XVI. THE AZTEC CALENDAR

ASTRONOMICAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE AZTECS--CONTRADICTIONS OF AUTHORS RESPECTING THE CALENDAR--VALUE OF THE RESEARCHES OF VARIOUS WRITERS--THE FIRST REGULAR CALENDAR--THE MEXICAN CYCLE--THE CIVIL YEAR--THE AZTEC MONTHS--NAMES OF THE DAYS AND THEIR SIGNIFICATION--THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE AZTEC YEAR--THE RITUAL CALENDAR--GAMA'S ARRANGEMENT OF THE MONTHS--THE CALENDAR-STONE--THE FOUR DESTRUCTIONS OF THE WORLD--THE CALENDAR OF MICHOACAN--RECKONING OF THE ZAPOTECS.

Perhaps the strongest proof of the advanced civilization of the Nahuas was their method of computing time, which, for ingenuity and correctness, equaled, if it did not surpass, the systems adopted by contemporaneous European and Asiatic nations.

The Nahuas were well acquainted with the movements of the sun and moon, and even of some of the planets, while celestial phenomena, such as eclipses, although attributed to unnatural causes, were nevertheless carefully observed and recorded. They had, moreover, an accurate system of dividing the day into fixed periods, corresponding somewhat to our hours; indeed, as the learned Sr Leon y Gama has shown, the Aztec calendar-stone which was found in the plaza of the city of Mexico, was used not only as a durable register, but also as a sun-dial.

[Sidenote: THE AZTEC CALENDAR.]

Although the system of the Aztec calendar as a whole is clear and easily understood, yet it is extremely difficult to describe with certainty many of its details, owing to the contradictory statements of nearly all the earlier writers, who visited Mexico and there in different localities picked up scraps of what they afterwards described as being the 'calendar of the Mexicans,' not taking into consideration that the many and distinct kingdoms surrounding the Aztec territory, although using essentially the same system, differed on many important points, such as the names of years, months, days, the season of beginning the year, etc. This difficulty increases when we attempt to make Mexican dates agree with our own. Even Boturini, who gathered his information in Mexico, makes many mistakes; and Veytia, although we must accord him the credit of having thoroughly studied the subject, and of having reduced it to a clear system, is at fault in many points. Of the older writers, such as Sahagun, Las Casas, Duran, Motolinia, and others, no one is explicit enough on all points to enable us to follow him; and such details as they unite in giving are mostly contradictory. Torquemada, who draws a great portion of his material from Motolinia, contradicts himself too frequently to be reliable. Leon y Gama, although he spent much labor in trying to clearly expound the system, has also fallen into some errors, attributable, perhaps, to his not having the valuable aid of Sahagun's writings, and to his having placed too much trust in the writings of Torquemada and the manuscript of the Indian Cristóbal del Castillo, as is shown in the review of Gama's work by Sr José Antonio Alzate in the Gacetas de Literatura. Baron von Humboldt's description, valuable as it is on account of the extended comparisons which he draws between the Mexican, Asiatic and Egyptian calendars, is on that account too intricate to be easily understood. From all these descriptions Gallatin, McCulloh, and Müller, with perhaps a few others, have each given us a very good résumé, but without attempting to reconcile all the contradictions.

The first notice we have of any regular calendar is given by Ixtlilxochitl, who states that in the year 5097 from the creation of the world, an assembly of learned men met at the city of Huehuetlapallan, and determined the reckoning of the years, days, and months, leap years and intercalary days, in the order in which they were found at the time of the conquest.[618] Previous to this time it is said that the only reckoning kept was regulated by the yearly growth of the fresh grass and herbs from which the name of the Mexican year xihuitl, 'new grass,' is derived. It is also said that a rough computation of time was made by the moon, from its appearance to its disappearance, and that this period called metztli, 'the moon,' was divided into two equal parts, named respectively mextozolitzli, the time when the moon was awake or visible, and mecochiliztli, the sleep of the moon, or the time when it was invisible.[619] Of the larger divisions of time, accounts are very conflicting. Two, three, four, and five ages are said by various writers to have existed, at the end of each of which the world was said to have been destroyed, and recreated at the beginning of the age next following. The common aboriginal belief was, however, that at the time of the conquest, the world had passed through three ages, and was then in the fourth. The first age, or 'sun,' as it is also called, was the Sun of Water, atonatiuh; the second, the Sun of Earth, tlalchitonatiuh; the third, the Sun of Air, ehecatonatiuh.[620] This is about all we know of any division of time, before the assembly at Huehuetlapallan which is said to have introduced the regular calendar.

[Sidenote: THE MEXICAN CYCLE.]

The Mexican calendar contains the following divisions of time: The 'age,' consisting of two periods of fifty-two years each, was called huehuetiliztli; the 'cycle,' consisting of four periods of thirteen years each, was named xiuhmolpilli, xiuhmolpia or xiuhtlalpilli, meaning the 'binding up of the years.' Each period of thirteen years or, as it was called by the Spanish historians, 'indiccion,' was known as a tlalpilli, or 'knot,' and, as stated above, each single year was named xihuitl, or 'new grass,' The age was not used in the regular reckoning, and is only rarely mentioned to designate a long space of time. The numeral prefixed to the name of any year in the cycle, or xiuhmolpilli, never exceeded four, and to carry out this plan, four signs, respectively named tochtli, 'rabbit,' calli, 'house,' tecpatl, 'flint,' and acatl, 'cane,' were used. Thus the Aztecs commenced to count the first year of their first cycle with the name or hieroglyphic Ce Tochtli, meaning 'one (with the sign of) rabbit;' and the second year was Ome Acatl, 'two, cane;' the third, Yey Tecpatl, 'three, flint;' the fourth, Nahui Calli, 'four, house;' the fifth, Macuilli Tochtli, 'five, rabbit;' the sixth, Chicoace Acatl, 'six, cane;' the seventh, Chicome Tecpatl, 'seven, flint;' the eighth, Chico ey Calli, 'eight, house;' the ninth, Chico nahui Tochtli, 'nine, rabbit;' the tenth, Matlactli Acatl, 'ten, cane;' the eleventh, Matlactli occe Tecpatl, 'eleven, flint;' the twelfth, Matlactli omome Calli, 'twelve, house;' and the thirteenth, Matlactli omey Tochtli, 'thirteen, rabbit.' This numeration continued in the same manner, the second tlalpilli commencing again with 'one, cane,' the third tlalpilli with 'one, flint,' the fourth with 'one, house,' and so on to the end of the cycle of fifty-two years. It will easily be seen that during the fifty-two years none of these four signs could be accompanied by the same number twice, and therefore no confusion could arise. Instead, therefore, of saying an event happened in the year 1850, as we do in our reckoning, they spoke of it as happening, for instance, in the year of 'three, rabbit' in the twelfth cycle.[621] Still, some confusion has been caused among different writers by the fact that the different nations of Anáhuac did not all commence their cycles with the same hieroglyphic sign. Thus the Toltecs commenced with the sign tecpatl, 'flint;' and the Mexicans, or Aztecs, with tochtli, 'rabbit;' while some again used acatl, 'cane;' and others calli, 'house,' as their first name.[622] A cycle was represented in their paintings by the figures of tochtli, acatl, tecpatl, and calli, repeated each thirteen times and placed in a circle, round which was painted a snake holding its tail in its mouth, and making at each of the four cardinal points a kink with its own body, as shown in the plate on the opposite page, which served to divide the cycle into four tlalpillis.[623] These four signs, rabbit, cane, flint, and house were also, according to Boturini, used to designate the four seasons of the year, the four cardinal points, and lastly, the four elements. Thus, for instance, tecpatl also signified south; calli, east; tochtli, north; and acatl, west. In the same manner tecpatl was used to designate fire; calli, earth; tochtli, air; and acatl, water.[624]

The civil year was again divided into eighteen months and five days. Each month had its particular name, but the five extra days were only designated as nemontemi or 'unlucky days,' and children born at this time, or enterprises undertaken, were considered unlucky. In hieroglyphical paintings these months were also placed in a circle, in the middle of which a face, representing either the sun or moon, was painted. This circle was called a xiuhtlapohualli, or 'count of the year.' Concerning the order in which these months followed one another, and the name of the first month, hardly two authors agree; in the same manner we find three or four various names given to many of the months. It would appear reasonable to suppose that the month immediately following the nemontemi, which were always added at the end of the year, would be the first, and the only difficulty here is to know which way the Aztecs wrote; whether from right to left or from left to right. On the circle of the month given by Veytia, and supposed to have been copied from an original, these five days are inserted between the months Panquetzaliztli and Atemoztli, and counting from left to right, this would make Atemoztli the first month, which would agree with Veytia's statement. But Gama and others decidedly dissent from this opinion, and name other months as the first. I reserve further consideration of this subject for another place in this chapter, where in connection with other matters it can be more clearly discussed, and content myself with simply inserting here a table of the names of the months as enumerated by the principal authors, in order to show at a glance the many variations. I also append to it the different dates given for the first day of the year, in which there are as many contradictions as in the names and position of the months.

NAMES OF MEXICAN MONTHS ACCORDING TO VARIOUS AUTHORS.

[Sidenote: NAMES OF THE AZTEC MONTH.]

Each month, as before stated, was represented by its proper hieroglyph, having a certain meaning, and generally referring to some feast or natural event, such as the ripening of fruit, or falling of rain, happening during the month, although in this case also there are many differences between authors regarding the meaning of the names.

Tititl, which according to Gama was the first month, is translated by Boturini as 'our mother,' or 'mother of the gods,' while Cabrera calls it 'fire.'[627] Itzcalli, according to Boturini, means 'regeneration;' the Codex Vaticanus translates it 'skill;' and Veytia, 'the sprouting of the grass.'[628] Atlcahualco means the 'abating of the waters.' The Tlascaltec name of this month, Xilomanaliztli, signifies the 'offering of green maize.' In other localities this month was also known by the name of Quahuitlehua, the 'burning of the mountains,' or rather of the trees on the mountains, previous to sowing.[629] Tlacaxipehualiztli means the 'flaying of the people;' the other name of this month, Cohuailhuitl, is the 'feast of the snake.' Tozoztontli, Tozcotzintli, and Hueytozoztli are respectively the small and great fast or vigil; while some translate these words by 'pricking of veins,' 'shedding of blood,' or 'great and small penance.'[630] Toxcatl is a 'collar' or 'necklace.'[631] Etzalqualiztli is translated by Boturini 'bean stew,' or 'the eating of beans,' while Veytia calls it 'the eating of maize gruel.' Tecuilhuitzintli and Hueytecuilhuitl mean respectively the small and great 'feast of the Lord.' Miccailhuitzintli is explained both as 'the feast of dead children,' and 'the small feast of the dead;' another name for this month is Tlaxochimaco, meaning 'distribution of flowers.' Hueymiccailhuitl is either 'the feast of dead adults,' or 'the great feast of the dead.' Xocotlhuetzin, another name for this month, means 'the ripening of the fruit.' Ochpaniztli is 'the cleaning of streets.' Teotleco, or 'the arrival of the gods,' was the next month, and was also named Pachtli, or Pachtontli, the latter being translated by 'humiliation,' and the former by 'moss hanging from trees.' Hueypachtli was 'the great feast of humiliation,' also called Tepeilhuitl, or 'feast of the mountains.' Quecholli means 'peacock,' but the interpreter of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis calls it the 'serpent of the clouds.' Panquetzaliztli is 'the raising of flags and banners.' Atemoztli, the last month, means the 'drying up of the waters.'[632] The plate on the preceding page shows the order of the months and the pictures by which they were represented.

[Sidenote: NAMES OF THE AZTEC DAYS.]

Each month contained twenty days, which were divided into four groups or weeks, as we may for convenience call them; and at the end of each group a public market or fair was held. There is no difference of opinion as to the names of the days or the order in which they follow one another, but it is very difficult, and in many cases impossible, to reconcile one with another the different hieroglyphic signs denoting these days given in the codices or in the various representations of the calendar. The names of the days are: Cipactli, a name of which it is almost impossible to give the correct meaning, it being variously represented as an animal's head with open mouth armed with long tusks, as a fish with a number of flint knives on its back, as a kind of lizard with a very long tail curled up over its back, and in many other monstrous shapes. It is called the 'sea-animal,' the 'sword-fish,' the 'serpent armed with harpoons,' and other names. Ehecatl is 'wind;' Calli, 'house;' Cuetzpalin, 'lizard;' Coatl, 'snake;' Miquiztli, 'death;' Mazatl, 'deer;' Tochtli, 'rabbit;' Atl, 'water;' Itzcuintli, 'dog;' Ozomatli, 'monkey;' Malinalli, 'brushwood,' or 'tangled grass;' Acatl, 'cane;' Ocelotl, 'tiger;' Quauhtli, 'eagle;' Cozcaquauhtli, a species of vulture, known in Mexico as 'rey de los zopilotes;' Ollin, 'movement;' Tecpatl, 'flint;' Quiahuitl, 'rain;' and Xochitl, 'flower.' It will be seen that the days having the names or signs of the years,--namely: Tochtli, Calli, Tecpatl, and Acatl--stand first in each week. The five nemontemi had no particular name. The cut given above shows the method by which the Aztecs represented their month, with the hieroglyphic names of each day.[633]

[Sidenote: INTERCALARY DAYS.]

As three hundred and sixty-five days do not make the year complete, the Mexicans added the missing thirteen days at the end of the cycle of fifty-two years. But Gama asserts that they came still nearer to our more correct calculations, and added only twelve days and a half.[634] It has been frequently attempted to fix accurately the time when the Mexican year commenced according to our dates, but there is no agreement on this point between the old historians, as will be seen from the table given, and although many elaborate calculations have been made for the purpose of verifying the one or the other statement, the result is in no two cases the same. Gama calculated, and Humboldt and Gallatin confirmed his statement, that the first year of a Mexican cycle commenced on the 31st day of December, old style, or on the 9th day of January, new style, with the month Tititl and the day Cipactli.[635]

[Sidenote: THE RITUAL CALENDAR.]

We come now to another mode of reckoning known as the ritual calendar, which, as its name implies, was used for adjusting all religious feasts and rites and everything pertaining thereto. The previously described reckoning was solar, while that of the ritual calendar was lunar. The periods into which it was divided were of thirteen days each, thus representing about half the time that the moon was visible. The year contained as many days as the solar calendar, but they were divided into entirely different periods. Thus, in reality there were no months at all, but only twenty weeks of thirteen days each; and these not constituting a full year, the same kind of reckoning was continued for one hundred and five days more, and at the end of a tlalpilli thirteen days were intercalated to make up for the lost days. The names of the days were the same as in the solar calendar but they were counted as follows. To the first day the number one was prefixed, to the second, two, to the third, three, and so on to thirteen; when the fourteenth name was again called one, the fifteenth, two, and so on to thirteen again, after which the same count was continued to the end of the year. But as in this reckoning it naturally happens that one name has the same number twice, accompanying signs were added to the regular names, which were called quecholli, 'lords or rulers of the night.' Of these there were nine, xiuhtecutli, tletl, 'lord of the year, fire;' tecpatl, 'flint;' xochitl, 'flower;' centeotl, 'goddess of maize;' miquiztli, 'death;' atl, 'water,' represented by the goddess Chalchihuitlicue; tlazolteotl, 'goddess of love;' tepeyollotli, a deity supposed to inhabit the centre of the mountains; quiahuitl, 'rain,' represented by the god Tlaloc.[636] As stated above, one of these signs was understood to accompany the regular name of each day, commencing with the first day of the year; but they were never written or mentioned with the first two hundred and sixty days, but only with the last one hundred and five days, to distinguish them from the former.[637] For the purpose of making this system more comprehensible, I insert a few months of the Mexican calendar, showing the solar and lunar system together, as arranged by Gama.

+===========+===============+====================+===================+ | |Months and days| | | |Months and | of the Mexican|Days and weeks of |Accompanying signs,| |days of | civil or solar|the Mexican ritual, |or 'lords of the | |our era | calendar. |or lunar, calendar. |night.' | +-----------+---------------+--------------------+-------------------+ | January 9|Tititl 1|1 Cipactli |Tletl 1 | | 10| 2|2 Ehecatl |Tecpatl 2 | | 11| 3|3 Calli |Xochitl 3 | | 12| 4|4 Cuetzpalin |Centeotl 4 | | 13| 5|5 Coatl |Miquiztli 5 | | 14| 6|6 Miquiztli |Atl 6 | | 15| 7|7 Mazatl |Tlazolteotl 7 | | 16| 8|8 Tochtli |Tepeyollotli 8 | | 17| 9|9 Atl |Quiahuitl 9 | | | | | -- | | 18| 10|10 Itzcuintli |Tletl 1 | | 19| 11|11 Ozomatli |Tecpatl 2 | | 20| 12|12 Malinalli |Xochitl 3 | | 21| 13|13 Acatl |Centeotl 4 | | | |--------------------|-------------------| | 22| 14|1 Ocelotl |Miquiztli 5 | | 23| 15|2 Quauhtli |Atl 6 | | 24| 16|3 Cozcaquauhtli |Tlazolteotl 7 | | 25| 17|4 Ollin |Tepeyollotli 8 | | 26| 18|5 Tecpatl |Quiahuitl 9 | | | | | | | 27| 19|6 Quiahuitl |Tletl 1 | | 28| 0|7 Xochitl |Tecpatl 2 | | |---------------| | | | 29|Itzcalli 1|8 Cipactli |Xochitl 3 | | 30| 2|9 Ehecatl |Centeotl 4 | | 31| 3|10 Calli |Miquiztli 5 | +===========+===============+====================+===================+

+===========+===============+====================+===================+ |Months and |Months and days|Days and weeks of |Accompanying signs,| |days of |of the Mexican |the Mexican ritual |or 'lords of | |our era |civil calendar.|calendar. |the night.' | +-----------+---------------+--------------------+-------------------+ |February 1| 4|11 Cuetzpalin |Atl 6 | | 2| 5|12 Coatl |Tlazolteotl 7 | | 3| 6|13 Miquiztli |Tepeyollotli 8 | | | |--------------------|-------------------| | 4| 7|1 Mazatl |Quiahuitl 9 | | | | | -- | | 5| 8|2 Tochtli |Tletl 1 | | 6| 9|3 Atl |Tecpatl 2 | | 7| 10|4 Itzcuintli |Xochitl 3 | | 8| 11|5 Ozomatli |Centeotl 4 | | 9| 12|6 Malinalli |Miquiztli 5 | | 10| 13|7 Acatl |Atl 6 | | 11| 14|8 Ocelotl |Tlazolteotl 7 | | 12| 15|9 Quauhtli |Tepeyollotli 8 | | 13| 16|10 Cozcaquauhtli |Quiahuitl 9 | | | | | -- | | 14| 17|11 Ollin |Tletl 1 | | 15| 18|12 Tecpatl |Tecpatl 2 | | 16| 19|13 Quiahuitl |Xochitl 3 | | | |--------------------|-------------------| | 17| 20|1 Xochitl |Centeotl 4 | | |---------------| | | | 18|Atlcahualco 1|2 Cipactli |Miquiztli 5 | | 19| 2|3 Ehecatl |Atl 6 | | 20| 3|4 Calli |Tlazolteotl 7 | | 21| 4|5 Cuetzpalin |Tepeyollotli 8 | | 22| 5|6 Coatl |Quiahuitl 9 | | | | -- | | 23| 6|7 Miquiztli |Tletl 1 | | 24| 7|8 Mazatl |Tecpatl 2 | | 25| 8|9 Tochtli |Xochitl 3 | | 26| 9|10 Atl |Centeotl 4 | | 27| 10|11 Itzcuintli |Miquiztli 5 | | 28| 11|12 Ozomatli |Atl 6 | |-----------| | | | |March 1| 12|13 Malinalli |Tlazolteotl 7 | | | |--------------------|-------------------| | 2| 13|1 Acatl |Tepeyollotli 8 | | 3| 14|2 Ocelotl |Quiahuitl 9 | | | | | -- | | 4| 15|3 Quauhtli |Tletl 1 | | 5| 16|4 Cozcaquauhtli |Tecpatl 2 | | 6| 17|5 Ollin |Xochitl 3 | | 7| 18|6 Tecpatl |Centeotl 4 | | 8| 19|7 Quiahuitl |Miquiztli 5 | | 9| 20|8 Xochitl |Atl 6 | | |---------------| | | | 10|Tlacaxipe 1|9 Cipactli |Tlazolteotl 7 | | 11| -hualiztli 2|10 Ehecatl |Tepeyollotli 8 | | 12| 3|11 Calli |Quiahuitl 9 | | | | | -- | | 13| 4|12 Cuetzpalin |Tletl 1 | | 14| 5|13 Coatl |Tecpatl 2 | | | |--------------------|-------------------| | 15| 6|1 Miquiztli |Xochitl 3 | | 16| 7|2 Mazatl |Centeotl 4 | | 17| 8|3 Tochtli |Miquiztli 5 | | 18| 9|4 Atl |Atl 6 | | 19| 10|5 Itzcuintli |Tlazolteotl 7 | | 20| 11|6 Ozomatli |Tepeyollotli 8 | | 21| 12|7 Malinalli |Quiahuitl 9 | | | | | -- | | 22| 13|8 Acatl |Tletl 1 | | 23| 14|9 Ocelotl |Tecpatl 2 | | 24| 15|10 Quauhtli |Xochitl 3 | | 25| 16|11 Cozcaquauhtli |Centeotl 4 | | 26| 17|12 Ollin |Miquiztli 5 | | 27| 18|13 Tecpatl |Atl 6 | | | |--------------------|-------------------| | 28| 19|1 Quiahuitl |Tlazolteotl 7 | | 29| 20|2 Xochitl |Tepeyollotli 8 | | |---------------| | | | 30|Tozoztontli 1|3 Cipactli |Quiahuitl 9 | | | | | -- | | 31| 2|4 Ehecatl |Tletl 1 | +===========+===============+====================+===================+

The five nemontemi were counted in this calendar as other days, that is, they received the names which came in the regular order, but, nevertheless, they were believed to be unlucky days and had no accompanying signs.

