Hiaquiand Mayo are two small districts, situated between Sonora and Cinaloa. The district of Hiaqui is bounded on the north by Sonora, and on the south by Cinaloa, on the west by the Californian gulf, and on the east by the ridge of mountains. Hiaqui is so called from a river of that name, which flows through it from Sonora. It is not a very extensive district, and little is known concerning the climate and productions, though they are nearly the same as those of Sonora.
The Rio Hiaqui is the principal river, a branch of which in the south east, divides that part of Cinaloa which lies on the eastern side of the ridge from Sonora; it also overflows occasionally, and inundates in the rainy seasons part of Sonora and Mayo, rising in a southerly direction in a place called Tauramara, and bending in a north-west course for half its length, it pervades the grand chain of mountains, and then turns off to the south-west, and falls into the Californian gulf, at the village of Huiribis, and forms a good harbour, from whicha trade in provisions is carried on to the opposite shore of California. The banks of the Hiaqui are extremely fertile, and produce abundance of maize, beans, pease, and vegetables. The chief town is Riochico, situated fifty leagues north-north-west of Sinaloa.
Mayois a small district to the south of Hiaqui, and is bounded by that province on the north, on the east by the ridge of mountains, on the south by Sinaloa, and the west by the gulf of California. Of it very little is known with accuracy; it is fertile, aid watered by the river Mayo, from which it receives its name; this river falls into the Californian sea in north latitude 27° 40ʹ.
Sinaloais the most southern province which is comprehended under the intendancy of Sonora; it is bounded by the gulf of California on the west, on the east by New Biscay, or the ridge or Cordillera of Topia, also called Tepecouan, and Sierra Madre, on the north by Mayo, and on the south by Culiacan. This country is about 300 miles in length from the south-east to the north-east, and 120 miles broad.
Sinaloa was discovered by Nunez de Guzman in the year 1552. The climate is good, the air being very pure, the land fertile, and producing abundantly grain, cotton, and fruits.
The rivers are numerous, though small, and well stored with fish.
Sinaloa is chiefly inhabited by Indians, though there are numbers of mining stations established; and the province bids very fair to be well colonized. The natives are a warlike race, and were with great difficulty brought to submit to the dominion of the Spaniards. They have caciques or chiefs, whose authority is however very limited, being confined to heading warlike expeditions. It ischiefly by valour displayed in battle, or hunting, that they obtain this distinction; sometimes indeed the interest of a powerful family elevates one of their number to the caciqueship. They are fond of oratory, and if one of their number displays any great ability in this art, universal acclamations decree him their chieftain. These latter instances are however rare. Laws are unknown.
Their weapons are bows, with poisoned arrows, heavy clubs of wood and shields. These people are more industrious than their Californian neighbours in manufacturing coarse cotton stuffs. Many of the tribes subsist entirely by hunting and fishing, and have no regular residences, neither do they till the ground. In the inland parts these tribes are chiefly found subsisting by the chase; on the sea coast they live by their industry, and by the fishery.
Those in the mountainous regions are reckoned to be in the most perfect state of nature of any of the American Indians, relying solely on their skill in the chase, and on the bounty of nature in her produce of roots, fruits, and plants. During the rainy season, they make a large cap of rushes like a pent-house or umbrella, which they wear on their heads to throw off the water, by which means they keep themselves dry for a considerable time. They construct a sort of rude wigwam of branches, to shield themselves from the scorching rays of the summer sun, and in winter they constantly keep large fires, round which they sleep, eat, and drink, with no other canopy than Heaven. The heat in this country exceeds the cold, and they have little other bad weather, than during the rainy months.
There are many gold and silver mines in the mountainous parts of this district, and in one of these called Yecorato, there was found a piece of gold which weighed 16 marks and upwards, the mark being two-thirds of a pound, or eight ounces.This was sent to Spain and deposited in the royal cabinet of Madrid. The chief mining station is Sivirijoa.
The principal town isCinaloa, orSt. Felipey St. Jago, on the river Cinaloa, in 106° west longitude, and 26° north latitude, 630 miles north-west of Mexico; the stream on which it stands and the Rio del Puerto, form the two principal rivers of this province; they both rise in the Cordillera of Topia, and receiving other streams in their course, enter the southern part of the Californian sea, very near each other, and a little to the northward of Macapule Bay. Cinaloa contains 9500 inhabitants.
The chief place of the whole government of Sonora is the capital.
Arispe, which has the forts of Bacuachi and Bavispe on the south and west.
Hostimuri, the chief place of Mayo and Hiaqui, has many rich mines in its vicinity, with a council of the mines situated at St. Xavier.
Los Alamosis also another station of note for the mines, between the Mayo and Fuerte rivers, with a population of 7900.
The towns of Sonora Proper, and Ostimuri, are three in number, the villages 46, and the missions 46; of these villages, many are mining stations.
Cinaloa contains four towns, Cinaloa, Montes Claros, with 7900 souls; and El Rosario 5600; with 92 villages, numerous distinct farms and missions, and many important mining stations.
Inquitting Sonora, on the east, we find the province and intendancy of New Biscay or Durango, which is bounded on the north by New Mexico and Indian nations, on the east by a desert country between it and Coaguila, on the west by Sonora, and on the south by Zacatecas and Guadalaxara, or New Gallicia. It is about 100 miles in medialbreadth, and 690 in length. The great ridge or Cordillera of Sierra Madre crosses it in its whole length, and the whole country is very mountainous, well watered by small rivers, the climate temperate, the soil fertile, the cattle fine and numerous, and the mountains abounding in ores. This intendancy has a population of 159,000 souls.
The country near New Biscay contains several small marshes, in the islands or firm ground of which the Indians bid defiance to their Spanish neighbours, and are so hostile, that many forts have been built along the country to prevent their incursions.
The capital isDurango, which is the farthest town of any consequence north of Mexico; it is situated on a river which empties itself into a lake, (the river is called Durango or Guadiana).
The population of this city amounts to 12,000. It is the see of a bishop, which is very extensive; in his jurisdiction all the western interior provinces, comprehending those on the east shore of the Californian gulf, are included. It was erected in the year 1620. The tithes of this see are said to have amounted in ten years to 1,080,300 dollars.
A branch of the royal treasury of Mexico is established here for collecting the duties on the mines. The climate in the neighbourhood of this city is mild and healthy, and the country fertile, producing corn, maize and fruit, and pasturing fine cattle. It has three churches and four convents, and is 170 leagues from Mexico, and 298 from Santa Fé. Durango is elevated 6845 feet above the level of the sea, and the intendant or governor of the province resides here.
The inhabitants of New Biscay are all whites, there being no Indians amongst them; they are a people of robust constitution and good intellectual qualities.
They live in a state of constant warfare with their neighbours the Indians, particularly with theCumanches, a very warlike race of people, who bear an inveterate hatred to the Spaniards. A tract of desert country to the west, called the Bolson de Mapimi, is inhabited by the Acoclames, the Cocoyames, the Apaches Mezcleros, and Apaches Fardones. It is from this waste that the natives are principally annoyed by the Indians; in it is a large lake called Cayman, and part of another called Parras.
The Rio Conchos is the largest river of New Biscay, which rises in the Sierra Madre, and after taking a southerly course, suddenly turns to the east, and again to the north, and empties itself into the Rio del Norte, at the Fort de las Juntas. New Biscay has six towns and 199 villages, with innumerable stations and farms.
