THE A.ZTECS 



L85 



Owing to the ineffectiveness of the Mexican time 

 count Aztecan chronology is far from fixed. The year 

 was known by the day with which it began and as this 

 day ran the permutation of four names and thirteen 

 numbers of cycle was fifty-two years in length. No 

 method of keeping the cycles in their proper order seems 

 to have been devised except the laborious one of put- 

 ting down every year in sequence whether or not an 

 event occurred in it. Unfortunately, not even the 

 latter method was used in any far-reaching chronicle 

 except the Annals of Quauhtitlan. According to 

 different authorities the year 1 Stone which begins the 

 historical account in the Aubin Codex was 648, 1064, 

 or 1168 in the European calendar, each date differing 

 from the others by multiples of fifty-two years. 



The wandering tribes, among which may be men- 

 tioned the Chalca, Xochimilca, Tlahuica, Huexotzinca, 

 Tepaneca, and Azteca, pushed their way 

 into the region of the lakes and made 

 settlements in less desirable locations. 

 Meanwhile, they served as vassals to 

 the established tribes. The " peregrina- 

 tions" relate the succession of stops 

 and the length of each stop. The Az- 

 themselves made twenty or more 

 stops lasting from two to twenty years. 

 Finally they took refuge on two island- 

 in Lake Tezcoco and lived a miserable 

 existence among the reeds. They joined 

 with the Tepanecas and by yeoman ser- 

 vice gained their aid and friendship. 



The date for the foundation of Teno- 

 chtitlan Mexico City) is usually given 

 as L325. About 1350 water rights were 

 gained al the spring of Chapultepec, This 



Fig. 68. Picto- 

 graphic Record 

 of the ( Conquest 

 of the Springs 

 of Chapultepec, 

 ••Hill of the 

 ( i ra sshopper." 

 Aubin Codex. 



