[859] Central America, ii. 452.
[860] See Vol. II. p. 414.
[861] See Vol. II. p. 343.
[862] See Vol. II. p. 412.
[863] See Vol. II. p. 417. Cf. Prescott’s Mexico, i. 50; Bancroft (Nat. Races, ii. ch. 14) epitomizes the information on the laws and courts of the Nahua; Bandelier (Peabody Mus. Repts., ii. 446), referring to Zurita’s Report, which he characterizes as marked for perspicacity, deep knowledge, and honest judgment, speaks of it as embodying the experience of nearly twenty years,—eleven of which were passed in Mexico,—and in which the author gave answers to inquiries put by the king. “If we could obtain,” says Bandelier, “all the answers given to these questions from all parts of Spanish America, and all as elaborate and truthful as those of Zurita, Palacio, and Ondegardo, our knowledge of the aboriginal history and ethnology of Spanish America would be much advanced.” Zurita’s Report in a French translation is in Ternaux-Compans’ Collection; the original is in Pacheco’s Docs. inéditos, but in a mutilated text.
[864] See Vol. II. p. 346.
[865] It is much we owe to the twelve Franciscan friars who on May 13, 1524, landed in Mexico to convert and defend the natives. It is from their writings that we must draw a large part of our knowledge respecting the Indian character, condition, and history. These Christian apostles were Martin de Valencia, Francisco de Soto, Martin de Coruña, Juan Xuares, Antonio de Ciudad Rodrigo, Toribio de Benavente, Garcia de Cisneros, Luis de Fuensalida, Juan de Ribas, Francisco Ximenez, Andrés de Cordoba, Juan de Palos.
From the Historia of Las Casas, particularly from that part of it called Apologética historia, we can also derive some help. (Cf. Vol. II. p. 340.)
[866] Brasseur, Bib. Mex.-Guat., p. 147; Leclerc, p. 168.
[867] Herrera is furthermore the source of much that we read in later works concerning the native religion and habits of life. See Vol. II. p. 67.