NOTES. 



253 



Under the reign of Axajacatl, died Nezahualcojotl, 

 king of Acolhuacan, or Tezcuco, equally memorable 

 for the improvement of his mind, and the wisdom of 

 his legislation. The king of Tezcuco had composed, 

 in the Azteck language, sixty hymns in honor of the 

 Supreme Being, an elegy on the destruction of the 

 city of Azcapozalco, and another on the instability of 

 human greatness, as proved by the fate of the tyrant 

 Tezozomoc. The great nephew of Nezahualcojotl, 

 baptized under the name of Ferdinand Alba Ixtilxo- 

 chitl, has translated a part of these verses into Spa- 

 nish ; and the Chevalier Boturini possessed the ori- 

 ginal of two of his hymns, composed fifty years before 

 the conquest, and written in the time of Cortez, in 

 Roman characters, on paper of metl. I have sought 

 these hymns in vain among the remains of the Botu- 

 rini collection, preserved in the palace of the viceroy 

 of Mexico. It is well worthy of remark, that the ce- 

 lebrated botanist Hernandez has made use of several 

 of the drawings of plants and animals, with which 

 king Nezahualcojotl had ornamented his palace at 

 Tezcuco, and which had been made by Azteck 

 painters. 



Arrival of Cortez on the shore of Chalchicuecan iri 

 1519. 



Taking of the city of Tenochtitlan, in 1521. 



The Counts of M otezuma and of Tula, residing in 

 Spain, trace their descent from Ihuitemotzin, grandson 

 of the king Motezuma-Xocojotzin, who had married 

 Donna Francisca de la Cueva. The illustrious houses 

 of Cano-Motezuma, Andrade Motezuma, and the 

 Count of JVJiravalle (at Mexico), derive their origin 

 from Tecuichpotzin, daughter of the king Motezuma- 

 Xocojotzin. This princess, baptized under the name 



it 



