Flesh, fowl, and fish, both fresh and salted, were stewed, boiled, and roasted, with the fat of the techichi, and seasoned with chile, tomatl (since called tomatoes), etc. The larger roasted game preserved for eating from the sacrifices in the month of Itzcalli is termed calpuleque by Sahagun. Pipian was a stew of fowl with chile, tomatoes, and ground pumpkin-seeds. Deer and rabbits were barbecued. Peter Martyr speaks of "rost and sodden meates of foule."
Fruits, for the most part, were eaten as with us, raw, but some, as the plantain and banana, were roasted and stewed.
So much for the plain Nahua cookery. Into the labyrinthine mysteries of the mixed dishes I shall not penetrate far. It is easier for the writer, and not less satisfactory to the reader, to dismiss the subject with the remark that all the articles of food that have been mentioned, fish, flesh, and fowl, were mixed and cooked in every conceivable proportion, the product taking a different name with each change in the ingredients. The two principal classes of these mixed dishes were the pot-stews, or cazuelas, of various meats with multitudinous seasonings; and the tamalli, or tamales, meat pies, to make which meats were boiled, chopped fine, and seasoned, then mixed with maize-dough, coated with the same, wrapped in a corn-husk, and boiled again. These also took different names according to the ingredients and seasoning. The tamale is still a favorite dish, like tortillas and frijoles.
Miscellaneous articles of food, not already spoken of, were axayacatl, flies of the Mexican lakes, dried, ground, boiled, and eaten in the form of cakes; ahuauhtli, the eggs of the same fly, a kind of native caviar; many kinds of insects, ants, maguey-worms, and even lice; tecuitlatl, 'excrement of stone,' a slime that was gathered on the surface of the lakes, and dried till it resembled cheese; eggs of turkeys, iguanas, and turtles, roasted, boiled, and in omelettes; various reptiles, frogs, and frog-spawn; shrimps, sardines, and crabs; corn-silk, wild-amaranth seeds, cherry-stones, tule-roots, and very many other articles inexpressible; yucca flour, potoyucca, tunas; honey from maize, from bees, and from the maguey; and roasted portions of the maguey stalks and leaves.
The women did all the work in preparing and cooking food; in Tlascala, however, the men felt that an apology was due for allowing this work to be done by women, and claimed, as Sahagun says, that the smoke of cooking would impair their eye-sight and make them less successful in the hunt. All these articles of food, both cooked and uncooked, were offered for sale in the market-places of each large town, of which I shall speak further when I come to treat of commerce. Eating-houses were also generally found near the markets, where all the substantials and delicacies of the Nahua cuisine might be obtained.[358]
EATING OF HUMAN FLESH.
One article of Nahua food demands special mention—human flesh. That they ate the arms and legs of the victims sacrificed to their gods, there is no room for doubt. This religious cannibalism—perhaps human sacrifice itself—was probably not practiced before the cruel-minded Aztec devotees of Huitzilopochtli came into power, or at least was of rare occurrence; but during the Aztec dominion, the custom of eating the flesh of sacrificed enemies became almost universal. That cannibalism, as a source of food, unconnected with religious rites, was ever practiced, there is little evidence. The Anonymous Conqueror tells us that they esteemed the flesh of men above all other food, and risked their lives in battle solely to obtain it. Bernal Diaz says that they sold it at retail in the markets; and Veytia also states that this was true of the Otomís. Father Gand assures us that there were many priests that ate and drank nothing but the flesh and blood of children. But these ogreish tales are probably exaggerations, since those who knew most of the natives, Sahagun, Motolinia, and Las Casas, regard the cannibalism of the Nahuas rather as an abhorrent feature of their religion than as the result of an unnatural appetite. That by long usage they became fond of this food, may well be believed; but that their prejudice was strong against eating the flesh of any but their sacrificed foes, is proven, as Gomara says, by the fact that multitudes died of starvation during the siege of Mexico by Cortés. Even the victims of sacrifice seem only to have been eaten in banquets, more or less public, accompanied with ceremonial rites. A number of infants sacrificed to the Tlalocs were eaten each year, and the blood of these and of other victims was employed in mixing certain cakes, some of which were at one time sent as a propitiatory offering to Cortés.[359]
DRINKS AND DRUNKENNESS.
The most popular Nahua beverages were those since known as pulque and chocolate. The former, called by the natives octli—pulque, or pulcre, being a South American aboriginal term applied to the liquor in some unaccountable way by the Spaniards—was the fermented juice of the maguey. One plant is said to yield about one hundred pounds in a month. A cavity is cut at the base of the larger leaves, and allowed to fill with juice, which is removed to a vessel of earthen ware or of skin, where it ferments rapidly and is ready for use. In a pure state it is of a light color, wholesome, and somewhat less intoxicating than grape wine; but the aborigines mixed with it various herbs, some to merely change its color or flavor, and others to increase its intoxicating properties. This national drink was honored with a special divinity, Ometochtli, one of the numerous Nahua gods of wine. According to some traditions the Quinames, or giants, knew how to prepare it, but its invention is oftener attributed to the Toltecs, its first recorded use having been to aid in the seduction of a mighty monarch from his royal duties.[360]
Chocolatl—the foundation of our chocolate—was made by pounding cacao to a powder, adding an equal quantity of a seed called pochotl, also powdered, and stirring or beating the mixture briskly in a dish of water. The oily foam which rose to the surface was then separated, a small quantity of maize flour was added, and the liquid which was set before the fire. The oily portion was finally restored and the beverage was drunk lukewarm, sweetened with honey and often seasoned with vanilla. This drink was nutritious, refreshing, and cooling, and was especially a favorite with those called upon to perform fatiguing labor with scant food.[361]
Miscellaneous drinks were water, plantain-juice, the various kinds of porridge known as atolli, already mentioned, the juice of maize-stalks, those prepared from chian and other seeds by boiling, and fermented water in which corn had been boiled—a favorite Tarasco drink. Among the ingredients used to make their drinks more intoxicating the most powerful was the teonanacatl, 'flesh of god,' a kind of mushroom which excited the passions and caused the partaker to see snakes and divers other visions.[362]
The Aztec laws against drunkenness were very severe, yet nearly all the authors represent the people as delighting in all manner of intoxication, and as giving way on every opportunity to the vice when the power of their rulers over them was destroyed by the coming of the Spaniards. Drinking to excess seems to have been with them a social vice, confined mostly to public feasts and private banquets. It may have been chiefly against intemperance among the working classes, and officials when on duty, that the stringent laws were directed. Mendieta speaks of the people as very temperate, using pulque only under the direction of the chiefs and judges for medicinal purposes chiefly. The nobles made it a point of honor not to drink to excess, and all feared punishment. But Motolinia and other good authorities take an opposite view of the native character in this respect.[363]
MEALS OF THE COMMON PEOPLE.
