[Aztlan] Sahagun book 12 geography

[Dan Deneen]

Dear Listeros,

Once more, I wrestle with a "Xicalanco" problem... The following ambiguous
text occurs in the Sahagun description of the flight of Moteuczoma's
emissaries following their meeting at or near San Juan de Ulua with Cortes
in 1519:

"By water they quickly reached the place called Xicalanco, where they did
nothing but catch their breath, then again came running along as fast as
possible.  Then they reached Tecpantlayaca, whereupon they again left and
came fleeing.  They quickly got to Cuetlaxtlan, where they caught their
breath and also quickly came away."

("Iciuhca acitivetzico in atl iitic in itocaiocan xicalanco, can tequitl
vncan oalihiocuitiquizq, ic ie no ceppa centlaquauh oaltotoca: niman acico
in tecpan tlaiacac, niman ie no ic aolmeoaltia, oalmotlaloa, acitivetzico in
cuetlaxtlan, canno aolquiztiquizque, vncan ihiocuique.")  (transcription and
translation-- Lockhart, 1993)

As far as I can find out, there is no present-day known location for
Tecpantlayaca.  Cuetlaxtlan is assumed to have been about 20 miles SW of
modern Veracruz.  If the following passage from the Anales de Tlatelolco can
be relied upon, then Tecpantlayacac seems to have been right there by
Chalchiuhcueyecan/San Juan de Ulua/Veracruz:

"In the year of One Reed the Spaniards appeared at Tecpantlayacac.
Thereupon the Captain came.  When he appeared at Tecpantlayacac,
Cuetlaxtecatl met him; there he gave he suns of precious metal, one yellow
and one white . . ."

SO THE PROBLEM IS... Why,in the Book 12 account, would one flee location "A"
(Veracruz) to go to location "B" (Xicalanco) only to rush right back to
location "A", still apparently in haste and fright.
One possible answer is that there was some other "Xicalanco" nearby, part of
this same group of places in present-day Veracruz.  (There is apparently a
little puebla called Xicalanco up in the Huasteca near Chicontepec -- but
going there would make no more sense in the present context than fleeing
down to the famous trading depot at the Laguna de Terminos.)

or... somewhere along the line, whatever original information about this
journey that found its way to Sahagun's colleagues got mangled.

The most LOGICAL of sequences would have the emissaries (on their way to
meet Cortes) going first to Xicalanco (being the nearest Mexica logistical
support point to where the Spaniards were known to be at the time the
emissaries would have left Tenochtitlan) and then following the Spaniards up
the coast, catching up to them at San Juan de Ulua---and this interpretation
is reasonably supported by Sahagun.  The LOGICAL (and shortest) path of
return would have been straight back up the mountains towards Tenochtitlan,
and not back to Xicalanco in Campeche.

Anyone have any thoughts on this puzzling Book 12 passage?
Muchas gracias,
Daniel D.
Xalapa