W. STUART WOODSON 631 Ocean Boulevard Coronado, California THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES lllontcsuma EDition THE WORKS OF WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT TWENTY-TWO VOLUMES Vol. II The Montezuma Edition of William H. PrescotVs Works is limited to one thousand copies, of which this is P -''t n tinontesnma ESttion HISTORY OF THE Conquest of Mexico BY WILUAM H. PRESCOTT EDITED BY WILFRED HAROLD MUNRO PROFESSOR Of EUROPEAN HISTORY IN BROWN UNIVERSITY AND COMPRISING THE NOTES OF THE EDITION BY JOHN FOSTER KIRK. " Victrices aquilas alium laturus in orbem" LucAN, Pharsalia, lib. v., v. 338 VOL II PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY Copyright, 1843, by William H. Prescott Copyright, 1871 by William G. Prescott Copyright, 1878, by J. B. Lippincott & Co. Copyright, 1904, by J. B. Lippincott Compant Eiectrotyped and Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, U. S. A. CONTENTS OF VOL. II F BOOK II DISCOVERY OF MEXICO (continued) CHAPTER VI Account of Montezuma — State of his Empire — Strange Prognostics — Embassy and Presents — Spanish Encamp- ment PAGE Montezuma then upon the Throne 3 Inaugural Address 4 The Wars of Montezuma 5 His civil Policy 6 Oppression of his Subjects 7 Foes of his Empire 8 Superstition of Montezuma 9 Mysterious Prophecy 10 Portentous Omens 11 Dismay of the Emperor 12 Embassy and presents to the Spaniards 14 Life in the Spanish Camp 15 Rich Present from Montezuma 16 Large gold Wheels 17 Message from Montezuma 18 Effects of the Treasure on the Spaniards 20 Return of the Aztec Envoys 21 Prohibition of Montezuma 22 Preaching of Father Olmedo 23 Desertion of the Natives 23 CHAPTER VII Troubles in the Camp — Plan of a Colony — Management of Cortes — March to Cempoalla — Proceedings with the Na- tives — Foundation of Vera Cruz Discontent of the Soldiery 24 Envoys from the Totonacs 25 Dissensions in the Aztec Empire 26 V vi CONTENTS OF VOLUME II PAGE Proceedings in the Camp 26 Cortes prepares to return to Cuba 27 Army remonstrate 28 Cortes yields 29 Foundation of Villa Rica 30 Resignation and Reappointment of Cortes 31 Divisions in the Camp 32 General Reconciliation 33 March to Cempoalla 34 Picturesque Scenery 35 Remains of Victims 35 Terrestrial Paradise 36 Love of Flowers by the Natives 37 Their splendid Edifices 38 Hospitable Entertainment at Cempoalla 39 Conference with the Cacique 40 Proposals of Alliance 41 Advance of the Spaniards 43 Arrival of Aztec Nobles 44 Artful Policy of Cortes 45 Allegiance of the Natives 46 City of Villa Rica built 47 Infatuation of the Indians 48 CHAPTER VIII Another Aztec Embassy — Destruction of the Idols — De- spatches SENT TO Spain — Conspiracy in the Cajip — The Fleet sunk Embassy from Montezuma 49 Its Results 50 Severe Discipline in the Army 51 Gratitude of the Cempoallan Cacique 52 Attempt at Conversion 53 Sensation among the Natives 54 The Idols burned 55 Consecration of the Sanctuary 56 News from Cuba 57 Presents for Charles the Fifth 58 First Letter of Cortes 59 Despatches to Spain 61 Agents for the Mission 62 Departure of the Ship 63 It touches at Cuba 64 Rage of Velasquez 64 CONTENTS OF VOLUME II vii PAGE Ship arrives in Spain 65 Conspiracy in the Camp 66 Destruction of the Fleet 67 Oration of Cortes 69 Enthusiasm of the Army 70 Notice of Las Casas 72 His Life and Character 73 Criticism on his Works 79 BOOK III MARCH TO MEXICO CHAPTER I Proceedings at Cempoalla — The Spaniards climb the Table- land — Picturesque Scenery — Transactions with the Na- tives — Embassy to Tlascala Squadron off the Coast 83 Stratagem of Cortes 85 Arrangement at Villa Rica 86 Spaniards begin their March 87 Climb the Cordilleras 88 Wild Mountain Scenery 89 Immense Heaps of human Skulls 93 Transactions with the Natives 94 Accounts of Montezuma's Power 95 Moderation of Father Olmedo 97 Indian Dwellings 99 Cortes determines his Route 100 Embassy to Tlascala 101 Remarkable Fortification 102 Arrival in Tlascala 103 CHAPTER II Repubuc of Tlascala — Its Institutions — Early History — Discussions in the Senate — Desperate Battles The Tlascalans 104 Their Migrations 105 Their Government 106 Public Games 107 viii CONTENTS OF VOLUME 11 PAOE Order of Knighthood 108 Internal Resources 108 Their Civilization 109 Struggles with the Aztecs 110 Means of Defence Ill SuflFerings of the Tlascalans 112 Their hardy Character 113 Debates in the Senate 114 Spaniards advance 115 Desperate Onslaught 116 Retreat of the Indians 117 Bivouac of the Spaniards 118 The Army resumes its March 119 Immense Host of Barbarians 120 Bloody Conflict in the Pass 121 Enemy give Ground 122 Spaniards clear the Pass 123 Cessation of Hostilities 124 Results of the Conflict 125 Troops encamp for the Night 126 CHAPTER III Decisive Victory — Indiak CotrifCiL — Night Attack — Negotia- TIOXS WITH THE EnEMY TlASCALAN HeRO Envoys to Tlascala 127 Foraging Party 128 Bold Defiance by the Tlascalans 129 Preparations for Battle 130 Appearance of the Tlascalans 131 Showy Costume of the Warriors 132 Their Weapons 134 Desperate Engagement 13S The Combat thickens 137 Divisions among the Enemy 138 Decisive Victory 139 Triumph of Science over Numbers 140 Dread of the Cavalry 140 Indian Council 143 Night Attack 143 Spaniards victorious ......... 144 Embassy to Tlascala 145 Peace with the Enemy 145 Patriotic Spirit of their Chief 146 CONTENTS OF VOLUME 11 ix CHAPTER IV DiSCOKTEKT IN THE ArmY TlASCALAN SpIES — PeACE WITH THE Republic — Embassy from Montezuma PAGg Spaniards scour the Country 147 Success of the Foray 148 Discontent in the Camp 149 Representations of the Malecontents 150 Reply of Cortes 151 Difficulties of the Enterprise 153 Mutilation of the Spies 154 Interview with the Tlascalan Chief 156 Peace with the Republic 158 Embassy from Montezuma 159 Declines to receive the Spaniards 160 They advance towards the City 161 CHAPTER V Spaniards enter Tlascala — Description of the Capital — Attempted Conversion — Aztec Embassy — Invited to Cholula Spaniards enter Tlascala 164 Rejoicings on their Arrival 165 Description of Tlascala 166 Its Houses and Streets 166 Its Fairs and Police 167 Divisions of the City 167 Wild Scenery round Tlascala 168 Character of the Tlascalans 169 Vigilance of Cortes 169 Attempted Conversion 170 Resistance of the Natives 170 Zeal of Cortes 171 Prudence of the Friar 171 Character of Olmedo 179 Mass celebrated in Tlascala 173 The Indian Maidens 174 Aztec Embassy 175 Power of Montezuma 176 Embassy from Ixtlilxochitl 177 Deputies from Cholula 178 Invitation to Cholula 178 Prepare to leave Tlascala 179 CONTENTS OF VOLUME II CHAPTER VI City of Cholula — Great Temple — March to CHot-truk. — Receptiox of the Spaniards — Conspiracy detected PAGE City of Cholula 180 Its History 181 Religious Traditions 182 Its ancient Pyramid 183 Temple of Quetzalcoatl 184 Holy City 185 Magnificent Scenery 187 Spaniards leave Tlascala 188 Indian Volunteers 189 Army enters Cholula 190 Brilliant Reception 191 Envoys from Montezuma 192 Suspicions of Conspiracy 193 Fidelity of Marina 194 Alarming Situation of Cortes 195 Intrigues with the Priests 196 Interview with the Caciques 197 Night-watch of the Spaniards 198 CHAPTER VII Terrible Massacre — TRANGtriLLiTT restored — Reflecttons on THE Massacre — Further Proceedings — Envoys from Monte- zuma Preparations for a secret Assault 200 Natives collect in the Square 200 The Signal given 201 Terrihle Massacre 202 Onset of the Tlascalans 203 Defence of the Pyramid 204 Division of the Spoil 205 Restoration of Order 206 Reflections on the Massacre 207 Right of Conquest 208 Missionary Spirit 209 Policy of Cortes 211 His perilous Situation 212 Cruelty to be charged on him 212 Terror of " the White Gods " 215 The Cross raised in Cholula 217 Victims liberated from the Cages 217 CONTENTS OF VOLUME II xi TAOE Christian Temple reared on the Pyramid 217 Embassy from Montezuma 218 Departure of the Cempoallans 219 CHAPTER VIII March eesujied — Ascent of the Great Volcano — Vallet op Mexico — Impression on the Spaniards — Conduct of Monte- zuma — They descend into the Valley Spaniards leave Cholula 221 Signs of Treachery 222 The Army reaches the Mountains 2:23 Wild Traditions 223 The great Volcano 224 Spaniards ascend its Sides 225 Perils of the Enterprise 226 Subsequent Ascent 227 Descent into the Crater 228 The Troops suffer from the Tempest 229 First View of the Valley 230 Its Magnificence and Beauty . 230 Impression on the Spaniards 232 Disaffection of the Natives to Montezuma 233 Embassy from the Emperor 234 His gloomy Apprehensions 234 Silence of the Oracles 235 Spaniards advance 236 Death of the Spies 23T Arrival of the Tezcucan Lord 238 Floating Gardens 240 Crowds assembled on the Roads 241 Army reaches Iztapalapan 242 Its celebrated Gardens 243 Striking View of Mexico 245 CHAPTER IX Environs of Mexico — Interview with Montezttma — Entrance INTO the Capital — Hospitable Reception — Visit to the Empehoh Preparations to enter the Capital 246 Army enters on the great Causeway 247 Beautiful Environs 248 Brilliant Procession of Chiefs 249 Splendid Retinue of Montezuma 250 xii CONTENTS OF VOLUME II PAOB Dress of the Emperor 252 His Person 262 His Reception of Cortes 253 Spaniards enter the Capital 254 Feelings of the Aztecs 256 Hospitable Reception 258 The Spanish Quarters 259 Precaution of the General 259 Visited by the Emperor 260 His rich Presents 261 Superstitious Terrors 262 Royal Palace 263 Description of its Interior 264 Cortes visits Montezuma 265 Attempts to convert the Monarch 265 Entire Failure 266 His religious Views 267 Montezuma's Eloquence 268 His courteous Bearing 269 Reflections of Cortes 270 Notice of Herrera 273 Criticism on his History 274 Life of Toribio . " 274 Peter Martyr 277 His Works 278 BOOK IV RESIDENCE IN MEXICO CHAPTER I Tezcucax Lake — Description of the Capital — Palaces aitd Museums — Royal Household — Montezuma's Way of Life Lake of Tezcuco 281 Its Diminution 28J Floating Islands 283 The ancient Dikes 284 Houses of ancient Mexico 285 Its Streets 286 CONTENTS OF VOLUME II xiii PAGE Its Population 288 Its Aqueducts and Fountains 292 The imperial Palace 293 Adjoining Edifices 294 Magnificent Aviary 294 Extensive Menagerie 295 CoUection of Dwarfs 296 Gardens 297 Royal Hill of Chapoltepec 298 Wives of Jlontezuma 299 His Meals 300 Luxurious Dessert 303 Custom of Smoking 304 Ceremonies at Court 305 Economy of the Palace 306 Oriental Civilization 308 Reserve of Montezuma 309 Symptoms of Decline of Power 309 CHAPTER II Market of Mexico — Great Temple — Interior Sanctuaries — Spanish Quarters Mexican Costume 311 Great Market of Mexico 312 Quarter of the Goldsmiths 313 Booths of the Armorers 314 Provisions for the Capital 315 Throngs in the Market 317 Aztec Money 318 The great Temple 319 Its Structure S20 Dimensions 321 Instruments of Worship 322 Grand View from the Temple 323 Shrines of the Idols 325 Imprudence of Cortes 327 Interior Sanctuaries 338 Mound of Skulls 329 Aztec Seminaries 330 Impression on the Spaniards ........ 332 Hidden Treasures 333 Mass performed in Mexico 334 xiv CONTENTS OF VOLUME II CHAPTER III Anxiety of Cortes — Seizure of Montezuma — His Theatmekt BY THE Spaniards — Execution or iiis Officers — Montezuma IN Irons — Reflections PACE Anxiety of Cortes 335 Council of War 336 Opinions of the Officers 337 Bold Project of Cortes 337 Plausible Pretext 338 Interview with Montezuma ........ 341 Accusation of Montezuma 342 His Seizure 345 He is carried to the Spanish Quarters 346 Tumult among the Aztecs 346 Montezuma's Treatment 347 Vigilant Patrol 348 Trial of the Aztec Chiefs 350 Montezuma in Irons 351 Chiefs burnt at the Stake 351 Emperor allowed to return 352 Declines this Permission 353 Reflections on these Proceedings 354 Views of the Conquerors 356 CHAPTER IV Montezuma's Deportment — His Life in the Spanish Quarters — Meditated Insurrection — Lord of Tezcuco seized — Fur- ther Measures of Cortes Troubles at Vera Cruz 358 Vessels built on the Lake 359 Montezuma's I^ife in the Spanish Quarters 360 His Munificence 361 Sensitive to Insult 362 The Emperor's Favorites 363 Spaniards attempt his Conversion 364 Brigantines on the Lake 365 The Royal Chase 365 Lord of Tezcuco 366 Meditated Insurrection 368 Policy of Cortes 369 Tezcucan Lord in Chains 370 Further Measures of Cortfe 371 Surveys the Coast 372 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE The Meetikg of Cortes akd Moktezuma Frontispiece From a painting especially made for this edition by L. Kowalsky. COBTES RECEIVING THE EMBASSY OF MoJfTEZUMA 14 After the painting in the National Museum at Mexico. COETES SINKING HIS ShIPS 70 After the painting by F. Sans. Audience of Cortes with Montezuma 260 After the painting in the National Museum of Mexico. Map of the Valley of Mexico at the Period of the Conquest 281 Montezuma 304 After the portrait published by Fray Prudentio Sandoval in his " History of Charles V.," edition of 16U. Mexico — II BOOK II DISCOVERY OF MEXICO (continued) CONQUEST OF MEXICO CHAPTER VI ACCOUNT OF MONTEZUMA— STATE OF HIS EMPIRE — STRANGE PROGNOSTICS— EMBASSY AND PRES- ENTS—SPANISH ENCAMPMENT 1519 WE must now take leave of the Spanish camp in the tierra caliente, and transport our- selves to the distant capital of Mexico, where no little sensation was excited by the arrival of the ^vonderful strangers on the coast. The Aztec throne was filled at that time by JVIontezuma 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 broth- ers, 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 ex- clusively to the services of the temple; and he * ["Chief of men."-M.] 4 CONQUEST OF MEXICO was scrupulous in his attentions to all the burden- some ceremonial of the Aztec worship. He main- tained a grave and reserved demeanor, speaking little and with prudent deliberation. His deport- ment was well calculated to inspire ideas of su- perior sanctity.^ 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 responsible a station. The ad- dress delivered as usual on the occasion was made by his relative Nezahualpilli, the wise king of Tez- cuco.^ It has, fortunately, been preserved, and presents a favorable specimen of Indian elo- quence. Towards the conclusion, the orator ex- claims, " Who can doubt that the Aztec empire has reached the zenith of its greatness, since the Al- mighty 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 fa- ther in distress, a more than brother in tenderness and sympathy; one whose aspiring soul will dis- dain all the profligate pleasures of the senses and the wasting indulgence of sloth. And thou, illus- trious youth, doubt not that the Creator, who has laid on thee so weighty a charge, will also give ^ His name suited his nature; Montezuma, according to Las Casas, signifying, in the Mexican, " sad or severe man." Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 120.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 70.— Acosta, lib. 7, cap. 90.— Col. de Mendoza, pp. 13-16; Codex Tel.- Rem., p. 143, ap. Antiq. of Mexico, vol. vi. * For a full account of this prince, see Book I, chap. 6. 1519] ACCOUNT OF MONTEZUMA 5 strength to sustain it; that He, who has been so liberal in times past, will shower yet more abun- dant 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.^ Montezuma displayed all the energy and enter- prise in the commencement of his reign which had been anticipated from him. His first expedition against a rebel province in the neighborhood was croM^ned with success, and 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 ene- mies 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 honorable entertainment and a good place for witnessing the games. This was a mag- nanimous act, considering the long-cherished hos- tility 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 far- * The address is fully reported by Torquemada (Monarch. Ind., lib. 3, cap. 68), who came into the country little more than half a century after its delivery. It has been recently republished by Bus- tamante. Tezcuco en los ultimos Tiempos (Mexico, 1826), pp. 256-258. 6 CONQUEST OF MEXICO thest 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 laws, which he enforced with stern severity. He was in the habit of patrolling the streets of his capital in disguise, to make himself personally ac- quainted 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 yield- ing to the temptation. He liberally recompensed all who served him. He showed a similar munificent 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.^ These acts, so worthy of a great prince, were counterbalanced by others of an opposite com- plexion. The humility, displayed so ostentatiously before his elevation, gave way to an intolerable arrogance. In his pleasure-houses, domestic es- tablishment, and way of living, he assumed a pomp * Acosta, lib. 7, cap. 22.— Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espaiia, lib. 8, Pr61ogo, et cap. 1.— Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 3, cap. 73, 74, 81.— Col. de Mendoza, pp. 14, 85, ap. Antiq. of Mexico, vol. vi. 1519] ACCOUNT OF MONTEZUMA 7 unknown to his predecessors. He secluded him- self from public observation, or, when he went abroad, exacted the most slavish homage; while in the palace he would be served only, even in the most menial offices, by persons of rank. He, fur- ther, dismissed several plebeians, chiefly poor sol- diers of merit, from the places they had occupied near the person of his predecessor, considering their attendance a dishonor to royalty. It was in vain that his oldest and sagest counsellors remon- strated 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 court. They fell with peculiar heaviness on the conquered cities. This oppression led to frequent insurrec- tion and resistance ; and the latter years of his reign present a scene of unintermitting hostility, in which the forces of one half of the empire were em- ployed in suppressing the commotions of the other. Unfortunately, there was no principle of amalga- mation by which the new acquisitions could be in- corporated into the ancient monarchy as parts of one whole.* Their interests, as well as sympathies, were different. Thus the more widely the Aztec empire was extended, the weaker it became; re- sembling some vast and ill-proportioned edifice, whose disjointed materials, having no principle of cohesion, and tottering under their own weight, seem ready to fall before the first blast of the tem- pest. * [They were held as subject pueblos. See note, p. 23, vol. i. — M.] 8 CONQUEST OF MEXICO In 1516 died the Tezcucan king, Nezahual- pilli; 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, ap- pealing 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 Cacama, and the northern portion to his ambitious rival. Ixtlilxo- chitl became from that time the mortal foe of Montezuma.^ A more formidable enemy still was the Uttle re- pubhc 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 re- sources were unimpaired, its civilization scarcely below that of its great rival states, and for courage and military prowess it had established a name in- ferior 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; "Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. i. pp. 267, 274, 275.— Ixtlilxo- chitl, Hist, Chich., MS., cap. 70-76.— Acosta, lib. 7, cap. 21. * [Tlascala was not a republic but a pueblo. It was divided into four phratries. Clavigero says (Storia Ant. del Messico, torn. i. p. 155) that it was divided into four parts, each division having its lord.-M.] 1519] STATE OF HIS EMPIRE 9 while potent enemies in the neighborhood lay watching the hour when they might assail their formidable rival with advantage. Still the king- dom 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 valor 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 na- tions 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 consid- eration 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 re- belhous provinces. The religion, or, to speak cor- rectly, the superstition of Montezuma proved a principal cause of his calamities. In a preceding chapter I have noticed the popu- lar traditions respecting Quetzalcoatl, that deity with a fair complexion and flowing beard, so un- like the Indian physiognomy, who, after fulfilling his mission of benevolence among the Aztecs, em- barked on the Atlantic Sea for the mysterious 10 CONQUEST OF MEXICO shores of Tlapallan.^ He promised, on his depar- ture, to return at some future day with his pos- terity, and resume the possession of his empire. That day was looked forward to with hope or with apprehension, according to the interest of the be- liever, but with general confidence, throughout the wide borders of Anahuac. Even after the Con- quest 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 Portu- guese, or that of the Messiah by the Jews."^ 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.^ In 1510 the great lake of Tezcuco, without the occurrence of a tem- pest, or earthquake, or any other visible cause, be- came 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, ^ Ante, Book I, chap. 3, pp. 71, 72, and note 6. ' Tezozomoc, Cron. Mexicana, MS., cap. 107. — Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 1. — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 14; lib. 6, cap. 24. — Codex Vaticaniis, ap. Antiq. of Mexico, vol. vi. — Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, lib. 8, cap. 7.— Ibid., MS., lib. 12, cap. 3, 4. ^ " Tenia por cierto," says Las Casas of Montezuma, " segun sus prophetas 6 agoreros le avian certificado, que su estado c rriquezas y prosperidad avia de perezer dentro de pocos aiios por ^iertas gentes que avian de venir en sus dias, que de su felicidad lo derrocase, y por esto vivia siempre con temor y en triste^a y sobresaltado." Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 120. 1519] STRANGE PROGNOSTICS 11 equally without any apparent cause, and con- tinued to burn in defiance of all attempts to ex- tinguish 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 with stars." ^ At the same time, low voices were heard in the air, and doleful wailings, as if to an- nounce some strange, mysterious calamity! The Aztec monarch, terrified at the apparitions in the heavens, took counsel of Nezahualpilli, 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.^ '^ Such are the strange stories reported by the chroniclers, in which it is not impossible to detect the glimmerings of truth.^^ Nearly thirty years had elapsed since the discovery of the Islands by "Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— The Interpreter of the Codex Tel.-Rem. intimates that this scintillating phenomenon was prob- ably nothing more than an eruption of one of the great volcanoes of Mexico. Antiq. of Mexico, vol. vi. p. 144. ^^ Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 1.— Ca- margo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— Acosta, lib. 7, cap. 23. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 5, cap. 5.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. '/4. " I omit the most extraordinary miracle of all, — though legal attes- tations of its truth were furnished the court of Rome (see Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. i. p. 289),— namely, the resurrection of Mon- tezuma's sister, Papantzin, four days after her burial, to warn the monarch of the approaching ruin of his empire. It finds credit with 12 CONQUEST OF MEXICO Columbus, and more than twenty since his visit to the American continent. Rumors, 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 tradi- tions of Quetzalcoatl, would naturally spread far and wide among the Indian nations. Such ru- mors, doubtless, long before the landing of the Spaniards in Mexico, found their way up the grand plateau, filling the minds of men with anti- cipations 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, prodi- gies became a familiar occurrence. Or rather, events not very uncommon in themselves, seen through the discolored medium of fear, were easily magnified into prodigies; and the accidental swell of the lake, the appearance of a comet, and the conflagration of a building were all interpreted as the special annunciations of Heaven.^ ^ Thus it happens in those great political con\ailsions which shake the foundations of society, — the mighty events that cast their shadows before them in their coming. Then it is that the atmosphere is one writer, at least, in the nineteenth century! See the note of Sa- hagun's Mexican editor, Bustamante, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, torn. ii. p. 270. " Lucan gives a fine enumeration of such prodigies witnessed in the Roman capital in a similar excitement. (Pharsalia, lib. 1, v. 523, et seq.) Poor human nature is much the same everjTV'here. Machia- velli has thought the subject worthy of a separate chapter in his Discourses. The philosopher even intimates a belief in the exis- tence of beneficent intelligences who send these portents as a sort of premonitories, to warn mankind of the coming tempest. Dis- corsi sopra Tito Livio, lib. 1, cap. 56. 1519] APPREHENSION OF MONTEZU]MA 13 agitated with the low, prophetic 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 dis- may. 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 forever. Though somewhat re- lieved by the departure of the Spaniards, he caused sentinels to be stationed on the heights ; and, when the Europeans returned under Cortes, he doubt- less received the earliest notice of the unwelcome event. It was by his orders, however, that the pro- vincial governor had prepared so hospitable a re- ception for them. The hieroglyphical report of these strange visitors, now forwarded to the capi- tal, revived all his apprehensions. He called, with- out delay, a meeting of his principal counsellors, including the kings of Tezcuco and Tlacopan, and laid the matter before them.'^ There seems to have been much division of opin- ion in that body. Some were for resisting the strangers at once, whether by fraud or by open " Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 120. — Ixtlilxo- chitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 80. — Idem, Relaciones, MS. — Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 3, 4. — Tezozomoc, Crdn. Mexicana, MS., cap. 108. U CONQUEST OF MEXICO force. Others contended that, if they were super- natural beings, fraud and force would be alike useless. If they were, as they pretended, ambas- sadors 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 favor of giv- ing them a friendly and honorable reception was the Tezcucan king, Cacama. But ^lontezuma, 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 pres- ent 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.^ ^ 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 by 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 con- structed more than a thousand huts or booths of branches and matting, which they occupied in the "Tezozomoc, Cron. Mexicana, MS., loc. cit.— Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 80. 1519] EMBASSY AND PRESENTS 15 neighborhood of the camp. Here they prepared various articles of food for the table 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 savory 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 his fol- lowers.^^ 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 nearly seventy leagues. But it may be remem- bered that tidings were carried there by means of posts, as already noticed, in the brief space of f our- and-twenty hours; ^^ 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. " Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 39.— Gomara, Crdnica, cap. 27, ap. Barcia, torn. ii. "Ante, Book I, chap. 2, p. 44. 16 CONQUEST OF MEXICO The embassy, consisting of two Aztec nobles, was accompanied by the governor, Teuhthle, and by a hundred slaves, bearing the princely gifts of Montezuma. One of the envoys had been selected on account of the great resemblance which, as ap- peared 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 sol- diers recognized the resemblance, and always dis- tinguished the chief by the name of the " Mexican Cortes." On entering the general's pavilion, the ambas- sadors saluted him and his officers with the usual signs of reverence to persons of great considera- tion, touching the ground with their hands and then carrying them to their heads, while the 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 dis- played the various articles they had brought. They were of the most miscellaneous kind : shields, helmets, cuirasses, embossed with plates and orna- ments of pure gold; collars and bracelets of the same metal, sandals, fans, panaches and crests of variegated feathers, intermingled with gold and silver thread, and sprinkled with pearls and pre- cious 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, in- terwoven with feather-work that rivalled the deli- 1519] EMBASSY AND PRESENTS 17 cacy of painting.^ ^ There were more than thirty loads of cotton cloth in addition. Among the ar- ticles 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 ad- miration were two circular plates of gold and sil- ver, " as large as carriage-wheels." One, repre- senting 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 twenty thousand pesos de oro. The sil- ver wheel, of the same size, weighed fifty marks.^^ " From the checkered figure of some of these colored cottons, Peter Martyr infers, the Indians were acquainted with chess! He notices a curious fabric made of the hair of animals, feathers, and cotton thread, interwoven together. " Plumas illas et concinnant inter cuniculorum villos interque gosampij stamina ordiuntur, et intexunt operose adeo, ut quo pacto id faciant non bene intellexeri- mus." De Orbe Novo (Parisiis, 1587), dec. 5, cap. 10. " 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, tom. 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 estimates at 20,000 pesos de oro, different from the pesos, dollars, or ounces of silver, with which the historian con- founds 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 embarrass the calculation, besides the general depreciation of the precious metals, such as the adulteration of specific coins, and the like. Sefior 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 denominations of the Span- ish 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 18 CONQUEST OF MEXICO The Spaniards could not conceal their rapture at the exhibition of treasures which so far sur- passed 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.^'^ When Cortes and his officers had completed their survey, the ambassadors courteously delivered the message of Montezuma. " It gave their master 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 (Vene- tia, 1565), torn, iii.) Now, the ducat, as appears from Clemencin, reduced to our 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 shillings, and sixpence sterling. Keeping this in mind, it will be easy for the reader to de- termine the actual value, in pesos de oro, of any sum that may be hereafter mentioned.* " " i 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 artifigiadas y ermo- sisimas como de cosas nunca vistas," etc. (Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 120.) " Muy hermosas," says Oviedo, who saw them in Valladolid, and describes the great wheels more minutely ; " todo era mucho de ver!" (Hist, de las Indias, MS., loc. cit.) The in- quisitive Martyr, who examined them carefully, remarks, yet more emphatically, " Si quid unquam honoris humana ingenia in huiusce- modi artibus sunt adepta, principatum iure merito ista consequentur. Aurum, gemmasque non admiror quidem, qua industria, quove studio superet opus materiam, stupeo. Mille figuras et facies mille pro- spexi quae scribere nequeo. Quid oculos hominum sua pulchritudine aeque possit allicere meo iudicio vidi nunquam." De Orbe Novo, dec. 4, cap. 9. * [But Ramirez, commenting upon this statement, estimates the castellano at $2.93.— M.] 1519] EMBASSY AND PRESENTS 19 great pleasure," they said, " to hold this commu- nication with so powerful a monarch as the King of Spain, for whom he felt the most profound re- spect. 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 jour- ney was beset with difficulties, and with too many dangers from formidable enemies, to make it pos- sible. All that could be done, therefore, was for the strangers to return to their own land, with the proofs thus afforded them of his friendh^ dispo- sition." Cortes, though much chagrined at this decided refusal of ]Montezuma to admit his visit, concealed his mortification as he best might, and politely ex- pressed 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 him- self again before his own sovereign, without hav- ing accomplished this great object of his voyage; and one who had sailed 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 pres- ent. The ambassadors maj'^ have thought as much. At least, they showed no alacrit\^ in charging them- 20 CONQUEST OF MEXICO selves either with the present or the message, and, on quitting the CastiHan quarters, repeated their assurance that the general's application would be unavailing.^*^ The splendid treasure, which now lay dazzling the eyes of the Spaniards, raised in their bosom very different emotions, according to the differ- ence 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 pres- ent insignificant force. They thought, therefore, it would be most prudent to return and report their proceedings to the governor of Cuba, where prepa- rations 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 neighboring marshes, while the venomous insects of these hot regions left them no repose, day or night. Thirty '"Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 121.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 39.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 80.— Gomara, Crdnica, cap. 27, ap. Barcia, torn. ii. 1519] EMBASSY AND PRESENTS 21 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 Mexi- can chiefs had extended to their followers; and the supplies for the camp were not only much di- minished, but the prices set on them were exorbi- tant. The position was equally unfavorable for the shipping, which lay in an open roadstead, ex- posed 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 Mon- te jo, 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 worth more than a load of gold, and was designed as a mark of particular re- spect for the Spanish monarch.^^ Unfortunately, " Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 40. — Father Sahagun thus describes these stones, so precious in Mexico that the use of them was interdicted to any but the nobles: "The chalchuites are of a green color mixed with white, and are not transparent. Tliey are much worn by persons of rank, and, attached to the wrist by a 22 CONQUEST OF MEXICO they were not worth as many loads of earth in Europe. 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 ob- tained what they had most desired, they would re- turn to their own country without unnecessary delay. Cortes received this unpalatable response courteously, though somewhat coldly, and, turn- ing 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 favorable occasion to impress them with what he conceived to be a principal ob- ject 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 resur- rection, and concluding with assuring his aston- ished audience that it was their intention to extir- pate 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 Vir- gin with the infant Redeemer, requesting them to place it in their temples instead of their sanguinary thread, are a token of the nobility of the wearer." Hist, de Nueva- Espana, lib, 11, cap. 8. 1519] SPANISH ENCAMPMENT 23 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, how- ever, that the seed fell on barren ground ; for, when the homily of the good father ended, they with- drew 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 na- tives, and the Spaniards saw themselves suddenly cut oiF 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 precau- tions accordingly. But none was meditated. The army was at length cheered by the return of Monte jo from his exploring expedition, after an absence of twelve days. He had run down the Gulf as far as Panuco, where he experienced such heavy gales, in attempting to double that head- land, 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 coun- try, well watered by fresh, running streams, af- forded a favorable position for the camp; and thither, after some deliberation, it was determined to repair. ^^ "Caraargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 121. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 40, 41. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 5, cap. 6.— Gomara, Cro- nica, cap. 29, ap. Barcia, torn. ii. CHAPTER VII TROUBLES IN THE CAMP— PLAN OF A COLONY — MANAGEMENT OF CORTES— MARCH TO CEM- POALLA — 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, in- stead of being bent on enterprise and action, are fastened on himself and the inevitable privations and dangers of his condition. This was particu- larly the case in the present instance, where, in ad- dition 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 cap- tain of a day — as little more than an equal. There was a growing discontent among the men 24 1519] TROUBLES IN THE CAMP 25 at their longer residence in this strange land. They were still more dissatisfied on learning the general's intention to remove to the neighborhood of the port discovered by Monte jo. " 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, as- suring them there was no cause for despondency. " Everything so far had gone on prosperously, and, when thej^ had taken up a more favorable po- sition, 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 Az- tec, two of them, it was found, could converse in that tongue. They said they were natives of Cem- poalla, 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 Az- tecs, and they experienced such vexatious oppres- 26 CONQUEST OF MEXICO sions from their conquerors as made them ver^y'- im- patient of the yoke. They informed Cortes of these and other j)articulars. The fame of the Spaniards had reached their master, who sent these messengers to request the presence of the wonder- ful strangers in his capital. This communication was eagerly listened to by the general, who, it will be remembered, was pos- sessed 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, bj^ the aid of which he might hope to overturn this barbaric em- pire. He received the mission of the Totonacs most graciously, and, after informing himself, as far as possible, of their dispositions and resources, dismissed them with presents, promising soon to pay a visit to their lord.^ Meanwhile, his personal friends, among whom may be particularly mentioned 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 mea- sures as should enable Cortes to go forward in those ambitious plans for which 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 con- duct to glory and incalculable riches. To return * Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 41. — Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 121.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 28. 1519] PLAN OF A COLONY 27 to Cuba would be to surrender to the greedy gov- ernor the Httle gains they had ah*eady got. The only way was to persuade the general to establish a permanent colony in the country, the govern- ment 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 au- thority from Velasquez. But the interests of the sovereigns, which were paramount to every other, imperatively demanded it." These conferences could not be conducted so se- cretly, though held by night, as not to reach the ears of the friends of Velasquez.^ They remon- strated against the proceedings, as insidious and disloyal. They accused the general of instiga- ting 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 instruc- tions. He, indeed, preferred to remain in the coun- try, and continue his profitable intercourse with the natives. But, since the army thought other- wise, he should defer to their opinion, and give or- ders to return, as they desired." On the following morning, proclamation was made for the troops to ' The letter from the cabildo of Vera Cruz says nothing of these midnight conferences. Bernal Diaz, who was privy to them, is a suflBcient authority. See Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 42. 28 CONQUEST OF MEXICO hold themselves in readiness to embark at once on board the fleet, which was to sail for Cuba.'^ Great was the sensation caused by their gen- eral's order. Even many of those before clamor- ous 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 remon- strances. " 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 ter- ritories are not his property, but were discovered for the sovereigns ; ^ and it is necessary to plant a colony to watch over their interests, instead of wasting time in idle barter, or, still worse, of re- turning, in the present state of affairs, to Cuba. ' Gomara, Cr6nica, cap. 30.— Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 121.— Ixtlilxocliitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 80.— Bernal Diaz, Ibid., loc. cit. — Declaracion de Puertocarrero, MS.— The depo- sition of a respectable person like Puertocarrero, taken in the spring of the following year, after his return to Spain, is a document of such authority that I have transferred it entire, in the original, to the Appendix, No. 7. * Sometimes we find the Spanish writers referring to " the sover- eigns," sometimes to "the emperor;" in the former case intending Queen Joanna, the crazy mother of Charles V., as well as himself. Indeed, all public acts and ordinances ran in the name of both. The title of " Highness," which until the reign of Charles V. had usually — not uniformly, as Robertson imagines (History of Charles V.) — been applied to the sovereign, now gradually gave way to that of "Majesty," which Charles affected after his election to the im- perial throne. The same title is occasionally found in the corre- spondence of the Great Captain, and other courtiers of the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. 1519] PLAN OF A COLONY 29 If you refuse," they concluded, " we shall protest against your conduct as disloyal to their Highnesses." Cortes received this remonstrance with the em- barrassed air of one by whom it was altogether un- expected. He modestly requested time for delib- eration, and promised to give his answer on the following day. At the time appointed, he called the troops together, and made them a brief ad- dress. " There was no one," he said, "if he knew his own heart, more deeply devoted than himself 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 Mexi- cans. But, if the soldiers thought a different course advisable, he was ready to postpone his own advantage to the good of the state." ^ He con- cluded by declaring his willingness to take mea- sures for settling a colony in the name of the Span- ish sovereigns^ and to nominate a magistracy to preside over it.*^ ^ According to Robertson, Cortes told his men that he had pro- posed to establish a colony on the coast, before marching into the country; but he abandoned his design, at their entreaties to set out at once on the expedition. In the very next page we find him organizing this same colony, (History of America, vol. ii. pp. 241, 242.) The historian would have been saved this inconsistency, if he had followed either of the authorities whom he cites, Bernal Diaz and Herrera, or the letter from Vera Cruz, of which he had a copy. They all concur in the statement in the text. ^ Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 122.— Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.— Declaracion de Montejo, MS.— Declaracion de Puertocarrero, MS. — "Our general, after some urging, acquiesced," says the blunt old soldier Bernal Diaz ; " for, as the proverb says, 30 CONQUEST OF MEXICO For the alcaldes he selected Puertocarrero and Monte jo, the former cavaMer his fast friend, and the latter the friend of Velasquez, and chosen for that very reason ; a stroke of policy which perfectly succeeded. The regidoreSj alguacil, treasurer, and other functionaries were then appointed, all of them his personal 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 w^hich 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.^ 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 ten- dered the resignation of his office of Captain-Gen- eral, " which, indeed," he said, " had necessarily expired, since the authority of the governor was now superseded by that of the magistracy of Villa Rica de Vera Cruz." He then, with a profound obeisance, left the apartment.^ ' You ask me to do what I have already made aip my mind to.' " Tu me lo ruegas, e yo me lo quiero. Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 43. ' According to Bernal Diaz, the title of " Vera Cruz " was intended to commemorate their landing on Good Friday. Hist, de la Con- quista, cap. 42. * Soli's, whose taste for speech-making might have satisfied even 1519] MANAGEMENT OF CORTES 31 The council, after a decent time spent in delib- eration, again requested his presence. " There was no one," thej^ 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 High- nesses, 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.^ 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 suc- ceeded 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 invec- tives, denouncing the whole as a systematic con- the Abbe Mably (see his Treatise, " De la Manifere d'ecrire I'His- toire"), has put a very flourishing harangue on this occasion into the mouth of his hero, of which there is not a vestige in any contem- porary account. (Conquista, lib. 2, cap. 7.) Dr. Robertson has transferred it to his own eloquent pages, without citing his author, indeed, who, considering he came a century and a half after the Conquest, must be allowed to be not the best, especially when the only, voucher for a fact. ' " Lo peor de todo que le otorgdmos," says Bernal Diaz, some- what pee\'ishly, was, "que le dariamos el quinto del oro de lo que se huuiesse, despues de sacado el Real quinto." (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 42.) The letter from Vera Cruz says nothing of this fifth. The reader who would see the whole account of this remarkable transaction in the original may find it in the Appendix, No. 8. 32 CONQUEST OF MEXICO spiracy 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 gov- ernor, Escobar, his page, and Diego de Ordaz, were so active in instigating these turbulent move- ments that Cortes took the bold measure of put- ting 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 neighboring coun- try and bring home provisions for the destitute camp. During their absence, every argument that cu- pidity 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 de- grees, 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 humor returned with good cheer, and the rival fac- tions embraced one another as companions in arms, pledged to a common cause. Even the high-met- tled 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 gov- ernment. What is more remarkable is that this forced conversion was not a hollow one, but from this time forward several of these very cavaliers 1519] MANAGEMENT OF CORTES 33 became the most steady and devoted partisans of Cortes/*^ 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 spir- its! By this ingenious transformation of a mili- tary 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 cro^^vTi, under which alone he held his 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 with him, and, whether for weal or for woe, must abide the consequences. He was no longer limited to the narrow concerns of a sor- did traffic, but, sure of their co-operation, might *" Carta de Vera Cruz, MS. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 30, 31. — Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 122. — Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 80. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 42. — Declaraciones de Montejo y Puertocarrero, MSS. — In the process of Narvaez against Cortes, the latter is accused of being possessed with the Devil, as only Lucifer could have thus gained him the affections of the soldiery. (Demanda de Narvaez, MS.) Soli's, on the other hand, sees nothing but good faith and loyalty in the conduct of the general, who acted from a sense of duty ! (Conquista, lib. 2, cap. 6, 7.) Soil's is even a more steady apologist for his hero than his own chaplain, Gomara, or the worthy magistrates of Vera Cruz. A more impartial testimony than either, probably, may be gathered from honest Bernal Diaz, so often quoted. A hearty champion of the cause, he was by no means blind to the defects or the merits of his leader. 34 CONQUEST OF MEXICO now boldly meditate, and gradually disclose, those lofty schemes which he had formed in his own bosom for the conquest of an empire.^ ^ 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 neighborhood of the modern Vera Cruz. In this sandy waste no signs of vege- tation met their eyes, which, however, were occa- sionally refreshed by glimpses of the blue Atlan- tic, and by the distant view of the magnificent Orizaba, towering, with his spotless diadem of snow, far above his colossal brethren of the An- des.^ ^ As they advanced, the country gradually " This may appear rather indifferent logic to those who consider that Cortes appointed the very body who, in turn, appointed him to the command. But the affectation of legal forms afforded him a thin varnish for his proceedings, which served his purpose, for the present at least, with the troops. For the future, he trusted to his good star — in other words, to the success of his enterprise— to \in- dicate his conduct to the Emperor. He did not miscalculate. ^^ The name of the mountain is not given, and probably was not known, but the minute description in the MS. of Vera Cruz leaves no doubt that it was the one mentioned in the text. " Entre las quales asi una que excede en mucha altura a todas las otras y de ella se vee y descubre gran parte de la mar y de la tierra, y es tan alta, que si el dia no es bien claro, no se puede divisar ni ver lo alto de ella, porque de la mitad arriba esta toda cubierta de nubes: y algunos veces, cuando hace muy claro dia, se vee por cima de las dichas nubes lo alto de ella, y estd tan bianco que lo jusgamos por nieve." (Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.) This huge volcano was called Citlaltepetl, or " Star Mountain," by the Mexicans, — perhaps from * [According to Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., 289, Quiahuiztlan, i.e., Rainy Place.— M.] 1519] MARCH TO CEMPOALLA 35 assumed a greener and richer aspect. They crossed a river, probably a tributary of the Rio de la Antigua J with difficulty, on rafts, and on some broken canoes that were lying on the banks. They now came in view of very different scenery, — wide-rolling plains covered with a rich carpet of verdure and overshadowed by groves of cocoas and feathery palms, among whose tall, slender stems were seen deer, and various wild animals with which the Spaniards were 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, which the Spaniards described as a species of peacock.^ ^ On their route they passed through some de- serted villages, in which were Indian temples, where they found censers, and other sacred uten- sils, and manuscripts of the agave fibre, contain- ing 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 dis- the fire which once issued from its conical summit, far above the clouds. It stands in the intendancy of Vera Cruz, and rises, ac- cording to Humboldt's measurement, to the enormous height of 17,368 feet above the ocean. (Essai politique, tom. i. p. 265.) It is the highest peak but one in the whole range of the Mexican Cor- dilleras. "Carta de Vera Cruz, MS. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 44. 36 CONQUEST OF MEXICO play of butchery which formed so dismal a con- trast 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 his 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 coun- try, came upon a wide expanse of luxuriant plains and woodland, glowing in all the splendor of tropical vegetation. The branches of the stately trees were gayly festooned with clustering vines of the dark-purple grape, variegated convolvTili, 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 colors, nowhere so gorgeous as in the tierra caliente, 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 de- licious melody. The hearts of the stern Conquer- ors were not very sensible to the beauties of nature. But the magical charms of the scenery drew forth unbounded expressions of delight, and as they wandered through this " terrestrial paradise," as 1519] MARCH TO CEMPOALLA 37 they called it, they fondly compared it to the fair- est regions of their own sunny land/^ 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 j)rogress. The women, as well as men, mingled fearlessly among the soldiers, bear- ing 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 spon- taneous production of every form of vegetable life. The same refined taste, as we shall see, pre- "Gomara, Cronica, cap. 33, ap. Barcia, torn, ii. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 5, cap. 1.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 1. — " Mui hermosas vegas y riberas tales y tan hermosas que en toda Espana no pueden ser me j ores ansi de apayibles a la vista como de fructiferas." (Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.) The following poetical apostrophe, by Lord Morpeth, to the scenery of Cuba, equally applicable to that of the tierra callente, will give the reader a more animated picture of the glories of these sunny climes than my own prose can. The verses, which have never been pub- lished, breathe the generous sentiment characteristic of their noble author: " Ye tropic forests of unfading green. Where the palm tapers and the orange glows. Where the light bamboo waves her feathery screen, And her far shade the matchless ceiba throws ! " Ye cloudless ethers of unchanging blue, Save where the rosy streaks of eve give way To the clear sapphire of your midnight hue, The burnished azure of your perfect day ! "Yet tell me not my native skies are bleak. That flushed with liquid wealth no cane-fields wave; For Virtue pines, and Manhood dares not speak. And Nature's glories brighten round the Slave." 38 CONQUEST OF MEXICO vailed among the warlike Aztecs, and has survived the degradation of the nation in their descendants of the present day.^^ Many of the women appeared, from their richer dress and numerous attendants, to be persons of rank. They were clad in robes of fine cotton, cu- riously colored, 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 mate- rial, 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 w^ho had ridden in advance returned with the amaz- ing 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 circumstance which produced much merriment among the sol- diers 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 " " The same love of flowers," observes one of the most delightful of modern travellers, " distinguishes the natives now, as in the times of Cortes. And it presents a strange anomaly," she adds, with her usual acuteness; "this love of flowers having existed along with their sanguinary worship and barbarous sacrifices." Madame Cal- deron de la Barca, Life in Mexico, vol. i. let. 13. 1519] RECEPTION AT CEMPOALLA 39 them.^^ 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, ap- parently, for such structures, were so nicely inter- woven 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.^ "^ Slowly and silently the little army paced the nar- row and now crowded streets of Cempoalla, inspir- ing the natives with no greater wonder than they themselves experienced at the display of a policy and refinement so far superior to anything they had witnessed in the New World.^^ The cacique came out in front of his residence to receive them. He was a tall and very corpulent man, and ad- vanced leaning on two of his attendants. He received Cortes and his followers with great cour- tesy, and, after a brief interchange of civilities, assigned the army its quarters in a neighboring temple, into the spacious court-yard of which a '* " Con la imaginacion que llevaban, i buenos deseos, todo se les antojaba plata i oro lo que relucia." Gomara, Crdnica, cap. 32, ap. Barcia, torn. ii. "This is Las Casas' estimate (Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 3, cap. 121.) Torquemada hesitates between twenty, fifty, and one hundred and fifty thousand, each of which he names at different times ! (Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. iii. p. 26, nota.) The place was gradually abandoned, after the Conquest, for others, in a more fa- vorable position, probably, for trade. Its ruins were visible at the close of the last century. See Lorenzana, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, p. 39, nota. " " Porque viven mas politica y rasonablemente que ninguna de las gentes que hasta oy en estas partes se ha visto." Carta de Vera Cruz, MS. 40 CONQUEST OF MEXICO number of apartments opened, affording excellent accommodation 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 demonstrations, Cortes did not relax his habitual vigilance, nor neglect any of the precau- tions of a good soldier. On his route, indeed, he had always marched in order of battle, well pre- pared 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 or- ders, under pain of death.^^ 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 build- ing of stone and lime, standing on a steep terrace of earth, and w^as 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 w4th one of his officers, and his fair interpreter, Dona IMarina."'' A long conference ensued, from which the Spanish gen- eral gathered much light respecting the state of "Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 131.— Carta de Vera Cruz, MS. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 33, ap. Barcia, torn. ii. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 33, cap. 1. ^The courteous title of dona is usually given by the Spanish chroniclers to this accomplished Indian. 1519] PROCEEDINGS WITH THE NATIVES 41 the country. He first announced to the chief that he was the subject of a great monarch who dwelt beyond the waters; that he had come to the Aztec shores to abolish the inhuman worship which pre- vailed 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 ven- geance by carrying off their young men and maid- ens to be sacrificed to his deities. Cortes assured him that he would never consent to such enormities ; he had been sent by his sovereign to redress abuses and to punish the oppressor ; ^^ and, if the Toto- nacs 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.^^ 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 independence of Mex- ico. The fame of the Spaniards had gone before "■ " He had come only to redress injuries, to protect the captive, to succor the weak, and to overthrow tyranny." (Gomara, Cronica, cap. 33, ap. Barcia, torn, ii.) Are we reading the adventures — it is the language— of Don Quixote or Amadis de Gaula? " Ibid., cap. 36.— Cortes, in his Second Letter to the Emperor Charles V., estimates the number of fighting-men at 50,000. Re- lacion segunda, ap. Lorenzana, p. 40. 