Concerning the manner of serving the king's meals, as well as the banquets and feasts of nobles and the richer classes, enough has been already said. Of the daily meals among the masses little is known. The Nahuas seem to have confined their indulgence in rich and varied viands to the oft-recurring feasts, while at their homes they were content with plain fare. This is a peculiarity that is still observable in the country, both among the descendants of the Nahuas and of their conquerors. The poorer people had in each house a metate for grinding maize, and a few earthen dishes for cooking tortillas and frijoles. They ate three meals a day, morning, noon, and night, using the ground for table, table-cloth, napkins, and chairs, conveying their tlaxcalli and chile to the mouth with the fingers, and washing down their simple food with water or atole. The richer Nahuas were served with a greater variety on palm-mats often richly decorated, around which low seats were placed for their convenience; napkins were also furnished.[364]
Progress in Dress—Dress of the Pre-Aztec Nations—Garments of the Chichimecs and Toltecs—Introduction of Cotton—The Maxtli—The Tilmatli—Dress of the Acolhuas—Origin of the Tarascan Costume—Dress of the Zapotecs and Tabascans—Dress of Women—The Huipil and Cueitl—Sandals—Manner of Wearing the Hair—Painting and Tattooing—Ornaments Used by the Nahuas—Gorgeous Dress of the Nobles—Dress of the Royal Attendants—Names of the Various Mantles—The Royal Diadem—The Royal Wardrobe—Costly Decorations.
With but few exceptions the dress of all the civilized nations of Mexico appears to have been the same. The earliest people, the historians inform us, went entirely naked or covered only the lower portion of the body with the skins of wild animals. Afterwards, as by degrees civilization advanced, this scanty covering grew into a regular costume, though still, at first, made only of skins. From this we can note a farther advance to garments manufactured first out of tanned and prepared skins, later of maguey and palm-tree fibres, and lastly of cotton. From the latter no further progress was made, excepting in the various modes of ornamenting and enriching the garments with feather-work, painting, embroidery, gold-work, and jewelry. The common people were obliged to content themselves with plain clothing, but the dress of the richer classes, nobles, princes, and sovereigns, was of finer texture and richer ornamentation.[365]
The descriptions of the dresses of the nations which occupied the Valley of Mexico before the Aztecs vary according to different authors. While some describe them as gorgeously decked out in painted and embroidered garments of cotton and nequen, others say, that they went either wholly naked or were only partially covered with skins. Thus Sahagun and Brasseur de Bourbourg describe the Toltecs as dressed in undergarments and mantles on which blue scorpions were painted,[366] while the latter author in another place says that they went entirely naked.[367] Veytia goes even farther than Sahagun, affirming that they knew well how to manufacture clothing of cotton, that a great difference existed between the dress of the nobles and that of the plebeians, and that they even varied their clothing with the seasons. He describes them as wearing in summer a kind of breech-cloth or drawers and a square mantle tied across the breast and descending to the ankles, while in winter in addition to the above they clothed themselves in a kind of sack, which reached down as far as the thighs, without sleeves but with a hole for the head and two others for the arms.[368]
DRESS OF THE AZTECS, TARASCOS, AND HUASTECS.
The Chichimecs, generally mentioned as the successors of the Toltecs, are mostly described as going naked, or only partly dressed in skins.[369] This appears, however, only to relate to the people spoken of as wild Chichimecs; those who inhabited Tezcuco and others in that neighborhood as civilized as the Aztecs, dressed probably in a similar fashion to theirs; at least, as we shall presently see, this was the case with their sovereigns and nobles. All the Nahuas, with the exception of the Tarascos and Huastecs, made use of the breech-cloth, or maxtli.[370] This with the Mexicans in very early times is said to have been a kind of mat, woven of the roots of a plant which grew in the Lake of Mexico, and was called amoxtli.[371] Later, the fibre of the palm-tree and the maguey furnished the material for their clothing, and it was only during the reign of King Huitzilihuitl that cotton was introduced.[372]
The maxtli was about twenty-four feet long and nine inches wide, and was generally more or less ornamented at the ends with colored fringes and tassels, the latter sometimes nine inches long. The manner of wearing it was to pass the middle between the legs and to wind it about the hips, leaving the ends hanging one in front and the other at the back, as is done at this day by the Malays and other East Indian natives. It was at the ends usually that the greatest display of embroidery, fancy fringes, and tassels was made.[373]
GARMENTS OF THE TARASCOS.
As a further covering the men wore the tilmatli, or ayatl, a mantle, which was nothing more than a square piece of cloth about four feet long. If worn over both shoulders, the two upper ends were tied in a knot across the breast, but more frequently it was only thrown over one shoulder and knotted under one of the arms. Sometimes two or three of these mantles were worn at one time. This, however, was only done by the better classes. The older Spanish writers generally compare this mantle to the Moorish albornoz. It was usually colored or painted, frequently richly embroidered or ornamented with feathers and furs. The edges were scalloped or fringed with tufts of cotton and sometimes with gold. Rich people had, besides these, mantles made of rabbit or other skins, or of beautiful feathers, and others of fine cotton into which was woven rabbit-hair, which latter were used in cold weather.[374]
In only one instance garments with sleeves are mentioned. Ixtlilxochitl, in describing the dress of the Acolhuas, says that they wore a kind of long coat reaching to the heels with long sleeves.[375]
The dress of the Tarascos differed considerably from that of the other Nahua nations. This difference is said to have originated in ancient times, when they together with other tribes, as the legend relates, immigrated into Mexico. While on their wanderings being obliged to cross a river, and having no ropes with which to construct rafts, they used for this purpose their maxtlis and mantles. Not being able to procure other clothing immediately, they were under the necessity of putting on the huipiles, or chemises, of the women, leaving to the latter only their naguas, or petticoats. In commemoration of this event, they later adopted this as their national costume, discarding the maxtli and wearing the huipil and a mantle.[376] The tilmatli, or ayatl, was by the Tarascos called tlanatzi. It was worn over one shoulder and was knotted under the other arm. They frequently trimmed it with hare-skins and painted it gaudily. The young wore it considerably shorter than old people. The manufacture of feather garments seems to have been a specialty of the Tarascos.[377]
The Zapotecs chiefly dressed in skins, while others in Oajaca are said to have worn small jackets, and Cortés reports these people to have been better dressed than any he had previously seen.[378] In Tabasco but little covering was used, the greater part of the population going almost naked.[379]
DRESS OF WOMEN.
