this place, and a leg was dispatched to court for the table of the king, the remainder being divided among the great, or the master’s parents. The dreadful repast was usually partaken of in the house of him who had taken the captive prisoner in war. They cooked the flesh with maize and gave a little to each in a small porringer. The dish was called tlacatlaolli, or “man and maize.” After having eaten, the feasters became intoxicated on octli. On the following day, having watched all the night, they went to amuse themselves by examining the other captives, and in watching them being baited on the stone of combat. These latter were known as uauantin, “the pierced,” with reference to the wounds they received.53
Before the sacrificial rites took place the captors of the victims gathered together, and when the victims had been dispatched the captors, or certain priests (it is not clear which), drew on the skins of the flayed victims, and took up positions on hillocks of hay or heaps of chalk or rubbish. Others approached them, and defied them to combat by words and pinches. A skirmish ensued, and those who were captured did not escape scot-free, being rather roughly handled. This mock combat over, the real business of the day began in terrible earnest. The wretched captive was secured by one ankle to the temalacatl, or stone of combat, and wooden bâtons on which