Footnote[1]In 1525, the gold washings of Hispaniola were already exhausted; and sugar and hides are alone mentioned as exports. Petri Mart: Ep. 806, Kal. Mart. 1525.
[1]In 1525, the gold washings of Hispaniola were already exhausted; and sugar and hides are alone mentioned as exports. Petri Mart: Ep. 806, Kal. Mart. 1525.
OLMEDO PREACHES TO THE INDIANS.—AGUILAR AND MARIANA—INTERPRETERS.—CORTÉZ LANDS—INTERVIEW WITH THE AZTECS.—DIPLOMACY—MONTEZUMA'S PRESENTS.—MONTEZUMA REFUSES TO RECEIVE CORTÉZ.
OLMEDO PREACHES TO THE INDIANS.—AGUILAR AND MARIANA—INTERPRETERS.—CORTÉZ LANDS—INTERVIEW WITH THE AZTECS.—DIPLOMACY—MONTEZUMA'S PRESENTS.—MONTEZUMA REFUSES TO RECEIVE CORTÉZ.
Soon after the adventurers departed from the coast of Cuba, the weather, which had been hitherto fine, suddenly changed, and one of those violent hurricanes which ravage the Indian Isles during the warm season, scattered and dismantled the small squadron, sweeping it far to the south of its original destination. Cortéz was the last to reach the Island of Cozumel, having been forced to linger in order to watch for the safety of one of his battered craft. But, immediately on landing, he was pained to learn that the impetuousPedro de Alvaradohad rashly entered the temples, despoiled them of their ornaments, and terrified the natives into promiscuous flight. He immediately devoted himself to the task of obliterating this stain on Spanish humanity, by kindly releasing two of the captives taken by Alvarado. Through an interpreter he satisfied them of the pacific purpose of his voyage, and despatched them to their homes with valuable gifts. This humane policy appears to have succeeded with the natives, who speedily returned from the interior, and commenced a brisk traffic of gold for trinkets.
The chief objection of Cortéz to the headlong destruction which Alvarado had committed in the temples, seems rather to have been against the robbery than the religious motive, if such existed in the breast of his impetuous companion. We have already said that the conversion of the heathen was one of the alleged primary objects of this expedition, for the instructions of the Governor of Cuba were full of zeal for the spread of Christianity; yet, in the diffusion of this novel creed among the aborigines, it sometimes happened that its military propagandists regarded the sword asmore powerful than the sermon. The idolatrous practices of the inhabitants of Cozumel shocked the sensibility of the commander, and he set about the work of christianization through the labors of the licentiate Juan Diaz and Bartolomé de Olmedo, the latter of whom,—who remained with the army during the whole expedition,—was, indeed, a mirror of zeal and charity. The discourses of these worthy priests were, however, unavailing;—the Indians, who of course could not comprehend their eloquent exhortations or pious logic, refused to abandon their idols; and our hero resolved at once to convince them, by palpable arguments, of the inefficiency of those hideous emblems, either to save themselves from destruction, or to bestow blessings on the blind adorers. An order was, therefore, forthwith given for the immediate destruction of the Indian images; and, in their place, the Virgin and her Son were erected on a hastily constructed altar. Olmedo and his companion were thus the first to offer the sacrifice of the mass in New Spain, where they, finally, induced numbers of the aborigines to renounce idolatry and embrace the Catholic faith.
In spite of this marauding crusade against their property and creed, the Indians kindly furnished the fleet with provisions, which enabled the squadron to sail in the ensuing March. But a leak in one of the vessels compelled the adventurers to return to port,—a circumstance which was regarded by many as providential,—inasmuch as it was the means of restoring to his countryman, a Spaniard, named Aguilar, who had been wrecked on the coast of Yucatan eight years before. The long residence of this person in the country made him familiar with the language of the inhabitants of that neighborhood, and thus a valuable interpreter,—one of its most pressing wants,—was added to the expedition.
*****
After the vessels were refitted, Cortéz coasted the shores of Yucatan until he reached the Rio de Tabasco or Grijalva, where he encountered the first serious opposition to the Spanish arms. He had a severe conflict, in the vicinity of his landing, with a large force of the natives; but the valor of his men, the terror inspired by fire arms, and the singular spectacle presented to the astonished Indians by the extraordinary appearance of cavalry, soon turned the tide of victory in his favor. The subdued tribes appeased his anger by valuable gifts, and forthwith established friendly relations with their dreaded conqueror. Among the presents offered upon this occasion by the vanquished, were twenty female slaves;—and after one of the holy fathers hadattempted, as usual, to impress the truths of christianity upon the natives, and had closed the ceremonies of the day by a pompous procession, with all the impressive ceremonial of the Roman church, the fleet again sailed towards the empire Cortéz was destined to penetrate and subdue.
*****
In Passion week, of the year 1519, the squadron dropped anchor under the lee of the Island or reef of St. Juan de Ulua. The natives immediately boarded the vessel of the Captain General; but their language was altogether different from that of the Mayan dialects spoken in Yucatan and its immediate dependencies. In this emergency Cortéz learned that, among the twenty female slaves who had been recently presented him, there was one who knew the Mexican language, and, in fact, that she was an Aztec by birth. This was the celebratedMarinaorMariana, who accompanied the conqueror throughout his subsequent adventures, and was so useful as a sagacious friend and discreet interpreter. Acquainted with the languages of her native land and of the Yucatecos, she found it easy to translate the idiom of the Aztecs into the Mayan dialect which Aguilar, the Spaniard, had learned during his captivity. Through this medium, Cortéz was apprised that these Mexicans or Aztecs were the subjects of a powerful sovereign who ruled an empire bounded by two seas, and that his name wasMontezuma.
