History

Hernan Cortés: from Second Letter to

Charles V, 1520

IN ORDER, most potent Sire, to convey to your Majesty a just conception of the great

extent of this noble city of Temixtitlan, and of the many rare and wonderful objects it

contains; of the government and dominions of Moctezuma, the sovereign: of the religious

rights and customs that prevail, and the order that exists in this as well as the other cities

appertaining to his realm: it would require the labor of many accomplished writers, and

much time for the completion of the task. I shall not be able to relate an hundredth part of

what could be told respecting these matters; but I will endeavor to describe, in the best

manner in my power, what I have myself seen; and imperfectly as I may succeed in the

attempt, I am fully aware that the account will appear so wonderful as to be deemed

scarcely worthy of credit; since even we who have seen these things with our own eyes,

are yet so amazed as to be unable to comprehend their reality. But your Majesty may be

assured that if there is any fault in my relation, either in regard to the present subject, or

to any other matters of which I shall give your Majesty an account, it will arise from too

great brevity rather than extravagance or prolixity in the details; and it seems to me but

just to my Prince and Sovereign to declare the truth in the clearest manner, without

saying anything that would detract from it, or add to it.

Before I begin to describe this great city and the others already mentioned, it may be well

for the better understanding of the subject to say something of the configuration of

Mexico, in which they are situated, it being the principal seat of Moctezuma's power.

This Province is in the form of a circle, surrounded on all sides by lofty and rugged

mountains; its level surface comprises an area of about seventy leagues in circumference,

including two lakes, that overspread nearly the whole valley, being navigated by boats

more than fifty leagues round. One of these lakes contains fresh and the other, which is

the larger of the two, salt water. On one side of the lakes, in the middle of the valley, a

range of highlands divides them from one another, with the exception of a narrow strait

which lies between the highlands and the lofty sierras. This strait is a bow-shot wide, and

connects the two lakes; and by this means a trade is carried on between the cities and

other settlements on the lakes in canoes without the necessity of traveling by land. As the

salt lake rises and falls with its tides like the sea, during the time of high water it pours

into the other lake with the rapidity of a powerful stream; and on the other hand, when the

tide has ebbed, the water runs from the fresh into the salt lake.

This great city of Temixtitlan [Mexico] is situated in this salt lake, and from the main

land to the denser parts of it, by whichever route one chooses to enter, the distance is two

leagues. There are four avenues or entrances to the city, all of which are formed by

artificial causeways, two spears' length in width. The city is as large as Seville or

Cordova; its streets, I speak of the principal ones, are very wide and straight; some of

these, and all the inferior ones, are half land and half water, and are navigated by canoes.

All the streets at intervals have openings, through which the water flows, crossing from

one street to another; and at these openings, some of which are very wide, there are also

very wide bridges, composed of large pieces of timber, of great strength and well put

together; on many of these bridges ten horses can go abreast. Foreseeing that if the

inhabitants of the city should prove treacherous, they would possess great advantages

from the manner in which the city is constructed, since by removing the bridges at the

entrances, and abandoning the place, they could leave us to perish by famine without our

being able to reach the main land, as soon as I had entered it, I made great haste to build

four brigatines, which were soon finished, and were large enough to take ashore three

hundred men and the horses, whenever it should become necessary.

This city has many public squares, in which are situated the markets and other places for

buying and selling. There is one square twice as large as that of the city of Salamanca,

surrounded by porticoes, where are daily assembled more than sixty thousand souls,

engaged in buying and selling; and where are found all kinds of merchandise that the

world affords, embracing the necessaries of life, as for instance articles of food, as well as

jewels of gold and silver, lead, brass, copper, tin, precious stones, bones, shells, snails,

and feathers. There are also exposed for sale wrought and unwrought stone, bricks burnt

and unburnt, timber hewn and unhewn, of different sorts. There is a street for game,

where every variety of birds in the country are sold, as fowls, partridges, quails, wild

ducks, fly-catchers, widgeons, turtledoves, pigeons, reed-birds, parrots, sparrows, eagles,

hawks, owls, and kestrels; they sell likewise the skins of some birds of prey, with their

feathers, head, beak, and claws. There are also sold rabbits, hares, deer, and little dogs

[i.e., the chihuahua], which are raised for eating. There is also an herb street, where may

be obtained all sorts of roots and medicinal herbs that the country affords. There are

apothecaries' shops, where prepared medicines, liquids, ointments, and plasters are sold;

barbers' shops, where they wash and shave the head; and restaurateurs, that furnish food

and drink at a certain price. There is also a class of men like those called in Castile

porters, for carrying burdens. Wood and coal are seen in abundance, and braziers of

earthenware for burning coals; mats of various kinds for beds, others of a lighter sort for

seats, and for halls and bedrooms.

