Gregory's history of Mexico. A history of Mexico from the earliest times to the present ... geographical view of the country ... state of society ... anecdotes and incidents of Mexican life, &c.

Front matter

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Chapter I. The Ancient Mexicans

The Earliest Inhabitants of the Country. The Aztecs or Ancient Mexicans. Founding of the City of Mexico. Victorious Career of the Aztecs. Description of the City. Aquaducts, Ponds, Gardens, Menagerie, and Bird-house. ' The Halls of Montezuma,' Description of. Personal Appearance of the Emperor. Magnificence and Luxury of his Palace. Montezuma at Dinner. His Lords and Household. Temples of the Gods. Great Temple of Mexico. Dedication of the the Great Temple by sacrificing sixty thousand human victims to their JVar-god. One hundred and thirty-six thousand Skulls. Sacrificial Stone. Manner of Sacrificing Human Victims. Feasting on Human Flesh. Their Ideas of a Future State. Picture-writing. Mode of Recording Events. Arithmetic. Mode of Computing Time. Materials of Manuscripts. Calendar Stone. Knowledge of Astronomy. Edge-tools. Gold-smiths. Mode of Trading. Fairs. Itinerant Merchants. Military Weapons. Couriers, or Express-men. Remarks on the Civilization of the Ancient Mexicans.

At the time of the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards, three centuries and a quarter ago, it was inhabited by several races of copper colored Indians, much like the aborigines of our own country, but far in advance of them in point of civilization. The first settlers of that country, of whom the traditions of the natives gave any account, were the Toltecans, a tribe that came from>the northern regions of the Rocky mountains, and located themselves near the present city of Mexico, about the year 648.

They continued there for four centuries, when, it is said, being reduced by famine, pestilence and war, they mostly disappeared from the country. This nation was acquainted with agriculture, some of the useful mechanic arts, and the working of metals. Some suppose that portions of this race, migrated southward, and that the celebrated ruins of Uxmal and Palenque, and other parts of Yucatan and Central America, are the remains of their cities.

Next followed, from the northwest, a ruder tribe, called Chichemecs, about 1160; and in the course of another century these were supplanted by more civilized races, among whom were the Aztecs, the ancient Mexicans. They came from a region north of the gulf of California, and entered the Mexican val-

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ley in the last of the twelfth century, and after leading an unsettled life for about another hundred years, they at length, in 1325, founded their chief city, on an island in lake Tescuco. They were directed to the spot for the site of their capital, by seeing an eagle perched on a cactus or prickly pear, and having a serpent in his talons. This was considered a favorable omen, and the Aztecs called their city Tonochtitlan, a word significant of the incident alluded to. The city was sometimes called Mexico, in honor of their war-god Mexitli.

The Spaniards not only adopted this latter name of the Aztec city, but as if indicative of the fact that their race is engrafted upon that of the natives, they have adopted the device of the eagle and cactus as the arms of their republic.

The Aztecs, though at first possessing but a group of islands in lake Tescuco, soon by superior discipline and military prowess began to extend their limits, subjecting one nation after another, and under Montezuma, the first, the greatest of their sovereigns, they had, by the middle of the fifteenth century, extended their dominion to the gulf of Mexico ; and before the arrival of the Spaniards, not two hundred years from the founding of the city, the Aztec sway was acknowledged from the gulf to the Pacific, and on the south to the bay of Honduras.

The imperial city was enriched by the. spoils of conquest, and the annual tribute of conquered nations made it the queen of the lakes, and, as it has been called, the Venice of the Western World.

But many of the tributary States yielded only an unwilling obedience, and the warlike little republic of Tlascala, within seventy miles to the East, had maintained its independence against the formidable power of the Mexican arms. Montezuma, the second, who filled the throne at the time of the invasion by the Spaniards, lived in great pomp and splendor ; his immense revenues were expended in the magnificent equipage of his court, in adorning his capital, and in keeping up larcre armies to maintain his authority over the conquered nations. The state of thingswas very favorable to Cortes, as many of the disaffected chiefs were ready to unite their arms with his against the terrible Montezuma.

The wonder and admiration of the Span iards, as they approached the city and the ' Halls of the Montezumas,' are thus depicted by Berna! Diaz, a soldier in the army of Cortes : ' When we beheld the number ot populous towns upon the water and main land, the broad causeways which ran straight and level over the water to the city, and the great towers and temples of stone, which seemed to rise out of the water, we could compare it to nothing but the enchanted scenes we had read of in Amadis de Gaul. — To many of us it appeared doubtful whether we were asleep or awake. Nor is the manner in which I express myself to be wondered at, for it must be considered that never yet did man see, hear, or dream of anything equal to the spectacle which appeared to our eyes that day. I thought within myself that this was the garden of the world.

