Iztapalapa

“ From this place, we saw how the causeway led directly through the water until it entered the city of Temixtitan, a full league and a half distant, and that likewise on the other, which goes to Iztapalapa, there were crowds of innumerable people. When I had considered all that it was necessary to observe, for it was likely that a garrison of horsemen and foot soldiers would have to be established here in this city, I ordered our people to retire, and we returned to the town, burning their houses and the towers of their idols. ”

“ They shake their heads, and look what they dare not speak, and go their ways. The gloom they take with them is a sample of that which rests over the whole valley.
When the Spaniards reached Iztapalapan, the excitement in the capital became irrepressible. The cities were but an easy march apart, most of it along the causeway. The going and coming may be imagined. The miles of dike were covered by a continuous procession, while the lake, in a broad line from town to town, was darkened by canoes. ”

“ Besides the obstacles offered by the ditches, robbed of their bridges, the Mexicans had heaped together across the streets, the fragments of their demolished houses, thus forming barriers, which were not passed without the greatest labour and suffering. Nevertheless, the Spaniards persevered, and not only gained the causeway, but approached nigh to Iztapalapan, before a Tlascalan messenger, creeping in disguise through the crowds of enemies, recalled them to the palace, which was furiously assailed, and in imminent danger of being carried by storm. ”

“ We had not been long here before the caziques of this town, and of Cojohuacan arrived with a present, worth about 2000 pesos, for which Cortes returned them many thanks, and showed the caziques every possible kindness, and explained, by means of our interpreters, many important things to them relative to our holy religion, and the great power of our emperor.
Iztapalapan was at that time a town of considerable magnitude, [Pg 220] built half in the water and half on dry land. The spot where it stood is at present all dry land ”

“ And the people, made swift by alarm and curiosity, out-marched Cortes many days. Before he reached Iztapalapan, the capital was full of them; in multitudes, lords and slaves, men, women, and children, like Jews to the Passover, scaled the mountains, and hurried through the valley and across the lakes. Better opportunity to study the characteristics of the tribes was never afforded.
All day and night the public resorts—streets, houses, temples—were burdened with the multitude, whose fear, as the hour of entry drew nigh, yielded to their curiosity. ”

“ After the necessary arrangements had been made, we commenced our march towards Iztapalapan, which lies above sixteen miles from Tezcuco, and, as I have before stated, half the town stands in the lake itself. We marched forward with every military precaution, as the Mexicans had posted their scouts in all quarters to watch our movements, so that they might be able to throw a body of troops into any place we might threaten to attack. ”

“ To prevent the natives from mingling with his men, and creating not only disorder but diminishing the awe with which they were regarded, the horsemen in the van received orders to keep the Indians at a respectful distance. Iztapalapan was already in sight when a large force of armed warriors was seen advancing, so large that it seemed as if the armies of Mexico had come to overwhelm them. They were reassured, however, by the announcement that it was Ixtlilxochitl with his escort, intent on having an interview with his proposed ally. ”

“ In this manner, after almost incredible hardships, and many severe contests, in which his forces were very considerably reduced, he succeeded in wresting by violence, or winning by diplomacy, many of the tributary cities and districts from their allegiance to the Mexican crown. In their attempt upon Iztapalapan, which was led by Cortez in person, they were near being entirely overwhelmed by an artificial inundation of the city. ”

“ The troops with the greatest difficulty escaped with their lives, many of the allies being drowned.
The fate of Iztapalapan excited consternation among the other cities, and many sent in to make their submission, among them Otompan and Chalco. Not only had the Mexican Empire fallen to pieces, by the detachment of its distant provinces; but even near home long smoldering rivalries broke into flame. The Aztecs were but a small portion, even of the people of the Valley of Mexico ”

“ This meeting took place amid the beautiful gardens and stately residences of the royal city of Iztapalapan, situated between the fresh waters of Lake Chalco and the salt flood of the broad Tezcuco. Here the Spaniards were entertained with regal splendor, and here they passed the last night before entering the capital.
151 Never did nature assume a fairer aspect than when, on the following morning, the clear-voiced Spanish trumpets set the little army in motion for the final march of their eventful progress through the land of Anahuac. ”