The towns of New Biscay of the greatest note after Durango, areChihuahua, formerly the residence of the captain-general of all the interior provinces of the upper part of the viceroyalty of New Spain, and now the residence of the captain-general of the western interior provinces, which comprehend New Biscay, New Mexico, Sonora, and the two Californias. The population of Chihuahua is 11,600, and it is surrounded with mining stations, the principal of which isSanta Rosa de Cosiquiriachi, where that part of the Sierra Madre, called De los Metales, has valuable and numerous silver mines; this mining station is peopled by 10,700 souls.
Mapimis, on the south extremity of the desert of Mapimi, is a military port, with 2700 inhabitants.
St. Juan del Rio, south of Lake Parras, 10,200 souls.
Saltillo, situated to the west of Monterey, in New Leon, on a barren dry soil; 6000 people.
Pasquaro, south of Rio de Nasas; 5600.
Batopilas, west of Rio Conchos, 8000, formerly a place of great repute for its mines.
Parralthe seat of a council of mines, 5000, and the mining station ofGuirisamey, 3800.
The population of this government is concentrated entirely in these towns and in the mining stations, as in New Mexico, the warlike Indians rendering this method of living necessary; even the forts are well peopled, as the settlers choose to live under their protection, in preference to possessing large tracts of land at a distance from any defence.
Theintendancy of San Luis Potosi, comprises the provinces of Coaguila, New Leon, Texas, and the colonies of New Santander; and forms the western captain-generalship of the interior provinces.
It is bounded on the north by desart countries, inhabited by tribes of wandering Indians; by the Bolson de Mapimi, an unconquered desart on the west, as well as by part of New Biscay and Zacatecas; on the south by the intendancies of Guanaxuato, Mexico, and Vera Cruz. On the east its limits are not defined; by the Spaniards they are considered to reach to the river Mexicano or Mermento, between the sixty-fifth and sixty-sixth degrees of west longitude, but the American congress deny this being the boundary of Louisiana, and extend their claims as far as the bay of St. Bernardo.
This intendancy is computed to have a population of 334,900 souls.
That part of San Luis Potosi which joins Zacatecas, is a mountainous country; in New Leon the land is not high, consequently the summers are hot and the winters cold; the land on the right, between Coaguila and Louisiana, is represented as containing impervious savannahs and enormous desarts. The nearest post of the Americans to NewSpain, is Fort Clayborne, on the Red River. In the greater part of this immense territory of San Luis the climate is good, and the air pure and healthy.
The coast which borders the Mexican gulf, is lined with long narrow islands, between which and the continent, are sheets of water denominated lakes. The mouth of the Rio Panuco, and the bar of New Santander, are the only ports of the coast from which vessels trade with the West Indian Islands in provisions. The whole coast has remained very little explored; such parts as have been surveyed, are found to be shut out by sand bars, which prevent large vessels from passing into the harbours, which are otherwise excellent.
The southern parts contain the mines of Catorce, Guadal-Cazar and Charcas, in the mountain districts.
There is a route which the Americans follow from New Orleans, through this intendancy, to Mexico, for the purposes of traffic, which is represented to require ten weeks to perform it, under great perils and hardships.
The great ridge of Anahuac, or plain of New Spain, gradually descends, and loses itself in this intendancy; and on its slope is situated the capital,St. Luis Potosi, where the intendant or governor-general resides; it is a little westward of the source of the Panuco River, and contains a population of 12,000 persons.
Coaguilais a province of St. Luis Potosi, lying to the north of New Leon, and sometimes included in that division; it is also calledNew Estremadura, and in some maps Cuvilla. It is bounded on the north by uncultivated countries, on the east by the provinces of Texas, New Santander, and Leon, on the west by New Biscay, and the Bolson deMapimi, and on the south by New Biscay. Its extent is 200 leagues from north to south, and 160 from north-west to north-east.
This province is nearly a waste, peopled only by the Indians and some few missions, and if it possesses mineral treasures, they remain to be discovered. The capital is Monclova, situated in the south part, the residence of a military governor. The next town of importance is Castanuela, on the southern borders.
The Rio del Norte pervades this district.
Is bounded on the north by Coaguila, on the west by Coaguila and New Biscay, on the east by New Santander, on the south by Zacatecas and St. Luis Potosi, or Guasteca. It is a very mountainous country, thinly inhabited and possessing few other mines than those of lead.
The chief town is Monterey, the see of a bishop; there are also several villages and small stations; but although it has been sometimes designated by the high sounding title of the New Kingdom of Leon, it is only a small tract, of which scarcely any thing is known.
Theseprovinces extend for an immense length along the shores of the Mexican gulf, and commencing at the estuary of the river Mexicano follow the course of that river; Coaguila then bounds them on the north, New Leon on the east, Mexico on the south, and the gulf of Mexico on the west. The Rio Bravo del Norte flows through the centre of these provinces.
Numerous herds of cattle feed in this country, which abounds in fruit, corn, &c. A chain of mountains, from the main ridge, runs through NewSantander, and is called the Sierra Gorda; from which the district has sometimes been named; this chain abounds in mines. It was not till 1748, that this district or province was wholly subdued, in which year the capital was built. There is a fine harbour attached to it, which was first observed in 1739.
The richest mines are in Panuco or Potosi, and the chief of these is Catorce, or La Purissima Conception; it was discovered in 1773, and is said to yield annually to the amount of from seven to 800,000l.sterling of silver. Charcas is the next mining station of note, and is in the north of Panuco or Potosi.
The remaining towns of most importance in the intendancy of San Luis Potosi, areNew Santander, the capital of the province of that name, with its port ofSoto la Marina, which however does not admit vessels that draw more water than six feet.
Linares, in New Leon, between the Rio del Norte, and the Tigre, and—
San Antonio de Bejar, capital of Texas, between the two rivers Nogales and St. Antonio.
The most eastern fort of this intendancy is the Presidio ofNacogdoch, which is 68 leagues from the United Statesʼ Fort Clayborne.
The great river of this government is the Rio del Norte, which enters the Mexican gulf in about 25° 40ʹ north latitude, and 97° 20ʹ west longitude. The other rivers of most note are, beginning from the east, the Rio Mexicano, Rio de Sabina, Rio de la Trinidad, Rio Colorado de Texas, Rio St. Antonio, Rio de las Nueces, Rio de Tigre, to the south of the great Rio del Norte, and the Rio Panuco or Tampico; of all of which very little is known.
Thisintendancy is one of the smallest in New Spain, and is the first of those we are about to describe, which are under the immediate controul of the viceroy.
It is bounded on the north by the intendancy of New Biscay or Durango, on the east by San Luis Potosi, on the west by Guadalaxara, and on the south by Guanaxuato. It is 85 leagues long, and 51 broad in its greatest dimensions.
The population of this province is 153,300.
Zacatecas consists almost entirely of mountain country; so much so, as to have been said greatly to resemble Swisserland. The climate is very variable and inclement, and the soil far from fertile; but all this is compensated by the riches of the mines, which are only inferior to those of Guanaxuato.
Its chief town isZacatecas, where the great mines are situated. The population of this town, is 33,000; it is a bishopʼs see, and is 240 miles north-north-east of Mexico.
