the Indian tribes, it was
the force of his genius that obtained command of such materials. He arrested
the arm that was lifted to smite him, and made it do battle in his behalf.
He beat the Tlascalans, and made them his stanch allies. He beat the
soldiers of Narvaez, and doubled his effective force by it. When his own men
deserted him, he did not desert himself. He drew them back by degrees, and
compelled them to act by his will, till they were all as one man. He brought
together the most miscellaneous collection of mercenaries who ever fought
under one standard ; adventurers from Cuba and the Isles, craving for gold ;
hidalgos, who came from the old country to win laurels ; broken-down cava-
liers, who hoped to mend their fortunes in the New World ; vagabonds flying
from justice ; the grasping followers of Narvaez, and his own reckless veterans,
— men with hardly a common tie, and burning with the spirit of jealousy and
faction ; wild tribes of the natives from all parts of the country, who had* been
sworn enemies from their cradles, and who had met only to cut one another's
throats and to procure victims for sacrifice ; men, in short, differing in race,
in language, and in interests, with scarcely anything in common among them.
Yet this motley congregation was assembled in one camp, compelled to bend
to the will of one man, to consort together in harmony, to breathe, as it were,
one spirit, and to move on a common principle of action ! It is in this won-
derful power over the discordant masses thus gathered under his banner that
we.Tecognize the genius of the great commander, no less than in the skill of
his military operations.
His power over the minds of his soldiers was a natural result of their con-
:iT "Yo me ofresco ;L descubrir pur aqui
tucla la especeria, . y otras Islas si.huviere
c?rca de Moluco, 6 Melaca, y la China, y aun
dedar talorden que V. M. noaiga laespe$eria
for via de rescate, como la ha el Rey de Por-
tugal, sino que la tenga por cosa propria, y
los naturales de aquellas Islas le reconoscan
y sirvan como & su Hey y senor natural, por-
que yo me ofresco con el dicho additamento
de embiar a ellas tal armada, 6 ir yo con mi
persona por manera que la sojusge y pueble."
Carta Quinta de Cortes, MS,
HIS CHARACTER. 571
fidence in his abilities. But it is also to be attributed to his popular manners,
—that happy union of authority and companionship which fitted him for the
command of a band of roving adventurers. It would not have done for him
to fence himself round with the stately reserve of a commander of regular
forces. He was embarked with his men in a common adventure, and nearly
on terms of equality, since he held his commission by no legal warrant. But,
while he indulged this freedom and familiarity with his soldiers, he never
allowed it to interfere with their strict obedience nor to impair the severity of
discipline. When he had risen to higher consideration, although he affected
more state, he still admitted his veterans to the same intimacy. " He pre-
ferred," says Diaz, "to be called ' Cortes' by us, to being called by any title ;
and with good reason," continues the enthusiastic old cavalier, " for the name
of Cortes is as famous in our day as was that of Csesar among the Romans,
or of Hannibal among the Carthaginians."38 He showed the same kind
regard towards his ancient comrades in the very last act of his life. For he
appropriated a sum by his will for the celebration of two thousand masses for
the souls of those who had fought with him in the campaigns of Mexico.39
His character has been unconsciously traced by the hand of a master :
" And oft the chieftain deigned to aid
And mingle in the mirth they made ;
For, th< >ugh with men of high degree
The proudest of the proud was he,
Yet, trained in camps, he knew the art
To win the soldiers' hardy heart.
They love a captain to obey,
Boisterous as March, yet fresh as May :
With open hand, and brow as free,
Lover of wine and minstrelsy ;
Ever the first to scale a tower,
As venturous in a lady's bower ; —
Such buxom chief shall lead his host
From India's fires to Zembla's frost."
Cortes, without much violence, might have sat for this portrait of Marmion.
Cortes was not a vulgar conqueror. He did not conquer from the mere
ambition of conquest. If he destroyed the ancient capital of the Aztecs, it
was to build up a more magnificent capital on its ruins. If he desolated the
land and broke up its existing institutions, he employed the short period of
his administration in digesting schemes for introducing there a more improved
culture and a higher civilization. In all his expeditions he was careful to
study the resources of the country, its social organization, and its physical
capacities. He enjoined it on his captains to attend particularly to these
objects. If he was greedy of gold, like most of the Spanish cavaliers in the
New World, it was not to hoard it, nor merely to lavish it in the support of a
** The comparison to Hannibal is better quieti datum ; ea neque molli strato, neque
founded than the old soldier probably im- silentio arcessita. Multi sajpe militari sagulo
agined. Livy's description of the Carthaginian opertum, humi jacentem, inter custodias sta-
warrior has a marvellous application to Cortes, tionesque militum, conspexerunt. Vestitus
—better, perhaps, than that of the imaginary nihil inter requales excellens ; arma atque
personage quoted a few lines below in the equi conspiciebantur. Equitum peditumque
text. "Plurimum audacia? ad pericula ca- idem longe primus erat ; princeps in prcelium
pessenda, plurimum consilii inter ipsa peri- ibat ; ultiuius conserto prcelio excedebat."
cula erat: nullo labore aut corpus fatigari, (Hist., lib. xxi. sec. 5.) The reader who re-
aut animus vinci poterat. Caloris ac frigoris fleets on the fate of Guatemozin may possibly
patientia par : cibi potionisque desiderio na- think that the extract should have embraced
turali, non voluptate, modus finitus : vigilia- the "perfidia plus quam Punica," in the suc-
rum somnique nee die, nee nocte discriminata ceeding sentence,
tempora. Id, quod gerendis rebus superesset, " Testamento de Heman Cortes, MS.
572 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
princely establishment, but to secure funds for prosecuting his glorious dis-
coveries. Witness his costly expeditions to the Gulf of California. His
enterprises were not undertaken solely for mercenary objects ; as is shown by
the various expeditions he set on foot for the discovery of a communication
between the Atlantic and the Pacific. In his schemes of ambition he showed
a respect for the interests of science, to be referred partly to the natural
superiority of his mind, but partly, no doubt, to the influence of early educa-
tion. It is, indeed, hardly possible that a person of his wayward and mer-
curial temper should have improved his advantages at the University ; but he
brought away from it a tincture of scholarship seldom found among the cava-
liers of the period, and which had its influence in enlarging his own concep-
tions. His celebrated Letters are written with a simple elegance that, as I ]
have already had occasion to remark, have caused them to be compared to the
military narrative of Caesar. It will not be easy to find in the chronicles of
the period a more concise yet comprehensive statement, not only of the events
of his campaigns, but of the circumstances most worthy of notice in the
character of the conquered countries.
Cortes was not cruel ; at least, not cruel as compared with most of those
who followed his iron trade. The path of the conqueror is necessarily marked
with blood. He was not too scrupulous, indeed, in the execution of his plans.
He swept away the obstacles which lay in his track ; and his fame is darkened
by the commission of more than one act which his boldest apologists will find
it hard to vindicate. But he was not wantonly cruel. He allowed no out-
rage on his unresisting foes. This may seem small praise ; but it is an excep-
tion to the usual conduct of his countrymen in their conquests, and it is
something to be in advance of one's time. He was severe, it may be added,
in enforcing obedience to his orders for protecting their persons and their
property. With his licentious crew, it was, sometimes, not without a hazard
that he was so. After the Conquest, he sanctioned the system of reparti-
mientos ; but so did Columbus. He endeavoured to regulate it by the most
humane laws, and continued to suggest many important changes for amelio-
rating the condition of the natives. The best commentary on his conduct in
this respect is the deference that was shown him by the Indians, and the con-
fidence with which they appealed to him for protection in all their subsequent
distresses.
In private life he seems to have had the power of attaching to himself
warmly those who were near his person. The influence of this attachment is
shown in every page of Bernal Diaz, though his work was written to vindicate
the claims of the soldiers in opposition to" those of the general. He seems to
have led a happy life with his first wife, in their humble retirement in Cuba,
and regarded the second, to judge from the expressions in his testament, with
confidence and Jove. Yet he cannot be acquitted from the charge of those
licentious gallantries which entered too generally into the character of the
military adventurer of that day. He would seem also, by the frequent suits
in which he was involved, to have been of an irritable and contentious spirit.
But much allowance must be made for the irritability of a man who had been
too long accustomed to independent sway, patiently to endure the checks and
control of the petty spirits who were incapable of comprehending the noble
character of his enterprises. "He thought," says an eminent writer, "to
silence his enemies by the brilliancy of the new career on which he had
entered. He did not reflect that these enemies had been raised by the very
grandeur and rapidity of his success." 40 He was rewarded for his efforts by
40 HumboliU, Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 267.
HIS CHARACTER. 573
the misinterpretation of his motives ; by the calumnious charges of squander-
ing the public revenues and of aspiring to independent sovereignty. But,
although we may admit the foundation of many of the grievances alleged by
Cortes, yet, when we consider the querulous tone of his correspondence and
the frequency of his litigation, we may feel a natural suspicion that his proud
spirit was too sensitive to petty slights and too jealous of imaginary wrongs.
One trait more remains to be noticed in the character of this remarkable
man ; that is, his bigotry, the failing of the age,— for surely it should be
termed only a failing.41 When we see the hand, red with the blood of the
wretched native, raised to invoke the blessing of Heaven on the cause which
it maintains, we experience something like a sensation of disgust at the act,
and a doubt of its sincerity. But this is unjust. We should throw ourselves
back (it cannot be too often repeated) into the age, — the age of the Crusades.
For every Spanish cavalier, however sordid and selfish might be his private
motives, felt himself to be the soldier of the Cross. Many of them would
have died in defence of it. Whoever has read the correspondence of Cortes,
or, still more, has attended to the circumstances of his career, will hardly
doubt that he would have been among the first to lay down his life for the
Faith. He more than once perilled life, and fortune, and the success of his
whole enterprise, by the premature and most impolitic manner in which he
would have forced conversion on the natives.48 To the more rational spirit of
the present day, enlightened by a purer Christianity, it may seem difficult
to reconcile gross deviations from morals with such devotion to the cause of
religion. But the religion taught in that day was one of form and elaborate
ceremony. In the punctilious attention to discipline, the spirit of Christianity
was permitted to evaporate. The mind, occupied with forms, thinks little of
substance. In a worship that is addressed too exclusively to the senses, it
is often the case that morality becomes divorced from "religion, and the
measure of righteousness is determined by the creed rather than by the
conduct.
In the early part of the History I have given a description of the person
of Cortes.48 It may be well to close this review of his character by the
account of his manners and personal habits left us by Bernal Diaz, the old
chronicler, who has accompanied us through the whole course of our narrative,
and who may now fitly furnish the conclusion of it. No man knew his com-
mander better ; and, if the avowed object of his work might naturally lead to
a disparagement of Cortes, this is more than counterbalanced by the warmth
of his personal attachment, and by that esprit de corps which leads him to
take a pride in the renown of his general.
" In his whole appearance and presence," says Diaz, " in his discourse, his
table, his dress, in everything, in short, he had the air of a great lord. His
clothes were in the fashion of the time ; he set little value on silk, damask,
41 An extraordinary anecdote is related by amazement of the Indians." Hist, de los tres
Cavo of this bigotry (shall we call it policy ?) ttgloa, torn. i. p. 151.
of Cortes. " In Mexico," says the historian, „ „ ., R infinitas tierras
" it. is mmmnnlv rprwvrtnrl t W after tl,« fl™. Al P-ty lnIln.UaS "crras'
'« it is commonly reported that after the Con
quest he commanded that on Sundays and
Y a Dios infinitas almas,
holidays all should attend, under pain of a says Lope de Vega, commemorating in this
certain number of stripes, to the expounding couplet the double glory of Cortes. It is the
of the Scriptures. The general was himself light in which the Conquest was viewed by
guilty of an omission on one occasion, and, every devout Spaniard of the sixteenth
after having listened to the admonition of the century.
priest, submitted, with edifying humility, to ** Ante, p. 118.
be chastised by him, to the unspeakable
574 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CORTES.
or velvet, but dressed plainly and exceedingly neat ; 44 nor did he wear massy
chains of gold, but simply a fine one, of exquisite workmanship, from which
was suspended a jewel having the figure of our Lady the Virgin and her
precious Son, with a Latin motto cut upon it. On his finger he wore a splen-
did diamond ring ; and from his cap, which, according to the fashion of that
day, was of velvet, hung a medal, the device of which I do not remember.
He was magnificently attended, as became a man of his rank, with chamber-
lains and major-domos and many pages ; and the service of his table was
splendid, with a quantity of both gold and silver plate. At noon he dined
heartily, drinking about a pint of wine mixed with water. He supped well,
though he was not dainty in regard to his food, caring little for the delicacies
of the table, unless, indeed, on such occasions as made attention to these
matters of some consequence.45
"He was acquainted with Latin, and, as I have understood, was made
Bachelor of Laws ; and when he conversed with learned men who addressed
him in Latin, 4ie answered them in the same language. He was also some-
thing of a poet ; his conversation was agreeable, and he had a pleasant
elocution. In his attendance on the services of the Church he was most
punctual, de*vout in his manner, and charitable to the poor.46
" When he swore, he used to say, ' On my conscience ; ' and when he was
vexed with any one, ' Evil betide you.' With his men he was very patient ;
and they were sometimes impertinent and even insolent. When very angry,
the Veins in his throat and forehead would swell, but he uttered no reproaches
against either officer or soldier.
" He was fond of cards and dice, and, when he played, was always in good
humour, indulging freely in jests and repartees. He was affable with his
followers, especially with those who came over with him from Cuba. In his
campaigns he paid strict attention to discipline, frequently going the rounds
himself during the night, and seeing that the sentinels did their duty. He
entered the quarters of his soldiers without ceremony, and chided those whom
he found without their arms and accoutrements, saying, * It was a bad sheep
that could not carry its own wool.' On the expedition to Honduras he
acquired the habit of sleeping after his meals, feeling unwell if he omitted
it ; and, however sultry or stormy the weather, he caused a carpet or his cloak
to be thrown under a tree, and slept soundly for some time. He was frank
and exceedingly liberal in his disposition, until the last few years of his life,
when he was accused of parsimony. But we should consider that his funds
were employed on great and costly enterprises, and that none of these, after
the Conquest, neither his expedition to Honduras nor his voyages to Cali-
fornia, were crowned with success. It was perhaps intended that he shoiuY
receive his recompense in a better world ; and I fully believe it ; for he ws
a good cavalier, most true in his devotions to the Virgin, to the Apostle St
Peter, and to all the other Saints." 47
Such is the portrait, which has been left to us by the faithful hand most
competent to trace it, of Hernando Cortes, the Conqueror of Mexico.
** So Gomara: "He dressed neatly rather 48 He dispensed a thousand ducats everj
than richly, and was always scrupulously year in his ordinary charities, according tc
clean." Cronica, cap. 238. Gomara. " Grandisimo limosnero ; dabacad,
45 (i pug muj gran comedor, i templado en un ano mil ducados de limosna ordinaria.
cl beber, teniendo abundancia. Sufriamucho Ibid., ubi supra,
la hambre con necesidad." Ibid., ubi supra. " Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 203.
APPENDIX.
PART I.
ORIGIN OF THE MEXICAN CIVILIZATION.
PRELIMINARY NOTICE.
The following Essay was originally designed to close the Introductory Book,
to which it properly belongs. It was written three years since, at the same
time with that part of the work. I know of no work of importance, having
reference to the general subject of discussion, which has appeared since that
Seriod, except Mr. Bradford's valuable treatise on American Antiquities.
kit in respect to that part of the discussion which treats of American Archi-
tecture a most important contribution has been made by Mr. Stephens's two
works, containing the account of his visits to Central America and Yucatan,
and especially by the last of these publications. Indeed, the ground, before
so imperfectly known, has now been so diligently explored that we have all the
light, which we can reasonably expect, to aid us in making up our opinion in
regard to the mysterious monuments of Yucatan. It only remains that the
exquisite illustrations of Mr. Catherwood should be published on a larger scale,
like the great works on the subject in France and England, in order to exhibit
to the eye a more adequate representation of these magnificent ruins than can
be given in the limited compass of an octavo page.
But, notwithstanding the importance of Mr. Stephens's researches, I have
not availed myself of them to make any additions to the original draft of this
Essay, nor have I rested my conclusions in any instance on his authority.
These 'conclusions had been formed from a careful study of the narratives of
Dupaix and Waldeck, together with that of their splendid illustrations of the
remains of Palenque and Uxmal, two of the principal places explored by Mr.
Stephens ; and the additional facts collected by him from the vast field which
he has surveyed, so far from shaking my previous deductions, have only
served to confirm them. The only object of my own speculations on these
remains was to ascertain their probable origin, or rather to see what light, if
any, they could throw on the origin of Aztec Civilization. The reader, on
comparing my reflections with those of Mr. Stephens in the closing chapters
of his two works, will see that I have arrived at inferences, as to the origin
and probable antiquity of these structures, precisely the same as his. Con-
clusions formed under such different circumstances serve to corroborate each
other ; and, although the reader will find here some things which would have
been different had I been guided by the light now thrown on the path, yet I
prefer not to disturb the foundations on which the argument stands, nor to
impair its value— if it has any— as a distinct and independent testimony.
APPENDIX, PAET I,
ORIGIN OF THE MEXICAN CIVILIZATION— ANALOGIES WIT]
THE OLD WORLD.
When the Europeans first touched the shores of America, it was as if they
had alighted on another planet,— everything there was so different from what
they had before seen. They were introduced to new varieties of plants, and to
unknown races of animals ; while man, the lord of all, was equally strange,
in complexion, language, and institutions.1 It was what they emphatically
styled it, — a New World. Taught by their faith to derive all created beings
from one source, they felt a natural perplexity as to the manner in which
these distant and insulated regions could have obtained their inhabitants.
The same curiosity was felt by their countrymen at home, and the European
scholars bewildered their brains with speculations on the best way of solving
this interesting problem.
In accounting for the presence of animals there, some imagined that the two
hemispheres might once have been joined in the extreme north, so as to have
afforded an easy communication.2 Others, embarrassed by the difficulty of
transporting inhabitants of the tropics across the Arctic regions, revived the
old story of Plato's Atlantis, that huge island, now submerged, which might
have stretched from the shores of Africa to the eastern borders of the new
continent ; * while they saw vestiges of a similar convulsion of nature in the
1 The names of many animals in the New
World, indeed, have been frequently borrowed
from the Old; but the species are very
different. " When the Spaniards landed in
America," says an eminent naturalist, "they
did not find a single animal they were ac-
quainted with ; not one of the quadrupeds of
Europe, Asia, or Africa." Lawrence, Lec-
tures on Physiology, Zoology, and the Natural
History of Man (London, 1819), p. 250.
a Acosta, lib. 1, cap. 16.
* [The existence at some former period of
such an island, or rather continent, sefms to
be regarded by geologists as a well-attested
fact. But few would admit that its subsidence
can have taken place through any sudden
convulsion or within the period of human
existence. Svfch, however, is the theory
maintained by M. Brasseur de Bourbourg,
who dates the event " six or seven thousand
years ago," and believes that the traditions
of it have been faithfully preserved. This is
the great cataclysm with which all mythology
begins. It may be traced through the myths
of Greece, Egypt, India, and America, all
being identical and having a common origin.
It is the subject of the Teo-Amoxtli, of which
several of the Mexican manuscripts, the
Borgian and Dresden Codices in particular, are
the hieroglyphical transcriptions, and of which
"the actual letter," "in the Nahuatlac lan-
guage," is found in a manuscript in Boturini's
Collection. This manuscript is " in appear-
ance" a history of the Toltecs and of the
Kings of Colhuacan and Mexico; but "under
the ciphers of a fastidious chronology, under
the recital more or less animated of the Tol tec
history, are concealed the profoundest myste-
ries concerning the geological origin of the
world in its existing form and the cradle of
the religions of antiquity." The Toltecs are
"telluric powers, agents of the subterranean
fire ; " they are identical with the Cabiri, who
reappear as the Cyclops, having "hollowed
an eye in their forehead ; that is to say, raised
themselves with masses of earth above the
surface and filled the craters of the volcanoes
with fire." " The Chichimecs and the Aztecs
are also symbolical names, borrowed from tha
ORIGIN OF MEXICAN CIVILIZATION. 579
green islands sprinkled over the Pacific, once the mountain summits of a vast
continent, now buried beneath the waters.3 Some, distrusting the existence
of revolutions of which no record was preserved, supposed that animals might
have found their way across the ocean by various means ; the birds of stronger
wing by flight over the narrowest spaces ; while the tamer kinds of quadrupeds
might easily have been transported by men in boats, and even the more fero-
cious, as tigers, bears, and the like, have been brought over, in the same
manner, when young, " for amusement and the pleasure of the chase " ! 4
Others, again, maintained the equally probable opinion that angels, who had,
doubtless, taken charge of them in the ark, had also superintended their dis-
tribution afterwards over the different parts of the globe.5 Such were the
extremities to which even thinking minds were reduced, in their eagerness to
reconcile the literal interpretation of Scripture with the phenomena of nature !
The philosophy of a later day conceives that it is no departure from this sacred
authority to follow the suggestions of science, by referring the new tribes of
animals to a creation, since the deluge, in those places for which they were
clearly intended by constitution and habits.6
Man would not seem to present the same embarrassments, in the discussion,
as the inferior orders. He is fitted by nature for every climate, the burning
sun of the tropics and the icy atmosphere of the North. He wanders indiffe-
rently over the sands of the desert, the waste of polar snows, and the pathless
ocean. Neither mountains nor seas intimidate him, and, by the aid of mecha-
nical contrivances, he accomplishes journeys which birds of boldest wing would
perish in attempting. Without ascending to the high northern latitudes,
where the continents of Asia and America approach within fifty miles of each
other, it would be easy for the inhabitant of Eastern Tartary or Japan to
£teer his canoe from islet to islet, quite across to the American shore, without
ever being on the ocean more than two days at a time.7 The communication
is somewhat more difficult on the Atlantic side. But even there, Iceland was
occupied by colonies of Europeans many hundred years before the discovery
* Count Carli shows much ingenuity and plainly intimates his belief that, "as by God's
learning in support of the famous Egyptian command, at the time of the creation, the
tradition, recorded by Plato in his " Tiniseus," earth brought forth the living creature after
—of the good faith of which the Italian philo- his kind, so a similar process must have taken
sopher nothing doubts. Lettres Americ, place after the deluge, in islands too remote
torn. ii. let. 36-39. to be reached by animals from the continent."
* Garcia, Orfgen de los Indios de el nuevo De Civitate Dei, ap. Opera (Parisiis, 1636),
Mundo (Madrid, 1729), cap. 4. torn. v. p. 987.
5 Torquemada, Monarch, lnd., lib. 1, cap. 8. 7 Beechey, Voyage to the Pacific and Beer-
0 Prichard, Researches into the Physical ing's Strait (London, 1831), Part 2, Appendix.
History of Mankind (London, 1826), vol. i. —Humboldt, Examen critique de l'Histoire
p. 81, et seq.— He may find an orthodox de la Geographie du Nouveau - Continent
authority of respectable antiquity, for a (Paris, 1837), torn. ii. p. 58.
similar hypothesis, in St. Augustine, who
forces of nature." Tollan, " the marshy or the two mediterraneans hollowed out by the
reedy place," was "the low fertile region" cataclysm, and in the islands, great and
now covered by the Gulf of Mexico. Quet- 6mall, which separate them from the ocean."
zalcoatl is "merely the personification of the (Quatre Lettres sur le Mexique.) There can
land swallowed up by the ocean." Tlapallan, be no refutation of such a theory, or of the
Aztlan, and other names are similarly ex- assumptions on which it rests ; but it may be
plained. Osiris, Pan, Hercules, and Bacchus proper to remark that its author has not suc-
have their respective parts assigned to them ; ceeded in deciphering a single uieroglyphical
for " not only all the sources of ancient my- character, and has published no translation of
thology, but even the most mysterious details, the real or supposed Teo-Amoxtli,— a point on
even the obscurest enigmas, with which that which some misapprehension seems to exist,
mythology is enveloped, are to be sought in — Erx]
580 APPENDIX.
by Columbus ; and the transit from Iceland to America is comparatively easy.8
Independently of these channels, others were opened in the Southern hemi-
sphere, by means of the numerous islands in the Pacific. The population of
America is not nearly so difficult a problem as that of these little spots. But
experience shows how practicable the communication may have been, even with
such sequestered places.9 The savage has been picked up in his canoe, after
drifting hundreds of leagues on the open ocean, and sustaining life, for months,
by the rain from heaven, and such fish as he could catch.10 The instances are
not very rare ; and it would be strange if these wandering barks should not
sometimes have been intercepted by the great continent which stretches across
the globe, in unbroken continuity, almost from pole to pole. No doubt, history
could reveal to us more than one example of men who, thus driven upon the
American shores, have mingled their Lblood with that of the primitive races
who occupied them.
The real difficulty is not, as with the animals, to explain how man could
have reached America, but from what quarter he actually has reached it. In
surveying the whole extent of the New World, it was found to contain two
great families, one in the lowest stage of civilization, composed of hunters, and
another nearly as far advanced in refinement as the semi-civilized empires of
Asia. The more polished races were probably unacquainted with the existence
of each other on the different continents of America, and had| as little inter-
course with the barbarian tribes by Avhom they were surrounded. Yet they
had some things in common both with these last and with one another, which
remarkably distinguished them from the inhabitants of the Old World. They
had a common complexion and physical organization,— at least, bearing a
more uniform character than is found among the nations of any other quarter
of the globe. They had some usages and institutions in common, and spoke
languages of similar construction, curiously distinguished from those in the
Eastern hemisphere.
Whence did the refinement of these more polished races come ? Was it
only a higher development of the same Indian character which we see, in the
more northern latitudes, defying every attempt at permanent civilization 'I
Was it engrafted on a race of nigher order in the scale originally, but self-
instructed, working its way upward by its own powers ? Was it, in short, an
indigenous civilization ? or was it borrowed in some degree from the nations
in the Eastern World ? If indigenous, how are we to explain the singular
coincidence with the East in institutions and opinions ? If Oriental, how
* Whatever skepticism may have been chap. 8.
entertained as to the visit of the Northmen, in 10 The eloquent Lyell closes an enumera-
the eleventh century, to the coasts of the tion of some extraordinary and well-attested
great continent, it is probably set at rest in instances of this kind with remarking, "Were
the minds of most scholars since the publica- the whole of mankind now cut off, with the
tion of the original documents by the Koyal exception of one family, inhabiting the old
Society at Copenhagen. (See, in particular, or new continent, or Australia, or even some
Antiquitates Americana? (Hafnia1, 1837), pp. coral islet of the Pacific, we should expect
79-200.) How far south they penetrated is their descendants, though they should never
not so easily settled. become more enlightened than the South Sea
s The most remarkable example, probably, Islanders or the Esquimaux, to spread, in the
of a direct intercourse between remote points course of ages, over the whole earth, diffused
is furnished us by Captain Cook, who found partly by the tendency of population to
the inhabitants of New Zealand not only with increase beyond the means of subsistence in a
the same religion, but speaking the same limited district, and partly by the accidental
language, as the people of Otaheite, distant drifting of canoes by tides and currents to
more than 2000 miles. The comparison of the distant shores." Principles of Geology (Lon-
two vocabularies establishes the fact. Cook's don, 1832), vol. ii. p. 121.
Voyages (Dublin, 1784), vol. i. book 1,
ORIGIN OF MEXICAN CIVILIZATION. 581
shall we account for the great dissimilarity in language, and for the ignorance
of some of the most simple and useful arts, which, once known, it would seem
scarcely possible should have been forgotten? This is the riddle of the
Sphinx, which no (Edipus has yet had the ingenuity to solve. It is, however,
a question of deep interest to every curious and intelligent observer of his
species. And it has accordingly occupied the thoughts of men, from the first
discovery of the country to the present time ; when the extraordinary monu-
ments brought to light in Central America have given a new impulse to
inquiry, by suggesting the probability — the possibility, rather — that surer
evidences than any hitherto known might be afforded for establishing the fact
of a positive communication with the other hemisphere.
It is not my intention to add many pages to the volumes already written on
this inexhaustible topic. The subject— as remarked by a writer of a philo-
sophical mind himself, and who has done more than any other for the solution
of the mystery — is of too speculative a nature for history, almost for philo-
sophy.11 But this work would be incomplete without affording the reader the
means of judging for himself as to the true sources of the peculiar civilization
already described, by exhibiting to him the alleged points of resemblance with
the ancient continent. In doing this, I shall confine myself to my proper
subject, the Mexicans, or to what, in some way or other, may have a' bearing
on this subject ; proposing to state only real points of resemblance, as they
are supported by evidence, and stripped, as far as possible, of the illusions
with which they have been invested by the pious credulity of one party, and
the visionary system-building of another.
An obvious analogy is found in cosmogonal traditions and religious usages.
The reader has already been made acquainted with the Aztec system of four
great cycles, at the end of each of which the world was destroyed, to be again
regenerated.12 The belief in these periodical convulsions of nature, through
the agency of some one or other of the elements, was familiar to many countries
in the Eastern hemisphere; and, though varying in detail, the general
resemblance of outline furnishes an argument in favour of a common origin.13
No tradition has been more widely spread among nations than that of a
Deluge. Independently of tradition, indeed, it would seem to be naturally
suggested by the interior structure of the earth, and by the elevated places
on which marine substances are found to be deposited. It was the received
notion, under some form or other, of the most civilized people in the Old
World, and of the barbarians of the New.14 The Aztecs combined with this
some particular circumstances of a more arbitrary character, resembling the
f» " "La question generate de la premiere civilization.
origine des habitans d'un continent est au- l< The Chaldean and Hebrew accounts ol
dela des liuiites prescrites a l'histoire ; peut- the Deluge are nearly the same. The parallel
etre meme n'est-elle pas une question philo- is pursued in Palfrey's»ingenious Lectures on
sophique." Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. the Jewish Scriptures and Antiquities (Boston,
i. p. 349. 1S40), vol. ii. lect. 21, 22. Among the pagan
" Ante, p. 31. writers, none approach so near to the Scrip-
13 The fanciful division of time into four or ture narrative as Lucian, who, in his account
five cycles or ages was found among the of the Greek traditions, speaks of the ark, and
Hindoos (Asiatic Researches, vol. ii. mem. 7), the pairs of different kinds of animals. (De
the Thibetians (Humboldt, Vues des Cordil- Dea Syria, sec. 12.) The same thing is found
leres, p. 210), the Persians (Bailly, Traite de in the Bhagawatn Purana, a Hindoo poem of
l'Astronomie (Paris, 1787), torn. i. discours great antiquity. (Asiatic Researches, vol. ii.
preliminaire), the Greeks (Hesiod, "Epya Kai mem. 7.) The simple tradition of a universal
•H/xepcu, v. 108, et eeq.), and other people, inundation was preserved among most ot the
doubtless. The five ages in the Grecian aborigines, probably, of the Western \\ orld.
cosmogony had reference to moral rather See McCullob, Researches, p. 147.
than physical phenomena,— a proof of higher
582
APPENDIX.
accounts of the East. They believed that two persons survived the Deluge,—
a man, named Coxcox, and his wife. Their heads are represented in ancient
paintings, together with a boat floating on the waters, at the foot of a
mountain. A dove is also depicted, with the hieroglyphical emblem of
languages in his mouth, which he is distributing to the children of Coxcox,
who were born dumb.15 The neighbouring people of Michoacan, inhabiting
the same high plains of the Andes, had a still further tradition, that the boat
in which Tezpi, their Noah, escaped, was filled with various kinds of animals
and birds. After some time, a vulture was sent out from it, but remained
feeding on the dead bodies of the giants, which had been left on the earth, as
the waters subsided. The little humming-bird, huitzitzilin, was then sent
forth, and returned with a twig in its mouth. The coincidence of both these
accounts with the Hebrew and Chaldean narratives is obvious. It were to be
wished that the authority for the Michoacan version were more satisfactory.16
On the way between Vera Cruz and the capital, not far from the modern
city of Puebla, stands the venerable relic— with which the reader has become
familiar in the course of the narrative — called the temple of Cholula. It is,
as he will remember, a pyramidal mound, built, or rather cased, with unburnt
brick, rising to the height of nearly one hundred and eighty feet. The popular
tradition of the natives is that it was erected by a family of giants, who had
escaped the great inundation and designed to raise the building to the clouds ;
but the gods, offended with their presumption, sent fires from heaven on the
pyramid, and compelled them to abandon the attempt.17 The partial coinci-
dence of this legend with the Hebrew account of the tower of Babel, received
also by other nations of the East, cannot be denied.18 But one who has not
15 This tradition of the Aztecs is recorded
in an ancient hieroglyphical map, first pub-
lished in Genielli Carreri's Giro del Mondo.
(See torn. vi. p. 38, Napoli, 1700.) Its authen-
ticity, as well as the integrity of Carreri him-
self, on which some suspicions have been
thrown (see Robertson's America (London,
1796), vol. iii. note 26), has been successfully
vindicated by Boturini, Clavigero, and Hum-
boldt, all of whom trod in the steps of the
Italian traveller. (Boturini, Idea, p. 54. —
Humboldt, Vues des Cordilleres, pp. 223, 224.
— Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. i. p. 24.)
The map is a copy from one in the curious
collection of Siguenza. It has all the cha-
racter of a genuine Aztec picture, with the
appearance of being retouched, especially in
the costumes, by some later artist. The
painting of the four ages, in the Vatican
Codex, No. 3730, represents, also, the two
figures in the boat, escaping, the great cata-
clysm. Antiq. of Mexico, vol. i. PI. 7.
1S I have met with no other voucher for
this remarkable tradition than Clavigero
(Stor. del Messico, dissert. 1), a good, though
certainly not the best, authority, when
he gives us no reason for our faith. Hum-
boldt, however, does not distrust the tradition.
(See Vues des Cordilleres, p. 226.) He is not
so skeptical as Vater; who, in allusion to
the stories of the Flood, remarks, " I have
purposely omitted noticing the resemblance
of religious notions, for I do not see how it is
possible to separate from such views every
influence of Christian ideas, if it be only from
an imperceptible confusion in the mind of
the narrator." Mithridates, oder allgemeine
Sprachenkunde (Berlin, 1812), Theil iii. Ab-
theil. 3, p. 82, note.
17 This story, so irreconcilable with the
vulgar Aztec tradition, which admits only two
survivors of the Deluge, was still lingering
among the natives of the place on M. de Hum-
boldt's visit there. (Vues des Cordilleres,
pp. 31, 32.) It agrees with that given by the
interpreter of the Vatican Codex (Antiq. of
Mexico, vol. vi. p. 192, et seq.); a writer —
probably a monk of the sixteenth century—
in whom ignorance and dogmatism contend
for mastery. See a precious specimen of
both, in his account of the Aztec chronology,
in the very pages above referred to.
18 A tradition, very similar to the Hebrew
one, existed among the Chaldeans and the
Hindoos. (Asiatic Researches, vol. iii. mem.
16.) The natives of Chiapa, also, according
to the bishop Nunez de la Vega, had a story,
cited as genuine by Humboldt (Vues des Cor-
dilleres, p. 148), which not only agrees with
the Scripture account of the manner in which
Babel was built, but with that of the subse-
quent dispersion and the confusion of tongues.
A very marvellous coincidence! But who
shall vouch for the authenticity of the tradi-
tion ? The bishop flourished towards the
close of the seventeenth century. He drew
his information from hieroglyphical maps,
and an Indian MS., which Boturini in vain
endeavoured to recover. In exploring these,
In borrowed the aid of the natives, who, as
ORIGIN OF MEXICAN CIVILIZATION. 583
examined the subject will .scarcely credit what bold hypotheses have been
reared on this slender basis.
Another point of coincidence is found in the goddess Cioacoatl, " our lady
and mother ;" " the first goddess who brought forth ; " "who bequeathed the
sufferings of childbirth to women, as the tribute of death ; " " by whom sin
came into the world." Such was the remarkable language applied by the
Aztecs to this venerated deity. She was usually represented with a serpent
near her ; and her name signified the " serpent- woman." In all this we see
much to remind us of the mother of the human family, the Eve of the Hebrew
and Syrian nations.19
But none of the deities of the country suggested such astonishing analogies
with Scripture as Quetzalcoatl, with whom the reader has already been made
acquainted.20 He was the white man, wearing a long beard, who came from
the East, and who, after presiding over the golden age of Anahuac, disappeared
as mysteriously as he had come, on the great Atlantic Ocean. As he promised
to return at some future day, his reappearance was looked for with confidence
by each succeeding generation. There is little in these circumstances to
remind one of Christianity. But the curious antiquaries of Mexico found out
that to this god were to be referred the institution of ecclesiastical communi-
ties, reminding one of the monastic societies of the Old World ; that of the
rites of confession and penance ; and the knowledge even of the great doctrines
of the Trinity and the Incarnation ! 21 One party, with pious industry,
accumulated proofs to establish his identity with the Apostle St. Thomas ; 22
while another, with less scrupulous faith, 'saw, in his anticipated advent to
regenerate the nation, the type, dimly veiled, of the Messiah ! 23
Yet we should have charity for the missionaries who first landed in this
world of wonders, where, while man and nature wore so strange an aspect,
they were astonished by occasional glimpses of rites and ceremonies which
reminded them of a purer faith. In their amazement, they did not reflect
whether these things were not the natural expression of the religious feeling
common to all nations who have reached even a moderate civilization. They
did not inquire whether the same things were not practised by other idolatrous
Boturini informs us, frequently led the good' representing a garden with a single tree in it,
man into errors and absurdities ; of which he round which was coiled the serpent with a
gives several specimens. (Idea, p. 116, et human face! (Hist, antig., lib. 1, cap. 1.)
seq.)— Boturini himself has fallen into an After this we may be prepared for Lord
error equally great, in regard to a map of Kingsborough's deliberate conviction that the
this same Cholulan pyramid, which Clavigero " Aztecs had a clear knowledge of the Old
shows, far from being a genuine antique, was Testament, and, most probably, of the New,
the forgery of a later day. (Stor. del Mcssico, though somewhat corrupted by time and
torn. i. p. 130, nota.) It is impossible to get hieroglyphics"! Antiq. of Mexico, vol. vi.
a firm footing in the quicksands of tradition. p. 409.
The further we are removed from the Con- 20 Ante, pp. 29, 30.
quest, the more difficult it becomes to decide 21 Veytia, Hist. Antig., lib. 1, cap. 15.
what belongs to the primitive Aztec and what " Ibid., lib. 1, cap. 19.— A sorry argument,
to the Christian convert. even for a casuist. See, also, the elaborate
ia Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, lib. 1, dissertation of Dr. Mier (apud Sahagun, lib. 3,
cap. 6 ; lib. 6, cap. 28, 33.— Torquemada, not Supleni.), which settles the question entirely
content with the honest record of his pre- to the satisfaction of his reporter, Bustamante.
decessor, whose MS. lay before him, tells us Q3 See, among others, Lord Kingsborough's
that the Mexican Eve had two sons, Cain reading of the Borgian Codex, and the inter-
and Abel. (Monarch. Ind., lib. 6, cap. 31.) preters of the Vatican (Antiq. of Mexico,
The ancient interpreters of the Vatican and vol. vi., explan. of PL 3, 10,41), equally well
Tellerian Codices add the further tradition of skilled with his lordship— and Sir Hudibras—
her bringing sin and sorrow into the world by in unravelling mysteries
plucking the forbidden rose (Antiq. of Mexico, M Wh e imitive tradition reaches
vol. vi., explan. of PI. 7, 20) ; and Veytia re- A f £ Adam>s first greea breeches."
members to have seen a Toltec or Aztec map &
584
APPENDIX.
people. They could not suppress their wonder, as they beheld the Cross, the
sacred emblem of their own faith, raised as an object of worship in the temples
of Anahuac. They met with it in various places ; and the image of a cross may
be seen at this day, sculptured in bas-relief, on the walls of One of the buildings
of Palenque, while a figure bearing some resemblance to that of a child is held
up to it, as if in adoration.24
Their surprise was heightened when they witnessed a religious rite which
reminded them of the Christian communion. On these occasions an image of
the tutelary deity of the Aztecs was made of the flour of maize, mixed with
blood, and, after consecration by the priests, was distributed among the people,
who, as they ate it, "showed signs of humiliation and sorrow, declaring it was
the flesh of the deity ! " 25 How could the Roman Catholic fail to recognize
the awful ceremony of the Eucharist ?
With the same feelings they witnessed another ceremony, that of the Aztec
baptism ; in which, after a solemn invocation, the head and lips of the infant
were touched with water, and a name was given to it; while the goddess
Cioacoatl, who presided over childbirth, was implored "that the sin which
was given to us before the beginning of the world might not visit the child,
but that, cleansed by these waters, it might live and be born anew ! " 26
length : " When everything necessary for
24 Antiquites Mexicaines, exped. 3, PI. 36.
—The figures are surrounded by hieroglyphics
of most arbitrary character, perhaps phonetic.
(See, also, Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib.
3, cap. l.— Gomara, Cronica de la Nueva-
Espana, cap. 15, ap. Barcia, torn, ii.) Mr.
Stephens considers that the celebrated " Co-
zumel Cross," preserved at Merida, which
claims the credit of being the same originally
worshipped by the natives of Cozumel, is,
after all, nothing but a cross that was erected
by the Spaniards in one of their own temples
in that island after the Conquest. This fact
he regards as "completely invalidating the
strongest proof offered at this day that the
Cross was recognized by the Indians as a
symbol of worship." (Travels in Yucatan,
vol. ii. chap. 20.) But, admitting the truth
of this statement, that the Cozumel Cross is
only a Christian relic, which the ingenious
traveller has made extremely probable, his
inference is by no means admissible. Nothing
could be more natural than that the friars in
Merida should endeavour to give celebrity to
their convent by making it the possessor of
so remarkable a monument as the very relic
which proved, in their eyes, that Christianity
had been preached at some earlier date among
the natives. But the real proof of the exist-
ence of the Cross, as an object of worship, in
the New World, does not rest on such spu-
rious monuments as these, but on the un-
equivocal testimony of the Spanish dis-
coverers themselves.
25 " Lo recibian con gran reverencia, humi-
liacion, y Wgrimas, diciendo que comian la
came de su Dios." Veytia, Hist, antig., lib.
1, cap. 18. — Also, Acosta, lib. 5, cap. 24.
■" Ante, p. 32. — Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-
Espafia, lib. 6, cap. 37. — That the reader
may see for himself how like, yet how un-
like, the Aztec rite was to the Christian, I
give the translation of Sahagun's account, at
the baptism had been made ready, all the re-
lations of the child were assembled, and the
midwife, who was the person that performed
the rite of baptism, was summoned. At early
dawn, they met together in the court-yard of
the house. When the sun had risen, the
midwife, taking the child in her arms, called
for a little earthen vessel of water, while
those about her placed the ornaments which
had been prepared for the baptism in the
midst of the court. To perform the rite of
baptism, she placed herself with her face
towards the west, and immediately began to
go through certain ceremonies. . . . After
this she sprinkled water on the head of the
infant, saying, 40 my child ! take and receive
the water of the Lord of the world, which is
our life, and is given for the increasing and
renewing of our body. It is to wash and to
purify. 1 pray that these heavenly drops
may enter into your body, and dwell there ;
that they may destroy and remove from you
all the evil and sin which was given to you
before the beginning of the world ; since all
of us are under its power, being all the chil-
dren of Chalchivitlycue ' [the goddess of water].
She then washed the body of the child with
water, and spoke in this manner: ' Whence-
soever thou comest, thou that art hurtful to
this child, leave him and depart from him,
for he now liveth anew, and is born anew ;
now he is purified and cleansed afresh, and
our mother Chalchivitlycue again bringeth
him into the world.' Having thus prayed,
the midwife took the child in both hands,
and, lifting him towards heaven, said, ' 0
Lord, thou seest here thy creature, whom
thou hast sent into this world, this place of
sorrow, suffering, and penitence. Grant him,
0 Lord, thy gifts, and thine inspiration, for
thou art the great God, and with thee is the
great goddess.' Torches of pine were kept
ORIGIN OF MEXICAN CIVILIZATION.
m
It is true, these several rites were attended with many peculiarities, very
unlike those in any Christian church. But the fathers fastened their eyes
exclusively on the points of resemblance. They were not aware that the
Cross was a symbol of worship, of the highest antiquity, in Egypt and Syria,21
and that rites resembling those of communion 2S and baptism were practised
by pagan nations on whom the light of Christianity had never shone.29 In
their amazement, they not only magnified what they saw, but were perpetually
cheated by the illusions of their own heated imaginations. In this they were
admirably assisted by their Mexican converts, proud to establish— and half
believing it themselves— a correspondence between their own faith and that of
their conquerors.30
The ingenuity of the chronicler was taxed to find out analogies between the
Aztec and Scripture histories, both old and new. The migration from Aztlan
to Anahuac was typical of the Jewish exodus.31 The places where the
Mexicans halted on the inarch were identified with those in the journey of
the Israelites ; 32 and the name of Mexico itself was found to be nearly iden-
tical with the Hebrew name for the Messiah.33 The Mexican hieroglyphics
afforded a boundless field for the display of this critical acuteness. The most
remarkable passages in the Old and New Testaments were read in their
mysterious characters ; and the eye ol faith could trace there the whole story
of the Passion, the Saviour suspended from the cross, and the Virgin Mary
with her attendant angels ! 34
The Jewish and Christian schemes were strangely mingled together, and
burning during the performance of these
ceremonies. When these things were ended,
they gave the child the name of some one of
his ancestors, in the hope that he might shed
a new lustre over it. The name was given
by the same midwife, or priestess, who bap-
tized him."
** Among Egyptian symbols we meet with
several specimens of the Cross. One, accord-
ing to Justus Lipsius, signified "life to
come." (See his treatise, De Cruce (Lutetia;
Tarisiorum, 1598), lib. 3, cap. 8.) Wo find
another in Champollion's catalogue, which he
interprets "support or saviour." (Precis,
torn, ii., Tableau gen., Nos. 277, 348.) Some
curious examples of the reverence paid to
this sign by the ancients have been collected
by McCulloh (Researches, p. 330, et seq.),
and by Humboldt, in his late work, Geo-
graphie du Nouveau-Continent, torn. ii. p.
354, et seq.
38 " Ante, Deos homini quod conciliare valeret
Far erat,"
says Ovid. (Fastorum, lib. 1, v. 337.) Count
Carli has pointed out a similar use of con-
secrated bread, and wine or water, in the
Greek and Egyptian mysteries. (Lettres
Arneric., torn. i. let. 27.) See, also, McCulloh,
Researches, p. 240, et seq.
*3 "Water for purification and other reli-
gious rites is frequently noticed by the clas-
sical writers. Thus Euripides :
(/"A-yvois KaOapfxoli TrpwTc'i nv vi^l/at 0i\u>.
Od\aa<xa K\v£e< travra Tuvtfpui7ru)i/ nana."
Iphio. ix Talk., yv. 1192, 1194.
The notes on this place, in the admirahle
Variorum edition of Glasgow, 1821, contain
references to several passages of similar im-
port in different authors.
° The difficulty of obtaining anything like
a faithful report from the natives is the sub-
ject oi complaint from more than one writer,
and explains the great care taken by Sa-
hagun to compare their narratives with each
ottier. See Hist, de Nueva-Espafia. Piologo,
— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., Prot.,-
Boturini, Idea, p. 116.
'" The parallel was so closely pressed by
Torquemada that he was compelled to sup-
press the chapter containing it, on the pub-
lication of his book. See the Proemio to the
edition of 1723, sec. 2.
w "The devil," says Herrera, "chose to
imitate, in everything, the departure of the
Israelites from Egypt, and their subsequent
wanderings." (Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 3,
cap. loo But a11 tnat nas Deea done ^y
monkish annalist and missionary to establish
the parallel with the children of Israel falls
far short of Lord Kingsborough's learned
labours, spread over nearly two hundred folio
pages. (See Autiq. of Mexico, torn. vi. pp.
