Page:Appleton's Guide to Mexico.djvu/45

Rh There is a strong similarity of languages among all of these races. The Aztecs, according to Prescott, reckoned their calendar from a date corresponding to 1091. They divided the year into eighteen months of twenty days each, with five days added. Some writers believe the Toltecs to be the mound-builders of North America, but it is impossible to learn the names of their sovereigns in Mexico. The list of Chichimecan kings is as follows:

Xolotl began to reign in the twelfth century. Nopaltzin began to reign in the thirteenth century. Tlotzin began to reign in the fourteenth century. Quinatzin began to reign in the fourteenth century. Tecotlalla began to reign in the fourteenth century. Ixtlilochitl began to reign in the year 1406. Nezahualcoyotl began to reign in the year 1426. Nezahualpilli began to reign in the year 1470. Cacamatzin began to reign in the year 1516. Cuicuitzcatzin began to reign in the year 1520. Coanacotzin began to reign in the year 1520.

We are not aware that any author has given a chronological account of the other primitive races. The Aztecs called the country Anahuac; and the capital Tenochtitlan, which occupied the present site of the City of Mexico. They lived in barbaric pomp and Oriental splendor. Their kings and princes wore the most gorgeous dresses and costly jewels. (Their palaces and temples are described in the chapter on ruins.)

The reign of the Montezumas began about the year 1460. At the time of the arrival of the Spaniards, Montezuma II was on the throne. Authentic Mexican history really dates from the year 1517, when the Spanish navigators began to explore the New World. The dates of the principal events during the domination of the Spaniards are as follows: