[36] [This confederacy occupied one of the strongest defensive positions ever held by Indians. It gradually extended its sway over a large part of the Mexican territory. This “sway,” however, as Fiske points out, was not a military occupation of the country. It was a “system of plunder enforced by terror.”--M.] [37] The loyal Tezcucan chronicler claims the supreme dignity for his own sovereign, if not the greatest share of the spoil, by this imperial compact. (Hist. Chich., cap. 32.) Torquemada, on the other hand, claims one-half of all the conquered lands for Mexico. (Monarch. Ind., lib. 2, cap. 40.) All agree in assigning only one-fifth to Tlacopan; and Veytia (Hist. antig., lib. 3, cap. 3) and Zurita (Rapport sur les différentes Classes de Chefs de la Nouvelle-Espagne, trad. de Ternaux (Paris, 1840), p. 11), both very competent critics, acquiesce in an equal division between the two principal states in the confederacy. An ode, still extant, of Nezahualcoyotl, in its Castilian version, bears testimony to the singular union of the three powers: “solo se acordarán en las Naciones lo bien que gobernáron las _tres Cabezas_ que el Imperio honráron.” Cantares del Emperador [38] See the plans of the ancient and modern capital, in Bullock’s “Mexico,” first edition. The original of the ancient map was obtained by that traveller from the collection of the unfortunate Boturini; if, as seems probable, it is the one indicated on page 13 of his Catalogue, I find no warrant for Mr. Bullock’s statement that it was the one prepared for Cortés by the order of Montezuma. [39] [The first man chosen to be the chief of men (tlacatecuhtli), or superior officer of the confederacy, was Acamapichtli. His election took place in 1375, and he is sometimes called by European writers the “founder of the confederacy.” His name, translated, was “Handful of Reeds.” The succession of “chiefs of men” was as follows: 1. Acamapichtli (Handful of Reeds) 1375 2. Huitzilihuitl (Humming Bird) 1403 3. Chimalpopoca (Smoking Shield) 1414 4. Izcoatzin (Obsidian Snake) 1427 5. Montezuma I (Angry Chief) 1436 6. Axayacatl (Face in the Water) 1464 7. Tizoc (Wounded Leg) 1477 8. Ahuitzotl (Water Rat) 1486 9. Montezuma II 1502 10. Cuitlahuatzin 1520 11. Guatemotzin 1520 M.]