CHAPTER VIII.ANTIQUITIES OF VERA CRUZ.

Grecques on Interior of Room at Mitla.

ROOF STRUCTURES.

I now have to speak of the roof which originally covered this building, since in the other buildings and palaces nothing will be found to throw any additional light on the subject. It seems evident that the columns in the southern wing were intended to support the roof, and if there were no contradictory evidence, the natural conclusion would be that the covering was of wooden beams stretching completely across the narrow apartments, and resting on the pillars of the wider ones, as we have seen to be the case atTuloom, on the eastern coast of Yucatan.[VII-48]Burgoa, in whose time it is not impossible that some of the roofs may have been yet in place, tells us that they were formed of large stone blocks, resting on the columns, and joined without mortar.[VII-49]Humboldt states that the roof was supported by largesabinobeams, and that three of these beams still remained in place (1802). According to Dupaix, both the roofs and floors in the northern wing were formed by a row of beams, or rather logs, of theahuehuete, a kind of pine, a foot and a half in diameter, built into the top of the wall, and stretching from side to side. He does not inform us what traces he found to support his opinion. Mühlenpfordt[VII-50]found traces of a roof in one of the northern rooms sufficient to convince him that the original "consisted of round oak timbers, eight inches in diameter, placed across the room at a distance of eight inches one from another; these were first covered with mats, on which were placed stone flags, and over the latter a coat of lime; forming thus a solid and water-proof covering." Fossey speaks of one worm-eaten beam, but probably obtained his information from Humboldt. Tempsky, notwithstanding the shortness of his exploration, made the remarkable discovery that one of the northern rooms was still covered by a flat roof of stone. He also found windows in some of the buildings. What would he not have found had he been able to remain a few hours longer at Mitla? Viollet-le-Duc judges from the quantity and quality of the débris in the south wing, that the roof could not have been of stone in large blocks, but was formed by large beams extending longitudinally from pillar to pillar, andsupporting two transverse ranges of smaller timbers, laid close together from the centre to either wall, the whole being surmounted by a mass of concrete like that which constitutes the bulk of the walls; and finally covered with a coating of cement. I have no doubt that this author has given a correct idea of the original roof structure, although in attempting to explain in detail the exact position which—'il y a tout lieu de croire'—each timber occupied, it is possible that the distinguished architect has gone somewhat beyond his data.[VII-51]

View from Court of Palace No. 1.

As I have said before, the western building of the palace No. 1—like the southern building, if any ever stood on the south of the court—has entirely fallen. Of the eastern building,d, there remain standing a small portion of the wall fronting on the court, includinga doorway and its lintel, and also two of the five columns which occupied the centre of the building. The condition of this side structure seems not to have changed materially between Dupaix's and Charnay's visits, a period of over fifty years. The preceding cut, taken by Baldwin from Tempsky's work, gives a tolerably correct idea of what remains of it, except that the lintel had a sculptured front. It is a view from the south side of the court, and includes an imperfect representation also of the northern façade.[VII-52]

The palaces of Mitla are differently numbered by different writers, and much that has been written of them is so vague or confused that is difficult to determine in many cases what particular structure is referred to; I believe, however, that the preceding pages include all that is known of the palace numbered 1 on my general plan. I close my account of this palace by presenting on the opposite page a cut copied for Baldwin's work from one of Charnay's photographs, a general view of the ruins. The cut is a distant view of the palace No. 1 from the south-west, and cannot be said to add very materially to our knowledge respecting this building.[VII-53]

VIEW OF PALACE.

Distant View of Palace No. 1.

THE SECOND PALACE.

The remaining palaces of Mitla, Nos. 2, 3, and 4, may be more briefly disposed of, since in the construction of their walls they are precisely the same as No. 1, but are not in so good a state of preservation. No. 2 is located south-west of No. 1, and almost in contact with it, so that both groups have been by some visitors described together under the name of First Palace. It consists of four buildings, built on low mounds like those of No. 1, from seven to nine feet high, about a square court. All four are precisely the same in their ground plan, which is identical with that of the western building in palace No. 1. The dimensions of the four buildings are also the same, according to Castañeda's plan, being about eighteen by ninety-two English feet;[VII-54]but Mühlenpfordt's plan, so far as it can be understood, makes the eastern and western buildings about one hundred and forty feetlong, the northern and southern being about twenty by one hundred feet, and the former somewhat larger than the latter.

