bore a shield whitened with chalk, having a design of eagle’s feathers in the centre. Fringes of heron’s feathers terminating in eagle’s plumes hung from the lower edge of the shield. In the other hand she carried the tzotozopaztli, a wooden knife, used for pressing cloth. Her face was painted black and yellow. Her hair was dressed in the form known as tzompilinalli, or “hair tied at the temples,” and eagle’s plumes fell from it behind.
Before the victim was dispatched they made her dance to the sound of instruments played by old men, which mingled with the chanting of the priests. The wretched woman wept and sobbed as she danced, and as evening approached she was taken to the temple of Uitzilopochtli, accompanied by all the priests wearing their insignia and the masks of their gods, one of which was that of Ilamatecutli. On arriving at the summit of the teocalli, or pyramid-temple, she was immediately slain, her heart was torn out and she was decapitated. The head was given to the priest attired in the insignia of the goddess, who held it in his right hand by the hair, and engaged in a dance, raising and lowering the horrid trophy, and in this solemn measure he was accompanied by the priests who represented the other divinities. They then descended the steps of the teocalli in procession, and sought their quarters.
The priest of Ilamatecutli carried a great