The world: historical and actual . ut as far removedfrom each other as theextremes of barbarismand refinement. It mayfind a fitting parallel intheir own wonderful cli-mate, capable of produc-ing on a few squareleagues of surface theboundless varieties ofvegetable forms whichbelong to the frozen re-gions of the north, thetemperate zone of Eu-rope and the burningskies of Arabia and Hin-dustan. Cortez found the Aztec throne occupied byMontezuma II. He had succeeded his uncle, the firstand great Montezuma, sixteen years before. Theuncle had extended his kingdom by the conquests ofthe Mextecas and
The world: historical and actual . ut as far removedfrom each other as theextremes of barbarismand refinement. It mayfind a fitting parallel intheir own wonderful cli-mate, capable of produc-ing on a few squareleagues of surface theboundless varieties ofvegetable forms whichbelong to the frozen re-gions of the north, thetemperate zone of Eu-rope and the burningskies of Arabia and Hin-dustan. Cortez found the Aztec throne occupied byMontezuma II. He had succeeded his uncle, the firstand great Montezuma, sixteen years before. Theuncle had extended his kingdom by the conquests ofthe Mextecas and the Tlaxcalans. The capital (thecity of Mexico) was called Tenochtitlan. The follow-ing description is given of it: The city was ninemiles in circumference and the number of its houseswas about 60,000, and of inhabitants probably 500,-000. Though a few of the streets were wide and ofgreat length, most of them were narrow and lined withmean houses. The large streets were intersected bynumerous canals crossed by bridges. The palace,. HERNANDO CORTEZ. near the center of the city, was a pile of low, irreg-ular stone buildings of vast extent. It was a walledtown, well garrisoned. The wonderful strangerswere treated with cordiality and confidence, at allotted Cortez a palace for his occu-pancy. This kindness was repaid with treacheryand cruelty. The king was seized and imprisoned,his life sacrificed and his capital destroyed. The news that Cortez had discovered the ardentlysought land of gold and silver some way reached theSpaniards in Cuba and in the mother country. Oth-ers joined him, and withtheir aid and the aid oftribes hostile to theAztecs, he succeeded insubjugating the 1522 the invader wasappointed governor andcaptain-general of whatwas then called NewSpain, which position heheld without interrup-tion until 1528, when hereturned to Spam. Afteran absence of two yearshe resumed the gover-norship of New Spain,remaining ten years. In1540 he returned toS
Size: 1454px × 1719px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectworldhistory, bookyea
