Lost, alone and separated from family, a stray cat must untangle an ancient mystery to escape a long-forgotten cybercity and find the way home. Stray is a third-person cat adventure game set amidst the detailed neon-lit alleys of a decaying cybercity and the murky environments of its seedy underbelly. See the world through the eyes of a stray and interact with the environment in playful ways. Stray is developed by BlueTwelve Studio, a small team from south of France mostly made of cats and a handful of humans.
Red Faction: Guerrilla is a 3rd person, open-world action shooter set on Mars, 50 years after the events of the original Red Faction. Players assume the role of an insurgent fighter with the newly re-established Red Faction movement as they battle for liberation from the oppressive Earth Defense Force. Throughout their fight for freedom, players carve their own path, wreaking havoc across the vast, open-world environment of Mars, from the desolate mining outpost of Parker to the gleaming EDF capital city of Eos. Utilizing improvised weapons, explosives and re-purposed mining equipment and vehicles, Red Faction: Guerrilla allows players to tear through fully destructible environments in an unforgiving Martian landscape swarming with EDF forces, Red Faction resistance fighters, and the downtrodden settlers caught in the cross-fire. Red Faction: Guerrilla also features a robust multiplayer component, including several modes focused on destruction-based gameplay. [THQ]
world conqueror 3 hearts of iron mod
In a world torn by war, the aged gremlin archaeologist Mortimer McGuffin harbours the dark secret of a powerful artifact. Whoever calls this artifact their own will determine the fate of the world. While the Army of Shadows sends out its best and most devious agents to discover the secret, the Alliance's three heroes find themselves involuntarily drawn into the crisis. Enjoy a turbulent and humorous Point & Click adventure in an RPG world! Take Wilbur, Nate and Ivo on their treasure hunt, face bizarre characters and magical fantasy environments, and solve challenging puzzles that will tease your brain cells. [HMH Interactive]
SnowRunner puts you in the driver's seat of powerful vehicles as you conquer extreme open environments with the most advanced terrain simulation ever. Drive 40 vehicles from brands such as Ford, Chevrolet, and Freightliner as you leave your mark on an untamed open world.Overcome mud, torrential waters, snow, and frozen lakes while taking on perilous contracts and missions. Expand and customize your fleet with many upgrades and accessories including an exhaust snorkel for heavy waters or chain tires to battle the snow.
Dangerous Waters will be the first title of its kind, allowing you total control over multiple air, surface, and submarine platforms in a modern-day naval environment! The game allows you to focus your attention and to take direct control of individual crew stations and also plan and execute combined arms naval strategies from a top-down 'Commanders Eye' perspective. S.C.S. - Dangerous Waters allows you control of over 10 of the world's most potent naval units out of a total of more than 270 civilian and military surface, submarine and air units included in the game. [Battlefront.com]
Tomb Raider: Legend revives the athletic, intelligent and entertaining adventurer who won the hearts and minds of gamers worldwide. Lara comes alive with intricately animated expressions, moves and abilities. An arsenal of modern equipment, such as a magnetic grappling device, binoculars, frag grenades, personal lighting device and communications equipment, allows gamers to experience tomb raiding as never before. Eidos and Crystal Dynamics shaped Lara's look and movements to be an inherent extension of her skills, motivation and personality. Lara's character model features natural structure, realistic textures, detailed facial features, reactive eyes and fluid motion, all of which make her part of a living environment. New character animations and controls allow her to move through stunning environments with grace and precision, while an understanding of the game's original appeal reinvigorates the fundamental explore-and-solve adventure experience. [Eidos Interactive]
Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic takes the acclaimed fantasy strategy series to new heights. This new stand-alone game enhances the series' praised fusion of empire building, role-playing and tactical combat with the eerie Shadow World and battle with races never before seen, across new and diverse landscapes. Combined with the option of creating a totally unique environment with the map editor and rewriting the history of this world through the enhanced campaign editor, you are ensured a constant stream of completely new game experiences. [Gathering of Developers]
