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THE
HISTORY
OF
MEXICO.
BOOK I.
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Description of the Country of Anahuac, or a short Account of the Soil, Climate, Mountains, Rivers, Lakes,
Minerals, Plants, Animals, and People of the Kingdom of Mexico.
The name of Anahuac, which was originally given to the vale of Mexico only, from its principal cities having
been situated on little islands, and upon the borders of two lakes, taking afterwards a more extensive
signification, was used to denominate almost all that tract of land, which is known at present by the name of
New Spain (a).
This vast country was then divided into the kingdoms of Mexico, Acolhuacan. Tlacopan, and Michuacan;
into the republics of Tlaxcallan, Cholollan, and Huexotzinco, and several other distinct states.
The kingdom of Michuacan, the most westerly of the whole, was bounded on the east and south by the
Mexican dominions, on the
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(a) Anahuac signifies near to the water, and from thence appears to be derived the name of Anahuatlaca, or
Nahttatlaca, by which the polished nations occupying the banks of the Mexican lake have been known.
HISTORY OF MEXICO.
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(pages 2-104 not copied)
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The nation of the Tarascas occupied the vast, rich, and pleasant country of Michuacan, where they multiplied
considerably, and settled many cities and an infinite number of villages. Their kings were rivals of the
Mexicans, and had frequent wars with them. Their artists excelled, or vied with those of other nations; at least
after the conquest of Mexico: the best Mosaic works were made in Michuacan, and there only this valuable
art was preserved unto our time. The Tarascas were idolatrous, but not so cruel as the Mexicans in their
worship. Their language is copious, sweet, and sonorous. They make frequent use of the soft R; their
syllables, for the most part, consist of a single consonant, and a single vowel. Besides the natural advantage
of their country, the Tarascas had the good fortune to have D. Vasca di Quiroga for their first bishop, one of
the most distinguished prelates Spain has produced, worthy of being compared with the ancient fathers of the
church, and whose memory was preserved fresh unto our time, and will last perpetually among these people.
The country of Michuacan, which is one of the finest of the New World, was annexed to the crown of Spain
by the free and spontaneous aft of its lawful sovereign, without costing the Spaniards a drop of blood,
although it is probable that the recent example of the ruin of the Mexican empire, intimidated and impelled
that monarch to such a concession (y).
The Mazahuas were once a part of the nation of the Otomies, as the languages of both nations are but
different dialects of the same tongue; but this diversity between two nations so jealous of preserving their
idioms uncorrupted, is a clear argument of the great antiquity
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(y) Boturiui says, that the Mexicans finding themselves besieged by the Spaniards, sent an embassy to the
king of Michuacan, to procure his alliance; that he assembled an hundred thousand Tarascas, and as many
Teochechemacas, in the province of Avalos; but that, being intimidated by certain visions which his sister
had, who was once dead but returned to life again, he discharged the army, and abandoned the undertaking of
succouring the Mexicans, as he had intended. But all this account is a string of fables. As far as we know, no
author of that age makes mention of such an event. Whence came these hundred thousand Teochechemecas,
who were so quickly assembled? Why was the army collected in the province most distant from Mexico?
Who has ever seen the king of France order his troops to be assembled in Flanders, to succour some city of
Spain? The resurrection of the princess is a fable founded on the memorable occurrence, respecting the sister
of Montezuma, of which we shall speak hereafter.
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HISTORY OF MEXICO.
of their separation. The principal places which they inhabited were on the western mountains of the vale of
Mexico, and formed the province of Mazahuacan, belonging to the crown of Tacuba.
The Matlatzincas made a considerable state in the fertile vale of Toluca; and, however great, anciently, their
reputation was for bravery, they were, notwithstanding, subjected to the crown of Mexico, by king Axayacatl.
