[348] A full list and description of the many edible Mexican plants which were cultivated by the Nahuas in the sixteenth and earlier centuries, as they have been ever since by their descendants, is given by the botanist, Hernandez, in his Nova Plantarum; see also Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. i., pp. 45-68; repeated in Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 102-19; Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., p. 236, et seq. Maize, maguey, cacao, bananas, and vanilla. Prescott's Mex., vol. i., pp. 134-6. The Totonacs raised fruits, but no cacao or veinacaztli. Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., lib. x., p. 131. The people of Michoacan raised 'maíz, frisoles, pepitas y fruta, y las semillas de mantenimientos, llamados oauhtli, y chian.' Id., p. 137. The Matlaltzincas also raised the hoauhtli. Id., p. 130. Besides corn, the most important products were cotton, cacao, maguey (metl), frijoles, chia, and chile. Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 158; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 624. 'Les Mexicains cultivaient non-seulement toutes les fleurs et toutes les plantes que produit leur pays, mais encore une infinité d'autres qu'ils y avaient transplantées des contrées les plus éloignées.' Tezozomoc, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 44. Id., Crónica, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., p. 18. 'Hay frutas de muchas maneras, en que hay cerezas, y ciruelas que son semejables á las de España.' Cortés, Cartas, p. 104. Fruit was more abundant among the Huastecs than elsewhere. Tezozomoc, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 147. 'They haue also many kindes of pot herbes, as lettice, raddish, cresses, garlicke, onyons, and many other herbes besides.' Peter Martyr, dec. v., lib. iii. Edible fruits. Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. viii., p. 300.
[349] Molina, Diccionario. 'Centli, o Tlaulli, que otros dizen mayz.' Gomara, Conq. Mex., p. 343.
[350] Cortés, Cartas, p. 64; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 515. In Tlascala 'no tienen otra riqueza ni granjeria, sino centli que es su pan.' Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 87.
[351] Peter Martyr and the Anonymous Conqueror say, however, that cacao-trees were planted under larger trees, which were cut down when the plant gained sufficient strength. Dec. v., lib. iv.; Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 380.
[352] On the culture of maize and other points mentioned above see Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., pp. 481-2, 564, tom. i., p. 166; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 153-6; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 633-7, tom. iv., p. 61; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 621-4; Cortés, Cartas, p. 75; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Conq., p. 128; Camargo, Hist. Tlax., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 196; Peter Martyr, dec. v., lib. ii.; Gagern, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da época, tom. i., pp. 815-16.
[353] Burgoa, Geog. Descrip., tom. ii., pt ii., pp. 332-3; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 40-2.
[354] On hunting see Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 48; Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. ii., p. 165, tom. iii., lib. xi., pp. 149-229, including a full list and description of Mexican animals; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 298, tom. ii., pp. 281, 297; Peter Martyr, dec. v., lib. iii.; Cortés, Cartas, p. 22; Camargo, Hist. Tlax., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 196; Ixtlilxochitl, Relaciones, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., pp. 335, 346, 458; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 160-2. List of Mexican animals in Id., tom. i., pp. 68-99; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 626-7, 120-44, with same list; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. i., p. 235.
[355] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. i., pp. 99-105, tom. ii., p. 162, with list and description of Mexican fishes, of which over 100 varieties fit for food are mentioned; repeated in Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 145-50, 628; Peter Martyr, dec. v., lib. ii., iii.; Tezozomoc, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 60, 147; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 93; Camargo, Hist. Tlax., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 132; Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., p. 460. List of fishes in Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., lib. xi., pp. 199-207.
[356] 'Crian muchas gallinas ... que son tan grandes como pavos.' 'Conejos, liebres, venados y perros pequeños, que crian para comer castrados.' Cortés, Cartas, pp. 23, 94, 104, 222. 'Young whelpes flesh is vsuall there ... which they geld and fatte for foode.' Peter Martyr, dec. v., lib. iii. The same author, dec. v., lib. iii., gives some queer information respecting the turkeys. 'The femalles sometimes lay 20. or 30. egges, so that it is a multiplying company. The males, are alwayes in loue, and therefore they say, they are very light meate of digestion.' A certain priest reports that 'the male is troubled with certayne impedimentes in the legges, that he can scarse allure the henne to treade her, vnlesse some knowne person take her in his hand, and hold her.... As soone as hee perceiueth the henne which he loueth, is held, hee presently commeth vnto her, and performes his businesse in the hand of the holder,' See Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 158-9, tom. iv., p. 228; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 624-6; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., pp. 291-2.
[357] Peter Martyr, dec. v., lib. iii.; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 450; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. v.; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 284; Cortés, Cartas, p. 66; Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 124-8, tom. iii., lib. x., p. 130; Albornoz, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 507; Camargo, Hist. Tlax., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 180; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 100; Solis, Hist. Conq. Mex., tom. i., pp. 390-1.