Enter the world of urban street racing and high performance tuner cars with the latest title in the hit Need for Speed series: Need for Speed Underground. Take on today's most popular tuner cars from Mitsubishi Motors, Subaru, Toyota and many more, building the ultimate street machine by earning cash to pay for custom body kits and a host of licensed car performance mods. But just creating a custom street racing machine will not get you to the top; it takes a certain amount of attitude and razor sharp driving skills to compete in the tough world of urban racing. A number of diverse events set in gritty, nighttime environments make up the heart of street competition. Players become complete street racers by perfecting skills in each event by nailing the perfect shift in drag racing and by putting their street cred on the line, racing through the city streets at all hours of the night. Prove you belong in the elite street racing circles, work your way up the underground rankings and take on the best of the best in each discipline. [Electronic Arts]
FOUR days had elapsed since the Spaniards made their entry intoMexico. Whatever schemes their commander may have revolved in hismind, he felt that he could determine on no plan of operations till hehad seen more of the capital, and ascertained by his own inspectionthe nature of its resources. He accordingly, as was observed at theclose of the last book, sent to Montezuma, asking permission tovisit the great teocalli, and some other places in the city.The friendly monarch consented without difficulty. He evenprepared to go in person to the great temple, to receive his gueststhere,- it may be, to shield the shrine of his tutelar deity fromany attempted profanation. He was acquainted, as we have already seen,with the proceedings of the Spaniards on similar occasions in thecourse of their march.- Cortes put himself at the head of his littlecorps of cavalry, and nearly all the Spanish foot, as usual, andfollowed the caciques sent by Montezuma to guide him. They proposedfirst to conduct him to the great market of Tlatelolco in thewestern part of the city.On the way, the Spaniards were struck, in the same manner asthey had been on entering the capital, with the appearance of theinhabitants, and their great superiority in the style and quality oftheir dress, over the people of the lower countries. The tilmatli,or cloak, thrown over the shoulders, and tied round the neck, madeof cotton of different degrees of fineness, according to the conditionof the wearer, and the ample sash around the loins, were often wroughtin rich and elegant figures, and edged with a deep fringe or tassel.As the weather was now growing cool, mantles of fur or of the gorgeousfeather-work were sometimes substituted. The latter combined theadvantage of great warmth with beauty. The Mexicans had also the artof spinning a fine thread of the hair of the rabbit and other animals,which they wove into a delicate web that took a permanent dye.The women, as in other parts of the country, seemed to go about asfreely as the men. They wore several skirts or petticoats of differentlengths, with highly ornamented borders, and sometimes over them looseflowing robes, which reached to the ankles. These also were made ofcotton, for the wealthier classes, of a fine texture, prettilyembroidered. No veils were worn here, as in some other parts ofAnahuac, where they were made of the aloe thread, or of the lightweb of hair above noticed. The Aztec women had their faces exposed;and their dark raven tresses floated luxuriantly over their shoulders,revealing features which, although of a dusky or rather cinnamonhue, were not unfrequently pleasing, while touched with the serious,even sad expression characteristic of the national physiognomy.On drawing near to the tianguez, or great market, the Spaniardswere astonished at the throng of people pressing towards it, and, onentering the place, their surprise was still further heightened by thesight of the multitudes assembled there, and the dimensions of theinclosure, thrice as large as the celebrated square of Salamanca. Herewere met together traders from all parts, with the products andmanufactures peculiar to their countries; the goldsmiths ofAzcapotzalco; the potters and jewellers of Cholula, the painters ofTezcuco, the stone-cutters of Tenajocan, the hunters of Xilotepec, thefishermen of Cuitlahuac, the fruiterers of the warm countries, the matand chair-makers of Quauhtitlan, and the florists of Xochimilco,-all busily engaged in recommending their respective wares, and inchaffering with purchasers.The market-place was surrounded by deep porticoes, and the severalarticles had each its own quarter allotted to it. Here might be seencotton piled up in bales, or manufactured into dresses and articles ofdomestic use, as