MEDICINE AND FUNERAL RITES AMONG THE NAHUAS.
MEXICAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO MEDICAL SCIENCE--THE BOTANICAL
GARDENS--LONGEVITY--PREVALENT DISEASES--INTRODUCTION OF
SMALL-POX AND SYPHILIS--MEDICAL TREATMENT--THE
TEMAZCALLI--ABORIGINAL PHYSICIANS--THE AZTEC
FACULTY--STANDARD REMEDIES--SURGERY--SUPERSTITIOUS
CEREMONIES IN HEALING--FUNERAL RITES OF
AZTECS--CREMATION--ROYAL OBSEQUIES--EMBALMING--THE FUNERAL
PYRE--HUMAN SACRIFICE--DISPOSAL OF THE ASHES AND
ORNAMENTS--MOURNERS--FUNERAL CEREMONIES OF THE
PEOPLE--CERTAIN CLASSES BURIED--RITES FOR THE SLAIN IN
BATTLE--BURIAL AMONG THE TEO-CHICHIMECS AND
TABASCANS--CREMATION CEREMONIES IN MICHOACAN--BURIAL BY THE
MIZTECS IN OAJACA.
Writers on Mexico have paid but slight attention to aboriginal medical
science, although the greatest benefit which Europe derived from that
part of the New World came doubtless in the form of medicinal
substances. Most of the additions to the world's stock of remedies
since the sixteenth century were indigenous to tropical America, and
in few instances, if any, were their curative properties unknown or
unfamiliar to the native doctors. Jalap, sarsaparilla, tobacco, with
numerous gums and balsams, were among the simples of American origin.
Dr Hernandez, physician to Phillip II., was sent to Mexico by his king
to investigate the natural history of the country. The results of his
researches, in which he was assisted by native experts, were
published in a large work, which contains long lists of plants with
their medicinal properties, and which has been much used by later
writers. I shall not, however, attempt in this chapter to give any
catalogue of medicinal plants.[808] The healing art was protected by
royalty, and the numerous rare plants in the royal gardens, collected
at great expense from all parts of the country, were placed at the
disposal of the doctors in the large cities, who were ordered to
experiment with each variety, that its curative or injurious
properties might be utilized or shunned. Thus the court physicians
derived from these constantly increasing collections all the
advantages of travel through distant provinces.[809]
The Nahuas were a healthy race; naturally so with their fine climate,
their hardy training, active habits, frequent bathing, and temperate
diet. The extraordinary statements respecting the great age attained
by their kings in the earlier periods of Nahua history are of course
absurdly exaggerated; but as centenarians are often met with among
their descendants at the present day, there is no doubt that they were
a long-lived race, and that those who did not attain a hundred years,
succumbed for the most part to acute diseases.[810] Indigestion and
its accompanying ills were unknown, and deformed people were so rare
that Montezuma kept a collection of them as a curiosity. The diseases
most prevalent were acute fevers, colds, pleurisy, catarrh, diarrhea,
and, in the coast districts, intermittent fever, spasms, and
consumption, aggravated by exposure.[811]
[Sidenote: EPIDEMICS AND THEIR RAVAGES.]
Deadly epidemics swept the country at intervals, the traditional
accounts of which are so intermingled with fable that we can form no
idea of their nature. One of the most fatal and wide-spread recorded
was that brought on by famine, war, and the anger of the gods at the
breaking-up of the Toltec empire.[812] The _matlazahuatl_ was a
pestilence said to be confined entirely in its ravages to the natives,
and which made great havoc even after the Spaniards came. It is
thought by some to have attacked the people periodically in former
times, and to have been similar in its nature to the yellow fever.
While the Aztecs were shut up in their island home, a curious malady,
consisting of a swelling of the eyelids, followed by a violent
dysentery ending in death, or, as others say, by a swelling of the
throat and body, attacked the nations on the main land, especially the
Tepanecs. The popular tradition was that the fumes of roasted fish and
insects wafted from the island to the shore, created a powerful
longing for this new and, to them, unobtainable food, and that the
pangs of an unsatisfied appetite originated the pestilence.[813]
Ixtlilxochitl relates that a catarrhic scourge fell upon the people
during the unusually severe winter of 1450 and carried off large
numbers, especially of the aged.[814]
The vices introduced by the Spaniards, their oppression of the
natives, and the consequent disregard of the ancient regulations
respecting cleanliness and the use of liquors, prepared the way for
new maladies. With the Spaniards came the small-pox, measles, and as
some believe, the syphilis. Small-pox is said to have been introduced
by a negro from one of Narvaez' ships and spread with frightful
rapidity over the whole country, destroying whole households who died
and found no other graves than their houses. Measles were introduced
some ten or eleven years later also from the Spanish ships. The yellow
fever has never prevailed to any great extent among the natives.[815]
Respecting syphilitic diseases and their origin there has been much
discussion. The first appearance of the malady has been attributed to
the old world and the new, and to many localities in the former. But
naturally neither continent, nor any nation has been willing to accept
the so-regarded dishonor of inflicting on the world this loathsome
plague. The discussion of the subject seems unprofitable and I shall
not reopen it here. The testimony in the matter appears to me to prove
that syphilis existed in Europe long before the discovery of America;
but there are also some indications in the traditional history of the
Nahua peoples that the disease in some of its forms was not unknown to
the aboriginal Americans before their intercourse with foreigners.[816]
[Sidenote: ATTENTIONS TO THE SICK.]
Accustomed to look on death in its most terrible form in connection
with their oft-recurring religious festivals, the people seem to have
become somewhat callous to its dread presence, and to have met its
approach with less fear of the dark and unknown hereafter than might
have been expected from their superstitious nature. An attack of
illness did not necessarily produce great anxiety, or an immediate
recourse to the doctor's services; but the common people resorted for
the most part to simple home cures, which were the more effective as
the curative properties of herbs and their modes of application were
generally well known.[817] The unconcern with which they regarded
sickness did not result from want of affection, for the Aztecs are
said to have been very attentive to their sick, and spent their wealth
without stint to save the life of friends. Yet the Tlascaltecs, a
hardier race, are reported by Motolinia to have been less attentive,
and some other Teo-Chichimec tribes did not hesitate to kill a patient
whose malady did not soon yield to their treatment, under pretense of
putting him out of his misery, but really to get him off their hands.
This work of charity was performed by thrusting an arrow down the
throat of the invalid, and old people were especially the recipients
of such favors.[818]
The favorite remedy for almost every ill of the flesh was the
vapor-bath, or _temazcalli_. No well-to-do citizen's house was
complete without conveniences for indulging in these baths, and the
poorer families of each community owned one or more temazcalli in
common. The reader is already sufficiently familiar with the general
features of these baths, a confined space with facilities for
converting water into steam being all that was required. Clavigero
describes and pictures a very graceful structure for this purpose, for
which, as it seems to involve the then-unknown principle of the arch,
he probably drew somewhat upon his imagination. It is of adobes,
semi-globular in form, about eight feet in diameter, six feet high,
with a convex floor a little below the level of the ground. On one
side was an opening sufficiently large to admit a man's body, on the
opposite side a square furnace separated from the interior by a slab
of tetzontli, and at the top an air-hole. Most of the bath-houses,
however, were simply square or oblong chambers with no furnace
attached, in which case the fire had of course to be removed before
the apartment was ready for use. When the apparatus was properly
heated a mat was spread on the floor, and the patient entered,
sometimes accompanied by an assistant, bearing a dish of water to be
thrown on the floor and walls to produce steam, and a bunch of
maize-leaves with which his body, and especially the part affected,
was to be beaten. A plunge into cold water after a profuse
perspiration was frequently but not always resorted to. As I have
said, there were scarcely any maladies for which this treatment was
not recommended, but it was regarded as particularly efficacious in
the case of fevers brought on by costiveness, bites of venomous
serpents and insects, bruises, and unstrung nerves, and to relieve the
pains and purify the system of child-bearing women. The steam-baths
were also much used to promote cleanliness and to refresh the weary
bodies of those in good health.[819]
The beneficial effects of a change of climate upon invalids seem to
have been appreciated, if we may credit Herrera, who states that
Michoacan was much resorted to by the sick from all parts of the
country.[820] For severe cases, the expenses of treating which could
not be borne except by the wealthy classes, hospitals were established
by the government in all the larger cities, endowed with ample
revenues, where patients from the surrounding country were cared for
by experienced doctors, surgeons, and nurses well versed in all the
native healing arts.[821] Medical practitioners were numerous, who
attended patients for a small remuneration; the jealousy of Spanish
physicians, however, brought them into disrepute soon after the
conquest, and the healing art, like others, greatly degenerated. It is
related that a famous medicine-man of Michoacan was summoned before
the college of physicians in Mexico on the charge of being a quack. In
reply to the accusation he asked his judges to smell a certain herb,
which produced a severe hemorrhage, and then invited them to check the
flow of blood. Seeing that they were unable to do this promptly, he
administered a powder that immediately had the desired effect. "These
are my attainments," he exclaimed, "and this the manner in which I
cure the ailings of my patients."[822]
[Sidenote: THE NAHUA ESCULAPIUS.]
The Esculapius of the Nahuas was embodied in the persons of
Oxomococipactonatl and Tlatecuinxochicaoaca, who were traditionally
the inventors of medicine and the first herbalists among the Toltecs.
Soon after its invention the healing profession became one of the most
highly honored, and its followers constituted a regular faculty,
handing down their knowledge and practice from generation to
generation, according to the Nahua caste-system, according to which
the son almost invariably adopted the profession of his father, by
whom he was educated. This system of education from early childhood
under the father's guidance, the opportunities for practice in the
public hospitals, free access to the botanical gardens, and the
numerous subjects for anatomical dissection supplied by sacrificial
rites, certainly offered to the Nahua doctor abundant opportunities of
acquiring great knowledge and skill. The profession was not
altogether in the hands of the sterner sex; for female physicians were
in high repute, especially on the eastern coast. In certain cases, as
of childbirth, we find the patient attended by none but women, who
administer medicines and baths and render other necessary assistance,
even going so far as to cut out the infant in order to save the
mother's life.[823]
Medicines were given in all the usual forms of draught, powder,
injection, ointment, plaster, etc.; the material for which was
gathered from the three natural kingdoms in great variety. Many of the
herbs were doubtless obtained from the gardens, but large quantities
were obtained in the forests of different provinces by wandering
collectors who brought their herbs to the market-places for sale, or
even peddled them, it is said, from house to house. Each ailment had
its particular corrective, the knowledge of which was not entrusted to
the memory alone, but was also recorded in painted books.[824]
Doubtless many of the vegetable and other medicines employed were mere
nostrums administered to give an exalted opinion of the doctor's
knowledge and skill rather than with any hope of effecting a cure.
[Sidenote: TREATMENT OF VARIOUS DISEASES.]
