Yxtliton, or Ixtlilton--that is to say 'the little negro,' according

to Sahagun, and 'the black-faced,' according to Clavigero--was a god

who cured children of various diseases.[IX-61] His 'oratory' was a kind

of temporary building made of painted boards; his image was neither

graven nor painted; it was a living man decorated with certain

vestments. In this temple or oratory were kept many pans and jars,

covered with boards, and containing a fluid which was called 'black

water.' When a child sickened, it was brought to this temple and one

of these jars was uncovered, upon which the child drank of the black

water and was healed of its disease--the cure being probably most

prompt and complete when the priests as well as the god knew something

of physic. When one made a feast to this god--which seems to have been

when one made new pulque--the man that was the image of Ixtlilton came

to the house of the feast-giver with music and dancing, and preceded

by the smoke of copal incense. The representative of the deity having

arrived, the first thing he did was to eat and drink; there were more

dances and festivities in his honor, in which he took part, and then

he entered the cellar of the house, where were many jars of pulque

that had been covered for four days with boards or lids of some kind.

He opened one or many of these jars, a ceremony called 'the opening of

the first, or of the new wine,' and himself with those that were with

him drank thereof. This done, he went out into the court-yard of the

house, where there were prepared certain jars of the above-mentioned

black water, which also had been kept covered four days; these he

opened, and if there was found therein any dirt, or piece of straw, or

hair, or ash, it was taken as a sign that the giver of the feast was a

man of evil life, an adulterer, or a thief, or a quarrelsome person,

and he was affronted with the charge accordingly. When the

representative of the god set out from the house where all this

occurred, he was presented with certain blankets called _yxguen_, or

_ixquen_, that is to say, 'covering of the face,' because when any

fault had been found in the black water, the giver of the feast was

put to shame.[IX-62]

* * * * *

[Sidenote: OPUCHTLI, GOD OF FISHING.]

Opuchtli, or Opochtli, 'the left-handed,' was venerated by fishermen

as their protector and the inventor of their nets, fish-spears, oars,

and other gear. In Cuitlahuac, an island of lake Chalco, there was a

god of fishing called Amimitl, who, according to Clavigero, differed

from the first-mentioned only in name. Sahagun says that Opuchtli was

counted among the number of the Tlaloques, and that the offerings made

to him were composed of pulque, stalks of green maize, flowers, the

smoking-canes, or pipes called _yietl_, copal incense, the odorous

herb _yiauhtli_, and parched maize. These things seem to have been

strewed before him as rushes used to be strewed before a procession.

There were used in these solemnities certain rattles enclosed in

hollow walking-sticks. The image of this god was like a man, almost

naked, with the face of that grey tint seen in quails' feathers; on

the head was a paper crown of divers colors, made like a rose, as it

were, of leaves overlapping each other, topped by green feathers

issuing from a yellow tassel; other long tassels hung from this crown

to the shoulders of the idol. Crossed over the breast was a green

stole resembling that worn by the Christian priest when saying mass;

on the feet were white sandals; on the left arm was a red shield, and

in the centre of its field a white flower with four leaves disposed

like a cross; and in the left hand was a sceptre of a peculiar

fashion.[IX-63]

* * * * *

Xipe, or Totec, or Xipetotec, or Thipetotec, is, according to

Clavigero, a god whose name has no meaning,[IX-64] who was the deity of

the goldsmiths, and who was much venerated by the Mexicans, they being

persuaded that those that neglected his worship would be smitten with

diseases; especially the boils, the itch, and pains of the head and

eyes. They excelled themselves therefore in cruelty at his festival

time, occurring ordinarily in the second month.

Sahagun describes this god as specially honored by dwellers on the

sea-shore, and as having had his origin at Zapotlan in Jalisco. He was

supposed to afflict people with sore eyes and with various

skin-diseases, such as small-pox, abscesses, and itch. His image was

made like a human form, one side or flank of it being painted yellow,

and the other of a tawny color; down each side of the face from the

brow to the jaw a thin stripe was wrought; and on the head was a

little cap with hanging tassels. The upper part of the body was

clothed with the flayed skin of a man; round the loins was girt a kind

of green skirt. It had on one arm a yellow shield with a red border,

and held in both hands a scepter shaped like the calix of a poppy and

tipped with an arrow-head.[IX-65]

[Sidenote: EATING THE BODIES OF THE SACRIFICED.]

On the last day of the second month--or, according to some authors,

of the first--Tlacaxipehualiztli, there was celebrated a solemn feast

in honor at once of Xipetotec and of Huitzilopochtli. It was preceded

by a very solemn dance at noon of the day before. As the night of the

vigil fell, the captives were shut up and guarded; at midnight--the

time when it was usual to draw blood from the ears--the hair of the

middle of the head of each was shaven away before a fire. When the

dawn appeared they were led by their owners to the foot of the stairs

of the temple of Huitzilopochtli--and if they would not ascend

willingly the priests dragged them up by the hair. The priests threw

them down one by one on the back on a stone of three quarters of a

yard or more high, and square on the top something more than a foot

every way. Two assistants held the victim down by the feet, two by the

hands, and one by the head--this last according to many accounts

putting a yoke over the neck of the man and so pressing it down. Then

the priest, holding with both hands a splinter of flint, or a stone

resembling flint, like a large lance-head, struck across the breast

therewith, and tore out the heart through the gash so made; which,

after offering it to the sun and other gods by holding it up toward

the four quarters of heaven, he threw into a wooden vessel.[IX-66] The

blood was collected also in a vessel and given to the owner of the

dead captive, while the body, thrown down the temple steps, was taken

to the calpule by certain old men, called _quaquacuiltin_, flayed, cut

into pieces, and divided for eating; the king receiving the flesh of

the thigh, while the rest of the carcass was eaten at the house of the

owner of the captive, though, as will appear by a remark

hereafter,[IX-67] it is improbable that the captor or owner himself ate

any of it. With the skin of these flayed persons, a party of youths

called the _tototecli_ clothed themselves, and fought in sham fight

with another party of young men; prisoners being taken on both sides,

who were not released without a ransom of some kind or other. This

sham battle was succeeded by combats of a terribly real sort, the

famous so-called gladiatorial fights of Mexico. On a great round

stone, like an enormous mill-stone, a captive was tied by a cord,

passing round his waist and through the hole of the stone, long enough

to permit him freedom of motion everywhere about the block--set near

or at a temple called _yopico_, of the god Totec, or Xipe.[IX-68] With

various ceremonies, more particularly described in the preceding

volume, the bound man furnished with inferior weapons was made to

fight with a picked Mexican champion--the latter holding up his sword

and shield to the sun before engaging. If, as sometimes happened, the

desperate though hampered and ill-armed captive--whose club-sword was,

by a refinement of mockery, deprived of its jagged flint edging and

set with feathers--slew his opponent, another champion was sent

against him, and so on to the number of five, at which point,

according to some, the captive was set free; though according to other

authorities, he was not allowed so to escape, but champions were sent

against him till he fell. Upon which a priest called the _yooallaoa_

opened his breast, tore out his heart, offered it to the sun, and

threw it into the usual wooden vessel; while the ropes used for

binding to the fighting-stone were carried to the four quarters of the

world, reverently with weeping and sighing. A second priest thrust a

piece of cane into the gash in the victim's breast and held it up

stained with blood to the sun. Then the owner of the captive came and

received the blood into a vessel bordered with feathers; this vessel

he took with a little cane-and-feather broom or aspergillum and went

about all the temples and calpules, giving to each of the idols, as

it were to taste of the blood of his captive. The slain body was then

carried to the calpulco--where, while alive, it had been confined the

night before the sacrifice--and there skinned. Thence it was brought

to the house of its owner, who divided and made presents of it to his

superiors, relatives, and friends; not however tasting thereof

himself, for, we are told, "he counted it as the flesh of his own

body," because from the hour that he took the prisoner "he held him to

be his son, and the captive looked up to his captor as to a father."

[Sidenote: RELATIONS BETWEEN CAPTOR AND CAPTIVE.]

The skins of the dead belonged to their captors, who gave them again

to others to be worn by them for apparently twenty days, probably as a

kind of penance--the persons so clothed collecting alms from everyone

in the meantime and bringing all they got, each to the man that had

given him the skin. When done with, these skins were hid away in a

rotting condition in a certain cave, while the ex-wearers thereof

washed themselves with great rejoicings. At the putting away of these

skins there assisted numbers of people ill with the itch and such

other diseases as Xipe inflicted--hoping thus to be healed of their

infirmities, and it is said that many were so cured.[IX-69]

The merchants of Mexico--a class of men who hawked their goods from

place to place and wandered often far into strange countries to buy or

sell--had various deities to whom they did special honor. Among these

the chief, and often the only one mentioned, was the god Yiacatecutli,

or Jacateuctli, or Iyacatecuhtli, that is 'the lord that guides,'

otherwise called Yacacoliuhqui, or Jacacoliuhqui.[IX-70] This chief god

of the merchants had, however, according to Sahagun, five brothers and

a sister, also reverenced by traders, the sister being called

Chalmecacioatl, and the brothers respectively Chiconquiavitl,

Xomocuil, Nacxitl, Cochimetl, and Yacapitzaoac. The principal image of

this god was a figure representing a man walking along a road with a

staff; the face black and white; the hair tied up in a bundle on the

middle of the top of the head with two tassels of rich quetzal-feathers;

the ear-rings of gold; the mantle blue, bordered with a flowered

fringe, and covered with a red net, through whose meshes the blue

appeared; round the ankles leather straps from which hung marine

shells; curiously wrought sandals on the feet; and on the arm a plain

unornamented yellow shield, with a spot of light blue in the centre of

its field. Practically, however, every merchant reverenced his own

stout staff--generally made of a solid, knotless piece of black cane,

called _utatl_--as the representative or symbol of this god

Yiacatecutli; keeping it, when not in use, in the oratory or sacred

place in his house, and invariably putting food before it preliminary

to eating his own meal. When traveling the traders were accustomed

nightly to stack up their staves in a convenient position, bind them

about, build a fire before them,[IX-71] and then offering blood and

copal, pray for preservation and shelter from the many perils to which

their wandering life made them especially subject.[IX-72]

* * * * *

[Sidenote: NAPATECUTLI.]

Napatecutli, that is to say 'four times lord,' was the god of the

mat-makers and of all workers in water-flags and rushes. A beneficent

and helpful divinity, and one of the Tlalocs, he was known by various

names, such as Tepahpaca Teaaltati, 'the purifier or washer;'

Quitzetzelohua, or Tlaitlanililoni, 'he that scatters or winnows

down;' Tlanempopoloa, 'he that is large and liberal;' Teatzelhuia, 'he

that sprinkles with water;' and Amotenenqua, 'he that shows himself

grateful.' This god had two temples in Mexico and his festival fell in

the thirteenth month, by Clavigero's reckoning. His image resembled a

black man, the face being spotted with white and black, with tassels

hanging down behind supporting a green plume of three feathers. Round

the loins and reaching to the knees was girt a kind of white and black

skirt or petticoat, adorned with little sea-shells. The sandals of

this idol were white; on its left arm was a shield made like the broad

leaf of the water-lily, or nenuphar; while the right hand held a

sceptre like a flowering staff, the flowers being of paper; and across

the body, passing under the left arm, was a white scarf, painted over

with black flowers.[IX-73]

The Mexicans had several gods of wine, or rather of pulque; of these

the chief seems to have been Tezcatzoncatl, otherwise known as

Tequechmecaniani 'the strangler,' and as Teatlahuiani 'the drowner;'

epithets suggested by the effects of drunkenness. The companion

deities of this Aztec Dionysus were called as a class by the somewhat

extraordinary name of Centzontotochtin or 'the four hundred rabbits';

Yiaulatecatl, Yzquitecatl, Acoloa, Thilhoa, Pantecatl (the Patecatl of

the interpreters of the codices), Tultecatl, Papaztac, Tlaltecaiooa,

Ometochtli (often referred to as the principal god of wine),

Tepuztecatl, Chimapalnecatl, were deities of this class. The principal

characteristic of the image of the Mexican god of drunkenness was,

according to Mendieta and Motolinia, a kind of vessel carried on the

head of the idol, into which vessel wine was ceremoniously poured. The

feast of this god, like that of the preceding divinity, fell in the

thirteenth month, Tepeilhuitl, and in his temple in the city of Mexico

there served four hundred consecrated priests, so great was the

service done this everywhere too widely and well known god.[IX-74]

[Sidenote: THE HOUSEHOLD GODS.]