When we came near certain towers, close to the city, Montezuma, who was there, quitted his palanquin, and was borne in the arms of princes, under a canopy of the richest materials, ornamented with green feathers, gold and precious stones, that hung down in the manner of a fringe. He was most richly dressed, and wore buskins of pure gold, studded with jewels. The people spread mantles on the ground lest his feet should touch it, and all who attended him, except the four princes, kept their eyes fixed on the earth, not daring to look him in the face.

Who could count the multitudes of men, women and children that thronged the streets, the canals, the terraces, and the house tops that day? We were astonished at the number of canoes passing to and from the main land, loaded with provisions and merchandise 5 and we could now perceive that in this

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great city, and all the others in the neighborhood that were built in the water, the houses stood separate from each other, communicatkig by draw bridges and boats, and that they were built with terraced roofs. We saw also the temples and oratories of the adjacent cities, built in the form of towers and castles, and others on the causeway, all painted white and wonderfully brilliant. The noise and bustle of the market-place could be heard almost a league off; and those ot us who had been at Rome and Constantinople, said, that 'for convenience, regularity and population, they had never seen the like.'

The city was supplied with water by an aquaduct of masonry, leading from Chapultepec, two miles distant. There were artficial ponds for fish ; and, connected with the palace of Montezuma, was a garden filledwith shrubs and plants of every scent, and flowers of every hue; an extensive menagerie of wild beasts, collected from the mountain regions and burning plains of his broad dominions; an aviary, filled with the feathered race of unnumbered variety of note and plume, which abound in the wonderfully varied climate of that country.

It must not, however, be inferred from all this, that the Indian capital bore a very close resemblance to the cities built by enlightened nations. The houses of the poorer classes were built of reeds and mud, but arranged along the borders of the canals so as to give them a pretty appearance. The palace of the emperor and the dwellings of the chiefs and nobles, were constructed of stone and mortar, with roofs of cedar or other wood. — They were generally but one story high, but some of them covered a large space of ground.

The far famed ' Halls of the Montezumas,' as they first appeared to the wondering eyes of the Spaniards, are thus described in Prescott's History of the Conquest. ' On the following morning, the general requested permission to return the emperor's visit by waiting on him in his palace. This was readily granted, and Montezuma sent bis officers to conduct the Spaniards to his presence. Cortes dressed himself in his richest habit, and left the quarters attended by Alvarado, Sandoval, Velasques, 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 cathedral, since covered in part by the Casa del Estado, 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 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 mnch 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, tdzontli, was ornamented with marble, and on the facade over the principal entrance were sculptured the arms or device of Montezuma, an eagle bearing an ocelot in his talons.

In the courts through which the Spaniards passed, fountains of crystal water were playing, fed from the copious reservoir on the distant hill of Chapultepec, and supplying in their turn more than a hundred baths in the interior of the palace. Crowds of Aztec nobles were sauntering up and down in these squares, and in the outer halls, loitering away their hours in attendance on the court.

The apartments were of immense size, though not lofty. The ceilings were of various sorts of odoriferous wood ingeniously carved ; the floors covered with mats of the palm leaf. The walls were hung with cotton richly stained, with 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 with the tapestries of Flanders. Clouds of incense rolled up from censers, and diffused intoxicating odors through the apartments. The Spaniards might well have fancied themselves in the voluptuous precincts of an Eastern bz-

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rem, instead of treading the halls of a wild, barbaric chief in the Western world.'

As to the personal appearance of Montezuma, he is represented as being at that time, about forty years of age, tall, thin, and well formed, his hair black and straight, and not very long ; beard thin, and complexion lighter than usual in the copper colored race, a serious though not melancholy cast of countenance ; there was dignity in his movements, and a union of gentleness and authority in his whole demeanor.

The following account of Montezuma and the style ot his court is given by the old soldier, Bernal Diaz, as quoted by Brantz Mayer :

f The great Montezuma was, at this time, aged about forty years, of good stature, well proportioned, and thin. His complexion was much fairer than that of the Indians ; he wore his hair short, just covering his ears, with very little beard, well arranged, thin and black. His face was rather long, with a pleasant mien and good eyes; gravity and good humor were blended together when he spoke. He was very delicate and cleanly in his person, bathing himself every evening — He had a number of mistresses of the first families, and two princesses, his lawful wives ; when he visited them, it was with such secrecy that none could know it except his own servants. He was clear of all suspicions of unnatural vices. The clothes which he wore one day he did not put on for four days after.