The Miztecas and Zapotecas peopled the vast countries of their name, to the south-east of Tezeuco. The
numerous states into which these two countries were divided, continued a long time under several lords or
rulers of the same nations, until they were subdued by the Mexicans. Those nations were civilized and
industrious; they had their laws, exercised the arts of the Mexicans, and made use of the same method to
compute time, and the same paintings to perpetuate the memory of events, in which they represented the
creation of the world, the universal deluge, the confusion of tongues; although the whole was intermixed with
various fables (z). Since the conquest, the Miztecas and Zapotecas have been the most industrious people of
New Spain. While the commerce of silk lasted, they were the feeders of the worms; and to their labours is
owing all the cochineal, which for many years, until the present time, has been imported from Mexico into
Europe.
The Chiapanese have been the first peoplers of the New World, if we give credit to their traditions. They say
that Votan, the grandson of that respectable old man who built the great ark to save himself and family from
the deluge, and one of those who undertook the building of that lofty edifice which was to reach heaven,
went, by express command of the Lord, to people that land. They say also that the first peoplers came from
the quarter of the North, and that when they arrived at Soconusco, they separated, some going to inhabit the
country of Nicaragua, and others remaining in Chiapan. This country, as historians say, was not governed by
a king, but by two military chiefs, elected by priests. Thus they remained until they were subjected by
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(z) See the work of Fra Gregorio Garzia Dominicano, entitled, the Origin of the Indians, in book v. chap. 4.
concerning the mythology of the Miztecas.
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the last kings of Mexico to that crown. They made the same use of paintings as the Mexicans, and had the
same method of computing time; but the figures with which they represented days, years, and months, were
totally different.
Of the Cohuixcas, the Cuitlatecas, the Jopas, the Mazatecas, the Popolocas, the Chinantecas, and the
Totbnacas, we know nothing of the origin, nor the time when they arrived in Anahuac. We shall say
something of their particular customs whenever it will illustrate the history of the Mexicans.
But of all the nations which peopled the region of Anahuac, the most renowned and the most signalized in the
history of Mexico, were those vulgarly called the Nahuatlacas. This name, the etymology of which we have
explained, in the beginning of this history, was principally given to those seven nations, or rather those seven
tribes of the same nation, who arrived in that country after the Chechemecas, and peopled the little islands,
banks, and boundaries of the Mexican lakes. These tribes were the Sochimilcas, the Chalchese, the
Tepanecas, the Colhuas, the Tlahuicas, the Tlascalans, and the Mexicans. The origin of all these tribes was
the province of Aztlan, from whence came the Mexicans, or from some other contiguous to it, and peopled
with the same nation. All historians represent them as originally of one and the same country: all of them
spoke the same language. The different names by which they have been known, were taken from the places
which they settled, or from those in which they established themselves.
The Sochimilcas derived their name from the great city Xochimilco, which they founded on the southern
shore of the lake of sweet water or Chalco; the Chalchese, from the city of Chalco, upon the eastern shore of
the same lake; the Colhuas, from Colhuacan; the Mexicans, from Mexico; the Tlascalans, from Tlascala; and
the Tlaluiicas, from the land where they established themselves; which, from its, abounding in cinnabar, was
called Tlahuictill (a). The Tepanecas possibly had
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(a) Tlahuitl, is the Mexican name of cinnabar: and Tlahuican means the place or country of Cinnabar. Some
authors call them Tlalhuicat, and derive the name from a place of that land called Tlalhuic; but besides that
we never heard of such a place, the name does not appear conforming with the language.
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HISTORY OF MEXICO.
They told a similar fable of the origin of the moon. Tezcociztecal, another of those men who assembled in
Teotihuacan, following the example of Nanahitatzin, threw himself into the fire: but the flames being
somewhat less fierce, he turned out less bright, and was transformed into the moon. To these two deities they
consecrated those two famous temples erected in the plain of Teotihuacan, of which we shall give an account
in another place.
Sect. IV.
The god of air.
