Many Of Us Were Disposed To Doubt The Reality Of The
Scene Before Us, And To Suspect We Were In
A dream; and my readers must
excuse the manner of my expressions, as never had any one seen, heard, or
Even dreamt of any thing which could compare to the magnificence of the
scene we now beheld. On approaching Iztapalapan, we were received by
several of the highest nobles of the Mexican empire, relations of
Montezuma, who conducted us to the lodgings appointed for us in that place,
which were magnificent palaces of stone, the timber work of which were
cedar, having spacious courts and large halls, furnished with canopies of
the finest cotton. After contemplating the magnificence of the buildings,
we walked through splendid gardens, containing numerous alleys planted
with a variety of fruit trees, and filled with roses, and a vast variety
of beautiful and aromatic flowers. In these gardens there was a fine sheet
of clear water, communicating with the great lake of Mexico by a canal,
which was of sufficient dimensions to admit the largest canoes. The
apartments of the palace were everywhere ornamented with works of art,
admirably painted, and the walls were beautifully plastered and whitened;
the whole being rendered delightful by containing great numbers of
beautiful birds. When I beheld the delicious scenery around me, I thought
we had been transported by magic to the terrestrial paradise. But this
place is now destroyed, and a great deal of what was then a beautiful
expanse of water, is now converted into fields of maize, and all is so
entirely altered that the natives themselves would hardly know the place
where Iztapalapan stood.
SECTION VIII
_Arrival of the Spaniards in Mexico, Description of that Court and City,
and Transactions there, till the Arrival of Narvaez on the coast to
supersede Cortes, by order of Velasquez_.
Next day, being the 8th of November 1519, we set out on our way into the
city of Mexico along the grand causeway, which is eight yards wide, and
reaches in a straight line all the way from the firm land to the city of
Mexico, both sides of the causeway being everywhere crowded with
spectators, as were all the towers, temples, and terraces in every part of
our progress, eager to behold such men and animals as had never been seen
in that part of the world. A very different sentiment from curiosity
employed our minds, though every thing we saw around us was calculated to
excite and gratify that passion in the highest degree. Our little army did
not exceed four hundred and fifty men, and we had been told at every step
of our march, that we were to be put to death on our arrival in the city
into which we were now about to enter. That city was everywhere surrounded
by water, and approachable only by long moles or causeways interrupted in
many places by cross cuts, which were only to be passed by means of
bridges, the destruction or removal of any of which would effectually
prevent the possibility of retreat.
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