[448] ‘Yxtapalapa, que quiere decir Pueblos donde se coge Sal, ó Yxtatl; y aun hoy tienen este mismo oficio los de Yxtapalapa.’ Lorenzana, in Cortés, Hist. N. Esp., 56.
[449] Including Matlatzincatzin, lord of Coyuhuacan and brother of Montezuma; Tochihuitzin of Mexicaltzinco, and Huitzillatl of Huitzilopochco. Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 75; Chimalpain, Hist. Conq., 116; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., iv. 205.
[450] Peter Martyr, dec. v. cap. ii.; Gomara, Hist. Mex., 99; Cortés, Cartas, 82. What with the retreating waters and the removal of native lords in whose interest it lay to preserve the gardens and palaces, her glories are now departed. The evaporation of the lake waters had been observed before the conquest. After this it increased rapidly, owing to the thoughtless destruction of forests in the valley, as Humboldt remarks. In Bernal Diaz’ time already Iztapalapan lay high and dry, with fields of maize growing where he had seen the busy traffic of canoes. Hist. Verdad., 65. The fate of the lake region was sealed by the construction of the Huehuetoca canal, which drained the big lake to a mere shadow of its former self, leaving far inland the flourishing towns which once lined its shore, and shielding the waters, as it were, from further persecution by an unsightly barrier of desert salt marshes—and all to save the capital from the inundations to which blundering locators had exposed her. Humboldt has in his map of the valley traced the outline of the lake as it appeared to the conquerors, and although open to criticism it is interesting. Essai Pol., i. 167, 173-5.
[451] Cortés, Cartas, 82. Bernal Diaz reduces it to 2000 pesos. According to Sahagun, Cortés summons the lords of the district and tells them of his mission. The common people keep out of the way, fearing a massacre. Hist. Conq., 21-2. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., iv. 205-6, assumes from this that many of the chiefs promised to support Cortés against the government, which is hardly likely to have been done in a city ruled by Montezuma’s brother, who was at heart hostile to the Spaniards. Here again, says Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vii. cap. v., Montezuma sought to dissuade Cortés from entering the capital; Torquemada, i. 449. His envoy being Cacama, adds Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., 295.
[452] Hist. Verdad., 64-5.
CHAPTER XVI.
MEETING WITH MONTEZUMA.
November, 1519.
Something of the City—The Spaniards Start from Iztapalapan—Reach the Great Causeway—They are Met by many Nobles—And presently by Montezuma—Entry into Mexico—They Are Quartered in the Axayacatl Palace—Interchange of Visits.
From Iztapalapan the imperial city of the great plateau could clearly be seen, rising in unveiled whiteness from the lake. Almost celestial was its beauty in the eyes of the spoilers; a dream some called it, or, if tangible, only Venice was like it, with its imposing edifices sparkling amid the sparkling waters. Many other places had been so called, but there was no other New World Venice like this.
Sweeping round in sheltering embrace were the green swards and wood-clad knolls on the shore, studded with tributary towns and palatial structures, crowned with foliage, or peeping forth from groves, some venturing nearer to the city, and into the very lake. “We gazed with admiration,” exclaims Bernal Diaz, as he compares with the enchanted structures described in the Amadis their grand towers, cues, and edifices, rising in the lake, and all of masonry.
Let us glance at the people and their dwellings; for though we have spoken of them at length elsewhere, we cannot in this connection wholly pass them by.