The Conquest of Mexico

Volume 1

THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO

By W. H. PRESCOTT

illustrated by KEITH HENDERSON

With an Introduction by T. A. JOYCE

volume one

LONDON CHATTO & WINDUS 1922

List of Illustrations

ARTIST'S PREFACE

THIS edition is the outcome of an obsession, a certainty that when at last the war should come to an end I must make a picture-book of the Conquest of Mexico. With conquest in the air, soldiering an all too familiar trade, religions in the melting-pot, and on the horizon a romantic brightness, this book seemed to me like the ship in which I would sail away to undiscovered islands.

From the outset, however, it was evident that the charm of such an adventure might be complicated by the necessity for an unusual amount of archæological impedimenta, my objective being ancient Mexico, not modern Mexico, where almost every trace of the old splendour was long ago obliterated by Christian zeal. The Gods have fled that country, and now one finds some of them sitting in ghostly quiet in the British Museum.

There, when I went to apply for further information, the authorities were so astonishingly kind that at first I thought I must have been mistaken for some important personage. But no. Such courtesy is "the tradition" apparently. Mr. Joyce, the high-priest, gave me a table to work at, while from cupboards and cases the treasures of ancient Mexico (their very curves a shock of lovely surprise) one by one were brought out to be studied at leisure, as well as books such as the Codex Zouche, the Codex Borgia, the Codex Laud, the Codex Fejérváry-Mayer—superb pictorial achievements that every art student ought to investigate. There are no barriers, no unreasonable restrictions, and Mr. Joyce never seems to get tired of answering questions. Yet for all he has taught me, for all those generous hours, and especially for consenting to write so classic an Introduction, I have only gratitude to offer in return. Here, also, I would thank Lord Cowdray, Miss L. E. Elliott, Mr. Alfred Maudslay, Mr. Russell Cairns, Mr. T. A. Sprague, Mr. W. P. Pycraft, and Mr. Julian Huxley for the help they have each given in various ways. As to the illustrations themselves, it may be noted that throughout Book I., that is to say before the discovery of Mexico, and while Mexican art was as yet untainted by European influence, I have annotated the pages with line drawings from native pictures. In Book II. the Europeans arrive. I imagine myself as having arrived with them—as a spy to begin with and eventually a deserter.

In the following list of illustrations there are a number of references to the Codices, to early Spanish Chroniclers, and other sources. These I have included, in order that purely archæological details may easily be verified, and their value not confused with the æsthetic intention—which is, of course, the main issue.

KEITH HENDERSON.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

WITH NOTES BY THE ARTIST

|page

|Stone rattlesnake, from the British Museum. Title Page.

|10. | Drawings of flowering plants from ancient Mexican picture-books known as the Codices Magliabecchiano, pp. 47, 74, 83; and Vaticanus A, 57 (Kingsborough).

|11. | |A thunderstorm. Codex Vaticanus A.p.139 (Kingsborough). The downward streaks represent lightning. Up above are conventional tongues to show that the heavens are speaking.

|11. | |Unknown shrub. Codex Laud, p. 10.

|12. | |A snowstorm. Codex Vaticanus A.p.133 (Kingsborough).

|12. | |Tree. Codex Dehesa, p. 4.

|15. | |The Maya war-god, whose effigy the Spaniards almost certainly must have seen in Cozumel. Codex Dresden, p.6 (Kingsborough).

|16. | |Eagle with serpent on a cactus. Codices Borgia, p.20; Boturini, p.2 (Kingsborough); and Fejérváry-Mayer, p. 27.

|21. | |A human sacrifice. Codex Laud, p.8 (Kingsborough).

|22. | |Maize (Zea mays). Codex Vienna, p. 17.

|26. | |Tepoztecatl, one of the octli (or pulque) gods. Codex Magliabecchiano, p. 49.

|28. | |Spider monkeys (Ateles ater). See p. 362, and the Codices Vaticanus B, p. 86; Borgia, p. 13; and Bodley, pp. 13, 32 (Kingsborough).

|29. | |Fishes. Codex Borgia, pp. 13, 14.

|33. | |Profile of a stone head, in the Vienna Museum, and two full faces, the one with staring eyes from the Codex Bodley, p. 16 (Kingsborough), the other from the mask of the god Xipe in the British Museum (with the flayed, outer mouth, omitted). See note to p. 76, Vol. II.

