Page:The Native Races of the Pacific States, volume 2.djvu/162



haughtiest nobles, sovereigns in their own land, humbled themselves before him; absolute in power, the fate of thousands depended upon a gesture of his hand.

CEREMONY OF ANOINTMENT.

The ceremony of anointment, which preceded and was entirely distinct from that of coronation, was an occasion of much display. In Mexico, as soon as the new king was elected, which was immediately after the funeral of his predecessor, the kings of Tezcuco and Tlacopan were sent for to be present at the ceremony of anointment; all the great feudatory lords, who had been present at the funeral of the late king, were also invited to attend. When all are assembled the procession sets out for the temple of Huitzilopochtli, the god of war. The kings of Tezcuco and Tlacopan, surrounded by all the most powerful nobles of the realm, bearing their ensigns and insignia of rank, lead the van. Next comes the king elect, naked, excepting only the maxtli, or cloth about the loins; following these are the lesser nobles, and after them the common people. Silently the procession wends its way along the streets; no beat of drum nor shout of people is heard above the tramping. The road in advance is as free from obstruction as a corridor in the royal palace; no one moves among the multitude that string along its edges, but all stand with bended head and eyes downcast until the solemn pageant has passed, when they close in with the jostling and whispering crowd that follows. Arrived at the temple the king and that part of the procession which precedes him ascend to the summit. During the ascent he is supported on either side by a great lord, and such aid is not superfluous, for the staircases, having in all one hundred and fourteen steps, each a foot high, are so arranged that it is necessary to go completely round the building several times before reaching the top. On the summit the king is met by the high-priest and his colleagues, the people meanwhile waiting below. His first action upon re