. The true story book . meant to protect it from invasion. Itwas in the year 1325 that the Aztecs paused upon the shore of thelake, and saw, as the sun rose, a splendid eagle perched upon aprickly pear which shot out of a crevice in the rock. It held alarge serpent in its claws, and its broad wings were opened towardsthe rising sun. The Aztecs saw in this a most favourable omen,and there and then set about building themselves a city, laying itsfoundations upon piles in the marshy ground beside the lake, andto this day the eagle and the cactus form the arms of the Mexicanrepublic. The little bo
. The true story book . meant to protect it from invasion. Itwas in the year 1325 that the Aztecs paused upon the shore of thelake, and saw, as the sun rose, a splendid eagle perched upon aprickly pear which shot out of a crevice in the rock. It held alarge serpent in its claws, and its broad wings were opened towardsthe rising sun. The Aztecs saw in this a most favourable omen,and there and then set about building themselves a city, laying itsfoundations upon piles in the marshy ground beside the lake, andto this day the eagle and the cactus form the arms of the Mexicanrepublic. The little body of settlers increased rapidly in number and power,and made their name terrible throughout the valley, in which variousother tribes had long been settled, until at last they united them- THE CONQUEST OF MONTEZUMAS EMPIRE 227 selves with the king of the Tezcucans, to aid him against a tribecalled the Tepanecs, who had invaded his territory. The allies werecompletely successful, and this led to an agreement between the. states of Mexico, Tezcuco, and Tlacopan, that they should supporteach other in all their wars, and divide all the spoils between alliance remained unbroken for over a hundred years and Q2 228 THE CONQUEST OF MONTEZUMAS EMPIRE under a succession of able princes the Aztec dominion grew, till atthe coining of the Spaniards it reached across the continent, from theAtlantic to the Pacific Ocean. The Aztecs had many wise laws andinstitutions, and were indeed in some respects a highly civilisedcommunity. When their emperor died a new one was chosen fromamong his sons or nephews, by four nobles. The one preferred wasobliged to have distinguished himself in war, and his coronation didnot take place until a successful campaign had provided enoughcaptives to grace his triumphal entry into the capital, and enoughvictims for the ghastly sacrifices which formed an important part ofall their religious ceremonies. Communication was held with theremotest parts of the c
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdec, bookpublisherlondon, booksubjecthistory
