FOOD OF THE NAHUA NATIONS.
ORIGIN OF AGRICULTURE--FLOATING GARDENS--AGRICULTURAL
PRODUCTS--MANNER OF PREPARING THE SOIL--DESCRIPTION OF
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS--IRRIGATION--GRANARIES--GARDENS--THE
HARVEST FEAST--MANNER OF HUNTING--FISHING--METHODS OF
PROCURING SALT--NAHUA COOKERY--VARIOUS KINDS OF
BREAD--BEANS--PEPPER--FRUIT--TAMALES--MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES
OF FOOD--EATING OF HUMAN FLESH--MANUFACTURE OF
PULQUE--PREPARATION OF CHOCOLATL--OTHER
BEVERAGES--INTOXICATING DRINKS--DRUNKENNESS--TIME AND MANNER
OF TAKING MEALS.
[Sidenote: AGRICULTURE AND CIVILIZATION.]
Hunting, fishing, and agriculture furnished the Nahua nations with
means of subsistence, besides which they had, in common with their
uncivilized brethren of the sierras and forests, the uncultivated
edible products of the soil. Among the coast nations, the dwellers on
the banks of large streams, and the inhabitants of the lake regions of
Anáhuac and Michoacan, fish constituted an important article of food.
But agriculture, here as elsewhere, distinguished savagism from
civilization, and of the lands of the so-called civilized nations few
fertile tracts were found uncultivated at the coming of the Spaniards.
Cultivation of the soil was doubtless the first tangible step in the
progressive development of these nations, and this is indicated in
their traditionary annals, which point, more or less vaguely, to a
remote period when the Quinames, or giants, occupied the land as yet
untilled; which means that the inhabitants were savages, whose
progress had not yet exhibited any change sufficiently marked to leave
its imprint on tradition. At a time still more remote, however, the
invention of bows and arrows is traditionally referred to.[342]
The gradual discovery and introduction of agricultural arts according
to the laws of development, were of course unintelligible to the
aboriginal mind; consequently their traditions tell us wondrous tales
of divine intervention and instruction. Nevertheless, the introduction
of agriculture was doubtless of very ancient date. The Olmecs and
Xicalancas, traditionally the oldest civilized peoples in Mexico, were
farmers back to the limit of traditional history, as were the lineal
ancestors of all the nations which form the subject of this volume.
Indeed, as the Nahua nations were living when the Spaniards found
them, so had they probably been living for at least ten centuries, and
not improbably for a much longer period.
It was, however, according to tradition, during the Toltec period of
Nahua culture that husbandry and all the arts pertaining to the
production and preparation of food, were brought to the highest degree
of perfection. Many traditions even attribute to the Toltecs the
invention or first introduction of agriculture.[343]
But even during this Toltec period hunting tribes, both of Nahua and
other blood, were pursuing their game in the forests and mountains,
especially in the northern region. Despised by their more civilized,
corn-eating brethren, they were known as barbarians, dogs, Chichimecs,
'suckers of blood,' from the custom attributed to them of drinking
blood and eating raw flesh. Many tribes, indeed, although very far
from being savages, were known to the aristocratic Toltecs as
Chichimecs, by reason of some real or imaginary inferiority. By the
revolutions of the tenth century, some of these Chichimec nations,
probably of the Nahua blood and tillers of the soil, although at the
same time bold hunters and valiant warriors, gained the ascendancy in
Anáhuac. Hence the absurd versions of native traditions which
represent the Valley of Mexico as occupied during the Chichimec period
by a people who, until taught better by the Acolhuas, lived in caverns
and subsisted on wild fruits and raw meat, while at the same time they
were ruled by emperors, and possessed a most complicated and advanced
system of government and laws. Their barbarism probably consisted for
the most part in resisting for a time the enervating influences of
Toltec luxury, especially in the pleasures of the table.[344]
[Sidenote: CHINAMPAS, OR FLOATING GARDENS.]
The Aztecs were traditionally corn-eaters from the first, but while
shut up for long years on an island in the lake, they had little
opportunity for agricultural pursuits. During this period of their
history, the fish, birds, insects, plants, and mud of the lake
supplied them with food, until floating gardens were invented and
subsequent conquests on the main land afforded them broad fields for
tillage. As a rule no details are preserved concerning the pre-Aztec
peoples; where such details are known they will be introduced in their
proper place as illustrative of later Nahua food-customs.
The _chinampas_, or floating gardens, cultivated by the Aztecs on the
surface of the lakes in Anáhuac, were a most extraordinary source of
food. Driven in the days of their national weakness to the lake
islands, too small for the tillage which on the main had supported
them, these ingenious people devised the chinampa. They observed small
portions of the shore, detached by the high water and held together by
fibrous roots, floating about on the surface of the water. Acting on
the suggestion, they constructed rafts of light wood, covered with
smaller sticks, rushes, and reeds, bound together with fibrous aquatic
plants, and on this foundation they heaped two or three feet of black
mud from the bottom of the lake. Thus the broad surface around their
island home was dotted with fertile gardens, self-irrigating and
independent of rains, easily moved from place to place according to
the fancy of the proprietor. They usually took the form of
parallelograms and were often over a hundred feet long. All the
agricultural products of the country, particularly maize, chile, and
beans were soon produced in abundance on the chinampas, while the
larger ones even bore fruit and shade trees of considerable size, and
a hut for the convenience of the owner, or gardener. The floating
gardens have remained in use down to modern times, but since the
waters of the lakes receded so much from their former limits, they
have been generally attached to the shore, being separated by narrow
canals navigated by the canoes which bear their produce to the
markets. In later times, however, only flowers and garden vegetables
have been raised in this manner.[345]
On the mainland throughout the Nahua territory few fertile spots were
left uncultivated. The land was densely populated, and agriculture was
an honorable profession in which all, except the king, the nobility,
and soldiers in time of actual war, were more or less engaged.[346]
[Sidenote: ABORIGINAL AGRICULTURE.]
