BOOK IV. RESIDENCE IN MEXICO. CHAPTER I. TEZCUCAN LAKE.—Description of the CAPITAL.-PALACES AND MUSEUMS.-ROYAL HOUSEHOLD.-MONTEZUMA'S WAY OF LIFE. (1519.) THE ancient city of Mexico covered the same spot occupied by the modern capital. The great causeways touched it in the same points; the streets ran in much the same direction, nearly from north to south and from east to west; the cathedral in the plaza mayor stands on the same ground that was covered by the temple of the Aztec war-god; and the four principal quarters of the town are still known among the Indians by their ancient names. Yet an Aztec of the days of Montezuma, could he be hold the modern metropolis, which has risen with such phoenixlike splendor from the ashes of the old, would not recognize its site as that of his own Tenochtitlan. For the latter was encompassed by the salt floods of Tezcuco, which flowed in ample canals through every part of the city; while the Mexico of our day stands high and dry on the main land, nearly a league distant, at its centre, from the water. The cause of this apparent change in its position is the diminution of the lake, which, from the rapidity of evaporation in these elevated regions, had be come perceptible before the Conquest, but which has since been greatly accelerated by artificial causes.1 The average level of the Tezcucan lake, at the present day, is but four feet lower than the great square of Mexico. It is ' The lake, it seems, had perceptibly shrunk before the Conquest, from the testimony of Motilinia, who entered the country soon after. Toribio, Hist. de los Índios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 6. 2 Humboldt, Essai Politique, tom. II. p. 95. Cortés supposes there were regular tides in this lake. (Rel. Seg., ap Lorenzana, p. 101.) This sorely puzzles the learned Martyr; (De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3;) as it has more than one philosopher since, whom it has led to speculate on a subterraneous communication with the ocean! considerably lower than the other great basins of water which are found in the Valley. In the heavy swell sometimes caused by long and excessive rains, these latter reservoirs anciently overflowed into the Tezcuco, which, rising with the accumulated volume of waters, burst through the dikes, and, pouring into the streets of the capital, buried the lower part of the buildings under a deluge. This was comparatively a light evil, when the houses stood on piles so elevated that boats might pass under them; when the streets were canals, and the ordinary mode of communication was by water. But it became more disastrous, as these canals, filled up with the rubbish of the ruined Indian city, were supplanted by streets of solid earth, and the foundations of the capital were gradually reclaimed from the watery element. To obviate this alarming evil, the famous drain of Huehuetoca was opened, at an enormous cost, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, and Mexico, after repeated inundations, has been at length placed above the reach of the flood. But what was gained to the useful, in this case, as in some others, has been purchased at the expense of the beautiful. By this shrinking of the waters, the bright towns and hamlets once washed by them have been removed some miles into the interior, while a barren strip of land, ghastly from the incrustation of salts formed on the surface, has taken place of the glowing vegetation which once enamelled the borders of the lake, and of the dark groves of oak, cedar, and sycamore which threw their broad shadows over its bosom. The chinampas, that archipelago of wandering islands, to which our attention was drawn in the last chapter, have, also, nearly disappeared. These had their origin in the detached masses of earth, which, loosening from the shores, were still held together by the fibrous roots with which they were penetrated. The primitive Aztecs, in their poverty of land, availed themselves of the hint thus afforded by nature. They con structed rafts of reeds, rushes, and other fibrous materials, which, tightly knit rogether, formed a sufficient basis for the sediment that they drew up from the bottom of the lake. Gradually islands were formed, two or three hundred feet in length, and three or four feet in depth, with a rich stimulated soil, on which the economical Indian raised his vegetables and flowers What the general called "tides" was probably the periodical swells caused by the prevalence of certain regular winds. 