IV. PALACES AND HOUSEHOLDS OF THE NAHUA KINGS…

IV. PALACES AND HOUSEHOLDS OF THE NAHUA KINGS

EXTENT AND INTERIOR OF THE GREAT PALACE IN MEXICO--THE PALACE OF NEZAHUALCOYOTL, KING OF TEZCUCO--THE ZOÖLOGICAL COLLECTIONS OF THE NAHUA MONARCHS--MONTEZUMA'S ORATORY--ROYAL GARDENS AND PLEASURE-GROUNDS--THE HILL OF CHAPULTEPEC--NEZAHUALCOYOTL'S COUNTRY RESIDENCE AT TEZCOZINCO--TOLTEC PALACES--THE ROYAL GUARD--THE KING'S MEALS--AN AZTEC CUISINE--THE AUDIENCE CHAMBER--AFTER-DINNER AMUSEMENTS--THE ROYAL WARDROBE--THE KING AMONG HIS PEOPLE--MEETING OF MONTEZUMA II. AND CORTÉS--THE KING'S HAREM--REVENUES OF THE ROYAL HOUSEHOLD--POLICY OF AZTEC KINGS.

[Sidenote: RELIABILITY OF AUTHORITIES.]

In the preceding chapter we have seen how the monarchs were chosen, and anointed, and crowned, and feasted, and lectured; now let us follow them to their homes. And here I must confess I am somewhat staggered by the recitals. It is written that as soon as the new king was formally invested with the right of sovereignty, he took possession of the royal palaces and gardens, and that these abodes of royalty were on a scale of magnificence almost unparalleled in the annals of nations. How far we may rely on these accounts it is difficult to say; how we are to determine disputed questions is yet more difficult. In the testimony before us, there are two classes of evidence: one having as its base selfishness, superstition, and patriotism; the other disaffection, jealousy, and hatred. Between these contending evils, fortunately, we may at least approximate to the truth. To illustrate: there can be no doubt that much concerning the Aztec civilization has been greatly exaggerated by the old Spanish writers, and for obvious reasons. It was manifestly to the advantage of some, both priests and adventurers, to magnify the power and consequence of the people conquered, and the cities demolished by them, knowing full well that tales of mighty realms, with countless man-eaters and fabulous riches, would soonest rouse the zeal and cupidity of the Spaniards, and best secure to them both honors and supplies. Gathered from the lips of illiterate soldiers little prone to diminish the glory of their achievements in the narration, or from the manuscripts of native historians whose patriotic statements regarding rival states no longer in existence could with difficulty be disproved, these accounts passed into the hands of credulous writers of fertile imagination, who drank in with avidity the marvels that were told them, and wrote them down with superhuman discrimination--with a discrimination which made every so-called fact tally with the writings of the Fathers. These writers possessed in an eminent degree the faculty called by latter-day scholars the imaginative in history-writing. Whatever was told them that was contrary to tradition was certainly erroneous, a snare of the devil; if any facts were wanting in the direction pointed out by doctrines or dogmas, it was their righteous duty to fill them in. Thus it was in certain instances. But to the truth of the greater part of these relations, testimony is borne by the unanimity of the authors, though this is partly owing to their copying each from the writings of the others, and, more conclusively, by the architectural remains which survived the attacks of the iconoclastic conquerors, and the golden and bejeweled ornaments of such exquisite workmanship as to equal if not surpass anything of the kind in Europe, which ornaments were sent to Spain as proofs of the richness of the country. At this distance of time it is impossible to draw a definite line between the true and the false; nor do I feel it my duty to dogmatize in these matters, but rather to tell the tale as I find it, at the same time laying every shade of evidence before the reader.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: ROYAL PALACE AT MEXICO.]

The principal palace in the city of Mexico was an irregular pile of low buildings, enormous in extent, constructed of huge blocks of tetzontli, a kind of porous stone common to that country, cemented with mortar. The arrangement of the buildings was such that they enclosed three great plazas or public squares, in one of which a beautiful fountain incessantly played. Twenty great doors opened on the squares, and on the streets, and over these was sculptured in stone the coat of arms of the kings of Mexico,--an eagle gripping in his talons a jaguar.[23] In the interior were many halls, each of immense size, and one in particular is said by a writer who accompanied Cortés, known as the Anonymous Conqueror, to have been of sufficient extent to contain three thousand men; while upon the terrace that formed its roof thirty men on horseback could have gone through the spear exercise.[24] In addition to these there were more than one hundred smaller rooms, and the same number of marble baths, which together with the fountains, ponds, and basins in the gardens, were supplied with water from the neighboring hill of Chapultepec. There were also splendid suites of apartments retained for the use of the kings of Tezcuco and Tlacopan, and their attendants, when they visited Mexico, and for the ministers and counselors, and the great lords and their suites, who constantly resided at the capital. Besides these, the private attendants of the king--and their name was legion--had to be provided for; so that when we consider the other extensive buildings, such as the harem, in which, according to some authorities, were nearly three thousand women; the armory, the granaries, storehouses, menageries, and aviaries, which either formed part or were in the immediate vicinity of the palace buildings, we are prepared somewhat to credit the Anonymous Conqueror aforesaid when he affirms that, although he four times wandered about the palace until he was tired, with no other purpose than to view its interior, yet he never succeeded in seeing the whole of it.[25] The walls and floors of halls and apartments were many of them faced with polished slabs of marble, porphyry, jasper, obsidian, and white tecali;[26] lofty columns of the same fine stones supported marble balconies and porticoes, every niche and corner of which was filled with wondrous ornamental carving, or held a grinning grotesquely sculptured head. The beams and casings were of cedar, cypress, and other valuable woods, profusely carved and put together without nails. The roofs of the palace buildings formed a suite of immense terraces, from which a magnificent view of the whole city could be obtained. Superb mats of most exquisite finish were spread upon the marble floors; the tapestry that draped the walls and the curtains that hung before the windows were made of a fabric most wonderful for its delicate texture, elegant designs and brilliant colors; through the halls and corridors a thousand golden censers, in which burned precious spices and perfumes, diffused a subtle odor.[27]

The palace built by Nezahualcoyotl, king of Tezcuco, even surpassed that of Montezuma in many respects. The Tezcucan historian, Ixtlilxochitl, has given a full description of it, which I partially translate. The collection of buildings, which composed not only the royal residence, but also the public offices and courts of law, extended from east to west twelve hundred and thirty-four and a half yards, and from north to south, nine hundred and seventy-eight yards. These were encompassed by a wall made of adobes strongly cemented together, and standing on a foundation of very hard mortar, six feet in width at the base. On its southern and eastern sides the wall was three times a man's stature in height; on the western side, towards the lake, and on the northern side it rose to the height of five times a man's stature.[28] For one third of the distance from the base to the top, the wall grew gradually thinner, while the remainder was of one thickness.[29] Within this inclosure were the royal dwelling, the council-chambers, and other halls and apartments. There were also two large plazas, the outer one of which served as the public market-place. The inner court-yard was surrounded by the various courts of justice, and other halls where matters relative to science, art, and the army were judicially and otherwise considered, all of which will be described in their place, and also a hall where the archives of the kingdom were preserved. In the centre of the court-yard, which was also used as a market-place, was a tennis-court; on the west side were the apartments of the king, more than three hundred in number, all admirably arranged; here were also storehouses for tribute, and splendid suites of apartments reserved for the use of the kings of Mexico and Tlacopan when they visited Tezcuco. These apartments led into the royal pleasure-gardens, which were artistically laid out with labyrinthian walks winding through the dark foliage, where often the uninitiated would lose themselves; then there were sparkling fountains, and inviting baths, and shady groves of cedar and cypress, and ponds well stocked with fish, and aviaries filled with birds of every hue and species, besides extensive menageries.[30] The city of Mexico, however, furnished the largest collection of animals, or at all events it is more fully described by the conquerors than others. The Aztec monarchs took special pleasure in maintaining zoölogical collections on an immense scale, which fancy was probably more fully indulged by Montezuma II. than by any other. That prince caused to be erected in the city of Mexico an immense edifice, surrounded by extensive gardens, which was used for no other purpose than to keep and display all kinds of birds and beasts.

[Sidenote: MONTEZUMA'S MENAGERIE.]

One portion of this building consisted of a large open court, paved with stones of different colors, and divided into several compartments, in which were kept wild beasts, birds of prey, and reptiles. The larger animals were confined in low wooden cages made of massive beams. They were fed upon the intestines of human sacrifices, and upon deer, rabbits, and other animals. The birds of prey were distributed according to their species, in subterranean chambers, which were more than seven feet deep, and upwards of seventeen feet in length and breadth. Half of each chamber was roofed with slabs of stone, under which perches were fixed in the wall, where the birds might sleep and be protected from the rain; the other half was covered only with a wooden grating, which admitted air and sunlight. Five hundred turkeys were daily killed for food for these birds. Alligators were kept in ponds walled round to prevent their escape, and serpents in long cages or vessels, large enough to allow them to move about freely. These reptiles were also fed on human blood and intestines. Mr Prescott tells us that the whole of this menagerie "was placed under the charge of numerous keepers, who acquainted themselves with the habits of their prisoners, and provided for their comfort and cleanliness."

Thomas Gage, the shrewd old English heretic, takes another view. In his quaint though free and slashing style he writes: "But what was wonderful to behold, horrid to see, hideous to hear in this house, was the Officers' daily occupations about these beasts, the floor with blood like a gelly, stinking like a slaughter-house, and the roaring of the Lions, the fearful hissing of the Snakes and Adders, the doleful howling and barking of the Wolves, the sorrowful yelling of the Ownzes and Tigres, when they would have meat. And yet in this place, which in the night season seemed a dungeon of hell, and a dwelling place for the Devil, could a heathen Prince pray unto his Gods and Idols; for near unto this Hall was another of a hundred and fifty foot long and thirty foot broad, where was a chappel with a roof of silver and gold in leaf, wainscotted and decked with great store of pearl and stone, as Agats, Cornerines, Emeralds, Rubies, and divers other sorts; and this was the Oratory where Montezuma prayed in the night season, and in that chappel the Devil did appear unto him, and gave him answer according to his prayers, which as they were uttered among so many ugly and deformed beasts, and with the noise of them which represented Hell it self, were fitted for a Devil's answer."[31]

[Sidenote: ZOÖLOGICAL COLLECTION OF MONTEZUMA.]

In another part of the building was an immense hall which served as an aviary, in which were collected specimens of all the birds in the empire, excepting those of prey. They were of infinite variety and splendid plumage; many specimens were so difficult to obtain that their feathers brought almost fabulous prices in the Mexican market; while some few, either because of their extreme rarity or their inability to live in confinement, did not appear even in the royal aviary, except in imitation, for we are told that, both in Mexico and Tezcuco, all kinds of birds and animals that could not be obtained alive were represented in gold and silver so skillfully that they are said to have served the naturalist Hernandez for models. But to attain this honor, a bird must indeed have been a rara avis, a very phoenix, for it is related by Torquemada and many others, on the authority of a Spanish eye-witness, that the Emperor Montezuma II. happening one day to see a sparrow-hawk soaring through the air, and "taking a fancy to its beauty and mode of flight," ordered his followers to catch it without delay and bring it alive to his hand; and such were the efforts made and care used, that in an incredibly short space of time "they captured that fierce and haughty hawk as though it had been but a gentle domestic pigeon, and brought it to the king."[32]

Marble galleries, supported upon jasper pillars, all of one piece, surrounded this building, and looked out upon a large garden, wherein were groves of rare trees, choice shrubbery and flowers, and fountains filled with fish. But the prominent feature of the garden was ten large ponds for the use of water-fowl, some of which were filled with fresh and some with salt water, according to the nature of the birds that frequented them. Each pond was surrounded with tessellated marble pavement and shaded by clumps of trees. As often as the water began to stagnate it was drained off and renewed. Montezuma is said to have passed much of his time here, alone or with his women, seated in the shade, amid the plashing of fountains and odor of flowers, musing upon affairs of state or diverting his mind from such cares by watching the motions of the strange birds upon the water.

No less than three hundred persons were employed in attending upon the water-fowl and the birds in the aviary; feeding them and in the moulting season carefully gathering the gorgeous plumes, which served as material for the celebrated Aztec feather-work. The habits of the birds were closely studied, and great care was taken that every species should be supplied with the food best suited to its taste, whether it consisted of worms, insects, or seeds. The fish with which the water-fowl were supplied amounted to one hundred and fifty pounds daily. In another hall a collection of human monstrosities was kept. As we shall presently see, many of these unfortunate creatures were trained to play the part of jesters at the royal table. Yet another hall contained a number of albinos, or white Indians, who were considered a great curiosity.

In addition to these city palaces the Aztec monarchs had numerous equally splendid country residences, besides whole tracts of country set apart as royal hunting-grounds. In these parts timber was not allowed to be cut nor game disturbed, which regulations were enforced with great rigor.

[Sidenote: THE HILL OF CHAPULTEPEC.]

The principal country villa of Montezuma II., and the only one of which any signs are yet visible, was situated upon the hill of Chapultepec, which stood in a westerly direction from the city of Mexico. In the days of the Aztec kings, the lake of Tezcuco washed the base of the hill, round which the royal grounds stretched for miles in every direction. The gardens were laid out in terraces, that wound down the hillside amid dense groves of pepper-trees, myrtles, and cypresses, innumerable fountains and artificial cascades. Little of the ancient glory of either palace or gardens is now left, except the natural beauty of the foliage that clothes the hill, and the magnificent view to be obtained from the summit. Two statues of Montezuma II. and his father, cut in bas relief on the porphyry rock, were still to be seen, Gama tells us, in the middle of the last century, but these are now gone, swept away by the same ruthless hands that laid waste the hanging gardens and tore down halls and monuments until the groves of gigantic cypresses are all that is left standing in the gardens of Chapultepec that ministered to the pleasure of the ancient owners. Peter Martyr, describing the palace at Iztapalapan, writes, in the language of an early translator: "That house also hath orchardes, finely planted with diuers trees, and herbes, and flourishing flowers, of a sweete smell. There are also in the same, great standing pooles of water with many kindes of fish, in the which diuers kindes of all sortes of waterfoule are swimminge. To the bottome of these lakes, a man may descend by marble steppes brought farr of. They report strange thinges of a walke inclosed with nettinges of Canes, least any one should freely come within the voyde plattes of grounde, or to the fruite of the trees. Those hedges are made with a thousande pleasant deuises, as it falleth out in those delicate purple crosse alleyes, of mirtle, rosemary, or boxe, al very delightfull to behold."[33]

Nezahualcoyotl, the Tezcucan Solomon, was no whit behind his royal brother of Mexico in the matter of splendid country residences and gardens. Not content with the royal pleasure-grounds called Huectecpan, writes the Chichimec historian,[34] this great king made others, such as the forest so famous in Tezcotzincan history, and those called Cauchiacac, Tzinacamoztoc, Cozcaquauhco, Cuetlachatitlan, or Tlateitec, and those of the lake Acatelelco, and Tepetzinco; he likewise marked out a large tract, where he might pass his leisure moments in hunting. These gardens were adorned with fountains, drains, sewers, ponds, and labyrinths, and were planted with all kinds of flowers and trees, both indigenous and foreign.

But Nezahualcoyotl was not one to overlook utility in laying out his grounds. Five large patches of the most fertile lands lying near the capital were brought under cultivation and the products appropriated exclusively to the use of the royal household.

Certain towns and provinces in the vicinity of the court furnished attendants and laborers for the palaces, gardens, and plantations. In return for such service said towns and provinces were exempt from taxation and enjoyed certain privileges. The manner of service was divided; thus twenty-eight towns supplied those who attended to the cleanliness and order of the royal buildings and waited upon the king and his suite; fourteen of these towns[35] did service during one half of the year and the remainder[36] during the other half. Five towns provided attendants for the king's chamber,[37] and eight provinces,[38] with their dependent towns, furnished, each in its turn, foresters, gardeners, and agricultural laborers for the woods and gardens, ornamental or otherwise.

[Sidenote: SUMMER PALACE AT TEZCOZINCO.]

King Nezahualcoyotl's favorite country residence, some remains of which are still visible, was at Tezcozinco, on a conical hill lying about two leagues from Tezcuco. A broad road, running between high hedges, and probably winding spirally round the hill, appears to have led up to the summit,[39] which, however, could be reached in a shorter time by means of a flight of steps, many of which were cut into the living rock, and the remainder made of pieces of stone firmly cemented together. Dávila Padilla, who wrote in the latter part of the sixteenth century, says that he counted five hundred and twenty of these steps, without reckoning those that had already crumbled to pieces.[40] He furthermore adds that for the last twelve steps in the ascent the staircase was tunneled through the solid rock, and became so narrow that only one person could pass at a time. Dávila Padilla inquired the reason of this of the natives, and was told by them, as they had heard it from their fathers, that this narrow passage enabled the Tezcucan monarch to assert his rank by taking precedence of his royal visitors when they went in a body to worship the idol that stood upon the summit; not a very polite proceeding certainly.[41] Water was brought over hill and dale to the top of the mountain by means of a solid stone aqueduct. Here it was received in a large basin, having in its centre a great rock, upon which were inscribed in a circle the hieroglyphics representing the years that had elapsed since Nezahualcoyotl's birth, with a list of his most noteworthy achievements in each.[42] Within this circle the royal coat of arms was sculptured, the elaborate device of which it is almost impossible to imagine from the clumsy description of it given by Ixtlilxochitl. As nearly as I can make it out, certain figures representing a deer's foot adorned with feathers and having a precious stone tied to it, a hind supporting an arm which grasps a bow and arrows, and a corseleted warrior, wearing a helmet with its ear-pieces, formed the centre; these were flanked by two houses, one in flames and falling to pieces, the other whole and highly ornamented; two tigers of the country, vomiting fire and water, served as supporters; the whole was surrounded by a border composed of twelve heads of kings and great nobles. From this basin the water was distributed through the gardens in two streams, one of which meandered down the northern side of the hill, and the other down the southern side. Dávila Padilla relates that there also stood upon the summit an image of a coyote, hewn from the living rock, which represented a celebrated fasting Indian.[43] There were likewise several towers or columns of stone, having their capitals made in the shape of a pot, from which protruded plumes of feathers, which signified the name of the place. Lower down was the colossal figure of a winged beast, called by Ixtlilxochitl a lion,[44] lying down, with its face toward the east, and bearing in its mouth a sculptured portrait of the king; this statue was generally covered with a canopy adorned with gold and feather-work.[45]

[Sidenote: ORNAMENTAL GARDENS AT TEZCOZINCO.]

