Chao. Ill for the ReduBion N E w S p A i N. 9 7 
Lake is higher than the Salt, and though it runs into 
the other, they do not mix much, becaule of the Cauf- 
ways that part them. Cortes had three hundred Spa- 
niards ; and when they marched out of dSlafcala their 
Number feemed fo fmall to him, that, fancying fome 
ftayed behind, he fent Peter de Aher ado to fetch them 
out, but he found none. The Indian Confederates that 
followed him were fix thoufand ; for fome Plafcalans^ 
Chulnlans, and others, had joined him at Chulula: Be- 
ing come near to Mexico^ where another Caufway joins 
the former, he found a Stone Bulwark two Fathoms 
high with two Towers at the Ends, and between them a 
Breaftwork with two Gates : There Cortes halted, be- 
caufe four thoufand Gentlemen of the Court, richly clad 
all in the fame Livery, came out to meet him every 
one of them, when he came to the Place where Cortes 
was, made Obeifance, touching the Ground with his 
Right-hand, and kiffing it, and palTing along returned to 
the Place from whence he came. 
To this Bridge the Emperor himfelf advanced, to meet 
Cortes under a Canopy of Green Feathers and Gold, car- 
ried on the Pleads of four Lords : Before him walked 
three Lords one after another, each of them holding a 
Gold Rod upright, which was carried before Motezuma 
every time he went abroad, either by Land or Water, 
like a Standard or Token that the great Lord was there, 
to the End that all v/ho were in the Way, though they 
did not fee him rnight pay the due Refpedf. Two prin- 
cipal Lords, his Brother Pluequathuac^ and his Nephew 
Cacamazin, led him by the Arms; they were all richly clad 
after the fame Manner, bating that the King had Golden 
Shoes, which they call Zagles^ not unlike thofe of the 
antient Romans^ and on them many precious Stones of 
great Value, the Soles faftened withThongs. The two 
FiOrds that led him were barefoot, . for the Refpedt they 
paid him was fo great that no Man durft come in his 
Prefence without taking off his Shoes, nor might they 
Fft up their Eyes. 
Motezuma kept along the Middle of the Street, and 
two hundred followed him, as dole to the Wall as 
they could, their Eyes fixed on the Ground, becaufe 
it was accounted Difrefpedl to look on his Face. ■ As 
foon as Cortes faw him he alighted off his Horfe, 
at a fmall Diftance with fome Gentlemen, ■ and draw- 
ing near fainted him after the Manner of Spain. 
Thofe that led Motezuma Popped Cortes., thinking it a 
grievous thing that any Man fhould touch him, being 
held as fome Deity , they faluted one another after their 
Manner : Motezuma touched the Ground with his Eland, 
kifiing it, a Ceremony ufed among the Indians, and 
then bid him Welcome : Cortes returned him Thanks 
for having come out to meet him, and put about his 
Neck a Collar of fine Glafs and precious Stones with 
fome Enamel, Motezuma bowed a little, in token of 
accepting the Prefent. Fie went on a little before, 
with the Nephew that led him by the Arm, and ordered 
the other to flay and wait upon Cortes, leading him by 
the Hand along the Middle of the Street, not permiting 
any Spaniards or Indians to come near. This was the 
greateft Flonour Motezuma could have done Cortes. 
The two hundred Gentlemen in one Livery that went 
behind, as foon as they turned about, came one by one 
to welcome him •, the Day would have been too Ihort if 
all the Nobility in the City v^re to have done the like j 
but the King going before, they all turned their Faces 
to the Wall, in token of Refpedl ; fo that the others, 
who were behind, could not come up. 
The King was much pleafed with the Collar Cortes 
gave him ^ becaufe, though it v/as not coftly, it was gay, 
fparkling, and very ftrange to him. That he might not 
be thought to fall Ihort in any thing that became a great 
Prince, he called two Officers of his Bed-chamber, and 
bid them bring two Collars of large red Prawns as big 
as great Snails or Wallnuts, at every one of which hung 
eight Gold Prawns wrought to the Life, and about half 
a Foot long : When brought, the King Popped till Cortes 
came up, and with his own Elands threw them upon his 
Neck. The Indians amazed that Motezuma Piould 
do Cortes fo fmgular a Favour, for he had never done the 
VoL, II. Numb. LXXVL ' 
like to any other Man. The Spaniards were aPoni: 0 ied 
to fee fuch a Multitude of People, and after a long time 
paffing through them came to a very large Court, 
which was the Wardrobe of the Idols, and had been the 
Houfe of Axyacazin, Motezuma' Father. 
