Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 2.djvu/191

Rh the blood alone of the wretched victims would be offered on their altars; at others, their hearts were extracted and placed in the idols' mouths, as favourite morsels; and often entire human bodies were burned, as incense, on the stone altars, amidst loud acclamations. Captives, taken in war, were likewise devoted to the worship of the gods; their heads and hearts were the portions selected for sacrifice, the remainder of their bodies being either burned to ashes, or roasted and devoured by their conquerors. The skulls of all human sacrificial victims were carefully preserved, either in mounds or buildings; and so great was their number, that two of the officers of Cortez are said to have counted as many as 136,000 in the principal building kept for the purpose.

The Aztec god of Providence was called Tezcatlipoca; him they considered the creator of heaven and earth, the soul of the world and the lord of all things. This idol occupied a beautiful chapel lined with curtains, behind which it was placed on a high altar, sitting on a chair, or throne, mounted on a blue globe, to typify heaven. From the sides of the globe projected four rods, carved to represent serpents;