The Mexicans had certain household gods called Tepitoton, or

Tepictoton, 'the little ones,'--small statues of which kings kept six

in their houses, nobles four, and common folks two. Whether these were

a particular class of deities or merely miniature images of the

already described greater gods it is hard to say. Similar small idols

are said to have adorned streets, cross-roads, fountains and other

places of public traffic and resort.[IX-75]

* * * * *

[Sidenote: THE CEREMONIAL CALENDAR.]

With these Tepitoton may be said to finish the list of Mexican gods of

any repute or any general notoriety; so that it seems fit to give here

a condensed and arranged résumé of all the fixed festivals and

celebrations of the Aztec calendar, with its eighteen months of twenty

days each, and its five supplementary days at the end of the year.

There is some disagreement as to which of the months the year began

with; but it will best suit our present purpose to follow the

arrangement of Sahagun, the interpreters of the Codices, Torquemada,

and Clavigero, in which the month variously called Atlcahualco, or

Quahuitlehua, or Cihuailhuitl, or Xilomanaliztli, is the first.[IX-76]

The name Atlchualco, or Atlaooalo, or Atalcaoplo, means 'the buying

or scarcity of water;' Quahuitlehua, or Quavitleloa, 'the sprouting of

trees;' and Xilomanaliztli, 'the offering of Xilotl (that is heads of

maize, which were then presented to the gods to secure their blessing

on the seed time).' This first month beginning on the second of

February according to Sahagun, the eighteenth according to Gama, and

the twenty-sixth according to Clavigero, was consecrated to Tlaloc and

the other gods of water, and in it great numbers of children were

sacrificed.[IX-77] In further honor of the Tlalocs there were also at

this time killed many captives on the gladiatorial stone.

It was the second month, called Tlacaxiphualiztli,[IX-78] or 'the

flaying of men,' that was specially famous for its gladiatorial

sacrifices, sacrifices already described and performed to the honor of

Xipe, or Xipetotec.[IX-79]

The third month called Tozoztontli, 'the lesser fast or penance,' was

inaugurated by the sacrifice on the mountains of children to the

Tlalocs. Those also that traded in flowers and were called

Sochimanque, or Xochimanqui, made a festival to their goddess,

Coatlycue, or Coatlantona, offering her the first-fruits of the

flowers of the year, of these that had grown in the precincts of the

cu _yapico_, a cu as we have seen, consecrated to Tlaloc. Into a cave

belonging to this temple there were also at this time cast the now

rotten skins of the human beings that had been flayed in the preceding

month. Thither, "stinking like dead dogs," as Sahagun phrases it,

marched in procession the persons that wore these skins and there they

put them off, washing themselves with many ceremonies; and sick folk

troubled with certain skin-diseases followed and looked on, hoping by

the sight of all these things to be healed of their infirmities. The

owners of the captives that had been slain had also been doing penance

for twenty days, neither washing nor bathing during that time; and

they now, when they had seen the skins deposited in the cave, washed

and gave a banquet to all their friends and relatives, performing many

ceremonies with the bones of the dead captives. All the twenty days of

this month singing exercises, praising the god, were carried on in the

houses called Cuicacalli, the performers not dancing but remaining

seated.

The fourth month was called, in contradistinction to the third,

Veitozoztli, or Hueytozoztli, that is to say, 'the greater penance or

letting of blood;' because in it not only the priests but also the

populace and nobility did penance, drawing blood from their ears,

shins, and other parts of the body, and exposing at their doors leaves

of sword-grass stained therewith. After this they performed certain

already described ceremonies,[IX-80] and then made, out of the dough

known as _tzoalli_,[IX-81] an image of the goddess Chicomecoatl, in the

court-yard of her temple, offering before it all kinds of maize,

beans, and chian, because she was the maker and giver of these things

and the sustainer of the people. In this month, as well as in the

three months preceding, little children were sacrificed, a cruelty

which was supposed to please the water gods, and which was kept up

till the rains began to fall abundantly.

[Sidenote: THE MONTH TOXCATL.]

The fifth month, called Toxcatl and sometimes Tepopochuiliztli,[IX-82]

was begun by the most solemn and famous feast of the year, in honor of

the principal Mexican god, a god known by a multitude of names and

epithets, among which were Tezcatlipoca, Titlacaoan, Yautl,

Telpuchtli, and Tlamatzincatl. A year before this feast, one of the

most distinguished of the captives reserved for sacrifice was chosen

out for superior grace and personal appearance from among all his

fellows, and given in charge to the priestly functionaries called

calpixques. These instructed him with great diligence in all the arts

pertaining to good breeding, according to the Mexican idea: such as

playing on the flute, walking, speaking, saluting those he happened to

meet, the use and carrying about of straight cane tobacco-pipes and of

flowers, with the dexterous smoking of the one, and the graceful

inhalation of the odor of the other. He was attended upon by eight

pages, who were clad in the livery of the palace, and had perfect

liberty to go where he pleased night and day; while his food was so

rich that to guard against his growing too fat, it was at times

necessary to vary the diet by a purge of salt and water. Everywhere

honored and adored as the living image and accredited representative

of Tezcatlipoca, he went about playing on a small shrill clay flute,

or fife, and adorned with rich and curious raiment furnished by the

king, while all he met did him reverence kissing the earth. All his

body and face was painted--black, it would appear; his long hair

flowed to the waist; his head was covered with white hens' feathers

stuck on with resin, and covered with a garland of the flowers called

_yzquisuchitl_; while two strings of the same flowers crossed his body

in the fashion of cross-belts. Earrings of gold, a necklace of

precious stones with a great dependent gem hanging to the breast, a

lip-ornament (barbote) of sea-shell, bracelets of gold above the elbow

on each arm, and strings of gems called _macuextli_ winding from wrist

almost to elbow, glittered and flashed back the light as the doomed

man-god moved. He was covered with a rich beautifully fringed mantle

of netting, and bore on his shoulders something like a purse made of

white cloth of a span square, ornamented with tassels and fringe. A

white maxtli of a span broad went about his loins, the two ends,

curiously wrought, falling in front almost to the knee. Little bells

of gold kept time with every motion of his feet, which were shod with

painted sandals called _ocelunacace_.

All this was the attire he wore from the beginning of his year of

preparation; but twenty days before the coming of the festival, they

changed his vestments, washed away the paint or dye from his skin, and

cut down his long hair to the length, and arranged it after the

fashion, of the hair of the captains, tying it up on the crown of the

head with feathers and fringe and two gold-buttoned tassels. At the

same time they married to him four damsels, who had been pampered and

educated for this purpose, and who were surnamed respectively after

the four goddesses, Xochiquetzal, Xilonen, Atlatonan, and

Vixtocioatl.[IX-83] Five days before the great day of the feast,[IX-84]

the day of the feast being counted one, all the people, high and low,

the king it would appear being alone excepted, went out to celebrate

with the man-god a solemn banquet and dance, in the ward called

Tecanman; the fourth day before the feast, the same was done in the

ward in which was guarded the statue of Tezcatlipoca. The little hill,

or island, called Tepetzinco, rising out of the waters of the lake of

Mexico, was the scene of the next day's solemnities; solemnities

renewed for the last time on the next day, or that immediately

preceding the great day, on another like island called Tepelpulco, or

Tepepulco. There, with the four women that had been given him for his

consolation, the honored victim was put into a covered canoe usually

reserved for the sole use of the king; and he was carried across the

lake to a place called Tlapitzaoayan, near the road that goes from

Yztapalapan to Chalco, at a place where was a little hill called

Acacuilpan, or Cabaltepec. Here left him the four beautiful girls,

whose society for twenty days he had enjoyed, they returning to the

capital with all the people; there accompanying the hero of this

terrible tragedy only those eight attendants that had been with him

all the year. Almost alone, done with the joys of beauty, banquet, and

dance, bearing a bundle of his flutes, he walked to a little ill-built

cu, some distance from the road mentioned above, and about a league

removed from the city. He marched up the temple steps, not dragged,

not bound, not carried like a common slave or captive; and as he

ascended he dashed down and broke on every step one of the flutes that

he had been accustomed to play on in the days of his prosperity. He

reached the top;--by sickening repetition we have learned to know the

rest; one thing only, from the sacrificial stone his body was not

hurled down the steps, but was carried by four men down to the

Tzompantli, to the place of the spitting of heads.

[Sidenote: THE FEAST OF TOXCATL.]

And the chroniclers say that all this signified that those who enjoyed

riches, delights in this life, should at the end come to poverty and

sorrow--so determined are these same chroniclers to let nothing escape

without its moral.

In this feast of Toxcatl, in the cu called Huitznahuac, where the

image of Huitzilopochtli was always kept, the priests made a bust of

this god out of _tzoalli_ dough, with pieces of mizquitl-wood inserted

by way of bones. They decorated it with his ornaments; putting on a

jacket wrought over with human bones, a mantle of very thin _nequen_,

and another mantle called the _tlaquaquallo_, covered with rich

feathers, fitting the head below and widening out above; in the middle

of this stood up a little rod, also decorated with feathers and

sticking into the top of the rod was a flint knife half covered with

blood. The image was set on a platform made of pieces of wood

resembling snakes and so arranged that heads and tails alternated all

the way round; the whole borne by many captains and men of war.

Before this image and platform a number of strong youths carried an

enormous sheet of paper resembling pasteboard, twenty fathoms long,

one fathom broad, and a little less than an inch thick; it was

supported by spear-shafts arranged in pairs of one shaft above and one

below the paper, while persons on either side of the paper held each

one of these pairs in one hand. When the procession, with dancing and

singing, reached the cu to be ascended, the snaky platform was

carefully and cautiously hoisted up by cords attached to its four

corners, the image was set on a seat, and those that carried the paper

rolled it up and set down the roll before the bust of the god. It was

sunset when the image was so set up; and the following morning every

one offered food in his own house before the image of Huitzilopochtli

there, incensing also such images of other gods as he had, and then

went to offer quails' blood before the bust set up on the cu. The king

began, wringing off the heads of four quails; the priests offered

next, then all the people; the whole multitude carrying clay fire-pans

and burning copal incense of every kind, after which every one threw

his live coals upon a great hearth in the temple-yard. The virgins

painted their faces, put on their heads garlands of parched maize with

strings of the same across their breasts, decorated their arms and

legs with red feathers, and carried black paper flags stuck into split

canes. The flags of the daughters of nobles were not of paper but of a

thin cloth called _canaoac_, painted with vertical black stripes.

These girls joining hands danced round the great hearth, upon or over

which on an elevated place of some kind there danced, giving the time

and step, two men, having each a kind of pine cage covered with paper

flags on his shoulders, the strap supporting which passed, not across

the forehead--the usual way for men to carry a burden--but across

the chest as was the fashion with women. The priests of the temple,

dancing on this occasion with the women, bore shields of paper,

crumpled up like great flowers; their heads were adorned with white

feathers, their lips and part of the face were smeared with

sugar-cane juice which produced a peculiar effect over the black with

which their faces were always painted. They carried in their hands

pieces of paper called _amasmaxtli_, and sceptres of palm-wood tipped

with a black flower and having in the lower part a ball of black

feathers. In dancing they used this sceptre like a staff, and the part

by which they grasped it was wrapped round with a paper painted with

black lines. The music for the dancers was supplied by a party of

unseen musicians, who occupied one of the temple buildings, where they

sat, he that played on the drum in the centre, and the performers on

the other instruments about him. The men and women danced on till

night, but the strictest order and decency were preserved, and any

lewd word or look brought down swift punishment from the appointed

overseers.