*****
On the 21st of April the Captain General landed on the sandy and desolate beach whereon is now built the modern city of Vera Cruz. Within a few days the native Governor of the province arrived to greet him, and expressed great anxiety to learn whence the "fair and bearded strangers" had come? Cortéz told him that he was the "subject of a mighty monarch beyond the sea who ruled over an immense empire and had kings and princes for his vassals;—that, acquainted with the greatness of the Mexican emperor, his master desired to enter into communication with so great a personage, and had sent him, as an envoy, to wait onMontezumawith a present in token of his good will, and a friendly message which he must deliver in person." The Indian Governor expressed surprise that there was another king as great as his master, yet assured Cortéz that as soon as he learned Montezuma's determination, he would again converse with him on the subject.Teuhtlethen presented the Captain General ten loads of fine cottons; mantles of curious feather work, beautifullydyed; and baskets filled with golden ornaments. Cortéz, in turn, produced the gifts for the emperor, which were comparatively insignificant; but, when the Aztec Governor desired to receive the glittering helmet of one of the men, it was readily given as an offering to the emperor, with the significant request that it might be returned filled with gold, which Cortéz told him was "a specific remedy for a disease of the heart with which his countrymen, the Spaniards, were sorely afflicted!"
During this interview between the functionaries it was noticed by the adventurers that men were eagerly employed among the Indians in sketching every thing they beheld in the ranks of the strangers,—for, by this picture-writing, the Mexican monarch was to be apprised in accurate detail of the men, horses, ships, armor, force, and weapons of this motley band of invaders.
These pictorial missives were swiftly borne by the Mexican couriers to the Aztec capital among the mountains, and, together with the oral account of the landing of Cortéz and his demand for an interview, were laid before the Imperial Court. It may well be imagined that the extraordinary advent of the Captain General and his squadron was productive of no small degree of excitement and even tremor, among this primitive people; for, not only were they unnerved by the dread which all secluded races feel for innovation, but an ancient prophecy had foretold the downfall of the empire through the instrumentality of beings, who, like these adventurers, were to "come from the rising sun." Montezuma, who was then on the throne, had been elected to that dignity in 1502 in preference to his brothers, in consequence of his superior qualifications as a soldier and a priest. His reign commenced energetically; and whilst he, at first, administered the interior affairs of his realm with justice, capacity, and moderation, his hand fell heavily on all who dared to raise their arms against his people. But, as he waxed older and firmer in power, and as his empire extended, he began to exhibit those selfish traits which so often characterize men who possess, for a length of time, supreme power untrammelled by constitutional restraints. His court was sumptuous, and his people were grievously taxed to support its unbounded extravagance. This, in some degree, alienated the loyalty of his subjects, while continued oppression finally led to frequent insurrection. In addition to these internal discontents of the Aztec empire, Montezuma had met in the nominal republic of Tlascala,—lying midway between the valley of Mexico and the seacoast,—a brave and stubborn foe, whose civilization, unimpaired resources,and martial character, enabled it to resist the combined forces of the Aztecs for upwards of two hundred years.
Such was the state of the empire when the news of Cortéz's arrival became the subject of discussion in Mexico. Some were for open or wily resistance. Others were oppressed with superstitious fears. But Montezuma, adopting a medium but fatal course, resolved, without delay, to send an embassy with such gifts as he imagined would impress the strangers with the idea of his magnificence and power, whilst, at the same time, he courteously commanded the adventurers to refrain from approaching his capital.
Meanwhile the Spaniards restlessly endured the scorching heats and manifold annoyances of the coast, and were amusing themselves by a paltry traffic with the Indians, whose offerings were generally of but trifling value. After the expiration of a week, however, the returned couriers and the embassy approached the camp. The time is seemingly short when we consider the difficulty of transportation through a mountain country, and recollect that the Mexicans, who were without horses, had been obliged to traverse the distance on foot. But it is related on ample authority,—so perfectly were the posts arranged among these semi-civilized people,—that tidings were borne in the short period of twenty-four hours from the city to the sea, and, consequently, that three or four days were ample for the journey of the envoys of Montezuma, upon a matter of so much national importance.
The two Aztec nobles, accompanied by the Governor of the province, Teuhtle, did not approach with empty hands the men whom they hoped to bribe if they could not intimidate. Gold and native fabrics of the most delicate character; shields, helmets, cuirasses, collars, bracelets, sandals, fans, pearls, precious stones; loads of cotton cloth, extraordinary manufactures of feathers, circular plates of gold and silver as large as carriage wheels, and the Spanish helmet filled with golden grains; were all spread out, as a free gift from the Emperor to the Spaniards!
With these magnificent presents, Montezuma replied to the request of Cortéz, that it would give him pleasure to communicate with so mighty a monarch as the king of Spain, whom he respected highly, but that he could not gratify himself by according the foreign envoy a personal interview, inasmuch as the distance to his capital was great, and the toilsome journey among the mountains was beset with dangers from formidable enemies. He could do no more, therefore, than bid the strangers farewell,and request them to return to their homes over the sea with these proofs of his perfect friendship.
It may well be supposed that this naïve system of diplomacy could have but little effect on men who were bent on improving their fortunes, and whose rapacity was only stimulated by the evidences of unbounded wealth which the simple-minded king had so lavishly bestowed on them. Montezuma was the dupe of his own credulity, and only inflamed, by the very means he imagined would assuage the avarice or ambition of his Spanish visitors. Nor was Cortéz less resolved than his companions. Accordingly he made another pacific effort, by means of additional presents and a gentle message, to change the resolution of the Indian emperor. Still the Aztec sovereign was obstinate in his refusal of a personal interview, although he sent fresh gifts by the persons who bore to the Spaniards his polite but firm and peremptory denial.
