HISTORY OF MEXICO. 



189 



but in the capital it was kept on the days of the Houfe, 

 the Rabbit, the Reed, and the Flint, which, in the firft 

 year of the century, were the third, the eighth, the thir- 

 teenth, and eighteenth of every month. 



In order to convey forae idea of thofe markets, or 

 rather fairs, which have been fo much celebrated by the 

 hiftorians of Mexico, it will be fufficient to defcribe that 

 held in the capital. Until the time of king Axajacatl, 

 it was kept in a fpace of ground before the royal palace ; 

 but after the conqueft of Tlatelolco, it was removed to 

 that quarter. The public place of Tlatelolco was, ac- 

 cording to the account of the conqueror Cortes, twice 

 as large as that of Salamanca, one of the mod famous in 

 Spain (7), and furrounded by porticos for the convenience 

 of the merchants. Every fort of merchandize had a par- 

 ticular place allotted to it by the judges of commerce. 

 In one ftation were goods of gold, and filver, and jewels ; 

 in another, manufactures of cotton ; in another, thofe of 

 feathers, and fo forth ; and no change of lituation was 

 allowed to any of them ; but although the fquare was 

 very large, as all the merchandizes could not be lodged 

 in it without interrupting the tranfaction of bufinefs, it 

 was ordered that all large goods, fuch as beams, {tones, 

 &c. fliould be left in the roads and canals near to the 

 market-place. The number of merchants who daily af- 

 fembled there, according to the affirmation of Cortes 

 himfelf, exceeded fifty thoufand (it). The things which 



were 



(if) In three editions of the letters of Cortes which we have feen, we have 

 read, that the fquare of Tlatelolco ivas twice as large as the city of Salamanca, 

 whereas it ought to read, as that of the city of Salamanca. 



(«) Although Cortes affirmed that there affembled daily in the market-place 

 of Tlatelolco fifty thoufand people, it appears that it ought to be underftood of 

 the great market which was held every five days ; for the anonymous conqueror, 

 who fpeaks more diftinclly of it, fays, that at the markets there were from 

 twenty to twenty-five thoufand, but at the great markets from forty to fifty 

 thoufand. 