|38. | Huitzilopochtli. Codex Borgia, p. 50. Notice the humming-birds, the huilzitzilin on his massive necklace.

|39. | Quetzalcoatl. Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, p. 30. The rare quetzal (Pharomacrus mocinno) is of a shimmering green that changes to blue or purple or gold. See pp. 100, 183, 363, and note to p. 326.

|41. | The temple of Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc in Tenochtitlan. Codex Vaticanus A, p.118 (Kingsborough).

|44. | Temples. Codices Bologna, p. 11 (Kingsborough); Vaticanus B, p. 16; Vaticanus A, p. 118. In their drawings of temples, the Mexican artists very greatly minimised the substructure, the terraces and the great stone stairways leading up to the top platform at the east end of which stood the shrine of the god, because to their minds, so dominated by the idea of a mysterious and supernatural presence within the sanctuary, it was instinctively obvious that the sanctuary should be made to dominate the drawing. See note to p. 46.

|45. | Maize plants (Zea mays). Codices Bodley, p. 37 (Kingsborough); and Vaticanus A,p.62.

|46. | Tezcatlipoca. Codex Borgia, p. 21. Eyes, noses and usually also teeth were to Mexican artists the beautiful, the essential features. From the chin downwards everything, with the exception of the hands, should be reduced in scale they considered, in order to give extra prominence to the more important parts. Prominence had to be given, too, to the insignia of gods and of illustrious persons, for (without the niceties of portraiture) it was mainly by their insignia that individual could be recognised.

|47. | Flowering sprays, probably of one of the mimosea. Lienzo di Tlaxcala, p. 67.

|47. | A human sacrifice. Codex Borgia, p. 73.

|48. | Tlaloc. Codex Borgia, p. 11. See also note to p. 213.

|57. | Woodpeckers. Codex Zouche, pp. 14, 33. The charm of such little drawings as these and of ancient Mexican Art in general is more commonly appreciated now, though less than a century ago even Prescott was but lukewarm. Earlier still, fifty years or so after the Conquest, Acosta (translated by Purchas: Hakluyt series, p. 312) dismissed all Mexican artists' work as "foul and deformed," while Diaz denounced Huitzilopochtli's statue in its shrine on the great teocalli as merely "monstrous" (see Maudslay's fine translation, also in the Hakluyt series. Vol. II. p. 76).

|60. | Aloe. Codex Laud, p. 9 (Kingsborough).

|61. | A rattlesnake and aXiuhcoatl, a mythical beast typifying fire and lightning. Codex Zouche, p. 79.

|61. | Flowering plants. Codices Vaticanus A,p.29 (Kingsborough); and Zouche, p.20.

|66. | The Mexican Tonalamatl or calendar. Codex Telleriano-Remensis.

|68. | A quail (Cyrtonyx monuzuma). See p. 362. These birds were regularly offered up to the gods. Codex Zouche, p. 38.

|69. | A partial eclipse of the sun. Codex Vaticanus A,p.126 (Kingsborough).

|70. | The Moon. Codex Borgia, p.10. The ancient Mexicans saw in the moon not a man but a rabbit surrounded with water.

|70. | A Quaunxicalli or incense brazier. Codex Laud, p. 17.

|71. | Flowering plants. Codices Fejérváry-Mayer, p.29; and Borgia, p.14.

|76. | A fisherman. Codex Vaticanus B, p.32.

|77. | Cinteotl, the Maize God. Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, p.11

|77. | Cacao tree {Teeobroma cacao). Codex Vaticanus A,p.5 (Kingsborough).

|78. | Maize (Zea mays). Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, p. 29.

|78. | Aloes (Agave atrovirens). Codices Vaticanus B, p.56; and Fejérváry-Mayer, p.27.

|79. | Lily (Zephyranthes). Lienzo di Tlaxcala, p. D.

|81. | Rabbit (Sylvilagus sp.). Codex Borgia, p.18. Oviedo (Purchas, p. 219) considered the Mexican rabbits as "liker Hares than Conies, yet less than Conies."

|82. | Humming-birds. Codices Laud, p.14 (Kingsborough); Borgia, p.36; and Bologna, p.10. See note to p.232.

|84. | Flowering plant. Codex Magliabecchiano, p.34.

|86. | Turkeys (Meleagris americana) adorned with the breast-brush of Ocellata. See p.363, and the Codices Vaticanus B,p.29; and Borgia, p.50.