Agricultural products in the shape of food were not a prominent
feature among articles of export and import, excepting, of course,
luxuries for the tables of the kings and nobles. Each province, as a
rule, raised only sufficient supplies for its own ordinary
necessities; consequently, when by reason of drought or other cause,
a famine desolated one province, it was with the greatest difficulty
that food could be obtained from abroad. The Mexicans were an
improvident people, and want was no stranger to them.[347]
The chief products of Nahua tillage were maize, beans, magueyes,
cacao, chian, chile, and various native fruits.[348] The maize, or
Indian corn, the dried ears of which were called by the Aztecs
_centli_, and the dried kernels separated from the cob,
_tlaolli_,[349] was the standard and universal Nahua food. Indigenous
to America, in the development of whose civilization, traditionally at
least, it played an important part, it has since been introduced to
the world. It is the subject of the New World traditions respecting
the introduction of agriculture among men. Tortillas, of maize,
accompanied by the inevitable frijoles, or beans, seasoned with chile,
or pepper, and washed down with drinks prepared from the maguey and
cacao, were then, as now, the all-sustaining diet, and we are told
that corn grew so strong and high in the fields that covered the
surface of the country in some parts, as to seriously embarrass the
conqueror Cortés in his movements against the natives hidden in these
natural labyrinths.[350]
[Sidenote: CORNFIELDS AND GRANARIES.]
Respecting the particular methods of cultivation practiced by the
Nahuas, except in the raising of corn, early observers have left no
definite information.[351] The valleys were of course the favorite
localities for cornfields, but the highlands were also cultivated. In
the latter case the trees and bushes were cut down, the land burned
over, and the seed put in among the ashes. Such lands were allowed to
rest several years--Torquemada says five or six--after each crop,
until the surface was covered with grass and bushes for a new burning.
No other fertilizer than ashes, so far as known, was ever employed.
Fields were enclosed by stone walls and hedges of maguey, which were
carefully repaired each year in the month of Panquetzaliztli. They had
no laboring animals, and their farming implements were exceedingly few
and rude. Three of these only are mentioned. The _huictli_ was a kind
of oaken shovel or spade, in handling which both hands and feet were
used. The _coatl_, or _coa_ (serpent), so called probably from its
shape, was a copper implement with a wooden handle, used somewhat as a
hoe is used by modern farmers in breaking the surface of the soil.
Another copper instrument, shaped like a sickle, with a wooden handle,
was used for pruning fruit-trees. A simple sharp stick, the point of
which was hardened in the fire, or more rarely tipped with copper, was
the implement in most common use. To plant corn, the farmer dropped a
few kernels into a hole made with this stick, and covered them with
his foot, taking the greatest pains to make the rows perfectly
straight and parallel; the intervals between the hills were always
uniform, though the space was regulated according to the nature and
fertility of the soil. The field was kept carefully weeded, and at a
certain age the stalks were supported by heaping up the soil round
them. At maturity the stalks were often broken two thirds up, that the
husks might protect the hanging ear from rain. During the growth and
ripening of the maize, a watchman or boy was kept constantly on guard
in a sheltered station commanding the field, whose duty it was to
drive away, with stones and shouts, the flocks of feathered robbers
which abounded in the country. Women and children aided the men in the
lighter farm labors, such as dropping the seeds, weeding the plants,
and husking and cleaning the grain. To irrigate the fields the water
of rivers and of mountain streams was utilized by means of canals,
dams, and ditches. The network of canals by which the cacao
plantations of the tierra caliente in Tabasco were watered, offered to
Cortés' army even more serious obstructions than the dense growth of
the maizales, or cornfields.
Granaries for storing maize were built of _oyametl_, or _oxametl_, a
tree whose long branches were regular, tough, and flexible. The sticks
were laid in log-house fashion, one above another, and close together,
so as to form a tight square room, which was covered with a
water-tight roof, and had only two openings or windows, one at the top
and another at the bottom. Many of these granaries had a capacity of
several thousand bushels, and in them corn was preserved for several,
or, as Brasseur says, for fifteen or twenty, years. Besides the
regular and extensive plantations of staple products, gardens were
common, tastefully laid out and devoted to the cultivation of fruits,
vegetables, medicinal herbs, and particularly flowers, of which the
Mexicans were very fond, and which were in demand for temple
decorations and bouquets. The gardens connected with the palaces of
kings and nobles, particularly those of Tezcuco, Iztapalapan, and
Huaxtepec, excited great wonder and admiration in the minds of the
first European visitors, but these have been already mentioned in a
preceding chapter.[352]
We shall find the planting and growth of maize not without influence
in the development of the Nahua calendars, and that it was closely
connected with the worship of the gods and with religious ideas and
ceremonies. Father Burgoa relates that in Oajaca, the cultivation of
this grain, the people's chief support, was attended by some peculiar
ceremonies. At harvest-time the priests of the maize god in Quegolani,
ceremonially visited the cornfields followed by a procession of the
people, and sought diligently the fairest and best-filled ear. This
they bore to the village, placed it on an altar decked for the
occasion with flowers and precious chalchiuites, sang and danced
before it, and wrapped it with care in a white cotton cloth, in which
it was preserved until the next seed-time. Then with renewed
processions and solemn rites the magic ear with its white covering was
wrapped in a deer-skin and buried in the midst of the cornfields in a
small hole lined with stones. When another harvest came, if it were a
fruitful one, the precious offering to the earth was dug up and its
decayed remains distributed in small parcels to the happy populace as
talismans against all kinds of evil.[353]
[Sidenote: THE CHASE IN ANÁHUAC.]
