Page:The Overland Monthly Volume 5 Issue 3.djvu/60



on their sites will be erected white temples —the pure temples of the true and only God. Beware, then, and let this be the last of human sacrifice! "Tt may be imagined," said the Cura, "with what awe these wicked priests gazed upon that divine figure who dared make such prophecy even in presence of their stony gods. She was regarded as a false prophetess, or witch, and sold to the Tepic nation, to be sacrificed upon the burning altar of Tlaxicoltetl, the God of Storms.

"The day at length arrived for the voyage to the islands. It was the 2oth of June: on the 24th of that month the sacrificial offering was to take place.

"Twenty large canoes, ornamented with pearls and other beautiful shells of the gulf, contained the priests and virgias: they were the sacred canoes, and in one of these sat the beautiful Ixotle, gorgeously dressed in native costume, and adorned with the brightest of pearls. A drooping flower indeed, but with the look of an angel amid her rough attendants! As the sun disappeared below the calm and glistening sea, these canoes departed in the direction where the sun had gone down, followed by a numerous assemblage of other canoes. At the expiration of two nights and one

day they reached the place of the temple

dedicated to their storm-god. It was in a secluded little cove upon the eastern portion of the most northerly island, now called Maria Madre.

"The temple, or altar, was of rude construction, pyramidical in form; upon which stood the idol, huge and uncouth, in the shape of a human being. It was hollowed out, in order that the flames kindled within might give a more hideous expression to the face, by lighting up the round holes for the eyes and open mouth.

"Tt was a gloomy-looking spot, overshadowed by the large trees that abound on these islands. Darkness had closed

the day, and the silence of the hour was

only broken by the dull moaning of the sea and distant murmuring of thunder.

"The time had come for the sacrifice. Torches were lit around the altar, and, as the dull light of the idol grew into flames of fire, the victim was led to the top of the altar, in front of the idol, where she was permitted to stand, that all might gaze for the last time upon her lovely form.

"While thus standing, she turned to the audience, and again related her prophecy of the coming of the White Man, and reiterated her belief in the true and only God of all. She deprecated the foul and disgusting worship of her people, and said the time was near at hand when the Great Creator would terminate this evil practice. When she had finished, there was a deep silence—nothing was heard but the roar of the sea and the approaching tornado. Suddenly, it burst upon the spot with a terrific crash of thunder and lightning, accompanied with furious rain, while the overpowering wind caused the great trees to bend and sway like reeds, the very earth to tremble, and the forest to howl.

"The lights were soon extinguished by the wind and rain, all save that within the hollow idol, which, shining through the eye-holes and distended mouth, gave to the scene an indescribably weird aspect. Ixotle, still standing upon the altar, turned her face up to the mountain, where she beheld a singular apparition of vapory light, amid which the lightnings played and the thunder deafened— and thought she saw the figures of palefaced men with long beards. Turning to the people, at the same time pointing in that direction, she cried aloud, ' Behold! there they are! they have already come!' At that instant, a flash of lightning struck the tree near which stood the idol, shivering tree and idol into atoms. The girl bounded from the altar, and fled into the dark forest.

"The priests and panic-stricken wor