62 



BUREAU OB' AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 28 



where we find, in the .year "9 Calli" or A. D. 1501, King Moto- 

 cuhzoma the younger represented in the complete dress of Xipe 

 as victor over Tohica (a, figure 7), This Xipe dress is expressly men- 

 tioned in a passage of the Cronica Mexicana by Tezozomoc as the 

 dress formerly worn by King Axayacatl. I copy the passage in full, 

 because it is of interest in relation to our picture. It refers to an 

 enterprise against Uexotzinco, l.ying on the other side of the mountains 

 and hostile to the Mexican confederation, in the reign of Motecuh- 

 zoma the younger, Tlacauepan, the younger brother of the king, 

 comes to Motecuhzoma and says: "Lord, I believe that my eyes to- 

 day behold you for the last time, for I am minded to put myself at the 

 head of the troops and make my way through or die in the attempt." 

 To this the king replies: "If such be th}^ will, then take this armor, 

 which once belonged to King Axayacatl, the golden device teocuitla- 

 tontec with the tlauhquechol bird upon it and the broad wooden sword 



Fig. 7. The god Xipe's dress and .shield. 



with broad obsidian blades " (Pues que asi lo quereis, tomad estas armas 

 que fueron del rey Axayacatl, una divisa de oro llamado teocuitla ton- 

 tec con una ave en cima de el tlauhquechol y un espadarte ancho maac 

 cuahuitl de ancha navaja fuerte). "- 



Now it is indeed this Xipe armor in which we see King Axayacatl 

 represented here in the cut from the Cozcatzin codex, as well as in the 

 Bilimec picture. This is most plainly apparent in the human skin, 

 the hands of which hang down over the king's wrists, the feet forming 

 a sort of cuff over the ankles. So also the wholly un-Mexican feather 

 skirt, almost like a theatric costume, which surrounds the hips of the 

 Bilimec warrior, the tzapocueitl, is a part of the Xipe dress. This Xipe 

 petticoat is made of feathers, running into points and overlapping each 

 other like tiles. Likewise the tiger-skin scabbard with which the obsi- 

 dian sword is provided in both pictures points to Xipe. In other par- 

 ticulars the dress differs in no small measure from that of representa- 



a Tezozomoc, Crdnica Mexicana, chap. 91. 



