At the other end of the
area were two towers or sanctuaries, consisting of three stories,
the lower one of stone and stucco, the two upper of wood elaborately
carved. In the lower division stood the images of their gods; the
apartments above were filled with utensils for their religious
services, and with the ashes of some of their Aztec princes, who had
fancied this airy sepulchre. Before each sanctuary stood an altar with
that undying fire upon it, the extinction of which boded as much
evil to the empire, as that of the Vestal flame would have done in
ancient Rome. Here, also, was the huge cylindrical drum made of
serpents' skins, and struck only on extraordinary occasions, when it
sent forth a melancholy sound that might be heard for miles,- a
sound of woe in after times to the Spaniards.
Montezuma, attended by the high-priest, came forward to receive
Cortes as he mounted the area. "You are weary, Malinche," said he to
him, "with climbing up our great temple." But Cortes, with a politic
vaunt, assured him "the Spaniards were never weary!" Then, taking
him by the hand, the emperor pointed out the localities of the
neighbourhood. The temple on which they stood, rising high above all
other edifices in the capital, afforded the most elevated as well as
central point of view. Below them the city lay spread out like a
map, with its streets and canals intersecting each other at right
angles, its terraced roofs blooming like so many parterres of flowers.
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