Sahagun gives page after page of native recipes for every ailment of
the human body, which cannot be reproduced here. Many of the remedies
and methods of application are as absurd as any of those which have
been noticed among the wild tribes. For diseases of the scalp a wash
of urine, an ointment of soot, and an application of black clay were
prescribed, together with vegetable specifics too numerous to mention.
The white of an egg was much used in mixing remedies for wounds and
bruises; a certain animal _tapaiaxin_ was eaten for a swollen face;
the broth of a boiled fowl was recommended for convalescents.
Cataracts on the eye were rasped and scraped with certain roots; for
bloodshot eyes the membrane was cut, raised with a thorn, and anointed
with woman's milk; clouded eyes were treated with lizard's dung.
Morning dew cured catarrh in newly born children. Hoarseness was
treated by drinking honey, and an external application of
India-rubber. Wounds in the lips must be sewn up with a hair; a
certain insect pounded and hot pepper were among the remedies for
toothache, and great care of the teeth was recommended. Stammering in
children was supposed to be caused by too long suckling. Remedies for
a cold were nearly as numerous as in our day. Copper-filings were
applied to bubos, which may or may not have been syphilitic sores. For
looseness of the bowels in infants, the remedy was given not only to
the child but to the nurse. For a severe blow on the chest, urine in
which lizards had been boiled must be drunk. The necessity of
regulating the bowels to sustain health was well understood, and the
doctor usually effected his purpose by injecting a herbal decoction
from his mouth through the leg-bone of a heron. Purgatives in common
use were jalap, pine-cones, _tacuache_, _amamaxtla_, and other roots;
diuretics, _axixpatli_ and _axixtlacotl_; emetics, _mexochitl_ and
_neixcotlapatli_. _Izticpatli_, and _chatalhuic_, are mentioned among
the remedies for fevers. Balsams were obtained from the _huitziloxitl_
by distillation, from the _huaconex_ by soaking the bark in water, and
from the _maripenda_, by boiling the fruit and tender stones. Oils
were made from _tlapatl_, _chile_, _chian_, _ocotl_ (a kind of pine),
and the India-rubber tree. _Octli_, or wine, was often prescribed to
strengthen the system, and was also mixed with other medicines to
render them more palatable, for which latter purpose cacao was also
much used.
Several stones possessed medicinal properties: the _aztetl_, held in
the hand or applied to the neck, stopped bleeding at the nose; the
_xiuhtomoltetl_, taken in the form of a powder, cured heartburn and
internal heat. This latter stone fell from the clouds in stormy
weather, sunk into the earth, and grew continually larger and larger,
a solitary tuft of grass alone indicating to the collector its
whereabouts. The bones of giants dug up at the foot of the mountains,
were collected by their dwarfish successors, ground to powder, mixed
with cacao, and drunk as a cure for diarrhea and dysentery. Persons
suffering from fever, or wishing to allay carnal desires, ate jaguar's
flesh; while the skin, bones, and excrement of the same animal, burnt,
powdered, and mixed with resin, formed an antidote for insanity.
Certain horny-skinned worms, similarly powdered and mixed, were a
specific for the gout, decayed teeth, and divers other ailments.
[Sidenote: SUPERSTITIOUS CURATIVE RITES.]
Surgery was no less advanced than other branches of the healing art,
and Cortés himself had occasion to acknowledge the skill and speed
with which they cured wounds. Snake-bites, common enough among a
barefooted people, were cured by sucking and scarifying the wound,
covering it with a thin transparent pellicle from the maguey-plant.
Rubbing with snuff, together with heat, was another treatment, and the
_coanenepilli_ and _coapatli_ were also considered antidotes.
Fractures were treated with certain herbs and gums, different kinds
for different limbs, and bound up with splints; if the healing did not
progress satisfactorily the bone was scraped before the operation of
resetting. For painful operations of this nature it is possible that
narcotics were administered, for at certain of the sacrifices it is
related that the victims were sprinkled with _yauhtli_ powder to
render them less sensitive to pain. Mendieta states that a stupefying
drink was given on similar occasions; and Acosta mentions that
_oliliuhqui_ was taken by persons who desired to see visions. This
latter was a seed, which was also an ingredient of the _teopatli_, or
divine medicine, composed besides of India-rubber gum, ocotl-resin,
tobacco, and sacred water. This medicine could only be obtained from
the priests. Blood-letting was much in vogue for various ills, the
lancets used being iztli knives, porcupine-quills, or maguey-thorns.
Ulli-marked papers were burned by the recovered patient as a
thank-offering to the gods. Veterinary surgeons are mentioned by
Oviedo as having been employed in the zoölogical gardens of
Montezuma.[825]
The medicines, though prepared and applied by the doctors themselves,
were not deemed sufficient for the patient; superstitious ceremonies
were held to be indispensable to effect a cure, and to enhance the
value of professional services. Evil beings and things had to be
exorcised, the gods must be invoked, especially the patron deity,
known chiefly by the name of Teteionan, who was esteemed the inventor
of many valuable specifics, as the ocotl-oil and others, and
confessions were extorted to ease the conscience and appease the
offended deity. The affected parts were rubbed and pressed amid
mutterings and strange gestures, and to work the more upon the
simple-minded patient, they pretended to extract a piece of coal,
bone, wood, or other object, the supposed cause of the ailment. A
favorite treatment in certain prostrating cases was to form a figure
of corn dough, which was laid upon a prickly maguey-leaf and placed in
the road, with the view of letting the first passer-by carry away the
disease--a charitable hope that seems to have afforded much relief to
the afflicted. However absurd this jugglery may appear, it no doubt
gave a powerful stimulus to the imagination, which must have aided the
working of the medicine. In critical cases, chance was often consulted
as to the fate of the sufferer. A handful of the largest grains or
beans were thrown on the ground, and if any happened to fall upright
it was regarded as a sure sign that the patient would die, and he
received little or no attention after that; otherwise prescriptions
and encouraging words were not spared. Sometimes a number of cord
rings were thrown in the same manner, and if they fell in a heap,
death was expected to result; but if any fell apart, a change for the
better was looked for. To encounter a snake or lizard was held to be a
sign of death for the person himself or for his sick friend. Although
no curative process, probably, in the case of a serious illness was
altogether free from superstitious rites, yet it is surprising that
these played so unimportant a rôle. Among a people so addicted on
every occasion to complicated ceremonies, the most complicated might
naturally be sought in their efforts to combat disease; but it is just
here that the least reliance seems to have been placed in supernatural
agencies.[826]
[Sidenote: FUNERAL RITES OF KINGS.]
The Aztecs were very particular about the disposal of their dead, and
conducted funeral rites with the pomp that attended all their
ceremonials. The obsequies of kings were especially imposing, and
their description, embracing as it does nearly all the ceremonies used
on such occasions by these nations, will present the most complete
view of the proceedings.
[Sidenote: PREPARATION FOR FUTURE EXISTENCE.]
When the serious condition of the monarch became apparent, a veil[827]
was thrown over the face of the patron god, to be removed on his
death, and notice was sent to all the friendly princes, the grandees
and nobles of the empire, to attend the obsequies; those who were
unable to attend in person sent representatives to deliver their
condolence and presents. As soon as the king had breathed his last,
certain masters of ceremonies, generally old men whose business it was
to attend on these occasions, and who were doubtless connected with
the priesthood,[828] were summoned to prepare the body for the
funeral. The corpse was washed with aromatic water, extracted chiefly
from trefoil,[829] and occasionally a process of embalming was
resorted to. The bowels were taken out and replaced by aromatic
substances, but the method does not seem to have been very complete,
and may only have been intended to serve while the body lay in state,
for no remains of embalmed mummies have been found. The art was an
ancient one, however, dating from the Toltecs as usual, yet generally
known and practiced throughout the whole country. A curious mode of
preserving bodies was used by the lord of Chalco who captured two
Tezcucan princes, and, in order that he might feast his eyes upon
their hated forms, had them dried and placed as light-holders in his
ball-room.[830] When the invited guests had arrived the body was
dressed in many mantles, often to the number of fifteen or twenty,
such as the king had worn on the most solemn occasions, and
consequently richly embroidered and glittering with jewels.[831] While
some were shrouding the body, others cut papers of different colors
into strips of various forms, and adorned the corpse therewith. Water
was then poured upon its head with these words: "This is the water
which thou usedst in this world;"[832] and a jug of water was placed
among the shrouds, the priest saying: "This is the water wherewith
thou art to perform the journey." More papers were now delivered to
the deceased in bunches, the priest explaining the import of each, as
he placed it with the body. On delivering the first bunch he said:
"With these thou art to pass between two mountains that confront each
other." The second bunch, he was told, would pass him safely over a
road guarded by a large snake; the third would conduct him by a place
held by an alligator, _xochitonal_; the fourth would protect and aid
him in traversing the 'eight deserts;' other papers would facilitate
the passage of the 'eight hills,' and still others afford protection
against the cutting winds termed _itzehecayan_, which were so strong
as to tear out rocks and cut like very razors; here the
wearing-apparel buried with him would also be of great service. A
little red dog was thereupon slain by thrusting an arrow down its
throat, and the body placed by the side of the deceased, with a cotton
string about its neck. The dog was to perform the part of Charon, and
carry the king on his back across the deep stream called
Chicunahuapan, 'nine waters,'[833] a name which points to the nine
heavens of the Mexicans.
It will thus be seen that the dead had a difficult road to travel
before reaching their future abode, which was on the fifth day after
the burial, and that they needed the articles of comfort and
necessity, as food, dresses, and slaves, which affectionate friends
provided for their use. The ideas entertained by the Nahuas respecting
a future life belong to another department of my work, and will only
be alluded to incidentally in this chapter. After the defunct had
received his passports, he was covered with a mantle like that of the
god which his condition and mode of death rendered appropriate, and
decorated with its image. As most kings were warriors, he would be
dressed in a mantle of Huitzilopochtli, and would, in addition, wear
the mantle of his favorite god.[834] A lock of hair was cut off and
placed, with one that had been cut at his birth, as well as small
idols, in a casket painted inside and out with the images of the
patron deity. The casket used for this purpose in the case of some of
the Chichimec kings is described to have been of emerald or other fine
stone, three feet square, and covered by a gold lid set with precious
stones. A mask either painted, or of gold, or of turquoise mosaic was
placed over the face,[835] and a chalchiuite, which was to serve for a
heart, between the lips. According to Tezozomoc and Duran a statue was
placed with the king, dressed in royal insignia by the hands of
princes. The chiefs of the senate redressed it in other robes after
painting it blue. It was then honored with addresses and presents, and
again undressed, painted black, and arrayed in a robe of Quetzalcoatl;
a garland of heron-feathers was placed upon its head, bracelets and
jewelry about its body, a small gilded shield by its side, and a stick
in the hand. This figure shared the honors given to the body and was
burned with it.[836]
[Sidenote: ROYAL OBSEQUIES.]
