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Show 374 nooK viT. .. H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. for the ornament of his houfe. Ncar to the ancient court of Tczcnco, a part of the wall which furrounded the city of Co.ttlicban, is fiill p 1~[erved. We wifh that our countrymen would attend to the preft rvation of thofe few remains of the military architecture of the Mexicans, particularly as they have fuffered fo many other nluable rcmait of their antiquity to go to ruin (/). The capital of Mexico, though fuBi.ciently fortified by its natural fituation for thofc times, was rendered imRrcgn;lble to its enemies by the indufl:ry of its inhabitants. There was no accefs to tlw city but by the roads formed upon the lake; and to make it frill more difficult in time of war, they built many ramparts upon thcfe roads, whi h were intcrfetl:ed with ft:v ral deep ditches, over which they had dmwbridges, and thofe ditc:hes were defended by good entrenchments. Thofe ditches were the gr.1ves of many Spaniards and Tlafcal:ms, on the memorable night of the firfl: of July, of which we {hall fpcak hereafte• ·; and the c:anfe which retarded the taking of that great city, by fo numerous and well equipped an army, as that which Cortes employe(! to befiege it; and which, had he not been afiifl:ed by the brigantine , would have delayed it much longer, and occaHoned the lofs of a great dc<tl more blood. For the defence of the city by water, they h ::~d many thoufand fmall ve11Cls, and fr~(1uently exer ifed thcm[dvcs in naval engagements. 13ut the mofl: fingular fortifications of Mexico were the temples themfelves, and efpccially the greater tempi , which rc!l:mblcd a cir:tdel. The wall which furrounded the whole of the temple, the five arfenals there wh ich were f1lled with every fort of offenfive and delcn- . five arms, and the architeCture of the temple itfelf which rendered the aCcent to it fo dinicult, gives us clearly to nnderfi•1nd, that in fu ch buildings, policy, as well as religion, had a D1are; and that tl1ey conil: ructed them, not only from motives of fn per.ll:i tion, but likewife for the purpofe of defence. It is well known from their hifto ry, that they fortified themfelves in their tem.ples when they could not hinder the (/) Thcfe imperfetl accounts of thofe remains of Mexican antiquities, obtained from eye· witnetfcs worthy of the utmofl credit·, perfuude us, that there arc !lill many more of which we have no knowledge, owing to the indolence and neg leer of our country men. See what is Caw in our dilfcrtacioas t·cfpctling thofe antiquities ngninft Sig. de P. nud Dr. Robcrtfon. eu<?my, H I' S T 0' R Y 0 F . M· E X I C · 0. 375 enemy from entering into the city, and from thence harraffed them with BOOK vn. arrows, darts, and ll:ones. In the laft book of this hitl:ory, will ap- .._,__,J pear how. long the Spaniards were in taking the greater temple, where five hundred Mexican nobles had fortified them[dves·. The high efl:eem in . which the Mexicans held every thing relating to war, did not divert their attention from the arts of peace. Firft, a_sriculture,. which is one of the chief occupations of civil life, , was, from time immemor.ial, exercifed by the Mexicans, and almotl: all the people of Anahuac. The Toltecan nation employed themfelves dili-· gently in it,. and tanght it to the Chechemecan hunters. With refpcCl: to the l\1exicans,. w.e know that during the whole of their peregrination,. from their. native country Aztlan, unto the lake where they, founded. Mexico, . they cultivated the earth. in all thoft: places where they made any confiderable Ll:op, · and lived upon the produce of their. labour. When they were brought und~T fubje~ion to the Colhuan. and Tepanecan. nations, and· confined to the miferable little iilands on the lake, they ceaied for fome years to cultivate the land, becaufe they had none, until necefflty, .and indnO:ry together, taught them to form rr..oveablc fields and gardens, which floated on the w3ters of the lake. The method which they purfued to make thofe,. and whicl1 they itill praetife, . is extremely fimple. They plait and twifl: willows, and roots· of marfh plants, or other 8 F. cT • . materoi<lls together,. which-are light, but capable of fitpporting the ea.rth; X~VII !. of the garden firmly united. U p0n this foundation . they lay the light ~~~~d;·:~c.l bullies which float on the lake; and over all, the mud and. dirt which g:II'Ciens of the Mcxicaa. , they draw. up from the bottom of the·famc lake. Their regulnr figure lake • is quadrangular;. their length. and. breadth various; but as far as we can, j.udge, they. are about eight perches long, and. not more than three in breadth, and have lefs than a foot of elevation above the furface.of the water. Thete were the .firft fields which the l\1exicans owned after the foundation of Mexico·; there they firft cultivated the maize, great pepper, and other plants, necelfary for their fupport. In progrefs of time as thofe .fields grew numerous from the induftry of thofe people there were among them gardens of flowers and odoriferous plants, which were employed in the wor{hip of their gods, and ferved for the recrea- . tion of the nobles. At Rrefent they cultivate flowers, and every fort of gar-- don ~ |