Cut 6.
Town of Chala.
In like manner we may proceed with the definition of the picture found on page 42, fig. 20. The copy given in cut [6], shows 80 blades of copper axes in fig. 20, and besides 40 little copper bells in fig. 19, and the interpretation, Vol. V., page 76, informs us that it was the town of Chala, fig. 26, which had to pay this kind of tribute.
Therefore, the towns of Tepoztla, Tepoztitla, Tepozcolula, and, besides, those of Chilapa and Xala, must be considered to have been connected, in one way or the other, with copper mining, copper manufacture, and the tribute of the same.[[8]]
A few words on the procuring of the metal from localities where it was discovered by the natives, may find a suitable place here. Mining, as we understand it to-day, or as the Spaniards understood it already at the time of the conquest, was not practised by the natives. Gold and silver were not broken from the entrails of the rocks. They were collected from the placeres by a process of mere washing. No notice at all has come down to us how copper was gathered. We can, however, easily imagine, that whenever by a chance outcropping a copper vein or stratum became visible, they probably broke off the ore or mineral to a depth easy to be reached, and only selected the most solid pieces. It is evident that the results of such superficial mining must have been very trifling, certainly not greater than would barely suffice for the fabrication of the most necessary tools. Herein we will find an explanation, why this people, though possessing the metal and the technical skill, nevertheless did not use it for the manufacture of arms. The production could not have been abundant enough to supply the whole nation or even the professional soldier with metal weapons. They preferred therefore, to continue in the ignorance of the Stone-Age.
Where the Mexicans found the lead that was seen in the market-place, nay, even the purposes for which they might have used it, we have been entirely unable to learn. Lead in the language of the Nahoas, is called temeztli (telt stone, metzli moon), moon stone, a name picturesque and characteristic, as were most of those which stand in the list of objects that belong to the realm of nature. Not a single picture referring to lead can be found in the Mexican Codices. The same must also be said of tin, the name of which was amochictl, a word seemingly Nahoatl in form, but whose root was probably derived from a foreign language. It will be gratifying, however, to learn from the pen of the great conqueror Cortes himself, where the natives, and afterwards his followers, found their tin. To quote the language of Cortes,[[9]] “I am without artillery and weapons, though I have often sent money to obtain them. But as nothing drives a man to expedients so much as distress, and as I had already lost the hope that Your Royal Majesty might be informed of this, I have mustered all my strength to the utmost in order that I might not lose what I have already obtained with so much danger and sacrifice of life. I have therefore arranged to have men immediately sent out in search of copper, and in order to obtain it without delay I have expended a great amount of money. As soon as I had brought together a sufficient quantity, I procured a workman, who luckily was with us, to cast several cannons. Two half-culverines are now ready, and we have succeeded as far as their size would permit. The copper was indeed all ready for use, but I had no tin. Without tin I could do nothing, and it caused me a great deal of trouble to find a sufficient quantity of it for these cannons, for some of our men, who had tin plates or other vessels of that kind, were not willing to part with them at any rate. For this reason I have sent out people in all directions searching for tin, and the Lord, who takes care of everything, willed graciously that when our distress had reached its highest point, I found among the natives of Tachco[[10]] small pieces of tin, very thin and in the form of coins.[[11]] Making further investigations I found that this tin, there and in other provinces was used for money, also that this tin was obtained from the same province of Tachco, the latter being at a distance of 26 leagues from this town. I also discovered the locality itself of these mines. The Spaniards whom I despatched with the necessary tools brought me samples of it, and I then gave them orders that a sufficient quantity should be procured, and, though it is a work of much labor, I shall be supplied with the necessary quantity that I require. While searching for tin, according to a report from those skilled in the subject, a rich vein of iron-ore was also discovered.
Now supplied with tin I can make the desired cannons, and daily I try to increase the number, so that now I have already five pieces ready, two half-culverines, two which are still smaller, one field-piece and two sacres, the same that I brought with me, and another half-culverine which I purchased from the estate of the Adelantado Ponce de Leon.”
In the above report of Cortes, therefore, we are informed of the name of the locality where tin was found and dug by the natives. So we have the facts established that both copper and tin[[12]] were dug by the natives, that there was a traffic, in them at that time, that Cortes himself succeeded in getting at the mines from which they were extracted, and that he had not been mistaken in his former recognition of their display for sale in the public market.
But before these ores could be shaped into the above named commercial forms, it is clear that they still needed to undergo a process of smelting. As to the peculiar mode of smelting pursued by the natives, we have not been able to find any distinct reference in the writings of the chroniclers. It does not appear that the ancient Mexicans understood the method of the Peruvians of melting their copper in furnaces exposed to the wind on the lofty sierras, but we may form for ourselves an idea of how they proceeded from a picture in Codex Mendoza, page 71, fig. 24.
Cut [7] gives a faithful reproduction.