The words of Montezuma are also given by Father Sahagun, _Historia de Nueva Espana_, Lib.

xii, cap.xvi.The statement of Montezuma that Quetzalcoatl _had already returned_, but had not been well received by the people, and had, therefore, left them again, is very interesting.

It is a part of the Quetzalcoatl myth which I have not found in any other Aztec source.

But it distinctly appears in the Kiche which I shall quote on a later page, and is also in close parallelism with the hero-myths of Yucatan, Peru and elsewhere.

It is, to my mind, a strong evidence of the accuracy of Marina's translation of Montezuma's words, and the fidelity of Cortes' memory.] Such was the extraordinary address with which the Spaniard, with his handful of men, was received by the most powerful war chief of the American continent.