SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 53 



ensigns. He kept a surprising number of 

 artificers at work, in manufacturing these 

 and other things. He had numerous artists 

 constantly busied likewise, namely, gold- 

 smiths, mosaic workmen, sculptors, painters, 

 and others. One whole district consisted 

 solely of dancing masters, who were trained 

 up to entertain him. 



"The number of the images by which 

 their false gods were represented and wor- 

 shipped, in the temples, the houses, the 

 streets, and the woods, was infinite. Zu- 

 marraga affirms that the Franciscans had, in 

 the course of eight years, broken more than 

 twenty thousand idols; but that number is 

 trifling compared to those of the capital only. 

 They were generally made of clay and certain 

 kinds of stone and wood ; but sometimes, too, 

 of gold and other metals ; and there were 

 some of gems. In a high mountain of Achi- 

 auhtla, in Mizteca, Benedict Fernandez, a 