There are all kinds of green vegetables, especially onions, leeks, garlic, watercresses,

nasturtium, borage, sorrel, artichokes, and golden thistle; fruits also of numerous

descriptions, amongst which are cherries and plums, similar to those in Spain; honey and

wax from bees, and from the stalks of maize, which are as sweet as the sugar-cane; honey

is also extracted from the plant called maguey, which is superior to sweet or new wine;

from the same plant they extract sugar and wine, which they also sell. Different kinds of

cotton thread of all colors in skeins are exposed for sale in one quarter of the market,

which has the appearance of the silk-market at Granada, although the former is supplied

more abundantly. Painters' colors, as numerous as can be found in Spain, and as fine

shades; deerskins dressed and undressed, dyed different colors; earthen-ware of a large

size and excellent quality; large and small jars, jugs, pots, bricks, and endless variety of

vessels, all made of fine clay, and all or most of them glazed and painted; maize or Indian

corn, in the grain and in the form of bread, preferred in the grain for its flavor to that of

the other islands and terra-firma; patés of birds and fish; great quantities of fish---fresh,

salt, cooked and uncooked; the eggs of hens, geese, and of all the other birds I have

mentioned, in great abundance, and cakes made of eggs; finally, everything that can be

found throughout the whole country is sold in the markets, comprising articles so

numerous that to avoid prolixity, and because their names are not retained in my memory,

or are unknown to me, I shall not attempt to enumerate them.

Every kind of merchandise is sold in a particular street or quarter assigned to it

exclusively, and thus the best order is preserved. They sell everything by number or

measure; at least so far we have not observed them to sell anything by weight. There is a

building in the great square that is used as an audience house, where ten or twelve

persons, who are magistrates, sit and decide all controversies that arise in the market, and

order delinquents to be punished. In the same square there are other persons who go

constantly about among the people observing what is sold, and the measures used in

selling; and they have been seen to break measures that were not true.

This great city contains a large number of temples, or houses, for their idols, very

handsome edifices, which are situated in the different districts and the suburbs; in the

principal ones religious persons of each particular sect are constantly residing, for whose

use, besides the houses containing the idols, there are other convenient habitations. All

these persons dress in black, and never cut or comb their hair from the time they enter the

priesthood until they leave it; and all the sons of the principal inhabitants, both nobles and

respectable citizens, are placed in the temples and wear the same dress from the age of

seven or eight years until they are taken out to be married; which occurs more frequently

with the first-born who inherit estates than with the others. The priests are debarred from

female society, nor is any woman permitted to enter the religious houses. They also

abstain from eating certain kinds of food, more at some seasons of the year than others.

Among these temples there is one which far surpasses all the rest, whose grandeur of

architectural details no human tongue is able to describe; for within its precincts,

surrounded by a lofty wall, there is room enough for a town of five hundred families.

Around the interior of the enclosure there are handsome edifices, containing large halls

and corridors, in which the religious persons attached to the temple reside. There are fully

forty towers, which are lofty and well built, the largest of which has fifty steps leading to

its main body, and is higher than the tower of the principal tower of the church at Seville.

The stone and wood of which they are constructed are so well wrought in every part, that

nothing could be better done, for the interior of the chapels containing the idols consists

of curious imagery, wrought in stone, with plaster ceilings, and wood-work carved in

relief, and painted with figures of monsters and other objects. All these towers are the

burial places of the nobles, and every chapel in them is dedicated to a particular idol, to

which they pay their devotions.

Three halls are in this grand temple, which contain the principal idols; these are of

wonderful extent and height, and admirable workmanship, adorned with figures

sculptured in stone and wood; leading from the halls are chapels with very small doors, to

which the light is not admitted, nor are any persons except the priests, and not all of them.