[Sidenote: THE AZTEC CALENDAR-STONE.]

Besides the preceding cuts of the Mexican calendar systems, as they were represented by Gemelli Careri, Veytia, and others, the calendar-stone is the most reliable source by which the extent of the astronomical science of the Aztecs can be shown. Gama, and after him Gallatin, give very accurate descriptions of this stone; I insert here a résumé from the latter author. On this stone there is engraved in high-relief a circle, in which are represented by certain hieroglyphics the sun and its several motions, the twenty days of the month, some principal fast-days, and other matters. The central figure represents the sun as it is usually painted by the Mexicans. Around it, outside of a small circle, are four parallelograms with the signs of the days, Nahui Ocelotl, Nahui Ehecatl, Nahui Quiahuitl, and Nahui Atl. Between the two upper and lower parallelograms are two figures, which Gama explains as being two claws, which are the hieroglyphics representing two eminent astrologers, man and wife. Gama further explains these four signs of the days in this place, as having reference to the four epochs of nature, of which the Aztec traditions speak. The first destruction of the sun is said to have taken place in the year Ce Acatl and on the day Nahui Ocelotl. The second sun was supposed to have died in the year Ce Tecpatl and on the day Nahui Ehecatl; the third destruction occurred also in the year Ce Tecpatl and on the day Nahui Quiahuitl; and lastly, the fourth destruction took place in the year Ce Calli, on the day Nahui Atl. But Mr Gallatin thinks that these four parallelograms had yet some other purpose; for on the twenty-second of May and on the twenty-sixth of July, which days are Nahui Ocelotl and Nahui Quiahuitl, if we accept the thirty-first of December as the first day of the Mexican cycle, the sun passed the meridian of the city of Mexico. But in this case the other two days, Nahui Ehecatl and Nahui Atl cannot be explained in connection with any other astronomical event. Between the lower parallelograms are two small squares, in each of which are five oblong marks, signifiying the number ten; and as the central figure is the ollin tonatiuh, or sun, the number ten in these two squares is supposed to mean the day Matlactli Ollin. Below this again are the hieroglyphics Ce Quiahuitl, and Ome Ozomatli. The day Matlactli Ollin in the first year of the cycle is the twenty-second of September; Ce Quiahuitl in the year Matlactli omey Acatl, which year is inscribed at the head of the stone, is our twenty-second of March; and Ome Ozomatli in the same year would be our twenty-second of June. Here are therefore designated three of the principal phenomena as they happened in the first year of the cycle, viz: two transits of the sun by the zenith and the autumnal equinox. In the year designated on the stone Matlactli omey Acatl, there are given the spring equinox and summer solstice. In a circle surrounding these figures are represented the twenty days of the months. From the central figure of the sun there runs upward, as far as the circle of days, a triangle, the upper and smallest angle of which points between the days Cipactli and Xochitl, thus confirming the idea that Cipactli was always the first day of the month. Gama, Gallatin, Humboldt, Dupaix, and others have given correct pictures of the stone as is proved by recent photographs; but in my cut the figures are reversed. It is a copy from Charnay, whose photographs were in 1875 the best authority accessible; and I failed to notice that this, unlike Charnay's other plates, was a photo-lithograph reversed in printing. Not only did I fall into this error, but in my earlier editions charged other writers with having made a similar one. The cut does not otherwise mislead, but it must be noted that instead of running from left to right, the days really run from right to left. From the circle of days, four triangles, or rays, project, exactly dividing the stone into four quarters, each of which has ten visible squares, and, as the rays cover twelve more, there would be fifty-two in all. In each square are five oblong marks, which multiplied by fifty-two, give two hundred and sixty, or the first period of the Mexican ritual year. Outside of the circle of these squares the four quarters are each again divided by a smaller ray, and, as stated before, at the head of the stone, over the principal triangle is the sign of the year Matlactli omey Acatl. Round the outer edge are a number of other figures and hieroglyphics, which have not yet been deciphered, or whose interpretations by different writers present so many contradictions that they would have no value here.[638]

[Sidenote: CALENDAR OF THE TARASCOS.]

The only information we have of the calendar used in Michoacan is furnished by Veytia, and this is only fragmentary. Enough is known, however, to show that their system was the same as that of the Aztecs. Instead of the four principal signs of the Aztecs, tecpatl, calli, tochtli, and acatl, in Mechoacan the names inodon, inbani, inchon, and intihui were used. Of the eighteen months only fourteen are mentioned by name. These are: Intacaci, Indehuni, Intecamoni, Interunihi, Intamohui, Inizcatolohui, Imatatohui, Itzbachaa, Intoxihui, Intaxihui, Intechaqui, Intechotahui, Inteyabchitzin, Intaxitohui. The five intercalary days were named intasiabire.[639] The days of the month, divided into four equal parts by the above-mentioned four principal signs, were called: Inodon, Inicebi, Inettuni, Inbeari, Inethaati, Inbani, Inxichari, Inchini, Inrini, Inpari, Inchon, Inthahui, Intzini, Intzoniabi, Intzimbi, Inthihui, Inixotzini, Inichini, Iniabi, Intaniri.[640]

The Zapotecs in Oajaca, according to the description of Burgoa, used the same calendar as the Aztecs, with this difference, that the year always commenced on the twelfth day of March, and that the bissextile year was corrected every fourth year, by adding, instead of five, six intercalary days.[641]

FOOTNOTES:

[618] Ixtlilxochitl, Relaciones, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., tom. ix., p. 322. 'En un año que fué señalado con el geroglifico de un pedernal, que segun las tablas parece haber sido el de 3901 del mundo, se convocó una gran junta de astrólogos ... para hacer la correcion de su calendario y reformar sus cómputos, que conocian errados segun el sistema que hasta entónces habian seguido.' Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. i., p. 32.Return to passage

[619] Id., pp. 31-2.Return to passage

[620] Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 205; Id., Relaciones, in Id., pp. 331-2, 459; Camargo, Hist. Tlax., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcix., p. 132; Ternaux-Compans, in Id., 1840, tom. lxxxvi., pp. 5-6; Boturini, Idea, p. 3; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 57; Brasseur de Bourbourg, S'il existe des Sources de l'Hist. Prim., pp. 26-7; Spiegazione delle Tavole del Codice Mexicano (Vaticano), in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. v., pp. 164-7; Explicacion del Codex Telleriano-Remensis, in Id., pp. 134-6. 'Cinco Soles que son edades ... el primer Sol se perdio por agua.... El segundo Sol perecio cayendo el cielo sobre la tierra.... El Sol tercero falto y se consumio por fuego.... El quarto Sol fenecio con aire.... Del quinto Sol, que al presente tienen.' Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 297. 'Le ciel et la terre s'étaient faits, quatre fois.' Codex Chimalpopoca, in Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. i., p. 53. 'Creyeron que el Sol habia muerto cuatro veces, ó que hubo cuatro soles, que habian acabado en otros tantos tiempos ó edades; y que el quinto sol era el que actualmente les alumbraba.' Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras, pt i., p. 94. 'Hubo cinco soles en los tiempos pasados.' Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., p. 81, repeated literally by Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 79; Humboldt, Vues, tom. ii., pp. 118-29; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., p. 325; Müller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, pp. 510-12.Return to passage

[621] Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 296-7; Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. vi., pp. 256-7; Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 397-8; Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras, pt i., p. 16 et seq.; Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. i., p. 42 et seq.Return to passage

[622] 'No todos comenzaban á contar el ciclo por un mismo año: los tultecos lo empezaban desde Tecpatl: los de Teotihuacan desde Calli; los mexicanos desde Tochtli; y los tezcocanos desde Acatl.' Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras, pt i., p. 16; Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. i., p. 58. 'So begannen die Aculhuas von Texcoco ihre Umläufe mit dem Zeichen Ce Tecpatl, die Mexicaner dagegen im Ce Tochtli.' Müller, Reisen, tom. iii., p. 65; Boturini, Idea, p. 125.Return to passage

[623] 'Esto circulo redondo se dividia en cuatro partes.... La primera parte que pertenecia á Oriente llamabanle los trece años de las cañas, y asi en cada casa de los trece tenian pintada una caña, y el número del año corriente.... La segunda parte aplicaban al septentrion, que era de otras trece casas, á las cuales llamaban las trece casas del pedernal; y asi tenian pintado en cada casa un pedernal.... A la tercera ... parte Occidental, llamabanle las trece casas, y asi verémos en cada parte de las trece una casilla pintada.... A la cuarta y última parte que era de otros trece años, llamabanla las trece casas del conejo; y asi en cada casa de aquellas verémos pintada una cabeza de conejo.' Duran, Hist. Indias, MS., tom. iii., appendix, cap. i.Return to passage

[624] Gemelli Careri gives these names in a different order, calling tochtli south, acatl east, tecpatl north, and calli west; further, tochtli earth, acatl water, tecpatl air, and calli fire. Gemelli Careri, in Churchill's Col. Voyages, vol. iv., pp. 487-8; Boturini, Idea, pp. 54-8. The above are only figurative names, as the words for the cardinal points and also for the elements are entirely different in the Mexican language.Return to passage

[625] Boturini repeats Martin de Leon and Gemelli Carreri.Return to reference 1 Return to reference 2 Return to reference 3 Return to reference 4 Return to reference 5 Return to reference 6 Return to reference 7 Return to reference 8 Return to reference 9 Return to reference 10

[626] Humboldt and Gallatin repeat Leon y Gama.Return to reference 1 Return to reference 2 Return to reference 3 Return to reference 4 Return to reference 5 Return to reference 6 Return to reference 7 Return to reference 8 Return to reference 9 Return to reference 10

[627] 'Itetl, Ititl, barriga o vientre.' Molina, Vocabulario. 'Vientre, la madre, á excepcion del padre.' Salva, Nuevo Dicc. 'Titl ... significa fuego. Tititl escrito en dos sílabas y seis letras nada significa en el idioma mexicano' Cabrera, in Ilustracion Mex., tom. iv., p. 468.Return to passage

[628] 'Izcalia, abiuar, tornar en si, o resuscitar.' Molina, Vocabulario.Return to passage

[629] 'Quiahuitl-ehua ... significa la lluvia levanta.' Cabrera, in Ilustracion Mex., tom. iv., p. 464.Return to passage

[630] 'Toçoliztli vela, el acto de velar o de no dormir.' Molina, Vocabulario.Return to passage

[631] 'Garganta totuzcatlan, tuzquitl.' Ib.Return to passage

[632] For the various etymologies of the names of months, see: Spiegazione delle Tavole del Codice Mexicano (Vaticano), in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. v., pp. 190-97; Explicacion del Codex Telleriano-Remensis, in Id., pp. 129-34; Leon, Camino del Cielo, fol. 96-100; Boturini, Idea, pp. 50-52; Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. i., pp. 64-5; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 66-83; Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., pp. 349-352; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 502-36; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., pp. 250-300.Return to passage

[633] This order is varied by a few authors. Veytia gives the following entirely different system: 'Si el año era del carácter Tecpatl, con este se señalaba el primer dia de cada mes, y seguian anotándose los demas con los geroglificos siguientes en el órden en que los he puesto; de manera que el vigésimo dia de cada mes se hallaba Ollin.... Si el año era del segundo geroglifico Calli, por este se comenzaba á contar, y á todos los dias primeros de cada mes se les daba este nombre.' The same method he contends is followed also in those years of each tlalpilli which commence with Tochtli and Acatl. For cozcaquauhtli he uses the name temeztlatl, or metate. Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. i., pp. 76-80; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 294-5. Gemelli Careri states that Cipactli was not always the first day of the month. Churchill's Col. Voyages, tom. iv., p. 489; Duran, Hist. Indias, MS., tom. iii., appendix, cap. ii.; Ritos Antiguos, p. 22, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix.; Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 36. Boturini adds to Ollin the word Tonatiuh, and translates it 'movement of the sun.' Idea, p. 45. Gama places Ollin between Atl and Itzcuintli. Dos Piedras, pt i., p. 26; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., tom. i., p. 59; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 463. See also hieroglyphics in Codex Telleriano-Remensis, pl. ix., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. i., and Codex Borgian, in Id., vol. iii., pl. 24; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 304. In Nicaragua where the Aztec language was spoken by a large portion of the population, the calendar and the names of the days were the same as Aztec, with but some slight differences in spelling. Oviedo gives the names of the days as follows: 'Agat, oçelot, oate, coscagoate, olin, tapecat, quiaüit, sochit, çipat, acat, cali, quespal, coat, misiste, maçat, toste, at, izquindi, ocomate, malinal, acato.... Un año ... tiene diez çempuales, é cada çempual es veynte dias.' Hist. Gen., tom. iv., p. 52.Return to passage

[634] Sahagun, and after him several others, do not agree with this, but pretend that one day was added every fourth year, on which occasion a certain feast was celebrated, but Gama has clearly demonstrated that this is a mistake. 'El año visiesto, que era de cuatro en cuatro años.' Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. ii., p. 75. 'Otra fiesta hacian de cuatro en cuatro años á honra del fuego, en la que ahugeraban las orejas á todos los niños; y la llamaban Pillabanaliztli, y en esta fiesta es verosimil, y hay congeturas que hacian su visiesto contando seis dias de nemontemi.' Id., tom. iv., pp. 347-8. Boturini expresses the same opinion. 'Determinaron cada quatro años añadir un dia mas, que recogiesse las horas, que se desperdiciaban, lo que supongo executaron contando dos veces uno de los Symbolos de el ultimo mes de el año, á la manera de los Romanos.' Idea, p. 137. 'El año de visiesto que era de quatro à quatro años.' Leon, Camino del Cielo, fol. 100. 'They order'd the bissextile, or leap-year, after this manner. The first year of the age began on the tenth of April, and so did the second and third, but the fourth or leap-year, on the ninth, the eighth on the eighth, the twelfth on the seventh, the sixteenth on the sixth, till the end of the age, which was on the twenty-eighth of March, when the thirteen days of the leap-years, till the tenth of April, were spent in rejoicing.' Gemelli Careri, in Churchill's Col. Voyages, vol. iv., p. 490. Veytia following Boturini adds one day every fourth year by repeating the last day. Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. i., pp. 110-20. 'La correccion no se hacia hasta el fin del ciclo, en que se intercalaban juntos los 13 dias.' Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras, pt i., p. 24. 'Les Mexicains ont évidemment suivi le système des Perses: ils conservoient l'année vague jusqu'à ce que les heures excédantes formassent une demilunaison; ils intercaloient, par conséquent, treize jours toutes les ligatures ou cycles de cinquante-deux ans ... à chaque année du signe tochtli, les Mexicains perdoient un jour; et, par l'effet de cette rétrogradation, l'année calli de la quatriéme indiction commençoit le 27 décembre, et finissoit au solstice d'hiver, le 21 décembre, en ne faisant pas entrer en ligne de compte les cinq jours inutiles ou complémentaires. Il en résulte que ... treize jours intercalaires ramènent le commencement de l'année au 9 janvier.' Humboldt, Vues, tom. ii., pp. 60-1. 'Non frammettevano un giorno ogni quattro anni, ma tredici giorni ... ogni cinquanta due anni.' Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 62. 'They waited till the expiration of fifty-two vague years, when they interposed thirteen days, or rather twelve and a half, this being the number which had fallen in arrear.' Prescott's Mex., vol. i., p. 112; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 469. In this connection I also give the remarkable statement of Pedro de los Rios in his interpretation of the Codex Vaticanus: 'Item, si ha da notare, che il loro bisesto andava solo in quattro lettere, anni, o segni che sono Canna, Pietra, Casa, e Coniglio, perchè come hanno bisesto delli giorni a fare di quattro in quattro anni un mese di quelli cinque giorni morti che avanzavano di ciascun anno, cosi avevano bisesto di anni perchè di cinquantadue in cinquantadue anni, che è una loro Età, aggiungevano un anno, il quale sempre veniva in una di queste lettere o segni perchè come ogni lettera o segno di questi vinti habbia tredici del suo genere che le servano, verbi gratiâ.' Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. v., pp. 174-5. In the Explicacion del Codex Telleriano-Remensis we read: 'Á 19 de Fevrero los cinco dias muertos que no avia sacrificios; estos eran los dias que sobravan de los de veynte en veynte del año: y siempre en cumpliendose los 365 dias, dexavan pasar estos, y luego tornavan a tomar el año en la letra que entrava.' Id., p. 134. To this Lord Kingsborough adds in a note: 'The Mexicans reckoned 365 days to their year; the last five of which had no sign or place appropriated to them in the calendar; since, if they had been admitted, the order of the signs would have been inverted, and the new year would not always have commenced with Ce Cipactli. These days, therefore, although included in the computation of the year, were rejected from the calendar, until at the expiration of four years an intercalation of twenty corresponding signs might be effected without producing any confusion in it. It would appear, however, that this intercalation did not actually take place till at the expiration of 52 years; for it is impossible, except on this supposition, to understand the intercalation of years mentioned in the Vatican MS. as occurring at the expiration of every period of 52 years, when an entire year was intercalated: but admitting the postponement of an intercalation of a month every four years during a period of 52 years, such an intercalation would then become quite intelligible; since thirteen Mexican months, of 20 days each, exactly constitute a ritual year of the Mexicans which contained 260 days, and was shorter than the civil year by 105 days; and this is the precise number of months of which the intercalation would have been postponed.' Mex. Antiq., vol. vi., pp. 103-4.Return to passage

[635] Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras, pt i., pp. 62-89; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 69-86. Veytia's reason for commencing the year with Atemoztli is, that on the calendar circle which he saw, and of which I insert a copy, this was the month following the five nemontemi. This appears very reasonable, but nevertheless Gama and Gallatin's calculations show it to be an error. See Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. i., pp. 74-5.Return to passage

[636] Boturini gives the rulers of the night as follows: Xiuhteucyòhua, Señor de el Año; Ytzteucyòhua, Señor de el Fuego; Piltzinteucyòhua, Señor de los Niños; Cinteucyòhua, Señor de el Maiz; Mictlanteucyòhua, Señor de el Infierno; Chalchihuitlicueyòhua, Señor de el Agua; Tlazolyòhua, Señor de el Amor deshonesto; Tepeyoloyòhua, Señor de los Entrañas de los Montes; Quiauhteucyòhua, Señor de las Lluvias. Idea, p. 58.Return to passage

[637] Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras, pt i., pp. 29-31, 52-3; Boturini, Idea, pp. 57-9; Gallatin, in _Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., p. 61.Return to passage

[638] Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 94-103; Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras, pt i., pp. 89-114. Further description, and mention of the astronomical system will be found in Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., pp. 332-92, and tom. ii., pp. 1-99, 356-80; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., pp. 295-305; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. cxli.; Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 49-76, tom. iv., pp. 282-309, 338-49, tom. ii., lib. vii., pp. 256-60, 264-5; Explanation of the Codex Vaticanus, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. vi., pp. 196, 200; Boturini, Idea, pp. 42-59, 109-10, 122-4, 137-40, 153-5; Id., Catálogo, pp. 57-72; Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., pp. 35-8; Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. i., pp. 30-138; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 517-31; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 457-82; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 294-97; Gemelli Careri, in Churchill's Col. Voyages, tom. iv., pp. 487-90; Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 57-115; Laet, Novus Orbis, pp. 241-2; Prescott's Mex., vol. i., pp. 110-27; Pimentel, Mem. sobre la Raza Indígena, pp. 41-3; Nebel, Viaje, pl. l.; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. ii., cap. xviii.; Ixtlilxochitl, Relaciones, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., tom. ix., pp. 322-4; Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 397-9; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 56-65; Müller, Reisen, tom. iii., pp. 63-90; McCulloh's Researches in Amer., pp. 201-25; Klemm, Cultur-Geschichte, tom. v., pp. 128-30; Tylor's Researches, pp. 92-4; Id., Anahuac, p. 103; Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. i., pp. 44-5; Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, pp. 266-7; Peter Martyr, dec. iv., lib. viii., pp. 537-8; Baril, Mexique, pp. 194-5, 211-15; Morton's Crania Amer., p. 150; Malte-Brun, Précis de la Géog., tom. vi., pp. 445, 293; Macgregor's Progress of Amer., vol. i., p. 22; Chambers' Jour., 1835, vol. iv., p. 254; Lafond, Voyages, tom. i., p. 118; Touron, Hist. Gén., tom. iii., pp. 21-2, 24-5; Poinsett's Notes Mex., pp. 111, 75-6; Simon's Ten Tribes, pp. 149-57; Kendall's Nar., vol. ii., p. 328; Prichard's Nat. Hist. Man, tom. ii., p. 507; Cabrera, in Ilustracion Mex., tom. iv., pp. 461-70; Müller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, pp. 93-4; Humboldt, Essai Pol., tom. i., p. 92; Thompson's Mex., p. 213; Falliés, Études Hist. sur les Civilisations, Paris, (n. d.) pp. 57-62.Return to passage

[639] 'Los cuatro meses que faltan son los que corresponden á nuestro enero, febrero y marzo, porque al manuscrito le falta la primera hoja, y solo comienza desde el dia 22 de marzo, y concluye en 31 diciembre, confrontando sus meses con los nuestros.' Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. i., p. 138. 'Il est dit que l'année commençait au 22 mars avec le premier jour In Thacari.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 467.Return to passage

[640] Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. i., pp. 137-8; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 463, 467; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 104-5.Return to passage

[641] 'Dabanle diez y ocho meses de à 20. dias, y otro mas de cinco, y este al cabo de quatro años como nuestro Bisiesto lo variaban à seis dias, pos las seis horas que sobran cada año.' Burgoa, Geog. Descrip., tom. i., pt ii., fol. 136.Return to passage

XVII. THE AZTEC PICTURE-WRITING

HIEROGLYPHIC RECORDS--THE NATIVE BOOKS--AUTHORITIES--DESTRUCTION OF THE NATIVE ARCHIVES BY ZUMÁRRAGA AND HIS CONFRÈRES--PICTURE-WRITINGS USED AFTER THE CONQUEST FOR CONFESSION AND LAW-SUITS--VALUE OF THE RECORDS--DOCUMENTS SENT TO SPAIN IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY--EUROPEAN COLLECTIONS--LORD KINGSBOROUGH'S WORK--PICTURE-WRITINGS RETAINED IN MEXICO--COLLECTIONS OF IXTLILXOCHITL, SIGUËNZA, GEMELLI CARERI, BOTURINI, VEYTIA, LEON Y GAMA, PICHARDO, AUBIN, AND THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MEXICO--PROCESS OF HIEROGLYPHIC DEVELOPMENT--REPRESENTATIVE, SYMBOLIC, AND PHONETIC PICTURE-WRITING--ORIGIN OF MODERN ALPHABETS--THE AZTEC SYSTEM--SPECIMEN FROM THE CODEX MENDOZA--SPECIMEN FROM GEMELLI CARERI--SPECIMEN FROM THE BOTURINI COLLECTION--PROBABLE FUTURE SUCCESS OF INTERPRETERS--THE NEPOHUALTZITZIN.

