hoped some day to displace Cacama. Imbued more than ever with his ambition, he hastened to intercept the Spanish captain, in order personally to promote his views and induce him to come northward to Tezcuco and to his own capital. Cortés was full of promises, but it did not just then suit him to disarrange the plan he had formed, and so Ixtlilxochitl had to wait.
It is this meeting no doubt which has been wrongly extended by several authorities into a visit to Tezcuco.[1]
As the Spaniards approached Iztapalapan,[2] Cuitlahuatzin, the brother of Montezuma and lord of the city, came forth in company with Tezozomoc, lord of the adjoining Culhuacan, and a number of other caciques and nobles,[3] to escort his guests to their quarters in his palace. The city with its ten thousand to twelve thousand houses was constructed partly on piles, and crossed by canals, on either side of which rose substantial buildings, chiefly of stone, a large proportion being, according to the conqueror, "as fine as the best in Spain, both in extent and construction." The Spaniards were awed by the beauty of the place. The palace was particularly fine and spacious, with courts shaded by awnings of brilliant colors
- ↑ Tezcuco was entirely out of Cortés' route, and the narratives of the march show that no such detour couldl have been made. Torquemada, who contradicts himself about the visit, describes with some detail the reception at this capital, where the population kneel to adore the Spaniards as children of the sun. They are entertained at the palace, and discover in one of the courtiers, named Tecocoltzin, a man of as fair a hue as themselves, who became a great favorite. i. 444. Herrera takes the army from Ayotzinco to Tezcuco and back to Cuitlahuac. dec. ii. lib. vii. cap. iv. Impressed perhaps by the peculiarity of this detour, Vetancurt, after repeating the story, expresses a doubt whether the visit was really made. Teatro Mex., pt. iii. 127-8. But Clavigero brings arguments, based partly upon vague points in Cortés' later letters, to prove that it took place. Storia Mess., iii. 74. Solis, the discriminating,' lets Cacama himself guide Cortés from Ayotzinco to Tezcuco. Hist. Mex., i. 360–1.
- ↑ 'Yxtapalapa, que quiere decir Pueblos donde se coge Sal, ó Yxtatl; y aun hoy tienen este misimo oficio los de Yxtapalapa.' Lorenzana, in Cortés, Hist. N. Esp., 56.
- ↑ Including Matlatzincatzin, lord of Coyuhuacan and brother of Montezuma; Tochihuitzin of Mexicaltzinco, and Huitzillatl of Huitzilopochco. Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 75; Chimalpain, Hist. Conq., 116; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., iv. 205.
