CHAPTER XVI. MEETING WITH MONTEZUMA. November , 1519.

the dwellings of mortals, on mounds of varying elevations, and surmounted by towering chapels. Their fires, burning in perpetual adoration of the gods, presented a most impressive spectacle at night. The grandest and most conspicuous of them all was the temple of Huitzilopochtli, which stood in the centre of the city, at the junction of the four avenues, so as to be ever before the eyes of the faithful. It formed a solid stone-faced pyramid about 375 feet long and 300 feet broad at the base, 325 by 250 feet at the summit, and rose in five superimposed, perpendicular terraces to the height of 86 feet. Each terrace receded six feet from the edge of the one beneath, and the stages were so placed that a circuit had to be made of each ledge to gain the succeeding flight, an arrangement equally suited for showy processions and for defence. Surrounding the pyramid was a battlemented stone wall 4800 feet in circumference, and through this led four gates, surmounted by arsenal buildings, facing the four avenues.⁴