MEXICO. 
280 
their new place of refidence the name of Tollantzinco. 
From thence they proceeded about forty miles farther to 
the weft, where they built a city called, from the name of 
their country, Tollan, or Tula. This city, fuppofed to 
be the oldeft in Analiuac, and one of tqe moft celebrated 
in the hiftory of Mexico, became the capital of the Tol- 
tecan kingdom, and the court of their kings. This mo¬ 
narchy began, as it is (aid, in the year 607 of the Chriftian 
era, and laftea 384 years. The Toltecas were the moft 
celebrated people of Anahuac for their fuperior civiliza¬ 
tion, and fkill in the arts ; whence it has been common 
in after-ages to diftinguifti the moft remarkable artifts in 
an honourable manner, by the appellation of Toltecas. 
They always lived in fociety, collected into cities, under 
the government of kings and regular laws. They were 
not very warlike, and lefs turned to the exercife of arms 
than to the cultivation of the arts. The nations that 
have fucceeded them have acknowledged themfelves in¬ 
debted to the Toltecas for their knowledge of the culture 
of grain, cotton, pepper, and other moft ufeful fruits. 
Befides the arts which are dilated by neceflity, they prac- 
tifed thofe which adminifter to luxury. They had the 
art of calling gold and filver, and melting them to what¬ 
ever form they pleafed, and acquired great reputa.tion for 
the cutting of all kinds of gems ; but nothing raifed their 
charafiler lb high as their having been the inventors, or 
at lead the reformers, of that fyftem for the arrangement 
of time, which was adopted by all the civilized nations of 
Anahuac. It is laid, that, obferving in their own coun¬ 
try how the folar year exceeded the civil one, by which 
they reckoned, aBout fix hours, they regulated it by in- 
terpofmg the intercalary day once in four years ; which 
they did more than one hundred years before the Chriftian 
era. Their religion, indeed, was idolatrous ; and they 
appear, by their hiftory, to have been the inventors of the 
greateft part of the mythology of the Mexicans. During 
the four centuries of the monarchy of the Toltecas, they 
multiplied exceedingly, extending their population every 
way in numerous and large cities ; but their circumftances 
changed, when, in the lirft year of the reign of Topiltzin, 
they fullered for want of rain and the produfilions of the 
foil, and a great part of the nation died by famine and 
licknefs. Topiltzin died in the year 1052, and with him 
the Toltecan monarchy terminated. The wretched re¬ 
mains of the nation fought new abodes; fome removed 
to Yucatan, fome to Guatemala, and fome remained in 
the kingdom of Tula, and dil'perfed themfelves in the 
vale where Mexico was afterwards founded. 
After the deftruftion of the Toltecas, for the fpace of 
a century the land of Anahuac remained folitary and al- 
moft entirely depopulated, until the arrival of the C/iacLe- 
mecas. Thele came originally from the northern coun¬ 
tries. Their native country was called, according to 
their account, Amuquemecan, where, as they fay, different 
monarchs ruled their nation for many years. In the cha- 
rabler of thele people a certain degree of civilization was 
blended with many traits of barbarity. They had dif- 
tinfitions between the nobility and commonalty; and the 
plebeians were accuftomed to reverence thofe w’hofe birth, 
merit, or favour with the prince, raifed them above the 
other ranks. They dwelt together in communities, in 
places compofed,as it is probable, of poor huts ; but they 
neither pradlifed agriculture, nor thofe arts which ac¬ 
company civil life. They lived on game, and fruits and 
roots which the earth fpontaneouily produced. Their 
clothing was the Ikins of beafts, and their arms the bow 
and arro w. Their religion conlilted of the limple worlhip 
of the fun, to which pretended divinity they offered herbs 
and flowers which they found fpringing in the fields. 
