The Ancient Cities of the New World

Tlacualero-Excavations-Bodily Remains-Toys-A Beautiful Cup-A Well-preserved Skull-Mispayantl

e road rises so rapidly that the view, which was confined to the charming valley of Amecameca,

to admire in silence the finest panorama in the world: the two great volcanoes to our right and left, the plain of Puebla on our re

for luncheon, which awaits us at Tlamacas; but when we did reach it we found that the only accommodation to be had was a sh

les. This may appear a small matter-but a short walk; yet a climb performed at an altitude of 13,000 feet on moving sand, every step of which is painful, is no joke: the head aches, the pulse throbs, ev

L AND PICO

n our search. But though I seemed to recognise the plateau, it looked somewhat different-strewn with flat stones I had not observed before-co

1

of ever having been disturbed; so after many fruitless attempts, I returned to t

here you found some vases t

these flag

ubsequent e

find," I cried in my disappointment, a

, "only a few loads of detritus were tak

of vases, cups, and various potteries; we had lost so much time, however, in looking about, th

n the men, whilst our cooking was a great deal worse; if our shed was not quite so open, it was sufficiently so to admit the bitter night cold; the wind came in at all the windows unprotected by any shutters, through the thousand cracks of the ill-jointed enclosure, searing our faces and causing incessant sneezing. Although whole trees were burnt in the huge chimney, it

narily bad, that the only one who seemed to enjoy and thrive on it was the dog d'Artagnan; to him it was a matter of indifference if cutlets and beefsteaks were burnt to a cinder, if beans were transformed into sticks-nothing came amiss. As for us, not wishing to starve, we were obliged at last t

zling white; the crest of El Fraile, as yet wrapped in nocturnal mists, showed gray against a transparent blue sky, whilst its base, shrouded by a deep fringe of funeral pines, gradually emerged from their gloom at the sun's magic touch. To the east the plain of Puebla, and far away on the horizon the im

ND AT TEN

over the head, was a sebile, or hollow terra-cotta plate, two small black earthen horns, besides several vases. The whole was damp and moist, the vases filled with earth and water, and the utmost care was required in taking up such fragile objects. They soon, however, hardened by exposure, when they could be easily and safely cleaned and packed. As far as could be judged from the bones and pottery, one of the tombs contained the bodies of a man and a woman. Another, probably that of a chief, had no human remains left, but I found a great variety of precious o

quity or their having lain in a very destructive soil, crumbled away at our touch. Broadly speaking, the tomb

od Tlaloc, fruit cups, jewel cups, with feet shaped like a duck's bill or a boar's head; chocolate cups with porpoise-like handles; beads, jewels, a whole civilisation emerges from these tombs, and carries us back to the life of this long-forgotten people. Here we have caricatures of ancient warriors; further on a water-carrier bearing his jars like the modern "aguadores;" next are toys and tiny terra-cotta chariots, so

mbling Greek toys. This coincidence between people so different and so far removed from each other is not surprising, for elementary ideas generally find a common expression. It should also be observed that these toys, however rude, do

ide are covered with pretty devices painted white, yellow, blue, green, and red, fused into a harmonious whole. The colours are in relief and like enamels. Next, one almost as beautiful but smaller, and covered with dirt, was found. These two lovely cups were put out to dry in the sun, when, to my horror, I saw that one was fast scaling off, whilst the brilliant

ueman or of Quetzalcoatl, so often seen on the walls of Yucatec palaces, and likewise on the monuments of some North American tribes. But our most curious "find" was a perfectly well-preserved human brain, the skull of which was gone. This c

