Morgan has never gratified the world with a narrative of his adventures, nor has any of his gang enlightened us with a history of the conquest of Panama, nor has any Saxon bishop Lorenzana yet been found so lost to all moral sense as to commend the piety of such infamous men. And yet, in the boldness of his enterprise, in the courage of its execution, in the amount of plunder realized, in military talent and prowess, Morgan the pirate was incalculably superior to Cortez the hero. [41] CORTEZ, _Letters_, p. 111. [42] Ibid. [43] _Diaz_, p. 247. [44] _Essai Politique_, vol. ii. p. 172. [45] This is a little too strong a statement, considering that there never was and never could be a cellar at Mexico. [46] The naked negro alcalde mentioned in Chapter XII. was also seated on a leather cushion. [47] This is not all fancy. No people in the world show more profound reverence to the aged or deference to their chiefs than the North American Indians. [48] "Iztapalapan was at that time a town of considerable magnitude, built half in the water and half on dry land. The spot where it stood is at present all dry land; and where vessels once sailed up and down, seeds are sown and harvests gathered. In fact, the whole face of the country is so completely changed, that he who had not seen these parts previously would scarcely believe that waves had ever rolled over the spot where now fertile corn-plantations extend themselves to all sides, so wonderfully have all things changed here in a short space of time."--BERNAL DIAZ, vol. i. p. 220.