The western building is the best preserved, being, so far as can be judged by human figures in Charnay's photographs, about seventeen feet high. The eastern building has fallen, and only its foundation stones remain by which to trace its plan. Three doorways open on the court from each building, and in the rear wall opposite the doors square niches are seen. There are no traces of columns in any of the apartments; nor was any part of the roofs in place in 1806. The outer walls are composed, as in palace No. 1, of oblong panels of mosaic; whether any mosaic work is found in the interior, is not stated. The court is said by Mühlenpfordt to be covered with a coating of cement five or six inches in thickness, painted red as was also the exterior of the buildings. The same writer, and Müller, noted that the supporting mounds were double, or terraced, on the exterior;[VII-55]and the latter, that one of the central doorways diminishes in width towards the top. If this, latter statement be true, it must be one of the doorways in the southern building, of which no photographic view was taken.[VII-56]Views of the southern façade of the northern building are given by Charnay, Dupaix, Mühlenpfordt, and Tempsky; of the court façade of the western building, by Charnay and Mühlenpfordt; and Charnay also took photographs of the western and southern façades of the latter building.[VII-57]

Under the northern building of this palace there is a subterranean gallery in the form of a cross. The entrance to this gallery is said by several writers to have been originally in the centre of the court, butthis seems to rest on no very good authority, and it is not unlikely that the entrance was always where it is now, at the base of the northern mound, as shown in the photograph and in other views. The centre of the cross may be supposed to be nearly under the centre of the apartment above, and the northern, eastern, and western arms are each, according to Castañeda's drawings, about twelve feet long, five and a half feet wide, and six and a half feet high. The southern arm, leading out into the court is something over twenty feet long, and for most of its length only a little over four feet high; its floor is also several feet lower than that of the other arms, to the level of which latter four steps lead up. Nearly the whole depth of this gallery is probably in the body of the supporting mound rather than really subterranean. The top is formed of large blocks of stone, stretching across from side to side, and, according to Mühlenpfordt, plastered and polished. The floor was also covered, if we may credit Müller, with a polished coat of cement. The walls are panels of mosaic work like that found on the exterior walls above. Mühlenpfordt noticed that the mosaic work was less skillfully executed than on the upper walls, and therefore probably much older. The large dall that covers the crossing of the two galleries is supported by a circular pillar resting on a square base. According to Tempsky the natives call this the 'pillar of death,' believing that whoever embraces it must die shortly. The whole interior surface, sides, floor, and ceiling, are painted red. No relics of any kind have been found here. Fossey says that this gallery, or at leastagallery, leads from the palace to the eastern pyramid—meaning probably the western pyramid, No. 5 of the plan—and from that point still further westward, where it may be traced for a league to the farm of Saga, and extends, as the natives believe, some three hundred leagues. Tradition relates that the Zapotecs originally had their temples in natural caverns,which they gradually improved to meet their requirements, and over which they finally built these palaces. There are consequently many absurd rumors afloat respecting the extent of the subterranean passages, but nothing has ever been discovered to indicate the existence of natural caves or extensive artificial excavations at this point. At the time of Charnay's visit the opening to the gallery had been closed up, and the natives would allow no one to remove the obstructions, on the ground that hidden treasure was the object sought.[VII-58]

Ground Plan—Palace No. 3.

THIRD PALACE.

Palace No. 3 of the plan is said to have no supporting mound, but to stand on the level of the ground. Its ground plan, according to Castañeda, the only authority, is shown in the cut. The wholestructure, divided into three courts, is about two hundred and eighty-four feet long and one hundred and eight feet wide, the thickness of the walls, not shown in the plan, being five or six feet. Nearly all the walls have fallen except those of the buildings about the central court, B, which have been repaired, covered with a roof of tiles, and are occupied by the curate of the parish as a residence. In the western front a doorway has been cut, before which, supporting a balcony, or awning, stand two stone columns which were evidently brought from some other part of the ruins. Both on the exterior and court walls, the regular panels of mosaic work are seen in the upper portions; the lower parts have been repaired with adobes, and newly plastered in many places. The modern church, quite a large and imposing structure, stands either upon or adjacent to a part of this ancient palace.[VII-59]

Ground Plan—Palace No. 4.

FOURTH PALACE, AND PYRAMIDS.

The cut is a ground plan of palace No. 4, which isalso said to stand on the original level of the ground. The walls are spoken of by all visitors as almost entirely in ruins, and as presenting no peculiarities of construction when compared with the other palaces. From one of the portions still standing, however, Mühlenpfordt copied some fragmentary paintings, representing processions of rudely pictured human figures, as shown in the accompanying cut. The same author speaks of similar paintings, very likely not the work of the original builders of Mitla, on the walls of some of the other buildings.[VII-60]

Painting on Doorway—Palace No. 4.

