“This infernal temple, from its great height, commanded an extensive view of the surrounding country. From it we could see the three causeways leading to the city,—that one from Iztapalapan, by which we had entered the city four days before; that one from Tlacupa, along which we took our flight eight months after, when we were driven out of the city by the new monarch, Cuitlahuatzin; the third, the one from Tepeaquilla. We also saw the aqueduct, which extended from Chapultepec, and supplied the city with fresh water. We could also distinctly see the bridges across the openings in the causeways, through which the waters of the lake ebbed and flowed. The lake was crowded with canoes conveying provisions, manufactured articles, and other merchandise to the city. We also observed that the only means of intercourse between the houses in this city, and between those of all the other towns built in the lake, was by draw-bridges or canoes. In all these cities the beautiful white-plastered temples rose above the smaller ones, like many of the towers and castles in our Spanish cities. The view from the top of the temple, it may be imagined, was a splendid sight. “After we had sufficiently gazed upon this magnificent picture, we again turned our eyes toward the great market, and beheld the vast number of buyers and sellers who thronged it. The bustle and noise caused by this multitude of human beings was so great that it could be heard at a distance of more than four miles. Some of our men, who had been at Constantinople and at Rome and had travelled through the whole of Italy, said that they never had seen a market-place of such large dimensions, or which was so well regulated, or so crowded with people as this one in Mexico.... “We were conducted to a small temple with one room, in which we saw two bases resembling altars, decked with coverings of extreme beauty. On each of them stood a gigantic, bulky-looking figure. The one on the right hand represented the god of war, Huitzilopochtli. This idol had a very broad face with distorted and terrible eyes, and was covered with jewels, gold, and pearls, fastened with a paste made from a certain root. Large serpents, also, covered with gold and precious stones, wound round the body of this monster, which held in one hand a bow, and in the other a bunch of arrows. Another but smaller idol, its page, standing by its side carried the monster’s short spear and golden shield, studded with precious stones. Around Huitzilopochtli’s neck were figures representing human faces, and hearts made of gold and silver and decorated with blue stones. In front of him stood several perfuming pans containing copal, the incense of the country; also the hearts of three Indians, who had been killed that day. The hearts were consuming before him as a burnt-offering. The walls of the temple and the whole floor were almost black with human blood, and the stench was highly offensive.