E-text prepared by Julia Miller, Mary Meehan, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries (http://www.archive.org/details/americana) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 34121-h.htm or 34121-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/34121/pg34121-images.html) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/34121/34121-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive/American Libraries. See http://www.archive.org/details/calavartheknight00birdrich CALAVAR Or The Knight of the Conquest A Romance of Mexico by ROBERT MONTGOMERY BIRD Author of "Nick of the Woods," "The Infidel," Etc. Escucha pues, un rato, y dire cosas Estranas y espantosas, poco a poco. GARCILASO DE LA VEGA. Redfield 110 And 112 Nassau Street, New York. Third Edition. 1854 Entered according to the act of Congress in the year 1834, by Carey, Lea, & Blanchard, in the clerk's office of the district court for the eastern district of Pennsylvania. PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION. It is now thirteen years since the first publication of "Calavar," which, apart from the ordinary objects of an author, was written chiefly with a view of illustrating what was deemed the most romantic and poetical chapter in the history of the New World; but partly, also, with the hope of calling the attention of Americans to a portion of the continent which it required little political forecast to perceive must, before many years, assume a new and particular interest to the people of the United States. It was a part of the original design to prepare the way for a history of Mexico, which the author meditated; a design which was, however, soon abandoned. There was then little interest really felt in Mexican affairs, which presented, as they have always done since the first insurrection of Hidalgo, a scene of desperate confusion, not calculated to elevate republican institutions in the opinions of the world. Even the events in Texas had not, at that time, attracted much attention. Mexico was, in the popular notion, regarded as a part of _South_ America, the _alter ego_ almost of Peru,--beyond the world, and the concerns of Americans. There was little thought, and less talk, of "the halls of the Montezumas;" and the ancient Mexican history was left to entertain school-boys, in the pages of Robertson.