Note 282 — Chapter VII

Solís dismisses this prince with the remark “that he reigned but a few days; long enough, however, for his indolence and apathy to efface the memory of his name among the people.” (Conquista, lib. 4, cap. 16.) Whence the historiographer of the Indies borrowed the coloring for this portrait I cannot conjecture; certainly not from the ancient authorities, which uniformly delineate the character and conduct of the Aztec sovereign in the light represented in the text. Cortés, who ought to know, describes him “as held to be very wise and valiant.” Rel. Seg., ap. Lorenzana, p. 166.—See, also, Sahagun, Hist. de Nueva-España, MS., lib. 12, cap. 29,—Herrera, Hist. general, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 19,—Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich., MS., cap. 88,—Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., MS., lib. 33, cap. 16,—Gomara, Crónica, cap. 118.