THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



flanked by others of vegetables and fruits, 

 of every delicious variety found on the 

 North American continent. The differ- 

 ent viands were prepared in various 

 ways, with delicate sauces and seasoning, 

 of which the Mexicans were very fond. 

 Their palate was still further regaled by 

 confections and pastry, for which their 

 maize flour and sugar supplied ample 

 materials. 



The meats were kept warm by chafing- 

 dishes. The table was ornamented with 

 vases of silver, and sometimes gold, of 

 delicate workmanship. The drinking 

 cups and spoons were of the same costly 

 materials, and likewise of tortoise shell. 

 The favorite beverage was the chocolatl, 

 flavored with vanilla and different spices. 

 They had a way of preparing the froth 

 of it so as to make it almost solid enough 

 to be eaten and took it cold. The fer- 

 mented juice of the maguey, with a mix- 

 ture of sweets and acids, supplied also 

 various agreeable drinks, of different de- 

 grees of strength, and formed the chief 

 beverage of the elder part of the company. 



CRITICISING THE HOST 



As soon as they had finished their re- 

 past, the young people rose from the 

 table, to close the festivities of the day 

 with dancing. They danced gracefully to 

 the sound of various instruments, accom- 

 panying their movements with chants of 

 a pleasing, though somewhat plaintive, 

 character. The older guests continued at 

 table, sipping pulque and gossiping about 

 other times, till the virtues of the ex- 

 hilarating beverage put them in good hu- 

 mor with their own. 



Intoxication was not rare in this part 

 of the company, and, what is singular, 

 was excused in them, though severely 

 punished in the younger. The entertain- 

 ment was concluded by a liberal distribu- 

 tion of rich dresses and ornaments among 

 the guests, when they withdrew, after 

 midnight, "some commending the feast 

 and others condemninc; the bad taste or 



extravagance of their host ; in the same 

 manner," says an old Spanish writer, "as 

 with us." Human nature is indeed much 

 the same all the world over. 



We shall be able to form a better idea 

 of the actual refinement of the natives by 

 penetrating into their domestic life. We 

 have, fortunately, the means of doing so. 

 We shall there find the ferocious Aztec 

 frequently displaying all the sensibility of 

 a cultivated nature, consoling his friends 

 under affliction, or congratulating them 

 on their good fortune, as on occasion of 

 a marriage or of the birth or baptism of 

 a child, when he was punctilious in his 

 visits, bringing presents of costly dresses 

 and ornaments, or the more simple offer- 

 ing of flowers, equally indicative of his 

 sympathy. The visits at these times, 

 though regulated with all the precision of 

 Oriental courtesy, were accompanied by 

 expressions of the most cordial and af- 

 fectionate regard. 



In this remarkable picture of manners, 

 which I have copied faithfully from the 

 records of earliest date after the Con- 

 quest, we find no resemblance to the other 

 races of North American Indians. Some 

 resemblance we may trace to the general 

 style of Asiatic pomp and luxury. But 

 in Asia woman, far from being admitted 

 to unreserved intercourse with the other 

 sex, is too often jealously immured within 

 the walls of the harem. 



The Aztec character was perfectly 

 original and unique. It was made up of 

 incongruities apparently irreconcilable. 

 It blended into one the marked peculiari- 

 ties of different nations, not only of the 

 same phase of civilization, but as far re- 

 moved from each other as the extremes 

 of barbarism and refinement. It may find 

 a fitting parallel in their own wonderful 

 climate, capable of producing, on a few 

 square leagues of surface, the boundless 

 variety of vegetable forms, which belong 

 to the frozen regions of the North, the 

 temperate zone of Europe, and the burn- 

 insr skies of Arabia and Hindostan ! 