tapestry, curtains, coverlets, and the like. Therichly-stained and nice fabrics reminded Cortes of the alcayceria,or silk-market of Granada. There was the quarter assigned to thegoldsmiths, where the purchaser might find various articles ofornament or use formed of the precious metals, or curious toys, suchas we have already had occasion to notice, made in imitation ofbirds and fishes, with scales and feathers alternately of gold andsilver, and with movable heads and bodies. These fantastic littletrinkets were often garnished with precious stones, and showed apatient, puerile ingenuity in the manufacture, like that of theChinese.In an adjoining quarter were collected specimens of pottery,coarse and fine, vases of wood elaborately carved, varnished orgilt, of curious and sometimes graceful forms. There were alsohatchets made of copper alloyed with tin, the substitute, and, as itproved, not a bad one, for iron. The soldier found here all theimplements of his trade. The casque fashioned into the head of somewild animal, with its grinning defences of teeth, and bristlingcrest dyed with the rich tint of the cochineal; the escaupil, orquilted doublet of cotton, the rich surcoat of feather-mail, andweapons of all sorts, copper-headed lances and arrows, and the broadmaquahuitl, the Mexican sword, with its sharp blades of itztli. Herewere razors and mirrors of this same hard and polished mineral whichserved so many of the purposes of steel with the Aztecs. In the squarewere also to be found booths occupied by barbers, who used thesesame razors in their vocation. For the Mexicans, contrary to thepopular and erroneous notions respecting the aborigines of the NewWorld, had beards, though scanty ones. Other shops or booths weretenanted by apothecaries, well provided with drugs, roots, anddifferent medicinal preparations. In other places, again, blankbooks or maps for the hieroglyphical picture-writing were to beseen, folded together like fans, and made of cotton, skins, or morecommonly the fibres of the agave, the Aztec papyrus.Under some of the porticoes they saw hides raw and dressed, andvarious articles for domestic or personal use made of the leather.Animals, both wild and tame, were offered for sale, and near them,perhaps, a gang of slaves, with collars round their necks,intimating they were likewise on sale,- a spectacle unhappily notconfined to the barbarian markets of Mexico, though the evils of theircondition were aggravated there by the consciousness that a life ofdegradation might be consummated at any moment by the dreadful doom ofsacrifice.The heavier materials for building, as stone, lime, timber, wereconsidered too bulky to be allowed a place in the square, and weredeposited in the adjacent streets on the borders of the canals. Itwould be tedious to enumerate all the various articles, whether forluxury or daily use, which were collected from all quarters in thisvast bazaar. I must not omit to mention, however, the display ofprovisions, one of the most attractive features of the tianguez; meatsof all kinds, domestic poultry, game from the neighbouringmountains, fish from the lakes and streams, fruits in all thedelicious abundance of these temperate regions, green vegetables,and the unfailing maize. There was many a viand, too, ready dressed,which sent up its savoury steams provoking the appetite of the idlepassenger; pastry, bread of the Indian corn, cakes, and confectionery.Along with these were to be seen cooling or stimulating beverages, thespicy foaming chocolatl,- with its delicate aroma of vanilla, andthe inebriating pulque, the fermented juice of the aloe. All thesecommodities, and every stall and portico, were set out, or rathersmothered, with flowers, showing, on a much greater scale, indeed, ataste similar to that displayed in the markets of modern Mexico.Flowers seem to be the spontaneous growth of this luxuriant soil;which, instead of noxious weeds, as in other regions, is ever ready,without the aid of man, to cover up its nakedness with this rich andvariegated livery of nature.As to the numbers assembled in the market, the estimates differ,as usual. The Spaniards often visited the place, and no one states theamount at less than forty thousand! Some carry it much higher. Withoutrelying too much on the arithmetic of the Conquerors, it is certainthat on this occasion, which occurred every fifth day, the cityswarmed with a motley crowd of strangers, not only from thevicinity, but from many leagues around; the causeways were thronged,and the lake was darkened by canoes filled with traders flocking tothe great tianguez. It resembled indeed the periodical fairs inEurope, not as they exist now, but as they existed in the Middle Ages,when, from the difficulties of intercommunication, they served asthe great central marts for commercial intercourse, exercising amost important