CHAPTER X.. Houses of the Aztecs or Ancient Mexicans.

HOUSES OF THE AZTECS OR ANCIENT MEXICANS.

First accounts of Pueblo of Mexico--Their extravagance--Later American exaggerations--Kings and emperors made out of sachems and war-chiefs--Ancient society awakens curiosity and wonder--Aztec government a confederacy of three Indian tribes--Pueblo of Mexico in an artificial lake--Joint-tenement houses--Several families in each house--Houses in Cuba and Central America--Aztec houses not fully explored--Similar to those in New Mexico--Communism in living probable--Cortez in Pueblo of Mexico--His quarters--Explanation of Diaz--Of Herrera--Of Bandolier--House occupied by Montezuma--A communal house--Montezuma's dinner--According to Diaz--to Cortez--to Herrera--To H. H. Bancroft--Excessive exaggerations--Dinner in common by a communal household--Bandelier's "Social Organization and Mode of Government of the Ancient Mexicans."