[206] This is M. de Humboldt’s opinion. (See his Essai politique, tom. ii. pp. 66-70.) He has also discussed these interesting monuments in his Vues des Cordillères, p. 25, et seq.

[207] Latrobe gives the description of this cavity, into which he and his fellow travellers penetrated. Rambler in Mexico, Letter 7.

[208]

[209] The dimensions are given by Bullock (Six Months in Mexico, vol. ii. chap. 26), who has sometimes seen what has eluded the optics of other travellers.

[210] Such is the account given by the cavalier Boturini. Idea, pp. 42, 43.

[211] “Both Ixtlilxochitl and Boturini, who visited these monuments, one early in the seventeenth, the other in the first part of the eighteenth century, testify to their having seen the remains of this statue. They had entirely disappeared by 1757, when Veytia examined the pyramid. Hist. antig., tom. i. cap. 26.

[212]

[213] “Y como iban vestidos de blanco, parecia el campo nevado.” Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 13.

[214] “Vistosa confusion,” says Solís, “de armas y penachos, en que tenian su hermosura los horrores.” (Conquista, lib. 4, cap. 20.) His painting shows the hand of a great artist,—which he certainly was. But he should not have put fire-arms into the hands of his countrymen on this occasion.

[215] “Y cierto creímos ser aquel el último de nuestros dias.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 148.

[216] Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.—Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 14.—Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 128.—Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 27.—Cortés might have addressed his troops, as Napoleon did his in the famous battle with the Mamelukes: “From yonder pyramids forty centuries look down upon you.” But the situation of the Spaniards was altogether too serious for theatrical display.

[217] It is Sahagun’s simile: “Estaban los Españoles como una Isleta en el mar, combatida de las olas por todas partes.” (Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 27.) The venerable missionary gathered the particulars of the action, as he informs us, from several who were present in it.

[218] The epic bard Ercilla’s spirited portrait of the young warrior Tucapél may be applied without violence to Sandoval, as described by the Castilian chroniclers:

[219] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 13.—“Este caballo harriero,” says Camargo, “le sirvió en la conquista de Méjico, y en la última guerra que se dió se le matáron.” Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[220] The brave cavalier was afterwards permitted by the emperor Charles V. to assume this trophy on his own escutcheon, in commemoration of his exploit. Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 128.

[221] The historians all concur in celebrating this glorious achievement of Cortés; who, concludes Gomara, “by his single arm saved the whole army from destruction.” See Crónica, cap. 110.—Also Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 27.—Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.—Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 128.—Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.—Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 13.—Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 89.—The brief and extremely modest notice of the affair in the general’s own letter forms a beautiful contrast to the style of panegyric by others: “In this arduous contest we consumed a great part of the day, until it pleased God that a person was slain in their ranks of such consequence that his death put an end to the battle.” Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 148.

[222] “Pues á nosotros,” says the doughty Captain Diaz, “no nos dolian las heridas, ni teniamos hambre, ni sed, sino que parecia que no auiamos auido, ni passado ningun mal trabajo. Seguímos la vitoria matando, é hiriendo. Pues nuestros amigos los de Tlascala estavan hechos vnos leones, y con sus espadas, y montantes, y otras armas que allí apañáron, hazíanlo muy biē y esforçadamente.” Hist. de la Conquista, loc. cit.

[223] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.

[224] The belligerent apostle St. James, riding, as usual, his milk-white courser, came to the rescue on this occasion; an event commemorated by the dedication of a hermitage to him, in the neighborhood. (Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala.) Diaz, a skeptic on former occasions, admits his indubitable appearance on this. (Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.) According to the Tezcucan chronicler, he was supported by the Virgin and St. Peter. (Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 89.) Voltaire sensibly remarks, “Ceux qui ont fait les relations de ces étranges événemens les ont voulu relever par des miracles, qui ne servent en effet qu’à les rabaisser. Le vrai miracle fut la conduite de Cortés.” Voltaire, Essai sur les Mœurs, chap. 147.

[225] See Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.—Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 13.—Gomara, Crónica, cap. 110.

[226] Is it not the same fountain of which Toribio makes honorable mention in his topographical account of the country? “Nace en Tlaxcala una fuente grande á la parte del Norte, cinco leguas de la principal ciudad; nace en un pueblo que se llama Azumba, que en su lengua quiere decir cabeza, y así es, porque esta fuente es cabeza y principio del mayor rio de los que entran en la mar del Sur, el cual entra en la mar por Zacatula.” Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 16.