42 CONQUEST OF MEXICO them, and he was well acquainted with their ter- rible victory at Tabasco. But still he looked with doubt and alarm to a rupture with " the great Montezuma," as he always styled him; whose ar- mies, on the least provocation, would pour down from the mountain regions of the West, and, rush- ing over the plains like a whirlwind, sweep off the wretched people to slavery and sacrifice! Cortes endeavored to reassure him, by declaring that a single Spaniard was stronger than a host of Aztecs. At the same time, it was desirable to know what nations would co-operate with him, not so much on his account as theirs, that he might dis- tinguish friend from foe and know whom he was to spare in this war of extermination. Having raised the confidence of the admiring chief by this comfortable and politic vaunt, he took an affec- tionate leave, with the assurance that he would shortly return and concert measures for their fu- ture operations, when he had visited his ships in the adjoining port and secured a permanent set- tlement there.^^ The intelligence gained by Cortes gave great satisfaction to his mind. It confirmed his former views, and showed, indeed, the interior of the mon- archy 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, w^ith his single arm, as it were, what had he now to fear, when one half of the na- "Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 131.— Ixtlil- xochitl. Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 81.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 33, cap. 1. 1519] PROCEEDINGS WITH THE NATIVES 43 tion 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 feel- ings 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 encoun- tered, before that consummation could be at- tained. Taking leave of the hospitable Indian, on the following da}^ the Spaniards took the road to Chia- huitztla,"^ about four leagues distant, near which was the port discovered by Monte jo, where their ships were now riding at anchor. They were pro- vided 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, hence- forth, in relieving the troops from this part of their duty. They passed through a country of the same rich, voluptuous character as that which 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 -* The historian, with the aid of Clavigero, himself a Mexican, may rectify frequent blunders of former writers, in the orthography of Aztec names. Both Robertson and Solfs spell the name of this place Quiabwlan. Blunders in such a barbarous nomenclature must be admitted to be very pardonable. 44 CONQUEST OF MEXICO of the principal men remained, who received them in a friendly manner, offering the usual compli- ments of flowers and incense. The people of the 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 To- tonac nation. In the midst of their conference, they were in- terrupted 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 w^ands 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 immedi- ately 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 ^la- rina what it meant. She informed him they were Aztec nobles, empowered to receive the tribute for Montezuma. Soon after, the chiefs returned with 1519] PROCEEDINGS WITH THE NATIVES 45 dismay painted on their faces. They confirmed Marina's statement, adding that the Aztecs greatly resented the entertainment afforded the Spaniards without the Emperor's permission, and demanded in expiation twenty young men and women for sacrifice to the gods. Cortes showed the strongest indignation at this insolence. 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 se- cretly before him. He expressed his regret at the indignity they had experienced from the Toto- nacs ; told them he would provide means for their flight, and to-morrow would endeavor 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, notwithstanding his ungenerous behavior in leav- ing them to perish from want on his barren shores. He then sent the JNIexican nobles down to the port, whence they were carried to another part of the coast by water, for fear of the violence of the To- tonacs. These were greatly incensed at the escape of the prisoners, and would have sacrificed the re- mainder 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 46 C0NQUP:ST of MEXICO their companions. This artful proceeding, so characteristic of the policy of Cortes, had, as we shall see hereafter, all the effect intended on Mon- tezuma. It cannot be commended, certainly, as in the true spirit of chivalry. Yet it has not wanted its panegyrist among the national histo- rians ! ^^ 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, bear- ing 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 an- cient liberty, came in numbers to Chiahuitztla, to see and confer with the formidable strangers. The more timid, dismayed at the thought of encoun- tering the power of Montezuma, recommended an embassy to avert his displeasure by timely conces- sions. But the dexterous management of Cortes had committed them too far to allow any reason- able expectation 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 the chiefs to the Spanish sovereigns, and duly recorded by ^ " Grande artifice," exclaims Soli's, " de medir lo que disponia con lo que recelaba; y prudente capitan ^1 que sabe caminar en alcance de las contingencias " ! Conquista, lib. 2, cap. 9. 1519] FOUNDATION OF VERA CRUZ 47 Godoy, the royal notary. Cortes, satisfied with the important acquisition of so many vassals to the crown, set out soon after for the destined port, having first promised to revisit Cempoalla, where his business was but partially accomplished.^^ The spot selected for the new city was only half a league distant, in a wide and fruitful plain, af- fording a tolerable haven for the shipping. Cortes was not long in determining the circuit of the walls, and the sites of the fort, granary, town- house, temple, and other public buildings. The friendly Indians eagerly assisted, by bringing materials, stone, lime, wood, and bricks dried in the sun. Every man put his hand to the work. The general labored with the meanest of the soldiers, stimulating their exertions by his example as well as voice. In a few weeks the task was accom- plished, 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 d'appiii for future op- erations ; 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 over- awe the adjacent country.^ '^ *« Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 81.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 40. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 34-36, ap. Barcia, torn, ii. — Bernal Diaz, Conquista, cap. 46, 47. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 5, cap. 10, 11. " Carta de Vera Cruz, MS. — Bernal Diaz, Conquista, cap. 48. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 1. — Declaracion de Mon- tejo, MS. — Notwithstanding the advantages of its situation. La Villa Rica was abandoned in a few years for a neighboring position to 48 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 pre- dicted by their bards and prophets. It was not the good Quetzalcoatl who had returned to claim his own again, bringing peace, freedom, and civiliza- tion 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 civili- zation would be poured on their land. But it would be the light of a consuming fire, before which their barbaric glory, their institutions, their ver}'- 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. the south, not far from the mouth of the Antigua. This second settlement was known by the name of Vera Cruz Vieja, " Old Vera Cruz." Early in the seventeenth century this place, also, was aban- doned for the present city, Nueva Vera Cruz, or New Vera Cruz, as it is called. (See ante, chap. 5, note 8.) Of the true cause of these successive migrations we are ignorant. If, as is pretended, it was on account of the vomito, the inhabitants, one would suppose, can have gained little by the exchange. (See Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 210.) A want of attention to these changes has led to much confusion and inaccuracy in the ancient maps. Lorenzana has not escaped them in his chart and topographical ac- count of the route of Cortes. CHAPTER VIII ANOTHER AZTEC EMBASSY— DESTRUCTION OF THE IDOLS— DESPATCHES SENT TO SPAIN — CONSPIR- ACY 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 amaze- ment at the unprecedented daring of the strangers. In Montezuma every other feeling, even that of fear, was swallowed up in indignation; and he showed his wonted energy in the vigorous prepa- rations which he instantly made to punish his re- bellious 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 accord- ingly sent an embassy, consisting of two youths, 49 50 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 do- nation of gold, rich cotton stuffs, and beautiful mantles of the plumaje, 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 cour- tesy he had shown in liberating his captive nobles. He was surprised and afflicted, however, that the Spaniards should have countenanced 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.^ 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 displaj^" of his resources as, while it amused their minds, should leave a deep impres- sion of his powTr. 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 him 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 in- terview. Notwithstanding the presence of the * " Teniendo respeto d que tiene por cierto, que somos los que sus antepassados les auian dicho, que auian de venir a sus tierras, 6 que deuemos de ser de sus linajes." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 48. 1519] STRICT DISCIPLINE 51 Spaniards, they had looked with apprehension to the consequences of their rash act; and their feel- ings of admiration were heightened into awe for the strangers who, at this distance, could exercise so mysterious an influence over the terrible Mon- tezuma.^ Not long after, the Spaniards received an ap- plication from the cacique of Cempoalla to aid him in a dispute in which he was engaged with a neigh- boring 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 impor- tance 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 Alva- rado, 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 cap- tains, 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. 'Gomara, Crdnica, cap. 37.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 82. 52 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 dif- ferent 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 favor- able an opinion of his moderation and justice as they had before been of his valor. In token of his gratitude, the Indian cacique delivered to the gen- eral eight Indian maidens, richly dressed, w^earing collars and ornaments of gold, with a number of female slaves to wait on them. They were daugh- ters of the principal chiefs, and the cacique re- quested that the Spanish captains might take them as their wives. Cortes received the damsels cour- teously, but told the cacique they must first be baptized, as the sons of the Church could have no commerce with idolaters.^ 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. INIingled with his polytheism, he had conceptions of a Su- ' " De buena gana recibirian las Doncellas como fuesen Chris- tianas; porque de otra manera, no era permitido A hombres, hijos de la Iglesia de Dios, tener comercio con id61atras." Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 5, cap. 13. 1519] DESTRUCTION OF THE IDOLS 53 preme and Infinite Being, Creator of the Uni- verse, and his darkened understanding could not comprehend how such a Being could condescend 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.^ 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 destruc- tion of their enemies. But the zeal of the Christians had mounted too high to be cooled by remonstrance or menace. During their residence in the land, they had wit- nessed more than once the barbarous rites of the natives, their cruel sacrifices of human victims, and their disgusting cannibal repasts.^ 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 enterprise 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 * Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 5, cap. 13.— Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 12x?.— Herrera has put a very edifying harangue, on this occasion, into the mouth of Cortes, which savors much more of the priest than the soldier. Does he not confound him with Father Olmedo? ^ " Esto habemos visto," says the Letter of Vera Cruz, " algunos de nosotros, y los que lo han visto dizen que es la mas terrible y la raa« espantosa cosa de ver que jamas han visto." Still more strongly speaks Bernal Diaz. (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 51.) The Letter computes that there were fifty or sixty persons thus butchered in each of the teocallis every year; giving an annual consumption, in the countries which the Spaniards had then visited, of three or four thousand victims! (Carta de Vera Cruz, MS.) However loose this arithmetic may be, the general fact is appalling. 64 CONQUEST OF MEXICO him his life." To postpone the work of conversion was a sin. In the enthusiasm of the moment, the dictates of pohcy and ordinary prudence were alike unheeded. Scarcely waiting for his commands, the Span- iards moved towards one of the principal teocallis, or temples, which rose high on a pyramidal foun- dation, with a steep ascent of stone steps in the middle. The cacique, divining their purpose, in- stantly called his men to arms. The Indian war- riors 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 meas- ures. He caused the cacique and some of the prin- cipal inhabitants and priests to be arrested by his soldiers. He then commanded them to quiet the people, for, if an arrow was shot against a Span- iard, it should cost every one of them his life. JNIa- rina, 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 ven- geance of IMontezuma. These temporal consid- erations seem to have had more weight with the Totonac chieftain than those of a more spiritual nature. He covered his face with his hands, ex- 1519] DESTRUCTION OF THE IDOLS 55 claiming that the gods would avenge their own wrongs. The Christians were not slow in availing them- selves of his tacit acquiescence. 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 hu- man gore, tore the huge wooden idols from their foundations, and dragged them to the edge of the terrace. Their fantastic forms and features, con- veying 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 taultitude. The same effect followed as in Cozumel. The Totonacs, finding their deities incapable of pre- venting or even punishing this profanation of their shrines, conceived a mean opinion of their power, compared with that of the mysterious and for- midable strangers. The floor and walls of the teo- calli 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 66 CONQUEST OF MEXICO hands; while an image of the Virgin, half smoth- ered under the weight of flowers, was borne aloft, and, as the procession climbed the steps of the tem- ple, was deposited above the altar. Mass was per- formed by Father Olmedo, and the impressive character of the ceremony and the passionate elo- quence of the good priest touched the feelings of the motley audience, until Indians as well as Span- iards, if we may trust the chronicler, were melted into tears and audible sobs. The Protestant mis- sionary seeks to enlighten the understanding of his convert by the pale light of reason. But the bolder Catholic, kindling the spirit by the splendor 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 convert, however, by the hold on his aflPections, — an easier and more powerful hold, with the untutored savage, than reason. An old soldier named Juan de Torres, disabled by bodily infirmity, consented to remain and watch over the sanctuary and instruct the natives in its services. Cort€s then, embracing his Totonac al- lies, now brothers in religion as in arms, set out once more for the Villa Rica, where he had some arrangements to complete previous to his depar- ture for the capital.** He was surprised to find that a Spanish vessel had arrived there in his absence, having on board •Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 123. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 51, 53. — Goraara, Cronica, cap. 43. — Her- rera. Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 5, cap. 13, 14.— Ixtlibtochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83. 1S19] DESPATCHES SENT TO SPAIN 57 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 with- out 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 seces- sion, be wholly employed to circumvent and crush him. He resolved to anticipate his movements, and to send a vessel to Spain with despatches ad- dressed to the emperor himself, announcing the nature and extent of his discoveries, and to obtain, if possible, the confirmation 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 importance of his own services to the crown. To effect this, the royal fifth he considered inadequate. He con- ferred with his officers, and persuaded them to relinquish their share of the treasure. At his in- stance, they made a similar application to the sol- diers; representing that it was the earnest wish of the general, who set the example by resigning 58 CONQUEST OF MEXICO his own fifth, equal to the share of the crown. It was but little that each man was asked to surren- der, 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 indul- gence for the past and his favor 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 re- spected, and receive the amount due to them. No one refused to sign; thus furnishing another ex- ample of the extraordinary power obtained by Cortes over these rapacious spirits, who, at his call, surrendered up the very treasures which had been the great object of their hazardous enterprise! ^ He accompanied this present with a letter to ' Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conqiiista, cap. 53.— IxtlilxochitI, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 82.— Carta de Vera Cruz, MS. A complete inventory of the articles received from Montezuma is contained in the Carta de Vera Cruz. — The following are a few of the items. Two collars made of gold and precious stones. A hundred ounces of gold ore, that their Highnesses might see in what state the gold came from the mines. Two birds made of green feathers, with feet, beaks, and eyes of gold, — and, in the same piece with them, animals of gold resembling snails. A large alligator's head of gold. A bird of green feathers, with feet, beak, and ej'es of gold. Two birds made of thread and feather-work, having the quills of their wings and tails, their feet, eyes, and the ends of their beaks of gold, — standing upon two reeds covered with gold, which are raised on balls of feather-work and gold embroidery, one white and the other yellow, with seven tassels of feather-work hanging from each of them. 1519] DESPATCHES SENT TO SPAIN 59 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 suiFerings; many particu- lars respecting the lands he had visited, and such as he could collect in regard to the great Mexi- can monarchy and its sovereign. He stated his difficulties with the governor of Cuba, the pro- ceedings 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.^ This was the celebrated First Letter, as it is called, of Cortes, which has hitherto eluded every A large silver wheel weighing forty-eight marks, several bracelets and leaves of the same metal, together with five smaller shields, the whole weighing sixty-two marks of silver. A box of feather-work embroidered on leather, with a large plate of gold, weighing seventy ounces, in the midst. Two pieces of cloth woven with feathers; another with variegated colors; and another worked 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 colors 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. * " Una muy larga Carta," says Gomara, in his loose analysis of it. Cronica, cap. 40. 60 CONQUEST OF MEXICO search that has been made for it in the hbraries of Europe.'* Its existence is fully established by ref- erences to it, both in his own subsequent letters, and in the writings of contemporaries.^*' Its general ' Dr. Robertson states that the Imperial Library at Vienna was examined for this document, at his instance, but without success. (History of America, vol. ii. note 70.) I have not been more for- tunate in the researches 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 documents; but a very thorough inspection of its papers makes it certain that this is wanting to the collection. As the emperor re- ceived it on the eve of his embarkation for Germany, and the Letter of Vera Cruz, forwarded at the same time, is in the library of Vienna, this would seem, after all, to be the most probable place of its retreat. " " 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 ray 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 Acad- emy of History — and perhaps the original at Vienna — bears the erroneous title of " Primera Relacion de Cortes." * * [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 described bore his own signature, while it was a natural mode of designating one of which he was the real author. It is easy to understand why, holding as yet no direct commission from the crown, he should have been less solicitous to appear as the narrator of his own exploits than to give them an appearance of official sanction and cover up his irregularity in not addressing his report to Velasquez, the official superior from whose control he was seeking to emancipate himself. Nor is it neces- sary, in accepting this hypothesis, to reject the statement of Bernal Diaz that Cortes sent to the emperor a relation under his own hand 1519] DESPATCHES SENT TO SPAIN 61 purport is given by his chaplain Gomara. The importance of the document has doubtless 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, vi^hich 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 communications, if it be true that he suppressed all notice of the discoveries of his two immediate predecessors.^^ The magistrates of the Villa Rica, in their epis- tle, went over the same ground with Cortes; con- cluding with an emphatic representation of the misconduct of Velasquez, whose venality, extor- tion, 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.^^ They implored the gov- " This is the imputation of Bernal Diaz, reported on hearsay, as he admits he never saw the letter himself. Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 54. " " Fingiendo mill cautelas," says Las Casas, politely, of this part of the letter, " y afirmando otras muchas f alsedades ^ mentiras " ! Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 123. which he did not show to his companions. It seems to have been his habit on subsequent occasions, when sending a detailed report, to accompany it with a briefer and more private letter, giving a sum- mary of what was contained in the longer document, sometimes v/ith the addition of other matter, to be read by the emperor himself. One such letter, cited hereafter (vol. iii. p. 266, note), mentions "una relacion bien larga y particular," which he was sending under the same date. That letters of this kind should not always have been preserved can excite no surprise; but it is highly improbable that the same fate should have befallen a full official report, the first of a series otherwise complete and disseminated by means of copies. — K.] 62 CONQUEST OF MEXICO ernment not to sanction his interference with the new colony, which would be fatal to its welfare, but to commit the undertaking to Hernando Cortes, as the man most capable, by his experience and conduct, of bringing it to a glorious termina- tion.^^ With this letter went also another in the name of the citizen-soldiers of Villa Rica, tendering their dutiful submission to the sovereigns, and re- questing the confirmation of their proceedings, above all, that of Cortes 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 Monte jo, the ancient partisan of Velasquez, and Alonso Her- nandez de Puertocarrero. The latter officer was " This document is of the greatest value and interest, coming as it does from the best-instructed persons in the camp. It presents an elaborate record of all then known of the countries they had visited, and of the principal movements of the army, to the time of the foundation of the Villa Rica. The writers conciliate our confidence by the circumspect tone of their narration. " Querer dar," they say, " a Vuestra Magestad todas las particularidades de esta tierra y gente de ella, podria ser que en algo se errase la relacion, porque muchas de ellas no se han visto mas de por informaciones de los natureles de ella, y por esto no nos entremetemos a dar mas de aquello que por muy cierto y verdadero Vras. Reales Altezas podran mandar tener." The account given of Velasquez, however, must be considered as an ex-parte testimony, and, as such, admitted with great reserve. It was essential to their own vindication, to vindicate Cortes. The letter has never been printed. The original exists, as above stated, in the Imperial Library at Vienna. The copy in my possession, covering more than sixty pages folio, is taken from that of the Academy of History at Madrid.* * [The letter has since been printed, from the original at Vienna, in the Col, de Doc. ined. para la Hist, de Espaiia, torn, i.— K.] 1519] DESPATCHES SENT TO SPAIN 63 a near kinsman of the count of Medellin, and it was hoped his high connections might secure a fa- vorable 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," ^^ several Indian manuscripts were sent. Some were of cot- ton, others of the Mexican agave. Their unintel- ligible characters, says a chronicler, excited little interest in the Conquerors. As evidence of intel- lectual culture, however, they formed higher ob- jects of interest to a philosophic mind than those costly fabrics which attested only the mechanical ingenuity of the nation.^ '"^ 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 Alaminos. 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 " " A nuestra parecer se debe creer, que ai en esta tierra tanto quanto en aquella de donde se dize aver llevado Salomon el ore para el templo." Carta de Vera Cruz, MS. ^° Peter Martyr, pre-eminent above his contemporaries for the enlightened views he took of the new discoveries, devotes half a chapter to the Indian manuscripts, in which he recognized the evi- dence of a civilization analogous to the Egyptian. I)e Orbe Novo, dec. 4, cap. 8. 64 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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, an- chored before Marien, on the northern side of the island. This was done to accommodate Monte jo, who wished to visit a plantation owned by him in the neighborhood. While oif the port, a sailor got on shore, and, crossing the island to St. Jago, the capital, spread everywhere tidings of the expedition, until they reached the ears of Ve- lasquez. It was the first intelligence which had been received of the armament since its depar- ture ; and, as the governor listened to the recital, it would not be easy to paint the mingled emotions of curiosity, astonishment, and wrath which agi- tated his bosom. In the first sally of passion, he poured a storm of invective on the heads of his secretary and treasurer, the friends of Cortes, who had recommended him as the leader of the expe- dition. 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 government at home, and to the Hieronymite fathers in Hispaniola, de- manding redress. He obtained little satisfaction from the latter. He resolved, however, to take the matter into his own hands, and set about mak- 1519] CONSPIRACY IN THE CAMP 65 ing 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 the more perfect nautical science of our day, it was reckoned a fair voyage for that. Of what befell the commission- ers on their arrival, their reception at court, and the sensation caused by their intelligence, I defer the account to a future chapter.^ ^ Shortly after the departure of the commission- ers, an affair occurred of a most unpleasant na- ture. A number of persons, with the priest Juan Diaz at their head, ill-affected, from 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 con- ducted with so much secrecy that the party had got their provisions, water, and everjiihing neces- ^' Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 54-57. — Gomara, Cro- nica, cap. 40. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 5, cap. 14. — Carta de Vera Cruz, MS. — Martyr's copious information was chiefly de- rived from his conversations with Alaminos and the two envoys, on their arrival at court. De Orbe Novo, dec. 4, cap. 6, et alibi; also Idem, Opus Epistolarum (Amstelodami, 1670), ep. 650. 66 CONQUEST OF MEXICO sary 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 num- ber, who repented the part he had taken in it. The general caused the persons implicated to be in- stantly apprehended. An examination was insti- tuted. The guilt of the parties was placed beyond a doubt. Sentence of death was passed on two of the ringleaders; another, the pilot, was con- demned 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 algua- cil who, the reader may remember, so stealthily apprehended Cortes befor,e the sanctuary in Cuba.^^ The general, on signing the death-war- rants, 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 ut- tered in similar circumstances.^^ 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 " See Vol. I, p. 306. " Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 57.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 2.— Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 122.— Demanda de Xarvaez, MS.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 41. — It was the exclamation of Nero, as reported by Suetonius. " Et cum de supplicio cujusdam capite damnati ut ex more subscriberet, admoneretur, ' Quam vellem,' inquit, ' nescire literas ! ' " Lib. 6, cap. 10. 1519] CONSPIRACY IN THE CAMP 67 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 hereafter, might falter in pur- pose, and, getting possession of the vessels, aban- don the enterprise. This was already too vast, and the odds were too formidable, to authorize expec- tation of success with diminution of numbers. Experience showed that this was always to be ap- prehended while means of escape were at hand/^ The best chance for success was to cut off these means. He came to the daring resolution to de- stroy 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 re- port of the condition of the fleet as suited his pur- pose. 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. ^^ " Y porque," says Cortes, " demas de los que por ser criados y amigos de Diego Velasquez tenian voluntad de salir de la Tierra, habia otros, que por verla tan grande, y de tanta gente, y tal, y ver los pocos Espanoles que eramos, estaban del mismo proposito; creyendo, que si alii los navios dejasse, se me alzarian con ellos, y ydndose todos los que de esta voluntad estavan, yo quedaria casi solo." 68 CONQUEST OF MEXICO Cortes received the communication with sur- prise ; " for he could well dissemble," observes Las Casas, with his usual friendly comment, " when it suited his interests." " If it be so," he exclaimed, *' we must make the best of it! Heaven's will be done! " ^" 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. They saw themselves cut off by a single blow from friends, family, country! The stoutest hearts quailed before the prospect of being thus aban- doned on a hostile shore, a handful of men arrayed against a formidable empire. When the news ar- rived of the destruction of the five vessels first condemned, they had acquiesced in it as a neces- sary 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 sham- " " Mostr6 quando se lo dix^ron mucho sentimiento Cortes, porque savia bien ha^er fingimientos quando le era provechoso, y rrespondio- les que mirasen vien en ello, e que si no estavan para navegar que diesen gracias a Dios por ello, pues no se podia hacer mas." Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 132. 1519] THE FLEET SUNK 69 bles ! " ^^ The affair wore a most alarming aspect. In no situation was Cortes ever exposed to greater danger from his soldiers.^^ His presence of mind did not desert him at this crisis. He called his men together, and, employ- ing 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 projDerty,— all, indeed, he possessed in the world. The troops, on the other hand, w^ould de- rive 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 be- sought them to turn their thoughts in another direc- tion. 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 the}'' advanced, would be their ruin. They had only to resume their former confidence in them- selves 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 ^* " Decian, que los queria meter en el matadero." Gomara, Cr6- nica, cap. i2. ^^ " Al cavo lo ovieron de sentir la gente y ayna se le amotinaran muchos, y esta fue uno de los peligros que pasaron por Cortes de muchos que para matallo de los mismos Espanoles estuvo." Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, MS., lib. 3, cap. 122. 70 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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." ^'' The politic orator had touched the right chord in the bosoms of the soldiers. As he spoke, their re- sentment gradually died away. The faded visions of future riches and glory, rekindled by his elo- quence, 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 con- cluded, they testified the revulsion of their feel- ings by making the air ring with their shouts, " To Mexico! to Mexico! " The destruction of his fleet by Cortes is, per- haps, the most remarkable passage in the life of this remarkable man. History, indeed, aiFords 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 " " Que ninguno seria tan cobarde y tan pusilanime que queria estimar su vida mas que la suya, ni de tan debil corazon que dudase de ir con el d Mexico, donde tanto bien le estaba aparejado, y que si acaso se determinaba alguno de dejar de hacer este se podia ir ben- dito de Dios d Cuba en el navio que habia dexado, de que antes de mucho se arrepentiria, y pelaria las barbas, viendo la buena ventura que esperaba le sucederia." Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. S-2. " Perhaps the most remarkable of these examples is that of Julian, 1519] THE FLEET SUNK 71 an act of madness. Yet it was the fruit of delib- erate 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 suc- ceed 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 des- perate soldiery, was an act of resolution that has few parallels in history.^^ who, in his unfortunate Assyrian invasion, burnt the fleet which had carried him up the Tigris. The story is told by Gibbon, who shows very satisfactorily that the fleet would have proved a hinderance rather than a help to the emperor in his further progress. See His- tory of the Decline and Fall, vol, ix. p. 177, of Milraan's excellent edition. " The account given in the text of the destruction of the fleet is not that of Bernal Diaz, who states it to have been accomplished not only with the knowledge, but entire approbation of the army, though at the suggestion of Cortes. (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 58.) 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 judgment 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 apprehension 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 re- ceived from the pilots. (Declaraciones, MSS.) Narvaez in his accusation of Cortes, and Las Casas, speak of the act in terms of unqualified reprobation, charging him, moreover, 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. 132.) The same account of the transaction, though with a very diff^erent commentary as to its merits, is repeated by Oviedo (Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 2), Gomara (Cr6nica, 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 incredible when considered as the result of so many independent wills. It is not improbable that Bernal Diaz, from his known devotion to the cause. 72 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 appro- priated 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 com- mander. Whatever be the cause of the discrepancy, his solitary testimony can hardly be sustained against the weight of contem- porary evidence from such competent sources.* * [Prescott's account of the circumstances attending the destruc- tion of the fleet has been contested at great length by Seiior Ramirez, who insists on accepting the statements of Bernal Diaz without qualification and ascribing to the army an equal share with the general in the merit of the act. He remarks with truth that the language of Cortfe — " Tuve manera, como so color que los dichos navios 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 understanding with the mariners who were to make the statement, and with his friends who were to confirm it." This is, however, very ineflScient reasoning. It is not pretended that Cortes had no confi- dants and agents in the transaction. The question of real impor- tance 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 eifect to it, without any com- munication with the mass of his followers? The newly discovered relation of Tapia is cited by Seiior Ramirez as " in perfect accor- dance with the testimony of Diaz and destructive of every supposition of mystery and secrecy." Yet Tdpia says, with Herrera, that Cortes caused holes to be bored in the ships and their unserviceable con- dition to be reported to him, and thereupon gave orders for their destruction; no mention being made of the concurrence of the sol- diers at any stage of the proceedings.— K.] Fray Bartolome de las Casas, Bishop of Chiapa, whose " History of the Indies " forms an important authority for the preceding pages, was one of 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 son at the Uni- versity of Salamanca. During his residence there, he was attended by an Indian page, whom his father had brought with him from His- paniola. Thus the uncompromising advocate for freedom began 1502] LAS CASAS 73 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 conse- crated in that holy oflSce 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 ameliorating 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 repartimientos, intro- duced 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 oppression which has been seldom paralleled in the annals of mankind. Las Casas, outraged at the daily exhibi- tion 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 lis- tened to the complaints of the benevolent missionary, and, with his characteristic vigor, instituted a commission of three Hierony- mite friars, with full authority, as already noticed in the text, to reform abuses. Las Casas was honored, 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 consummate difficulty, as it required time to in- troduce important changes in established institutions. The ardent and impetuous temper of Las Casas, disdaining every consideration of prudence, overleaped all these obstacles, and chafed under what he considered the lukewarm and temporizing policy of the com- missioners. 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 administration 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 tol- erate no peculation or extortion but their own. They acquiesced, without much difficulty, in the recommendations of Las Casas, who proposed to relieve the natives by sending out Castilian laborers and by importing negro slaves into the islands. This last proposition has 74 CONQUEST OF MEXICO brought heavy obloquy 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 vindicate his memory from the reproach of having recommended the measure at all. Unfortunately for the latter assertion. Las Casas, in his " His- tory 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 in- troduced slavery by this measure into the islands, the importa- tion 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 suifering; 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, es- pecially taking into view that, as he became more enlightened him- self, he was so ready to testify his regret at having unadvisedly coun- tenanced the measure. The experiment recommended by Las Casas was made, but, through the apathy of Fonseca, 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 neighborhood 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, should be allowed to interfere with his movements. He pledged himself by peaceful means alone to accomplish all that had been done by violence in other quarters. He asked only that a certain number of laborers should attend him, invited 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 proposition was denounced as chi- merical and fantastic by some, whose own opportunities of obser- vation entitled their judgment to respect. 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 conducted before him. The opponent of Las Casas was first heard, when the good missionary, in answer, warmed by the noble cause he was to maintain, and nothing daunted by the august pres- ence in which he stood, delivered 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 accom- modated to every nation on the globe. It robs no one of his freedom. 1520] LAS CASAS 75 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 oppression from your kingdom 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 establishing his colony, and in 1520 embarked for America. But the result was a lamentable failure. The country as- signed to him lay in the neighborhood 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 waiting for the close of these turbulent scenes, the laborers, 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 circumstances beyond the con- trol 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 benevolent plans, without fully esti- mating the obstacles that lay in their way, and who counted too con- fidently on meeting the same generous enthusiasm in others which glowed in his own bosom. He found, in his disgrace, the greatest consolation 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 they 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 commenced his great work the " His- toria general de las Indias," which he pursued, at intervals of leisure, from 1537 till a few years before his death. His time, however, was not wholly absorbed by these labors; 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 obedience some wild tribes in the latter province, who had defied the arms of his countrymen. In all these pious labors 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. 76 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 com- mon topic of discussion, not only in the council, but in the court; and the representations of Las Casas made an impression that mani- fested itself in the change of sentiment more clearly every day. He promoted this by the publication 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 countrymen 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 writ- ten 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 to spare his countrymen; to exhibit their misdeeds in their true colors, and by this appalling picture — for such it would have been — to have recalled the nation, and those who governed it, to a proper sense 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 suffi- cient 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 favor 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 somewhat 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 useful- ness, bj'^ the spirit of alienation, and even resentment, which it en- gendered. Las Casas' honest intentions, his enlightened views and long ex- perience, gained him deserved credit at home. This was visible in the important regulations made at this time for the better govern- ment of the colonies, and particularly in respect to the aborigines. A code of laws. Las Ntievas Leyes, was passed, having for their avowed object the enfranchisement of this unfortunate race; and in 1544] LAS CASAS 77 the wisdom and humanity of its provisions it is easy to recognize the hand of the Protector of the Indians. The history of Spanish colonial legislation is the history of the impotent 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 disinterested soul of the missionary did not covet riches or preferment. He rejected the proffered dignity without hesitation. Yet he could not refuse the bishopric of Chiapa, a country which, from the poverty and ignorance of its inhabitants, offered a good field for his spiritual labors. 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 apprehension, 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- devotion, so regardless of personal considerations, preserved him from this outrage. Yet he showed no disposition to conciliate his opponents by what he deemed an imworthy concession; 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 meas- ure not only outraged the planters, but incurred the disapprobation of his own brethren in the Church. Three years were spent in disa- greeable altercation without coming to any decision. The Spaniards, to borrow their accustomed phraseology on these occasions, " obejing the law, but not fulfilling it," applied to the court for further in- structions; 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 champion of Indian freedom in the famous controversy with Sepulveda, one of the most acute scholars of the time, and far surpassing Las Casas in elegance and correctness of composition. But the Bishop of Chiapa was his superior in argument, at least in this discussion, where he had right and reason on his side. In his " Thirty Propo- sitions," as they are called, in which he sums up the several points of his case, he maintains that the circumstance of infidelity in re- ligion cannot deprive a nation of its political rights; that the Holy 78 CONQUEST OF MEXICO See, in its grant of the New World to the Catholic sovereigns, de- signed only to confer the right of converting its inhabitants to Christianity, and of thus winning a peaceful authority over them, and that no authority could be valid which rested on other founda- tions. This was striking at the root of the colonial empire as as- sumed by Castile. But the disinterested views of Las Casas, the respect entertained for his principles, and the general conviction, it may be, of the force of his arguments, prevented the court from taking umbrage at their import, or from pressing them to their legitimate conclusion. While the writings of his adversary 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 excellent, had been strength- ened by a life of temperance and toil; and he retained his faculties unimpaired to the last. He died after a short illness, July, 1566, at the great age of ninety-two, in his monastery of Atocha, at Madrid. The character of Las Casas may be 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 forever, but which, though now familiar, were hidden from all but a few penetrating intellects by the general 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 lift the voice of rebuke in the presence of princes, to brave the menaces of an infuriated populace, to cross seas, to traverse mountains and deserts, to incur the alienation of friends, the hostility of enemies, to endure obloqu\% 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 discussion, sharpened his invective, too often steeped his pen in the gall of personal vitupera- tion, led him into gross exaggeration and over-coloring 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 interested, may be supposed to have been prejudiced, 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 re- ported conversations, charged the Bishop of Chiapa with an arro- gant, uncharitable temper, which deluded his judgment, and vented itself in unwarrantable crimination against such as resisted his 1566] LAS CASAS 79 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 charitable objects. No meas- ure of importance relating to the Indians was taken without his advice. He lived to see the fruits of his efforts in the positive ame- lioration 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, especially in the French translation of Llorente. His great work, which occu- pied him at intervals for more than thirty years, the Historia general de las Indias, still remains in manuscript. It is in three volumes, divided into as many parts, and embraces the colonial history from the discovery of the country by Columbus 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 pedantic 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 immutal)le 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 al- ways pleading the cause of the persecuted native. This gives a color- ing 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 contempt. He wit- nessed 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 indignation, nor speak of him other- wise than with a sneer, as a mere upstart adventurer. It is the existence of defects like these, and the fear of the mis- conception likely to be produced by them, that have so long pre- 80 CONQUEST OF MEXICO vented 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 per- mitted 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 I^as Casas some years since, with a view to the publication of the whole work. But the indiscreet and imaginative style of the composition, according to Navarrete, 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 important 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 evidence 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 be published 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 translation of the bishop's controversial writings, and that by Quintana, in the third volume of his " Espanoles celebres," where it presents a truly noble speci- men of biographical composition, enriched by a literary criticism as acute as it is candid. I have gone to the greater length in this notice, from the interesting 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 expedition of Cortes terminates with the destruction of the navy. * [The Historia de las Indias was published in five volumes, in 1875-76, by the Royal Academy of History in Madrid. Prescott's manuscript copy of the work was probably burned in Boston in 1872.— M.] BOOK III MARCH TO MEXICO BOOK III MARCH TO MEXICO CHAPTER I PROCEEDINGS AT CEMPOAELA— THE SPANIARDS CLIMB THE TABLE-LAND — PICTURESQUE SCEN- ERY—TRANSACTIONS WITH THE NATIVES— EM- BASSY TO TLASCALA 1519 WHIIiE at Cempoalla, Cortes received a message from Escalante, his commander 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 in- telligence 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. 83 84 CONQUEST 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, without stop- ping 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 re- plied that they belonged to a squadron fitted out by Francisco 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 wit- nesses, had been sent on shore to warn their coun- trymen 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 precise notion of the geog- raphy and limits of these territories. Cortes saw at once there was nothing to appre- hend 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 *"Cabra coja no tenga siesta." 1519] PROCEEDINGS AT CEMPOALLA 85 ashore. In this dilemma, Cortes had recourse to a stratagem. 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, direct- ing 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 de- ceit, 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 half a dozen able-bodied recruits, and, what was of more impor- tance, relieved in his own mind from the appre- hension of interference with his operations." He now made arrangements for his speedy de- parture from the Totonac capital. The forces reserved for the expedition amounted to about four hundred foot and fifteen horse, wath seven pieces of artillery. He obtained, also, from the cacique of Cempoalla, 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 »Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 1.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 42-45.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con- quista, cap. 59, 60. 86 CONQUEST OF MEXICO guide him on the way and serve him by their coun- sels among the strange tribes he was to visit. They were, in fact, of essential service to him through- out the march.'' The remainder of his Spanish force he left in garrison at Villa Rica de Vera Cruz, the command of which he had intrusted to the alguacil, Juan de Escalante, an officer devoted to his interests. The selection was judicious. It was important to place there a man who would resist any hostile interfer- ence from his European rivals, on the one hand, and maintain the present friendly relations with the natives, on the other. Cortes 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 re- ligion 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 enter- prise which had been the great object of their de- sires, 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 ' Gomara, Cronica, cap. 44.— IxtlilxochitI, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 61. — The number of the Indian auxiliaries stated in the text is much larger than that allowed by either Cortes or Diaz. But both these actors in the drama show too obvious a desire to magnify their own prowess, by exaggerating the numbers of their foes and diminishing their own, to be entitled to much confidence in their estimates. 1519] PROCEEDINGS AT CEMPOALLA 87 and your own stout hearts." "* He ended by com- paring 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 went to the soldiers' hearts. For their sympathies were his, and he shared in that romantic spirit of adven- ture which belonged to them. " We are ready to obey you," they cried as with one voice. " Our fortmies, for better or worse, are cast with yours." ^ Taking leave, therefore, of their hos- pitable Indian friends, the little army, buoyant with high hopes and lofty plans of conquest, set forward on their march to Mexico. It was the sixteenth of August, 1519. During the first day, their road lay through the tierra Calient e, the beautiful land where they had been so long lingering; the land of the vanilla, cochi- neal, 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 Avith many-colored birds, and insects whose enam- elled wings glisten like diamonds in the bright sun of the tropics. Such are the magical splendors of *"No teniamos otro socorro, ni ayuda sino el de Dios; porque ya no teniamos nauios para ir a Cuba, salvo nuestro buen pelear y coracjones fuertes." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 59. ° " Y todos a vna le respondi'mos, que hariamos lo que ordenasse, que echada estaua la suerte de la buena 6 mala ventura." Loc. cit. 88 CONQUEST OF MEXICO this paradise of the senses. Yet Nature, who gen- erally works in a spirit of compensation, has pro- vided one here; since the same burning sun which quickens into life these glories of the vegetable and animal kingdoms calls forth the pestilent ma- laria, 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. AVe 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 Cordil- leras — which leads up to the table-land of INIexico. At the close of the second day they reached Xa- lapa, 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." This town stands • Jalap, Convolvulus jalapa. The x and j are convertible conso- nants in the Castilian.* * [Jalapa means " Spring in the Sand."— M.] 1519] SPANIARDS CLIMB THE TABLE-LAND 89 midway up the long ascent, at an elevation where the vapors from the ocean, touching in their wes- terly progress, maintain a rich verdure throughout the year. Though somewhat infected by these marine fogs, the air is usually bland and salubri- ous. 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 vomitoJ 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 magnifi- cent 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 ocean, beyond which were the kindred and country they were many of them never more to see. Still winding their way upward, amidst scenery ^ The heights of Xalapa are crowned with a convent dedicated to St. Francis, erected in later days by Cortes, showing, in its solidity, like others of the period built under the same auspices, says an agreeable traveller, a military as well as religious design. Tudor's Travels in North America (London, 183i), vol. ii. p. 186". 90 CONQUEST OF MEXICO as different as was the temperature from that of the regions below, the army passed through set- tlements 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 hos- pitably entertained by the inhabitants, who were friends of the Totonacs. Cortes endeavored, 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.^ «Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 1.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 40.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 44. — Ixtlil- xochitl. Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.—" Every hundred yards of our route," says the traveller last quoted, speaking of this very region, " was marked by the melancholy erection of a wooden cross, denot- ing, according to the custom of the country, the commission 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 travel- lers were formerly liable to be attacked in going from the city of Mexico to Vera Cruz, and that the diligence which passes over this road is still frequently stopped, yet it is very seldom that personal vio- lence is offered. " Foreign tourists are prone to believe all the stories of atrocities 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 memorials of assassinations committed in the places where they 1519] PICTURESQUE SCENERY 91 The troops now entered a rugged defile, the Bishop's Pass,^ as it is called, capable of easy de- fence against an army. Very soon they experi- enced a most miwelcome 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 pene- trate to their very bones. The Spaniards, indeed, partially covered by their armor and thick jackets of quilted cotton, were better able to resist the weather, though their long residence in the sul- try 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 wound along the spur of the huge Cofre de Perote, which bor- rows its name, both in Mexican and Castilian, from the cofFer-like rock on its summit.^" It is one of 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 attention of the government; while the candid foreigner will doubtless admit that it is not easy to exercise police supervision 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 M^jico (trad, de Vega), tom. i. p. 251.] * El Paso del Obispo. Cortes named it Puerto del Nombre de Dios. Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. ii. "* The Aztec name is Nauhcampatepetl, from nauhcampa, " any- thing square," and tepetl, "a mountain." — Humboldt, who waded through forests and snows to its summit, ascertained its height to 92 CONQUEST OF MEXICO the great volcanoes of New Spain. It exhibits now, indeed, no vestige of a crater on its top, but abundant traces of volcanic action at its base, where acres of lava, blackened scorije, and cinders proclaim the convulsions of nature, while numer- ous 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 three 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}'^ They soon came upon an open reach of countr}^ 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 w^ere, 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 be 4089 metres, = 13,414 feet, above the sea. See his Vues des Cor- dilleres, p. 234, and Essai politique, vol. i. p. 266. "The same mentioned in Cortes' Letter as the Puerto de la Lena. Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. iii. 1519J TRANSACTIONS WITH THE NATIVES 93 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, ali- ment of the countries below, had long since faded from the landscape. The hardy maize, however, still shone with its golden harvest in all the pride of cultivation, the great staple of the higher equally with the lower terraces of the plateau. Suddenl}^ 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.^ ^ 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 re- ceptacle, in which, according to Bernal Diaz, were stored a hundred thousand skulls of human vic- 'tims, all piled and ranged in order! He reports the number as one he had ascertained by counting them himself.^ ^ 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. " Now known by the euphonious Indian name of Tlatlanquitepeo. (Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. iv.) It is the Cocotlan of Bernal Diaz. (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 61.) The old Conquerors made sorry work with the Aztec names, both of places and persons, for which they must be allowed to ha%'e had ample excuse. 13 « Puestos tantos riraeros de calaueras de muertos, que se podian bien contar, segun el concierto con que estauan puestas, que me parece que eran mas de cien mil, y digo otra vez sobre cien mil." Ibid., ubi supra. 94 CONQUEST OF MEXICO The lord of the town ruled over twenty thou- sand vassals. He was tributary 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, whe- ther he were subject to Montezuma, he answered, with real or affected surprise, " Who is there that is not a vassal of Montezuma? " ^^ The general told him, with some emphasis, that he was not. He then explained whence and why he came, as- suring 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! ^^ His revenues wxre immense, as every subject, how- ever poor, paid something. They were all ex- pended on his magnificent state and in support of " " El qual casi admirado de lo que le preguntaba, me respondid, diciendo; ique quien no era vasallo de Muctezuma? queriendo decir, que alii era Senor del Mundo." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 47. " " Tiene mas de 30 Pri'ncipes d si subjectos, que cada uno dellos tiene cient mill hombres e mas de pelea." (Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 1.) This marvellous tale is gravely repeated by more than one Spanish writer, in their accounts of the Aztec mon- archy, not as the assertion of this chief, but as a veritable piece of statistics. See, among others, Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 12.— Soils, Conquista, lib. 3, cap. 16. 1519] TRANSACTIONS WITH THE NATIVES 95 his armies. These were continually in the field, while garrisons were maintained in most of the large cities of the empire. jMore than twenty thousand victims, the fruit of his wars, were annu- ally sacrificed on the altars of his gods ! His capi- tal, 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 coloring of romance. Whether romance, or reality, the Spaniards could not deter- mine. 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 Span- iard — only the more earnest to prove the adven- ture, desperate as it might appear." ^^ 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 Monte- " Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 61.— There is a slight ground-swell of glorification in the Captain's narrative, which may provoke a smile,— not a sneer, for it is mingled with too much real courage and simplicity of character. 96 CONQUEST OF MEXICO '/uiiia. " 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 ex- cited by the strange dresses, weapons, horses, and dogs of the Spaniards. JNIarina, in satisfying their inquiries, took occasion to magnify the prow- ess of her adopted countrymen, expatiating on their exploits and victories, and stating the extra- ordinaiy marks of respect they had received from Montezuma. This intelligence seems to have had its effect ; for soon after the cacique gave the gen- eral 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 svipplied the means of re- freshment and repose, more important to them, in the present juncture, than all the gold of Mex- * 17 ICO. ' The Spanish general, as usual, did not neglect the occasion to inculcate the great truths of reve- lation 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, " For the preceding pages, besides authorities cited in course, see Peter Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 1,— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.— Gomara, Crdnica, cap. 44,— Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., Hb. 4, cap. 26. 1519] TRANSACTIONS WITH THE NATIVES 97 had not Father Oknedo, with better judgment, in- terposed. 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 influ- ence on his fortunes ; for he held all temporal con- sequences light in comparison with the great work of conversion, to eiFect which the unscrupulous mind of the soldier, trained to the stern discipline of the camp, would have employed force when- ever fair means were ineffectual.^^ 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 general clearly belonged to the church militant, mentioned by Butler: " Such as do build their faith upon The holy text of pike and gun. And prove their doctrines orthodox By apostolic blows and knocks." 98 CONQUEST OF MEXICO the primitive ages, by which it has spread its peace- ful 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, car- ried 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 van- quished, little heeding whether the conversion were genuine, so that it conformed to the outward ob- servances of the Church. Yet the seeds thus reck- lessly 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 fam- ished forces; and the modern Indians still point out, or did, at the close of the last century, a ven- erable cypress, under the branches of which was tied the horse of the Conquistador,— the Con- queror, 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 occurrence on the parched table-land of New Spain. The soil was well pro- tected by woods, — a thing still rarer at the present " " Arbol grande, dicho ahuehuete." (Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. iii.) The cupressus disticha of Linnaeus. See Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 54, note. 1519] TRANSACTIONS WITH THE NATIVES 99 day; since the invaders, soon after the Conquest, swept away the magnificent growth of timber, ri- valling that of our Southern and Western States in variety and beauty, which covered the plateau under the Aztecs. ^^ * All along the river, on both sides of it, an un- broken line of Indian dwellings, " so near as al- most to touch one another," extended for three or four leagues; arguing a population much denser than at present.^^ On a rough and rising ground stood a town that might contain five or six thou- sand inhabitants, commanded by a fortress, which, with its walls and trenches, seemed to the Span- iards quite " on a level with similar works in Eu- '"' It is the same taste which has made the Castiles, the table-land of the Peninsula, so naked of wood. Prudential reasons, as well as taste, however, seem to have operated in New Spain. A friend of mine on a visit to a noble hacienda, but uncommonly barren of trees, was informed by the proprietor that they were cut down to prevent the lazy Indians on the plantation from wasting their time by loiter- ing in their shade! " It confirms the observations of M. de Humboldt. " Sans doute lors de la premiere arrivee des Espagnols, toute cette cote, depuis la riviere de Papaloapan (Alvarado) jusqu'a Huaxtecapan, ^tait plus habitee et mieux cultivee qu'elle ne Test aujourd'hui. Ce- pendant a mesure que les conquerans monterent au plateau, ils trouverent les villages plus rapproches les uns des autres, les champs divises en portions plus petites, le peuple plus polled." Humboldt, Essai politique, tom, ii. p. 202. * [The amount of timber in Mexico at the time of the Conquest has been greatly overestimated. Humboldt complains of the Spaniards for cutting down trees. Yet Bernal Diaz says (cap. ccix.) : "y ban plantado sus tierras y heredades de todos los drboles y frutas que hemos traido de Espaiia, y venden el fruto que procede dello: y han puesto tantos drboles, que porque los duraznos no son buenos para la salud y los platanales les hacen mucha sombra, han cortado y cortan muchos, y lo ponen de membrilleros y manzanas, y perales; que los tienen en mas estima." — M.] 100 CONQUEST OF MEXICO rope." Here the troops again halted, and met with friendly treatment.^ ^ 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 Mon- tezuma, were a mild race, devoted to mechanical and other peaceful arts, and would be likely to en- tertain him kindly. Their Cempoallan allies, how- ever, advised the Spaniards not to trust the Cho- lulans, " 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 deal- ings. They had always been on terms of amity with the Totonacs, which afforded a strong guar- antee for their amicable disposition on the present occasion. The arguments of his Indian allies prevailed with the Spanish commander, who resolved to pro- pitiate the good will of the Tlascalans by an em- bassy. He selected four of the principal Cempo- allans 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, ex- cited general admiration among the natives. He added a letter, in which he asked permission to pass " The correct Indian name of the town, Yxtacamaxtitlan, Tztac- mastitan of Cortes, will hardly be recognized in the Xalacingo of Diaz. The town was removed, in 1601, from the top of the hill to the plain. On the original site are still visible remains of carved stones of large dimensions, attesting the elegance of the ancient fortress or palace of the cacique. Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. v. 1519] EMBASSY TO TLASCALA 101 through their country. He expressed his admi- ration of the valor of the Tlascalans, and of their long resistance to the Aztecs, whose proud empire he designed to humble. ^^ 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. ^^ The Spaniards remained three days in this hos- pitable 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 armor, waking or sleeping, lying down with their weapons by their sides. This unintermitting and restless 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 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 " " Estas cosas y otras de gran persuasion contenia la carta, pero como no sabian leer no pudieron entender lo que contenia." Ca- margo, Hist, de TIascala, MS. " For an account of the diplomatic usages of the people of Ana- huac, see ante, p. 57. 102 CONQUEST OF MEXICO you were going to battle, but as if actually in the midstof it!"=^^ The road taken by the Spaniards was the same which at present leads to Tlascala; not that, how- ever, usually followed in passing from Vera Cruz to the capital, which makes a circuit considerably to the south, towards Puebla, in the neighborhood of the ancient Cholula. They more than once forded the stream that rolls through this beautiful plain, lingering several days on the way, in hopes of receiving an answer from the Indian republic. The unexpected 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 ar- rested by a remarkable fortification. It was a stone wall nine feet in height, and twenty in thick- ness, 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 per- fectly commanded by the inner wall. This forti- fication, which extended more than two leagues, rested at either end on the bold natural buttresses formed by the sierra. The work was built of im- mense blocks of stones nicely laid together without ** " Mira, senores companeros, ya veis que somos pocos, hemos de estar siempre tan apercebidos, y aparejados, como si aora viessemos venir los contrarios d pelear, y no solamente vellos venir, sino hazer cuenta que estamos ya en la batalla con alios." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 62. 1519] EMBASSY TO TLASCALA 103 cement ; ^^ and the remains still existing, among which are rocks of the whole breadth of the ram- part, fully attest its solidity and size.^^ This singular structure marked the limits of Tlascala, and was intended, as the natives told the Spaniards, as a barrier against the Mexican inva- sions. 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 so- licitude 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 cav- alry, and, calling out, " Forward, soldiers, the Holy Cross is our banner, and under that we shall conquer," led his little army through the unde- fended passage, and in a few moments they trod the soil of the free republic of Tlascala.^^ " According to the writer last cited, the stones were held by a cement so hard that the men could scarcely break it with their pikes. (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 62.) But the contrary statement, in the general's letter, is confirmed by the present appearance of the wall. Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. vii. "Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. vii. — The attempts of the Archbishop to identify the route of Cortes have been very successful. It is a pity that his map illustrating the itinerary should be so worthless. " Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. — Gomara, Cr6nica, cap. 44, 45. — Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 3.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib, 33, cap. 2. — Peter Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 1. CHAPTER II REPUBLIC OF TLASC^VLA— ITS INSTITUTIONS— EARLY HISTORY— DISCUSSIONS IN THE SENATE— DESPER- ATE BATTLES 1519 BEFORE advancing further with the Span- iards into the territory of Tlascala, it will be well to notice some traits in the character and in- stitutions of the nation, in many respects the most remarkable in Anahuac. The Tlascalans be- longed to the same great family with the Aztecs/ * 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. * The Indian chronicler, Camargo, considers his nation a branch of the Chichimec. (Hist, de Tlascala, MS.) So, also, Torquemada. (Monarch. Ind., lib. 3, cap. 9.) Clavigero, who has carefully investi- gated the antiquities of Anahuac, calls it one of the seven Nahuatlac tribes. (Stor. del Messico, torn. i. p. 153, nota.) The fact is not of great moment, since they were all cognate races, speaking the same tongue, and, probably, migrated from their country in the far North at nearly the same time. * [The Tlascalans, "belonging to the same great family with the Aztecs," of course had governmental institutions similar to those of the Aztecs. The clan dwelt in a pueblo and was divided into four phratries. For the system of government, see note, pp. 33-36, vol. i. — M.] 104 1250] REPUBLIC OF TLASCALA 105 From some cause or other, perhaps their turbulent temper, they incurred the enmity of surrounding tribes. A coahtion was formed against them ; and a bloody battle was fought on the plains of Po- yauhtlan, in which the Tlascalans were completely victorious. Disgusted, however, with their residence among nations with whom they found so little favor, 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 over- shadowed 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 de- fined. Each state, however, had its lord or su- preme chief, independent in his own territories, and possessed of co-ordinate authority with the others in all matters concerning the whole repub- lic. The affairs of government, especially all those relating to peace and Avar, were settled in a senate or council, consisting of the four lords with their inferior nobles. The lower dignitaries held of the superior, each 106 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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.^ In return, he experienced the aid and protection of his suzerain. The same mutual ob- ligations existed between him and the followers among whom his own territories were distributed.^ Thus a chain of feudal dependencies was estab- lished, which, if not contrived with all the art and legal refinements of analogous institutions in the Old World, displayed their most prominent char- acteristics in its personal relations, the obligations of military service on the one hand, and protection on the other. This form of government, so differ- ent from that of the surrounding nations, subsisted till the arrival of the Spaniards. And it is cer- tainly evidence of considerable civilization that so complex a polity should have so long continued, ' The descendants of these petty nobles attached as great value to their pedigrees as any Biscayan or Asturian in Old Spain. Long after the Conquest, they refused, however needy, to dishonor their birth by resorting to mechanical or other plebeian occupations, oficios viles y bajos. " Los descendientes de estos son estimados por hombres califi- cados, que aunque scan pobrisimos no usan oficios mecanicos ni tratos bajos ni viles, ni jamas se permiten cargar ni cabar con coas y azadones, diciendo que son hijos Idalgos en que no han de apli- carse d estas cosas soeces y bajas, sino servir en guerras y fronteras, como Idalgos, y morir como hombres peleando." Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. ' " Cualquier Tecuhtli que formaba un Tecalli, que es casa de Mayorazgo, todas aquellas tierras que le caian en suerte de reparti- miento, con montes, fuentes, rios, 6 lagunas tomase para la casa prin- cipal la mayor y mejor suerte 6 pagos de tierra, y luego las demas que quedaban se partian por sus soldados amigos y parientes, igual- mente, y todos estos estdn obligados d reconocer la casa mayor y acudir d ella, d alzarla y repararla, y d ser continues en reconocer d ella de aves, caza, flores, y ramos para el sustento de la casa del Mayorazgo, y el que lo es estd obligado d sustentarlos y d regalarlos como amigos de aquella casa y parientes de ella." Ibid., MS. 1*50] REPUBLIC OF TLASCALA 107 undisturbed by violence or faction in the confed- erate states, and should have been found compe- tent 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 un- der the monarchical governments; and their rank was carefully defined by an appropriate dress, and by their exclusion from the insignia of the aristo- cratic orders."* The nation, agricultural in its habits, reserved its highest honors, like most other rude — unhap- pily, also, civilized — nations, for military prowess. 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 ef- figy, whether in wood or stone, was erected in the temples. It was truly in the martial spirit of re- publican Rome.^ An institution not unlike knighthood was intro- duced, very similar to one existing also among the Aztecs. The aspirant to the honors of this bar- baric chivalry watched his arms and fasted fifty or * Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. " " Los grandes recibimientos que hacian d los capitanes que venian y alcanzaban victoria en las guerras, las fiestas y solenidades con que so solenizaban a manera de triunfo, que los metian en andas en su puebla, trayendo consigo d los vencidos; y por eternizar sus hazanas se las cantaban publicamente, y ansi quedaban memoradas y con estatuas que les ponian en los templos." Ibid., MS. 108 CONQUEST OF MEXICO sixty days in the temple, then hstened to a grave discourse on the duties of his new profession. Va- rious whimsical ceremonies followed, when his arms were restored to him; he was led in solemn procession through the public streets, and the in- auguration was concluded by banquets and pub- lic 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 honor was not reserved exclu- sively 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 Tlasca- lans as by the other people of Anahuac.^ The temperate climate of the table-land fur- nished 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 wide plains, to the slopes of its rocky hills, waved with yellow harvests of maize, and with the bountiful maguey, a plant which, as we have seen, supplied the materials for some impor- tant fabrics. With these, as well as the products of agricultural industry, the merchant found his way down the sides of the Cordilleras, wandered over the sunny regions at their base, and brought back the luxuries which nature had denied to his * For the whole ceremony of inauguration, — though, as it seems, having especial reference to the merchant-knights,— see Appendix, No. 9, where the original is given from Camargo. ' " Ha bel paese," says the Anonymous Conqueror, speaking of Tlascala at the time of the invasion, " di pianure et motagne, et h 1450] ITS INSTITUTIONS 109 The various arts of civilization kept pace with increasing wealth and public prosperity; at least, these arts were cultivated to the same limited ex- tent, apparently, as among the other people of Anahuac. The Tlascalan tongue, says the na- tional 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 man- ner, were drenched with the blood of human vic- tims, and their boards groaned with the same cannibal repasts.^ Though not ambitious of foreign conquest, the prosperity of the Tlascalans, in time, excited the jealousy of their neighbors, and especially of the opulent state of Cholula. Frequent hostilities rose between them, in which the advantage was almost always on the side of the former. A still more formidable foe appeared in later days in the Az- tecs, who could ill brook the independence of Tlas- provincia popolosa et vi si raccoglie molto pane." Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii. p. 308. * A full account of the manners, customs, and domestic policy of Tlascala is given by the national historian, throwing much light on the other states of Anahuac, whose social institutions seem to have been all cast in the same mould. 110 CONQUEST OF MEXICO cala when the surrounding nations had acknow- ledged, 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 ances- tors had ever paid tribute or homage to a foreign power, and never would 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 Po- yauhtlan!"^ This resolute answer brought on them the forces of the monarchy. A pitched battle followed, and the sturdy republicans were victorious. From this period, hostilities between the two nations con- tinued with more or less activity, but with unspar- ing ferocity. Every captive was mercilessly sac- rificed. 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, which knit together in social bonds most of the other kindred races of Anahuac. In this struggle the Tlascalans received an im- portant support in the accession of the Othomis, • Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 2, cap. 70. 1502] EARLY HISTORY 111 or Otomies,— as usually spelt by Castilian writers, — a wild and warlike race originally spread over the table-land north of the Mexican Valley. A portion of them obtained a settlement in the re- public, and were speedily incorporated in its ar- mies. Their courage and fidelity to the nation of their adoption showed them worthy of trust, and the frontier places were consigned to their keep- ing. The mountain barriers by which Tlascala is encompassed afforded many strong natural posi- tions 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 Tlasca- lans erected the formidable rampart which had ex- cited 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 jMontezuma. His victorious arms had spread down the declivi- ties of the Andes to the distant provinces of Vera Paz and Nicaragua,^*' 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.^ ^ He sent an army against them under the command of a favorite son. His troops were beaten, and his son was •"Camargo (Hist, de Tlascala, MS.) notices the extent of Monte- zuma's conquests, — a debatable ground for the historian. " Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 3, cap. 16. — Soli's says, " The Tlascalan territory was fifty leagues in circumference, ten long, from east to west, and four broad, from north to south." (Conquista de M6jico, lib. 3, cap. 3.) It must have made a curious figure in geometry ! 112 CONQUEST OF MEXICO slain. The enraged and mortified monarch was roused to still greater preparations. He enlisted the forces of the cities bordering on his enemy, to- gether with those of the empire, and with this for- midable army swept over the devoted valleys of Tlascala. But the bold mountaineers withdrew into the recesses of their hills, and, coolly awaiting 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 re- sources. 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 cot- ton, nor cacao, nor salt. Indeed, their taste had been so far affected by long abstinence from these articles that it required the lapse of several gen- erations after the Conquest to reconcile them to the use of salt at their meals.^^ During the short in- tervals of war, it is said, the Aztec nobles, in the true spirit of chivalry, sent supplies of these com- modities as presents, with many courteous expres- sions of respect, to the Tlascalan chiefs. This in- tercourse, 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, prejudicial to the liberties of the republic, " Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. 1519] DISCUSSIONS IN THE SENATE 113 *' which maintained its customs and good govern- ment inviolate, and the worship of its gods." ^^ Such was the condition of Tlascala at the com- ing of the Spaniards; holding, it might seem, a precarious existence under the shadow of the for- midable power which seemed suspended like an avalanche over her head, but still strong in her own resources, stronger in the indomitable temper of her people ; with a reputation established through- out the land for good faith and moderation in peace, for valor in war, while her uncompromising spirit of indej)endence secured the respect even of her enemies. With such qualities of character, and with an animosity sharpened by long, deadly hos- tility with Mexico, her alliance was obviously of the last importance to the Spaniards, in their pres- ent enterprise. It was not easy to secure it.^^ The Tlascalans had been made acquainted with the advance and victorious career of the Chris- tians, 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 embar- rassed by the embassy demanding a passage through their territories. The great council was " " Los Senores Mejicanos y Tezcucanos en tiempo que ponian treguas por algunas temporadas embiaban a los Senores de TIaxcalla grandes presentes y dadivas de oro, ropa, y cacao, y sal, y de todas las cosas de que carecian, sin que la gente plebeya lo entendiese, y se saludaban secretamente, guarddndose el decoro que se debian; mas con todos estos trabajos la 6rden de su republica jamas se dejaba de gobernar con la rectitud de sus costumbres guardando inviolable- mente el culto de sus Dioses." Ibid., MS. " The Tlascalan chronicler discerns in this deep-rooted hatred of Mexico the hand of Providence, who wrought out of it an important means for subverting the Aztec empire. Hist, de Tlascala, MS. 114 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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/^ At all events, they vrere 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 In- dian gods and desecrated temples. How did the Tlascalans even know that they were foes to Mon- tezuma? They had received his embassies, ac- cepted his presents, and were now in the company 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.^ ^ His son, an impetuous young man of the same name with himself, commanded a power- ful army of Tlascalan and Otomi warriors, near the eastern frontier. It would be best, the old man said, to fall with this force at once on the Span- iards. If victorious, the latter would then be in their power. If defeated, the senate could disown " " Si bien os acordais, como tenemos de nuestra antigiiedad como ban de venir gentes d la parte donde sale el sol, y que ban de empa- rentar con nosotros, y que bemos de ser todos unos; y que ban de ser blancos y barbudos." Ibid., MS. "To tbe ripe age of one hundred and forty! if we may credit Ca- margo. Sob's, wbo confounds tbis veteran with his son, has put a flourishing harangue in tbe mouth of tbe latter, which would be a rare gem of Indian eloquence, — were it not Castilian. Conquista, lib. 2, cap. 16. 1519] DESPERATE BATTLES 115 the act as that of the general, not of the repubhc/^ The cunning counsel of the chief found favor with his hearers, though assuredly not in the spirit of chivalry, nor of the good faith for which his coun- trymen were celebrated. But with an Indian, force and stratagem, courage and deceit, were equally admissible in war, as they were among the barbarians of ancient Rome/^ The Cempoallan envoys were to be detained under pretence of as- sisting 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 Tlas- cala. 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 pace, went forward to reconnoitre. After advancing three or four leagues, he descried a small party of Indians, armed with sword and buckler, in the fashion of the country. They fled at his ap- proach. He made signs for them to halt, but, see- ing that they only fled the faster, he and his com- panions put spurs to their horses, and soon came up with them. The Indians, finding escape im- possible, faced round, and instead of showing the accustomed terror of the natives at the strange and "Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 3. — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 27. — There is sufficient contradiction, as well as obscurity, in the proceedings re- ported of the council, which it is not easy to reconcile altogether with subsequent events. "" Dolus an virtus, quis in hoste requirat?" 116 CONQUEST OF MEXICO appalling aspect of a mounted trooper, they com- menced a furious assault on the cavaliers. The latter, however, were too strong for them, and would have cut their enemy to pieces without much difficulty, when a body of several thousand Indians appeared in sight, coming briskly on to the sup- port of their countrymen. Cortes, seeing them, despatched one of his party in all haste, to accelerate the march of his infan- try. 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 cavalier to the ground, who after- wards died of his wounds, and they killed two of the horses, cutting through their necks with their stout broadswords— if we may believe the chroni- cler — at a blow! ^^ In the narrative of these cam- paigns 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 " " I les mataron dos caballos, de dos cuchilladas, i segun algunos, que lo vieron, cortaron a cercen de un golpe cada pescue^o, con rien- das, i todas." Gomara, Crdnica, cap. 45.* * [The Mexican sword was a horrible affair. On two sides of a stick three feet and a half long and four inches wide were fastened a number of obsidian razors about three inches long and one or two inches wide. These razors were the thickness of a sword blade. They were at first wonderfully sharp, — so sharp that once a horse was beheaded at one stroke, — but soon lost their edge. The sword was tied to the arm by a string that it should not be lost in battle.— M.] 1519] DESPERATE BATTLES 117 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 main 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 in- timidated, 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 off in good order, leaving the road open to the Spaniards. The latter, too well satis- fied 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 cottages, amidst flour- ishing 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 them- selves 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 man- ner, affecting to place more confidence in its good faith than he probably felt. It was now growing late, and the Spaniards 118 CONQUEST OF MEXICO quickened their march, anxious to reach a favor- able ground for encampment before nightfall. They found such a spot on the borders of a stream that rolled sluggishly across the plain. A few de- serted cottages stood along the banks, and the fa- tigued and famished soldiers ransacked them in quest of food. All they could find was some tame animals resembling dogs. These they killed and dressed without ceremony, and, garnishing their unsavory repast with the fruit of the tuTia, the In- dian fig, which grew wild in the neighborhood, 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.^*^ 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 hun- dred from the last. After hearing mass, they re- sumed their march. They moved in close array; the general had previously admonished the men not to lag behind, or wander from the ranks a mo- ment, as stragglers would be sure to be cut off by their stealthy and vigilant enemy. The horsemen "Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 50. — Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 63.— Go- mara, Cronica, cap. 45.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 3, 41.— Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 10. 1519] DESPERATE BATTLES 119 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 In- dians, who constantly attempted it. For the same reason, they should avoid giving thrusts, but aim their weapons steadily at the faces of their foes.^^ 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 or- der 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 In- dians, about a thousand, apparently, all armed, and brandishing their weapons, as the Christians approached, in token of defiance. Cortes, when he had come within hearing, ordered the interpre- ters 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 "■ " Que quando rorapiessemos por los esquadrones, que Ueuassen las lan^as por las caras, y no parassen a dar lan^adas, porque no les echassen mano dellas." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 62. 120 CONQUEST OF MEXICO occasions, by a shower of darts, stones, and arrows, which fell like rain on the Spaniards, rattling on their stout harness, and in some instances pene- trating to the skin. Galled by the smart of their wounds, they called on the general to lead them on, till he sounded the well-loiown battle-cry, " St. Jago, and at them! " ^^ The Indians maintained their ground for a while with spirit, when they retreated with precipi- tation, but not in disorder.^^ 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 nar- row glen or defile intersected by a little stream of water, where the broken ground w^as impracticable for artillery, as well as for the movements of cav- alry. Pressing forward with eagerness, to extri- cate 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 hun- dred thousand men, while no account estimates them at less than thirty thousand. ^^ " " Entonces dixo Cortes, ' Santiago, y d ellos.' " Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 63. ""Una gentil contienda," says Gomara of this skirmish. Cro- nica, cap. 46. " Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 51. According to Gomara (Cronica, cap. 46), the enemy mustered 80,000. So, also, Ixtlilxochitl. (Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.) Bernal Diaz says, more than 40,000. (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 63.) But Herrera (Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 5) and Torquemada (Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 50) reduce them to 30,000. One might as easily reckon the leaves in a 1519] DESPERATE BATTLES 121 They presented a confused assemblage of hel- mets, weapons, and many-colored plumes, glanc- ing bright in the morning sun, and mingling 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 colors on the feather-mail of the In- dians, showed that they were the warriors of Xico- tencatl.^^ As the Spaniards came in sight, the Tlascalans set up a hideous war-cry, or rather whistle, pierc- ing the ear with its shrillness, and which, with the beat of their melancholy drums, that could be heard for half a league or more,"*' might well have filled the stoutest heart with dismay. This for- midable host came rolling on towards the Chris- tians, as if to overwhelm them by their very num- bers. But the courageous band of warriors, closely serried together and sheltered under their forest, as the numbers of a confused throng of barbarians. As this was only one of several armies kept on foot by the Tlascalans, the smallest amount is, probably, too large. The whole population of the state, according to Clavigero, who would not be likely to underrate it, did not exceed half a million at the time of the invasion. Stor. del Messico, tom. i. p. 156. '^'^ " La divisa y armas de la casa y cabecera de Titcala es una garga blanca sobre un peilasco." (Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.) " El capitan general," says Bernal Diaz, " que se dezia Xicotenga, y con sus diuisas de bianco y Colorado, porque aquella diuisa y librea era de aquel Xicotenga." Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 63. '° " Llaman Teponaztle ques de un trozo de madero concavado y de una pieza rollizo y, como decimos, hueco por de dentro, que suena algunas veces mas de media legua y con el atambor hace estraiia y suave consonancia." (Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.) Clavigero, who gives a drawing of this same drum, says it is still used by the Indians, and may be heard two or three mUes. Stor. del Messico, tom. ii. p. 179. 122 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 endeavored, at the head of the horse, to open a passage for the infantry. Still his men, both cav- alry and foot, kept their array unbroken, offering no assailable point to their foe. A body of the Tlascalans, however, acting 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 wounded, when they succeeded in retrieving the unfortunate cavalier from his assailants, but in so disastrous a plight that he died on the follow- ing 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 Tlas- cala. The circumstance troubled the Spanish com- mander, as it divested the animal of the super- natural terrors with which the superstition of the natives had usually 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 gradu- 1519] DESPERATE BATTLES 123 ally, 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 des- peration of men who felt that " their only safety was in the despair of safety." ^^ " I see nothing but death for us," exclaimed a Cempoallan chief to Marina; "we shall never get through the pass aUve." " The God of the Christians is with us," answered the intrepid woman; " and He will carry us safely through." ^^ 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? " ^^ Animated by the words and heroic bearing of their general, the soldiers, with desper- ate efforts, at length succeeded in forcing a pas- sage through the dark columns of the enemy, and emerged from the defile on the open plains 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 ""Una illis fuit spes salutis, desperasse de salute." (P. Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 1, cap. 1.) It is said with the classic energy of Tacitus. =" " Respondiole Marina, que no tuviese miedo, porque el Dios de los Christianos, que es muy poderoso, i los queria mucho, los sacaria de peligro." Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 5. ™ Ibid., ubi supra. 124 CONQUEST OF MEXICO forth torrents of fire and sulphurous smoke, the wide desolation caused in their ranks, and the strangely mangled carcasses 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 uncer- tain hands, seemed to fall ineffectual on the charmed heads of the Christians. What added to their embarrassment was the desire to carry off the dead and wounded from the field, a general prac- tice 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 himself 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 Tlascalan 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 position, where he might refresh his wounded troops and bivouac for the night.^° Gathering up his wounded, he held on his way, without loss of time, and before dusk reached a rocky eminence, called Tzompachtepetl, or " the "Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 3, 45.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 51. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 63,— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 40. 1519] DESPERATE BATTLES 125 hill of Tzompach." It was crowned by a sort of tower or temple, the remains of which are still visible. ^^ His first care was given to the wounded, both men and horses. Fortunately, an abundance of provisions was found in some neighboring cot- tages; 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 v.ounded on either side, it is matter of loosest conjecture. The In- dians must have suffered severely, but the practice of carrying off the dead from the field made it im- possible to know to what extent. The injury sus- tained by the Spaniards appears to have been prin- cipally 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 in- debted, in no slight degree, for their personal pres- ervation. To take the reports of the Conquerors, their own losses in action were always inconsider- able. 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.^^ "Viaje de Cortfe, ap. Lorenzana, p. ix. '- According to Cortes, not a Spaniard fell — though many were wounded — in this action so fatal to the infidel! Diaz allows one. In the famous battle of Navas de Tolosa, between the Spaniards and Arabs, in 1212, equally matched in military science at that time, there were left 200,000 of the latter on the field; and, to balance this bloody roll, only five-and-twenty Christians! See the estimate in Alfonso IX.'s veracious letter, ap. Mariana (Hist, de Espana, lib. 2, cap. 24). The official returns of the old Castilian crusaders, whether in the Old 126 CONQUEST OF MEXICO The events of the day had suggested many top- ics for painful reflection to Cortes. He had no- where met with so determined a resistance within the borders of Anahuac; nowhere had he encoun- tered native troops so formidable for their wea- pons, their discipline, and their valor. Far from manifesting 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 impor- tant would the alliance of such a nation be in a struggle with those of their own race, — for exam- ple, 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 spir- its 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. World or the New, are scarcely more trustworthy than a French imperial bulletin in our day. CHAPTER III DECISIVE VICTORY— INDIAN COUNCIL— NIGHT-AT- TACK— NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE ENEMY— TLAS- CALAN HERO 1519 THE Spaniards were allowed to repose undis- turbed the following day, and to recruit their strength after the fatigue and hard fighting of the preceding. They found sufficient employment, however, in repairing and cleaning their weapons, replenishing their diminished stock of arrows, and getting everything 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 em- bassy to their camp, proposing a cessation of hos- tilities, and expressing his intention to visit their capital as a friend. He selected two of the prin- cipal 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 exhaus- tion, he put himself at the head of the cavalry and such light troops as were most fit for service, and 127 128 CONQUEST OF MEXICO made a foray into the neighboring country. It was a mountainous region, formed by a ramifica- tion of the great sierra of Tlascala, with verdant slopes and valleys teeming with maize and plan- tations of maguey, while the eminences were crowned with populous towns and villages. In one of these, he tells us, he found three thousand dwellings.^ In some places he met with a resolute resistance, and on these occasions took ample ven- geance by laying the country waste with fire and sword. After a successful inroad he returned laden with forage and provisions and driving be- fore him several hundred Indian captives. He treated them kindly, however, when arrived in camp, endeavoring to make them understand that these acts of violence were not dictated by his own wishes, but by the unfriendly policy of their coun- trymen. In this way he hoped to impress the na- tion 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 en- voys returned from the Tlascalan 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 * Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 52. — Oviedo, who made free use of the manuscripts of Cortes, writes thirty-nine houses. (Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 3.) This may perhaps be ex- plained by the sign for a thousand, in Spanish notation, bearing great resemblance to the figure 9. Martyr, who had access, also, to the Conqueror's manuscript, confirms the larger and, o priori, less prob- able number. 1519] DECISIVE VICTORY 129 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 pre- ferred to remain in their own quarters, he would pay them a visit there the next day."^ The ambas- sadors added that the chief had an immense force with him, consisting of five battalions of ten thou- sand 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 battle and strike one de- cisive blow for the extermination of the invaders.^ 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 peculiarly 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 ' " Que fuessemos a su pueblo adonde esta su padre, q alia harian las pazes c6 hartarse de nuestras carnes, y honrar sus dioses con nues- tros cora^ones, y sangre, 6 que para otro dia de manana veriamos su respuesta." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 64. * More than one writer repeats a story of the Tlascalan general's sending a good supply of provisions, at this time, to the famished army of the Spaniards; to put thera in stomach, it may be, for the fight. (Gomara, Cronica, cap. 46.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.) This ultra-chivalrous display from the barbarian is not very probable, and Cortes' own account of his successful foray may much better explain the abundance which reigned in his camp. 130 CONQUEST OF MEXICO scarcely one in the army that did not confess him- self that night to the reverend Father Olmedo, who was occupied nearly the whole of it with adminis- tering absolution, and with the other solemn offices of the Church. Armed with the blessed sacra- ments, the Catholic soldier lay tranquilly down to rest, prepared for any fate that might betide him under the banner of the Cross.'* 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 Span- ish Conquest. The general reviewed his army, and gave them, preparatory to marching, a few words of encouragement and advice. The infantry he instructed to rely on the point rather than the edge of their swords, and to endeavor 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 crossbowmen were to sup- port one another, some loading while others dis- charged their pieces, that there should be an * Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 52. — IxtlilxochitI, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. AS, 47.— Oviedo, Hist, de la.s Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 3. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 64. 1519] DECISIVE VICTORY 131 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 report which had been given of its numbers.^ Nothing could be more picturesque than the aspect of these Indian bat- talions, with the naked bodies of the common sol- diers gaudily painted, the fantastic helmets of the chiefs glittering with gold and precious stones, and the glowing panoplies of feather-work which dec- orated their persons.*' 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 of 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 ° Through the magnifying lens of Cortes, there appeared to be 150,000 men (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 52); a number usually preferred by succeeding writers. fi ■' Not half so gorgeous, for their May-day mirth All wreathed and ribanded. our youths and maids, As these stern Tlascalans in war attire! The golden glitterance, and the feather-mail More gay than glittering gold; and round the helm A coronal of high upstanding plumes. Green as the spring grass in a sunny shower; Or scarlet bright, as in the wintry wood The clustered holly: or of purple tint; Whereto shall tliat be likened ? to what gem Indiademed, what flower, what insect's wing? With war-songs and wild music they came on; We, the while kneeling, raised with one accord The hymn of supplication." Sodthey's Madoc, Part 1, canto 7. 132 CONQUEST OF MEXICO Tlascalan and Otomi chieftains.'^ 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.^ * The common file wore no covering except a girdle round the loins. Their bodies were painted with the appropriate colors of the chieftain whose banner they followed. The feather-mail of the higher class of warriors exhibited, also, a similar selection of colors for the like object, in the same manner as the color of the tartan indicates the pe- culiar clan of the Highlander.^ ' The standards of the Mexicans were carried in the centre, those of the Tlascalans in the rear of the army. (Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, vol. ii. p. 145.) According to the Anonymous Conqueror, the banner-staff was attached to the back of the ensign, so that it was impossible to be torn away. " Ha ogni copagnia il suo Alfiere con la sua insegna inhastata, et in tal modo ligata sopra le spalle, che non gli da alcun disturbo di poter combattere ne far cio che vuole, et la porta cosi ligata bene al corpo, che se no fanno del suo corpo pezzi, non se gli puo sligare, ne torgliela mai." Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii. fol. 305. * Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 6. — Gomara, Cr6nica, 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. " The accounts of the Tlascalan chronicler are confirmed by the Anonymous Conqueror and by Bernal Diaz, both eyewitnesses; * [I.e., the standard of the tribe. The tribe was divided into phratries. Each phratry had its peculiar cognizance, as had also each of the clans into which the phratry was divided. It was the color of the clan, and not of its war chief, by wliich the warriors were distinguished.— M.] 1519] DECISIVE VICTORY 133 The caciques and principal warriors were clothed in quilted cotton tunics, two inches thick, which, fitting close to the body, protected also the 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 san- dals, trimmed with gold. But the most brilliant part of their costume was a rich mantle of the plu- maje or feather-work, embroidered with curious art, and furnishing some resemblance to the gor- geous surcoat worn by the European knight over his armor 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 dis- playing a formidable array of teeth. With this covering the warrior's head was enveloped, pro- ducing a most grotesque and hideous effect.^'' From the crown floated a splendid panache of the richly variegated plumage of the tropics, indicat- ing, by its form and colors, the rank and family of the wearer. To complete their defensive armor, they carried shields or targets, made sometimes of wood covered with leather, but more usually of a 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.— Ca- margo. Hist, de Tlascala, MS. — Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii. fol. 305. 10 " portano in testa," says the Anonymous Conqueror, " per difesa una cosa come teste di serpeti, b di tigri, 6 di leoni, o di lupi, che ha le mascelle, et e la testa dell' huomo messa 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. Ramusio, torn. iii. fol. 305. 134 CONQUEST OF MEXICO light frame of reeds quilted with cotton, which were preferred, as tougher and less liable to frac- ture than the former. They had other bucklers, in which the cotton was covered with an elastic sub- stance, enabling them to be shut up in a more compact form, like a fan or umbrella. These shields were decorated with showy ornaments, ac- cording to the taste or wealth of the wearer, and fringed with a beautiful pendant of feather-work. Their weapons were slings, bows and arrows, javelins, and darts. They were accomplished arch- ers, 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. These various weapons were pointed with bone, or the mineral itztli (obsidian) , the hard vitreous substance already noticed as ca- pable of taking an edge like a razor, though easily blunted. Their spears and arrows were also fre- quently 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,— a. formidable weapon, which, an eyewitness assures us, he had seen fell a horse at a blow.^^ Such was the costume of the Tlascalan warrior, and, indeed, of that great family of nations gener- " " I saw one day an Indian make a thrust at the horse of a cava- lier with whom he was fighting, which pierced its breast, and pene- trated so deep that it immediately fell dead; and the same day I saw another Indian cut the neck of a horse, which fell dead at his feet." Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 305. 1519] DECISIVE VICTORY 135 ally who occupied the plateau of Anahuac. Some parts of it, as the targets and the cotton mail, or escawpil, as it was called in Castilian, were so ex- cellent that they were subsequently adopted by the Spaniards, as equally effectual in the way of pro- tection, 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 jave- lin, although impotent as a defence against fire- arms. But what armor is not? Yet it is probably no exaggeration to say that, in convenience, grace- fulness, and strength, the arms of the Indian war- rior were not very inferior to those of the polished nations of antiquity.^ ^ As soon as the Castilians came in sight, the Tlascalans set up their yell of defiance, rising high above the wild barbaric minstrelsy of shell, atabal, and trumpet, with which they proclaimed their tri- umphant anticipations of victory over the paltry forces of the invaders. When the latter had come within 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.^ ^ Slowly and steadily the little band of Spaniards held on its way amidst this arrowy shower, until it had reached " Particular notices of the military dress and appointments of the American tribes on the plateau may be found in Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS., — Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. p. 101, et seq., — Acosta, lib. 6, cap. 26, — Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn, iii. fol. 305, et auct. al. " " Que granizo de piedra de los honderos ! Pues flechas todo el suelo hecho parva de varas todas de a dos gajos, que passan qual- quiera arma, y las entranas adonde no ay defensa." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. G5. 136 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 army of Spaniards opposed a bold front to the overwhelm- ing 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 voice of the general. De- spair gave unnatural energy to his arm. The naked body of the Indian afforded no resistance 1519] DECISIVE VICTORY 137 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 con- fusion, 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 with which they had advanced. More than once in the course of the action a similar assault was attempted by the Tlascalans, but each time with less spirit and greater loss. They were too deficient in military science to profit by their vast superiority in numbers. They were distributed into companies, it is ti-ue, each serving under its own chieftain and banner. But they were not arranged by rank and file, and moved in a con- fused mass, promiscuously heaped together. They Ivnew not how to concentrate numbers on a given point, or even how to sustain an assault, by em- ploying 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 tumultu- ously 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. 138 CONQUEST OF MEXICO in short, the combat of the ancient Greeks and Per- sians over again. Still, the great numerical superiority of the In- dians might have enabled 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 Tlascalan chieftain, commanding one of the great divisions, had taken umbrage at the haughty de- meanor of Xicotencatl, who had charged him with misconduct or cowardice in the late action. The injured cacique challenged his rival to single com- bat. This did not take place. But, burning with resentment, he chose the present occasion to in- dulge it, by drawing off his forces, amounting to ten thousand men, from the field. He also per- suaded another of the commanders to follow his example. Thus reduced to about half his original strength, and that greatly crippled 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 re- treated and resigned it to the enemy. The Span- iards 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, returned in triumph to his position on the hill of Tzompach. The number of killed in his own ranks had been very small, notwithstanding the severe loss inflicted on the enemv. These few he was careful to burv 1519] DECISIVE VICTORY 139 where they could not be discovered, anxious to con- ceal not only the amount of the slain, but the fact that the whites were mortal.^ ^ But very many of the men 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 before noticed, was not to be ob- tained in Tlascala. Their clothing, accommodated 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.^ ^ Still, they had much to cheer them in the events of the day ; and they might draw from them a rea- sonable ground for confidence in their own re- sources, such as no other experience could have supplied. Not that the results could authorize any- thing like contempt for their Indian foe. Singly and with the same weapons, he might have stood his ground against the Spaniard.^ ^ But the suc- " So says Bernal Diaz; who at the same time, by the epithets los muertos, los cuerpos, plainly contradicts his previous boast that only one Christian fell in the fight. (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 65.) Cortes has not the grace to acknowledge that one. i^Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 3.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 52.— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 6.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83.— Gomara, Cr6nica, cap. 46.— Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 32.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 65, 66.