THE GAKDENS OF ANCIENT MEXICO l 



By Zelia NUTTAT.Ti 



[With 4 plates] 



As a preliminary to a description of the gardens of ancient Mexico 

 it should be mentioned here that in the language of the Nahuas are 

 found names descriptive of different kinds of gardens, a significant 

 fact from which a prolonged familiarity with horticulture may be 

 inferred. The name for a garden in general was xochitla, lit.= 

 flower place; a variant being xoxochitla=place of many flowers. A 

 walled garden was xochitepanyo. The pleasure gardens of the rul- 

 ing class were designated as xochitecpancalli, lit.— the palace of 

 flowers. The humble garden of the Indian was and is a xochichinan- 

 calli, lit.mflower place inclosed by a fence made of cane or reeds. 



These words reveal that the native conception of a garden was a 

 flowery " hortus inclusus" which brings the ancient Mexican garden 

 lovers very close to us. For a knowledge of the lordly pleasances 

 which delighted their owners at the time of the Conquest we have to 

 rely upon the descriptions of Spanish eyewitnesses, which, exag- 

 gerated as they may seem, are fully corroborated by the native his- 

 torians, and in the case of the Texcocan gardens by archeological 

 remains. The most detailed description of a native garden is that 

 written by Cortes in his second letter to the Emperor Charles V, in 

 1520, in the portion referring to his arrival at Iztapalapa, a town 7 

 miles distant from Mexico on the shore of the salt lagoon. He 

 writes : " Its lord or chief has some new houses which, though still 

 unfinished, are as good as the best in Spain ; I mean as large and well 

 constructed, not only in the stonework but also in the woodwork, and 

 all arrangements for every kind of household service, all except the 

 relief work and other rich details which are used in Spanish houses 

 but are not found here. There are both upper and lower rooms and 

 very refreshing gardens with many trees and sweet-scented flowers, 

 bathing places of fresh water, well constructed and having steps 

 leading down to the bottom. He also has a large orchard near the 

 house, overlooked by a high terrace with many beautiful corridors 

 and rooms. Within the orchard is a great square pool of fresh 

 water, very well constructed, with sides of handsome masonry, 

 around which runs a walk with a well-laid pavement of tiles, so wide 

 that four persons can walk abreast on it, and 400 paces square, mak- 



1 Reprinted by permission from the Journal of the International Garden Club, December, 

 1922. 



453 



