the ships of the Spanish admiral came to anchor before the Island of San Salvador, he had indeed discovered a “New World.” It was inhabited by a race of people living in a state of society from which the inhabitants of Europe had emerged long before the dawn of authentic history. The animal and plant life were also greatly different from any thing with which they were acquainted. The Spaniards little suspected the importance of their discovery. Columbus himself died in the belief that he had simply explored a new route to Asia. A quarter of a century elapsed after the first voyage of Columbus before an expedition coasted along the shores of Mexico. This was the expedition of Juan De Grijalva, in 1518. He gave a glowing description of the country he had seen, which “from the beauty and verdure of its indented shores, and the lovely appearances of its villages, he called ‘New Spain.’”1
This was followed, in the year 1519, by the history-making expedition of Cortez. The scene of his first landing was about forty miles south of the present town of Vera Cruz, but to this place they soon removed. At his very first landing-point he learned of the existence of what he was pleased to call a powerful empire, ruled by a most valiant prince. The accounts the Indian allies gave him of the power and wealth of this empire inflamed the imagination of Cortez and his followers. This was an age, we must remember that delighted in tales of the marvelous; add to this the further fact that Cortez was not, at the beginning of his expedition, acting with the sanction of his royal master; indeed, his sailing from the island of Cuba was in direct violation of the commands of the governor. It was very necessary for him to impress upon the court of Spain a sense of the importance of his undertaking.
Certain it is that the accounts that have been handed down to us, though read with wonder and admiration, though made the basis on which many writers have constructed most glowing descriptions of the wonders of the barbaric civilization, which they would fain have us believe, rivaled that of “Ormus and of Ind,” are to-day seriously questioned by a large and influential portion of the scientific world. We have another point to be considered that is of no little weight, as all candid men must admit that it would influence the opinions the Spaniards would form of the culture of the Indians. As the man of mature years has lost the memory of his childhood, so have the civilized races of men lost, even beyond the reach of tradition, the memory of their barbaric state. The Spaniards were brought face to face with a state of society from which the Indo-European folks had emerged many centuries before. They could not be expected to understand it, and hence it is that we find so many contradictory statements in the accounts of the early explorers; so much that modern scholars have no hesitation in rejecting.
The main tribe of the empire which Cortez is said have overthrown is known to us by the name of the Aztecs; but as this name properly denotes but one of many tribes in the same state of development, it is better to use a word which includes all, or nearly all, of the tribes that in olden times had their home in the territory now known as Mexico. Careful comparisons of the various dialects of ancient Mexico have shown that, with the exceptions of some tribes in Vera Cruz, they all belonged to one stock-language; and so they are collectively known as the Nahua tribes.2
We wish now to inquire into the culture of this people, to see how much of the strange story that the Spaniards have to tell us has a reasonable foundation. We will state frankly that, though the literature on this subject is of vast proportions, yet it is very far from being a settled field. All accounts of the early explorers of the strange scenes, customs, and manners of the inhabitants, when they were first discovered, are so intermixed with self-evident fables, and statements that are undoubtedly exaggerations, that we have a most difficult task before us. We will first examine the antiquities of this section, compare them with those found in more northern regions, and then examine the statements of the early writers as to the customs of the people. We do not propose to do more than to follow after our leaders in thought, and try to make plain the conclusions to which they have arrived. We are not to deal wholly with a prehistoric people, though their origin is unknown. What we desire to do is to clear away the mists of three and a half centuries, and to catch, if possible, a glimpse of what was probably the highest development of prehistoric culture in North America just before the arrival of the Spaniards.
Mexico was surely a land well adapted to the needs of a prehistoric people. Along the coasts the ground is low. This constitutes what is known as the “Hot Country.”3 The greater part of Mexico consists of an elevated table-land, which rises in a succession of plateaus. As we leave the coast region and climb the plateau, we experience changes of climate. If it were level, it would have mainly a tropical climate, but owing to the elevation we have just mentioned, it has mainly a temperate climate. The whole plateau region is cut up with mountains. The Sierra Madre, on the west, is the main chain, but numerous cross-ranges occur. The result is, a greater part of Mexico abounds in fertile, easily defended valleys—just such localities as are much sought after by a people in barbaric culture, constantly exposed to the assaults of invading foes.4
We may as well pass at once to the valley of Anahuac, the most noted in all the region, and learn of the antiquities of this central section. It is in this valley that the capital of the Mexican Republic is situated. All travelers who have had occasion to describe its scenery have been enthusiastic in its praise. The valley is mountain-girt and lake-dotted, and in area not far different from the State of Rhode Island. On one of the principal lakes was located the Pueblo of Tenochtitlan, the head-quarters of the Aztecs, commonly known as the City of Mexico. When Cortez first stood upon the encircling mountains, and gazed down upon the valley, he saw at his feet one of the most prosperous and powerful pueblos of the New World.