have come by order of the great Montezuma, to conduct you to your
residence in our city." We then set forwards in our usual array for Mexico,
the road being crowded on both sides with innumerable multitudes of
natives, and soon arrived at the causeway of Iztapalapan, one of those
which leads to the capital.

When we contemplated the number of populous towns so closely situated in
regard to each other, some on the water, and others on the firm ground, we
could not help comparing this wonderful country to the enchanted scenes we
read of in Amadis de Gaul, so magnificent were the towers and temples and
other superb edifices of stone and lime, which seemed everywhere to rise
out of the water. Many of us were disposed to doubt the reality of the
scene before us, and to suspect we were in a dream; and my readers must
excuse the manner of my expressions, as never had any one seen, heard, or
even dreamt of any thing which could compare to the magnificence of the
scene we now beheld. On approaching Iztapalapan, we were received by
several of the highest nobles of the Mexican empire, relations of
Montezuma, who conducted us to the lodgings appointed for us in that place,
which were magnificent palaces of stone, the timber work of which were
cedar, having spacious courts and large halls, furnished with canopies of
the finest cotton. After contemplating the magnificence of the buildings,
we walked through splendid gardens, containing numerous alleys planted
with a variety of fruit trees, and filled with roses, and a vast variety
of beautiful and aromatic flowers. In these gardens there was a fine sheet
of clear water, communicating with the great lake of Mexico by a canal,
which was of sufficient dimensions to admit the largest canoes. The
apartments of the palace were everywhere ornamented with works of art,
admirably painted, and the walls were beautifully plastered and whitened;
the whole being rendered delightful by containing great numbers of
beautiful birds. When I beheld the delicious scenery around me, I thought