Two mounds, or groups of mounds, stand west and south of the other ruins at 5 and 7 of the plan. No. 5 was photographed by Charnay, and is described as built of adobes, ascended by a stone stairway, and bearing now a modern chapel. According to Castañeda's drawing probably representing these pyramids, the principal structure had four stories, or terraces, and was about seventy-five feet high, measuring at the base about one hundred and twenty feet on its shortest sides from east to west. The stairway faces westward towards the court formed by the smaller mounds which have only two stories. Group No. 7 is represented by Castañeda as consisting like No. 5of a large mound and three small ones, of two and one stories respectively, surrounding a court in whose centre is a block, or altar, which Dupaix thinks may conceal the entrance to a subterranean passage. Mühlenpfordt represents the arrangement of the mounds as on my plan, and thinks the smaller elevations may have borne originally buildings like the northern palaces. In one of these mounds, according to the last-mentioned author, a tomb was found. Dupaix also describes two tombs found under mounds, the locality of which is not specified. One of these tombs was in the form of a cross, with arms about three by nine feet, six feet high, covered with a roof of flat stones, and in its construction like the gallery under palace No. 2, except that the small brick-shaped blocks of which its sides are formed are not arranged in grecques, but laid so as to present a plain surface. The second tomb was of rectangular form, about four by eight feet in dimensions. In one of them some human remains, with fragments of fine blue stone were discovered.[VII-61]

FORTIFIED HILL.

At a distance of a league and a half eastward of the village, Dupaix described and Castañeda sketched a small plain square stone building, divided into four apartments, standing on the slope of a high rocky hill. On the plate there is also shown the entrance to a subterranean gallery not mentioned in Dupaix's text.[VII-62]Three fourths of a league westward from the village is a hill some six hundred feet in height, with precipitous sides naturally inaccessible save on one side, toward Mitla. The summit platform, probably leveled by artificial means, is enclosed by a wall ofstone about six feet thick, eighteen feet high, and over a mile in circumference, forming many angles, as is shown in the annexed plan. On the eastern and accessible side, the wall is double, the inner wall being higher than the outer; and the entrances are not only not opposite each other, but penetrate the walls obliquely. Heaps of loose stones,c,c,c, were found at various points in the enclosure, doubtless for use as weapons in a hand-to-hand conflict. Outside of the walls, moreover, large rocks, some three feet in diameter, were carefully poised where they might be easily started down the sides against the advancing foe. Within the fortress, at several places,d,e,f,g, are slight remains of adobe buildings, probably erected for the accommodation of the aboriginal garrison. All we know of this fortress is derived from the work of Dupaix and Castañeda.[VII-63]

Plan of Fortress near Mitla.

Dupaix claims to have found the quarries which furnished material for the Mitla structures, in a hill three-fourths of a league eastward from the ruins, called by the Zapotecs Aguilosoé, by the Spaniards Mirador. The stone is described as of such a nature that large blocks may be easily split off by means of wedges and levers, and many such blocks were scattered about the place; the removal of the stone to the site of the palaces, here as in the case of many other American ruins, must have been the chief difficulty overcome by the builders. Stone wedges, together with axes and chisels of hard copper, are said to have been found at Mitla, but are not particularly described.[VII-64]

Head in Terra Cotta—Mitla.

A head in terra cotta, wearing a peculiar helmet, was sketched here by Castañeda, and is shown in the cut. Another terra-cotta image represented a masked human figure, squatting cross-legged with hands on knees. A large semicircular cape reaches from the neck to the ground, showing only the hands and feet in front. The whole is very similar to some of the figures at Zachila, already described, but the tube which may be supposed to have held a torch originally, projects above the head, and is an inch and a half in diameter. The only specimen of stone imagesor idols found in connection with the ruins, is shown in the cut. It represents a seated figure, carved from a hard red stone, and brilliantly polished. Its height is about four inches. Tempsky tells us that the children at Mitla offered for sale small idols of clay and sandstone, which had been taken from the inner palace walls.[VII-65]

Stone Image from Mitla.

GENERAL REMARKS.

COMPARISONS.