The Nahua nations possessed an original hieroglyphic system by which they were able to record all that they deemed worthy of preservation. The art of picture-writing was one of those most highly prized and most zealously cultivated and protected, being entrusted to a class of men educated for the purpose and much honored. The written records included national, historic, and traditional annals, names and genealogical tables of kings and nobles, lists and tribute-rolls of provinces and cities, land-titles, law codes, court records, the calendar and succession of feasts, religious ceremonies of the temple service, names and attributes of the gods, the mysteries of augury and soothsaying, with some description of social customs, mechanical employments, and educational processes. The preparation and guardianship of records of the higher class, such as historical annals and ecclesiastical mysteries, were under the control of the highest ranks of the priesthood, and such records, comparatively few in number, were carefully guarded in the temple archives of a few of the larger cities. These writings were a sealed book to the masses, and even to the educated classes, who looked with superstitious reverence on the priestly writers and their magic scrolls. It is probable that the art as applied to names of persons and places or to ordinary records was understood by all educated persons, although by no means a popular art, and looked upon as a great mystery by the common people. The hieroglyphics were painted in bright colors on long strips of cotton cloth, prepared skins, or maguey-paper--generally the latter--rolled up or, preferably, folded fan-like into convenient books called amatl, and furnished often with thin wooden covers. The same characters were also carved on the stones of public buildings, and probably also in some cases on natural cliffs. The early authorities are unanimous in crediting these people with the possession of a hieroglyphic system sufficiently perfect to meet all their requirements.[642]

[Sidenote: DESTRUCTION OF ABORIGINAL RECORDS.]

Unfortunately the picture-writings, particularly those in the hands of priests--those most highly prized by the native scholar, those which would, if preserved, have been of priceless value to the students of later times--while in common with the products of other arts they excited the admiration of the foreign invaders, at the same time they aroused the pious fears of the European priesthood. The nature of the writings was little understood. Their contents were deemed to be for the most part religious mysteries, painted devices of the devil, the strongest band that held the people to their aboriginal faith, and the most formidable obstacle in the way of their conversion to the true faith. The destruction of the pagan scrolls was deemed essential to the progress of the Church, and was consequently ordered and most successfully carried out under the direction of the bishops and their subordinates, the most famous of these fanatical destroyers of a new world's literature being Juan de Zumárraga, who made a public bonfire of the native archives. The fact already noticed, that the national annals were preserved together in a few of the larger cities, made the task of Zumárraga and his confrères comparatively an easy one, and all the more important records, with very few probable exceptions, were blotted from existence. The priests, however, sent some specimens, either originals or copies, home to Europe, where they attracted momentary curiosity and were then lost and forgotten. Many of the tribute-rolls and other paintings of the more ordinary class, with perhaps a few of the historical writings, were hidden by the natives and thus saved from destruction. Of these I shall speak hereafter.[643]

After the zeal of the priests had somewhat abated, or rather when the harmless nature of the paintings was better understood, the natives were permitted to use their hieroglyphics again. Among other things they wrote down in this way their sins when the priests were too busy to hear their verbal confessions. The native writing was also extensively employed in the many lawsuits between Aztecs and Spaniards during the sixteenth century, as it had been employed in the courts before the conquest. Thus the early part of the century produced many hieroglyphic documents, not a few of which have been preserved, and several of which I have in my library. During the same period some fragments that had survived the general destruction were copied and supplied with explanations written with European letters in Aztec, or dictated to the priests who wrote in Spanish. The documents, copies, and explanations of this time are of course strongly tinctured with Catholic ideas wherever any question of religion is involved, but otherwise there is no reason to doubt their authenticity.[644]

[Sidenote: VALUE OF THE NATIVE RECORDS.]

To discuss the historical value of such Aztec writings as have been preserved, or even of those that were destroyed by the Spaniards, or the accuracy of the various interpretations that have been given to the former, forms no part of my purpose in this chapter. Here I shall give a brief account of the preserved documents, with plates representing a few of them as specimens, and as clear an idea as possible of the system according to which they were painted. Respecting the theory, supported by a few writers, that the Aztecs had no system of writing except the habit common to all savage tribes of drawing rude pictures on the rocks and trees, that the statements of the conquerors on the subject are unfounded fabrications, the specimens handed down to us mere inventions of the priests, and their interpretations consequently purely imaginary, it is well to remark that all this is a manifest absurdity. On the use of hieroglyphics the authorities, as we have seen, all agree; on their destruction by the bishops they are no less unanimous; even the destroyers themselves mention the act in their correspondence, glorying in it as a most meritorious deed. The burning was moreover perfectly consistent with the policy of the Church at that time, and its success does not seem extraordinary when we consider the success of the priests in destroying monuments of solid stone. The use of the aboriginal records in the Spanish courts for a long period is undeniable. The priests had neither the motive nor the ability to invent and teach such a system. Respecting the historical value of the destroyed documents, it is safe to believe that they contained all that the Aztecs knew of their past. Having once conceived the idea of recording their annals, and having a system of writing adequate to the purpose, it is inconceivable that they failed to record all they knew. The Aztecs derived their system traditionally from the Toltecs, whose written annals they also inherited; but none of the latter were ever seen by any European, and, according to tradition, they were destroyed by a warlike Aztec king, who wished the glory of his own kingdom to overshadow that of all others, past, present, or future. If the hieroglyphics of the Nahua nations beyond the limits of Anáhuac differed in any respect from those of the Aztecs, such differences have not been recorded.[645]

[Sidenote: EUROPEAN COLLECTIONS.]

I have said that many hieroglyphic manuscripts, saved from the fires kindled by Zumárraga's bigotry, or copied by ecclesiastical permission before serving as food for their purifying flames, were sent to Spain by the conquerors. After lying forgotten for a few centuries, attention was again directed to these relics of an extinct civilization, and their importance began to be appreciated; search was made throughout Europe, and such scattered remnants as survived their long neglect were gathered and deposited in public and private libraries. Eight or ten such collections were formed and their contents were for the most part published by Lord Kingsborough.

The Codex Mendoza was sent by the viceroy Mendoza to Charles V., and is now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. It is a copy on European paper, coarsely done with a pen, and rolled instead of folded. Another manuscript in the Escurial Library is thought by Prescott to be the original of this codex, but Humboldt calls it also a copy. An explanation of the codex in Aztec and Spanish accompanies it, added by natives at the order of Mendoza. It has been several times published, and is divided in three parts, the first being historical, the second composed of tribute-rolls, and the third illustrative of domestic life and manners.[646]

The Codex Vaticanus (No. 3738) is preserved at Rome in the Vatican Library, and nothing is known of its origin further than that it was copied by Pedro de los Rios, who was in Mexico in 1566. It is divided into two parts, mythological and historical, and has a partial explanation in Italian. Another manuscript, (No. 3776) preserved in the same library, is written on skin, has been interpreted to some extent by Humboldt, and is supposed to pertain to religious rites. The Codex Telleriano-Remensis, formerly in the possession of M. Le Tellier, and now in the Royal Library at Paris, is nearly identical with the Codex Vaticanus (No. 3738), having only one figure not found in that codex, but itself lacking many. It has, however, an explanation in Aztec and Spanish.[647]

The Codex Borgian was deposited in the College of the Propaganda at Rome by Cardinal Borgia, who found it used as a plaything by the children in the Gustiniani family. It is written on skin, and appears to be a ritual and astrologic almanac very similar to the Vatican manuscript (No. 3776). It is accompanied by an interpretation or commentary by Fabrega. The Codex Bologna, preserved in the library of the Scientific Institute, was presented in 1665 to the Marquis de Caspi, by Count Valerio Zani. It is written on badly prepared skin, and appears to treat of astrology. A copy exists in the Museum of Cardinal Borgia at Veletri. Of the Codex Vienna nothing is known except that it was given in 1677 to the Emperor Leopold by the Duke of Saxe-Eisenach, and that its resemblance to the manuscripts at Rome and Veletri would indicate a common origin. Four additional manuscripts from the Bodleian Library at Oxford, and one belonging to M. de Fejérvary in Hungary, are published by Kingsborough. Nothing is known of the origin of these, nor has any interpretation been attempted, although the last-named seems to be historical or chronological in its nature.[648]

[Sidenote: PICTURE-WRITINGS PRESERVED IN MEXICO.]

I have said that many manuscripts, mostly copies, but probably some originals, were preserved from destruction, and retained in Mexico. Material is not accessible for a complete detailed history of these documents, nor does it seem desirable to attempt here to disentangle the numerous contradictory statements on the subject. The surviving remnants of the Tezcucan archives, with additions from various sources, were inherited by Ixtlilxochitl, the lineal descendant of Tezcuco's last king, who used them extensively if not always judiciously in his voluminous historical writings. The collection of which these documents formed a nucleus may be traced more or less clearly to the successive possession of Sigüenza, the College of San Pedro y San Pablo, Boturini Benaduci, the Vice-regal Palace, Veytia, Ortega, Leon y Gama, Pichardo, Sanchez, and at last to the National Museum of the University of Mexico, its present and appropriate resting-place. Frequent interventions of government and private law-suits interrupted this line of succession, and the collection by no means passed down the line intact. Under the care of several of the owners large portions of the accumulation were scattered; but on the other hand, several by personal research greatly enlarged their store of aboriginal literature. While in Sigüenza's possession the documents were examined by the Italian traveler Gemelli Careri, through whose published work one of the most important of the pictured records was made known to the world. This latter has been often republished and will be given as a specimen in this chapter.[649] Clavigero studied the manuscripts in the Jesuit College of San Pedro y San Pablo in 1759.[650] Boturini was a most indefatigable collector, his accumulation in eight years amounting to over five hundred specimens, some of them probably antedating the Spanish conquest. He published a catalogue of his treasures, which were for the most part confiscated by the government and deposited in the palace of the viceroy, where many of the documents are said to have been destroyed or damaged by dampness and want of care. Those retained by the collector were even more unfortunate, since the vessel on which they were sent to Europe was taken by an English pirate, and the papers have never since been heard of. Only a few fragments from the Boturini collection have ever been published, the most important of which, a history of the Aztec migration, has been often reproduced, and will be given in this chapter. The original was seen by Humboldt in the palace of the viceroy, and is now in the Mexican Museum.[651]

The confiscated documents passed by order of the Spanish government into the hands of Veytia, or at least he was permitted to use them in the preparation of his history,[652] and after his death and the completion of his work by Ortega, they passed, not without a lawsuit, into the possession of Leon y Gama, the astronomer.[653] On the death of Gama a part of his manuscripts were sold to Humboldt to form the Berlin collection published by Kingsborough;[654] the rest came into the hands of Pichardo, Gama's executor, who spent his private fortune in improving his collection, described by Humboldt as the richest in Mexico. Many of Pichardo's papers were scattered during the revolution, and the remainder descended through his executor Sanchez to the Museum.[655] It is not unlikely either that the French intervention in later years was also the means of sending some picture-writings to Europe. Of the documents removed from the Mexican collections on different occasions and under different pretexts, M. Aubin claims to have secured the larger part, which are now in his collection in Paris, with copies of such manuscripts as he has been unable to obtain in the original form.[656]

* * * * *

[Sidenote: HIEROGLYPHIC DEVELOPMENT.]

In order to form a clear idea of the Aztec system of picture-writing, it will be well to consider first the general principles of hieroglyphic development, which are remarkably uniform and simple, and which may best be illustrated by our own language, supposing it, for convenience, to be only a spoken tongue.

It is evident that the first attempt at expressing ideas with the brush, pencil, or knife, would be the representation of visible objects by pictures as accurately drawn as possible; a house, man, bird, or flower are drawn true to the life in all their details. But very soon, if a frequent repetition of the pictures were needed, a desire to save labor would prompt the artist to simplify his drawing, making only the lines necessary to show that a house, man, etc., were meant,--a retrograde movement artistically considered, but intellectually the first step towards an alphabet. The representation of actions and conditions, such as a house on fire, a dead man, a flying bird, or a red flower would naturally follow.

The three grades of development mentioned belong to what may be termed representative picture-writing. It is to be noted that this writing has no relation to language; that is, the signs represent only visible objects and actions without reference to the words by which the objects are named or the actions expressed in our language. The pictures would have the same meaning to a Frenchman or German as to the painter.

The next higher phase of the art is known as symbolic picture-writing. It springs from the need that would soon be experienced of some method by which to express abstract qualities or invisible objects. The symbolic system is closely analogous in its earlier stages to the representative, as when the act of swimming is symbolized by a fish, a journey by a succession of footprints, night by a black square, light by an eye, power by a hand, the connection between the picture and the idea to be expressed being more or less obvious. Such a connection, real or imaginary, must always be supposed to have existed originally, since it is not likely that purely arbitrary symbols would be adopted, but nearly all the symbols would be practically arbitrary and meaningless to a would-be interpreter ignorant of the circumstances which originated their signification.

We have seen that the symbolic and representative stages of development are in many respects very like one to the other, and there are many hieroglyphic methods between the two, which it is very difficult to assign altogether to either. For instance, when a large painted heart expresses the name of a chief 'Big Heart;' or when a peculiarly formed nose is painted to represent the man to whom it belongs; or when the outlines of the house, man, bird, or flower already mentioned are so very much simplified as to lose all their apparent resemblance to the objects represented. It is also to be noted that the symbolic writing, as well as the representative, is entirely independent of language.

[Sidenote: REPRESENTATIVE AND SYMBOLIC WRITING.]

Picture-writing of the two classes described has been practiced more or less, probably, by every savage tribe. By its aid records of events, such as tribal migrations, and the warlike achievements of noted chiefs, may be and doubtless have been made intelligible to those for whose perusal they were intended. But the key to such hieroglyphics is the actual acquaintance of the nation with each character and symbol, and it cannot long survive the practice of the art. In only two ways can the meaning of such records be preserved,--the study of the art while actually in use by a people of superior culture, or its development into a hieroglyphic system of a higher grade. Neither of these conditions were fulfilled in the case of our Wild Tribes, but both were so to some extent, as we shall see, in the case of the Civilized Nations. Throughout the Pacific States rock-carvings and painted devices will be noted in a subsequent volume of this work; most of them doubtless had a meaning to their authors, although many may be attributed to the characteristic common to savages and children of whiling away time by tracing unmeaning sketches from fancy. All are meaningless now and must ever remain so. Full of meaning to the generation whose work they were, they served to keep alive in the following generation the memory of some distinguished warrior, or some element of aboriginal worship, but to the third generation they became nothing but objects of superstitious wonder. Even after coming into contact with Europeans the savage often indicates by an arrow and other figures carved on a forest-tree the number of an enemy and the direction they have taken, or leaves some other equally simple representative record.

The next and most important step in hieroglyphic development is taken when a phonetic element is introduced; when the pictures come into a relation, not before attained, with sounds or spoken language; when a picture of the human form signifies man, not homme or hombre; a painted house, house, not casa or maison. Of this phonetic picture-writing in its simplest form, the illustrated rebuses--children's hieroglyphics--present a familiar example; as when charity is written by drawing in succession a chair, an eye, and a chest of tea, 'chair-eye-tea.' In pronouncing the whole word thus written, the sounds of the words represented by the pictures are used without the slightest reference to their meaning. To the Frenchman the same pictures 'chaise-oeil-thé' would have no meaning.

In the example given the whole name of each word pictured is pronounced, but the number of words that could be produced by such combinations is limited, and the first improvement of the system would perhaps be to pronounce only the leading syllable or sound of the pictured word, and then charity might be painted 'cha (pel)-ri (ng)-tee (th).' By this system the same word might be written in a great many ways, and the next natural improvement would be the conventional adoption of certain easily pictured words to represent certain sounds, as 'hat,' 'hand,' or 'ham,' for the sound ha, or simply the aspirated h. The next development would be effected by simplifying the outlines of the numerous pictures employed, which have now become too complicated and bulky for rapid writing. For a time this process of simplification would still leave a rude resemblance to the original picture; but at last the resemblance would become very faint, or only imaginary, and perhaps some arbitrary signs would be added--in other words, a phonetic alphabet would be invented, the highest degree of perfection yet achieved in this direction.

To recapitulate briefly: picture-writing may be divided, according to the successive stages of its development, into three classes, representative, symbolic, and phonetic, no one of which except the last in its highest or alphabetic, and the first in its rudest, state, would be used alone by any people, but rather all would be employed together. In the representative stage a [Illustration: hand] might express a human hand, or as the system is perfected, a large, small, closed, black, or red hand; and finally 'Big Hand,' an Indian chief; and all this would be equally intelligible to American or Asiatic, savage or civilized, without respect to language.

[Sidenote: HIEROGLYPHIC WRITING.]

Symbolic picture-writing indicates invisible or abstract objects, actions, or conditions, by the use of pictures supposed to be suggestive of them; the symbols are originally in a manner representative, and rarely, if ever, arbitrarily adopted. As a symbol the [Illustration: hand] might express power, a blow, murder, the number one or five. These symbols are also independent of language.

Phonetic picture-writing represents not objects, but sounds by the picture of objects in whose names the sound occurs; first words, then syllables, then elementary sounds, and last--by modification of the pictures or the substitution of simpler ones--letters and an alphabet. According to this system the [Illustration: hand] signifies successively the word 'hand,' the syllable 'hand' in handsome, the sound 'ha' in happy, the aspiration 'h' in head, and finally, by simplifying its form or writing it rapidly, the [Illustration: hand] becomes [Illustration: stylized hand], and then the 'h' of the alphabet.

The process of development which I have attempted to explain by imaginary examples and illustrations in our own language, is probably applicable to a greater or less extent to all hieroglyphic systems; yet such hieroglyphics as have been preserved are of a mixed class, uniting in one word, or sentence, or document, all the forms, representative, symbolic, and phonetic; the Egyptians first spelled a word phonetically and then, to make the meaning clear, represented the word by a picture or symbol; the Chinese characters were originally pictures of visible objects, though they would not now be recognized as such, if the originals were not in existence. What proportion of the letters in modern alphabets are simplified pictures, or representative characters, and what arbitrary, it is of course impossible to determine; many of them, however, are known to be of the former class.[657]

In the Aztec picture-writings all the grades or classes of pictures are found, except the last and highest--the alphabet. A very large part of the characters employed were representative; many conventional symbols are known; and the Aztecs undoubtedly employed phonetic paintings, though perhaps not very extensively in the higher grades of development.

[Sidenote: SPECIMEN FROM CODEX MENDOZA.]

The plate on the opposite page is a reproduction of a part of the Codex Mendoza from Kingsborough's work. Its four groups describe the education of the Aztec child under the care of its parents. In the first group the father (fig. 3) is punishing his son by holding him over the fumes of burning chile (fig. 5); while the mother threatens her daughter with the same punishment. Figures 2 and 8 represent, like 11, 16, 20, 24, 30 and 34 in the other groups, the child's allowance of tortillas at each meal. In the second group the son is punished by being stretched naked on the wet ground, having his hands tied, while the girl is forced to sweep, or, as she has no tear in her eye, perhaps is merely being taught to sweep instead of being punished. In the third group the father employs his boys in bringing wood (fig. 21) or reeds either on the back or in a canoe; and the mother teaches her daughter to make tortillas (fig. 27) and the use of the metate and other household utensils (figs. 23, 25, 26, 28). In the last group the son learns the art of fishing, and the daughter that of weaving.