Cortéz could hardly conceal his disappointment at this second rebuff; but, as the vesper bell tolled, whilst the ambassadors were in his presence, he threw himself on his knees with his soldiers, and, after a prayer, Father Olmedo expounded to the Aztec chiefs, by his interpreters, the doctrines of Christianity, and putting into their hands an image of the Virgin and Saviour, he exhorted them to abandon their hideous idolatry, and to place these milder emblems of faith and hope on the altars of their bloody gods. That very night the Indians abandoned the Spanish camp and the neighborhood, leaving the adventurers without the copious supplies of food that hitherto had been bountifully furnished. Cortéz, nevertheless, was undismayed by these menacing symptoms, and exclaimed to his hardy followers: "It shall yet go hard, but we will one day pay this powerful prince a visit in his gorgeous capital!"
CORTÉZ FOUNDS LA VILLA RICA DE LA VERA CRUZ.—FLEET DESTROYED—MARCH TO MEXICO.—CONQUEST OF TLASCALA—CHOLULA.—SLAUGHTER IN CHOLULA—VALLEY OF MEXICO.—CORTÉZ ENTERS THE VALLEY—GIGANTIC CAUSEWAY.—LAKE OF TEZCOCO—RECEPTION BY MONTEZUMA.—SPANIARDS ENTER THE CAPITAL.
CORTÉZ FOUNDS LA VILLA RICA DE LA VERA CRUZ.—FLEET DESTROYED—MARCH TO MEXICO.—CONQUEST OF TLASCALA—CHOLULA.—SLAUGHTER IN CHOLULA—VALLEY OF MEXICO.—CORTÉZ ENTERS THE VALLEY—GIGANTIC CAUSEWAY.—LAKE OF TEZCOCO—RECEPTION BY MONTEZUMA.—SPANIARDS ENTER THE CAPITAL.
It is impossible, in a work like the present, which is designed to cover the history of a country during three hundred years, to present the reader with as complete a narrative of events as we would desire. Happily, the task of recording the story of the conquest, has fallen into the hands of the classic historians of Spain, England and America; and the astonishing particulars of that mighty enterprise may be found, minutely recounted, in the works of De Solis, Robertson and Prescott. We shall therefore content ourselves with as rapid a summary as is consistent with the development of the modern Mexican character, and shall refer those who are anxious for more explicit and perfect details to the writings of the authors we have mentioned.
*****
Cortéz was not long idle after the withdrawal of the Aztec emissaries and the surly departure of the Indians, who, as we have related in the last chapter, quitted his camp and neighborhood on the same night with the ambassadors of Montezuma. He forthwith proceeded to establish a military and civil colony, of which he became Captain General and Chief Justice; he founded the Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz in order to secure a base on the coast for future military operation, by means of which he might be independent of Velasquez; and he formed an alliance with the Totonacos of Cempoalla, whose loyalty,—though they were subjects of Montezuma,—was alienated from him by his merciless exactions. We shall not dwell upon the skill with which he fomented a breach between the Totonacos and the ambassadors of Montezuma, nor upon the valuable gifts, and discreet despatches he forwarded tothe Emperor Charles V., in order to secure a confirmation of his proceedings. The most daring act of this period was the destruction of the squadron which had wafted him to Mexico. It was a deed of wise policy, which deliberately cut off all hope of retreat,—pacified, in some degree, the querulous conspirators who lurked in his camp,—and placed before all who were embarked in the enterprise the alternative of conquest or destruction. But one vessel remained. Nine out of the ten were dismantled and sunk. When his men murmured for a moment, and imagined themselves betrayed, he addressed them in that language of bland diplomacy which he was so well skilled to use whenever the occasion required. "As for me," said he, "I will remainherewhilst there is one to bear me company! Let the cravens shrink from danger and go home in the single vessel that remains. Let them hasten to Cuba, and relate how they deserted their commander and comrades; and there let them wait in patience till we return laden with the spoils of Mexico!"
This was an appeal that rekindled the combined enthusiasm and avarice of the despondent murmurers; and the reply was a universal shout: "To Mexico! to Mexico!"
*****
On the 16th of August, 1519, Cortéz set out with his small army of about four hundred men, now swelled by the addition of thirteen hundred Indian warriors and a thousand porters, and accompanied by forty of the chief Totonacs as hostages and advisers. From the burning climate of the coast the army gradually ascended to the cooler regions of thetierra templada, andtierra fria, encountering all degrees of temperature on the route. After a journey of three days, the forces arrived at a town on one of the table lands of the interior, whose chief magistrate confirmed the stories of the power of Montezuma. Here Cortéz tarried three days for repose, and then proceeded towards the Republic of Tlascala, which lay directly in his path, and with whose inhabitants he hoped to form an alliance founded on the elements of discontent which he knew existed among these inveterate foes of the central Aztec power. But he was mistaken in his calculations. The Tlascalans were not so easily won as his allies, the Totonacs, who, dwelling in a warmer climate, had not the hardier virtues of these mountaineers. The Tlascalans entertained no favorable feeling towards Montezuma, but they nourished quite as little cordiality for men whose characters they did not know, and whose purposes they had cause to dread. A deadly hostility to the Spaniards was consequentlysoon manifested. Cortéz was attacked by them on the borders of their Republic, and fought four sharp battles with fifty thousand warriors who maintained, in all the conflicts, their reputation for military skill and hardihood. At length the Tlascalans were forced to acknowledge the superiority of the invaders, whom they could not overcome either by stratagem or battle, and, after the exchange of embassies and gifts, they honored our hero with a triumphal entry into their capital.