There was no difference in the dress of the women throughout Anáhuac. The huipil and cueitl were the chief articles, and were universally used. Besides these, mantles of various shapes and materials were worn. The huipil was a kind of chemise, with either no sleeves at all or very short ones; it covered the upper part of the body to a little below the thighs. The lower part of the body was covered by the cueitl, a petticoat, reaching to about half-way between the knees and ankles, and often nicely embroidered and ornamented. Skins, ixcotl, or palm-fibre, nequen, and cotton were the materials used for these garments. Out of doors they frequently put on another over-dress similar to the huipil, only longer and with more ornamental fringes and tassels. Sometimes they wore two or three of these at the same time, one over the other, but in that case they were of different lengths, the longest one being worn underneath. A mantle similar in size and shape to that used by the men, white and painted in various designs on the outside, was also used by the females. To the upper edge of this, on that portion which was at the back of the neck, a capuchin, like that worn by the Dominican and other monks, was fastened, with which they covered their head.[380]
To protect their feet they used sandals, by the Aztecs called cactli, which were made of deer or other skins, and frequently also of nequen and cotton. The strings or straps used to fasten them were of the same material.[381] I do not find any description of the manner in which they were fastened, but in an old Mexican manuscript on maguey paper, in which some of the natives are painted in various colors, I find that the sandals were fastened in three places; first by a strap running across the foot immediately behind the toes, then another over the instep and running toward the heel, and lastly by a strap from the heel round the ankle.
HAIR-DRESSING AND PAINTING.
As a general thing Mexicans wore the hair long, and in many parts of the empire it was considered a disgrace to cut the hair of a free man or woman.[382] Unlike most of the American natives they wore moustaches, but in other parts of the body they eradicated all hair very carefully.[383] There were public barber-shops and baths in all the principal cities.[384] The Aztecs had various ways of dressing the hair, differing according to rank and office. Generally it was left hanging loose down the back. The women also frequently wore it in this way, but oftener had it done up or trimmed after various fashions; thus some wore it long on the temples and had the rest of the head shaved, others twisted it with dark cotton thread, others again had almost the whole head shaved. Among them it was also fashionable to dye the hair with a species of black clay, or with an herb called xiuhquilitl, the latter giving it a violet shade. Unmarried girls wore the hair always loose; they considered it as especially graceful to wear the hair low[385] on the forehead. The virgins who served in the temples had their hair cut short.[386]
The Otomís shaved the fore part of the heads of children, leaving only a tuft behind, which they called piochtli, while the men wore the hair cut short as far as the middle of the back of the head, but left it to grow long behind; and these long locks they called piocheque. Girls did not have their hair cut until after marriage, when it was worn in the same style as by the men.[387] The Tarascos, or as they were also called Quaochpanme, derived this last name from an old fashion of having their heads shaved, both men and women.[388] Later they wore the hair long, the common people simply letting it hang down the back, while the rich braided it with cotton threads of various colors.[389] The Miztecs wore the hair braided, and ornamented with many feathers.[390]
The Nahua women used paint freely to beautify their person, and among some nations they also tattooed. Among the Aztecs they painted their faces with a red, yellow, or black color, made, as Sahagun tells us, of burnt incense mixed with dye. They also dyed their feet black with the same mixture. Their teeth they cleaned and painted with cochineal; hands, neck, and breast were also painted.[391] Among the Tlascaltecs the men painted their faces with a dye made of the xagua and bixa.[392] The Otomís tattooed their breasts and arms by making incisions with a knife and rubbing a blue powder therein. They also covered the body with a species of pitch called teocahuitl, and over this again they applied some other color. Their teeth they dyed black.[393]
The Nahuas, like all semi-barbarous people, had a passion for loading themselves with ornaments. Those worn by the kings, nobles, and rich persons, were of gold or silver, set with precious stones; those of the poorer classes were of copper, stone, or bone, set with imitations in crystal of the rarer jewels. These ornaments took the shape of bracelets, armlets, anklets, and rings for the nose, ears, and fingers. The lower lip was also pierced, and precious stones, or crystals, inserted. The richer classes used principally for this purpose the chalchiuite, which is generally designated as an emerald. There existed very stringent laws regarding the class of ornaments which the different classes of people were allowed to wear, and it was prohibited, on pain of death, for a subject to use the same dress or ornaments as the king. Duran relates that to certain very brave but low-born warriors permission was accorded to wear a cheap garland or crown on the head, but on no account might it be made of gold.[394] Gomara tells us that the claws and beaks of the eagle and also fish-bones were worn as ornaments in the ears, nose, and lips.[395]
The Otomís used ear-ornaments made of burned clay, nicely browned, and others of cane.[396] The Tarascos chiefly relied on feathers for their personal adornment.[397] Of the natives encountered by Cortés when he landed at Vera Cruz, Peter Martyr tells us that in the "hole of the lippes, they weare a broad plate within fastened to another on the outside of the lippe, and the iewell they hang thereat is as great as a siluer Caroline doller and as thicke as a mans finger."[398]
In Oajaca more ornaments were worn than in any other part of the country, owing, perhaps, as the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg remarks, to the plentiful supply of precious metals in that state.[399]
DRESS OF THE NOBLES.
