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Show BOOK VII. ~ S 1!. C T. XXXIV. Filhiug. S [ C T, XXXV. Colllmcrce. HIs T 0 R y 0 F M E .X I C 0. fall frotn the trees, they ll:ill tr~ck them, particularly if they are wou~ded by obftrving mofi: attentively fometime the drops o~ blood whtch fal'l upor tl.e leaves as they pafs, iometimes the herbs wh1ch are broken or beat down by tht:ir fe "t (s) · From the fituation of their c, pi tal, and it~ VIC111lty to. the lake. of Chalco, which aboun ied with fiih, the Mextcans were !hll . m?rc Invited to filhing than the chace. They employ~d th~mfdv~s Ill 1t from the time of their a:Tival in that country, and theu art 111 .fiflHng procured them all other nece!Taries. The infl:rumcnts which they moil: commonly made ufe of in fi{hing were nets, but th~y aUo employed hooks, harpoons, and weals. . . The fil11ers not only caught fifu, but even took crocodiles ~n two different methods. One was by tying them by the neck, whtch, as Hernandez afferts, was very common; but this author does not explain the manner in which they performed a? a~ fo _daring againfl: ~o terrible a creature. The other method, wh1ch IS !l:Ill ufed by fomc, was that which the Egyptians formerly praCl:ifed on the famous <.:ro~o~ diles of the Nile. The fifher prcfented himfelf before the .crocodtlc, carrying in his hand a ftrong ftic.:k, w.ell fharp:ncd at both en_ds, and when the animal opened its mouth to devour hun, he thrufl: _lus ~rmed hand into its jaws, and as the crocodile !hut its mouth a_gam, tt _w;~s trnnsfixed by the two points of the ftick. The ..fifher watted u11td 1t grew feeble from the lofs of blood, and then he ki~led it. . FHhing, hunting, agriculture, and the arts, furnt~ed the Mexicans feveral branches of commerce. Their commerce m the country of Anahuac began as foon as they were fettled upon the little iflands_ in the Tezcucan lake. The .fil11 which they caught, and the m.tts whtch they wove of rul11es which the Cm1e lake produces, was cxcl1a~ ged for maize, cotton, fioncs, lime, and the wood, which they requ1rcd !'or their fupport, for their clothing, and their buildings. In 1;roport10n to the power which their arms acquired, their commerce mc~eafed; fo that from having been at firfl: confined to the environs of their own (s) The accOllnt which we have of the T:tnl\lmarcf~·, the Opates, and ot1 t cr nr~tl· 'ln_s b cyo nd the Tropic when purfuccl by thtir enemies the Apacci, is flill more wondl·rflll; fo_r by the touch and ~bfcn· arions nf the footlteps of thcit· enemies, they can tell rhe t imc at whtch they paffcd there. The f:1mc thing we umlcrfiand is re1>orted of the people of Y uc.ttan. 8 city, fi I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. city, it cxtenclcJ at laft to the motl: ditl:ant provinces. There were innumerable Mexican mer hants, who incefimtly travelled from one city to another to exch:lngc their goods to advantage. In every pbce of the Mexican empire, and of all the extcnfivc country of Anahu.1c, a market was opened every day; but evety five days they held one which was m r lre confiderable and gener;al. Cities which were near together had this market on different days, that they might not prejudice each other; but i11 the capital it was kept on the days of the Houfe, the Rabbet, the Reed, and the Flint, which, in the firtl year of the century, were the third, the eighth, the thirteenth, and eighte~nth of every month. In order to convey fome idea of thofe markets, or r:1ther f.1irs, which have been fo much celehrated by the hifl:orians of Mexico, it will be fufficient to defcribe that held in the capital. Until the time of king Axajacatl, it was kept in a fjlace of ground before the royal palace; but after the conquefi: of TJatelolco, it w.1s removed to that quarter. The public place of Tlateloko was, according to the account of the conqut:ror Cortes, twice as large as that of Salamanca, one of the moJ1: famous it1 Spain (t), and furrounded by porticos for the convenience of the merchants. Every fort of merchandize had a particular place allotted t~ it by the judges of commerce. In one ftarion were goods of gold, and filver, and jewels; in another, manufactures of cotton; in another, thofe of feathers, and fo forth; and no change of fituation was allowed to any of them; but although the fquare was very large, as all the merchandizes could not be lodged in it without interrupting the tranfaCl:ion of bufinHs, it was ordered that all large goods, fuch as beams, fiones, &c. fhould be left in the roads and can:1ls near to the · market-place. The number of merchants who _daily afiembled there, according to the aftirmation of Cortes himfdf, exceeded fifty thoufand ( u). The things which were fold or exchanged there:, were fo (t) In three editions of the letters of Cortes which IVc h<lvc fccn, we have read, that the fquarc of Tlatclolco qJJaJ twia as lm-ge tu tbe city of Sttlamanl·n, whereas it ought to rcud, as that of the city of Snlamancn. (u) Although Cortes nfllrrncd that there rtffembled daily in the rnnrket-plnce of Tl~telolco fifty thoufanJ people, it ~ppears that it ought to be un~erfiood of the grt :~t ~nrket w~1ch was held every five days; for the anonymous conqueror, who fpenks more dtOmcHy of 1t, f:tye, that at the mnrkers there were from twenty to twcn•y-fivc thoufand, but at the great markets from forty to fifty th0\1f11nd. 1 V OI.. I • D u·1 d. numeroui BOOK Vll. ~ |