OMENS OF DISASTER.
With the new cycle began a period, during which, down to the appearance of the Spaniards at Vera Cruz, almost every event was invested with a mysterious significance, every unusual phenomenon of nature, every accident, every illness, every defeat in battle, failure of crops, excessive heat or cold, rain or snow, thunder and lightning, shooting star or comet, earthquake or eclipse,—each and all portended evil to the Aztec empire, evil which some seem even at the time to have connected with the olden predictions of Quetzalcoatl respecting the coming of a foreign race to take possession of the country. The superstitious monarchs, priests, and nobles were in a constant state of terror. There are but two ways of accounting for this state of affairs; first by supposing that the supernatural element in the various events referred to, the terror which they caused in the minds of the natives, and many of the events themselves, were pure inventions of the native historians formed after the coming of the Spaniards to support the claims of their sages to a foreknowledge of events, or simply for the sake of telling a marvelous tale; and second by supposing that the terror of Montezuma and his companions, and their disposition to carefully note and construe into omens of evil each unusual occurrence, was caused by a knowledge more or less vague that the Spaniards were already on the American coasts. While there is every reason to believe that there are both inventions and exaggerations in the records written after the coming of foreigners, I am disposed to attribute the effects referred to above chiefly to the actual presence of Europeans. For about fifteen years the Antilles had been more or less completely in the possession of the Spaniards; five years before the opening of the new cycle Columbus had coasted Central America and even established a colony in Veragua. It is altogether improbable that no knowledge of the white men and their wonderful winged vessels had reached Mexico, however vague and exaggerated that knowledge may have been. The Aztec traders were not now such indefatigable and trustworthy spies as in former times, but they would hardly have failed to bring to Mexico exaggerated rumors of approaching disaster. It is also quite possible that various articles of European manufacture, or even human remains of white men, had been washed on the Totonac or Xicalanca shores. That Montezuma and his companions attached considerable weight to the traditional predictions of Quetzalcoatl and Hueman there is no reason to doubt. The predictions referred to may have been the threats of some exiled chieftain of ancient times, or the vain imaginings of a fanatic priest uttered to maintain his reputation among his followers; possibly the result of some native cosmographer's theorizing respecting other lands across the ocean; not quite impossibly the remnant of an ancient knowledge of trans-oceanic peoples; and of course not the result of any prophetic foreknowledge; but like all other pretended prophecies they became at once most valid and authentic on the occurrence of circumstances which might be interpreted as their fulfillment.
MONTEZUMA AND NEZAHUALPILLI.
The signs and omens that followed those already mentioned I shall briefly relate without paying much attention to their chronologic order; very little else than these omens and the means adopted to avert their consequences is recorded from 1508 to 1512. An army sent to the province of Amatlan perished with cold and by falling trees and rocks; and a comet with three heads, perhaps the one already mentioned, hung over Anáhuac.[IX-40] Then a wonderful pyramidal light appeared in the east, reaching from the earth to the sky, visible for forty days, or, as some say, for a whole year, in all parts of the country, from midnight till morning, very similar, according to the description, to the Aurora Borealis. Nezahualpilli was so affected by these signs that he gave orders to discontinue all hostilities. An interview was held between him and Montezuma, although for some time they had not been on speaking terms. Nezahualpilli saw clearly in the strange omens the approaching end of the empire and his own death, but was resigned to the decrees of fate; Montezuma, on the contrary, instead of resignation felt only anger, and is even said by Tezozomoc and Duran to have strangled many of his sorcerers for their unfavorable interpretation of the signs, and their failure to avert evil omens. At last a game of tlachtli was agreed upon between the two monarchs to decide whose interpretation should be accepted; and to show how little importance he attached to his wealth and power, Nezahualpilli is said to have wagered on the result his kingdom of Acolhuacan against three turkey cocks. He won the game, but still Montezuma was not disposed to yield to the fates, and still persecuted his magicians in the hope to elicit a more favorable prognostication, but in vain; the magicians all agreed with the Tezcucan monarch. About the same time the towers of Huitzilopochtli's temple took fire in a clear night without apparent cause, and were reduced to ashes in spite of all efforts to extinguish the flames; and another temple was set on fire by lightning. This was the temple of the god of fire, and was now burned for the second time.[IX-41] In this period, in the reign of the second Montezuma, Brasseur puts the story of a mysterious aerial journey of the two kings to the ancient home of the Aztecs, referring perhaps to that already taken from Duran and applied to the time of Montezuma I.