The list of native Mexicans who wrote in Spanish is a fairly long one; and I need only mention the better known names. At the head should be placed that of Don Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl. He was a lineal descendant of the sovereigns of Tezcuco, and an ardent student of the antiquities of his race. Among the many works which he wrote are the _Relaciones Historicas_ and the _Historia Chichimeca_, which were published by Lord Kingsborough; a _Historia de la Nueva Espana_, a _Historia del Reyno de Tezcuco_, and a _Historia de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe_, which have not had the fortune to be printed. Such an excellent critic as Mr. Prescott says of his style: "His language is simple, and occasionally eloquent and touching. His descriptions are highly picturesque. He abounds in familiar anecdote; and the natural graces of his manner in detailing the more striking events of history and the personal adventures of his heroes, entitle him to the name of the Livy of Anahuac."
Ixtlilxochitl flourished about the year 1600, and among his contemporaries was Fernando de Alvarado Tezozomoc, also of native blood, whose _Cronica Mexicana_ has been preserved, and is considered to be well written, but less reliable. Of about the same date are the _Relacion_ of Juan Bautista de Tomar, a native of Tezcuco, in which he treats of the customs of his ancestors; the _Relaciones_ of Don Antonio Pimentel, grandson of Nezahualpilli, lord of Tezcuco, an author quoted and praised by the historian Torquemada; the _Historia de Tlaxcallan_ of Diego Munoz Camargo, a noble Tlascalan mestizo, of whose style Prescott remarks that it compares not unfavorably with that of some of the missionaries themselves; and the _Relacion de los Dioses y Ritos de la Gentilidad_ of Don Pedro Ponce, the cacique of Tzumpahuacan. Somewhat later, about 1625, Don Domingo de San Anton Munon Chimalpain wrote his _Historia Mexicana_ and his _Historia de la Conquista_, which have been mentioned with respect by various writers.
Along with these examples of literary culture in Mexico may be named several native Peruvian writers who made use of the language of their conquerors; as Don Joan de Santa Cruz Pachacuti Yamqui, whose _Relacion de Antiguedades de Piru_ is a precious document, though composed in very uncritical Spanish; as Don Luis Inca, whose _Relacion_, prepared in Spanish, seems now to be lost, but is referred to, with praise, by some of the older writers; and, above all others, Inca Garcillasso de la Vega, whose vivid and attractive style, and numerous historical writings place him easily in the first rank of Spanish historians of America.