— The warm, chivalrous glow of feeling which colors the rude composition of the last chronicler makes him a better painter than his more correct and classical ri- vals. And, if there is somewhat too much of the self-complacent tone of the quorum pars magna fui in his writing, it may be pardoned in the hero of more than a hundred battles and almost as many wounds. '* The Anonymous Conqueror bears emphatic testimony to the valor of the Indians, specifying instances in which he had seen a single 140 CONQUEST OF MEXICO cess of the day established the superiority of science and disciphne over mere physical courage and numbers. It was fighting over again, as we have said, the old battle of the European and the Asi- atic. But the handful of Greeks who routed the hosts of Xerxes and Darius, it must be remem- bered, 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 civil- ized, which should be similar in all other respects to that between the Spaniards and the Tlascalans, would probablj'' 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 unacquainted with any beast of burden. Their imaginations were bewildered when they beheld the strange appari- tion 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 ani- mal, with his " neck clothed in thunder," bearing down their squadrons and trampHng them in the dust, no wonder they should have regarded him with the mysterious terror felt for a supernatural being. A very little reflection on the manifold grounds of superiority, both moral and physical, possessed by the Spaniards in this contest, will warrior defend himself for a long time against two, three, and even four Spaniards ! " Sono f ra loro di valetissimi huomini et che ossano morir ostinatissimamete. Et io ho veduto un d' essi difendersi va- letemente da duoi caualli leggieri, et un altro da tre, et quattro." Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii. fol. 305. 1519] NIGHT-ATTACK 141 surely explain the issue, without any disparage- ment to the courage or capacity of their oppo- nents.^^ Cortes, thinking the occasion favorable, followed up the important blow he had struck by a new mis- sion 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 pre- sided over the republic, reiterated with greater force the arguments before urged by him for em- bracing the proffered alliance of the strangers. The armies of the state had been beaten too often to allow any reasonable hope of successful resis- tance ; and he enlarged on the generosity shown by the politic Conqueror to his prisoners — so unusual in Anahuac — as an additional motive for an alli- ance 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 re- trieve 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 in- " The appalling effect of the cavalry on the natives reminds one of the confusion into which the Roman legions were thrown by the strange appearance of the elephants in their first engagements with Pyrrhus, as told by Plutarch in his life of that prince. 142 CONQUEST OF MEXICO voked in the deliberations of the American chiefs. The latter inquired, with some simplicity, of these interpreters of fate, whether 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 child- ish response may have had in it more of cunning than credulitJ^ It was not improbably suggested by 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 pre- vailed ; and the Tlascalan general was empowered, at the head of a detachment of ten thousand war- riors, to try the eff*ect of an assault by night on the Christian camp. The affair was conducted with such secrecj"- 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 consid- erable distance, a large body of Indians moving towards the Christian lines. He was not slow in giving the alarm to the garrison. 1519] NIGHT-ATTACK 143 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 de- termined 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 si- lence, 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 in- stantaneous apparition 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 Tlasca- lans 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 rap- idly and tumultuously across the plain. The horse easity overtook the fugitives, riding them down and cutting them to pieces without mercy, until Cortes, weary with slaughter, called off his men. 144. CONQUEST OF MEXICO leaving the field loaded with the bloody trophies of victory.^ ^ 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 in- terpreter, 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 oiFered, had been actively exerted in mitigating the calamities of her Indian coun- trymen.^^ Through his faithful interpreter, Cortes com- municated the terms of his message to the Tlas- calan envoys. He made the same professions of amity as before, promising oblivion of all past in- juries; 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 inliabitant to the sword! He then dismissed the ambassadors ''Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 53, 54. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib, 33, cap. 3.— P. Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 2, cap. 2.— Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 32, — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 8.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 66. " " Though she heard them every day talk of killing us and eating our flesh, though she had seen us surrounded in past battles, and knew that we were now all of us wounded and suffering, yet we never saw any weakness in her, but a courage far beyond that of woman." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 66. 1519] NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE ENEMY 145 with the symboHcal 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 whose eye was never closed. Nothing remained but to submit. They selected four principal ca- ciques, whom they intrusted with a mission to the Christian camp. They were to assure the stran- gers of a free passage through the country, and a friendly reception in the capital. The proffered friendship of the Spaniards was cordially em- braced, with many awkward excuses for the past. The envoys were to touch at the Tlascalan camp on their way, and inform Xicotencatl of their pro- ceedings. 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 humor 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 146 CONQUEST OF MEXICO rankled into a deadly hatred from the mortifica- tions he had endured at their hands, and his head teemed with plans for recovering his fallen honors 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 re- linquish their visit to the Spaniards. The latter, in consequence, were kept in ignorance of the movements in their favor which had taken place in the Tlascalan capital. ^*^ The conduct of Xicotencatl is condemned by Castilian writers as that of a ferocious and san- guinary barbarian. It is natural they should so regard it. But those who have no national preju- dice to warp their judgments may come to a dif- ferent conclusion. They may find much to ad- mire 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, w^hich, pier- cing the thin veil of insidious friendship proffered by the Spaniards, and penetrating the future, dis- cerned the coming miseries of his country; the noble patriotism of one who w^ould 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. ^ Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conqiiista, cap. 67. — Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. — Ixtlilxochitl. Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83. CHAPTER IV DISCONTENTS IN THE ARMY — TLASC ALAN SPIES— PEACE WITH THE REPUBLIC — EMBASSY FROM MONTEZUMA 1519 DESIROUS to keep up the terror of the Cas- tilian 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 neighboring country. He was at that time so ill from fever, aided by medical treatment,^ 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 * The effect of the medicine — though rather a severe dose, accord- ing to the precise Diaz — was suspended during the general's active exertions. Gomara, however, does not consider this a miracle. (Cro- nica, cap. 49.) Father Sandoval does. (Hist, de Carlos Quinto, torn, i. p. 127.) Soil's, after a conscientious inquiry into this perplexing matter, decides — strange as it may seem — against the father! Con- quista, lib. 2, cap. 20. 147 148 CONQUEST OF MEXICO of the Cross; God is stronger than nature," ^ 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 vil- lages, 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 plunder of a successful foray. It would have been more honorable to him had it been con- ducted with less rigor. The excesses are imputed by Bernal Diaz to the Indian allies, whom in the heat of victory it was found impossible to restrain."^ 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 the Fifth, " As we fought under the standard of the Cross,^ for * " Dios es sobre natura." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 54. * Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 64. — Not so Cortes, who says, boldly, " I burned more than ten towns." (Ibid., p. 52.) His reverend com- mentator specifies the localities of the Indian towns destroyed by him in his forays. Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, pp. ix-xi. * [Lorenzana speaks of two standards as borne by Cortes in the Conquest, one having the image of the Virgin emblazoned on it, the other that of the Cross. It may be the latter which is still preserved in the Museum of Artillery at Madrid. (Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 52, nota.) In a letter written to me from that capital, a few years since, by my friend Mr. George Summer, he remarks, " In Madrid, in the Museum of Artillery, is a small mahogany box, about a foot square, locked and sealed, which contains, as the inscrip- tion above it states, the pendon which Hernan Cortes carried to the conquest of Mexico. On applying to the Brigadier Leon de Palacio, the director of the museum, he was so kind as not only to order this to be opened, but to come himself with me to examine it. The 1519] DISCONTENTS IN THE ARMY 149 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." ^ The Spanish Conquerors, to judge from their writ- ings, unconscious of any worldly motive lurk- ing 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.^ 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 ad- vanced 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; " ^ and the indefinite prospect of hostilities with the ferocious standard is probably the same which Lorenzana, in 1770, speaks of as being then in the Secretario de Gobierno. It is of red Damascus silk, and has marks of the painting once upon it, but is now com- pletely in rags."] ■* " E como trayamos la Bandera de la Cruz, y pufiabamos por nuestra Fe, y por servicio de Vuestra Sacra Magestad, en su muy Real Ventura nos dio Dios tanta victoria, que les matdmos mucha gente, sin que los nuestros recibiessen daiio." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 52. " " It was a notable thing," exclaims Herrera, " to see with what humility and devotion all returned praising God, who gave them vic- tories so miraculous, by which it was clearly apparent that they were favored with the divine assistance." ^ " Porque entrar en Mexico, teniamoslo por cosa de risa, d causa de sus grandes fuer^as." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 66. 150 CONQUEST OF MEXICO people among whom they were now cast threw a deep gloom over their spirits. Among the malecontents were a number of noisy, vaporing persons, such as are found in every camp, who, 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.^ The tone of familiarity thus assumed was emi- nently characteristic of the footing of equality on which the parties in the expedition stood with one another. Their suiFerings, 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 labors; but they, fighting or watching, had no rest, day nor night. As to conquering Mexico, the very thought of it * Diaz indignantly disclaims the idea of mutiny, which Gomara attached to this proceeding. " What they said to him was by way of counsel, and because they believed it were well said, and not with any other intent, since they followed him ever, bravely and loyally; nor is it strange that in an army some good soldiers should offer counsel to their captain, especially when such hardships have been endured as were by us." Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 71. 1519] DISCONTENTS IN THE ARMY 151 was madness. If they had encountered such op- position from the petty repubhc of Tlascala, what might they not expect from the great Mexican empire? There was now a temporary suspension of hostihties. 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, un- paralleled 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 pros- pect 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 filled with admiration as he had seen his little host en- circled by myriads of barbarians, and felt that no people 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 protection here- after; for was it not in his cause they were fight- ing? They had encountered dangers and difficul- ties, it was true. But they had not come here 152 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 was a truth, adds the honest chronicler who heard and reports the dialogue, which no one could deny. But, if they had met with hardships, he 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 vain-glorious vaunts! Their former friends would become their enemies; and the To- tonacs, 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 alter- native, then, but to go forward in their career. And he besought them to silence their pusillani- mous 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 bj^ the presence of their comrades, as well as by the gen- eral's forbearance, replied that they were far from being convinced. Another such victory as the last 1519] DISCONTENTS IN THE ARMY 153 would be their ruin. They were going to Mexico only to be slaughtered. Until, at length, the gen- eral'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 honor 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 com- mander 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, the Indians who had guided him, and their own countrymen who sup- ported him in it.^ Such were the difficulties that lay in the path of Cortes : a wily and ferocious enemy ; a climate un- certain, often unhealthy ; illness in his own person, much aggravated by anxiety as to the manner in which his conduct would be received by his sover- eign; last, not least, disaffection among his sol- diers, on whose constancy and union he rested for the success of his operations, — the great lever by which he was to overturn the empire of Monte- zuma. On the morning following this event, the camp * This conference is reported, with some variety, indeed, by nearly every historian, (Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 55.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 3.— Gomara, Cr6nica, cap. 51, 52, — Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 80.— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 9.— P. Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 2.) I have abridged the account given by Bernal Diaz, one of the audience, though not one of the parties to the dialogue,— for that reason the better authority. 154 CONQUEST OF MEXICO was surprised by the appearance of a small body of Tlascalans, decorated with badges, the white color of which intimated peace. They brought a quantity of provisions, and some trifling orna- ments, 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 em- issaries received a friendly welcome. A day or two elapsed, and, while a few of the part}^ left the Spanish quarters, the others, about fifty in number, who remained, excited some dis- trust in the bosom of JMarina. She communicated her suspicions to Cortes that they were spies. He caused several of them, in consequence, to be ar- rested, 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 delin- quents as should intimidate his enemy from repeat- ing the attempt. He ordered their hands to be cut oiF, 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." ^*^ "Diaz says only seventeen lost their hands, the rest their thumbs. (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 70.) Cortes does not flinch from confess- ing, the hands of the whole fifty: " I ordered that all the fifty should have their hands cut oflF; and I sent them to tell their lord that let him come when he would, by night or day, they should see who we were." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 53. 1519] TLASCALAN SPIES 155 The doleful spectacle of their comrades return- ing 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.^ ^ 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 such, by the laws of war, whe- ther among civilized or savage nations, had in- curred the penalty of death. The amputation of the limbs was a milder punishment, and reserved for inferior offences. If we revolt at the bar- barous 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 higher civilization, indeed, rejects such punishments, as pernicious in themselves, and degrading to hu- manity. 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. We " " De que los Tlascaltecas se admiraron, entendiendo que Cortes las entendia sus pensamientos." Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83. 156 CONQUEST OF MEXICO may be content if, in circumstances so unfavorable to humanity he does not fall below it. All thoughts of further resistance being aban- doned, the four delegates of the Tlascalan republic were now allowed to proceed on their mission. They were speedily followed by Xicotencatl him- self, attended by a numerous train of military retainers. As they drew near the Spanish lines, they were easily recognized by the white and yel- low colors 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 re- store 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 counte- nance marked with the lines of hard service rather than of age, for he was 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 cen- sers carried by his slaves. Far from a pusillanimous attempt to throw the blame on the senate, he assumed the whole respon- 1519] PEACE WITH THE REPUBLIC 157 sibility of the war. He had considered the white men, he said, as enemies, for they came with the alhes and vassals of Montezuma. 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 who, it had been so long predicted, would come from the east, to take pos- session 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 countrymen 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 dis- dained 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 Span- iards, and accepted their proffered friendship sooner, he would have spared his people much suf- fering, which they well merited by their obstinacy. But it was 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 158 CONQUEST OF MEXICO ominous menace for the chief to whom it was ad- dressed. The cacique then ordered his slaves to bring forward some trifling ornaments of gold and feather-embroidery, designed as presents. They were of little value, he said, with a smile, for the Tlascalans were poor. They had little gold, not even cotton, nor salt. The Aztec emperor had left them 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 otlier 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.^ ^ Thus ended the bloody war with the fierce re- public 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 un- tarnished glory. To the enemy they seemed invul- nerable, 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 ^- Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 56, 57.— Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 3.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 53.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 71, et seq. — Saiiagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 11. 1519] EMBASSY FROM MONTEZUMA 159 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 JNIontezuma. Tid- ings of the exploits of the Spaniards had spread far and wide over the plateau. The emperor, in particular, had watched every step of their prog- ress, as they climbed the steeps of the Cordilleras and advanced over the broad table-land on their summit. He had seen them, with great satisfac- tion, 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 suc- cesses, 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 no- bles of his court, attended by a train of two hun- dred slaves. They brought with them a present, as usual, dictated partly by fear and in part by the natural munificence of his disposition. It con- sisted 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 160 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 intimation of the Aztec emperor's wishes, in the most distant way, w^ould 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, offer- ing a tribute in their master's name to the Castilian sovereign, provided the Spaniards would relin- quish 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, was a monarch renowned among the Indian nations for his intre- pidity and enterprise, — the terror of Anahuac! Cortes, while he urged his own sovereign's com- mands as a reason for disregarding the wishes of Montezuma, uttered expressions of the most pro- found respect for the Aztec prince, and declared that if he had not the means of requiting his mu- nificence, as he could wish, at present, he trusted to repay hirrij at some future day, with good works! ^^ The Mexican ambassadors were not much grati- fied with finding the war at an end, and a recon- " " Cortes recibio con alegrfa aquel presente, y dixo que se lo tenia en merced, y que el lo pagaria al senor Monte9uma en buenas obras." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 73. 1519] EMBASSY FROM MONTEZUMA 161 ciliation established between their mortal enemies and the Spaniards. The mutual disgust of the two parties with each other was too strong to be re- pressed even in the presence of the general, who saw with satisfaction the evidences of a jealousy which, undermining the strength of the Indian em- peror, was to prove the surest source of his own success.^ ^ Two of the Aztec envoys returned to Mexico, to acquaint their sovereign with the state of aiFairs 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 depar- ture for their capital. Not that he placed reliance on the injurious intimations of the Mexicans re- specting 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 be- fore his visit. Meanwhile, messengers daily ar- rived from the city, pressing his journey, and were finally followed by some of the aged rulers of the republic, attended by a numerous retinue, impa- tient of his long delay. They brought with them a body of five hundred tamanes, or men of burden, to drag his cannon and reheve his own forces from " He dwells on it in his letter to the emperor. " Seeing the dis- cord and division between 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 remem- bered a text of the Evangelist, which says, ' Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation.' I treated therefore with both parties, and thanked each in secret for the intelligence it had given me, professing to regard it with greater friendship than the other." Il«l. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 61. 162 CONQUEST OF MEXICO this fatiguing part of their duty. It was impossi- ble to defer his departure longer; and after mass, and a solemn thanksgiving to the great Being who had crowned their arms with triumph, the Span- iards 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.^ ^ "Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 10.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 4.— Gomara, Cr6nica, cap. 54.— Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 2. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 72-74.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 83. CHAPTER V SPANIARDS ENTER TLASC ALA— DESCRIPTION OF THE CAPITAL— ATTEMPTED CONVERSION— AZTEC EM- BASSY—INVITED TO CHOLULA 1519 THE city of Tlascala, the capital of the repub- lic of the same name, lay at the distance of about six leagues from the Spanish camp. The road led into a hilly region, exhibiting in every arable patch of ground the evidence of laborious cultivation. Over a deep harranca^ 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.^ They passed some consid- erable towns on their route, where they experi- enced 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 ' " A distancia de un quarto de legua caminando d esta dicha ciudad se encuentra una barranca honda, que tiene para pasar un Puente de cal y canto de hoveda, y es tradicion en el pueblo de San Salvador, que se hizo en aquellos dias, que estubo alii Cortes para que pasase." (Viaje, ap. Lorenzana, p. xi.) If the antiquity of this arched stone bridge could be established, it would settle a point much mooted in respect to Indian architecture. But the con- struction of so solid a work in so short a time is a fact requiring a better voucher than the villagers of San Salvador. 163 164. CONQUEST OF MEXICO and welcome the strangers; men and women in their picturesque dresses, with bunches and wreaths of roses, which they gave to the Spaniards, or fas- tened 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 cen- sers. In this way, the multitudinous and motley procession defiled through the gates of the an- cient capital of Tlascala. It was the twenty-third of September, 1519, the anniversary of which is still celebrated by the inhabitants as a day of jubilee.^ The press was now so great that it was with diffi- culty 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 specta- tors, 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 'Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. iii. p. 53. — " Recibimiento el mas solene y famoso que en el mundo se ha visto," exclaims the en- thusiastic historian of the republic. He adds that " more than a hundred thousand men flocked out to receive the Spaniards; a thing that appears impossible," que parece cosa imposible! It does indeed- Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. 1519] DESCRIPTION OF TLASCALA 165 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 sat- isfied, as far as he could, a natural curiosity re- specting 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.^ Tlascala 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 JSIoorish capital at the time of the conquest, and quite as well built.^ But, not- ' Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 11.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 59. — Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 54. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 11. * " La qual ciudad es tan grande, y de tanta admiracion, que aunque mucho de lo, que de ella podria decir, dexe, lo poco que dird creo es * [So Coronado compared Zuiii and Granada. What both meant was probably that the cities, if properly defended, would be as hard to capture as Granada. — M.J 166 CONQUEST OF MEXICO withstanding we are assured by a most respectable writer at the close of the last century that its re- mains justify the assertion,^ 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 Columbus, saw objects through the warm medium of his own fond imagination, giving them a higher tone of coloring and larger dimensions than were strictly warranted by the fact. It was natural that the man who had made such rare discoveries should un- consciously 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 casi increible, porque es muy mayor que Granada, y muy mas fuerte, y de tan buenos Edificios, y de muy murcha mas gente, que Granada tenia al tiempo que se gano." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 58. " " 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. * [About the same as that of Cholula, which Bandelier estimated at 30,000.— M.] 1519] DESCRIPTION OF TLASCALA 167 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 descrip- tion of domestic produce and manufacture with which they were acquainted. They peculiarly ex- celled in pottery, which was considered as equal to the best in Europe.^ It is a further proof of civilized habits that the Spaniards found barbers' shops, and baths both of vapor and hot water, fa- miliarly 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.^ The city was divided into four quarters, which might rather be called so many separate towns, since they were built at different times, and sepa- rated 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, occupying his own spacious mansion * and sur- rounded by his own immediate vassals. Strange arrangement, — and more strange that it should have been compatible with social order and tran- quillity ! The ancient capital, through one quarter of which flowed the rapid current of the Zahuatl, ' " Nullum est fictile vas apud nos, quod arte superet ab illis vasa formata." Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 2. ^ Camargo, Hist, de TIascala, MS. — Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Loren- zana, p. 59.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 4.— Ixtlilxo- chitl. 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. * [One of the great communal houses. — M.] 168 CONQUEST OF MEXICO stretched along the summits and sides of hills, at whose base are now gathered the miserable re- mains of its once flourishing population.*^ Far beyond, to the southeast, extended the bold sierra of Tlascala, and the huge Malinche, crowned with the usual silver diadem of the highest Andes, hav- ing its shaggy sides clothed with dark-green for- ests of firs, gigantic sycamores, and oaks whose towering stems rose to the height of forty or fifty feet, unencumbered by a branch. The clouds, which sailed over from the distant Atlantic, gath- ered round the lofty peaks of the sierra, and, set- tling into torrents, poured over the plains in the neighborhood of the city, converting them, at such seasons, into swamps. Thunder-storms, more fre- quent 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 favorable to the develop- ment 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 subsistence from her too prodigal hand as super- sede the necessity of exertion on his own part, the * Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 6, cap. 13.— 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. 1519] SEVERE DISCIPLINE 169 Tlascalan earned his bread— from a soil not un- grateful, 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 in- tercourse, he was driven chiefly to agricultural labor, 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 fes- tivity, 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 permis- sion. Indeed, the severity of his discipline pro- voked 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 170 CONQUEST OF MEXICO proposed to introduce it, if possible, into his own ranks.® The Spanish commander, having assured him- self of the loyalty of his new allies, next proposed to accomplish one of the great objects of his mis- sion, their conversion to Christianity. By the ad- vice of Father Olmedo, always opposed to precipi- tate measures, he had deferred this till a suitable opportunity presented itself for opening the sub- ject. Such a one occurred when the chiefs of the state proposed to strengthen the alliance with the Spaniards by the intermarriage of their daugh- ters 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, exliibiting 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 own 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 his audience, they listened with a deferential awe. When he had finished, they replied they had no doubt that the God of the Christians must be a good and a great God, and as such they were will- 'Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 11.— Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— Gomara, Cr6nica, cap. 54. 55. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 13.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con- quista, cap. 75. 1519] ATTEMPTED CONVERSION 171 ing to give him a place among the divinities of Tlascala. The polytheistic system of the Indians, like that of the ancient Greeks, was of that ac- commodating kind which could admit within its elastic folds the deities of any other religion, with- out violence to itself/*^ But every nation, they continued, must have its own appropriate and tu- telary 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 ven- geance 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 mat- ter 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, for- tunately, 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 judg- ment 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 con- '" Camargo notices this elastic property in the religions of Ana- huac: " Este modo de hablar y decir que les querra dar otro Dios, es saber que cuando estas gentes tenian noticia de algun Dios de buenas propiedades y costumbres, que le rescibiesen admitiendole por tal, porque otras gentes advenedizas trujeron muchos idolos que tu- bieron por Dioses, y a este fin y proposito decian, que Cortes les traia otro Dios." Hist, de Tlascala, MS. 172 CONQUEST OF MEXICO versions. 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, witliout which there could be no assurance of a sound and permanent conviction. These rational views were enforced by the remon- strances of Alvarado, Velasquez de Leon, and those in whom 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.^^ In the course of our narrative we have had occa- sion to witness more than once the good effects of the interposition of Father Olmedo. Indeed, it is scarcely too much to say that his discretion in spir- itual matters contributed as essentially to the suc- cess of the expedition as did the sagacity and " Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 84.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 56. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 76, 77. — This is not the account of Camargo. According to him', Cortes gained his point: the nobles led the way by embracing Christianity, and the idols were broken. (Hist, de Tlascala, MS.) But Camargo was himself a Christianized Indian, who lived in the next generation after the Conquest, and may very likely have felt as much desire to relieve his nation from the reproach of infidelity as a modern Spaniard would to scour out the stain — mala raza y mancha — of Jewish or Moorish lineage from his escutcheon. 1519] ATTEMPTED CONVERSION 173 courage of Cortes in temporal. He was a true disciple in the school of Las Casas. His heart was unscathed by that fiery fanaticism which sears and hardens whatever it touches. It melted with the warm glow of Christian charity. He had come out to the New World as a missionary among the heathen, and he shrank from no sacrifice but that of the welfare of the poor benighted flock to whom he had consecrated his days. If he followed the banners of the warrior, it was to mitigate the fe- rocity of war, and to turn the triumphs of the Cross to a good account for the natives themselves, by the spiritual labors of conversion. 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 Tlas- calans to break the fetters of the unfortunate vic- tims reserved for sacrifice; an act of humanity unhappily only transient in its effects, since the prisons were filled with fresh victims on his de- parture. He also obtained permission for the Spaniards to perform the services of their own religion un- molested. 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 174« CONQUEST OF MEXICO direct interi^osition 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 au- thority—when a thin, transparent cloud descended and settled like a column on the cross, and, wrap- ping it round in its luminous folds, continued to emit a soft, celestial radiance through the night, thus proclaiming the sacred character of the sym- bol, on which was shed the halo of divinity ! ^ ^ 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 re- ceived, as usual, on this occasion, good Castilian names, in exchange for the barbarous nomencla- turn of their own vernacular.^ ^ Among them, Xicotencatl's daughter, Dona Luisa, as she was called after her baptism, was a princess of the high- est estimation and authority in Tlascala. She was given by her father to Alvarado, and their pos- terity intermarried with the noblest families of Castile. The frank and joj'^ous manners of this cavalier made him a great favorite with the Tlas- "The miracle is reported by Herrera (Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 15), and believed by Solfs. Conquista de M^jico, lib. 3, cap. 5. " To avoid the perplexity of selection, it was common for the mis- sionary to give the same names to all the Indians baptized on the same day. Thus, one day was set apart for the Johns, another for the Peters, and so on; an ingenious arrangement, much more for the convenience of the clergy than of the converts. See Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS. 1519] AZTEC EMBASSY 175 calans ; and his bright, open countenance, fair com- plexion, and golden locks gave him the name of Tonatiuhj the " Sun." The Indians often pleased their fancies by fastening a sobriquet, or some characteristic epithet, on the Spaniards. As Cor- tes was always attended, on public occasions, by Dona Marina, or oMalinche, 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.^ ^ While these events were passing, another em- bassy arrived from the court of Mexico. It was charged, as usual, with a costly donative of em- bossed gold plate, and rich embroidered stuffs of cotton and feather-work. The terms of the mes- sage 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 capi- tal, 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.^ ^ "Ibid., MS. — Bernal Diaz. Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 74, 77.— According to Camargo, the Tlascalans gave the Spanish commander three hundred damsels to wait on Marina; and the kind treatment and instruction they received led some of the chiefs to surrender their own daughters, " con prop6sito de que si acaso algunas se empre- nasen quedase entre ellos generacion de hombres tan valientes y temidos." " 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 176 CONQUEST OF MEXICO The Tlascalans viewed with deep regret the gen- eral'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 con- tinent. 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 false." When Cortes remarked that he hoped to bring about a better understanding be- tween 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 gen- eral's taking the route of Cholula. The inhabi- tants, 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 dis- trust a superstitious dread of the ancient city, the headquarters of the religion of Anahuac. It was here that the god Quetzalcoatl held the pristine seat of his empire. His temple was celebrated the latter, from forgetfulness perhaps, goes so much beyond it, that it is not always easy to decide between them. Diaz did not com- pile 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 intimate acquaintance with his chronicle does not strengthen this confidence. 1519] INVITED TO CHOLULA 177 throughout the land, and the priests were confi- dently believed to have the power, as they them- selves boasted, of opening an inundation from the fomidations of his shrine, which 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 pre- ceding. 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.^*^ Though defeated in his pretensions, he had obtained a part of the kingdom, over which he ruled with a deadly feeling of animosity to- wards his rival, and to JNIontezuma, who had sus- tained him. He 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 disaffec- tion that was floating through the land. ^'Ante, p. 306. 178 CONQUEST OF MEXICO It was not long before deputies arrived from Choliila, profuse in their expressions of good will, and inviting the presence of the Spaniards in their 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 sover- eign, the rightful lord of these realms! ^^ The menace had the desired effect. The Cholulans were not inclined to contest, at least for the pres- ent, 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 per- sonal safety in the capital of their enemies. The explanation was plausible, and was admitted by Cortes. The Tlascalans were now more than ever op- posed to his projected visit. A strong Aztec force, they had ascertained, lay in the neighborhood of Cholula, and the people were actively placing their city in a posture of defence. They suspected " " Si no viniessen, iria sobre ellos, y los destrui'ria, y procederia contra ellos como contra personas rebeldes; diciendoles, como todas estas Partes, y otras muy mayores Tierras, y Senorfos eran de Vues- tra Alteza." (Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 63.) "Re- bellion" was a very convenient term, fastened in like manner by the countrjTnen of Cortes on the Moors for defending the possessions which they had held for eight centuries in the Peninsula. It justified very rigorous reprisals. (See the History of Ferdinand and Isabella, Part L, chap. 13, et alibi.) 1519] INVITED TO CHOLULA 179 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 cele- brated 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 im- plying a distrust in his own resources which could not fail to have a bad effect on his enemies, his al- lies, and his own men. After a brief consultation with his officers, he decided on the route to Cho- lula.^« It was now three weeks since the Spaniards had taken up their residence within the hospitable walls 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 de- pended the ultimate success of the expedition. " Rel. Seg. de Cortds, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 62, 63.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 4.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 84. — Gomara, Cr6nica, cap. 58. — Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 2. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 18. — Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 11. CHAPTER VI CITY OF CHOLULA— GREAT TEMPLE— MARCH TO CHOLULA — RECEPTION OF THE SPANIARDS — CON- SPIRACY DETECTED 1519 THE ancient city of Cholula, capital of the republic of that name, lay nearly six leagues south of Tlascala, and about twenty east, or rather southeast, of Mexico. It was said by Cortes to contain twenty thousand houses within the walls, and as many more in the environs ; ^ though now dwindled to a population of less than sixteen thou- sand souls.^ Whatever was its real number of in- habitants, 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 overspread the land before the Aztecs.^ We have few particulars of its form ^Rel. Seg., ap, Lorenzana, p. 67.— According to Las Casas, the place contained 30,000 vecinos, or about 150,000 inhabitants. (Bre- vissima Relatione della Distruttione dell' Indie Occidentale (Venetia, 1643). This latter, being the smaller estimate, is a priori the more credible; especially — a rare occurrence— when in the pages of the good Bishop of Chiapa. * Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. iii. p. 159. * Veytia carries back the foundation of the city to the Ulmecs, a people who preceded the Toltecs. (Hist, antig., torn. i. cap. 13, 20.) 180 1519] CITY OF CHOLULA 181 of government, which seems to have been cast on a repubhcan model similar to that of Tlascala.* This answered so well that the state maintained its independence 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 neighbors and kindred the Tlascalans. But, although far supe- rior to them in refinement and the various arts of civilization, they were no match in war for the bold mountaineers, the Swiss of Anahuac. The Cholulan capital was the great commercial empo- rium 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.^ But such As the latter, after occupying the land se%^eral centuries, have left not a single written record, probably, of their existence, it will be hard to disprove the licentiate's assertion, — still harder to prove it. * Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. S.f * [The older authorities agree in stating that Cholula was demo- cratically governed. Bandelier (Studies about Cholula and its Vicin- ity, in his Report of an Archaeological Tour in Mexico in 1881) concludes that there were in the community six kins. Torquemada says the tribal council consisted of six speakers. The tribe was gov- erned by two chief executives (called Aquiach and Tlalquiach). Their functions were partly warlike, as is evidenced by their appel- lations " eagle " and " tiger," and partly religious. The tribe occu- pied one large pueblo, with a few smaller groups, possibly twenty, scattered about it, of which perhaps two deserved the title of villages. The population of the pueblo may have been 30,000 in 1519. The estimate of houses which Cortes gives is too large. Moreover, a large number of houses in each pueblo was always unoccupied. — M.] t [" We find that, according to tradition, the territory of Cholula was, up to the year 1519, necessarily occupied by at least three dif- 182 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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.^ But the capital, so conspicuous for its refine- ment and its great antiquity, was even more vener- able 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 civiliza- tion. He made them acquainted with better forms of government, and a more spiritualized religion, in which the only sacrifices were the fruits and flowers of the season.*' It is not easy to determine what he taught, since his lessons have been so min- gled with the licentious dogmas of his own priests and the mystic commentaries of the Christian missionary."^ It is probable that he was one of ^Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 58. — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 3, cap. 19. *Veytia, Hist, antig., torn. i. cap. 15, et seq. — Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, lib. 1, cap. 5; lib. 3. ' Later divines have found in these teachings of the Toltec god, or high-priest, the germs of some of the great mysteries of the Chris- tian faith, as those of the Incarnation, and the Trinity, for example. ferent stocks. The modes of burial, so far as ascertained, reveal an equal number of distinct customs. The architecture, so far as it is possible to investigate it, shows at least two separate types. . . . Finally we may ask if the facts, that the adobe bricks of the great mound contain pottery and obsidian, and that skulls have been found beneath its projecting western apron, do not hint at a still older population, with perhaps a different style of architecture." Ban- delier, Archaeological Tour, p. 261. — M.] 1519] THE PYRAMID OF CHOLULA 183 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 honor of this benevolent deity that the stupendous mound* was erected on which the trav- eller still gazes with admiration as the most colos- sal fabric in New Spain, rivalling in dimensions, and somewhat resembling in form, the pyramidal structures of ancient Egypt. The date of its erec- tion 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 trun- cated pyramid, facing with its four sides the car- dinal points, and divided into the same number of terraces. Its original outlines, however, have been effaced by the action of time and of the ele- ments, while the exuberant growth of shrubs and wild flowers, which have mantled over its surface. In the teacher himself they recognize no less a person than St. Thomas the Apostle ! See the Dissertation of the irrefragable Dr. Mier, with an edifying commentary by Senor Bustamante, ap. Sa- hagun. (Hist, de Nueva-Espana, torn, i., Suplemento.) The reader will find further particulars of this matter in the essay on the Origin of the Mexican Civilization, at the end of the first book of this history. * [The most careful measurements of the great mound, or "pyra- mid," were those made by Bandelier in 1881. He found the base to be a trapeze. North line, 1000 feet; east line, 1026 feet; south line, 833 feet; west line, 1000 feet; total, 3859 feet. This would give an approximate area of over twenty acres for the base. Measuring the height of the mound from each of its four sides, he found the aver- age altitude to be 169 feet. There is not a trace of aboriginal work upon the summit. The structure was built long before the Nahuatl period. It was not erected at one time, but grew as necessity ordered. It was a place of refuge and its top was used as a place of wor- ship.— M.] 184 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 arti- ficial composition of stone and earth, deeply in- crusted, as is certain, in every part, with alternate strata of brick and clay.^ The perpendicular height of the pyramid is one hundred and seventy-seven feet. Its base is one thousand four hundred and tw enty-three feet long, twice as long as that of the great pyramid of Cheops. It may give some idea of its 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 Eu- phrates, and, in much higher preservation, on those of the Nile.^ On the summit stood a sumptuous temple, in *Such, on the whole, seems to be the judgment of M. de Hum- boldt, who has examined this interesting monument with his usual care. (Vues des Cordilleres, p. 27, et seq. — Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 150, et seq.) The opinion derives strong confirmation from the fact that a road, cut some years since across the tumulus, laid open a large section of it, in which the alternate layers of brick and clay are distinctly visible. (Ibid., loc. cit.) The present appearance of this monument, covered over with the verdure and vegetable mould of centuries, excuses the scepticism of the more superficial traveller, * Several of the pyramids of Egj-pt, and the ruins of Babylon, are, as is well known, of brick. An inscription on one of the former, indeed, celebrates this material as superior to stone. (Herodotus, Euterpe, sec. 136.) — Humboldt furnishes an apt illustration of the size of the Mexican teocalli, by comparing it to a mass of bricks covering a square four times as large as the Place Vendome, and of twice the height of the Louvre. Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 152, 1519] GREAT TEMPLE 185 which was the image of the mystic deity, "god of the air," with ebon features, unlike the fair com- plexion which he bore upon earth, wearing a mitre on his head waving with plumes of fire, with a re- splendent 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.^^ The sanctity of the place, hallowed by hoary tra- dition, and the magnificence of the temple and its services, made it an object of veneration through- out the land, and pilgrims from the farthest corners of Anahuac came to offer up their devo- tions at the shrine of Quetzalcoatl.^^ 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 multi- tudes of beggars, such as are to be found in the enlightened capitals of Europe;^- — a whimsical criterion of civilization, which must place our own prosperous land somewhat low in the scale. 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 " A minute account of the costume and insignia of Quetzalcoatl is given by Father Sahagun, who saw the Aztec gods before the arm of the Christian convert had tumbled them from " their pride of place." See Hist, de Nueva-Espaila, lib. 1, cap. 3. " They came from the distance of two hundred leagues, says Tor- quemada. Monarch. Ind., lib. 3, cap. 19. *^ " Hay mucha gente pobre, y que piden entre los Ricos por las Calles, y por las Casas, y Mercados, como hacen los Pobres en Es- paila, y en otras partes que hay Oente de razon." Rel. Seg., ap. Lo- renzana, pp. 67, 68. 186 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 cere- monial, sacrifice, and religious festivals. Cholula was, in short, what Mecca is among Mahometans, or Jerusalem among Christians; it was the Holy City of Anahuac.^^ * The religious rites were not performed, how- ever, 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! ^^ The great number of these may be estimated from the declaration of Cortes that he counted four hundred towers in the city; ^^ yet no temple had more than two, many only one. High above the rest rose the great "pyramid of Cho- lula," with its undying fires flinging their radiance " Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 3, cap. 19.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 61. — Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. " Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 2. — Torquemada, Mo- narch. Ind., ubi supra. " " E certifico ^ Vuestra Alteza, que yo cont6 desde una Mezquita quatrocientas, y tantas Torres en la dicha Ciudad, y todas son de Mezquitas." Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 67. * [Cholula was not a " Holy City " or pilgrim resort for other tribes. " It suffices to recall the state of intertribal warfare which pre- vailed in aboriginal Mexico to establish the utter fallacy of this pre- tension. . . . Even the preeminence which Quetzalcohuatl, the chief idol of Cholula, is said to have enjoyed over the whole of Central Mexico is vigorously denied by the Indians of Tlascala and of the Mexican valley itself." Cholula was a great mart of trade and crowds flocked to it because of that fact. Outside Indians were accustomed to bring presents to its chief idol. See Bandelier, Arch. Tour, pp. 168, 169. -M.] 1519] MAGNIFICENT PROSPECT 187 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. Xothing 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 Iztacci- huatl 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 bar- ren though beautifully-shaped Sierra de la i\Ia- linche, 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 spec- tator* lay the sacred city of Cholula, with its bright towers and pinnacles sparkling in the sun, repos- ing amidst gardens and verdant groves, which then thickly studded the cultivated environs of the capi- * [Bandelier (Gilded Man, p. 259) shows that the spectator who stood on the " truncated summit of the pyramid " was standing upon a structure which had long been in ruins, and which was covered with bushes when Cortes passed through the country. On the sum- mit was a " little ancient temple." There was no trace of a large building, and the pyramid looked so much like a wooded hill that the Conquerors regarded it as a natural elevation. No pinnacles sparkled in the sun, because the architecture of the natives did not include those features. The houses were for the most part only one story high, and were whitewashed, — M.] 188 CONQUEST OF MEXICO tal. 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 ap- pointed morning the Spanish army took up its march to Mexico by the way of Cholula. It was followed by crowds of the citizens, filled with ad- miration at the intrepidity of men who, so few in number, would venture to brave the great JNIonte- zuma in his capital. Yet an immense body of warriors offered to share the dangers of the expe- dition; but Cortes, while he showed his gratitude for their good will, selected only six thousand of the volunteers to bear him company.^ "^ He was " The city of Puebia de los Angeles was founded by the Spaniards soon after the Conquest, on the site of an insignificant village in the territory of Cholula, a few miles to the east of that capital. It is, perhaps, the most considerable city in New Spain, after Mexico itself, which it rivals in beauty. It seems to have inherited the religious preeminence of the ancient Cholula, being distinguished, like her, for the number and splendor of its churches, the multitude of its clergj', and the magnificence of its ceremonies and festivals. These are fully displayed in the pages of travellers who have passed through the place on the usual route from Vera Cruz to the capital. (See, in particular, Bullock's Mexico, vol. i. chap. 6.) The environs of Cho- lula, still irrigated as in the days of the Aztecs, are equally remark- able for the fruitfulness of the soil. The best wheat-lands, according to a very respectable authority, yield in the proportion of eighty for one. Ward's Mexico, vol. ii. p. 270.— See, also, Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 158; tom. iv. p. 330. " According to Cortes, a hundred thousand men offered their ser- vices on this occasion ! " And although I forbade it, and requested that they would not go, since there was no necessity for it, yet I was followed by as many as a hundred thousand men well fitted for war, who came with me to the distance of nearly two leagues from the city, and then through my pressing importunities were induced to 1519] MARCH TO CHOLULA 189 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 planta- tions of the cactus, on which the brilliant cochineal is nourished. Not a rood of land but was under cultivation;^^ 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 Span- iards. Towards evening they reached a small stream, on the banks of which Cortes determined to take up his quarters for the night, being un- willing to disturb the tranquillity of the city by introducing so large a force into it at an unseason- able hour. Here he was soon joined by a number of Cho- lulan caciques and their attendants, who came to view and welcome the strangers. When they saw return, with the exception of five or six thousand, who continued in my company." (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 64.) This, which must have been nearly the whole fighting force of the republic, does not startle Oviedo (Hist, de las Ind., MS., cap. 4) nor Gomara, Cro- nica, cap. 58. '^ The words of the Conquistador are yet stronger. " There is not a hand's-breadth of land that is not cultivated." Rel. Seg., ap. Lo- renzana, p. 67. 190 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 rea- sonable 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 with swarms of people of both sexes and every age, old men tottering with infir- mity, women with children in their arms, all eager to catch a glimpse of the strangers, whose per- sons, weapons, and horses were objects of intense curiosity to eyes which had not hitherto ever en- countered 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 embroidered man- tles, resembling the graceful alhornoz, or ^loorish cloak, in their texture and fashion.^ '^ They showed " " All the inhabitants of rank wear, besides their other clothing, albornoces, differing from those of Africa inasmuch as they have pockets, but ver_v similar in form, in material, and in the bordering." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 67. 1519] RECEPTION OF THE SPANIARDS 191 the same delicate 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 instru- ments 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 cleanli- ness 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 buildings, they were quartered.^^ "Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 67. — Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Cbich., MS., cap. 84.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 4. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 82.— The Spaniards com- pared Cholula to the beautiful Valladolid, according to Herrera, whose description of the entry is very animated: " Salieronle otro dia A recibir mas de diez mil ciudadanos en diversas tropas, con rosas, flores, pan, aves, i frutas, i mucha miisica. Llegaba vn esqua- dron d dar la bien llegada a Hernando Cortes, i con buena orden se iba apartando, dando lugar a que otro Ilegase. . . . En llegando * [" According to tradition Cortes was lodged in the present south- western quarter of the city, which is now called Santa Maria Tecpan, the Tecpan being the communal house where strange visitors were received. In the middle of the quarter there still stands, in the Calle-de-Herreros, an ancient portal, with the inscription in the Na- huatl language and Latin letters, ' Here stood the Tecpan, where now is the house of Antonio de la Cruz.' " Bandelier, Gilded Man, p. 272.