Cuauhtémoc

“ The grand causeway was eight yards wide, and ran straight to Mexico. In good order, the Spaniards marched over it between the assembled thousands of Indians. At about a mile from the city this causeway was joined by another from the town of Coyoacan, and at their juncture was a small, though strong, fortress, with walls ten feet high, battlements, two entrances, and a drawbridge. This point was called Xoloc, and was occupied by Cortez in the following year as his military headquarters, whence he directed the siege of the city. ”

“ THE saying is current that "Outside of Mexico all is Cuatitlan."
It shows that the capital entertains a true Parisian esteem for itself, and a corresponding contempt for the rest of the country. Cuatitlan is a little village twenty-five miles to the northward, reached by a narrow-gauge railroad, built by Mexicans, but purchased by the Mexican Central. It was at Cuatitlan that I saw my first bull- fight. It is one of the two places in the vicinity where the capital thus amuses itself, the sport being prohibited in town. ”

“ In their present position, with the advantages of superior civilization, there was equal glory accruing to the Spaniards in winning Mexico, and to the Mexicans in manfully losing their city. Quauhtemotzin as a patriot and a skilful general was fully alive to the perils of his position, but he was prepared to use to best advantage all the resources at his command, and that is all any one can do. Stern as Saturnius, and passionately patient, from the day of the capture of Montezuma his nature had been proof against all pleasure. ”

“ The Prince Cuatimozin crowned Emperor on the death of his uncle, Cuitlahuac.
all who should be brought alive to him in Mexico. And it was no uncommon thing for the Spaniards to find hanging up in the temples of the conquered places the arms and accoutrements of their unfortunate countrymen who had been seized and sent to the capital for sacrifice.1 Such was the young monarch who was now called to the tottering throne of the Aztecs; worthy, by his bold and magnanimous nature, to sway the sceptre of his country, in the most flourishing period of her renown ”

“ That night the allies encamped within the city. The following day Cortés again approached some nobles at an intrenchment and asked, "Why remains the emperor so stubborn? Why will he not come and speak with me, and stay the useless slaughter of his subjects?" Bound by superstitious loyalty to their ruler, weepingly they replied, "We know not; we will speak with him; we can but die!" Presently they returned to say that Quauhtemotzin would present himself in the market-place on the following noon. ”

“ During the siege of Cuautla the viceregal government had to resort to extraordinary measures to carry on the war. Public loans, voluntary and forced, were long since an old story; yet one more attempt was made to borrow two million dollars from the church and the wealthy men and merchants of Mexico, Puebla, and Vera Cruz, but without success. Then it was ordered that all persons should surrender their plate and jewelry, a promise in return being given that their value should be paid in one year with interest. ”

“ Jeromín came with delight to Cuacos, with the hope of knowing the legendary hero of his martial dreams, the Emperor, whom he always painted to himself as wearing a plumed helmet on his head, his shining armour crossed by a red sash, riding the Andalusian horse caparisoned with velvet and gold, as he is painted in his famous Muhlberg picture by Titian, or as a thousand times Juan Galarza and Luis Quijada, eye-witnesses, had described him. ”

“ Terminating the vista down the avenue, rise the hill and castle of Chapultepec. Historic Chapultepec! From the days when Montezuma wandered beneath its shades and built his palace here, to those of the head of the last dead empire, it has been the chosen resort of successive rulers of Mexico. A glorious grove of giant trees surrounds the hill,—grand old cypresses hung with masses of Spanish moss, like those of the cypress swamps of Florida. Beneath them are traced walks and avenues, which are crowded on Sunday afternoons and on feast days, and are seldom solitary any day in the year. ”

“ On landing, he was escorted to the presence of Cortés, who was stationed on an azotea where he could survey the combat. Marina was by his side as interpreter. Cuahtemoc approached with a calm bearing and firm step, a noble, well-proportioned youth, it is said, with a complexion fair for one of his race. Without waiting to be addressed he said: "I have done my best to defend my people. Deal with me as you will," and touching the dagger in Cortes' belt, he added, "Despatch me at once, I beseech you."
The wife of the captive king was now sent for ”

“ Nevertheless Quauhtemotzin cudgelled his brain to bethink himself how to escape torment, and pointed out a number of places where treasures might be found. Thereupon Cortés stepped forward, thinking if possible to recover his name from foul dishonor, and said: "Such behavior to a king is cruel, inhuman; I will have none of it." Nevertheless Quauhtemotzin went on to tell how the canoe of some rich fugitives was upset by a brigantine, indicating that and other spots were treasures might be found. ”

“ Among the men who had followed Narvaez was a Negro who had brought with him the germs of small-pox, which were communicated to the Aztecs in the city. It spared neither rich nor poor, as one of the first victims was their leader, Cuitlahua. The electors chose his nephew to succeed him, the youthful Guatemoc, or, as he was commonly called, Guatemotzin. In some respects in spite of the lack of the sagacity and farsightedness of Cuitlahua, he was a better man for the problem, for he at once mustered his forces and launched them upon Cortes and the Tlascalans in the valley of Otumba. ”

“ Cuernavaca with its baths and mineral waters is the favorite of all the resorts, easily accessible to the fashionable Mexican. Here also almost continually resides a large colony of the European ladies whose husbands do business in Mexico City, the high altitude, thin air, and chilly temperature of which rarely agree with the health of the women who come there from the lower sea levels. The men can stand it from the first, if their hearts and lungs are sound, but the women are often sent to Cuernavaca, there to sojourn until they become acclimated to the conditions of these highland plateaus. ”