A little lower yet were three basins of water, emblematic of the great lake, and on the borders of the middle one three female figures were sculptured on the solid rock, representing the heads of the confederated states of Mexico, Tezcuco, and Tlacopan.[46] Upon the northern side of the hill was another pond; and here upon the rock was carved the coat of arms of the city of Tollan, which was formerly the chief town of the Toltecs; upon the southern slope of the hill was yet another pond, bearing the coat of arms and the name of the city of Tenayuca, which was formerly the head town of the Chichimecs. From this basin a stream of water flowed continually over the precipice, and being dashed into spray upon the rocks, was scattered like rain over a garden of odorous tropical plants.[47] In the garden were two baths, dug out of one large piece of porphyry,[48] and a flight of steps also cut from the solid rock, worked and polished so smooth that they looked like mirrors, and on the front of the stairs were carved the year, month, day, and hour in which information was brought to King Nezahualcoyotl of the death of a certain lord of Huexotzinco, whom he esteemed very highly, and who died while the said staircase was being built.[49] The garden is said to have been a perfect little paradise. The gorgeous flowers were all transplanted from the distant tierra caliente; marble pavilions, supported on slender columns, with tesselated pavements and sparkling fountains, nestled among the shady groves and afforded a cool retreat during the long summer days. At the end of the garden, almost hidden by the groups of gigantic cedars and cypresses that surrounded it, was the royal palace,[50] so situated that while its spacious halls were filled with the sensuous odors of the tropics, blown in from the gardens, it remained sheltered from the heat.[51]

[Sidenote: TOLTEC PALACES.]

If the ancient traditions may be believed, the Toltec monarchs built as magnificent palaces as their Aztec successors. The sacred palace of that mysterious Toltec priest-king, Quetzalcoatl, had four principal halls, facing the four cardinal points. That on the east was called the Hall of Gold, because its halls were ornamented with plates of that metal, delicately chased and finished; the apartment lying toward the west was named the Hall of Emeralds and Turquoises, and its walls were profusely adorned with all kinds of precious stones; the hall facing the south was decorated with plates of silver and with brilliant-colored sea-shells, which were fitted together with great skill. The walls of the fourth hall, which was on the north, were red jasper, covered with carving and ornamented with shells. Another of these palaces or temples, for it is not clear which they were, had also four principal halls decorated entirely with feather-work tapestry. In the eastern division the feathers were yellow; in the western they were blue, taken from a bird called Xiuhtototl; in the southern hall the feathers were white, and in that on the north they were red.[52]

The number of attendants attached to the royal houses was very great. Every day from sunrise until sunset the antechambers of Montezuma's palace in Mexico were occupied by six hundred noblemen and gentlemen, who passed the time lounging about and discussing the gossip of the day in low tones, for it was considered disrespectful to speak loudly or make any noise within the palace limits. They were provided with apartments in the palace,[53] and took their meals from what remained of the superabundance of the royal table, as did, after them, their own servants, of whom each person of quality was entitled to from one to thirty, according to his rank. These retainers, numbering two or three thousand, filled several outer courts during the day.

[Sidenote: MONTEZUMA AT TABLE.]

[Sidenote: THE ROYAL WARDROBE.]

The king took his meals alone, in one of the largest halls of the palace. If the weather was cold, a fire was kindled with a kind of charcoal made of the bark of trees, which emitted no smoke, but threw out a delicious perfume; and that his majesty might suffer no inconvenience from the heat, a screen ornamented with gold and carved with figures of the idols[54] was placed between his person and the fire. He was seated upon a low leather cushion, upon which were thrown various soft skins, and his table was of a similar description, except that it was larger and rather higher, and was covered with white cotton cloths of the finest texture. The dinner-service was of the finest ware of Cholula, and many of the goblets were of gold and silver, or fashioned of beautiful shells. He is said to have possessed a complete service of solid gold, but as it was considered below a king's dignity to use anything at table twice, Montezuma with all his extravagance, was obliged to keep this costly dinner-set in the temple. The bill of fare comprised everything edible of fish, flesh, and fowl, that could be procured in the empire or imported from beyond it. Relays of couriers were employed in bringing delicacies from afar, and as the royal table was every day supplied with fresh fish brought, without the modern aids of ice and air-tight packing, from a sea-coast more than two hundred miles distant, by a road passing chiefly through a tropical climate, we can form some idea of the speed with which these couriers traveled. There were cunning cooks among the Aztecs, and at these extravagant meals there was almost as much variety in the cooking as in the matter cooked. Sahagun[55] gives a most formidable list of roast, stewed, and boiled dishes of meat, fish, and poultry, seasoned with many kinds of herbs, of which, however, the most frequently mentioned is chile.[56] He further describes many kinds of bread, all bearing a more or less close resemblance to the modern Mexican tortilla,[57] and all most tremendously named; imagine, for instance, when one wished for a piece of bread, having to ask one's neighbor to be good enough to pass the totanquitlaxcallitlaquelpacholli; then there were tamales of all kinds,[58] and many other curious messes, such as frog-spawn, and stewed ants cooked with chile, but more loathsome to us than even such as these, and strangest of all the strange compounds that went to make up the royal carte, was one highly seasoned, and probably savory-smelling dish, so exquisitely prepared that its principal ingredient was completely disguised, yet that ingredient was nothing else than human flesh.[59] Each dish was kept warm by a chafing-dish placed under it. Writers do not agree as to the exact quantity of food served up at each meal, but it must have been immense, since the lowest number of dishes given is three hundred,[60] and the highest three thousand.[61] They were brought into the hall by four hundred pages of noble birth, who placed their burdens upon the matted floor and retired noiselessly. The king then pointed out such viands as he wished to partake of, or left the selection to his steward, who doubtless took pains to study the likes and dislikes of the royal palate. This steward was a functionary of the highest rank and importance; he alone was privileged to place the designated delicacies before the king upon the table; he appears to have done duty both as royal carver and cup-bearer, and, according to Torquemada, to have done it barefooted and on his knees.[62] Everything being in readiness, a number of the most beautiful of the king's women[63] entered, bearing water in round vessels called xicales, for the king to wash his hands in, and towels that he might dry them, other vessels being placed upon the ground to catch the drippings. Two other women at the same time brought him some small loaves of a very delicate kind of bread made of the finest maize-flour, beaten up with eggs. This done, a wooden screen, carved and gilt, was placed before him, that no one might see him while eating.[64] There were always present five or six aged lords, who stood near the royal chair barefooted, and with bowed heads. To these, as a special mark of favor, the king occasionally sent a choice morsel from his own plate. During the meal the monarch sometimes amused himself by watching the performances of his jugglers and tumblers, whose marvelous feats of strength and dexterity I shall describe in another place; at other times there was dancing, accompanied by singing and music; there were also present dwarfs, and professional jesters, who were allowed to speak, a privilege denied all others under penalty of death, and, after the manner of their kind, to tell sharp truths in the shape of jests. The more solid food was followed by pastry, sweetmeats, and a magnificent dessert of fruit. The only beverage drank at the meal was chocolate,[65] of which about fifty jars were provided;[66] it was taken with a spoon, finely wrought of gold or shell, from a goblet of the same material. Having finished his dinner, the king again washed his hands in water brought to him, as before, by the women. After this, several painted and gilt pipes were brought, from which he inhaled, through his mouth or nose, as suited him best, the smoke of a mixture of liquid-amber, and an herb called tobacco.[67] His siesta over, he devoted himself to business, and proceeded to give audience to foreign ambassadors, deputations from cities in the empire, and to such of his lords and ministers as had business to transact with him. Before entering the presence-chamber, all, no matter what their rank might be, unless they were of the blood-royal, were obliged to leave their sandals at the door, to cover their rich dresses with a large coarse mantle, and to approach the monarch, barefooted and with downcast eyes, for it was death to the subject who should dare to look his sovereign in the face.[68] The king usually answered through his secretaries,[69] or when he deigned to speak directly to the person who addressed him, it was in such a low tone as scarcely to be heard;[70] at the same time he listened very attentively to all that was communicated to him, and encouraged those who, from embarrassment, found difficulty in speaking. Each applicant, when dismissed, retired backward, keeping his face always toward the royal seat. The time set apart for business having elapsed, he again gave himself up to pleasure, and usually passed the time in familiar badinage with his jesters, or in listening to ballad-singers who sang of war and the glorious deeds of his ancestors, or he amused himself by looking on at the feats of strength and legerdemain of his jugglers and acrobats; or, sometimes, at this hour, he would retire to the softer pleasures of the harem. He changed his dress four times each day, and a dress once worn could never be used again. Concerning this custom, Peter Martyr, translated into the quaintest of English, writes: "Arising from his bed, he is cloathed after one maner, as he commeth forth to bee seene, and returning backe into his chamber after he hath dined, he changeth his garments: and when he commeth forthe againe to supper, hee taketh another, and returning backe againe the fourth which he weareth vntill he goe to bed. But concerning 3. garments, which he changeth euery day, many of them that returned haue reported the same vnto me, with their owne mouth: but howsoeuer it be, all agree in the changing of garmentes, that being once taken into the wardrope, they are there piled vp on heaps, not likely to see the face of Muteczuma any more: but what manner of garmentes they be, we will elswhere declare, for they are very light. These things being obserued, it wil not be wondred at, that we made mention before concerning so many garments presented. For accounting the yeares, and the dayes of the yeares, especially, wherein Muteczuma hath inioyed peace & howe often he changeth his garments euery daye, all admiration will cease. But the readers will demand, why he heapeth vp so great a pile of garments, & that iustly. Let them knowe that Muteczuma vsed to giue a certeine portion of garments to his familiar friends, or well deseruing soldiers, in steed of a beneuolence, or stipend, when they go to the wars, or returne from ye victory, as Augustus Cæsar lord of the world, a mightier Prince than Muteczuma, commanded only a poore reward of bread to be giuen ouer & aboue to such as performed any notable exployt, while being by Maro admonished, that so smal a larges of bread was an argument yet he was a bakers son: then although it be recorded in writing that Cæsar liked ye mery conceit, yet it is to be beleued yet he blushed at that diuination, because he promised Virgil to alter his disposition & that hereafter he would bestow gifts worthy a great king, & not a bakers son."[71]

[Sidenote: THE KING OUT OF DOORS.]

The kings did not often appear among their people,[72] though we are told that they would sometimes go forth in disguise to see that no part of the religious feasts and ceremonies was omitted, to make sure that the laws were observed, and probably, as is usual in such cases, to ascertain the true state of public opinion with regard to themselves.[73] Whenever they did appear abroad, however, it was with a parade that corresponded with their other observances. Upon these occasions the king was seated in a magnificent litter, overshadowed by a canopy of feather-work, the whole being adorned with gold and precious stones, and carried upon the shoulders of four noblemen. He was attended by a vast multitude of courtiers of all ranks, who walked without speaking, and with their eyes bent upon the ground. The procession was headed by an official carrying three wands, whose duty it was to give warning of the king's approach, and by others who cleared the road of all obstructions.[74] All who chanced to meet the royal party, instantly stopped, and remained motionless with heads bent down, like friars chanting the Gloria Patri, says Father Motolinia, until the procession had passed. When the monarch alighted, a carpet was spread upon the ground for him to step on. The meeting of Montezuma II. and Cortés, as described by Bernal Diaz, will show the manner in which the Aztec kings were attended when out of doors:

"When we arrived at a spot where another narrow causeway led towards Cuyoacan, we were met by a number of caciques and distinguished personages, all splendidly dressed. They had been sent by Montezuma to meet us and welcome us in his name; and as a sign of peace each touched the earth with his hand and then kissed it.[75] While we were thus detained, the lords of Tezcuco, Iztapalapa, Tacuba, and Cuyoacan, advanced to meet the mighty Montezuma, who was approaching seated on a splendid litter, and escorted by a number of powerful nobles. When we arrived at a place not far from the capital, where were certain fortifications, Montezuma, descending from his litter, came forward leaning on the arms of some of the attendant lords, while others held over him a canopy of rich feather-work ornamented with silver and gold, having an embroidered border from which hung pearls and chalchihuis stones.[76] Montezuma was very sumptuously dressed, according to his custom, and had on his feet a kind of sandals, with soles of gold, the upper part being studded with precious stones. The four grandees[77] who supported him were also very richly attired, and it seemed to us that the clothes they now wore must have been held in readiness for them somewhere upon the road, for they were not thus dressed when they first came out to meet us. And besides these great lords there were many others, some of whom held the canopy over the king's head, while others went in advance, sweeping the ground over which he was to walk, and spreading down cotton cloths that his feet might not touch the earth. Excepting only the four nobles upon whose arms he leaned, and who were his near relatives, none of all his followers presumed to look in the king's face, but all kept their eyes lowered to the ground in token of respect."[78]

[Sidenote: THE ROYAL HAREM.]

Besides the host of retainers already mentioned there were innumerable other officers attached to the royal household, such as butlers, stewards, and cooks of all grades, treasurers, secretaries, scribes, military officers, superintendents of the royal granaries and arsenals, and those employed under them. A great number of artisans were constantly kept busy repairing old buildings and erecting new ones, and a little army of jewelers and workers in precious metals resided permanently at the palace for the purpose of supplying the king and court with the costly ornaments that were eventually such a windfall for the conquerors, and over the description of which they one and all so lovingly linger. Nor was the softer sex unrepresented at court. The Aztec sovereigns were notorious for their uxoriousness. Montezuma II. had in his harem at least one thousand women, and this number is increased by most of the historians to three thousand, including the female attendants and slaves. Of these we are told on good authority that he had one hundred and fifty pregnant at one time, all of whom killed their offspring in the womb;[79] yet notwithstanding this wholesale abortion, he had more than fifty sons and daughters. His father had one hundred and fifty children, of whom Montezuma II. killed all his brothers and forced his sisters to marry whom he pleased;--at least such is the import of Oviedo's statement.[80] Nezahualpilli, of Tezcuco, had between seventy and one hundred children.[81] Camargo tells us that Xicotencatl, one of the chiefs of Tlascala had a great number of sons by more than fifty wives or concubines.[82] These women were the daughters of the nobles, who thought themselves honored by having a child in the royal harem. Occasionally the monarch presented one of his concubines to some great lord or renowned warrior, a mark of favor which thenceforth distinguished the recipient as a man whom the king delighted to honor. The seraglio was presided over by a number of noble matrons, who kept close watch and ward over the conduct of their charges and made daily reports to the king, who invariably caused the slightest indiscretion to be severely punished. Whether eunuchs were employed in the Aztec harems is uncertain; this, however, we read in Motolinia: "Moteuczomatzin had in his palace dwarfs and little hunchbacks, who when children were with great ingenuity made crook-backed, ruptured,[83] and disjointed, because the lords in this country made the same use of them as at the present day the Grand Turk does of eunuchs."[84]

The enormous expenditure incurred in the maintenance of such a household as this, was defrayed by the people, who, as we shall see in a future chapter, were sorely oppressed by over-taxation. The management of the whole was entrusted to a head steward or majordomo, who, with the help of his secretaries, kept minute hieroglyphic accounts of the royal revenue. Bernal Diaz tells us that a whole apartment was filled with these account-books.[85] In Tezcuco, writes Ixtlilxochitl, the food consumed by the court was supplied by certain districts of the kingdom, in each of which was a gatherer of taxes, who besides collecting the regular tributes, was obliged to furnish the royal household, in his turn, with a certain quantity of specified articles, for a greater or less number of days, according to the wealth and extent of his department. The daily supply amounted to thirty-one and a quarter bushels of grain; nearly three bushels and three quarters of beans;[86] four hundred thousand ready-made tortillas; four xiquipiles[87] of cocoa, making in all thirty-two thousand cocoa-beans;[88] one hundred cocks of the country;[89] twenty loaves of salt; twenty great baskets of large chiles, and twenty of small chiles; ten baskets of tomatoes; and ten of seed.[90] All this was furnished daily for seventy days by the city of Tezcuco and its suburbs, and by the districts of Atenco, and Tepepulco; for sixty-five days by the district of Quauhtlatzinco; and for forty-five days by the districts of Azapocho and Ahuatepec.[91]

[Sidenote: AZTEC KINGS AND THEIR SUBJECTS.]

