and bordered by commodious apartments. Adjoining it, and overlooked by a large pavilion, was a vast garden, divided into four squares by hedges of plaited reeds, which were entirely overgrown with roses and other flowers. Shaded walks led out in all directions, now by beds of rare plants collected from remote parts, now into orchards temptingly laden, and again past groups of artistically arranged flowers. In ponds fed by navigable canals sported innumerable waterfowl, consorting with fishes of different species. In the centre of the garden was an immense reservoir of hewn stone, four hundred paces square, surrounded by a tiled pavement from which steps led at intervals to the water.[1]
Cortes was not only hospitably entertained, but received a present of female slaves, packs of cloth, and over three thousand castellanos in gold.[2]
The soldiers now prepared under more than usual excitement for the final march, which was to bring them to the longed-for goal. The reputed magnificence of the capital made most of the Spaniards
- ↑ Peter Martyr, dec. v. cap. ii.; Gomara, Hist. Mex., 99; Cortés, Cartas, 82. What with the retreating waters and the removal of native lords in whose interest it lay to preserve the gardens and palaces, her glories are now departed. The evaporation of the lake waters had been observed before the conquest. After this it increased rapidly, owing to the thoughtless destruction of forests in the valley, as Humboldt remarks. In Bernal Diaz' time already Iztapalapan lay high and dry, with fields of maize growing where he had seen the busy traffic of canoes. Hist. Verdad., 65. The fate of the lake region was sealed by the construction of the Huehuetoca canal, which drained the big lake to a mere shadow of its former self, leaving far inland the flourishing towns which once lined its shore, and shielding the waters, as it were, from further persecution by an unsightly barrier of desert salt marshes — and all to save the capital from the inundations to which blundering locators had exposed her. Humboldt has in his map of the valley traced the outline of the lake as it appeared to the conquerors, and although open to criticism it is interesting. Essai Pol., i. 167, 173-5.
- ↑ Cortés, Cartas, 82. Bernal Diaz reduces it to 2000 pesos. According to Sahagun, Cortés summons the lords of the district and tells them of his mission. The common people keep out of the way, fearing a massacre. Hist. Conq., 21-2. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., iv. 205-6, assumes from this that many of the chiefs promised to support Cortes against the government, which is hardly likely to have been done in a city ruled by Montezuma's brother, who was at heart hostile to the Spaniards. Here again, says Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vii. cap. v., Montezuma sought to dissuade Cortés from entering the capital; Torquemada, i. 449. His envoy being Cacama, adds Ixtlilxochitl. Hist. Chic. 295.