The ruins of Mitla resemble Palenque only in the long low narrow form of the buildings, since the low supporting mounds can hardly be said to resemble the lofty stone-faced pyramids of Chiapas. A stronger likeness may be discovered when they are compared with the structures of Yucatan; since in both cases we find long narrow windowless buildings, raised on low mounds, and enclosing a rectangular courtyard, walls of rubble, and facings of hewn stone. The contrasts are also strong, as seen in the mosaic grecques, the absence of sculpture, and the flat roofs, in some cases supported by columns; although in one city on the east coast of Yucatan flat roofs of wooden beams were found. Whether the mosaic work of Mitla indicates in itself an earlier or later developmentof aboriginal art than the elaborately sculptured façades of Uxmal, I am unable to decide; but the flat roof supported by pillars would seem to indicate a later architectural development than the overlapping arch. The influence of the builders of Palenque and the cities of Yucatan, was doubtless felt by the builders of Mitla. How the influence was exerted it is very difficult to determine; Viollet-le-Duc attributes these northern structures to a branch of the southern civilization separated from the parent stock after the foundation of the Maya cities in Yucatan. Most antiquarians have concluded that Mitla is less ancient than the southern ruins, and the condition of the remains, so far as it throws any light on the subject, confirms the conclusion. This is the last ruin that will be found in our progress northward, which shows any marked analogy with the Maya monuments, save in the almost universal use of supporting mounds or pyramids, of various forms and dimensions. It has already been shown that the Zapotec language has no likeness whatever to the Aztec, or to the Maya, and that so far as institutions are concerned, this people might almost as properly be classed with the Maya as with the Nahua nations. The Abbé Brasseur in one part of his writings expresses the opinion that Mitla was built by the Toltecs from Cholula, who introduced their religion in Oajaca in the ninth or tenth century. Mitla is also frequently spoken of as a connecting link between the Central American and Mexican remains; this, however, is merely a part of the old favorite theory of one civilized people originating in the far north, moving gradually southward, and leaving at each stopping-place traces of their constantly improving and developing culture. There seems to have been no tradition among the natives at the Conquest, indicating that Mitla was built by a people preceding the Zapotecs. On the contrary, Burgoa and other early Oajacan chroniclers mention the place frequently as a Zapotecholy place, devoted to the burial of kings, the residence of a certain order of the priesthood, who lived here to make expiatory sacrifices for the dead, and a place of royal mourning, whither the king retired on the death of a relative. Subterranean caverns were used for the celebration of religious rites before the upper temples were built. Charnay fancies that the palaces were built by a people that afterwards migrated southward. He noticed that the walls in sheltered places were covered with very rude paintings—a sample of which has been given—and suggests that these were executed by occupants who succeeded the original builders. It will be apparent to the reader that the ruins at Mitla bear no resemblance whatever to other Oajacan monuments, such as those at Guiengola, Monte Alban, and Quiotepec; and that they are either the work of a different nation, or what is much more probable, for a different purpose. I am inclined to believe that Mitla was built by the Zapotecs at a very early period of their civilization, at a time when the builders were strongly influenced by the Maya priesthood, if they were not themselves a branch of the Maya people.[VII-66]

The mosaic work undoubtedly bears a strong resemblance to the ornamentation observed on Grecian vases and other old-world relics; but this analogy is far from indicating any communication between the artists or their ancestors, for, as Humboldt says, "in all zones men have been pleased with a rhythmic repetition of the same forms, a repetition which constitutes the leading characteristic of what we vaguely call grecques, meandres, and Arabesques."[VII-67]

In the northern part of Oajaca, towards the boundary line of Puebla, remains have been found in several localities. Those near Quiotepec are extensive and important, but are only known by the description of one explorer, Juan N. Lovato, who visited the ruins as a commissioner from the government in January, 1844.[VII-68]Lovato's account contains many details, but the drawings which originally accompanied it were, with two exceptions, not published, and from the text only a general idea can be formed respecting the nature of the ruins. The following are such items of information as I have been able to extract from the report in question.

RUINS OF QUIOTEPEC.

A hill about a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide at its base, and over a thousand feet high, known as the Cerro de las Juntas, stands at the junction of the rivers Quiotepec and Salado. At the eastern end, where the streams meet, the ascent is precipitous and inaccessible, but the other sides and the summit are covered with ruins. The slopes are formed into level platforms with perpendicular terrace walls of stone, of height and thickness varying according to the nature of the ground. In ascending the western slope, thirty-five of these terrace walls were encountered; on the southern slope there were fifty-seven, and on the northern eighty-eight, counting only those that were still standing. One of thewalls at the summit is about three hundred and twenty feet long, sixty feet high, and five and a half feet thick.

Scattered over the hill on the terrace platforms, the foundations of small buildings, supposed to have been dwellings, were found in at least a hundred and thirty places. In connection with these buildings some tombs were found underground, box-shaped with walls of stone, containing human remains and some fragments of pottery. Tumuli in great numbers are found in all directions, probably burial mounds, although nothing but a few stone beads has been found in them. Other mounds were apparently designed for the support of buildings. At different points towards the summit of the hill are three tanks, or reservoirs, one of which is sixty feet long, twenty-four feet wide, and six feet deep, with traces of steps leading down into it. In the walls traces of beams are seen, supposed by the explorer to have supported the scaffolding used in their construction.

Temple Pyramid—Cerro de las Juntas.

