It would, however, be venturing too much to reject so important a statement merely on the grounds alleged. In order to save it, we could fairly say, that he omitted his references through carelessness. Accepting this position, let us then seek to ascertain, who his informants might have been, and chiefly inquire what they were able to tell him about the manufacture of bronze in Mexico. The circumstances accompanying the arrival of the precious gifts from the capital at the Camp of Cortes, their shipping and unlading at Palos, and their registration at the custom-house, are perfectly known. From them we gather the following points: First, no Spaniard had yet set foot in the interior, they were still loitering on the shores of Vera Cruz, where the embassies of Motezuma made their appearance. Hence, they were still shut off from the opportunity of inspecting the workshops of Tezcuco, Mexico and Azcapotzalco, the centres from which this special class of merchandise was spread over the whole isthmus. Cortes, who had many reasons for hastening the transfer of the precious treasures to the ships, without much delay despatched one of them, intrusting two of his friends, Montejo and Puerto Carrero, with the mission of presenting to the Emperor the report of his startling discoveries and the presents coming from the new vassal-king. Petrus Martyr, indeed, mentions these two cavaliers, as being Cortes’ messengers, and it is highly probable that it was from their lips that he gathered among other correct information also that about the manufacture of paper. The special kind of paper he describes, is one which was manufactured and used exclusively on the coast of Yucatan and Vera Cruz, not the paper of the maguey-plant which grows on the high plateaus, but that of the amatl-tree, a native of the tierra caliente. Being in the very country where this kind of paper was manufactured, the Spanish writers, therefore, had the opportunity of hearing how paper was made, even, possibly, of seeing the process itself, which they had not enjoyed in the case of bronze. Could they have got the information from the mouths of the embassadors? We know they held shyly aloof. The intercourse was very ceremonious, and difficult besides, since the conversation passed through the two native languages, and we cannot fairly imagine that the technical question of manufacturing bronze should have become one of the topics of inquiry. Moreover, we do not believe that special attention would have been paid to these bronze implements, if we consider the overpowering impression which the richness and rareness of the other objects must have caused them. Finally, would they not have believed the yellow metal to be gold? since they dreamt of nothing else, and were far from imagining that the opulent ruler of Mexico would have made their Emperor a present of poor bronze tools.