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Show II I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. thcr, with the blood of children that had been facrifi ced, in which in the place of bones they fubll:ituted pieces of the wood of acacia. They placed thefc fiatues upon the principal altar of the temple, and during tl1c whole of that night the pricil:s kept watch. The day fo llowing, they gave their benediCtion to the ftatues, and alfo to a finall quantity of water which wa prcferve i in the temple for the purpofe of being fprinkled on the face of any new king of Mexico, and of the general of their armies after their election; but the general, be1ldcs being befprinklcd, was required to drink it. As foon as the fl:atucs were confecrated by this benediction, the dance of both i~xes began, and continued all the month for three or fonr hours every day. During the whole of the month a great deal of blood was {hed; aml four days before the fefl:ival, the mafte rs of the prifoners which were to be flc rificed, and which were fde0-ed for the o<;cafion, obfe rvcd a Llfl:, and had their bodi..:s p<tintecl of various colours. · In the moming of the twentieth day, on which the fcfl:ival was held, a grand and folemn proceffion was made. A priefl: bearing a ferpent of wood, which he raifed high up in his hands, called Ezpamr.tl, and which was the badge of the gods of war, went firfl:, with another priefl: bearing a fl:anclard, fuch as they ufed in their armies. After them came a third prieft, who carried the ftatue of .the god Painalton, the vicar of Huitzilopochtli. Then came ~he_victims after the other pridl:s, and laftly, the people. The pro .. cefhon fet out from the greater temple, towards the difl:rict of Teotlnchco, where it fl:opped, while two prifonerS of war, and fomc purchafed 11aves, were f:1crificcd; they proceeded next to Tlatelolco, Popotb, an~ Chapoltepec, from whence they return,ed to the ity, and afte~· l~av1!1g ~affed t.hrough other dill:riets, re-entered th<.: tempk. 1 h1s Circuit of nme or ten miles, which they pet-forrncJ, con(nmcd the! ~reatefl: p~rt of the day, and at all the places where they 11:oppr..d, they f~cnficed qua1ls, and, probably, fome prifoners alfo. When they arnved at the tern ple, they placed the il:atue of Painalton, and the fiand· ard, upon the altar of Huitzilopochtli; the king offered inc~.;n[e to the two fl:atues of feeds, and then ordered another proceHlon to be made round the temple, at the conclulion of which they facrificed the rdl; of the prifoners and flav es. Thcfe fttcrificcs were made at the clofe of day· That night the priefts 'kept watch, and the next morning they , carried H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. carried the fl:atue in pafie of Huitzilopochtli to a great hall, which · was within the precincts of the temple, and there in the prefence only of the king, four principal priefl:s, and four fuperiors of the feminamu ·ies, the priefl: ~etzalcoatl, who was the chief of the Tlamacazqui, or penance-doers, threw a dart at the. {btue, which pierced it through and through. They then .fi1id, that their god was dead. One of the principal priefl:s cut out the heart of the fl:atue, and gave it 'to the king to c.:at. The body was divided in two parts; one of which was given to the people of Tlatelolco, and the other to the Mexicans. The 01are was again divided into four parts, for the four quarters of the city, and each of thefc four parts into as many minute particles as there were men in each quarter. This ceremony they exprefled by the word 7'eocua!o, which fi gnifies, the god to be eat. The women never ta(red this £1crecl pafl:e, probably, becaufe they had no concern with the profeffion of am1s. 'vVe are ignorant, whether or not they made the fnme ufe of the fl:atue of Tlacahuepan. The Mexicans gave to this month the n ~me of Pcznquetzaliz tli, which fignifies, the railing of the 11:andard, alluding to the one which they carried in the above procefllon. In this month they emp.loyed themfdves in renewing the boundaries, and repairing the inclofurcs of their fields. In the ilxtcenth month, which begrm upon the 23d of December, the fifth and lafl: fefl:ival of the gods of water, and the mountains, took place. They prep:.Hed for it with the ufunl anfl:eritics, by making oblations of copal and other !lr9inatic gums. They formed little figures of the mountains, which they con!ccratcd to tho1e gods, and certain little idols made of the pafl:e of various eatable feed s, of which whe11 they had wodhipped them, they opened the breafts, and cut out the hearts, with a wc:aver's nmttle, and afterwards cut off their heads, in imitation of the rites of the .filcrifLccs. ,The body w~s divided by the heads of families amon()'fl: their domefl:ics, in order that by eating them they might be prc(ervcd from certain difl:cmpcr , to which thoft.: perfons who were negligent of wor{hip to tho fe deities conceived then [elves to be fubj ect. They burned the habits in whi h they had dn:f[ed the fin~l idol s, :1nd jn·eicrved the a{he · with the utmoi1 are in their oratories, and ;11Co the vcm~ Js in which the images had been formed. Befides thefe rites, which were ufually obfcrved in private houfes, they made |