Thus far all the pictures are purely representative; the remainder are more or less symbolic. The small circles (fig. 1, 10, 19, 29) are numerals, as explained in a preceding chapter, and indicate the age of the children, eleven, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen years respectively; the character issuing from the mouth of the parents is the symbol of speech, and indicates that the person to whom it is attached is speaking; the tears in the children's eyes, are symbols of the weeping naturally caused by the punishment inflicted; and figure 14 is interpreted to be a symbol of night, indicating that the child was forced to sweep at night.[658]

Many of the Aztec symbols are of clearly representative origin, as foot-prints, symbols of traveling; tongues, of speech; a man sitting on the ground, of an earthquake; painted drops, of water; and other signs for day, night, air, movement, etc., which are more or less clear. But of others, as the serpent, symbol of time, the origin is not affirmed. To define the extent to which the symbolic writing prevailed is very difficult, because many of the characters which were, originally at least, representative, would appear to the uninitiated purely arbitrary; and it is not improbable that many signs may have had a double meaning according to the connection in which they were employed. The system is capable of indefinite expansion in the hands of the priesthood for purposes of religious mystification; and the fact that the religious and astrologic documents seem to contain but few of the representative and phonetic signs by which other paintings are interpreted, lends some probability to the theory that the priests had a partially distinct symbolic system of their own. The Abbé Brasseur goes so far as to say that all the historical documents had a double meaning, one for the initiated, another for the masses. The use of symbols doubtless accounts for the difficulty experienced in the interpretation of the picture-writings which have been preserved, and for the variety of extravagant theories that have been founded on them.

The intermediate method already mentioned as coming between the purely representative and the symbolic, was very extensively employed by the Aztecs in writing the names of places and persons, nearly all of which were derived from natural objects. Examples of this method are: Itzcoatl, 'stone (or obsidian) serpent;' Chapultepec, 'hill of the grasshopper;' Tzompanco, 'place of skulls;' Chimalpopoca, 'smoking shield;' Acamapitzin, 'hand holding reeds;' Macuilxochitl, 'five flowers;' Quauhtinchan, 'house of the eagle;' all written by the simple pictures of the objects named. The picture expressing a person's name was attached by a fine line to his head.

[Sidenote: AZTEC PHONETIC WRITING.]

The use of the phonetic element by the Aztecs was first noticed by the early missionaries in their efforts to teach Church forms. The natives, eager or obliged to learn the words so essential to their salvation but so new to their ear, aided their memory by writing phonetically in a rude way the strange words. Amen was expressed by the symbol of water, atl, joined to a maguey, metl, forming the sounds atl-metl or a-m[)e], sufficiently accurate for their purpose. Pater noster was likewise written with a flag, pantli, and a prickly pear, nochtli; or sometimes a stone, tetl, was introduced before and after the prickly pear, the whole reading pa(ntli)-te(tl)-noch(tli)-te(tl). Here it will be observed that the sound only of the objects employed is considered, with no reference to their meaning. The name is an excellent specimen of the syllabic-phonetic writing. It is written in one of the manuscripts of the Boturini collection by a pictured pair of lips, tentli, for the syllable te; footsteps, symbolic of a road, otli, for o; a house, calli, for cal; and teeth, tlantli, for tlan, ti being a common connective syllable. The termination coatl is a very frequent one in Aztec words, and is often written phonetically by a 'pot,' comitl, surmounted by the symbol of water, atl, co-atl; but coatl means 'serpent' and is also written representatively by a simple picture of that reptile. Matlatlan 'net-place,' is written by pictured teeth, tlantli, phonetic, and a net, matla, representative. Mixcoatl, 'cloudy serpent,' is expressed by the representative sign of a cloud, mixtli, and by the word coatl phonetically written as before explained. These examples suffice to illustrate the system. There is no evidence that the Aztecs ever reached the highest or alphabetic stage of hieroglyphics, and so far as is known they only used the syllabic method in writing names, and foreign words after the coming of the Spaniards. Still there is some reason to suspect that the phonetic element was much more in use than has been supposed, and that many characters which, hitherto considered by students as representative and symbolic signs, have yielded no meaning, may yet prove to be phonetic, and may throw much light on a complex and mysterious subject.[659]

[Sidenote: RECORD OF AN AZTEC MIGRATION.]

On the two following pages is a copy of the painting already referred to as having been published by Gemelli Careri, Humboldt, Kingsborough, Prescott, and others, and which I take from the work of Ramirez as being probably the most reliable source.[660] This painting, preserved in the National Museum, is about twenty by twenty-seven inches, on maguey paper of the finest quality, now mounted on linen. I do not propose to attempt in this chapter any interpretation of the painting, to discuss the interpretations of others, or to investigate its historical importance. I simply present the document as an illustration of the Aztec picture-writing, with interpretations of some of the figures as given by Señor Ramirez, leaving to another volume all consideration of the old absurd theory that a part of the painting (fig. 1-6) pictures the flood, the preservation of Coxcox, the Aztec Noah, and the confusion of tongues.

[Sidenote: PICTURE-WRITING FROM GEMELLI CARERI.]

The winding parallel lines, with frequent foot-prints, by which the different groups of figures are united, are symbols of a journey, and there is little doubt that the whole painting describes the migrations or wanderings of the Aztec people. The square at the right represents the place from which they started. Fig. 1, 2, perhaps express phonetically its name, but their interpretation is doubtful. It was evidently a watery region, probably a lake island in the valley of Mexico. Fig. 3 is a xiuhmolpilli, 'bundle of grass,' symbol of the Aztec cycle of fifty-two years; fig. 4 is a 'curved mountain,' or the city of Culhuacan, on the borders of the lake; fig. 5 is a bird speaking to the people (fig. 6), the tongues issuing from its mouth being, as I have said, the usual symbols of speech. It was a popular tradition among the Aztecs that the voice of a bird started them on their wanderings. The fifteen human forms (fig. 7, 12,) are the chiefs of the migrating tribes, whose names are hieroglyphically expressed by the figures connected with their heads. At their first stopping-place they completed another 'sheaf' of fifty-two years (fig. 8), and perhaps built a temple (fig. 11). The stay at Cincotlan (fig. 15) was ten years as indicated by the ten circles; fig. 17 is interpreted by Gemelli Careri Tocolco, 'humiliation,' and fig. 18, Oztotlan, 'place of caves.' At the next stopping-place fig. 20 represents a body wrapped in the Mexican manner for burial; his name as shown by the character over his head is that of the central figure in the group shown in fig. 7. As this name does not appear again, the meaning is perhaps that one of the tribes here became extinct. Fig. 25 is Tetzapotlan, 'place of the tree tetzapotl.' The generic name of the tree is tzapotl (modern zapote), but a particular species is tetzapotl, and the prefix te is phonetically expressed by the stone, tetl, at the base of the tree. Fig. 28 is Tzompanco, 'place of skulls,' representing supposably a skull impaled on a stick; fig. 29 is Apazco, 'earthen vase;' fig. 31, Quauhtitlan 'place of the eagle,' and here one of the chiefs of tribes, the right hand figure of group 7, separates from the rest to form a settlement at fig. 33. The time of stopping at each place and the completion of each fifty-two years are clearly indicated and need not be mentioned here. Fig. 34 is Azcapuzalco, 'the anthill;' fig. 83 is Chalco, 'the chalchiuite-stone;' fig. 36, Tlecohuatl, tletl-cohuatl, or 'fire-serpent;' fig. 39, Chicomoztoc, chicome-oztotl, 'seven caves;' the lower part of fig. 47 is the symbol of water; fig. 48, Teozomaco, 'the monkey of stone.' Fig. 50 is Chapultepec, 'hill of the locust or grasshopper.' After the arrival at Chapultepec a great variety of events, most of which can be identified with traditional occurrences in the early history of the Aztecs, are pictured. I shall not attempt to follow them. The route seems to continue towards fig. 80, Tlatelolco; but five tribes (fig. 53), all but one identical with those of the group in fig. 7, 12, return as fugitives or prisoners (fig. 51) to Culhuacan (fig. 54), the original starting-point. Fig. 61, and one of the characters of fig. 65, are the symbols of combat or war. Fig. 67 is Inixiuhcan, 'birth-place,' the picture representing a woman who has just given birth to a child. Fig. 74 is Tenochtitlan, 'place of tenochtli,' the tenochtli being a species of nopal represented in the figure, and being also the sign of the name of Tenoch, one of the original chiefs of the group in fig. 12, and also seen in the group in fig. 81. Six of the original tribes seem to have reached Tenochtitlan, afterwards Mexico, with the tribe that joined them at Chapultepec; nine having perished or been scattered on the way, which agrees with the historical tradition. The preceding brief sketch will give an idea of a document whose full description and interpretation, even if possible, would require much space and would not be appropriately included here.

[Sidenote: CHRONOLOGIC RECORD.]

The picture-writing shown on the following pages is the one already mentioned as having formed part of the Boturini collection, is equally important with the one already described, and is preserved like the former in the National Museum. This painting, like the other, describes a migration, indicated by the line of foot-prints. Starting from an island, a passage by boat is indicated to Culhuacan, 'the curved mountain,' on the mainland. In this painting we have not only the number of years spent in the migration, and at each stopping-place, but the years are named according to the system described in the last chapter, and the migration began in the year Ce Tecpatl. The character within that of Culhuacan is the name of Huitzilopochtli, the great Aztec god. Next we have in a vertical line the names of the eight tribes, hieroglyphically written, who started on the migration, the Chalcas, Matlaltzincas, Tepanecs, etc., agreeing with the tradition, except three which cannot be accurately interpreted. The first stopping-place after Culhuacan was Coatlicamac, the first figure in the lower column of the first page. Here they remained twenty-eight years from Ome Calli to Yey Tecpatl as indicated by the squares connected by a line. The last but one of these years completed the cycle and is represented by a picture showing the process of kindling fire by friction, instead of the bundle of grass as before. Between the groups of small squares are the hieroglyphic names of the stopping-places, which are in the following order, beginning with the second column of the first page, Coatlicamac, Tollan, Atlicalaquiam, Tlemaco, Atotonilco, Apazco, Tzompanco, Xaltocan, Acolhuacan, Ehecatepec, Tolpetlac, Coatitlan (where they first cultivated the maguey), Huixachtitlan (where they made pulque from the maguey), Tecpayocan, Pantitlan, 'place of the flag,' Amalinalpan, Azcapuzalco, Pantitlan, Acolnahuac, Popotla, ----, Atlacuihuayan (Tacubaya), Chapultepec, Acocolco, and Culhuacan (as prisoners). The migration is not brought down to the arrival in Tenochtitlan, but the chronology is perfectly recorded. Several of the names of places are indicated by the same hieroglyphic signs as in the other painting. It will be observed that there is nothing to locate the starting-place in the north-west. It was probably either on the lakes of Anáhuac, or in the south beyond what is now the isthmus of Tehuantepec. Both of these paintings will be noticed in the historical investigations to be given in volume V. of this work.

[Sidenote: THE AZTEC MIGRATION.]

The hieroglyphic paintings afford no test of the Aztec painter's skill; in an artistic point of view the picture-writing had probably been nearly stationary for a long time before the conquest. The pictures were in most cases conventionally distorted; indeed, to permit different painters to exercise their skill and fancy in depicting the various objects required would have destroyed the value of the paintings as records. The first progressional steps had taught the native scribes to paint only so much of representative and symbolic objects as was necessary to their being understood; convenience and custom would naturally tend to fix the forms at an early period. Bold outlines, and bright contrasted colors were the desiderata; elegance was not aimed at. Hence no argument respecting the Aztec civilization can be drawn from the rude mechanical execution of these painted characters.

The American hieroglyphics contain no element to prove their foreign origin, and there is no reason to look upon them as other than the result of original native development. Whether enough of the painted records have been preserved to throw much additional light on aboriginal history, may well be doubted; but it is certain that great progress will be made in the art of interpreting such as have been saved, when able men shall devote their lives to a faithful study of this indigenous American literature as they have to the study of old-world hieroglyphics.[661]

[Sidenote: THE NEPOHUALTZITZIN.]

I will in conclusion call attention to Boturini's statement that knotted cords, similar to the aboriginal Peruvian quipus, but called in Aztec nepohualtzitzin, were also employed to record events in early times, but had gone out of use probably before the Aztec supremacy. This author even claims to have found one of these knotted records in a very dilapidated condition in Tlascala. His statement is repeated by many writers; if any information on the subject is contained in the old authorities, it has escaped my notice.[662]

FOOTNOTES:

[642] 'Todas las cosas que conferimos me las dieron por pinturas, que aquella era la escritura que ellos antiguamente usaban: los gramáticos las declararon en su lengua, escribiendo la declaracion al pie de la pintura. Tengo aun ahora estos originales.' Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., p. iv. 'Aunque no tenian escritura como nosotros tenian empero sus figuras y caracteres que todas las cosas qui querian, significaban; y destas sus libros grandes por tan agudo y sutil artificio, que podriamos decir que nuestras letras en aquello no les hicieron mucha ventaja.' Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. ccxxxv. 'Tenian sus figuras, y Hieroglyficas con que pintauan las cosas en esta forma, que las cosas que tenian figuras, las ponian con sus proprias ymagines, y para las cosas que no auia ymagen propria, tenian otros caracteres significatiuos de aquello, y con este modo figurauan quanto querian.' Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., p. 408. 'Letras Reales de cosas pintadas, como eran las pinturas, en que leiò Eneas la destruicion de Troya.' 'Y esto que afirmo, es tomado de las mismas Historias Mexicanas, y Tetzcucanas, que son las que sigo en este discurso, y las que tengo en mi poder.' Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., pp. 29, 149, also pp. 30-1, 36, 253, tom. ii., pp. 263, 544-6. 'I haue heeretofore sayde, that they haue books whereof they brought many: but this Ribera saith, that they are not made for the vse of readinge.... What I should thinke in this variety I knowe not. I suppose them to bee bookes.' Peter Martyr, dec. v., lib. x., dec. iii., lib. viii. 'Y entre la barbaridad destas naciones (de Oajaca) se hallaron muchos libros à su modo, en hojas, ò telas de especiales cortesas de arboles.... Y destos mesmos instrumentos he tenido en mis manos, y oydolos explicar à algunos viejos con bastante admiracion.' Burgoa, Palestra Hist., pt i., p. 89. 'Pintaban en vnos papeles de la tierra que dan los arboles pegados vnos con otros con engrudos, que llamaban Texamaltl sus historias, y batallas.' Vetancvrt, Teatro Mex., pt ii., p. 60. 'Lo dicho lo comprueban claramente las Historias de las Naciones Tulteca y Chichimeca, figuradas con pinturas, y Geroglíficos, especialmente en aquel Libro, que en Tula hicieron de su origen, y le llamaron Teomaxtli, esto es, Libro divino.' Lorenzana, in Cortés, Hist. N. España, pp. 6, 8-9. 'It is now proven beyond cavil, that both Mexico and Yucatan had for centuries before Columbus a phonetic system of writing, which insured the perpetuation of their histories and legends.' Brinton's Myths. See also Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., pp. 203-4, 235, 287; Id., Relaciones, in Id., p. 325; Ritos Antiguos, p. 4, in Id.; Garcia, in Id., vol. viii., pp. 190-1; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 299; Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., pp. 186, 209; Fuenleal, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i., tom. x., p. 250; Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. i., pp. 6-7, 251-2; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 68; Purchas his Pilgrimes, vol. iv., p. 1135.Return to passage

[643] 'Aunque por haverse quemado estos Libros, al principio de la conversion ... no ha quedado, para aora, mui averiguado todo lo que ellos hicieron.' Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 544, tom. i., prólogo. Some of them burned by order of the monks, in the fear that in the matter of religion these books might prove injurious. Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. ccxxxv. Royal archives of Tezcuco burned inadvertently by the first priests. Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 203. 'Principalmente habiendo perecido lo mejor de sus historias entre las llamas, por no tenerse conocimiento de lo que significaban sus pinturas.' Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras, pt i., pp. 2, 5. 'Por desgracia los misioneros confundieron con los objetos del culto idolátrico todos los geroglíficos cronológicos é históricos, y en una misma hoguera se consumia el ídolo ... y el manuscrito.' Alaman, Disertaciones, tom. ii., p. 154. See also Prescott's Mex., vol. i., p. 101; Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., lib. x., pp. 139-41; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 188; Bustamante, Mañanas, tom. ii., prólogo; Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., p. 226; Wilson's Conq. Mex., p. 24.Return to passage

[644] 'It is to this transition-period that we owe many, perhaps most, of the picture-documents still preserved.' Tylor's Researches, p. 97. 'There was ... until late in the last century, a professor in the University of Mexico, especially devoted to the study of the national picture-writing. But, as this was with a view to legal proceedings, his information, probably, was limited to deciphering titles.' Prescott's Mex., vol. i., p. 106. 'L'usage de ces peintures, servant de pièces de procès, c'est conservé dans les tribunaux espagnols long-temps après la conquête.' Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., pp. 169-70. 'Escriben toda la doctrina ellos por sus figuras y caracteres muy ingeniosamente, poniendo la figura que correspondia en la voz y sonido á nuestro vocablo. Asi como si dijeremos Amen, ponian pintada una como fuente y luego un maguey que en su lengua corresponde con Amen, porque llamada Ametl, y así de todo lo demas.' Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. ccxxxv. See also Ritos Antiguos, p. 53, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix.; Ramirez, Proceso de Resid.; Carbajal, Discurso, p. 115; Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 122.Return to passage

[645] 'Au Mexique, l'usage des peintures et celui du papier de maguey s'étendoient bien au delà des limites de l'empire de Montezuma, jusqu'aux bords du lac de Nicaragua.' 'On voit que les peuples de l'Amèrique étoient bien éloignés de cette perfection qu'avoient atteinte les Égyptiens.' Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., pp. 208, 193-4. 'Clumsy as it was, however, the Aztec picture-writing seems to have been adequate to the demands of the nation.' Prescott's Mex., vol. i., pp. 97-8, 108. 'The Mexicans may have advanced, but, we believe, not a great way, beyond the village children, the landlady (with her ale-scores), or the Bosjesmans.' Quarterly Review, 1816, vol. xv., pp. 454, 449. 'The picture writings copied into the monster volumes of Lord Kingsborough, we have denounced as Spanish fabrications.' Wilson's Conq. Mex., pp. 21-24. 'Until some evidence, or shadow of evidence, can be found that these quasi records are of Aztec origin, it would be useless to examine the contradictions, absurdities and nonsense they present.... The whole story must be considered as one of Zumárraga's pious frauds.' Id., pp. 91-2. 'Las pinturas, que se quemaron en tiempo del señor de México, que se decia Itzcóatl, en cuya época los señores, y los principales que habia entónces, acordaron y mandaron que se quemasen todas, para que no viniesen á manos del vulgo, y fuesen menospreciadas.' Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., lib. x., pp. 140-1; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 209. See also Waldeck, Voy. Pitt., pp. 46-7; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., p. 144; Orozco y Berra, Geografía, p. 100; Mayer's Mex. Aztec, etc., vol. i., p. 93.Return to passage

[646] See Mexican MSS., in the list of authorities in vol. i. of this work, for the location of this and other codices in Kingsborough's work. This codex was published also in Purchas his Pilgrimes, vol. iv.; Thevenot, Col. de Voy., 1696, tom. ii.; and by Lorenzana, in Cortés, Hist. N. España. 'D'après les recherches que j'ai faites, il paroît qu'il n'existe aujourd'hui en Europe que six collections de peintures mexicaines: celles de l'Escurial, de Bologne, de Veletri, de Rome, de Vienne et de Berlin.' Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., p. 215. See also on the Codex Mendoza: Id., tom. ii., pp. 306-22; Robertson's Hist. Amer., (Lond., 1777), vol. ii., p. 480; Prescott's Mex., vol. i., pp. 40, 103-4; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. i., pp. 22-3, 25; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 116-29; Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. vi., p. 299.Return to passage

[647] Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., pp. 173, 231-47; Atlas, pl. 13, 14, 26, 55-6. 60, tom. ii., p. 118; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. i., p. 23; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 116, 125, 132-43; Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. vi., pp. 95, 155; Wilson's Conq. Mex., p. 91. 'The fiction of some Spanish monk.' Quarterly Review, 1816, vol. xv., p. 448.Return to passage

[648] Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., pp. 216-19, 248-56, with portions of the Borgian Codex in plates 15, 27, 37. Some pages of the Vienna Codex were published in Robertson's Hist. Amer., (Lond., 1777), vol. ii., p. 482.Return to passage

[649] Careri, Giro del Mondo, (Naples, 1699-1700), tom. vi.; Humboldt, Vues, tom. ii., pp. 168-85, Atlas, pl. xxxii.; Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. iv.; Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. i., p. 20; Prescott's Hist. Conq. Mex., (Mex. 1846), tom. iii.; García y Cubas, Atlas; Simon's Ten Tribes, frontispiece; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., p. 127, pronounces it an imitation and not a copy of a Mexican painting, whose authenticity may be doubted.Return to passage

[650] Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. i., pp. 22-6.Return to passage

[651] Boturini, Catálogo, in Id., Idea; Aubin, in Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. i., pp. xxxiii.; Prescott's Mex., vol. i., pp. 159-60; Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., pp. 162-3, 226-8; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. i., pp. 16-17, 23-5; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 120-1; Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. i., p. xxi., et seq., p. 116. That portion of the Codex Mendoza given in Cortés, Hist. N. España, was from a copy in the Boturini collection. The manuscript describing the Aztec migration was published in Kingsborough, Schoolcraft, Prescott, (Mex. 1846), Humboldt's Atlas, Delafield's Antiq. Amer., García y Cubas' Atlas, and I have in my library two copies on long strips of paper folded in the original form.Return to passage

[652] Ortega, in Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. i., pp. xxii-xxiv., says they were not given to Veytia as Boturini's executor, but simply entrusted to him for use in his work, and afterwards returned to the archives.Return to passage

[653] Gondra, in Prescott, Hist. Conq. Mex. (Mex., 1846), tom. iii., p. ii., says that Gama was Sigüenza's heir.Return to passage

[654] Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., pp. 163, 230-1.Return to passage