The dress of the nobles and members of the royal household differed from that of the lower classes only in fineness of material and profusion of ornaments. The kings appear to have worn garments of the same shape as those of their subjects, but, in other respects, a particular style of dress was reserved for royalty, and he who presumed to imitate it was put to death. On occasions, however, when the monarch wished to bestow a special mark of favor upon a brave soldier or distinguished statesman, he would graciously bestow upon him one of his garments, which, even though the recipient were a great noble, was received with joy, and the wearer respected as a man whom the king delighted to honor.[400] In Tlascala differences of rank among the nobles were easily recognized by the style of dress. The common people were strictly forbidden to wear cotton clothes with fringes or other trimmings, unless with special permission, granted in consideration of services rendered.[401]
The court laws of etiquette prescribed the dress to be worn by the royal attendants, who could only appear without sandals, barefooted, and in coarse mantles before the king, and even the apparel of the sovereign was in like manner fixed by custom, if not by law. The different kinds of tilmatlis, or mantles, had each its appropriate name, and varied in material as well as in ornament and color. The cotton mantles are described as being of exceeding fineness of texture, so much so that it required an expert to determine whether they were cotton or silk.[402] The mantle worn as every-day dress in the palace was white and blue and called the xiuhtilmatli.[403] There were many other kinds of mantles, of which the following are the principal: A yellowish, heavily fringed mantle, on which monstrous heads were painted, was called coazayacaiotilmatli; another, blue, ornamented with red shells, with three borders, one light, another dark blue, and a third of white feather-work, and fringed with the same kind of shells, was named tecuciciotilmatli; another, dark yellow, with alternate black and white circles painted on it, and a border representing eyes, was the temalcacaiotilmatlitenisio; a similar one, differing only in the figures and shape of the ornaments, was the itzcayotilmatli; a very gaudy one, worked in many colors, was the umetechtecomaiotilmatli; another, with a yellow ground, on which were butterflies made of feathers, and with scalloped edges, was called papaloiotilmatlitenisio; the xaoalquauhiotilmatlitenisio, was embroidered with designs representing the flower called ecacazcatl, and further ornamented with white feather-work and feather edges; the ocelotentlapalliyiticycacocelotl was an imitation of a tiger-skin, also ornamented with an edge of white feathers; the ixnextlacuilolli was worked in many colors, and had a sun painted on it.[404] Other mantles, differing mainly in their style of ornamentation, were the coaxacayo and tlacalhuaztilmatli, the latter worn when the king went into his gardens or to the chase. In the same manner there are also various kinds of maxtlis mentioned, such as the ynyaomaxaliuhqui, ytzahuazalmaxtlatl and yacahualiuqui.[405] In fact there appears to have been a different dress for every occasion. We are told, for instance, that when going to the temple the king wore a white mantle, another when going to preside at the court of justice, and here he again changed his dress, according as the case before the court was a civil or criminal suit.[406] The sandals of the kings were always richly ornamented with precious stones, and had golden soles.[407]
DRESS OF THE KINGS.
Whenever the sovereign appeared in public he wore the royal crown, called copilli, which was of solid gold, and is described by most writers as having been shaped like a bishop's mitre; but in the hieroglyphical paintings, in which the Mexican kings are represented, it is simply a golden band, wider in front than at the back, the front running up to a point; on some occasions it was ornamented with long feathers.[408] The following description of ornaments, worn by the Mexican kings and nobles, I extract from Sahagun:—
ABORIGINAL DRESS.
The quetzalalpitoai consisted of two tassels of fine feathers garnished with gold, which they wore bound to the hair on the crown of the head, and hanging down to the temples. The tlauhquecholtzontli was a handsome garment of feathers worn on the shoulders. On the arms they placed gold rings; on the wrists a thick black strap made soft with balsam, and upon it a large chalchiuite or other precious stone. They also had a barbote, or chin-piece, of chalchiuite or other precious stone, set in gold, inserted in the chin. These chin-ornaments were made long, of crystal, with some blue feathers in the centre, which made them look like sapphire. The lip had a hole bored in it, from which precious stones or gold crescents were suspended. The great lords likewise had holes in their nose, and placed therein very fine turquoises or other precious stones, one on each side of the nose. On their necks they wore strings of precious stones, or a medal suspended by a gold chain, with pearl pendants hanging from its edge, and a flat jewel in the centre of it. They used bracelets of mosaic work made with turquoises. On their legs they wore, from the knee down, greaves of very thin gold. They carried in the right hand a little golden flag with a tuft of gaudy feathers on the top. Upon their heads they wore a bird made of rich feathers, with its head and beak resting on the forehead, its tail toward the back of the head, its wings falling over the temples.[409]
The Main Features of Nahua Commerce—Commerce in Pre-Aztec Times—Outrages Committed by Aztec Merchants—Privileges of the Merchants of Tlatelulco—Jealousy between Merchants and Nobles—Articles used as Currency—the Markets of Anáhuac—Arrangement and Regulations of the Market-Places—Number of Buyers and Sellers—Transportation of Wares—Traveling Merchants—Commercial Routes—Setting out on a Journey—Caravans of Traders—The Return—Customs and Feasts of the Merchants—Nahua Boats and Navigation.
COMMERCE IN PRE-AZTEC TIMES.
Traditional history tells us but little respecting American commerce previous to the formation of the great Aztec alliance, or empire, but the faint light thrown on the subject would indicate little or no change in the system within the limits of Nahua history. The main features of the commercial system in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, were: markets in one or more of the public squares of every town, where eatables and other articles of immediate necessity were daily sold—shops proper being unknown; frequently recurring fairs in each of the large towns, where the products of agriculture, manufacture, and art in the surrounding country were displayed before consumers and merchants from home and from abroad; similar fairs but on a grander scale in the great commercial centres, where home products were exchanged for foreign merchandise, or sold for export to merchants from distant nations who attended these fairs in large numbers; itinerant traders continually traversing the country in companies, or caravans; and the existence of a separate class exclusively devoted to commerce.
From the earliest times the two southern Anáhuacs of Ayotlan and Xicalanco, corresponding to what are now the southern coast of Oajaca and the tierra caliente of Tabasco and southern Vera Cruz, were inhabited by commercial peoples, and were noted for their fairs and the rich wares therein exposed for sale. These nations, the Xicalancas, Mijes, Huaves, and Zapotecs even engaged to some extent in a maritime coasting trade, mostly confined, however, as it would appear, to the coasts of their own territories and those immediately adjacent; and in this branch of commerce little or no advance had been made at the time when the Spaniards came.[410]
The Toltecs are reported to have excelled in commerce as in all other respects, and the markets of Tollan and Cholula are pictured in glowing colors; but all traditions on this subject are exceedingly vague.[411] In the new era of prosperity that followed the Toltec disasters Cholula seems to have held the first place as a commercial centre, her fairs were the most famous, and her merchants controlled the trade of the southern coasts on either ocean. After the coming of the Teo-Chichimec hordes to the eastern plateau, Tlascala became in her turn the commercial metropolis of the north, a position which she retained until forced to yield it to the merchants of the Mexican valley, who were supported by the warlike hordes of the Aztec confederacy. Before the Aztec supremacy, trade seems to have been conducted with some show of fairness, and commerce and politics were kept to a great extent separate. But the Aztecs introduced a new order of things. Their merchants, instead of peaceful, industrious, unassuming travelers, became insolent and overbearing, meddling without scruple in the public affairs of the nations through whose territory they had to pass, and trusting to the dread of the armies of Mexico for their own safety; caravans became little less than armed bodies of robbers. The confederate kings were ever ready to extend by war the field of their commerce, and to avenge by the hands of their warriors any insult, real or imaginary, offered to their merchants. The traveling bands of traders were instructed to prepare maps of countries traversed, to observe carefully their condition for defence, and their resources. If any province was reported rich and desirable, its people were easily aggravated to commit some act of insolence which served as a pretext to lay waste their lands, and make them tributary to the kings of Anáhuac. Within the provinces that were permanently and submissively tributary to Mexico, Tezcuco, and Tlacopan, traffic may be supposed to have been as a rule fairly conducted. The merchants had in turn to pay into the royal treasury a large percentage of their gains, but this, under the circumstances, they could well afford.