|86. | Guava tree (Psidium guava). Lienzo di Tlaxcala, p.76.

|97. | Flowering plant with seed vessels that suggest Helecteres. Codex Telleriano Remensis, p.19.

|98. | I. Rattlesnake (Crotalus terrificus). Codex Vaticanus B,p.27. In addition to its forked tongue two others of a purely conventional nature issue from the creature's mouth to show that it is hissing. Its head and rattle have been embellished with plumes, and in its nose are two nose-jewels.

|98-99. | 2, 14, 15, 16, 17. Jaguars (Felis onca). Codices Vaticanus B,p.25; Zouche, pp. 24, 50; Borgia, p. 44; Laud, p. 22 (Kingsborough). "Terrible beasts," Oviedo writes (Purchas, pp. 206, 207), "in shape like unto a Tigre. Their bodies and their legs are full of black spots one neere unto another and divided with a circumference or fringe of reddish colour, showing, as it were, a faire work and correspondent picture."

|98. | 3, 4. Tortoises. Codices Zouche, p.43, and Bologna, p.16.

|98-99. | 5, 6, 18. Crocodiles. Codices Laud, p.14; Zouche, p.75; and Fejérváry-Mayer, p.4. The Laud crocodile is furnished with two nose-jewels and a headdress of feathers.

|99-100. | 7, 8, 9, 10. Spider Monkeys (Ateles ater). Codices Vaticanus B,p.32; Zouch, pp.1,7, and Selden, p.18. All of them wear ear-rings and one, the least dignified, a necklace. See p. 362.

11. Racoon (Procyon later). See p.363 and the Codex Zouche, p.55.

12. Peccary. (Dicotyles). See p. 363 and the Codex Zouche, p. 73.

13. Wolf (Canis latrans) or Coyote, properly spelled Coyotl. Codex Zouche, p. 26.

19, 20, 21. Quetzals (Pharomacrus mocinno). See pp. 183, 363, and notes to pp. 39, 326, and the Codices Zouche, pp. 70, 71, and Borgia 53.

22, 23. Red and blue macaws (Ara macao). See p. 362, and the Codex Selden, p. 7.

24. Heron. See p. 329; and the Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, p. 32.

25. Roseate spoonbill. (Ajaja ajaja). Codex Laud, p. 12.

26. Raven(?). See Vol. II. p.4. Codex Mendoza, p.35 (Kingsborough).

27,29. Eagles. See p. 319, and the Codices Borgia, p.20, and Zouche, p.69.

28. Vulture. Codex Borgia, p. 68.

|103. | Trees. Codices Borgia, p.49; Bologna, p.9; and Vaticanus B,p.17.

|104. | Stag. See p. 362, and the Codex Vienna, p. 8.

|131. | Cortés was nineteen when he bade adieu to his native shores in 1504.

|133. | "But I came to get cold," said Cortés.

|147. | Cortés at thirty-three. There are no authentic portraits of the Spaniards as they were at the time of the Conquest, though a few of them, including Cortés, were painted afterwards when they were old.

|151. | Great northern divers (Gavia immer).

|152. | The Spanish soldiers established a friendly intercourse. Private Bernal Diaz (Maudslay, Vol. I. p. 223; Vol. II. pp. 60, 151; Vol. IV. p. 94)—eventually promoted to the rank of captain—mentions in his memoirs the nondescript outfit of his fellow-adventurers. Very few of them had complete suits of armour, and indeed quite early in the campaign, at Tabasco, the General himself, be it observed, lost one of his sandals. Later on it was definitely laid down in routine orders that each man must be equipped with such unorthodox gear as quilted cap, doublet, leggings, sandals, and so forth. As to the Cozumel natives, it may be noted that their foreheads, unlike those of the Aztec and other Mexicans, are artificially flattened according to the old Maya custom.

|154. | Cozumel doves (Leptoptila gaumeri).

|164. | The first cavalry charge at Tabasco.

|170. | Malinal of Painalla, called by the Spaniards Marina. She is holding Cortés' helmet and gloves as they are shown in the Hospital de Jesus portrait. There are no contemporary portraits of her or of any of her compatriots.

|174. | Sketching the Spaniards. See the Codex Mendoza, p.71 (Kingsborough).

|174. | Sketch of an officer's charger. Codex Baranda, p. 3A.

|174. | A trooper feeding the horses. Lienzo di Tlaxcala, p. 28.

