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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



inclosure, thrice as large as the celebrated 

 square of Salamanca. Here were met to- 

 gether traders from all parts, with the 

 products and manufactures peculiar to 

 their countries — the goldsmiths of Azca- 

 pozalco, the potters and jewelers of Cho- 

 lula, the painters of Tezcuco, the stone- 

 cutters of Tenajocan, the hunters of 

 Xilotepec, the fishermen of Cuitlahuac, 

 the fruiterers of the warm countries, the 

 mat and chair makers of Quauhtitlan, and 

 the florists of Xochimilco — all busily en- 

 gaged in recommending their respective 

 wares and in chaffering with purchasers. 



in the; toy shop 



The market-place was surrounded by 

 deep porticos, and the several articles had 

 each its own quarter allotted to it. Here 

 might be seen cotton piled up in bales, or 

 manufactured into dresses and articles of 

 domestic use, as tapestry, curtains, cover- 

 lets, and the like. The richly stained and 

 nice fabrics reminded Cortes of the alcay- 

 ceria, or silk-market of Granada. There 

 was the quarter assigned to the gold- 

 smiths, where the purchaser might find 

 various articles of ornament or use 

 formed of the precious metals, or curious 

 toys, made in imitation of birds and 

 fishes, with scales and feathers alternately 

 of gold and silver and with movable 

 heads and bodies. These fantastic little 

 trinkets were often garnished with pre- 

 cious stones, and showed a patient, puerile 

 ingenuity in the manufacture, like that of 

 the Chinese. 



In an adjoining quarter were collected 

 specimens of pottery, coarse and fine. 

 vases of wood elaborately carved, var- 

 nished, or gilt, of curious and sometimes 

 graceful forms. There were also hatch- 

 ets made of copper alloyed with tin, the 

 substitute, and. as it proved, not a bad 

 one for iron. The soldier found here all 

 the implements of his trade. The casque 

 fashioned into the head of some wild ani- 

 mal, with its grinning defenses of teeth 

 and bristling crest dyed with the rich tint 

 of the cochineal; the escaupil, or quilted 

 doublet of cotton, the rich surcoat of 

 feather-mail, and weapons of all sorts, 

 copper-headed lances and arrows, and the 

 broad maqitahititl, the Mexican sword, 



with its sharp blades of itztU. Here were 

 razors and mirrors of this same hard and 

 polished mineral wdiich served so many 

 of the purposes of steel with the Aztecs. 



In the square were also to be found 

 booths occupied by barbers, who used 

 these same razors in their vocation ; for 

 the Mexicans, contrary to the popular and 

 erroneous notions respecting the Abor- 

 igines of the New World, had beards, 

 though scanty ones. Other shops or 

 booths were tenanted by apothecaries, 

 well provided with drugs, roots, and dif- 

 ferent medicinal preparations. In other 

 places, again, blank books or maps for the 

 hieroglyphical picture-writing were to be 

 seen, folded together like fans and made 

 of cotton, skins, or more commonly the 

 fibers of the agave, the Aztec papyrus. 



Under some of the porticos they saw 

 hides, raw and dressed, and various arti- 

 cles for domestic or personal use made of 

 the leather. Animals, both wild and 

 tame, were offered for sale, and near 

 them, perhaps, a gang of slaves, with col- 

 lars round their necks, intimating they 

 were likewise on sale — a spectacle, un- 

 happily, not confined to the barbarian 

 markets of Mexico, though the evils of 

 their condition were aggravated there by 

 the consciousness that a life of degrada- 

 tion might be consummated at any mo- 

 ment by the dreadful doom of sacrifice. 



SAVORY DISHES READY TO SERVE 



The heavier materials for building, as 

 stone, lime, timber, were considered too 

 bulky to be allowed a place in the square, 

 and were deposited in the adjacent streets 

 on the borders of the canals. It would 

 be tedious to enumerate all the various 

 articles, whether for luxury or daily use, 

 which were collected from all quarters in 

 this vast bazaar. I must not omit to men- 

 tion, however, the display of provisions, 

 one of the most attractive features of the 

 tianguez; meats of all kinds, domestic 

 poultry, game from the neighboring 

 mountains, fish from the lakes and 

 streams, fruits in all the delicious abun- 

 dance of these temperate regions, green 

 vegetables, and the unfailing maize. 

 There was many a viand, too, ready 

 dressed, which sent up its savory steams, 



