Purchas his pilgrimage. Or relations of the world and the religions observed in all ages and places discovered, from the creation vnto this present. Contayning a theologicall and geographicall historie of Asia, Africa, and America, with the ilands adiacent. Declaring the ancient religions before the floud, the heathenis, Iewish, and Saracenicall in all ages since ... / by Samuel Purchas.

  • Samuel Purchas
Date:
1626
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Purchas his pilgrimage. Or relations of the world and the religions observed in all ages and places discovered, from the creation vnto this present. Contayning a theologicall and geographicall historie of Asia, Africa, and America, with the ilands adiacent. Declaring the ancient religions before the floud, the heathenis, Iewish, and Saracenicall in all ages since ... / by Samuel Purchas. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    933/1028 (page 879)
    ScboQkSjLetterifiOf inionfy and other remarkeable * things in NeicpSpaine^, ;Wr. ]'|£ ThcirlCdle»de^[&dConceits efTime, and feme of their Feajls. He Mexicans > diuided the yeeit into eighteene monechs i afcribing to each a Acejl.lt^.e.i} twentie dayes^ fo chat the fine oddedayei were excluded. Thcfe fiuc they reckoned apart, and called them tke dayes of nathing: during the which, the people did nothing, neither went to their Temples, but /pent the time in vi- fiting each other ; the SacrificerslikcwifecealedtheirSacrifices, Thcfe flue dayes being part, the firft moncth began about the twentie fixe of February. liar Pifturcs, commonly taken of the principall Fcaft therein. They accounted their weeks Oitxitan. fc/*. by thirteene dayes: they had alfo a weeke of yeeres which was hkewift thirtcene. They ^ f ^ reckoned by a cercaine Wheele, which eontayned foure wcekes,that is^cwo and fiftie yeeres. jg**j*‘* In the midll of this Wheele was painted the Sunne, from which went foure beames of lines, * in a CrofTc of diftinftcolours, Greene,Blue, Red, and YellpW;and fo the lines betwixt chefe: on which they noted by forae Pifture, the jiccidenC that befell any yeere, as the Spaniards comming, marked by a man clad in Reji.^Thclaft night when this Wheele was run about, they'brake all their veffels and ftufFe, put out their fire and all the lights, faying, that the M World ftiould end at the finilhing of one of thefe Whecles, and it might be at that timej and then what Ihould fuch things need^ Vpon this conceit they paffed the night in great feare : but when they faw the day begin to breake, they prefcntly beat many Drums, with much other mirth and Mufickc, faying, that God did prolong the time with another Age of two and fifty yeeres. And then began another Wheele; thd firft day whereof they tookenew fire, for which they went to the Prieft, who fetched it out of a Mountaine, and made a fo- lemne Sacrifice and Thankfgiuing.Thc twenty dayes of each moneth were called by feuerall names, the firft CipM^U which ilgnifieth a Spade, and fo the reft a Houfc, a Dogge, a Snak e, an Eagle, a Temple, and the like. By this Kalcndar they keepc things in memory aboue nine hundred yeeres fiiice* The Indians of CulhnA did beleeue that the Gods had made the .Q World, they knew not how: and that fince the Creation, foure Sunnci werepaft, and that ^ the fife and laft is the Sunne, which now giueth light vnto the WQrld. The firft Sunne (forfooch) perifhed by water, and all liuing creatures therewith : the fe- bpfnwn of cond fell from Heauen,and with the fall flue all liuing creatures,and then were many Giants fiueSuanes, in the Country: the third Sunne was confuraed by fire; and the fourth by Tempeft of ayre and wind, and then Mankind perifhed nor,but was turned into Apes yet when that fourth Sunne perifhed, all was turned into darkneflcjand fo continued fiuc and twenty yeeres; and at the fifteenth yeere, God did forme one man and woman, who brought forth children,and at the end of other ten yeeres appeared this fift Sunne newly borne , which after their rec¬ koning is now in this yeere 1611. nine hundred and eighteene yeeres fince. Three dayes af- 50 ter this Sunne appeared, they held that all the Gods diddle, and that thefe which fince they worfhip, were borne in proceiTe of time. At tl\£ end of euery twenty dayes, the Mexicans celebrated a Fca ft called which Mexicaa- ms the Uft day ofeuery moneth. The laft day of the firft moneth was c^WedTUeaxipefta- Feais. /«.rA,©n which were flaine an hundred Captiues in Sacrifice and eaten, others putting on the skins (as before is (hewed.) Many of them would gcTto the daughter with ioyfull coun¬ tenance, dancing, and demanding Aimes, which befell to the Priefts. When the greene Come was a foot about the ground,they vfed to goc to a ccrtainc Hill, and there facnficcd two Children, a Girle and a Boy, three yeeres old, to the honour of TIaIoc, God of the Wa- ter, that they might haueraine: and becaufe thefe children were free borne, their hearts were not plucked out,but their throats being cut,their bodies were wrapped in a new Man- ^ tie, and buried in a grauc of ftone. j • u When the fields of Maiz were two foot high, a coUe^lion was made, and therewith wef# brought