rybody
spoke of the return from over the sea of the popular god Quetzalcoatl,
the fair-skinned and longhaired (p. 93). A generation had already
elapsed since the first rumors that white men in great mysterious
vessels, bearing in their hands the thunder and lightning, were seizing
the islands and must soon seize the mainland.

No wonder that Montezuma, stern, tyrannical, and disappointed, should be
dismayed at the news of Grijalva's landing, and still more so when
hearing of the fleet and army of Cortes, and seeing their horsemen
pictured by his artists--the whole accompanied by exaggerated accounts
of the guns and cannon able to produce thunder and lightning. After
holding a council, Montezuma resolved to send an embassy to Cortes,
presenting him with a present which should reflect the incomparable
grandeur and resources of Mexico, and at the same time forbidding an
approach to the capital.

The governor Teuhtlile, on this second embassy, was accompanied by two
Aztec nobles and 100 slaves, bearing the present from Montezuma to
Cortes. As they entered the pavilion of the Spanish general the air was
filled with clouds of incense which rose from censers carried by some
attendants.

Some delicately wrought mats were then unrolled, and on them the
slaves displayed the various articles, ... shields, helmets,
cuirasses, embossed with plates and ornaments of pure gold; collars
and bracelets of the same metal, sandals, fans, and crests of
variegated feathers, intermingled with gold and silver thread, and
sprinkled with pearls and precious stones; imitations of birds and
animals in wrought and cast gold and silver, of exquisite
workmanship; curtains, coverlets, and robes of cotton, fine as
silk, of rich and various dyes, interwoven with feather-work that
rivaled the delicacy of painting.... The things which excited most
admiration were two circular plates of gold and silver, as "large
as carriage-wheels"; one representing the sun was richly carved
with plants and animals. It was thirty palms in circumference, and
was worth about L52,500 sterling.[20]

[Footnote 20: Robertson, the historian, gives L5,000; but Prescott
reckons a _peso de oro_ at L2 12s. 6d.; whence the 20,000 of the text
gives 20,000 x 2-5/8 = 2,500 x 21 = L52,500.]

Cortes was interested in seeing the soldier's helmet brought back to him
full to the brim with grains of gold. The courteous