[655] Bustamante, in Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras, pt i., pp. ii-iii.Return to passage

[656] See list of part of M. Aubin's manuscripts in Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. i., pp. lxxvi-lxxviii.; also a very complete account of the different collections of Aztec picture-writings in the introductory chapter of Domenech, Manuscrit Pictographique.Return to passage

[657] In the Egyptian development, a pictured mouth first signified the word ro, then the syllable ro, and finally the letter or sound r, although it is doubtful if they made much use of the third stage, except in writing some foreign words. Many of the Chinese pictures are double, one being determinative of sound, the other of sense; as if in English we should express the sound pear by a picture of the fruit of that name, the fruit pear by the same picture accompanied by a tree, the word pare by the same picture and a knife, the word pair by the picture and two points, etc. Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., pp. 177-9; Tylor's Researches, pp. 98-101.Return to passage

[658] Codex Mendoza, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. i., pl. lxi. Explanation, vol. v., pp. 96-7. See p. 241 of this volume.Return to passage

[659] 'On trouve même chez les Mexicains des vestiges de ce genre d'hiéroglyphes que l'on appelle phonétiques, et qui annonce des rapports, non avec la chose, mais avec la langue parlée.' Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., p. 191, also pp. 162-202. 'But, although the Aztecs were instructed in all the varieties of hieroglyphical painting, they chiefly resorted to the clumsy method of direct representation.' Prescott's Mex., vol. i., p. 97, also pp. 88-107. 'It is to M. Aubin, of Paris, a most zealous student of Mexican antiquities, that we owe our first clear knowledge of a phenomenon of great scientific interest in the history of writing. This is a well-defined system of phonetic characters, which Clavigero and Humboldt do not seem to have been aware of.' Tylor's Researches, p. 95, also pp. 89-100. 'Dans les compositions grossières, dont les auteurs se sont presque exclusivement occupés jusqu'ici, elle (l'écriture Aztèque) est fort semblable aux rébus que l'enfance mêle à ses jeux. Comme ces rébus elle est généralement phonétique, mais souvent aussi confusément idéographique et symbolique. Tels sont les noms de villes et de rois, cités par Clavigero, d'après Purchas et Lorenzana et d'après Clavigero, par une foule d'auteurs.' Aubin, in Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. i., pp. xliv., xxx-lxxiv. See also on Aztec hieroglyphics and their explanation: Buschmann, Ortsnamen, tom. i., pp. 37-48; Gondra, in Prescott, Hist. Conq. Mex., (Mex. 1846), tom. iii.; Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras, pt ii., pp. 29-45; Ewbank, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iv., pp. 453-6; Mendoza, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da época, tom. i., pp. 896-904; Ramirez, in Id., tom. iii., pp. 69-70; Boturini, Idea, pp. 5, 77-87, 96, 112-13; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 187-94; Pimentel, Mem. sobre la Raza Indígena, pp. 49-50; Carbajal, Discurso, p. 5; Klemm, Cultur-Geschichte, tom. v., pp. 131-7; Chevalier, Mex., Ancien. et Mod., pp. 37-8, 58; Humboldt, Essai Pol., tom. i., pp. 77, 93; Foster's Pre-Hist. Races, p. 322; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 126, 165-68; Ramirez, Proceso de Resid.; Lenoir, Parallèle, pp. 13-16; Lubbock's Pre-Hist. Times, p. 279; N. Amer. Review, 1839, vol. xlviii., p. 289, 1831, vol. xxxii., pp. 98-107; Amer. Quart. Review, June 1827, vol. i., p. 438.Return to passage

[660] In García y Cubas, Atlas, with an interpretation.Return to passage

[661] 'On distingue dans les peintures mexicaines des têtes d'une grandeur énorme, un corps excessivement court, et des pieds qui, par la longueur des doigts, ressemblent à des griffes d'oiseau.... Tout ceci indique l'enfance de l'art, mais il ne faut pas oublier que des peuples qui expriment leurs idées par des peintures ... attachent aussi peu d'importance à peindre correctement que les savans d'Europe à employer une belle écriture dans leurs manuscrits.' Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., pp. 198-200; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 653-4. Valades in 1579 gave an American phonetic alphabet, representing each letter by an object of whose name it was the initial in some language not the Aztec. Nothing is known of it. Id., tom. i., p. lxx. Borunda gives a Clave General de Geroglíficos Americanos, in Voz de la Patria, 1830, tom. iv., No. iii.--an extract in Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras, pt ii., p. 33. Sr Eufemio Mendoza, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da época, tom. i., p. 899, attaches some importance to Borunda's efforts. On the difficulty of interpretation see Boturini, Idea, p. 116; Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. vi., p. 87; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 149; Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 201; Prescott's Mex., vol. i., p. 107.Return to passage

[662] Boturini, Idea, pp. 85-7; Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. i., p. 6; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 194; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 656. Some additional references on hieroglyphics are: Id., pp. 244, 591-2, 650-6, tom. ii., p. 86; Norman's Rambles in Yuc., pp. 293-5; Domenech's Deserts, vol. i., pp. 407-8; Soden, Spanier in Peru, tom. ii., pp. 27-8; Bussierre, L'Empire Mex., pp. 175-6; Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, pp. 266-7; Dapper, Neue Welt, p. 300; Delafield's Antiq. Amer., p. 42; Bonnycastle's Span. Amer., vol. i., p. 52.Return to passage

XVIII. ARCHITECTURE AND DWELLINGS OF THE NAHUAS

ARCHITECTURE OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS--GENERAL FEATURES OF NAHUA ARCHITECTURE--THE ARCH--EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR DECORATIONS--METHOD OF BUILDING--INCLINED PLANES--SCAFFOLDS--THE USE OF THE PLUMMET--BUILDING-MATERIALS--POSITION AND FORTIFICATION OF TOWNS--MEXICO TENOCHTITLAN--THE GREAT CAUSEWAYS--QUARTERS AND WARDS OF MEXICO--THE MARKET-PLACE--FOUNTAINS AND AQUEDUCTS--LIGHT-HOUSES AND STREET-WORK--CITY OF TEZCUCO--DWELLINGS--AZTEC GARDENS--TEMPLE OF HUITZILOPOCHTLI--TEMPLE OF MEXICO--OTHER TEMPLES--TEOCALLI AT CHOLULA AND TEZCUCO.

I shall describe in this chapter the cities, towns, temples, palaces, dwellings, roads, bridges, aqueducts, and other products of Nahua architectural and constructive art, as they were found and described by the Spaniards in the sixteenth century. Monuments of this branch of Nahua art chiefly in the form of ruined temples, or teocallis, are still standing and have been examined in detail by modern travelers. The results of these later observations will be given in Volume IV. of this work, and I have therefore thought it best to omit them altogether here. In order to fully comprehend the subject the reader will find it advantageous to study and compare the two views taken from different standpoints. It is for a general and doubtless exaggerated account of the grandeur and extent of the Nahua structures, rather than any details of their construction that we must look to the Spanish chronicles; and it is also to be noted that the descriptions by the conquerors are confined almost entirely to the lake region of Anáhuac, the buildings of other regions being dismissed with a mere mention. In this connection, therefore, the supplementary view in another volume will be of great value, since the grandest relics of Nahua antiquity have been found outside of Anáhuac proper, while the oft-mentioned magnificent temples and palaces of the lake cities have left no traces of their original splendor.

The Olmecs, Totonacs, and others of the earlier Nahua nations are credited by tradition with the erection of grand edifices, but the Toltecs, in this as in all other arts, far surpassed their predecessors, and even the nations that succeeded them. I have in a preceding chapter sufficiently explained the process by which this ancient people has been credited with all that is wonderful in the past, and it will be readily understood how a magnifying veneration for past glories, handed down from father to son with ever accumulating exaggeration, has transformed the Toltec buildings into the most exquisite fairy structures, incomparably superior to anything that met the Spanish gaze. With architectural as with other traditions, however, I have little or nothing to do in this chapter, but pass on to a consideration of this branch of art in later times.

Respect for the gods made it necessary that the temples should be raised above the ordinary buildings, besides which their height made them more conspicuous to the immense multitudes which frequently gathered about them on feast-days, rendering them also more secure from desecration and easier of defence when used as citadels of refuge, as they often were. But as the primitive ideas of engineering possessed by the Aztecs and their insufficient tools did not permit them to combine strength with slightness, the only way the required elevation could be attained was by placing the building proper upon a raised, solid, pyramidal substructure. The prevalence of earthquakes may also have had something to do with this solid form of construction. In the vicinity of the lake of Mexico, the swampy nature of the soil called for a broad, secure foundation; here, then, the substructure was not confined to the temples, but was used in building public edifices, palaces, and private dwellings.

[Sidenote: NAHUA ARCHITECTURE.]

Another general feature of Nahua architecture was the small elevation of the buildings proper, compared with their extent and solidity. These rarely exceeded one story in height, except some of the chapels, which had two or even three stories, but in these cases the upper floors were invariably of wood.

Whether the Aztecs were acquainted with our arch, with a vertical key-stone, is a mooted point. Clavigero gives plates of a semi-spherical estufa constructed in this manner, and asserts, further, that an arch of this description was found among the Tezcucan ruins, but I find no authority for either picture or assertion. The relics that have been examined in modern times, moreover, seem to show conclusively that key-stone arches were unknown in America before the advent of the Europeans, though arches made of overlapping stones were often cut in such a manner as to resemble them. The chaplain Diaz, who accompanied Grijalva, mentions an 'arc antique' on the east coast, but gives no description of it. Nevertheless, as the 'antique' would in this connection imply a peculiar, if not a primitive, construction, it is not probable that the arch he saw had a key-stone.[663]

As decorations, we find balconies and galleries supported by square or round pillars, which were often monoliths; but as they were adorned with neither capital nor base the effect must have been rather bare. Battlements and turrets, doubtless first used as means of defense, became later incorporated with decorative art. The bareness of the walls was relieved by cornices and stucco-work of various designs, the favorite figures being coiled snakes, executed in low relief, which probably had a religious meaning. Sometimes they were placed in groups, as upon the temple walls at Mexico, at other times one serpent twined and twisted round every door and window of an apartment until head and tail met. Carved lintels and door-posts were common, and statues frequently adorned the court and approaches. Glossy surfaces seem to have had a special attraction for the Nahuas, and they made floors, walls, and even streets, extremely smooth. The walls and floors were first coated with lime, gypsum, or ochre, and then polished.

No clear accounts are given of the method of erecting houses. Brasseur de Bourbourg thinks that because the natives of Vera Paz were seen by him to use scaffolds like ours, that these were also employed in Mexico in former times, and that stones were raised on inclined beams passing from scaffold to scaffold, which is not very satisfactory reasoning.[664]

However this may be, we are told by Torquemada that the Aztecs used derricks to hoist heavy timbers with.[665] Others, again, say that walls were erected by piling earth on both sides, which served both as scaffolds and as inclined planes up which heavy masses might be drawn or rolled,[666] but although this was undoubtedly the method adopted by the Miztecs, it was too laborious and primitive to have been general,[667] and certainly could not have been employed in building the three-story chapels upon Huitzilopochtli's pyramid. The perfectly straight walls built by the Nahuas would seem to indicate the use of the plummet, and we are told that the line was used in making roads.[668] Trees were felled with copper and flint axes, and drawn upon rollers to their destination,[669] a mode of transport used, no doubt, with other cumbrous material. The implements used to cut stone blocks seem to have been entirely of flint.[670]

[Sidenote: BUILDING MATERIAL.]

The wood for roofs, turrets, and posts, was either white or yellow cedar, palm, pine, cypress, or oyametl, of which beams and fine boards were made. Nails they had none; the smaller pieces must therefore have been secured by notches, lapping, or pressure.[671] The different kinds of stone used in building were granite, alabaster, jasper, porphyry, certain 'black, shining stones,' and a red, light, porous, yet hard stone, of which rich quarries were discovered near Mexico in Ahuitzotl's reign.[672] After the overflow of the lake, which happened at this time, the king gave orders that this should be used ever after for buildings in the city.[673] Tecali, a transparent stone resembling alabaster, was sometimes used in the temples for window-glass.[674] Adobes, or sun-dried bricks, were chiefly used in the dwellings of the poorer classes, but burnt bricks and tiles are mentioned as being sold in the markets.[675] Roofs were covered with clay, straw, and palm-leaves. Lime was used for mortar, which was so skillfully used, say the old writers, that the joints were scarcely perceptible,[676] but probably this was partly owing to the fact that the walls were almost always either whitewashed, or covered with ochre, gypsum, or other substances.

Frequent wars and the generally unsettled state of the country, made it desirable that the towns should be situated near enough each other to afford mutual protection, which accounts for the great number of towns scattered over the plateau. The same causes made a defensible position the primary object in the choice of a site. Thus we find them situated on rocks accessible only by a difficult and narrow pathway, raised on piles over the water, or surrounded by strong walls, palisades, earth-works and ditches.[677] Although they fully understood the necessity of settling near lakes and rivers to facilitate intercourse, yet the towns on the sea-coast were usually a league or two from the shore, and, as they had no maritime trade, harbors were not sought for.[678]

The towns extended over a comparatively large surface, owing to the houses being low and detached, and each provided with a court and garden. The larger cities seem to have been layed out on a regular plan, especially in the centre, but the streets were narrow, indeed there was no need of wider ones as all transportation was done by carriers, and there were no vehicles. At intervals a market-place with a fountain in the centre, a square filled with temples, or a line of shady trees relieved the monotony of the long rows of low houses.

[Sidenote: MEXICO TENOCHTITLAN.]

The largest and most celebrated of the Nahua cities was Mexico Tenochtitlan.[679] It seems that about the year 1325 the Aztecs, weary of their unsettled condition and hard pressed by the Culhuas, sought the marshy western shore of the lake of Mexico. Here, on the swamp of Tlalcocomocco, they came upon a stone, upon which it was said a Mexican priest had forty years before sacrificed a certain prince Copil. From this stone had sprung a nopal, upon which, at the time it was seen by the Mexican advance guard, sat an eagle, holding in his beak a serpent. Impelled by a divine power, a priest dived into a pool near the stone, and there had an interview with Tlaloc, god of waters,[680] who gave his permission to the people to settle on the spot.[681] Another legend relates that Huitzilopochtli appeared to a priest in a dream, and told him to search for a nopal growing out of a stone in the lake with an eagle and serpent upon it, and there found a city.[682]

The temple, at first a mere hut, was the first building erected, and by trading fish and fowl for stone, they were soon enabled to form a considerable town about it. Piles were driven into the soft bottom of the lake, and the intermediate spaces filled with stones, branches, and earth, to serve as a foundation for houses.[683]

Each succeeding ruler took pains to extend and beautify the city. Later on, Tlatelulco,[684] which had early separated from Mexico Tenochtitlan, was reunited to it by king Axayacatl, which greatly increased the size of the latter city. Tezcuco is said to have exceeded it in size and in the culture of its people, but from its important position, imposing architecture, and general renown, Mexico Tenochtitlan stood preëminent. A number of surrounding towns and villages formed the suburbs of the city, as Aztacalco, Acatlan, Malcuitlapilco, Atenco, Iztacalco, Zancopinco, Huitznahuac, Xocotitlan or Xocotlan, Coltonco, Necatitlan, Huitzitlan, etc.[685] The circumference of the city has been estimated at about twelve miles, and the number of houses at sixty thousand, which would give a population of three hundred thousand.[686] It was situated in the salty part of the lake of Mexico, fifteen miles west of its celebrated rival Tezcuco, about one mile from the eastern shore, and close to the channel through which the volumes of the sweet water lake pour into the briny waters of the lake of Mexico, washing, in their outward flow, the southern and western parts of the city. The waters have, however, evaporated considerably since the time of the Aztecs, and left the modern Mexico some distance from the beach.[687]

[Sidenote: CITIES OF ANÁHUAC.]

Fifty other towns, many of them consisting of over three thousand dwellings, were scattered on and around the lake, the shallow waters of which were skimmed by two hundred thousand canoes.[688] Four grand avenues, paved with a smooth, hard crust of cement,[689] ran east, west, north, and south, crosswise, forming the boundary lines of four quarters; at the meeting-point of these was the grand temple-court. Three of these roads connected in a straight line with large causeways leading from the city to the lake shores; constructed by driving in piles, filling up the intervening spaces with earth, branches, and stones, and covering the surface with stone secured by mortar. They were broad enough to allow ten horsemen to ride abreast with ease, and were defended by drawbridges and breastworks.[690]

The southern road, two leagues in length, commenced half a league from Iztapalapan, and was bordered on one side by Mexicaltzinco, a town of about four thousand houses, and on the other, first by Coyuhuacan with six thousand, and further on by Huitzilopochco with five thousand dwellings. Half a league before reaching the city this causeway was joined by the Xoloc road, coming from Xochimilco, the point of junction being defended by a fort named Acachinanco, which consisted of two turrets surrounded by a battlemented wall, eleven or twelve feet high, and was provided with two gates, through which the road passed.[691] The northern road led from Tepeyacac, about a league off; the western, from Tlacopan, half a league distant; this road was bordered with houses as far as the shore.[692] A fourth causeway from Chapultepec served to support the aqueduct which supplied the city with water.[693]

[Sidenote: QUARTERS AND WARDS OF MEXICO.]

The names of the four quarters of the city, which were thus disposed according to divine command, were Tlaquechiuhcan, Cuecopan, or Quepopan, now Santa María, lying between the northern and western avenues; Atzacualco, now San Sebastian, between the eastern and northern; Teopan, now San Pablo, between the eastern and southern; and Moyotlan, or Mayotla, now San Juan, between the western and southern; these, again, were divided into a number of wards.[694] Owing to the position of the city in the midst of the lake, traffic was chiefly conducted by means of canals, which led into almost every ward, and had on one or both sides quays for the reception and landing of goods and passengers. Many of these were provided with basins and locks to retain the water within them;[695] while at the mouth were small buildings which served as offices for the custom-house officials. Bridges, many of which were upwards of thirty feet wide, and could be drawn up so as to cut off communication between the different parts, connected the numerous cross-streets and lanes, some of which were mere dry and paved canals.[696]

The chief resort of the people was the levee which stretched in a semi-circle round the southern part of the city, forming a harbor from half to three quarters of a league in breadth. Here during the day the merchants bustled about the cargoes and the custom-houses, while at night the promenaders resorted there to enjoy the fresh breezes from the lake. The construction of this embankment was owing to an inundation which did serious harm during the reign of Montezuma I. This energetic monarch at once took steps to prevent a recurrence of the catastrophe, and called upon the neighboring towns to assist with people and material in the construction of an outer wall, to check and turn aside the waters of the fresh lake, which, after the heavy rains of winter, rushed in volumes upon the city as they sought the lower salt lake. The length of the levee was about three leagues, and its breadth thirty feet. In 1498, fifty-two years after its construction, it was further strengthened and enlarged.[697]

Although the Spaniards met with no very imposing edifices as they passed along to the central part of the city where the temple stood, yet they must have found enough to admire in the fine smooth streets, the neat though low stone buildings surmounted by parapets which but half concealed the flowers behind them, the elegantly arranged gardens, gorgeous with the flora of the tropics, the broad squares, the lofty temples, and the canals teeming with canoes.

Among the public edifices, the markets are especially worthy of note. The largest, in Mexico Tenochtitlan, was twice as large as the square of Salamanca, says Cortés, and was surrounded by porticoes, in and about which from sixty thousand to one hundred thousand buyers and sellers found room.[698] The market-place at Tlatelulco was still larger, and in the midst of it was a square stone terrace, fifteen feet high and thirty feet long, which served as a theatre.[699]

[Sidenote: FOUNTAINS AND AQUEDUCTS.]

The numerous fountains which adorned the city were fed by the aqueduct which brought water from the hill of Chapultepec, about two miles off, and was constructed upon a causeway of solid masonry five feet high and five feet broad, running parallel to the Tlacopan road.[700] This aqueduct consisted of two pipes of masonry, each carrying a volume of water equal in bulk to a man's body,[701] which was conducted by branch pipes to different parts of the town to supply fountains, tanks, ponds, and baths. At the different canal-bridges there were reservoirs, into which the pipes emptied on their course, and here the boatmen who made it a business to supply the inhabitants with water received their cargoes on the payment of a fixed price. A vigilant police watched over the distribution of the water and the care of the pipes, only one of which was in use at a time, while the other was cleansed.[702] The supply was obtained from a fine spring on the summit of Mount Chapultepec, which was guarded by two figures cut in the solid stone, representing Montezuma and his father, armed with lances and shields.[703] The present aqueduct was partly reconstructed by Montezuma II. on the old one erected by the first king of that name. Its inauguration was attended by imposing ceremonies, offerings of quails, and burning of incense.[704]

During Ahuitzotl's reign, an attempt was made to bring water into the city from an immense spring at Coyuhuacan. The lord of that place consented, as became a loyal vassal, to let the water go, but predicted disastrous consequences to the city from the overflow which would be sure to follow if the water were taken there. This warning, however, so enraged the king that he ordered the execution of the noble, and immediately levied men and material from the neighboring towns to build the aqueduct. The masons and laborers swarmed like ants and soon finished the work. When everything was ready, a grand procession of priests, princes, nobles, and plebeians marched forth to open the gates of the aqueduct and receive the waters into the city. Speeches were made, slaves and children were sacrificed, the wealthy cast precious articles into the rolling waters with words of thanks and welcome. But the hour of sorrow was at hand. The prediction of the dead lord was fulfilled; the waters, once loosed, could not be fettered again; a great part of the city was inundated and much damage was done. Then the distracted king called once more upon the neighboring towns to furnish men, but this time to tear down instead of to build up.[705]

[Sidenote: LIGHTHOUSES AND STREET-WORK.]

