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diff --git a/31413.txt b/31413.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a7712ff --- /dev/null +++ b/31413.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6183 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Story of Extinct Civilizations of the +West, by Robert E. Anderson + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Story of Extinct Civilizations of the West + + +Author: Robert E. Anderson + + + +Release Date: February 26, 2010 [eBook #31413] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF EXTINCT CIVILIZATIONS +OF THE WEST*** + + +E-text prepared by the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading +Team (http://www.fadedpage.com) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 31413-h.htm or 31413-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31413/31413-h/31413-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31413/31413-h.zip) + + + + + +THE STORY OF EXTINCT CIVILIZATIONS OF THE WEST + +by + +ROBERT E. ANDERSON, M.A., F.A.S. + +Author of +Extinct Civilizations of the East + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Prehistoric Structure, Uxmal (Yucatan) (p. 76).] + + +[Illustration] + + Venient annis saecula seris + Quibus Oceanus vincula rerum + Laxet, et ingens pateat tellus + Tethys que novos detegat orbes. + + --SENECA. + + + +New York _McClure, Phillips & Co._ MCMIV + +Copyright, 1903, by +D. Appleton and Company + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + INTRODUCTION 9 + + I. PRE-COLUMBIAN DISCOVERIES OF AMERICA 19 + + II. "DISCOVERY OF THE WORLD AND OF MAN" 36 + + III. THE EXTINCT CIVILIZATION OF THE AZTECS 54 + + IV. AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY 71 + + V. MEXICO BEFORE THE SPANISH INVASION 88 + + VI. ARRIVAL OF THE SPANIARDS 106 + + VII. CORTES AND MONTEZUMA 135 + + VIII. BALBOA AND THE ISTHMUS 164 + + IX. EXTINCT CIVILIZATION OF PERU 172 + + X. PIZARRO AND THE INCAS 186 + + + + +MAPS, ETC. + + + PAGE + + Prehistoric Structure, Uxmal (Yucatan) _Frontispiece_ + + Imaginary Continent, South of Africa and Asia 12 + + Remains of a Norse Church at Katortuk, Greenland 21 + + Map of Vinland 24 + + The Dighton Stone in the Taunton River, Massachusetts 27 + + The Dighton Stone. Fig. 2 28 + + Cipher Autograph of Columbus 46 + + Chulpa or Stone Tomb of the Peruvians 87 + + Quetzalcoatl 93 + + Ancient Bridge near Tezcuco 100 + + Teocalli, Aztec Temple for Human Sacrifices 105 + + Monolith Doorway. Near Lake Titicaca. Fig. 1 173 + + Image over the Doorway shown in Fig. 1. Near Lake + Titicaca. Fig. 2 175 + + The Quipu 180 + + Gold Ornament (? Zodiac) from a Tomb at Cuzco 182 + + + + +EXTINCT CIVILIZATIONS OF THE WEST + +INTRODUCTION + + +Throughout all the periods of European history, ancient or modern, no +age has been more remarkable for events of first-rate importance than +the latter half of the fifteenth century. The rise of the New Learning, +the "discovery of the world and of man," the displacement of many +outworn beliefs, these with other factors produced an awakening that +startled kings and nations. Then felt they like Balboa, when + + with eagle eyes + He stared at the Pacific, and all his men + Looked at each other with a wild surmise + Silent, upon a peak in Darien. + +It was at this historical juncture that the "middle ages" came to an +end, and modern Europe had its beginning. (See Chapter II.) + +Why was Europe so long in discovering the vast Continent which all the +time lay beyond the Western Ocean? Simply because every skipper and +every "Board of Admiralty" believed that this world on which we live and +move is flat and level. They did not at all realize the fact that it is +_ball_-shaped; and that when a ball is very large (say, as large as a +balloon), then any small portion of the surface must appear flat and +level to a fly or "mite" traveling in that vicinity. Homer believed that +our world is a flat and level plain, with a great river, Oceanus, +flowing round it; and for many ages that seemed a very natural and +sufficient theory. The Pythagoreans, it is true, argued that our earth +must be spherical, but why? Oh, said they, because in geometry the +sphere is the "most perfect" of all solid figures. Aristotle, being +scientific, gave better reasons for believing that the earth is +spherical or ball-shaped. He said the shadow of the earth is always +round like the shadow of a ball; and the shadow of the earth can be seen +during any eclipse of the moon; therefore, all who see that shadow on +the moon's disk know, or ought to know, that the earth is ball-shaped. +Another reason given by Aristotle is that the altitude of any star above +the horizon changes when the observer travels north or south. For +example, if at London a star appears to be 40 deg. above the northern +horizon, and at York the same star at the same instant appears 42-1/2 deg., +it is evident that 2-1/2 deg. is the difference (increase) of altitude at +York compared with London. Such an observation shows that the road from +London to York is not over a flat, level plane, but over the curved +surface of a sphere, the arc of a circle, in fact. + +Herodotus, the father of history, was a good geographer and an +experienced traveler, yet his only conception of the world was as a +flat, wide-extending surface. In Egypt he was told how Pharaoh Necho had +sent a crew of Phenicians to explore the coast of Africa by setting out +from the Red Sea, and how they sailed south till they had _the sun on +their right hand_. "Absurd!" says Herodotus, in his naive manner, "this +story I can not believe." In Egypt, as in Greece or Europe generally, +the sun rises on the left hand, and at noon casts a shadow pointing +north; whereas in South Africa the sun at noon casts a shadow pointing +south, and sunrise is therefore on the _right hand_. The honest sailors +had told the truth; they had merely "crossed the line," without knowing +it. If Herodotus had known that the world was spherical or ball-shaped, +he could easily have understood that by traveling due south the sun must +at last appear at noon to the north instead of the south. A counterpart +to the story of the Phenician sailors occurs in Pliny: he tells how some +ambassadors came to the Roman Emperor Claudius from an island in the +south of Asia, and when in Italy were much astonished to see the sun at +noon to the south, casting shadows to the north. They also wondered, he +says, to see the Great Bear and other groups of stars which had never +been visible in their native land (Nat. Hist., vi, 22). + +That there were islands or even a continent in the Western Ocean was a +tradition not infrequent in classical and medieval times, as we shall +presently see, but to place a continent in the Southern Ocean was a +greater stretch of imagination. The great outstanding problem of the +sources of the Nile probably suggested this Southern Continent to some. +Ptolemy, the great Egyptian geographer, even formed the conjecture that +the Southern Continent was joined to Africa by a broad isthmus, as +indicated in certain maps. Such a connection of the two continents +would at once dispose of the story that the Phenician sailors had +"doubled the Cape." In several maps after the time of Columbus, +Australia is extended westward in order to pass muster for the Southern +Continent. + +[Illustration: Imaginary Continent, south of Africa and Asia. [The +cardinal points are shown by the four winds.] Beginning of the fifteenth +century. The word Brumae = the winter solstices.] + +It is with a Western Continent, however, that we are now mainly +concerned. What lands were imagined by the ancients in the far West +under the setting sun? The mighty ocean beyond Spain was to the Greeks +and Latins a place of dread and mystery. + + "Stout was his heart and girt with triple brass," says the Roman + poet, "who first hazarded his weak vessel on the pitiless ocean." + +Even the western parts of the Mediterranean were shrunk from, according +to the Odyssey, without speaking of the horrors of the great ocean +beyond. "Beyond Gades," i. e., scarcely outside of the Pillars of +Hercules, the extreme limit of the ancient world, "no man," said Pindar, +"however daring, could pass; only a god might voyage those waters!" + +In spite of the dread which the ancient mariners felt for the great +Western Ocean, their poets found it replete with charm and mystery. The +imagination rested upon those golden sunsets, and the tales of marvel +which, after long intervals, sea-borne sailors had told of distant lands +in the West. The poets placed there the happy home destined for the +souls of heroes. Thus (Odys. iv, 561): + + No snow + Is there, nor yet great storm nor any rain, + But always ocean sendeth forth the breeze + Of the shrill West, and bloweth cool on men. + +So far Homer. His contemporary, Hesiod, thus describes the Elysian +Fields as islands under the setting sun: + + There on Earth's utmost limits Zeus assigned + A life, a seat, distinct from human kind, + Beside the deepening whirlpools of the Main, + In those blest Isles where Saturn holds his reign, + Apart from Heaven's immortals calm they share, + A rest unsullied by the clouds of care: + And yearly thrice with sweet luxuriance crown'd + Springs the ripe harvest from the teeming Ground. + +The poet Pindar places in the same mysterious West "the castle of +Chronos" (i. e., "Old Time"), "where o'er the Isles of the Blest ocean +breezes blow, and flowers gleam with gold, some from the land on +glistening trees, while others the water feeds; and with bracelets of +these they entwine their hands, and make crowns for their heads." + +_Vesper_, the star of evening, was called Hesperus by the Greeks; and +hence the Hesperides, daughters of the Western Star, had the task of +watching the golden apples planted by the goddess Hera in the garden of +the gods, on the other side of the river Oceanus. One of the labors of +Hercules was to fetch three of those mystic apples for the king of +Mycenae. The poet Euripides thus refers to the Gardens of the West, when +the Chorus wish to fly "over the Adriatic wave": + + Or to the famed Hesperian plains, + Whose rich trees bloom with gold, + To join the grief-attuned strains + My winged progress hold; + Beyond whose shores no passage gave + The Ruler of the purple wave. + +Of all the lands imagined to lie in the Western Ocean by the Greeks, the +most important was "Atlantis." Some have thought it may possibly have +been a prehistoric discovery of America. In any case it has exercised +the ingenuity of a good many modern scientists. The tale of Atlantis we +owe to Plato himself, who perhaps learned it in Egypt, just as Herodotus +picked up there the account of the circumnavigation of Africa by the +Phenician mariners. + +"When Solon was in Egypt," says Plato, "he had talk with an aged priest +of Sais who said, 'You Greeks are all children: you know but of one +deluge, whereas there have been many destructions of mankind both by +flood and fire.'... In the distant Western Ocean lay a continent larger +than Libya and Asia together."... + + In this Atlantis there had grown up a mighty state whose kings were + descended from Poseidon and had extended their sway over many + islands and over a portion of the great continent; even Libya up to + the gates of Egypt, and Europe as far as Tyrrhenia, submitted to + their sway.... Afterward came a day and night of great floods and + earthquakes; Atlantis disappeared, swallowed by the waves. + +Geologists and geographers have seriously tried to find evidence of +Atlantis having existed in the Atlantic, whether as a portion of the +American continent, or as a huge island in the ocean which could have +served as a stepping-stone between the Western World and the Eastern. +From a series of deep-sea soundings ordered by the British, American, +and German Governments, it is now very well known that in the middle of +the Atlantic basin there is a ridge, running north and south, whose +depth is less than 1,000 fathoms, while the valleys east and west of it +average 3,000 fathoms. At the Azores the North Atlantic ridge becomes +broader. The theory is that a part of the ridge-plateau was the Atlantis +of Plato that "disappeared swallowed by the waves." (Nature, xv, 158, +553, xxvii, 25; Science, June 29, 1883.) + +Buffon, the naturalist, with reference to fauna and flora, dated the +separation of the new and old world "from the catastrophe of Atlantis" +(Epoques, ix, 570); and Sir Charles Lyell confessed a temptation to +"accept the theory of an Atlantis island in the northern Atlantic." +(Geology, p. 141.) + +The following account "from an historian of the fourth century B. C." is +another possible reference to a portion of America--from a translation +"delivered in English," 1576. + + Selenus told Midas that without this worlde there is a continent or + percell of dry lande which in greatnesse (as hee reported) was + unmeasureable; that it nourished and maintained, by the benifite of + the greene meadowes and pasture plots, sundrye bigge and mighty + beastes; that the men which inhabite the same climate exceede the + stature of us twise, and yet the length of there life is not equale + to ours. + +The historian Plutarch, in his Morals, gives an account of Ogygia, with +an illusion to a continent, possibly America: + + An island, Ogygia, lies in the arms of the Ocean, about five days' + sail west from Britain.... The adjacent sea is termed the + Saturnian, and the continent by which the great sea is circularly + environed is distant from Ogygia about 5,000 stadia, but from the + other islands not so far.... One of the men paid a visit to the + great island, as they called Europe. From him the narrator learned + many things about the state of men after death--the conclusion + being that the souls of men arrive at the Moon, wherein lie the + Elysian Fields of Homer. + +The Greek historian, Diodorus Siculus, has a similar account with +curious details of an "island" which might very well have been part of a +continent. Columbus believed to the last that Cuba was a continent. + + In the ocean, at the distance of several days' sailing to the west, + there lies an island watered by several navigable rivers. Its soil + is fertile, hilly, and of great beauty.... There are country + houses handsomely constructed, with summer-houses and flower-beds. + The hilly district is covered with dense woods and fruit-trees of + every kind. The inhabitants spend much time in hunting and thus + procure excellent food. They have naturally a good supply of fish, + their shores being washed by the ocean.... In a word this island + seems a happy home for gods rather than for men (v. 19). + +Another Greek writer, Lucian, in one of his witty dialogues, refers to +an island in the Atlantic, that lies eighty days' sail westward of the +Pillars of Hercules--the extreme limit of the ancient world, as has +already been seen. Readers of Henry Fielding and admirers of Squire +Westers will remember how in the London of the eighteenth century the +limits of Piccadilly westward was a tavern at Hyde Park corner called +the _Hercules' Pillars_, on the site of the future Apsley House.[1] + +Although neither Greek nor Roman navigators were likely to attempt a +voyage into the ocean beyond the Straits of Gibraltar, yet a trading +vessel from Carthage or Phenicia might easily have been driven by an +easterly gale into, or even across, the Atlantic. Some involuntary +discoveries were no doubt due to this chance, and the reports brought to +Europe were probably the germs of such tales as the poets invented about +the fair regions of the West. In Celtic literature, moreover, "Avalon" +was placed far under the setting sun beyond the ocean--Avalon or +"Glas-Inis" being to the bards the Land of the Dead, marvelous and +mysterious. + +[Footnote 1: Tom Jones, xvi. chap. 2, 3, etc.] + +In English literature of the middle ages there is a remarkable passage +relating to our present subject, which was written long before that rise +of the New Learning mentioned at the beginning of this chapter. It is a +statement made by Roger Bacon, the greatest of Oxonian scholars of the +thirteenth century, who, long before the Renascence, did much to restore +the study of science, especially in geography, chronology, and optics. +In his Opus Majus, the elder Bacon wrote: + + More than the fourth part of the earth which we inhabit is still + unknown to us.... It is evident therefore that between the extreme + West and the confines of India, there must be a surface which + comprises more than half the earth. + +Though Roger Bacon, to use his own words, died "unheard, forgotten, +buried," our recent historians place his name first in the great roll of +modern science. + +There now remains only one quotation to make from the ancients. We have +been reserving it for two reasons--first, because it is a singularly +happy anticipation of the discovery of the New World, so happy that it +became a favorite stanza with the discoverer himself. This we learn from +the life of the "Great Admiral," written by his son Ferdinand. + +Secondly, because it adorns our title-page and has been characterized as +"a lucky prophecy"--written in the first century A. D. The author, +Seneca, was a dramatist as well as a philosopher, the lines occurring at +the end of one of his choruses--Medea, 376. We may thus translate the +prophetic stanza: + + For at a distant date this ancient world + Will westward stretch its bounds, and then disclose + Beyond the Main a vast new Continent, + With realms of wealth and might. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +PRE-COLUMBIAN DISCOVERIES OF AMERICA + + +1 _Norse Discovery._--By glancing at a map of the north Atlantic, the +reader will at once see that the natural approach from Europe to the +Western Continent was by Iceland and Greenland--especially in those +early days when ocean navigation was unknown. Iceland is nearer to +Greenland than to Norway; and Greenland is part of America. But in +Iceland there were Celtic settlers in the early centuries; and even King +Arthur, according to the history of Geoffrey of Monmouth, sailed north +to that "Ultima Thule." During the ninth century a Christian community +had been established there under certain Irish monks. This early +civilization, however, was destined to become presently extinct. + +It was in A. D. 875, i. e., during the reign of Alfred the Great in +England, that the Norse earl, Ingolf, led a colony to Iceland. More +strenuous and savage than the Christian Celts whom they found there, the +latter with their preaching monks soon sailed to the south, and left the +Northmen masters of the island. The Norse colony under Ingolf was +strongly reenforced by Norwegians who took refuge there to avoid the +tyranny of their king, Harold, the Fair-haired. Ingolf built the town +Ingolfshof, named after him, and also Reikiavik, afterward the capital, +named from the "reek" or steam of its hot springs. So important did this +colony become that in the second generation the population amounted to +60,000. + +Ingolf was admired by the poet James Montgomery (not to be confounded +with Robert, whom Macaulay criticized so severely), who in 1819 thus +wrote of him and his island: + + There on a homeless soil his foot he placed, + Framed his hut-palace, colonized the waste, + And ruled his horde with patriarchal sway + --Where Justice reigns, 'tis Freedom to obey.... + And Iceland shone for generous lore renowned, + A northern light when all was gloom around. + + The next year after Ingolf had come to Iceland, Gunnbiorn, a hardy + Norseman, driven in his ship westerly, sighted a strange land.... + About half a century later, judging by the Icelandic sagas, we + learn that a wind-tossed vessel was thrown upon a coast far away + which was called "Mickle Ireland" (_Irland it Mikla_)--[Winsor's + Hist. America, i, 61]. + +Gunnbiorn's discovery was utilized by Erik the Red, another sea-rover, +in A. D. 980, who sailed to it and, after three years' stay, returned +with a favorable account--giving it the fair name _Greenland_. The Norse +established two centers of population on Greenland. It is now believed +that after doubling Cape Farewell, they built their first town near that +head and the second farther north. The former, _Eystribygd_ (i. e., +"Easter Bigging"), developed into a large colony, having in the +fourteenth century 190 settlements, with a cathedral and eleven +churches, and containing two cities and three or four monasteries. The +second town, _Westribygd_ (i. e., "Wester Bigging") had grown to ninety +settlements and four churches in the same time. + +The germ and root of that civilization (afterward extinct, as we shall +see) was due to Leif the son of Red Erik, who visited Norway, the +mother-country, at the very close of the tenth century. + +[Illustration: Remains of a Norse Church at Katortuk, Greenland.] + +He found that the king and people there had enthusiastically embraced +the new religion, _Christianity_. Leif presently shared their fervor, +and decided to reject Woden, Thor, and the other gods of old +Scandinavia. A priest was told off to accompany Leif back to Greenland, +and preach the new faith. It was thus that a Christian civilization +first found footing in arctic America. + +The ruins of those early Christian churches (see illustration above) +form most interesting objects in modern Greenland; near the chief ruin +is a curious circular group of large stones. + +The poet of "Greenland," to whom we have already referred, quotes from a +Danish chronicle to the effect that, in the golden age of the colony, +there were a hundred parishes to form the bishopric; and that the see +was ruled by seventeen bishops from A. D. 1120 to 1408. Bishop Andrew is +the last mentioned, ordained in 1408 by the Archbishop of Drontheim. + +From the same authority we learn that according to some of the annals +"the best wheat grew to perfection in the valleys; the forests were +extensive; flocks and herds were numerous and very large and fat." The +Cloister of St. Thomas was heated by pipes from a warm spring, and +attached to the cloister was a richly cultivated garden. + +After Leif, son of Erik, had introduced Christianity into Greenland, his +next step was to extend the Norse civilization still farther within the +American continent. News had reached him of a new land, with a level +coast, lying nine days' sailing southwest of Greenland. Picking +thirty-five men, Leif started for further exploration. One part of the +new country was barren and rocky, therefore Leif named it _Helluland_ +(i. e., "Stone Land"), which appears to have been Newfoundland. Farther +south they found a sandy shore, backed by a level forest country, which +Leif named _Markland_ (i. e., "Wood Land"), identified with Nova Scotia. +After two days' sail, according to the saga account, having landed and +explored the new continent along the banks of a river, they resolved to +winter there. In one of these explorations a German called Tyrker found +some grapes on a wild vine, and brought a specimen for the admiration of +Leif and his party. This country was therefore named _Vinland_ (i. e., +"Wine Land"), and is identified with New England, part of Rhode Island, +and Massachusetts.[2] + +[Footnote 2: Prof. R. B. Anderson says, "The basin of the Charles River +should be selected as the most probable scene of the visits of Leif +Erikson, etc." [_v._ map.]] + +Our Greenland poet thus refers to Leif's landing: + + Wineland the glad discoverers called that shore, + And back the tidings of its riches bore; + But soon return'd with colonizing bands. + +The Norsemen founded a regular settlement in Vinland, establishing there +a Christian community related to that of Greenland. Leif's brother, +Korvald, explored the interior in all directions. With the natives, who +are called "Skraelings" in the sagas, they traded in furs; these people, +who seemed dwarfish to the Norsemen, used leathern boats and were no +doubt Eskimos: + + A stunted, stern, uncouth, amphibious stock. + +The principal settler in Vinland was Thorfinn, an Icelander, who had +married a daughter-in-law of Erik the Red. She persuaded Thorfinn to +sail to the new country in order to make a permanent settlement there. +In the year 1007 A. D. he sailed with 160 men, having live stock and +other colonial equipments. After three years he returned to Greenland, +his wife having given birth to a son during their first year in Vinland. +From this son, Snorre, it is claimed by some Norwegian historians, that +Thorwaldsen, the eminent Danish sculptor is descended. After the time +of Thorfinn, the settlement in Vinland continued to flourish, having a +good export trade in timber with Greenland. In 1121 A. D. according to +the Icelandic saga, the bishop, Erik Upsi, visited Vinland, that country +being, like Iceland and Greenland, included in his bishopric. The last +voyage to Vinland for timber, according to the sagas, was in 1347. + +[Illustration: Map] + +Professor Horsford, of Cambridge, Mass., finds the site of Norumbega, +mentioned in various old maps, on the River Charles, near Waltham, +Mass., and maintains that town to be identical with Vinland of the +Norsemen. To prove his belief in this theory, the professor built a +tower commemorating the Norse discoveries. He argued that Norumbega was +a corruption by the Indians of the word _Norvegr_ a Norse form of +"Norway." + +The abandonment of Vinland by the Norse settlers may be compared with +that of Gosnold's expedition to the same region near the end of Queen +Elizabeth's reign. Gosnold was sent to plant an English colony in +America, after the failure of Sir Walter Raleigh's settlement at Roanoke +(North Carolina); and the coast explored corresponded exactly to that +which the Norse settlers had named Vinland, lying between the sites of +Boston and New York. He gave the name Cape Cod to that promontory, and +also named the islands Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and the Elizabeth +group. Selecting one of these for settling a colony, he built on it a +storehouse and fort. The scheme, however, failed, owing to the threats +of the natives and the scarcity of supplies, and all the colonists +sailed from Massachusetts, just as the Norse settlers had done many +generations previously. + +The expedition of Gosnold to Vinland, however, bore good fruit, from the +favorable report of the new country which he made at home. The merchants +of Bristol fitted out two ships under Martin Pring, and in the first +voyage a great part of Maine (lying north of Massachusetts) was +explored, and the coast south to Martha's Vineyard, where Gosnold had +been. This led to profitable traffic with the natives, and three years +later Pring made a more complete survey of Maine. + +Vinland was also the scene of the famous landing of the Mayflower, +bringing its Puritans from England. It was in Cape Cod Bay that she was +first moored. After exploring the new country, just as Leif Erikson had +done so many generations previously, they chose a place on the west side +of the bay and named the little settlement "Plymouth," after the last +English port from which they had sailed. Farther north, still in +Vinland, they soon founded two other towns, "Salem" and "Boston." Those +three settlements have ever since been important centers of energy and +intelligence in Massachusetts, as well as memorials of the Norse +occupation of Vinland. + +On the occasion of a public statue being erected in Boston, Mass., to +the memory of Leif Erikson, a committee of the Massachusetts Historical +Society formally decided thus: "It is antecedently probable that the +Northmen discovered America in the early part of the eleventh century." + +Prof. Daniel Wilson, in his learned work Prehistoric Man (ii, 83, 85), +thus gives his opinion as to the Norse colony: + + With all reasonable doubt as to the accuracy of details, there is + the strongest probability in favor of the authenticity of the + American Vinland. + +[Illustration: The Dighton Stone in the Taunton River, Massachusetts.] + +Of the Norse colonies in Greenland there are some undoubted remains, one +being a stone inscription in _runes_, proving that it was made before +the Reformation, when that mode of writing was forbidden by law. The +stone is four miles beyond Upernavik. The inscription, according to +Professor Rask, runs thus: + + Erling the son of Sigvat, and Enride Oddsoen, + Had cleared the place and raised a mound + On the Friday after Rogation-day; + +--date either 1135 or 1170. + +Rafn, the celebrated Danish archeologist, states as the result of many +years' research, that America was repeatedly visited by the Icelanders +in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries; that the estuary of +the St. Lawrence was their chief station; that they had coasted +southward to Carolina, everywhere introducing some Christian +civilization among the natives. + +[Illustration: The Dighton Stone. Fig. 2.] + +A supposed rock memorial of the Norsemen is the Dighton Stone in the +Taunton River, Massachusetts; one of its sentences, according to +Professor Rafn, being: + +"Thorfinn with 151 Norse seafaring men took possession of this land." + +The figures and letters (whether runic or merely Indian) inscribed on +the Dighton Rock have been copied by antiquaries at the following dates: +1680, 1712, 1730, 1768, 1788, 1807, 1812. The above illustration (Fig. +2) shows the last mentioned. + +There have been many probable traces of ancient Norsemen found in +America, besides those already given. At Cape Cod, in the last +generation, a number of hearth-stones were found under a layer of peat. +A more famous relic was the skeleton dug up in Fall River, Mass., with +an ornamental belt of metal tubes made from fragments of flat brass; +there were also some arrow-heads of the same material. Longfellow, the +New England poet, naturally had his attention directed to this discovery +(made, 1831), and founded on it his ballad The Skeleton in Armor, +connecting it with the Round Tower at Newport. The latter, according to +Professor Rafn, "was erected decidedly not later than the twelfth +century." + + I was a Viking old, + My deeds, though manifold, + No Skald in song has told + No Saga taught thee!... + Far in the Northern Land + By the wild Baltic's strand + I with my childish hand + Tamed the ger-falcon. + Oft to his frozen lair + Tracked I the grisly bear, + While from my path the hare + Fled like a shadow. + + * * * * * + + Scarce had I put to sea + Bearing the maid with me-- + Fairest of all was she + Among the Norsemen! + Three weeks we westward bore, + And when the storm was o'er, + Cloud-like we saw the shore + Stretching to leeward; + There for my lady's bower, + Built I this lofty tower + Which to this very hour + Stands looking seaward! + +Sir Clements Markham, of the Royal Geographical Society, believes that +the Norse settlers in Greenland were driven from their settlements there +by Eskimos coming, not from the interior of America, but from West +Siberia along the polar regions, by Wrangell Land [_v._ Journal, R, G. +S., 1865, and Arctic Geography, 1875]. + +There was much curiosity from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century as +to the site of the lost colonies of Greenland which had so long +flourished. In 1568 and 1579 the King of Denmark sent two expeditions, +the latter in charge of an Englishman, but no traces were found. At the +beginning of the eighteenth century some light was thrown upon the +problem by a missionary called Egede, who first described the ruins and +relics observable on the west coast. By the success of his preaching +among the Greenlanders for fifteen years, assisted by other gospel +missionaries, the Moravians were induced to found their settlements in +the country, principally in the southwest. + +It seems probable that in early times the climate of Iceland was milder +than it now is. Columbus, some fifteen years before his great voyage +across the Atlantic, sailed to this northern "Thule," and reports that +there was no ice. If so, it is surely possible that Greenland also may +have been greener and more attractive than during the recent centuries. +Why should it not at one time have been fully deserving of the name by +which we still know it? Some would explain the change in climatic +conditions by the closing in of icepacks. At present Greenland is buried +deep under a vast, solid ice-cap from which only a few of the highest +peaks protrude to show the position of the submerged mountains, but at +former periods, according to geologists, there were gardens and farms +flourishing under a genial climate. Others suppose that, were the ice +removed, we should see an archipelago of elevated islands. + +2. _Celtic Discovery of America._--We have already glanced at the fact +that when the Norsemen first seized Iceland they found that island +inhabited by Irish Celts. These Christianized Celts made way before the +savage invaders, who did not accept the Catholic religion till about the +close of the tenth century. Sailing south, those dispossessed Irish +probably joined their brother Celts who had already long held a district +on the eastern coast of North America, which some Norse skippers called +"White Man's Land," and also _Irland-it-Mikla_ (i. e., "Mickle +Ireland"). Professor Rafn places this district on the coast of Carolina. +A learned memoir, published 1851, attempts to prove that the mysterious +"mound-builders" of the Ohio Valley were of the same race as the +settlers on Mickle Ireland, and related to the "white-bearded men" who +established an extinct civilization in Mexico. A French antiquary, 1875, +identified Mickle Ireland with Ontario and Quebec. Beauvois, in his +Elysee trans-atlantique, derives the name Labrador from the _Innis +Labrada_, an island mentioned in an ancient Irish romance.[3] Another +Irish discoverer was St. Brandan,[4] Abbot of Cluainfert, Ireland (died +May 16, 577), who was told that far in the ocean lay an island which was +the land promised to the saints. St. Brandan set sail in company with +seventy-five monks, and spent seven years upon the ocean in two voyages, +discovering this island and many others equally marvelous, including one +which turned out to be the back of a huge fish, upon which they +celebrated Easter.[5] + +[Footnote 3: As to the Irish claim for the pre-Columbian discovery of +America, see also Humboldt (Cosmos, ii, 607), and Laing (Heimsk., i, +186).] + +[Footnote 4: MS. Book of Lismore.] + +[Footnote 5: The story is given by Humboldt and D'Avezac.] + +Among the Celtic claimants for discovery we must also include the Welsh, +who lay stress upon certain resemblances between their language and the +dialects of the native Americans. A better argument is the historical +account taken from their annals about the expedition of Prince Madoc, +son of a Welsh chieftain, who sailed due west in the year 1170, after +the rumor of the Norse discoveries had reached Britain. He landed on a +vast and fertile continent where he settled 120 colonists. On his return +to Wales he fitted out a second fleet of ten ships, but the annals give +no report of the result. Several writers state that the place of landing +was near the Gulf of Mexico: Hakluyt connecting the discovery with +Mexico (1589) and again with the West Indies (edition of 1600). In the +seventeenth century some authors wished to substantiate the story of +Prince Madoc, in order that the British claim to America should antedate +the Spanish claim through Columbus. Prince Madoc is, to most readers, +only known by Southey's poem.