El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-06-06

treated with all the honors Of divinity.
" nerever he went, the people pros
trated themselves before him. At the
end Of a year he was escorted in state
TO the temple and laid upon the stone
Of sacrifice. his breast being rhereuuon
opened and his heart torn out by the
high priest
Cortez Enters City.
II was on the eighth day Of Novem-
Der. 1913, that COrtez and his men en-
tered the City OF Mexico. his army com
prising fewer than 200 Spaniards. but
reinforced by some thousands OF Ilas-
Gala warriors latter a people long
at war with the Aztecs. Pursuing their
way along the broad stone causeway,
they reached, at a distance OF half a
league from the town. a curtain" Of
stone u feet high. with towers at the
ends and a battlemented gateway. The
gates, however, were thrown wide
Here they were met by several hun
cred chiefs, who came 10 welcome them
and to announce the approach Of Mon
reZuma- The chiefs wore nantes Of
brilliant feather embroidery. with COL
lars and bracelets Of turquoise mosaic
and feathers. and their ears. lower lips
and even noses, in some cases, were
garnished with pendants and precious
stones or crescents Of fine gold
Soon arrived the royal palanQuin.
blazing with gold, preceded by three
wands. Over IL was suspended a canO-
py Of featherwOrk. powdered with jew
els and fringed with silver. Montezu-
mas cloak was sprlnkled with pearls
and gems. his sandals were OF gold. and
a plume Of royal green flOated down
his back
The procession thereupon passed
along the great avenue which extend
ed for miles in a straight line through
the center Of the city It was a long
vista Of palaces" and gardens. inter
rupted a intervals by a square or by
pyramidal temple crowned with
sanctuary Throngs Of people were on
the streets and canals. They filled eV-
erv doorway and window. and swarmed
on the rOOfrOps. Az estruck they EaZed
upon the armOred men, who were IN
derstOOd 10 possess supernatural pow
ers, and particularly upon the horses
they rOde-animals Of a dreadful char
acter. breathing fire at viii, and in
describablv dangerous
Spanish Accounts Distorted.
Unfortunately. the Spaniards. in the
accounts they save Of the ancient City
Of Mexico and its ma gnificenCe. drew to
a considerable extent upon their i'm
aElDatiOu- Undoubtedly they saw many
wonderful things. There Is no question
OF the fact that the civilization Of the
Aztecs was highly developed. and that
there was much in the capital Of Mon
tezuIua TO excite admiration and aston
IsnmenL But CorteZ and his follow
ars could not resist the temptation TO
aocru the tale. If only for the sake OF
the Importance OF their
conquest in the eyes Of the folks at
home
CO-tez. I'm his dispatches. said that
Buy mobiles were in attendance at the
palace from morning to night. and that
me regular dinner was served by 400
oulHs, all sons Of lords. Diaz. a fol-
10" er, wrote The cooks knew up-
wares OF 30 different ways OF dressing
meats, and they had elrthen vessels so |
zohlrlEeQ as TO keep them always hot.
: or the table of Moutezuma himself
.ooFe 800 dishes were prepared"
among the delicacies were frog spawn I
ma ants stewed with peppers
The fact that the ancient Aztecs /
1ace and used paper is enough iu itself I
20 indicate high level OF civilization. J
II the century plant or mcguey, and !
.omeWhat resembled parchment. Pic
ure writing was further advanced /
-moug these people than anywhere else
n the world az any period. They had I
very extensive literature. their books ]
Gliding screen fashion like those OF the T
apauese. with wooden tablet at each
nd TO serve as q cover. Writing was I
highly esteemed profession. the ac-
omphshed scribe being in his way an
rtist
But the strange characters excited
he suspicion OF the Spaniards. who re-
-arded them as magical and OF the
evil The first Spanish archbishop :
lade a business Of collecting all the I
ooks that could be obtained from what
yer source-esDecialy from TezcuCO, |
where was the great depository OF nd-
.oual archives-aud gathering them to-
ether in a mountain heap IN q pub
&c square he burned them all Thus at