[Sidenote: DEATH OF THE YXTEUCALLI.]

This feast was closed by the death of a youth who had been during the

past year dedicated to and taken care of for Huitzilopochtli,

resembling in this the victim of Tezcatlipoca, whose companion he had

indeed been, but without receiving such high honors. This

Huitzilopochtli youth was entitled Yxteucalli, or Tlacabepan, or

Teicauhtzin, and was held to be the image and representative of the

god. When the day of his death came, the priests decorated him with

papers painted over with black circles, and put a mitre of eagles'

feathers on his head, in the midst of whose plumes was stuck a flint

knife, stained half way up with blood and adorned with red feathers.

Tied to his shoulders, by strings passing across the breast, was a

piece of very thin cloth about a span square, and over it hung a

little bag. Over one of his arms was thrown a wild beast's skin,

arranged somewhat like a maniple; bells of gold jingled at his legs as

he walked or danced. There were two peculiar things connected with the

death of this youth; first he had absolute liberty of choice regarding

the hour in which he was to die; and second, he was not extended upon

any block or altar, but when he wished he threw himself into the arms

of the priests, and had his heart so cut out. His head was then hacked

off and spitted alongside of that of the Tezcatlipoca youth, of whom

we have spoken already. In this same day the priests made little marks

on children, cutting them, with thin stone knives, in the breast,

stomach, wrists, and fleshy part of the arms; marks, as the Spanish

priests considered, by which the devil should know his own sheep.[IX-85]

The ceremonies of the ensuing monthly festivals have already been

described at length.[IX-86]

[Sidenote: MISCELLANEOUS FEASTS.]

There were, besides, a number of movable feasts in honor of the higher

gods, the celestial bodies, and the patron deities of the various

trades and professions. Sahagun gives an account of sixteen movable

feasts, many of which, however, contained no religious element.[IX-87]

The first was dedicated to the sun, to whom a ghostly deputation of

eighteen souls was sent to make known the wants of the people, and

implore future favors. The selected victims were ranged in order at

the place of sacrifice, and addressed by the priest, who exhorted them

to bear in mind the sacred nature of their mission, and the glory

which would be theirs upon its proper fulfillment. The music now

strikes up; amid the crash and din the victims one after another are

stretched upon the altar; a few flashes of the iztli-knife in the

practiced hand of the slayer, and the embassy has set out for the

presence of the sun.[IX-88]

The sixth, seventh, and eleventh festivals were celebrated to

Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca, and Huitzilopochtli respectively. The

public and household idols of these gods were at such seasons

decorated, and presented with offerings of food, quails, and incense.

During the festival of the god of fire, the thirteenth of the movable

feasts, various public officials were elected, and a great many grand

banquets given. The _atamalqualiztli_, or 'fast of bread and water,'

seems to have been one of the most important of the movable feasts.

The people prepared for its celebration, which took place every eight

years, by a rigid fast, broken only by a midday meal of water and

unsalted bread. Those who offended the gods by neglecting to observe

this fast were thought to expose themselves to an attack of leprosy.

The people indulged in all sorts of amusements during the holiday

season which succeeded the fast. The most interesting feature of the

festivities was a bal masqué, which was supposed to be attended by all

the gods. The chief honors of the day were, however, rendered to the

Tlalocs, and round their effigy, which stood in the midst of a pond

alive with frogs and snakes, the dancers whirled continually. It was a

part of the ceremonies for a number of men called _maxatecaz_ to

devour the reptiles in the pond; this they did by each seizing a snake

or a frog in his teeth, and swallowing it gradually as he joined in

the dance; the one who first bolted his titbit cried out triumphantly,

'Papa, papa!'

Every fourth year, called _teoxihuitl_, or 'divine year,' and at the

beginning of every period of thirteen years, the feasts were more

numerous and on a larger scale, the fasts more severe, and the

sacrifices far greater in number than upon ordinary occasions.[IX-89]

The entire series of festivals may be said to have closed with the

solemn Toxilmolpilia, or 'binding up of the years,' which took place

every fifty-two years, and marked the expiration and renewal of the

world's lease of existence.[IX-90]

FOOTNOTES:

[IX-1] _Müller_, _Amerikanische Urreligionen_, p. 493.

[IX-2] Clavigero, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 16, 22,

indeed says that Teteionan and Tocitzin are 'certainly different.'

[IX-3] _Squier's Serpent Symbol_, p. 47. A passage which makes the

principal element of the character of Toci or Tocitzin that of Goddess

of Discord may be condensed from Acosta, as follows: When the

Mexicans, in their wanderings, had settled for a time in the territory

of Culhuacan, they were instructed by their god Huitzilopochtli to go

forth and make wars, and first to apotheosize, after his directions, a

Goddess of Discord. Following these directions, they sent to the king

of Culhuacan for his daughter to be their queen. Moved by the honor,

the father sent his hapless daughter, gorgeously attired, to be

enthroned. But the wiley, superstitious, and ferocious Mexicans slew

the girl and flayed her, and clothed a young man in her skin, calling

him 'their goddess and mother of their god,' under the name of Toccy,

that is 'grand mother.' See also _Purchas his Pilgrimes_, vol. iv., p.

1004.

[IX-4] _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. i., pp. 16-22;

_Explicacion del Codex Telleriano-Remensis_, lam. xii., in

_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., p. 140; _Spiegazione delle

Tavole del Codice Mexicano_, tav. xxx., _Ib._, p. 180; _Humboldt_,

_Essai Politique_, tom. i., p. 217; _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. vi.,

p. 631. The sacrifices to Centeotl, if she be identical with the

earth-mother, are illustrated by the statement of Mendieta, _Hist.

Ecles._, p. 81, that the Mexicans painted the earth-goddess as a frog

with a bloody mouth in every joint of her body, (which frog we shall

meet again by and by in a Centeotl festival) for they said that the

earth devoured all things--a proof also, by the by, among others of a

like kind which we shall encounter, that not to the Hindoos alone (as

Mr J. G. Müller somewhere affirms), but to the Mexicans also, belonged

the idea of multiplying the organs of their deities to express great

powers in any given direction. The following note from the

_Spiegazione delle Tavole del Codice Mexicano_, in _Kingsborough's

Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., pp. 179-80, illustrates the last point noticed,

gives another form or relation of the goddess of sustenance, and also

the origin of the name applied to the Mexican priests: 'They feign

that Mayaguil was a woman with four hundred breasts, and that the

gods, on account of her fruitfulness, changed her into the Maguey,

which is the vine of that country, from which they make wine. She

presided over these thirteen signs; but whoever chanced to be born on

the first sign of the Herb, it proved unlucky to him; for they say

that it was applied to the Tlamatzatzguex, who were a race of demons

dwelling amongst them, who according to their account wandered through

the air, from whom the ministers of their temples took their

denomination. When this sign arrived, parents enjoined their children

not to leave the house, lest any misfortune or unlucky accident should

befall them. They believed that those who were born in Two Canes,

which is the second sign, would be long lived, for they say that that

sign was applied to heaven. They manufacture so many things from this

plant called the Maguey, and it is so very useful in that country,

that the devil took occasion to induce them to believe that it was a

god, and to worship and offer sacrifices to it.'

[IX-5] _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. i., pp. 5-6; Gallatin,

in _Amer. Ethnol. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., pp. 341, 349-50,

condensing from and commenting upon the codices Vaticanus and

Tellerianus says: 'Tonacacigua, alias Tuchiquetzal (plucking rose),

and Chicomecouatl (seven serpents); wife of Tonacatlecotle; the cause

of sterility, famine, and miseries of life.... Amongst Sahagun's

superior deities is found Civacoatl, the 'serpent woman,' also called

Tonantzin, 'our mother;' and he, sober as he is in Scriptural

allusions, calls her Eve, and ascribes to her, as the interpreters [of

the codices] to Tonatacinga, all the miseries and adverse things of

the world. This analogy is, if I am not mistaken, the only foundation

for all the allusions to Eve and her history, before, during, and

after the sin, which the interpreters have tried to extract from

paintings which indicate nothing of the kind. They were certainly

mistaken in saying that their Tonacacinga was also called

Chicomecouatl, seven serpents. They should have said Civacoatl, the

serpent woman. Chicomecoatl, instead of being the cause of sterility,

famine, etc., is, according to Sahagun, the goddess of abundance, that

which supplies both eating and drinking: probably the same as

Tzinteotl, or Cinteotl, the goddess of maize (from _centli_, maize),

which he does not mention. There is no more foundation for ascribing

to Tonacacigua the name of Suchiquetzal.' Gama, _Dos Piedras_, pt i.,

p. 39, says in effect: Cihuacounatl, or snake woman, was supposed to

have given birth to two children, male and female, whence sprung the

human race. It is on this account that twins are called in Mexico

_cocohua_, 'snakes,' or in the singular cohuatl or coatl, now vulgarly

pronounced coate.

[IX-6] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 3-4; _Sahagun_,

_Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. i., pp. 4-7.

[IX-7] Or, according to Bustamante's ed., Aba, Tlavitecqui, and

Xoquauchtli.' _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., p. 149.

[IX-8] Lime was much used in the preparation of maize for making

various articles of food.

[IX-9] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 69-70; _Sahagun_,

_Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 148-56.

[IX-10] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 60-1; _Sahagun_,

_Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 135-9; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant.

del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 75; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii.,

pp. 269-71.

[IX-11] Chiquiuitl, cesto ó canasta. _Molina_, _Vocabulario._

[IX-12] Chian, ó Chia, cierta semilla de que sacan azeite. _Id._

[IX-13] Pinolli, la harina de mayz y chia, antes que la deslian. _Id._

[IX-14] Apparently the earth symbolized as a frog (see this vol. p. 351,

note 4.) and bearing the fruits thereof on her back.

[IX-15] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 43-4; _Sahagun_,

_Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 97-100; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant.

del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 67; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii.,

pp. 52-3, 60-1, 134, 152-3, 181, 255-6.

[IX-16] Yoalticitl, another name of the mother-goddess, of the mother

of the gods, of the mother of us all, of our grandmother or ancestress;

more particularly that form of the mother-goddess described, after

Sahagun (this vol. p. 353), as being the patroness of medicine and of

doctors and of the sweat-baths. Sahagun speaks in another passage of

Yoalticitl (_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., p. 453): 'La madre

de los Dioses, que és la Diosa de las medicinas y medicos, y és madre

de todos nosotros, la cual se llama Yoalticitl, la qual tiene poder y

autoridad sobre los Temazcales (sweat-baths) que llaman Xuchicalli, en

el qual lugar esta Diosa vé las cosas secretas, y adereza las cosas

desconcertadas en los cuerpos de los hombres, y fortifica las cosas

tiernas y blandas.'

[IX-17] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 5, 35, vol. v.,

pp. 459-2; _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. i., pp. 8-9, lib.

ii., pp. 78-9; tom. ii., lib. vi., pp. 185-191.

[IX-18] _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 16.

[IX-19] _Boturini_, _Idea_, pp. 25-6.

[IX-20] 'The stones called _chalchiuites_ by the Mexicans (and written

variously _chalchibetes_, _chalchihuis_, and _calchihuis_, by the

chroniclers) were esteemed of high value by all the Central American

and Mexican nations. They were generally of green quartz, jade, or the

stone known as _madre de Esmeralda_.... The goddess of water, amongst

the Mexicans, bore the name of _Chalchiuilcuye_, the woman of the

_Chalchiuites_, and the name of _Chalchiuihapan_ was often applied to

the city of Tlaxcalla, from a beautiful fountain of water found near

it, "the color of which," according to Torquemada, "was between blue

and green."' _Squier_ in _Palacio_, _Carta_, p. 110, note 15. In the

same work p. 53, we find mention made by Palacio of an idol apparently

representing Chalchihuitlicue: 'Very near here, is a little village

called Coatan, in the neighborhood of which is a lake ["This lake is

distant two leagues to the southward of the present considerable town

of _Guatepeque_, from which it takes its name, _Laguna de

Guatepue_"--Guatemala], situated on the flank of the volcano. Its

water is bad; it is deep, and full of caymans. In its middle there are

two small islands. The Indians regard the lake as an oracle of much

authority.... I learned that certain negroes and mulattoes of an

adjacent estate had been there [on the islands], and had found a great

idol of stone, in the form of a woman, and some objects which had been

offered in sacrifice. Near by were found some stones called

_chalchibites_.'