Besides the terrace walls, foundations of dwellings, and the remains that have been mentioned, there are also many ruins of statelier edifices, presumably palaces and temples. Of these, the only ones described are situated at the summit on a small level plateau, of a hundred and twenty-two by two hundred and forty-eight feet. These consist of what are spoken of as a palace and a temple, facing each other, a hundred and sixty-six feet apart. Between the two are the bases of what was formerly a line of circular pillars, leading from one edifice to the other. The bases, or pedestals, are fourteen inches in diameter, five inches high, and about fourteen feet apart. The Temple faces north-east, and its front is shown in the accompanying cut. This is a form of the pyramidal structure very different from any that has been met before. Its dimensions on the ground are fifty by fifty-five feet. The Palace is described as thirty-nine feet high in front and thirty-three feet in the rear, andhas a stairway of twenty steps about twenty-eight feet wide, leading up to the summit on the front. Judging by the plate, this so-called palace is a solid elevation with perpendicular sides, ornamented with three plain cornices, one end of which is occupied throughout nearly its whole width by the stairway mentioned. The material of the two structures is the stone of the hill itself cut in thin regular blocks, laid in what is described as mud, and covered, as is shown by traces still left in a few parts, with a coating of plaster. Both the structures, according to the plates, have a rather modern appearance, and differ widely from any other American monuments, but there seems to be no reason to doubt the reliability of Sr Lovato's account, considering its official nature, and I cannot suppose that the Spaniards ever erected such edifices. The foundations and arches of three small apartments are vaguely spoken of as having been discovered by excavation in connection with the Palace, but whether they were on its summit or in the interior of the apparently solid mass, does not clearly appear, although Müller states that the latter was the case. On the summit of the Palace a copal-tree, one foot in diameter, was found. Five sculptured slabs were sketched by Müller at Quiotepec, but he does not state in what part of the ruins they were found. Each slab has a human figure in profile, surrounded by a variety of inexplicable attributes. The foreheads seem to be flattened, and four of the five have an immense curved tongue, possibly thewell-known Aztec symbol of speech, protruding from the mouth. Somewhere in this vicinity, on the perpendicular banks of rock that form the channel of the Rio Tecomava, painted figures of a sun, moon, and hand, are reported, at a great height from the water.[VII-69]

TUXTEPEC AND HUAHUAPAN.

Near the town of Tuxtepec, some fifty miles eastward from Quiotepec, near the Vera Cruz boundary, there is said to be an artificial mound eighty-three feet high, known as the Castillo de Montezuma. A passage leads toward the centre, but nothing further is known of it, except that some stone idols are mentioned by another writer as having been dug from a mound in a town of the same name.[VII-70]

Sculptured Block from Huahuapan.

At Huahuapan, about fifty miles westward of Quiotepec, Dupaix found the sculptured block shown in the cut. It is four and a half feet long, and a foot and a half high; the material is a hard blue stone, and the sculpture in low relief seems to represent a kind of coat of arms, from which projects a handgrasping an object, a part of which bears a strong resemblance to the Aztec symbol of water. This relic was found in a hill called Tallesto, about a league east of the town.[VII-71]

In another hill, called Sombrerito, only half a league from the town, a laborer in 1831 plowed up an ancient grave, said to have contained human bones, fine pottery, with gold beads and rings. All the relics were buried again by the finder, except four of the rings, which came into the possession of the Bishop of Puebla, and two of which are shown in the cut. With some doubts respecting the authenticity of these relics I give the cuts for what they are worth. There are accounts and drawings of several rudely carved stone images from the same region.[VII-72]

Gold Rings from Huahuapan.

At Yanguitlan, ten or fifteen miles south-east of Huahuapan, several relics were found, including a human head of natural size carved from red stone; two idols of green jasper, slightly carved in human likeness; three cutting implements of hard stone; and the two objects shown in the cuts on the opposite page. The first is a spear-head of gray flint, and the second a very curious relic of unknown use, and whose material and dimensions the finder has neglected to mention. It is of a red color, and is very beautifully wrought in two pieces, one serving as a cover for theother, apparently intended to be joined by a cord as represented in the cut. Among the uses suggested are those of a censer and a lantern.[VII-73]

Relics from Yanguitlan.

ANTIQUITIES OF GUERRERO.

Respecting the relics of the state of Guerrero, my only information is derived from a statistical work by Sr Celso Muñoz, contained in the report of Gov. Francisco O. Arce to the legislature of the state in 1872. This author mentions such relics in the district of Hidalgo, north of the Rio Zacatula towards the Mexican boundary, as follows: 1st. "Themomoxtles, or tombs of the ancient Indians, which are found in almost all the towns, although they are constantly disappearing, and abound especially in the municipality of Cocula." 2d. "Traces of ancient settlementsof the aborigines, who either became extinct or migrated to other localities: such are seen on the hill of Huizteco, in the municipality of Tasco, in that of Tetipac el Viejo and of Coatlan el Viejo, of Tetipac, of Coculatepil, of Piedra Grande or San Gaspar, region of Iglesia Vieja, Cocula, and many others." 3d. At Tepecoacuilco "there are traces very clearly defined of many foundations of houses; and in excavations that have been made there have been found many idols and flint weapons, especially lances, very well preserved, and other curious relics of Aztec times." 4th. At Chontalcuatlan, there are traces of the ancient town on a hill called Coatlan el Viejo, where there is also said to be a block of porphyry one or two mètres in diameter, on the surface of which is sculptured a coiled serpent.[VII-74]

