The Infidel; or, the Fall of Mexico. Vol. I.
Page 5
CHAPTER V.
The walls of Mexico were the foaming surges of her lake. The cities onthe shore, when much exposed by defencelessness of site, great wealth ofinhabitants, or other causes, to the attacks of enemies, were surroundedby walls, commonly of earth, though sometimes, as in the case ofTezcuco, of stone. These were, ordinarily, of no great height orstrength, but sufficient, when well manned, to repel the assaults of theslingers and archers of America.
The external fortifications of Tezcuco were, as became the ancient rivalof Tenochtitlan, of a more imposing order. The walls were thick andhigh, with embattled parapets, and deep ditches at the base. The gateswere protected in the manner common to the land, by the overlapping, soto speak, of the opposite walls; that is, being made, as they approachedeach other, to change from their straight, to a circular course, the onetraversing upon a greater radius than the other, they thus swept by and_round_ each other, in parallel curves, leaving a long and narrowpassage between them, commanded not only by the walls themselves, but bystrong stone turrets, built on their extremities.
Besides these defences, there was erected within the walls, and directlyopposed to each entrance, a small pyramid, elevated fifteen or twentyfeet above the walls, and crowned with little sanctuaries,--thus servinga religious as well as a military purpose. In the one sense, thesestructures might be considered Chapels of Ease to the greater temples ofthe quarters in which they stood; in the other, they were not unlike thecavaliers, or commanding mounds, of European fortification, from thetops and sides of which the besieger could be annoyed, whilst withoutthe walls, and arrested on his course, when within.
Thus, then, there were ready to his hands, fortifications, of which theSpanish commander, now the Captain-General of New Spain, as theunsubdued Mexico was already called, was not slow to reap the fulladvantage. A strong guard of Castilian soldiers was posted before eachgate; a native watchman sat on each turret; and a line of Tlascalansentries, stepping proudly along in their places of trust, occupied thelofty terrace of the walls.
The edifices disclosed to Juan, when he had, with his companions, passedthrough the staring warders into the town, were similar to those ofMexico,--of stone, and low, though often adorned with turrets. In allcases, the roofs were terraced, and covered with shrubs and flowers; andthe passion of the citizens for such delightful embellishments, hadconverted many a spacious square into gardens, wherein fluttered andwarbled birds of a thousand hues and voices.
Over these open spaces were seen, in different quarters, the tops ofhigh pyramids and towers, scattered about the town in vast andpicturesque profusion.
The roaring sound of life that pervades a great city, even whenunassisted by the thundering din of wheeled carriages, gave proof enoughof the dense multitudes that inhabited Tezcuco. The eye detected theevidences of a population still more astonishing, in the myriads oftawny bodies that crowded the streets, the gardens, the temple squares,and the housetops, many of whom seemed to have no other habitation. Infact, the introduction of the many thousands who composed the train, or,as it was called, the Army of the Brigantines, added to the hosts ofother warriors previously collected by Cortes, and the presence of theoriginal inhabitants, gave to Tezcuco that appearance of anover-crowded, suffocating vitality, which is presented by the modernBabylons of France and Great Britain. The murmur of voices, thepattering of feet, the rustling of garments, with the sounds ofinstruments wielded by artisans, both native and Christian, made,together, a din that seemed like the roar of a tempest to the ears ofone, who, like Lerma, had just escaped from the mute hills and thesilent forests of the desert. At a distance--beheld from thecypress-tree,--the view of Tezcuco seemed to embrace a scene made up oftranquillity and repose. The same thing is true of all other cities; andthe same thing may be said of human life, when we sit aloof andcontemplate the bright pageant, in which we take no part. If we advanceand mingle with it, the picture is turned to life, the peace to tumult,and we lose all the charms of the prospect in the distractions ofparticipation.
As Juan, conducted by the Alguazil, made his way through the torrents ofbodies which poured through every street, and became more accustomed tomove among them, the excitement gradually subsided in his breast, thecolour faded from his cheeks; and, by the time he had reached the end ofhis journey, there remained no expression on his visage beyond that ofits usual and characteristic sadness. This was deepened, perhaps, by thescene around him; for it is the virtue of melancholy, where it exists asa temperament, or has become a settled trait, to be increased by theexcitements of a city or crowd. Perhaps it was darkened also by thereflection, as he raised his eyes to the vast palace in which Cortes hadestablished his head-quarters, that among all its crowds,--the militaryguards at the door, and the lounging courtiers within,--there was not asingle friend waiting to rejoice over his return.
