Specimens of the artistic skill of the ancient Mexicans may be seen in the magnificent Christy Collection. There is, for example, one of the sacrificial knives with which the priests laid open the breast of the human victim in order to tear out the heart and offer it to the blood-loving deity of the temple. The blade of this instrument is obsidian, and its handle is a marvellous piece of mosaic work, made of lapis lazuli, ruby, and other precious stones. Then there are masks made of similar materials, one being a most ghastly imitation of a human skull.
The skill in feather working still survives, and even at the present day pictures are made so exquisitely from humming-birds’ feathers that they seem, at a little distance, to be admirable specimens of enamel.
The courage of the ancient Mexicans was very great. They opposed their naked breasts to the mail-clad invaders, and their comparatively feeble weapons to the dreaded fire-arms. Even the horse, which at first struck terror into them as a supernatural being, soon ceased to be an object of dread, and there is a story that they captured a horse in battle, stabled it in a temple, and treated it as a god, feeding it with daintily dressed chickens and similar dishes, until the poor beast was starved in the midst of plenty.
The conduct of the Aztecs in destroying their once venerated Emperor Montezuma, because he yielded to the Spaniards, and the calm endurance of his warlike successor Guatemozin, when stretched on the fiery rack, are sufficient instances of the courage possessed by the Mexicans when Cortez came into the country.
The real prosperity of Mexico is to come. There is every capability in the country, which is fertile in many valuable productions,—cattle and horses, for example, both of which, importations from Europe, have multiplied in an astonishing manner, and may at some time supply half Europe with cheap food, hides, and beasts of burden.
Insect life is almost as valuable as that of the higher and larger animals. The cochineal insect reproduces itself in vast numbers, and, large as is the trade in this valuable insect, it could be extended almost indefinitely. There is no trouble in breeding the insect, no risk, and scarcely any capital required. It feeds upon the prickly pear, a plant which springs up luxuriantly if but a leaf be stuck in the ground.
It is indeed so luxuriant, that riders are forced to employ a peculiar kind of stirrup, in order to prevent their feet from being riddled with the needle-like thorns with which the plant, the leaf, and fruit are covered. One of these curious stirrups is shown in [illustration No. 1], page 1265, drawn from my own specimens, which was brought from Mexico by Sir F. Wetherell.
It is cut from a solid block of wood, and is therefore exceedingly heavy. A hole is cut in the back of the stirrup, into which the foot can be thrust nearly half way. Owing to the size and weight of this curious implement, the prickly pears are pushed aside as the rider passes among them, and thus the foot and ankle are protected from the slender but formidable thorns with which they are armed. The stirrup is sometimes put to another use, and employed as a rough and ready drinking cup. The front of the implement is covered with bold and graceful patterns, the effect of which is often heightened by means of color. In my own specimen they are colored with blue, scarlet, and black.
As to the vegetable products of Mexico, they are too numerous to mention, but the principal are the indigo, the chocolate, and the vanilla.
Then it is as prolific in mineral as in animal wealth, and in the hands of an energetic and industrious people, the yield of copper, iron, gold, silver, and other metals might be almost indefinitely extended. In all these productions comparatively little labor is required. Nature gives almost gratuitously those privileges which in other lands cannot be obtained without the expenditure of time, labor, and money.