among many similar ruins in Mexico. On the other sides there are also large heaps of loose stones of irregular shape, which seem to have formed portions of similar mounds or tumuli, or, perhaps, parts of fortifications in connection with the wall that is alleged by the old writers to have surrounded the base of the pyramid, but of which I could discern no traces.

"The stones forming parts of the conical remains, have evidently been shaped by the hand of art, and are often found covered with an exterior coat of mortar, specimens of which I took away with me, as sharp and perfect as the day it was laid on centuries ago.

"Near the base of the last terrace, on which the pyramid rises, the esplanade is covered with trees and tangled vines, but the body of the platform is cultivated as a corn-field. We found the Indian owner at work in it, and were supplied by him with the long-desired comfort of a gourd of water. He pointed out to us the way to the summit of the terrace through the thick brambles; and rearing our horses up the crumbling stones of the wall, we stood before the ruins of this interesting pyramid, the remains of which, left by the neigh bouring planters after they had borne away enough to build the walls of their haciendas, now lie buried in a grove of palmettoes, bananas, and forest-trees, apparently the growth of many hundred years

"Indeed, this pyramid seems to have been (like the Forum and Colliseum at Rome,) the quarry for all the builders in the vicinity

ANCIENT MONUMENTS

53

and Alzate, who visited it as far back as 1777, relates, that not more than twenty years before, the five terraces of which it consisted, were still perfect; and that on the eastern side of the upper platform there had been a magnificent throne carved from porphyry, and covered with hieroglyphics of the most graceful sculpture. Soon after this period, however, the work of destruction was begun by a certain Estrada, and it is not more than a couple of years since one of the wealthiest planters of the neighbourhood ended the line of spoilers by carrying off enormous loads of the squared and sculptured materials, to build a tank in a barranca to bathe his cattle! All that now remains of the five stories, terraces, or bodies of the pyramid, are portions of the first, the whole of which is of dressed porphyritic rock, covered with singular figures and hieroglyphics executed in a skilful manner. The engraving on page 50 presents a general view of the ruins as seen from the westward.

"The basement is a rectangular building, and its dimensions on the northern front, measured above the plinth, are sixty-four feet in length, by fifty-eight in depth on the western front. The height between the plinth and frieze is nearly ten feet; the breadth of the frieze is three feet and a half, and of the cornice one foot and five inches. I placed my compass on the wall, and found the lines of the edifice to correspond exactly with the cardinal points."

Of the ruins of the pyramid of Teotihuacan, Mr. Mayer gives the following account:

"On leaving the town our road lay in a north-easterly direction, through a number of picturesque villages buried in foliage, and fenced with the organ cactus, lifting its tall pillar-like stems to a height of twenty feet above the ground. The country was rolling, and we passed over several elevations and a stream or two before we turned suddenly to the right, and saw the village of St. Juan with an extensive level beyond it, bordered on all sides by mountains, except toward the east, where a deep depression in the chain leads into the plains of Otumba. In the centre of this level are the pyramids of Teotihuacan, and the opposite engraving will give you an accurate idea of their position and present appearance from this point.

"After we passed through the village, the high road was soon lost among paths leading between the walled fields of Indian farmers. At short distances, as we advanced in the direction of the pyramids, I observed evident traces of a well-made ancient road, covered with several inches of a close and hard cement, which, in turn, was often overlaid with a foot or two of soil. We crossed the plain, and, in a quarter of an hour, stood at the foot of the Tonatiuh Ytzagual, or, "House of the Sun," the base line of which is six hundred and

eignty-two feet, and the perpendicular height, two hundred and twenty-one.*

"There is no other description of these monuments to be given than by saying that they are pyramids, three stories or stages of which are yet distincty visible. The whole of their exteriors is covered with a thick growth of nopals or prickly pears; and, in many places, I discovered the remains of the coating of cement with which they were encrusted in the days of their perfection. A short distance north-westwardly from the House of the Sun,' is the Metzli Ytzagual, or 'House of the Moon,' with a height of one hundred and forty-four feet. On the level summits of both of these, there were erected, no doubt, the shrines of the gods and the places of sacrifice.

"I ascended, clambering among the bushes and loose stones with uncertain footing, to the top of the House of the Sun.' The view from it was exceedingly picturesque over the cultivated fields to the east and south. Immediately to the south were a number of moundlike clusters, running toward a number of elevations arranged in a square, beyond the streamlet of Teotihuacan, and bordering the road that leads to Otumba. On the western front there were also five or six tumuli extending toward a long line of similar mounds, running from the southern side of the 'House of the Moon.' These lines were quite distinct, and the whole plain was more or less covered with heaps of stones. It is extremely probable, that at one time they all formed the sepulchres of the distinguished men of the empire, and constituted the Micoatl, or Path of the Dead'-a name which they bore in the ancient language of the country. It was the Westminster Abbey of the Toltecs and Aztecs."

Mr. Mayer's account of the aqueduct of Tezcosingo, is very interesting He says:

"Directly at the foot of the eminence on which we rested, there was an extensive Indian remain. By an able system of engineering, the water had been brought by the ancients from the eastern sierra, for a distance, probably, of three leagues, by conduits across barrancas and along the sides of the hill; and the ruin below us was that of one of these aqueducts, across a ravine about a hundred feet in elevation.

"You will find a view of this work in the opposite picture. The base of the two conduit pipes is raised to the required level on stones and masonry, and the canals for the water are made of an exceedingly hard cement, of mortar and fragments of pounded brick. Although, of course, long since abandoned, it is, in many places, as

• Glennie.