The arrayed corpse was either laid upon a litter covered with rich
cloths, or seated upon a throne, and watched over by a guard of honor,
while princes and courtiers came to pay their last respects.[837] They
approached with great manifestations of grief, weeping, lamenting,
clapping their hands, bending the body or exhibiting neglect of
person, and addressed the defunct, referring to his present
happiness, the loss his departure had caused, his goodness and
bravery, and begged his acceptance of the presents they had brought.
This performance was enacted by all, those of higher rank taking
precedence and leaving offerings of ten slaves, a hundred robes, and
other things, while others brought gifts of less value. Then came the
women, and while they were leaving their presents of food, the aged
courtiers intoned the funeral chant, the _miccacuicatl_. Addresses of
condolence were also made to the royal family or the senate. The human
sacrifices were inaugurated at this time by the immolation of the
sacerdotal slave under whose charge the household idols stood.[838] On
the fifth day, before daybreak, a grand procession formed for the
temple, preceded by an enormous paper banner, four fathoms in length,
and richly adorned with feathers, on which the deeds of the defunct
were doubtless inscribed, and attended by priests who wafted incense
and chanted his glory, though in mournful strains, and without
instrumental accompaniment.[839] The corpse was borne upon the state
litter by the most trusted of the noble servitors, while at the sides
walked the chief lords and princes dressed in mourning, their attire
consisting of long, square mantles of dark color, trailing on the
ground, without any ornaments; some, however, were painted with
figures of skulls, bones, and skeletons. Behind them came the
ambassadors of absent princes, the grandees and nobles from all parts
of the country, each carrying some insignia, weapons, or jewels to be
offered on the pyre.[840] In the procession were also a large number
of slaves, all newly attired in the royal livery,[841] and carrying
clothes, implements, and other articles, according to the duties
assigned them. On reaching the courtyard of the temple, the priest who
directed the burning came to receive the procession, and conducted it
to the altar devoted to cremation, all chanting the while a moral
song, in which they reminded the mourners that as they were now
carrying a senseless body to its last resting-place, so would they be
carried; they also reminded them that good deeds alone would remain to
keep their remembrance green, and pictured the glories in store for
the deserving. These priests were called _coacuiles_, and their office
was held to be of such importance that they prepared for it by fasting
and confession. They appeared in the same idol dress as the dead king,
though with more elaborate ornaments. We find them on one occasion as
demons with faces at different parts of their dress, set with eyes of
mirrors and gaping mouths; and at another time with blackened or dyed
bodies and paper maxtlis, swinging the yellow sticks used to stir the
ashes. According to Ixtlilxochitl, the high-priest of Cihuacoatl, who
was supposed to gather the dead, came out to receive the
procession.[842]
[Sidenote: CREMATION AND INTERMENT.]
The opinions as to the introduction of cremation are extremely varied,
but it seems to have been practiced in very ancient times by the
migrating tribes, who took this means to secure the remains of honored
chiefs from desecration; their ashes could thus be carried along and
serve as talismanic relics. Ixtlilxochitl gives an instance of this in
the case of a Chichimec king who died in battle and whose body was
burned, so that the ashes might be carried home with convenience and
safety. Brasseur de Bourbourg also holds that cremation was an ancient
Toltec custom, but the first recorded case is that of the last Toltec
king, Topiltzin.[843] Others assert that the Toltecs who remained in
the country after the destruction of their empire adhered to
interment, as did the early Chichimecs. Veytia affirms that
Ixtlilxochitl or Tezozomoc was the first to be deposited according to
the forms instituted by Topiltzin and used by the Mexicans, namely,
burning; Torquemada distinctly states that the Chichimecs used
cremation, and Clavigero agrees with him.[844] Veytia also thinks that
the first Aztec kings were buried, but this is contrary to all other
reliable accounts. The custom may not have been very general, for
Sahagun states that during Itzcoatl's reign it was resolved by the
chiefs that all should be burned, indicating at the same time that
cremation was then already in use. The later established usage was to
burn all except those who died a violent death, or of incurable
diseases, and those under seventeen years of age, who were all
interred. The Tlascaltecs and Tarascos practiced burning like the
Aztecs.[845]
The altar devoted to the burning was doubtless one attached to the
temple consecrated to the deity to whose abode the deceased was
supposed to go. Chaves describes it as three feet in height and the
same in width,[846] on which a heap of ocotl was piled. Upon this pyre
the body was laid in full array, together with the dog, and, as the
fire flared up, the mourners added insignia, jewels, weapons, food,
and other tributes. Two of the demon-like coacuiles stirred the fire
while others stood by chanting appropriate songs and sprinkling
blessed water and incense upon the remains, as well as upon the
mourners. Now began the sacrifice of those doomed to follow the
deceased to the other world and there administer to his wants and
pleasure. These were at first but few in number, but during the bloody
dominion of the Aztecs they increased to several hundred, as at the
funeral of Nezahualpilli, when two hundred males and one hundred
females were immolated; they consisted chiefly of slaves and deformed
beings from the royal retinue, and such as had been presented. Duran
says that all slaves and deformed persons belonging to the household
were killed, and Acosta goes so far as to state that the whole royal
household was dispatched, including the favorite brother of the king;
but this must be taken with a grain of allowance, for, at this rate,
the nobles, who crowded the service of the monarch, even in menial
positions, would soon have been exterminated. Some courtiers were, no
doubt, expected to prove the sincerity of their life-long adulations
by either offering themselves as victims, or submitting to a selection
made from their number. Sometimes a chief would signify his preference
for those among his concubines whom he wished to have with him, a mark
of favor often received with great joy, for they would thus be sure of
entering into the supreme heaven, where the warlike lords usually
went, while they might otherwise be doomed to dark Mictlan.
Self-immolation of wives was, accordingly, not uncommon, although not
prescribed by law as in India. Brasseur says that captives were
sacrificed, but Duran states that they were not offered except to the
gods. Persons born during the last five days of the year--the unlucky
days--were, however, reserved for royal obsequies.[847]
[Sidenote: DISPOSITION OF THE REMAINS.]
This array of victims was harangued by a relative of the deceased, who
dilated on the happiness before them in being allowed to join their
master, and admonished them to serve him as faithfully in the next
world as they had done here. They were then consigned to the priests,
who laid them upon a teponaztli,[848] cut open the breast and tore out
the heart, which was thrown upon the pyre, while the bodies were cast
upon another blazing hearth near by.[849] Gomara and others state that
the bodies were interred, but as the dog and the property were burned,
it is not likely that the more important and useful human servants
were buried.[850]
When the body had been thoroughly burned, the fire was quenched, the
blood collected from the victims being used for this purpose,
according to Duran, and the ashes, sprinkled with holy water, were
placed with the charred bones, stones, and melted jewelry in the urn,
or casket, which contained also the hair of the deceased. On the top
of this was placed a statue of wood or stone, attired in the royal
habiliments, and bearing the mask and insignia, and the casket was
deposited at the feet of the patron deity, in the chapel.[851] On the
return of the procession a grand banquet was given to the guests,
ending, as usual, with a presentation of gifts. For four days the
mourners paid constant visits to the shrine to manifest their sorrow
and to present the offerings of food, clothes, or jewels, termed
_quitonaltia_, 'to give good luck.' These were either placed by the
urn or upon the altar of the god, and removed by the priests, who ate
the food and sent the valuables to the temple treasury. These
ceremonies closed with the sacrifice of ten to fifteen slaves, and
then the casket was deposited in that part of the temple appointed for
its permanent reception.[852] Among the Chichimecs the royal casket
often remained forty days on view in the palace, whence it was carried
in procession to its final resting-place.[853]
[Sidenote: NAHUA SEPULCHRES.]
In cases of interment the deceased was deposited in the grave, seated
on a throne in full array, facing the north,[854] with his property
and victims around him. In early times, when the practice of interment
was more general, the victims were few, if not dispensed with
entirely, and consisted usually of two favorite concubines, placed one
on each side of their master, who, it is said, were entombed alive,
though it is more probable that they were stupefied by narcotic
drinks, or clubbed, as in Michoacan. This practice of burying alive is
ascribed to the Toltecs.[855] The graves were usually large
subterranean vaults of stone and lime, situated in the temple court,
palace, or some favorite spot near the city, as Chapultepec. It is
related that the temple pyramid in Mexico was the superstructure of
royal graves, the remains being deposited on the summit, and the
successor to the crown erecting upon this another platform. On
destroying the temple, the Spaniards found several vaults, one beneath
the other, with their valuable contents of jewelry.[856] The Toltecs
also buried their dead in and near the temples, and, according to some
authors, the mounds at Teotihuacan, to the number of several hundred,
which will be described in Vol. IV. of this work, are the graves of
Toltec chiefs.[857] The Chichimec kings were usually buried in round
holes, five to six feet deep, situated in caves beneath the palace or
in the mountains; in later times, however, they chose the
temples.[858]
Twenty days after the burial further offerings were made, together
with a sacrifice of from four to five slaves; on the fortieth day two
or three more died; on the sixtieth, one or two; while the final
immolation consisting of ten to twelve slaves took place at the end of
eighty days, and put an end to the mourning. Motolinia adds, however,
that testimonials of sorrow accompanied by offerings continued to be
made every eightieth day for the space of a year.[859]
[Sidenote: PLEBEIAN FUNERAL RITES.]
The obsequies of the subjects were, of course, on a scale of much less
grandeur, though the rich and nobles ventured to exhibit a certain
pomp. The common man, after having been washed in aromatic waters, was
dressed in his best garments; a cheap stone called the _tentetl_,
'mouth-stone,' was inserted between the lips; the passport papers for
the dark journey were handed to him with the usual address; and by his
side were placed the water, the dog, the insignia of his trade, as
arms, spade, or the like--spindle or broom in the case of a
woman--with the dresses and other things required for comfort. Lastly
the mantle of the god which his condition in life and manner of death
rendered appropriate, was placed upon him; thus, a warrior would wear
the mantle of Huitzilopochtli with the image of the war god upon it; a
merchant the mantle of Iyacatecutli; the artisan that of the patron
deity of his trade. A drunkard would, in addition, be covered with the
robe of the god of wine; a person who had died by drowning, with that
of the water gods; the man executed for adultery, with that of the god
of lasciviousness; and so on.[860] According to Zuazo, the corpse was
further decorated with feathers of various colors, and seated in a
chair to receive the expressions of sorrow and respect of friends, and
their humble offerings of flowers, food, or dresses. After a couple of
hours a second set of shrouders removed the garments, washed the body
again, re-dressed it in red mantles, with feathers of the same color,
and left it to be viewed for an hour or more, according to the number
of the visitors. A third time the body was washed, by a fresh corps of
attendants, and arrayed, this time, in black garments, with feathers
of the same sombre color. These suits were either given to the temple
or buried with the body.[861] Nobles had the large banner borne in
their procession, and seem to have been allowed the use of
sacrifices.[862] According to Chaves the common people were also
burned in their own premises or in the forest, a statement which
Acosta and others indirectly confirm by saying that they had no
regular burial-places, but their ashes were deposited in the yards of
their houses, in the temple courts, in the mountains, or in the field.
