152 



HISTORY OF MEXICO. 



the refill oF the fame wood. The more refpectable the 

 perfons were to whom fhe ferved in this capacity, fo 

 much the greater was the punifhment. 



According to the laws, the man who dreffed himfelf 

 like a woman, or the woman who dreffed herfelf like a 

 man, was hanged. 



The thief of things of fmall value met with no punifh- 

 ment, excepting that of being obliged to reftore what he 

 had flolen ; if the things were of great value, he was 

 made the Have of the perfon whom he had robbed. If 

 the thing flolen did no longer exifl, nor the robber had 

 any goods by which he could repay his robbery, he was 

 (toned to death. If he had flolen gold or gems, after 

 being conducted through all the flreets of the city, he 

 was facrificed at the feflival which the goldfmiths held 

 in honour of their god Xipe. He who flole a certain 

 number of ears of maize, or pulled up from another's 

 field a certain number of ufeful trees, was made a flave 

 of the owner of that field (y) ; but every poor traveller 

 was permitted to take of the maize, or the fruit-bearing 

 trees, which were planted by the fide of the highway, as 

 much as was fufficient to fatisfy immediate hunger. 



He who robbed in the market, was immediately put to 

 death by the baftinado, in the market-place. 



He alfo was condemned to death, who in the army 

 robbed another of his arms or badges. 



Whoever upon finding a flrayed child, made it a flave, 

 and fold it to another, as if it were his own, forfeited by 

 that crime his liberty and his goods, one half of which 

 was appropriated to the fupport of the child, and the 



other 



(y) The anonymous conqueror fays, that Healing of three or four ears of 

 maize was fufficient to incur the penalty. Torquemada adds, that the penalty 

 was death : but this was the law in the kingdom of Acolhuacan only, not in the 

 realm of Mexico. 