Among the arrangements for the convenience of the public may be mentioned lighthouses to guide the canoes which brought supplies to the great metropolis. These were erected at different points upon towers and heights; the principal one seems to have been on Mount Tocitlan, where a wooden turret was erected to hold the flaming beacon.[706] The streets were also lighted by burning braziers placed at convenient intervals, which were tended by the night patrol. A force of over a thousand men kept the canals in order, swept the streets and sprinkled them several times a day.[707] Public closets were placed at distances along the canals.[708] The care of buildings also received the attention of the government, and every eleventh month was devoted to repairing and cleaning the temples, public edifices, and roads generally.[709] A number of towns on the lake were built on piles, in imitation of Mexico, chiefly for the sake of security. Thus, Iztapalapan stood half on land, half over the water, and Ayotzinco was founded entirely on piles, and had canals instead of streets.[710]

Other towns had recourse to strong walls and deep ditches to secure their protection. Tlascala especially was well defended from its ancient Aztec enemy, by a wall of stone and mortar[711] which stretched for six miles across a valley, from mountain to mountain, and formed the boundary line of the republic. This wall was nine feet high, twenty feet broad,[712] and surmounted by a breastwork a foot and a half in thickness, behind which the defenders could stand while fighting. The only entrance was in the centre, where the walls did not meet, but described a semi-circle, one overlapping the other, with a space ten paces wide and forty long between them.[713] The other side also was defended by breastworks and ditches.[714] The city itself stood upon four hills, and was crossed by narrow streets,[715] the houses being scattered in irregular groups. In size it was even larger than Granada, says Cortés, which is not unlikely, for the market had accommodation for thirty thousand people, and in one of the temples four hundred Spaniards with their attendants found ample room.[716] At Huejutla there was a curious wall of masonry, the outside of which was faced with small blocks of tetzontli, each about nine inches in diameter on the face, which was rounded; the end of each block was pointed, and inserted in the wall.[717]

[Sidenote: THE CITY OF TEZCUCO.]

The city next in fame and rank to Mexico Tenochtitlan was Tezcuco,[718] which Torquemada affirms contained one hundred and forty thousand houses within a circumference of from three to four leagues.[719] It was divided into six divisions, and crossed by a series of fine straight streets lined with elegant buildings. The old palace stood on the border of the lake upon a triple terrace, guarding the town, as it were; the newer structure, in the construction of which two hundred thousand men had been employed, stood at the northern end; it was a magnificent building and contained three hundred rooms. This city was the seat of refinement and elegance, and occupied relatively the same position in Mexico as Paris does in Europe.[720]

[Sidenote: DWELLINGS OF THE RICHER CLASSES.]

The style of architecture for houses did not exhibit much variety; the difference between one house and another being chiefly in extent and material.[721] The dwellings of the nobles were situated upon terraces of various heights, which in swampy places like Mexico, rested upon tiers of heavy piles.[722] They were usually a group of buildings in the form of a parallelogram, built of stone or in Mexico of tetzontli, joined with fine cement, and finely polished and whitewashed.[723] Every house stood by itself, separated from its neighbor by narrow lanes, and enclosed one or more courts which extended over a large space of ground.[724] One story was the most common form, and there are no accounts of any palaces or private houses exceeding two stories.[725] Broad steps led up the terrace to two gates which gave entrance to the courts; one opening upon the main street, the other upon the back lane, or canal, that often lay beneath it. The terrace platform of the houses of chiefs often had a wide walk round it and was especially spacious in front, where there was occasionally a small oratorio facing the entrance. This style was particularly noticed on the east coast.[726] The court was surrounded by numerous porticoes decorated with porphyry, jasper, and alabaster ornaments, which, again, led to various chambers, and halls, lighted by large windows. Two great halls and several reception-rooms were situated in front; the sleeping-chambers, kitchen, baths, and store-rooms were in the rear, forming at times quite a complicated labyrinth.[727] The court was paved with flags of stone, tessellated marble, or hard cement, polished with ochre or gypsum,[728] and usually contained a sparkling fountain; occasionally there was a flower-garden, in which a pyramidal altar gave an air of sanctity to the place.[729] The stairway which led to the second story or to the roof, was often on the outside of the house, and by its grand proportions and graceful form contributed not a little to the good appearance of the house.[730] The roof was a flat terrace of beams, with a slight slope towards the back,[731] covered with a coat of cement or clay,[732] and surrounded by a battlemented parapet, surmounted at times by small turrets.[733] There were generally flowers in pots upon the roofs, or even a small garden; and here the members of the household assembled in the cool of the evening to enjoy the fresh air and charming prospect.[734] Some houses had galleries, which, like most work added to the main structure, were of wood,[735] though supported upon columns of marble, porphyry, or alabaster. These pillars were either round or square, and were generally monoliths; they were without base or capital, though ornamented with figures cut in low relief. Buildings were further adorned with elegant cornices and stucco designs of flowers and animals, which were often painted with brilliant colors. Prominent among these figures was the coiling serpent before mentioned. Lintels and door-posts were also elaborately carved.[736]

The interior displayed the same rude magnificence. The floors were covered with hard, smooth cement like the courtyard and streets, rubbed with ochre or gypsum, and polished.[737] The glossy walls were painted and hung with cotton or feather tapestry, to which Las Casas adds silver plating and jewels. The furniture was scanty. It consisted chiefly of soft mats and cushions of palm-leaves or fur, low tables, and small stools with palm-leaf backs. The beds were mats piled one upon another, with a block or a palm-leaf or cotton cushion for a pillow; occasionally they were furnished with coverlets and canopies of cotton or feather-work.[738] Vases filled with smoldering incense diffused their perfume through the chambers. The rooms which were used in winter were provided with hearths and fire-screens, and were lighted by torches.[739] There were no doors, properly called such, to the houses, but where privacy was required, a bamboo or wicker-work screen was suspended across the entrance, and secured at night with a bar. To this was attached a string of shells, which the visitor rattled to call the host or his attendants to the entrance. The interior rooms were separated by hangings, which probably also served to cover the windows of ordinary dwellings,[740] although the transparent tecali stone, as before stated, answered the purpose of window-glass in certain parts of some of the temples.[741]

[Sidenote: HOUSES OF THE LOWER CLASSES.]

The houses of the poorer classes were built of adobe, wood, cane, or reeds and stones, mixed with mud, well plastered and polished,[742] and, in Mexico, raised on stone foundations, to prevent dampness,[743] though the elevation was less than that of the houses of the richer people. They were generally of an oblong shape, were divided into several apartments, and occasionally had a gallery in front. They could not afford a central court, but had instead a flower or vegetable garden wherever space permitted. Terrace roofs were not uncommon in the towns, but more generally the houses of the poorer people were thatched with a kind of long thick grass, or with overlapping maguey-leaves.[744]

Besides the oratory and storehouse with which most houses were provided, a temazcalli, or bath, was generally added to the dwelling. This, according to Clavigero, consisted of a hemisphere of adobe, having a slightly convex paved floor sunk a little below the level of the surrounding ground. The entrance was a small hole just large enough to admit a man. On the outside of the bath-house, and on the opposite side to the entrance, was a furnace made of stone or brick, separated from the interior by a thin slab of tetzontli, or other porous stone, through which the heat was communicated. On entering, the door was closed, and the suffocating vapors were allowed to escape slowly through a small opening in the top. The largest bath-houses were eight feet in diameter, and six feet in height. Some were mere square chambers without a furnace, and were doubtless heated and the fire raked out before the bather entered.[745]

The storehouses and granaries which were attached to farms, temples, and palaces, were usually square buildings of oxametl-wood, with thatched roofs. The logs had notches near the ends to give them a secure hold. Two windows, or doors, one above the other, gave access to the interior, which was often large enough to contain many thousand bushels of grain.[746]

[Sidenote: AZTEC GARDENS.]

Love of flowers was a passion with the Aztecs, and they bestowed great care upon the cultivation of gardens. The finest and largest of these were at Iztapalapan and Huastepec. The garden at Iztapalapan was divided into four squares, each traversed by shaded walks, meandering among fruit-trees, blossoming hedges, and borders of sweet herbs.[747] In the centre of the garden was an immense reservoir of hewn stone, four hundred paces square, and fed by navigable canals. A tiled pavement,[748] wide enough for four persons walking abreast, surrounded the reservoir, and at intervals steps led down to the water, upon the surface of which innumerable water-fowl sported. A large pavilion, with halls and corridors, overlooked the grounds.[749]

The Huastepec garden was two leagues in circuit, and was situated on a stream; it contained an immense variety of plants and trees, to which additions were continually made.[750] The chinampas, or floating gardens, have been described elsewhere.[751]

The Mexicans required no solid roads for heavy traffic, since goods were carried upon the shoulders of slaves, but a number of pathways crossed the country in various directions, which underwent repair every year on the cessation of the rains. Here and there country roads crossed streams by means of suspension-bridges, or fixed structures mostly of wood, but sometimes of stone, with small spans. The suspension-bridges were made of ropes, twisted canes, or tough branches, attached to trees and connected by a netting. The Spaniards were rather fearful of crossing them, on account of their swinging motion when stepped upon and the gaping rents in them.[752]

Almost the only specimen of Nahua architecture which has withstood the ravages of time until our day is the temple structure, teocalli, 'house of God,' or teopan, 'place of God,' of which Torquemada asserts there were at least forty thousand in Mexico. Clavigero regards this as a good deal below the real number, and if we consider the extremely religious character of the people, and accept the statements of the early chroniclers, who say that at distances of from a quarter to half a league, in every town and village, were open places containing one or more temples,[753] and on every isolated rock or hill, along the country roads, even in the fields, were substantial structures devoted to some idol, then Clavigero's assertion may be correct.[754]

The larger temples were usually built upon pyramidal parallelograms, square, or oblong, and consisted of a series of superimposed terraces with perpendicular or sloping sides.[755] The celebrated temple at Mexico forms a fair type of the latter kind and its detailed description will give the best idea of this class of edifices.

[Sidenote: TEMPLE OF HUITZILOPOCHTLI.]

[Sidenote: THE GREAT TEMPLE OF MEXICO.]

[Sidenote: THE SACRIFICIAL STONE.]

When the Aztecs halted on the site of Mexico after their long wanderings, the first care was to erect an abode for their chief divinity Huitzilopochtli. The spot chosen for the humble structure, which at first consisted of a mere hut, was over the stone whereon the sacred nochtli grew that had been pointed out by the oracle. A building more worthy of the god was soon erected, and, later on, Ahuitzotl constructed the edifice from whose summit Cortés looked down upon the scenes of his conquest. The labor bestowed upon it was immense, and notwithstanding that the material had to be brought from a distance of three or four leagues--a serious matter to a people who were supplied with no adequate means of transport--the temple was completed in two years.[756] The inauguration took place in 1486, in the presence of the chief princes and an immense concourse of people from all quarters, and 72,344 captives, arranged in two long files, were sacrificed during the four days of its duration.[757] The site of the building was indeed worthy of its character, standing as it did in an immense square forming the centre of the town, from which radiated the four chief thoroughfares.[758] The idea of thus keeping the god before the people at all times had, doubtless, as much to do with this arrangement as that of giving him the place of honor. A square wall[759] about four thousand eight hundred feet in circumference, from eight to nine feet in height and of great thickness, with its sides facing the cardinal points, formed the courtyard of the temple.[760] It was built of stone and lime, plastered and polished,[761] crowned with battlements in the form of snails, and turreted and adorned with many stone serpents,--a very common ornament on edifices in Egypt as well as Anáhuac--for which reason it was called coatepantli, 'wall of snakes.'[762] At the centre of each wall stood a large two-story building, divided into a number of rooms, in which the military stores and weapons were kept. These faced the four chief thoroughfares of the town, and their lower stories formed the portals of the gateways which gave entrance to the courtyard.[763] This was partly paved with large smooth flag-stones, partly with cement, plastered and polished, and so slippery that the horses of the Spaniards could scarcely keep their footing.[764] In the centre stood the great temple, an oblong, parallelogramic pyramid, about three hundred and seventy-five feet long and three hundred feet broad at the base, three hundred and twenty-five by two hundred and fifty at the summit, and rising in five superimposed, perpendicular terraces to the height of eighty-six feet.[765] The terraces were of equal height,[766] the lowest, according to Tezozomoc, having a foundation a fathom or more in depth, and each receded about six feet from the edge of the one beneath it, leaving a flat ledge round its base.[767] At the north-west corner the ledges were graded to form a series of steps, one hundred and fourteen in all, and each about nine inches high, which led from terrace to terrace, so that it was necessary to walk completely round the edifice to gain the succeeding flight.[768] This style of building was probably devised for show as well as for defence, for by this means the gorgeously dressed procession of priests was obliged to pass in sight of the entire multitude gathered on all sides of the temple, winding at a solemn pace round each terrace. The structure was composed of well-rammed earth, stones, and clay, covered with a layer of large square pieces of tetzontli, all of equal size, hewn smooth and joined with a fine cement, which scarcely left a mark to be seen; it was besides covered with a polished coating of lime, or gypsum.[769] The steps were of solid stone and the platform of the same slippery character as the court.[770] At its eastern end stood two three-story towers, fifty-six feet in height,[771] separated from the edge by a walk barely wide enough for one person. The lower story was of masonry with the floor raised a few feet above the platform and an entrance on the west; the two upper stories were of wood, with windows, to which access was had by movable ladders.[772] A wooden cupola well painted and adorned formed the roof.[773] The sanctuaries were in the lower story, the one on the right hand dedicated to Huitzilopochtli with his partner and lieutenant, the other to Tezcatlipoca.[774] The gigantic images of these gods rested upon large stone altars three to four feet high,[775] their monstrous grandeur shielded from the vulgar gaze of the multitude by rich curtains hung with tassels and golden pellets like bells, which rattled as the hangings moved. Before the altar stood the terrible stone of sacrifice, a green block about five feet in length, and three in breadth and height, rising in a ridge on the top so as to bend the body of the victim upwards and allow the easy extraction of the heart.[776] The walls and ceilings were painted with monstrous figures, and ornamented with stucco and carved wood-work, and, according to Las Casas, the gold and jewel-decked interior exceeded even Thebe's famed temple in beauty,[777] but the venerable bishop was evidently led away by his well-known enthusiasm for whatever concerned the natives, for Bernal Diaz and others state that the floors and walls were steeped with blood, diffusing a fetid odor which made the visitors glad to escape to the fresh air.[778] The upper stories were used as receptacles for the ashes of deceased kings and lords,[779] and for the instruments connected with the service of the temple, but Diaz also noticed idols, half human, half monstrous in form, and found the rooms blood-stained like the lower apartment.[780] Before each chapel stood a stone hearth of a man's height, and of the same shape as the piscina in Catholic churches, upon which a fire was continually kept burning by the virgins and priests, and great misfortunes were apprehended if it became extinguished.[781] Here was also the large drum covered with snake-skins,[782] whose sombre notes resounded over a distance of two miles on feast-days and other extraordinary occasions--many a death-knell it struck for the Spaniards before they became masters of it. From this height the Spaniards gazed down upon between seventy and eighty other edifices within the enclosure, with their six hundred braziers of stone, some round, some square, and from two to five feet high,[783] whose bright fires flared in perpetual adoration of their idols, and turned the night into day. About forty of these were temples, each with its idols, scattered round the court and facing the great pyramid as if in adoration.[784] They were considerably smaller than the central temple, and differed chiefly in the form of the roof which was round, square, or pyramidal, according to the character of the idol.[785] The largest was that of Tlaloc, which stood nearest the pyramid, and was ascended by fifty steps.[786] Quetzalcoatl's was the most singular in form, being circular and surmounted by a dome, symbolic of the abode of the god of air; a snake's jaws with exposed fangs formed the low entrance, and made the stranger shudder as he stooped to pass in.[787] Among other notable edifices were the tezcacalli, or 'house of mirrors,' so called from the mirrors which covered its walls, and the teccizcalli, 'house of shells,' to which the king retired at certain times to perform penance. The high-priest also had a house of retirement called poiauhtla, and there were several others for the use of certain other priests. Among these was a splendid building, provided with baths, fountains, and every comfort, in which notable strangers who visited the temple or the court were entertained. The Ilhuicatitlan temple, dedicated to the planet Venus, contained a large column painted or sculptured with the image of the star, before which captives were sacrificed on the appearance of the planet. Another temple took the form of a cage, in which the idols of conquered nations were confined, to prevent them from assisting their worshipers in regaining their liberty.[788] The quauhxicalco was used as a receptacle for the bones of victims sacrificed at various sanctuaries. The skulls of those killed at the great temple were deposited in the tzompantli,[789] which stood just outside the court, near the western or main gate. This consisted of an oblong sloping parallelogram of earth and masonry, one hundred and fifty-four feet at the base, ascended by thirty steps, on each of which were skulls.[790] Round the summit were upwards of seventy raised poles about four feet apart, connected by numerous rows of cross-poles passed through holes in the masts, on each of which five skulls were filed, the sticks being passed through the temples.[791] In the centre[792] stood two towers, or columns, made of skulls and lime, the face of each skull being turned outwards, and giving a horrible appearance to the whole. This effect was heightened by leaving the heads of distinguished captives in their natural state, with hair and skin on. As the skulls decayed, or fell from the towers or poles, they were replaced by others, so that no vacant place was left. The Spaniards are said to have counted one hundred and thirty-six thousand skulls on the steps and poles alone, but this number is, no doubt, greatly exaggerated.[793] In the court was a large open space, which stretched to the foot of the stairway of the great temple. Here the great dances were held in which thousands took part,[794] and here, in full view of the multitude gathered to join in the festive ring, stood the gladiatorial stone, the temalacatl, upon which the captives were placed to fight with Aztec warriors, for their liberty as it was termed, but rather for the delectation of the masses, for their chance of victory, as we have seen, was very small. It consisted of an immense flat circular stone, three feet in height, very smooth, with sculptured edge, placed upon a small pyramid eight feet in height.[795] In another part of the court were three large halls with flat roofs and plastered walls, painted on the inside, which contained a number of low, dark chambers, each the abode of an idol; the walls were covered with blood, two fingers in thickness, and the floors to the depth of a foot almost.[796] The court also contained a grove in which birds were raised for sacrifices, and whence the procession started on the day devoted to the great hunt in honor of Mixcoatl; there were also a number of gardens, where flowers and herbs for offerings were grown. There were several bathing-places, one of which, the tetzaapan, 'cleansing water,'[797] was set apart for those who had made vows of penance, and another, at Mixcoatl's temple, filled with black water, for the priests. The toxpalatl was a fine fountain, the waters of which were only drunk at solemn festivals. It was supposed to have been the identical spring in which the Aztec priest had the interview with Tlaloc and obtained permission for the nation to settle. The care of all the temple buildings devolved upon a perfect army of priests, monks, nuns, school children, and other people, estimated at from five to ten thousand, who all slept within the sacred precincts.[798] The passing and repassing of such numbers must have made the place teem with life, yet everything was in such perfect order and kept so scrupulously clean, says Diaz, that not a speck or a straw could he discover.[799]

Besides this there were several other temples and public oratories in the city, situated either in groups within a square, or scattered throughout the wards, and attended to by their special priests and servants. Torquemada thinks that their number equaled the days in the Aztec year, namely, three hundred and sixty, and Clavigero believes that there were two thousand chapels besides.[800]

The temples in other towns were pretty much like the foregoing, three being usually grouped around a central pyramid in a square, each with its idol and one or two braziers. Others were mounds of earth cased with stone, with one broad stairway in the centre of the western side, or with steps on three sides, sometimes at each corner.[801] The chapels on the platform were usually two or three stories in height, often provided with balconies, the whole edifice being plastered and polished.[802]

[Sidenote: TEOCALLI AT CHOLULA AND TEZCUCO.]

