finding them. There is no doubt that their minds were tinctured with the stories which had been told of the cities of the East, and the conviction that America was a portion of the Asiatic continent had not lost its force. It was a day of romance and chivalry, and the kings of Europe were satisfied with nothing short of romance. It cannot be laid altogether to a love of exaggeration, that such writers as Sahagun, Bernal Diaz, Torquemada, Veytia, Ixtlilxochitl and Clavigero gave such rose-colored views.

The accuracy of science was nowhere exercised, and literal exactness could not have been expected from them. It was, however, fortunate that there were those who could recognize the beauty of the scene, and could appreciate the inventions and improvements which had been wrought out by this strange people, who lived beyond the seas, and that they could adequately describe the style of the art and architecture which was prevalent.

The cities have passed away, and the scene which so wonderfully impressed the Spaniards at their advent has entirely changed. There are, to be sure, many modern cities which have grown up on the very sites where were these aboriginal towns, and some are disposed to draw the contrast between the ancient and the modern; but it is better to take the picture which was drawn by the historians as correct, and from this learn what were the peculiarities of the aboriginal life, though it may be necessary first, to consider the history of the people who dwelt there, and especially the architecture which prevailed.

III. Let us now turn to the third question and inquire into the history of the Aztecs, and see how rapidly they grew into a semi-civilized condition, and then ask about the influences which had conspired to produce this change. We hold that the Aztecs borrowed nearly all of their civilization from the Toltecs, that they adopted their style of architecture and their art, and yet there were certain peculiarities which distinguished the cities of the Aztecs from those of the Toltecs.

The Aztecs, who built the beautiful cities and temples which so charmed the eyes of the Spanish conquerors, as they came to the summit of the great mountain ridge, which surrounded the Valley of Mexico, were a rude tribe, who had entered the valley from the north about the year 1300. They wandered for a time, seeking for a suitable place in which they might make their home, and were at last influenced, as tradition goes, by a sight which they regarded as a sign from heaven. A bunch of cactus was growing upon a rock and upon the cactus an eagle

• Iorquemada, a provincial of the Franciscan Order, came to the New World about the middle of the sixteenth century. As the generation of the Conquerors had not then passed away, he had ample opportunities for gathering the particulars of their enterprise from their own hips Fifty years, during which he continued in the country, put him in possession of the traditions and usages of the natives, and enabled him to collect his history from the earliest missionaries, as well as from such monuments as the fanaticism of his own countrymen had not destroyed.

was perched, and in the eagle's claw was a serpent, which was always an expressive sign to the natives. This sight led them to settle upon the shores of the lake, which was then a small inland sea, its salt waters having been the result of the geological formation. The following description of the lake and the valley which contains it, will be interesting in this con

nection:

The Valley of Mexico is an immense basin of an approximately circular shape, sixty miles in diameter, completely bounded by high mountains and having only two or three passes out of it. No water drains out of the basin. The surface of the valley has a mean altitude above the sea of 7,413 feet, and an area of about 2,270 square miles. Mountain ranges arise on every side, making a great coral of rock, containing many villages and hamlets with the ancient capital as the centre. The valley, thus hemmed in with solid walls of rock, had been an inland sea for many cycles, and during the early existence of man the salt water spread over a large portion of the valley. The waters were gradually lessened by seepage and evaporation, and the Aztec immigrants, coming from the North in the fourteenth century, having received a sign that they were to build their city here, settled on its shores and began building dykes and combating the over-flow of the waters. Nearly fifty years before the discovery of America Nezahualcoyotl saw the necessity for a drainage canal, and commenced the work in 1450; he constructed an immense dyke to divide the fresh water which came down from the mountains from the salt water of the lakes. The City of Mexico was at this time but a rambling Indian village built upon floating rafts on the water and numerous islets on the borders of the lakes, but so arranged that in the event of the water rising, the whole city would float.

When Cortez arrived in Mexico in 1519, he found, to his great surprise, the defense of the city admirably arranged, and a most enchanting view of flowering islets formed the floating ca ital. Little towns and villages, half concealed by the foliage looked, from a distance, like companies of wild swans riding quietly on the waves. A scene so new and wonderful filled the heart of the Spaniard with amazement. So astonished was he at extent of the water of Lake Pezcuco, that he describes it as a "sta that embraces the whole valley.*

The history of Mexico began with the invasion of the Toltecs from an unknown region during the fifth century, or about the time of the Roman occupation of Great Britain, and actually kept pace with the progress of Europe during the centuries that followed. It reminds us forcibly of the history of the British Islands during the middle ages; or, as Prescott says, during the time of Alfred the Great. There were, to be sure, no signs of the presence of the art and architecture of the civilized world, and no such contact with Rome or with the historic nations of the East; but the evidence is furnished us from the monuments and ruins which have been discovered, that the Toltec civilization did not fall short of that which prevailed in the south of Europe at this time. This Toltec civilization continued until the end of the twelfth century, when it was in turn forced to give way to that of the Aztec tribe, who swept down from the coast of California, Oregon, and other northern regions. It is generally agreed that the Aztecs formerly lived far to the north, and gradually worked their way southward until they reached the flowering Anahuac, but it is not

See Romero's Geography of Mexico

known what their condition was when they arrived at their final destination, though the general opinion is that they were like other wandering and migrating tribes, and were little above the condition of savages. Still, the fact that they so soon conformed to the civilization of the Toltecs who preceded them, and adopted their arts and architecture, renders it probable that their apparent savagery was only the result of their wandering life, and that they had the elements of growth within themselves.

