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.
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