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Show H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. BOOK VII. were diftriCts in a city, and every iftrict poffeffed its own part entirely '""'"-.. oJ diftinet from, and independent of the others. Thefe lands could not be alienated by any means whatever. Some of them were allotted to furni{h provifions for the army in time of war; thofe were called Melthimalli, or Cacalomilli, according to the kind of provifions which they fupplied. The catholic kings have afllgned lands to the fettlcments of the Mexicans (t), and made proper laws to fecure to them the perpetuity of fuch po!fefllons; but ttt prefent many villages have been deprived of them by the great power of fome individuals, afll!l:ed by the s! cT. XY. '.1'1te cributcs 0111d taxes laid 011 the fubjc<' l:s of the crown. iniquity of fome judges. All the provinces that were conquered by the Mexicans were tribu-tary to the crown, and contributed fruits, animals, and the minerals of the country, according to the rate prefcribed them; and all merchants be.fides paid a part of their merchandizes) and all arti!l:s a certain portion of their labours. In the capital of every province was a houfe allotted for a magazine to contain the corn, garments, and all the other effeCts, which the revenue officers collected in the circle of each diftriCl. Thefc officers were univerfally odious on account of the dif. trefies which they brought on the tributary places. Their badges of difiinClion were a little rod which they carried in one hand, and a fan of feathers in the other. The treafurers of the king had paintings, in which were defcribed all the tributary places, and the quantity and quality of the tributes. In the colleCtion made by Mendoza, there are thirty-fix paintings of this kind (u), and in each of thefe arc n:prefcnted the principal places of one, or of many provinces"'f the empire. ~e.fides an excefllve number of cotton garments, and a certain quantlty of corn and feathers, which were the ufual taxes laid on almofi all trib~tary places, many other different things were paid in tribute accordmg to the produce of difft:rent countries. In order to give (t) The roy~l laws grant to every Indiat\ villngc, or fettlcrnent, the territory which furrounds them to the extent of fix hutHlred C:dlilian cubits, which arc equal to tWo 11\tndrcd and fifty fcvcn P:\llifiat\ perches. (u) 'fh~ thirty-fix paintings begin with the 13 th, and end with the 4Srh. In the copy of them pu~hfl1cd b~ !hcvenot, the 2 dt and 22d arc w:wting, and for the moil part the figures of the tributary Ct11es. The copy p Jbliil1ed in Mexico in , 77o, is flilllcfs pcrfdt, fot' it wanrs the~ lit, ud, .38th, 39th, :tn. .d 40th of Mendoza's Coli« :lion, bcfidcs a number of errors in t?e Jnterprc:tatJ?ns; hut it has the :~dvant~g-: over Tbevenot'a of having the figur~ s ofrhc cities, and of be111g 011l executed on plntei. our H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. 351 our readers fome idea of them, we lhall mention fome of the taxes BOOK vn. which are reprefented in thefe paintings . .____., The cities. of Xoconocho, Huehuetlan, Mazat/an, and others upon the coafi, pa1d annually to the crown, befides the drefics made of cotton, four thoufand handfuls of beautiful feathers of different colours, two hundred bags of cocoas, forty tygers ikins, and a hundred and iixty · birds ~f certain particular colours. Huaxjacac, Cojolapan. -:ttiat:uecbahucyan, and other places belonging to the Zapotecas, paid m tnbute forty plates of gold of a certain fize and thicknefs, and twenty bags of cochineal. 'I'lachqut'auci:Jo, A zotlan, twenty vafes of a .certain mea!itre full of gold in powder. 'l'ochtepec, Otlatt'tlan, Cozamalloapan, Mt'chapan, and other places upon the coafi of the Mexican gulf, befides the garments of cotton, gold, and cocoas, were obliged to contribute feventy-four thoufand handfuls of feathers, of different colours and qualities, fix necklaces, two of the finefi emeralds, and four of thofe which were ordinary; twenty ear-rings of amber, adorned with gold, and as many of cryfial ; a hundred fmall cups or jugs of liquid amber, and fix teen thoufand balls of ule, or elafiic. gum. 'l'epejacac, §(gecho/qc, Tecamachalco, Acat:dnco, and other places of thofe regions, furnilhed four thouilind £tcks of lime, four thouf:md load& of atatli, or folid canes, fit to be ufed in buildings, and as many loads of the f.1me canes of a frnaller fize, fit for making darts, and eight thoufand loads of acajetl, or little reeds, full of aromatic fub!l:anc es. Malinaltepec, Tla/cozauhtitlan, 0/inallan, Ichcatlan, ~alae, and other places of fouthern hot countries, fix hundred cups of· honey, forty large bafons of tecozahuitl, or yellow ochre, fit for painting, a hundred and fixty axes of copper, forty round plates of gold, of a certain diameter and thicknefs, ten [mall meafures of fine turquoifes, and one load of ordinary turquoifes. ff<!:jau!mahuac, Panchimalco, Atlacholoajan, Xiuhtepec, Huitzt'lac, and other places belonging to the Tlahuicas, fixteen thoufand pieces, or large lheets of paper, and four thoufand xicalli (natural vafes, of which we il1all treat hereafter), of different fizcs. §(gauhtitlatt, 'l'ehutllojocan, 'and other places which were neighbouring to them, eight thoufand mats, and as many feats or chairs. Other places contributed fuel, 'fione, a certain number of beams and planks fit for buildi11gs, and a certain quantity of copal', &c. Some • |