Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/249

Rh can make up for the want of height, which, as I have already remarked, is an unavoidable defect in Mexican architecture. Riches have been lavished upon the interior of the cathedral; but there is nothing grand or imposing in the effect of the whole. The most remarkable feature is a balustrade, which occupies the centre of the church; it is composed of a metal that was brought from China, through the Philippine Islands, (whence its name. Metal de China,) and which appears to be a composition of brass and silver, massive, but not handsome: it must however have cost a very large sum, as it was paid for by the weight in dollars. In the outer wall of the cathedral is fixed a circular stone, covered with hieroglyphical figures, by which the Aztecs used to designate the months of the year, and which is supposed to have formed a perpetual calendar. At a little distance from it, is a second stone, upon which the human sacrifices were performed, with which the great Temple of Mexico was so frequently polluted: it is in a complete state of preservation, and the little canals for carrying off the blood, with the hollow in the middle, into which the piece of jasper was inserted, upon which the back of the victim rested, while his breast was laid open, and his palpitating heart submitted to the inspection of the High Priest, give one still, after the lapse of three centuries, a very lively idea of the whole of this disgusting operation. Whatever be the evils which the conquests of Spain have entailed upon the New