and salutary influence on the community.The exchanges were conducted partly by barter, but more usually inthe currency of the country. This consisted of bits of tin stampedwith a character like a T, bags of cacao, the value of which wasregulated by their size, and lastly quills filled with gold dust. Goldwas part of the regular currency, it seems, in both hemispheres. Intheir dealings it is singular that they should have had no knowledgeof scales and weights. The quantity was determined by measure andnumber.The most perfect order reigned throughout this vast assembly.Officers patrolled the square, whose business it was to keep thepeace, to collect the duties imposed on the different articles ofmerchandise, to see that no false measures or fraud of any kind wereused, and to bring offenders at once to justice. A court of twelvejudges sat in one part of the tianguez, clothed with those ample andsummary powers, which, in despotic countries, are often delegated evento petty tribunals. The extreme severity with which they exercisedthese powers, in more than one instance, proves that they were not adead letter.The tianguez of Mexico was naturally an object of greatinterest, as well as wonder, to the Spaniards. For in it they sawconverged into one focus, as it were, all the rays of civilisationscattered throughout the land. Here they beheld the variousevidences of mechanical skill, of domestic industry, the multipliedresources, of whatever kind, within the compass of the natives. Itcould not fail to impress them with high ideas of the magnitude ofthese resources, as well as of the commercial activity and socialsubordination by which the whole community was knit together; andtheir admiration is fully evinced by the minuteness and energy oftheir descriptions.From this bustling scene, the Spaniards took their way to thegreat teocalli, in the neighbourhood of their own quarters. Itcovered, with the subordinate edifices, as the reader has alreadyseen, the large tract of ground now occupied by the cathedral, part ofthe market-place, and some of the adjoining streets. It was the spotwhich had been consecrated to the same object, probably, ever sincethe foundation of the city. The present building, however, was of nogreat antiquity, having been constructed by Ahuitzotl, whocelebrated its dedication in 1486, by that hecatomb of victims, ofwhich such incredible reports are to be found in the chronicles.It stood in the midst of a vast area, encompassed by a wall ofstone and lime, about eight feet high, ornamented on the outer side byfigures of serpents, raised in relief, which gave it the name of thecoatepantli, or "wall of serpents." This emblem was a common one inthe sacred sculpture of Anahuac, as well as of Egypt. The wall,which was quadrangular, was pierced by huge battlemented gateways,opening on the four principal streets of the capital. Over each of thegates was a kind of arsenal, filled with arms and warlike gear; and,if we may credit the report of the Conquerors, there were barracksadjoining, garrisoned by ten thousand soldiers, who served as a sortof military police for the capital, supplying the emperor with astrong arm in case of tumult or sedition.The teocalli itself was a solid pyramidal structure of earth andpebbles, coated on the outside with hewn stones, probably of thelight, porous kind employed in the buildings of the city. It wasprobably square, with its sides facing the cardinal points. It wasdivided into five bodies or stories, each one receding so as to beof smaller dimensions than that immediately below it; the usual formof the Aztec teocallis, as already described, and bearing obviousresemblance to some of the primitive pyramidal structures in the OldWorld. The ascent was by a flight of steps on the outside, whichreached to the narrow terrace or platform at the base of the secondstory, passing quite round the building, when a second stairwayconducted to a similar landing at the base of the third. The breadthof this walk was just so much space as was left by the retreatingstory next above it. From this construction the visitor was obliged topass round the whole edifice four times, in order to reach the top.This had a most imposing effect in the religious ceremonials, when thepompous procession of priests with their wild minstrelsy came sweepinground the huge sides of the pyramid, as they rose higher and higher inthe presence of gazing multitudes, towards the summit.The dimensions of the temple cannot be given with any certainty.The Conquerors judged by the eye, rarely troubling themselves withanything like an accurate measurement. It was, probably, not much lessthan three hundred feet square at the base; and, as the Spaniardscounted a hundred and fourteen steps, was probably less than onehundred feet in height.When Cortes arrived before the teocalli, he found