In these chapels are the images of idols, although, as I have before said, many of them are

also found on the outside; the principal ones, in which the people have greatest faith and

confidence, I precipitated from their pedestals, and cast them down the steps of the

temple, purifying the chapels in which they had stood, as they were all polluted with

human blood, shed ill the sacrifices. In the place of these I put images of Our Lady and

the Saints, which excited not a little feeling in Moctezuma and the inhabitants, who at

first remonstrated, declaring that if my proceedings were known throughout the country,

the people would rise against me; for they believed that their idols bestowed on them all

temporal good, and if they permitted them to be ill-treated, they would be angry and

without their gifts, and by this means the people would be deprived of the fruits of the

earth and perish with famine. I answered, through the interpreters, that they were

deceived in expecting any favors from idols, the work of their own hands, formed of

unclean things; and that they must learn there was but one God, the universal Lord of all,

who had created the heavens and earth, and all things else, and had made them and us;

that He was without beginning and immortal, and they were bound to adore and believe

Him, and no other creature or thing.

I said everything to them I could to divert them from their idolatries, and draw them to a

knowledge of God our Lord. Moctezuma replied, the others assenting to what he said,

AThat they had already informed me they were not the aborigines of the country, but that

their ancestors had emigrated to it many years ago; and they fully believed that after so

long an absence from their native land, they might have fallen into some errors; that I

having more recently arrived must know better than themselves what they ought to

believe; and that if I would instruct them in these matters, and make them understand the

true faith, they would follow my directions, as being for the best.@ Afterwards,

Moctezuma and many of the principal citizens remained with me until I had removed the

idols, purified the chapels, and placed the images in them, manifesting apparent pleasure;

and I forbade them sacrificing human beings to their idols as they had been accustomed

to do; because, besides being abhorrent in the sight of God, your sacred Majesty had

prohibited it by law, and commanded to put to death whoever should take the life of

another. Thus, from that time, they refrained from the practice, and during the whole

period of my abode in that city, they were never seen to kill or sacrifice a human being.

The figures of the idols in which these people believe surpass in stature a person of more

than ordinary size; some of them are composed of a mass of seeds and leguminous plants,

such as are used for food, ground and mixed together, and kneaded with the blood of

human hearts taken from the breasts of living persons, from which a paste is formed in a

sufficient quantity to form large statues. When these are completed they make them

offerings of the hearts of other victims, which they sacrifice to them, and besmear their

faces with the blood. For everything they have an idol, consecrated by the use of the

nations that in ancient times honored the same gods. Thus they have an idol that they

petition for victory in war; another for success in their labors; and so for everything in

which they seek or desire prosperity, they have their idols, which they honor and serve.

This noble city contains many fine and magnificent houses; which may be accounted for

from the fact, that all the nobility of the country, who are the vassals of Moctezuma, have

houses in the city, in which they reside a certain part of the year; and besides, there are

numerous wealthy citizens who also possess fine houses. All these persons, in addition to

the large and spacious apartments for ordinary purposes, have others, both upper and

lower, that contain conservatories of flowers. Along one of these causeways that lead into

the city are laid two pipes, constructed of masonry, each of which is two paces in width,

and about five feet in height. An abundant supply of excellent water, forming a volume

equal in bulk to the human body, is conveyed by one of these pipes, and distributed about

the city, where it is used by the inhabitants for drink and other purposes. The other pipe,

in the meantime, is kept empty until the former requires to be cleansed, when the water is

let into it and continues to be used till the cleaning is finished. As the water is necessarily

carried over bridges on account of the salt water crossing its route, reservoirs resembling

canals are constructed on the bridges, through which the fresh water is conveyed. These

reservoirs are of the breadth of the body of an ox, and of the same length as the bridges.

The whole city is thus served with water, which they carry in canoes through all the

streets for sale, taking it from the aqueduct in the following manner: the canoes pass

under the bridges on which the reservoirs are placed, when men stationed above fill them

with water, for which service they are paid. At all the entrances of the city, and in those

parts where the canoes are discharged, that is, where the greatest quantity of provisions is

brought in, huts are erected, and persons stationed as guards, who receive a certain sum

of everything that enters. I know not whether the sovereign receives this duty or the city,

as I have not yet been informed; but I believe that it appertains to the sovereign, as in the

markets of other provinces a tax is collected for the benefit of the cacique.

