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Show 190 BOOK lV. ~ . ' H I S T 0 R y 0 F M E X I C 0. Of falt, 1 d oo large ba!kets. I 8,ooo. Of Tur 'eys, . The quantity confumed of Chia, French beans, and o~her legu~ll- 1 t of deer alfo and ducks, qu:1ils, and other bu·ds, was m-no~ s p aJd1 s; b ·l r: 'Every perfon will eafily comprehend how fimte an num et e1s. . I 11. h t 1t Of Population muft have been to amafs Juc 1 a van ''Teat t e ex e1 . tr b • quant1ty o f ma1· ze an d cocoas '. particularly as 1.t v•.·as necen.a ry to procure t1I1 ·S 1a f t by commerce with warm cou. ntncs , there bemg no 1 f 1· foil in all the kingdom of Acolhuacan fit for .the cu tLfre o t 11s I t During one half of the year or nine Mex1can months, fo ur-pan. .. fi l'd teen cities furni(hed fuch proviiions , and fifteen other c1ttes u pp 1e them during the other half year. Young men ;vere employed to car~·y 011 their backs the fud which was <:onfumed m the royal palace, m amazing q nan cities (g). , . . . . The proo-refs made by this celebrated kmg, m the arts and fclCnces, was fuch as 0 is to be expeCted from a gr at genius who is without books to ftudy, or mafters to inftruCl: hirn. He excelle~ in the P?etry ~f thefe nations, and produced many compofitions whtch met With umverfal applauic. In the fixtcenth century, his fixty hymns, compofcd in honour of the Creator of Heaven, were celebrated even among the Spaniards. Two of his odes or f~ngs, tt:a~flated. into Spani£h verfe by his dcfccndant Don Ferdinanda d Alba Ixthlxoclutl, ~ave been prefcrved unto our time (h) . One ~f thefe .was wr?te. fome tm1c after the ruin of Azcapozalco. The fubject of It was llmtlar to the other which . we already mentioned; it lamented the inconfl:ancy of human greatnefs, in the perfon of the tyrant Tezozomoc, whom he compared to a large and fiately tree whic;h had extended its roots through m:~ny ountries, and fpread the fhade of its green branches over all the lands of the empire; but at lafl:, worm-eaten and wafted, fell to the e:trrh, never to rcfume its youthful verdure. (g) The f'umtcen cities charged with furni01ing provi!ions for the firrt half year w•:rc Tn:· · c\t co, Huexotta, Co:u:lichan, Atenco, Chiauhtla, Tczonjocan, Papalotla, 'I cpctlaoztoc, Acol· man, T epcchpan, Xaltocan, Chimalhuacnn, lztap.tl ocan, and Coatcpcc. The otht•r fi ft~c n were Otompan, Aztaquemccan, Teotihu acan, cmpoa\lan, 1\xapochco, Tlalannp:m, T~ pc !'ol · co, Tizajocnn, Ahuatcpec, Oztoticpac, ~nu h tl at z inco, Cojo:w, Oztotl adallhcnll, Achtchlll :t· cachocan, ami ·r ctli7.tacac. (b C:w. Bot trini hnd two odes compo r~LI t y Nczahu nlcojotl; we wi01cd much for them ro publifh them in this hirtory. Nothing . ' . : .. . . H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. Nothing, however, gave Co much de1ight to N ezahualcojotl, as the BOO T). IV .. ftudy of nature. He acquired fome ideas ?f afl: ron omy, by the fre- .._ .. ,y--..; quent obfcrvations which he made of the courfe of the ft.trs. He ap-plied himfelf befides, to the knowledge of plants and animals; but finding he could not keep the natives of other climes alive at his court, he caufed paintings to be made from the life, of all the plants and ani-mals of the country of Anahuac ; to which paintings the celebrated Hernandez bears tefi:imony, who faw and made u[e of them : paintings more ufeful and more worthy of a royal palace than thofe which rep n:- fent the dark mythology of the Grecians. Ie was a curious enquirer into the caufes of the effects by which nature xcited his admiration,, nnd .fi·equent obfervation in that way, led him to difcover the wcak-nefs of idolatry. To his fons, he faid privately, that although in c.on-formity with the people they paid external adoration to the idols, they £hould, yet, in their hearts detcft the worfh.ip which was fo defcrving of mockery, as it was directed to lifelefs forms; that he acknowledged no other God than the Creator of Heaven, and he did not forbid idolatry in his kingdom, though inclined to do fo, that he migllt not be blamed for contradiCting the doctrines of his anceftors. He prohibited the fa-crifice of hllman victims; ·but perceiving afterwards how diflicult it was to makt: a nation change its a11cient and long-rooted ideas in matters of religion,' he again permitted them, but commanded, under fevcre pe-nalties, that thefc 01ould be none but prifoners of war. He ereCted ill honour of the Creator of Heaven, a high tower, confifting of nine tloors. The laft floor was dark and vaulted, painted within of a blue colou,., and ornamented with cornices of gold. In this tower refided conftantly fome men whofe ·office was to fl:rike, at certain hours of the day, plates of the fineft metal, at which fignal the king kneeled down to pray to the Creator of Heaven. In honour likewife of this God, at . a certain time of the year he always obfervcd a fail: (k). The elevated genius of this king, actuated by the great love he had to his people, produced fo enlightened his capital, that in future times it was confidered as. the nurfery of the arts and the centre o.f (k) All the above mentioned anecdotes al'e extrnCl:ed from the valu.tblc manufcripts of Dot~ Fet·Jinando d'Alha; he being fourth grandfon of th:1t king, rcceiveJ, probably, many traditions from his fathers and grand·f(Lth.ers. cultivation. |