*****
The news of these victories as well as of the fatal alliance which ensued with the Tlascalans, was soon borne to the court of Montezuma, who began to tremble for the fate of his empire when he saw the fall of the indomitable foes who had held him so long at bay. Two embassies to Cortéz succeeded each other, in vain. Presents were no longer of avail. His offer of tribute to the Spanish king was not listened to. All requests that the conqueror should not advance towards his capital were unheeded. "The command of his own emperor," said Cortéz, "was the only reason which could induce him to disregard the wishes of an Aztec prince, for whom he cherished the profoundest respect!" Soon after, another embassy came from Montezuma with magnificent gifts and an invitation to his capital, yet with a request that he would break with his new allies and approach Mexico through the friendly city of Cholula. The policy of this request on the part of Montezuma, will be seen in the sequel. Our hero, accompanied by six thousand volunteers from Tlascala, advanced towards the sacred city,—the site of the most splendid temple in the empire, whose foundations yet remain in the nineteenth century. The six intervening leagues were soon crossed, and he entered Cholula with his Spanish army, attended by no other Indians than those who accompanied him from Cempoalla. At first, the General and his companions were treated hospitably, and the suspicions which had been instilled into his mind by the Tlascalans were lulled to sleep. However, he soon had cause to become fearful of treachery. Messengers arrived from Montezuma, and his entertainers were observed to be less gracious in their demeanor. It was noticed that several important streets had been barricaded or converted into pitfalls, whilst stones, missiles and weapons were heaped on the flat roofs of houses. Besides this, Mariana had become intimate with the wife of one of the Caciques, and cunningly drew from her gossiping friend the whole conspiracy that was brewing against the adventurers. Montezuma, she learned, had stationed twenty thousand Mexicans nearthe city, who, together with the Cholulans, were to assault the invaders in the narrow streets and avenues, as they quitted the town; and, thus, he hoped, by successful treachery, to rid the land of such dangerous visitors either by slaughter in conflict, or to offer them, when made captive, upon the altars of the sacred temple in Cholula and on theteocallisof Mexico, as proper sacrifices to the bloody gods of his country.
Cortéz, however, was not to be so easily outwitted and entrapped. He, in turn, resorted to stratagem. Concentrating all his Spanish army, and concerting a signal for co-operation with his Indian allies, he suddenly fell upon the Cholulans at an unexpected moment. Three thousand of the citizens perished in the frightful massacre that ensued; and Cortéz pursued his uninterrupted way towards the fated capital of the Aztecs, after this awful chastisement, which was perhaps needful to relieve him from the danger of utter annihilation in the heart of an enemy's country with so small a band of countrymen in whom he could confide.
*****
From the plain of Cholula,—which is now known as the fruitful vale of Puebla,—the conqueror ascended the last ridge of mountains that separated him from the city of Mexico; and, as he turned the edge of theCordillera, the beautiful valley was at once revealed to him in all its indescribable loveliness.[2]It lay at his feet, surrounded by the placid waters of Tezcoco. The sight that burst upon the Spaniards from this lofty eminence, in the language of Prescott, was that of the vale of Tenochtitlan, as it was called by the natives, "which, with its picturesque assemblage of water, woodland, and cultivated plains; its shining cities and shadowy hills, was spread out like some gay and gorgeous panorama before them. In the highly rarefied atmosphere of these upper regions, even remote objects have a brilliancy of coloring and a distinctness of outline which seems to annihilate distance. Stretching far away at their feet, were seen noble forests of oak, sycamore, and cedar; and beyond, yellow fields of maize and the towering maguey, intermingled with orchards and blooming gardens; for flowers, in such demand for their religious festivals, were even more abundant in this populous valley, than in other parts of Anahuac. In the centre of the great basin, were beheld the lakes, occupying then a much larger portion of its surface than at present; their borders thicklystudded with towns and hamlets, and, in the midst,—like some Indian empress with her coronal of pearls,—the fair city of Mexico, with her white towers and pyramidal temples reposing, as it were, on the bosom of the waters—the far-famed 'Venice of the Aztecs.' High over all rose the royal hill of Chapultepec, the residence of the Mexican monarchs, belted with the same grove of gigantic cypresses, which at this day fling their broad shadows over the land. In the distance, to the north, beyond the blue waters of the lake, and nearly screened by intervening foliage, was seen a shining speck, the rival capital of Tezcoco; and, still further on, the dark belt of porphyry, girdling the valley around, like a rich setting which Nature had devised for the fairest of her jewels."