|175. | A mounted man at a canter, holding up a cross. Codex Telleriano-Remensis, p. 44.

|175. | A gun in action. Lienzo di Tlaxcala, p. 13.

|177. | Scorpion and centipedes. Codices Zouche, p.27; Vaticanus B, pp.15,95.

|177. | A stinging insect. Codex Borgia, p. 27. Oviedo (Purchas, p. 164) describes such a creature as "a little mischievous worm, which we may number among the kindes of Fleas."

|178. | Posthumous portrait of Montezuma in his youth as an army officer. His face is painted, the upper half yellow, the lower half red. Codex Vaticanus A, p. 128 (Kingsborough).

|180. | The heron standard of Tlaxcala. Lienzo di Tlaxcala, p. 22.

|181. | Quetzalcoatl. Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, p. 30.

|182. | One of the portents, a strange light towards the East, seen before the arrival of the Spaniards. Codex Vaticanus, A, p. 133.

|182. | Short-eared owls (Asio flammeus). The favourite birds of Mictlantecutli, god of death: sinister birds. See p. 213, and Vol. II. p. 12, and the Codices Vaticanus B, p. 91; Bologna, p. 12; and Borgia, p. 18.

|183. | A sacrificed quetzal (Pharomocrus mocinno). See pp. 100, 363, and notes to pp. 39, 326, and the Codex Vienna, p. 42.

|185. | Montezuma (or, to give him his full name, Montecuzoma Xocoyotzin) offering incense to Quetzalcoatl. The Emperor wears the xiuitzontli, the royal crown of turquoise, while his attitude is one of the stereotyped censing attitudes to be found in almost any of the Codices. His vision of the god—in the rather uncanny mask of Eecatl—was suggested by Acosta (Purchas, p. 284) who says that the gods themselves whom he worshipped "told Montezuma these heavy tidings of the ruine of his Kingdome and tormented him by visions wherewith he remained so melancholy and troubled as he was void of judgement." Of Quetzalcoatl the same chronicler says (p. 315), "This Idoll had the form of a man and many toyes of gold upon the legges; with a thousand other foolish inventions whereof all had their significations." See p. 289 and the Codex Borgia, p. 51, and Mexican Archaeology, Joyce, Ch. II.

|190. | A homily by father Olmedo. The improvised pulpit is a petaca, a chest for holding grain. In his congregation are both priests and warriors with striped faces and carved animal-helmets.

|198. | Pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) in flight.

|198. | Turkeys (Meleagris ocellata, with the breast brush of gallopavo).

|199. | Aloe (Agave atrovietus).

|199. | Aztec paroquet (Conurus aztec) in flight.

|199. | Orchid (Sobralia macracantha).

|200. | The Totonacs came with wreaths and bunches of flowers. See the Codex Magliabecchiano, p. 39, and Ramirez (translated by Charnay), p. 101.

|205. | Arrival of the Aztec tribute collectors.

|210. | The Cacique of Cempoalla gave Cortés eight women richly dressed, wearing collars and ornaments of gold.

|213. | Destruction of the idols. The idols are Mictlantecutli, god of death, and Tlaloc, god of rain (see p. 48); the latter with trunk-like hose ornament and right hand uplifted in the peculiar gesture of command so frequently represented in the Codices. Bernal Diaz (Maudslay, Vol. I. p. 188) says these idols were "as big as calves":the Anonymous Conqueror says, "the size of a man or even larger" (Anonymous Conqueror, Cortés Society, p. 47).

|230. | sc|Native Tamanes to drag the guns and transport the baggage. See the Codex Mendoza, p. 63 (Kingsborough).

|232. | Humming-bird. See p.82, and also Oviedo (Purchas, p. 168) who says, "This bird, beside her littlenesse, is of such velositie and swiftnesse in flying, that who so seeth her flying in the aire, cannot see her flap or beate her wings after any other sort than doe the humble Bees."

|232. | Sun bittern (Eurypyga major).

|234. | Orchid (Coryantbes speciosa).

|250. | The Tlaxcalan advanced guard.

|252. | The main body with their plumes and banners, above which floated the white heron of Tlaxcala. See the Lienzo di Tlaxcala. In the foreground are the war-priests with their bodies dyed black. They are using the atlatl or spear thrower. See Gesammelte Abhandlungen. Seler, p. 368 et seq.

|264. | Marina had done much to fortify the drooping spirits of the soldiers.

