xv.] Whatever the origin of Quetzalcoatl, whether the child of a miraculous conception, or whether as an adult stranger he came from some far-off land, all accounts agree as to the greatness and purity of his character, and the magnificence of Tollan under his reign.

His temple was divided into four apartments, one toward the East, yellow with gold; one toward the West, blue with turquoise and jade; one toward the South, white with pearls and shells, and one toward the North, red with bloodstones; thus symbolizing the four cardinal points and four quarters of the world over which the light holds sway.[1] [Footnote 1: Sahagun, Lib.

ix, cap.

xxix.] Through the midst of Tollan flowed a great river, and upon or over this river was the house of Quetzalcoatl.

Every night at midnight he descended into this river to bathe, and the place of his bath was called, In the Painted Vase, or, In the Precious Waters.[1] For the Orb of Light dips nightly into the waters of the World Stream, and the painted clouds of the sun-setting surround the spot of his ablutions.
[Footnote 1: The name of the bath of Quetzalcoatl is variously given as _Xicapoyan_, from _xicalli_, vases made from gourds, and _poyan_, to paint (Sahagun, Lib.