Such, as full in detail as it is handed down to us, was the manner in which the Aztec monarchs lived. The policy they pursued toward their subjects was to enforce obedience and submission by enacting laws that were calculated rather to excite awe and dread than to inspire love and reverence. To this end they kept the people at a distance by surrounding themselves with an impassable barrier of pomp and courtly etiquette, and enforced obedience by enacting laws that made death the penalty of the most trivial offenses. There was little in common between king and people; as is ever the case between a despot and his subjects. The good that the kings did by their liberality and love of justice, and the success they nearly all achieved by their courage and generalship, merited the admiration of their subjects. On the other hand, the oppression which they made their vassals feel, the heavy burdens they imposed upon them, their own pride and arrogance, and their excessive severity in punishments, engendered what we should now call a debasing fear, but which is none the less an essential element of progress at certain stages.[92]

FOOTNOTES:

[23] Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. ix. Though it is more than probable that Gomara means the same thing, yet the manner in which he expresses it leaves us in some doubt whether the tiger might not have been standing over the eagle. 'El escudo de armas, que estaua por las puertas de palacio y que traen las vanderas de Motecçuma, y las de sus antecessores, es vna aguila abatida a vn tigre, las manos y vñas puestas como para hazer presa.' Conq. Mex., fol. 108. 'Het Wapen dat boven de Poorte stont, was een Arent die op een Griffioen nederdaelde, met open Clauwen hem ghereet maeckende, om syn Roof te vatten.' West-Indische Spieghel, p. 246.Return to passage

[24] _Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese_, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 309.Return to passage

[25] Ib.Return to passage

[26] 'Le tecali paraît être la pierre transparente semblable à l'albâtre oriental, dont on faisait un grand usage à Mexico, et dont les réligieux se servirent même pour faire une espèce de vitres à leurs fenêtres. On en trouve encore de ce genre dans plusieurs couvents de la Puebla de los Angeles.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iv., p. 8.Return to passage

[27] Incense-offering among the Mexicans, and other nations of Anáhuac, was not only an act of religion towards their gods, but also a piece of civil courtesy to lords and ambassadors. Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 51. Cortés during his march to the capital was on more than one occasion met by a deputation of nobles, bearing censers which they swung before him as a mark of courtesy.Return to passage

[28] Prescott, Mex., vol. i., p. 177, makes in both cases the 'estado' the same measure as the 'vara,' that is three feet, a clumsy error certainly, when translating such a sentence as this: 'que tenia de grueso dos varas, y de alto tres estados.'Return to passage

[29] 'Á manera de estribo,' writes Ixtlilxochitl.Return to passage

[30] Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., tom. ix., pp. 242-3.Return to passage

[31] Gage's New Survey, p. 99. Concerning this oratory, see Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., tom. i., cap. l. Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 296, asserts that the gold and silver plates with which the walls and roof were coated, were almost as thick as a finger, and that the first conquerors did not see this chapel or oratory, because Montezuma always went to the temple to pray, and probably, as the natives declared, knowing the covetousness of the Spaniards, he purposely concealed all this wealth from them; it is also said that when Mexico was taken the natives destroyed this chapel, and threw its treasures into the lake.Return to passage

[32] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 297.Return to passage

[33] Peter Martyr, dec. v., lib. ii.Return to passage

[34] Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., pp. 251-2.Return to passage

[35] Their names, as given by Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 251, were: Huexotla, Coatlichan, Coatapec, Chimalhuacan, Ytztapalocan, Tepetlaoztoc, Acolman, Tepechpan, Chiuhnauhtlan, Teioiocan, Chiauhtla, Papalotlan, Xaltocan, and Chalco.Return to passage

[36] Otompan, Teotihuacan, Tepepolco, Cempoalon, Aztaquemecan, Ahuatepec, Axapochoc, Oztoticpac, Tizayocan, Tlalanapan, Coioac, Quatlatlauhcan, Quauhtlacca, and Quatlatzinco. Ib.Return to passage

[37] 'Para la recámara del rey,' namely: Calpolalpan, Mazaapan, Yahualiuhcan, Atenco, and Tzihuinquilocan. Ib. It is unreasonable to suppose that these so-called 'towns' were really more than mere villages, since the kingdoms proper of Mexico, Tezcuco, and Tlacopan, of which they formed only a fraction, were all contained in a valley not two hundred miles in circumference.Return to passage

[38] Tolantzinco, Quauhchinanco, Xicotepec, Pauhatla, Yauhtepec, Tepechco, Ahuacaiocan, and Quauhahuac. Ib.; see also Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 167.Return to passage

[39] 'La cerca tan grande que tenia para subir á la cumbre de él y andarlo todo.' Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 251.Return to passage

[40] 'Para subir hasta esta cumbre se passan quinientos y veynte escalones, sin algunos que estan ya deshechos, por auer sido de piedras sueltas y puestas à mano: que otros muchos escalones ay, labrados en la propia peña con mucha curiosidad. El año pasado los anduue todos, y los contè, para deponer de vista.' Dávila Padilla, Hist. Fvnd. Mex., p. 619. Prescott, Mex., vol. i., p. 186, citing the above author, gives five hundred and twenty as the whole number of steps, without further remark.Return to passage

[41] Torquemada also mentions this staircase. Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 436.Return to passage

[42] 'Esculpida en ella en circunferencia los años desde que habia nacido el rey Nezahualcoiotzin, hasta la edad de aquel tiempo.' Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 252. Prescott says that the hieroglyphics represented the 'years of Nezahualcoyotl's reign.' Mex., vol. i., p. 182.Return to passage

[43] Hist. Fvnd. Mex., p. 619. 'This figure was, no doubt, the emblem of Nezahualcoyotl himself, whose name ... signified "hungry fox."' Prescott's Mex., vol. i., p. 183, note 42.Return to passage

[44] 'Un leon de mas de dos brazas de largo con sus alas y plumas.' Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 252.Return to passage

[45] These figures were destroyed by order of Fr Juan de Zumárraga, first Bishop of Mexico. Dávila Padilla, Hist. Fvnd. Mex., p. 619; Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 252. The injury wrought by this holy iconoclast is incalculable. Blinded by the mad fanaticism of the age, he saw a devil in every Aztec image and hieroglyph; his hammers did more in a few years to efface all vestiges of Aztec art and greatness than time and decay could have done in as many centuries. It is a few such men as this that the world has to thank for the utter extinction in a few short years of a mighty civilization. In a letter to the Franciscan Chapter at Tolosa, dated June 12, 1531, we find the old bigot exulting over his vandalism. 'Very reverend Fathers,' he writes: 'be it known to you that we are very busy in the work of converting the heathen; of whom, by the grace of God, upwards of one million have been baptized at the hands of the brethren of the order of our seraphic Father Saint Francis; five hundred temples have been leveled to the ground, and more than twenty thousand figures of the devils they worshiped have been broken to pieces and burned.' And it appears that the worthy zealot had even succeeded in bringing the natives themselves to his way of thinking, for further on he writes: 'They watch with great care to see where their fathers hide the idols, and then with great fidelity they bring them to the religious of our order that they may be destroyed; and for this many of them have been brutally murdered by their parents, or, to speak more properly, have been crowned in glory with Christ.' Dicc. Univ., App., tom. iii., p. 1131.Return to passage

[46] There is a singular confusion about this passage. In Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 252, Ixtlilxochitl is made to write: 'Un poquito mas abajo estaban tres albercas de agua, y en la del medio estaban en sus bordos tres damas esculpidas y labradas en la misma peña, que significaban la gran laguna; y las ranas los cabezas del imperio.' In Prescott's Mex., App., vol. iii., pp. 430-2, Ixtlilxochitl's description of Tezcozinco is given in full; the above-quoted passage is exactly the same here except that for ranas, frogs, we read ramas, branches. Either of these words would render the description incomprehensible, and in my description I have assumed that they are both misprints for damas. Mr Prescott, Mex., vol. i., pp. 182-3, surmounts the difficulty as follows: 'On a lower level were three other reservoirs, in each of which stood a marble statue of a woman, emblematic of the three states of the empire.' This is inaccurate as well as incomplete, inasmuch as the figures were not statues, each standing in a basin, but were all three cut upon the face of the rock-border of the middle basin.Return to passage

[47] I have no doubt that this is the basin known to modern travelers as the 'Baths of Montezuma,' of which Ward says that it is neither of the proper shape, nor large enough for a bath, but that it more probably 'served to receive the waters of a spring, since dried up, as its depth is considerable, while the edge on one side is formed into a spout.' Mexico, vol. ii., p. 297. Of late years this excavation has been repeatedly described by men who claim to have visited it, but whose statements it is hard to reconcile. Bullock mentions having seen on this spot 'a beautiful basin about twelve feet long by eight wide, having a well about five feet by four deep in the centre, surrounded by a parapet or rim two feet six inches high, with a throne or chair, such as is represented in ancient pictures to have been used by the kings. There are steps to descend into the basin or bath; the whole cut out of the living porphyry rock with the most mathematical precision, and polished in the most beautiful manner.' Mexico, vol. ii., pp. 125-6. Latrobe says there were 'two singular basins, of perhaps two feet and a half in diameter, not big enough for any monarch bigger than Oberon to take a duck in.' Rambler, p. 187; Vigne's Travels, vol. i., p. 27, mentions 'the remains of a circular stone bath ... about a foot deep and five in diameter, with a small surrounding and smoothed space cut out of the solid rock.' Brantz Mayer, who both saw it and gives a sketch of it, writes: 'The rock is smoothed to a perfect level for several yards, around which, seats and grooves are carved from the adjacent masses. In the centre there is a circular sink, about a yard and a half in diameter, and a yard in depth, and a square pipe, with a small aperture, led the water from an aqueduct, which appears to terminate in this basin.' Mex. as it Was, p. 234. Beaufoy says that two-thirds up the southern side of the hill was a mass of fine red porphyry, in which was an excavation six feet square, with steps leading down three feet, having in the centre a circular basin four and a half feet in diameter and five deep also with steps. Mex. Illustr., p. 195. 'On the side of the hill are two little circular baths, cut in the solid rock. The lower of the two has a flight of steps down to it; the seat for the bather, and the stone pipe which brought the water, are still quite perfect.' Tylor's Anahuac, p. 152.Return to passage

[48] 'Tras este jardin se seguian los baños hechos y labrados de peña viva, que con dividirse en dos baños era de una pieza.' Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 252.Return to passage

[49] Ib.Return to passage

[50] Dávila Padilla says that some of the gateways of this palace were formed of one piece of stone, and he saw one beam of cedar there which was almost ninety feet in length and four in breadth. Hist. Fvnd. Mex., p. 620.Return to passage

[51] Concerning the royal buildings, gardens, &c., of the Aztecs, compare Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., tom. i., cap. l.; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., pp. 167, 296-8; Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., pp. 243-4, 251-2; Dávila Padilla, Hist. Fvnd. Mex., pp. 619-20; Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 309; Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. viii., pp. 302-9; Camargo, Hist. Tlax., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 196; Acosta's Hist. Nat. Ind., p. 484; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. i., pp. 271-4; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., pp. 305-7, 504; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 69; Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., pp. 181-5; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 107-11; Ortega, in Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. iii., pp. 315-19; Cortés, Cartas, pp. 110-11; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. ix.-xi.; West-Indische Spieghel, pp. 245-6, 343; Gage's New Survey, pp. 97-9; Peter Martyr, dec. v., lib. iii., iv., x.; Chevalier, Mexique, pp. 30-2; Prescott's Mex., vol. i., pp. 177-84, vol. ii., pp. 65, 115-21; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iv., pp. 8-11; Pimentel, Raza Indígena, p. 57; Tápia, Relacion, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. ii., pp. 581-3. Other works of no original value, which touch on this subject, are: Klemm, Cultur-Geschichte, tom. v., pp. 15, 244, 65-6, 234-7; Ranking's Hist. Researches, pp. 347-51; Bussierre, L'Empire Mexicain, pp. 90-4, 109; Macgregor's Progress of America, p. 22; Dilworth's Conq. Mex., pp. 66, 70; West und Ost Indischer Lustgart, pt i., p. 125.Return to passage

[52] Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., lib. x., pp. 107-8.Return to passage

[53] Close to the great audience hall was a very large court-yard, 'en que avia çient aposentos de veynte é çinco ó treynta piés de largo cada uno sobre sí en torno de dicho patio, é allí estaban los señores prinçipales apossentados, como guardas del palacio ordinarias.' Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 501.Return to passage

[54] 'Vna como tabla labrada con oro, y otras figuras de idolos.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 68.Return to passage

[55] Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. viii., pp. 297-302.Return to passage

[56] This pungent condiment is at the present day as omnipresent in Spanish American dishes as it was at the time of the conquest; and I am seriously informed by a Spanish gentleman who resided for many years in Mexico, and was an officer in Maximilian's army, that while the wolves would feed upon the dead bodies of the French that lay all night upon the battle-field, they never touched the bodies of the Mexicans, because the flesh of the latter was completely impregnated with chile. Which, if true, may be thought to show that wolves do not object to a diet seasoned with garlic.Return to passage

[57] Described too frequently in vol. i., of this series, to need repetition.Return to passage

[58] The tamale is another very favorite modern Mexican dish. The natives generally make them with pork; the bones are crushed almost to powder; the meat is cut up in small pieces, and the whole washed; a small quantity of maize paste, seasoned with cinnamon, saffron, cloves, pimento, tomatoes, coarse pepper, salt, red coloring matter, and some lard added to it, is placed on the fire in a pan; as soon as it has acquired the consistency of a thick gruel it is removed, mixed with the meat, some more lard and salt added, and the mass kneaded for a few moments; it is then divided into small portions, which are enveloped in a thin paste of maize. The tamales thus prepared are covered with a banana-leaf or a corn-husk, and placed in a pot or pan over which large leaves are laid. They are allowed to boil from one hour and a half to two hours. Game, poultry, vegetables, or sweetmeats are often used instead of pork.Return to passage

[59] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 229, regrets that certain persons, 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 disguised, the flesh of those sacrificed to the gods appeared at the royal board. Some modern writers seem to doubt even this; it is, however, certain that cannibalism existed among the people, not as a means of allaying appetite, but from partly religious motives, and there seems no reason to doubt that the king shared the superstitions of the people. I do not, however, base the opinion upon Oviedo's assertion, which smacks strongly of the 'giant stories' of the nursery, that certain 'dishes of tender children' graced the monarch's table. Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 501. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 68, also cannot withstand the temptation to deal in the marvelous, and mentions 'carnes de muchachos de poca edad;' though it is true the soldier-like bluntness the veteran so prided himself upon, comes to his aid, and he admits that perhaps after all Montezuma was not an ogre.Return to passage

[60] Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 68.Return to passage

[61] Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 501.Return to passage

[62] Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 229.Return to passage

[63] Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 68, says there were four of these women; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 229, says there were twenty.Return to passage

[64] 'E ya que començaua á comer, echauanle delante vna como puerta de madera muy pintada de oro, porque no le viessen comer.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 68. 'Luego que se sentaba à la Mesa, cerraba el Maestre-Sala vna Varanda de Madera, que dividia la Sala, para que la Nobleça de los Caballeros, que acudia à verle comer, no embaraçase la Mesa.' Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 229. 'Tosto che il Re si metteva a tavola, chiudeva lo Scalco la porta della Sala, acciocchè nessuno degli altri Nobili lo vedesse mangiare.' Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. i., p. 270.Return to passage

[65] '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.' Prescott's Mex., vol. ii., p. 125. 'This was something like our chocolate, and prepared in the same way, but with this difference, that it was mixed with the boiled dough of maise, and was drunk cold.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., [Lockhart's translation Lond., 1814, vol. i., note, p. 393]. 'La bebida es agua mezclada con cierta harina de unas almendras que llaman cacao. Esta es de mucha sustancia, muy fresca, y sabrosa y agradable, y no embriaga.' Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. ccxi.Return to passage

[66] 'Entonces no mirauamos en ello; mas lo que yo vi, que traian sobre cincuenta jarros grandes hechos de buen cacao con su espuma, y de lo que bebia.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 68. Oviedo, as usual, is content with no number less than three thousand: 'É luego venian tres mill xícalos (cántaros ó ánforas) de brevage.' Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 501. Las Casas makes it three hundred: 'A su tiempo, en medio ò en fin de los manjares segun la costumbre que tenian, entravan otros trescientos pajes, cada uno con un vaso grande que cabia medio azumbre, (about a quart), y aun tres quartillos de la bebida en el mismo, y servia el un vaso al rey el maestresala, de que bebia lo que le agradava.' Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. ccxi.Return to passage

[67] 'Vnas yervas que se dize tabaco.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 68.Return to passage

[68] Only five persons enjoyed the privilege of looking Montezuma II. in the face: the kings of Tezcuco and Tlacopan, and the lords of Quauhtitlan, Coyouacan, and Azcapuzalco. Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. ccxi. Bernal Diaz says that all who approached the royal seat made three reverences, saying in succession, 'Lord,' 'my lord,' 'sublime lord.' Hist. Conq., fol. 68.Return to passage

[69] This custom of speaking through a secretary was adopted by the other Aztec monarchs as well as Montezuma, and was also imitated by many of the great tributary lords and governors of provinces who wished to make as much display of their rank and dignity as possible. See Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 184; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. ccxi.; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 205.Return to passage

[70] 'Lo que los señores hablaban y la palabra que mas ordinariamente decian al fin de las pláticas y negocios que se les comunicaban, eran decir con muy baja voz tlaa, que quiere decir "sí, ó bien, bien."' Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 184.Return to passage

[71] Peter Martyr, dec. v., lib. iv.Return to passage

[72] Torquemada writes of Montezuma II.: 'Su trato con los Suios era poco: raras veces se dejaba vèr, y estabase encerrado mucho tiempo, pensando en el Govierno de su Reino.' Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 205.Return to passage

[73] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 205.Return to passage

[74] Picking up straws, says Las Casas: 'É iban estos oficiales delante quitando las pajas del suelo por finas que fuesen.' Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. ccxi.Return to passage

[75] This was the Aztec manner of salutation, and is doubtless what Bernal Diaz means where he writes: 'Y en señal de paz tocauan con la mano en el suelo, y besauan la tierra con la mesma mano.' Hist. Conq., fol. 65.Return to passage

[76] Green stones, more valued than any other among the Aztecs.Return to passage

[77] Cortés himself says that the king was supported by two grandees only; one of whom was his nephew, the king of Tezcuco, and the other his brother, the lord of Iztapalapa. Cartas, p. 85.Return to passage

[78] Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 65.Return to passage

[79] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 230; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 107; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. ix.; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 67; West-Indische Spieghel, p. 246. Clavigero disbelieves the report that Montezuma had one hundred and fifty women pregnant at once. Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. i., p. 268. Oviedo makes the number of women four thousand. Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 505.Return to passage

[80] Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 505.Return to passage

[81] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 435.Return to passage

[82] Hist. Tlax., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 169.Return to passage

[83] 'Quebraban,' which probably here means 'castrated.'Return to passage

[84] 'Tenia Moteuczomatzin en su palacio enanos y corcobadillos, que de industria siendo niños los hacian jibosos, y los quebraban y descoyuntaban, porque de estos se servian los señores en esta tierra como ahora hace el Gran Turco de eunucos.' Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., pp. 184-5. Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 298, uses nearly the same words.Return to passage

[85] Hist. Conq., fol. 68.Return to passage

[86] 'Otros tres Tlacopintlix de frisoles.' The Tlacopintlix was one 'fanega,' and three 'almudes,' or, one bushel and a quarter.Return to passage

[87] 'Xiquipilli, costal, talega, alforja, o bolsa.' Molina, Vocabulario.Return to passage

[88] 'Treinta y dos mil cacaos,' possibly cocoa-pods instead of cocoa-beans.Return to passage

[89] 'Cien gallos.' Probably turkeys.Return to passage

[90] Probably pumpkin or melon seed.Return to passage

[91] Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 241.Return to passage

[92] Concerning the king's manner of living and the domestic economy of the royal household, see: Cortés, Cartas, pp. 84-5, 109-13; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 66-8; Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. viii., pp. 286-322; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. ccxi.; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., pp. 167-8, 205-6, 228-31, 298, tom. ii., p. 435; Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., pp. 184-5; Peter Martyr, dec. v., lib. iii., iv.; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 103-4, 107-8; Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., p. 507; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., pp. 307, 501, 505; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. i., pp. 268-71; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. v., vii., ix., xii-xiii., dec. iii., lib. ii., cap. xiv.; Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. iii., pp. 189-91; Ortega, in Id., pp. 310-17; West-Indische Spieghel, p. 246; Gage's New Survey, pp. 97, 100-1; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. i., p. 284, tom. iv., pp. 9-13; Prescott's Mex., tom. ii., pp. 121-9; Zuazo, Carta, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 362; Carli, Cartas, pt i., pp. 117-18. Other works of more or less value bearing on this subject are: Touron, Hist. Gén., tom. iii., pp. 25-38, 355-7, 359; Bussierre, L'Empire Mex., pp. 109, 119-22, 254-5; Baril, Mexique, pp. 204-7; Dufey, Résumé, tom. i., pp. 136-7; Brownell's Ind. Races, pp. 83, 93-5; Ranking's Hist. Researches, pp. 315-16, 321-3, 342-7, 350; Soden, Spanier in Peru, p. 136; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 582-4; Lafond, Voyages, tom. i., pp. 104-5; Cooper's Hist. N. Amer., pp. 112-13; Dilworth's Conq. Mex., pp. 65-6, 70-1; Hawks, in Hakluyt's Voy., vol. iii., p. 469; Monglave, Résumé, pp. 19, 82-3; Incidents and Sketches, p. 60; Klemm, Cultur-Geschichte, tom. v., pp. 63-6, 209-11, 234, 242; Dillon, Hist. Mex., p. 52; West und Ost Indischer Lustgart, pp. 123-5.Return to passage

V. THE PRIVILEGED CLASSES AMONG THE NAHUAS

TITLES OF THE NOBILITY AND GENTRY--THE POWER OF THE NOBLES--THE ARISTOCRACY OF TEZCUCO--THE POLICY OF KING TECHOTLALATZIN--PRIVILEGES OF THE NOBLES--MONTEZUMA'S POLICY--RIVALRY BETWEEN NOBLES AND COMMONS--THE KNIGHTLY ORDER OF TECUHTLI--CEREMONY OF INITIATION--ORIGIN OF THE ORDER--THE NAHUA PRIESTHOOD--THE PRIESTS OF MEXICO--DEDICATION OF CHILDREN--PRIESTESSES--PRIESTHOOD OF MIZTECAPAN--THE PONTIFF OF YOPAA--TRADITION OF WIXIPECOCHA--THE CAVE OF YOPAA--THE ZAPOTEC PRIESTS--TOLTEC PRIESTS--TOTONAC PRIESTS--PRIESTS OF MICHOACAN, PUEBLA, AND TLASCALA.

