36 



Montezuma's way of life 



MARKET-PLAGE. 



The royal gardens are described by eye-witnesses as spots of 

 unsurpassed elegance, adorned with rare shrubs, medicinal plants, 

 and ponds, supplied by aqueducts and fountains, wherein, amid 

 beautiful flowers, the finest fish and aquatic birds were seen forever 

 floating in undisturbed quiet. The interior of the palace was 

 equally attractive for its comfort and elegance. Spacious halls 

 were covered with ceilings of odoriferous wood, while the lofty walls 

 were hung with richly tinted fabrics of cotton, the skins of animals, 

 or feather work wrought in mosaic imitation of birds, reptiles, 

 insects and flowers. Nor was the Emperor alone amid the 

 splendid wastes of his palace. A thousand women thronged 

 these royal chambers, ministering to the tastes and passions of 

 the elegant voluptuary. The rarest viands, from far and near, 

 supplied his table, the service of which was performed by numerous 

 attendants on utensils and equipage of the choicest material and 

 shape. Four times, daily, the Emperor changed his apparel, and 

 never put on again the dress he once had worn, or defiled his lips 

 twice with the same vessels from which he fed. 



Such was the sovereign's palace and way of life, nor can we 

 suppose that this refinement of luxury was to be found alone in 

 the dwelling of Montezuma and his nobles. It is to be regretted 

 that we are not more fully informed of the condition of property, 

 wealth and labor among the masses of this singular empire. The 

 conquerors did not trouble themselves with acquiring accurate 

 statistical information, nor do they seem to have counted num- 

 bers carefully, except when they had enemies to conquer or spoil 

 to divide. In all primitive nations, however, the best idea of a 

 people is to be attained from visiting the market-place, — or rather 

 the fair, — in which it is their custom to sell or barter the products 

 of their industry ; and, to this rendezvous of the Aztecs, Cortez, 

 with the astuteness that never forsook him during his perilous 

 enterprise, soon betook himself after his arrival in the city. 



The market of Tenochtitlan was a scene of commercial activity 

 as well as of humble thrift. It was devoted to all kinds of native 

 traffic. In the centre of the city the conqueror found a magnificent 

 square surrounded by porticoes, in which, it is alleged, that sixty 

 thousand traders were engaged in buying and selling every species 

 of merchandize produced in the realm ; jewels, goldware, toys, 

 curious imitations of natural objects, wrought with the utmost 

 skill of deception ; weapons of copper alloyed with tin, pottery 

 of all degrees of fineness, carved vases, bales of richly dyed cotton ; 

 beautifully woven feather-work, wild and tame animals, grain, fish, 



