the feathers, carefully marshalled, were attached by threads, layer upon layer being added, each covering the bare quills of the last, the final row consisting of down. In the earlier days obsidian knives were used to cut the feathers, and in reality the art only became of importance after the conquest of various coastal towns brought the plumes of the more gorgeous birds to Mexico in great quantities as tribute. Those workers engaged upon the feather ornaments and mantles used to deck the figure and representatives of the god Uitzilopochtli, lived in a special house, and many of the more important lords maintained artists who worked especially for them. [Illustration: FIG. 26.--Pottery spindle-whorls (the top right-hand specimen is of bone), from the Island of Sacrificios. (_British Museum_)] [Illustration: FIG. 27. A. Wood-carver. B. Woman weaving. (_Mendoza MS., Oxford_)] The textile arts flourished throughout Mexico, though owing to the unfavourable nature of the climate, specimens are practically non-existent. Thread was spun by the women from nequen, the fibre of the maguey or cotton, and the fur of rabbits was also utilized. Girls learnt the art at a tender age, and the ornamented spindle-whorls, usually of pottery, but sometimes of bone, are common in museums (Fig. 26). The spindle was made to revolve in a small pottery bowl, as is shown in Fig. 29; p. 161, and the thread was woven on a loom of simple construction. The warp was fastened to a convenient post, and kept taut by means of a band passing round the back of the weaver, who beat down the weft with a wooden “sword” (Fig. 27, _b_). The loom was in fact almost certainly the same as that used right into modern times, and it is probable that a number of heddles were employed for the more elaborate designs. Cotton was of course grown in the hotter countries, and both textiles and the raw material formed perhaps the most important article of import into the valley. Strangely enough it is the inhabitants of the cooler districts who bore the reputation of being the most skilful weavers. Some idea of the designs which were employed may be gathered from the manuscripts, but the patterns there figured form only a very small proportion of the whole. Sahagun gives a long list of names relating to particular types of mantle, unfortunately without further description except in a very few cases. One of these may be cited in illustration of their elaborate nature. “They also made use of cloaks on which were figured beautiful and rich jars mounted on three feet, and furnished with two ‘wings’ like those of butterflies (octli-vases). The lower portion of the jar was rounded and coloured red and black (the colours of the octli-gods), the wings were green with a yellow border, and three small dots of the same colour on each. The neck of this jar had the form of the _marquesota_ of a tunic, crowned with four small rods embroidered in red and blue feathers.