[6] + +[Footnote 6: Some quotations from Southey's poem are given in Chapters +V, VI.] + +3. _Basque Discovery of America._--Who are the Basque people? A curious +race of Spanish mountaineers, who have been as great a puzzle to +ethnologists and historians as their language has been to philologists +and scholars. We know, however, that in former times they were nearly +all seamen, making long voyages to the north for whale and Newfoundland +cod fishing. They have produced excellent navigators; and possibly +preceded Columbus in discovering America. Sebastian, the lieutenant of +Magellan, was one of the Basque race. Magellan did not live to complete +his famous voyage, therefore Sebastian was the first actual +circumnavigator of our globe. + +Francois Michel, in his work Le Pays Basque, says that the Basque +sailors knew the coasts of Newfoundland a century before the time of +Columbus; and that it was from one of these ocean mariners that he first +learned the existence of a continent beyond the Atlantic. Other +arguments are derived from comparing the peculiarities of the Basque +tongue with those of the American dialects. Whitney, an American +scholar, concludes that "No other dialect of the Old World so much +resembles the American languages in structure as the Basque." + +4. _Jewish Discovery of America._--There is one claim for the discovery +of America, which, though quite improbable, if not impossible, has been +upheld and sanctioned by many scholarly works in several languages. It +is argued that the red Indians represent the ten "Lost Tribes" of the +Hebrew people who had been deported to Assyria and Media (_v._ Extinct +Civilizations of the East, p. 109). The theory was first started by some +Spanish priest-missionaries, and has since been defended by many learned +divines both in England and America, one leading argument being certain +similarities in the languages. Catlin (_v._ Smithsonian Report, 1885) +enumerates many analogies which he found among the Western Indians. The +most authoritative statement is that of Lord Kingsborough in the +well-known Mexican Antiquities (1830-'48), chiefly in Vol. VII. Some +writers actually quote a statement made in the Mormon Bible! Leading New +England divines, like Mayhew and Cotton Mather, espoused the cause with +similar faith, as well as Roger Williams and William Penn. + +5. _The Italian Discovery of America._--Not through Columbus the +Genoese, or Amerigo Vespucci, the Florentine, although they were +certainly Italians, but by two Venetians, Nicolo and Antonio Zeno. In A. +D. 1380 or 1390 these brothers Zeni were shipwrecked in the North +Atlantic, and, when staying in Frislanda, made the acquaintance of a +sailor who, after twenty-six years' absence, had returned, giving them +the following report: + +"Being driven west in a gale, he found an island with civilized +inhabitants, who had Latin books, but could not speak Norse, and whose +country was called Estotiland, while a region on the mainland, farther +south, to which he had also gone, was called Drogeo. Here he had met +with cannibals. Still farther south was a great country with towns and +temples." + +The two brothers Zeni finally conveyed this account to another brother +in Venice, together with a map of those distant regions, but these +documents remained neglected till 1558, when a descendant compiled a +book to embody the information, accompanied by a map, now famous as +"the Zeno map." + +Humboldt, with reference to this map, remarks that it is singular that +the name Frislanda should have been applied by Columbus to an island +south of Iceland. Washington Irving (in his Life of Columbus) explains +the book by a desire to appeal to the national pride of Italy, since, if +true, the discovery of the brothers would antedate that of Columbus by a +century. + +Malte-Brun, the distinguished geographer, distinctly accepted the Zeni +narrative as true, and believed that it was by colonists from Greenland +that the Latin books had reached Estotiland. Another strong advocate +afterward appeared in Mr. Major, an official in the map department of +the British Museum, who believed that much of the map in question +represented genuine information of the fourteenth century, mixed with +some spurious parts inserted by the younger Zeno. Mr. Major's paper on +The Site of the Lost Colony of Greenland Determined, and the +pre-Columbian Discoveries of America Confirmed, appeared in R. Geog. +Soc. Journal, 1873; _v_. also Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc., 1874. Nordenskjold +also accepted the chief results of this Italian discovery, and as an +arctic explorer of experience, his opinion carries weight. Mercator and +Hugo Grotius were also believers in the Zeni account. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +"DISCOVERY OF THE WORLD AND OF MAN" + + +At the beginning of this book a reference was made to the great upheaval +in European history called the "Renascence" (Fr. _renaissance_) or +Revival of Learning. In 1453 the Turks took Constantinople, driving the +Greek scholars to take refuge in Italy, which at once became the most +civilized nation in Europe. Poetry, philosophy, and art thence found +their way to France, England, and Germany, being greatly assisted by the +invention of printing, which just then was beginning to make books +cheaper than they ever had been. At the same time feudalism was ruined, +because the invention of gunpowder had previously been changing the art +of war. For example, the King of France, Louis XI, as well as the King +of England, Henry VII, had entire disposal of the national artillery; +and therefore overawed the barons and armored knights. Neither moated +fortresses nor mail-clad warriors, nor archers with bows and arrows, +could prevail against powder and shot. The middle ages had come to an +end; modern Europe was being born. France had become concentrated by the +union of the south to the north on the conclusion of the "Hundred Years' +War," the final expulsion of the English, and the abolition of all the +great feudatories of the kingdom. England, at the same time, had +entirely swept away the rule of the barons by the recent "Wars of the +Roses," and Henry had strengthened his position by alliance with +France, Spain, and Scotland. Spain, by the expulsion of the Moors from +Granada in A. D. 1492, was for the first time concentrated into one +great state by the union of Isabella's Kingdom of Castile-Leon to +Ferdinand's Kingdom of Aragon-Sicily. + +From the importance of the word _renaissance_ as indicating the +"movement of transition from the medieval to the modern world," Matthew +Arnold gave it the English form "renascence"--adopted by J. R. Green, +Coleridge, and others. In Germany, this great revival of letters and +learning was contemporaneous with the Reformation, which had long been +preparing (e. g., in England since John Wyclif) and was specially +assisted by the invention of printing, which we have just mentioned. The +minds of men everywhere were expanded: "whatever works of history, +science, morality, or entertainment seemed likely to instruct or amuse +were printed and distributed among the people at large by printers and +booksellers." + +Thus it was that, though the Turks never had any pretension to learning +or culture, yet their action in the middle of the fifteenth century +indirectly caused a marvelous tide of civilization to overflow all the +western countries of Europe. Another result in the same age was the +increase of navigation and exploration--the discovery of the world as +well as of man. When the Turks became masters of the eastern shores of +the Mediterranean, the European merchants were prevented from going to +India and the East by the overland route, as had been done for +generations. Thus, since geography was at this very time improved by +the science of Copernicus and others, the natural inquiry was how to +reach India by sea instead of going overland. Columbus, therefore, +sailed due west to reach Asia, and stumbled upon a "New World" without +knowing what he did; then Cabot, sailing from Bristol, sailed northwest +to reach India, and stumbled upon the continent of America; and during +the same reign (Henry VII) the Atlantic coast of both North and South +America was visited by English, Portuguese, or Spanish navigators. The +third expedition to reach India by sea was under De Gama. He set out in +the same year as Cabot, sailing into the South Atlantic, and ultimately +did find the west coast of India at Calicut, after rounding the cape. + +The mere enumeration of so many events, all of first-rate importance, +proves that that half century (say from A. D. 1460 to 1520) must be +called "an age of marvels," _saeclum mirabile_. The concurrence of so +many epoch-making results gave a great impulse, not only to the study of +literature, science, and art, but to the exploration of many unknown +countries in America, Africa, and Asia, and the universal expansion of +human knowledge generally. + +I.--We shall now consider the first of these discoverers, who was also +the greatest. + +COLUMBUS, the Latinized form of the Italian Colombo, Spanish, Colon. +This Genoese navigator must throughout all history be called the +discoverer of America, notwithstanding all the work of smaller men. From +his study of geographical books in several languages, Columbus had +convinced himself that our planet is spherical or ball-shaped, not a +flat, plane surface. Till then India had always been reached by +traveling overland toward the rising sun. Why not sail westward from +Europe over the ocean, and thus come to the eastern parts of Asia by +traveling toward the setting sun? By doing so, since our world is +ball-shaped, said Columbus, we must inevitably reach Zipango (i. e., +"Japan") and Cathay (i. e., "China"), which are the most eastern parts +of Asia. India then will be a mere detail. Judging from the accounts of +Asia and its eastern islands given by Marco Polo, a Venetian, as well as +from the maps sketched by Ptolemy, the Egyptian geographer, Columbus +believed that the east coast of Asia was not so very far from the west +coast of Europe. Columbus was confirmed in this opinion by a learned +geographer of Florence, named Paul, and henceforward impatiently waited +for an opportunity of testing the truth of his theory. + +He convinced himself, but could not convince any one else, that a +westerly route to India was quite feasible. First he laid his plans +before the authorities at Genoa, who had for generations traded with +Asia by the overland journey, and ought therefore to have been glad to +learn of this new alternative route, since the Turks were now playing +havoc with the other; but no, they told Columbus that his idea was +chimerical! Next he applied to the court of France. "Ridiculous!" was +the reply, accompanied with a polite sneer. Next Columbus sent his +scheme to Henry VII of England, a prince full of projects, but miserly. +"Too expensive!" was the Tudor's reply, though presently, after the +Spanish success, he became eager to despatch expeditions from Bristol +under the Cabots. Then Columbus, by the advice of his brother, who had +settled in Lisbon as a map-maker, approached King John, seeking +patronage and assistance, pleading the foremost position of Portugal +among the maritime states. The Portuguese neglected the golden +opportunity, ocean navigation not being in their way as yet; their +skippers preferred "to hug the African shore." + +At last Columbus gained the ear of Isabella, Queen of Castile; she +believed in him and tried to get the assistance of her husband, +Ferdinand, King of Aragon, in providing an outfit for the great +expedition. Owing to Ferdinand's war in expelling the Moors from +Granada, Columbus had still to wait several years. + +In a previous year, 1477, Columbus had sailed to the North Atlantic, +perhaps in one of those Basque whalers already referred to, going "a +hundred leagues beyond Thule." If that means Iceland, as is generally +supposed, it seems most probable that, when conversing with the sailors +there he must have heard how Leif, with his Norsemen, had discovered the +American coasts of Newfoundland and Vinland some five centuries earlier, +and how they had settled a colony on the new continent. Other writers +have pointed out that Columbus could very well have heard of Vinland and +the Northmen before leaving Genoa, since one of the Popes had sanctioned +the appointment of a bishop over the new diocese. If so, the visit of +Columbus to Iceland probably gave him confirmation as to the Norse +discovery of the American continent. + +When at last King Ferdinand had taken Granada from the Moors, Columbus +was put in command of three ships, with 120 men. He set sail from the +port of Palos, in Andalusia, on a Friday, August 3, 1492, first steering +to the Canary Islands, and then standing due west. In September, to the +amazement of all on board, the compass was seen to "vary": an important +scientific discovery--viz., that the magnetic needle does not always +point to the pole-star. Some writers have imagined that the compass was +for the first time utilized for a long journey by Columbus, but the +occult power of the magnetic needle or "lodestone" had been known for +ages before the fifteenth century. The ancient Persians and other "wise +men of the East" used the lodestone as a talisman. Both the Mongolian +and Caucasian races used it as an infallible guide in traveling across +the mighty plains of Asia. The Cynosure in the Great Bear was the +"guiding star," whether by sea or land; but when the heavens were +wrapped in clouds, the magic stone or needle served to point exactly the +position of the unseen star. What Columbus and his terrified crews +discovered was the "variation of the compass," due to the fact that the +magnetic needle points, not to the North Star, but to the "magnetic +pole," a point in Canada to the west of Baffin's Bay and north of Hudson +Bay. + +If Columbus had continued steering due west he would have landed on the +continent of America in Florida; but before sighting that coast the +course was changed to southwest, because some birds were seen flying in +that direction. The first land reached was an island of the Bahama +group, which he named _San Salvador_. As the Spanish boats rowed to +shore they were welcomed by crowds of astonished natives, mostly naked, +unless for a girdle of wrought cotton or plaited feathers. Hence the +lines of Milton: + + Such of late + Columbus found the American, so girt + With feathered cincture, naked else and wild, + Among the trees on isles and woody shores. + +The spot of landing was formerly identified by Washington Irving and +Baron Humboldt with "Cat Island"; but from the latest investigation it +is now believed to have been Watling's Island. Here he landed on a +Friday, October 12, 1492. + +So little was then known of the geography of the Atlantic or of true +longitude, that Columbus attributed these islands to the _east coast of +Asia_. He therefore named them "Indian Islands," as if close to +Hindustan, a blunder that has now been perpetuated for four hundred and +ten years. The natives were called "Indians" for the same reasons. As +the knowledge of geography advanced it became necessary to say "West +Indies" or "East Indies" respectively, to distinguish American from +Asiatic--"Indian corn" means American, but "Indian ink" means Asiatic, +etc. Even after his fourth and last voyage Columbus believed that the +continent, as well as the islands, was a portion of eastern Asia, and he +died in that belief, without any suspicion of having discovered a New +World. + +A curious confirmation of the opinion of Columbus has just been +discovered (1894) in the Florence Library, by Dr. Wieser, of Innsbruck. +It is the actual copy of a map by the Great Admiral, drawn roughly in a +letter written from Jamaica, July, 1503. It shows that his belief as to +the part of the world reached in his voyages was that it was the east +coast of Asia. + +The chief discovery made by Columbus in his first voyage was the great +island of Cuba, which he imagined to be part of a continent. Some of the +Spaniards went inland for sixty miles and reported that they had reached +a village of more than a thousand inhabitants, and that the corn used +for food was called _maize_--probably the first instance of Europeans +using a term which was afterward to become as familiar as "wheat" or +"barley." The natives told Columbus that their gold ornaments came from +_Cubakan_, meaning the interior of Cuba; but he, on hearing the syllable +_kan_, immediately thought of the "Khan" mentioned by Marco Polo, and +therefore imagined that "Cathay" (the China of that famous traveler) was +close at hand. The simple-minded Cubans were amazed that the Spaniards +had such a love for gold, and pointed eastward to another island, which +they called _Hayti_, saying it was more plentiful there than in Cuba. +Thus Columbus discovered the second in size of all the West Indian +islands, Cuba being the first; he, after landing on it, called it +"Hispaniola," or Little Spain. Hayti in a few years became the +headquarters of the Spanish establishments in the New World, after its +capital, San Domingo, had been built by Bartholomew Columbus. It was in +this island that the Spaniards saw the first of the "caziques," or +native princes, afterward so familiar during the conquest of Mexico; he +was carried on the shoulders of four men, and courteously presented +Columbus with some plates of gold. In a letter to the monarchs of Spain +the admiral thus refers to the natives of Hayti: + + The people are so affectionate, so tractable, and so peaceable that + I swear to your Highnesses there is not a better race of men, nor a + better country in the world; ... their conversation is the sweetest + and mildest in the world, and always accompanied with a smile. The + king is served with great state, and his behavior is so decent that + it is pleasant to see him. + +The admiral had previously described the Indians of Cuba as equally +simple and friendly, telling how they had "honored the strangers as +sacred beings allied to heaven." The pity of it, and the shame, is that +those frank, unsuspicious, islanders had no notion or foresight of the +cruel desolation which their gallant guests were presently to bring upon +the native races--death, and torture, and extermination! + +A harbor in Cuba is thus described by Columbus in a letter to Ferdinand +and Isabella: + + I discovered a river which a galley might easily enter.... I found + from five to eight fathoms of water. Having proceeded a + considerable way up the river, everything invited me to settle + there. The beauty of the river, the clearness of the water, the + multitude of palm-trees and an infinite number of other large and + flourishing trees, the birds and the verdure of the plains, ... I + am so much amazed at the sight of such beauty, that I know not how + to describe it. + +Having lost his flag-ship, Columbus returned to Spain with the two small +caravels that remained from his petty fleet of three, arriving in the +port of Palos March 15, 1493. The reception of the successful explorer +was a national event. He entered Barcelona to be presented at court with +every circumstance of honor and triumph. Sitting in presence of the king +and queen he related his wondrous tale, while his attendants showed the +gold, the cotton, the parrots and other unknown birds, the curious arms +and plants, and above all the nine "Indians" with their outlandish +trappings--brought to be made Christians by baptism. Ferdinand and +Isabella heaped honors upon the successful navigator; and in return he +promised them the untold riches of Zipango and Cathay. A new fleet, +larger and better equipped, was soon found for a second voyage. + +With his new ships, in 1498, Columbus again stood due west from the +Canaries; and at last discovering an island with three mountain summits +he named it Trinidad (i. e., "Trinity") without knowing that he was then +coasting the great continent of South America. A few days later he and +the crew were amazed by a tumult of waves caused by the fresh water of a +great river meeting the sea. It was the "Oronooko," afterward called +Orinoco; and from its volume Columbus and his shipmates concluded that +it must drain part of a continent or a very large island. + + Where Orinoco in his pride, + Rolls to the main no tribute tide, + But 'gainst broad ocean urges far + A rival sea of roaring war; + While in ten thousand eddies driven + The billows fling their foam to heaven, + And the pale pilot seeks in vain, + Where rolls the river, where the main. + +That was the first glimpse which they had of America proper, still +imagining it was only a part of eastern Asia. In the following voyage, +his last, Columbus coasted part of the Isthmus of Darien. It was not, +however, explored till the visit of Balboa. + +[Illustration: + +Cipher autograph of Columbus. + +The interpretation of the cipher is probably: + +SERVATF Christus Maria Yosephus (Christoferens).] + +It was during his third voyage that the "Great Admiral" suffered the +indignity at San Domingo of being thrown into chains and sent back to +Spain. This was done by Bobadilla, an officer of the royal household, +who had been sent out with full power to put down misrule. The monarchs +of Spain set Columbus free; and soon afterward he was provided with four +ships for his fourth voyage. Stormy weather wrecked this final +expedition, and at last he was glad to arrive in Spain, November 7, +1504. He now felt that his work on earth was done, and died at +Valladolid, May 20, 1506. After temporary interment there his body was +transferred to the cathedral of San Domingo--whence, 1796, some remains +were removed with imposing ceremonies to Havana. From later +investigations it appears that the ashes of the Genoese discoverer are +still in the tomb of San Domingo. + +It was in the cathedral of Seville, over his first tomb, that King +Ferdinand is said to have honored the memory of the Great Admiral with a +marble monument bearing the well-known epitaph: + + A CASTILLA Y ARAGON + NUEVO MUNDO DIO COLON. + +or, "_To the united Kingdom of Castile-Aragon Columbus gave a New +World_." + +After the death of Columbus, it seemed as if fate intended his family to +enjoy the honors and rewards of which he had been so unjustly deprived. +His son, Diego, wasted two years trying to obtain from King Ferdinand +the offices of viceroy and admiral, which he had a right to claim in +accordance with the arrangement formerly made with his father. At last +Diego began a suit against Ferdinand before the council which managed +Indian affairs. That court decided in favor of Diego's claim; and as he +soon greatly improved his social position by marrying the niece of the +Duke of Alva, a high nobleman, Diego received the appointment of +governor (not viceroy), and went to Hayti, attended by his brother and +uncles, as well as his wife and a large retinue. There Diego Columbus +and his family lived, "with a splendor hitherto unknown in the New +World." + +II.--Henry VII of England, after repenting that he had not secured the +services of Columbus, commissioned John Cabot to sail from Bristol +across the Atlantic in a northwesterly direction, with the hope of +finding some passage there-abouts to India. In June, 1497, a new coast +was sighted (probably Labrador or Newfoundland), and named _Prima +Vista_. They coasted the continent southward, "ever with intent to find +the passage to India," till they reached the peninsula now called +Florida. On this important voyage was based the claim which the English +kings afterward made for the possession of all the Atlantic coast of +North America. King Henry wished colonists to settle in the new land, +_tam viri quam feminae_, but since, in his usual miserly character, he +refused to give a single "testoon," or "groat" toward the enterprise, no +colonies were formed till the days of Walter Raleigh, more than a +century later. + +Sebastian Cabot, born in Bristol, 1477, was more renowned as a navigator +than his father, John, and almost ranks with Columbus. After discovering +Labrador or Newfoundland with his father, he sailed a second time with +300 men to form colonies, passing apparently into Hudson Bay. He wished +to discover a channel leading to Hindustan, but the difficulties of +icebergs and cold weather so frightened his crews that he was compelled +to retrace his course. In another attempt at the northwest passage to +Asia, he reached latitude 67-1/2 deg. north, and "gave English names to +sundry places in Hudson Bay." In 1526, when commanding a Spanish +expedition from Seville, he sailed to Brazil, which had already been +annexed to Portugal by Cabrera, explored the River La Plata and ascended +part of the Paraguay, returning to Spain in 1531. After his return to +England, King Edward VI had some interviews with Cabot, one topic being +the "variation of the compass." He received a royal pension of 250 +marks, and did special work in relation to trade and navigation. The +great honor of Cabot is that he saw the American continent before +Columbus or Amerigo Vespucci. + +III.--Of the great navigators of that unexampled age of discovery, as +Spain was honored by Columbus and England by Cabot, so Portugal was +honored by De Gama. Vasco de Gama, the greatest of Portuguese +navigators, left Lisbon in 1497 to explore the unknown world lying east +of the Cape of Good Hope, arriving at Calicut, May, 1498. Before that, +Diaz had actually rounded the cape, but seems to have done so merely +before a high gale. He named it "the stormy Cape." Cabrera, or Cabral, +was another great explorer sent from Portugal to follow in the route of +De Gama; but being forced into a southwesterly route by currents in the +south Atlantic, he landed on the continent of America, and annexed the +new country to Portugal under the name of Brazil. Cabrera afterward drew +up the first commercial treaty between Portugal and India. + +IV.--Magellan, scarcely inferior to Columbus, brought honor as a +navigator both to Portugal and Spain. For the latter country, when in +the service of Charles V, he revived the idea of Columbus that we may +sail to Asia or the Spice Islands by sailing _west_. With a squadron of +five ships, 236 men, he sailed, in 1519, to Brazil and convinced +himself that the great estuary was not a strait. Sailing south along the +American coast, he discovered the strait that bears his name, and +through it entered the Pacific, then first sailed upon by Europeans, +though already seen by Balboa and his men "upon a peak in Darien"--as +Keats puts it in his famous sonnet.[7] From the continuous fine weather +enjoyed for some months, Magellan naturally named the new sea "the +Pacific." After touching at the Ladrones and the Philippines, Magellan +was killed in a fight with the inhabitants of Matan, a small island. +Sebastian, his Basque lieutenant (mentioned in Chapter I) then +successfully completed the circumnavigation of the world, sailing first +to the Moluccas and thence to Spain. + +[Footnote 7: The poet, however, makes the clerical blunder of writing +Cortez for Balboa.] + +V.--Of all the world-famous navigators contemporary with Colon, the +Genoese, there remains only one deserving of our notice, and that +because his name is for all time perpetuated in that of the New World. +Amerigo (Latin _Americus_) Vespucci, born at Florence, 1451, had +commercial occupation in Cadiz, and was employed by the Spanish +Government. He has been charged with a fraudulent attempt to usurp the +honor due to Columbus, but Humboldt and others have defended him, after +a minute examination of the evidence. In a book published in 1507 by a +German, _Waldseemueller_, the author happens to say: + + And the fourth part of the world having been discovered by + Americus, it may be called Amerige, that is the land of Americus, + or _America_. + +Vespucci never called himself the discoverer of the new continent; as a +mere subordinate he could not think of such a thing. As a matter of +fact, he and Columbus were always on friendly terms, attached, and +trusted. Humboldt explains the blunder of Waldseemueller and others by +the general ignorance of the history of how America was discovered, +since for some years it was jealously guarded as a "state secret." +Humboldt curiously adds that the "musical sound of the name caught the +public ear," and thus the blunder has been universally perpetuated: + + _statque stabitque + in omne volubilis aevum_. + +Another reason for the universal renown of Amerigo was that his book was +the first that told of the new "Western World"; and was therefore +eagerly read in all parts of Europe. + +Cuba, though the largest of the West Indian islands, and second to be +discovered, was not colonized till after the death of Columbus. Thus for +more than three centuries and a half, as "Queen of the Antilles" and +"Pearl of the Antilles," Cuba has been noted as a chief colonial +possession of Spain, till recent events brought it under the power of +the United States. The conquest of the island was undertaken by +Velasquez, who, after accompanying the great admiral in his second +voyage, had settled in Hispaniola (or Hayti) and acquired a large +fortune there. He had little difficulty in the annexation of Cuba, +because the natives, like those of Hispaniola, were of a peaceful +character, easily imposed upon by the invaders. The only difficulty +Velasquez had was in the eastern part of the island, where Hatuey, a +cazique or native chief, who had fled there from Hispaniola, made +preparations to resist the Spaniards. When defeated, he was cruelly +condemned by Velasquez to be burned to death, as a "slave who had taken +arms against his master." The scene at Hatuey's execution is well known: + + When fastened to the stake, a Franciscan friar promised him + immediate admittance into the joys of heaven, if he would embrace + the Christian faith. "Are there any Spaniards," says he, after some + pause, "in that region of bliss which you describe?" "Yes," replied + the monk, "but only such as are worthy and good." "The best of them + have neither worth nor goodness: I will not go to a place where I + may meet with one of that accursed race." + +Being thus annexed in 1511, by the middle of the century all the native +Indians of Cuba had become extinct. In the following century this large +and fertile island suffered severely by the buccaneers, but during the +eighteenth century it prospered. During the nineteenth century, the +United States Government had often been urged to obtain possession of +it; for example, the sum of one hundred million dollars was offered in +1848 by President Polk. Slavery was at last abolished absolutely in +1886. In recent years Spain, by ceding Cuba and the Philippines to the +United States and the Carolines to Germany, has brought her colonial +history to a close. + +Two other important events occurred when Velasquez was Governor of Cuba: +first, the escape of Balboa from Hispaniola, to become afterward +Governor of Darien; and, second, the expedition under Cordova to +explore that part of the continent of America which lies nearest to +Cuba. This expedition of 110 men, in three small ships, led to the +discovery of that large peninsula now known as Yucatan. Cordova imagined +it to be an island. The natives were not naked, like those of the West +Indian islands, but wore cotton clothes, and some had ornaments of gold. +In the towns, which contained large stone houses, and country generally, +there were many proofs of a somewhat advanced civilization. The natives, +however, were much more warlike than the simple islanders of Cuba and +Hispaniola; and Cordova, in fact, was glad to return from Yucatan. + +Velasquez, on hearing the report of Cordova, at once fitted out four +vessels to explore the newly discovered country, and despatched them +under command of his nephew, Grijalva. Everywhere were found proofs of +civilization, especially in architecture. The whole district, in fact, +abounds in prehistoric remains. From a friendly chief Grijalva received +a sort of coat of mail covered with gold plates; and on meeting the +ruler of the province he exchanged some toys and trinkets, such as glass +beads, pins, scissors, for a rich treasure of jewels, gold ornaments and +vessels. + +Grijalva was therefore the first European to step on the Aztec soil and +open an intercourse with the natives. Velasquez, the Governor, at once +prepared a larger expedition, choosing as leader or commander an officer +who was destined henceforth to fill a much larger place in history than +himself, one who presently appeared capable of becoming a general in the +foremost rank, Hernando Cortes, greatest of all Spanish explorers. