CHAPTER XVII.

_Personal appearance of the Mexicans.--Dress.--Houses.--Floating gardens.--Hunting.--Commerce.--Music and dancing.--Games.-- Painting._

In appearance the Mexican Indians much resemble the other aborigines of America. They are tall and well made, with bright black eyes, high cheek-bones, and thick, coarse, black hair, which they commonly wear long. Their skin is of an olive color. They are very active, but not so strong as most Europeans; so that, whenever the Spaniards attempted to run a race with them, they were sure to be beaten; but in wrestling, they were generally the victors.

The Mexicans are, by nature, of a silent and serious disposition, and seldom allow their emotions to appear in their countenances; while as a nation they are cruel in their wars and their punishments, and very superstitious in matters of religion. They are extremely generous, but do not always appear grateful for favors. According to some, the reason of their apparent want of gratitude is this: the Indians say, “If you give me this, it is because you have no need of it yourself; and as for me, I never part with that which I think is necessary to me.” This also accounts for their great liberality; for, as their wants are few, and they never think of hoarding, they can always give away everything they receive, without feeling as though they conferred a favor.

We have said before, that, at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards, the Mexican nation was the most civilized of all in North America. They had large cities, splendid temples, fine statues and paintings, a regular government, and a method of writing by pictures. Indeed, they were nearly equal to the Chinese of the present day, whom they much resembled. Since the conquest, they have altered greatly, and not much for the better. They have lost many arts which they once possessed, and as they have been taught few others to supply their place, they must be sunk in the grossest ignorance. We intend to give a short account of them as they were before the Spanish invasion.

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The dress of the Mexicans was very simple. The men wore commonly only a large girdle or zone tied about their middle, and a cloak or mantle fastened round the shoulders. The women wore a square piece of cloth, which was wrapped around them, and descended to the middle of the leg. Over this, they wore a short gown, or vest, without sleeves. The cloth used by the rich was made of the finest cotton, embroidered with figures of animals or flowers.

The Mexicans were very fond of finery, and took great delight in adorning their persons with jewels and other ornaments. They wore ear-rings, pendants at the under lip, and some even in the nose--necklaces, and bracelets for the hands and arms. Many of these jewels were beautifully wrought of pearls, emeralds, and other precious stones, set in gold.

The houses of the common people were mere huts, built of reeds or unburnt bricks, and thatched with straw. They had commonly but one room, in which the whole family, with all the animals belonging to it, were huddled together. The dwellings of the higher classes were built of stone and lime. They were generally of two stories, and had many chambers. The roofs were flat, with terraces, on which the inhabitants could enjoy the cool evening air, after the parching heat of the day in those torrid regions. So great was the honesty of the people, that they had no doors to their houses; but considered themselves sufficiently secure with only a screen of reeds hung before the entrance; and through this no one would dare to pass without permission. The palaces of their kings were of stone, and so magnificent, that Cortez could hardly find words to express his admiration. One of them was so large that all his army, consisting of several thousand men, was conveniently quartered in it.

The Mexican historians say that while the Aztecs were only an insignificant tribe, living on the borders of the lake, having no land to cultivate, they were obliged to take whatever fare the marshes round the lake produced. Thus they learned to eat roots of marsh-plants, frogs, snakes, and other reptiles, and a sort of scum which they found floating on the water. They retained their relish for this wretched food in the season of their greatest plenty.

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They made their bread of maize or Indian corn, in the following manner. They first boiled it with a little lime, to make it soft, and then ground it on a smooth, hollow stone. They next kneaded it up with a little water, and made it into flat round cakes, like pancakes; these they baked on large flat stones, as they were ignorant of the use of iron. The bread is said to have been very palatable.

Although the Mexicans, at first, had very little land of their own to cultivate, they discovered a very ingenious method of supplying this want. They platted and tied together branches of willows and other plants which are light and strong, and upon these they laid a covering of earth about a foot deep. They thus had a little floating field, about eight rods long and three wide, upon which they raised all kinds of herbs, and especially flowers, of which the Mexicans were extremely fond. Whenever the owner of the garden wished to change his situation, either to get rid of a troublesome neighbor, or to be nearer his family, he got into a little vessel, to which the garden was attached, and dragged it after him to the desired spot.

The Mexicans had a method of hunting on a grand scale, which was also practised by the Peruvians of South America. A great number of men collected together, and formed an immense circle, enclosing some forest in which the animals to be hunted were very numerous. They then gradually diminished the circle, driving the animals before them towards the centre, and taking care that none escaped through the line. By this means, they killed vast numbers of wild beasts every year.

The commerce of Mexico was principally carried on by travelling merchants, who journeyed from town to town, carrying their wares with them. They commonly travelled in companies, like the caravans of the East, for security, and each one bore in his hand a smooth black stick, which they said was the image of their god, under whose protection they hoped to accomplish their journey in safety. Every five days, markets or fairs were held in all the chief cities of Mexico, to which these travelling merchants repaired from all parts of the kingdom, to sell or exchange their merchandise. For money, they used the chocolate berry, which they put up in small sacks, and, for greater purchases, gold dust enclosed in quills.

