Sturgis advertiser. (Sturgis, Dakota [S.D.]) 1887-1???, 1888-02-29


attended HIS first appearance. So for
hundreds Of years the descendants Of these
people. firmly believing the legend
watched aHxiously for the promised sec
ond c6tffing Of the Plumed Serpent; and
at last the ,snaniards appeared, ana Pc
cause they were ..uhite skinned and came
from the East the sir Dle- minded natlves
mistook those cruel and sloodthiIsty pIi-s
gands for messengers OF 10 - ifoni ene
benefcent Quetzalcoatl.
TAT sACRIFICAL STONE.
1t was long after the reign of this deity
that the order of mobiles called The
Eagles" whose patron was the sun, was
established in Mexico. think 1t was
durinx this reign of TiZoc, seventh King
Of MEXICO, who assembled the throne about
1880. 1t was dc that time the horrible
sacrificial stone-tiIe Cualhxicalli de
Tizoc. taken from cuauhili, eagle
from the Order aforesaid; and xicalii.
drinking cup came into use. Upon
this rock iii certain religious festivals the
the MeSicans sacrificed human victim.
to whonfc they gave the name of Mes
senger 10 the Sun That primitive his
torian Father Duran tells Us all about it.
He saws at the sound of musical instru-
ments they brought forth an Indian from
among the prisoners taken III war. He
was surrounded by illustrious noblemen,
who painted limbs red, with white stripes
Half his face was painted red, white
plume was glued into his hair, and on his
back was little bundle, which held
few feathers, Jumps of ochre, pieces OF
gympsum, candlewood and parchments.
| In one hand he carried walking stick,
very gay with knots and ties
of leather and feathers of all colors;
in the other he bore a shield, with
I five small bundles Of cotton on it.
They led him to the foot OF the staircase
ASCENDING to the temple, and there in
loud voice 30 that all could hear, they
said to him: "Sir, that which we entreat
thee is that thou dost 60 before our gods
the sun, and that on our behalf thou doth,
salute him. and that thou dost tell him
that his sons and principal mobiles ho re-
main here supplicate him to remember
them and that from his throne ne doth
| favor them and receive this small present
which they send them; and do thou give
him this cane for walking and this shield
for defense and the other things that thou
dearest in this little bundle.
The Indian hearing this embassy. an
swered what he pleased. Then they UNI
tied him and led him very slowly up the
great staircase toward the temple, making
much delay at each step to give him fresh
instructions Finally arrived at the sum
NIT, they placed him upon the rock
Cuauhxieal. where he was competed to
shout the message to the sun. Ihen -FOUR
ministers of the sacrifice ascended Inc louf
steps to the rock, removed the cane, the'
shield and the little bundle which tne
victim bore They seized by the hGnds
and feet and held him fast, wiiie
the high priest approached with knife IN
hand and cut the victims throat, at same
time commanding him to go with ms
message to the true Sun in another h1e
The blood drained into the bowl in The
center Of the rock and ran down cham
mel cut at the side in front of the chamber
wherein was kept the golden image OF the
sun, and the sculptured sun on the face
of the rock was drenched In
blood. When blood ceased to flow the
High Priest opened the captive's breast
with his knife of obsidian, or voldamc
glass, and plucked out the smoking heart,
which he presented with high hand TO the
sun, holding it aloft till it had ceased TO
drip and become cold.
outlined Ill CARVING uPOh VIC oieoo Va
this rock is the belief that of these early
savages respecting the establishment Oh
sacrifices. 1t represents the astronomical
struggle between Quetzalwatl and Tezcat-
lepon, in which the former is the attack
ing warrior and the latter the de-
Tending gladiator. Under this theory the
conaueror Tizoc arrogated to himself the,
place of the warrior, and the conquered
nations that of the captive. The figure
of Quetzalwatl wears the sacred mask
that part of the face uncovered and the
hands and feet anointed with the black
ointment of the priests and gods. On his
head are the plumes of the quetzai, and
numerous serpents of the coatl species are
twined around him. In one hand he
carries sword of obsidian, and in the
other shield with star upon it,.
FANNIE B. WARD.