On
The Borders Of The Adjoining Canals There Were Boats Loaded With Human
Ordure, Used In Tanning Leather, And On All The Public Roads There Were
Places Built Of Canes And Thatched With Straw Or Grass, For The
Convenience Of Passengers In Order To Collect This Material.
In one part
of the square was a court of justice having three judges, and their
inferior officers were employed in perambulating the market, preserving
order, and inspecting the various articles.
After having satisfied our curiosity in the square, we proceeded to the
great temple, where we went through a number of large courts, the smallest
of which seemed to me larger than the great square of Salamanca, the
courts being either paved with large cut white stones, or plastered and
polished, the whole very clean, and inclosed by double walls of stone and
lime. On coming to the gate of the great temple, which was ascended by 114
steps, Montezuma sent six priests and two nobles to carry up Cortes, which
he declined. On ascending to the summit, which consisted of a broad
platform, we observed the large stones on which the victims were placed
for sacrifice, near which was a monstrous figure resembling a dragon, and
much blood appeared to have been recently spilt. Montezuma came out of an
adoratory or recess, in which the accursed idols were kept, and expressed
his apprehension to Cortes that he must be fatigued by the ascent, to
which Cortes answered that we were never fatigued. Montezuma, taking our
general by the hand, pointed out to him the different quarters of the city,
and the towns in the neighbourhood, all of which were distinctly seen from
this commanding eminence. We had a distinct view of the three causeways by
which Mexico communicated with the land, and of the aqueduct of
Chapoltepec, which conveyed an abundant supply of the finest water to the
city. The numbers of canoes which were continually seen passing between
Mexico and all the towns on the borders of the lake, carrying provisions
and merchandise, was really astonishing. We could see, as we had been
often told, that most of the houses of this great city, and of the others
in the neighbourhood which were built in the water, stood apart from each
other, their only communication being by means of drawbridges or canoes,
and that all their roofs were terraced and battlemented. We saw numerous
temples and adoratories in the great city below, on the causeways, and in
the adjacent cities, all resembling so many fortresses with towers,
wonderfully brilliant, being all whitewashed. The noise and bustle of the
market in the great square just below, was so great that it might easily
have been heard almost at the distance of a league; and some of our
companions who had seen both Rome and Constantinople, declared they had
not seen any thing comparable in these cities, for convenient and regular
distribution or numbers of people.
After having admired the magnificent prospect around, Cortes requested of
Montezuma to shew us their gods. After consulting with his priests, he led
us into a kind of saloon in a tower, having a timber roof richly wrought,
under which stood two altars highly adorned, and behind these two gigantic
figures resembling very fat men. That on the right was _Huitzilopochtli_,
the god of war, having a broad face and terrible eyes, all covered over
with gold and jewels, and having his body twisted round with golden
serpents. His right hand held a bow, and in his left there was a bundle of
arrows. Round his neck was a string of the figures of human heads and
hearts made of pure gold, intermixed with precious stones of a blue colour.
Close by him stood a small image representing his page, carrying a lance
and shield richly adorned with gold and jewels. Before the great idol
stood a pan of fire, in which three hearts of human victims were then
burning along with copal. The whole walls and floor of the apartment was
stained with human blood, and had a most offensive smell, worse than any
slaughter-house. On the left of Huitzilopochtli stood another gigantic
figure, having a countenance like a bear, with great shining eyes. The
name of this last was _Tezcatlipoca_, who was said to be the god of the
infernal regions, and to preside over the souls of men[1]. He was likewise
considered as the brother of the god of war. His body was covered all over
with figures representing little devils with tails of serpents, and was
richly adorned with gold and jewels. Before this idol lay an offering of
five human hearts. On the summit of the whole temple was a recess having
its wood-work very highly ornamented, where we saw a figure half human and
the rest like an alligator, all inlaid with jewels, and partly covered by
a mantle. He was considered as the germ and origin of all created things,
and was worshipped as the god of harvests and fruits. Here likewise the
walls and altar were stained with blood like the others, and so offensive
that we were glad to retire in all haste. In this place there stood a drum
of prodigious size, the head of which was made of the skin of a large
serpent, which resounded, when struck, with a noise that might be heard at
the distance of two leagues, and gave out a sound so doleful, that it
might be named the drum of hell. This dreadful drum, the horrid sound of
their horns and trumpets, and the shocking sight of their great
sacrificial knives, the remnants of human victims, and their blood-stained
altars and fanes, made me anxious to get away from this horrible scene of
human butchery, detestable smells, and abominable sights.
Addressing himself to Montezuma, half jest half earnest, Cortes expressed
his astonishment how so wise a prince could adore such absurd and wicked
gods; and proposed to substitute the cross on the summit of the tower, and
the images of the Holy Virgin and her ever-blessed SON in the adoratories,
instead of those horrid idols, assuring him that he would soon be
convinced of the vanity of his idolatry, and the deception practised on
him by these inhuman priests.
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