Upon the graves were placed flags, ornaments, and various offerings of
food during the four days of mourning. Visits of condolence with
attendant feasting extended over a period of several days,
however.[863] People who had died a violent death, by lightning or
other natural causes or of incurable diseases, such as leprosy,
tumors, itch, gout, or dropsy, were not burned but interred in special
graves. Branches or shoots of amaranth were placed upon their cheeks,
the brow was rubbed with _texutli_, certain papers were laid over the
brain, and in one hand was placed a wooden rod which was supposed to
become green and throw out branches in the other world. The bodies of
women who died in childbed were also buried; and the burial was
attended by great difficulty, since warriors and sorcerers fought
bravely to obtain possession of some part of her body, as has been
stated in a preceding chapter.[864]
A trader of the rank of pochteca, who died on a journey, was dressed
in the garb of his class, with eyes painted black, red circles round
the mouth, and with strips of paper all over his person. The body was
then deposited in a cacaxtli, or square basket, well secured by cords,
and carried to the top of a mountain, where it was fixed to a tree, or
pole driven into the ground, and left to wither. The spirit was
supposed to have entered the abode of the sun.[865] On the return of
the caravan the death was reported to the guild, who broke the news to
the family of the deceased. A puppet made of candlewood, and adorned
with the usual paper ornaments, was left at the temple for a day,
during which the friends mourned over it as if the body was actually
before them. At midnight the puppet was burned in the quauhxicalco and
the ashes buried in the usual manner. Funeral ceremonies were held for
four days, after which the relatives washed the faces, that had
remained untouched by water during the absence of the trader, and put
an end to the mourning. The practice of paying honors to the dead in
effigy was especially in vogue among the warrior class.[866]
[Sidenote: HONORS TO THE SLAIN IN BATTLE.]
Besides funeral honors to individuals, ceremonies for all those who
died in a battle or war were of frequent occurrence, as that ordered
by the first Montezuma in memory of the slain in the campaign against
Chalco. A procession of all the relatives and friends of the dead,
headed by the fathers bearing decorated arms and armor, and terminated
by the children, marched through the streets, dancing and chanting
mournful songs in honor of those who had fallen fighting for their
country and their gods, and for each other's mutual consolation.
Towards evening presents were distributed by the king's officials,
clothing to the common people, ornaments to the chiefs, and food to
all. An effigy was then prepared, the details of whose dress and
decoration are minutely described, and before it, placed in the
_cihuacalli_, war songs were chanted, instruments were played, women
danced and cried for four days; then the image was burned before the
temple, the ceremony being called _quitlepanquetzin_, 'burning the
dead of the last war.' Some of the ashes were scattered upon the
relatives, who fasted for eighty days, the remaining ashes being in
the meantime buried; but after the eighty days had passed they were
dug up and carried to the hill of Yahualiuhcan, on the boundaries of
Chalco, where they were left. Five days later a feast took place,
during which the garments of the dead warriors were burned, more
offerings were made, and as a final honor to the memory of the
departed all became intoxicated with pulque. Very distinguished
warriors were sometimes honored with the funeral rites of
royalty.[867]
The ceremonies during the period of mourning were not the last honors
paid to deceased friends. Every year during the four years that the
souls were supposed to live in a preparatory state in the
heavens,[868] offerings of choice viands, wine, flowers, and reeds of
perfume were placed before the casket or upon the grave; songs
extolling the merits of the departed were sung, accompanied by dances,
the whole closing with feasting and drinking. After this the dead were
left to oblivion.[869] These commemorations took place in the months
of Tlaxochimaco and Xocotlhuetzin. The former was termed 'the small
festival of the dead,' and seems to have been devoted to the common
people and children, but at the celebration in the latter month great
demonstrations were observed by all; and certain royal personages and
warriors who had died for their country were awarded divine honors,
their statues being placed among those of the gods, to whose presence
they had gone. While the priests were burning incense and making other
offerings to the dead, the people stood with blackened bodies on the
roofs of their houses, and, facing north, prayed to their dead
relatives, calling on them to visit their former homes.[870]
In the month of Quecholli another celebration took place, which seems
to have been chiefly intended for warriors who had perished in battle.
On the fifth day certain small arrows from five to nine inches in
length, and torches, were tied in bundles of four each and placed upon
the graves, together with a pair of sweet tamales. At sunset the
bundles were set on fire, and the ashes interred with the dead. The
shield of the dead, with arrow, mantle, and maxtli attached, was
afterwards fastened to a stalk of maize of nine joints, mounted by two
paper flags, one of which reached the length of the stalk. On the
small flag was a cross, worked in red thread, and on the other an
ornamentation of red and white thread, from the white part of which a
dead humming-bird was suspended. Bunches of white _aztatl_ feathers,
tied in pairs, were also attached to the stalk by a thread covered
with white hen-feathers. This was burned at the quauhxicalco.[871]
[Sidenote: FUNERAL RITES OF THE TARASCOS.]
Among the peoples whose funeral ceremonies differ from those
described, may be mentioned the Teo-Chichimecs, who interred their
dead, and danced and sang for several days after.[872] In Tabasco
interment seems also to have prevailed, for Grijalva found a grave in
the sand, containing a boy and a girl wrapped in cotton cloth and
adorned with jewelry.[873] In Goazacoalco it was the custom to place
the bones in a basket, as soon as the flesh was gone, and hang them up
in a tree, so that the spirit of the defunct might have no trouble in
finding them.[874]
[Sidenote: CREMATION OF THE TARASCAN KINGS.]
In Michoacan the funeral rites were of a very exacting character. When
the king lay on his death-bed it was incumbent on all vassals and
courtiers to attend at the palace, and those who stayed away were
severely punished. While awaiting the final breath they were royally
entertained, but none could enter the death-chamber. When the corpse
was ready for shrouding, the lords entered to dress it in festive
robes, each attending to a particular part of the attire; the emerald
brooch was put between the lips, and the body was laid upon a litter
covered with cloths of different colors. On one side of the body were
placed a bow and quiver, on the other was a doll made up of fine
mantles and dressed exactly like the king.[875] While the courtiers
were giving vent to lamentations and tendering their respects, the new
king proceeded to select those among the servitors, who, according to
the inviolable law of the country, were doomed to follow the dead
prince. Seven of these were noble women, to whom various duties were
assigned; one was appointed to carry the precious lip-ornament,
another to keep the rest of the jewels, a third to be cup-bearer, and
the others to attend at table and to cook. Among the male victims, who
seem to have been slaves for the most part, every trade and profession
was represented,[876] as valets, hair-dressers, perfumers,
fan-holders, chair-bearers, wood-cutters, boatmen, sweepers,
doorkeepers, and artisans; also clowns, and some of the physicians who
had failed to save the life of the monarch. Occasionally some
enthusiast would offer to join his beloved master of his own accord,
but this seems to have been prohibited; besides, the new king had,
doubtless, selected all that were obnoxious to him, and could not
afford to lose good servants. At midnight the litter was carried on
the shoulders of the chief men to the temple, followed by vassals,
warriors, and courtiers, some blowing trumpets, others chanting the
glories of the dead. In the van of the procession were the victims,
who had been bathed in aromatic waters and adorned with garlands
stripped of their leaves and branches, and with yellow streaks over
the face, who marched in files, sounding whistles, rattling bones,
and beating tortoise-shell drums. Torch-bearers attended the party,
and ahead went a number of men who swept the road, singing at the same
time: "Lord, here thou hast to pass, see that thou dost not miss the
road!"[877] Four turns were made round the pyre before depositing the
corpse upon it. While the flames shot up, and the funeral chants fell
from the lips of the mourners, the victims were stupefied with drinks
and clubbed; the bodies were thrown into holes behind the temple, by
threes or fours, together with the ornaments and other belongings of
the deceased. The ashes and valuables were gathered from the smoking
pyre, and made into a figure, which was dressed in royal habiliments,
with a mask for its face, a golden shield on its back, bows and arrows
by its side; this was set upon a throne facing the east, the whole
being placed in a large urn, which was deposited upon a bed of golden
shields and silver articles in a grave with stone walls, lined with
mats, about twelve feet square, and equally deep, situated at the foot
of the temple. The urn was covered with a number of valuable mantles,
and around it were placed various implements, food, drink, and boxes
filled with feather-work and ornaments; the grave was finally bridged
with varnished beams and boards, and covered with a coating of earth
and clay. After the funeral, all who had taken an active part in the
ceremonies went to bathe, in order to prevent any injury to their
health,[878] and then assembled at the palace to partake of a
sumptuous repast. At the close of the banquet a cotton cloth was given
to each guest wherewith to wipe his face, but all remained seated for
five days with lowered heads, without uttering a word, except the
grandees, who went in turn by night to watch and mourn at the grave.
During this period the mourning was general, no corn was ground, no
fires lighted, no business transacted; the streets were deserted, and
all remained at home, mourning and fasting. The obsequies of the
people bore a general resemblance to the above, the ceremonies being
regulated by the rank and means of the deceased. The graves were
usually situated in the fields or on the slope of a hill.[879]
[Sidenote: SEPULCHRES IN OAJACA.]
Among the Miztecs, in Oajaca, where cremation does not seem to have
obtained, compliments and addresses were presented to the corpse of a
chief, just as if he were alive. A slave arrayed in the same splendid
garments worn by his master, with mask, mitre, and other insignia, was
placed before it; and while the funeral procession accompanied the
body to burial, he represented the chief, and received the honors paid
to royalty. At midnight four priests carried the body to the forest,
where it was placed, in the presence of the mourners, in a cave, with
the feet to the east, and surrounded with various weapons and
implements. Two male and three female slaves, who had in the meantime
been made drunk and strangled, were also placed in the grave, together
with idols to serve as guides. Burgoa was told by the natives that
devoted servants used to follow their lord alive into the grave. On
the return of the funeral cortège, the slave who represented the
deceased was sacrificed and deposited in a hole, which was left
unclosed. The cave selected for the grave of the chief was supposed to
be the gate to paradise. Burgoa found two of these resting-places. One
was situated in a hill and lighted by loopholes from above. Along the
sides were stone benches, like troughs, upon which lay the bejeweled
skeletons, and here and there were niches occupied by idols. Another
was a stone vault, with plastered walls, arranged like the former; a
stone block closed the entrance.[880] Some authors state that when the
flesh was consumed, the bones were taken out and placed in graves in
the houses or in the temples; this may, however, only have applied to
certain chiefs, for Burgoa found skeletons, as we have seen, in the
caves which he explored. Every year, on the anniversary of the birth
of the last defunct lord, not on that of his death, great ceremonies
were held in his honor.[881] Like the Aztecs, they believed that the
soul wandered about for a number of years before entering into perfect
bliss, and visited its friends on earth once a year.[882] On the eve
of that day the house was prepared as if for a festive occasion, a
quantity of choice food was spread upon the table, and the inmates
went out with torches in their hands, bidding the spirits enter. They
then returned and squatted down round the table with crossed hands and
eyes lowered to the ground, for it was thought that the spirits would
be offended if they were gazed upon. In this position they remained
till morning, praying their unseen visitors to intercede with the gods
in their favor, and then arose, rejoiced at having observed due
respect for the departed. The food, which the spirits were supposed to
have rendered sacred by inhaling its virtue, was distributed among the
poor, or deposited in some out-of-the-way place. During the day
further ceremonies, accompanied by offerings, were made at the
temples, and a table was spread for the priests.[883]
[Sidenote: PHYSICAL PECULIARITIES.]