Physical Features of the State—Exploration and Reports—Caxapa and Tuxtla—Negro Head—Relics from Island of Sacrificios—Eastern Slope Remains—Medelin—Xicalanco—Rio Blanco—Amatlan—Orizava—Cempoala—Puente Nacional—Paso de Ovejas—Huatusco—Fortifications and Pyramids of Centla—El Castillo—Fortress of Tlacotepec—Palmillas—Zacuapan—Inscription at Atliaca—Consoquitla Fort and Tomb—Calcahualco—Ruins of Misantla or Monte Real—District of Jalancingo—Pyramid of Papantla—Mapilca—Pyramid and Fountain at Tusapan—Ruins of Metlaltoyuca—Relics near Pánuco—Calondras, San Nicolas, and Trinidad.

Passing now to the eastern or gulf coast, I shall devote the present chapter to the antiquities of Vera Cruz, the ancient home of the Totonacs in the north, and the Xicalancas and Nonohualcos in the south. Vera Cruz, with an average width of seventy miles, extends from the Laguna de Santa Ana, the western boundary of Tabasco, to the mouth of the River Pánuco, a distance of about five hundred miles. Its territory is about equally divided lengthwise between the low malarious tierra caliente on the immediate gulf shore, and the eastern slope of the lofty sierra that bounds the Mexican plateau. Two or three much-traveled routes lead inland from the port of Vera Cruz towards the city of Mexico, and travelers make haste to cross this plague-belt, the lurking-placeof the deadly vomito, turning neither to the right nor left to investigate the past or present. A railroad now completed renders the transit still more direct and rapid than before. Away from these routes the territory of this state is less known than almost any other portion of the Mexican Republic, although a portion of the southern Goatzacoalco region has been pretty thoroughly explored by surveyors of the Tehuantepec interoceanic routes, and by an unfortunate French colonization company that settled here early in the present century. The mountain slopes and plateaux twenty-five or thirty miles inland are, however, fertile and not unhealthy, having been crowded in ancient times with a dense aboriginal population, traces of whose former presence are found in every direction. Most of our information respecting the antiquities of this state is derived from the reports of Mexican explorers, only one or two of whom have in most cases visited each of the many groups of ruins. These explorers have as a rule fallen into a very natural, perhaps, but at the same time very unfortunate error in their descriptions; for after having displayed great energy and skill in the discovery and examination of a ruin, doubtless forming a clear idea of all its details, they usually compress these details into the space of a few paragraphs or a few pages, and devote the larger part of their reports to essays on the Toltec, Chichimec, or Olmec history—subjects on which they can throw no light. They neglect a topic of the deepest interest, concerning which their authority would be of the very greatest weight, for another respecting which their conclusions are for the most part valueless.

RELICS AT SACRIFICIOS ISLAND.

The ruins of an aboriginal city are mentioned at Caxapa, between the volcano of Tuxtla and the coast in the southern part of the state.[VIII-1]In the vicinity of Tuxtla, at the south-western base of the volcano, acolossal granite head, six feet high, was found by a laborer in 1862, while making a clearing for a milpa. The head was photographed, and a copy of the plate published by the Mexican Geographical Society, together with an accompanying text prepared by J. M. Melgar. A copy of the plate is given in the cut. The most noticeable peculiarity in this head is the negro cast of the features, and Señor Melgar devotes his article to the negro race, which as he supposes lived in America before the coming of the Spaniards.[VIII-2]

Ethiopian Head of Granite.

Earthen Vase—Isle of Sacrificios.

White Marble Vase—Vera Cruz.

On the island of Sacrificios, in the harbor of Vera Cruz, one author[VIII-3]states that remains of the ancient temple are visible. This is probably an error, but numerous small relics have been dug up on the island. Many of the relics were articles of pottery, one of which of very peculiar form is shown in the cutfrom Waldeck. This, like most of the other articles found here, is preserved in the Museum of Mexico, and was sketched by Mayer and by Waldeck. Mr Tylor pronounces it not the work of the natives before the Conquest, in fact a fraud, "one of the worst cases I ever noticed." There is no doubt of the accuracy of the drawing, and Sr Gondra assured Col. Mayer, as the latter informs me, that the relic is an authentic one.[VIII-4]Workmen engaged in laying the foundations of the modern fort found, at a depth of six feet, vases of hard material, which in the opinion of M. Baradère resembled vases that have been brought from Japan.[VIII-5]Col. Mayer gives cuts of thirteen relics dug from a subterranean chamber or grave in 1828. Two of these were of white marble or alabaster, and one of them is shown in the cut. M. Dumanoir made an excavation also in 1841, finding a sepulchre containing well-preserved human skeletons, earthen vases painted and etched, idols, images, bracelets, teeth of dogs and wild beasts, and marble, or alabaster, urns. Plates of many of the relics have been published.[VIII-6]

REMAINS ON THE EASTERN SLOPE.

