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Show l3.00K VI. ~ SF 'f , Vlf. The I(Ods of com me rcc, bunting, fifh i1lg, &c. H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. Tlaca'huep:mcuexcotzin, likewife a g~d .of war, the you~ger brother and companion of Huitzilopochtli. Hts tmage wa~ worllupped along with his brother's, in the chief fimCtuary of Mextco; but no when.: with greater devotion than at the court of Tezcuco: . Painalton (fwift or hurried), a god of war, and heutenant of Huttz1lopochtl'i. As they invoked the latter in thofe wars wh~ch were undertaken after ferious deliberation, fo they called upon Pamalton upon fuddcn occafions, fueh as an unexpected attack of the enemy. Then the priefl:s ran about the city with the image of the god, which was wodhipped together with thofe of the other gods of war, calling upon him wi th loud cries, and making f:tcrificcs to him of quails, and other animals. All the men of war were then obliged to nm to anns. Jacateu ttl i (the lord who guides), the god of commerce (r), for whom the merchants celebrated two great annual fcfl:ivals in his temple at M xico; one in the ninth, and another in the fevcnteenth month, with many facrifices' of human viCtims, and fuperb repafts. Mixcoatl, the goddefs of hunting, and the principal deity of the Otomics, who, living among the mountains, were for the moil: part hunters. The Matlatzincas likowife w01·fhipped her with peculiar reverence. She had two t mples in Me ico, and in one of them called 'Teotlalpa11, w,1s hdd a great fcftival with numerous £1crificcs of the wild animals, in the fourteenth month. pochtli, the god of fifhi'ng. He was believed to be the inventor of nets and other inil:ruments of fi.01ing, whence he was particularly revered by fi(hermen, as their proteCtor. In Cuitlahuac, a city upon a little ifland i11 the lake of Chalco, there was a god of filhing highly honoured, named Amimitl, who probably differed from pochtli no otherwife than in name. Huixtocihuatl, the goddefs of Ldt, was wor01ippcd by the Mexicans upon account of the falt works which they hnd at a little difl:ance fron) the capital. A fcafl: was celebrated to her in the [evcnth montp . Tzapotlatenan, the godckfs of phyfic. She was fuppofcd to have been the inventrefs of the oil alkc1 Oxitl, and other rY.ofl: ufeful drugs . 'She was yearly honoured with the f.1crifice of human victims, a!lll witb particular hymns compofcd in her praife. (•) JacatcuClli was alfo call.cd Xincnlc~tl'!li anJ JncficQ/IIdNJIIi. TC:lC:l t - H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. Texcatzoncatl, the god of wine ; known likewife by other names (J), ~rom the effects prod~ced by wine. He had a temple in Mexico, m whtch fo~r hundred pneil:s were confecrated to his woribip, and where for h1m, and the other gods his companions, a yearly feafr was l1eld in the thirteenth month. Ixtlilton (the black-faced) feems to have been a god of phyfic; for they ufed to bring fick children to his temple, to be cured. Their fathers brought them, and dictating to them the prayers with which they were to aik for health, made them dance before the image; and then gave them a water to drink which had been bleifed by the priefi:s confecrated to the god. Coatlicue, or Coatlanto1za, was the goddcfs of flowers. She had a temple in Mexico called 'Jopico,. where a feftival was celebrated to her by the Xochimanqui, or compofdrs of nofegays of flowers, in the third m?nth wh~ch falls. in fpring. They prefented her among other things w1th beautiful bra1ds of flowers. We do not know whether this godclefs was the fame with the mother of Huitzilopochtli. Tlazolt~otl was the god whom the Mexicans invoked to obtain pardon of the1r fins, and to be freed from the difgt·ace to which the guilty are expofed. The principal devotees of this falfe deity were lut1fuJ men~ w~1o courted hi~ protetl:ion with facrifices and with offerings (t). Xtpe 1s the name g1ven by hifi:orians to the god of the goldfmiths, (u) who was greatly revered among the Mexicans. They were perfu~ ded _that all tho~c who neglected his wor{hip, would be punifl1cd W1th dtfeafcs, partlcularly with the itch, boils, and fevcre pains in the eyes and the head. They took care, therefore, to di1l:ingui!l1 them:felves by the cruelty of their facrifices, which were made at a feil:ival ufually celc::brated in the fecond month. . Nappateutl:li (four times lord) was the god of the mat-weavel's. lie was i:tid to be a benign god, · eafy to pardon injuries, anCl gene.rous (1) Such :IB 1t1]utcbJmt·nuinui the firanglcr, and T'r:ntlrtbuin11i the drowncr. (t~ Boturi.ni alTcrts, that Tlazoltcotl was the irnmodetl: and H cbcian goddcfs ; and Mncuil· Jttlcbtqul'f~alh , the Venus Pro111tba. But the Mexicans never nttributed to thci1· gods thofc 1hamcful!rrcgularitic~, which the Creeks :111d Romans imputed to theirs. (u) Xt'pt has no meaning; fo that I imagine the Spanilh wr:tcrs not knowing rhc Mexican . l'l~mc of thi~ god, npplicd to him the two firll fyllablcs of the name of l1is fca!l )(ipelmalitzt/i. VoL. I. LJ to- 257 BOOK VI. '--v-o' ,, |