He had set two hundred of his nobility as a guard in apartments adjoining his own. Of these only certain persons could speak to him, and when they went to wait upon him, they took off their rich mantles and put on others of less ornament, but clean. They entered his apartments barefooted, their eyes fixed on the ground, and making three inclinations of the body as they approached him. In addressing tin king they said, " Lord — my lord — great lord 6 1" When they had finished he dismissed them with a few words, and they retired with their faces towards him and their eyes fixed on the ground. I also observed, that when great men came from a distance about business, they entered his palace barefooted, and in plain habit ; and also, that they did not enter the gate directly, but took a circuit in going towards it.

His cooks had upward of thirty different ways of dressing meats, and they had earthen vessels so contrived as to keep them constantly hot. For the table of Montezuma himself, about three hundred dishes were dressed, and for his guards about a thousand. Before dinner, Montezuma would sometimes go out and inspect the preparations, and his officers would point out to him which were the best, and explain of what birds and flesh they were composed ; and of those he would eat. But this was more for amusement than any thing else.

It is said, that at times the flesh of young children was dressed for him ; but the ordinary meats were domestic fowls, pheasants, geese, partridges, quails, venison, Indian hogs, pigeons, hares and rabbits, with many other animals and birds peculiar to the country. This is certain — that after Cortes had spoken to him relative to the dressing of human flesh, it was not practiced in his palace. At his meals, in the cold weather, a number of torches of the bark of a wood which makes no smoke, and has an aromatic smell, were lighted ; and, that they should not throw too much heat, screens ornamented with gold and painted with figures of idols, were placed before them.

Montezuma was seated on a low throne or chair, at a table proportioned to the height of his seat. The table was covered with white cloths and napkins, and four beautiful women presented him with water for his hands, in vessels which they call xicales, with other vessels under them, like plates to catch the water. They also presented him with towels.

Then two other women brought small cakes of bread, and when the king began to

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eat, a large screen of gilded wood was placed before him, so that during that period people should not behold him. The women having retired to a little distance, four ancient lords stood by the throne, to whom Montezuma, from time to time, spoke or addressed questions, and as a mark of peculiar favor, gave to each of them a plate of that which he was eating. I was told that these old lords, who were his near relations, were also counsellors and judges. The plates which Montezuma presented to them they received with high respect, eating what was on them without taking their eyes off the ground. He was served in earthenware of Cholula, red and black. While the king was at the table, no one of his guards in the vicinity of his apartment dared, for their lives, make any noise. Fruit of all kinds produced in the country, was laid before him ; he ate very little ; but from time to time a liquor prepared from cocoa, and of a stimulative quality, as we were told, was presented to him in golden cups. — We could not at that time see whether he drank it or not; but I observed a number of jars, above fifty, brought in filled with foaming chocolate, of which he took some that the women presented him.

At different intervals during the time of dinner, there entered certain Indians, humpbacked, very deformed and ugly, who played tricks of buffoonery ; and others who, they said were jesters. There was also a company of singers and dancers, who afforded Montezuma much entertainment. To these he ordered the vases of chocolate to be distributed. The four females then took away the cloths, and again with much respect presented him with water to wash his hands, during which time Montezuma conferred with the four old noblemen formerly mentioned, after which they took their leave with many ceremonies.

One thing I forgot (and no wonder) to mention in its place, and that is, that during the time that Montezuma was at dinner, two very beautiful women were busily employed making small cakes with eggs and other things mixed therein. These were delicately white, and when made, they presented them to him on plates covered with napkins. Also another kind of bread was brought to him in long loaves, and plates of cakes resembling wafers.

After he had dined they presented him with three little canes, highly ornamented, containing liquid-amber, mixed with an herb they call tobacco; and when he had sufficiently viewed and heard the singers, dancers, and buffoons, he took a little of the smoke of one of these canes, and then laid himself down to sleep.

The meal of the monarch ended, all his guards and domestics sat down to dinner, and as near as I could judge, above a thousand plates of these eatables that I have mentioned, were laid before them, with vessels of foaming chocolate and fruit in immense quantity. For his women, and various inferior servants, his establishment was of a prodigious expense; and we were astonished, amid such a profusion, at the vast regularity that prevailed. His chief steward was, at this time, a prince named Tapica, who kept the accounts of Montezuma's rents, in books which occupied an entire house.