The next isSombrerete, the seat of the chief-council of mines;Fresnillo, near the latter, both of which are great mining stations. Sombrerete was formerly the richest of the whole, and there are many other mining stations of great importance in this district, most of which are very populous.
This, with Zacatecas, formed New Gallicia, in the former division of New Spain. It is bounded on the north by Sonora, and New Biscay, on the east by Zacatecas and Guanaxuato, on the west, by the Pacific, and on the south, by Valladolid, or Mechoacan; it is 118 leagues long, and 100 broad. This province is of importance, from being the seat of a royal audience, or supreme court,which, as before observed, governs in civil affairs, more than one-half of New Spain. It was established in the year 1548.
Guadalaxara, contains a population of 630,500 souls, and its eastern side is a part of the declivity of the plain of Anahuac; the western side is mountainous, and covered with extensive forests. On the sea coast, the air is hot and unhealthy, but on the heights, pure and wholesome.
The chief productions of this country are wheat, maize, cotton, and cochineal, all of which are produced in very great abundance. Guadalaxara contains two cities, six towns, and 322 villages; there are five mines of silver of great value, the chief of which is Copala.
The great river of this country is the river Santiago, which crosses it from east to west, communicating with Lake Chapala.
The volcano of Colima is the most striking feature in this province, and is the last of those which lie on the same parallel to the west. Its height is near 10,000 feet above the sea, and its crater continually ejects smoke and ashes. This volcano is isolated from the neighbouring chain.
The Rio Santiago, or Rio Grande, is a noble stream, which rises in the Nevada de Toluca, near Mexico, and after traversing the extremity of Valladolid, or Mechoacan, and Guanaxuato, crosses the province of Guadalaxara, first going through the northern extremity of Lake Chapala; it throws itself into the Pacific, at the point of St. Blas; in Valladolid it bears the name of Rio Lerma.
Lake Chapala is a fine sheet of water of this province, much larger than the Mexican lakes, and has some islands in it; it is about ninety miles long, and thirty broad, but its dimensions are not accurately ascertained.
The great towns of Guadalaxara, areGuadalaxara, where the governor, the bishop, and the officers of the supreme court of the royal audience reside; its population is 19,500 souls. It is placedon the Rio Esquitlan, or Santiago, which flows from Lake Chapala. At the distance of twelve miles from the town, this Great River has a cataract, and is very rapid. The city stands on a plain, in which there are many rivulets, surrounded by mountains, and covered with oaks and pines. Handsome gardens are seen in all directions, which abound with every sort of fruits. There is in estate belonging to the Marquis of Altamira near it, which sends annually to the markets of Mexico, four thousand head of cattle, with numerous flocks of sheep and swine; it also grows great quantities of pimento, maize, &c., of which it has been computed to yield, to the value of 40,000 dollars per annum.
The extent of the city is very great, and the population consists of Spaniards, mulattoes and mestizoes; the native Indians inhabit the suburbs and villages adjacent. The people are celebrated for industry, and they have excellent artisans amongst them; they are a good looking and well made race. The streets are unpaved, and mules are used for their carriages; this city is subjected to tempests of a very violent nature, but snow never lodges there.
Here there is a manufactory of cigars, and the natives make a sort of jars of a fine scented earth, which are in much request.
They have fine aqueduct, many churches, convents, and two colleges, with eight fine squares.
The revenues of the bishopric amount to 2,579,100 dollars annually.
The jurisdiction of the royal audience has been already mentioned in a former part.
The other towns of most importance are—
Colima, six miles south of the volcano of the same name.
Aguas Calientes, near the mines of Asiento de Ibarra.
Compostella,Lagos, andSan Blas; the latter ofwhich is a noted sea port, where the marine department is stationed.
San Blas is at the mouth of the river Santiago; here there are magazines, dock yards for the royal navy, and in the vicinity, all sorts of necessary timber for constructing ships; but it is so unhealthy a place, that the officers usually reside in a village near it, where the air is better.
Thisis one of the small but populous provinces of New Spain, and is situated on the great ridge of the Mexican Cordillera. Its length is fifty-two, and breadth thirty-one leagues. The highest land is the mountain De los Llanitos, 9325 feet above the sea.
The value of this province consists chiefly (although great part of it is very fertile) in its mines. They are the richest of North America, and exceed in produce and value that of Potosi in South America, or indeed, any mines in the world.
The population of this province consists of 517,300 souls, of which, 180,000 are Indians.
The cities of Guanaxuato are three in number, with four towns, thirty-seven villages, and numerous settlements.
Guanaxuato, or Santa Féis the capital; it was founded in 1554. It is surrounded closely by the silver mines, six principal ones of which have been enumerated. The height of Guanaxuato is 6836 feet above the sea; some of the mines have their entrance shafts even higher, the one calledValenciana, having its mouth as high as 7856 feet above the level of the ocean.
In the city, and mining villages surrounding it, the population is estimated at 70,600; the other towns of most note are—
Salamanca, at the height of 5762 feet,SilaoorCelaya, which has a very fine church, still higher,andVilla de Leon, celebrated for its neighbourhood producing fine maize and corn.
Thisprovince is the most important, though not the most extensive of those which form the viceroyalty of New Spain; its historical relations, its splendid capital, extraordinary and beautiful appearances and situation, give it, independently of its chief place being the metropolis of New Spain, an advantage over the other states of this widely extended region; we shall accordingly enter more at large into its history and description, than what the limits of this work will allow to be allotted to the other provinces.
Mexico is bounded on the north by the intendancy of San Luis Potosi, on the east by the province of Tlascala, or Puebla, and Vera Cruz, on the west by Mechoacan, or Valladolid, and Guanaxuato, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. The government of the royal audience, in the capital, is the richest and most extensive of the three royal audiences established in North America.
Mexico was formerly an empire of no great extent, but numerously peopled, and covered with towns; it was surrounded by several other states, either in alliance with it, or under its dominion. Of these the most noted were the Michuacan, Tlacopan, and the Acolhuacan kingdoms, the Cholollan, Huexotzincan, and Tlaxcallan republics, with several others of inferior note.
The boundaries of the Mexican kingdom were the small state of Quauhtemallan on the south-east; on the east, part of the above states and the Mexican gulf; on the north Huaxtecas, a country inhabited by a tribe of that name; Tlacopan, and a savage tribe, called the Chichemicas, were on the north-west; Michuacan on the west; and on the south and south-west the Pacific. This kingdom was therefore situatedbetween the fourteenth and twenty-first degrees of north latitude, and between the ninety-seventh and the hundred and fifth degrees of west longitude. Of this extent, the most fertile and best cultivated portion was the vale of Anahuac, or of Waters, which embraced a beautiful district, comprised within mountains, the circuit of whose basis occupied 120 miles. From the name of this vale, the whole country received afterwards the appellation of Anahuac, previously to its settlement by the Spaniards, who called it New Spain; which title has since been given to the dominions of Spain, in North America, occupying the whole extent from the northern boundaries, to the kingdom of Guatimala, and often embracing that territory also. In the centre of the vale of Anahuac are the lakes of Tezcuco and Chalco, on whose banks were the cities of Mexico, Acolhuacan, Tlacopan, Tezcuco, and forty others, with innumerable small towns.