In all the markets and public places of this city are seen daily many laborers waiting for

some one to hire them. The inhabitants of this city pay a greater regard to style in their

mode of dress and politeness of manners than those of the other provinces and cities;

since, as the Cacique Moctezuma has his residence in the capital, and all the nobility, his

vassals, are in constant habit of meeting there, a general courtesy of demeanor necessarily

prevails. But not to be prolix in describing what relates to the affairs of this great city,

although it is with difficulty I refrain from proceeding, I will say no more than that the

manners of the people, as shown in their intercourse with one another, are marked by as

great an attention to the proprieties of life as in Spain, and good order is equally well

observed; and considering that they are barbarous people, without the knowledge of God,

having no intercourse with civilized nations, these traits of character are worthy of

admiration.

In regard to the domestic appointments of Moctezuma, and the wonderful grandeur and

state that he maintains, there is so much to be told, that I assure your Highness I know not

where to begin my relation, so as to be able to finish any part of it. For, as I have already

stated, what can be more wonderful than a barbarous monarch, as he is, should have

every object found in his dominions imitated in gold, silver, precious stones, and feathers;

the gold and silver being wrought so naturally as not to be surpassed by any smith in the

world; the stone work executed with such perfection that it is difficult to conceive what

instruments could have been used; and the feather work superior to the finest productions

in wax or embroidery. The extent of Moctezuma's dominions has not been ascertained,

since to whatever point he despatched his messengers, even two hundred leagues from his

capital, his commands were obeyed, although some of his provinces were in the midst of

countries with which he was at war. But as nearly as I have been able to learn, his

territories are equal in extent to Spain itself, for he sent messengers to the inhabitants of a

city called Cumatan (requiring them to become subjects of your Majesty), which is sixty

leagues beyond that part of Putunchan watered by the river Grijalva, and two hundred

and thirty leagues distant from the great city; and I sent some of our people a distance of

one hundred and fifty leagues in the same direction.

All the principle chiefs of these provinces, especially those in the vicinity of the capital,

reside, as I have already stated, the greater part of the year in that great city, and all or

most of them have their oldest sons in the service of Moctezuma. There are fortified

places in all the provinces, garrisoned with his own men, where are also stationed his

governors and collectors of the rents and tribute, rendered him by every province; and an

account is kept of what each is obliged to pay, as they have characters and figures made

on paper that are used for this purpose. Each province renders a tribute of its own

peculiar productions, so that the sovereign receives a great variety of articles from

different quarters. No prince was ever more feared by his subjects, both in his presence

and absence. He possessed out of the city as well as within numerous villas, each of

which had its peculiar sources of amusement, and all were constructed in the best

possible manner for the use of a great prince and lord. Within the city his palaces were so

wonderful that it is hardly possible to describe their beauty and extent; I can only say that

in Spain there is nothing equal to them.

There was one palace somewhat inferior to the rest, attached to which was a beautiful

garden with balconies extending over it, supported by marble columns, and having a floor

formed of jasper elegantly inlaid. There were apartments in this palace sufficient to lodge

two princes of the highest rank with their retinues. There were likewise belonging to it

ten pools of water, in which were kept the different species of water birds found in this

country, of which there is a great variety, all of which are domesticated; for the sea birds

there were pools of salt water, and for the river birds, of fresh water. The water is let off

at certain times to keep it pure, and is replenished by means of pipes. Each specie of bird

is supplied with the food natural to it, which it feeds upon when wild. Thus fish is given

to the birds that usually eat it; worms, maize, and the finer seeds, to such as prefer them.

And I assure your Highness, that to the birds accustomed to eat fish there is given the

enormous quantity of ten arrobas every day, taken in the salt lake. The emperor has three

hundred men whose sole employment is to take care of these birds; and there are others

whose only business is to attend to the birds that are in bad health.