[227] “El qual pensamiento, y sospecha nos puso en tanta afliccion, quanta trahiamos viniendo peleando con los de Culúa.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 149.

[228] “Y mas dixo, que tenia esperança en Dios que los hallariamos buenos, y leales: é que si otra cosa fuesse, lo que Dios no permita, que nos han de tornar á andar los puños con coraçones fuertes, y braços vigorosos, y que para esso fuessemos muy apercibidos.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 128.

[229] Called Gualipan by Cortés. (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 149.) An Aztec would have found it hard to trace the route of his enemies by their itineraries.

[230] Ibid., ubi supra.—Thoan Cano, however, one of the army, denies this, and asserts that the natives received them like their children, and would take no recompense. (See Appendix, No. 11.)

[231] “Y que tubiesse por cierto, que me serian muy ciertos, y verdaderos Amigos, hasta la muerte.” Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 150.

[232] Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.—Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.—“Sobreviniéron las mugeres Tlascaltecas, y todas puestas de luto y llorando á donde estaban los Españoles, las unas preguntaban por sus maridos, las otras por sus hijos y hermanos, las otras por sus parientes que habian ido con los Españoles, y quedaban todos allá muertos: no es menos, sino que de esto llanto causó gran sentimiento en el corazon del Capitan, y de todos los Españoles, y él procuró lo mejor que pudo consolarles por medio de sus Intérpretes.” Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 28.

[233] “Yo assimismo quedé manco de dos dedos de la mano izquierda”—is Cortés’ own expression in his letter to the emperor. (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 152.) Don Thoan Cano, however, whose sympathies—from his Indian alliance, perhaps—seem to have been quite as much with the Aztecs as with his own countrymen, assured Oviedo, who was lamenting the general’s loss, that he might spare his regrets, since Cortés had as many fingers on his hand at that hour as when he came from Castile. (See Appendix, No. 11.) May not the word manco, in his letter, be rendered by “maimed”?

[234] “Hiriéron á Cortés con Honda tan mal, que se le pasmó la Cabeça, ó porque no le curáron bien, sacándole Cascos, ó por el demasiado trabajo que pasó.” Gomara, Crónica cap. 110.

[235] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 13.—Bernal Diaz Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.

[236] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 150.—Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 15.—Herrera gives the following inscription, cut on the bark of a tree by some of these unfortunate Spaniards: “By this road passed Juan Juste and his wretched companions, who were so much pinched by hunger that they were obliged to give a solid bar of gold, weighing eight hundred ducats, for a few cakes of maize bread.” Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 13.

[237] One is reminded of the similar remonstrance made by Alexander’s soldiers to him on reaching the Hystaspis,—but attended with more success; as, indeed, was reasonable. For Alexander continued to advance from the ambition of indefinite conquest; while Cortés was only bent on carrying out his original enterprise. What was madness in the one was heroism in the other.

[238] “Acordándome, que siempre á los osados ayuda la fortuna, y que eramos Christianos y confiando en la grandíssima Bondad, y Misericordia de Dios, que no permitiria, que del todo pereciessemos, y se perdiesse tanta, y tan noble Tierra.” Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 152.

[239] This reply, exclaims Oviedo, showed a man of unconquerable spirit and high destinies: “Paréceme que la respuesta que á esto les dió Hernando Cortés, é lo que hizo en ello, fué vna cosa de ánimo invencible, é de varon de mucha suerte é valor.” Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 15.

[240] “E no me hable ninguno en otra cosa; y él que desta opinion no estubiere váyase en buen hora, que mas holgaré de quedar con los pocos y osados, que en compañía de muchos, ni de ninguno cobarde, ni desacordado de su propia honra.” Hist. de las Ind., MS., loc. cit.

[241] Oviedo has expanded the harangue of Cortés into several pages, in the course of which the orator quotes Xenophon, and borrows largely from the old Jewish history, a style of eloquence savoring much more of the closet than the camp. Cortés was no pedant, and his soldiers were no scholars.

[242] For the account of this turbulent transaction, see Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 129,—Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 152,—Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 15,—Gomara, Crónica, cap. 112, 113,—Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 14.—Diaz is exceedingly wroth with the chaplain Gomara for not discriminating between the old soldiers and the levies of Narvaez, whom he involves equally in the sin of rebellion. The captain’s own version seems a fair one, and I have followed it, therefore, in the text.

[243] Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 15.—Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 14.—Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 29.

