world. The soldiers wore coats of mail of wadded cotton, which neither
arrow nor javelin could easily penetrate. The chiefs wore over these
burnished plates of silver and of gold. Silver helmets, also, often
glittered upon the head. Hospitals were established for the sick and
the wounded.

Their religious system was an incongruous compound of beauty and of
deformity--of gentleness and of ferocity. They believed in one supreme
God, the Great Spirit, with several hundred inferior deities. The god
of war was a very demon. The god of the air was a refined deity, whose
altars were embellished with fruits and flowers, and upon whose ear
the warbling of birds and the most plaintive strains of vocal melody
vibrated sweetly.

There were, in their imaginations, three states of existence in the
future world. The good, and especially those, of whatever character,
who fell upon the field of battle, soared to the sun, and floated in
aerial grace and beauty among the clouds, in peace and joy, never to
be disturbed. The worthless, indifferent sort of people, neither good
nor bad, found perhaps a congenial home in the monotony of a listless
and almost lifeless immortality, devoid of joy or grief. The wicked
were imprisoned in everlasting darkness, where they could do no
farther harm.

It is an extraordinary fact that the rite of infant baptism existed
among them. This fact is attested by the Spanish historians, who
witnessed it with their own eyes, and who have recorded the truly
Christian prayers offered on the occasion. As the infants were
sprinkled with water, God was implored to wash them from original sin,
and to create them anew. Many of their prayers dimly reflected those
pure and ennobling sentiments which shine so brilliantly in the word
of God.

Their worship must have been a costly one, as the most majestic
temples were reared, and an army of priests was supported. One single
temple in the metropolis had five thousand priests attached to its
service. The whole business of youthful instruction was confided to
the priests. They received confession, and possessed the power of
absolution.

The temples were generally pyramidal structures of enormous magnitude.
Upon the broad area of their summits an altar was erected, where human
victims, usually prisoners taken in war, were offered in sacrifice.
These awful ceremonies were conducted with the most imposing pomp of
music, banners, and military and ecclesiastical procession