granary; various
warehouses; an immense aviary, with "birds of splendid plumage assembled
from all parts of the empire--the scarlet cardinal, the golden pheasant,
the endless parrot tribe, and that miniature miracle of nature, the
humming-bird, which delights to revel among the honeysuckle bowers of
Mexico." The birds of prey had a separate building. The menagerie
adjoining the aviary showed wild animals from the mountain forests, as
well as creatures from the remote swamps of the hot lands by the
seashore. The serpents "were confined in long cages lined with down or
feathers, or in troughs of mud and water."

Wishing to visit the great Mexican temple, Cortes, with his cavalry and
most of his infantry, followed the caziques whom Montezuma had politely
sent as guides.

On their way to the central square the Spaniards "were struck with the
appearance of the inhabitants, and their great superiority in the style
and quality of their dress over the people of the lower countries. The
women, as in other parts of the country, seemed to go about as freely as
the men. They wore several skirts or petticoats of different lengths,
with highly ornamented borders, and sometimes over them loose-flowing
robes, which reached to the ankles. No veils were worn here as in some
other parts of Anahuac. The Aztec women had their faces exposed; and
their dark raven tresses floated luxuriantly over their shoulders,
revealing features which, although of a dusky or rather cinnamon hue,
were not unfrequently pleasing, while touched with the serious, even
sad expression characteristic of the national physiognomy."

When near the great market "the Spaniards were astonished at the throng
of people pressing toward it, and on entering the place their surprise
was still further heightened by the sight of the multitudes assembled
there, and the dimensions of the enclosure, twice as large, says one
Spanish observer, as the celebrated square of Salamanca. Here were
traders from all parts; the goldsmiths from Azcapozalco, the potters and
jewelers of Cholula, the painters of Tezcuco, the stone-cutters,
hunters, fishermen, fruiterers, mat and chair makers, florists, etc. The
pottery department was a large one; so were the armories for implements
of war; razors and mirrors--booths for apothecaries with drugs, roots,
and medical preparations. In other places again, blank-books or maps for
the hieroglyphics or pictographs were to be seen folded together like