The pyramid at Mexico, large as it was, did not equal that at Cholula, which Humboldt estimates at five thousand seven hundred and sixty feet in circumference and one hundred and seventy-seven feet in height. It consisted of four square terraces facing the cardinal points, which seem to have been composed of alternate layers of adobe and clay, and was surrounded by a double wall, according to Diaz. On the top stood the semi-spherical chapel of Quetzalcoatl, with its door made low so that all who entered should bend in humility.[803] This city contained, besides, a great number of smaller temples, the total equaling the number of days in the Mexican year.[804] The temple at Tezcuco was also several steps higher than the Mexican pyramid.[805] King Nezahualcoyotl, who is said to have believed in one supreme god, erected in his honor a nine-story building, to indicate the nine heavens, the roof of which was studded with stars and surmounted by three pinnacles; the interior was decorated with gold and feather-work and precious stones. The upper floor was a receptacle for musical instruments, from one of which, the chililitli, the edifice was named.[806] The traditional temples of early times, very fairy creations according to the accounts of the natives, were far superior to the later ones; but these relations are little more than supernatural fables.[807]

FOOTNOTES:

[663] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. iv., p. 212; Diaz, Itinéraire, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i., tom. x., p. 27; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 658.Return to passage

[664] Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 658.Return to passage

[665] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 274. Sahagun, in describing how the people raised a mast to the god of fire, says: 'Atábanle diez maromas por la mitad de él ... y como le iban levantando, ponianle unos maderos atados de dos en dos, y unos puntales sobre que descanzase.' Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. ii., p. 143.Return to passage

[666] Herrera, Hist. Gen., (Translation, Lond. 1726), vol. iii., p. 280.Return to passage

[667] Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 663; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 201-2.Return to passage

[668] Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 63; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 201.Return to passage

[669] 'With their Copper Hatchets, and Axes cunnyngly tempered, they fell those trees, and hewe them smooth ... and boaring a hole in one of the edges of the beame, they fasten the rope, then sette their slaues vnto it ... putting round blocks vnder the timber.' Peter Martyr, dec. v., lib. x.; Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. ii., p. 141.Return to passage

[670] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 205; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 318.Return to passage

[671] Peter Martyr, dec. v., lib. x., states that they bored holes in beams. They may therefore have known the use of wooden bolts, but this is doubtful.Return to passage

[672] 'Le Tetzontli (pierre de cheveux), espèce d'amygdaloïde poreuse, fort dure, est une lave refroidie. On la trouve en grande quantité auprès de la petite ville de San-Agostin Tlalpan, ou de las Cuevas, à 4 l. S. de Mexico.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 381.Return to passage

[673] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 202; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 663-4.Return to passage

[674] Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iv., p. 8.Return to passage

[675] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 205. Cortés mentions a 'suelo ladrillado' at Iztapalapan, Cartas, p. 83, and Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vi., cap. xii., both adobes and ladrillos in speaking of building-material.Return to passage

[676] Dávila Padilla, Hist. Fvnd. Mex., p. 75; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 665. 'L'ignorante Ricercatore nega a' Messicani la cognizione, e l'uso della calcina; ma consta per la testimonianza di tutti gli Storici del Messico, per la matricola de' tributi, e sopratutto per gli edifizj antichi finora sussistenti, che tutte quelle Nacioni faceano della calcina il medecimo uso, che fanno gli Europei.' Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 205, tom. iv., pp. 212-13. Both Cortés, Cartas, p. 60, and Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vi., cap. iv., mention walls of dry stone, which would show that mortar was sometimes dispensed with, in heavy structures; but Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 43, contradicts this instance.Return to passage

[677] At Sienchimalen. Cortés, Cartas, p. 57.Return to passage

[678] Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iv., pp. 89-90.Return to passage

[679] Mexico is generally taken to be derived from Mexitl, or Mexi, the other name of Huitzilopochtli, the favorite god and leader of the Aztecs; many, however, think that it comes from mexico, springs, which were plentiful in the neighborhood. Tenochtitlan comes from teonochtli, divine nochtli, the fruit of the nopal, a species of wild cactus, and titlan, composed of tetl, stone or rock, and an, an affix to denote a place, a derivation which is officially accepted, as may be seen from the arms of the city. Others say that it is taken from Tenuch, one of the leaders of the Aztecs, who settled upon the small island of Pantitlan, both of which names would together form the word. 'Ce nom, qui veut dire Ville de la Tuna.... Le fruit de cet arbre est appelé nochtli en mexicain, car le nom de tuna ... est tiré de la langue des insulaires de l'île de Cuba.... On a aussi prétendu que le véritable nom de Mexico était Quauhnochtitlan, ce qui veut dire Figuier de l'Aigle.... D'autres, enfin, prétendent que ce figuier d'Inde n'était pas un nochtli proprement dit, mais d'une espèce sauvage qu'on appelle tenochtli, ou de celle que les naturels nomment teonochtli ou figure divine.' 'Elle avait pris du dieu Mexix celui de Mexico.' Camargo, Hist. Tlax., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcix., pp. 174-5. 'Los Indios, dezian; y dizen oy Mexico Tenuchtitlan; y assi se pone en las Prouisiones Reales.' Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. xiv. 'Tenoxtitlàn, que significa, Tunal en piedra.' Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., p. 466. The natives 'ni llaman Mexico, sino Tenuchtitlan.' Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 293. 'Tenuchtitlan, que significa fruta de piedra.' 'Tambien dizen algunos, que tuuo esta ciudad nombre de su primer fundador, que fue Tenuch, hijo segundo de Iztacmixcoatl, cuyos hijos y decendientes poblaron ... esta tierra.... Tampoco falta quien piense que se dixo de la grana, que llaman Nuchiztli, la qual sale del mesmo cardon nopal y fruta nuchtli.... Tambien afirman otros que se llama Mexico de los primeros fundadores que se dixeron Mexiti.' Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 113-15; Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 180; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. i., pp. 168-9. 'Tenochtitlan, c'est-à-dire, auprès des nopals du rocher.' 'Ti-tlan est pris pour le lieu.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 446-9.Return to passage

[680] He is also termed god of the earth in the fable.Return to passage

[681] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., pp. 91-4, 289-91; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 443-9.Return to passage

[682] Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 465-7. See also Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. i., pp. 167-8. Nearly all the authors give the whole of the above meanings, without deciding upon any one.Return to passage

[683] Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 313; Heredia y Sarmiento, Sermon, p. 95.Return to passage

[684] It means islet, from tlatelli, island. Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. xiv. Veytia says it is a corruption of xaltelolco, sandy ground. Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. ii., p. 141; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 115.Return to passage

[685] Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. ii., p. 218; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iv., p. 5.Return to passage

[686] The Anonymous Conqueror says two and a half to three leagues in circumference, which is accepted by most authors. Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 309. But as the embankment which formed a semi-circle round the town was three leagues in length, the circumference of the city would not have been less. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iv., p. 4. Cortés says that it was as large as Seville or Cordova. Cartas, p. 103. Aylon, in Id., p. 43, places the number of houses as low as 30,000. Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. l., who is usually so extravagant in his descriptions, confines himself to 'mas de cincuenta mil casas.' Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 113, 60,000, each of which contained two to ten occupants. Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 291, places the number as high as 120,000, which may include outlying suburbs. The size and business of the markets, the remains of ruins to be seen round modern Mexico, and its fame, sustain the idea of a very large population.Return to passage

[687] See Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. ii., pp. 216-17, on former and present surroundings. Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. xiv.; Cortés, Cartas, p. 103.Return to passage

[688] Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 115.Return to passage

[689] 'Erano ... di terra come mattonata.' Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 309; Prescott's Mex., vol. ii., p. 110.Return to passage

[690] 'Fueron hechas à mano, de Tierra, y Cespedes, y mui quajadas de Piedra; son anchas, que pueden pasar por cada vna de ellas, tres Carretas juntas, ò diez Hombres à Caballo.' Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 292; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. l.; Prescott's Mex., vol. ii., p. 69; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. ii., p. 217. 'Tan ancha como dos lanzas jinetas.' Cortés, Cartas, p. 103. He mentions four causeways or entrances, but this must include either the branch which joins the southern road, or the aqueduct. 'Pueden ir por toda ello ocho de caballo á la par.' Id., p. 83. The view of Mexico published in the Luxemburg edition of Cortés, Cartas, points to four causeways besides the aqueduct, but little reliance can be placed on these fanciful cuts. Helps thinks, however, that there must have been more causeways than are mentioned by the conquerors. Span. Conq., vol. ii., pp. 456, 472. 'Entrano in essa per tre strade alte di pietra & di terra, ciascuna larga trenta passi.' Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 309. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iv., p. 4. 'Las puentes que tenian hechas de trecho á trecho.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 70.Return to passage

[691] 'Dos puertas, una por do entran y otra por do salen.' Cortés, Cartas, p. 84, which means, no doubt, that passengers had to pass through the fort. He calls the second town along the road Niciaca, and the third Huchilohuchico. Brasseur de Bourbourg states that within the fort was a teocalli dedicated to Toci, on which a beacon blazed all night to guide travelers. Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iv., pp. 209-10. But this is a mistake, for Tezozomoc, Hist. Mex., pt ii., p. 184, his authority for this, says that the beacon was at a hill 'avant d'arriver à Acuchinanco.'Return to passage

[692] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 292; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. l.; Cortés, Cartas, p. 84. The Anonymous Conqueror calls them two leagues, one league and a half, and a quarter of a league long respectively. Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 309; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iv., p. 4, makes the shortest a league.Return to passage

[693] 'Habia otra algo mas estrecha para los dos acueductos.' Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. ii., p. 217.Return to passage

[694] In Tezcuco the wards were each occupied by a distinct class of tradespeople, and this was doubtless the case in Mexico also, to a certain extent. 'Cada Oficio se vsase en Barrios de por sì; de suerte, que los que eran Plateros de Oro, avian de estàr juntos, y todos los de aquel Barrio, lo avian de ser, y no se avian de mezclar otros con ellos; y los de Plata, en otro Barrio,' etc. Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 147; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iv., p. 3; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. ii., p. 218.Return to passage

[695] 'Al rededor de la ciudad habia muchos diques y esclusas para contener las aguas en caso necesario ... no pocas que tenian en medio una acequia entre dos terraplenes.' Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. ii., pp. 218-19.Return to passage

[696] 'Hay sus puentes de muy anchas y muy grandes vigas juntas y recias y bien labradas; y tales, que por muchas dellas pueden pasar diez de caballo juntos á la par.' In case of necessity 'quitadas las puentes de las entradas y salidas.' With this facility for cutting off retreat, Cortés found it best to construct brigantines. Cartas, p. 103; Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 187; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 73. 'Otra Calle avia ... mui angosta, y tanto, que apenas podian ir dos Personas juntas, son finalmente vnos Callejones mui estrechos.' Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 291; Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 309; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. xiii.Return to passage

[697] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., pp. 157-8. It is here said to be four fathoms broad. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 231-2; Klemm, Cultur-Geschichte, tom. v., p. 32; Mühlenpfordt, Mejico, tom. ii., pt ii., p. 255, says: 'Reste des ... gegen 39,400 Fuss langen and 65 Fuss breiten Dammes aus Steinen in Lehm, zu beiden Seiten mit Pallisaden verbrämt.'Return to passage

[698] Cortés, Cartas, p. 103; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 116; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 299; Carbajal Espinosa, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., p. 608.Return to passage

[699] 'Cosi grande come sarebbe tre volte la piazza di Salamanca.' Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 309; Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 181.Return to passage

[700] The Anonymous Conqueror states that this road carried the aqueduct which was three quarters of a league in length. Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 309; Cortés, Cartas, p. 108; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iv., p. 4; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 207; Prescott's Mex., vol. ii., p. 114.Return to passage

[701] 'Los caños, que eran de madera y de cal y canto.' Cortés, Cartas, pp. 209, 108; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 304. Other writers make the pipes larger. 'Tan gordos como vn buey cada vno.' Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 113. 'Tan anchas como tres hombres juntos y mas.' Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. l.Return to passage

[702] Cortés, Cartas, p. 108, says 'echan la dulce por unas canales tan gruesas como un buey, que son de la longura de las dichas puentes.' Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 207; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. l.; Prescott's Mex., vol. ii., p. 114; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 664.Return to passage

[703] Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 113; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. xiii.Return to passage

[704] Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 500-1; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 207; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iv., p. 4.Return to passage

[705] Duran, Hist. Indias, MS., tom. ii., cap. xlviii., xlix.Return to passage

[706] Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 427, tom. iv., pp. 209-10; Tezozomoc, Hist. Mex., tom. ii., p. 184.Return to passage

[707] Ortega, in Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. iii., p. 319; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., pp. 206, 460.Return to passage

[708] Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iv., p. 7. 'En todos los caminos que tenian hechos de cañas, ò paja, ò yervas, porque no los viessen los que passasen por ellos, y alli se metian, si tenian gana de purgar los vientres, porque no se les perdiesse aquella suciedad.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 70.Return to passage

[709] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 298. The authorities for the description of the city are: Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 309, and in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 390-2, with plans; Cortés, Cartas, pp. 43, 83-4, 102-9, 209; Id., Despatches, p. 333, plan; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 70-3; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i. pp. 91-4, 147, 157-8, 206-7, 288-98, 306-7, 460; Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 465-8, 500-1; Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., pp. 180-3, 187-8; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. l.; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 113-16; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., pp. 283-4, 299, 305; Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. ii., p. 141; Ortega, in Id., tom. iii., p. 319; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. xiii., xiv., dec. iii., lib. ii., cap. xi.; Id., (Translation, Lond. 1725), vol. ii., p. 372, vol. iii., p. 194, view and plan; Camargo, Hist. Tlax., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcix., pp. 174-5; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. i., pp. 168-9; Heredia y Sarmiento, Sermon, pp. 95-6; Tezozomoc, Hist. Mex., tom. ii., p. 184; Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, pp. 81, 238-9; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 443-9, tom. iii., pp. 231-2, 427, tom. iv., pp. 3-7, 209-10; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 310-14, 664, tom. ii., pp. 216-28, with plan; Prescott's Mex., vol. i., pp. 16-17, vol. ii., pp. 69, 76-86; Mühlenpfordt, Mejico, tom. ii., pt ii., p. 255; Alaman, Disertaciones, tom. i., p. 184-8; Helps' Span. Conq., vol. ii., pp. 310-14, 456, 471-2, 490-1, with plans; Carli, Cartas, pt i., pp. 35-6; Peter Martyr, dec. v., lib. x.Return to passage

[710] Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. ii., p. 197; Prescott's Mex., vol. ii., p. 69.Return to passage

[711] Cortés says 'piedra seca.' Cartas, p. 60, but this is contradicted by Bernal Diaz, who found it to be of stone and mortar. Hist. Conq., fol. 43. 'Sin mezcla de cal ni barro.' Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vi., cap. iv.Return to passage

[712] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 150, gives the measurement at eight feet in height and eighteen in width.Return to passage

[713] Cortés, Cartas, p. 60; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 43; West-Indische Spieghel, pp. 225-6. Clavigero, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 150, with a cut.Return to passage

[714] Klemm, Cultur-Geschichte, tom. v., p. 186.Return to passage

[715] Delaporte says that streets met on the hills. Reisen, tom. x., p. 256.Return to passage

[716] Cortés, Cartas, p. 67; Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 308; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vi., cap. xii.Return to passage

[717] Cortés, Cartas, p. 171. See Warden, Recherches, pp. 67-8, on fortifications. In Michoacan, some towns had walls of planks two fathoms high and one broad. Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. iii., cap. iii.Return to passage

[718] Meaning place of detention, because here the immigrating tribes used to halt, while deciding upon their settlement. Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 214.Return to passage

[719] Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. xlix., says that it was nearly as large as Mexico. Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 115. Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 182, gives it a league in width and six in length. Peter Martyr, dec. viii., lib. iv., gives it 20,000 houses. Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 87-8, estimates it at 30,000 houses, and thinks that Torquemada must have included the three outlying towns to attain his figure. Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 304.Return to passage

[720] Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iv., pp. 89-90, 303-4; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 87-8; Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., pp. 242-4. For further references to Mexican towns, forts, etc., see: Cortés, Cartas, pp. 24, 57-60, 67-8, 74-5, 92-3, 153, 171, 186, 196; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 43; Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 308; Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., tom. ix., pp. 214, 242, 251-2, 257; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. xlix.; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., pp. 251-2, 304, 449-50; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 26, 51, 115; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. v., cap. viii., lib. vi., cap. iv., xii., xvi., lib. vii., cap. iv., dec. iii., lib. iii., cap. iii.; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 150, with cut; Peter Martyr, dec. iv., lib. iv., vii., dec. viii., lib. iv.; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 283; West-Indische Spieghel, pp. 221, 225-6; Bologne, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i., tom. x., p. 212; Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, p. 236; Klemm, Cultur-Geschichte, tom. v., p. 186; Delaporte, Reisen, tom. x., p. 256; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 87-8, 259, 663, tom. ii., pp. 51, 161; Warden, Recherches, pp. 67-8; Prescott's Mex., vol. ii., p. 65; Helps' Span. Conq., vol. ii., p. 296; Bussierre, L'Empire Mex., pp. 240, 243.Return to passage

[721] Las Casas states that when a warrior distinguished himself abroad he was allowed to build his house in the style used by the enemy, a privilege allowed to none else. Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. lxvi.Return to passage

[722] 'I fondamenti delle case grandi della Capitale si gettavano a cagione della poca sodezza di quel terreno sopra un piano di grosse stanghe di cedro ficcate in terra.' Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 202. 'Porque la humedad no les causase enfermedad, alzaban los aposentos hasta un estado poco mas ó menos, y así quedaban como entresuelos.' Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., p. 121. Speaking of Cempoalla, Peter Martyr says: 'Vnto these houses or habitations they ascend by 10. or 12. steppes or stayres.' Dec. iv., tom. vii. The floor of the palace at Mitla consisted of slabs of stone three feet thick, which rested on ten feet piles. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 26. Houses with elevated terraces were only allowed to chiefs. Tezozomoc, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 188.Return to passage

[723] Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. xlix. This mode of whitewashing the walls and polishing them with gypsum seems to have been very common in all parts of Mexico, for we repeatedly meet with mentions of the dazzling white walls, like silver, which the Spaniards noticed all through their march. Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 251; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 202.Return to passage

[724] In Cempoalla, says Peter Martyr, 'none may charge his neighbours wall with beames or rafters. All the houses are seperated the distance of 3. paces asunder.' Dec. iv., lib. vii. Cortés, Cartas, p. 24, mentions as many as five courts.Return to passage

[725] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 291; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. l.; Prescott's Mex., vol. ii., pp. 76-7; Chevalier, Mex., Ancien et Mod., p. 173. 'N'avaient guère qu'un étage, à cause de la fréquence des tremblement de terre.' Bussierre, L'Empire Mex., p. 173.Return to passage

[726] Cortés, Cartas, p. 24.Return to passage

[727] Chaves, Rapport, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série ii., tom. v., p. 328. The palace at Tecpeque, says Las Casas, was a very labyrinth, in which visitors were liable to lose themselves without a guide. In the palace allotted to Cortés at Mexico he found comfortable quarters for 400 of his own men, 2000 allies, and a number of attendants. Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. lii., l. 'Auia salas con sus camaras, que cabia cada vno en su cama, ciento y cincuenta Castellanos.' Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. v. 'Intorno d'una gran corti fossero prima grandissime sale & stantie, però v'era vna sala cosi grande che vi poteano star dentro senza dar l'un fastidio all'altro piu di tre mila persone.' Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 309.Return to passage

[728] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 200, 202; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 251.Return to passage

[729] Tezozomoc, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 188, says that chiefs were permitted to erect towers pierced with arrows in the courtyard. Prescott's Mex., vol. ii., p. 120. The houses were often quite surrounded with trees. West-Indische Spieghel, p. 220.Return to passage

[730] Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 656.Return to passage

[731] Tylor's Anahuac, pp. 135-6.Return to passage

[732] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 291. Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. l., says: 'Encalados por encima, que no se pueden llover.' 'Couered with reede, thatch, or marish sedge: yet many of them are couered with slate, or shingle stone.' Peter Martyr, dec. iv., lib. vii., dec. v., lib. x.Return to passage

[733] Peter Martyr, dec. iv., lib. iv., dec. v., lib. x.; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. ii., p. 219.Return to passage

[734] Helps' Span. Conq., vol. ii., p. 314.Return to passage

[735] Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 658.Return to passage

[736] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 200-2; Bussierre, L'Empire Mex., pp. 173-4; Carbajal Espinosa, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., pp. 662-3, 665.Return to passage

[737] 'Eran los Patios, y Suelos de ellos, de argamasa, y despues de encalados, cubrian la superficie, y haz, con Almagre, y despues bruñianlos, con vnos guijarros, y piedras mui lisas, y quedaban con tan buena tèz, y tan hermosamente bruñidos, que no podia estarlo mas vn Plato de Plata; pues como fuese de mañana, y el Sol començase à derramar, y esparcir la Lumbre de sus Raios, y començasen à reberverar en los Suelos, encendianlos de manera, que à quien llevaba tan buen deseo, y ansia de haber Oro, y Plata, le pudo parecer, que era Oro el Suelo; y es mui cierto, que los suelos de las Casas, y de los Patios (en especial, de los Templos, y de los Señores, y Personas Principales) se hacian, y adereçaban, en aquellos Tiempos, tales, que eran mui de vèr, y algunos de estos hemos visto tan lisos, y limpios, que sin asco se podia comer en ellos, sin Manteles, qualquier Manjar.' Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., pp. 251-2; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. xlix.Return to passage

[738] 'Toldillos encima.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 66.Return to passage

[739] Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. l.; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 318; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 66, 68; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. v., vii.; Bussierre, L'Empire Mex., pp. 174-5; Cortés, Cartas, pp. 79, 174-5. Klemm, Cultur-Geschichte, tom. v., pp. 15-16, mentions stools of cane and reed; and firebugs which were used for lights.Return to passage

[740] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 381; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 201; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 662. 'No ay puertas ni ventanas que cerrar, todo es abierto.' Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 318.Return to passage

[741] Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iv., p. 8.Return to passage

[742] Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vi., cap. xii.; Peter Martyr, dec. v., lib. x.; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. xlix-l.; Prescott's Mex., vol. ii., p. 76.Return to passage

[743] Peter Martyr, dec. v., lib. x.Return to passage

[744] Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 199; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 200; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 318; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 657; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 661-2.Return to passage

[745] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 214-15, with cut; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 662, 671-2, with cut. The poorer had doubtless resort to public baths; they certainly existed in Tlascala. Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vi., cap. xvi.; Bussierre, L'Empire Mex., p. 240.Return to passage

[746] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 155; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 635; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 564. For description of houses, see: Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., pp. 251-2, 291, tom. ii., pp. 381, 564; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vi., cap. xii., xvi., lib. vii., cap. v.; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 155, 200-2, 214-15, with cut; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. xlix.-lii.; Cortés, Cartas, p. 24; Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 309; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 66, 68; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 318; Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 199; Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., p. 121; Tezozomoc, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 188; Peter Martyr, dec. iv., lib. iv., vii., dec. v., cap. x.; Chaves, Rapport, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série ii., tom. v., p. 328; West-Indische Spieghel, p. 221; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 26, 222, 635, 656-8, iv., p. 8; Prescott's Mex., vol. ii., pp. 76-7, 120; Chevalier, Mex., Ancien et Mod., p. 31; Bussierre, L'Empire Mex., pp. 173-5, 240; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 661-3, 671-2, with cut, tom. ii., p. 219; Tylor's Anahuac, pp. 135-6; Klemm, Cultur-Geschichte, tom. v., pp. 15-16.Return to passage