[IX-21] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 47.

[IX-22] _Atlacueçonan_, ninfa del onenufar, flor de yerna de agua.

_Molina_, _Vocabulario._ The Abbé Brasseur adds, on what authority I

have not been able to find, that this leaf was ornamented with golden

flags. _Hist. des Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 324. He adds in a note to

this passage, what is very true, that, 'suivant Ixtlilxochitl, et

après lui Veytia, la déesse des eaux aurait été adorée sous la forme

d'une grenouille, faite d'une seule émeraude, et qui, suivant

Ixtlilxochitl, existait encore au temps de la conquête de Mexico. La

seule déesse adorée sous la forme unique d'une grenouille était la

terre.' (See this vol. p. 351, note 4.) Gomara, _Hist. Conq. Mex._,

fol. 326, says that the figure of a frog was held to be the goddess of

fishes: 'Entre los ídolos ... estaua el de la rama. A la cual tenian

por diosa del pescado.' Motolinia extends this last statement as

follows. The Mexicans had idols he says, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de

Doc._, tom. i., p. 34, 'de los pescados grandes y de los lagartos de

agua, hasta sapos y ranas, y de otros peces grandes, y estos decian

que eran los dioses del pescado. De un pueblo de la laguna de México

llevaron unos ídolos de estos peces, que eran unos peces hechos de

piedra, grandes; y despues volviendo por allí pidiéronles para comer

algunos peces, y respondieron que habian llevado el dios del pescado y

que no podian tomar peces.'

[IX-23] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 5-6, 36; _Sahagun_,

_Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. i., pp. 9-10, lib. ii., p. 81; _Amer.

Ethnol. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., pp. 342, 350.

[IX-24] See this vol., p. 58, note 15.

[IX-25] See note 24. 'Entre los Dioses que estos ciegos Mexicanos

fingieron tener, y ser maiores, que otros, fueron dos; vno llamado

Ometecuhtli, que quiere decir, dos hidalgos, ò cavalleros; y el otro

llamaron Omecihuatl, que quiere decir, dos mugeres: los quales, por

otros nombres, fueron llamados, Citlalatonac, que quiere decir,

Estrella que resplandece, ò resplandeciente; y el otro, Citlalicue,

que quiere decir, Faldellin de la Estrella: ... Estos dos Dioses

fingidos de esta Gentilidad, creìan ser el vno Hombre, y el otro

Muger; y como à dos naturaleças distintas, y de distintos sexos las

nombraban, como por los nombres dichos parece. De estos dos Dioses, (o

por mejor decir, Demonios) tuvieron creìdo estos naturales, que

residian en vna Ciudad gloriosa, asentada sobre los once Cielos, cuio

suelo era mas alto, y supremo de ellos; y que en aquella Ciudad

goçaban de todos los deleites imaginables y poseìan todas las riqueças

de el Mundo; y decian que desde alli arriba regian, y governaban toda

esta maquina inferior del Mundo, y todo aquello que es visible, è

invisible, influiendo en todas las Animas, que criaban todas las

inclinaciones naturales, que vemos aver en todas las criaturas

racionales, è irracionales; y que cuidaban de todo, como por

naturaleça los convenia, atalaindo desde aquel su asiento las cosas

criadas.... De manera, que segun lo dicho, está mui claro de entender,

que tenian opinion, que los que regian, y governaban el Mundo, eran

dos (conviene á saber) vn Dios, y vna Diosa, de los quales el vno que

era el Dios Hombre, obraba en todo el genero de los Varones; y el

otro, que era la Diosa, criaba, y obraba en todo el genero de las

Mugeres.' _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 37.

[IX-26] Caquantototl, paxaro de pluma amarillo y rica. _Molina_,

_Vocabulario._ According to Bustamante however, this bird is not one

in anyway remarkable for plumage, but is identical with the _tzacua_

described by Clavigero, and is here used as an example of a vigilant

and active soldier. Bustamante (in a note to _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._,

tom. ii., lib. vi., pp. 194-5) writes: _Tzacua_, of this bird repeated

mention has been made in this history, for the Indians used it for a

means of comparison or simile in their speeches. It is an early-rising

bird (madrugador), and has nothing notable in its plumage or in its

voice, but only in its habits. This bird is one of the last to go to

rest at night and one of the first to announce the coming sun. An hour

before daybreak a bird of this species, having passed the night with

many of his fellows on any branch, begins to call them, with a shrill

clear note that he keeps repeating in a glad tone till some of them

reply. The _tzacua_ is about the size of a sparrow, and very similar

in color to the bunting (calandria), but more marvellous in its

habits. It is a social bird, each tree is a town of many nests. One

_tzacua_ plays the part of chief and guards the rest; his post is in

the top of the tree, whence, from time to time, he flies from nest to

nest uttering his notes; and while he is visiting a nest all within

are silent. If he sees any bird of another species approaching the

tree he sallies out upon the invader and with beak and wings compels a

retreat. But if he sees a man or any large object advancing, he flies

screaming to a neighboring tree, and, meeting other birds of his tribe

flying homeward, he obliges them to retire by changing the tone of his

note. When the danger is over he returns to his tree and begins his

rounds as before, from nest to nest. Tzacuas abound in Michoacan, and

to their observations regarding them the Indians are doubtless

indebted for many hints and comparisons applied to soldiers diligent

in duty. The _quechutl_, or _tlauhquechol_, is a large aquatic bird

with plumage of a beautiful scarlet color, or a reddish white, except

that of the neck, which is black. Its home is on the sea-shore and by

the river banks, where it feeds on live fish, never touching dead

flesh. See _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. i., pp. 87,

91-3.

[IX-27] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., pp. 479-483, vol. vii.,

pp. 151-2; _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. vi., pp. 215-221.

According to some authors, and I think Boturini for one, this baptism

was supplemented by passing the child through fire. There was such a

ceremony; however, it was not connected with that of baptism, but it

took place on the last night of every fourth year, before the five

unlucky days. On the last night of every fourth year, parents chose

god-parents for their children born during the three preceding years,

and these god-fathers and god-mothers passed the children over, or

near to, or about the flame of a prepared fire (rodearlos por las

llamas del fuego que tenian aparejado para esto, que en el latin se

dice _lustrare_). They also bored the children's ears, which caused no

small uproar (Habia gran voceria de muchachos y muchachas por el

ahugeramiento de las orejas) as may well be imagined. They clasped the

children by the temples and lifted them up 'to make them grow;'

wherefore they called the feast _izcalli_, 'growing.' They finished by

giving the little things pulque in tiny cups, and for this the feast

was called the 'drunkenness of children.' _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._,

tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 189-192. In the _Spiegazione delle Tavole del

Codice Mexicano_ (Vaticano), tav. xxxi., in _Kingsborough's Mex.

Antiq._, vol. v., p. 181, there is given a description of the water

baptism differing somewhat from that given in the text. It runs as

follows: 'They took some ficitle; and having a large vessel of water

near them, they made the leaves of the ficitle into a bunch, and

dipped it into the water, with which they sprinkled the child; and

after fumigating it with incense, they gave it a name, taken from the

sign on which it was born; and they put into its hand a shield and

arrow, if it was a boy, which is what the figure of Xiuatlatl denotes,

who here represents the god of war; they also uttered over the child

certain prayers in the manner of deprecations, that he might become a

brave, intrepid, and courageous man. The offering which his parents

carried to the temple the elder priests took and divided with the

other children who were in the temple, who ran with it through the

whole city.' Mendieta, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 107, again describes this

rite, in substance as follows: 'They had a sort of baptism: thus when

the child was a few days old, an old woman was called in, who took the

child out into the court of the house where it was born, and washed it

a certain number of times with the wine of the country, and as many

times again with water; then she put a name on it, and performed

certain ceremonies with the umbilical cord. These names were taken

from the idols, or from the feasts that fell about that time, or from

a beast or bird.' See further _Esplicacion de la Coleccion de

Mendoza_, pt iii., in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., pp. 90-1;

_Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., pp. 445, 449-458; _Clavigero_,

_Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 85-9; _Humboldt_, _Vues des

Cordillères_, tom. ii., pp. 311, 318; _Gama_, _Dos Piedras_, pt ii.,

pp. 39-41; _Prescott's Mex._, vol. iii., p. 385; _Brinton's Myths_,

pp. 122, 130; _Müller_, _Amerikanische Urreligionen_, p. 652; _Biart_,

_La Terre Tempéreé_, p. 274. Mr Tylor, speaking of Mexico, in his

_Anahuac_, p. 279, says: 'Children were sprinkled with water when

their names were given to them. This is certainly true, though the

statement that they believed that the process purified them from

original sin is probably a monkish fiction.' Farther reading, however,

has shown Mr Tylor the injustice of this judgment, and in his masterly

latest and greatest work (see _Primitive Culture_, vol. ii., pp.

429-36), he writes as follows: 'The last group of rites whose course

through religious history is to be outlined here, takes in the varied

dramatic acts of ceremonial purification or lustration. With all the

obscurity and intricacy due to age-long modification, the primitive

thought which underlies these ceremonies is still open to view. It is

the transition from practical to symbolic cleansing, from removal of

bodily impurity to deliverance from invisible, spiritual, and at last

moral evil. (See this vol. p. 119).... In old Mexico, the first act of

ceremonial lustration took place at birth. The nurse washed the infant

in the name of the water-goddess, to remove the impurity of its birth,

to cleanse its heart and give it a good and perfect life; then blowing

on water in her right hand she washed it again, warning it of

forthcoming trials and miseries and labors, and praying the invisible

Deity to descend upon the water, to cleanse the child from sin and

foulness, and to deliver it from misfortune. The second act took place

some four days later, unless the astrologers postponed it. At a

festive gathering, amid fires kept alight from the first ceremony, the

nurse undressed the child sent by the gods into this sad and doleful

world, bade it to receive the life-giving water, and washed it,

driving out evil from each limb and offering to the deities appointed

prayers for virtue and blessing. It was then that the toy instruments

of war or craft or household labor were placed in the boy's or girl's

hand (a custom singularly corresponding with one usual in China), and

the other children, instructed by their parents, gave the new-comer

its child-name, here again to be replaced by another at manhood or

womanhood. There is nothing unlikely in the statement that the child

was also passed four times through the fire, but the authority this is

given on is not sufficient. The religious character of ablution is

well shown in Mexico by its forming part of the daily service of the

priests. Aztec life ended as it had begun, with the ceremonial

lustration; it was one of the funeral ceremonies to sprinkle the head

of the corpse with the lustral water of this life.'

[IX-28] _Camargo_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voyages_, 1843, tom. xcix.,

pp. 132-3. 'On célébrait chaque année une fête solennelle en l'honneur

de cette déesse Xochiquetzal, et une foule de peuple se réunissait

dans son temple. On disait qu'elle était la femme de Tlaloc le dieu

des eaux, et que Texcatlipuca la lui avait enlevée et l'avait

transportée au neuvième ciel. Metlacueycati était la déesse des

magiciennes. Tlaloc l'épousa quand Xochiquetzal lui eut été enlevée.'

[IX-29] _Boturini_, _Idea_, pp. 15, 63-8: 'Pero, no menos indignados los

Dioses del pecado de Yàppan, que de la inobediencia, y atrevimiento

de _Yàotl_, le convirtieron en Langosta, que llaman los Indios

_Ahuacachapùllin_, mandando se llamasse en adelante _Tzontecomàma_,

que quiere dicir, _Carga Cabeza_, y en efecto este animal parece que

lleva cargo consigo, propiedad de los Malsines, que siempre cargan

las honras, que han quitado à sus Proximos.'