The Nahuas were physically a fine race. They are described by all the
old writers as being tall,[884] well-formed, and of an olive or light
copper color; as having thick, black, coarse, though soft and glossy
hair, regular teeth, low, narrow, retreating foreheads,[885] black
eyes, scant beards,[886] and very little hair on their bodies. Their
senses were very acute, especially that of sight, which they enjoyed
unimpaired to the most advanced age.[887] Their bodies they kept in
training by constant exercise. They were wonderful runners and
leapers, and, as we have seen, some of their athletic and acrobatic
feats were looked upon by the conquerors as nothing short of the work
of the devil. It was no unusual thing to meet with people who from
their color could scarcely be distinguished from Europeans. The people
of Michoacan enjoy the reputation of having been the tallest and
handsomest among the Nahuas.[888] The women of Jalisco found great
favor in the eyes of the reverend Father Torquemada. He was shown one
there, he says, who might be considered a miracle of beauty; indeed,
so fair was her skin, so well-proportioned her body, and so regular
her features, that the most skillful portrait-painter would have been
put to it to do her justice.[889] Deformed people were very uncommon;
indeed, as we have seen, their rarity made them valuable as objects of
curiosity, and kings and princes kept collections of them.[890]
[Sidenote: CHARACTER OF THE NAHUAS.]
The character of the Nahuas, although the statements of the best
authors are nearly unanimous concerning it, is in itself strangely
contradictory. We are told that they were extremely frugal in their
habits, that wealth had no attractions for them, yet we find them
trafficking in the most shrewd and careful manner, delighting in
splendid pageants, gorgeous dresses, and rich armor, and wasting their
substance in costly feasts; they were tender and kind to their
children, and solicitous for their welfare, yet the punishments they
inflicted upon their offspring were cruel in the extreme;[891] they
were mild with their slaves, and ferocious with their captives; they
were a joyous race, fond of feasting, dancing, jesting, and innocent
amusements, yet they delighted in human sacrifices, and were
cannibals; they possessed a well-advanced civilization, yet every
action of their lives was influenced by gross superstition, by a
religion inconceivably dark and bloody, and utterly without one
redeeming feature; they were brave warriors, and terrible in war, yet
servile and submissive to their superiors; they had a strong
imagination and, in some instances, good taste, yet they represented
their gods as monsters, and their religious myths and historical
legends are absurd, disgusting, and puerile.
That the Nahuas were a most ingenious people is abundantly proven by
their work as well as by the statements of those who knew them. It has
been said that they were not inventive, but this Clavigero
indignantly denies.[892] It is certain that their power of imitation
was very great,[893] and that they were very quick to learn the new
arts introduced among them by the Spaniards.[894] They were generous
and remarkably free from avarice.[895] They are said to have been very
temperate in their habits,[896] but judging from the vast number of
dishes served up at the tables of the rich, and the stringent laws
which were necessary to prevent drunkenness, this appears doubtful.
Although terrible to their enemies, and naturally warlike, they were
peaceable among themselves, and seldom quarreled. Las Casas says that
when a difficulty arose between two of them, the disputants did not
come at once to blows, but contented themselves with such personal
abuse as: "Go to, thou hast bad eyes; thou art toothless;" or they
threw handfuls of dirt in each other's faces and then separated and
washed themselves. On rare occasions they pushed and elbowed each
other, or even had a scuffle, in which hair was pulled out, clothes
were torn, and bloody noses received, but deadly weapons were never
used, nor even worn except by soldiers on duty. The same writer
relates that two women were put to death by order of the king of
Tezcuco for fighting in the public market-place, a scandalous outrage
upon public decency, the like of which had never been heard of before.
He says, further, that when two young men became enamored of the same
woman, or when one carried off the other's mistress, the rivals were
allowed to fight a duel for the possession of the woman. The combat
did not take place, however, until the army went forth to war, when
upon the first engagement they sought out each other, and fought with
their weapons until one was vanquished.[897] They seem to have been
very strict and jealous in all matters relating to their women.[898]
The Tlascaltecs were great lovers of liberty, and were always ready to
fight for it; they were, besides, quick to take offence, otherwise
they are said to have been of a peaceable, domestic disposition,
content to stay at home and listen to or tell stories in their own
families, an amusement of which they were very fond. They are further
described as truthful, just, frugal, and industrious.[899]
The Cholultecs, so celebrated for their pottery, are reported to have
been very peaceful, industrious, and shrewd traders, yet brave withal,
and capable of defending their rights.[900] The Zapotecs were a fierce
people, always at war with their neighbors.[901] The Miztecs are said
by Herrera to have been the bravest people in all New Spain; the same
writer asserts that they were lazy and improvident, while Espinosa
speaks of them as an industrious race.[902] The natives of Vera Cruz
are spoken of as affable and shrewd.[903] The people of Jalisco were
witty and slothful, yet they willingly carried burdens for the
Spaniards, Herrera tells us.[904] The Tarascos were exceedingly
valorous, great liars, and industrious.[905]
FOOTNOTES:
[808] _Hernandez_, _Nova Plantarum_, etc. The MSS., comprising 24
books of text and 11 books of plates, were sent to the Escurial in
Spain, and from them abridged editions were published in Mexico, 1615,
and Rome, 1651. The latter edition is the one in my collection.
Sahagun also devotes considerable space to a description of herbs and
their properties. _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., lib. x., xi.
[809] _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 157;
_Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. xi.; _Carbajal
Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., pp. 623-4.
[810] 'É da maravigliare, che i Messicani, e massimamente i poveri,
non fossero a molte malattie sottoposti atteso la qualità de' loro
alimenta.' _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 217;
_Humboldt_, _Essai Pol._, tom. i., p. 88.
[811] 'Las principales enfermedades que corrian entre esta gente, eran
de abundancia de colera, y flema, o otros malos humores, causados de
mala comida, y falta de abrigo.' _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. ii.,
lib. x., cap. xxi.
[812] _Tezozomoc_, _Crón. Mex._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol.
ix., p. 64; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p.
365.
[813] 'Hacia malparir las Mugeres, de antojo de comer de aquello que
asaban ... daban camazas á los Viejos de deseo de comer de aquello; y
á las Mugeres se los hinchaban los brazos, las manos, y las piernas,
que adolecian mucho, y morian con aquel deseo.' _Duran_, _Hist.
Indias_, MS., tom. i., cap. x. Torquemada qualifies this by 'Esto
dicho, pase por cuento.' _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 93; _Tezozomoc_,
_Crón. Mex._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., pp. 21-2, 64.
[814] _Hist. Chich._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p.
250.
[815] _Motolinia_, _Hist. Indios_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._,
tom. i., p. 15; _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 148.
[816] _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. i., pp. 117-19,
tom. iv., pp. 303-28; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. ii., lib. x., cap.
xxi.; _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 148; _Pauw_, _Rech. Phil._, tom.
i., pp. 46-9; _Pimentel_, _Mem. sobre la Raza Indígena_, pp. 99-101;
_Prescott's Mex._, vol. ii., pp. 434-5; _Humboldt_, _Essai Pol._, tom.
i., pp. 66-71; _Chevalier_, _Mex., Ancien et Mod._, p. 53; _Brasseur
de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 182; _Id._, in
_Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1858, tom. clx., p. 280; _Sahagun_,
_Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. vii., p. 246.
[817] 'Both men, women, and children, had great knowledge in herbs....
They did spend little among Physicians.' _Gage's New Survey_, p. 111.
'Casi todos sus males curan con yeruas.' _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol.
117. 'No se guardauan de males contagiosos, y enfermedades, y
bestialmente se dexavan morir.' _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. ii.,
lib. vi., cap. xvi.
[818] _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., lib. x., p. 119. 'Si algun
médico entre ellos (Tlascaltecs) fácilmente se puede haber, sin mucho
ruido ni costa, van lo á ver, y si no, mas paciencia tienen que Job.'
_Motolinia_, _Hist. Indios_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom.
i., p. 76.
[819] _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 214-16,
with cuts, copied in _Carbajal Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., pp.
671-3; _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., lib. xi., pp. 286-7.
[820] _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iii., cap. ix.
[821] 'En las Ciudades principales ... habia hospitales dotadas de
rentas y vasallos donde se resabian y curaban los enfermos pobres.'
_Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. cxli. 'De cuando en cuando
van por toda la provincia á buscar los enfermos.' _Motolinia_, _Hist.
Indios_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i., p. 131;
_Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 165; _Carbajal_,
_Discurso_, pp. 37-8.
[822] _Bustamante_, in _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., lib. xi.,
p. 282.
[823] _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. vi., p. 185; _Herrera_,
_Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. ix., cap. vii.; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant.
del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 211-12, 216-17; _Motolinia_, _Hist.
Indios_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i., p. 131.
[824] 'Hay calle de herbolarios donde hay todas las raíces y yerbas
medicinales que en la tierra se hallan. Hay casas como de boticarios
donde se venden las medicinas hechas, así potables como ungüentos
emplastos.' _Cortés_, _Cartas_, p. 104. They 'possédaient des livres
dans lesquels étaient consignées minutieusement toutes leurs
observations relatives aux sciences naturelles.' _Brasseur de
Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., pp. 637-8. See also
_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., lib. x., p. 116; _Oviedo_, _Hist.
Gen._, tom. iii., p. 300; _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 117; _Relatione
fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese_, in _Ramusio_,
_Navigationi_, tom. iii., fol. 309. 'Tenian siete, o ocho maneras de
rayzes de yeruas y flores: de yeruas y arboles, que eran las que mas
comunmente vsauan para curarse.' _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. ii.,
lib. x., cap. xxi.
[825] Acosta adds that the ashes of divers poisonous insects were
mixed with the teopatli composition, which benumbed the part to which
it was applied. 'Aplicado por via de emplasto amortigua las carnes
esto solo por si, quanto mas con tanto genero de ponçoñas, y como les
amortiguaua el dolor, pareciales efecto de sanidad, y de virtud
diuina.' _Hist. de las Ynd._, pp. 370-1. For details of medical
practice see _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., lib. x., pp. 85-105,
109, tom. xi., pp. 212, 236-86, tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 214-15; _Las
Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. cxli., ccxiii.; _Mendieta_,
_Hist. Ecles._, pp. 100, 139; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii.,
pp. 274, 550, 558; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Ind._, tom. iii., p. 306; _Peter
Martyr_, dec. v., tom. ii-iii.; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. ii.,
lib. x., cap. xxi., dec. iii., lib. ii., cap. xvii., dec. iv., lib.
ix., cap. viii.; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp.
