But Thanks And Praise To God And His Holy Virgin Mother, Who
Gave Me Force To Escape From Their Grasp,
That I might now relate and make
manifest our heroic deeds in the conquest of this _new world_, and thereby
To prevent all the honour and merit from being unjustly ascribed to our
general alone. It is now proper that I should make some observations on
the good effects produced by our exertions and illustrious conquests, to
the service of God and our king, in which many of our companions lost
their lives, being sacrificed to the gods or idols of the Mexicans,
Huitzilopochtli and Tezcatlipoca.
In the first place, we purged the land of many wicked customs, and in
particular from human sacrifices. By estimates made by the reverend
Franciscan friars, who succeeded Fra Bartholomew de Olmedo, it appears
that above 2500 human victims were sacrificed yearly in Mexico and some
adjacent towns on the lake; so that the number annually put to death in
the whole country must have been very great. Their various other horrible
practices exceed my powers of description. Their cursed adoratories were
exceedingly numerous, like our holy churches, hermitages, and chapels, in
Spain, as they had everywhere houses dedicated to idols, devils, and
infernal figures. Besides which, every individual native had two altars,
one beside the place where he or she slept, and another at the door of the
house, with chests containing large or small idols and stone knives, and
books made of the bark of trees containing the record of past times.
Especially on the coast and other sultry parts of the country, they were
addicted to the most abominable vices, where they had boys in female
attire.
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