Those who had captives to sacrifice came decorated for dancing, the body painted yellow (the colour of the god), and the face vermilion. They wore the red plumes of the parrot arranged to resemble a butterfly, and carried shields covered with white feathers. Each danced side by side with his captive. These had the body painted white, and the face vermilion, save the cheeks, which were black. They were adorned with papers, and they had white feathers on the head and lip-ornaments of feathers. At set of sun the dancing ceased, the captives were shut up in the calpulli and watched by their owners, not being permitted to sleep. About midnight every owner shaved away part of the hair from the scalp of the head of his captive, which, being fastened with red thread to a little tuft of feathers, he put in a small case of cane and attached to the rafters of the house, that everyone might see that he was a valiant man and had taken a captive. The knife with which this shaving was accomplished was known as the claw of the sparrow-hawk. At daybreak the captives were arranged in order in front of the tzompantli, where the skulls of the sacrificed were spitted in rows. A priest walked along the row of captives, taking from them certain little banners that they carried and all their raiment or adornment, which he burnt in a fire. While they stood naked and waiting for death, another priest, carrying in his arms the image of the god Paynal and his ornaments, ran up with this idol to the top of the teocalli known as Tlacacouhcan, where the victims were to die. He descended, then returned to the summit, and as he went up for the second time, the owners took their slaves by the hair and led them to the place called Apetlac, where they left them. The priests who were to perform the sacrifice then descended from the teocalli bearing bags of a narcotic incense called yauhtli (absinthe, wormwood, or mugwort), which they threw by handfuls into the faces of the victims to mitigate their death-agonies. Each captive was then bound hand and foot and carried up to the top of the teocalli. On the summit a great fire burned. Upon this the priests cast the captives, who, when half-roasted, were dragged out with the aid of grappling-hooks and sacrificed by having their hearts torn out. The statue of Paynal was then carried away to its own temple and all returned home. The young men and boys with the women began at midday to dance and to sing in the courtyard of Xiuhtecutli. Suddenly they made in a body for the place where the tree already described had been raised. At a given signal all might attempt to scale the pole to reach the dough image at the top. The first youth at the top seized the idol of dough, took the shield and the arrows, the darts and the tamalis from the head of the statue, then threw the crumbs with the plumes of the image down into the crowd, who fought and scrambled for them. When the successful youth descended