282-410.) Quantum inane!
":* The word ITgfD, from which is derived
Christ, " the anointed," is still more nearly—
not "precisely," as Lord Kingsborough states
(Antiq. of Mexico, vol. vi. p. J 86)— identical
with that of Mexi, or Mesi, the chief who
was said to have led the Aztecs on the plains
of Anahuac.
il Interp. of Cod. Tel.-Rem. et Vat., Antiq.
of Mexico, vol.vi.— Sahagun, Hist.de Nueva-
Espafia, lib. 3, Suplem.— Veytia, Hist, antig.,
lib. 1, cap. 16.
U 2
586 APPENDIX.
the brains of the good fathers were still further bewildered by the mixture of
heathenish abominations which were so closely intertwined with the most
orthodox observances. In their perplexity, they looked on the whole as the
delusion of the devil, who counterfeited the rites of Christianity and the tra-
ditions of the chosen people, that lie might allure his wretched victims to their
own destruction.35
But, although it is not necessary to resort to this startling supposition, nor
even to call up an apostle from the dead, or any later missionary, to explain
the coincidences with Christianity, yet these coincidences must be allowed to
furnish an argument in favour of some primitive communication with that
great brotherhood of nations on the old continent, among whom similar ideas
have been so widely diffused. The probability of such a communication,
especially with Eastern Asia, is much strengthened by the resemblance of
sacerdotal institutions, and of some religious rites, as those of marriage,36 and
the burial of the dead ; 37 by the practice of human sacrifices, and even of
cannibalism, traces of which are discernible in the Mongol races ; 38 and, lastly,
by a conformity of social usages and manners, so striking that the description
of Montezuma's court may well pass for that of the Grand Khan's, as depicted
by Maundeville and Marco Polo.39 It would occupy too much room to go
into details in this matter, without which, however, the strength of the argu-
ment cannot be felt, nor fully established. It has been done by others ; and
an occasional coincidence has been adverted to in the preceding chapters.
It is true, we should be very slow to infer identity, or even correspondence,
between nations, from a partial resemblance of habits and institutions.
Where this relates to manners, and is founded on caprice, it is not more con-
clusive than when it flows from the spontaneous suggestions of nature, common
to all. The resemblance, in the one case, may be referred to accident ; in the
other, to the constitution of man. But there are certain arbitrary pecu-
liarities, which, when found in different nations, reasonably suggest the idea
of some previous communication between them. Who can doubt the exist-
ence of an affinity, or, at least, intercourse, between tribes who had the same
strange habit of burying the dead in a sitting posture, as was practised to
some extent by most, if not all, of the aborigines, from Canada to Pata-
gonia?40 The habit of burning the dead, familiar to both Mongols and
:!3 This opinion finds favour with the best 39 Marco Polo notices a civilized people in
Spanish and Mexican writers, from the Con- South-eastern China, and another in Japan,
quest downwards. Solis sees nothing im- who drank the blood and ate the flesh of their
probable in the fact that " the malignant in- captives, esteeming it the most savoury food
fluence, so frequently noticed in sacred his- in the world,— "la piii saporita et migliore,
tory, should be found equally in profane." che si possa truovar al mondo." (Viaggi,
Hist, de la Conquista, lib. 2, cap. 4. lib. 2, cap. 75 ; lib. 3, 13, 14.) The Mongols,
3S The bridal ceremony of the Hindoos, in according to Sir John Maundeville, regarded
particular, contains curious points of analogy the ears " sowced in vynegre " as a particular
with the Mexican. (See Asiatic Researches, dainty. Voiage, chap. 23.
vol. vii. mem. 9.) The institution of a nu- :,J Marco Polo, Viaggi, lib. 2, cap. 10.—
merous priesthood, with the practices of con- Maundeville, Voiage, cap. 20, et alibi. — See,
fession and penance, was familiar to the Tar- also, a striking parallel between the Eastern
tar people. (Maundeville, Voiage, chap. 23.) Asiatics and Americans, in the Supplement
And monastic establishments were found in to Ranking's "Historical Researches;" a
Thibet and Japan from the earliest ages. work embodying many curious details of
Humboldt, Vues des Cordilleres, p. 179. Oriental history and manners in support of a
37 " Doubtless," says the ingenious Carli, whimsical theory,
"the fashion of burning the corpse, collect- 40 Morton, Crania Americana (Philadelphia,
ing the ashes in a vase, burying them under 1839), pp. 224-246. — The industrious author
pyramidal mounds, with the immolation of establishes this singular fact by examples
wives and servants at the funeral, all remind drawn from a great number of nations in
one of the customs of Egypt and Hindostan." North and South America.
Lettres Arueric, torn. ii. let. 10.
ORIGIN OF MEXICAN CIVILIZATION.
537
Aztecs, is in itself but slender proof of a common origin. The body must be
disposed of in some way ; and this, perhaps, is as natural as any other. But
when to this is added the circumstance of collecting the ashes in a vase and
depositing the single article of a precious stone along with them, the coinci-
dence is remarkable.41 Such minute coincidences are not unfrequent ; while
the accumulation of those of a more general character, though individually of
little account, greatly strengthens the probability of a communication with
the East.
A proof of a higher kind is found in the analogies of science. We have
seen the peculiar chronological system of the Aztecs ; their method of dis-
tributing the years into cycles, and of reckoning by means of periodical series,
instead of numbers. A similar process was used by the various Asiatic
nations of the Mongol family, from India to Japan. Their cycles, indeed,
consisted of sixty, instead of fifty-two, years; and for the terms of their
periodical series they employed the names of the elements and the signs of
the zodiac, of which latter tne Mexicans, probably, had no knowledge. But
the principle was precisely the same.42
A correspondence quite as extraordinary is found between the hieroglyphics
used by the Aztecs for the signs of the days, and those zodiacal signs which
the Eastern Asiatics employed as one of the terms of their series. The
symbols in the Mongolian calendar are borrowed from animals. Four of the
twelve are the same as the Aztec. Three others are as nearly the same as
the different species of animals in the two hemispheres would allow. The
remaining five refer to no creature then found in Anahuac.43 The resem-
blance went as far as it could.44 The similarity of these conventional symbols
among the several nations of the East can hardly fail to carry conviction of a
41 Gomara, Cronica de la Nueva-Espafia,
cap. 202, ap. Barcia, torn, ii.— Clavigero, Stor.
del Messico, torn. i. pp. 94, 95. — McCulloh
(Researches, p. 198), who cites the Asiatic
Researches. — Dr. McCulloh, in his single
volume, has prohably brought together a
larger mass of materials for the illustration
of the aboriginal history of the continent
than any other writer in the language. In
the selection of his facts he has shown much
sagacity, as well as industry ; and, if the
formal and somewhat repulsive character of
the style has been unfavourable to a popular
interest, the work must always have an in-
terest for those who are engaged in the study
of the Indian antiquities. His fanciful specu-
lations on the subject of Mexican mythology
may amuse those whom they fail to convince.
•■ Ante, p. 53, et seq.
43 This will be better shown by enumerating
the zodiacal signs, used as the names of the
years by the Eastern Asiatics. Among the
Mongols, these were — 1, mouse; 2, ox; 3,
leopard ; 4, hare ; 5, crocodile ; 6, serpent ;
7, horse; 8, sheep; 9, monkey; 10, hen;
11, dog; 12, hog. The Mantchou Tartars,
Japanese, and Thibetians have nearly the
same terms, substituting, however, for No. 3,
tiger ; 5, dragon ; 8, goat. In the Mexican
signs for the names of the days we also meet
with hare, serpent, monkey, dog. Instead of
the "leopard," "crocodile," and "hen," —
neither of which animals was known in
Mexico at the time of the Conquest— we find
the ocelotl, the lizard, and the eagle.— The
lunar calendar of the Hindoos exhibits a cor-
respondence equally extraordinary. Seven
of the terms agree with those of the Aztecs,
namely, serpent, cane, -razor, path of the sun,
dog's tail, house. (Humboldt, Vues des
Cordilleres, p. 152.) These terms, it will be
observed, are still more arbitrarily selected,
not being confined to animals ; as, indeed, the
hieroglyphics of the Aztec calendar were
derived indifferently from them, and other
objects, like the signs of our zodiac. These
scientific analogies are set in the strongest
light by M. de Humboldt, and occupy a large
and, to the philosophical inquirer, the most
interesting portion of his great work. (Vues
des Cordilleres, pp. 125-194.) He has not
embraced in his tables, however, the Mongol
calendar, which affords even a closer approxi-
mation to the Mexican than that of the other
Tartar races. Comp. Ranking, Researches,
pp. 370, 371, note.
" There is some inaccuracy in Humboldt's
definition of the ocelotl as "the tiger," "the
jaguar." (Ibid., p. 159.) It is smaller than
the jaguar, though quite as ferocious, and is
as graceful and : beautiful as the leopard,
which it more nearly resembles. It is a
native of New Spain, where the tiger is not
known. (See Buffon, Histoire naturelle
(Paris, An VIII), torn, ii., vox Ocelotl.) The
adoption of this latter name, therefore, in the
Aztec calendar, leads to an inference some-
what exaggerated.
58S APPENDIX.
common origin for the system as regards them. Why should not a similar
conclusion be applied to the Aztec calendar, which, although relating to days
instead of years, was, like the Asiatic, equally appropriated to chronological
uses and to those of divination 1 45
I shall pass over the further resemblance to the Persians, shown in the
adjustment of time by a similar system of intercalation ; 46 and to the Egyp-
tians, in the celebration of the remarkable festival of the winter solstice ; 47
since, although sufficiently curious, the coincidences might be accidental, and
add little to the weight of evidence offered by an agreement in combinations
of so complex and artificial a character as those before stated.
Amid these intellectual analogies, one would expect to meet with that of
language, the vehicle of intellectual communication, which usually exhibits
traces of its origin even when the science and literature that are embodied
in it have widely diverged. No inquiry, however, has led to less satisfactory
results. The languages spread over the Western continent far exceed in
number those found in any equal population in the Eastern.48 They exhibit
the remarkable anomaly of differing as widely in etymology as they agree in
organization ; and, on the other hand, while they bear some slight affinity to
the languages of the Old World in the former particular, they have no resem-
blance to them whatever in the latter.49 The Mexican was spoken for an
extent of three hundred leagues. But within the boundaries of New Spain
more than twenty languages were found ; not simply dialects, but, in many
instances, radically different.50 All these idioms, however, with one exception,
conformed to that peculiar synthetic structure by which every Indian dialect
appears to have been fashioned, from the land of the Esquimaux to Terra
del Puego ; 51 a system which, bringing the greatest number of ideas within
the smallest possible compass, condenses whole sentences into a single word,52
45 Both the Tartars and the Aztecs indicated 48 Philologists have, indeed, detected two
the year by its sign; as the "year of the curious exceptions, in the Congo and primi-
ihare" or " rabbit," etc. The Asiatic signs, tive Basque; from which, however, the Indian
likewise, far from being limited to the years languages differ in many essential points,
and months, presided also over days, and See Du Ponceau's Report, ap. Transactions of
even hours. (Humboldt, Vues des Cordilleres, the Lit. and Hist. Committee of the Am. Phil,
p. 165.) The Mexicans had also astrological Society, vol. i.
symbols appropriated to the hours. Gama, E0 Vater (Mithridates, Theil iii. Ahtheil. 3,
Description, Parte 2, p. 117. p. 70), who fixes on the Rio Gila and the
"6 Ante, p. 53, note. Isthmus of Darien as the boundaries within
47 Achilles Tatius notices a custom of the which traces of the Mexican language were
Egyptians, — who, as the sun descended to- to be discerned. Clavigero estimates the
wards Capricorn, put on mourning, but, as number of dialects at thirty-five. I have
the days lengthened, their fears subsided, used the more guarded statement of M. de
they robed themselves in white, and, crowned Humboldt, who adds that fourteen of these
with flowers, gave themselves up to jubilee, languages have been digested into dictionaries
like the Aztecs. This account, transcribed and grammars. Essai politique, torn. i. p.
by Carli's French translator, and by M. de 352.
Humboldt, is more fully criticised by M. Jo- 51 No one has done so much towards es-
mard in the Vues des Cordilleres, p. 309, tablishing this important fact as that esti-
et seq. mable scholar, Mr. Du Ponceau. And the
4* Jefferson (Notes on Virginia (London, frankness with which he has admitted the
1787), p. 164), confirmed by Humboldt (Essai exception that disturbed his favourite hypo-
politique, torn. i. p. 353). Mr. Gallatin thesis shows that he is far more wedded to
comes to a different conclusion. (Transac- science than to system. See an interesting
tions of American Antiquarian Society (Cam- account of it, in his prize essay before the
■bridge, 1336), vol. ii. p. 161.) The great Institute, Memoire sur le Systeme grammati-
number of American dialects and languages cale des Langues de quelques Nations
is well explained by the unsocial nature of Indiennes de l'Amerique. (Paris, 1838.)
a hunter's life, requiring the country to be ■■ The Mexican language, in particular, is
parcelled out into small and separate terri- most flexible ; admitting of combinations so
toriae for the means of subsistence. easily that the most simple ideas are often
ORIGIN OF MEXICAN CIVILIZATION. 589
displaying a curious mechanism, in which some discern the hand of the
philosopher, and others only the spontaneous efforts of the savage.53
The etymological affinities detected with the ancient continent are not
very numerous, and they are drawn indiscriminately from all the tribes
scattered over America. On the whole, more analogies have been found with
the idioms of Asia than of any other quarter. But their amount is too incon-
siderable to balance the opposite conclusion inferred by a total dissimilarity
of structure.54 A remarkable exception is found in the Othomi or Otomi
language, which covers a wider territory than any other but the Mexican in
New Spain,55 and which, both in its monosyllabic composition, so different
from those around it, and in its vocabulary, shows a very singular affinity to
the Chinese.58 The existence of this insulated idiom in the heart of this vast
continent offers a curious theme for speculation, entirely beyond the province
of history.
The American languages, so numerous and widely diversified, present an
immense field of inquiry, which, notAvithstanding the labours of several dis-
tinguished philologists, remains yet to be explored. It is only after a wide
comparison of examples that conclusions founded on analogy can be trusted.
The difficulty of making such comparisons increases with* time, from the
facility which the peculiar structure of the Indian languages affords for new
combinations ; while the insensible influence of contact with civilized man,
in producing these, must lead to a still further distrust of our conclusions.
The theory of an Asiatic origin for Aztec civilization derives stronger con-
firmation from the light of tradition, which, shining steadily from the far
North-west, pierces through the dark shadows that history and mythology
have alike thrown around the traditions of the country. Traditions of a
Western or North-western origin were found among the more barbarous
tribes,57 and by the Mexicans were preserved both orally and in their hiero-
glyphical maps, where the different stages of their migration are carefully
noted. But who, at this day, shall read them?58 They are admitted to
buried under a load of accessories. The forms this rude nation of warriors, who, imperfectly
of expression, though picturesque, were thus reduced by the Aztec arms, roamed over the
made exceedingly cumbrous. A "priest," high lands north of the Valley of Mexico,
for example, was called notlazomahuizteopix- 56 See Najera's Dissertatio De Lingua Otho-
catcUzin, meaning " venerable minister of mitorum, ap. Transactions of the American
God, that I love as my father." A still more Philosophical Society, vol. v. New Series. —
comprehensive word is amatlacuilolitquitca- The author, a learned Mexican, has given
tlaztlahuitli, signifying "the reward given a most satisfactory analysis of this remark-
to a messenger who bears a hieroglyphical able language, which stands alone among the
map conveying intelligence." idioms of the New World, as the Basque —
63 See, in particular, for the latter view of the solitary wreck, perhaps, of a primitive
the subject, the arguments of Mr. Gallatin, in age— exists among those of the Old.
his acute and masterly disquisition on the " Barton, p. 92. — Heckewelder, chap. 1,
Indian tribes ; a disquisition that throws ap. Transactions of the Hist, and Lit. Corn-
more light on the intricate topics of which it mittee of the Am. Phil. Soc, vol. i. — The
treats than whole volumes that have pre- various traditions have been assembled by
ceded it. Transactions of the American M. Warden, in the Antiquites Mexicaines,
Antiquarian Society, vol. ii., Introd., sec. 6. part 2, p. 185, et seq.
M This comparative anatomy of the Ian- | ^58 The recent work ofMr.Delafield (Inquiry
guages of the two hemispheres, begun by into the Origin of the Antiquities of America
Barton (Origin of the Tribes and Nations of (Cincinnati, 1839) ) has an engraving of one
America (Philadelphia, 1797)), has been ex- of these maps, said to have been obtained by
tended by Vater (Mithridates, Theil iii. Mr. Bullock from Boturini's collection. Two
Abtheil. 1, p. 348, et seq.). A selection of such are specified on page 10 of that anti-
the most striking analogies may be found, quary's Catalogue. This map has all the
also, in Malte Brun, book 75, table. appearance of a genuine Aztec painting, of
55 Othomi, from otho, "stationary," and mi, the rudest character. We may recognize,
"nothing." (Najera, Dissert., id infra.} indeed, the symbols of some dates and places,
The etymology intimates the condition of with others denoting the aspect of the country,
590
APPENDIX.
agree, however, in representing the populous North as the prolific hive of the
American races.59 In this quarter were placed their Aztlan and their Hue-
huetlapallan, — the bright abodes of their ancestors, whose warlike exploits
rivalled those which the Teutonic nations have recorded of Odin and the
mythic heroes of Scandinavia. From this quarter the Toltecs, the Chichi-
mecs, and the kindred races of the Nahuatlacs came successively up the great
plateau of the Andes, spreading over its hills and valleys, down to the Gulf
of Mexico.60
Antiquaries have industriously sought to detect some still surviving traces of
these migrations. In the north-western districts of New Spain, at the distance
of a thousand miles from the capital, dialects have been discovered showing-
intimate affinity with the Mexican.61 Along the Rio Gila, remains of popu-
lous towns are to be seen, quite worthy of the Aztecs in their style of archi-
tecture.62 The country north of the great Rio Colorado has been imperfectly
explored ; but in the higher latitudes, in the neighbourhood of Nootka, tribes
still exist whose dialects, both in the termination and general sound of the
words, bear considerable resemblance to the Mexican.63 Such are the ves-
tiges, few, indeed, and feeble, that still exist to attest the truth of traditions
which themselves have remained steady and consistent through the lapse of
centuries and the migrations of successive races.
The conclusions suggested by the intellectual and moral analogies with
Eastern Asia derive considerable support from those of a physical nature.
The aborigines of the Western world were distinguished by certain peculiari-
ties of organization, which have led physiologists to regard them as a separate
race. These peculiarities are shown in their reddish complexion, approaching
whether fertile o? barren, a state of war or
peace, etc. But it is altogether too vague,
and we know too little of the allusions, to
gather any knowledge from it of the course
of the Aztec migration. — Gemelli Carreri's
celebrated chart contains the names of many
places on the route, interpreted, perhaps, by
Siguenza himself, to whom it belonged (Giro
del Mondo, torn. vi. p. 56) ; and Clavigero has
endeavoured to ascertain the various localities
with some precision. (Stor. del Messico, torn.
i. p. 160, et seq.) But, as they are all within
the boundaries of New Spain, and, indeed,
south of the Rio Gila, they throw little light,
of course, on the vexed question of the
primitive abodes of the Aztecs.
03 This may be fairly gathered from the
agreement of the traditionary interpretations
of the maps of the various people of Anahuae,
according to Veytia; who, however, admits
that it is "next to impossible," with the
lights of the present day, to determine the
precise route taken by the Mexicans. (Hist,
antig., torn. i. cap. 2.) Lorenzana is not so
modest. "Los Mexicanos por tradiciou
vinieron por el norte," says he, "y se saben
ciertamente sus mansiones." (Hist, de Nueva-
Espana, p. 81, nota.) There are some anti-
quaries who see best in the dark.
"' Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 2,
et seq. — Idem, Relaciones, MS. — Veytia, Hist,
antig., ubi supra. — Torquemada, Monarch.
Ind., torn. i. lib. 1.
01 In the province of Sonora, especially
along the Californian Gulf. The Cora lan-
guage, above all, of which a regular grammar
has been published, and which is spoken in
New Biscay, about 30° north, so much re-
sembles the Mexican that Vater refers them
both to a common stock. Mithridates, Theil
iii. Abtheil. 3, p. 143.
62 On the southern bank of this river are
ruins of large dimensions, described by the
missionary Pedro Font on his visit there in
1775. (Antiq. of Mexico, vol. vi. p. 538.)—
At a place of the same name, Casas Grandes,
about 33° north, and, like the former, a sup-
posed station of the Aztecs, still more ex-
tensive remains are to be found ; large enough,
indeed, according to a late traveller, Lieut.
Hardy, for a population of 20,000 or 30,000
souls. The country for leagues is covered
with these remains, as well as with utensils
of earthen-ware, obsidian, and other relics.
A drawing which the author has given of a
painted jar or vase may remind one of the
Etruscan. "There were, also, good speci-
mens of earthen images in the Egyptian
style," he observes, "which are, to me at
least, so perfectly uninteresting that I was at
no pains to procure any of them." (Travels
in the Interior of Mexico (London, 1829), pp.
464-466.) The lieutenant was neither a Bo-
turini nor a Belzoni.
c Vater has examined the languages of
three of these nations, between 50° and 60°
north, and collated their vocabularies with
the Mexican, showing the probability of a
common origin of many of the words in each.
Mithridates, Theil iii. Abtheil. 3, p. 212.
ORIGIN OF MEXICAN CIVILIZATION
591
a cinnamon colour ; their straight, black, and exceedingly glossy hair : their
beard thin, and usually eradicated ; 64 their high cheek-bones, eyes obliquely
directed towards the temples, prominent noses, and narrow foreheads falling
backwards with a greater inclination than those of any other race except the
African.05 From this general standard, however, there are deviations, in the
same manner, if not to the same extent, as in other quarters of the globe,
though these deviations do not seem to be influenced by the same laws of local
position.66 Anatomists, also, have discerned in crania disinterred from the
mounds, and in those of the inhabitants of the high plains of the Cordilleras,
an obvious difference from those of the more barbarous tribes. This is seen
especially in the ampler forehead, intimating a decided intellectual superiority.67
These characteristics are found to bear a close resemblance to those of the
Mongolian family, and especially to the people of Eastern Tartary ; 63 so that,
notwithstanding certain differences recognized by physiologists, the skulls of
the two races could not be readily distinguished from one another by a common
observer. No inference can be surely drawn, however, without a wide range
of comparison. That hitherto made has been chiefly founded on specimens
from the barbarous tribes.69 Perhaps a closer comparison with the more
civilized may supply still stronger evidence of affinity.70
e* The Mexicans are noticed by M. de
Humboldt as distinguished from the other
aborigines whom he had seen, by the quan-
tity both of beard and moustaches. (Essai
politique, torn. i. p. 361.) The modern Mexi-
can, however, broken in spirit and fortunes,
bears as little resemblance, probably, in
physical as in moral characteristics to his
ancestors, the fierce and independent A /.tecs.
G"' Prichard, Physical History, vol. i. pp.
167-169, 1S2, et seq. — Morton, Crania Ameri-
cana, p. 66— McCulloh, Researches, p. 18. —
Lawrence, Lectures, pp. 317, 565.
•" Thus we find, amidst the generally pre-
valent copper or cinnamon tint, nearly all
gradations of colour, from the European
white, to a black, almost African; while the
complexion capriciously varies among dif-
ferent tribes in the neighbourhood of each
other. See examples in Humboldt (Essai
politique, torn. i. pp. 358, 359), also Prichard
(Physical History, vol. ii. pp. 452, 522, et
alibi \ a writer whose various research and
dispassionate judgment have made his work a
text-book in this department of science.
'■7 Such is the conclusion of Dr. Warren,
whose excellent collection has afforded him
ample means for study and comparison. (See
his Remarks before the British Association
for the Advancement of Science, ap. London
Athenaeum, Oct. 1837.) In the specimens
collected by Dr. Morton, however, the bar-
barous tribes would seem to have a somewhat
larger facial angle, and a greater quantity of
brain, than the semi-civilized. Crania Ame-
ricana, p. 259.
68 " On ne peut se refuser d'admettre que
l'espece humaine n'offre pas dc races plus
voisines que le sont celles des Americains,
des Mongols, des Mantchoux, et des Malais."
Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. i. p. 367. —
Also, Prichard, Physical History, vol. i. pp.
184-186; vol. ii. pp. 365-367. — Lawrence,
Lectures, p. 365.
CJ Dr. Morton's splendid work on American
crania has gom- far to supply the requisite
information. Out of about one hundred and
fifty specimens of skulls, of which he has
ascertained the dimensions with admirable
precision, one-third belong to the semi-civi-
lized races ; and of them thirteen are Mexi-
can. The number of these last is too small
to found any general conclusions upon, con-
sidering the great diversity found in indivi-
d uals of the same nation, not to say kindred.
— Blumenbach's observations on American
skulls were chiefly made, according to Pri-
chard (Physical History, vol. i. pp. 183, 184),
from specimens of the Carib tribes, as un-
favourable, perhaps, as any on the continent.
70 Yet these specimens are not so easy to
be obtained. With uncommon advantages
for procuring these myself in Mexico, I have
not succeeded in obtaining any specimens of
the genuine Aztec skull. The difficulty of
this may be readily comprehended by any
one who considers the length of time that has
elapsed since the Conquest, and that the
burial-places of the ancient Mexicans have
continued to be used by their descendants.
Dr. Morton more than once refers to his speci-
mens as those of the " genuine Toltec skull,
from cemeteries in Mexico, older than the
Conquest." (Crania Americana, pp. 152,155,
231, et alibi.) But how does he know that
the heads are Toltec ? That nation is re-
ported to have left the country about the
middle of the eleventh century, nearly eight
hundred years ago,— according to Ixtlilxo-
chitl, indeed, a century earlier ; and it seems
much more probable that the specimens now
found in these burial-places should belong to
some of the races who bave since occupied
the country, than to one so far removed. The
presumption is manifestly too feeble to autho-
rize any positive inference,
592
APPENDIX.
In seeking for analogies with the Old World, we should not pass by in
silence the architectural remains of the country, which, indeed, from their
resemblance to the pyramidal structures of the East, have suggested to more
than one antiquary the idea of a common origin.71 The Spanish invaders, it
is true, assailed the Indian buildings, especially those of a religious character,
Avith all the fury of fanaticism. The same spirit survived in the generations
which succeeded. The war has never ceased against the monuments of the
country ; and the few that fanaticism has spared have been nearly all demo-
lished to serve the purposes of utility. Of all the stately edifices, so much
extolled by the Spaniards who first visited the country, there are scarcely
more vestiges at the present day than are to be found in some of those regions
of Europe and Asia which once swarmed with populous cities, the great marts
of luxury and commerce.72 Yet some of these remains, like the temple of
Xochicalco,73 the palaces of Tezcotzinco,74 the colossal calendar-stone in the
capital, are of sufficient magnitude, and wrought with sufficient skill, to attest
mechanical powers in the Aztecs not unworthy to be compared with those of
the ancient Egyptians.
But, if the remains on the Mexican soil are so scanty, they multiply as we
descend the south-eastern slope of the Cordilleras, traverse the rich V alley of
Oaxaca, and penetrate the forests of Chiapa and Yucatan. In the midst of
these lonely regions we meet with the ruins, recently discovered, of several
ancient cities, Mitla, Palenque, and Itzalana or Uxmal,75 which argue a higher
each smaller than that below it. The number
of these is now uncertain; the lower one
alone remaining entire. This is sufficient,
however, to show the nice style of execution,
from the sharp, salient cornices, and the
hieroglyphical emblems with which it is
covered, all cut in the hard stone. As the
71 The tower of Belus, with its retreating
stories, described by Herodotus (Clio, sec.
181), has been selected as the model of the teo-
calli ; which leads Vater somewhat shrewdly
to remark that it is strange no evidence of
this should appear in the erection of similar
structures by the Aztecs in the whole course
of their journey to Anahuac. (Mithridates,
Theil iii. Abtheil. 3, pr-. 74, 75.) The learned
Niebuhr finds the elements of the Mexican
temple in the mythic tomb of Porsenna.
(Roman History, Eng. trans. (London, 1827),
vol. i. p. 88.) The resemblance to the ac-
cumulated pyramids composing this monu-
ment is not very obvious. Comp. Pliny
(Hist. Nat., lib. 36, sec. 19). Indeed, the
antiquarian may be thought to encroach on
the poet's province when he finds in Etruscan
fable — "cum omnia excedat fabulositas," as
Pliny characterizes this — the origin of Aztec
scienc".
" See the powerful description of Lucan,
Pharsalia, lib. 9, v. 966.— The Latin bard has
been surpassed by the Italian, in the beautiful
stanza beginning Giace I' alia Cartago (Gieru-
salemme Liberata, c. 15, s. 20), which may
be said to have been expanded by Lord Byron
into a canto, — the fourth of Childe Harold.
73 The most remarkable remains on the
proper Mexican soil are the temple or fortress
of Xochicalco, not many miles from the
capital. It stands on a rocky eminence, nearly
a league in circumference, cut into terraces
faced with stone. The building on the sum-
mit is seventy-five feet long and sixty-six
broad. It is of hewn granite, put together
without cement, but with great exactness.
It was constructed in the usual pyramidal,
terraced form, rising by a succession of stories,
detached blocks found among the ruins are
sculptured with bas-reliefs in like manner, it
is probable that the whole building was
covered with them. It seems probable, also,
as the same pattern extends over different
stones, that the work was executed after the
walls were raised.— In the hill beneath, sub-
terraneous galleries, six feet wide and high,
have been cut to the length of one hundred
and eighty feet, where they terminate in two
halls, the vaulted ceilings of which connect
by a sort of tunnel with the buildings above.
These subterraneous works are also lined
with hewn stone. The size of the blocks, and
the hard quality »f the granite of which they
consist, have made the buildings of Xochi-
calco a choice quarry for the proprietors of a
neighbouring sugar refinery, who have appro-
priated the upper stories of the temple to this
ignoble purpose! The Barberini at least
built palaces, beautiful themselves, as works
of art, with the plunder of the Coliseum. See
the full description of this remarkable build-
ing, both by Dupaix and Alzate. (Anti-
quites Mexicaines, torn. i. Exp. 1, pp. 15-20 ;
torn. iii. Exp. 1, PI. 33.) A recent investi-
gation has been made by order of the Mexican
government, the report of which differs, in
some of its details, from the preceding. Re-
vista Mexicana, torn. i. mem. 5.
74 Ante, pp. 84,85.
75 It is impossible to look at Waldeck/jj
ORIGIN OF MEXICAN CIVILIZATION. 593
civilization than anything yet found on the American continent ; and, although
it was not the Mexicans who built these cities, yet, as they are probably the
work of cognate races, the present inquiry would be incomplete without some
attempt to ascertain what light they can throw on the origin of the Indian,
and consequently of the Aztec, civilization.78
Few works of art have been found in the neighbourhood of any of the ruins.
Some of them, consisting of earthen or marble vases, fragments of statues, and
the like, are fantastic, and even hideous ; others show much grace and beauty
of design, and are apparently well executed.77 It may seem extraordinary
that no iron in the buildings themselves, nor iron tools, should have been dis-
covered, considering that the materials used are chiefly granite, very hard, and
carefully hewn and polished. Red copper chisels and axes have been picked
up in the midst of large blocks of granite imperfectly cut, with fragments of
pillars and architraves, in the quarries near Mitla.78 Tools of a similar kind
have been discovered, also, in the quarries near Thebes ; and the difficulty,
nay, impossibility, of cutting such masses from the living rock with any tools
which we possess, except iron, has confirmed an ingenious writer in the sup-
position that this metal must have been employed by the Egyptians, but that
its tendency to decomposition, especially in a nitrous soil, has prevented any
specimens of it from being preserved.79 Yet iron has been found, after the
lapse of some thousands of years, in the remains of antiquity ; and it is certain
that the Mexicans, down to the time of the Conquest, used only copper instru-
ments, with an alloy of tin, and a silicious powder, to cut the hardest stones,
some of them of enormous dimensions.80 This fact, with the additional cir-
cumstance that only similar tools have been found in Central America,
strengthens the conclusion that iron was neither known there nor in ancient
Egypt.
But what are the nations of the Old Continent whose style of architecture
bears most resemblance to that of the remarkable monuments of Chiapa and
Yucatan ? The points of resemblance will probably be found neither numerous
nor decisive. There is, indeed, some analogy both to the Egyptian and Asiatic
style of architecture in the pyramidal, terrace-formed bases on which the
buildings repose, resembling also the Toltec and Mexican teocalli. A similar
care, also, is observed in the people of both hemispheres to adjust the position
of their buildings by the cardinal points. The walls in both are covered with
figures and hieroglyphics, which, on the American as on the Egyptian, may
finished drawings of buildings, where Time caines, not very accessible to most readers.
6eems scarcely to have set his mark on the But it is unnecessary to repeat descriptions
nicely chiselled stone, and the clear tints are now familiar to every one, and so much
hardly defaced by a weather-stain, without better executed than they can be by me, in
regarding the artist's work as a restoration ; the spirited pages of Stephens.
a picture true, it may be, of those buildings " See, in particular, two terra-cotta busts
in the day of their glory, but not of their with helmets, found in Oaxaca, which might
decay. — Cogolludo, who saw them in the well pass for Greek, both in the style of the
middle of the seventeenth century, speaks heads and the casques that cover them. An-
of them with admiration, as works of "ac- tiquites Mexicaines, torn. iii. Exp. 2, PI. 36.
complished architects," of whom history has 7B Dupaix speaks of these tools as made of
preserved no tradition." Historia de Yucatan pure copper. But doubtless there was some
(Madrid, 1688), lib. 4, cap. 2. alloy mixed with it, as was practised by the
76 In the original text is a description of Aztecs and Egyptians ; otherwise their edges
some of these ruins, especially of those of must have been easily turned by the hard
Mitla and Palenque. It would have had substances on which they were employed,
novelty at the time in which it was written, ,9 Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii.
Bince the only accounts of these buildings pp. 246-254.
were in the colossal publications of Lord 80 Ante, p. 66,.
JKingsborough, and in the Antiquites Mexi-
594
APPENDIX.
be designed, perhaps, to record the laws and historial annals of the nation.
These figures, as well as the buildings themselves, are found to have been
stained with various dyes, principally vermilion ; 81 a favourite colour with the
Egyptians also, who painted their colossal statues and temples of granite.82
Notwithstanding these points of similarity, the Palenque architecture has
little to remind us of the Egyptian or of the Oriental. It is indeed, more
conformable, in the perpendicular elevation of the walls, the moderate size of
the stones, and the general arrangement of the parts, to the European. It
must be admitted, liowever, to have a character of originality peculiar to
itself.
More positive proofs of communication with the East might be looked for
in their sculpture and in the conventional forms of their hieroglyphics. But
the sculptures on the Palenque buildings are in relief, unlike the Egyptian,
which are usually in intaglio. The Egyptians were not very successful in
their representations of the human figure, which are on the same invariable
model, always in profile, from the greater facility of execution this presents
over the front view ; the full eye is placed on the. side of the head, while the
countenance is similar in all, and perfectly destitute of expression.83 The
Palenque artists were equally awkward in representing the various attitudes
of the body, which they delineated also in profile. But the parts are executed
with much correctness, and sometimes gracefully ; the costume is rich and
various ; and the ornamented head-dress, typical, perhaps, like the Aztec, of
the name and condition of the person represented, conforms in its magnificence
to the Oriental taste. The countenance is various, and often expressive. The
contour of the head is, indeed, most extraordinary, describing almost a semi-
circle from the forehead to the tip of the nose, and contracted towards the
crown, whether from the artificial pressure practised by many of the abori-
gines, or from some preposterous notion of ideal beauty.84 But, while superior
in the execution of the details, the Palenque artist was far inferior to the
Egyptian in the number and variety of the objects displayed by him, which
on the Theban temples comprehend animals as well as men, and almost every
conceivable object of use or elegant art.
The hieroglyphics are too few on the American buildings to authorize any
decisive inference. On comparing them, however, with those of the Dresden
Codex, probably from this same quarter of the country,85 with those on the
81 Waldeck, Atlas pittoresque, p. 73. — The
fortress of Xochicalco was also coloured with
a red paint (Antiquites Mexicaiues, torn. i. p.
20) ; and a cement of the same colour covered
the Toltec pyramid at Teotihuacan, according
to Mr. Bullock, Six Months in Mexico, vol. ii.
p. 143.
83 Description de l'Egypte, Antiq., torn. ii.
cap. 9, sec. 4. — The huge image of the Sphinx
was originally coloured red. (Clark's Travels,
vol. v. p. 202.) Indeed, many of the edifices,
as well as statues, of ancient Greece, also, still
exhibit traces of having been painted.
83 The various causes of the stationary con-
dition of art in Egypt, for so many ages, are
clearly exposed by the duke di Serradifalco,
in his Antichita della Sicilia (Palermo, 1834,
torn. ii. p. 33, 34); a work in which the
author, while illustrating the antiquities of
a little island, has thrown a flood of light on
the arts and literary culture of ancient Greece.
84 "The ideal is not always the beautiful,"
as Winckelmann truly says, referring to the
Egyptian figures. (Histoire de l'Art chez les
Anciens, liv. 4, chap. 2, trad. Fr.) It is not
impossible, however, that the portraits men-
tioned in the text may be copies from life.
Some of the rude tribes of America distorted
their infants' heads into forms quite as fan-
tastic ; and Garcilaso de la Vega speaks of a
nation discovered by the Spaniards in Florida,
with a formation apparently not unlike the
Palenque : " Tienen cabezas increiblemente
largas, y ahusadas para arriba, que las
ponen asi con artificio, atandoselas desde el
punto, que uascen las criaturas, hasta que
son de nueve 6 diez anos." La Florida
(Madrid, 1723), p. 190.
" For a notice of this remarkable codex,
Pee ante, p. 50. There is, indeed, a resem-
blance, in the use of straight lines and dots,
between the Palenque writing and the Dres-
den MS. Possibly these dots denoted years,
like the rounds in'the Mexican system,
ORIGIN OF MEXICAN CIVILIZATION. 595
monument of Xochicalco, and with the ruder picture-writing of the Aztecs, it
is not easy to discern anything which indicates a common system. Still less
obvious is the resemblance to the Egyptian characters, whose refined and
delicate abbreviations approach almost to the simplicity of an alphabet. Yet
the Palenque writing shows an advanced stage of the art, and, though some-
what clumsy, intimates, by the conventional and arbitrary forms of the hiero-
glyphics, that it was symbolical, and perhaps phonetic, in its character.86
That its mysterious import will ever be deciphered is scarcely to be expected.
The language of the race who employed it, the race itself, is unknown. And
it is not likely that another Rosetta stone will be found, with its trilingual
inscription, to supply the means of comparison, and to guide the American
Champollion in the path of discovery.
It is impossible to contemplate these mysterious monuments of a lost
civilization Avithout a strong feeling of curiosity as to who were their architects
and what is their probable age. The data on which to rest our conjectures of
their age are not very substantial ; although some find in them a warrant for
an antiquity of thousands of years, coeval with the architecture of Egypt and
Hindostan.87 But the interpretation of hieroglyphics, and the apparent dura-
tion of trees, are vague and unsatisfactory.88 And how far can we derive an
argument from the discolouration and dilapidated condition of the ruins, when
we find so many structures of the Middle Ages dark and mouldering with
decay, while the marbles of the Acropolis and the gray stone of Psestum still
shine in their primitive splendour 1
There are, however, undoubted proofs of considerable age to be found there.
Trees have shot up in the midst of the buildings, which measure, it is said,
more than nine feet in diameter.89 A still more striking fact is the accumu-
lation of vegetable mould in one of the courts, to the depth of nine feet above
the pavement.90 This in our latitude would be decisive of a very great
antiquity. But in the rich soil of Yucatan, and under the ardent sun of the
tropics, vegetation bursts forth with irrepressible exuberance, and generations
of plants succeed each other without intermission, leaving an accumulation of
deposits that would have perished under a northern winter. Another evidence
of their age is afforded by the circumstance that in one of the courts of Uxmal
the granite pavement, on which the figures of tortoises were raised in relief,
B6 The hieroglyphics are arranged in per- foolish vanity" may pretend, has but just
pendicular lines. The heads are uniformly started in the march of improvement ! See
turned towards the right, as in the Dresden his letter on Copan, ap. Trans, of Am. Ant.
MS. Soc, vol. ii.
87 "Les ruines," says the enthusiastic che- m From these sources of information, and
valier Le Noir, " sans nom, a qui Ton a especially from the number of the concentric
donne celui de Palenque, peuvent remonter rings in some old trees, and the incrustation
comme les plus anciennes ruines du monde a of stalactites found on the ruins of Palenque,
trois mille ans. Ceci n'cst point mon opinion Al. Waldeck computes their age at between
seule ; c'est celle de tous les voyageurs qui two and three thousand years. (Voyage en
ont vu les ruines dont il s'agit, de tous les Yucatan, p. 78.) The criterion, as far as the
archeologues qui en ont examine les dessins trees are concerned, cannot be relied on in an
ou lu les descriptions, enfin des historiens advanced stage of their growth ; and as to
qui ont fait des recherches, et qui n'ont rien the stalactite formations, they are obviously
trouve dans les annales du monde qui fasse affected by too many casual circumstances,
soupconner l'epoque de la fondation de tels to afford the basis of an accurate calculation,
monuments, dont l'origine se perd dans la ■■ Waldeck, Voj'age en Yucatan, ubi supra,
nuit des temps." (Antiquites Mexicaines, '-'" Antiquites Mexicaines, Examen, p. 7(5.
torn, ii., Examen, p. 73.) Colonel Galindo, —Hardly deep enough, however, to justify
fired with the contemplation of the American Captain Dupaix's surmise of the antediluvian
ruins, pronounces this country the true cradle existence of these buildings ; especially con-
of civilization, whence it passed over to China, sidering that the accumulation was in the
and latterly to Europe, which, whatever " its sheltered position of an interior court.
596 APPENDIX.
is worn nearly smooth by the feet of the crowds who have passed over it ; 9l
a curious fact, suggesting inferences both in regard to the age and population
of the place. Lastly, we have authority for carrying back the date of many
of these ruins to a certain period, since they were found in a deserted, and
probably dilapidated, state by the first Spaniards who entered the country.
Their notices, indeed, are brief and casual, for the old Conquerors had little
respect for works of art ; 92 and it is fortunate for these structures that they
had ceased to be the living temples of the gods, since no merit of architecture,
probably, would have availed to save them from the general doom of the
monuments of Mexico.
If we find it so difficult to settle the age of these buildings, what can we
hope to know of their architects ? Little can be gleaned from trie rude people
by whom they are surrounded. The old Tezcucan chronicler so often quoted
by me, the best authority for the traditions of his country, reports that the
Toltecs, on the breaking up of their empire, — which he places, earlier than
most authorities, in the middle of the tenth century,— migrating from Anahuac,
spread themselves over Guatemala, Tehuantepec, Campeachy, and the coasts
and neighbouring isles on both sides of the Isthmus.93 This assertion, impor-
tant, considering its source, is confirmed by the fact that several of the nations
in that quarter adopted systems of astronomy and chronology, as well as sacer-
dotal institutions, very similar to the Aztec,94 which, as we have seen, were
also probably derived from the Toltecs, their more polished predecessors in the
land.
If so recent a date for the construction of the American buildings be thought
incompatible with this oblivion of their origin, it should be remembered how
treacherous a thing is tradition, and how easily the links of the chain are
severed. The builders of the pyramids had been forgotten before the time of
B1 Waldeck, Voyage en Yucatan, p. 97. of which he has given many details we would
9a The chaplain of Grijalva speaks with gladly have exchanged for a word respecting
admiration of the " lofty towers of stone and these interesting memorials. Carta Quinta
lime, some of them very ancient," found in de Cortes, MS. — I must add that some remarks
Yucatan. (Itinerario, MS. (1518).) Bernal in the above paragraph in the text would
Diaz, with similar expressions of wonder, re- have been omitted, had I enjoyed the benefit
fers the curious antique relics found there to of Mr. Stephens's researches when it was ori-
the Jews. (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 2, 6.) ginally written. This is especially the case
Alvarado, in a letter to Cortes, expatiates on with the reflections on the probable condition
the " maravillosos et grandes edificios" to be of these structures at the time of the Con-
seen in Guatemala. (Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., quest; when some of them would appear to
MS., lib. 33, cap. 42.) According to Co- have been still used for their original pur-
golludo, the Spaniards, who could get no
tradition of their origin, referred them to 93 " Asimismo los Tultecas que escaparon
the Phoenicians or Carthaginians, (Hist, de se fueron pur las costas del Mar del Sur y
Yucatan, lib. 4, cap. 2.) He cites the follow- Norte, como son Huatimala, Tecuantepec,
ing emphatic notice of these remains from Cuauhzacualco, Campechy, Tecolotlan, y los
Las Casas : " Ciertamente la tierra de Yuca- de las Islas y Costas de una mar y otra, que
than da ;i entender cosas mui especiales, y de despues se vinieron a multiplicar." Ixtlilxo-
mayor antiguedad, por las grandes, admira- chitl, Relaciones, MS., No. 5.
bles, y excessivas maneras de edificios, y 94 Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 4, lib. 10,
letreros de ciertos caracteres, que en otra cap. 1-4.— Cogolludo, Hist, de Yucatan, lib. 4,
ninguna parte se hallan." (Loc. cit.) Even cap. 5. — Pet. Martyr, De Insulis, ubi supra.—
the inquisitive Martyr has collected no par- M. Waldeck comes to just th3 opposite in-
ticulars respecting them, merely noticing the ference, namely, that the inhabitants of Yu-
buildings of this region with general ex- catan were the true sources of the Toltec and
pressions of admiration. (De Insulis nuper Aztec civilization. (Voyage en Yucatan, p.
Inventis, pp. 334-340.) What is quite as 72.) "Doubt must be our lot in everything,"
surprising is the silence of Cortes, who tra- exclaims the honest Captain Dupaix, — " the
versed the country forming the base of Yuca- true faith always excepted." Antiquites
tan, in his famous expedition to Honduras, Mexicaines, torn. i. p. 21. _ ~
ORIGIN OP MEXICAN CIVILIZATION. 597
the earliest Greek historians.95 The antiquary still disputes whether the
frightful inclination of that architectural miracle, the tower of Pisa, standing
as it does in the heart of a populous city, was the Avork of accident or design.
And we have seen how soon the Tezcucans, dwelling amidst the ruins of their
royal palaces, built just before the Conquest, had forgotten their history, while
the more inquisitive traveller refers their construction to some remote period
before the Aztecs.96
The reader has now seen the principal points of coincidence insisted on
between the civilization of ancient Mexico and the Eastern hemisphere. In
presenting them to him, I have endeavoured to confine myself to such as rest
on sure historic grounds, and not so much to offer my own" opinion as to enable
him to form one for himself. There are some material embarrassments in the
way to this, however, which must not be passed over in silence. These consist,
not in explaining the fact that, while the mythic system and the science of the
Aztecs afford some striking points of analogy with the Asiatic, they should
differ in so many more ; for the same phenomenon is found among the nations
of the Old World, who seem to have borrowed from one another those ideas,
only, best suited to their peculiar genius and institutions. Nor does the diffi-
culty lie in accounting for the great dissimilarity of the American languages
to those in the other hemisphere ; for the difference with these is not greater
than what exists among themselves ; and no one will contend for a separate
origin for each of the aboriginal tribes.97 But it is scarcely possible to recon-
cile the knowledge of Oriental science with the total ignorance of some of the
most serviceable and familiar arts, as the use of milk and iron, for example ;
arts so simple, yet so important to domestic comfort, that when once acquired
they could hardly be lost.