Quetzalcoatl. (Feathered serpent.) This was among the Mexicans, and all the other nations of
Anahuac, the god of the air. He was said to have once been high-priest of Tula. They figured him tall, big, and of a
fair complexion, with an open forehead, large eyes, long black hair, and a thick beard. From a love of decency,
he wore always a long robe; he was so rich that he had palaces of silver and precious stones; he was thought to
possess the greatest industry, and to have invented the art of melting metals and cutting gems. He was
supposed to have had the most profound wisdom, which he displayed in the laws which he left to mankind;
and above all to have had the most rigid and exemplary manners. Whenever he intended to promulgate a law
in his kingdom, he ordered a crier to the top of the mountain Tzatzitepec (the hill of shouting) near the city of
Tula, whose voice was heard at the distance of. three hundred miles. In his time, the corn grew so strong that
a single ear was a load for a man: gourds were as long as a man's body: it was unnecessary to die cotton, for it
grew naturally of all colours: and all other fruits and seeds were in the same abundance and of extraordinary
size. Then too there was an incredible number of beautiful and sweet singing birds. All his subjects were rich;
and to sum up all in one word, the Mexicans imagined as much happiness under the priesthood of
Quetzalcoatl, as the Greeks did under the reign of Saturn, whom this Mexican god likewise resembled in the
exile which he suffered. Amidst all this prosperity, Tezcatilpoca, I know not for what reason, wishing to drive
him from that country, appeared to him in the form of an old man, and told him that it was the will of the
gods that he should be taken to the kingdom of Ttapalla. At the same time he offered him a beverage, which
Quetzalcoatl readily accepted, in hopes of obtaining that immortality after which he aspired. He had no
sooner drank it than he felt himself
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so strongly inclined to go to Tlapalla, that he set out immediately, accompanied by many of his subjects, who,
on the way, entertained him with music. Near the city of Quauhtitlan he felled a tree with stones, which
remained fixed in the trunk: and near Tlalnepantla he laid his hand upon a stone and left an impression, which
the Mexicans shewed the Spaniards after the conquest. Upon his arrival at Cholula, the citizens
detained him, and made him take upon him the government of their city. Besides the decency and sweetness of his
manners, the aversion he shewed to all kinds of cruelty, insomuch that he could not bear to "hear the very mention of
war, added much to the affection entertained for him by the inhabitants of Cholula. To him they said they
owed their knowledge of melting metals, their laws by which they were ever afterwards governed, the rites
and ceremonies of their religion, and even, as some affirmed, the arrangement of their seasons and calendar.
After being twenty years in Cholula, he resolved to pursue his journey to the imaginary kingdom of Tlapalla,
carrying along with him four noble and virtuous youths. In the maritime province of Coaizacoalco, he
dismissed them, and desired them to assure the Cholulans that he would return to comfort and direct them.
The Cholulans, out of respect to their beloved Quetzalcoatl, put the reins of government into the hands of
those young men. Some people said that he suddenly disappeared, others that he died upon that coast; but,
however it might be, Quetzalcoatl was consecrated as a god by the Toltecas of Cholulan, and made chief
guardian of their city, in the centre of which, in honour of him, they raised a great eminence and built a
sanctuary upon it. Another eminence, with a temple, was afterwards erected to him in Tula. From Cholula his
worship was propagated over all that country, where he was adored as the god of the air. He had temples in
Mexico, and elsewhere; and some nations, even enemies of the Cholulans, had, in the city of Cholula,
temples and priests dedicated to his worship; and people came from all countries thither, to pay their
devotions and to fulfil their vows. The Cholulans preserved with the highest veneration some small green
stones, very well cut, which they said had belonged to him. The people of Yucatan boasted that their nobles
were descended from him.
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HISTORY OF MEXICO.
Barren women offered up their prayers to him in order to become fruitful. His festivals were great and
extraordinary, especially in Cholula, in the Teoxihuitl, or divine year; and were preceded by a severe fast of
eighty days, and by dreadful austerities practised by the priests consecrated to his worship. Quetzalcoatl, they
said, cleared the way for the god of water; because in these countries rain is generally preceded by wind.
Dr. Siguenza imagined that the Quetzalcoatl, deified by those people, was no other than the apostle St.
Thomas, who announced to them the Gospel. He supported that opinion with great learning, in a work (h)
which, with many other of his inestimable writings, has been unfortunately lost by the neglect of his heirs. In
that work he instituted a comparison betwixt the names of Didymos and Quetzalcoatl (i), their dress, their
doctrine, and their prophecies; and examined the places through which they went, the traces which they left,
and the miracles which their respective disciples related. As we have never seen the manuscript above
mentioned, we shall avoid criticising an opinion to which we cannot subscribe, notwithstanding the respect
which, we bear for the great genius and extensive learning of the author.
