e human sacrifices of these people, the
following was communicated to us: The breast of the unhappy victim
destined to be sacrificed was ripped open with a knife made of sharp
flint; the throbbing heart was then torn out, and immediately offered to
the idol-god in whose honour the sacrifice had been instituted. After
this, the head, arms, and legs were cut off and eaten at their banquets,
with the exception of the head, which was saved, and hung to a beam
appropriated for that purpose. No other part of the body was eaten, but
the remainder was thrown to the beasts which were kept in those
abominable dens, in which there were also vipers and other poisonous
serpents, and, among the latter in particular, a species at the end of
whose tail there was a kind of rattle. This last-mentioned serpent,
which is the most dangerous, was kept in a cabin of a diversified form,
in which a quantity of feathers had been strewed: here it laid its eggs,
and it was fed with the flesh of dogs and of human beings who had been
sacrificed. We were positively told that, after we had been beaten out
of the city of Mexico, and had lost 850 of our men, these horrible
beasts were fed for many successive days with the bodies of our
unfortunate countrymen. Indeed, when all the tigers and lions roared
together, with the howlings of the jackals and foxes, and hissing of the
serpents, it was quite fearful, and you could not suppose otherwise than
that you were in hell.

I will now, however, turn to another subject, and rather acquaint my
readers with the skilful arts practised among the Mexicans: among which
I will first mention the sculptors, and the gold and silversmiths, who
were clever in working and smelting gold, and would have astonished the
most celebrated of our Spanish goldsmiths: the number of these was very
great, and the most skilful lived at a place called Escapuzalco, about
four miles from Mexico. After these came the very skilful masters in
cutting and polishing precious stones, and the chalchihuis, which
resemble the emerald. Then follow the great masters in painting, and
decorators in feathers, and the wonderful sculptors. Even at this day
there are living in Mexico three Indian artists, named Marcos de Aguino,
Juan de la Cruz, and El Crespello, who have severally reached to such
great proficiency in the art of painting and sculpture, that they may be
compared to an Apelles, or our contemporaries Michael Angelo and
Berruguete.[56]

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