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE EXTINCT CIVILIZATION OF THE AZTECS + + +In the Extinct Civilizations of the East it was shown that the cosmogony +of the Chaldeans closely resembles that of the Hebrews and the +Phenicians, and that the account of the deluge in Genesis exactly +reproduces the much earlier one found on one of the Babylonian tablets. + +Traces of a deluge legend also existed among the early Aztecs. They +believed + + that two persons survived the Deluge, a man named Koksoz and his + wife. Their heads are represented in ancient paintings together + with a boat floating on the waters at the foot of a mountain. A + dove is also depicted, with a hieroglyphical emblem of languages in + his mouth.... Tezpi, the Noah of a neighboring people, also escaped + in a boat, which was filled with various kinds of animals and + birds. After some time a vulture was sent out from it, but remained + feeding on the dead bodies of the giants, which had been left on + the earth as the waters subsided. The little humming-bird was then + sent forth and returned with the branch of a tree in its mouth. + +Another Aztec tradition of the deluge is that the pyramidal mound, the +temple of Cholula (a sacred city on the way between the capital and the +seaport), was built by the giants to escape drowning. Like the tower of +Babel, it was intended to reach the clouds, till the gods looked down +and, by destroying the pyramid by fires from heaven, compelled the +builders to abandon the attempt. + +The hieroglyphics used in the Aztec calendar correspond curiously with +the zodiacal signs of the Mongols of eastern Asia. "The symbols in the +Mongolian calendar are borrowed from animals, and four of the twelve are +the same as the Aztec." + +The antiquity of most of the monuments is proved--e. g., by the growth +of trees in the midst of the buildings in Yucatan. Many have had time to +attain a diameter of from six to nine feet. In a courtyard at Uxmal, the +figures of tortoises sculptured in relief upon the granite pavement are +so worn away by the feet of countless generations of the natives that +the design of the artist is scarcely recognizable. + +The Spanish invaders demolished every vestige of the Aztec religious +monuments, just as Roman Catholic images and paraphernalia were once +treated by the "straitest sects" of Protestants, or even Mohammedans. + +The beautiful plateau around the lakes of Mexico, as well as other +central portions of America, were without any doubt occupied from the +earliest ages by peoples who gradually advanced in civilization from +generation to generation and passed through cycles of revolutions--in +one century relapsing, in another advancing by leaps and bounds by an +infusion of new blood or a change of environment--exactly similar to the +checkered annals of the successive dynasties in the Nile Valley and the +plains of Babylonia. In the New World, as in the Old World, from +prehistoric times wealth was accumulated at such centers, bringing +additional comfort and refinement, and implying the practise of the +useful arts and some applications of science. As to the legendary +migrations or even those extinct races whose names still remain, Max +Mueller said:[8] + +[Footnote 8: Chips from a German Workshop, i, 327.] + + The traditions are no better than the Greek traditions about + Pelasgians, Aeolians, and Ionians, and it would be a mere waste of + time to construct out of such elements a systematic history, only + to be destroyed again sooner or later, by some Niebuhr, Grote, or + Lewis. + +_Anahuac_ (i. e., "waterside" or "the lake-country"), in the early +centuries of our era, was a name of the country round the lakes and town +afterward called Mexico. To this center, as a place for settlement, +there came from the north or northwest a succession of tribes more or +less allied in race and language--especially (according to one theory) +the _Toltecs_ from Tula, and the _Aztecs_ from Aztlan. Tula, north of +the Mexican Valley, had been the first capital of the Toltecs, and at +the time of the Spanish conquest there were remains of large buildings +there. Most of the extensive temples and other edifices found throughout +"New Spain" were attributed to this race and the word "toltek" became +synonymous with "architect." + +Some five centuries after the Toltecs had abandoned Tula, the Aztecs or +early Mexicans arrived to settle in the Valley of Anahuac. With the +Aztecs came the Tezcucans, whose capital, Tezcuco, on the eastern border +of the Mexican lake, has given it its still surviving name. + +The Aztecs, again, after long migrations from place to place, finally, +in A. D. 1325, halted on the southwestern shores of the great lake. +According to tradition, a heavenly vision thus announced the site of +their future capital: + + They beheld perched on the stem of a prickly-pear, which shot out + from the crevice of a rock washed by the waves, a royal eagle of + extraordinary size and beauty, with a serpent in its talons, and + its broad wings opened to the rising sun. They hailed the + auspicious omen, announced by an oracle as indicating the sight of + their future city, and laid its foundations by sinking piles into + the shallows; for the low marshes were half buried under water.... + The place was called Tenochtitlan (i. e. "the cactus on a rock") in + token of its miraculous origin. [Such were the humble beginnings of + the Venice of the Western World.][9] + +[Footnote 9: Prescott, i, I, pp. 8, 9.] + +To this day the arms of the Mexican republic show the device of the +eagle and the cactus--to commemorate the legend of the foundation of the +capital--afterward called Mexico from the name of their war-god. Fiercer +and more warlike than their brethren of Tezcuco, the men of the latter +town were glad of their assistance, when invaded and defeated by a +hostile tribe. Thus Mexico and Tezcuco became close allies, and by the +time of Montezuma I, in the middle of the fifteenth century, their +sovereignty had extended beyond their native plateau to the coast +country along the Gulf of Mexico. The capital rapidly increased in +population, the original houses being replaced by substantial stone +buildings. There are documents showing that Tenochtitlan was of much +larger dimensions than the modern capital of Mexico, on the same site. +Just before the arrival of the Spaniards, at the beginning of the +sixteenth century, the kingdom extended from the gulf across to the +Pacific; and southward under the ruthless Ahuitzotl over the whole of +Guatemala and Nicaragua. + +The Aztecs resembled the ancient Peruvians in very few respects, one +being the use of knots on strings of different colors to record events +and numbers. Compare our account of "the quipu" in Chapter X. The Aztecs +seem to have replaced that rude method of making memoranda during the +seventh century by picture-writing. Before the Spanish invasion, +thousands of native clerks or chroniclers were employed in painting on +vegetable paper and canvas. Examples of such manuscripts may still be +seen in all the great museums. Their contents chiefly refer to ritual, +astrology, the calendar, annals of the kings, etc. + +Most of the literary productions of the ancient Mexicans were stupidly +destroyed by the Spanish under Cortes. The first Archbishop of Mexico +founded a professorship in 1553 for expounding the hieroglyphs of the +Aztecs, but in the following century the study was abandoned. Even the +native-born scholars confessed that they were unable to decipher the +ancient writing. One of the most ancient books (assigned to Tula, the +"Toltec" capital, A. D. 660, and written by Huetmatzin, an astrologer), +describes the heavens and the earth, the stars in their constellations, +the arrangement of time in the official calendar, with some geography, +mythology, and cosmogony. In the fifteenth century the King of Tezcuco +published sixty hymns in honor of the Supreme Being, with an elegy on +the destruction of a town, and another on the instability of human +greatness. + +In the same century the three Anahuac states (Acolhua, Mexico, and +Tlacopan) formed a confederacy with a constant tendency to give Mexico +the supremacy. The two capitals looking at each other across the lake +were steadily growing in importance, with all the adjuncts of public +works--causeways, canals, aqueducts, temples, palaces, gardens, and +other evidences of wealth. + +The horror and disgust caused by the Aztec sacrificial bloodshed are +greatly increased by considering the number of the victims. The kings +actually made war in order to provide as many victims as possible for +the public sacrifices--especially on such an occasion as a coronation or +the consecration of a new temple. Captives were sometimes reserved a +considerable time for the purpose of immolation. It was the regular +method of the Aztec warrior in battle not to kill one's opponent if he +could be made a captive; to take him alive was a meritorious act in +religion. In fact, the Spaniards in this way frequently escaped death at +the hands of their Mexican opponents. When King Montezuma was asked by a +European general why he had permitted the republic of Tlascala to remain +independent on the borders of his kingdom, his reply was, "That she +might furnish me with victims for my gods." + +In reckoning the number of victims Prescott seems to have trusted too +implicitly to the almost incredible accounts of the Spanish. Zumurraga, +the first Bishop of Mexico, asserts that 20,000 were sacrificed +annually, but Casas points out that with such a "waste of the human +species," as is implied in some histories, the country could not have +been so populous as Cortes found it. The estimate of Casas is "that the +Mexicans never sacrificed more than fifty or a hundred persons in a +year." + +Notwithstanding the wholesale bloodshed before the shrines of their gory +gods, we can still assign to the Aztecs a high degree of civilization. +The history of even modern Europe will illustrate this statement, +although apparently paradoxical. + +Consider "the condition of some of the most polished countries in the +sixteenth century after the establishment of the modern Inquisition--an +institution which yearly destroyed its thousands by a death more painful +than the Aztec sacrifices, ... which did more to stay the march of +improvement than any other scheme ever devised by human cunning.... +Human sacrifice was sometimes voluntarily embraced by the Aztecs as the +most glorious death, and one that opened a sure passage into paradise. +The Inquisition, on the other hand, branded its victims with infamy in +this world, and consigned them to everlasting perdition in the next." + +The difficulty with the Aztecs is how to reconcile such refinement as +their extinct civilization showed with their savage enjoyment of +bloodshed. "No captive was ever ransomed or spared; all were sacrificed +without mercy, and their flesh devoured." The first of the four chief +counselors of the empire was called the "Prince of the Deadly Lance," +the second "Divider of Men," the third "Shedder of Blood," the fourth +"the Lord of the Dark House." + +The temples were very numerous, generally merely pyramidal masses of +clay faced with brick or stone. The roof was a broad area on which stood +one or two towers, from forty to fifty feet in height, forming the +sanctuaries of the presiding deities, and therefore containing their +images. Before these sanctuaries stood the dreadful stone of sacrifice. +There were also two altars with sacred fires kept ever burning. + +All the religious services were public, and the pyramidal temples, with +stairs round their massive sides, allowed the long procession of priests +to be visible as they ceremoniously ascended to perform the dread office +of slaughtering the human victims. + +Human sacrifices had not originally been a feature of the Aztec worship. +But about 200 years before the arrival of the Spanish invaders was the +beginning of this religious atrocity, and at last no public festival was +considered complete without some human bloodshed. + +Prescott takes as an example the great festival in honor of +Tezcatlipoca, a handsome god of the second rank, called "the soul of the +world," and endowed with perpetual youth. + + A year before the intended sacrifice, a captive, distinguished for + his personal beauty and without a blemish on his body, was + selected.... Tutors took charge of him and instructed him how to + perform his new part with becoming grace and dignity. He was + arrayed in a splendid dress, regaled with incense and with a + profusion of sweet-scented flowers.... When he went abroad he was + attended by a train of the royal pages, and as he halted in the + streets to play some favorite melody, the crowd prostrated + themselves before him, and did him homage as the representative of + their good deity.... Four beautiful girls, bearing the names of the + principal goddesses, were selected, and with them he continued to + live idly, feasted at the banquets of the principal nobles, who + paid him all the honors of a divinity. When at length the fatal + day of sacrifice arrived, ... stripped of his gaudy apparel, one of + the royal barges transported him across a lake to a temple which + rose on its margin.... Hither the inhabitants of the capital + flocked to witness the consummation of the ceremony. As the sad + procession wound up the sides of the pyramid, the unhappy victim + threw away his gay chaplets of flowers and broke in pieces his + musical instruments. ... On the summit he was received by six + priests, whose long and matted locks flowed in disorder over their + sable robes, covered with hieroglyphic scrolls of mystic import. + They led him to the sacrificial stone, a huge block of jasper, with + its upper surface somewhat convex. On this the victim was + stretched. Five priests secured his head and limbs, while the + sixth, clad in a scarlet mantle, emblematic of his bloody office, + dexterously opened the breast of the wretched victim with a sharp + razor of _itzli_, and inserting his hand in the wound, tore out the + palpitating heart, and after holding it up to the sun (as + representing the supreme God), cast it at the feet of the deity to + whom the temple was devoted, while the multitudes below prostrated + themselves in humble adoration. + +Such was an instance of the human sacrifices for which ancient Mexico +became infamous to the whole civilized world. + +One instance of a sacrifice differing from the ordinary sort is thus +given by a Spanish historian: + + A captive of distinction was sometimes furnished with arms for + single combat against a number of Mexicans in succession. If he + defeated them all, as did occasionally happen, he was allowed to + escape. If vanquished he was dragged to the block and sacrificed in + the usual manner. The combat was fought on a huge circular stone + before the population of the capital. + +Women captives were occasionally sacrificed before those bloodthirsty +gods, and in a season of drought even children were sometimes +slaughtered to propitiate Tlaloc, the god of rain. + + Borne along in open litters, dressed in their festal robes and + decked with the fresh blossoms of spring, they moved the hardest + hearts to pity, though their cries were drowned in the wild chant + of the priests who read in their tears a favorable augury for the + rain prayer. + +One Spanish historian informs us that these innocent victims of this +repulsive religion were generally bought by the priests from parents who +were poor. + +We may now resume the traditional settlement of the ancient Mexicans on +the region called Anahuac, including all the fertile plateau and +extending south to the lake of Nicaragua. The chief tribes of the race +were said to have come from California, and after being subject to the +Colhua people asserted their independence about A. D. 1325. Soon +afterward, their first capital, Tenochtitlan, was built on the site of +Mexico, their permanent center. For several generations they lived, like +their remote ancestors, the Red Men of the Woods, as hunters, fishers, +and trappers, but at last their prince or chief cazique was powerful +enough to be called king. The rule of this Aztec prince, beginning A. D. +1440, marked the beginning of their greatness as a race. It became a +rule of their kingdom that every new king must gain a victory before +being crowned; and thus by the conquest of a new nation furnish a supply +of captives to gratify their tutelary deity by the necessary human +sacrifices. In 1502 the younger Montezuma ascended the throne. He is +better known to us than the previous kings, because it was in his reign +that the Spanish conquerors appeared on the scene. From the time of +Cortes the history of the Aztecs becomes part of that of the Mexicans. +They were easily conquered by the European troops, partly because of +their betrayal by various of the neighboring nations whom they had +formerly conquered. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, according +to Prescott, the Aztec king ruled the continent from the Atlantic to the +Pacific. + +From the scientific side of their extinct civilization it is their +knowledge of astronomy that chiefly causes astonishment (see also p. +85). As in the case of the Chaldeans and Babylonians, a motive +for the study of the stars and planets was the priestly one of +accurately fixing the religious festivals. The tropical year being thus +ascertained, their tables showed the exact time of the equinox or sun's +transit across the equatorial, and of the solstice. From a very early +period they had practised agriculture, growing Indian corn and "Mexican +aloe." Having no animals of draft, such as the horse, or ox, their +farming was naturally of a rude and imperfect sort. + +"The degree of civilization," says Prescott, "which the Aztecs reached, +as inferred by their political institutions, may be considered, perhaps, +not much short of that enjoyed by our Saxon ancestors under Alfred." + +In a passage comparing the Aztecs to the American Indians, we read: + + The latter has something peculiarly sensitive in his nature. He + shrinks instinctively from the rude touch of a foreign hand. Even + when this foreign influence comes in the form of civilization he + seems to sink and pine away beneath it. It has been so with the + Mexicans. Under the Spanish domination their numbers have silently + melted away. Their energies are broken. They no longer tread their + mountain plains with the conscious independence of their ancestors. + In their faltering step and meek and melancholy aspect we read the + sad characters of the conquered race.... Their civilization was of + the hardy character which belongs to the wilderness. The fierce + virtues of the Aztec were all his own. + +Humboldt found some analogy between the Aztec theory of the universe, as +taught by the priests, and the Asiatic "cosmogonies." The Aztecs, in +explaining the great mystery of man's existence after death, believed +that future time would revolve in great periods or cycles, each +embracing thousands of years. At the end of each of the four cycles of +future time in the present world, "the human family will be swept from +the earth by the agency of one of the elements, and the sun blotted out +from the heavens to be again rekindled." + +The priesthood comprised a large number who were skilled in astrology +and divination. The great temple of Mexico, alone, had 5,000 priests in +attendance, of whom the chief dignitaries superintended the dreadful +rites of human sacrifice. Others had management of the singing choirs +with their musical accompaniment of drums and other instruments; others +arranged the public festivals according to the calendar, and had charge +of the hieroglyphical word-painting and oral traditions. One important +section of the priesthood were teachers, responsible for the education +of the children and instruction in religion and morality. The head +management of the hierarchy or whole ecclesiastical system, was under +two high priests--the more dignified that they were chosen by the king +and principal nobles without reference to birth or social station. These +high priests were consulted on any national emergency, and in precedency +of rank were superior to every man except the king. Montezuma is said to +have been a priest. + +The priestly power was more absolute than any ever experienced in +Europe. Two remarkable peculiarities were that when a sinner was +pardoned by a priest, the certificate afterward saved the culprit from +being legally punished for any offense; secondly, there could be no +pardon for an offense once atoned for if the offense were repeated. +"Long after the conquest, the simple natives when they came under the +arm of the law, sought to escape by producing the certificate of their +former confession." (Prescott, i, 33.) + +The prayer of the priest-confessor, as reported by a Spanish historian, +is very remarkable: + + "O, merciful Lord, thou who knowest the secrets of all hearts, let + thy forgiveness and favor descend, like the pure waters of heaven, + to wash away the stains from the soul. Thou knowest that this poor + man has sinned, _not from his own free will_, but from the + influence of the sign under which he was born...." + + After enjoining on the penitent a variety of minute ceremonies by + way of penance, the confessor urges the necessity of instantly + procuring a slave for sacrifice to the Deity. + +In the schools under the clergy the boys were taught by priests and the +girls by priestesses. There was a higher school for instruction in +tradition and history, the mysteries of hieroglyphs, the principles of +government, and certain branches of astronomical and natural science. + +In the education of their children the Mexican community were very +strict, but from a letter preserved by one of the Spanish historians, we +can not doubt the womanly affection of a mother who thus wrote to her +daughter: + + My beloved daughter, very dear little dove, you have already heard + and attended to the words which your father has told you. They are + precious words, which have proceeded from the bowels and heart in + which they were treasured up; and your beloved father well knows + that you, his daughter, begotten of him, are his blood and his + flesh; and God our Lord knows that it is so. Although you are a + woman, and are the image of your father, what more can I say to you + than has already been said?... My dear daughter, whom I tenderly + love, see that you live in the world in peace, tranquillity, and + contentment--see that you disgrace not yourself, that you stain not + your honor, nor pollute the luster and fame of your ancestors.... + May God prosper you, my first-born, and may you come to God, who is + in every place.[10] + +[Footnote 10: Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva Espana, vi, 19.] + +Some trace of a "natural piety," which will probably surprise our +readers, is also found in the ceremony of Aztec baptism, as described by +the same writer. After the head and lips of the infant were touched with +water and a name given to it, the goddess Cioacoatl was implored "that +the sin which was given to us before the beginning of the world might +not visit the child, but that, cleansed by these waters, it might live +and be born anew." In Sahagun's account we read: + + When all the relations of the child were assembled, the midwife, + who was the person that performed the rite of baptism, was + summoned. When the sun had risen, the midwife, taking the child in + her arms, called for a little earthen vessel of water.... To + perform the rite, she placed herself _with her face toward the + west_, and began to go through certain ceremonies.... After this + she sprinkled water on the head of the infant, saying, "O my child! + receive the water of the Lord of the world, which is our life, and + is given for the increasing and renewing of our body. It is to wash + and to purify." ... [After a prayer] she took the child in both + hands, and lifting him toward heaven said, "O Lord, thou seest here + thy creature whom thou hast sent into this world, this place of + sorrow, suffering, and penitence. Grant him, O Lord, thy gifts and + thine inspiration." + +The science of the Aztecs has excited the wonder of all competent +judges, such as Humboldt (already quoted) and the astronomer La Place. +Lord Kingsborough remarks in his great work: + + It can hardly be doubted that the Mexicans were acquainted with + many scientifical instruments of strange invention;... whether the + telescope may not have been of the number is uncertain; but the + thirteenth plate of M. Dupaix's Monuments, which represents a man + holding something of a similar nature to his eye, affords reason to + suppose that they knew how to improve the powers of vision. + +References to the calendar of the Aztecs should not omit the secular +festival occurring at the end of their great cycle of fifty-two years. +From the length of the period, two generations, one might compare it +with the "jubilee" of ancient Israel--a word made familiar toward the +close of Queen Victoria's reign. The great event always took place at +midwinter, the most dreary period of the year, and when the five +intercalary days arrived they "abandoned themselves to despair," +breaking up the images of the gods, allowing the holy fires of the +temples to go out, lighting none in their homes, destroying their +furniture and domestic utensils, and tearing their clothes to rags. This +disorder and gloom signified that figuratively the end of the world was +at hand. + + On the evening of the last day, a procession of priests, assuming + the dress and ornaments of their gods, moved from the capital + toward a lofty mountain, about two leagues distant. They carried + with them a noble victim, the flower of their captives, and an + apparatus for kindling the _new fire_, the success of which was an + augury of the renewal of the cycle. On the summit of the mountain, + the procession paused till midnight, when, as the constellation of + the Pleiades[11] approached the zenith, the new fire was kindled by + the friction of some sticks placed on the breast of the victim. The + flame was soon communicated to a funeral-pyre on which the body of + the slaughtered captive was thrown. As the light streamed up toward + heaven, shouts of joy and triumph burst forth from the countless + multitudes who covered the hills, the terraces of the temples, and + the housetops.... Couriers, with torches lighted at the blazing + beacon, rapidly bore them over every part of the country.... A new + cycle had commenced its march. + + The following thirteen days were given up to festivity. ... The + people, dressed in their gayest apparel, and crowned with garlands + and chaplets of flowers, thronged in joyous procession to offer up + their oblations and thanksgivings in the temples. Dances and games + were instituted emblematical of the regeneration of the world. + +[Footnote 11: A famous group of seven small stars in the Bull +constellation. The "seven sisters" appear as only _six_ to ordinary +eyesight: to make out the seventh is a test of a practised eye and +excellent vision.] + +Prescott compares this carnival of the Aztecs to the great secular +festival of the Romans or ancient Etruscans, which (as Suetonius +remarked) "few alive had witnessed before, or could expect to witness +again." The _ludi saeculares_ or secular games of Rome were held only at +very long intervals and lasted for three days and nights. + +The poet Southey thus refers to the ceremony of opening the new Aztec +cycle, or Circle of the Years. + + On his bare breast the cedar boughs are laid, + On his bare breast, dry sedge and odorous gums, + Laid ready to receive the sacred spark, + And blaze, to herald the ascending sun, + Upon his living altar. Round the wretch + The inhuman ministers of rites accurst + Stand, and expect the signal when to strike + The seed of fire. Their Chief, apart from all, + ... eastward turns his eyes; + For now the hour draws nigh, and speedily + He look's to see the first faint dawn of day + Break through the orient sky. + + _Madoc_, ii, 26. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY + + +Long before the time of Columbus and the Spanish conquest there existed +on the table-land of Mexico two great races or nations, as has already +been shown, both highly civilized, and both akin in language, art, and +religion. Ethnologists and antiquaries are not agreed as to their origin +or the development of their civilization. Many recent critics have held +the theory that there had been a previous people from whom both races +inherited their extinct civilization, this previous race being the +"Toltecs," whom we have repeatedly mentioned in the preceding chapter. +To that previous race some attribute the colossal stonework around +Lake Titicaca, as well as other survivals of long-forgotten culture. +Some would even class them with the "mound-builders" of the Ohio Valley. +Other recent antiquaries, however, while fully admitting the +Aztec-Tescucan civilization to be real and historical, treat the Toltec +theory as partly or entirely mythical. One writer alleges, after the +manner of Max Mueller, that the Toltecs are "simply a personification of +the rays of light" radiating from the Aztec sun-god. + +Leaving abstract theories, we shall devote this chapter to the principal +facts of American archeology--especially as regards the races and the +monuments of their long extinct civilizations. Throughout many parts of +both North and South America, and over large areas, the red-skinned +natives continued their generations as their ancestors had done through +untold centuries, scarcely rising above the state of rude, uncultured +sons of the soil living as hunters, trappers, fishers, as had been done +immemorially + + When wild in woods the noble savage ran, + +as Dryden puts it. But in Mexico, Yucatan, and Central America, +Colombia, and Peru there were men of the original redskin race who had +distinctly attained to civilization for unknown generations before the +time of Columbus. Not only so, but in many centers of wealth and +population the process of social improvement and advance had been +continuous for unrecorded ages; and in certain cases a long extinct +civilization had over-laid a previous civilization still more remotely +extinct. Some works constructed for supplying water, for example, could +only have been applied to that purpose when the climate or geological +conditions were quite different from what they have always been in +historical times! + +Who is the red man? Compared in numbers with the yellow man, the white +man, or even the black, he is very unimportant, being only one-tenth as +great as the African race.[12] In American ethnology, however, the red +man is all-important. Primeval men of this race undoubtedly formed the +original stock whence during the centuries were derived all the numerous +tribes of "Indians" found in either North or South America. Throughout +Asia and Africa there is great diversity in type among the races that +are indigenous; but as to America, to quote Humboldt: + +[Footnote 12: White or Caucasian 640,000,000, yellow or Mongolian +600,000,000, black or African 200,000,000, red or American 20,000,000.] + + The Indians of New Spain [i. e., Mexico] bear a general resemblance + to those who inhabit Canada, Florida, Peru, and Brazil. We have the + same swarthy and copper color, straight and smooth hair, small + beard, squat body, long eye, with the corner directed upward toward + the temples, prominent cheek-bones, thick lips, and expression of + gentleness in the mouth, strongly contrasted with a gloomy and + severe look. + +Whence the original red men of America were derived it is impossible to +say. The date is too remote and the data too few. From fossil remains of +human bones, Agassiz estimated a period of at least ten thousand years; +and near New Orleans, beneath four buried forests, a skeleton was found +which was possibly fifty thousand years old. If, therefore, the redskins +branched off from the yellow man, it must have been at a period which +lies utterly beyond historic ken or calculation. + +Some recent ethnologists have borrowed the "glacier theory" from the +science of geology, in order to trace the development of civilization +among certain races. In Switzerland and Greenland the signs of the +action of a glacier can be traced and recognized just as we trace the +proofs of the action of water in a dry channel. Visit the front of a +glacier in autumn after the summer heat has made it shrink back, you +will see (1) rounded rocks, as if planed on the top, with (2) a mixed +mass of stones and gravel like a rubbish-heap, scattered on (3) a mass +of clay and sand, containing boulders. The same three tests are +frequently found in countries where there have been no glaciers within +the memory of man. + +Such traces, found not only in England, Scotland, and Ireland, but in +northern Germany and Denmark, prove that the mountain mass of +Scandinavia was the nucleus of a huge ice-cap "radiating to a distance +of not less than 1,000 miles, and thick enough to block up with solid +ice the North Sea, the German Ocean, the Baltic, and even the Atlantic +up to the 100-fathom line." In North America the same thing is proved by +similar evidence. A gigantic ice-cap extending from Canada has glaciated +all the minor mountain ranges to the south, sweeping over the whole +continent. The drift and boulders still remain to prove the fact, as far +south as only 15 deg. north of the tropic. A warm oceanic current, like the +Gulf Stream of the Atlantic, would shorten a glacial period. Speaking of +Scotland, one authority states that "if the Gulf Stream were diverted +and the Highlands upheaved to the height of the New Zealand Alps, the +whole country would again be buried under glaciers pushing out into the +seas" on the west and east. + +The theory is that as the climate became warmer, the ice-fronts +retreated northward by the shrinking of the glaciers, and therefore the +animals, including man, were able to live farther north. The men of that +very remote period were "Neolithic," and some of the stone monuments are +attributed to them that were formerly called "Druidic." A recent writer +asks; with reference to Stonehenge: + + Did Neolithic men slowly coming northward, as the rigors of the + last glacial period abated, domicile here, and build this huge + gaunt temple before they passed farther north, to degrade and + dwindle down into Eskimos wandering the dismal coasts of arctic + seas? + +Another writer, with reference to the American ice-sheet, says: + + During the second glacial epoch when the great boreal ice-sheet + covered one-half of the North American continent, reaching as far + south as the present cities of Philadelphia and St. Louis, and the + glaciated portions were as unfit for human occupation as the + snow-cap of Greenland is to-day, aggregations of population + clustered around the equatorial zone, because the climatic + conditions were congenial. And inasmuch as civilization, the world + over, clings to the temperate climates and thrives there best, we + are not surprised to learn that communities far advanced in arts + and architecture built and occupied those great cities in Yucatan, + Honduras, Guatemala, and other Central American states, whose + populations once numbered hundreds of thousands. + + An approximate date when this civilization was at the acme of its + glory would be about ten thousand years ago. This is established by + observations upon the recession of the existing glacier fronts, + which are known to drop back twelve miles in one hundred years. + + With the gradual withdrawal of the glacial ice-sheet the climate + grew proportionately milder, and flora and fauna moved + simultaneously northward. Some emigrants went to South America and + settled there, carrying their customs, arts, ceremonial rites, + hieroglyphs, architecture, etc.; and an immense exodus took place + into Mexico, which ultimately extended westward up the Pacific + coast. + + In subsequent epochs when the ice-sheet had withdrawn from large + areas, there were immense influxes of people from Asia via Bering + Strait on the Pacific side, and from northwestern Europe via + Greenland on the Atlantic side. The Korean immigration of the year + 544 led to the founding of the Mexican Empire in 1325. + +To trace then the gradations of ascent from the native American--called +"Indians" by a blunder of the Great Admiral, as afterward they were +nicknamed "redskins" by the English settlers--to the Mexicans, +Peruvians, or Colombians is a task far beyond our strength. Leaving the +question of race, therefore, we now turn to the antiquarian remains, +especially the architectural. + +The prehistoric civilization which was developed to the south of Mexico +is generally known as "Mayan," although the Mayas were undoubtedly akin +to the Aztecs or early Mexicans. The Maya tribes in Yucatan and +Honduras, from abundant evidence, must have risen to a refinement in +prehistoric times, which, in several respects, was superior to that of +the Aztecs. In architecture they were in advance from the earliest ages +not only of the Aztec peoples, but of all the American races. + +In Yucatan the Mayas have left some wonderful remains at Mayapan, their +prehistoric capital, and near it at a place called Uxmal which has +become famous from its vast and elaborate structures,[13] evidencing a +knowledge of art and science which had flourished in this region for +centuries before the arrival of the Spanish. The chief building in Uxmal +is in pyramidal form, the principal design in the ancient Aztec temples +(as well as those of Chaldea, etc.), consisting of three terraces faced +with hewn stone. The terraces are in length 575, 545, and 360 feet +respectively; with the temple on the summit, 322 feet, and a great +flight of stairs leading to it. The whole building is surrounded by a +belt of richly sculptured figures, above a cornice. At Chichen, also in +Yucatan, there is an area of two miles perimeter entirely covered with +architectural ruins; many of the roofs having apparently consisted of +stone arches, painted in various colors. One building, of peculiar +construction, proves an enigma to all travelers: it is more than ninety +yards long and consists of two parallel walls, each ten yards thick, the +distance between them being also ten yards. It has been conjectured that +the anomalous construction had reference to some public games by which +the citizens amused themselves in that long-forgotten period. Among +other memorials of Mayan architecture in this country is the city of +Tuloom on the east coast, fortified with strong walls and square towers. +A more remarkable "find" in the dense forests of Chiapas, in the same +country, is the city recorded by Stephens and other travelers. It is +near the coast, at the place where Cortes and his Spanish soldiers were +moving about for a considerable time, yet they do not appear to have +ever seen the splendid ruins, or to have at all suspected their +existence. Even if the natives knew, the Spaniards might have found the +toil of forcing a passage through such forests too laborious. The name +of the city which had so long been buried under the tropical vegetation +was quite unknown, nor was there any tradition of it; but when found it +was called "Palenque," from the nearest inhabited village. There were +substantial and handsome buildings with excellent masonry, and in many +cases beautiful sculptures and hieroglyphical figures. + +[Footnote 13: See Frontispiece.] + +Merida, the capital of Yucatan, is on the site of a prehistoric city +whose name had also become unknown. When building the present town, the +Spaniards utilized the ancient buildings as quarries for good stones. + +The larger prehistoric structures are frequently on artificial mounds, +being probably intended for religious or ceremonial purposes. The walls +both within and without are elaborately decorated, sometimes with +symbolic figures. Sometimes officials in ceremonial costumes are seen +apparently performing religious rites. These are often accompanied by +inscriptions in low relief, with the peculiar Mayan characters which +some archeologists call "calculiform hieroglyphs" (_v._ p. 82). + +On one of the altar-slabs near Palenque there occurs a sculptured group + + of several figures in the act of making offerings to a central + object shaped like the Latin cross. "The Latin, the Greek, and the + Egyptian cross or _tau_ (T) were evidently sacred symbols to this + ancient people, bearing some religious meanings derived from their + own cult."