he had sent to tell me; that inasmuch as I could not forego seeing him, I hoped he would approve of it, and not plan any opposition, because it would be greatly to his injury, and would grieve me very much.
From the time he saw it was my determination to visit him and his country, he sent me word to say that I might come, and very welcome; that he would await me in that great city where he was, and he sent me many of his people to accompany me, as I was already near his country. These persons sought to induce me to go by a certain road, where they must have prepared some attack upon me, as it afterwards appeared, and as was seen by many Spaniards whom I afterwards sent to reconnoitre the country. There were so many bridges, and difficult passes on that road, that, if I had gone by it, they might very easily have accomplished their intentions, but as God has always taken care to guide, even from your childhood, the royal affairs of Your Sacred Majesty, and as I and those of my company went in your royal service, He showed us another road, which, although somewhat steep, was not as dangerous as that by which they wished to take us.
About eight leagues from this city of Churultecal, there are two very high and marvellous mountains,[1]
Ascent of
Popoca-
tapetl
for at the end of August they were so covered with snow that we could distinguish nothing else on their tops but what seemed snow, and
- ↑ Popocatapetl. Signifying in the Mexican language "smoking mountain." Humboldt gives its height as 5400 metres. Together with Ixtaccihuatl (the white woman) this volcano was venerated as a god, the Indians considering them as man and wife; their feast days were celebrated both in the city and in grottoes in the mountains. The crater of Popocatapetl was thought to be an abode of the tormented spirits of wicked kings. The greatest eruption of which there is any record took place in 1353; the mountain was in a period of activity in 1519 which lasted till 1528. Another eruption occurred in 1533, but the one which caused the most serious apprehension was on Feb. 24, 1664, when a huge piece of the crater fell in and showers of ashes
