ng that he must himself deliver them. At this
the governor seemed surprised and displeased; evidently this was not in
his plan. "You have been here only two days," he said, "and already
demand an audience with the Emperor?" Then he expressed his astonishment
at learning that there was any other monarch as great as Moteczuma, and
sent his attendants to bring a few gifts which he himself had chosen for
the white chief.

These tributes consisted of ten loads, each as much as a man could
carry, of fine cotton stuff, mantles of exquisite feather-work, and a
woven basket full of gold ornaments. Cortes expressed his admiration and
appreciation of the gifts, and sent for those he had brought for
Moteczuma. They consisted of an arm-chair, richly carved and painted, a
crimson cloth cap with a gold medal bearing the device of San Jorge and
the dragon, and some collars, bracelets and other ornaments of cut
glass. To the Aztec, who had never seen glass, these appeared wonderful.
He ventured the remark that a gilt helmet worn by one of the Spanish
soldiers was like the casque of their god Quetzalcoatl, and he wished
that Moteczuma could see it. Cortes immediately sent for the helmet and
handed it to the chief, with the suggestion that he should like to have
it returned full of the gold of the country in order to compare it with
the gold of Spain. Spaniards, he said, were subject to a complaint
affecting the heart, for which gold was a remedy. This was not entirely
an invention of the commander's fertile brain. Many physicians of those
days did regard gold as a valuable drug; but only Cortes ever thought of
making use of the theory to get the gold.

During this polite and interesting conversation Cortes observed certain
attendants busily making sketches of all that they saw, and on inquiry
was told that this "picture-writing" would give the Emperor a far
better idea of the appearance of the strangers than words alone. Upon
this the Spanish general ordered out the cavalry and artillery and put
them through their evolutions on the beach. The cannon, whose balls
splintered great trees, and the horsemen, whose movements the Aztecs
followed with even more terror than those of the gunners, made a
tremendous impression. The artists, though scared, stuck to their duty,
and the strange and terrible beasts, and the thunder-birds whose mouths
breathed destruction, were drawn for the Emperor to see. After this the
governor, assuring Cortes that