[Sidenote: THE AZTEC ARISTOCRACY.]

Descending in due order the social scale of the Aztecs, we now come to the nobility, or, more properly speaking, the privileged classes. The nobles of Mexico, and of the other Nahua nations, were divided into several classes, each having its own peculiar privileges and badges of rank. The distinctions that existed between the various grades, and their titles, are not, however, clearly defined. The title of Tlatoani was the highest and most respected; it signified an absolute and sovereign power, an hereditary and divine right to govern. The kings, and the great feudatory lords who were governors of provinces, and could prove their princely descent and the ancient independence of their families, belonged to this order. The title of Tlatopilzintli was given to the eldest son of the king, and that of Tlatoque to all the princes in general. Tlacahua signified a lord without sovereignty, but who had vassals under his orders, and was, to a certain extent, master of his people. The appellation of Pilli was given to all who were noble, without regard to rank. Axcahua, was a rich man, a proprietor of wealth in general, and Tlaquihua, a landed proprietor, or almost the same thing as an English country gentleman.

The title of Tlatoani was invariably hereditary, but many of the others were conferred only for life, as a reward for important military or other services to the state. Of the tenure by which they held their lands I shall have occasion to speak hereafter.

The power of the nobles, as a body, was very great; according to some accounts there were, in Montezuma's realms, thirty great lords who each controlled one hundred thousand vassals, and three thousand other lords also very powerful. A number of nobles possessing such formidable power as this, would, if permitted to live on their estates, some of which were a long distance from the capital, have been a constantly threatening source of danger to the crown; at any moment an Aztec Runnimede might have been expected. To guard against any such catastrophe, the more powerful nobles were required to reside in the capital, at least during the greater part of each year; and permission to return to their homes for a short time, could only be obtained on condition that they left a son or brother as a guarantee of good faith during their absence.[93]

In the kingdom of Tezcuco were twenty-six great fiefs,[94] each independent of the rest and having several fiefs of less importance subjected to it. The greater part of these great chiefs bore the sovereign title of Tlatoani, or a similar one. They recognized no prerogative of the king except his right to preside at their grand assemblies, to receive their homage upon his accession to the throne, to levy certain tributes in their provinces, and to call upon them to appear in the field with a contingent of troops in case of war. For the rest, each Tlatoani was perfectly independent in his own domain, which he governed with the same omnipotence as the king of Tezcuco himself. Notwithstanding the precautions taken, it frequently happened that one of these great feudatories would feel himself strong enough to set the authority of the king at defiance, but as their private feuds generally prevented any number of the Tlatoanis from uniting their forces against the crown, the rebels were in most instances speedily reduced to subjection; in which event the leaders either suffered death or were degraded from their rank.

They were an unruly family, these overgrown vassals, and the Aztec monarchs were often at their wit's end in endeavors to conciliate and keep them within bounds. Torquemada tells us that Techotlalatzin, king of Tezcuco, was sorely harassed by the powerful nobles of his realm. He accordingly set about remedying the evil with great prudence and perseverance. His first step was to unite, by strong bonds of interest, the less important nobles to the crown. To this end he heaped favors upon all. The vanity of some he flattered by conferring the dignity and title of Tlatoani upon them, to others he gave wealth and lands. By this means he weakened the individual power of the great vassals by increasing their number, a policy the efficiency of which has been frequently proved in the old world as well as in the new. Techotlalatzin next proceeded to summon them one after another to court, and then under pretense of being in constant need of their advice, he formed twenty-six of their number into a council of state, obliging them by this means to reside constantly in the capital. With this council he conferred upon all grave and difficult questions, whatever might be their nature. It was the duty of its members to draw up and issue ordinances, both for the general government and for the administration of affairs in particular provinces; and to enact laws for enforcing good order in towns and villages, as well as those relating to agriculture, science and art, military discipline, and the tribunals of justice.

[Sidenote: ORDERS OF NOBILITY.]

At the same time Techotlalatzin created a large number of new offices and honorary trusts, which were dependent on the crown. Four of the most powerful nobles were invested with the highest dignities. The first, with the title Tetlahto, was made commander-in-chief of the army, and president of the military council. The second was entitled Yolqui; his office was that of grand master of ceremonies; it was his duty to receive and introduce the ambassadors and ministers of foreign princes, to conduct them to court, to lodge them and provide for their comfort, and to offer them the presents appointed by the king. The third lord received the title of Tlami or Calpixcontli; he was master of the royal household, and minister of finance, and was assisted in his functions by a council of other nobles. It was the duty of this body to keep strict account of all taxes paid by the people; its members were required to be well informed as to the exact condition of each town and province, with the nature of its produce, and the fertility of its soil; they had also to distribute the taxes with equality and justice, and in proportion to the resources of the people. The care and management of the interior of the palace was also intrusted to them, and it was their place to provide all the food for the consumption of the royal household. The fourth great officer was styled Amechichi; he acted as grand chamberlain, and attended to the king's private apartments. Like the Tlami, he was assisted by other nobles. A fifth officer was afterward appointed, who bore the title of Cohuatl, and superintended the workers in precious metals, jewels, and feathers, who were employed by the court. At first sight it may appear that such duties as these would be below the dignity of a haughty Aztec grandee, yet we find the nobles of Europe during the middle ages not only filling the same positions, but jealous of their right to do so, and complaining loudly if deprived of them. Sismondi tells us that the count of Anjou, under Louis VI., claimed the office of grand seneschal of France; that is, to carry dishes to the king's table on state days. The court of Charlemagne was crowded with officers of every rank, some of the most eminent of whom exercised functions about the royal person which would have been thought fit only for slaves in the palace of Augustus or Antonine. The free-born Franks saw nothing menial in the titles of cup-bearer, steward, marshal, and master of the horse, which are still borne by some of the noblest families in many parts of Europe.

As soon as habits of submission and an appreciation of the honors showered upon them had taken root among his great vassals, Techotlalatzin subdivided the twenty-six provinces of his kingdom into sixty-five departments. The ancient lords were not by this measure despoiled of all their authority, nor of those estates which were their private property; but the jurisdiction they exercised in person or through their officials was greatly diminished by the nomination of thirty-five new governors, chosen by the king, and of whose fidelity he was well assured. This was a mortal blow to the great aristocrats, and a preliminary step toward the total abolition of feudal power. But the master-stroke was yet to come. The inhabitants of each province were carefully counted and divided into sections. They were then changed about from place to place, in numbers proportioned to the size and population of the territory. For example, from a division containing six thousand people, two thousand were taken and transported into the territory of another lord, from the number of whose vassals two thousand were also taken and placed upon the vacated land in the first lord's possessions; each noble, however, retained his authority over that portion of his vassals which had been removed. By this means, although the number of each lord's subjects remained the same, yet as a large portion of each territory was occupied by the vassals of another, a revolt would be difficult. Nor could two nobles unite their forces against the crown, as care was taken that the interchange of dependents should not be effected between two estates adjoining each other.

These measures, despotic as they were, were nevertheless executed without opposition from either nobles or people,--such was the awe in which the sovereign was held and his complete ascendancy over his subjects.[95]

[Sidenote: PRIVILEGES OF THE NOBLES.]

The privileges of the nobles were numerous. They alone were allowed to wear ornaments of gold and gems upon their clothes, and, indeed, in their entire dress, as we shall presently see, they were distinguished from the lower classes. The exact limits of the power they possessed over their vassals is not known, but it was doubtless nearly absolute. Fuenleal, bishop of Santo Domingo, writes to Charles V. of the lower orders, that "they were, and still are, so submissive that they allow themselves to be killed or sold into slavery without complaining."[96] In Mexico their power and privileges were greatly augmented by Montezuma II., who we are told ousted every plebeian that held a position of high rank, and would allow none who were not of noble birth to be employed in his palace or about his person. At the time of this monarch's accession there were many members of the royal council who were men of low extraction; all these he dismissed and supplied their places with creatures of his own.

It is related that an old man who had formerly been his guardian or tutor had the boldness to remonstrate with him against such a course; telling him with firmness that he acted contrary to his own interests, and advising him to weigh well the consequences of the measures he was adopting. To banish the plebeians from the palace, added the old man, was to estrange them forever from the king; and the time would come when the common people would no longer either wish or dare to look upon him. Montezuma haughtily made answer, that this was precisely what he wished; it was a burning shame, he said, that the low and common people should be allowed to mix with the nobles in the royal service; he was astonished and indignant that his royal predecessors had so long suffered such a state of things to be.[97]

By these measures the services of many brave soldiers, promoted, as a reward for their gallantry, from the ranks of the people, were lost to the crown; nor were such men likely to be slow to show their discontent. The new policy, incited by a proud aristocracy, struck exactly those men who had the best right to a share in the government. It was the officers promoted for their merits from the ranks who had contributed most to the success of the Mexican arms; it was the great merchants who, by their extended commerce, had made the wealth of the country. A spirit of rivalry had long existed between the poor well-born nobles, and the wealthy base-born merchants. During many successive reigns the importance of the latter class had been steadily increasing, owing to the valuable services they had rendered the state. From the earliest times they were permitted a certain degree of familiarity with the kings, who took great delight in hearing them recount the wonderful adventures they had met with while on their long expeditions into strange parts. Doubtless the royal ear did not always meet the truth unembellished, any more than did that of Haroun Alraschid upon similar occasions, but probably the monarchs learned many little secrets in this way that they could never know by other means. Afterward these merchants were admitted to the royal councils, and during the latter years of the reign of Ahuitzotl we find them enjoying many of the exclusive privileges hitherto reserved to the warrior aristocracy.

[Sidenote: CLASS CONFLICTS.]

The merchants appear to have partly brought upon themselves the misfortunes which subsequently overtook them, by aggravating the envious feelings with which they were already regarded. Not content with being admitted to equal privileges with the nobles, and vexed at not being able to vie with them in brilliant titles and long lines of illustrious ancestry, they did their utmost to surpass them in the magnificence of their houses, and in the pomp which they displayed upon every occasion. At the public feasts and ceremonies these parvenus outshone the proudest nobles by the profuseness of their expenditure; they strove for and obtained honors and exalted positions which the aristocracy could not accept for lack of wealth; they were sparing of money in no place where it could be used for their own advancement. It is easy to conceive the effect such a state of things had on the proud and overbearing nobles of Mexico. On several occasions they complained to their kings that their order was losing its prestige by being obliged to mix on equal terms with the plebeians; but the services that the great commercial body rendered every day to the crown were too material to allow the kings to listen patiently to such complaints. During the reign of Ahuitzotl, the pride of the merchants had reached its zenith; it is not therefore surprising that the leaders of the aristocratic party, when that monarch was dead, elected as his successor Montezuma II., a prince well known for his partiality for the higher classes. His policy, as events proved, was a far less wise one than that of Techotlalatzin of Tezcuco, of which we have already spoken. By not restraining his overweening pride he prepared the way for disaffection and revolt; he furnished his enemies with weapons which they were not slow to use; he alienated the affections of his subjects, so that when aid was most needed there was none to help him, and when, fettered and a prisoner in the hand of the Spaniards, he called upon his people, the only replies were hoots and missiles.

The generals of the army and military officers of the higher ranks, must of course be included among the privileged classes; usually, indeed, they were noble by birth as well as influential by position, and in Mexico, from the time of Montezuma's innovations this was always the case. There were several military orders and titles which were bestowed upon distinguished soldiers for services in the field or the council. Of those which were purely the reward of merit, and such as could be attained by a plebeian, I shall speak in a future chapter. There was one, however, the membership of which was confined to the nobility; this was the celebrated and knightly order of the Tecuhtli.

To obtain this rank it was necessary to be of noble birth, to have given proof in several battles of the utmost courage, to have arrived at a certain age, and to have sufficient wealth to support the enormous expenses incurred by members of the order.

[Sidenote: CEREMONY OF INITIATING A TECUHTLI.]

For three years before he was admitted, the candidate and his parents busied themselves about making ready for the grand ceremony, and collecting rich garments, jewels, and golden ornaments, for presents to the guests. When the time approached, the auguries were consulted, and a lucky day having been fixed upon, the relations and friends of the candidate, as well as all the great nobles and Tecuhtlis that could be brought together, were invited to a sumptuous banquet. On the morning of the all-important day the company set out in a body for the temple of Camaxtli,[98] followed by a multitude of curious spectators, chiefly of the lower orders, intent upon seeing all there is to see. Arrived at the summit of the pyramid consecrated to Camaxtli, the aspirant to knightly honors bows down reverently before the altar of the god. The high-priest now approaches him, and with a pointed tiger's bone or an eagle's claw perforates the cartilage of his nose in two places, inserting into the holes thus made small pieces of jet or obsidian,[99] which remain there until the year of probation is passed, when they are exchanged for beads of gold and precious stones. This piercing the nose with an eagle's claw or a tiger's bone, signifies, says Torquemada, that he who aspires to the dignity of Tecuhtli must be as swift to overtake an enemy as the eagle, as strong in fight as the tiger. The high-priest, speaking in a loud voice, now begins to heap insults and injurious epithets upon the man standing meekly before him. His voice grows louder and louder; he brandishes his arms aloft, he waxes furious. The assistant priests are catching his mood; they gather closer about the object of the pontiff's wrath; they jostle him, they point their fingers sneeringly at him, and call him coward. For a moment the dark eyes of the victim gleam savagely, his hands close involuntarily, he seems about to spring upon his tormentors; then with an effort he calms himself and is passive as ever. That look made the taunters draw back, but it was only for a moment; they are upon him again; they know now that he is strong to endure, and they will prove him to the uttermost. Screaming insults in his ears, they tear his garments piece by piece from his body until nothing but the maxtli is left, and the man stands bruised and naked in their midst. But all is useless, their victim is immovable, so at length they leave him in peace. He has passed safely through one of the severest ordeals of the day, but that fierce look a while ago was a narrow escape; had he lifted a finger in resistance, he must have gone down from the temple to be scorned and jeered at by the crowd below as one who had aspired to the dignity of Tecuhtli, yet who could restrain his temper no better than a woman. The long months of careful preparation would have been all in vain, his parents would have spat upon him for vexation and shame, perchance he would have been punished for sacrilege. But he is by no means a member of the coveted order yet. He is next conducted to another hall of the temple,[100] where he commences his noviciate, which is to last from one to two years, by four days of penance, prayer, and fasting. As soon as he is conducted to this hall the banquet which has been prepared for the guests commences, and after a few hours of conviviality each returns to his home.

During these first four days the candidate's powers of endurance are sorely taxed. The only articles of furniture allowed him are a coarse mat and a low stool; his garments are of the coarsest description. When night comes, the priests bring him a black preparation, with which to besmear his face, some spines of the maguey-plant to draw blood from his body with, a censer and some incense. His only companions are three veteran warriors, who instruct him in his duties and keep him awake, for during the four days he is only allowed to sleep for a few minutes at a time, and then it must be sitting upon his stool. If, overcome by drowsiness, he exceed this time, his guardians thrust the maguey-thorns into his flesh, crying: Awake, awake! learn to be vigilant and watchful; keep your eyes open that you may look to the interests of your vassals. At midnight he goes to burn incense before the idol, and to draw blood from different parts of his body as a sacrifice. He then walks round the temple, and as he goes he burns paper and copal in four holes in the ground, which he makes at the four sides of the building, facing the cardinal points; upon each of these fires he lets fall a few drops of blood drawn from his body. These ceremonies he repeats at dawn and sunset. He breaks his fast only once in twenty-four hours, at midnight: and then his repast consists merely of four little dumplings of maize-meal, each about the size of a nut, and a small quantity of water; but even this he leaves untasted if he wishes to evince extraordinary powers of endurance. The four days having elapsed, he obtains permission from the high-priest to complete his time of probation in some temple of his own district or parish; but he is not allowed to go home, nor, if married, to see his wife during this period.

[Sidenote: FINAL CEREMONIES.]

For two or three months preceding his formal admission into the order, the home of the postulant is in a bustle of preparation for the coming ceremony. A grand display is made of rich stuffs and dresses, and costly jewels, for the use of the new knight when he shall cast off his present chrysalis-husk of coarse nequen and emerge a full-blown Tecuhtli. A great number of presents are provided for the guests; a sumptuous banquet is prepared, and the whole house is decorated for the occasion. The oracles are again consulted, and upon the lucky day appointed the company assemble once more at the house of the candidate, in the same manner as at the commencement of his noviciate. In the morning the new knight is conducted to a bath, and after having undergone a good scrubbing, he is again carried, in the midst of music and dancing, to the temple of Camaxtli. Accompanied by his brother Tecuhtlis he ascends the steps of the teocalli. After he has respectfully saluted the idol, the mean garments he has worn so long are taken off, and his hair is bound up in a knot on the top of his head with a red cord, from the ends of which hang some fine feathers; he is next clad in garments of rich and fine materials, the principal of which is a kind of tunic, ornamented with a delicately embroidered device, which is the insignia of his new rank; in his right hand he receives some arrows and in his left a bow. The high-priest completes the ceremony with a discourse, in which he instructs the new knight in his duties, tells him the names which he is to add to his own, as a member of the order; describes to him the signs and devices which he must emblazon on his escutcheon, and impresses upon his memory the advantages of being liberal and just, of loving his country and his gods. As soon as the newly made Tecuhtli has descended into the court of the temple, the music and dancing recommence, and are kept up until it is time to begin the banquet. This is served with great magnificence and liberality, and, to the guests at least, is probably the most interesting feature of the day. In front of each person at table are placed the presents intended for him, consisting of costly stuffs and ornaments in such quantity that each bundle was carried with difficulty by two slaves; each guest is also given a new garment, which he wears at table.

