They Described The City Of Mexico As Of Great
Strength, Being Built In The Lake, And Only Accessible By Narrow Causeways,
With Wooden Bridges, And Having No Access To Most Of Its Houses But By
Drawbridges Or Boats.
They described the arms of the Mexicans as
consisting of double-headed darts, which were projected by a kind
Of
slings, lances having stone heads, an ell in length, and both edges as
sharp as a razor, and two-handed swords, edged likewise with sharp stones,
besides shields and other defensive armour. The chiefs shewed large
_nequen_ cloths, on which their various battles were represented, with all
those different kinds of weapons. They alleged that their country was
anciently inhabited by a people of great stature and very barbarous
manners, who had been extirpated by their ancestors, and produced a
thigh-bone which they said had belonged to one of these giants. I stood by
it, and it equalled my height, though I am as tall as most men. We sent
this bone to Spain for the inspection of his majesty. The chiefs told us
that their idols had long ago predicted, that a people was to arrive from
the distant lands where the sun rises, and to subdue their country, and
they believed we were those to whom the prediction applied. Cortes said
that this was certainly the case, and that our great emperor had sent us
to establish a lasting friendship between our nation and them, and to be
the instruments of shewing them the only way of Salvation:
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