“On the following morning we left Iztapalapan, accompanied by all the principal caciques already mentioned. The road on which we marched was eight paces wide, and, if I rightly remember, ran straight to the city of Mexico. Notwithstanding the breadth of the causeway it was much too narrow for the great throngs of people that were constantly arriving from different places to gaze at us, and we could hardly move forward. Besides the tops of all the temples and towers were crowded with spectators, and below them the lake was covered with canoes filled with Indians, for all the people were eager to catch a glimpse of us. And who can wonder at this curiosity, for neither men like us nor horses had ever been seen here before. “When we surveyed all this splendor we scarcely knew what to think, and we doubted whether all that we beheld were real. A succession of large cities stretched along the banks of the lake [of Tezcuco], from which much larger ones rose magnificently above the water. Innumerable canoes were plying near us. At regular intervals we crossed new bridges, and before us lay the great city of Tenustitlan Mexico in all its grandeur.[327] And we, who were beholding this spectacle, who were passing through this dense concourse of human beings, were a mere handful of men, in all four hundred and fifty, our minds filled with the warnings of the inhabitants of Huexotzinco, Tlascalla, and Tlalmanalco, and the caution they had given us not to expose our lives to the treachery of the Mexicans. I ask the kind reader to reflect a moment, and then to say whether he believes any men in this world ever attempted so bold an undertaking. “When we had arrived at a place where another narrow causeway led toward Cojohuacan we were met by a number of caciques and distinguished personages, all attired in rich raiment. They had been dispatched by Montezuma to meet us and bid us welcome in his name. As a manifestation of their good-will they touched the ground with their hands and kissed it. We now halted for a few minutes to permit the princes of Tezcuco, Iztapalapan, Tlacupa, and Cojohuacan, to get in advance to meet Montezuma, who was slowly approaching, surrounded by other grandees of the kingdom, seated in a splendid portable chair. When we arrived at a place near the city, where there were several towers, the monarch raised himself in his chair, supported by a number of distinguished caciques, who held over his head a canopy of very great value, decorated with green feathers, gold, silver, _chalchihuis_ stones and pearls. The bordering of the canopy ornamented with these things was exceedingly attractive.