77, 212-16; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p.
189, tom. iii., pp. 638-40, tom. iv., p. 355.
[826] _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. cxli.; _Id._, in
_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. viii., p. 234. 'Lanzábanlos (unos
cordeles como llavero) en el suelo, y si quedaban revueltos, decian
que era señal de muerte. Y si alguno ó algunos salian extendidos,
teníanlo por señal de vida, diciendo: que ya comenzaba el enfermo á
extender los piés y las manos.' _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 110;
_Motolinia_, _Hist. Indios_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom.
i., pp. 130-1; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., pp. 491-2;
_Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. ix., cap. vii.; _Clavigero_,
_Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 216-17. Other authorities on
medicine are: _Purchas his Pilgrimes_, vol. iv., p. 1133; _Gage's New
Survey_, p. 111; _West-Indische Spieghel_, p. 247; _Prescott's Mex._,
vol. i., p. 48, vol. ii., pp. 119-20, 137, 434-5; _Carbajal Espinosa_,
_Hist. Mex._, tom. i., pp. 668-74; _Mühlenpfordt_, _Mejico_, tom. i.,
pp. 132-4; _Klemm_, _Cultur-Geschichte_, tom. v., pp. 90-1;
_Chevalier_, _Mex., Ancien et Mod._, p. 16; _Baril_, _Mexique_, p.
208; _Pimentel_, _Mem. sobre la Raza Indígena_, p. 51. I further have
in my possession a very rare and curious medical work by Dr Monardes,
treating of the various medicinal plants, etc., found in Mexico and
Central America, printed in Seville in 1574.
[827] 'Ponen mascaras a Tezcatlipuca, o Vitzilopuchtli, o a otro
idolo.' _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 309. As the idols wore masks, it
is more likely that a veil was thrown over the face, than that another
mask should have been put on. 'Suivant une coutume antique attribuée à
Topiltzin-Acxitl, dernier roi de Tollan, on mettait un masque au
visage des principales idoles, et l'on couvrait les autres d'une
voile.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 572.
'Mettevan una maschera all' Idolo di Huitzilopochtli, ed un'altra
aquello di Tezcatlipoca.' _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom.
ii., p. 95.
[828] 'Ciertas mujeres y hombres que están salariados de público.'
_Zuazo_, _Carta_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i., p. 364.
Brasseur de Bourbourg thinks that they were only employed by the
common people. _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 569. Tezozomoc states
that princes dressed the body. _Crónica Mex._, in _Kingsborough's Mex.
Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 142.
[829] Zuazo says that the corpse was held on the knees of one of the
male or female shrouders, while others washed it. _Carta_, in
_Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i., p. 364.
[830] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., pp. 151, 87; _Vetancvrt_,
_Teatro Mex._, pt ii., p. 16; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_,
tom. i., p. 145, tom. ii., p. 99; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii.,
lib. iii., cap. xiv.
[831] The chapter on dress furnishes all the information respecting
the royal wardrobe. It is not unlikely that princes assisted in robing
the king, for such was the custom in Michoacan, and that the mantles
brought by them were used for shrouding, but authors are not very
explicit on this point.
[832] Brasseur de Bourbourg uses the expression 'C'est cette eau que
tu as reçue en venant au monde.' _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 569.
[833] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 527; _Clavigero_,
_Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 94. Gomara says the dog served
as guide: 'vn perro que lo guiasse adonde auia de yr.' _Conq. Mex._,
fol. 309.
[834] 'Le ponian los vestidos del Dios, que tenia por mas Principal en
su Pueblo, en cuia Casa, ò Templo, ò Patio se havia de enterrar.'
_Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 521; _Clavigero_, _Storia
Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 93-5. Duran mentions an instance
where a king was dressed in the mantles of four different gods. _Hist.
Indias_, MS., tom. i., cap. xxxix.; _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 309.
[835] 'Sobre la mortaja le ponian vna mascara pintada.' _Torquemada_,
_Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 521. Perhaps he confounds the idol image
on the robe with the mask, for it is unlikely that the mask should be
placed upon the shroud. 'Visage découvert.' _Camargo_, _Hist. Tlax._,
in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 201. Speaking
of the obsequies of Tezozomoc of Azcapuzalco, Ixtlilxochitl says that
a turquoise mask was put over his face, 'conforme lo fisonomía de su
rostro. Esto no se usaba sino con los monarcas de esta tierra; á los
demas reyes les ponian una máscara de oro.' _Relaciones_, in
_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 370. Veytia states that it
was a gold mask 'garnecida de turquezas.' _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom.
iii., p. 5. The hair, says Gomara, 'quedaua la memoria de su anima.'
_Conq. Mex._, fol. 309.
[836] _Tezozomoc_, _Crónica Mex._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._,
vol. ix., pp. 90, 98-9; _Duran_, _Hist. Indias_, MS., tom. i., cap.
xxxix. 'On plaçait sur le lit de parade la statue que l'on faisait
toujours à l'image du roi.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat.
Civ._, tom. iii., p. 572. The only statue referred to by other authors
is that made of the ashes after the cremation.
[837] Some of the early Chichimec kings lay five days in state, and
Tlaltecatzin, forty days, his body being buried on the eightieth day.
_Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., pp. 61, 72, 87.
[838] Acosta, _Hist. de las Ynd._, p. 321, among others, calls this
slave a priest.
[839] Although Acosta says, 'tañendo tristes flautas y atambores.'
_Hist. de las Ynd._, p. 322; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib.
ii., cap. xviii. 'On faisait deux grandes bannières de papier blanc.'
_Chaves_, _Rapport_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série ii., tom. v.,
p. 309.
[840] _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Relaciones_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._,
vol. ix., p. 370; _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., pp. 6-7.
Duran states that kings bore the corpse and that the mourners were
dressed as water-goddesses. _Hist. Indias_, MS., tom. i., cap. xxxix.,
xl., tom. ii., cap. li. Acosta says that the arms and insignia were
carried before the body by knights. _Hist. de las Ynd._, p. 321.
[841] Tezozomoc, _Crónica Mex._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol.
ix., pp. 90, 142, states that they were dressed in royal insignia and
jewels, which is not very likely; a number of them, however, were
loaded with the royal wardrobe, which fact may have given rise to this
statement.
[842] _Relaciones_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 370;
_Spiegazione delle Tavole del Codice Mexicano_ (Vaticano), in _Id._,
vol. v., pp. 200-1; _Acosta_, _Hist. de las Ynd._, p. 322; _Duran_,
_Hist. Indias_, MS., tom. i., cap. xl. 'Salia el gran Sacerdote, con
los otros Ministros, à recibirlo.' _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom.
ii., p. 521.
[843] _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Relaciones_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._,
vol. ix., pp. 332, 325, 327, 388.
[844] 'El (the mode) que estos Chichimecas vsaron, fue quemarlos.'
_Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., pp. 60, 72, 87; _Ixtlilxochitl_,
_Relaciones_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, tom. ix., pp. 369, 388;
_Id._, _Hist. Chich._, pp. 214, 223, 261-2. Veytia, who introduces
some arguments on this point, thinks that Tezozomoc introduced
burning, yet he describes ceremonial cremations in the case of several
kings before him. _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., pp. 3-4, tom. ii., p.
113; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. i., p. 140, tom.
ii., pp. 97-8.
[845] _Camargo_, _Hist. Tlax._, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843,
tom. xcviii., pp. 165, 202. 'La gente menuda comunmente se enterraua.'
_Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 308; _Spiegazione delle Tavole del Codice
Mexicano_ (Vaticano), in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., p.
200; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 528; _Veytia_, _Hist.
Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 4; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat.
Civ._, tom. iii., p. 129. 'Sabia por las pinturas, que se quemaron en
tiempo del señor de México que se decia _Itzcóatl_, en cuya época los
señores, y los principales que habia entónces, acordaron y mandaron
que se quemasen todas, para que no viniesen á manos del vulgo.'
_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., lib. x., pp. 140-1.
[846] _Rapport_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série ii., tom. v., p.
309.
[847] _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Relaciones_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._,
vol. ix., pp. 379, 388; _Duran_, _Hist. Indias_, MS., tom. i., cap.
xxxix., xl.; _Bologne_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série i., tom.
x., pp. 213-14; _Solis_, _Hist. Conq. Mex._, tom. i., p. 432;
_Camargo_, _Hist. Tlax._, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom.
xcviii., p. 202; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom.
iii., p. 573; _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., pp. 8-9.
[848] _Tezozomoc_, _Crónica Mex._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._,
vol. ix., p. 90; _Duran_, _Hist. Indias_, MS., tom. i., cap. xxxix.,
tom. ii., cap. li.
[849] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 521; _Acosta_, _Hist.
de las Ynd._, p. 321. Camargo indicates that the bodies were thrown
upon the same pyre together with the presents. _Hist. Tlax._, in
_Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 202. 'Sacándoles
los corazones, y la sangre de ellos en una batea ó gran xícara, con la
cual rociavan á Huitzilopochtli, á quien le presentaron los corazones
de todos los muertos.' _Tezozomoc_, _Crónica Mex._, in _Kingsborough's
Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 90.
[850] _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 309; _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Relaciones_,
in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 370; _Tezozomoc_, ubi
sup.
[851] 'La colocaron en el mismo lugar en que ardió la pira.' _Veytia_,
_Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 9. This author says that the
mouth-stone of the deceased together with the mask, robes, and
ornaments were taken off before the body was placed upon the pyre;
this could only have been for the purpose of dressing the wooden
statue therein; the stone was, however, placed inside the urn.
_Ixtlilxochitl_, ubi sup. Brasseur de Bourbourg calls this bundle of
bones _tlaquimilolli_, which he says was sacredly preserved, whether
of kings or braves. _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1858, tom. clx., p.
268. In the case of Nauhyotl of Culhuacan, the bones were exhumed and
placed in a statue, which was made in his honor, and deposited in a
temple consecrated to him. _Duran_, _Hist. Indias_, MS., tom. i., cap.
xxxix.
[852] 'Al cuarto dia, al anochecer, cargaron los sacerdotes la arca de
las cenizas y la estatua, y la colocaron en una especie de nicho,
dentro del templo.' _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., p. 10.
'Sous le pavé même du sanctuaire, devant la statue du dieu.' _Brasseur
de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 574. Duran mentions
that the ashes of one king were deposited at the foot of the stone of
sacrifice. _Hist. Indias_, MS., tom. ii., cap. li.; _Tezozomoc_,
_Crónica Mex._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 142;
_Cortés_, _Cartas_, p. 106; _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS.,
cap. li.