|271. | Marina communicated her suspicions to Cortés. A couple of greyhounds brought over by Cortés—presumably for running down game for the mess—are remarked on by Diaz (Maudslay, Vol. I. p. 140).

|274. | Courier after courier brought the Emperor intelligence of the Spaniards' successes. They—the common couriers—could not, of course, raise their eyes in the Presence. Behind the Emperor is a group of distracted priests. See the Codex Telleriano-Remensis, p. 18.

|289. | Quetzalcoatl in the mask of Eecatl. Codex Borgia, p. 19.

|294. | Examination of the Cacique's wife.

|298. | Examination of the two priests. The priests wore cassocks and long gowns reaching to their feet (Diaz, Maudslay, Vol. I. pp. 20, 184, 274). Their nails also were very long and their hair so matted that, "like sheeps' wool," it could not be combed. Acosta (Purchas, pp. 347, 348) says "their hair hung down like tresses or a Horse mane." Incense was always offered at important interviews.

|300. | Examination of the Aztec ambassadors.

|304. | The massacre at Cholula.

|311. | The Emperor Montezuma trembled on his throne in the mountains.

|319. | Golden eagle (Aquila chrysactus).

|320. | Map of Lake Tezcuco as it was, approximately, at the time of the Conquest; its present level being much lower. After Seler and Maudslay.

|326. | The Prince Cacama of Tezcuco made the Mexican salutation usually addressed to persons of high rank. See Ixtlilxochitl, translated by Ternaux-Compans, p. 215. Fixed in the Prince's diadem is a panache of quetzal plumes, such as might only be worn by the higher commands in the army. These beautiful iridescent feathers I found to be so airy that even in apparently still weather they continue wavering delicately to and fro. See pp. 99, 183, 363, and note to p. 39.

|328. | Eager to catch a glimpse of the strangers. See the Codex Mendoza, pp. 61, 64 (Kingsborough).

|329. | Great white heron (Adea occidentalis).

|330. | Little snowy egret (Casmetodus albus egretta).

|332. | Aztec Caciques came to announce the approach of the Emperor. The Lienzo di Tlaxcala shows clearly that standards were carried on the back during action, but in the hand for all formal or diplomatic occasions.

|335. | Arrival of the Emperor Montezuma. In the Emperor's nose and lower lip are carved jadeite chalchiuitls, the most valued of Mexican jewels. In his left hand is the sceptre, half of gold and half of wood, "like a wand of justice" that he always held when in his palanquin, according to Diaz (Maudslay, Vol II. p. 70).

|338. | Montezuma came forward leaning on the arms of the Lords of Tezcuco and Iztlapalapan. Cortés advanced to meet him. That lurcher dog is mentioned by Diaz (Maudslay, Vol. I. p. 220), and it appears on several pages of the Lienzo di Tlaxcala.

|347. | "You too," the Emperor added with a smile, "have been told, perhaps, that I am a god." Montezuma is here arrayed in the insignia of the god Tezcatlipoca, with mirrors (tezcatl) from which smoke (—poca) issues, one on his celestial head, the other on his celestial ankle. See Mexican Archæology, Joyce, p. 44. He has assumed the pose of authority referred to in the note to p. 213. He is for a moment trying this on Cortés, about whose divine right he is still fatally uncertain. They are both smelling their ceremonial bouquets in observance of the etiquette of the country. See the Lienzo di Tlaxcala, p. G, the Codex Borgia, p. 21, and Ixtlilxochitl (Ternaux-Compans), p. 199.

|362. | Axolotl (Amblystoma tigrinum). Black-tailed deer (Odocoiles columbianus). See p. 104. Red and blue macaw (Ara macao). See p. 100. Hooded merganser (Lophodytes cuculatus). Spider monkey (Ateles ater). See pp. 28, 98. Harlequin quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae). See p. 68. Black-winged stilt (Himantopus mexicanus).

|363. | Quetzals (Pharomacrus mocinno). See pp. 100, 183, and notes to pp. 39, 326 Racoons (Procyon lotor). Californian vulture (Gymnogyps californianus). King vulture (Pseudogryphus californianus). Collared peccary (Dicotyles tajacu).

