f this
ancient city, which is embodied in the following paragraphs:

"This noble city contains many fine and magnificent houses, which may
be accounted for from the fact that all the nobility of the country,
who are the vassals of Montezuma, have houses in the city, in which
they reside a certain part of the year; and, besides, there are
numerous wealthy citizens who also possess fine houses. All these
persons, in addition to the large and spacious apartments for ordinary
purposes, have others, both upper and lower, that contain
conservatories of flowers. Along one of the causeways [the Chapultepec]
that lead into the city are laid two [water] pipes, constructed of
masonry, each of which is two paces in width, and about five feet in
height.... The inhabitants of this city pay greater regard to the style
of their mode of living, and are more attentive to elegance of dress
and politeness of manners than those of other provinces and cities,
since, as the cacique Montezuma has his residence in the capital, and
all the nobility, his vassals, are in the constant habit of meeting
there, a general courtesy of demeanor necessarily prevails.... For, as
I have already stated, what can be more wonderful than that a barbarous
monarch, as he is, should have every object found in his dominions
imitated in gold, silver, precious stones, and feathers, the gold and
silver being wrought so naturally as not to be surpassed by any smith
in the world, the stone-work executed with such perfection that it is
difficult to conceive what instruments could have been used, and the
feather-work superior to the finest production in wax and
embroidery?... He possessed out of the city as well as within numerous
villas, each of which had its peculiar sources of amusement, and all
were constructed in the best possible manner for the use of a great
prince or lord. Within the city, his palaces were so wonderful that it
is hardly possible to describe their beauty and extent. I can only say
that in Spain there is nothing equal to them. There was one palace
somewhat inferior to the rest, attached to which was a beautiful
garden, with balconies extending over it, supported by marble columns,
and having a floor formed of jasper elegantly inlaid. There were
apartments in this palace sufficient to lodge two princes of the
highest rank with their retinues.... The emperor has another beautiful
palace, with a large court-yard paved with handsome flags in the style