[244] Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 47.—Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 166.—Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 27, 29.—Or, rather, it was “at the instigation of the great Devil, the captain of all the devils, called Satan, who regulated every thing in New Spain by his free will and pleasure, before the coming of the Spaniards,” according to Father Sahagun, who begins his chapter with this eloquent exordium.

[245] Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 88.—Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 29.—Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 19.

[246] The proceedings in the Tlascalan senate are reported in more or less detail, but substantially alike, by Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.,—Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 29,—Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 12, cap. 14.—See, also, Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 129,—Gomara, Crónica, cap. 111.

[247] The Indian name of the capital,—the same as that of the province,—Tepejacac, was corrupted by the Spaniards into Tepeaca. It must be admitted to have gained by the corruption.

[248] “Y como aquello vió Cortés, comunicólo con todos nuestros Capitanes, y soldados: y fué acordado, que se hiziesse vn auto por ante Escriuano, que diesse fe de todo lo passado, y que se diessen por esclauos.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 130.

[249] The chroniclers estimate his army at 50,000 warriors; one-half, according to Toribio, of the disposable military force of the republic. “De la cual (Tlascala), como ya tengo dicho, solian salir cien mil hombres de pelea.” Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 16.

[250] “That night,” says the credulous Herrera, speaking of the carouse that followed one of their victories, “the Indian allies had a grand supper of legs and arms; for, besides an incredible number of roasts on wooden spits, they had fifty thousand pots of stewed human flesh”! (Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 15.) Such a banquet would not have smelt savory in the nostrils of Cortés.

[251] “Y allí hiziéron hazer el hierro con que se auian de herrar los que se tomauan por esclauos, que era una G., que quiere decir guerra.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 130.

[252] Solís, Conquista, lib. 5, cap. 3.

[253] Called by the Spaniards Huacachula, and spelt with every conceivable diversity by the old writers, who may be excused for stumbling over such a confusion of consonants.

[254] “Y toda la Ciudad está cercada de muy fuerte Muro de cal y canto, tan alto, como quatro estados por de fuera de la Ciudad: é por de dentro está casi igual con el suelo. Y por toda la Muralla va su petril, tan alto, como medio estado, para pelear, tiene quatro entradas, tan anchas, como uno puede entrar á Caballo.” Rel. Seg., p. 162.

[255] This cavalier’s name is usually spelt Olid by the chroniclers. In a copy of his own signature I find it written Oli.

[256] “I should have been very glad to have taken some alive,” says Cortés, “who could have informed me of what was going on in the great city, and who had been lord there since the death of Montezuma. But I succeeded in saving only one; and he was more dead than alive.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 159.

[257] “Y á ver que cosa era aquella, los quales eran mas de treinta mil Hombres, y la mas lúcida Gente, que hemos visto, porque trahian muchas Joyas de Oro, y Plata, y Plumajes.” Ibid., p. 160.

[258] “Alcanzando muchos por una Cuesta arriba muy agra; y tal, que quando acabámos de encumbrar la Sierra, ni los Enemigos, ni nosotros podiamos ir atras, ni adelante: é assí caiéron muchos de ellos muertos, y ahogados de la calor, sin herida ninguna.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 160.

[259] “Porque demas de la Gente de Guerra, tenian mucho aparato de Servidores, y fornecimiento para su Real.” Ibid., p. 160.

[260] The story of the capture of this strong post is told very differently by Captain Diaz. According to him, Olid, when he had fallen back on Cholula, in consequence of the refusal of his men to advance under the strong suspicion which they entertained of some foul practice from their allies, received such a stinging rebuke from Cortés that he compelled his troops to resume their march, and, attacking the enemy “with the fury of a tiger,” totally routed them. (Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 132.) But this version of the affair is not endorsed, so far as I am aware, by any contemporary. Cortés is so compendious in his report that it is often necessary to supply the omissions with the details of other writers. But, where he is positive in his statements,—unless there be some reason to suspect a bias,—his practice of writing on the spot, and the peculiar facilities for information afforded by his position, make him decidedly the best authority.

[261] Cortés, with an eye less sensible to the picturesque than his great predecessor in the track of discovery, Columbus, was full as quick in detecting the capabilities of the soil. “Tiene un Valle redondo muy fertil de Frutas, y Algodon, que en ninguna parte de los Puertos arriba se hace por la gran frialdad; y allí es Tierra caliente, y caúsalo, que está muy abrigada de Sierras; todo este Valle se riega por muy buenas Azequias, que tienen muy bien sacadas, y concertadas.” Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 164, 165.

