_a._ Bale of cacao. _b._ Stone lip-plug. _c._ Jadeite beads. _d._ Mosaic ear-ornament. _e._ Pink shell. _f._ Amber. _g._ Salt. _h._ Cochineal. _k._ Burden-frame. _l._ Chest of maize. _m._ Ceremonial dress. _n._ Feathers. _o._ Basket of copal. _p._ Shield. _q._ Jar of honey. _r._ Bale of cotton. _s._ Textile with designs. (_Mendoza MS., Oxford_)] When the Mexicans first adopted settled life, they were brought face to face with a question which they had not before been forced to consider, the land question. In the city itself land was extremely restricted, and the growing importance of agriculture led to an elaborate system of intensive cultivation of the territory around. Land was seized by right of conquest, and assigned by the conqueror to his followers. Thus we read of the Chichimec leader Xolotl giving cities to immigrant chiefs to whom he married his daughters, or whose support he wished to conciliate. In this way certain territories passed into the hands of certain great lords, who apportioned it amongst their dependents, and reclaimed it as they wished. But there was another class of landowner, probably having its origin in later times, consisting of men to whom the ruler made grants of land in return for eminent services, especially in war; such land was neither alienable nor hereditary, but lapsed to the crown at the death of the holder. Of great interest was the land held in common by the local clans, called calpulli, composed of the descendants of the different families of the invaders, and of the tribes who attached themselves to the latter in early days. The calpulli, which were twenty in number, were the offshoots of the four original tribal divisions, each of which formed a “ward” of the city at its foundation. These wards, named Moyotlan, Teopan, Aztacalco and Cuepopan, survived as administrative divisions in later times, though their functions as holders of land in common were taken over by their sub-divisions, the calpulli. They were even maintained in Spanish times, becoming transformed into the “barrios” respectively of San Juan, San Pablo, San Sebastian and Santa Maria la Redonda. Land belonging to a calpulli was inalienable, though under certain circumstances it could be let to another calpulli; it was vested in the calpulli-chiefs, whose office was nominally elective, but who in fact were usually chosen from one family. Members of a calpulli obtained land sufficient for their needs from their chief, and held it as long as they continued to keep it under cultivation, failing which their tenure lapsed. Land so apportioned was in practice hereditary, but only on these terms, and the man who changed his residence lost his holding. The clan-chiefs possessed considerable power, since they represented the calpulli in all external business, being in fact the descendants of the heads of families who formed the old tribal council,