Michuacan, the westerly kingdom, had its capital on a lake, called Pascuaro, with four other cities. Tlacopan lay between Mexico and Michuacan, and its capital was Tezcuco, four miles west of Mexico. Acolhuacan, which was very extensive, as well as the most ancient of the kingdoms, had its capital on the eastern shore of Lake Tezcuco, at about fourteen miles from Mexico; this kingdom was powerful, populous, and contained many cities; it was amongst the most civilized of the territories of Anahuac. Tlaxcallan or Tlascala was on the south of Mexico, and the chief of the republics; it was not large, and its capital was situated seventy miles east of Mexico. The republics of Cholollan and Huexotzinco lay to the south of Tlaxcallan.
The origin of the Mexican nations, or the nations of Anahuac is very obscure, but it is supposed that the Toltecas, who inhabited a country to the north of Mexico were the most ancient inhabitants, of whom any trace could be found; andthey had a tradition that they came from the north. A tribe of this nation being banished from the country where they dwelt, journeyed to the southward in search of a favourable spot whereon to fix their residence; it is asserted they commenced their migration in the year 596 A.D., but not finding a place which had charms enough to fix them, for any great length of time, they still kept removing to the south for the space of 104 years, when they came to a spot which pleased them. Here they erected a city, fifty miles eastward of the spot where Mexico the capital was afterwards founded. They rested twenty years in this place, when they again removed and settled forty miles farther west, building another city.
They appear to have been an industrious people, well skilled in many arts, and living under the government of their kings in a peaceable manner; but, unfortunately in the year 1052, suffered from a dearth and want of water, which pervaded their land; and a great part of their people died of famine. Those who remained, dispersed themselves into Guatimala, Mexico, &c. For the space of 100 years the Toltecan country was nearly a desert, very few having been left behind; after this interval the Cachemecas, another race from the north arrived, whose manners were not so cultivated, and their way of living more savage than the Toltecans. They established themselves in a place about six miles from the present city of Mexico, and were governed by kings, who encouraged their people to cultivate the friendship of the poor Toltecans who remained; in return for which they instructed them in all the arts they knew. This monarchy lasted till the year 1520, or nearly five centuries; the Toltecan monarchy having endured nearly four. Some other tribes from the north, of which the Acolhuans, and the Otomies were the principal, entered into alliancewith the Cachemecas. After them the Tarascas and the Nahuatlacas, also from the north, settled in Anahuac. The Aztecas, or Mexicans, were the last; they came from a country beyond the gulf of California; this is said to have taken place in the year 1160, when they moved southward, and traces of the buildings they left, are said to exist on the banks of the Rio Colorado, and on the Rio Gila, &c. They stopped for some time at a place in New Biscay, about 250 miles north-north-west of Chihuahua, and there raised some large buildings, from which the place is now called Casas Grandes, which signifies large houses, and is in 29° north latitude. This large building is constructed with three floors, and crowned by a terrace; the lower floor has no door, and the upper is accessible only by a ladder, which is still the manner in which the buildings of New Mexico are constructed. This house, or fort, has been surrounded by a wall, seven feet thick, and in which enormous stones were used; the beams of pine are said still to exist. In the centre is a keep or mound; the whole has had a ditch about it, and earthen pots, jars, &c. with mirrors of the itzli stone, have been dug up in the neighbourhood. On leaving this spot, they crossed the mountains of Taraumara, and rested three years at Culiacan.
When the Aztecas left their native country, they consisted of six tribes, viz. the Mexicans, Tepanecas, Chalcese, Tlahuicas, Tlascans, and Xochimilcans. At Culiacan they constructed the image of the deity Huitzilopochtli, with a throne to carry it on the shoulders of four priests. The Mexicans were deserted by the five other tribes on quitting Culiacan, and journeying with their image, arrived at Tula, the capital which the Toltecans had built, erecting altars at all their resting places on the road. They stayed here, and in the vicinity, twenty years; and in 1216 they came to Zumpanco, a large townin the vale of Anahuac; here they were kindly received, and one of their chief women married Ilhuicatl, the son of the chief; from which marriage the race of Mexican emperors descended. They roamed about the borders of the lake Tezcuco, settling in different places, and at last engaged in wars with the Cachemicas and Acolhuans, and were obliged to take refuge in some islands called Acocolo, in the southern part of the Mexican lakes. Here they existed fifty-two years, in great poverty, and were finally enslaved by the chief of a small state called Colhuacan.
A few years after a war commenced between the Xochimilcans, one of the tribes who had separated from the Mexicans at Caliacan, and the Cholhuans, in which the Mexicans assisted their enslavers, and behaved so valorously as to gain their liberty. Their conduct was however stained by the cruelty they committed in the action, by cutting off their prisonersʼ ears, and by a human sacrifice, which they made to their divinity after the battle, which consisted of four of the prisoners whom they had reserved. The chief of the Cholhuans commanded them to quit his territory, being disgusted at their barbarity; they moved therefore to a place near the junction of Lakes Chalco and Tezcuco, which place they named Mexicaltzinco; they removed however from this to Iztacalo, nearer the place where Mexico was soon after built. Here they rejoiced for their victory and subsequent liberation, and remained two years, when wandering about, they discovered on an island, in the lake, a sign which their oracles had declared to be the mark of their future resting place; here they accordingly built some miserable huts of reeds, and having taken a Cholhuan prisoner, sacrificed him to their deity, built an altar, and prepared permanently to fix their residence. To this town and island they gave the name of Tenochtitlan, and afterwards building their huts round the altar ofHuitzilopochtli or Mexitli, they gave the town the name of Mexico, or the city of Mexitli, their god of war. This took place in the year 1825.
The situation of their new town, chosen solely from the omen, was as uncomfortable and as ill-placed, as they could have found on a small island, in a lake without ground for cultivation, or much space for building. There they lived long in a very wretched manner, till at last, impelled by necessity, they drove stakes and made dykes to the neighbouring islets; by which means they shut out the water, and connected the islands, so as to gain considerable space from the lake. By industry they attained sufficient quantities of materials from the neighbouring settlements to erect their habitations and furnish themselves with necessaries, and constructed floating gardens on the water, with the mud of the lake and branches of trees, on which they raised vegetables, &c. Struggling with great distress and difficulties, they remained unanimous and constant in their exertions for thirteen years, when an old quarrel was renewed amongst themselves, and they divided into two factions, who separated, one remaining on the spot, the other going to an island in the vicinity, which they named Tlatelolco, and which was afterwards united to the other by mounds. The original town was now divided into four quarters, and in the centre was built the temple of Mexitli.
They remained in great barbarism for some time, and sacrificed a daughter of the king of Cholhuacan, whom they had invited into their town, under a specious pretext; on which the king declared war against them, but they were now as powerful as himself. Their government had been hitherto an aristocracy; the nation obeying a council of their great chieftain. At this era they found that a monarchy was best suited to their views, as well because their neighbours had mostly adopted that form of government, as because their territories consisting only ofthe city, one person was better able to perform the duties of the kingly office than several. They therefore elected Acampatzin for their king and leader, who was descended from the race above mentioned.
This prince took a daughter of Acolmiztli, king of Coatlican, for his consort; their rival brothers, the Tlatelolcos also chose a king, the son of the king of the Tepanecans, and in consequence of their choosing the son of this prince, who had hitherto received tribute from both parties, they endeavoured to instigate him to make war on the Mexicans; he however, only doubled their tribute, and otherwise oppressed them very much, for fifty years; during thirty-seven of which, Acamapitzin governed Mexico. He took another wife, and had by her a son Huitzilihiutl, and by his concubines several children, of whom Itzcoatl was afterwards one of the most renowned.