The Aztecs had no useful domesticated animals. And we have seen that
they employed bronze, as a substitute for iron, for all mechanical purposes.
The bison, or wild cow of America, however, which ranges in countless herds
over the magnificent prairies of the west, yields milk like the tame animal of
the same species in Asia and Europe ; 98 and iron was scattered in large masses
over the surface of the table-land. Yet there have been people considerably
civilized in Eastern Asia -who were almost equally strangers to the use of
milk.99 The buffalo range was not so much on the western coast as on the
eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains ; 10° and the migratory Aztec might
93 " Inter omnes eos non constat a quibus cattle (buyes con una giba sobre la cruz,"
facta? sint, justissimo casu, obliterans tantaj "oxen with a bump on the shoulders"),
vanitatis auctoribus." Pliny, Hist. Nat., lib. from which they got tbeir clothing, food, and
36, cap. 17. drink, which last, however, appears to have
98 Ante, p. 85. been only the blood of the animal. Historia
87 At least, this is true of the etymology of de las Indias, cap. 214, ap. Barcia, torn. ii.
these languages, and, as such, was adduced °9 The people of parts of China, for ex-
by Mr. Edward Everett, in his Lectures on ample, and, above all, of Cochin China, who
the Aboriginal Civilization of America, form- never milk their cows, according to Macart-
ing part of a course delivered some years ney, cited by Humboldt, Essai politique, torn,
since by that acute and highly accomplished iii. p. 58, note. See, also, p. 118.
Bcholar. 10° The native regions of the buffalo were
• 8S The mixed breed, from the buffalo and the vast prairies of the Missouri, and they
the European stock, was known formerly in wandered over the long reach of country east
the north-western counties of Virginia, says of the Rocky Mountains, from 55° north, to
Mr. Gallatin (Synopsis, sec. 5) ; who is, how- the head-waters of the streams between the
ever, mistaken in asserting that '• the bison Mississippi and the Rio del Norte. The
is not known to have ever been domesticated Columbia plains, says Gallatin, were as naked
by the Indians." (Ubisupra.) Gomara speaks of game as of trees. (Synopsis, sec. 5.) That
of a nation, dwelling about 40° north latitude, the bison was sometimes found also on the
on the north-western borders of New Spain, other side of the mountains, is plain from
whose chief wealth was in droves of these Gomara's statement. (Hist, de las. Ind., loc.
APPENDIX.
well doubt whether the wild, uncouth monsters whom he occasionally saw
bounding with such fury over the distant plains were capable of domestication,
like the meek animals which he had left grazing in the green pastures of Asia.
Iron, too, though met with on the surface of the ground, was more tenacious,
and harder to work, than copper, which he also found in much greater quanti-
ties on his route. It is possible, moreover, that his migration may have been
previous to the time when iron was used by his nation ; for we have seen more
than one people in the Old World employing bronze and copper with entire
ignorance, apparently, of any more serviceable metal.101 — Such is the explana-
tion, unsatisfactory, indeed, but the best that suggests itself, of this curious
anomaly.
The consideration of these and similar difficulties has led some writers to
regard the antique American civilization as purely indigenous. Whichever
way we turn, the subject is full of embarrassment. It is easy, indeed, by
fastening the attention on one portion of it, to come to a conclusion. In this
way, while some feel little hesitation in pronouncing the American civilization
original, others, no less certainly, discern in it a Hebrew, or an Egyptian, or a
Chinese, or a Tartar origin, as their eyes are attracted by the light of analogy
too exclusively to this or the other quarter. The number of contradictory
lights, of itself, perplexes the judgment and prevents us from arriving at a
precise and positive inference. Indeed, the affectation of this, in so doubtful
a matter, argues a most unphilosophical mind. Yet where there is most doubt
there is often the most dogmatism.
The reader of the preceding pages may perhaps acquiesce in the general
conclusions, — not startling by their novelty, —
First, that the coincidences are sufficiently strong to authorize a belief that
the civilization of Anahuac was in some degree influenced by that of Eastern
Asia,
And, secondly, that the discrepancies are such as to carry back the communi-
cation to a very remote period ; so remote that this foreign influence has been
too feeble to interfere materially with the growth of what may be regarded in
its essential features as a peculiar and indigenous civilization.
cit.) See, also, Laet, who'traces their southern
wanderings to the river Vaquimi (?), in the
province of Cinaloa, on the Californian Gulf.
Novus Orbis (Lugd. Bat., 1633), p. 66.
101 Ante, p. 66.
Thus Lucretius :
" Et prior aeris erat, quatn ferri cognitus usus,
Quo facilis magis est natura, et copia major.
JEre solum terras tractabant, a?reque belli
Miscebant fluctus."
De Rerum Natura, lib. 5.
According to Carli, the Chinese were ac-
quainted with iron 3000 years before Christ.
(Lettres Americ, torn. ii. p. 63.) Sir J. Or,
Wilkinson, in an elaborate inquiry into its
first appearance among the people of Europe
and Western Asia, finds no traces of it earlier
than the sixteenth century before the Christian
era. (Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii. pp. 241-
246.) The origin of the most useful arts is
lost in darkness. Their very utility is one
cause of this, from the rapidity with which
they are diffused among distant nations.
Another cause is, that in the first ages of the
discovery men are more occupied with avail-
ing themselves of it than with recording its
history; until time turns history into fiction.
Instances are familiar to every school-boy. (
APPENDIX,
PART II.
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS.
APPENDIX, PART II.
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS
No. I.— See p. 71.
ADVICE OP AN AZTEC MOTHER TO HER DAUGHTER ; TRANSLATED FROM SAHA-
gun's "historia DE NUEVA-ESPANA," LIB. VI. CAP. XIX.
[I have thought it best to have this translation made in the most literal
manner, that the reader may have a correct idea of the strange mixture of
simplicity, approaching to childishness, and moral sublimity, which belongs to
the original. It is the product of the twilight of civilization.]
My beloved daughter, very dear little dove, you have already heard and atteuded to the
words which your father has told you. They are precious words, and such as are rarely spoken
or listened to, and which have proceeded from the bowels and heart in which they were treasured
up ; and your beloved father well knows that you are his daughter, begotten of him, are his
blood, and his flesh ; and God our Lord knows that it is so. Although you are a woman, and
are the image of your father, what more can I say to you than has already been said ? What
more can you hear than what you have heard from your lord and father ? who has fully told
you what it is becoming for you to do and to avoid ; nor is there anything remaining, which
concerns you, that he has not touched upon. Nevertheless, that I may do towards you my
whole, duty, 1 will say to you some few words.— The first thing that I earnestly charge upon
you is, that you observe and do not forget what your father has now told you, since it is all
very precious ; and persons of his condition rarely publish such things ; for they are the words
which belong to the noble and wise, — valuable as rich jewels. See, then, that you take them
and lay them up in your heart, and write them in your bowels. If God gives you life, with
thc-e same words will you teach your sons and daughters, if God shall give you them.—
The 6econd thing that I desire (to say to you is, that 1 love you much, that you are my dear
daughter. Remember that nine months I bore you in my womb, that you were born and
brought up in my arms. I placed you in your cradle, and in my lap, and with my milk I
nursed you. This T tell you, in order that you may know that I and your father are the source
of your being ; it is we who now instruct you. See that you receive our words, and treasure
them in your breast. — Take care that your garments are such as are decent and proper ; and
observe that you do not adorn yourself with much finery, since this is a mark of vanity and of
folly. As little becoming is it, that your dress should be very mean, dirty, or ragged ; since
rags are a mark of the low, and of those who are held in contempt. Let your clothes be
becoming and neat, that you may neither appear fantastic nor mean. When you speak, do not
hurry your words from uneasiness, but speak deliberately and calmly. Do not raise your voice
very high, nor speak very low, but in a moderate tone. Neither mince, when you speak, nor
when you salute, nor speak through your nose; but let your words be proper, of a good sound,
•and your voice gentle. Do not be nice in the choice of your words. In walking, my daughter,
see that you behave becomingly, neither going with haste, nOr too slowly ; since it is an
evidence of being puffed up, to walk too slowly, and walking hastily causes a vicious habit of
restlessness and instability. Therefore neither walk very fast, nor very slow ; yet, when it
shall be necessary to go with haste, do so,— in this use your discretion. And when you may
be obliged to jump over, a pool of water, do it with decency, that you may neither appear clumsy
nor light. When you are in the street, do not carry your head much inclined, or your body-
Dent ; nor as little go with your head very much raised; since it is a mark of ill breeding ; walk
erect, and with your head slightly inclined. Do not have your mouth covered, or your face,
from shame, nor go looking like a near-sighted person, nor, on your way, make fantastic move-
ments with your feet. Walk through the street quietly, and with propriety. Another thing
602 APPENDIX.
that you must attend to, my daughter, is, that when you are in the street you do not go looking
hither and thither, nor turning your head to look at tbis and that ; walk neither looking at the
skies nor on the ground. Do not look upon those whom you meet with the eyes of an offended
person, nor have the appearance of being uneasy ; but of one who looks upon all with a serene
countenance ; doing this, you will give no one occasion of being offended with you. Show
a becoming countenance ; that you may neither appear morose, nor, on the other hand, too
complaisant. See, my daughter, that you give yourself no concern about the words you may
hear, in going through the street, nor pay any regard to them, let those who come and go say
what they will. Take care that you neither answer nor speak, but act as if you neither heard
nor understood them ; since, doing in this manner, no one will be able to say with truth that
you have said anything amiss. See, likewise, my daughter, that you never paint your face, or
stain it or your lips with colours, in order to appear well ; since this is a mark of vile and
unchaste women. Paints and colouring are things which bad women use, — the immodest, who
have lost all shame and even sense, who are like fools and drunkards, and are called rameras
[prostitutes]. But, that your husband may not dislike you, adorn yourself, wash yourself, and
cleanse your clothes ; and let this be done with moderation ; since if every day you wash your-
self and your clothes it will be said of you that you are over-nice,— too delicate ; they will
call you tapepetzon tinemaxoch. — My daughter, this is the course you are to take ; since in this
manner the ancestors from whom you spring brought us up. Those noble and venerable dames,
your grandmothers, told us not so many things as I have told you, — they said but few words,
and spoke thus : " Listen, my daughters ; in this world it is necessary to live with much pru-
dence and circumspection. Hear this allegory, which I shall now tell you, and preserve it, and
take from it a warning and example for living aright. Here, in this world, we travel by a very
.narrow, steep, and dangerous road, which is as a lofty mountain ridge, on whose top passes
a narrow path ; on either side is a great gulf without bottom ; and if you deviate from the path
you will fall into it. There is need, therefore, of much discretion in pursuing the road." My
tenderly loved daughter, my little dove, keep this illustration in your heart, and see that you
do not forget it,— it will be to you as a lamp and a beacon so long as you shall live in this
world. Only one thing remains to be said, and I have done. If God shall give you life, if you
shall continue some years upon the earth, see that you guard yourself carefully, that no stain
come upon you ; should you forfeit your chastity, and afterwards be asked in marriage and
should marry any one, you will never be fortunate, nor have true love, — he will always
remember that you were not a virgin, and this will be the cause of great affliction and distress ;
you will never be at peace, for your husband will always be suspicious of you. 0 my dearly
beloved daughter, if you shall live upon the earth, see that not more than one man approaches
you ; and observe what I now shall tell you, as a strict command. When it shall please God
that you receive a husband, and you are placed under his authority, be free from arrogance, see
that you do not neglect him, nor allow your heart to be in opposition to him. Be not dis-
respectful to him. Beware that in no time or place you commit the treason against him called
adultery. See that you give no favour to another ; since this, my dear and much-loved daughter,
is to fall into a pit without bottom, from which there will be no escape. According to the
custom of the world, if it shall be known, for this crime they will kill you, they will throw you
into the street, for an example to all the people, where your head will be crushed and dragged
upon the ground. Of these says a proverb, " You will be stoned and dragged upon the earth,
and others will take warning at your death." From this will arise a stain and dishonour upon
our ancestors, the nobles and senators from whom we are descended. You will tarnish their
illustrious fame, and their glory, by the filthiness and impurity of your sin. You will, likewise,
lose your reputation, your nobility, and honour of birth ; your name will be forgotten and
abhorred. Of you will it be said that you were buried in the dust of your sins. And remem-
ber, my daughter, that, though no man shall see you, nor your husband ever know what
happens, God, who is in every place, sees you, will be angry with you, and will also excite the
indignation of the people against you, and will be avenged upon you as he shall see fit. By his
command, you shall either be maimed, or struck blind, or your body will wither, or you will
come to extreme poverty, for daring to injure your husband. Or "perhaps he will give you to
death, and put you under his feet, sending you to the place of torment. Our Lord is compas-
sionate ; but, if you commit treason against your husband, God, who is in every place, shall
take vengeance on your sin, and will permit you to have neither contentment, nor repose, nor
a peaceful life ; and he will excite your husband to be always unkind towards you, and always
to speak to you with anger. My dear daughter, wbom I tenderly love, see that you live in the
world in peace, tranquillity, and contentment, all the days that you shall live. See that you
disgrace not yourself, that you stain not your honour, nor pollute the lustre and fame of your
ancestors. See that you honour me and your father, and reflect glory on us by your good life.
May God prosper you, my first-born, and may you come to God, who is in every place.
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS.
G03
No. II.— See p. 80.
A CASTILIAN Ax\D AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF A POEM ON THE MUTABILITY
OF LIFE, BY NEZAHUALCOYOTL, LORD OF TEZCUCO.
[This poem was fortunately rescued from the fate of too many of the Indian
MSS., by the chevalier Boturini, and formed part of his valuable Mitseo. It
was subsequently incorporated in the extensive collection of documents made
by Father Manuel de la Vega, in Mexico, 1792. This magnificent collection
was made in obedience to an enlightened order of the Spanish government,
"that all such MSS. as could be found in New Spain, fitted to illustrate the
antiquities, geography, civil, ecclesiastical, and natural history of America,
should be copied and transmitted to Madrid." This order was obeyed, and
the result was a collection of thirty -two volumes in folio, which, amidst much
that is trivial and of little worth, contains also a mass of original materials,
of inestimable value to the historian of Mexico and of the various races who
occupied the country of New Spain.]
Un rato cantar quiero,
pues la ocasion y el tiempo se ofrece ;
ser admitido espero,
si intento lo merece ;
y comienzo mi canto,
aunque fuera tnejor llamarle l'.anto,
Y tu, querido Aniigo,
goza la amenidad de aquestas flores,
alegrate conmigo ;
desechemos de pena los temoros,
que el gusto trae medida,
por ser al tin con fin la mala vida.
Io tocare cantando
el musico instrumento sonoroso,
tu de flores gozando
danza, y festeja a Dios qne es Poderoso,
gocemos de esta gloria,
porque la humana vida es transitorla.
De Ocblhacan pusfste
en esta noble Corte, y siendo tuyo,
tus sillas, y quisiste
vestirlas; donde arguyo,
que con grandeza tanta
el Imperio se aumenta y se levanta.
Oyoyotzin prudente,
famoso Rey y singular Monarca,
goza del bien presente,
que lo presente lo florido abarca ;
porque vendra algun dia
que busques este gusto y alegn'a.
Entonces tu Fortuna
te ha de quitar el Cetro de la mano,
ha de menguar tu Luna
no te venis tan fuerte y tan ufano ;
entonces tus criados
de todo bien serdn desamparados.
Y en tan triste suceso
los nobles descendientes de tu nido,
de Principes el peso,
los que de nobles Padres han nacido,
faltando tu Cabeza,
gustardn la amargura de pobreza.
Y traeran a la memoria
quien fufste en pompa de todos envidiada
tus triunfos y victoria ;
y con la gloria y Magestad pasada
cotejando pesares,
de lagrimas haran crecidas traces.
Y estos tus descendientes,
que te sirven de pluma y de corona
de ti viendose ausentes,
de Culhuacan estrunariin la cuna,
y tenidos por tales
con sus desdichas crecerdn sus males.
Y de esta grandeza rara,
digna de mil coronas y blasones,
sera la fama avara ;
solo se acordanm en las naciones,
lo bien que governaron,
las tres Cabezas que el imperio honraron.
En Mexico famosa
Moctezuma, valor de pecho Indiano ;.
u Culhuacan dichosa
de Necahualcoyotl rigio la mano ;
Acatlapan la fuerte
Totoquilhuastli le salio por suerte.
Y ningun olvido temo
de lo bien que tu reyno dispusfste,
estando en el supremo
lugar, que de la mano recibiste
de aquel Sehor del Mundo,
factor de aquestas cosas sin segundo.
Y goza pues muy gustoso,
0 Necahualcoyotl, lo que agora tienes
con flores de este hermoso
jardin corona tus ilustres sienes ;
oye mi canto, y lira
que a darte gustos y placeres tira.
Y los gustos de esta vida,
sus riquezas, y mandos son prestados,
son sustancia fingida,
con apariencias solo matizados ;
y es tan gran verdad esta,
que Ci una preguuta me has de dar respuesta,
604
APPENDIX.
i Y que'es de Cihuapan,
y Quantzintecomtzin el valiente,
y Conahuatzin ;
que es de toda esa gente ?
sus voces ; ; agora acaso !
ya estan en la otra vida, este es el caso.
; Ojala los, que agora
Juntos los tiene del amor el hilo,
que amistad atesora,
vieramos de la muerte el duro filo.'
porque no hay bien seguro,
que siempre trae niudanza a lo futuro.
Now would I sing, since time and place
Are mine, — and oh ! with thee
May this my song obtain the grace
My purpose claims for me.
I wake these notes on song intent,
But call it rather a lament.
Do thou, beloved, now delight
In these my flowers, pure and bright,
Rejoicing with thy friend ;
Now let us banish pain and fear,
For, if our joys are measured here,
Life's sadness hath its end.
And I will strike, to aid my voice,
The deep, sonorous chord ;
Thou, dancing, in these flowers rejoice,
And feast Earth's mighty Lord ;
Seize we the glories of to-day,
For mortal life fleets fast away. —
In Ocblehacan, all thine own,
Thy hand hath placed the noble throne
Which thou hast richly dressed ;
From whence I argue that thy sway
Shall be augmented day by day,
In rising greatness blessed.
Wise Oyoyotzin ! prudent king !
Unrivalled Prince, and great!
Enjoy the fragrant flowers that spring
Around thy kingly state ;
A day will come which shall destroy
Thy present bliss,— thy present joy,—
When fate the sceptre of command
Shall wrench from out thy royal hand, —
Thy moon diminished rise ;
And, as thy pride and strength are quenched,
From thy adherents shall be wrenched
All that they love or prize.
When sorrow shall my truth attest,
And this thy throne decline, —
The birds of thy ancestral nest,
The princes of thy line, —
The mighty of thy race, — shall see
The bitter ills of poverty ;—
And then shall memory recall
Thy envied greatness, and on all
Thy brilliant triumphs dwell ;
And as they think on by-gone years,
Compared with present shame, their tears
Shall to an ocean swell.
And those who, though a royal band,
Serve thee for crown, or plume,
Remote from Culhuacan's land
Shall find the exile's doom.
Deprived of thee,— their rank forgot,—
Misfortune shall o'erwhelm their lot.
Then fame shall grudgingly withhold
Her meed to greatness, which of old
Blazons and crowns displayed ;
The people will retain alone
Remembrance of that triple throne
Which this our land obeyed.
Brave Moctezuma's Indian land
Was Mexico the great,
And Nezahualcoyotl's hand
Blessed Culhuacan's state,
Whilst Totoquil his portion drew
In Acatlapan, strong and true ;
But no oblivion can I fear,
Of good by thee accomplished here,
Whilst high upon thy throne ;
That station, which, to match thy worth,
AVas given by the Lord of Earth,
Maker of good alone.
Then, Nezahualcoyotl, — now,
In what thou hast, delight ;
And wreathe around thy royal brow
Life's garden blossoms bright ;
List to my lyre and my lay,
Which aim to please thee, and obey.
The pleasures which our lives present —
Earth's sceptres, and its wealth— are lent,
Are shadows fleeting by ;
Appearance colours all our bliss ;
A truth so great, that now to this
One question, make reply.
What has become of Cihuapan,
Quantzintecomtzin brave,
And Conahuatzin, mighty man ;
Where are they ? In the grave !
Their names remain, but they are fled,
For ever numbered with the dead.
Would that those now in friendship bound,
We whom Love's thread encircles round,
Death's cruel edge might see !
Since good on earth is insecure,
And all things must a change endure
In dark futurity !
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. 605
No. III.— See p. 82.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RESIDENCE OF NEZAHUALCOYOTL AT TEZCOTZINCO,
EXTRACTED FROM IXTLILXOCHITL's "lIISTORIA CHICHIMECA," MS., CAP.
XLII.
De los jardines el mas ameno y de curiosidades fue el Bosque de Tezcotzinco ; porque denias
de la cerca tan grande que tenia, para subir a la cumbre de el, y andarlo todo, tenia sus gradas,
parte de ellas de argainasa, parte labrada en la misma pena ; y el agua que se trabia para las
Fuentes, Pilas, y Banos, y los canos que se repartian para el riego de las Flores y arboledas de
este Bosque, para poderla traer desde su Nacimiento, fue menester bacer fuertes y altissimas
murallas de argaraasa desde unas sierras a" otras, de increible grandeza ; sobre la qual bizo una
Fargea basta venir a dar a la mas alta del Bosque, y a las espaldas de la cumbre de el. En el
primer Estanque de Agua estaba una Pena esculpida en ella en circunferencia los alios desde
que havia nacido el Key Nezabualcoiotzin basta la edad de aquel tiempo ; y por la parte de
afuera los aiios en fin de cada uno de ellos, asf mismo e.-culpidas las cosas mas meinorables que
hizo : y por dentro de la rueda esculpidas sus Armas, que eran una casa, que estaba ardiendo,
en llamas y desaciendose ; otra que estaba muy ennoblecida de edificios : y en medio de las dos
un pie de venado, atada en el una piedra precfosa, y salian del pie unos penacbos de plumas
preciosas, y asf mismo una cierva, y en ella un Brazo asido de un Arco con unas Flecbas, y como
un Hombre armado con su Morrion y oregeras, coselete, y dos tigres a los Lados, de cuias bocas
salian agua y fuego, y por orla, doce cabezas de Reyes y Senores, y otras cosas que el primer
Arzobispo de Mexico, Don Fray Juan de Zumarraga, mando bacer pedazos, entendiendo ser
algunos l'dolos ; y todo lo referido era la etimologfa de sus Armas. Y de allf se partia esta agua
en dos partes, que la una iba cercando y rodeando el Bosque por la parte del Norte, y la otra
por la parte del Sur. En la cumbre de este Bosque estaban edificadas unas casas & manera de
torre, y por remate y Chapitel estaba becha de canterfa una como a manera de Mazeta, y dentra
de ella salian unos Penacbos y plumeros, que era la etimologfa del nombre del Bosque ; y luego
mas abajo, hecbo de una Pena, un Leon de mas de dos brazas de largo con sus alas y plumas :
estaba hechado y mirando il la parte del Oriente, en cuia boca asomaba un rostro, que era el
mismo retrato del Rey, el qual Leon estaba de ordinario debajo de un palio hecho de oro y
plumerfa. Un poquito mas abajo estaban tres Albercas de agua, y en la de en medio estaban
en sus Bordos tres Damas esculpidas y labradas en la misma Pena, que significaban la gran
Laguna y las Ramas las cabezas del Imperio ; y por un lado (que era hacia la parte del Norte)
otra Alberca, y en una Pena esculpido el nombre y Escudo de Armas de el Ciudad de Tolan, que
fue cabecera de los Tultecas ; y por el lado izquierdo, que caia hacia la parte del Sur, estaba la
otra Alberca, y en la pena esculpido el Escudo de Armas y nombre de la Ciudad de Tenaiocan,
que fue la cabecera del Imperio de los Cbicbimecas ; y de esta Alberca salia un cafio de Agua,
que saltando sobre unas penas salpicaba el Agua, que iba a* caer a un Jardin de todas flores
olorosas de Tierra caliente, que parecia que llovia con la precipitacion y golpe que daba el agua
sobre la pena. Tras este jardin se seguian los Banos bechos y labrados de pena viva, que con
dividirse en dos Banos eran de una pieza ; y por aqui se bajaba por una pena grandisima de
unas gradas becbas de la misma pena, tan bien gravadas y lizas, que parecian Espejos ; y por el
pretil de estas gradas estaba esculpido el dia, mes, y ano, y bora, en que se le dio aviso al Rey
Nezabualcoiotzin de la muerte de un Sefior de Huexotzinco, <i quien quiso y amo notablemente,
y le cojio esta nueva quando se estaban baciendo estas gradas. Luego consecutivamente estaba
el Alcazar y Palacio que el Rey tenia en el Bosque, en los quales bavia, entre otras mucbas
salas, aposentos, y retretes, una muy grandisima, y delante de ella un Patio, en la qual recivia a,
los Reyes de Mexico y Tlacopan, y a otros Grandes Senores, quando se iban a bolgar con el, y
en el Patio se hacian las Damas, y algunas representaciones de gusto y entretenimiento. Esta-
ban estos alcazares con tan admirable y maravillosa hechura, y con tanta diversidad de piedras,
que no parecian ser bechos de industria humana. El Aposento donde el Rey dormia era
redondo ; todo lo demas de este Bosque, como dicho tengo, estaba plantado de diversidad de
Xrboles, y flores odorfferas, y en ellos diversidad de Aves, sin las que el Rey tenia en jaulas,
traidas de diversas partes, que hacian una armonia, y canto, que no se oian las Gentes. Fuera
de las florestas, que las dividia, una Pared entraba la Montana, en que havia muchos venados,
conejos, y liebres, que si de cada cosa muy particular se describiese, y de los demas Bosques de
este Reyno, era menester hacer Historia muy particular.
006 APPENDIX.
No. IV.— See p. 92.
TRANSLATION FROM IXTLILXOCHITl/s "HISTORIA CHICHIMECA,
CAP. LXIV.
OF THE EXTRAORDINARY SEVERITY WITH WHICH THE KING NEZAHUAXFILLI PUNISHED THE
MEXICAN QUEEN FOR HER ADULTERY AND TREASON.
When Axaiacatzin, king of Mexico, and other lords, sent] their daughters to king Nezahual-
pilli, for him to choose one to be his queen and lawful wife, whose son might succeed to the
inheritance, she who had highest claims among them, from nobility of birth and rank, was
Chachiuhnenetzin, daughter of the Mexican king. But^ being at that time very young, she was
brought up by the monarch in a separate palace, with great pomp and numerous attendants, as
became the daughter of so great a king. The number of servants attached to her household
exceeded two thousand. Young as she was, she was yet exceedingly artful and vicious ; so
that, finding herself alone, and seeing that her people feared her, on account of her rank and
importance, she began to give way to the unlimited indulgence of her lust. Whenever she saw
a young man who pleased her fancy, she gave secret orders to have him brought to her, and,
having satisfied her desires, caused him to be put to death. She then ordered a statue or effigy
of his person to be made, and, adorning it with rich clothing, gold, and jewelry, had it placed in
the apartment in which she lived. The number of statues of those whom she thus put to death
was so great as almost to fill the apartment. When the king came to visit her, and inquired
respecting these statues, she answered that they were her gods ; and he, knowing how strict
the Mexicans were in the worship of their false deities, believed her. But, as no iniquity can
be long committed with entire secrecy, she was finally found out in this manner. Three of the
young men, for some reason or other, she had left alive. Their names were Chicubcoatl,
Huitzilimitzin, and Maxtla, one of whom was lord of Tesoyucan, and one of the grandees of the
kingdom ; and the other two, nobles of high rank. It happened that one day the king recog-
nized on one of these a very precious jewel, which he had given to the queen ; and, although he
had no fear of treason on her part, it gave him some uneasiness. Proceeding to visit her that
night, her attendants told him that she was asleep, supposing that the king would then return,
as he had done at other times. But the affair of the jewel made him insist on entering the
chamber in which she slept ; and, going to awake her, he found only a statue in the bed, adorned
with her hair, and closely resembling her. This being seen by the king, and also that the
attendants around were in much trepidation and alarm, he called his guards, and, assembling
all the people of the house, made a general search for the queen, who was shortly found, at an
entertainment with the three young lords, who were likewise arrested with her. The king
referred the case to the judges of his court, in order that they might make an inquiry into the
matter and examine the parties implicated. These discovered many individuals, servants of
the queen, who had in some way or other been accessory to her crimes, workmen who had been
. engaged in making and adorning the statues, others who had aided in introducing the young
men into the palace, and others again who had put them to death and concealed their bodies.
The case having been sufficiently investigated, he despatched ambassadors to the kings of
Mexico and Tlacopan, giving them information of the event, and signifying the day on which
the punishment of the queen and her accomplices was to take place ; and he likewise sent
through the empire to summon all the lords to bring their wives and their daughters, however
young they might be, to be witnesses of a punishment which he designed for a great example.
He also made a truce with all the enemies of the empire, in order that they might come freely
to see it. The time being arrived, so great was the concourse of people gathered on the occasion,
that, large as was the city of Tezcuco, they could scarcely all find room in it. The execution
took place publicly, in sight of the whole city. The queen was put to the garrote [a method of
strangling by means of a rope twisted round a stick], as well as her three gallants; and, from
their being persons of high birth, their bodies were burned, together with the effigies before
mentioned. The other parties who had been accessory to the crime, who were more than two
thousand persons, were also put to the garrote, and buried in a pit made for the purpose in
a ravine near a temple of the Idol of Adulterers. All applauded so severe and exemplary
a punishment, except the Mexican lords, the relations of the queen, who were much incensed
at so public an example, and, although for the present they concealed their resentment, medi-
tated future revenge. It was not without cause that the king experienced this disgrace in his
household, since he was thus punished for the unworthy means made use of by his father to
obtain his mother as a wife.
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. 607
No. V.— See p. 115.
INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN BY VELASQUEZ, GOVERNOR OF CUBA, TO UORTES ON HIS
TAKING COMMAND OF THE EXPEDITION ; DATED AT FERNANDINA, OCTOBER
23, 1518.
[The instrument forms part of the Munoz collection.]
Por quanto yo Diego Velasquez, Alcalde, capitan general, 'e repartidor de los caciques e
yndios de esta isla Fernandina por sus Altezas, &c, ernbie los dias parados, en nombre e servi-
cio de sus Altezas, aver e bojar la ysla de Yucatan St» Marfa de los remedios, que nuevamente
babia descubierto, e a descobrir'lo derflas que Dios N"> Sor fuese servido, y en nombre de sus
Altezas tomar la posesion de todo, una armada con la gente necesaria, en que fue e nombre por
capitan della a Juan de Grijalva, vezino de la villa de la Trinidad desta ysla, el qual me embio
una caravela de las que llevava, porque le facia mucba agua, e en ella cierta gente, que los
Indios en la dicba St» Maria de los remedios le babian berido, e otros adolecido, y con la razon
de todo lo que le babia ocurrido basta otras yslas e tierras que de nuebo descubrio ; que la una
es una ysla que se dice Cozumel, e le puso por nombre S'a Cruz ; y la otra es una tierre granile,
que parte della se llama Ulua, que puso por nombre S"* Maria de las Niebes ; desde donde me
embio la dicba caravela e gente, e me escribio como iba siguiendo su demanda pnncipalmente
a saber si aquella tierra era Isla, 6 tierra firme ; e ha muchos dias que de razon babia de haber
sabido nueva del, de que se presume, pues tal nueva del fasta oy no se sabe, que debe de tener
6 estar en alguna 6 estrenia necesidad de socorro: e asi mesmo porque una caravela, que yo
embie al dicho Juan de Grijalva desdel puerto desta cibdad de Santiago, para que con el e la
armada que lleva se juntase en el puerto de S» Cristobal de la Havana, porque muy mas proveido
de todo e como al servicio de sus. Altezas convenia fueseu, quando llego donde penso fallarle, el
dho Juan de Grijalva se babia fecho & la bela e hera ido con toda la dicba armada, puesto que
dejo abiso del viage que la d''a carabela babia de llebar ; e como la d^a carabela, en que iban
ochenta, 6 noventa bombres, no fallo la dh» armadu, tomo el dicho aviso, y fue en seguimiento
del dho Juan de Grijalva ; y segun paresze e se ha sabido por informacion de las personas
feridas e dolientes, que el d^o Juan de Grijalva me embio, no se babia juntado con el, ni della
babia habido ninguna nueba, ni los dhos dolientes ni ferid< 8 la supieron a la buelta, puesto que
vinieron mucha parte del biage costa & costa de le ysla de Sta Ma de los remedios por donde
habian ydo; de que se presume que con tiempo forzoso podria de caer acia'tierra firme, 6 llegar
& alguna parte donde los dicbos ochenta 6 noventa ombres espanoles corran detrimento por el
nabio, 6 por ser pocos, 6 por andar perdMos en busca del dho Juan de Grijalva, puesto que iban
muy bien pertrechados de todo lo necesario : ademas de esto porque despues que con el dho Juan
de Grijalva embie la dicha armada he sido informado de muy cierto por un yndio de los de la d^a
ysla de Yucatan Sta Maria de los remedios, como en poder de ciertos Caciques principales della
estiln seis cristianos cautibos, y los tienen por esclabos, e se sirben dellos en sus haciendas, que
los tomiiron muchos dias ha de una carabela que con tiempo por alii diz que aporto perdida, que
se cree que alguno dellos deve ser Nicuesa capitan, que el catolico Rey D>» Fernando de gloriosa
memoria mando ir a tierra firme, e redimirlos seria grandisimo servicio de Dios Nr° Sor e de sus
Altezas : por todo lo qual pareciendome que al servicio de Dios Nr° S»>" 6" de sus Altezas conve-
nia inhiar asi en seguimiento e socorro de la d^a armada quel dho Juan de Grijalva llebo, y
busca de la carabela que tras el en su seguimiento fue como a redimir si posible fuese los d^os
cristianos que en poder de los dh°s Indios estan cabtivos ; acorde, habiendo muchas veces pen-
sado, e pesado, e platicadolo con personas cuerdas, de embiar como embie otra armada tal, e
tambien bastecida e aparejada ansf de nabios e mantenimientos como de gente e todo lo demas
para semejante negocio necesario ; que si por caso a la gente de la otra primera armada, 6 de la
dha carabela que fue en su seguimiento hallase en alguna parte cerca de infieles, sea bastante
para los socorrer 6 descercar.; e si ansf no los hallare, por si sola pueda seguramente andar e
calar en su busca todas aquellas yslas tierras, e saber el secreto dellas, y laser todo lo demas
que al servicio e de Dios N''° S°1' cumpla e al de sus Altezas combenga : e para ello he acordado
de la encomendar a vos Fernando Cortes, e os imbiar por capitan della, por la esperiencia que
de vos tengo del tiempo que ha que en esta ysla en mi compania habeis servido a sus Altezas,
confiando que soys persona cuerda, y que con toda pendencia e* zelo de su real servicio dareis
buena razon e quenta de todo lo que por mi en nombre de sus Altezas os fuere mandado acerca
de la dicha negociacion, y la guiareis 6 encaminareis como mas al servicio de Dios N10 S°r e de
bus Altezas combenga ; y porque niejor guiada la negociacion de todo vaya, lo que babeis do
fazer, y mirar, 6 con mucha vigilancia y deligencia ynquirir e 6aber, es lo siguiente.
1 . Hiigase el servicio de Dios en todo, y quien saltare castiga con rigor.
2. Castigar&s en particular la fornicacion.
608 APPENDIX.
3. Proibireis dados y uaipes, ocasion de discordias y otros excesos.
4. Ya salido la armada del pto desta ciudd de Santiago en los otros, dotarels deBta esta culdado
no se haga agravio a Espafioles ni Indios.
5. Tornados los bastimentos necesarios en dhos puertos, partireis a v«> destino, haciendo antes
alarde de gente o armas.
6. No consentireis vaya ningun Indio ni India.
7. Salido al mar y metidas las barcas, en la de v«> navio visitareis los otros, y reconocer
otra vez la gente con las copias [las listas] de cada uno.
8. Apercibireis 6, los capitanes y Maestres de los otros navios que jamas se aparten de v»
conserva, y hareis quanto convenga para llegar todos juntos a* la ysla de Cozumel Santa Cruz,
donde sera vuestra derecha derrota.
9. Si por algun caso llegaren antes que vos, les mandareis que nadie sea osado a tratar mal a
los Indios, ni Jes diga la causa porque vais, ni les demande 6 interrogue por los cristianos capti-
vos en la Isla de Sta Maria de los remedios : digan solo que vos hablareis en llegando.
10. Llegado a d1** ysla de S'a Cruz vereis y sondeareis los puertos, entradas, y aguadas, asi
della como de Sta Maria de los remedios, y la punta de Sta Maria de las Nieves, para dar cum-
plida relacion de todo.
11. Dir&s a los Indios de Cozumel, Sta Cruz, y demas partes, que vais por mandado del Rey
a visitarles ; hablareis de su poder y conquistas, individuando las hechas en estas Islas y Tierra
firmc, de sus mercedes a quantos le sirven ; que ellos se vengaa a" su obediencia y den muestras
dello, regalandole, como los otros ban becbo, con oro, perlas, &c, para que ecbe de ver su buena
voluntad y les favorezca y defienda : que yo les aseguro de todo en su nombre, que me peso
mucho de la batalla que con ellos ovo Francisco Hernandez, y os embio para darles a" entender
como Su Alteza quiere que sean bien tratados, &c.
12. Tomareis enteva informacion de las cruces que diz se ballan en dha Isla Sta Cruz adoradas
por los Indios, del origen y causas de semejante costumbre.
1 3. En general sabreis quanto concierne & la religion de la tierra.
14. Y cuidad mucho de doctrinarlos en la verdadera fee, pues esta es la causa principal porque
sus Altezas permiten estos descubrimientos.
15. Inquirid de la armada de Juan de Grijalva, y de la caravela que llevo en su seguimiento
Cristov. de Olid.
16. Caso de juntaros con la armada, busquese la caravela, y concertad donde podreis juntaros
otra vez todos.
17. Lo mismo hareis si 1° se halla la caravela.
18. Ireis por la costa de la Isla de Yucatan Sta Maria de los remedios, do estan seis cristianos
en poder de unos caciques a" quienes dice conocer Melcbor Indio de alii, que con vos llevais.
Tratadlo con mucho amor, para que os le tenga y sirva fielmente. No sea que os suceda algun
dano, por que los Indios de aquella tierra en caso de guerra son maiiosos.
19. Donde quiera, tratareis muy bien <i los Indios.
20. Quantos rescates hicieredes metereis en area de tres Haves de que tendreis vos una, las
otras el Veedor y el Tesorero que nombraredes.
21. Quando se necesite hacer agua, 6 lefia, &c, embiareis personas cuerdas al mando del de
mayor confianza, que ni causen escandalo ni se pongan en peligro.
22. Si adentro la tierra viereis alguna poblacion de Indios que ofrecieren amistad, podreis ir
a ella con la gente mas pacifica y bien armada, mirando mucho en que ningun agravio se les
haga en sus bienes y mugeres.
23. En tal caso dejareis a mui buen recabdo los navios ; estareis mui sobre aviso que no os
engaiien ni se entrometan muchos Indios entre los Espafioles, &c.
24. Avisdo que placiendo a Dios N. S. ayais los X»os que en ladha Isla de S« Ma de los reme-
dios estan captivos, y buscado que por ella ayais la d^a armada e la dha caravela, seguireis
vuestro viage a la punta liana ques el principio de la tier -a grande que agora nuevamente el
dho J. de Grijalva descubrio, y correreis en su busca por la costa della adelante buscando todos
los rios e puertos della fasta llegar a la baia de S. Juan, y Sta Ma de los Nieves, que es desde
donde el dh° J. de Grijalva me embio los heridos e dolientes, e me escrivio lo que hasta alii le
habia occurrido ; e si alii hallaredes, juntaros e ir con el J. ; porque entre los Espafioles que
llevais 6 alia, estan no haya diferencias, . . . cada uno tenga cargo de la gente que consigo lleva,
. . . y entramos mui conformes, consultareis lo que mas convenga conforme a esta instruccion,
y a la que Grijalva llevo de sus Paternidades y mias : en tal caso los rescates todos se har<in en
presencia de Francisco de Pefialosa, veedor nombrado por sus Paternidades.
25. Inquirireis las cosas de las tierras a" do llegareis, asi morales como ffsicas, si hai perlas,
especieria, oro, &c, partte en Sta Ma de las Nieves, de donde Grijalva me embio ciertos granos
de oro por fundir e fundidos.
26. Quando salteis en tierra sea ante vro S»o y muchos testigos, y tomareis posesion della con
las solemnidades usadas : inquirid la calidad de las gentes : porque diz que haj' gentes de orejas
grandesy anchas, y otras que tienen las caras como perros, ... a que parte estan las Amazonas,
que dicen estos Indios que con vos llevais, que estan cerca de allf.
27. Las demas cosas dejo & v» prudencia, confiando de vos que en todo tomeis el cuidadoso
cuidado de hacer lo que mas cumpla al servicio de Dios y de SS. A A.
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. 609
28. En todos los puertos de esta ysla do hallareis Espaiioles que quieran ir con vos, no lleveis
& quien tuviere deudas, si antes no las paga 6 da fianzas suflcientes.
29. Luego en llegaudo a S** M> de las Nieves, me embi&reis en el navfo que menos falta
hiciere, quanto hubieredes rescatado y hallado de oro, perlas, especerfa, animales, aves, &c, con
relacion de lo hecho y lo que pensais haeer, p» que yo lo mande y diga al Rey.
30. Conocereis conforme A derecho de las causas civiles y criminales que ocurran, como
Capitan desta armada con todos los poderes, &c. &c. Fha en esta cibdad de Santiago puerto
desta isla Fernandina, a" 23 Oct., 1518.
No. VI— See p. 124.
.EXTRACT FROM LAS CASAS'
LIB. III. CAP. CXVI.
[Few Spanish scholars have had access to the writings of Las Casas ; and
I have made this short extract from the original, as a specimen of the ram-
bling but vigorous style of a work the celebrity of which has been much enhanced
by the jealous reserve with which it has been withheld from publication.]
Esto es uno de los herrores y disparates que muchos han tenidoy echo en estas partes ; porque
simprimero por mucho tiempo aver a los yndios y a qualquiera nacion ydolatria dotrinado es
gran desvario quitarles I03 ydolos ; lo qual nunca se hace por voluntad sino contra de lo ydola-
traa; porque ninguno puede dexar por su voluntad e de buenagana aquello que tiene de muchos
ano* por Dios y en la leche mamado y autorizado por sus mayores, sin que primero tenga
entendido que aquello que les dan 6 en que les comutan su Dos, sea verdadero Dios. Mirad que
doctrina les podian dar en do* 6 en tres 6 en quatro 6 en diez dias, que alii estuvieron, y que
mas estuvieran, del verdadero Dios, y tampoco les supieran dar para desarraygalles la opinion
erronea de sus 'iioses, que en yendose, que se fueron, no tornaron a ydolatrar Primero se han
de rraer de los corazones los ydolos, conviene a. saber el concepto y estima que tienen de ser
aquellos Dios los ydolatras por diuturna y deligente e continua dotrina, y pintalles en ellos el
concepto y verdad del verdadero I 'ios, y despues ellos niismos viendo su engafio y error an de
derrocar e destruir, con sus mismas manos y de toda su voluntad. los ydolos que veneraban por
Dios e por dioses. Yasi lo ensefia San A gust in en el sermon, De puero centurionis, de verbis
Domini. Pero no fue aqueste el postrero disparate que en estas yndias cerca desta materia se a
hecho poner cruces, ynduciendo a los yndios a la rreverencia d<llas. Si ay tiempo para ello con
einificacion alguna del fruto que pueden sacar dello, si se lo pueden dar a entender para hacerse
y" bien hacerse, pero no aviendo tiempo ni lengua ni sazon, cosa superflua e" ynutil parece.
Porque pueden pensar los yndios que les dan algun ydolo de aquella figura que tienen por Dios
jOS christianos, v asi lo an'in ydolatra adorando por Dios aquel palo. La mas cierta e conyeni-
ente regla e dotvina que por estas tierras y otras de ynfieh-s semejantes a estos los christianos
deben >iar e tener, quando van de pasada como estos y^an.e quando tambien quisieren morar
entre ellas, es dalles muy lmen exempl" de hobras virtuosaa y Christianas, para que, como dice
nuestro Redemptor viendolas alaben y den gloria al Dios e padre de los cristianos, e por ellas
juzguen que quien tales cultores tiene' no puede ser sino bueno e verdadero Dios.
No. VII.— See p. 148.
DEPOSITION OP ALFONSO HERNANDEZ DE PUERTO-OARRERO, MS.
[Puerto-Carrero and Montejo were the two officers sent home by Cortes
from Villa Rica with despatches to the government. The emissaries were
examined under oath before the venerable Dr. Carbajal, one of the Council of
the Indies, in regard to the proceedings of Velasquez and Cortes ; and the
following is the deposition of Puerto-Carrero. He was a man of good family,
superior in this respect to most of those embarked in the expedition. The
original is in the Archives of Simancas.]
En la cibdad de la Corufia, a 30 dias del mes de Abril, de 1520 alios, se tomo el dh° e depusi-
cion de Alonso H rnandez Puerto-Carrero por mi, Joan de Samano, del qual haviendo jurado en
forma so cargo del juramento dijo lo sigte.
610 APPENDIX.
Primeramente dijo, que en ell armada que hizo Franco Hernandez de Cordova e Caycedo 4. su
companero el no fne" en ella ; de la qual armada fue el dho Franco Hernandez de Cordova por
Capitan General e principal armador ; e que ha oido decir como estos descubrieron la Isla que se
llama de Yucatan.
Item : dijo que en ell armada de que fue Cap" General Joan de Grijalva este testigo no fue ;
pero que vido un Cap", que se dice Pedro de Alvarado, que embio Joan de Grijalva en una
ca»avela con ciertooro ejoyas a Diego Velasquez; e que oyo decir, que des que Diego Velasquez
vido que traian tan poco oro, e el Capitan Joan de Grijalva se queria luego bolver e no hacer
mas rescate, acordo de hablar 6. Hernandez Cortes para que hiciesen esta arm ida, por que al
presente en Santiago no havia persona que mejor aparejo tuviese, i que mas bien quisto en la
isla fuese, por que al presente tenia ties navfos ; fuele preguntado, como savia lo susodho ;
respondio, que porque lo avia oido dmr & muchas personas de la isla.
Dice mas que se pregono en el pueblo don este testigo vivia, que todas las personas que qui-
siesen ir en ell armada, de todo lo que se oviese 6 rescatase habria la una tercera parte, e las
otras dos partes eran para los armadores i navfos.
Fuele preguntado, quien hizo dar el d'>° pregun, e en cuyo nombre se hacia, e quien se decia
entonces que hacia la d'>a armada ; respondio, que oyo decir, que Hernando Cortes havia escripto
una carta si un Alee de aquel pueblo para que hiciese a pregonarlo; e que oyo decir, que Diego
Velasquez hablo con Herndo Cortes para que juntam«e con el hiciesen la d'>» armada, por que
al presente no habia otra persona que mejor aparejo en la dicha isla para ello tuviese, porque
al presente tenia tres navfos, e era bien quisto en la isla ; e que oyo decir, que si el no fuera por
Capitan, que no fuera la tercera parte de la gente que con el fue ; e que no sabe el concierto que
eatre sf tienen, mas de que oyo decir, que amvos hacian aquella armada, e que ponia Herndo
Cortes mas de las dos partes del la, e que la otra parte cree este testigo que la puso Diego Velas-
quez, porque lo oyo decir, e despues que fue en la d'»» armada vido ciertos navfos que puso
Hern'io Cortes, en lo que gastaba con la gente, que le parecio que ponia las dos partes 6 mas, 6
que de diez navfos que fueron en ell armada los tres puso Diego Velasquez, e los siete Cortes
Buyos e de sua amigos.
