SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



47 



birds, in such number and variety as to strike 

 the Spaniards with wonder, who could not 

 believe there was any species in the world 

 wanting to the collection. They were sup- 

 plied with the same food which they fed upon 

 while they enjoyed their liberty, whether 

 seeds, fruits, or insects. For those birds who 

 lived on fish only, the daily consumption was 

 ten Castilian pesos of fish, (according to the 

 testimony of the conqueror Cortez, in his 

 letters to Charles V.), which is more than three 

 hundred Roman pounds. Three hundred 

 men, says Cortez, were employed to take care 

 of those birds, besides their physicians, who 

 observed their distempers and applied timely 

 remedies to them. Of those three hundred 

 men, some procured them their food, others 

 distributed it, others took care of their eggs 

 at the time of their incubation, and others 

 picked their plumage at certain seasons of the 

 year ; for, besides the pleasure which the king 



