The walls of Mexico were the foaming surges of her lake. The cities on
the shore, when much exposed by defencelessness of site, great wealth of
inhabitants, or other causes, to the attacks of enemies, were surrounded
by walls, commonly of earth, though sometimes, as in the case of
Tezcuco, of stone. These were, ordinarily, of no great height or
strength, but sufficient, when well manned, to repel the assaults of the
slingers and archers of America.
The external fortifications of Tezcuco were, as became the ancient rival
of Tenochtitlan, of a more imposing order. The walls were thick and
high, with embattled parapets, and deep ditches at the base. The gates
were protected in the manner common to the land, by the overlapping, so
to speak, of the opposite walls; that is, being made, as they approached
each other, to change from their straight, to a circular course, the one
traversing upon a greater radius than the other, they thus swept by and
_round_ each other, in parallel curves, leaving a long and narrow
passage between them, commanded not only by the walls themselves, but by
strong stone turrets, built on their extremities.
Besides these defences, there was erected within the walls, and directly
opposed to each entrance, a small pyramid, elevated fifteen or twenty
feet above the walls, and crowned with little sanctuaries,--thus serving
a religious as well as a military purpose. In the one sense, these
structures might be considered Chapels of Ease to the greater temples of
the quarters in which they stood; in the other, they were not unlike the
cavaliers, or commanding mounds, of European fortification, from the
tops and sides of which the besieger could be annoyed, whilst without
the walls, and arrested on his course, when within.
Thus, then, there were ready to his hands, fortifications, of which the
Spanish commander, now the Captain-General of New Spain, as the
unsubdued Mexico was already called, was not slow to reap the full
advantage. A strong guard of Castilian soldiers was posted before each
gate; a native watchman sat on each turret; and a line of Tlascalan
sentries, stepping proudly along in their places of trust, occupied the
lofty terrace of the walls.
The edifices disclosed to Juan, when he had, with his companions, passed
through the staring warders into the town, were similar to those of
Mexico,--of stone, and low, though often adorned with turrets. In all
cases, the roofs were terraced, and covered with shrubs and flowers; and
the passion of the citizens for such delightful embellishments, had
converted many a spacious square into gardens, wherein fluttered and
warbled birds of a thousand hues and voices.
Over these open spaces were seen, in different quarters, the tops of
high pyramids and towers, scattered about the town in vast and
picturesque profusion.
The roaring sound of life that pervades a great city, even when
unassisted by the thundering din of wheeled carriages, gave proof enough
of the dense multitudes that inhabited Tezcuco. The eye detected the
evidences of a population still more astonishing, in the myriads of
tawny bodies that crowded the streets, the gardens, the temple squares,
and the housetops, many of whom seemed to have no other habitation. In
fact, the introduction of the many thousands who composed the train, or,
as it was called, the Army of the Brigantines, added to the hosts of
other warriors previously collected by Cortes, and the presence of the
original inhabitants, gave to Tezcuco that appearance of an
over-crowded, suffocating vitality, which is presented by the modern
Babylons of France and Great Britain. The murmur of voices, the
pattering of feet, the rustling of garments, with the sounds of
instruments wielded by artisans, both native and Christian, made,
together, a din that seemed like the roar of a tempest to the ears of
one, who, like Lerma, had just escaped from the mute hills and the
silent forests of the desert. At a distance--beheld from the
cypress-tree,--the view of Tezcuco seemed to embrace a scene made up of
tranquillity and repose. The same thing is true of all other cities; and
the same thing may be said of human life, when we sit aloof and
contemplate the bright pageant, in which we take no part. If we advance
and mingle with it, the picture is turned to life, the peace to tumult,
and we lose all the charms of the prospect in the distractions of
participation.
As Juan, conducted by the Alguazil, made his way through the torrents of
bodies which poured through every street, and became more accustomed to
move among them, the excitement gradually subsided in his breast, the
colour faded from his cheeks; and, by the time he had reached the end of
his journey, there remained no expression on his visage beyond that of
its usual and characteristic sadness. This was deepened, perhaps, by the
scene around him; for it is the virtue of melancholy, where it exists as
a temperament, or has become a settled trait, to be increased by the
excitements of a city or crowd. Perhaps it was darkened also by the
reflection, as he raised his eyes to the vast palace in which Cortes had
established his head-quarters, that among all its crowds,--the military
guards at the door, and the lounging courtiers within,--there was not a
single friend waiting to rejoice over his return.