two priestsand several caciques commissioned by Montezuma to save him the fatigueof the ascent by bearing him on their shoulders, in the same manner ashad been done to the emperor. But the general declined the compliment,preferring to march up at the head of his men. On reaching the summit,they found it a vast area, paved with broad flat stones. The firstobject that met their view was a large block of jasper, the peculiarshape of which showed it was the stone on which the bodies of theunhappy victims were stretched for sacrifice. Its convex surface, byraising the breast, enabled the priest to perform his diabolicaltask more easily, of removing the heart. At the other end of thearea were two towers or sanctuaries, consisting of three stories,the lower one of stone and stucco, the two upper of wood elaboratelycarved. In the lower division stood the images of their gods; theapartments above were filled with utensils for their religiousservices, and with the ashes of some of their Aztec princes, who hadfancied this airy sepulchre. Before each sanctuary stood an altar withthat undying fire upon it, the extinction of which boded as muchevil to the empire, as that of the Vestal flame would have done inancient Rome. Here, also, was the huge cylindrical drum made ofserpents' skins, and struck only on extraordinary occasions, when itsent forth a melancholy sound that might be heard for miles,- asound of woe in after times to the Spaniards.Montezuma, attended by the high-priest, came forward to receiveCortes as he mounted the area. "You are weary, Malinche," said he tohim, "with climbing up our great temple." But Cortes, with a politicvaunt, assured him "the Spaniards were never weary!" Then, takinghim by the hand, the emperor pointed out the localities of theneighbourhood. The temple on which they stood, rising high above allother edifices in the capital, afforded the most elevated as well ascentral point of view. Below them the city lay spread out like amap, with its streets and canals intersecting each other at rightangles, its terraced roofs blooming like so many parterres of flowers.Every place seemed alive with business and bustle; canoes wereglancing up and down the canals, the streets were crowded withpeople in their gay, picturesque costume, while from the marketplacethey had so lately left, a confused hum of many sounds and voices roseupon the air. They could distinctly trace the symmetrical plan ofthe city, with its principal avenues issuing, as it were, from thefour gates of the coatepantli; and connecting themselves with thecauseways, which formed the grand entrances to the capital. Thisregular and beautiful arrangement was imitated in many of the inferiortowns, where the great roads converged towards the chief teocalli,or cathedral, as to a common focus. They could discern the insularposition of the metropolis, bathed on all sides by the salt floods, ofthe Tezcuco, and in the distance the clear fresh waters of the Chalco;far beyond stretched a wide prospect of fields and waving woods,with the burnished walls of many a lofty temple rising high abovethe trees, and crowning the distant hill-tops. The view reached inan unbroken line to the very base of the circular range ofmountains, whose frosty peaks glittered as if touched with fire in themorning ray; while long, dark wreaths of vapour, rolling up from thehoary head of Popocatepetl, told that the destroying element was,indeed, at work in the bosom of the beautiful valley.Cortes was filled with admiration at this grand and gloriousspectacle, and gave utterance to his feelings in animated languageto the emperor, the lord of these flourishing domains. His thoughts,however, soon took another direction; and, turning to Father Olmedo,who stood by his side, he suggested that the area would afford amost conspicuous position for the Christian Cross, if Montezumawould but allow it to be planted there. But the discreet ecclesiastic,with the good sense which on these occasions seems to have been solamentably deficient in his commander, reminded him that such arequest, at present, would be exceedingly ill-timed, as the Indianmonarch had shown no dispositions as yet favourable to Christianity.Cortes then requested Montezuma to allow him to enter thesanctuaries, and behold the shrines of his gods. To this the latter,after a short conference with the priests, assented, and conducted theSpaniards into the building. They found themselves in a spaciousapartment incrusted on the sides with stucco, on which various figureswere sculptured, representing the Mexican calendar, perhaps, or thepriestly ritual. At one end of the saloon was a recess with a roofof timber richly carved and gilt. Before the altar in this sanctuarystood the colossal image of Huitzilopochtli, the tutelary deity andwar-god of the Aztecs. His countenance was distorted