Indies in the summer of 1781, entered the 

 Chesapeake, and met the fleet of Admiral 

 Thomas Graves, compelling him to return to 

 New York for refitting and repairs. Then, by- 

 blocking the mouths of the York and James 

 rivers, he succeeded in cutting off communica- 

 tion between the British forces at Yorktown 

 and those at New York, and thus assisted ma- 

 terially in causing the famous surrender that 

 closed the war (see National Geographic 

 Magazine, June, 1917, pages 527-548). 



423. Napoleon's Flag, Louisiana, 1803. — 

 Among the many changes of flag that helped 

 to make romantic the early history of Louisi- 

 ana, this of Napoleon stands out as memorable 

 because it was hauled down to give place for 

 "Old Glory" on the 20th of December, 1803. 



Each of the colors of this flag is woven into 

 the tissue of French history by myriad threads. 

 The blue banner of St. Martin was first used 

 by the- kings of France in the fourth century, 

 and for 600 years was carried into battle as a 

 sure omen of victory. Next came the well- 

 loved Auriflamme, the gold-broidered banner 

 of St. Denis. This in turn gave place to the 

 "cornette blanche" — a plain white flag emblem- 

 atic of the Virgin Mary, carried by Joan of 

 Arc, and later adopted by the Bourbons. 



So it was not purely an accident that the 

 choice of the populace storming the Bastille, 

 in 1789, should have been the tricolor; and it 

 is easy to see how the historic associations, as 

 well as the beauty and simplicity of the banner 

 itself, made it the permanent emblem of 

 France. 



It was fourteen years after this tricolor had 

 become the national flag of France that the 

 remarkable and startling chain of events, oc- 

 curring a quarter of the way around the world 

 from our Father of Waters, made it possible 

 for us to purchase the wonderful Louisiana 

 country. 



424. Russian-American Company, Alas- 

 ka. — Although the Alaskan coast was explored 

 in 1741, it was not until 1794 that the first, and 

 even then only partially accurate, chart of the 

 Alaskan mainland was made. Kodiak 'was set- 

 tled in 1784, and in the succeeding years pri- 

 vate traders raided and robbed the Indian 

 villages,, until the feign of lawlessness was 

 checked by the formation, in 1799, of the 

 Russian-American Company, which remained 

 dominant in Alaskan matters for sixty years. 

 And thus it was that while the young Amer- 

 ican Republic was getting on its feet and meet- 

 ing its first problems of administration and 

 expansion this white, blue, and red standard 

 was flaunting in the sunshine from many a 

 ship through the long days of Alaskan sum- 

 mers and flapping from the flagstaffs of many 

 a trading post under the steely glitter of the 

 long winter nights. In 1867 the Alaska pur- 

 chase placed our own starry flag on those 

 valuable far-northern shores. 



425. Aztec Standard — Battle of Otum- 

 ba. — History says that Cortes and his Span- 

 iards, with their allies, the Tlaxcallans, were 

 on the verge of defeat at the battle of Otum- 

 ba, when the Spanish leader, descrying the 

 gorgeously decorated litter of the Aztec gen- 

 eral and observing that he carried the battle 

 standard lashed to his back, summoned several 



cavaliers and, praying to Santiago (429), they 

 fought their way to the Aztec's side. Cortes 

 overthrew the general and Salamanca cut the 

 standard from his back. The loss of their 

 emblem demoralized the Aztec forces and 

 turned the tide of the battle. Cortes after- 

 ward presented the standard to the Tlaxcallan 

 chieftain, Maxixca, as a reward for his aid 

 and friendship, and the Spanish King caused 

 it to be represented on Salamanca's coat-of- 

 arms. This illustration of the standard, which 

 was called the Quetzalteopamitl and was com- 

 posed of a golden sun surrounded by the" rich- 

 est plumes of the quetzal (see 487), was taken 

 from the picture writings of the Tlaxcallans, 

 shown in the Lienzo of Tlaxcalla (see 426). 



426. Banners, Mexican. — The Lienzo of 

 Tlaxcalla is a document of great importance, 

 as it represents in hieroglyphics the principal 

 events of the conquest of Mexico painted by 

 the Indians themselves. It is on long bands of 

 linen and is divided into 86 illustrations by 

 perpendicular lines. The Tlaxcallans were a 

 fierce mountain people, implacable foes of the 

 Aztecs, and became the staunch allies of Cortes 

 after their armies were decisively defeated by 

 the Spaniards on their way to Tenochtitlan. 

 In numerous of these illustrations Cortes and 

 his cavaliers are shown in battle, dressed in 

 their armor and astride their prancing steeds, 

 while by their sides are shown their Tlaxcallan 

 allies, armed with their crude native weapons 

 and carrying their beautiful banners (426) 

 cleverly constructed of precious metals and 

 bright-colored plumes, mounted on wooden 

 staffs and lashed to their backs to allow free 

 use of both arms. 



427. Banners — Incas. Before Pizarro. — 

 ''The Children of the Sun," as the Incas were 

 called, lived among the mountain fastnesses of 

 Peru and were as cultured as the Aztecs of 

 Mexico. Their country has been called the 

 ''Ophir of the Occident," and well it deserved 

 the name, for its treasures of precious metals 

 exceeded the dreams of avarice. Like the Az- 

 tecs, these ancient Peruvians used the gaudy 

 plumage of tropical birds for decorative pur- 

 poses, and this sketch of two old banners illus- 

 trates the feathered halyards and trimming. 

 These Sun-worshipers also had great rever- 

 ence for the rainbow, and used a representa- 

 tion of it in their royal insignia. An old de- 

 scription, referring to the ceremony incident 

 to the recognition of the heir-apparent, says : 

 "Being recognized as of age, he was given 

 command of his father's armies and was en- 

 titled to display the royal standard of the rain- 

 bow in his military campaigns." 



428. Cortes Standard. — "The hardy and 

 romantic adventurers who followed in the 

 wake of Columbus were not merely sordid 

 gold hunters; they were the descendants of 

 soldiers who had for centuries fought in the 

 holy wars of the Cross against the Crescent, 

 and in their veins flowed the blood of the 

 knight-errant and Crusader. Gold they sought 

 with eagerness and without scruple ; but they 

 wanted glory almost as much as they wanted 

 gold, and in the pursuit of both they carried 

 aloft the banner of the Church." 



Around the edge of this standard of Cortes 

 there appears in Spanish : "This standard was. 



356 