Dijo que le dijeron muchas personas que ivan en ell armada como Herndo Cortes hizo prego-
nar, que todos los que quisiesen ir en su compania, si toviesen nescesida de dineros asf para
comprar vestidos como provisiones 6 armas para ellos, que fuesen & el, e que el les socoreria 6
les daria lo que hoviesen menester, e que a" todos los que a el acodian que lo dava, e que esto
sab\ porque muchas personas a quien el socorria con dineros que lo dijeron ; e que estando en
la villa de la Trenidad, vio que el e sus amigos davan a. toda la gente que alii estaba todo lo que
havian menester ; e asf mesmo estando en la villa de Sant Cristobal en la Havana, vio hacer lo
niismo, e comprar rnuchos puercos e pan, que podian ser tres 6 cuatro meses.
Fuele preguntado. 6 quien tenian por principal armador desta armada, e quien era publico
que la hacia ; dijo que lo que oyo decir e vido, que Herndo Cortes gastava las dos partes, e que
los d 'os Diego Velasquez e Herudo Cortes la hicieron como dh° tiene, e que no sabe mas en esto
de estfl articulo.
Fuele preguntado, si sabia quel d^o Diego Velasquez fuese el principal por respecto de ser
Governador por su Al en las tierras e islas que por su industria se descobriesen ; que no lo sabe,
por que no le eran entonces llegados Gonzalo de Guzman e Narvaez.
Fuele preguntado, si sabe el di"> Diego Velasquez sea lugar teniente de Governador e capitan
de la isla de Cuba; dijo que ha oido dear, ques teniente de Almirante.
Fuele. preguntado, si sabia dellasito 6 capitulac" que el dicho Diego Velasquez tomo con los
Frailes Geronimos en nombre de 8. M., e de la instruccion que ellos para el descubrimiento
le dieron ; dijo que oyo decir, que les havia fho relacion que havia descovierto una tria que era
mui nea, e les embio a pedir le diesen lie* para vojalla e para rescatar en ella, e los Padres
Geronimos que la dieron, e que esto sabe por que lo oyo decir: fuele preguntado, si vio este
asiento 6 poderes algunos de los dh°s Padres 6 la d'ia instruccion ; dijo que bien los puede haver
visto, mas lo que en ellos iva, no se acuerda mas que lo arriva dho.
Fuele preguntado, si vio 6 oyo decir. que los dichos poderes e capitulac" de los d^os Padres
Geronimos fuese nombrado iTiego Velasquez 6 el d''° Cortes ; dijo que en los poderes que los Pes
Ger6;iimos embiaron a Diego Velasquez que a el seria, e no hi Hernando Cortes, por que el dh°
Di^go Velasquez lo embio a. pedir.
Fuele preguntado, como e porque causa obedecia a Herndo Cortes por Cap" General de aquella
armada; dijo que porque Diego Velasquez le dio su poder en nombre de su Al. para ir hacer
aquel rescate ; e que lo sahe, porque vio el poder e lo oyo decir A todos ellos.
Fuele preguntado, que fue la causa por que nousaron con el d>") Herndo Cortes de los poderes
que llevaba del dh° Diego Velasquez ; dijo que esta armada iva en achaque de buscar ;t Juan de
Grijalva; que 0}r6 decir, que no tenia poder Diego Velasquez de los P'-es Geronimos para hacer
esta armada; e con este achaque que art iva dice hicieron esta armada, e que el uso del poder
que Diego Velasquez le dio, e alii rescato.
^ Fuele preguntado, que fue la causa porque, quando quisieron poblar, le nombruron ellos por
Capitan General e justicia mayor de nuevo ; dijo que Hernando Cortes, desque havia rescatado
e vido que tenia pocos vastimios, que no havia mas de para bolver tasadamente a la isla de Cuba, '
dijo que se queria bolver; e entonces toda la gente se juntaron e le requirleron que poblase,
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. 611
pues los Yndios le8 tenian buena voluntad e raostravan que holgaban con ellos, e la trra era tan
aparejada para ello, e S. M. seria dello mui servido; e respondio, que el no fraia poder para
poblar, que el responderia ; e respondio, que pues era servicio de S. M. poblar, otejaba que
poblasen ; e bicieron Ales e Rexidores, 6 se juntaron en su cabildo, e le proveyeron de Xusticia
mayor e Capitan General en n ornbre de S. M.
Fuele preguntado, que se bicieron los navios que llebaron ; dijo que desque poblaron venian
los maestres de los navios, a, decir al capitan que todos los navfos se ivan a fondo, que no los
podiau tener encima dell agua ; i el dh° Capitan mando a ciertos maestres e pilotos que entrasen
en los navios e viesen los que estavan para poder navegar, e ver si se podiesen remediar ; e los
dhos maestres e pilotos digeron, que no bavia mas de tres navios que pudiesen navegar e reme-
diarse, e que bavia de ser con mucba costa ; e que los demas que no bavia medio ninguno en
ellos, e que alguno dellos se undid en la mar, estando ecbada el ancla ; e que con los demas que
no estavan para poder navegar e remediaise, los dejaron ir al traves ; e que esta es la verdad, e
firmolo de su nombre.
Dijo que se acuerda que oyo decir, que Hernando Cortes bavia gastado en esta armada cinco
mill ducados 6 castellanos; e que Diego Velasquez oyo decir, que bavia gastado mill e seteci-
entos.poco mas 6 menos ; e que esto que gasto fue en vinos e aceites e vinagre e ropas de vestir,
las que les vendio un factor que alia esta de Diego Velasquez, en que les vendia el arroba de
vino a, cuatro castellanos que salia al respecto por una pipa cient. castellanos, el arroba del
aceite a" seis castellanos, e alomesmo la arrova del vinagre, e las camisas a dos pesos, y el par de
los alpargates a castellano, e un mazo de cuentas de valorfa a dos castellanos costandole a el a
dos reales, e *I este respecto fueron todas las otras cosas ; e que esto que gasto Diego Velasquez
lo sabe, porque lo vido vender, e este testigo se le vendio basta parte dello. — Alonso Hernandez
Portocarrero declaro ante mi, Joban de Samano.
No. VIII.— See p. 150.
EXTRACT FROM THE " CARTA DE VERA CRUZ," MS.
[The following extract from this celebrated letter of the Municipality of La
Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz to the Emperor gives a succinct view of the founda-
tion of the first colony in Mexico, and of the appointment of Cortes by that
body as Chief Justice and Captain-General. The original is preserved in the
Imperial Library at Vienna.]
Despues de se aver despedido de nosotros el dicho Cacique, y buelto a" su casa, en mucba con-
formidad, como en esta armada venimos, personas nobles, cavalleros, bijos dalgo, zelosos del
servicio de n'°. Senor y de V*** Reales Altezas, y deseosos de ensalzar su Corona Real, de acre-
centar sus Senorios, y de aumentar sus rentas, nos juntamos y platicamos con el dicho capitan
Fernando Cortes, dicieudo que esta tierra era buena, y que segun la muestra de oro que aquel
Cacjque avia traido, se creia que debia de ser mui rica, y que segun las muestras que el dicho
Cacjque avia dado, era de creer que el y todos sus Indios nos tenian muy buena voluntad; por
tanto que nos parecia que nos convenia al servicio de V*** M.igestades, y que en tal tierra se
biziese lo que Diego Velasquez avia mandado bacer al dicbo Capitan Fernando Cortes, que era
rescatar todo el oro que pudiese. y rescatado bolverse con todo ello a, la Isla Fernandina, para
gozar solamente de ello el dicbo Diego Velasquez y el dicbo Capitan; y que lo mejor que a
todos nos parecia era, que en nombre de Vras Reales Altezas se poblase y fundase alii un pueblc
en que buviese justicia, para que en esta tierra tuviesen Seiiorio, como en sus Reinos y Senorios
lo tienen ; porque siendo esta tierra poblada de Espanoles, de mas de acregentar los Reinos y
Senorios de Vr:is Magestades, y sus rentas, nos podrian hacer mercedes a. nosotros y a los pobla-
dores que de mas alia viniesen adelante ; y acordado esto, nos juntamos todos en Concordes de
un animo y voluntad, y hizimos un requerimiento al dicho capitan, en el qual diximos, que pues
el veia quanto al servicio de Di >s nr° Senor y al de Vr»s Magestades convenia, que esta tierra
estuviese poblada, dandole las causas de que arriba a Vras Altezas se ha hecho relation, que le
requerimos que luego cesase de hacer rescates de la manera que los venia a hacer, porque seria
destruir la tierra en mucba manera, y V>»* Magestades serian en ellos muy desservidos ; y que
ansi mismo le pedimos y requerimos que luegd nombrase para aquella villa, que se avia por
nosotros de bacer y fundar, Alcaldes y Regidores, en nombre de V"* Reales Altezas, con ciertas
protestaciones, en forma que contra el protestamos si ansi no lo biziesen ; y hecho este requeri-
miento al dicho Capitan, dixo que daria su respuesta el dia siguiente ; y viendo pues el dicho
Capitan como convenia al servicio de V"« Reales Altezas lo que le pediamos, luego otro dia nos
respondio diciendo, que su voluntad estava mas inclinada al servicio de Vr*» Magestades que a
otra cosa alguna, y que no mirando al interese que a el se le siguiese, 6i prosiguieraen el rescate
que traia propuesto de rehacer los grandes gastos que de su hacienda avia hecho en aquella
612
APPENDIX.
armada juntamente non el dicho Diego Velasquez, antes ponidndolo todo le placia y era contento
de hacer lo que por nosotros le era pedido, pues que tanto convenia al servicio de Vr" Reales
Altezas; y luego comenzo con gran diligencia a poblar y a fundar una villa la qual puso por
nombre la rica Villa de Vera Cruz, y nombronos a los que la delantes subscribimos, por Alcaldes y
Regidores de la dicha Villa, y en nombre de V'» Keales Altezas recibio de nosotros el jura -
mento y solenidad que en tal caso se acostumbra y suele hacer ; despues de lo qual otro dia
siguiente entramos en nuestro cabildo y ajuntamiento, y estando asi' juntos embiamos a. llamar
al dicho Capitan Fernando Cortes, y le pedimos en nombre de V'*s Reales Altezas que nos
mostrase los poderes y instrucciones que el dicho Diego Velasquez le avia dado para venir a
estas partes, el qual embio luego por ellosy nos los mostro; y vistosy leidos por nosotros, bien
examinados segun lo que pudimos mejor entender, hallamos a nuestro parecer que por los
dichos poderes y instrucciones no tenia mas poder el dicbo capitan Fernando Cortes, y que por
aver ya espirado no podia usar de justicia ni de Capitan de alii adelante ; pareciendonos pues,
mui Excellentissimos Principes ! que para la pacifkacion y concordia de entre nosotros, y para
nos gobernar bien, convenia poner una persona para su Real servicio, que estuviese en nombre
de Vras Magestades en la dicha villa y en estas partes por justicia mayor y capitan y cabeza, &
quien todos acatasemos hasta hacer relacion deello a Vras Heales Altezas para que en ello
proveyesen lo que mas servidos fuesen, y visto que a ninguna persona se podria dar mejor el
dicho cargo que al dicho Fernando Cortes, porque demas de ser persona tal qual para ello
conviene, tiene muy gran zelo y deseo del servicio de Vras Magestades, y ansi mismo por la
mucha experiencia que de estas partes y Islas tiene, de causa de los quales ha siempre dado
buena cuenta, y por haver gastado todo quanto tenia por venir como vino con esta armada en
servicio de Vras Magestades, y por aver tenido en poco, como hemos hecho relacion, todo lo que
podia ganar y interese que se le podia seguir si rescatara como traia concertado, y le proveimos
en nombre de Vras Reales Altezas de justicia y Alcalde mayor, del qual recibimos el juramento
que en tal caso se requiere, y hecho como convenia al Real servicio de Vra Magestad, lo recibf-
mos en su Real nombre en nr» ajuntamiento y cabildo por Justicia mayor y capitan de Vra'
Reales armas, y ansi esta y estara. hasta tanto que Vras Magestades provean lo que mas a, su
servicio convenga: hemos querido hacer de todo esto relation & Vras Reales Altezas, porque
sepan lo que aca se ha hecho, y el estado y manera en que quedamos.
No. IX.— See p. 185.
EXTRACT FROM CAMARGo's " HISTORIA DE TLASCALA," MS.
[This passage from the Indian chronicler relates to the ceremony of inaugu-
ration ot a Tecuhtle, or merchant-knight, in Tlascala. One might fancy him-
self reading the pages of Ste.-Palaye, or any other historian of European
chivalry.]
Esta ceremonia de armarse caballeros los naturales de Mexico y Tlaxcalla y otras provincias
de la Laguna Mejicana es cosa muy notoria ; y asi no nos detendremos en ella, mas de pasar
secuntamente. Es de saber, que cualquier Senor, 6 hijos de Senores, que por sus personas
habian ganado alguna cosa en la guerra, 6 que hubiesen hecho 6 emprendido cosas senaladas y
aventajadas, como tubiese indicios de mucho valor, y que fuese de buen consejo y aviso en la
republica, le armaban caballero ; que como fuesen tan ricos que por sus riquezas se enoblecian
y hacian negocios de hijos y dalgo y caballero, los armaban caballeros por dos, diferentemente
que los caballeros de linea recta, porque los Uamaban Tepilhuan : Al Mercader que era artnado
caballero, y a los linos que por descendencia lo eran, Uamaban Tecuhtles. Estos Tecuhtles se
armaban caballeros con muchas ceremonias. Ante todas cosas, estaban encerrados 40 6 60 dias
en un templo de sus Idolos, y ayunaban todo este tiempo, y no trataban con gente mas que con
aquellos que les Servian, y al cabo de los cuales eran llerados al templo mayor, y alii se les
daban grandes doctrinas de la vida que habian de tener y guardar : y antes de todas estas cosas
les daban grandes bejamenes con muchas palabras afrentosas y satfricas, y les daban de pufiadas
con grandes reprensiones, y aun en su propio rostro, segun atras dejamos tratado, ,y les hora-
daban las narices y labios y orejas ; y la sangre que de ellos salia la ofrecian a sus Idolos. Alii
les daban publicamente sus arcos y flechas y macanas y todo genero de armas usadas en su
arte militar. Del templo era llevado por las calles y plazas acostumbradas con gran pompa y
regocijo y solemnidad : ponfanles en las orejas orejeras de oro, y bezotes de lo mismo, Uevando
adelante muchos truhanes y chocarreros que decian grandes donaires, con que hacian reir las
gentes ; pero como vamos tratando, se ponian en las narices piedras ricas, or.idabanles las
orejas y narices y bezos, no con yerros ni cosa de oro ni plata, sino con guesos de Tigres y
leones y dguilas agudos. Este armado caballero hacia muy solemnes fiestas y costosas, y daban
muy grandes presentes & los antiguos Senores caballeros asi de ropas como de esclavos, oro y
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. 613
piedras preciosas y plumerias ricas, y divisas, escudos, rodelas y arcos y flechas, a manera de
propinas cuando se doctonin nuestros letrados. Andan de casa en casa de estos Tecuhtles dun-
doles estos presentes y dadivas, y lo propio bacen con estos armados caballeros despues que le
eran, y se tenia cuenta con todos ellos. Y era republica ; y asi no se armaban muchos caba-
lleros hidalgos pobres, por su poca posibilidad, sino eran aquellos que por sus nobles y loables
hechos lo habian merecido, que en tal caso los caciques cabeceros y los mas supremos Sefiores
Reyes, pues tenian merornixto imperio con sus tierras, y orca y cucbillo para ejecutar los casos
de justicia, cqmo en efecto era asi. Finalmente, que los que oradaban las orejas, bezos, y
narices de estos, que a>i se armaban caballeros, eran caballeros ancianos y muy antiguos, los
cuales estaban dedicados para esto ; y asi como para en log casos de justicia y consejos de
gucrra. Servian estos caballeros veteranos en la republica, los cuales eran temidos, obedecidos,
y reverenciados en muy gran veneracion y estima. Y como atras dejamos dicho, que al cabo
de los 40 6 60 dies de ayuuo de los caballeros nobles los sacaban de alii para llevarlos al templo
mayor donde tenian sus simulacros; no les oradaban entouces las orejas, narices, ni labios, que
son los labios de la parte de abajo, sino que cuando se ponian en el ayuno, entonces ; y ante
todas cosas les hacian estos bestialea < spectaculos ; y en todo el tiempo de ayuno estaba en
cura, para que el dia de la mayor ceremonia fn se sano de las heri las, que pudiesin ponerle las
orejeras y bezotes sin ningun detrimento ni dolor; y en todo este tiempo no se lavaban, antes
estaban todo liznados y embiajados de negro, y con muestras de gran bumildad para conseguir
y alcanzar tan gran inerced y premio, velando las annas todo el tiempo del ayuno segun sus
ordenanzas, constitutiones, y usos y costumbres entre ellos tan celebrados. Tambien usaban
tener las puertas donde estaban ayunando cerradas con ramos de laurel, cuyo urbol entre los
naturales era muy estimado.
No. X.— See p. 207.
EXTRACT FROM OVIEDO'S " HISTORIA DE LAS INDIAS," MS., LIB. XXXIII.
CAP. XLVI.
[This chapter, which has furnished me with many particulars for the nar-
rative, contains a minute account of Montezuma's household and way of life,
gathered by the writer, as he tells us, from the testimony of different indivi-
duals of credit, who had the best means of information. It affords a good
specimen of the historian's manner, and may have interest to the Castilian
scholar, since the original has never been published, and, to judge from appear-
ances, is not likely to be so.]
Quando este gran Principe Montezuma comia, estaba en una gran sala encalada e mui pintada
de pinturas diversas ; alii tenia euanos e cbocarreros que le decian gracias e donaires, e otros
que jugaban con vn palo puesto sobre los pies grande, e le traian e meneaban con tanta faci-
lidad e ligereza que parecia cosa imposible ; e otros hacian otros juegos e cosas de mucho para
se admirar los bombres. A la puerta de la sala estaba vn patio mui grande, en que habia cien
aposentos de 25 6 30 pies de largo, cada uno sobre si, en torno de dicho patio, e alii estaban los
Sefiores principals aposentados como guardas del palacio ordinarias, y estos tales aposentos se
liftman galpones, los quales & la contina ocupan mas de 600 hombres, que jamas se quitaban de
alii, e cada vno de aquellos tenian mas de 30 servidores, de manera que a lo menos nunca
faltaban 3000 hombres de guerra en esta guarda cotediana del palacio. Quando queria comer
aquel principe grande, daban le agua a manos sus Mugeres, e salian alii hasta 20 dellas las mas
queridas e mas hermosas e estaban en pie en tanto que el comia ; E traiale vn Mayordomo 6
Maestre-sala 3000 platos 6 mas de diversos manjares de gallinas, codornices, palomas, tortolas,
e otras aves, e algunos platos de muchachos tiernos guisados a su modo, e todo mui llenode axi,
e el comia de lo que las mugeres le trahian 6 queria. Despues que habia acabado de comer se
tornaba a" la bar las manos, e las Mugeres se iban & su aposento dellas, donde eran mui bien
servidas; E luego ante el senor allegabanse a sus burlas e gracias aquellos chocarreros e
donosos, e mandaba les dar de comer sentados ii vn cabo de la sala ; e todo lo restante de la
comida mandaba dar a la otra gente que se ha dicho que estaban en aquel gran patio ; y luego
venian 3000 Xicalos i cantaros 6 anforas de brevage, e despues que el senor habia comido 6
bebido, e labadose las manos, ibanse las Mugeres, e acabadas de salir de la sala, entraban los
negociantes de muchas partes, asi de la misma cibdad como de sus senorios; e los que le habian
fde hablar incabanse de rodillas quatro varas de medir 6 mas, apartados d^l 6 descalzos, e sin
manta de algodon que algo valiese ; e sin mirarle a la cara decian su razonamiento ; e el proveia
lo que le parecia; e aquellos se levantaban e tornaban atras retraiendose sin volver las espaldas
VI) buen tiro de piedra, como lo acostumbraban bacer los Moros de Cfiauada deiante de sus
614
APPENDIX.
senores e prfncipes. Alii habia muchos jugadores de diversos juegos, en especial con vnos
fesoles a* manera de habas, e apuntadas como dados, que es cosa de ver ; e juegan cuanto tienen
los que son Tahures entrellos. J van los Espanoles a" ver a" Montezuma, e mandabales dar
ducbos, que son vnos banquillos 6 escabelos, en que se sentasen, mui lindamente labrados, 6 de
gentil madera, e decianles que querian, que lo pidiesen e darselo ban. Su persona era de pocas
carnes, pero de buena gracia e afabil, e tenia cinco 6 seis pelos en la barba tan luengos como
un geme. Si le parecia buena alguna ropa que el Espafiol tubiese, pediasela, e si se la dada
liberalmente sin le pedir nada por ella, luego se la cobria e la miraba mui particularmente, e
con placer la loaba ; mas si le pedian precio por ella hacialo dar luego, e tomaba la ropa e
torndbasela £ dar a los cbristianos sin se la cobrir e como descontento de la mala crianza del
que pedia el precio, decia : Para mi no ba de baber precio alguno, porque yo soy sefior, e no ine
han de pedir nada deso ; que yo lo dare sin que me den alguna cosa ; que es mui gran afrenta
poner precio de ninguna cosa a los que son senores, ni ser ellos Mercaderes. Con esto con-
cuerdan las palabras que de Scipion Africano, que de si decian aquella contienda de prestancia,
que escrive Luciano, entre los tres capitanes mas excelentes de los antiguos, que son Alexandro
Magno, e Anibal, e Scipion : Desde que nascf, ni vendi ni compre" cosa ninguna. Asi que decia
Montezuma quando asi le pedian prescio: Otro dia no te pedire cosa alguna, porque me has
hecho mercader ; vete con Dios a tu casa, e lo que obieses menester pidelo, e diirsete ha : E no
tornes aca, que no soy amigo desos tratos, ni de los que en ellos entienden, para mas de dex-
arselos vsar con otros hombres en mi Sefiorio. Tenia Montezuma jnas de 3000 senores que le
eran subgetos, e aquellos tenian muchos vasallos cada uno dellos ; E cada qual tenia casa prin-
cipal en Temixtitan, e habia de residir en ella ciertos meses del afio ; E quando se habian de ir
<£ su tierra con licencia de Montezuma, habia de quedar en la casa su hijo 6 hermano hasta quel
sefior del la tornase. Esto hacia Montezuma por tener su tierra segura, e que ninguno se le
alzase sin ser sentido. Tenia vna sena, que trahian sus Almoxarifes e Mensagcros quando
recogian los tributos, e el que erraba lo mataban a el e a quantos del veniau. Dabanle sus
vasallos en tributo ordinario de tres hijos uno, e el que no tenia hijos habia de dar vn Indio 6
India para sacrificar a sus Dioses, 6* sino lo daban, habian de sacrificarle a el : Dabanle tres
hanegas de mahiz vna, 6 de todo lo que grangeaban, 6 comian, 6 bebian ; En fin, de todo se le
daba el tercio ; E el que desto faltaba pagaba con la cabeza. En cada pueblo tenian Mayor-
domo con sus libros del numero de la gente e de todo lo demas asentado por tales figuras 6
caracteres quellos se entendian sin discrepancia, como entre nosotros con nuestras letras se
entenderia vna cuenta mui bien ordenada. E aquellos particulares Mayordomos daban quenta
a aquellos que residian en Temixtitan, e tenian sus alholfes e magazenes e depositos donde se
recogian los tributos, e oficiales para ello, e ponian en c^rceles los que it su tiempo no pagaban,
e dabanles termino para la paga, a, aquel pasado e no pagado, justiciaban al tal deudor, 6 le
hacian esclavo.
********
Dexemos sta materia, e volvamos a este gran Principe Montezuma, el qual en vna gran
sala de 150 pies de largo, e de 50 de ancho, de grandes vigas e postes de madera que lo soste-
nian, encima da la qual, era todo vn terrado e azutea, e tenia dehtro desta sala muchos generos
de aves, e de animales. Havia 50 aguilas caudales en jaolas, tigres, lobos, culebras, tan gruesas
como la pierna, de mucho espanto, e en sus jaolas asi mismo, e alii se les llevaba la sangre de
los hombres e mugeres e ninos que sacrificaban, e cebaban con ella aquellas bestias ; e habia
vn suelo hecho de la mesma sangre humana en toda la dicha sala, e si se metia vn palo 6 vara
temblaba el suelo. En entrando por la sala, el hedor era mucho e aborrecible e asqueroso ; las
culebras daban grandes e horribles silvos, e los gemidos 6 tonos de los otros animales alii presos
era una melodia infernal, e para poner espanto ; tenian 500 gallinas de racion cada dia para la
sustentacion desos animales. En medio de aquella sala habia vna capilla & manera de vn
horno grande, e por encima chapada de las minas de oro e plata e piedras de rauchas maneras,
como iigatas e cornesinas, nides, topacios, planas desmeraldas, e de otras suertes, muchas e mui
bien engastadas. Alii entraba Montezuma e se retrahia il hablar con el Dieblo, al qual nom-
braban Atezcatepoca, que aquella gente tienen por Dios de la guerra, y el les daba a. entender,
que era Sefior y criador de todo, y que en su mano era el veneer ; e los Indios en sus arreitos y
cantares e hablas le dan gracias y lo invocan en sus necesidades. En aquel patio e sala habia
continuainente 5000 hombres pintados de cierto betun 6 tinta, los quales no llegan a mugeres e
son castos ; lklmanlos papas, e aquestos son religiosos.
********
Tenia Montezuma vna casa mui grande en que estaban sus Mugeres, que eran mas de 4000
hijas de senores, que se las daban para ser sus Mugeres, e el lo mandaba hacer asi ; e las tenia
mui guardadas y servidas ; y algunas veces el daba algunas dellas a" quien queria favorecer y
honrar de sus principales : Ellos las recibian como vn don grandisimo. Habia en su casa
muchos jardines e 100 vanos, 6 mas, como los que vsan los Moros, que siempre estaban cali-
entes, en que se bafiaban aquellas sus_Mugeres, las quales tenian sus guardas, e otras mugeres
como Prioras que las governaban : E a. estas mayeres, que eran ancianas, acataban como a
Madres, y ellas las trataban como a hijas. Tuvo su padre de Montezuma 150 hijos e hijas, de
los quales los mas mato Montezuma, y las hermanas caso muchas dellas con quien le parecio ;
y el tubo 50 hijos y hijas, d ma^ ; y acaecio algunas veces tener 50 mugeres prenadas, y las ma«
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. 015
dellas mataban las criaturas en el cuerpo, porque asi dicen que se lo mandaba el Diablo, quo
hablaba con ellas y deciales que se sacrifieasen ellas las orejas y las lenguas y sus naturas, e se
sacasen niucha sangre e se la ofreciesen, e asi lo bacian en efeto. Parecia la casa de Montezuma
vna cibdad mui poblada. Tenia sus porteros en cada puerta. Tenia 20 puertas de servicio ;
entraban muchas calles de agua a ellas, por las quales entraban e salian las canoas con mahiz, e
otros bastimentos, e lefia. Entraba en esta casa vn cafio de agua dulce, que venia de los leguas
de allf, por encima de vna calzada de piedra, que venia de vna fuente, que se dice chapictepeque,
que nace en vn pefion, que esta en la Laguna salada, de mui excelente agua.
No. XL— See p. 333, et alibi.
DIALOGUE OF OvIEDO WITH DON THOAN CANO, AP. " HISTORIA DE LAS
INDIAS," MS., LIB. XXXIII. CAP. LIV.
[The most remarkable, in some respects, of Oviedos compositions is his
Quincuagenas, a collection of imaginary dialogues with the most eminent
persons of his time, frequently founded, no doubt, on the personal communica-
tions which he had held with them. In his "History of the Indies" he has
also introduced a dialogue which he tells us he actually had with Don Thoan
Cano, a Castilian hidalgo, who married Guatemozin's widow, the lovely daughter
of Montezuma. He came into the country originally with Narvaez ; and, as
he was a man of intelligence, according to Oviedo, and his peculiar position
both before and after the Conquest opened to him the best sources of informa-
tion, his testimony is of the highest value. As such I have made frequent
use of it in the preceding pages, and I now transcribe it entire, in the original,
as an important document for the history of the Conquest.]
DIALOGO DEL ALCAYDE DE LA FORTALEZA DE LA CIBDAD E PUERTO DE SANTO DOMINGO DE
LA LSLA ESPANOLA, AUTOR Y CHRONISTA DESTAS HISTORIAS, DE LA VNA PARTE, E DE LA
OTRA, VN CABALLERO VECINO DE LA GRAND CIBDAD DE MEXICO, LLAMADO THOAN CANO.
Alc. Sefior, ayer supe que Vm. vive en la grand cibdad de Mexico, y que os llainais Thoan
Cano ; y porque yo tube amistad con vn caballero llamado Diego Cano, que fue- criado del sere-
nissimo Principe Don Thoan, mi sefior, de gloriosa memoria, deseo saber si es vivo, e donde sois
eefior natural, e como quedastes avecindadoen estas partes, e rescibire nierced, que no rescibais
pesadumbre de mis preguntas; porque tengo necesidad de saber algunas cosas de la Nueva
Espafia, y es razon, que para mi satisiaccion yo procure entender lo que deseo de tales personas
e habito que merezcan credito ; y ansf, Sefior, recibire mucha merced de la vuestra en lo que
digo.
Thoan Cano. Sefior Alcayde, yo soy el que gano mucho en conoceros; y tiempo ha que
deseaba ver vuestra persona, porque os soi aficionado, y querria que mui de veras me tubiesedes
por tan aniigo e servidor como yo os lo sere. 15 satisfaciendo a lo que Vm. quiere salier de mi,
digo, que Diego Cano, Escribano deCamara del Principe Don Thoan, ycamarero de la Tapicerfa
de su Alteza, fue mi tio, e ha poco tiempo que murio en la cibdad de Caceres, donde vivia e yo
soy natural : Y quanto a. lo demas, yo, Sefior, pase desde la Isla de Cuba a. la Nueva hspana con
el capitan Pamphilo de Narvaez, e aunque mozo e de poco edad, yo me halle cerca del quando
fue preso por Hernando Cortes e sus mafias; e en ese trance le quebraron vn ojo, peleando el
como mui valiente hombre ; pero como no le acudio su gente, e con el se hallaron mui pocos,
quedo preso e herido, e se hizo Cortes sefior del campo, e truxo a, su devocion la gente que con
Pamphilo habia ido, e en rencuentros e en batallas de manos en Mexico ; y todo lo que ha suce-
dido despues yo me he hallado en ello. Mandais que diga como quede avecindado en estas
partes, y que no reciba pesadumbre de vuestras preguntas; satisfaciendo a mi asiento, digo,
Sefior, que yo me case con una Sefiora hija legftima de Montezuma, llamada dofia Isabel, tal
persona, que aunque se hobiera criado en nuestra Espafia, no estobiera mas ensefiada e bien
dotrinada e Catolica, e de tal conversacion e arte, que os satisfaria su manera e buena gracia ; y
no es poco util e provechosa al sosiego e contentamientos de los naturales de la tierra ; porque,
como es Sefiora en todas sus cosas e ainiga de los christianos, por su respecto e exemplo mas
quietud e reposo se imprime en los ammos de los Mexicanos. En lo demas que se.me pregun-
tare, e de que yo tenga memoria, yo, Sefior, dire lo que supiere conforme a la verdad.
Alc. Io acepto la merced que en eso recibire ; y quiero comenzar a decir lo que me ocurre,
616
APPENDIX,
porque me acuerdo, que fuf iuformado que su padre de Montezuma tubo 150 hijos e hijas, 6
inas, e que le acaecio tener 50 mugeres prefiadas ; £ ansf escrebf esto, e otras cosas a" este pro-
posito en el capftulo 46 ; lo qual si asf fue, queria saber, i como podeis vos tener por legi'tima
hija de Montezuma a la S'a Dona Isabel vuestra Mnger, e que forma tenia vuestro su<jgro para
que se conociesen los hijos bastardos entre los legftimos 6 espurios, e quales eran mugeres legi-
timas e concubinas ?
Can. Fue costumbre vsada y guardada entre los Mexicanos, que las mugeres legftimas que
tomaban, era de la manera que agora se dira. Concertados el hombre e muger que habian de
contraer matrimonio, para le efectuar se juntaban los parientes de ambas partes e hacian vn
areito despues que habian comido 6 cenado ; e al tiempo que los Novios se habian de acostar e
dormir en vno, tomaban la halda delantera de la camisa de la Novia e atabanla a la manta de
algodon que tenia cubierto el Novio. E asi ligados tomabanlos de las manos los principales
parientes de arnbos, e metian los en una caniara, donde los dejaban solos e oscuros por tres dias
contiguos sin que de alii saliesen el ni ella, ni alia entraba mas de vna India a los proveer de
comer e lo que habian menester ; en el qual tiempo deste encerramiento sierupre habia bailes 6
areitos, que ellos llaman mitote ; e en fin de los tres dias no hai mas fiesta. E los que sin esta
cerimonia se casan no son habidos por matrimonios, ni los hijos que proceden por legftimos, ni
heredan. Ansf como murio Montezuma, quedaronle solamente por hijos legftimos mi Muger e
vn hermano suio, e muchachos ambos ; a causa de lo qual fue elegido por Seiior vn hermano
de Montezuma, que se decia Cuitcavaci, Sefior de Iztapalapa, el qual vivio despues de su eleccion
solos 60 dias, y murio de viruelas ; a causa de lo qual vn sobrino de Montezuma, que era Papa 6
sacerdote maior entre los Indios, que se llamaba Guatimuci, mato al primo hijo legftimo de
Montezuma, que se decia Asupacaci, hermano de padre e madre de dona Isabel, e hizose sefior,
e fue mui valeroso. Este fue el que perdio a Mexico, e fue preso, e despues injustamente
muerto con otros principalis Sefiores e Indios ; pues come Cortes e los christianos fueron ense-
fioreados de Mexico, ningun hijo quedo legitimo sino bastardos de Montezuma, ecepto mi Muger,
que quedaba viuda, porque Guatimuci sefior de Mexico, su primo, por fixar mejor su estado,
siendo ella mui muchacha, la tubo por muger con la cerimonia ya dicha del atar la camisa cou
la manta; e no obieron hijos, ni tiempo para procreallos; e ella se convirtfo dnuestra santa fee
catolica, e casose con vn hombre de bien de los conquistadores primeros, que se llamaba Fedro
Gallego, e ovo vn hijo en ella, que se llama ThoaivGallego Montezuma; e murio el dicho Pedro
Gallego, e yo case con la dicha dona Isabel, en la qual me ha dado Dios tres hijos e dos bijas,
que se llaman Pedro Cano, Gonzalo Cano de Saavedra, Thoan Cano, dofia Isabel, e dona
Catalina.
Alc. Sefior Thoan Cano, suplfcoos que me digais porque mato Hernando Cortes a Guatimuci :
irevelose despues, 6 que hizo para que muriese?
Can. Habeis de saber, que asi a, Guatimuci, como al Rey de Tacuba, que se decia Tetepan-
quezal, e al Sefior de Tezcuco, el capitan Hernando Cortes les hizo dar muchos tormentos e
crudos, quemandoles los pies, e untundoles las plantas con aceite, e poniendoselaa cerca de las
brasas, e en otras diversas maneras, porque les diesen sus tesoros ; e teniendolos en contiguas
fatigas, supo como el capitan Cristoval de Olit se le habia alzado en puerto de Caballos e Hon-
duras, la qual provincia los Indios llaman Guaimuras, e determino de ir a buscar e castigar el
dicho Christoval de Olit, e partio de Mexico por tierra con mucha gente de Espanoles, e de los
naturales de la tierra ; e llevose consigoaquellos tres principales ya dichos, y despues los ahorco
en el camino ; e ansf enviudo dofia Isabel, e despues ella se caso de la manera que he dicho con
Pedro Gallego, e despues conmigo.
Alc. Pues en cierta informacion, que se envio al Emperador Nuestro Sefior, dice Hernando
Cortes, que habia sucedido Guatimuci en el Sefiorfo de Mexico tras Montezuma, porque en las
puentes murio el hijo e heredero de Montezuma, e que otros dos hijos que quedaron vivos, el
vno era loco 6 mentecapto, e el otro paralftico, e inaviles por sus enfermedades : £ yo lo he
escripto asi en el capftulo 16, pensando quello seria asf.
Can. Pues escriba Vm. lo que mandare, y el Marques Hernando CortSs lo que quisiere, que
yo digo en Dios y en mi conciencia la verdad, y e^to es mui notorio.
Alc. Sefior Thoan Cano, digame Vm. i de que procedio el alzamiento de los Indios de Mexico
en tanto que Hernando Cortes salio de aquella cibdad e fue a buscar a. Famphilo de Narvaez, e
dexo preso a Montezuma en poder de Pedro de Alvarado? Porque he oido sobre esto muehas
cosas, e mui diferentes las vnas de las otras ; e yo querria esci ibir verdad, asf Dios salve mi
£nima.
Can. Sefior Alcayde, eso que preguntais es vn paso en que pocos de los que hai en la tierra
sabran dar razon, aunque ello fue mui notorio, e mui manifiesta la sinrazon que a los Indios se
les hizo, y de allf tomaran tanto odio con los Christianos que no fiaron mas dellos, y se siguieron
quantos males ovo despues, e la rebelion de Mexico, y pienso desta manera : Esos Mexicanos
tenian entre las otras sus idolatrias ciertas fiestas del afio en que se juntaban a sus ritos e ceri-
monias ; y llegado el tiempo de vna de aquellas, estaba Alvarado en guarda de Montezuma-, e
Cortes era ido donde habeisdicho, e muchos Indios principales juntaronse e pidieron licencia al
capitan Alvarado, para ir a celebrar sus fiestas en los patios de sus mezquitas 6 qq. maiores
juntojil aposento de los espafioles, porque no pensasan que aquel aiuntamiento se hacia a otro
fin ; £ el dicho Capitan les dio la licencia, E asi los Indios, todos Sefiores, mas de 600, desnudos,
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. 617
e con muchas joyas de oro, e hermosos penacnos, e muchas piedras preciosae, e como mas adere-
zados e gentiles hombres se pudieron e supieron aderezar, e sin arma alguna defensiva ni ofensiva,
bailaban e cantaban e hacian su areito e fiesta segund su costumbre ; e al mejor tiempo que
ellos estaban embebecidos en su regocijo, movido de cobdicia el Alvarado hizo poner en clnco
puertas del patio cada 15 hombres, e en el entro con la gente restante de los Espanoles, e comen-
zaron a acuchillar e matar los Indios sin perdonar & vno ni a ninguno, hasta que a" todos los
acabaron en poco espacio de hora. I esta fue la causa porque los de Mexico, viendo muertos e
robados aquellos sobre seguro, e sin haber merecido que tal crueldad en ellos hobiese fecho, se
alzaron e hicieron la guerra al dicho Alvarado, e a los christianos que con el estaban en guarda
de Montezuma, e con mucha razon que tenian para ello.
Alc. i Montezuma, como murio ? porque diversamente lo he entendido, y ansf lo he yo escripto
diferenciadamente.
Can. Montezuma murio de vna pedrada que los de fuera tiraron, lo qual no se hiciera, si
delante del no se pusiera vn rodelero, porque como le vieran ninguno tirara ; y ansf por le cubrir
con la rodela, e no creer que allf estaba Montezuma, le dieron vna pedrada de que murio. Pero
quiero que sepais, Seiior Alcayde, que desde la primera reveliou de los Indios hasta que el Mar-
ques volvio a la cibdad despues de preso Narvaez, non obstante la pelea ordinaria que con los
christianos tenian, siempre Montezuma les hacia dar le comer ; e despues que el Marques torno
se le hizo grand recebimiento, e le dieron a" todos los Espanoles mucha comida. Mas habeis de
saber, que el capitan Alvarado, como le acusaba la conciencia, e no arrepentido de su culpa, mas
queriendole dar color, e por aplacar el aninio de Montezuma, dixo a Hernando Cortes, que
fingiese que le queria prender e castigar, porque Montezuma le rogase por el, e que se fuesen
muertos por muertos; lo qual Hernando Cortes no quiso hacer, an'.es mui enojado dixo, que
eran vnos perros, e que no habia necesidad de aquel cumplimiento : e envio i£ vn principal a
que hiciesen el Franquez 6 Mercado ; el qual principal enojado de ver la ira de Cortes y la poca
estimacion que hacia de los Indios vivos, y lo poco que se le daba de los muertos, desdenado el
principal e determinado en la vengahzafue elprimero querenovo la guerra contra los Espanoles
dentro de vna hora.
Alc. Siempre of decir que es buena la templanza, e sancta la piedad, e abominable, la sober-
bia. Dicen que fue grandfsimo el tesoro que Hernando Cortes repartio entre sus mflites todos,
quando determino de dexar la cibdad e irse fuera della por consejo de vn Botello, que se preciaba
de pronosticar lo que estaba por venir.
Can. Bien se quien era ese, y en verdad que el fue de parecer que Cortes y los Christianos se
saliesen ; y al tiempo del efectuarlo no lo hizo saber a" todos, antes no lo [supieron, sino los que
con el se hallaron a esa platica ; e los demas que estaban en sus aposentos e cuarteles se queda-
ron, que eran 270 hombres ; los quales se defendieron ciertos dias peleando hasta que de hambre
se dieron a los Indios, e guardaronles la palabra de la manera que Alvarado la guardo a los que
es dicho ; e asi los 270 Christianos, e los que dellos no habian sido muertos peleando todos,
quando se rindieron, fueron cruelmente sacrificados : pero habeis, Seiior, de saber, que desa
liberalidad que Hernando Cortes vso, como decis, entre sus mflites, los que mas parte alcanzfiron
della, e mas se cargaron de oro e joyas, mas presto los mataron ; porque por salvar el albarda
murio el Asno que mas pesado la tomo ; e los que no la quisieron, sino sus espaldas e armas,
pasaron con menos ocupacion, haciendose el camino con el espada.
Alc. Grand lilstima fue perderse tan to Thesoro y 154 Espanoles, e 45 yeguas, e mas de 2000
Indios, e entrellos al Hijo e Hijas de Montezuma, e a todos los otros Seiiores que trahian presos.
Io asi lo tengo escripto en el capitulo 14 de esta Historia.
Can. Seiior Alcayde, en verdad quien tal os dixo, 6 no lo vido, ni supo 6 quiso callar la verdad.
Io os certifico, que fueron los Espanoles muertos en eso, con los que como dixe de suso que que-
daron en la cibdad yen los que se perdieron en el camino siguiendo a Cortes, y continuandose
nuestra fuga, mas de 1170 ; e asi parecio por alarde ; e de los Indios nuestros amigosde Tascal-
tecle, que decis 2000, sin dubda fueran mas de 8000.
Alc. Maravillome como despues que Cortes se acogio, e los que escaparon a la tierra de
Tascaltecle, como no acabaron ii el e it los christianos dexando alia muertos a los amigos ; y aim
asi diz, que no les daban de comer sino por rescate los de Guaulip, que es ya termino de Tas-
caltecle, e el rescate no le querian sino era oro.
Can. Tenedlo, Seiior, por falso todo eso ; porque en casa de sus Padres no pudieron hallar mas
buen acogimiento los Christianos, e todo quanto quisieron, e aim sin pedirlo, se les dio gracioso
e de mui buena voluntad.
Alc. Para mucho ha sido el Marques e digno es de quanto tiene, e de mucho mas. ft tengo
lastima de ver lisiado vn cavallero tan valeroso e manco de dos dedos de la niano izquierda.
como lo escrebi e saque de su relacion, e puse en el capitulo 15. Pero las cosas de la guerra ansi
son, e los honores, e la palma de la victoria no se adquieren durmiendo.
Can. Sin dubda, Seiior, Cortes ha sido venturoso 6 sagaz capitan, e los principales suelen
hacer mercedes si quien los sirve, y es bien las hagan a. todos los que en su servicio real traba-
jan ; pero algunos he visto yo que trabajan e sirven e nunca medran, e otros que no hacen tanto
como aquellos son gratificados e aprovechados ; pera ansi fuesen todos remunerados como el
Marques lo ha sido en lo de sus dedos de lo que le habeis lastima. Tubo Dios poco que hacer
en sanarlo ; y salid, Seiior, de ese cuidado, que asi como los saco de Castilla, quando paso la pri-
x 2
618 APPENDIX.
mera vez a ostas partes, asi se los tiene agora en Espafia ; porque nunca fue manco dellos, in [e
faltan ; y ansi, ni hubo menester cirujano ni milagro para guarecerde ese trabajo.
Alc. Sefior Thoan Cano, i es verdad aquella crueldad que dicen que el Marques vso con Cliu-
lula, que es vna Cibdad por donde paso la primera vez que fue a Mexico ?
Can. Mui grand verdad es, pero eso yo no lo vi, porqne aun no era yo ido a la tierra ; per
supe lo despues de muchos que los vieron e se hallaron en esa cruel hazafia.
Alc. i Como ofstes decir que paso ?
Can. Lo que oi por cosa mui notoria es, que en aquella cibdad pidio Hernando Cortes 3000
Indios para que llevasen el fardage, e se los diSron, 6 los hizo todos poner a cuchillo sin que
escapase ninguno.
Alc. Itazon tiene el Emperador Nuestro Sefior de inandar quitar los Indios & todos los
Christianos.
Can. Hagase lo que S. M. mandare e fuese servido, que eso es lo que es mejor ; pcro yo no
querria que padeciesen justos por pecadores : i quien hace crueldades paguelas, mas el que no
comete delicto porque le han de castigar ? Esto es materia para mas espacio ; y yo me tengo
de envarcar esta noche, e es ya quasi bora del Ave Maria. Mirad, Sefior Alcayde, si hay en
Mexico en que pueda yo emplearme en vuestro servicio, que yo lo hare con entera voluntad e
obra. Y en lo que toca a la libertad de los Indios, sin dubda a vnos se les habia de rogar con
ellos ii que los tuviesen e governasen, e los industrasen en las cosas de nuestra sancta fee Cato-
lica, e a, otros se debian quitar : Pero pues aqui esta el Obispo de Chiapa, Fr. Bartolome de las
Casas, que ha sido el movedor e inventor destas mudanzas, e va cargado de frailes mancebos de
su orden, con el podeis, Sefior Alcayde, desen solver esta materia de Indios. E yo no me quiero
mas entremeter ni hablar en ella, aunque sabria decir mi parte.
