ON THE GARDENS OF MEXICO. 149 



ARTICLE IV. 



REMARKS ON THE GARDENS, &c, OF MEXICO, EXTRACTED 

 FROM PRESCOTT'S HISTORY OF THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 



BY AN AMATEUR FLORIST. 



In the above-named work I have been much pleased to find numerous 

 particulars relative to the gardens of Mexico, and of some of the 

 finest plants of that country ; and as we are indebted to that fine 

 part of the world for many of our most beautiful flower-garden plants, 

 I am persuaded it will be interesting to the readers of the Cabinet 

 to peruse anything of a floral character connected with Mexico, I 

 therefore send the following for insertion. 



"The Garden of an Aztec Monarch — 1400 to 1500 (a.d.) — 

 Nezahualcoyotl's fondness for magnificence was shown in his nu- 

 merous villas, which were embellished with all that could make a 

 rural retreat delightful. His favourite residence was at Tezcotzinco, 

 a conical hill about two leagues from the capital. It was laid out in 

 terraces, or hanging gardens, having a flight of steps, 520 in number, 

 many of them hewn in the natural porphyry. In the garden, on the 

 summit, was a reservoir of water, fed by an aqueduct, that was 

 carried over hill and valley for several miles, on huge buttresses of 

 masonry. A large rock stood in the midst of this basin, sculptured 

 with hieroglyphics representing the years of Nezahualcoyotl's 

 reign, and his principal achievements in each. On a lower level 

 were three other conservatories, in each of which stood a marble 

 statue of a woman, emblematic of the three states of the empire. 

 Another tank contained a winged lion, cut out of the solid rock, 

 bearing in its mouth the portrait of the emperor. His likeness had 

 been executed in gold, wood, feather-work, and stone, but this was 

 the only one that pleased him. From these copious basins the water 

 was distributed in numerous channels through the gardens, or was 

 made to tumble over the rocks in cascades, shedding refreshing dews 

 on the flowers and odoriferous shrubs below. In the depths of this 

 fragrant wilderness marble porticoes and pavilions were erected, and 

 baths excavated in the solid porphyry, which are still shown by the 

 ignorant natives as the "Baths of Montezume!" The visitor de- 

 scended by steps cut in the living stone, and polished so bright as to 

 reflect like mirrors. Towards the base of the hill, in the midst of 