— M.] 192 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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. JNIessengers arrived from Montezuma, who, after a short and unpleasant intimation to Cortes that his approach occasioned much disquietude to their master, con- ferred separately with the Mexican ambassadors still in the Castilian camp, and then departed, tak- ing one of the latter along with them. From this time the deportment of their Cholulan hosts under- went a visible alteration. They did not visit the quarters as before, and, when invited to do so, ex- cused themselves on pretence of illness. The supply of provisions was stinted, on the ground that they were short of maize. These symptoms of alienation, independently of temporary embar- rassment, 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 a la ciudad, que pareci6 mucho a los Castellanos, en el asiento, i perspectiva, a Valladolid, salio la demas gente, quedando mui es- pantada de ver las figuras, talles, i armas de los Castellanos. Salie- ron los sacerdotes con vestiduras blancas, como sobrepellices, i algunas cerradas por delante, los brac^os defuera, con fluecos de algodon en las orillas. Unos llevaban figuras de idolos en las manos, otros sahumerios; otros tocaban cornetas, alabalejos, i diversas miisicas, i todos iban cantando, i llegaban a encensar a los Castel- lanos. Con esta pompa entraron en Chulula." Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 1. 1519] CONSPIRACY DETECTED 193 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. ^^ 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 quar- ter of the town, to propitiate the favor 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 ti- dings confirmed the worst suspicions of Cortes, who had no doubt that some hostile scheme was in agitation. If he had felt any, a discovery by Ma- rina, 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 inter- preter, seeing the importance of obtaining further " Cortes, indeed, noticed these same alarming appearances on his entering the city, thus suggesting the idea of a premeditated treach- ery. " On the road we noticed many indications such as the natives of this province had told us of; for we found the royal road barred up and another opened, and some holes dug, — though not many,— and some of the streets of the city barricadoed, and many stones upon the roofs; which put us more upon our guard and caused us to exercise great caution." Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 64. * [But there were always heaps of stones and other missiles kept for defence on the flat roofs of the houses in the unwalled cities. — M.] 194( CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 credu- lous Cholulan off her guard, Marina gradually in- sinuated 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 quar- tered at no great distance from the city, to support the Cholulans in the assault. It was confidently expected that the Spaniards, thus embarrassed 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 un- noticed from the Spanish quarters to the house of her Cholulan friend, who assisted her in the opera- tion. Leaving her visitor thus employed, Marina found an opportunity to steal away for a few mo- ments, and, going to the general's apartment, dis- closed to him her discoveries. He immediately 1519] CONSPIRACY DETECTED 195 caused the cacique's wife to be seized, and, on ex- amination, 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 disadvan- tages, with the redoubtable warriors of Mexico. He 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 ad- vance is equally perilous. He was desirous to obtain still further confir- mation and particulars of the conspiracy. He ac- cordingly induced two of the priests in the neigh- borhood, one of them a person of much influence in the place, to visit his quarters. By courteous treat- ment, 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 be the grave of his enemies ; for the gods w^ould be sure to support him in avenging the sacrilege of- 196 CONQUEST OF MEXICO fered 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 priests, with injunctions of secrecy, scarcely necessary. He told them it was his purpose to leave the city on the following morn- ing, and requested that they would induce some of the principal caciques 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 intelligence, according to their different characters. The more timid, dis- heartened by the prospect of obstacles which seemed to multiply as they drew nearer the Mexi- can capital, were for retracing their steps and seek- ing 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 gen- eral, who was ever of opinion that they had no alternative but to advance. Retreat would be ruin. Half-way 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 circum- vented by artifice as of being crushed by weight of numbers and courage in the open field. 1519] CONSPIRACY DETECTED 197 When the caciques, persuaded by the priests, ap- peared before Cortes, he contented himself with gently rebuking their want of hospitality, and as- sured 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, more- over, that they would furnish a reinforcement of two thousand men to transport his artillery and baggage. The chiefs, after some consultation, ac- quiesced in a demand which might in some meas- ure favor their own designs. On their departure, the general summoned the Aztec ambassadors before him. He briefly ac- quainted 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 inno- cent of a crime which they charged wholly on the Cholulans. It was clearly the policy of Cortes 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 feel- ings 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 be- 198 CONQUEST OF MEXICO lieve that a monarch who had rendered the Span- iards so many friendly offices would now consum- mate the whole by a deed of such unparalleled baseness. The discovery of their twofold du- plicity, he added, sharpened his resentment against the Cholulans, on whom he would take such ven- geance as should amply requite the injuries done both to MontezLmia and the Spaniards. He then dismissed the ambassadors, taking care, notwith- standing this show of confidence, to place a strong guard over them, to prevent communication with the citizens.^^ That night was one of deep anxiety to the army. The ground they stood on seemed loosening be- neath their feet, and any moment might be the one marked for their destruction. Their vigilant gen- eral took all possible precautions for their safety, increasing the number of the sentinels, and posting his guns in such a manner as to protect the ap- proaches 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 In- dians, and the stillness of the hour was undisturbed except by the occasional sounds, heard in a popu- lous city, even when buried in slumber, and by the hoarse cries of the priests from the turrets of the " Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 83. — Gromara, Cr6nica, cap. 59. — Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 65. — Torque- mada. Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 39.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 83, cap. 4.— Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. !2.— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 1. — Argensola, Anales, lib. 1, caps. 85. 1519] CONSPIRACY DETECTED 199 teocallis, proclaiming through their trumpets the watches of the night.^^ ° " Las horas de la noche las regulaban por las estrellas, y tocaban los ministros del templo que estaban destinados para este fin, ciertos instrumentos como vocinas, con que hacian conocer al pueblo el tiempo." Gama, Descripcion, Parte 1, p. 14. CHAPTER VII TERRIBLE MASSACRE— TRANQUILLITY RESTORED — REFLECTIONS ON THE MASSACRE— FURTHER PRO- CEEDINGS—ENVOYS FROM MONTEZUMA 1519 WITH the first streak of morning light, Cortes was seen on horseback, directing the movements of his Httle band. The strength of his forces he drew up in the great square or court, sur- rounded 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 sig- nal, to march into the city and join the Spaniards. The arrangements were hardly completed, be- fore the Cholulan caciques appeared, leading a body of levies, tamanes, 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 dra^vn up under the walls. Cortes then took some of the caciques 200 1519] TERRIBLE MASSACRE 201 aside. With a stern air, he bluntly charged them with the conspiracy, showing that he was well ac- quainted with all the particulars. He had visited their city, he said, at the invitation of their em- peror; had come as a friend; had respected the in- habitants 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, re- posing 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 ac- cusation. An undefined awe crept over them as they gazed on the mysterious strangers and felt themselves in the presence of beings who seemed to have the power of reading the thoughts scarcely formed in their bosoms. There was no use in pre- varication or denial before such judges. They confessed the whole, and endeavored 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 ex- ample 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 Cholu- lans in the courtyard, and a frightful volley poured into them as they stood crowded together like a CONQUEST OF MEXICO herd of deer in the centre. They were taken by surprise, for they had not heard the preceding dia- logue with the chiefs. They made scarcely any resistance to the Spaniards, who followed up the discharge of their pieces by rushing on them with their swords; and, as the half -naked bodies of the natives aiForded no protection, they hewed them down with as much ease as the reaper mows down the ripe corn in harvest-time. Some endeavored to scale the walls, but only afforded a surer mark to the arquebusiers 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 them- selves 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 to- gether by the noise of the massacre, had com- menced a furious assault on the Spaniards from without. But Cortes had placed his battery of heavy guns in a position that commanded the ave- nues, and swept off the files of the assailants as they rushed on. In the intervals between the dis- charges, 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 spec- tacle, the flash of fire-arms mingling with the deafening roar of the artillery as its thunders reverberated among the buildings, the despairing 1519] TERRIBLE MASSACRE 203 Indians pushed on to take the places of their fallen comrades. While this fierce struggle was going forward, 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.^ 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 near- est buildings, which, being partly of wood, 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 inundation 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 turrets that crowned the temple, and poured down stones, javelins, and burning * " Usdron los de Tlaxcalla de un aviso muy bueno y les di6 Her- nando Cortes porque fueran conocidos y no morir entre los enemi- gos por yerro, porque sus armas y divisas eran casi de una manera; . . . y ansi se pusieron en las cabezas unas guirnaldas de esparto a manera de torzales, y con esto eran conocidos los de nuestra parciali- dad que no fue pequefio aviso." Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. 204 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 cita- del, 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.^ 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 sup- plications of the vanquished for mercy, were min- gled 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 rancor of ancient rivalry. The tumult was still further swelled by the incessant rattle of musketry, and the crash of falling tim- bers, which sent up a volume of flame that out- shone the ruddy light of morning, making alto- gether a hideous confusion 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 what- ever valuables they contained, plate, jewels, which were found in some quantity, wearing-apparel and 'Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 4, 45.— Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 40. — Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich,, MS., cap. 84.— Gomara, Crdnica, cap, 60. 1519] TRANQUILLITY RESTORED 205 provisions, the two last coveted even more than the former by the simple Tlascalans, thus facili- tating a division of the spoil much to the satisfac- tion of their Christian confederates. Amidst this universal license, it is worthy of remark, the com- mands of Cortes were so far respected that no violence was offered to women or children, though these, as well as numbers of the men, were made prisoners to be swept into slavery by the Tlasca- lans.^ 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 Mexi- can envoys, consented out of regard, as he said, to the latter, the representatives of Montezuma, to call oiF 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 re- * " They killed nearly six thousand persons, but touched neither women nor children, for so it had been ordered." Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 2. * [Andres de Tapia, who participated in the massacre, says that the work of destroying the city ("el trabajar por destruir la cib- dad") went on for two days, before Cortes gave orders for it to cease, and that it was not till two or three days later that the inhabi- tants, many of whom had fled to the mountains and neighboring ter- ritory, obtained pardon and leave to return. Col. de Doc. para la Hist, de Mexico, publicada por Joaquin Garcia Icazbalceta, torn. u.-K.] 206 CONQUEST OF MEXICO spective 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/ Such was their deference to the Spanish commander that they acquiesced, though not without murmurs, contenting themselves, as best they could, with the rich spoil rifled from the Cholulans, consisting of various luxuries long since unknown in Tlas- cala. 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 Cho- lulans in installing a successor in his place.^ By these pacific measures confidence was gradually re- stored. 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 orderlj^ in- dustrious community were resumed. Still, the long piles of black and smouldering ruins pro- claimed the hurricane which had so lately swept over the city, and the walls surrounding the scene *Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 83.— IxtlilxochitI, Hist. Chich., MS., ubi supra. •Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 83.— The descendants of the principal Cholulan cacique are living at this day in Puebla, according to Bustaraante. See Gomara, Cronica, trad, de Chimalpain (Mexico, 1826), torn. i. p. 98, nota. 1519] REFLECTIONS ON THE MASSACRE 207 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.^ This passage in their history is one of those that have left a dark stain on the memory of the Con- querors. 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 ruth- ' Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 66.— Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 84. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 4, 45.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con- quista, cap. 83.— Gomara, Crdnica, cap. 60.— Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva- Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 11.— Las Casas, in his printed treatise on the Destruction of the Indies, garnishes his account of these trans- actions with some additional and rather startling particulars. Ac- cording to him, Cortes caused a hundred or more of the caciques to be impaled or roasted at the stake ! He adds the report that, while the massacre in the court-yard was going on, the Spanish general repeated a scrap of an old romance, describing Nero as rejoicing over the burning ruins of Rome: " Mira Nero de Tarpeya, A Roma como se ardia. Gritos dan ninos y viejos, Y ^1 de nada se dolia." (Brevisima Relacion, p. 46.) This is the first instance, I suspect, on record of any person being ambitious of finding a parallel for himself in that emperor! Bernal Diaz, who had seen " the interminable narrative," as he calls it, of Las Casas, treats it with great contempt. His own version— one of those chiefly followed in the text— was corroborated by the report of the missionaries, who after the Conquest, visited Cholula, and inves- tigated the aifair with the aid of the priests and several old survivors who had witnessed it. It is confirmed in its substantial details by the other contemporary accounts. The excellent Bishop of Chiapa wrote with the avowed object of moving the sjTnpathies of his countrymen in behalf of the oppressed natives; a generous object, certainlj^, but one that has too often warped his judgment from the strict line of historic impartiality. He was not an eye-witness of the transactions in New Spain, and was much too willing to receive whatever would make for his case, and to " over-red," if I may so say, his argument with such details of blood and slaughter as, from their very extrava- gance, carry their own refutation with them. 208 CONQUEST OF MEXICO less soldiery. But, to judge the action fairly, we must transport ourselves to the age when it hap- pened. The difficulty that meets us in the outset is, to find a justification 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 igno- rance 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 Romish, 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.^ Under this code, the territory of the heathen, wher- ever found, was regarded as a sort of religious ^ For an illustration of the above remark the reader is referred to the closing pages of chap. 7, Part II., of the " History of Ferdinand 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 has 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, are a proof at once of the strength and weakness of the human understanding. They may be cited as a fair exponent of the popular feeling at the beginning of the sixteenth century: " Ch' ei non peccaro, e, s'egli hanno mercedi, Non basta, perche 7ion ebber battesmo, Ch' e parte della fede che tu credi. E, se furon dinanzi al Crislianesmo, 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 offiesi Che sanza speme vivemo in disio." Inferso, canto 4. 1519] REFLECTIONS ON THE MASSACRE 209 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 con- quest.^ Thus, Alexander the Sixth generously granted a large portion of the Western hemi- sphere to the Spaniards, and of the Eastern to the Portuguese. These lofty pretensions of the suc- cessors of the humble fisherman of Galilee, far from being nominal, were acknowledged and ap- pealed 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 * It is in the same spirit tiiat the laws of Oleron, the maritime code of so high authority in the Middle Ages, abandon the property of the infidel, in common with that of pirates, as fair spoil to the true believer ! " S'ilz sont pyrates, pilleurs, ou escumeurs de mer, ou Turcs, et autres contraires et ennemis de nostredicte foy catholicque, chascun peut prendre sur telles manieres de gens, comme sur chiens, si peut Von les desrobber et spoiler de leurs biens sans pugnition. C'est le jugement." Jugemens d'Oleron, Art. 45, ap. Collection de Lois maritimes, par J. M. Pardessus (ed. Paris, 1828), torn. i. p. 351. ' The famous bull of partition became the basis of the treaty of Tordesillas, by which the Castilian and Portuguese governments de- termined the boundary line of their respective discoveries; a line that secured the vast empire of Brazil to the latter, which from priority of occupation should have belonged to their rivals. See the " History of Ferdinand and Isabella," Part I. chap. 18; Part II. chap. 9,— the closing pages of each. 210 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 Chris- tian 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 imperative duty of conversion,^ ^ was the assumed basis — and, in the apprehension of that age, a sound one— of the right of conquest.^ ^ '" It is the condition, unequivocally expressed and reiterated, on which Alexander VI., in his famous bulls of May 3d and 4th, 1493, conveys to Ferdinand and Isabella full and absolute right over all such territories in the Western World as may not have been pre- viously occupied by Christian princes. See these precious documents in extenso, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de los Viages y Descubri- mientos (Madrid, 1825), torn. ii. Nos. 17, 18. " The ground on which Protestant nations assert a natural right to the fruits of their discoveries in the New World is very different. They consider that the earth was intended for cultivation, and that Providence never designed that hordes of wandering savages should hold a territory far more than necessary for their own maintenance, to the exclusion of civilized man. Yet it may be thought, as far as improvement of the soil is concerned, that this argument would afford us but an indifferent tenure for much of our own unoccupied and un- cultivated territory, far exceeding what is demanded for our present or prospective support. As to a right founded on difference of ci\'il- ization, this is obviously a still more uncertain criterion. It is to the credit of our Puritan ancestors that they did not avail themselves of any such interpretation of the law of nature, and still less relied on the powers conceded by King James's patent, asserting rights as abso- lute, nearly, as those claimed by the Roman See. On the contrary, they established their title to the soil by fair purchase of the abo- rigines; thus forming an honorable contrast to the policy pursued by too many of the settlers on the American continents. It should be remarked that, whatever difference of opinion may have subsisted between the Roman Catholic — or rather the Spanish and Portuguese — nations and the rest of Europe, in regard to the true foundation of their titles in a moral view, they have always been content, in their controversies with one another, to rest them exclusively on priority of discovery. For a brief view of the discussion, see Vattel (Droit des Gens, sec. 209), and especially Kent (Commentaries on American 1519] REFLECTIONS ON THE MASSACRE 211 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 histor/ at which we are now arrived, had probably been stained with fewer of such acts than almost any similar enterprise of the Spanish dis- coverers in the New World. Throughout the cam- paigns, Cortes had prohibited all wanton injuries to the natives in person or property, and had pun- ished 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 invi- tation of the Indian emperor, who had a real, if not avowed, control over the state. He had been re- ceived as a friend, with every demonstration of good will; when, without any oiFence of his own or his followers, he found they were to be the vic- tims 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 Law, vol. iii. lee. 51), where it is handled with much perspicuity and eloquence. The argument, as founded on the law of nations, may be found in the celebrated case of Johnson v. Mcintosh. (Wheaton, Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of the United States, vol. iii. p. 543, et seq.) If it were not treating a grave discussion too lightly, I should crave leave to refer the reader to the renowned Diedrich Knickerbocker's History of New York (book I, chap. 5) for a lu- minous disquisition on this knotty question. At all events, he will find there the popular arguments subjected to the test of ridicule; a test showing, more than any reasoning can, how much, or rather how little, they are really worth. 212 CONQUEST OF MEXICO truly considered, left no alternative but to antici- pate 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 ? But when was it ever seen that fear, armed with power, was 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 Conquerors if we compare it with that of our own contemporaries under some- what similar circumstances. The atrocities at Cholula were not so bad as those inflicted on the descendants of these very Spaniards, in the late war of the Peninsula, by the most polished nations of our time; by the British at Badajoz, for exam- ple, — at Tarragona, and a hundred other places, by the French. The wanton butchery, the ruin of property, and, above all, those outrages worse than death, from which the female part of the popula- tion were protected at Cholula, show a catalogue of enormities quite as black as those imputed to the Spaniards, and without the same apology for re- sentment, — with no apology, indeed, but that af- forded by a brave and patriotic resistance. The consideration of these events, which, from their familiarity, make little impression on our senses, should render us more lenient in our judgments of the past, showing, as they do, that man in a state of excitement, savage or civilized, is much the same 1519] REPXECTIONS ON THE MASSACRE 213 in every age. It may teach us— it is one of the best lessons of history — that, since such are the inevitable evils of war, even among the most pol- ished people, those who hold the destinies of na- tions in their hands, whether rulers or legislators, should submit to every sacrifice, save that of honor, before authorizing an appeal to arms. The ex- treme sohcitude 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 Conquerors. Let them lie heavy on their heads. They were an iron race, who per- illed life and fortune in the cause; and, as they made little account of danger and suiFering 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 impar- tial 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 sur- veys the dark or doubtful passages in our own history, which hardly arrest the eye of the contem- porary.* •[The "massacre" at Cholula iros a military necessity to one warring as Cortds was. Having discovered the existence of a plot to exterminate his forces, he simply struck first. The Cholulans had 214 CONQUEST OF MEXICO But, whatever be thought of this transaction in a moral view, as a stroke of policy it was unques- taken measures to annihilate the invaders, which must have proved successful against ordinary foes. Not only the Spanish historians but the native chroniclers testify to this fact. The Mexican story is told in the Indian paintings still preserved at San Juan Cuauht- lautzinco. The Cholulans did not regard the Spaniards as gods. They went to work to trap them and starve them like ordinary hu- man beings. They cut off their supplies. They shut them up in the great Tecpan. The Tlascalans knew all the while that treachery was planned. They knew also (what the Spaniards did not know, because of their ignorance of Indian governmental institutions) that any oaths the Cholulan chiefs might take would be binding upon the tribe only if the tribe had commissioned its representatives to take them. The embassy was only a decoJ^ The Spaniards thought that the perfuming with incense indicated submission to themselves. They did not know that prisoners of war, destined for sacrifice, were perfumed in the same way. But the slaughter could not have been by any means as great as is ordinarily supposed. In the first place, there were not as many inhabitants in the city as Cortes imagined; and, in the second place, three of the wards of the city were not in- volved either in the plot or the killing. The great crowd which attended the Spaniards as they passed through the streets was al- ways the same crowd. It made a prodigious noise, and the invaders naturally imagined it to betoken an immense population. But Ban- delier's estimate of 30,000 inhabitants is probably correct. Cortes, in his first report, writes, with apparent complacency, that " 3000 murieron en dos boras." This would imply a most astounding kill- ing capacity on the part of the less than 500 Spaniards and their allies. The fire-arms of course made awful havoc, yet we must re- member that it was a matter of time to load and fire the muskets and cannons of that age. No women and children were killed, not only because the soldiers were ordered to spare all women and children, but also because all non-combatants had been sent away some time before. Armed men fought and killed armed men. Moreover, the Tlascalan allies were more eager to plunder and to capture prisoners than to kill. Bandelier, recalling the fact that the battle was fought on a space not a quarter of a mile in length, questions whether more than five hundred men fell. His estimate is probably too small. The killing was stopped by Cortes five hours after the first shot was fired. Andres de Tapia, who wrote some time after the affair, says the pillaging, etc., went on for two days. Bernal Diaz, writing fifty years afterward, says it ended the second day. But Cortes, writing the next year, says the place was full of women and children the next day. The " smoking ruins " must be dismissed as a creation of the imagination. Adobe and stone walls. 1519] FURTHER PROCEEDINGS 215 tionable. 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 angr}^ billows from her bows, or rather like the lava, which, rolling from their own volcanoes, holds on its course un- checked by obstacles, rock, tree, or building, bear- ing them along, or crushing and consuming them in its fiery path. The prowess of the Spaniards — " the white gods," as they were often called ^^ — 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.^ ^ He felt his empire melting away like "Los Dioses blancos. — Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. — Torque- mada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 40. " Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 11. — In an old Aztec harangue, made as a matter of form on the accession of a prince, we find the following remarkable prediction: " Perhaps ye are dismayed at the prospect of the terrible calamities that are one day to overwhelm us, calamities foreseen and foretold, though not felt, by our fathers! . . . when the destruction and desolation of the empire shall come, when all shall be plunged in darkness, when the and roof timbers covered with a thick coating of earth, do not af- ford good material for a conflagration. The 20,000 warriors from Mexico mentioned on p. 194 could not have been present. It would have been impossible for so large a body to have been sent from that city, and Cort6s would have learned of its approach, through his Tlascalan allies, long before. Bandelier treats the massacre very lucidly in his " Gilded Man," pp. 258-283.— M.] 216 CONQUEST OF MEXICO a morning mist. He might well feel so. Some of the most important cities in the neighborhood of Cholula, intimidated by the fate of that capital, now sent their envoys to the Castilian camp, ten- dering their allegiance, and propitiating the favor of the strangers by rich presents of gold and slaves.^ ^ Montezuma, alarmed at these signs of defection, took counsel again of his impotent dei- ties; but, although the altars smoked with fresh hecatombs of human victims, he obtained no cheer- ing response. He determined, therefore, to send another embassy to the Spaniards, disavowing any participation in the conspiracy of Cholula. 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 ordi- nary community. Still Cortes might have pressed the matter, however unpalatable, but for the re- hour shall arrive in which they shall make us slaves throughout the land, and we shall be condemned to the lowest and most degrading oflBces!" (Ibid., lib. 6, cap. 16.) This random shot of prophecy, which I have rendered literally, shows how strong and settled was the apprehension of some impending revolution. " Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 3. 1519] ENVOYS FROM MONTEZUMA 217 iiewed interposition of the wise Olmedo, who per- suaded him to postpone it till after the reduction of the whole country.^ ^ The Spanish general, however, had the satisfac- tion to break open the cages in which the victims for sacrifice were confined, and to dismiss the trem- bling inmates to liberty and hfe. 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 Chris- tian 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 Remedios. An image of the Vir- gin presides over it, said to have been left by the Conqueror himself; '^ and an Indian ecclesiastic, a descendant of the ancient Cholulans, performs the peaceful services of the Roman Catholic com- munion on the spot where his ancestors celebrated the sanguinary rites of the mystic Quetzalcoatl.^^ 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 ex- " Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 83. "Veytia, Hist, antig., torn. i. cap. 13, " Humboldt, Vues des Cordillferes, p. 32. 218 CONQUEST OF MEXICO pressed his regret at the catastrophe of Cholula, vindicated himself from any share in the conspi- racy which he said had brought deserved retribu- tion on the heads of its authors, and explained the existence of an Aztec force in the neighborhood by the necessity of repressing some disorders there. ^^ One cannot contemplate this pusillanimous con- duct of Montezuma without mingled feelings of pity and contempt. It is not easy to reconcile his assumed innocence of the plot with many circum- stances connected with it. But it must be remem- bered 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.^^ It is the hard fate of this unfortunate monarch to be wholly in- " Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 69. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 63.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5. — Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 84. " The language of the text may appear somewhat too unqualified, considering that three Aztec codices exist with interpretations. (See ante, vol. i. pp. 117-119.) But they contain very few and general allusions to Montezuma, and these strained through commentaries of Spanish monks, oftentimes manifestly irreconcilable with the gen- uine Aztec notions. Even such writers as Ixtlilxochitl and Camargo, from whom, considering their Indian descent, we might expect more independence, seem less solicitous to show this, than their loyalty to the new faith and country of their adoption. Perhaps the most honest Aztec record of the period is to be obtained from the volumes, the twelfth book particularly, of Father Sahagun, embodying the traditions of the natives soon after the Conquest. This portion of his great work was rewritten by its author, and considerable changes were made in it, at a later period of his life. Yet it may be doubted if the reformed version reflects the traditions of the country as faith- fully as the original, which is still in manuscript, and which I have chiefly followed. 1519] FURTHER PROCEEDINGS 219 debted for his portraiture to the pencil of his enemies. More than a fortnight had elapsed since the en- trance of the Spaniards into Cholula, and Cortes now resolved without loss of time to resume his march towards the capital. His rigorous reprisals had so far intimidated the Cholulans 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 re- ceived 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-op- eration with the Spaniards, to care to trust them- selves in his capital. It was in vain Cortes en- deavored to reassure them by promises of his pro- tection. Their habitual distrust and dread of " the great INIontezuma " 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 reason- able demand. Liberally recompensing their ser- vices, therefore, from the rich wardrobe and treas- ures of the emperor, he took leave of his faithful 220 CONQUEST OF MEXICO followers, before his own departure from Cholula. He availed himself of their return to send letters to Juan de Escalante, 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 his protec- tion, as allies whose fidelity to the Spaniards ex- posed them, in no slight degree, to the vengeance of the Aztecs. ^*^ " Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 84, 85.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 67. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 60. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5. CHAPTER VIII MAECH RESUMED— ASCENT OF THE GREAT VOL- CANO—VALLEY OF MEXICO— IMPRESSION ON THE SPANIARDS — CONDUCT OF 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 savarmas and luxuriant plantations that spread out for several leagues in every direction. On the march, thej^ were met occasionally by em- bassies from the neighboring places, anxious to claim the protection of the white men, and to pro- pitiate them by gifts, especially of gold, their ap- petite for which was generally known throughout the country. Some of these places were allies of the Tlasca- lans, and all showed much discontent with the op- pressive rule of Montezuma. The natives cau- tioned 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 221 £22 CONQUEST OF MEXICO the strangers might be compelled to choose an- other, 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 movements of the JNIexican envoys, and redoubled his own precautions against surprise.^ Cheerful and active, he was ever where his presence was needed, sometimes in the van, at others in the rear, encouraging the weak, stimu- lating the sluggish, and striving to kindle in the breasts of others the same courageous 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 cam- paign to a close and given a respite for some time longer to the empire of IMontezuma. The army came at length to the place mentioned by the friendly 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 JMexican ambassadors. They said it was done by the em- ^ " We walked," says Diaz, in the homely but expressive Spanish proverb, "with our beards over our shoulders" — la barba sobre el ombro. Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 86. 1519] MARCH RESUMED 223 peror's orders, to prevent their taking a route which, after some distance, they would find nearly impracticable for the cavalry. They acknow- ledged, however, that it was the most direct road; and Cortes, declaring that this was enough to de- cide him in favor 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 gen- eral's mind of the meditated treachery of the Mexicans. But he was too politic to betray his sus- picions.^ 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 pierc- ing ; and the blasts, sweeping 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; Po- pocatepetl, " the hill that smokes," and Iztacci- huatl, or " white woman," ^ — a name suggested, doubtless, by the bright robe of snow spread over its broad and broken surface. A puerile supersti- tion of the Indians regarded these celebrated mountains as gods, and Iztaccihuatl as the wife of ' Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 86. — Rel. Seg. de Cortds, ap. Lorenzana, p. 70. — Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 41. ' " Llamaban al volcan Popocatepetl, y d la sierra nevada Iztac- cihuatl, que quiere decir la sierra que humea, y la blanca muger." Camargo, Hist, de Tlascala, MS. 224 CONQUEST OF MEXICO her more formidable neighbor/ 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 and convulsions in times of eruption. It was the classic fable of antiquity.^ These superstitious legends had invested the moun- tain with a mysterious horror, that made the natives shrink from attempting its ascent, which, indeed, was from natural causes a work of incredible diffi- culty. The great volcan,^ 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.^ 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, * " La Sierra nevada y el volcan los tenian por Dioses ; y que el volcan y la Sierra nevada eran marido y muger." Ibid., MS. °Gomara, Crdnica, cap. 62. "i^tna Giganteos nunquam tacitura triumphos, Enceladi bustum, qui saucia terga revinctus Spirat inexbaustum flagranti pectore sulphur." Clacdian, De Rapt. Pros., lib. 1, v. 152. * The old Spanish called any lofty mountain by that name, though never having given signs of combustion. Thus, Chimborazo was called a volcan de nieve, or "snow volcano" (Humboldt, Essai poli- tique, tom. i. p. 162) ; and that enterprising traveller, Stephens, no- tices the volcan de agua, " water volcano," in the neighborhood of Antigua Guatemala. Incidents of Travel in Chiapas, Central Amer- ica, and Yucatan (New York, 1841), vol. i. chap. 13. ^ Mont Blanc, according to M. de Saussure, is 15,670 feet high. For the estimate of Popocatepetl, see an elaborate communication in the " Revista Mexicana," tom. ii. No. 4. 1519] ASCENT OF THE GREAT VOLCANO 225 and raged with uncommon fury while the Span- iards 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 moun- tains 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 rays 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 fringe of 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 as- cent, which the natives declared no man could ac- complish and live. Cortes encouraged them in the enterprise, willing to show the Indians that no achievement was above the dauntless daring of his followers. One of his captains, accordingly, Diego Ordaz, with nine Spaniards, and several Tlasca- lans, encouraged by their example, undertook the ascent. It was attended with more difficulty than had been anticipated. The lower region was clothed with a dense for- est, 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 226 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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, ar- rested 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 perjietual snow, where new difficulties presented themselves, as the treach- erous ice gave an imperfect footing, and a false step might precipitate them into the frozen chasms that j'^awned around. To increase their distress, respiration in these aerial regions became so diffi- cult that every effort was attended with sharp pains in the head and limbs. Still they pressed on, till, drawing nearer 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 showing that with the 1519] ASCENT OF THE GREAT VOLCANO 227 Spaniards the most appalling and mysterious per- ils 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 re- port 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.* The general was not satisfied with the result. Two years after, he sent up another party, under Francisco Montano, a cavalier of determined reso- lution. The object was to obtain sulphur to assist in making gunpowder for the army. The moun- tain 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 presented 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, send- ing up a sulphurous steam, which, cooling as it rose, was precipitated on the sides of the cavity. The party cast lots, and it fell on Montano himself, to descend in a basket into this hideous abyss, into which he was lowered by his companions to the " Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 70. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 78. — The latter writer speaks of the ascent as made when the army lay at Tlascala, and of the attempt as perfectly successful. The gen- eral's letter, written soon after the event, with no motive for mis- statement, is the better authority. See, also, Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 6, cap. 18.— Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn, ill. p. 308. — Gomara, Cr<3nica, cap. 62. 228 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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.^ This doughty enterprise ex- cited general admiration at the time. Cortes con- cludes his report of it to the emperor with the ju- dicious reflection that it would be less inconvenient, on the whole, to import their powder from Spain.^'' But it is time to return from our digression, which may perhaps be excused, as illustrating, in a remarkable manner, the chimerical spirit of en- terprise — 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 ' [Montano's family remained in Mexico after the Conquest, and his daughter received a pension from the government. Alaman, Disertaciones histdricas, torn. i. apend. 2.] " Rel. Ter. y Quarta de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 318, 380.— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 3, lib. 3, cap. 1.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 41.— M. de Humboldt doubts the fact of Montano's descent into the crater, thinking it more probable that he obtained the sulphur through some lateral crevice in the mountain. (Essai politique, torn. i. p. 164.) * No attempt— at least, no suc- cessful one— was made to gain the summit of Popocatepetl, since this of Montano, till the present century. In 1827 it was reached in two expeditions, and again in 1833 and 1834. A very full account of the last, containing many interesting details and scientific obser- vations, was written by Federico de Gerolt, one of the party, and published in the periodical already referred to. (Revista Mexicana, torn. i. pp. 461-482.) The party from the topmost peak, which com- manded a full view of the less elevated Iztaccihuatl, saw no vestige of a crater in that mountain, contrary to the opinion usually received. * [There would seem to have been no grounds for the doubt ex- pressed by Humboldt, as the sulphur is now nearly exhausted, having been regidarly collected by Indian laborers, lowered into the crater by means of a rope of hide attached to a windlass. Tylor, Anahuac, p. 269. — K.] 1519] VALLEY OF MEXICO 229 same as that pursued at the present day by the courier from the capital to Puebla, by the way of Mecameca.^^ It was not that usually taken by travellers from Vera Cruz, who follow the more circuitous road round the northern base of Iztacci- huatl, as less fatiguing than the other, though in- ferior in picturesque scenery and romantic points of view. The icy winds, that now swept down the sides of the mountains, brought with them a tem- pest 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 JMexican 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 pro- tection for its enemies. The troops, refreshed by a night's rest, suc- ceeded, 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 com- paratively 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 angle 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, " Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. iv. p. 17. 230 CONQUEST 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 coloring and a distinctness of outline which seem to anni- hilate distance.*^ 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 Ana- huac. 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 hamlets, 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 " Ven- ice 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 in- tervening foliage, was seen a shining speck, the " The lake of Tezeuco, on which stood the capital of Mexico, is 2277 metres— nearly 7500 feet— above the sea. Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 45. 1519] VALLEY OF MEXICO 231 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 stately forests have been laid low, and the soil, un- sheltered 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 incrustation of salts, while the cities and hamlets on their borders have moul- dered into ruins; — even now that desolation broods over the landscape, so indestructible 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.^ ^ What, then, must have been the emotions of the Spaniards, when, after working their toilsome way into the upper air, the cloudy tabernacle parted " It is unnecessary to refer to the pages of modern travellers, who, however they may differ in taste, talent, or feeling, all concur in the impressions produced on them by the sight of this beautiful valley.* * [Modern civilization has, according to Bandelier, made Mexico much more beautiful than it was in the days of Montezuma. He says, " The city of Mexico, with its domes and spires glistening in the noonday sun, is certainly a finer sight than was the old pueblo, resting on the dull waters of the lagune, like an adobe patch, sur- mounted by the clumsy mounds of worship." He forgets, however, that the adobe was plastered over with gypsum, and that " the walls were so well whitened, polished, and shining that they appeared to the Spaniards when at a distance to have been silver." Clavigero, Mexico, ii. p. 232.— M.] 232 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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!"^^ But these feelings of admiration were soon fol- lowed 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, shrank from a contest so unequal, and demanded, as they had done on some former occa- sions, 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 feet ; 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 armor told of battles won and difficulties surmounted, while his bold barbarians, with appe- tites 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 endeavored 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 " Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 41. — It may call to the reader's mind the memorable view of the fair plains of Italy which Hannibal displayed to his hungry barbarians after a similar march through the wild passes of the Alps, as reported by the prince of historic painters. Livy, Hist., lib. 21, cap. 35. 1519] DISCONTENTS IN THE ARMY 233 opened to receive them. In these efforts he was well seconded by the brave cavaliers, who held honor 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.^ ^ 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. Every^vhere they heard complaints of Montezuma, especially of the unfeeling manner in which he car- ried off their young men to recruit his armies, and their maidens for his harem. These symptoms of discontent 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 ex- plosion. He encouraged the disaffected natives to rely on his protection, as he had come to redress their wrongs. He took advantage, moreover, of their favorable 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 " Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., ubi supra,— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 3.— Goniara, Cr6nica, cap. 64,. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5. 234. CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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,^*' with a yearly tribute to their sovereign. So effectually had the lofty and naturally courageous spirit of the barbarian mon- arch 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 pur- pose by a woman's prayers. He received the em- bassy 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 would be easy for them to relieve him of it.^^ The Aztec monarch, meanwhile, was a prey to the most dismal apprehensions. It was intended '^ A load for a Mexican tamane was about fifty pounds, or eight hundred ounces. Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. p. 69, nota. " Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 13.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 73. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. -2, lib. 7, cap. 3.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 64.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib, 33, cap. 5.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 87. 1519] CONDUCT OF MONTEZUMA 235 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 accompa- niments 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 expe- dient of calling a council of his principal and oldest nobles. Here was the same division of opinion 236 CONQUEST OF MEXICO which had before prevailed. Cacama, the young king of Tezcuco, his nephew, counselled him to re- ceive the Spaniards courteously, as ambassadors, so styled by themselves, of a foreign prince. Cuitla- hua, Montezuma's more warlike brother, urged him to muster his forces on the instant, and drive back the invaders from his capital or die in its de- fence. 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?^^ 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 sor- rowful 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 Palaeologi, to bury himself under its ruins.^^ He straightway prepared to send a last embassy to the Spaniards, with his nephew, the lord of Tez- cuco, at its head, to welcome them to ISIexico. The Christian army, meanwhile, had advanced as far as Amaquemecan, a well-built town of sev- eral thousand inhabitants. They were kindly re- ceived by the cacique, lodged in large, commodious, "This was not the sentiment of the Roman hero: " Victrix causa Diis placuit, sed victa Catoni ! " LccAN, lib. 1, V. 128. " Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 1-2, cap. 13. — Tor- quemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap, 44. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 63. 1519] THEY DESCEND INTO THE VALLEY 237 stone buildings, and at their departure presented, among other things, with gold to the amount of three thousand castellanos.^"^ Having halted there a couple of days, they descended among flourish- ing plantations of maize and of maguey, the latter of which might be called the Aztec vineyards, to- wards 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 Span- iards 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 hos- pitality, Cortes found some occasion for distrust in the eagerness manifested by the people to see and approach the Spaniards.^^ 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 *° " El senor de esta provincla y pueblo me dio hasta quarenta esclavas, y tres mil castellanos ; y dos dias que allf estuve nos provey6 muy cumplidamente de todo lo necesario para nuestra comida." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 74. " " De todas partes era infinita la gente que de un cabo 6 de otro concurrian d mirar d los Espanoles, e maravilldbanse mucho de los ver. Tenian grande espacio 6 atencion en mirar los caballos; decian, ' Estos son Teules,' que quiere decir Demonios." Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 45. 238 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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. The undis- guised jealousy of the court, and the cautions he had received from his allies, while they very prop- erly put the general on his guard, seem to have given an unnatural acuteness, at least in the pres- ent instance, to his perceptions of danger.^^ 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 be- fore he appeared, borne in a palanquin or litter, richly decorated with plates of gold and precious stones, having pillars curiously wrought, support- ing a canopy of green plumes, a favorite color with the Aztec princes. He was accompanied by a numerous suite of nobles and inferior attendants. " Cortes tells the aflFair 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.* * [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 approach the camp after sunset show his anxiety to impress them with a sense of the danger. " Sabed," he said to the chiefs, " que estos que conmigo vienen no duer- men de noche, 6 si duermen es un poco cuando es de dia; e de noche estdn con sus armas, e cualquiera que ven que anda en pie 6 entra do ellos estdn, luego lo matan; e yo no basto a lo resistir; por tanto, haceldo asf saber d toda vuestra gente, 6 decildes que despues de puesto el sol ninguna venga do estamos, porque morird, e a mi me pesard de los que murieren." Relacion hecha por el Senor Andres de Tdpia sobre la Conquista de Mexico. — K.J 1519] THEY DESCEND INTO THE VALLEY 239 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 pres- ence, 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 em- braced him as he rose, when the young prince in- formed him that he came as the representative of JNIontezuma, 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, leaving the Spaniards strongly impressed with the superi- ority of his state and bearing over anything they had hitherto seen in the country.^^ Resuming its march, the army kept along the southern borders of the lake of Chalco, over- shadowed, at that time, by noble woods, and by orchards glowing with autumnal fruits, of un- known names, but rich and tempting hues. More " Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. IvOrenzana, p. 75.— Gomara, Crrtnica, cap. 64.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 85.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5.— "We esteemed it a great matter, and said amongst ourselves. If this cacique appeared in such state, what must be that displayed by the great Montezuma?" Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 87. 240 CONQUEST OF MEXICO frequently it passed through cultivated fields wav- ing with the yellow harvest, and irrigated by canals introduced from the neighboring lake; the whole showing a careful and economical husbandry, es- sential to the maintenance of a crowded popu- lation. 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 west. 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 spec- tacle 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 coun- try to the neighboring cities. They were amazed, also, by the sight of the chinampaSj or floating gar- dens, — those wandering islands of verdure, to which we shall have occasion to return hereafter, — teeming with flowers and vegetables, and mov- ing like rafts over the waters. All round the mar- gin, 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 companies of wild swans riding quietly on the waves. A scene so new and wonderful filled their rude hearts with amazement. It seemed like enchantment ; and they 1519] THEY DESCEND INTO THE VALLEY 241 could find nothing to compare it with but the magi- cal pictures in the " Amadis de Gaula." ^^ 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 won- der, then, if the Spaniard of that day, feeding his 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.^^ After taking some re- freshment at this place, they continued their march along the dike. Though broader in this northern section, the troops found themselves much embar- rassed 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 " " Nos queddmos admirados," exclaims Diaz, with simple wonder, " y deziamos que parecia d las casas de encantamento, que cuentan en el libro de Amadis ! " Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 87. An edition of this celebrated romance in its Castilian dress had appeared before this time, as the prologue to the second edition of 1521 speaks of a former one in the reign of the " Catholic Sovereigns." See Cervantes, Don Quixote, ed. Pellicer (Madrid, 1797), tom. i., Discurso prelim. " " Una ciudad, la mas hermosa, aunque pequena, que hasta en- tonces habiamos visto, assi de muy bien obradas Casas, y Torres, como de la buena 6rden, que en el fundamento de ella habia por ser armada toda sobre Agua." (Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 76.) The Spaniards gave this aquatic city the name of Vene- zuela, or Little Venice. Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 2, cap. 4. 