[14] + +[Footnote 14: D. G. Brinton.] + +The cross occurs frequently, not only in the Mayan sculptures, but also +in the ceremonial of the Aztecs. The Spanish followers of Cortes were +astonished to see this symbol used by these "barbarians," as they called +them. Winsor (i, 195) says that the Mayan cross has been explained to +mean "the four cardinal points, the rain-bringers, the symbol of life +and health"; and again, "the emblem of fire, indeed an ornamental +fire-drill." + +Students of architecture find a rudimentary form of the arch occurring +in some of the ruins, notably at Palenque. Two walls are built parallel +to each other, at some distance apart, then at the beginning of the arch +the layers on both sides have the inner stones slightly projecting, each +layer projecting a little more than the previous one, till at a certain +height the stones of one wall are almost touching those of the wall +opposite. Finally, a single flat stone closes in the space between and +completes the arch. + +In Honduras, on the banks of the Copan, the Spaniards found a +prehistoric capital in ruins, on an elevated area, surrounded by +substantial walls built of dressed stones, and enclosing large groups of +buildings. One structure is mainly composed of huge blocks of polished +stone. In several houses the whole of the external surface is covered +with elaborate carved designs: + + The adjacent soil is covered with sculptured obelisks, pillars, and + idols, with finely dressed stones, and with blocks ornamented with + skilfully carved figures of the characteristic Maya hieroglyphs, + which, could they be deciphered, would doubtless reveal the story + of this strange and solitary city. + +In western Guatemala, at Utatla, the ancient capital of the Quiches, a +tribe allied to the Mayas, several pyramids still remain. One is 120 +feet high, surmounted by a stone wall, and another is ascended by a +staircase of nineteen steps, each nineteen inches in height. + +The literary remains (such as Alphabets, Hieroglyphs, Manuscripts, etc.) +of the Maya and Aztec races are in some respects as vivid a proof of the +extinct civilizations as any of the architectural monuments already +discussed. Both Aztecs and Mayans of Yucatan and Central America used +picture-writing, and sometimes an imperfect form of hieroglyphics. The +most elementary kind was simply a rough sketch of a scene or historical +group which they wished to record. When, for example, Cortes had his +first interview with some messengers sent by Montezuma, one of the +Aztecs was observed sketching the dress and appearance of the Spaniards, +and then completing his picture by using colors. Even in recent times +Indians have recorded facts by pictographs: in Harper's Magazine +(August, 1902) we read that "pictographs and painted rocks to the number +of over 3,000 are scattered all over the United States, from the Dighton +Rock, Massachusetts (_v_. pp. 27, 28), to the Kern River Canyon in +California, and from the Florida Cape to the Mouse River in Manitoba. +The identity of the Indians with their ancient progenitors is further +proved by relics, mortuary customs, linguistic similarities, plants and +vegetables, and primitive industrial and mechanical arts, which have +remained constant throughout the ages." The pictographs of the Kern +River Canyon, according to the same writer, were inscribed on the rocks +there "about five thousand years ago." + +A more advanced form of picture-writing is frequently found in the Mayan +and other inscriptions and manuscripts. Two objects are represented, +whose names, when pronounced together, give a sound which suggests the +name to be recorded or remembered. Thus, the name Gladstone may be +expressed in this manner by two pictures, one a laughing face (i. e., +"happy" or "glad"), the other a rock (i. e., "stone"). It is exactly the +same contrivance that is used to construct the puzzle called a "rebus." + +A third form of hieroglyphic was by devising some conventional mark or +symbol to suggest the initial sound of the name to be recorded. Such a +mark or character would be a "letter," in fact; and thus the prehistoric +alphabets were arrived at, not only among the early Mayans of Yucatan, +etc., but among the prehistoric peoples of Asia, as the Chinese, the +Hittites, etc., as well as the primeval Egyptians. Many of the +sculptures in Copan and Palenque to which we have referred contain +pictographs and hieroglyphs. A Spanish Bishop of Yucatan drew up a Mayan +alphabet in order to express the hieroglyphs on monuments and +manuscripts in Roman letters; but much more data are needed before +scholars will read the ancient Mayan-Aztec tongues as they have been +enabled to understand the Egyptian inscriptions or the cuneiform records +of Babylonia. For the American hieroglyphs we still lack a second Young +or Champollion. + +There are three famous manuscripts in the Mayan character: + + 1. The Dresden Codex, preserved in the Royal Library of that city. + It is called a "religious and astrological ritual" by Abbe + Brasseur. + + 2. Codex Troano, in Madrid, described in two folios by Abbe + Brasseur. + + 3. Codex Peresianus, named from the wrapper in which it was found, + 1859, which had the name "Perez." It is also known as Codex + Mexicanus. + +In Lord Kingsborough's great work on Mexican Antiquities there are +several of the Mayan manuscripts printed in facsimile, and others in a +book by M. Aubin, of Paris. + +Each group of letters in a Mayan inscription is enclosed in an irregular +oval, supposed to resemble the cross-section of a pebble; hence the term +_calculiform_ (i. e., "pebble-shaped") is applied to their hieroglyphs, +as _cuneiform_ (i. e., "wedge-shaped") is applied to the Babylonian and +Assyrian letters. + +The paper which the prehistoric Mexicans (Mayas, Aztecs, or Tescucans, +etc.) used for writing and drawing upon was of vegetable origin, like +the Egyptian papyrus. It was made by macerating the leaves of the +_maguey_, a plant of the greatest importance (_v._ p. 94). When the +surface of the paper was glazed, the letters were painted on in +brilliant colors, proceeding from left to right, as we do. Each book was +a strip of paper, several yards long and about ten inches wide, not +rolled round a stick, as the volumes of ancient Rome were, but folded +zigzag, like a screen. The protecting boards which held the book were +often artistically carved and painted. + +The topics of the ordinary books, so far as we yet know, were religious +ritual, dreams, and prophecies, the calendar, chronological notes, +medical superstitions, portents of marriage and birth. The written +language was in common and extensive use for the legal conveyance and +sale of property. + +One of the most remarkable facts connected with this extinct +civilization was the accuracy of their calendar and chronological +system. Their calendar was actually superior to that then existing in +Europe. They had two years: one for civil purposes, of three hundred and +sixty-five days, divided into eighteen months of twenty days, besides +five supplementary days; the other, a ritual or ecclesiastical year, to +regulate the public festivals. The civil year required thirteen days to +be added at the end of every fifty-two years, so as to harmonize with +the ritual year. Each month contained four weeks of five days, but as +each of the twenty days (forming a month) had a distinct name, Humboldt +concluded that the names were borrowed from a prehistoric calendar, used +in India and Tartary. + +Wilson (Prehistoric Man, i, 133) remarks: + + By the unaided results of native science the dwellers on the + Mexican plateau had effected an adjustment of civil to solar time + so nearly correct that when the Spaniards landed on their coast, + their own reckoning according to the unreformed Julian calendar, + was really eleven days in error, compared with that of the + barbarian nation whose civilization they so speedily effaced. + +In 1790 there was found in the Square of Mexico a famous relic, the +Mexican Calendar Stone, "one of the most striking monuments of American +antiquity." It was long supposed to have been intended for chronological +purposes; but later authorities call it a votive tablet or sacrificial +altar.[15] Similar circular stones have been dug up in other parts of +Mexico and in Yucatan. + +[Footnote 15: Pp. 68-70, _v._ p. 95.] + +Both the Mayas and the Aztecs excelled in the ordinary arts of civilized +life. Paper-making has already been spoken of. Cotton being an important +produce of their soil, they understood its spinning, dyeing, and weaving +so well that the Spaniards mistook some of the finer Aztec fabrics for +silk. They cultivated maize, potatoes, plantains, and other vegetables. +Both in Mexico and Yucatan they produced beautiful work in feathers; +metal working was not so important as in some countries, being chiefly +for ornamental purposes. In fact, it was the comparative plenty of gold +and silver around Mexico that delayed the invasion of the Mayan country +for more than twenty years. The Mayas had developed trade to a +considerable extent before the Spanish invasion, and interchanged +commodities with the island of Cuba. It was there, accordingly, that +Columbus first saw this people, and first heard of Yucatan. + +Of the Mexican remains on the central plateau, the most conspicuous is +the mound or pyramid of Cholula, although it retains few traces of +prehistoric art. A modern church with a dome and two towers now occupies +the summit, with a paved road leading up to it. It is chiefly noted, +first, by antiquaries, as having originally been a great temple of +Quetzalcoatl, the beneficent deity, famous in story; and, secondly, for +the fierce struggle around the mound and on the slopes between the +Mexicans and Spanish. (_V._ pp. 130-133.) + +Another mound in this district, Yochicalco, lies seventy-five miles +southwest of the capital. It is considered one of the best memorials of +the extinct civilization, consisting of five terraces supported by stone +walls, and formerly surmounted by a pyramid. + +Passing from the traces of Aztec and Mayan civilization, we may now +glance at the antiquities of the Colombian states. There are no temples +or large structures, because the natives, before the Spanish conquest, +used timber for building, but owing to the abundance of gold in their +brooks and rivers, they developed skill in gold-working, and produced +fine ornaments of wonderful beauty. Many hollow figures have been found, +evidently cast from molds, representing men, beasts, and birds, etc. +Stone-cutting was also an art of this ancient race, sometimes applied to +making idols bearing hieroglyphs. + +When the Spaniards invaded them to take their gold and precious stones, +the "Chibchas," who then held the Colombian table-land and valleys, +threw large quantities of those valuables into a lake near Bogota, the +capital. It was afterward attempted to recover those treasures by +draining off the water, but only a small portion was found; and in the +present year (1903) a new engineering attempt has been made. A Spanish +writer, in 1858, asserted that evidence was found in the caves and mines +that in ancient times the Colombians produced an alloy of gold, copper, +and iron having the temper and hardness of steel. On a tributary of the +River Magdalena there are many curious stone images, sometimes with +grotesquely carved faces. + +Turning next to the mound-builders, in the Ohio and upper Mississippi +Valley, we find traces of an extinct civilization in high mounds, +evidently artificial, extensive embankments, broad deep ditches, +terraced pyramids, and an interesting variety of stone implements and +pottery. Some mounds were for burial-places, others for sacrificial +purposes, others again as a site for building, like those we have seen +in Mexico and Maya. Many enclosures contain more than fifty acres of +land; and one embankment is fifty miles long. Among the relics +associated with those works are articles of pottery, knives, and copper +ornaments, hammered silver, mica, obsidian, pearls, beautifully +sculptured pipes, shells, and stone implements. The mounds found in some +of the Gulf States seem to confirm a theory that the mound-builders were +the ancestors of the Choctaw Indians and their allies, and had been +driven southward. + +In the lower Mississippi Valley, eastward to the seacoast, there are +many large earthworks, including round and quadrilateral mounds, +embankments, canals, and artificial lakes. Similar works can be traced +to the southern extremity of Florida. Some were constructed as sites for +large buildings. The tribes to whom they are due are now known to have +been agricultural--growing maize, beans, and pumpkins; with these +products and those of the chase they supported a considerable +population. + +Among other antiquarian remains in America are the cliff-houses and +"pueblos." The former peculiarity is explained by the deep canyons of +the dry table-land of Colorado. Imagine a narrow deep cutting or narrow +trench worn by water-courses out of solid rock, deep enough to afford a +channel to the stream from 500 to 1,500 feet below the plateau above. +Next imagine one of the caves which the water many ages ago had worn out +of the perpendicular sides of the canyon; and in that cave a substantial, +well-built structure of cut stones bedded in firm mortar. Such are the +"cliff--houses," sometimes of two stories. Occasionally there is a +watch-tower perched on a conspicuous point of rock near a +cliff-dwelling, with small windows looking to the east and north. These +curious buildings, though now prehistoric, in a sense, are believed by +archeologists to be later than the Spanish conquest. Peru is very +important archeologically, but some interesting points will properly +fall under our general account of that country and its conquest by +Spain. + +[Illustration: Chulpa or Stone Tomb of the Peruvians.] + +In Peruvian architecture, we find "Cyclopean walls," with polygonal +stones of five or six feet diameter, so well polished and adjusted that +no mortar was necessary; sometimes with a projecting part of the stone +fitting exactly into a corresponding cavity of the stone immediately +above or below it. Such huge stones are of hard granite or basalt, etc. +The walls are often very massive and substantial, sometimes from thirty +to forty feet in thickness. The only approach to the modern "arch" in +the Peruvian structures is a device similar to that which was described +under the Mayan architecture. + +Some important buildings were surrounded with large upright stones, +similar to the famous "Druidic" temple at Stonehenge. All of the chief +structures were accurately placed with reference to the cardinal points, +and the main entrance always faced the east. The Peruvian tombs were +very elaborate, one kind being made by cutting caverns in the steep +precipices of the cordillera and then carefully walling in the entrance. +Another variety (the _chulpa_) was really a stone tower erected above +ground, twelve to thirty feet high. The chulpas were sometimes built in +groups. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MEXICO BEFORE THE SPANISH INVASION + + +The Aztecs and the Tescucans were the chief races occupying the great +table-land of Anahuac, including, as we have seen, the famous Mexican +Valley. In the preceding chapter we have set forth some of the leading +points in the extinct civilization of those races, and also that of the +Mayas, who in several respects were perhaps superior to the Anahuac +kingdoms. + +Several features of the early Mexican civilization will come before us +as we accompany the European conquerors, in their march over the +table-land. Meantime, we glance first at the geography of this +magnificent region, and secondly at the manners and institutions of the +people, their industrial arts, etc., and their terrible religion. The +last-mentioned topic has already been partly discussed in Chapter III. + +The Tropic of Cancer passes through the middle of Mexico, and therefore +its southern half, which is the most important, is all under the burning +sun of the "torrid zone." This heat, however, is greatly modified by the +height of the surface above sea-level, since the country, taken as a +whole, is simply an extensive table-land. The height of the plain in the +two central states, Mexico and Puebla, is 8,000 feet, or about double +the average height of the highest summits in the British Isles. On the +west of the republic is a continuous chain of mountains, and on the east +of the table-land run a series of mountainous groups parallel to the +seacoast, with a summit in Vera Cruz of over 13,400 feet. To the south +of the capital an irregular range running east and west contains these +remarkable volcanoes--Colima, 14,400 feet; Jorulla, Popocatepetl, +17,800; Orizaba (extinct), 18,300, the highest summit in Mexico, and, +with the exception of some of the mountains of Alaska, in North America. +The great plateau-basin formed around the capital and its lakes is +completely enclosed by mountains. + +This high table-land has its own climate as compared with the broad +tract lying along the Atlantic. Hence the latter is known as the hot +region (_caliente_), and the former the cold region (_fria_). Between +the two climates, as the traveler mounts from the sea-level to the great +plateau, is the temperate region (_templada_), an intermediate belt of +perpetual humidity, a welcome escape from the heat and deadly malaria of +the hot region with its "bilious fevers." Sometimes as he passes along +the bases of the volcanic mountains, casting his eye "down some steep +slope or almost unfathomable ravine on the margin of the road, he sees +their depths glowing with the rich blooms and enameled vegetation of the +tropics." This contrast arises from the height he has now gained above +the hot coast region. + +The climate on the table-land is only cold in a relative sense, being +mild to Europeans, with a mean temperature at the capital of 60 deg., seldom +lowered to the freezing-point. The "temperate" slopes form the "Paradise +of Mexico," from "the balmy climate, the magnificent scenery, and the +wealth of semitropical vegetation." + +The Aztec and Tescucan laws were kept in state records, and shown +publicly in hieroglyphs. The great crimes against society were all +punished with death, including the murder of a slave. Slaves could hold +property, and all their sons were freedmen. The code in general showed +real respect for the leading principles of morality. + +In Mexico, as in ancient Egypt, + + the soldier shared with the priest the highest consideration. The + king must be an experienced warrior. The tutelary deity of the + Aztecs was the god of war. A great object of military expeditions + was to gather hecatombs of captives for his altars. The soldier who + fell in battle was transported at once to the region of ineffable + bliss in the bright mansions of the sun.... Thus every war became + a crusade; and the warrior was not only raised to a contempt of + danger, but courted it--animated by a religious enthusiasm like + that of the early Saracen or the Christian crusader. + +The officers of the armies wore rich and conspicuous uniforms--a +tight-fitting tunic of quilted cotton sufficient to turn the arrows of +the native Indians; a cuirass (for superior officers) made of thin +plates of gold or silver; an overcoat or cloak of variegated +feather-work; helmets of wood or silver, bearing showy plumes, adorned +with precious stones and gold ornaments. Their belts, collars, +bracelets, and earrings were also of gold or silver. + +Southey, in his poem, makes his Welsh prince, Madoc, thus boast: + + Their mail, if mail it may be called, was woven + Of vegetable down, like finest flax, + Bleached to the whiteness of new-fallen snow, + ... Others of higher office were arrayed + In feathery breastplates, of more gorgeous hue + Than the gay plumage of the mountain-cock, + Than the pheasants' glittering pride. But what were these + Or what the thin gold hauberk, when opposed + To arms like ours in battle? + + _Madoc_, i, 7. + +We learn of the ancient Mexicans, to their honor, that in the large +towns hospitals were kept for the cure of the sick and wounded soldiers, +and as a permanent refuge if disabled. Not only so, says a Spanish +historian, but "the surgeons placed over them were so far better than +those in Europe that they did not protract the cure to increase the +pay." + +Even the red man of the woods, as we learn from Fenimore Cooper and +Catlin, believes reverently in the Great Spirit who upholds the +universe; and similarly his more civilized brother of Mexico or Tezcuco +spoke of a Supreme Creator, Lord of Heaven and Earth. In their prayers +some of the phrases were: + + The God by whom we live, omnipresent, knowing all thoughts, giving + all gifts, without whom man is nothing, invisible, incorporeal, of + perfect perfection and purity, under whose wings we find repose and + a sure defense. + +Prescott, however, remarks that notwithstanding such attributes "the +idea of unity--of a being with whom volition is action, who has no need +of inferior ministers to execute his purposes--was too simple, or too +vast, for their understandings; and they sought relief, as usual, in a +plurality of deities, who presided over the elements, the changes of the +seasons, and the various occupations of man." + +The Aztecs, in fact, believed in thirteen _dii majores_ and over 200 +_dii minores_. To each of these a special day was assigned in the +calendar, with its appropriate festival. Chief of them all was that +bloodthirsty monster _Huitsilopochtli_, the hideous god of +war--tutelary deity of the nation. There was a huge temple to him in +the capital, and on the great altar before his image there, and on all +his altars throughout the empire, the reeking blood of thousands of +human victims was being constantly poured out. + +The terrible name of this Mexican Mars has greatly puzzled scholars of +the language. According to one derivation, the name is a compound of +two words, _humming-bird_ and _on the left_, because his image has the +feathers of that bird on the left foot. Prescott naturally thinks that +"too amiable an etymology for so ruffian a deity." The other name of the +war-god, _Mexitl_ (i. e., "the hare of the aloes"), is much better +known, because from it is derived the familiar name of the capital. + +[Illustration: Quetzalcoatl.] + +The god of the air, _Quetzalcoatl_, a beneficent deity, who taught +Mexicans the use of metals, agriculture, and the arts of government. +Prescott remarks that + + he was doubtless one of those benefactors of their species who have + been deified by the gratitude of posterity. + +There was a remarkable tradition of Quetzalcoatl, preserved among the +Mexicans, that he had been a king, afterward a god, and had a temple +dedicated to his worship at Cholula[16] when on his way to the Mexican +Gulf. Embarking there, he bade his people a long farewell, promising +that he and his descendants would revisit them. The expectation of his +return prepared the way for the success of the tall white-skinned +invaders. + +[Footnote 16: The ruins were referred to in chap, iv, (_v._ p. 84, also +130.)] + +In the Aztec agriculture, the staple plant was of course the _maize_ or +Indian corn. Humboldt tells us that at the conquest it was grown +throughout America, from the south of Chile to the River St. Lawrence; +and it is still universal in the New World. Other important plants on +the Aztec soil were the _banana_, which (according to one Spanish +writer) was the forbidden fruit that tempted our poor mother Eve; the +_cacao_, whose fruit supplies the valuable chocolate; the _vanilla_, +used for flavoring; and most important of all, the _maguey_, or Mexican +aloe, much valued because its leaves were manufactured into paper, and +its juice by fermentation becomes the national intoxicant, "pulque." The +_maguey_, or great Mexican aloe, grown all over the table-land, is +called "the miracle of nature," producing not only the _pulque_, but +supplying _thatch_ for the cottages, _thread_ and _cords_ from its tough +fiber, _pins_ and _needles_ from the thorns which grow on the leaves, an +excellent _food_ from its roots, and _writing-paper_ from its leaves. +One writer, after speaking of the "pulque" being made from the "maguey," +adds, "with what remains of these leaves they manufacture excellent and +very fine cloth, resembling holland or the finest linen." + +The _itztli_, formerly mentioned as being used at the sacrifices by the +officiating priest, was "obsidian," a dark transparent mineral, of the +greatest hardness, and therefore useful for making knives and razors. +The Mexican sword was serrated, those of the finest quality being of +course edged with itztli. Sculptured figures abounded in every Aztec +temple and town, but in design very inferior to the ancient specimens of +Egypt and Babylonia, not to mention Greece. A remarkable collection of +their sculptured images occurred in the _place_ or great square of +Mexico--the Aztec forum--and similar spots. Ever since the Spanish +invasion the destruction of the native objects of art has been ceaseless +and ruthless. "Two celebrated bas-reliefs of the last Montezuma and his +father," says Prescott, "cut in the solid rock, in the beautiful groves +of Chapoltepec, were deliberately destroyed, as late as the last century +[i. e., the eighteenth], by order of the government." He further +remarks: + + This wantonness of destruction provokes the bitter animadversion of + the Spanish writer Martyr, whose enlightened mind respected the + vestiges of civilization wherever found. "The conquerors," says he, + "seldom repaired the buildings that they defaced; they would rather + sack twenty stately cities than erect one good edifice." + +The pre-Columbian Mexicans inherited a practical knowledge of mechanics +and engineering. The Calendar Stone, for example (spoken of in the +preceding chapter), a mass of dark porphyry estimated at fifty tons +weight, was carried for a distance of many leagues from the mountains +beyond Lake Chalco, through a rough country crossed by rivers and +canals. In the passage its weight broke down a bridge over a canal, and +the heavy rock had to be raised from the water beneath. With such +obstacles, without the draft assistance of horses or cattle, how was it +possible to effect such a transport? Perhaps the mechanical skill of +their builders and engineers had contrived some tramway or other +machinery. An English traveler had a curious suggestion: + + Latrobe accommodates the wonders of nature and art very well to + each other, by suggesting that these great masses of stone were + transported by means of the mastodon, whose remains are + occasionally disinterred in the Mexican Valley. + +The Mexicans wove many kinds of cotton cloth, sometimes using as a dye +the rich crimson of the cochineal insect. They made a more expensive +fabric by interweaving the cotton with the fine hair of rabbits, and +other animals; sometimes embroidering with pretty designs of flowers and +birds, etc. The special art of the Aztec weaver was in feather-work, +which when brought to Europe produced the highest admiration: + + With feathers they could produce all the effect of a beautiful + mosaic. The gorgeous plumage of the tropical birds, especially of + the parrot tribe, afforded every variety of color; and the fine + down of the humming-bird, which reveled in swarms among the + honeysuckle bowers of Mexico, supplied them with soft aerial tints + that gave an exquisite finish to the picture. The feathers, pasted + on a fine cotton web, were wrought into dresses for the wealthy, + hangings for apartments, and ornaments for the temples. + +When some of the Mexican feather-work was shown at Strasbourg: "Never," +says one admirer, "did I behold anything so exquisite for brilliancy +and nice gradation of color, and for beauty of design. No European +artist could have made such a thing." + +Instead of shops the Aztecs had in every town a market-place, where +fairs were held every fifth day--i. e., once a week. Each commodity had +a particular quarter, and the traffic was partly by barter, and partly +by using the following articles as money: bits of tin shaped like an +Egyptian cross (T), bags of cacao holding a specified number of grains, +and, for large values, quills of gold-dust. + +The married women among the Aztecs were treated kindly and respectfully +by their husbands. The feminine occupations were spinning and +embroidery, etc., as among the ancient Greeks, while listening to +ballads and love stories related by their maidens and musicians +(Ramusio, iii, 305). + +In banquets and other social entertainments the women had an equal share +with the men. Sometimes the festivities were on a large scale, with +costly preparations and numerous attendants. The Mexicans, ancient and +modern, have always been passionately fond of flowers, and on great +occasions not only were the halls and courts strewed and adorned in +profusion with blossoms of every hue and sweet odor, but perfumes +scented every room. The guests as they sat down found ewers of water +before them and cotton napkins, since washing the hands both before and +after eating was a national habit of almost religious obligation.[17] +Modern Europeans believe that tobacco was introduced from America in +the time of Queen Isabella and Queen Elizabeth, but ages before that +period the Aztecs at their banquets had the "fragrant weed" offered to +the company, "in pipes, mixed up with aromatic substances, or in the +form of cigars, inserted in tubes of tortoise-shell or silver." The +smoke after dinner was no doubt preliminary to the _siesta_ or nap of +"forty winks." It is not known if the Aztec ladies, like their +descendants in modern Mexico, also appreciated the _yetl_, as the +Mexicans called "tobacco." Our word came from the natives of Hayti, one +of the islands discovered by Columbus. + +[Footnote 17: Sahagun (vi, 22) quotes the precise instructions of a +father to his son: he must wash face and hands before sitting down to +table, and must not leave till he has repeated the operation and +cleansed his teeth.] + +The tables of the Aztecs abounded in good food--various dishes of meat, +especially game, fowl, and fish. The turkey, for example, was introduced +into Europe from Mexico, although stupidly supposed to have come from +Asia. The French named it _coq d'Inde_,[18] the "Indian cock," meaning +American, but the ordinary hearer imagined _d'Inde_ meant from +Hindustan. The blunder arose from that misapplication of the word +"Indian," first made by Columbus, as we formerly explained. + +[Footnote 18: The Spanish named this handsome bird _gallopavo_ (Lat. +_pavo_, the "peacock"). The wild turkey is larger and more beautiful +than the tame, and therefore Benjamin Franklin, when speaking +sarcastically of the "American Eagle," insisted that the wild turkey was +the proper national emblem.] + +The Aztec cooks dressed their viands with various sauces and condiments, +the more solid dishes being followed by fruits of many kinds, as well as +sweetmeats and pastry. Chafing-dishes even were used. Besides the +varieties of beautiful flowers which adorned the table there were +sculptured Vases of silver and sometimes gold. At table + + the favorite beverage was the _chocolatl_ flavored with vanilla and + different spices. The fermented juice of the maguey, with a mixture + of sweets and acids, supplied also various agreeable drinks, of + different degrees of strength. + +When the young Mexicans of both sexes amused themselves with dances, the +older people kept their seats in order to enjoy their _pulque_ and +gossip, or listen to the discourse of some guest of importance. The +music which accompanied the dances was frequently soft and rather +plaintive. + +The early Mexicans included the Tezcucans as well as the Aztecs proper; +and since their capitals were on the same lake and both races were +closely akin, we may devote some space to these Alcohuans or eastern +Aztecs. Their civilization was superior to that of the western Aztecs in +some respects, and Nezahual-coyotl, their greatest prince, formed +alliance with the western state, and then remodeled the various +departments of his government. He had a council of war, another of +finance, and a third of justice. + +A remarkable institution, under King Nezahual-coyotl, was the "Council +of Music," intended to promote the study of science and the practise of +art. + +Tezcuco, in fact, became the nursery not only of such sciences as could +be compassed by the scholarship of the period, but of various useful and +ornamental arts. "Its historians, orators, and poets were celebrated +throughout the country.... Its idiom, more polished than the Mexican, +continued long after the conquest to be that in which the best +productions of the native races were composed. Tezcuco was the Athens of +the Western World.... Among the most illustrious of her bards was their +king himself." A Spanish writer adds that it was to the eastern Aztecs +that noblemen sent their sons "to study poetry, moral philosophy, the +heathen theology, astronomy, medicine, and history." + +[Illustration: Ancient Bridge near Tezcuco.] + +The most remarkable problem connected with ancient Mexico is how to +reconcile the general refinement and civilization with the sacrifices of +human victims. There was no town or city but had its temples in public +places, with stairs visibly leading up to the sacrificial stone, ever +standing ready before some hideous idol or other--as already described. + +In all countries there have been public spectacles of bloodshed, not +only as in the gladiators in the ancient circus-- + + butchered to make a Roman holiday, + +or the tournays of the middle ages, but in the prize-ring fights and +public executions by ax or guillotine, of the age that is just passing +away. The thousands who perished for religious ideas by means of the +Holy Roman Inquisition should not be overlooked by the Spanish writers +who are so indignant that Montezuma and his priests sacrificed tens of +thousands under the claims of a heathen religion. The very day on which +we write these words, August 18th, is the anniversary of the last +sentence for beheading passed by our House of Lords. By that sentence +three Scottish "Jacobites" passed under the ax on Tower Hill, where +their remains still rest in a chapel hard by. So lately as 1873, the +Shah of Persia, when resident as a visitor in Buckingham Palace, was +amazed to find that the laws of Great Britain prevented him from +depriving five of his courtiers of their lives. They had just been found +guilty of some paltry infringement of Persian etiquette. During the last +generation or the previous one, both in England and Scotland, the +country schoolmaster on a certain day had the schoolroom cleared so that +the children and their friends should enjoy the treat of seeing all the +game-cocks of the parish bleeding on the floor one after another, being +either struck by a spur to the brain, or else wounded to a painful +death. When James Boswell and others regularly attended the spectacles +of Tyburn and sometimes cheered the wretched victim if he "died