8 Humboldt has given a minute account of this tunnel, which he pronounces one of the most stupendous hydraulic works in existence, and the completion of which, in its present form, does not date earlier than the latter part of the last century. See his Essai Politique, tom. II. p. 105, et sea. for the markets of Tenochtitlan. Some of these chinampas were even firm enough to allow the growth of small trees, and to sus tain a hut for the residence of the person that had charge of it, who with a long pole, resting on the sides or the bottom of the shallow basin, could change the position of his little territory at pleasure, which with its rich freight of vegetable stores was seen moving like some enchanted island over the water.1 The ancient dikes were three in number. That of Iztapala pan, by which the Spaniards entered, approaching the city from the south. That of Tepejacac, on the north, which, continuing the principal street, might be regarded, also, as a continuation of the first causeway. Lastly, the dike of Tlacopan, connecting the island-city with the continent on the west. This last causeway, memorable for the disastrous retreat of the Spaniards, was about two miles in length. They were all built in the same substantial manner, of lime and stone, were defended by drawbridges, and were wide enough for ten or twelve horsemen to ride abreast.5 The rude founders of Tenochtitlan built their frail tenements of reeds and rushes on the group of small islands in the western part of the lake. In process of time, these were supplanted by more substantial buildings. A quarry in the neighborhood, of a red porous amygdaloid, tetzontli, was opened, and a light, brittle stone drawn from it and wrought with little difficulty. Of this their edifices were constructed, with some reference to architectural solidity, if not elegance. Mexico, as already noticed, was the residence of the great chiefs, whom the sovereign encouraged, or rather compelled, from obvious motives of policy, to spend part of the year in the capital. It was also the temporary abode of the great lords of Tezcuco and Tlacopan, who shared, nominally, at last, the sovereignty of the empire. The mansions of these dignitaries, and of the principal nobles, were on a scale of rude magnificence correspondit.g with their state. They were low, indeed; seldom of more than one floor, never exceeding two. But they spread over a wide extent of ground; were arranged in a quadrangular form, with a court in the centre, and were surrounded by porticos embellished with porphyry and jasper, easily found in the neighborhood, while not unfrequently a 4 Ibid., tom. II. p. 87, et seq.-Clavigero, Stor. del Messico, tom. II. p. 153° Toribio, Hist. de los Indos, MS., Parte 3, cap. 8. Cortés, indeed, speaks of four causeways. (Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 102.) He may have reckoned an arm of the southern one leading to Cojo huacan, or possibly the great aqueduct of Chapoïtepec. • Ante, Vol. I. p. 38 Mexico 17 Vol. 1 390 fountain of crystal water in the centre shed a grateful coolness over the atmosphere. The dwellings of the common people were also placed on foundations of stone, which rose to the height of a few feet, and were then succeeded by courses of unbaked bricks, crossed occasionally by wooden rafters. Most of the streets were mean and narrow. Some few, however, were wide and of great length. The principal street, conducting from the great southern causeway, penetrated in a straight line the whole length of the city, and afforded a noble vista, in which the long lines of low stone edifices were broken occasionally by interven. ing gardens, rising on terraces, and displaying all the pomp of Aztec horticulture. The great streets, which were coated with a hard cement, were intersected by numerous canals. Some of these were flanked by a solid way, which served as a foot-walk for passengers, and as a landing-place where boats might discharge their cargoes. Small buildings were erected at intervals, as stations for the revenue officers who collected the duties on different articles of merchandise. The canals were traversed by numer ous bridges, many of which could be raised, affording the means of cutting off communication between different parts of the city. From the accounts of the ancient capital, one is reminded of those aquatic cities in the Old World, the positions of which have been selected from similar motives of economy and defence; above all, of Venice,—if it be not rash to compare the rude architecture of the American Indian with the marble palaces and temples-alas, how shorn of their splendor !