|367. | Under the supervision of certain aged females. Just as the Emperor used to identify himself in outward appearance with certain gods, so here his wives have to some extent identified themselves with goddesses such as Chalchiutlicue of the tasselled cape and stepped nose-jewel. See the statues of Chalchiutlicue in the British Museum. A Mexican hairless dog peers round from behind the old nurse, who is scrutinising a feather-work fan, a present, I dare say, to the Chalchiutlicue girl from the Emperor. See Gesammelte Abhandlungen. Seler, p. 322, and the Codex Vaticanus A, p. 89 (Kingsborough).

|368. | The Emperor drank chocolate (or more correctly chocolatl). On his left arm he wears the maconcatl. See Mexican Archæology, Joyce, pp. 113, 155; Ramirez (Charnay), p. 89; and the Codex Duran, p. 18.

|369. | Dessert.

|370. | Music. See the Codices Magliabecchiano, p. 82, and Borbonicus, p. 4.

|372. | After meals the Emperor's dancers danced before him. See the Codices Borgia, pp. 62, 64, and Vaticanus B, p. 52.

|382. | Taking Cortés by the hand, Montezuma pointed out the localities of the neighbourhood, Cortes meanwhile reconnoitring the scene, no doubt, from a purely tactical point of view.

|390. | Montezuma turned from it with a shudder. The embroidered cloak, the tilmatli, does in fact, I found, give to a squatting figure precisely that odd abbreviated look that in the Codices might perhaps be mistaken for careless or inefficient draughtsmanship. For the posture of the head-bearer, see the Codex Borgia, p. 72.

|392. | Cortés was heard pacing his apartment to and fro.

|394. | Arrest of the Emperor Montezuma. See the Codex Vaticanus A, p. 86 (Kingsborough), and one of the large Panuco figures in the British Museum. Cortés has on the necklace composed of "golden crabs" that was given him by the Emperor at their second meeting. See Diaz, Maudslay, Vol. II. p. 43. The maconcatl, delivered to Cortés only a moment ago, can be seen protruding beyond his right arm.

|400. | Montezuma was speechless under the infliction of this last insult. Of the men detailed for this unpleasing job (see Cortés second despatch, dated Oct. 30, 1520) two at least are lacking in enthusiasm, for Montezuma was rather popular amongst the troops. Diaz (Maudslay, Vol. II. p. 60) relates how they always took off their caps to him, and has even put it on record (Vol. II. p. 107) that he once kissed the hands of the royal captive, who on this occasion stands resplendent in the plumage of the Bird-Snake, Quetzalcoatl. See the green image of that god in the British Museum.

|402. | The burning of Quauhpopoca. See Ixtlilxochitl, p. 227.

|412. | The Prince Cacama endeavoured to rouse the Emperor.

|414. | When arrested the Prince Cacama abated nothing of his proud and lofty bearing.

Introduction

INTRODUCTION

WHEN William Hickling Prescott wrote the Conquest of Mexico he gave to literature something more than the vivid and polished narrative of one of the most romantic episodes in the world's history. The comparatively high stage of cultural development attained by the Mexicans, together with their traditions of a still more glorious past, fired his imagination, and he attempted to give also a critical survey of their civilisation and to trace its rise and source. To this subject he devoted his first six chapters and a long appendix, and it is with that portion of his work that this introductory note is in the main concerned. As regards his narrative, comparatively little has come to light during the last eighty years which would tend to modify his account of the operations of the Spaniards in Mexico and the adjoining countries to the south. The discovery by Mrs. Zelia Nuttall of the Crónica de la Nueva España by Francisco Cervantes de Salazar, a personal friend of Cortés, in the Biblioteca Nacional of Spain (a work which had been used by the historian Herrera, but to which Prescott had not direct access), indicates that the account of the siege of Mexico city is not always correct in detail. Moreover, A. P. Maudslay, who has devoted much study to the vexed question of the topography of the city, has been able to prove that the camp of Alvarado was pitched, not in the vicinity of the great pyramid of Tenochtitlan, but close to that of Tlaltelolco. But, however important such details may be for the intensive study of a single episode, they should be viewed in their proper proportion to the whole work. From this aspect it may be claimed that few historical treatises have stood the test of time so triumphantly. The achievement becomes the more remarkable, and it is in no sense of apology that this point of view is introduced, when the work is regarded as a compilation from an enormous mass of material, much of it biassed, by a man who was practically blind.

