V 

 V 



HISTORY OF MEXICO. 231 



beautiful works made ufe of at feftivals. After the in- 

 troduction of Chriftianity they made thefe works for or- 

 nament ; they were fought after mod eagerly by the 

 Spanifti nobility, on account of the lingular beauty of 

 the artifice. At prefent there are many artifts in that 

 kingdom, who employ themfelves in counterfeiting with 

 filk the images of feathers ; but their performances are 

 by no means comparable with thofe of the ancients. 



A nation fo induftrious in thofe arts which could only 

 ferve for curiofity and luxury, could not be wanting in 

 thofe which were neceffary to life. Architecture, one 

 of thofe arts which the neceffity of man firfl invents, was 

 exercifed by the inhabitants of the country of Anahuac, 

 at lean 1 from the time of the Toltecas. Their fucceffors 

 the Chechemecas, the Acolhuas, and all the other na- 

 tions of the kingdoms of Acolhuacan, of Mexico, and 

 Michuacan, of the republic of Tlafcala, and other pro- 

 vinces, except the Otomies, built houfes and formed 

 cities from time immemorial. When the Mexicans ar- 

 rived in that country, they found it full of large and 

 beautiful cities. They who before they left their native 

 country were ikilled in architecture, and ufed to a focial 

 life, conftru&ed in their pilgrimage many edifices in thofe 

 places where they (topped for fome years ; fome remains 

 of which are ftill exifling as we have already mentioned 

 upon the banks of the river Gila, in Pimeria, and near 

 to the city of Zacatecas. Reduced afterwards to great- 

 er hardfliips upon the little iflands of the Tezcucan lake, 

 they built humble huts with reeds and mud, until by the 

 commerce of their fifli they were able to purchafe better 

 materials. In proportion as their power and riches in- 

 creafed, they enlarged and improved their habitations ; 

 fo that when the conquerors arrived, they found no lefs 



to 