game," +the philosopher will not wonder at the populace of some city of ancient +Mexico crowding round the great temple and greedily watching the bloody +sacrifice done with full sanction of the priesthood and the king. + +The primitive religions were derived from sun-worship, and as fire is +the nearest representative of the sun, it seemed essential to _burn_ the +victim offered as a sacrifice. At Carthage, the great Phenician colony, +children were cruelly sacrificed by fire to the god Melkarth of Tyre. +"Melkarth" being simply _Melech Kiriath_ (i. e., "King of the City"), +and therefore identical with the "Moloch" or "Molech" of the Ammonites, +Moabites, and Israelites. In the earliest prehistoric age the children +of Ammon, Moab, and Israel were apparently so closely akin that they had +practically the same religion and worshiped the same idols. The tribal +god was originally the god of Syria or Canaan. In more than a dozen +places of the Old Testament we find the Hebrews accused of burning their +children or passing them through the fire to the sun-god, but the +ancient Mexicans did not burn their victims, and _in no case were the +victims their own children_. The victims were captives taken in war, or +persons convicted of crime; and thus the Mexicans were in atrocity far +surpassed by those races akin to the Hebrews who are much denounced by +the sacred writers, e. g.: + + Josiah ... defiled Topheth that no man might make his son or his + daughter to pass through the fire to Molech (2 Kings xxiii, 10). + + They have built also the high places to burn their sons with fire + for burnt-offerings (Jer. xix, 5). + + Yea, they shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of + their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan (Ps. + cvi, 37). + +That a father should offer his own child as a sacrifice to the sun-god +or any other, would to the mild and gentle Aztec be too dreadful a +conception. It is the enormous number who were immolated that shocks the +European mind, but to the populace enjoying the spectacle the victims +were enemies of the king or criminals deserving execution. + +Perhaps it is a more difficult problem to explain how so civilized a +community as the Aztec races undoubtedly were could look with +complacency upon any one tasting a dish composed of some part of the +captive he had taken in battle. It is not only repulsive as an idea, but +seems impossible. Yet much depends on the point of view as well as the +atmosphere. According to archeologists, all the primeval races of men +could at a pinch feed on human flesh, but after many generations learned +to do better without it. We may have simply outgrown the craving, till +at last we call it unnatural, whereas those ancient Mexicans, with all +their wealth of food, had refined upon it. Let us again refer to the Old +Testament: + + Thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters and these hast thou + sacrificed to be devoured (Ezek. xvi, 20). + + ... have caused their sons to pass for them through the fire, to + devour them (Ezek. xxiii, 37). + +We may therefore infer that to the early races of Canaan (including +Israel), as well as to the primeval Aztecs, it was a privilege and +religious custom to eat part of any sacrifice that had been offered. + +There can be little doubt, to any one who has studied the earliest human +antiquities, that all races indulged in cannibalism, not only during +that enormously remote age called Paleolithic, but in comparatively +recent though still prehistoric times. "This is clearly proved by the +number of human bones, chiefly of women and young persons, which have +been found charred by fire and split open for extraction of the marrow." +Such charred bones have frequently been preserved in caves, as at +Chaleux in Belgium, where in some instances they occurred "in such +numbers as to indicate that they had been the scene of cannibal feasts." + +The survival of human sacrifice among the Aztecs, with its accompanying +traces of cannibalism, was due to the savagery of a long previous +condition of their Indian race; just as in the Greek drama, when that +ancient people had attained a high level of culture and refinement, the +sacrifice of a human life, sometimes a princess or other distinguished +heroine, was not unfrequent. We remember Polyxena, the virgin daughter +of Hecuba, whom her own people resolved to sacrifice on the tomb of +Achilles; and her touching bravery, as she requests the Greeks not to +bind her, being ashamed, she says, "having lived a princess to die a +slave." A better known example is Iphigenia, so beloved by her father, +King Agamemnon, and yet given up by him a victim for purposes of state +and religion. + +[Illustration: Teocalli, Aztec Temple for Human Sacrifices.] + +From the Greek drama, human sacrifices frequently passed to the Roman; +nor does such a refined critic as Horace object to it, but only suggests +that the bloodshed ought to be perpetrated behind the scenes. In +Seneca's play, Medea (quoted in our Introduction), that rule was grossly +violated, since the children have their throats cut by their heroic +mother in full view of the audience. In the same passage (Ars Poet., +185, 186) Horace forbids a banquet of human flesh being prepared before +the eyes of the public, as had been done in a play written by Ennius, +the Roman poet. The religious sacrifice of human victims by the "Druids" +or priests of ancient Gaul and Britain seems exactly parallel to the +wholesale executions on the Mexican _teocallis_, since the wretched +victims whom our Celtic ancestors packed for burning into those huge +wicker images, were captives taken in battle, like those stretched for +slaughter upon the Mexican stone of sacrifice. + +Human sacrifice was so common in civilized Rome that it was not till the +first century B. C. that a law was passed expressly forbidding +it--(Pliny, Hist. Nat., xxx, 3, 4). + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +ARRIVAL OF THE SPANIARDS + + +The "New Birth" of the world, which characterized the end of the +fifteenth century, had an enormous influence upon Spain. Her queen, the +"great Catholic Isabella," had, by assisting Columbus, done much in the +great discovery of the Western World. Spain speedily had substantial +reward in the boundless wealth poured into her lap, and the rich +colonies added to her dominion. Thus in the beginning of the sixteenth +century the new consolidated Spain, formed by the union of the two +kingdoms, Castile and Aragon, became the richest and greatest of all the +European states. + +The Spanish governors in the West Indies being ambitious of planting new +colonies in the name of the Spanish King, conquest and annexation were +stimulated in all directions. When Cuba and Hayti were overrun and +annexed to Spain, not without much unjust treatment of the simple +natives, as we have seen, they became centers of operation, whence +expeditions could be sent to Trinidad or any other island, to Panama, to +Yucatan, or Florida, or any other part of the continent. After the +marvelous experience of Grijalva in Yucatan, then considered an island, +and his report that its inhabitants were quite a civilized community +compared with the natives of the isles, Velasquez, the Governor of Cuba, +resolved at once to invade the new country for purposes of annexation +and plunder. + +Velasquez prepared a large expedition for this adventure, consisting of +eleven ships with more than 600 armed men on board; and after much +deliberation chose Fernando Cortes to be the commander. Who was this +Cortes, destined by his military genius and unscrupulous policy to be +comparable to Hannibal or Julius Caesar among the ancients, and to Clive +or Napoleon Bonaparte among the moderns? Velasquez knew him well as one +of his subordinates in the cruel conquest of Cuba; before that Cortes +had distinguished himself in Hayti as an energetic and skilled officer. +Of an impetuous and fiery temper which he had learned to keep thoroughly +in command, he was characterized by that quality possessed by all +commanders of superior genius, the "art of gaining the confidence and +governing the minds of men." As a youth in Spain he had studied for the +bar at the University of Salamanca; and in some of his speeches on +critical occasions one can find certain traces of his academical +training in the adroit arguments and clever appeals. + +Other qualifications as an officer were his manly and handsome +appearance, his affable manners, combined with "extraordinary address in +all martial exercises, and a constitution of such vigor as to be capable +of enduring any fatigue." + +Cortes on reviewing his commission from the Governor, Velasquez, was too +shrewd not to be aware of the importance of his new position. The "Great +Admiral," with reference to the discovery of the New World, had said: "I +have only opened the door for others to enter"; and Cortes was conscious +that now was the moment for that entrance. Filled with unbounded +ambition he rose to the occasion. + +Velasquez somewhat hypocritically pretended that the object he had in +view was merely barter with the natives of New Spain--that being the +name given by Grijalva to Yucatan and the neighboring country. He +ordered Cortes + + to impress on the natives the grandeur and goodness of his royal + master; to invite them to give in their allegiance to him, and to + manifest it by regaling him with such comfortable presents of gold, + pearls, and precious stones as by showing their own good-will would + secure his favor and protection. + +Mustering his forces for the new expedition, Cortes found that he had no +sailors, 553 soldiers, besides 200 Indians of the island; ten heavy +guns, four lighter ones, called falconets. He had also sixteen horses, +knowing the effect of even a small body of cavalry in dealing with +savages. On February 18, 1519, Cortes sailed with eleven vessels for the +coast of Yucatan. + +Landing at Tabasco, where Grijalva had found the natives friendly, +Cortes found that the Yucatans had resolved to oppose him, and were +presently assembled in great numbers. The result of the fighting, +however, was naturally a foregone conclusion, partly on account of "the +astonishment and terror excited by the destructive effect" of the +European firearms, and the "monstrous apparition" of men on horseback. +Such quadrupeds they had never seen before, and they concluded that the +rider with his horse formed one unaccountable animal. Gomara and other +chroniclers tell how St. James, the tutelar saint of Spain, appeared in +the ranks on a gray horse, and led the Christians to victory over the +heathen. + +An especially fortunate thing for Cortes was that among the female +slaves presented after this battle, there was one of remarkable +intelligence, who understood both the Aztec and the Mayan languages, and +soon learned the Spanish. She proved invaluable to Cortes as an +interpreter, and afterward had a share in all his campaigns. She is +generally called Marina. + +If the Spanish accounts are true, stating that the native army consisted +of five squadrons of 8,000 men each, then this victory is one of the +most remarkable on record, as a proof of the value of gunpowder as +compared with primitive bows and arrows. To the simple Americans the +terrible invaders seemed actually to wield the thunder and the +lightning. Next day Cortes made an arrangement with the chiefs; and +after confidence was restored, asked where they got their gold from. +They pointed to the high grounds on the west, and said _Culhua_, meaning +Mexico. + +The Palm Sunday being at hand, the conversion of the "heathen" was duly +celebrated by pompous and solemn ceremonial. The army marched in +procession with the priests at their head, accompanied by crowds of +Indians of both sexes, till they reached the principal temple. A new +altar being built, the image of the presiding deity was taken from its +place and thrown down, to make room for that of the Virgin carrying the +infant Saviour. + +Cortes now learned that the capital of the Mexican Empire was on the +mountain plains nearly seventy leagues inland; and that the ruler was +the great and powerful Montezuma. + +It was on the morning of Good Friday that Cortes landed on the site of +Vera Cruz, which after the conquest of Mexico speedily grew into a +flourishing seaport, becoming the commercial capital of New Spain. A +friendly conference took place between Cortes and Teuhtlile, an Aztec +chief, who asked from what country the strangers had come and why they +had come. + +"I am a servant," replied Cortes, "of a mighty monarch beyond the seas, +who rules over an immense empire, having kings and princes for his +vassals. Since my master has heard of the greatness of the Mexican +Emperor he has desired me to enter into communication with him, and has +sent me as envoy to wait upon Montezuma with a present in token of +good-will, and with a message which I must deliver in person. When can +I be admitted to your sovereign's presence?" + +The Aztec chief replied with an air of dignity: "How is it that you have +been here only two days, and demand to see the Emperor? If there is +another monarch as powerful as Montezuma, I have no doubt my master will +be happy to interchange courtesies." + +The slaves of Teuhtlile presented to Cortes + + ten loads of fine cotton, several mantles of that curious + feather-work whose rich and delicate dyes might vie with the most + beautiful painting, and a wicker basket filled with ornaments of + wrought gold, all calculated to inspire the Spaniards with high + ideas of the wealth and mechanical ingenuity of the Mexicans. + +Having duly expressed his thanks, Cortes then laid before the Aztec +chief the presents intended for Montezuma. These were "an armchair +richly carved and painted; a crimson cap bearing a gold medal emblazoned +with St. George and the Dragon; collars, bracelets, and other ornaments +of cut-glass, which, in a country where glass was unknown, might claim +to have the value of real gems." + +During the interview Teuhtlile had been curiously observing a shining +gilt helmet worn by a soldier, and said that it was exactly like that of +Quetzalcoatl. "Who is he?" asked Cortes. "Quetzalcoatl is the god about +whom the Aztecs have the prophecy that he will come back to them across +the sea." Cortes promised to send the helmet to Montezuma, and expressed +a wish that it would be returned filled with the gold-dust of the +Aztecs, that he might compare it with the Spanish gold-dust! + +One reporter who was present says: + + He further told Governor Teuhtlile that the Spaniards were troubled + with a disease of the heart for which gold was a specific remedy! + +Another incident of this notable interview was that one of the Mexican +attendants was observed by Cortes to be scribbling with a pencil. It was +an artist sketching the appearance of the strangers, their dress, arms, +and attitude, and filling in the picture with touches of color. Struck +with the idea of being thus represented to the Mexican monarch, Cortes +ordered the cavalry to be exercised on the beach in front of the +artists. + + The bold and rapid movements of the troops, ... the apparent ease + with which they managed the fiery animals on which they were + mounted, the glancing of their weapons, and the shrill cry of the + trumpet, all filled the spectators with astonishment; but when they + heard the thunders of the cannon, which Cortes ordered to be fired + at the same time, and witnessed the volumes of smoke and flame + issuing from these terrible engines, and the rushing sound of the + balls, as they dashed through the trees of the neighboring forest, + shivering their branches into fragments, they were filled with + consternation and wonder, from which the Aztec chief himself was + not wholly free. + +This was all faithfully copied by the picture-writers, so far as their +art went, in sketching and vivid coloring. They also recorded the ships +of the strangers--"the water-houses," as they were named--whose dark +hulls and snow-white sails were swinging at anchor in the bay. + +Meantime what had Montezuma been doing, the sad-faced[19] and haughty +Emperor of Mexico, land of the Aztecs and the Tezcucans? At the +beginning of his reign he had as a skilful general led his armies as far +as Honduras and Nicaragua, extending the limits of the empire, so that +it had now reached the maximum. + +[Footnote 19: The name Montezuma means "sad or severe man," a title +suited to his features, though not to his mild character.] + +Tezcuco, the sister state to Mexico, had latterly shown hostility to +Montezuma, and still more formidable was the republic of Tlascala, lying +between his capital and the coast. Prodigies and prophecies now began to +affect all classes of the population in the Mexican Valley. Everybody +spoke of the return from over the sea of the popular god Quetzalcoatl, +the fair-skinned and longhaired (p. 93). A generation had already +elapsed since the first rumors that white men in great mysterious +vessels, bearing in their hands the thunder and lightning, were seizing +the islands and must soon seize the mainland. + +No wonder that Montezuma, stern, tyrannical, and disappointed, should be +dismayed at the news of Grijalva's landing, and still more so when +hearing of the fleet and army of Cortes, and seeing their horsemen +pictured by his artists--the whole accompanied by exaggerated accounts +of the guns and cannon able to produce thunder and lightning. After +holding a council, Montezuma resolved to send an embassy to Cortes, +presenting him with a present which should reflect the incomparable +grandeur and resources of Mexico, and at the same time forbidding an +approach to the capital. + +The governor Teuhtlile, on this second embassy, was accompanied by two +Aztec nobles and 100 slaves, bearing the present from Montezuma to +Cortes. As they entered the pavilion of the Spanish general the air was +filled with clouds of incense which rose from censers carried by some +attendants. + + Some delicately wrought mats were then unrolled, and on them the + slaves displayed the various articles, ... shields, helmets, + cuirasses, embossed with plates and ornaments of pure gold; collars + and bracelets of the same metal, sandals, fans, and crests of + variegated feathers, intermingled with gold and silver thread, and + sprinkled with pearls and precious stones; imitations of birds and + animals in wrought and cast gold and silver, of exquisite + workmanship; curtains, coverlets, and robes of cotton, fine as + silk, of rich and various dyes, interwoven with feather-work that + rivaled the delicacy of painting.... The things which excited most + admiration were two circular plates of gold and silver, as "large + as carriage-wheels"; one representing the sun was richly carved + with plants and animals. It was thirty palms in circumference, and + was worth about L52,500 sterling.[20] + +[Footnote 20: Robertson, the historian, gives L5,000; but Prescott +reckons a _peso de oro_ at L2 12s. 6d.; whence the 20,000 of the text +gives 20,000 x 2-5/8 = 2,500 x 21 = L52,500.] + +Cortes was interested in seeing the soldier's helmet brought back to him +full to the brim with grains of gold. The courteous message from +Montezuma, however, did not please him much. Montezuma excused himself +from having a personal interview by "the distance being too great, and +the journey beset with difficulties and dangers from formidable +enemies.... All that could be done, therefore, was for the strangers to +return to their own land." + +Soon after Cortes, by a species of statecraft, formed a new +municipality, thus transforming his camp into a civil community. The +name of the new city was _Villa Rica de Vera Cruz_, i. e., "the Rich +Town of the True Cross." Once the municipality was formed, Cortes +resigned before them his office of captain-general, and thus became free +from the authority of Velasquez. The city council at once chose Cortes +to be captain-general and chief justice of the colony. He could now go +forward unchecked by any superior except the Crown. + +It was a desperate undertaking to climb with an army from the hot region +of this flat coast through the varied succession of "slopes" which form +the temperate region, and at last, on the high table-land, obtain +entrance upon the great enclosed valley of Mexico. Cortes found that an +essential preliminary was to gain the friendship of the Totonacs, a +nation tributary to Montezuma. Their subjection to the Aztecs he had +already verified, since one day when holding a conference with the +Totonac leaders and a neighboring cazique (i. e., "prince"), Cortes saw +five men of haughty appearance enter the market-place, followed by +several attendants, and at once receive the politest attention from the +Totonacs. + +Cortes asked Marina, his slave interpreter, who or what they were. "They +are Aztec nobles," she replied, "sent by Montezuma to receive tribute." +Presently the Totonac chiefs came to Cortes with looks of dire dismay, +to inform him of the great Emperor's resentment at the entertainment +offered to the Spaniards, and demanding in expiation twenty young men +and women for sacrifice to the Aztec gods. + +Cortes, with every look of indignation, insisted that the Totonacs +should not only refuse to comply, but should seize the Aztec messengers +and hold them strictly confined in prison. Unscrupulous to gain his +ends, Cortes by lies and cunning duplicity managed to set the Mexican +nobles free, dismissing them with a friendly message to Montezuma, while +at the same time securing the confidence of the simple-minded Totonacs, +urging them to join the Spaniards and make a bold effort to regain their +independence. Some thought that Cortes was really the kindly divinity +Quetzalcoatl, promised by the prophets to bring freedom and happiness. + +As an instance of the religious enthusiasm of the Spanish invaders, we +may give the account of the "conversion" of Zempoalla, a city in the +Totonac district. When Cortes pressed upon the cazique of Zempoalla that +his mission was to turn the Indians from the abominations of their +present religion, that prince replied that he could not accept what the +Spanish priests had told him about the Creator and Ruler of the +Universe; especially that he ever stooped to become a mere man, weak and +poor, so as to suffer voluntarily persecution and even death at the +hands of some of his own creatures. The cazique added that he "would +resist any violence offered to his gods, who would, indeed, avenge the +act themselves by the instant destruction of their enemies." + +Cortes and his men seized the opportunity. There is no doubt that, after +witnessing some of the barbarous sacrifices of human victims followed by +cannibal feasts, their souls had naturally been sickened. They now +proceeded to force the work of conversion as soon as Cortes had appealed +to them and declared that "God and the holy saints would never favor +their enterprise, if such atrocities were allowed; and that for his own +part, he was resolved the Indian idols should be demolished that very +hour if it cost him his life. + +"Scarcely waiting for his commands the Spaniards moved toward one of the +principal _teocallis_, or temples, which rose high on a pyramidal +foundation with a steep ascent of stone steps in the middle. The +cazique, divining their purpose, instantly called his men to arms. The +Indian warriors gathered from all quarters, with shrill cries and +clashing of weapons, while the priests, in their dark cotton robes, with +disheveled tresses matted with blood, rushed frantic among the natives, +calling on them to protect their gods from violation! All was now +confusion and tumult.... Cortes took his usual prompt measures. Causing +the cazique and some of the principal citizens and priests to be +arrested, he commanded them to quiet the people, declaring that if a +single arrow was shot against a Spaniard, it should cost every one of +them his life.... The cazique covered his face with his hands, +exclaiming that the gods would avenge their own wrongs. + +"The Christians were not slow in availing themselves of his tacit +acquiescence. Fifty soldiers, at a signal from their general, sprang up +the great stairway of the temple, entered the building on the summit, +the walls of which were black with human gore, and dragged the huge +wooden idols to the edge of the terrace. Their fantastic forms and +features, conveying a symbolic meaning which was lost on the Spaniards, +seemed to their eyes only the hideous lineaments of Satan. With great +alacrity they rolled the colossal monsters down the steps of the +pyramid, amid the triumphant shouts of their own companions and the +groans and lamentations of the natives. They then consummated the whole +by burning them in the presence of the assembled multitude." + +After the temple had been cleansed from every trace of the idol-worship +and its horrors, a new altar was raised, surmounted by a lofty cross, +and hung with garlands of roses. A reaction having now set in among the +Indians, many were willing to become Christians, and some of the Aztec +priests even joined in a procession to signify their conversion, wearing +white robes instead of their former dark mantles, and carrying lighted +candles in their hands, "while an image of the Virgin half smothered +under the weight of flowers was borne aloft, and, as the procession +climbed the steps of the temple, was deposited above the altar.... The +impressive character of the ceremony and the passionate eloquence of the +good priest touched the feelings of the motley audience, until Indians +as well as Spaniards, if we may trust the chronicler, were melted into +tears and audible sobs." + +Before finally marching westward toward the temperate "slopes" of the +mountains, Cortes had another opportunity of proving his generalship +and prompt resource at a critical moment. When Agathocles, the +autocratic ruler of Syracuse, sailed over to defeat the Carthaginians, +the first thing he did on landing in Africa was to burn his ships, that +his soldiers might have no opportunity of retreat, and no hope but in +victory. Cortes now acted on exactly the same principle. + +After discovering that a number of his soldiers had formed a conspiracy +to seize one of the ships and sail to Cuba, Cortes, on conviction, +punished two of the ringleaders with death. Soon after, he formed the +extraordinary resolution of destroying his ships without the knowledge +of his army. + +The five worst ships were first ordered to be dismantled; and, soon +after, to be sunk. When the rest were inspected, four of them were +condemned in the same manner. + +When the news reached Zempoalla, the army were excited almost to open +mutiny. Cortes, however, was perfectly cool. Addressing the army +collectively, he assured them that the ships were not fit for service, +as had been shown by due inspection. "There is one important advantage +gained to the army, viz., the addition of a hundred able-bodied recruits +who were necessary to man the lost ships. Besides all that, of what use +could ships be to us in the present expedition? As for me, I will remain +here even without a comrade. As for those who shrink from the dangers of +our glorious enterprise, let them go back, in God's name! Let them go +home, since there is still one vessel left; let them go on board and +return to Cuba. They can tell how they deserted their commander and +their comrades, and patiently wait till they see us return loaded with +the spoils of the Aztecs." + +Persuasion is the end of true oratory. The reply of the army to Cortes +was the unanimous shout "To Mexico! To Mexico!" + +After beginning the gradual ascent in their march toward the table-land +of Mexico, the first place noted by the invaders was Jalapa, a town +which still retains its Aztec name, known to all the world by the +well-known drug grown there. It is a favorite resort of the wealthier +residents in Vera Cruz, and that too tropical plain which Cortes had +just left. The mighty mountain Orizaba, one of the guardians of the +Mexican Valley, is now full in sight, towering in solitary grandeur with +its robe of snow. + +At last they reached a town so populous that there were thirteen Aztec +temples with the usual sacrificial stone for human victims before each +idol. In the suburbs the Spanish were shocked by a gathering of human +skulls, many thousand in number. This appalling reminder of the +unspeakable sacrifices soon became a familiar sight as they marched +through that country. + +Cortes asked the cazique if he were subject to Montezuma. "Who is +there," replied the local prince, "that is not tributary to that +Emperor?" "_I_ am not," said the stranger general. Cortes assured him +that the monarch whom the Spaniards served had princes as vassals, who +were more powerful than the Aztec ruler. The cazique said: + + Montezuma could muster thirty great vassals, each master of 100,000 + men. His revenues were incalculable, since every subject, however + poor, paid something.... More than 20,000 victims, the fruit of his + wars, were annually sacrificed on the altars of his gods! His + capital stood on a lake, in the center of a spacious valley.... The + approach to the city was by means of causeways several miles long; + and when the connecting bridges were raised all communication with + the country was cut off. + +The Indians showed the greatest curiosity respecting the dresses, +weapons, horses, and dogs of their strange visitors. The country all +around was then well wooded and full of villages and towns, which +disappeared after the conquest. Humboldt remarked, when he traveled +there, that the whole district had, "at the time of the arrival of the +Spanish, been more inhabited and better cultivated, and that in +proportion as they got higher up near the table-land, they found the +villages more frequent, the fields more subdivided, and the people more +law-abiding." + +Before entering upon the table-land, Cortes resolved to visit the +republic of Tlascala, which was noted for having retained its +independence in spite of the Aztecs. After sending an embassy, +consisting of the four chief Zempoallas, who had accompanied the army, +he set out toward Tlascala, lingering as they proceeded, so that his +ambassadors should have time to return. While wondering at the delay, +they suddenly reached a remarkable fortification which marked the limits +of the republic, and acted as a barrier against the Mexican invasions. +Prescott thus describes it: + + A stone wall nine feet in height and twenty in thickness, with a + parapet a foot and a half broad raised on the summit for the + protection of those who defended it. It had only one opening in + the center, made by two semicircular lines of wall overlapping each + other for the space of forty paces, and affording a passageway + between, ten paces wide, so contrived, therefore, as to be + perfectly commanded by the inner wall. This fortification, which + extended more than two leagues, rested at either end on the bold + natural buttresses formed by the sierra. The work was built of + immense blocks of stone nicely laid together without cement, and + the remains still existing, among which are rocks of the whole + breadth of the rampart, fully attest its solidity and size. + +Who were the people of this stout-hearted republic? The Tlascalans were +a kindred tribe to the Aztecs, and after coming to the Mexican Valley, +toward the close of the twelfth century, had settled for many years on +the western shore of Lake Tezcuco. Afterward they migrated to that +district of fruitful valleys where Cortes found them; _Tlascala_, +meaning "land of bread." They then, as a nation, consisted of four +separate states, considerably civilized, and always able to protect +their confederacy against foreign invasion. Their arts, religion, and +architecture were the same as those of the Aztecs and Tezcucans. + +More than once had the Aztecs attempted to bring the little republic +into subjection, but in vain. In one campaign Montezuma had lost a +favorite, besides having his army defeated; and though a much more +formidable invasion followed, "the bold mountaineers withdrew into the +recesses of their hills, and coolly watching their opportunity, rushed +like a torrent on the invaders, and drove them back with dreadful +slaughter from their territories." + +The Tlascalans had of course heard of the redoubtable Europeans and +their advance upon Montezuma's kingdom, but not expecting any visit +themselves, they were in doubt about the embassy sent by Cortes, and the +council had not reached a decision when the arrival of Cortes was +announced at the head of his cavalry. Attacked by a body of several +thousand Indians, he sent back a horseman to make the infantry hurry up +to his assistance. Two of the horses were killed, a loss seriously felt +by Cortes; but when the main body had discharged a volley from their +muskets and crossbows, so astounded were the Tlascalan Indians that they +stopped fighting and withdrew from the field. + +Next morning, after Cortes had given careful instruction to his army +(now more than 3,000 in number, with his Indian auxiliaries), they had +not marched far when they were met by two of the Zempoallans, who had +been sent as ambassadors. They informed Cortes that, as captives, they +had been reserved for the sacrificial stone, but had succeeded in +breaking out of prison. They also said that forces were being collected +from all quarters to meet the Spaniards. + +At the first encounter, the Indians, after some spirited fighting, +retreated in order to draw the Spanish army into a defile impracticable +for artillery or cavalry. Pressing forward they found, on turning an +abrupt corner of the glen, that an army of many thousands was drawn up +in order, prepared to receive them. As they came into view, the +Tlascalans set up a piercing war-cry, shrill and hideous, accompanied by +the melancholy beat of a thousand drums. Cortes spurred on the cavalry +to force a passage for the infantry, and kept exhorting his soldiers, +while showing them an example of personal daring. "If we fail now," he +cried, "the Cross of Christ can never be planted in this land. Forward, +comrades! when was it ever known that a Castilian turned his back on a +foe?" + +With desperate efforts the soldiers forced a passage through the Indian +columns, and then, as soon as the horse opened room for the movements of +the gunners, the terrible "thunder and lightning" of the cannon did the +rest. The havoc caused in their ranks, combined with the roar and the +flash of gunpowder, and the mangled carcasses, filled the whole of the +barbarian army with horror and consternation. Eight leaders of the +Tlascalan army having fallen, the prince ordered a retreat. + +The chief of the Tlascalans, Xicotencatl, was no ordinary leader. When +Cortes wished to press on to the capital, he sent two envoys to the +Tlascalan camp, but all that Xicotencatl deigned to reply was + + that the Spaniards might pass on as soon as they chose to Tlascala, + and when they reached it their flesh would be hewn from their + bodies for sacrifice to the gods. If they preferred to remain in + their own quarters, he would pay them a visit there the next day. + +The envoys also told Cortes that the chief had now collected another +very large army, five battalions of 10,000 men each. There was evidently +a determination to try the fate of Tlascala by a pitched battle and +exterminate the bold invaders. + +The next day, September 5, 1519, was therefore a critical one in the +annals of Cortes. He resolved to meet the Tlascalan chief in the field, +after directing the foot-soldiers to use the point of their swords and +not the edge; the horse to charge at half speed, directing their lances +at the eyes of their enemies; the gunners and crossbowmen to support +each other, some loading while others were discharging their pieces. + +Before Cortes and his soldiers had marched a mile they saw the immense +Tlascalan army stretched far and wide over a vast plain. Nothing could +be more picturesque than the aspect of these Indian battalions, with the +naked bodies of the common soldiers gaudily painted, the fantastic +helmets of the chiefs bright with ornaments and precious stones, and the +glowing panoplies of feather-work.... + + The golden glitterance and the feather-mail + More gay than glittering gold; and round the helm + A coronal of high upstanding plumes.... + ... With war-songs and wild music they came on.