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Show ' r 300 H I S T 0 R Y 0 F · M E X I C 0. EOOK rv. fcattered; two priells offered incenfe to the idol, which two others '-' -·-.-#' carried upon their jhouldcrs. In the mean while the people kept kllcding, fl:rildng their ba<:ks with thick knotted cords. When the proccffiou finilbed, and a! fo their difcipline,. they carried back the idol to the altar, and made abllndant offerings to it of gold, gems, flowers, feathers, animals, and provifions, whi h were prepared by the virgi'ns and other women, who, on account of fame p:uticnlar vow, <1ffifl:ed for that day in the !crvice of the tem pie. Thefe prov ifions were carried in proceilion by the fame virgins, who were led by a refpcetablc prie!l:, drefied in a fl:range fantafl:ical habit, and lafl:ly the youths carried them to the habitations of the priefis for whom they had been pr<.:pared. Afterwards they made the facrifice pf the v.ietim reprefcnting tl1e god Tezcatli poca. This viCl:im was the handfomefl: and bel1: fhaped youth of all the prifoners. They feleeted hirn a year before the fcfiival, and during that whole time he was always drcfTed in a fimilar habit with the idol; he was permitted to go round the city, but always accompanied by a fl:rong guard, and was adored eyery where,. as the living image of that fuprcme divinity. Twenty days before the fdl:ival, this youth married four bcautifnl girls, and on the·fivc days preceding 1he fi ftival., they gave him fumptuous entertainments, and allowed him o.ll the plcafu res of life. On the day of the fe.il:iv.11, they led hirn with a numerous attendance to the temple of Tez.catlipoca, but before they came there they difmitrcd his wives. He accompanied the idol in the procc.fiiog, and when the hour of Elcrifice was come, they il:retched him upon the altar, and the high prieft with great revetiCncc ppened his breaft and pulled out his heart. His body was not, like the ,'bodies of other viCtims~ thrown down the fiairs, but carried in the arms fJf the pridl:s and beheaded at the bottom of the temple. His head was ftrnng tp in the 7-'zompant/i, among the reft of the fkulls of the vict. ims which were L'ltrificed to Tezcatlipoca, and his legs and arms wt:re drefTed and prepared for the tables of the lords. After the facrifice, a g~nd dance took place of the collegiate yo1.1 ths and nobles who. were prefent at the feftival. At fun-fet, the virgins of the temple made a new offering of bread baked with honey. This bread, with [orne other things unknown to us, was put before the altar of Tezcatlipoca,. and \ H .I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. j'OJ and was defiined to be the reward of the youths who !hould be the· .BOOK VI. vicrors in the r<~ce which they made down the fl:airs of the temple / ~ they were alfo rewarded with n garment, and received the praifc and applaufe of the pricfis as well as the people who were ipechtors. The feitival was concluded by difmiffmg from the feminaries all the youths and virgins who were arrive~ at an age fit for marriage. Tht: youths who remained, mocked the others with £·Hirical and humorous raillery, and threw at them handfuls of ru{hes and other things, upbraiding them with leaving the fervicc:: of god for the pleafures of matrimony;. the pri fts always granting them indulgence in this emanation of youth-ful viva ity. In this iame fifth month, the firft fefiival of Huitzilopochtli was celebrated~ The pridl:s made a ftatue of this god of the regular ftature of a man; they made the fle01 of a heap of Trzobualii, which is a certain eatable plant, and the bones of the wood Mizquitl. . They drefied it in cotton with a mantle of feathers; put on its head a fmall parafol of paper, adorned with beautiful feathers, and above that a bloody little knife of flint-11:one, upon its breaft a plate of gold, and on its garment wet·c feveral figures· reprefenting bones b[ the dead, and the image of a man torn in pieces ; by which they intended to lignify either the power of this god in battle, or the terrible revenge, which, according to their mythology, he took againft thofe who confpircd againft the honour and life of his mother. They put this ftatue in a · litter made on four ·wooden. ferpcnts, which four principal officet:s of the Mexican army hore from the place where the ftatue was formed, into the altar where i~ was placed. Several youths forming a circle,. and joining ,themfclves together by means of arrows~ which they laid hold of with their hands, the one by the head, the other by the. point, carried before the litter a piece of paper more than fifteen perches· long, on which, probably, the glorious actions of that falfe di.vinity were reprefentcd, and which they fun.g to the found of mufical infi.mments. When the day of the feftival was. arrived, in the morning they made a great facrifice of quails, VI hich after their heads were twilled off:, they threw at the foot of the altar. The firft who made this facrifice was the· king,. after hirn the priefts,. and laftly, the people. Of this, great pro-fufion; S li C T r XXXIJ •. The grand: feOival of Huitzilo~ pochdi .. |