[853] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., pp. 72, 87; _Vetancvrt_,
_Teatro Mex._, pt ii., pp. 15-16.
[854] _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. vii., p. 257.
[855] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., pp. 316,
331; _Bologne_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série i., tom. x., pp.
213-14; _Camargo_, _Hist. Tlax._, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._,
1843, tom. xcviii., pp. 192, 202.
[856] 'La muerte se hacian enterrar en la más alta grada, é despues el
subcessor subia otras dos gradas.' _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii.,
p. 503. 'Los Príncipes necesitaban de gran sepultura, porque se
llevaban tras sí la mayor parte de sus riquezas y familia.' _Solis_,
_Hist. Conq. Mex._, tom. i., p. 432. 'Io aiutai a cauar d'vna
sepoltura tre mila Castigliani poco piu ò meno.' _Relatione fatta per
vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese_, in _Ramusio_,
_Navigationi_, tom. iii., fol. 310.
[857] _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., lib. x., p. 141;
_Ixtlilxochitl_, _Relaciones_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol.
ix., p. 327; _Humboldt_, _Essai Pol._, tom. i., p. 189.
[858] _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Hist. Chich._, in _Kingsborough's Mex.
Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 214; _Id._, _Relaciones_, pp. 335, 344;
_Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., p. 98.
[859] _Hist. Indios_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i., p.
31; _Ritos Antiguos_, p. 20, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix.
Ixtlilxochitl, _Relaciones_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol.
ix., p. 371, states that the sacrifices on the fourth day consisted of
five to six slaves, on the tenth of one, on the eightieth of three.
'Le cinquième on sacrifiait plusieurs esclaves, et cette immolation se
répétait encore quatre fois, de dix en dix jours.' _Brasseur de
Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 574. Duran, _Hist.
Indias_, MS., tom. i., cap. xiv., xxxix., mentions a fast of eighty
days, at the end of which a statue was made, like one which he states
was burned with the corpse, and to this exactly the same ceremonies
were paid as to the defunct, the statue being burned with an equally
large number of slaves as before. The fullest descriptions of royal
obsequies are given in _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., pp.
521-3; _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. iii., pp. 3-11; _Clavigero_,
_Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 95-8; _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._,
fol. 309-10; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii.,
pp. 571-4; _Duran_, _Hist. Indias_, MS., tom. i., cap. xxxix., xl.,
tom. ii., cap. xlviii.; _Tezozomoc_, _Crónica Mex._, in
_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., pp. 86-90, 99.
[860] After describing the robing of drunkards and others, Gomara
says: 'Y finalmente a cada oficial dauan el traje del idolo de aquel
oficio,' which certainly indicates that a drowned or besotted artisan
would wear the mantle due to his position in life as well as that due
to his manner of death. _Conq. Mex._, fol. 309. Clavigero, _Storia
Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 93-4, uses the following expression:
'Vestivanlo d'un abito corrispondente alla sua condizione, alle sue
facoltà, _ed_ alle circostanze della sua morte.'
[861] _Zuazo_, _Carta_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i., pp.
364-5.
[862] Camargo says, with reference to sacrifices and pompous
ceremonies, 'tout cela avait lieu, plus ou moins, à toutes les
funérailles, selon la richesse du défunt.' _Hist. Tlax._, in
_Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 202; _Prescott's
Mex._, vol. i., p. 63.
[863] _Zuazo_, _Carta_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i., p.
365; _Chaves_, _Rapport_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série ii.,
tom. v., p. 310; 'Durauan las exequias diez dias.' _Acosta_, _Hist. de
las Ynd._, p. 321. 'On passait vingt ou trente jours au milieu des
fêtes et des festins.' _Camargo_, _Hist. Tlax._, in _Nouvelles Annales
des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 202. _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec.
iii., lib. ii., cap. xviii.; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_,
tom. ii., pp. 93-5.
[864] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 529; _Sahagun_,
_Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. vi., pp. 186-91. See p. 269 of this
volume.
[865] _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. ix., p. 358.
[866] Sahagun intimates that the puppet was for those who were slain
by enemies, but adds, afterwards, that a puppet was burned with the
same ceremonies in the court of the house, if they died at home.
_Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. iv., pp. 314-15; _Torquemada_, _Monarq.
Ind._, tom. ii., p. 587; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._,
tom. iii., pp. 621-2. See this vol., p. 392.
[867] _Tezozomoc_, _Crónica Mex._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._,
vol. ix., pp. 37-8, 86-7, 161-2; _Duran_, _Hist. Indias_, MS., tom.
i., cap. xviii., tom. ii., cap. xlviii.; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_,
_Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., pp. 259-61, 407-8.
[868] _Explicacion del Codex Telleriano-Remensis_, in _Kingsborough's
Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., p. 130; _Spiegazione delle Tavole del Codice
Mexicano_ (Vaticano), in _Id._, p. 193.
[869] _Motolinia_, _Hist. Indios_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._,
tom. i., p. 31; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 523.
[870] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 298; _Spiegazione
delle Tavole del Codice Mexicano_ (Vaticano), in _Kingsborough's Mex.
Antiq._, vol. v., pp. 193-4. 'Los tres dias ultimos de este mes
ayunavan todos los vivos á los muertos.' _Explicacion del Codex
Telleriano-Remensis_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., p.
130. See this vol., pp. 328, 331.
[871] _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 163-4;
_Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 281. Brasseur de Bourbourg
says that this celebration was of a general character, and dilutes the
meagre and doubtful information of his authority considerably. The
arrows and food, 'après qu'elles y avaient demeuré un jour et une
nuit, on les enlevait et on brûlait le tout ensemble en l'honneur de
Mixcohuatl et de ses compagnons d'armes.' _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i.,
p. 234, tom. iii., pp. 528-9.
[872] _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., lib. x., p. 119.
[873] _Diaz_, _Itinerario_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i.,
p. 304; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., p. 532.
[874] _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. ix., cap. vii.
[875] _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 310. 'Esta figura se la ponian
encima al Difunto.' _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 524. It
is not likely, however, that a life-size figure, as Gomara calls it,
or any figure, for that matter, should have been placed over the
ornaments of the king and pressed upon the body. Beaumont says: 'Lo
cubrian con una manta, en que estaba pintado ó realzado el cadaver con
los mismos adornos.' _Crón. Mechoacan_, MS., p. 55. 'Au-dessus on
asseyait une poupée de la taille du défunt.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_,
_Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 83.
[876] 'Matauan vno, y aun mas de cada oficio.' _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._,
fol. 311.
[877] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 525. The slaves, he
says, 'los embadurnaban todo el cuerpo, con vna tinta amarilla.' 'Yban
las andas ó atahud en hombros de los tres principales.' _Beaumont_,
_Crón. Mechoacan_, MS., p. 56.
[878] 'Todos los que habian tocado el Caltzontzi y á los demas cuerpos
se iban á bañar por preservarse de alguna enfermedad.' _Beaumont_,
_Crón. Mechoacan_, MS., p. 57.
[879] _Beaumont_, _Crón. Mechoacan_, MS., pp. 54-8; _Torquemada_,
_Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., pp. 523-6; _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol.
310-12; _Gage's New Survey_, pp. 157-60, with a cut; _Brasseur de
Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., pp. 82-6; _Payno_, in _Soc.
Mex. Geog., Boletin_, 2da época, tom. i., pp. 717-19.
[880] _Geog. Descrip._, tom. i., pt ii., fol. 160-1, tom. ii., pt
ii., fol. 320.
[881] _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 98-9;
_Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iii., cap. xiii.;
_Explicacion del Codex Telleriano-Remensis_, in _Kingsborough's Mex.
Antiq._, vol. v., p. 130; _Spiegazione delle Tavole del Codice
Mexicano_ (Vaticano), in _Id._, p. 193; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_,
_Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., pp. 22-4.
[882] 'Au douzième mois de l'année zapotèque.' _Brasseur de
Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 23.
[883] _Burgoa_, _Geog. Descrip._, tom. ii., pt ii., fol. 392-3;
_Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., pp. 23-4.
Additional references to funeral ceremonies are: _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant.
Mej._, tom. i., p. 238, tom. ii., pp. 79, 231-2, 298; _Vetancvrt_,
_Teatro Mex._, pt ii., pp. 15, 25, 29; _Tezozomoc_, _Crónica Mex._,
in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., pp. 89-91, 98-9, 141-2,
178-9; _Purchas his Pilgrimes_, vol. iv., pp. 1029-30, 1138-9;
_Gemelli Careri_, in _Churchill's Col. Voyages_, vol. iv., p. 514;
_Montanus_, _Nieuwe Weereld_, pp. 261-2; _D'Avity_, _L'Amérique_, tom.
ii., p. 69; _Adair_, _Amer. Ind._, p. 217; _Touron_, _Hist. Gén._,
tom. iii., pp. 9-10; _Delaporte_, _Reisen_, tom. x., pp. 318-23;
_Lenoir_, _Parallèle_, pp. 11-13, 28, 30; _Nouvelles Annales des
Voy._, 1824, tom. xxiv., pp. 137-8; _Fransham's World in Miniature_,
vol. ii., p. 19; _Müller_, _Amerikanische Urreligionen_, p. 666;
_Pimentel_, _Mem. sobre la Raza Indígena_, pp. 64-5; _Carbajal
Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., pp. 234, 559-64, tom. ii., pp. 375,
604; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 424-5,
tom. iii., pp. 407-8, 453, 520-3, 528-9, 569-74; _Carli_, _Cartas_,
pt i., p. 107; _Malte-Brun_, _Précis de la Géog._, tom. vi., p. 456;
_Simon's Ten Tribes_, pp. 275-6; _Monglave_, _Résumé_, p. 32;
_Cooper's Hist. N. Amer._, vol. ii., p. 163; _Baril_, _Mexique_, p.
203; _Bussierre_, _L'Empire Mex._, pp. 147-9; _Ranking's Hist.
Researches_, pp. 381-4; _Brownell's Ind. Races_, p. 96; _Klemm_,
_Cultur-Geschichte_, tom. v., pp. 31, 49-53, 77, 184; _Carbajal_,
_Discurso_, p. 37.
[884] Except the Zapotecs, who, Carbajal Espinosa says, were of low
stature and broad-shouldered. _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., p. 245.