[262] So numerous, according to Cortés, that they covered hill and dale, as far as the eye could reach, mustering more than a hundred and twenty thousand strong! (Ibid., p. 162.) When the Conquerors attempt anything like a precise numeration, it will be as safe to substitute “a multitude,” “a great force,” etc., trusting the amount to the reader’s own imagination.

[263] For the hostilities with the Indian tribes, noticed in the preceding pages, see, in addition to the Letter of Cortés, so often cited, Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 15,—Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 15, 16,—Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 90,—Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 130, 132, 134,—Gomara, Crónica, cap. 114-117,—P. Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 6,—Camargo, Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[264] “La primera fué de viruela, y comenzó de esta manera. Siendo Capitan y Governador Hernando Cortés al tiempo que el Capitan Pánfilo de Narvaez desembarcó en esta tierra, en uno de sus navíos vino un negro herido de viruelas, la cual enfermedad nunca en esta tierra se habia visto, y esta sazon estaba esta nueva España en estremo muy llena de gente.” Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 1, cap. 1.

[265] “Morian como chinches á montones.” (Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, ubi supra.) “So great was the number of those who died of this disease that there was no possibility of burying them, and in Mexico the dead were thrown into the canals, then filled with water, until the air was poisoned with the stench of putrid bodies.” Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, lib. 8, cap. 1.

[266] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 136.

[267] Hist. de la Conquista, ubi supra.—Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 19.—Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 39.

[268] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 131.

[269] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 131, 133, 136.—Herrera, Hist. general, ubi supra.—Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, pp. 154, 167.—Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 16.

[270] Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 156.

[271] Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. iii. p. 153.

[272] “E creo, como ya á Vuestra Magestad he dicho, que en muy breve tomará al estado, en que antes yo la tenia, é se restaurarán las pérdidas pasadas.” Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 167.

[273] “Me pareció, que el mas conveniente nombre para esta dicha Tierra, era llamarse la Nueva España del Mar Océano: y assí en nombre de Vuestra Magestad se le puso aqueste nombre; humildemente suplico á Vuestra Alteza lo tenga por bien, y mande, que se nombre assí.” (Ibid., p. 169.) The name of “New Spain,” without other addition, had been before given by Grijalva to Yucatan. Ante, Book 2, Chapter 1.

[274] It was dated, “De la Villa Segura de la Frontera de esta Nueva-España, á treinta de Octubre de mil quinientos veinte años.” But, in consequence of the loss of the ship intended to bear it, the letter was not sent till the spring of the following year; leaving the nation still in ignorance of the fate of the gallant adventurers in Mexico, and the magnitude of their discoveries.

[275] The state of feeling occasioned by these discoveries may be seen in the correspondence of Peter Martyr, then residing at the court of Castile. See, in particular, his epistle, dated March, 1521, to his noble pupil, the Marquis de Mondejar, in which he dwells with unbounded satisfaction on all the rich stores of science which the expedition of Cortés had thrown open to the world. Opus Epistolarum, ep. 771.

[276] This memorial is in that part of my collection made by the former President of the Spanish Academy, Vargas Ponçe. It is signed by four hundred and forty-four names; and it is remarkable that this roll, which includes every other familiar name in the army, should not contain that of Bernal Diaz del Castillo. It can only be accounted for by his illness; as he tells us he was confined to his bed by a fever about this time. Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 134.

[277] Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 179.—Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 18.—Alonso de Avila went as the bearer of despatches to St. Domingo. Bernal Diaz, who is not averse, now and then, to a fling at his commander, says that Cortés was willing to get rid of this gallant cavalier, because he was too independent and plain-spoken. Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 136.

[278] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 136.—Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 19.

[279] Ibid., ubi supra.—“Híçolo,” says Herrera, “i armóle caballero, al vso de Castilla; i porque lo fuese de Jesu-Christo, le hiço, bautiçar, i se llamó D. Lorenço Maxiscatzin.”

[280] For an account of the manner in which this article was procured by Montaño and his doughty companions, see vol. ii., p. 227.

[281] “Ansí se hiciéron trece bergantines en el barrio de Atempa, junto á una hermita que se llama San Buenaventura, los quales hizo y otro Martin Lopez uno de los primeros conquistadores, y le ayudó Neguez Gomez.” Hist. de Tlascala, MS.

