nd are more restrained in the
expression of their feelings.

The dresses of the people were greatly superior to those he had
seen hitherto. They wore over their shoulders a cloak, made of
cottons of different degrees of fineness, according to the
condition of the wearer. These and the ample sashes worn round the
loins were wrought in rich and elegant figures, and edged with a
deep fringe, or tassels.

The women went about as freely as the men. Instead of the cloaks,
they wore mantles of fur or gorgeous feather work. Beneath these
were several skirts or petticoats of different lengths, with highly
ornamented borders. Sometimes loose flowing robes were worn over
these, reaching to the ankles--those of the upper classes being of
very fine textures, and prettily embroidered. Some of the women
wore veils made of fine thread of the aloe, or that spun from the
hair of rabbits and other animals. Others had their faces entirely
exposed, their dark tresses falling luxuriantly ever their
shoulders. These, Roger learned afterwards, were Aztecs, the rest
of the women of Anahuac mostly wearing the veil; which was,
however, extremely thin, and scarcely concealed the features.

The guards ahead with difficulty cleared the way through the crowd,
until they at last arrived at the king's palace, a building of
extraordinary splendor. A number of nobles, in gorgeous attire,
received the party at the entrance; and passing along a stately
corridor, they entered a vast hall. A cornice of carved stonework
covered with thin plates of gold ran round the walls, and from this
dropped hangings of the most delicately embroidered stuffs. The
roof was of carved cedar, the floor a mosaic of stone of different
colors, so delicately fitted together that they seemed one.

At the farther end of the hall, upon a raised dais, was a throne.
Upon this the young king was sitting, while a number of his
counselors and nobles, together with several princesses and ladies
of the court, were gathered around him.

When Roger approached, he bowed low, saluting in Mexican fashion.
The king rose as he approached, looking with lively curiosity and
interest at the strange visitor, of whom he had already received so
many reports.

Roger, on his part, regarded the king with no less interest. He saw
before him a young man of three or four and twenty, with a bright
intelligent face. His figure showed signs of considerable strength
as well as activity, and there was a c