Note 6 — MEXICAN COPPER TOOLS.

Let us quote from Bernal Diaz, Chapter 157, without any comment, the following anecdote concerning the word tepuzque. “In the smelting of gold there was also allowed an eighth of alloy to every ounce to assist the men in the purchase of the necessaries of life. But we (the soldiers) derived no advantage from this, but on the contrary, it proved very prejudicial to us, for the merchants added the same percentage to the price of their goods and sold for five pesos what was only worth three, and so this alloy became, as the Indians term it, tepuzque or copper. This expression became so common among us, that we added it to the names of the distinguished cavaliers to express the worth of their character, as, for instance, we used to say, Señor Don Juan of so much tepuzque.”