en recently spilt. Montezuma came out of an
adoratory or recess, in which the accursed idols were kept, and expressed
his apprehension to Cortes that he must be fatigued by the ascent, to
which Cortes answered that we were never fatigued. Montezuma, taking our
general by the hand, pointed out to him the different quarters of the city,
and the towns in the neighbourhood, all of which were distinctly seen from
this commanding eminence. We had a distinct view of the three causeways by
which Mexico communicated with the land, and of the aqueduct of
Chapoltepec, which conveyed an abundant supply of the finest water to the
city. The numbers of canoes which were continually seen passing between
Mexico and all the towns on the borders of the lake, carrying provisions
and merchandise, was really astonishing. We could see, as we had been
often told, that most of the houses of this great city, and of the others
in the neighbourhood which were built in the water, stood apart from each
other, their only communication being by means of drawbridges or canoes,
and that all their roofs were terraced and battlemented. We saw numerous
temples and adoratories in the great city below, on the causeways, and in
the adjacent cities, all resembling so many fortresses with towers,
wonderfully brilliant, being all whitewashed. The noise and bustle of the
market in the great square just below, was so great that it might easily
have been heard almost at the distance of a league; and some of our
companions who had seen both Rome and Constantinople, declared they had
not seen any thing comparable in these cities, for convenient and regular
distribution or numbers of people.

After having admired the magnificent prospect around, Cortes requested of
Montezuma to shew us their gods. After consulting with his priests, he led
us into a kind of saloon in a tower, having a timber roof richly wrought,
under which stood two altars highly adorned, and behind these two gigantic
figures resembling very fat men. That on the right was _Huitzilopochtli_,
the god of war, having a broad face and terrible eyes, all covered over
with gold and jewels, and having his body twisted round with golden
serpents. His right hand held a bow, and in his left there was a bundle of
arrows. Round his neck was a string of the figures of human heads and
hearts made of pure gold, intermixed with precious stones of a blue colour.
Close by him stood a small image representing his page, car