The value of the gifts was proportioned to the rank of the receiver, and such distinctions must be made with great care, for the Aztec nobility were very jealous of their rights of precedence. The places of such nobles as had been invited to the feast but were from illness or other cause unable to attend were left vacant, and their share of presents and food was placed upon the table exactly as if they had been present; Torquemada tells us, moreover, that the same courtesy was extended to the empty seat as to the actual guest.[101] Upon these occasions the absent noble generally sent a substitute, whose seat was placed next to that of the person he represented. On the following day the servants and followers of the guests were feasted and presented with gifts, according to the means and liberality of the donor.

The privileges of the Tecuhtlis were important and numerous. In council they took the first places, and their votes outweighed all others; in the same manner at all feasts and ceremonies, in peace or in war, they were always granted preëminence. As before remarked, the vast expenses entailed upon a Tecuhtli debarred the honor from many who were really worthy of it. In some instances, however, when a noble had greatly distinguished himself in war, but was too poor to bear the expenses of initiation, these were defrayed by the governor of his province, or by the other Tecuhtlis.[102]

[Sidenote: ORIGIN OF THE ORDER.]

The origin of the order of Tecuhtli is not known. Both the Toltecs and the Tlascaltecs claim to have established it. Veytia, however, asserts that this was not the case, but that it was first instituted by Xolotl, king of the Chichimecs.[103] M. l'Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg infers from ancient Toltec history that the ceremony of initiation and the probation of the candidate derive their origin from the mysterious rites of which traces are still found among the nations of Mexico and Central America. The traditions relating to Votan and Quetzalcoatl, or Gucumatz, evidently allude to it. The birth of Ceacatl-Quetzalcoatl is celebrated by his father, Mixcohua-Camaxtli, at Culhuacan, with great rejoicings and the creation of a great number of knights; it is these same knights who are afterwards sent to avenge his death upon his assassins at Cuitlahuac, a town which appears, since that time, to have been always the principal place of residence of the order. After the separation of Cholula from the rest of the Toltec empire by Ceacatl-Quetzalcoatl, that town, together with Huexotzinco and Tlascala, appears to have had special privileges in this particular. It is in these places that after the conquest of the Aztec plateau by the Teo-Chichimecs, we find most of their chiefs bearing the title of Tecuhtli; it may be that the priests were forced into confirming their warlike conquerors in the honor, or it may be that they did so voluntarily, hoping by this means to submit the warriors to their spiritual power. This, however, is certain, that the rank of Tecuhtli remained to the last the highest honor that a prince or soldier could acquire in the states of Tlascala, Cholula, and Huexotzinco.[104]

[Sidenote: THE MEXICAN PRIESTHOOD.]

The priesthood filled a very important place among the privileged classes, but as a succeeding volume has been set apart for all matters relating to religion, I will confine myself here to such an outline of the sacerdotal system as is necessary to make our view of Aztec social distinctions complete. The learned Abbé, M. Brasseur de Bourbourg, gives us a very correct and concise account of the Mexican priesthood, a partial translation of which will answer the present purpose.

Among the nations of Mexico and Central America, whose civilization is identical, the priesthood always occupied a high rank in the state, and up to the last moment its members continued to exercise a powerful influence in both public and private affairs. In Anáhuac the priestly offices do not appear to have been appropriated exclusively by an hereditary caste; all had an equal right to fill them, with the exception of the offices about the temple of Huitzilopochtli, at Mexico, which were granted to some families dwelling in certain quarters of that city.[105] The ministers of the various temples, to be fitted for an ecclesiastical career, must be graduates of the Calmecac, colleges or seminaries to which they had been sent by their parents in their infancy. The dignities of their order were conferred by vote; but it is evident that the priests of noble birth obtained almost invariably the highest honors. The quarrels between the priest and warrior classes, which, in former times, had brought so much harm to the Mexican nation, had taught the kings to do their best to effect a balance of power between the rival bodies; to this end they appropriated to themselves the privilege of electing priests, and placed at the head of the clergy a priest or a warrior of high rank, as they saw fit; this could be all the more easily done, as both classes received the same education in the same schools.

The august title of Topiltzin, which in ancient times expressed the supreme military and priestly power, came to mean, in after years, a purely ecclesiastical authority. In Tezcuco and Tlacopan, where the crown was inherited in a direct line by one of the sons of the deceased monarch, the supreme pontiff was usually selected from among the members of the royal family; but in Mexico, where it involved, almost always, the duties of Tlacochcalcatl, or commander-in-chief of the army, and, eventually, succession to the throne, the office of high-priest, like that of king, was elective. The election of the spiritual king, for so we may call him, generally followed close upon that of the temporal monarch, and such was the honor in which the former was held, that he was consecrated with the same sacred unguent with which the king was anointed. In this manner Axayacatl, Montezuma II., and Quauhtemoc, were each made pontiff before the royal crown was placed upon their head. The title of him who held this dignity was Mexicatl-Teohuatzin, that is to say, the 'Mexican lord of sacred things;' he added also, besides a great number of other titles, that of Teotecuhtli, or 'divine master,' and he was, by right, high-priest of Huitzilopochtli; he was the 'head of the church,' and of all its branches, not only at Mexico, but in all the provinces of the Mexican empire; he had absolute authority over all priests, of whatever rank, and the colleges and monasteries of every class were under his control. He was elected by the two dignitaries ranking next to himself in the aboriginal hierarchy. The Mexicatl-Teohuatzin was looked upon as the right arm of the king, particularly in all matters of war and religion, and it rarely happened that any important enterprise was set on foot without his advice. At the same time it is evident that the high-priest was, after all, only the vicar and lieutenant of the king, for on certain solemn occasions the monarch himself performed the functions of grand sacrificer.

The Quetzalcoatl, that is, the high-priest of the god of that name, was almost equal in rank to the Mexicatl-Teohuatzin; but his political influence was far inferior. The ordinary title of the priests was Teopixqui, or 'sacred guardian;' those who were clothed with a higher dignity were called Huey-Teopixqui, or 'great sacred guardian.' The Huitznahuac-Teohuatzin and the Tepan-Teohuatzin followed, in priestly rank, the high-priest of Huitzilopochtli; they were his vicars, and superintended the colleges and monasteries in every part of his kingdom. The Tlaquimilol-Tecuhtli, or 'grand master of relics,'[106] took charge of the ornaments, furniture, and other articles specially relating to worship. The Tlillancalcatl, or 'chief of the house of Tlillan,' exercised the functions of principal sacristan; he took care of the robes and utensils used by the high-priest. The choristers were under the orders of the Ometochtli, the high-priest of the god so named, who had, as director of the singing-schools, an assistant styled Tlapitzcatzin; it was this latter officer's duty to instruct his pupils in the hymns which were chanted at the principal solemnities. The Tlamacazcatlotl, or 'divine minister' overlooked the studies in the schools; another priest discharged the duties of grand master of the pontifical ceremonies; another was archdeacon and judge of the ecclesiastical courts; the latter had power to employ and discharge the attendants in the temples; besides these there was a crowd of other dignitaries, following each other rank below rank in perfect order.

[Sidenote: SACERDOTAL OFFICES.]

In Mexico and the other towns of the empire, there were as many complete sets of priests as there were temples. Besides the seventy-eight sanctuaries dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, which were in part directed by the priests we have already enumerated, the capital contained many others. Each had jurisdiction in its own section, which corresponded to our parish; the priests and their pupils dwelling in a school or college which adjoined the temple.

It was the province of the priests to attend to all matters relating to religion and the instruction of youth. Some took charge of the sacrifices, others were skilled in the art of divination; certain of them were entrusted with the arrangement of the festivals and the care of the temple and sacred vessels, others applied themselves to the composition of hymns and attended to the singing and music. The priests who were learned in science superintended the schools and colleges, made the calculations for the annual calendar, and fixed the feast-days; those who possessed literary talent compiled the historical works, and collected material for the libraries. To each temple was attached a monastery, or we might call it a chapter, the members of which enjoyed privileges similar to those of our canons.

The Tlamacazqui, 'deacons' or 'ministers' and the Quaquacuiltin, 'herb-eaters,' were those who dedicated themselves to the service of the gods for life. They led a very ascetic life; continence was strictly imposed upon them, and they mortified the flesh by deeds of penance in imitation of Quetzalcoatl, who was their patron deity. The name of Tlamacazcayotl, signifying 'government of the religious,' was given to these orders, and they had monasteries for the reception of both sexes. The high-priest of the god Quetzalcoatl was their supreme lord; he was a man of great authority, and never deigned to put his foot out of doors unless it was to confer with the king. When a father of a family wished to dedicate one of his children to the service of Quetzalcoatl, he with great humility advised the high-priest of his intention. That dignitary deputed a Tlamacazqui to represent him at the feast which was given in his honor, and to bring away the child. If at this time the infant was under four years of age, a slight incision was made on his chest, and a few drops of blood were drawn as a token of his future position. Four years was the age requisite for admission into the monastery. Some remained there until they were of an age to enter the world, some dedicated their whole lives to the service of the gods; others vowed themselves to perpetual continence. All were poorly clothed, wore their hair long, lived upon coarse and scanty fare, and did all kinds of work. At midnight they arose and went to the bath; after washing, they drew blood from their bodies with spines of the maguey-plant; then they watched and chanted praises of the gods until two in the morning. Notwithstanding this austerity, however, these monks could betake themselves alone to the woods, or wander through the mountains and deserts, there in solitude to spend the time in holy contemplation.

[Sidenote: MEXICAN PRIESTESSES.]

Females were consecrated to the service of the gods in several ways. When a girl was forty days old, the father carried her to the neighboring temple; he placed in her little hands a broom and a censer, and thus presented her to the Teopixqui, or priest; who by accepting these symbols of his future state, bound himself to perform his part of the engagement. As soon as the little one was able to do so in person, she carried a broom and a censer to the temple, with some presents for the priest; at the required age she entered the monastery. Some of the girls took an oath of perpetual continence; others, on account of some vow which they had made during sickness, or that the gods might send them a good husband, entered the monastery for one, two, three, or four years. They were called Cihuatlamacasque, 'deaconesses,' or Cihuaquaquilli, 'eaters of vegetables.' They were under the surveillance of a number of staid matrons of good character; upon entering the monastery each girl had her hair cut short.[107] They all slept in one dormitory, and were not allowed to disrobe before retiring to rest, in order that they might always be ready when the signal was given to rise. They occupied themselves with the usual labors of their sex; weaving and embroidering the tapestry and ornamental work for the temple. Three times during the night they rose to renew the incense in the braziers, at ten o'clock, at midnight, and at dawn.[108] On these occasions a matron led the procession; with eyes modestly bent upon the ground, and without daring to cast a glance to one side or the other, the maidens filed up one side of the temple, while the priests did the same on the other, so that all met before the altar. In returning to the dormitory the same order was observed. They spent part of the morning in preparing bread and confectionery, which they placed, while warm, in the temple, where the priests partook of it after sacrifice.[109] The young women, for their part, fasted strictly; they first broke their fast at noon, and with the exception of a scanty meal in the evening, this was all they ate during the twenty-four hours. On feast-days they were permitted to taste meat, but at all other times their diet was extremely meagre. While sweeping the temple they took great care never to turn their back to the idol, lest the god should be insulted.

If one of these young women unhappily violated her vows of chastity she redoubled her fasting and severity, in the fear that her flesh would rot, and in order to appease the gods and induce them to conceal her crime, for death was the punishment inflicted on the Mexican vestal who was convicted of such a trespass. The maiden who entered the service of the gods for a certain period only, and not for life, did not usually leave the monastery until she was about to be married. At that time the parents, having chosen a husband for the girl, and gotten everything in readiness, repaired to the monastery, taking care first to provide themselves with quails, copal, hollow canes filled with perfume, which Torquemada says they called poquietl, a brassier for incense, and some flowers. The girl was then clothed in a new dress, and the party went up to the temple; the altar was covered with a cloth, upon which were placed the presents they had brought with them, accompanied by sundry dishes of meats and pastry. A complimentary speech was next made by the parents to the Tequaquilli, or chief priest of the temple, and when this was concluded the girl was taken away to her father's house. But of those young men and maidens who stayed in the temple-schools for a time only, and received a regular course of instruction at the hands of the priests, it is my intention to speak further when treating of the education of the Mexican youth. The original accounts are rather confused on this point, so that it is difficult to separate with accuracy those who entered with the intention of becoming permanent priests from those who were merely temporary scholars.

[Sidenote: DRESS OF THE MEXICAN PRIESTS.]

The ordinary dress of the Mexican priests differed little from that of other citizens; the only distinctive feature being a black cotton mantle, which they wore in the manner of a veil thrown back upon the head. Those, however, who professed a more austere life, such as the Quaquaquiltin and Tlamacazqui before mentioned, wore long black robes; many among them never cut their hair, but allowed it to grow as long as it would; it was twisted with thick cotton cords, and bedaubed with unctuous matter, the whole forming a weighty mass, as inconvenient to carry as it was disgusting to look at. The high-priest usually wore, as a badge of his rank, a kind of fringe which hung down over his breast, called Xicolli; on feast-days he was clothed in a long robe, over which he wore a sort of chasuble or cope, which varied in color, shape, and ornamentation, according to the sacrifices he made and the divinity to which he offered them.[110]

Among the Miztecs and Zapotecs the priests had as much or even more influence than among the Mexicans. In briefly reviewing the sacerdotal system of these nations, let us once more take M. Brasseur de Bourbourg for our guide.

The kingdom of Tilantongo, which comprised upper Miztecapan, was spiritually governed by the high-priest of Achiuhtla; he had the title of Taysacaa,[111] and his power equalled, if it did not surpass, that of the sovereign. This office, it appears, was reserved for the royal family, and was transmitted from male to male; a member of any free family could, however, become a sacaa, or simple priest. All, even to the successor of the Taysacaa, had to submit to a vigorous noviciate of one year's duration, and to this rule no exceptions were made. Up to the time of commencing his noviciate, and for four years after it was ended, the candidate for the priesthood was supposed to have led a perfectly chaste life, otherwise he was judged unworthy to be admitted into the order. His only food during the year of probation was herbs, wild honey, and roasted maize; his life was passed in silence and retirement, and the monotony of his existence was only relieved by waiting on the priests, taking care of the altars, sweeping the temple, and gathering wood for the fires.

When four years after his admission to the priesthood had elapsed, during which time he seems to have served a sort of apprenticeship, he was permitted to marry if he saw fit, and at the same time to perform his priestly functions. If he did not marry he entered one of the monasteries which were dependent on the temples, and while performing his regular duties, increased the austerity of his life. Those priests who were entrusted with the higher and more important offices, such as the instruction of youth or a seat in the royal council, were selected from the latter class. The king, or the nobles, each in his own state, provided for their wants, and certain women, sworn to chastity, prepared their food. They never left the monastery except on special occasions, to assist at some feast, to play at ball in the court of their sovereign lord, to go on a pilgrimage for the accomplishment of a vow made by the king or by themselves, or to take their place at the head of the army, which, on certain occasions, they commanded. If one of these monks fell sick, he was well cared for in the monastery; if he died he was interred in the court of the building. If one of them violated his vow of chastity, he was bastinadoed to death.

[Sidenote: THE PONTIFF OF YOPAA.]

[Sidenote: THE CAVE OF YOPAA.]

In Zapotecapan the supreme pontiff was called the Wiyatao;[112] his residence was in the city of Yopaa,[113] and there he was from time immemorial spiritual and temporal lord, though, indeed, he made his temporal power felt more or less throughout the whole kingdom; and he appears in the earliest history of this country as master and lord of both the princes and the people of those nations who acknowledged him as the supreme head of their religion. The origin of the city of Yopaa is not known; it was situated on the slope of Mount Teutitlan,[114] which in this place formed a valley, shut in by overshadowing rocks, and watered by a stream which lower down flowed into the river Xalatlaco. The original inhabitants of this region were the disciples and followers of a mysterious, white-skinned personage named Wixipecocha. What race he belonged to, or from what land he came when he presented himself to the Zapotecs, is not known; a certain vague tradition relates that he came by sea from the south, bearing a cross in his hand, and debarked in the neighborhood of Tehuantepec;[115] a statue representing him is still to be seen, on a high rock near the village of Magdalena. He is described as a man of a venerable aspect, having a bushy, white beard, dressed in a long robe and a cloak, and wearing a covering upon his head resembling a monk's cowl. The statue represents him seated in a pensive attitude, apparently occupied in hearing the confession of a woman who kneels by his side.[116] His voice, to accord with his appearance, must have been of remarkable sweetness. Wixipecocha taught his disciples to deny themselves the vanities of this world, to mortify the flesh with penance and fasting, and to abstain from all sensual pleasures. Adding example to precept, he utterly abjured female society, and suffered no woman to approach him except in the act of auricular confession, which formed part of his doctrine.[117] This extraordinary conduct caused him to be much respected; especially as it was an unheard-of thing among these people for a man to devote his life to celibacy. Nevertheless, he was frequently persecuted by those whose vices and superstitions he attacked. Passing through one province after another he at length arrived in the Zapotec valley, a large portion of which was at that time occupied by a lake named Rualo. Afterwards, being entered into the country of the Miztecs, to labor for their conversion, the people sought to take his life. Those who were sent to take him prisoner, overtook him at the foot of Cempoaltepec, the most lofty peak in the country; but at the moment they thought to lay hands upon him, he disappeared suddenly from their sight, and soon afterwards, adds the tradition, his figure was seen standing on the summit of the highest peak of the mountain. Filled with astonishment, his persecutors hastened to scale the rocky height. When after great labor they arrived at the point where they had seen the figure, Wixipecocha appeared to them again for a few instants, then as suddenly vanished, leaving no traces of his presence save the imprints of his feet deeply impressed upon the rock where he had stood.[118] Since then we do not know that Wixipecocha reappeared in the ordinary world, though tradition relates that he afterwards showed himself in the enchanted island of Monapostiac, near Tehuantepec, whither he probably went for the purpose of obtaining new proselytes. In spite of the silence which history maintains concerning the time of his advent and the disciples which he left behind him, there can be no doubt that the priests of Yopaa did not continue to promulgate his doctrines, or that the Wiyatao, the supreme pontiff in Zapotecapan, was not there as the vicar and successor of the prophet of Monapostiac. Like the ancient Brahmans of Hindustan, the first disciples of Wixipecocha celebrated the rites of their religion in a deep cave, which M. de Bourbourg thinks was most probably hollowed out in the side of the mountain by the waters of the flood. This was afterwards used as a place of worship by the Wiyataos, who, as the number of their proselytes increased, brought art to the aid of nature, and under the hands of able architects the cave of Yopaa was soon turned into a temple, having halls, galleries, and numerous apartments all cut in the solid rock. It was into the gloomy recesses of this temple that the priests descended on solemn feast-days to assist at those mysterious sacrifices which were sacred from the profane gaze of the vulgar, or to take part in the burial rites at the death of a king.[119]

The classes of religious men were as numerous and their names and duties as varied among the Zapotecs as elsewhere. A certain order of priests who made the interpreting of dreams their special province were called Colanii Cobee Pécala. Each form of divination was made a special study. Some professed to foretell the future by the aid of stars, earth, wind, fire, or water; others, by the flight of birds, the entrails of sacrificial victims, or by magic signs and circles. Among other divinities a species of parroquet, with flaming plumage, called the ara,[120] was worshiped in some districts. In this bird a god was incarnate, who was said to have descended from the sky like a meteor. There were among the Zapotecs hermits or fakirs, who passed their entire lives in religious Ecstasy and meditation, shut up in dark caves, or rude huts, with no other companion but an ara, which they fed respectfully upon a species of altar; in honor of the bird they lacerated their flesh and drew blood from their bodies; upon their knees they kissed it morning and evening, and offered it with their prayers sacrifices of flowers and copal.

