of the consequences of a wound which he received in haranguing his people. We still perceive inconsiderable remains of these quarters of the Spaniards in the ruins behind the convent of Santa Teresa, at the corner of the streets of Tacuba and del Indio Triste. A small bridge near Bonavista preserves the name of Alvarado's Leap (Salto de Alvarado), in memory of the prodigious leap of the valorous Don Pedro de Alvarado, when in the famous melancholy night †, the dike of Tlacopan having been cut in several places by the Mexicans, the Spaniards withdrew from the city to the mountains of Tepeyacac. It appears that even in the time of Cortez the historical truth of this fact was disputed, which, from popular tradition, is even the counts of Miravalle at Mexico, trace back their origin to the beautiful princess Tecuichpotzin, the youngest daughter of the last King Motezuma II., or Moteuczoma Xocojotzin. The descendants of this king did not mingle their blood with the whites till the second generation. *The proofs of this assertion are contained in the manuscripts of M. Gama, at the convent of San Felippe Neri, in the hands of Father Pichardo. The palace of Axajacatl was probably a vast inclosure, which contained several edifices; for nearly seven thousand men were quartered there. (Clavigero, iii. p. 79). The ruins of the city of Mansiche in Peru give us a clear idea of this species of American construction. Every habitation of a great lord formed a sepa rate district, in which the courts, streets, walls, and ditches, were distinguished. + Noche triste, July 1, 1520. familiar to every class of the inhabitants of Mex ico. Bernal Diaz considers the history of the leap as a mere boast of his companion in arms, of whose courage and presence of mind he, however, elsewhere makes honourable mention. He affirms that the ditch was much too broad to be passed at a leap. I have, however, to observe, that this anecdote is very minutely related in the manuscript of a noble Mestizoe of the republic of Tlascala, Diego Muñoz Camargo, which I consulted at the convent of San Felippe Neri, and of which Father Torquemada * appears also to have had some knowledge. This Mestizoe historian was the contemporary of Hernan Cortez. He relates the history of Alvarado's leap with much simplicity, without any appearance of exaggeration, and without mentioning the breadth Monarquia Indiana, Lib. iv. cap. 8o. Clavigero, i. p. 19, There still exist in Mexico and Spain several historical manuscripts of the 16th century, of which the publication by extract would throw much light on the history of Anahuac. Such are the manuscripts of Sahagun, Motolinia, Andrea de Olmos, Zurita, Josef Tobar, Fernando Pimentel Ixtlilxochitl, Antonio Motezuma, Antonio Pimentl Ixtlilxochitl, Taddeo de Niza, Gabriel d'Ayala, Zapata, Ponce, Christophe de Castillo, Fernando Alba Ixtlilxochitl, Pomar, Chimalpain, Alvarado Tezozomoc, and Gutteriez. All these authors, with the exception of the five first, were baptized Indians, natives of Tlascala, Tezcuço, Cholula, and Mexico. The Ixtlilxochitls descended from the royal family of Alco huacan. of the ditch. We imagine we perceive in his naive recital one of the heroes of antiquity, who, with his shoulder and arm supported on his lance, takes an enormous leap to escape from the hands of his enemies. Camargo adds, that other Spaniards wished to follow the example of Alvarado, but that, having less agility than he had, they fell into the ditch (azequia). The Mexicans, says he, were so astonished at the address of Alvarado, that on seeing him make his escape, they bit the earth (a figurative expression which the Tlascaltec author borrowed from his language, and which signifies being stupified with admiration *). "The children of Alvarado, who was called the Capitan del Salto, proved by witnesses before the judges of Tezcuco the prowess of their father. To this they were compelled by a process in which they demonstrated the exploits of Alvarado de el Salto, their father, at the period of the conquest of Mexico." * There is such a thing, perhaps, as explaining too much. Few of M. Humboldt's readers, I dare say, will be led to conceive that the Mexicans fell literally to the eating of earth. There are bounds to commenting, which a salutary dread of prolixity should impress on every writer, but which, unfortunately, the countrymen of M. de Humboldt (Germans) seem seldom to have a clear conception of. I shall make myself sufficiently understood when I allude to the prolixity of their most celebrated writers, their Herders, Gentzes, and Wielands. Trans. Strangers are shown the bridge of Clerigo, near the Plaza Mayor de Tlatelolco, as the memorable place where the last Aztec king Quauhtemotzin, nephew of his predecessor King Cuitlahuatzin*, and son-in-law of Motezuma II., was taken. But the result of the most careful researches which myself and Father Pichardo could make was, that the young king fell into the hands of Garci Holguin †, in a great basin of water which was formerly between the Garita del Peralvillo, the square of Santiago de Tlatelolco, and the bridge of Amaxac. Cortez happened to be on the terrace of a house of Tlatelolco when the young king was brought a prisoner to him. "I made him sit down," says the conqueror in his third letter to the Emperor Charles V., " and I treated him with confidence; but the young man put his hand on the poniard which I wore at my side, and exhorted me to kill him, because, since he had done all that his * This king Cuitlahuatzin (whom Solis and the other European historians, who confound all the Mexican names, call Quetlabaca) was the brother and successor of Motezuma II. He is the same prince who displayed so much taste for gar dening; and who, according to the recital of Cortez, made the collection of rare plants, which were long admired after his death, at Iztapalapan, On the 31st August, 1521, the 75th day of the siege of Tenochtitlan, and Saint Hyppolitus's day. The same day is still celebrated every year by a tour round the city by the viceroy and oidores on horseback, following the standard, duty to himself and his people demanded of him, he had no other desire but death." This trait is worthy of the best days of Greece and Rome. Under every zone, and whatever be the colour of men, the language of energetic minds strug gling with misfortune is the same. We have already seen what was the tragical end of this unfortunate Quauhtemotzin. After the entire destruction of the ancient Tenochtitlan, Cortez remained with his people for four or five months at Cojohuacan*, a place for which he constantly displayed a great predilection. He was at first uncertain whether he should reconstruct the capital on some other spot around the lakes. He at last determined on the old situation," because the city of Temixtitlan had acquired celebrity, because its position was delightful, and because in all times it had been considered as the head of the Mexican provinces," (como principal y señora de todas estas provincias.) It cannot, however, admit of a doubt, that, on account of the frequent inundations suffered by Old and New Mexico, it would have been better to have rebuilt the city to the east of Tezcuco, or on the heights between Tacuba and Tacubayat. The capital was, in *Lorenzana, p. 307. + Cisneros descripcion del sitio en el qual se halla Mexico. Alzate Topographia de Mexico, (Gazetta de Litteratura, 1790, p. 32). The most part of the great cities of the Spanish co |