Tlatelulco while an independent city was noted for her commerce, as was Tenochtitlan for the prowess of her warriors, and when mercantile enterprise was forced to yield to the power of arms, Tlatelulco, as a part of Mexico, retained her former preëminence in trade, and became the commercial centre of Anáhuac. Her merchants, who were a separate class of the population, were highly honored, and, so far as the higher grades were concerned, the merchant princes, the pochtecas, dwellers in the aristocratic quarter of Pochtlan, had privileges fully equal to those of the nobles. They had tribunals of their own, to which alone they were responsible, for the regulation of all matters of trade. They formed indeed, to all intents and purposes, a commercial corporation controlling the whole trade of the country, of which all the leading merchants of other cities were in a sense subordinate members. Jealousy between this honored class of merchants and the nobility proper, brought about the many complications during the last years of the Aztec empire, to which I have referred in a preceding chapter. Throughout the Nahua dominion commerce was in the hands of a distinct class, educated for their calling, and everywhere honored both by people and by kings; in many regions the highest nobles thought it no disgrace to engage in commercial pursuits.
THE TLATELULCAN COMPANY.
Besides the pochtecas, two other classes of merchants are mentioned in Tlatelulco, the nahualoztomecas, those who made a specialty of visiting the lands of enemies in disguise, and the teyaohualohuani or traders in slaves.[412] The merchants were exempt from military and other public service, and had the right not only to make laws for the regulation of trade, but to punish even those who were not of their class for offenses against such laws. Sahagun gives an account of the gradual development and history of the Tlatelulcan company, stating the names of the leading merchants under the successive kings, with details respecting the various articles dealt in at different periods, all of which is not deemed of sufficient interest to be reproduced in these pages.
Nahua trade was as a rule carried on by means of barter, one article of merchandise being exchanged for another of equivalent value. Still, regular purchase and sale were not uncommon, particularly in the business of retailing the various commodities to consumers. Although no regular coined money was used, yet several more or less convenient substitutes furnished a medium of circulation. Chief among these were nibs, or grains, of the cacao, of a species somewhat different from that employed in making the favorite drink, chocolate. This money, known as patlachté, passed current anywhere, and payments of it were made by count up to eight thousand, which constituted a xiquipilli. In large transactions sacks containing three xiquipilli were used to save labor in counting. Patolquachtli were small pieces of cotton cloth used as money in the purchase of articles of immediate necessity or of little value. Another circulating medium was gold-dust kept in translucent quills, that the quantity might be readily seen. Copper was also cut into small pieces shaped like a T, which constituted perhaps the nearest approach to coined money. Cortés, in search of materials for the manufacture of artillery, found that in several provinces pieces of tin circulated as money, and that a mine of that metal was worked in Taxco. Sahagun says the Mexican king gave to the merchant-soldiers, dispatched on one of their politico-commercial expeditions, sixteen hundred quauhtli, or eagles, to trade with. Bustamante, Sahagun's editor, supposes these to have been the copper pieces already mentioned, but Brasseur believes, from the small value of the copper and the large amount of rich fabrics purchased with the eagles, that they were of gold. The same authority believes that the golden quoits with which Montezuma paid his losses at gambling also served as money.[413]
THE MARKETS OF ANÁHUAC.
The Nahuas bought and sold their merchandise by count and by measures both of length and capacity, but not by weight; at least, such is the general opinion of the authorities. Sahagun, however, says of the skillful merchant that he knows "the value of gold and silver, according to the weight and fineness, is diligent and solicitous in his duty, and defrauds not in weighing, but rather gives overweight," and this too in the "time of their infidelity." Native words also appear in several vocabularies for weights and scales. Brasseur de Bourbourg regards this as ample proof that scales were used. Clavigero thinks weights may have been employed and mention of the fact omitted in the narratives.[414] The market, tianquiztli, of Tlatelulco was the grandest in the country and may be taken as a representative of all. Its grandeur consisted, however, in the abundance and variety of the merchandise offered for sale and in the crowd of buyers and sellers, not in the magnificence of the buildings connected with it; for the market-place was simply an open plaza, surrounded as all the authorities say with 'porticoes' where merchandise was exhibited. What these porticoes were we are left to conjecture. Probably they were nothing more than simple booths arranged in streets and covering the whole plaza, where merchants and their wares were sheltered from the rays of a tropical sun. Whatever may have been the nature and arrangement of these shelters, we know that the space was systematically apportioned among the different industries represented. Fishermen, hunters, farmers, and artists, each had their allotted space for the transaction of business. Hither, as Torquemada tells us, came the potters and jewelers from Cholula, the workers in gold from Azcapuzalco, the painters from Tezcuco, the shoe-makers from Tenayocan, the huntsmen from Xilotepec, the fishermen from Cuitlahuac, the fruit-growers of the tierra caliente, the mat-makers of Quauhtitlan, the flower-dealers of Xochimilco, and yet so great was the market that to each of these was afforded an opportunity to display his wares.
All kinds of food, animal and vegetable, cooked and uncooked, were arranged in the most attractive manner; eating-houses were also attached to the tianquiztli and much patronized by the poorer classes. Here were to be found all the native cloths and fabrics, in the piece and made up into garments coarse and fine, plain and elaborately embroidered, to suit the taste and means of purchasers; precious stones, and ornaments of metal, feathers, or shells; implements and weapons of metal, stone, and wood; building material, lime, stone, wood, and brick; articles of household furniture; matting of various degrees of fineness; medicinal herbs and prepared medicines; wood and coal; incense and censers; cotton and cochineal; tanned skins; numerous beverages; and an infinite variety of pottery; but to enumerate all the articles noticed in the market-place by the conquerors would make a very long list, and would involve, beside, the repetition of many names which have been or will be mentioned elsewhere.
