224 
HUNTING AMONG THE MEXICANS. 
Hunting among the Mexicans. 
The Mexicans were very dexterous in hunting ; they used bows 
and arrows, darts, nets, snares, and a kind of tubes called carbotlane, 
through which they shot by blowing out little balls at birds. Those 
which the kings and great men made use of were curiously carved 
and painted, and likewise adorned with gold and silver. Besides the 
exercise of the chase, which private individuals took either for amuse- 
ment or to provide food, there were general hunting matches, some- 
times appointed by the king, at others to provide victims for sacrifices. 
A large wood, generally that of Zacatapec, near the capital, was 
pitched upon as the scene of these grand hunting matches. Here 
they chose the place best adapted for setting a number of snares and 
nets. The wood was enclosed by some thousands of hunters, forming 
a circle of six, seven, or eight miles, according to the number of 
animals they intended to take. Fire was then set to the grass in 
several places, and a noise made with drums, horns, shouting, and 
whistling. The hunters gradually contracted their circle, continuing 
the noise till the game was enclosed in a very small space. They 
were then killed, taken in snares, or with the hands of the hunters. 
The number of animals taken or destroyed on these occasions was so 
great, that the first Spanish viceroy of Mexico would not believe it, 
without making the experiment himself. The place chosen for his 
hunting-match was a great plain in the country of the Otomies, lying 
between the villages of Xilotepec and S. Giovanni del Rio, the Indians 
being ordered to proceed according to their usual customs. The 
viceroy, attended by a vast retinue of Spaniards, repaired to the 
place appointed, where accommodations were prepared for them in 
houses of wood erected for the purpose. A circle of more than 
fifteen miles was formed by eleven thousand Otomies, who started such 
a quantity of game on the plain, that the viceroy was quite astonished, 
and commanded the greater part of them to be set at liberty, which was 
accordingly done. The number retained was still incredibly great, 
were it not attested by a witness of the highest credit ; on this 
occasion, upwards of six hundred deer and wild goats, one hundred 
cajotes, with a surprising number of hares, rabbits, and other smaller 
animals. The plain still retains the Spanish name of Cazadero, which 
signifies the place of the chase. The Mexicans had also particular 
contrivances for catching certain animals. Thus, to catch young 
asses, they made a small fire in the woods, putting among the burn- 
ing coals a particular kind of stone named cacalott, i. e. raven or 
black stone, which bursts with a loud noise when heated. The fire 
was covered w'ith earth, and a little maize laid around it. The asses 
quickly assembled with their young, in order to feed upon the maize ; 
but while they were thus employed, the stone burst, and frightened 
away the old ones by the explosion, while the young, unable to fly, 
were carried off by the hunters. Serpents were taken with the hands, 
seizing them intrepidly by the neck with one hand, a,nd sewing up 
their mouths with the other : this method is still practised. They 
shewed the greatest dexterity in tracing the steps of wild beasts even 