Over the polls for the birds there are corridors and galleries, to which Moctezuma resorts,

and from which he can look out and amuse himself with the sight of them. There is an

apartment in the same palace in which are men, women and children, whose faces,

bodies, hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes are white from their birth. The emperor has another

very beautiful palace, with a large court-yard, paved with handsome flags, in the style of

a chess-board. There are also cages, about nine feet in height and six paces square, each

of which was half covered with a roof of tiles, and the other half had over it a wooden

grate, skillfully made. Every cage contained a bird of prey, of all the species found in

Spain, from the kestrel to the eagle, and many unknown there. There was a great number

of each kind; and in the covered part of the cages there was a perch, and another on the

outside of the grating, the former of which the birds used in the night time, and when it

rained; and the other enabled them to enjoy the sun and air. To all these birds fowls were

daily given for food, and nothing else. There were in the same palace several large halls

on the ground floor, filled with immense cages built of heavy pieces of timber, well put

together, in all or most of which were kept lions, tigers, wolves, foxes, and a variety of

animals of the cat kind, in great numbers, which were fed also on fowls. The care of these

animals and birds was assigned to three hundred men. There was another palace that

contained a number of men and women of monstrous size, and also dwarfs, and crooked

and ill-formed persons, each of which had their separate apartments. These also had their

respective keepers. As to the other remarkable things that the emperor had in his city for

his amusement, I can only say that they were numerous and of various kinds.

He was served in the following manner: Every day as soon as it was light, six hundred

nobles and men of rank were in attendance at the palace, who either sat, or walked about

the halls and galleries, and passed their time in conversation, but without entering the

apartment where his person was. The servants and attendants of these nobles remained in

the court-yards, of which there were two or three of great extent, and in the adjoining

street, which was also very spacious. They all remained in attendance from morning until

night; and when his meals were served, the nobles were likewise served with equal

profusion, and their servants and secretaries also had their allowance. Daily his larder and

wine-cellar were open to all who wished to eat or drink. The meals were served by three

or four hundred youths, who brought on an infinite variety of dishes; indeed, whenever he

dined or supped, the table was loaded with every kind of flesh, fish, fruits, and vegetables

that the country produced. As the climate is cold, they put a chafing-dish with live coals

under every plate and dish, to keep them warm. The meals were served in a large hall, in

which Moctezuma was accustomed to eat, and the dishes quite filled the room, which was

covered with mats and kept very clean. He sat on a small cushion curiously wrought of

leather. During the meals there were present, at a little distance from him, five or six

elderly caciques, to whom he presented some of the food. And there was constantly in

attendance one of the servants, who arranged and handed the dishes, and who received

from others whatever was wanted for the supply of the table.

Both at the beginning and end of every meal, they furnished water for the hands; and the

napkins used on these occasions were never used a second time; this was the case also

with the plates and dishes, which were not brought again, but new ones in place of them;

it was the same also with the chafing-dishes. He is also dressed every day in four

different suits, entirely new, which he never wears a second time. None of the caciques

who enter his palace have their feet covered, and when those for whom he sends enters

his presence, they incline their heads and look down, bending their bodies; and when they

address him, they do not look him in the face; this arises from excessive modesty and

reverence. I am satisfied that it proceeds from respect, since certain caciques reproved the

Spaniards for their boldness in addressing me, saying that it showed a want of becoming

deference. Whenever Moctezuma appeared in public, which is seldom the case, all those

who accompanied him, or whom he accidentally met in the streets, turned away without

looking towards him, and others prostrated themselves until he had passed. One of the

nobles always preceded him on these occasions, carrying three slender rods erect, which I

suppose was to give notice of the approach of his person. And when they descended from

the litters, he took one of them in his hand, and held it until he reached the place where he

was going. So many and various were the ceremonies and customs observed by those in

the service of Moctezuma, that more space than I can spare would be required for the

details, as well as a better memory than I have to recollect them; since no sultan or other

infidel lord, of whom any knowledge now exists; ever had so much ceremonial in his

court.

Source.

From: Oliver J. Thatcher, ed., The Library of Original Sources (Milwaukee: University

Research Extension Co., 1907), Vol. V: 9th to 16th Centuries, pp. 317-326.

Scanned by Jerome S. Arkenberg, Cal. State Fullerton. The text has been modernized by

Prof. Arkenberg.