such an assertion! Tlascala was a
brave and warlike little republic of mountaineers--a kind of
Switzerland--who inhabited the western slopes of the Eastern Sierra
Madre and the eastern part of the plateau of Anahuac, under the shadow
of the mighty Malinche, whose snow-crowned head arises on the eastern
confines of the tableland. Tlascala, indeed, was a thorn in the side of
Montezuma and the Aztecs. The latter had demanded that the little
republic pay homage and tribute, and acknowledge the hegemony of the
dominant nation, to which the Tlascalans made reply, "Neither our
ancestors nor ourselves ever have or will pay tribute to any one.
Invade us if you can. We beat you once and may do it again!" or words
to that effect, as recorded by the historians. For in the past history
of the Tlascalans--who were of the same original migratory family as
the Aztecs--a great conflict had been recorded, in which they had
vanquished their arrogant kindred.

Deadly strife and hatred followed this, but Tlascala withstood all
attacks from without, and, moreover, was strengthened by an alliance
with the Otomies, a warlike race inhabiting part of the great _mesa_ or
central tableland north of Anahuac. These were the people who so
grievously harassed the Spaniards after the _Noche Triste_ and against
whom the heroic battle of Otumba was fought. Except to the east, whence
approach was easy from the coast, the territory of Tlascala was
surrounded by mountains, and this natural defence was continued by the
building of an extraordinary wall or fortification at the pregnable
point. Through this the Spaniards passed on their journey of invasion,
and, indeed, its ruins remained until the seventeenth century. The name
of the Tlascalans well deserves to be written on the pages of the
history of primitive Mexico, for it was largely due to their alliance
with the Spaniards that the conquest of Mexico by Cortes and his band
was rendered possible.

In addition to these various and petty powers and independent republics
upon the tableland of Anahuac and its slopes, must be mentioned that of
Cholula, a state to the south of Tenochtitlan, in what now is the State
of Puebla. This region, which contains the remarkable mound or pyramid
bearing its name--Cholula--the construction of which is ascribed to the
Toltecs, was, with its people, dominated by and under tribute to the
Aztecs. So was the nation of the Cempoallas, upon the Vera Cruz coast,
who rendered as