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Show Pl . l'flf. I /' ,,~ . (/('(Ill/ 11/fl/1 • /fff'ly /('(' . H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. with cotton ; on his he:1d he wore a crown of green and yellow fearh rs, at his cars hung golden ear-rings and green jewel ,. (perhaps emerald ), and at his under-lip a pendant of turquoift:. The other five minifl:ers were .dreifed in white habits of the .U1me make, but embroidered with black; their hair was wrapped up, their heads were bound with btthern thongs, their foreheads armed with ·little £hields of paper painted of various colout·s, and their· bodies dyed all c..ver black. Thef(; b.trbarous minifl:ers carried the victim entirely naked to the upper are~\ of the tern pie, and after having pointed out to the byftanders the idol to whom the facrifice was made, that they might pay their ad ration to it, exteudcd him upon the altar; four priefl:s held his ] gs and arms, and another kept his. head firm with a wooden infl:rument made in form of a coiled ferpent, which was put about his neck; and on account of the altar being convex, the body of the victim Jay arched, the breafl: and belly being raifed up and totally prevented from the leafl: movement. The inhu nan Topiltzin then appro.tched, and with a cutting knife made of flint, dexterou!1y opened his breaft and tore out his heart, which, while yet palpitating, he offered to the fun, and afterwards threw it at the feet of the idol ; then taking it up again he offered it to the idol itfelf, and afterwards burned it, preferving the a(hes with the utmofl: veneration. If the idol was gigantic and hollow, it was ufual to introduce the heart of the vietim into its mouth with a golden fpoon. It was cufiotpary alfo to anoint the lips Qf the idol and the cornices of the door of the fanauary with the victim's blood. If he was a prifoner of war, as foon as he was facriiiccd. th,ey cut oft· his head to preferve the ikull, and threw the body down the fl:airs to the lower area, where it was taken up by the of:licer or foldier to whom the prifoner had belonged, and carried to his houfe to be boiled and dreffed as an .entertainment for his friends. If he was not a prifqner of war, but a !lave purchafed for a facrifice, the proprietor carried ofF the carcafe from the altar for the fim1e purpofe. They eat only the legs, thighs, and arms, and burned the refl:, or preferved it for food to the wild beafts or birds of prey which were kept in the royal palaces. The Otomies, after having killed the viaim, tore the body in pieces, which they fold at market. · The Zapotccas facrificed men to their .· BOOK VJ. ~ |