the dark-fringed forests rose old Orizaba,[1] laughing at their distress beneath its cap of snow, and wondering why mortals so superior should choose the deadly tierra caliente country for their promenade, when gentle, genial Anáhuac lay so near. But presently the senses quickened to the aroma of vegetation; soft swards and cultivated fields spread before them their living green, and the moist, murmuring wood anon threw over them its grateful shade. If beside grave thoughts on the stupendous matters then under consideration, might find place such trifles of God's creation as birds of brilliant plumage and of sweet song, they were there in myriads to charm the eye and ear; game to fill the stomach, though not so satisfying as gold, always commanded attention, and was also plentiful.[2] Through all, dispensing life and beauty on every side, flowed the Rio de la Antigua, where a few years later rose old Vera Cruz.[3]
Crossing this stream with the aid of rafts and shaky canoes, the army quartered on the opposite bank, in one of the towns there, which was destitute alike of food and people, but which displayed the
- ↑ The natives called it Citlaltepetl, starry mountain, with reference probably to the sparks issuing from it. For height, etc., see Humboldt, Essai Pol., i. 273. Brasseur de Bourbourg gives it the unlikely name of Alhuilizapan. Hist. Nat. Civ., iv. 99. The ending 'pan' implies a discrict or town, not a mountain. The description in Carta del Ayunt., in Cortés, Cartas, 22-3, expresses doubt whether the whiteness of the summit is due to snow or to clouds.
- ↑ Alvarado chased a deer, and succeeded in wounding it, but the next moment the dense underbrush saved it from pursuit. The Carta del Ayunt., loc. cit., gives a list of birds and quadrupeds; and a descriptive account, founded greatly on fancy, however, is to be found in the curious Erasmi Francisci Guineischer und Americanischer Blumen-Pusch, Nürnberg, 1669, wherein the compiler presents under the title of a nosegay the 'perfume of the wonders of strange animals, of peculiar customs, and of the doings of the kings of Peru and Mexico.' The first of its two parts is devoted to the animal kingdom, with particular attention to the marvellous, wherein credulity finds free play, as may be seen also in the flying dragon of one of the crude engravings. In the second part, the aborigines, their history, condition, and customs, are treated of, chiefly under Peru and Mexico, chapter v. relating specially to the latter country. The narrative is quite superficial and fragmentary; the 'nosegay' being not only common but faded, even the style and type appearing antiquated for the date. Appended is Hemmersam, Guineische und West-Indianische Reissbeschreibung, with addition by Dietherr, relating to Africa and Brazil.
- ↑ A tres leguas andadas llego al rio que parte termino con tierras de Montecçuma.' Gomara, Hist. Mex., 49; Torquemada, i. 395.
