[332] ‘Todos los señores me vinieron á rogar.’ Cortés, Cartas, 67. ‘Vinieron assi mismo todas las cabeçeras y señores de Tlaxcallan a rogarle.’ Gomara, Hist. Mex., 86. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 52, names five lords, but the names are very confused, except Xicotencatl and Maxixcatzin, which approach nearer to the usual form. Ixtlilxochitl states that Cortés made it a condition that the lords should come and ask him, whereupon they each select two high representatives to proceed to the camp and escort him to Tlascala. They were guided by the envoys Tolinpanecatl and Costomatl, and brought a few jewels as presents. Hist. Chich., 292-3. Nor does Camargo allow the lords to go to the camp, but Costomatl and Tolinpanecatl are sent. Hist. Tlax., 146.
[333] ‘Tocarõ las manos en el suelo, y besaron la tierra.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 52.
[334] Camargo, Hist. Tlax., 155. Maxixcatzin is put forward by the Spanish writers as the principal lord, chiefly perhaps because he was the most devoted to the conquerors, but also because his quarter of Ocotelulco was the largest and richest. Camargo and Ixtlilxochitl place Xicotencatl first, and he certainly takes the lead in speaking and in receiving the Spaniards at his palace. His age, which Camargo raises into the hundred, may have had something to do with this, however.
[335] Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 52, states that he pleaded the want of carriers, which was not very plausible, unless intended as a hint at Tlascaltec hospitality.
[336] Cortés, Cartas, 67.
[337] Now Atoyac.
[338] Cortés proceeds to give an account of articles sold here, which is on a par with his Granada comparison, and accords little with the declared simplicity or poverty of the people. In the temple over 800 persons had been sacrificed during some years. Peter Martyr, dec. v. cap. ii.
[339] Gomara, Hist. Mex., 87-8; Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vi. caps. v. xii. xiii.; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., ii. 162; Las Casas, Hist. Apolog., MS., 13-14.
[340] Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 52. Gomara, followed by Herrera, says the 18th.
[341] ‘Se quitó la gorra y les hizo una muy grande y humilde reverencia, y luego abrazó á Xicotencatl,’ says Ixtlilxochitl, with an exactness which is doubtless intended to impress the ruder Spanish population of his day. Hist. Chich., 293. Camargo also describes ceremonies with some detail, Hist. Tlax., 147, and Duran, Hist. Ind., MS., ii. 425-7.