The house of Nezahualcojotl, who has been already mentioned as the most
famous and refined of the Tezcucan kings, possessed but little to
distinguish it from the edifices of nobles around, except its greatness
of extent. It was a pile or cluster of many houses built of vast blocks
of basalt, well cut and polished, surrounding divers courts and
gardens,--what might be termed the wings consisting of but a basement
story, which was relieved from monotony by the presence of towers and
battlements, and the sculptured effigies of animals and serpents on the
walls, and particularly around the narrow loops which served for
windows. The centre, or principal portion, had an additional story,
loftier towers, and more imposing sculptures. The windows were carved of
stone, so as to resemble the yawning mouths of beasts of prey; the
battlements were crouching tigers; and the pillars of the great door
were palm-trees, round the trunks of which twined two immense serpents,
whose necks met at the lintel, among the interlocking branches, and
embraced and supported a huge tablet, on which was engraven the Aztec
calendar, according to the singular and yet just system of the ancient
native astronomers.--Sixty years _after_ this period, the sages of
Europe discovered and adopted a mode of adjusting the civil to the
astronomical time, so as to avoid, for the future, the confusion--the
utter disjointing of seasons--which had been the consequence of the
Julian computation. At this very moment, the barbarians of America were
in possession of a system, which enabled them to anticipate, and rectify
by proper intercalations, the disorders not only of years, but of
cycles,--and how much _earlier_, the wisdom of civilization has not yet
divined.
On the whole, there was something not less impressive than peculiar in
the appearance of an edifice which had sheltered a long line of
Autochthonous monarchs; and as Juan passed from the square, in front of
the artillery that commanded it, under the folds of the mighty serpents
at the door, and into the sombre shadows of the interior, he was struck
with a feeling of awe, which was not immediately removed even by the
more stirring emotions of the instant.
The hall, or rather vestibule, in which he now found himself, was
distinguished, rather than animated, by the presence of many Spaniards
of high and low degree, some clustered together in groups, some stalking
to and fro in haughty solitude, while others bustled about with an air
of importance and authority; but all, as Lerma quickly observed,
preserving a decorous silence,--conversing in whispers, and moving with
a cautious tread, as if in the ante-room of a king, instead of the hall
of a soldier-of-fortune like themselves.
A few of them bent their eyes upon the strangers, and stepped forward to
survey their savage equipments. The keen glances which they cast towards
him, the hurried and somewhat sonorous exclamations with which they
pointed him out to one another, but more than all, the presence of
Najara, of Bernal Diaz, and of the stranger Camarga, among them,
convinced Juan that he was recognized. But with this conviction came
also the sickening consciousness that not one had a smile of
satisfaction to bestow upon him in the way of welcome. He remembered the
faces of many; and, once or twice, he raised his hand, and half stepped
forward, to meet some one or other who seemed disposed to salute him. He
was deceived; those who came nighest, were only the most curious. They
nodded their heads familiarly to Villafana; a few returned the advances
of Lerma with solemn and reverential bows; but none raised up their
heads to meet the exile's advances.
"The curse of ingratitude follow you all, cold knaves!" muttered Gaspar
between his teeth. The eyes of the Ottomi twinkled upon the groups, with
a mixture of wonder and malignant wrath. Juan smothered his sighs, and
strode onwards.
He stopped suddenly at a door, wreathed, like the outer, with snakes,
though carved of wood, over which hung curtains of some dark and heavy
texture, and behind which, as it seemed to him, from the murmuring of
voices, was the apartment in which the Captain-General gave audience to
his followers and the allied tribes of Mexico, who made up what may be
called, as it seemed to be considered, his court. Here Juan paused, and
turning to the Alguazil, said, calmly, and with a low voice,
"From what I have seen and now see, I perceive, it will not be fitting I
should approach the general--especially in these weeds, which can scarce
extenuate the coldness of my old companions,--without the ceremony of an
announcement and expressed permission."
"Fear not," whispered Villafana, with a grim smile: "thy friend
Francisco will have done thee this good turn. Remember--offend him not
now: but, still, lay claim to the horses."
As he spoke, the Alguazil, pushed aside the curtain, and, in a moment
more, the youth was in the presence of Cortes.