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122 scene of action, but without understanding that the reason was to prevent them from falling alive into the hands of the enemy. The Tarascan customs were similar; in time of war the priests offered herbs and tobacco at midnight, selecting a date when the position of the stars was favourable, and denounced by name the leaders of the opposing troops. The herbs, together with eagle-down and bloodstained arrows, were taken by spies and deposited within the enemy's territory, a proceeding which was intended as a declaration of war, but also possessed the magical significance of devoting the foe to death. A Mexican army in the field was an extremely gallant sight; the leaders and most distinguished fighters were brilliant in ornaments of gold and the feathers of tropical birds and embroidered tunics. Military insignia existed in great variety, each individual wore every decoration to which he was entitled, and the regimental and tribal standards of elaborate feather-work made a brave show. 'The Mexican standards consisted of an eagle and a jaguar; that of Tlaxcala was a white heron with outspread wings, and the four Tlaxcalan provinces had each their own badges, Tepeticpac, a wolf with arrows; Ocotelolco, a green bird on a rock; Tizatlan, a heron on a rock; and Quiauiztlan, a green canopy. Standards were fastened securely to the backs of certain officers, and the capture of one of them, or the fall of a general, was invariably the signal for a retreat. Diaz describes the Tlaxcalan levies as "brilliant with great devices, each regiment by itself with its banners unfurled, and the white bird, like an eagle, with its wings outstretched, which is their badge."

Children, as a preparation for military service, were entered in one of the schools called Telpochcalli, which were under the protection of Tezcatlipoca, and there underwent a rigorous training, in part religious, which was not, however, so severe as that of the Calmecac. On