IV. As to the architecture and its marvelous development, it will be remembered that the Aztecs were nomads differing very little from other wandering tribes; and yet in the course of three centuries they came up to a state of civilization which seemed to the Spaniards absolutely marvelous; showing that there was as rapid advancement among some of the prehistoric races as among the historic. Mr. Matthews says:

The general characteristics of the architecture are those which their predecessors, the Toltecs, possessed, and the supposition is that their rapid progress was owing to the fact, that they borrowed the civilization of their predecessors. Their temples were but after the pattern of the Toltecs, and so were the survivals of the native art. Their palaces, so called, were low, one story buildings, without windows; but rested upon terraces, which raised them above the surface. Each was composed of a stone basement and surrounded by a species of façade, carved in imitation of reeds and decorated in high relief with scrolls, monsters, and masks, such as are used at present on prows of battleships among the Polynesian Islanders. The roofs, as near as can be ascertained, were flat and the rooms were lighted from the doorways, which were, in some instances, widened by means of columns, which were ornaments as well as defences. The temples play a more important part than any other building. Forty thousand Teocallis, or "Houses of God," graced the ancient cities of Mexico, and many, though ruined, are still extant. Like the Chaldean temples they consisted, when whole, of huge platforms, piled one above another, which drew in as they ascended, and were crested with a shrine containing altars and images of gilded stone.

Two remarkable specimens still stand at Teotihuacan, near the City of Mexico; they were called anciently the "Houses of the Sun and Moon." Though much ruined and over-grown with vegetation, sufficient yet remains for intelligent restoration, and the fact that these temples are believed to belong to the Toltec civilization lends them an additional interest. The "Temple of the Sun" rose originally to a height of 171 feet, having a base of 645 square feet. That of the Moon was of smaller proportion, both had their faces turned toward the four cardinal points of the compass, which argues a knowledge of astronomy among the builders, and both were furnished with walled approaches placed at right angles to their four sides' which, while dedicated to the stars, still served the useful purpose of tombs for the chiefs of the nation.

Better known than these is the Teocalli of Cholula, the most marvelous of Mexican monuments, as regards size, and dedicated to Quetzalcoatl; rising only a few feet higher than the House of the Sun, yet it covers an area of twie the size of the pyramid of Cheops; according to some about twenty-six acres; according to others, sixty acres. Though so extensive in size, it cannot be compared architecturally with the great feat of masonry on the Nile, since even in its palmy days it could never have been much more than a huge mound of clay, and sun-dried brick, pierced with subterranean passages, and surmounted by a rude sanctuary without even the grace of good proportions.*

We may say that there were many other cities in Mexico, which are now in ruins, some upon the mountains, others in the valleys; but the majority of them have been ascribed to the Toltecs, and these illustrate the difference between the ancient and the more modern civilization.

It appears that the Aztec cities were originally villages, not unlike the palafittes or lake villages, which were built upon piles over the water, and which belonged to the Stone Age.

But these cities were placed on the summits of the mountains, and were constructed by a process of transforming the slope of the mountains into a series of pyramids and platforms, which were probably surmounted by palaces, or by temples and altars, their very sightliness making them impressive objects in the landscape.

We are to notice the peculiar quadrangular arrangement of the apartments of the kings and the inclosures occupied by the priests, as well as the orientation of the pyramids, for there was a religious motive embodied in it; the worship of the sun requiring that the city be built after a certain pattern. This quadrangular arrangement has been spoken of by Mr. W. H. Holmes, who visited the ancient city of Monte Alban and traced out the plan after which it was built, in the arrangement of the great pyramidal mounds which covered the mountain sides and changed their summits into artificial shapes.

The description by Mr. W. H. Holmes is especially worthy of attention, as his experience as an archaeologist would naturally lead him to be very cautious in his expressions. After speaking of his ascent of the mountain and cultivated terraces and the discovery of well-preserved quadrangular ruins arranged about a quadrangular court, he describes the scene which presented itself:

From the mainland, I ascended the central pyramid, which is the crowning feature of this part of the crest, and obtained a magnificent panorama of the monntain and the surrounding valleys and ranges. Turning to the north, the view along the crest was bewildering in the extreme. In years of travel and mountain work, I had met with many great surprises, such as that experienced on emerging suddeniy from the forest-covered plateaus of Arizona into a full view of the Grand Cañon of the Colorado, or of obtaining unexpected glimpses of startling Alpine panoramas--but nothing had ever impressed me so deeply as this. The crest of Alban, one-fourth of a mile wide, and extending nearly a mile to the north, lay spread out at my feet. The surface was not covered with scattered and obscure piles of ruins as I had expected, but the whole mountain had been removed by the hand of man, until not a trace of natural contour remained. There was a vast system of level courts, enclosed by successive terraces and bordered by pyramids upon pyramids. Even the sides of the mountain descended in a succession of terraces, and the whole crest, separated by the hazy atmosphere from the dimly-seen valleys more than 1,000 feet below, and isolated completely from the blue range beyond, seemed suspended in mid air. All was pervaded by a spirit of mystery, solitude and utter desolation, not relieved by a sound of life or a single touch of local color. It seemed, indeed, a phantom city, and separated as it is by half a dozen centuries from the modern city-barely traceable as a fleck of white in the deep valley beyond the saddle of the Lesser Alban furnishes a tempting held for speculation. I have endeavored to convey some notion of this remarkable scene in the panorama which is constructed from a sketch made from the summit of