Page:The Native Races of the Pacific States, volume 2.djvu/231

 was punished as criminal, and those who showed by their actions a strong disposition to violate their vow of chastity were relentlessly castrated.

The Wiyanas were divided into several orders, but all were ruled in the most absolute manner by the pontiff of Yopaa. I have already spoken of the veneration in which this spiritual monarch was held, and of the manner in which he surmounted the difficulty of having children to inherit the pontifical chair, when continence was strictly imposed upon him.[121]

The ordinary dress of the Zapotec priests was a full white robe, with openings to pass the arms through, but no sleeves; this was girt at the waist with a colored cord. During the ceremony of sacrifice, and on feast-days, the Wiyatao wore, over all, a kind of tunic, with full sleeves, adorned with tassels and embroidered in various colors with representations of birds and animals. On his head he wore a mitre of feather-work, ornamented with a very rich crown of gold; his neck, arms, and wrists were laden with costly necklaces and bracelets; upon his feet were golden sandals, bound to his legs with cords of gold and bright-colored thread.[122]

The Toltec sacerdotal system so closely resembled the Mexican already described that it needs no further description in this volume. Their priests wore a long