242 CONQUEST OF MEXICO general, afraid that his ranks might be disordered, and that too great familiarity might diminish a salutary awe in the natives, was obliged to resort not merely to command, but menace, to clear a pas- sage. He now found, as he advanced, a consider- able change in the feelings shown towards the government. He heard only of the pomp and magnificence, nothing of the oppressions, of Mon- tezuma. Contrary to the usual fact, it seemed that the respect for the court was greatest in its imme- diate neighborhood. 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.^^ Traversing this peninsula, they en- tered the royal residence of Iztapalapan, a place containing twelve or fifteen thousand houses, ac- cording to Cortes.^^ It was governed by Cuitla- hua, the emperor's brother, who, to do greater '" M. de Humboldt has dotted the conjectural limits of the an- cient lake in his admirable chart of the Mexican Valley. (Atlas geographique et physique de la Nouvelle-Espagne (Paris, 1811), carte 3.) Notwithstanding his great care, it is not easy always to reconcile his topography with the itineraries of the Conquerors, so much has the face of the country been changed by natural and arti- ficial causes. It is still less possible to reconcile their narratives with the maps of Clavigero, Lopez, Robertson, and others, defying equally topography and history. " Several writers notice a visit of the Spaniards to Tezcuco on the way to the capital. (Torquemada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 4, cap. 42. — Solis, Conquista, lib. 3, cap. 9.— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 4.— Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. p. 74.) This improb- able episode — which, it may be remarked, has led these authors into some geographical perplexities, not to say blunders— is altogether too remarkable to have been passed over in silence in the minute re- lation of Bernal Diaz, and that of Cortes, neither of whom alludes to it. 1519] THEY DESCEND INTO THE VALLEY 243 honor to the general, had invited the lords of some neighboring 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,^^ a col- lation 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 pronounce some of the build- ings equal to the best in Spain.^*^ 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 colors. 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 gar- dens were stocked with fruit-trees, imported from distant places, and with the gaudy family of flow- ers which belonged to the Mexican flora, scientifi- cally arranged, and growing luxuriant in the equable temperature of the table-land. The nat- ural dryness of the atmosphere was counteracted " " E me dieron," says Cort6s, " hasta tres, 6 quatro mil Caste- llanos, y algimas Esclavas, y Ropa, i me hicieron muy buen acogi- miento." Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 76. '* " Tiene el Senor de ella unas Casas nuevas, que aim no estan acabadas, que son tan buenas como las mejores de Espana, digo de grandes y bien labradas." Ibid., p. 77. 244 CONQUEST OF MEXICO by means of aqueducts and canals that carried wa- ter into all parts of the grounds. In one quarter was an aviary, filled with numer- ous kinds of birds, remarkable in this region both for brilliancy of plumage and of song. The gar- dens were intersected by a canal communicating with the lake of Tezcuco, and of sufficient size for barges 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. The 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 aque- ducts above noticed, or, collected into fountains, diffused a perpetual moisture. Such are the accounts transmitted of these cele- brated gardens, at a period when similar horticul- tural establishments were unknown in Europe ; ^^ 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 deserted, and the shore of the lake was strewed with the wreck of buildings which once were its ornament and its glory. The garden shared the ** The earliest instance of a Garden of Plants in Europe is said to have been at Padua, in 1545. Carli, Lettres Americaines, torn. i. let. 21. 1519] THEY DESCEND INTO THE VALLEY 245 fate of the city. The retreating waters withdrew the means of nourishment, converting the flour- ishing 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 ! ^^ 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 Conqueror, as, surrounded by these evidences of civilization, he prepared with his handful of fol- lowers 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 Iz- tapalapan. 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.^ ^ '* Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ubi supra. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 44.— Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 13.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 87. There Aztlan stood upon the farther shore ; Amid the shade of trees its dwellings rose, Their level roofs with turrets set around. And battlements all burnished white, which shone Like silver in the sunshine. I beheld The imperial city, her far-circling walls. Her garden groves and stately palaces. Her temples mountain size, her thousand roofs ; And when I saw her might and majesty. My mind misgave me then." Southey's Madoc, Part 1, canto 8. CHAPTER IX ENVIRONS OF MEXICO— INTERVIEW WITH MONTE- ZUMA— ENTRANCE INTO THE CAPITAL— HOS- PITABLE RECEPTION— VISIT TO THE EMPEROR 1519 WITH the first faint streak of dawn, the Spanish general was up, mustering his fol- lowers. They gathered, with beating hearts, under their respective banners, as the trumpet sent forth its spirit-stirring sounds across water and wood- land, till they died away in distant echoes among the mountains. The sacred flames on the altars of numberless teocalUs, dimly seen through the gray mists of morning,^ 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 ^ [ Alaman objects to my speaking of the " gray mists of morning " in connection with the Aztec capital. " In the beginning of Novem- ber," he says, "there is no such thing as a mist to be seen m the morning, or indeed in any part of the day, in the Valley of Mexico, where the weather is uncommonly bright and beautiful. The histo- rian," he adds, " has confounded the climate of IMexico with that of England or the United States." Conquista de M^jico (trad, de Vega), tom. i. p. 337.] 346 1519] ENVIRONS OF MEXICO 247 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 as- pect of veterans. The baggage occupied the cen- tre ; and the rear was closed by the dark files " of Tlascalan warriors. The whole number must have fallen short of seven thousand; of which less than four hundred were Spaniards.^ For a short distance, the army kept along the narrow tongue of land that divides the Tezcucan from the Chalcan w^aters, 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 cause- way, or rather the basis of that, which still forms the great southern avenue of Mexico.^ The Span- ^ [A Spanish translator incorrectly renders the words "dark files" by indisciplinadas filas, " undisciplined files." Senor Alaman, cor- recting, in this instance at least, the translation instead of the original, objects to this language. We may talk, says the critic, of the different kind of discipline peculiar to the Tlascalans, but not of their want of discipline, a defect which can hardly be charged on the most warlike nation of Anahuac. Conquista de M^jico (trad, de Vega), torn. i. p. 337.] ^ He took about 6000 warriors from Tlascala; and some few of the Cempoallan and other Indian allies continued with him. The Spanish force on leaving Vera Cruz amounted to about 400 foot and 15 horse. In the remonstrance of the disaffected soldiers, after the murderous Tlascalan combats, they speak of having lost fifty of their number since the beginning of the campaign. Ante, vol. ii. p. 150. * " La calzada d'Iztapalapan est fondee sur cette meme digue an- cienne, sur laquelle Cortez fit des prodiges de valeur dans ses rencon- tres avec les assieg^s." (Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 57.) 248 CONQUEST OF MEXICO iards had occasion more than ever to admire the mechanical science of the Aztecs, in the geometri- cal precision with which the work was executed, as well as the solidity of its construction. It was com- posed of huge stones well laid in cement, and wide enough, throughout its whole extent, for ten horse- men 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 favor with the Aztecs, being in imitation of that of their metropolis.^ The busy population ob- tained 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 ar- ticle 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.^ The water [At present the road of Tlalplan, or St. Augustine of the Caves (San Augustin de las Cuevas). Conquista de Mejico (trad, de Vega), torn. i. p. 338.] * Among these towns were several containing from three to five or six thousand dwellings, according to Cortes, whose barbarous orthog- raphy in proper names will not easily be recognized by Mexican or Spaniard. Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 78. ' Father Toribio Benavente does not stint his panegyric in speaking of the neighborhood of the capital, which he saw in its glory. " Creo, que en toda nuestra Europa hay pocas ciudades que tengan tal 15191 ENVIRONS OF MEXICO 249 was darkened by swarms of canoes filled with In- dians/ who clambered up the sides of the causeway and gazed with curious astonishment on the stran- gers. And here, also, they beheld those fairy isl- ands 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 strength- ened by towers at the extremities, and in the centre was a battlemented gateway, which opened a pas- sage to the troops. It was called the Fort of Xoloc, and became memorable in after-times as the position occupied 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 inaxtlatl, or cotton sash, around their loins, and a broad mantle of the same material, or of the brilliant feather-embroid- ery, flowing gracefully down their shoulders. On their necks and arms they displayed collars and asiento y tal comarca, con tantos pueblos a la redonda de si y tan bien asentados." Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7. ' It is not necessary, however, to adopt Herrera's account of 50,000 canoes, which, he says, were constantly employed in supplying the capital with provisions! (Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. l*.) The poet-chronicler Saavedra is more modest in his estimate: " Dos mil y mas canoas cada dia Bastecen el pran pueblo Mexicano De la mas y la menos nifieria Que es necesario al alimento humano." El Peregrino Indiano, canto 11. 250 CONQUEST OF MEXICO bracelets of turquoise mosaic, with which delicate plumage was curiously mingled,^ while their ears, under-lips, and occasionally their noses, were gar- nished with pendants formed of precious stones, or crescents of fine gold. As each cacique made the usual formal salutation of the country sepa- rately 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 drawbridge ; and the Span- iards, as they crossed it, felt how truly they were committing themselves to the mercy of ]Monte- zuma, who, by thus cutting off their communica- tions with the country, might hold them prisoners in his capital.^ In the midst of these unpleasant reflections, they beheld the glittering retinue of the emperor emerg- ing from the great street which led then, as it still does, through the heart of the city.^*^ Amidst a ' " Usaban unos brazaletes de musaico, hechos de turquezas con Unas plumas ricas que salian de ellos, que eran mas altas que la cabeza, y bordadas con plumas ricas y con oro, y unas bandas de oro, que subian con las plumas." Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, lib. 8, cap, 9. •Gonzalo de las Casas, Defensa, MS., Parte 1, cap. 24..— Gomara, Cr6nica, cap. 65.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 88.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 78, 79.— Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 85. '" Cardinal Lorenzana says, the street intended was, probably, that crossing the city from the Hospital of San Antonio. (Rel. Seg. de Cortes, p. 79, nota.) This is confirmed by Sahagun. " Y asi en aquel 1519] INTERVIEW WITH MONTEZUMA 251 crowd of Indian nobles, preceded by three officers of state bearing golden wands/ ^ 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 witliin a convenient distance, it halted, and Montezuma, descending from his litter, came forward, leaning on the arms of the lords of Tez- cuco 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 obse- quious attendants strewed the ground with cotton tapestry, that his imperial feet might not be con- taminated by the rude soil. His subjects of high and low degree, who lined the sides of the cause- way, bent forward with their eyes fastened on the ground as he passed, and some of the humbler class prostrated themselves before him.^' Such was the trecho que estd desde la Iglesia de San Antonio (que ellos llaman Xuluco) que va por cave las casas de Alvarado, hdcia el Hospital de la Concepcion, sali6 Moctezuma A recibir de paz a D. Hernando Cortes." Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 16. [The present Calle del Rastro, which continues, under different names, from the guard-house of San Antonio Abad to the Plaza. According to an early tradition, Montezuma and Cortes met in front of the spot where the Hospital of Jesus now stands, and the site for the building was chosen on that account. Conquista de M^jico (trad, de Vega), torn. i. p. 339.] "Carta del Lie. Zuazo, MS. ^- " Toda la gente que estaba en las calles se le humiliaban y hacian profunda reverencia y grande acatamiento sin levantar los ojos d le 252 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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, tilmatli, 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, and the leathern thongs which bound them to his ankles were em- bossed with the same metal. Both the cloak and sandals were sprinkled with pearls and precious stones, among which the emerald and the chalchi- vitl—a green stone of higher estimation than any- other among the Aztecs — were conspicuous. On his head he wore no other ornament than a panache of plumes of the royal green, which floated down his back, the badge of military, rather than of regal, rank. He was at this time about forty years of age. His person was tall and thin, but not ill made. His hair, which was black and straight, was not very long; to wear it short was considered unbecoming persons of rank. His beard was thin; his com- plexion somewhat paler than is often found in his dusky, or rather copper-colored, race. His fea- tures, 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 mirar, sino que todos estaban hasta que el era pasado, tan inclinadcs como frayles en Gloria Patri." Toribio, Hist, de los Indlos, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7. 1519] INTERVIEW WITH MONTEZUMA 253 moved with dignity, and his whole demeanor, tem- pered 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 em- peror in this his first interview with the white men.^^ The army halted as he drew near. Cortes, dis- mounting, threw his reins to a page, and, 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, Cor- tes beheld the lord of the broad realms he had trav- ersed, whose magnificence and 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 be so mysteriously connected with his own; the predicted one of his oracles; whose achievements proclaimed him some- thing more than human. But, whatever may have " For the preceding account of the equipage and appearance of Montezuma, see Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 88,— Carta de Zuazo, MS., — Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 85, — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 65, — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., ubi supra, et cap. 45, — Acosta, lib. 7, cap. 22, — Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 16, — Toribio, Hist, de los Indies, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7. — The noble Castilian or rather Mexican bard, Saavedra, who belonged to the generation after the Conquest, has introduced most of the particulars in his rhyming chronicle. The following specimen will probably suffice for the reader: " Yva el gran Mote<;uma atauiado De tnanta a9ul y blanca con gran falda, De algodon niuy sutil y delicado, Y al remate vna conclia de esmcralda; En la parte que el nudo tiene dado, Y una tiara a modo de guirnalda, Zapatos que de oro son las suelas Asidos con muy ricas correhuelas." El Peregrino Indiano, canto 11. 254 CONQUEST OF MEXICO been the monarch's feelings, he so far suppressed them as to receive his guest with princely cour- tesy, and to express his satisfaction at personally seeing him in his capital.^ ^ Cortes responded by the most profound expression of respect, while he made ample acknowledgments for the substantial proofs which the emperor had given the Spaniards of his munificence. He then hung round Monte- zuma's neck a sparkling chain of colored crystal, accompanying this with a movement as if to em- brace him, when he was restrained by the two Aztec lords, shocked at the menaced profanation of the sacred person of their master/^ After the inter- change of these civilities, Montezuma appointed his brother to conduct the Spaniards to their resi- dence in the capital, and, again entering his litter, was borne off amidst prostrate crowds in the same state in which he had come. The Spaniards quickly followed, and, with colors flying and music playing, soon made their entrance into the south- ern quarter of Tenochtitlan.^^ Here, again, they found fresh cause for admira- tion in the grandeur of the city and the superior style of its architecture. The dwellings of the poorer class were, indeed, chiefly of reeds and mud. But the great avenue through which they were now marching was lined with the houses of the nobles. " " Satis vultu laeto," says Martyr, " an stomacho sedatus, et an hospites per vim quis unquam libens susceperit, expert! loquantur." De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3. " Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 79. " " Entrdron en la ciudad de M^jico d punto de guerra, tocando los atambores, y con banderas desplegadas," etc. Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 15. 1519] ENTRANCE INTO THE CAPITAL 255 who were encouraged by the emperor to make the capital their residence. They were built of a red porous stone drawn from quarries in the neigh- borhood, and, though they rarely rose to a second story, often covered a large space of ground. The flat roofs, azoteas, were protected by stone para- pets, so that every house was a fortress. Some- times these roofs resembled parterres of flowers, so thickly were they covered with them, but more frequently these were cultivated in broad terraced gardens, laid out between the edifices.^ ^ Occa- sionally a great square or market-place intervened, surrounded by its porticoes of stone and stucco; or a pyramidal temple reared its colossal bulk, crowned with its tapering sanctuaries, and altars blazing with inextinguishable fires. The great street facing the southern causeway, unlike most others in the place, was wide, and extended some miles in nearly a straight line, as before noticed, through the centre of the city. A spectator stand- ing at one end of it, as his eye ranged along the deep vista of temples, terraces, and gardens, might clearly discern the other, with the blue mountains in the distance, which, in the transparent atmos- phere of the table-land, seemed almost in contact with the buildings. But what most impressed the Spaniards was the throngs of people who swarmed through the streets and on the canals, filling every door-way and window and clustering on the roofs of the build- ings. " I well remember the spectacle," exclaims " " Et giardini alti et bassi, che era cosa maravigliosa da vedere." Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii. fol. 309, 256 CONQUEST OF MEXICO Bernal Diaz: " it seems now, after so many years, as present to my mind as if it were but yester- day." ^^ But what must have been the sensation of the Aztecs themselves, as they looked on the por- tentous pageant! as they heard, now for the first time, the well-cemented pavement ring under the iron tramp of the horses, — the strange animals which fear had clothed in such supernatural ter- rors; as they gazed on the children of the East, re- vealing their celestial origin in their fair complex- ions ; saw the bright falchions and bonnets of steel, a metal to them unknown, glancing like meteors in the sun, while sounds of unearthly music— at least, such as their rude instruments had never wakened — floated in the air! But every other emotion was lost in that of deadly hatred, when they beheld their detested enemy the Tlascalan stalking, in de- fiance, as it were, through their streets, and staring around with looks of ferocity and wonder, like some wild animal of the forest who had strayed by chance from his native fastnesses into the haunts of civilization/^ As they passed down the spacious street, the troops repeatedly traversed bridges suspended "" (jQuien podra," exclaims the old soldier, " dezir la multitud de hombres, y mugeres, y muchachos, que estauan en las calles, e a^u- teas, y en Canoas en aquellas acequias, que nos salian d mirar? Era cosa de notar, que agora que lo estoy escriuiendo, se me representa todo delante de mis ojos, como si ayer fuera quando esto pass6." Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 88. " " Ad spectaculum," says the penetrating Martyr, " tandem His- panis placidum, quia diu optatum, Tenustiatanis prudentibus forte aliter, quia verentur fore, vt hi hospites quietem suam Elysiam veniant perturbaturi; de populo secus, qui nil sentit aeque delectabile, quam res novas ante oculos in presentiarum habere, de futuro nihil anxius." De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3. 1519] HOSPITABLE RECEPTION 257 above canals, along which they saw the Indian barks gliding swiftly with their little cargoes of fruits and vegetables for the markets of Tenoch- titlan.^** At length they halted before a broad area near the centre of the city, where rose the huge 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 cathe- dral of Mexico.^ ^ 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 pal- ace of Axayacatl, Montezuma's father, built by that monarch about fifty years before.^^ It was appropriated as the barracks of the Spaniards. The emperor himself was in the court-yard, wait- ing to receive them. Approaching Cortes, he '" The euphonious name of Tenochtitlan is commonly derived from Aztec words signifying " the tuna, or cactus, on a rock," the appear- ance of which, as the reader may remember, was to determine the site of the future capital. (Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, Parte 3, cap. 7. — Esplic, de la Coleccion de Mendoza, ap. Antiq. of Mexico, vol. iv.) Another etymology derives the word from Tenoch, the name of one of the founders of the monarchy. " [" Por algunos manuscritos que he consultado € investigaciones que he hecho, me inclino a creer, que el templo se estendia desde la esquina de la calle de Plateros y Empedradillo hasta la de Cordo- banes; y de P. d O., desde el tercio 6 cuarto de la placeta del Empe- dradillo, hasta penetrar unas cuantas varas hacia el O., dentro de las aceras que miran al P., y forman las calles del Seminario y del Belox." Ramirez, Notas y Esclarecimientos, p. 103.] "Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. iii. p. 78. — It occupied what is now the corner of the streets " Del Indio Triste " and " Tacuba." * Humboldt, Vues des Cordillferes, p. 7, et seq. * [Consequently, says Alaman, it must have faced the east, not the west gate of the Temple. Conquista de M^jico, torn. i. p. 343. -K.] 258 CONQUEST OF MEXICO took from a vase of flowers, borne by one of his slaves, a massy collar, in which the shell of a species of crawfish, 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 ; "^ for the Aztec gold- smiths were confessed to have shown skill in their craft not inferior to their brethren of Europe.^^ Montezuma, as he hung the gorgeous collar round the general's neck, said, " This palace belongs to you, Malinche " ^^ (the epithet by which he al- ways 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, evinc- ing in this act a delicate consideration not to have been expected in a barbarian. Cortes' first care was to inspect his new quar- ters. The building, though spacious, was low, consisting of one floor, except, indeed, in the cen- tre, where it rose to an additional story. The *• Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 88.— Gonzalo de las Casas, Defensa, MS., Parte 1, cap. 24. " Boturini says, greater, by the acknowledgment of the gold- smiths themselves. " Los plateros de Madrid, viendo algunas Pie- zas, y Brazaletes de oro, con que se armaban en guerra los Reyes, y Capitanes Indianos, confessaron, que eran inimitables en Europa." (Idea, p. 78.) And Oviedo, speaking of their work in jewelry, re- marks, " lo vi algunas piedras jaspes, calcidonias, jacintos, corniolas, ^ plasmas de esmeraldas, e otras de otras especies labradas 6 fechas, cabezas de Aves, € otras hechas animales e otras figuras, que dudo haber en Espaiia ni en Italia quien las supiera hacer con tanta per- ficion." Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 11. ^ Ante, vol. ii. p. 175. 1519] HOSPITABLE RECEPTION 259 apartments were of great size, and afforded ac- commodations, according to the testimony of the Conquerors themselves, for the whole army ! ^^ The hardy mountaineers of Tlascala were, proba- bly, not very fastidious, and might easily find a shelter in the out-buildings, or under temporary awnings in the ample court-yards. The best apartments were 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 apart- ments 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 degree. ^^ After a rapid survey of this gigantic pile, the general assigned his troops their respective quar- ters, and took as vigilant precautions for security as if he had anticipated a siege instead of a friendly entertainment. The place was encom- passed by a stone wall of considerable thickness, with towers or heavy buttresses at intervals, af- fording a good means of defence. He planted his cannon so as to command the approaches, sta- tioned his sentinels along the works, and, in short, enforced in every respect as strict military disci- pline 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 '" Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 88.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 80. " Bernal Diaz, Ibid., loc. cit. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 83, cap. 5. — Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espana, MS., lib. 12, cap. 16. 260 CONQUEST OF MEXICO good will of the citizens; and, to avoid all possi- bility of collision, he prohibited any soldier from leaving his quarters without orders, under pain of death. Having taken these precautions, he al- lowed his men to partake of the bountiful colla- tion 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 sol- dier is not often dainty, and on the present occa- sion it cannot be doubted that the Spaniards did full justice to the savory productions of the royal kitchen. During the meal they were served by numerous Mexican slaves, who were, indeed, dis- tributed 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 was attended by a few of his prin- cipal nobles. He was received with much defer- ence by Cortes; and, after the parties had taken their seats, a conversation commenced between them, through the aid of Dona Marina, while the cavaliers and Aztec chieftains stood around in re- spectful 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 ex- plained these motives by the desire to see so dis- tinguished a monarch and to declare to him the true Faith professed by the Christians. With 1519] HOSPITABLE RECEPTION 261 rare discretion, he contented himself with drop- ping this hint, for the present, allowing it to ripen in the mind of the emperor, till a future confer- ence. The latter asked whether those white men who in the preceding year had landed on the east- ern shores of his empire were their countrymen. He showed himself well informed of the proceed- ings of the Spaniards from their arrival in Ta- basco to the present time, information of which had been regularly transmitted in the hiero- glyphical 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 mon- arch, who held them all in peculiar estimation. Before his departure, Montezuma made himself acquainted with the names of the principal cava- liers, and the position they occupied in the army. At the conclusion of the interview, the Aztec prince commanded his attendants to bring for- ward the presents prepared for his guests. They consisted of cotton dresses, enough to supply every man, it is said, including the allies, with a suit!^^ And he did not fail to add the usual ac- ^" " Muchas y diversas Joyas de Oro, y Plata, y Plumajcs, y con fasta cinco 6 seis mil Piezas de Ropa de Alpodoii muy ricas, y de diversas maneras texida, y labrada." (licl. Sep. de Cortes, ap. Ixi- renzana, p. 80.) Even this falls short of truth, according to Diaz. "Tenia apercebido el gran Monte<;unia muy ricas joyas de oro, y de muchas hechuras, que dio & nuestro Capitan, <^ assf mismo d cada vno de nuestros Capitanes di6 cositas de oro, y tres carpas de inantas de labores ricas de pluma, y entre todos los soldados tnmiiien nos di6 d cada vno d dos carpas de mantas, con aleprfa, y en todo parecia gran senor." (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 89.) "Sex millia vestium, aiunt qui eas videre." Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3. 262 CONQUEST OF MEXICO companiment 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.^^ That evening the Spaniards celebrated their ar- rival in the Mexican capital by a general dis- charge of artillery. The thunders of the ord- nance, reverberating among the buildings and shaking them to their foundations, the stench of the sulphureous vapor that rolled in volumes above the walls of the encampment, reminding the in- habitants of the explosions of the great volcan, filled 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 desolation, and who could call down the thunderbolts to consume their ene- mies! It was doubtless the policy of Cortes to strengthen this superstitious feeling as far as pos- sible, and to impress the natives, at the outset, with a salutary awe of the supernatural powers of the Spaniards.^'^ ^ IxtlilxochitI, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 85.— Gomara, Cr6nica, cap. 66. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 6. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 88. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5. '""La noche siguiente jugaron la artillen'a por la solemnidad de haber Uegado sin dano a donde deseaban; pero los Indies como no usados a los truenos de la artilleria, mal edor de la p61vora, reci- bieron grande alteracion y miedo toda aquella noche." Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva-Espaiia, MS., lib. 15, cap. 17. 1519] VISIT TO THE EMPEROR 263 On the following morning, the general re- quested permission to return the emperor's visit, by waiting on him in his palace. This was readily granted, and IVIontezuma sent his officers to con- duct the Spaniards to his presence. Cortes dressed himself in his richest habit, and left the quarters attended by Alvarado, Sandoval, Velas- quez, 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 southwest of the ca- thedral, since covered in part by the Casa del Es- tado, the palace of the dukes of Monteleone, the descendants of Cortes.^^ It was a vast, irregular pile of low stone buildings, like that garrisoned by the Spaniards.^^ 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.^^ It was built of the red porous stone of the country, tetzontli, was ornamented •^ " C'est \k que la famille construisit le bel Edifice dans lequel se trouvent les archives del Estado, et qui est passe avec tout I'h^ritage au due Napolitain de Monteleone." (Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 72.) The inhabitants of modern Mexico have large obliga- tions to this inquisitive traveller for the care he has taken to identify the memorable localities of their capital. It is not often that a philosophical treatise is also a good manuel du voyageur. '^ [The palace of Montezuma, according to Ramirez, " occupied the site where the national palace now stands, including that of the university and the adjacent houses, and extending to the Plaza del Volador, or new market-place. This was the ordinary residence of the last Montezuma, and the place where he was actually made prisoner." Notas y Esclarecimientos, p. 103.] "* " Et io entrai piii di quattro volte in una casa del gran Signer non per altro effetto che per vederla, et ogni volta vi camminauo 264i CONQUEST OF MEXICO with marble, and on the f a9ade over the principal entrance were sculptured the arms or device of Montezuma,* an eagle bearing an ocelot in liis talons.^^ In the courts through which the Spaniards passed, fountains of crystal water were playing, fed from the copious reservoir on the distant hill of Chapoltepec, 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, loi- tering 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 colors that might compare w^th the tapestries of Flanders. Clouds of incense rolled up from censers and difl'used intoxicating odors through the apartments. The Spaniards might well have fancied themselves in the voluptuous tanto che mi stancauo, et mai la fini di vedere tutta." Rel. d'un gentir huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii. fol. 309. "Gomara, Cronica, cap. 71. — Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 9. — The authorities call it " tiger," an animal not known in America. I have ventured to substitute the "ocelot," tlalocelotl of Mexico, a native animal, which, being of the same family, might easily be confounded by the Spaniards with the tiger of the Old Continent. * [The totem or " beast symbol '' of the clan to which it be- longed.— M.] 1519] VISIT TO THE EMPEROR 265 precincts of an Eastern harem, instead of tread- ing the halls of a wild barbaric chief in the West- ern World.^^ 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 humiliation was imposed on all, except the members of his own family, who approached the sovereign.^*' Thus bare-footed, with downcast eyes and formal obei- sance, 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 favorite chiefs. He received them kindly, and very soon Cortes, without much ceremony, entered on the subject which was uppermost in his thoughts. He was fully aware of the impor- tance 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 sci- *' Toribio, Hist, de los Indies, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib, 7, cap. 9. — Gomara, Cr6nica, cap. 71. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 91. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5, 46. — Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 111-114. s6 « Para entrar en su palacio, d que ellos Uaman Tecpa, todos se descalzaban, y los que entraban a negociar con ^1 habian de llevar mantas groseras encima de si, y si eran grandes senores 6 en tiempo de frio, sobre las mantas buenas que llevaban vestidas, ponian una manta grosera y pobre; y para hablarle, estaban muy humiliados y sin levantar los ojos." (Toribio, Hist, de los Indies, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.) There is no better authority than this worthy missionary for the usages of the ancient Aztecs, of which he had such large per- sonal knowledge. 266 CONQUEST OF MEXICO ence, with the most winning arts of rhetoric he could command, while the interpretation was con- veyed through the silver tones of IVIarina, as in- separable 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 Atonement. 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 Mon- tezuma 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 perdition. It was to snatch his soul, and the souls of his peo- ple, from the flames of eternal fire 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 his royal auditor. It doubt- less lost somewhat of its efficacy, strained through the imperfect interpretation of so recent a neo- phyte 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 fel- low-creature than on that of the Creator him- 1519] VISIT TO THE EMPEROR 267 self.^"^ He was, besides, steeped in the supersti- tions of his country from his cradle. He had been educated in the straitest sect of her rehgion, had 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 per- suasion, 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 pros- perity and honors, and whose shrines were in- trusted to his especial keeping? He listened, however, with silent attention, un- til the general had concluded his homily. He then replied that he knew the Spaniards had held this discourse 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 was like what he had been taught to believe.^^ It was not worth while to discourse further of the matter. His ancestors, he said, were not the origi- " The ludicrous effect— if the subject be not too jjrave to justify the expression — of a literal belief in the doctrine of transubstantia- tion in the mother-country, even at this day, is well illustrated by Blanco White, Letters from Spain (London, 1823), let. 1. '" " Y en esso de la creacion del mundo assi lo tenemos nosotros creido muchos tiempos passados." (Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Con- quista, cap. 90.) For some points of resemblance between the Aztec and Hebrew traditions, see Book 1, chap. 3, and the essay on The Origin of the Mexican Civilization, at the end of the first book of this History. 268 CONQUEST OF MEXICO nal proprietors of the land. They had occupied it but a few ages, and had been led there by a great Being, who, after giving them laws and ruling over the nation for a time, had withdrawn to the regions where the sun rises. He had declared, on his departure, that he or his descendants would again visit them and resume his empire.^^ The wonderful deeds of the Spaniards, their fair com- plexions, and the quarter whence they came, all showed they were his descendants. If Montezuma had resisted their visit to his capital, it was 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 w^hich they rode. He was now convinced that these were idle tales; that the Spaniards were kind and generous in their na- tures; they were mortals, of a diiFerent race, in- deed, from the Aztecs, wiser, and more valiant, — and for this he honored them. " You, too," he added, with a smile, " have been told, perhaps, that I am a god, and dwell in pal- aces of gold and silver.^*' But you see it is false. My 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 " " E siempre hemos tenido, que de los que de el descendiessen habian de venir d sojuzgar esta tierra, y a nosotros como a sus Va- sallos." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 81. *" " Y luego el Montezuma dixo riendo, porque en todo era muy regozijado en su hablar de gran senor: Malinche, bien se que te ban dicho essos de Tlascala, con quien tanta amistad aueis tornado, que yo que soy como Dios, 6 Teule, que quanto ay en mis casas es todo oro, e plata, y piedras ricas." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 90. 1519] VISIT TO THE EMPEROR 269 like yours. It is true, I have a great empire in- herited 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 labors. You are here in your own dwellings, and everything shall be provided for your subsistence. I will see that your wishes shall be obeyed in the same way as my own." ^^ As the monarch concluded these words, a few natural tears suffused his eyes, while the image of ancient in- dependence, perhaps, flitted across his mind.^" Cortes, while he encouraged the idea that his own sovereign w^as the great Being indicated by Montezuma, endeavored to comfort the monarch by the assurance that his master had no desire to interfere with his authority, otherwise than, out of pure concern for his welfare, to effect his con- version and that of his people to Christianity. Be- fore the emperor dismissed his visitors he consulted his munificent spirit, as usual, by distributing rich *^ " E por tanto Vos sed cierto, que os obedeceremos, y tern6mos por senor en lugar de esse gran senor que decis, y que en ello no babia falta, ni engano alguno; 6 bien podeis en toda la tierra, digo, que en la que yo en mi Senorio poseo, mandar a vuestra voluntad, porque sera obedecldo y fecho, y todo lo que nosotros tcnemos es para lo que Vos de ello quisieredes disponer." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ubi supra. *■ Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3. — Gomara, Crdnica, cap. 66.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5.— Gonzalo de las Casas, MS., Parte 1, cap. :24.— Cortfe, in his brief notes of this pro- ceeding, speaks only of the interview with Montezuma in the Spanish quarters, which he makes the scene of the preceding dialogue. Ber- nal Diaz transfers this to the subsequent meeting in the palace. In the only fact of importance, the dialogue itself, both substantially agree. 270 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 dis- played by Montezuma, as well as by his princely spirit of liberality. As they passed him, the cava- liers, with bonnet in hand, made him the most pro- found obeisance, and " on the way home," con- tinues the same chronicler, " we could discourse of nothing but the gentle breeding and courtesy of the Indian monarch, and of the respect we enter- tained for him." ^^ 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 con- sequently power, for which even the exaggerated reports of the natives— discredited from their ap- parent exaggeration — had not prepared him. In the pomp and burdensome ceremonial of the court he saw that nice system of subordination and pro- found reverence for the monarch w^hich characterize the semi-civilized empires of Asia. In the appear- ance of the capital, its massy yet elegant architec- ture, its luxurious social accommodations, its ac- tivity in trade, he recognized the proofs of the intellectual progress, mechanical skill, and enlarged resources of an cJd and opulent community; while the swarms in the streets attested the existence of a ** " Assf nos despedimos con grandes cortesias del, y nos fuj^mos A nuestros aposentos, e ibamos platicando de la buena manera 6 crian^a que en todo tenia, € que nosotros en todo le tuuiessemos mucho acato, e con las gorras de armas colchadas quitadas, quando delante d^l passassemos." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 90. 1519] VISIT TO THE EMPEROR 271 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 Cho- lulan, but combining the courage of the one with the cultivation of the other. He was in the heart of a great capital, which seemed 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 whicli, at the mere nod of the sovereign, all communication might be cut off, and the whole warlike population be at once pre- cipitated on him and his handful of followers. What could superior science avail against such odds?^^ As to the subversion of JNIontezuma'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 Span- ish sovereign, was not to be taken too literally. Whatever show of deference he might be dis- posed to pay the latter under the influence of his present — perhaps temporary — delusion, it was not to be supposed that he would so easily relinquish his actual power and possessions, or that his people would consent to it. Indeed, his sensitive appre- " " Y assf," says Toribio de Benavente, " estaba tan f uerte esta ciudad, que parecia no bastar poder humano para ganarla; porqiie ademas de su fuerza y municion que tenia, era cabeza y Seiiorfa de toda la tierra, y el Senor de clla (Moteczuma) gloriibase en su silla y en la fortaleza de su ciudad, y en la muchedumbre de sus vassallos." Hist, de los Indies, MS., Parte 3, cap. 8. «72 CONQUEST OF MEXICO hensions in regard to this very subject, on the com- ing 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 un- doubtedly his policy to maintain this sentiment un- impaired in both, as far as possible.^^ But, before settling any plan of operations, it was necessary to make himself personally acquainted with the to- pography 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 pub- lic edifices. *° " Many are of opinion," says Father Acosta, " that, if the Span- iards had continued the course they began, they might easily have disposed of Montezuma and his kingdom, and introduced the law of Christ, without much bloodshed." Lib. 7, cap, 25. Antonio de Herrera, the celebrated chronicler of the Indies, was born of a respectable family at Cuella, 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 Span- ish youth of that time frequently resorted to complete their edu- cation. He there became acquainted with Vespasian Gonzaga, bro- ther 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, Gon- zaga earnestly commended him to the protection of Philip the Sec- ond. This penetrating monarch soon discerned the excellent qualities of Herrera, and raised him to the post of Historiographer of the Indies, — an oflBce for which Spain is indebted to Philip. Thus pro- vided with a liberal salary, and with every facility for pursuing the historical researches to which his inclination led him, Herrera's days glided peacefully away in the steady, but silent, occupations of a man of letters. He continued to hold the office of historian of the colonies through Philip the Second's reign, and under his successors, Philip the Third and the Fourth; till in 1625 he died at the advanced 1601] HERRERA 273 age of seventy-six, leaving behind him a high character for intellec- tual and moral worth. Herrera wrote several works, chiefly historical. The most impor- tant, that on which his reputation rests, is his Historia general de las Indias occidentales. 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 subse- quently 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 omis- sion, 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 distant regions of which he treats are all marshalled with exclusive reference to their chronol- ogy, and made to move together pari passu. By means of this taste- less arrangement the thread of interest is perpetually snapped, the reader is hurried from one scene to another, without the opportunity of completing 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 de- fect 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 occupj' its own inde- pendent 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 oflBcial 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 memorial 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 un- known to the historian. Of such manuscripts as fell into his hands, Herrera made the freest use. From the writings of I^as Casas, in particular, he borrowed without ceremony. The bishop had left orders that his " History of the Indies " should not l)e published till at least forty years after his death. Before that period had elapsed Herrera had entered on his labors, 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 274 CONQUEST OF MEXICO manner to his own work. In doing this, he made a decided im- provement on the manner of his original, reduced 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 coun- trymen, and those bursts of indignant eloquence which showed a moral sensibility in tlie Bishop of Chiapa that raised him so far above his age. By this sort of metempsychosis, 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. Yet, with every allowance for the errors incident to rapid compo- sition, 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 coloniza- tion in the New World for the first sixty years after the discovery. The individual actions of his complicated story, though unskilfully 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 his 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 allowances fairly to be conceded, he may be entitled to the praise so often given him of integrity and candor. 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 saga- city 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 ref- erence to the pages of Herrera. Another writer on Mexico, frequently consulted in the course of the present narrative, is Toribio de Benavente, or MotoUnia, as he is still more frequently called, from his Indian cognomen. He was one of the twelve Franciscan missionaries who, at the request of Cortds, were sent out to New Spain immediately after the Conquest, 1523] TORIBIO 275 in 1523. 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 em- ployed 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 revelation. He showed even a tender regard for 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 suflFering Indian. Yet this charitable friar, so meek and conscientious in the discharge 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 sug- gest that the friar's threadbare 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 measures with so rude a hand as to provoke such unsparing animad- versions from his fellow-laborers in the vineyard. Toribio was made guardian of a Franciscan convent at Tezcuco. In this situation he continued active in good works, and at this place, and in his diflFerent pilgrimages, is stated to have baptized more than four hundred thousand natives. His eflBcacious piety was attested by various miracles. One of the most remarkable was when the Indians were suflFering from great drought, which threatened to annihilate the approaching harvests. The good father recommended a solemn pro- cession of the natives to the church of Santa Cruz, with prayers and a vigorous flagellation. The eflFect was soon visible in such copious rains as entirely relieved the people from their apprehensions, and in the end made the season uncommonly fruitful. The counterpart to this prodigy was aflForded a few years later, while the country was laboring 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. Proba- bly Toribio's exemplary life and conversation, so beautifully illus- trating 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 mis- sionaries who had accompanied him to New Spain. He died in the convent of San Francisco at Mexico, and his panegyric is thus em- 276 CONQUEST OF MEXICO phatically pronounced by Torquemada, a brother of his own order: " He was a truly apostolic man, a great teacher of Christianity, beau- tiful in the ornament of every virtue, jealous of the glory of God, a friend of evangelical poverty, most true to the observance of his monastic rule, and zealous in the conversion of the heathen." Father Toribio's long personal intercourse 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 institutions, which existed at the time of the Con- quest. The results he carefully digested in the work so often cited in these pages, the Eistoria de los Indios de Nueva-Espaiia, making a volume of manuscript in folio. It is divided into three parts. 1. The religion, rites, and sacrifices of the Aztecs. 2. Their conver- sion 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 and the staple productions of the country. Notwithstanding 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 be- fore 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 ecclesiastical labors. The most startling occurrences 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 sufficient magnitude to supply the wants of the infant religious communities of New Spain. Yet amidst this mass of pious incredibilia the inquirer into the Aztec antiquities will find much curious and substantial information. 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 somewhat discursive, is plain and unatfected, there is no obscurity in the communication of his ideas. His inferences, colored by the superstitions of the age and the peculiar nature of his profession, may be often received with distrust. But, as his integrity and his means of information 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 educated man, he was enabled to penetrate deeper than the illiterate soldiers of Cortes, men given to action rather than to speculation. 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. Robertson had a copy, as it seems from the catalogue of MSS. published with his "History of America;" 1520] MARTYR 277 though the author's name is not prefixed to it. There is no copy, I believe, in the library of the Academy of History at Madrid; and for that in my possession I am indebted to the kindness of that cu- rious bibliographer, Mr. O. Rich, now consul for the United States at Minorca. Pietro Martire de Angleria, or Peter Martyr, as he is called by English writers, belonged to an ancient and highly respectable fam- ily 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. He was graciously received by Queen Isabella, al- ways 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 instruction of the young nobles at the court. In this waj"^ he formed an intimacy with some of the most illustrious men of the nation, who seem to have cherished a warm personal regard for him through the remainder of his life. He was employed by the Catholic sovereigns in various concerns of public interest, was sent on a mission to Egypt, and was subsequently raised to a distinguished 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 sagacity that can only result from familiarity with men and affairs. Though pass- ing his days in the gay and dazzling society of the capital, he pre- served the simple tastes and dignified temper of a philosopher. His correspondence, 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 sujQBciently independent to condemn the religious intolerance of the government. But Martyr, though a phi- losopher, was enough of a courtier to look with a lenient eye on the errors of princes. Though deeply imbued with the learnmg of an- tiquity, 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, including his copious corre- spondence, are for this reason the very best mirror of the age in which he lived. His inquisitive mind was particularly interested 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 importance was made to it; and he was subsequently 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 278 CONQUEST OF MEXICO persons on their return home, and frequently, as we find from his letters, entertained them at his own table. With these advantages, his testimony becomes but one degree removed from that of the actors themselves in the great drama. In one respect it is of a higher kind, since it is free from the prejudice and passion which a personal interest in events is apt to beget. The testimony 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 occasionally 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 phenomena 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 inaccuracies of another de- scription, growing out of haste and inadvertence of composition. But even here we should be charitable. For he confesses his sins with a candor that disarms criticism. In truth, he wrote rapidly, 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 embodied 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 of the purest; a circumstance rather singular, considering his familiarity with the classic models of antiquity. Yet he evidently handled the dead lan- guages 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 country, the history and institu- tions 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 progress of discovery. They furnish, in short, the reverse side of the picture; and, when we have followed the Spanish conquerors in their wonder- ful career of adventure in the New World, we have only to turn to the pages of Martj'r to find the impression produced by them on the enlightened minds of the Old. Such a view is necessary to the completeness of the historical picture. If the reader is curious to learn more of this estimable scholar, he will find the particulars given in " The History of Ferdinand and Isabella" (Part I. chap. 14, Postscript, and chap. 19), for the illus- tration of whose reign his voluminous correspondence furnishes the most authentic materials. BOOK IV RESIDENCE IN MEXICO BOOK IV RESIDENCE IN MEXICO CHAPTER I tezcucan lake— description of the capital— palaces and museums— royal household — Montezuma's way of 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 splendor from the ashes of the old, would not recognize its site as that of his own Tenochtitlan. For the latter was en- compassed by the salt floods of Tezcuco, which flowed in ample canals through every part of the 281 282 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 ap- parent 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.^ The average level of the Tezcucan lake, at the present day, is but four feet lower than the great square of JNIexico.^ It is considerably lower than the other great basins of water 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, ris- ing 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 supplanted by streets of solid ^The lake, it seems, had perceptibly shrunk before the Conquest, from the testimony of Motolinia, who entered the country soon after. Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 6. ' Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 95.— Cort6s supposed there were regular tides in this lake. (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 101.) This sorely puzzles the learned Martyr (De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3) ; as it has more than one philosopher since, whom it has led to speculate on a subterraneous communication with the ocean ! What tlie general called " tides " was probably the periodical swells caused by the prevalence of certain regular winds. 1519] TEZCUCAN LAKE 283 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.^ 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 in- crustation 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 attention 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 to- gether by the fibrous roots with which they were penetrated. The primitive Aztecs, in their poverty of land, availed themselves of the hint thus af- forded by nature. They constructed rafts of reeds, rushes, and other fibrous materials, which, tightly knit together, formed a sufficient basis for the sedi- ^ Humboldt has given a minute account of this tunnel, which he pronounces one of the most stupendous hydraulic works in existence, and the completion of which, in its present form, does not date earlier than the latter part of the eighteenth century. See his Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 105, et seq. 284 CONQUEST OF MEXICO ment that they drew up from the bottom of the lake. Gradually islands were formed, two or three himdred feet in length, and three or four feet in depth, with a rich stimulated soil, on which the eco- nomical Indian raised his vegetables and flowers for the markets of Tenochtitlan. 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 hke some enchanted island over the water.