“ The southern road, two leagues in length, commenced half a league from Iztapalapan, and was bordered on one side by Mexicaltzinco, a town of about four thousand houses, and on the other, first by Coyuhuacan with six thousand, and further on by Huitzilopochco with five thousand dwellings. ”

“ Thus matters continued until Ordaz, who was engaged on the street to the west of the fort, sent word to Cortés, who was pressing forward in the direction of the Iztapalapan causeway, that he was losing ground. Leaving his own forces, the general hurried to the scene with a few horsemen, and heading the charge, drove back the warriors at the most exposed point, so as to relieve the infantry in the retreat which was now found necessary. ”

“ Do not tarry, old man," said he, again addressing Itzalmo. "There is no time to lose, for the day is already more than half gone."
Guarded by the soldier, Itzalmo went to his room, where he made a hurried preparation to go to Azcapozalco, before the king. When he was ready he was reconducted to the officer's presence, and after a short delay placed in charge of two men, who, with him between them, followed the officer from the palace.
The distance from Tezcuco to the Tepanec capital was not great, and yet, to a pedestrian, quite a journey. ”

“ SUMMIT OF IZTACCIHUATIL, MEXICO. Over against Popocatapetl is Iztaccihuatl—the "Woman in White." Its resemblance to a human figure is perceived more readily than that of the Man in the Moon. One needs a strong imagination in both cases. The giantess lies in her snowy robes, with her feet toward her husband and her cold face upturned, her hair being simulated by one of the dark forests which mantle the lower slopes of these mountains. Recent enterprise has found a way of making money out of both these old people. ”

“ This town of Iztapan is very large and built on the bank of a very beautiful river. Its position is advantageous for a Spanish settlement, and the pasture is excellent along the banks of the river, while there is good farming land; and the country is well populated. ”

“ The challengers have advanced half-way; the Aztecs must meet them.”
The conjecture was speedily verified. Iztlil’ had, in fact, ill brooked the superior skill, or better fortune, of the ’tzin; the applause of the populace had been worse than wounds to his jealous heart. Till this time, however, he had restrained his passion; now the foe were ranged as if challenging attack: he threw away his useless bow, and laid his hand on his maquahuitl.
“It is not for an Aztec god that we are fighting, O comrade!” he cried to Tlahua. “It is for ourselves. Come, let us show yon king a better war!” ”

“ Among the Indians is the family of the Cacique Astopilco; they claim a lineal descent from the Inca Atahualpa, and inhabit part of the palace which was formerly occupied by the imperial family, the place where Atahualpa was murdered. The generality of the inhabitants are industrious, and their workmanship in silver and iron is deserving of much praise. ”

“ Like Mixcoatl, with whom she is closely associated, Itzpapalotl appears to have been originally one of the ancient stellar and lightning deities of the Chichimec or nomadic tribes of the northern plains. Later, on the abandonment of the hunting mode of subsistence and the acceptance of a more settled and agricultural mode of life by the tribes who worshipped her, Itzpapalotl would appear (as the allusion to [227] her in the song to Tlazolteotl seems to show) to have become a goddess of the food-supply, the melon-patch, and the maize-crop. ”

“ Shall this man be allowed to spoil us while our eyes are open? This, friends, is the question you have been called together to consider. Let your words be words of wisdom, that our council may result in good."
After a brief period of silence an old man—a Tlacopan chief—rose up, and addressed the king:
"Your majesty's words are words of warning. We are, of a truth, menaced by this Maxtla, of Azcapozalco, whose power is great. The army of Tlacopan, combined with the armies of all the principalities here represented, would be as naught before the hosts of his mighty empire. ”

“ While the exciting scenes of the tourney were being witnessed on Tlacopan's tianguez, events of an entirely different nature were transpiring in the palace of Maxtla, at Azcapozalco. The embassy, consisting of three prominent persons and their attendants, which had been sent to him with the ultimatum of the allied principalities, arrived at his capital in great pomp the day preceding the one on which they were instructed to present it. ”

