This, and more of yet wilder strain continued in the note, shows at least that prior to the coming of the Spaniards the people of the Mexican valley, and their sovereign in particular, were profoundly moved with fearful forebodings of calamity of some kind. And whether these forebodings pointed to some strange arrival by sea or other marvel, certain it is that they opened the door of this rich realm to the invaders.
Ever intent on means to propitiate the gods, Montezuma in 1517 hit upon the idea of plating the temple of Huitzilopochtli with gold set with precious stones and feathers, and gave the order accordingly to Tzompantzin, the minister of finance.