Within this circle the royal coat of arms was sculptured,
the elaborate device of which it is almost impossible to imagine from the clumsy description of it given by Ixtlilxochitl. As nearly as I can make it out, certain figures representing a deer's foot adorned with feathers and having a precious stone tied to it, a hind supporting an arm which grasps a bow and arrows, and a corseleted warrior, wearing a helmet with its ear-pieces, formed the centre; these were flanked by two houses, one in flames and falling to pieces, the other whole and highly ornamented; two tigers of the country, vomiting fire and water, served as supporters; the whole was surrounded by a border composed of twelve heads of kings and great nobles. From this basin the water was distributed through the gardens in two streams, one of which meandered down the northern side of the hill, and the other down the southern side. Dávila Padilla relates that there also stood upon the summit an image of a coyote, hewn from the living rock, which represented a celebrated fasting Indian.<a name="FNanchor_43" id="FNanchor_43" href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> There were likewise several towers or columns of stone, having their capitals made in the shape of a pot, from which protruded plumes of feathers, which signified the name of the place. Lower down was the colossal figure of a winged beast, called by Ixtlilxochitl a lion,<a name="FNanchor_44" id="FNanchor_44" href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> lying down, with its face toward the east, and bearing in its mouth a sculptured portrait of the king; this statue was generally covered with a canopy adorned with gold and feather-work.<a name="FNanchor_45" id="FNanchor_45" href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a>
ORNAMENTAL GARDENS