[21] + +[Footnote 21: Southey (Madoc, i, 7).] + +The Tlascalan warriors had attained wonderful skill in throwing the +javelin. "One species, with a thong attached to it, which remained in +the slinger's hand, that he might recall the weapon, was especially +dreaded by the Spaniards." Their various weapons were pointed with bone +or obsidian, and sometimes headed with copper. + +The yell or scream of defiance raised by these Indians almost drowned +the volume of sound from "the wild barbaric minstrelsy of shell, atabal, +and trumpet with which they proclaimed their triumphant anticipations +of victory over the paltry forces of the invaders." + +Advancing under a thick shower of arrows and other missiles, the Spanish +soldiers at a certain distance quickly halted and drew up in order, +before delivering a general fire along the whole line. The front ranks +of their wild opponents were mowed down and those behind were "petrified +with dismay." + +But for the accident of dissension having arisen between the chiefs of +the Tlascalans, it almost seemed as if nothing could have saved Cortes +and his Spanish army. Before the battle, the haughty treatment of one of +those chiefs by Xicotencatl, the cazique, provoked the injured man to +draw off all his contingent during the battle, and persuade another +chief to do the same. With his forces so weakened, the cazique was +compelled to resign the field to the Spaniards. + +Xicotencatl, in his eagerness for revenge, consulted some of the Aztec +priests, who recommended a night attack upon Cortes's camp in order to +take his army by surprise. The Tlascalan, therefore, with 10,000 +warriors, marched secretly toward the Spanish camp, but owing to the +bright moonlight they were not unseen by the vedettes. Besides that, +Cortes had accustomed his army to sleep with their arms by their side +and the horses ready saddled. In an instant, as it were, the whole camp +were on the alert and under arms. The Indians, meanwhile, were +stealthily advancing to the silent camp, and, "no sooner had they +reached the slope of the rising ground than they were astounded by the +deep battle-cry of the Spaniards, followed by the instantaneous +appearance of the whole army. Scarcely awaiting the shock of their +enemy, the panic-struck barbarians fled rapidly and tumultuously across +the plain. The horse easily overtook the fugitives, riding them down, +and cutting them to pieces without mercy." Next day Cortes sent new +ambassadors to the Tlascalan capital, accompanied by his faithful slave +interpreter, Marina. They found the cazique's council sad and dejected, +every gleam of hope being now extinguished. + +The message of Cortes still promised friendship and pardon, if only they +agreed to act as allies. If the present offer were rejected, "he would +visit their capital as a conqueror, raze every house to the ground, and +put every inhabitant to the sword." On hearing this ultimatum, the +council chose four leading chiefs to be entrusted with a mission to +Cortes, "assuring him of a free passage through the country, and a +friendly reception in the capital." The ambassadors, on their way back +to Cortes, called at the camp of Xicotencatl, and were there detained by +him. He was still planning against the terrible invaders. + +Cortes, in the meantime, had another opportunity of showing his resource +and presence of mind. Some of his soldiers had shown a grumbling +discontent: "The idea of conquering Mexico was madness; if they had +encountered such opposition from the petty republic, what might they not +expect from the great Mexican Empire? There was now a temporary +suspension of hostilities; should they not avail themselves of it to +retrace their steps to Vera Cruz?" To this Cortes listened calmly and +politely, replying that "he had told them at the outset that glory was +to be won only by toil and danger; he had never shrunk from his share of +both. To go back now was impossible. What would the Tlascalans say? How +would the Mexicans exult at such a miserable issue! Instead of turning +your eyes toward Cuba, fix them on Mexico, the great object of our +enterprise." Many other soldiers having gathered round, the mutinous +party took courage to say that "another such victory as the last would +be their ruin; they were going to Mexico only to be slaughtered." With +some impatience Cortes gaily quoted a soldiers' song: + + Better die with honor + Than live in long disgrace! + +--a sentiment which the majority of the audience naturally cheered to +the echo, while the malcontents slunk away to their quarters. + +The next event was the arrival of some Tlascalans wearing white badges +as an indication of peace. They brought a message, they said, from +Xicotencatl, who now desired an arrangement with Cortes, and would soon +appear in person. Most of them remained in the camp, where they were +treated kindly; but Marina, with her "woman's wit," became somewhat +suspicious of them. Perhaps some of them, forgetting that she knew their +language, let drop a phrase in talking to each other, which awoke her +distrust. She told Cortes that the men were spies. He had them arrested +and examined separately, ascertaining in that way that they were sent +to obtain secret information of the Spanish camp, and that, in fact, +Xicotencatl was mustering his forces to make another determined attack +on the invading army. + +To show the fierceness of his resentment at such treatment, Cortes +ordered the fifty spy ambassadors to have their hands hacked off, and +sent back to tell their lord that "the Tlascalans might come by day or +night, they would find the Spaniards ready for them." The sight of their +mutilated comrades filled the Indian camp with dread and horror. All +thoughts of resistance to the advance of Cortes were now abandoned, and +not long after the arrival of Xicotencatl himself was announced, +attended by a numerous train. He advanced with "the firm and fearless +step of one who was coming rather to bid defiance than to sue for peace. +He was rather above the middle size, with broad shoulders and a muscular +frame, intimating great activity and strength. He made the usual +salutation by touching the ground with his hand and carrying it to his +head." He threw no blame on the Tlascalan senate, but assumed all the +responsibility of the war. He admitted that the Spanish army had beaten +him, but hoped they would use their victory with moderation, and not +trample on the liberties of the republic. + +Cortes admired the cazique's lofty spirit, while pretending to rebuke +him for having so long remained an enemy. "He was willing to bury the +past in oblivion, and to receive the Tlascalans as vassals to the +Emperor, his master." + +Before the entry into Tlascala, the capital, there arrived an embassy +from Montezuma, who had been keenly disappointed, no doubt, that Cortes +had not only not been defeated by the bravest race on the Mexican +table-land, but had formed a friendly alliance with them. + +As Cortes, with his army, approached the populous city, they were +welcomed by great crowds of men and women in picturesque dresses, with +nosegays and wreaths of flowers; priests in white robes and long matted +tresses, swinging their burning censers of incense. The anniversary of +this entry into Tlascala, September 23, 1519, is still celebrated as a +day of rejoicing. + +Cortes, in his letter to the Emperor, King of Spain, compares it for +size and appearance to Granada, the Moorish capital. Pottery was one of +the industries in which Tlascala excelled. The Tlascalan was chiefly +agricultural in his habits; his honest breast glowed with the patriotic +attachment to the soil, which is the fruit of its diligent culture, +while he was elevated by that consciousness of independence which is the +natural birthright of a child of the mountains. + +Cholula, capital of the republic of that name, is six leagues north of +Tlascala, and about twenty southeast of Mexico. In the time of the +conquest of the table-land of Anahuac, as the whole district is +sometimes termed, this city was large and populous. The people excelled +in mechanical arts, especially metal-working, cloth-weaving, and a +delicate kind of pottery. Reference has already been made to the god +Quetzalcoatl, in whose honor a huge pyramid was erected here. From the +farthest parts of Anahuac devotees thronged to Cholula, just as the +Mohammedans to Mecca. + +The Spaniards found the people of Cholula superior in dress and looks to +any of the races they had seen. The higher classes "wore fine +embroidered mantles resembling the Moorish cloak in texture and +fashion.... They showed the same delicate taste for flowers as the other +tribes of the plateau, tossing garlands and bunches among the +soldiers.... The Spaniards were also struck with the cleanliness of the +city, the regularity of the streets, the solidity of the houses, and the +number and size of the pyramidal temples." After being treated with +kindness and hospitality for several days, all at once the scene +changed, the cause being the arrival of messengers from Montezuma. At +the same time some Tlascalans told Cortes that a great sacrifice, mostly +of children, had been offered to propitiate the favor of the gods. + +At this juncture, Marina, the Indian slave interpreter, again proved to +be the "good angel" of Cortes. She had become very friendly with the +wife of one of the Cholula caziques, who gave her a hint that there was +danger in staying at the house of any Spaniard; and, when further +pressed by Marina, said that the Spaniards were to be slaughtered when +marching out of the capital. The plot had originated with the Aztec +Emperor, and 20,000 Mexicans were already quartered a little distance +out of town. + +In this most critical position, Cortes at once decided to take +possession of the great square, placing a strong guard at each of its +three gates of entrance. The rest of what troops he had in the town, he +posted without with the cannon, to command the avenues. He had already +sent orders to the Tlascalan chiefs to keep their soldiers in readiness +to march, at a given signal, into the city to support the Spaniards. +Presently the caziques of Cholula arrived with a larger body of levies +than Cortes had demanded. He at once charged them with conspiring +against the Spaniards after receiving them as friends. They were so +amazed at his discovery of their perfidy that they confessed everything, +laying the blame on Montezuma. "That pretense," said Cortes, assuming a +look of fierce indignation, "is no justification; I shall now make such +an example of you for your treachery that the report of it will ring +throughout the wide borders of Anahuac!" + +At the firing of a harquebus, the fatal signal, the crowd of +unsuspecting Cholulans were massacred as they stood, almost without +resistance. Meantime the other Indians without the square commenced an +attack on the Spaniards, but the heavy guns of the battery played upon +them with murderous effect, and cavalry advanced to support the attack. + + The steeds, the guns, the weapons of the Spaniards, were all new to + the Cholulans. Notwithstanding the novelty of the terrific + spectacle, the flash of arms mingling with the deafening roar of + the artillery, the desperate Indians pushed on to take the places + of their fallen comrades. + +While this scene of bloodshed was progressing, the Tlascalans, as +arranged, were hastening to the assistance of their Spanish allies. The +Cholulans, when thus attacked in rear by their traditional enemies, +speedily gave way, and tried to save themselves in the great temple and +elsewhere. The "Holy City," as it was called, was converted into a +pandemonium of massacre. In memory of the signal defeat of the +Cholulans, Cortes converted the chief part of the great temple into a +Christian church. + +Envoys again arrived from Mexico with rich presents and a message +vindicating the pusillanimous Emperor from any share in the conspiracy +against Cortes. Continuing their march, the allied army of Spaniards and +Tlascalans proceeded till they reached the mountains which separate the +table-land of Puebla from that of Mexico. To cross this range they +followed the route which passes between the mighty Popocatepetl (i. e., +"the smoking mountain") and another called the "White Woman" from its +broad robe of snow. The first lies about forty miles southeast of the +capital to which their march was directed. It is more than 2,000 feet +higher than Mont Blanc, and has two principal craters, one of which is +about 1,000 feet deep and has large deposits of sulfur which are +regularly mined. Popocatepetl has long been only a quiescent volcano, +but during the invasion by Cortes it was often burning, especially at +the time of the siege of Tlascala. That was naturally interpreted all +over the district of Anahuac to be a bad omen, associated with the +landing and approach of the Spaniards. Cortes insisted on several +descents being made into the great crater till sufficient sulfur was +collected to supply gunpowder to his army. The icy cold winds, varied by +storms of snow and sleet, were more trying to the Europeans than the +Tlascalans, but some relief was found in the stone shelters which had +been built at certain intervals along the roads for the accommodation +of couriers and other travelers. + +At last they reached the crest of the sierra which unites Popocatepetl, +the "great _Volcan_," to its sister mountain the "Woman in White." Soon +after, at a turning of the road, the invaders enjoyed their first view +of the famous Valley of Mexico or Tenochtitlan, with its beautiful lakes +in their setting of cultivated plains, here and there varied by woods +and forests. "In the midst, like some Indian empress with her coronal of +pearls, the fair city with her white towers and pyramidal temples, +reposing as it were on the bosom of the waters--the far-famed 'Venice of +the Aztecs.'" + +This view of the "Promised Land" will remind some of the picturesque +account given by Livy (xxi, 35) of Hannibal reaching the top of the pass +over the Alps and pointing out the fair prospect of Italy to his +soldiers. We may thus render the passage: "On the ninth day the ridge of +the Alps was reached, over ground generally trackless and by roundabout +ways.... The order for marching being given at break of day, the army +were sluggishly advancing over ground wholly covered with snow, +listlessness, and despair depicted on the features of all, Hannibal went +on in front, and after ordering the soldiers to halt on a height which +commanded a distant view, far and wide, points out to them Italy and the +plains of Lombardy on both banks of the Po, at the foot of the Alps, +telling them that at that moment they were crossing not only the walls +of Italy but of the Roman capital; that the rest of the march was easy +and downhill." The situation of Hannibal and his Carthaginians +surveying Italy for the first time is in some respects closely analogous +to that of Cortes pointing out the Valley of Mexico to his Spanish +soldiers. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +CORTES AND MONTEZUMA + + +We have now seen the Spanish conquerors with a large contingent of 6,000 +natives surmounting the mountains to the east of the Mexican Valley and +looking down upon the Lake of Tezcuco on which were built the sister +capitals. Montezuma, the Aztec monarch, was already in a state of +dismay, and sent still another embassy to propitiate the terrible +Cortes, with a great present of gold and robes of the most precious +fabrics and workmanship; and a promise that, if the foreign general +would turn back toward Vera Cruz, the Mexicans would pay down four loads +of gold for himself and one to each of his captains, besides a yearly +tribute to their king in Europe. + +These promises did not reach Cortes till he was descending from the +sierra. He replied that details were best arranged by a personal +interview, and that the Spaniards came with peaceful motives. + +Montezuma was now plunged in deep despair. At last he summoned a council +to consult his nobles and especially his nephew, the young King of +Tezcuco, and his warlike brother. The latter advised him to "muster as +large an army as possible, and drive back the invaders from his capital +or die in its defense." "Ah!" replied the monarch, "the gods have +declared themselves against us!" Still another embassy was prepared, +with his nephew, lord of Tezcuco, at its head, to offer a welcome to the +unwelcome visitors. + +Cortes approached through fertile fields, plantations, and +maguey-vineyards till they reached Lake Chalco. There they found a large +town built in the water on piles, with canals instead of streets, full +of movement and animation. "The Spaniards were particularly struck with +the style and commodious structure of the houses, chiefly of stone, and +with the general aspect of wealth and even elegance which prevailed." + +Next morning the King of Tezcuco came to visit Cortes, in a palanquin +richly decorated with plates of gold and precious stones, under a canopy +of green plumes. He was accompanied by a numerous suite. Advancing with +the Mexican salutation, he said he had been commanded by Montezuma to +welcome him to the capital, at the same time offering three splendid +pearls as a present. Cortes "in return threw over the young king's neck +a chain of cut glass, which, where glass was as rare as diamonds, might +be admitted to have a value as real as the latter." + +The army of Cortes next marched along the southern side of Lake Chalco, +"through noble woods and by orchards glowing with autumnal fruits, of +unknown names, but rich and tempting hues." They also passed "through +cultivated fields waving with the yellow harvest, and irrigated by +canals introduced from the neighboring lake, the whole showing a careful +and economical husbandry, essential to the maintenance of a crowded +population." A remarkable public work next engaged the attention of the +Spaniards, viz., a solid causeway of stone and lime running directly +through the lake, in some places so wide that eight horsemen could ride +on it abreast. Its length is some four or five miles. Marching along +this causeway, they saw other wonders; numbers of the natives darting in +all directions in their skiffs, curious to watch the strangers marching, +and some of them bearing the products of the country to the neighboring +cities. They were amazed also by the sight of the floating gardens, +teeming with flowers and vegetables, and moving like rafts over the +waters. All round the margin, and occasionally far in the lake, they +beheld little towns and villages, which, half concealed by the foliage, +and gathered in white clusters round the shore, "looked in the distance +like companies of white swans riding quietly on the waves." About the +middle of this lake was a town, to which the Spaniards gave the name of +Venezuela[22] (i. e., "Little Venice"). From its situation and the style +of the buildings, Cortes called it the most beautiful town that he had +yet seen in New Spain. + +[Footnote 22: Not to be confounded with the Indian village on the shore +of Lake Maracaibo, to which (with similar motive) Vespucci had given +that name--now capital of a large republic.] + +After crossing the isthmus which separates that lake from Lake Tezcuco +they were now at Iztapalapan, a royal residence in charge of the +Emperor's brother. Here a ceremonious reception was given to Cortes and +his staff, "a collation being served in one of the great halls of the +palace. The excellence of the architecture here excited the admiration +of the general. The buildings were of stone, and the spacious apartments +had roofs of odorous cedar-wood, while the walls were tapestried with +fine cotton stained with brilliant colors. + +"But the pride of Iztapalapan was its celebrated gardens, covering an +immense tract of land and laid out in regular squares. The gardens were +stocked with fruit-trees and with the gaudy family of flowers which +belonged to the Mexican flora, scientifically arranged, and growing +luxuriant in the equable temperature of the table-land. In one quarter +was an aviary filled with numerous kinds of birds remarkable in this +region both for brilliancy of plumage and for song. But the most +elaborate piece of work was a huge reservoir of stone, filled to a +considerable height with water, well supplied with different sorts of +fish. This basin was 1,600 paces in circumference, and surrounded by a +walk." + +Readers must remember that at that age no beautiful gardens on a large +scale were known in any part of Europe. The first "garden of plants" (to +use the name afterward applied by the French) is said to have been an +Italian one, at Padua, in 1545, a whole generation after the time of the +arrival of Cortes in Mexico. It was only under Louis "Le Magnifique" +that France created the Versailles Gardens, and not till the time of +George III and his tutor Bute could we boast of the gardens at Kew, now +admired by all the world. The ancient Mexicans, therefore, under their +extinct civilization, had developed this taste for the beautiful many +ages before the most cultivated races in Europe. + +Cortes took up his quarters at this residence of Iztapalapan for the +night, expecting to meet Montezuma on the morrow. Mexico was now +distinctly full in view, looking "like a thing of fairy creation," a +city of enchantment. + + There Aztlan stood upon the farther shore; + Amid the shade of trees its dwellings rose, + Their level roofs with turrets set around + And battlements all burnished white, which shone + Like silver in the sunshine. I beheld + The imperial city, her far-circling walls, + Her garden groves and stately palaces, + Her temples mountain size, her thousand roofs. + And when I saw her might and majesty + My mind misgave me then. + + _Madoc_, i, 6. + +That following day, November 8, 1519, should be noted in every calendar, +when the great capital of the Western World admitted the conquering +general from the Eastern World. The invaders were now upon a larger +causeway, which stretched across the salt waters of Lake Tezcuco; and +"had occasion more than ever to admire the mechanical science of the +Aztecs." It was wide enough throughout its whole extent for ten horsemen +to ride abreast. + +The Spaniards saw everywhere "evidence of a crowded and thriving +population, exceeding all they had yet seen." The water was darkened by +swarms of canoes filled with Indians; and here also were those fairy +islands of flowers. Half a league from the capital they encountered a +solid work of stone, which traversed the road. It was twelve feet high, +strengthened by towers at the extremities, and in the center was a +battlemented gateway, which opened a passage to the troops. + +Here they were met by several hundred Aztec chiefs, who came out to +announce the approach of Montezuma, and to welcome the Spaniards to his +capital. They were dressed in the fanciful gala costume of the country, +with the cotton sash around their loins, and a broad mantle of the same +material, or of the brilliant feather embroidery, flowing gracefully +down their shoulders. On their necks and arms they displayed collars and +bracelets of turquoise mosaic, with which delicate plumage was curiously +mingled, while their ears, under lips, and occasionally their noses were +garnished with pendants formed of precious stones, or crescents of fine +gold. + +After all the caziques had performed the same formal salutation +separately, there was no further delay till they reached a bridge near +the gates of the capital. Soon after "they beheld the glittering retinue +of the Emperor emerging from the great street leading through the heart +of the city. Amid a crowd of Indian nobles preceded by three officers of +state bearing golden wands, they saw the royal palanquin blazing with +burnished gold. It was borne on the shoulders of nobles, and over it a +canopy of gaudy feather-work, covered with jewels and fringed with +silver, was supported by four attendants of the same rank." + +At a certain distance from the Spaniards "the train halted, and +Montezuma, descending from the litter, came forward, leaning on the +arms of the lords of Tezcuco and Iztapalapan"--the Emperor's nephew and +brother, already mentioned. "As the monarch advanced, his subjects, who +lined the sides of the causeway, bent forward, with their eyes fastened +on the ground, as he passed." + +Montezuma wore the ample square cloak common to the Mexicans, but of the +finest cotton sprinkled with pearls and precious stones; his sandals +were similarly sprinkled, and had soles of solid gold. His only head +ornament was a bunch of feathers of the royal green color. A man about +forty; tall and rather thin; black hair, cut rather short for a person +of rank; dignified in his movements; his features wearing an expression +of benignity not to be expected from his character. + +After dismounting from horseback, Cortes advanced to meet Montezuma, who +received him with princely courtesy, while Cortes responded by profound +expressions of respect, with thanks for his experience of the Emperor's +munificence. He then hung round Montezuma's neck a sparkling chain of +colored crystal, accompanying this with a movement as if to embrace him, +when he was restrained by the two Aztec lords, shocked at the menaced +profanation of the sacred person of their monarch and master. + +Montezuma appointed his brother to conduct the Spaniards to their +residence in the capital, and was again carried through the adoring +crowds in his litter. "The Spaniards quickly followed, and with colors +flying and music playing soon made their entrance into the southern +quarter." + +On entering "they found fresh cause for admiration in the grandeur of +the city and the superior style of its architecture. The great avenue +through which they were now marching was lined with the houses of the +nobles, who were encouraged by the Emperor to make the capital their +residence. The flat roofs were protected by stone parapets, so that +every house was a fortress. Sometimes these roofs seemed parterres of +flowers ... broad terraced gardens laid out between the buildings. +Occasionally a great square intervened surrounded by its porticoes of +stone and stucco; or a pyramidal temple reared its colossal bulk crowned +with its tapering sanctuaries, and altars blazing with unextinguishable +fires. But what most impressed the Spaniards was the throngs of people +who swarmed through the streets and on the canals." + +Probably, however, the spectacle of the European army with their horses, +their guns, bright swords and helmets of steel, a metal to them unknown; +their weird and mysterious music--the whole formed to the Aztec populace +an inexplicable wonder, combined with those foreigners who had arrived +from the distant East, "revealing their celestial origin in their fair +complexions." Many of the Aztec citizens betrayed keen hatred of the +Tlascalans who marched with the Spaniards in friendly alliance. + +At length Cortes with his mixed army halted near the center of the city +in a great open space, "where rose the huge pyramidal pile dedicated to +the patron war-god of the Aztecs, second only to the temple of Cholula +in size as well as sanctity." The present famous cathedral of modern +Mexico is built on part of the same site. + +A palace built opposite the west side of the great temple was assigned +to Cortes. It was extensive enough to accommodate the whole of the army +of Cortes. Montezuma paid him a visit there, having a long conversation +through the indispensable assistance of Marina, the slave interpreter. +"That evening the Spaniards celebrated their arrival in the Mexican +capital by a general discharge of artillery. The thunders of the +ordnance reverberating among the buildings and shaking them to their +foundations, the stench of the sulfureous vapor reminding the +inhabitants of the explosions of the great volcano (Popocatepetl) filled +the hearts of the superstitious Aztecs with dismay." + +Next day Cortes had gracious permission to return the visit of the +Emperor, and therefore proceeded to wait upon him at the royal palace, +dressed in his richest suit of clothes. The Spanish general felt the +importance of the occasion and resolved to exercise all his eloquence +and power of argument in attempting the "conversion" of Montezuma to the +Christian faith. + +For this purpose, with the assistance of the faithful Marina, Cortes +engaged the Emperor in a theological discussion; explaining the creation +of the world as taught in the Jewish Scriptures; the fall of man from +his first happy and holy condition by the temptation of Satan; the +mysterious redemption of the human race by the incarnation and atonement +of the Son of God Himself. "He assured Montezuma that the idols +worshiped in Mexico were Satan under different forms. A sufficient proof +of this was the bloody sacrifices they imposed, which he contrasted with +the pure and simple rite of the mass. It was to snatch the Emperor's +soul and the souls of his people from the flames of eternal fire that +the Christians had come to this land." + +Montezuma replied that the God of the Spaniards must be a good being, +and "my gods also are good to me; there was no need to further discourse +on the matter." If he had "resisted their visit to his capital, it was +because he had heard such accounts of their cruelties--that they sent +the lightning to consume his people, or crushed them to pieces under the +hard feet of the ferocious animals on which they rode. He was now +convinced that these were idle tales; that the Spaniards were kind and +generous in their nature." He concluded by admitting the superiority of +the sovereign of Cortes beyond the seas. "Your sovereign is the rightful +lord of all: I rule in his name." + +The rough Spanish cavaliers were touched by the kindness and affability +of Montezuma. As they passed him, says Diaz, in his History, they made +him the most profound obeisance, hat in hand; and on the way home could +discourse of nothing but the gentle breeding and courtesy of the Indian +monarch. + + +MONTEZUMA'S CAPITAL + +Cortes and his army being now fairly domesticated in Mexico, and the +Emperor having apparently become reconciled to the presence of his +formidable guests, we may pause to consider the surroundings. + +The present capital occupies the site of Tenochtitlan, but many changes +have occurred in the intervening four centuries. First of all, the salt +waters of the great lake have entirely shrunk away, leaving modern +Mexico high and dry, a league away from the waters that Cortes saw +flowing in ample canals through all the streets. Formerly the houses +stood on elevated piles and were independent of the floods which rose in +Lake Tezcuco by the overflowing of other lakes on a higher level. But +when the foundations were on solid ground it became necessary to provide +against the accumulated volume of water by excavating a tunnel to drain +off the flood. This was constructed about one hundred years after the +invasion of the Spaniards, and has been described by Humboldt as "one of +the most stupendous hydraulic works in existence." + +The appearance of the lake and suburbs of the capital have long lost +much of the attractive appearance they had at the time of the Spanish +visit; but the town itself is still the most brilliant city in Spanish +America, surmounted by a cathedral, which forms "the most sumptuous +house of worship in the New World." + +The great causeway already described as leading north from the royal +city of Iztapalapan, had another to the north of the capital, which +might be called its continuation. The third causeway, leading west to +the town Tacuba from the island city, will be noticed presently as the +scene of the Spaniards' retreat. + +There were excellent police regulations for health and cleanliness. +Water supplied by earthen pipes was from a hill about two miles distant. +Besides the palaces and temples there were several important buildings: +an armory filled with weapons and military dresses; a granary; various +warehouses; an immense aviary, with "birds of splendid plumage assembled +from all parts of the empire--the scarlet cardinal, the golden pheasant, +the endless parrot tribe, and that miniature miracle of nature, the +humming-bird, which delights to revel among the honeysuckle bowers of +Mexico." The birds of prey had a separate building. The menagerie +adjoining the aviary showed wild animals from the mountain forests, as +well as creatures from the remote swamps of the hot lands by the +seashore. The serpents "were confined in long cages lined with down or +feathers, or in troughs of mud and water." + +Wishing to visit the great Mexican temple, Cortes, with his cavalry and +most of his infantry, followed the caziques whom Montezuma had politely +sent as guides. + +On their way to the central square the Spaniards "were struck with the +appearance of the inhabitants, and their great superiority in the style +and quality of their dress over the people of the lower countries. The +women, as in other parts of the country, seemed to go about as freely as +the men. They wore several skirts or petticoats of different lengths, +with highly ornamented borders, and sometimes over them loose-flowing +robes, which reached to the ankles. No veils were worn here as in some +other parts of Anahuac. The Aztec women had their faces exposed; and +their dark raven tresses floated luxuriantly over their shoulders, +revealing features which, although of a dusky or rather cinnamon hue, +were not unfrequently pleasing, while touched with the serious, even +sad expression characteristic of the national physiognomy." + +When near the great market "the Spaniards were astonished at the throng +of people pressing toward it, and on entering the place their surprise +was still further heightened by the sight of the multitudes assembled +there, and the dimensions of the enclosure, twice as large, says one +Spanish observer, as the celebrated square of Salamanca. Here were +traders from all parts; the goldsmiths from Azcapozalco, the potters and +jewelers of Cholula, the painters of Tezcuco, the stone-cutters, +hunters, fishermen, fruiterers, mat and chair makers, florists, etc. The +pottery department was a large one; so were the armories for implements +of war; razors and mirrors--booths for apothecaries with drugs, roots, +and medical preparations. In other places again, blank-books or maps for +the hieroglyphics or pictographs were to be seen folded together like +fans. Animals both wild and tame were offered for sale, and near them, +perhaps, a gang of slaves with collars round their necks. One of the +most attractive features of the market was the display of provisions: +meats of all kinds, domestic poultry, game from the neighboring +mountains, fish from the lakes and streams, fruits in all the delicious +abundance of these temperate regions, green vegetables, and the +unfailing maize." + +This market, like hundreds of smaller ones, was of course held every +fifth day--the week of the ancient Mexicans being one-fourth of the +twenty days which constituted the Aztec month. This great market was +comparable to "the periodical fairs in Europe, not as they now exist, +but as they existed in the middle ages," when from the difficulties of +intercommunication they served as the great central marts for commercial +intercourse, exercising a most important and salutary influence on the +community. + +One of the Spaniards in the party accompanying Cortes was the historian +Diaz, and his testimony is remarkable: + + There