[IX-30] See this vol. pp. 220-5.

[IX-31] See this vol., pp. 212, 226.

[IX-32] Other descriptions of this rite are given with additional

details: 'Usaban una ceremonia generalmente en toda esta tierra,

hombres y mugeres, niños y niñas, que quando entraban en algun lugar

donde habia imagenes de las idolos, una ó muchas, luego tocaban en la

tierra con el dedo, y luego le llegaban á la boca ó á la lengua: á

esto llamaban comer tierra, haciendolo en reverencia de sus Dioses, y

todos los que salian de sus casas, aunque no saliesen del pueblo,

volviendo á su casa hacian lo mismo, y por los caminos quando pasaban

delante algun Cu ú oratorio hacian lo mismo, y en lugar de juramento

usaban esto mismo, que para afirmar quien decia verdad hacian esta

ceremonia, y los que se querian satisfacer del que hablaba si decia

verdad, demandabanle hiciese esta ceremonia, luego le creian como

juramento.... Tenian tambien costumbre de hacer juramento de cumplir

alguna cosa á que se obligaban, y aquel á quien se obligaban les

demandaba que hiciesen juramento para estar seguro de su palabra y el

juramento que hacian era en esta forma: Por vida del Sol y de nuestra

señora la tierra que no falte en lo que tengo dicho, y para mayor

seguridad como esta tierra; y luego tocaba con los dedos en la tierra,

llegabalos á la boca y lamialos; y asi comia tierra haciendo

juramento.' _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 95-6, 101;

_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. i., ap., pp. 212, 226;

_Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 25.

[IX-33] Quite different versions of this sentence are given by

Kingsborough's and Bustamante's editions respectively. That of

_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., p. 7, reads: 'Quando

decienden á la tierra las Diosas Ixcuiname, luego de mañana ó en

amaneciendo, para que hagas la penitencia convenible por tus pecados.'

That of Bustamante, _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. i., p. 13,

reads: 'Cuando descienden á la tierra las diosas llamadas

_Civapipilti_, ó cuando se hace la fiesta de las diosas de la

carnalidad que se llaman _Yxtuiname_, ayunarás cuatro dias afligiendo

tu estómago y tu boca, y llegado el dia de la fiesta de estas diosas

_Yxtuiname_, luego de mañana ó en amaneciendo para que hagas la

penitencia convenible por tus pecados.'

[IX-34] 'De esto bien se arguye que aunque habian hecho muchos pecados

en tiempo de su juventud, no se confesaban de ellos hasta la vejez,

por no se obligar á cesar de pecar antes de la vejez, por la opinion

que tenian, que el que tornaba á reincidir en los pecados, al que se

confesaba una vez no tenia remedio.' _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._,

vol. vii., pp. 6-8; _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. i., pp.

10-16. Prescott writes, _Mex._, vol. i., p. 68: 'It is remarkable that

they administered the rites of confession and absolution. The secrets

of the confessional were held inviolable, and penances were imposed of

much the same kind as those enjoined in the Roman Catholic Church.

There were two remarkable peculiarities in the Aztec ceremony. The first

was, that, as the repetition of an offence, once atoned for, was deemed

inexpiable, confession was made but once in a man's life, and was

usually deferred to a late period of it, when the penitent unburdened

his conscience, and settled, at once, the long arrears of iniquity.

Another peculiarity was, that priestly absolution was received in

place of the legal punishment of offences, and authorized an acquittal

in case of arrest.' Mention of Tlazolteotl will be found in _Gomara_,

_Conq. Mex._, fol. 309; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., pp.

62, 79; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., dec. ii., lib. vi., cap.

xv.; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 21. They say

that Yxcuina, who was the goddess of shame, protected adulterers. She

was the goddess of salt, of dirt, and of immodesty, and the cause of

all sins. They painted her with two faces, or with two different

colors on the face. She was the wife of Mizuitlantecutli, the god of

hell. She was also the goddess of prostitutes; and she presided over

these thirteen signs, which were all unlucky, and thus they held that

those who were born in these signs would be rogues or prostitutes.

_Spiegazione delle Tavole del Codice Mexicano_, (Vaticano), tav.

xxxix., in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., p. 184; _Brasseur de

Bourbourg_, _Quatre Lettres_, pp. 291-2, 301.

[IX-35] See this vol., pp. 212, 226.

[IX-36] 'Il Jauhtli è una pianta, il cui fusto e lungo un cubito, le

foglie somiglianti a quelle del Salcio, ma dentate, i fiori gialli, e

la radice sottile. Così i fiori, come l'altre parti della pianta,

hanno lo stesso odore e sapore dell' Anice. È assai utile per la

Medicina, ed i Medica Messicani l'adoperavano contro parecchie

malattie; ma servivansi ancora d'essa per alcuni usi superstiziosi.'

This is the note given by Clavigero, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom.

ii., p. 77, in describing this festival, and the incense used for

stupefying the victims; see a different note however, in this vol., p.

339, in which Molina describes _yiauhtli_ as 'black maize.' In some

cases, according to Mendieta, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 100, there was given

to the condemned a certain drink that put them beside themselves, so

that they went to the sacrifice with a ghastly drunken merriment.

[IX-37] '_Cuexpalli_, cabello largo que dexan a los muchachos en el

cogote, quando los tresquilan.' _Molina_, _Vocabulario._

[IX-38] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 8-9, 28, 63-6;

_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. i., pp. 16-19, lib. ii., pp.

62-4, 141-8; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 16,

76; _Spiegazione delle Tavole del Codice Mexicano_, (Vaticano), tav.

lvi., in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., p. 190.

[IX-39] 'Esta estatua asi adornada no lejos de un lugar que estaba

delante de ella, á la media noche sacaban fuego nuevo para que ardiese

en aquel lugar, y sacabanlo con unos palos, uno puesto abajo, y sobre

él barrenaban con otro palo, como torciendole entre las manos con gran

prisa, y con aquel movimiento y calor se encendia el fuego, y alli lo

tomaban con yesca y encendian en el hogar.' _Kingsborough's Mex.

Antiq._, vol. vii., p. 84; _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii.,

p. 184.

[IX-40] Or _tapachtli_ as Bustamante spells it. '_Tapachtli_, cral,

concha o venera.' _Molina_, _Vocabulario._

[IX-41] See this vol., p. 376, note 27.

[IX-42] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 33, 83-7;

_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 74-5, 183-92;

_Boturini_, _Idea_, p. 138; _Spiegazione delle Tavole del Codice

Mexicano_, (Vaticano), tav. lxxiv., in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._,

vol. v., pp. 196-7; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii.,

p. 82.

[IX-43] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., p. 96; _Sahagun_,

_Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., ap., p. 213.

[IX-44] Or _Izitzimites_ as on p. 327 of this vol.

[IX-45] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 157, 191-3;

_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. iv., ap., pp. 346-7, tom. ii.,

lib. vii., pp. 260-4; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., pp.

292-5; _Boturini_, _Idea_, pp. 18-21; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del

Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 62, 84-5; _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 101;

_Acosta_, _Hist. de las Yndias_, pp. 398-9. Leon y Gama, _Dos

Piedras_, pt i., pp. 51-55, differs somewhat from the text; he was

unfortunate in never having seen the works of Sahagun.

[IX-46] This vol. p. 59. The interpretations of the codices represent

this god as peculiarly honored in their paintings: They place

Michitlatecotle opposite to the sun, to see if he can rescue any of

those seized upon by the lords of the dead, for Michitla signifies the

dead below. These nations painted only two of their gods with the

crown called Altoutcatecoatle, viz., the God of heaven and of

abundance and this lord of the dead, which kind of crown I have seen

upon the captains in the war of Coatle. _Explicacion del Codex

Telleriano Remensis_, pt ii., lam. xv., in _Kingsborough's Mex.

Antiq._, vol. v., p. 140. Miquitlantecotli signifies the great lord of

the dead fellow in hell who alone after Tonacatecotle was painted with

a crown, which kind of a crown was used in war even after the arrival

of the Christians in those countries, and was seen in the war of

Coatlan, as the person who copied these paintings relates, who was a

brother of the Order of Saint Dominic, named Pedro de los Rios. They

painted this demon near the sun; for in the same way as they believed

that the one conducted souls to heaven, so they supposed that the

other carried them to hell. He is here represented with his hands open

and stretched toward the sun, to seize on any soul which might escape

from him. _Spiegazione delle Tavole del Codice Mexicano_ (Vaticano),

tav. xxxiv., in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., p. 182. The

Vatican Codex says further--that these were four gods or principal

demons in the Mexican hell. Miquitlamtecotl or Zitzimitl; Yzpunteque,

the lame demon, who appeared in the streets with the feet of a cock;

Nextepelma, scatterer of ashes; and Contemoque, he who descends

head-foremost. These four have goddesses, not as wives, but as

companions, which was the simple relation in which all the Mexican god

and goddesses stood to one another, there having been--according to

most authorities--in their olympus neither marrying nor giving in

marriage. Picking our way as well as possible across the frightful

spelling of the interpreter, the males and females seem paired as

follows: To Miquitlamtecotl or Tzitzimitl, was joined as goddess,

Miquitecacigua; to Yzpunteque, Nexoxocho; to Nextepelma,

Micapetlacoli; and to Contemoque, Chalmecaciuatl. _Spiegazione delle

Tavole del Codice Mexicano_ (Vaticano), tav. iii., iv., in

_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., pp. 162-3; _Boturini_, _Idea_,

pp. 30-1; _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. iii., ap. pp. 260-3;

_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., pp. 116-17, says that this god

was known by the further name of Tzontemoc and Aculnaoacatl.

_Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 6, 17. Gallatin,

_Amer. Ethnol. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., pp. 350-1, says that

'Mictlanteuctli is specially distinguished by the interpreters as one

of the crowned gods. His representation is found under the basis of

the statue of Teoyaomiqui, and Gama has published the copy. According

to him, the name of that god means the god of the place of the dead.

He presided over the funeral of those who died of diseases. The souls

of all those killed in battle were led by Teoyaomiqui to the dwelling

of the sun. The others fell under the dominion of Mictanteuctli.'

_Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., pp. 77, 148, 447, tom. ii., p.

428. Brasseur de Bourbourg mentions this god and his wife, bringing up

several interesting points, for which, however, he must bear the sole

responsibility: _S'il Existe des Sources de l'Hist. Prim._, pp. 98-9.

'Du fond des eaux qui couvraient le monde, ajoute un autre document

mexicain (_Cod. Mex. Tell.-Rem._, fol. 4, v.), le dieu des régions d'en

bas. _Mictlan-Teuctli_ fait surgir un monstre marin nommé _Cipactli_

ou _Capactli_ (_Motolinia_, _Hist. Antig. de los Indios_, part. MS.

Dans ce document, au lieu de _cipactli_ il y a _capactli_, qui n'est

peut-être qu'une erreur du copiste, mais qui, peut-être aussi est le

souvenir d'une langue perdue et qui se rattacherait au _capac_ ou

_Manco-Capac_ du Pérou.): de ce monstre, qui a la forme d'un caïman,

il crée la terre (_Motolinia_, _Ibid._). Ne serait-ce pas là le

crocodile, image du temps, chez les Égyptiens, et ainsi que l'indique

Champollion (Dans _Herapollon_, i., 69 et 70, le crocodile est le

symbole du couchant et des ténèbres) symbole également de la _Région

du Couchant_, de l'_Amenti_? Dans l'Orcus mexicain, le prince des

Morts, _Mictlan-Teuctli_, a pour compagne _Mictecacihuatl_, celle qui

étend les morts. On l'appelle _Ixcuina_, ou la déesse au visage peint

ou au double visage, parce qu'elle avait le visage de deux couleurs,

rouge avec le contour de la bouche et du nez peint en noir (_Cod. Mex.