Cortés speaks of this market as being twice as large as that of Salamanca, and all the conquistadores are enthusiastic in their expressions of wonder not only at the variety of products offered for sale, but at the perfect order and system which prevailed, notwithstanding the crowd of buyers and sellers. The judges of the commercial tribunal, twelve in number according to Torquemada, four, according to Zuazo, held their court in connection with the market buildings, where they regulated prices and measures, and settled disputes. Watchmen acting under their authority, constantly patrolled the tianquiztli to prevent disorder. Any attempt at extortionate charges, or at passing off injured or inferior goods, or any infringement on another's rights was immediately reported and severely punished. The judges had even the right to enforce the death penalty. Other markets in the Nahua regions were on a similar plan, those of Tlascala and Tezcuco coming next to that of Tlatelulco in importance.[415]
BUYERS AND SELLERS.
Trade was carried on daily in the tianquiztli, chiefly for the convenience of the inhabitants of the city, but every fifth day was set apart as a special market-day, on which a fair was held, crowded not only by local customers, but by buyers and sellers from all the country round, and from foreign lands. In Tlatelulco these special market-days were those that fell under the signs calli, tochtli, acatl, and tecpatl. In other large cities, days with other signs were chosen, in order that the fairs might not occur on the same day in neighboring towns. Las Casas says that each of the two market-places in the city of Mexico would contain 200,000 persons, 100,000 being present each fifth day; and Cortés tells us that more than 60,000 persons assembled daily in the Tlatelulco market. According to the same authority 30,000 was the number of daily visitors to the market of Tlascala. Perhaps, however, he refers to the fair-days, on which occasion at Tlatelulco, the Anonymous Conqueror puts the number at 50,000, limiting the daily concourse to about 25,000.[416] Considering the population of the cities and surrounding country, together with the limited facilities for transportation, these accounts of the daily attendance at the markets, as also of the abundance and variety of the merchandise, need not be regarded as exaggerations.
On the lakes about the city of Mexico merchandise of all kinds was transported to and from the markets by boats, 50,000 of which, as Zuazo tells us, were employed daily in bringing provisions to the city.[417] The heavier or more bulky articles of trade, such as building material, were often offered for sale in the boats to save the labor of repeated handling. Boats were also used for transportation on the southern coasts, to some extent on navigable rivers, and also by traveling merchants in crossing such streams as could not conveniently be bridged. The only other means of transportation known in the country was that afforded by the carriers. Large numbers of these carriers, or porters, were in attendance at the markets to move goods to and from the boats, or to carry parcels to the houses of consumers. For transportation from town to town, or to distant lands, merchandise was packed in bales, wrapped in skins and mats, or in bamboo cases covered with skin, known as petlacalli. Cases, or cages, for the transportation of the more fragile wares were called cacaxtli. The tlamama, or regular carriers, were trained to their work of carrying burdens from childhood, seventy or eighty pounds was the usual burden carried, placed on the back and supported by the mecapalli, a strap passing round the forehead; twelve or fifteen miles was the ordinary day's journey. The tlamama, clad in a maxtli, carried on long trips, besides his bale of merchandise, a sort of palm-leaf umbrella, a bag of provisions, and a blanket.
TRAVELING MERCHANTS.
Expeditions to distant provinces were undertaken by the company of Tlatelulco for purposes of commercial gain; or by order of the king, when political gains were the object in view, and the traders in reality armed soldiers; or more rarely by individual merchants on their own private account. For protection large numbers usually traveled in company, choosing some one of the company to act as leader. Previous to departure they gave a banquet to the old merchants of the town, who by reason of their age had ceased to travel; at this feast they made known their plans, and spoke of the places they intended to visit and roads by which they would travel. The old merchants applauded the spirit and enterprise of those who were going on the expedition, and, if they were young and inexperienced, encouraged them and spoke of the fame they would gain for having left their homes to undertake a dangerous journey and suffer privations and hardships. They reminded them of the wealth and honored name acquired by their fathers in similar expeditions, and gave them advice as to the best manner of conducting themselves on the road.[418]
On the route the carriers marched in single file, and at every camping-place the strictest watch was kept against enemies, and especially against robbers, who then as now infested the dangerous passes to lie in wait for the richly laden caravans. Rulers of the different friendly provinces, mindful of the benefits resulting from such expeditions, constructed roads and kept them in repair; furnished bridges or boats for crossing unfordable streams; and at certain points, remote from towns, placed houses for the travelers' accommodation. Expeditions in hostile provinces were undertaken by the nahualoztomecas, who disguised themselves in the dress of the province visited, and endeavored to imitate the manners and to speak the language of its people, with which it was a qualification of their profession to make themselves acquainted. Extraordinary pains was taken to guard against robbers on the return to Mexico, and it is also said to have been customary for the merchants on nearing the city, to dress in rags, affecting poverty, and an unsuccessful trip. The motive for this latter proceeding is not very apparent, nor for the invariable introduction of goods into the city by night; they had not even the hope of evading the payment of taxes which in later times prompts men to similar conduct, since merchandise could only be sold in the public market, where it could not be offered without paying the royal percentage of duties.
The usual route of commercial expeditions was south-eastward to Tochtepec near the banks of the Rio Alvarado, whence the caravans took separate roads according as their destination was the coast region of Goazacoalco, the Miztec and Zapotec towns on the Pacific, or the still more distant regions across the isthmus of Tehuantepec. The southern limit reached by the traders of the Aztec empire, it is impossible accurately to determine. The merchants of Xicalanco furnished Cortés, when about to undertake the conquest of Honduras, tolerably correct maps of the whole region as far south as the isthmus of Panamá;[419] the raiders from Anáhuac are known to have penetrated to Chiapa, Soconusco, and Guatemala; it is by no means improbable that her merchants reached on more than one occasion the Isthmus.[420]
The preceding pages contain all that has been preserved concerning Nahua trade and traders except what may be termed the mythology of commerce, a branch of the subject not without importance, embracing the ceremonies, sacrifices, and superstitions connected with the setting-out, journey, and return of the Tlatelulcan caravans. Commerce, like every other feature of Nahua civilization, was under the care of a special deity, and no merchant dared to set out on an expedition in quest of gain, without fully complying with all the requirements of the god as interpreted by the priesthood. The particular divinity of the traders was Iyacatecutli, or Iyacacoliuhqui, 'lord with the aquiline nose'—that nasal type being, as the Abbé Brasseur thinks, symbolic of mercantile cunning and skill. Services in his honor were held regularly in the month of Tlaxochimaco; but the ceremonies performed by traveling merchants, seem to have been mostly devoted to the god of fire and the god of the roads.