*****
Cortéz easily descended with his troops by the mountain road towards the plain of the valley; and as he passed along the levels, or through the numerous villages and hamlets, he endeavored to foster and foment the ill feeling which he found secretly existing against the government of the Mexican Emperor. When he had advanced somewhat into the heart of the valley he was met by an embassy of the chief lords of the Aztec court, sent to him by Montezuma, with gifts of considerable value; but he rejected a proffered bribe of "four loads of gold to the General, and one to each of his captains, with a yearly tribute to their sovereign," provided the Spanish troops would quit the country. Heedless of all menaced opposition as well as appeals to his avarice, he seems, at this period, to have cast aside the earlier and sordid motives which might then have been easily satisfied had his pursuit been gold alone. The most abundant wealth was cast at his feet; but the higher qualities of his nature were now allowed the fullest play, and strengthened him in his resolution to risk all in the daring and glorious project of subjecting a splendid empire to his control. Accordingly, he advanced though Amaquemecan, a town of several thousand inhabitants, where he was met by a nephew of the Emperor, the Lord of Tezcoco, who had been despatched by his vacillating uncle, at the head of a large number of influential personages, to welcome the invaders to the capital. The friendly summons was of course not disregarded by Cortéz, who forthwith proceeded along the most splendid and massive structure of the New World—a gigantic causeway, five miles in length, constructed of huge stones, which passed along the narrow strait of sand that separated the waters of Chalco from those of Tezcoco. The lakes were covered with boats filled with natives. Floatingislands, made of reeds and wicker-work, covered with soil, brimmed with luxuriant vegetation whose splendid fruits and odorous petals rested on the waters. Several large towns were built on artificial foundations in the lake. And, every where, around the Spaniards, were beheld the evidences of a dense population, whose edifices, agriculture, and labors denoted a high degree of civilization and intelligence. As the foreign warriors proceeded onwards towards the city, which rose before them with its temples, palaces and shrines, covered with hard stucco that glistened in the sun, they crossed a wooden drawbridge in the causeway; and, as they passed it, they felt that now, indeed, if they faltered, they were completely in the grasp of the Mexicans, and more effectually cut off from all retreat than they had been when the fleet was destroyed at Vera Cruz.
Near this spot they were encountered by Montezuma with his court, who came forth in regal state to salute his future conqueror. Surrounded by all the pageantry and splendor of an oriental monarch, he descended from the litter in which he was borne from the city, and, leaning on the shoulders of the Lords of Tezcoco and of Iztapalapan,—his nephew and brother,—he advanced towards the Spaniards, under a canopy and over a cotton carpet, whilst his prostrate subjects manifested, by their abject demeanor, the fear or respect which the presence of their sovereign inspired.
"Montezuma was at this time about forty years of age. His person was tall and slender, but not ill-made. His hair, which was black and straight, was not very long. His beard was thin; his complexion somewhat paler than is often found in his dusky, or rather copper-colored race. His features, though serious in their expression, did not wear the look of melancholy, or dejection, which characterizes his portrait, and which may well have settled on them at a later period. He moved with dignity, and his whole demeanor, tempered by an expression of benignity not to have been anticipated from the reports circulated of his character, was worthy of a great prince. Such is the picture left to us of the celebrated Indian Emperor in this his first interview with the white men."[3]
*****
As this mighty prince approached, Cortéz halted his men, and, advancing with a few of his principal retainers, was most courteously welcomed by Montezuma, who, adroitly concealing his chagrin, diplomatically expressed the uncommon delight he experienced at this unexpected visit of the strangers to his capital. Our herothanked him for his friendly welcome and bounteous gifts,—and hung around his neck a chain set with colored crystal. Montezuma then opened his gates to the Spaniards and appointed his brother to conduct the General with his troops, to the city.
Here he found a spacious edifice, surrounded by a wall, assigned for his future residence; and, having stationed sentinels, and placed his cannon on the battlements so as to command all the important avenues to his palace, he proceeded to examine the city and to acquaint himself with the character, occupations, and temper of the people.[4]
Footnotes[2]Between nine and ten thousand feet above the level of the sea, at this point of the road.[3]Prescott.[4]"The province which constitutes the principal territory of Montezuma," (says Cortéz in his letter to Charles the V.,) "is circular, and entirely surrounded by lofty and rugged mountains, and the circumference of it is full seventy leagues. In this plain there are two lakes which nearly occupy the whole of it, as the people use canoes for more than fifty leagues round. One of these lakes is of fresh water, and the other, which is larger, is of salt water. They are divided, on one side, by a small collection of high hills, which stand in the centre of the plain, and they unite in a level strait formed between these hills and the high mountains, which strait is a gun-shot wide, and the people of the cities and other settlements which are in these lakes, communicate together in their canoes by water, without the necessity of going by land. And as this great salt lake ebbs and flows with the tide, as the sea does, in every flood the water flows from it into the other fresh lake as impetuously as if it were a large river, and consequently at the ebb, the fresh lake flows into the salt."This great city of Temixtitlan, (meaning Tenochtitlan, Mexico,) is founded in this salt lake; and from terra firma to the body of the city, the distance is two leagues on whichever side they please to enter it."It has four entrances, or causeways, made by the hand of man, as wide as two horsemen's lances."The city is as large as Seville and Cordova. The streets (I mean the principal ones,) are very wide, and others very narrow; and some of the latter and all the others are one-half land and the other half water, along which the inhabitants go in their canoes; and all the streets, at given distances, are open, so that the water passes from one to the other; and in all their openings, some of which are very wide, there are very wide bridges, made of massive beams joined together and well wrought; and so wide that ten horsemen may pass abreast over many of them."—Letters of Cortéz to Charles V.
[2]Between nine and ten thousand feet above the level of the sea, at this point of the road.
[3]Prescott.
[4]"The province which constitutes the principal territory of Montezuma," (says Cortéz in his letter to Charles the V.,) "is circular, and entirely surrounded by lofty and rugged mountains, and the circumference of it is full seventy leagues. In this plain there are two lakes which nearly occupy the whole of it, as the people use canoes for more than fifty leagues round. One of these lakes is of fresh water, and the other, which is larger, is of salt water. They are divided, on one side, by a small collection of high hills, which stand in the centre of the plain, and they unite in a level strait formed between these hills and the high mountains, which strait is a gun-shot wide, and the people of the cities and other settlements which are in these lakes, communicate together in their canoes by water, without the necessity of going by land. And as this great salt lake ebbs and flows with the tide, as the sea does, in every flood the water flows from it into the other fresh lake as impetuously as if it were a large river, and consequently at the ebb, the fresh lake flows into the salt.
