. The world's inhabitants; or, Mankind, animals, and plants; being a popular account of the races and nations of mankind, past and present, and the animals and plants inhabiting the great continents and principal islands. nd threelarge squares ; and al-most as large a palacewas found at were many largeworks, such as aqueductsand statues, which in-dicated much advance;and menageries, aviar-ies, and gardens showedgreat interest in naturalhistory. Numerous tri-bute-rolls indicated theextent and variety ofthe tribute receivedfrom nobles and mer-chants, but the pea-santry were groundd
. The world's inhabitants; or, Mankind, animals, and plants; being a popular account of the races and nations of mankind, past and present, and the animals and plants inhabiting the great continents and principal islands. nd threelarge squares ; and al-most as large a palacewas found at were many largeworks, such as aqueductsand statues, which in-dicated much advance;and menageries, aviar-ies, and gardens showedgreat interest in naturalhistory. Numerous tri-bute-rolls indicated theextent and variety ofthe tribute receivedfrom nobles and mer-chants, but the pea-santry were grounddown, while there weremany slaves. Lawcourts existed in the royal palace, and there were subsidiary courts with judges in the laws and court records were written down in picture writing, sen-tence of death being signified by a line drawn with an arrow across theprisoners portrait. Oaths were sworn by the witness touching the groundwith his finger and putting it to his lips. The whole code of laws wasvery severe. War was the most important pursuit, and entered into withgreat elaboration and with so many so-called civilised formalities. There are considerable traces of belief in a superior deity among the. MEXICAN PEASANT. 766 THE INHABITANTS OF AMERICA. Religion. Cortes. Mexicans ; but they certainly believed also in an evil deity and in a largenumber of minor gods and nature spirits. The temples werelarge buildings not a little resembling those of ancient Babylon,being pyramidal in shape and rising in a succession of terraces communi-cating by corner flights of steps, to a small platform. That of the greatwar-god was of enormous size; and his rites were celebrated chiefly byhuman sacrifices, cannibalism following them. In addition to this, theprayers, processions, dances, fasts, penances, etc., were abundantly per-formed. The young were dedicated with appropriate prayers to the gods,and were carefully taught in extensive schools. Marriages were largelydetermined by h
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectcivilization, bookyea
