forcing, in powerful language, the miseries of war, they sometimes effected a reconciliation and preserved peace. In battle, it was less their desire to kill their enemies, than to take them prisoners, for the purpose of sacrifice. Each nation had its ensign; that of Mexico was an eagle darting upon a tiger; that of Tlascala, an eagle with its wings spread. Their martial music consisted of drums, horns, and sea shells. For fortifications, they used palisades, ditches, walls, and ramparts of earth or

stone.

128. Agriculture and gardening. The principal article cultivated for food by the Mexicans, was maiz, or indian corn; an invaluable grain, first found in America. They had neither plows, oxen, nor horses, to prepare the ground for planting; but a hoe, made of copper. They planted maiz in the manner now practiced in our country. They made great use of rivulets for watering their lands, conducting the water by canals from the hills. They cultivated gardens to great perfection, and from them supplied Mexico with great abundance of plants, fruits, and flowers. By means of twisted willows and roots, they made a substratum, which, being covered with earth, constituted floating gardens on the lakes, which were a great curiosity.

129. Mexican money. The Mexicans used the following articles as money; a species of cocoa, a piece of which represented a certain number; or if a large sum was used, it passed in sacks, each being of a certain value; small pieces of cotton; gold dust in goose quills; pieces of copper in the form of a T; and thin pieces of tin; all of which had their particular value and use.

130. Mexican language. The Mexicans had no knowledge of letters; and their language contained the sounds of twenty of our letters only; but it was copious and very expressive. Almost all words had the accent on the last syllable except one. In the place of letters and words, the Mexicans used, for recording events, paintings, which by means of perfect system and regularity of figures and positions, represented facts with great certainty. These historical paintings were preserved with great care by the Mexicans; and such of

them as escaped destruction, at the time of the conquest by the Spaniards, are the sources from which the history of that country is derived. But the Spaniards, ignorant of their use, and at first supposing them to be applied to idolatrous purposes, destroyed, with frantic zeal, all they could find.

The

131. Cloth and paper. The materials used by the Mexicans for painting, were cloth made of the threads of the aloe, or the palm, dressed skins, and paper. paper was made of the leaves of a species of the aloe, steeped together like hemp or flax, then washed, stretched and smoothed. It was as thick as pasteboard, but softer, smoother, and easy to receive impressions. In general, the sheets were long, and rolled up for preservation, like the parchments of the ancients in Europe and Asia. The colors used in painting were obtained from plants and flowers, and were exquisitely beautiful.

132. Sculpture and casting of metals. Although the Mexicans had not the use of iron or steel, yet by means of flint stone, they carved images in stone and wood, with great exactness. The images of their gods were numberless. But the casting of precious metals into curious figures, was an art in which the Mexicans excelled most nations which were more advanced in

civilization. The founders made the figure of a fish, with the scales alternately one of gold and the other of silver; a parrot, with a movable head, tongue, and wings; an ape, with a movable head and feet, with a spindle in its paw, in the act of spinning: and so exquisite was the work of some of these figures, that the Spaniards, fond as they were of the gold, valued the workmanship more than the metal.

133. Mexican stage. The stage among the Mexicans was a square terrace raised and uncovered, or the lower area of some temple. Here actors displayed their comic powers in representing various characters and scenes in life. Some feigned themselves deaf, sick, lame, blind, or crippled, and addressed an idol for the return of health. Some mimicked animals, or appeared under their names, disguised in the form of toads, beetles, or lizards. These coarse representations were the dramatic amusements

of the Mexicans, which concluded with a grand dance of the spectators.

134. Manufactures. The Mexicans had no wool, silk, hemp, or flax; but cotton, fethers, hair, mountain palm, and aloes, supplied their place. Of fethers, interwove with cotton, were formed mantles, gowns, carpets, and bed curtains. Waistcoats for the nobles, and other garments, were made of cotton, interwove with the finest hair from the belly of the rabbit. The leaves of the maguay furnished a fine thread, equal to that of flax; and the palm supplied that which was coarser. These were prepared for use, nearly in the manner we prepare flax and hemp. Of these plants also were made mats, ropes, shoes, and many other articles of common use.

135. Food. The principal plant cultivated for food was maiz; but cocoa, chia, and beans, were also used. Bread was made of maiz in this manner: The grain was first boiled with a little lime; when soft, it was rubbed between the hands, which took off the skin, then pounded into a paste and baked in a pan. The nobles mixed some fragrant herbs with their bread to give it a

flavor. Cookery was the business of the women. The Mexicans not having cattle or sheep, reared and used vast numbers of fowls, and small animals; as turkies, quails, geese, ducks, deer, rabbits, and fish. Their drinks were beverages made by fermentation from the juice of the maguay, or aloe, the palm, the stem of maiz and the like.

136. Dress and ornaments. In the climate of Mexico very little clothing was necessary. The poor wore a girdle; and the higher classes, a girdle, and a mantle or cloak over the shoulders, about four feet long, and in winter a waistcoat. The shoe was of lether or coarse cloth, under the foot tied with strings round the ankle. The Mexicans wore their hair long, thinking it dishonorable to be shaved. For ornaments, they wore earrings, pendants at the under lip, or the nose; bracelets on the arms, and rings like a collar on the legs. The rich used pearls, emeralds, and other gems set in gold; and the poor used shells, crystals, or some shining

stones.

137. Furniture of the houses. The beds of the Mexicans did not accord with the finery of their dress. Their beds were two coarse mats of rushes, to which the rich added fine palm mats and sheets of cotton. The cover of the bed was a mantle, or a counterpane of cotton and fethers. The table was a mat spread on the ground; and napkins were used, as were plates, porringers, earthern pots and jugs, but no knives nor forks. For chairs, were used low seats of wood, and rushes or palm, and reeds. The shell of a fruit like a gourd, furnished cups. The Mexicans used no wax, tallow, or oil, for lights, but torches of wood, like pine knots. Tobacco was much used for smoking and in snuff. Instead of soap, were used the fruit and root of a particular tree.

138. Amusements. The Mexicans had no stringed instruments; but for music, made use of horns, shells, and little pipes or flutes. They had also a kind of drum, which was a cylinder of wood, covered with a deer skin, well dressed and stretched, which they slackened or tightened. They had also a piece of wood, cylindrical

and hollow, in which were two openings lengthwise; this was beat with two little sticks, whose ends were covered with elastic gum, to soften the sound. These instruments were accompanied with singing; but their voices were harsh and offensive to European ears.

MEXICAN MUSICIANS.

139. Dances. The dances of the Mexicans were very graceful. They were of various kinds; sometimes in circles; sometimes in ranks; some dances were performed by men only, others by females. On such occasions, the nobles were dressed in their most pompous attire; adorned with bracelets, ear-rings, and various pendants of gold and jewels, and with various plumes. The little dance was performed for the amusement of the nobles, or in temples for devotion, or in private houses. This was performed by a few persons, who arranged themselves in parallel lines, with their faces directed sometimes one way, sometimes another, and they occasionally crossed and intermingled with each other.

140. Great dance. The great dance was performed in a large open space of ground, or in the area of a