[Sidenote: ZAPOTEC PRIESTS.]

Priests of a lower order were styled Wiyana and Wizaechi, and the monks Copapitas. The influence which they were supposed to have with the gods, and the care which they took to keep their number constantly recruited with scions of the most illustrious families, gained them great authority among the people. No noble was so great but he would be honored by having a son in the temple. They added, also, to the credit of their profession by the strict propriety of their manners, and the excessive rigor with which they guarded their chastity. Parents who wished to consecrate one of their children to the service of the gods, led him, while still an infant, to the chief priest of the district, who after carefully catechizing the little one, delivered him over to the charge of the master of the novices. Besides the care of the sanctuary, which fell to their lot, these children were taught singing, the history of their country, and such sciences as were within their comprehension.

These religious bodies were looked upon with much respect. Their members were taught to bear themselves properly at home and in the street, and to preserve a modest and humble demeanor. The least infraction of the rules was severely punished; a glance or a sign which might be construed into a carnal desire, was punished as criminal, and those who showed by their actions a strong disposition to violate their vow of chastity were relentlessly castrated.

The Wiyanas were divided into several orders, but all were ruled in the most absolute manner by the pontiff of Yopaa. I have already spoken of the veneration in which this spiritual monarch was held, and of the manner in which he surmounted the difficulty of having children to inherit the pontifical chair, when continence was strictly imposed upon him.[121]

The ordinary dress of the Zapotec priests was a full white robe, with openings to pass the arms through, but no sleeves; this was girt at the waist with a colored cord. During the ceremony of sacrifice, and on feast-days, the Wiyatao wore, over all, a kind of tunic, with full sleeves, adorned with tassels and embroidered in various colors with representations of birds and animals. On his head he wore a mitre of feather-work, ornamented with a very rich crown of gold; his neck, arms, and wrists were laden with costly necklaces and bracelets; upon his feet were golden sandals, bound to his legs with cords of gold and bright-colored thread.[122]

[Sidenote: PRIESTS OF MICHOACAN.]

The Toltec sacerdotal system so closely resembled the Mexican already described that it needs no further description in this volume. Their priests wore a long black robe reaching to the ground; their heads were covered with a hood, and their hair fell down over their shoulders and was braided. They rarely put sandals on their feet, except when about to start on a long journey.[123] Among the Totonacs six great ecclesiastics were elected, one as high-priest, one next to him in rank, and so on with the other four. When the high-priest died, the second priest succeeded him. He was anointed and consecrated with great ceremony; the unction used upon the occasion was a mixture of a fluid called in the Totonac tongue ole, and blood drawn at the circumcision of children.[124] There existed also among these people an order of monks devoted to their goddess Centeotl. They lived a very austere and retired life, and their character, according to the Totonac standard, was irreproachable. None but men above sixty years of age, who were widowers of virtuous life and estranged from the society of women, were admitted into this order. Their number was fixed, and when one of them died another was received in his stead. They were so much respected that they were not only consulted by the common people, but likewise by the great nobles and the high-priest. They listened to those who consulted them, sitting upon their heels, with their eyes fixed upon the ground, and their answers were received as oracles even by the kings of Mexico. They were employed in making historical paintings, which they gave to the high-priest that he might exhibit them to the people. The common Totonac priests wore long black cotton robes with hoods; their hair was braided like the other common priests of Mexico, and anointed with the blood of human sacrifices, but those who served the goddess Centeotl were always dressed in the skins of foxes or coyotes.[125] At Izacapu, in Michoacan, there was a pontiff named Curinacanery, who was looked upon with such deep veneration that the king himself visited him once a year to offer him the first-fruits of the season, which he did upon his knees, having first respectfully kissed his hand. The common priests of Michoacan wore their hair loose and disheveled; a leathern band encircled their foreheads; their robes were white, embroidered with black, and in their hands they carried feather fans.[126] In Puebla they also wore white robes, with sleeves, and fringed on the edges.[127] The papas, or sacrificing priests of Tlascala, allowed their hair to grow long and anointed it with the blood of their victims.[128] Much more might be written concerning the priests of these countries, but as it does not strictly come within the province of this volume, it is omitted here.[129]

FOOTNOTES:

[93] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 231; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. xii.; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 502.Return to passage

[94] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 88; Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. ii., p. 182, makes the number twenty-seven.Return to passage

[95] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 88, et seq.; see also Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. ii., p. 182, et seq.; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 428, et seq.; Ixtlilxochitl, Relaciones, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 353, et seq.; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 502; Herrera, dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. xii.Return to passage

[96] Lettre, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i., tom. x., p. 251.Return to passage

[97] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 196.Return to passage

[98] Camaxtli was the Tlascaltec god of war, corresponding with and probably the same as the Mexican Huitzilopochtli. The order of Tecuhtli being held in higher esteem in Tlascala than elsewhere, the ceremony of initiation is generally described as it took place in that state.Return to passage

[99] 'Unas piedras chequitas de piedra negra, y creo eran de la piedra de que hacen las navajas.' Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. lxvii.Return to passage

[100] 'Se iba à vna de las Salas, ò Aposentos de los Ministros que servian al Demonio, que se llamaba Tlamacazcalco.' Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 362. It seems unlikely, however, that the candidate would be taken to another temple at this juncture. Brasseur explains the name of the hall to which he was taken as 'le Lieu des habitations des Ministres, prêtres de Camaxtli.' Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 587.Return to passage

[101] 'Y à las Sillas solas que representaban las Personas ausentes, hacian tanta cortesia, y le captaban Benevolencia, como si realmente estuvieran presentes los Señores que faltaban.' Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 364.Return to passage

[102] Concerning the ceremony of initiation see: Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., pp. 361-6; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. lxvii.; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 306-8; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 120-1; Camargo, _Hist. Tlax._, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcviii., pp. 147-9.Return to passage

[103] Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. ii., pp. 58-60.Return to passage

[104] Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 586.Return to passage

[105] Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. ii., cap. xv.Return to passage

[106] The Tlaquimilloli, from whence the title is derived, was a sacred package or bundle, containing relics of gods and heroes.Return to passage

[107] Clavigero asserts that the hair of such only as entered the service on account of some private vow, was cut.Return to passage

[108] Clavigero says that only a part of them rose upon each occasion. 'S'alzavano alcune due ore incirca innanzi alla mezza notte, altre alla mezza notte, ed altre allo spuntar del di per attizzar, e mantener vivo il fuoco, e per incensare gl'Idoli.' Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 42.Return to passage

[109] 'Elles passaient une partie de la matinée à preparer le pain en galette et les pâtisseries qu'elles présentaient, toutes chaudes, dans le temple, où les prêtres allaient les prendre après l'oblation.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 556. Clavigero says they prepared the offering of provisions which was presented to the idols: 'Tutte le mattine preparavano l'obblazioni di commestibili da presentarsi agl'Idoli.' Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 42.Return to passage

[110] Clavigero writes: 'L'insegna de' Sommi Sacerdoti di Messico era un fiocco, o nappa di cotone pendente dal petto, e nelle feste principali vestivansi abiti sfarzosi, ne' quali vedevansi figurate le insegne di quel Dio, la cui festa celebravano.' Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 38. The most important works that can be consulted concerning the Mexican priesthood are: Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 549-59; from which I have principally taken my account; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., pp. 163-5, 175-91; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, caps. cxxxiii., cxxxix., cxl.; Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 112 et seq., 218-23, tom. iii., pp. 276-7; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 323-5; Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 335-42; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. ii., cap. xv-xvii.; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 36 et seq.Return to passage

[111] This is the title given by the Spanish authors; it is probably derived from tay, a man, and sacaa, a priest. Vocabul. en lengua Mixteca, etc., according to Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 17, note.Return to passage

[112] Wiyatao, Burgoa writes huijatoo, and translates, 'great watchman;' the Zapotec vocabulary translates it by the word papa, or priest.Return to passage

[113] Yopaa, Burgoa also writes Lyobaa and Yobaa; it signifies the Place of Tombs, from Yo, place, or ground, and paa, tomb, in the Zapotec tongue, 'the centre of rest.'Return to passage

[114] Teutitlan was its name in the Nahuatl language. Its Zapotecan name was Xaquiya.Return to passage

[115] Rasgos y señales de la primera predicacion en el Nuevo-Mundo, MS. de Don Isidro Gondra; Carriedo, Estudios históricos y estadísticos del Estado Oaxaqueño, Mexico, 1850, tom. i., cap. i.; quoted in Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 9.Return to passage

[116] Burgoa, Geog. Descrip., tom. ii., pt ii., cap. lxxii.Return to passage

[117] Rasgos y señales de la primera predicacion en el Nuevo-Mundo, MS. de Don Isidro Gondra; quoted in Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 10.Return to passage

[118] Burgoa, Geog. Descrip., tom. ii., pt ii., cap. lxxii.Return to passage

[119] Burgoa, Geog. Descrip., tom. ii., pt ii., cap. liii.Return to passage

[120] So called from the cry of ara, ara, which it constantly repeats.Return to passage

[121] See this vol., pp. 142-3.Return to passage

[122] Burgoa, Geog. Descrip., tom. ii., cap. liii. Of the Miztec high-priest Torquemada writes: 'Se vestia, para celebrar sus Fiestas, de Pontifical, de esta manera. Unas mantas mui variadas de colores, matiçadas, y pintadas de Historias acaecidas à algunos de sus Dioses: poniase vnas como Camisas, ò Roquetes, sin mangas (à diferencia de los Mexicanos) que llegaban mas abajo de la rodilla, y en las piernas vnas como antiparas, que le cubrian la pantorrilla; y era esto casi comun à todos los Sacerdotes Sumos, y calçado, con que adornaban las Estatuas de los Dioses; y en el braço izquierdo, vn pedaço de manta labrada, à manera de liston, como suelen atarse algunos al braço, quando salen à Fiestas, ò Cañas, con vna borla asida de ella, que parecia manipulo. Vestia encima de todo vna Capa, como la nuestra de Coro, con vna borla colgando à las espaldas, y vna gran Mitra en la cabeça, hecha de plumas verdes, con mucho artificio, y toda sembrada, y labrada de los mas principales Dioses, que tenian. Quando bailaban, en otras ocasiones, y patios de los Templos (que era el modo ordinario de cantar sus Horas, y reçar su Oficio) se vestian de ropa blanca pintada, y vnas ropetas, como camisetas de Galeote.' Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 217.Return to passage

[123] Ixtlilxochitl, Relaciones, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., tom. ix., p. 327.Return to passage

[124] Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. cxxxiii.Return to passage

[125] Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. cxxi.; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 181; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 44; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. v., cap. xiv.Return to passage

[126] Beaumont, Crón. Mechoacan, MS., pp. 52-3; Herrera says of the priests of Mechoacan: 'Trahian los cabellos largos, y coronas abiertas en la cabeça, como los de la Yglesia Catolica, y guirnaldas de fluecos colorados.' Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. iii., cap. x.Return to passage

[127] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 438.Return to passage

[128] Camargo, Hist. Tlax., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 201.Return to passage

[129] Less important, or more modern, authorities that treat of the privileged classes among the Aztecs, are: Pimentel, Mem. sobre la Raza Indígena, pp. 19-22; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 495-504; Carli, Cartas, pt i., pp. 114-15; Carbajal, Discurso, pp. 108-14; Chaves, Rapport, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série ii., tom. v., pp. 303-6, 337; Dilworth's Conq. Mex., p. 36; Monglave, Résumé, pp. 14-19, 32-5; Hazart, Kirchen-Geschichte, tom. ii., pp. 503-5; Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, pp. 74, 235-6, 264-5; West und Ost Indischer Lustgart, pt i., pp. 73-7, 98-100; Cortés, Aventuras, pref., p. 6; Baril, Mexique, pp. 201-2; Klemm, Cultur-Geschichte, tom. v., pp. 59-70, 88-98, 209-10; Soden, Spanier in Peru, tom. ii., pp. 12-13, 19; Chevalier, Mex., Ancien et Mod., pp. 116-120.Return to passage

VI. PLEBEIANS, SLAVES, TENURE OF LANDS, AND TAXATION

INFLUENCE OF THE COMMONERS--OPPRESSION BY NOBLES--DEPRIVED OF OFFICE BY MONTEZUMA II.--CLASSES OF SLAVES--PENAL SLAVES--VOLUNTARY SLAVERY--SLAVE MARKET AT AZCAPUZALCO--PUNISHMENT AND PRIVILEGES OF SLAVES--DIVISION OF LANDS--CROWN LANDS--LANDS OF THE NOBLES--MUNICIPAL PROPERTY--PROPERTY OF THE TEMPLES--TENURE OF LANDS IN ZAPOTECAPAN, MIZTECAPAN, MICHOACAN, TLASCALA, CHOLULA, AND HUEXOTZINCO--SIMILARITY TO FEUDAL SYSTEM OF EUROPE--SYSTEM OF TAXATION--MUNICIPAL TAXES--LICE TRIBUTE--TRIBUTE FROM CONQUERED PROVINCES--REVENUE OFFICERS--INJUSTICE OF MONTEZUMA II.

[Sidenote: PLEBEIANS AND SLAVES.]

No writer seems to have thought it worth while to define the exact condition of the lower orders of free citizens among the Aztecs. In Mexico, under the earlier kings, they appear to have enjoyed considerable privileges. They were represented in the royal councils, they held high offices at court and about the king's person, their wishes were consulted in all affairs of moment, and they were generally recognized as an important part of the community. Gradually, however, their power lessened as that of the nobles increased, until, in the time of Montezuma II., they were, as we have seen, deprived of all offices that were not absolutely menial, and driven from the palace. Still, there is no doubt that from the earliest times the plebeians were always much oppressed by the nobles, or that, as the Bishop of Santo Domingo, before quoted,[130] remarks, "they were, and still are, so submissive that they allow themselves to be killed or sold into slavery without complaining." Father Acosta, also, writes that "so great is the authority which the caciques have assumed over their vassals that these latter dare not open their lips to complain of any order given them, no matter how difficult or disagreeable it may be to fulfill; indeed, they would rather die and perish than incur the wrath of their lord; for this reason the nobles frequently abuse their power, and are often guilty of extortion, robbery, and violence towards their vassals."[131] Camargo tells us that the plebeians were content to work without pay for the nobles, if they could only insure their protection by so doing.[132]

Of those who stood below the macehuales, as the plebeians were called, and lowest of all in the social scale, the slaves, we have more definite information. Slavery was enforced and recognized by law and usage throughout the entire country inhabited by the Nahua nations. There were in ancient Mexico three classes of slaves; namely, prisoners of war, persons condemned for crime to lose their freedom, and those who sold themselves, or children sold by their parents. The captor of a prisoner of war had an undisputed right to doom his prize to be sacrificed to the gods; this power he almost invariably exerted, and it was held a punishable crime for another to deprive him of it by rescuing the prisoner or setting him free.[133] Sahagun tells us that the captor could, if he chose, either sell or hold his prisoners as slaves; and if among them any man or woman showed unusual ability in music, embroidering, weaving, or other domestic occupation, he or she was frequently purchased by the king or some noble or wealthy man, and employed in his house, and thus saved from the sacrifice.[134] The offences which the Aztecs punished with slavery were the following: firstly, failure on the part of any relation of a person convicted of high treason, to give timely information of the plot to the proper authorities, provided he or she had knowledge of it, the wives and children of the traitor being also enslaved; secondly, the unauthorized sale of a free man or woman or of a free child kidnapped or found astray, the kidnapper fraudulently asserting such person to be a slave, or such child to be his own; thirdly, the sale or disposal, by a tenant or depositary, of another's property, without the permission of the owner or his representative, or of a proper legal authority; fourthly, hindering a collared slave from reaching the asylum of the sovereign's palace, provided it was the act of one who was not the owner or the owner's son; fifthly, stealing things of value, or being an inveterate thief; sixthly, stealing from a field a certain number of ears of corn or of useful plants, exception being made to this law when the act was committed by a child under ten years of age, or when the stolen property was paid for; seventhly, the impregnating, by a free man, of another's female slave, if the woman died during her pregnancy, or in consequence of it. This latter statement is contradicted by Torquemada, upon the strength of information given him, as he alleges, by Aztecs well acquainted with the laws of their country.[135] Gomara asserts, though he allows that others deny it, that when a man died insolvent, his son or his wife became the property of his creditors.[136] Torquemada affirms that it was customary for a creditor to look for payment of his claim to the estate, real or personal, if any there was, but no member of the debtor's family was awarded to him to cancel the debt.[137] It sometimes happened that persons too poor to pay their taxes were put up for sale, but this mostly occurred in conquered provinces. Penal slaves did not become the property of the king or the state, but were publicly sold to private persons, or assigned to the parties whom they had injured; nor were such offenders held to be slaves, or their punishment considered to have commenced until they had been formally delivered to the new owner.

[Sidenote: PENAL AND VOLUNTARY SLAVERY.]

Among those who voluntarily surrendered their freedom for a consideration, besides such as were driven by extreme poverty to do so, were the indolent who would not trust to their own exertions for a livelihood, gamesters, to obtain the wherewithal to satisfy their passion for gambling,[138] and harlots, to provide themselves with showy clothing and finery. The two latter classes were not obliged to go into service until after the expiration of a year from the time of receiving the consideration for which they sold themselves.

Slaves were continually offered for sale in the public market-place of every town, but the principal slave-mart in the Mexican empire seems to have been the town of Azcapuzalco, which was situated about two leagues from the city of Mexico; it occupied the site of the ancient capital of the Tepanec kingdom, which was destroyed by King Nezahualcoyotl of Tezcuco. Great numbers of slaves were brought to Azcapuzalco from all the provinces; and it is said that the merchants who traded in them had to adopt great precautions to prevent their property from being stolen or rescued on the journey. With a view to advantageous sales the slaves thus exposed in the public markets were kept well clothed and fed, and were forced to dance and look cheerful.

