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THE STORY OF MEXICO
| XI. | ||
| Aztec Character | 111–123 | |
| Unreliable testimony, 111—Hieroglyphics, 111—Paintings, 112—"Wanderings of the Aztecs," 112—Religion, 114—A future life, 114—Funeral customs, 114—Domestic life, 115—Laws, 115—Music, 115—The Aztec calendar, 115—Divisions of time, 116—Names of days, etc., 117—Opinions of antiquarians, 117—The cycle, 118—Unlucky days, 118—Agriculture, 119—Irrigation, 120—A gentle race, 120—The Priestesses, 121——Coatlicue, the goddess of the earth, 122—Source of Aztec greatness, 122—A fatal policy, 123. | ||
| XII. | ||
| The Last of the Montezumas | 124–134 | |
| Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, 124; his character, 124—A coronation festival, 125—Royal robes, 125—The life of an Aztec king, 126; his capital, 126—Diaz's description, 127—A life of pleasure, 128—State correspondence, 128—Chapultepec, 129—Montezuma's cypress, 129—Clouds on the horizon, 130—Sinister predictions, 130—The coming of the white men, 131—An unhappy monarch, 131—Landing of the strangers, 132—Velasquez de Leon, 132; his expedition to Yucatan, 133—Grijalva visits Mexico, 133—Montezuma's embassy, 133. | ||
| XIII. | ||
| Cortés | 135–144 | |
| Birth, 135; enters the army, 135; visits Cuba, 135——An attractive portrait, 135—Defects of character, 136—Velasquez and Grijalva's expedition, 136—A love story, 137—Cortés receives a commission, 137; his companions, 137—Jealousy of Velasquez, 137—The squadron, 138—Jerome d' Aguilar, 138—First conflict with the Aztecs, 139—Palm Sunday, 139—A happy people, 140—Rumors of danger, 140—Presents to the strangers, 141—Cortés as Quetzalcoatl, 141—Easter, 141—A perplexed council, 142—Mistaken policy, 142—Vera Cruz, 142—Cortés visits Cempoallan, 143—Tlaxcalla, 143—The ships destroyed, 144. | ||
