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Show 'BOOK VJT • ~ SllcT. LilT. J)omcflic or civil architd lurc of the Mexicans. .. ' . H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. teenth century, and none of thofc:: which we know. of, were made b(. fore the conque!l:. The mofaic works ~lfo w~tch. they ~ade ~f broken £hells was extremdy curious; thrs art •s ihll prachfcd m Guatemala. In imitation of thofe !kilful artifl:s there were others, who formed with flowers and le..tves upon mats many beautiful works made ufe of at fefi:ivals. After the introduClion of Chrifl:ianity they made thefe works for ornament; they were fought after moO: eagerly by the Spnnifh nobility, on account of' the fingular ·beauty of the artifice. At prcfent there are many artifis in th:1t kin gdom, who employ. themfeh cs in counterfeiting with filk the' images of feathers ; but t!1eu· performances are by no means comparable witl1 thofe of the ancrents. A nation fo indufirious in thofe arts which could only ferve for curiofity and luxury, c?uld not be wanti~g in thof~ which were _neceffary to life. Architecture, one of thoie. arts . whtch the ncccDrty of man fidl: invents, was exercifed by the mhabttants of the country of Anahuac, at leafi from the time of the Toltecas. Their fuccefiors the Chechemecas, the Acolhuas, and all the other nations of the kingdoms of Acolhuacan, of Mexico, and Michuacan, of the republic of T1afcala, and other provinces, except the Otomies, built houfcs and formed cities from time immemorial. When the Mexicans arrived in th:~t country, they found it full of large and beautiful cities. They who before they left their native country were il~illed in architetl:ure, and ufed to a focial life, conftrueted in their pilgrimage many edifices in thofe places where they fiopped for fame years; fome remains of which are il:ill exiiling as we have already mentioned upon the banks of the river Gila, in Pimeria, and near to the city of Zacatec:1s. Reduced afterwards to greater hardfhips upon the little iflands of the Tezcucan lake, they built humbk huts with reeds and mud, until by the commerce of their fifh they were able to purchafc better materials. In proportion as their power and riches increafed, they enl:rged and improved their habitations; fo that when the conquerors arnved, tl~ey found no lefs to be admired with their eyes than to be deilroyed With their hands. The houfes of the poor were built of reeds, or unburned bricks, .or fione and mud, and the roofs made of a long kind- of hay which grows • H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I 'C 0. grows thick, and is common in the fields, particularly itl hot coun.tries, or of the leaves of the maguei, or aloe, placed in the manner of tiles, to which they bear fome refemblance both in thicknefs and fhape. One of the columns or fupports of thefe houfes was generally a tree of a :e~ular ~rowth, by means of which, beiides the pleafure they took ll1 tts fohage and !hade, they faved them{dvcs fame labour and expence. Thefe houfes had for the moil: part but one chamber, where the family and all the animals belonging to it, the fire-place, and furniture, were lodged. If the family was not very poor, there were moret chambers, an ajauhcalli, or oratory; a temazccdli, or bath, and a little granary. The houfes of lords, and people of circum!l:ances, were built of fione and lime; they coniified of two floors, having halls, large courtyards, and the chambers fitly difpofed ; the roofs were flat and terraced; the walls were fo well whitened, polilhed, and lhining, that they appeared to the Spaniards when at a diftance to have been filver. The pavement or floor was plaifi:er, perfetl:ly level, plain, and fi11ooth. Many of thefe houfes were crowned with battlements and turrets; and their gardens had fifh-ponds, and the walks of them fymmetrically laid out. The large houfes of the capital had in general two entrances, the principal one to the ftreet, the other to the canal : they had no wooden doors to their houfes, perhaps, becaufe they thought their habitations fufficiently fecure without them from the feverity of the laws againft robbers; but to prevent the infj)eClion of pafiengers, they covered the entrance with little reeds, from which they fufpended a fl:ring of cocoas, or pieces of broken kitchen utenfils, or iome other thing fit to awake by its noi[e the attention. of the family, when any perfon lifted up the reeds to ente1· the houfe. No perfon was permitted to enter without the confent of the owner. When necefiity, or civility, or family connetl:ions did not j uftify the entrance of any p~rfon who came to the houfe, he was lifiencd to without and immed.iately dif ... miffed. The Mexicans underil:ood the building of arches and vaults (t), as appears from their baths, from the:: remains of the royal palaces of · Tez- (I) Torqucrnnd:L f:ty~, that when the Sp:\lliarJs took. away the roof from :111 arch built in the Hrfl churc:h ~f Mcxic:o, the Mexicans from te rror durft not enter the church, expeCting VoL. I. H h h every 417 BOO!). VIl. '-v--1 I |