The History of Mexico

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE HISTORY MEXICO. BOOK I. Defcription of the Country of Anahuac, or ajhort Account of the Soil, Climate, Mountains, Rivers, Lakes, Minerals, Plants, Animals, and People of the Kingdom of Mexico. THE name of Anahuac, which was originally given to the Vale of Mexico only, from its principal cities having...
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE HISTORY MEXICO. BOOK I. Defcription of the Country of Anahuac, or ajhort Account of the Soil, Climate, Mountains, Rivers, Lakes, Minerals, Plants, Animals, and People of the Kingdom of Mexico. THE name of Anahuac, which was originally given to the Vale of Mexico only, from its principal cities having been fituated on little iflands, and upon the borders of two lakes, taking afterwards a more ex- tenfive fignification, was ufed to denominate almoft all that traft of land, which is known at prefent by the name of New Spain (a). 'j Anahuac fignifies near to the -water, and from thence appears to be derived the name of Anabuatlaca, or Nabatlaca, by which the polilhed nations occupying the banks of the Mexican lake have been known. Vol. I. A This vaft country was then divided into the kingdoms of Mexico, Acolhuacan, Tlacopan, and Michuacan; into the republics of Tlaxcallan, Cholollan, and Huexotzinco, and feveral other diftinft ftates. The kingdom of Michuacan, the moft wefterly of the whole, was bounded on the eaft and fouth by the Mexican dominions, on the north by the country of the Chichemecas, and other more barbarous nations, and on the weft by the lake of Chapallan, and fome independent ftates. The capital Tzintzuntzan, called by the Mexicans Huitzitzilla, was fituated on the caftern fiaore of the beautiful lake of Pazcuaro. Befides thefe two cities, there were others very confiderable; namely, Tiripitio, Zacapu, and Tarccuato. All this country was pleafant, rich, and well inhabited. The kingdom of Tlacopan, fituated between Mexico and Michuacan, was of fo fmall extent, that, excepting the capital of that name, it comprehended but a few cities of the Tepaneca nation, and the villages of the Mazahui, fituated in the mountains to the weft of the ...