which they told me was very near there, as in truth it was. They had also told me, that the natives of this province were their friends, and very deadly enemies of Montezuma, and that they wished me to confederate with them, as they were a large and powerful people (whose country was bounded on all sides by that of the said Montezuma, with whom they were in continual warfare), and would be glad to help me if the said Montezuma should oppose me. These messengers did not return during all the time that I remained in that valley, which was in all eight days. I asked the others, who had come with me from Cempoal, how it was that the messengers did not return, and they answered that it was a great distance, and that they could not get back so quickly. Seeing that their return was delayed, and that the chiefs of Cempoal were so positive about the friendship and fidelity of the people of that province, I set out for it.
and their over-lords. The city was likewise divided into four districts, in which people of the separate tribes lived, each under its own chief. As the country was hemmed in on all sides by the Aztec Empire, there was no commerce, and the chief pursuit was agriculture. The Tlascalans were a brave, hardy, and war-like people, well advanced in military science, and having something very like a feudal system of chivalry, in that the different chiefs or lords had each his own standard and crest, and the soldiers were uniformed in their leaders' colours and owed him allegiance; Xicotencatl's. device was a white heron on a rock. There were also orders of knighthood conferred for bravery. Their important part in the conquest is noticed elsewhere, and will also appear in the course of Cortes's own narration. One of his first desires was to force Christianity upon them, but Fray Bartolomé de Olmedo wisely restrained his untimely zeal, and, beyond explaining the Christian doctrines, no constraint was attempted. The Tlascalans conceded that the Christian God must very likely be a good one, and they were ready to admit him to a place in their own pantheon, something after the manner of the Emperor Hadrian and other Romans. The four chiefs ruling the confederation at that time were Xicotencatl, lord of Titzatlan, Maxixcatzin, lord of Ocotelolco, Tlehuexolotzin, lord of Tepeticpac, and Citlalpopocatzin, lord of Quiahuitztlan. (Clavigero, Storia Antica, lib. viii.) (Vide, Camarga, Hist. Tlascala; and Torquemada, lib. 3-16.)
