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Show BOOK II. ~ , H I s T o: R Y 0 F M g. X I c: O~ P.Bal1<t and Tepepolco, forty miles diftant, tow~rds .tlre rt.ortll, fr~tn t~~ fite of Mexico. From thence Xolotl' funt the: prmce.Nopaltzmt hJs. fon, to furvey the country. The prince croffed the: borders of .the lakes, the mountains which funound tile delightful v.ale of Mextco,;. and having marked the whole cou!ltry, fr?m :he· top1 of. a lo.ftyr mountain, he lhot four arrows to the four· wmds m token- of takmg poffeffion, in the name o~ his father~ of all that country. Xolotl being made acquainted wlth the quahty of ~he c~untry, refolved tOt efiabWh himfelf in Tenayuca, a place fix miles dtftant from the fite of Mexico towards the north, and diftributed his people among the· neighbouring lands : but the greater population being towards. the: north, and north-weft,. that traCt of land had fince the name of Chechemecatlalli; that is, the land of the Chechemecas. Hiftorians. relate, that in Tenayuca there was a review of the people taken, and' therefore it was likewife given th~ name of Nepohualco,. which means, the place of enumeration; but what Torquemada adds, is. entirely incredible, that there were more than a million. af Chechemecas found at this review, and there remained even until his time,. twelve piles of the fiones which they continued to throw during the· review. Befides, neither is it probable that fo large an army lhould. fet out on·fo long an expedition; or does it appear poffible that fo fmall a diftriCl: could fupport a million of hunters. The king being fettled in Ten:yuca, which he deil:ined for the place of his court, and having given proper orders for the forming of other towns and villages, he commanded one of his captains, named Achitomatl, to go and trace the fource of certain rivers which the prince had obferved in his expedition. Achitomatl found in Chapoltepec, in Cojohuacan, and in other places, feveral Toltecan families, from whom he learned the caufe and time of their defolation. The Chechemecas, not only avoided to difturb thofe miferable relics of that celebrated nation, but formed alliances with them, many of the nobles marrying with the women of Tolteca ; and among others, prince Nopaltzin married Azcaxochitl, a virgin defcended from Pochotl, one of the two princes of the royal family of Tolteca, who fur. vived the defiruetion of their nation. This humanity brought its recompence to the Chechemecas; for from their commerce with that H. 1 S• T 0 R Y Q ~ M ij X I · C. 0. tliatJindu.ftrious, natiOn,._ theyrfx,gao to tail:e-com,. and 'ot11er fruits· of indllft:ry:;. were taught·agrioulture, the m~nner ·of digging metals, and the ar.t of, oalling them ; alfo to cut ftones) to .Cpin and wea¥e cottoq. andl other· things, by· wliich , they improved their means· of. living, their clothing, their habitations, and manner&. Nor did the arri vah of• other civili:zed natiQns 1 oontrlbute,'leCs to the refinement of th~ Checehmecas. Eight year& were fcarcely elapfell· from. the time that Xolotl had efiablilhed himfelf in Tenayuca,. when there arrived in that country fiJt: refpe&bl~ perfons, with a, c0nfiderable retinue of people. They were from a northern country, neighbouring to· the kingdom of Amaq:.temecan, or a little difl:ant ftx:>m it, the name of which is not mentioned by hifiorians-; but we• have reafon to believe tliat it was· the country of :Aztlan, the native, countlry ·of the Mexicans, and that thefe new colonies were the fi.JG. famous tribes of Nahuatlachi, of which, all the hiftorians o£ Mexi~()) make mention, and we iliall lhortly treat of. It is probable that· Xolotl fent advice to his native country, of the advantages of the· fituation where he was eftablilhed; and that fuch inf01·mation, fpread among the adjoining nations, incited many families to follow his ll:eps, and partake his good fortune. It is alfo to be imagined, that fome famine or fcarcity having happened to the northern countries, fo many people were obliged to feek relief in lands to the fouthward. However it was, the fix perfons arrived in Tenayuca from the North, were graciouOy received by the Chechemecan king; and when he learned the purpofe of their travel, and their defire to ftay in that country, he afilgned them a diftrict which they might inhabit with their people. A few years after, there arrivGd three other princes, with a great ar ... my of the Acolhuan nation, natives of Teoacolhuacan, a country neighbouring to, and not far difiant from the kingdom of Amaquemecan. Thefe princes were named Acolhuatzin, Chiconquauhtli, and 'I'rzontecomatl, and were of the moll: noble houfe of Citin. It was the moll: cultivated and moft civilized of all the nations which were in that country fince the Toltecas. It may be eafily fuppofcd, how great a rumour was occafioned by fuch a novelty, in that kingdom, and what difquiet fo great· a mu~titude ·of l.Vlknown people raifed 1 among •' s. BOOK H. ~ |