With the archæological and ethnological chapters of Prescott's work, however, the case is somewhat different. The remarkable advance made in the various branches of Anthropological science during the last eighty years has wrought a profound difference, not only in the point of view from which primitive communities are regarded, but also in the methods of approaching the problems which they present. Furthermore, the discoveries made since Prescott's day in Southern Mexico and Central America have entirely revolutionised the current opinions regarding Mexican culture. But, before proceeding to a short critical examination of Prescott's archæological conclusions, it is only just to summarise briefly the condition of Anthropological (in the widest sense) knowledge in the year 1843, which saw the publication of the Conquest of Mexico. It will be seen then that his fine imagination, combined with a singular sense of proportion, carried him far nearer the truth than might legitimately be expected in the case of one equipped only with the meagre critical apparatus of the period. In his attempt to illustrate and elucidate the various features of Mexican culture, he cast his net very wide. He draws parallels from Ethnology, Classical Archæology, Egyptology, and Oriental Studies all more or less still in embryo; and, like any other author who employs the comparative method, is to a great degree at the mercy of his material. The result shows a singular clarity of vision and critical balance.

In 1843 Anthropology was not yet a science. It is true that the Societé ethnologique de Paris was formed in 1839, but it was not a success. The Ethnological Society of London (of which the Royal Anthropological Institute is the direct successor in unbroken line) was founded in the same year in which Prescott published the Conquest of Mexico. In 1859, sixteen years later, was established the Societé d'anthropologie de Paris, and it is a significant commentary upon the trend of thought of the period, when religion and science were still at loggerheads, that Broca, the founder, "was bound over to keep the discussions within legitimate and orthodox limits, and a police agent attended its sittings for two years to enforce the stipulation." It is true, nevertheless, that the first foundations of modern Anthropology had been laid. The pioneers of biological classification, Linnaeus, Buffon, Blumenbach, had already given to the world works of enormous importance; but de Quatrefages, Virchow, and Broca were yet to come. The principles of evolution had been foreshadowed in the writings of Lamarck, Cuvier, and Saint Hilaire; but the great scientific epoch, marked by the works of Darwin, Herbert Spencer, and Huxley, was yet to dawn. So much for Anthropology on the physical side; when we seek for scientific authors who have tried to deal with mankind on a broad basis, both from the physical and cultural points of view, we find only Prichard and, perhaps, Desmoulins. It is difficult to believe that Prescott had not at least read Prichard's earlier works, though he never quotes him, but the monumental Natural History of Man was not published until 1843.

So far I have mentioned names which serve to illustrate the embryonic stage of Anthropological science in Prescott's day; I come now to the authors whose researches have a more direct bearing upon the particular problems with which he was confronted. Prescott's method is, from one point of view, an early attempt at comparative ethnology, and, to judge from the material at his command, a very successful attempt. But the time of Edward Burnett Tylor, who first raised that branch of Anthropology to a science, was not yet, and one wonders what would have been the effect upon Prescott's acute brain if he had but skimmed the pages of The Early History of Mankind (1865) and Primitive Culture (1871) which have so profoundly influenced modern thought. Again, Sociology, as we now understand it, was practically non-existent. Comte, it is true, was available; but Herbert Spencer, Buckle, Bachofen, Morgan (the founder of Sociology as a science) and M'Lennan had not produced the works which render their names memorable. Psychology, too, was in its infancy, and it was not brought into true relationship with ethnological studies until the time of Bastian, who was the first to insist upon its Anthropological significance. And Bastian was only seventeen when the Conquest of Mexico was published. The question of primitive religion had not really been faced in Prescott's day. An unbending, though sincere, church was still blind to the many pagan survivals which it embodied, and which brought some of its rites into direct relation with the ceremonies of primitive peoples, still regarded by a large majority as the direct inspiration of a personal devil. While insisting upon the purely symbolic nature of much of its own ceremonial, it could see no symbolism in the practices of the pagan. It could not even realise how easily symbolism becomes degraded to magic, how easily magic becomes rationalised to symbolism. That, even in one social complex, the symbolism of the educated is magic in the eyes of the uneducated. Yet, in spite of the atmosphere of his day, Prescott maintains a surprising equilibrium in his treatment of Mexican religion, though he had no full appreciation of its composite nature nor of the inner meaning of much of its ceremonial. To summarise, it is perhaps not a great exaggeration to say that Prescott, on the whole, drew little more, in the way of Anthropological criteria, from his immediate predecessors and contemporaries, than was afforded him by the combined works of Hesiod, Herodotus, Aristotle, Strabo, and Lucretius.