The game most abundant was deer, hare, rabbits, wild hogs, wolves,
foxes, jaguars, or tigers, Mexican lions, coyotes, pigeons,
partridges, quails, and many aquatic birds. The usual weapon was the
bow and arrow, to the invention of which tradition ascribes the
origin of the chase; but spears, snares, and nets were also employed,
and the sarbacan, a tube through which pellets or darts were blown,
was an effective bird-killer. Game in the royal forests was protected
by law, and many hunters were employed in taking animals and birds
alive for the king's collections. Among the peculiar devices employed
for taking water-birds was that already mentioned in connection with
the Wild Tribes; the hunter floating in the water, with only his head,
covered with a gourd, above the surface, and thus approaching his prey
unsuspected. Young monkeys were caught by putting in a concealed fire
a peculiar black stone which exploded when heated. Corn was scattered
about as a bait, and when the old monkeys brought their young to feed
they were frightened by the explosion and ran away, leaving the young
ones an easy prey. The native hunters are represented as particularly
skillful in following an indistinct trail. According to Sahagun, a
superstition prevailed that only four arrows might be shot at a tiger,
but to secure success a leaf was attached to one of the arrows, which,
making a peculiar whizzing sound, fell short and attracted the beast's
attention while the hunter took deliberate aim. Crocodiles were taken
with a noose round the neck and also, by the boldest hunters, by
inserting a stick sharpened and barbed at both ends in the animal's
open mouth. It is probable that, while a small portion of the common
people in certain parts of the country sought game for food alone, the
chase among the Nahuas was for the most part a diversion of the nobles
and soldiers. There were also certain hunts established by law or
custom at certain periods of the year, the products of which were
devoted to sacrificial purposes, although most likely eaten
eventually.
In the month Quecholli a day's hunt was celebrated by the warriors in
honor of Mixcoatl. A large forest--that of Zacatepec, near Mexico,
being a favorite resort--was surrounded by a line of hunters many
miles in extent. In the centre of the forest various snares and traps
were set. When all was ready, the living circle began to contract, and
the hunters with shouts pressed forward toward the centre. To aid in
the work, the grass was sometimes fired. The various animals were
driven from their retreats into the snares prepared for them, or fell
victims to the huntsmen's arrows. Immense quantities of game were thus
secured and borne to the city and to the neighboring towns, the
inhabitants of which had assisted in the hunt, as an offering to the
god. Each hunter carried to his own home the heads of such animals as
he had killed, and a prize was awarded to the most successful. In the
month Tecuilhuitontli also, while the warriors practiced in sham
fights for actual war, the common people gave their attention to the
chase. Large numbers of birds were taken in nets spread on poles like
spear-shafts. In earlier times, when the chase was more depended on
for food, the first game taken was offered to the gods; or, by the
Chichimecs and Xochimilcas, to the sun, as Ixtlilxochitl informs
us.[354]
[Sidenote: FISHERIES AND SALT.]
Fish was much more universally used for food than game. Torquemada
tells us that the Aztecs first invented the art of fishing prompted by
the mother of invention when forced by their enemies to live on the
lake islands; and it was the smell of roasted fish, wafted to the
shore, that revealed their presence. This tradition is somewhat
absurd, and it is difficult to believe that the art was entirely
unknown during the preceding Toltec and Olmec periods of Nahua
civilization. Besides the supply in lake and river, artificial ponds
in the royal gardens were also stocked with fish, and we have seen
that fresh fish from the ocean were brought to Mexico for the king's
table. Respecting the particular methods employed by the Nahua
fishermen, save that they used both nets and hooks, the authorities
say nothing. The Tarascos had such an abundance of food in their lakes
that their country was named Michoacan, 'land of fish'; and the rivers
of Huastecapan are also mentioned as richly stocked with finny
food.[355]
The Nahuas had, as I have said, no herds or flocks, but besides the
royal collections of animals, which included nearly every known
variety of quadrupeds, birds, and reptiles, the common people kept and
bred _techichi_ (a native animal resembling a dog), turkeys, quails,
geese, ducks, and many other birds. The nobles also kept deer, hares,
and rabbits.[356]
Next to chile, salt, or _iztatl_, was the condiment most used, and
most of the supply came from the Valley of Mexico. The best was made
by boiling the water from the salt lake in large pots, and was
preserved in white cakes or balls. It was oftener, however, led by
trenches into shallow pools and evaporated by the sun. The work would
seem to have been done by women, since Sahagun speaks of the women and
girls employed in this industry as dancing at the feast in honor of
the goddess of salt in the month Tecuilhuitontli. A poor quality of
salt, _tequizquitl_, brick-colored and strongly impregnated with
saltpetre, was scraped up on the flats around the lakes, and largely
used in salting meats. Las Casas mentions salt springs in the bed of
fresh-water streams, the water of which was pumped out through hollow
canes, and yielded on evaporation a fine white salt; but it is not
certain what part of the country he refers to. The Aztec kings
practically monopolized the salt market and refused to sell it to any
except tributary nations. In consequence of this disposition,
republican Tlascala, one of the few nations that maintained its
independence, was forced for many years to eat its food unsalted; and
so habituated did the people become to this diet, that in later times,
if we may credit Camargo, very little salt was consumed.[357]
[Sidenote: THE NAHUA CUISINE.]
We now come to the methods adopted by the Nahuas in preparing and
cooking food. Maize, when in the milk, was eaten boiled, and called
_elotl_; when dry it was often prepared for food by simply parching or
roasting, and then named _mumuehitl_. But it usually came to the Aztec
table in the shape of _tlaxcalli_, the Spanish tortillas, the standard
bread, then as now, in all Spanish America. It would be difficult to
name a book in any way treating of Mexico in which tortillas are not
fully described. The aborigines boiled the corn in water, to which
lime, or sometimes nitre, was added. When sufficiently soft and free
from hulls it was crushed on the _metlatl_, or metate, with a stone
roller, and the dough, after being kneaded also on the metate, was
formed by the hands of the women into very thin round cakes which were
quickly baked on earthen pans, or _comalli_, and piled up one on
another that they might retain their warmth, for when cold they lost
their savor. Peter Martyr speaks of these tortillas as "bread made of
Maizium." They were sometimes, but rarely, flavored with different
native plants and flowers. There was, however, some variety in their
preparation, according to which they bore different names. For example
_totanquitlaxcallitlaquelpacholli_ were very white, being folded and
covered with napkins; _huietlaxcalli_ were large, thin, and soft;
_quauhtlaqualli_ were thick and rough; _tlaxcalpacholli_, grayish; and
_tlacepoallitlaxcalli_ presented a blistered surface. There were many
other kinds. In addition to the tlaxcalli, thicker corn-bread in the
form of long cakes and balls were made. _Atolli_ varied in consistency
from porridge, or gruel, to mush, and may consequently be classed
either as a drink or as food. To make it, the hulled corn was mashed,
mixed with water, and boiled down to the required consistency; it was
variously sweetened and seasoned, and eaten both hot and cold.