Acamapitzin governed Mexico with great success, and in his reign buildings of stone were constructed, and canals for the use and ornament of the place were commenced. He died in the year 1389, and after four months Huitzilihiutl his son, succeeded him by the universal choice of the people. He married a daughter of the king of the Tepanecas, as well as another princess; they each brought him sons, and the son of the latter was the famous Montezuma Ilhuicamina. Huitzilihuitl reigned twenty years, and died in 1409, and was succeeded by his brother Chimalpopoca, who, dying by his own hands in prison, to which he was treacherously conveyed by the king of Acolhuacan, was succeeded by Itzcoatl, the son of Acamapitzin, by a slave. In the mean time they were engaged in many disputes with the neighbouring kings and their rivals the Tlatelolcans, who were as rapidly advancing in power as the Mexicans. The first king of the Tlatelolcans died in 1339.
On the ascension of Itzcoatl to the Mexican throne, who was accounted one of the most prudent of their kings, he built temples, &c. subdued some neighbouring provinces, and concluded an alliance with the exiled prince of Acolhuacan, whose father had been killed, and himself supplanted by a neighbouring king. This prince immediately declared war against the usurper, and took several towns. Itzcoatl sent Montezuma, the son of Huitzilihuitl to congratulate him. He was taken prisoner, but escaped by treachery, and got back to Mexico, when Maxtlaton, the usurping king of Acolhuacan, who had been only king of Tepanecas, declared war against Mexico, on account of the Mexicans joining the exiled prince Nezahualcajotl. This terrified the Mexicans, and they demanded their king to make peace, but Montezuma, by his oratory persuaded them to commence hostilities. Montezuma undertook to carry the defiance, and was assailed in his return by some of the enemy, but got back after killing two or three. After this the exiled prince joined his army to the Mexicans, and a furious battle took place. When night approached, the troops of the enemies still increasing, the Mexicans were discouraged, and began to give way; but Montezuma, and the other chiefs, rushing to the front, redeemed the day. Montezuma took the general of the adversaries with his own hand; the next day the battle was renewed, and the Tepanecans totally defeated, and their city taken.
That nation was afterward totally subdued, and became subjected to Itzcoatl; who, after reducing all the provinces which were refractory, replaced Nezahualcajotl on his throne; in these actions Montezuma manifested his usual address and courage. Itzcoatl gave the Tepanecan country to Totoquihuatzin, with the title of king of Tacuba. These kings then formed a treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive.The Xochimilcans, fearing that they might be the next objects of Mexican power, declared war, but were defeated, their capital and strong holds being taken by Montezuma. Thus, after twelve years, Mexico rose from its insignificancy, and became more powerful than all the surrounding states, and was no longer tributary. Itzcoatl died in 1436, at an advanced age, and Montezuma was called to the throne; one of the first acts of his reign was to build an immense temple, and he was no sooner placed on the imperial seat, than he was called to a war between the Chalcese and the Tezcucans; which terminated in the defeat of the former, and in this war he obtained the victims to be sacrificed at his coronation, which was the most splendid they had ever witnessed. The king of Tlatelolco having formed a conspiracy against Itzcoatl, and renewing his designs against Montezuma, he deposed him, and put Moquihuix in his place. Two large provinces were also conquered, and added to the Mexican dominions about this period.
He then engaged in a war with the king of the Mixtacas, the Huexotzincas, and Tlascalans, and after meeting with a reverse, he finally succeeded in defeating them, and again enlarged his dominions. In 1457 he undertook the conquest of Euetlachtlan, and sent Moquihuix, king of the Tlatelolcos to subdue it, but hearing that the Cholulans, the Tlascalans and Huexotzincas had joined the enemy, he ordered his army to return; they however disobeyed his command, conquered the enemy, and dispatched an immense number of them to be immolated in the Mexican temples. This so pleased Montezuma, that he forgave them, and married Moquihuix to one of his own relatives.
The Chalcese, who had again rebelled, were again reduced, and the whole of his reign was occupied in augmenting his dominions; so that at his death,in 1464, his territories reached from the gulf of Mexico nearly to the Pacific.
During the reign of Montezuma, Mexico suffered by an inundation; this happened in 1446, when, after a very long continuance of rain, the lake swelled, and overflowing the city, destroyed many houses; to prevent its recurrence, he constructed a dyke of two parallel rows of stakes, filled in with mud and stones; this dyke was nine miles long, and for the future, prevented that evil in a great measure. Six years after this calamity, the maize harvest failed; and, in 1452, after having suffered more or less, from the same cause, for three years, the people were become so reduced, that many sold themselves for slaves, and Montezuma was obliged to open the granaries, and issue edicts that no woman should sell herself for less than 400 ears of wheat, or any man for less than 500. They existed on fish, and were only restored by a plentiful harvest happening in 1454.
On his demise, he was succeeded by Axaycatl, in 1468; which prince, after a great victory, built an immense temple called Coatlan; this was after conquering the natives of the province of Tecoantepec. The Tlatelolcos, in opposition, built another which they called Coaxolotl. This prince was not so fortunate as Montezuma, for many of the districts he conquered, revolted, and the Tlatelolcos became again the enemies of the Mexicans. In 1469 and 1470, the kings of Acolhuacan and Tacuba died, and thus the league was weakened. The Tlatelolcos now declared war, and the king Moquihuix, who had married a sister of Axayacatl, treated her so ill that she informed her brother of the enterprise, by which means he totally defeated the Tlatelolcos, penetrating, in the commencement of the action, into the market place, where he tore out the heart of Moquihuix, who had been taken prisoner; he then united the city to Mexico, which it has ever since made a part of.
Axayacatl then engaged in war with some other states and was wounded, however, he gained a complete victory over the Matlatzincas, and continued to extend his dominions till his death in 1477. He was succeeded by his brother Tizoc, after reigning thirteen years. Tizoc conquered fourteen cities, and after having collected materials to build a larger temple than any of his ancestors, was poisoned by his subjects. This prince married one of his grand-daughters to the king of the Acolhuacans, who also fell in love with her sister Xocotzin, and married her, by whom he had a son named Cacamatzin, who succeeded his father, and was taken prisoner afterwards by the Spaniards.
Ahuitzotl, the brother of Tizoc, succeeded him in 1482, after he had reigned five years. His first care was to finish the temple begun by Tizoc, which he completed in four years. This king was engaged in several wars, and the human sacrifices he caused to be made at the dedication of the new temple, were so enormous, that they are said to have amounted to upwards of 70,000. Another temple was also dedicated in his reign, at which many unfortunate victims were immolated.
The dedication of these temples took place in 1486 and in 1487, when there was a terrible shock of an earthquake felt at Mexico. This monarchʼs life was spent in war, he extended his dominions as far as Guatimala, 900 miles from his capital. The Mexicans were however defeated in 1476, by the Atlixcans, under the command of a chief of the Huexotzincas.
Ahuitzotl caused a channel or aqueduct to be made from a fountain into the lake, by which the waters were so much increased, that an inundation, followed by a famine, took place.
He died in 1502, after a reign of twenty years. At the period of his death, Mexico was precisely in the same state, with regard to territorial acquisitions, as when the Spaniards arrived. He embellishedMexico by building with a stone which he discovered a quarry of in the neighbourhood, and his death was caused by a contusion on the head, which he received in rushing out of his palace, when the waters of the lake rose, by striking his head against the upper part of the door.
