." Our word came from the natives of Hayti, one
of the islands discovered by Columbus.

[Footnote 17: Sahagun (vi, 22) quotes the precise instructions of a
father to his son: he must wash face and hands before sitting down to
table, and must not leave till he has repeated the operation and
cleansed his teeth.]

The tables of the Aztecs abounded in good food--various dishes of meat,
especially game, fowl, and fish. The turkey, for example, was introduced
into Europe from Mexico, although stupidly supposed to have come from
Asia. The French named it _coq d'Inde_,[18] the "Indian cock," meaning
American, but the ordinary hearer imagined _d'Inde_ meant from
Hindustan. The blunder arose from that misapplication of the word
"Indian," first made by Columbus, as we formerly explained.

[Footnote 18: The Spanish named this handsome bird _gallopavo_ (Lat.
_pavo_, the "peacock"). The wild turkey is larger and more beautiful
than the tame, and therefore Benjamin Franklin, when speaking
sarcastically of the "American Eagle," insisted that the wild turkey was
the proper national emblem.]

The Aztec cooks dressed their viands with various sauces and condiments,
the more solid dishes being followed by fruits of many kinds, as well as
sweetmeats and pastry. Chafing-dishes even were used. Besides the
varieties of beautiful flowers which adorned the table there were
sculptured Vases of silver and sometimes gold. At table

the favorite beverage was the _chocolatl_ flavored with vanilla and
different spices. The fermented juice of the maguey, with a mixture
of sweets and acids, supplied also various agreeable drinks, of
different degrees of strength.

When the young Mexicans of both sexes amused themselves with dances, the
older people kept their seats in order to enjoy their _pulque_ and
gossip, or listen to the discourse of some guest of importance. The
music which accompanied the dances was frequently soft and rather
plaintive.

The early Mexicans included the Tezcucans as well as the Aztecs proper;
and since their capitals were on the same lake and both races were
closely akin, we may devote some space to these Alcohuans or eastern
Aztecs. Their civilization was superior to that of the western Aztecs in
some respects, and Nezahual-coyotl, their greatest prince, formed
alliance with the western state, and then remodeled the various
departments of his government. He had a council of war, another of
finance, an