The house of Nezahualcojotl, who has been already mentioned as the mostfamous and refined of the Tezcucan kings, possessed but little todistinguish it from the edifices of nobles around, except its greatnessof extent. It was a pile or cluster of many houses built of vast blocksof basalt, well cut and polished, surrounding divers courts andgardens,--what might be termed the wings consisting of but a basementstory, which was relieved from monotony by the presence of towers andbattlements, and the sculptured effigies of animals and serpents on thewalls, and particularly around the narrow loops which served forwindows. The centre, or principal portion, had an additional story,loftier towers, and more imposing sculptures. The windows were carved ofstone, so as to resemble the yawning mouths of beasts of prey; thebattlements were crouching tigers; and the pillars of the great doorwere palm-trees, round the trunks of which twined two immense serpents,whose necks met at the lintel, among the interlocking branches, andembraced and supported a huge tablet, on which was engraven the Azteccalendar, according to the singular and yet just system of the ancientnative astronomers.--Sixty years _after_ this period, the sages ofEurope discovered and adopted a mode of adjusting the civil to theastronomical time, so as to avoid, for the future, the confusion--theutter disjointing of seasons--which had been the consequence of theJulian computation. At this very moment, the barbarians of America werein possession of a system, which enabled them to anticipate, and rectifyby proper intercalations, the disorders not only of years, but ofcycles,--and how much _earlier_, the wisdom of civilization has not yetdivined.
On the whole, there was something not less impressive than peculiar inthe appearance of an edifice which had sheltered a long line ofAutochthonous monarchs; and as Juan passed from the square, in front ofthe artillery that commanded it, under the folds of the mighty serpentsat the door, and into the sombre shadows of the interior, he was struckwith a feeling of awe, which was not immediately removed even by themore stirring emotions of the instant.
The hall, or rather vestibule, in which he now found himself, wasdistinguished, rather than animated, by the presence of many Spaniardsof high and low degree, some clustered together in groups, some stalkingto and fro in haughty solitude, while others bustled about with an airof importance and authority; but all, as Lerma quickly observed,preserving a decorous silence,--conversing in whispers, and moving witha cautious tread, as if in the ante-room of a king, instead of the hallof a soldier-of-fortune like themselves.
A few of them bent their eyes upon the strangers, and stepped forward tosurvey their savage equipments. The keen glances which they cast towardshim, the hurried and somewhat sonorous exclamations with which theypointed him out to one another, but more than all, the presence ofNajara, of Bernal Diaz, and of the stranger Camarga, among them,convinced Juan that he was recognized. But with this conviction camealso the sickening consciousness that not one had a smile ofsatisfaction to bestow upon him in the way of welcome. He remembered thefaces of many; and, once or twice, he raised his hand, and half steppedforward, to meet some one or other who seemed disposed to salute him. Hewas deceived; those who came nighest, were only the most curious. Theynodded their heads familiarly to Villafan
a; a few returned the advancesof Lerma with solemn and reverential bows; but none raised up theirheads to meet the exile's advances.
"The curse of ingratitude follow you all, cold knaves!" muttered Gasparbetween his teeth. The eyes of the Ottomi twinkled upon the groups, witha mixture of wonder and malignant wrath. Juan smothered his sighs, andstrode onwards.
He stopped suddenly at a door, wreathed, like the outer, with snakes,though carved of wood, over which hung curtains of some dark and heavytexture, and behind which, as it seemed to him, from the murmuring ofvoices, was the apartment in which the Captain-General gave audience tohis followers and the allied tribes of Mexico, who made up what may becalled, as it seemed to be considered, his court. Here Juan paused, andturning to the Alguazil, said, calmly, and with a low voice,
"From what I have seen and now see, I perceive, it will not be fitting Ishould approach the general--especially in these weeds, which can scarceextenuate the coldness of my old companions,--without the ceremony of anannouncement and expressed permission."
"Fear not," whispered Villafana, with a grim smile: "thy friendFrancisco will have done thee this good turn. Remember--offend him notnow: but, still, lay claim to the horses."
As he spoke, the Alguazil, pushed aside the curtain, and, in a momentmore, the youth was in the presence of Cortes.