He created a guard of
eight men, made them priests and gave them charge of the fire, and bid
them, under pain of death, to preserve and keep alive this holy fire.
They must tend it day and night and feed it with walnut wood, and in
their charge it went before the moving host to where he had promised
they should find a new and better home than the one they were leaving.
Another tradition says, they were aiders of the Spaniards in the
conquest of Mexico, and that these became as great persecutors of their
people as the Aztecs. But from many of their traditions connected with
their new home which extended back far beyond the conquest of Mexico,
it is thought by historians that this tradition alludes to some other
war in which they took part against their oppressors. They were
remarkable for their size and symmetry of form of their men; but like
all the race, they made slaves of their women, imposing every burden
from the cultivation of their fields to the duties of the
household--the carrying of heavy burdens and the securing of fuel for
winter. These labors served to disfigure and make their women to appear
prematurely aged and worn, and they seemed an inferior race when
compared with the men.
Pages:
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527