[IX-42] Torquemada, Clavigero, and Vetancvrt, tell us of the resurrection of Papantzin, a sister of Montezuma, who brought back from the land of the dead to her royal brother an account of the new people who were to occupy the land, and of the new religion they would bring. This lady is said to have been the first Mexican to receive the rites of Christian baptism, and the priests took pains to send a duly authenticated account of her miraculous resurrection to Spain. The intimate connection of this tale with the religious prejudices of the invaders, renders it unnecessary to seek even a foundation in truth for the report. Sahagun also speaks of a resurrected woman who predicted the fall of the empire, living twenty-one years thereafter and bearing a son. Boturini attributes this return from the dead to a sister of the king of Michoacan at a much later date, while the Spaniards were besieging Mexico.[IX-43] In 1509, as several authors say,[IX-44] the waters of the lake became violently agitated, without wind, earthquake, or other natural cause, and in consequence the city was inundated. The fishermen of the lake caught a large bird like a crane, wearing a round transparent crown, through which Montezuma saw the stars, though it was in the daytime, and also many people that approached in squadrons, attired like warriors, and seeming half men, half deer. The bird disappeared before the sorcerers could satisfactorily interpret this strange thing. Double-bodied and double-headed men also were seen, and on being brought before the king suddenly disappeared; and the same happened with men who had no fingers and toes. In 1511 armed men were seen fighting in the air; and a bird appeared whose head seemed human; and a large stone pillar fell near the temple of Huitzilopochtli, no one knowing whence it came. An earthquake and a deluge at Tusapan, are reported; at Tecualoia a most ferocious and horrible beast was captured; a female voice was several times heard bewailing the fate of her children. At Tlascala a bright light and a cloud of dust arising from the summit of Mount Matlalcueje to the very heavens, caused the people to fear the end of the world was coming. The sorcerers of Cuetlachtlan also saw many wonderful visions; but among the peoples outside of Anáhuac the fearful phenomena and the predicted coming of a foreign people were less terrible than to the Aztecs, for with their terror was mingled hope of relief from the Aztec yoke. A wild hare invaded Nezahualpilli's garden, but the king would not allow the animal to be killed, for in the same manner, he said, would a strange people presently invade his country. Tezozomoc and Duran give a long and detailed account of Montezuma's sufferings. It seems that he was not content with his own dreams and omens, but instructed his subjects to report to him all their visions; at last he was so distracted that he determined to hide himself from impending calamities in a cave, but was prevented from such a course by a series of supernatural events more absurd, if possible, than those that have been narrated. Herrera tells us that Montezuma had in his possession a box washed on the eastern shore containing wearing-apparel and a sword of a style unknown to the natives.[IX-45]
VISIONS AND OMENS.
In the meantime military operations had not been suspended, for the anger of the gods could only be averted by sacrifice, and victims could only be obtained by war; but the details of these campaigns and their order are nowhere definitely recorded. It is stated, however, that in 1511, the Cuetlachtecas, encouraged by the visions of their magicians, and by the troubles that had fallen upon Anáhuac, refused openly to pay their tributes, and yet remained unpunished.[IX-46] In the same or following year, the Cakchiquel records note the arrival of a numerous embassy of the Yaqui, or Mexicans, at their court. Nothing whatever is said of the object of this mission, or its results; but the Abbé Brasseur has no doubt that the object sought was information respecting the actions of the Spaniards on the coast of Central America.[IX-47] Although Nezahualpilli seems to have lost most of his interest in political affairs, and to have contented himself with simply awaiting future developments, no superstitious terror in Montezuma's breast could overcome his ruling passion, ambition; and according to the authorities he was inclined to take advantage of his colleague's listlessness for his own aggrandizement. Ixtlilxochitl relates an act of treachery against the Tezcucan monarch, which, in view of the author's well-known prejudice against Montezuma, may be received with much doubt; according to this author, the Mexican king represented to Nezahualpilli that the anger of the gods was caused to some extent by the failure to offer captives from Tlascala, and the substitution of victims from distant provinces obtained not in holy battle but in a mere attempt to extend the imperial domain. He proposed a joint campaign against Tlascala; Nezahualpilli consented, saying that his inaction had not been the result of cowardice, but he had ceased to fight simply because the year of 1 Acatl was near at hand when the empire must fall. He sent an army under his two sons, but Montezuma had secretly notified the Tlascaltecs that the Acolhua's motive was not the capture of victims, but the conquest of the republic, promising to take no part himself in the battle. The Tlascaltecs were very angry and the Aztec army stood calmly by and saw the Acolhua forces led into ambush and massacred. The whole march of Nezahualpilli's army had been marked by the occurrence of many omens of evil. Immediately on his return Montezuma openly proclaimed his opposition to his colleague and ordered a suspension of all Tezcucan tributes from the cities about the lake. While there are reasons to doubt this act of treachery and the openness of his opposition to Nezahualpilli, it is evident that the two kings regarded each other from this time as enemies.[IX-48]
MONTEZUMA, AZTEC EMPEROR.
