mouths by the historian, will illustrate their abasement and their cunning: "Behold, great lord, the poor Mexicans at your feet, humbly expecting from your goodness a favor which is greatly beyond their merit. Behold us hanging upon your lips, and waiting only your signals to obey. We beseech you, with the most profound respect, to take compassion upon our master and your servant, Huitzilihuitl, confined among the thick rushes of the lake. He is without a wife, and we without a queen. Vouchsafe, sir, to part with one of your jewels, or most precious feathers. Give us one of your daughters, who may come to reign over us in a country which belongs to you."
The king was not proof against this sort of flattery. He gave them his daughter, and she was married to King Huitzilihuitl, by the usual ceremony of tying the skirts of their robes together. Having strengthened himself by the possession of this "precious feather," the crafty king procured another wife, also the daughter of a neighboring lord. There is no knowing how many wives he did get, for he was very anxious to strengthen Mexican relations with their neighbors, and there was no law against his marrying as many as he pleased.
Techotl, the King of Tezcoco, was yet ruler over the valley, and in suppressing an extensive rebellion he called upon the kings of Mexico and Azcapozalco to aid him. As they returned covered with glory they acquired respect from the surrounding tribes. Under Huitzilihuitl, the Mexicans prospered as never before; they began to wear clothes of cotton, having had till this time only coarse garments made of the threads of the wild palm, and perhaps of the maguey.
[A. D. 1402.] The Tlatelolcos, the people forming the other division of Mexico, had also elected a king, and for many years there was a great rivalry between them and the