Tell.-Rem._, fol. 18, v.). On lui donnait aussi le nom de

_Tlaçolteotl_, la déesse de l'ordure, ou _Tlaçolquani_, la mangeuse

d'ordure, parce qu'elle présidait aux amours et aux plaisirs lubriques

avec ses trois sœurs. On la trouve personifiée encore avec

_Chantico_, quelquefois représentée comme un chien, soit à cause de sa

lubricité, soit à cause du nom de _Chiucnauh-Itzcuintli_ ou les

Neuf-Chiens, qu'on lui donnait également (_Cod. Mex. Tell.-Rem._, fol.

21, v.). C'est ainsi que dans l'Italie anté-pélasgique, dans la Sicile

et dans l'île de Samothrace, antérieurement aux Thraces et aux

Pélasges, on adorait une Zérinthia, une Hécate, déesse Chienne qui

nourrissait ses trois fils, ses trois chiens, sur le même autel, dans

la demeure souterraine; l'une et l'autre rappelaient ainsi le souvenir

de ces hétaires qui veillaient au pied des pyramides, où elles se

prostituaient aux marins, aux marchands et aux voyageurs, pour

ramasser l'argent nécessaire à l'érection des tombeaux des rois. "Tout

un calcul des temps, dit Eckstein (_Sur les sources de la Cosmogonie

de Sanchoniathon_, pp. 101, 197), se rattache à l'adoration solaire de

cette déesse et de ses fils. Le Chien, le Sirius, règne dans l'astre

de ce nom, au zénith de l'année, durant les jours de la canicule. On

connaît le cycle ou la période que préside l'astre du chien: on sait

qu'il ne se rattache pas seulement aux institutions de la vieille

Égypte, mais encore à celles de la haute Asie." En Amérique le nom de

la déesse _Ixcuina_ se rattache également à la constellation du sud,

où on la personnifie encore avec _Ixtlacoliuhqui_, autre divinité des

ivrognes et des amours obscènes: les astrologues lui attribuaient un

grand pouvoir sur les événements de la guerre, et, dans les derniers

temps, on en faisait dépendre le châtiment des adultères et des

incestueux (_Cod. Mex. Tell.-Rem._, fol. 16, v.).' See also, _Brinton's

Myths_, pp. 130-7; _Leon y Gama_, _Dos Piedras_, pt i., p. 12, pt ii.,

pp. 65-6.

[IX-47] _Amer. Ethnol. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., pp. 338-9.

[IX-48] Speaking of the great image in the Mexican museum of antiquities

supposed by some to be this Mexican goddess of war, or of death,

Teoyaomique, Mr Tylor says, _Anahuac_, pp. 222-3: 'The stone known as

the statue of the war-goddess is a huge block of basalt covered with

sculptures. The antiquaries think that the figures on it stand for

different personages, and that it is three gods--Huitzilopochtli the

god of war, Teoyaomiqui his wife, and Mictlanteuctli the god of hell.

It has necklaces of alternate hearts and dead men's hands, with

death's head for a central ornament. At the bottom of the block is a

strange sprawling figure, which one cannot see now, for it is the base

which rests on the ground; but there are two shoulders projecting from

the idol, which show plainly that it did not stand on the ground, but

was supported aloft on the tops of two pillars. The figure carved upon

the bottom represents a monster holding a skull in each hand, while

others hang from his knees and elbows. His mouth is a mere oval ring,

a common feature of Mexican idols, and four tusks project just above

it. The new moon laid down like a bridge forms his forehead, and a

star is placed on each side of it. This is thought to have been the

conventional representation of Mictlanteuctli (Lord of the land of the

dead), the god of hell, which was a place of utter and eternal

darkness. Probably each victim as he was led to the altar could look

up between the two pillars and see the hideous god of hell staring

down upon him from above.'

[IX-49] _Leon y Gama_, _Dos Piedras_, pt i., pp. 41-4.

[IX-50] The tenth month, so named by the Tlascaltecs and others. See

_Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 298. 'Al decimo Mes del

Kalendario Indiano llamaban sus Satrapas, Xocotlhuetzi, que quiere

decir: Quando se cae, y acaba la Fruta, y debia de ser, por esta

raçon, de que por aquel Tiempo se acababa, que cae en nuestro Agosto,

è ià en todo este Mes se pasan las Frutas en tierra fria. Pero los

Tlaxcaltecas, y otros lo llamaban Hueymiccailhuitl. que quiere decir:

La Fiesta maior de los Difuntos; y llamavanla asi, porque este Mes

solemniçaban la memoria de los Difuntos, con grandes clamores, y

llantos, y doblados lutos, que la primera, y se teñian los cuerpos de

color negro, y se tiznaban toda la cara; y asi, las ceremonias, que se

hacian de Dia, y de Noche, en todos los Templos, y fuera de ellos,

eran de mucha tristeça, segun que cada vno podia hacer su sentimiento;

y en este Mes daban nombre de Divinos, à sus Reies difuntos, y à todas

aquellas Personas señaladas, que havian muerto haçañosamente en las

Guerras, y en poder de sus enemigos, y les hacian sus Idolos, y los

colocaban, con sus Dioses, diciendo, que avian ido al lugar de sus

deleites, y pasatiempos, en compañia de los otros Dioses.'

[IX-51] As the whole description becomes a little puzzling here, I give

the original, _Leon y Gama_, _Dos Piedras_, p. 42: 'Enfrente de esta

figura está Teoyaomique desnuda, y cubierta con solo un cendal, parada

sobre una basa, ó porcion de pilastra; la cabeza separada del cuerpo,

arriba del cuello, con los ojos vendados, y en su lugar dos viboras ó

culebras, que nacen del mismo cuello. Entre estas dos figuras está un

árbol de flores partido por medio, al cual se junta un madero con

varios atravesaños, y encima de él una ave, cuya cabeza está tambien

dividida del cuerpo. Se vé tambien otra cabeza de ave dentro de una

jicara, otra de sierpe, una olla con la boca para abajo, saliendo de

ella la materia que contenia dentro, cuya figura parece ser la que

usaban para representar el agua; y finalmente ocupan el resto del

cuadro [of the representation of the constellation above mentioned in

the text] otros geroglíficos y figuras diferentes.'

[IX-52] Boturini, _Idea_, pp. 27-8, mentions the goddess Teoyaomique; on

pp. 30-1, he notices the respect with which Mictlantecutli and the

dead were regarded: 'Me resta solo tratar de la decima tercia, y

ultima Deidad esto es, el _Dios del Infierno_, Geroglifico, que

explica el piadoso acto de sepultar los muertos, y el gran respeto,

que estos antiguos Indios tenian à los sepulcros, creyendo, à

imitacion de otras Naciones, no solo que alli asistian las almas de

los Difuntos, ... sino que tambien dichos Parientes eran sus Dioses

_Indigetes, ita dicti, quasi inde geniti_, cuyos huessos, y cenizas

daban alli indubitables, y ciertas señales de el dominio, que tuvieron

en aquella misma tierra, donde se hallaban sepultados, la que havian

domado con los sudores de la Agricultura, y aun defendian con los

respetos, y eloquencia muda, de sus cadaveres.... Nuestros Indios en

la segunda Edad dedicaron dos meses de el año llamados _Micaylhuitl_, y

_Hueymicaylhuitl_ à la Commemoracion de los Difuntos, y en la tercera

exercitaron varios actos de piedad en su memoria, prueba constante de

que confessaron la immortalidad de el alma.' See further _Torquemada_,

_Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., pp. 529-30. Of the compound idol discussed

above, Humboldt, _Vues des Cordillères_, tom. ii., pp. 153-7, speaks

at some length. He says: 'On distingue, à la partie supérieure, les

têtes de deux monstres accolés et l'on trouve, à chaque face, deux

yeux et une large gueule armée de quatre dents. Ces figures monstrueuses

n'indiquent peut-être que des masques: car, chez les Mexicains, on

étoit dans l'usage de masquer les idoles à l'époque de la maladie d'un

roi, et dans toute autre calamité publique. Les bras et les pieds sont

cachés sous une draperie entourée d'énormes serpens, et que les

Mexicains designoient sous le nom de _cohuatlicuye, vêtement de

serpent_. Tous ces accessoires, surtout les franges en forme de

plumes, sont sculptés avec le plus grand soin. M. Gama, dans un

mémoire particulier, a rendu très-probable que cette idole représente

le dieu de la guerre, _Huitzilopochtli_, ou _Tlacahuepancuexcotzin_,

et sa femme, appelée _Teoyamiqui_ (de _miqui_, mourir, et de _teoyao_,

guerre divine), parcequ'elle conduisoit les ames des guerriers morts

pour la défense des dieux, à la _maison du Soleil_, le paradis des

Mexicains, où elle les transformoit en colibris. Les têtes de morts et

les mains coupées, dont quatre entourent le sein de la déesse,

rappellent les horribles sacrifices (_teoquauhquetzoliztli_) célébrés

dans la quinzième période de treize jours, après le solstice d'été, à

l'honneur du dieu de la guerre et de sa compagne _Teoyamiqui_. Les

mains coupées alternent avec la figure de certains vases dans lesquels

on brûloit l'encens. Ces vases étoient appelés _top-xicalli sacs en

forme de calebasse_ (de _toptli_, bourse tissue de fil de pite, et de

_xicali_, calebasse). Cette idole étant sculptée sur toutes ses faces,

même par dessous (fig. 5), où l'on voit représenté _Mictlanteuhtli, le

seigneur du lieu des morts_, on ne sauroit douter qu'elle étoit

soutenue en l'air au moyen de deux colonnes sur lesquelles reposoient

les parties marquées A et B, dans les figures 1 et 3. D'après cette

disposition bizarre, la tête de l'idole se trouvoit vraisemblablement

élevée de cinq à six mètres au-dessus du pavé du temple, de manière

que les prêtres (_Teopixqui_) traînoient les malheureuses victimes à

l'autel, en les faisant passer au-dessous de la figure de

_Mictlanteuhtli_.'

[IX-53] According to Brasseur de Bourbourg, in _Nouvelles Annales des

Voyages_, 1858, tom. clx., pp. 267-8: 'Les héros et demi-deux qui,

sous le nom générique de Chichemèques-Mixcohuas, jouent un si grand

rôle dans la mythologie mexicaine, et qui du vii^e au ix^e siècle de

notre ère, obtinrent la prépondérance sur le plateau aztèque.... Les

plus célèbres de ces héros sont Mixcohuatl-Mazatzin (le Serpent

Nébuleux et le Daim), fondateur de la royauté à Tollan (aujourd'hui

Tula), Tetzcatlipoca, spécialement adoré à Tetzeuco, et son frère

Mixcohuatl le jeune, dit Camaxtli, en particulier adoré à Tlaxcallan,

l'un et l'autre mentionnés, sous d'autres noms, parmi les rois de

Culhuacan et considérés, ainsi que le premier, comme les principaux

fondateurs de la monarchie toltèque. On ignore où ils reçurent le

jour. Un manuscrit mexicain, [Codex Chimalpopoca], en les donnant pour

fils d'Iztac-Mixcohuatl ou le Serpent Blanc Nébuleux et

d'Iztac-Chalchiuhlicué ou la Blanche Dame azurée, fait allégoriquement

allusion aux pays nébuleux et aquatiques où ils ont pris naissance; le

même document ajoute qu'ils vinrent par eau et qu'ils demeurèrent un

certain temps en barque. Peut-être que le nom d'Iztac ou Blanc,

également donné à Mixcohuatl, désigne aussi une race différente de

celle des Indiens et plus en rapport avec la nôtre.'

[IX-54] _Brinton's Myths_, p. 158.

[IX-55] Cañas de humo. _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., p. 75;

_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., p. 166.

[IX-56] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 73-6; _Sahagun_,

_Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 162-7; _Torquemada_, _Monarq.