—which crowned the once proud mistress of the Adriatic.10 The example 66 7 Martyr gives a particular account of these dwellings, which shows that even the poorer classes were comfortably lodged. Populares vero domus cingulo virili tenus lapideæ sunt et ipsæ, ob lacunæ incrementum per fluxum aut fluviorum in ea labentium alluvies. Super fundamentis illis magnis, lateribus tum coctis, tum æstivo sole siccatis, immixtis trabibus reliquam molem construunt; uno sunt communes domus contentæ tabulato. In solo parum hospitantur propter humiditatem, tecta non tegulis sed bitumine quodam terreo vestiunt; ad solem captandum commodior est ille modus, breviore tempore consumi debere credendum est." De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 10. 8 Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 8.-Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 108.—Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 10, 11. Rel. d'un gent., ap. Ramusio, tom. III. fol. 309. 9 Martyr was struck with the resemblance. Uti de illustrissima civitate Venetiarum legitur, ad tumulum in ea sinus Adriatici parte visum, fuisse constructam.” Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 10. 19 May we not apply, without much violence, to the Aztec capital, Giovanni della Casa's spirited sonnet, contrasting the origin of Venice with its meridian glory? of the metropolis was soon followed by the other towns in the vicinity. Instead of resting their foundations on terra firma, they were seen advancing far into the lake, the shallow waters of which in some parts do not exceed four feet in depth." Thus an easy means of intercommunication was opened, and the surface of this inland " sea," as Cortés styles it, was darkened by thousands of canoes 12 -an Indian term-industriously engaged in the traffic between these little communities. How gay and picturesque must have been the aspect of the lake in those days, with its shining cities, and flowering islets rocking, as it were, at anchor on the fair bosom of its waters ! The population of Tenochtitlan, at the time of the Conquest, is variously stated. No contemporary writer estimates it at less than sixty thousand houses, which, by the ordinary rules of reckoning, would give three hundred thousand souls.18 dwelling often contained, as is asserted, several families, it would swell the amount considerably higher. Nothing is more un Fur poche e basse case insieme accolte, Ma genti ardite d'ogni vizio sciolte Premeano il mar con picciole barchette, on era ambizion ne' petti loro; Ma'l mentire abborrian più che la morte, Nè vi regnava ingorda fame d'oro. Se'l Ciel v' ha dato più beata sorte, Dalle nuove ricchezze oppresse emorte." If a 11 "Le lac de Tezcuco n'a généralement que trois à cinq métres de profondeur. Dans quelques endroits le fond se trouve même déjà à moins d'un mètre." Humboldt, Essai Politique, tom. II. p. 49. 66 12 Y cada dia entran gran multitud de Indios cargados de Bastimentos tributos, así por tierra como por agua, en acales ô barcas, que en lengua de las Islas llaman Canoas." Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 6. 18 "Esta la cibdad de Méjico ó Teneztatan, que será de sesenta mil veci.. nos." (Carta de Lic. Zuazo, MS.) 'Tenustitanam ipsam inquiunt sexaginta circites esse millium domorum." (Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3.) "Era Méjico, quando Cortés entró, pueblo de sesenta mil casas. (Gomara, Crónica, cap. 78.) Toribio says, vaguely, "Los moradores y gente era innumerable. (Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 8.) The Italian translation of the "Anonymous Conqueror," who survives only in translation, says, indeed, "meglio di sessanta mila habitatori"; (Rel. d'un gent., ap. Ramusio, tom. III. fol. 309;) owing, probably, to a blunder in rendering the word vecinos, the ordinary term in Spanish statistics, which, signifying householders, corresponds with the Italian fuochi. See, also, Clavigera. (Stor. del Messico, tom. III. p. 86, nota.) Robertson rests exclusively on this Italian translation for his estimate. (History of America, vol. II. p. 281.) He cites, indeed, two other authorities on the same connection; Cortés, who says nothing of the population, and Herrera, who con firms the popular statement of "sesenta mil casas." (Hist. General, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 13.) The fact is of some importance. 14 "En las casas, por pequeñas que eran, pocas veces dexaban de morar |