"This great city of Temixtitlan, (meaning Tenochtitlan, Mexico,) is founded in this salt lake; and from terra firma to the body of the city, the distance is two leagues on whichever side they please to enter it.
"It has four entrances, or causeways, made by the hand of man, as wide as two horsemen's lances.
"The city is as large as Seville and Cordova. The streets (I mean the principal ones,) are very wide, and others very narrow; and some of the latter and all the others are one-half land and the other half water, along which the inhabitants go in their canoes; and all the streets, at given distances, are open, so that the water passes from one to the other; and in all their openings, some of which are very wide, there are very wide bridges, made of massive beams joined together and well wrought; and so wide that ten horsemen may pass abreast over many of them."—Letters of Cortéz to Charles V.
DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY OF TENOCHTITLAN.—MONTEZUMA'S WAY OF LIFE—MARKET-PLACE.—CORTÉZ AT THE GREAT TEMPLE—DESCRIPTION OF IT.—PLACE OF SACRIFICE—SANCTUARIES—HUITZILOPOTCHTLI.—TEZCATLIPOCA— DANGER OF CORTÉZ—MONTEZUMA SEIZED.—MONTEZUMA A PRISONER—HIS SUBMISSIVENESS.—ARRIVAL OF NARVAEZ—CORTÉZ'S DIPLOMACY.—CORTÉZ OVERCOMES NARVAEZ, AND RECRUITS HIS FORCES.
DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY OF TENOCHTITLAN.—MONTEZUMA'S WAY OF LIFE—MARKET-PLACE.—CORTÉZ AT THE GREAT TEMPLE—DESCRIPTION OF IT.—PLACE OF SACRIFICE—SANCTUARIES—HUITZILOPOTCHTLI.—TEZCATLIPOCA— DANGER OF CORTÉZ—MONTEZUMA SEIZED.—MONTEZUMA A PRISONER—HIS SUBMISSIVENESS.—ARRIVAL OF NARVAEZ—CORTÉZ'S DIPLOMACY.—CORTÉZ OVERCOMES NARVAEZ, AND RECRUITS HIS FORCES.
The city of Mexico, or Tenochtitlan, was, as we have already said, encompassed by the lake of Tezcoco, over which three solid causeways formed the only approaches. This inland sea was, indeed, "an archipelago of wandering islands." The whole city was penetrated throughout its entire length by a principal street, which was intersected by numerous canals, crossed by drawbridges; and, wherever the eye could reach, long vistas of low stone buildings rose on every side among beautiful gardens or luxuriant foliage. The quadrangular palaces of the nobles who Montezuma encouraged to reside at his court, were spread over a wide extent of ground, embellished with beautiful fountains which shot their spray amid porticoes and columns of polished porphyry. The palace of Montezuma was so vast a pile, that one of the conquerors alleges its terraced roof afforded ample room for thirty knights to tilt in tournament. A royal armory was filled with curious and dangerous weapons, and adorned with an ample store of military dresses, equipments and armor. Huge granaries contained the tributary supplies which were brought to the Prince by the provinces for the maintenance of the royal family, and there was an aviary in which three hundred attendants fed and reared birds of the sweetest voice or rarest plumage; whilst, near it, rose a menagerie, filled with specimens of all the native beasts, together with a museum, in which, with an oddity of taste unparalleled in history, there had been collected a vast number of human monsters, cripples, dwarfs, Albinos and other freaks and caprices of nature.The royal gardens are described by eye-witnesses as spots of unsurpassed elegance, adorned with rare shrubs, medicinal plants, and ponds, supplied by aqueducts and fountains, wherein, amid beautiful flowers, the finest fish and aquatic birds were seen forever floating in undisturbed quiet. The interior of the palace was equally attractive for its comfort and elegance. Spacious halls were covered with ceilings of odoriferous wood, while the lofty walls were hung with richly tinted fabrics of cotton, the skins of animals, or feather work wrought in mosaic imitation of birds, reptiles, insects and flowers. Nor was the Emperor alone amid the splendid wastes of his palace. A thousand women thronged these royal chambers, ministering to the tastes and passions of the elegant voluptuary. The rarest viands, from far and near, supplied his table, the service of which was performed by numerous attendants on utensils and equipage of the choicest material and shape. Four times, daily, the Emperor changed his apparel, and never put on again the dress he once had worn, or defiled his lips twice with the same vessels from which he fed.
Such was the sovereign's palace and way of life, nor can we suppose that this refinement of luxury was to be found alone in the dwelling of Montezuma and his nobles. It is to be regretted that we are not more fully informed of the condition of property, wealth and labor among the masses of this singular empire. The conquerors did not trouble themselves with acquiring accurate statistical information, nor do they seem to have counted numbers carefully, except when they had enemies to conquer or spoil to divide. In all primitive nations, however, the best idea of a people is to be attained from visiting the market-place,—or rather the fair,—in which it is their custom to sell or barter the products of their industry; and, to this rendezvous of the Aztecs, Cortéz, with the astuteness that never forsook him during his perilous enterprise, soon betook himself after his arrival in the city.
The market of Tenochtitlan was a scene of commercial activity as well as of humble thrift. It was devoted to all kinds of native traffic. In the centre of the city the conqueror found a magnificent square surrounded by porticoes, in which, it is alleged, that sixty thousand traders were engaged in buying and selling every species of merchandize produced in the realm; jewels, goldware, toys, curious imitations of natural objects, wrought with the utmost skill of deception; weapons of copper alloyed with tin, pottery of all degrees of fineness, carved vases, bales of richly dyed cotton; beautifully woven feather-work, wild and tame animals, grain, fish,vegetables, all the necessaries of life and all its luxuries, together with restaurateurs and shops for the sale of medical drugs, confectionery, or stimulating drinks. It was, in fact, an immense bazaar, which, at a glance, gave an insight into the tastes, wants and productive industry of the nation.
