[8]Puebla is a Mexican State of about 12,000 square miles. Its capital is La Puebla de los Angeles, the second city in the Republic. It was the scene of many struggles during the conquest, and of revolts in the last century. The capital derives its name from the legend that angel hosts were seen in the heavens above its site before the conquest.
[9]Popocatepetl is a volcano forty-five miles southeast of the Mexican capital. Its crater is 5000 feet in width and the peak is 17,853 feet high. It is called the “smoking mountain,” from _popoca_, “to smoke,” and _tepetl_, “mountain.”
[10]Iztaccihuatl is an extinct volcano north of Popocatepetl, about 17,000 feet high. It derives the name of “the white lady” because its west side bears some resemblance to a woman in a white shroud.
[11]The City of Mexico at the time of the conquest was in all its splendor and, as described by Cortes, “a thing of fairy creation rather than the work of mortal hands.” It was about twelve miles in circumference, intersected by canals, and connected with the mainland by six causeways. The lake has diminished in depth and extent and is now two and a half miles away from the city.
[12]“Tenochtitlan” (_nopal_ or _cactus on a stone_) was the original name of the city, afterward changed to “Mexico” in honor of the war god Mexitli.
[13]Montezuma, in Aztec Matenczoma, was born in 1479. He was the son of Axayacatl and succeeded his uncle in 1503. Some of his descendants are said to be living in Mexico now, and his name is still held in great respect among the Indians.
[14]Quetzalcoatl in the Mexican religion represents the god of the air, and in legend a ruler and civilizer. He is described as a white man with long black hair and beard, who came from Yucatan and preached austerity and virtue as well as hatred of war. His name means “the feathered serpent.”
[15]Other authorities assign December 2, 1554, as the date of his death.
[16]Soon afterward he fell into neglect and could scarcely obtain an audience. One day, however, having forced his way through the crowd which surrounded the Emperor’s carriage and mounted on the doorstep, Charles, astonished at an act of such audacity, demanded to know who he was. “I am a man,” replied the conqueror of Mexico proudly, “who has given you more provinces than your ancestors left you cities.”