One of their princes was lent by Xolotl, his father, to 
furvey the country ; and at length Xolotl determined to 
eftablifh hirrifelf in Tenaynca, a place fix miles diftant 
from the fcite of Mexico towards the north, and diftri- 
buted his people among the neighbouring lands. In pro¬ 
ofs of fime he became acquainted with feveral Toltecan 
families, encouraged inter-marriages and alliances with 
them, and from them acquired the arts of agriculture, 
the manner of digging metals, the art of calling them, 
and alfo of cutting Hones, fpinning and w’eaving cotton, 
and of other things, which contributed to improve their 
means of fubfiftence, their clothing, their habitations, and 
their manners. Xolotl obtained from time to time an ac- 
ceffion of new fettlers ; among whom were fome of dif- 
tinguilhed rank and character ; and particularly three 
princes, to two of whom he gave his two daughters in 
marriage. When this ceremony had taken place, he di¬ 
vided his kingdom into feveral diftindl Hates, and afligned 
the poffeflion of them to his lons-in-law, and the other 
nobles of each nation. The population daily increafed, 
and with it the civilization of the people ; but ambition 
began to produce injurious ellefils, and Xolotl, who had 
hitherto governed with mildnefs, was obliged to recur to 
the punifhment of fome rebels with death. Upon the de- 
ceafe of Xolotl, he was fucceeded by his fon Nopaltzin ; 
and upon his death his fon TlotZin afcended the throne; 
and the fucceflion continued in his family; according to 
the following lift of Chachemecan kings : 
Xolotl began to reign in the 12th century. 
Nopaltzin ... 13th 
Tlotzin - 14th 
Quinatzin ... 14th 
Techotlalla - 14th 
Ixtlilochitl in the year 1406 
Nezahualcoyotl - - 1426 
Nezahualpolli - - 1470 
Cacamatzin - - 1516 
Cuicuitzcatzin - - 1320 
Coanacotzin - - 1520 
Such is the fucceflion of Chachemecan kings, till their 
monarchy terminated. 
The Otomies are faid to have been one of the moft nu¬ 
merous nations which fettled in the country of Anahuac: 
they were a rude and barbarous people, and in the time of 
the Mexican kings they were treated as Haves. Anciently 
they were renowned for their dexterity in the chace ; at 
prefent they traffic in coarfe cloths for the drefs of the 
other Indians. The Tarafcas, who occupied the exten- 
1 five, rich, and pleafant, country of Mechoacan, fettled 
many cities and villages ; and their kings were rivals of 
the Mexicans, and had frequent w r ars with them. Tliefe 
were idolatrous, but lefs cruel in their worlhip than the 
Mexicans. Their language is copious, fweet, and fono- 
rous. Befides other nations which fettled in and near the 
vale of Mexico, the moft renowned and the moft figna- 
lized in the hiftory of Mexico were thofe vulgarly called 
the Nahuatlacas. They confifted of feven tribes, who 
fettled in Anahuac after the Chachemecas. 
The Aztecas, or Mexicans, were the laft people who 
fettled in Anahuac. Till about the year 1 x6o of the vul¬ 
gar era, they lived in Aztlan, a country fituated to the 
north of the Gulf of California. They left their country, 
as it has been faid, at the inlligation of a perfon of great 
authority among them, to whofe opinion they all paid 
great deference. He was led to this refolution by the fan¬ 
ciful interpretation of the chirping of a bird ; but, what¬ 
ever was the motive of the migration of the Aztecas, they 
left their country at the time above-mentioned. After 
various delays in the courfe of their peregrination, they 
at length arrived at the borders of the lake of Tezeuco, 
and near the fcite of Mexico. Here they fuffered various 
perfecutions and diftreffes ; they engaged in a conflict 
with fome enemies, whom they vanquiihed ; and, return¬ 
ing to the place of their refidence, they eredled an altar 
to their tutelary god. When they fixed upon the fpot 
on which they determined to erefil their city, they built a 
temple to their god, and confecrated it by the etfufion of 
human blood. Around the l’anfiluary of their god they 
conilrufited wretched huts of reeds and ruilies, being at 
that time deftitute of other materials; and they called it 
Mexico, which denomination, being taken from the name 