Alc. Sin duda, Sefior Thoan Cano, Vmd. habla como prudente, y estas cosas deben ser asi
ordenadas de Dios, y es de pensar, que este reverendo Obispo de Cibdad Real en la provincia de
Chiapa, como celoso del servicio de Dios e de S. M., se ha movido d estas peregrinaciones en que
anda, y plega a Dios que el y sus Frailes acierten a servirles ; pero el no esta. tan bien con migo
como pensais, antes se ha quexado de mi por lo que escrebi cerca de aquellos Labradores e nue-
vos cavalleros que quiso hacer, y con sendas cruces, que querian parecer a las de Calatrava,
seiendo labradores e de otras mezclas e genero de gente baja, quando fue a Cubagua e a Cumana,
e lo dixo al Sefior Obispo de S. Joan, don Rodrigo de Bastidas, para que me lo dixese, y ansi me
lo dixo ; y lo que yo respond! a su quexa no lo hice por satisfacer al Obispo de San Joan, e su
sancta intencion; fue que le suplique que le dixese, que en verdad yo no tube cuenta ni re-
specto, quando aquello escrevi, a le hacer pesar ni placer, sino a decir lo que paso ; y que viese
vn Libro, que es la primera parte destas Historias de Indias, que se imprimio el ano de 1535, y
alii estaba lo que escrebi ; e que holgaba porque estabamos en parte que todo lo que dixe y lo
que dexe de decir se provaria facilmente ; y que supiese que aquel Libro estaba ya en Lengua
Toscana y Francesa e Alemana e Latina e Griega e Turca e Araviga, aunque yo le escrevi en
Castellana ; y que pues el continuaba nuevas empresas, y yo no habia de cesar de escrebir las
materias de Indias en tanto que S. S. M. M. desto fuesen servidos, que yo tengo esperanza en
Dios que le dexara mejor acertar en lo porvenir que en lo pasado, y ansi adelante le pareceria
mejor mi pluma. Y como el Sefior Obispo de San Joan es tan noble e le consta la verdad, y
quan sin pasion yo escribo, el Obispo de Chiapa quedo satisfecho, aun yo no ando por satisfacer
a su paladar ni otro, sino por cumplir con lo que debo, hablando con vos, Sefior, lo cierto ; y por
tanto quanto £ la carga de los muchos Frailes me parece en verdad que estas tierras man an 6
que llueven Frailes, pero pues son sin canas todos y de 30 afios abajo, plega a Dios que todos
acierten a servirle. Ya los vi entrar en esta Cibdad de dos en dos hasta 30 dellos, con sendos
bordones, e sus sayas e escapularios e sombreros e sin capas, e el Obispo detras dellos. E no
parecia vnadevota farsa, e agora la comienzan no sabemos en que parara ; el tienrpo lo dira, y
esto haga N uestra Sefior al proposito de su sancto servicio. Pero pues van hacia aquellos nue-
vos vulcanes, decidme, Sefior, i que cosa son, si los habeis visto, y que cosa es otro que teneis
alia en la Nu*va Espafia, que se dice Guaxocingo ?
Can. El Vulcan de Chalco 6 Guaxocingo todo es vna cosa, e alumbraba de noche 3 6 4 leguas
6 mas, e de dia salia continuo humo e si veces llamas de fuego, lo qual esta. en vn escollo de la
sierra nevada, en la qual nunca falta perpetua nieve, e esta a 9 leguas de Mexico; pero este
fuego e humo que he dicho turo hasta 7 afios, poco mas 6 menos, despues que Hernando Cortes
paso a aquellas partes, e ya no sale fuego alguno de alii ; pero ha quedado mucho azufre e mui
bueno, que se ha sacado para hacer polvora, e hai quanto quisieron sacar dello: pero en Guati-
mala hai dos volcanes emontesfogosos, e echan piedras mui grandfsimas fuera de si quemadas,
e lanzan aquellas bocas mucho humo, e es cosa de mui horrible aspecto, en especial como le
vieron quando murio la pecadora de dofiaBeatriz de la Cueva, Muger del Adelantado Don Pedro
de Alvarado. Plega a nuestro Sefior de quedar con Vmd., Sefior Alcaide, e dadme licencia que
atiende la Barca para irme a la Nao.
Alc. Sefior Thoan Cano, el Espiritu Sancto vaya con Vm„ y os de tan prospero viage e
navegacion, que en pocos dias y en salvamento llegueis a Vuestra Casa, y halleis it laSra dona
Isabel y los hijos e hijas con la salud que Vmd. y ellos os dcscais.
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. 619
No. XIL— See p. 361.
GRANT OF CORTES TO DO 53 A ISABEL MONTEZUMA, DAUGHTER OP THE EMPEROR
MONTEZUMA ; DATED AT MEXICO, JUNE 27, 1526.
[Montezuma, on his death-bed, commended, as we have seen in the History,
three favourite daughters to the protection of Cortes. After their father's
death they were baptized, and after the Conquest were married to Spaniards
of honourable family, and from them have descended several noble houses in
Spain. Cortes granted, by way of dowry, to the eldest, Dona Isabel, the city
of Tacuba and several other places, embracing an extensive and very populous
district. I have given here the instrument containing this grant, which has
a singular degree of interest, from the notices it contains of Montezuma's last
moments, and the strong testimony it bears to his unswerving friendship for
the Spaniards. Some allowance must be made by the reader for the obvious
endeavour of Cortes to exhibit Montezuma's conduct in so favourable a light
to the Castilian government as might authorize the extensive grant to liis
daughter.
The instrument in the Munoz collection was taken from an ancient copy in
the library of Don Rafael Floranes of Valladolid.]
ritlVILEGIO DE DONA ISABEL MOTEZ^MA, HIJA DEL GRAN MOTEZUMA, ULTIMO KEY INDIO DEL
GRAN REYNO Y CIBDAD DE MEXICO, QUE BAUTIZADA Y SIENDO CHRISTIANA CASO CON
ALONSO GRADO, NATURAL DE LA VILLA DE ALCANTARA, HIDALGO, Y CRIADO DE SO" MA-
GESTAD, QUE HABfA SERVIDO Y SERVIA EN MUCHOS OFFICIOS EN AQUEL RETNO.
OTORGADO POR DON HERNANDO CORTES, CONQUISTADOR DEL DICHO REYNO, EN NOMBRE DE SU
MAGESTAD, COMO SU CAPITAN GENERAL Y GOVERNADOR DE LA NUEVA ESPANA.
Por quanto al tiempo que yo, Don Hernando Cortes, capitan general e Governador desta
nueva Espafia 6 sus provlncias por S. Magd, pase a estas partes con ciertos Navios e gente para las
pacificar e poblar y trader las gentes della al dominio y servidumbre de la Corona Imperial de
S. M. como al presente esta, y despues de a ellos benido tuve noticia de un gran Sefior, que en
esta gran cibdad de Tenextitan residio, y hera Sefior della, y de todas las demas provincias y
tierras a ella comarcanas, que se Uamaba Motecunia, al qual hize saber nai venida, y como lo
eupo por los Mensageros que le envie para que me obedeciese en nombre de S. M. y se ofreciese
por su vasallo : Tuvo por bien la dicha mi venida, e por mejor mostrar su buen celo y voluntad
de servir a S. M., y obedecer lo que por mi en su Real nombre le fuese mandado, me mostro
mucho amor, e mando, que per todas las partes que pasasen los Espafioles hasta llegar a" e;>ta
Cibdad se nos hiciese mui buen acogimiento, y se nos diese todo lo que hubiesemos menester,
como siempre se hizo, y mui mejor despues que a" esta cibdad llegdmos, donde fuimos mui bien
recevidos, yo y todos los que en mi compania benfmos; y aun mostro haberle pesado mucho de
algunos recuentros y batallas que en el camino se me ofrecieron antes de la llegada a esta dicha
cibdad, queriendose el desculpar dello ; y que de lo demas dicho para efetuar y mostrar mejor
bu buen deseo, huvo por bien el dicho Motecuma de estar debajo de la obediencia de S. M., y en
mi poder a" manera de preso asta que yo hiciese relacion a" S. M., y del estado y cosas destas
partes, y de la voluntad del dicho Moteguma; y que estando en esta paz y sosiego, y teniendo
yo pacificada esta dicha tierra docientas leguas y mas hacia una parte y otra con el sello
y seguridad del dicho sefior Moteguma, por la voluntad y amor que siempre mostro al servicio
de S. M., y complacerme a mi en su real nombre, hasta mas de un ano, que se ofrecio la venida
de Panfilo de Narvaez, que los alboroto y escandalizo con sus dafiadas palabras y temores que
les puso ; por cuyo respeto se levanto contra el dicho sefior Motecuma un hermano suyo, 11a-
mado Auit Lavaci, Sefior de Iztapalapa, y con mucha gente que traxo assi hizo mui cruda guerra
al dicho Motecuma y a mi y a los Espafioles que en mi compania estavan, poniendonos mui recio
cerco en los aposentos y casas donde estavamos ; y para quel dicho su hermano y los principales
que con el venian cesaseu la dicha guerra y alzasen el cerco, se puso de una ventana el dicho Mote-
cuma, y estandoles mandando y amonestando que no lo hiciesen, y que fuesen vasallos de S. M. y
obedeciesen los mandamientos que yo en su real nombre le mandaba, le tiraron con niuchas hon-
das, y le dieron con unapiedraen la cabeza, que le hicieron mui gran herida ; y temiendode morir
della, me hizo ciertos razonamientos, trayendome a" la memoria-que por el entranable amor quo
620 APPENDIX.
tenia al servicio de S. M. y a mi en su Real noiubre y e todos los Espanoles, padecia tantas heridas y
afrentas, lo qual dava por bien empleado ; y que si el de aquella herida fallecia, que me rogava y
encargaba muy afetuosamente, que aviendo respeto a lo mucbo que me queria y deseava compla-
cer, tuviese por bien de tomar a. cargo tres hijas suyas que tenia, y que las hiciese bautizar y mos-
trar nuestra doctrina, porque conocia que era mui buena ; a las quales, despues que yo gane esta
dicba cibdad, hize luego bautizar, y poner por nombres a la una que es la mayor, su legitima here-
dera, Dona Isabel, y i las otras dos, Dona Maria y Dona Marina; y estando en finamiento de la
dicha herida me torno a llamar y rogar mui ahincadamente, que si el muriese, que quirase por
aquellas hijas, que eran las mejores joyas que el me daba, y que partiese con ellas de lo que
tenia, por que no quedasen perdidas, especialmente a la mayor, que esta queria el imicho ; y
que si por ventura Dios le escapaba de aquella enfermedad, y le daba Victoria en aquel cerco,
que el mostraria mas largamente el deseo que tenia de servira. S. M. y pagarme con obras la
voluntad y amor que me tenia ; y que demas desto yo hiciese relacion a, su Magestad de como
me dexaba estas sus hijas, y le suplicase en su nombre se sirviese de mandarme que yo mirase
por ellas y las tuviese so mi amparo y administracion, pues el hera tan servidor y vasallo de
S. M. y siempre tuvo mui buena voluntad a. los Espanoles, como yo havia visto y via, y por el
amor que les tenia le havian dado el pago que tenia, aunque no le pesaba clello. Y aun en su
lengua me dixo, y entre estos razonamientos que encargaba la conciencia sobre ello. — Por ende
acatando los muchos servicios que el dicho Senor Motecuma hizo a S. M. en las buenas obras
que siempre en su vida me hizo, y buenos tratamientos de los Espanoles que en mi compania yo
tenia en su real nombre, y la voluntad que me mostro en su rea.1 servicio ; y que sin duda el no
fue parte en el levantamiento desta dicha cibdad, sino el dicho su herniano; antes se esperaba,
como yo tenia por cierto, que su vida fuera mucha ayuda para que la tierra estuviera siempre
mui pacifica, y vinieran los naturales della en verdadero conocimiento, y se sirviera S. M. con
mucha suma de pesos de oro y joyas y otras cosas, y por causa de la venida del dicho Narvaez
y de la guerra que el dicho su herniano Auit Lavaci levanto, se perdieron ; y considerando as£
mismo que Dios nuestro sefior y S. M. son mui servidos que en estas partes plante nuestra
santissima Religion, como de cada dia la en crecimiento : Y que las dichas hijas de Motecuma
y los demas Sefiores y principales y otras personas de los naturales desta Nueva Espana se les
de y muestre toda la mas y mejor Dotrina que fuere posible, para quitarlos de las idolatrias en
que hasta aqui han estado, y traerlos al verdadero conocimiento de nuestra sancta fee catholica,
especialmente los hijos de los mas principalis, como lo era este Sefior Motecuma, y que en esto
se descargava la conciencia de S. M. y la mia; «i su real nombre tuve por bien de azetar su
ruego, y tener en mi casa a las dichas tres sus hijas, y hacer, como he hecho, que se les haga
todo el mejor tratamiento y acogimiento que ha podido, haciendoles administrary ensefiar los
mandamientos de nuestra santa fe catholica y las otras buenas costumbres de Christianos, para que
con mejor voluntad y amor sirvan a Dios nuestro Senor y conozcan y los Articulos della, y que
los demas naturales tomen exemplo. Me parecio que segun la calidad de la persona de la dicha
Dofia Isabel, que es la mayor y legitima heredera del dicho Senor Motecuma, y que mas encar-
gada me dejo, y que su edad requeria tener compania, le he dado por marido y esposo a una
persona de honra, Hijo-Dalgo, y que ha servidoa S. M. en mi compania dende el principio que
a estas partes paso, teniendo por mi y en nombre de S. M. cargos y ofieios mui honrosos, asi de
Contador y mi lugartheniente de Capitan Governador como de otras muchas, y dado dellas mui
buena cuenta, y al presente esta" a su administracion el cargo y oficio de visitador general de-
todos los Indios desta dicha Nueva Espana, el qual se dice y nombra Alonso Grado, natural de
la villa de Alcantara. Con la qual dicha Dofia Isabel le prometo y doi en dote y arras a la dicha
Dona Isabel y sus descendientes, en nombre de S. M., como su Governador y Capitan General
destas partes, y porque de derecho le pertenece de su patrimonio y legitima, el Sefiorio y naturales
del Pueblo de Tacuba, que tiene ciento e veinte casas ; y Yeteve, que es estancia que tiene qua-
renta casas ; y Izqui Luca, otra estancia, que tiene otras ciento y veinte casas ; y Chimalpan, otra
estancia, que tiene quarenta casas ; y ChapulmaLoyan, que tiene otras quarenta casas ; y Esca-
pucaltango, que tiene veinte casas; e Xiloango, que tiene quarenta casas; y otra estancia que se
dice Ocoiacaque, y otra que se dice Castepeque, y otra que se dice Talanco, y otra estancia que
se dice Goatrizco, y otra estancia que se dice Duotepeque, y otra que se dice Tacala, que podra
haver en todo mil y docientas y quarenta casas ; las quales dichas estancias y pueblos son subjetos
al pueblo de Tacuba y al Senor della. Lo qual, como dicho es, doy en nombre de S. M. en dote y
arras a. la dicha Dona Isabel para que lo haya y tenga y goce por juro de heredad, para agora y para
siempre jamas, con titulo de Sefiora de dicho Pueblo y de lo demas aqui contenido. Lo qual le doy
en nombre de S. M. por descargar su Real conciencia y la mia en su nombre.— Por esta digo ;
que no le sera quitado ni removido por cosa alguna, en ningun tiempo, ni por alguna manera ;
y para mas saneamiento prometo y doy mi fe en nombre de S. M., que si se lo cscriviese, le hare
relacion de todo, para que S. M. se sirva de confirmar esta Merced de la dicha Dofia Isabel y a
los dichos sus herederos y subcesores del dicho Pueblo de Tacuba y lo demas aqui contenido, y
de otras estancias a el subjetas, que estan en poder de algunos Espanoles, para que S. M. asi-
mismo se sirva demandarselas dar y confirmar juntamente con las que al presente le doy ; que
por estar, como dicho es, en poder de Espanoles, no se las di ha^ta ver si S. M- es dello servido ;
y doy por ninguna y de ningun valor y efeto qualquier cedula de encomienda y deposito que
del dicho pueblo de Tai uba y de las otras estancias aqui contenidas y declaradas yo ava dado a
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. 621
qualquiera persona; por quanto yo en nombre de S. M. las revoco y lorestituyo ydoi a ladicha
Dofia Isabel, para que lo tenga como cosa suya propia y que de derecho le pertenece. Y uiando
ii torias y qualesquier personas, vecinos y moradores desta dicha Nueva Espafia, estantes y
habitants en ella, que hayan y tengan a la dicba Dona Isabel por Sefiora del dicho pueblo de
Tacuba con las dicbas estancias, y que no le impidan ni estorven cosa alguna deba, so pena de
quinientos pesos de oro para la camara y fino de S. Magd. — Fecho a" veinte y sietc dias del mes
de Junio de mil y quinientos y veinte y seis afios.— Don Hernando de Cortes.— Por mandado
del Uovernador nji sefior.— Alonso Baliente.
No. XIII.— See p. 408.
MILITARY CODE
[These Regulations, proclaimed by Cortes at Tlascala on the eve of the final
march against Mexico, show the careful discipline established in his camp, and,
to some extent, the nature of his military policy. The Code forms part of the
collection of Munoz.]
ORDENANZAS MILITARES.
Este dia & voz de pregonero publico sus Ordenanzas, cuyo proemio es este.
Porque por muchas escrituras y coronicas autenticas nos es notorio e manifiesto quanto los
antiguos que siguieron el exercicio de la guerra procuraron e travaxaron de introducir tales y
tan buenas costumbres y ordenaciones, con las cuales y con su propia virtud y fortaleza pudiesen
alcanzar y conseguir victoria y prospero fin en las conquistas y guerras, que hobiesen de hacer
£ seguir ; e por el contrario vemos haber sucedido grandes infortunios, desastres, e muertes a" los
que no siguieron la buena costumbre y orden que en la guerra se debe tener ; e les haber suce-
dido semejantes casos con poca pujanza de los enemigos, segun parece claro por muchos exem-
plos antiguos e modernos, que aqui se podrian espresar ; e porque la orden es tan loable, que no
tan solamente en las cosas humanas mas aun en las divinas se ama y sigue, y sin ella ninguna
cosa puede haber cuniplido efecto, como que ello sea un principio, medio, y fin para el buen
reximiento de todas las cosas : Por ende yo, H. C, Capitan general e Justicia mayor en esta
flueva Espafia del mar occeano por el mui alto, mui poderoso, e mui catolico D. Carlos nuestro
Senor, electo Rey de Romanos, futuro Emperador semper Augusto, Rey de Espafia e de otros
muchos grandes reynos e Sefiurfos, considerando todo lo suso dicho, y que si los pasados fallaron
ser necesario hacer Ordenanzas 6" costumbres por donde se rigiesen e gobernasen aquellos que
hubiesen de seguir y exercer el uso de la guerra, a los Espanoles que en mi companfa agora
estan e" estubiesen e a. mi nos es mucho mas necesario e conveniente seguir y observar toda la
mejor costumbre y orden que nos sea posible, asi por lo que toca al servicio de Dios nuestro
Sefior y de la sacra Catolica Magestad, como por tener por enemigos y contrarios a la mas beli-
cosa y astuta gente en la guerra e de mas generos de armas que ninguna otra generacion, espe-
cialmente por ser tanta que no tiene numero, e nosotros tan pocos y tan apartados y destituidos
de todo humano socorro ; viendo ser mui necesario y cumplidero al servicio de su Cesarea Ma-
gestad e utilidad nuestra, Mande hacer e hicemas Ordenanzas que de yuso seran contenidas e
iran firmadas de mi nombre e del infrascrito en la manera siguiente.
Prime ram ente, por quanto por la experiencia que habemos visto e cada dia vemos quanta
8olicitud y vigilancia los naturales de estas partes tienen en la cultura y veneracion de sus ldo-
los, de que a Dios nuestro Senor se hace gran deservicio, y el demonio por la ceguedad y engano
en que los trae es de ellos muy venerado ; y en los apartar de tanto error e idolatria y en los re-
ducir al conocimiento de nuestra Santa Fe catolica nuestro Senor sera muy servido, y demas de
adquirir gloria para nuestras animas con ser causa que de aqui adelante no se pierdan ni con-
denen tantos, aca en lo temporal seria Dios siempre en nuestra ayuda y socorro : por ende, con
toda la justicia que puedo y debo, exhorto y ruego tl todos los Espanoles que en mi compafifa
fuesen a esta guerra que al presente vamos, y a todas las otras guerras y conquistas que en
nombre deS. M. por mi mandado hubiesen de ir, quesu principal motivoe intencion sea apartar
y desarraigar de las dichas idolatnas a todos los naturales destas partes, y reducillos, 6 a lo me-
nos desear su salvacion, y que sean reducidos al conocimiento de Dios y de su Santa Fe catolica ;
porque si con otra intencion se hiciese la dicha guerra, seria injusta, y todo lo que en ella se
oviese Onoloxio e obligado a restitucion, e S. M. no ternia razon de mandar gratificar a los que
en ellas sirviesen, E sobre ello encargo la conciencia a los dichos Espanoles, e desde ahora
protesto en nombre de S. M. que mi principal intencion e^notivo en facer esta guerra e las otras
que ficiese por traer y reducir a los dichos naturales al dicho conocimiento de nuestra Santa Fe
e creencia ; y despues por los sozjugar e supeditar debajo del yugo e dominio imperial e real de
su Sacra Magestad, 6. quien juridicamente el Sefiorio de todas estas partes.
Yt. En por quanto de los reniegos e blasfemias Dios nuestro Senor es mucho deservido, y es
APPENDIX.
la mayor ofensa que a* su Santisimo nombre se puede hacer, y pov eso permite en las gentes re-
cios y duros castigos ; y no basta que seamos tan malos que por los inmensos beneficios que de
tada dia del recibimos no le demos gracias, ma8 decimos mal 6 blasfemamos de su santo nombre ;
y por evitar tan aborrecible uso y pecado, mando que ninguna persona, de qualquiera condicion
que sea, no sea osado decir, No creo en Dios, ni Pese, ni Reniego, ni Del cielo, ni No ha poder
en Dios ; y que lo mismo se entienda de Nuestra Sefiora y de todos los otros Santos : sopena que
demas de ser executadas las penas establecidas por las leyes del reyno contra los blasfemos, la
persona que en lo susodicho incurriese pague 15 castellanos de oro, la tercera parte para la pri-
mera Cofradia de Nuestra Sefiora que en estas partes se hiciese, y la otra tercera parte para el
fisco de S. M., y la otra tercera parte para el juez que lo sentenciase.
Yt. Porque de los juegos muchas y las mas veces resultan reniegos y blasfemias, e nacen
otros inconvenientes, 6 es justo que del todo se prohiban y defiendan ; por ende mando que de
aqui adelante ninguna persona sea osada de jugar a naypes ni a otros juegos vedados dineros ni
preseas ni otra eosa alguna; sopena de perdimiento de todo lo que jugase e de 20 pesos de oro,
la mitad de todo ello para la Camara, e la otra mitad para el juez que lo sentenciase. Pero por
quanto en las guerras es bien que tenga la gente algun exercicio, y se acostumbra y permitese
que jueguen por que se eviten otros mayores inconvenientes ; permitese que en el aposento
donde estubiese se jueguen naypes e otro> juegos moderadamente, con tanto que no sea a los
dados, porque alii es curarse ban de no de decir mal, e a lo menos si lo dixesen seran castigados.
Yt. Que ninguno sea osado de echar mano a la espada 6 punal 6 otra arma alguna para ofender
j't ningun Espanol ; sopena que el que lo contrario hiciese, si fuese hidalgo, pague 100 pesos de
oro, la mitad para el fisco de S. M., y la otra mitad para los gastos de la Xusticia ; y al que no
fuese hidalgo se le han de dar 10o azotes publicamente.
Yt. Por quanto acaese que algunos Espanoles por no valar e hacer otras cosas se dexan de
aputar en las copias de los Capitanes que tienen gente : por ende mando que todos se alisten en
las Capitanias que yo tengo hechas e hiciese, excepto los que yo senalare que queden fuera dellas,
con apercibimiento que dende agora se les face, que el que ansi no lo hiciese, no se le dara parte
ni partes algunas.
Otrosi, por quanto algunas veces suele acaecer, que en burlas e por pasar tiempo algunas per-
sonas que estan en una capitania bmian e porfian de algunos de las otras Capitanias, y los unos
dicen de los otros, y los otros de los otros, de que se suelen recrecer quistiones e esca"ndalos ; por
ende mando que de aqui adelante ninguno sea osado de burlar ni decir mal de ninguna Capi-
tanfa ni la perjudicar ; sopena de 20 pesos de oro, la mitad para la Camara, y la otra mitad para
los gastos de Xusticia.
Otrosi, que ninguno de los dichos Espanoles no se aposente ni pose en ninguna parte, exepto
en el lugar e parte donde estubiese aposentada su capitan ; supena de 12 pesos de oro, aplicados
en la forma contenida en el capitulo antecedente.
Yt. Que ningun capitan se aposente en ninguna poblacion 6 villa 6 ciudad, sino en el pueblo
que le fuise senalado por el Maestro de Campo, sopena de 10 pesos de oro, aplicados en la forma
suso dicha.
Yt. Por quanto cada Capitan tenga mejor acaudillada su gente, mando que cada uno de los
dichos Capitanes tenga sus cuadrillas de 20 en 20 Espanoles, y con cada una quadrilla un
quadrillero 6 cabo de escuadra, que sea persona habil y de quien se deba confiar ; so la dicha
pena.
Otrosf, que cada uno de los dichos quadrilleros 6 cabos desquadra ronden sobre las velas todos
los quartos que les cupiese de velar, so la dicha pena ; e que la vela que hallasen durmiendo, 6
ausente del lugar donde debicse velar, pague cuatro Castellanos, aplicados en la forma suso dicha,
y demas que este atado medio dia.
Otrosi, que los dichos quadrilleros tengan cuidado de avisar y avisen a las velas que hubiesen
de poner, que puesto que recaudo en el Real no desamparen ni dexen los portillos 6 calles 6
pasos donde les fuese mandado velar y se vayan de all! a otra parte por ninguna necesidad que
digan que les constrino hasta que sean mandado ; sopena de 50 castellanos, aplicados en la
forma suso dicha al que fuese hijo dalgo; y sino le fuese, que le sean dados 100 azotes publica-
mente.
Otrosi, que cade Capitan que por mi fuese nombrado tenga y traiga consigo su tambor e ban-
dera para que rija y acaudille mejor la gente que tenga d, su cargo ; sopena de 10 pesos de oro,
aplicados en la forma suso dicha.
Otrosi, que cada Espanol que oyese tocar el atambor de su compafiia sea obligado a* salir ©
saiga a acompanar su bandera con todas sus armas en forma y a punto de guerra ; sopena de 20
castellanos aplicados en la forma arriba declarada.
Otrosi, que todas las veces que yo mandase mover el Real para alguna parte cada Capitan sea
obligado de llevar por el camino toda su gente junta y apartada de las otras Capitanfas, sinque se
entrometa en ella ningun Espanol de otra Capitania ninguna ; y para ello constrinan e apremien
& los que asi llevasen debaxo de su bandera segun uso de guerra ; sopena de 10 pesos de oro,
aplicados en la forma suso declarada.
Yt. Por quanto acaece que antes 6 al tiempo de romper en los enemigos algunos Espanoles se
metenentre el fardage, demas de ser pusilanimidad, es cosa fea el mal exemplo para los Indios
nuestros amigos que nos acompaiian en la guerra : por ende mando que ningun Espafiol se
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. 623
cntremeta ni vaya con el fardage, salvo aquellos que para ello fuesen dados 6 sefialados : sopena
de 20 pesos de oro, aplicados segun que tfe suso contiene.
Otrosf, por quanto acaece algunas veces que algunos Espanoles fuera de orden y sin les ser
mandado arremeten 6 rompen en algun esquadron de los enemigos, e por se desmandar ansf se
desbaratan y salen fuera de ordenanza, de que suele recrecerse peligro a los mas : por ende
mando que ningun Capitan se desmandc a romper por los enemigos sin que primeramente por
mi le sea mandado ; sopena de muerte. En otra persona se desmanda, si fuese hijodalgo, pena
de 100 pesos, aplicados en la forma suso dicha; y si no fuese hidalgo, le sean dados 100 azotes
publicamente.
Yt^ Por quanto podria ser que al tiempo que entran a" tomar por fuerza alguna poblacion 6
villa 6 ciudad a los enemigos, antes de ser del todo echados fuera, con codicia de robar, algun
Espanol se entrase en alguna casa de los enemigos, de que se podria seguir dafio : por ende
mando que ningun Espanol ni Espafioles entren a, robar ni a otra cosa alguna en las tales casas
de los enemigos, hasta ser del todo echados fuera, y haber conseguido el fin de la victoria ; sopena
de 20 pesos de oro, aplicados en la manera que dicha es.
Yt. Si por escusar y evitar los hurtos encubiertos y fraudes que se hacen en las cosas habidas
en la guerra 6 fuera de ella, asi por lo que toca al quinto que dellas pertenece & su catolica
Magestad, como porque ban de ser repartidas conforme a, lo que cala una sirve e merece : por
ende mando que todo el oro, plata, perlas, piedras, plumage, ropa, esclavos, y otras cosas quales-
quier que se adquieran, hubiesen, 6 lomasen en* qualquier manera, ansi en las dichas poblaciones,
villas, 6 ciudades, como en el campo, que la persona 6 personas a cuyo poder viniese 6 la halla-
sen 6 tomasen, en qualquier forma que sea, lo traigan luego incontinente e manifiesten ante mi
6 ante otra persona que fuese sin lo meter ni llevar a su posada ni a otra parte alguna; sopena
de muerte e perdimiento de todos sus bienes para la Camara e fisco de S. M.
£ por quanto lo suso dicho e cada una cosa e parte dello se guarde e cumpla segun e de la
manera que aqui de suso se contiene, y de ninguna cosa de lo aqui contenida pretendan igno-
rancia, mando que sea apregonado publicamente, para que venga a. noticia de todos : Que fueron
hechas las dichas Ordenanzas en la ciudad y provincia de Taxclateque selado 22 dias del mes de
Diciembre, afio del nascimiento de nuestro Salvador Jesu Christo de 1520 aflos,
Pregonaronse las dichas Ordenanzas desuso contenidas en la ciudad e provincia de Taxclatecle,
miercoles dia de San Esteban, que fuesen 26 dias del mes de Diciembre, ano del nacimiento de
nuestro Salvador Jesu Christo de 1520 alios ; estando presente el magni'fico Senor Fernando
Cortes, capitan general e Justicia mayor de esta Nueva Espafia del mar Occeano por el Enipe-
rador nuestro Senor, por ante mi, Juan de Rivera, escribano e" Notario publico en todos los
Reinos e Senon'os de Espafia por las Autoridades apostolica y Real. Lo qual pregono en voz
alta Anton Garcia pregonero, en el Alarde que la gente de a cabaUo e de a pie que su merced
mando facer e se fizo el dicho dia. A lo qual fut-ron testigos que estaban presentes, Gonzalo de
Sandoval, Alguacil mayor, e Alonso de Prado, contador, e Rodrigo Alvarez Chico, veedor por
S. M., e otras niuchas personas. — Fecho ut supra.— Juan de Rivera.
No. XlV.-^Seep. 548.
TRANSLATION OP PASSAGES IN THE HONDURAS LETTER OF CORTES.
[I have noticed this celebrated Letter, the Carta Quinta of Cortes, so par-
ticularly in the body of the work, that little remains to be said about it here.
I have had these passages translated to show the reader the circumstantial
and highly graphic manner of the general's narrative. The latter half of the
Letter is occupied with the events which occurred in Mexico in the absence of
Cortes and after his return. It may be considered, therefore, as part of the
regular series of his historical correspondence, the publication of which was
begun by archbishop Lorenzana. Should another edition of the Letters of
Cortes be given to the world, this one ought undoubtedly to find a place in it.]
A lake of great width and proportionate depth was the difficulty which we had to encounter.
In vain did we turn to the right and to the left ; the lake was equally wide in every direction.
My guides told me that it was useless to look for a ford in the vicinity, as they were certain the
nearest one was towards the mountains, to reach which would necessarily be a journey of five
or six days. I was extremely puzzled what measure to adopt. To return was certain death ;
as, besides being at a loss for provisions, the roads, in consequence of the rains which had pre-
vailed, were absolutely impassable. Our situation was now perilous in the extreme ; on every
side was room for despair, and not a single ray of hope illumined our path. My followers
had become sick of their continual labour, and had as yet reaped no benefit from their toils. It
624 APPENDIX.
was therefore useless for me to look to them for advice in our present truly critical position .
Besides the primitive band and the horses, there were upwards of three thousand five hundred
Indians who followed in our train. There was one solitary canoe lying on the beach, in which,
doubtless, those whom I had sent in advance had crossed. At the entrance of the lake, and on
the other side, were deep marshes, which rendered our passage of the lake considerably more
doubtful. One of my companions entered into the canoe, and found the depth of the lake to be
five-and-twenty feet, and, with some lances tied together, I ascertained that the mud and slime
were twelve feet more, making in all a depth of nearly forty feet. In this juncture, I resolved
that a floating bridge should be made, and for this purpose requested that the Indians would
lend their assistance in felling the wood, whilst I and my followers would employ ourselves in
preparing the bridge. The undertaking seemed to be of such magnitude that scarcely any one
entertained an idea of its being completed before our provisions were all exhausted. The
Indians, however, set to work with the most commendable zeal. Not so with the Spaniards,
who already began to comment upon the labours they had undergone, and the little prospect
which appeared of their termination. They proceeded to communicate their thoughts one to
another, and the spirit of disaffection had now attained such a height that some had the hardi-
hood to express their disapprobation of iny proceedings to my very face. Touched to the quick
with this show of desertion when I had least expected it, I said to them that I needed not their
assistance ; and, turning towards the Indians who accompanied me, exposed to them ihe neces-
sity we lay under of using the most strenuous exertions to reach the other side, for if this point
were not effected we should all perish from hunger. 1 then pointed in the opposite direction,
in which the province of Acalan lay, and cheered their spirits with the prospect of there obtain-
ing provisions in abundance, without taking into consideration the ample supply which would
be afforded us by the caravels. I also promised them, in the name of your Majesty, that they
should be recompensed to the fullest extent of their wishes, and that not a person who contri-
buted his assistance should go unrewarded. My little oration had the best possible effect with
the Indians, who promised, to a man, that their exertions should only terminate with their lives.
The Spaniards, ashamed of their previous conduct, surrounded me and requested that I would
pardon their late act ; alleging, in extenuation of their offence, the miserable position in which
they were placed, obliged to support themselves with the unsavoury roots which the earth
supplied, and which were scarcely sufficient to keep them alive. They immediately proceeded
to work, and, though frequently ready to fall from fatigue, never made another complaint.
After four days' incessant labour the bridge was completed, and both horse and man passed
without the slightest accident. The bridge was constructed in so solid a manner that it would
be impossible to destroy it otherwise than by fire. More than one thousand beams were united
for its completion, and every one of them was thicker than a man's body, and sixty feet long.
********
At two leagues' distance from this place, the mountains commenced. From no words of mine,
nor of a more gifted man, can your Majesty form an adequate idea of the asperity and uneven-
ness of the place which we were now ascending. He alone who has experienced the hardships
of the route, and who himself has been an eye-witness, can be fully sensible of its difficulty.
It will be sufficient for me to say, in order that your Majesty may have some notion of the
labour which we had to undergo, that we were twelve days before we got entirely free of it, — a
distance altogether of eight leagues ! Sixty-eight horses died on the passage, the greater part
having fallen down the precipices which abounded on every side ; and the few that escaped
seemed so overcome that we thought not a single one would ever afterwards prove serviceable.
More than three months elapsed before they recovered from the effects of the journey. It never
ceased to rain, day or night, from the time we entered the mountain until we left it ; and the
rock was of such a nature that the water passed away without collecting in any place in suffi-
cient quantity to allow us to drink. Thus, in addition to the other hardships which we had to
encounter, was that most pressing of all, thirst. Some of the horses suffered considerably from
the want of this truly necessary article, and but for the culinary and other vessels which Ave had
with us, and which served to receive some of the rain, neither man nor horse could possibly
have escaped. A nephew of mine had a fall upon a piece of sharp rock, and fractured his leg
in three or four places ; thus was our labour increased, as the men had to carry him by turns.
We had now but a league to journey before we could arrive at Tenas, the place which I men-
tioned as belonging to the chief of Tayco; but here a formidable obstacle presented itself, in a
very wide and very large river, which was swollen by the continued rains. After searching for
some time, one of the most surprising fords ever heard of was discovered. Some huge jutting
cliffs arrest the progress of the river, in consequence of which it extends for a considerable space
around. Between these cliffs are narrow channels, through' which the water rushes with an
impetuosity which baffles description. From one of these rocks to another we threw large
trunks of trees, which had been felled with much labour. Ropes of bass-wreed were affixed to
these trunks ; and thus, though at imminent risk of our lives, we crossed the river. If anybody
had become giddy in the transit, he must unavoidably have perished. Of these passes there
were upwards of twenty, and we took two whole days to get clear, by this extraordinary way.
******* *
It were indeed an arduous task for me to describe to your Majesty the joy which pervaded
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. 625
every countenance when this truly inspiring account was received. To be near the termination
of a journey so beset with hardships and labour as ours had been, was an event that could not
but be hailed with rapture. Our last four days' march subjected us to innumerable trials ; as,
besides being without any certainty of our proceeding in the right direction, we were ever in the
heart of mountains abounding with precipices on every side. Many horses dropped on the
way ; and a cousin of mine, Juan Davilos by name, fell down a precipice and broke an arm.
Had it not been for the suit of armour which he wore, he would have been infallibly dashed to
pieces. As it was, besides having his arm broken, he was dreadfully lacerated. His horse,
upon which he was mounted, having no protection, was so wounded by the fall that we were
obliged to leave him behind. With much difficulty we succeeded in extricating my cousin from
his perilous situation. It would be an endless task to relate to your Majesty the many suffer-
ings which we endured ; amongst which the chief was from hunger ; for, although we had some
swine which we had brought from Mexico, upwards of eight days had elapsed without our
having tasted bread. The fruit of the palm-tree boiled with hogs' flesh, and without any salt,
which we had exhausted some time previous, formed our only sustenance. They were alike
destitute of provisions at the place at which we had now arrived, where they lived in constant
dread of an attack from the adjoining Spanish settlement. They needed not to fear such an
event ; as, from the situation in which I found the Spaniards, they were incapable of doing the
slightest mischief. So elated were we all with our neighbourhood to Nico that all our past
troubles were soon forgotten, as are the dangers of the sea by the weather-beaten sailor, who on
his arrival in port thinks no more of the perils he has encountered. We still suffered greatly
from hunger; for even the unsavoury roots were procured with the greatest difficulty; and,
after we had been occupied many hours in collecting them, they were devoured with the greatest
eagerness, in the shortest space of time imaginable.
No. XV— See p. 565.
LAST LETTER OP CORTES TO THE EMPEROR.
[I give this Letter of Cortes entire, Ultima y sentidisima Carta, his :' Last
and most touching Letter," as it is styled by Vargas Poi^e, who has embraced
it in his important collection from the archives of Seville.* It may be called
touching, when we consider the tone of it, as compared with the former cor-
respondence of its author, and the gloomy circumstances under which it was
written. Yet we are not to take the complaints contained in it of his poverty
too literally ; since at his death, but three years after, he left immense estates.
But these estates were so much embarrassed by his expensive and disastrous
expeditions in the South Sea that his income during the rest of his life seems
to have been scarcely sufficient to meet his ordinary expenditure. The last
days of Cortes, wasted in ineffectual attempts to obtain redress from the court
whom he had so signally served, remind us of the similar fate of Columbus.
The history of both may teach us that the most brilliant career too often leads
only to sorrow and disappointment, as the clouds gather round the sun at his
setting.]
Pense que kaber trabajado en la juventud me aprovechara para que en la vejez tubiera des-
canso, y asi ha quarenta anos que me he ocupado en no dormir, mal comer, y a, las veces ni bien
ni mal, traer las armas a cuestas, poner la persona en peligro, gastar mi hacienda y edad, todo
en servicio de Dios, trayendo obejas en su corral muy remotas de nuestro hemisferio, ignotas, y
no escriptas en nuestras Escrituras, y acrecentando y dilatando el nombre y patrimonio de mi
Rev, ganandole y trayendole a, su yugo y Real cetro muchos y muy grandes reynos y senorlos
de muchas bavaras naciones y gentes, ganados por mi propia persona y espensas, sin ser ayudado
de cosa alguna, hantes muy estorvado por muchos e'mulos y invidiosos, que como sanguijuelas
han reventado de artos de mi sangre. De la parte que a Dios cupo de mis trabajos y vigilias
asaz estoy pagado, porque seyendo la obra suya, quiso tomarme por medio, y que las gentes me
atribuyesen alguna parte, aunque quien conociere de mi lo que yo, here claro que no sin causa
* [It has since been printed in the Col. de almost innumerable errors which disfigure
Doc. ined. para la Hist, de Espana, torn, i., the transcription of Vargas Ponce and render
affording an opportunity for correcting the it scarcely intelligible.— Ed.]
626
APPENDIX.
la divitia providencia quiso que una hobra tan grande se acavase por el mas flaco 6 inutil medio
que se pudo hallar, porque k solo dios fuese el atributo. De lo que a mi rey quedo, la reniune-
racion siempre estuve satisfecho, que ceteris paribus no fueramenor por ser entiempo de V. M.,
que nunca estos reynos de Espafia, donde yo soy natural y a quien cupo este beneficio, fueron
poseydos de tan grande y Catolico prfncipe, uiagnanimo y poderoso Rey ; y asf V. M., la primera
vez que vese las manos y entregue los frutos de mis servicios, mostro reconocimiento dellos y
comenzo a mostrar voluntad de me hacer gratificacion, honrrando mi persona con palabras y
hobras, que pareciendome & mi que no se equiparaban a mis meritos, V. M. sabe que rehuse yo de
recibir. V. M. me dijo y mando que las aceptase, porque pareciese que me coinenzaba a. hacer
alguna merced, y que no las reclviese por pago de mis servicios ; porque V. M. se queria haber
con migo, como se han los que se muestran a tirar la ballesta, que los primeros tiros dan fuera
del terrero, y enmendando dan en el y en el bianco y fiel ; que la merced que V. M. me hacia
hera dar fuera del terrero, y que iria enmendando hasta dar en el fiel de lo que yo merecia ; y
pues que no se me quitava nada de lo que tenia, ni se me habia de quitar, que reciviese lo que
me dava; y ansf vese las manos £ V. M. por ello, y enbolviendo las espaldas quitoseme lo que
tenia todo, y no se me cumplio la merced que V. M. me hizo. Y demas destas palabras que
V. M. me dijo, y obras que me prometio, que, pues tiene tan buena memoria, no se le habran
olvidado, por cartas de V. M. firmadas de su real nombre tengo otras muy mayores. Y pues
mis servicios hechos hasta alii son benemeritos de las obras y promesas que V. M. me hizo, y
desputs aca no lo han desmerecido ; antes nunca he cesado de servir y acrecentar el Patrimonio
de estos reynos, con milestorvos, que si no obiera tenido no fuera menos lo acrecentado, despues
que la merced se me hizo, que lo hecho porque la mereci, no se porque no se me cumple la
promesa de las merecedes ofrecidas, y se me quitan las hechas. Y si quisieren decir que no se
me quitan, pues poseo algo ; cierto es que nada e inutil son una mesma cosa, y lo que tengo
es tan sin fruto, que me fuera arto mejor no tenerlo, porque obiera entendido en mis grangerfas,
y no gastado el fruto de ellas por defenderme del fiscal de V. M., que a sido y es ma« dificultoso
que ganar la tierra de los enemigos ; asf que mi trabajo aprovecho para mi contentamiento de
haber hecho el dever, y no para conseguir el efecto del, pues no solo no se me siguio reposo a la
vejez, mas trabajo hasta la muerte ; y pluguiese a Dios que no pasase adelante, sino que con la
corporal se acabase, y no se estendiese a la perpetua, porque quien tanto trabajo tiene en
defender el cuerpo no puede dejar de ofender al anima. Suplico a V. M. no permita que a
tan notorios servicios haya tan poco miramiento, y pues es de creer que no es a culpa de V. M.
que las gentes lo sepan ; porque como esta obra que Dios hizo por mi medio es tan grande y
maravillosa, y se ha estendido la fama de ella por todos los reynos de V. M. y de los otros reyes
cristianos y aun por algunos infieles, en estos donde hay noticia del pleito de entre el fiscal y
rni, no se trata de cosa mas ; y unos atribuyen la culpa al fiscal, otros a culpas mias ; y estas
no las hallan tan grandes, que si bastasen para por ellas negarseme el premio, no bastasen
tambien para qujtarme la vida, honrra, y hacienda ; y que pues esto no se hace que no deve ser
mia la culpa. A V. fid. ninguna se atribuye ; porque si V. M. quisiese quitarme lo que me dio,
poder tiene para ejecutarlo, pues al que quiere y puede nada hay imposible ; decir que se vuscan
formas para colorar la obra, y que no se sienta el intento, ni caven ni pueden caber en los reyes
unjidos por Dios tales medios, porque para con el no hay color que no sea transparente, para con
el mundo no hay para que Colorado, por que asf lo quitro, asi lo mando, es el descargo de lo que
los reyes hacen. Yo suplique a" V. M. en Madrid fuese servido de aclarar la boluntad que tubo
de hacerme merced en pago de mis servicios, y le traje a la memoria algunos de ellos ; dijome
V. M. que mandaria & los del su consejo que me despachasen ; pense que se les dejava mandado
lo que abian de hacer. porque V. M. me dijo que no queria que trajese pleyto con el fiscal :
cuando quise saberlo, dijeronme que me defendiese de la demanda del fiscal, porque havia de ir
por tela da jusiicia, y por ella se habia de sentenciar : sentilo por grave, y escrebi a V. M. &
Barcelona, suplicandole que pues era servido de entrar en juicio de su siervo, lo fuese en que
obiese Juezes sin sospecha y V. M. mandase que con los del Consejo de las Indias se juntasen
algunos de los otros, pues todos son criados de V. M., y que juntos lo determinasen ; no fue V. M.
servido, que no puedo alcanzar la causa, pues quantos mas lo viesen mejor alcanzarian lo que
se devia hacer. Veome viejo y pobre y empefiado en este reyno en mas de veinte mil ducados,
sin mas de ciento otros, que he gastado de los que traje e me han enviado, que algunos de elloa
debo t imbien que los an tornado prestados para enviarme, y todos corren cambios; y en cinco
afios poco menos que ha que sali de mi casa, no es mucho lo que he gastado, pues nunca ha
salid© de la Corte, con tres hijos que traygo en ella, con letrados, procuradores, y solicitadores ;
que todo fuera mejor empleado que V. M. se sirviera. de ello y de lo que yo mas hoviera adqui-
rido en este tiempo ; ha ayudado tambien la ida de Argel. Pareceme que al cojer del fiuto de
mis trabajos no devia hecharlo en basijas rotas, y dejarlo en juicio de pocos, sino tornar a suplicar
t£ V. M. sea servido que todos quantos jueces V. M. tiene en bus Consejos conozcan de esta causa,
y conforme a justicia la sentenciase. — Yo he sentido del obispo de Cuenca que desea que obiese
para esto otros jueces demas de los que hay ; porque el y el licenciado Salmeron, nuebo Oidor
en este Consejo de Indias, son los que me despojaron sin hoyrme de hecho, siendo jueces en la
nueva Espafia, como lo tengo provado, y con quien yo traigo pleito sobre el dicho despojo, y les
pido cantidad de dineros de los intereses y rentas de lo que me despojaron ; y esta claro que no
han de sentenciar contra sf. ITo les he querido recusar en este caso, porque siempre crey que
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. 627
y. M. fuera servido que no llegaraa estos terminos; y no seyendo V. M. servido que hayan
mas jueces que determinen esta causa, serme ha forzado recusar al Obispo de Cuenca y d
Salmeron, y pesar mehfa en el anima porque no podra ser sin alguna dilacion ; que para mi
no puede ser cosa mas danosa, porque he sesenta anos, y anda en cinco que sali de mi casa, y no
tengo mas de un hijo Varon que me suceda ; y aunque tengo la muger moza para poder tener mas,
mi hedad no sufre esperar mucho ; y si no tubiera otro, y dios dispusiera de este sin dejar suce-
sion, i que me habria aprovechado lo adquirido ? pues subcediendo hijas se pierde la memoria.