Some Mexican writers are persuaded that the Gospel had been preached in America some centuries before
the arrival of the Spaniards. The grounds of that opinion are some crosses (k) which have been
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(h) This work of Siguenza is mentioned by Betancourt, in his Mexican Theatre; and by Dr. Eguiera, in his
Mexican Bibliotheca.
(i) Betancourt observes, when he is comparing together the names of Didymos and Quetzalcoatt, that the
latter is composed of cnatl a twin, and quetzalli a gem; and that it signifies a precious twin. But Torquemada,
who perfectly understood the Mexican language, and had those names interpreted to him by the ancient
people, says that Quetzalcoatl means, serpent furnished with feathers. In fact, coatl does perfectly signify
serpent, and quctzalii, green feather, and have been applied to twin and gem, only metaphorically.
(k) The crosses the most celebrated are those of Yucatan, of Mizteca, Ciueretaro, Tepique, and
Tianquiztepec. Those of Yucatan are mentioned by Father Cogolludo, a Franciscan, in his History, book ii.
chap 12. The cross of Mizteca is taken notice of by Boturini in his work, and in the chronicle of Father
Burgoa, a Dominican. There is an account of the cross of Ciueretaro, written by a Franciscan of the college of
Propaganda in that city; and of that of Tepique by the learned Jesuit Sigismund Tarabal, whose manuscripts
are preserved in the Jesuit college of Guadalajora. That of Tiauquiztepec was discovered by Boturini, and is
mentioned in his work. The crosses of Yucatan were worshipped by the Yucatanese, in obedience, as they
said, to the instructions of their great prophet Chilam-Cambal, who desired that when a certain race of men
with, beards should arrive in that country from the East, and
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found at different times, which seem to have been made before the BOOK VI. arrival of the Spaniards: the
fast of forty days observed by the people of the new world (l), the tradition of the future arrival of a strange
people with beards, and the prints of human feet impressed upon some stones, which are supposed to be the
footsteps of the apostle St. Thomas (n). We never could reconcile ourselves to this opinion; but the
examination of such monuments and remains, would require a work of a very different kind from that which
we have undertaken.
Tlaloc, otherwise Tlalocateuctli (master of paradise), was the got! of water. They called him fertilizer of the
earth, and protector of their temporal goods. They believed he resided upon the highest mountains, where the
clouds are generally formed, such as those of Tlaloc, Tlascala, and Toluca; whither they often went to
implore his protection.
SECT. V.
The gods of mountains, water,
fire, earth, night, and hell.
The native historians relate, that the Acolhuas having arrived in that country in the time of Xolotl, the first
Chechemecan king, found at the top of the mountain of Tlaloc an image of that god, made of a white and
very light stone, in the shape of a man sitting upon a square stone, with a vessel before him, in which was
some elastic gum, and a variety of seeds. This was their yearly offering, by way of rendering up their thanks
after having had, a favourable harvest. That image was reckoned the oldest in that country; for it had been
placed upon that hill by the ancient Toltecas, and remained till the end of the XVth or beginning of the XVIth
century, when Nezahualpilli, king of Acolhuacan, in order to gain the favour of his subjects, carried it away,
and placed another in its stead, of a very hard black stone. The new image, however, being defaced by
lightning, and the priests declaring it to be a punishment from heaven, the ancient statue was restored, and
there
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should be seen to adore that sign, they should embrace the doctrine of those strangers. We shall have an
opportunity of speaking more particularly concerning these monuments, in the Ecclesiastical History of
Mexico, if Heaven vouchsafe to favour our design.
(l) The fast of forty days proves nothing, as those nations likewise observed fasts of three, four, five, twenty,
eighty, a hundred and sixty days, and even of four years; nor was that of forty days by any means the most
common.
(n) Not only the marks of human feet have been found printed or rather cut out in stones, but those likewise
of animals have been found, without our being able to form any conjecture of the purpose had in view by
those who have taken the trouble to cut them.
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