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Show 20 BOOKVIU. ~ H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. after the {hare belonging to their king was deduCted. He alfo crea.ted magii\rates, and appoint~.:d all other officers proper for a colony, whtch he intend d to plant on that coaft. . Having furmounted thefe difficulties, and take~ fmtable ~eafures fo the execution of his great defigns, he began h1s march With the tl'~ops. His intention was not only to recruit the ftrength of his fa tigued people, who had fuffered from that unhea~thy fhore, and to f~ck new alliances, but likcwife to chufe a good fituatiOn for the foundation of the colony; as Chempoalla was upon the way to Chiahuitztla (q), the new harbour difcovered by Montejo. The little army marched with a part of the artillery towards Chempoalla in cautious order, well pre .• pared to defend itfelf, if they {hould chance to .be attacked either by the Totonacas, of whofe fincerity they were not perfeCtly fecure, or by the Mexicans whom they fuppofed they had off~nded by their refolution; a caution which no g?c.,d general ever thought fuperfl.uous, and which was never negletl:ed by Cortes in times of the greateft profperity, always of ufe to maintain military difcipline, and in general nec~ffary for fecurity. The !hips proceeded along lhore to the port of Chiahuitztla. When they arrived within three miles of Chempoalla, twenty refpectable ChempoalJefe inhabitants came out to meet the army, andJ prefented to Cortes a refrelhment of ananas, and other fruits, in the' name of their lord, and made his excufe that he had not come in perfon to meet him, a.s he was pa:evented from doing fo. They entcred1 the city, .in t~ order of ~attle, bein.g fulpicious of f<!>me t·reachery· from the J.nhab1tants. A hght hOlTfeman having advanced as far as the· greaten [quare- of tbe city:, and feeing a baftion of the palace of that' lord, which,. on account of its having been frelh whitened and wellpoliilied, made a bright reflexion of the fun, he imagined it was filv er, and returned fulL fpeed to acquaint the genctral Glf i-t. This incident is· fufficient to· fhew, how much the mind may be deceived and ddw ed· by the predominence of any particular paffion. The Spaniards proceeded · through the ftreet.s, not lefs delighted. tnan~ amazed at feeing (q) Solis and' R.obertlon give to Chiahuitztla the name of G> 1•1 • t:n h' h · h · b M .. , ......: tau11.an,. w 1c nell er u nor c:an e exacan. · • flicb. • H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. 21 fuch a city, the largeft which they had feen in the New World, fo full ~OOKvn;. of inhabitants and beautiful gardens. Some, on account of its large- 4 nefs, called it s~ville, and others Vil/aviciofo, on account of its ple.tfantnefs {r) . When they arrived at the greater temple, the lord of that fiate came to receive them at the entrance; thou:5h inattive on account of his immoderate fatnefs, he was a perfon of diteernment and fome geDiu·S·, After having fuluted according to the cuO:om of that country, and offered incenfe to the general, he took leave, promifing to return as foon as they had repofed after the fatigues of their journey. The whole Spani{ h troop were lodged in large handfome buildings, within the enclofure of the temple, which were either built on purpofc for the accommodation of firangers, or defiined for the habitation of the minifiers of the idols. Here they wPre well entertained, and provided with every thing they w,mted at the expence of that lord, who returned to• them after dinner, in a portable chair or litter, Kcompanied by anum- . her of nobility. In the fecret conference which he had with him," Cortes, by means of his interpreters, boafied the grandeur and po.wet: of his fovcreign, by whom he w.:ts fent into that country, and charged with fever.1l commi£ions of the utmofl: impoFtanee., and amongft others, an injunCtion to fuccou·r and relieve oppreffed innoceRc~. " I£ " therefore," he added, " I can ferve you in any thing with my peru fori and my troops, name it to. mt, I will de it chearfully." On· hearing thef<.: propofals, the Chcmpe>allcie chief fet£hed a deep figh,. which was fol·lowcd by a bitter complaint ef the misfortunes of his. nation. He told him, that the fi:ate of the Totonacas had, from time immemorial, been free, and governed by lords of their own nation; but within a few years fince,, had been oppreifed. with the rigorous yoke of the Mtxicans, who:.. on the· contrary, from a humble commencement, rud raif'l!d themfelves to filCh a pitch of grandeu;, by a (r) We cannot doubt of the ancient greatnefs of Chempoalla, conflCiering the te~mony ofi amhors who 1:1w it, anli the extent of its ruins. It is irnpoflible to conclude any thmg- about it, from the accomn !,riven by Torq.uemada, as in one plnae he makes the inhabitants amount to twenty or thirty thoufand, in another place to tifty thou faml one hundred and ele ven, nne\ in the Index to Vol. L . to an hundred and fifty thou t:md. 'fo Chempoalla the f.'lm thing CJcc.urred which happened to all the other cities of the New World, that is, that wi th difeafcs, :u.d th vexations of the fixtecnth century,. it gr.adually dwindled . until at lu.11 it was entirely clepo11u lated .. |