SETTING-OUT OF THE MERCHANTS.
First a day was selected for the start whose sign was deemed favorable—Ce Cohuatl, 'one serpent,' was a favorite. The day before they departed the hair was cropped close, and the head soaped; during all their absence, even should it last for years, these operations must not be repeated, nor might they wash more than the neck, face, and hands, bathing the body being strictly prohibited. At midnight they cut flag-shaped papers for Xiuhtecutli, the god of fire, fastened them to sticks painted with vermilion, and marked on them the face of the god with drops of melted ulli, or India-rubber. Other papers also marked with ulli, were cut in honor of Tlaltecutli, to be worn on the breast. Others, for the god of the merchants, were used to cover a bamboo stick, which they worshiped and carried with them. The gods of the roads, Zacatzontli and Tlacotzontli, also had their papers ornamented with ulli-drops and painted butterflies; while the papers for Cecoatlutlimelaoatl, one of the signs of the divining art, were decorated with snake-like figures. When all the papers were ready, those of the fire-god were placed before the fire in the house, the others being arranged in systematic order in the courtyard. Then the merchants, standing before the fire, offered to it some quails which they first beheaded, and forthwith, drawing blood from their own ears and tongue, they repeated some mystic word and sprinkled the blood four times on the fire. Blood was then sprinkled in turn on the papers in the house, towards the heavens and cardinal points, and finally on the papers in the courtyard. The fire-god's papers, after a few appropriate words to the deity, were burned in a brazier with pure white copal. If they burned with a clear flame, it was a good omen; otherwise ill fortune and disaster were betokened. The papers left outside were burned together—save those of the merchants' god—in a fire which was kindled in the court, and the ashes were carefully buried there.
All this at midnight. At early dawn the principal merchants of the city or of the neighborhood, or simply friends and relatives of the party about to set out on the journey, according to the wealth of the party, with youths and old women, were invited to assemble and, after a washing of mouths and hands, to partake of food. After the repast, concluded by another washing and by smoking of pipes and drinking of chocolate, the host spoke a few words of welcome to the guests, and explained his plans. To this some one of the chief merchants briefly responded with wishes for the success of the expedition, advice respecting the route to be followed and behavior while abroad, applause for the spirit and enterprise shown, and words of encouragement to those about to undertake their first commercial journey, picturing to them in vivid colors both the hardships and the honors that were before them. Then the merchandise and provisions for the trip were made ready in bales and placed in the canoes, if the start was to be made by water, under the direction of the leader who, after attending to this matter, made a farewell address of thanks for advice and good wishes, recommending to the care of those that remained behind their wives and children. The friends again replied briefly and all was ready for the departure. A fire was built in the courtyard and a vase of copal was placed near it. As a final parting ceremony each of the departing merchants took a portion of the copal and threw it on the fire, stepping at once toward his canoe. Not another word of farewell must be spoken, nor a parting glance be directed backward to friends behind. To look back or speak would be a most unpropitious augury.
CARAVANS OF TRADERS.
Thus they set out, generally at night, as Sahagun implies. On the journey each merchant carried continually in his hand a smooth black stick representing his god Iyacatecutli—probably the same sticks that have been mentioned as being covered with papers in honor of this god the night before the departure from home. When they halted for the night the sticks of the company were bound together in a bundle, forming a kind of combination divinity to whose protecting care the encampment was piously entrusted. To this god offerings of ulli and paper were made by the leaders, and to the gods of the roads as well. Blood must also be drawn and mingled with the offering, else it were of no avail; and, a most inconvenient rule for poor weak humanity, the sacrificial offering had to be repeated twice again each night, so that one or another of the chiefs must be continually on the watch. The caravans, when their destination was a friendly province, usually bore some presents from the sovereigns of Mexico as tokens of their good will, and they were received by the authorities of such provinces with some public ceremonies not definitely described.
When the merchants returned home, after consultation with a tonalpouhqui, they awaited a favorable sign, such as Ce Calli, or Chicome Calli, 'one, or seven house,' and then entered the city under shade of night. They repaired immediately to the house of the leading merchant of the corporation, or to that of the merchant under whose direction their trip had been made, formally announcing their safe arrival, and also their intention to invite all the merchants on the following day to partake of "a little chocolate in their poor house," that is, to be present at a most sumptuous banquet. Papers were then cut and at midnight offered with ulli, much after the manner already described, to the gods as a thank-offering for their protection. The feast that took place next day, when all the guests were assembled, was accompanied by additional offerings to the gods of fire and trade, and, of course, by speeches of the returned travelers and their guests, but presented no particularly noticeable contrasts with the many feasts that have been described.
Not only was the traveler obliged, according to the Nahua superstition, to abstain from baths during his absence, but even his family during the same period, while allowed to bathe the body, must not wash the head or face oftener than once in eighty days; thus were the gods propitiated to watch kindly over their absent relative wandering in distant lands. If a merchant died while on a journey, his body, at least if he belonged to the highest rank, was neither buried nor burned, but, clad in fine apparel, and decorated with certain mystical papers and painted devices, it was put in a wooden cage, or cacaxtli, and secured to a tree on the top of a high mountain. Advice of the death was forwarded to the old merchants, who in turn informed the family of the deceased, and regular funeral ceremonies were performed either immediately or on the return of the caravan. If the deceased met his death at the hands of an enemy, a wooden image was prepared, dressed in the clothing of the dead merchant, and made the subject of the usual funeral rites.
FEASTS OF THE MERCHANTS.
