The _ixtli_ thread is woven into _ayates_, which are used for carrying burdens.

Vegetables, charcoal, babies--anything--are put into them.

Two ends are tied together to hold the burden in place, and the other two are passed across the breast and tied in front.

These blankets are astonishingly strong and unyielding.
At evening, after a fair day's work, we made our way on foot across the valley and up the long slope to the summit of the ridge on which lay Huixquilucan, the official centre of a municipality of 11,000 persons.
Of these, 3,000 live in the village, while the remainder are clustered together in hamlets like San Bartolito, San Francisco, Agua Bendita, or are scattered in single-house settlements over the mountains.

Of the 11,000 persons, more than three-fourths claim to be full Otomis.