Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 1.djvu/289

Rh and all, or at least most of them, had their first-born sons in the service of Montezuma. There were fortified places in the dominions of these lords, and Montezuma sent his own people amongst them as governors, and collectors of the taxes and rents which he received from each province. These men kept an account of what each province was obliged to give, by means of characters and figures, written on the paper they make, showing what each province was obliged to pay according to the quality of its land. In this manner, produce from all the said provinces came into his possession.

He was so feared by the present, as well as the absent, that there was never prince in the world more so. He had many pleasure houses, within and without the city, each as well constructed, to serve for its particular kind of pastime, as could be described or desired for so great a lord. Within the city, he had residences such and so marvellous that it seems to me almost impossible to speak of their excellence and grandeur. So I limit myself to saying that there is nothing comparable with them in Spain.

He had a house, a little inferior to this one, where there was a beautiful garden, with arbors overhanging it, of which the marbles and tiles were of  Montezu- ma's Palaces jasper, beautifully worked. In this house there were apartments for two great princes, and all their servants. It had ten pools of water, in which were kept all the many and divers breeds of waterfowl found in these parts, all domesticated; for the sea-birds, too, there were pools of salt water, and, for those of the rivers and lakes, there was fresh water, which for the sake of cleanliness, they renewed at certain times by means of pipes. To each kind of bird they gave the food which suited its habits in its free state, so that to those which ate fish they gave it; and, likewise, worms, maize, and smaller seeds were supplied as required