The next sovereign was Montezuma, the second of that name, and the ninth in order; he was called Montezuma Xocotzin, or the younger; who was a priest, and a man of great bravery; and on his election the people particularly valued themselves.
Montezumaʼs attention was first directed to war, in order to procure victims to be offered to the deities at his coronation, and the unfortunate Atlixcans were the sufferers, who, however, slew numbers of the Mexicans before they were subdued.
The pomp of Montezumaʼs coronation exceeded that of any preceding emperor, and the people saw with regret, symptoms of a tyrannical and haughty disposition show themselves after this ceremony, which they had before not suspected.
Montezuma changed many of the rules adopted by his predecessors, and particularly favoured his nobles, at the expence of the other classes. His household were entirely composed of people of rank, and he kept a number of women confined in the palace, choosing those for himself and favourites, which he thought the most beautiful; 600 neighbouring chieftains came to congratulate him, and appeared themselves to be in the utmost dread of his vengeance. His attendants cast off their shoes on entering the palace, and he permitted none of them to be sumptuously dressed. On entering the audience hall, they made three obeisances, at each of which they addressed him with a higher title. He was carried in a litter on the shoulders of his nobles, covered with a canopy, and carpets were spread along the streets in which he walked; the kitchen utensils of the finest earthenware, his tablecloths and napkins were never used more than once. His chocolate was prepared in golden vessels,and his state dinners were carried by three or four hundred young nobles, who respectfully retired when they set the dishes down, each dish standing on a chafing dish, and the whole consisting of every variety of the game, fish, fruits and herbs of the country. He pointed out those which he preferred, and the rest were taken into the anti-chamber to the attendant nobility. Four women stood by him the whole time with ewers, and he was surrounded by his counsellors and carvers.
He bathed every day, and changed his dress four times, never putting on the same dress again, they being reserved for his nobles and chief warriors. One whole city he appointed as a place of residence at his expence, for those who were worn out in his service. All his palaces and gardens were very magnificent, and he had palaces in Mexico, appropriated to the kings and foreign nobles, whenever they should choose to reside there; with royal menageries; an aviary that occupied the attention of 300 men and physicians; five hundred turkeys were killed every day for the birds of prey, and the beasts were fed on deer, rabbits, and the entrails of human sacrifices.
This Prince had many parks for hunting; he was the patron of the arts, and had many good qualities; but was bigoted in the extreme; so much so, that he afterwards lost his life and empire by his belief in vain predictions. Montezuma was not so fortunate as his predecessors had been, he indeed conquered a province which had not before been reduced; but in his wars with the Tlascalans, he was unsuccessful. This small republic contained a brave and independent people, and though comparatively in small numbers to the Mexicans, they resisted all their attacks; the Tlascalans fortified their territories, and built a wall six miles in length on the frontier they suspected would be attacked, and they repulsed the Mexicans and their allies in every attempt they made to subdue them.
The resistance of these people to the power of Montezuma created several other rebellions which lasted during the remainder of his reign. In the year 1508, an expedition had been sent against Amatla, a distant region, and the Mexican army, in marching over a mountain, encountered a furious snow storm, in which great numbers perished, and on arriving at Amatla, the remainder were almost all slain. A comet appearing at this time, and the empire suffering under rebellion and other calamities, Montezuma, ever superstitious, was thrown into great alarm; the king of Acolhuacan, Nezahualpilli, who was accounted a learned soothsayer, presaged, that the comet portended a calamity that was about to befal the nation, by the arrival of some strangers. This he was unwilling to believe, and an astrologer, who verified the predictions of his brother king, was slain in his house, which was razed to the ground.
There are many other things related of the foreknowledge the Mexicans had of the arrival of the Spaniards, these may be traced to two sources; the Spanish priests, who have invented most of them since, and to the following; the Spaniards at that time had become very formidable in the West India Islands; settlements had even been attempted on the southern continent, and their uncommon arms and appearance must have been the universal topic of conversation among the natives where they came; many of the savages on the islands had escaped, and it is hardly possible to think, that from the year 1492, when Columbus discovered the American islands, to 1508, the period we are now speaking of, that such a people as the Mexicans would not have heard of these formidable neighbours, and that they would not have formed some idea that it might soon be their turn to be attacked. They, however, went on for some years in the usual manner, and although always dreading the arrival of the unknown people, they continued their internal wars and humansacrifices. The stone, or altar, on which these unfortunate victims had been laid, was found too small, and the emperor ordered one of enormous dimensions to replace it; this was dragged by a multitude of people towards the temple, and in going over a bridge, broke the structure and precipitated the high priest and his attendants into the lake. It was, however, got out by immense labour, and, it is said, upwards of 12,000 victims were sacrificed on it.
This was the period when Mexican splendour was at its height, and Montezuma on the pinnacle of his glory. The Spaniards having well settled themselves in the great islands of Cuba and Hispaniola, turned their attention to explore the continent towards the west. Vasco Nuñez de Balboa first landed on the coast, and from the mountains descried the Pacific; this was, however, near the Isthmus, in the year 1513.
Juan de Grijalva was appointed to command a small expedition for discovery; having four ships and 240 men, he first landed on the island of Cozumel, east of Yucatan, on the 3d of May, 1518, and returned to Cuba without making any attempt to reduce the country, which he called New Spain. Velasquez, the governor, by the accounts he gave, entrusted Cortez with a commission to explore and conquer the newly discovered regions; the manner in which this was effected has been related under the head of New Spain, as well as the cause of the death of Montezuma.
The Mexican empire extended, at this time, 500 leagues from east to west, and 200 from north to south. On the death of Montezuma, his brother Quetlavaca, or Cuitlahuitzin, succeeded him after he had reigned nearly eighteen years; which event happened in June 1520. Quetlavaca gave promise of being an excellent king; he prepared his capital to receive the Spaniards, when he heard they were returning from their last retreat, andcaused it to be supplied with stores, and made spears headed with the daggers and swords taken from the Europeans who had fallen, to annoy the Spanish cavalry. He died of the small-pox before he could bring his projects to bear, in July 1520, and was succeeded by his nephew and son-in-law, Guatimozin, who had the misfortune to observe his people, dividing themselves from each other, and instead of aiding him to extirpate the Spaniards, many of them were assisting them to the utmost of their power. He was a man of undaunted courage and great capacity, and defended his city with great resolution; but being at last nearly starved; want, wretchedness, and disease, with the daily advance of the Spaniards and their auxiliaries, induced him to effect his escape, which he sought to do with his family in a canoe, accompanied by many of his faithful subjects; whilst those whom he had left to guard the remnant of his once flourishing capital endeavoured to deceive the Spaniards, in order to favour it. The canoes being large and rowing very swiftly, with other suspicious appearances, attracted the attention of the Spanish vessel, and a brigantine commanded by Garcia Holguin, was ordered to chase by Sandoval, one of Cortezʼs best officers. On coming up with the canoes the rowers dropped their oars, and the people with lamentations, begged the Spaniards not to fire, as the emperor was there. Garcia eagerly seized such a prize, and the emperor in an undaunted manner gave himself up, earnestly requesting them not to injure his wife and children. Appearing before Cortez, he, in a manly and majestic tone, addressed him, saying, “I have done my duty as a king, sheath your dagger in my body; my life is now useless to myself and my subjects.”