ED CUP FOUND IN T

tly cried out: "Aqui està uno-here is one" (body), and near it vases and fragments clearly indicating the presence of a tomb. These brains, however, not having been protected like the first, were all flattened into a white cake of some five inches by two in thickness. The only explanation I can offer is that at an elevation of 13,000 feet, close to the volcanic cone of Popocatepetl, in a soil saturated with sulphureous va

thing to show at all approaching them. This was conceded, but it was denied that they were chariots at all-the wheels were only "malacates," i.e. "fusa?oles"! Numerous spindles were indeed found by us in the cemetery. Profuse collections may be seen and compared in every museum, when the

only means of transportation was afforded by carriers. But if such chariots were not available in distant expeditions across rivers, over mountain paths, through immense

an ambiguous word meaning both chariot and transport, when the former must already have been extant when he wrote-that is, after the Conquest? Farther, Padre Duran relates how this same Montezuma, wishing to erect a temalacatl, had a huge block quarried at Aculco, near Amecameca; and Plate XXV. shows this block raised by means of a rude chariot having clog-wheels, dra

equired. These carts were loaded with arrows, spears, shields, stones, slings, etc., and men, chosen for the service, distributed them as they were wanted.81 Does "rodadillo" mean here a clog-wheel or a roller? If the

be added that the toy chariots were perhaps of primeval Toltec invention

ity, to its being essentially Nahua, dedicated to Tlaloc, the god of rain and plenty, the fertiliser of the earth, the Lord of Paradise, th

ter streaming down his face, making up his teeth, his beard or moustachios; he holds in his right hand a writhing serpent, thereby

to the Conquest. The later tribes, however, discarding the mild practices of the Toltecs, stained his cult with human sacrifices. W

d every year. Ixtlilxochitl mentions, inter alia, that five or six young children were yearly sacrificed to this deity, their hearts torn out, and their bodies buried; and we read in Father Duran that Montezuma and the allied princes repaired on the hill on which a child seven or eight years old was sacri

henever the clouds shroud its summit the volcano bursts forth in flashes of lightning and claps of thunder, spreading terror among the whole population, who hasten to the hill to offer men, incense, paper-crowns, feathers, plates, urns, goblets, cups, toys, and vases" (exactly what we have found). "Close by was a well

nco cemetery is not the one spoken of by Father Duran, it is assuredly its nearest neighbour, and we are convinced that this site was once sacred to Tlaloc, cons

for us, we are satisfied with having discovered two and opened the way to others; and when we add that our excavations yielded three hundred and seventy pieces, our self-satisfaction will not a

legally detained the whole, refusing to give up any part of it. Let future explorers do their work quietly, of

to some six hundred and nine hundred feet, the eye travels down into its depths, where the course of the river is lost in a glowing wilderness of vegetation. The road was so bad and unsafe that we got off our horses and walked up to the grottoes, where a great disappointment awaited us, for they are nothing but pent-houses, produced by the projecting rock; holes and notches, moreover, plainly t

d been the result on my visiting the sites indicated. From inquiries and the promise of a good reward, I got an Indian to act as guide to Iztaccihuatl, which he knows well, having often been there for the same purpose as ourselves; a few preliminaries are soon settled, and taking some half-dozen men with me, we set out on o

ey, some 3,900 feet long by 1,625 to 1,950 feet broad, bounded by the mountain range which to the west of Mexico makes it impassable. To the east are the peaks of Iztaccihua

st peak, "Nahualac." The latter must have been a far more important funeral station than Tenenepanco. Everything favours this assumption, whilst stone foundations make it probable that a temple or a sanctuary dedicated to Tlaloc once stood here, similar to that mentioned by Father Duran, of which no trace

ing the bitter cold at night, only half-sheltered as we were, my dreams were golden; and the next morning, after a hot cup of coffee mixed with a good dose of mezcal, we were eager to set to work again, when our "finds" were if anything more abundant,

he Aztec antiquities recalls either the material, the shape, the ornamentation, or the workmanship. If this cemetery were Aztec, therefore, it must date back to the early establishment of that tribe in the valley; but in all probability it is either Chichemec or

hopes had been more than realised, and with jubilant feelings we bade the mountain adieu; bu

ce; but we soon lost our way, and rolled rather than walked down the steep, precipitous slopes of the mountain, whilst our horses, which we were

for the warm region, to follow the Toltecs in their gr

OF NA

S. JUAN