[747] 'El anden, hácia la pared de la huerta, va todo labrado de cañas con unas vergas.' Cortés, Cartas, p. 83.Return to passage

[748] 'Un anden de muy buen suelo ladrillado.' Cortés, Cartas, p. 83.Return to passage

[749] Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 283; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 636; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 156.Return to passage

[750] Cortés, Cartas, p. 196; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 157.Return to passage

[751] See this vol., p. 345.Return to passage

[752] 'Hay sus puentes de muy anchas y muy grandes vigas juntas y recias y bien labradas; y tales, que por muchas dellas pueden pasar diez de caballo juntos á la par.' Cortés, Cartas, p. 103. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 632, says that stone bridges were most common, which is doubtless a mistake. Speaking of swinging bridges, Klemm says: 'Manche waren so fest angespannt, dass sie gar keine schwankende Bewegung hatten.' Cultur-Geschichte, tom. v., p. 75; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 169.Return to passage

[753] 'En los mismos patios de los pueblos principales habia otros cada doce ó quince teocallis harto grandes, unos mayores que otros.' Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 64. 'Entre quatro, ó cinco barrios tenian vn Adoratorio, y sus idolos.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 72.Return to passage

[754] Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., pp. 84-6; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 141; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. cxxiv.; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 35.Return to passage

[755] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 26, 34, cuts; Herrera, Hist. Gen., (Translation, Lond. 1725), vol. ii., pp. 372, 378, cuts.Return to passage

[756] Tezozomoc, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 151-3.Return to passage

[757] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 186; Vetancvrt, Teatro Mex., pt ii., p. 37. Other authors give the number at 60,460, and the attendance at 6,000,000. Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. i., p. 257.Return to passage

[758] 'Recibia dentro de su hueco todo el suelo en que aora està edificada la Iglesia Maior, Casas del Marquès del Valle, Casas Reales, y Casas Arçobispales, con mucha parte de lo que aora es Plaça, que parece cosa increìble.' Sahagun, quoted in Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 146. To-day the Cathedral stands upon the Plaza, and many houses occupy the spot; see Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. ii., pp. 226-7, 233-5. Opposite the south gate was the market and 'en face du grand temple se trouvait le palais.' Tezozomoc, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 152.Return to passage

[759] 'Dos cercas al rededor de cal, y canto.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 70-1.Return to passage

[760] 'Mayores que la plaça que ay en Salamanca.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 70. Cortés, Cartas, p. 106, states that a town of 500 houses could be located within its compass. Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 144, Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 119, Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. li., and Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. xvii., agree upon a length to each side of one cross-bow or musket shot, and this, according to Las Casas, cap. cxxxii., is 750 paces; in the same places he gives the length at four shots, or 3000 paces, an evident mistake, unless by this is meant the circumference. Hernandez estimates it at about 80 perches, or 1,420 feet. Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. ii., p. 197, who seems to have investigated the matter more closely, places it at 200 fathoms, which cannot be too high, when we consider that the court enclosed 77 or more edifices, besides the great temple. Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. ii., p. 226, gives a length of 250 varas.Return to passage

[761] 'Era todo cercado de piedra de manposterìa mui bien labrado.' Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 144. 'Estaban mui bien encaladas, blancas, y bruñidas.' Id., p. 141.Return to passage

[762] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 27; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 661; Prescott's Mex., vol. ii., p. 142. 'Era labrada de piedras grandes a manera de culebras asidas las vnas a las otras.' Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., p. 333; Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 63.Return to passage

[763] Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., p. 333, says an idol stood over each gate, facing the road. It is not stated by any author that the arsenals formed the gateway, but as they rose over the entrance, and nearly all mention upper and lower rooms, and as buildings of this size could not have rested upon the walls alone, it follows that the lower story must have formed the sides of the entrance. 'A cada parte y puerta de las cuatro del patio del templo grande ya dicho habia una gran sala con muy buenos aposentos altos y bajos en rededor.' Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. li.; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 146; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 120. Tezozomoc, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 152, mentions three gates. 'À l'orient et à l'occident d'une petite porte et d'une grande vis-à-vis de l'escalier méridional.'Return to passage

[764] 'Y el mismo patio, y sitio todo empedrado de piedras grandes de losas blancas, y muy lisas: y adonde no auia de aquellas piedras, estaua encalado, y bruñido.' Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 70. The white stones had no doubt received that color from plaster. 'Los patios y suelos eran teñidos de Almagre bruñido, y incorporado con la misma cal.' Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 141; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. xlix. The dimensions given by the different authors are extremely varied; the Anonymous Conqueror, as the only eye-witness who has given any measurements, certainly deserves credit for those that appear reasonable, namely the length and width; the height seems out of proportion.Return to passage

[765] 'Cento & cinquanta passi, ò poco piu di lunghezza, & cento quindici, ò cento & venti di larghezza.' Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 307. This would give the length and breadth of the base in the text, assuming two and a half feet to the pace. With a decrease of two good paces for each of the four ledges which surround the pyramid, the summit measurement is arrived at. The terraces are stated by the same author to be two men's stature in height, but this scarcely agrees with the height indicated by the 120 or 30 steps given. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 70, counted 114 steps, and as most authors estimate each of these at a span, or nine inches in height, this would give an altitude of 86 feet. Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 28-9, gives about 50 fathoms (perches, he calls them) by 43 to the base, and, allowing a perch to the ledges, he places the summit dimensions at 43 by 34 fathoms. The height he estimates at 19 fathoms, giving the height of each step as one foot. To prove that he has not over-estimated the summit dimensions, at least, he refers to the statements of Cortés, who affirms that he fought 500 Mexicans on the top platform, and of Diaz, who says that over 4,000 men garrisoned the temple. Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., pp. 144-5, who follows Sahagun, states it to be 360 feet square at the base, and over 70 at the top; the steps he says are 'vna tercia, y mas' in height, which closely approaches a foot. Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. li., says: 'Una torre triangular ó de tres esquinas de tierra y piedra maciza; y ancha de esquina á esquina de ciento y viente pasos ó cuasi ... con un llano ó plaza de obra de setenta pies.' In cap. cxxxii. he calls it 100 men's stature in height. Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 119, says 50 fathoms square at the base and 18 at the top. Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 245, describes a temple which seems to be that of Mexico, and states it to be 80 fathoms square, with a height of 27 men's stature. Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. xvii., places the dimensions as low as 30 varas square at the base and from 12 to 15 at the top. Of modern authors Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 659, gives the dimensions at 300 by 250 feet for the base, and 60 feet for the summit, after allowing from 5 to 6 feet for the ledges, a rather extraordinary computation; unless, indeed, we assume that the terraces were sloping, but there is no reliable cut or description to confirm such a supposition. Humboldt, Essai Pol., tom. i., pp. 169-70, has 97 mètres for the square, and 37 for the height. Ortega, in Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. iii., pp. 280-82, is positive that the height was certainly no less than 38 varas. Prescott, Mex., vol. ii., p. 144, remarks that there is no authority for describing the temple as oblong, except the contemptible cut of the Anonymous Conqueror. This may be just enough as regards the cut, but if he had examined the description attached to it, he would have found the dimensions of an oblong structure given. We must consider that the Anonymous Conqueror is the only eye-witness who gives any measurement, and, further, that as two chapels were situated at one end of the platform the structure ought to have been oblong to give the space in front a fair outline.Return to passage

[766] 'Alto come due stature d'vn huomo.' Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 307.Return to passage

[767] 'Lasciano vna strada di larghezza di duo passi.' Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 307. See note 87; Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 64.Return to passage

[768] The Anonymous Conqueror, Relatione, etc., ubi supra, Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. cxxiv., Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 119, and Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 145, all say that there was no ledge on the west side, merely steps, but this is, doubtless, a careless expression, for 23 steps allotted to each terrace would scarcely have extended over a length of about 300 feet, the breadth of the pyramid. Nearly all agree upon the number of the steps, namely 114. Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 245, however, gives 160 steps; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., pp. 502-3, 60 steps; and Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., p. 333, 30 steps, 30 fathoms wide, but the latter author has evidently mixed up the accounts of two different temples. Tezozomoc, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 152, states that the temple had three stairways, with 360 steps in all, one for every day in the Mexican year. According to Klemm, Cultur-Geschichte, tom. v., p. 155, the steps are on the south corner, but there is no authority for this statement; in the cuts they appear on the north.Return to passage

[769] 'De tierra y piedra, mezclada con cal muy macizada.' Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. xvii. 'Por la parte de fuera iba su pared de piedra: lo de dentro henchíanlo de piedra todo, ó de barro y adobe; otros de tierra bien tapiada.' Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., pp. 63-4. 'Hecha de manposteria.' Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 144. The pyramid of Teotihuacan, which, according to some authors, has been a model for others, is built of clay mixed with small stones, covered by a heavy wall of tetzontli, which is coated with lime. Humboldt, Essai Pol., tom. i., p. 187. 'Todas las piedras estauan assentadas de tal suerte, que la mezcla casi no parecia, sino todas las piedras vna.' Dávila Padilla, Hist. Fvnd. Mex., p. 75. The whitewash may, however, have given it this solid appearance. 'Todos aquellos Templos, y Salas; y todas sus paredes que los cercaban, estaban mui bien encaladas, blancas, y bruñidas.' Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 141. The mortar was mixed with precious stones and gold-dust. Tezozomoc, Crónica Mex., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 60.Return to passage

[770] Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 659, states that three sides of the platform were protected by a balustrade of sculptured stone, and this is not unlikely when we consider the slippery nature of the floor and the dizzy height. See Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 141; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. xlix., cxxiv., and note 75 on polished floors. Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 664, states that the summit was paved with marble.Return to passage

[771] 'In alto dieci, ò dodici stature d'huomo.' Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 307. This is followed by Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 29, who says 56 feet, or about 9 perches. No other dimensions are mentioned by the old chroniclers; Brasseur de Bourbourg, however, gives them a base of 20 feet square, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 659-60, but this becomes absurd when we consider the height of the buildings, and the accommodation required for the gigantic idols they contained. This author hazards the opinion that the chapels were placed close to the edge, to enable the people to see the idols from below, but there is no mention of any doors on the east side, and it is stated that the chapels were placed at this end so that the people in praying might face the rising sun. Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 119; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. li.Return to passage

[772] 'Que se mandaban por la parte de adentro, por unas escaleras de madera movedizas.' Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 245. Acosta states that the towers were ascended by 120 steps. Hist. de las Ynd., p. 334. The towers were made of 'artesones.' Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 119. Brasseur de Bourbourg states that the outside of the walls was painted with various figures and monsters, but this seems to be a misinterpretation of Gomara, who places the paintings on the inside. Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 660. Bernal Diaz says, besides, that the towers were 'todas blanqueando.' Hist. Conq., fol. 70.Return to passage

[773] The eaves or the domes of the temples were decorated with fine red and white pillars, set with jet black stones and holding two figures of stone with torches in their hands, which supported a battlement in form of spiral shells; the torches were adorned with yellow and green feathers and fringes. Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., p. 333; Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, p. 242.Return to passage

[774] Most of the old authors say that Tlaloc occupied the second chapel, but as the next largest temple in the court is dedicated to this god, I am inclined to think, with Clavigero, that Tezcatlipoca shared the chief pyramid with Huitzilopochtli. Another reason for this belief is that Tezcatlipoca was held to be the half-brother of Huitzilopochtli, and their feasts were sometimes attended with similar ceremonies. Tezcatlipoca was also one of the highest if not the highest god, and, accordingly, entitled to the place of honor by the side of the favorite god of the Aztecs. Tlaloc, on the other hand, had nothing in common with Huitzilopochtli, and the only possible ground that can be found for his promotion to the chief pyramid is to be seen in the fable of the foundation of Mexico, in which Tlaloc, as the lord of the site, gives the Aztecs permission to settle there. We have, besides, the testimony of Bernal Diaz, who saw Tezcatlipoca, adorned with the tezcatl, or mirror ornament, seated in the left hand temple. Hist. Conq., fol. 71; Ortega, in Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. iii., p. 281. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 660, thinks it possible that the second temple was occupied by different idols, in turn, according to the festival.Return to passage

[775] 'No eran mas altos que cinco palmos.' Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 119. Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 29.Return to passage

[776] Clavigero thinks that the stone was of jasper. Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 46, with cut. It is difficult to define the position of this stone; some place it before the idol within the chapel, others at the western extremity of the platform. Referring to the idols in the chapel, Sahagun says: 'Delante de cada una de estas estaba una piedra redonda á manera de tajon que llaman texcatl, donde mataban los que sacrificaban á honra de aquel dios, y desde la piedra hasta abajo un regaxal de sangre de los que mataban en él'--he describes the stone as round. Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. ii., p. 198. And this I am inclined to accept as correct, especially as several points indicate that the stones stood inside the chapel. Their floor, we are told, were steeped in blood that must have flown from the victims; further, we know that the reeking heart was held up before or thrown at the feet of the idol, immediately after being torn out. The act of sacrifice was in itself a ceremony which could only have been performed before the idol. Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., p. 334, and Solis, Hist. Conq. Mex., tom. i., p. 397, place it in the middle of the platform. Prescott, Mex., vol. ii., p. 145, states that the stone (one only) stood near the head of the stairway, but this is most likely a hasty interpretation of Diaz' vague account. There may, however, have been a large stone at this place, which was used for the great and general sacrifices. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 70; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. cxxiv. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 660-1, manages very dexterously to place the two stones before the chapel, and at the same time near the head of the steps. Klemm, Cultur-Geschichte, tom. v., p. 98, mentions one stone with a hollow in the middle.Return to passage

[777] Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. cxxxii.; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 119.Return to passage

[778] Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 71.Return to passage

[779] Cortés, Cartas, p. 106. It is also stated that certain chapels in the streets were used for burial places by the lords. 'Inde Straten waren veel Cappellen, die meest diendeden tot begravinghe van de groote Heeren.' West-Indische Spieghel, p. 248.Return to passage

[780] 'Dezian, que era el Dios de las sementeras' (called Centeotl). Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 71.Return to passage

[781] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 29-30; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. ii., p. 228; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 145; on p. 141, he says, in contradiction: 'Delante de los Altares en estos Templos avia vnos braseros hechos de piedra, y cal, de tres quartas en alto, de figura circular, ò redonda, y otros quadrados, donde de dia, y de noche ardia continuo fuego, tenian sus fogones, y braseros todas las Salas de los dichos Templos, donde encendian fuego, para calentarse los Señores, quando iban à ellos, y para los Sacerdotes.' 'Tan altos como tres palmos y cuatro.' Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. cxxiv.Return to passage

[782] Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 70.Return to passage

[783] See note 119; Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 65.Return to passage

[784] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 30. Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. li., and Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 64, say that they face in all directions, which tends to prove that they must have faced the temple of the supreme and patron gods. 'Estando encontrados, y puestos vnos contra otros,' adds Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., pp. 141, 145. Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 119, states that they were turned against all points but the east, so as to differ from the chief temple. 'Tenian la cara ácia el occidente.' Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. ii., p. 198. Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., p. 334, states that the court held eight or nine temples facing all quarters.Return to passage

[785] 'Todos eran vnos; pero diferenciabanse en el asiento, y postura.' Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 145. 'La cubierta ... era de diversas, y varias formas, que aunque eran vnas de madera, y otras de paja, como de Centeno, eran mui primamente labradas, vnas coberturas piramidales, y quadradas, y otras redondas, y de otras formas.' Ib. Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 118-19; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 662-3.Return to passage

[786] 'La menor dellas tiene çinqüenta escalones para subir al cuerpo de la torre.' Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 302; Cortés, Cartas, p. 106.Return to passage

[787] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 145.Return to passage

[788] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., pp. 147-50.Return to passage

[789] Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 201-7; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 149; Clavigero, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 32, calls it Hueitzompan.Return to passage

[790] 'En los escalones habia tambien un cráneo entre piedra y piedra.' Ortega, in Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. iii., p. 287. But this is unlikely. See also Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 121.Return to passage

[791] 'Estos palos hazian muchas aspas por las vigas, y cada tercio de aspa o palo, tenia cinco cabeças ensartadas por las sienes.' Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 121-2. Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., p. 334, places the masts a fathom apart, and twenty skulls upon each cross-pole, which is, to say the least, very close packing.Return to passage

[792] At each end of the platform. Warden, Recherches, p. 66.Return to passage

[793] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 32; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 121-2; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. xviii.; Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 333-5. The account of the latter author is so mixed up with that of the chief temple as to be of little value; Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, pp. 242-3, follows him.Return to passage

[794] Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., p. 333, says that 8,000 to 10,000 persons could dance with joined hands in this place.Return to passage

[795] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 48, with cut; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 154; Ortega, in Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. iii., p. 283; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 662.Return to passage

[796] Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 120; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., pp. 146-7; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. li.Return to passage

[797] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 151; Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 244.Return to passage

[798] 'Residen en el a la contina cinco mil personas, y todas duermen dentro, y comen a su costa del.' Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 120. 'V'hauea vna guarnigione di dieci mila homini di guerra.' Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 309.Return to passage

[799] The authorities on the temple of Mexico are: Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 70-2; Relatione fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 307, 309, and in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., pp. 384-5, 394-5, with cuts; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 186, tom. ii., pp. 140-56; Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 197-211; Cortés, Cartas, p. 106; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 118-22; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. xlix., li., cxxiv.; Vetancvrt, Teatro Mex., pt ii., p. 37; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. i., pp. 257-8, tom. ii., pp. 25-32, 46-8, with cuts made up from the various descriptions of Diaz and others; see his remarks, p. 26. Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 333-5; this author mixes up the descriptions of the chief temple and the Tzompantli, and represents this account as that of Huitzilopochtli's sanctuary; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. xvii., xviii.; Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., pp. 63-5; Ortega, in Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. iii., pp. 279-89; Tezozomoc, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 151-3, 193; Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 245; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., pp. 302-3, 502-3; Dávila Padilla, Hist. Fvnd. Mex., p. 75; Solis, Hist. Conq. Mex., tom. i., pp. 394-98; Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, p. 242; West-Indische Spieghel, p. 248; Humboldt, Essai Pol., tom. i., p. 187; Klemm, Cultur-Geschichte, tom. v., pp. 154-5; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 659-65; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 664, tom. ii., pp. 226-35, with cuts; Warden, Recherches, p. 66; Prescott's Mex., vol. ii., pp. 142-5.Return to passage

[800] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 145; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 33. Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 120, says that there were 2000 idols, each of which is supposed to have had a separate chapel. Cavo, Tres Siglos, tom. i., p. 2; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. cxxxii.; in cap. cxxiv., he adds that 100 of these were great temples.Return to passage

[801] Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 120. Some temple pyramids, says Dávila Padilla, formed a perfect cone, the casing being composed of large stones at the bottom; as the wall rose, the stones decreased in size; the summit was crowned with a precious stone. Hist. Fvnd. Mex., p. 75; Prescott's Mex., vol. i., p. 72.Return to passage

[802] 'Los grandes tenian tres sobrados encima de los altares, todos de terrados y bien altos.' Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 64; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. cxxiv.; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 141.Return to passage

[803] Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. cxxiv.; Humboldt, Essai Pol., tom. i., pp. 239-40; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 33-4. Bernal Diaz counted 120 steps, which scarcely agrees with the height of the pyramid. Hist. Conq., fol. 72. Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 390-1, mentions 60 steps only. 'Alto bien mas de quarenta estados: fue hecho de Adove, y Piedra.' Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 281. Montanus adds that on the summit stood a square structure, supported by 28 pillars, within which were thousands of skulls; he mentions two chapels. Nieuwe Weereld, p. 236. It had 1508 steps; in the wall was a large diamond. West-Indische Spieghel, p. 238.Return to passage

[804] Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. xlix. Some of these had two chapels, which would make the number of towers about 400. Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. ii.Return to passage

[805] Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 245. The description of the temple as given by this writer is almost identical with that of the great temple at Mexico. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., fol. 72; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 305.Return to passage

[806] Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 257.Return to passage

[807] Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., lib. x., pp. 107-8. Further authorities on Mexican buildings: Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. iv-v., viii-xi., xiii-xviii., dec. iii., lib. i., cap. viii., lib. ii., cap. xi., xv.; Peter Martyr, dec. v., lib. ii-iii., viii., x., dec. viii., lib. iv.; Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., pp. 84-7, 121; Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. i., p. 155; Zuazo, Carta, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., pp. 359, 362; West-Indische Spieghel, pp. 240-8; Munster, Cosmographia, p. 1410; Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, pp. 80-5, 235-7, 242-3; Cortés, Aven. y Conq., pp. 120, 128-33; Bussierre, L'Empire Mex., pp. 123-7, 172-5, 252-3, 258-9, 266; Klemm, Cultur-Geschichte, tom. v., pp. 31-2, 75, 84-5, 97-9, 152-62; Monglave, Résumé, pp. 20-1, 24-5, 36-7; Touron, Hist. Gén., tom. iii., pp. 40-8; Cooper's Hist. N. Amer., pt ii., p. 164; Lafond, Voyage, tom. i., pp. 106-7; Brownell's Ind. Races, pp. 92-5; Ranking's Hist. Researches, pp. 336-7; Domenech, Mexique, pp. 70-2; Foster's Pre-Hist. Races, p. 391; Dilworth's Conq. Mex., pp. 64, 70-1; Lenoir, Parallèle, pp. 20-1; Pimentel, Mem. sobre la Raza Indígena, pp. 55-7; Chevalier, Mex., Ancien et Mod., pp. 30-3; Purchas his Pilgrimes, vol. iv., pp. 1033, 1123-4, 1133.Return to passage

XVI. THE AZTEC CALENDAR…

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