Satisfied with this inspection of the people and their talents, the next visit of the General was, doubtless, made with the double object of becoming acquainted with that class of men, who in all countries so powerfully influence public opinion, whilst, from the top of their tall temple, situated on their lofty central Teocalli or pyramid, he might, with a military eye, scan the general topography of the city.
This pyramidal structure, or Great Temple, as it is generally called, was perhaps rather the base of a religious structure, than the religious edifice itself. We possess no accurate drawing of it among the contemporary or early relics of the conquest, that have descended to us; but it is known to have been pyramidal in shape, over one hundred and twenty feet in altitude, with a base of three hundred and twenty. It stood in a large area, surrounded by a wall eight feet high, sculptured with the figures of serpents in relief. From one end of the base of this structure, a flight of steps rose to a terrace at the base of the second story of the pyramid. Around this terrace, a person, in ascending, was obliged to pass until he came to the corner immediately above the first flight, where he encountered another set of steps, up which he passed to the second terrace, and so on, continuously, to the third and fourth terraces, until, by a fifth flight, he attained the summit platform of the Teocalli. These spaces or terraces, at each story, are represented to have been about six feet in width, so that three or four persons could easily ascend abreast. It will be perceived that in attaining the top of the edifice it was necessary to pass round it entirely four times and to ascend five stairways. Within the enclosure, built of stone and crowned with battlements, a village of five hundred houses might have been built. Its area was paved with smooth and polished stones, and the pyramid that rose in its centre seems to have been constructed as well for military as religious purposes, inasmuch as its architecture made it fully capable of resistance as a citadel; and we may properly assume this opinion as a fact, from the circumstance that the enclosing walls were entered by four gates, facing the cardinal points, while over each portal was erected a military arsenal filled with immense stores of warlike equipments.
Restoring a pyramidRESTORATION OF GREAT TEMPLE.
RESTORATION OF GREAT TEMPLE.
When Cortéz arrived in front of this truncated pyramid, two priests and several caciques were in attendance, by order of Montezuma, to bear him in their arms to its summit. But the hardy conqueror declined this effeminate means of transportation, and marched up slowly at the head of his soldiers. On the paved and level area at the top, they found a large block of jasper, the peculiar shape of which showed it was the stone on which the bodies of the unhappy victims were stretched for sacrifice. Its convex surface, rising breast high, enabled the priest to perform more easily his diabolical task of removing the heart. Besides this, there were two sanctuaries erected on the level surface of theTeocalli; two altars, glowing with a fire that was never extinguished; and a large circular drum, which was struck only on occasions of great public concern.
Such was theTeocalliorHouse of God. There were other edifices, having the name ofTeopan, orPlaces of God. Some writers allege that there were two towers erected on the great Teocalli of Tenochtitlan; but it may be safely asserted that there was at least one of these, which rose to the height of about fifty-six feet, and was divided into three stories, the lower being of stone, while the others were constructed of wrought and painted wood. In the basement of these towers were the sanctuaries, where two splendid altars had been erected to Huitzilopotchtli and Tezcatlipoca, over which the idol representatives of these divinities were placed in state.
Within the enclosure of the Teocalli there were forty other temples dedicated to various Aztec gods. Besides these, there were colleges or residences and seminaries of the priests, together with a splendid house of entertainment, devoted to the accommodation of eminent strangers who visited the temple and the court. All these sumptuous ecclesiastical establishments were grouped around the pyramid, protected by the quadrangular wall, and built amid gardens and groves.
Cortéz asked leave of the Emperor, who accompanied him on his visit, to enter the sanctuaries of the Aztec deities. In a spacious stuccoed saloon, roofed with carved and gilt timber, stood the gigantic idol of Huitzilopotchtli, the Mexican Mars. His countenance was harsh and menacing. In his hands he grasped a bow and golden arrows. He was girt with the folds of a serpent, formed of precious materials, whilst his left foot was feathered with the plumage of the humming-bird, from which he took his name. Around his throat hung suspended a massivenecklace of alternate gold and silver hearts; and on the altar before him, three human hearts which had recently been torn from living breasts, were still quivering and bleeding, fresh from the immolated victims.
In the other chamber, or sanctuary, were the milder emblems of Tezcatlipoca, who "created the world and watched it with providential care." The lineaments of this idol were those of a youth, whose image, carved in black and polished stone, was adorned with discs of burnished gold, and embellished with a brilliant shield. Nevertheless, the worship of this more benign deity was stained with homicide, for on its altar, in a plate of gold, the conqueror found five human hearts; and, in these dens of inhumanity, Bernal Diaz tells us, that the "stench was more intolerable than in the slaughter houses of Castile!"
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Such is a brief summary of the observations made by the Spaniards during a week's residence in the city. They found themselves in the heart of a rich and populous empire, whose civilization, however, was, by a strange contradiction for which we shall hereafter endeavor to account, stained with the most shocking barbarity under the name of religion. The unscrupulous murder, which was dignified with the associations and practice of national worship, was by no means consolatory to the minds of men who were really in the power of semi-civilized rulers and bloody priests. They discovered, from their own experience, that the sovereign was both fickle and feeble, and that a caprice, a hope, or a fear, might suffice to make him free his country from a handful of dangerous guests by offering them as sacrifices to his gods. The Tlascalans were already looked upon with no kind feelings by their hereditary foes. A spark might kindle a fatal flame. It was a moment for bold and unscrupulous action, and it was needful to obtain some signal advantage by which the Spaniards could, at least, effect their retreat, if not ensure an ultimate victory.
