LETTER XXII. MY DEAR JANE, ON the evening of the day upon which Cortes had entered Mexico, Montezuma came to his quarters to pay him a visit, and began a conversation with him, by means of an interpreter. He told Cortes that the Mexicans were a very ancient people, and came from a country a long way off, conducted by a great captain, who, after he had settled them in this land, promised that at some future time his descendants should come and visit them; and that, from all he had heard of the Spaniards, he was convinced they were the sons of this great captain: that he was very happy to see them; and begged they would consider themselves as masters, over both himself and his subjects. Cortes and his men were, of course, glad to take advantage of the favourable ideas which Montezuma seemed to entertain concerning them; but still they felt themselves in a perilous situation, for they could not tell how far they might depend upon Montezuma's sincerity; and if he chose to attack them suddenly, they could not hope to be conquerors over the numbers he could bring against them. The city of Mexico contained about 60,000 inhabitants. You must not suppose it to have been a well-built place, with handsome, regular houses, like those in many parts of London. No: the houses of the common people in Mexico were mere huts, like those of the savage Indians; but still, these were built in regular order, along the sides of the canals; and there were large, open market-places, in some parts of the city, where the people carried on traffic. The houses belonging to the noblemen, and to the monarch, were a good deal larger; but not much like those in Parliament-street and Piccadilly, being nothing more than buildings of earth, sometimes surrounded by stone walls, with towers at proper tances. This What astonished Cortes the most, was the ingenuity which these people had shown, in making the approach to their city. I told you that Mexico was situated on an island in a lake. lake was ninety miles in circumference. The island was not in the centre of the lake; but in one part it was about a mile and a half from the main land, in another three miles, and in another six; and in these three places it was connected with the land by causeways, or streets, formed of stone and earth. These causeways were not raised much above the level of the lake; but here and there the Mexicans had left open spaces, through which the water flowed; and these were covered over with beams of timber, and those again with earth. The main street, or causeway, was a bank of earth and stone, about thirty feet in breadth. How hard these industrious people must have laboured, before they could accomplish such a work as this! and you will observe that they were ignorant of the use of iron, and had no horses, nor any domestic animals to assist them. On one side of the city there was no causeway, nor any means of approach but by canoes. Cortes might well feel rather uneasy at his situation; for, by breaking up these causeways, or but a small part of them, the Mexicans had it in their power, at any time, to confine him and his men as securely, as we might confine you and Meadows in our |