Otra y otra vez torno i suplicar a V. M. sea servido que con los Jueces del Consejo de Indias
Be junten otros jueces de estos otros Consejos; pues todos son criados de V. M., y les fia la
governacion de sus reynos y su real conciencia, no es inconveniente fiarles que determinen sobre
una escriptura de merced, que V. M. hizo a un su vasallo de una partecica de un gran todo con
que el sirvio a V. M., sin costar trabajo ni peligro en su real persona, ni cuidado de espfritu de
proveer como se hiciese, ni costa de dineros para pagar la gente que lo hizo, y que tan limpia y
lealmente sirvio, no solo en la tierra que gano, pero con mucha cantidad de oro y plata y piedra
de los despojos que en ella ubo; y que V. M. mande a los jueces que fuere servido que entien-
dan en ello, que en un cierto tiempo, que V. M. les senale, lo determinen y sentencien sin que
haya esta dilacion ; y esta sera para mi muy gran merced ; porque a dilatarse, dejarlo he perder
y volvermehe a mi casa : porque no tengo ya ed id para andar por mesones, sino para recogerme
a aclarar mi cuenta con Dios, pues la tengo larga, y poca vida para dar los descargos, y seri
mejor dejar perder la acienda que el anima. Sacra Magestad : Dios Nuestro Senor guarde la
muy Real persona de V. M. con el acrecentamiento de Reynos y estados que V. M. desea. De
Valladolid, a, tres de Febrero de quinientos quarenta y quatro anos. De V. C. M. muy humilde
siervo y vasallo, que sus muy reales pies y manos besa.— El Marques de Valle.
Cuvierta a la S. C. C. M., El Emperador y Rey de las Espanas.
Tiene este decreto :— A su Mag. del Marques del Valle, 3 de Febrero de 44 : — Nay que
responder : parece letra de Covos.
Original. Archivo de Indias.
No. XVI.— See p. 568.
FUNERAL OBSEQUIES OF CORTES.
[The original of this document is in the Hospital of Jesus, at Mexico ; and
the following literal translation was made from a copy sent to me from that
capital.]
THE INTERMENT OF THE MARQUIS OP THE VALLEY OP OAJACA, HERNAN CORTES, AND OF HIS
DESCENDANT, DON PEDRO CORTES, WHICH TOOK PLACE IN THIS CITY OF MEXICO, FEB. 24,
1629.
The remains of Don Hernan Cortes (the first Marquis of the Valley of Oajaca), which lay in
the monastery of St. Francis for more than fifty years since they had been brought from
Castilleja de la Cuesta, were carried in funeral procession. It also happened that Don Pedro
Cortes, Marquis of the Valley, died at the court of Mexico, Jan. 30, 1629. The Lord Archbishop
of Mexico, D. Francisco Manso de Zuniga, and his Excellency the Viceroy, Marquis of Serralbo,
agreed that the two funerals should be conducted together, paying the greatest honour to the
ashes of Hernando Cortes. The place of interment was the church of St. Francis in Mexico.
The procession set forth from the palace of the Marquis of the Valley. In the advance were
carried the banners of the various associations ; then followed the different orders of the religious
frat- rnities, all the tribunals of Mexico, and the members of the Audience. Next came the
Arcbbishop and the Chapter of the cathedral. Then was borne along the corpse of the Marquis
Don Fedro Cortes in an open coffin, succeeded by the remains of Don Hernando Cortes, in a
coffin covered with black velvet. A banner of pure white, with a crucifix, an image of the
Virgin and of St. John the Evangelist, embroidered in gold, was carried on one side. On the
other were the armorial bearings of the King of Spain, also worked in gold. This standard
was on the right hand of the body. On the left hand was carried another banner, of black
velvet, with the arms of the Marquis of the Valley embroidered upon it in gold. The standard-
bearers were armed. Next came the teachers of divinity, the mourners, and a horse with sable
trappings, the whole procession being conducted with the greatest order. The members of the
University followed. Behind them came the Viceroy with a large escort of cavaliers ; then four
armed captains with their plumes, and with pikes on their shoulders. These were succeeded
by four companies of soldiers with their arquebuses, and some with lances. Behind them
banners were trailed upon the ground, and muffled drums were struck at intervals. The coffin
enclosing the remains of the Conqueror was borne by the Royal Judges, while the knights of
628 APPENDIX.
the order of Santiago supported the body of the Marquis Don Pedro Cortes. The crowd was
immense, and there were six stations where the coffitra were exposed to view, and at each of
these the responses were chanted by the members of the religious fraternities.
The bones of Cortes were secretly removed from the church of St. Francis, with the permis-
sion of his Excellency the Archbishop, on the 2nd of July, 1794, at eight, o'clock in the evening,
in the carriage of the Governor, the Marques de Sierra Nevac'.a. and were placed in a vault,
made for this purpose, in the church uf Jesus of Nazareth. The bones were deposited in a
wooden coffin enclosed in one of lead, being the same in which they came from Castilleja de la
Cuesta, near Seville. This was placed in another of crystal, with its cross-bars and plates of
silver ; and the remains were shrouded in a winding-sheet of cambric embroidered with gold,
with a fringe of black lace four inches deep.
INDEX.
INDEX.
Abderahman, on the palm-tree, 80, note.
Ablutions at table, 71, 268.
Aborigines of America, origin of the, 578,
580, 589; of their civilization, 580. Pecu-
liarities in their organization, 590. See
Indians and Mankind.
Absolution, Aztec rite of, 34.
Achilles, shade of, cited, 31, note.
Acolhuans. See Colhuans and Tezcucans.
Acolman, 451. Dispute there, 460.
Aculan, Spaniards at the capital of, 543.
Adelantado, 115, note, 308.
Adrian of Utrecht, regent of Spain, 452, 521.
Warrant by, 522. Pope, 523.
Adultery, charge respecting, 002.
Agave Americana, or aloe, or maguey, 5.
Paper from the, 48, 65. Various uses made
of the, 48, note, 64, 65, 73. Dresden Codex
made of the, 50, note. Account of it,
64, 65. Nezahualcoyotl concealed under
fibres of, 77.
Agriculture, tax on, among the Aztecs, 20, 63.
Remarks on, 63. Of North American In-
dians, 63. Among the Mexicans, 63. Ar-
ticles of Aztec, 64. Encouraged by Neza-
hualcoyotl, 81. Tlascalan, 185. Cholulan,
219. Near the lake of Chalco, 239. Atten-
tion to, after the Conquest, 533, 561.
Aguilar, Geronimo de, a Christian captive,
account of, 124. Cortes' reception of, 125.
An interpreter, 125. In the retreat from
Mexico, 373. At Chalco, 440.
Aguilar, Marcos de, succeeds Ponce de Leon
as royal commissioner, 550, note. Collects
opinions in regard to repartimientos, 550,
note.
Ahuahutle, insects' eggs, used as food, 262,
note, 488, note.
Ahualco, crossed by Spaniards, 235. .
Ahuitzotl, 13, 39, note.
Ajotzinco, city of, 238.
Alaman, Lucas, cited, 48, vote, 107, note, 134,
note, 234, note, 242, note, 247, note, 266, note,
268, note, 275, note, 364, note, 432, note, 443,
note, 449, note, 502, note, 503, note, 504, not',
520, note, 525, note, 527, note, 529, note, 534,
note, 543, note, 560, note, 567, note, 568, note,
569, note.
Alaminos, Antonio de, chief pilot of the ar-
mada, 119, 145. Despatched to Spain, 164.
Anchors at Cuba, 164.
Alderete, Julian de, royal treasurer, 439. At
Tacuba, 450. Advice of, as to attack, 475.
His division for assaulting Mexico, 476, and
note. Too eager and in peril, 477. Urges
the torture of Guateuiozin, 517, 524.
Alexander the Great, 389, note.
Alexander VI., Pope, bull of partition by,
227, note. Enjoins conversion of the hea-
then, 227, note.
Algiers, expedition against, 564.
Alms-giving, Aztec, 35.
Aloe. See Agave Americana.
Alphabet, Egyptian, 44, note. Nearest ap-
proach to, 45. European, introduced into
Mexico, 47.
Alvarado, Jorge de, 476.
Alvarado, Pedro de, enters the river Alva-
rado, 105, 132. His return to Cuba with trea-
sures, 106, 112. Joins Cortes, 117. Marches
across Cuba, 118. Reprimanded, 121. In
the battles near the Tabasco, 127, 128. On
a foraging party,. 150. Cuts down the body
of Morla, 158. Despatched to Cempoalla,
165. Troops put under, 175. At Tlascala,
212. Dona Luisa given to, 213. Visits Mon-
tezuma with Cortes, 249. Aids in seizing
Montezuma, 284. Montezuma pleased with,
293. Takes command at Mexico, 314. In-
structions to, 314. Forces under, 315, 336,
note. Assault on, 328, 332. Blockaded,
331, 335. Joined by Cortes, 331. Aztecs
massacred by, 332, 333, note, 334, note, 488.
Character of, 335. Cortes' dissatisfaction
with, 335. Chivalrous, 348. Storms the
great temple, 353. Overpowered at the
Mexican bridges, 359. Acts at the evacua-
tion of Mexico, 367, 373. Unhorsed, 371.
At the battle of Otumba, 383. Accompa-
nies Duero and Bermudez to Vera Cruz, 399.
Sandoval and, 428. Reconnoitres Mexico,
431. Conspiracy against, 4E3. To command
the point Tacuba, 457. Demolishes the
aqueduct, 460. Enmity of Olid and, 460.
Operations of, 468. Protects breaches, 471.
Sandoval to join, 475. His neglect to secure
a retreat, 476. Rebuked, 476. His fortune
at the assault, 480. Cortes' opinion of, 481 .
Temple burnt by, 492. Meeting of Cortes
and, 493. In the murderous assault, 498,
499. To occupy the market-place, 500.
Detached to Oaxaca, 519. Conquers Guate-
mala, 535.
Alvarado's Leap, 371, 372.
Amadis de Gaula, 240, and note.
Amaquemecan, Spaniards at, 233.
632
INDEX.
Ambassadors, persons of, held sacred, 23.
Ammunition, 486. See Gunpowder.
Amnesty, granted by Nezahualcoyotl, 78.
Anaglyphs, 46, note.
Anahuac, 6. Extent of, 8, note. Meaning of
the word, 8, note. Forms of government in,
14. The golden age of, 29. Number of
human sacrifices in, 38, note, 39. See
Aztecs and Mexico.
Andrada, Don Juan, 364, note.
Animals, collection of, 265. Of the New-
World and the Old, different, 578. Origin
of, in the New World, 578. No useful
domesticated, among the Aztecs, 597. See
Draught-cattle.
Animals, artificial, 66, note, 82, 143, 161, note,
230, 272.
.Antigua or Vera Cruz Vieja, 157, note, 528.
Antiquities, 85, 595. Of Cozumel, 122, note.
Aqueducts, conducting to Tezcotzinco, 84.
At Iztapalapan, 241. From Chapoltepec,
250, 260, note, 263 ; destroyed, 460.
Arabic manuscripts destroj'ed, 49.
Architecture, refinement and, 80. Of the
Tezcucans, 85. In Yucatan, 104, 105. Of
Cozumel, 122. At Cempoalla, 153, 154. Of
Tlascala, 210. Marine, at Ajotzinco, 238.
At Cuitlahuac, 240. Of Iztapalapan, 241.
On the Tezcucan lake, 243. At Mexico,
246. Encouragement of, by Montezuma,
263. After the Conquest, 527. Coinci-
dences with Aztec, 592, 593. Of Palenque,
594.
Archives at Tezcuco, 80, 82.
Argensola, on the house of Cortes, 107, not?.
On the detention of Cortes in Spain, 108,
note.
Arithmetic among the Aztecs, 52.
Ark, coincidences with the, 582'.
Armada, intrusted to Cortes, 113. The fitting
out of the, 113, 114. Expense of it, 114, 117,
149. Sails, li6. Equipment of it, 116, 117.
Joined by volunteers, 117. Sails from Ha-
vana, 119. Its strength, 119. Chief pilot
of the, 119. Encounters a storm, 121. At
Cozumel, 121, 124. Sails, 121, 124, 125.
At the Rio de Tabasco, 125. Wounded
sent back to the, 128. Sails for Mexico,
132. At San Juan de Ulua, Villa Rica, and
Vera Cruz, 133, 135, 145, 155. One vessel
joins the, 161. One vessel of the, despatched
to Spain, 164. Juan Diaz attempts to escape
with one of the, 165. Sunk, 166, 167, and
k note. See Brigantines.
Armies, account of Aztec, 23.
Armour, tribute of, 21, and note.
Arms of Montezuma, 250. See Arrows.
Arrows, defence against, 118, 129. Burnt,
287. Discharge of, at the assault in Mexico,
344.
Art, few works of Aztec, found, 593.
Artillery. See Cannon.
Artisans, Montezuma's, 269.
Astrology, 57, note, 58. Origin of, 58.
Astronomy, Mexican, 58, 59. Studied, 89,
92.
Atlantis of Tlato, 578.
Audience, giving of, by Montezuma, 269.
Auditors of accounts, Aztec, 16, note.
Auxiliaries. See Indian Allies.
Aviary, Aztec, 241, 264, 265, 469, 527.
Avila, Alonso de, joins Cortes, 117. Fights,
126, 127, 128. Aids to seize Montezuma,
284; Narvaez, 321. Before Cortes, in behalf
of the soldiers, 328. Tries to calm Cortes,
336. In the retreat from Mexico, 367, 373.
At the battle of Otumba, 383. Despatched
to St. Domingo, 402, note; to Spain, 521.
Captured by the French, 521.
Axayacatl, Aztec sovereign, Tlascalans op-
pose, 186. His treasure, 280, 299, 300. See
Treasure.
Axayacatl's palace, 247, 343, 466. Spaniards
quartered in, 247. Chapel in, 280, 281.
Montezuma's confinement in, 286. Return
of Cortes to, 331. Spaniards besieged there,
335. Assaulted by Aztecs, 343. Fired, 345.
Commanded by the temple of the war-god,
352. Destroyed, 469.
Ayllon, the licentiate, sent to stay Velas-
quez's expedition, 309. Joins the fleet,
309. Seized and sent back, 311. His re-
port, 311. Released, 452.
Ayotlan, siege and capture of, 69, 70.
Azcapozalco, a 6lave-market, 69, 78, 432,
note.
Aztecs, or Mexicans, civilization of the, 3, 25,
93, 274, 578. Extent of their country, 3,
507. Quarter from which they came, 10,
note. Time of their arrival at Anahuac, 10,
11, note, 184, 507. Their migratory habits,
10,585. Settlement of, at Mexico, 11. Do-
mestic feuds and secession among them, 11.
Extent of their territory just before the
arrival of the Spaniards, 13. Form of
government among the, 14. Election and
installation of sovereigns, 14. Legislative
and judicial system among them, 16. Great
aim of their institutions, 22. On calling them
barbarians, 25, note. Compared with Saxons
of the time of Alfred, 25. Comparison of
modern Mexicans and, 25. Their mytho-
logy, 27. Cycles, 31, 53, note, 54, 581, 587.
Ideas of future life, 31. Their claims to
civilization, 40, 41, 508. Compared with
Europeans of the sixteenth century, 41.
Their law of honour, 41, note. Their manu-
scripts, 48. The Teoamoxtli, or divine
book of the, 51, note. Their literary cul-
ture, 52. Measurement of time, 53. Their
cycle called an "old age," 54, note. Astro-
logy, 58. Astronomy, 58. Their festival at
the termination of the great cycle, 59, 60.
Their agriculture, 63. Acquaintance of,
with plants, 65 ; with minerals, 65 ; with
the mechanical arts, 66, 68. Their domestic
manners, 70. Differ from North American
Indians, 74, 591, note. Character of the,
original and unique, 74. Nezahualcoyotl
unites his forces with the, 78. Beat and
sacrifice Maxtla, 78. Transfer of power to,
from the Tezcucans, 93. The first commu-
nication with them, 105, 106. Orders to
Cortes respecting the treatment of them,
1 14, 115. Their condition, and disgust with
Montezuma, at the time of Cortes' arrival,
INDEX.
633
139. Defeated by Tlascalans, 186. Aid in a
Cholulan conspiracy, 221, 222. Number of,
in the Mexican market, 274. Enraged at
the profanation of their temples, 304. Aid
in building vessels at Vera Cruz, 305. In-
surrection by the. 335. Their assaults on
the Spanish quarters, 343, 349. Sally
against them, 346. Addressed by Monte-
zuma, 350. Insult Montezuma, 350. Their
spirit at the storming of the great temple,
353. Cortes' address to, 355. Their reply,
354, 355. Their combatant spirit, 358, 359.
Assault the retreating Spaniards, 369.
Measures for rallying, 391. Tlascalan alli-
ance with, rejected, 392. Guatemozin em-
peror of the, 404. Proceeded against as
rebels, 405. Want of cohesion among them,
426. Deride Cortes, 434. Fights with, on
the Sierra, 441. At Xochimilco, 447. De-
fend the aqueduct of Chapoltepec, 460. At
Iztapalapan, 461. Defeat of their flotilla,
462. Fight on the causeways, 464. Their
exasperation, 470. Their hatred of white
men, 47 4, 491. Their bravery, at the general
assault, 477, 478 Attack Alvarado and San-
doval, 480. Their spirit and sufferings, 487,
490. 491, 496, 500. Sortie of, 489. Do not
bury their dead, 491, 496. Assault on, at
the market place, 499. Effect of Guatemo-
zin's capture on, 502. Evacuate the city,
505. Remarks on the fall of their empire,
508. Eneay on the origin of the civilization
of the, 578. Traditions respecting their ori-
gin, 589. See Guatemozin and Montezuma.
B.
Babel, coincidences of the tower of, and the
temple of Cholula, 582.
Bachelors subject to penalties, 529.
Badajoz, British atrocities at, 228.
Badajoz, Gutierre de, storms the great teocalli,
492.
Bahama Islands, 102. Expedition to, for
slaves, 104.
Balboa. Nunez de, 102, 111. Transports bri-
gantines, 430, note.
Banana, 64. The forbidden fruit, 64, note.
Banner of Cortes, 118, 203, note. Lost and
recovered, 479. See Standard.
Banners, River of, 105, 132.
Baptism, Aztec and pagan, 32, 584, 585.
Barante, on a disclosure in the reign of Louis
the Eleventh, 454, note.
Barba, Don Pedro, governor of Havana, or-
dered to seize Cortes, 119.
Barba, Pedro, killed, 472.
Barbers, Aztec, 210, 273.
Barca, Madame Calderon de la, on Mexican
love of flowers, 153, note. On Tacuba, 460,
note. On Cuernavaca, 560, note.
Barks at Ajotzinco, 238. See Canoes.
Barracks built at Mexico, 473.
Barrio de San Jago, 494.
Barter, Grijalva's, at the River of Banners,
105, 132. Object of Cortes' expedition, 114.
At Cozumel, 122. With the Tabascans,
J31. See Traffic.
Basque language, 589, note.
Bas-reliefs destroyed, 67, 266.
Batanzos, Fray Domingo de, discusses the
repartimientos and probable fate of the In-
dians, 550, note.
Baths of Montezuma, 84, 267.
Battles, Aztecs avoided slaying their enemies
in, 40. Of Tabasco, 126, 127, 128. Of
Ceutla, 129. Between Aztecs and Tlasca-
lans, 186, 187 ; Spaniards and Tlascalans,
i 189, 190, 191, 195, 197, 200; Escalante and
Quauhpopoca, 283; Cortes and Narvaez,
323. At the Aztec insurrection, 344, 347.
At the great temple, 353. On leaving
Mexico, 358, 359. Of the Melancholy
Night, 369. Of Otumba, 381. Of Quauh-
quechollan, 396. Of Iztapalapan, 423, 424,
461. Near Chalco, 425. At Xaltocan, 431.
At Tlacopan, 433. Of Jacapichtla, 437.
On the rocks of the Sierra, 440. At Cuer-
navaca, 443, 441. At Xochimilco, 445,447.
At the aqueduct of Chapoltepec, 460. Na-
val, with the Indian flotilla, 462. On the
Mexican causeways, 464. With Alderete's
division, 477, 478. With the Panuchese,
522.
Beetles, Cortes aided by, 324.
Beggary, not tolerated, 88.
Bejar, Duke de, befriends Cortes, 523, 556.
His reception of him, 555.
Belus, on the tower of, 592, note.
Benavente, Count of, 100, note.
Bermudez, Agustin, 325, 399.
Bernaldez on devils, 28, note.
Bilious fever. See Yomito.
Bird, Dr., on mantas, 357, note.
Birds, artificial, 66, note, 82, 143, 161, note,
230, 272. See Aviary.
Births, consultation at, 58.
Bishop's Pass, 178.
Bison, domesticated, 597, note.
Blanc, Mont, height of, 233, note.
Blasphemv, prohibited, 407.
Blumenbach, on American skulls, 591, note.
Bodies of the Tlascalans, painted, 195, 196.
See Dead.
Bodleian Library, roll and Codex in the, 2J,
note, 49, note.
Body-guard of Montezuma, 267. Of Cortes,
455. See Quinones.
Booty, law on appropriating, 407. Little
found in Mexico, 506, 507, 517. See Gold
and Treasure.
Borunda, the Mexican Champollion, 51, note.
Botanical garden, 241, note, 266, 267. See
Floating.
Botello urges night retreat, 366.
Boturini, Benaduci, Chevalier, his writings
and collection of manuscripts, 8, note, 13,
note, 16, note, 47, note, 48, note, 49, note,
51, note, 74, note, 75, note, 80, note, 247,
note, 380, note, 583, note.
Bradford's American Antiquities, 577.
Branding of slaves, 394, 428.
Brass substituted for iron, 66, note.
Brasseur de Bourbourg, Abbe, cited, 7, note,
29, note, 51, note. His theory in regard to
Mexican mythology, 578, note.
634
INDEX.
Brazil secured to Portugal, 227, note.
Breaches in the causeways, made and filled,
464-466, 468, 470, 476, 487, 493. Neg-
lected by Alderete, 477. Measures for fill-
ing, 487.
Bread and wine, consecrated, 585, note.
Bridges at Mexico, 244, 246, 260, 261, 281,
460. Removed, 331, 337. . Demolished,
356, 358, 359. Restored, 359. Leaped by
Cortes, 359. Portable, 367, 368, 369. Arched,
at Tlascala, 209. At Cuernavaca, 443. In
the expedition to Honduras, 538, 539, 545.
See Breaches and Canals.
Brigantines, built on Lake Tezcuco, 291.
Burnt, 328, 397. Built and transported to
Lake Tezcuco, 398, 402, 410, 422, 428, 429,
438, 439, 455, 457. Attempts to destroy,
438. Launched, 451, 456. Canal for trans-
porting, 455. Remains of, preserved, 455,
note, 527. Co-operate with the army, 461,
462, 463, 464, 475, 480, 502. Decoyed and
destroyed, 472. Sail from Honduras to
Truxillo, 545. See Fleet.
Brinton, Dr. Daniel G., explanations of Mexi-
can mythology by, 8, note, 29, note, 30,
note, 122, note.
British atrocities, 228.
Budh, incarnation of, 29, note.
Buffalo ranges, 597.
Buffoons, Aztec, 73, note. See Jesters.
Bullock, \V\, on Tezcuco, 83, note, 294, note.
On a basin at Tezcotzinco, 84, note. On
antiquities at ^Tezcotzinco, 85, note. On
Puebla de los Angeles, 218, note. On the
pyramids of Teotihuacan, 379, note, 380,
note. On a banner in the Hospital of Jesus,
479, note.
Bulls for the Conquerors, 439, 553, note.
Burials, 32, note. See Dead.
Bustamante, editor of Sahagun's Universal
History, 43, 46, note, 51, note, 62, note, 494,
note, 509, note, 514.
Cabot, Sebastian, 102.
Cacama, king of Tezcuco, rival for the crown,
139, 294, 414. Favours a friendly reception
of Cortes, 142, 294. Counsels Montezuma,
237, 294. Mission of, to Cortes, 238. 239.
Accompanies Montezuma, 244. His plan
for liberating Montezuma, 295. Negotia-
tions with, 295. Seizure of, and of his con-
federates, 296, 410, 489. Brought away
from Mexico, 367, 411. Fate of, 411.
Cacao, 64, 82, note. A circulating medium,
69, 274.
Caesar, Julius, order by, 131, note.
Calderon, Senor de, 364, note. See Barca.
Calendar, Aztec, 53, 54, and note. Of the
lunar reckoning, 55, 57. Coincidences with
the Asiatic, 587.
Calendar-stone, 58, 59, 67, and note, 264.
Calmecac school, 35.
Calpulli, or tribes, distribution into, 21, note.
Camargo, Diego Mufios, 212, note. Account
of, and of his writings, 339. Cited, 361,
note, 371, note, 612.
Campeachy, Bay of, 125.
Canals, for irrigation, 64, 129, 219, 239. In-
stead of streets, 238. In the gardens at
Iztapalapan, 241. In Mexico, 260, 261.
Filled up, 260, 362, 370. For transporting
brigantines, 455. See Breaches and Bridges.
Cannibalism, 38, 41, 73, 124. During the
siege, 473, 488. Of the allies, 474. Spanish
captives the victims of, 482. Coincidences
as to, 586.
Cannon, landed from the ships, 128. Com-
mand of, given to Mesa, 128. Effect of,
at the battle of Ceutla, 129. Mounted on
the Vera Cruz hillocks, 135. Effect of, on
Aztec visitors, 137. Sent to the fleet, 151.
At Cempoalla, 154. Effect of; on the Tlas-
calans, 192, 197, 198. At Cholula, 224.
Effect of, at Mexico, 249, 344, 346. On
board Narvaez's fleet, 310. At Cempoalla,
322, 323. Turned against Narvaez, 324.
Effect of, at the retreat, 371. All lost in
the retreat, 375. For attacking Mexico,
405. In the fleet on Lake Tezcuco, 456,
457. Effects of, at the siege of Mexico, 465,
479, 480. Cast in Mexico, 527.
Cano, Don Thoan, 333, note. Married Mon-
tezuma's daughter, 333, note, 351, note, 364,
note, 541, note. Cited, 351, note, 374, 375,
note, 386, note, 615.
Canoes, 238, 243, 262, 460, 462, 463.
Captives. See Christians and Prisoners.
Caribbee Islands, 102.
Carli, Count, cited, 16, note, 59, note, 68, notes,
578, note, 585, note, 586, note, 598, note.
Carpets, cotton, at Vera Cruz, 135.
Carreri, Gemelli, chart of, 590, note.
Casa de Contratacion, 101, 306.
Casa, Giovanni della, 261, note.
Casas Grandes, ruins of, 590, note.
Castes in Mexico, 69.
Catalina. See Xuarez.
Catalogue of Mexican historians, 47, note.
Catapult, built, 495.
Cathedrals, 67, 259, 275, 527.
Catherwood's illustrations, 577.
Catholics, Protestants and, 132, 160. Views
of, as to infidels, 226, 227.
Catoche, Cape, 104, 125.
Cattle, 112, note, 561.
Causeways, dividing Chalco from Xochicalco,
239, 243. The three at Mexico, 260. Pre-
sent state of the, 528. See Cojohuacan,
Iztapalapan, Tepejacac, and Tlacopan.
Cavaliers, 117, 123.
Cavallero, superintendent of marine, 328.
Cavalry, 128, 129, 130. Indian ideas respect-
ing, 130. In Narvaez's armada, 310, 324.
Effect of, at Mexico, 346, 371, 372, 377.
Loss of, 375. At the battle of Otumba,
382. For, attacking Mexico, 405. At Tla-
copan, 433. Ambuscade with, 435, 450.
At the siege and surrender of Mexico, 450,
479. See Horses.
Cavo, on Cortes' bigotry, 573, note.
Cempoalla, 147, 151, 153. Reception of Cortes
at, 153. Cacique of, at Chiahuitztla, 155.
CorteV second visit to, 156, 159. Cacique
of, aided by Cortes, 158. Arrests there,
INDEX.
635
160. Proceedings there, 175. Narvaez at,
313, 321. Sick and wounded left at, 329.
Cempoallan allies, 176, and note. Perish
from cold, 178. Distrust Cholulans, 182.
Four, sent to the Tlascalans, 182, 189, 190.
Fight Tlascalans, 192. Enter Cholula, 219.
Detect a Conspiracy, 220. Withdraw, 231.
At Mexico with Cortes, 242, note, 336, note.
Centaurs, Spaniards thought to be, 130.
Central America, its ancient civilization dis-
tinct from that of Mexico, 9, note. See
Chiapa, Mitla, and Palenque.
Ceremonies, religious, 36.
Ceutla, battle of, 129, 130.
Chalcas, 83, note, 440.
Chalchuites, resembling emeralds, 145.
Chalco, 424. Sandoval's expeditions to, 436,
439. Cortes' expedition in favour of, 439.
Indian levies join Spaniards at, 457, 461.
Chalco, lake of, 67, 238, 239, 277.
Challenges, 490.
Champollion, 46, and note, 50, note.
Chapoltepec, carved stones at, destroyed, 59,
note. Residence of Mexican monarchs, 235,
266. Aqueduct from, 250, 260, note, 460.
Account of, 266. Views from, 266.
Charles V., Spain under, 100. Erroneous
statements regarding, 101, note. Discovery
by the beginning of his reign, 102. Title
of, 148, note. CorteV First Letter to, 162,
401. Discussion before, on the civilization
of Indians, 169. Montezuma's gift to, 299,
300. His first visit to Spain after his acces-
sion, 307. His treatment of envoys from
Cortes, 307, 308. Second Letter to, by
Oortes, 400. Absent, 452, 521. Grant by,
to Cortes, for capturing Guatemozin, 503,
note. Third Letter to, from Cortes, and
one from the army, 520, 521. In Spain,
523. Board selected by, respecting Cortes,
523. Powers given by, to Cortes, 524.
Fifth Letter to, 538, note, 623. Appoints a
juez de residencia, 549. Writes to Cortes,
549 ; orders him to return to Spain, 552.
Gives audience to him, 555. Confides in
Cortes, 555. Visits him, 555. Honours
and rewards Cortes, 556. Goes to Italy,
558. Absence of, 564. Applications to,
by Cortes, and the result, 564. Last Letter
to, by Cortes, 565, 625.
Chase, Montezuma's fondness for the, 293,
294.
Chastity, injunctions as to, 602.
Chess, 144, note.
Chiahuitztla, visit to, 155.
Chiapa, resemblances to architecture in, 592,
593.
Chiapa, Bishop of, 170. See Las Casas.
Chichemecatl, a Tlascalan chief, 429, 457,484.
Chichimecs, 9, 10, 11, note, 590.
Children, baptizing and naming of, 32, 584.
Education and discipline of, 34, 71. Sacri-
ficed, 220. Cortes' treatment of, 225. Stew
of, for Montezuma, 267, note.
Chimalpopoca, sacrificed, 41, note.
China, 22, note, 29, note, 69, note. See Chinese.
Chinantla, lances from, 314, 317.
Chinantlan allies aid Cortes, 314, 327,
Chinese, 63. Their language and the Othoml,
589. Iron among the, 598, note. See
China.
Chivalry, spirit of, in the troops, 446, 490.
Chocolate, 21, note, 64, 73, 268.
Cholula, traditions connected with Quetzal-
coatl at, 29, 140, 216, 297, 298, 413. Ac-
count of, 215, 218, 220. Pilgrims to, 217.
Entered b}' the Spaniards, 219. Junction
of Cortes and Velasquez de Leon at, 314,
316. Olid's countermarch on, 395. Co-
incidences of the tower of Babel and the
temple of. 582.
Cholulan allies, 395, 484.
Cholulans, 182. Distrust of, 182, 214, 215.
Summons to the, 214, 215. Embassy from
the, 214, 215. Their reception of the Span-
iards, 219. Conspiracy of the, 220. To aid
Cortes, 222, 223. Massacred, 224. Efforts
to convert, 226.
Christianity, ideas, rites, and usages not un-
like to, among the Mexicans, 28, 32, 34,
280, 585, 586. Measures for conversion to,
102, 123, 124, 131, 160, 178, 181, 211, 226,
543, 544. Similarity of Quetzalcoatl's teach-
ings to, 216, note. On conquest for con-
version to, 227, 289. Duty to convert to,
227, 289. Attempts to convert Montezuma
to, 248, 250, 293, 302, 360 ; Maxixca, 398 ;
his son, and Xicotencatl, 402. After the
Conquest, 527, 532. Rapid spread of, 533.
See Cortes.
Christians, in captivity, 114, 122, 124. See
Christianity.
Chronology, 53, 54, 253, note.
Churches, 376, 380, 493, 527.
Cihuaca, cacique, killed, 383.
Cihuacoatl, title of Mexican magistrate, 16,
note. See Cioacoatl.
Cimatlan, phonetic sign for, 46.
Cioacoatl, Eve and, 583.
Circulating medium, 68, 69, 274.
Cities, division of, 34. See Towns.
Civilization, Mexican claim to, 40, 41. Of
the Tezcucans over the rest of Anahuac,
93. In Yucatan, 104, 105. In Cozumel,
122. At Tabasco, 129. Of Tlascala, 140,
186. As shown in Indian manuscripts,
164, note. Of Indians, discussed, 169. At
Iztapalapan, 241, 242. In Mexico, 252.
Essay on the origin of Mexican, 578, 581 ;
similarity and dissimilarity of, in the two
continents, 581; two general conclusions
respecting it, 598. See Refinement.
Claudian, cited, 233, note.
Clavigero, 3, note, 8, note. On Boturini's
authorities, 8, note. Dates from, 11, note.
Notices of, and of his Storia antica del
Messico, 13, note, 26, note. On the high-
priest, 33, note. On the number of human
sacrifices, 39, note. Catalogue of Mexican
historians by, 47, note. On Aztec fairs,
53, note. On the population of Tlascala,
191, note. On Mexican dialects, 588, note.
Clemencin, on coins, 144, note.
Clement VII., pope, 553, note.
Cloths, Mexican, 68, 216. See Cotton, Feather-
work, and Mantles.
630
INDEX.
Coanaco, made cacique of Tezcuco, 411. Joins
the Aztecs, 411. Puts Spaniards to death,
411. Destroys his brother, 411. Escapes
from Tezcuco, 412. Captured, 502.
Coatepec, town of, 410.
Coatzacualco, 297, 314, 328, 537.
Cochineal, 68, 177, 272, note.
Cocotlan, 179, 180.
Code, military, 406, 621. See Laws.
Codex Telleriano-Reruensis, 39, nute, 50, note.
Cofre de Perote, a volcano, 178.
Cogolludo on*ruins in America, 596, note.
Cojohuacan, 449, 457, 461, 504, 5*9. Cortes'
residence at, 551. Provisions respecting, in
Cones' will, 566.
Cojohuacan causeway, 449, 460,
Colhuacan, hospital at, 139.
Colhuans, 11, note.
Coliman founded, 528.
Colonial administration of Spain, under
Charles V., 101.
Colonization, progress of, by the beginning of
the reign of Charles V., 102. Not attempted
by Grijalva, 105, 106, 115. Velasquez ob-
tains authority for, 115, note. Plan of, at
Vera Cruz, 149. At Coatzacualco, 297.
Colour of Mexican hieroglyphics, 45.
Columbus, Chri-topher, 28, note, 103, 553.
Columbus, Diego, 103.
Columbus, Ferdinand, 107, note.
Commission. See Hieronymite commission.
Communion, Aztec and pagan, 584, 585.
"Companions," the, 57, note.
Compostella, Castilian cort< s at, 307.
Concubines of Tezcucan princes, 85.
Confession, Aztec, 34. Among Tartars, 586,
note.
Conquerors, distribution of Indians among
the Spanish, 102.
Conquests, not always partitioned, 21, note
On the right of, 226, 227, 289.
Conspiracy. 165, 220, 452, 453.
Constant, Benjamin, 57, note.
Continency of Aguilar, 125.
Convent, of St. Francis, 177, note, 548. Cortes
and Columbus at La Rabida in Spain, 553.
Conversion, Las Casas on forced, 124, note,
609. Object of the Spaniards, 406, 407. See
Christianity.
Cook, James, Captain, 580, note.
Copal, tribute of, 21, note.
Copan, city of, 545.
Copper, weapons headed with, 197. Tools of,
593.
Cora language, 590, note.
Cordillera mountains, 5, 64.
Cordova, Gonsalvo de, 569.
Cordova, Hernandez de, 104.
Corn. See Indian corn.
Coronation of Montezuma, 138.
Corral, ensign, 440, 479.
Cortes, Hernando, 39. Velasquez selects him
for an expedition, 107, 113. Birth and gene-
alogy of, 107, 553. His early ytars, 107.
In Hispaniola, 109. In Cuba, 109, 110.
Marriage of, with Catalina Xuarez, 110, 111,
112. His difficulties with Velasquez, 110,
112, Put in. irons, 110; ill, Escapes twice,
111. The Armada intrusted to him as
Captain-general, 113, 115, 117. Applies all
his money to fitting out the fleet, 113, 114,
117, 149. Instructions to, by Velasquez,
114, 6(i7. His clandestine embarkation,
116. His measures for equipment, 116, 117.
Described, 118. Strength of his armament,
119, 120. His address to his soldiers, 120.
At Cozumel, 121. Endeavours to liberate
captive Christians, 122. His zeal to convert
the natives, 123, 131, 146, 154, 159, 178, 181,
230,277, 278, 402, 407, 450, 531, 566. At
Tabasco, 125, 127. His first interview with
Mexicans, 134. His presents and demand
to see Montezuma, 136. Embassy returns
to, with presents from Montezuma, 143.
(See Montezuma.) His second message to
Montezuma, 145. The reply, 146. First
made acquainted with the condition of Mexi-
co, 147, 155. His resignation and reap-
pointment, 149, 150, 319. His policy with
the Totonacsand Montezuma, 156. Another
Aztec embassy to, 157. Aids the cacique
of Cempoalla, 158. Hangs up Morla, 158.
Reconciles Totonacs, 159. His despatches
to Spain, 161, 162, and note, 164. Condemns
conspirators, 165. Destroys his ships, 166,
167, and note. (See Armada.) His em-
bassy to Tlascala, 182. His vigilance, 182,
190, 200, 211. 223, 232, 238, note, 248. 305,
426. His march to Tlascala, 183, 202, 208,
209. Ill of a fever, 202, 208. Standards
borne by, 203, note. Malecontents expos-
tulate with, 203. Mutilates Tlascalan spies,
205, and note. Montezuma discourages his
visit to Mexico, 207. Called Malinche, 213,
355. In\ ited to Mexico, 213, 214. Massacre
by, at Cholula, 224, 226 22«. Prohibition
of wanton injuries by, 225, 228. Encourages
the disaffection of the Aztecs, 236. His
entrance into Mexico, 242-246. Visited by
Montezuma, 243-245. His quarters, 247.
His visit to Montezuma, 249. Descendants
of, now in Mexico, 249. (See Monteleone.)
Visits the market, 271 ; the great temple,
275, 276 ; its sanctuaries, 277. Chapel
granted to, 280. Discovers hidden treasures,
280. His seizure of Montezuma, 282; fetters
him, 288 ; unfetters him, 288. Seizes Caca-
ma, 296. Willing to relinquish his share of
Montezuma's gift, 301. On profaning Mexi-
can temples, 302, 303. Learns Narvaez's
arrival, 312. His treatment of envoy
prisoners, 312. His letter to Narvaez, 312 ;
marches against him, 314, 315. His parting
with Montezuma, 315. His strength, 317.
Met by Guevara and Duero, as envoys, 318,
319. Summons Narvaez, 319; assaults and
defeats him, 320, 323 ; bis treatment of him,
325 ; of the captives and his own troops,
327. His return to Mexico, 329. His forces,
330, 336. In fll-humour, 336. Releases
Cuitlahua, 336. Rehorses Duero, 348.
Wounded, 348, 352, 360, 378, 383, 387, 445,
478. Leads in storming the great temple,
352. Addresses the Aztecs through Marina,
355. Builds a manta, 357. Deceived and
releases priests, 358, 359. Exposures and,
INDEX.
637
hardihood of, 359. Montezuma's last con-
versation with, 361. His respect for Monte-
zuma's memory, 365. His retreat from
Mexico, 367, 368. At Popotla, 372. Loss
of his Diary, 375. Kills Cihuaca at the battle
of Otumba, 384. At Tlascala, 387. Remon-
strance with, by the troops, 388. His ex-
pedition against the Tepeacans, 393, 394 ;
against Quauhquechollan, 395. At Itzocan,
396. Increase of his authority, 397. His
plans for recovering Mexico, 397, 398, 402,
405, 408, 457. His Second Letter to the
Emperor, 400. His despatches to St. Do-
mingo, 401. Triumphal return of, to Tlas-
cala, 402. His forces, 405. Enters Tezcuco,
412. His mission to Guatemozin, 422.
Reconciles Indian allies, 426. His recep-
tion of brigantines from Tlascala, 429. Re-
connoitres the capital, 431, 434, 439. Seized
and rescued, 445. At Xochimilco, 446. At
Cojohuacan, 449. Orders of, respecting his
bones, 449, note, 566. Dejected, 450. Pro-
ceedings in Spain in regard to, 452. Con-
spiracy against, in the camp, 452, 453. His
body-guard, 456. His forces, 455. Makes
three divisions, 457, and note. With his
fleet at Iztapalapan, 461. Takes post at
Xoloc, 463. His movements on the cause-
way, 464. Levels buildings, 465, 469, 487,
490. His proffers to Guatemozin, 474, 497,
498, 499, 501. Assaults the city, 476. Re-
connoitres Alderete's route, 477. Seizedand
rescued, 478. Anxiety respecting, 480.
Gives the command to Sandoval, 481. His
entries into the tianguez, 493, 494. Murder-
ous assault by, 499. His last assault, 501.
His reception of Guatemozin, 503 ; permits
him to be tortured, 517. Sends detachments
to the Pacific Ocean, 518, 519. Rebuilding of
Mexico by, 519, 520, 524, 526. His Third
Letter, and one from the army? 520, 521.
Sends costly presents to Spain, 521, note.
Complaints against, in Spain, 521. Board
appointed respecting, 523. The charges
against, and the replies, 523, 524, 549, 558,
559. Commission and powers given to, 524,
Founds settlements, 528. Joined by his
wife, 529. The ordinances made by, 529,
note. l\U scruples about slavery, 530, 531,
566. Suppresses the royal instructions
annulling repartimientos, 530, note. His
desire of religious teachers, 531. His regu-
lations respecting agriculture, 534. Voyages
and expeditions of, 534. His instructions
for expeditions, 535, 536. Looks into the
resources of the country, 536, 537, 546. His
expedition to Honduras, 537, 548, note, 593,
note. His Fifth Letter, 538, note, 552, 623.
At Truxillo, 545. Further plans of con-
quest by, 546. Embarks and returns, 547.
Sick and despondent, 547. Driven to Cuba,
548. At San Juan de Ulua and Medellin,
548. Triumphal return of, to Mexico, 548.
Superseded by a juez de residencies, 549.
Further action against, in Spain, 549, 551.
Urged to assert his authority, 551. Ordered
to leave Mexico, 551. Ordered to Spain,
551, 552. Arrival of, in Spain, 553. Meets
Pizarro, 553. At Guadaloupe, 554. His
reception, 555. His interview with the
emperor, 555. Marquis of Oaxaca, 556.
Gift of land to, 556. Not reinstated in
government, 556. Captain-General of New
Spain, 557. Second marriage of, 557. Em-
barks for New Spain, 553. An investigation
of his conduct by the Royal Audience, 558.
Accused of murdering his first wife, 558.
To keep ten leagues from Mexico, 560.
Welcome to, at Tezcuco, 560. Retires to
Cuernavaco, 560. Expeditions of, for dis-
covery, 56 1 , 563. His final return to Castile,
564. His attendance on the Council of the
Indies, 564. Joins an expedition against
Algiers, 564. Wrecked, 564. His applica-
tions to the emperor, 564. His last letter
to him, 565, 625. Prepares to return to
Mexico, 565. Sick, 565. His will, 565, 566.
Dies, 567. Obsequies of, 567, 568, 627. His
children and descendants, 568, 569. His
character, 569. Ascendency over his soldiers,
570. Compared to Hannibal, 571. As a
conqueror, 571. Not cruel, 572. In private
life, 572. His bigotry, 573. His dress and
appearance, 573. His education, 574. See
Spaniards.
Cortes, Don Luis, 569.
Cortes, Don Martin, 306. Exertions of, for
his son, 523. Death of, 552.
Cortes, Don Martin, son of Marina, 134, 541,
569.
Cortes, Don Martin, son of Cortes by his second
marriage, 564. Wrecked, 564. Provision
for, 565. Present at his father's death, 567,
Persecuted, 569.
Cosmogony, Humboldt on, 30, note.
Cottons, given to Cortes, 136, 143, 158.
Cotton dresses, 21, 230, 249.
Cotton mail, or escaupil, or jackets quilted
with cotton, 23, 118, 129, 196, 197, 317.
Council, of finance, 79. Of justice, 79. Of
state, 79. Of war, 79. Of music, 79.
Council of the Indies, 101. Ordinances by the,
452, 521. deception of Cortes by the, 564.
Couriers, 22, and note, 60, 235.
Courts, Aztec, 16, 17, 18. Merchants allowed
to have, 70. At the Mexican market, 274.
Coxcox survived the Deluge, 582.
Cozumel, 105, 121, 124.
Cozumel Cross, 584, note.
Crimes, punishments tor, 19.
Cross, the, a common symbol of worship, 122,
note. See Crosses.
Crosses of stone, in Yucatan, 105. In Cozu-
mel, 122. At Tabasco, 132. AtCempoalla,
160. At Naulinco, 178. Frequency of, 178,
and note, 584. On raising, at Tlatlauqnite-
pec, or Cocotlan, 181. At Tlascala, 213.
Upon Quetzalcoatl's temple at Cholula, 230.
At Mexico, 277, 278, 303, 353. Pulled down,
354, 466. Cruz del Marques, 444. At Palen-
que, 584. Cozumel, 584, note. Antiquity
and generality of, among pagans, 585.
Crowning of Aztec sovereigns, 14.
Cruz del Marques, mountain, 444.
Cuba, 103. Exp-ditions from, to Yucatan,
104, 105. Cortes in, 109, 110, 112. Propo-
63S
INDEX.
sitions in the army to return to, 145, 147,
148, 203. Cortes' emissaries land at, 164.
Las Casas' labours in, 168. Cortes' appre-
hensions from, 231. Sailing of Narvaez's
fleet from, 310. Desire of troops to return
to, 388, 453. Return of s-ome to, 399. Cortes
driven to, 548. See St. Jago de Cuba, and
Velasquez.
Cuernavaca, or Quauhnahuac, capture of, 442-
444. Asks aid, 486. Cortes' residence at,
560. Remarks on, 560.
Cuicuitzca, made cacique of Tezcuco, 296, note,
411. Absent, 330. Put to death, 411.
Cuitlahua, lord of Iztapalapan, 237. Inter-
view of, with Cortes, 241, 422. Accom-
panies Montezuma, 244. Released, 336,
391. Supplies Montezuma's place, 336, 349,
note. Arouses the Aztecs fur the battle of
Otumba, 381, 391. Notice of, 391. Dies
of smallpox, 398, 403. Succeeded by Guate-
mozin, 4u4.
Cuitlahuac, Spaniards at, 240.
Culinary science, Aztec, 267, 268.
Currency, Mexican, 69, 274.
Cycles, Aztec, 31, 53, note, 54, and note.