He had, previously, ordered his treasures to be thrown into the lake; and the allies of Cortez, had, during the general bustle, carried off the most valuable of what remained; this exasperated theSpaniards, and the rebellious spirit of his soldiers urged Cortez to a deed which has for ever stained his memory; he directed that Guatimozin and his prime minister should be put to the torture, to make them reveal where the treasure had been deposited. The emperorʼs favourite or minister, overcome with pain, for they varied the torture in every possible manner, putting them on heated grates with live coals, &c. threw a glance of supplication to Guatimozin, as if he requested leave to explain. The emperor looked at him sternly, and saying, “am I reposing on a bed of roses,” checked all further solicitation. The unfortunate minister, worn out with agony, shortly after breathed his last. Cortez, who was present, ordered the torture to cease, and released the emperor, but only for further indignities; he made him swear allegiance to the crown of Spain, and afterwards, pretending he had planned a revolt, ordered him to be strangled. Thus died Guatimozin, who had reigned about nine months, and finished his imperial career on the 15th of August 1521, the day on which the city was taken.
Here ended the race of Mexican emperors, after a period of 197 years, and 300 years from the emigration of the colony to Mexico.
The memory of the events which happened in Mexican history was retained by means of paintings on cloth of a coarse and awkward appearance, and by historical songs which were handed from generation to generation; we shall not, however, enter into those discussions which have taken place with respect to the probability of many of the circumstances; it is sufficent to say, that they were generally believed by the natives themselves. The Mexicans were assuredly an extraordinary people, and were acquainted with many arts unknown to more civilised nations; they cast metals, made pictures in feather work, dyed their cloths with beautiful and permanent colours, fabricated mirrors of a stone called itzli, as well as razors of the same substance, cutand polished gems, made a strong and lasting cement for their architectural purposes, cultivated their land, and knew the uses of the cochineal insect, which they bred; manufactured cotton cloth and hewed wood into beams, &c. with instruments of copper. Their potters were adroit, and manufactured beautiful articles; above all, they knew the difference between the solar and civil year, and added 13 days to their cycles, or era of 52 years, as intercalary days. They divided their year into 18 months, and gave these months appropriate names from the seasons, agricultural employments, &c. In their pictures, a month was represented by a circle divided into twenty parts or days; for a year, they divided a circle into eighteen parts or figures, and placed the moon in the centre. The era or century of fifty-two years, was similarly represented, and round the circle a serpent was drawn with four folds, to denote the commencement of the four periods of thirteen years each.
Cacao nuts were the monies of the people of Anahuac; and, for large purchases, were made up in bags, each bag passing for a certain sum. (In Mexico, the poor people still make use of these nuts, to purchase articles at market.) Very few remains of the Mexican structures exist; but Cortez asserted, that the great temple of Mexitli, occupied a space, in which five hundred houses might have stood. It appears, that the habitations of the Mexicans were rudely constructed, and ill contrived. The ancient city stood nearly where the present stands; though the waters of the lake have receded, owing to a drain having been formerly cut, to carry off some superabundant water. Its scite was on some islands on the west side of Lake Tezcuco, north of its junction with Lake Chalco, accessible on the west side only, by three large causeways, thirty feet broad, of earth and stone; the lake covering the other sides. It is asserted, that the circumference of the city was ten miles, andthat it contained 60,000 houses. It was divided into four quarters, which had four broad roads leading from the four gates of the great temple; a fifth quarter was added, when the city of Tlatelolco was taken, and the city was intersected by canals in every direction.
It contained many temples and palaces, the better kind of which had parapets and balconies; and many had even towers for defence. The largest square was that of Tlatelolco, where the great market was held, large enough to contain 40,000 people; and the city had fountains and reservoirs for fish, with beautiful gardens and terraces. The population was immense, but no just account has been given of it.
The Mexicans were a sanguinary people. The human beings they sacrificed on the altars of their gods were innumerable; they laid the body on the altar, cut the breast open, and took out the panting heart to satisfy their chief deity. The priests practised all sorts of austerities; puncturing their bodies with the spines of aloes, and mangling their flesh; after which they bathed in a sacred pond, which was tinged with the blood of these self-tormentors.
The dress of the Mexicans consisted, in the higher ranks, of fine cotton, dyed in fanciful colours, interwoven with hair and feathers, and painted with curious figures; they wore two or three mantles, one above another, the longest undermost, so that each might be visible. Their shoes were mere sandals of leather, or coarse fibrous cloth, tied with ribbands; the rich people adorning them with precious stones, &c. Their hair was worn long; the women allowed it to fall naturally in tresses; the men tied it up, and adorned it with feathers and jewels. They wore ear-rings, pendants from the upper lip, as well as the nose; necklaces, bracelets on the wrists and arms, and round their legs. Those of the richwere of gold, pearls and gems; the poorer sort wore crystal, amber and shells, and their habits were made of the thread of the mountain-palm or coarse cotton. They used the pulp of a fruit, and a root, for soap, to wash their cotton garments.
Having traced the Mexican people, from the earliest known period of their history, to the conquest by Cortez, it is now time to recur to the actual situation of the country.
The climate of Mexico Proper varies according to the situation of the districts; its sea coast is hot and unhealthy, the plains are temperate and salubrious, and the high land cold and barren. Earthquakes and dreadful thunder storms are common. This province abounds in mountains; their principal summits have been described under the general head of New Spain; four of them are within a short distance of the capital; these mountains abound in ores and fossils, and are in general covered with thick forests, and, in their upper regions, with snow. Some large rivers run from them into the two oceans. They occasionally furnish precious stones and marbles for sculpture, as well as different kinds of stone for building. Mexico is cultivated with the lemon, orange, citron, cocoa, and plantain trees, vanilla, chili, or long-pepper, achiote, cotton, indigo, pimento, wheat, maize, barley, rice, pease, beans, and all sorts of European vegetables and fruits; also the plants useful in forming drugs, resins, gums, oils, as well as for their fruit, flowers, and roots, which are indigenous, have been enumerated as exceeding one thousand.
The trees which afford timber in this province, are of every variety. Tigers, wild cats, or loupcerviers, wolves, bears, foxes, deer, goats, badgers, weazels, polecats, martins, squirrels, rabbits, otters, and rats, are common in the forests, and usual haunts of the respective species. The cojotl, the tlacojotl, and three other species similar to dogs;the wild cat, called ocotochtli; the cajopollin, resembling a mouse; the tozan, a similar animal; the porcupine and ahuitzotl, an amphibious creature; the mitzli, a sort of lion, without long hair; the polutaca, a flying rat; the Mexican hog, the opossum, the armadillo, the tapir, racoons, monkeys, and apes, are amongst the most noted animals of Mexico, and the adjacent regions.
The birds of Mexico are numerous, and celebrated for the variety and splendour of their plumage. Eagles, falcons, hawks, ravens of two or three different kinds, of which one never touches carrion, but subsists on corn; and another which follows the alligator, and destroys her eggs; ducks, geese, swans, herons, quails, divers, king-fishers, pelicans, pheasants, pea-hens, the mocking bird, cardinals, humming bird, &c. &c. It would occupy a volume to describe their peculiarities as well as their number. Mexico has indeed been called the country of birds, celebrated for their song, their beauty, and for their feathers, of which the Mexican pictures were executed, and which had all the softness and brilliancy of oil colours, and were so skilfully done, as to be distinguished only by the touch; they having had the art of flattening them, in such a manner, as to give them an appearance of the finest painting.