In 1512, with great festivities and the sacrifice of twelve thousand captives—taken it is said in a war against the revolting Miztec province of Tlachquiauhco—was dedicated a new sacrificial stone. It was only after a long search that a suitable stone was found near Coyuhuacan, and after it was formed and sculptured with the fitting devices, notwithstanding the honors paid it on the way to the capital, it broke through one of the causeways and carried with itself to the bottom of the lake the high-priest and many of his attendants. It was afterwards recovered and placed in its appointed place. Tezozomoc and others tell many marvelous tales of this stone, how it spoke frequently on the way, and how after sinking it found its way back to its original location. Tezozomoc also states that in connection with the ceremonies at this time Montezuma publicly proclaimed himself Zemanahuaca Tlatoani, equivalent to 'emperor of the world.'[IX-49]
LIMITS OF THE AZTEC EMPIRE.
During the next few years Montezuma seems to have determined by brilliant exploits in battle to defy the predictions of his magicians and to shake off his own superstitious fears. In 1512, according to Torquemada, the Xuchitepecs and Icpactepecs were subjugated; in 1513, the Yopitzincas, who had attempted the destruction of the Mexican garrison at Tlacotepec, were defeated; in 1514, the city of Quetzalapan in Cuextlan was taken with many captives, although at the cost of several Aztec leaders of high rank; and in 1515 took place the conquest of Cihuapohualoyan and Cuexcomaixtlahuacan, including the siege of the strongholds of Quetzaltepec, Totoltepec and Iztactlalocan, narrated at considerable length by Duran, who represents this war as having been caused by the refusal of the inhabitants to furnish a peculiar kind of sand needed by the Mexican lapidaries in polishing precious stones.[IX-50] Torquemada and Ortega relate that an expedition was at about this time sent southward to Honduras, Vera Paz, and Nicaragua, all of which were subjected to the Mexican power, the two former without much opposition, the latter only after a hard battle, a defeat, and subsequent treachery on the part of the Aztecs.[IX-51] There is every reason to believe that this report is unfounded, and that the countries south of the isthmus, save perhaps Soconusco, were never conquered by the Mexicans. I need not enter into any discussion here respecting the limits of the Aztec empire; since the annals recorded in the preceding pages, with a résumé of the subject in a preceding volume,[IX-52] are sufficient. In general terms the empire extended from the valley of Mexico westward only to the adjoining province of Matlaltzinco, Michoacan having always retained her independence; north-westward only a few leagues beyond the limits of the valley; in the north-east, east, and south-east it embraced the whole country to the gulf coast from the Rio Pánuco in the north to the Rio Alvarado in the south, excepting the small territory of Tlascala; in the south-west and south it reached the Pacific coast, along which it extended from Zacatollan to Tututepec; and it also included some towns and garrisons in Soconusco, and on the frontiers of Chiapas. Or, according to modern political geography, the empire embraced the states of Mexico, Puebla, Vera Cruz, Guerrero, and western Oajaca, with small portions of Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, and Chiapas. The whole of Oajaca, including Tehuantepec, was at one time subjected, but the Zapotecs regained their independence, as we have seen, before Montezuma's reign. Beyond these limits doubtless many raids were made, and towns, with small sections of territory, were reduced momentarily to Mexican provinces; hence the varying statements of different authors on this subject.[IX-53]