Besides the regular feasts attending the departure and return of caravans, many others took place under the auspices of the mercantile class. We have noticed the fondness of the Nahua people for entertainments of this kind, and it is natural that the merchants, as the richest class in the community, should have been foremost in contributing to this popular taste. Each merchant, when he had acquired great wealth by good fortune in his trading ventures, deemed it, as Sahagun tells us, a most disgraceful thing "to die without having made some splendid expenditure" by entertaining his friends and fellow-merchants in a banquet, which should be remembered as the event of his career. A long time was devoted to making ready for the feast, to the purchase of provisions and decorations, and to engaging dancers and singers, that no item might be neglected, nor any oversight be allowed to mar the perfect enjoyment of the invited guests. All being ready, a propitious sign was selected, and invitations issued. The object of the display of hospitality being not only the entertainment of friends, but a thanksgiving to the gods for favors shown to the host, the first ceremonies were naturally in honor of the deities. These began in the night preceding the feast-day, with offerings of flowers in the shrine of Huitzilopochtli, in the chapels of other gods, and finally in the courtyard of the host, where were placed drums and two plates, on which perfumed canes were burning. Those officiating whistled in a peculiar manner, and all, stooping, put some earth in their mouth, crying "our lord has sounded." Then all burned perfumed copal, and a priest beheaded a quail before the drum, throwing it on the ground and watching in what direction it might flutter. If northward, it was a bad omen, foretelling sickness, or perhaps death. But the west and south were fortunate directions, indicating a peaceful and friendly disposition on the part of the gods. Incense was burned toward the cardinal points, the burning coals were thrown from the censer into the fire, and then the performers engaged for the areito, including, it would seem, soldiers of several classes, led by the tlacatecatl, began to dance and sing. Neither the host nor merchant guests joined in the dance, but remained in the house to receive the company and present them with bouquets of flowers. At midnight ulli-marked paper was offered to the gods, and its ashes buried to promote the prosperity of future generations. Before the light of day chocolate was drunk and the nanacatl, or intoxicating mushroom, was eaten, which caused some to dance, others to sing, and yet others to sit pensive in their rooms dreaming dreams and seeing visions of horrid import, whose narration at a later hour, when the effects of the drug had passed away, formed a prominent feature of the entertainment. At the appearance of the morning star all the ashes of the sacrifices, the flowers, the burning canes, and all the implements used in the foregoing ceremonies, were buried, that they might not be seen by any visitor polluted by any kind of vice or uncleanness. The rising sun was greeted with songs, dancing, and beating of the teponaztli. The day was passed in feasting and music, and at the close of the day's banquet food was distributed to the common people. The banquet was often continued more than one day, and if after the first day's feast the provision of food was exhausted, it was regarded by the guests as a bad sign—a very sensible superstition truly.
SACRIFICE OF SLAVES.
There was another merchant's feast in the month of Panquetzaliztli, in which a number of slaves were killed and eaten. The victims were purchased sometime beforehand at the slave mart in Azcapuzalco, kept clean,—being therefore called tlaaltilzin, 'washed'—and fattened for the occasion. The male slaves meantime had no work but to dance daily on the housetop, but the women had to spin. The articles collected for this feast embraced large numbers of rich mantles, maxtlis, and huipiles, which were to be presented to guests. Not only the residents of Mexico were invited but members of the Tlatelulcan company who lived in other towns. The giver of the feast went personally to many towns, especially to Tochtepec, to issue invitations and distribute gifts. On his arrival he went first to the shrine of Iyacatecutli, before whose image he performed certain ceremonies and left some offerings. Then he went to the house of the Tlatelulcan company, prepared a feast and summoned the rich traders, who came at midnight. Washing of the hands and mouth preceded and followed the eating, presents were made, chocolate drunk, pipes smoked, quails offered in the courtyard, and incense burned. One of the best speakers then announced the purpose of their visitor to kill a few slaves in honor of Huitzilopochtli, and in his name invited the company to be present at the pleasing spectacle, and partake of the human flesh and other choice viands. Another speaker responded in a speech of acceptance, and the feast-giver directed his steps homeward to Mexico. After resting awhile the merchant ceremonially invited those of his own city to be present at the feast, and the latter, after many precautions, including an inspection by the older merchants to satisfy themselves that food enough had been provided and that the affair could not be a failure, deigned to accept, although they warned the would-be host of the fearful responsibility he would incur should the feast be in any respect improperly managed, through his unwillingness to spend money enough. Ce Calli, Ome Xochitl, and Ome Ozomatli, were good signs for this feast.
On the first day the male slaves, richly attired and decorated, were made to dance and perform the areito, carrying garlands of flowers and also pipes from which they were continually puffing smoke. The females, in equally rich attire were stationed with plenty of food in one of the rooms where all could readily see them. The eating, drinking, and distribution of gifts were kept up all night. The following day's feast was a repetition of the first, and was called tlaixnexia; that of the third day was called tetevaltia, and on this day they made many changes in the dress of the slaves, putting on wigs of many-colored feathers, painted ear-flaps, stone nose-ornaments like butterflies, jackets with fringed borders and death's heads for decoration, hawks' wings, tlomaitl, on the shoulders, rings, matacaxtli, on the arms, stained sandals, and girdles called xiuhtlalpilli. From this time forward strict guard was kept over them day and night until their death.
On yet a fourth occasion, apparently some days, or perhaps weeks, later, the merchant assembled his guests, and then just before sunset the victims were made drunk with teuvetli, and carried to Huitzilopochtli's temple, where they were made to dance and sing, and kept awake all night. At midnight they were placed on a mat before the fire, and the master of the banquet, dressed much like the slaves themselves, put out the fire, and in the darkness gave to each four mouthfuls of a dough moistened with honey, called tzoalli. Then a man dancing before them played upon an instrument called chichtli, hairs were pulled out of the top of each slave's head and put in a plate, quacaxitl, held by the dancer, and the master threw incense toward the east, west, north, and south. The slaves were offered food, but could not be induced to eat, expecting each moment the messenger of death. They were first taken to the ward of Coatlan, and in the courtyard of the temple of Huitzcalco were forced to fight against certain persons, the most valiant of whom were called tlaamaviques. If by force of arms these persons captured any of the slaves, they were entitled to receive their full value from the owner, or in default of such payment to take the bodies after the sacrifice and eat the same. After the contest the victims were sacrificed on the shrine of Huitzilopochtli, the complicated details of the ceremonies which followed differing only very slightly from those of similar sacrifices already several times described. The bodies were thrown down the steps as usual, carried home by the owner, cooked with maize, seasoned with salt without chile, and were finally eaten by the guests. With this horrible repast the great feast of the month of Panquetzaliztli ended; but he who had given it carefully preserved the clothing, and other relics of the slaughtered slaves, guarding them in a basket as most precious and pleasant souvenirs all the days of his life; and after his death the basket and its contents were burned at his obsequies.
Acosta tells us that in Cholula the merchants, especially those that dealt in slaves, furnished each year a slave of fine physique to represent their god Quetzalcoatl, in whose honor he was sacrificed, with appropriate and complicated ceremonies, his flesh being afterwards eaten in a banquet.[421]