were among us soldiers who had been in many parts of the + world, Constantinople and Rome, and through all Italy, and who said + that a market-place so large, so well ordered and regulated, and so + filled with people, they had never seen. + +Proceeding next to the great _teocalli_ or Aztec temple, covering the +site of the modern cathedral with part of the market-place and some +adjoining streets, they found it in the midst of a great open space, +surrounded by a high stone wall, ornamented on the outside by figures of +serpents raised in relief, and pierced by huge battlemented gateways +opening on the four principal streets of the capital. The _teocalli_ +itself was a solid pyramidal structure of earth and pebbles, coated on +the outside with hewn stones, the sides facing the cardinal points. It +was divided into five stories, each of smaller dimensions than that +immediately below. The ascent was by a flight of steps on the outside, +which reached to the narrow terrace at the bottom of the second story, +passing quite round the building, when a second stairway conducted to a +similar landing at the base of the third. Thus the visitor was obliged +to pass round the whole edifice four times in order to reach the top. +This had a most imposing effect in the religious ceremonials, when the +pompous procession of priests with their wild minstrelsy came sweeping +round the huge sides of the pyramid, as they rose higher and higher +toward the summit in full view of the populace assembled in their +thousands. + +Cortes marched up the steps at the head of his men, and found at the +summit "a vast area paved with broad flat stones. The first object that +met their view was 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, by raising the breast, +enabled the priest to perform more easily his diabolical task of +removing the heart. At the other end of the area were two towers or +sanctuaries, consisting of three stories, the lower one of stone, the +two upper of wood elaborately carved. In the lower division stood the +images of their gods; the apartments above were filled with utensils for +their religious services, and with the ashes of some of their Aztec +princes who had fancied this airy sepulcher. Before each sanctuary stood +an altar, with that undying fire upon it, the extinction of which boded +as much evil to the empire as that of the Vestal flame would have done +in ancient Rome. Here also was the huge cylindrical drum made of +serpents' skins, and struck only on extraordinary occasions, when it +sent forth a melancholy, weird sound, that might be heard for miles" +over the country, indicating fierce anger of deity against the enemies +of Mexico. + +As Cortes reached the summit he was met by the Emperor himself attended +by the high priest. Taking the general by the hand, Montezuma pointed +out the chief localities in the wide prospect which their position +commanded, including not only the capital, "bathed on all sides by the +salt floods of the Tezcuco, and in the distance the clear fresh waters +of Lake Chalco," but the whole of the Valley of Mexico to the base of +the circular range of mountains, and the wreaths of vapor rolling up +from the hoary head of Popocatepetl. + +Cortes was allowed "to behold the shrines of the gods. They found +themselves in a spacious apartment, with sculptures on the walls, +representing the Mexican calendar, or the priestly ritual. Before the +altar in this sanctuary stood the colossal image of Huitzilopochtli, the +tutelary deity and war-god of the Aztecs. His countenance was distorted +into hideous lineaments of symbolical import. The huge folds of a +serpent, consisting of pearls and precious stones, were coiled round his +waist, and the same rich materials were profusely sprinkled over his +person. On his left foot were the delicate feathers of the humming-bird, +which gave its name to the dread deity. The most conspicuous ornament +was a chain of gold and silver hearts alternate, suspended round his +neck, emblematical of the sacrifice in which he most delighted. A more +unequivocal evidence of this was afforded by three human hearts that now +lay smoking on the altar before him. + +"The adjoining sanctuary was dedicated to a milder deity. This was +Tezcatlipoca, who created the world, next in honor to that invisible +being the Supreme God, who was represented by no image, and confined by +no temple. He was represented as a young man, and his image of polished +black stone was richly garnished with gold plates and ornaments. But the +homage to this god was not always of a more refined or merciful +character than that paid to his carnivorous brother." + +According to Diaz, whom we have already quoted, the stench of human gore +in both those chapels was more intolerable than that of all the +slaughter-houses in Castile. Glad to escape into the open air, Cortes +expressed wonder that a great and wise prince like Montezuma could have +faith "in such evil spirits as these idols, the representatives of the +devil! Permit us to erect here the true cross, and place the images of +the Blessed Virgin and her Son in these sanctuaries; you will soon see +how your false gods will shrink before them!" + +This extraordinary speech of the general shocked Montezuma, who, in +reproof, said: "Had I thought you would have offered this outrage to the +gods of the Aztecs, I would not have admitted you into their presence." + +Cortes, as a general, had some of the great qualities of Napoleon, but +he also resembled him occasionally in a singular lack of delicacy and +good taste. We do not, however, find that he ever showed such mean +malignity as the French general did when persecuting Madame de Stael, +because in her Germany she had omitted to mention his campaigns and +administration. + +Within the same enclosure, Cortes and his companions visited a temple +dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, a god referred to already. Other buildings +served as seminaries for the instruction of youth of both sexes; and +according to the Spanish accounts of the teaching and management of +these institutions there was "the greatest care for morals and the most +blameless deportment." + + +SEIZURE OF MONTEZUMA + +After being guest of the Mexican Emperor for a week, Cortes resolved to +carry out a most daring and unprecedented scheme--a purely "Napoleonic +movement," such as could scarcely have entered the brain of any general +ancient or modern. He argued with himself that a quarrel might at any +moment break out between his men and the citizens; the Spaniards again +could not remain long quiet unless actively employed; and, thirdly, +there was still greater danger with the Tlascalans, "a fierce race now +in daily contact with a nation that regards them with loathing and +detestation." Lastly, the Governor of Cuba, already grossly offended +with Cortes, might at any moment send after him a sufficient army to +wrest from him the glory of conquest. Cortes therefore formed the daring +resolve to seize Montezuma in his palace and carry him as a prisoner to +the Spanish quarters. He hoped thus to have in his own hands the supreme +management of affairs, and at the same time secure his own safety with +such a "sacred pledge" in keeping. + +It was necessary to find a pretext for seizing the hospitable Montezuma. +News had already come to Cortes, when at Cholula, that Escalante, whom +he had left in charge of Vera Cruz, had been defeated by the Aztecs in a +pitched battle, and that the head of a Spaniard, then slain, had been +sent to the Emperor, after being shown in triumph throughout some of the +chief cities. + +Cortes asked an audience from Montezuma, and that being readily granted, +he prepared for his plot by having a large body of armed men posted in +the courtyard. Choosing five companions of tried courage, Cortes then +entered the palace, and after being graciously received, told Montezuma +that he knew of the treachery that had taken place near the coast, and +that the Emperor was said to be the cause. + +The Emperor said that such a charge could only have been concocted by +his enemies. He agreed with the proposal of Cortes to summon the Aztec +chief who was accused of treachery to the garrison at Vera Cruz; and was +then persuaded to transfer his residence to the palace occupied by the +Spaniards. He was there received and treated with ostentatious respect; +but his people observed that in front of the palace there was constantly +posted a patrol of sixty soldiers, with another equally large in the +rear. + +When the Aztec chief arrived from the coast, he and his sixteen Aztec +companions were condemned to be burned alive before the palace. + +The next daring act of the Spanish general was to order iron fetters to +be fastened on Montezuma's ankles. The great Emperor seemed struck with +stupor and spoke never a word. Meanwhile the Aztec chiefs were executed +in the courtyard without interruption, the populace imagining the +sentence had been passed upon them by Montezuma, and the victims +submitting to their fate without a murmur. + +Cortes returning then to the room where Montezuma was imprisoned, +unclasped the fetters and said he was now at liberty to return to his +own palace. The Emperor, however, declined the offer. + +The instinctive sense of human sympathy must have frequently been not +only repressed but extinguished by all the great conquering generals who +have crushed nations under foot. Besides those of prehistoric times in +Asia and Europe, we have examples in Alexander the Greek, Julius Caesar +the Roman, Cortes and Pizarro the Spaniards, Frederick the Prussian, and +Napoleon the Corsican. + +The great French general consciously aimed at dramatic effect in his +exploits, but how paltry his seizing the Duc d'Enghien at dead of night +by a troop of soldiers, or his coercing the King of Spain to resign his +sovereignty after inducing him to cross the border into France. In the +unparalleled case of Cortes, a powerful emperor is seized by a few +strangers at noonday and carried off a prisoner without opposition or +bloodshed. So extraordinary a transaction, says Robertson, would appear +"extravagant beyond the bounds of probability" were it not that all the +circumstances are "authenticated by the most unquestionable evidence." + +The nephew of Montezuma, Cakama, the lord of Tezcuco, had been closely +watching all the motions of the Spaniards. He "beheld with indignation +and contempt the abject condition of his uncle; and now set about +forming a league with several of the neighboring caziques to break the +detested yoke of the Spaniards." News of this league reached the ears +of Cortes, and arresting him with the permission of Montezuma, he +deposed him, and appointed a younger brother in his place. The other +caziques were seized, each in his own city, and brought to Mexico, where +Cortes placed them in strict confinement along with Cakama. + +The next step taken by Cortes was to demand from Montezuma an +acknowledgment of the supremacy of the Spanish Emperor. The Aztec +monarch and chief caziques easily granted this; and even agreed that a +gratuity should be sent by each of them as proof of loyalty. Collectors +were sent out, and "in a few weeks most of them returned, bringing back +large quantities of gold and silver plate, rich stuffs, etc." To this +Montezuma added a huge hoard, the treasures of his father. When brought +into the quarters, the gold alone was sufficient to make three great +heaps. It consisted partly of native grains, and partly of bars; but the +greatest portion was in utensils, and various kinds of ornaments and +curious toys, together with imitations of birds, insects, or flowers, +executed with uncommon truth and delicacy. There were also quantities of +collars, bracelets, wands, fans, and other trinkets, in which the gold +and feather-work were richly powdered with pearls and precious stones. +Montezuma expressed regret that the treasure was no larger; he had +"diminished it," he said, "by his former gifts to the white men." + +The Spaniards gazed on this display of riches, far exceeding all +hitherto seen in the New World--though small compared with the quantity +of treasure found in Peru. The whole amount of this Mexican gift was +about L1,417,000, according to Prescott, Dr. Robertson making it +smaller. + +It was no easy task to divide the spoil. A fifth had to be deducted for +the Crown, and an equal share went to the general, besides a "large sum +to indemnify him and the Governor of Cuba for the charges of the +expedition and the loss of the fleet. The garrison of Vera Cruz was also +to be provided for. The cavalry, musketeers, and crossbowmen each +received double pay." Thus for each of the common soldiers there was +only 100 gold _pesos_--i. e., L2-5/8 X 100 = L262 10s. To many this +share seemed paltry, compared with their expectations; and it required +all the tact and authority of Cortes to quell the grumbling. + +There still remained one important object of the Spanish invasion, an +object which Cortes as a good Catholic dared not overlook--the +conversion of the Aztec nation from heathenism. The bloody ritual of the +_teocallis_ was still observed in every city. Cortes waited on +Montezuma, urging a request that the great temple be assigned for public +worship according to the Christian rites. + +Montezuma was evidently much alarmed, declaring that his people would +never allow such a profanation, but at last, after consulting the +priest, agreed that one of the sanctuaries on the summit of the temple +should be granted to the Christians as a place of worship. + +An altar was raised, surmounted by a crucifix and the image of the +Virgin. The whole army ascended the steps in solemn procession and +listened with silent reverence to the service of the mass. In +conclusion, "as the beautiful Te Deum rose toward heaven, Cortes and his +soldiers kneeling on the ground, with tears streaming from their eyes, +poured forth their gratitude to the Almighty for this glorious triumph +of the cross." Such a union of heathenism and Christianity was too +unnatural to continue. + +A few days later the Emperor sent for Cortes and earnestly advised him +to leave the country at once. Cortes replied that ships were necessary. +Montezuma agreed to supply timber and workmen, and in a short time the +construction of several ships was begun at Vera Cruz on the seacoast, +while in the capital the garrison kept itself ready by day and by night +for a hostile attack. Only six months had elapsed since the arrival of +the Spaniards in the capital, 1519, and now the army was in more +uncomfortable circumstances than ever. + +Meanwhile, while Cortes had been reducing Mexico and humbling the +unfortunate Montezuma, the Governor of Cuba had complained to the court +of Spain, but without success. Charles V, since his election to the +imperial crown of Germany, had neglected the affairs of Spain; and when +the envoys from Vera Cruz waited upon him, little came of the conference +except the astonishment of the court at the quantity of gold, and the +beautiful workmanship of the ornaments and the rich colors of the +Mexican feather-work. The opposition of the Bishop of Burgos thwarted +the conqueror of Mexico, as he had already successfully opposed the +schemes of the "Great Admiral" and his son Diego Columbus. We shall +presently see how this influential ecclesiastic was able to thwart +Balboa when governor of Darien. + +Velasquez was now determined to wreak his revenge upon Cortes without +waiting longer for assistance from Spain. He prepared an expedition of +eighteen ships with eighty horsemen, 800 infantry, 120 crossbowmen, and +twelve pieces of artillery. To command these Velasquez chose a hidalgo +named Narvaez, who had assisted formerly in subduing Cuba and +Hispaniola. The personal appearance of Narvaez, as given by Diaz, is +worth quoting: + + He was tall, stout-limbed, with a large head and red beard, an + agreeable presence, a voice deep and sonorous, as if it rose from a + cavern. He was a good horseman and valiant. + +Meanwhile Cortes persuaded Montezuma that some friends from Spain had +arrived at Vera Cruz, and therefore got permission to leave him and the +capital in charge of Alvarado and a small garrison. Montezuma, in his +royal litter, borne on the shoulders of his Aztec nobles, accompanied +the Spanish general to the southern causeway. + +When Cortes was within fifteen leagues' distance of Zempoalla, where +Narvaez was encamped, the latter sent a message that if his authority +were acknowledged he would supply ships to Cortes and his army so that +all who wished might freely leave the country with all their property. + +Cortes, however, with his usual astuteness, replied: "If Narvaez bears a +royal commission I will readily submit to him. But he has produced none. +He is a deputy of my rival, Velasquez. For myself, I am a servant of the +King; I have conquered the country for him; and for him I and my brave +followers will defend it to the last drop of our blood. If we fall it +will be glory enough to have perished in the discharge of our duty." + +Narvaez and his army were meantime spending their time frivolously; and +when the actual attack was begun in the dead of night, under a pouring +rain-storm, it appeared that only two sentinels were on guard. Narvaez, +badly wounded, was taken prisoner on the top of a _teocalli_; and in a +very short time his army was glad to capitulate. The horse-soldiers whom +Narvaez had sent to waylay one of the roads to Zempoalla, rode in soon +after to tender their submission. The victorious general, seated in a +chair of state, with a richly embroidered Mexican mantle on his +shoulders, received his congratulations from the officers and soldiers +of both armies. Narvaez and several others were led in chains. + +Cortes not only defeated Narvaez, but, after the battle, enlisted under +his standard the Spanish soldiers who had been sent to attack +him--reminding one of the "magnetism" of Hannibal or Napoleon, and the +consequent enthusiasm caused by mere presence, looks, and words. + +Before the rejoicings were finished, however, tidings were brought to +Cortes from the Mexican capital that the whole city was in a state of +revolt against Alvarado. On his march back to the great plateau Cortes +found the inhabitants of Tlascala still friendly and willing to assist +as allies in the struggle against their ancient foes, the Mexicans. On +reaching the camp of the Spaniards in Mexico, Cortes found that Alvarado +had provoked the insurrection by a massacre of the Aztec populace. + +Having entered the precincts with his army, Cortes at once made anxious +preparations for the siege which was threatened by the Aztecs, now +assembling in thousands. + +As the assailants approached "they set up a hideous yell, or rather that +shrill whistle used in fight by the nations of Anahuac," accompanied by +the sound of shell and atabal and their other rude instruments of wild +music. This was followed by a tempest of missiles, stones, darts, and +arrows. The Spaniards waited until the foremost column had arrived +within distance, when a general discharge of artillery and muskets swept +the ranks of the assailants. Never till now had the Mexicans witnessed +the murderous power of these formidable engines. At first they stood +aghast, but soon rallying, they rushed forward over the prostrate bodies +of their comrades. + +Pressing on, some of them tried to scale the parapet, while others tried +to force a breach in it. When the parapet proved too strong they shot +burning arrows upon the wooden outworks. + +Next day there were continually fresh supplies of warriors added to the +forces of the assailants, so that the danger of the situation was +greatly increased. Diaz, an onlooker, thus wrote: + + The Mexicans fought with such ferocity that if we had been assisted + by 10,000 Hectors and as many Orlandos, we should have made no + impression on them. There were several of our troops who had served + in the Italian wars, but neither there nor in the battles with the + Turks had they ever seen anything like the desperation shown by + these Indians. + +Cortes at last drew off his men and sounded a retreat, taking refuge in +the fortress. The Mexicans encamped round it, and during the night +insulted the besieged, shouting, "The gods have at last delivered you +into our hands: the stone of sacrifice is ready: the knives are +sharpened." + +Cortes now felt that he had not fully understood the character of the +Mexicans. The patience and submission formerly shown in deference to the +injured Montezuma was now replaced by concentrated arrogance and +ferocity. The Spanish general even stooped to request the interposition +of the Aztec Emperor; and, at last, when assured that the foreigners +would leave his country if a way were opened through the Mexican army he +agreed to use his influence. For this purpose + + he put on his imperial robes; his mantle of white and blue flowed + over his shoulders, held together by its rich clasp of the green + _chalchivitl_. The same precious gem, with emeralds of uncommon + size, set in gold, profusely ornamented other parts of his dress. + His feet were shod with the golden sandals, and his brows covered + with the Mexican diadem, resembling in form the pontifical tiara. + Thus attired and surrounded by a guard of Spaniards, and several + Aztec nobles, and preceded by the golden wand, the symbol of + sovereignty, the Indian monarch ascended the central turret of the + palace. + +At the sight of Montezuma all the Mexican army became silent, partly, no +doubt, from curiosity. He assured them that he was no prisoner; that the +strangers were his friends, and would leave Mexico of their own accord +as soon as a way was opened. + +To call himself a friend of the hateful Spaniards was a fatal argument. +Instead of respecting their monarch, though in his official robes, the +populace howled angry curses at him as a degenerate Aztec, a coward, no +longer a warrior or even a man! + +A cloud of missiles was hurled at Montezuma, and he was struck to the +ground by the blow of a stone on his head. The unfortunate monarch only +survived his wounds for a few days, disdaining to take any nourishment, +or to receive advice from the Spanish priests. + +Meanwhile, Cortes and his army met with an unexpected danger. A large +body of the Indian warriors had taken possession of the great temple, at +a short distance from the Spanish quarters. From this commanding +position they kept shooting a deadly flight of arrows on the Spaniards. +Cortes sent his chamberlain, Escobar, with a body of men to storm the +temple, but, after three efforts, the party had to relinquish the +attempt. Cortes himself then led a storming party, and after some +determined fighting reached the platform at the top of the temple where +the two sanctuaries of the Aztec deities stood. This large area was now +the scene of a desperate battle, fought in sight of the whole capital as +well as of the Spanish troops still remaining in the courtyard. + +This struggle between such deadly enemies caused dreadful carnage on +both sides: + + The edge of the area was unprotected by parapet or battlement; and + the combatants, as they struggled in mortal agony, were sometimes + seen to roll over the sheer sides of the precipice together. + Cortes himself had a narrow escape from this dreadful fate.... The + number of the enemy was double that of the Christians; but the + invulnerable armor of the Spaniard, his sword of matchless temper, + and his skill in the use of it, gave him advantages which far + outweighed the odds of physical strength and numbers. + +This unparalleled scene of bloodshed lasted for three hours. Of the +Mexicans "two or three priests only survived to be led away in triumph"; +yet the loss of the Spaniards was serious enough, amounting to +forty-five of their best men. Nearly all the others were wounded, some +seriously. + +After dragging the uncouth monster, Huitzilopochtli, from his sanctuary, +the assailants hurled the repulsive image down the steps of the temple, +and then set fire to the building. The same evening they burned a large +part of the town. + +Cortes now resolved upon a night retreat from the capital; but when +marching along one of the causeways they were attacked by the Mexicans +in such numbers that, when morning dawned, the shattered battalion was +reduced to less than half its number. In after years that disastrous +retreat was known to the Spanish chroniclers as _Noche Triste_, the +"Night of Sorrows." + +After a hurried six days' march before the pursuers, Cortes gained a +victory so signal that an alliance was speedily formed with Tlascala +against Mexico. Cortes built twelve brigantines at Vera Cruz in order to +secure the command of Lake Tescuco and thus attempt the reduction of the +Mexican capital. On his return to the great lake he found that the +throne was now occupied by Guatimozin, a nephew of Montezuma. Using +their brigantines the Spanish soldiers now began the siege of +Mexico--"the most memorable event in the conquest of America." It lasted +seventy-five days, during which the whole of the capital was reduced to +ruins. Guatimozin, the last of the Aztec emperors, was condemned by the +Spanish general to be hanged on the charge of treason. + +Cortes was now master of all Mexico. The Spanish court and people were +full of admiration for his victories and the extent of his conquests; +and Charles V appointed him "Captain-General and Governor of New Spain." +On revisiting Europe, the Emperor honored him with the order of St. Jago +and the title of marquis. Latterly, however, after some failures in his +exploring expeditions, Cortes, on his return to Spain, found himself +treated with neglect. It was then, according to Voltaire's story, that +when Charles asked the courtiers, "Who is that man?" referring to +Cortes, the latter said aloud: "It is one, sire, that has added more +provinces to your dominions than any other governor has added towns!" +Cortes died in his sixty-second year, December 2, 1547. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +BALBOA AND THE ISTHMUS + + +In the Spanish conquest of America there are three great generals: +Cortes, Balbao, and Pizarro. The third may to many readers seem +immeasurably superior as explorer and conqueror to the second, but it +must be remembered that Pizarro's scheme of discovering and invading +Peru was precisely that which Balboa had already prepared. Pizarro +could afford to say, "Others have labored, and I have merely entered +into their labors." + +What, then, was the work done by Balboa, and what prevented him from +taking Peru? In 1510, the year before the conquest of Cuba, Balboa was +glad to escape from Hispaniola, not to avoid the Spanish cruelties, like +Hatuey, the luckless cazique, but to escape from his Spanish creditors. +So anxious was he to get on board that he concealed himself in a cask to +avoid observation. Balboa, however, had administrative qualities, and +after taking possession of the uncleared district of Darien in the name +of the King of Spain, he was appointed governor of the new province. He +built the town Santa Maria on the coast of the Darien Gulf; but so +pestilential was the district (and still is) that the settlers were glad +after a short time to remove to the other side of the isthmus. + +It was by mere accident that Balboa first heard of a great ocean beyond +the mountains of Darien, and of the enormous wealth of Peru, a country +hitherto unknown to Spain or Europe. As several soldiers were one day +disputing about the division of some gold-dust, an Indian cazique called +out: + +"Why quarrel about such a trifle? I can show you a region where the +commonest pots and pans are made of that metal." + +To the inquiries of Balboa and his companions, the cazique replied that +by traveling six days to the south they should see another ocean, near +which lay the wealthy kingdom. + +Resolving to cross the isthmus, notwithstanding a thousand formidable +obstructions, Balboa formed a party consisting of 190 veterans, +accompanied by 1,000 Indians, and several fierce dogs trained to hunt +the naked natives. Such were the difficulties that the "six days' +journey" occupied twenty-five before the ridge of the isthmus range was +reached. + + Balboa commanded his men to halt, and advanced alone to the summit, + that he might be the first who should enjoy a spectacle which he + had so long desired. As soon as he beheld the sea stretching in + endless prospect below him he fell on his knees; ... his followers + observing his transports of joy rushed forward to join in his + wonder, exultation, and gratitude. + +That was the moment, September 25, 1513, immortalized in Keats's sonnet: + + When with eagle eyes + He stared at the Pacific, and all his men + Looked at each other with a wild surmise, + Silent, upon a peak in Darien. + +Balboa hurried down the western slope of the isthmus range to take +formal possession in the name of the Spanish monarch. He found a fishing +village there which had been named Panama (i. e., "plenty fish") by the +Indians, but had also a reputation for the pearls found in its bay. + +In his letter to Spain, Balboa said, to illustrate the difficulties of +the expedition, that of all the 190 men in his party there were never +more than eighty fit for service at one time. Notwithstanding the +wonderful news of the discovery of the "great southern ocean," as the +Pacific was then called, Ferdinand overlooked the great services of +Balboa, and appointed a new Governor of Darien called Pedrarias, who +instituted a judicial inquiry into some previous transactions of Balboa, +imposing a heavy fine as punishment. The new governor committed other +acts of great imprudence, and at length Ferdinand felt that he had only +superseded the most active and experienced officer he had in the New +World. To make amends to Balboa, he was appointed "Lieutenant-Governor +of the Countries upon the South Sea," with great privileges and +authority. At the same time Pedrarias was commanded to "support Balboa +in all his operations, and to consult with him concerning every measure +which he himself pursued." + +Balboa, in 1517, began his preparations for entering the South Sea and +conveying troops to the country which he proposed to invade. With four +small brigantines and 300 chosen soldiers (a force superior to that with +which Pizarro afterward undertook the same expedition), he was on the +point of sailing toward the coasts of which they had such expectations, +when a message arrived from Pedrarias. Balboa being unconscious of +crime, agreed to delay the expedition, and meet Pedrarias for +conference. On entering the palace Balboa was arrested and immediately +tried on the charge of disloyalty to the King and intention of revolt +against the governor. He was speedily sentenced to death, although the +accusation was so absurd that the judges who pronounced the sentence +"seconded by the whole colony, interceded warmly for his pardon." "The +Spaniards beheld with astonishment and sorrow the public execution of a +man whom they universally deemed more capable than any who had borne +command in America, of forming and accomplishing great designs." This +gross injustice amounting to a public scandal was accounted for by the +malignant influence of the Bishop of Burgos, in Spain, who was the +original cause of Balboa being superseded as Governor of Darien. + +The expedition designed by Balboa was now relinquished; but the removal +of the colony soon afterward to the Pacific side of the isthmus may be +considered a step toward the realization of an exactly similar attempt +by Pizzaro. + +To some historical readers the word "Darien" only recalls the bitter +prejudice entertained against William III, our "Dutch King," +notwithstanding the special pleading of Lord Macaulay and others. Some +Scottish merchants had adopted a scheme recommended by the most reliable +authorities[23] of that age, viz., the settlement of a half-commercial, +half-military colony on the Atlantic coast of the isthmus. Such a +company, in the words of Paterson, would be masters of the "door of the +seas," and the "key of the universe." The East India Companies both of +England and Holland showed an envious jealousy of the Scottish +merchants, and therefore no assistance was to be expected from the King, +although he had given his royal sanction to the Scots Act of Parliament +creating the company. The Scottish people, however, zealously continued +the scheme. Some 1,200 men "set sail from Leith amid the blessings of +many thousands of their assembled countrymen. They reached the Gulf of +Darien in safety, and established themselves on the coast in localities +to which they gave the names of New Caledonia and New St. Andrews." The +Government of Spain (secretly instigated, it was believed, by the +English King) resolved to attack the embryo colony. The shipwreck of +the whole scheme soon followed, due undoubtedly more to the jealousy of +the English merchants (who believed that any increase of trade in +Scotland or Ireland was a positive loss to England) and the bad faith of +our Dutch King, than to all other causes whatever. Of the colony, +according to Dalrymple (ii, 103), not more than thirty ever saw their +own country again. + +[Footnote 23: E.g., Paterson, founder of the Bank of England, Fletcher +of Saltoun, the Marquis of Tweeddale, then chief Minister of Scotland, +Sir John Dalrymple, etc.] + +In 1526 a company of English merchants was formed to trade with the West +Indies and the "Spanish Main," and commanded great success. Other +merchants did the same. Soon after the Spanish court instituted a +coast-guard to make war upon these traders; and as they had full power +to capture and slay all who did not bear the King of Spain's commission, +there were terrible tales told in Europe of mutilation, torture, and +revenge. The Windward Islands having been gradually settled by French +and English adventurers, Frederick of Toledo was sent with a large fleet +to destroy those petty colonies. This harsh treatment rendered the +planters desperate, and under the name of buccaneers,[24] they continued +"a retaliation so horribly savage [_v._ Notes to Rokeby] that the +perusal makes the reader shudder. From piracy at sea, they advanced to +making predatory descents on the Spanish territories; in which they +displayed the same furious and irresistible valor, the same thirst of +spoil, and the same brutal inhumanity to their captives." The pride and +presumption of Spain were partly resisted by the English monarchs, but +not with real effect before the time of Cromwell, strongest of all the +rulers of Britain. Under his government of the seas Spain was deprived +of the island of Jamaica; and the buccaneers to their disgust found that +the flag of the great Protector was a check against all piracy and +injustice. + +[Footnote 24: Named from _boucan_, a kind of preserved meat, used by +those rovers. They had learned this peculiar art of preserving from the +native Caribs.] + +Under Charles II, however, the buccaneers resumed their conflict with +the Spanish, and in 1670, Henry Morgan, with 1,500 English and French +ruffians resolved to cross the isthmus like Balboa, to plunder the +depositories of gold and silver which lay in the city of Panama and +other places on the Pacific coast. Having stormed a strong fortress at +the mouth of the Chagres River, they forced their way through the +entangled forests for ten days, and after much hardship reached Panama, +to find it defended by a regular army of twice their number. The +Spaniards, however, were beaten, and Morgan thoroughly sacked and +plundered the city, taking captive all the chief citizens in order to +extort afterward large ransoms. + +Ten years afterward the Isthmus of Darien was crossed by Dampier, +another celebrated buccaneer, but his party was too small to attack +Panama. They seized some Spanish vessels in the bay and plundered all +the coast for some distance. The following description by the bold +buccaneer is not without interest to those who consider the present +importance of the place: + + Near the riverside stands New Panama, a very handsome city, in a + spacious bay of the same name, into which disembogue many long and + navigable rivers, some whereof are not without gold; besides that + it is beautified by many pleasant isles, the country about it + affording a delightful prospect to the sea.... The houses are + chiefly of brick and pretty lofty, especially the president's, the + churches, the monasteries, and other public structures, which make + the best show I have seen in the West Indies. + +The present prosperity of Panama is due to its large transit trade, +which was recently estimated at L15,000,000 a year. The pearl-fisheries, +famous at the time of Balboa's visit, have now little value. The +narrowest breadth of the isthmus being only thirty miles, there have +naturally been many engineering proposals to connect the Pacific and +Atlantic oceans by a canal. M. de Lesseps founded a French company in +1881 for the construction of a ship-canal with eight locks, and over +forty-six miles in length; but in 1889, the excavations stopped after +some 48-1/2 millions of cubic meters of earth and rock had been removed. +Meanwhile a railway 47-1/2 miles long connects Colon on the Atlantic +with Panama on the Pacific. + +The Mexican Isthmus of Tehuantepec, only 140 miles across, separates the +Bay of Campeachy from the Pacific, and failing the Panama Canal some +engineers were in favor of a _ship-railway_ for conveying large vessels +_bodily_ from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The scheme met with great +favor in the United States, but has not yet been carried out. + +The third proposal for connecting the two great oceans is probably the +most feasible because it follows the most deeply marked depression of +the isthmus. The Nicaraguan Ship-canal will, if the scheme be carried +out, pass from Greytown on the Atlantic to Brito on the Pacific, about +170 miles apart, through the republic of Nicaragua, which lies north of +Panama and south of Guatemala. One obvious advantage of this ship-canal +is that the great lake is utilized, affording already about one-third of +the waterway; only twenty-eight miles, in fact, being actual canal, and +the rest river, lake, and lagoon navigation. In the latest +specifications the engineers proposed to dam up the river (San Juan) by +a stone wall seventy feet high and 1,900 feet long, thus raising the +water to a level of 106 feet above the sea. Only three locks will be +required to work the Nicaraguan Ship-canal. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +EXTINCT CIVILIZATION OF PERU + + +Sec. (A) _Peruvian Archeology_ + +As the extinct civilization of the Incas of Peru is the most important +phase of development among all the American races, so also their +prehistoric remains are extremely interesting to the archeologist. + +[Illustration: Monolith Doorway. Near Lake Titicaca. Fig. 1.] + +1. _Architecture._--In the interior of the country we find many +remarkable examples of stone building, such as walls of huge polygonal +stones, four-sided or five-sided or six-sided, some six feet across, +laid without mortar, and so finely polished and adjusted that the blade +of a knife can not be inserted between them. The strength of the masonry +is sometimes assisted by having the projecting parts of a stone fitting +into corresponding hollows or recesses in the stone above or below it. +The stones being frequently extremely hard granite, or basalt, etc., +antiquarian travelers have wondered how in early times the natives could +have cut and polished them without any metal tools. The ordinary +explanation is that the work was done by patiently rubbing one stone +against another, with the aid of sharp sand, "time being no object" in +the case of the laborers among savage and primitive races. It is +believed by most antiquaries that long before the period of the Incas +there was a powerful empire to which we must attribute such Cyclopean +ruins; especially as the construction and style differ so greatly from +what is found in the Inca period. The huge stones occur at Tiahuanacu +(near Lake Titicaca), Cuzco, Ollantay, and the altar of Concacha. Fig. 1 +is a broken doorway at Tiahuanacu, composed of huge monoliths. Fig. 2 is +an enlargement of an image over the doorway shown in Fig. 1. The doorway +forms the entrance to a quadrangular area (400 yards by 350) surrounded +by large stones standing on end. The gateway or doorway of Fig. 1 is one +of the most marvelous stone monuments existing, being _one block of hard +rock_, deeply sunk in the ground. The present height is over seven feet. +The whole of the inner side "from a line level with the upper lintel of +the doorway to the top" is a mass of sculpture, "which speaks to us," +says Sir C. R. Markham, "in difficult riddles of the customs and art +culture, of the beliefs and traditions of an ancient" extinct +civilization. + +The figure in high relief above the doorway (Fig. 2) is a head +surrounded by rays, "each terminating in a circle or the head of an +animal." Six human heads hang from the girdle, and two more from the +elbows. Each hand holds a scepter terminating at the lower end with the +head of a condor--that huge American vulture familiar to the Peruvians. +That bird of prey was probably an emblem of royalty to the prehistoric +dynasty now long forgotten. + +[Illustration: Image over the doorway shown in Fig. 1. + +Near Lake Titicaca. Fig. 2.] + +Some older historians speak of richly carved statues which formerly +stood in this enclosure, and "many cylindrical pillars." Of the +masonry of these ruins generally, Squier says: "The stone is faced +with a precision that no skill can excel, its right angles turned with +an accuracy that the most careful geometer could not surpass. I do not +believe there exists a better piece of stone-cutting, the material +considered, on this or the other continent." + +The fortress above Cuzco, the capital of the Incas, is considered the +grandest monument of extinct American civilization. "Like the Pyramids +and the Coliseum, it is imperishable.... A fortified work, 600 yards in +length, built of gigantic stones, in three lines, forming walls +supporting terraces and parapets.... The stones are of blue limestone, +of enormous size and irregular in shape, but fitted into each other with +rare precision. One stone is twenty-seven feet high by fourteen; and +others fifteen feet high by twelve are common throughout the work." + +In all the architecture of the prehistoric Peruvians the true arch is +not found, though there is an approach to the "Maya arch," formerly +described, finishing the doorway overhead by overlapping stones. + +The immense fortresses of Ollantay and Pisac are really hills which, by +means of encircling walls, have been transformed into immense pyramids +with many terraces rising above each other. All large buildings, such as +temples and palaces, were laid out to agree with the "cardinal points," +the principal entrance always facing the rising sun. The tomb +construction of the ancient Peruvians has been already noticed (_v._ +chap. iv). + +To the south of Cuzco are the ruins of a temple, Cacha, which is +considered to be of a date between the Cyclopean structures already +described and the Inca architecture. The chief part is 110 yards long, +built of wrought stones; and in the middle of the building from end to +end runs a wall pierced by twelve high doorways. There were also two +series of pillars which had formerly supported a floor. + +Those traces of the Cyclopean builders point to an extremely early date, +but several students of the Peruvian antiquities point confidently to +distinct evidence of a still more primitive race--to be compared, +perhaps, with those builders of "Druidic monuments" whom it is now the +fashion to call "neolithic men." Some "cromlechs" or burial-places have +been found in Bolivia and other parts of Peru; and in many respects they +are parallel to the stone monuments found in Great Britain as well as +Brittany and other parts of Europe. Some of those Peruvian cromlechs +consist of four great slabs of slate, each about five feet high, four or +five in width, and more than an inch thick. A fifth is placed over them. +Over the whole a pyramid of clay and rough stones is piled. Possibly +that race of cromlech builders bore the same relation to the temple +builders described above that the builders of Kits Coty House, between +Rochester and Maidstone, bore to the temple builders of Stonehenge on +Salisbury Plain. If they had to retreat, as the ice-sheet was driven +farther from the torrid zone, then by the theory of the Glacial Period +the Cromlech men in both cases would at last be simply Eskimos. + +2. _Aqueducts._--The ancient Peruvians attained great skill in the +distribution of water--especially for irrigation. Artificial lakes or +reservoirs were formed, so that by damming up the streams in the rainy +season a good supply was created for the dry season. Some great +monuments still remain of their hydraulic engineering, such as extensive +cisterns, solid dikes along the rivers to prevent overflow, tunnels to +drain lakes during an oversupply, and, in some places, artificial +cascades. + +3. _Roads and Bridges._--The roads and highways of the Incas were so +excellent that "in many places" they still offer by far the most +convenient avenues of transit. They are from fifteen to twenty-five feet +in width, bedded with small stones often laid in concrete. As the use of +beasts of burden was almost unknown, the roads did not ascend a steep +inclination by zigzags but by steps cut in the rock. At certain +distances public shelters were erected for travelers, and some of these +still offer the best lodging-houses to be found along the routes. +Bridges were of wood, of ropes made from maguey fiber, or of stone. Some +of the latter are still in excellent condition, in spite of the violence +of the mountain torrents which they have spanned for four centuries. + +4. _Sculpture._--The Maya race of Yucatan and Central America were much +superior to the prehistoric Peruvians in stone sculpture. Except those +examples already referred to under 1, their artists have apparently +produced nothing to show skill in workmanship, much less fertility of +imagination. That is largely explained by their lack of suitable tools. + +5. _Goldsmith's Work._--In this branch of art the ancient Peruvians +greatly excelled, especially in inlaying and gilding. Gold-beating and +gilding had been prosecuted to remarkable delicacy, and the very thin +layers of gold-leaf on many articles led the Spaniards at first to +believe they were of the solid metal. These delicate layers showed +ornamental designs, including birds, butterflies, and the like. + +6. _Pottery._--In this department of industrial art the prehistoric +Peruvians showed much aptitude both "in regard to variety of design and +technical skill in preparing the material. Vases with pointed bottoms +and painted sides recalling those of ancient Greece and Etruria are +often disinterred along the coast." The merit of those artists lay in +perfect imitation of natural objects, such as birds, fishes, fruits, +plants, skulls, persons in various positions, faces (often with graphic +individuality). Some jars exactly resembled the "magic vases" which are +still found in Hindustan, and can be emptied only when held at a certain +angle. + +7. Though ignorant of perspective and the rules of light and shade, +these ancient Peruvians had an accurate eye for color. "Spinning, +weaving, and dyeing," to quote Sir C. R. Markham, "were arts which were +sources of employment to a great number, owing to the quantity and +variety of the fabrics.... There were rich dresses interwoven with gold +or made of gold thread; fine woolen mantles ornamented with borders of +small square plates of gold and silver; colored cotton cloths worked in +complicated patterns; and fabrics of aloe fiber and sheep's sinews for +breeches. Coarser cloths of llama wool were also made in vast +quantities." + +[Illustration: The Quipu.] + +8. The _quipu_ (i e., "knot").--Without writing or even any of the +simpler forms of pictographs which some Indian races inferior to them in +refinement had invented, the Peruvians had no means of sending a message +relating to tribute or the number of warriors in an army, or a date, +except the _quipu_. It consisted of one principal cord about two feet +long held horizontally, to which other cords of various colors and +lengths were attached, hanging vertically. The knots on the vertical +cords, and their various lengths served by means of an arranged code to +convey certain words and phrases. Each color and each knot had so many +conventional significations; thus _white_ = silver, _green_ = corn, +_yellow_ = gold; but in another quipu, _white_ = peace, _red_ = war, +soldiers, etc. The quipu was originally only a means of numeration and +keeping accounts, thus: + + a single knot = 10 + a double knot = 100 + a triple knot = 1,000 + two singles = 20 + two doubles = 200 + etc. + +9. The great stone monuments described in our first section belonged, +according to some writers, to a dynasty called Pirua, who ruled over the +highlands of Peru and Bolivia long before the times of the Incas. That +early race had as the center of their civilization the shores of Lake +Titicaca. + +10. _The Ancient Capital._--Cuzco, the center of government till the +time of the conquest by the Spaniards, and for a long time the only city +in the Peruvian empire, deserves a paragraph under the head archeology. +Its wonderful fortress has already been referred to, and there are other +Cyclopean remains, such as the great wall which contains the "stone of +twelve corners." Some monuments of the Inca period also attract much +attention, such as the Curi-cancha temple, 296 feet long, the palace of +Amaru-cancha (i. e., "place of serpents"), so called from the serpents +sculptured in relief on the exterior. Of these and other buildings +Squier remarks that the "joints are of a precision unknown in our +architecture; the world has nothing to show in the way of stone-cutting +and fitting to surpass the skill and accuracy displayed in the Inca +structures of Cuzco." To obtain the site for their capital the Incas had +to carry out a great engineering work, by confining two mountain +torrents between walls of substantial masonry so solid as to serve even +to modern times. The Valley of Cuzco was the source of the Peruvian +civilization, center and origin of the empire. Hence the name, Cuzco = +"navel," just as the ancient Greeks called Athens _umbilicus terrae_, and +our New England cousins fondly refer to Boston, Mass., as "the hub of +the universe"! + +[Illustration: Gold Ornament (? Zodiac) from a Tomb at Cuzco.] + + +Sec. (B) _Peru before the Arrival of the Spaniards_ + +The "national myth" of the Peruvians was that at Lake Titicaca two +supernatural beings appeared, both children of the Sun. One was Manco +Capac, the first Inca, who taught the people agriculture; the other was +his wife, who taught the women to spin and weave. From them were +lineally derived all the Incas. As representing the Sun, the Inca was +high priest and head of the hierarchy, and therefore presided at the +great religious festivals. He was the source from which everything +flowed--all dignity, all power, all emolument. Louis le Magnifique when +at the height of his power might be taken as a type of the emperor Inca: +both could literally use the phrase, _L'etat c'est Moi,_ "The State! I +am the State!" + +In the royal palaces and dress great barbaric pomp was assumed. All the +apartments were studded with gold and silver ornaments. + +The worship of the Sun, representing the Creator, the Dweller in Space, +the Teacher and Ruler of the Universe,[25] was the religion of the Incas +inherited from their distant ancestry. The great temple at Cuzco, with +its gorgeous display of riches, was called "the place of gold, the abode +of the Teacher of the Universe." An elliptical plate of gold was fixed +on the wall to represent the Deity. + +[Footnote 25: According to Sir C. R. Markham, F. R. S.] + +Sufficient evidence is still visible of the engineering industry evinced +by the natives before the arrival of Pizarro. We give some particulars +of the two principal highways, both joining Quito to Cuzco, then passing +south to Chile. First, the high level road, 1,600 miles in length, +crossing the great Peruvian table-land, and conducted over pathless +sierras buried in snow; with galleries cut for leagues through the +living rock, rivers crossed by means of bridges, and ravines of hideous +depth filled up with solid masonry. The roadway consisted of heavy +flags of freestone. Secondly, the low level highway along the coast +country between the Andes and the Pacific. The prehistoric engineers had +here to encounter quite a different task. The causeway was raised on a +high embankment of earth, with trees planted along the margin. In the +strips of sandy waste, huge piles (many of them to be seen to this day) +were driven into the ground to indicate the route. + +Another colossal effort was the conveyance of water to the rainless +country by the seacoast, especially to certain parts capable of being +reclaimed and made fertile. Some of the aqueducts were of great +length--one measuring between 400 and 500 miles. + +The following table gives the Peruvian calendar for a year: + + I. Raymi, the _Festival of the Winter Solstice_, + in honor of the Sun June 22d. + Season of plowing July 22d. + Season of sowing August 22d. + II. _Festival of the Spring Equinox_ September 22d. + Season of brewing October 22d. + Commemoration of the Dead November 22d. + III. _Festival of the Summer Solstice_ December 22d. + Season of exercises January 22d. + Season of ripening February 22d. + IV. _Festival of Autumn Equinox_ March 22d. + Beginning of harvest April 22d. + Harvesting month May 22d. + +Since Quito is exactly on the equator, the vertical rays of the sun at +noon during the equinox cast no shadow. That northern capital, +therefore, was "held in especial veneration as the favored abode of the +great deity." + +At the feast of Raymi, or New Year's day, the sacrifice usually offered +was that of the llama, a fire being kindled by means of a concave mirror +of polished metal collecting the rays of the sun into a focus upon a +quantity of dried cotton. + +The national festival of the Aztecs we compared to the secular +celebration of the Romans; so now the Raymi of the Peruvians may be +likened to the Panathenaea of ancient Athens, when the people of Attica +ascended in splendid procession to the shrine on the Acropolis. + +In Mexico the Spanish travelers often experienced severe famines; and in +India, even at the present day (to the disgrace perhaps of our +management) nearly every year many thousands die of hunger. It was very +different under the ancient Peruvians, because by law "the product of +the lands consecrated to the Sun, as well as those set apart for the +Incas, was deposited in the _Tambos_, or public storehouses, as a stated +provision for times of scarcity." + +The Spaniards found those prehistoric agriculturists utilizing the +inexhaustible supply of guano found on all the islands of the Pacific. +It was not till the middle of the nineteenth century that the British +farmer found the value of this fertilizer. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +PIZARRO AND THE INCAS + + +When stout-hearted Balboa first reached the summit of the isthmus range +and looked south over the Bay of Panama, he might have seen the "Silver +Bell," which forms the summit of the mighty volcano Chimborazo. Still +farther south in the same direction lay the "land of gold," of which he +had heard. + +Balboa was unjustly prevented from exploring that unknown country, but +among the Spanish soldiers in Panama there were two who determined to +carry out Balboa's scheme. The younger, Pizarro, was destined to rival +Cortes as explorer and conqueror; Almagro, his companion in the +expedition, was less crafty and cruel. Sailing from Panama, the Spanish +first landed on the coast below Quito, and found the natives wearing +gold and silver trinkets. On a second voyage, with more men, they +explored the coast of Peru and visited Tumbez, a town with a lofty +temple and a palace for the Incas. + + They beheld a country fully peopled and cultivated; the natives + were decently clothed, and possessed of ingenuity so far surpassing + the other inhabitants of the New World as to have the use of tame + domestic animals. But what chiefly attracted the notice of the + visitors was such a show of gold and silver, not only in ornaments, + but in several vessels and utensils for common use, formed of those + precious metals as left no room to doubt that they abounded with + profusion in the country. + +After his return Pizarro visited Spain and secured the patronage of +Charles V, who appointed him Governor and Captain-General of the newly +discovered country. In the next voyage from Panama, Pizarro set sail +with 180 soldiers in three small ships--"a contemptible force surely to +invade the great empire of Peru." + +Pizarro was very fortunate in the time of his arrival, because two +brothers were fiercely contending in civil war to obtain the +sovereignty. Their father, Huana Capac, the twelfth Inca in succession +from Manco Capac, had recently died after annexing the kingdom of Quito, +and thus doubling the power of the empire. Pizarro made friends with +Atahualpa, who had become Inca by the defeat and death of his brother, +and a friendly meeting was arranged between them. The Peruvians are thus +described by a Spanish onlooker: + + First of all there arrived 400 men in uniform; the Inca himself, on + a couch adorned with plumes, and almost covered with plates of gold + and silver, enriched with precious stones, was carried on the + shoulders of his principal attendants. Several bands of singers and + dancers accompanied the procession; and the whole plain was covered + with troops, more than 30,000 men. + +After engaging in a religious dispute with the Inca, who refused to +acknowledge the authority of the Pope and threw the breviary on the +ground, the Spanish chaplain exclaimed indignantly that the Word of God +had been insulted by a heathen. + + Pizarro instantly gave the signal of assault: the martial music + struck up, the cannon and muskets began to fire, the horse rallied + out fiercely to the charge, the infantry rushed on sword in hand. + The Peruvians, astonished at the suddenness of the attack, dismayed + with the effect of the firearms and the irresistible impression of + the cavalry, fled with universal consternation on every side. + Pizarro, at the head of his chosen band, soon penetrated to the + royal seat, and seizing the Inca by the arm, carried him as a + prisoner to the Spanish quarters. + +For his ransom Atahualpa agreed to pay a weight of gold amounting to +more than five millions sterling. + +Instead of keeping faith with the Inca by restoring him to liberty, +Pizarro basely allowed him to be tried on several false charges and +condemned to be burned alive. + +After hearing of the enormous ransom many Spaniards hurried from +Guatemala, Panama, and Nicaragua to share in the newly discovered booty +of Peru, the "land of gold." Pizarro, therefore, being now greatly +reenforced with soldiers, forced his way to Cuzco, the capital. The +riches found there exceeded in value what had been received as +Atahualpa's ransom. + +As Governor of Peru, Pizarro chose a new site for his capital, nearer +the coast than Cuzco, and there founded Lima. It is now a great center +of trade. Pizarro lived here in great state till the year 1542, when his +fate reached him by means of a party of conspirators seeking to avenge +the death of Almagro, his former rival, whom he had cruelly executed as +a traitor. On Sunday, June 26th, at midday, while all Lima was quiet +under the siesta, the conspirators passed unobserved through the two +outer courts of the palace, and speedily despatched the +soldier-adventurer, intrepidly defending himself with a sword and +buckler. "A deadly thrust full in the throat," and the tale of daring +Pizarro was told. + + _Raro antecedentem scelestum_ + _Deseruit pede Poena claudo._ + + When + Did Doom, though lame, not bide its time, + To clutch the nape of skulking Crime? + + W. E. GLADSTONE. + + + + +GENERAL INDEX. + + + A. + + Agathocles, 119. + + Agassiz, 73. + + Alfred, King, 19. + + Almagro, Pizarro's rival, 186, 189. + + Alvarado, 158, 159. + + America, Discoveries of, 19-35, 38-45, 48-53. + + America, origin of the name, 50. + + American Archeology, 71-79 (_see_ also AZTEC, PERU, CIVILIZATION). + + Amerigo (_Americus_), (_see_ VESPUCCI). + + Anahuac, 56, 58, 63. + + Archeology, 71-88 (see under AZTEC, MEXICO, PERU, + and CIVILIZATION, EXTINCT). + + Aristotle, shape of the earth, 10. + + Arthur, King, 19. + + Atahualpa, Inca, 187, 188. + + Atlantic, ridge, 15. + + Atlantis, island or continent, 14, 15. + + Avalon, 17. + + Aztecs, their traditions, 54, 56, 57, 62, 63. + + Aztecs, antiquities, 55. + + Aztecs, kingdom, 58; + empire founded, 76. + + Aztecs, letters, etc., 58, 79-82. + + Aztecs, astronomy, 64, 65, 68, 83. + + Aztecs, human sacrifices, 59, 60, 62, 102, 106; + how explained by comparison with Jews, Greeks, Druids, etc., 100-106. + + Aztecs, priesthood, 65, 67. + + Aztecs, religion, 92, 93; + laws, 90. + + Aztecs, natural piety, 66-68. + + Aztecs, secular festival, 68-70. + + Aztecs, soldiery, 91, 92. + + Aztecs, agriculture, 94. + + Aztecs, markets, 97, 147. + + Aztecs, banquets, social amusements, 97, 99. + + Aztlan, 56. + + + B. + + Bacon, Roger, 18. + + Bahamas, 41. + + Balboa, 9, 50, 52, 164, 168. + + Balboa scheme--adopted by Pizarro, 186. + + Balboa hears of the Land of Gold, 165. + + Balboa crosses the isthmus, 166, 167. + + Balboa unjustly treated, 167, 168. + + Barcelona, Columbus honored at Court, 45. + + Basque Discovery, 32. + + Boston in Vinland, 26, 182. + + Brandan, St. discoverer, 32. + + Brito, ship-canal, 172. + + Buccaneers, origin, etc., 169, 170. + + Buffon, 15. + + Burgos, Bishop of, 157, 168. + + + C. + + Cabot, 38, 48, 49. + + Cabrera reaches Brazil, 49. + + Cakama, prince of Tezcuco, 154. + + Calendar Stone, 83, 84. + + Calicut reached by Gama, 49. + + Canaanites, etc., sun-worship, 102, 103. + + Cannibalism, 102, 103. + + Capac, Inca, 182, 187. + + Carthage, 17, 102. + + Cathay, 39, 43, 45. + + Cazique, 43, 117, etc. + + Celtic discoveries, 19, 30-32. + + Chalco, Lake, 136, 137. + + Charles V. and Cortes, 164. + + Chiapas, 77. + + Chibchas, 85. + + Cholula, 84, 94, 130, 133. + + Civilization, Extinct, chaps, iii, ix. + + Civilization, Celtic, 19. + + Civilization, Norse, 19-25, 27-31. + + Civilization, Aztec, etc., 54-70, 82, 83. + + Civilization, Peru, 172-185. + + Colon (_see_ COLUMBUS); + also an Atlantic port on the isthmus of Darien, 172. + + Columbia, 76, 85. + + Columbus, 17-18, 37, 38-46, 157. + + Columbus, early failures, 39. + + Columbus, voyage to Iceland, 39. + + Columbus, variation of the compass, 41, 42, 49. + + Columbus, discovers Bahamas, Cuba, Hayti, 42-44. + + Columbus, discovers Trinidad and Orinoco, 45. + + Columbus, map by (found in 1894), 42. + + Columbus, autograph (cut) and epitaph, 46. + + Columbus, Ferdinand, 18; + Bartholomew, 43. + + Columbus, Diego, 47, 157. + + Continent, supposed southern (cut), 12. + + Continent, Western, 13 (_see_ ATLANTIS, HESPERIDES). + + Condor, emblem of prehistoric Inca, 173, 175 (cuts). + + Copan, 79-81. + + Cordova lands on Yucatan, 53. + + Cortes appointed leader, 53, 64, 77, 80. + + Cortes at Cuba and Hayti, 117. + + Cortes at Yucatan, 109. + + Cortes and Teuhtile, in, 112. + + Cortes, generalship, 119, 124, 126, 159. + + Cortes, resource, 127, 128, 158. + + Cortes, cruelty, 129, 132, 153. + + Cortes at Popocatepetl, 133. + + Cortes and Montezuma, 141, 143-143. + + Cortes, lack of delicacy, 152. + + Cortes, arrest of Montezuma, 152-157. + + Cortes, personal courage, 162. + + Cortes, retreat, "Night of Sorrows," 163. + + Cortes, Mexico retaken and its emperor hanged, 164. + + Cortes and Charles V., 164. + + Cliff-houses, 86. + + Cotton, Az. tec., preparation of, 84, 96. + + Cromwell, his influence, 170. + + Cruz, Vera, 110, 114, 120, 156, 157, 163. + + Cuba, 43-45, 51-53, 84. + + Culhua, 110. + + Cuzco, 174, 176, 181, 183, 188. + + Cuzco, Cyclopean remains, 181, 183. + + Cuzco, temple, 183. + + Cyclopean ruins in Peru, 173, 178, 181-183. + + Cyclopean ruins in Peru (cuts), 173, 175. + + + D. + + Dalrymple, Sir John, 169, 170. + + Dampier, buccaneer, 170. + + Darien, taken by Balboa, 169. + + Darien, Scottish Expedition, 169. + + Darien, causes of failure, 169, 170. + + Darien, crossed by Morgan, 170, 171. + + Darien, crossed by Dampier, 171. + + Diaz, navigator, rounds the Cape of Good Hope and names it the + "Stormy Cape," 49. + + Diaz, historian, quoted, 148, 151, 158, 160. + + Dighton Stone, 28 (cuts, 27, 28). + + Diodorus Siculus, 16. + + Druid Sacrifices, 106. + + "Druidic," 74, 177, 178. + + + E. + + Edward VI and Cabot, 48. + + Elysian Fields, 13, 14, 16. + + Erik the Red, 20. + + Escobar, 162. + + Euripides, quoted, 14. + + + F. + + Feather-work, 84, 96. + + Ferdinand and Isabella, 40, 41. + + Feudalism ended, 36. + + + G. + + Gama, De, 38, 58. + + Gardens, 138, 139. + + Glazier, Theory, 73-74. + + Gladstone quoted, 189. + + Gosnold's Expedition, 25, 26. + + Greenland, 19-25, 30, 31. + + Grijalva and Yucatan, 10, 53. + + Guatemala, 58, 76, 79. + + Guatimozin, 163. + + Gunnbiorn, 20. + + + H. + + Hannibal on the Alps, 134, 135. + + Harold Fair-hair, 20. + + Hatuey, 51, 52. + + Hayti, 43, 98. + + Helluland (Newfoundland), 22. + + Henry VII., 48, 49. + + Hercules' Pillars, 13, 17. + + Herodotus, 10, 11. + + Hesiod, quoted, 13. + + Hesperides, Isles of the Blest, 14. + + Homer, quoted, 10, 13. + + Honduras, 76, 79. + + Huitzilopochtli, god of battles, 93, 94, 150, 151 (_see_ MEXITL.) + + Humboldt, 35, 50, 65, 73, 83, 94. + + + I. + + Iceland, 19, 20. + + Incas, 172, 182 (_see_ PERU). + + "Indian," as a term applied to the New World by mistake, a blunder + still perpetuated, 42 (_cf_. 98.) + + Indians, "Red-skins," 72-74, 80, 90. + + Ingolf, 19. + + Iphigenia, 104. + + Ireland, Mickle, 20, 31, 32. + + Italian Discovery, 34-36. + + Itztli (obsidian), used as a sharp flint, 95. + + Iztapalapan, 138. + + + J. + + Jamaica, 170. + + Jewish "Discovery," 33. + + Juan, S., ship-canal, 172. + + + K. + + Katortuk (Greenland), 21, 22 (cut, 21). + + Kingsborough, Lord, 34, 69, 82. + + + L. + + Leif Erikson, 21-23. + + Lesseps de, 171-173. + + Loadstone, 41, 42. + + Longfellow, quoted, 29. + + Lucian, quoted, 17. + + + M. + + Madoc, 32, 33, 70. + + Magellan reaches the Pacific Ocean and names it, 49; + killed at Matan, 50. + + Magnetic Pole, 41. + + Maguey plant, its singular value, 94. + + Major, Mr., on Pre-Columbian discoveries of America, and site of the + Greenland colonies, 35, 36. + + Malte-Brun, 35. + + Marina, "slave-interpreter," 109, 115, 128, 131. + + Markham, Sir C., quoted, 30, 174, 179, 183. + + Markland (Nova Scotia), 22. + + Marvels, Age of, 38, 39. + + Maya, Mayapan, 76, 79. + + Maya, MS., 81, 82. + + Maya, trade, 84. + + _Mayflower_ lands in Vinland, 26. + + Medea, 18, 104. + + Merida, 78. + + Mexico, Mexicans (_see also_ AZTECS). + + Mexico, archeology, 72-86. + + Mexico, geography, 89, 90, 133-135. + + Mexico, valley, 134, 135. + + Mexico, town, 139, 142, 145-151. + + Mexico, wealth, 155. + + Mexico, siege, 160-164. + + Mexico, ferocity in war, 160-164. + + Mexitl, the god of battles, another name for Huitzilopochtli, 93. + + Monolith (cuts), 173, 175. + + Montezuma I., 57. + + Montezuma, 110-113. + + Montezuma, meaning of name, 113. + + Montezuma, power, 120, 121, 135, 141. + + Montezuma, affability, 144. + + Montezuma, dress, etc., 161. + + Montezuma, death, 162. + + Montgomery, James, 20, 22, 23. + + Morgan, buccaneer, 170. + + Mound builders, 31, 71, 85. + + Mueller, Max, quoted, 56. + + + N. + + Narvaez, 158, 159. + + Nicaragua, ship-canal, 58, 172. + + Norse Discovery, 19-32. + + Norse towns in Greenland, 20. + + Norumbega, 25. + + + O. + + Ocean, Western, 12, 16, 17. + + Ocean, Southern, first name for the Atlantic (q.v.) + + Oceanus, river, 10. + + Ogygia, 16. + + Ollantay, Peru, 174, 176. + + Orinoco, discovered, 45. + + Orizaba, 120. + + Overland Route, 37. + + + P. + + Pacific, first seen, 166. + + Pacific, first sailed upon, 50. + + Palenque, 77, 79, 81. + + Palos, 41, 45. + + Panama, 166, 171, 172. + + Panama, modern, 171. + + Paper (prehistoric) of Mexico, 82. + + Pedrarias, 167, 168. + + Peru and Incas, chaps. ix., x. + + Peru agriculture, 182, 185. + + Peru aqueducts, roads, etc., 177. + + Peru archeology, 172-182. + + Peru architecture, 87, 172-178. + + Peru calendar, 184, 185. + + Peru chulpas, 87 (cut). + + Peru quipu, 180 (cut). + + Peru sculpture and pottery, 178. + + Peru history and religion, 182. + + Phenicians, 11, 17. + + Pictograph, 80, 112. + + Pindar, quoted, 13. + + Pizarro, 164, 167. + + Pizarro and Atahualpha, 187, 188. + + Pizarro and Peru, 186-189. + + Pizarro, first and second voyages, 186, 187. + + Pizarro imitated Balboa, 165, 186. + + Pizarro invades Peru, 187. + + Pizarro, his treachery and cruelty, 188, 189. + + Pizarro at Cusco, 188. + + Pizarro founds Lima, 188. + + Pizarro, "Doom" at last, 189. + + Plato, 14, 15. + + Plutarch, 16. + + Polo, Marco, 39, 43. + + Polyxena, 104. + + Popocatepetl, 133, 134. + + Ptolemy, 11, 39. + + Pythagorean theory, 10. + + + Q. + + Quetzalcoatl, 84, 93, 94, 111, 113, 130, 152. + + Quipu, 180, 181 (cut, 180). + + + R. + + Rafn, 28, 29, 31. + + Raymi, Peruvian festival, 184, 185. + + Renascence, 9, 36, 37. + + Renascence influence on travel and exploration, 38. + + Renascence assisted the Reformation, 37. + + Runes in Greenland, 27, 28. + + + S. + + Sebastian, Magellan's Basque lieutenant, 33, 50. + + Seneca, 18, 19 (title-page). + + "Scraelings," Vinland, 23. + + "Skeleton in Armor," 29. + + Spain, how consolidated, 37, 106. + + Spain, close of its colonial history, 52. + + Squier, quoted, 176, 181. + + + T. + + Tambos, Peru, 185. + + Tehuantepec, isthmus, 171. + + Tenochtitlan, Mexico, 57. + + Teocalli, 106, 117, 148-151, 156 (cut, 105). + + Tezcatlipoca, god of youth, 61. + + Tezcuco, eastern capital, Mexico, 56. + + Tezcuco, 56, 57, 136. + + Tezcuco, king of, 100. + + Tezcuco, lake, 139-140. + + Thorfinn, 23. + + Thorwaldsen, 23. + + Titicaca, lake, 71, 182. + + Titicaca (_see_ CYCLOPEAN RUINS), 174, 175. + + Tlaloc, god of rain, 63. + + Tlascala, 113, 121-127, 130, 153, 159, 163. + + Tlascala, people, and siege, 130, 133. + + Toltecs, 56, 71. + + Totonacs, 115. + + Trinidad, 45. + + Tula, 56. + + Tumbez, Peru, 186. + + Turks, causing civilization, 36, 38. + + + U. + + Utatla, 79. + + Uxmal, 55, 76 (frontispiece). + + + V. + + Valladolid, 46. + + Velasquez, 51-53, 107, 108, 158. + + Vesper, 14 (_see_ HESPERIDES). + + Vespucci, 49, 51, 52. + + Vinland (New England), 23, 25. + + Vinland, map of, 24. + + Voltaire, story of Cortes, 164. + + W. + + Waldseemueller, 50. + + Watling's Island, 42. + + Welsh Discovery, 32, 33. + + William III. and Darien Scheme, 168-169. + + Wilson, "Prehistoric Man," 26, 81. + + World, shape of, 9-11. + + X. + + Xalapa, 120. + + Xicotencatl, Tlascalan, 124, 126, 127-130. + + Xicotencatl appearance, 129. + + Y. + + Yochicalco, 86. + + Yucatan, 53, 54, 75-77. + + Z. + + Zempoalla, "conversion of," 116. + + Zempoalla, 119, 158, 159. + + Zeni, Italian brothers, 34-35. + + Zeno map, 34, 35. + + Zipango (Japan), 39, 45. + + Zodiac, comparative, 55. + + Zodiac (cut) from a tomb at Cusco, 182. + + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +The many spelling and hyphenation discrepancies in this text are as in +the original. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF EXTINCT CIVILIZATIONS +OF THE WEST*** + + +******* This file should be named 31413.txt or 31413.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/1/4/1/31413 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, 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