At
the foot of this pyramid I was led into a little chamber hollowed in its
thickness, and here my dress was torn from me by more priests, leaving
me naked except for a cloth about my loins and a chaplet of bright
flowers which was set upon my head. In this chamber were three other
men, Indians, who from the horror on their faces I judged to be also
doomed to death.
Presently a drum began to beat high above us, and we were taken from the
chamber and placed in a procession of many priests, I being the first
among the victims. Then the priests set up a chant and we began the
ascent of the pyramid, following a road that wound round and round its
bulk till it ended on a platform at its summit, which may have measured
forty paces in the square. Hence the view of the surrounding country was
very fine, but in that hour I scarcely noticed it, having no care for
prospects, however pleasing. On the further side of the platform were
two wooden towers fifty feet or so in height. These were the temples of
the gods, Huitzel God of War and Quetzal God of the Air, whose hideous
effigies carved in stone grinned at us through the open doorways. In
the chambers of these temples stood small altars, and on the altars
were large dishes of gold, containing the hearts of those who had been
sacrificed on the yesterday. These chambers, moreover, were encrusted
with every sort of filth.
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