together, and kneaded with the blood of human
hearts taken from the breasts of living persons, from which a paste is
formed in a sufficient quantity to form large statues. When these are
completed they make them offerings of the hearts of other victims,
which they sacrifice to them, and besmear their faces with the blood.
For everything they have an idol, consecrated by the use of the nations
that in ancient times honored the same gods. Thus they have an idol
that they petition for victory in war; another for success in their
labors; and so for everything in which they seek or desire prosperity,
they have their idols, which they honor and serve.

This noble city contains many fine and magnificent houses; which may be
accounted for from the fact that all the nobility of the country, who
are the vassals of Muteczuma, have houses in the city, in which they
reside a certain part of the year; and besides, there are numerous
wealthy citizens who also possess fine houses. All these persons, in
addition to the large and spacious apartments for ordinary purposes,
have others, both upper and lower, that contain conservatories of
flowers. Along one of the causeways that lead into the city are laid
two pipes, constructed of masonry, each of which is two paces in width,
and about five feet in height. An abundant supply of excellent water,
forming a volume equal in bulk to the human body, is conveyed by one of
these pipes, and distributed about the city, where it is used by the
inhabitants for drinking and other purposes. The other pipe, in the
meantime, is kept empty until the former requires to be cleansed, when
the water is let into it; and continues to be used {156} until the
cleansing is finished. As the water is necessarily carried over
bridges on account of the salt water crossing its route, reservoirs
resembling canals are constructed on the bridges, through which the
fresh water is conveyed. These reservoirs are of the breadth of the
body of an ox, and of the same length as the bridges. The whole city
is thus served with water, which they carry in canoes through all the
streets for sale, taking it from the aqueduct in the following manner:
the canoes pass under the bridges on which the reservoirs are placed,
when men stationed above fill them with water, for which service they
are paid. At all the entrances of the city, and in those parts where
the canoes are discharged, that is, where the greatest quantity of
prov