According to its condition and seasoning it received about seventeen
names; thus _totonquiatolli_ was eaten hot, _nequatolli_ was sweetened
with honey, _chilnequatolli_ was seasoned with chile, and
_quauhnexatolli_ with saltpetre.
Beans, the _etl_ of the Aztecs, the frijoles of the Spaniards, were
while yet green boiled in the pod, and were then called _exotl_; when
dry they were also generally boiled; but Ixtlilxochitl mentions flour
made from beans.
_Chilli_, chile, or pepper, was eaten both green and dry, whole and
ground. A sauce was also made from it into which hot tortillas were
dipped, and which formed a part of the seasoning in nearly every Nahua
dish. "It is the principal sauce and the only spice of the Indias," as
Acosta tells us.
Flesh, fowl, and fish, both fresh and salted, were stewed, boiled,
and roasted, with the fat of the techichi, and seasoned with chile,
_tomatl_ (since called tomatoes), etc. The larger roasted game
preserved for eating from the sacrifices in the month of Itzcalli is
termed _calpuleque_ by Sahagun. _Pipian_ was a stew of fowl with
chile, tomatoes, and ground pumpkin-seeds. Deer and rabbits were
barbecued. Peter Martyr speaks of "rost and sodden meates of foule."
Fruits, for the most part, were eaten as with us, raw, but some, as
the plantain and banana, were roasted and stewed.
So much for the plain Nahua cookery. Into the labyrinthine mysteries
of the mixed dishes I shall not penetrate far. It is easier for the
writer, and not less satisfactory to the reader, to dismiss the
subject with the remark that all the articles of food that have been
mentioned, fish, flesh, and fowl, were mixed and cooked in every
conceivable proportion, the product taking a different name with each
change in the ingredients. The two principal classes of these mixed
dishes were the pot-stews, or cazuelas, of various meats with
multitudinous seasonings; and the _tamalli_, or tamales, meat pies, to
make which meats were boiled, chopped fine, and seasoned, then mixed
with maize-dough, coated with the same, wrapped in a corn-husk, and
boiled again. These also took different names according to the
ingredients and seasoning. The tamale is still a favorite dish, like
tortillas and frijoles.
Miscellaneous articles of food, not already spoken of, were
_axayacatl_, flies of the Mexican lakes, dried, ground, boiled, and
eaten in the form of cakes; _ahuauhtli_, the eggs of the same fly, a
kind of native caviar; many kinds of insects, ants, maguey-worms, and
even lice; _tecuitlatl_, 'excrement of stone,' a slime that was
gathered on the surface of the lakes, and dried till it resembled
cheese; eggs of turkeys, iguanas, and turtles, roasted, boiled, and in
omelettes; various reptiles, frogs, and frog-spawn; shrimps, sardines,
and crabs; corn-silk, wild-amaranth seeds, cherry-stones, tule-roots,
and very many other articles inexpressible; yucca flour, potoyucca,
tunas; honey from maize, from bees, and from the maguey; and roasted
portions of the maguey stalks and leaves.
The women did all the work in preparing and cooking food; in Tlascala,
however, the men felt that an apology was due for allowing this work
to be done by women, and claimed, as Sahagun says, that the smoke of
cooking would impair their eye-sight and make them less successful in
the hunt. All these articles of food, both cooked and uncooked, were
offered for sale in the market-places of each large town, of which I
shall speak further when I come to treat of commerce. Eating-houses
were also generally found near the markets, where all the substantials
and delicacies of the Nahua cuisine might be obtained.[358]
[Sidenote: EATING OF HUMAN FLESH.]
One article of Nahua food demands special mention--human flesh. That
they ate the arms and legs of the victims sacrificed to their gods,
there is no room for doubt. This religious cannibalism--perhaps human
sacrifice itself--was probably not practiced before the cruel-minded
Aztec devotees of Huitzilopochtli came into power, or at least was of
rare occurrence; but during the Aztec dominion, the custom of eating
the flesh of sacrificed enemies became almost universal. That
cannibalism, as a source of food, unconnected with religious rites,
was ever practiced, there is little evidence. The Anonymous Conqueror
tells us that they esteemed the flesh of men above all other food, and
risked their lives in battle solely to obtain it. Bernal Diaz says
that they sold it at retail in the markets; and Veytia also states
that this was true of the Otomís. Father Gand assures us that there
were many priests that ate and drank nothing but the flesh and blood
of children. But these ogreish tales are probably exaggerations, since
those who knew most of the natives, Sahagun, Motolinia, and Las Casas,
regard the cannibalism of the Nahuas rather as an abhorrent feature of
their religion than as the result of an unnatural appetite. That by
long usage they became fond of this food, may well be believed; but
that their prejudice was strong against eating the flesh of any but
their sacrificed foes, is proven, as Gomara says, by the fact that
multitudes died of starvation during the siege of Mexico by Cortés.
Even the victims of sacrifice seem only to have been eaten in
banquets, more or less public, accompanied with ceremonial rites. A
number of infants sacrificed to the Tlalocs were eaten each year, and
the blood of these and of other victims was employed in mixing certain
cakes, some of which were at one time sent as a propitiatory offering
to Cortés.[359]
[Sidenote: DRINKS AND DRUNKENNESS.]
The most popular Nahua beverages were those since known as pulque and
chocolate. The former, called by the natives _octli_--pulque, or
pulcre, being a South American aboriginal term applied to the liquor
in some unaccountable way by the Spaniards--was the fermented juice of
the maguey. One plant is said to yield about one hundred pounds in a
month. A cavity is cut at the base of the larger leaves, and allowed
to fill with juice, which is removed to a vessel of earthen ware or of
skin, where it ferments rapidly and is ready for use. In a pure state
it is of a light color, wholesome, and somewhat less intoxicating than
grape wine; but the aborigines mixed with it various herbs, some to
merely change its color or flavor, and others to increase its
intoxicating properties. This national drink was honored with a
special divinity, Ometochtli, one of the numerous Nahua gods of wine.
