p. 302.
[181-2] There is no reason to lay any stress upon this feature. Beard was
nothing uncommon among the Aztecs and many other nations of the New
World. It was held to add dignity to the appearance, and therefore
Sahagun, in his description of the Mexican idols, repeatedly alludes to
their beards, and Mueller quotes various authorities to show that the
priests wore them long and full (_Amer. Urreligionen_, p. 429). Not only
was Quetzalcoatl himself reported to have been of fair complexion--white
indeed--but the Creole historian Ixtlilxochitl says the old legends
asserted that all the Toltecs, natives of Tollan, or Tula, as their name
signifies, were so likewise. Still more, Aztlan, the traditional home of
the Nahuas, or Aztecs proper, means literally the white land, according
to one of our best authorities (Buschmann, _Ueber die Aztekischen
Ortsnamen_, 612: Berlin, 1852).
[182-1] Kingsborough, _Antiquities of Mexico_, v. p. 109.
[183-1] The myth of Quetzalcoatl I have taken chiefly from Sahagun,
_Hist.
Pages:
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320