United States or Burkina Faso ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Still, unfamiliar with the construction of the temple as he was, Bruno felt helpless without his guide, and so timed his progress by that of Ixtli, right hand tightly gripping the handle of his "hand-wood," or maquahuitl, resolved to give a good account of either of those rascally varlets in case trouble lay ahead.
"But an Aztec, boy!" exclaimed the bewildered savant, unable to pass that point. "The tunic of quilted cotton, the escaupil! The maquahuitl, with its blades of grass! The bow and arrows which all, all surely of Aztecan manufacture, yet seemingly fresh and serviceable as though in use but a month ago! And the race extinct for centuries!"
Through all this, Bruno Gillespie held the position he had taken, one hand gripping tightly his maquahuitl, but placing his main dependence upon the revolver which nestled conveniently within the folds of his sash, one nervous forefinger touching the curved trigger. He could not help seeing that the danger was great.
He furthermore gives a description of the making of the well-known maquahuitl, or Aztec war-club, which was armed on both sides with a row of obsidian knives, or teeth, stuck into holes with a kind of gum. With this instrument, he says, a man could be cut in half at a blow an absurd statement, which has been repeated by more modern writers.
My excuse for entering into these details must be that some of the facts I have to offer are new. A bas-relief at Kabah, described in Mr. Stephens' account of his second journey, bears considerable resemblance to that on the so-called "sacrificial stone" of Mexico; and the warrior has the characteristic Mexican maquahuitl, or "Hand-wood," a mace set with rows of obsidian teeth.
Word Of The Day