* The ancient dikes were three in number. That of Iztapalapan, by which the Spaniards entered, approaching the city from the south. That of Te- pejacac, on the north, which, continuing the prin- cipal street, might be regarded, also, as a continua- tion of the first causeway. Lastly, the dike of Tlacopan, connecting the island-city with the continent on the w^est. This last causeway, memo- rable for the disastrous retreat of the Spaniards, was about two miles in length. They were all built in the same substantial manner, of lime and stone, were defended by draw-bridges, and were wide enough for ten or twelve horsemen to ride abreast.^ * Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 87, et seq.— Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. p. 153. ' Toribio, Hist, de los Indies, MS., Parte 3, cap. 8.— Cortes, indeed, speaks of four causeways. (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 102.) He may have reckoned an arm of the southern one leading to Cojohua- can, or possibly the great aqueduct of Chapoltepec. 1519] TEZCUCAN LAKE 285 The rude founders of Tenochtitlan built their frail tenements of reeds and rushes on the group of small islands in the western part of the lake. In process of time, these were supplanted by more substantial buildings. A quarry in the neigh- borhood, of a red porous amygdaloid, tetzontlij was opened, and a light, brittle stone drawn from it and wrought with little 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 compelled, 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.^ 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 ar- ranged in a quadrangular form, with a court in the centre, and were surrounded by porticoes embel- lished with porphyry and jasper, easily found in the neighborhood, while not unfrequently a foun- tain of crystal water in the centre shed a grate- ful coolness through the air. The dwellings of the common people were also placed on founda- tions of stone, which rose to the height of a few feet and were then succeeded by courses of unbaked bricks, crossed occasionally by wooden "Ante, vol. i. p. 23. 286 CONQUEST OF MEXICO rafters.' Most of the streets were mean and nar- row. Some few, however, 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 af- forded a noble vista, in which the long lines of low stone edifices were broken occasionally by interven- ing 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 land- ing-place where boats might discharge their car- goes. 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 dif- ferent parts of the city.^ From the accounts of the ancient capital, one is reminded of those aquatic cities in the Old World, ^ Martyr gives a particular account of these dwellings, which shows that even the poorer classes were comfortably lodged. " Populares vero domus cingulo virili tenus lapideae sunt et ipsae, ob lacunas incre- mentum per fluxum aut fluviorum in ea labentium alluvies. Super fundamentis illis magnis, lateribus turn coctis, turn aestivo sole sic- catis, immixtis trabibus reliquam molem construunt; uno sunt com- munes domus contentae tabulato. In solo parum hospitantur propter humiditatem, tecta non tegulis sed bitumine quodam terreo vesti- unt; ad solem captandum commodior est ille modus, breviore tem- pore consumi debere credendum est." De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 10. *Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 8.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 108. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 10, 11.— Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap, Ramusio, torn. iii. fol. 309. 1519] DESCRIPTION OF THE CAPITAL 287 the positions of which have been selected from similar motives of economy and defence ; above all, of Venice,^— if it be not rash to compare the rude architecture of the American Indian with the mar- ble palaces and temples — alas, how shorn of their splendor! — which crowned the once proud mistress of the Adriatic/" The example of the metropolis was soon followed by the other towns in the vi- cinity. Instead of resting their foundations on terra firma, they were seen advancing far into the lake, the shallow waters of which in some parts do not exceed four feet in depth. ^^ Thus an easy means of intercommunication was opened, and the surface of this inland " sea," as Cortes styles it, was darkened by thousands of canoes ^^— an In- * Martyr was struck with the resemblance. " Uti de illustrisslma civitate Venetiarum legitur, ad tumulum in ea sinus Adriatici parte visum, fuisse constructara." Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 10. "May we not apply, without much violence, to the Aztec capital, Giovanni della Casa's spirited sonnet, contrasting the origin of Venice with its meridian glory? " Questi Palazzi e queste logge or colte D'ostro, di marmo e di figure elette. Fur poche e basse case insieme accolte Deserti lidi e povere Isolette. Ma genti ardite d'ogni vizio sciolte Premeano il mar con picciole barchette, Che qui non per domar provincie molte. Ma fuggir servitu s' eran ristrette Non era ambizion ne' petti loro ; Ma 'I mentire abborriun piu die la morte, N& vi regnava ingorda fame d' oro. Se '1 Ciel v' ha date piu boata sorte, Non sien quelle virtu che tanto onoro. Dalle nuove ricchezze oppresse e morte." " " Le lac de Tezcuco n'a g^neralement que trois a cinq mMres de profondeur, Dans quelques endroits le fond se trouve meme deja a moins d'un m^tre." Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 49. " " Y cada dia entran gran multitud de Indios cargados de basti- mentos y tributos, asf por tierra como por agua, en acales 6 barcas, que en lengua de las Islas llaman CanoasT Toribio, Hist, de los In- dios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 6. 288 CONQUEST OF MEXICO dian term— industriously engaged in the traffic between these Httle 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 contempo- rary writer estimates it at less than sixty thousand houses, which, by the ordinary rules of reckoning,* * [This estimate is of course erroneous. " The ordinary rules of reckoning " cannot be applied to people living as did the Mexicans. The word vecinos means not only householders, as pointed out in the author's note, but also inhabitants. The translator who rendered the " Anonymous Conqueror " into Italian made no blunder when he used the word habitatori. Morgan (Ancient Society, p. 195) thinks the population was not more than 30,000, and asks " how a barbarous people without flocks and herds, and without field agriculture, could have sustained in equal areas a larger number of inhabitants than a civilized people can now maintain armed with these advan- tages." (London at that time may have contained 145,000 inhabi- tants.) But Morgan's estimate is without question too low. Zu- azo and the Anonymous Conqueror were more nearly right in fixing, the population of the city at 60,000. There could not possibly have been room enough for sixty thousand Aztec houses in a city of which the circumference was less than three leagues. (No one makes it at any time to have been more than four leagues in circumference.) The houses in which the higher officials dwelt were spread over a wide extent of ground, were low, " seldom of more than one floor, never exceeding two." (Ante, p. 285.) Public buildings and pleasure grounds took up much space. The great market-place, tianguez, was " thrice as large as the celebrated square of Salamanca " (p. 313). No one states the number of visitors at less than 40,000 (p. 317). (According to Ford, Handbook of Spain, the Plaza at Salamanca was the largest square in Spain. From 16,000 to 20,000 spectators could be accommodated at the bull-fights which took place there.) The temple area also was enormous. On a map of the city of Mexico, in the edition of the Letters of Cortes published at Nuremberg, 1524, the temple space is twenty times as great as that given to the market-place. The large number of visitors to the Plaza on market days is easily accounted for if we compare the thronged afternoon streets in the shopping districts of any large city with those same 1519] DESCRIPTION OF THE CAPITAL 289 would give three hundred thousand souls.^^ If a dwelling often contained, as is asserted, several families, it would swell the amount considerably higher/^ Nothing is more uncertain than esti- mates of numbers among barbarous communities, who necessarily live in a more confused and pro- miscuous manner than civilized, and among whom no regular system is adopted for ascertaining the population. The concurrent testimony of the Con- querors; the extent of the city, which was said to be nearly three leagues in circumference;^^ the immense size of its great market-place; the long lines of edifices, vestiges of whose ruins may still " " Esta la cibdad de M^jico 6 Teneztutan, que serd de sesenta mil vecinos." (Carta del Lie. Zuazo, MS.) " Tenustitanam ipsam in- quiunt sexaginta circiter esse millium doraorum." (Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3.) "Era Mejico, quando Cortes entr6, pueblo de sesenta mil casas." (Gomara, Cr6nica, 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 " Anony- mous Conqueror," who survives only in translation, says, indeed, "meglio di sessanta mila habitatori" (Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 309) ; owing, probably, to a blunder in render- ing the word vecinos, the ordinary term in Spanish statistics, which, signifying householders, corresponds with the Italian fuochi. See, also, Clavigero. (Stor. del Messico, tom. iii. p. 86, nota.) Robertson rests exclusively on this Italian translation for his estimate. (History of America, vol. ii. p. 281.) He cites, indeed, two other authorities in the same connection; 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. " " In the smallest houses, with few exceptions, two, four, and even six families resided together." Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 13. " Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap, Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 309. streets deserted at night when the visitors have returned to their homes. There were no shops in the Aztec capital and all the buying was done in the tianguez. — M.] 290 CONQUEST OF MEXICO be found in the suburbs, miles from the modern city ; ^ " the fame of the metropolis throughout Anahuac, which, however, could boast many large and populous places; lastly, the economical hus- bandry and the ingenious contrivances to extract aliment from the most unpromising sources,^ ^ — all attest a numerous population, far beyond that of the present capital.^ ^ " " C'est sur le chemin qui m^ne a Tanepantla et aux Ahuahuetes que Ton peut marcher plus d'une heure entre les ruines de I'ancienne ville. On y reconnait, ainsi que sur la route de Tacuba et d'lztapa- lapan, combien Mexico, rebati par Cortez, est plus petit que I'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 I'ancienne ville doit avoir ete considerable."' Humboldt, Essai politique, torn. ii. p. 43. " A common food with the lower classes was a glutinous scum found in the lakes, which they made into a sort of cake, having a savor not unlike cheese. (Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 92.) — [This "scum" consists in fact of the eggs of aquatic insects, with which cakes are made, in the same manner as with the spawn of fishes. Conquista de Mejico (trad, de Vega), torn. i. p. 366.] * " One is confirmed in this inference by comparing the two maps at the end of the first edition of Bullock's "Mexico;" one of the modern city, the other of the ancient, taken from Boturini's museum, and showing its regular arrangement of streets and canals; as regu- lar, indeed, as the squares on a chess-board.f * [Little can be inferred, in regard to the difference of population, from the use of the ahudhutle, as these cakes are called, since it is still a favorite article of food at Tezcuco, where the eggs are found in great abundance, and sold in the market both in the prepared state and in lumps as collected at the edge of the lake. " The flies which produce these eggs are called by the Mexicans axayacatl, or water-face, — Corixa femorata, and Notonecta unifasciata, accord- ing to MM. Meneville and Virlet d'Aoust." Tylor, Anahuac, p. 156.— K.] t [The doubts so often excited by the descriptions of ancient Mex- ico in the accounts of the Spanish discoverers, like the similar in- credulity formerly entertained in regard to the narrations of Herod- otus, are dispelled by a critical investigation in conjunction with the results of modern explorations. Among recent travellers, Mr. Ed- ward B. Tj'lor, whose learning and acumen have been displayed in 1519] DESCRIPTION OF THE CAPITAL 291 A careful police provided for the health and cleanhness of the city. A thousand persons are said to have been daily employed in watering and sweeping the streets/'"* 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." ^° The water, in a city washed " Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. i. p. 274. '" " 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 various ethnological studies, is entitled to especial confidence. In company with Mr. Christy, the well-known collector, he examined the ploughed fields in the neighborhood of Mexico, making repeated trials whether it was possible to stand in any spot where no relic of the former population was within reach. " But this," he says, " we could not do. Everywhere the ground was full of unglazed pottery and obsidian." " We noticed bj' 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 popula- tion, and the size of the cities, from a natural desire to make the most of their victories, and to write as wonderful a history as they could, as historians are prone to do. But our examination of Mexi- can remains soon induced us to withdraw this accusation, and even made us inclined to blame the chroniclers for having had no eyes for the wonderful things that surrounded them. I do not mean by this that we felt inclined to swallow the monstrous exaggeration of Soli's and Gomara and other Spanish chroniclers, who seemed to think that it was as easy to say a thousand as a hundred, and that it sounded much better. But when this class of writers are set aside, and the more valuable authorities severely criticised, it does not seem to us that the history thus extracted from these sources is much less reliable than European history of the same period. There is, perhaps, no better way of expressing this opinion than to say that what we saw of Mexico tended generally to confirm Pres- cott's History of the Conquest, and but seldom to make his state- ments appear to us improbable." Anahuac, p. 147.— K.] 292 CONQUEST OF MEXICO on all sides by the salt floods, was extremely brack- ish. A liberal supply of the pure element, how- ever, was brought from Chapoltepec, " the grass- hopper's hill," less than a league distant. It was brought through an earthen pipe, along a dike con- structed 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 sup- ply was furnished to the canoes below, by means of which it was transported to all parts of the city.^^ While Montezuma encouraged a taste for archi- tectural magnificence in his nobles, he contributed his own share towards the embellishment of the city. 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 difficulty 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 inge- pie detrimento ninguno en andar descalzo." Toribio, Hist, de los Indies, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7. " Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 108. — Carta del Lie. Zuazo, MS. — Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii. fol. 309. 1519] PLACES AND MUSEUMS 293 nuity and enterprise of the people who accom- phshed it.^^ Not content with the spacious residence of his father, Montezuma erected another on a yet more magnificent scale. It occupied, as before men- tioned, the ground partly covered by the private dwellings on one side of the plaza mayor of the modern city. This building, or, as it might more correctly be styled, pile of buildings, spread over an extent of ground so vast that, as one of the Con- querors assures us, its terraced roof might have afforded ample room for thirty knights to run their courses in a regular tourney.^^ I have already no- ticed 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,^^ its numerous and spacious apartments, which Cortes, with en- thusiastic hyperbole, does not hesitate to declare superior to anything of the kind in Spain. ^^ Adjoining the principal edifice were others, de- " These immense masses, according to Martyr, who gathered his information from eye-witnesses, were transported by means of long files of men, who dragged them with ropes over huge wooden rollers, (De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 10.) It was the manner in which the Egyptians removed their enormous blocks of granite, as appears from numerous reliefs sculptured on their buildings. '^ Rel. d'un gentil' huorao, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii. fol. 309. " " Ricos edificios," says the Licentiate Zuazo, speaking of the buildings in Anahuac generally, " ecepto que no se halla alguno con boveda." (Carta, MS.) The writer made large and careful observa- tion, the year after the Conquest. His assertion, if it be received, will settle a question much mooted among antiquaries. "^ " His residence within the city was so marvellous for its beauty and vastness that it seems to me almost impossible to describe it. I shall therefore say no more of it than that there is nothing like it in Spain." Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 111. 294 CONQUEST OF MEXICO voted to various objects. One was an armory, 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 witness- ing 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 con- tributed by the districts charged with the mainte- nance of the royal household. There were, also, edifices appropriated to ob- jects of quite another kind. One of these was an immense aviary, in which birds of splendid plu- mage 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 humming-bird, which de- lights to revel among the honeysuckle bowers of Mexico.^® Three hundred attendants had charge of this aviary, who made themselves acquainted with the appropriate food of its inmates, often- times procured at great cost, and in the moulting " Herrera's account of these feathered insects, if one may so style them, shows the fanciful errors into which even men of science were led in regard to the new tribes of animals discovered in America: " There are some birds in the country of the size of butterflies, with long beaks, brilliant plumage, much esteemed for the curious works made of them. Like the bees, they live on flowers, and the dew which settles on them; and when the rainy season is over, and the dry weather sets in, they fasten themselves to the trees by their beaks and soon die. But in the following year, when the new rains come, they come to life again " ! Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 31. 1519] PALACES AND MUSEUMS 295 season were careful to collect the beautiful plu- mage, which, with its many-colored 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 was 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, how- ever, 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 num- ber 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.^^ 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 " " Pues mas tenian," says the honest Captain Diaz, " en aquella maldita casa muchas Vfboras, y Culebras enipon9onadas, que traen en las colas vnos que suenan como cascabeles; estas son las peores Vfboras de todas." Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 91. * [The turkey was introduced to Europe from Mexico, as has be- fore been stated.— M.] 296 CONQUEST OF MEXICO their moving about, and secured by a strong lattice- work, through which Hght and air were freely ad- mitted. 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 cleanliness. With what deep interest would the enlightened naturalist of that day — an Oviedo, or a Martyr, for example— have surveyed this magnificent collection, 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 de- lighted to study the peculiarities of these new species, compared with those of their own hemi- sphere, 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 curi- osity not unmixed with awe; and, as they listened to the wild cries of the ferocious animals and the hissings of the serpents, they almost fancied them- selves in the infernal regions. ^^ I must not omit to notice a strange collection of human monsters, dwarfs, and other unfortunate persons in whose organization Nature had capri- ciously deviated from her regular laws. Such hideous anomalies were regarded by the Aztecs as a suitable appendage of state. It is even said ^ " Digamos aora," exclaims Captain Diaz, " las cosas infernales que hazian, quando bramauan los Tigres y Leones, y aullauan los Adiues y Zorros, y silbauan las Sierpes, era grima oirlo, y parecia infierno." Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 91. 1519] PALACES AND MUSEUMS 297 they were in some cases the result of artificial means, employed by unnatural parents desir- ous to secure a provision for their offspring by thus qualifying them for a place in the royal museum ! ^^ Extensive gardens were spread out around these buildings, filled with fragrant shrubs and flowers, and especially with medicinal plants.^" No coun- try has afforded more numerous species of these last than New Spain; and their virtues were per- fectly understood by the Aztecs, with whom medi- cal 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 re- treat on their margins to various tribes of water^ fowl, whose habits were so carefully consulted 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 pavil- ions, that admitted the perfumed breezes of the gardens, and offered a grateful shelter to the mon- ^ Ibid., ubi supra. — Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 111- 113. — Carta del Lie. Zuazo, MS. — Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 11, 46. '" Montezuma, according to Gomara, would allow no fruit-trees, considering them as unsuitable to pleasure-grounds. (Cr6nica, cap. 75.) Toribio says, to the same effect, " Los Indios Sefiores no pro- curan drboles de fruta, porque se la traen sus vasallos, sino drboles de floresta, de donde cojan rosas, y adonde se crian aves, asi para gozar del canto, como para las tirar con Cerbatana, de la cual son grandes tiradores." Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 6. 298 CONQUEST OF MEXICO arch and his mistresses in the sultry heats of summer.^^ But the most luxurious residence of the Aztec monarch, at that season, was the royal hill of Cha- poltepec, — a spot consecrated, moreover, by the ashes of his ancestors. It stood in a westerly direc- tion from the capital, and its base was, in his day, washed by the waters of the Tezcuco. On its lofty crest of porphyritic rock there now stands the mag- nificent, though desolate, castle erected by the young viceroy Galvez at the close of the seven- teenth century.^ ^ 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 offen- sive to the sight; but the eye wanders over an un- broken 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 cy- presses, more than fifty feet in circumference, which were centuries old at the time of the Con- quest.^^ The place is now a tangled wilderness of '^Toribio, Hist, de los Indies, MS., Parte 3, cap. 6.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ubi supra. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 11. " [It is used at the present day for a military school. Conquista de Mejico (trad, de Vega), torn. i. p. 370.] " Gomara, a competent critic, who saw them just before their de- struction, praises their execution. Gama, Descripcion, Parte 2, pp. 81-83.— Also, ante, vol. i. p. 157. " [Yet the whole of this beautiful grove was not spared. The axes of the Conquerors levelled such of the trees as grew round the foun- 1519] ROYAL HOUSEHOLD 299 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 ponder on the sad destinies of the Indian races and the monarch who once held his courtly revels under the shadow of their branches. The domestic establishment of ^Montezuma was on the same scale of barbaric splendor as every- thing else about him. He could boast as many wives as are found in the harem of an Eastern sul- tan.^^ They were lodged in their own apartments, and provided with every accommodation, accord- ing to their ideas, for personal comfort and clean- liness. They passed their hours in the usual femi- nine 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 fe- males, 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 ablu- tions. He bathed at least once, and changed his tain of Chapoltepec and dropped their decayed leaves into its waters. The order of the municipality, dated February 28, 1527, is quoted by Alaman, Disertaciones historicas, torn. ii. p. 290.] ''No less than one thousand, if we believe Gomara; who adds the edifying intelligence, " que huvo vez, que tuvo ciento i cincuenta pre- nadas a un tiempo ! " 300 CONQUEST OF MEXICO dress four times, it is said, every day.^^ He never put on the same apparel a second time, but gave it away to his attendants. Queen EHzabeth, with a similar taste for costume, showed a less princely spirit in hoarding her discarded suits. Her ward- robe 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 con- stant attendance on his person, who served also as a sort of body-guard. It had been usual for ple- beians of merit to fill certain offices in the palace. But the haughty JNIontezuma 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 fa- thers; thus serving the double purpose of security and state.^^ His meals the emperor took alone. The well- matted floor of a large saloon was covered with " " Vestiase todos los dias quatro maneras de vestiduras todas nuevas, y nunca mas se las vestia otra vez." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 114. " Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 91. — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 67, 71, 76.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 113, 114.— Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7. — "A la puerta de la sala estaba vn patio mui grande en que habia cien aposentos de ^25 6 30 pies de largo cada vno sobre si en torno de dicho patio, e alii estaban los Seiiores principales aposentados como guardas del palacio ordinarias, y estos tales aposentos se llaman galpones, los quales a la contina ocupan mas de 600 hombres, que jamas se quitaban de aUi, 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 cote- diana del palacio." (Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 46.) A very curious and full account of Montezuma's household is given by this author, as he gathered it from the Spaniards who saw it in its splendor. As Oviedo's history still remains in manuscript, I have transferred the chapter in the original Castilian to Appendix, No. 10. 1519] ROYAL HOUSEHOLD 301 hundreds of dishes."^^ Sometimes Montezuma him- self, but more frequently his steward, indicated those which he preferred, and which were kept hot by means of chafing-dishes.^'' The royal bill of fare comprehended, besides domestic animals, game from the distant forests, and fish which, the day before, were swimming in the Gulf of INIexico ! They were dressed in manifold ways, for the Aztec artisteSj as we have already had occasion to notice, had penetrated deep into the mysteries of culinary science.^° 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 canned wood was drawn around him, so as to con- ceal him from vulgar eyes during the repast. He was seated on a cushion, and the dinner was served '* Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 91. — Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ubi supra. '^ " Y porque la Tierra es f ria trahian debaxo de cada plato y escudilla de man jar un braserico con brasa, porque no se enfriasse." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 113. *" Bernal Diaz has given us a few items of the royal carte. The first cover is rather a startling one, being a fricassee or stew of little children! "carries de muchachos de poca edad." * He admits, how- ever, that this is somewhat apocryphal. Ibid., ubi supra. * [The story of Bernal Diaz is not at all improbable. Young chil- dren were frequently sacrificed in order to obtain the auspices. As the flesh of human victims was always eaten, it goes without saying that " dishes of tender children " must have appeared at times upon the tables. Bancroft (Native Races, vol. ii. p. 176, Note) explains that Torquemada (Monarq. Ind.) "regrets that certain per- sons, out of the ill-will they bore the Mexicans, have falsely imputed to Montezuma the crime of eating human flesh, without its being well seasoned, but he admits that when properly cooked and dis- guised, the flesh of those sacrificed to the gods appeared at the royal board.— M.] 302 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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, which 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, but was given away to his attendants. The saloon was lighted by torches made of a resinous wood, which sent forth a sweet odor and, probably, not a little smoke, as they burned. At his meal, he was attended by five or six of his ancient coun- sellors, who stood at a respectful distance, answer- ing 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 requi- sites 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 em- peror took no other beverage than the chocolatl, a potation of chocolate, flavored 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 exceedingly fond of it, to judge from the quantity — no less than fifty 1519] MONTEZUMA'S WAY OF LIFE 303 jars or pitchers— prepared for his own daily con- sumption/^ Two thousand more were allowed for that of his household.^ ^ The general arrangement of the meal seems 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 caliente, and trans- mitted 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 *^"Lo que yo vi," says Diaz, speaking from his own observation, "que traian sobre cincuenta jarros grandes hechos de buen cacao con su espuma, y de lo que bebia." Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 91. "Ibid., ubi supra.— Rel. Seg. de Cort<^s, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 113, 114.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 11, 46.— Gomara, Cronica, cap. 67. * [This description, as Senor Alaman observes, seems to have a tincture of romance, since many of the fruits now produced in such abundance in Mexico were unknown there previous to the Conquest. Conquista de M^jico, trad, de Vega, torn. i. p. 373.— K.] 304) CONQUEST OF MEXICO the nose, at others through the mouth, the fumes of an intoxicating weed, " called tobacco," ^^ min- gled with liquid amber. While this soothing pro- cess of fumigation 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.^^ Sometimes he amused himself with his jester; for the Indian monarch had his jesters, as well as his more refined brethren of Europe, at that day. Indeed, 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 wit- nessed the graceful dances of his women, or took delight in listening to music, — if the rude min- strelsy of the Mexicans deserve that name, — ac- companied by a chant, in slow and solemn cadence, celebrating the heroic deeds of great Aztec war- riors, 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. *" " Tambien le ponian en la mesa tres canutos muy pintados, y dorados, y dentro traian liquidamhar, rebuelto con vnas yervas que se dize tabaco." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 91. "The feats of jugglers and tumblers were a favorite diversion with the Grand Khan of China, as Sir John Maundeville informs us. (Voiage and Travaille, chap. '22.) The Aztec mountebanks had such repute, that Cortes sent two of them to Rome to amuse his Holiness Clement VII. Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. p. 186. 1519] MONTEZUMA'S WAY OF LIFE 305 They were introduced by the young nobles in at- tendance, and, whatever might be their rank, un- less of the blood royal, they were obliged to sub- mit to the humiliation of shrouding their rich dresses under the coarse mantle of nequen, and en- tering 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! ^^ Besides the crowd of retainers already noticed, the royal household was not complete without a host of artisans constantly employed in the erec- tion 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 were also very numerous, and the dancers belonging to the palace occupied a particular district of the city, appro- priated 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, embar- rassing nature. Everything, however, was con- ** " Ninguno de los Soldanes, ni otro ningun senor infiel, de los que hasta agora se tiene noticia, no creo, que tantas, ni tales ceremonias en servicio tengan." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 115. 306 CONQUEST OF MEXICO ducted with perfect order; and all the various re- ceipts 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 sepa- rate apartment was filled with hieroglyphical 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 superinten- dence over all its concerns. This responsible ofiice, on the arrival of the Spaniards, was in the hands of a trusty cacique named Tapia.^^ * Such is the picture of Montezuma's domestic es- tablishment t and way of living, as delineated by ** Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 91. — Carta del Lie. Zuazo, MS.— Ovledo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., ubi supra. — Toribio, Hist, de los Indies, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7. — Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 110-115. — Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn, iii, fol. 306. * [The name, which is Spanish, not Aztec, was that given to him by the Conquerors, perhaps with some reference to one of their own number, Andres de Tapia. — K.] t [Prescott's picture of Montezuma's domestic establishment and way of living is drawn, without enlargement, from sketches sup- plied by Cortes and Bernal Diaz — two men who saic the state in which the Aztec chief lived. Their observations extended over a period of only five days, as Cortes made Montezuma his prisoner at the end of that time. Subsequent historians, amplifying details only hinted at by the two eye-witnesses, have given free rein to the im- agination. The last important contribution to the subject came from the pen of H. H. Bancroft, Native Races, vol. ii. chap, iv (Palaces and Households of the Nahua Kings). It was his glowing account, in which were incorporated the details specified by the later Spanish historians, which so roused the indignation of Lewis H. Morgan as to move that scholar to put forth his famous essay, " Montezuma's Dinner." This essay created an immense impression when it first appeared, but a careful examination will demonstrate the fact that it contains almost as many misstatements as do the pages of Ban- 1519] MONTEZUMA'S WAY OF LIFE 307 the Conquerors and their immediate followers, who had the best means of information;^^ too highly colored, it may be, by the proneness to exaggerate, which was natural to those who first witnessed a 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 refinement 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 "If the historian will descend but a generation later for his au- thorities, he may find materials for as good a chapter as any in Sir John Maundeville or the Arabian Nights. croft. Mr. Morgan begins by saying that the histories of Spanish America may be trusted in whatever relates " to the acts and per- sonal characteristics of the Indians: in whatever relates to their weapons, implements, and utensils, fabrics, food, and raiment, and things of a similar character," and then entirely ignores the fact that Cortes and Bernal Diaz actually saw what thej' afterward de- scribed. He points out, what most men will at once admit, that the dinners the Conquerors described were not repasts provided for a king alone, but that they represented the daily fare of a great communal household. Meals prepared on almost as large a scale were served in other great communal houses in Mexico. In fact, all the dinners served in the city were communal dinners, for all the authorities agree that even the smallest houses were inhabited by several families. But when, with fine scorn, he takes exception to the expression " wine cellars," and claims, first, that cellars were impossible in a city where the level of the streets and courts was but four feet above the level of the water of the surrounding lake, and, second, that the Aztecs had no knowledge of wine, we feel that he is hypercritical. When he goes on to say that " though an acid beer, pulque, was a common beverage of the Aztecs, yet it is hardUj supposable that even this was used at dinner," one is inevitably led to the conclusion that Mr, Morgan had but little knowledge of the dinner habits of some of his contemporaries in the cities of western New York. It is not in- conceivable that even in his own city of Rochester families can be found who take beer with their principal meal.— M.] 308 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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, in- tellectual kind which belonged to the more pol- ished Arabs and the Persians, but that semi-civili- zation which has distinguished, for example, the Tartar races, among whom art, and even science, have made, indeed, some progress in the adaptation to material wants and sensual gratification, but lit- tle in reference to the higher and more ennobling interests of humanity. It is characteristic of such a people to find a puerile pleasure in a dazzling and ostentatious pageantry; to mistake show for sub- stance, vain pomp for power; to hedge round the throne itself with a barren and burdensome cere- monial, the counterfeit of real majesty. Even this, however, was an advance in refine- ment, compared with the rude manners of the ear- lier Aztecs. The change may, doubtless, be re- ferred 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 pro- fession of religion. In later life he had withdrawn himself still more from the brutalizing 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, was favorable to this change. The dismember- ment of the Tezcucan kingdom on the death of the great ISTezahualpilli had left the Aztec monarchy without a rival ; and it soon spread its colossal arms 1519] MONTEZUMA'S WAY OF LIFE 309 over the farthest limits of Anahuac. The aspir- ing mind of Montezuma rose with the acquisition of wealth and power; and he displayed the con- sciousness of new importance by the assumption of unprecedented state. He affected a reserve un- known 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 oc- casion, usually to the great temple, to take part in the religious services; and as he passed along he exacted from his people, as we have seen, the hom- age of an adulation worthy of an Oriental des- pot.^ ^ His haughty demeanor touched the pride of his more potent vassals, particularly those who, 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. *^ " Referre in tanto rege piget superbam mutationem vestis, et desideratas humi jacentium adulationes." (Livy, Hist., lib. 9, cap. 18.) The remarks of the Roman historian in reference to Alexander, after he was infected by the manners of Persia, fit equally well the Aztec emperor. 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 Montezuma, asking permission to visit the great teocalli, and some other places in the city. The friendly monarch consented without diffi- culty. 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 INIonte- zuma to guide him. They proposed first to con- 310 1519] MARKET OF MEXICO 311 duct him to the great market of Tlatelolco, in the western part of the city. On the way, the Spaniards were struck, in the same manner as they had been on entering the capi- tal, 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/ The tilmatli, or cloak thrown over the shoulders and tied round the neck, made of cotton of differ- ent 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 weather was now growing cool, mantles of fur or of the gorgeous feather-work were sometimes substituted. The latter combined the advantage of great warmth with beauty.^ The Mexicans had also the art of spinning a fine thread of the hair of the rab- bit and other animals, which they wove into a deli- cate web that took a permanent dye. The women, as in other parts of the country, seemed to go about as freely as the men. They wore several skirts or petticoats of different ^ " La Gente de esta Ciudad es de mas manera y priraor en su ves- tido, y servicio, que no la otra de estas otras Provincias, y Ciudades; porque conio alii estaba siempre este Senor Muteczuma, y todos los Senores sus Vasallos ocurrian siempre a la Ciudad, habia en ella mas manera, y policia en todas las cosas." Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 109. ' Zuazo, speaking of the beauty and warmth of this national fabric, says, " Vi muchas mantas de d dos haces labradas de plumas de papos de aves tan suaves, que trayendo la mano por encima a pelo y A pospelo, no era mas que vna manta zebellina mui bien adobada: hice pesar vna dellas; no pes6 mas de seis onzas. Dicen que en el tiempo del Ynbierno una abasta para encima de la camisa sin otro cobertor ni mas ropa encima de la cama." Carta, MS. 312 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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.^ No veils were worn 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 lux- uriantly over their shoulders, revealing features which, although of a dusky or rather cinnamon hue, were not unfrequently pleasing, while touched with the serious, even sad expression characteristic of the national physiognomy.^ On drawing near to the tianguez, or great mar- ket, 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.^ Here were met together traders from all parts, with the prod- ucts and manufactures peculiar to their countries; the goldsmiths of Azcapozalco, the potters and jewellers of Cholula, the painters of Tezcuco, the stone-cutters of Tenajocan, the hunters of Xilo- tepec, the fishermen of Cuitlahuac, the fruiterers * " Sono lunghe & large, lauorate di bellisimi, & molto gentili lauori sparsi per esse, co le loro frangie, 6 orletti ben lauorati che comparis- cono benissimo." Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii. fol. 305. * Ibid., fol. 305. " Ibid., fol. 309. * [Ante, p. 288, note.— M.] 1519] MARKET OF MEXICO 313 of the warm countries, the mat- and chair-makers of Quauhtitlan, and the florists of Xochimilco, — all busily engaged in recommending their respec- tive wares and in chaffering with purchasers.^ The market-place was surrounded by deep por- ticoes, 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, cov- erlets, and the like. The richly stained and nice fabrics reminded Cortes of the alcayceria, or silk- market, of Granada. There was the quarter as- signed 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 feath- ers alternately of gold and silver, and with movable heads and bodies. These fantastic little trink- ets were often garnished with precious stones, and showed a patient, puerile ingenuity in the manu- facture, like that of the Chinese.^ *"Quivi concorrevano i Pentolai ed i Giojellieri di Cholulla, gli Orefici d' Azcapozalco, i Pittori di Tezcuco, gli Scarpellini di Tena jo- can, i Cacciatori di Xilotepec, i Pescatori di Cuitlahuac, i fruttajuoli de' paesi caldi, gli artefici di stuoje, e di scranne di Quauhtitlan ed i coltivatori de' fiori di Xochimilco." Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. p. 165. ' " Oro y plata, piedras de valor, con otros plumajes 6 argenterias maravillosas, y con tanto primor fabricadas que excede todo ingenio humano para comprenderlas y alcanzarlas." (Carta del Lie. Zuazo, MS.) The licentiate then enumerates several of these elegant pieces of mechanism. Cortes is not less emphatic in his admiration: "Con- trahechas de oro, y plata, y piedras y plumas, tan al natural lo de Oro, y Plata, que no ha Platero en el Mundo que mejor lo hiciesse, y lo de las Piedras, que no baste juicio comprehender con que Instru- mentos se hiciesse tan perfecto, y lo de Pluma, que ni de Cera, ni 314 CONQUEST OF MEXICO In an adjoining quarter were collected speci- mens of pottery coarse and fine, vases of wood elaborately carved, varnished or gilt, of curious and sometimes graceful forms. There were also hatch- ets 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 cochi- neal ; ^ the escaupilj, or quilted doublet of cotton, the rich surcoat of feather-mail, and weapons of all sorts, copper-headed lances and arrows, and the broad maquahuitl, 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.^ In the square were also to be found booths occupied by barbers, who used these same razors in their vocation. For the Mexicans, con- trary to the popular and erroneous notions respect- ing the aborigines of the New World, had beards, en ningun broslado se podria hacer tan maravillosamente." (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, 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 exquisite character of the workmanship, which, he says, far surpassed the value of the material. De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 10. ' Herrera makes the unauthorized assertion, repeated by Solis, that the Mexicans were unacquainted with the vahie 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. See the tribute- rolls, ap. Lorenzana, Nos. 23, 24.— Hernandez, Hist. Plantarum, lib. 6, cap. 116. — Also, Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. i. p. 114, nota. 'Ante, vol, i. p. 155. 15191 MARKET OF MEXICO 315 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 bar- barian markets of Mexico, though the evils of their condition were aggravated there by the conscious- ness that a life of degradation might be consum- mated at any moment by the dreadful doom of sacrifice. The heavier materials for building, as stone, lime, timber, were considered too bulky to be al- lowed 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 arti- cles, 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 tianguez; meats of all kinds, domestic poultry, game from the neighboring mountains, fish from the lakes and streams, fruits in all the delicious abundance of these temperate regions, green vege- 316 CONQUEST OF MEXICO tables, and the unfailing maize. There was many a viand, too, ready dressed, which sent up its sa- vory steams provoking the appetite of the idle pas- senger; pastry, bread of the Indian corn, cakes, and confectionery/" Along with these were to be seen cooling or stimulating beverages, the spicy foaming chocolatl, with its delicate aroma of va- nilla, 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 flowers, showing— 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 re- gions, is ever ready, without the aid of man, to cover up its nakedness with this rich and varie- gated livery of Nature.^ ^ I will spare the reader the repetition of all the particulars enumerated by the bewildered Span- iards, which are of some interest as e\'incing the various mechanical skill and the polished wants, resembling those of a refined community rather '"Zuazo, who seems to have been nice in these matters, concludes a paragraph of dainties with the following tribute to the Aztec cuisine : " Vendense huebos asados, crudos, en tortilla, e diversidad de guisados que se suelen guisar, con otras cazuelas j' pasteles, que en el mal cocinado de Medina, ni en otros lugares de Tlamencos dicen que hai ni se pueden hallar tales trujamanes." Carta, MS. " Ample details — many more than I have thought it necessary to give— of the Aztec market of Tlatelolco may be found in the writings of all the old Spaniards who visited the capital. Among others, see Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 103-105.— Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.— Carta del Lie. Zuazo, MS.— Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii. fol. 309.— Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 92. 1519] MARKET OF MEXICO 317 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 rude races of the New World as it was below the cultivated com- munities 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.^ ^ Without relying too much on the arith- metic 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 flocking 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 inter- " Zuazo raises it to 80,000 ! (Carta, MS.) Cortes to 60,000. (Rel. Seg., ubi supra.) The most modest computation is that of the " Anonymous Conqueror," who says from 40,000 to 50,000. " Et 11 giorno del mercato, che si fa di cinque in cinque giorni, vi, sono da quaranta b cinquanta mila persone" (Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 309) ; a confirmation, by the by, of the sup- position that the estimated population of the capital, found in the Italian version of this author, is a misprint. (See the preceding chapter, note 13.) He would hardly have crowded an amount equal to the whole of it into the market.* * [And yet, even now, the number of " persone," i.e., shoppers or transient visitors, in a Mexican or Peruvian plaza on a great fair day, not infrequently equals the number of " habitatori," or permanent inhabitants of the city.— M.] 318 CONQUEST OF MEXICO course, exercising a most important and salutary- influence on the community. The exchanges were conducted partly by bar- ter, but more usually in the currency of the coun- try. 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 filled with gold dust.^^ 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.^ ^ 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 mer- chandise, 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 ex- treme severity with which they exercised these powers, in more than one instance, proves that they were not a dead letter.^ ^ The tianguez of Mexico was naturally an object " [From the description of the coin, Ramirez infers that it was not stamped, but cut, in the form mentioned in the text. This is confirmed by one or two specimens of the kind still preserved in the National Museum at Mexico. Ramirez, Notas y Esclarecimientos, p. 102.] "Ante, vol. i. p. 161. "Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.— Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 104.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib, 33, cap. 10. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, loc. cit. 1519] GREAT TEMPLE 319 of great interest, as well as wonder, to the Span- iards. 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 indus- try, the multiplied resources, of whatever kind, within the compass of the natives. It could not fail to impress them with high ideas of the mag- nitude of these resources, as well as of the commer- cial activity and social subordination by which the whole community was knit together; and their ad- miration is fully evinced by the minuteness and en- ergy of their descriptions.^^ From this bustling scene the Spaniards took their way to the great teocalli, in the neighborhood of their own quarters. It covered, with the sub- ordinate 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.^ ^ 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, hav- ing been constructed by Ahuitzotl, who celebrated its dedication, in 1486, by that hecatomb of victims of which such incredible reports are to be found in the chronicles.^ ^ " " There were amongst us," says Diaz, " soldiers who had been in many parts of the world,— in Constantinople and in Rome and through all Italy,— and who said that a market-place so large, so well ordered and regulated, and so filled with people, they had never seen." Hist, de la Conquista, loc. cit. " Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. p. 27. ^* Ante, vol. i. p. 94. — [A minute account of the site and extent of the ground covered by the great temple is given by Alaman (Diserta- ciones hist6ricas, torn. ii. pp. 2-16-248), The Mexicans are largely 320 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 coatepantli, or " wall of serpents." This em- blem was a common one in the sacred sculpture of Anahuac, as well as of Egypt. The wall, which was quadrangular, was pierced by huge battle- mented gateways, opening on the four principal streets of the capital. 0\'Ter each of the gates was a kind of arsenal, filled with arms and warlike gear ; and, if we may credit the report of the Con- querors, there were barracks adjoining, garrisoned by ten thousand soldiers, who served as a sort of military police for the capital, supplying the em- peror with a strong arm in case of tumult or se- dition.^ ° The teocalli itself was a solid pyramidal struc- ture of earth and pebbles, coated on the outside with hewn stones, probably of the light, porous kind employed in the buildings of the city."'^ It was probably square, wnth its sides facing the car- dinal points.^^ It was divided into five bodies or indebted to this eminent scholar for his elaborate researches into the topography and antiquities of the Aztec capital.] " " Et di piu v' hauea vna guarnigione di dieci mila huomini di guerra, tutti eletti per huomini valenti, & questi accompagnauano & guardauano la sua persona, & quando si facea qualche rumore 6 ribellione nella citta 6 nel paese circumuicino, andauano questi, 6 parte d' essi per Capitani." Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 309. *" Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 40.— On paving the square, not long ago, round the modern cathedral, there were found large blocks of sculptured stone buried between thirty and forty feet deep in the ground. Ibid., loc. cit. -' Clavigero calls it oblong, on the alleged authority of the " Anony- mous Conqueror." (Stor. del Messico, tom. ii. p. 27, nota.) But 1519] GREAT TEMPLE 321 stories, each one receding so as to be of smaller di- mensions than that immediately below it,— the usual form of the Aztec teocallis, as already de- scribed, and bearing obvious resemblance to some of the primitive pyramidal structures in the Old World. ^^ 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 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 be 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 latter says not a word of the shape, and his contemptible woodcut is too plainly destitute of all proportion to furnish an inference of any kind. (Comp. Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ra- musio, torn. iii. fol. 307.) Torquemada and Gomara both say it was square (Monarch. Ind., lib. 8, cap. 11;— Cr6nica, cap. 80); and Toribio de Benavente, speaking generally of the Mexican temples, says they had that form. Hist, de los Ind., MS., Parte 1, cap. 12. " See the essay on the Origin of the Mexican Civilization. Ante. 322 CONQUEST OF MEXICO the base ; ^^ and, as the Spaniards counted a hun- dred and fourteen steps, was, probably, less than one hundred feet in height.^^ When Cortes arrived before the teocalli, he found two priests and several caciques commis- sioned 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, prefer- ring to march up at the head of his men. On reach- ing 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 ** Clavigero, calling it oblong, adopts Torquemada's estimate — not Sahagun's, as he pretends, which he never saw, and who gives no measurement of the building — for the length, and Gomara's estimate, which is somewhat less, for the breadth. (Stor. del Messico, torn. ii. p. 28, nota.) As both his authorities make the building square, this spirit of accommodation is whimsical enough. Toribio, who did measure a teocalli of the usual construction in the town of Tena- yuca, found it to be forty brazas, or two hundred and forty feet, square. (Hist, de los Ind., MS., Parte 1, cap. 1:3.) The great tem- ple of Mexico was undoubtedly larger, and, in the want of better authorities, one may accept Torquemada, who makes it a little more than three hundred and sixty Toledan, equal to three hundred and eight French, feet square. (Monarch. Ind., lib. 8, cap. 11.) How can M. de Humboldt speak of the " great concurrence of testimony " in regard to the dimensions of the temple? (Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 41.) No two authorities agree. " Bernal Diaz says he counted one hundred and fourteen steps. (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 92.) Toribio says that more than one person who had numbered them told him they exceeded a hundred. (Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 1, cap. 12.) The steps could hardly have been less than eight or ten inches high, each; Clavigero assumes that they were a foot, and that the building, therefore, was a hun- dred and fourteen feet high, precisely. (Stor. del Messico, tom. ii. pp. 28, 29.) It is seldom safe to use anything stronger than prob- ably in history. 1519] GREAT TEMPLE 323 for sacrifice. Its convex surface, by raising the breast, enabled the priest to perform his diabohcal task more easily, of removing the heart. At the other end of the area were two towers or sanc- tuaries, consisting of three stories, the lower one of stone and stucco, the two upper of wood elabo- rately carved. In the lower division stood the im- ages 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 sanc- tuary 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 aftertimes 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 neigh- borhood. 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 streets and canals intersecting each other at right angles, its terraced roofs blooming like so 324 CONQUEST OF MEXICO many parterres of flowers. Every place seemed alive with business and bustle; canoes were glan- cing up and down the canals, the streets were crowded with people in their gay, picturesque cos- tume, 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 symmetrical plan of the city, with its principal avenues issuing, as it were, from the four gates of the coatepantli and connecting themselves with the causeways, which formed the grand en- trances 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.^^ They could discern the insular posi- tion of the metropolis, bathed on all sides by the salt floods of the Tezcuco, and in the dis- tance 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 hilltops.^^ The view -^ " Tornamos a ver la gran pla^a, y la multitud de gente que en ella aula, vnos comprado, y otros vendiendo, que solamente el rumor, y zumbido de las vozes, y palabras que alii aula, sonaua mas que de vna legua!" Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 92. ^ " Y por honrar mas sus templos sacaban los caminos muy de- rechos por cordel de una y de dos leguas que era cosa harto de ver, desde lo Alto del principal templo, como venian de todos los pueblos menores y barrios; salian los caminos muy derechos y iban a dar al patio de los teocallis." Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 1, cap. 12. " " No se contentaba el Demonio con los [Teucales] ya dichos, sino que en cada pueblo, en cada barrio, y d cuarto de legua, tenian otros patios pequenos adonde habia tres 6 cuatro teocallis, y en algunos 1519] GREAT TEMPLE 325 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, dark wreaths of vapor, 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, turn- ing to Father Olmedo, who stood by his side, he suggested that the area would afford a most con- spicuous position for the Christian Cross, if Mon- tezuma 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 lam- entably deficient in his commander, reminded him that such a request, at present, would be exceed- ingly ill timed, as the Indian monarch had shown no dispositions as yet favorable to Christianity.^** Cortes then requested IMontezuma to allow him to enter the sanctuaries and behold the shrines of his gods. To this the latter, after a short confer- ence with the priests, assented, and conducted the Spaniards into the building. They found them- mas, en otras partes solo uno, y en cada Mogote 6 Cerrejon uno 6 dos, y por los caminos y entre los Maizales, liabia otros miichos pe- quenos, y todos estaban blancos y encalados, que parecian y abulta- ban mucho, que en la tierra bien poblada parecia que todo estaba Ueno de casas, en especial de los patios del Demonio, que eran muy de ver." Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., ubi supra. ^ Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, ubi supra. 326 CONQUEST OF MEXICO selves in a spacious apartment incrusted on the sides with stucco, on which various figures were 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 lineaments of symbolical import. In his right hand he wielded a bow, and in his left a bunch of golden arrows, which a mystic legend had connected w4th the vic- tories 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 profusely sprinkled over his person. On his left foot were the delicate feathers of the hum- ming-bird, which, singularly enough, gave its name to the dread deity. ^'^ The most conspicuous ornament was a chain of gold and silver hearts al- ternate, suspended round his neck, emblematical 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 Tezcatlipoca, next in honor to that invisible Being, the Supreme God, who was represented by no image and confined by no tem- ple. It was Tezcatlipoca who created the world and watched over it with a providential care. He "Ante, vol. i. p. 70. 1519] GREAT TEMPLE 32T 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 world. 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 bleed- ing 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 intol- erable," 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 I^*^ 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 the 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 sac- '" " Y tenia en las paredes tantas costras de sangre, y el suelo todo banado dello, que en los mataderos de Castilla no auia tanto hedor." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, ubi supra.— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 105, 106.— Carta del Lie. Zuazo, MS.— See, also, for notices of these deities, Sahagun, lib. 3, cap. 1, et seq.— Torque- mada, Monarch. Ind., lib. 6, cap. 20, 21.— Acosta, lib. 5, cap. 9. 328 CONQUEST OF MEXICO rilegious address. " These are the gods," he an- swered, " who have led the Aztecs on to victory since they were a nation, and who send the seed- time and harvest in their seasons. Had I thought you would have offered them this out- rage, 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.^ ^ On descending to the court, the Spanish took a leisurely survey of the other edifices in the enclo- sure. 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 deities.^ ^ On their summits were the altars crowned with per- petual flames, which, with those on the numerous temples in other quarters of the capital, shed a " Bernal Diaz, Ibid., ubi supra. — Whoever examines Cortes' great letter to Charles V. will be surprised to find it stated that, instead of any acknowledgment to Montezuma, he threw down his idols and erected the Christian emblems in their stead. (Rel. Seg., ap. Loren- zana, p. 106.) This was an event of much later date. The Conquis- tador wrote his despatches too rapidly and concisely to give heed always to exact time and circumstance. We are quite as likely to find them attended to in the long-winded, gossiping, — inestimable chronicle of Diaz. '- " Quarenta torres muy altas y bien obradas." Rel. Seg. de Cor- tes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 105. 1519] INTERIOR SANCTUARIES 329 brilliant illumination over its streets through the long nights.^^ Among the teocallis 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 sacri- fice and other abominations of fearful import. Their bold hearts shuddered at the spectacle, and they designated the place not inaptly as the " Hell." '' One other structure may be noticed as charac- teristic of the brutish nature of their religion. This was a pyramidal mound or tumulus, having a com- plicated frame-work of timber on its broad sum- mit. 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! ^^ Belief might well be stag- ^' " Delante de todos estos altares habia bra^eros que toda la noche hardian, y en las salas tambien tenian sus fuegos." Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 1, cap. 12. " Bernal Diaz, Ibid., ubi supra. — Toribio, also, notices this temple with the same complimentary epithet. " La boca hecha como de in- fierno j'' en ella pintada la boca de una temerosa Sierpe con terribles colmillos y dientes, y en algunas de estas los colmillos eran de bulto, que verlo y entrar dentro ponia gran temor y grima, en especial el infierno que estaba en M«5xico, que parecia traslado del verdadero infierno." Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte I, cap. i. ^^ Bernal Diaz, ubi supra.— " Andres de Tapia, que me lo dijo, i Gongalo de Umbria, las contaron vn Dia, i halldron ciento i treinta 330 CONQUEST OF MEXICO gered, did not the Old World present a worthy counterpart in the pyramidal Golgothas which commemorated the triumphs of Tamerlane."*^ There were long ranges of buildings in the en- closure, 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 sev- eral thousand. Here were, also, the principal semi- naries 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 cus- tom familiar, also, to Egypt. The Spaniards ad- mit 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 re- i seis mil Calaberas, en las Vigas, i Gradas." Gomara, Cronica, cap. 82.* ^^ Three collections, thus fancifully disposed, of these grinning horrors — in all 230,000— are noticed by Gibbon! (Decline and Fall, ed. Milman, vol. i. p. 52; vol. xii. p. 45.) A European scholar com- mends "the conqueror's piety, his moderation, and his justice"! Rowe's Dedication of " Tamerlane." * [Gomara is so often accused of exaggeration and falsehood that it is satisfactory to find his exactness, in the present instance, estab- lished by the evidence of Tapia himself, who thus describes the man- ner in which the estimate was made: "E quien esto escribe, y un Gonzalo de Umbrea, contaron los palos que habie, e multiplicando d cinco cabezas cada palo de los que entre viga y viga estaban, . . . hallamos haber ciento treinta y seis mill cabezas, sin las de las torres." (Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc. para la Hist, de Mexico, tom. iii.) The original of this " Relacion," recently discovered, is in the library of the Academy of History at Madrid. It is an unfinished narrative, valuable as the production of one of the chief companions of Cortes, and for the confirmation it affords of other contemporaneous ac- counts of the Conquest. — K.] 1519] SPANISH QUARTERS 331 ligion. The boys were likewise taught such ele- ments of science as were known to their teachers, and the girls initiated in the mysteries of embroid- ery and weaving, which they employed in decorat- ing the temples. At a suitable age they generally went forth into the world to assume the occupa- tions fitted to their condition, though some re- mained permanently devoted to the services of religion.^^ 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 gar- dens, shaded by ancient trees and watered by foun- tains and reservoirs from the copious streams of Chapoltepec. The little community was thus pro- vided with almost everything requisite for its own maintenance and the services of the temple.^^ 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.^^ It presented in their brief compass the "Ante, vol. i. pp. 83, 84. — The desire of presenting the reader with a complete view of the actual state of the capital at the time of its occupation by the Spaniards has led me in this and the preceding chapter into a few repetitions of remarks on the Aztec institutions in the Introductory Book of this History. »' Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 1, cap. 12.— Gomara, Crdnica, cap. 80. — Rel. d'un gentil' huomo, ap. Ramusio, torn. iii. fol. 309. " " Es tan grande que dentro del circuito de ella, que es todo cercado de Muro muy alto, se podia muy bien facer una Villa de quinientos Vecinos." Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 105. 332 CONQUEST OF MEXICO extremes of barbarism, blended with a certain civ- ilization, 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 damnation ; and in the modest deportment and careful nurture of the inmates of the seminaries, the snares by which he was to be- guile his deluded victims ! ^^ Before a century had elapsed, the descendants of these same Spaniards discerned in the mysteries of the Aztec religion the features, obscured and defaced, indeed, of the Jew- ish and Christian revelations!^^ Such were the opposite conclusions of the unlettered soldier and of the scholar. A philosopher, untouched by su- perstition, might well doubt which of the two was the more extraordinary. The sight of the Indian abomination 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 re- sentment 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 *" " Todas estas mugeres," says Father Toribio, " estaban aqui sir- viendo al demonio por sus propios intereses; las iinas porque el De- monio las hiciese modestas," etc. Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 1, cap. 9. " See essay on the Origin of the Mexican Civilization. Ante. 1519] SPANISH QUARTERS 333 observed what appeared to be a door recently plas- tered over. It was a common rumor that Monte- zuma still kept the treasures of his father, King 'Axayacatl, in this ancient palace. The Spaniards, acquainted with this fact, felt no scruple in grati- fying their curiosity by removing the plaster. As was anticipated, it concealed a door. On forcing this, they found the rumor was no exaggeration. They beheld a large hall filled with rich and beau- tiful stuiFs, articles of curious workmanship of various kinds, gold and silver in bars and in the ore, and many jewels of value. It was the private hoard of Montezuma, the contributions, it may be, 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 ! " ^^ The Spaniards, notwithstand- ing their elation at the discovery of this precious deposit, seem to have felt some commendable scru- ples 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, unwill- ing 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 wor- " " y luego lo supfmos entre todos los deraas Capitanes, j solda- dos, y lo entrdmos d ver muy secretamente, y como yo lo vi, digo que me admir^, e como en aquel tiempo era mancebo, y no auia visto en mi vida riquezas como aquellas, tuue por cierto, que en el mundo no deuiera auer otras tantas ! " Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 93. 334 CONQUEST OF MEXICO ship 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 devo- tions, partly, says the chronicler above quoted, from the propriety of the thing, and partly for its edifying influence on the benighted heathen.^^ « Ibid,, loc. cit. CHAPTER III ANXIETY OF CORTES— SEIZURE OF MONTEZUMA — HIS TREATMENT BY THE SPANIARDS— EXECUTION OF HIS OFFICERS— MONTEZUMA IN IRONS— RE- FLECTIONS 1519 THE Spaniards had been now a week in Mex- ico. 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 ami- able 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 pres- ence 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.^ The danger was even greater with the Tlascalans, a fierce race now brought into daily contact with the nation who held ^ " We Spaniards," says Cortes, frankly, " are apt to be somewhat unmanageable and troublesome." Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 84. 335 S36 CONQUEST OF MEXICO them in loathing and detestation. Rumors were already rife among the allies, whether well founded or not, of murmurs among the Mexicans, accom- panied by menaces of raising the bridges.^ Even should the Spaniards be allowed to occupy their present quarters unmolested, it was not ad- vancing the great object of the expedition. Cortes was not a whit nearer gaining the capital, so essen- tial to his meditated subjugation 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 extri- cate himself from his embarrassment by one bold stroke. But he first submitted the affair to a coun- cil of the officers in whom he most confided, de- sirous to divide with them the responsibility 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 em- barrassments of their position, the council was di- vided in opinion. All admitted the necessity of some instant action. One party were for retiring ' Gomara, Cronica, cap. 83. — There is reason to doubt the truth of these stories. " Segun una carta original que tengo en mi poder firmada de las tres cabezas de la Nueva-Espana en donde escriben a la Magestad del Emperador Nuestro Senor (que Dios tenga en su Santo Reyno) disculpan en ella d Motecuhzoma y d los Mexicanos de esto, y de lo demas que se les argullo, que lo cierto era que fue invencion de los Tlascaltecas, y de algunos de los Espanoles que veian la hora de salirse de miedo de la Ciudad, y poner en cobro innumerables riquezas que habian venido a sus manos." Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 85. 1519] ANXIETY OF CORTES 337 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 themselves; 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 jNIontezuma, 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 inclina- tions? 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 sovereign's favor, and of par- don for their irregular proceedings, were founded on success. Hitherto, they had only made the dis- covery of jMexico ; to retreat would be to leave con- quest and the fruits of it to another. In short, to stay and to retreat seemed equally disastrous. In his 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 Mon- tezuma to the Spanish quarters, by fair means if they could persuade him, by force if necessary, — 338 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 vio- lence to compromise the safety of their prince. If he came by his own consent, they would be de- prived 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 sover- eignty, 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 sov- ereign as a tool for the government of his own kingdom, if a new one in the age of Cortes, is cer- tainly not so in ours.^ A plausible pretext for the seizure of the hos- ' Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 84. — IxtlilxochitI, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 85. — P. Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 6. — Bernal Diaz gives a very different report of this matter. According to him, a number of oflBcers and soldiers, of whom he was one, suggested the capture of Montezuma to the general, who came into the plan with hesitation. (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 93.) This is contrary to the character of Cortes, who was a man to lead, and not to be led, on such occasions. It is contrary to the general report of historians, though these, it must be confessed, are mainly built on the general's narrative. It is contrary to anterior probability; since, if the conception seems almost too desperate to have seriously entered into the head of any one man, how much more improbable is it that it should have origi- nated with a number ! Lastly, it is contrary to the positive written statement of Cortes to the emperor, publicly known and circulated, confirmed in print by his chaplain, Gomara, and all this when the thing was fresh and when the parties interested were alive to con- tradict it. We cannot but think that the captain here, as in the case of the burning of the ships, assumes rather more for himself and his comrades than the facts will strictly warrant ; an oversight for which the lapse of half a century — to say nothing of his avowed anxiety to show up the claims of the latter — may furnish some apology. * [" An unparalleled transaction. There is nothing like it, I believe, in the annals of the world." Helps' Spanish Conquest, ii. 351.— M.] 1519] SEIZURE OF MONTEZUMA 339 pitable monarch — for the most barefaced action seeks to veil itself under some show of decency — was afforded by a circumstance of which Cortes had received intelligence at Cholula.* He had left, as we have seen, a faithful officer, Juan de Esca- lante, 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 re- ceived a message from an Aztec chief named Quaulipopoca, 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 garri- son.^ The commander marched at once, with fifty of his men, and several thousand Indian allies, to take vengeance on the cacique. A pitched battle fol- lowed. The allies fled from the redoubted Mexi- * Even Gomara has the candor to style it a " pretext,"— ac^ague. Cr6nica, cap. 83. ' Bernal Diaz states the affair, also, differently. According to him, the Aztec governor was enforcing the pajTnent of the customary tribute from the Totonacs, when Escalante, interfering to protect his allies, now subjects of Spain, was slain in an action with the enemy. (Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 93.) Cortes had the best means of know- ing the facts, and wrote at the time. He does not usually shrink from avowing his policy, however severe, towards the natives; and I have thought it fair to give him the benefit of his own version of the story. 340 CONQUEST OF MEXICO cans. 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 proceed- ing as having taken place at the instigation of Montezuma.® One of the Spaniards fell into the hands of the natives, but soon after perished of his wounds. His head was cut oiF and sent to the Aztec em- peror. 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 •Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 5,— Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 83, 84. The apparition of the Virgin was seen only by the Aztecs, who, it is true, had to make out the best case for their defeat they could to Montezuma; a suspicious circum- stance, which, however, did not stagger the Spaniards. " Assuredly all of us soldiers who accompanied Cortes held the belief that the divine mercy and Our Lady the Virgin Mary were always with us, and this was the truth." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 94. 1519] SEIZURE OF MONTEZUMA 341 of the ill effect it might have on the spirits of the common soldiers. The cavaliers whom Cortes now summoned to the council were men of the same mettle with 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 re- quired as desperate a remedy. That night Cortes was heard pacing his apart- ment 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.'^ In the morning the soldiers heard mass as usual, and Father Olmedo invoked the blessing of Heaven on their hazardous enterprise. What- ever 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 ! ^ Having asked an audience from jNIontezuma, which was readily granted, the general made the necessary arrangements for his enterprise. The principal part of his force was drawn up in the court -yard, and he stationed a considerable detach- ment in the avenues leading to the palace, to check any attempt at rescue by the populace. He or- dered twenty-five or thirty of the soldiers to drop ' " Paseose vn gran rato solo, i cuidadoso de aquel gran hecho, que emprendia, i que aun d ^1 mesmo le parecia temerario, pero necesario para su intento, andando." Gomara, Cr6nica, cap. 83. * Diaz says, " All that night we spent in prajer, beseeching the Father of Mercies that he would so direct the matter that it should contribute to his holy service." Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 95. 342 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 cava- liers, in whose courage and coolness he placed most trust, to bear him company; Pedro de Alvarado, Gonzalo de Sandoval, Francisco de Lujo, Velas- quez 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 armor, 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 mu- nificence by giving them presents of gold and jew- els. He paid the Spanish general the particular compliment of offering him one of his daughters as his wife ; an honor which the latter respectfully declined, on the ground that he was already accom- modated with one in Cuba, and that his religion forbade a plurality. When Cortes perceived that a sufficient number of his soldiers were assembled, he changed his play- ful 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 ene- mies. Cortes expressed his belief in his declara- tion, but added that, to prove it true, it would be necessary to send for Quaulipopoca and his accom- 1519] SEIZURE OF MONTEZUMA 343 plices, 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,'' he gave it to one of his nobles, with orders to show it to the Aztec governor, and require his in- stant presence in the capital, together with all those who had been accessory to the murder of the Span- iards. If he resisted, the officer was empowered to call in the aid of the neighboring towns to en- force the mandate. 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. Xothing would promote this so much as for Montezuma to transfer his resi- dence 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 al- leged against him, and would fully absolve him from all suspicion! ^^ 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 " According to Ixtlilxochitl, it was his own portrait. " Se quitd del brazo una rica piedra, donde esta esculpido su rostro (que era lo mismo que un sello Real)." Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 85, " Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 86. 344. CONQUEST OF MEXICO resentment, as, with the pride of offended dignity, he exclaimed, " When was it ever heard that a great prince, hke myself, voluntarily left his own palace to become a prisoner in the hands of strangers ! " Cortes assured him he would not go as a pris- oner. He would experience nothing but respect- ful treatment from the Spaniards, would be sur- rounded 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 sub- jects never would." ^^ When further pressed, he offered to give up one of his sons and two of his daughters to remain as hostages with the Span- iards, so that he might be spared this disgrace. Two hours passed in this fruitless discussion, till a high-mettled cavalier, Velasquez de Leon, impa- tient 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 ! " ^ - The fierce tone and menacing gestures with which this was uttered alarmed the monarch, who inquired " " Quando lo lo consintiera, los mios no pasarian por ello." Ix- tlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 85. " "i Que haze v. m. ya con tantas palabras? O le Ueuemos preso, 6 le daremos de estocadas, por esso tornadle a dezir, que si da vozes, 6 haze alboroto, que le matar^is, porque mas vale que desta vez as- seguremos nuestras vidas, 6 las perdamos." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 95, 1519] SEIZURE OF MONTEZUMA 345 of INIarina 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 re- fuse them would but expose himself to violence, perhaps to death." JNIarina, 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 INIonte- zuma. 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 his 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 dishonored cap- tive across it. But his courage sank under cir- cumstances. He felt he was the instrument of an irresistible Fate!^^ " O'iedo has some doubts whether Montezuma's conduct is to be viewed as pusillanimous or as prudent. " Al coronista le parece, segun lo que se puede colegir de esta materia, que Montezuma era, 6 mui falto de animo, 6 pusilanimo, 6 mui prudente, aunque en muchas cosas, los que le vieron lo loan de mui sefior y mui liberal; y en sus razonamientos mostraba ser de buen juicio." He strikes the balance, however, in favor of pusillanimity. " Un Principe tan grande como Montezuma no se habia de dexar incurrir en tales terminos, ni consentir ser detenido de tan poco mimero de Espanoles, ni de otra generacion alguna; mas como Dios tiene ordenado lo que ha de ser, ninguno puede huir de su juicio." Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 6. 346 CONQUEST OF MEXICO No sooner had the Spaniards got his consent than orders were given for the royal litter. The nobles who bore and attended it could scarcely be- lieve 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 free 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 rumor rang among them that the emperor was carried off by force to the quarters of the white men. A tu- mult would have soon arisen but for the interven- tion of Montezuma himself, who called out to the people to disperse, as he was visiting his friends of his own accord; thus sealing his ignominy by a declaration which deprived his subjects of the only excuse for resistance.* On reaching the quarters, * [Writers of the school of Morgan and Bandelier rightly lay great stress upon the circumstances connected with the capture of Monte- zuma as tending to prove that the so-called " emperor " had no real power, but was only the agent of the tribe. The Aztec system of government showed startling variations from the ordinary communal type, and in another century might have developed into a monar- chical system, but it was nevertheless still a military democracy. Cortes was quartered in the Tecpan of the tribe, which Tecpan Montezuma had vacated to provide accommodations for his guests. It was not very remarkable, therefore, that the chief should return to his old quarters. There were no royal guards to defend his per- son. When he fell into the power of the Spaniards his influence was lost. But the people, whose chief officer he was, were in a quan- dary. The Spaniards had learned in their dealings with other tribes that Indians were demoralized and unable to fight when their caciques were taken. (Cicique was the title usually given to Mon- tezuma in the first despatches of Cortes.) According to aboriginal customs, prisoners of war were killed, and their offices reverted to the tribe. Cortes, when he took Montezuma prisoner, captured both the man and his office. Under ordinary circumstances there could be no vacancy in the office until its holder died. We shall note later the 1519] HIS TREATMENT BY SPANIARDS 347 he sent out his nobles with similar assurances to the mob, and renewed orders to return to their homes.^^ 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 at- tended 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 audi- ence, 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 for- mal deference. No one, not even the general him- self, 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.^^ " The story of the seizure of Montezuma may be found, with the usual discrepancies in the details, in Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Loren- zana, pp. 84-86, — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 95, — Ix- tlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 85,— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 6, — Gomara, Cronica, cap. 83, — Herrera, Hist, gene- ral, dec. 2, lib. 8, cap. 2, 3, — Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3. " " Siempre que ante el passauamos, y aunque f uesse Cort6s, le quitauamos los bonetes de armas 6 cascos, que siempre estauamos enormous blunder Cortes made because of his ignorance of Aztec institutions. — M.] * [According to Tapia, his servants brought him at each meal more than four hundred dishes of meat, game, and fish, intermingled with vegetables and fruits: " e debajo de cada plato de los que a sus servi- dores les parecie que el comerie, venia un braserico con lumbre; . . . siempre le traian platos nuevos en que comie, e jamas comie en cada plato mas du una vez, ni se vistie ropa mas de una vez; 6 lavdbase el cuerpo cada dia dos veces." Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc. para la Hist, de Mexico, torn, ii.— K.] 348 CONQUEST OF MEXICO With all this studied ceremony and show of homage, there was one circumstance which too clearly proclaimed to his people that their sover- eign 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.^^ Another body, under command of Velasquez de Leon, was stationed in the royal antechamber. Cortes punished any de- parture from duty, or relaxation of vigilance, in these sentinels, with the utmost severity.^" He felt, as indeed every Spaniard must have felt, that the escape of the emperor now w^ould be their ruin. Yet the task of this unintermitting 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 ^Nlonte- zuma, who gathered something of their import, and the offender was severely chastised by order of the general.^ ^ Such instances of disrespect, however, were very rare. Indeed, the amiable deportment of the monarch, who seemed to take pleasure in the society of his jailers, and who never allowed a favor or attention from the meanest soldier to go armados, y el nos hazia gran mesura, y honra d todos. , . . Digo que no se sentauan Cortes, ni ningun Capitan, hasta que el Monte- zuma les mandaua dar sus assentaderos ricos, y les mandaua assen- tar." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 95, 100. '" Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 8, cap. 3. " On one occasion, three soldiers, who left their posts without orders, were sentenced to run the gauntlet, — a punishment little short of death. Ibid., ubi supra. " Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 97. 151^] HIS TREATMENT BY SPANIARDS 349 unrequited, inspired the Spaniards with as much attachment as they were capable of feeling — for a barbarian.^ ^ 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 be- came his high rank, in a litter. On entering Mon- tezuma's presence, he threw over his dress the coarse robe of neqiien, and made the usual hu- miliating acts of obeisance. The poor parade of courtly ceremony was the more striking when placed in contrast with the actual condition of the parties. The Aztec governor was coldly received by his "• [The patriotic sensibilities of Senor Ramirez are somewhat dis- turbed by my application of the term barbarians to his Aztec coun- trymen.* This word, with the corresponding epithet of savages, forms the key, he seems to think, to my description of the ancient Mexicans. " Regarded from this point of view," he says, '" the as- tounding examples of heroism and self-devotion so rarely met with in the history of the world are interpreted not as a voluntary sacrifice inspired by the holy love of country and of freedom, but as the effect of a brutish hatred and stupid ferocity." There may be some foun- dation for these strictures, though somewhat too highly colored. And one cannot deny that, as he reflects on the progress made by the Aztecs in the knowledge of the useful arts, and, indeed, to a cer- tain extent, of science, he must admit their claim to a higher place in the scale of civilization than that occupied by barbarians, — to one, in truth, occupied by the semi-civilized races of China and Hin- dostan. But there is another side of the picture, not presented by the Eastern nations, in those loathsome abominations which degraded the Aztec character to a level with the lowest stages of humanity, and makes even the term barbarian inadequate to express the fero- city of his nature.] * [This sensibilit^y is the more natural that Seiior Ramirez claims descent not from the conquering but from the conquered race, — a fact which may also account for his rigorous judgments on the acts and character of Cortes.— K.] 350 CONQUEST OF MEXICO master, who referred the affair (had he the power to do otherwise?) to the examination of Cortes. It was, doubtless, conducted in a sufficiently sum- mary manner. To the general's query, whether the cacique was the subject of Montezuma, he re- plied, " And what other sovereign could I serve? " implying that his sway was universal. ^"^ He did not deny his share in the transaction, nor did he seek to shelter himself 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. ^^ They were con- demned 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 tumult or insur- rection. By this politic precaution Cortes pro- posed to remove a ready means of annoyance in case of hostilities with the citizens. To crown the whole of these extraordinary pro- ceedings, Cortes, while preparations for the exe- cution were going on, entered the emperor's apart- ment, attended by a soldier bearing fetters in his JO « Y despues que confesdron haber muerto los Espanoles, les hice interrogar si ellos eran Vasallos de Muteczuma? Y el dicho Qualpo- poca respondio, que si habia otro Senor, de quien pudiesse serlo? casi diciendo, que no habia otro, y que si eran." Rel. Seg. de Cor- tes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 87. " " E assimismo les pregunte, si lo que alii se habia hecho si habia sido por su mandado? y dijeron que no, aunque despues, al tiempo que en ellos se execut6 la sentencia, que fuessen quemados, todos d una voz dijeron, que era verdad que el dicho Muteczuma se lo habia embiado A mandar, y que por su mandado lo habian hecho." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, loe. cit. 1519] MONTEZUMA IN IRONS 351 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 the declaration of his own instruments. Such a crime, which merited death in a subject, could not be atoned for, even by a sovereign, with- out 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 fac- ulties. 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 endeavored, 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. The whole Spanish force was under arms, to check any interruption that might be offered by the Mexicans. But none was at- tempted. 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, ag- gravated, indeed, by additional horrors, in their own diabolical sacrifices. The Aztec lord and his 352 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 continent, 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, ex- pressing at the same time his regret that so disa- greeable 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 Mon- tezuma ; 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! ^^ Not long after, the Spanish general, conceiving that his royal captive was sufficiently humbled, ex- pressed 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 tak- "Gomara, Cronica, cap. 89.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 6. — Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 95. — One may doubt whether pity or contempt predominates in Martyr's notice of this event. " Infelix tunc Muteczuma re adeo noua perculsus, formidine repletur, decidit animo, neque iam erigere caput audet, aut suorum auxilia implorare. lUe vero poenam se meruisse fas- sus est, vti agnus mitis. ^quo animo pati videtur has regulas gram- maticalibus duriores, imberbibus pueris dictatas, omnia placide fert, ne seditio ciuium et procerum oriatur." De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3. 1519] MONTEZUMA IX IRONS 353 ing 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 an- archy.^^ The reason did honor 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 wit- nessed the degradation of their master, and must despise his pusillanimity, as a thing unprecedented in an Aztec monarch. It is also said that, when jNIarina conveyed to him the permission of Cortes, the other interpreter, Aguilar, gave him to un- derstand the Spanish officers never would consent that he should avail himself of it.^^ 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 inter- ests, since he had shown himself so mindful of theirs!" Honeyed words, "which," says the shrewd old chronicler who was present, " JNIonte- zuma was wise enough to know the worth of." The events recorded in this chapter are certainly some of the most extraordinary on the page of history. That a small body of men, like the Span- iards, should have entered the palace of a mighty prince, have seized his person in the midst of his vassals, have borne him off a captive to their quar- ters, — that they should have put to an ignominious death before his face his high officers, for execut- ° Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 18. " Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, ubi supra. S54 CONQUEST OF MEXICO ing, 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 drivelhng dotard in the decay of his 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 de- fence,— 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, nevertheless, 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 kidnapping of a friendly sovereign, — by those very persons, too, who were reaping the full bene- fit of his favors. 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 w^as necessary to effect it was right also. Right and expedient become convertible terms. And it can hardly be denied that the capture of the monarch was expe- dient, if the Spaniards would maintain their hold on the empire.^^ " Archbishop Lorenzana, as late as the close of the last centurj', finds good Scripture warrant for the proceeding of the Spaniards. •• Fue grande prudencia, y Arte militar haber asegurado a el Empe- 1519] REFLECTIONS S55 The execution of the Aztec governor suggests other considerations. If he were really guilty of the perfidious act imputed to him by Cortes, and if Montezuma disavowed it, the governor deserved death, and the general was justified by the law of nations in inflicting it.^^ It is by no means so clear, however, why he should have involved so many in this sentence; most, perhaps all, of whom must have acted under his authority. The cruel manner of the death v/ill less startle those who are familiar with the established penal codes in most civilized nations in the sixteenth century. But, if the governor deserved death, what pre- tence 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 both stand in the same category. It is vain, however, to reason on the matter on any abstract principles of right and wrong, or to suppose that the Conquerors troubled themselves with the refinements of casuistry. Their standard of right and wrong, in reference to the natives, was a very simple one. Despising them as an outlawed race, without God in the world, they, in common rador, porque sino quedaban expuestos Hernan Cortes, y sus solda- dos d perecer a traycion, y teniendo seguro d el Emperador se ase- guraba a si mismo, pues los Espanoles no se confian ligeramente: Jonathas fu6 muerto, y sorprendido por haberse confiado de Tri- phon." Rel. Seg. de Cortes, p. 84, nota. *• See PufFendorf, De Jure Naturae et Gentium, lib. 8, cap. 6, sec. 10.— Vattel, Law of Nations, book 3, chap. 8, sec. 141. 356 CONQUEST OF MEXICO with their age, held it to be their " mission " (to borrow the cant phrase of our own day) to conquer and to convert. The measures they adopted cer- tainly facilitated the first great work of conquest. By the execution of the caciques they struck terror not only into the capital, but throughout the coun- try. It proclaimed that not a hair of a Spaniard was to be touched with impunity! By render- ing Montezuma contemptible in his own eyes and those of his subjects, Cortes deprived him of the support of his people and forced him to lean on the arm of the stranger. It was a j)olitic 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 re- membered, 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 1519] REFLECTIONS 357 food is there here for meditation! " '^ There is so, indeed, and for a meditation not unpleasing, as we reflect on the advance, in speculative morahty at least, which the nineteenth century has made over the sixteenth. But should not the consciousness of this teach us charitj^? Should it not make us the more distrustful of applying the standard of the present to measure the actions of the past? " " Osar quemar sus Capitanes delante de sus Palacios, y echalle grillos entre tanto que se hazia la Justicia, que muchas vezes aora que soy vie jo me paro d considerar las cosas heroicas que en aquel tiempo passamos, que me parece las veo presentes: Y digo que nuestros hechos, que no los haziamos nosotros, sino que venian todos encami- nados por Dios. . . . Porque ay mucho que ponderar en eUo." Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 95. CHAPTER IV Montezuma's deportment— his life in the SPANISH QUARTERS — meditated INSURRECTION — LORD OF TEZCUCO SEIZED — FURTHER MEA- SURES 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 commmiicate with 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 d'appui for all their operations in the coun- try. 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 belligerent spirit. Cortes made — what was rare with him — a bad choice. He soon re- ceived such accounts of troubles in the settlement from the exactions and negligence of the new gov- ernor, that he resolved to supersede him. 358 1520] MONTEZUMA'S DEPORTMENT 359 He now gave the command to Gonzalo de San- doval, a young cavalier, who had displayed, through the whole campaign, singular intrepidity united with sagacity and discretion ; while the good humor with which he bore every privation, and his aiFable manners, made him a favorite with all, pri- vates 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 pro- posed, therefore, to build two vessels of sufficient size to transport his forces across the lake, and thus to render himself independent of the causeways. Montezuma 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 pur- pose. The work was placed under the direction of Martin Lopez, an experienced ship-builder. Or- ders 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.^ 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 his own palace. His keepers were too well aware " Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 96. 360 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 vege- tables, 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 peti- tions 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 for- eign states or his own remote provinces and cities were also admitted, and the Spaniards were careful that the same precise and punctil- ious 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 Eu- ropean tactics and discipline. At other times he would challenge Cortes or his officers to play at some of the national games. A favorite one was called totoloque, played with golden balls aimed at a target or mark of the same metal. jNIonte- zuma usually staked something of value, — precious stones or ingots of gold. He lost with good hu- 1520] HIS LIFE IN SPANISH QUARTERS 361 mor; indeed, it was of little consequence whether he won or lost, since he generally gave away his winnings to his attendants.^ 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, consider- ing 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 re- tained for eacli soldier. Montezuma, on learn- ing this, pleasantly remonstrated with the gene- ral on his careful economy, as unbecoming a royal establishment, and, countermanding the order, caused additional accommodation 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 country- men 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 permission, carried off several hundred loads of fine cotton to their quarters. When this was represented to ^Montezuma, he only replied, ' Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 97. 362 CONQUEST OF MEXICO " What I have once given I never take back again. 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 condi- tion. Cortes, on becoming acquainted with it, was so much incensed that he ordered the soldier to be hanged, but, on Montezuma's interces- sion, commuted this severe sentence for a flog- ging. The general was not willing that any one but himself should treat his royal captive with indignity. Montezuma was desired to pro- cure 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." ^ Such instances of disrespect were very rare. Montezuma's amiable and inoffensive manners, to- gether with his liberality, the most popular of vir- tues with the vulgar, made him generally beloved by the Spaniards.^ The arrogance for which he had been so distinguished in his prosperous days deserted him in his fallen fortunes. His character in captivity seems to have undergone something of that change which takes place in the wild animals ^ Gomara, Cronica, cap. 84.— Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 8, cap. 4. * Herrera, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 8, cap. 5, " " En esto era tan bien mirado, que todos le queriamos con gran amor, porque verdaderamente era gran senor en todas las cosas que le viamos hazer." Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 100. 1520] HIS LIFE I\ SPANISH QUARTERS 363 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.*^ For some he showed a strong partiality. He obtained from the general a favor- ite page, named Orteguilla, who, being in constant attendance on his person, soon learned enough of the ^Mexican language to be of use to his countrj''- men. jNIontezuma took great 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 yel- low 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 constant in his worship. The suggestion startled Cortes. It was too reasonable, liowever, for him to object to it without wholly discarding the appear- ances 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 seiz- ure. He told him, also, that in case of any at- ' " Y el bien conocia d todos, y sabia nuestros nombres, y aun calidades, y era tan bueno que & todos nos daua joyas, & otros man- ias e Indias hermosas." Ibid., cap. 97. 364 CONQUEST OF MEXICO tempt to escape his life would instantly pay the forfeit. Thus guarded, the Indian prince visited the teocalli, where he was received with the usual state, and, after performing his devotions, he re- turned again to his quarters/ It may well be believed that the Spaniards did not neglect the opportunity afforded by his resi- dence with them, of instilling into him some no- tions 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 con- ferences 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." ^ It is said, however, they extorted a promise from him that he would take part in no more human sac- rifices. Yet such sacrifices were of daily occur- rence 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 en- gage in the pleasures of the chase, of which 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, ' Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 98. ' According to Solfs, the Devil closed his heart against these good men; though, in the historian's opinion, there is no evidence that this evil counsellor actually appeared and conversed with Montezuma after the Spaniards had displayed the Cross in Mexico. Conquista, lib. 3, cap. 20. 1520] MEDITATED INSURRECTION 365 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-colored awning stretched over the deck, and the royal ensign of Castile floated proudly from the mast. On board of this vessel, Monte- zimia, delighted with the opportunity of witness- ing 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.'' The royal chase was well stocked with game; some of which the emperor shot with arrows, and others were driven by the numerous attendants into nets.^^ In these woodland exercises, while he ranged over his wild domain, Montezuma seemed to enjoy again the sweets of liberty. It was but » Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap. 99.— Rel. Seg. de Cortds, ap. Lorenzana, p. 88. " He sometimes killed his game witii a tube, a sort of air-gun, through which he blew little balls at birds and rabbits. " La Ca^a d que Moteguma iba por la Laguna, era ;i tirar d Pa j arcs, A Conejos, con Cerbatana, de la qual era diestro." lierrcra, Hist, general, dec. 2, lib. 8, cap. 4. 366 CONQUEST OF MEXICO 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 resigned himself without a strug- gle 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 Montezemua 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 honorably as ambassadors 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.^^ Under its last sovereign, Nezahualpilli, its territory is said to have been grievously clipped by the insidious practices of Montezuma, who fomented dissensions and insub- ordination among his subjects. On the death of the Tezcucan prince, the succession was contested, and a bloody war ensued between his eldest son, "Ante, book I. chap. 6. 1520] MEDITATED INSURRECTION 367 Cacama, and an ambitious younger brother, Ixt- lilxochitl. 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 im- portant 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, ac- cording to Cortes, a hundred and fifty thousand inliabitants.^^ It was embellished with noble build- ings, 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.^ ^ The young Tezcucan chief beheld with indigna- tion and no slight contempt the abject condition " " E Uamase esta Ciudad Tezcuco, y serd de hasta treinta mil Vecinos." (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 94.) According to the licen- tiate Zuazo, double that number, — sesenta mil Vecinos. (Carta, MS.) Scarcely probable, as Mexico had no more. Toribio speaks of it as covering a league one way by six another! (Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.) This must include the environs to a considerable extent. The language of the old chroniclers is not the most precise. " A description of the capital in its glory is thus given iiy an eye- witness. " Esta Ciudad era la segimda cosa principal de la tierra, y asi habia en Tezcuco muy grandes edificios de templos del Demonio, y muy gentiles casas y aposentos de Seiiores, entrc los cuales, fu^ muy cosa de ver la casa del Seiior principal, asf la vieja con su huerta cercada de mas de mil cedros muy grandes y muy hermosos, de los cuales hoy dia estdn los mas en pie, aunque la casa esta aso- lada, otra casa tenia que se podia aposentar en ella un egercito, con muchos jardines, y un muy grande estanque, que por debajo de tierra solian entrar a el con barcas." (Toribio, Hist, de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 7.) The last relics of this palace were emploj'ed in the fortifications of the city in the revolutionary war of 1810. (Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de los Esp., p. 78, nota.) Tezcuco is now an insignificant little place, with a population of a few thousand in- habitants. Its architectural remains, as still to be discerned, seem to have made a stronger impression on Mr. Bullock than on most travel- lers. Six Months in Mexico, chap. 27. 368 CONQUEST OF MEXICO of his uncle. He endeavored to rouse him to manly exertion, but in vain. He then set about forming a league with several of the neighboring caciques to rescue his kinsman and to break the detested 3^oke of the strangers. He 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 ex- pressed an unwillingness to take any step not first sanctioned by the emperor.^ ^ They entertained, undoubtedly, a profound reverence for their mas- ter; but it seems probable that jealousy of the per- sonal views of Cacama had its influence on their 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 se- cretly 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 " ^^ before it had time to burst into a " " Cacama reprehendi6 asperamente a la Nobleza Mexicana porque consentia hacer seme j antes desacatos a quatro Estrangeros y que no les mataban; se escusaban con decides les iban a la mano y no les consentian tomar las Armas para libertarlo, y tomar si una tan gran deshonra como era la que los Estrangeros les habian hecho en prender a su senor, y quemar a Quauhpopocatzin, los demas sus Hijos y Deu- dos sin culpa, con las Armas y Municion que tenian para la defenza y guarda de la ciudad, y de su autoridad tomar para si los tesoros del Rey, y de los Dioses, y otras libertades y desvergiienzas que cada dia pasaban, y aunque todo esto vehian lo disimulaban por no enojar d Motecuhzoma que tan amigo y casado estaba con ellos." IxtlilxochitI, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 86. *' It is the language of Cortes. " Y este sefior se rebelo, assi contra cl servicio de Vuestra Alteza, d quien se habia ofrecido, como contra 1520] MEDITATED INSURRECTION 369 flame. But from this he was dissuaded by Mon- tezuma, 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 mes- sage of amicable expostulation to the cacique. He received a haughty answer in return. Cortes re- joined in a more menacing tone, asserting the su- premacy of his own sovereign, the emperor of Cas- tile. To this Cacama replied, " He acknowledged no such authoritj^; he knew nothing of the Spanish sovereign or his people, nor did he wish to know anj^thing of them." ^'^ JNIontezuma was not more successful in his application to Cacama to come to jNIexico 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 un- derstood 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 dishonor on their country! " ^'^ el dicho Muteczuma." Rel. Scg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 95. — Voltaire, with his quick eye for the ridiculous, notices this arrogance in his tragedy of Alzire: " Tu vois de ces tyrans la fureur dcspotiquc: lis penscnt que pour eux le Cicl fit rAin<5riquc, I Qu'ils en soiit nes les Rois ; et Ziimore :i lours youx. Tout souverain qu'il fut, n'est qu'un soditieux." Al/.irk, act ♦,'so. 3. "Gomara, Cr6nica, cap. 91. " " I que para reparar la Religion, i restituir los Dieses, guardar el Reino, cobrar la fama, i libertad & S, i & M^-xico, iria de nnii buena 370 CONQUEST OF MEXICO Cortes, incensed at this tone of defiance, would again have put himself in motion to punish it, hut Montezuma interposed with his more politic arts. He had several of the Tezcucan nobles, he said, in his pay;^^ 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 neighboring princes was a refinement which showed that the Western barbarian under- stood 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, Ca- cama was induced to hold a conference, relative to the proposed invasion, in a villa which overhung 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 proud and lofty bearing. He taxed his uncle with his perfidy, and a pusillanimity so unworthy of his former character and of the royal house from which he was descended. By the emperor he was referred gana, mas no las manos en el seno, sino en la Espada, para matar los Espanoles, que tanta mengua, i afrenta havian hecho a la Nacion de Culhiia." Ibid., cap. 91. " " Pero que el tenia en su Tierra de el dicho Cacamazin muchas Personas Principales, que vivian con el, y les daba su salario." Kei. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 95. 1520] LORD OF TEZCUCO SEIZED 371 to Cortes, who, holding royalty but cheap in an Indian prince, put him in fetters.^'' There was at this tune in Mexico a brother of Cacama, a stripling much younger than himself. At the instigation of Cortes, Montezuma, pretend- ing that his nephew had forfeited the sovereignty by his late rebellion, declared him to be deposed, and appointed Cuicuitzca in his place. The Aztec sovereigns 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.^'^ Cortes still wanted to get into his hands the other chiefs who had entered into the confederacy with Cacama. This was no difficult matter. JNIonte- zuma's authority was absolute, everywhere but in his own palace. By his command, the caciques " Ilel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 95, 96.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 8. — Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 86. — The latter author dismisses the capture of Cacama with the com- fortable reflection " that it saved the S})aniards much embarrassment, and greatly facilitated the introduction of the Catholic faith." ^Cortes calls the name of this prince Cucuzca. (Uel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, j). 96.) In the orthography of Aztec words, the general was governed by his ear, and was wrong nine times out of ten. — Bus- tamante, in his catalogue of Tezcucan monarchs, omits him alto- gether. He probably regards him as an intruder, who had no claim to be ranked among the rightful .sovereigns of the land. ((laleria de antiguos Prfncipes (Puel)la, 18;?1), p. ■■21.) Sahagun has, in liiie manner, struck his name from the royal roll of Tezcuco. Hist, de Nueva-Espana, lib. 8, cap. 3. 372 CONQUEST OF MEXICO were seized, each in his own city, and brought in chains to Mexico, where Cortes placed them in strict confinement with their leader. ^^ 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 ascer- tain the actual resources of the monarchy. He sent several parties of Spaniards, guided by the natives, to explore the regions where gold was ob- tained. It w^as 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 harbor 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. JNIontezuma showed him a chart on w^iich the shores of the JNIexican Gulf were laid down with tolerable accuracy.^ ^ Cortes, after carefully inspecting it, sent a commission, consist- ing 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 — accommodations for a safe ^ The exceeding lenity of the Spanish commander, on this occa- sion, excited general admiration, if we are to credit Soh's, throughout the Aztec empire ! " Tuvo notable aplauso en todo el imperio este g^nero de castigo sin sangre, que se atribuyd al superior juicio de los Espanoles, porque no esperaban de Motezuma seme j ante modera- cion." Conquista, lib. 4, cap. ;?. " Rel. Seg. de Cortes, ap. Lorenzana, p. 91. 1520] FURTHER MEASURES OF CORTES 373 and suitable harbor. A spot was selected as the site of a fortified post, and the general sent a de- tachment of a hundred and fifty men under Velas- quez de Leon to plant a colony there. He also obtained a grant of an extensive tract of land in the fruitful province of Oaxaca, where he proposed to lay out a plantation for the crown. He stocked it with the different kinds of domes- ticated animals peculiar to the country, and with such indigenous grains and plants as would afford the best articles for export. He soon had the es- tate under such cultivation that he assured his mas- ter, the emperor Charles the Fifth, it was worth twenty thousand ounces of gold.^^ ^ " Damus quae dant," says Martyr, brieflj', in reference to this valuation. (De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3.) Cortes notices the re- ports made by his people, of large and beautiful edifices in the prov- ince of Oaxaca. (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 89.) It is here, also, that some of the most elaborate specimens of Indian architecture are still to be seen, in the ruins of Mitla. ocr8.;.,c UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 3 APR! 3 196] REG'D LD-U«l ^ lie ^^AR 10 JUN0 6t98? Ui4\3 1972 241SW »i Wh'm.-^^, (iif?n