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News just then was brought to Cortéz that four of his countrymen, whom he left behind at Cempoalla, had been treacherously slain by one of the tributary caciques of Montezuma; and this at once gave him a motive, or at least a pretext, for seizing the Emperor himself, as a hostage for the good faith of his nation. Accordingly, he visited Montezuma with a band of his most reliable followers, who charged the monarch with the treachery of hissubordinate, and demanded the apprehension of the cacique to answer for the slaughter of their inoffensive countrymen. Montezuma, of course, immediately disavowed the treason and ordered the arrest of the Governor; but Cortéz would not receive an apology or verbal reparation of the injury,—although he professed to believe the exculpation of Montezuma himself,—unless that sovereign would restore the Spaniard's confidence in his fidelity by quitting his palace and changing his residence to the quarters of the invaders!
This was, indeed, an unexpected blow. It was one of those strokes of unparalleled boldness which paralyzed their victim by sheer amazement. After considerable discussion and useless appeals, the entrapped Emperor tamely submitted to the surprising demand, for he saw, in the resolved faces of his armed and steel-clad foes, that resistance was useless, if he attempted to save his own life, with the small and unprepared forces that were at hand.
For a while the most ceremonious respect was paid by the conqueror and his men to their royal prisoner, who, under strictsurveillance, maintained his usual courtly pomp, and performed all the functions of Emperor. But Cortéz soon became his master. The will of an effeminate king was no match for the indomitable courage, effrontery and genius of the Spanish knight. The offending cacique of Cempoalla was burned alive, either to glut his vengeance or inspire dread; and when the traitor endeavored to compromise Montezuma in his crime, fetters were placed for an hour on the limbs of the imprisoned sovereign. Every day the disgraced Emperor became, more and more, the mere minister of Cortéz. He was forced to discountenance publicly those who murmured at his confinement, or to arrest the leading conspirators for his deliverance. He granted a province to the Castilian crown and swore allegiance to it. He collected the tribute and revenue from dependant cities or districts in the name of the Spanish king; and, at last, struck a blow even at his hereditary and superstitious faith by ordering the great Teocalli to be purged of its human gore and the erection of an altar on its summit, on which, before the cross and the images of the Virgin and her Son, the Christian mass might be celebrated in the presence of the Aztec multitude.
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It was at this moment, when Cortéz tried the national nerve most daringly by interfering with the religious superstitions of a dissatisfied town, and when every symptom of a general rebellionwas visible, that the conqueror received the startling news of the arrival on the coast ofDon Pamphilo de Narvaez, with eighteen vessels and nine hundred men, who had been sent, by the revengeful Velasquez, to arrest the hero and send him in chains to St. Jago.
A more unfortunate train of circumstances can scarcely be conceived. In the midst of an enemy's capital, with a handful of men,—menaced by a numerous and outraged nation, on the one hand, and, with a Spanish force sent, in the name of law by authorities to whom he owed loyal respect, to arrest him, on the other,—it is indeed difficult to imagine a situation better calculated to try the soul and task the genius of a general. But it was one of those perilous emergencies which, throughout his whole career, seem to have imparted additional energy, rather than dismay, to the heart of Cortéz, and which prove him to have been, like Nelson, a man who never knew the sensation of fear. Nor must it be imagined that difficulty made him rash. Seldom has a hero appeared in history more perfectly free from precipitancy after he undertook his great enterprise;—and, in the period under consideration, this is fully exhibited in the diplomacy with which he approached the hostile Spaniards on the coast who had been despatched to dislodge and disgrace him. He resolved, at once, not to abandon what he had already gained in the capital; but, at the same time, he endeavored to tranquilize or foil Narvaez if he could not win him over to his enterprise; for it was evidently the policy of the newly arrived general to unite in a spoil which was almost ready for division rather than to incur the perils and uncertainty of another conquest.
Accordingly Cortéz addressed a letter to Narvaez requesting him not to kindle a spirit of insubordination among the natives by proclaiming his enmity. Yet this failed to affect his jealous countryman. He then desired Narvaez to receive his band as brothers in arms, and to share the treasure and fame of the conquest. But this, also, was rejected; while the loyal tool of Velasquez diligently applied himself to fomenting the Aztec discontent against his countrymen, and proclaimed his design of marching to Mexico to release the Emperor from the grasp of his Spanish oppressor.
There was now no other opening for diplomacy, nor was delay to be longer suffered. Cortéz, therefore, leaving the mutinous capital in the hands of Pedro de Alvarado, with a band of but one hundred and fifty men to protect the treasure he had amassed,—departed for the shores of the Gulf with only seventy soldiers, butwas joined, on his way, by one hundred and twenty men who had retreated from the garrison at Vera Cruz. He was not long in traversing the plains and Cordilleras towards the eastern sea; and falling suddenly on the camp of Narvaez, in the dead of night, he turned the captured artillery against his foe, seized the general, received the capitulation of the army of nine hundred well equipped men, and soon healed the factions which of course existed between the conquerors and the conquered. He had acquired theprestigewhich always attends extraordinary success or capacity; and men preferred the chances of splendid results under such a leader to the certainty of moderate gain under a general who did not possess his matchless genius. Thus it was that the lordly spirit and commanding talents of Cortéz enabled him to convert the very elements of disaster into the means of present strength and future success!