456 ANNUAL. REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1923 



tion one may be permitted to doubt. Forming a part of Monte- 

 zuma's city residence was what Cortes describes as "a house less 

 handsome than his palace where he had a very beautiful garden, 

 overlooked by certain balconies or watch towers, the stone facings and 

 floorings of which were of jasper, very finely worked * * *." 



We also know that in the temple precincts flowers were cultivated 

 and that there were " exquisite flower gardens of different kinds 

 on the upper as well as on the lower stories " of the houses of those 

 inhabitants, whom Cortes describes as " vassal lords " and the 

 " wealthy citizens " of the capital. At the Penon, a rocky hill north 

 of the city where a hot spring wells up, Montezuma had another 

 pleasance. The orchard he owned near Coyoacan was given later 

 by Cortes to Dona Marina, who had acted as interpreter for the 

 conquerors. 



The most wonderful of all Montezuma's gardens, however, was 

 the tropical one at Huaxtepec, which he had inherited from his 

 predecessor and namesake, Montezuma the Elder. The native his- 

 torians relate that the latter, soon after his accession to power 

 about 1450, was reminded by his brother of the garden of their 

 ancestors at Huaxtepec in the tropical region south of the Valley 

 of Mexico, " where there were rocks with carved effigies of his 

 forefathers, rocks, fountains, gardens, trees with flowers, and trees 

 yielding fruit." He thereupon sent thither his principal overseer, 

 named Pinotetl, with orders to inspect and restore the fountains 

 and springs, the streams, reservoirs, and irrigation system. Simul- 

 taneously he dispatched messengers to the tropical coast region 

 with a request to the Lord of Cuetlaxtla for plants with roots of 

 the vanilla orchid, of the cacao and magnolia trees, and other valu- 

 able vegetable products. With foresight he also asked that these be 

 brought carefully by native gardeners from the same region, capa- 

 ble of replanting them at the proper season and tending them in 

 the customary way. On receiving his message the Lord of Cuet- 

 laxtla immediately gave orders to have a number of all kinds of 

 plants dug up with their roots inclosed in earth, and with exquisite 

 courtesy he had these bundles wrapped in beautiful woven mantles 

 and dispatched to Mexico. The ceremonial observed by the gardeners 

 who accompanied them before planting the trees, etc., " around the 

 fountains in the garden" is worth recording here. They fasted 

 for eight days and, drawing blood from the helix of their ears, they 

 anointed the plants therewith. Asking Pinotetl for a quantity of 

 incense, rubber, and paper, they also made a great sacrifice to the 

 god of flowers, offering him many dead quail after having sprinkled 

 the plants and the soil around them with their blood. They assured 

 the people that after observing these ceremonies none of the plants 

 would be lost and that they would soon bear flowers and fruits. 