According to some traditions the Quinames, or giants, knew how to
prepare it, but its invention is oftener attributed to the Toltecs,
its first recorded use having been to aid in the seduction of a mighty
monarch from his royal duties.[360]
_Chocolatl_--the foundation of our chocolate--was made by pounding
cacao to a powder, adding an equal quantity of a seed called
_pochotl_, also powdered, and stirring or beating the mixture briskly
in a dish of water. The oily foam which rose to the surface was then
separated, a small quantity of maize flour was added, and the liquid
which was set before the fire. The oily portion was finally restored
and the beverage was drunk lukewarm, sweetened with honey and often
seasoned with vanilla. This drink was nutritious, refreshing, and
cooling, and was especially a favorite with those called upon to
perform fatiguing labor with scant food.[361]
Miscellaneous drinks were water, plantain-juice, the various kinds of
porridge known as _atolli_, already mentioned, the juice of
maize-stalks, those prepared from chian and other seeds by boiling,
and fermented water in which corn had been boiled--a favorite Tarasco
drink. Among the ingredients used to make their drinks more
intoxicating the most powerful was the _teonanacatl_, 'flesh of god,'
a kind of mushroom which excited the passions and caused the partaker
to see snakes and divers other visions.[362]
The Aztec laws against drunkenness were very severe, yet nearly all
the authors represent the people as delighting in all manner of
intoxication, and as giving way on every opportunity to the vice when
the power of their rulers over them was destroyed by the coming of the
Spaniards. Drinking to excess seems to have been with them a social
vice, confined mostly to public feasts and private banquets. It may
have been chiefly against intemperance among the working classes, and
officials when on duty, that the stringent laws were directed.
Mendieta speaks of the people as very temperate, using pulque only
under the direction of the chiefs and judges for medicinal purposes
chiefly. The nobles made it a point of honor not to drink to excess,
and all feared punishment. But Motolinia and other good authorities
take an opposite view of the native character in this respect.[363]
[Sidenote: MEALS OF THE COMMON PEOPLE.]
Concerning the manner of serving the king's meals, as well as the
banquets and feasts of nobles and the richer classes, enough has been
already said. Of the daily meals among the masses little is known. The
Nahuas seem to have confined their indulgence in rich and varied
viands to the oft-recurring feasts, while at their homes they were
content with plain fare. This is a peculiarity that is still
observable in the country, both among the descendants of the Nahuas
and of their conquerors. The poorer people had in each house a metate
for grinding maize, and a few earthen dishes for cooking tortillas and
frijoles. They ate three meals a day, morning, noon, and night, using
the ground for table, table-cloth, napkins, and chairs, conveying
their tlaxcalli and chile to the mouth with the fingers, and washing
down their simple food with water or atole. The richer Nahuas were
served with a greater variety on palm-mats often richly decorated,
around which low seats were placed for their convenience; napkins were
also furnished.[364]
FOOTNOTES:
[342] 'Dicen que en aquellos principios del mundo se mantenian los
hombres solamente con frutas y yerbas, hasta que uno á quien llaman
Tlaominqui, que quiere decir, _el que mató con flecha_ halló la
invencion del arco y la flecha, y que desde entónces comenzaron á
ejercitarse en la caza y mantenerse de carnes de los animales que
mataban en ella.' _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. i., p. 10. The
giants lived 'mas como brutos que como racionales: su alimento eran
las carnes crudas de las aves y fieras que cazavan sin distincion
alguna, las frutas y yerbas silvestres porque nada cultivaban;' yet
they knew how to make pulque to get drunk with. _Id._, p. 151.
[343] The Olmecs raised at least maize, chile, and beans before the
time of the Toltecs. _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. i., p. 154. The
Toltec 'comida era el mismo mantenimiento que ahora se usa del maíz
que sembraban y beneficiaban así el blanco como el de mas colores.'
_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., lib. x., p. 112. To the Toltec
agriculture 'debitrici si riconobbero le posteriori Nazioni del
frumentone, del cotone, del peverone, e d'altri utilissimi frutti.'
_Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. i., p. 127. The Toltecs
'truxeron mays, algodon, y demas semillas.' _Vetancvrt_, _Teatro
Mex._, pt ii., p. 11. 'Tenian el maiz, algodon, chile, frijoles y las
demas semillas de la tierra que hay.' _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Relaciones_,
in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, tom. ix., pp. 327, 393-4.
[344] 'Su comida era toda especie de caza, tanto cuadrúpeda como
volátil, sin distincion ni otro condimento que asada, y las frutas ...
pero nada sembraban, ni cultivaban.' _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom.
ii., p. 6. 'No sembraban, ni cocian, ni asaban las Carnes de la caza.'
Their kings and nobles kept forests of deer and hare to supply the
people with food, until in Nopaltzin's reign they were taught to plant
by a descendant of the Toltecs. _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i.,
pp. 32, 38-9, 67, 279. They were the first inhabitants of the country
and 'solo se mantenian de caça.' 'Caçauan venados, liebres, conejos,
comadrejas, topos, gatos monteses, paxaros, y aun inmundicias como
culebras, lagartos, ratones, langostas, y gusanos, y desto y de yeruas
rayzes se sustentauan.' _Acosta_, _Hist. de las Ynd._, pp. 453-5. And
to the same effect _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. i.,
pp. 132-3; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p.
203; _Heredia y Sarmiento_, _Sermon_, p. 74; _Camargo_, _Hist. Tlax._,
in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcviii., pp. 140, 151;
_Vetancvrt_, _Teatro Mex._, pt ii., p. 12. They began to till the
ground in Hotzin's reign, but before that they roasted their meat and
did not, as many claim, eat it raw. _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Hist. Chich._,
in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., pp. 213-14; _Id._,
_Relaciones_, p. 335. Agriculture introduced in Nopaltzin's reign.
_Id._, p. 344. But Sahagun, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., lib. x., p. 115,
says some of the Chichimecs 'hacian tambien alguna sementerilla de
maíz.'