Ind._, tom. ii., pp. 148-9, 151-2, 280-1; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant.

del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 79; _Müller_, _Amerikanische Urreligionen_,

pp. 483, 486, and elsewhere. Brasseur, as his custom is, euhemerizes

this god, detailing the events of his reign, and theorizing on his

policy, as soberly and believingly as if it were a question of the

reign of a Louis XIV., or a Napoleon I.; see _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom.

i., pp. 227-35. Gomara, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 88, and others, make

Camaxtle, the principal god of Tlascala, identical with Mixcoatl. The

Chichimecs 'had only one god called Mixcoatl and they kept this image

or statue. They held to another god, invisible, without image, called

Iooalliehecatl--that is to say, god invisible and impalpable,

favoring, sheltering, all-powerful, by whose power all live, etc.'

_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. vi., p. 64.

[IX-57] This deity must not, it would seem, be confounded with another

mentioned by Sahagun, viz., Coatlyace, or Coatlyate, or Coatlantonan,

a goddess of whom we know little save the fact, incidentally

mentioned, that she was regarded with great devotion by the dealers in

flowers. See _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., p. 42, and

_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., p. 95.

[IX-58] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 10-11, 136;

_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. i., pp. 19-22, lib. iv., p.

305. Boturini, _Idea de una Hist._, pp. 14-15, speaks of a goddess

called Macuilxochiquetzalli; by a comparison of the passage with note

28 of this chapter, it will I think be evident that the chevalier's

Macuilxochiquetzalli is identical not with Macuilxochitl, but with

Xochiquetzal, the Aztec Venus. See further, on the relations of this

goddess, _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., pp.

490-1: 'Matlalcuéyé, qui donnait son nom au versant de la montagne du

côté de Tlaxcallan, était regardée comme la protectrice spéciale des

magiciennes. La légende disait qu'elle était devenue l'épouse de

Tlaloc, après que Xochiquetzal eut été enlevée à ce dieu [see this

vol. p. 378]. Celle-ci, dont elle n'était, après tout, qu'une

personnification différente, était appelée aussi Chalchiuhlycué, ou le

Jupon semé d'émeraudes, en sa qualité de déesse des eaux. Le symbole

sous lequel on la représente, comme déesse des amours honnêtes, est

celui d'un éventail composé de cinq fleurs, ce que rend encore le nom

qu'on lui donnait "Macuil-Xochiquetzalli."' Brasseur, it is to be

remembered, distinguishes between Xochiquetzal as the goddess of

honest love, and Tlazolteotl as the goddess of lubricity.

[IX-59] The fire-god Xiuhtecutli used an instrument of this kind; see

this vol. p. 385.

[IX-60] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 11-12; _Sahagun_,

_Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. i., pp. 22-3; _Torquemada_, _Monarq.

Ind._, tom. ii., pp. 58, 240-1; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del

Messico_, tom. ii., p. 22; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._,

tom. iii., p. 492.

[IX-61] This god, who was also known by the title of Tlaltecuin, is the

third Mexican god connected with medicine. There is first that unnamed

goddess described on p. 353 of this vol.; and there is then a certain

Tzaputlatena, described by Sahagun--_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol.

vii., p. 4; _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. i., pp. 7-8--as the

goddess of turpentine (see _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._,

tom. iii., p. 494), or of some such substance, used to cure the itch

in the head, irruptions on the skin, sore throats, chapped feet or

lips, and other such things: 'Tzaputlatena fué una muger, segun su

nombre, nacida en el pueblo de Tzaputla, y por esto se llama la Madre

de Tzaputla, porque fué la primera que inventó la resina que se llama

uxitl, y es un aceyte sacado por artificio de la resina del pino, que

aprovecha para sanar muchas enfermedades, y primeramente aprovecha

contra una manera de bubas, ó sarna, que nace en la cabeza, que se

llama Quaxococivistli; y tambien contra otra enfermedad es provechosa

asi mismo, que nace en la cabeza, que es como bubas, que se llama

Chaguachicioiztli, y tambien para la sarna de la cabeza. Aprovecha

tambien contra la ronguera de la garganta. Aprovecha tambien contra

las grietas de las pies y de los labios. Es tambien contra los

empeines que nacen en la cara ó en las manos. Es tambien contra el

usagre; contra muchas otras enfermedades es bueno. Y como esta muger

debió ser la primera que halló este aceyte, contaronla entre las

Diosas, y hacianla fiesta y sacrificios aquellos que venden y hacen

este aceyte que se llama Uxitl.'

[IX-62] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 12-13; _Sahagun_,

_Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. i., pp. 24-5; _Clavigero_, _Hist. Ant. del

Messico_, tom. ii., p. 21.

[IX-63] 'Tenia en la mano izquierda una rodela teñida de colorado, y en

el medio de este campo una flor blanca con quatro ojas á manera de

cruz, y de los espacios de las ojas salian quatro puntas que eran

tambien ojas de la misma flor. Tenia un cetro en la mano derecha como

un caliz, y de lo alto de él salia como un casquillo de saetas.'

_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., p. 13; _Sahagun_, _Hist.

Gen._, tom. i., lib. i., pp. 26-7; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del

Messico_, tom. ii., p. 20; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., pp.

60-1. 'La pêche avait, toutefois, son génie particulier: c'était

Opochtli, le Gaucher, personnification de Huitzilopochtli.'

_Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. des Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 494.

[IX-64] _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 22. This is

evidently a blunder, however; Boturini explains Totec to mean 'god our

lord,' and Xipe (or Oxipe, as he writes it) to signify 'god of the

flaying.' '_Tlaxipehualiztli_, Symbolo del primer Mes, quiere decir

_Deshollamiento de Gentes_, porque en su primer dia se deshollaban

unos Hombres vivos dedicados al Dios _Totéuc_, esto es, _Dios Señor

nuestro_, ò al Dios _Oxipe, Dios de el Deshollamiento_, syncope de

_Tloxipeùca_.' _Boturini_, _Idea de una Hist._, p. 51. Sahagun says

that the name means 'the flayed one.' 'Xipetotec, que quiere decir

desollado.' _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., p. 14; _Sahagun_,

_Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. i., p. 27. While Torquemada affirms that

it means 'the bald,' or 'the blackened one.' 'Tenian los Plateros otro

Dios, que se llamaba Xippe, y Totec.... Este Demonio Xippe, que quiere

decir, Calvo, ó Ateçado.' _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p.

58. Brasseur, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 503, partially accepts

all these derivations: 'Xipe, le chauve ou l'écorché, autrement dit

encore Totec ou notre seigneur.' This god was further surnamed,

according to the interpreter of the Vatican Codex, 'the mournful

combatant,' or, as Gallatin gives it, 'the disconsolate;' see

_Spiegazione delle Tavole del Codice Mexicano_ (Vaticano), tav.

xliii., in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., p. 186; and _Amer.

Ethnol. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., pp. 345, 350.

[IX-65] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., p. 14; _Sahagun_,

_Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. i., pp. 27-8; _Boturini_, _Idea de Nueva

Hist._, p. 51.

[IX-66] These human sacrifices were begun, according to Clavigero,

_Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. i., pp. 165-7, by the Mexicans, before

the foundation of their city, while yet slaves of the Culhuas. These

Mexicans had done good service to their rulers in a battle against the

Xochimilcas. The masters were expected to furnish their serfs with a

thank-offering for the war god. They sent a filthy rag and a rotten

fowl. The Mexicans received and were silent. The day of festival came;

and with it the Culhua nobles to see the sport--the Helots and their

vile sacrifice. But the filth did not appear, only a coarse altar,

wreathed with a fragrant herb, bearing a great flake of keen-ground

obsidian. The dance began, the frenzy mounted up, the priests advanced

to the altar, and with them they dragged four Xochimilca prisoners.

There is a quick struggle, and over a prisoner bruised, doubled back

supine on the altar-block gleams and falls the itzli, driven with a

two-handed blow. The blood spurts like a recoil into the bent face of

the high priest, who grabbles, grasps, tears out and flings the heart

to the god. Another, another, another, and there are four hearts

beating in the lap of the grim image. There are more dances but there

is no more sport for the Culhuas: with lips considerably whitened they

return to their place. After this there could be no more mastership,

nor thought of mastership over such a people; there was too much of

the wild beast in them; they had already tasted blood. And the

Mexicans were allowed to leave the land of their bondage, and journey

north toward the future Tenochtitlan.

[IX-67] See this vol., p. 415.

[IX-68] Further notice of this stone appears in _Kingsborough's Mex.

Antiq._, vol. vii., p. 94, or _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib.

ii., ap., pp. 207-8: 'El sesenta y dos edificio se llamaba Temalacatl.

Era una piedra como muela de molino grande, y estaba agujereada en el

medio como muela de molino. Sobre esta piedra ponian los esclavos y

acuchillabanse con ellos: estaban atados por medio de tal manera que

podian llegar hasta la circumferencia de la piedra, y dabanles armas

con que peleasen. Era este un espectaculo muy frequente, y donde

concurria gente de todas las comarcas á verle. Un satrapa vestido de

un pellejo de oso ó Cuetlachtli, era alli el padrino de los captivos

que alli mataban, que los llevaba á la piedra y los ataba alli, y los

daba las armas, y los lloraba entre tanto que peleaban, y quando caian

los entregaba al que les habia de sacar el corazon, que era otro

satrapa vestido con otro pellejo que se llamaba Tooallaoan. Esta

relacion queda escrita en la fiesta de Tlacaxipeoaliztli.'

[IX-69] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 23, 37-43;

_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 51-3, 86-97;

_Explicacion del Codex Telleriano-Remensis_, pt. i., lam. iii., in

_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., p. 133; _Spiegazione delle

Tavole del Codice Mexicano_ (Vaticano), tav. lxiii., in _Id._, vol.

v., p. 191; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., pp. 154, 252-4;

_Leon y Gama_, _Dos Piedras_, pt. ii., pp. 50-4; _Prescott's Mex._,

vol. i., p. 78, note; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom.

ii., p. 481. We learn from Clavigero, _Ibid._, tom. i., pp. 281-2,

that this great gladiatorial block was sometimes to an extraordinary

extent a 'stone of sacrifice' to the executioners as well as to the

doomed victim. In the last year of the reign of the last Montezuma, a

famous Tlascaltec general, Tlahuicol, was captured by the merest

accident. His strength of arm was such that few men could lift his

_maquahuil_, or sword of the Mexican type, from the ground. Montezuma,

too proud to use such an inglorious triumph, or perhaps moved by a

sincere admiration of the terrible and dignified warrior, offered him

his liberty, either to return to Tlascala, or to accept high office in

Mexico. But the honor of the chief was at stake, as he understood it;

and not even a favor would he accept from the hated Mexican; the

death, the death! he said, and, if you dare, by battle on the

gladiatorial stone. So they tied him, (by the foot says Clavigero),

upon the _temalacatl_, armed with a great staff only, and chose out

champions to kill him from the most renowned of the warriors; but the

grim Tlascaltec dashed out the brains of eight with his club, and hurt

twenty more, before he fell, dying like himself. They tore out his

heart, as of wont, and a costlier heart to Mexico never smoked before

the sun.

[IX-70] This last name means, Torquemada, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p.

57, being followed, 'the hook-nosed;' and it is curious enough that

this type of face, so generally connected with the Hebrew race and

through them with particular astuteness in trade, should be the

characteristic of the Mexican god of trade: 'Los mercaderes tuvieron

Dios particular, al qual llamaron Iyacatecuhtli, y por otro nombre se

llamò Yacacoliuhqui, que quiere decir: El que tiene la nariz aguileña,

que propriamente representa persona que tiene viveça, ò habilidad,

para mofar graciosamente, ò engañar, y es sabio, y sagàz (que es

propia condicion de mercaderes.)'