into hideouslineaments of symbolical import. In his right hand he wielded a bow,and in his left a bunch of golden arrows, which a mystic legend hadconnected with the victories of his people. The huge folds of aserpent, consisting of pearls and precious stones, were coiled roundhis waist, and the same rich materials were profusely sprinkled overhis person. On his left foot were the delicate feathers of thehumming-bird, which, singularly enough, gave its name to the dreaddeity. The most conspicuous ornament was a chain of gold and silverhearts alternate, suspended round his neck, emblematical of thesacrifice in which he most delighted. A more unequivocal evidence ofthis was afforded by three human hearts smoking and almostpalpitating, as if recently torn from the victims, and now lying onthe altar before him!The adjoining sanctuary was dedicated to a milder deity. Thiswas Tezcatlipoca, next in honour to that invisible Being, theSupreme God, who was represented by no image, and confined by notemple. It was Tezcatlipoca who created the world, and watched over itwith a providential care. He was represented as a young man, and hisimage, of polished black stone, was richly garnished with goldplates and ornaments; among which a shield, burnished like a mirror,was the most characteristic emblem, as in it he saw reflected allthe doings of the world. But the homage to this god was not alwaysof a more refined or merciful character than that paid to hiscarnivorous brother; for five bleeding hearts were also seen in agolden platter on his altar.The walls of both these chapels were stained with human gore. "Thestench was more intolerable," exclaims Diaz, "than that of theslaughter-houses in Castile!" And the frantic forms of the priests,with their dark robes clotted with blood, as they flitted to andfro, seemed to the Spaniards to be those of the very ministers ofSatan!From this foul abode they gladly escaped into the open air; whenCortes, turning to Montezuma, said with a smile, "I do notcomprehend how a great and wise prince like you can put faith insuch evil spirits as these idols, the representatives of the devil! Ifyou will but permit us to erect here the true Cross, and place theimages of the blessed Virgin and her Son in your sanctuaries, you willsoon see how your false gods will shrink before them!"Montezuma was greatly shocked at this sacrilegious address."These are the gods," he answered, "who have led the Aztecs on tovictory since they were a nation, and who send the seed-time andharvest in their seasons. Had I thought you would have offered themthis outrage, I would not have admitted you into their presence!"Cortes, after some expressions of concern at having wounded thefeelings of the emperor, took his leave. Montezuma remained, sayingthat he must expiate, if possible, the crime of exposing the shrinesof the divinities to such profanation by the strangers.On descending to the court, the Spaniards took a leisurelysurvey of the other edifices in the inclosure. The area wasprotected by a smooth stone pavement, so polished, indeed, that it waswith difficulty the horses could keep their legs. There were severalother teocallis, built generally on the model of the great one, thoughof much inferior size, dedicated to the different Aztec deities. Ontheir summits were the altars crowned with perpetual flames, which,with those on the numerous temples in other quarters of the capital,shed a brilliant illumination over its streets, through the longnights.Among the teocallis in the inclosure was one consecrated toQuetzalcoatl, circular in its form, and having an entrance inimitation of a dragon's mouth, bristling with sharp fangs and droppingwith blood. As the Spaniards cast a furtive glance into the throatof this horrible monster, they saw collected there implements ofsacrifice and other abominations of fearful import. Their boldhearts shuddered at the spectacle, and they designated the place notinaptly as the "Hell."One other structure may be noticed as characteristic of thebrutish nature of their religion. This was a pyramidal mound ortumulus, having a complicated framework of timber on its broad summit.On this was strung an immense number of human skulls, which belongedto the victims, mostly prisoners of war, who had perished on theaccursed stone of sacrifice. One of the soldiers had the patience tocount the number of these ghastly trophies, and reported it to beone hundred and thirty-six thousand! Belief might well be staggered,did not the Old World present a worthy counterpart in the pyramidalGolgothas which commemorated the triumphs of Tamerlane.There were long ranges of buildings in the inclosure, appropriatedas the residence of the priests and others engaged in the offices ofreligion. The whole number of them was said to amount to severalthousand. Here were, also, the