[312] Martyr gives a particular account of these dwellings, which shows that even the poorer classes were comfortably lodged. “Populares vero domus cingulo virili tenus lapideæ sunt et ipsæ, ob lacunæ incrementum per fluxum aut fluviorum in ea labentium alluvies. Super fundamentis illis magnis, lateribus tum coctis, tum æstivo sole siccatis, immixtis trabibus reliquam molem construunt; uno sunt communes domus contentæ tabulato. In solo parum hospitantur propter humiditatem, tecta non tegulis sed bitumine quodam terreo vestiunt; ad solem captandum commodior est ille modus, breviore tempore consumi debere credendum est.” De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 10.
[313] Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 8.—Rel. Seg. de Cortés, ap. Lorenzana, p. 108.—Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 10, 11.—Rel. d’un gentil’ huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 309.
[314] Martyr was struck with the resemblance. “Uti de illustrissima civitate Venetiarum legitur, ad tumulum in ea sinus Adriatici parte visum, fuisse constructam.” Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 10.
[315] May we not apply, without much violence, to the Aztec capital, Giovanni della Casa’s spirited sonnet, contrasting the origin of Venice with its meridian glory?
“Questi Palazzi e queste logge or colte
D’ostro, di marmo e di figure elette,
Fur poche e basse case insieme accolte
Deserti lidi e povere Isolette.
Ma genti ardite d’ogni vizio sciolte
Premeano il mar con picciole barchette,
Che qui non per domar provincie molte,
Ma fuggir servitù s’ eran ristrette
Non era ambizion ne’ petti loro;
Ma ’l mentire abborrian più che la morte,
Nè vi regnava ingorda fame d’oro.
Se ’l Ciel v’ ha dato piu beata sorte,
Non sien quelle virtù che tanto onoro,
Dalle nuove ricchezze oppresse e morte.”
[316] “Le lac de Tezcuco n’a généralement que trois à cinq mètres de profondeur. Dans quelques endroits le fond se trouve même déjà à moins d’un mètre.” Humboldt, Essai politique, tom. ii. p. 49.
[317] “Y cada dia entran gran multitud de Indios cargados de bastimentos y tributos, así por tierra como por agua, en acales ó barcas, que en lengua de las Islas llaman Canoas.” Toribio, Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 6.
[318] “Esta la cibdad de Méjico ó Teneztutan, que será de sesenta mil vecinos.” (Carta del Lic. Zuazo, MS.) “Tenustitanam ipsam inquiunt sexaginta circiter esse millium domorum.” (Martyr, De Orbe Novo, dec. 5, cap. 3.) “Era Méjico, quando Cortés entró, pueblo de sesenta mil casas.” (Gomara, Crónica, cap. 78.) Toribio says, vaguely, “Los moradores y gente era innumerable.” (Hist. de los Indios, MS., Parte 3, cap. 8.) The Italian translation of the “Anonymous Conqueror,” who survives only in translation, says, indeed, “meglio di sessanta mila habitatori” (Rel. d’un gentil’ huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 309); owing, probably, to a blunder in rendering the word vecinos, the ordinary term in Spanish statistics, which, signifying householders, corresponds with the Italian fuochi. See, also, Clavigero. (Stor. del Messico, tom. iii. p. 86, nota.) Robertson rests exclusively on this Italian translation for his estimate. (History of America, vol. ii. p. 281.) He cites, indeed, two other authorities in the same connection; Cortés, who says nothing of the population, and Herrera, who confirms the popular statement of “sesenta mil casas.” (Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 13.) The fact is of some importance.
[319] “In the smallest houses, with few exceptions, two, four, and even six families resided together.” Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 7, cap. 13.
[320] Rel. d’un gentil’ huomo, ap. Ramusio, tom. iii. fol. 309.