The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1894-09-19
New Series-V0l. XIV. No. s.

SerieS-VOI. XIV. No. s.
here might fall into the hands of one of
their nation.
And now, before go on to speak Of the
siege of Mexico, must tell Of one more
matter-namely, Of how I and Otomie, my
wife, went up among the people Of the Oto-
nie and won a great number Of them back
to their allegiance to the Aztec crown.
1t must be known, if my tale has not made
this clear already, that the Aztec power
was not Of one people, but built up Of sew
eral, and that surrounding it were many
other tribes, some Of whom were In ALI
ance with it or subject to it, and some Of
them were its deadly enemies. Such, for
instance, were the Tlascalans, a small but
warlike people living between Mexico and
the coast by whose help CorSes overcame
Montezuma and Guatemoc. Beyond the
Tlascalans and to the west the great Oto-
mie race lived or lives among its noun
tains They are q braver nation than the
Aztecs, speaking another language, Of q
different blood and made up of many clans.
Sometimes they were subject to the great
Aztec empire, sometimes in alliance and
sometimes at open war with it and in close
friendship with the Tlascalans. It was to
draw the tie closer between the Aztecs
and the Otomies, who were to the inhabit-
ants of Anahuac much what the Scottish
clans are to the people of England, that
Montezuma took to wife the daughter and
sole legitimate issue Of their great chief
or king. This lady died in childbirth, and
her child was Otomie, my wife, heredita-
ry princess Of the Otomie. But though
her rank was so great amorg her mothers
people, as yet Otomie had visited them
but twice, and then as a child Still she
was well skilled in their language and Gus
toms, having been brought up by nurses
and tutors of the tribes, from which she
drew great revenue every year and oven
whom she exercised many rights Of royal
ty that were rendered to her far more free
| " than they had been to MonteZuma, her
! father.
Now, as has been said, some Of these
Otomie clans had Joined the Tlascalans,
and as their allies had taken part in the
war on the side Of the Spaniards; there.
fore it was decided at :. solemn council
that Otomie and /, her husband, should
30 on an embassy to the chief town Of the
nation, that was known as the City Of
Pines, and strive to win it back to the
Aztec standard.
Accordingly, heralds having been sent
before us, we started upon our journey,
not knowing how we should be received
at the end of it. For eight days we trav-
eled in great pomp and with an ever In
creasing escort, for when the tribes Of the
Otomie learned that their princess was
come to visit them in person, bringing
with her her husband, a man of the Teules
who had espoused the Aztec cause, they
fiocked in vast numbers to swell her ret
inue, so that it came to pass that before
we reached the City Of Pines we were ac-
companied by an army OF at least 10, 600
mountaineers, great men and willy, who
made savage music as we marched. P>-11
with them and with their chiefs ss yet we
held no converse, except by way of formal
greeting, though every morning when we
started on our journey, Otomie in litter
and on horse that had been captured
from the Spaniards, they set up shouts OF
salutation and made the mountains ring.
Ever as we went the l@nG, like its people,
grew wilder and more beautiful, for now
we were passing throug.: forests clad with
oak and pine and with many q lovely
plant and fern. Sometimes we crossed
great and sparkling rivers, and sometimes
we wended through gorges and passes OF
| the mountains, but every hour we mount
ed higher till at length the climate b
came like that of England, only far mo-;
bright At last, on the eighth day, We
passed through gorge riyen il the red
rock, which was SO narrow in places that
three horsemen could scarcely have ridden
there abreast. This gorge, that is i've miles
long, is the high road to the City of Pines,
to which there was no other access except
by secret paths across the mountains, and
on either side of it are sheer and towering:
cliffs that rise to heights of between 1.ooo'
and 2, 600 feet
/. Here is place where hundred men
might hold an army at bay, said to Ot-
omie, little knowing that it would be my
task to do SO in day to come.
Presently the gorge took a turn, and
reined up amazed, for before me was the
! City of Pines in all its beauty. The city
lay in a wheel shaped plain that may
measure 10 miles across, and all around
this plain are mountains clad to their sum-
mits with forests Of oak and cedar trees.
At the back of the city and in the center
of the ring of mountains is one, however,
that is not green with foliage, but black
with lava and above the lava white with
snow, over which again hangs a pillar Of
smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night.
This was the volcano Xaca, or the Queen,
and though it is not so lofty as it's sisters,
Orizaba, Popo and Ixtac, to my mind it
| is the loveliest of them all, both because
/ Of its perfect shape and of the colors-pur-
pie and blue-of the fires that it sends
forth at night OF when its heart is trou-
bled The Otomies worshiped this noun
tain as god, Offering human sacrifice to
it, which was not wonderful, for once the
lava pouring from its bowels cut a path
through the City of Pines; also they think
it holy and haunted, so that none dare set
foot upon its loftier SHOWS Nevertheless
I was destined to climb them-I and one
other.
Now, in the lap of this ring of noun