[345] 'Sobre juncia y espadaña se echa tierra en tal forma, que no la
deshaga el agua, y allí se siembra, y cultiua, y crece, y madura, y se
lleua de vna parte á otra.' The products are maize, chile, wild
amaranth, tomatoes, beans, chian, pumpkins, etc. _Acosta_, _Hist. de
las Ynd._, p. 472. 'La lor figura regolare è quadrilunga: la
lunghessa, e la larghezza son varie; ma per lo più hanno, secondo che
mi pare, otto pertiche in circa di lunghezza, non più di tre di
larghezza, e meno d'un piede d'elevazione sulla superficie
dell'acqua.' _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp.
152-3. Produce not only plants useful for food, dress, and medicine,
but flowers and plants that serve only for decoration and luxury.
_Id._, tom. iv., p. 227. Carbajal Espinosa, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., p.
620, translates Clavigero's description. 'Fairy islands of flowers,
overshadowed occasionally by trees of considerable size.' 'That
archipelago of wandering islands.' 200 or 300 feet long, 3 or 4 feet
deep. _Prescott's Mex._, vol. ii., pp. 70, 107-8. The black mud of the
chinampas is impregnated with muriate of soda, which is gradually
washed out as the surface is watered. _Humboldt_, _Essai Pol._, tom.
i., pp. 200-2. Mention by Gayangos in _Cortés_, _Cartas_, p. 79;
_Heredia y Sarmiento_, _Sermon_, pp. 95-6. 'Camellones, que ellos
llaman Chinampas.' _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 483;
_Carli_, _Cartas_, pt i., pp. 38-9.
[346] 'Es esta provincia (Tlascala) de muchos valles llanos y
hermosos, y todos labrados y sembrados.' In Cholula 'ni un palmo de
tierra hay que no esté labrado.' _Cortés_, _Cartas_, pp. 68, 75. 'Tout
le monde, plus ou moins, s'adonnait à la culture, et se faisait
honneur de travailler à la campagne.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist.
Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 634; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii.,
p. 481. 'Hasta los montes y sierras fragosas las tenian ocupadas con
sembrados y otros aprovechamientos.' _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Hist. Chich._,
in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 250.
[347] _Cortés_, _Cartas_, p. 75; _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Hist. Chich._, in
_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 250; _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant.
Mej._, tom. iii., p. 331.
[348] A full list and description of the many edible Mexican plants
which were cultivated by the Nahuas in the sixteenth and earlier
centuries, as they have been ever since by their descendants, is given
by the botanist, Hernandez, in his _Nova Plantarum_; see also
_Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. i., pp. 45-68; repeated
in _Carbajal Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., pp. 102-19; _Acosta_,
_Hist. de las Ynd._, p. 236, et seq. Maize, maguey, cacao, bananas,
and vanilla. _Prescott's Mex._, vol. i., pp. 134-6. The Totonacs
raised fruits, but no cacao or _veinacaztli_. _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._,
tom. iii., lib. x., p. 131. The people of Michoacan raised 'maíz,
frisoles, pepitas y fruta, y las semillas de mantenimientos, llamados
_oauhtli, y chian_.' _Id._, p. 137. The Matlaltzincas also raised the
_hoauhtli_. _Id._, p. 130. Besides corn, the most important products
were cotton, cacao, maguey (metl), frijoles, chia, and chile.
_Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 158; _Carbajal
Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., p. 624. 'Les Mexicains cultivaient
non-seulement toutes les fleurs et toutes les plantes que produit leur
pays, mais encore une infinité d'autres qu'ils y avaient transplantées
des contrées les plus éloignées.' _Tezozomoc_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i.,
p. 44. _Id._, _Crónica_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p.
18. 'Hay frutas de muchas maneras, en que hay cerezas, y ciruelas que
son semejables á las de España.' _Cortés_, _Cartas_, p. 104. Fruit was
more abundant among the Huastecs than elsewhere. _Tezozomoc_, _Hist.
Mex._, tom. i., p. 147. 'They haue also many kindes of pot herbes, as
lettice, raddish, cresses, garlicke, onyons, and many other herbes
besides.' _Peter Martyr_, dec. v., lib. iii. Edible fruits. _Sahagun_,
_Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. viii., p. 300.
[349] _Molina_, _Diccionario_. 'Centli, o Tlaulli, que otros dizen
mayz.' _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, p. 343.
[350] _Cortés_, _Cartas_, p. 64; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom.
i., p. 515. In Tlascala 'no tienen otra riqueza ni granjeria, sino
centli que es su pan.' _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 87.
[351] Peter Martyr and the Anonymous Conqueror say, however, that
cacao-trees were planted under larger trees, which were cut down when
the plant gained sufficient strength. Dec. v., lib. iv.;
_Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i., p. 380.
[352] On the culture of maize and other points mentioned above see
_Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., pp. 481-2, 564, tom. i., p.
166; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 153-6;
_Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., pp. 633-7, tom.
iv., p. 61; _Carbajal Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., pp. 621-4;
_Cortés_, _Cartas_, p. 75; _Bernal Diaz_, _Hist. Conq._, p. 128;
_Camargo_, _Hist. Tlax._, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom.
xcviii., p. 196; _Peter Martyr_, dec. v., lib. ii.; _Gagern_, in _Soc.
Mex. Geog., Boletin_, 2da época, tom. i., pp. 815-16.
[353] _Burgoa_, _Geog. Descrip._, tom. ii., pt ii., pp. 332-3;
_Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., pp. 40-2.
[354] On hunting see _Motolinia_, _Hist. Indios_, in _Icazbalceta_,
_Col. de Doc._, tom. i., p. 48; _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib.
ii., p. 165, tom. iii., lib. xi., pp. 149-229, including a full list
and description of Mexican animals; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom.
i., p. 298, tom. ii., pp. 281, 297; _Peter Martyr_, dec. v., lib.
iii.; _Cortés_, _Cartas_, p. 22; _Camargo_, _Hist. Tlax._, in
_Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 196;
_Ixtlilxochitl_, _Relaciones_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol.
ix., pp. 335, 346, 458; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom.
ii., pp. 160-2. List of Mexican animals in _Id._, tom. i., pp. 68-99;
_Carbajal Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., pp. 626-7, 120-44, with
same list; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p.
