ge
idol, in the shape of a dragon, surrounded by various other abominable
figures, with a quantity of fresh blood lying in front of it. Motecusuma
himself stepped out of a chapel, in which his cursed gods were
standing, accompanied by two papas, and received Cortes and the whole of
us very courteously. "Ascending this temple, Malinche," said he to our
commander, "must certainly have fatigued you!" Cortes, however, assured
him, through our interpreters, that it was not possible for anything to
tire us. Upon this the monarch took hold of his hand and invited him to
look down and view his vast metropolis, with the towns which were built
in the lake, and the other towns which surrounded the city. Motecusuma
also observed, that from this place we should have a better view of the
great market.

Indeed, this infernal temple, from its great height, commanded a view of
the whole surrounding neighbourhood. From this place we could likewise
see the three causeways which led into Mexico,--that from Iztapalapan,
by which we had entered the city four days ago; that from Tlacupa, along
which we took our flight eight months after, when we were beaten out of
the city by the new monarch Cuitlahuatzin; the third was that of
Tepeaquilla. We also observed the aqueduct which ran from Chapultepec,
and provided the whole town with sweet water. We could also distinctly
see the bridges across the openings, by which these causeways were
intersected, and through which the waters of the lake ebbed and flowed.
The lake itself was crowded with canoes, which were bringing provisions,
manufactures, and other merchandise to the city. From here we also
discovered that the only communication of the houses in this city, and
of all the other towns built in the lake, was by means of drawbridges or
canoes. In all these towns the beautiful white plastered temples rose
above the smaller ones, like so many towers and castles in our Spanish
towns, and this, it may be imagined, was a splendid sight.

After we had sufficiently gazed upon this magnificent picture, we again
turned our eyes toward the great market, and beheld the vast numbers of
buyers and sellers who thronged there. The bustle and noise occasioned
by this multitude of human beings was so great that it could be heard at
a distance of more than four miles. Some of our men, who had been at
Constantinople and Rome, and travelled through the whole of Italy, said
that they never had seen a market-place of