5, At the Door of it, the Emperor taking by the 
Hand, led him into a fpacious Room, placed hini on a 
rich elevated Place, adorned with precious Stones, and 
faid to him : You are in your own Houfe, eat, reP, 
‘‘ and take your Pleafure, I will foon return.” Cortes 
made him profound Obeifance. without anfwering one 
Word. Such was the Reception that mighty Prince 
gave Cortes in that vaP City of Mexico, on the 8 th of 
November, 1519. They were lodged in a Houfe thaf 
contained fo many fpacious Rooms, withBed-chambersj 
that one hundred and fifty Spaniards could all lie fingle. 
It was alfo worth obferving that, though fo big, every 
Part of it, to the leap Corner, was clean, neat, matted, 
and hung with Hangings of Cotton and Feather- work of 
feveral Colours, and had Beds of Matts with Pavillions 
over them, no Man of what Quality foever having any 
other : There was Fire with Perfumes in every Chamber, 
and fo many Servants every where, as fufficiently dif- 
covered the Grandeur of that Prince. • When Motezuma 
was gone, Cortes affigned every Man his Apartment, 
placing the Artillery before the Door, and when he had 
ordered all that was requifite, the prime Men ferving 
him in fuch a Quality as is ufual in the Houfes of the 
greateP Perfons there, in Honour to him, and becaufe 
it was then convenient. Pood in order about the 
Walls. 
When they had all dined and rePed, Motezuma re- 
turned, and Cortes went to meet him ; they both walked 
together to the raifed part of the Room, and when they 
v/ere feated in the Prefence of many Mexican Gentlemen 
and Cortes’s chief Commanders, Motezuma gave Cortes 
many coPly Jewels of Gold, Silver, Feather- work, and 
fix thoufand rich Cotton Garments. Cortes returned 
Thanks for the noble Prefent in fuch a Manner as Piewed 
good Breeding and Diferetion. Soon after, the Em-^ 
peror entred into a long Conference with the Spanijb 
Commander, in which he Piewed himfelf a very great 
Politician, and a deep MaPer in the Art of Diffimu- 
lation ; He fet out with giving abundance of plaufible 
Reafons' why he was fo very unwilling to admit them into 
his Capital : Ele next took notice of the Prange Reports 
that had been fpread about them ; and then told them, he 
believed, that as Prange as they appeared to one another, 
they were really Countrymen, fince it was certain that 
the AncePors of the Mexicans came from a Land at a 
great DiPance, and had not been fettled there above a 
Century, that therefore he regarded them as Brothers ; 
that they were free to take what they pleafed, and that 
they fhould Pudy to amufe and divert themfelyes the 
beP way they could. 
. 6. Cortes thanked Motezuma for thefe fingular Marks 
of his Kindnefs and Affeflion, took a View of the City, 
and for fome time paffed his Days very agreeably ; how- 
ever, before he had formed in his own Mind any Scheme 
of fixing the Spaniards in that Country, Things began 
to change their Afpeft ; and he faw great Caufe to 
ePeem himfelf in more Danger than he had yet been ex- 
pofed to in the Profecution of this Defign. The Occa- 
fion of his Apprehenfions was the Arrival of two 
Tlafcalans, difguifed fo as to pafs all Motezuma’ s Guards, 
whofe Bufinefs was to inform him,, that the Indians 
allied to the Spaniards, finding their Lands ravaged by 
one of Motezuma’ s Captains, whofe Name was ^alpopoca, 
and apprehending that he had a Defign upon Zempoalla, 
they applied themfelves, as he had diredred, to Efculante., 
whom he had left Governor of Vera Cruz, and defired 
his Protedion. The Spanijh Governor fent immediately 
to ^alpopoca, to defire that he would forbear injuring 
the Friends of the King of Spain ; but, notwithPanding 
he repeated his InPances more than once, he found them 
ineffedual ; and therefore, in purfuance of his In- 
Prudions, he marched to their Relief v/ith all the Force 
he could Ipare, which confiPed of no more than forty 
Spaniards, and thofe but indifferently armed j having 
C c with 