From the city of Vera Cruz two main routes of travel lead inland toward the city of Mexico. The first extends north-westward via Jalapa, and the second south-westward via Orizava. After crossing the first lofty mountain barrier which divides the coast from the interior plateaux, the roads approach each other and meet near Puebla. On the eastern slope, the roads with the mountain range, which at this point extends nearly north and south, form a triangle with equal sides of about eighty miles, at the angles of which are the cities of Vera Cruz, Jalapa, and Orizava, or more accurately points ten or fifteen miles above the two latter. This comparatively small triangular area, round which so many travelers have passed in their journey to Anáhuac, is literally covered with traces of its aboriginal population, in the shape of pottery, implements, foundation stones of dwellings, fortifications, pyramids, and graves. I quote the following from an article on the antiquities of Vera Cruz, written in 1869, for the Mexican Geographical Society, by Carlos Sartorius:

"On the eastern slope of the lofty volcanic range, from the Peak of Orizava to the Cofre de Perote, at an average elevation of two to five thousand feet above the level of the gulf, there exist innumerable traces of a very numerous indigenous population before the Conquest. History tells us nothing respecting this part of the country, distinguished for its abundant supply of water, its fertility, and its delightful and healthy climate." "For an extent of fifteen to twenty leagues, from east to west, there was not a span of earth that was not cultivated, as is proved by numberless remains.... The whole country is formed into terraces by stone walls, which follow all the variations of the surface with the evident object of preventing the washing away of the soil. Sometimes the terraces are ten or twelve yards wide, at others hardly one yard. The small ravines calledrayasserved for innumerable water-tanks, built ofrocks and clay, or of stone and mortar, these dams being also covered with a coating of hard cement. It is evident that a numerous population took advantage of every inch of land for cultivation, using the water gathered in the tanks during the rainy season for irrigation, possibly effected by hand by means of earthern vessels. In the more sterile portions of the land, on the top of hills which have no soil are seen the foundations of dwellings, all of stone without mortar, arranged in streets or in groups. They always form an oblong rectangle and face the cardinal points. They are found in clearing heavy forests as well as on open tracts, and the fact that oaks a mètre in diameter are found within the enclosure of the walls, proves that many centuries have passed since the population disappeared. In many parts are found groups of pyramids, of various sizes and degrees of preservation. The largest, of stone, are fifty feet and over in height, while the smallest are not over ten or twelve. The last seem to be tombs; at least several that we opened contained skeletons in a very decomposed state, with earthen utensils like those now made by the natives, arrow-heads of obsidian and bird-bone, doubtless the supplies given to the dead for their journey." One contained an elegant burial urn, bearing ornamental figures in relief, containing ashes and fragments of human bones, and covered first with small pebbles, and then with stone flags. "The region which we subjected to our investigation comprehends the slope of the sierra to the coast between Orizava and Jalapa. At an elevation of four or five thousand feet there are many springs, which at a short distance form ravines in a soil composed of conglomerates or, further south, of lime. In their course the ravines unite and form points sometimes with vertical walls of considerable height. As the water-courses do not follow a straight line, but wind about, the erosion of the current above the meeting of the ravines destroysa great portion of the dividing ridge, so that above there remains only a narrow pass, the ridge afterwards assuming greater width until the end is reached. This play of nature occurs in the region of which we are speaking, at many points and with great uniformity, almost always at the same level of two thousand to twenty-five hundred feet. The natives selected these points, strong by nature, fortifying them by art so ingeniously as to leave no doubt as to their progress in military art.... Some of them are almost inaccessible, and can be reached only by means of ladders and ropes. They all have this peculiarity in common, that, besides serving for defense, they enclose a number of edifices destined for worship,—teocallis and traces of very large structures, such as residences, quarters, or perhaps palaces of the priests and rulers. In some of them there are springs and remains of large artificial tanks; in others, aqueducts of stone and mortar, to bring water from distant springs." Sr Sartorius then proceeds to the description of particular ruins, of which more hereafter.[VIII-7]

TRACES OF ABORIGINAL POPULATION.