Montezuma had two buildings filled with every kind of arms, richly ornamented with gold and jewels, such as shields, large and small clubs like two handed swords, and lances much longer than ours, with blades six feet in length, so strong that if they fix in a shield they do not break ; and sharp enough to use. as razors.

There were also an immense quantity of bows and arrows, and darts, together with slings, and shields which roll up inco a small compass, and in action are let fall, and thereby cover the whole body. He had also much defensive armor of quilted cotton, ornamented with feathers in different devices, and casques for the head, made of wood and bone, with plumes of feathers, and many other articles too tedious to mention.'

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The most remarkable structures in the ancient Mexican cities were their temples, called teocallis or houses of God. They were very numerous, often several hundred, large and small, in a single city. .

The great temple of Mexico, stood in the central part of the city, it was surrounded by a wall eight feet high, built of stone and limp, covered with figures of serpents. The area within this inclosure was so vast, that Cortes asserted that five hundred houses might have been built in it. The wall had four gates, fronting the four cardinal points, and over each portal was an arsenel filled with the weapons of war. The space within was paved with polished stone, so smooth that the horses of the Spaniards could not move over it without slipping. (See Engraving.)

In the centre of this inclosure rose the great TeocalH. built in the form of a pyramid, 323 feet square at the base, and 120 feet high. It was made of earth, encased with hewn stone ; had five stories, each receding so as to be smaller than the one below, thus leaving a walk five or six feet wide around the whole, on the top of each story. A flight of stairs, at one corner, led to the first walk, which must be traversed around the pyramid, where a second flight directly over the first, led to another story, and so on till the top was reached. So that the religious processions had to pass four times round the building, before arriving at the broad, paved platform on the summit.

Upon this platform arose two towers, containing altars, on which burned the undying fires, like the Vestal flames in ancient Rome. Here too were the inner sanctuaries, containing the images of gods ; and the dreadful stone of sacrifice, on which were offered human victims to their horrid deities ; and a huge drum made of serpents' skins, which was struck only on extraordinary occasions, when its doleful sounds could be heard for many a mile around.

They had many deities, some, of a milder nature, were worshipped by songs and dances and the offerings of fruits and flowers.— The worship of others consisted of the most bloody and abominable rites.

The most important of their deities, was Mexitli, or the god of war. He was the guardian power that directed them in their wanderings, conducted them to the spot for founding their city, and made them victorious over their enemies. Thousands and tens of thousands of their prisoners of war were offered on his altars; hence the. Aztecs never killed their enemies if they could take them captive.

The image of this ' Mexican Mars' was of gigantic size, with a hideous, distorted countenance. In his right hand was a bow, and in his left a bunch of golden arrows. His waist was encircled by the folds of a golden serpent, and around his neck was a chain of gold and silver hearts, indicating the kind of sacrifice with which he was most delighted.

The great temple was completed and dedicated in the reign of Ahuitzotl, the eighth king of Mexico and predecessor of Montezuma. For its dedication, which took place in 1486, the prisoners taken in all parts of the empire had been reserved for many years. — They were ranged in files of nearly two miles in length ; the ceremony occupied several days, and sixty thousand captives are said to have been sacrificed to the terrible war-god. The number seems incredible, but the skulls of their victims were preserved in buildings for the purpose, and the Spaniards counted one hundred and thirty-six thousand of these ghastly trophies in one of these edifices; so that the'estimate, that twenty thousand human victims were sacrificed annually in the country, comes within the bounds of probability.

The manner of conducting the sacrifice was this. The victim was arrayed in the insignia of the god to whom he was to be offered. The solemn procession wound up the sides of the temple. ' On the summit,' says the historian of the Conquest, ' he was received by six priests, whose long and matted

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locks flowed disorderly over their sable robes, covered with hieroglyphic scrolls of mystic import. They led him to the sacrificial stone, a huge block of jasper, with its upper surface somewhat convex. On this the prisoner was stretched. Five priests secured his head and and limbs; while a sixth clad in a scarlet mantle, emblamatic of his bloody office, dexterously opened the breast of the wretched victim with a sharp razor of itztli, — a volcanic substance hard as flint, — and, inserting his hand in the wound, tore out the palpitating heart. The minister of death first holding this up towards the sun, an object of worship throughout Anahuac, cast it at the feet of the deity to whom the temple was devoted, while the multitudes below prostrated themselves in humble adoration.'