The reptiles are numerous; the cayman, or alligator, being nearly as formidable in appearance as the Egyptian crocodile. The serpents in the forests and marshes attain an enormous size, but are rarely found in the inhabited districts. The lizard tribe, from the cayman down to the water lizard, are very numerous. The rattle snake, cenocoatl, or phosphorescent snake, are the most venomous; and there are many harmless snakes, who devour the ants and other insects. Edible frogs, of three species, which attain a great size, are found in Lake Chalco and are eaten at Mexico. The rivers and lakes abound with fish, as do the seas which bound the province. Turtles are a principalarticle of food; lobsters, and other crustaceous animals also abound; and upwards of one hundred kinds of nutritious fish, have been enumerated as used by the inhabitants. Sharks of great voracity are found on the coasts; and the almost tepid water of the Mexican gulf, seems highly natural for the production of the large aquatic animals. Beautiful shells are collected on the shores, and sponges and lithophytes are produced in great variety. The insect tribe, terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospherical, are more numerous than can be conceived; of these, the scolopendras, ants, scorpions, spiders of great size, are all dreadful and venomous; hornets, wasps, bees, &c. common, and the fire-fly and lanthorn beetle, are singular and innumerable; indeed, the whole continent of America seems to be amply furnished with luminous insects, which are not to be found in Europe. A large fly, which is produced near the Mexican lake, lays innumerable eggs on the flags which border the shores; these eggs are collected by the natives, and made into a sort of paste for sale in the market, where it is eagerly purchased for food, and is said to resemble caviare.
Mosquitoes and venomous gnats occupy the air in clouds, and are extremely tormenting, sometimes causing inflammatory appearances on the bitten parts, which become dangerous. The capital, though on a lake, is however free from these pests, probably owing to the circumambient atmosphere being charged with smoke; the smoke or vapour of wood fires being destructive to these insects. Thus many towns in North America are free from mosquitoes, whilst, if you step across their boundaries, these insects immediately assail you, and it is remarkable, that they are more troublesome to strangers than to the natives. Butterflies of every beautiful and elegant variety are natives of the Mexican forests and fields, and form rich articles in the collections of the virtuosi. A species of locust sometimes destroys the rising vegetables, and greatdistress is felt from their ravages. A species of the tique or tick is as troublesome as the chigoe, or jigger of the West Indies. Many of the insect tribe, after being reduced to powder, and made into paste, are eaten by the natives, as they were also before the conquest.
The silk-worms of Mexico are in a state of nature; but produce a beautiful and strong cocoon. The cochineal insect forms one of the principal articles of Mexican commerce; and great pains are taken in rearing it.
The mineral productions, are gold, silver, copper, tin, the mines of which are near the capital; lead, iron, quicksilver, sulphur, alum, vitriol, cinnabar, ochre, and a sort of earth, resembling white lead. Asphaltum and amber are found on the coasts.
Among the precious stones and gems of Mexico, are a few diamonds, topazes, emeralds, amethysts, the stone called cats-eye, turquoises, cornelians, &c. Chrystal is also found in the mountains. Jasper, and various marbles, alabaster in particular, and a red stone, called tetzontli, which is porous and light, yet firm, is much used in the capital, where the foundations being marshy, they wish not, in many spots, to overload the piles on which they are erected. The loadstone is found to the north-west of the province; mica is common, and a fine sort was, after being burnt and powdered, used by the Mexicans in their paintings. The itzli stone is the most curious of the productions of the Mexican quarries; it has a glossy appearance, is semi-transparent, and generally of a black colour, though sometimes varying to dark blue and dirty white; it has been assimilated to the obsidian of the ancients, and declared to be the obsidian, or volcanic glass of modern mineralogy. The Mexican artists fabricated it into mirrors, razors, spearheads, knives, lancets, and all sorts of fine tools.
The natives, that is to say, the aborigines orIndians, are well made, above the middle size, with complexions of an olive colour, narrow foreheads, black eyes, firm, regular, and fine teeth, coarse, black shining hair, with very little beard or hair on the trunk, or legs and arms; and it is remarked, that few deformed people are seen amongst them.
The women are fairer than the men, and many of them handsome. These people have generally good health, and are long-lived. Ardent spirits, together with European disorders, have considerably thinned their numbers, and they have much degenerated; the modern Mexican possessing little of the fire and warlike spirit which characterized his ancestors, neither are they so industrious as their forefathers, being of a melancholic temperament, and affecting mystery in all their actions. They are mostly of the Catholic persuasion; their progenitors had an imperfect notion of the Supreme Being, and adored him under the appellation ofTeotl; they likewise called him Ipalnemoani, “He by whom we live,” and Tloque Nahuaque, “He who has all in himself.” Of the Creator, they formed no image, and to him no set forms of religious worship were made; they principally directed their prayers to Tlatecolototl, or the wise owl, an evil spirit; they also believed in the metemsychosis, and imagined, that the souls of their heroes went, after death, to the mansions of the Sun; and, after living there four years in happiness, returned under the form of beautiful birds. The souls of their slaves and meaner people, passed into the bodies of animals, in the more abject scale of creation; but souls of those who died by disease, by water, by lightning, and other accidental causes, went with the souls of little children to an Elysium; and those who died by punishment for crimes, &c., to a kind of Tartarus, which they called Mictlan, or the abode of utter darkness. It is said, that their historical pictures related the events of the creation, deluge,confusion of languages, and consequent dispersion of the people; and that this is one proof of the Americans being of the same origin as their brethren of the Old World.
They had thirteen chief deities. The creator; Tezcatlipoca, ever young, and supreme agent under the Invisible Being; the Sun, the Moon, the god of the air; Tlaloc, the god of water, of harvests, and of the household; the god of fire, Centeotl; the goddess of the earth; the god and goddess of hell; the god of night, and Mexitli, the god of war; and the rational owl, or evil god, who was worshipped to avert his wrath. Besides these, they had many inferior deities, who presided over the hunters, fishers, &c. They had also 260 gods, who had each a day of service assigned them; these were probably their heroes.
They were adored under the form of images of clay, wood, stone, gold, silver, or copper, and gems. In their prayers, their faces were turned to the east; and the avenue to the sanctuary, where the image was placed, had its opening to the west. It is said, the temples in Mexico amounted to 2000, and that the idol Huitzilopochtli, or Mexitli, was the most adored; having more sacrifices offered at his altar; and that this image was formed of seeds glued together with human blood. The two high priests, in fact, governed the nation; they were consulted on all occasions, and wore a distinctive habit. They ruled the inferior priests, whose dress consisted of a black mantle, thrown over the head; their hair reaching down to their legs, as they never were shaved. They gave the names to new born children with many ceremonies, and assisted at all nuptials. They also presided on these occasions, and at the funeral ceremonies, placing by the side of the deceased, if he was buried, a jug of water, and pieces of their paper, with gems, and one of the deceasedʼs domestic animals. The bodies of the dead were however generally burnt, and the ashescollected in a pot, which, in the case of people of high rank, were deposited in the temples. The priests had likewise the care of instructing the children, and preceded their armies in war.