[IX-71] Without laying any particular stress on this lighting a fire

before Yiacatecutli--perhaps here necessary as a camp-fire and

probably, at any rate, a thing done before many other gods--it may be

noticed that the fire god seems to be particularly connected with the

merchant god and indeed with the merchants themselves. Describing a

certain coming down or arrival of the gods among men, believed to take

place in the twelfth Mexican month, Sahagun--after describing the

coming, first of Tezcatlipoca, who, 'being a youth, and light and

strong, walked fastest,' and then the coming of all the rest (their

arrival being known to the priests by the marks of their feet on a

little heap of maize flour, specially prepared for the purpose)--says

that a day after all the rest of the gods, came the god of fire and

the god of the merchants, together; they being old and unable to walk

as fast as their younger divine brethren: 'El dia siguiente llegaba el

dios de los Mercaderes llamado Yiaiacapitzaoac, ó Yiacatecutli, y otro

Dios llamado Hiscocauzqui (Yxcocauhqui), ó Xiveteuctli (Xiuhtecutli),

que és el Dios del fuego á quien los mercaderes tienen grande

devocion. Estos dos llegaban á la postre un dia despues de los otros,

porque decian que eran viejos y no andaban tanto como los otros:'

_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., p. 71, or _Sahagun_, _Hist.

Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., p. 158. See also, for the connection of the

fire god Xiuhtecutli with business, this vol. p. 226; and for the high

position of the merchants themselves besides Tezcatlipoca see this

vol., p. 228.

[IX-72] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 14-16; _Sahagun_,

_Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. i., pp. 29-33; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant.

del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 20. The Nahuihehecatli, or Nauiehecatl,

mentioned by the interpreters of the codices, as a god honored by the

merchants, is either some air god like Quetzalcoatl, or, as Sahagun

gives it, merely the name of a sign; see _Spiegazione delle Tavole del

Codice Mexicano_ (Vaticano), tav. xxvii., in _Kingsborough's Mex.

Antiq._, vol. v., p. 179; also, pp. 139-40; _Explicacion del Codex

Telleriano-Remensis_, lam. xii.; also, _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom.

i., lib. iv., pp. 304-5, and _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii.,

pp. 135-6.

[IX-73] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 16-17; _Sahagun_,

_Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. i., pp. 33-5; _Torquemada_, _Monarq.

Ind._, tom. ii., pp. 59-60; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_,

tom. ii., p. 22.

[IX-74] _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 7, 19, 90, 93;

_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. i., pp. 14, 39-40, lib. ii.,

pp. 200, 205; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., pp. 58, 152,

184, 416; _Spiegazione delle Tavole del Codice Mexicano_ (Vaticano),

tav. xxxv., and _Explicacion del Codex Telleriano-Remensis_, lam.

xvi., in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., pp. 141, 182;

_Gallatin_, in _Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., pp. 344, 350;

_Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 87, 315; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del

Messico_, tom. ii., p. 21. 'Otros tenian figuras de hombres; tenian

estos en la cabeza un mortero en lugar de mitra, y allí les echaban

vino, por ser el dios del vino.' _Motolinia_, _Hist. Indios_, in

_Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i., p. 33. 'Otros con un mortero

en la cabeza, y este parece que era el dios del vino, y así le echaban

vino en aquel como mortero.' _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 88.

'_Papaztla_ ó _Papaztac_.... Este era uno de los tres pueblos de donde se

sacaban los esclavos para el sacrificio que se hacia de dia, al idolo

_Centzentotochtin_, Dios del vino en el mes nombrado _Hueipachtli_, ó

_tepeilhuitl_ en su templo propio que es el cuadragesimo cuarto

edificio de los que se contenian en la area del mayor, como dice el

Dr. Hernandez: "Templum erat dicatum vini deo, in cujus honorem tres

captivos interdiu tamen, et nonnoctu jugulabant, quorum primum

Tepuztecatl nuncupabant secundum toltecatl, tertium vero Papaztac quod

fiebat quotanni circa festum Tepeilhuiltl." Apud P. Nieremberg, pag.

144.' _Leon y Gama_, _Dos Piedras_, pt ii., p. 35. 'Les buveurs et les

ivrognes avaient cependant, parmi les Aztèques, plusieurs divinités

particulières: la principale était Izquitecatl; mais le plus connu

devait être Tezcatzoncatl, appelé aussi Tequechmecaniani, ou le

Pendeur.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p.

493.

[IX-75] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 64; _Clavigero_,

_Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 23. These were what the

Spaniards called 'oratorios' in the houses of the Mexicans. In or

before these oratories the people offered cooked food to such images

of the gods as they had there. Every morning the good-wife of the

house woke up the members of her family and took care that they made

the proper offering, as above, to these deities. _Kingsborough's Mex.

Antiq._, vol. vii., p. 95; _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii.,

ap. p. 211.

[IX-76] It is obviously of little consequence to mythology whether the

Mexicans called the month Atlcahualco the first or the third month

(or, as Boturini has it, the eighteenth,) so long as we know, with

some accuracy, to what month and day of the month it corresponds in

our own Gregorian calendar. For the complete discussion of this

question of the calendar we refer readers to the preceding volume of

this series. Gama was unfortunately unacquainted with the writings of

Sahagun, and Bustamante (who edited the works both of Gama and

Sahagun) remarks in a note to the writings of the astronomer: 'Muchas

veces he deplorado, que el sábio Sr. D. Antonio Leon y Gama no hubiese

tenido á la vista para formar esta preciosa obra los manuscritos del

P. Sahagun, que he publicado en los años de 1829 y 30 en la oficina de

D. Alejandro Valdés, y solo hubiese leído la obra del P. Torquemada,

discípulo de D. Antonio Valeriano, que lo fué de dicho P. Sahagun;

pues la lectura del texto de éste, que acaso truncó, ó no entendió

bien, podrian haberle dejado dudas en hechos muy interesantes á esta

historia.' See _Leon y Gama_, _Dos Piedras_, pt i., pp. 45-89;

_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 20-34, or _Sahagun_,

_Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 49-76; _Torquemada_, _Monarq.

Ind._, tom. ii., pp. 251-86; _Acosta_, _Hist. de las Ynd._, p. 397;

_Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 58-84;

_Explicacion del Codex Telleriano-Remensis_, pt i., and _Spiegazione

delle Tavole del Codice Mexicano_ (Vaticano), tav. lvii-lxxiv, in

_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., pp. 129-34, 190-7; _Boturini_,

_Idea de una Hist._, pp. 47-53; _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 294;

_Müller_, _Amerikanische Urreligionen_, pp. 646-8; _Brasseur de

Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., pp. 502-37; _Gallatin_, in

_Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., pp. 57-114.

[IX-77] See this vol., pp. 332-4.

[IX-78] It is also surnamed Cohuailhuitl, 'feast of the snake:' see

above.

[IX-79] There seems to be some confusion with regard to whether or not

there were gladiatorial sacrifices in each of the first two months.

Sahagun, however, appears to describe sacrifices of this kind, as

occurring in both periods; those of the first month being in honor of

the Tlalocs and those of the second in honor of Xipe. For a

description of these rites see this vol. pp. 414-5.

[IX-80] See this vol., pp. 360-2.

[IX-81] 'Le _Tzohualli_ était un composé de graines légumineuses

particulières au Mexique, qu'on mangeait de diverses manières.'

_Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 513.

[IX-82] The name 'Tepopochuiliztli' signifies 'smoke or vapor.' As to

the meaning of 'Toxcatl' writers are divided, Boturini interpreting it

to mean 'effort,' and Torquemada 'a slippery place.' Acosta, Sahagun,

and Gama agree, however, in accepting it as an epithet applied to a

string of parched or toasted maize used in ceremonies to be

immediately described, and Acosta further gives as its root

signification 'a dried thing.' Consult, in addition to the references

given in the note at the beginning of these descriptions of the

feasts, _Acosta_, _Hist. de las Ynd._, p. 383; _Kingsborough's Mex.

Antiq._, vol. vii., pp. 45-9; _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib.

iii., pp. 100-11.

[IX-83] With three of these goddesses we are tolerably familiar, knowing

them to be intimately connected with each other and concerned in the

production, preservation, or support of life and of life-giving food.

Of Atlatonan little is known, but she seems to belong to the same

class, being generally mentioned in connection with Cinteotl. Her name

means, according to Torquemada, 'she that shines in the water.' 'Otra

Capilla, ò Templo avia, que se llamaba Xiuhcalco, dedicado al Dios

Cinteutl, en cuia fiesta sacrificaban dos Varones Esclavos, y una

Muger, à los quales ponian el nombre de su Dios. Al vno llamaban

Iztaccinteutl, Dios Tlatlauhquicinteutl, Dios de las Mieses

encendidas, ò coloradas; y à la Muger Atlantona, que quiere decir, que

resplandece en el Agua, à la qual desollaban, cuio pellejo, y cuero,

se vestia vn Sacerdote, luego que acababa el Sacrificio, que era de

noche.' _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 155; see also,

_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. vii., p. 94; or _Sahagun_, _Hist.

Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., ap. p. 209.

[IX-84] Acosta, _Hist. de las Ynd._, pp. 382-3, gives an account of

various other ceremonies which took place ten days before the great

feast day, which account has been followed by Torquemada, Clavigero,

and later writers, and which we reproduce from the quaint but in this

case at least full and accurate translation of E. G.--a translation

which, however, makes this chapter the 29th of the fifth book instead

of the 28th as in the original: 'Then came forth one of the chiefe of

the temple, attired like to the idoll, carrying flowers in his hand,

and a flute of earth, having a very sharpe sound, and turning towards

the east, he sounded it, and then looking to the west, north and south

he did the like. And after he had thus sounded towards the foure parts

of the world (shewing that both they that were present and absent did

heare him) hee put his finger into the aire, and then gathered vp

earth, which he put in his mouth, and did eate it in signe of

adoration. The like did all they that were present, and weeping, they

fell flat to the ground, invocating the darknesse of the night, and

the windes, intreating them not to leave them, nor to forget them, or

else to take away their lives, and free them from the labors they

indured therein. Theeves, adulterers, and murtherers, and all others

offendors had great feare and heavinesse, whilest this flute sounded;

so as some could not dissemble nor hide their offences. By this meanes

they all demanded no other thing of their god, but to have their

offences concealed, powring foorth many teares, with great repentaunce

and sorrow, offering great store of incense to appease their gods. The

couragious and valiant men, and all the olde souldiers, that followed

the Arte of Warre, hearing this flute, demaunded with great devotion

of God the Creator, of the Lorde for whome wee live, of the sunne, and

of other their gods, that they would give them victorie against their

ennemies, and strength to take many captives, therewith so honour

their sacrifices. This ceremonie was doone ten dayes before the feast:

During which tenne dayes the Priest did sound this flute, to the end

that all might do this worship in eating of earth, and demaund of

their idol what they pleased: they every day made their praiers, with

their eyes lift vp to heaven, and with sighs and groanings, as men

that were grieved for their sinnes and offences.'

[IX-85] _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 100-11;

_Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., pp. 263-6; _Clavigero_,

_Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 70-3.

[IX-86] For the month Etzalqualiztli, see this volume, pp. 334-43; for

the months Tecuilhuitzintli, Hueytecuilhuitl, and Tlaxochimaco, see

vol. ii. of this work, pp. 225-8; for Xocotlhuetzin and Ochpaniztli,

this volume, pp. 385-9, 354-9; for Teotleco, vol. ii., pp. 332-4; for

Tepeilhuitl, Quecholli, Panquetzaliztli, and Atemoztli, this volume,

pp. 343-6, 404-6, 297-300, 323-4, 346-8; for Tititl, vol. ii., pp.

337-8; for Itzcalli, this volume, pp. 390-3.

[IX-87] _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 194-7, 216. There are other

scattered notices of these movable feasts, which will be referred to

as they appear.

[IX-88] _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. clxxvi.

[IX-89] _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 84;

_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 77-8, 195-218. The

last five days of the year were, according to Gomara, _Conq. Mex._,

fol. 331, devoted to religious ceremonies, as drawing of blood,

sacrifices, and dances, but most other authors state that they were

passed in quiet retirement.

[IX-90] See this volume, pp. 393-6.