[885] Gomara says they had wide foreheads. _Conq. Mex._, fol. 317. 'La
forma, ò figura de las Cabeças, comunmente las tienen proporcionadas à
los cuerpos, y à los otros miembros de èl, y derechas; algunos las
tienen empinadas, y las frentes quadradas, y llanas; otros (como son
estos Mexicanos, y algunos del Pirù) las tenian, y tienen de mejor
forma, algo de hechura de Martillo, ò Navio, que es la mejor forma de
todas.' _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 582-3. 'The Aztec
skulls are described as being remarkable for the shortness of their
axis, their large flattened occiput obliquely truncated behind, the
height of the semicircular line of the temples, and the shortness and
trapezoidal form of the parietal plane. They present an elevation or
ridge along the sagittal suture; the base of the skull is very short,
and the face slightly prognathic, as among the Mongol-Kalmucs. They
bear a strong analogy to the skulls of a Peruvian Brachycephali
delineated by Morton.' _Foster's Pre-Hist. Races_, p. 326. 'The
aboriginal Mexicans of our own time are of good stature and well
proportioned in all their limbs. They have narrow foreheads, black
eyes, white, well-set, regular teeth, thick, coarse and glossy black
hair, thin beards, and are in general without any hair on their legs,
thighs, or arms. Their skin is olive coloured, and many fine young
women may be seen among them with extremely light complexions. Their
senses are very acute, more especially that of sight, which they enjoy
unimpaired to the most advanced age.' _Figuier's Hum. Race_, p. 455.
For remarks on Mexican Crania, descriptions and measurements of skulls
with cuts, see _Morton's Crania Amer._, pp. 144-7, 152-7, 231-3, 257,
and plates xvi-xviii., lix.-lxi.
[886] According to Herrera, _Hist. Gen._, (Lond. 1726,) vol. iv., p.
125, and Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 35,
the Miztecs had long beards.
[887] 'En los Sentidos exteriores (como son los de el Vèr, Oìr, Oler,
y Gustar) los alcançan admirables; porque vèn mui de lejos, y no vsan
de Antojos, si no son mui pocos, despues que los han visto, en
nuestros Españoles, y eso es en la vejez, y tienen comunmente los ojos
buenos, y hermosos, oien mucho, huelen tambien qualquier cosa de mui
lejos; lo mismo es el Gusto; el Sentido del tacto, comunmente es
delicado, lo qual se verifica en ellos, porque qualquier cosa, que
pueda lastimarlos, como es frio, calor, açotes, ù otra exterior
afliccion, los aflige mui facilmente, y en mucho grado, y qualqueira
enfermedad los adelgaça, mas presto los enflaquece, y mata, que à otra
Nacion, asi Española, como otra alguna, como es notorio, à todos los
que los conocemos, y son para sufrir mui poco trabajo.' _Torquemada_,
_Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 580.
[888] _Beaumont_, _Crón. Mechoacan_, MS., p. 50; _Gomara_, _Conq.
Mex._, fol. 218; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 337, tom.
iii., p. 332; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii.,
p. 57.
[889] He adds further: 'Y esto (aunque no en tanto extremo) corre, mui
en general, por todos estos Reinos, y en especial en aquel de Xalisco,
en la Nacion, que llaman Coca, y Tecuex, que son los Tonaltecos, y por
acà en la de Tlaxcalla, y otras muchas, que por escusar enfado,
callo.' _Monarq. Ind._, tom. ii., p. 582; see also tom. i., p. 339.
[890] 'Sonovi così rari i deformi, che tutti quegli Spagnuoli, e
Creogli, che nel 1768, vennero dal Messico in Italia, restarono
allora, e sono anche oggidì maravigliati dall'osservare nelle Città di
questa coltissima penisola un sì gran numero di ciechi, di gobbi, di
zoppi, d'attratti ec.' _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom.
iv., p. 163. See farther, concerning the physical peculiarities of the
Nahuas and earlier peoples: _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Relaciones_, in
_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., pp. 326, 336-7, 341, 344-5,
395; _Vetancvrt_, _Teatro Mex._, tom. ii., p. 12; _Gomara_, _Conq.
Mex._, fol. 37, 44, 95, 318; _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., lib.
x., p. 112, 119, 132; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., pp. 37,
51, 255, tom. ii., pp. 580-83; _Cortés_, _Cartas_, tom. i., p. 23;
_Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. i., pp. 143-6, tom. ii., p. 5;
_Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. ii., lib. x., cap. xix.; _Oviedo_,
_Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., p. 499; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del
Messico_, tom. i., pp. 118-19, tom. iv., pp. 161-76; _Relatione fatta
per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese_, in _Ramusio_,
_Navigationi_, tom. iii., fol. 304; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist.
Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 282, tom. ii., pp. 187, 189, tom. iii., p. 35;
_Carbajal Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., pp. 90, 245, tom. ii., pp.
326, 487; _Dupaix_, _Rel., 2de Expéd._, p. 25; _Gordon's Hist. and
Geog. Mem._, pp. 71-2; _Dillon's Hist. Mex._, p. 45; _Macgregor's
Progress of Amer._, vol. i., p. 21; _Cooper's Hist. N. Amer._, vol.
ii., p. 163.
[891] See this volume, p. 242.
[892] 'Vi sono molti, che accordano ai Messicani una grande abilità
per l'imitazione; ma lor contrastano quella dell' invenzione. Error
volgare, che trovasi smentito nella Storia antica di questa Nazione.'
_Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. i., p. 120.
[893] See this volume, pp. 475-6.
[894] 'Los niños de los Indios no son molestos con obstinacion ni
porfia à la Fè Catholica, como lo son los Moros y Indios; antes
aprenden de tal manera las verdades de los Christianos, que no
solamente salen con ellas, sino que las agotan, y es tanta su
facilidad que parece que se las beuen. Aprenden mas presto que los
niños Españoles; y con mas contento los Articulos de la Fè por su
orden, y las demas oraciones de la doctrina Christiana, reteniendo en
la memoria fielmente lo que se les enseña.' _Dávila Padilla_, _Hist.
Fvnd. Mex._, p. 139. 'Il n'était rien que les Indiens n'apprissent
avec une rapidité surprenante, et s'il arrivait quelque nouveau métier
dont ils n'eussent aucune connaissance, ils s'appliquaient à le voir
faire avec tant d'intelligence, que, malgré les soins de l'ouvrier à
leur cacher son secret, ils le lui enlevaient au bout de quelques
jours.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iv., p. 728.
[895] 'Son muy ladrones, mentirosos, y holgazanes. La fertilidad de la
tierra deue causar tanta pereza, o por no ser ellos codiciosos.'
_Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 317. 'La liberalità e lo staccamento da
qualsiasi interesse sono dei principali attributi del loro carattere.
L'oro non ha presso i Messicani tutta quella stima, che gode presso
altri. Danno senza dispiacere quello, che si procacciano con somma
fatica. Questo loro staccamento dall'interesse, ed il poco amore, che
portano a quei che gli governano, ii fa rifiutare quelle fatiche, a
cui sono da essi costretti, e questa è appunto la tanto esagerata
pigrizia degli Americani.' _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_,
tom. i., pp. 121-2. 'Estavan libres de la enfermedad de la codicia, y
no pensauan en la vanidad del oro, y plata, ni hazian estimacion
dello.' _Dávila_, _Teatro Ecles._, tom. i., p. 18. 'Segun lo que
aquella edad permite, son inclinadissimos à ser liberales. Tanto monta
que lo que se les da, se de à vno como à muchos: porque lo que vno
recibe, se reparte luego entre todos.' _Dávila Padilla_, _Hist. Fvnd.
Mex._, p. 139.
[896] The most sober people known. _Relatione fatta per vn
gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese_, in _Ramusio_,
_Navigationi_, tom. iii., fol. 304.
[897] _Las Casas_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. viii., pp.
124-5.
[898] 'Son celosissimosmos, y assi las aporrean mucho.' _Gomara_, _Conq.
Mex._, fol. 317. We have seen in a former chapter, that Nezahualcoyotl
put his dearest son to death for speaking lewdly to his father's
concubine. See this volume, pp. 447, et seq.; see further concerning
the character of the Mexicans, about whom the above remarks, though
doubtless applicable to many other of the Nahua nations, are more
particularly made: _Esplicacion de la Coleccion de Mendoza_, in
_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., p. 40; _Acosta_, _Hist. de las
Ynd._, pp. 458-9; _Dávila Padilla_, _Hist. Fvnd. Mex._, pp. 139, 270;
_Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. iii., p. 232; _Gomara_, _Conq.
Mex._, pp. 317-18; _Padilla_, _Conq. N. Galicia_, MS., p. 8; _Zorita_,
in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. viii., p. 235; _Tezozomoc_,
_Crónica Mex._, in _Id._, vol. ix., p. 167; _Las Casas_, _Hist.
Apologética_, MS., cap. xliv., xlv., lxvii., cxl.; _Clavigero_,
_Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. i., pp. 119-23, tom. iv., pp. 177-202;
_Soden_, _Spanier in Peru_, tom. ii., p. 17; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_,
_Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iv., pp. 727-30, 810; _Edinburgh Review_,
1867; _Klemm_, _Cultur-Geschichte_, tom. v., pp. 8-10; _Espinosa_,
_Hist. Mex._, tom. i., pp. 90-3; _Gordon's Hist. and Geog. Mem._, pp.
73-6; _Chevalier_, _Mexique_, pp. 53-4.
[899] For the character of the Tlascaltecs see: _Cortés_, _Cartas_, p.
68; _Camargo_, _Hist. Tlax._, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843,
tom. xcviii., pp. 197-200, tom. xcix., pp. 136, 149, 151; _Motolinia_,
_Hist. Indios_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i., p. 76;
_Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 87; _Alcedo_, _Dicc._, tom. v., p. 155;
_Heredia y Sarmiento_, _Sermon_, p. 88; _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Hist.
Chich._, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 294; _Peter
Martyr_, dec. v., lib. i.; _Pradt_, _Cartas_, pp. 175-6; _Carbajal
Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. ii., pp. 121, 129, 511; _Klemm_,
_Cultur-Geschichte_, tom. v., pp. 186-7; _Bussierre_, _L'Empire Mex._,
p. 230; _Dillon_, _Hist. Mex._, p. 7.
[900] _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., p. 499; _Gomara_, _Conq.
Mex._, fol. 95; _Pradt_, _Cartas_, p. 176; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_,
_Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iv., p. 130; _Carbajal Espinosa_, _Hist.
Mex._, tom. i., p. 259, tom. ii., pp. 121, 339.
[901] _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iii., cap. xiv.;
_Dávila Padilla_, _Hist. Fvnd. Mex._, p. 548; _Delaporte_, _Reisen_,
tom. x., p. 183.
[902] _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iii., cap. xiii.;
_Carbajal Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., p. 244; _Brasseur de
Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 35.
[903] _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, fol. 57.
[904] _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. ii.
[905] _Beaumont_, _Crón. Mechoacan_, MS., pp. 51-2; _Torquemada_,
_Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 337, tom. iii., p. 332; _Oviedo_, _Hist.
Gen._, tom. iii., p. 563; _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Hist. Chich._, in
_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 308; _Herrera_, _Hist.
Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iii., cap. x.; _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol.
218; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., pp. 56-7;
_Carbajal Espinosa_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., p. 291, tom. ii., p. 595;
_Malte-Brun_, _Précis de la Géog._, tom. vi., p. 456.