Mr Hugo Finck, a resident for twenty-eight years in the region under consideration, in which he traveled extensively to collect botanical specimens, contributed the following general remarks to the Smithsonian Report for 1870: "There is hardly a foot of ground in the whole state of Vera Cruz [the author refers particularly to the region about Córdova, Huatusco, and Mirador] in which, by excavation, either a broken obsidian knife, or a broken piece of pottery is not found. The whole country is intersected with parallel lines of stones, which were intended during the heavy showers of the rainy season to keep the earth from washing away. The number of those lines of stones shows clearly that even the poorest land, which nobody in our days would cultivate, wasput under requisition by them.... In this part of the country no trace of iron or copper tools has ever come under my notice. Their implements of husbandry and war were of hard stone, but generally of obsidian and of wood. The small mounds of stones near their habitations have the form of a parallelogram, and are not over twenty-seven inches high. Their length is from five to twelve yards, their width from two to four. On searching into them nothing is found. A second class of mounds is round, in the form of a cone, always standing singly. They are built of loose stones and earth, and of various sizes; some as high as five yards, with a diameter of from five to twenty yards. Excavation made in them brought to light a large pot of burned clay filled with ashes, but in general nothing is found. The third class of mounds, also built of loose stones and earth, have the form of a parallelogram, whose smaller sides look east and west, and are from five to six yards high, terminating at the top in a level space of from three to five yards in width, the base being from eight to twelve yards. They are found from fifteen to two hundred yards long. Sometimes several are united, forming a hollow square, which must have been used as a fortress. Others again have their outer surface made of masonry, but still the inside is filled up with loose stones and earth. Near river-beds, where stones are very abundant, these tumuli are largest. Principally in this latter class, idols, implements of husbandry and war are discovered, sometimes lying quite loose, and at others imbedded in hollow square boxes made of masonry. The last-described mounds form the transition to those constructions which are altogether built of solid masonry.... One peculiarity of the last-mentioned ruins is, that they are all constructed at the junction of two ravines, and used as fortresses, on account of their impregnability. Most of the larger barrancas have precipitous sides from three hundred to one thousand feet deep, which guarded the inhabitantson their flank, so that nothing more was required than to build a wall, leaving a small entrance in the middle, as a passage, which could be barricaded in time of war.... Such constructions can be seen to this day in tolerable good condition. The interior of these fortified inclosures is in general large, sometimes holding from four to five square miles, and could be put under cultivation in case of a siege. The wall is in general from four to five yards high, and has on the inside terraces with steps to lead to the top. At other places there is a series of semicircular walls, the front one lower than the following, and a passage between each to permit one person at a time to pass from one to the other. The innermost wall is sometimes perforated with loopholes through which arrows could be thrown. Quite a number of ruins are found inside the fortification, as mounds, altars, good level roads with a foundation of mortar. Most of these monuments have good preserved steps leading to the top. In some very small pots of burning clay are found filled with ashes."[VIII-8]

The preceding quotations are sufficient to give a clear idea of the ruins in their general features, and leave only such particular remains as have been made known through the labors of different explorers to be described. Some ten or twelve of the peculiar fortified places alluded to above have been more or less fully described, but as there is no even tolerably accurate topographical map of this region, it is utterly impossible to locate them. Each stream, ravine, bluff, hill, and mountain of all the labyrinth, has its local name; indeed, some of them seem to have two or three, but most of them have no place on the maps. It is consequently quite possible that the same ruins have been described under more than one name. I shall present each group as it is describedby the explorer, giving when possible the distance and bearing from some point laid down on the map which accompanies this volume.

AMATLAN AND ORIZAVA.

Before treating of these ruins, however, I shall mention some miscellaneous relics, from the region under consideration, found at well-known towns, or in their vicinity. Colonel Albert S. Evans dug two terra-cotta images from a grave at Medellin, about eight miles south-west of Vera Cruz, in 1869. They seem to represent a male and female, and are now in the collection of Mr C. D. Voy, of Oakland, California. Near the same town, on the Rio Jamapa, are to be seen, Brasseur tells us, the ruins of one of the two ancient cities called Xicalanco; and also that the traces of an ancient city may yet be seen under the water between the city of Vera Cruz and the fort of San Juan de Ulloa.[VIII-9]About forty-five miles south-east of Córdova, between that town and the bridge over the Rio Blanco, Dupaix found a hard stone of dark blue color, artificially worked into an irregular spherical form, about six feet in diameter, and so carefully balanced that it could be made to vibrate by a slight touch. A number of small shallow holes were formed on the surface. A similar stone is placed two leagues to the eastward, and they are supposed by Dupaix to have served as boundary marks. Teololinga is the name by which the natives call them.[VIII-10]Also in the neighborhood of Córdova, at Amatlan de los Reyes, certain traces of a temple arevaguely mentioned by the same traveler; and on a wooded hillside near by is a cave, in which have been found fragments of carved stone and pottery, including a squatting trunk and legs, and a head carved from the same kind of stone that constitutes the walls of the cave. The latter relic is shown in the cut. The form of the head seems to have nothing in common with the ordinary aboriginal type.[VIII-11]

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