Persian, 53, note. Etruscan, 54, note.
Wheels of, 55, note. Of the lunar reckoning
by the priests, 55, note. Analogies respect-
ing, in the Old and the New World, 581,
587.
Cypress, Cortes', 181. Size of, 266.
D.
Dancing, Mexican, 73, and note.
Dante, 27, 31, note, 32, note, 38, note, 227, note.
Darien, Isthmus of, crossed, 102. Colony
there, 102, 124. Oviedo there, 337, note.
Dates, on Mexican, 54.
Daughters, counsels to, 71, 601.
Days, Aztec arrangement of, 53, 54. Hiero-
glyphics for, 53. Division of civil, 59, note.
Coincidences as to the signs of, 587.
Dead, burnt, 32, 93, note. Buried, 32, note.
Carried off in battle, 192, 193. Spanish,
buried, 198. Unburied during the siege,
491, 496, 504. Buried, 506. Coincidences
as to the obsequies of the, 586, 587. See
Funeral ceremonies.
Doath, a penalty, 16. Judges punished with,
17. For crimes, 18. Inflicted on soldiers,
24. Two sons put to, by a Tezcucan prince,
24.
Defaulters, liable to slavery, 21.
Deities, Mexican, 28, 39. Days and festivals
appropriated to, 28, 36. On unity and plu-
rality of, 28, note. Huitzilopochtli, the
Mexican Mars, 28. Quetzalcoatl, the god of
the air, 29. Penates, 31, 60. Tezcatlipoca,
37, 278. Presiding over agriculture, 63.
Images of, 66, 67. See Huitzilopochtli,
Idols, Quetzalcoatl, and Tezcatlipoca.
Delatield's Antiquities, map in, 589, note.
Deluge, coincidences as to the, in the Old and
the New World, 581.
Denon, on an Egyptian temple, 44, note.
Devil, Mexican, 28, note, 39, note. Oortes pos-
sessed with the, 150, note. His delusion of
the Aztecs, 585, note, 586.
Diary of Cortes, lost, 375.
Diaz, Bernal, errors of, 214, note. His way of
life, 306, note. His share of spoil, 327, note.
Letter not signed by, 401, note. Account
of, and of his writings, 415-417. Ravine
crossed by, 443, note. Leaves his farm to
accompany Cortes to Honduras, 537, note.
On the Christianity of Guatemozin and the
prince of Tacuba, 541, note. On Cortes at
Honduras, 547. His character of Cortes,
573, 574.
Diaz, Juan, the licentiate, efforts of, to convert
natives, 123, 293. His conspiracy, 165.
Performs mass in the great temple, 281, 303.
Dikes opened upon the Spaniards at Iztapala-
pan, 423. See Causeways and Breaches.
Diodorus, 84, note.
Discovery, 63, 101. Progress of, by the begin-
ning of the reign of Charles V., 102. Catho-
lic and Protestant views as to, 227, and note.
Progress of, under Cortes, 519, 528, 535, 561,
563.
Dishes of Montezuma, 267.
Divine book, or Teoamoxtli, 51, note.
Domestic manners of the Aztecs, 70.
Dominican friars, 102, 168, 169.
Dove, on the topmast, 107. Coincidences with
Noah's, 582.
Drain of Huehuetoca, 260.
Draught-cattle, want of, 67, 520, 597.
Draw-bridges, Mexican, 244, 260, 281, 337.
Dresden Codex, 50, and note, 594.
Dresses, of Aztec warriors, 23. Owls embroi-
dered on, 28, note. Of Cholulans, 219. Of
Aztec chiefs, 243. Of Montezuma, 244, 245,
267, 349. Of Mexicans, 271, 272, 346, 369.
Of Indian allies, 406.
Drought at Tezcuco, 255.
Drum, the Tlascalan, 191, and note. The
huge Mexican, 276, 368. Of the war-god,
sounded for the sacrifice of Spaniards, 482.
Ducat, value of the, 144, note.
Duero, Andres de, 113, 116. In Narvaez's
armada, 313. Envoy to Cortes, 318, 319.
To share in the profits, 319. At Cempoalla,
325. Unhorsed and rehorsed, 348. Remon-
strates, 389. Returns to Cuba, 399. In
Spain, sustaining Velasquez, 399.
Dupaix, 59, note, 577, 592, note. On Mexican
tools, 593, note. On antediluvian buildings,
595, note.
Du Ponceau, P. S., 588, note. On the syn-
thetic structure of the Indian dialects, 588,
note.
Dyes, and dye-woods, Mexican, 68, 102.
E.
Eagle, on a standard, 196, 457.
Earthen-ware, Aztec, 68.
Earthquake, 46.
Ebeltng, collection of maps by, 538, note.
Eclipses, Aztec knowledge as to, 58.
Education, Aztec, 34, 35, 71, 279. For the
profession of hieroglyphieal painting, 47.
INDEX.
630
The council of music virtually a board of,
79. Of the Tezcucan royal household, 83.
Egyptians, temples of, 44, note. Hiero-
• glyphics of, 45, 46. Sothic period of, 57,
note. Sophocles on the, 64, note.'. Addresses
to their kings by priests, 83. Their repre-
sentations of the human frame, 594.
Elphinstone, W., on mythology, 28, note.
Emeralds, Mexican use of, 66. One of the,
sent to Spain, 520. Genuineness of, dis-
puted by Alaman, 520, note. Given by
Cortes to his second wife, 557, and note.
Emperor, 15, 148, note.
Encomiendas. See Hepartimientos.
Entertainments, style of Mexican, 71.
Era, the Mexican, 54.
Ercilla, cited, 377, note, 383, note.
Escalante, Juan de, 175. Forces intrusted
to, 176, 283. Instructions to, from Cholnla,
231. Treachery towards, 283. Mortally
wounded, 283.
Escobar, a page, 150, 352.
Escudero, Juan, 111. Executed, 165.
Estates, held by Aztec nobles, 15.
Estrada, juez de residcncia, 551, 552.
Estrada, Maria de, a heroine, 370, and note.
Estrella's manuscript, cited, 103, note, 109,
note, 110, note, 112, note, 116, note. Ac-
count of it, 121, note.
Etruscans, cycles of the, 54, note.
Eucharist, rite analogous to the, 584.
Euripides on purification, 585, note.
Eve, Aztec coincidences as to, 583.
Everett, Edward, 597, note.
Fairs, days for, 53, 68, 274. Traffic at, 68, 69.
For the sale of slaves, 69. At Tlascala,
210. See Market.
Falsehood, a capital offence, 79.
Famine, in Mexico, 472, 475, 485, 488, 490,
491, 496. At Honduras, 545.
Fans given by Montezuma, 162, note.
Farfan grapples with Narvaez, 323.
Feather-work, mantles of, for tribute, 21, and
note. Worn by warriors, 23. Manufac-
ture of, 68. Made by the royal household
of Tezcuco, 83. Given to Cortes, 136, 143,
158, 161, note, 207, 237. Worn by Tlas-
calans, 196. Beauty and warmth of, 271.
Females. See Women.
Ferdinand and Isabella, state of Spain at the
close of the reign of, 99.
Festivals, for deities, 28, 36. At the ter-
mination of the great cycle, 59, 60.
Festivities, style of, 71.
Feudal system, in Anahuac, 16, 184.
Fever. See Vdmito.
Fiefs, origin of, in Anahuac, 16, note.
Figurative writing, 45. See Hieroglyphics.
Fire-arms, 129, 199. All lost in the retreat
from Mexico, 375. Supply of, 399.
Fires always burning, 36, 218, 276, 278.
First-fruits, for the priests, 35.
Fish, reservoirs of, 241. Tanks of, 266.
Fleet fitted out by Velasquez against Cortes,
164, 308, 309. Narvaez commander of the,
309. Its strength, 310. At San Juan de
Ulua, 310. Dismantled, 328. See Armada,
Brigantines, Flotilla, and Ships.
Fleets for discovering a strait, 519, 534, 535.
Ruined by the Royal Audience, 561.
Flemings in Spain, 100, 168.
Floating gardens, or chinampas, 239, 243,
260. See Gardens.
Florida, 102, 535.
Flotilla, Indian, destroyed, 462.
Flowers, fondness for, 152, 220, 235, 273. In
the Iztapalapan gardens, 241.
Fohi, incarnation of the, 29, note.
Fonseca, Juan Rodriguez de, Bishop of Bur-
gos, notices of, 169, 307. His hostility to
Columbus, to his son, and to Cortes, 307, 401,
524, 525. Exertions of, against Cortes and
his envoys, 308, 452, 521, 524. Orders
Cortes to Spain for trial, 399. Procures
the passing of ordinances, 452, 521. Inter-
diction of, 523, 524. End of his influence,
525. His death, 525.
Forbidden fruit, the, 64, note.
Forests, destroyed, 6, 181, and note, 235. Penal-
ties for destroying, 64. Laws on gathering
wood in, 87. See Fuel.
Fractions, arithmetical, of Aztecs, 53.
Franciscan friars, in New Spain, 532.
Francis I., of France, envious of the Emperor
Charles V., 521.
Franklin, Benjamin, on the turkey, 72, note.
French atrocities, 228.
Fruit trees not allowed in Montezuma's gar-
dens, 266, note.
Fuel, on gathering, 87.
Funeral ceremonies, Aztec, 32. For Neza-
hualpilli, 93, note. See Dead.
Funeral piles, 93, note. Of arms, 287.
Future life, Aztec views of, 31.
Gr.
Galindo, Colouel, on civilization in Palenque,
595.
Gallatin, Albert, on Mexican prayers, 33, note,
589, note, 597, note.
Galvez, castle of, 266.
Gama, Antonio, on hieroglyphics, 45, 46, note.
Bustamante's continuation of his work, 46,
note. On Mexican notation, 52, note. On
intercalation, 54, note. On the beginning of
the year of the new cycle, 54, note. On the
lunar reckoning of the priests, 55, note. On
the nine companions, .7, note. His astro-
logical almanac, 58, note. Carved stones
seen by, 59, note. Account of, and of his
writings, 62. On a night in Cholula, 223,
note.
Gaming, 291, 292, 302, 407.
Gante, Pedro de, convent by, 527.
Garray, Francisco de, his squadron, 175, 399.
Crews of, join Cortes, 399.
Gardens of plants, 65. Of Iztapalapan, 241.
First European, 241, note. Montezuma's,
265,266. At Huaxtepec, 436. Sea Floating
gardens.
640
INDEX.
Garrisons, in the larger cities, 21.
Gauntlet run by Spaniards, 286, note.
Geology, conjectures confirmed by, 31, note.
Geroit, Federico de, 234, note.
Gestures, Indian, 133.
Gibbon, Edward, 167, note.
Girls, counsels given to, 71, 601.
Gladiatorial sacrifices, 38, note.
Glass, sent to Montezuma, 136.
Gold, tribute of, 21, and note, 66. From a
tomb, 32, note. Said to be found in temples,
36, note. Traffic with, 69. Mines of, worked
in Cuba, 104, 112. Curiously wrought
specimens of, from Yucatan, 105. Plates
of, given to Grijalva, 105. Trade for orna-
ments and vessels of, 105. Despatched to
Spain by Velasquez, 106. Barter for, at
Cozumel, 122. Spanish desire of, 127, 131,
135, 136, 231, 301. Given to Cortes, by
Teuhtlile, 136. Bits of, obtained by the
soldiers, 143. Presented by Montezuma,
143, 158, 161, note, 207, 230, 237, 249, 252.
Relinquished by the Conquerors, 161, 302.
Sent by Cortes to Spain, 161. Four loads
of, offered as a bribe to Cortes, 237. Present
of, at Amaquemecan, 238. Worn by Mon-
tezuma, 244. Place of getting, 297. Sent
by Montezuma to the Castilian sovereign,
299, 300. Comparison of, with silver, 300,
note. Converted into chains, 302, 366. Effect
of the arrival^of, in Spain, 307. Given to Nar-
vaez's soldiers, 327. Fate of, on the evacua-
tion of Mexico, 367, 375, note, 378. Spaniards
killed while transporting, 388, 411. Given
for maize bread, 388, note. Cannon of, sent
to Spain, 535, note. Carried to Spain by
Cortes, 553. Drawn from Tehuantepec by
Cortes, 561. See Treasure.
Golden Fleece, 1 00, note.
Goldsmiths, skill of Mexican, 66, note, 247.
See Animals.
Golfo Dolce, 545.
Gomara, Francisco Lopez de, 39, note, 105, note,
119, note. Authority for Cortes' First Let-
ter, 163. On firing at the Aztecs, 344, note.
On the baptism of Montezuma, 361, note.
On losses at the retreat, 375. Account of,
and of his writings, 414, 415. On protect-
ing Guatemozin, 542. On Cortes' precious
stones, 557, note. On domesticated bisons,
597, note.
Goods, sale and transportation of, 68, 69.
Government in Anahuac, 14. Under Neza-
hualcoyotl, 79. Of the Tlascalans, 184. Of
Cholula, 216.
Grado, Alonso de, at Villa Rica, 291.
Granaries, 21, 64.
Grijalva, Juan de, expedition of, to Yucatan,
105, 132. Returns to Cuba and is censured,
106. Cortes to join, 114. Volunteers from,
join Cortes, 117. Chief pilot of, 120. Effect
of his landing, on Montezuma, 142.
Grijalva, River of, 105, 125.
Guadaloupe, in Spain, 554.
Guadaloupe, Our Lady of, 74, note.
Gualipan, 386, note.
Guatemala, conquered , 535. Settlement of
Toltecs in, 596.
Guatemozin, Montezuma's nephew, 350, note.
Tecuichpo, wife of, 364, note, 404, 504, 541,
note. Elected emperor, 404. Rallies for
defence of his capital, 404. Missions to,
422, 427. His animosity to the Spaniards,
427. His application to Tangapan, 427, note.
Cortes' desire of an interview with, 434.
Attempts the recovery of Cbalco, 437 ; to
relieve Xochimilco, 446. His policy, 448,
471. Decoys brigantines, 472. Proffers to, 474,
488, 497, 498, 499, and note, 501. Distributes
heads of Spaniards and of horses, 483. Effect
of his machinations, 486. Council called by,
488. Will not surrender, 489, 501. His
palace, 490. Declines meeting Cortes, 498,
499, 501. Efforts of, to e^ape, 501, 502.
Captured, 502. Intercedes for his wife and
followers, 502. His interview with Cortes,
503. On a monument to, 509, note. Tor-
ture of, 517, 523, 524. Regarded as a rebel,
523, 524. Suspected, 540. Executed, 541.
Remarks on, 541.
Guevara, Narvaez's envoy to Sandoval, 311.
Cortes' reception of, 312. His return, 312,
313. Envoy to Cortes, 318, 319.
Gulf of California, 519, 561. Penetrated by
Ulloa, 562. Called Sea of Cortes, 563.
Gulf of Mexico, 102, 297.
Gunpowder, manufactured, 234, 402, 527.
Guns. See Cannon and Firearms.
Guzman, captured, 479. Sacrificed, 484.
Guzman, Nunez de, at the head of the Royal
Audience of New Spain, 558, 560. Cortes'
expedition against, 561.
H.
Hanging gardens of Nezahualcoyotl, 84. See
Floating gardens.
Hannibal, 236, note, 571.
Hardy, Lieutenant, on Casas Grandes, 590,
note.
Harems, royal, 82, 236, 266.
Harvard University Library, maps in, 538,
note.
Hatuey, on Spaniards and heaven, 103.
Havana, 104, note. The armada at, 118, 119.
Orders respecting Cortes at, 1 19. See Cuba.
Head of a Spaniard sent to Montezuma, 283.
Heaven, the Aztec, 31, and note. Hatuey's
remark on, 103.
Heckewelder, John, 28, note.
Heeren, A. H. L., 27, note, 44, note, 46, note.
Helmet, the Aztec, 23. Filled with gold dust,
136, 143.
Henry IV. of France, treasury of, 301, note,
Hernandez, Francisco, on maize, 64, note. On
the species of the maguey, 65, note. Pane-
gyrizes tobacco, 72, note. Takes models,
82. His work on natural history, 82, note.
On the gardens of Huaxtepec, 437 note.
Herodotus, 22, note, 27.
Heron, an heraldic emblem, 196.
Herrera, Antonio de, 103, note, 106, note. On
Cortes' escape on a plank. 111, note. On
Aguilar's temptations, 125, note. Gives a
speech by Marina, 192, note. On the
Spaniards at Cholula, 220, note. On canoea
INDEX.
041
in Lake Tezcuco, 243, note. Account of,
and of his writings, 253, note, 254. On
humming-birds, 264, note. On cochineal,
272, note. On arrows at the Aztec assault,
344, note. On gold thrown away, 378, note.
On stewed human flesh, 394, note. On
launching brigantines, 456, note.
Herrick, cited, 81, note.
Tlesiod, 27. On brass and iron, 66, note.
Hldalguia, privileges of the, 456, note.
nieroglyphics, 44. Egyptian and Aztec, com-
pared, 45, 46, 595. Chiefly representative,
among the Mexicans, 47. Education re-
specting, 47. Of the Mendoza Codex, 49,
note. Of the Dresden Codex, 50, and note,
595. On interpreting, 50, note, 51. For
months and days, 53. For half-centuries,
54. For years, 54, 55, note, 587. In the lunar
calendar, 56. Of the Aztec calendar, 588,
note. On Oriental coincidences with Aztec,
594, 595. See Paintings.
Hieronymite commission to redress Indian
grievances, 102, 168. Their authority for
the expedition under Cortes, 106, 115. Re-
dress asked of the, 164. Their discretion,
168.
High-priests. Aztec, 33, and note. One of the,
liberated, 359. Prayer of the, at the election
of Guatemozin, 403.
Hill of Otoncalpolco, or Hill of Montezuma,
373, 432. The temple there, 373, 374.
Church there, 376.
Hispaniola, Las Casas in, 168, 169. Despatches
to, by Cortes, 401. Detention of Cortes at,
558, 559. See Royal Audience.
Historians, four, of the house of Nezahualco-
yotl, 80, note.
Holguin, captures Guatemozin, 502. Quarrels
with Sandoval, 503.
Homer, and the theogony of the Greeks, 27.
Cited, 31, note, 71, note.
Honduras, expeditions to, 535, 537, 548, note,
596, note.
Honour, the Aztec law of, 41, note.
Horn of Guatemozin, sounded, 477, 480.
Horse, homage to the, at Peten, 544.
Horses, in Cortes' expedition, 120. Dearness
of, 120, note, 481, note. Landing of, at
• Tabasco, 128. Loss of, at Tlascala, 189,
191. Buried, 192. All, wounded, 198. Give
out, 202. Effect, of, at Mexico, 246. Aztecs
cling to, 347. Eaten, 377. New supply of,
399. Loss of, at the general assault, 481.
See Cavalry.
Hospitals, 24, 139.
Hours, astrological symbols for, 588, note.
Household gods, 31. Broken, 60.
Huacachula, 394, note. See Quauhquechollan.
Huaxtepec, 436, 442.
Huehuetoca, drain of, 260.
Huejotlipan, 386.
Huematzlo composed the Teoamoxtli ordiviue
book, 51, note.
Huexotzinco, meaning of, 46.
Huitzilopochtli, the Mexican Mars, account of,
and of his image, 28, 277, 27s. Symbolical
character, 29, note. Incensing of, 332.
Image of, thrown down, 354. New image
of, 460. View of Spaniards sacrificed to,
482. Prediction respecting, 483, 484, 485.
Huitzilopochtli's temple, human sacrifices at
the dedication of it, 39. Ashes of Neza-
hualpilli in the, 93, note. Spaniards there,
247. Cathedral on its site, 247, 259, 275,
527. Visited by Cortes, 275. Described,
275,276,352. View from it, 276. Christian
chapel in, 303, 332, 353. Mexicans quartered
in, 352. Stormed, 352, 353. Funeral pyre
of, 354.
Human monsters at Mexico, 265.
Human sacrifices, at the installation of
mouarchs, 14, 39, 139. Of prisoners, 19,
22, 40. To Huitzilopochtli, 28, 482. At
the funerals of the rich, 32. At confession
and absolution, 34, note. Origin of, in
Anahuac, 37. For the god Tezcatlipoca,
37. Of women, 38. Gladiatorial, 38, note.
Extent of, 39, 159, note. At the dedication
of the temple of Huitzilopochtli, 39. Mea-
sures for procuring victims for, 40, and note.
Influence of, on the Aztecs, 40, 42, note,
508. Compared with the Inquisition, 41.
Voluntary, 41. Practised to some extent
by the Toltecs, 41, note. At the kindling
of the new fire, 60. Of Maxtla, 78. By
Nezahualcoyotl, 88. Nezahualcoyotl's ideas
respecting, 88, 91. At the obsequies of
Nezahualpilli, 93, note. At the Isla de los
Sacrificios, 123. Not offered at Cozumel,
123. Of Christians wrecked at Yucatan,
124. At the coronation of Montezuma,
139 ; during his administration, 140. Re-
mains of, near Vera Cruz, 152. Victims
for, demanded of the Totonacs, 156. Among
Tlascalans, 186. Of captives in the Aztec
and Tlascalan wars, 186. Cempoallan
envoys seized for, 190. Victims for, released,
213. Fruits and flowers instead of, 216.
Number of, at Cholula, 218. Of children,
220. Condemned in Montezuma's presence,
250. Stench of, in the great temple, 278.
Promise from Montezuma respecting, 293.
Of Spaniards, 354, 369, 405, 411, 448, 482,
484, 493. Among the Mongols, 586. See
Cannibalism and Prisoners.
Humboldt, on the extent of the Aztec empire,
4, note. Maps of, 6, note. On the extent
of Anahuac, 8, note. On the Aztec cos-
mogony and that of Eastern Asia, 31, note.
On the Aztec annals, 47, note. On the
Dresden Codex, 50, note. On the publication
of Aztec remains, 61, note. His obligations
to Gama, 62, note. On Indian corn, 63, note.
On the musa, 64, note. On the American
agave, 65, note. On silk among the Aztecs,
68, note. On the peopling of a continent,
96, note, 581, note. On diseases in Mexico,
135, note. On the volcano Orizaba, 151,
note. On the Cofre de Perote, 178, note.
On the mound to Quetzalcoatl, 217, and
note. On the word volcan, 233, note. On
MontaiWs ascent, 234, note. Identifies
localities, 249, note. On the drain of Hue-
huetoca, 260, note. On the comparative
quantities of silver and gold, 300, note. On
the pyramids of Teotihuacan, 379, note.
34:
INDEX,
■ On tke avenue to Iztapalapan, 449, note.
. On scientific analogiss, 587, note. His
definition of ocelotl, 587, note. On Mexican
languages, 588, note. On Mexican beards
and moustaches, 591, note. On the colour
of the aborigines, 591, note.
Humming-birds, 264, and note, 582.
Husbands, on duties to, 602.
Hymns. See Songs.
I.
Iceland, early colonization of, 579.
Idols, treatment of, at Cozumel, 123, 124; at
Cempoalla, 160. Of the war-god, thrown
down, 354. Destroyed at Peten, 544. See
Cathedrals.
Immortality. See Future life.
Impressments for manning the fleet, 456.
Incense, compliments of, 155, 206. In Monte-
zuma's palace, 250.
Increasing of Huitzilopochtli, 332.
India, epic poets of, 27, note.
India House, 101, 306.
Indian allies, 190. Value of the, 192. On
the march against Mexico, 405, 408 Re-
conciled by Cortes, 426. Join Spaniards at
Mexico, 473. Desert, 484. Return, 485.
In the expedition to*Honduras, 537. See
Cempoallan, Chinantlan, Cholulan, Tepea-
can, Tezcucans, Tlascalan, and Totonacs.
Indian corn, 63, 64, 129. See Maize.
Indians, Aztecs and, differ, in domestic man-
ners, 74. Repartimientos in regard to, 102,
168. Commission respecting, 102, 550,
note. Held in slavery that they may be
Christianized, 102. Las Casas insists upon
the entire freedom of the, 102. Treatment
of, at Cozumel, 122. Fight the Spaniards,
. at Tabasco, 126; at Ceutla, 129. Interview
with, at San Juan de Ulua, 133. Aid the
Spaniards, 135. On the civilization of, 169.
Taken by Spaniards, 194. Find Spanish
new-comers to be enemies of the old, 310,
313. Protected by the Spanish government,
551, note. See Aborigines, Christianity,
Indian allies, and Repartimientos.
Indies. See Council of the Indies.
Indulgences, papal, for the troops, 439, 553,
note.
Infidelity, on persecution for, 226, note.
Inquisition, Aztec sacrifices compared to the,
41. Brought to Mexico, 42.
Intemperance, 19, 73.
Intercalation, among the Aztecs, 53, and note,
54, note. Persian, 53, note, 588.
Interpreters. See Aguilar, Marina, and
Melchorejo. -
Iron, not known to the Aztecs, 66, 593, 597.
Substitutes for, 66. On the table-land in
Mexico, 597, 598. The early use of, 698,
note.
Irrigation, 64. See Canals.
Irving, Washington, 125, note, 525, note.
Isabella, suppressed repartimientos, 102.
Isla de los Sacrifices, 106, 132.
Israelite, 61, note, 251, note, 280, 585.
Itzalana, 592.
Itzocan, conquered, 396.
Itztli, tools made of, 66. Weapons pointed
with, 195, 196. Blades of, 197.
Ixtlilxochitl, son of Nezahualpilli, rival for
the Tezcucan crown, 140, 214, 294. Em-
bassy from, to Cortes, 214.
Ixtlilxochitl, cacique of Tezcuco, account of,
413. Instructed and watched, 421. Pro-
cures allies, 438, 468. Efficiency of, 468,
470. Kills the Aztec leader, 470. Does
not desert, 484.
Ixtlilxochitl, the historian, on the extent of
Anahuac, 8, note. His opinion of the
Toltec records, 8, note. On feudal chiefs.
15, note. On halls of justice and judgments
in Tezcuco, 18, 19. On the cycles, 31, note.
On sacrifices at the dedication of the temple
of Huitzilopochtli, 39, note. On measures
for procuring victims, 40, note. On Mexican
bieroglyphical writers, 47, note. On the
divine book, 51, note. Story by, 70, note.
Notices of, and of his writings, 75, 94, note.
Source of the materials of his works, 80,
note, 94, note. Translation by, of a poem
of Nezahualcoyotl, 81, 603. Cited, 81, note.
On the population of Tezcuco, 81, note. On
Nezahualcoyotl's residence, 84, 605. On
Indian antiquities, 85, note. On Nezahual-
coyotl's advice to his son, 90, note. His
character of Nezahualcoyotl, 91. On the
Lady of Tula, 92, note. On Nezahualpilli's
punishment of his wife, 92, note, 606. Ac-
count of, and of his writings, 94, note. On
Montezuma's conversion, 302, note. On the
massacre by Alvarado, 334, note. On a
statue of the Sun, 380, note. Authority for
Tecocol, 412, note, 413, note. Etymology
of the name of, 413, note. On head-quarters
at Tezcuco, 421, note. On Tangapan's
sister and her vision, 427, note. Termina-
tion of his works, 466, note. On the rescue
of Cortes by a Tlascalan chief, 478, note.
On the Toltec migration, 596.
Iztaccihuatl, 218, 232, 234, note, 235, 409.
Iztacs, destruction of idols by, 544, note.
Iztapalapan, 240. Gardens of, 241, 422. Sack
of, 423. Sandoval'8 expedition against, 457,
461. See Cuitlahua.
Iztapalapan causeway, first crossed by
Spaniards, 243. Described, 243, 260. Ad-
vance on the, 449. At the junction of the
Cojohuacan, 463. Cannon placed upon the,
463. Fighting there, 467, 468. Alderete
on the, 476, 477.
Iztapan, 538.
Jacapichtla, expedition against, 437.
Jackets. See Cotton.
Jalap, 177, note.
Jauh tepee, 442.
Java, market-days and weeks in, 53, note.
Javelin, the Tlascalan, 196.
Jesters, 115, 268, 269.
Jewels, 93, note, 105, 520, 553.
Jews. See Israelites,
INDEX.
043
Jomard, on tbe newfue, 60, note.
Judges, Aztec, 16. In Tezcuco, 17. Collu-
sions of, punishable with death, 17. Details
respecting, 18. Montezuma tries the in-
tegrity of, 139. Twelve, at the Mexican
market, 274.
Jugglers, 73, note, 268, 269, 553.
Julian, fleet burned by, 167, note.
Julian year, 54, note.
Juste, Juan, inscriptions by, 388, note, 428.
K.
Kings, Egyptian, 14, note. Use of the word
among the Aztecs, 15. See Sovereigns.
Kingsborough, Lord, publishes Sahagun's
Universal History, 43. Manuscripts in his
work, 49, and note. Identifies the Teoa-
moxtli and the Pentateuch, 51, note. On
the scientific instruments of the Mexicans,
58, note. Account of his publication of the
remains of the Aztec civilization, 61, note..
On the Aztec knowledge of the Scriptures,
583, note. His Aztec and Israelitish paral-
lelisms, 585, note. On the words Mexico
and Messiah, 585, note.
Knight-errantry of Cortes, 569.
Knighthood, 23, 185, 402, 612.
Knotted strings, 48, note.
Lances, instructions by Cortes respecting, 130,
190, 195, 382. For the Spaniards, 314, 317,
406, 490.
Lands, revenues from, 20. Held In common,
21, note. For the maintenance of priests,
35. Cholulan cultivation of, 219. See
T Agriculture.
Languages, in Auahuac, 52, 80. Tlascalan,
186. On coincidences as to, in the Old and
the New World, 588. Remarks on the In-
: dian, 588 ; on the Othomi, 589 ; on the Cora,
590, note.
Lares, Amador de, 113, 116.
Las Casas, Bartolome de, on human sacrifices
in Anahuac, 39, note. Procures a commis-
sion to redress Indian grievances, 102, 168.
Protects the natives of Cuba, 103. On the
censure of Orijalva, 106, note. On the
father of Cortes, 107, note. On Cortes and
Velasquez, 112, note, 117, 119. On pro-
perty acquired by Cortes, 112. On the
etymology fof adelantado, 115, note. His
charity and friendship for the Indians, 123,
168. On forced conversions, 124, note, 609.
On the proclamation at Tabasco, 126, note.
On Tabasco, 127. On the loss at the battle
of Ceutla, 131, note. On Indian gestures,
133, note. On traditions and Montezuma,
141, not",. Account of, and of his writings,
168-172, 338, 339. His connection with
negro slavery, 168. Bishop of Chiapa, 170.
His death and character, 171. Biographies
of, 172. On the population of Cholula, 216,
note. On the massacre at Cholula, 226,
note. Herrera borrows from, 25 1. His
portrait of Velasquez, 525. On ruins in
Yucatan, 596, note. Extract from, 609.
Las Tres Cruzes, village of, 539.
Latrobe, his descriptions, 5, note. On the
calendar-stone, 67, note. Describes two
baths, 84, note. On Indian antiquities, 85,
note. On Tacuba, 373, note. On the inter-
position of the Virgin, 316,note. Describes
a cavity in a pyramid, 379, note.
Law of honour, the Aztec, 41, note.
Lawrence, on animals in the New World,
578, note.
Laws, Aztec, 19. Military codes of, 24, 407,
621. Nezahualcoyotl's code of, 78.
Lead, from Tasco, 65.
League. See Mexico.
Legerdemain, 73, note, 268.
Legislative power, 16.
Le Noir, M., 50, note, 595, note.
Leon, Juan Velasquez de, joins Cortes, 117.
At Tabasco, 128. In irons, 150. At Tlas-
cala, 212. Aids in seizing Montezuma, 284,
285. Guards him, 286. Montezuma's plea-
sure in his company, 293. To plant a
colony at Coatzacualco, 297. Charged with
purloining plate, 301. Narvaez's letter to,
Lil4. Joins Cortes at Cholula, 314, 316.
Fidelity of, 320, 325, note, 326. To secure
Panuco, 328. Joins Cortes at Tlascala, 329.
Tries to calm his anger, 336. Chivalrous,
348. At the evacuation of Mexico, 367.
Killed, 375. Fate of gold collected by, 388.
Leon, Luis Ponce de, juez de residencia, 549.
Lerma, defends Cortes, 478.
Lieber, Francis, on punishment, 79, note.
Lime, 21, note, 104, 122, 153.
Litters, 155, 238, 244, 245, 286, 287, 315, 383.
Livy, cited, 95, note, 571, note.
Llorente's Life of Las Casas, 172.
Lopez, Geronimo, condemns the education
given by the missionaries, 532, note.
Lopez, Martin, ship-builder, 291, 373, 397,
402, 429.
Lord's Supper, rite like the, 584, 585.
Lorenzana, on a tribute-roll, 21, note. On the
seizure of Montezuma, 289, note. Cited,
354, note, 475, note, 476, note.
Louis XL, disclosure in his reign, 454.
Lucan, cited, 130, note, 141, note.
Lucian, on the Deluge, 581, note.
Lucretius, cited on iron, 598, note.
Luisa, Dona, given to Alvarado, 213.
Lujo, Francisco de, 127, 128, 284. Encourages
Cortes, 320. At the evacuation of Mexico,
367.
Lunar calendars, 55, 587, note.
Lyell, Charles, on the spread of mankind, 580,
note.
M.
Macaca, armada at, 116, 117.
Machiavelli, 13, note, 42, note, 142, note.
Magarino, at a bridge, 367, 369.
Magellan, discoveries by, 535.
Magistrates, Aztec, 16. Nezahualpilh the
terror of unjust, 92, note.
6<U
INDEX.
Maguey. See Agave Americana.
Mahometan belief as to martyrs, 31, note.
Maize, the word, 64, note. Yearly royal ex-
penditure of, in Tezcuco, 82, note. See
Indian com.
Majesty, the title, 148, note.
Malinche, 213. See Marina.
Malinche, Cortes called, 213, 355.
Malinche, the mountain, 210.
Manifesto to the Indians, 126, note.
Mankind, origin of, in America, 578, 579.
Two great families of, in America, 580. See
Aborigines.
Mantas, use and description of, 357.
Mantles of feather-work. See Feather-work.
Manuscripts, scarcity of, among the Toltecs,
8, note. Materials of the Mexican, 48.
Their shape, 48. Destruction of, 48, 49. Col-
lected at Mexico and perished, 49, 75. Men-
doza Codex, 49. Dresden Codex, 50. With
interpretations, 50, note. No clue to the, 51.
Report of a key to them, 51, note. The
Teoamoxtli, or divine book, 51, and note.
Notice of the Aztec, in Europe, 61, note.
Estrella's, 121, note. Collection of, by Vega,
603. See Hieroglyphics and Paintings.
Maps, for the revenue, 21. Ebeling collec-
tion of, 538, note. In Delafield's Antiqui-
ties, 589, note.
Marina, or Malinche, a female slave and in-
terpreter, account of, 133, 543. Cortes and,
134. Don Martin Cortes, son of, 134, 544.
Moratin cited on, 134, note. Interprets,
154, 155, 160. Cheers a Cempoallan chief,
192. Value of her services, 201. Discovers
Tlascalan spies, 205. Cortes called Ma-
linche from,213, 355. Discovers a conspiracy
atCholula, 221. Interpreter between Cortes
and Montezuma, 248, 251. Urges Monte-
zuma to go to the Spanish camp, 285. Finds
out Cuitlahua, 349, note. Interprets Cortes'
address to the Aztecs, 355. In the retreat
from Mexico, 373. -At Chalco, 440. At the
interview between Cortes and Guatemozin,
503. Meets ber mother, 543. Marriage of,
543.
Marineo, Lucio, on gaming, 407, note.
Market, Mexican, 272. Closed, 335.
Market-days. See Fairs.
Market-place, 272. See Tlatelolco.
Marquis of Oaxaca, 556.
Marriage, among the Aztecs, 19, 71. Among
the Tezcucans, 85. Of Nezahualcoyotl, 86.
Of Spaniards with Tlascalans, 211, 213.
Martin, Benito, chaplain, 306.
Martin of Valencia, 532.
Martyr, Peter, on maps and manuscripts, 48,
note, 61, note, 67, note, 164, note. On cacao
• as a circulating medium, 69. On a huge
beam, 85, note. On Flemings in Spain, 99,
note. On Tabasco, 127, note. On a fabric,
143, note. On the gold and silver wheels,
144, note. Account of, 255. On the dwell-
ings in Mexico, 261, note. On the calendar-
stone, 264, note. On Mexican trinkets, 272,
note, 299, note. On the pusillanimity of
Montezuma, 288, note. On the insurrection
against Alvarado, 334, note. On firing
Mexico, 355, note. On cannibalism, 474,
note. On an emerald, 520, note.
Martyrs, Mexican idea respecting, 22. Ma-
hometan belief, 31, note.
Masks, in the Aztec plays, 52.
Massacre, at Cholula, 224. By Alvarado, 332.
At Iztapalapan, 423.
Matadero, fortress in the, 527.
Matanzas, 104, note.
Maundeville, Sir John, 66, note.
Maximilian, poverty of, 301, note.
Maxixca, cacique of Tlascala, 199, 329. Wel-
comes Cortes from Mexico, 386. Cortes
quartered in his palace, 387. Present to,
387. Averse to an alliance with Aztecs,
392. Dies of smallpox, 398. Olmedo with,
398. Spaniards in mourning for, 402. Son
of, confirmed in the succession, 402. Son
of, goes to Spain, 552.
Maxtla, Tepanec empire bequeathed to, 76.
His treatment and jealousy of Nezahual-
coyotl, 76. Oppressions by, 78. Conquered
and sacrificed, 78.
McCulloh, 30, note, 48, note, 57, note. Notice
of his work, 587, note.
Meals, 71, 72. Montezuma's, 267.
Mechanical arts, Aztec, 66, 67, 68.
Medellin, 528, 548.
Medicinal plants in Mexico, 266.
Melancholy night, 369-376, 457, 482.
Melcborejo, interpreter, 122, 127.
Menagerie, at Mexico, 265.
Mendicity, not tolerated, 88.
Mendoza Codex, 21, note. History of the, 49.
With an interpretation, 50, note. Examined
by the Marquis Spineto, 61, note. The ar-
rangement of, 61, note.
Mendoza, Don Antonio, viceroy of New Spain,
562. Interferes with Cortes, 563.
Merchandise, sale and transportation of, 68,
69.
Merchants, Aztec, 69.
Merida, Cozumel Cross at, 584, note.
Mesa, commander of artillery, 128.
Messiah, the words Mexico and, 585.
Metals, in Ithaca and Mexico, 72, note. Early
exportations of, from the Spanish colonies,
102. See Gold, Mines, and Silver.
Mexia charges Leon with purloining plate,
301.
Mexican Gulf, 102. Explored, 297.
Mexicans. See Aztecs.
Mexico, interest and importance of, 3. An-
cient and modern extent of, 3. Climate and
products of, 4. Primitive races of, 6, 7, 590.
Legislative power in, 16. Predictions and
prodigies connected with the downfall of, 30,
93, 140, 141, 206, 207, 229, and note, 297,
298, 413. On the colonization of, by the
Israelites, 62, note. Apathy of, respecting
antiquities, 85, note. Hostility to Monte-
zuma in, 140. Languages of, 588.
Mexico, Tezcuco, and Tlacopan, league of, 12,
78. Extend their territory, 12, 13.
Mexico, city, situation of, 6. Called Tenoch-
titlan, 11. Settlement of the Aztecs at, 11,
and note. Derivation of the name, 11. Map
of, referred to, 12, and note. Images spread
INDEX.
645
throughout, 67. Terror there, at the land-
ing of Cortes, 142. The cacique of Cocotlan's
account of, 180. Spanish route to, 235.
First view of, by the Spaniards, 235. Seen
from Iztapalapan, 242. Entrance of the
Spaniards into, 242-246. Environs of, 243.
Streets in, 246, 261. Population of, 246,
262. Comparison of ancient and modern,
259, 262, note. Description of, 260, 272.
View of, from the great temple, 277. Alva-
rado takes command of, 314, 315. Insur-
rection in, 328, 331, 332, 335. Cortes re-
enters, 331. Massacre there, by Alvarado,
332. Assault on the Spanish quarters at,
343. Sally of the Spaniards, 346. Fired,
347, 355. Storming of the great temple at,
352, 353. Evacuation of, by the Spaniards,
358, 3§5, 367. Cuitlahua's acts there after
the evacuation, 391. Guatemozin's measures
for defending, 404. Second expedition to,
408. Reconnoitred, 431,439,451. Siege of,
457, 461. Assaults on the causeways of,
464. Famine in, 472, 475, 485, 488, 490,
491, 496. General assault on, 476. Mea-
sures for securing retreat there, 476, 487.
Destruction of buildings at, 487, 489, 490.
Want of water in, 491. Seven-eighths of,
in ruins, 494. Pestilence in, 497. Mur-
derous assault there, 499. Last assault on,
501, 502. Tempest there, 505. Evacuation
of, permitted, 505. Purification of, 505.
Loss during the siege of, 506. Remarks on
the conquest of. 507, 508. Rebuilding of,
519, 520, 524, 526. Population for, 527.
At the present day, 528. Disturbances in,
547. Cortes' triumphal return to, 548.
Cortes ordered to leave, 551 ; to keep ten
. leagues from, 560. Deserted to visit Cortes
at Tezcuco, 560.
Michoacan, 427, note. Embassy from, 518.
Visited, 518. Coliman in, founded, 528.
Tradition there, connected with the Deluge,
555.
Midwives, baptism by, 584, note.
Mier, Dr., 30, note, 216, note.
Military institutions, Aztec, 22.
Milk, on the use of, 597.
Milman, on Budh, 29, note.
Milton's Paradise Lost, 27.
Mines, and minerals, 65. Wrought, 533, 561.
Minstrels entertained, 73, note.
Mirrors, Aztec, 273.
Missionaries to New Spain in the time of
Cortes, 532. Leave Mexico, 547. Provision
for, in Cortes' will, 566. Charity for their
religious analogies, 583. Schools and col-
leges established by, 532. See Dominican,
Las Casas, Olmedo* and Toribio.
Mitla, ruins of, 297, note, 592.
Mixtecapan, 397.
Monastic institutions among pagans, 586, note.
Money, substitutes for, 69, and note. See
Currency.
Montano, Francisco, ascends Popocatepetl, 234.
Montejo, Francisco de, 128. Explores the
coast, 145, 146, 147, 155. Alcalde of Villa
Rica, 149. In the expedition to Honduras,
537.
Montejo and Puertocarrero, mission of, to
Spain, 163. Touch at Cuba, 164, 306. On
the destruction of the fleet, 167, note. Pro-
secuted before the Royal India House, 306.
Treatment of, by Charles V., 307, 308. In-
fluence of Fonseca, against, 308.
Monteleone, dukes of, descendants of Cortes,
249, 527, 569.
Monterey, founds Vera Cruz, 135, note, 52?,
note.
Montesinos, old ballad of, 133.
Montezuma I., 12. Bas-relief of, destroyed,
67, 266.
Montezuma II., 14, 40. Bas-relief of, de-
stroyed, 67, 266. The orthography of, 135,
note. Message to, by Cortes. 1 36. Accounts
of, 138, 180, 214, 363. Meaning of the word,
138, note, 299. His coronation, 139. Be-
nevolent and religious acts of, 139. Hatred
of, 139, 154, 232, 236, 270. Principal cause
of his calamities, 140. Resurrection and
warning of his sister, 141, note. Dismayed
at the landing of Spaniards, 142. Sends
presents and forbids Cortes' approach, 142,
144, 146, 161, note. Exactions of the Toto-
nacs by his tax-gatherers, 156. Inventory
of his gifts, 161, note. His efforts to subdue
the Tlascalans, 187. New embassy from,
207. Invites the Spaniards to Mexico, 213,
514. Treacherous embassy from, to the
Spaniards at Cholula, 220, 221, 222, 223.
Spaniards the historians of, 230. Tries to
bribe the Spaniards to return, 237. Wel-
comes Cortes, through Cacama, 239. Re-
spect for, near the capital, 240. His visit
to Cortes, 243, 244, 245. Aztec homage to,
244, 245, 250, 269, 270, 350. His personal
appearance, 245. His reception of Cortes at
Axayacatl's palace, 247. Effect of his con-
duct on the Spaniards, 249, 252, 292, 298.
Conversation of, with Cortes, 248. At-
tempts to convert, 248, 250, 293, 302, 360.
Visit to, by Cortes, 249. His palace, 249,
264, 526. Submission of, to Charles V.,
252, 253. His domestic establishment, 266-
269, 613. His wives, 266, 364, 613. His
meals, 267, 613. His reception of Cortes at
the great temple, 276. Aids in preparing a
chapel, 280. His treasures discovered, 280.
History of his seizure, 282, 284. Accom-
panies Cortes to head-quarters, 286. Re-
spect shown to, 286, 291. His reception of
Quauhpopoca, 287. Fettered, 288. Unfet-
tered, 288. Declines going to his palace,
288. His life in the Spanish quarters, 291.
His munificence, 292. His visit to the great
temple, 293. Sails in a brigantine, 293.
Plan for liberating, by Cacama, 295. Inter-
cedes for Cacama, 295, 296. Swears allegi-
ance, 297. His gifts for the emperor, 299,
300. Parting of Cortes and, 315. Sends a
messenger to Cortes, 331. Checks the Az-
tecs in an insurrection, 335. Welcomes
Cortes, and is coldly received, 336. Cuitla-
hua chosen successor of, 337, 381, 391.
Witnesses the Aztec fighting, 349. Pre-
vailed on to address the Aztecs, 349. In-
sulted, 350. Wounded, 350, 351, and note.
040
INDEX.
Last days and death of, 351, 360, 361. Coin-
mends his children to Cortes, 361. His
conversation with Cortes, 30 1. Fate of his
children, 361, note, 364, note, 367, 375, 404,
504, and note, 541, note, 619. Compassion ft;?
him, 362, 363, 365. His character, 362.
Descendant of. viceroy of Mexico, 364, note.
Respect to his memory, 365. His successor,
381, 391. Son of, goes to Spain, 552. See
Cortes and Tecuichpo.
Montezuma's Hill. See Hill.
Months, Aztec division of, 53.
Monument at the limits of Tlascala, 183, 187,
188, 386.
Moon, worshipped, 89, note. Monument to
the, 379.
Moran, a horseman, assaulted, 191.
Moratin, cited on Marina, 134, note.
Morla, condemned to be hung, 158.
Morla, Francisco de, 367, 370, 375.
Morpeth, Lord, -cited, 152, note.
Morton, S. G., on the burial of the dead, 586,
note. Facial angle of his skulls, 591, note.
Remarks on his Crania Americana, 591,
note.
Mosaic, imitated, 68.
Mothers. See Daughters.
Motilla, Sandoval's steed, 481, note.
Motolinia, 254.
Mound to Quetzalcoatl, 216, 217, 218, 224.
Mountain of Flints, 544.*
Mufioz, zeal of, respecting the manuscript of
Sahagun's History, 43. Manuscript of Her-
nandez discovered by, 82, note. Tran-
scribed an account of Grijalva's expedition,
107, note.
Murray, C. A., 22, note.
Musa, the plant, 64, and note.
Music, council of, 79. Its influence, 80. In-
struments of, 89.
Musketry, 129. See Fire-arms.
Mythology, 27. Mexican, 27, 28. Effect of
the Aztecs, 93.
N.
Naco, expeditions to, 537, 545.
Najera, his Dissertatio de Lingua Othomito-
rum, 589.
Naming children, ceremony of, 32, 584.
Napoleon, on pyramids, 382. note.
Narvaez, Panfilo de, 103, 167, note. Notice
of, 308. Commander of Velasquez's fleet
against Cortes, 308. Will not listen to
Ayllon, 309. Arrives at San Juan de Ulua,
310. His summons to Sandoval, 310, 311.
Seizes Ayllon and sends him back, 311.