235.
[355] _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. i., pp. 99-105,
tom. ii., p. 162, with list and description of Mexican fishes, of
which over 100 varieties fit for food are mentioned; repeated in
_Carbajal Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., pp. 145-50, 628; _Peter
Martyr_, dec. v., lib. ii., iii.; _Tezozomoc_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i.,
pp. 60, 147; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 93; _Camargo_,
_Hist. Tlax._, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcviii., p.
132; _Acosta_, _Hist. de las Ynd._, p. 460. List of fishes in
_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., lib. xi., pp. 199-207.
[356] 'Crian muchas gallinas ... que son tan grandes como pavos.'
'Conejos, liebres, venados y perros pequeños, que crian para comer
castrados.' _Cortés_, _Cartas_, pp. 23, 94, 104, 222. 'Young whelpes
flesh is vsuall there ... which they geld and fatte for foode.' _Peter
Martyr_, dec. v., lib. iii. The same author, dec. v., lib. iii., gives
some queer information respecting the turkeys. 'The femalles sometimes
lay 20. or 30. egges, so that it is a multiplying company. The males,
are alwayes in loue, and therefore they say, they are very light meate
of digestion.' A certain priest reports that 'the male is troubled
with certayne impedimentes in the legges, that he can scarse allure
the henne to treade her, vnlesse some knowne person take her in his
hand, and hold her.... As soone as hee perceiueth the henne which he
loueth, is held, hee presently commeth vnto her, and performes his
businesse in the hand of the holder,' See _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant.
del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 158-9, tom. iv., p. 228; _Carbajal
Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., pp. 624-6; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._,
tom. iii., pp. 291-2.
[357] _Peter Martyr_, dec. v., lib. iii.; _Torquemada_, _Monarq.
Ind._, tom. i., p. 450; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. ii., lib. vii.,
cap. v.; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., p. 284; _Cortés_,
_Cartas_, p. 66; _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., pp.
124-8, tom. iii., lib. x., p. 130; _Albornoz_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col.
de Doc._, tom. i., p. 507; _Camargo_, _Hist. Tlax._, in _Nouvelles
Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 180; _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._,
fol. 100; _Solis_, _Hist. Conq. Mex._, tom. i., pp. 390-1.
[358] On the preparation of food, and for mention more or less
extensive of miscellaneous articles of food, see _Sahagun_, _Hist.
Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 129-30, 184-6, tom. ii., lib. vii., p.
258, tom. viii., pp. 297, 302-5, tom. iii, lib. x., pp. 118-19, 130,
132; _Acosta_, _Hist. de las Ynd._, pp. 237-38, 250-1, 254, 257-8;
_Bernal Diaz_, _Hist. Conq._, fol. 68-9; _Cortés_, _Cartas_, pp. 23,
68, 103-5; _Relacion de Algunas Cosas_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de
Doc._, tom. i., pp. 378-9; _Peter Martyr_, dec. v., lib. ii., iii.;
_Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. 43, 175; _Torquemada_,
_Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., pp. 93, 353, 373, tom. ii., p. 297; _Gomara_,
_Conq. Mex._, fol. 39, 318-19; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_,
tom. ii., pp. 158, 217, etc., tom. iv., p. 228; _Solis_, _Hist. Conq.
Mex._, tom. i., p. 394; _Tezozomoc_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., pp. 44,
48-9, 60, 88, 133, 141-3; _Spiegazione delle Tavole del Codice
Mexicano_ (Vaticano), in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., p.
191; _Carbajal Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., pp. 624, 628-30,
674-9; _Diaz_, _Itinerario_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom.
i., pp. 298-9; _Zuazo_, _Carta_, in _Id._, pp. 359-61; _Brasseur de
Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 234, tom. iii., pp. 631,
641-4; _Camargo_, _Hist. Tlax._, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._,
1843, tom. xcviii., pp. 142, 151-2.
[359] 'Oi dezir, que le (for Montezuma) solian guisar carnes de
muchachos de poca edad.' _Bernal Diaz_, _Hist. Conq._, fol. 68, 35,
37. A slave 'elaborately dressed' was a prominent feature of the
banquet. _Prescott's Mex._, vol. i., p. 155. They ate the arms and
legs of the Spaniards captured. _Gemelli Careri_, in _Churchill's Col.
Voyages_, vol. iv., p. 527. 'They draw so much blood, as in stead of
luke warme water may suffice to temper the lumpe, which by the hellish
butchers of that art, without any perturbation of the stomacke being
sufficiently kneaded, while it is moyst, and soft euen as a potter of
the clay, or a wax chandler of wax, so doth this image maker, admitted
and chosen to be maister of this damned and cursed worke.' _Peter
Martyr_, dec. v., lib. iv., i. 'Cocian aquella carne con maíz, y daban
á cada uno un pedazo de ella en una escudilla ó cajete con su caldo, y
su maíz cocida, y llamaban aquella comida _tlacatlaolli_.' _Sahagun_,
_Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 89, 14, 84, 93, 97. 'La tenian
por cosa, como sagrada, y mas se movian à esto por Religion, que por
vicio.' _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., pp. 584-5. See also
_Albornoz_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i., p. 488;
_Zuazo_, _Carta_, in _Id._, pp. 363, 365; _Motolinia_, _Hist. Indios_,
in _Id._, pp. 40-1, 59; _Relacion de Algunas Cosas_, in _Id._, p. 398;
_Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., pp. 282-3; _Gand_, in
_Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série i., tom. x., p. 197; _Bologne_, in
_Id._, p. 215; _Duran_, _Hist. Indias_, MS., tom. iii., appendix, cap.
iii.; _Carbajal_, _Discurso_, p. 60; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del
Messico_, tom. ii., p. 47; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._,
tom. iii., pp. 502-3, tom. iv., p. 90; _Las Casas_, _Hist.
Apologética_, MS., cap. 175-6.