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The musical instruments of the Mexicans were few and simple. They had a drum, made very much like those used by us in our armies, but much longer. It was set up on end, on the ground, and beat with the fingers. Much art and practice were required to play upon it properly. They had also another long, round instrument, made entirely of wood, and hollow within. It had two small slits made on one side, between which the player struck with two drum-sticks. It gave a deep, melancholy sound, like those of our bass drums.

The Mexicans had several dances, which they used on different occasions; some of them were very graceful and pleasing. But the grand dance, which was performed on all occasions of great national festivity, was the most singular. They placed the musicians in the centre; the aged nobles were in a circle around them, in single file; by the side of these was placed another circle of the younger nobles, and next others of lower rank. They then began to dance in a circle, those near the centre very slowly, but those who were on the outside very fast, because they were obliged to keep up with those within. The music now struck up a livelier tune, the singing became more animated and joyful, and the dancers whirled in a swifter round. The outermost circle moved so rapidly that they hardly seemed to touch the ground. Thus they continued, until they were exhausted by their efforts, when a new set of dancers took their places. It is related that, while Cortez was absent from the city after his first entry, the nobles of the court, asked permission from Alverado, whom he had left in his place, to amuse their captive monarch by performing before him with this dance. This was granted. The nobles dressed themselves in the richest ornaments and began the dance; but when they were thoroughly wearied by the motion, the treacherous Spaniards, unable to resist their desire for obtaining the costly jewels of the Mexicans, suddenly fell upon them, and massacred them all. This barbarous act was the cause of the subsequent misfortunes of the Spaniards; for the natives, driven to fury by the loss of their beloved chiefs, rose upon their murderers, and expelled them from the city, as we have before related.

The greatest and most celebrated of all the Mexican games was that called the Flyers. They first sought out the loftiest tree in the forest, stripped it of its branches and bark, and set it up in some public square. On the top they fixed a sort of movable cap or cylinder, from which hung a square frame, made of four planks. Between the cap and frame they fastened four strong ropes, long enough to reach to the ground, passing through four holes in the planks. These ropes they twisted round the tree, until their ends were nearly up to the frame. Four men, who were called the flyers, disguised like eagles, herons, and other birds, ascended the tree by means of a rope which was laced about it from top to bottom, and took hold of the ends of the rope. The force with which they swung off from the frame caused it to turn round, and as it turned, the ropes which were twisted around the tree began to unroll, and of course became longer at every revolution. All this time the wooden cap continued to turn round, being fastened to the frame; but, nevertheless, a man kept dancing upon it, waving a flag or beating a little drum, as unconcerned, as though a single false step would not dash him to instant destruction. When the ropes were so far untwisted that they almost reached the ground, some other actors, who had mounted on the frame, threw themselves off, and slid down along the ropes to the earth, amid the applause of the spectators.

The Mexicans did not paint, like other nations, merely for the purpose of preserving the form of persons or things which must soon pass away, or of affording pleasure by the representation of the beautiful, the grand, or the terrific. Their painting was their writing. By means of this art they represented their history, their religious rites, their laws, and everything which they deemed worthy of being recorded for the instruction of their descendants. This manner of writing was, to be sure, very imperfect, but it answered all the purposes to which it was applied. They wrote on paper which they made of the bark or leaves of certain plants. Had all the paintings of the Mexicans been preserved, we should have had a complete history of the nation, from the earliest period to the arrival of the Spaniards. But the zeal of the Catholic priests was the cause of the destruction of almost all these valuable records. Suspecting that they contained the idolatrous precepts of the Mexican religion, they thought that they could best promote the cause of the true religion by destroying all the writings of the natives. Accordingly, they collected them with the greatest diligence, and burnt them in the public square, to the great grief of the Mexicans.

The way in which they painted proper names was rather curious, and showed at least some talent for punning. All Mexican names have some meaning; and therefore they had only to paint the things which are signified by the name, and join them to the figure of a man, or a man’s head. Thus the name of their second king was Chimalpopora, which means a _smoking shield_. To represent it, therefore, they painted a shield with smoke issuing from it. In like manner, if we had to express the name of Churchill, or Crowninshield, we should paint a church on a hill, or a shield with a crown in the middle.

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But the Mexicans had another sort of paintings, if so they may be called, formed entirely by means of feathers, selected from the plumage of the most beautiful birds. The art consisted in disposing the feathers so as to form a picture, exact in the nicest shade. They were fastened firmly on the canvass with glue. When any work of this sort was to be undertaken, several artists collected together, and each took his share of the design. They labored with the utmost care and diligence, sometimes spending a whole day in choosing and placing properly a single feather. When all the parts were finished, they brought them together, and united them, so as to form a picture of wonderful beauty. The colors were brighter than any that art could produce, and the feathers, as they were turned to the light, glittered with surpassing splendor. It is said that Mexican artists have been able to imitate exactly, by means of feathers, some of the best productions of the European painters.