Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/623



all the native American nations the Aztecs had for centuries held the most prominent position, and their advancement was surprising to the Spaniards, who, instead of encountering a nation of barbarians, were faced by a people to whom they could not deny a great degree of culture. Their large cities, their skill as artisans, their well tilled fields, all gave evidence of a civilization quite unexpected by the Castilians. When Cortés and his followers advanced from the coast regions to the capital, the country that they traversed was a fair specimen of what human energy could accomplish on a soil bountifully gifted by nature. Still it was in southern regions where the inhabitants displayed most inclination for husbandry, those of Jalisco and the. northern territory being more employed in the chase, and in some places in manufactures and other industries. This favorable condition of affairs was due to just and wise laws, and to the fact that the greater share of the land belonged to the crown and to the nobility, a circumstance

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