1(36 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHKOLOGY [bull. 28 



moc, who was a son of Ahuitzotl. This probably explains the high 

 position as ciuaconatl, which he held with and under Quauhtemoc. 

 He took a very energetic part in the defense of the city of Mexico, 

 according to the Aztec account preserved in the Sahagun manu- 

 script of the Biblioteca Lorenziana, which was probably written by 

 an eyewitness who was shut up in the beleaguered city with him. 

 Tlacotzin is mentioned there with tlillancalqui Petlauhtzin and uitz- 

 nauatl Motelchiuhtzin, and these three, as leaders of the Tenoclicas, 

 are placed opposite tlacateccatl Temilotzin and thicochcak'atl Coyo- 

 ueuetzin, the leaders of the TLatelolcas, the inhabitants of the sister 

 city of Tenochtitlan. After the conquest he, too, was baptized, and 

 was then called Don Juan Velasquez Tlacotzin. After the execution 

 of Quauhtemoc and his companions at Ueymollan, Cortes made him 

 King of Mexico (tlahtohunni mocliiuh yn Tenochtitlan) and equipi)ed 

 him like a Spaniard, presenting him with a sword, a dagger, and a 

 white horse." Tlacotzin, however, was not destined to enter his 

 native city as King. After having been absent for nearly three years 

 with Cortes on the expedition to Honduras, which was one of hard- 

 ships and privations, he died on the homeward journey, in 1526, at 

 Nochiztlan. 



Of Motelchiuh it has already been stated that he was not a prince 

 of the blood, but had won his rank by distinguishing himself in war. 

 In the passage from Chimalpahin quoted above he is mentioned with 

 the title calpixqui, " keeper of the royal stores "", This was the name 

 given to the governors of subjugated pro^'inces, whose chief duty it 

 was to collect the tr'ibute and convey it to the royal storehouses. In 

 the Aztec account in the Sahagun manuscript he is called uitznauatl 

 and mexicatl achcauhtli. The latter means simply " Mexican war 

 chief". The former is one of the many military titles which were in 

 use among the Mexicans, the actual meaning of which has not yet 

 been determined. They probabh^ referred to a particular gens (cal- 

 pulli) and to its temple. After the conquest of the city Motelchiuh 

 was also baptized, like the other noble Mexicans, and was named for 

 his godfather, Don Andres de Tapia Motelchiuh. We also see Thapia 

 Motelchiuh written in our manuscript. After Tlacotzin's death at 

 Nochiztlan, Motelchiuh was appointed his successor, but, as he was 

 not a prince of the blood, actual royal dignity, the title tlahtouani, 

 could not be conferred on him. I feel convinced that Cortes took 

 this opportunity to somewhat degrade the dignity. He is therefore 

 merely mentioned as a war chief of Mexico (Zan quauhtlahtohuani 

 omochiuh Tenuchtitlan), but we learn nothing of his activity in this 

 capacity. He, too, ruled but a few years and died in the year 1530, 

 during an expedition to the provinces of the northwest (Teo-culhua- 

 can, the province of Jalisco), where he was serving in the Spanish 



" See Anales de Chimalpahin, Seventh Relation, ed. Hemi Simi'on. p. 207. 