Envoys of, carried by porters to Mexico,
311, 312. Cortes' mission to him, 312, 313.
Olmedo's intercourse with, 313. At Cem-
poalla, 313, 321, 323. Proposes to liberate
Montezuma, 313. Cortes marches against,
315, 316. His summons to Cortes to sur-
render, 316. His envoys to Cortes, 318,
319. Reply to, 319. Preparations for as-
saulting, 320, 321, 323, 326. Marches to the
River of Canoes, 321. His sentinels, 321,
322. Attacked and defeated, 323, 326.
Wounded, 323. Treatment of, by Cortes,
825. His gossip with Oviedo, 326, note.
Murmurs among his troops, 327. Property
taken from, 327, note. Mutinies among the
levies from, 356, 386, 390, 453. To send
Cortes for trial to Spain, 399. Proceedings
in Spain in regard to, 452, 522, note. Or-
dered before Cortes, 523. Brings charges
against Cortes, 523. See Spaniards.
Nations, on the identification of, 586.
Nativities, astrologers consulted at, 58.
Naulinco, entertainment at, 178.
Negro slaves, introduction of, into the West-
ern World,' 168. Transportation of, by
Cortes, 562. See Slaves.
Nero, Cortes and, 226, note.
New fire, the, 60, and note.
New Spain, Yucatan called, 104. Early set-
tlements in, 528. Condition of the natives
there, 531. Population of, in 1810, 531, note.
Arrival of Franciscan friars in, 532. Royal
Audience of, 551, 558. New Royal Audi-
ence of, 559. Viceroy of, 562. Number of
languages in, 588.
New Spain of the Ocean Sea, 400.
New Zealanders and Otaheitans, 580, note.
Nezahualcoyotl, prince of the Tezcucans,
efficiency of, 10, 12, 76. Poetry by, 12,
note, 81, and note, 89. 603. Mexican code
under, 20, note, 78. Meaning of the name,
46, 84, note, 92, note. Personal history and
adventures of, 76. Conquers Maxtla, 78.
lour historians of the royal house of, 80,
note. An illustrious bard, 80. Pile of
buildings erected bj% 82, 83.
Nezahualpilli, monarch of Tezcuco, 18. Ac-
acount of, 90. His treatment of his guilty
wife, 92, note, 606. Has forebodings of
calamity to his country, 93, 141, 413. His
death, 93, 140. . His obsequies, 93, note.
Address made by at the coronation of Mon-
tezuma as king, 138, 363. Contest respect-
ing the succession to, 140, 294, 414. Span-
iards quartered in his palace, 412. Pardons
a son, 414.
Niebuhr, on calendars, 54, note, 55, note.
Night attacks, 190, 200, 323, 369, 463.
Nine "companions," the, 57, note.
Noah, Quetzalcoatl identified with, 30, note'.
Nobles, Aztec, 14. Entertain minstrels, buf-
foons, and jugglers, 73, note. Treatment of,
by Nezahualcoyotl, 78. Their manners, 82
245,261. Tlascalan, 184, and note. Chival
rous act of Aztec, 187. Aztec, meet Cortes
243. Bear Montezuma in a palanquin, 244
245. Must reside in Mexico, 260, 261. At
tend on Montezuma, 267 . Massacre of, 332
Six, deputed to Tlascala, 391. Delivered
up, and sent to Guatemozin, 422. Sent to
Guatemozin, 488, 498, 499. Four hundred,
hung, 522. Accompany Cortes to Spain,
552.
Noche triste, 369-376, 457, 482.
Nootka, dialects there, 590.
Northmen visit America, 580, note.
Notation, 52, 55.
Numeration among the Aztecs, 52.
Nunez, Cortes' page, challenged, 490.
INDEX.
647
Oaxaca, plantation for the crown at, 297.
Embassy from, 397. Mineral wealth of,
519. Marquis of the Valley of, 556.
Observatory, Nezahualpilli's, 92.
Obsidian, Mexican tools made of, 66.
Ocelotl, Humboldt on the, 588, note.
Ojeda, at the evacuation of Mexico, 375, note.
Olea, Cristoval de, saves Cortes, 478.
Oleron, on the laws of, 227, note.
( Hid, Cristoval de, sent in search of Grijalva,
106. Joins Cortes, 117. Noticed, 128, 304,
321, 336, 348, 349, 367, 370, 373, 383. De-
tached to Quauhquechollan, 395, 396, note.
His countermarch on Cholula, 395. Sando-
val and, 428. Reconnoitres Mexico, 431.
At Cuernavaca, 443. Conspiracy against,
453. Takes post at Cojohuacan, 457, 461.
Demolishes the aqueduct, 460. Enmity
between Alvarado and, 460. His expedition
to Honduras, 535. Defection of, 536, 537.
Beheaded, 537.
Olmedo, Bartolome de, Father, notice of, 123,
His efforts to convert the natives, 123, 131,
146, 178. Interposition of, 181, 211, 212, 277.
Character of, 181, 212. Performs mass, 281,
303. Attempts to convert Montezuma, 293,
302, 360. Mission of, to Narvaez, 313, 326.
Meets Cortes, 316. Goes against Narvaez,
322. Before Cortes, in behalf of the soldiers,
328. Urges Montezuma to address the
Aztecs, 349. Visits the expiring Maxixca,
398. Sermon by, after the surrender of
Mexico, 507. Last years of, 527.
Oral tradition, connection of, with Aztec
picture-writing, 47, 51. Embodied in songs
and hymns, 51.
Ordaz, Diego de, 117. To ransom Christian
captives, 122, 124. Commander of infantry
in the battle of Ceutla, 128, 129. Charges
the enemy, 130. In irons, 150. Attempts
the ascent of Popocatepetl, 233. Es-
cutcheon of, 234. Visits Montezuma with
Cortes, 249. To settle Coatzacualco, 328.
Joins Cortes at Tlascala, 329. Chivalrous,
348. Storms the great temple, 353. At the
evacuation of Mexico, 367, 369, 373.
Ordinances for the government of New Spain
during Cortes' viceroyalty, 529, note.
Orizaba, the volcano, 151, 177, 218.
Orozco y Berra, on the various races in Mexico,
7, note. On ancient remains in Central
America, 9, note. Cited, 10, note, 11, note,
50, note.
Orteaga, editor of Veytia's History, 13, note.
Orteguilla, page of Montezuma, 292, 304.
Otaheitans and New Zealanders, 580, note.
Otomies, 186. Aid the Tlascalans, 187. A
migratory race, 468, note. Claim protec-
tion, 468, 486. Notice of, 468, note. Their
language, 589.
Otompan, or Otumba, 378, 381, 424.
Ovando, Don Juan de, orders manuscripts to
be restored to Sahagun, 43, note.
Ovando, Don Nicolas de, Governor of His-
paniola, 108, 109, 310, note.
Oviedo de Valdez, Gonzalo Fernandez, 04,
■note, 168. On the peso de oro, 144, note.
On the gold and silver wheels, 144, note.
On the device of Tlascala, 196, note. On
the skill of Aztec goldsmiths, 247, note. On
Montezuma, 267, note, 285, note, 298, note,
613. On Montezuma and Narvaes, 313, note.
On the ascendency of Cortes, 326, note.
Narvaez's gossip witb, 326, note. On the
massacre by Alvarado, 333, note. Account
of, and of his writings, 337-339. Compares
Cortes to Horatius Codes, 359, note. On a
leap by Cortes, 359, note. On horse-flesh,
377, note. Panegyrizes Cortes, 427, note,
456, note.
Owl, Mexican devil and, 28, note.
Pacific Ocean, described by Nunez de Balboa,
102. Discovered and taken possession of,
519- Spanish ideas of the, 535.
Padilla, 84, note, 85, note.
Paintings, hieroglyphical, made in court, 18.
Chair for the study and interpretation of,
18, 51. Aztec laws registered in, 19, 47.
Cycles of the Vatican, 31, note. Of Sahagun,
43. Features of Mexican, 45. Colouring
in, 45. Aztec and Egyptian, compared, 45.
Chiefly representative, in Anahuac, 47.
The records made in, 47. Connection of
oral tradition with, 47, 52. Humboldt on,
47, note. Education respecting, 47. . De-
struction of, 48, 412. Their importance, 51 .
Sent to Spain, 163. Of Narvaez and his
fleet, 312. Of the storming of the great
temple, 354, note. See Hieroglyphics.
Palace of Nezahualcoyotl, 82, 83, 605. Of
Axayacatl, 247, 280. Of Montezuma. 24y,
264,526,527. Of Maxixca, 387. OfGuate-
mozin, fired, 490. Of Cortes, at Mexico,
527 ; at Cuernavaca, 560.
Palenque, 131, 539, 592. Cross at, 584.
Architecture of, 594. Sculpture there, 594.
Palfrey, John G., Lectures by, 581, note.
Palos, Cortes at, 553.
Panuchese, defeated, 522.
Panuco, 146, 328, 399.
Papantzin, resurrection of, 141, note.
Paper, 21, and note, 48.
Papyrus, account of, 48, note.
Pearls, worn by Montezuma, 245.
Penance among Tartars, 586, note.
Peninsular War, 228.
Pentateuch and Teoamoxtli, 51, note.
Perrine, Dr., on the maguey, 65, note.
Persia, 22, note, 53, note.
Peru, records in, 48, note.
Peso de oro, 144, and note, 300, note.
Pesquisa Secreta, or Secret Inquiry, 558.
Pestilence, at Mexico, 497.
Peten, lake and isles of, 543, 544.
Philosophy, mythology and, 27.
Phonetic writing and signs, 44, note, 45, 40,
51, note.
Picture-writing, 44, 137, 143. Sec Hiero-
glyphics.
Pikes. See Lances.
648
INDEX.
Pilgrims to Cholula, 21?.
Pins, from the agave, 65.
Tisa, tower of, 597.
Pizarro, Francisco, 546, 553.
Pizarro y Orellana, 107, note, 109, note, 130,
note.
Plants, medicinal, among the Aztecs, 266.
Plato's Atlantis, 578.
Plaza Mayor, in Mexico, 67, and note, 526.
Pliny, on the papyrus, 48, note.
Poetry, connection of mythology and, 27.
Tezcucan, 63. See Nezahualcoyotl.
Polo, Marco, 69, note. On cannibalism, 586,
note.
Polygamy, among the Mexicans, 71, 83, note.
Popes, power of, 227.
Popocatepetl, 218, 277. Sulphur from, 234,
402. The Hill that smokes, 232. Account
of, 233. Attempt to ascend, 233. As-
cended by Montano, 234.
Popotla, Cortes rests at, 372.
Forters, or tamanes, 155. Drag cannon to
Tlascala, 176, 208. Carry Narvaez's envoys
to Mexico, 311, 312. Carry wounded Span-
iards, 377 ; rigging from Vera Cruz, 403 ;
the brigantines from Tlascala, 429.
Portraits of Cortes, Aztec, 594, and note.
Potonchan, 125.
Potterv, 68, note, 210, 216.
Poyauhtlan, battle of, 184, 186.
Prayers, Mexican, like Christian, 32, and
\ note, 33, note. Of Aztec priests, 34. By
[ Aztec confessors, 34, note. Sahagun col-
lected forms of, 43.
Predictions or forebodings respecting the fate
of the Aztec empire, 30, 93, 140, 141, 206,
207, 216, 229, note, 297, 298, 413.
Priestesses, 34.
Priests, connection of, with Aztec royalty, 14,
and note. Aztec, 33. Their influence, 33,
40. Services by, 34. Duties of, in regard
to education, 34, 47. Maintenance of, 35.
Aztec and Egyptian, 35, note. Extorting
victims for sacrifices, 40. On secret sym-
bolic characters by the, 46. Their lunar
reckoning, 55, note, 57. Their celebration
of the kindling of the new fire, 60. Under
Montezuma, 140. Defend their gods, 160.
Consulted by Tlascalans, 200. Disclose the
conspiracy at Cholula, 221. In the great
temple, 278, 279. Influence Aztec warriors,
353. Captured, 354. Released, 359. Hurled
from the great teocalli, 467. Sacrifice
Spaniards, 482. Cheer Guatemozin, 483.
The eight days' prediction by, 483, 485.
Dissuade Guatemozin from surrendering,
488, 489. Immoralities in, punished, 531.
Among Tartars, 586, note. Mexican word
for, 589, note. See High-priests.
Prisoners, usually sacrificed, 19. Zeal to
make, 24, 40, 193, 447. Treatment of, at
Cozumel, 121, 122. Tabascan, taken by
Cortes and sent to their countrymen, 131.
Aztec plan in regard to Spanish, 221. At
the Cholulan massacre, 225. Released by
Tlascalans, 225. Spaniards made, and
sacrificed, 447, 448, 450, 479, 481, 482, 493-.
See Human sacrifices.
Prizes, distribution of, 79.
Proclamation at Tabasco, 126.
Prodigies. See Predictions.
Property of infidels and pirates, 227, note.
Protestants, Catholics and, 132, 160. Their
rights to discoveries, 227, note.
Provisions, in the Mexican market, 273.
Distress for, on the retreat, 377. Camp
supplied with, 473. See Famine.
Puebla de los Angeles, 218, note, 380.
Puertocarrero, Alonso Hernandez de, 117, 128,
132. Deposition of, 148, 609. Alcalde of
Villa Rica, 149. See Montejo and Puerto-
carrero.
Pulque, 19, 65, 73.
Punishments, 19. Absolution substituted for,
34. Object of, 79. For falsehood, 79.
Purchas, Samuel, manuscript engraved in his
Pilgrimage, 54, note.
Pyramids, at Cholula, 217, 218, 224, 225, 378.
Napoleon's remark on, 382, note.
Q.
Qua, changed into Gua, 404, note.
Quails, sacrificed, 36, note.
Quauhnahuac. See Cuernavaca.
Quauhpopoca, an Aztec chief, deceives Esca-
lante, 283. Sent for by Montezuma, 284,
287. Burnt, 287, 288, 289.
Quauhquechollan, or Huacachula, 394-396.
Quauhtitlan, 377, 432, note.
Quetzalcoatl, the god of the air, account of, 29,
132, 216. Temple to, at Cholula, 29, 217.
Fate of, 30. Tradition respecting, favour-
able to the future success of the Spaniards,
30, 140. 297, 298, 413. Meaning of the
word, 30, note. Identified with the apostle
Thomas, 30, note, 216, note, 583 ; with Noah,
30, note. Mythological character, 30, note.
Helmet worn by, 136. Mound to, 216, 217.
Does not aid the Cholulans at the massacre,
224. Firing of the temple of, 225 ; cross
put upon its ruins, 230. Temple of, at
Mexico, 279. Analogies with Scripture
suggested by, 583.
Quinones, Antonio de, captain of Cortes'
body-guard, 455. Aids in saving Cortes'
life, 479. Killed at the Azores, 521.
Quintana's Life of Las Casas, 172.
Quintero, Alonso, 108.
Quippus, recording events by the, 48, note.
Racine, cited, 81, note, 405, note.
Raffles, Sir Stamford, 53, note.
Ramirez, Jose F., his views of human sacrifices
and cannibalism, 40, note, 41, note ; of the
destruction of the fleet by Cortfo, 167, note.
Cited, 41, note, 66, note, 95, note, 137, note,
247, note, 249, note, 274, note, 287, note,
323, note, 369, note.
Rangre, Rodrigo, commander at Villa Rica,
329. Mission to, 388. Takes troops sent
by Velasquez, 399. Purchases a ship with
military stores, 400.
INDEX.
649
Ranking's Historical Researches, 89, note,
586. note.
Raynal, Abbe, 66, note.
Razors, Mexican, 273.
Rebels, proceedings against Tepeacans as,
393 ; against Aztecs, 405.
Receiver-general, 21.
Refinement, in domestic manners, among the
Aztecs, 70, 93. Shown in the council of
music, 80. At Cempoalla, 153. See C'ivi-
lization.
Religion, similar ideas as to, in remote
regions, 28, note. On outraging, 304. See
Christianity and Mythology.
Religious services always public, 36.
Repartimientos, the system of, 102, 168. To
Cortes, in Hispaniola, 109; in Cuba, 112.
In New Spain, 394, 530, 572. Disapproved
by the crown, 530. Regulations respecting,
531. Consultations and opinions respect-
ing, 550, note.
Representative writing, 45, 47.
Resurrection of Tangapan's sister, 427, note.
Reubios, Palacios, proclamation by, 126, note.
Revenues, sources of, 20. Houses for collect-
ing, 261. See Tribute.
Ribera, on Indian maps, 48, note.
Rich, Obadiah. 255.
Rigging saved and used, 166, 291, 328, 398,
430.
Rio Gila, remains there, 590.
Rio de Tabasco, 105, 125, 538.
Ritter, 28, note.
River of Banners, 105, 132.
River of Canoes, 320, 321, 322.
Robertson, William, 20, note, 54, note, 144.
note. Inconsistency of, respecting a colony,
149, nole. Cites a harangue fromSolfs, 150,
note. Spelling of proper names by, 155,
note. On the First Letter of Curtes, 162, note.
Error of, as to Montezuma's gift, 300, note.
On Cortes' expedition to Honduras, 548,
note.
Rock of the Marquis, 461.
Roman Catholic communion, 132, 160.
Romans, on their successes, 13, note.
Royal Audience of New Spain, 551. Their
investigation of CorteV conduct, and treat-
ment of him, 558, 560. Superseded, 559,
560. Disagreement of Cortes and the, 560.
Superseded by a viceroy, 562.
Royal Audience of St. Domingo, 309, 311,
401,452.
Royal Council of Spain, 126.
Ruins, antiquity of American, 595.
s.
Saavedra, 243.. note, 245, note, 478, note.
Sacrifices. See Human sacrifices.
Sacrificial stone, 36, 37, 353, 482.
Sahagun, Bernardino de, 32, note, 34, 'note.
Account of, and of his Universal History, 42,
note, 43. Noticed, 57, 58, note, 68, note, 70,
note. On Aztec counsels to a daughter, 71,
note, 601 ; to a son, 72, note. Cited, 145, note,
217, note, 229, note, 331, note, 332, note,
344, nole. Says Montezuma and others were
strangled, 351. Noticed, 353, note, 372,
note, 382, note. 387, note, 398, note, 411,
note. On a sacrifice of Spanish captives,
482, note. On u\e devastation at Mexico,
487, note. Cited, 491, note, 493, note, 495,
note, 497, note. Notice of, 513, 514. On
the demolition of the temples, 533, note.
8t. Antonio. Cape. 118. 119, 120.
•St. Augustine, 579, note.
St. Domingo. See Hispaniola.
St. Francis, convent of, 177, note, 548.
St. Hypolito, 501.
St. Jago de Cuba, 104, 105, 112.
St. James, appearance of, in battle, 130, note,
360, 384, note.
St. Lucar, 164, 306.
St. Peter, patron saint of Cortes, 121, 130, note.
St. Thomas, identification of Quetzalcoatl and,
30, note, 216, note, 583.
Salamanca, 107, 163.
Salamanca, Juan de, 384.
Salazar, Juan de, killed, 370.
Sales of merchandise, 68, 69.
Salt. 21, note, 82, note, 243. Tlascelans with-
out, 187. Spaniards without, 198. Manu-
facture of, 243, note.
Salvatierra, 313, 324, 325.
San Christobal, 431.
Sandoval, Gonzalo de, 100, note, 307, note,
308, note.
Sandoval, Gonzalo de, 117, 175, 249. Aids in
se'zing Montezuma, 284. Commands at
Villa Rica, 291, 310. Noticed, 310, 311,
314, 317, 321, 323. 348. Storms the great
temple, 353. At the evacuation of Mexico,
367, 368, 369, 370, 373. In battles, 383,
397. Commander at Tezcuco, 422, 431,
439. Expedition of, to Chalco, 425, 436.
Transports brigantines, 428, 429. Notice
of, 428. At Zoltepec, 428. Wounded,
437, 480. Misunderstanding of Cortes and,
437, 433. Conspiracy against, 453. Ex-
pedition of, against lztapalapan, 457, 461.
At the Tepejacac causeway, 464. In the
assault, 468, 475, 480, 489. His visit to
Cortes, 480. His steed, 481. Returns,
482. To aid in the murderous assault,
498. To secure Guatemozin, 500, 502. To
escort prisoners to Cojohuacan, 504. Detach-
ment of, to reduce colonies, 519, 522. Hangs
four hundred chiefs, 522. In the expedition
to Honduras, 539. Domestic of, punished,
551. Accompanies Cortes to Spain, 552.
Death of, 553.
San Estevan, 522, 528.
San Gil de Buena Vista, 545.
San Juan de Ulua, 106, 133. Narvaez's fleet
at, 310. Vera Cruz built there, 310.
Santa Cruz, 561, 562.
Santa Maria de la Victoria, 130.
Saucedo, a cavalier, 161.
Saussure, M. de, 233, note.
Scalpin*, 24, and note.
Schiller, 58, note.
Science, instruments of, 58, note. Tribunal
for works on, 79. Coincidences as to, in the
Old and New World, 537.
G50
INDEX.
Sculpture, 67, 594.
Secret Inquiry, the, 558.
Sedeno, joins the armada, 117.
Segura de la Frontera, 400.
Serpents, wall of, 275, 332, 460.
Serradifalco, Duke di, 594, note.
Sheep, importation of, 561.
Shields, 162, note, 196.
Ships, Aztec painting of, 137. See Armada
and Vessels.
Sidonia, Medina, 554, 567.
Sierra, Madre, 177. Del Agua, 179. De Ma-
linche, 218, 355, note, 403. De los Peder-
nales, 544.
Siesta, 72, note, 248, 269.
Siguenza, Dr., on Quetzalcoatl and the apostle
Thomas, 30, note.
Silk, 68, note.
Silver, 21, 65. Vases of, 66. From Monte-
zuma, 143, 144, 300. Comparative gold and,
300, note. Carried to Spain by Cortes, 553.
From Zacatecas, 561.
Sin, Aztec origin of, 583, 584.
Sismondi, on blasphemy, 407, note.
Skins, use of human, 411, note.
Skulls, 39, 179, 279. Coincidences with Mexi-
can, 591. Morton's work on, 591, note.
Scarceness of Aztec, 591, note.
Slavery, Aztec, 19, 21, 566.
Slaves, sacrificed, 32, 34, note. Traffic in, 69,
78. Eaten, 73. Expedition to the Bahama
Islands for, 104, and note. Female, given
to Cortes, 131, 133, 159. Bring gifts from
Montezuma, 143. Sent to Spain, 164.
Owned by Las Casas, 168. Wait on Span-
iards at Mexico, 248. For sale In the Mexi-
can market, 273. Branded, 394, 428. Given
to Spaniards by the Mexicans, 394, note.
Hung, 408. Scruples of Cortes as to, 530,
566. Exemption of, 531. See Negro slaves
and Repartimientot.
Smallpox, 328, note, 398.
Smoking, 72, and note.
Snuff, taken, 72.
Soldiers, 22, 23. Nezahualcoyotl's kindness
to disabled, 88.
Soils, Don Antonio de, 117, note, 149, note.
On Cortes, 150, note, 156, note. On Monte-
zuma's oath of allegiance, 298, note. On
Cuitlahua, 403. Account of; and of his
writings, 511-513.
Songs and hymns, 51.
Sons, counsels to, 71, note, 72, note.
Sophocles, cited, 64, note.
Sotelo, catapult by, 495.
Sothic period, 57, note.
Southey, 23, note, 60, note, 195, note, 242, note,
462, note.
Sovereigns, Aztec, 14, 22. Influence of priests
, on, 40. Presents to, by merchants, 69.
Reproved, 83. Power of, for ameliorating
the condition of man, 93. The title, 148,
note.
Spain, at the close of the reign of Ferdinand
and Isabella, 99. Subsequently, 99, 101.
Gold despatched to, by Velasquez, 106.
Titles applied to the royal family of, 148,
note. Despatches to, by Cortes, 161, 164,
401. Fruitful in historical composition,
338. Chivalry in, 446. Faction in, against
Cortes, 452, 521, 523, 549, 551. See Charles
V.
Spaniards, traditions and prodigies connected
with the, 30, 93, 140, 141, 206, 207, 229,
and note, 297, 298, 413. Cause of their not
being slain in battle, 40, 193, 445. Favoured
by sanguinary rites, 42, note. Their desire
of gold, 127, 131, 135, 137, 231, 416. Aided
and befriended by Indians, 135, 142. Effects
of Montezuma's gifts on the, 144, 145. Pro-
position to return to Cuba, 145, 147, 148.
Sickly, and distressed for supplies, 14 5.
146, 147. .Troubles in the camp, 147. Re-
inforced, 161. Send gold to Spain, 161.
Effect on, of the destruction of the ships,
166. Fight Tlascalans, 189, 190, 191, 195,
197, 200. Loss of; 193, 198. The killed are
buried, 198. Declared to be children of the
Sun, 200. Enter Tlascala, 209. March to
Cholula, 218. On judging of their actions,
229. Called " The white gods," 229. Their
route to Mexico, 235. Effect of Monte-
zuma's conduct on them, 249, 252, 292, 298.
Assaulted in Mexico, 328, 335. Besieged,
331, 335. Assault on their quarters, 343.
Storm the temple, 352, 353. Mutiny among,
356. At the hill of Otoncalpolco, 373. All
wounded at the battle of Otumba, 383. Cut
off, 388, 411, 428. Discontents of the, 388.
Remonstrance, 388, 390, 399. Jealousy
between the allies and, 390. Reinforced,
399. Great purpose of the, 406, 407. Mur-
dered, 411. Quartered in Nezahualpilli's
palace, 412. Guatemozin's description of,
to Tangapan, 427, note. Capture Cuerna-
vaca, 442-444. Captured and sacrificed,
447, 448, 450, 482, 493. (See Human sacri-
fices.) At Cojohuacan, 449. Reinforced,
451. At the temple of the war-god, 466.
Second assault by the, 468. Their dis-
tresses, 471, 475. Joined by allies, 473.
Their places of settlement, 533. General
illusion of the, 535. Their dreadful march
to Honduras, 538. Deserted by guides, 539.
See Cortes.
Spaniards under Narvaez, 309. Indians find
them enemies of Cortes, 310, 313. Join
Cortes, 329. Overladen with gold, 367, 37c,
375. See Narvaez.
Spanish nobles and Charles V., 101, note.
Spies, 70, 205.
Spineto, Marquis, 61, note.
Standard, Aztec national, 23, 346. Of Tlas-
cala, 196, 457. See Banner.
Stars, worshipped, 89, note.
Statues of the Montezumas, destroyed, 67,
266.
Stephens, John L., 50, note, 233, note, 577,
584, note.
Stone houses, 104, 122, 153, 235, 238, 241.
Stone, sacrificial, 36, 37, 353, 482.
Stones, hurling of, 347, 359, 377, 440 ; from
the great temple, 353 ; at Jacapichtla, 437.
Strait, efforts for discovering the, 535.
Streets. See Canals.
Suetonius, cited, 92, note.
INDEX.
651
Sugar-cane, 102, 104, 534, 5G1.
Sully, Duke of, 301, note.
Sulphur, 234, 402.
Sun, temples to the, 89, note. Plate repre-
senting the, 143. Spaniards, children of
the, 200. Alvarado called child of the, 371 .
» Monument to the, 379. Statue of the, 380.
Superstition, Aztec, during the siege, 497.
Sword- blades, 391.
Swords, substitutes for, 197.
Symbolical writing, 45.
Tabascans, 126, 128, 129, 131. Conversion of,
131.
Tabasco, Rio de, 105, 125, 538.
Tabasco, town of, 126, 127.
Table, ceremonies at, 71, 72.
Table-land, 5, 6, 177.
Tables, bieroglyphical, 55, note.
Tactics, Aztec military, 24.
Tacuba. See Tlacopan.
Tamanes. See Porters.
Tamerlane's skulls, 279, note.
Tangapan, lord of Michoacun, 427, note.
Tapia, Andres de, 130, note, 225, note, 269,
note, 279, note, 286, note, 443, 476, 480, 486.
Tapia, Christoval de, commissioner to Vera
Cruz, 452, 522. Bought off, 522. In Cas-
tile, 523. Brings charges against Cortes,
523.
Tarentum, vessels at, 430, note.
Tarragona, atrocities at, 228,
Tasco, mines of, 65, 527.
Tatius, Achilles, 588, note.
Taxes. See Revenues and Tribute.
Tax-gatherers, 21, 155, 156. Collect tribute
for the Spanish sovereign, 299.
Tecocol, cacique of Tezcuco, 412, 413, note.
Tectetan, meaning of, 104.
Tecuichpo, daughter of Montezuma and wife
of Guatemozin, 364, note, 404, 504, 641,
note. Her several husbands, 364, note, 541,
note. Cortes' reception of, 504. Grant to,
619.
Teeth, Aztec custom as to, 72, note.
Tehuantepec, 561.
Telleriano-Remensis Codex, 39, note, 50, note.
Tellier, Archbishop, 50, note.
Temixtitan, a corruption of Tenochtitlan,
11, note.
Tempest after the surrender, 505.
Temples, or teocallis, to Huitzilopochtli, the
Mexican Mars, 28. Account of, 33, 34, 35, 36,
and note. On the teachings of Egyptian,
44, note. Built by Nezahualcoyotl, to the
Unknown God, 88, 89. Toltec, dedicated to
the Sun, 89. At Cozumel, 121, 122. Rifled
by Alvarado, 121. Turret of one in Mexico
burned, 141. At Tlatlauqnitepec, 179. On
the hill of Tzompach, 192, 208. To Quet-
zalcoatl, 217, 225, 279. Various, at Cho-
lula, 217, 218, 379, 582. Modern, on the
site of Quetzalcoatl's, 230. In Mexico, 275,
278, 279, 353. Occupied at Cempoalla, 321,
324. At Popotla, 372. On the lull of
Otoncalpolco, 373. On a pyramid of Teo-
tihuacan, 380. At Xochimilco, 446, 447.
At Tacuba, 450. Burnt by Alvarado, 492.
All destroyed, 533, and note, 592. Resem-
blances to, in the East, 592, 593. At X<>-
chicalco, 592, 593, note. See Huitzilo-
pochtli, Idols, and Quetzalcoatl.
Tenajoccan, town of, 432, note.
Tenochtitlan, 11. Called Mexico, 11. The
word, 11, note, 247, note. Prosperity and
enlargement of, 12, 13. See Mexico.
Teoamoxtli, or divine book, 51, note.
Teotihuacan, pyramids of, 378, 379.
Tepanecs, 10, 12, 76, 78.
Tepeaca, colony at, 400.
Tepeacan allies, 406, 484.
Tepeacans, 388, 393, 394.
Tepechpan, lord of, exposed to death, 86.
Tepejacac causeway, 260, 464.
Tetzmellocan, village of, 409.
Teuhtlile, a provincial governor under Mon-
tezuma, 135. Orders supplies aud favours,
137, 142.
Teules, 377.
Tezcatlipoca, the god, sacrifices to, 37, 278.
Tezcotzinco, palaces and ruins there, 84, 85,
92, 592, 605.
Tezcucans, or Acolhuans, arrival of the, in
Anahuac, 9, 11, note, 75. Their character,
9, 40. Assaulted and beaten, 10, 12, 70.
Their institutions, 14, IT. In advance of
the Mexicans, 42, 93. The divine book of
the, 51, note. Their dialect, 52, 80, 93.
Their fidelity to young Nezahualcoyotl, 77,
78. Transfer of their power to the Aztecs,
93. Their civilization, 93, 94. Cause of
their superiority, 93. Oppose Cortes, 381.
In Cortes' second reconnoitring expedition,
439. Efficiency of, at the siege of Mexico.
408. Desertion of, 484. See Nezahual-
coyotl and Nezahualpilli.
Tezcuco, its situation, 6, 9. 75, 421. Mean-
ing of the word, 9, note, 412, note. Re-
quirements of the chiefs of, 16. Halls of
justice, and pronouncing of sentences in,
18. Golden age of, 75. Historians, orators,
and poets of, 80. Contents of its archives,
80. Account of, 81. Pile of royal build-
ings at, 82. Royal harem in, 82. Archi-
tecture of, 85. Territory of, clipped by
Montezuma, 93, 294, 363. Description of,
at the time of the Conquest, 294, note. Re-
ception of Cortes at, on his return to Mexi-
co, 330. State of affairs there, 411. Teco-
col put over, 412. Brigantines brought to,
429, 438. Mustering of forces at, 457. Re-
spect to Cortes there, on his return from
Spain, 560. See Cacama, Nezahualcoyotl,
and Nezahualpilli.
Tezcuco lake, its height, 235, note, 259. Con-
jectural limits of, 240, note. Dike across,
243. Towns on the, 243, and note. Canoes
there, 243, 246, 431. Ancient state of, 259,
528. Tides in, 259, note. Two brigantines
built there, 291. Opened upon the Span-
iards, 423. Forded, 431. Reconnoitre.!, 432.
Brigantines launched on, 456. Indian flo-
tilla defeated there. 462.
G5'2
INDEX.
Thatch, 48, note, 65.
Theatrical exhibitions, 52.
Theogony of the Greeks, 27.
Thomas, the Apostle, identified with Quet-
zalcoatl, 30, note, 216, note, 583.
Thomson, cited, 120, note.
Thread, Mexican, 65, 271.
Tierra caliente, 4, 135, 319.
Tierra fria, 5.
Tierra templada, 5.
Time, computation of, 8, 53.
Tin, 65, 527. A circulating medium, 69, 274.
Titcala, ensign of the house of, 191.
Tlacopan, or Tacuba, 12, SI, note, 373. Head-
quarters at, 433. Cortes at, 450, 451. Com-
mand at, assigned to Alvarado, 457. Eva-
cuated by the inhabitants, 460. Present
state of, 460, note.
Tlacopan, or Tacuba, causeway, 260. Re-
treat by the way of it, 365, 366, 368, 432 .
Carnage there, 369, 434.
Tlaloc, a Toltec and Aztec deity, 41, note.
Tlascala, victims from, for sacrifices, 40.
Inimical to Montezuma and the Mexicans,
140, 186, 188. Cortes' embassy to, 182, 183,
188 ; his march towards, 183, 188. Forti-
fication at the limits of, 183, 187, 386.
First settlement of, 184. Meaning of the
word, 185, 378, note. Extent of, 187, note.
Its population, 191, note, 210, and note.
Spaniards enter, 209. Described, 209.
Spaniards go from, 215, 218. Cortes' re-
turn to, from Cempoalla, 329 ; from Mexico,
365, 374, 386. Fate of gold and invalids left-
there, 387, 388. Refuse an alliance with
Aztecs, 391, 392. Brigantines built there
and transported, 398, 402, 406, 410, 422,
428, 429. Triumphal return to, 402. De-
parture from, against Mexico, 408.
Tlascalan allies, 219, 220, 224, 225. Release
captives, 225. Enter Mexico, 242, 317.
Aztec hatred of, 246, 281. Join Cortes,
against Narvaez, 317 ; on his return, 329.
Connection of, with the massacre by Alva-
rado, 334, note, 335. Under Alvarado, 336,
note. Quarters of, 343, 345. In the retreat,
367, 368. Guide Cortes, 377. Their fidelity,
378. In the battle of Otumba, 384. Re-
turn to Tlascala, 387. Co-operate, 394,
395, 396, 406, 430, 433. Imitate Spaniards,
406. Burn records, 412. At the sack of
Iztapalapan, 423. Convey brigantines, 429.
Their hostility to Aztecs, 434. Booty de-
manded by, 435. Noticed, 439, 443, 456,
457. Efficiency of, at Mexico, 470, 476.
• Desertion of, 484. Their return, 485. See
Maxixca.
Tlascalans, their early history, 184. Their
institutions, 184. Refuse tribute, and fight,
186. Their battles with Montezuma, 187.
Battles with the, 189, 190, 191, 195, 197,
200. Their treatment of the Cempoallan
envoys, 189, 190. Effect of cannon and
fire-arms on the, 192, 197, 198. Embassies
to the camp of, 194, 199, 201. Treason
among the, 198. Night attack by them,
200. Embassy from, stopped by Xico-
tencatl, 201, 206. Spies from the, 205. Re-
ception of Spaniards by, 209. Their cha*
racter, 211. Their representations of Mon-
tezuma, 214. Exempted from slavery, 531.
Tlatelolco, 48, 67, note. Movements for pos-
sessing the market-place of, 475, 476, 477,
480. Occupied by the besieged, 491, 494.
Distress there, 491. Entered by Cortes,
493. Modern name of, 494. Murderous
assault there, 499. Purification of, 505.
Rebuilt, 527. See Market.
Tlaxcallan, 46. See Tlascala.
Tobacco, 72, and note, 268.
Tobillos, lances and, 317.
Toledo in Spain, Cortes at, 555.
Tollan, or Tula, supposed original seat of the
Toltecs, 7, note. Etymology of the name,
7, note.
Toltecs, account of the, 7, 41. Doubtful ac-
counts of their migrations, 9, note, 590, 596.
Tonatiuh, 371, 554. See Alvarado.
Tools, 66, 593.
Toribio de Benavente, 55, note, 243, note, 244,
note, 250, note. Account of, and of his
writings and labours, 25*, 255. Cited, 266,
note, 275, note, 276, note, 294, note, 398, note.
Torquemada, 6, note, 9, note. Notice of, and
of his writings, 26, note. Cited, 31, note,
34, note, 35, note, 38, note, 39, note. Avails
himself of a manuscript copy of Sahagun's
Universal History, 43. On Mexican inter-
calation, 54, note. On women, 64, note.
Cited, 66, 73, and note, 82, note, 83, note.
On pilgrims to Cholula, 217, note. On the
baptism of Montezuma, 361, note. On flie
Mexican Eve, 583, note. His Aztec and
Israelitish analogies, 585, note.
Torres, Juan de, teacher of Totonac converts,
160.
Tortillas, 474, and note.
Tortures, 38, 448, note. See Guatemozin.
Totonacs, 147. Their fondness for flowers,
152. Their feelings towards Montezuma,
154. Exactions of, by Aztec tax-gatheress,
156. Cortes' policy as to, 156. Join Cortes,
156. Effect on, of Cortes' interview with
Montezuma's embassy, 158. Defend their
idols, 160. Their conversion, 160. Join
Cortes' expedition, 176, and note.
Towns, on cliffs and eminences, 440. See
Trade, 70, 272. See Traffic.
Trades, Aztec, 69.
Traditions, instances of similar, in the two
continents, 581. Argument from, for the
Asiatic origin of Aztec civilization, 5^9. As
authorities, 596. See Oral traditions and
Predictions.
Traffic, 68, 186. See Barter.
Transportation of vessels, 430, and note. See
Brigantines.
Transubstantiation, 251, note.
Travelling, 46. See Couriers.
Treasure, Axayacatl's, discovered, 279; dis-
position of it, 299, 301, 366. Found after
the siege, 506, 507. See Gold.
Trees, size and duration of, in Mexico and
Central America, 595. See Forests.
Trials, among the Aztecs, 18.
INDEX.
653
Tribes, 21, note.
Tribute, kinds of, 21, 63, 66. Items of, fur-
nished by different cities, 21, note. Roll
respecting, 21, note. Maps for the, 21.
Burdensome exactions of, prepare the way
for the Spaniards, 21, 22. Montezuma's
exaction of, 139, 156. Tlascalans refuse, 186.
Collected for the Castilian sovereign. 299.
Trinidad de Cuba, 117.
Truth, punishment for violating, 79.
Truxillo, Cortes at, 545.
Tudor, William, 177, note, 178, note, 379, note,
409, note.
Tula, capital of the Toltecs, 8. Arrival of
the Aztecs at, M). See Tollan.
Tula, the Lady of, 92.
Turkeys, 72, 82, note, 151.
Tylor, Edward B., his account of Mexican re-
mains, 262, note. Cited, 8, note, 9, note, 29,
note, 32, note, 234, note.
Tzin, the termination, 404, note.
Tzompach, Hill of, 192, 208.
Tzompanco or Zumpango, 377.
U.
Ulloa, discoveries by, 562.
Uxmal, 592, 595.
Valley of Mexico, 6, 218, 235, 419.
Vanilla, cultivated, 64.
Vater, 582, note, 588, note, 591, note, 592, note.
Vega, Manuel de la, collection of manuscripts
by, 603.
Velasquez, Don Diego, 103. Conqueror and
governor of Cuba, lo3. Sends Cordova on
an expedition, 104. Despatches Juan de
Grijalva to Yucatan, 104. Censures Gri-
jalva, 106. Despatches Olid in search of Gri-
jalva, 106. Armament of, under Cortes,
106, 107, 112, 113, 115. Difficulties of, with
Cortes, 109, 110, 111, 112. His instructions
to Cortes, 114, 607. Jealous and dissatisfied,
116. Orders the seizure of Cortes, 118, 119.
Partisans of, oppose Corte's, 148, 150, 203.
Tries to intercept despatches, 164. Gets no
redress, 164. Fits out a fleet against Cortes,
164, 308. Chaplain of, in Spain, complains
against Cortes' envoys, 306. Sends to Spain
an account of Cortes' doings, 308, note. His
vexation with Cortes, 308. Made adelan-
tado, 308. Intrusts his fleet to Narvaez,
308. Interference with, of the Royal Audi-
ence of St. Domingo, 309. Sustained by
Duero, in Spain, 399. Capture of forces
sent to Vera Cruz by, 399. Ignorant of the
fate of his armament, 401. State of things
In Spain, in relation to him and Cortes, 452,
521, 523, 524. Fate of, 525. His character,
527, 528. See Narvaez.
Venezuela, 240, note.
Venice, Mexico and, 261 .
Vera Cruz, New, 135, 157, note. Natives flock
to, 135. Built at San Juan de TJlua, 310.
Narvaez at, 310. Narvaez's plans for a
colony there, 310, 313. The removal to,
528.
Vera Cruz Vieja, or Antigua, 157, note, 528.
See Villa Rica.
Verdugo, 118, 453.
Vessels, Aztecs aid in building, 305. Sec
Armada.
Vestal fires. See Fires.
Veytia, 8, note, 13, note, 55, note, 79, mote, 216,
note, 379, note.
Villafafla, conspiracy of, 452.
Villa Rica de Vera Cruz, colonization of, 149,
156, 157, 611. Remarks on, 157, note. Ar-
rival of a Spanish vessel at, 161. Despatches
to Spain from, 161, 163, 401. Garrisoned,
176. Grado succeeds Escalante at, 291.
Sandoval commander at, 291, 310. Rangre
commander at, 329. Reinforcements from,
cut off, 388. Messenger to, 388. Troops
ordered from, 388. Desire to return to, 389.
Departure from, for Cuba, 399. Capture of
troops sent to, by Velasquez, 399. Ships
at, 399, 400, 438, 486. Harbour of, 528.
See Sandoval and Vera Cruz.
Virgin Mary, 29, n<>te. Appears in battle,
283, and note, 360, 384 note. Image of, 303,
353, 354, and note, 376. Interposition of, in
1833, 376, note.
Volante, escape of, 434.
Volcanoes, remains of, 5. The Orizaba, 151,
177, 218. The Cofre de Perote, 178. Popo-
catepetl, 218, 232, 233. Use of the word,
233, note. Region of, 442.
Voltaire, 41, note, 361, note. Anecdote by, of
Charles V. and Cortes, 565, note.
Vomito, or bilious fever, 4, 135, note, 157,
note, 177.
W.
Waldeck, 104, note, 577, 592, note, 595, note.
Wall of serpents, 275, 332, 466.
War, Aztec ideas respecting, 22. Mode of
declaring and conducting, 22, 23. Great
object of, 40. Tlascalan love of, 185. Cho-
lulans disqualified for, 216. Evils of, 228.
Warburton, William, 44, note, 46, note.
War-god. See Huitzilopochtli.
Warren, John C, 591, note.
Water, ablution with, at table, 71, 268. Basins
of, at Tezcotzinco, 84. Want of, 444. Use
of, for religious purification, 584, note. Sec
Aqueducts and Tezcuco lake.
Water-fowl, 266.
Watts, Isaac, 32, note.
Weeks, division by, 53.
Weights, no Mexican, 274, 300.
Wheat, yield of, 218, note.
Wheels, chronological, 55, note. Gold and
silver, 143, 144, 161, note, 162, note.
White, Blanco, 251, note.
Wild turkeys, 72, 82, note, 333.
Wilkinson, J. G., 36, note, 598, note.
Wives of Montezuma, 266, 364, 613.
Women, employment and treatment of, in
Mexico, 61, 65, 71, 74, 271. Torquemada on,
654
INDEX.
6 t, note. Sophocles on Egyptian men and,
64, note. Their appearance, 71. Asiatic, 74.
Sacrificed, 93, note. Totonac, 152, 153. Pro-
tected at the Cholulan massacre, 225, 228.
Dress of, 271. Accompany the Christian
camp, 370. Heroism of, 484, 485. Heroism
of the Mexican, 492, 499. Efforts to spare,
500, 501 ; to bring into New Spain, 529. See
Daughters.
Wooden ware, Mexican, 68.
World, tradition of the destruction of the,
31, 60.
Wounds, want of medicaments for, 473, note.
Xalacingo, 182, note.
Xalapa, Spaniards at, 17*.
Xaltocan, assault on, 431.
Xamarillo, Don Juan, 543.
Xicotencatl, the elder, 188, 209, 392. Con-
verted, 402. Ominous words of, cited, 483.
Xicotencatl, the younger, a Tlascalan com-
mander, 188, 191, 192, 194. His standard,
196. Facts respecting, 198, 200, 201, 202,
205, 206. Welcomes Spaniards from Mexico,
386.. Countenances jealousies, 390. Favours
an embassy from Mexico, 392. Leads against
Tepeacans, 394. Imitates Spaniards, 406.
Joins Cortes, 457. Leaves the army, 458.
Hung, 459. Remarks on, 459.
Ximenes, Cardinal, destruction of manuscripts
by, 49. His administration, 99, 452. Com-
mission by, to redress- Indian grievances,
102, 168.
Xochicalco, lake, 239.
Xochicalco, ruins of the temple or fortress of,
592, 594, note, 595.
Xochimilco, 444, 448, 468.
Xoloc, Fort, 243. Stormed, 449. Fleet at,
463. Head-quarters at, 463. Barracks built
there, 473.
Xuarez, Catalina, intimacy and marriage of
Cortes with, 110, 111, 112. Joins her hus-
band, 529. Fate of, 530, note, 558, and note.
Y.
Years, Aztec, 53. On divisions of time into,
53. Hieroglyphics for, 54, 55, and note, 56.
On the names of, 587, note.
Yucatan, expedition to, 104. The word, 104,
and note. Called New Spain, 105. Ordaz
despatched to, to liberate Christians, 122,
124. Canoe from, with Aguilar, 124. Men-
tioned, 538, 592. Resemblances to the archi-
tecture of, 593. See Tabasco.
Yxtacamaxtitlan, 182, and note.
Z.
Zacatecas, silver from, 561.
Zacatula, fleet at, 519, 528, 534.
Zacotollan, copper from, 65.
Zahuatl, the river, 210.
Zodiacal signs, coincidences as to, 587.
Zoltepec, massacre at, 388, 411, 428.
Zuazo, 36, note, 64, note. On mantles of
feathers, 271, note. On the Aztec cuisine,
273, note. Urges Cortes to return to Mexico,
547.
Zumarraga, Don Juan de, 39. First arch-
bishop of Mexico, destroys manuscripts, 48.
Image destroyed by, 84, note. Demolishes
the statue of the Sun, 380.
Zumpango, or Tzompanco, 377.
Zuniga, Dona Juana de, second wife of Cortes,
557, 562.
Zurita, 17, note, 25, note, 79, note.
THE END.
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