164 



HISTORY OF MEXICO. 



Befides the armour which they wore for the defence of 

 their chefls, their arms, their thighs, and even their legs; 

 their heads were ufually cafed in the heads of tygers, or 

 ferpents, made of wood, or fome other fub fiance, with 

 the month open, and furnimed with large teeth that they 

 might infpire terror, and fo animated in appearance, that 

 the above mentioned author fays, they feemed to be vo- 

 miting up the foldiers. All the officers and nobles wore 

 a beautiful plume of feathers on their heads, in order to 

 add to the appearance of their flature. The - common 

 foldiers went entirely naked, except the maxtlatl, or gir- 

 dle, which covered the private parts ; but they counter- 

 feited the drefs which they wanted by different colours, 

 with which they painted their bodies. The European 

 hidorians, who exprefs fo much wonder at this, have 

 not obferved how common the fame practice was among 

 the ancient nations of Europe itfelf. 



The offenfive arms of the Mexicans were arrows, 

 flings, clubs, fpears, pikes, fwords, and darts. Their 

 bows were made of a wood, which was elaftic and diffi- 

 cult to break, and the firing of the finews of animals, or 

 the hair of the flag. Some of their bows were fo large 

 (as they are at prefent among fome nations of that con- 

 tinent J, that they required more than five feet length of 

 firing. Their arrows were made of hard rods, pointed 

 with the fliarp bone of a fifh, or other animal, or a piece 

 * of flint, or itztli. They were extremely expert at draw- 

 ing the bow, and very dextrous markfmen, being exer- 

 cifed in it from childhood, and encouraged by rewards 

 from their maflers and parents. The Tehuacanefe Ra- 

 tion was particularly famous for their /kill in fhooting 

 two or three arrows together. The furprifing feats of 

 dexterity, which have been exhibited even in our time 



