[16] These remarkable presents have all been enumerated by Torquemada, (Monarchia Indiana, i, iv, c. 17;) and we cannot do better than give his minute description of them here: "The ambassador of Motecusuma ordered mats to be spread on the ground before Cortes, and over them some cotton cloths, on which he arranged the presents, consisting of large quantities of cotton shirts and other cotton stuffs, beautifully manufactured, and interwoven with feathers of the most splendid colours; bucklers made of the purest white staffs, decorated with feathers, gold, silver, and pearls, surpassing everything in beauty and skilfulness of workmanship that was ever seen. There was also a helmet, tastefully carved out of wood, filled with grains of gold; a casque, made of thin plates of gold, decorated with tassels and stones, resembling the smaragdus; numerous large bunches of feathers of diversified colours, fastened in silver and gold; fans for keeping off flies, made of the rarest feathers; a thousand lockets of gold and silver, of the most curious and beautiful workmanship; bracelets and military decorations of gold and silver, splendidly embossed with green and bright yellow feathers; leather made of deer skin, curried and coloured in the best possible manner; shoes and sandals of the same leather, sewn with thin gold wire, and the soles made of splendid white and blue stone. There were other kinds of shoes, most tastefully manufactured of cotton; mirrors of marcasite, globular shaped, of the size of a fist, and most ingeniously set in gold, the small frame itself being very valuable, and worthy of the acceptance of any crowned head; coverings and curtains to beds, manufactured of various coloured cotton, more glossy and of finer texture than silk; a number of other gold and silver trinkets; a necklace of gold, decorated with upwards of a hundred emeralds, rubies, and various other ornaments of gold; a second necklace, consisting of numbers of large pearls and emeralds, all of the most exquisite workmanship; numerous other gold trinkets in the shape of frogs and animals; jewels in the form of medals, the shrines being even more valuable than the precious stones they contained; a quantity of large and small grains of gold. The most valuable of these presents, however, were two round plates, one of gold, on which was a sun with rays and the zodiac; this weighed above one hundred marks: the other was of silver, which in a similar manner represented the moon, weighing above fifty marks: both were massive, and of the thickness of the Spanish coin of four silver reals, and as large as a waggon wheel. Those who saw these splendid presents said that, without considering the beautiful workmanship, the value of the gold and silver alone amounted to 25,000 castellanos de oro; so that the whole together may well be estimated at 50,000 ducats." (p. [91].)
[17] Chalchihuitls; Bernal Diaz calls these Chalchuites. This stone is of a light green colour, at first held in great estimation by the Spaniards, but Torquemada, a contemporary of our author, remarks, (Monarchia, Ind. i, p. 462,) it is a stone on which the Indians set a high value, but not so the Spaniards. He calls it a kind of smaragdus, "the polishing of which the Indians say was taught them by the god Quetzalcohuatl." Bustamente (Historia de la Conquista de Mexico escrita, por Fr. Bernardino Sahagun, Mexico, 1829,) calls it, "Piedra jaspe, mui verde, o sea esmeralda ordinaria," i.e. "A jasper of a very green colour, or a common smaragdus."
This stone represented among the Mexicans everything that was excellent in its kind, for which reason they put such a stone in the mouth of the distinguished chiefs who died. (p. [93].)
[17*] Costatlan, Bernal Diaz also adds here, "Y este nombre de Culua es en aquella tierra, como si dixessen los Romanos hallados." As this passage is rather obscure, we thought it best to insert it here. The literal translation is: "And this appellation of Culua, in this country, means as much as when one would say, 'the merry Romans.'" In the 31st chapter he makes a similar remark. (p. [102].)
[18] Most probably Cortes' despatches of the 16th of July, 1519, which were lost. (p. [125].)
[19] Torquemada (Mon., Ind. i, iv, c. 25) gives some additional circumstances respecting this conspiracy; among other things he says, that the pilot Cermeno was so remarkably nimble, that if two of the tallest men held up a lance as high as they could horizontally, he would bound over it with ease by means of another lance. Also that his sense of smelling was so acute that he could scent the land at a distance of sixty miles when at sea; but adds, "aunque no olio esta muerte;" yet he could not smell the nature of his death. (p. [133].)
[20] It may appear astonishing to some that grape trees should have been found here, as it is well known that this tree was introduced from Europe into the West Indies; yet it is certainly true that the Spaniards found the wild vine growing in the New World. Oviedo, in his valuable work entitled 'Historia general y natural de las Indias,' says, "These wild vines bear good black grapes, and I have often eaten them myself. I say good, for considering the wild state in which they grow, they are really good. These grapes are found throughout the whole of the West Indies, and I do believe that all other vines have originated from these wild trees." (p. [133].)
[21] Of the township of Xocotlan, Torquemada gives some further account, from which we learn more of the condition of the country at the time of the conquest. Olintecl, he says, was lord of 20,000 subjects, and he had thirty wives, who were attended upon by one hundred female servants. The township contained thirteen temples, full of various shaped idols made of stone, to whom were sacrificed men, women, children, pigeons, and quails. Here the Mexican monarch had a garrison of 5000 men, and couriers were stationed at particular distances from each other all the way from the town to the city of Mexico. These nimble pedestrians were always in pairs, that all news might be conveyed to the metropolis with the utmost speed. (p. [142].)
[22] Of this fortification Torquemada gives a different account. He says it was a wall of twenty feet in thickness, that it could be defended from the top; had only one entrance, defended by other works within, and was built by a cazique of the country, whom he calls Yztacmixtitlan, to protect the boundaries of his country against the incursions of the Tlascallans. (p. [145].)