Parents could pawn, or sell a son as a slave, but were allowed to take him back on surrendering another son to serve in his stead; on such occasions the master was wont to show his generosity by allowing an extra compensation for the new servant. There was yet another kind of slavery, called by the Mexicans huehuetlatlacolli, meaning 'ancient servitude.' When one or more families were entirely destitute and famine-stricken, they sold a son to some noble, and bound themselves to always 'keep that slave alive,' that is to say, to supply another to fill his place if he died or became incapacitated. This obligation was binding upon each member of the families making the contract, but was null and void if the man who was actually serving died in his master's house, or if his employer took from him anything that he had lawfully acquired; therefore, to prevent this forfeiture of ownership, the master neither took from his slave anything but personal service, nor allowed him to dwell in his house. It frequently happened that as many as four or five families were bound in this manner to supply a noble and his heirs with a slave. But in 1505 or 1506, a year of famine in the country, Nezahualpilli of Tezcuco, foreseeing the evils that this system of perpetual contract would entail upon his subjects if the scarcity of food continued long, repealed the law, and declared all families exempt from its obligations; it is recorded that Montezuma II. soon after followed his example.[139]

[Sidenote: CONDITION AND TREATMENT OF SLAVES.]

Slavery in Mexico was, according to all accounts, a moderate subjection, consisting merely of an obligation to render personal service, nor could that be exacted without allowing the slave a certain amount of time to labor for his own advantage. Slaves were kindly treated and were allowed far greater privileges than any in the old world; they could marry and bring up families, hold property, including other slaves to serve them, and their children were invariably born free. There is, however, some obscurity on this point, as Sahagun tells us that in the year Ce Tochtli, which came round every fifty-two years, there was generally a great famine in the land, and at that time many persons, driven to it by hunger, sold not only themselves as slaves, but also their children and descendants for countless generations.[140] Very young or poor slaves lived at the home of their master, and were treated almost as members of the family; the other slaves lived independently, either on their owner's land, or upon their own. It frequently happened that a master succumbed to the charms of one of his female slaves and made her his wife, or that a comely bondman found favor in the sight of his mistress, and became her lord; nor was this so strange as it may at first appear, there being no difference of race or color to make such alliances repugnant or shameful. Feelings of affection and respect existed, as a rule, between master and servant. A slave who had served long and faithfully was often entrusted with the stewardship of his owner's household and property, and, on the other hand, if the master through misfortune should become poor, his bondmen would cheerfully labor for his support. No well-behaved slave could be sold without his consent unless his owner could prove that poverty or debt made such sale unavoidable; nor could such faults as laziness, disobedience, or running away, be punished without due warning, which the master for his own justification usually gave in the presence of respectable witnesses. If after this had occurred two or three times the slave continued refractory, a wooden collar was placed on his neck, and then his master was authorized to transfer him against his will. Purchasers of a collared slave always inquired how many times he had been so disposed of before, and if after two or three such sales he continued incorrigible, he could be sold for the sacrifice. But even yet he has one chance left; if he can escape from his master's premises and gain the courtyard of the royal palace, he not only avoids punishment, but he is from that day forth a free man; moreover, no person, save his owner or his owner's sons, is allowed in any manner to prevent him from reaching the asylum, under penalty of being made the slave of him whom he attempts to deprive of his chance for freedom.

The sale of a slave was conducted with much formality, and must be made in the presence of at least four respectable witnesses; in cases of self-sale the witnesses acted as conscientious arbitrators to secure the highest price and most favorable conditions for him who sold himself. The usual price for an average slave was twenty mantles, equivalent to one load of cotton cloth; some were worth less, while others brought as many as forty mantles.

Slavery among the Nahua nations appears, then, to have been only a partial deprivation of a freeman's rights. As a slave was permitted to possess property and even other slaves of his own, and as his children were born free and he had complete control of his own family, we can scarcely say he lost his citizenship, although it is true he was not eligible for public office. It was a common practice for a master during his lifetime, or on his death-bed, to emancipate his slaves, but if no such provision were made they went to the heirs with the rest of the property. Murder of a slave, even by his master, was a capital offence.

Yet in spite of all this testimony in favor of the mildness of slavery among the Nahua nations, there is still room for some reasonable doubt concerning the patriarchal character of the system; inasmuch as we are told that many slaves, not mentioned as being prisoners of war or criminals, as well as servants, dwarfs, or deformed persons, and purchased children, were put to death at religious feasts and royal funerals.[141]

* * * * *

[Sidenote: TENURE OF LANDS.]

The lands were divided between the crown, the nobility, the various tribes or clans of the people, and the temples. The division, however, was by no means equal, by far the greater portion being appropriated by the king and the aristocracy.[142] All landed property was duly surveyed, and each estate was accurately marked out on maps, or paintings, kept on file by a competent officer in the district where they were situated. The crown lands were painted in purple, those of the nobility in scarlet, and those of the calpullis, or wards, in light yellow. Certain portions of the crown property called tecpantlalli, or 'lands of the palace,' were granted to nobles of the rank of Tecuhtli, who were called tecpanpouhque or tecpantlaca, 'people of the palace.' They had the free use and enjoyment of such lands, and in return certain services were expected of them. It was their duty to attend to the repairs and proper arrangement of the royal residences, and to cultivate and keep in order the royal gardens, for all of which they had to provide the necessary number of workmen; besides this they were obliged to wait on the king and accompany him whenever he appeared in public. Although in consideration of these services the 'people of the palace' paid no rent, yet the eminent domain of their lands was vested in the sovereign. When one of them died his eldest son inherited his privileges, subject to the same obligations, but if he changed his residence to another part of the country, or died without male issue, the usufruct was forfeited and the land reverted to the sovereign, who transferred it to another usufructuary, or left the choice of one to the community in whose district the property was situated.[143] The produce of other lands belonging to the crown was set apart for the support of the royal household, and for benevolent purposes.

[Sidenote: LANDED PROPERTY OF THE NOBLES.]

In conquered provinces, the habits and customs and established form of government of the vanquished were usually respected. The sovereigns of Anáhuac retained the native princes in power, and allowed the people to keep their property; but they invariably set apart a certain part of the territory, proportioned to the conquest, which became the property of the conquering monarch. These lands, called yaotlalli, which means 'war lands,' were cultivated by the conquered people for the benefit of their conqueror. If they belonged to Mexico their name was mexica-tlalli; if to Acolhuacan, acolhua-tlalli, and so on.[144]

[Sidenote: INHERITANCE OF ESTATES.]

The lands of the nobility were called pillalli, and were either ancient possessions of the nobles transmitted by inheritance from father to son, or were rewards of valor granted by the king. They were held by various tenures; some of them could be alienated at the will of the owner, subject only to the restriction that they should not pass into the hands of a plebeian; others were entailed upon the eldest male issue and could not be otherwise disposed of. Many of the Aztec estates were of very ancient origin. After the Chichimecs obtained undisputed possession of the valley of Mexico, their chief or sovereign Xolotl made grants of land to his own people, and to others who acknowledged him as their supreme lord, under the condition that the grantees should render service to the crown with their persons, vassals, and estates, whenever he should require it of them, and the same policy was adopted by his successors.[145] Sons generally inherited their father's estates by right of primogeniture, but if the eldest son was judged incapable of taking proper care of the property, the father left it to whichever son he pleased, stipulating, however, that the heir should insure a competency to him he had supplanted.[146] In the republic of Tlascala daughters could not inherit an estate, the object being to prevent landed property from going into the hands of strangers. In the kingdoms of Mexico, Tezcuco, and Tlacopan it is probable that the law was the same in this respect, but the authorities give us no information concerning the matter.[147] These feudatories paid no rent for their lands, but were bound to assist their suzerain, the king, with their persons, vassals, and fortunes in all cases of foreign or civil war. Each king, on his accession, confirmed the investiture of estates derived from the crown.[148] The lands of the people were called calpulli, and every city was divided into as many of these as there were wards in it, and the whole number of calpulli being collectively named altepatlalli. The calpulli, as well as the tlaxicalli, or streets, were all measured out and their boundaries marked, so that the inhabitants of one ward or street could not invade the possessions of another. Each of these divisions belonged to its respective community, and was of greater or less extent and importance according to the partition which had been made by the first settlers in Anáhuac. The owners of a calpulli were all members of the same clan or tribe, and their district bore their name. The right of tenure was perpetual and inalienable, and was the common property of the community and not of individuals. Any member of the community not possessed of any land, had the right to ask for a portion suitable to his position and requirements, which was granted him. This portion he was entitled to hold as long as he cultivated and improved it, and he could transmit it to his heirs; he had no authority to sell his portion, but he could let it to another for a number of years. If he neglected to cultivate it for two years the head man of the calpulli remonstrated with him; if he paid no heed to this warning he was ousted the following year in favor of some other person; a reasonable excuse for such neglect was, however, always accepted. If the land assigned to anyone proved unfruitful and barren, he was at liberty to abandon it and another portion was granted him. Under no pretext whatever could any person settle upon the land lawfully occupied by another, nor could the authorities of the calpulli deprive the latter of his right. If a land-owner died without heirs, his portion was considered vacant and assigned to the first applicant for it. If a calpulli was in great need the authorities were allowed to lease its lands, but under no circumstances were the inhabitants permitted to work on the lands of another district. The elders of the tribe formed the council of the calpulli; this body elected a principal, called calpullec, whose duty it was to watch over the interests of the community; he acted only with the advice and consent of the council. Each city set apart a piece of land in the suburbs wherefrom to supply the needs of the army in time of war. These portions were called milchimalli, or cacalomilli, according to the kind of grain they produced, and were cultivated jointly by all the calpullis. It was not unusual for the kings to make a life-grant of a portion of the people's property to some favorite noble, for though there is no doubt that the calpulli lands of right belonged to the people, yet in this respect as in others, the kings were wont to usurp a power not their own.[149] Every temple, great and insignificant, had its own lands and country estates, the produce of which was applied to the support of the priests and of public worship; the tenants who occupied these lands were looked upon as vassals of the temples. The chief priests, who, on the temple lands, exercised a power similar to that of the royal governors, frequently visited these estates to inspect their condition and to administer justice to their tenants. The temple of Huitzilopochtli was considered the wealthiest in Mexico. Torquemada says that in Tezcuco fifteen large cities furnished the temples of that kingdom with wood, provisions, and other necessaries.[150] Clavigero makes the number of towns twenty-nine.[151]

Throughout Zapotecapan and Miztecapan landed property was invariably transmitted from male to male, females being excluded from the succession. No one had the right to sell his land in perpetuity; the law forbade its transfer out of a family either by marriage or otherwise; and if a proprietor was compelled by the force of necessity to dispose of his real estate, it returned after the lapse of some years to his son or his nearest relative, who paid to the holder the consideration for which it had been pledged or its equivalent.[152] In Miztecapan the first-born son, before taking possession of his inheritance, had to do penance for a year; he was confined in a religious house, clothed in rags, daubed with India-rubber juice, and his face and body rubbed with fetid herbs; during that time he had to draw blood repeatedly from his body and limbs, and was subjected to hard labor and privation. At the expiration of the year he was washed with odorous water by four girls, and then conducted by friends to his house with great pomp and festivity.[153]

[Sidenote: ESTATES IN MICHOACAN.]

Early writers say nothing about the tenure of lands among the Tarascos of Michoacan, but merely state in general terms that the sovereign's power over the lives and property of his subjects was unlimited.[154]

The tenure of lands in the republic of Tlascala had its origin in the division made at the time when the country was first settled; which was as follows: Any Tecuhtli who established an entail, called teccalli, or pilcalli, took for his own use the best and largest part of the lands that fell to his lot or were awarded to him in the partition, including woods, springs, rivers, and lakes; of the remainder a fair division was made among his servitors and vassals, or, in other words, his soldiers, friends, and kinsmen. All were bound to keep the manor-house in repair and to supply their lord with game, flowers, and other comforts, and he in his turn, was expected to entertain, protect, and feed them in his house. To these kinsmen, friends, and servitors, was given the name of teixhuihuan, meaning the 'grand-children of the manor-house.' In this manner all the nobles divided their land. All were greatly respected by their vassals. They derived their income from the taxes that their tenants paid them out of what they obtained from the chase, from the soil, and by raising domestic animals.[155]

No information has reached us respecting the provisions under which land was held in Cholula and Huexotzinco, or among the Totonacs. In the province of Pánuco, the eldest son was the sole inheritor of land and, therefore, the only one that paid tribute; the other sons had to rent land from those who were in possession of it.[156]

There can be no doubt that in all this there is, as so many writers have observed, a strong resemblance to the feudal systems of Europe. The obligation of military service, and other relations of lord and vassal smack strongly of the institutions of the Middle Ages, but, as Mr Prescott says, the minor points of resemblance "fall far short of that harmonious system of reciprocal service and protection, which embraced, in nice gradation, every order of a feudal monarchy. The kingdoms of Anáhuac were, in their nature, despotic, attended, indeed, with many mitigating circumstances, unknown to the despotisms of the East; but it is chimerical to look for much in common--beyond a few accidental forms and ceremonies--with those aristocratic institutions of the Middle Ages, which made the court of every petty baron the precise image in miniature of that of his sovereign." I have no inclination to draw analogies, believing them, at least in a work of this kind, to be futile; and were I disposed to do so, space would not permit it. Nations in their infancy are almost as much alike as are human beings in their earlier years, and in studying these people I am struck at every turn by the similarity between certain of their customs and institutions and those of other nations; comparisons might be happily drawn between the division of lands in Anáhuac and that made by Lycurgus and Numa in Laconia and Rome, or between the relations of Aztec master and slave and those of Roman patron and client, for the former were nearly as mild as the latter; but the list of such comparisons would never be complete, and I am fain to leave them to the reader.

[Sidenote: SYSTEM OF TAXATION.]

The people of Anáhuac and of the surrounding countries paid taxes to the crown and to the temples, either with personal service or with the productions or results of their labor; in short, with everything useful. We have seen that in the kingdom of Tezcuco twenty-nine cities were appointed to provide the king's household with everything requisite of food, furniture, and so forth, and were, consequently, exempt from all other taxes. Fourteen of these cities served in this manner during one half of the year, and fifteen during the other half. They likewise furnished the workingmen and laborers, such as water-carriers, sweepers, tillers of the palace lands, and gardeners. Boys who were too young to do men's work were required to provide annually four hundred armfuls of wood for the fires which were kept up day and night in the principal rooms of the palace. The young men of Tollantzinco, either themselves or through their servants supplied fine rushes for mats, stools, or seats, called icpalli, pine-wood splinters for lighting fires, other wood for torches, acayetl, or pipes with tobacco, various kinds of dyes, liquid amber both in cakes and in vessels, copal incense in their golden cylinders, and a large quantity of other articles, which it is unnecessary to specify.[157] Manufacturers paid their taxes with the objects produced by their industry. Journeymen mechanics, such as carpenters, masons, workers in feathers and precious metals, and musicians, were, according to Oviedo, exempt from such tax, and in lieu thereof rendered personal service to the sovereign without remuneration.[158] Merchants paid their taxes with such articles as they traded in. The last class of tribute-payers were the tlamaitl, tenants attached to a nobleman's land, who tilled the same for their own benefit. They were obliged to do a certain amount of work every year for the landlord, and to render military service when it was required of them by the sovereign. Brasseur says that these tenants paid no tribute to the king, but his statement is contradicted by Clavigero.[159] Taxes paid in fruit and grain were collected immediately after harvest; other tributes were collected at different times through the year. In each town there was a magazine for storing the revenues, from which supplies were drawn as required. In the vicinity of Mexico it was customary to convey the agricultural produce into the capital, in order that the inhabitants, who, being surrounded with the waters of the lake, had no land of their own to cultivate, might be regularly supplied with food. There was no uniform system of collecting taxes from the merchants and manufacturers. Payments were made by them in accordance with their circumstances and the nature of the articles they contributed. There were about three hundred and seventy tributary towns in the Mexican empire, some of which paid their taxes every twenty days, and some every four days, while others only did so once in six months, or even only once a year. The people of Tlatelulco, says Purchas,[160] "were charged for tribute, alwayes to repaire the Church called Huiznahuac. Item, fortie great Baskets (of the bignesse of half a Bushell) of cacao ground, with the Meale of Maiz (which they called Chianpinoli,) and euery Basket had sixteene hundred Almonds of Cacao. Item, other fortie Baskets of Chianpinoli. Item, eight hundred burthens of great Mantels. Item, eightie pieces of Armour, of slight Feathers, and as many Targets of the same Feathers, of the deuices & colours as they are pictured. All the which tribute, except the said armes and targets they gaue euery 24. dayes,[161] and the said armes and targets they gaue for tribute but once in the whole yeere. The said tribute had his beginning since the time of Quauhtlatoa and Moquihuix, which were Lords of Tlatilulco. The Lords of Mexico, which first enioyned to those of Tlatilulco, to pay tribute, and to acknowledge their subiection, were Yzcoatçi and Axiacaçi." Sometimes merchants' guilds or individuals did not pay their taxes at the regular assessment of the town in which they lived, but did so according to prior arrangement made with the revenue officers.

[Sidenote: TAXES PAID BY CITIES.]

[Sidenote: TAXES PAID IN VERMIN.]