“ Maxtla is a mighty king; Itzalmo an old man, whose life is of little account to anyone, least of all to himself. Was his life a thousand times more valuable than it is, it would yet be as many times too small a price to purchase that which you ask. Itzalmo has lived true to his prince, and will die as he has lived. ”

“ And thus, they had left them in their town, and afterwards had gone to Çagoatespan, which they also found deserted, the inhabitants having gone to the other side of the river; but the people of Iztapan had spoken to them, so they had come back rejoicing, and had given the Spaniards a good reception and all the provisions they required. ”

“ In Codex Telleriano-Remensis, Itzpapalotl wears the male loin-cloth, like the Ciuateteô, and in Codex Vaticanus B (sheet 92) there is represented near her a flowering tree broken in the middle and spouting blood, the glyph or symbol of Tamoanchan, the paradise of the west, where dwelt the Ciuateteô. In the Mexican mind the gaudy hues of the butterfly may have become associated with the brilliance of the western sky at sunset, and this may account for the connection which undoubtedly exists between Itzpapalotl and the western home of the Ciuateteô. ”

“ Isleta has one of the finest built-up estufas of the pueblo towns. It has a thousand inhabitants, whose proximity to the railroad gives them the blessing or curse of the white man’s civilization. It has a church, whose ancient adobe flanks have been topped by two wooden bird-cages for steeples, for when the Indian adopts our ideas, his taste is rococo; when he clings to his own art, he shows a native dignity and simplicity. ”

“ A heart for a heart it shall be—not Itzalmo's, but thine, shall fall to-day, to assuage the offended gods. Take him hence to the block, and let his blood condone his offense." Thus did the keeper of Itzalmo's dungeon become, innocently, the victim of Maxtla's ferocity. ”

“ Our Atahualpa, Son of the Sun, was borne above all on a throne of massive gold. Now, when Atahualpa, with six thousand men, had reached the great square without seeing a single white man, he asked: 'Where are the strangers?' And a monk, whom none had seen until then, approached the Inca, a cross in his hand. With the monk was an interpreter of our race. The Inca listened while the priest told him of his religion and urged him to abandon the faith of his fathers for that of the Christian. Atahualpa replied: 'Your God was put to death by the men to whom he gave life. ”

“ At daylight we started, and arrived at Istapa at nine o'clock. Captain de Nouvelle had not yet gone on board. Two French ships were then lying off the port: the Belle Poule and the Melanie, both from Bordeaux, the latter being the vessel of Captain de Nouvelle. He had accounts to arrange with the captain of the Belle Poule, and we started first for his vessel.
As I have before said, Istapa is an open roadstead, without bay, headland, rock, reef, or any protection whatever from the open sea. Generally the sea is, as its name imports, pacific, and the waves roll calmly to the shore ”

“ For no one is left who, in conformity with their laws, is able to say that he is the heir, in whole or in part of this land. Only two sons of Huayna Ccapac escaped the cruelty of Atahualpa. They were Paullu Tupac, afterwards called Don Cristóval Paullu, and Manco Inca. ”

“ Altotonga, the name of a settlement of Xalapa, in New Spain. The word signifies in the Mexican language, hot and saltish water, and this comes from the intermingled qualities of two streams which originate in a mountain near to each other, and form by their junction a river which runs into the lake of Alchichica.
Alzoui, a settlement of 190 Indian families, of Tlapa, in New Spain, or Mexico. They are industrious, cultivating maize, cotton, French beans and rice. ”

“ And that other mountain, Iztaccihuatl, or the "White Woman," lying so quietly and snug, in her covering of perpetual snow, at the side of the volcano, called up in the minds of the Indians the strange conceit of man and wife. There were forests on the mountain sides and trees along the rivers covered with green, but all else looked dry and parched. Seldom, indeed, has the eye of man ever rested on a finer farming country than the great plain of Puebla, and seldom are lands seen better cultivated. ”