[282] Solís dismisses this prince with the remark “that he reigned but a few days; long enough, however, for his indolence and apathy to efface the memory of his name among the people.” (Conquista, lib. 4, cap. 16.) Whence the historiographer of the Indies borrowed the coloring for this portrait I cannot conjecture; certainly not from the ancient authorities, which uniformly delineate the character and conduct of the Aztec sovereign in the light represented in the text. Cortés, who ought to know, describes him “as held to be very wise and valiant.” Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 166.—See, also, Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 29,—Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 19,—Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 88,—Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 16,—Gomara, Crónica, cap. 118.

[283] The reader of Spanish will see that in the version in the text I have condensed the original, which abounds in the tautology and repetitions characteristic of the compositions of a rude people. “Señor nuestro, ya V. M. sabe como es muerto nuestro N.: ya lo habeis puesto debajo de vuestros pies: ya está en su recogimiento, y es ido por el camino que todos hemos de ir y á la casa donde hemos de morar, casa de perpetuas tinieblas, donde ni hay ventana, ni luz alguna: ya está en el reposo donde nadie le desasosegará.... Todos estos señores y reyes rigiéron, gobernáron, y gozáron del señorío y dignidad real, y del trono y sitial del imperio, los cuales ordenáron y concertáron las cosas de vuestro reino, que sois el universal señor y emperador, por cuyo albedrio y motivo se rige todo el universo, y que no teneis necesidad de consejo de ningun otro. Ya estos dichos dejáron la carga intolerable del gobierno que tragéron sobre sus hombros, y lo dejáron á su succesor N., el cual por algunos pocos dias tuvo en pie su señorío y reino, y ahora ya se ha ido en pos de ellos al otro mundo, porque vos le mandásteis que fuese y le llamásteis, y por haberle descargado de tan gran carga, y quitado tan gran trabajo, y haberle puesto en paz y en reposo, está muy obligado á daros gracias. Algunos pocos dias le lográmos, y ahora para siempre se ausentó de nosotros para nunca mas volver al mundo.... ¿Quien ordenará y dispondrá las cosas necesarias al bien del pueblo, señorío y reino? ¿Quien elegirá á los jueces particulares, que tengan carga de la gente baja por los barrios? ¿Quien mandará tocar el atambor y pífano para juntar gente para la guerra? ¿Y quien reunirá y acaudillará á los soldados viejos, y hombres diestros en la pelea? Señor nuestro y amparador nuestro! tenga por bien V. M. de elegir, y señalar alguna persona suficiente para que tenga vuestro trono, y lleve á cuestas la carga pesada del régimen de la república, regocige y regale á los populares, bien así como la madre regala á su hijo, poniéndole en su regazo.... O señor nuestro humanísimo! dad lumbre y resplandor de vuestra mano á esto reino!... Hágase como V. M. fuere servido en todo, y por todo.” Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, lib. 6, cap. 5.

[284] The Spaniards appear to have changed the Qua, beginning Aztec names, into Gua, in the same manner as, in the mother country, they changed the Wad at the beginning of Arabic names into Guad. (See Condé, El Nubiense, Descripcion de España, notas, passim.) The Aztec tzin was added to the names of sovereigns and great lords, as a mark of reverence. Thus, Cuitlahua was called Cuitlahuatzin. This termination, usually dropped by the Spaniards, has been retained from accident, or perhaps for the sake of euphony, in Guatemozin’s name.

[285] “Mancebo de hasta veynte y cinco años, bien gentil hombre para ser Indio, y muy esforçado, y se hizo temer de tal manera, que todos los suyos temblauan dél; y estaua casado con vna hija de Monteçuma, bien hermosa muger para ser India.” Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 130.

[286] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 19.

[287] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conquista, cap. 134.

[288] One may call to mind the beautiful invocation which Racine has put into the mouth of Joad:

[289] Rel. Tercera de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 183.—Most, if not all, of the authorities—a thing worthy of note—concur in this estimate of the Spanish forces.

[290] “Y como sin causa ninguna todos los Naturales de Colúa, que son los de la gran Ciudad de Temixtitan, y los de todas las otras Provincias á ellas sujetas, no solamente se habian rebelado contra Vuestra Magestad.” Ibid., ubi supra.

[291] Rel. Terc. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 184.—“Porque demas del premio, que les davia en el cielo, se les seguirian en esto mundo grandíssima honra, riquezas inestimables.” Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chichimeca, MS., cap. 91.

[292] “Cosa muy de ver,” says Father Sahagun, without hazarding any precise number, “en la cantidad y en los aparejos que llevaban.” Hist. de Nueva-España, lib. 12, cap. 30, MS.

[293] Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 20.

[294] Ibid., ubi supra.

[295] Herrera, Hist. general, loc. cit.