As might have been expected, exaggerated estimates are given by the early authorities of the number of human beings slaughtered in the course of the year; but, in any case, it must have been great, for in the small and poor region of Tlaxcallan from one pueblo 405 captives were sacrificed at the chief feast of the local deity. Naturally, in the dominant pueblo the proportions of the human victims offered to the gods must have far exceeded these limits. Closely connected with the Aztec religion was the development of an ingenious, if imperfect method of reckoning time. It was apparently evolved independently, for in the Old World there was nothing like it. The basis of time reckoning was the period of twenty days, and each day of this division had a proper sign or name. The periodic expeditions against neighboring hostile tribes were controlled by this division, as were also the holding of markets and the arrangement of tributes. There were eighteen of these divisions, which regulated the various festivals of the religious year. For secular purposes the 360 day year was corrected by adding to it a period of five days, a fractional part of the twenty-day period. On these supplementary five days all public ceremonies ceased. The chronological system consisted of a combination of great cycles, each of fifty-two years’ duration. And each great cycle was divided into four smaller cycles of thirteen years. The economic and political basis of Aztec life was the pueblo, or tribal community, in which frequently each clan of the tribe had a localized quarter, each provided with the temple of the particular deity recognized by the clan as its protector. Through the wars of conquest with weaker pueblos there had grown up a rudimentary feudalism, according to which the distinguished warriors were established in the subject pueblos as proprietors of the best lands in them. The possession of these lands could descend to the sons or might be alienated for the benefit of a distinguished chieftain. The food supply of the country so controlled was regular, hence there was no need of a nomadic life. Wealth was increasing, and the population growing. Habits of industry were encouraged, with the result that the principle of the division of labor to a certain extent existed. Some forms of craftsmanship, too, were cultivated, specialized in particular communities; for example, Cholula was famous for its potters, while the art of the goldsmith was practised at Azcapozalco. Clothing was manufactured, the houses and buildings were decorated internally, and there was an elaborate cuisine. Montezuma’s meal is described as consisting of thirty sorts of stews. He used chafing-dishes to keep them warm, and he also drank chocolate and ate fruit as a second course.