the return of the inhabitants, and assure their good conduct, at one time by no means submissive, the cihuacoatl, or lieutenant, of Quauhtemotzin, whom Cortés had known in Montezuma's time, was given a similar position under Cortés, with instructions to bring back and settle the people, and rule them according to native laws, modified to some extent by Spanish regulations. Some of these involved privileges which tended greatly to reconcile the natives to the new rule. Special districts, with certain franchises, were also granted to different chiefs so as to encourage them to introduce their tribes.[1] Other natives were also allured by similar offers, while certain lords and towns were ordered to supply and maintain during the rebuilding a number of laborers and artisans, the largest force coming from Tezcuco, in accordance with an agreement made by Ixtlilxochitl on being raised to the long-desired throne of his ancestors.[2] One of the wards, called Tlascaltecapan in commemoration of its capture by Tlascaltecs, was granted to settlers of this people, who rendered good service in maintaining order among the Mexicans.[3] While the latter settled throughout the city, Tlateluco became the headquarters for the Aztecs.
The rebuilding progressed rapidly, the natives swarming in and relieving their work with songs and witticisms, almost frivolous in their oblivion of past troubles, and regardless of the fetters they were still continuing to forge for themselves. Their great number made the task-master's whip less needful, and the only apprehension seemed to be about food, which became so scarce as to give rise to diseases under
- ↑ Cortés, Cartas, 308-9. Gomara associates Pedro, the son of Montezuma, with the cihuacoatl, and gives each a ward to populate and rebuild. Hist. Mex., 235; Herrera, dec. iii. lib. iv. cap. viii.
- ↑ His namesake magnifies the number of men supplied by him to 400,000. Hor. Crueldades, 60. 'Haciendo á los Chalcos, Tezcucanos y Xuchimilcos y Tepanecas tragesen . . . materiales.' Duran, Hist. Ind., MS., i. 512.
- ↑ It is now called San Juan Bautista ward, says Panes. Monumentos Domin. Esp., MS., 61. Neither name appears on present maps.