[360] _Texcalcevia_, _texcalcevilo_, and _mataluhtli_ are some of the
names given to pulque according to its hue and condition. _Sahagun_,
_Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 175, 179, 186. Pulque from
Chilian language. _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii.,
pp. 221-2. See _Carbajal Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., pp. 679-80;
_Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., pp. 643-4, tom.
i., pp. 340-5; _Duran_, _Hist. Indias_, MS., tom. iii., cap. xxii.;
_Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. i., p. 151. 'Antes que á su vino lo
cuezan con unas raices que le echan, es claro y dulce como aguamiel.
Despues de cocido, hácese algo espeso y tiene mal olor, y los que con
él se embeodan, mucho peor.' _Motolinia_, _Hist. Indios_, in
_Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i., pp. 22-3; and _Ritos
Antiguos_, pp. 16-17, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix. 'No
hay perros muertos, ni bomba, que assi hiedan como el haliento del
borracho deste vino.' _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 319.
[361] 'Esta bebida es el mas sano y mas sustancioso alimento de
cuantos se conocen en el mundo, pues el que bebe una taza de ella,
aunque haga una jornada, puede pasarse todo el dia sin tomar otra
cosa; y siendo frio por su naturaleza, es mejor en tiempo caliente que
frio.' _Relacion de Algunas Cosas_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._,
tom. i., p. 381. 'La mejor, mas delicada y cara beuida que tienen es
de harina de cacao y agua. Algunas vezes le mezclan miel, y harina de
otras legumbres. Esto no emborracha, antes refresca mucho.' _Gomara_,
_Conq. Mex._, fol. 319. 'Of certaine almondes ... they make wonderfull
drinke.' _Peter Martyr_, dec. v., lib. ii., iv. 'Cierta bebida hecha
del mismo cacao, que dezian era para tener acceso con mugeres.'
_Bernal Diaz_, _Hist. Conq._, fol. 68. Red, vermilion, orange, black,
and white. _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. viii., pp. 301-2.
See _Acosta_, _Hist. de las Ynd._, p. 251; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant.
del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 219-20; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist.
Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., pp. 642-3.
[362] _Chicha_ and _sendechó_, fermented drinks. _Clavigero_, _Storia
Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 221. Sendechó, an Otomí drink, for a
full description see _Mendoza_, in _Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin_, 2da
época, tom. ii., pp. 25-8. 'Ale, and syder.' _Peter Martyr_, dec. v.,
lib. iv. 'Panicap que es cierto brebaje que ellos beben.' _Cortés_,
_Cartas_, p. 76. See besides references in note 19; _Motolinia_,
_Hist. Indios_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i., p. 23;
_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., lib. x., pp. 118, 130; _Mendieta_,
_Hist. Ecles._, p. 139; _Carbajal Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i.,
pp. 676, 678-9.
[363] _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, pp. 138-40. 'Comunmente comenzaban á
beber despues de vísperas, y dábanse tanta prisa á beber de diez en
diez, ó quince en quince, y los escanciadores que no cesaban, y la
comida que no era mucha, á prima noche ya van perdiendo el sentido, ya
cayendo ya asentado, cantando y dando voces llamando al demonio.'
_Motolinia_, _Hist. Indios_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom.
i., pp. 23, 32. 'Beben con tanto exceso, que no paran hasta caer como
muertos de puro ebrios, y tienen á grande honra beber mucho y
embriagarse.' _Relacion de Algunas Cosas_, in _Id._, pp. 582, 587.
Drinkers and drunkards had several special divinities. _Brasseur de
Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 493. Drank less before
the conquest. _Duran_, _Hist. Indias_, MS., tom. iii., cap. xxii.;
_Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. i., p. 119.
[364] 'Comen en el suelo, y suziamente ... parten los hueuos en vn
cabello que se arrancan,' whatever that operation may be. _Gomara_,
_Conq. Mex._, fol. 319. 'Es gente que con muy poco mantenimiento vive,
y la que menos come de cuantas hay en el mundo.' _Relacion de Algunas
Cosas_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i., pp. 379-80. 'Molto
sobrj nel mangiare.' _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. i.,
p. 119. 'It is not lawfull for any that is vnmaried to sit at table
with such as are maried, or to eate of the same dish, or drinke of the
same cup, and make themselues equall with such as are married.' _Peter
Martyr_, dec. iv., lib. iv. The nobles gave feasts at certain periods
of the year for the relief of the poor. _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._,
tom. ii., p. 270. See also _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., lib.
x., p. 138; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., p. 535; _Brasseur de
Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., pp. 644-5. Additional
references for the whole subject of Nahua food are:--_Montanus_,
_Nieuwe Weereld_, pp. 74, 80, 247, 251; _Dapper_, _Neue Welt_, pp. 83,
91, 278-9, 283; _Klemm_, _Cultur-Geschichte_, tom. v., pp. 10-13,
20-6, 102, 104, 180-3, 189, 196; _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, pp.
44-9; _Tylor's Anahuac_, pp. 62, 103, 145-6, 173-4; _Fossey_,
_Mexique_, pp. 44, 215, 485-6; _Malte-Brun_, _Précis de la Géog._,
tom. vi., p. 456; _Monglave_, _Résumé_, pp. 37-8, 261; _Delaporte_
_Reisen_, tom. x., pp. 257, 268-9; _Dillon_, _Hist. Mex._, p. 45;
_Chevalier_, _Mex., Ancien y Mod._, pp. 15-27; _Müller_,
_Amerikanische Urreligionen_, p. 538; _Boyle's Ride_, vol. i., pp.
278-9; _Macgregor's Progress of Amer._, vol. i., p. 22; _Gibbs_, in
_Hist. Mag._, vol. vii., p. 99; _Hazart_, _Kirchen-Geschichte_, tom.
ii., p. 502; _Helps' Span. Conq._, tom. ii., p. 455; _Lafond_,
_Voyages_, tom. i., p. 107; _Baril_, _Mexique_, pp. 208-9;
_Bussierre_, _L'Empire Mex._, pp. 164-6, 178, 230; _Lenoir_,
_Parallèle_, p. 39; _Long, Porter, and Tucker's America_, p. 162;
_Soden_, _Spanier in Peru_, tom. ii., pp. 16-17.