In addition to the taxes levied upon private individuals, each town contributed a large number of cotton garments, with a certain quantity of breadstuffs and feathers and such other productions as were a specialty of the province in which it was situated. Mazatlan, Xoconocho, Huehuetlan, and other towns on the Pacific coast, paid, besides the cotton garments, four thousand bundles of fine feathers of divers colors, two hundred sacks of cocoa, forty tiger-skins, and one hundred and sixty birds of a certain species. Coyolapan, Atlacuechahuaxan, Huaxyacac, and other towns of the Zapotecs, forty pieces of gold of a specified size, and twenty sacks of cochineal. Tlachquiauhco, Ayotlan, and Teotzapotlan, twenty vessels of a fixed size filled with gold dust. Tochtepec, Otlatitlan, Cozamalloapan, Michapan and other places on the gulf of Mexico, besides cotton garments, cocoa, and gold, paid twenty-four thousand bundles of exquisite feathers of various qualities and colors, six necklaces, two of which were of the finest emerald, and four of the commoner description, twenty ear-rings of amber set in gold, and an equal number made of crystal rock, one hundred pots of liquid amber, and sixteen thousand loads of India-rubber. Tepeyacac, Quecholac, Tecamachalco, Acatzinco and other towns of that region of country, each contributed four thousand sacks of lime, four thousand loads of solid reed for building purposes, with as many of smaller reed for making darts, and eight thousand loads of reeds filled with aromatic substances. Malinaltepec, Tlalcozauhtitlan, Olinallan, Ichcatlan, Qualac, and other southern towns situated in the warm region, paid each six hundred measures of honey, forty large jars of yellow ochre for paint, one hundred and sixty copper shields, forty round plates of gold of fixed dimensions, ten small measures of fine turquoises, and one load of smaller turquoises. Quauhnahuac, Panchimalco, Atlacholoayan, Xiuhtepec, Huitzilac, and other towns of the Tlahuicas, paid each sixteen thousand large leaves of paper, and four thousand xicalli, or gourds, of different sizes. Quauhtitlan, Tehuilloyocan, and other neighboring towns, each gave eight thousand mats and eight thousand icpalli, or stools. Some cities paid their taxes with fire-wood, stone, and beams for building; others with copal-gum; others sent to the royal houses and forests a certain number of birds and animals, such as Xilotepec, Michmaloyan, and other cities of the Otomís, which were each compelled to furnish yearly forty live eagles to the king. After the Matlaltzincas were made subject to the Mexican crown by King Axayacatl, they were required not only to pay a heavy tax in kind, but also to keep under cultivation a field of seven hundred toesas[162] by three hundred and fifty, for the benefit of the army. As the Saxon king imposed a tax of wolves' heads upon his subjects for the purpose of ridding his kingdom of those ravenous animals, so did the Mexican monarchs exact from those who were too poor to pay the regular taxes a certain quantity of snakes, scorpions, centipedes and other obnoxious creatures. Lice, especially, were contributed in large numbers in Mexico.[163] It is related that soon after Cortés arrived in the city of Mexico, certain cavaliers of his force, among whom were Alonso de Ojeda and Alonso de Mata, were roaming through the royal palace, admiring its great extent and all its wonders, doubtless with an eye to plunder, when they came across some bags, filled with some soft, fine, and weighty material; never doubting but that it must be valuable, they hastened to untie the mouth of one of the sacks, when to their disgust and disappointment they found its contents to consist of nothing but lice, which, as they afterwards ascertained, had been paid as tribute by the poor.[164] Duties were levied upon property, manufactures, and articles exposed for sale in the market-places, in proportion to the wealth of the person taxed or the value of the merchandise sold. Produce and merchandise of every description, carried into the city of Mexico, was subject to toll duties, which were paid into the royal treasury.

The proportion in which taxes were paid is stated at from thirty to thirty-three per cent., or about one third of everything made and produced. Oviedo affirms that each taxpayer, in addition to one third of his property, delivered one out of every three of his children, or in lieu thereof a slave, for the sacrifice; if he failed to do this he forfeited his own life.[165]

The government had in the head town of each province large warehouses for the storage of breadstuffs and merchandise received by the tax-gatherers; also auditing offices to which the calpixques, or stewards of the revenue, were required to render a very strict account of their collections, and such as were convicted of embezzlement, were immediately put to death and their property confiscated.[166] In the royal treasury were paintings by which were recorded the tributary towns, and the quantity and kind of tribute paid by each. In the Codex Mendoza may be seen thirty-six such paintings, each one of which represents the principal towns of one or of several provinces of the empire, together with the quantity and quality of the taxes and the time when they were paid.[167]

The personal and ordinary service consisted in providing every day the water and wood needed at the chiefs' houses; this was distributed from day to day among the towns or wards, and thus each individual was occupied in rendering such service once or twice in the year at the utmost. Residents in the vicinity were the only ones so subjected, and then, in consideration of such service, were exempted from paying a portion of the imposts. Other labor was mostly done by slaves, of whom there were large numbers. Foreign provinces subjected by the empire without having made any resistance, were not required to pay a fixed tribute, but sent several times in the year whatever they thought proper, as a present to the king, who showed himself more or less gracious according to the value of the presents. No calpixques or tax-gatherers were placed in such provinces by the Mexican sovereign, but they continued under the rule of their own chiefs. Such countries as were reduced by war, had to submit to the rigorous conditions imposed by the conqueror, and bore the name of tequitin tlacotl, which means 'paying tribute like slaves.' Over them were stationed stewards and calpixques, who had authority even over the lords of the country, and who besides recovering the tributes forced men to cultivate land, and women to spin, weave, and embroider for their private benefit; indeed, so great was their tyranny, that whatever they coveted they were sure to obtain by fair means or foul. The kings of Tezcuco and Tlacopan, and other sovereign lords, allies of the king of Mexico, shared these tributes if they aided in the conquest.[168]

[Sidenote: TAXATION UNDER MONTEZUMA II.]

The sovereigns selected the calpixques from among the Aztec pilli, or nobles of inferior rank. They were under the supervision of the chief treasurers or hueycalpixques, who resided at the several capitals, and it was their duty to gather the tributes or taxes, and to see that the lands belonging to the municipalities or to private persons were kept under cultivation. The duties of these calpixques were not very arduous at first, as the people generally hastened to pay their taxes before being called upon; but during the reign of Montezuma II. the taxes increased so enormously, owing to the great extravagance of the court, that this commendable zeal cooled down very considerably. The bulk of the immense wealth which the conquerors saw with so much admiration at Montezuma's court was the result of this excessive taxation, and it was one of the main causes of that alienation of the people from their sovereign which rendered the conquest a possible achievement. Notwithstanding the easy disposition of the taxpayers, they could not submit patiently to a yoke so onerous. The merchants, whose trading expeditions had been so useful to the state in former times, were no less overwhelmed by the taxes than the inhabitants of conquered provinces by the tributes. It was among that powerful class that the first symptoms of defection were noticed. To the main grievance was added the tyranny and harshness exhibited by the revenue officers in collecting the taxes. They carried a small rod in one hand and a feather fan in the other, and, accompanied by a large retinue of understrappers, went through cities and fields, unmercifully maltreating the unfortunate beings who could not promptly comply with their demands, and even selling them into slavery; at least it is certain that such sales occurred in conquered provinces.

[Sidenote: SELFISHNESS OF MONTEZUMA II.]

From the first years of his reign Montezuma II. began to oppress the merchants with heavy taxation, even upon the most trifling things. The greatest sufferers were the retail dealers, who had to pay excessive duties upon the merchandise they introduced into the principal tianguez, or market-place, from which such merchandise was taken to the lesser market-places. But the king and his creatures finding that this did not directly injure the wholesale traders, among whom were the judges of the mercantile court,--that is to say, the consuls and syndics, so to name them, of the company of Tlatelulco,--witnesses were soon found to trump up charges of high treason against them, which ended in their being put to death, and their goods and chattels confiscated and distributed among the people of the royal household. A very large portion of the taxes and tributes was expended in supporting the army, the public employees, the poor and destitute, such as widows, orphans, and the aged, and also in providing food for the people in times of great scarcity, but almost as large a portion was appropriated by the king to his own uses.[169] It was by such acts as these that Montezuma II. undid the work of his fathers, and spoiled the harmony of his realm by caring only for his own glory and that of his court.

FOOTNOTES:

[130] See page 191 of this volume.Return to passage

[131] Acosta, De procuranda, indorum salute; quoted in Pimentel, Mem. sobre la Raza Indígena, p. 81.Return to passage

[132] Hist. Tlax., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcix., p. 130.Return to passage

[133] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 134-6; Cortés, Carta Inéd., in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 474.Return to passage

[134] Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. i., pp. 32-3; see also, tom. ii., lib. vii., pp. 258-9, lib. ix., pp. 353, 370. The Anonymous Conqueror agrees with Sahagun: 'Tutti quei che si pigliauano nella guerra, ò erano màgiati da loro, ò erano tenuti per schiaui.' Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 304. Motolinia, however, asserts that all prisoners of war were sacrificed: 'por que ningun esclavo se hacian en ellas, ni rescataban ninguno de los que en las guerras prendian, mas todos los guardavan para sacrificar.' Carta al Emperador Cárlos V., Jan. 2, 1555, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 272. Gomara also confirms this with a grim joke: 'Los catiuos en guerra no siruian de esclauos, sino de sacrificados: y no hazian mas de comer para ser comidos.' Conq. Mex., fol. 320-1; see also fol. 309.Return to passage

[135] 'Algunos quisieron decir, que si vn libre tenia acceso à alguna Esclava, y quedaba preñada de la copula, era Esclavo el Varon que cometiò acto con Esclava, y servia al Señor de la Esclava; pero esto no fue asi, segun confesion de los mismos Indios Sabios, que sabian sus Leies, y las practicaban.' Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 566.Return to passage

[136] Conq. Mex., fol. 320.Return to passage

[137] Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 566.Return to passage

[138] Duran, Hist. Indias, MS., tom. iii., cap. xxii., xxiii.Return to passage

[139] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., pp. 564-5; Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. viii., p. 303. Brasseur de Bourbourg asserts that these contracts remained in force down to the time of the Spanish conquest. Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 611.Return to passage

[140] 'Y cuando acontecia la dicha hambre, entónces se vendian por esclavos muchos pobres hombres y mugeres, y comprábanlos los ricos que tenian muchas provisiones allegadas, y no solamente los dichos pobres se vendian a sí mismos, sino que tambien vendian á sus hijos, y á sus descendientes, y á todo su linaje, y así eran esclavos perpetuamente, porque decian que esta servidumbre que se cobraba en tal tiempo, no tenia remedio para acabarse en algun tiempo, porque sus padres se habian vendido por escapar de la muerte, ó por librar su vida de la última necesidad.' Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. vii., pp. 258-9.Return to passage

[141] 'Vendian niños recien nacidos, y de dos años, para cumplir sus promesas, y ofrecer en los templos, como nosotros las candelas, y sacrificarlos para alcançar sus pretensiones.' Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vi., cap. xvi. 'Porque como andaban todos los Reinos, con sus mercancias, traìan de todos ellos muchos esclavos, los quales, si no eran todos, à lo menos, los mas, sacrificaban.' Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 272. 'Porque casi todos los que sacrificaban á los idolos eran los que prendian en las guerras ... mui poquitos eran los otros que sacrificavan.' Motolinia, Carta al Emperador Cárlos V., Jan. 2, 1555, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., pp. 264, 272. 'Luego proponian un parlamento á los esclavos, enanos y corcobados, diciendo: hijos mios, id á la buena ventura con vuestro señor Axayaca á la otra vida.... Luego le abrieron el pecho, teniendolo seis ó siete sacerdotes, y el mayoral le sacaba el corazon, y todo el dia y toda la noche ardía el cuerpo del rey, con los corazones de los miserables esclabos que morian sin culpa.' Tezozomoc, Crónica Mex., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., pp. 90, 142. 'Sacrificando en sus honras doscientos esclavos, y cien esclavas.' Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chichimeca, in Id., pp. 282, 250. 'Quando moria algun principal, matavan juntamente con él un esclavo, y enterravan con él para que le fuese á servir.' Codex Telleriano-Remensis, in Id., vol. v., p. 130. 'Avec lui, de jeunes filles, des esclaves et des bossus.' Camargo, Hist. Tlax., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 202. 'Se quemaba junto con sus cuerpos y con los corazones de los cautivos y esclavos que mataban.' Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras, p. 35; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 453, 573-4; Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. iii., pp. 6, 8; Pimentel, Mem. sobre la Raza Indígena, p. 65; Among those who in later times have treated of slavery among the Nahua nations are the following: Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, p. 261; Dapper, Neue Welt, p. 294; Chevalier, Mex., Ancien et Mod., p. 62; Bussierre, L'Empire Mex., pp. 155-6; Müller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, p. 541; Klemm, Cultur-Geschichte, pp. 69-70; Soden, Spanier in Peru, tom. ii., pp. 14-15; Simon's Ten Tribes, p. 273.Return to passage

[142] Toribio and Olarte, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i., tom. x., p. 405.Return to passage

[143] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., pp. 545-6; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 122.Return to passage

[144] Zurita, Rapport, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série ii., tom. i., p. 67; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 603; Carbajal, Discurso, p. 61; Tezozomoc, Crónica Mex., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., tom. ix., p. 40.Return to passage

[145] Boturini, Idea, p. 165; Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., pp. 208, 216, 224-5, 241; Id., Relaciones, in Id., pp. 339-43, 346, 353, 386-7, 395, 451, 453; Heredia y Sarmiento, Sermon, MS., pp. 51-2; Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. iii., p. 189; Vetancvrt, Teatro, Mex., pt ii., pp. 13-14.Return to passage

[146] Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vi., cap. xvii., says that brothers inherited estates and not sons; but this assertion is not borne out by any other authority.Return to passage

[147] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 348; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 123.Return to passage

[148] Fuenleal, Lettre, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i., tom. x., pp. 252-4; Cortés, Cartas, p. 68; Witt, Lettre, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série ii., tom. v., p. 287; Carbajal, Discurso, p. 63; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 535; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 231; Zurita, Rapport, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série ii., tom. i., pp. 48-9, 65; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 122-4; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 304; Vetancvrt, Teatro, Mex., pt ii., pp. 53-4.Return to passage

[149] 'Ce n'est pas qu'ils eussent ces terres en propre; car, comme les seigneurs exerçaient un pouvoir tyrannique, ils disposaient des terrains et des vassaux suivant leur bon plaisir. Les Indiens n'étaient donc, proprement dit, ni propriétaires ni maîtres de ces villages; ils n'étaient que les laboureurs ou les amodiateurs des seigneurs terriers, de telle façon que l'on pourrait dire que tout le territoire, soit des plaines, soit des montagnes, dépendait du caprice des seigneurs et qu'il leur appartenait, puisqu'ils y exerçaient un pouvoir tyrannique, et que les Indiens vivaient au jour le jour; les seigneurs partageant entre eux tous leurs produits.' Simancas, De l'Ordre de Succession, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i., tom. x., pp. 224-5; Zurita, Rapport, in Id., série ii., tom. i., pp. 51-7; Fuenleal, Lettre, in Id., tom. v., p. 221; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 603-7; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 590; Variedades Civ., tom. i., pp. 158-9; Pimentel, Mem. sobre la Raza Indígena, pp. 35-6; Bussierre, L'Empire Mex., pp. 153-5.Return to passage

[150] Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 164.Return to passage

[151] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 36. See further: Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. 141; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 558-9; Carbajal, Discurso, p. 36; Soden, Spanier in Peru, tom. ii., p. 13; Dillon, Hist. Mex., p. 43; Chevalier, Mex., Ancien et Mod., pp. 117-18.Return to passage

[152] Burgoa, Geog. Descrip., tom. i., pt ii., fol. 188; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 39-40.Return to passage

[153] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 54; Klemm, Cultur-Geschichte, tom. v., pp. 95-6.Return to passage

[154] Beaumont, Crón. Mechoacan, MS., p. 52.Return to passage

[155] Camargo, Hist. Tlax., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 176; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., pp. 276-7.Return to passage

[156] Witt, Lettre, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série ii., tom. v., p. 289.Return to passage

[157] Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 241-2.Return to passage

[158] Hist. Gen., tom. iii., pp. 535, 305-6.Return to passage

[159] 'Nè i Vasalli de' Feudatari erano esenti da' tributi, che pagavano al Re gli altri Vassalli della Corona.' Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 122-7.Return to passage

[160] His Pilgrimes, vol. iv., p. 1080.Return to passage

[161] In the Codex Mendoza, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. v., p. 54, we read that it was paid every eighty days.Return to passage

[162] The toesa is the same thing as the French toise, which is 6.3945 English feet, or seven Castilian feet.Return to passage

[163] Tezozomoc, Crónica Mex., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., tom. ix., pp. 17-18; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 206; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. i., p. 275; Zuazo, Carta, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 366; Cortés, Hist. N. España, p. 173.Return to passage

[164] Torquemada adds: 'Ai quien diga, que no eran Piojos, sino Gusanillos; pero Alonso de Ojeda en sus Memoriales, lo certifica de vista, y lo mismo Alonso de Mata.' Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 461.Return to passage

[165] 'Dábanle sus vassallos en tributo ordinario de tres hijos uno, y el que no tenia hijos avia de dar un indio ó india para sacrificar á sus dioses, é si no lo daban, avian de sacrificarle á él.' Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 502. Nowhere else do I find mention of such a custom, although in Michoacan the despotic power of the king, and his tyrannous abuse of it, led to almost the same results. In Michoacan: 'Tributauan al Rey quanto tenian y el queria, hasta las mugeres y hijos, si los queria; de manera que eran mas que esclauos, y viuian en terrible seruidumbre.' Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. iii., cap. x., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. xiii. 'Si bien todas las atenciones dedicadas á los decorosos mugeriles privilegios destruian la sujecion del tributo á sus Monarcas, sirviendolos en la ceguedad de ofrecerles no solo la hacienda, y la vida, sino á sus proprias mugeres, en caso de discurrir aceptable el vergonzoso obsequio.' Salazar y Olarte, Hist. Conq. Mex., tom. ii., pp. 69-70.Return to passage

[166] Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. viii., p. 307.Return to passage

[167] Codex Mendoza, in Purchas his Pilgrimes, vol. iv., pp. 1080-1101; Id., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. v., pp. 54-89, vol. i., plates xix-lvii; Cortés, Hist. N. España, p. 176; Cortés, Cartas, p. 110.Return to passage

[168] Tápia, Relacion, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. ii., p. 592.Return to passage

[169] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., pp. 147, 206, 231, 461, tom. ii., pp. 545-7, 560; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 111-13; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. cxli.; Toribio and Olarte, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i., tom. x., pp. 401-8; Fuenleal, in Id., pp. 244-54; Chaves, Rapport, in Id., série ii., tom. v., p. 301; Simancas, in Id., série i., tom. x., pp. 229-31; Camargo, Hist. Tlax., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcviii., pp. 180, 198-9; Witt, Lettre in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série ii., tom. v., pp. 284-93; Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 491-2; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 68; Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. iii., pp. 189-90, 193-8; Prescott's Mex., vol. i., pp. 38-40; Solis, Hist. Conq. Mex., tom. i., pp. 417-19; Pimentel, Mem. sobre la Raza Indígena, pp. 36-7; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 99, 101, 437, 495, 589-93, 631, tom. ii., p. 203; Laet, Novus Orbis, p. 240; Dicc. Univ., tom. x., p. 637; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 606-9; Carbajal, Discurso, pp. 36, 45-6, 58; Dillon, Hist. Mex., pp. 42-5; Klemm, Cultur-Geschichte, pp. 55, 59, 68-72, 211; Baril, Mexique, pp. 206-8; Bussierre, L'Empire Mex., pp. 153-8; Soden, Spanier in Peru, tom. ii., p. 13; Lang's Polynesian Nat., p. 99; Brownell's Ind. Races, p. 83; Touron, Hist. Gén., tom. iii., pp. 25-9, 38; Monglave, Résumé, pp. 23, 65.Return to passage