A7itiquities and Languages of the Mexican Indians. 107 



The chief priest performed the functions belonging to the wor- 

 ship of the idols, upon a large slab, raised in the hall, appropriat- 

 ed to these deities. He was clothed in a white garment of cotton, 

 resembling the surplices used by Catholic priests, with another 

 above it, adorned with figures of birds and other animals : he 

 bore a sort of mitre on his head, and a buskin on his legs, studded 

 with pieces of gold. The worship in that temple, or royal chapel, 

 consisted of profound genuflexions, and offerings of incense, fur- 

 nished by the odoriferous gums, which abound in the woods of 

 Oaxaca. This was the place destined to the sacrifice of human 

 victims, whose hearts were oflfered to the idols, whilst the bodies 

 were cast into the cave, through a door, closed by a slab, which 

 is yet preserved. Prayers, penitence, and fasting, were also per- 

 formed in the same place, when any favour was sought, or any 

 evil deprecated from their deities. The chief priests enjoyed 

 the privilege of a sepulchre in one of the compartments. 



The kings of Teozapotlan were carried to the sepulchre, in 

 their richest garments, feathers, and jewels, and with exquisite 

 collars of gold ; a shield was placed in the left hand, and the 

 spear which they used in war, in the right. At the funeral, dis- 

 cordant and lugubrious instruments were played upon, and amidst 

 lamentations, the life and achievements of the deceased were 

 sung. 



Their kings, their great chiefs, in the same manner as the vic- 

 tims sacrificed at the temple, were thrown into the cave, and 

 even some, whilst living, voluntarily threw themselves there, be- 

 lieving it led to the mansions of eternal felicity. The Zapotecas 

 also had their elysian fields : hope and fear have given birth to 

 the same dogma in America and in Egypt. 



The Zapotecans believed that the cave was three hundred 

 leagues deep ; and in fact there does exist a very great cavity, 

 which has been formed by some cause. I am disposed to believe 

 that riches are buried there, whose resurrection would console 

 the arts. It is to be hoped that the enlightened government of 

 Mexico will cause it to be ascertained whether in Mictla we 

 do not possess a new Pompeii or Herculaneum. 



One of the superior compartments was the palace of the Za- 

 potecan pontiflC In it was his throne, covered with the skins of 

 tigers, and rich carpets of the coloured feathers of birds. Thn 

 other halls, even that of the King, were lower than that of the 