More revolting still, the body was given to the warrior who had taken the captive in battle, and sometimes served up as an entertainment, and eaten by himself and friends. The remains were burned or given to the wild beasts in the royal menagerie. Thus, with all their claims to civilization and refinement, the ancient Mexicans were stained by a bloody system of religion and a canabalism more shocking than that of the most degraded barbarians.

Their religious system was relieved by more mild and agreeable features. They had some conception of an invisible, incorporeal, and omnipresent God, the Creator and Lord of the universe. ' They imagined,' says Prescott, ' three separate states of existence in the future life. The wicked — comprehending the greater part of mankind — were to expiate their sins in a place of everlasting darkness. Another class — with no other merit than that of having died of certain diseases, capriciously selected — were to enjoy a negative existence of indolent contentment. The highest place was reserved, as in most warlike nations, for the heroes who fell in battle or in sacrifice. They passed at once into the presence of the sun, whom they accompanied with songs and choral dances, in his brightprogress through the heavens; and, after some years, their spirits went to animate the clouds and singing birds of beautiful ■ plumage, and to rove amidst the rich blossoms and odors of the gardens of Paradise. Such was the heaven of the Aztecs ; more refined in its character than that of the more polished pagan, whose elysium reflected only the martial sports or sensual gratifications of this life. In the destiny they assign to the wicked, we discern similar traces af iefinement ; since the abandonment of all physical torture forms a striking contrast to the schemes of suffering so ingeniously devised by the fancies of the most enlightened nations. In all this, so contrary to the natural suggestions of the ferocious Aztec, we see the evidence of a higher civilization inherited from their predecessors in the land.'

The Mexicans had no alphabet or written language, but used a symbolical or picture-writing, which consisted in delineating objects and events by rude paintings or outline sketches. When the envoys from Montezuma met the Spaniards on their arrival, one of the attendants was observed with his pencil, sketching en a sort of canvas; and on examining his work, it was found to be a delineation of the Spaniards, their dress, arms, horses, &x., designed to convey to Montezuma the appearance of his unwelcome visitors. ' They were net,' says Dr. Robertson, ' acquainted with any other mode of recording transactions than that of delineating the objects which they wished to represent. But they could exhibit a complex series of events in progressive order, and describe, by a proper disposition of figures, the occurrences of a king's reign from his accession to his death ; the progress of an infant's education from its birth until it attained to the years of maturity ; the different recompenses and marks of distinction conferred upon warriors, in proportion to the exploits which they had performed.

Some singular specimens of this picture-

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writing have been preserved, which arp justly considered as the most curious monuments of art brought from the New World. The most valuable of these was published by Purchas in sixty-six plates. It is divided into three parts. The first contains the history of the Mexican empire under its ten monarchs. The second is a tribute roll, representing what each conquered town paid into the royal treasury. The third is a code of their institutions, domestic, political and military. Another specimen of Mexican painting has been published in thirty-two plates, by the present archbishop of Toledo. To both is annexed a full explanation of what the figures were intended to represent, which was obtained by the Spaniards from Indians well acquainted with their own arts. The style of painting in all these is the same. They represent things not words. They exhibit images to the eye, not ideas to the understanding. They may therefore be considered as the earliest and most imperfect • essay of men in their progress towards discovering the art of writing.

The defects in this mode of recording transactions must have been early felt. To paint every occurrence was from its nature a very tedious operation ; and as affairs became more complicated, and events multiplied in any society, its annals must have swelled to an enormous bulk. Besides this, no objects could be delineated but those of sense ; the conceptions of the mind had no corporeal form ; and as long as picture-writing could not convey an idea of these, it must have been a very imperfect art.

It is only in one instance, the notation of numbers, that we discern any attempt to exhibit ideas which had no corporeal form. The Mexican painters had invented artificial marks, or signs of convention for this purpose. By means of these they computed the years of their kings' reigns, as well as the amount of tribute to be paid into the royal treasury. The figure of a circle represented a unit ; and in small numbers the computation was made by repeating it. Large numbers were expressed by a peculiar mark ; and they had such as denoted all integral numbers, from twenty to eight thousand. The short duration of their empire prevented the Mexicans from advancing further in that long course which conducts men from the labor of delineating real objects, to the simplicity and ease of alphabetic writing. Their records, notwithstanding some dawn of such ideas as might have led to a, more perfect style, can be considered as little more than a species of picture writing so far improved as to mark their superiority over the savage tribes of America ; but still so defective as to prove that they had not proceeded far beyond the first stage in that progress which must be completed before any people can be ranked among polished nations.