principal seminaries for theinstruction of youth of both sexes, drawn chiefly from the higherand wealthier classes. The girls were taught by elderly women, whoofficiated as priestesses in the temples, a custom familiar also toEgypt. The Spaniards admit that the greatest care for morals, andthe most blameless deportment, were maintained in theseinstitutions. The time of the pupils was chiefly occupied, as inmost monastic establishments, with the minute and burdensomeceremonial of their religion. The boys were likewise taught suchelements of science as were known to their teachers, and the girlsinitiated in the mysteries of embroidery and weaving, which theyemployed in decorating the temples. At a suitable age they generallywent forth into the world to assume the occupations fitted to theircondition, though some remained permanently devoted to the services ofreligion.The spot was also covered by edifices of a still differentcharacter. There were granaries filled with the rich produce of thechurchlands, and with the first-fruits and other offerings of thefaithful. One large mansion was reserved for strangers of eminence,who were on a pilgrimage to the great teocalli. The inclosure wasornamented with gardens, shaded by ancient trees, and watered byfountains and reservoirs from the copious streams of Chapoltepec.The little community was thus provided with almost everythingrequisite for its own maintenance and the services of the temple.It was a microcosm of itself,- a city within a city; and,according to the assertion of Cortes, embraced a tract of ground largeenough for five hundred houses. It presented in this brief compass theextremes of barbarism, blended with a certain civilisation, altogethercharacteristic of the Aztecs. The rude Conquerors saw only theevidence of the former. In the fantastic and symbolical features ofthe deities, they beheld the literal lineaments of Satan; in the ritesand frivolous ceremonial, his own especial code of damnation; and inthe modest deportment and careful nurture of the inmates of theseminaries, the snares by which he was to beguile his deluded victims.Before a century had elapsed, the descendants of these sameSpaniards discerned in the mysteries of the Aztec religion thefeatures, obscured and defaced, indeed, of the Jewish and Christianrevelations! Such were the opposite conclusions of the unletteredsoldier and of the scholar. A philosopher, untouched bysuperstition, might well doubt which of the two was the mostextraordinary.The sight of the Indian abominations seems to have kindled inthe Spaniards a livelier feeling for their own religion; since, on thefollowing day, they asked leave of Montezuma to convert one of thehalls in their residence into a chapel, that they might celebratethe services of the Church there. The monarch, in whose bosom thefeelings of resentment seem to have soon subsided, easily grantedtheir request, and sent some of his own artisans to aid them in thework.While it was in progress, some of the Spaniards observed whatappeared to be a door recently plastered over. It was a commonrumour that Montezuma still kept the treasures of his father, KingAxayacatl, in this ancient palace. The Spaniards, acquainted with thisfact, felt no scruple in gratifying their curiosity by removing theplaster. As was anticipated, it concealed a door. On forcing this,they found the rumour was no exaggeration. They beheld a large hallfilled with rich and beautiful stuffs, articles of curious workmanshipof various kinds, gold and silver in bars and in the ore, and manyjewels of value. It was the private hoard of Montezuma, thecontributions, it may be, of tributary cities, and once the propertyof his father. "I was a young man," says Diaz, who was one of thosethat obtained a sight of it, "and it seemed to me as if all the richesof the world were in that room!" The Spaniards, notwithstandingtheir elation at the discovery of this precious deposit, seem tohave felt some commendable scruples as to appropriating it to theirown use,- at least for the present. And Cortes, after closing up thewall as it was before, gave strict injunctions that nothing shouldbe said of the matter, unwilling that the knowledge of its existenceby his guests should reach the ears of Montezuma.Three days sufficed to complete the chapel; and the Christians hadthe satisfaction to see themselves in possession of a temple wherethey might worship God in their own way, under the protection of theCross, and the blessed Virgin. Mass was regularly performed by thefathers, Olmedo and Diaz, in the presence of the assembled army, whowere most earnest and exemplary in their devotions, partly, says thechronicler above quoted, from the propriety of the thing, and partlyfor its edifying influence on the benighted heathen. 2ff7e9595c
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