“ Thus the castle of Chapultepec, the last and strongest citadel of the Mexicans, had fallen before an impetuous charge up a hill deemed inaccessible, in the face of a hot fire, and the city itself lay at the mercy of the invaders. The causeway which it defended formed a double roadway on each side of a great aqueduct, with stone arches and pillars. Shields charged impetuously along this causeway, towards the city, two miles distant, while Quitman pursued the fleeing enemy along the neighboring causeway of Belen. ”

“ Cuernavaca, the picturesque capital, which is the centre of these, is much of a favourite health resort since it became connected by railway with the City of Mexico. The Franciscan church carries us back to 1539, and the palace of Cortes and the gardens of Maximilian bring into recollection episodes of the history of this romantic region of the Pacific slope. The climate invites to dalliance, and the varied landscape—canyon, forest, and stream—open out in their pleasurable variety as we make our way westward. ”

“ But there are certain places to which, even after the advent of the engine, the coach will be preferred by travellers open to the beauty of scenery along the road, and who wish to lose none of the mountain views about the valley of Mexico. Cuernavaca is one of these: separated by mountains from the capital, the journey thither by diligence is one of the most interesting that can be made, for it is surrounded by the halo of one of the most adventurous exploits of Cortés, and lies in a valley open to the influences of a perfectly tropical climate. ”

“ In order to complete the reconnoissance, a north-westerly route was taken to Coyuhuacan, the centre of a series of inner towns which lay clustered within a radius of a league and a half, along the shores or upon islands in the lake, all picturesque in their pyramidal temples and their white walls, which gleamed amidst blooming orchards and shady groves. Coyuhuacan itself was a beautiful town, and Cortés felt so captivated with it that he afterward made it for some time his favorite residence. ”

“ We can imagine the words by which the Spaniards might justify to themselves the death of Quauhpopoca, but we cannot understand the object in degrading the emperor in the eyes of his subjects- — an act which they had hitherto been so careful to avoid — unless it was to lift themselves in their own esteem and that of the natives, far above the highest American princes and powers, and to impress the sacredness of their persons on the minds of the Indians. ”

“ The additions to the population in Tenochtitlan were chiefly Culhuas, who came in so large numbers as to outnumber, perhaps, the original Mexicans; while Tlatelulco received a corresponding influx of Tepanecs, and many from other neighboring nations. We have no further details of their history down to the death of the emperor Techotl, at Tezcuco, except that the establishment of a monarchy in each of the two cities. The Mexicans were at first ruled by the priests, with certain chiefs not definitely named; although by some Tenuch is still spoken of as alive and ruling down to 1357. ”

“ It is fair to say, however, that there are those who think the future metropolis may be farther to the north, as at San Luis Potosi.
If Mexico, then, is to be a great city, whither is it to spread? It is compactly built within, and much of the land about it is low, traversed by causeways. There is no better place to think about it, nor to look down upon the capital as a whole, than Chapultepec.
My first visit there was made on the tramway, where I fell in with a Mexican colonel, who told me that he liked the Americans very well. ”

“ On the ninth day of their march, the troops arrived before the strong city of Quauhnahuac, or Cuernavaca, as since called by the Spaniards.1 It was the ancient capital of the Tlahuicas, and the most considerable place for wealth and population in this part of the country. It was tributary to the Aztecs, and a garrison of this nation was quartered within its walls. The town was singularly situated on a projecting piece of land, encompassed by barrancas, or formidable ravines, except on one side, which opened on a rich and well cultivated country. ”

“ I stayed a couple of days at Cuautla, to visit the sugar haciendas. The sugar product is large, and the district one of the most convenient sources of supply for central Mexico. A week afterward the newly inaugurated road was the scene of an accident unequalled, I think, in the annals of railway horrors. Five hundred lives were lost, in a little barranca, an insecure bridge over which had been washed out by the rain. A regiment in garrison at Cuautla was ordered to Mexico, and started in a train of open "flat" cars, there not having been passenger cars sufficient for the purpose. ”

“ As the country seemed inviting, and as good as Cuzco, the Inca here founded a place which he called Quito, peopling it with mitimaes. Here he made edifices and store-houses, saying, “Cuzco must be the capital of one part of my great empire and Quito of the other.” He gave important powers to the Governor of Quito, and placed his own governors and delegates in all the surrounding districts. He ordered that there should be a garrison of men, both for peace and war, at Caranguri; and he removed the inhabitants from one village to another, making them exchange their abodes. ”

“ Somewhat farther to the south, the eye passes across the beautiful plains lying around the city of Puebla de los Angeles, founded by the old Spaniards, and still rivalling, in the splendor of its churches, the most brilliant capitals of Europe; and far in the west he may behold the Valley of Mexico, spread out like a map, with its diminished lakes, its princely capital rising in still greater glory from its ruins, and its rugged hills gathering darkly around it, as in the days of Montezuma. ”

“ It seemed best that some force should remain in Cuyoacan, because the natives of Suchimilco, Culuacan, Iztapalapa, Chilobusco, Mexicalcingo, Cuitaguacad, and Mizquique, which are all on the water, were rebellious and in favour of those of the city, and should they wish to take us on our rear, we would be protected by those ten or twelve horsemen I ordered to guard the causeway, while many more remained in Cuyoacan with more than ten thousand Indian allies. ”

“ I replied that though it was not the Aztec habit to march and fight at night, such things were common enough among white men as they had seen already, and that because the Spaniards knew it was not their habit, they would be the more likely to attempt escape under cover of the darkness, when they thought their enemies asleep. Therefore I counselled that sentries should be set at all the entrances to every causeway. To this Cuitlahua assented, and assigned the causeway of Tlacopan to Guatemoc and myself, making us the guardians of its safety. ”